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The golden light faded.
Heimdall stood on the platform.
Hawk saw the soul return to the realm. He looked surprised for a moment, then raised his eyebrow.
Heimdall was a being of the World Tree, but not of the Parasol World Tree. However, Hawk had accepted the World Tree and all its inhabitants. He hadn't dismantled Valhalla—he had rebranded it.
As long as Heimdall died a warrior's death, his soul would be drawn back to the Dimension of Light—the new Valhalla.
But that wasn't the issue.
The issue was that Heimdall was dead.
'Thanos has already made his move?'
'Why didn't I feel it?'
Hawk's thoughts raced. In an instant, his mind reached Nidavellir. He spoke directly into Eitri the Dwarf King's ear.
"EITRI."
"...Lord Phoenix." Eitri, caught off guard by the voice, froze for a moment before dropping to one knee.
Hawk skipped the small talk. He asked if Thanos had come to the forge after he left. When Eitri said YES, Hawk brought his mind back to the Dimension of Light.
Okay... Thanos had been to Nidavellir.
But just like in the original timeline, Thanos had gone there to do business with Eitri.
No slaughter. No threats.
Just a deal involving high-quality alcohol.
As the most renowned artifact crafters in the World Tree cosmos, the Dwarves' love for top-tier liquor was famous across the primary universe.
And Thanos was a repeat customer.
Case in point: Thanos's double-bladed sword was made from Uru metal, which only came from the World Tree.
They had done business before. When a paying customer showed up, Eitri had no reason to turn him away.
The reason Hawk hadn't noticed the Mad Titan's visit was easy to understand.
Thanos had left the borders of the World Tree before Hawk had initiated his cosmic heist.
And during the heist itself, Hawk had been hyper-focused, tuning out every distraction to concentrate on wresting control from Time.
But all of that was beside the point now.
The main thing was that Thanos had acted. Like in the movie, he attacked the Asgardian refugee ship. Heimdall showing up in the Dimension of Light and meeting Odin again proved it.
There was one major deviation from the original plot.
This time, Thanos wasn't going to finish collecting the stones.
Because the Reality Stone and the Mind Stone were sitting right here with him.
Hawk considered this, then looked back at Heimdall, who had just met Odin again.
Just then, Heimdall, having arrived in the Dimension of Light, learned from Odin why the World Tree had vanished from reality.
In a word: Under new management.
It hadn't been swallowed by the primary universe. It had been conquered by the man standing in front of him. Hawk was the new King of the World Tree.
So, when Hawk's gaze rested on him, Heimdall didn't hesitate. He dropped to one knee, bowing his head.
"God King."
"Rise." Hawk looked calmly at the former gatekeeper. Heimdall stood and started to speak.
But before he could.
Another flash of golden light lit up the teleportation platform behind them. The light swirled, coalesced, and formed into a humanoid form.
"Hah!"
"FUCK!" Loki appeared on the platform, grasping his throat, gasping for air, and swearing. Clearly, His mind was still stuck in the moment when Thanos had crushed his windpipe.
But the panic faded.
Loki saw the polished floor under him. He looked up and spotted three people nearby—two familiar, one unknown.
The first time Loki had visited Earth, he'd been busy tearing up Manhattan while Hawk was minding his own business in Queens. The second time, when he and Thor had come looking for Odin, Hawk was already in Nidavellir.
So, Loki and Hawk had never met.
Hawk looked at Loki, frowned for a moment, then let his face relax.
Loki died trying to kill Thanos. He gave his life to save Thor and the Asgardians. That last act of bravery was enough for him to enter Valhalla. He deserved to be here.
What about the God of Stories, Loki, from the TVA?
That Loki was from another timeline and had nothing to do with the one standing here now.
This Loki—from the primary 616 universe—was dead.
Loki's gaze darted between Odin and Heimdall, who had arrived just before him, before settling on Hawk. "Who are you?"
"Loki, this is—"
"My name is Phoenix. Hawk Phoenix." Hawk cut off Heimdall's warning, meeting Loki's stare. He then turned to Odin. "Make sure he doesn't leave the Dimension of Light."
Loki wasn't Hela.
To Hawk, Hela was an unacceptable risk. A threat that had to be put down.
But Loki? Loki didn't have a fraction of Hela's power. But in many ways, he was more annoying. He was full of tricks. He wasn't powerful enough to kill anyone important, but he was a master at causing chaos and making a mess.
