The garage door slid open, revealing Joe Petersen astride his revving Harley, impatience etched on his face.
He placed an earpiece on his right ear. Next, he wore a pair of smart AR glasses.
"Minerva, send me the surveillance footage of Gwen's latest siting. Also, show me the quickest path I can take to reach her," Joe ordered, his eyes turning colder with each passing second.
"Already on it. This is where Gwen was last sighted. And through her cell signal, I've pinpointed her exact location," Minerva replied and subsequently sent grainy live footage of Gwen entering an alley. With Minerva's access to multiple street cameras, Joe could view everything from different angles. There was no need to 'borrow' Tony Stark's satellites for that.
"That's downtown. The neighborhood around there reeks of hooliganism and low lives." Joe furrowed his brows before smoothly accelerating from his garage.
"But what business did Gwen have around that area?" Joe asked himself, clearly confused as the warm wind whipped past his face.
Joe knew it wasn't his job to constantly monitor those close to him. That would make him a domineering and creepy control freak. Beyond their close relationship with him, people like Gwen and Peter also had their own lives to experience. Not everything was centered around him, Joe had acknowledged that fact long ago.
BOOM!
All of a sudden, thunder clapped mightily, the sound frighteningly high and eerie. It was then followed by stormy clouds and lightning flashes bloating out the moon.
Joe momentarily looked up at the sky, his frown deepening further. 'I should really start paying attention to the weather forecasting channel. Now I'm gonna get drenched in rainwater.'
'But it doesn't matter. What matters currently is Gwen's situation and safety.' Joe thought as he once again increased the turbo engine power. His figure became a blur on the city road like an NFS sportscar. Following some simple upgrades and tinkering by Joe, the Harley was currently faster than the Koenigsegg and Chiron. Its speed topped at 436 miles per hour, and that was Joe restraining himself from going overboard.
Joe glanced at the virtual map, specifically at the red dot and its radius. He was five minutes away from reaching Gwen. Time felt abnormally slow due to the severity of the occasion. During this moment, Joe wished he could fold the fabric of space and time. However, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Joe couldn't get whatever he wanted at the exact moment like a fucking genie with the lamp.
On several occasions, he had thought of pursuing the clichéd path followed by most main characters when they find themselves in Marvel—traveling to Kamar Taj to seek the Ancient One. Honestly, the notion sounded so easy, but Joe pursued rationality in most cases. He was in a really dangerous world which was no longer fiction. The human nature was difficult to gauge. Whatever information he had about the Marvel characters was subject to alterations. Joe had to treat these humans with caution.
When he goes to the Sanctum in Kathmandu, will the Sorcerer Supreme accept him just like that? No. Joe didn't think so. There was no free lunch in this world. Humans would always want something from you. Another worrying factor was the presence of one of the Infinity Stones, The Time Stone. With the Time Stone, the Ancient One could peek through the Infinite Possibilities and infinite timelines. She could effortlessly see his past in this universe except for his previous life origin. Joe hoped that the Supreme Entity had truly masked his secret identity from troublesome cosmic gazes.
Worries aside, Joe understood that the Ancient One on most occasions was on the side of humanity. So... She couldn't be that bad, right? Well, he was only going to find out on the day he says, 'Fuck it' and go there. Who knows? Maybe the Ancient One has already become aware of his existence. Joe had to consider all avenues of thought.
As Joe dangerously rounded a corner, it was then that the pregnant sky broke its waters and rain started falling down.
'I've arrived.' Joe looked at the entrance to an inconspicuous alley as he skidded to a halt
"So this is where the connection got cut off?" Joe murmured to himself. A murderous edge could be felt in his voice.
"Minerva, briefly divert the attention of the cams on this area. Things might get gory if I even find one strand of hair on her body harmed."
"Don't worry about that. I've already sorted that out. You can do anything...you want," Minerva assured him.
"Good work."
Joe dashed toward the alley, his inhuman speed covering huge distances in a second. Joe's momentum broke the cascading droplets of rain; bringing the illusion of them evading him.
With his supernatural sense of smell, Joe picked up the unmistakable scent of iron—blood. And there was something else. It was Gwen's signature perfume and her unique scent. A dark foreboding feeling gripped his heart.
