As soon as the man realized what Riddick had done he was about to react in anger. But before he could do that, Riddick reacted first by jumping over the table, grabbing the man by the head and slamming his face on the surface of the table.
*BAM!*
The resounding thump that was caused by this action reverberated through the entire 2nd floor of the establishment and caught the attention of nearby patrons. This was a purposeful action by Riddick to capture the attention of everyone around, his aim in doing this was to dissuade the man from launching an all-out attack.
After all, it was clear from the positioning of the meeting that he didn't want to be seen for whatever reason, be it having a criminal history or fearing to get caught. And on the off chance that he was actually superpowered and very dangerous, it would minimize the likelihood of Riddick being the sole target of his rage as others could protest his actions.
But just as Riddick quickly got off the table and looked ready to make for the exit, the man's face began to turn a burning red. Riddick and everyone else felt a slight rise in temperature within the establishment and he immediately had a bad feeling about this.
Riddick instinctively looked back, only to see that the man had raised his head from the table and was looking at him with a burning gaze. The man then gritted his teeth in anger and yelled, “Big mistake fucker, you're dead.”
As the man made this vicious threat, he raised his hand and aimed it toward Riddick. Before Riddick could move any further toward the door leading to the back exit, the man's right hand began to create sparks before it got completely engulfed in flames.
In response to this, Riddick's pupils shrunk as he felt a great sense of danger. Then by sheer instinct, he immediately ducked onto the ground and in the next moment a large torrent of flames passed over his head, narrowly missing him.
Having seen this attack, the other customers present in the HFF were completely shocked by this action. What naturally followed was a sense of worry over the fact they might be targeted next, because of this, people had gone from calmly enjoying their meals to screaming and panicking as they tried to make a run for the exit.
In the current state of the world, most establishments/businesses possessed anti-superhuman measures. Of course these were never 100% foolproof as one could never truly anticipate just what kind of superhuman incident would occur at their place of business.
And in this particular case, the establishment did in fact possess a measure, warning sirens began to ring throughout the restaurant which then prompted the nearby charging station to do the same. Police and emergency services would then be immediately contacted and informed of the situation that was occurring by the on-site virtual assistant.
As if surprised by his own actions, the man looked at the sirens with surprise and it was then that a realization dawned on him that he had made a grave mistake. The look of panic appeared on his face as he looked at Riddick who was quickly standing up.
Anger once again flashed in the man’s eyes as he warned Riddick, “I will only say this once kid, give me back my money or I’ll make sure you have a slow death before the
Despite the chaotic atmosphere around them, Riddick had heard these words loud and clear… but he had absolutely no intention of returning the money.
But since the distance between them was too large for Riddick to close before another attack could be launched, he decided to play along and pretend that he was surrendering.
So he let out a sigh and raised his hands showing a fake look of regret and disappointment. The man was now rightfully suspicious of Riddick and approached him with care, sparking a flame in his hand before giving another warning, “if you try anything funny, I'll melt the skin right off your face.
This time, Riddick didn't respond and only gave a slight nod.
The man got closer and activated the proximity transfer on his watch, but the moment he had diverted his gaze just a little, Riddick had taken the opportunity to pounce.
*PA!*
Riddick reached out and grabbed the man by his wrist and pulled him in closer and then used his other hand chop at the man's neck, causing him to feel an intense and sharp pain.
The man instinctively grabbed at his neck and let out a groan of pain “*Argh* fuck-.” But Riddick didn't let up in his attack. The moment the man decided to hold his neck, he had left his other areas completely open and Riddick capitalized on this.
Riddick proceeded to launch a kick toward the man's knee, *crack!* which was followed by a resounding cracking of bone as the man's leg bent at an unnatural angle.
Once again, the man couldn’t help but react on reflex as he brought his hands towards his knee and fell to the ground in pain.
Although he was in great pain, the man was about to raise his hand toward Riddick as a vein appeared on his forehead showing just how angry he had become.
Riddick though, was not about to give him the chance at this distance, so he quickly stepped on the man's hand right hand near the wrist and prevented him from raising them.
Without hesitation, Riddick proceeded to break broke the man's wrist by stomping down hard on it. The man then let out another yell but Riddick ignored it and just kicked him in the face.
*crack!* What followed was his neck snapping as his head was forced to look to the wide left, this time though, the man didn’t let out a sound...
