*11 hours earlier*
It was a usually hot day in Los Santos. The smog from all the pollution was present, but not thick enough to hide the buildings and people of the city. Small specks of black floated around. Whether they were birds, bits of trash, or something else entirely, nobody knew. In the distance, the Pacific Ocean spread out onto the horizon. All this could be seen from the balcony of the Galileo Observatory, where two teenagers were in a viewing area, taking in the sight.
"And you're sure you two can do this?"
Zero Day was a young girl, around 17 or 18 (she didn't know when her birthday was, as she had been abandoned at an early age). She had pale green skin, and a head of slightly messy brown hair, some of which was tied back with a rubber band; she could have used a hair band, but she thought using random stuff was more fun. She was wearing a light-blue button-up shirt that was a size too large over a black tank top, and a red skirt that hung just above her legging-covered knees. The right end of her shirt collar had a yellow power button symbol. Her feet, covered by a pair of red canvas sneakers, were dangling over the ground while she sat on a wall that guarded visitors from a 35 foot drop. Next to her was a cell phone with a line open.
"Come on, have some faith in us! We're ready! We've been ready for a while now!" Despite the evil covering every inch of the city, Zero always had a playful voice that was full of life and joy.
"Faith is for children, Ms. Day. Mr. Weston wants results." said the businessman on the other end "And Mr. Weston may believe you are capable, but if you're still kids. If you fuck up-"
"We won't fuck up." said Turbocharger. Turbo was a guy, about the same age as Zero (like her, he'd been abandoned at an early age, and had no idea what date he was born on). He had brown skin and black hair that spiked forwards at the front. His eyes were dark purple. He was wearing a black baseball shirt under a denim vest that was slightly too long with blue jeans and a thin gold chain. The sleeves of his shirt were pushed up to his elbows, and both his black hi-top sneakers had a yellow stripe on the side. On the shoulders on his shirt were depictions of a black racing helmet in front of a cross made from a wrench and a piston. He was leaning on the wall that Zero Day sat on, and spoke to the cell phone that lay between them. "We've never fucked up. You know that."
"Expect that time Mr.Galante caught you."
"We still got away with it!"
"He tracked you down two hours later."
"Ok, once." Zero interjected "We messed up once, but that's still better than anyone else."
"In any case, the package is on the move, and will reach Portola Drive shortly."
"I don't suppose you'll tell us what's... you know... in the package?" Zero asked.
"With the amount you're being paid, you don't need to know. Good luck."
"We don't need it..." Said Turbo as he leaned in close to the phone"...we make our own luck."
"Mr. Charger, is that one of your famous movie quotes?"
"Actually, that one's from a video game."
There was a long silence. Turbo and Zero glanced at each other.
"...just call me when you get the package." The phone beeped to indicate the end of the call.
Turbo picked up the phone and put it in his pocket. "Well, I guess Weston likes assholes, otherwise it'd be weird that he keeps hiring them."
"What happened to the last one? Molly, I think her name was?" Zero asked as she jumped down from the wall.
"Don't know, don't really care. Probably flew off somewhere."
The pair walked to the parking lot where Turbo's car was waiting. It was a shadow silver Elegy Retro, and (despite appearances) an absolute beast. Under the nearly-two-decade-old body lay a 2.6 liter twin-turbocharged straight-six which produced over 540 horsepower. The standard low-level spoiler had been replaced by a carbon fiber version. At the front there was an carbon hood with a little vent hood, a set of xenon lights, and an intercooler so big that the bottom half bumper mesh had to be removed. The goldish-tan Cosmo rims were hugged by custom racing tires. There were small vents just behind the front wheel arches. Despite having racing suspension, there was more than enough room for a single large exhaust tip.
"So, what do you think the douche wants us to grab?" Turbo asked as he started the car.
"I don't know" Zero put on her seatbelt "Maybe it's a list of cash houses."
They looked at each other for a moment. Then they burst out laughing.
"Guy like that? Yeah right, like he'd want something that makes sense." said Turbo "Wait, what's a cash house again?"
"It's where people count their money when they don't want it in the bank."
"Ah, right."
