One punch.
One punch.
Another punch.
Standing beneath the waterfall, Hawk resisted the force of the waterfall with his bare body while punching forward with determination against its resistance.
Every time he threw a punch, the section of water he contacted seemed to pause momentarily, albeit very briefly.
But...
It's not enough!
He wasn't seeking a mere pause of the waterfall's water upon his fist.
He desired the waterfall to tremble beneath his punches, and even to reverse its flow.
Hawk considered his demands reasonable.
After all, this was not Lushan Waterfall before him. Comparing this waterfall to Lushan, it was not even one-tenth as grand.
So, is this too much?
It's not too much.
However, clearly, this notion angered the waterfall before him.
You want me to reverse for someone at your level.
Do you think you're Poseidon, King of the Sea?
And even if you are Poseidon, King of the Sea, can he control freshwater waterfalls like me?
Thus...
The waterfall grew furious, and under Hawk's relentless punches, the water's speed visibly increased.
Hawk felt the waterfall's current anger, staying expressionless.
Yet in the Little Cosmos within, the Phoenix Constellation Map lit up completely, and a Fire Phoenix's form slowly emerged.
He decided.
The waterfall would reverse its flow, or he wouldn't leave.
Though there were only a few days until school started.
But it didn't matter.
As he always said.
Being an orphan, he guessed even if he didn't go to school, probably no one would care for him.
Perhaps it was better this way.
With no one caring for him, there wasn't anyone he needed to care about either.
So...
The fighting spirit in Hawk's eyes burned fiercely.
"Come on!"
The waterfall was thoroughly enraged, and with this provocation, the water surged more violently.
"Rumble!"
"...Is it thundering?"
At the northern edge of Cunningham Falls State Park, where Hawk was located, Gwen, barely into the protected forest area, heard the distant rumbling.
Yet the vast canopy of ancient trees covered the sky, allowing only sunlight through the gaps in the leaves, adding an eerie feeling to the already tranquil forest.
Seeing she couldn't view the sky, Gwen retracted her gaze.
Dressed in a conspicuous white jacket and hiking boots, Gwen pulled out her phone, and with a lit screen, she glanced at a location map displayed.
In view.
Two faintly flickering light spots far apart yet displayed on the same screen.
One indicated Gwen's current location.
The other...
Taking a deep breath, Gwen gripped a trekking pole she bought after arriving in Semont yesterday and encouraged herself, stepping toward the direction of the other point.
Initially, Gwen thought Hawk's phone was merely stolen and didn't pay it much mind.
After all, she was busy with her summer job.
But when Dr. Connor suddenly inquired if she had given Hawk a gift, she found it odd. Thus, post-work she made another trip to Hawk's new apartment.
The result...
The envelope she left on the sofa remained untouched.
For reasons unknown, Gwen felt a surge of panic in her heart at that moment.
She immediately called her father, George, hoping he could utilize the New York Police Department to locate Hawk.
Initially, George didn't take it seriously, but seeing Gwen's worried face, he decided to speak with colleagues from the Queens Division.
His jurisdiction was Manhattan, and searching across Queens required notifying them regardless.
The result was no trace of him.
Hawk was as if he vanished into thin air.
Moreover, Hawk had no credit card, no driver's license, and his phone might be stolen or off, thus no way to track him.
Frankly, Hawk seemed like an invisible person in modern society.
No family.
No social life.
Not even a single friend. Even if registered, colleagues at the Queens Division didn't know where to start.
No one could pinpoint Hawk's last known location; even his classmates didn't show concern or inquire about his situation.
Uh...
Except for Gwen.
Until the day before yesterday, when George, arriving home late again from work, observed his daughter – tirelessly searching for Hawk over days – and couldn't help but finally ask: "Gwen, have you fallen for this Hawk?"
Returning from a Queens cemetery, Gwen momentarily stunned upon George's question, promptly answered.
"Dad, Hawk and I are just friends."
"..."
By the time George regained his senses, Gwen had already rushed upstairs.
George blinked, unable to resist glancing at his silently observant wife, Helen, standing nearby.
"Friends? Do you believe that?"
"Whether I believe it is irrelevant."
The always kind and mother-loving Helen smiled at Gwen's retreating figure, then turned to George, saying: "But I know you can't keep your daughter anymore."
George was stunned.
Back in her room, Gwen fell onto her bed, thinking about Hawk, who had vanished for over ten days, when suddenly her phone rang.
Absentmindedly, Gwen lit up her phone, glanced at it.
In the next second.
She sat up abruptly.
The message wasn't some spam SMS, but a remote login alert from her phone account.
Gwen hurriedly clicked the SMS link.
This time, the signal wasn't a vague area but pinpointed to an exact location.
Maryland, Cunningham Falls State Park, beneath a waterfall.
That was why Gwen was here.
Soon.
As the sound of flowing water grew nearer, although Gwen was drenched in sweat, her spirit shone brighter and even increased her pace.
And beneath the waterfall.
After punching ninety-nine hundred and ninety-nine punches, Hawk pulled back his fist, and as he delivered the final punch, the Phoenix's phantom behind him turned almost real.
The next second.
Hawk unleashed his ten-thousandth punch, and the Fire Phoenix's shadow soared!
"Chirp!"
"Reverse for me!"
"Boom!"
The waterfall was no longer a thousand-foot torrent but a wrathful dragon rising, reversing the river's flow!
At this moment, time seemed frozen.
However, a clear voice pierced through the frozen time, reaching Hawk's ears.
The voice.
Clear.
Trembling.
"Hawk!!"
"..."