Chapter 392: [496] - Return to Quantico

"Holy shit!"

"Who the hell are you??"

"Jesus Christ, how did you get in here?"

The moment Hawk and Wanda walked through the portal into the lab that housed the five-meter-tall Sentinel, the scientists—who, like Professor X, truly thought this machine was alien technology—lost control.

Chaos broke out. They retreated hurriedly, shouting frantically for security.

The heavily armed guards outside kicked the doors open. As soon as they saw Hawk and Wanda, they raised their rifles without thinking.

Hawk gave them a sidelong look, showing no sign of concern.

Beside him, Wanda simply opened her right hand.

Before Professor X could even shout a warning, red Chaos Magic slid across the floor, quickly wrapping around the guards.

A wet hissing sound caught the soldiers' attention, and they looked down at their weapons. Their faces went pale, and they screamed, throwing their rifles away as if they were burning hot.

Because to them, they were no longer holding guns. They were holding huge, angry cobras striking at their faces.

Hearing Xavier's desperate, panicked attempts to defuse the situation behind him, Hawk glanced over his shoulder and laughed quietly. "Relax, Professor. I might be a mass murderer, but my wife actually has a heart."

Xavier watched as the guards, having thrown their guns aside, thrashed on the ground and slapped at their own bodies, as if trying to put out invisible flames. He said nothing, falling into a grim silence.

Hawk turned his attention back to the five-meter-tall Sentinel robot towering over them.

He and Wanda had already seen the Sentinel through the magic mirror, but standing in front of it was completely different. The machine's huge presence filled the room.

Hawk looked at the machine more carefully, frowning as he noticed the scientists still rushing around in the corner.

"Shut up, or die."

"You have three seconds."

"..."

Hawk's voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the room sharply. The scientists stopped moving, closing their mouths and looking at each other in fear.

The only sound left was the blaring wail of the base's intrusion alarms.

Hawk gave Wanda a sideways look.

Wanda smiled. Red energy glowed in her hand, and in an instant, the loud sirens stopped completely. The lab was silent again.

Hawk smirked and turned his attention back to the Sentinel.

It was exactly what he thought. The material used to build the machine came from the Celestial he had killed in Earth-616.

Jean stepped up beside him, following his gaze up to the massive metal chassis.

"Dad, do you know why this thing has your aura on it?"

"Yeah," Hawk nodded, with no reason to lie. "The material they used to build it came from something I destroyed in another world."

Jean's expression changed as realization set in.

"So this really is extraterrestrial? It's not from this Earth?"

"That part I don't know." Hawk smiled.

The show was just starting. Spoilers would spoil the fun.

Speak of the devil.

Fast, panicked footsteps resounded down the hall. A moment later, the presidential aide, Ada, almost ran through the doors, shouting before he was fully inside. "Hold your fire! Stand down! Mr. Phoenix! It's a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding!"

Bursting into the room, Ada's eyes immediately fell on the soldiers passed out on the floor, unconscious from sheer terror.

'Huh? Just unconscious? Not dead?' A quick disappointment passed through Ada's mind. It would have been better for their story if Hawk had killed them. Dead soldiers made strong political points with the public.

He pushed the thought away and put on a flattering smile before jogging over and holding out both hands to Hawk.

"Mr. Phoenix! It's an honor. I am Ada, the President's personal aide. Please, just call me Ada."

"..."

Hawk looked at the begging aide, then at the outstretched hands, and casually took his right hand out of his pocket to give a quick, uninterested shake.

Still with his flattering smile, Ada hurried to apologize. "Mr. Phoenix, I am very sorry. Your arrival was so sudden, we didn't have time to inform the security team. It caused this very unfortunate misunderstanding."

"Nothing unfortunate about it," Hawk smiled placidly. "We're leaving anyway."

Ada froze. "Leaving?"

