Marvel: The Enlightened One#187+188: The Planet's Core, Something Happened in New York

By the riverbank in the Iwi village.

Hawk and Peter stood side by side, chatting while waiting for Felicia, who was deep in conversation with the Iwi High Priestess not far away.

Once Felicia finished talking with the High Priestess, they could finally leave.

Hawk had originally planned to handle the conversation himself.

But he had no idea how to bring it up. And since Peter was just as reserved as he was, they'd ended up asking Felicia to do it.

From any perspective, the High Priestess had been completely forthright with them. Hawk had used the information she provided to locate the Adamantium. Still, he doubted the Iwi could ever reclaim their ancestral homeland—not now. Without Kong’s protection and in their current state, they would be slaughtered by the creatures below within hours of returning.

But Hawk couldn't make that decision for the Iwi. And more importantly, he didn't want to.

Respect other people's choices.

So after returning, Hawk had told Peter and Felicia the truth about the Iwi's ancestral homeland. The three of them had voted. Two to one. Felicia would tell the High Priestess.

Yeah.

Very democratic.

Peter, standing beside him, spoke in a low, confused voice. "I still don't understand why the Iwi ancestor—this Ikaris you mentioned—would kill his own descendants."

Hawk shrugged. "Maybe he didn't want his bloodline to suffer."

Hawk had pieced together why Ikaris had done it based on what he'd seen in the Hollow World and what he remembered from the Eternals movie.

The Eternals had been created by the Celestials to eliminate Deviants and protect the Emergence. Their memories were wiped after every Emergence, and they were sent to a new planet to guard the next one.

Which meant the Eternals didn't know the truth about the Emergence.

They knew they were sent to eliminate Deviants. They knew they had to wait for the new Celestial to be born. Mission complete.

But they didn't know the real cost of the Emergence.

The birth of a new Celestial meant the destruction of the planet.

Not that knowing would have helped. Their memories would be wiped afterward anyway, and they'd be sent into the next cycle.

Except—

Ajak, the leader of the Eternals, was different.

As the leader, Ajak's memories were never wiped. She'd always known the Emergence meant planetary destruction.

This wasn't a joke.

For millions of years, Ajak had faithfully carried out her mission, always supporting the Emergence. But after arriving on Earth for this particular assignment, something changed. She fell in love with the planet. She couldn't bear to destroy it. She started questioning whether her mission was right. She began trying to stop the Emergence.

To do that, she went to Ikaris and told him the truth about the Emergence.

After all, Ikaris was her chosen successor as the future leader of the Eternals.

She hoped Ikaris would join her. That he'd reject the mission and protect Earth.

But Ikaris refused outright. He even accused Ajak of losing her sense of duty.

Ajak had no choice. She erased Ikaris's memories of the truth. But she still hoped that during his time living on Earth, Ikaris would reconsider and make a different choice.

Later, Ikaris followed Sersi to the Hollow World beneath Skull Island and settled there.

And then, Ikaris's memories returned on their own. And he made his choice.

He chose to continue fulfilling the mission the Celestials had created them for.

The Emergence would happen.

But Ikaris—with his memories restored—was conflicted.

On one hand, he wanted to fulfill his duty.

On the other, he couldn't let go of his feelings.

Because he knew that if he chose duty, he'd eventually have to fight his own teammates.

And Sersi.

His love.

He knew Sersi loved Earth. And if he chose to complete his mission, he'd be destroying everything the woman he loved held dear.

So, After struggling with himself, Ikaris chose to leave without saying goodbye.

Just like the murals in the Hollow World Iwi temple depicted—Ikaris left alone.

Because his love for Sersi was his greatest weakness.

Just like in the original plot—when Ikaris appeared in London, he still chose to protect Sersi. Even in the final battle, when he had the chance to kill her and ensure the Emergence, he gave up.

But that was all in the future.

The point was—

Right now, on this timeline, faced with a choice between duty and the feelings he couldn't let go of, Ikaris had chosen duty.

But before that, he had to eliminate any obstacles that might stop the Emergence.

And when it came to the people he cared about—his loved ones—Ikaris had come up with a solution.

The Deviants!!

He planned to use the Deviants to assassinate Ajak, who had started questioning their mission.

But all the Deviants had been wiped out at the beginning. Where would he find new ones?

Fortunately, Ikaris had found two Deviant eggs beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. But the eggs had no life left in them.

