Marvel: The Enlightened One#179+180: There Are Reptiles on Skull Island, Four Months Pregnant!

Did Adamantium exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The answer was yes.

Everyone knew that Wolverine's entire skeleton was made of Adamantium. Which was exactly why, even after Wolverine died, Deadpool could still use his skeleton as a weapon.

And it worked pretty damn well.

But there were no mutants here.

That's right.

This world didn't have mutants.

Hawk was absolutely certain of that.

So he couldn't wrap his head around why, on this godforsaken island, there would suddenly be metal that appeared to be Adamantium.

While his mind raced through possibilities...

Suddenly—

The entire stilt house began to shake.

Hawk snapped back to reality.

"Earthquake?"

"Damn it."

Felicia froze for a second, then it clicked. "The Skullcrawlers are coming out."

Hawk's mind immediately conjured up images of the so-called Skullcrawlers from Kong: Skull Island.

Another native terror of the island. Massive, nightmarish creatures with enormous bodies, gaping maws filled with razor-sharp teeth, and a whip-like tail. When attacking, they could launch surprise strikes with tongues that stretched dozens of meters.

The village's alarm system blared to life at that exact moment.

Countless Iwi tribespeople grabbed their weapons and sprinted toward the largest building to assemble. Others climbed onto the village's defensive walls, weapons in hand.

A wave of tension spread through the entire settlement like wildfire, carried on the wail of the alarm.

At the same time—

In the distance, within a deep canyon shrouded in strange, earthy-yellow smoke, a bottomless opening continuously belched out more of that yellow fog. And with tremors that felt like an earthquake, a ten-meter-tall Skullcrawler emerged from the opening.

A second one. A third. A fifth.

One after another.

The five Skullcrawlers stretched their massive bodies, opened their gaping maws, and let out piercing shrieks—as if announcing their arrival to the entire island.

"ROOOAAR!"

Kong's furious roar followed immediately, instantly drowning out the combined shrieks of all five Skullcrawlers.

Kong's roar was filled with rage—different from when he'd roared at Hawk.

When he roared at Hawk, it had been more of a warning.

But this roar—aimed at the Skullcrawlers—was pure hatred. The kind of fury that demanded blood.

"Oh, crap. Peter."

Felicia, who had followed Hawk out of the stilt house, suddenly realized something and turned to look at him. "Peter's still in the Kong Canyon."

Hawk raised an eyebrow, glancing toward the deep canyon in the distance.

"There?"

"Yeah."

"I'll find him."

The moment the words left Hawk's mouth, he looked up, and his body shot into the air. He turned into a streak of red light, rocketing toward the high, fog-shrouded canyon where Kong had just disappeared—a place so deep that even from high altitude, the thick yellow smoke made it impossible to see what was inside.

...

At that moment, inside the canyon, with the Skullcrawlers' emergence, the strange creatures that lived there were starting to panic.

Psychovultures—with bodies like massive vultures, wingspans of several meters, and bat-like features—were shrieking in flocks as they beat their wings frantically, trying to escape the canyon.

And then there were the Death Jackals—hyena-like creatures, but far larger, with a row of massive, sharp bone plates running down their spines from head to tail. They were also pack animals, and right now, they were bolting toward the canyon's exit in a frenzied stampede.

Other bizarre and often terrifying creatures that called the Kong Canyon home were all trying to flee what was about to become a battlefield.

Which made things pretty rough for the Iwi hunters who'd come to the canyon to hunt.

And for Peter—

"Oh my God!"

"Watch out!"

Peter spotted an Iwi hunter standing frozen in front of a massive Mother Longlegs. His right wrist shot out a web, instantly yanking the seemingly paralyzed hunter back to safety.

A dozen Iwi tribespeople and Peter huddled together in a sheltered corner of the canyon.

Packs of Death Jackals, Mother Longlegs, and other creatures thundered across the canyon floor in a massive stampede, the ground rumbling beneath them.

Peter and the hunters watched in terrified silence, not daring to breathe too loudly, terrified that the fleeing creatures would notice them and decide to swallow them whole on their way out.

Just then—

The loose rocks on the canyon floor suddenly shot into the air as the ground shook violently. A massive foot—thick, covered in coarse hair—slammed down.

Skull Island's guardian had arrived.

Kong had entered the scene.

The Death Jackals and other creatures stampeding toward the exit immediately parted ways when faced with their island's apex predator. Like subjects bowing before their king, they cleared the widest, central path—leaving it open for Kong alone.

