Chapter 251: The Real Family Man vs. The Fake One — First Clash
Off-screen, Dom's actor had built an entire cottage industry out of invoking Paul's memory — every single time a new movie was about to drop, out came another heartfelt tribute. Wouldn't even let the man rest in peace. Genuinely tasteless, in Ethan's opinion.
Ethan had zero respect for the guy. On top of everything else, the actor had a reputation as a notorious scene-hog — that was half the reason he and Dwayne Johnson had ended up feuding in the first place.
Family, family, family — nonstop out of his mouth — but heaven forbid anyone in that "family" actually outshine him.
If it were Ethan, he'd be thrilled to have people around him stronger than himself. Made it that much easier to kick back and coast.
Honestly, as far as Ethan was concerned, the franchise's real success had always ridden on Paul, not Dom — but Dom's actor never seemed to see it that way, always acting like the whole thing rested squarely on his shoulders.
And speaking of the franchise — it started as a street-racing movie. Fine. Then it turned into a heist movie. Also fine, Ethan could roll with that. Then it became straight-up science fiction — cars leaping between two skyscrapers, cars parachuting out of planes — each installment more unhinged than the last.
At this point, Ethan figured the only thing missing was a car chase in outer space. Honestly, even with his current superpowers, he wasn't sure he could pull off half of what these movies claimed was possible.
By the later films, it had basically become straight-up fantasy: as long as you were "family," you simply didn't die. The one character who actually did stay dead was the sole confirmed no-resurrection case in the entire franchise.
Ethan remembered a meme that used to circulate online — something like: whenever the hero's in trouble, don't panic, just shout "FAMILY" at the top of your lungs, and Dom will materialize right beside you.
He'd also seen the joke edits pitting Dom against Thanos — the gist being that no matter how strong Thanos got, he'd never be stronger than the power of family. There'd been Harry Potter parody versions too. Bottom line: a Dom backed by family was, memetically speaking, unstoppable.
Honestly, Ethan thought, as a conceptual "skill," Dom's whole family-power schtick put his own System to shame by a factor of a hundred.
What Ethan couldn't figure out was why the genuine, canonical "Family Man" himself was standing here in Hell's Kitchen right now.
While Ethan studied Dom, Dominic was doing the same right back — sizing up this so-called boss of Hell's Kitchen with a look of pure skepticism and thinly veiled contempt. He couldn't wrap his head around how someone this slight, this scrawny, could possibly be running a place like this.
As far as Dominic was concerned, a position like that belonged to someone built like him — big, powerful, commanding. Someone who looked the part.
He looked Ethan up and down, silently scoffing. To Dominic's eyes, Ethan looked like nothing more than some pampered pretty-boy with no business commanding respect from anyone.
Ethan's reaction, though, wasn't what Dominic expected.
He didn't so much as flinch under the scrutiny — met Dominic's stare with total, unbothered ease.
That composure irritated Dominic more than he wanted to admit. It felt like a challenge to his authority.
So Dominic decided the pretty-boy needed a lesson in exactly who he was dealing with.
He extended a hand for a handshake — except the handshake came loaded, meant to put Ethan in his place the second their palms met.
"Hello there, Mr. Cross. Dominic," he said, voice friendly enough on the surface, while his grip clamped down hard, aiming to make Ethan flinch.
Ethan, for his part, didn't so much as blink.
He shook Dominic's hand back with an easy smile, not a trace of discomfort on his face.
Surprised, Dominic bore down harder still. Ethan's expression never changed — as if Dominic's grip strength registered as nothing more than a mild inconvenience, barely worth noticing.
Han, standing nearby, caught on that something was off. The handshake had gone on well past a normal length. Worried Dominic might actually be trying to strong-arm Ethan — and concerned for Ethan's slight frame — he cut in with a half-joking tone: "You two gonna keep holding hands, or...?"
By this point, Dominic's frustration had curdled into something closer to humiliation. He felt his pride under direct assault, unable to believe this frail-looking pretty-boy was somehow shrugging off his full strength.
No matter how hard Dominic squeezed, Ethan kept right on smiling, seemingly immune to any pain at all.
That composure only made Dominic angrier — and more rattled.
Damn it, Dominic thought, did I actually lose some strength? Must be all these sleepless nights dodging the FBI. Or maybe it's because I wore myself out with those two girls last night. Yeah. That's gotta be it.
Dominic would sooner believe he was just having an off day than accept that this pretty-boy might genuinely be stronger than him.
Han's interruption gave him a convenient excuse to bail. Just as he started to loosen his grip —
Ethan felt Dominic's strength beginning to fade — could tell the man was simply running out of gas.
But Ethan had no intention of letting him off that easy. With a sharp, deliberate wrench —
"AAAAAGH!!!" Dominic let out a scream like a pig going to slaughter, clutching his right hand.
Yep — Ethan had put just a little extra force into it and popped Dominic's arm clean out of its socket.
"Sorry about that," Ethan said with a pleasant smile. "You seemed like you wanted to test strength with me, so I put a bit more into it than I meant to. Didn't realize you'd be this fragile."
Han stared at Ethan, stunned. He'd had absolutely no idea Ethan was carrying that kind of raw strength.
Dominic, meanwhile, glared daggers at Ethan, seething. This son of a bitch actually did that to me? He's got a death wish.I'll call in my whole Family and strip this dump bare!
"So," Ethan said, ignoring the murder in Dominic's eyes entirely — he could kill an ordinary human like this guy without breaking a sweat if he actually wanted to — "you thinking of moving back in this time?"
He was extending this much courtesy purely for Han's sake. If Dominic tried anything else, though, Ethan was more than curious to find out whether the man's "family power" came with an infinite-respawn clause or not.
Han, one hand braced on Dominic's shoulder, spoke up. "Ethan, we actually came to ask you for a favor. My buddy here got set up — someone took his wife, and now he needs a batch of weapons. Figured you're the guy to see, seeing as you run Hell's Kitchen these days."
Ethan glanced over at Dominic. Wife kidnapped, being hunted, and still walking around with that much attitude?
"This isn't exactly how I'd expect someone to ask for a favor," Ethan said, a faint smirk on his face.
"Come on, help us out here, Ethan — you're the only one who can get us weapons at this point. Dominic doesn't usually act like this, I promise. There's gotta be some kind of misunderstanding."
Ethan's mind drifted back to the race tournament idea he'd been mulling over. And here was Dom, conveniently standing right in front of him. Could actually turn out to be interesting.
"You got money?" Ethan said evenly. "If you've got money, just go talk to Wanda and the others — that's their department."
He never bothered himself with the day-to-day business side of things. If there was money on the table, sure, he'd sell — Ethan wasn't about to turn down easy profit over something this minor.
"...No. Not enough, probably. That's why we're here," Han admitted, a little sheepish. "But once this is over, we'll make up the difference. I promise."
Ethan let out a short laugh. "So you're asking me to front you weapons for nothing up front. And you think I'm just going to say yes to that? Cash first, goods after — that's the deal for everyone. Doesn't matter who you are, that rule doesn't bend."
"Come on, man, help us out!"
"Tell you what." Ethan's tone shifted, thoughtful. "Hell's Kitchen's got a race coming up in about five days. Winner gets one favor from me — within reason."
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