Episode #1
The night sky hung above downtown Staunton Island, the dull moon giving a faint glow behind the many clouds, which littered the atmosphere. Skyscrapers stood high through the mist, giving Liberty City a look of deceptive beauty. However, below the skyline down on the ground, was the true nature of the city, plainly revealed.
Commercials for anything and everything lined the walls of the buildings along with bright lights flashing this way and that. Swarming along the sidewalks were many people from completely different backgrounds. Businessmen, hookers, pimps, carjackers, homeless people, thugs, gangs and the occasional cop trying to keep order in the already corrupt city.
At the edge of Staunton's main commercial area a large casino sat, with a huge sign on the front spelling out the word 'Kasen' in red and orange flashing lights. This was obviously Kendo Kasen's casino, Kasen being the leader of the Yakuza, a large Japanese gang in Liberty City. The Yakuza had been there in the city for a long time, but their rise was only just occurring at that time, in 1980's Liberty. They were gaining more and more power each day, and more men were being put onto the streets for them.
On the street corner, opposite the casino's main entrance, a silver Sentinel sat with its engine still running. Inside, a man with short black hair held the steering wheel tightly, a determined look spread across his face. A light was on inside the car, stuck tightly to the roof above him. The yellow brightness reflected off the African-American skin tone on his face, illuminating the features on his head clearly.
The door of the Sentinel slowly slid open, and the engine of the car suddenly died out. The man inside thrust his foot out onto the gritty street, and then his body shortly followed. He gave a quick stretch, cracked his fists together and then reached into his jacket with his right hand. He slowly pulled out a shiny handgun, which glistened as the streetlamps shone down from above. The gun was a Colt Python, already fully loaded with six deadly bullets slotted into the well-greased chamber. The man fondled the gun affectionately, running his fingers smoothly across the trigger. Moments later, he slipped the gun back into his pocket and then headed across the road to the main entrance of the bright casino.
Inside the casino crowds of people flooded the entire ground floor of the building. People sat at every slot machine, repeatedly pulling the levers and pressing buttons in hope of winning a small amount of money. Others swarmed round several different types of tables, playing their way into either winning a small fortune or losing everything. Everyone was busy; there was nobody with nothing to do. The guests enjoyed themselves gambling, the staff ran every table and all of the games, whilst the security guards patrolled; making sure everything was in order.
The man stepped into the casino and walked past the security guards at a fast pace, clamping his jacket together with his hands to ensure that they never spotted the gun. He then advanced through the crowds to the bar. Across the other side of the huge room the bar lay, just as crowded as the other places. The man carried on walking over to it, and after shoving past more crowds of people he finally spotted it.
"There you are." He slowly whispered to himself as his eyes fixed on a man with black hair and a green shirt on sitting at the bar. He went over and sat next to the man on one of the stools, decorated with red and yellow patterns.
"Tommy, right?" he asked the man next to him. "Tommy Vercetti?"
The man slowly turned round and looked at him for a second. "Yeah, that's me." He replied hatefully. "Who's asking?"
"Oh, sorry, allow me to introduce myself." The man answered. "Ricardo Gonzalez is the name, you can call me Rico though."
"OK..." Tommy replied slowly, wondering what the hell this Rico person wanted. "It's good to meet you Rico, but I really must be going now."
Before Ricardo had time to reply, Tommy had already slipped off his stool and began making his way over to the exit of the bright Casino, the world outside a dark place; totally opposite to the cheerful mood of the Casino's interior.
"Damn it!" Rico muttered to himself under his breath, as he looked at Tommy walk away.
Rico quickly slipped down from his own stool, and then quickly followed Tommy, making sure that he wasn't spotted or noticed at all.
Back outside Tommy looked either side down the long road, trying to spot a Taxi that he could hail down. He quickly changed his mind, as no cars were coming down the whole stretch of concrete. Glancing round himself to check that nobody was looking, he sprinted across the road towards Ricardo's Sentinel, still parked on the street corner opposite the Casino. He took one last check to see if anyone was watching, and then flung the door open, before shifting his body inside. After a brief search of the car he found the keys in the passengers side mirror and then started up the engine as fast as possible.
As Rico stepped outside, he saw his Sentinel begin to move forwards. The engine revved twice and then Tommy swerved the car round the corner, as Rico watched in horror. He quickly scanned the road, but the only car there was his own Sentinel - stolen by Tommy. He had lost his car, and Tommy had escaped.