The car pulled out of the parking lot and began making its way to Portola Drive in Rockford Hills. It was moving at a pace where most people would be screaming their head off, but Turbo made it seem like a gentle cruise in an expensive luxury car. Turbo had always been good with cars. Building, driving, racing, stealing, you name it, he could (and probably did) do it. He could drive any car, in any fashion, at any speed. Cars were Turbo's specialty, after all.
"You know what this means, right?" Zero asked.
"That we're moving up in the world?" Turbo twitched the wheel as they went through an intersection. "Yeah, I suppose we are."
"Isn't it great?" Zero pushed the back of her seat all the down and stretched out. "We're making a name for ourselves."
"I thought we already have. Everyone on the racing scene knows I'm the best..."
"...and I'm always winning hacking competitions and messing with the big corporations, yes. But this is different!" Zero sat up and looked Turbo with bright eyes. "We're making serious money now! If we keep getting jobs like this, we might be able to retire at 30!" Zero paused to watch the dials on the glovebox "Crazy when you think about how we started out."
Turbo chuckled. "From stealing wallets and food to survive to getting hired by billionaires to steal stuff. Sounds like a good book."
"Yepperdoodle." Zero played with Turbo's cheek before she laid back and watched world go by, going over the plan in her head. Turbo went back to driving.
In a matter of moments, the car parked across the street from the Posonbys on Portola Drive. Being the most well-known shopping district for the rich on the West Coast, it was covered in tourists, paparazzi, and expensive cars. In fact, there were a bunch of kids and teens (Zero guessed three-fourths were younger than 12) screaming their heads off all round two particular white cars, a supercar and a six-wheeled truck. Among the kids was a group of typical internet celebrities, all wearing the same sort of "designer" clothes that were really just regular clothes with brand logos on them.
"Ah, shit, it's that fucking trust fund turd." Turbo said while closing the car door.
"Paulo Rice." The name rolled off Zero's tongue with barely concealed disdain. She had seen some girls at VHS pining over his videos. They all just adored him. Personally, Zero just wanted to stuff his face in a toilet. All he and his little posse of rich kids seemed to do was pull dumb and annoying pranks, endanger everyone around them, flaunt their parents' cash, and generally be all around douches. They even made some songs, all of which were just shitty raps about how "cool" they were. There were very few people in existence who could make Zero so mad. "Why do those airheads have to be here today, of all days?"
"They don't deserve those rides." said Turbo.
"Well, I don't know about that." Zero said,"I mean, they probably worked hard for them."
Turbo gave her a hard look as they jogged across the street "Z, do you realize what you just said?"
"Yes, and now I would like to go home and wash out my mouth with soap."
"Well, too bad, 'cause we gotta do this job first."
"We've got hours until nightfall." Zero pointed out, "plenty of time to go home and back."
"But you said the package could leave at any minute." Turbo said. The two started walking towards the southern corner of the building, away from the crowd.
"Don't worry, though. I'm sure we'll find something to distract us into the meantime." They walked around the corner and got ready to climb the building. "And for the love of God, don't actually put soap in your mouth this time."
Zero said nothing and walked up to the wall with Turbo. She was about to start climbing when something clicked in her mind.
Something to distract...
Zero went back the corner and peeked around it. Rice and his lackeys were now taking selfies for their social media.
"What are you doing?" Turbo asked, removing his hand from the wall. Zero turned toward him with mischevious look on her face.
"I've had an idea." she said. Turbo raised an eyebrow and looked around the corner. A small smile appeared on his face as he realized what she was thinking.
"Oh, this oughta be good."
"You know what you're gonna say?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, let's do this."
Zero and Turbo put on their masks (simple black bandanas; Zero also donned a midnight purple beanie) and walked around the corner to find the Internet celebrities starting up a live stream. As soon as they did Rice and his crew started yelling out to the camera and the crowd behind them. Somehow, the kids around him started yelling even louder.
"Hey, what's up Ricers, today we're-"
"THE NAME'S TAKEN, DUMBASS!" The entire crowd turned to Turbo "AND I GOTTA SAY, REAL RICERS ARE WAY BETTER THAN THESE LITTLE SHITS!"
Rice walked to the front of the fuming crowd and held his hand up for silence. "Hey, do you know who I am?! Do you?!" He yelled.
"YEAH, WE KNOW!" Zero yelled "YOU'RE JUST SOME TALENTLESS, SPOILED BRAT HANGING AROUND WITH OTHER SPOILED BRATS ON THE INTERNET!"