Riddick narrowed his eyes at the now motionless man and only relaxed after making sure the man was no longer trying to struggle. He removed his foot from them man's hand and turned his head to see if anyone had seen him.
Looking at the table he was just on, he could see the woman who had sat next to him, crouched under the table and trembling fearfully. She met Riddick’s gaze and then quickly yelled, “don't hurt me, I-I didn't see anything.”
Then, without waiting for a response she crawled from under the table and made a run for it.
Riddick didn't bother to give chase because a part of him was sure she wouldn't try to go to the police, after all, for her to come here and try to meet secretly with the unknown she should clearly have things to hide.
Furthermore, if Riddick tried following her it would mean going through the exit that had surveillance on it and he could not risk that. Reaching the speedy decision after weighing the pros and cons, Riddick gave a quick glance at his watch, where the “successfully received” message was still showing.
‘Not a bad gamble, all in all-.’ But just when he thought that this entire thing was over, Riddick felt the temperature within the restaurant spike yet again, but this time as he turned his head to look back, he was met by a warm bright orange light.
He instinctively shielded his face by crossing his arms over it and felt a large shock-wave launch him back, propelling him out for out of the window on the second floor.
Riddick, although in a state of surprise, quickly composed himself and made sure that he was in the least dire position as he collided with the ground, even rolling to ensure some of the force was spread out, reducing the damage he’d get.
Still, his entire body now ached and his head even throbbed as he raised it to look up at the window he had just been thrown out of.
There, he could see a large flaming humanoid figure. It was completely made of fire with its eyes and mouth simply looking like dark sockets in its face.
The flame’s face lacked detail but still looked like it was expressing anger as a voice emerged from it yelling, “I swear I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!!”
At this point Riddick couldn't help but frown as he muttered under his breath, “you’re welcome to try.”
As the flaming entity heard Riddick's bold reply, it burst into a flurry of flames and launched in all directions.
The biggest part of it launched downward, right toward Riddick, who instinctively dodged back and covered his eyes as it made impact with the ground, causing a shock wave and burst that shattered the concrete below as Riddick faced off against this fiery foe.
Riddick stood at a cautious distance with his eyes narrowed. Without weapons he couldn’t blatantly rush forward, and although his skin was much more resilient than that of a normal human, there was no telling just how hot the entity’s flames could become.
With this in mind, he quickly began to cycle through whatever possibilities he could before looking around and seeing that the only real advantage he had was the large crowd of people present at the scene.
Although there were scattered around everywhere, it still played to Riddick's advantage and he could certainly use it in the situation. So without hesitation, Riddick turned away from the flaming entity that began to emerge from the burning asphalt.
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Riddick ran fast and made sure to drop any civilians he ran into as he made a beeline for the charging station. As soon as the flaming entity emerged from the asphalt it turned to look for Riddick's face but only saw his tall frame running in the distance.
The flaming entity wasted no time and raised both hands before slamming them on the ground viciously, causing a burst of flames that scattered in all directions, propelling numerous balls of fire towards the unsuspecting civilians.
Riddick looked back to see some of the people he had knocked down get hit at point-blank range before their bodies immediately burst into scorching flames.
He didn't let his gaze linger though and he continued to run as several other balls of fire were already coming his way. Seeing that he wasn't going to reach the charging station while running Riddick slid and then used one of the poles nearby to redirect his body, stopping it just behind one of the charging tanks.
Because of the technological sophistication that was available, charging stations were extremely resilient to natural disasters. It was rare for situations where charging stations caught fire for to happen, with zero incidents recorded this century.
But despite having such a spotless record, humanity didn’t grow complacent and kept certain protection measures present. So as Riddick was hidden behind one of the charging tanks and one of the balls of fire made collision, it immediately triggered the fire prevention measures.
What followed was a collective sound of blaring sirens from around the station as the roof paneled and removed several small nozzles that quickly began to shoot out fire retardant on the scene below.
So long as a unnaturally high temperatures were being recorded near the charging station, the fire retardant would keep being used and until it run out. This had been Riddick's plan and having achieved it, he quickly raised his smart watch and spoke.
“Zoe, can you approximate how long it will take for the fire retardant tanks at this station to run out?” as Riddick asked this, a beep rang from the watch as Zoe replied promptly.
“According to the public data available on Marriott charging stations, the fire retardant tanks should run empty after spraying out consistently for about two minutes.”
