The raw, electric hum of [50.0% SYNCHRONIZATION] settled into Jack’s bones like liquid silver. The purple-tinted veins on his arms receded back beneath his skin, leaving his chest heaving with a deep, intoxicating warmth.
The system notifications burned brightly in his vision, lingering like red-hot iron:
[NEW ACTIVE ABILITY: THE ROYAL FLUSH COMMAND]
Effect: Creates an invisible, sub-quantum neural link between the host and up to two designated accomplices.
Combat Buff: Increases party combat fluidity, reaction time, and instinctual synchronization by 40%. Allows mid-combat tactical transmission without verbal commands.
Jack stood up from the wooden crate, his bloodshot eyes sparkling with a fresh, manic energy. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the unspoken hum running from his heart directly outward—a subtle, vibrating invisible wire connecting him to Natasha and Felicia.
"Do you feel that, girls?" Jack rasped, his crimson lip balm scar stretching into a sharp, intriguing smirk. "It’s like... a wireless telegraph straight to the funny bone."
Felicia raised an eyebrow, stepping off the Broadway sofa and sliding her black leather gloves tight over her fingers. "I feel a strange itch at the back of my neck, Jack. Like someone’s playing a bass guitar inside my skull."
Natasha narrowed her steel-grey eyes, her hand dropping instinctively to her belt. "It’s tactical resonance. I used to read S.H.I.E.L.D. files on telepathic squad-linking prototypes... but this feels different. It's faster. Less like reading a map, more like... an impulse."
"Let's test the mileage!" Jack cackled, whipping two blunt wooden training batons out from under the workbench and tossing one to Natasha and one to Felicia. "Three-way spar! No holding back! Let's see how fast the circus moves when everybody knows the punchline!"
CLACK!
Natasha caught the wooden baton mid-air without looking, her body shifting into a low, predatory combat stance instantly. Felicia spun hers on her index finger, a dangerous, cat-like grin spreading across her face.
"Don't cry if we bruise your lavender blazer, clown," Felicia purred.
"Initiate!" Jack shrieked.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: THE ROYAL FLUSH COMMAND]
Linked Targets: Natasha Romanoff (The Queen), Felicia Hardy (The Ace)
The moment the skill snapped into place, the room changed.
There was no need for verbal calls, hand signals, or tactical nods. Before Natasha even planted her right boot to lunge forward, Jack felt her vector in his mind—a sharp, crimson impulse warning him of an underhand strike to his ribs. Simultaneously, an amber pulse flashed in his subconscious from Felicia, who was already vaulting off the subway platform to sweep him from behind!
WHACK!
Jack ducked without looking, his body slipping between the two incoming strikes with impossible, fluid grace! Natasha’s baton whistled millimeters over his white-painted hair, while Felicia’s sweep kicked empty air.
But the link worked both ways.
As Jack feinted a counter-thrust toward Felicia's shoulder, Natasha instantly caught the mental cue. Without a single word spoken, the Black Widow dipped below Jack's arm, using his body as a human shield to block Felicia’s recovery angle, while sending a sharp elbow strike aimed at Jack's exposed side.
CLANG-THWACK!
Jack brought his own baton up blind, catching Natasha's elbow on the wood, but Felicia was already rebounding off the tiled wall. The three of them blurred into a chaotic, mesmerizing dance of wood, leather, and lightning-fast strikes across the abandoned subway tracks.
It wasn't just a fight—it was an orchestrated symphony of violence.
When Jack ducked left, Natasha was already covering his flank. When Felicia launched a high kick, Jack instinctively adjusted his stance to give her a foothold to leap higher, sending her vaulting over Natasha in a perfect, lethal arc!
PAK! PAK! CLACK!
The wooden batons collided in rapid-fire rhythm, echoing through the empty subway vault like a drum solo. Their movements were terrifyingly synchronized—three minds operating as a single, chaotic hive-mind.
Finally, with a loud SNAP, Jack brought his baton down to pin Natasha’s weapon against the track rail, while Felicia’s baton stopped precisely one inch from Jack’s throat, and Natasha’s free hand rested a concealed knife-hand against Felicia's ribs.
A complete, perfect stalemate.
Silence fell over the station, broken only by the sound of their synchronized breathing and the distant drip... drip... drip of water from the tunnel ceiling.
Felicia let out a breathless, amazed laugh, lowering her weapon. "Holy hell... that was unbelievable. I didn't even have to look at you, Natasha. I just knew where you were stepping."
Natasha slowly lowered her hand, her steel-grey eyes shining with a rare, genuine spark of awe as she looked at Jack. "No delay. No lag time between thought and execution. In a high-stakes breach... this makes us completely untouchable."
Jack dropped his shattered wooden baton onto the gravel, stepping close to Natasha and wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him while reaching out his other hand to pull Felicia into the fold.
He threw his head back, letting out a deep, satisfied, raspy hehehe that hummed right through the neural link, vibrating inside both of their minds.
"Untouchable?" Jack purred softly, his bloodshot eyes glowing with [50.0% SYNCHRONIZATION] light. "Oh, Moscow... we aren't just untouchable. We're running the whole damn show now. And I think it's time we pick our next stage..."
Current Status:
Synchronization Level: 50.0% (Fully Mastered Phase 2)
Ability Tested: [The Royal Flush Command] (Combat synergy between Jack, Natasha, and Felicia is now at peak efficiency)
Comments (0)