Motor Ron, Motor Rufus, and Motor Ed

Part 2

"So, like, where's Red, Bro?"

Ron was so busy focusing on the images scrolling past on the computer screen that question barely even registered in his head. "Huh? Oh, Kim? She's in London."

Ed stopped typing and raised a curious eyebrow. "For what?"

Ron sighed. "A college interview."

"Red's goin' to school across the pond? Really?"

"Actually, no. After the whole alien invasion thing, our local state college offered full scholarships to the both of us, and we accepted," Ron explained. "Kim had wanted to go to school abroad, but after all the destruction and such she decided she would much rather stay close to home." A small, thoughtful smile worked its way onto his previously hard face. "And close to me."

"Soooooo, like, why'd she go to the interview then? Seriously."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Because they insisted she come, and Kim still doesn't know how to say no. What is it that you're doing?" he asked, trying to return to the subject of their missing automobiles.

"Oh! I'm just, like, browsing this site on the deep web here. Some of the automotive world's, like, less honest dudes, use this site to buy and sell 'illegally obtained' merch. Thought I run through and see if any of the cars on the list of those stolen were on here."

"And are there?"

Ed scrolled a moment longer before answering. "That would be a big, fat 'no.' But," he continued, "But don't worry, I've got a plan B. I'm gonna put out a word to some of my old, uh, 'colleagues' on here and see if any of them have heard of anyone stealing these rides." He began furiously pounding on the computer keyboard, typing out a note. "Meantime, you might as well head home. I'll drop you a line second I hear something."

Ron's heart sank. He wasn't sure that Motor Ed actually possessed the skills necessary to track down a thief, but he did have the connections that even Wade did not possess. "Alright. Thank you, Ed."

"Hey, don't thank me yet."

Ron gave Motor Ed a contact frequency for the Kimmunicator, and with no real reason to stick around, Ron and Rufus went home.

Beep beep de beep!

The sound of the Kimmunicator going off aroused Ron from his slumber. The clock on his night stand read 8:47am.

Beep beep de beep!

Rufus yawned and muttered with annoyance at being woken up. Ron groaned and grabbed for the hand held device. The second the screen illuminated, his eyes widened, now fully awake, a smile on his face.

"Kim!"

"Hi, Ron," the grinning redhead on the screen replied. "Did I wake you?"

"Huh? Pfft, nah."

"Ron, you're still in bed. I can clearly see that."

"Oh, yeah...I guess I am."

Kim laughed. "I just wanted to see how you were doing before I head into my interview in a couple minutes."

"Your interview is this early in the morning?"

"Uh, Ron? Are you completely forgetting all the world travel we've done? Time zones? It's almost two o'clock here."

"Riiiiiiiight." Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "So, how's London?"

Kim smiled. "It's great! I-"

Beep beep de beep! Both Kimmunicators rang simultaneously, cutting Kim off.

"Oh, hang on, KP." Ron tapped the answer-call button. Kim's image was moved to the left half of the screen as Motor Ed appeared on the right.

"Yo, Skinny Dude, what up?"

"Motor Ed?" Kim gasped. "Ron, what is going on?"

Ron quickly sat up, and Rufus jumped into his lap to see the Kimmunicator's screen. "Hey, Ed. What's the sitch?" he asked, his tone very serious.

"I've got a lead on our rides."

"Ron..." Kim spoke slowly. "Why is Motor Ed on the Kimmunicator?"

"Oh, I'll explain it to you later, KP. I-gotta-go-good-luck-on-your-interview-byyyyye!"

"Wait, Ron-!"

Ron disconnected the original call, cutting off Kim mid-sentence. "What's up, Ed?"

"Well, I was reading some reports about the missing cars...turns out it isn't just cars that are going missing. Old motorcycles, wooden boats and yachts, antique airplanes, even a steam locomotive from the 1920's. And they all vanished without a trace from inside locked buildings. A hundred and seventy-one vehicles of various forms of transportation."

"Whoever the thief is, they've sure been busy," Ron mused.

"Seriously.' So I was thinkin,' you gotta have some wicked space to hide all that stuff, so-"

Beep beep de beep!

