Jeremy didn't waste any time and started typing on the holographic keyboard. Collins stood beside him, checking out the screen."What are you up to?" Collins asked Jeremy."I'm trying to trace the last location of Prof Smith's earbud. Hopefully, I'll find something," Jeremy replied, squinting at the screen as he typed.Collins also set up a holographic keyboard and started working alongside Jeremy."And what about you? What are you doing?" Jeremy asked, continuing to run his fingers across the keyboard."I'm working with you to speed things up," Collins replied.Collins and Jeremy typed rapidly on the keyboard, trying to find Prof Smith's last location, while Alec and Heidi anxiously paced around the center."I swear, this is all my fault," Alec muttered for the tenth time."Alec, it's not," Heidi reassured him."But he went to meet the shadow guy to protect me, and now we have no signs that he's still alive," Alec said, crossing his arms. "I'm so scared.""Me too," Heidi whispered."
Jeremy's fingers danced across the screen, swiftly typing even as the screen began to show fading numbers, but he was determined to unlock the door and rescue the professor, so he pressed on. Heidi squinted at the faded numbers on screen "Can you even see the numbers?" Jeremy nodded a little "I'm trying"Alec, with his sharp eyesight, managed to catch a glimpse of the faint thumbprints on the number pads. "6, 1, 0 were pressed here before" he began, observing the fading lights,while Jeremy frowned in concentration, obviously trying to get something meaningful from the numbers Alex called. "3 as well" Alec continued "And 1... 2, 4..." "Is that the arrangement?" Heidi asked. Alec shook his head "I'm not entirely sure, but those were the numbers previously entered as codes."Jeremy's eyes slightly narrowed as he began to connect the dots. He then blinked. "Those are hexadecimal codes. I just need to arrange them correctly"Jeremy punched in some numbers, but it only triggered a bri
Alec eyed Shadowborne, and a part of him admired his confidence and the power that radiated around him."So you are really the Shadowborne," Alec said with fierceness, now gradually dripping in his voice and mentally preparing himself to fight him."I am" Shadowborne replied, still using the robotic voice programmed with the suit. He looked down at Rick, who was still not up on his feet. "Stand up, Rick, don't be useless."Rick managed to stand to his feet and steady himself on the ground."Alec has met Shadowborne" Heidi said to the others, her heart racing in fear."I wish I met him too, I wanna see the guy I won in the hacking game" Jeremy said with a grin and Heidi threw him a hard look that shut him up. "Tell Alec through the earpiece to leave that building now!" Prof Smith ordered managing to pace in front of the car despite the bad state of his body. Worry was evident in his voice "Alec is just having a nice chat with Shadowborne" Jeremy said lightly. "Shadowborne does not
"Alec?" Jeremy called loudly through the earpiece but got no response from him. "Alec can you hear me?" Jeremy bit his lip hard when he still didn't get any response "Fuck! Alec you're scaring me!" Jeremy whispered, fear evident in his voice. Heidi stood frozen, staring at the screen of the laptop, refusing to believe what she just saw. There were no human traces on the screen anymore, just fire and ashes, which the bomb had caused. No one could go near the fire since they can't handle heat like Alec.Alec was struggling where he was. He managed to get to his feet and used his speed to evade the fires, but still got slowed down and affected by the intense heat greater than his super heat powers and also the force of the explosion, which created a turbulent environment, making it harder for Alec to use his speed.Jeremy rubbed his forehead, shutting his eyes briefly, trying to think of what to do, but nothing came to his head. "Maybe he'll survive the fire since he's got super heat" h
Alec was physically okay, but emotionally down. Failing a mission really ruined his mood and even with his determination to take down Shadowborne, he ended up failing. He didn't meet his dad home and guess he was still at work then. He went straight into his bedroom and clumped on the bed with a sigh. "Xander" He called slowly with a low voice. "Yes, Alec, how may I help you?" Xander answered instantly. Alec sighed again. "I did everything I could to take Shadowborne down, and even after going through that intense fire, my next level of power remained locked" "Yes, Alec. You never accomplished a single part of the mission hence the reason a single part of your next powers was not unlocked"Alec rubbed his forehead "This man is intelligent with a lot of powers, how am I supposed to face him next time if my powers remain at this level?" "How you face him next time is up to you, Alec" Xander replied in its usual emotionless voice. "Get out, Xander" Alec ordered under his breath.
The screen displayed various recorded videos and a captured image of the superhuman for the HEP center members to analyze and study."Well, let's take a look at it. He's not causing any trouble," Alec said, pointing to the screen showing a recorded video of the superhuman soaring through the sky."Yet." Prof Smith interjected firmly, his right hand stretched out for demonstration. "But he's just enjoying himself, you know? If he were a troublemaker, we would be dealing with unconscious people by now," Jeremy explained, and Alec's expression showed his agreement."So what you're saying is that we should wait for people to get unconscious before we take this seriously?" Prof asked with a hard tone, scoffing. "We can't wait for him to harm others before we start taking action." He pointed to the screen displaying the tiny image of the flying superhuman on the hospital building. "Look at him, those powers...""Do you know him from somewhere?" Heidi asked in her tiny voice. "What? Know h
Prof Smith and Alec returned to the HEP center looking gloomy, especially Prof Smith. "We visited her ex-husband, Greg, but he wasn't the one causing trouble" Prof Smith informed, staring into space."Yeah" Alec sighed "There's really someone dangerous out there," Alec added, turning his eyes to the tiny image of the superhuman on the screen. "He killed Greg."Heavy silence fell in the room as Jeremy and Heidi slowly processed Alec's last sentence. "Okay, so let me get this straight, alright?" Jeremy broke the quietness, his hands moving for demonstrations " This guy went after Greg and killed him after flying over the top of the hospital building where your girlfriend is," Jeremy said, staring at Prof Smith."Jeremy," Prof Smith called out slowly, "My friend, not girlfriend," Prof Smith corrected with a dull tone. "And yeah, this superhuman... he..." Prof Smith paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "He is connected to both Kris and Greg, so he's not exactly following Shadowb
The way the superhuman reminded Alec of his name rang in Alec's head. There was a tone to the way he called his name; Alec had never heard any of the villains he'd fought in the past use that tone. Then there was the mark on Greg's neck. The image flashed to Alec's head, and then the image of the Insect's claws shooting out also flashed to his head."Insect, seriously?" Jeremy said as he tapped on the iPad in his hands. "I keep hearing weirder shits everyday; like, how the hell do these guys come up with their crazy names?""Movement is one crazy name; now it's Insect," Heidi added."Guys?" Prof Smith called through the earbug, his phone in his hand. He was still in the hospital but he made sure he was following with every activities going on in and outside the centre. He was watching a video sent to him earlier from the HEP centre. "I watched the video and I observed quite a few things" he said. Alec folded his arms across his chest, ready to listen. Prof Smith still holding his p