Hearing this, Riddick was less than happy as he clicked his tongue in irritation while catching his breath. Knowing that every second was now going to count Riddick didn't bother lingering anymore and immediately came behind from where he had ducked.
At this time, the flaming entity was creeping closer toward the charging station at a slow and intimidating pace, its legs burning the very ground it walked on.
As it looked toward the streams of fire retardant falling, it could see Riddick's figure emerge with his jacket, covered with fire retardant, shielding his face.
“*Raghhhh!!*” Its expression turned chaotic and it immediately let out an inhumane sounding roar before stretching out its hands in Riddick’s direction and firing torrents of flames.
Riddick continued to run as the flames collided with his jacket. Even with fire retardant covering the surface and its material being somewhat fire resistant, he could feel the burning heat on the other side.
He grit his teeth and ran as fast as his body could allow while keeping his gaze lowered. The brighter the ground under him became, the closer he got to the entity.
It didn’t take long for the ground to become startlingly bright, forcing Riddick to close his eyes as he leaped forward.
This caused him to collide with the entity, smashing into its chest and facial area. It immediately fell to the ground, whereas Riddick stretched out his hands holding two folds of the jacket and using the weight of his foe to propel himself upward, landing just a few inches away from it.
It writhed in pain as the fire retardant left on the jacket sizzled on its face. But without the right tools, Riddick knew this wasn't enough. There was no way he was going to win this fight normally given the current circumstances.
It was then that something immediately clicked and he raised his watch to ask, “Zoe, if I'm not mistaken, Mariott charging stations had a recent lawsuit over the use of nuclear sub reactors in their stations to reduce their grade income tax. Now that the system has switched to emergency protocols, can you break in and cause the sub reactor to melt down?”
Hearing this burdening question, Zoe’s emotionless response came promptly. “One moment as I check.”
A brief silence followed in which the only thing that could be heard was the flaming entity as it yelled and caused the ground under it to bubble ominously.
Less than two seconds later, Zoe gave a reply, “breach successful. meltdown possible. Would you like me to initiate? You will have less than five minutes before sub reactor goes atomic, resulting in an explosion that I predict may cover up-to 20km in radius.”
Hearing this, Riddick felt he’d need to think of something else, however, his gaze immediately settled on the Morgan Sonic-car still parked near the charging station.
Although covered in some flame retardant, seeing this car, Riddick immediately replied ,“begin the meltdown.”
As soon as Riddick instructed Zoe to begin the meltdown, he rushed toward the fire retardant filled charging station.
By then, one could even see that the nozzles from which the fire retardant was coming from were now removing very little retardant. Riddick arrived there quickly and tried to open the door to the Morgan Sonic-car, but found that it was locked.
However, he didn't look the least be bothered by this, as he raised his smart watch near the door and asked Zoe, “Bypass the locking mechanism.”
A small screen was immediately projected from his smart-watch, showing a circle of binary with a rising percentage at the center. Once the percentage reached around 76%, another small screen was projected right beside the current one.
The new screen showcased a similar template to the first, only that it had a count down at it’s center instead of a percentage. “You now have five minutes until the charging station’ sub reactor goes atomic. Also, I’m picking up a lot of frequencies and traffic within the network, it seems like someone is trying to remotely cool the reactor and prevent the meltdown.”
At this point Riddick couldn't help but feel the urgency of the situation, but there was nothing he could do to rush the bypassing measures. Thankfully, 20 seconds later, the bypass measures on the Morgan were complete and the and the car door *beeped* open.
Riddick quickly door opened the door and got inside but found that he could barely see anything outside of the car as it was covered in white fire retardant. Riddick didn't bother about this though, and immediately tried to start the car.
However, it clogged and a warning screen popped up on the inside as a virtual assistant appeared and revealed, “Warning, my systems detect that the exhausts of the vehicle have been contaminated with a foreign substance that may affect how the vehicle functions. Please ensure everything with the car is in order or call your nearest vehicle assistance agent.”
Normally a car would still start otherwise, but given the immense safety measures most vehicles had in this day and age, every time a car would pick up a problem that could lead to a fatal accident, the on-board system would block the car from starting up.
Riddick however didn't have the luxury to stay and fix the problem manually given how quickly time was running out. So once again, he brought out his smartwatch and put it in close proximity to the virtual assistant core just right above the dashboard, before having Zoe remove safety limiters.