A red Banshee swerved round a corner of Little Havana, the wheel skidding across a patch of bright green grass as it went, turning the garden of a small apartment into mud. The wheels of the Banshee locked as it spun round 180 degrees and then headed back the other way, trying to evade a pursuing Stinger. It zoomed past the midnight black sports car, whose driver jammed the steering wheel to the left instantly to turn round with the Banshee as quickly as possible.
The driver, who was the only one in the car, managed to turn the Stinger round in time to resume chasing the other vehicle. He slammed his foot down onto the accelerator and in no time caught up the distance he had fallen behind. The Banshee swung onto another road, and headed south past Sunshine Autos. The glaring Sun overlooking Vice City shone down onto the car, and reflected off the bonnet into the eyes of watching pedestrians and drivers on the other side of the road, partly blinding them as it went past.
At the end of the road the Banshee turned right towards the Airport. As it sped along the winding concrete, the Stinger followed in hot pursuit. Both engines roared fiercely as the two cars shot past the parking lot of the airport like two racers surging forwards for first place in a speedway. The Banshee suddenly turned off into the loading areas and runways as it began to approach terminal 1, rather than carrying on straight into the airport drop-off area. It accelerated past crates and boxes all piled up on top of each other, and past stationary planes docked in the immense hangars.
The Banshee darted in and out of small buildings and ramps dotted throughout the space next to the taxiway. It dodged past several baggage carriers, taking many scruffy bags to one of the aircraft awaiting takeoff, as it went. The Stinger had a hard time keeping up, but with the Banshee in clear view it wouldn't lose the car. The Banshee led the Stinger round the whole place trying to lose it, but it managed to stay close behind the speeding maniac.
Suddenly, the passenger in the Banshee rolled down his window and slid his upper body through the narrow space. He quickly brandished two well- polished Colt 45's, and loaded them as the wind flew through his hair rapidly. The driver of the Stinger, sensing what was about to happen, quickly swerved off past several red barrels behind another small building to the left.
Behind the building, which was an emergency fire station for the airport, the man heard a load skid come from the direction of the Banshee he had been chasing. There came a final rev from the cars boisterous engine, and then the soft purring of the car slowly died out, fading away into the warm air.
The man stopped the Stinger and quickly shoved the door open, then got out of the car hastily. The fringe of his dark blonde hair drooped slightly over the sunglasses on his face, reflecting a gleaming ray of sun hitting the glass. He calmly removed them, and clipped them onto the neck of his light blue t-shirt smoothly. He then reached into his white jacket and slowly pulled out his own Colt 45, which shone brightly in the hot sun.
A plane that had just landed taxied into the terminal, brushing past the vicinity where the Banshee and Stinger both sat, as it went. The thunderous sound of the plane's jet engines blocked out that of the trunk of the Banshee, which was slammed shut after the driver of the car had took out a Spaz Shotgun.
Unaware that the two other men were approaching his position from either side of the building, the man from the Stinger checked that his Colt was loaded and then crept over to the corner of the brick wall at the back of the structure. He peeked round the corner and spotted one of the men walking towards him - the one with the shotgun. Making sure that he remained covered by the corner of the building, he aimed the gun out at the man, gripping the handle tightly.
"Freeze," he yelled, his finger already tweaking the trigger of his gun slightly. "Vice Law, drop the gun now!"
The confident look on the man's face suddenly changed to fear. He released his grip from the shotgun and the weapon fell from his hands, hitting the floor with a loud clunk. He shortly gave a small grin, however, as he glanced past his attacker.
Behind him the second man stood, the two shiny Colts he had flaunted earlier gleaming in either hand.
"No," the man whispered aggressively, aiming one of the guns at the cop's head. "You drop it."
The cop slowly turned round and faced the barrels of each gun. As he stared down the small chasms, he dropped his Colt to the ground with a short, uneasy sigh.
The other man crouched down and picked up his shotgun, then quickly jolted round behind the man with the two pistols. As the man with the pistols began to squeeze the triggers, he started to laugh menacingly. As he looked at the two guns, a sudden gunshot in the air, not coming from the two Colts, alarmed him. The deafening sound rung in his ears again and again, until it was all he could think about.
