Marvel: The Awakened One

Regret is the pain you feel when something you once had suddenly disappears from your life.

It isn’t the same as feeling frustrated when you reach for something impossible and can’t get it.

Caught in an endless cycle of regret, Hawk tried everything he could. He struggled, adapted, and relived that day countless times, but the result was always the same.

As an ordinary human, there had been no possible way for him to reach Anya and pull her from the ruins before the collapsing floor crushed her.

That showed him one thing.

The choice Hawk made that day was the right one.

He always believed that rushing into an impossible situation, even after realizing it was hopeless, wasn’t courage. It was just reckless.

After Hawk tried every possible solution and saw that none could save Anya, he finally let himself move on.

With no regret left in his heart, the prison made from that regret couldn’t hold him anymore. As soon as he found peace, the whole world started to fall apart.

Buildings turned to dust. The crowds running through the streets disappeared into ash. Even Anya, still trapped under the wreckage, faded away before Hawk’s eyes, along with everything around her.

Hawk watched without regret in his heart or longing in his eyes.

He looked tired, but his eyes were calm.

For the first time, he truly felt at peace.

Then the sky broke apart, showing the endless gray sky of Mephisto’s Hell and ash drifting everywhere. The air changed too, now thick with the smell of sulfur.

Hawk escaped Hell’s prison of regret by relying on his own strength.

“…” Surprise flashed through Mephisto’s eyes, but he showed little concern. Hawk might have broken free, but as far as Mephisto was concerned, the result hadn’t changed.

Hawk had lost.

Mephisto had won.

Hawk used up all his power to make peace with his regret. Now he had nothing left to fight off Hell’s corruption.

——————————

Still sitting on the sulfur-covered ground, Hawk suddenly looked up.

“Do you know why I came all the way to Hell?”

“This isn’t your universe—your underworld has no reach here,” Mephisto replied.

Hawk smiled even wider.

“My power reached this universe a long time ago. Don’t believe me? Look up.”

Mephisto looked up at the sky.

“WOOSH!” A piercing phoenix cry rang across Hell.

A huge image of a Phoenix appeared above, its body wrapped in gold and red flames. It spread its fiery wings across the ashen sky and cried out again, making the whole dimension shake.

Mephisto’s face changed right away.

“Your power was here all along,” he said, turning back toward Hawk. “And you chose not to use it?”

“That’s right.”

“Then you came here as a mortal?”

“My body is still divine,” Hawk clarified. “But yes, I entered your Hell as an ordinary man.”

“Why?”

“To settle the bill for the shortcut I took last time.”

Cheating always had a price.

What you earn through your own effort is truly yours. Anything you get by cheating is only borrowed, and sooner or later, you have to pay it back.

Hawk understood this now more than ever.

But Mephisto was starting to panic.

“That’s impossible. If you came here as an ordinary man, how could your soul have survived being burned so many times?” he snapped.

Hawk tilted his head to the side.

“Did I ever say the soul being burned was mine?”

“What?”

A terrible thought struck Mephisto. He quickly looked inward, searching through the power his Hell had taken in during Hawk’s endless cycle.

As soon as he saw what was there, his face twisted in horror.

Hawk’s grin grew even brighter.

“Rise and shine, old Meph. It’s time to come back from the dead!!”

“WOOSH!” Mephisto’s body convulsed. His limbs jerked like a machine out of control. Black smoke poured from him, along with a sinister laugh Hawk hadn’t heard in a long time.

“NO!” Mephisto screamed as his body continued twisting. “THIS IS MY HELL, NOT YOURS!”

He clawed at his own head.

“GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY BOD—”

His scream cut off.

Mephisto froze, his whole body suddenly still.

“BOOOOOOOOOMM!!”

At that moment, Hell itself started to change around them.

Hawk followed the disturbance with his eyes. In the distance, the palace this universe’s Mephisto had built for himself was collapsing. Before the ruins had even settled, a new palace rose in its place.

Hawk recognized it immediately.

