Marvel: The Enlightened One#191+192: The HYDRA Trio's Performance, The Demon King Who Doesn't Spit Out Bones Returns

The lead HYDRA agent standing at the door—dressed exactly like an FBI agent—pulled out his credentials.

"Ms. Stacy. FBI."

"Uh-huh."

Gwen stood in the doorway and glanced at the badge the agent was holding up.

"Can I help you?"

"We have a suspect wanted for crimes against national security who ran into this residence. Would you mind handing her over?"

"No."

"..."

The lead HYDRA agent stared at Gwen—who had barely thought for a second before shaking her head and flat-out refusing—and fell into stunned silence.

Under normal circumstances, When dealing with regular civilians who weren't exactly eager to cooperate with their work, they'd usually just strong-arm their way through.

After all, civilians who didn't cooperate with them weren't really regular civilians anymore.

Time to bring the hammer down.

When words didn't work, they knew how to use their fists.

But—

This wasn't a normal circumstance. And Gwen wasn't a regular civilian.

The ashes of Wakanda still hadn't been cleaned up yet.

An entire people's souls were still floating around over there.

So, After giving himself several mental pep talks, the lead HYDRA agent plastered a smile back on his face and addressed Gwen, still standing in the doorway. "Ms. Stacy, we have no desire to make an enemy of you. All we want is the wanted criminal. If you hand her over, we'll leave immediately. We won't stay a second longer."

Gwen didn't budge. She just kept shaking her head.

"Like I said, the person you're looking for isn't here."

"Motherfu—"

The second HYDRA agent standing to the left of the leader heard that response and immediately lost his cool. He exploded on the spot, pointing directly at the clearly visible bloodstains on Gwen's loungewear.

"Are you kidding me right now? You think we don't have the guts to force our way in? Screw this, you—"

SMACK!

Before Gwen's expression could even darken, the lead agent moved first. His hand shot out in a vicious backhand, slapping the agent beside him—who had just pointed at Gwen's clothes while cursing—straight across the face.

The force was so brutal that it knocked two of the man's teeth clean out of his mouth. On top of that, the impact made him spin in place like a top.

Gwen watched the HYDRA agent lose his teeth and spin around, visibly startled.

"I apologize!"

After furiously smacking his own colleague, the lead HYDRA agent immediately put the smile back on his face and turned to Gwen. "My partner didn't know who you were. I'm apologizing on his behalf."

Gwen snapped out of it, staring at the agent in front of her—whose face was covered in a servile, ingratiating smile—and took a deep mental breath.

"I don't have any special identity. All I know is that the person you're looking for isn't here."

"Ms. Stacy, we saw the fugitive enter this residence with our own eyes. Her car is still on your front lawn."

The lead agent gestured toward the bullet-riddled car Sharon had driven over and parked on the grass.

Gwen glanced in the direction he was pointing.

"I don't know whose car that is. But there's no one you're looking for inside my house."

"..."

The third HYDRA agent standing on the right wasn't having it either. His tone dropped low, carrying a clear warning. "Ms. Stacy, you should understand why we're being so polite right now."

Gwen turned to look at the third agent who'd just spoken, then let out a dry laugh. "Of course I do. But do you understand something? You're sure you want to come in? Fine. Go ahead. Come in."

As she spoke, Gwen stepped aside.

The path into the house was now wide open.

But the three HYDRA agents standing at the door stared at the clear path Gwen had just opened and hesitated.

Because Gwen had added one more thing.

"...But remember, I didn't invite you inside. You forced your way in. Please remember that. Because when my fiancé gets back, I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell him that while he was away, three agents—who may or may not actually be FBI—ignored my objections and broke into our home."

The moment those words left her mouth—

The HYDRA trio—who had just felt a flicker of satisfaction when Gwen stepped aside—immediately froze.

Of course.

They really were afraid of Hawk.

Gwen watched the three HYDRA agents—one playing bad cop, one playing good cop, and one playing scary cop—and their expressions confirmed it.

The three agents' faces went stiff. They exchanged glances with each other.

Seeing that, Gwen shrugged and prepared to close the door on them.

