Marvel: The Enlightened One#185+186: Ikaris Flees, A Gift from the Celestial Tiamat

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Ikaris's fist slammed into Hawk from above, sending him crashing downward. His body collided with one of the floating mountains behind him with a deafening impact.

The mountain shuddered. Its petrified outer layer crumbled away.

Hawk flickered and reappeared behind Ikaris instantly. Both fists shot forward.

His burning Cosmo gathered in his fists, launching forward at impossible speed—creating a series of devastating strikes as beautiful and deadly as a phoenix spreading its wings.

"Phoenix Wing!"

"BOOM—"

Ikaris was launched backward, slamming into another floating mountain. The massive impact sent the already-suspended mountain drifting sideways, where it crashed into yet another mountain with a thunderous roar.

Hawk vanished again. When he reappeared, he was directly above Ikaris.

His palms opened wide. His Cosmo blazed to its peak. A brilliant phoenix manifestation took shape in an instant.

"Phoenix Soaring Wing—"

The conjured phoenix spread its wings and dove toward Ikaris below like an immortal firebird taking flight, its cry echoing through the cavern.

Ikaris's eyes widened. He launched himself upward, narrowly evading the attack's range.

RUMBLE!

The floating mountain below groaned under the violent shockwave. It trembled, then—as if suddenly released from whatever force had been holding it in place—plummeted through space and crashed into the ground of the Hollow World below.

The earth cracked on impact. Golden magma surged up from beneath like a volcanic eruption.

But—

Ikaris was completely unharmed.

"Figures."

"There's a reason why you don't blow your ultimate move right at the start—whether you're a Saiyan or a Saint."

Hawk watched as his strongest attack was cleanly avoided, his mind processing the tactical error.

If this had been the end of the fight, that attack would've either killed Ikaris or crippled him.

But the battle had just started. Ikaris's stamina and energy were still fresh. Which meant the killing blow had missed.

No big deal.

Hawk's lips curved upward.

"Again!"

"Die!"

Ikaris's eyes blazed cold and merciless. Golden heat vision erupted once more.

But—

"I already told you—the same move doesn't work twice on a Saint."

WHAM!

Hawk flickered again. While Ikaris hung in the air firing his heat vision, Hawk appeared at his side and delivered a brutal spinning kick that sent Ikaris flying. His mocking voice followed close behind.

He was exhilarated.

Saints were born for battle. But ever since his Cosmo had reached a new level, he'd rarely encountered anyone who could make his blood boil like this.

That was why he sparred with Thor on Mars every week.

He needed to fight.

He wanted to fight.

And Ikaris—the Eternal, the so-called Marvel Superman—was giving him that rush all over again.

Gentlemen, I love war!

"HAH!"

"Damn it!"

Ikaris turned and saw Hawk's fist coming at him again. He cursed instinctively and shot upward.

BOOM!

Hawk's fist slammed into the Adamantium mountain instead. He looked up, tracking Ikaris's trajectory.

The next second—

CRASH!

Ikaris was already back, slamming into Hawk from above and sending him hurtling toward the ground below.

The battle raged on.

Hawk and Ikaris's forms flickered constantly—appearing and vanishing in mid-air, between floating mountains, across the towering jungle floor, and along the edges of the glowing golden magma flows.

Ikaris—who possessed an energy conversion ability similar to Superman's—continuously absorbed the Adamantium-infused energy from the air, rapidly replenishing his stamina while increasing his strength and speed.

Hawk's Cosmo burned endlessly, its power providing him with an inexhaustible supply of energy.

Every move they made was lethal.

This wasn't a sparring match. This was war.

A battle that would decide both victor and survivor.

But the real victims were the creatures living in the Hollow World.

Countless flying beasts desperately tried to stay airborne, doing everything they could to avoid the shockwaves from the two combatants.

What was nothing more than a glancing blow to Hawk and Ikaris meant instant death to them.

So—

In no time at all, the entire Hollow World descended into absolute chaos under the weight of Hawk and Ikaris's battle.

Ikaris's cold eyes locked onto Hawk.

"You're one of Ajak's people, aren't you?"

"Pfft."

Hawk let out a derisive snort. His form flickered, reappearing behind Ikaris and delivering a spinning back kick. "Is that why you're trying to kill me? So Ajak won't find out you've been breeding Deviants down here?"

Ikaris vanished, dodging the kick. A sonic boom cracked through the air. Then he reappeared in front of Hawk, wrapped both arms around his waist, and drove him downward toward the dense jungle below.

