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Gwen looked at Sharon's serious expression, and when Sharon mentioned Dr. Merrick—the cloning specialist who'd been replaced—a terrifying thought crystallized in her mind.
Just as she was processing the shocking implications—
Tony Stark's voice cut through her thoughts, confirming the exact theory that had just formed.
"Damn."
"They're cloning Hawk."
"But they don't have—"
Gwen drew in a sharp breath, turning toward Tony as he approached. She was about to deny the horrifying possibility when her words suddenly caught in her throat.
She'd been about to say that HYDRA didn't have any of Hawk's DNA, so how could they possibly clone him?
But then she remembered.
She'd accompanied Hawk when he'd sold his blood that one time.
Right before he went to get revenge on the Hulk.
She remembered it clearly.
And the buyer had been Anna.
Which meant—
Gwen's head snapped toward Hawk.
"Anna..."
"She wouldn't betray me."
Hawk's consciousness had already returned. He'd snapped back the moment Tony mentioned HYDRA's cloning project.
After speaking, Hawk let out an internal sigh.
Not because of the cloning.
But because he'd realized he couldn't get back to that deep realm where the Seventh Sense resided.
Still...
No point rushing it.
He'd take what came.
If he got it, great. If not, that's life. Besides, he still had the Mind Stone as a backup plan. The Seventh Sense was his—it was just a matter of time.
Hawk pushed the thought aside, stood up from his seat, and looked at Gwen with a smile. "If Anna had betrayed me, do you really think Alexander Pierce would have chosen death over giving up her location?"
Gwen's eyebrows rose.
Hawk didn't elaborate further. He turned toward the massive screen displaying the files JARVIS had recovered, and in a blur, appeared directly in front of it.
Sharon instinctively looked at Gwen.
"Anna has a sample of Hawk's blood?"
"Yeah."
Gwen nodded, glancing at Hawk as he reviewed the files on the screen, then spoke quietly. "Hawk traded his blood to Anna once."
Sharon and Tony exchanged a glance.
Both of them had the same look of sudden understanding.
After recovering the files about the suspected cloning project, they'd been wondering how HYDRA had gotten hold of Hawk's DNA.
It wasn't like they'd disguised themselves as janitors, collected the garbage from 521A Bleecker Street, picked through used condoms, and extracted DNA that way.
More importantly, The timeline didn't match up.
Based on the data Tony and the others had recovered, it looked like HYDRA had started testing the feasibility of cloning Hawk long before he'd moved to Bleecker Street.
Now, hearing Gwen's explanation, the mystery finally made sense.
And then, All three of them turned to look at Hawk.
By now, Hawk had already speed-read through everything JARVIS had managed to restore from HYDRA's systems.
Yes.
HYDRA really had been trying to clone him.
But Hawk wasn't surprised.
After all, he already knew the reason HYDRA had launched their operation—Gwen had told him about Dr. Merrick being replaced.
So when he'd heard that, combined with Alexander Pierce's stubborn refusal to talk and Strucker's comment in Sokovia—"No one in this world is immortal, and you're no exception"—Hawk had already formed a pretty solid theory.
This just confirmed it.
It also explained why Alexander Pierce had chosen to antagonize him instead of maintaining their good relationship.
Cloning.
After replacing Dr. Merrick, HYDRA had planned to clone Hawk—create a version they could actually control—and then use that clone to kill the real Hawk, who, while friendly with HYDRA, was also friendly with SHIELD.
Only something like cloning would make Hawk furious enough to completely annihilate HYDRA once he found out.
After all, Hawk had explicitly said they could use his blood for anything—as long as they didn't clone him.
That's why Alexander Pierce had refused to talk.
Even now, trapped in the Frozen Hell, dying over and over and being resurrected in an endless cycle, he still hadn't begged for mercy.
Except...
All of this—Pierce's assumptions, HYDRA's plans—were based on a fundamental misunderstanding.
When he'd sold his blood, he'd already anticipated that HYDRA might try to pull some weird experiments with it.
Cloning included.
HYDRA wasn't exactly known for their moral compass. They'd prepared all those meteorites, brought all those "gifts"—obviously, they wanted something. Something big.
