Located in Waterfall Town, Georgia, surrounded by dense forests and mountains, this town has a population of about ten thousand due to its long history and beautiful natural scenery. Every year, many tourists visit here.
On the highway leading to Waterfall Town, there are several cars with destinations set for Waterfall Town.
Hawk and Gwen are in one of them.
Sitting in the passenger seat of the rental car Hawk got at the airport, Gwen, looking excited, is telling Hawk about the sights of Waterfall Town as he drives.
Like the town's clock tower.
Like the mysterious waterfall that the town is named after.
There's also a cemetery believed to be haunted with many vampire legends and the founders' memorial which holds tools used to deal with vampires and preserves the town's history.
Hawk drives while following the navigation directions, smiling as he listens to his fiancée talk excitedly about the various supernatural legends of Waterfall Town.
Legends like those about vampires, werewolves, hunters, and witches in Waterfall Town.
Gwen speaks whatever comes to her mind.
Hawk listens quietly with a smile.
Gwen sees Hawk not responding to her chatter and blinks: "Hawk, I'm telling you, there really are vampires in town. The Foxes were once famous vampire hunters."
Hawk glanced at Gwen's mysterious and proud expression and nodded with a smile.
"That's awesome!"
"..."
Gwen rolled her eyes at Hawk, whose face showed indulgence, and said, "Hawk, I'm serious."
Hawk shrugged, "I also never said you're lying. Besides, you know a witch—a famous Salem Witch—and you know Earth's most powerful mage."
Carrie, back when the Hell Witch came to his house seeking help, Hawk took the girl covered in pig blood to Gwen for a cleanup.
In her last academic journey with her teacher from New Orleans, Carrie brought a gift for Gwen.
The Ancient One, Earth's most powerful mage without equal.
Gwen blinked at Hawk's words, then seemed to realize something and asked Hawk, "Hawk, who do you think is stronger, a vampire or Carrie?"
Hawk thought for a moment.
"Depends on the situation."
"Like?"
"Neither is as strong as me!"
Hawk glanced at Gwen and smiled again.
That's the absolute truth.
Whether it's vampires, werewolves, hunters, or witches, none are noteworthy in Hawk's eyes today.
In short.
He wouldn't even need to use the Phoenix Beam; a mere blink could unleash the power of hundreds of Supersonic Fists, and few Extraordinary Creatures could withstand it.
Gwen originally thought Hawk might seriously comment, but listening to Hawk's response made her twitch her mouth.
"I wanted you to evaluate vampires and witches."
"Alright then."
Hawk shook his head with a laugh, glancing at about half an hour left on the journey, then turned to Gwen again: "What do you think?"
Gwen, sitting cross-legged in the passenger seat with her feet out of sneakers, shrugged.
"I'd say witches, like Carrie, are strong. Didn't she tear up a town's ground when she awakened?"
"Indeed."
Hawk nodded, "Carrie is really powerful, a Salem Witch. Even an Ancestral Vampire is no match for an old enough witch."
Witches, like mages, value age.
The older they are, the stronger their magic.
Of course.
Except for the Scarlet Witch.
Speaking of which...
When Hawk went to Sokovia this time, Strucker had fled. He wonders if it changed the timeline and erased the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
Hawk suddenly pondered curiously.
Hearing Hawk mentioned "Ancestral Vampire," Gwen asked curiously.
"Ancestral Vampire?"
"The ancestor of a vampire clan, simply put, the origin of vampires."
"Dracula!"
Gwen's first thought was the famous Count Dracula.
Hawk smiled slightly.
"He's one of them."
"One... of them?"
Gwen's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this: "There are many Ancestral Vampires?"
Hawk laughed: "Witches have categories like Hell Witch, Salem Witch, Dream Witch, Evil Witch, so why wouldn't vampires have different clans?"
Gwen blinks, turning her body to face Hawk directly.
"Want to share?"
"Sure."
Hawk chuckled, took the phone from the navigation slot, glanced at the remaining route, closed the navigation, then tossed the phone to Gwen: "Email, from Natasha, see for yourself."
He feels no burden letting his fiancée handle his phone.
After all, Hawk barely uses his phone himself, often forgetting it unless Gwen reminded him.
That's why whether it's Sharon or Tony, they've defaulted to calling Gwen instead when they can't reach Hawk directly.
Holding Hawk's phone, Gwen opened the email and saw Natasha's sent time.
"Sent this morning?"
