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Tony turned and headed for the door.
Hawk raised an eyebrow, let out a short laugh, and followed.
Soon enough, The two of them left the room housing Hawk's Saint Cloth fragments, passed through a corridor, then took a right turn into another chamber. This one had silver walls and was outfitted like something straight out of a futuristic sci-fi lab.
Hawk's gaze locked onto a mannequin at the far end of the room, specifically onto the armor it was wearing.
The armor was entirely silver.
The faceplate looked similar to his Phoenix Cloth's visor.
Embedded in the mannequin's chest was a diamond-shaped energy core glowing with a pale blue light.
The design looked like a bastardized fusion of his Saint Cloth and Tony Stark's Iron Man suit.
A Frankenstein's monster?
Two SHIELD scientists were currently stationed around this bizarre hybrid armor, running diagnostics.
Tony raised his wrist and tapped his watch. A projection shot out, materializing in the air between them.
A surveillance video appeared.
The footage showed the same underground base, though in what looked like a testing facility. A burly, bearded man with a build like a grizzly bear was being helped into a silver suit of armor—the same one standing in front of them now—by several technicians.
Once the bearded man finished suiting up and gave a nod indicating he was ready, the diamond-shaped energy source on the armor's chest slowly began to glow.
The next second, An agonized scream tore from the bearded man's throat. Then—SPLAT—the man inside the silver armor was crushed as if caught in an invisible vice.
Blood sprayed everywhere. The armor collapsed to the ground in pieces with a series of metallic clangs.
As for the bearded man?
He was gone. Completely vaporized.
Hawk watched the projected surveillance footage, raised an eyebrow, and in a flash, vanished from where he stood and reappeared directly in front of the mannequin. He placed his uninjured right hand on the armor.
The sudden appearance made the two SHIELD scientists jump.
Tony walked over, glancing at Hawk—who had one arm in a sling and the other resting on the silver armor. "JARVIS just recovered and restored that footage from their deleted system files."
Hawk pulled his hand away from the armor and offered a blunt assessment. "Clever idea. But incredibly stupid execution."
Clever because it was obvious HYDRA had put serious thought into how to replicate his Saint Cloth.
They'd realized that simply copying the design wouldn't give them access to the energy Hawk's Cloth possessed.
So they'd borrowed a page from Tony Stark's playbook—specifically, the miniaturized arc reactor that powered the Iron Man suits.
Except, The energy source embedded in this armor's chest wasn't an arc reactor.
It was vibranium energy.
Energy extracted from vibranium using Wakandan technology.
As for the stupid part?
Vibranium energy output was massive.
Hawk already understood what HYDRA had been trying to do.
HYDRA had intended to use vibranium energy as a substitute for the power his Saint Cloth naturally generated, hoping it would allow this knockoff armor to replicate his abilities.
But the energy stored in vibranium was enormous.
Hadn't they noticed that even Wakanda built dedicated containment chambers just to safely release vibranium energy?
HYDRA had been idiotic enough to think an ordinary human body could withstand that kind of power output. And the result was inevitable.
Just like what had happened to the bearded guy in the surveillance footage.
The vibranium energy hadn't even been active for a full second before the sheer force tore him apart.
That was exactly why Hawk had called HYDRA's idea clever yet profoundly stupid.
Tony, standing nearby, clearly understood Hawk's meaning. Still, he looked at the armor with genuine curiosity. "If the armor and vibranium energy could achieve perfect integration, how would it compare to your Cloth?"
"Compare to my Cloth?"
Hawk glanced at Tony, thought about it seriously, then gave an honest assessment.
"Compared to my first Cloth? Maybe sixty percent. And that's assuming someone could actually survive wearing this thing."
"But you don't think anyone can?"
"Correct."
Hawk nodded, then seemed to remember something and added, "Steve might be able to pull it off. He's been enhanced by the super-soldier serum, so his physical conditioning could probably handle it. But you? Don't even think about it. If you tried putting this on, you'd end up exactly like that bearded guy."
Just to be safe—and to prevent his future designated armor-smith from doing something catastrophically stupid—Hawk made sure to emphasize that last point with complete seriousness.
After all, Tony Stark was going to be his armor-smith down the line.
In the future, Hawk planned to have Tony forge all the Bronze and Silver Cloths for his Cosmo.
His personal Cloth, however, was a different story.
Hawk had already picked out the craftsman for his true Phoenix Gold Cloth.
The Dwarf King.
That's right.
