Marvel: The Awakened One

Did Adamantium exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The answer was yes.

Everyone knew that Wolverine’s entire skeleton was made of Adamantium. Which was exactly why, even after Wolverine died, Deadpool could still use his skeleton as a weapon.

And it worked pretty damn well.

But there were no mutants here.

That’s right.

This world didn’t have mutants.

Hawk was absolutely certain of that.

So he couldn’t wrap his head around why, on this godforsaken island, there would suddenly be metal that appeared to be Adamantium.

While his mind raced through possibilities...

Suddenly—

The entire stilt house began to shake.

Hawk snapped back to reality.

”Earthquake?”

”Damn it.”

Felicia froze for a second, then it clicked. ”The Skullcrawlers are coming out.”

Hawk’s mind immediately conjured up images of the so-called Skullcrawlers from Kong: Skull Island.

Another native terror of the island. Massive, nightmarish creatures with enormous bodies, gaping maws filled with razor-sharp teeth, and a whip-like tail. When attacking, they could launch surprise strikes with tongues that stretched dozens of meters.

The village’s alarm system blared to life at that exact moment.

Countless Iwi tribespeople grabbed their weapons and sprinted toward the largest building to assemble. Others climbed onto the village’s defensive walls, weapons in hand.

A wave of tension spread through the entire settlement like wildfire, carried on the wail of the alarm.

At the same time—

In the distance, within a deep canyon shrouded in strange, earthy-yellow smoke, a bottomless opening continuously belched out more of that yellow fog. And with tremors that felt like an earthquake, a ten-meter-tall Skullcrawler emerged from the opening.

A second one. A third. A fifth.

One after another.

The five Skullcrawlers stretched their massive bodies, opened their gaping maws, and let out piercing shrieks—as if announcing their arrival to the entire island.

”ROOOAAR!”

Kong’s furious roar followed immediately, instantly drowning out the combined shrieks of all five Skullcrawlers.

Kong’s roar was filled with rage—different from when he’d roared at Hawk.

When he roared at Hawk, it had been more of a warning.

But this roar—aimed at the Skullcrawlers—was pure hatred. The kind of fury that demanded blood.

”Oh, crap. Peter.”

Felicia, who had followed Hawk out of the stilt house, suddenly realized something and turned to look at him. ”Peter’s still in the Kong Canyon.”

Hawk raised an eyebrow, glancing toward the deep canyon in the distance.

”There?”

”Yeah.”

”I’ll find him.”

The moment the words left Hawk’s mouth, he looked up, and his body shot into the air. He turned into a streak of red light, rocketing toward the high, fog-shrouded canyon where Kong had just disappeared—a place so deep that even from high altitude, the thick yellow smoke made it impossible to see what was inside.

...

At that moment, inside the canyon, with the Skullcrawlers’ emergence, the strange creatures that lived there were starting to panic.

Psychovultures—with bodies like massive vultures, wingspans of several meters, and bat-like features—were shrieking in flocks as they beat their wings frantically, trying to escape the canyon.

And then there were the Death Jackals—hyena-like creatures, but far larger, with a row of massive, sharp bone plates running down their spines from head to tail. They were also pack animals, and right now, they were bolting toward the canyon’s exit in a frenzied stampede.

Other bizarre and often terrifying creatures that called the Kong Canyon home were all trying to flee what was about to become a battlefield.

Which made things pretty rough for the Iwi hunters who’d come to the canyon to hunt.

And for Peter—

”Oh my God!”

”Watch out!”

Peter spotted an Iwi hunter standing frozen in front of a massive Mother Longlegs. His right wrist shot out a web, instantly yanking the seemingly paralyzed hunter back to safety.

A dozen Iwi tribespeople and Peter huddled together in a sheltered corner of the canyon.

Packs of Death Jackals, Mother Longlegs, and other creatures thundered across the canyon floor in a massive stampede, the ground rumbling beneath them.

Peter and the hunters watched in terrified silence, not daring to breathe too loudly, terrified that the fleeing creatures would notice them and decide to swallow them whole on their way out.

Just then—

The loose rocks on the canyon floor suddenly shot into the air as the ground shook violently. A massive foot—thick, covered in coarse hair—slammed down.

Skull Island’s guardian had arrived.

Kong had entered the scene.

The Death Jackals and other creatures stampeding toward the exit immediately parted ways when faced with their island’s apex predator. Like subjects bowing before their king, they cleared the widest, central path—leaving it open for Kong alone.

At the end of that path, through the thick yellow fog, the faint outlines of countless skeletal remains were visible in a massive clearing.

The silhouettes of five Skullcrawlers lurked within the smoke.

