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The multiversal variants weren't just Hawk. Hawk was all of them.
Hawk watched as the fractured timeline blended smoothly into his own River of Time. When this universe's Hawk lined up with his timeline, a deep tremor echoed from the core of his soul.
His Micro-Universe, already stretched to its limits, suddenly started growing again. Instead of expanding outward, it grew sideways. A new dimension, perfectly parallel to his golden Phoenix Micro-Universe, began to form.
When Hawk first arrived on this Earth, he thought it would take six weeks to regain his full strength. Now, that timeline had changed. In just one month, the full power of his Phoenix Micro-Universe would appear in this reality.
More importantly... Hawk felt a deep sense of relief inside.
Before, he had to meditate and struggle just to reach the gateway of the Eighth Sense of Life.
Now, he only needed to close his eyes. He didn't have to force it anymore. He was already there.
His foundational life essence had leveled up.
'Is this why Kang the Conqueror wanted to wipe out his multiversal variants?'
No... Kangs were distinct entities. But the Hawks across the multiverse? They were literally pieces of himself.
Hawk's mind raced.
From the start, there had only ever been one Hawk—him. He was the transmigrator who woke up to his past life's memories. But during that journey, his soul was torn apart. That's why he didn't have his memories from birth.
They only returned when he was left at the church, close to death in the freezing snow. His desperate cries opened the church doors and saved him. If his memories hadn't come back then, he would have died from the cold.
The process badly damaged his soul. The transmigration split it across the multiverse. While many Hawks were just normal variants, some were actually pieces of his own broken soul.
It was easy to tell them apart. Hawk knew the Marvel Universe well. The variants with pieces of his soul also had broken, hidden memories of the Marvel story.
This universe's Hawk was the same... He was just a soul fragment. He remembered some Marvel events, but not all of them. Now that Hawk had crossed over and brought his Micro-Universe, the missing piece merged back into him.
This universe's Hawk wasn't really him, but at the same time, he was this world's Hawk.
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'Avatars?'
"..." Hawk wondered. As the fragment joined him and his life essence grew stronger, he opened his eyes and returned to reality.
It felt like an eternity had passed above the River of Time, but in the real world, not even a second had gone by.
Hawk looked at Anya, who was still glaring at him with suspicion. "It's been a long time, Anya."
Anya, who had been trying to identify the imposter, froze. Her eyes widened. The certainty in his voice shook her, and disbelief spread across her face.
"Wait, you aren't..."
"When we were at St. Paul's Cathedral," Hawk started, his voice steady. "When we lived at 'Sweet Home'... When you were hospitalized at age ten, and the doctors said..."
After taking in all the soul fragments' memories, Hawk looked straight at Anya and listed memory after memory. He shared details only the two of them could know.
As he spoke, Anya's expression fell apart. When he finished, all her resistance faded away.
"BROTHER!"
All her doubts disappeared. She rushed forward and threw herself into Hawk's chest.
This time, Hawk didn't hesitate. He hugged her tightly. The Anya in front of him was truly his sister, real and alive.
He looked down and gently stroked her hair. "I'm back,"
His variant in this world was already dead. The cause of death? The Mind Stone.
When Anya's heart condition became critical at age ten, this universe's Hawk was desperate. To get her the best and most expensive heart surgery, he found a military base in Jersey City and met the digital mind of Dr. Arnim Zola.
After making a deal, Anya got the care she needed. The cost was that both of them now belonged to Hydra. That's why this Anya fought like a trained assassin, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, knives, and guns.
When Hydra eventually acquired Loki's Scepter—and by extension, the Mind Stone—they became obsessed with extracting the fragmented, prophetic knowledge locked inside Hawk's brain. So, they shipped him to Baron Strucker's base in Sokovia.
Then the Avengers attacked...
During the raid, Strucker panicked and tried to shut down the Mind Stone experiment. The machine overloaded and exploded. In the blast, this universe's Hawk fused with the Mind Stone and became the 'Mind Warrior'.
Hawk knew why the fusion worked. This universe's Hawk was just a fragment of a whole soul. That spiritual gap left a void, and the Mind Stone filled it perfectly.
In this world, his variant took Vision's place. And just like Vision, when Thanos came to Earth, he tore the Mind Stone out of Hawk's forehead.
Remembering the pain of Thanos taking the stone from his head, Hawk reached up and touched his own forehead without thinking. The memory felt real.
Anya pulled back a little and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Brother, what happened to you? You were..."
Hawk shook off his thoughts and met his sister's eyes. "It's a long story."
Anya wiped her eyes and gave him a bright smile. "We have plenty of time now, don't we?"
Hawk paused, feeling the warmth of her smile. He nodded. "Yeah. We do. Let's go inside. I'll tell you everything."
Anya pulled him toward the door. Hand in hand, the siblings walked back into the house at 521A Palm Street.
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While Hawk and Anya reunited, another reunion was about to happen in Brooklyn.
After sprinting across town and hopping a free ride on the back of a bus, Scott Lang finally arrived at his ex-wife's front door.
Scott nervously rubbed his nose as he stood on the porch, looking through the glass panels of the front door. He saw a figure moving inside. His heart jumped, and he knocked on the door quickly.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Inside, Cassie Lang heard the frantic knocking. She turned to the door and froze when she saw the figure through the glass. Her breath caught. After a moment, she hurried to the door.
She pulled it open. They locked eyes.
Cassie's face showed total disbelief. Shaking, she reached out and touched Scott's chest to make sure he was real. Her voice shook.
"DAD?"
"Cassie?" Scott stared at the teenager in front of him. Just hours ago, from his point of view, she was still a little girl. He pulled her into a tight hug, trying to smile through his heartbreak. "You got so big."
Cassie let out a shaky laugh that turned into a sob. She buried her face in his shoulder. Father and daughter hugged each other on the porch, both crying.
After a while, they went inside. Cassie had so many questions for her dad. She sat across from him, still looking at him as if he might disappear. "Dad, how are you here? Everyone thought you vanished in the Blip."
Scott sat on the sofa, accepting the glass of water she handed him. "Right before it happened, Hope, Hank, and I were running a test. When Thanos snapped his fingers, I wasn't on Earth. I was in the Quantum Realm."
Cassie frowned, trying to understand. "Dad... you were stuck down there for five whole years?"
"No..." Scott shook his head, meeting her eyes. "Time works differently in the Quantum Realm. Down there, I was only gone for five hours."
Cassie's eyes widened in shock. "Five hours?"
"Yeah."
Cassie went quiet. She sat next to him on the sofa and hugged him tightly again. "I don't even care how it happened, Dad. I'm just so glad you're okay. They all said you were gone."
Scott hugged her back, then paused when he heard her words. "They? Who's they?"
"Cap, Black Widow..."
Scott's eyes lit up. He gently grabbed her shoulders. "Wait. Cap is alive?"
"Yeah. After the Blip, the Avengers who survived met up at the compound and... wait, Dad, where are you going?" Cassie called, and Scott suddenly jumped up and ran for the front door.
Scott threw open the door without looking back. "I think I know how to bring everyone back! I have to go find Cap!"
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