The same Dwarf King who had forged Mjölnir, Stormbreaker, the Infinity Gauntlet, and countless other legendary weapons.
If the Dwarf King made it, it was top-tier.
So, Hawk's plan was to commission the Dwarf King to forge his Phoenix Gold Cloth.
But there was no rush.
His Cosmo hadn't reached its peak yet, and he still hadn't figured out the Seventh Sense. Going to the Dwarf King now would just result in a subpar product.
Hawk's thoughts drifted as he finished his warning to Tony. Then, having lost interest, he shook his head. "I thought you were going to show me something impressive. Instead, it's this. Boring. I'm heading back."
He should be lying in bed right now, not standing here with Tony looking at a piece of scrap metal.
Yes.
Scrap metal.
He'd told Tony that if someone could actually wear this armor, it might achieve sixty percent of his Cloth's capabilities. But that comparison was against his first Cloth—the broken one.
And when had Hawk worn that Cloth?
Right after awakening his Cosmo. Back then, he hadn't even unlocked his Sixth Sense yet.
Now?
If you compared this thing to the Black Phoenix Surplice currently resting in his Underworld Palace?
The Black Phoenix Surplice's aura alone could crush this armor into dust.
So yeah... Scrap metal.
If Alexander Pierce had been willing to die rather than reveal this, and if Strucker had been so confident when he'd said, "Everyone dies eventually—you're no exception," and this was supposed to be their ace in the hole?
All Hawk could say was:
What a letdown.
Hawk scoffed internally, then yawned, turned on his heel, and vanished from Tony's sight.
Tony stared at the empty space where Hawk had been standing, then turned his gaze back to the silver armor Hawk had just dismissed as scrap metal.
....
Bleecker Street.
Gwen stood in the bathroom, blow-drying her hair while humming a cheerful tune.
She was in a good mood.
Because Hawk probably wasn't coming home tonight, which meant she could finally get a full night's rest.
Just as she finished drying her hair, opened the bathroom door, and prepared to climb into bed, she found Hawk already back—and already lying in bed, smiling at her and waving.
"Hey!"
Gwen stared at Hawk. "Don't you ever get tired?"
Hawk shrugged.
"I'm not the one doing the work."
"..." Gwen seethed for a moment, then her eyes darted around as an idea struck. She looked at Hawk. "You know what? You're right. I was wrong. Why don't you take that cast off? Tony called you over in such a rush—it must have been urgent. Having your left arm in a sling like that is really inconvenient."
Hawk shook his head.
"It wasn't anything important. He just found my Saint Cloth fragments. Apparently, HYDRA collected the pieces and tried to replicate it."
"Collected... replicate?"
Gwen's eyes lit up. Her expression shifted from exasperation to genuine curiosity. She climbed into bed, pulled back the covers, and sat down, staring at Hawk with wide eyes.
The look clearly said: "Tell me everything."
Hawk chuckled and gave her the short version, describing what he'd just seen—including HYDRA's attempt to merge his Saint Cloth with Tony's Iron Man technology, resulting in what he considered nothing more than a glorified pile of scrap.
Gwen instinctively glanced down at her neck.
But it was bare.
She blinked in confusion, then remembered. She threw the covers off, padded barefoot back into the bathroom, and returned holding her Andromeda Cloth necklace.
"Like this one?"
"Not even close."
Hawk blinked, then shook his head with a wry smile. "If someone actually managed to survive wearing that scrap heap, I wouldn't even need to step in. You could put on your Andromeda Cloth, hit them with one Nebula Chain, and knock them out cold."
Even though Gwen's Andromeda Cloth was made from the same materials as his original Cloth—
There was a crucial difference.
Hawk's original Cloth had been forged when his Cosmo was still in its infancy.
But the Andromeda Cloth he'd given Gwen? That had been forged using his Sixth Sense Silver Cosmo. And the Andromeda constellation was currently rotating within his Silver Phoenix Cosmo.
Hearing Hawk's dismissive assessment, Gwen relaxed. She set the Andromeda Cloth necklace on the nightstand and lay down.
"Alright. Time to sleep."
"Hey."
Hawk wasn't about to let Gwen distract him that easily. He looked at his fiancée, who had just closed her eyes, clearly hoping to dodge the conversation.
Just then—
Gwen's eyes suddenly snapped open, as if she'd just remembered something. She turned to Hawk.
"Oh, by the way—Grandpa wants you to come visit over winter break. He wants to meet you."
"..."
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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