Somewhere far from other events Motor Ed pulled himself into a small cross street; a short signal activated a hidden motor that swung what looked like a solid section of wall aside to reveal a concealed driveway. Motor Ed drove in, and the wall slid shut behind him.
The driveway let into a small yard, and beyond it a large workshop hidden from any point of view except for Motor Ed's. He grins, watching as jumpsuited figures crawled around a massive form half-hidden in the shadows within.
A short squat man with a pocked face in a mechanic's overalls hurried up to him. "Right, 'Ed?" he asked.
"Don't worry, dude, seriously," Motor Ed assured him with a wild grin. "You know I've got it!' he reached back and easily lifted the heavy packages he had strapped to his bike, passing them into his henchman's eager arms.
"'Ed!" Johnny Tran's voice rang out as he stomped toward Motor Ed; the mechanic hurried off with the parts while Motor Ed dismounted and turned to face the furious red-faced Tran.
"Take it easy, dude!' Motor Ed told him reassuringly. "Like, as soon as these last babies are on the Monster Truck then we'll be ready to turn out plan into action!"
"I don't care about your plan now," Tran snapped. "I want that narc Toretto, and that slime Jesse!"
Motor Ed laughed. "Don't worry about it dude. Like, seriously, don't worry about it," he added quickly. he started toward the workshop, ready to put the last few parts into his baby. "We're gonna go for a little test drive before the beg event!"
Two cars burned through the city traffic, then race down a vary particular street.
Brian shoved down hard on the brake, skidding his car to a halt in the Toretto driveway; Dom's father's black Charger stood there; as Brian jumped out and as Kim brought the Mazda to a stop, Dom came out the front door, a pump-action shotgun in his hands.
Brian dropped to a crouch behind his open door, pistol in his hands. "Dom, put the gun down, now!" he shouted.
Dom stopped, and he slightly lowered the shotgun so he held it horizontally before him, watching brian, the expression on his face tired, almost blank.
Kim and Ron clambered out of the Mazda, and stood still, watching, the entire scene was frozen for an instant.
"Move your car," Dom said dismissively, reaching for the doorhandle of the Charger.
"No, bullshit!" Brian shouted. "Put it down, now! No more running!"
Dom slammed the door shut and stomped toward Brian. "I'm not running!" he roared.
Brian straightened up and came around the door of his car as Dom approached. He held his gun on Dom. "Where's Leon and Letty?" he asked.
"They're long gone!' Dom snapped defiantly.
"Then it's over," Brian said. "I didn't call the police, but DON'T PUSH ME, PUT THE GUN DOWN!" he roared as the two men almost came within arm's reach of each other. "Or I swear to go-"
"You are the cop!" Dom screamedd, pointing an accusing finger. "And you!" he added, sweeping his pointing finger toward Ron and Kim. "Youy're all cops!" he swept a hot defiant glare. "I've got to find jessie before they do!" he said, his tone somehow different, now almost pleading for understanding. "I'm all the kid's got!"
"I'll call in the plates," Brian said softly. "PD will pick him up way before Johnny even gets near him."
Dom's mouth twisted with angber and he cocked the shotgun; Brian jerked his gun threateningly. "Move your car," Dom demanded, hjis gaze level and deadly.
"Dom, stop it! It's over, please!" Mia shouted; Brian looked over to see her astanding ont he porch, still in her blood-spattered shirt.
"Mia, stay out of it!" Dom roared.
"Dom, please!" Kim said, starting forward, her hands kept open before her. "There are things we need to talk about!"
"Yeah, and we're not cops!" Ron added, following a little behind her.
"Then what are you-" Dom started to deman, glaring at them suspiciously..
"You were working for Motor Ed, one of our villains," Ron piped up.
"He's a mechanical genius, but turned to evil," Kim added. "We need to know what he's planning, before he can do any more damage."
Dom stood uncertainly, his hands tight in their grip on the shotgun.
"Come on, man," Brian said. "I can get you in protective custody, you, Jesse, Mia-"
"Come with us, Dom," Kim urged. "We can protect you, and everyone, just help us get the real bad guy."