Just as she was about to shut it, the agent with the clear handprint on his face—the one who'd lost his teeth playing bad cop—snapped loudly, "Ms. Stacy, don't think we won't do it!"

Gwen paused and stopped closing the door again.

The good cop agent also spoke up in a low voice. "Ms. Stacy, this is your last warning. Hand over the fugitive. We have no desire to make an enemy of you. But that doesn't mean we're going to keep backing down if you stand in our way."

That didn't make sense.

Before joining HYDRA, they'd been meek and cautious.

The whole point of joining HYDRA was so they could finally throw their weight around. If they were still being meek and cautious, what the hell was the point of being in HYDRA?

Gwen looked at the good cop agent, her eyebrow arching.

The next second—

The lead agent—playing the nice guy role—had already taken the first step, snapping at his good cop partner. "Shut up!"

That confirmed it for Gwen.

These three HYDRA agents were running a textbook good cop, bad cop, scary cop routine.

Once she realized that, Gwen almost laughed out loud.

But at the same time, she found herself curious about something.

Gwen's gaze landed on the lead agent—the one playing nice guy.

"I'm curious. If my fiancé were home right now, would you still have the guts to knock on this door, show up on our doorstep, and threaten me—right in front of him—to hand over the person you're looking for?"

'Hell no...' The lead agent answered that question in his head without a second's hesitation. But he didn't say it out loud.

After all, if he actually said that, it would be like boosting someone else's reputation while destroying his own.

But—

Did he dare?

Sorry. Really didn't.

If he'd dared, they wouldn't have slammed on the brakes the second they saw Sharon Carter drive into Bleecker Street while they were chasing her. They wouldn't have been too scared to follow her in.

Everyone knew, Bleecker Street was home to a demon king whose punishments ranged from wiping out entire families to exterminating entire bloodlines.

So the moment they stopped their car, they'd immediately called it in to their superiors.

And then—

Once their superiors found out Sharon Carter had run into Bleecker Street, they'd gotten chewed out and told they had three options: bring Sharon Carter back immediately, kill Sharon Carter immediately, or kill themselves.

But that wasn't even the main point.

The main point was that their superiors had also told them that when capturing or killing Sharon Carter, they were not to provoke the demon king's shackles.

As for how to bring back or kill Sharon Carter without provoking the demon king's shackles? Their superiors didn't say. They just told the three of them to "use their initiative."

Because if the operation failed, HYDRA would disavow them.

Good lord.

But complaining aside, the job still had to be done. After all, defying the demon king might get them killed, but if they didn't follow the organization's orders, they'd definitely die.

And it would be a brutal death.

The three of them had huddled in the car, put their heads together, and come up with a plan. The basic strategy: coax, scare, and threaten.

One person would play nice guy and coax.

One person would play good cop and scare.

And the third would play bad cop and threaten.

Three-pronged attack. Maybe, possibly, there was a chance it might work—that they could get the demon king's shackles (also known as Gwen) to hand over Sharon Carter.

After all, according to the file, Gwen was only nineteen years old.

And so, They'd gone for it.

And now, hearing Gwen's question, they were completely stuck.

Obviously—

Gwen hadn't been intimidated by them. Not only that, but it seemed like the roles had reversed. She was looking at the HYDRA trio at her door with open amusement. "Looks like you wouldn't dare come here if Hawk were home. But I should remind you—Hawk only left New York temporarily. He's not gone for good."

One sentence.

Hawk was just away temporarily. He wasn't dead.

A dead demon king might not be that scary. But a temporarily absent demon king—one who'd already proven that crossing him resulted in disaster—if he came back and found out about this? Only God knew what would happen.

Gwen said all that, then shifted gears, addressing the HYDRA trio in front of her. "If you leave now, I'll pretend this never happened. Otherwise, when my fiancé gets back, I'm going to tell him everything. And I won't be asking him to go easy on you. You should know how terrifying my fiancé is. I'm telling you—he doesn't even spit out the bones."

When Gwen mentioned that Hawk didn't spit out bones, her expression looked oddly familiar.

As if she'd seen it happen firsthand.

She'd hoped that saying this would be enough to get the three of them to leave.

But—

The good cop HYDRA agent heard Gwen's words and seemed to catch on to her urgency to get rid of them. He let out a cold laugh and looked at her. "But your fiancé isn't in New York right now, is he?"