He looked to the left at his partner and was terrified to see him fall forwards towards the cop, his pistols dropping from his hands as blood oozed from a small perforation in his chest. Before he could look round to react he was thrust backwards by the cop, who jumped forwards after the man and punched his face wildly. After a few gruelling seconds of trying to fight back, the man lay unconscious on the cold floor.
The cop slid the shotgun on the ground to the side and picked up his Colt 45. As he slotted it back into his jacket, he looked up to see a man in a silver suit approaching him. The man stopped and aimed his pistol, a hefty Colt Python, at the cop sitting on the floor.
"Freeze!" he exclaimed quickly, cocking the gun as he aimed it forwards. "Rico Martinez, LCPD."
The cop on the floor sighed quietly before looking back up at the other man.
"Well done partner," he groaned, reaching into his jacket for something. He slowly pulled out a leather case, in which a shiny badge sat. "Sonny Johnson, Vice Law."
Red and blue lights flashed continuously on the roof of an ambulance, parked next to the small building where the fight had took place in the airport only moments earlier. Nearby another ambulance sat, along with a SWAT van and a Police cruiser. On the floor white chalk was drawn boldly onto the concrete, in the shape of a body outline, marking where the criminal had been killed earlier that day.
Sonny Johnson and Ricardo Martinez, the two police officers at the incident, sat next to each other on a small concrete ramp, away from all of the commotion. Sonny lit up a cigarette and then turned to face Ricardo.
"So, Liberty City huh?" Sonny asked. "What's it like down there then?"
"Dark, gloomy." Ricardo began. "Pretty much just a small New York. Makes sense because they are actually quite near each other. Well, anyway, I work in the armed robbery division there as a detective."
"Oh yeah?" Sonny replied as he puffed on the cigarette. "What brings you down here to good old Vice then?"
"Ever heard of a person named Vercetti? Tommy Vercetti?" Ricardo asked. He pulled out a small picture of Tommy, but Sonny shook his head, thinking hard about the man. "Well, he is a criminal from down in Liberty. He's a real good one as well, the kind of guy with the potential to become top of the crime tree. He used to work for a gang called the Forellis, but then he got busted at some deal or something. He just got released from prison a few days ago after fifteen years in the slammer."
"Come to mention it, the name does ring a bell." Sonny butted in, disturbing Ricardo's explanation.
"Yeah, it probably should. Anyways, we think the Forellis have sent him down here to Vice City. I've been following him all day. Caught up with him at the Kasen Casino on Staunton Island, but then he stole my car and got away to the airport." Ricardo continued. "The LCPD sent me to follow him at all costs, so I have. But thanks to this big distraction, he could be anywhere in the city by now."
"Well, Ricardo, I'm sure we will think of some way to find him." Sonny reassured confidently, blowing smoke up into the air as he spoke.
"Sonny ... Sonny. Please, call me Rico." Ricardo laughed.
"OK, Rico. If that's what you want," Sonny quickly replied, a smile spreading across his face.
"Wait a second, that's it! Tommy Vercetti! I knew I had heard that name somewhere before!" Sonny yelled to Rico, breaking the short silence, which had lasted only a few seconds. Rico sat, edging forwards on the end of the ramp, eagerly awaiting Sonny's explanation.
"I had to check all of the passengers on the incoming flights today, those guys from the Banshee being a couple of them. I also saw Tommy's name on one of the lists, along with a few other guys travelling with him. I heard about him being released from Liberty Penitentiary a few days ago, and so checked it out. And when I looked, it said something about him being picked up by a guy called Rosenberg. Ken Rosenberg, I think it was."
"He's a Forelli lawyer!" Rico exclaimed. "I knew they were in on this somehow!"
"Sonny!" another voice blasted over at the two, coming from the direction of the squad car parked by the building. "Get over here a minute!" It yelled, interrupting the conversation.
Sonny hoisted himself up off the small ramp, and then tossed his cigarette down onto the damp ground. He quickly glanced at Rico as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and then walked over to the person who had just called him.
As Sonny approached the squad car the man flung open the door of the vehicle and got into the drivers seat. Sonny slowly opened the other door of the vehicle, and sat down in the passengers seat, next to the man.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" Sonny asked as he settled down into the slightly uncomfortable chair.
"Call me Ed, Sonny." Edward Jameson, Sonny's Lieutenant replied with a slight chuckle. "So, you alright after what just happened?"