This was something numerous people did more times than not as the safety measures that came with modern cars were very irritating. After just five seconds, Zoe successfully overwrote the safety parameter set on the car and Riddick once again pressed the ignition button at which point the car’s ambient panels lit up, along with its star décor ceiling.
The car revved ferociously as Riddick quickly got the rough layout into his mind. Then without wasting anymore time, he moved the car from automatic to manual and began holding down on the stick shift, made of incredibly thin designer carbon fiber.
He first shifted the gear into reverse and then pressed down hard on the acceleration, driving out of the fire retardant filled charging station almost immediately at a speed of nearly 80 km/h despite less than three seconds having past and him going in reverse.
As he did so, he could hear the rear bumper collide with one or two people before it finally rolled onto the main road, where he could see even more people scrambling away from the charging station and running into the distant desert, while others had also managed to reach their cars and were currently driving away as fast as we could.
But for Riddick, he didn't need to just be fast, he had to be really fast. With this in mind, he moved the car into first gear while Zoe integrated into the car systems. The countdown popped up on the screen near the passenger’s seat and it prompted Riddick to ask a very important question to Zoe, “How much thermal radiation coverage will be there, I need a very close approximate.”
Zoe immediately replied by saying, “One moment. According to my calculations, the thermal radiation yield should cover roughly 20-35 kilometers in radius.”
Even Riddick was unsure if he'd be able to cover the range within the little time he had left, after all, the car hadn't even charged fully. But he had no choice, and upon hearing Zoe’s response, he immediately stepped on the acceleration and begun to shift into a higher gear, going from gear 1 to 2, Riddick had needed to push the vehicle from 216.67 km/h to 433.33 km/h km/h.
The car let out a screeching roar and its exhaust let out a light green flame as the car propelled itself even harder. Its rear spoiler automatically began to lower while the car itself as well began to narrow its distance to the ground, despite moving at such a high speed.
Riddick didn't let up at all and continued to push the car, soon reaching 650 km/h and tapping the car’s third gear. From here, Riddick now found it visibly hard to see as everything in front of him was largely blurred.
However, having taken this into the consideration, the people who engineered the vehicle had an auto assist feature in which a projected overlay screen would appear in place of the real windscreen, giving the driver a rough but steady view of the road in front of them.
Thanks to this Riddick continued to push forward as the car roared through the desert now approaching speeds of 866.67 km/h, now hitting gear 4. At this point, a large warning screen appeared on the passenger side of the projected screen telling him he was reaching speeds that weren't allowed on the current road.
This message came as he passed a speed trap, which in the current modern day would automatically send over data to the nearest police post.
This led to the nearest officer on patrol, who was parked right behind a small rocky dune just a few meters away from the road to be alerted. He was casually sitting in his vehicle with his seat arched back.
[ Alert, officer Monroe, there’s currently a speeding vehicle coming your way. It is advised that you set up an EMP charge on the road. ]
As the officer heard the alert of a speeding vehicle currently near him, he remained relaxed. This was because alerts normally came just a few seconds after a vehicle passed a speed trap.
And from what the officer knew about his roads, the nearest speed trap was several kilometers away, so why rush?
In addition, with how easy it was for law enforcers to track vehicles in modern times, very few people dared to break speed limits, even when they removed the limiters on their cars. On the rare instances someone actually did decide to go speeding, it was never by much and the officer would always catch them.
Little did the officer know that Riddick had already pushed the Morgan into it’s 5th gear at 1,083.33 km/h.
But before he could even sit up, the officer felt and heard a huge boom as Riddick's vehicle passed right by his, breaking the sound barrier at 1,235km/h and approaching its final speed.
Within the Morgan, Riddick was holding on to the steering wheel firmly, his body now feeling a bit heavy from the pressure being built on the car. Regardless, with less than 30 seconds left on the counter, he kept pushing for the top speed, still needing to cover 8.98km to be out of the thermal radiation range.
The officer caught completely unprepared, had his vehicle nearly turn over. He grunted in pain as blood begun to trickle down his ears. His car had been parked awfully close to the road and with his windows rolled down, he couldn't avoid the damage.
While the officer struggled to understand what just happened, Riddick had finally touched 1,300 km/h, with 25 seconds left until meltdown.
He kept his eyes fixated forward while occasionally glancing at the countdown, which now also showed how much distance he had covered of the 8.98km.
25 seconds… 1.80km covered,
20 seconds… 3.61km covered,
15 seconds… 5.41km covered,
10 seconds… 7.21km covered,
5 seconds…