No problem. He knew a place rich with life energy—the Hollow World where he'd once spent happy times with Sersi before leaving her.

So he returned. He used the life energy there to successfully hatch new Deviants. And as his first target, naturally, it would be the Iwi—the descendants he and Sersi had created.

Rather than let his and Sersi's offspring perish in the Emergence along with everyone else, better to bury them himself.

Of course—

All of this was Hawk's speculation based on the murals he'd seen in the Hollow World and the plot of the Eternals movie.

After all, Ikaris hadn't exactly sat down for a heart-to-heart with him.

But Hawk figured the story had probably gone something like that.

Peter's mouth opened.

"So there's really a Celestial inside our planet. And in the future, he's going to be born and destroy Earth in the process."

"Pretty much."

"Holy hell."

Peter sucked in a sharp breath, then turned to Hawk. "Hawk, we have to stop this."

Hawk looked at the suddenly fired-up Peter and smiled. "Alright. How do you plan to stop it? Tiamut's down there right now. There is a way to kill him."

Peter's eyes lit up.

"What is it?"

"Destroy Earth."

"What?"

"Tiamut is gestating in Earth's core. The only way to stop him from being born is to cut off his life energy. And the only way to do that is to destroy Earth before Tiamut destroys it. Just like what Ikaris did to his and Sersi's descendants."

"No way."

Peter shook his head so hard he looked like a bobblehead. "That's not an option. That can't work. There has to be another way."

Hawk looked at Peter—who genuinely seemed desperate to know—and dropped the joking expression.

Peter was still Peter.

Limited power, unlimited responsibility. That was Spider-Man.

Hawk thought about that, watching Peter, who really did want to know if there was a way to stop the Emergence.

"There is."

"What?!"

"Trust future generations to figure it out."

"..."

Peter blinked, staring at Hawk's completely serious face. "That's... that's not a plan."

Hawk glanced at Felicia, who had finished talking with the High Priestess and was walking toward them. He turned back to Peter with a smile. "Then let me give you a different answer. Do you trust me?"

Peter didn't hesitate.

"Of course."

"Then relax. You've still got me. I'm not worried, so why are you?"

"Good point."

Peter nodded instinctively, a wave of relief washing over him.

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

Just then, Felicia walked over.

Now that he had Hawk's not-quite-a-promise promise, Peter had let go of his worries about Earth's future destruction. He looked at Felicia curiously, wondering what the High Priestess had decided.

"So? Are they going back?"

"No."

Felicia shook her head. After stopping in front of them, she glanced back at the High Priestess—who was walking toward the Iwi temple, leaning heavily on her staff. Then she turned back to Hawk and Peter. "The High Priestess understands they'll never be able to go back. I think she just wanted to know the truth. After all these generations of wondering."

Hawk's gaze also settled on the High Priestess's hunched figure as he walked toward the temple. "The High Priests have been passing down their suspicions for generations. Otherwise, that first High Priest wouldn't have stayed down there to die instead of leaving with the others."

He thought about the skeleton he'd seen in the Hollow World Iwi temple—sitting before the ten god-like Adamantium statues, waiting for death.

The first High Priest. Ikaris and Sersi's first child.

He must have known something. So he walked into the temple, smiled, and calmly accepted his fate when his father came to take his life.

"You gave me life. So if you want it back, come take it yourself."

Hawk imagined what the first High Priest had been thinking in his final moments. That was also why, when collecting the Adamantium, Hawk had only taken it from the mountains. He'd left the temple—which was made entirely of Adamantium—and the ten Adamantium statues untouched.

Not out of respect for Ikaris or Sersi.

But out of respect for that first High Priest.

Fear of death was a natural instinct for all living things.

But the courage to face death head-on? That was what made humanity beautiful.

Ikaris might not have been human. But that first High Priest was.

If it had been Hawk? Without question. He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. Retreat now, get stronger, come back for revenge. There's no shame in strategic withdrawal—survival comes first. Let them think they've won. Lie low for years if needed, build up power, then come back and crush Ikaris when the time is right.

That's what Hawk would have done.

Before he had the power to take revenge, the best strategy was not to even think about it. Just like how, before his Cosmo awakened, he'd never shown anyone even a hint of his hatred.

But—

Even though he didn't agree with the first High Priest's choice, one thing was certain.

That guy had guts.

Hawk thought about the skeleton that had maintained its sitting position even after death, and in his mind, he gave the first High Priest the highest compliment one man could give another. Then he shook his head, dropped the subject, and turned to Peter and Felicia. "Alright, we're done here. Ready? Let's go."

