Chapter 74

The Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 74

By BigToFu

Beta

Emperor Blake

The Ranger with the Big Iron on his Hips…

 

 

Johnny rolled down his driveway looking all badass and cool as his skull blazed in the afternoon day’s sun. His hands were also giving off that ghostly flame along with his front tire and rear wheel. Along the body of his bike, the thing had shifted to have a more sleek and skeletal look with grasping hands reaching from the seat towards the fuel tank.

On the sides of the fuel tank, where there were only decals of flames before, were now actual flickering flames surrounding the fuel tank, which had now become an elongated skull. Not going to lie, no matter how often I witnessed his transformation, it was still cool as hell.

Accepting the cracked smile, I hopped on my own bike, flipped the kickstand up, and powered my baby on. The engine roared to life before settling into a purr as the plasma rumbled like thunder, and I swear I could see his flaming skull raise a brow at my bike. We shared a brief look before taking off through the cemetery.

We cut a few easy turns before hitting the off-ramp to the highway, one bike trailing fire and my own trailing lightning. Of course, I wasn’t going to just let Johnny have all the coolness factor so I had to display my own brand of style. Heads turned but we ignored them and I could honestly say that there should have been music playing. I knew what I would have picked. Being on a bike like mine and with the mad plans I was cooking up, the only song that could even go with this was, Bad to the Bone.

Ohh yeah, I was humming that as we made it to interstate I-5: heads turned and cars swerved, but Johnny and I ignored them as we cruised along. Should have seen it coming as some high-strung highway patrol officer had a speed trap set up.

Johnny and I had seen his ass hidden at the rail from a mile away. Since Johnny was, well, Johnny, he made a head motion towards the cop. Then hit the throttle, wasn’t going to lie and say that it wasn’t cool as he kicked up melted asphalt.

Not wanting to be outdone, I hit my own throttle before some highway patrol unit decided his balls were big enough to try and pull us over. I guess he was bad at math since things didn’t go so well for him as Johnny and I literally blazed trails down the freeway. There was no catching us even with the backups the man had called in.

Things really started to go crazy as helicopters flew overhead and I could sense the approaching turn at least fifty to one hundred miles ahead approaching rapidly.

Neither one of us knew who was the cause as the cop’s tires sizzled before popping as we swerved in front of pursuit vehicles. Funny enough, some of them were driving those fancy-ass new SUVs with the souped-up engines. They did keep up for a while since we were only booking one hundred twenty for a little stretch of the highway along with two other pursuit SUVs. One of those new chargers got lucky and pulled up beside us and that was when I was able to see our reflection.

Johnny’s skull was shining back at us from the side of the police SUV while my own head sparked with golden lightning bolts while my eyes glowed for any who looked. Yeah, there was no one who would recognize me this way. Well, no one who wasn’t in the know actually, but that was alright.

“HAHAHAHA!” Johnny cackled like those Halloween jack-o-lanterns. Then he gave his bike a sharp turn, busting through the guard rails that were meant to keep people safe. The rail somehow was set perfectly for a jump ramp and Johnny used that as his power boost to jump off the cliff. The cops hit the brakes hard and I knew that Johnny was juicing this for all it was worth as he hung in the air for far too fucking long. Then with one smooth motion, the chain around his shoulders unraveled before spiking into the cliffside, allowing Johnny to ride straight down.

Since he was having all the fun, I gave the female police officer in the driver’s seat the universal call me sign as she sat there stunned with all the other cops gathering around. Goosing my engine, I pulled a circle around the pursuit car before hitting the jump ramp myself sailing into the air. Unlike Johnny, I didn’t feel the need to fuck with the dynamics of reality to milk the situation live on air for all to watch.

Unlike Johnny, I didn’t need to ride down the side of the cliff face either as I just continued riding the air as if it was a road. Before I made it too far, all I could hear was a stream of cursing. No one fired at either of us, so I just chuckled and met Johnny halfway out in the ocean as he rode over a massive wave, his flame trail prominent even on the ocean.

Johnny being Johnny decided that he wanted a little race as he took off across the ocean with me tailing behind. Of course, that didn’t last too long as I started to take the lead until it was Johnny who was trying to play catch up.

Since this might be Johnny’s last time on a ride for a while, we did a few laps around the planet at speeds that not even satellites would have been able to track. Winning ten out of ten races, I finally felt that it was time to head back as I slowed down and made a turn towards home. Johnny pulled up beside me as we entered my sovereign waters, and I pulled out a keyfob device and tossed it over.