The further he followed the meandering paths of the dimly lit alleys, the stronger the scents became.
Something worth noting was the absence of the homeless hobos.
'Probably escaped to other places to steer clear of trouble. I reckon they have a huge sense of danger.' Joe analyzed, his eyes scanning every minute detail of his surroundings.
'They are close. Please. Please let her not be the one.' Joe clenched his fists, afraid of the worst and unexpected fuckery from fate.
"Hehe, boss. Do you think her Daddy dearest will come?" Joe picked up a gruff voice from a corner.
"How can he after I stomped his little girl's phone into fucking pieces?!" Another voice laughed out in sadistic pleasure, followed by other men.
"Oh, I'm so scared. Do you think a piece of wood will do anything to us, bitch?"
"Nate, you're the one that got the taste of her pepper spray. How did it feel?"
"Shut Your gaping hole, dog wanker!"
"Hehehe!"
Joe stopped when he spotted them. They were around seven men, but Joe's attention was mostly on the young woman on the ground, backed against the wall. Her coat had been torn. Her favorite scarf lay wet on the dirty ground. Despite the dimness of the alley, Joe saw the purple bruising on her left cheek and the bloody split on her trembling lower lip. Gwen put on a brave front when facing the seven men as she held onto a piece of wood. She was in despair. The more desperate she became the more it made those men excited—amplifying their sadistic boners.
"Boss, don't you think it would be a waste if we don't sample her virginity?" Another slimy-looking fucker with a hooked nose suggested. His impure gaze never left Gwen's wet blouse. He licked his lips disgustingly when he saw the sudden tremble on Gwen's chest.
"One of these days, you might lose your dick and balls due to your doggy horniness," The boss warned threateningly, slapping the back of his head.
"Ouch, Boss. B-But she's so pretty and hot!"
'These fuckers haven't yet noticed me and they are taking their sweet time to torture Gwen's psychology.' Joe suddenly felt unusually calm as he looked at Gwen's terrified eyes and the make-up smudges on her beautiful face. Sighing softly, Joe removed his glasses and pocketed them. 'Just how cliched can the situation get with these low-level mobs?'
"Hello, boys. Daddy's home!" Joe introduced himself. It was then that thunder rumbled and lightning flashed against his menacing background.
All eyes immediately turned to him. In the eyes of the seven men, there was shock, relief, pity, and humor. In the eyes of Gwen, there was disbelief, fear, confusion, and relief.
"Joe!" Gwen struggled to shout his name, her voice cracking with emotion. Gwen gave Joe a warning glare, telling him that he would meet the same fate. The men who had cornered were very dangerous.
"Please leave this place! Don't think about calling my Dad!" Gwen screamed, her message slightly muffled by the rain hitting the ground.
Joe wordlessly nodded at her, pretending not to have heard her.
"Well, well. Now who do we have here? Didn't expect the bitch to holler up her boyfriend?"
"I'm surprised that someone could even reach this secluded place," the leader sneered, bringing focus to his scarred grotesque features. He didn't think Joe posed any danger to them. He was probably just a pretty face and nothing more. What could he hope to achieve against a group of fierce and armed men? Nothing.
"Dog, you're not him," he spat on the ground.
'There's no need to keep him alive.' Mr. Scarface thought.
"Nate, go and unalive him. Our primary focus is on the chick alone. We need to make George go through the five stages of grief," Mr Scarface ordered the most muscular guy in the group. That guy was six-five and beefed up like a Mexican bull.
Joe arched his brows, as he began slowly walking toward 'Solomon Grundy.' Scenic images of the decapitated body of his opponent flashed in front of Joe's eyes. He had thousands of ways to murder him.
"Boy, I'm going to burst your head like a fucking pinata. You shouldn't have come here to save your bitch!" The beefy guy growled, killing intent oozing off his gigantic form as he cracked his knuckles.
'I have marked all those that called Gwen a bitch.'
Joe remained calm, waiting for 'Grundy' to make his move. He was extremely angry enough to paint the alley red with dead bodies. However, Gwen was present. Joe didn't want Gwen to see him as a bloodthirsty monster.