"Yeah."
Hawk chuckled and looked at Gwen: "You mentioned there are vampires in Waterfall Town. Just to be safe, shouldn't I get to know them first?"
Gwen heard this, smiled, and shook her head: "I was just joking, there aren't any vampires in Waterfall Town."
Hawk glanced at Gwen again and smiled: "Better safe than sorry!"
Just kidding.
It's Waterfall Town, after all.
If you said there might not be demons in Waterfall Town, he might reluctantly believe you.
But saying there aren't vampires in Waterfall Town?
Not to be rude, but at the right time, if you toss a brick from Waterfall Town's clock tower at midnight, seven out of ten times it'll hit a vampire.
Right on.
Twenty-five minutes later.
Hawk was driving down the final forest road leading to Waterfall Town. Just as the bridge to Waterfall Town came into view,
his eyebrows twitched. He glanced through the window over at Gwen, who had just finished reading S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records about the Extraordinary race of vampires and was opening the window to breathe some fresh mountain air to refresh her eyes.
To be precise, he looked through the car door into the dense forest beside them.
However, he didn't linger and continued driving towards the town.
Feeling Hawk's gaze, Gwen met his eyes and then looked over at the mountain forest.
But she didn't see anything.
However...
Gwen was quite certain that Hawk had just been looking at something.
"What did you see?"
"What if I said vampires, would you believe me?"
Hawk chuckled.
Gwen raised her eyebrows: "Dracula Lineage, Cain Lineage, or perhaps the Blood God Lineage?"
These are the largest vampire groups on Earth according to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Dracula, Cain, and the Blood God are the ancestors of these three groups. Although the descendants of these groups differ in some aspects, they are all classified as vampires in the Extraordinary World.
This was what Gwen had learned from the information Natasha had just sent her.
After reading it, Gwen only had one thought.
If she's still alive now, she should really thank S.H.I.E.L.D., considering that New York City has vampires, and quite a few of them. But the S.H.I.E.L.D. Combat Command Center is in New York City, maintaining a deterrent effect on the vampire groups.
Jesus God!
She's a New York native, lived there all her life, and didn't even know New York City had so many vampires.
So when Hawk mentioned he was reading about vampires earlier, Gwen instinctively thought of these typical vampire lineages.
But...
Hawk shook his head.
"Neither."
"What?"
"The vampires here..."
Hawk recalled the information sent by S.H.I.E.L.D.: "They should be classified under the Michaelson Lineage by S.H.I.E.L.D."
Gwen heard this, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. introduction of the Michaelson Lineage vampire ancestors came to mind: "Klaus, Elijah, Rebecca - the three siblings?"
The introduction is somewhat different compared to Dracula vampires, Cain vampires, and Blood God vampires.
These three vampire ancestors have a mythical aura.
Michaelson Lineage doesn't carry that mythical aura.
According to the S.H.I.E.L.D. vampire records, the Michaelson Lineage vampires trace back to the Michaelson family led by Klaus Michaelson, Elijah Michaelson, and Rebecca Michaelson, the three siblings.
But due to the elusive nature of these three ancestors and their lack of interaction with the outside world, seemingly avoiding something, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records on them are quite sparse.
However, there is quite a bit of information on other Michaelson Lineage vampires, those turned by these three ancestors.
For instance, Michaelson Line vampires can't enter a home without an invitation, and a wooden stake to the heart turns them into a pool of blood.
Gwen recalled S.H.I.E.L.D.'s records on these aspects.
Only...
Gwen looked at Hawk with a somewhat helpless expression: "Waterfall Town actually has vampires; I was just saying it casually before, and I didn't notice anything when I visited before."
Hawk laughed and looked at Gwen.
"New York City has vampires too, and we never saw them, right?"
"That's true."
Gwen recalled her nearly twenty years in New York City without ever encountering or seeing a single vampire, and nodded instinctively before looking at Hawk with a curious expression: "By the way, Hawk, do you think we'll see vampires this time?"
Hawk glanced at Gwen.
"You want to see one?"
"Never seen one, I'm curious."
Gwen said honestly.
She's seen witches and even visited the Earth's strongest mage with Hawk.
So...
If given the chance, she would really like to see vampires.
Especially with Hawk by her side.
Hawk looked at the curious Gwen and then turned his gaze to the small town already in view, a slight smile on his lips.
"If everything goes as expected, there's a chance you'll see them this time."
"..."