"A.) Listen to some fifty-grand-a-year pension hunter, or B.) A billionaire? Who even the president lets finger his wife. Or C.)? Try and be really stupid and save two idiot mentors of yours and have everybody in the Goddamn state crawling up your ass. A, B, or C? Time's ticking pal, beep, beep, beep, AND your answer IS?"
Who the fuck does this dude think he is? Franklin Clinton thought in his anger.
He had just gotten home after the biggest (and last) job of his life, and just moments later the doorbell rang. Frank answered, thinking maybe Micheal and Trevor had come over to celebrate, maybe bringing Lester with them, only to find Devin Weston , the rich scamming fuck, stretching on his front step, asking for coconut water, which Franklin figured was some dumb health drink crap for rich white people. And if that wasn't enough, next thing Franklin knew, the fucker told him that he wanted Frank to kill Micheal, the guy who had pretty much raised Frank from just another gangbanger in Chamberlain Hills to a high-end thief living in an awesome house in the Vinewood Hills, for seemingly no other reason than the fact that it was Devin Weston telling him to do it.
"Man, you know what?", Franklin said as he opened the door and waved his uninvited guest out, "Man, fuck you."
Weston, naturally, didn't seem bothered at all, "Genius answer, pal. Total genius, but time is running. You think about it. Me? I got a triathlon coming up, and I am in deeeeeep training (he did a stupid little air hump as he said that). Buh-bye!", and with that, Weston jogged off towards his black-clad goons.
"Man, fuck you!", Franklin said as he slammed the door. He was so angry that he couldn't think of anything to say to Weston other than the same line he had given less than thirty seconds before.
Franklin knew what Weston wanted him to do. He wanted him to think over everything that had happened and everything Frank knew; that Micheal had betrayed so many people, that Steve Haines was so full of himself that it probably made him insane, that Weston could have killed the mayor in his own mansion and gotten away with it, and arrive at the conclusion that killing Micheal for Weston was the best option. But he didn't care. Micheal and Trevor had always stood by him. Even when they hated each other to the point that they wanted to kill each other, they held off long enough to help Franklin out. There was no way in hell he'd betray them, even if it cost his life. Micheal and Trevor were his homies. He had to save them.
But how the fuck do I do that? Franklin wondered. He thought and thought, but no foolproof plan came to mind. It's not like he could just attack Haines or Weston out of the blue. Even with all the damage they'd been taking, each of them still had some power left in the city. Weston had a small army at his disposal. And Haines probably had some dirty agents on his payroll, too. Then there was the matter of just knowing where they were. They'd be protecting their bosses, and would come after Franklin and the guys once they knew Weston and Haines were gone. Not to mention he didn't know where to find either of the fuckers. There was just no way to save Micheal and Trevor and keep himself alive. Night had fallen by the time he realized this was too difficult a job for him to figure out.
Maybe Lester can come up with something. thought Franklin as he pulled out his phone. Lester was one of the smartest people Franklin knew. Every successful job he had been part of was planned out by Lester. If anyone could come up with a plan for this clusterfuck, it was Lester
"Frank, perfect timing.", a familiar nasally voice answered, "I just got a call from Agent Norton."
"Norton?", Frank pictured the middle-aged suit in his mind. Dave Norton was the FIB agent who had put Micheal and his family into witness protection, and he was also the source of one major problem: Steve Haines, the self absorbed sociopath who had coerced Franklin and the other two into attacking an armored truck, a Paleto Bay bank that was apparently guarded by the fucking military, an upstate lab that was either making poison gas that was going to be unleashed on a major city or a new shaving cream formula, and the IAA, the other major US intelligence agency. He even made them attack his own agency headquarters to erase evidence, which resulted in a massive hole in the side of a skyscraper. Anything that involved Steve Haines was a disaster."Eh, man, I need to tell you somethin'. It's about Steve Haines and Devin Weston-"
"Haines wants you to kill Trevor, is that it?"
"Uh, yeah.", answered a surprised Franklin, "how'd you know?"
"Norton told me."
What? Franklin thought Why would Norton tell Lester? Does Haines want him in on this, too?
"He also said Weston will probably try to get you to kill Micheal. Did he?" Lester sounded very serious.
