Just past midnight.
On the rooftop of the apartment complex.
Hawk was throwing punches.
No punching bag.
No technique.
In fact, he wasn't even moving his feet.
He just stood there—still, eyes half-closed—as if in a trance, punching at the empty air in front of him.
This time, he wasn't chasing speed. Instead, he seemed to have entered a state of sudden enlightenment.
He'd always felt something strange stirring inside him with every punch over the past thousand days.
But tonight… it was stronger than ever.
It felt like his consciousness had been drawn into a place of absolute, infinite darkness—so complete that no matter where he turned, it swallowed all light and sense.
Yet…
With each punch, a faint glimmer sparked in that endless dark.
And if Hawk had opened his eyes and looked up just then, he'd have seen something even more unbelievable:
The constellations above—Pegasus, Draco, Cygnus, Phoenix, Sculptor—the 48 constellations tied to the Bronze Saints—were pulsing with light in time with his movements.
Not just one.
All of them.
Every single one shimmered in response to his punches.
One after another.
Punch by punch.
Slow, yet fast.
Though he made sure to fully retract each punch before throwing the next, the afterimage of one had barely faded before the next was already streaking through the air.
Second punch. Third. Fourth. Fifth.
Then—
A sky full of fists.
Suddenly—
BOOM.
A low, echoing rumble filled Hawk's mind.
It was quiet… yet it thundered like a celestial bell struck deep within his soul.
Fwoosh!
A flicker of flame sparked to life inside him.
And with it, the infinite black canvas above began to ripple.
That flicker bloomed, like a match struck in the void.
And then—
Like a Big Bang, the stars embedded in that cosmic darkness erupted into light.
Inside Hawk's body, something ancient and sealed shattered. An invisible wall that had existed within him—immaterial, untouchable—collapsed under the weight of this awakening.
And something that had slumbered for eons…
Awoke.
SHRAK!
Hawk's eyes snapped open.
But unlike before, the fire in them didn't fade away after a flash.
This time, it blazed.
BOOM!!
It felt like every drop of blood in his veins had turned to molten metal, roaring through him.
Every cell in his body trembled, like a million stars simultaneously detonating.
His bones shattered under the pressure—and reformed instantly, reforged like planets being born from cosmic collisions.
Buzz.
A strange ringing filled his ears.
His vision blurred—
And then sharpened into something surreal.
He saw the particles that made up his own flesh spinning, combusting, and collapsing in on themselves—repeating the creation of the universe on a microscopic scale.
He saw the blood beneath his skin roaring like a star-born river, incandescent and alive.
He saw his own heart, pounding with the primal rhythm of the cosmos itself—each beat sending out ripples through the fabric of space like the pulse of existence.
And then—
Clarity.
His right fist clenched.
His heels ground against the concrete.
His foot scraped across the rooftop like a plow digging into the earth.
The tiles beneath him cracked as he slid back into a fighting stance.
Then—
He punched.
And from deep within his soul came a growl—not from his throat, but from his very being.
> "BURN, MY COSMOS!!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The air around him rippled like a dropped stone into water.
Space fractured like glass.
Time itself—slowed, ripped, shuddered under the weight of his strike.
Air, space, time… everything around him stood still.
And then—
"SKREEEEEE!!"
Air tore open with a scream.
"CRACK CRACK!"
Space shattered in anguish.
"KRA-KOOM!"
Time broke.
And then—
A new timeline wove itself into place, replacing the shattered remnants of the old.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Across the street from Hawk's building, the windows of an adjacent apartment complex exploded from the force of the shockwave, shattering with a deafening crash.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
"HOLY SH—!"
"My windows!"
"My car!!"
"Who the hell did that?!"
"Wait… what is that!?"
"Jesus Christ."
Down below, cars parked along the curb groaned under an invisible pressure, their windshields cracking like ice, alarms blaring in unison.
And across the world—
Kamar-Taj.
"Hmm?"
"Master?"
Inside the temple, one of the disciples turned toward the Ancient One, who had made a sound of curiosity.
Wearing her golden robes, the Ancient One lowered her eyes toward the Eye of Agamotto resting at her chest.
She brought her hands together in a mudra.
The Eye of Agamotto slowly began to spin, then clicked open.
A soft green glow emanated from within—the light of the Time Stone.
The artifact pulsed ominously.
This was no ordinary magic surge.
The Time Stone—one of the six Infinity Stones—had a singular purpose: to govern every moment, past or future, in the flow of time.
To wield it was to wield Time itself.
"…A shift?"
"A change… in the future?"
The Ancient One narrowed her eyes.
With a second gesture, she sealed the Eye, rose to her feet, and vanished without a sound.
---
DING!
> [Congratulations! You've unlocked: Microcosmic Cultivation]
DING!
> [It's been an honor to accompany you these thousand days. The system will now disengage. Until next time!]
> [Remember: Microcosmic Cultivation is the path of battle—a Saint's path. Grow in combat. Transcend in combat.]
> [Goodbye.]
Just like that, the familiar mechanical voice rang through Hawk's mind one final time.
It had arrived quietly, a thousand days ago.
And now, it left the same way.
Quiet in its coming.
Quiet in its going.
The sun had begun to rise.
"Holy sh*t!"
"What the hell happened?!"
"My windows!"
"My car!?"
"Who the hell did this?!"
"Wait… look—up there!"
"Holy sh*t—"
"…Jesus."
Standing atop the rooftop, Hawk could hear every word as if they were being whispered right next to his ear.
He slowly opened his eyes—
And looked toward Manhattan's skyline.
There, in the early morning light, a rift had been torn through the sky, glowing with cold, celestial blue.
Hawk blinked.
"Wait… did I just punch a hole in the sky?"
"…."