"Kid, you have the nerve to space out in front of me!" Mr. Grundy noticed that Joe's eyes weren't on him and it increased his wrath. Fueled by the intent to squash Joe, Mr. Grundy lunged forward. Despite his gargantuan size, his speed couldn't be underestimated.
Joe frowned. The reason: Grundy was too damn slow. If his temporal perception before undergoing biological rebirth was five times higher than normal humans, this time it was thirty times.
Joe calmly watched Grundy's fist, powerful like Mike Tyson's, hurtling toward him. He sidestepped with ease, then grabbed Grundy's wrist and, with a brutal twist, tore his hand from his arm with surgical precision. Thick rivulets of red blood and bone fragments spewed everywhere and mixed with the rain.
Confusion filled Grundy's eyes, not understanding what had just happened. Then, it came. The searing, unadulterated pain.
"Aargh!" Grundy howled in pain.
"Be silent," Joe ordered and swiftly tore his other wrist before throwing his hand into a nearby dumpster.
Grundy continued screaming as he stared down at his handless arms in shock and disbelief. That was the first time in his entire life that he met someone capable of tearing a sturdy body apart like it was nothing. Even the Kingpin, the undisputed underworld emperor, wasn't capable of such a feat.
"You're making me uncomfortable with your voice," Joe cold stated before slapping Grundy's lower jaw and dislocating it. The force was enough to nearly rip his mouth apart!
BANG! Joe threw him away into a huge bin, away from his path. If he hadn't lessened his throwing momentum, he would have turned Grundy into a pile of meaty shit.
Before the shocked goons could react to the sudden superhuman display, Joe's figure blurred, like he had teleported and arrived in front of 'Captain Hook'.
The man dared to lewd and defile Gwen with his filthy eyes.
"You shouldn't have thought of sexual harassment, rapist," Joe calmly spoke out, his voice chillingly low and terrifying. Captain Hook felt as if he had seen the gates of hell and Joe was the king of hell itself. At that moment, he couldn't control his bladder and pissed himself. Joe clicked his tongue when he caught a whiff of the piss.
Without warning, he kicked him between his legs, crushing his balls, and fracturing his sacral bone. That was a move to sever his bloodline completely. Even surgery wasn't going to help Mr. Hook.
"Aargh!"
KACHA!
Joe mercilessly broke his arms, both of his humerus showing through his bleeding skin. Then, he headbutted his eyes into blindness and dropped him on the ground.
"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! BOYS, LET'S GANG UP ON HIM!" The Boss shouted, his eyes reddening in blind fury. His legs were shaking, but he mustered up his will to stand against the monster if they wanted to survive. The boss wasn't alone. The remaining gang had been shaken up pretty badly by Joe's apathetic bodily execution.
The four men each armed with metal bats, crowbars, and knives rushed toward him.
One of the men swung a crowbar at his head, two knives tried to simultaneously stab his throat, and a metal bat tried to cripple his legs.
A cold smile lingered on his lips as he allowed the weapons to land on him. He wanted to give them hope for survival.
CLANG!
Four pairs of eyes glanced at him in surprise, shock, and despair. Their eyes were probably asking, "Is this guy even human?"
Joe nodded in silent agreement, confusing them even further.
Like a speed demon, he quickly aimed low but lethal kicks at the men and bent their bones in unnatural ways. They all kissed the ground, groaning and screaming like pigs being butchered. Metaphorically, Joe was the butcher.
Seeing all of his men easily disposed of like they were fucking useless, Mr. Boss brandished a gun and pointed it at Joe, his hands trembling. His beads of cold sweat drizzled along with the raindrops. Then, he pulled the trigger.
BTUU!
Joe's gaze never left the boss's arm. He monitored each contraction and relaxation of his muscles. In addition to his obvious fear-stricken eyes, all of that made it possible for him to predict the bullet's trajectory. With his current enhanced reflexes, Joe was confident enough to dodge the bullet. However, he didn't do so. He...
Joe caught the bullet with his hand, astounding both the Boss and Gwen whose mind was on the brink of insanity at the inhuman scenes she was witnessing.
Did he just catch a bullet with his bare hand? Gwen pinched her bruised cheek to clarify her current reality.
