~ Support & Read 70 Advanced Chapters on Patreon!
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Savage!
Ruthless!
Merciless!
These were the first thoughts that came to Professor X when he glimpsed Hawk's mind.
For small offenses, he destroyed whole families. For bigger ones, he wiped out entire bloodlines. In the memories Xavier saw, Hawk was always either wiping out a family or heading off to do it.
Xavier always thought he understood evil. He believed he could picture the worst kind of villainy.
But that was before.
After seeing Hawk's mind, Xavier realized that Sebastian Shaw, whom he once thought was humanity's greatest threat and nearly caused a global disaster, seemed almost saintly by comparison.
Simply put, Shaw wasn't even qualified to tie Hawk's shoes.
So when Xavier came back from Cairo, he decided to lecture Magneto and tried to get his old friend to believe in humanity again. But he didn't dare say anything to Hawk about destroying the US capital.
The reason was simple.
If he lectured Magneto, Magneto wouldn't kill him.
But if he tried to lecture Hawk?
Uh...
Xavier's gut told him he'd be dead in seconds.
One memory from Hawk's mind stood out: Beat them half to death first, then ask questions. At first, it seemed like Hawk was just a brute who only understood violence, like Magneto.
But...
Xavier also saw the memory of Hawk dealing with Mephisto. Hawk knew from the start that the Lord of Hell was trying to trick him, but he let the demon dig his own grave and ended up outsmarting him completely.
That memory told Xavier all he needed to know. Hawk wasn't just strong—he was smart, too. He was nothing like Magneto, who was clueless about strategy.
Xavier cared about people, but he wasn't foolish. Since coming back from Cairo, he had no plans to ever cross paths with Hawk again.
He had one goal: make sure Hawk, Wanda, and Jean had no reason to go on a rampage before they left this universe.
Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Xavier met Jean's gaze. "You staying here is the best outcome for everyone involved."
Even if the congressional hearing in DC next month turned out to be a trap.
While the chances of a trap were low, Xavier still believed in humanity and thought they could find common ground without violence. Still, he couldn't rule out the risk. If it were a trap, he'd rather he and Magneto got caught than risk Jean getting hurt.
If he and Magneto were arrested, it would only cost two lives.
But if something happened to Jean in Washington?
Pfft... Their Earth—
No, it was doubtful their whole universe would even survive what came next.
Xavier remembered the first snowfall three days ago. Since then, he'd felt a frightening power hanging over everything.
It was a force he couldn't describe. Even with his strong telepathy, he only caught brief glimpses of a phantom Phoenix.
It was waiting just outside their universe.
Every time the phantom Phoenix cried out or beat its wings, reality itself seemed to shake. Xavier could feel the universe straining to keep the entity out.
But as time passed, Xavier knew the inevitable was coming. The moment the Phoenix broke through and entered their world was getting closer.
It was obvious.
That was Hawk Phoenix's true power.
It was the power of a warrior who woke, grew, and rose through battle. He had fought countless wars and turned his body into the ultimate weapon.
Xavier held back another sigh.
"Professor, if that's what you're worried about, then I should definitely go with you." Jean frowned.
Xavier looked at her.
Jean smiled. "Professor, you said you trust them, right? If it's not a trap, everyone wins. But if it is, I'll make sure it's not a problem. Seriously, the IRS still hasn't sent a tax bill to our house on Palm Street."
Everyone knows that in America, only two things are certain: death and taxes.
But...
Hawk was actually friends with Death and basically ran his own Underworld.
As for taxes?
Their house on Palm Street had never gotten a property tax bill.
Jean remembered asking about it last Christmas when she saw Beast sorting out the mansion's taxes.
Her mom, Wanda, just looked confused and said, "We have to pay taxes?" Her dad, Hawk, laughed and said he'd pay if the IRS ever sent a bill, but they never had.
Which made perfect sense.
The IRS might have its own armed agents, but compared to the Pentagon, they were nothing.
More importantly, the IRS didn't want their headquarters to suddenly get hit by a "meteorite" and turn into a crater. Everyone in the government, from the White House to the lowest clerk, remembered the mass funeral for the former president and those generals two years ago. No one wanted to be next.
"So..."
"If you and Magneto go alone, there might be a trap."
"But if I go, there will definitely be no trap." Summarizing her logic, Jean smiled at the Professor, who looked like he wanted to argue. "Don't worry, Professor. I'll talk to my dad about it tonight. I'll only go if he says it's okay, deal?"
Xavier tried to find the words to object, but Jean was already standing up.
"Alright, Professor. I'm going to head home and ask him. If he agrees, I'm in."
Without giving Xavier a chance to respond, she turned and walked out of the conference room.
——————————
When Jean got home, Hawk had already finished his ten thousand punches for the day. He was soaking in a hot bath, eyes closed, fast asleep.
While Jean was downstairs telling Wanda about the hearing, Hawk, still asleep, found himself once again at the gates of the Eighth Sense.
His body felt weak and sore, but his spirit was at its peak.
Fueled by his spirit, Phoenix flames surrounded him, forming perfect armor made of fire.
He stared at the gates of the Eighth Sense, now fifty steps away after he'd stepped back two years ago. Hawk cleared his mind and lifted his right foot.
The next second.
The universe's malice came down on him again. In a moment, the souls of everyone he'd killed twisted together and appeared around him. The dark mass shrieked with mocking laughter and lunged at Hawk as he walked.
But!
This time was different.
In the past, Hawk had been forced to divert a massive amount of his energy to fend off this cosmic malice. Every step had been an agonizing struggle.
This time, he didn't even look at the darkness crashing down on him. He kept his eyes on the gates of the Eighth Sense and walked forward, steady and calm.
As soon as the malice reached him, the Phoenix fire around him burst out. A sharp bird cry echoed through the void, and the space turned gold and crimson.
The flames swept out. As soon as the mocking malice touched the fire, its laughter turned into screams of agony and despair.
And then—
It vanished!
As the crimson-gold flames hit the black malice, the fire quickly ate up the darkness. The growing light made a golden path at Hawk's feet, leading straight to the gates of the Eighth Sense.
Forty steps!
Thirty steps!
Twenty steps!
Ten steps!
Five steps!
Hawk finally stopped, standing exactly five steps away from the threshold. He could feel it. He knew he could step into the Eighth Sense right now if he wanted.
But he stopped.
There was no complicated reason...
He was just tired. Before, he would have pushed through without thinking, determined to finish it all at once.
But now? He'd learned that going faster wasn't always better than going steady.
Speed had its perks, but the risks were huge. For example, he was lucky that Death was just playful and treated reality like a game. If Death had really meant him harm, he'd have been in big trouble.
Of course, he wouldn't have actually died.
Even though Death was sure that killing him in every timeline would erase him, he still wouldn't have died.
The reason was simple.
There was one timeline where neither Apocalypse nor Death could ever kill him.
That's because the guardian of that timeline wasn't Hawk—it was a mythical beast!
So, even if Apocalypse had managed to kill him in every timeline he could find, Hawk still wouldn't have died. It just would have taken him a long time to be reborn from the Phoenix fire.
That was another reason he'd grabbed Wanda's hand, trying to stop her from entering his timeline.
Unfortunately—
The past cannot be changed.
What happened was always destined to happen.
❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
~ 70 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)