Marvel: The Awakened One

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”Will they actually hand William Stryker over?”

”They will.”

Hawk hovered high above Quantico, listening to Wanda’s question. ”They don’t have a choice.”

He had just destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars in military equipment and left hundreds dead.

But as people say, out with the old and in with the new.

Right now, it might seem like only a few hundred million in damage, but Hawk was sure the military would soon claim it was billions.

He had dealt with the Feds enough times to know how they worked.

More importantly, he had shown his power but kept it under control. He sent a clear message to General Ross and the others: give him what he wanted, and no one else would die.

Magneto was different. He used wide-ranging attacks. That kind of violence left no hope for survival and forced the military into a corner.

Hawk played by different rules.

He could be violent, but he was also willing to negotiate.

”They’ll give me exactly what I want.”

”...” Wanda blinked as she took it all in. She looked at him. ”So that’s your angle? Is that why you did all this?”

Seeing her expression, Hawk gave a short laugh. ”What else? Did you really think I did this out of kindness?”

Wanda nodded instinctively.

She really did. She believed Hawk was holding back, avoiding a full war with the government out of decency, and settling for Stryker to stop the killing.

Hawk sneered.

”I’m not a good guy, Wanda.”

”Not in any sense of the word.”

”I hate to say it, but benefits and personal interests always come first.”

Kindness? Don’t make him laugh. Good guys die young. Preaching morality to someone who could wipe out a world on a whim was a joke.

To put it simply, Hawk spared Quantico from destruction for one reason: William Stryker wasn’t here yet.

He came to force the military’s hand, making them give up a man he couldn’t find on his own.

William Stryker was the prize.

Every move he made was for that goal. The ten-minute warning, the fake talks with General Ross, pretending to show mercy—it was all an act to make the base hand over Stryker.

Mercy was just an excuse.

As the saying goes, you can lie to the world, but don’t lie to yourself.

Hawk was fully aware. He didn’t care if others, even Gwen, called him a good person. He could call himself that too. But deep down, he knew the truth. He was never kind.

He was ruthless and believed the ends always justified the means.

He was just like the rest. Nothing special.

It was the same when he stole the World Tree. Even with a gun to Gwen’s head, he chose the prize over safety.

So, Hawk looked at Wanda, softening his voice. ”I was never a hero.”

”No. You are!!” Wanda shook her head and met his eyes. ”I don’t care what anyone else thinks. To me, you’re a hero. You’re a father who walked into a trap to save his daughter without a second thought.”

They looked at each other.

Hawk smiled. ”You really believe that?”

”I don’t just believe it. I know it,” Wanda said, her face serious. ”Jean will be thrilled when she sees you coming for her. She adores you, even if she spent more time with me.”

Hawk gave a small smile.

”Thanks.”

”Don’t mention it.” Wanda changed the subject. ”So, do you have an answer yet? Is this universe a trap or just an accident?”

Hawk looked away and closed his eyes.

A moment later, He sent his mind into his Cosmo.

Inside, the Phoenix’s shadow still covered the cosmos. Countless stars burned and flickered. His energy reserves were still full. His power came from within, and wherever he went, his universe went with him.

He could sense the power waiting for him, but in the real world—he couldn’t use any of it.

But it was just like in his home universe. Back then, he needed the Reality Stone as an anchor, a bridge to use his full strength.

This Dimension felt just like the days before he got the stone. An invisible barrier blocked his power.

He wasn’t sure if that barrier was some kind of defense or just a rule of the universe.

Still, he knew one thing for sure.

”This universe doesn’t welcome me.”

”Good thing we don’t need a welcome mat, right?” Wanda shrugged. ”It doesn’t want us here, and we didn’t want to come here. We find our daughter, and we leave.”

She really hated being here.

After what happened in the mutant underground, she felt even worse. She wasn’t a mutant, but seeing those Sentinel agents kill people so brutally made her feel sick.

It was just disgust. She didn’t fit in here. She was only here for her child.

So once they found Jean, no one would have to tell them to leave. The family would pack up and go on their own.

”Right...” Wanda thought of Jean, looking back at Hawk. ”You mentioned earlier that we don’t need to hunt down this Professor X. You said we could make him bring our daughter to us. Think he’s already on his way?”

Hawk frowned. ”The man is a Telepath. His abilities revolve around mind control and psychic perception. With his Cerebro machine, he can scan and hijack the mind of every mutant and human on the planet without ever leaving his living room.”

Wanda thought for a second. ”I haven’t felt anyone poking around in my head.”

Hawk shrugged. ”Me neither. Don’t worry about it. One thing at a time.”

First, extract William Stryker from the military.

Then... let the military extract Professor X for them. Problem solved.

It was simple. He didn’t want to bother tracking down Xavier’s school. If he were playing nice, maybe he’d try. But he’d already started a fight. If he had to do all the work after that, what was the point of using force in the first place?

Seeing Hawk already had a plan locked in, Wanda nodded.

As they talked, time passed. A black dot appeared in the sky, growing larger and clearer as it came closer.

It was a Sentinel Services helicopter, racing to bring William Stryker as fast as it could.

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”Tsk. Look at what you did, Stryker.”

Inside the cabin, Aditya looked out the window at the huge red dome covering the Quantico base.

He clicked his tongue and turned to Stryker. ”Sentinel Services went underground to stop radical mutants from destroying everything. Now, because of your personal mission, ten generals are in danger.”

When the agency went dark years ago—the official story fed to the public was a truce brokered by Professor X.

The truth?

Magneto dropped a huge stadium on the White House and nearly wiped out the country’s leaders all at once.

That was the real reason they locked him up and shut down the agency.

Mutants hurting civilians were seen as a tragedy they could accept. Mutants attacking the political elite? That was out of the question.

So—

They officially closed Sentinel Services to keep mutants from getting desperate, but behind the scenes, nothing really stopped. They kept hunting, collecting the X-Gene, and trying to decipher the genetic code so they could create their own obedient mutants.

Over time, Magneto disappeared. People became less afraid. The threat faded, and the hardliners began returning to take control.

Men like William Stryker...

Just like Hawk said, people like that only respect force, not goodness.

Without fear, those people got bolder. With Stryker in charge, Sentinel Services had increased their purges over the past year.

And now, here they were.

”You kicked a landmine.” Aditya spotted Hawk and Wanda hovering in the sky over the base. He looked back at Stryker’s pale, rigid face. ”You wanted our strike teams to capture mutants like that alive? Great plan. Before you could catch them, they caught you.”

Stryker glared at Aditya, his face twisting with raw fury at the mockery.

”Compromise makes us look weak. They’ll just keep pushing.”

”Whatever.” Aditya didn’t care. ”I’m dropping you off, then checking myself into Washington Memorial for a sick leave.”

Hide for a month. See how the dust settles.

If the military wins, he steps up as the new Director of Sentinel Services.

If the mutants win?

Let’s put it this way.

At least he’d still be breathing. Right?

Hearing Aditya’s cowardly plan, Stryker saw red. ”Coward. Spineless trash. Useless—”

”...” Aditya shot him a deadpan look.

”At least I’ll be breathing. You, my friend? You probably won’t live to see the sunset.”

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