So, Hawk didn't want to kill Loki, but he also didn't want him running loose in the Parasol World Tree and causing problems. The easiest answer was to keep him in the Dimension of Light.
Asgard's problem child was Asgard's problem.
Hawk didn't just tell Odin to watch him. To make sure Loki wouldn't slip out, Hawk issued a divine edict, sealing the trickster god within the borders of the dimension.
Loki could no longer leave the Dimension of Light by any means.
When Hawk introduced himself, Loki stopped and his eyes went wide. He looked at Hawk and quickly spoke again. "You're Hawk. Quick, Thor is in trouble. He needs your help."
"Can't do it."
"What?"
"I can't leave right now." Hawk was telling the truth.
If he could leave, he would have left already. He had to stay and stabilize the Parasol World Tree. Until he was certain the primary universe had zero chance of breaching his World Tree, he wasn't going anywhere. He wasn't setting foot on Earth until the job was done.
"Thanos's next target is Midgard."
"I don't care."
"What?"
"If he wants to go, let him."
"Thanos will destroy Midgard! He's already slaughtered Xandar!"
"Let him." Hawk's face stayed blank. He looked at Loki, not moved at all by the attempt to make him feel guilty.
If Gwen had been standing there, telling him Thanos was attacking Earth...
That would be a different story.
One word from Gwen, and Thanos wouldn't make it past the stratosphere.
But right now?
Gwen was gone. She wasn't on this version of Earth anymore. The calm anticipation he always felt knowing she was waiting for him at home—that was gone too.
It was the main reason he wasn't in any rush to head back.
Since Gwen wasn't there...
Let it burn.
It's not like Thanos was going to blow up the planet. He just wanted to implement his "fifty-fifty population control" theory. Let him try.
'Rain will fall, widows will remarry. Whatever happens, happens. It's not my problem.'
Loki stared at Hawk's flat expression. "Aren't you one of Midgard's Avengers?"
"Your brother is. I'm not." Hawk had never joined the Avengers.
Sure, Tony and Steve had extended the invitation, but Thor had vetoed it.
For two reasons—
First, Hawk didn't want to join. Second, Hawk wasn't twenty-one yet, and he was strict about following the law. Thor had pointed out that having a kid on the team who couldn't legally drink would make their victory parties depressing.
By the time Hawk turned twenty-one, he was busy getting married, going on his honeymoon, and dealing with cosmic fallout. When he got back, Thor wasn't even on Earth.
Loki was thrown by the revelation.
Having clarified his stance, Hawk ignored Loki's shock. He turned to Odin, gesturing for the old king to accompany him somewhere private.
Once Hawk and Odin had walked away, Heimdall explained the new reality of the World Tree to Loki. The changing of the guard. The fact that Asgard was now the old regime.
When Loki heard that Odin was now the God of Light, and Frigga the Goddess of Darkness...
He froze, his eyes snapping to Heimdall.
"Did you say... Mother? Where is she?"
"She's..."
Heimdall turned to point her out, but a strong gust almost knocked him over. Before he could finish, Loki had already dashed off, running toward where Heimdall had shown.
Standing on a grassy cliff in the Dimension of Light, Odin watched from above as Loki found Frigga and threw his arms around her.
"When Loki banished me to Earth... he did it because he blamed me for failing to protect her."
"Frigga wasn't his birth mother, but she was the only one who ever gave him a mother's love."
Standing next to Odin, Hawk watched the reunion below and spoke his mind. This was another reason he hadn't killed Loki like he did Hela.
A boy who loved his mother couldn't be rotten to the core.
If Hela were a sociopath, Loki was a deeply insecure kid. Because he desired his mother's love and attention, he acted out, throwing tantrums and pulling stunts just to get her to look at him.
He had done a lot of terrible things.
But even if it meant getting scolded by his mother, just having her attention made him happy.
When his father yelled at him, he argued back.
When his mother yelled at him, he lowered his head and took it in silence, probably hoping she'd just keep talking to him a little longer.
It sounded pathetic.
And it was.
Hawk watched from above as Frigga swelled with pride upon hearing Loki had died a hero's death to earn his place in Valhalla. Loki, in response, wore the goofy smile of a child being praised by his mother.
The next second, Hawk pulled his gaze away, turned to Odin, and got to the real reason he had asked to speak with him.
"I need to get my wife back."
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