"I WON, FINALLY!" Emma jumped with excitement after seeing her character win the fighting game. Having gained confidence from winning against Gwen, she looked ready to call Morgan for another match.
"Emma, come with me. I need your help with my research," Jack called out to her.
"Help, Dad!? Okay, I'm in," she said, following Jack and leaving Gwen and Morgan looking at each other.
Jack's lab was a small room filled with monitors displaying different formulas and diagrams. Since the spaceship was small, Jack was the only one who had a lab.
"What do I do?"
"Show your Omnitrix to this scanner. I want to find a way to remove the time limit on mine by studying yours," Jack said as he helped set up the equipment to scan Emma's Omnitrix.
Jack transformed into Brainstorm and started his research, sometimes even using Grey Matter to help. But as time passed, Emma started getting bored.
"Is this still not finished? I'm getting bored here," Emma complained, seeing Jack still trying to understand the Omnitrix.
"Sorry, I didn't notice the time. You can leave. I have the data I need now," Jack said.
Hearing this, Emma wasted no time and ran out of the lab, making Jack shake his head with a smile.
Jack continued studying the data he had gathered from Emma's Omnitrix. He compared its transformation system with his own Omnitrix again and again, looking for even the smallest difference. Then suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Wait..."
Jack quickly switched between several screens. The transformation limit isn't actually controlling how long the transformation can last. It's a safety mechanism. He checked the data again.
"So that's the problem! I was going about it the wrong way. That's why it never worked!"
Jack stared at Emma's Omnitrix. My future self changed the system. He removed the restriction from the transformation itself and moved the safety functions somewhere else.
A smile slowly appeared on Jack's face.
"Finally!"
He immediately began working on his own Omnitrix.
"But it's connected to different failsafes and other systems. I have to be careful modifying it."
Jack carefully changed the settings one by one, making sure not to damage anything important.
[Warning, warning. Host has performed an unauthorized modification.]
Jack froze.
[Host, you were advised not to attempt this type of dangerous modification, as it could lead to very dangerous scenarios, such as self-destruction and all Heroic Points have been reset to zero as a warning. It is advised not to attempt this type of modification again.]
"What?! System, are you serious? Don't I even have permission to modify it?" Jack cursed at the System, seeing his Heroic Points, which he had gathered with great difficulty, reset to zero again.
Jack stared at the System message for a few seconds.
"System, why haven't you told me this information earlier?" Jack questioned it.
The System remained silent.
System, I've noted this. As revenge, in the future, I'm definitely going to study you and uncover every mystery about you.
Jack thought with a malicious grin.
He then turned his attention back to the Omnitrix. After carefully checking everything, Jack tested it, transforming into several different aliens one after another to check whether it was still functioning properly. Everything worked. The normal transformation time limit was gone, but the Omnitrix's emergency failsafes were still active.
Jack smiled.
"Finally. I actually did it."
After spending so much time researching the problem, he had finally succeeded. When Jack shared the news with everyone, they were all happy that he had succeeded, so they celebrated together.
A few days later, Jack received a message from Red Queen.
"Jack, Steve Rogers has left the base with his friends."
Jack immediately looked up as Red Queen showed images of Captain America leaving on a plane with Peggy Carter and Howard Stark.
"Everyone, now is the time," Jack said, calling everyone together to explain his plan to grab the Space Stone while Captain America created a distraction at the Hydra base.
"Cool, let's go, team. I've been waiting for this," Emma said excitedly after hearing Jack's plan.
"Morgan, check everything carefully and make sure there's no problem with the time machine. We won't get a chance like this every day!"
"Okay, I'll check it once more," Morgan said, leaving the room.
A short while later, Red Queen contacted them again. "Jack, we've reached the destination above the Hydra base. Steve Rogers has also landed from the plane and will enter the base soon." Red Queen projected an image of Captain America hiding behind a truck before entering the Hydra base.
"Emma, why don't you just wait here? Jack and I will get the Space Stone!" Gwen said, stopping Emma, who looked excited to go.
"What?! I can help! I could probably get it faster than both of you!"
"Hey, it's not time for arguments," Jack said, stopping Gwen. "Emma, you're coming with us. You'd be helpful, and it'll be good experience for you. Besides, we'll keep you safe."
"Yes!" Emma said happily.
