Racer Jack burst onto the scene like a silver-and-grey comet.
The Lonestone Central Bank still bore the scars of the ongoing battle. A section of its façade had crumbled. Revealing the reinforced vaults within.
Several City Enforcers were on the ground. Some were stirring. Others were clearly out cold. Their uniformed armors were dented and smoking.
And there they were.
Rock Monster was not in his monstrous giant transformation. Instead, he was a small old man. Hunching over the incapacitated Blade Devil. Flame Demon, Death Beast, and Blood Fiend were also there. Either unconscious or severely injured.
Only Rock Monster was still ready for combat. And the masked woman...
She was kneeling beside Blood Fiend. Trying to either heal the man or loot the wealth he had gained from robbing the bank.
Jack remembered the forced teleportation. His fury flared. This was a coordinated operation. Not just a random appearance of old villains. This woman was their escape route. Their ace in the hole. And she thought she could just sideline him.
"Alright! Time for second round, Bitch!" Jack called out. His usually squeaky kamaitachi voice was now surprisingly loud and piercing. Accompanied by a high-pitched snarl that cut through the city din.
He didn't wait. He didn't hesitate. He was a streak of silver-and-grey shadow. A razor-edged blur.
His target was the masked woman. She was the teleporter, as far as he knew. The escape artist. She needed to be dealt with first.
Jack launched himself forward. A living bullet.
The woman barely had time to register his sudden reappearance. Her head snapped towards his direction. Her portal-generating hand dropping slightly. A flicker of surprise was in her visible eye.
Too late.
Jack wasn't just fast. He was a precise instrument of kinetic force. He didn't bother with his blades for her.
His enhanced kamaitachi body was a condensed mass of speed and power. It became the projectile. He slammed directly into her side. A focused, brutal impact.
The sound of loud collision was almost simultaneously followed by a gasp of expelled air. The woman appeared to have some form of protective aura.
However, she still flew away as if hit by a battering ram. Spinning through the air for a good five meters. Before crashing into a stack of abandoned street-side stalls. Debris scattered.
She lay there. Unmoving. A dark heap amidst the shattered wood and canvas.
A small smile touched Jack's face. Sharp and fanged. One down. Temporarily, at least. He wasn't naïve enough to think that was the end of her. Whatever power she wielded, she probably had some resilience. But she wasn't a threat right now.
"Yo Rocky Gramp!" Jack bellowed. Pivoting mid-air. His momentum seamlessly shifted targets. "Time for your rock-hard ass to get chipped!"
Rock Monster was caught off guard by Jack's sudden return. And the brutal dismissal of his accomplice. He roared in indignation. "You! How did you—"
He has instinctively transformed into his rock giant form. Once he sensed any danger. It would be a little bit troublesome for Jack now.
"Doesn't matter how!" Jack cut him off. Already circling. He was a blur around the towering rock creature, a silver-and-grey comet. Tracing impossible patterns. "What matters is I'm back, and you're still here. And this time, you're not getting away!"
He moved too fast for the Rock Monster's eyes to track. His speed created afterimages. A shimmering circle of silver fur and flashing blades.
Rock Monster tried to pivot. He tried to swat at the elusive target, but Jack would already be gone. Striking from a different angle.
Screee! One of Jack's bladed hands raked across Rock Monster's stony back. Leaving a shallow, smoking gouge. Pebbles and dust flew. The rock monster roared. A sound of frustration and pain.
"Too slow, Gramp!" Jack taunted. "Did you forget your training? Or did fifty years of napping make you soft?"
He struck again. Then again. A whirlwind of precise cuts. His blades, though small, were incredibly sharp. And backed by the immense force generated by his speed.
He aimed for the joints. The softer points in the Rock Monster's armored form. The neck. The elbows. The knees. Each strike was calculated.
Rock Monster tried to brace. Tried to anticipate. He stomped the ground. Creating small tremors. But Jack simply rode the shockwaves. Using the displacement to propel himself faster.
The giant lunged forward. Arms extended. Only to find Jack already behind him. A flurry of strikes targeting his open Achilles tendons.
The Rock Monster roared. About to turn his body. But, Jack was already in front. A rapid-fire series of slashes across his chest. Not deep enough to fell him. But enough to chip away at his composure. His stone armor.