Dom was silent, his face worked up with emotion, his muscles stood out on his body, he almost trembled with tension; otherwise the scene was perfectly still as everyone waited.
The still air was cut by the burr of a familiar engine; everyone turned to see Jesse screech to a halt right beside Kim's Mazda. "Dominic!" he shouted breathlessly, jumping out. "I am sor sorry!" he said walkig forward, apparently too wrought up to notice the guns. "I don't know what I'm doing, Dom-"
Dom turned his eyes to Brian, who met his eeys firmly. Dom raised his hands, with a half-ironic half-resentful look and tossed the shotgun aside.
"-I am so scared right now, and I don't know what is going on!"
"Jess!" Dom snapped, turning to him. "What were you thinking?"
"I don't know!" Jesse cried out desperately. "I panicked! I'm sorry!" he cried, not noticing the gradually-rising sound of engines.
Dom whirled about, then a second later Brian, to see- a Monster Truck.
The word 'Monster' is the only really good one for it: the towering vehicle roared down the street, huge wheels tearing at the pavement; its black high-sided sides were festooned with gunes and missiles and other weapons; Motor Ed sat behind the wheel with a wide grin and a pair of fuzzy dice hanging from his rearview mirror.
"Alright, dudes, this is it!" he shouted with a grin. "Seriously, this is it!"
A brief glare of light was the only warning they had before lazer beams sprang out, darting toward them; Dom threw himself to the side while Brian ducked.
"Dom!" Mia shouted.
Kim dodged the lazers adroitly while Ron threw himself flat; the roar of engines loomed louder in the air as Motor Ed rolled by them, lazer beams lashing out around them. Dom turned and raced toward Mia who ducked down, holding her head in terror as brilliant lazer beams cut through the air around her, slicing through the house around her, heat from the beams of energy burning her skin.
A powerful beam of light arced abouyt and caught Jesse in the chest; he fell back and the lazer struck through the Jedda, burning right through the car as the Monster Truck kept rolling.
Dom turned and dove down to jesse, but things weren't done, yet: Johnny Tran and a half-dozen helmeted gangers on motorcycles followed close behind Motor Ed; gun in hand, Tran grinned as he cut loose with it, spraying bullets at random as his gang thundered by.
Brian shot off a few futile shots after them , watching as they rolled away.
Kim and Ron both straightened up. "We've got to stop Motor Ed!" Kim said resolutely.
"Jesse?" Mia cried out, diving down to the stairs. "Jesse!" She dove down to where Dom knelt, cradling Jesse's limp body in his hands. "No, Jesse!"
Dom slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting Brian's for an instant.
Brian looked from him after Motor Ed and Tran, then turned and dove into his car.
"Come on, Ron!" Kim shouted, hurrying after him.
Brian backed out onto the street then took off with a squal of rubber, followed a moment later by Kim and Ron.
Dom watched them go, then eased himself away from Jesse and stood to his feet.
"No, Dom, no!" Mia cried out, looking up at him, holding Jesse in her lap. Without a word he turned and strode towared the Charger. He grabbed the river's side door and swung it open, then slid behind the wheel, clumsily, like he'd never done it before, but with a volatile inexorable anger driving him on. The Charger's engine roared, the old beast stirring to life like it hadn't in a very long time. Dom started it into motion; the black Charger started forward, not quite straight, he stopped it, adjusted the steering, and drove it down to the street. Glancing out the window, he turned away from the direction the others had gone, and drove away.
Johnny Tran and his goons did triumphant wheelies as they followed Motor Ed, winding through streets on their way toward the big city, and the big fun that awaited them there, while behind them, Brian drew closer, collowed closely by Kim and Ron.
The trailing goon of the pack glanced back and saw them. He half-turned in his saddle, leveled his gun and opened up. Brian ducked as bullets blew through the air around him, flying at random, hitting stone walls, parked cars, the street, but none hit their target.
They drove over the crest of a hill, first the bikers then Brian and Kim jumping as they came over the hill then roared down the steep slope.
"Kim, what exactly are we doing?" Ron asked anxiously.
"Kim hesitated to answer, keeping the car under tight control. "I'm not sure, Ron; we'll see when we catch up to Motor Ed."
