Marvel: The Awakened One

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The third attempt finally worked, though the second try had gone pretty well too.

Hawk had been through the Quantum Realm before, so he was much calmer now. He blinked, and once again found himself in the strange, trippy world of quantum space.

By now, Hawk was used to the wild lights and colors.

But this was the first time he entered a multiverse right after a full reset of time.

How did it feel to make that jump?

Strange... As soon as Hawk followed the streak of light—the cause of the reset—and pulled Wanda into that strange, low-level dimension, he felt it.

His strength started to fade.

He had lost power before, like when he traveled with Scott Lang to Universe-616. But this time was different. Before, it was like pulling the plug on a bathtub and watching the water drain. Now, it felt like the whole bottom of the tub had dropped out.

No, this wasn’t just losing power.

It felt like something was holding it back.

Like hitting a wall.

While Hawk tried to figure out what was happening, Wanda squeezed his hand tighter. She could tell right away that something was wrong.

The endless power Wanda always felt from Hawk disappeared in a flash. It was just gone. She knew her own strength hadn’t changed, so there was only one reason.

Hawk had lost his powers.

Panic rushed through her. Wanda gripped his hand and tried to take control, hoping to stop them in their tracks and pull them back the way they came. ”No. We have to turn back!”

Hawk held her hand tightly and stopped her.

”Don’t.”

”But your power…”

”I’m fine.” His thoughts were racing, but he made himself stay calm. ”We’re already here. Going back isn’t possible.”

Hawk always believed in being careful. Don’t get overconfident. Work quietly. A smart person doesn’t stand under a wall that’s about to fall. But that only worked if you saw the danger before you walked into it.

Walking blindly into a lion’s den wasn’t bravery—it was suicide. But facing the beast when it ambushed you by surprise? That took real courage.

If Hawk had noticed the trap before entering, he would have turned back right away. He would have waited until he could break through from the outside before going in.

But now he was already inside.

That changed everything.

If Hawk turned back now, he wouldn’t just be retreating. He’d be denying the very thing that defined him.

Singularity.

That was how he described the Eighth Sense, which was the base for the Ninth Sense.

The Seventh Sense was about mastering your own time.

The Eighth Sense was about mastering your own life.

The Ninth Sense was about mastering your own universe.

But what is a universe?

And what is Singularity?

My heart is the Will.

My intent is the decree of reality.

In short, he couldn’t back down. He refused to back down. Even if this place was as dangerous as a dragon’s den or a tiger’s cave, he would go through it anyway.

”We keep going.”

Wanda looked into his eyes for a moment, then nodded with determination. ”Alright. I’m with you. I promised Gwen I’d watch out for you.”

Hawk smiled.

They exchanged a glance in the glowing tunnel, then chased after the streak of light that had disappeared ahead. Moments later, they shot out of the corridor just as it fell apart behind them.

The next moment, Hawk flew out of the portal and hit a brick wall hard, back-first.

The wall shook from the impact, and cracks spread out across the bricks like a spiderweb.

While Hawk landed hard, Wanda touched down smoothly. As soon as they appeared, red chaos magic flared behind her like a curtain, and her outfit changed in a flash of red light.

Her red hair hung loose over her shoulders. She wore a tight, dark red bodysuit, black combat pants, and tall boots. The look was retro, sharp, and dangerous.

Floating in a random Manhattan alley, Wanda quickly came back to her senses. She glanced down at Hawk, who was stuck three inches deep in the bricks.

She landed on the ground.

With bits of mortar and brick dust falling around him, Hawk pushed against the wall, pulled himself out, and stood up.

Wanda walked over to him. ”Are you alright?”

”I’m fine.” Hawk waved her away and closed his eyes.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and looked up at the sky from the empty alley.

Blue sky and white clouds.

No stars and no Phoenix Galaxy.

”My powers are blocked...” Wanda’s pupils shrank.

She glanced at Hawk and was about to speak, but changed her mind. Instead, her voice sounded directly in his head.”The Celestials?”

”Not sure.”

”What?”

