Jack headed downstairs to the kitchen, only to find his older brother standing near the counter with a deep, furious frown carved into his face. Julian looked like he hadn't slept a wink, his iron-hard frame practically radiating tension.
"Where were you last night?" Julian demanded, his voice dropping an octave. "You didn't even come back until seven in the morning! I can't believe I'm saying this, Jack, but I was worried about you. I was literally about to call 911. Do you have any idea what Mom and Dad would do to me if I let anything happen to you while they're away?"
Jack froze, his brain scrambling for a believable lie. "I... I-I was at a senior's party!" he stammered, trying to sound nonchalant. "You... you should have been there, bro. It was out of this world."
Julian narrowed his eyes, clearly unimpressed. "From now on, I'm imposing a curfew. You'll be back in this house by 7:00 PM every night, or else."
"You're not my parent!" Jack snapped back.
"No, but I'm the eldest in this house," Julian said, stepping closer and using his height to intimidate him. "You will follow my rules, or I can call Mom and Dad right now and tell them all about your 'out-of-this-world' party."
Jack swallowed hard. "No, no... there's no need for that."
Julian sighed, his posture relaxing just a fraction. "Look, Maya and I were really worried about you, Jack. Don't do that to us again."
"Whatever," Jack muttered, turning toward the living room TV.
A news anchor was speaking urgently over footage of scorched sand and emergency vehicles. "...reporting an unidentified blue energy crash near the Ridge Mount City coastline. Authorities are investigating what appears to be an extraterrestrial scout ship—"
"What's that about?" Julian asked, stepping over to look.
"Probably just an ad or a trailer for a new movie," Jack said quickly. He grabbed the remote, clicked the screen off, and hoisted his backpack over his shoulder. "I gotta run for school!"
The moment Jack stepped outside, Ridge Mount City hit his senses like a physical wave.
Usually, the twenty-minute trek to school was a drab routine of avoiding eye contact and dodging hover-car puddles. But today, in the year 2800, the metropolis felt alive in blinding high-definition. Towering glass-and-chrome spires pierced the morning mist, their reflective hulls glittering under the pale sun. Massive, three-dimensional holograms floated between skyscrapers, broadcasting glittering advertisements for plasma-craft, off-world vacations, and heavy-duty kinetic armor.
High above, multi-lane sky-highways hummed with anti-gravity traffic, leaving pulsing turquoise vapor trails in the cool air. Down on the pedestrian walkways, metallic ozone mixed with the smell of synthetic coffee stalls. Jack could see every micro-fracture in the ceramic tiles under his shoes and track the erratic flight of a surveillance drone three blocks away without straining his eyes once.
[System Initialization: 17%... Optimization of sensory input complete.]
"Keep it down," Jack whispered under his breath, adjusting his non-medicated glasses. "I'm trying to blend in."
[Relax, Host. Only you can hear my voice inside your mind,] the System chimed smoothly.
"Ohhh," Jack muttered. "Well, this doesn't mean anything. The only reason you're still here is because of the superpowers, so don't overstay your welcome."
[As if you even have a choice,] the System retorted dryly.
"So when am I actually gonna get the super cool powers?" Jack asked in his head. "Hello? I'm talking to you."
The System went completely silent, ignoring him.
Jack huffed, glancing down at his wrist unit. The digital clock flickered red: 07:54 AM.
"Oh, crap!" Jack gasped. "It's nearly eight! I'm gonna be late!"
He didn't think,he just ran.
A sudden, electric surge of power shot through his calves, launching him forward like a coiled spring. His surroundings turned into a motion-blurred canvas of neon and steel.
Jack bounded over a four-foot recycling unit, planting a single palm on a metal guardrail to vault cleanly across an alleyway. He didn't slow down. Coming up on a crowded pedestrian plaza, he kicked off a stone planter, launched himself six feet into the air, and ran three horizontal steps across the side of a concrete wall before flipping back onto the pavement.He didn't think—he just ran. Pushing off the pavement, a surge of adrenaline shot through his calves. He leaped onto a low awning, and flipped back onto the sidewalk without losing a beat of momentum. Neon city lights blurred past him like streaks of paint.
Air roared in his ears, crisp and exhilarating. He leaped over a stalled hover-bike charging port, landed lightly on his toes, and sprinted down the final stretch toward the school gates with fluid, effortless precision.
"Whoa..." Jack breathed as he slid to a crisp halt right outside the main arches. "I didn't know I could go this fast!"
He rushed into St. Jude's Academy, weaving smoothly through the morning crowd, and arrived at his locker. He shoved his key card into the lock and swung the metal door open.
As he slammed it shut, Richard and Meilin were standing right there. Richard stared at him, his mouth slightly open.
"Did you get a new hairdo or something? You look different!" Richard blurted out, leaning in to examine Jack's face. "Like... your jawline looks sharper, or something."
"How are you even feeling?" Meilin asked, looking concerned. "We were so worried... I hope Marcus didn't roughen you up too much last night."
