Marvel: The Enlightened One-Chapter 68: [] - Hawk Owes Iron Man a Thank You!

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In the sunlight, the blood glittered like starlight as it was slowly drawn from his body and into the blood bag.

Hawk sat in the chair, squeezing a grip strengthener in his hand while gazing at the distant Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island.

Anna watched with a look of reverence, her eyes fixed on the blood pooling in the bag as if gazing upon a holy relic.

Just then—

A phone rang. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Anna took out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and after a quick apology to Hawk, she stepped away to take the call.

Gwen, who had been sitting quietly to the side, shot a glance at Anna before turning to Hawk, lowering her voice.

"So, let me get this straight. You traded 400 milliliters of your blood for an entire truckload of iron meteorites?"

"Yep." Hawk nodded slightly, looking at Gwen. "Do you think I got the better end of the deal?"

Gwen opened her mouth, then closed it. From a purely monetary perspective, there was no question. Hawk had made out like a bandit. After all, how much could you get for selling blood?

According to the latest rates from New York’s blood banks, 400 milliliters of blood would get you about a hundred and fifty dollars.

But iron meteorites??

Gwen had just looked it up. Just last week, a thirty-five-kilogram iron meteorite had sold for two hundred and ten thousand dollars at a New York auction house.

If you did the math, Thirty tons of iron meteorites would be worth over one hundred and seventy-nine million dollars.

Gwen’s brow furrowed as she looked at him. "Hawk, this isn’t just any blood. Yours is..."

"How about this, then?"

Hawk met her gaze with a calm smile. "I’ll call off the deal, give Anna back her meteorites, and tomorrow, I’ll just go... appropriate the ones Osborn and Stark have in their collections. That should be enough, and I won’t have to give up a single drop of blood. How does that sound?"

Gwen stared at him, speechless for a moment.

Then, seeing the teasing glint in his eyes, she realized he was joking and rolled her own in response. "Okay, fine. But you know what your blood can do. Aren’t you worried that Anna will—"

She cut herself off as Anna finished her call and started walking back toward them.

Hawk understood Gwen’s unspoken fear.

"Don’t worry," he said softly. "I made a deal with Anna. No cloning. That’s the only rule. Besides, this is a one-time thing. And selling my blood is a lot closer to being a ’Good guy’ than being a highway robber, wouldn’t you say?"

Gwen fell silent. When faced with a choice between selling his blood and becoming a superpowered cat burglar, the answer was obvious. It was better than the alternative.

...

At that moment, Anna returned, a look of excitement on her face.

"I have an update," she said to Hawk. "Tony Stark’s private jet, which landed in Bangalore yesterday, has just taken off. It’s scheduled to arrive at two P.M. on the 22nd at a private airfield thirty kilometers from Culver Lake."

A sharp, intense light flashed in Hawk’s eyes. "Are you sure?"

"It’s confirmed." Anna handed Hawk a small, palm-sized tablet. On the screen was airport surveillance footage. It clearly showed Bruce Banner boarding a private jet.

Hawk smiled, then glanced at Gwen. "Well, that’s a relief. You won’t have to make up an excuse to ditch your mom on Christmas Eve."

The twenty-fourth was Christmas Eve.

He had been worried that the Hulk wouldn’t show up until the twenty-fourth. Now, with any luck, this would all be over by tonight.

Gwen didn’t respond to that, instead asking, "Tony Stark’s private jet? But I thought Tony Stark was missing?"

It was true. Tony Stark had vanished again. Last time it was in the Middle East. This time, it was right here in Los Angeles. And this time, his Malibu mansion was nothing but rubble—payback for publicly declaring war on the Mandarin last week.

Of course, Hawk knew this Mandarin—the one responsible for the Extremis virus—was just an actor. The real one was probably too busy trying to resurrect his dead wife to be bothered with any of this.

...

"Stark might be missing, but his company is still running," Anna explained. "The flight was probably scheduled weeks ago. But we have a theory."

"What is it?"

"We think Banner is coming early because he heard about what happened to Tony. He’s coming to help."

"...That’s possible—" Hawk nodded thoughtfully.

A moment later, a dry, humorless chuckle escaped him. He handed the tablet back to Anna. "—Well, if I get the chance, I’ll have to be sure to thank Tony Stark."

If it weren’t for Stark’s dramatic disappearance, Bruce Banner probably wouldn’t have shown up until Christmas Eve.

But now, Iron Man was missing, and the Hulk was arriving ahead of schedule. From that perspective, Hawk really did owe him one.

Anna smiled but said nothing. She put the tablet away and, seeing that the blood bag was full, quickly and carefully removed the needle from Hawk’s arm. The moment the needle was out, the puncture mark on Hawk’s arm healed completely in the blink of an eye.

Hawk rolled down his sleeve and stood up from the chair.

Anna placed the blood bag into a hand-held, cryogenic briefcase with the care one would reserve for a priceless jewel.

With a soft click, she locked it, a look of profound relief on her face.

Anna then looked up at Hawk. "Thank you."

"Don’t mention it." Hawk smiled, then glanced at Gwen. He said nothing more, instead taking her hand and leading her toward the yellow Corolla parked nearby.

Anna stood and watched them go.

Gwen got into the driver’s seat, started the car, and looked at Hawk in the passenger seat. Even though she already knew the answer, she asked anyway. "So, where to now?"

Hawk turned to her, a sharp smile on his face. "Culver!"

"TIME FOR A LITTLE PAYBACK!"

"..."

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