"Phoenix Feather!"

"BANG-BANG-BANG!!"

As Ikaris carried Hawk downward, the wings of the Phoenix Cloth launched countless flaming, steel-hard feathers—like a dense rain of arrows—hammering into Ikaris's body at point-blank range.

Ikaris's blue-and-gold uniform was shredded to ribbons in seconds under the relentless barrage.

But—

Ikaris's eyes remained ice-cold. He stared at the ground below and roared.

"AAAHHH!!"

"BOOOOOM—"

Like a meteor slamming into the earth, the ground shook violently. The land on either side buckled upward and then shattered.

The massive impact reverberated through the entire Hollow World, echoing like a hammer striking an anvil in the ears of every creature living there.

Entire flocks of Psychovultures plummeted from the sky, knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the sound.

The massive red winged serpent let out a mournful cry and plunged into the golden magma below.

Ikaris hovered in the air, battered and bloodied. His once-pristine blue-and-gold uniform now looked like rags. Golden blood streamed from countless wounds.

Hawk rose into the air shortly after.

He was just as roughed up.

The Phoenix Cloth's glow had dimmed significantly. Visible cracks covered every inch of the armor.

Blood trickled from the corner of Hawk's eye.

Their gazes met.

Ikaris's chest heaved as he gasped for breath.

Hawk was breathing hard too.

The next second—

BOOM!

Both of them launched forward simultaneously. Their fists collided mid-air. The shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact, leveling the ancient trees below that had stood in the Hollow World for untold centuries.

CRASH!

Ikaris was sent flying backward, his back slamming into a floating mountain. His face went pale. He coughed up a mouthful of golden blood.

Hawk's back also crashed into a floating mountain. He grunted involuntarily from the impact.

Ikaris wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced down at the golden blood staining his skin, then stood floating in the air once more, his expression blank.

Hawk took a deep breath. His form rose into the air, hovering across from Ikaris once again.

...

Back on Skull Island.

Because they knew they'd be leaving today, Peter and Felicia had stayed up all night. By the time the sun rose, both of them had dark circles under their eyes. They sat on the porch of their stilt house, staring blankly toward the Kong Canyon.

"Peter."

"Yeah?"

"Did Hawk say when he'd be back last night?"

"I don't think so."

"Should we go check on him?"

Felicia glanced at the Kong Canyon—where Hawk still hadn't returned after a full night—and suggested it to Peter.

Peter immediately shook his head. "I'll go check. You can't."

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

Felicia gave Peter an amused smile. "You forget—when your powers stopped working, I was the one who drove off that Mother Longlegs."

Give me a break...

Did he really think she was just some damsel in distress? She was the Black Cat!

Peter's mouth twitched, but he kept shaking his head. "That doesn't matter. You're pregnant. I'll go check. I'll be right back."

Felicia smiled at Peter, who was clearly set on this, and shrugged.

"Fine. Forget it. Let's just wait a little longer. You don't need to go either."

"Okay."

Peter's response was immediate.

He had almost blind faith in Hawk's strength. So the moment Felicia backed off, he dropped the idea of checking the canyon entirely.

Hawk could walk through the Kong Canyon like it was nothing.

He couldn't.

Better to wait.

Peter and Felicia exchanged a glance, silently agreeing. Then they both turned their attention back toward the Kong Canyon.

The next second, A violent explosion erupted from the direction of the canyon. Then a blue-and-gold figure shot into the sky like a missile, bursting out of the canyon. A sonic boom cracked through the air. Without looking back, the figure rocketed straight toward the massive storm system surrounding Skull Island.

As he flew, golden droplets fell from his wounds.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Hawk—his Phoenix Cloth covered in visible cracks—appeared in the air where Ikaris had been standing moments before. His eyes instantly locked onto Ikaris, who had already entered the colorful, lightning-filled storm wall in less than a second.

Under Hawk's gaze, Ikaris vanished into the storm—and his presence disappeared completely.

Hawk stared expressionlessly at Ikaris fleeing with his tail between his legs. He didn't chase.

Because his armor...

Had shattered.

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

CRACK!

With the mournful groan of shattering metal, the second Phoenix Cloth covering Hawk's body—which had barely held on this long—finally gave out. It crumbled into countless tiny fragments, peeling away from his body and falling toward the Kong Canyon below.

A rain of golden shards drifted through the air like a shower of glittering snow.

