Cold wind rushed across Jack's face as XLR8 shot across the rooftops. Queens disappeared behind him in seconds. Buildings blurred together and neon lights stretched into glowing lines. The night city looked completely different at this speed, with cars crawling like toys and people moving like slow-motion figures.
Jack slowed when the buildings around him began to change. There were older apartments, narrow streets, and fire escapes hanging from brick walls. He stopped on the edge of a rooftop and looked down at the street sign under a flickering lamp.
Hell's Kitchen.
Jack whistled quietly. "Didn't expect to end up here tonight."
This area had a bad reputation for crime, gangs, and underground deals, exactly the kind of place Jack hated. He crouched low.
[ Transformation Time Remaining: 07:12 ]
Seven minutes left.
"Plenty of time."
He leaned forward and listened. His alien hearing picked up dozens of sounds: music from a bar, arguments in nearby apartments, footsteps running through an alley. And then a scream.
Jack's head snapped toward the sound. It came from two blocks away, and he moved instantly.
The alley was dark, with only a single broken streetlight flickering above a dumpster. Three men surrounded a woman near the wall. One of them grabbed her bag.
"Please, just take it!" she said.
Another robber laughed. "Relax, sweetheart."
The third man pulled out a knife.
Jack didn't hesitate. The wind exploded through the alley. Before any of them understood what had happened, the man holding the bag flew backward into the trash cans, the knife dropped from the second man's hand, and the third attacker collapsed with a loud thud. All three were unconscious.
The woman looked around wildly. "...Hello? Was that a ghost?!"
The alley was empty. Jack had already left.
He stopped on a rooftop nearby.
[ Transformation Time Remaining: 04:35 ]
"Three minutes gone already."
Speed was incredible, but the time limit forced him to think. Jack moved again. For the next several minutes, Hell's Kitchen experienced something strange. A car thief trying to hotwire a vehicle suddenly collapsed. Two gang members arguing in an alley were knocked unconscious by a gust of wind. A purse snatcher felt something hit his legs and slammed face-first into the pavement. No one saw anything clearly, only the wind.
Jack slowed on a tall building overlooking the neighborhood.
[ Transformation Time Remaining: 01:21 ]
"One minute."
He should probably head back somewhere safe. But then something caught his attention. Across the street stood an old warehouse with its metal doors half open. Inside were men, a lot of them. Jack leaned forward.
At least fifteen armed men stood around stacks of wooden crates. One of them kicked a man tied to a chair.
"Where's the money?!"
The hostage groaned. Another criminal loaded a rifle.
"Boss, can we kill him already?"
Jack frowned. This wasn't a small robbery. This was an organized operation, and worse, the hostage clearly wouldn't survive much longer.
[ 00:54 ]
Fifty-four seconds.
"...Great timing."
He looked at the warehouse again. Fifteen criminals, one hostage. If he waited, the man might die. If he attacked, the transformation might end mid-fight. Jack exhaled slowly.
"Guess we're gambling."
He jumped from the rooftop. The warehouse doors slammed open with a violent gust of wind.
"WHAT—?!"
For a brief moment, the criminals froze, confused by the sudden rush of air. Then the blur arrived.
Jack moved, and the world slowed. To XLR8's eyes, everything in the warehouse crawled like it was trapped in syrup. The criminals were still turning their heads toward the door, their fingers only halfway toward their triggers. Too slow.
Jack shot forward. His claws tapped the concrete floor once, and he vanished.
The first attacker barely had time to blink before Jack appeared beside him. XLR8's leg snapped out with terrifying speed.
CRACK.
The kick slammed into the man's ribs like a hammer. The criminal flew sideways, crashing through a stack of wooden crates that exploded into splinters. Before the sound of breaking wood even finished echoing, Jack was already gone.
The second attacker had just started raising his rifle when a blue-black blur flashed past him. Jack's tail whipped around like a steel cable.
CLANG.
The rifle spun out of the man's hands and clattered across the warehouse floor. A second later, Jack's claw tapped the back of the man's knee, and the criminal's leg folded instantly. He dropped face-first onto the concrete. By the time he realized what had happened, Jack was already behind someone else.
The third attacker finally managed to aim his gun.
"What the hell is th—"
He never finished the sentence. Jack slammed into his chest like a speeding motorcycle. The impact lifted the man completely off the ground and sent him flying across the warehouse, where he smashed into a metal shelf and collapsed in a pile of falling boxes.
Panic erupted.
"What the hell is that thing?!"
"SHOOT IT!"
Several criminals opened fire, and gunshots thundered through the warehouse. But they were firing at empty air. To Jack, the bullets looked slow, and he ran between them. One man blinked, and suddenly Jack was beside him. A quick kick behind the ankle, and the criminal dropped. Another man turned with a knife, but Jack slid past him, sweeping his tail low. The attacker's legs flew out from under him, and he slammed onto his back with a loud thud.
Every second, the warehouse became more chaotic. Men shouted, guns fired wildly, and crates toppled over. But none of them could keep up with the blur moving through the room. Jack was everywhere. A punch here, a kick there, a sweep of his tail. One by one, the criminals dropped to the ground, and within seconds, half the gang was already unconscious.
But the timer blinked.
[ 00:12 ]
Jack's eyes went wide.
"Twelve seconds?!"
Two criminals grabbed the hostage and raised their weapons.
"BACK OFF!"
Jack moved. Wind exploded across the warehouse floor, and he knocked both men aside. He cut the rope holding the hostage with one claw.
"Run!"
The man stumbled toward the door.
[ 00:03 ]
Jack looked around. Three criminals were still standing, and they raised their weapons.
[ 00:02 ]
Jack charged. His tail swept across their legs, and all three slammed into the ground.
[ 00:01 ]
Jack reached the warehouse entrance as the hostage ran out into the street. And then green light exploded around Jack's body. The transformation ended. Jack instantly ducked behind a stack of crates as his human form returned.
Footsteps echoed outside, and the hostage's voice shouted desperately.
"HELP! CALL THE POLICE!"
Sirens began approaching in the distance. Jack leaned against the crate, breathing slowly. That had been very, very close. Then the system panel appeared.
[ Heroic Actions Completed ]
[ Hostage Saved | Criminal Group Stopped ]
[ Reward: +15 Hero Points ]
[ Hero Points: 36 → 51 ]
[ Alien Unlock Requirement Reached ]
[ 50 Hero Points Consumed ]
[ New Alien Unlocked! ]
[ Remaining Hero Points: 1 ]
Jack blinked.
KRR-CHAK!
The Omnitrix dial lit up with a new hologram: a massive red alien with four thick, muscular arms and white markings across its wide body. Jack smiled slowly.
"...Four Arms."
Outside the warehouse, police cars screeched to a stop and officers rushed toward the building. But inside, the mysterious figure was already gone. Only unconscious criminals and destroyed crates remained. And somewhere in Hell's Kitchen that night, a new rumor had begun, about a monster made of wind.