Steam rose from a nearby vent, and pigeons fluttered as Spectra cornered Agent Jack, who stood still, breathing heavily.
Jack raised his hands slowly, his voice tired. "Listen, Spectra… whatever they call you now… I'm not who I used to be. I was just doing my job. Trying to feed my family."
Spectra's eyes locked on his. "You're only saying that because you're scared."
Jack shook his head. "No. Absolutely not. I know you, man. You don't kill. You don't hurt unless the mate deserves it." He reached into his coat carefully, pulling out a folded, weathered photo. "Just look. My wife. My daughter. I was working for them. That's it, mate."
Spectra glanced at the photo… then looked back at Jack.
"Then why didn't you take a different job?"
Jack lowered the picture. His voice cracked with frustration. "I tried, okay? I went to every place I could. But no one wants to hire a guy with a criminal record. Every time they saw my name, they shut the door."
Spectra didn't flinch. He listened closely to Jack's words… and the rhythm of his heartbeat. It was steady. Raw. Real.
"You're still working for that 'boss' right?" Spectra asked.
Jack looked away. "It's not one person. It's the Shadow Syndicates. I just call them 'the boss' because I don't even know who's pulling the strings. They send the missions, I follow. That's how it's always been, mate."
Spectra stepped forward, his voice lower now. "So how can I trust that you've changed?"
Jack hesitated… then looked up, eyes steady.
"I'll be a spy."
Spectra raised an eyebrow.
Jack nodded. "Let me work from the inside. I know their systems. I know their blind spots. If you're serious about taking them down, I'm your chance."
Spectra studied him for a long moment, the silence of the alley pressing in.
He didn't say yes.
He didn't say no.
But he didn't walk away.
"Give me proof that you're telling the truth," Spectra said finally.
Jack hesitated, shifting uncomfortably. His hands tightened into fists.
"There's a mad robotic menace obsessed with power..." Jack began, his voice low and hurried. "Remember the last time I searched that one house in the UAE? When I said I was just investigating?"
Spectra's eyes narrowed, remembering.
"He gave the order," Jack said. "I know I told you I didn't know who pulls the strings, but this time this time I know. He gave the plan, and the higher-ups approved it."
Jack leaned in slightly, almost whispering. "His name is Dr. Walks. And he's dangerous. He's trying to build something... a suit that absorbs the powers of anything that hits it. Even mutants couldn't defeat him with his prototype. Imagine if he created the actual thing, mate."
Jack pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and a pen from his jacket, scribbling something quickly.
"This is one of his labs," he said, handing the paper to Spectra. "He's working on the machine there. Destroy everything. The machine, the blueprints everything."
He paused, looking Spectra dead in the eye.
"He's got a terrible memory. If you wipe that lab, he won't be able to recreate what he built the way it should have."
Spectra took the paper without a word, eyes unreadable.
Jack stepped back, his voice quieter now. "Meet me every week. Same day, same time, at the restaurant where you first found me. I'll keep feeding you information."
Without waiting for a response, Jack went to the street, leaving Spectra alone.
Spectra stayed silent for a moment, gazing up at the sky. Then, without a word, he shot upward like a rocket.
As he flew, he tapped his airdrop button. "You heard all that, Ali, didn't you?"
Ali's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Absolutely And it looks like Jack suffered after we arrested him huh?"
"Whatever," Hamza muttered. He reached into his pocket and held the crumpled paper up to the mask's camera. "Find the location for me," he said.
"Dude, it's the last day of holiday," Ali groaned. "Why now? Let's have some fun, bro!"
"Let's deal with the scientist first," Hamza answered, his voice firm. "You heard what he said."
"Bet," Ali replied. A few seconds later, he added, "Got it... 8246 NW 54th Street. Underground facility."
"Send it to me" Hamza said.
"Already did" Ali confirmed.
30 minutes later…
"Finally," Hamza breathed out.
"FINALLY?!" Ali shouted through the earpiece.
Hamza blinked. "What?""You do realize it normally takes three hours for a plane to get there, right?" Ali said, completely stunned.Hamza just shrugged midair. "Yeah? So?"Ali groaned. "Listen, a commercial plane flies at around 926 kilometers per hour. Three hours to get there means the place is about 2,778 kilometers away!"Hamza raised an eyebrow.Ali kept going, fired up "You got there in thirty minutes, dude that's half an hour! So if you covered 2,778 kilometers in 0.5 hours, you were flying at about 5,556 kilometers per hour!"Hamza still looked blank."THAT'S ALMOST FIVE TIMES THE SPEED OF SOUND, YOU DUMBASS!" Ali exploded."WHAT?!" Hamza shouted back. "I broke the sound barrier by five times?!"