Hawk looked down at the falling pieces of his Cloth, then raised his head toward the direction where Ikaris had just vanished.

This second Cloth had already been on its last legs after multiple sparring sessions with Thor. That was the whole reason he'd thought to forge the Black Phoenix Surplice using Underworld gemstones in the first place.

But while the Black Phoenix Surplice was comparable to a Gold Cloth in power, the incomplete nature of his Underworld's Law meant it could only be worn briefly—or only in realms of the dead.

So—

The Black Phoenix Surplice was great, but nothing beat the real deal.

A TRUE GOLD CLOTH.

And now, Hawk had finally found all three materials he needed to forge one.

That's right.

Before his fight with Ikaris, he'd only found substitutes for Orichalcum and Gammanium.

But after fighting Ikaris, he'd discovered a substitute for the third material—Star Sand.

It wasn't anything exotic.

It was the golden lava flowing throughout the Hollow World.

Because that wasn't lava at all. It was energy. More specifically, it was the life energy meant to incubate the Celestial seed Tiamat buried inside Earth.

That was also why the Hollow World had given birth to so many mountains made of pure Adamantium.

And more importantly, Hawk finally understood why his Sixth Sense had flagged the Celestials as enemies rather than allies.

Well, yeah. Obviously.

If he drained the life energy meant to incubate Earth's Celestial seed, Tiamat's emergence would be delayed by God knows how many years.

When the other Celestials eventually showed up and saw him, they'd know immediately that he'd stolen Tiamat's life force. Of course they'd want him dead.

Anyone would be furious if a stranger showed up and stole their sibling's milk.

But, Furious or not, he was still taking it.

Tiamat wasn't going to emerge anyway. Besides, he was only using a portion of it to forge his Gold Cloth. It wasn't like he was killing Tiamat.

Tiamat probably wouldn't mind...

Here's a fun fact—

When the time came for Tiamat to emerge, the Celestial couldn't bear to see Earth destroyed. So he helped Sersi seal himself away instead.

That wasn't speculation.

Sersi said it herself.

In the original storyline, after successfully sealing Tiamat, Sersi told the other Eternals that she'd been about to fail—but Tiamat had joined the Uni-Mind network and given her the massive energy boost she needed to complete the seal.

So, If Tiamat chose not to emerge when the time came anyway, what difference did a few more years make?

Hawk's gaze shifted back toward the tunnel leading to the Hollow World.

The next second, his form flickered and vanished, disappearing back into the Hollow World.

Ikaris was gone. Which meant it was time to collect his prize.

...

Back in the Iwi village.

Peter and Felicia sat outside their hut, staring up at the sky with their mouths hanging open. They'd watched the entire fight. Neither of them had moved.

After a long moment, Felicia snapped out of it first.

"Peter."

"Yeah?"

"There's someone else on the island that strong?"

"Yeah."

Peter nodded, frowning. "He could fly. Black hair. And he looked kind of like the Iwi. Why do I get the feeling that guy was the 'Divine Ancestor' they keep talking about?"

Felicia frowned. "That can't be right. If that guy really was their ancestor, the Iwi wouldn't need Kong to protect them."

Peter nodded.

"True."

"Peter."

"What?"

"Good thing you didn't go after him."

"..."

Peter and Felicia locked eyes. And in that moment, the air between them thickened with something disgustingly sweet.

...

In the Hollow World.

Hawk stood before a massive floating mountain—one made entirely of Adamantium.

"Phoenix Heart!"

"SCREEE—"

The Phoenix phantom materialized behind him instantly. Its massive, flaming wings unfurled and wrapped around the mountain. Then, in a flash, both vanished.

At the same time, The enormous Adamantium mountain silently appeared inside Hawk's Cosmo.

Hawk didn't hesitate. His form flickered again, reappearing in front of another floating mountain.

The Phoenix phantom flashed repeatedly. One mountain after another disappeared into his inner universe. By the time the mental warning from his Sixth Sense kicked in, he'd already claimed ten Adamantium mountains.

He stopped immediately.

A moment later—

Hawk's feet touched solid ground. He reappeared at the edge of a churning river of golden energy.

It was only after Ikaris had slammed him into this golden lava that Hawk had realized what it truly was.

From a certain perspective, he owed Ikaris a thank-you.

Sure, Ikaris had shattered his Cloth. But Ikaris had also led him straight to the final ingredient he needed to complete a true Gold Cloth.

