Only in the slowed perception of super-speed could XLR8 clearly observe what was happening when the time bomb touched the ground, it didn't detonate.
His dynamic vision returned to normal speed as he processed this critical detail.
If the bomb had exploded on contact, he would have simply kicked it away with his incredible velocity. But this was different. This was deliberate.
"AHHHHHH!!"
The crowd of hotel guests hadn't noticed his observation. Seeing the bomb hit the ground, they screamed in terror, hugging their bodies and ducking their heads in anticipation of the blast.
"Seriously? All this panic," XLR8 muttered, picking up the time bomb with one clawed hand. He glanced around the rooftop restaurant, taking in the surrounding high-rise buildings that boxed them in on all sides.
Even if he threw this bomb away, it would likely hit another building and kill innocent people. The urban density made disposal incredibly complicated.
"Plus, I have no idea how powerful this thing actually is," XLR8 said, his eyes narrowing behind his protective visor. "Knowing Vilgax, he wouldn't use anything half-measures."
The Kineceleran made his decision in a fraction of a second.
Clutching the time bomb against his chest, XLR8 raced to the edge of the rooftop and launched himself at the glass exterior wall of the building.
His specialized feet found purchase on the vertical surface as he descended in a controlled sprint, moving so fast he was little more than a blue blur racing downward.
Until he reached the ground floor!!
"Someone's coming down with a bomb!"
"He just ran straight down the outside of the building!"
The people blocking the hotel entrance stared in absolute shock, their expressions frozen in disbelief. How was this possible? How could anyone move like that?
"Don't worry, I've got the situation under control," XLR8 called through the glass, his voice slightly muffled but still audible. He lifted the time bomb so they could see it clearly. "You need to get the power restored so nobody stays trapped in those elevators. Call an engineer."
He didn't wait for a response.
Time was the enemy now.
Leaving those words behind, XLR8 became a streak of blue motion, the time bomb held securely against his chest as he accelerated to speeds that made the world blur around him.
Highway... downtown... city limits...
Every landscape passed in seconds, vehicles appearing frozen compared to his velocity. XLR8 pushed his Kineceleran physiology to its absolute limits, running faster than he'd ever run before.
Only when he reached the uninhabited wilderness beyond the suburbs did XLR8 finally stop, placing the time bomb on the sandy ground before sprinting away at maximum speed.
He'd barely covered a hundred meters when,
BOOOOOOM!!
The time bomb detonated with earth-shattering force, sending a massive shockwave rippling outward. The explosion tore through the desert landscape, throwing sand and debris high into the air and creating a crater easily thirty feet wide.
The timing had been perfect. Another ten seconds and XLR8 would have still been holding it.
"That was way too close," XLR8 muttered, glancing back at the mushroom cloud of sand and smoke rising behind him. His expression darkened with anger. "Vilgax really is insidious. Good thing I have XLR8's speed, or that could have gone very differently."
He turned and raced back toward the city, following the highway that would lead him to the hotel.
But the city itself wasn't peaceful.
CRASH!! BOOM!!
Explosive sounds echoed from the direction of the hotel, growing louder as XLR8 closed the distance. His enhanced hearing picked up the unmistakable sounds of combat and structural damage.
"What's happening now?!" Tension seized XLR8's chest as his legs pumped even faster, leaving countless afterimages in his wake. He looked like a single alien being pursued by dozens of phantom copies.
It took approximately thirty seconds of full-speed running.
The hotel appeared in XLR8's field of vision, surrounded by a crowd of shocked onlookers lining the street, all staring up at the building with expressions of horror and fascination.
At the hotel's fourth floor, where their room was located, five small combat robots had smashed through the exterior glass and were tearing through the interior walls, their red optical sensors sweeping for targets!!
"That's... that's our room!" XLR8's eyes widened in alarm, his heart rate spiking despite the Omnitrix's biological stabilization. His already incredible speed somehow increased even further.
"Detected owner of Omnitrix. Entering combat mode..."
"Detected owner of Omnitrix. Entering combat mode..."
Three of the Mechadroids suddenly changed course, flying out through the damaged wall and arranging themselves in a defensive formation in mid-air. They hovered like a mechanical wall, blocking the path to the breached room.
XLR8's body twisted in mid-leap, his momentum carrying him directly toward the nearest robot. His expression transformed from concern to cold fury.
"Get out of my way!!"
His voice carried the weight of absolute conviction, like a warrior deity descending to judgment. XLR8's razor-sharp claws extended fully as he closed the distance, accompanied by dozens of speed-generated afterimages.
Both claws plunged deep into the robot's chassis, piercing completely through its internal mechanisms!!
CRACKLE-SPARK!!
The robot's systems failed immediately, arcs of electricity dancing across its damaged frame before it tumbled from the sky.
WHAM!!
XLR8's legs planted firmly against the falling robot's chassis, using it as a springboard to launch himself toward the second combat drone. The fluid motion took less than a heartbeat.
His claws flashed again in a scissoring motion, the enhanced strength and velocity cleaving the second robot cleanly in half!
"Just you left!!"
XLR8's afterimages converged as he dodged incoming laser fire, his body twisting and weaving through the barrage with casual grace. The red energy beams swept harmlessly past him, scorching the empty air.
"Completely useless! Attacks this slow won't even touch me!!"
XLR8's tail became a blur of motion, multiplying into what appeared to be a dozen whip-like appendages. They struck the final robot simultaneously with devastating force, the impacts coming so rapidly they sounded like a single extended CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!
The last robot spun wildly out of control, its systems overloaded and chassis cracked, before it crashed to the pavement below and shattered into component pieces.
XLR8 immediately ensured that all three disabled robots were thoroughly destroyed, crushing any intact systems with his clawed feet. He couldn't risk them somehow merging with human hosts or reactivating.
"Ben, Gwen, Grandpa, are you all okay?!" XLR8 vaulted through the shattered window frame, his claws gripping the wall's edge as he flipped into the ransacked room.
The interior was devastated. The door hung off its hinges, the walls showed massive impact damage, and furniture lay scattered in pieces.
But the room was completely empty.
No Ben. No Gwen. No Max.
"Let go of my grandpa! And the nerd, you pieces of junk!" Ben's struggling voice echoed from somewhere down the corridor.
WHOOSH!!
XLR8 shot through the doorway without hesitation, immediately assessing the hallway.
He looked left, nothing.
He looked right,
The wall at the corridor's far end had been completely demolished, leaving a gaping hole open to the outside. One combat robot hovered there, restraining Max and Gwen in its mechanical limbs. Another robot was attempting to grab Ben, but the boy was dodging with surprising agility, rolling and ducking to avoid its grasping appendages.
"Stop right there!!" XLR8's furious voice carried the full weight of his rage. He grabbed a metal trash can from the hallway without slowing, raised his leg to shoulder height in a devastating high kick, and launched the can with explosive force!
BOOM!!
Under the blessing of absolute velocity, the trash can became a projectile weapon, flying past Ben's head and slamming into the robot pursuing him. The impact crushed its head and upper chassis completely, sending it crashing backward several meters!
Sparks and shattered components scattered across the floor as the robot collapsed, its systems permanently offline!!
"Let's go. Don't worry about the kid, our mission is complete."
From the microphone embedded in the remaining robot's chassis, Vilgax's commanding voice emanated with absolute authority.
The final combat robot immediately lifted off, clutching Max and Gwen as it accelerated toward the hole in the wall and escaped into the open sky beyond, flying toward the horizon!
It was only at this moment that the true nature of the entire incident became crystal clear.
The conspiracy had been layered from the very beginning!!