Chapter Three

The Fast and the Furious

Roy was moving slower the next day at work. He didn't come in from the races until three in the morning, and of course he had to be back back at Alan's Automotives at seven fixing up cars. He could definitely handle this feeling though. Surviving on four hours of sleep reminded him of his time as Arsenal. He'd spend all day and late night stocking the club and bartending, and then he would spend all later night and early morning chasing down bad guys and putting the hurt on them.

"Harper!" Alan's voice once again broke into Roy's thoughts, as he heard his boss's voice nearby. Roy looked up to see Alan walking towards him, and the car he was working on the interior of. "Sitting in the drivers seat like that is a good look on you."

"Um...thank you?" Roy responded, having no idea what Alan meant.

"Listen, I saw you out at the drag race last night." Alan said, not lowering his voice at all. He didn't care who heard him talk about wherever he was, that was just Alan's style.

Roy on the other hand didn't know anything about his new boss, and worried that being spotted at such a place may look really bad. "I uh...yeah, my friend was….it's just."

"Hey, don't worry bout it." Alan put his hand up, interrupting whatever excuse Roy was coming up with. "When I was your age, I was no saint. I was wondering if you'd like to make a little more cash on the side."

"You were betting on the races last night, weren't you?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Alan replied. "Anyway, something happened and they need one more driver in the race. It so happens a buddy of mine has a car he can enter, we just need another driver. It's a real sweet car too, red and black, and it's insides are unlike anything you've ever seen. It doesn't just purr like a kitten, it's more of a roars like a lion, ya know what I mean?"

Roy laughed nervously, not really getting the joke or what Alan was saying. He knew he probably should have declined the offer, but something about seeing the races last night really made Roy miss the old days of street racing as a kid. What's the harm and doing one more? He nodded as Alan was still laughing at his joke and patting Roy on the back. "Sure, I'll be there again tonight."

"That's the spirit!" Alan said as he backed away from the car Roy was working on, "You're going to love it pal. Welcome to the streets of Paragon!"

'Whatever." Roy thought as he got back to work fixing the car. He couldn't figure Alan out. How could a straight lace military guy like that be into racing cars? Oh well, it wasn't like he was dealing drugs or anything.

That night, Roy got a taxi and drove to the other side of Paragon where Sin had taken the night before. This time the man didn't just watch from the sidelines, but he walked straight through the crowds to where the cars were all lining up. There was no sight of Alan, but a couple of guys that Roy recognized from the car shop appeared from the crowd and walked up to him.

"Yo Roy!" One of them said, "The boss told us you'd be here. He had some business to attend but wanted us to show you to your car for the night."

"You're going to love it, bro." The other mechanic said as he put his hand on Roy's back and the two led him to a beautiful red and black 2016 mustang. "It's beautiful inside and out."

"Listen, we put a little something special in the car..." One of the mechanics spoke, as he hit the hood of the mustang. "Billy and I were real curious how installing those new engines from the other day, so we figured what the hell right? Anyway. In your car, there is a knob with a red button….press that red button when you're ready for some speed, and trust me you won't regret it!"

"Alan's not just into betting on racing..." Roy thought to himself, "He's been supplying some of the cars with his new tech to stack the deck so he'd make more money on his gambling….so much for him being a stand up guy."

Roy made it this far though, he knew he'd have to race, so he got into the beautiful car and adjusted the seat. He looked down to his right and saw the red button. Roy's eyes jumped back up when he saw the typical hot girl in not very much clothing make her way to the center of the road. She raised both her hands, one holding a blue bandanna. When she threw her arms down, Roy knew the race was on.

He slammed on the accelerator and from the start was speeding past many of the other racers. Within moments the only car that was keeping up with him was the blue mustang from the night before. Roy's pride got the best of him, and he wanted nothing more then to waste this jerk in the other driver's seat who put the beating on Eric the week before. The two cars were even, and weaving around each other at each turn. Roy looked into the other car's window to see the thug looking down at what Roy assumed was a red button of his own.

"It makes sense that this car his car is so much faster then the others..." Roy thought to himself, "If he has one of these new engines in it as well. He probably has the ability to go faster too. I'm not going to let him do it first though!" Without any more thinking, Roy pushed the red button and screamed with joy as his car picked it up and went over 300 miles per hour.

After he made it to the finish line, Roy looked in his dashboard to see the other car also increase in speed. The other driver however was not as coordinated behind a wheel as Roy, and with all the extra speed, the thug lost control and hit his car into side wall of a tunnel. Roy pushed open his door quickly, and ran to the wreck.

