Marvel: The Awakened One

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As Hawk fought the Celestial among the stars, the battle on Earth was coming to an end.

The result was clear from the start.

The Avengers were Earth’s strongest heroes. Their enemies came from beyond our world.

As before, Doctor Strange cast a binding spell on the Eye of Agamotto. Unable to take the Time Stone from him, Ebony Maw decided to just kidnap the Sorcerer Supreme.

But this time, things didn’t go as everyone expected.

Now, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian took both Doctor Strange and Bruce Banner.

With their mission done, the ring-shaped alien ship powered up its engines and began to lift off.

Iron Man fired his repulsors at full power—chasing after the ship as it pulled away.

Spider-Man swung right after him.

On the ground, Sharon Carter looked up at the sky and rubbed her temples. S.H.I.E.L.D. fighters had attacked the alien ship, their weapons sparking against its hull as it left the atmosphere.

Beside her, Wanda Maximoff watched the ship vanish into the clouds, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. She had evacuated with the Chloes and her own parents.

But partway to the safe zone, she realized: the invaders were not targeting her family. And Sharon Carter was capable. Leaving the civilians in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s care, Wanda had turned back and re-entered the fray.

Her intervention had proven futile.

No... That was an overstatement. Her presence had a strange but undeniable effect on the battlefield.

Throughout the confrontation, both Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian had avoided engaging Wanda.

The situation felt unreal...

Simply put, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian acted like Wanda was a bomb ready to go off. When she attacked, they dodged, blocked, and pulled back, never fighting back or even trading insults.

Lacking the temporal magic to break Doctor Strange’s ward and unwilling to risk provoking Wanda, Ebony Maw chose the path of least resistance. He packed Strange up and fled.

As the alien ship cleared the stratosphere and disappeared.

Whoosh!

Pietro appeared instantly beside Wanda in a flash. He surveyed the scene—the fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Wong slumped against a tree gasping for air, Sharon holding her head with a headache, and his sister attempting to steady her breathing.

”Are you okay?”

”I’m fine. Where’s Jean?”

”Safe. I waited until the ship was gone before I ran over. Anya, Mom, and Dad are with the kids.”

Pietro delivered his report, his eyes darting around the ruined park.

”Where’s Stark? And the wizard? What about the guy who came back from the dead?”

”Taken.”

Wanda glanced at the empty sky, then turned to Sharon. ”Can you track Stark’s suit?”

Sharon lowered her hand from her forehead and shook her head.

They had advanced global communication networks but not deep-space communication. Neither S.H.I.E.L.D, nor Stark Industries, nor anyone on Earth had cracked that.

Tracking Stark was no longer the priority.

Sharon looked at Wanda grimly. ”I need to get to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. You should—”

Wanda cut her off. ”Go. Do what you have to do. You saw it yourself... they refused to attack me. It wasn’t because they didn’t want to. They simply didn’t dare. After all, they know what Hawk is capable of.”

Sharon gave a bitter, exhausted smile, shaking her head at Hawk’s reputation. She looked at Wanda. ”If you can contact Hawk, please do. These enemies... we are outmatched.”

If these were foot soldiers, what would happen when Thanos himself arrived?

Earth would face annihilation.

Wanda saw the desperation in Sharon’s eyes and gave a firm nod. ”I’ll try to reach him.”

Sharon managed a strained smile. She signaled the surviving agents and sprinted toward a transport craft touching down nearby.

Wong pushed himself off the tree trunk and hurried after Sharon. After a brief exchange, he followed her onto the transport.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. transport lifted off, tearing away from Westview.

——————————

Half an hour later.

A fleet of armored S.H.I.E.L.D. SUVs rolled back into Westview, depositing the Chloes, the Maximoffs, Anya, Jean, and the twins into the quiet streets. Thanks to the Mirror Dimension isolating the battle, the town was untouched.

Inside House 123.

The family gathered in the living room.

Andrew and Olek Maximoff sat on the barstools at the kitchen island, a tense silence between them.

Amy and Iryna Maximoff took Billy and Tommy upstairs to the nursery, hoping that routine would help them feel better.

On the sofa, Anya kept an arm wrapped around her niece, Jean. Pietro sat beside them. The three of them listened as Wanda recounted the events in the park.

A Cosmic Warlord had set his sights on Earth.

His name was Thanos. He was the architect behind the Chitauri invasion of 2012.

Thanos was hunting the Infinity Stones.

Doctor Strange has one. Thanos had sent his vanguard to collect it, and they had succeeded in capturing the sorcerer.

As for why they had also abducted Bruce Banner?