Even from this distance, Zero could see his face turn bright red. "Don't make me come over there!"
"OR WHAT?! YOU GONNA THROW DADDY'S MONEY AT US?!"
"MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST GO HOME TO THAT GIRLFRIEND OF YOUR'S!" Turbo yelled "OH WAIT, SHE LEFT YOU FOR A PAPER SALESMAN!"
"Motherfucking..." Rice turned to the crowd and pointed at the two masked teens. "GET THEM!"
The crowd started running towards Zero and Turbo, screaming bloody murder. After a moment's surprise, the two panicked and ran back around the corner. The crowd followed them, only to find absolutely nothing. Rice soon came around the corner, as well.
"Where the hell did they go?!"
"Seriously?" Zero muttered. She was watching the kids from the top of the building. "Why doesn't anybody ever look up?"
"No idea." Turbo responded as he climbed over the edge of the building. Despite the fact that Turbo was the one with more muscle, Zero was always the better climber and parkourist. Perhaps because she was a bit smaller than him, and therefore more nimble.
"I'm surprised they got so mad so quickly."
"Well, they are kids."
"Look!" The pair looked down when one of Rice's posse pointed towards an opening down the street. The crowd ran into the alleyway, which had a bunch of guys in black suits in it who immediately moved to stop it.
"Hey, hey, hey, you can't be here!" Yelled one of the guards. Naturally, the rabid fans didn't listen. An argument broke out as the kids started fighting with the guards.
"Alright, let's see if my plan worked." Zero and Turbo ran across the rooftops until they were just past the middle of the alley and looked over the wall on the edge. They saw a lot more guards protecting a black van. Noticing the commotion, most of the guards ran over to help, leaving two near the building they were on land one on the other side of the alley. Turbo stepped onto the wall and held out his hand to Zero.
"You ready?"
Zero looked back to the fight. Just as she'd assumed, the guards wouldn't pull their guns on a bunch of kids, but the kids weren't about to back down anytime soon.
"Hell yeah." She turned back to Turbo and took his hand. He pulled her up onto the wall, and together they jumped on the two guards. The guards' heads slammed into the ground. Turbo's guard was knocked out instantly.
"Hey!" The remaining guard reached into his jacket and began pulling out his gun. Before he had the chance to fire, Zero pulled out her taser from her jacket and fired it at him. The guard shook from the electric shock and fell over, his gun sliding to the middle of the alley, right behind the van. Zero looked back at the fight.
Alright, nobody noticed anything. Good. But as Zero got up, she felt something grab her leg. She yelped and looked down. The guy she fell on was staring at her, groaning. One hand was gripping her ankle, while the other was raising a gun to point at her head. Turbo reacted unnaturally quickly, grabbing the gun arm and twising it, making the guard drop the gun, which Turbo caught. Zero recovered from her initial shock and kicked the guard's head. The guard lost consciousness.
"Well, that could have gone worse." she said.
"Could have gone a bit better, though." Turbo replied. He looked down at the gun in his hand and, with a bit of hesitation, put it in an inner pocket on his vest. He went over to the van and picked the lock until he noticed Zero sitting next to him and giving him a weird look.
"What?"
"The gun."
"Oh, that." Turbo went back to lockpicking,"Well, we're gonna need to get ourselves some real weapons eventually. Might as well get them sooner than later, right?"
"But..." Zero was worried. Her best friend had never shown interest in lethal weapons before. They had decided soon after they met that they wouldn't kill people. It just wasn't worth it.
"I thought we agreed to never kill anyone. Ever."
"I know, it's just..."
"What?" Zero put her hand gently on his shoulder. "What is it?"
Turbo once again stopped picking the lock and turned to Zero, this time with a look that said he was ready for an argument. His expression softened when he saw Zero's concerned face. He looked away.
"Shit's changed, Z. We're not stealing spare change anymore." Turbo turned back to Zero. "We're in the big league now, remember? Can't survive the big league with stealth, stun guns and martial arts. These guys, they're ready to kill in an instant. We can't be prepared for anything less."
"But if we kill someone, it'll affect us, right?" Zero asked. "I don't want to live my life looking over my shoulder, T."
"We don't have much choice, Z. It's always been kill or be killed around here. We can't avoid that forever."