"Come on, Gramp! You're big, you're slow, and you're so predictable!" Jack chirped. A high-pitched, mocking tone.
"Honestly, you're more of a stationary stone than a rock monster. Did you even try to innovate in the last half-century? Or were you just practicing your 'standing there menacingly' routine?"
The taunts enraged Rock Monster. He swung a massive, stone fist. A blow that could shatter steel.
Jack merely zipped underneath it. His bladed tail lashed out. Striking the Rock Monster's knee with surprising force. A direct hit to a pressure point. The monster grunted. His leg buckled slightly.
Jack pressed his advantage. He wasn't going to let this battle drag on. He didn't want any more portals opening. He didn't want any more 'surprise teleportation'. He needed a decisive, overwhelming victory.
He focused his speed. Channeling it into a single, devastating attack. He blurred into existence directly in front of Rock Monster. Then he accelerated again.
A silver-grey streak spiraling upwards. His bladed hands, usually used for precision cuts, were now joined. He spun, creating a miniature vortex of razor-sharp edges.
Self-created attack skill... [Razor Cyclone]!
He slammed into the Rock Monster's head. A concentrated burst of kinetic energy and cutting force. The target was the Rock Monster's craggy face. Specifically the junction between its stony skull and its neck.
CRACK! A sound like granite splitting. The Rock Monster staggered backward. A low moan escaping its throat.
Its head, surprisingly, remained attached. But deep fissures spiderwebbed across its stony face. Its eyes dimmed significantly.
Jack didn't stop. He landed on the monster's chest. Just for a fraction of a second. Before pushing off. Propelling himself upwards again.
He moved so fast that the still reeling Rock Monster couldn't react. He hit the same spot again. Another [Razor Cyclone]. But this time aimed for the base of the skull. Where the neck met the shoulders.
CRASH! The Rock Monster's legs buckled. Its stone form began to crumble. Not just from the attack. But also from within. As if its power was failing.
It swayed. A towering, crumbling rock statue. Before collapsing to the ground with a thunderous impact. One that shook the street. Dust and stone fragments flew everywhere. The glowing eyes went dark.
Defeated.
Jack landed lightly on the ground. His small chest was heaving slightly. A trickle of satisfaction running through him. Rock Monster, the leader of the Calamity Stars, was down.
Rune floated beside the kamaitachi. Glowing bright green. No more danger there.
He scanned the battleground. Flame Demon. Blade Devil. Death Beast. Blood Fiend... All of them were incapacitated. Harmless at the moment.
The threat should be over. Now that their leader and escape artist were defeated. But, speaking of the escape artist...
Jack turned his head. His gaze darted to where he had last seen the masked woman. The overturned stalls. The debris.
She was gone.
Not a trace. No body. Conscious or otherwise. The ground beneath the shattered stalls was disturbed. But no blood. No scorch marks. No residual portal energy. Just... an absence.
Jack sighed. A low, frustrated sound. "Oh, come on!" He complained. "Running away the moment things got tough. Kids these days. No tenacity at all."
He had blasted her with enough force to put down a lesser transcendent. She must have either taken the hit better than he thought. Or she had a secondary escape mechanism.
Or perhaps, she had merely been stunned long enough to activate another teleportation. Taking herself out of the immediate danger zone.
Regardless what happened, she was gone. A loose end. A very annoying, portal-wielding loose end. He would need to remember her. And he would find her... Eventually.
For now, the immediate threat was neutralized. The five notorious Calamity Stars were now lying defeated on the streets of Lonestone.
The battle was over. The bank was still standing. Albeit damaged. The surviving City Enforcers, though battered, would be enough to secure the perimeter.
Civilian onlookers, who had wisely taken cover, were slowly emerging. Their faces were a mix of shock and relief.
Jack watched for a moment longer. Ensuring the Calamity Stars were truly incapacitated. Justice, in its swift and brutal form, had been served. He felt a grim satisfaction. This was how things should be. No chaos without consequence.
He flicked his ears. Time to make a speedy exit. He still had that new alien anchor point to investigate. But it would be later.
For now, Lonestone was safe. At least from these particular threats. Although it was quite suspicious. A crew of transcendent bandits that had been absent for fifty years suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
That sounded like a larger conspiracy. And Jack hated conspiracies. Especially when he wasn't the one orchestrating them.