This golden lava—brimming with infinite life energy—was the perfect substitute for Gammanium. It would serve as the bridge connecting Uru metal and Adamantium while imbuing the Phoenix Gold Cloth with true life.

Hawk reached out and plunged his right hand into the golden lava. The moment his hand made contact, the Phoenix Heart in his Cosmo opened its eyes.

Instantly—

The sky above his inner universe split open like a cracked egg. The golden lava—composed entirely of pure life energy—poured into his Cosmo like a waterfall.

The moment the golden river entered Hawk's Cosmo, it split into countless tributaries, flowing rapidly toward every corner of his inner universe.

And if you looked closely, A lifelike phoenix, its wings spread wide enough to blanket the entire Cosmo, was slowly taking shape, nourished by the immense life force.

After all, this was the energy meant to birth a new Celestial.

The sheer magnitude of that power was staggering.

And now Hawk was claiming it for himself.

As the energy flowed in, Hawk felt his suppressed Cosmo surge back to life. His power climbed rapidly, visibly recovering with every passing second.

As the phoenix within his Cosmo solidified—fueled by the torrent of life energy—Hawk's Cosmo returned to its peak.

Even though an invisible divine force was still trying to suppress him—

The Phoenix fears nothing!

Inside his Cosmo, the fully materialized Phoenix spread its wings and cried out. Undying flames roared to life. One by one, embryonic stars began to form.

In the blink of an eye, the number of stars in Hawk's Cosmo had visibly multiplied. Once these stars fully matured, his Silver Sixth Sense Cosmo would reach its absolute peak.

Right now, Feeling the warning from his Sixth Sense, Hawk didn't hesitate. He pulled his hand back.

The moment he withdrew, the golden lava resumed its natural flow. The brief interruption ended, and the river of energy continued surging toward the Celestial seed still gestating deep within Earth's core.

Standing at the edge of the molten river, Hawk gazed through the endless golden lava. It was as if he could see the slumbering form of the Celestial Tiamat, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

"Thank you."

Hawk looked at the vision of the sleeping Tiamat and spoke with complete sincerity.

He took back what he'd said earlier about it being a joke.

This Celestial—this newborn god gestating inside Earth—really was different.

Hawk could feel it. The Sixth Sense warning hadn't come from anywhere else. It had come from Tiamat himself.

Just like in the original story, when Tiamat had helped Sersi seal him away and put himself back to sleep.

His ability to absorb such a massive amount of golden lava wasn't because of his own strength. It was because the slumbering Celestial had allowed it.

Tiamat had permitted him to take a portion of the life energy meant for his own incubation.

As long as he didn't go overboard.

Just like a moment ago—Hawk had been about to take more.

After all, what difference did it make if Tiamat slept an extra ten years? Or even a hundred? Time meant nothing to a Celestial.

But the moment Hawk had considered taking more, his Sixth Sense screamed a warning.

So Hawk stopped.

That was why he gazed through the river of golden lava and offered the gestating Celestial a sincere thank-you.

But—

Maybe it was just his imagination.

After he spoke those words, it seemed like Tiamat's face—metallic and faintly reddish—softened into something resembling a smile. The kind of expression an elder might give when looking at a polite, well-behaved child.

"Uh..."

"Tiamat's been inside Earth ever since he fell from the World Tree."

"So..."

"I guess that makes him an elder."

Hawk's expression went through a series of complicated emotions. Then his mind raced, and he shook his head with a wry smile. He looked once more at Tiamat, deep within the river of golden lava, and said thank you again before turning away. He looked up—and vanished from the Hollow World in an instant.

But the moment Hawk's form shot back through the tunnel and headed toward the Iwi village....

Back in the Hollow World. The golden lava exploded into violent motion. The floating Adamantium mountains began to fall. One by one, they plunged into the molten rivers and dissolved, becoming part of the flow. The ground itself crumbled, consumed by the surging tide of energy...

...

Hawk had no idea what was happening in the Hollow World behind him.

The moment he emerged, he reappeared directly in front of Peter and Felicia—who were locked in each other's arms.

A moment passed.

Hawk turned his head away and coughed loudly.

"Ahem!"

"Jesus!"

"Hawk!"

The couple, who'd been gazing lovingly into each other's eyes, jumped at the sound. They turned and found Hawk standing right in front of them—God knows when he'd shown up.

Hawk, suddenly reminded of his own fiancée, smiled at the two of them.

"Time to go home."

"..."