Soon, they were all ready in their Plumber suits. Since the area around the Hydra base was covered in forest, they decided to drop in away from the main entrance. They jumped from the spaceship and activated their flying suits before reaching the ground.
"I love this!!" Emma shouted as they flew through the sky. Soon, they landed in a hidden spot near the Hydra camp.
[Jack, I've already scanned the entire base from the sky. I'm sending the base map to all of you now.] Red Queen displayed the map on all their suit screens.
"By the way, am I the only one who noticed Red Queen changed how she addresses you, from 'Master' to 'Jack'?" Gwen suddenly asked.
Jack looked at her. "Seriously? Now?"
[After sharing a copy of myself with Red Queen, also known as Alice, I felt this would be a more appropriate way to address him,] Red Queen answered. [Do you need me to change it back to how I used to call you?]
"No, Red. Call me whatever you like. I don't mind," Jack said.
BOOM! BOOM! The sound of explosions suddenly came from the Hydra base.
"Looks like Captain America has started his work. Let's move," Jack said. They quickly entered the base.
"We need to find the Space Stone before someone takes it. Let's split up and search different sides," Jack said. So each of them went in a different direction.
"Okay," Emma said, transforming into Ghostfreak and flying off, while Jack transformed into XLR8 and ran through the different rooms.
RIIIING! RIIING! The entire base fell into chaos as the alarm started.
Hearing the alarm, Jack immediately remembered what was supposed to happen. The self-destruct system. Schmidt should be preparing to escape with the Space Stone. Jack looked around as the situation inside the base became more chaotic. Why does it feel like everything is happening faster than I expected? This wasn't supposed to happen this quickly. The timeline is already moving differently.
Just as Jack was thinking about it, a message suddenly came through.
"Dad! Steve's in danger! I'm going to save him!"
"What?! Wai—"
Before Jack could finish, Emma ended the communication.
"What the hell? Steve's in danger?!" Jack stopped for a moment. He knew Emma could handle herself, but Steve being in danger meant something had happened outside his knowledge.
"Red Queen, keep an eye on Emma. If the situation is serious, notify me," Jack said, then continued searching for the Space Stone.
His luck finally paid off. Jack entered another room and immediately noticed several Hydra soldiers guarding something. His eyes moved past them. Then he saw it. A glowing blue cube.
Jack's eyes widened. The Space Stone.
The Space Stone, one of the Infinity Stones, was right in front of him. Seeing something this powerful up close, a thought suddenly flashed through Jack's mind. With this, I could change everything. For a moment, he imagined what he could accomplish if he kept it.
Then he shook his head. No. Wake up, Jack. This isn't the time for stupid thoughts. I'm here to borrow it, recharge the time machine, and return it. That's all.
Jack quickly defeated the Hydra soldiers and took the Space Stone. He then left the room and headed toward Morgan, who was waiting in the spaceship with the time machine ready to recharge.
Only moments after Jack left, Johann Schmidt and his assistant, Zola, entered the room from another side. They stopped when they saw the empty space and the soldiers lying on the ground.
"Where is my treasure?!" Schmidt shouted. Zola stood nearby, terrified by his outburst.
"Sir, I don't know. I swear, I was with you the entire time," Zola said timidly.
Schmidt gritted his teeth. "That damn Captain America!" He immediately turned around. "It must be that fellow. He must have taken it!"
"Sir, we don't have time!" Zola said, following him. "The building is about to self-destruct!"
Schmidt ignored him and continued searching for Captain America.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the base, the situation was becoming worse. The base was on fire, and smoke filled the area, making it difficult to see. Captain America was doing his best to fight off the soldiers. The Hydra soldiers had top-grade guns and masks that protected them from the gas, while Steve had only his shield. He could barely breathe properly, and his vision was becoming clouded as he struggled to see through the smoke. I can't keep this up forever.
Several soldiers surrounded him. Steve raised his shield, trying to prepare himself for the next attack.
Then he heard something.
"GRRRRRAAAHHH!"
Steve froze. That wasn't a human voice.
"RRRRGH! HRAAAWWWR!"
Something was moving through the smoke. Steve slowly turned toward the sound.
"GRRRRRAAAHHH!"
Something was coming straight toward them.
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 20 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here:
👉 patreon.com/BenBlazecraft