Quick as a rattlesnake, Johnny’s hand shot out and caught the device. He gave it a look over before pocketing it in his jacket. Guess he was already aware of why I had tossed it to him. It wasn’t that hard to see the massive wall of magical energy rapidly approaching, it also gave me more insight into his powers.

As we rapidly approached the magical wards that surrounded my island, the Omni I wore pinged the underwater towers which opened a section of the wards matching my signature. The keyfob that I gave to Ghost Rider did the same, allowing him to also harmlessly pass through. Curving towards the right, I took Johnny on a nice run around some of the cliffs facing the ocean with one of our advanced lighthouses.

As we rode around the cliff underneath the lighthouse, Johnny and I turned towards the island, smoothly riding into the semi-circular mega dock that would be used for trade ships. This was, of course, if I decided to let my island become a trading HUB in the world. I was already leery about such an idea since I knew that it was one way to get caught up in the world’s economy. Even now, I keep turning down petitions to enter the worldwide stock exchange. I wasn’t really looking to create a dual economy like Wakanda, where I had to manage not only a fake economy but also the true economy of my nation.

Actually, I had people for that, of course, but I wasn’t really looking to stay inside of this small pool where the ocean and its sharks were at the door. My Spartan Astartes trained and ready, Generals prepped, and with my Primarchs in the mix now, I was certain that if we couldn’t stand as a power in the galaxy, we could at least bloody any other galactic nation that tried to annex us. And now that I think about it, maybe we should be another version of Switzerland, neutral but carrying a massive stick. Well, neutral until things line up for me to take control of Earth. So many plans for that were already in motion, twenty years at least. That is unless Doom decides to intervene, but he was another problem in and of itself.

Turning towards the boat ramp at the dock’s edge, I kicked my current political problems down the road for later once I got back from hell. We rode up the dock ramp, then cut left and got into the sparse traffic entering and exiting the docks area.

We were still working out how to set up a proper traffic flow, but we found that separating the ground levels for those who are entering and exiting for parking worked a lot better than allowing people to just fly all over the place. Of course, you could pick either the sky lanes or the roads, but roads were not everywhere on the island where the sky lanes led everywhere. This was because the city had sky lanes over actual roads since I went with the urban futuristic type set up with my cities layout.

You could walk downtown and enjoy the breeze and fresh air with water fountains and such as you looked up to see flying cars and skyscrapers. It was all walking lanes with the bike section in the middle. People were allowed to fly using their own powers or any other modes of transportation since the flying vehicles were so high up in the sky lanes, yet they were all below the protective shields.

The sky lanes worked since we had a pretty comprehensive tracking system and specialized parking. Lucky for us, we actually didn’t need the sky lane as the roads were ones that connected to my army base. Hell, all of the important infrastructures was linked by roads. This would allow us to lock them down during emergencies with force fields, which would allow us complete control of the situation without sabotage happening.

The drills made sure that everyone knew to stay off the roads during emergencies or get blasted by cannons if their status did not check out with the Omni network. During emergencies, everyone got a location ping to their Omni so that those in charge could not only find them if injured but also check to see if they are near areas of important infrastructure. If they were, then they were run through a list of security clearances, and if they were not on that list, well, they would then have a few interesting questions to answer when things were over. It also helped to locate them in case of being trapped during a firefight.

A lot of things were covered during these drills, but people knew that if the alarms started to sound off, they were to keep off the roads. Johnny pulled up beside me and all it took was a simple mental command to activate the holoprojector in my bike. The hologram shifted to a map where X-marked the spot in where we were headed. The road was a simple straight shot then a leaning right exit at 391 Washington.

Johnny took a glance, eyes following the GPS marker before popping a wheelie. Then he was gone. Okay, two could play that game. Not looking to be outdone, I, of course, poured on the speed. Funny enough, the roads on my island didn’t slag underneath the power of Johnny’s bike.

The speedometer rapidly rose as we chewed apart the distance, Johnny did a little twist thing that got his bike to hop. Awestruck, I watched as Johnny pulled off an actual rail grind as if he was on a skateboard down the off-ramp. I, of course, was not that fucking skilled, but I could at least drift my back tire which I did for the turn.

Pulling up to Johnny at the light, I couldn’t help myself, “No one likes a show-off.”

Johnny shrugged, “Unless what you are showing off is dope as fuck.”