Brian leaned out the window, keeping one hand hard on the wheel and he leveled his gun in his left hand; hefired, once, twice, three times.
The other bikers realized what was happening; Tran jerked his head and a few of them turned and drove off the road, the others kept on going, still following Motor Ed.
The first Kim and Ron knew of it was when three bikers drove back up onto the road behind them. "Kim!" Ron shouted, twisted about in his seat to look back at them.
Kim darted a look back to see the bikers pointing their guns, ready to unleash a deadly volley from close range.
Before they can fire, the Charger darts in from a side street and Dom slams it to a halt just before the bikers: with a muffled scream, one of the bikers slammed full tilt into the Charger. Metal screamed as it was struck with great force, and the bike flipped end over end, throwing itself, and the unfortunate biker off the road.
The other bikers turned wildly, barely dodging the Charger, then their engines roared as they took off after the rapidly-departing Kim and Ron Ignoring Dom in the Charger, for the moment at least, the two bikers closed on the Mazda, their weapons ready again.
Riding ahead, Brian took his eyes from the pursuit long enough to glance in his rearview mirror and see what happened, and to see Tran's gangsters closing up from behind. He debated his next move for a second, then abruptly took his foot off the gas and slammed down hard on the brake.
Brakes screamed as they locked, smoke flew up from his tires as he screeched to a stop; Kim blew right by him, and the bikers, so focused on their target they didn't see Brian stop until Kim passed him, both screamed as they roared straight into him from behind.
One biker braked and skidded, turning his bike hard over so he barely missed slamming into Brian form behind, but his chassis banged off the corner of Brian's car and his bike fell, the biker skidding dangerously across the tarmac.
The other biker, his reflexes a fraction too slow, instead slammed head-first into Brian:he flew up and over with a scream, landing hard and falling off the side of the road.
With a grim smile, Brian trod down hard on the gas and took off again, as Dom caught up to him. For a moment the two rode neck and neck, sharing a single grim glance as they hurried off after the rampaging Monster Truck.
In his cab, Motor Ed laughed wildly as a car was crushed beneath his tread, his giant wheels raising him up over the twisted mass of metal without losing speed. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he glanced in his mirror to see the purple Mazda closing on his biker escort from behind. "Oh, no you don't, Red!" he said, taking a hand off the wheel to reach down and push a glowing yellow button.
"Uh. . .Kim?" Ron said, his voice quavering as a large turret rose up out of the back of the Monster Truck and swiveled about, sensors tracking, large bore lazer guns swiftly turning as the auitomatic targeting system sought a target.
"Don't worry, Ron," Kim said confidently. She floored the gas pedal, bringing them up even closer to the trailing bikers, almost close enough to touch, too close for the Monster Truck to shoot at them without hitting Motor Ed's gang. The turret followed them, locked on target, but didn't shoot, the lazer barrels edging this way and that, seeking an open target. But the same gangsters were taking aim with their own weapons now. "Ron, take the wheel!" Kim said.
Ron moaned as he once again took the wheel from Kim as they drove at high speed. "Kim, what should I do?" he asked.
"Just keep as close as you can to the bikers!" Kim said. she pushed open the sun roof and jumped out. She landed on the roof in a low crouch, her long red hair flying in the wind. She braced herself, her trained athlete's body moving instantly as she threw herself forward, all the momentum of the car and the strength of her trained muscles drove her forward to land right behind the nearest biker on the rear of his bike.
"Wha- ahh!" he cried out in surprise then terror as his bike lurched under him form the sudden heavy weight striking it. Kim gathered herself and leapt off, the kick of her powerful legs sent the bike off to the side, and the biker screamed as he almost struck a tree, braking and dodgign wildly as he came to a stop, stuck off the road.
Kim landed atop another biker, Ron following her movement as well as he could, Rufus beside him, struggling to control the speeding car. "Be careful!" Kim cautioned the biker as he whirled around, gun in hand. She easily knocked it away, and the biker threw his hand down on his handlebar as his bike shuddered, control lost; Kim kicked off, and he ramed sidelong into the metal fence by the road, sparks flying as he screeched to a stop while the whole racing fight sped away.
