Phoenix: Opening OOM
The surest way to stave off nightmares is not to sleep. The surest way to stave off fatigue is to consume record amounts of caffeine.
Johnny Blaze knows this very well.
And he ignores the beginnings of that same fatigue in his body as he mounts his cycle and guns the engine, throwing off a wave to the crowd before he raises the wheel in mock salute to the heavens. Thirty eight flaming cars.
"Johnny." Mac says, "You don't have to do this. Flaming cars can just as easily turn into exploding cars. We're not making a movie. Your death doesn't have to be entertainment!"
But it does. That's what Mac doesn't get.
Because that's what it's always been about. You don't get on a bike to go somewhere, you get on a bike to obtain a level of freedom you don't get in a car. You don't do crazy stunts to earn money.
You do it because you satisfy an urge. A need to watch life and death hang in the balance that bored suburbanite children with too much time and money on their hands have never seen or experienced.
Johnny doesn't hear Mac begging him to come back and explain his most recent "Stupid Human trick stunt. He never does.
----------
When he falls, the crowd rises and falls as one.
Would there be blood? Carnage? The big crash they were all hoping to see? That was the difference between Motocross and Nascar. With nascar things were on fire, with Motocross, the body parts were there. Limbs snapped off. Heads oozed red paint.
Sure nothing burned. But the smell of charred flesh coupled with motor oil was sick enough as it was.
Come for the entertainment, stay for the shish ka bob.
Barbeque's too expensive.
------
"Multiple Lacerations, a mild concussion, and two bruised ribs." The ER doctor murmured, lifting a chart, "...That's not including the burn on your boy's shoulder."
"Second or third degree?"
Mac scratched the back of his head nerviously, fiddling with the watch around his wrist as he turned the alarm on and off.
"...Second." The Doctor said, "Even then? It's no where near as bad as it should be. He rolled into a flaming car. Mr. Mackenzie. By all rights, the man should need skin graphs."
Mac was not going to discuss Johnny's unnatural lucky streak, "....And?"
"And what?"
"...And...And Johnny Blaze lives to ride another day." The ER Doctor said, "I wanna keep him overnight as a precaution, but there shouldn't be anything preventing him from going on the road, given his medical history." The Doctor grinned, "The man's got Devil's Luck."
Mac frowned, raising an eyebrow, "...Huh?"
"The Devil's Own luck? Unnaturally lucky? I knew a guy who came back from the war. He was in the middle of a suicide bomber. Guy was three feet from him and Bobby walked away. Everybody else in his unit bit it, but Bobby got blown back from the explosion. He hit a wall and ended up with a concussion that should've killed him."
The Doctor shrugged, "Some people. It's like they've got folks looking after um."
Of course JB's got a guy looking after him. Mac growled, Me..
"...Anyway. You 'member what you promised me?" The Doctor grinned, "Keepin' this outta the press and all that?"
Johnny's shoulder angel was dropped as a topic of discussion as Mac, the guy looking out for everyone, slipped him the autograph he'd had JB sign before he'd slipped into another temporary coma.
They'd be out on the road by tomorrow.
Johnny Blaze knows this very well.
And he ignores the beginnings of that same fatigue in his body as he mounts his cycle and guns the engine, throwing off a wave to the crowd before he raises the wheel in mock salute to the heavens. Thirty eight flaming cars.
"Johnny." Mac says, "You don't have to do this. Flaming cars can just as easily turn into exploding cars. We're not making a movie. Your death doesn't have to be entertainment!"
But it does. That's what Mac doesn't get.
Because that's what it's always been about. You don't get on a bike to go somewhere, you get on a bike to obtain a level of freedom you don't get in a car. You don't do crazy stunts to earn money.
You do it because you satisfy an urge. A need to watch life and death hang in the balance that bored suburbanite children with too much time and money on their hands have never seen or experienced.
Johnny doesn't hear Mac begging him to come back and explain his most recent "Stupid Human trick stunt. He never does.
----------
When he falls, the crowd rises and falls as one.
Would there be blood? Carnage? The big crash they were all hoping to see? That was the difference between Motocross and Nascar. With nascar things were on fire, with Motocross, the body parts were there. Limbs snapped off. Heads oozed red paint.
Sure nothing burned. But the smell of charred flesh coupled with motor oil was sick enough as it was.
Come for the entertainment, stay for the shish ka bob.
Barbeque's too expensive.
------
"Multiple Lacerations, a mild concussion, and two bruised ribs." The ER doctor murmured, lifting a chart, "...That's not including the burn on your boy's shoulder."
"Second or third degree?"
Mac scratched the back of his head nerviously, fiddling with the watch around his wrist as he turned the alarm on and off.
"...Second." The Doctor said, "Even then? It's no where near as bad as it should be. He rolled into a flaming car. Mr. Mackenzie. By all rights, the man should need skin graphs."
Mac was not going to discuss Johnny's unnatural lucky streak, "....And?"
"And what?"
"...And...And Johnny Blaze lives to ride another day." The ER Doctor said, "I wanna keep him overnight as a precaution, but there shouldn't be anything preventing him from going on the road, given his medical history." The Doctor grinned, "The man's got Devil's Luck."
Mac frowned, raising an eyebrow, "...Huh?"
"The Devil's Own luck? Unnaturally lucky? I knew a guy who came back from the war. He was in the middle of a suicide bomber. Guy was three feet from him and Bobby walked away. Everybody else in his unit bit it, but Bobby got blown back from the explosion. He hit a wall and ended up with a concussion that should've killed him."
The Doctor shrugged, "Some people. It's like they've got folks looking after um."
Of course JB's got a guy looking after him. Mac growled, Me..
"...Anyway. You 'member what you promised me?" The Doctor grinned, "Keepin' this outta the press and all that?"
Johnny's shoulder angel was dropped as a topic of discussion as Mac, the guy looking out for everyone, slipped him the autograph he'd had JB sign before he'd slipped into another temporary coma.
They'd be out on the road by tomorrow.