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As the SHIELD satellite feed came online, Commander Victoria Hand and Director Maria Hill both turned their attention to the main screen.
What they saw—
In the middle of the ocean, a massive crater had formed. At the bottom lay calm water, while the crater's edges were bordered by towering walls of seawater that seemed to touch the sky itself.
Fortunately, SHIELD's satellite was positioned high enough that, despite some interference causing occasional static snow on the feed, the two figures continuously colliding, separating, and clashing again were clearly visible.
The crimson energy signature was unmistakably Hawk's.
But the deep blue energy, dark as the ocean depths...
"Can we zoom in??"
"Negative."
The SHIELD tech responded immediately. "This is maximum resolution. The energy output is too massive."
Hill nodded.
"Capture as much footage as possible. Archive it and run identification protocols."
"Understood."
...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Hawk's strike was brutally simple. Once again, his fist slammed into the Trident of Neptune as Namor thrust it toward him.
The collision of fist and trident echoed through the temporary arena constructed from seawater.
The trident vibrated violently.
Namor used the momentum to retreat to the water wall. He glanced down at his right hand—now aching slightly—then looked back up at Hawk.
Hawk floated effortlessly in mid-air, completely relaxed.
"I could do this all day."
"So could I!"
Namor laughed, then shot forward in a blur. He avoided Hawk's next punch, gliding along the water wall like a surfer, rapidly descending to the calm surface at the crater's bottom. With a powerful thrust, he planted his trident into the water before him.
The endless walls of water surrounding them responded as if they'd received a command. They immediately collapsed inward.
Hawk didn't hesitate. His eyes flicked upward, and his form vanished. In the instant the water walls began to fall, he reappeared high above the ocean surface.
CRASH!
The massive volume of water instantly filled the crater, swallowing Namor—who stood gripping his trident at the bottom—completely.
"Did we get him?"
One of the SHIELD techs monitoring the satellite feed couldn't contain his excitement as he watched Namor disappear beneath the waves on screen.
Phoenix had helped SHIELD take down HYDRA. That made Phoenix a friend of SHIELD. And if Hawk was SHIELD's friend, then Hawk's enemies were, by extension, SHIELD's enemies.
So the SHIELD agents were firmly Team Hawk.
Victoria Hand and Maria Hill remained silent.
They kept their eyes fixed on Hawk, still hovering above the water on the main display.
Hawk stared down expressionlessly at the ocean surface.
Dead?
Impossible...
Namor was the Sea King.
He could die anywhere—except in the ocean.
Just like Mephisto. Unless you could destroy Hell itself, Mephisto was immortal within his own dimension.
The same logic applied to Namor.
And in the ocean, Namor's power rivaled Thor's.
Case in point—
Hawk's Sixth Sense locked onto his target. He could feel Namor moving beneath the waves.
In a flash, Namor—now back in his element—shot through the water at supersonic speed, diving deeper as if trying to escape.
But the next second, Namor reversed course. In the blink of an eye, he returned, bursting upward and raising his trident high above the surface, aiming directly at Hawk.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive column of water—as thick as Yggdrasil itself—formed instantly, drawing in the surrounding ocean. It spiraled upward like a volcanic eruption, breaking through the surface and surging toward Hawk with terrifying speed.
And then, The enormous water column hit nothing but air.
Namor rode the rising column, standing firmly atop it with his trident in hand. He looked across at Hawk, who had reappeared a short distance away.
"I thought you weren't the type to run..."
"Heh." Hawk, having dodged the water attack, let out a dry laugh. "Says the guy who just dove into the ocean."
Namor spread his arms wide, still standing on the water column.
"The ocean is my home. You're the one who barged in uninvited."
"No."
Hawk stared calmly at Namor, whose skin had begun to darken after exerting himself. "Remember—you attacked me first."
Namor paused for a moment, then scoffed.
"And?"
"Nothing. I just want you to remember that. So when I destroy you and your kingdom the same way I destroyed Wakanda, you won't have to wonder why I did it."
"Just like your wife's brother."
"After I annihilated Wakanda, he was still alive. He asked me why I destroyed Wakanda. You know what I told him?"
Hawk smiled faintly, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather.
Namor's brow furrowed.
"What?"
"I said..."
"Your destruction has nothing to do with you."
