Marvel: The Awakened One

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After the Seventh Sense comes the Eighth.

Only by comprehending the Eighth Sense, the Alaya Vijnana, could Hawk truly and completely manifest the Phoenix Universe into reality without any limitations.

Granted, given his current power level, attaining the Eighth Sense wasn’t an urgent necessity.

His strength spoke for itself.

Above the Seventh Sense, below the Eighth.

To put it in simpler terms:

Above the Gold Saints, just below the Divine!

Take Thanos, for example. If Thanos had the Infinity Gauntlet fully loaded with all six stones, he might be qualified to go a few rounds with Hawk.

But right now?

Thanos without the stones wouldn’t even have the right to throw a punch at him. Not if he wanted to live, anyway.

The reason Hawk felt a sense of urgency was simple.

The Sacred Armor!

According to his original plan, after comprehending the Seventh Sense, he was supposed to track down Eitri, the Dwarf King of Nidavellir, and have him forge the true, physical Phoenix Gold Cloth.

And Hawk fully intended to do just that.

But!

A month ago, during his bachelor party, just as he was about to bring it up with Thor, his Sixth Sense had flared.

A sudden, inexplicable intuition warned him against forging the Gold Cloth before he had comprehended the Eighth Sense.

There was no logical reason for it.

But Hawk always trusted his instincts.

He had mastered the Sixth Sense, and he had comprehended the Seventh. What was the Eighth Sense but the next step on the ladder?

In a word:

Grind.

And the truth was, over the past month, while relaxing on his honeymoon with Gwen, his mind had finally quieted enough to catch a glimpse of the path toward the Eighth Sense.

If the essence of the Seventh Sense was Time…

Comprehending the Seventh Sense meant collapsing one’s own timeline and imbuing one’s inner cosmos with Time itself.

Then the essence of the Eighth Sense was Life.

Yes.

Life!

In the original lore crafted by Masami Kurumada, the Eighth Sense, the Alaya Vijnana, was defined as the state that transcended life and death. A Saint who awakened the Eighth Sense could maintain their consciousness, their freedom, and their full living power even after their physical body died.

After grasping the Seventh Sense, Hawk had used the massive power of the Mind Stone to push his comprehension in this exact direction.

But initially, he had focused too heavily on the concepts of ’life and death’ as a binary state.

It wasn’t until fifteen days ago—the moment Gwen confirmed her pregnancy, the moment he saw those two tiny, developing lives on the ultrasound screen at the Xandarian hospital—that Hawk had his epiphany.

The definition of the Eighth Sense was transcending life and death, but its true essence was Life itself!

If mastering the Time of the Seventh Sense meant: ’I swallow the golden core, and my fate is mine alone, not Heaven’s.’

Then mastering the Life of the Eighth Sense meant: ’Stepping outside the Three Realms, no longer bound by the Five Elements.’

Therefore—

If the goal of the Seventh Sense was to command one’s own time and grant time to one’s Cosmo…

Then the true purpose of the Eighth Sense was to understand the very meaning of existence, to learn how to breathe actual, vibrant Life into one’s universe.

Only by mastering Time could one grant Time to a universe.

Similarly.

Only by mastering Life could one grant Life to a universe.

Unfortunately!

He had the right direction.

But as for how to actually comprehend the essence of Life? Hawk couldn’t say he had no idea, but his ideas were… limited.

He had briefly considered using an Infinity Stone to cheat his way through again.

But after running through the list, he realized there wasn’t a ’Life Stone’ in the set.

The Soul Stone was the closest thing.

But the price of admission for that particular artifact was far too steep. He would have to sacrifice the person he loved most just to get it.

Hawk passed on that option without a second thought.

He felt a sense of urgency, yes, but it was only because he wanted to fully manifest his Phoenix Universe as soon as possible. It wasn’t like he had a world-ending threat breathing down his neck.

In fact, at this point, even if a Celestial showed up, Hawk wouldn’t blink.

He might not be able to kill it outright.

But he could definitely pack up his things and run fast enough that it would never catch him.

So…

Take it slow. No need to rush. He held all the cards.

Hawk thought to himself, feeling a sense of calm resolve.

Meanwhile.

Gwen had just finished telling their ’hometown friend,’ Star-Lord, the story of how she had been targeted for kidnapping. But a question was still bothering her.

”Peter, why did Yondu take you from Earth in the first place? I talked to a lot of alien species on Xandar, and they all said Earth is in the middle of nowhere. No one ever goes there.”

”He’s just a selfish jerk. He wanted someone small who could squeeze into places adults couldn’t, to help him steal things.”

Star-Lord scoffed, his voice laced with bitterness.

When he was a kid, he had thought Yondu was like the heroes in the Spaceknights comics—taking him on grand adventures across the stars.

Instead, he found himself forced into a life of intergalactic thievery, living day-to-day in constant instability. Yondu had even regularly terrified him with threats of eating him.

So…

Star-Lord had always believed that Yondu abducted him from Earth purely out of selfish greed, just to have a tiny accomplice for his heists.

Gwen frowned slightly. ”But there are plenty of orphans or kids you could train to be thieves. Why travel all the way to Earth—a place aliens apparently avoid like the plague—just to get you?”