"Yeah, lil while ago. That's why I'm callin'. I can't kill both of 'em. Hell, man, I probably can't even kill one of them."
"Well, lucky us, that's why Norton called, too. He says he's got a way to fix all this. Meet us at the Hookies on the coastal road next to Raton Canyon. I'm gonna call Micheal and Trevor, get them to come, too. Hopefully they don't kill each other and make this whole thing a waste of everyone's time."
"Shit, here's hopin'. So, Hookies next to Raton Canyon?"
"Yes."
"The one wit' all them bikers?"
"Yes."
"The bikers who Trevor keeps killin'?"
"It's not open this late, so there won't be any bikers."
"A'ight, cool. See you there," Franklin hung up with a small sigh of relief. Dave Norton was going to help them out of this mess. All they probably needed to worry about was another job.
But is he telling the truth? What if he's luring us there to kill us? Franklin thought about this for a moment before realizing that Norton and Haines only wanted Trevor dead, and so it wouldn't make sense to bring the others out there, too.
Franklin went downstairs and changed into one of his favorite outfits; a Feud shirt under a white track jacket, loose black jeans, and pair of white sneakers with green laces. Once this was done, he walked outside into the chilly night where his one-of-a-kind Bravado Buffalo S and the Western Bagger that Lamar gave him were waiting. After a couple minutes of internal arguing, Franklin decided it was too cold at night for the bike and got into the Buffalo S. He then set off towards the coast at a speed much higher than the speed limit. After getting his license, Franklin never kept to speed limits again. Or stopped at red lights. Or stayed on his side of the road. In fact, Franklin rarely ever followed traffic laws. Not that it mattered, as the cops never actually cared for some reason. Seriously, you could blast right by the station, and they would not give a shit.
A point which was demonstrated as Franklin passed the Tequi-la-la bar in West Vinewood and a tricked out blue Enus Cognoscenti Cabrio drifted into the intersection from behind and sped off down the street to the left. Even though there was at least three police interceptors nearby, the cops acted like they didn't even notice it.
As Franklin passed the clusters of buildings that made up Chumash, he wondered what kind job Norton had in mind. Remembering all the jobs he and Haines had forced Trevor, Micheal, and himself onto, Franklin was expecting another job like those, which would probably with a lot of dead bodies, several explosions, and something important and/or expensive being stolen.
His question would soon be answered as he pulled into the parking lot of the Hookies, in which there was a slightly modified black Obey Tailgater, a blue Declasse Asea, a lighter blue Ubermacht Oracle, and a red Canis Bodhi with the most fucked up teddy bear Franklin had ever seen wedged into the bullbars. Franklin also saw a bike, but didn't think too much of it. He walked into the sitting area to find everyone else had already shown up. Norton, as always, had a tan suit on. Micheal was wearing an old leather jacket with some jeans. Lester was wearing a plaid shirt with some gray pants and a brown jacket, and his cane was next to him. Trevor had a black v-neck t-shirt and beige work pants, neither of which actually seemed to fit. Lester was sitting at a table while Norton was leaning on it, and the pair were watching as a fight brewed between Micheal and Trevor.
"Eh, what up Lester?", Franklin said as he walked up. Micheal and Trevor were too busy yelling to notice his arrival.
"Hey, Frank. Don't mind those two, they'll probably simmer down soon.", said Lester Crest. Despite his obvious creepiness and slightly angry nature, Franklin always kind of liked the old hacker. Lester had done most of the planning on the various heists that Franklin had been in. He was also the one who gave Franklin the new house.
"When they ever simmered down wit'out one of us gettin' between 'em?"
Lester gave a small chuckle. "Good point."
"Mr. Clinton," Norton, having took notice of Franklin, turned and held out his hand to the young man, who took it. Franklin still didn't know what to think of the old federal agent. He may have been FIB, but he was no friendlier with Agent TV Star than anybody else, and never really did anything annoying. "Now that we're all here, we should get started."
"Agreed," said Lester. They all turned to the two fighting old men, who looked like they were about to pull their guns.
"I HAD A FUCKING FAMILY TO LOOK AFTER! MAYBE YOU'D HAVE ONE TOO IF ANYONE COULD EVER LOVE YOU!"
"Uh, guys?"
