Marvel: The Awakened One

”A month ago?”

”Yes.”

The one-eared man named Oz explained, ”The demon... Skull Island is surrounded by a massive, violent storm system. If you don’t know the route, the moment you enter, the storm will tear you apart.”

He paused.

Oz sucked in a sharp breath, trying to ease the pain in his ear, then continued looking at Hawk. ”Miss Hardy and Mr. Parker suspected that if the Parkers didn’t die in an accident over a decade ago, they should be on that Skull Island.”

Hawk raised an eyebrow.

”Richard Parker and Mary Parker?”

”Yes.”

”So it was just Peter and Felicia who went up there?”

”There was also a squad of eight soldiers. Because of the time window, according to the plan, those of us on the outside were supposed to deliver a month’s worth of supplies that day.”

”The day after we were attacked.”

”But then...”

”Our people were all killed. Even the modified supply helicopter they were going to use was stolen.”

”Fortunately, they didn’t touch the supplies. That’s the only reason I’m still alive.”

”Otherwise...”

Oz shook his head with a bitter sigh.

Then he grimaced, instinctively trying to cover his painful ear. The moment his hand touched it, his face twisted and he let out a strangled yelp.

It looked genuinely excruciating.

Didn’t seem fake.

Hawk thought to himself, waiting for Oz to stop gasping in pain and calm down before asking, ”Where’s Skull Island? Point in the direction.”

Oz pulled a cracked compass from his pocket, checked it, then pointed east.

”There. Fly about fifty kilometers in that direction, and you’ll see a massive storm system.”

”Compasses stop working there.”

”This is the closest safe distance. That’s exactly why this experimental platform was built here.”

”Thanks.”

Hawk thanked the one-eared man, then prepared to leave.

Oz froze.

”Wait, when’s the backup arriving? My ear—”

”They’re here.”

”Where??”

Oz rushed to the window excitedly, looking out at the vast ocean that had already fallen dark. Then he turned around, staring at Hawk in confusion.

But, Hawk was gone.

”What the—”

”Where’d he go?”

Oz stared at the empty doorway. A chill shot up his spine straight to the top of his skull, and he couldn’t help but shiver.

...

Not long after.

Hawk had already reached the massive storm system Oz had mentioned. Without hesitation, he dove straight into it.

The next moment, the sky changed color.

RUMBLE!

Inside the massive storm system, enormous bolts of lightning in every color imaginable continuously struck down, illuminating the churning black clouds around them.

Within the storm clouds were countless massive whirlpools. They rotated violently, and even lightning that got caught in them was instantly torn apart.

Hawk flew through it at breakneck speed.

Lightning of various colors and types constantly flashed around him. With a burst of red light, a barrel-thick red bolt of lightning came crashing straight toward Hawk.

Just as the lightning was about to make contact, Hawk’s figure flickered, and he’d already left it behind.

He’d originally wanted to test whether his body could tank a lightning strike.

But at that moment, he suddenly remembered the time on Mars when Thor had gone all out and summoned his thunder. The sensation of countless bolts of lightning hitting his body had been... unforgettable. The thought was enough to make him instantly abandon any idea of sampling this red lightning.

After ditching his masochistic impulse, Hawk’s speed increased once more. Before long, he burst through the thick storm system.

The next second, It was like entering another world.

”Whoa.”

Having broken through the pitch-black storm system behind him, Hawk floated quietly in the air, staring at the scene before him. He couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of wonder.

Before his eyes—

The sky was blue. Brilliantly, impossibly blue.

The clouds were white. Pure, snow-white.

And the seawater below was black. The kind of black where you couldn’t see the bottom.

Clear water meant shallow depths. Green water meant deep. Black water meant the abyss.

But...

”That’s not right.”

”When I came in, it was already dark outside.”

”Here...”

”The time’s messed up?”

Hawk looked up at the azure sky, recalling the scene when he’d entered—how it had already been night outside. He immediately ruled out the incorrect answer that he’d spent an entire night flying through the storm clouds.

At most, it had taken him less than three minutes to pass through the storm layer.

And even then, two of those minutes had been spent debating whether or not to taste those colorful lightning bolts.

But now, the sky outside was dark, while the sky here was bright daylight. That could only mean one thing.

The time here had been scrambled by the thick, massive storm system surrounding it—which looked an awful lot like a giant donut.

As Hawk thought about it, his eyes easily locked onto the Skull Island Oz had mentioned.