"I guess you're right..."
Turbo put his hand on Zero's shoulder with a smile. She looked at him and smiled back. Their relationship had always been like this. Always comforting each other. Always pointing out when the other did something wrong. Always holding each other. Always smiling at each other. They were best friends, but Zero felt like there was something else there. It was what gave their bond strength, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She looked at the arms between them, each belonging to one, but holding the other.
Here I am. Here you are. I'm here for you. You're here for me. All of that has been true for as long as we've known each other. And none of that will ever change.
Zero almost laughed at herself. It sounded like something out of one of her animes.
"That's right, get out of here!" Zero's thoughts snapped back to reality. She peeked around the van. The crowd had dispersed, and the guards were returning to their original positions. Zero went back behind the van, her heart starting to race.
"They're coming back!" She whispered. Turbo's expression hardened again as he turned back to the lock. Two seconds later, it was open. There was nothing in the van except some computers. Zero hopped in and looked around.
"Blue laptop." She muttered to herself. "Blue laptop, blue laptop... Ah ha!" She found the computer and plugged in her flashdrive. After it automatically decrypted the numerous passwords on the laptop, Zero set the flashdrive to download all the files. A progress bar appeared, and quickly began filling up.
Come on, come on Zero thought to herself. She could hear footsteps getting closer. The computer beeped, telling her the download was finished.
"Yes!" She pulled out the flashdrive and put it in her pocket before getting out of the van. "Cha-Ching!"
"You didn't cha-ching fast enough." Turbo said. The guards were right on top of them. As Turbo said that, the guards noticed their unconscious colleagues and pulled out their weapons. "Do the thing!"
"Turn off the night lights?"
"I refuse to say that."
Zero pulled out her phone and went into her encrypted "hacking menu". Zero had always been good with technology. She get into any phone, put a computer together faster than an assembly line robot, program with little to no errors. She could even turn off entire buildings. Zero always thought it was weird that "cutting edge" technology had such terrible security. It wasn't until she did some research that she realized just how abnormal her own skill was.
She selected "NO NIGHTLIGHT" and triggered it.
There was a loud power-down noise as everything within two square blocks shut down. The guards yelled out as the lights disappeared. Thankfully, because of all the nighttime sneaking they'd done over the years, Zero and Turbo could see just fine. They ran back to wall and climbed up as fast as possible. The guards turned on their flashlights just as Turbo went over the wall and out of their sights.
"Okay." Said Turbo, breathing a little heavier. "Let's not make a habit of having serious discussions in the middle of enemy territory."
Zero and Turbo both laughed loudly before panickingly covering their mouths. They peered back over the wall. The guards were still looking around on the ground for them. They high-fived, ran across the rooftop, and jumped down to the street. The lights came back on just as they were getting in the car.
Zero sighed, took off her disguise, and dug her head into the headrest. "And now we have to go see Weston. Crap." She was not looking forward to meeting that rich creep.
"Actually, I was thinking I'll drop you off at home, and I'll go alone."
"Really? You sure you're ok going alone?"
"Hey, better than you going alone." Last time they had met Weston, he said some very inappropriate stuff to Zero. If Turbo hadn't pulled her away, she probably would have tased and beat the living crap out of the elitist prick.
"What, do you want to meet him?"
"NO! Nonononononononononononononononopleasetakemehome."
Turbo chuckled. He put the car into gear and drove east, away from the shopping district and towards home.
"I'll pick up some Cluckin Bell on the way back. Or maybe Up-N-Atom."
"Please do. Oh, I almost forgot!" Zero opened the glovebox and pulled out an instant camera. She positioned it so that both of them were in frame. The camera flashed as she took the picture, which caused Turbo to shut his eyes.
"Ah, man, it put a weird line across your head. I'm gonna have to retake that."
"Please don't. At least until we get home."
"Zero-chan! Zero-chan!"
Zero looked away from the tv. She was sitting in the orphanage common room, playing a story video game about a zombie outbreak. She was alone aside from some of the younger orphans who were playing Une. She turned to see IdolPendant jogging toward her. Idol was the adoptive daughter of Dragonfist, the owner of the orphanage (he had married her mother; there was apparently some crazy story about yakuza, a locket, and 10 billion yen that led to that, but there was never any time for it to be told). She, like her mother and Dragon, had yellow skin. Oddly, although her mother's hair was dark brown, Idol's hair color was black, like Dragon's, and mostly straight. She was wearing a bright blue track top with black yoga pants. When her parents traveled between Japan and America (which was very often) Idol usually went with them.