At the end of that path, through the thick yellow fog, the faint outlines of countless skeletal remains were visible in a massive clearing.

The silhouettes of five Skullcrawlers lurked within the smoke.

The moment they saw Kong, they lined up together, opened their gaping maws once more, and shrieked at him.

Kong roared back.

The next moment, Kong charged. The five Skullcrawlers charged.

The battle for dominance over Skull Island had begun once again.

Faced with the mortal enemy who had repeatedly stopped them from reclaiming the island from the underground, the Skullcrawlers wanted nothing more than to kill Kong, dominate Skull Island, and use it as a springboard to conquer the entire world.

Likewise, Kong, facing the monsters that had killed his parents, had eyes filled with nothing but murderous rage.

This battle would determine not just who was stronger—but who would survive.

But the Skullcrawlers were clearly cheating.

Who the hell holds a dominance fight as five-on-one? That was just dirty pool.

Hawk, who had just arrived at the canyon, glanced at the brawl that had already kicked off and mentally noted the unfairness. But instead of jumping in to help, he flickered and landed directly in front of Peter—who was currently standing guard in the front row, protecting the Iwi hunters behind him.

Hawk almost didn't recognize Peter at first.

Back in New York, Peter had at least looked reasonably pale.

But now? He was practically indistinguishable from the Iwi hunters. Shirtless, his exposed, muscular skin had turned dark and weathered, covered in scattered scars.

Yeah.

He didn't look like Bully Maguire anymore.

He looked more like Barbarian Maguire.

Hawk scanned Peter up and down, processing the transformation, then smiled and greeted him casually.

"Hey, Peter. Long time no see."

"...Hawk?"

Peter's eyes lit up with visible joy. But the moment that happiness appeared, his eyes suddenly widened. He looked past Hawk's shoulder—straight at a Death Jackal that was trying to escape while simultaneously lunging at Hawk with its jaws wide open.

Hawk didn't even turn around. He just threw a punch behind him.

Instantly, Hundreds of fist strikes filled the air. Every creature within his attack range behind him exploded into chunks of meat under the terrifying speed of his Sonic Fist, leaving behind a brief vacuum in the stampede.

The sheer force radiating from that single punch was enough to make the other creatures that had been planning to run past him screech to a halt. They immediately pivoted, choosing instead to climb up the canyon walls rather than risk getting anywhere near Hawk.

At the same time—

The terrifying aura from that punch spread all the way to the fog-covered battlefield in the distance.

Two Skullcrawlers that had been circling Kong—waiting to tag in and replace their comrades in the fight—suddenly froze the moment they caught Hawk's scent. They both turned their heads toward the tunnel they'd crawled out of.

From deep within that tunnel—the one belching out thick yellow smoke—a rhythmic, guttural hiss echoed outward.

The two Skullcrawlers seemed to be listening intently.

The next second, The hissing from the tunnel stopped. And the two massive Skullcrawlers on the surface, as if they'd just received new orders, abandoned their colleagues still tangling with Kong. Their sharp gazes locked onto Hawk's location. They let out piercing shrieks, then dropped to all fours and charged straight toward him.

Hawk's sharp Sixth Sense immediately picked up on the two massive Skullcrawlers barreling toward him.

These two were coming for him specifically.

Hawk snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at Peter, who had been about to catch up.

"You good here?"

"Yeah."

Peter—whose every hair was standing on end as his Spider-Sense screamed warnings about the approaching Skullcrawlers—answered without hesitation. "Just be careful. Kong's parents were killed by these things. They're seriously dangerous."

He'd been here for over a year. Thanks to Felicia's impressive language skills, he'd learned the history of the Iwi tribe, Kong, and the Skullcrawlers.

Hawk smiled faintly. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the Skullcrawlers rapidly closing in. His lips curved upward slightly.

"Seriously dangerous?"

"They're just a couple of overgrown lizards."

With that—

Hawk's form flickered. When he reappeared, he was standing directly in front of the two massive Skullcrawlers charging toward him.

His right fist clenched tight and pulled back to his waist. At the same time, his right foot stepped back, and the canyon floor instantly cracked beneath the force.

The two Skullcrawlers launched themselves into the air at that exact moment, jaws wide open, exposing their crimson, barbed tongues—each dozens of meters long—as they lashed out toward Hawk.

Hawk's fist shot forward from his waist.

"Lightning Sonic Fist—"

Hundreds of fist strikes erupted from his knuckles, filling the air in the blink of an eye.

The first casualties were the Skullcrawlers' tongues.