Wanda had no idea.

Hearing that her brother held two of the Infinity Stones, Anya gasped. ”Oh my God. Is Hawk in danger?”

”Uh...” Wanda looked at Anya, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, and offered a strange, conflicted shake of her head. ”Probably not.”

”Why not?”

”During the fight...”

Wanda detailed the encounter in the park, explaining how Thanos’s enforcers had refused to retaliate against her.

At the kitchen island, Andrew felt tension drain from his shoulders hearing Wanda’s account. He caught Olek Maximoff staring, lifted his glass of scotch, and offered a silent, forced toast.

Anya blinked, processing Wanda’s story. ”So, they’re afraid of Hawk?”

”DADDY IS THE STRONGEST!” Jean, nestled in her aunt’s arms, shouted her declaration with childish pride.

Anya’s brow arched. She looked down and pressed a loud kiss to her niece’s cheek. ”Excellent point. That deserves a reward.”

Jean giggled, burying her face against Anya’s chest.

Anya looked up at Wanda, shrugging. ”They wouldn’t risk throwing a punch at you. They’re terrified of Hawk hunting them down.”

She had been back among the living for six months. Half a year was plenty of time to learn what her brother had been up to while she was dead.

Anya’s heart broke for him.

She knew her brother. He was kind.

During her hospital stays, when nurses or doctors had been rude or dismissive, Hawk had always swallowed his pride, speaking softly, sometimes begging them to ensure she got the care she needed.

Then she died. And her brother changed.

Anya understood the catalyst.

His transformation—the ruthlessness, the massacres, the willingness to exterminate bloodlines—it was born from losing her.

But... She didn’t feel disgusted by him. The more she learned, the more guilty she felt. Her death had turned him into this.

To her, he was still just her big brother.

He was her world!

Past, present, and future!

So, Anya had faith in Hawk. The events in the park proved her right: even hostile alien forces wouldn’t touch Hawk’s family, paralyzed by the fear of what he would do.

Unlike certain factions on Earth. Powerless, lacking even the basic sense of an alien foot soldier, they had provoked him over and over, earning her brother the moniker of Demon King.

Anya cursed the fools, then focused on Wanda. ”So, the aliens are terrified to touch us. That’s a good thing, right?”

Wanda shook her head. ”I don’t know.”

”Why?”

”Hawk has two Infinity Stones.” Wanda’s brow creased. ”They should have targeted us. At the very least, they should have tried to take us hostage to leverage Hawk into surrendering the Stones. Thanos is scouring the universe for them.”

Anya rolled her eyes. ”You aren’t hoping they try to kidnap us, are you? Hawk doesn’t negotiate with hostage-takers. Compromising once just proves you’ll compromise a thousand times.”

The image of Mephisto holding her captive in Hell flashed through her mind—the demon threatening her brother, only to be met with Hawk’s counter-ultimatum.

Wanda recalled Strucker’s attempt to leverage Jean, Billy, and Tommy. Hawk had ignored the threat and dismantled Strucker’s operation instead.

True, Nothing and no one could be used to threaten him.

Wait... Gwen was the exception.

Wanda’s heart skipped a beat as she remembered Gwen’s disappearance. A sharp breath hitched in her throat.

”Hiss!”

Had Thanos abducted Gwen? Did he have a death wish?

No, It couldn’t be Thanos.

Wanda’s thoughts raced as she ruled out Thanos. If he had dared to kidnap Gwen, his team wouldn’t have been so careful not to hurt the rest of the family in the park.

Stepping back from the panic to look at it... Gwen meant more to Hawk than everyone else in the living room put together.

Maybe Anya was the only exception.

Wanda turned the logic over in her mind.

Anya saw Wanda’s face change from panic to deep thought. She blinked. ”What are you thinking about?”

”Nothing.” Wanda snapped out of her thoughts, looked at Anya, and shook her head. ”I’m wondering where your brother is, and if there’s any way to reach him.”

Anya shook her head. ”Don’t ask me. When I was in the Underworld, I could call him just by thinking about it. But now that I’m alive, it’s different.”

Just then, Jean, still wrapped in her aunt’s arms, raised a small hand.

Anya and Wanda looked down at the four-year-old. ”What is it, Jean?”

”Auntie Anya, you said you couldn’t reach Daddy?”

”I couldn’t talk to him when he was up in the big tree, but I can feel him now.”

Jean said this with cheerful confidence.

Wanda’s face brightened with hope. ”That’s wonderful! Where is he, Jean? When will he be back on Earth?”

”Daddy is...”

”I’m already here!”

”...”

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