"You guys wanted me to come look at this Sentinel, didn't you?" Hawk glanced at the giant robot again, his expression completely flat. "I've seen it. While it has some connection to me, it isn't mine. You can do whatever you want with it. We're done here."

With that, Hawk signaled Wanda. He looked down at Jean.

"You coming with us, or do you want to stay and play a little longer?"

"I want to go home," Jean answered without a second of hesitation. She looked at Wanda. "I miss Billy and Tommy."

At the end of the day, this wasn't her home. No matter how much she wanted to belong, the people here would always treat her like an outsider.

Wanda looked down softly at her daughter holding onto her arm. She smiled warmly and stroked Jean's hair. "Okay. Let's go home."

Hearing that, Professor X, still unsettled by the look of disappointment Jean had given him earlier, felt relief.

Honestly, if he could take back what he had said to her, he would. But in the face of the greater good, small, personal affections had to be sacrificed. Rather than keeping a walking nuclear bomb in the capital, politely escorting Hawk's family out of the universe was the best possible outcome for everyone involved.

Remembering the apprehension he'd felt while passing Palm Street earlier, Xavier was certain this was the right call.

While Xavier felt relief, Ada was on the verge of panic. As Hawk and his family turned to leave, the aide blurted out, "Please, wait! Mr. Phoenix, wait!"

He couldn't let them go.

The whole Sentinel Program was made to track Hawk. The mimicry gene was being added now. Soon, the weapon would be ready.

If Hawk left now?

Everything they'd prepared and maneuvered for would be wasted.

They couldn't let that happen. The whole plan needed both a hero and a villain. If the villain left the stage early, there would be nothing left but an empty show.

They could use the Sentinels to hunt mutants, but that wasn't the real goal. Even the "Demon Hunter" project wasn't just about killing Hawk. What they truly wanted was to capture him, extract the power that let him cross the Multiverse, and claim it for themselves.

Once they had that power, the entire cosmos would be theirs for the taking.

So how could they possibly let Hawk leave?

It was absolutely unacceptable.

Hearing Ada's desperate plea, Hawk kept his expression perfectly calm as he turned around.

"Is there something else?"

"Yes!" Ada's mind raced. Looking into Hawk's calm eyes, he quickly lied. "Here's the thing, Mr. Phoenix. As soon as the President heard you were in Washington, he left right away to meet you here. He really wants to talk to you face to face. Could you please stay a little longer?"

Hawk actually laughed at that.

"He wants to see me, so I have to wait?"

"No!" Ada flinched, rapidly backpedaling.

"I mean the President sincerely hopes you will grant him the honor of an audience!"

Listening to this exchange, Xavier couldn't help but feel a bitter sting of irony.

Even he, the great Professor X, had to book an appointment weeks ahead to get five minutes with the President. But Hawk? The President was begging for the 'honor of an audience,' hurrying across the city just to talk to him. The same politicians who acted so proud around Xavier were almost begging at Hawk's feet...

Xavier knew exactly why.

He sought peace through compromise. Hawk sought peace through absolute violence.

Looking at the results, Hawk's method was clearly more effective.

'Had his approach been wrong all along?' Xavier wondered.

He watched Ada, usually so businesslike and professional around the X-Men, now bending over backward with a forced smile, practically begging for Hawk's attention.

Hawk stared at the groveling aide for a moment, then glanced at Wanda and Jean.

"Want to stick around for a bit?"

"Up to you," Wanda said casually. Then, a thought crossed her mind. She looked at Hawk. "Oh, right. Jean mentioned they built a new memorial here. Since we're waiting, we might as well go take a look."

"A memorial?" Hawk said.

"Yeah, Dad," Jean chimed in, shooting a sharp glance at Ada, whose fawning smile instantly turned rigid. "When Mr. Ada introduced the memorial to us earlier, he seemed incredibly moved by it."

"Is that so?" Hawk said smoothly, turning his pale gaze back to the aide.

"Then let's go see this memorial, Mr. Ada."

"..."

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