Under the relentless barrage, the tongues tore apart instantly, disintegrating into shredded meat.

But before the two Skullcrawlers could even process what was happening—

The storm of fist strikes had already engulfed them completely.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

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

The two Skullcrawlers—their heads completely obliterated, brain matter visibly squirming inside their shattered skulls—were sent flying backward, crashing into the thick yellow fog.

The three remaining Skullcrawlers, who had been attempting to gang up on Kong three-on-one, watched as their two comrades met their brutal end. One of them—easily twenty meters long—let out a furious shriek, then immediately changed targets.

The Skullcrawler locked onto the black silhouette charging in from outside and angrily launched its barbed crimson tongue.

The next second—

A metallic clang echoed through the canyon.

The Skullcrawler, feeling its tongue wrap around something, immediately shrieked and began reeling it in—planning to swallow the tiny speck called Hawk in one gulp.

Hawk, wrapped in the Skullcrawler's tongue, was rapidly pulled toward its gaping maw.

But just as he was about to be swallowed whole...

His Cosmo ignited.

"BANG!"

"SCREEEEE!"

The moment Hawk's limbs exploded with power, the Skullcrawler's tongue detonated into shredded meat. Hawk hovered calmly in mid-air, completely unscathed.

The Skullcrawler shrieked, but showed no sign of feeling pain from its destroyed tongue—like a mindless monster with no emotions. It simply bit off the exposed stump of its own tongue and lunged at Hawk in the air.

"Sonic Fist!"

"WHAM!"

The Skullcrawler's head snapped to the side. At the same moment, its long, barbed tail—like a steel whip—lashed out toward Hawk.

Hawk threw another punch, sending this Skullcrawler—clearly tougher than the first two, at least strong enough to survive one of his hits without dying instantly—crashing back to the ground.

The Skullcrawler hit the canyon floor, shook its head, and in less than a blink, adjusted its stance and charged at Hawk again.

"Lightning!"

"Sonic Fist!"

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!"

Under the storm of fist strikes, the Skullcrawler was first slammed into the ground. Then, with a piercing shriek, it pressed all four limbs flat against the cracking earth, trying to brace itself. Dust exploded upward—and under the relentless barrage of a hundred punches per second, the Skullcrawler's head finally shattered completely.

In the endless cloud of yellow dust, the Skullcrawler lay motionless, its skull obliterated, strange yellowish blood pooling beneath it.

...

Not far away, Kong had grabbed one of the remaining Skullcrawlers. With his mountain-sized hands gripping its head, he bared his fangs and—ignoring the creature's shrieking—bit down hard, tearing open its skull.

With a sickening, wet tearing sound, Kong ripped off half the Skullcrawler's head in one savage bite.

He then hurled the dying creature at the last Skullcrawler charging toward him. The moment it instinctively dodged, Kong seized its tail with both hands.

In an instant—

SLAM!

Left. Right. Left. Right.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The final Skullcrawler—still gripped by Kong's hands—was repeatedly smashed into the ground on alternating sides. Its head visibly cracked and split apart until, with a final sickening crunch, it exploded completely.

Kong dropped the corpse, turned toward the tunnel still belching yellow smoke, spread his arms wide, beat his chest with both fists, and let out a roar filled with rage.

As if to say—

Come on!

You want some more?!

The tunnel didn't respond. But the flow of yellow smoke visibly thinned.

Just then, Kong's peripheral vision caught Hawk flying toward the tunnel entrance.

His roar became short and urgent.

It sounded like a warning—danger ahead, don't get closer.

"ROAR!"

"...Don't worry. I'm just taking a look."

Hawk recognized Kong's roar was directed at him. He glanced back with a smile, then landed at the edge of the tunnel—about ten meters in diameter. The moment he leaned over to look inside, the Phoenix Cloth's visor materialized over his face, and he peered down into the depths.

But—

He couldn't see anything. Absolutely nothing.

"Down there..."

"Could this already lead to the so-called Hollow Earth?"

Hawk felt his gaze unable to penetrate the thick yellow fog below. His mind immediately went to the Hollow Earth that existed in the Kong universe.

He suppressed the urge to jump down, pulled back, and turned to look at Kong—who had been watching him the entire time.

Kong saw Hawk turn around and let out another urgent roar, as if to say: The Skullcrawlers' nest is down there. It's dangerous. Don't go.

Hawk smiled at Kong's concern. "Don't worry. I'm not going down there. Not right now."

Kong seemed to understand. He let out another low rumble, then turned away. His massive arms grabbed the high canyon walls, and within moments, he disappeared over the ridge.