Actually, he didn’t need to search for it at all.

Because in this vast, calm sea, there was only one island. And just like Oz had described, from above, the entire island really did look like a massive skull.

It reminded Hawk of a strange place that existed in the Marvel Universe.

Knowhere.

Knowhere was supposedly formed from the severed head of an ancient Celestial. And time flowed differently inside Knowhere compared to the outside world.

Was this place also created from a Celestial’s skull?

Hawk wondered, staring at the massive island in the distance that looked exactly like a giant skull.

Most of the island was covered in dense vegetation. The trees were enormous, vines tangled everywhere.

At the center of the island, there appeared to be steep mountain peaks and deep valleys.

The island was dotted with mountain ranges, with multiple waterfalls cascading down from the cliffs.

However, Looking at it this way, there didn’t seem to be any signs of life on the island.

Hawk thought to himself, adjusting his position and flying toward Skull Island.

But just as he was about to reach the island’s coastline, suddenly, a crushing pressure slammed into him.

In an instant—

He felt his energy being forcibly suppressed.

”Damn it!”

”What the hell??”

Feeling like he was about to crash, Hawk quickly retreated, pulling back from the coastline. Once his energy stabilized, he couldn’t help but curse under his breath. He stared at the island before him with a mix of surprise and suspicion. From the outside, it looked completely ordinary—just a little scary in appearance.

But he was absolutely certain the sensation he’d just felt wasn’t an illusion.

That feeling was all too familiar.

Back when he’d been on the African continent and had his first encounter with Mephisto—even though Mephisto hadn’t shown up in person, just projected through Demon Hulk’s body to talk to him—the terrible sense of dread he’d felt from Mephisto was almost identical to what he’d just experienced.

It was the invisible dominance of a superior being over an inferior one.

”So...”

”Is this Skull Island really a Celestial’s skull?”

Hawk’s thoughts churned as he stood outside Skull Island, looking at the place that had seemed so ordinary moments ago but now appeared impossibly mysterious.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go in anymore.

A wise man doesn’t stand beneath a crumbling wall.

He couldn’t get a read on this bizarre Skull Island. What if there was real danger inside? Sure, he wouldn’t die—he’d just be reborn—but the process of being reborn sucked.

Even the Phoenix itself, despite everyone knowing that rebirth made you stronger afterward, never deliberately killed itself before a fight.

Just then, A sudden roar echoed out.

The next second—

Hawk, who had been floating calmly outside Skull Island, saw movement below in the dense canopy. A massive tree seemed to be ripped out by its roots, then came hurtling toward him like a meteor.

”Well, well.”

”Looks like there’s a tough guy down there after all.”

Hawk thought to himself, then swung his right fist.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

With a supersonic punch, his fist shot forward. But the moment it entered Skull Island’s range, its speed dropped to a regular sonic punch. Still, even at that reduced speed, it shattered the incoming tree into endless splinters.

In an instant, countless wooden fragments rained down like a storm, painting the forest below a dusty yellow.

At the same time—

Hawk finally saw what had thrown the massive tree at him.

Except when he looked down at the creature standing upright in the jungle—now fully exposed to his view—his expression froze.

A creature roughly thirty to thirty-two meters tall. Massive enough to make humans feel suffocated. With incredibly developed, terrifying shoulder and back muscles. Its entire body covered in rough, dark fur. It looked like a gorilla, but it walked upright in a posture far closer to humans.

This terrifying creature now stood before Hawk.

”This is...”

Hawk stared at the enormous, terrifying gorilla-like creature. His expression visibly shifted from initial curiosity to shock, then to his current state of utter confusion. ”King Kong?”

Jesus...

How the hell was there a King Kong here?

How did King Kong end up in the Marvel Universe?

Wait.

Come to think of it, wasn’t there a special edition comic that depicted the Avengers fighting King Kong?

(There really is such a comic. There’s even one with the Avengers vs. Transformers.)

Hawk thought to himself, then looked at the Kong standing before him and instinctively sucked in a sharp breath.

The next second—

Standing in the dense jungle on the island, Kong—with eyes that radiated both intelligence and a sense of responsibility—looked at Hawk, who was hovering outside his home and had just released that terrifying aura. Kong opened his massive arms and let out a furious roar at the enemy who dared invade his domain.

”ROAAAAR!”

”GET OUT! LEAVE MY HOME!”

”...”

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