”This universe might just be really low-level. Maybe it’s too limited to even have parallel timelines. That could be why my energy projection stopped working.” Hawk replied in her mind.

Wanda frowned. ”Then what now?”

”We wait and see. My energy is blocked, but my life essence isn’t.”

”Uh…”

”I still have the body of a God.” It was like when Thor landed on the Grandmaster’s junk planet. The obedience disk stopped his lightning powers, but he was still strong enough to fight the Hulk in the arena.

So, yes, this universe was strange.

But it was fine.

Even if something went wrong, it would just be a bump in the road.

Once he made up his mind, Hawk rolled his shoulders. He noticed brick dust on his clothes and quickly brushed off his sleeves and jacket.

Wanda watched him for a second.

Hawk caught her staring and chuckled. ”Let’s go.”

She watched him for a moment, making sure his confidence was real, then nodded. Scarlet light shimmered over her, changing her combat outfit into regular clothes.

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The two of them walked out of the alley.

And then Hawk recognized where they were.

Still New York City.

Still Manhattan.

Third Avenue.

But this version of Third Avenue looked very old-fashioned.

Red brick and limestone buildings lined the street, with storefront windows on the ground floor. Cafes filled the air with the smell of coffee. Boutiques showed off clothes straight from the 1980s. Electronics stores had bulky TVs in their windows, all playing MTV music videos.

It was mid-afternoon. Office workers rushed by with coffee cups. Tourists stood on corners, squinting at paper maps. Everything seemed normal, busy, and lively.

Wanda stared at the 1980s scenery and the very old-fashioned clothes people were wearing.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

”What year is this…?”

”...” Hawk nodded, already figuring it out. ”The eighties.”

Wanda looked at him. ”So what do we do?”

”Find a place to crash first.”

”Alright.”

They joined the flow of people and soon vanished into the crowd.

Ten minutes later, Hawk suddenly stopped walking. A thought crossed his mind, and he turned toward Wanda.

”Did you bring any cash?”

”Cash?” Wanda blinked, then reached into her pockets and pulled out some bills. She had two hundred-dollar bills and six one-dollar bills.

That made $206.

Hawk breathed a sigh of relief. ”Not bad. There’s probably no Tony Stark here, and definitely no 521A Palm Street. Two hundred bucks should cover a hotel room for a while.”

”Probably not.” Wanda flipped the two hundred-dollar bills around and showed him the serial numbers and print dates.

”I don’t know exactly what year this is, but it’s definitely not 2001.”

Hawk raised an eyebrow, then noticed the mint dates.

Right.

At this time, those bills would be seen as illegal counterfeits from the future.

”So we have six dollars?”

”Not quite.”

Wanda checked the dates on the singles. Under Hawk’s watchful gaze, she slowly folded all six bills and shoved them back into her pocket.

Then she looked him dead in the eye.

”We have zero dollars.”

Hawk’s mouth twitched slightly.

Wanda looked curious. ”You don’t carry cash?”

”I don’t need cash.”

Since leaving the Quantico military base, Hawk had become completely financially free. After that, he only focused on one thing.

Getting stronger.

He hardly ever thought about money. Gwen handled all their finances. Whenever they went shopping, Gwen paid with her card.

As Hawk tried to justify not carrying a wallet, Wanda just shrugged.

”But we need cash now, right?”

”…” Hawk snapped back to reality and opened his mouth to answer, but something entered his peripheral vision.

A loud muscle car drove by and then screeched to a stop in front of the Pacific Savings Bank at the corner of Third Avenue.

A few seconds later, five men got out. They looked around quickly, then walked into the bank.

Wanda followed Hawk’s gaze.

”What is it?”

”Hold on.” Hawk said quietly, then started to count down.

Three.

Two.

One.

As soon as he reached one, a loud scream came from inside the Pacific Savings Bank.

Even without his cosmic senses, Hawk’s sharp hearing picked it up easily.

Wanda heard it too and looked toward the bank with sudden curiosity.

A moment later, Hawk turned to her with a big smile.

”Look.”

He nodded toward the bank. ”Money delivery.”

”…”

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