Chapter 372: [476] - Wanda? Gwen? Or Wanda?

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"..." Amy's eyes widened in horror as she pressed herself against the wall, trapped and helpless. The two officers stood before her with blank expressions, delivering the news with mechanical detachment.

Wanda stared at them, stunned.

Wait.

What were their names again? Chris and George Jefferson? The first one didn't matter. The second was wrong. It shouldn't have been George Jefferson. It should have been George Stacy.

Wanda frowned. Before Gwen left this universe, she had taken Wanda from place to place for days, talking nonstop and telling her everything. Gwen and Hawk's lives had been connected from the day they were born.

It wasn't a happy connection, but it was real. George Stacy had been one of the two officers who came to tell Amy that Hawk's biological father, Andrew Chloe, was dead. But the officer standing here was still named George, only he wasn't George Stacy.

So where was George Stacy?

Wanda disappeared before the question was even finished. She quickly searched every part of Hawk's timeline, only to find something impossible.

George Stacy was nowhere to be found.

More exactly, George Stacy had never existed.

And if George Stacy had never existed, then neither had Gwen Stacy.

The answer hit Wanda immediately. This was why Hawk's River of Time kept falling apart even after she had destroyed every version of Apocalypse. Gwen was part of Hawk's whole past. Without that past, there could be no future.

"What is going on?"

"Exactly what you see."

Death's voice came beside Wanda's ear, calm and a little amused. Wanda turned and saw Death standing there quietly, as if she had never gone.

"You can still appear here?"

"Of course."

Death's face stayed calm. "As long as a life is still part of the main multiverse, I can appear next to it at the moment of death. Hawk is no different. He hasn't left this universe yet."

Wanda frowned as her thoughts returned to the missing piece of Hawk's history. "Did Apocalypse erase Gwen?"

"No."

Death smiled and shook her head. "Strictly speaking, you did."

Wanda's pupils contracted.

"WHAT?"

"Hawk's timeline has been tightened twice."

Death swept one hand through the air, and two strands of golden light appeared before them. She touched the first.

"The first was tightened with the Time Stone. Gwen existed in that version. But because the timeline was forced into shape by the stone, it had many weak spots in time. Apocalypse used those gaps to enter Hawk's shortened timeline and hunt down every version of him."

Death moved her finger to the second golden strand.

"This is the other one. A perfect timeline, created when the flame started by the universe's first life joined with the flame started by its most unlikely life. No weak spots. No gaps."

Her white, burning eyes settled on Wanda.

"Your existence now runs through all of Hawk's timelines, through every moment and every part of his history. But there is one problem."

"Hawk has already locked his past in place."

"Question his past, and you question his future."

"Deny his past, and his future ceases to exist."

Under Wanda's gaze, Death reached into the image and pulled Gwen from the perfect River of Time. The new timeline bent immediately, falling apart before it was fully formed.

Born only to die.

Wanda watched the destruction with a deep frown. "But I never wanted Gwen to be erased."

Death merely smiled.

Wanda stared into the white flames burning in Death's eyes without blinking. She had nothing to hide. She had never wanted to replace Gwen. Not once.

After all, when she first entered Hawk's River of Time, she told him exactly what she thought.

"Hawk, you really aren't a good man."

Back in Universe 616, Hawk understood why she had come. He just chose not to say it. To some degree, he let everything happen because it would make him stronger.

He made the same choice when he took the World Tree—he knew that taking it would separate him from Gwen, but he did it anyway. Gwen encouraged him, but if Hawk had wanted to say no... no amount of encouragement could have changed his mind.

So no, Hawk was not a good man.

But he was the father of her children. That was why she would save him.

Wanda and Death held each other's gaze in silence.

Death's smile remained as she reached out and touched the first timeline again, the one Hawk had contracted using the Time Stone.

Wanda blinked. Then she understood what Death meant.

"You mean Time."

"Who else?"

Death smiled as Wanda's face showed she understood. "Hawk's shortened past still belongs to the history of the main multiverse. What did you think I meant? That you erased Gwen because you were jealous?"

Wanda's eyes narrowed.

"I didn't. I'm not jealous. Stop inventing things. He isn't a good man."

"Heh."

Death crossed her arms and tapped her chin with one finger, a small smile on her lips. "You and Hawk are more alike than you both admit. Your words say one thing, but your souls... tsk, tsk."

Wanda frowned. "Hawk's soul?"

"Would you like to know? Do me a favor."

"What?"

"Give me a fragment of your soul."

Death smiled brightly. "Your soul is already spread across a million places. You can give me a piece. My girlfriend and I had a small fight, and I'm planning to be the hero."

Wanda felt the corner of her mouth twitch.

Death noticed. "Actually, I need a piece of Hawk's soul too. Together, you two will make the perfect start for my rescue."

Wanda's mouth twitched again.

"Did Hawk agree to this?"

"He owes me a favor."

"...Fine."

Wanda thought for a moment before looking back at Death. "I don't need to know what his soul thinks. I don't care. Just tell me how to fix his timeline."

Hawk might not have been a good man, but his word was unbreakable. If he promised to destroy someone's whole family, he would do it, graves and all. If he owed someone a favor, he paid it back as long as it didn't go against his own interests. More importantly, he was guided by self-interest in everything he did. If giving Death a piece of his soul was really dangerous, he would never have agreed.

That meant it was safe.

And even if it wasn't, Wanda could survive it. Her soul already ran through Hawk's timeline. If Hawk could be reborn through the nirvana flame of the universe's first life, then Wanda could follow that rebirth through the flame of its most unlikely life and live on with him.

Death smiled subtly. "Then we have a deal?"

"Yes."

Wanda nodded. "Now tell me how to stop Hawk's timeline from collapsing."

Death's smile widened.

"It's simple. Gwen belongs to the history of the main multiverse. The perfect timeline you created with the flame of the universe's most unlikely life belongs only to you and Hawk."

"But Hawk's past is already locked."

"You do not need me to explain the rest. You already know what to do."

"After all..."

Death's voice mellowed to a whisper.

"All of this has already happened, hasn't it?"

"..." Wanda lowered her gaze, turning the words over in her mind. When she looked up to ask another question, Death had already vanished.

'I already know what to do.'

'All of this has already happened.'

The words echoed through Wanda's thoughts.

She returned to the space above Hawk's newly born River of Time. Below her, liquid gold shuddered, barely holding its shape. Wanda watched and thought as the river crept closer to collapse.

Then, at the final moment, the last piece settled into place.

Surprise flashed through her eyes, followed by understanding. Without hesitation, she stepped back into Hawk's River of Time.

—————

"Hi, Hawk."

"Hi. You are...?"

"Gwen Stacy. Just call me Gwen. I'm the ninth-grade student aide. Ask me if you need anything."

"...All right. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

...

"Hawk!"

"Gwen? How did you find me?"

"Guess."

...

"Hawk."

"Hmm?"

"I know you don't want to be a good man, but at least try to be a kind one."

...

"Hawk."

"Hmm?"

"You should take back the World Tree, even if it means we have to be apart for a while."

"Compromise starts with once and ends with every time."

"Don't let it believe it owns you, even if it uses me to threaten you."

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