Ron's thumb instinctively tapped the button to answer the call and the split screen returned, this time revealing Wade. "Hey, Ron. 'Sup, Ed."

"Whatcha got, Wade?"

"Ed called me a couple hours ago. He told me what he was thinking, about how you'd have to have quite a bit of space to hide all of those rather large vehicles," Wade explained. "I did a few calculations and added up the total volume of all the stuff that was stolen and then searched the internet for places that would be large enough to store it all."

"I'm assuming you found something?" Ron asked.

"There's only one non-government owned open-space warehouse big enough to hide it all. It's in California."

"Let me take a guess...it just came under new ownership."

"You're close. All those years of crime fighting are finally paying off," Wade joked. "It was recently rented, just after the thefts began, though I could not find out who the renter is. I did a thermal scan of the building and picked up something that is about the size of the stolen locomotive, and it's plenty hot enough to be it."

"Then that's where we're headin!'" Motor Ed growled. "Meet you there, Skinny Dude?"

"There in a flash!"

Ron was expecting to be first to arrive considering that Motor Ed had nearly twice the distance to travel to reach the warehouse. He and Rufus were quite surprised when they touched down from their skydive behind an abandoned tractor trailer and found Ed already there waiting for them.

"Ed! How did you beat me here?"

"Hey, when it comes to my rides, I don't mess around," Ed replied in a loud whisper. "Now come on!"

Before Ron could even get his parachute off, Ed was running half-crouched for the side of the warehouse. "Hey, wait, hold on!" Ron tripped over one of the parachute cords as he tried to follow. Rufus helped him get untangled and they hurried to join Ed, who was staring up at one of the high windows that wrapped around the perimeter of the building.

"Give me a boost, Skinny Dude, I wanna see inside."

"Uh, I don't think that- hurk!" Before Ron could protest, Motor Ed was trying to get up on Ron's shoulders. The boy teetered under his weight. "Don't you-ow! -think it would make more sense for me to- whoa!" Ed toppled to the ground as Ron fell over backwards, unable to support the larger man.

"You were saying?" Ed groaned.

Ron staggered to his feet and brushed himself off. "Wouldn't it make more sense for me to get on your shoulders? Being that, you know, you actually have muscles?"

"Hmm...yeah, I guess you're right." With one hand, Ed plucked Ron up by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him up onto his shoulders. Still, Ron was several feet below the window.

"I can't see," Ron stated.

"Try standing up. I'll hold your legs so you don't fall."

Ed's broad, muscular shoulders actually made for a pretty good platform to stand on and Ron found that standing up was not difficult at all. Ed wrapped his beefy hands around Ron's calves anyway to steady him. Unfortunately, Ron's eyes were still a good two feet below the bottom of the window. "Uhhn! Still can't see! Rufus!"

The little naked mole rat quickly scurried into Ron's hand and rode up like an elevator. Ron's arms were just long enough to position Rufus in view of the window. "See anything, buddy?"

The reply came in the form of a shocked squeal. "Eep! Train! Cars!"

"Looks like we found the place," Ed muttered. He helped Ron down and took off at a jog along the side of the warehouse, searching for a door. His two companions hurried after him. When he reached the end of the warehouse, Ed began to turn the corner, but quickly stopped and ducked back, causing Ron to crash into him. "Hold up. There's trucks comin.'"

They all peeked around the corner. There were three large dump-trucks driving slowly up to the warehouse. The wall of the building seemed to part in the middle, much like the doors of an aircraft hanger, and the trucks drove in. "They're carryin' coal," Ed muttered. Before the last one was entirely through, Motor Ed loudly whispered "C'mon!" and broke for the door at a dead run. Ron and Rufus quickly followed. The doors were beginning to close by the time they reached the opening, and they ducked through just as they shut.

"Whoa..." Ed and Ron chorused.

Railroad tracks had been laid through the center of the warehouse and fifteen flatcars sat upon them, headed by a silent black steam locomotive. The dump-trucks were currently surrounding the locomotive, and workers were quickly scrambling to the top of the loads with shovels, tossing the coal into the nearly empty coal tender.

