CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: SPEED

Jace froze as a low boom shook the earth beneath his feet.

It didn’t sound distant, it felt near. Too near.

He moved without thinking, rushing toward the front of the safehouse, ignoring Zin’s voice echoing in his head.

[Jace, be careful. It might be—]

He was already outside.

The sunlight had dimmed. A grayish-blue smoke was drifting in the air, swirling unnaturally like mist trying to hold a shape.

A portal was closing, its fading edges warping the space around it as if the air itself was being stitched back together.

Jace narrowed his eyes, but the dust and smoke made it hard to see.

Then he noticed it. Movement, blurs, darting around near the edge of the field. Two figures. Fast. Too fast for his eyes to follow.

One shimmered with a reddish hue. The other flickered in a trail of electric blue.

Jace stepped forward instinctively. "What the hell is happening?"

[Unclear,] Zin responded, his voice more tense now. [But I can detect kinetic energy signatures... from the one in blue.]

Jace’s brow furrowed. "So?"

[It matches yours. The exact frequency. It’s like... someone’s using your power.]

Jace didn’t answer. He just stood there, watching the two figures clash in a blur of light and dust, the shockwaves of their movements vibrating through the cracked pavement beneath his feet.

Jace couldn’t keep up. The red and blue streaks tore through the open space like living lightning, faster than his eyes could follow. His instincts were useless, until the red blur suddenly shifted course.

It was coming straight for him.

For a split second, Jace saw it, just a flicker, but it was enough. The red blur was headed straight for his chest like a missile.

Then everything happened at once.

A force slammed into him from the side, not a strike, but a push. He hit the ground hard, rolled across the concrete, and finally came to a stop on his back, gasping.

He blinked.

That blur... it had a hand. He saw it. A blue streak. It had pushed him out of the way.

Jace sat up slowly. Dust clung to his jacket, his palms scraped from the ground. He looked up just in time to see the two blurs again, now circling each other. Moving too fast to track.

Another concussive boom followed, and the air shimmered again. The same portal that had closed before reappeared, briefly, then collapsed back in on itself with a soft snap.

Both figures vanished with it.

Silence returned.

Jace remained seated, breathing slowly, eyes locked on the empty space they had just occupied.

It hadn’t just been speed. It wasn’t like watching two strangers fight. When the blue blur had touched him, something else hit him, an instinct. A familiarity.

He didn’t see the face. He barely saw the hand.

But somehow... it felt like he knew them.

Zin’s voice returned, a bit shaken.

[Jace... I scanned it again. The kinetic energy coming off the blue one, it’s identical to yours. Not similar. Identical.]

Jace didn’t answer. He just kept staring, thoughts racing.

Who was that?

And why did it feel like looking at a reflection he didn’t recognize?

Jace sat up, breathing steady now, and began walking back toward the building. Dust clung to his clothes, but his mind was elsewhere.

"What do you mean ’matches mine’? Are you saying I can move like that too? And how the hell could someone else be using my power?"

Zin responded after a short pause.

[It’s complicated. The energy signature matches yours exactly, not just similar, Jace. Identical. As for how... I don’t know. But what I can explain is this:]

Zin’s tone shifted slightly, as if preparing for a long-winded answer. [You’re familiar with kinetic energy in physics. It’s the energy of motion, any object in movement carries kinetic energy. The faster it moves, the more energy it has. Now, when someone can manipulate kinetic energy as an ability, they can do things like increase speed, amplify impact, or redirect force. It’s not surprising that someone using raw kinetic enhancement could move that fast, assuming they have enough energy storage and control.]

"But I can’t do that," Jace muttered. "I’m not moving like a damn blur across the sky."

[Correct. Because what you copied from Eva was not full manipulation, it was an enhancement.]

Zin displayed a short summary across Jace’s vision.

[■ Kinetic Burst

A power that releases raw kinetic force in short, invisible shockwaves. It does not require momentum or movement to charge. The energy is generated internally and discharged instantly, typically from the palms, limbs, or core.

The effect mimics a concussive blast: launching objects, breaking surfaces, or knocking back targets without physical contact. The force is accompanied by displaced air, sudden pressure shifts, and subtle environmental cues like dust bursts or impact fractures. No visible energy is emitted, making the ability appear like an invisible strike.]

Zin continued.

[You don’t have full manipulation of kinetic energy. Your current version is limited to sudden, directed outbursts. No enhanced running. No speed blurring. Just pure, contained force... unless]

Jace tilted his head slightly. "But you hesitated. You were going to say something—’unless’ what?"

Zin went quiet again.

[...]

Jace stopped. "Actually, never mind that. Just explain how fast they were moving. And why the fuck did that red streak try to kill me?"

[I don’t know their exact speed, but it broke local air pressure, supersonic at minimum. Possibly even higher, given the spatial distortion around them. As for the red one’s aggression, I can’t tell. It was focused on you for some reason. But I don’t know if it was targeting you or just anything in its path.]

Jace gritted his teeth. "Were they alien?"

[Based on the energy signature, kinetic amplification level, and the portal appearance, yes. I didn’t have enough time to scan their species or physical structure, but the probability of extra-terrestrial origin is extremely high.]

Jace stared at the sky, then back toward the clearing where the blurs had vanished.

"...And one of them had my power."

[Yes. That’s what worries me.]