It didn’t make sense.

If you just needed a small thief, you didn’t fly light-years to the absolute edge of civilized space to grab a random kid.

Gwen felt there was something deeply strange about the story, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

So!

She turned to Hawk. ”Hawk, do you know why Yondu took Peter?”

Hawk raised an eyebrow, amused by his wife’s earnest, seeking gaze.

”You’re that sure I know the answer?”

”Of course.”

Gwen smiled warmly. ”You’re my husband. In my eyes, there’s nothing you don’t know.”

Hearing this.

Peter Quill stared down at the Earth-style cola he’d replicated, suddenly feeling a strong, bitter aftertaste.

Rocket slammed his drink down on the table, his face twisting in disgust. ”Why does this drink suddenly taste like pure acid?”

Hawk chuckled softly.

Well, as it turned out, he did know.

Ego.

Ego had hired Yondu to travel across the galaxy and collect the thousands of children he had successfully seeded on various planets. Star-Lord was just one of many.

It was the very reason for Peter Quill’s defining trait: A demigod with the power of a very average mortal.

His mother might have been a normal human, but his biological father was a god.

A true god.

A Celestial—an entire living planet that had developed its own consciousness.

Wait a minute!

Planet. Life.

Hawk’s eyebrow shot up as a sudden realization hit him.

But before he could follow that train of thought to its conclusion, the holographic avatar of ’Enterprise’ materialized beside them.

”Sir, detecting an incoming vessel. It is currently operating under a cloaking field.”

”Put it on screen.”

Hawk snapped back to the present and gave the command.

The next second.

The projection shifted.

An egg-shaped spacecraft appeared on the display.

Standing on the bridge of the egg-shaped ship was an older man with silver hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He exuded an aura of calm, charismatic authority.

It was Ego!

Hawk led Gwen back up to the bridge.

The Guardians of the Galaxy filed in right behind them.

By the time they reached the command center, Ego had dropped his ship’s cloaking field. However, noting that the Enterprise had all its weapon systems powered up and locked onto him, he wisely kept his vessel hovering just outside their effective firing range.

”Sir, receiving a hail from the unknown vessel.”

”Confirm target. It’s the egg-shaped ship.”

”Put it through.”

”Aye, sir.”

’Enterprise’ acknowledged the command and opened the channel.

With a soft chime.

The image of Ego, with his silver hair and meticulously groomed beard, appeared on the bridge’s main viewscreen.

For some inexplicable reason, as Gwen looked at the projection, her first impression of the smiling man was overwhelmingly negative.

”USS Enterprise.” Ego spoke, his voice deep and resonant with the gravitas of an older man. ”I am looking for a ship called the Milano.”

The Milano was Star-Lord’s ship.

He had named it after his childhood crush on Earth, Alyssa Milano.

Hearing Ego’s request, Hawk’s mind raced. He picked up the thread and spoke.

”There is someone you know on the Milano.”

”Yes, of course. My son.”

The man on the screen smiled warmly and spoke a name.

”Peter Quill!”

”...”

Star-Lord froze in his tracks.

The rest of the Guardians instinctively turned to look at him.

Gwen blinked, then glanced at Hawk.

Hawk gave her a subtle, almost imperceptible nod.

Understanding dawned on Gwen’s face. Seeing Hawk’s calm reaction, her mind started working.

Again.

She knew Hawk better than anyone.

So…

Barring any surprises, there had to be more to this story.

But again, because she knew Hawk so well, she didn’t show any outward reaction, keeping her expression perfectly neutral.

Star-Lord finally snapped out of his shock. He stepped forward, glaring at the projection of Ego, his brow furrowed. ”You say you’re my father. What was my mother’s name?”

Hearing Peter’s voice, Ego’s face broke into a radiant, joyful smile. ”I thought my devastatingly handsome face would be proof enough. But, Meredith. I could never forget her name.”

Star-Lord was stunned.

Gamora quickly looked at him.

Peter swallowed hard, a feeling of overwhelming confusion washing over him.

Because Ego was right.

His mother’s name was Meredith.

Meredith Quill.

”When your mother passed away, I hired Yondu to go to Earth and bring you back to me.”

”But he didn’t listen. He kept you for himself.”

”I don’t know why he did it. I’ve been searching for you ever since.”

Ego, having been invited aboard the Enterprise, sat in the crew mess hall with Star-Lord and the others, recounting the story of why Yondu had taken Peter from Earth.

Hawk and Gwen stood to the side, quietly observing the ’heartwarming’ father-son reunion.

Gamora was still suspicious.

”How did you find us?”

”Even though I live on a desolate rock at the edge of nowhere, the name ’Star-Lord, Peter Quill’ still managed to reach me.”

Ego smiled, casually mentioning his planet, then turned back to Star-Lord.

”Speaking of my planet, why don’t we head there right now? Your friends are welcome to come, too. Even the triangle-faced monkey.”

Triangle-faced?

Rocket, feeling distinctly insulted, couldn’t help but rub his face.

Ego then turned to Hawk and Gwen. ”Of course, I extend the invitation to you as well. Come and see my world. I promise you, it is breathtakingly beautiful.”

Gwen opened her mouth, ready to politely decline.

But Hawk answered first.

”Sure.”

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