Marvel: The Awakened One

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He who plays with fire gets burned.

Injecting Serum No. 8 let Sentinel Blaze control fire, but it didn’t make him immune. He was a fake mutant—and even real mutants were still flesh and blood in the end.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

As soon as Blaze fell into the burning fuel depot, the flames swallowed him up. He didn’t even have time to react, much less use his power to push the fire away.

The fire—already lighting up half the sky—grew even bigger when it took him.

”BLAZE!!!” The remaining members of the Sentinel Strategic Task Force screamed in fury as their teammate was tossed into the inferno like trash.

But when they looked back up, Hawk had vanished from his spot above the depot.

Evolution, the team leader, saw a blur out of the corner of his eye.

Hawk had appeared right in front of Puppet—his girlfriend.

”...” Evolution’s face changed.

As Hawk threw what looked like a normal punch, Evolution jumped in front of Puppet, shielding her and taking the hit directly.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

He was launched off his feet.

”EVOLUTION!”

Puppet watched her boyfriend get thrown back like a broken rag doll by a single punch and screamed his name.

Next to her, Ghost snapped back to reality. She grabbed Puppet’s right hand, made them as unnoticeable as possible, and ran for the edge of the base, pulling Puppet with her.

Hawk’s vision blurred for a moment. Then he saw the two women running away and realized why he hadn’t noticed the squad sneaking up on him before.

Presence suppression.

He knew this trick well. After he got the Reality Stone, he used it more than once to make himself completely unnoticed.

But hiding your presence and being truly invisible are two different things. Suppression only works if you do it before anyone sees you, so people just overlook you.

’I’m looking right at you, and you’re still trying to hide? It’s like burying your head in the sand and calling it hiding.’

Hawk scoffed. With one step, he blocked the path of the two women trying to escape.

Ghost stared in horror at the man who appeared in front of her. Before she could say anything, Hawk silently reached out and grabbed her head with his right hand.

Squish!

Splurt!

A warm, wet spray hit Puppet’s face, and she shut her eyes without thinking. When she opened them again, her teammate’s headless body was falling beside her, blood pouring from her neck.

Puppet’s eyes widened. Frozen in shock, she could only watch as Hawk’s bloody hand reached for her head.

”STOP!”

A furious roar echoed across the tarmac.

Evolution, who had been thrown away just moments before, suddenly appeared next to his girlfriend and threw a desperate, full-strength punch at Hawk’s chest.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Hawk flew backward like a streak of red lightning. He crashed through a burning three-story building and slammed into the side of a burning tank. The tank’s armor bent under the impact, finally stopping him.

Hawk calmly pulled himself out of the wreck, his face expressionless. He stood up, then floated off the ground again. His cold eyes now showed a bit of curiosity as he looked at the male Sentinel protecting Puppet.

Hawk was sure of one thing. Before that punch, this man’s energy had been weak. But now, an aura came from him that felt like it directly countered Hawk’s own.

”Interesting...” Hawk let out a soft laugh, eyes locked on him. ”What exactly is your mutant ability?”

Evolution kept Puppet behind him. He glanced at the remaining duration of his Serum No. 8 out of the corner of his eye, then glared back. ”An ability designed to kill an anti-human terrorist like you.”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground broke under his feet as he shot forward, a streak of blue light heading straight for Hawk.

Hawk sneered at the answer. Seeing the Sentinel attack made him laugh even more. Then he turned into a streak of red light, and red and blue crashed together, fist to fist.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A shockwave blasted out in a ring, throwing bodies, burning vehicles, and debris into the air.

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”Beautiful.”

”Evolution really does counter this damned mutant perfectly.”

”Phew!”

Fifty meters under the Pentagon, behind thick concrete, was a bunker that could only be opened from the inside once sealed. Not even bunker-busters or nuclear bombs could break in.

Inside were the surviving generals from Quantico, the same ones who ordered the counterattack on Xavier’s School after Hawk left.

The mood in the bunker was grim, especially after Hawk killed the Sentinels and soldiers sent to the school. When he came back to Quantico and destroyed the base again right in front of them, the mood got even worse.

But now, as they watched Evolution fighting Hawk on the live feed and even seeming to win, the generals’ spirits lifted.

”Of course he does.”

”The ability Evolution gained from Serum No. 8 essentially makes him stronger the stronger his opponent is.”

”Exactly. Every time he takes a hit, his ability analyzes the opponent’s attack pattern and generates a counter that’s mathematically stronger.”

”Is there an upper limit?”

”We never found one during testing.”

”And as squad leader of the Strategic Task Force, his batch of Serum No. 8 was specially formulated.”

”Right. The standard dose the other Sentinels received only lasts five minutes. Once time’s up, the ability vanishes. Evolution can hold his form much longer.”

”How long?”

”Fifteen minutes.”

”That’s more than enough.”

General Thaddeus Ross’s eyes practically glowed as he watched the feed. Seeing Evolution suppressing Hawk on the screen, he rose from his chair, his voice dropping an octave. ”Tell Evolution that if possible, I want this damned mutant taken ali…”

He never finished the sentence.

Ross fell silent, his pupils shrinking. Just when he thought the danger was over and felt ready to order Evolution to capture the mutant, the screen changed. Hawk stopped moving, then calmly threw a punch that sent Evolution flying.

Ross assumed Evolution would bounce right back up, the way he had before. Hawk didn’t give him the chance. In a flash, he reappeared behind the airborne Sentinel and delivered a second, devastating blow.

Then a third. Then a fourth.

One punch. Two punches. Three punches.

In an instant, Evolution, who had lost all balance and control even as his power kept growing, was knocked back and forth across the sky over Quantico like a shuttlecock. If Evolution was the shuttlecock, Hawk was the racket.

As Hawk’s punches kept coming without a break, Evolution’s face changed. The healthy color faded to a pale shade, then quickly turned a dark, bruised black.

The power inside him kept building up, and he had no way to let it out. He was like a kettle being filled with water nonstop. No matter how big the kettle is, it still has a limit.

When boiling water fills a sealed kettle and the pressure can’t escape, what happens?

It explodes.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Once Evolution’s face turned completely black, Hawk delivered one final punch.

Sent flying, Evolution detonated in mid-air.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The power exploded from his body in all directions, along with a cloud of blood and gore.

Down on the ground, Puppet watched the scene unfold, her eyes wide with grief.

”NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Whoosh!

As blood fell from the sky, Hawk appeared in front of the screaming woman, his face blank. He reached out, grabbed her throat, and lifted her off the ground.

”Heartbroken?”

”Don’t worry.”

”I’ll send you to keep him company.”

Crunch!

His right hand squeezed, crushing her neck.

He dropped her body without looking back, then stared at the hidden camera behind the Sentinel badge on her chest. He looked straight through the lens at the generals watching the feed.

”Thaddeus Ross. I gave you a chance to live. Too bad you didn’t cherish it... Don’t worry. I’m coming for you right now!!”

”…”

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