"LOVE?! I HAVE PEOPLE WHO LOVE ME! AND IF YOUR FAMILY LOVES YOU, THEN WHY DID THEY LEAVE YOU, SUGARTITS?!"
"Gentlemen-"
"THEY CAME BACK, MOTHERFUCKER! THEY CAME BACK!"
"Guys we really need to-"
"THEY DIDN'T COME BACK FOR YOU! THEY CAME BACK FOR YOUR MONEY, YOU TRAITO-"
"EH!" For some reason, no matter how loud or angry they were, the thief and the drug dealer always listened when Franklin started yelling. "WE ONLY HERE CAUSE OF Y'ALL NIGGAS! YOU GOT US INTO THIS SHIT, AND WE TRYIN TO GET E'ERYBODY OUT! IF Y'ALL JUST GOIN KILL EACH OTHER, THE REST OF US COULDA JUST STAYED OUR ASSES IN LOS SANTOS!"
As usual, Franklin's outburst got the two to calm down, and they came over to join the conversation.
"Thanks, Frank. Like you said, you don't have to be here", said Michael. The bank robber held up his fist, which Franklin happily bumped. The two had met when Franklin was "repossessing" one of the family cars. After the whole "gun to the back of your head" thing in Jimmy's car, Michael had really grown on Franklin, to the point that Franklin considered him to be a bit of mentor. He got Franklin dragged into some crazy shit, but they were ultimately better off for it.
Trevor, on the other hand, decided to give his criminal associate a big hug, to which Franklin responded with an awkward pat on the back.
"How's my favorite gangbanger, huh?" Trevor said after he let go "By the way, thanks for not trying to kill me."
"Sure, no problem, dog." Trevor was part of the crazy shit Michael was involved in. When he first met Trevor, Franklin thought the deranged pilot would be an issue. His raging insanity had brought a lot of trouble their way, including almost getting the group onto a government watchlist. But Trevor had grown on him, too. Of course, Franklin would never consider Trevor as a role model or mentor, the dude was way too insane for that. But he could at least see the guy thought of him as a friend, and Franklin had decided to respond in kind, even if they were horribly-matched.
"You got loyalty, kid. Hold on to that. But remember, not everybody is going to be as loyal as you. You gotta keep your eye on everyone. Especially this fat fuck." Trevor poked his thumb over his shoulder to point at Michael.
"Okay, idiot-"
"Anyway," interjected Lester before Micheal could start another fight, "I think we need to stop talking and let Agent Norton tell us why we're all here." The four criminals turned to the government agent.
"Well, let's hear it, Davey."
"Right." Everybody sat down at the table. Norton pulled out a briefcase from under the table and began placing the contents on the table. "First of all, you should know this isn't going to be like anything that Steve and I have had you do in the past."
"How so?" Trevor interrupted to be Trevor for a bit. "Are we gonna be invading a secret underground lair? Or maybe we're gonna kidnap the daughter of some Washington bureaucrat fucker and beat her until he gives up his porn stash? What's it gonna be, stoogey?'
"Secondly," Norton went on as if Trevor hadn't said anything,"this job is going to take a while."
Micheal leaned forward. "And about how long is 'a while'?"
"About a year."
"WHAT?!" All at once, both Franklin's mouth fell open, Lester turned his head so fast he cricked his neck, and Trevor pretended to fall over.
"What job could possibly take a whole fucking year?!" asked Lester as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Surveillance. Normal FIB work. Things you've never done since Mr. Leisurewear was never the kind of agent for that."
"And why do you need us for this?"
"Because with everything that's happened as of late, the higher ups are paranoid of all government agents, especially their own."
"Gee, I wonder why," said Lester. Everyone remembered the dangerous shit Haines had them do, like steal that nerve toxin from an upstate labratory. Franklin was convinced that it hadn't even been nerve toxin, but something completely random that Haines decided to sell to one of his "friends" for his own little paycheck.
"So you want us to just watch somebody... for a year?" Micheal asked.
"A group, but yes."
"Well, thanks for the offer, but I'd rather take my chances with Merryweather and Devin Weston." Michael got up and began walking away. He'd had enough. The others started to get up as well. Lester was the only one present who was any good at watching people, and even he wasn't going to drop everything just to watch someone for an entire year. Norton, however, didn't look worried by this.