"Hey, Idol, what's up?"
"Galante-san is here, and would like to speak to you." She replied in a slightly high pitched Japanese accent.
"Galante?" Frank Galante was the local mob boss. When she and Turbo stole his car a few years earlier, Zero had expected him to have them killed. Instead, he saw their potential and put them to work for him. It was Galante who had gotten them a place in Dragon's well-funded and homely orphanage. Galante was pretty nice, often spending long periods of time chatting with the pair when they came to report on a job. Still, it was unusual for him to come to the orphanage. "What does he want?"
"I do not know. He only said to bring you and Turbo-kun."
"Turbo isn't here. He's getting our payment." Zero checked the clock on the wall. It was two hours past the time Turbo said he'd be home.
He said he'd pick up food on his way back. Maybe he went somewhere really busy?
Zero pushed her concerns to the back of her mind and got up. She began walking to the main entrance with Idol. She doubled back to turn off the game. As she hit the button, one of the Une players flipped the table in rage.
In the entrance hall, Frank Galante and Dragonfist were waiting for them. The two couldn't have looked more different. There was Galante, with his white hair (from age, not genes) and his tailored black suit over his little body. Then there was Dragon, his muscular body covered in a gray leisure suit with a red shirt, and his large, slicked back head of hair. The two men turned when the girls approached.
"Zero. How are you doing, kid?" Galante said in his gravely voice. He held his hand to Zero, who took it with both of her own.
"I'm fine, thanks." Zero remembered that Galante had wanted to see Turbo as well. "Actually, I'm not fine. Turbo was supposed to be home a couple hours ago. Do you think-"
"Turbo's okay, kid. I spoke to him just now on the phone. There was just a small problem with your payment, that's all."
"Oh, good." Zero felt a burden lift off her shoulders. "I thought he might've been in trouble, you see, and... Wait" The burden came back down "what's wrong with the payment?"
"Apparently, Weston had decided to pay you two with a car. A Cognoscenti Cabrio. Turbo wanted cash."
"Well, yeah, it's easier to split the money when it's just a bunch of bills. I guess you'll have to wait for your cut until we sell it. Uh, if that's ok with you, I mean." As friendly as he was, Zero had to keep in mind that Galante was still a mobster. It wouldn't be a good idea to do something with his money without asking.
"It's fine. But honestly, you'd think a gear head like him would be happy to be given a luxury car."
"Luxury isn't really Turbo's style." Dragon said with his deep, Japanese voice.
"Indeed." said Galante. "That boy loves his tuners. Turbo took it, though. He's on his way here now. By the way, he said to tell you that he got Cluckin Bell."
"He knows I like chicken." Zero replied. Then she realized the conversation was getting sidetracked. "So, what's going on? It's not like you to come here, Mr. Galante."
"You're right, it's not. There's some business we need to discuss." Galante turned to Dragon and Idol. "Sorry to ask this in your own place, but could we have some privacy?"
"Of course." Said Dragon, "Come long, Idol. I need help with some paperwork." Idol pouted, but she walked away with her father anyway.
"Sit down." The old mobster and the young hacker sat in some poofy chairs near the door. "Something's come up. You remember Veto?"
"Yeah, I remember him." Zero hadn't really talked much with Galante's right hand man, so she didn't know much about him. All she did know was that he'd been with Galante in jail, and that when Veto got out, Galante had him and his friend Smoothtalk made and brought into his family.
"Well, he has this contact. Government agent. IAA or something. We've made a lot of money off this guy. Yesterday, he calls up Veto, says he needs him and some other people to meet him in a facility up north for a job. Massive payout, much bigger than anything he's given us in the past."
Zero was both surprised and unsurprised to hear that the Galante family had a IAA contact. On one hand, she din't think the IAA would associate itself with an organization like Galante's; not because she thought they were the true good guys who fought against all evil or something stupid like that, but because she didn't see the point. On the other hand, with their power, it would make sense for the Galante family to have someone in government. However, there was one thing that none of those things answered.
"Okaaaaayyyyy... But what does that have to do with me and Turbo?"