Like they'd said before, If they didn't capture or kill Sharon Carter today, they were dead.

So after the good cop agent started playing bad cop, the lead agent—who'd been playing nice guy—also dropped the smile from his face. He looked at Gwen. "Ms. Stacy, step aside. Otherwise—"

Before he could finish—

A voice—cold and ominous—came from behind them.

"Otherwise... what??"

"..."

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

The moment that cold voice came from behind the HYDRA trio, every trace of expression vanished from their faces.

Even their complexions turned deathly pale in an instant.

Gwen, on the other hand, smiled.

The serious, intimidating expression on her face melted away at visible speed. Her gaze swept past the shoulders of the three HYDRA agents and landed on Hawk—who had seemingly materialized out of thin air behind them—and her face gradually broke into a beautiful smile.

Of course. When she was in danger, Hawk always appeared at her side in the first instant.

Gwen smiled sweetly.

The next second, Her gaze returned to the three HYDRA agents in front of her—faces now pale, bodies visibly trembling—and she shot them a look that clearly said, I warned you.

...

Inside the house.

Sharon Carter, who had been leaning against the wall, fighting to stay conscious and already planning to walk out at the last moment to avoid dragging Gwen down with her, heard Hawk's voice. Her entire body relaxed. Then her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.

Hearing the noise, Gwen turned around and immediately saw Sharon lying on the floor by the wall.

"Sharon!"

Gwen's face changed instantly. She spun around and ran into the house, not even bothering to close the door.

Because the man of the house was back. There was no need to close the door anymore.

When Hawk had tried calling Gwen via satellite phone and couldn't get through, he'd been worried something had happened. The moment he'd hung up, he'd rushed back to New York at top speed.

And then, From miles away, he'd spotted three federal agents standing at his front door, being blocked by Gwen. With a single thought, his body had vanished from high altitude and reappeared behind the three agents—just in time to hear what sounded like a threat directed at his fiancée.

Hawk smiled.

After Gwen had given up all pretense, shouted Sharon's name, and run back inside, the HYDRA trio standing at the door finally snapped out of their shock. Their expressions looked like they were attending their own funerals. Their heads turned mechanically, slowly rotating their bodies around.

They saw Hawk.

The man their organization had code-named "Demon King."

Hawk looked at the three HYDRA agents who had turned to face him. His expression was neither happy nor angry. Even his tone was remarkably calm. "Go on. Otherwise what? Were you planning to force your way into my home? Or were you planning to kill my fiancée first and then break in?"

The HYDRA trio shuddered violently at his words. Their heads shook like bobbleheads. Their faces were pale, their voices frantic.

"WE WERE JUST TRYING TO SCARE HER!"

"WE WERE JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS, DEMON KING—I MEAN, MR. PHOENIX!"

"Heh."

Hawk looked at the three HYDRA agents—who were on the verge of tears and ready to drop to their knees and beg—and let out a soft laugh. Just to be safe, he confirmed.

"You're HYDRA?"

"..."

The HYDRA trio—who had been desperately trying to plead for their lives—froze at the question. They exchanged glances with each other.

Finally, the lead agent looked up at Hawk, swallowed hard, and proceeded to spill everything. He laid out their entire plan—the good cop, bad cop, scary cop routine they'd been using to try to force Sharon Carter out—without holding anything back.

"Mr. Phoenix, we really had no intention of laying a hand on Ms. Stacy."

"No—we didn't even have the thought!"

"Is that so?"

Hawk listened to the HYDRA trio explain their plan, his gaze becoming somewhat deeper as he looked at the three of them. "You're saying you didn't want to come here. That your superiors forced you. Who? Alexander Pierce?"

The three exchanged glances. Finally, the lead HYDRA agent answered Hawk's question.

"No. John Garrett."

"Who's that?"

Hawk thought about the name for a moment but couldn't find any information about this person in his memory.

If he had to guess, the guy was probably a nobody.

A nobody had the balls to break into his place while he was out? Had he not killed enough people? Or had he not killed them brutally enough?

Fine...

Then he'd just kill more people. And kill them more brutally.

Hawk thought to himself.