Laser beams flashed as Motor Ed tried to hit Kim while she spun through the air, but the agile heroine easily dodged his clumsy shots; Kim dumped two more bikes, knocking their riders out of the game, while Ron dodged a few more laser beams behind her.
Kim landed behind the last biker. "Hello, Johnny!' she said with mocking smile.
Johnny Tran kept control with one hand while he reached down with the other and came up with a long gleaming knife; he stabbed it backward, but Kim dodged the strike; before she could recover though, Tran slahed at her again; Kim dodged, but the sharp knife sliced through her top, barely missing her skin.
"Kim!" Ron shouted in concern, right behind her. His eyes narrowed with intent, and he glanced down at Rufus. "Hold on, ol' buddy," he said.
The naked mole rat whimpered and did so.
His tongue sticking out in concentration, Ron pressed his foot down on the gas pedal, edging closer and closer to Tran's bike from behind.
Tran grinned a toothy confident smile and gathered himself for a stike her knew would hit the meddling cheerleader. But then his bike jerked under him, slammed forward by the impact of Ron striking him from behind. Tran's knife went flying as he struggled for control. "Bye, Johnny!" Kim said, jumping backward; she kicked off of his head, somersaulting gracefully through the air to land feet first through the open sunroof to land in the passenger seat beside Ron. "Good job, Ron!" she congratulated him.
Ron smiled back, then they both were distracted by the roar of engines as first Brian then Dom caught up to them; ahead, Tran struggled to regain control of his bike. His teeth bared in a brutal snarl, he reached into a pocket and came out with a grenade. he looked back with an evil smile as he pulled the pin with his teeth, then held the grenade out, ready to toss it back at them.
But with the roar of a thousand horses, the Charger passed Kim and Ron on the right and drew up level with Tran; before the gangster could react, Dom slammed his door open, striking tran with brutal force; he screamed as he was almost sent flying, his bike wobbled, then flew off to the side, its own momentum, engine power, and off-balance weight threw Tran off the bike as Brian passed him.
Dom looked back toward the fallen Tran. "That was for Jesse, you son of a bitch!" he roared.
A few seconds later, there was the burst of an explosion far behind, and the pursuers turned their attention to focus entirely on Motor Ed in his Monster Truck.
But that also left Motor Ed free to focus on them: his laser beams flashed, gleaming beams of light licking out to try to catch them; Ron barely dodged a hot beam, dropping back as he did so. Another flash of destructive power licked out at Brian, but he poured on his own power, leaping ahead of where the laser beam struck.
"We need some way to take him out!' Kim said into her Kimmunicator to Brian.
"I'm open to ideas!" he called back.
Kim ducked as another laser beam passed by overhead. "Hey, Wade," she called to her IT support. "Can you patch us in to the frequency of Dom's radio?"
"Yeah, there you go!" Wade called back.
"Dom, can you hear me?" Kim asked.
Confused, Dom grabbed up the discarded radio last used at the failed truck heist. "Yeah, I hear you - how'd you get this frequency?"
"Never mind that," Brian called. "Dom, can you think of some way we can stop this guy?"
Dom was silent for a moment, his mind racing. "Can you put me through to him?" he asked.
"Yeah, just a bit-" Wade said, tapping at his keyboard. "There!"
"Hey, Ed!" Dom shouted into the radio challengingly. "Do you hear me?"
Motor Ed looked at his comm panel in surprise. "Yeah, Baldy, I hear you," he said back. "Whay are you still here, dude? Like, seriously, any second I'll get you with a laser. Seriously."
"Well that's the thing, Ed," Dom said back, his gravelly voice thick with contempt. "You need lasers to beat me- I kept my mouth shut for way too long, but you'd never make it in a street race, you sunday driver!"
Motor Ed stiffened in his seat, hie eyes wide with shock. "Wha-" he started to say.
"I could beat you with three bald tires, you and that tractor you're driving!" Dom went on, his eyes gleaming darkly as he laid it on. "Any stretch of the road, any time!"