Jack's eyes darkened, a quiet, icy confidence settling over him. "Forget Marcus. I'm going after him later."
Before his friends could ask what on earth he meant, the homeroom bell rang, and they filed into class.
Jack took his seat near the middle row, but as he glanced toward the front, his breath caught in his throat. Standing by Mrs. Vance's desk was a new student.
She was breathtakingly stunning. Her fair complexion seemed to catch the sunlight pouring through the high windows, framing a delicate face with full, soft lips, dark, captivating eyes, and a graceful, elegantly curved figure. Jack stared for a long second, completely stunned.
Hoping to make a friendly impression, Jack slid out of his seat and walked up to her with a grin. "Hey! I guess you're new here. I'm Jack. I can help you get used to things around here if you want."
The girl slowly turned her head, looking at him with a cold, piercing glare. "Could you please not talk to me?"
Jack blinked, taken aback. "Hey, I'm just trying to help."
Her eyes locked onto his, burning with pure disdain. "You really don't remember, do you?" she spat softly. "We went to the same primary school. You put live lizards in my locker and bullied me for weeks just because I was the fat, awkward kid. I'm Lisa."
BANG.
The classroom faded away, and Jack was slammed into a vivid memory from three years ago:
The hallway of Ridge Mount Elementary. Nine year-old Jack, surrounded by a group of laughing kids, holding a clear plastic container full of wriggling, green-scaled lizards. He remembered shoving the container into an open locker, dumping the squirming reptiles right into a pink backpack while a chubby, tear-stained girl sobbed against the wall.
"Look at her run! Lizard Lisa! Fat Lisa!" eleven-year-old Jack had shouted, pointing and laughing while the rest of the hallway joined in, utterly ruining her childhood.
Jack snapped back to the present, his stomach dropping into a pit of deep shame as he looked at the gorgeous girl standing before him. "But... you're nothing like her..."
"You think?" she sneered.
"I... Lisa, I'm so sorry," Jack stammered, feeling a wave of genuine guilt. "Look, let the past be the past. I just want to help you settle in."
"Get lost, Jack West."
Jack tried one last time, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Can I at least get your number so I can make it up to you?"
Lisa suddenly raised her voice so the whole room could hear: "Teacher! Jack keeps disturbing me for my phone number!"
The entire classroom erupted into a loud chorus of "OOOOOOOOOHs!"
Mrs. Vance snapped her head up from her tablet, glaring over her glasses. "Jack West! Sit down and leave the new student alone immediately! And for your rowdy, disruptive behavior, you will write me a 2,000-word essay on the dangers of social media and digital harassment before the end of the school day!"
Jack's face flushed bright red as he slunk back to his desk. As Lisa walked past him to take her assigned seat, she leaned down slightly and whispered, "I told you to get lost."
Jack slumped into his chair, leaning toward Meilin. "What is her problem? That was a really long time ago!"
Meilin shook her head, whispering back harshly, "Jack, you bullied her for months and ruined her social life back then. What did you honestly expect?"
Jack looked over at Lisa one more time, shaking his head. "Man..." he muttered under his breath, "what a glow-up, though."
By lunch period, Jack was sitting in the bustling cafeteria with Meilin and Richard. Suddenly, the double doors swung open, and Marcus walked in with his usual gang of lackeys.
The moment Marcus caught sight of Jack sitting there perfectly healthy, without a single bandage or cast; his jaw dropped. He looked genuinely terrified. "I... I thought you were supposed to be in the hospital or worse..." Marcus stammered to his friends.
Jack didn't say a word. He stood up, walked right up to Marcus, and grabbed him hard by the collar of his shirt. He pulled the six-foot bully down until they were eye-to-eye.
"Next time you try something like that," Jack growled, his voice deathly quiet, "you won't even make it to the hospital. You'll be six feet under or worse."
He shoved Marcus back with effortless force, sending him stumbling over his own feet into his crew. Jack turned on his heel and walked out to find an empty classroom to write his essay.
Setting his tablet on a desk, Jack began typing out his 2,000 words, grumbling the entire time. Suddenly, the classroom door clicked shut. Before he could turn around, Sarah sneaked up behind him, slid right onto his lap, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed him intensely on the lips. Her tongue slipping into his mouth."I've missed you, Jackie..." she cooed, smelling of heavy floral perfume.
All Jack could picture was the hurt look on Lisa's face from earlier, the fiery glare behind her eyes,her curvy figure and how fake Sarah really was. A flash of intense irritation washed over him. He grabbed Sarah's wrists and forcefully pushed her off his lap. "Stay away from me you whore," he said coldly. "You're exhausting."
Sarah stumbled back, her eyes wide with shock and fury. "It's the new girl, isn't it?!" she shrieked. "Jack, if I can't have you, no one can!" She turned and stormed out, slamming the door.
Jack finished the essay twenty minutes later and turned it in to Mrs. Vance. The teacher accepted the file, giving him a stern look. "Jack, don't bother the new student again. She has already laid complaints against you."