The moment they saw Kong, they lined up together, opened their gaping maws once more, and shrieked at him.

Kong roared back.

The next moment, Kong charged. The five Skullcrawlers charged.

The battle for dominance over Skull Island had begun once again.

Faced with the mortal enemy who had repeatedly stopped them from reclaiming the island from the underground, the Skullcrawlers wanted nothing more than to kill Kong, dominate Skull Island, and use it as a springboard to conquer the entire world.

Likewise, Kong, facing the monsters that had killed his parents, had eyes filled with nothing but murderous rage.

This battle would determine not just who was stronger—but who would survive.

But the Skullcrawlers were clearly cheating.

Who the hell holds a dominance fight as five-on-one? That was just dirty pool.

Hawk, who had just arrived at the canyon, glanced at the brawl that had already kicked off and mentally noted the unfairness. But instead of jumping in to help, he flickered and landed directly in front of Peter—who was currently standing guard in the front row, protecting the Iwi hunters behind him.

Hawk almost didn’t recognize Peter at first.

Back in New York, Peter had at least looked reasonably pale.

But now? He was practically indistinguishable from the Iwi hunters. Shirtless, his exposed, muscular skin had turned dark and weathered, covered in scattered scars.

Yeah.

He didn’t look like Bully Maguire anymore.

He looked more like Barbarian Maguire.

Hawk scanned Peter up and down, processing the transformation, then smiled and greeted him casually.

”Hey, Peter. Long time no see.”

”...Hawk?”

Peter’s eyes lit up with visible joy. But the moment that happiness appeared, his eyes suddenly widened. He looked past Hawk’s shoulder—straight at a Death Jackal that was trying to escape while simultaneously lunging at Hawk with its jaws wide open.

Hawk didn’t even turn around. He just threw a punch behind him.

Instantly, Hundreds of fist strikes filled the air. Every creature within his attack range behind him exploded into chunks of meat under the terrifying speed of his Sonic Fist, leaving behind a brief vacuum in the stampede.

The sheer force radiating from that single punch was enough to make the other creatures that had been planning to run past him screech to a halt. They immediately pivoted, choosing instead to climb up the canyon walls rather than risk getting anywhere near Hawk.

At the same time—

The terrifying aura from that punch spread all the way to the fog-covered battlefield in the distance.

Two Skullcrawlers that had been circling Kong—waiting to tag in and replace their comrades in the fight—suddenly froze the moment they caught Hawk’s scent. They both turned their heads toward the tunnel they’d crawled out of.

From deep within that tunnel—the one belching out thick yellow smoke—a rhythmic, guttural hiss echoed outward.

The two Skullcrawlers seemed to be listening intently.

The next second, The hissing from the tunnel stopped. And the two massive Skullcrawlers on the surface, as if they’d just received new orders, abandoned their colleagues still tangling with Kong. Their sharp gazes locked onto Hawk’s location. They let out piercing shrieks, then dropped to all fours and charged straight toward him.

Hawk’s sharp Sixth Sense immediately picked up on the two massive Skullcrawlers barreling toward him.

These two were coming for him specifically.

Hawk snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at Peter, who had been about to catch up.

”You good here?”

”Yeah.”

Peter—whose every hair was standing on end as his Spider-Sense screamed warnings about the approaching Skullcrawlers—answered without hesitation. ”Just be careful. Kong’s parents were killed by these things. They’re seriously dangerous.”

He’d been here for over a year. Thanks to Felicia’s impressive language skills, he’d learned the history of the Iwi tribe, Kong, and the Skullcrawlers.

Hawk smiled faintly. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the Skullcrawlers rapidly closing in. His lips curved upward slightly.

”Seriously dangerous?”

”They’re just a couple of overgrown lizards.”

With that—

Hawk’s form flickered. When he reappeared, he was standing directly in front of the two massive Skullcrawlers charging toward him.

His right fist clenched tight and pulled back to his waist. At the same time, his right foot stepped back, and the canyon floor instantly cracked beneath the force.

The two Skullcrawlers launched themselves into the air at that exact moment, jaws wide open, exposing their crimson, barbed tongues—each dozens of meters long—as they lashed out toward Hawk.

Hawk’s fist shot forward from his waist.

”Lightning Sonic Fist—”

Hundreds of fist strikes erupted from his knuckles, filling the air in the blink of an eye.

The first casualties were the Skullcrawlers’ tongues.

Under the relentless barrage, the tongues tore apart instantly, disintegrating into shredded meat.

But before the two Skullcrawlers could even process what was happening—

The storm of fist strikes had already engulfed them completely.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

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