"I never said you'd be doing this for free."
"Oh really? And how much would we be getting for our services?" asked Trevor as he attempted to extract his left leg from under the table.
"Ten percent of the operation's budget. Each."
"Ten percent?" Franklin asked. "Ten percent of fuckin' what?"
"A little over ten billion."
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks (except for Trevor,who had really fallen over this time) and stared at Norton.
"What was that?" asked Trevor, who had poked his head over the tabletop.
"You heard me, Mr. Phillips." Norton was looking a little smug for once. The four criminals looked at each other.
"Where did you get that much money?" Micheal asked.
"Remember the armored truck?"
"How much money was in that fucking truck, anyway?" Despite doing all the work, neither Michael, Trevor, or Franklin had seen a single cent from that truck. All they got was the car job (which went so well) and Michael's meeting with legendary movie producer Solomon Richards (which actually did go pretty well).
"More than enough for financing this job, as well as fixing headquarters, and much more."
Had it been anyone else, they would've shrugged this ludicrous number off as a joke. But this was Norton. Norton rarely joked around. And he never joked about a job, no matter how stupid. The four of them slowly sat back down at the table.
"Ok, Dave, you've got our attention," said Michael.
"Good."
"But that big payday you're offering creates one hell of a question; who's so important that you need all that cash just to watch them?"
Rather than answer him, Norton pulled some pictures out from one of the piles of paper and laid them out on the table. "Ten months ago, a bunch of students in a town a little south of Liberty City called Canterlot started Bleeting about weird things, like magic and demons and princesses, during their fall dance before it was all deleted."
"Sounds like they got their hands on some product." Trevor said.
"I assumed as much, except there's evidence that something unusual really occurred. Eleven people in the surrounding area, ranging from children to senior citizens, called the police reporting a large beam of light protruding into the sky, with a few also saying they saw a rainbow vortex not long after. A couple sent pictures the next day." Norton pushed forward two pictures, one showing a thin beam of light protruding over some trees and the other showing the rainbow vortex.
"And then, there's the damage to the school." Norton pushed forward another picture. The picture showed a big nice-looking school on a sunny day. In front of the school was a statue of a horse. No damage at all. Bewildered, Franklin looked up at Norton.
"Uh, that's just a school, man. Ain't nothin' wrong wit' it." said Franklin. Without a word, Norton pushed forward another picture.
"Oh, shit!" The picture showed the same school with the same sky and the same statue, but there was one difference; a huge hole where the front door and windows were supposed to be.
"So we got magic shit, princesses, and a big-ass hole in the building." said Trevor,"This is getting interesting."
"The weirdest part is, I agree." said Michael,"Anything else like this happen?"
"Funny you should ask. There was another incident two months later, this time at a stage that the school was renting. Some more chatter, but much less than before. Only one picture, and not a very good one; captured by a security camera." Norton pulled out another picture and put it on the table. This one was a lot blurrier, and looked like it was taken from a distance. In it, there were three long, skinny figures floating above a stage.
"What are those things?" asked Lester, pointing to the three figures.
"No idea. Nothing online said anything specific." Norton pulled out another picture."There were two more occurrences after that. One was in February, three months after the second incident. This time, there was no chatter from the residents or the students, but visiting students from Crystal Prep, a private school in Liberty City, started talking to each other online about the 'magic at the Friendship Games'. Of course, this was all deleted quickly."
Trevor was howling with laughter. "The what?!" If it wasn't for the massive shitpile that the dysfunctional group was currently drowning in, Franklin would've been laughing, too.
"The Friendship Games, a series of competitions between Crystal Prep and CHS, all in the name of friendship and getting to know each other." said Norton. How he managed to say that with a straight face, nobody ever found out.
"CHS... Canterlot High School. Guess we've found an epicenter." said Lester.
"Indeed. As for the fourth occurrence, there was no online posts or pictures, but a couple weeks ago a satellite captured footage of a dome made of trees growing in the Everfree Forest, which isn't too far away from Canterlot. The dome was soon destroyed by something very bright."
"And let me guess, CHS was involved in some way?"
Norton nodded. "The school was taking some of their students to a camp in the forest for a summer trip."