Turning away, I hid a grimace and nod, “Fuck,” Johnny was right, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. The light turned green and we rode into the checkpoint that was outside of the base. They checked us over, of course, since the light was also part of the checkpoint. I had made it very clear that I was already a paranoid bastard and I wasn’t about to apologize for wanting to keep my people safe.

Accepting the salute, I rode ahead of Johnny and led him around to the west side of the base where I could already see my mother waiting on us. Behind her was my dad and I was actually surprised to see him in a fedora and long coat. Then I remembered that I had given him the position as the top cop in the empire and I was bringing the literal spirit of vengeance and justice. Then again, since my mother knew Johnny, it was only fair to think that my father would also know the man.

We pulled up in front of them and I watched as Johnny hit the kickstand and just settled there looking at my dad who had his hands in the pockets of his coat. Damn, dad was mugging real hard. Okay, maybe I want to know what was between them, but I also knew better.

“Blake,” Johnny grunted, hands still up on the throttle.

“Blaze,” My father returned also with a grunt. Silence fell between the two and I could see mom sigh in exasperation. Then my dad broke the silence, “Heard you planned on helping my boy.”

Johnny grunted, “He is hardly a boy from what I can see. And its mutual benefits. I don’t use people.”

They both settled into silence some more and then it was my dad this time that broke it.

“You plan on calling her up, we run the place, not only will she be safe but no one would dare lay a finger on her knowing that she is family to us.”

Johnny perked up at that and the way his hand tightened on the handlebars, I could tell he was really considering it. Then, I watched as the badass mofo that was the Ghost Rider got cold feet, “Hey Judith.”

That was all my mother needed as she rolled her eyes and took a step forward and wrapped her arms around the man. Shaking my head at it all, I got up and gave my dad some dap while commenting on how I liked his fedora before heading inside towards the armory. As I entered the massive armory, my Primarchs and Astartes all came to attention.

“Emperor Protects!” They all boomed, slamming a closed fist over their hearts in salute. Standing at the door for a moment, I gave a nod of approval before stepping into the armory.

“At ease,” I said and I was sure that they could all hear and feel the approval within my voice. Walking down the line, I felt all of their eyes upon me as I walked to the faintly glowing shrine in the center of the room. Before I opened the door to the shrine, I turned towards one of my Primarchs and commanded him to bring my upgraded battle armor.

If I was going to hell, I was going to be prepared with types of weapons capable of sundering worlds into hot subatomic particles. The Primarch that I was speaking to gave me a nod before heading towards the massive locker with my name on it as the carousel started to rotate towards my demon armor.

It was a good thing that I had people working for me who I could delegate work to, since I really didn’t have the first clue in building demon armor. If it was up to me, I would just toss a bunch of iron at the damn thing with angelic runic scripts and call it a day, not that bastardized overbuilt bullshit that Marcus and Selene had made for me.

The first time I laid eyes on the damn armor, the damn thing made me hard, which made Selene’s day, and night, as she got to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Placing my hand upon the doors of the shrine, I gave one small prayer to Stan The Man before pulling the handles with a minor application of strength.

Sitting within the shrine were the weapons that I would be taking with me upon this little adventure. My blessed weapon of choice was a double-barreled super shotgun with a specialized grappling hook on the bottom. Beside it was a very old school Colt .45 Peacemaker that should have fired six shots, but with the advanced tech at my fingertips, it was made into a twenty-round monster that fired as fast as I could pull the trigger.

Even the barrel and handle were rebuilt from the ground up with not only the best metals I could get my hands on but also the best wood. That meant that the wood was four hundred years old, and from the cross of a clergyman steeped in his faith and the faith of those who came after him.

“My Emperor, forgive me for my impertinent question, but why would you take such an archaic thing with you upon this quest?” A Primarch asked, standing a few feet away with his hands behind his back.

Looking up, I noticed them all looking at me. Letting out a sigh, I rolled my shoulders before I popped my neck. I then flexed my arms a bit for all to see before stepping back and holding my fist for all to view, “These are weapons of mass destruction,” I began my fist glowing with power, “These are also a weapon of equality for men, women, and children. It doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to get smacked down.”

Then I turned so they all could take a good look, “These are also the hands that I hold my kids with, the hands that I caress my women with, and the hands that I have been using to build my Empire among the stars with,” My voice echoed throughout the armory and I could see it being displayed for some to watch, “Those weapons are tools that will keep the taint away from these hands, these same hands that I use to build my Empire must remain taint free.”

Holding out a hand, I summoned the Colt, then flicked a speed loader into the air. A flick of the wrist popped out the chamber and sent it to spin. I smiled at the smooth rotation of the chamber before lowering it back down. The Speedloader finished its little flip before landing lightly in my waiting hand.