The flatcars looked brand new, the dark yellow paint not even scratched. Each had a ramp extending off one side to the concrete floor. It was obvious what their purpose was. Surrounding the train on either side, filling most of the rest of the warehouse, were the stolen cars, airplanes, boats, motorcycles and everything else that had disappeared. Workers were busily loading everything, rolling anything with wheels on to the train by hand and using a pair of cranes to lift and move the rest.

"Wow, they aren't fooling around," Ron started, but Motor Ed wasn't listening. His eyes were locked on something not far away.

"MY 'VETTE!" he yelled, and took off running toward the jet-black car about a hundred yards away.

Ron rolled his eyes as Ed sprinted off, attracting the attention of several of the workers. "Aaaaand there goes the element of surprise." Rufus covered his eyes and ducked into a pocket as Ron reluctantly hurried after his companion.

There were four workers in the general vicinity of Ed's Corvette. They grouped together as the burly man reached them, fists raised, prepared to fight.

Ed leaped into the air as he reached them, coming down on the worker in the center with a killer right hook, knocking him backwards. The other three grabbed Ed's arms before he could move to strike again, but Ed shrugged them off, elbowing one man hard enough to send him sailing through the air. Motor Ed decked a third worker, but then found his arms restrained again by two men on each side. He looked around as he sent another flying, and saw that workers from all around the warehouse were running, converging upon him.

Ron could see that Ed was in trouble. He was suddenly wishing that he had brought some of Kim's gadgets with him, but all he had was the Kimmunicator. Gadgets or not, he had to help Ed. "Hang on, Ed! I'm coming!"

Grabbing one of the workers holding Ed's left arm around the waist, Ron tried to pull the man off, but he immediately found himself being pulled away. "Hey! Let go!" He struggled hard, but no amount of effort from the scrawny boy could release him from the clutches of his captors. He found himself tackled to the hard concrete floor, held down by a strong foot on his back. A second later, Motor Ed crashed to the ground in front of him. It took four of the workers to hold him down.

"Let go!" Ed growled loudly.

Before more angry words could poor from Ed's mouth, the air fell silent, save for the sound of someone slowly clapping their hands. "Very good. Well done, boys, very well done."

Ron craned his neck, searching for the sound of the voice. A very tall, slim, middle aged-man stood over them, his black leather jacket and red bandanna giving him the appearance of a biker, but the pencil mustache on his lip, long, dark hair on his head and old-styled leather boots made Ron think he looked quite like a pirate. The fact that a scabbard containing a long, curved sword hung from the man's belt drove that idea home.

"I had a feeling that someone might try to reclaim their...er...vehicle," the man said, his voice deep and smooth, "but I cannot honestly say that you are what I was expecting." Before either Ron or Ed had a chance to say anything, the man addressed his workers. "Tie them up," he commanded, and then he swiftly disappeared.

Ed and Ron sat back to back on rusty folding chairs against the wall, the metal hot from the summer sun. The rope binding them was very thick, but it was old, smelled musty, and it's fraying strands irritated them where it touched bare skin. It likely was formerly used as mooring lines for ships. Ed struggled to break free, but all he managed to do was choke Ron when he pulled on the ropes.

"Hurk! Ed! *choke* Stop!"

"Sorry, Dude. Just trying to get free."

They had been sitting there for close to an hour. The train was nearly fully loaded, the various vehicles carefully tied down and covered with tarps. Ron had spotted them loading his unpainted Superbird about twenty minutes earlier. Now, the floor was nearly empty; only a dozen or so cars were left to load, as well as one wooden speedboat. More sounds drifted from the steam locomotive as it was prepared for departure.

Rufus had scurried from Ron's pocket and had been attempting to chew through the rope binding Ron's hand. Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching. Rufus quickly scrambled between the chairs and the wall, out of sight as the man reappeared.

"Comfortable?" he asked.

"Not really," Ron snapped back.

The man ignored him. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Archibald Steven Smith." He paused dramatically. "The third."

"Uh-huh," Ed muttered. "And I'm Drew Lipsky," he lied. "Bro, Archie, like-"

Before Motor Ed could utter another word, Archibald rushed forward and clamped his hand around Ed's neck with surprising strength, cutting him off. Ed struggled for air as Archibald leaned close to his face, their noses just an inch apart. "Do not. Call me. 'Archie.'"