"Well, here's the thing. The guy didn't tell Veto anything about the job. No when, where, or why. The only hint he gave on the job was that he needed another person aside from the usual crew. And that this person needed to be a teenager, one who's used to the life." Galante gestured towards Zero. She almost asked why the contact needed a teenager, but realized that she would be asking the wrong person.
"So, you recommended one of us?"
"No. I recommended both of you." Galante leaned forward in his seat. "The two of yous have been through a lot together. In my experience, nobody can hire one without getting the other. It's like Veto and Smoothie, but even more so."
"Thanks, sir." Zero said. "What did the contact have to say about that?"
"It took a bit of explanation, but he agreed that it'd be best if there was two kids rather than one. Backup, and all that."
"Do you have a place for this meeting?"
"It's not really the kind of place that has an address. I'll send the details to Turbo."
"A time?"
"In a couple hours. The location's near Paleto Bay, so you'll need to leave as soon as Turbo gets back."
Just then, they heard the unmistakable sound of a tuned V8 pulling up in front of the building.
"Speak of the devil." Galante said. He slowly started to get up, grunting a little. Zero jumped out of her chair and helped Galante. The two walked out of the front door. Under the smog filled night sky they found a custom blue Cognoscenti Cabrio. The drivers side door was wide open, and Turbo was getting out of it, holding a brown bag.
"You know this stuff's almost as bad as Burger Shot, right?"
"Oh, get off your Up-and-Atom high horse." Said Zero as she took the bag and stuck her hand in it.
"Well, I'd best be off." Galante started walking to his armored limo, just to the right of where the Cabrio was. The two black-suited underlings who had been guarding the door went with him. As he approached, the driver, a fat man with curly hair wearing a tailored blue suit, went to the back and opened the door for him.
"One last thing. While we've made a lot of money off of him, Veto says this guy always underpays, meaning that whatever he wants now is going to absolutely insane. I won't hold it against you if turn it down." They all got in, and the limo drove off.
"Well," Zero turned to Turbo, chicken strip in hand, "ready for for some insanity?"
"Sure, as long as you don't eat that in my car."
"Oh, come on!"
"I will not have chicken crumbs in my RH5!"
Zero found herself staring at the Cabrio in front of her, vaguely remembering something she liked about it.
"Isn't this thing a convertible?"
The blue luxury car stopped in front of a oval slab of concrete surrounded by dirt and sand. Behind the car, the lights of Paleto Bay shined in the night. Beyond the sand and concrete was nothing more than water.
Zero wiped her hands and looked around. "You sure this is the place?"
"I dunno." Turbo flicked the gps on his dashboard "Should've gotten a more expens-"
There was a load groaning noise, and the slab of concrete suddenly split wide open, revealing another platform bathed in light from flashing yellow lights on the sides. Zero and Turbo glanced at each other.
"I... guess this is the place..." And with that, Turbo slowly moved the car onto the platform. Once he stopped in the middle, the platform and the doors began to go down. The lower the platform went, the more astonished the two teens became. They had gone from a beach near a quiet little town into what seemed to be a cross between a warehouse, a high end office, and a military bunker. All around them were various high-end vehicles, from advanced military tanks to 80's sports cars. There was even a strange device that Zero was sure was a jetpack. However, by far the most eye-drawing vehicle was the large VTOL that awaited them at the bottom. When the lift stopped, the two teens got out of the car, flabbergasted.
Zero managed to make her mouth move."Wh-what is all this?"
"Tools for killin' varmints." was the reply of a familiar Southern accent. The duo turned around to find a cowgirl leaning on her left leg, hands on hips. The light orange skin on her nose and cheeks had a light sprinkle of freckles. Her short, curly dark red hair was topped with a black Stetson. Under a fitted brown leather jacket, she wore a black button up shirt. The bottom of the shirt was tied just above her belly button, and one or two buttons at the top were undone to show off her cleavage. The each end of her dark blue tight-fitting jeans was tucked into a brown cowgirl boot with a black bottom. Strapped onto the right side of her belt was a holster holding a classic double-action six-shooter.
"Moonshine!" Zero walked over for a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"You really expect a hug after the last time y'all moved ma booze?"
A perplexed Zero looked back at Turbo, who simply shrugged at her, before turning back to Moonshine. "Um... yes?"