"So I'm telling you now, in advance. That way, when I wipe out your kingdom, you won't ask stupid questions. I'm giving you fair warning."
Hawk's smile widened.
The next instant—
He vanished.
Sixth Sense—Teleportation!
Namor, standing atop the water column, felt danger surge from behind. He immediately swung his trident in response.
But Hawk appeared at his side instead. With a devastating punch, he sent Namor flying off the column.
Bang, bang, bang!
Namor crashed into the ocean surface but didn't sink. Instead, he skipped across the water like a stone, using the churning waves to regain his balance. With a furious roar, he hurled the Trident of Neptune straight at Hawk.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
This time, Hawk didn't meet the trident head-on. He sidestepped, and as the weapon passed within inches of him, his fist slammed into the shaft.
The Trident of Neptune spun wildly through the air like a meteor.
Namor saw this and opened his right hand, attempting to recall his weapon.
But the next second, Hawk reappeared behind him again. The air tore apart with a shriek as Hawk's fist crashed heavily into Namor's back.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Namor plummeted toward the ocean like a falling star.
CRASH!
A massive spray of water erupted. This time, Namor's entry wasn't graceful or smooth. He hit the surface like a meteor falling from the sky, sending up an explosion of water as he plunged beneath the waves.
"Your power really is about equal to Thor's."
"Actually, you two are a lot alike."
"One's the Hammer God. The other's the Fork God."
"What's the matter?"
"Without the Trident of Neptune, you can't control the ocean anymore?"
Hawk watched as Namor quickly adjusted underwater and resurfaced. Then he glanced toward the distant Trident of Neptune, still spinning through the air after being knocked away.
Suddenly—
WHOOSH!
Hawk's form shot forward, racing at top speed toward the trident's location.
Namor saw this and immediately dove back into the ocean, accelerating to supersonic speed as he pursued his weapon underwater.
Hawk in the sky.
Namor in the sea.
And the spinning Trident of Neptune, still gliding across the water's surface, was the finish line.
The difference was—
Hawk didn't care about the prize. Namor did.
Hawk glanced downward, tracking Namor's form beneath the waves. The Sea King's speed nearly matched his own. Through his Sixth Sense, Hawk caught sight of something interesting—on Namor's back, just above his right hip, the scales appeared slightly duller than the rest.
If he wasn't mistaken, that was Marvel's Sea King Namor's Achilles' heel.
Achilles was a Western mythological figure—invincible, immortal, and impervious to all weapons.
But he had one weakness: his heel.
When someone shot him there, he died.
Yes... The supposedly invincible, immortal god Achilles died because his heel wasn't protected.
It sounded absurd.
But it was a common trait among Gods.
Every god, no matter how powerful—even those claiming omnipotence and omniscience—had a weakness.
And Marvel Universe followed the same rule.
So, Hawk had found Namor's Achilles' heel.
The next instant, His form flickered. He dove into the ocean, his right fist cocked back. In a blur of motion, he struck directly at the weak point on Namor's lower back.
Namor, racing through the water to reclaim his divine weapon before Hawk could reach it, was mere moments from grasping the Trident of Neptune when alarm bells suddenly exploded in his mind. At the exact moment his hand closed around the trident's shaft, he twisted his body to the side.
But Hawk's supersonic punch, thrown with full force, still connected. Not completely, but most of the impact landed squarely on Namor's fatal weak point.
SPLURT!
Namor's face flushed crimson. He coughed up a massive spray of blood, and his body plummeted toward the ocean floor at lightning speed.
So fast, it was nearly the speed of light.
Already underwater, Hawk raised an eyebrow and gave chase.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Namor, still clutching his trident, slammed into the seabed like a cannonball.
The ocean floor cracked on impact. Bubbles erupted from the fractures, and the surrounding water turned murky at a visible rate.
Just as Hawk closed in, and Namor—now unconscious—was about to be swallowed by the collapsing seabed, something emerged from the depths. A massive creature, ancient beyond measure and the size of two Titanics combined, revealed itself. The giant octopus unfurled countless tentacles and sent them surging toward Hawk.
As Hawk disappeared beneath the waves, the North Pacific's surface began to calm.
...
Back at SHIELD.
Maria Hill and Victoria Hand kept their eyes locked on the ocean.
Every tech in the command center had stopped working. They'd forgotten to breathe. All of them stared at the main screen without blinking.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Time crawled by.
Until...
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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