"My son is dead."
"Your son won't live either."
"Die for me!"
"Ah!"
Strucker heard Hawk telling that S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter to leave first, and instantly erupted in rage. The image of his son being swiftly killed by Hawk flashed through his mind once more, and the two pinpricks of blue light on his faceplate flared up again.
At the same time, the light from the Mind Gemstone embedded in his chest burst forth brilliantly.
The next second.
Two ghostly yellow Mind Rays shot out from what could be considered Strucker's eyes, blasting towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter that was preparing to leave.
But—
He had rays, and so did Hawk!
"Phoenix Beam!"
"Boom!"
The moment the Phoenix Beam and Mind Ray collided in the air, a violent commotion erupted, and a shockwave appeared at the point of contact between the two rays, then rapidly spread out in all directions.
The airstreams entangled in the shockwaves tightly gripped the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter wobbled under the impact of the shockwave.
"Sh*t."
"Get out of here, Mark!"
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the cabin, feeling like a leaf in a storm about to crash, stumbled to the cockpit door, yelling at the pilot.
"F*ck!"
"Don't rush me, I'm trying."
"Fly for me!"
The S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot called Mark also shouted out in frustration.
He had unleashed the full power of the fighter's engines.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter hummed loudly.
But...
Their plane seemed stuck as if something was holding it in place, even with the engines at maximum power, it remained in the same spot.
In the cabin, Wanda looked out the window at Hawk on their right, locked in a beam struggle with Strucker. She thought for a moment, then handed Billy and Tommy to Pietro beside her.
Pietro was slightly taken aback, instinctively catching Billy and Tommy, and looked at Wanda getting up.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping out."
"Help, my ass!"
Pietro rolled his eyes, looking at his sister whose hands were turning scarlet: "Can you fly? If you step out of the cabin, you'd probably just fall into the ocean."
Upon hearing this, Wanda furrowed her eyebrows.
"But..."
"Just sit tight. The only thing we can do now is not get in his way."
"..."
Wanda considered her brother Pietro's words, looked out the window again at Hawk and Strucker locked in battle.
Strucker's tone was menacing.
"Die for me!"
"You think?"
Hawk's tone was contemptuous, and as he spoke, his figure continued to rise, using the higher ground to maintain the Phoenix Beam against Strucker's Mind Ray below.
He completely disregarded Strucker.
Not even his human form was a match for him, let alone Strucker, who wasn't even human anymore.
However...
Although Hawk paid no mind to Strucker.
He did pay attention to the Mind Gemstone.
Logically, Strucker wasn't qualified to use the Mind Gemstone, to be precise, no being could use the Mind Gemstone without any burden.
As everyone knows.
Infinity Gemstones.
Use them with caution or face death!
Any human using Infinity Gemstones would end up with their life force drained before they could succeed.
But Strucker no longer considered himself human now.
Transferring his soul into this pure Vibranium and nanomites constructed body, Strucker, in a sense, was almost ignoring the side effects of the Mind Gemstone.
Whether this was intentional or just luck, who knows.
But—
As Strucker continuously fired Mind Rays, his Vibranium body began to gray at an observable pace.
But his body wasn't just made of Vibranium; it contained nanomites too.
So, as the Vibranium body showed side effects and began to gray, nanomites instantly filled the void.
Just like Tony Stark's later nanometer battle armor, where nanomites replace any damage in an instant.
So, in a way, Strucker perfectly avoided the side effects of using the Infinity Gemstones.
But!
Strucker relied on external forces.
While Hawk relied on himself.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With Hawk's Little Cosmos steadily burning, the energy output of the Phoenix Beam became rock-solid, accelerating visibly and advancing towards Strucker, using the higher ground.
He forced Strucker to make a choice.
Strucker either gives up the idea of blowing up the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter and rises to continue the clash with Hawk.
Or...
Stand by and watch Hawk's Phoenix Beam blow his body away.
"Heh heh heh!"
"Hawk Phoenix, you're such a hypocrite."
"You claim not to care if I kill your child or not, but you actually care a lot."
Strucker saw through Hawk's plan and discovered something amusing, laughing wildly.
"That's right."
"Given your level of life, you simply couldn't know that these three children might be the only three you'll ever have from now on."
"After all, that Gwen Stacy can't bear your children."
"I was the one who gave you your three children."