I rolled my shoulders once, I took an easy shooter’s stance, breathed out, then I drew from the hip. From my hip, I sent four rounds downrange in less than 1/10th of a second. All four rounds were hypersonic, making one sound as they were all fired in rapid succession to strike in one hole at thirty yards.

This completely eviscerated the hard light target with enough energy to shake the walls of the armory and with enough force to throw those who were not prepared onto their ass from the percussive boom.

The barrel smoked as I held my shooter’s stance at the hip. No sounds rang out in the silence as they all took it in.

“Nothing can match the Ranger with the big iron,” I said, looking my Colt closely over, “Any more questions?”

Someone grunted from the doorway, “Words to live by.”

Looking over towards the doorway, I found the family standing there with Ghost Rider in the middle. Nodding in return, I placed down the colt, then picked up my holster. They came in as I pulled the Colt apart and inspected the insides while quirking a brow at the magnetic rails made from a Vibranium and Uru composite.

Mom showed Johnny around while I prepared my other weapons and ammo. Smiling at zero damage on the rails, I then pulled over my double barrel. Checking the safety, I then popped the breach before checking both barrels. Finding the same rails for the blessed slugs that I will be using, I closed it once more before inspecting the grappling hook located on the underside of the shotgun.

Finding everything in working order, I placed it beside the Colt then sat back and thought things over a little bit. Both weapons were not only blessed but also had runic angelic scripts enchanted into their metals during folding. These babies were going to punch a hole through any demon, and as a precaution, I was also going to carry my blessed bolter pistol that was more like a howitzer on steroids with two blessed chain swords upon my back.

The Primarch that I sent for my armor came back and I stood up while holding my arms out parallel to the ground. My Primarch stepped forward, assisting me with the armor. Once everything was in place and straps were double-checked, I started with the boots, which could be considered weapons in and of themselves. Forcefield projections, tremor runes, and even energy redistribution systems, yeah my dancing shoes were made for a lot more than walking. I then took the bandolier with holy water grenades, salt grenades, void bombs, and so much more. Shit was going down, and overkill was the name of the game.

The holster strapped around my waist was then linked with my utility belt. Two Primarchs came forward holding my armor rack. Millions of rounds made with an nth metal and Uru composite, also blessed and enchanted with angelic runes.

The weight on my frame increased as my armor completed itself. The Primarch that was assisting me took a full step back with the completion of my armor. Turning to the side, I spotted myself in the mirror, and damn did I look good. The gold and blue of my armor matched really well with the black of my combat pants. Flexing this way and that, I found that everything worked as it should and I found no complications with any of my joints.

If I was being honest, I really appreciated how the blue melted into the black while the gold flowed from my top armor down past my armored combat pants to my black boots with gold trimmings. Ohh yeah, I was looking damn good.

Turning away from the hologram mirror, I accepted the helm that was held out to me, then turned and let my people get back to what they were doing. I found my mother and Johnny a few sections over as she was helping him select a hook for the massive chain that he liked to carry around on his person.

Shaking my head at that, I turned and walked my way out of the armory to the ripple in the gravitational field that was fifty meters out located in the parking lot. I knew only one person with that magical signature and I met the second person that came along with her not too long ago. With my helmet in hand, I walked outside to find the Ancient One and Viktor Doom waiting for my arrival.

The ancient one smiled at me with a small nod before fading backwards as she teleported from her spot. With the ancient one leaving, that left Doom and I to stand there and gauge each other. The last time we had met, Doom had crossed the line by bringing Hell’s Higher Demon Lord’s attention to my people, and I had left that meeting before my anger could get the better of me.

Sue, bless her heart, had taken it upon herself to try and smooth over the situation, knowing that I would, of course, bid my time before bringing forth my wrath to ensure Doom’s elimination. The man had apologized to her for endangering our child, but still. The matter stands and Sue had asked me to be the bigger man, which I didn’t want to do. That was until she told me how this would grate on Doom’s ego. Ohh, now that was the only thing keeping my hand from killing the man before me.

The fact that Doom’s ego meant so much was the only reason why I did not instantly bring about his death. That same ego was bruised because his old teacher, the Ancient one, had to ask us to assist the man in rescuing his mother’s soul. Now it was bruised once more at me taking Sue’s word and being the bigger man.

I know this for a fact because I could feel the intensity of his emotions radiating out from his person. Ignoring that, I made a motion towards the throne that hovered behind Doom, “Will that be your ride?”