"How's your earpiece not fried from the sonic boom?" Ali asked.
Hamza smirked. "My dad's tech. Ask him."
"Bu-" Ali started, but Hamza cut him off "Let me find the lab first, for God's sake."
Hamza hovered, scanning the area for anything unusual.
"Guess I'm digging, then," he muttered to himself.
Ali chimed in, "Dude, that's taxpayer money you're about to destroy. You sure you wanna do that?"
Hamza shrugged again. "The government wastes our tax money on dumb stuff anyway. Why should I care?"
"I guess," Ali said.
As Hamza hovered in the air, he focused, trying to catch any sound coming from underground. He blocked everything else out until he finally heard a muffled voice:
"Yeah, I'm about to finish it, just give me a few more days."
"There!" Hamza said sharply. He shot even higher into the sky, then dove down like a spinning drill, slicing cleanly through the ground without causing any extra destruction. He burrowed deeper and deeper until he finally broke into a hidden lab.
"Caught you," Hamza muttered, quickly unleashing destruction on everything he saw burning the equipment, the notes, and the machines.
"Phew," he said, dusting himself off
"Finally! Now get back home, bro," Ali said through the earpiece.
But before Hamza could move, a mysterious voice growled from behind him.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME IN, DESTROY EVERYTHING, AND RUN AWAY WITHOU—"
The voice stopped mid-sentence when Hamza turned around.
"Spectra?" the voice scoffed, then chuckled darkly.
A fat, slightly tall, square-faced figure emerged from the shadows, looking somewhat Asian.
"Ha! You came here just to wreck my life's work? HAHAHA! Well, guess what? My prototype survived your filthy hands!" he bellowed.
Spectra tightened his fists. "Even if you still have your prototype," he said calmly, "you're not gonna beat me that easily, dude."
Hamza dashed forward, landing a powerful punch that should've sent the man flying but instead, he just stood there, menacingly, staring down at Spectra.
"Of course I'm not gonna beat you," the man sneered. "You're gonna beat yourself."
Suddenly, beams of energy burst from his body, shooting straight at Spectra. But Spectra didn't flinch—the attack didn't affect him much.
"Well, I'm not holding back anymore," Hamza growled, launching a flurry of punches, kicks, and every move he had in his arsenal.
The man laughed—a low, mocking sound."Uh uh uhhhh..." he jeered, firing another energy beam.
"Aghhh!" Hamza screamed as the blast scorched his right hand, blood dripping from the burn. Still, he pushed forward.
"I won't give up!" he roared, but more beams kept slamming into him, burning him again and again.
"STOP!" Ali screamed through the earpiece. "HE'S ABSORBING ANY KIND OF FORCE YOU HIT HIM WITH!"
"NO ####!" Hamza snapped back through gritted teeth.
"You either run—or overload him! But you gotta survive the backlash!" Ali warned.
"I'll take option B!" Hamza barked, his eyes blazing with determination.
"HAAAAA!!!" Hamza roared, grabbing the doctor by the collar and unleashinga blinding punch.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
AND ANOTHER.
The air around them shattered with each hit, fists flying faster than the human eye could follow faster than gunfire harder than cannon blasts.
The doctor shook with every impact but still stood there, absorbing, resisting, grinning.
Hamza's body moved on pure instinct now —Kicks followed fists.Each one cracked the air like thunder.Each one slammed into the doctor like a lightning bolt.
Kick.
Kick.
Kick.
Kick.
AGAIN.
AGAIN.
AGAIN.
A violent symphony of fists and feet, a storm of raw fury — Hamza's aura burning so hot it lit the underground lab in red fire.
"IF YOU WANT TO ABSORB MY HITS..." Hamza bellowed, his voice booming like thunder
"THEN CHOKE ON IT!!!"
With one final roar, Hamza unleashed a full-body spinning kick, slamming straight into the core with everything he had
"ARE YOU CRAZY!? IT'S GONNA EXPLODE AND TAKE OUT THE WHOLE CITY!" the doctor screamed in panic.
Without hesitation, Spectra grabbed the doctor, shot up through the same hole he made earlier, and rocketed into the sky at an insane speed, shattering the sound barrier as he went.
Midair, he stopped for a split second, gripping the doctor tightly.
"If I'm dying then you're coming with me, you ####### ####!" Hamza roared.
"HEH—HAHAHAHAHA!" the doctor laughed madly, even as the core began to vibrate violently.
"HAMZA, NO...!" Ali's voice cracked over the earpiece.
And then-
BOOOOM
A massive explosion tore through the sky, lighting up the clouds like a second sun.