Marvel: The Enlightened One#67+68: The Quickest Way to Strengthen the Cosmo and the Saint Armor, Hawk Owes Iron Man a Thank You!

A few days later.

Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey.

Gwen parked the car, and as she stepped out, she took in the breathtaking view of the Statue of Liberty and the iconic Manhattan skyline. She let out a soft gasp of awe and turned to Hawk as he got out of the passenger side.

"I've never seen the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline from this angle before. It's beautiful, isn't it, Hawk?"

"It's alright."

Hawk gave the monument a cursory glance, his eyes sweeping over the distant city with a practiced indifference.

Gwen's mouth opened, a retort on her lips, but she just sighed. She should have known better than to discuss aesthetics with him. She quickly changed the subject.

"So, where's this friend you mentioned?"

"We're early," Hawk's voice was calm. "The meeting is at ten. It's only nine."

He had gotten the call from Anna a few nights ago, just as he was leaving Gwen's house. When Gwen had asked who it was, he had told her.

Just as he'd promised, he wouldn't hide things from her if she asked. But upon hearing that Anna was the one providing him with information, Gwen had insisted on coming along.

Hawk had agreed.

And so, here they were. Gwen had shown up at his apartment first thing in the morning, and now they were an hour early for a ten o'clock meeting.

An hour wasn't long. In what felt like the blink of an eye, ten o'clock arrived.

Right on cue, an unremarkable semi-truck rolled into the port. It gave two short blasts of its horn, catching their attention.

Hawk turned to watch as the truck slowed to a stop beside them.

The driver's side door opened.

It was Anna.

Her blonde hair was tied up in a high, neat ponytail, and she wore a pair of stylish, intellectual glasses. She hopped down from the cab, a warm smile on her face. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Hawk."

Hawk returned the smile. "For a friend, I'm a very patient man, Anna."

Anna's gaze then shifted to Gwen, and a flicker of surprise crossed her otherwise composed features. She looked back at Hawk. "And this is...?"

"Gwen. My girlfriend," Hawk said simply. "Anna. My friend."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gwen."

Hearing Hawk's introduction, Anna's smile widened. She pulled off her driving glove and extended a hand to Gwen.

Gwen shook it, her own smile polite but measured. "You too."

She had seen this woman before.

But, Gwen thought back to that day, waiting in the car, watching the woman who walked with a chilling purpose, a cold and untouchable air about her—a walking iceberg.

She couldn't reconcile that image with the warm, smiling woman standing before her now. Gwen kept the thought to herself, pushing her curiosity down.

After shaking Gwen's hand, Anna turned her attention back to Hawk. "So, is this enough?"

"Let's see..."

Hawk nodded. Anna turned and led him to the back of the truck's trailer.

Gwen followed close behind.

As the trailer doors swung open, Hawk's eyes widened. The entire container was filled, almost to the brim, with iron meteorites.

Gwen gasped, staring at the massive haul.

Anna patted the side of the container and looked at Hawk with a satisfied smile. "Sorry, this was a bit rushed. I could only find thirty tons. If it's not enough, I can have my people find more."

Hawk felt a muscle in his jaw twitch.

Rushed? Thirty tons? Not enough?

Okay. No doubt about it now. It's Hydra!!

In the entire world, besides government-level entities, only an organization like Hydra would have the resources to gather thirty tons of iron meteorites in just three months.

The thoughts raced through Hawk's mind, but his expression remained calm. He looked at Anna and smiled. "It's more than enough. I'm very satisfied. Thank you."

How many meteorites did it take to forge a Saint Armor?

What he truly needed wasn't the meteorites themselves, but the Stardust Sand he could create by grinding them down with the power of his Cosmo.

But even so, thirty tons was a staggering amount. It was enough to forge the Phoenix Armor with plenty to spare for the next one.

Hearing his answer, Anna's smile grew even wider. She patted the container again. "So, do you want to haul it away, or—"

"..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Hawk was already moving.

The next second, Anna's eyes widened, her pupils contracting as she watched what happened next.

She saw Hawk walk straight up to the open trailer. He took a deep breath, and as he extended his right hand, the thirty tons of meteorites inside began to vanish, piece by piece, as if drawn by an unseen force.

From a perspective only Hawk could see.

Hawk's Cosmo had projected itself into reality, a slowly rotating black hole that was pulling the meteorites into its depths.

Within that inner universe, the Phoenix constellation flared like a star going supernova.

The meteorites, once inside his Cosmo, would be pulverized by its power, ground into a fine silver dust. This dust would then be drawn into the Phoenix constellation and refined by its ethereal flames, becoming one of the three essential materials for his Saint Armor: Stardust Sand.

But just like with the Gammanium, the process would take time. A Saint Armor was a living thing; the longer it had to mature and absorb power, the stronger it would become.

...

In the blink of an eye, the entire thirty-ton payload had vanished.

Anna could only stare in stunned silence. Beside her, Gwen was equally shocked by the bizarre, impossible scene.

Having finished, Hawk showed the first sign of strain, a flicker of fatigue in his eyes.

After all, this universe had no Saints. If the Marvel Universe was a video game, his power system wasn't part of its native code.

He could burn his Cosmo to manifest it in reality, but compared to how it would work in its home universe, it was like trying to run software on incompatible hardware. It worked, but it was inefficient—twice the effort for half the result.

But he already had a solution for that.

Just as he had an idea on how to increase the power of his armor over time.

Those were problems for later, though. First, he needed to actually forge the armor.

Hawk let out a slow breath, the weariness in his eyes vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. He looked at the still-stunned Anna and extended his right arm. "Let's do this."