It looked exactly like the palace Mephisto had owned in Hawk’s home universe.

While Hawk took in the familiar building, the figure in front of him let out a satisfied groan.

Mephisto from Hawk’s universe tipped his head back and drew in a deep breath, savoring the sulfur in the air. When he lowered his gaze again, that familiar arrogance had returned.

“This body belongs to me now.” He spread his arms and examined them.

Hawk laughed at the familiar voice.

“Congratulations, old Meph.”

“HAWK! WHY?” Mephisto’s wild grin vanished as recognition finally set in.

“Why what?” Hawk raised an eyebrow.

“I betrayed you more times than I can remember. Why didn’t you destroy me completely in Yggdrasil?”

“I did destroy you completely,” Hawk replied.

Mephisto’s last memories were of betraying Hawk at Yggdrasil. He remembered Hawk destroying his body and taking his soul, but nothing about his soul being erased after that.

The reason was simple.

Wanda.

She was present at every point in Hawk’s timeline. Whenever he faced real danger, Wanda showed up.

Mephisto’s last betrayal was part of Hawk’s plan, but it was still risky. Hawk could have made a mistake or messed up his act.

That chance was enough for Wanda to step in.

She appeared just as Hawk was about to grind Mephisto’s soul into nothing. Wanda told him that she found Mephisto rather useful and suggested keeping the demon’s soul close. One day, it might provide an unexpected benefit.

At the time, Hawk didn’t understand how Wanda had shown up.

He had trusted her anyway.

Not just because she was Wanda, but because she was the mother of his children. For Hawk, that was a different kind of reason altogether.

Hawk only remembered that after he entered this Hell. At the same time, the soul he thought he had destroyed showed up in his mind, completely whole.

Right away, Hawk realized what Wanda had done.

This universe’s Mephisto wanted power. Hawk was happy to give him some, just not his own.

He could have the soul of another Mephisto instead.

Whether this Mephisto would still be himself after taking in his counterpart’s soul was another question.

To be fair, Mephisto here hadn’t lied when he said he was different from the one Hawk knew.

He was different.

For one thing, he wasn’t nearly as clever.

Now the Mephisto from Hawk’s home universe had seized the body of his alternate self and used it to complete his resurrection—all without damaging Hawk’s Sacred Timeline.

Understanding dawned on Mephisto’s face.

“So I can’t return to our universe?”

“That’s right.” Hawk smiled. “This is why I like you, old Meph. You’re treacherous, shameless, and completely unreliable—but you are smart.”

Mephisto burst out laughing.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. And staying here suits me just fine. I prefer this universe anyway.”

“Really?” Hawk asked, genuinely curious.

“Of course!” Mephisto spread his arms, unable to contain his excitement. “You call this a low-level universe because it is one—to you. To me, this place is paradise.”

He began counting off the advantages on his fingers.

“There’s no Supreme God. There’s no Odin. Earth doesn’t even have that insufferable Kamar-Taj or some irritatingly powerful sorceress waiting to ruin my day.”

Mephisto suddenly stopped.

A troubling thought had occurred to him.

“You are leaving this universe, aren’t you?” he asked, watching Hawk with equal parts hope and anxiety.

Hawk couldn’t help laughing at how painfully obvious the answer Mephisto wanted had become.

“Yes. I’ll be leaving.”

“Good.”

Relief swept across Mephisto’s face.

For Hawk, this universe might seem weak and underdeveloped. For Mephisto, it was everything he wanted.

There were no Creator Gods, no Chief Gods, and no powerful beings on Earth to keep him in check. Not even a scary sorceress was around to send him back to Hell if he stepped out of line.

He could finally be the biggest fish in a small pond.

What wasn’t to love?

Hawk noticed how hard Mephisto was trying to hide his delight.

“I thought you wanted to become a true god. If you stay in this universe, that’ll never happen.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mephisto stared at him. “Why the hell would I bother becoming a god here? That sounds exhausting.”

Hawk had no response to that.