Peter and Felicia exchanged a glance, then nodded at Hawk.

"Ready."

"How are you planning to—"

"AHHH!"

Before Felicia could finish her sentence, she let out a shriek. In an instant, Hawk looked up and used his telekinesis to wrap around both Peter and Felicia, shooting straight into the sky.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A sonic boom erupted over Skull Island. Hawk flew at supersonic speed, flanked by Peter and Felicia—both wrapped in telekinetic shields—and dove headfirst into the massive storm system that seemed to stretch from the heavens to the ocean floor.

The next second—

RUMBLE!

The massive storm system seemed to take offense. Multi-colored lightning bolts struck all around the three figures cutting through the clouds in a triangle formation with Hawk at the lead.

Red linear lightning.

Blue ball lightning.

Thick black lightning.

Surrounded by countless lightning strikes, Peter and Felicia—protected by Hawk's telekinesis—gradually calmed down from their initial panic.

The massive storm system wasn't long, but it wasn't short either. In what felt like the blink of an eye, as the storm clouds spat them out, Hawk—along with Peter and Felicia, still wrapped in his telekinetic bubble—broke through.

Like waking from a dream—

The Pacific Ocean roared beneath them. Wind howled. Thunder crashed across the sky. Rain hammered the water's surface. All of it dragged the three of them fully back into reality.

Hawk didn't slow down. He carried Peter and Felicia—successfully retrieved—toward the Osborn experimental platform in the Pacific at high speed.

By now, the platform's power systems had been fully restored.

...

From a distance, Through the raging wind and rain, the Osborn platform—built right on the Pacific's surface—blazed with light. Like a beacon in the vast ocean.

THUD.

Hawk's feet touched down solidly. A moment later, Peter and Felicia—still wrapped in telekinesis—also landed safely on the platform floor.

The next instant, Ten armed guards rushed out of the platform facility, their weapons' red laser sights painting dots all over Hawk, Peter, and Felicia.

Just then, a voice echoed from inside the facility, accompanied by rapid footsteps. "Stand down! Lower your weapons!"

Moments later, A woman hurried out of the facility, frantically ordering the guards to lower their guns. She ran straight to Felicia and threw her arms around her, overcome with emotion. "Boss..."

It wasn't just anyone. It was Felicia's personal assistant.

Even though the old butler had contacted Hawk immediately, he'd also reached out to the assistant. She'd assembled an international security team and rushed here as fast as she could.

They'd found the surviving researcher, who told them Hawk had already been here and left again.

So the assistant and the security team had restored the power systems and set up camp to wait.

The security team didn't mind. They were getting paid by the hour anyway.

And so, They'd been here for seventeen days.

Inside one of the facility's rooms, Hawk raised an eyebrow when the assistant told him how long he'd been gone.

"Seventeen days?"

"About that. You were there for a day and a night, and we left around ten in the morning, so yeah. The time difference is real."

Peter explained, then gave Hawk a strange look. "Does that mean I'm technically a year older now?"

He might have only been missing for a little over a month on the outside, but he'd spent a full year on Skull Island.

Hawk heard Peter's random question and laughed. "I think you should worry more about how you're going to tell Aunt May she's going to be a great-aunt in few months."

Peter's expression visibly froze.

Hawk chuckled, then turned his attention back to the assistant. "Has anything particularly noteworthy happened in New York while we were gone?"

The assistant thought for a moment, then shook her head. "As far as I know, nothing major."

Hawk nodded.

Just then, Felicia came back in from outside, holding a satellite phone.

She'd stepped out to call the old butler.

The old butler had wanted to come himself. The only thing that stopped him was the very real concern that his old bones might give out halfway through the flight.

So when he'd gotten Felicia's call, he'd been overjoyed.

"Hawk, are you flying back yourself, or coming with us?"

"I'll go with you guys."

Nothing major had happened in New York anyway. Flying back would drain energy. Especially after that hard fight with Ikaris.

So yeah. Hitching a ride on their plane was the smart move.

Hawk borrowed the satellite phone from Felicia as he spoke, planning to let his fiancée know he was alright.

Even though he'd told Gwen before leaving that he might be delayed, now that he was out, he should call. Just to make sure she wasn't still worried.

Except...

The call wouldn't go through.

Hawk listened to the dial tone on the other end of the satellite phone.

His expression darkened.

...