"I wouldn't dare, ma'am," Jack said dutifully.
During his final Biology class, Jack was staring blankly at a hologram of a cell structure when a bright blue window flickered across his vision.
[Side Quest Available: Physical Conditioning] [Objective: Complete 10 Pushups] [Reward: +5 EXP | +1 Strength]
Jack raised his hand. "Teacher, may I please be excused to the restroom?"
Once in the empty hallway behind the science wing, Jack dropped down onto his hands and toes and rapidly pumped out ten clean pushups. He barely even felt his arms burn.
[Quest Completed!] [Reward Claimed: +5 EXP | Strength increased to 11]
Jack stood up, dusting off his hands with a small smile. "Well, at least the System actually works."
When the final bell rang, Jack said goodbye to Meilin and Richard near the main gates and began his walk home.
It was dusk in Ridge Mount City, and the evening view was stunning. The sky had turned a deep, dramatic shade of violet and dark amber as the sun sank lower toward the horizon. The golden hour light danced off the glass spires of the skyscrapers, casting long, elegant shadows across the lower sky-terraces and bustling streets.
As Jack turned a corner near the lower shopping district, he caught a glimpse of Lisa walking ahead of him. The warm sunlight hit her face perfectly, accentuating her sharp, beautiful profile and her hourglass figure as she walked down the crowded sidewalk.
Lisa happened to glance over her shoulder. The second her eyes met Jack's, her expression turned to panic. She turned on her heel and started sprinting down the street, trying to lose him in the winding alleys of the lower district.
"Wait! Lisa!" Jack called out, breaking into a jog.
Lisa turned into a narrow passage near a row of closed kiosks, looking back over her shoulder to see if he was following. In her panic, her foot caught on a discarded glass bottle rolling across the pavement. She gasped, losing her balance completely, and began falling backward toward the hard concrete.
SWOOSH.
In a blur of speed he didn't even know he possessed, Jack closed the distance in a fraction of a second. He caught her securely in his arms before she could hit the ground, momentum carrying them both back until he pinned her gently against the metal wall of a nearby kiosk, holding her close to keep her steady.
For a second, everything was still. Jack inhaled the delicate scent of rose perfume clinging to her skin, acutely aware of her figure pressed against his chest in the fading golden light.He could feel her large boobs pressed against his chest.A tingle of arousal began to wash over him immediately.
Lisa's eyes were wide with shock, her chest heaving as she tried to push him away. "Leave me alone! Get off me, you rogue!"
Jack chuckled softly, though his heart was racing. "So much for a 'thanks' for saving you."
"I only tripped because I was running away from you!" Lisa shouted, her cheeks flushing red. "Why are you even following me, you creep?!"
Jack raised his hands defensively, his voice dropping softly. "I wasn't..."
The words never left his lips.
His gaze drifted past Lisa, beyond the bustling streets of Ridge Mount City, until it settled on a skyscraper that dominated the skyline.
Monarch Tower rose like a giant of steel and sapphire glass, its seventy floors reaching so high they seemed to brush the heavens themselves. Every pane reflected the fading light of the setting sun, transforming the enormous structure into a gleaming monument of gold, amber, and crimson. The city's tallest buildings looked like mere shadows beside it.Nearly a 100 stories high.
Evening had begun to settle over Ridge Mount City. The sun hung low on the horizon, slowly disappearing behind distant hills, spilling rivers of orange, pink, and violet across the sky. Wisps of clouds glowed with fiery edges before fading into soft shades of indigo. A cool wind swept through the city streets, rustling trees, fluttering banners, and carrying with it the distant echo of sirens.
On the rooftop, silhouetted against the brilliant sunset, stood a middle-aged woman in a faded, tattered red dress dangling dangerously over the edge of the skyscraper .The relentless wind caught the torn fabric, making it billow and snap around her as though it were trying to pull her back from the edge. Strands of her dark hair lashed wildly across her face.
Clutched tightly against her was a little girl, no older than eight. Tears streamed down the child's face as frightened sobs escaped her lips. She squirmed and reached outward with trembling hands, desperately trying to pull away, her cries carried into the evening air by the wind.The woman kept pulling her back into her arms.
"I... I can't take this anymore..." the woman said, her weary voice barely audible from so far away. She lifted her eyes toward the glowing horizon. "Goodbye... Ridge Mount City."
Far below, the streets had frozen.
Traffic had come to a standstill. Hundreds of people crowded the sidewalks, many staring upward in stunned silence while others raised their phones with shaking hands taking pictures .Police cruisers and ambulances surrounded the base of the tower, their flashing red and blue lights painting the surrounding buildings. An officer stood behind a barricade, speaking steadily through a megaphone, his voice echoing faintly against the glass walls of the skyscraper as he pleaded for her to keep talking.
Jack felt the blood drain from his face.
Lisa followed his gaze.
Their eyes widened.
"...Oh no," they whispered in unison.
The evening breeze continued to howl through the city as the last sliver of sunlight disappeared beyond the horizon.