Ed could not reply. He just made a choking sound from his throat.

"Dude!" Ron cried. "He can't breathe! Let him go!"

Archibald squeezed harder for just a brief moment, his face twisted into a tight sneer. Then he released Ed, who promptly gasped and sucked in several sharp breaths. "Dude..." he panted. "Seriously?"

Ignoring Ed, Archibald turned to Ron. "And who would you be?"

Ron narrowed his eyes in anger. "You stole my car," was all he said.

"Ah, I see. And yours as well?" Archibald asked of Ed.

Ed was still panting for air, so he simply nodded.

Archibald chuckled, turning his back to his captives. "I suspected as much."

Rufus risked a peak out at the warehouse around them. He was fairly certain that he could work on biting through the ropes around Ed's body without being seen, so he crawled up Ed's side, careful to remain out of sight. Ed felt Rufus climbing his shirt, and he glanced at the naked mole rat. Rufus held up one claw to his mouth to signal the big man to be quiet, and Ed nodded, barely noticeable, and Rufus began gnawing at the heavy rope.

Archibald stood silent for a moment, waiting for one of his captives to speak, but both just stared at him, unsure of his intent. "Well?" he finally asked.

Ron raised a confused eyebrow. "'Well' what?"

"Aren't you going to ask me how I did it?"

Ron shook his eyes in confusion. "How you did...what?"

"Why, how I stole all of these things without a trace, of course."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. How did you do it?"

Archibald spun around to face them and waggled a finger in their direction. "Uh-uh-uh! A magician never reveals his secrets."

"Okay, fine. Whatever," Ron shrugged, but no sooner were the words out of his mouth before Archibald spoke again.

"Well, if you insist, I'll tell you!"

Ron could only roll his eyes once more. This guy is like an even more childish version of Drakken.

A devious smile curled onto the face of the man before him, and Archibald drew a device from his breast pocket. He gazed upon the small remote fondly, obviously quite proud of it. "I invented this myself. It is a matter transmitting device. With it, I can move any object wherever I want without ever touching it." He placed it back into his jacket. "Of course, it takes a lot of power, and the more matter I attempt to move at one, the less distance I can move it before the power is exhausted. For instance, it only allows me to move a car about one hundred yards or so before needing a recharge. Something small like a book I could transmit from here to Florida." A flourish of his hand gestured to the idling steam locomotive behind him. "Hence the train. I must move my...treasure...to a better hiding spot than this."

"Yeah, about that," Ron began, "why are you stealing...you know...planes, trains and automobiles...mostly automobiles...and boats...and motorcycles-"

"What's your deal, bro?" Ed interrupted. "Like, seriously!"

Archibald smiled innocently. "I am simply a collector. The things I wish to collect are just...difficult to come by. And though I am most definitely wealthy enough to buy all of these beautiful works of mechanical art, some people are too attached to their things to even accept more than reasonable monetary offers."

"So you just steal it all," Ron quipped.

"I prefer to think of it as 'Unpermitted Collecting."

"Yeah, okay, sure." Motor Ed growled the words. "Real cute. Whatever. I want my Corvette back."

Archibald just laughed. He punctuated the chortle with a curt, "No." Then he stalked away, calling back over his shoulder, "I aim to leave you here. Perhaps you'll die of heat exhaustion, perhaps you won't, but even if you are rescued, I'll be long gone and my treasure safely hidden by then."

Ed's teeth ground together in anger. "I really hate that guy."

Ron ignored him, instead turning toward the wall to address Rufus. "How you making out, buddy?"

The naked mole rat squeaked tiredly in reply. He was nearly through the rope, but wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. His huge teeth were beginning to ache.

"Just keep going a little longer, Rufus." Ron glanced toward the train. The concrete floor of the warehouse around it was empty. A crane was lifting the last item, the wooden speedboat Ron had noticed earlier, onto a flatcar.

"And please hurry."

This has become a much longer story than I had anticipated, so there will be one more part. Ugh...Here I am wanting to move on to something much more exciting and involved and I find myself unable to because I have this still unfinished...