At the same time, the lead HYDRA agent began spilling everything he knew about his direct superior, John Garrett.

"He's our boss. He's also the commanding officer in charge of this operation in New York—Operation SHIELD Struggle."

"John Garrett used to be part of SHIELD."

"But now he barely goes on missions anymore. He works as a consultant for New York SHIELD."

"He's the one running this operation. We told him Sharon Carter ran to your place. We wanted to go back. We didn't want to come here."

"But John Garrett chewed us out."

"He insisted we capture Sharon Carter or kill her. If we couldn't do that, he'd kill us. We had no choice."

"It's true!"

"We were wrong. We'll never do it again. Please, we're begging you—spare us this once."

As the lead agent finished his explanation, the other two joined in. Between the three of them, they poured out everything they knew about John Garrett, desperately pleading for their lives.

They begged Hawk.

Begged him to spare their miserable lives.

Hawk didn't move.

When the three finally stopped talking and looked at Hawk with pleading expressions, Hawk's expressionless face broke into a faint smile.

The three agents' faces lit up with hope.

But Hawk's next words threw them straight into an icy hell.

"Thanks. But no."

The moment those words left his mouth—

[Eye beams.]

Hawk's eyes turned crimson in an instant.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Two scorching beams of scarlet energy shot from his eyes. The three HYDRA agents—who still had a trace of hope on their faces, thinking they might survive—were instantly incinerated by the Phoenix flames. They turned to ash on the spot.

To be more precise, they were vaporized. Not even ash remained.

This technique was something Hawk had figured out after facing off against Ikaris and absorbing Tiamut's massive life energy.

The principle was simple.

He used eye beams to channel his mutated Phoenix Cosmo energy.

After learning it, he'd been looking forward to the next time he ran into Ikaris.

Hawk really wanted to know whose heat vision was stronger—Ikaris's or his own mutated eye beams.

But for now, The effect was pretty damn good.

Hawk's eyes returned to their normal clear blue. He looked at the empty space where the HYDRA trio had been standing moments ago—no trace, not even ashes—and smiled faintly.

He'd never said he was going to let those three agents go.

If they really didn't have any intention of doing anything, why the hell did they knock on his door in the first place?

And they hadn't just knocked. They'd threatened Gwen.

Most importantly, There was probably some element of testing involved in all this.

Hawk had no intention of giving anyone the chance to test him.

Not even once.

If he let these three go today, what was to stop someone else from breaking into his home tomorrow with the same excuse? "Oh, I didn't want to come, really."

That wasn't going to fly.

Hawk wasn't about to give anyone that kind of false impression.

That's why he'd dug up General Ross's family graveyard, killed Ross's entire family, and then wiped out the entire Wakandan bloodline.

There was a saying.

The killing done now is to prevent even greater killing later.

Fight slaughter with slaughter.

Hawk wanted to make it crystal clear to all his enemies—whether they operated in the open or in the shadows—one very simple thing.

Don't mess with me. I'll kill your entire family. Your entire bloodline.

"John Garrett, huh?"

"Let's see if you've got nine lives."

Hawk's lips curved upward as his gaze shifted toward Times Square.

But just as he was about to head to New York SHIELD, Gwen's voice called out from inside the house.

"Hawk!"

"...Coming."

The murderous intent that had just been rising in Hawk's chest was instantly suppressed. He snapped back to reality, called out in response, and walked straight into the house.

...

Inside.

Gwen had just helped Sharon Carter onto the couch. She was feeling Sharon's weak, barely-there pulse while looking at Hawk. "Hawk, I think Sharon's dying."

Hawk glanced at Sharon Carter.

"There's still a bullet fragment inside her that hasn't been removed."

"That's impossible. I already—"

Gwen started to argue instinctively, then looked at the bullet fragments she'd removed from Sharon. Sure enough, one of the pieces was incomplete.

"Oh, crap."

Gwen sucked in a sharp breath and turned to Hawk. "We need to get her to a hospital. Now."

Hawk nodded. With a slight flick of his right hand, his telekinesis lifted the unconscious Sharon off the couch and moved her toward the garage.

Gwen immediately stood and hurried after Hawk.

"I'm coming with you."

"Alright."