"So what's up, dog?" asked Franklin, "I mean, the fuck goin' on over there?"
"What do you think I'm hiring you to find out?"
"Where the hell we goin' start, then? We got a location, but we ain't got no target."
At this, Norton pulled out yet another set of photos, along with some files. "Going by the early Bleets, our targets are the members of a band called the 'Rainbooms'." This time, everyone except Norton laughed. They laughed until Lester's laugh turned into a violent coughing fit.
"So who's in this band?" asked Trevor as he wiped a joyful tear from his eye.
"Some of the female upperclassmen; Rainbowdash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Pinkie Pie." Norton laid down each respective file as he listed them off. "These two are the ones we're really interested in." He pushed forward the files of Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer
Lester coughed one last time and pulled out his inhaler. "What makes these two more important than the others?" he said before putting the inhaler to his mouth.
"Well for one thing, Sunset Shimmer is gone."
"Wait, you mean she disappeared?" Michael asked.
"No, I mean she died. Years ago. Sunset Shimmer died with her parents in a car crash when she was seven." Norton laid a picture on the table depicting a burned and mangled sedan being pulled out of a snowy ditch, while police stood in the background with what appeared to be an old grieving couple.
Franklin let out a low whistle. "Shit, man. That's rough."
Trevor ploughed on in his sudden curiosity. "And the other one? Is she dead too?"
"No, but nothing matches up when it comes to her. Apparently, she just suddenly showed up in Canterlot for the first two incidents. And on the second incident, she somehow managed to be in Canterlot while attending her brother's funeral in Liberty City." Norton frowned at the file he was reading. "Looks like someone made a mistake; that's supposed to say 'wedding'. Anyway, Twilight Sparkle wouldn't officially visit Canterlot for the first time until three months later, when the third incident occurred."
Norton put down the file. "That's it. That's everything we have on the situation."
Michael spoke up. "That's all fascinating, but there's still some issues on our end."
"Such as?"
"Well , how does this help us? All that money is great, but it's not gonna stop Devin Weston from trying to kill me and my family... or stop Haines from killing Trevor."
"This operation came straight from the top brass. Extremely secret. You could count the number of people who know about it on your fingers."
"But how does that help us?"
"If this operation is a success, I get more leverage in the FIB. I can get both Steve Haines and Devin Weston arrested on multiple charges."
"Okay, but what my family?"
"Of course you only care about YOUR family!" exclaimed Trevor. "What about OUR families, huh?!"
"You don't have a fucking family, Trevor. We've been over this."
"Well, what about Franklin's aunt?"
"Like I fuckin care 'bout her bitch-ass. But I am worried 'bout the homie Lamar. That motherfucker probably goin' get his self took again."
Norton interrupted before Trevor could say anything else. "They'll be moved to secure locations."
"Like, a warehouse in the middle of nowhere?"
"They'll be in nice hotels in another city. One of the benefits of a large budget."
"What about our property?" Lester asked.
"All payments and taxes will be halted until we're done."
Each of the four thieves pondered over everything they had just heard. It should've sounded like bullshit, but if the FIB believed these crazy things enough to spend ten billion investigating, there had to be something there. None of them had any idea what was going on, but they were all curious.
"I'm in." Trevor said almost immediately.
"So am I. Should be a nice change of pace." Lester was looking a little excited.
After a little more thinking, Michael gave his answer. "It'll be a pain in the ass to explain to Amanda and the kids, but count me in."
Everybody turned to Franklin.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to, Frank." Michael said. "You've taken enough of our shit."
Franklin said nothing, and instead watched the Cabrio from earlier fly past, this time with the roof down. It wasn't like there was much left to ask about. The conversation had covered all the bases. But Franklin wasn't thinking of reasons he shouldn't go. He was thinking of what he was going to do with all that money. All his life, he'd dreamed about getting out of Chamberlain Hills. Now, all of a sudden, the world had opened up to him. He could go wherever he wanted, do whatever he pleased. He was overwhelmed. He didn't know where to start. It dawned on him that he would probably never work again once he had the money from this job.
But first, he had to get it.
And there was only one way to do that.
Franklin turned to the others; the crew that he'd be working with for the next year.
"A'ight," he said. "Where we start?"