Moonshine looked the young girl over before letting out a large smile and pulling her closer "Good answer."
Turbo stood with his hands in his pockets and watched as the hacker and the bootlegger embraced. "You two are weird, you know that?"
"You're one to talk." Moonshine let go of Zero and circled the car. "Ah mean, one minute you're tellin' me ya like them Japanese cars, and the next thing I know, you're riding around in this thing." She said, gesturing to the Cabrio in front of her.
"Yeah, well, Z wanted to ride with the top down, and I didn't want chicken crumbs in my car."
"Where'd ya even get it? Y'all ain't the type to go around stealin' cars willy nilly."
"Business." Zero replied. "Speaking of which, what's yours?"
"What's that mean?"
"It means 'why are you casually waiting for us in an underground office with an arsenal big enough to take over a small country?'" Turbo said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Dunno. I've done some stuff for these spooky fellas, but this is different." Moonshine walked over to a sliding glass door. "Wanna find out what it is?"
The two teen criminals followed the cowgirl through the facility. It was a surreal place. It looked like a secret spy base straight out of a movie. The group walked down a long hall overlooking a work area filled with people at desks. At the end of the hallway, there was a door that lead to what looked like a war room and a bridge that went over the work place. Zero was in awe. She wouldn't have been surprised if she turned a corner and saw a British man with a tuxedo and a martini.
"So what did you do before?"
"Huh?" Moonshine turned to look at Zero.
"You said you did something with these people before."
Moonshine got a little flustered. "Well, see, that's... Uhhhh..."
"Business?" Turbo chimed in.
"Yeah... Business."
The trio went over the bridge and walked through a set of black sliding doors. They had walked into a sort of briefing room.
On the left and right were metallic benches, each one lower than the last, that took up half the room in a half-circle with an aisle in the middle. At the other end of the room, a number of large flatscreen TVs were put together to make one big screen. There were four other people in the room; three men, one of which was standing in the center of the circle, and a woman.
What the hell are we getting ourselves into? Zero thought.
"About fucking time!" The voice belonged to a man in the center of the room. His brown hair was combed to the side, and he had light blue eyes. He was wearing a black jacket with a brown collar over a white t-shirt. Both his cargo pants and his were brown. He was looking at the newcomers with a look of irritation.
"I was starting to think you weren't coming. You were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago."
"Lay off, 14. They only found out about this whole thing a couple hours ago." said a Italian man sitting on the left. He had combed back black hair and dark green eyes. He was wearing a fancy deep red shirt with black trousers and shoes.
"Hi, Veto."
"Hey, kid."
"Well, anyway, let's get one thing straight before we start;" The man called 14 starting pointing around the room. "I was never here, nobody here knows me, I'm just a-"
"Just an IAA agent?" The woman snarked from the furthest bench on the right. She had a typical Mexican gang look; gray tube top under a massive green shirt, black sweatpants, and gray high-tops. Most of her visible cyanide skin was covered in tattoos. Her midnight purple hair was styled into a rolled quiff. Under her left arm was a holstered Micro-Uzi. "C'mon, man, drop the fucking act already. You're way too obvious."
"But-"
"Nobody fucking cares, ese. Just get on with it."
"Fine. Whatever." The agent turned back to Zero and Turbo. "Since you two are new, I might as well bring you up to speed on what you need to know. You can call me 14." The man calling himself 14 gestured to the woman. "This is Rosalita. Former Vago, current gun-for-hire, and eternal bitch (Rosalita scoffed at this)." 14 then pointed to the last person in the room. "That is Headhunter, our resident bounty hunter."
The man he was referring to was big, bald, and pale red. He wore desert camo pants with a matching hunting vest. His shirt and boots were black. There was a shortbarreled Remington shotgun strapped to his back. A single scar slashed diagonally across his face. At the mention of his name, Headhunter turned to the newcomers and held up a hand in greeting.
"Hey there." he said in a gruff voice. As soon as his greeting was returned, he returned to his original position and folded his arms.
"And you already seem to know Veto and Moonshine, so I'm not gonna bother with them. Now take a seat. I'm gonna catch you two up on the briefing." Shine sat near Veto, while Turbo and Zero sat on the bench closest to the door. "First things first, I'm asking for a year of your time-"
"A year?!" Turbo jumped up "You've gotta be kiddi-"
"-in exchange for half a billion apiece."