Doom looked at me as if the question I asked was a foolish one, so I just shrugged at the man and summoned my own bike to our sides. With my bike summoned, I decided to follow Sue’s advice.

Letting out a sigh, I was starting to wonder if Viktor was my version of Vegeta. Shaking that image from my mind, I spoke, “Where we are heading, I would like to suggest that you leave your civility here in the mortal realm.”

That head turn was swift and I almost felt sorry for the man’s neck as he sat upon his throne, “You dare tell Doom what he should do?”

Shrugging at him, I just released a snort of derision at him, “Nope, I don’t care about you, just the soul that I was tasked to save by the Ancient One,” I then gave him another shrug, “They fear the Ghost Rider and I plan to unleash my barbaric side, but they have seen your civility and still attack. So what does that tell you?”

Doom was silent as he pondered over what I just told him.

So of course, I kept digging the knife into his ego, “So civility clearly isn’t working. Time for a new approach, her soul is on the line, after all, and I brought the big guns. So it’s alright if you keep trying the same old thing. It’s not like her soul hasn’t been trapped with that mad man or anything.”

Then I turned as Sage approached with a holo-tablet in hand doing that little fast walk. Did I mention how amazing she looked in that skin-tight suit? Damn. I’ll have to double team her once more with Nat, hmm delicious.

Sitting up on my bike as Sage made her approach, I spied the United Nations logo at the top. Instantly my excitement dampened. She walked up to me without a care in the world and slapped me on the chest with the tablet. She saw the pout on my face, then peered at me from over her glasses. Those eyes and that look got my blood pumping once more, of course. Obviously, she would use the damn honey trap, Nat would be proud.

Rolling my eyes, I took the tablet and looked at the document that she wanted me to sign, it took me half a second to read it over. Then it took me another half a second to press the delete button, then I pressed it again and again. Squinting my eyes, I turned my gaze onto Sage who was trying to play innocent.

Clearing my throat theatrically so that all could hear, I then let out my bombastic flare, “Why in the fuck would you want to enter my Empire into that cesspit for?”

Doom let out his own brand of laughter which then had Sage rolling her eyes and me feeling weird that Doom actually agreed with me on something. Then again, there were also the issues of them watching his borders.

Sage took the tablet from me that she clearly rigged so I wouldn’t be able to delete that damn document.

“Well, we need to do something, and the United Nations are pushing for us to join their wider community.”

Doom snorted, “Neanderthals, all of them. A King does not bow.”

Again, I felt weird for agreeing with Doom, but I pushed those feelings aside once more as I pulled Sage closer. One hand around her hip and the other underneath her chin. “Let the United Nations know that I will not sign such an economic trap. Oh, and they can also shove that space one up their ass. Pandora has no plans to put ourselves at the same disadvantage as Wakanda.”

Even now, thinking about the issues with that damn place gave me heartburn. Eric really had his hands full cleaning up that mess. It was alright since Wakanda accepted no aid from the United Nations, but it was the false double economic situation that was an outright mess.

Vultures were at the door for the vibranium, of course, but Wakanda’s armies and my own were keeping them at bay. It also helped that a lot of explorers just vanished in the jungles, poor unsuspecting assholes.

Sage went on to say something else but she was already in my grasp and I already had enough of the current topic. She didn’t even resist as I pulled her in and stole her breath with a kiss. Before we knew it, our little time was interrupted as a bony hand clapped me on the back.

“Settle things with your lady, it’s time to ride,” Johnny said in his echoey voice. Sage pulled away, face blushing red. Smirking as I picked her up from my lap and placed her down on her feet. I watched as she straightened her clothes before giving a nod of approval then speed walking away.

Sage didn’t get that far as my mother looped their arms together and decided to take her in another direction. With Sage vacating my lap, my Dad was right behind her holding my helm in his hands. The look he gave me said more than enough.

Words were not needed as I took the helmet he offered with my left and held out my fist with the right. We shared a fist bump in manly solidarity before he pulled me in for a quick hug, then he was gone. I watched my father’s powerful back as he strode across the parking lot until he was out of sight right behind my mother.

The mood shifted and tension spread throughout the three of us. Doom knew what was next and so did Johnny, but it had to be said.

“Johnny, you are first since you know the location to the nearest portal to hell. Viktor will take position within the center and I will bring up the rear,” They looked at me, but my fucks were no longer available. Donning my helmet, I hit the start on my bike before turning my helmeted head towards the two.