What the fuck? W-What the fuck is wrong with my best friend? What the fuck am I witnessing?!
"Smells like shit," Joe's expression soured as he flicked the deformed bullet with his thumb.
"Did you gun-bang your ass with that pistol of yours?!" Joe pointed a blaming finger at the Boss.
"Ah!" Black lines appeared on the Boss's temple as he relentlessly started shooting.
BTUUU!
BTUUU!
'While I'm not afraid of them, If I don't evade those bullets, they might ricochet off me and hurt Gwen.' Joe analyzed with a serious gaze and then... he moved. His movements were unpredictable, like a dragonfly, zigzagging at such proximity while bullets whizzed past him.
"Playtime's time over," Joe coldly stated as his palm enclosed the muzzle before crushing both the man's hand and the gun into pieces. Then, he gently hit his solar plexus, broke his ribs, ripped his quadriceps, crippled his legs and arms, and finally semi-paralyzed him. It was enough torture to leave them alive and dead at the same time.
After dealing with the Boss, Joe gazed at Gwen. "Gwen," he called out softly, the iciness in his eyes melting away.
"A-Are you r-really Joe... Joe Petersen? My Joe Petersen?" Gwen stared at him in horror as she tried to bury herself in the wall. The current Joe was more frightening than even those guys who had hurt her.
Joe frowned slightly, then his face relaxed, showing deep sadness in his sapphire eyes.
"I'm Joe, Gwen," Joe patiently explained as he slowly approached her.
Gwen tried to move away from him. "Stay back! Move only when I tell you!"
She struggled to rise from the ground while using the walls for support.
"The way you destroyed those men... That power... What have you done to yourself?"
"The Joe I know would never even harm someone to that extent!"
A hurt expression momentarily flashed on Joe's face.
"Gwen..." Joe sighed in a low-spirited voice. 'She is one of the last people I don't want to see me as a monster. But I better let her face this dark side of me. To protect her...'
"...The Joe you know will do everything to protect you," he said in a sincere tone. And in one step, he arrived in front of Gwen and swept her into his arms.
Gwen's eyes widened as she squealed in surprise at the suddenness of being in his strong arms. Her mind was filled with confusion. Had Joe possessed these abilities for a long time? Why hadn't he ever disclosed this to her? What other things about him had she remained unaware of?
"Let me go, you brute!" Gwen stubbornly retaliated, her small fists beating his immaculate chest.
"Shh shh, it's alright. Everything's alright now," Joe murmured soothingly in her ear.
"Let go of me..." Gwen weakly protested, followed by hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Her bruised left cheek stung like hell. The pain was almost unbearable.
"Unhand me... Joe. I-I just want to go home." She tightly clutched at the fabric of Joe's wet shirt, her face hiding deeper into his comfortable and warm chest.
"I-I'm afraid, Joe," Gwen whispered, exhaustion gradually overtaking her.
Gwen's day had been traumatizing enough to make her just want to cry her tears dry and then sleep like a log. Everything had been chaotic and her mind needed time to heal. There were so many unanswered questions she wanted to ask. However, she lacked the energy and initiative.
"I'm here," Joe reassured her, hugging her even more protectively.
Under the flashes of lightning, booming thunder, and brutalized enemies, Joe carried a sleeping Gwen to safety.
"Are you going to leave them alive?" Minerva, who had been silent the whole time, asked through the earpiece. "I know you didn't exactly kill them because of Gwen."
Joe gazed at Gwen's cute sleeping face. "There's no need to kill them... right now. Those men are only disposables. The people behind them are the ones needing some uprooting."
"If they have already targeted Mr. Stacy's weakness, then the cycle won't easily end," Joe explained.
"So... will we still kill them?" Minerva insisted.
Joe clenched his jaw in frustration. "Hire someone to clean it up. Anonymously tip them. Now's not the time to make my name infamous."
"That's wise. You can't dirty your hands every time an issue arises. Leave it to me."
Joe lightly scoffed before his figure disappeared from the alley.
That night he didn't need to 'kill'.
…
Enjoy 15 chapters ahead if you like the cook: Patreon.com/OneArmedImmortal
[Word Count 3136]