Both teens gave dumbfounded looks for about a minute until Zero turned to Shine. "He's kidding, right?"
"Not at all."
Zero and Turbo glanced each other, the latter getting back in his seat.
A billion between us... Zero thought to herself. Weird thing was, as much as the thought excited her, it also made her worry.
"Ok, you two missed a lot, so I'll just sum it up as much as possible." 14 moved to a podium near the screen and started messing with what Zero assumed to be some sort of computer. "Over the past year, a high school on the East Coast called CHS has been subject to four separate inexplicable incidents involving rainbow helixes in the sky, UFOs resembling sea horses, demons, and a giant wooden dome that was destroyed as quickly as it grew." As he said them, a picture of each showed up on the big screen behind him. "We suspect extraterrestrial activity, but we aren't sure. That's where you come in." 14 gestured around the room. "Two teams: the kids and the backup. The kids will go in, pose as students, get close to our targets, and find out what's going on. Backup will conduct investigations that the kids can't, observe their progress, and provide support in a combat situation. Any questions?"
All of a sudden, a billion dollar payout was the most believable part of this job. Zero was astounded by the relative casualness of these claims. Flying sea horses? Demons? Rainbow helixes? Zero always thought that it'd be crazy if she met someone from Canada, so these ideas were simply insane to her. She looked at Turbo and found him to be equally astounded. Everyone else, on the other hand, looked exactly as they had before (probably because they already knew all this). She nearly missed Veto speaking up.
"What targets are we talking about?" he asked.
"The members of a band called the Rainbooms." 14 swiped at his computer, and a picture of a group of schoolgirls showed up on the screen. "Specifically, this one, Sunset Shimmer. 14 pointed out a fiery-haired yellow girl with greenish-blue eyes. Intel suggests that she's in the middle of all this."
It was Rosalita's turn to speak. "Why you need us on this?"
"With the attacks on both the Agency and those dick-measurers over at the FIB, internal relationships aren't exactly at an all time high."
When nobody else said anything, 14 took it as a sign that everyone understood. "We can sort out the specifics later. Right now, I just need to know that everyone's on board."
"Oh, I'm in, alright." Rosalita said.
"Count me in, too." said Veto.
14 looked at Headhunter, who simply gave a nod of affirmation.
"Moonshine?" The cowgirl didn't respond. She kept staring at the picture of the band until Veto snapped his fingers in front of her face.
"Huh? What?" Moonshine looked around, confused. She looked at Veto, Zero, and the door before focusing on 14.
"Are you in?"
Moonshine glanced at the picture again. "Uh... yeah. Yeah, I'm in".
All eyes then turned to the two kids. "Well?" said 14. Turbo opened his mouth to speak, but Zero grabbed him and started pulling him to the door.
"Sorry." she said. "It's just a lot to take in, and-"
"Of course." 14 said. "I'll give you until the end of the week. We've got plenty of time to kill."
"Great." Zero then pulled Turbo through the door and all the way to their car.
"Um, Z?" Turbo said as she pushed him into the car.
"Put the roof up." Turbo elected to do as he was told. Neither spoke again until the roof was up and both doors were closed.
"We can't do this."
"What?!" Turbo quietly exclaimed. "Why not?!"
"It's insane!" Zero whisper-yelled. "Our lives are crazy enough working for the mob!"
"C'mon, Z, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"
"Yeah, and if we're not careful, it'll be a last in a lifetime opportunity!"
"You could say that about anything we do! It's a billion between us, Z. We'd never have to work again!"
"Remember what Mr. Galante said? Just before he left?" Zero asked. "He said this guy always underpays."
"So?"
"Look around us, T. If this is the kinda stuff that a 'normal job' with this guy needs, what about a job with a ten billion dollar budget?"
Turbo looked out the window at the VTOL in front of them and sighed. "You're right. This is way out of our league." The two looked looked at each other and shared a little smile.
"Let's stick to the big leagues for now, okay?" Zero asked.
"Yeah, alright." Turbo responded. "Now let's get out of here."
Relieved, Zero buckled up while Turbo did the same and turned the engine over. After a couple minutes of idling, Zero realized what was wrong.
"Wait, how do we get out of here?"