"You should kneel down, thank me, thank me for giving you three children."
"So——"
"Kneel!"
Strucker yelled angrily at the last word, and then chose to ascend. With a roar, he flew higher than Hawk, reversing the situation and using his Mind Ray to suppress Hawk from above.
However, by doing so, he abandoned his attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane.
Just as Strucker ascended, the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane, which had been firmly locked in by the ray shockwaves and unable to escape, suddenly roared its engines, restored its power, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot quickly lowered the nose of the plane, attempting to flee as fast as possible.
Hawk felt that something was off.
Sure enough.
The Mind Gemstone in Strucker's chest shone with ultimate brilliance.
His voice was also horribly sinister.
"These three children, I bestowed upon you."
"As I can give them to you, I can take them back."
"Just watch, like I did, as your three children die before your eyes."
"Hahaaha!"
Listening to Strucker's sinister howl, like a mechanical demon's, Hawk's Sixth Sense tingled, and he looked below at the surface of the sea.
As he caught sight of it.
In the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow swiftly flying close to the sea surface, speeding towards him.
Is that...
Namor McKenzie?
Boom!
Just like a swordfish flying close to the sea surface, wielding a Trident, Namor suddenly leaped from the sea, and after a furious shout, the Trident in his hand was like an intercontinental missile, instantly breaking through the air, shooting towards the rapidly flying S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane.
Strucker's smile was sinister: "Now it's your turn to choose, Hawk!"
Either ignore the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane and continue to match power with him, with the price being the fighter plane getting shot down by the Trident.
Or go for a rescue, but the price would be taking a hard hit from him.
Hawk didn't speak.
"Bang!"
At the moment his form flickered and disappeared from its original spot, Strucker's Mind Ray struck Hawk's right shoulder, causing a sharp tilt in Hawk's stance.
In the next second.
"Duang!"
"Whoosh!"
As Namor watched, just when he was about to succeed, Hawk appeared in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane and punched away his Trident, his eyes contracted, his right hand opened, and he summoned back the Trident that had been struck away.
"Hiss!"
"He's hurt."
Once again locked in by Strucker's Power of the Mind, hovered behind Hawk, Wanda inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter saw Hawk standing in mid-air with blood spilling from his right shoulder and exclaimed loudly.
"Hawk!"
In the command room of New York S.H.I.E.L.D. Central, Gwen widened her eyes, looking at Hawk with a hideous wound on his right shoulder and blood continuously spilling out, and couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
Next to her, Sharon also jumped instinctively and then furrowed her brows tightly.
"Something's wrong."
"What?"
Gwen listened to Sharon, quickly looking at her: "What's wrong?"
Sharon, looking at the satellite image, where Hawk seemed unaffected by the wound on his right shoulder, and noticing the calmness in Hawk's eyes, seemed to think of something, her eyes lit up: "No, Hawk is fishing."
Gwen was slightly stunned, then looked at Hawk on the big screen.
She had been too tense just now.
But with Sharon's reminder, and her understanding of Hawk.
Hiss.
Was Hawk pretending to be injured?
Gwen seemed to have thought of something, gasped.
"Hahaaha!"
"I knew you were bluffing."
"Die!"
Strucker, watching Hawk who had taken a direct hit just to protect the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane, his eyes lit up, he sneered, and then once again launched a Mind Ray down at the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane from on high.
His son was dead.
He also wanted Hawk's three children to die miserably in front of Hawk.
Hawk remained expressionless, extending his left hand towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane.
"Telekinesis!"
"Bang, bang, bang——"
As the Mind Ray intensely struck the S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter plane, it seemed to hit an invisible barrier, causing ripples to spread out one after another.
"Hah!"
Standing barefoot on the sea surface, Namor summoned his Trident back and shouted fiercely. Then, as his Trident swung, several Sea Dragons leaped into the air from the sea.
The Sea Dragons roared angrily, rushing upstream to strike at Hawk.
Hawk looked down at the Sea Dragons rushing towards him from below, extending his right hand.
"Telekinesis!"
"Boom, boom, boom——"
Countless Water Dragons, called forth one after another by Namor, relentlessly attacked the barrier in front of Hawk.
There was Strucker above.
And Namor below.
"Bang, bang, bang——"
"Boom, boom, boom——"
"..."