Hawk returned to the Iwi village with Peter.

Once again ignoring the tribespeople who revered him as their ancestor, he headed straight to Felicia's stilt house.

A few minutes later—

Peter came back from outside and immediately pulled Hawk into an enthusiastic hug.

"Man, I knew you'd find us. I just thought it'd take you a month. It's been a whole year."

"Peter."

Felicia, standing nearby, interrupted. "It has been a month."

Peter instinctively turned to look at her.

Felicia nodded.

"Just one month. Only one month has passed outside."

"What?"

Peter's eyes widened as he turned back to Hawk. "Only one month passed outside?"

Hawk smiled at Peter, saying nothing.

He'd noticed that the current Peter was a completely different person from the one he'd known before.

But it was a good change.

At the very least, the Peter he was looking at now seemed more upbeat, more confident, less withdrawn than the Peter back in New York.

After all, the outside world was governed by rules.

This place? This was the wild.

Outside, Peter—despite his overwhelming power—had been restrained by those rules. Here, Peter had been completely liberated.

Just like earlier, When they'd returned to the village together.

The Iwi people had looked at Hawk with reverent awe. But when they looked at Peter? Their eyes held respect and admiration.

And Peter seemed to have built a pretty solid reputation here.

Hawk thought about it quietly.

...

Meanwhile, Peter—having just received the bombshell about the time difference—sat down on a nearby stool with a strange expression on his face. He covered his face with one hand and turned to Felicia, who was sitting beside him. "So... the Iwi people weren't mistaken. My parents really did die over a hundred years ago?"

Felicia looked at Peter and tried to comfort him. "Look on the bright side. The Iwi didn't lie. Richard and Mary lived full lives. They died of old age."

That was the silver lining in all this tragedy.

Richard Parker and Mary Parker hadn't been killed by the endless horrors of Skull Island. Their plane had crashed near the Iwi village's river, and they'd lived there ever since—until they passed away naturally.

That was also why, when Peter and Felicia had arrived at the Iwi village ten months ago, they'd been accepted so quickly.

Because Peter's parents had been here before. In fact, during their lifetimes, they'd taught some of the Iwi tribespeople English. And even though over a hundred years had passed, a few members of the tribe had managed to preserve that language.

That was how Felicia—with her exceptional linguistic talent—had been able to communicate with the Iwi so quickly.

Peter was silent for a moment. He nodded, then forced a small smile onto his face. "You're right. At least they died peacefully."

He'd already accepted the fact that his parents were dead. It was just that the Iwi people's initial statement about them dying "over a hundred years ago" had thrown him off.

Peter thought about the time dilation between Skull Island and the outside world, then turned to Hawk with visible shock. "Only one month passed outside. That's not possible."

Even if they'd traveled to another planet, If someone told him there was a time difference between that planet and Earth, he could accept that.

But—

Skull Island was just separated from the outside world by a thick storm system. That was it. And yet here Peter was—having lived a full year on the island—only to find out that barely a month had passed outside?

Hawk glanced at Peter.

"You can shoot webs out of your wrists. Is that scientifically possible?"

"I..."

Peter heard Hawk's counterargument, opened his mouth to respond, then immediately thought back to all the times people had bombarded him with questions about how he shot webs. He wisely decided to drop the subject and turned back to Hawk. "So... is Aunt May okay? I told her ahead of time that I might be gone for half a year. She wanted to know what happened to my parents, so she supported me going."

Hawk shrugged. "How should I know? The moment the butler told me you two disappeared, I came straight here. But I can tell you this—when you get back, Aunt May's going to be thrilled."

Peter assumed Hawk was talking about him finding answers about his parents' whereabouts. He grinned. "Yeah. Aunt May's always wondered what happened to them."

Hawk chuckled. "Aunt May isn't just wondering about your parents. She's also wondering about the little spider."

Peter's expression froze.

"What little spider?"

"...Take a guess."

Hawk caught the look on his face, then glanced at Felicia—who was sitting nearby with her hand covering her mouth—and the pieces clicked into place. He turned back to Peter and gave him a mysterious smile.

He hadn't known Felicia hadn't told Peter yet.

So—

This wasn't his fault.

Peter wasn't an idiot. The moment he processed what Hawk had just said, his eyes went wide, and he turned to Felicia with disbelief written all over his face.

"Felicia..."

"Yeah."

Felicia didn't bother playing coy. Meeting Peter's gaze, she nodded.

Peter's jaw dropped.

...