His teeth gritted with anger, Motor Ed slammed his hand down on a control, and the laser turret stopped shooting. "All right, Baldy, Red. . . other guy," he finished awkwardly referring to Brian. "You think you can race? Well, let's race!" Motor Ed was a loud and boastful supervillain, but he was also a mechanical genius, and his Monster Truck was primed, loaded with the most advenced and powerful tech; he floored the gas pedal, and thousands of horsepower roared under his hood.
Behind the Monster Truck, Kim likewise pressed down hard on the accelerator, surging forward, the smaller car challenging the supervillain's for the road.
Brian roared ahead, almost neck and neck with Kim, the two smaller cars accelerated faster than the Monster Truck (no matter how much horsepower Motor Ed used, the laws of physics are immutable) and they quickly gained on the supervillain.
Behind them, Dom clutched the steering wheel of the Charger; his every line was still, ever muscle tense, he watched as Kim and Brian drew level with Motor Ed, he glanced once up into the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of hismelf, his eyes glanced away, his cheeks burning, his eyes sullen with a hint of fear and shame as he held the wheel with white-knuckled hands, letting the others gain on him, drawing ahead of the Charger.
Motor Ed looked down from his cab at Kim as she drew level with him; he looked out the other side to look at Brian; Kim glanced up and met his eyes, giving him a proud smirk; Brian threw a single glanced at Motor Ed, then turned all his attention forward again. The supervillain gritted his teeth, trying to summon yet mor energy from his laboring engine, letting Kim and brian slowly, inch by inch, pass him by.
Just as Kim was throwing Ron a trumphant glance, her lips parted for a snarky comment, Motor Ed slammed the Monster Truck into higher gear; his mouth was wide with a wild smile as his hands danced over his controls, summoning more energy from his vehicle's systems; the double tailpipes glowed red as his engine roared even louder, bearing the Monster Truck ever faster down the road, passing Kim and Brian in moments, thick clouds of smoke rising from his exhaust. "Later, losers!" he called into his radio with a mocing laugh.
"Dammit, we can't let him get away!" Biran shouted, his voice tinny through the radio, echoing in Dom's ears.
"How can we stop him? We can't keep up with him!" Ron asked. Dom's face tightened with barely-held emotion as those words filled his head, filled his car. Filled his father's car.
Dom's jaw tightened with emotion, his face twitching as he grabbed the shift, his fingers wrapped around it and he slammed it forward. "I can," he said, his low gravelly voice dredged up from the depths of his chest, perhaps too low for the radio to pick up, but the words filled him as he poured the power on, the Charger roared, shuddering around him, leaping forward, fantastic power unleashed. His heart raced as he pressed down hard on the gas, committing himself, pushing himself beyond everything holding him back, beyond the fear of his father's car, tying himself to the ragin engine, to the black frame, to the roaring engine as he pushed the Charger, and himself, down the road.
Brin gaped as the Charger thundered by. He looked toward Dom, seeing him in profile, his face clenched, thick with a fatal determination. "Dom!" he shouted into the radio.
"Wow!" Ron gasped, watchign wide-eyed as Dom drew closer and closer to the Monster Truck thundering away before them.
Motor Ed was still grinning with trumph, chuckling to himself, when he glanced in his mirror to see Kim and Brian falling away behind; he did a double take and gaped. "What the-" he exclaimed as the Charger drew up behind him.
Dom held the wheel tight, fighting to control the Charger as it drew level with Motor Ed's Monster Truck. He too a half-second to look once up into Motor Ed's cab, his look a challenge, a half-crazy demand that seared to Motor Ed's soul. The supervillain ground his teeth, throwing on the power to take off, drawing ahead of the Charger.
Dom shuddered just as the Charger shuddered around him - this was what he had feared for so many years - the sheer power of the car, of the torque that was nearly tearing it apart. But somehow he also felt strangely at peace; he had confronted his fear, taken it in, and now he was a part of it: the Charger had lain dormant for so long, its power quiet, restrained, it longed to GO. And now Dom longed for it too. Slowly, a smile broke out on his face as he poured on the power, the engine roaring even louder, the Charger jinking wildly around him as it tore up the road.