"Oh come on Ed, of course I'm fine." Sonny answered. "But, what has happened with the guy I knocked out before? The one that raised the damn shotgun at me."
"We are taking him back to the station Sonny, so don't worry." Ed explained. "He will probably go to prison for assault on a police officer, unless he somehow gets out on bail. I doubt that should happen, though."
Sonny gave a long sigh as a reply, his expression becoming very serious.
"So, anyway, who is that other cop over there?" Ed questioned, trying to bring back the conversation.
"Ricardo Martinez. LCPD Armed Robbery Detective, uses Ricardo Gonzalez as an undercover name, likes to be called Rico, and he was sent here after Tommy Vercetti. That's everything I know about him." Sonny replied quickly, trying to get it all out of the way. "This Tommy Vercetti guy just got released from prison a few days ago, and the LCPD think he has been sent down here to Vice by the Forelli gang. As far as I know, this is true. I remember looking over the incoming flight lists at Vercetti, and he is getting picked up by a Ken Rosenberg."
"I see. Well, go with him. See what you can dig up about this Vercetti guy." Ed ordered. "I've heard about the Forellis, and I don't want a gang like them in Vice, so go see what you can do."
Without replying, Sonny opened the door of the cruiser and stepped out into the open air, once again shoving his hands into his pockets. He quickly walked over to his Stinger, glinting in the sunlight, and hopped over the door into the drivers seat swiftly. Rico, after noticing that Sonny had signalled to follow him, jogged over and got into the other seat.
Sonny started up the roaring engine, bringing the car to life as he turned the key. The vehicle surged forwards as Sonny stepped on the accelerator, heading towards the exit of the airport. The day was drawing on, and the pair had no time to waste.
The Stinger skidded out of the airport terminal, screeching to a halt at a set of traffic lights along the winding round exiting the airport area. One, two, three, four ... the light seemed to stay red forever. Finally, after almost another ten seconds had passed the light switched down to amber and then proceeded on to green. As soon as the light flashed green Sonny stepped down on the accelerator hard, swerving to the right and then to the left out to the main road.
"So, where we heading?" he yelled above the wind over to Rico, as he raced forwards along the highway at the edge of the Mainland.
"A small building in Ocean Beach. Ken Rosenburg & Co, just follow my directions and we'll find it." Rico replied shortly after. "We ought to go and check it out, 'cos that is Ken's small law firm. But hurry, if these guys are doing something then we have no time to lose."
Sonny nodded and then shifted into fourth gear in a hurry, the tires screeching menacingly as he veered off onto Starfish Island. He slowed the car down as he went down the bridge, so as not to scrape the end of the bonnet on the floor, and then sped up along the straight.
Several minutes later the car came to a halt outside Ken's building. Rico looked round, but there was no sign of any cars parked outside at all.
"Doesn't look like our man is home." He groaned, stepping out of the car.
"No, it seems as though Kenny has been out all afternoon." Sonny replied with a small laugh. "Lets just go inside and take a looksie, eh?"
Rico acknowledged with a short nod, slowly lifting out his heavy Colt Python as he stepped through the main door of the Harrison Hotel into the lobby of the small building. The two walked straight past the messy reception, which had no staff there at all. The desks were littered with scruffy papers, and Sonny wondered how anyone could navigate through the mess. He quickly followed Rico through to the back corridors of the office building, quickly drawing his Colt 45 as they turned a corner.
Rico walked through the narrow corridor at a very fast pace, trying to find Ken Rosenberg's office desperately. He eventually found it at the end of the corridor. A small door, with textured glass as a window so that you couldn't see through it properly, and then a neat name printed on saying 'Ken Rosenburg, Chairman'. Rico gripped his Colt tightly and then twisted the doorknob, throwing the door open immediately after.
He burst into the room, pistol held high, but nobody was there. The room was empty, except for more messy papers and a small sofa in one corner of the room. Behind the disorganized and untidy desk was a large notice board, which Sonny quickly checked for any information. Nothing of importance was pinned up onto the cork, however.
"Hey, Sonny," Rico burst out, prying Sonny over to a dusty fax machine on top of a wardrobe. "Take a look at this."
Sonny picked up a small sheet of paper that lay in the tray of the fax machine, and then skimmed through the writing on it.
"Look at the address." He said, a more positive tone in his voice. "It's from Liberty, addressed from the Forellis!"