Harper struggled to open the car door, as it now was crushed tightly into the rest of the smushed car. He managed to open it most of the way, and he pulled the bloodied gang member out of the car. Roy smelled the gas and smoke from the car, and knew an explosion would be coming soon. He pulled the other man to a safe distance from the car. And looked down at the hurting gangster.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Roy said, "We'll get you some help."

"No..." The man stammered, overwhelmed with pain, "If the boss brought in another car with the V100 engine, then I'm a dead man anyway. I crashed my car to make it happen on my terms."

"You did that...on purpose?" Roy asked in shock, "But why?"

"Nevermind that, yo." The dying thug continued. "You're him right? The guy that stopped us last week from beating up that scientist kid more? Yeah…you might want to go check on him, cause the boys are going to go rough him up even more….it's bad too, they've got orders to…."

Suddenly Roy heard a gun shot, and the thug died instantly. The car mechanic jolted around quickly to see a large man in a black leather jacket wearing a blue wolf mask. Roy was pretty sure he was looking at the gang leader of the wolf pack.

"He was one of mine," The masked man spoke, "And he was about dead anyway….I was doing him a favor."

Without having the chance to object, the brute raised Roy's arm, as the crowd cheered wildly for him.

"Your winner for the night!" He announced to the crowd. Then the gang leader spoke softer to Roy, "Stick with us kid, and the streets will make you a rich man."

"Screw you!" Roy said as he pulled his arm away from the grab and pushed the gang leader back. "I'm out of here."

Roy ran back to the car that he had used and jumped in it, hit the red button, and sped back home down the roads, dodging cars as he rushed to get to Eric's apartment. If what that thug was saying was true, Roy's neighbor didn't have much time left. As the car zoomed down the road, Roy ignored the police sirens that were firing up and chasing after him. He knew they'd follow him to the apartment, and then they'd be able to apprehend the thugs.

The mustang brakes screeched as Roy swiveled into the alleyway, parked the car and jumped out of it. He looked up to where Eric's apartment was and saw the door kicked in and heard lots of commotion. The former vigilante rushed up the stairs into the apartment. Roy knew that he had to do something, he couldn't wait for the police. If he did, there may be nobody left in the home for them to save.

Roy busted into the apartment to see a couple gang members once again beating Eric down, this time with a baseball bat. Roy jumped over a table, twirled the man around with the baseball bat and socked him in the face. He then kicked the other thug in the stomach and punched him hard in the face.

"You again!" One of the ruffians growled as he fell to the ground, "We thought we might see you. That's why we brought friends!"

Out of the two rooms came six more thugs. Roy grabbed the baseball bat from the fallen member of the Wolf Pack and started to fight off the other gangsters. He hit one in the face, knocking him out, and then hit another in the stomach. As his attention was focused on those two, a third of the six smacked him in the face with brass knuckles. Then two more began to hold and pummel him. Before Roy knew it, he was on the ground being kicked repetitively by the Wolf Pack.

"We ain't your run of the mill thugs!" One of them said, "You mess with one wolf, you gonna get the entire pack, Bitch!"

"Everyone hold up!" Yet another gang member's voice was heard from the far room in the apartment. "Keep the noise down, I want Nerd Boy to see this."

Roy's beatdown halted, as the gang members held him down. Roy looked up, through the blood that was gushing through his forehead at the last gang member that appeared. He was dragging Eric's baby sister Emily into the center of the room. The thug kicked the coffee table out of the way and threw Emily before her battered brother.

"OK Sanders, we warned you when you said you wanted out what that would mean." The thug snarled as he pulled his gun out.

"No please stop!" Eric started to tear up and his face became as pale as a ghost. "I'll go back to work, I promise. Tell your boss….tell Timber Wolf that I got his message loud and clear."

"Unfortunately for you the Boss don't need you no more." The thug spoke as he cocked the gun and pointed it at Emily's head. "But people gotta know they can't just up and leave our business whenever they want. So we're sending a message to everyone else, unfortunately you aren't going to like the message to much."

"Don't! Roy yelled as he was being pushed down by four thugs. It was to late though, the gun shot was heard, and the little girl fell the floor dead. The gang member then pointed his gun to Eric, but was interupted by the sound of sirens in the background.

"This little bitch brought the cops!" One of the men holding down Roy yelled. "We gotta go!"

The thug with the gun turned his aim from Eric to a nearby window and show it three times, breaking the glass. All the Wolf Pack members jumped out the window and climbed down to escape. Roy staggered up and walked over to check on Eric, who was holding his lifeless sister's body, sobbing over her.

The rage Roy felt as he looked at this tragic scene rivaled that of the Mirakuru rage he felt years ago. Something had to be done. These cold blooded killers couldn't get away with this. Roy wasn't going to let them. For tonight, he was done being a bystander and a victim.