Hawk genuinely didn't care. When he'd told Anna not to use his blood for cloning, it had been more of a casual warning than anything else. A little reminder to keep HYDRA in check.
His actual message had been simple:
If you're going to clone me, do it quietly. Just don't let me find out.
But HYDRA had apparently misunderstood him.
...
Hawk's thoughts drifted as he realized this. He couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh, shook his head in exasperation, and turned around.
The next second, he found himself facing three pairs of eyes. One nervous, one worried, one curious.
Hawk looked at Gwen, who was clearly tense, and raised an eyebrow as he walked over to her.
"What's wrong?"
"...Hawk, are you okay?"
Gwen snapped out of her thoughts, carefully studying Hawk's face—which showed no signs of anger or distress—and asked cautiously.
After all, this was cloning.
HYDRA had been secretly cloning Hawk. No wonder Alexander Pierce had chosen death over revealing the truth.
Because either way, he was dead. And talking might have made his death even worse. So why bother?
Hawk looked at Gwen's anxious expression and chuckled. "Relax. It's just cloning. I figured it out the moment Pierce refused to talk."
Gwen blinked. "You already guessed?"
Hawk rubbed his chin with his good hand. "It was a theory back then. Now it's just confirmed. Why else would HYDRA go through all the trouble of replacing Dr. Merrick if not for his cloning expertise?"
Cloning technology itself wasn't that difficult.
Especially in the Marvel Universe, where advanced tech was everywhere. Cloning was high-end, sure, but not exactly cutting-edge.
The problem was that life was science's forbidden zone.
Other scientists had tried cloning experiments. Cloning animals worked fine. But when they tried cloning humans, all they got was a pile of rotting flesh.
But Dr. Merrick was different.
Here was the thing.
Dr. Merrick was currently the only person who had successfully cloned a human and given that clone a functioning consciousness.
Science couldn't explain it.
But metaphysics could. Simply put, Dr. Merrick seemed capable of granting souls to his clones.
That was why SHIELD hadn't gone after just any cloning specialist—they'd specifically targeted Merrick.
Sharon, standing nearby, watched Hawk's calm demeanor and listened to his steady voice. She couldn't help but ask, "Hawk, HYDRA's cloning you. You're not angry?"
"Look at my left arm."
"What?"
Sharon instinctively glanced at Hawk's arm, still in its sling.
Hawk smiled. "If I were angry, I would've already taken this thing off by now."
Sharon's expression froze.
Oh. Right.
If Hawk were furious about this, he wouldn't be standing here calmly. He'd be... well, definitely not standing here calmly.
Tony, standing off to the side, was more concerned about something else entirely.
"If HYDRA actually succeeds in cloning you, how strong would the clone be compared to you?"
"You're asking if the clone would be stronger than me, or if I'd be stronger than the clone."
"Yes."
"Remember my Armor?"
Hawk watched Tony nod, then let out a short laugh. "This is the same question you asked me last night. You asked if HYDRA's knockoff armor could compare to my armor."
Tony frowned.
"What if it's your clone wearing the knockoff armor?"
"Ha!"
Hawk burst out laughing.
And then—
SCREECH!
A phoenix cry echoed through the room. In an instant, a massive, crystal-clear, impossibly real projection of a fire phoenix materialized behind Hawk.
Within the embrace of the phoenix's folded wings, another vast image appeared—a boundless universe filled with countless stars, rotating slowly as if it had no foundation holding it in place.
"This is the true source of my power."
"My bloodline descendants can inherit my strength."
"But a clone?"
"A fake is a fake. They might be able to copy my face, but there's no way they can replicate the source of my power."
You think you can just clone him and instantly gain the strength he'd spent blood, sweat, and years building up?
What kind of joke was that?
It was the same reason no one could ever perfectly replicate his Saint Cloth.
Because the key to the Cloth was the Saint.
And the key to the Saint?
The Cosmo.
So, Even if HYDRA managed to clone him, so what? Could they replicate his Cosmo too?
Zero chance.
If HYDRA could mass-produce clones with Cosmo, would they really still be stuck on Earth, failing to take over twice in a row?
If they had that kind of technology, they would've conquered the universe by now.
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