Sonny took a closer look at the paper, along with Rico trying to glance at the sheet over his shoulder.
"Hey, look at that!" Rico exclaimed, looking near the bottom of the page. "It says about picking Tommy up, and a deal."
"At the docks, today!" Sonny yelled, a nervous expression coming across his face.
The two raced out of the room, running back outside to Sonny's Stinger, still parked right outside the door. They both jumped in, and Sonny stepped down hard on the accelerator, heading down for the docks as fast as possible. Rico, still gripping the paper extremely tightly, kept on reading the small print on the page.
"Sonny, come on!" he yelled with intensity. "Step on it man, it says the deal is set for in ten minutes!"
Sonny, with a shocked look on his face, stamped down on the pedal as he raced over the south most bridge of Vice City.
The Stinger skidded violently round the corner of the bridge, heading straight to Viceport to try to catch up with Tommy Vercetti and the drug dealers. Sonny stomped down as hard as he could on the pedal, but the car would go no faster. At top speed, the shining vehicle swerved in and out of all traffic on the main road, on both the right and wrong sides.
As the car approached the gates marking the entrance to the docks area, the Stinger quickly slowed down. In the distance a helicopter, a white maverick, could be seen rising from the ground up into the air. It then swiftly turned round and headed away from Vice City rapidly. Amongst the large distraction of the helicopter, however, several loud gunshots could still be heard, even though rather faintly.
Sonny carried on in the direction of the gunshots, unaware of exactly where he was headed. As he approached the place he thought the helicopter had taken off from along with the gunshots, he made the car come to an eventual halt and then pushed the door open to his side.
As he stepped out onto the bumpy pavement, he drew his Colt 45 promptly from the holster in his jacket. Rico stepped out of the Stinger, following Sonny closely. He shut the door quietly, and then the two advanced on the area, going past a large wire fence on the way.
At the destination, three bodies lay on the floor, pools of dark red blood surrounding each one. Two of them lay very close to each other, in open ground. The other lay on its own, just a slight bit further away.
"Looks like this was the deal." Rico sighed, aware that everything had been a failure. "Someone else must have been in on it, and tried to take out everyone."
"Yeah." Sonny replied in agreement shortly after. "And none of these look like Tommy. I think these guys must have stolen the money, and the drugs. The dealers escaped in the chopper, while Ken and Tommy escaped in their car. Ken has an Admiral, right?"
Rico gave a short nod, indicating that he both agreed with and understood Sonny's theory, whilst also answering his question. He began to speak, but was suddenly cut off by the loud sound of an engine, coming from somewhere close by. Sonny pushed his Colt back into its holster and then followed Rico back to the Stinger. In the distance, on the road, a gold coloured Admiral could be seen speeding away. But it was too late to follow; they had already escaped.
Rico let go of the top of the Stinger door, which he was about to tear open to get inside the car and take pursuit. However, sensing that Sonny hadn't done the same, he decided not to. Instead, he slowly placed his own gun back into his jacket, and then gave a long and heavy sigh.
"Looks like they're all away then." Rico unhappily moaned, wondering if he would be able to track Tommy down.
"Don't worry." Sonny reassured quickly, a sound of confidence in his voice. "This is Vice City - Tommy won't be able to stay hidden for long. And he doesn't know we're after him. So, just don't worry, because he'll be back."
Sonny then slowly opened the door of his car, and sat down into his seat, embracing the warmth of his vehicle. He turned the key and started up the engine once again, as Rico got into the other seat. The car reversed slowly, and then spun round, as if it was sliding on ice, as Sonny twisted the steering wheel powerfully.
He went forwards, staying at a normal speed, now that he was not in a rush.
"So," he began. "You got a job to get back to down in Liberty? I guess you will have to leave the Tommy thing to us."
"Nah," Rico answered, looking over at the sun, which was fading down into the sea as he spoke. "They expected me to nail Vercetti down here. If I do go back, they'll expect something."
"Sounds a little, strange. But hey, it's a whole new city down there!" laughed Sonny in reply.
"Yeah, I guess it is a little stupid." Rico sighed. "Oh well, I guess I will have to go back there anyway."
"Hey, wait. Hold on a second Rico." Sonny started, as Rico eagerly awaited the response. "You ever fancy a job in law enforcement down here in the south?"
"Maybe..." Rico laughed as the Stinger exited Viceport onto the main road once again. "Just maybe!"