Motor Ed stared disbelievingly as Dom drew level with him once more, slowly, inch by inch, until the two were running neck and neck, the Charger almost tearing itself apart with its own power as it kept up with the supervillain's super powered vehicle.
A motion ahead caught both men's attention: the road was rapidly approaching a level crossing, and ahead, they could see lights flash as the crossing closed.
Brian saw the train approaching rapidly, and he gasped, realizing what Dom would do next. "Don't do it, man!" he shouted into his radio. "Listen Dom, don't chance it!"
Dom didn't answer; still smiling, he held the wheel as if he was holding the Charger in once piece, and perhaps he was, because the black car rumbled around him, every bolt and weld tearing under the power that thrilled through it, power no mere steel was meant to hold against.
Behind his own wheel, Motor Ed looked at the train, then glanced over at Dom. He licked hi lips anxiously. Determined not to lose, but nervous at the aproaching train
Dom glanced up at Motor Ed, and read all that in a split-second glance. He grabbed up his radio. "Come on, chicken!" he shouted into his radio. "What, can't beat me, can't beat a train?" He laughed cruelly, mockingly, then threw his radio down and grasped at the wheel once more.
Motor Ed roared, urging his truck to even greater power output. But though the supervillain struggled with his controls, he couldn't stop Dom drawing ahead, inch by inch. He threw a frightened glance at the train, drawing closer with every second, its horn rumbling across the land.
Dom grabbed up the radio once more. "Ba-ba-bawk!" he crowed.
His teeth bared in a fearsome grimace, Motor Ed screamed as the two cars leaped forward across the level crossing, the Charger jouncing over the tracks, parts flying from the overstressed vehicle even as the train thundered down on them: before the horrified eyes of Kim, Brian, Ron and Rufus, the train burst through the crossing in an explosion of metal and sparks.
Brakes screech as they stop before the train racing across the crossing, through a scene of devastation: metal fragments rain down, twisted beams and plates the skeletal remains of the Monster Truck; Rufus suddenly squeeled and pointed to the side; Ron and Kim followed his finger to see Motor Ed, lying sprawled and unconscious in the ditch; he'd managed to jump clear in time, but of Dom there was no sign.
Then the train passed very suddenly; one second there was a wall of steel racing by at tremendous speed, then there was not. And beyond the level crossing they could see Dom in the Charger, till slowing down; his wheels were burning, smoke rising from the Charger's hood, but triumphant and alive.
Brian grinned, laughing with relief, and put his car back into gear to go catch up to his friend, then before he ever saw it, a pickup truck came around a corner and slammed headlong into the Charger: the ocerstressed Charger almost exploded, flying sideways under the impact, fragments of its frame tearing away and flying as it spun around, grinding to a halt in a thick cloud of smoke and splinters.
Dom struggles with the door, his face coated in blood.
In seconds, the others are there beside him, pulling the door open, helping him out. "Did you see that?" he mumbled, grinning past bloody lips.
"We saw it," Kim assured him. "Come on, let's get you to a hospital!"
"No, no-" Dom mumbled, his head slowly clearing. "I'm not going to prison."
"Look, maybe Global Justice cna get you a pardon for helping to stop Motor Ed," Kim offered.
But Dom slowly shook his head uncertainly. "With my record?' he said rhetorically.
Brian, stood by wordlessly, then he turned, hearing police sirens inthe distance, but growing closer fast.
Dom heard them too, and looked up, clutching his shoulder, his white shirt spattered with blood. Silently, he turned and looked at Brian.
The undercover cop met and held his gaze for a long silent moment. then he wordlessly raised his hand, his car keys held out to Dom.
Kim and Ron watch this silently, held frozen by the tense moment. Dom looked down at the keys, then up at Brian. "Do you know what you're doin'?" he asked softly.
"I owe you a ten-second car," Brian replied plainly.
Dom held his gaze for a moment more, then gavce him a smile. He reached out and gingerly took the keys from Brian's hand. He looked once around at the others, his eyes holding a hint of gratitude, then he turned and slowly walked to Brian's car. He gave them all a final look, then he was gone in a roar of horsepower.
ONE CHAPTER TO GO!