Anna snapped out of her trance, a confused look on her face.

Hawk smiled. "200 milliliters isn't going to cut it this time."

Anna's eyes widened in understanding.

But before her expression could change, Hawk spoke again, his voice calm and steady.

"I'll give you 400."

"..."

<><><><><><><><>

In the sunlight, the blood glittered like starlight as it was slowly drawn from his body and into the blood bag.

Hawk sat in the chair, squeezing a grip strengthener in his hand while gazing at the distant Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island.

Anna watched with a look of reverence, her eyes fixed on the blood pooling in the bag as if gazing upon a holy relic.

The blood inside seemed to shimmer with the brilliance of a diamond in the sun.

Just then.

A phone rang.

Anna took out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and after a quick apology to Hawk, she stepped away to take the call.

Gwen, who had been sitting quietly to the side, shot a glance at Anna before turning to Hawk, lowering her voice.

"So, let me get this straight. You traded 400 milliliters of your blood for an entire truckload of iron meteorites?"

"Yep." Hawk nodded slightly, looking at Gwen. "Do you think I got the better end of the deal?"

Gwen opened her mouth, then closed it. From a purely monetary perspective, there was no question. Hawk had made out like a bandit. After all, how much could you get for selling blood?

According to the latest rates from New York's blood banks, 400 milliliters of blood would get you about a hundred and fifty dollars.

But iron meteorites??

Gwen had just looked it up. Just last week, a thirty-five-kilogram iron meteorite had sold for two hundred and ten thousand dollars at a New York auction house.

If you did the math, Thirty tons of iron meteorites would be worth over one hundred and seventy-nine million dollars.

Gwen’s brow furrowed as she looked at him. “Hawk, this isn’t just any blood. Yours is...”

"How about this, then?"

Hawk met her gaze with a calm smile. "I'll call off the deal, give Anna back her meteorites, and tomorrow, I'll just go... appropriate the ones Osborn and Stark have in their collections. That should be enough, and I won't have to give up a single drop of blood. How does that sound?"

Gwen stared at him, speechless for a moment.

Then, seeing the teasing glint in his eyes, she realized he was joking and rolled her own in response. “Okay, fine. But you know what your blood can do. Aren’t you worried that Anna will—”

She cut herself off as Anna finished her call and started walking back toward them.

Hawk understood Gwen's unspoken fear.

"Don't worry," he said softly. "I made a deal with Anna. No cloning. That's the only rule. Besides, this is a one-time thing. And selling my blood is a lot closer to being a 'Good guy' than being a highway robber, wouldn't you say?"

Gwen fell silent. When faced with a choice between selling his blood and becoming a superpowered cat burglar, the answer was obvious. It was better than the alternative.

...

At that moment, Anna returned, a look of excitement on her face.

"I have an update," she said to Hawk. "Tony Stark's private jet, which landed in Bangalore yesterday, has just taken off. It's scheduled to arrive at two P.M. on the 22nd at a private airfield thirty kilometers from Culver Lake."

The twenty-second. That’s today.

A sharp, intense light flashed in Hawk’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

"It's confirmed." Anna handed Hawk a small, palm-sized tablet. On the screen was airport surveillance footage. It clearly showed Bruce Banner boarding a private jet.

Hawk smiled, then glanced at Gwen. “Well, that’s a relief. You won’t have to make up an excuse to ditch your mom on Christmas Eve.”

The twenty-fourth was Christmas Eve.

He had been worried that the Hulk wouldn’t show up until the twenty-fourth. Now, with any luck, this would all be over by tonight.

Gwen didn't respond to that, instead asking, "Tony Stark's private jet? But I thought Tony Stark was missing?"

It was true. Tony Stark had vanished again. Last time it was in the Middle East. This time, it was right here in Los Angeles. And this time, his Malibu mansion was nothing but rubble—payback for publicly declaring war on the Mandarin last week.

Of course, Hawk knew this Mandarin—the one responsible for the Extremis virus—was just an actor. The real one was probably too busy trying to resurrect his dead wife to be bothered with any of this.

...

“Stark might be missing, but his company is still running,” Anna explained. “The flight was probably scheduled weeks ago. But we have a theory.”

"What is it?"

“We think Banner is coming early because he heard about what happened to Tony. He’s coming to help.”

“...That’s possible—” Hawk nodded thoughtfully.

A moment later, a dry, humorless chuckle escaped him. He handed the tablet back to Anna. “—Well, if I get the chance, I’ll have to be sure to thank Tony Stark.”

If it weren't for Stark's dramatic disappearance, Bruce Banner probably wouldn't have shown up until Christmas Eve.

But now, Iron Man was missing, and the Hulk was arriving ahead of schedule. From that perspective, Hawk really did owe him one.

Anna smiled but said nothing. She put the tablet away and, seeing that the blood bag was full, quickly and carefully removed the needle from Hawk's arm. The moment the needle was out, the puncture mark on Hawk's arm healed completely in the blink of an eye.

Hawk rolled down his sleeve and stood up from the chair.

Anna placed the blood bag into a hand-held, cryogenic briefcase with the care one would reserve for a priceless jewel.

With a soft click, she locked it, a look of profound relief on her face.

Anna then looked up at Hawk. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Hawk smiled, then glanced at Gwen. He said nothing more, instead taking her hand and leading her toward the yellow Corolla parked nearby.

Anna stood and watched them go.

Gwen got into the driver's seat, started the car, and looked at Hawk in the passenger seat. Even though she already knew the answer, she asked anyway. "So, where to now?"

Hawk turned to her, a sharp smile on his face. "Culver!"

"TIME FOR A LITTLE PAYBACK!"

"..."