Jack was angry at himself for not seeing the trap. His mind was going through every possible way he could get the hostages out of here, looking for any opportunity.
"Boys, bring the cage we prepared for him."
The leader said it leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, completely relaxed. Like it was already over.
The sound of a crane filled the warehouse. A big iron cage appeared from above and started coming down slowly toward him. The floor was completely covered in oil, shining under the yellow lights. Hostages were huddled on the far side, bound, surrounded by armed men.
Jack felt the situation closing in. There was nowhere to go.
And then — an energy blast shot toward the gang members holding the hostages. They went down instantly. A few more blasts followed right after.
Jack didn't stop to think about it. He ran straight for the hostages.
His foot slipped the moment he hit the oil. He caught himself and kept moving. Slipped again on the next turn, nearly went down completely. He grabbed a crate, steadied himself and kept pushing forward. It was slower than it should have been. The oil was fighting him the whole way but little by little he adjusted and reached the hostages.
"Who is it?!"
"Attack! Attack! Kill that guy!" the leader screamed.
The calm in his voice was gone.
The blasts kept coming from above, picking off snipers one by one. Jack used every second of the opening. He got the last of the hostages behind a stack of heavy crates and stood up.
The relief lasted about a second.
Then his eyes went cold.
He looked across the gang members one by one and the look in his eyes had already decided everything before his body even moved.
He walked toward them.
The first man swung at him. Jack stepped past it and hit him in the ribs once. He dropped. Another came with a metal rod — Jack took it from him and put him into the wall. Two rushed him together and he went between them, hit one across the jaw and drove his elbow back into the second man's chest. Both hit the floor.
Every hit landed harder than the one before. He knew what he was doing to these men. Some of them were going to carry it for a long time. He didn't slow down.
More poured in from the side entrance. Guns came up — Jack was already inside their reach before they could fire. He put the first one down and used him to knock the second flat. A baton caught him hard across the arm. He felt it. He answered it and the man crashed back into a stack of crates that came down loud around him.
One man tried rushing straight at him across the oil. His legs slid out from under him before he even got close. Hit the floor on his own.
The leader was screaming orders now, turning in circles, looking for men still standing. That relaxed posture was long gone. His voice had gone thin and sharp and it bounced off the walls with nowhere useful to go. Every time he looked up there were fewer men between him and Jack.
Then there were none.
Jack reached him and it was short.
The leader hit the ground.
XLR8 stood over him. The warehouse was quiet. Smoke drifted low across the oil covered floor. High above the cage still hung on its chain, frozen halfway down.
"You think you won?" the leader spat, eyes red, voice still loud even flat on his back. "You're done, lizard. The boss is gonna finish you himself."
Jack felt the impulse rise up — just for a second. He let it go. Instead he grabbed both the man's arms and broke them clean.
"Tell your boss I'm ready. He just picked the wrong enemy."
He knocked him out with a flick of his tail.
Jack turned and started looking.
He checked every position on the upper walkways where the blasts had come from. Went up and looked at each one. Nothing. He came back down and checked the corners, the rafters, the high windows. He stood in the middle of the warehouse and turned slowly.
No footprints in the oil. No marks on the railing. Nothing at all.
He stood there a moment just trying to make sense of it. Whoever it was hadn't just moved fast — they had left no sign of ever being there. Even with his speed he had caught nothing. He ran through every hero he could think of but this wasn't the age of heroes yet. Nobody came to mind.
He checked on the hostages one last time and left.
[ Hero Points: 90 ]
[ Next Alien Unlock: 200 ]
But what Jack didn't notice —
High above the city, far above where the lights reached, where the air was just cold and dark —
A figure stood completely still.
It stayed a moment longer after Jack disappeared into the streets.
Then it was gone.
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