Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Ch.2

"So who am I exactly dealing with here?"

Tommy Vercetti: Mafia lord, criminal mastermind, and madman sat facing his lawyer Ken Rosenburg in his private suite dozens of stories above the teeming city streets below.

"So far Tommy, you have some serious competition from up north." Ken said.

"The damn Forelli's again?" Tommy spat.

"Worse." Ken stated throwing several photos on the small glass table.

Ken pointed to one face-a man with cold eyes and emotionless face, "Claude Speed: did jobs for the Leone mob, went haywire and whacked Salvatore Leone, been hidden by the Yakuza ever since."

"What's he got to do with all of this?" Tommy asked.

"He's hunting a Leone captain named Toni Cipriani," Ken pointed to another photo, "seems like the Leone's want a piece of the action in this city. And this guy's trying to stop them from doing so."

"Maybe I can use that to my advantage," Tommy started.

"I'm not finished yet," Ken stopped him, "we have a visitor from San Andreas-a Grove Street family punk named Carl Johnson."

Tommy snickered, "I heard about him-made a fool out of Salvatore Leone before Speed hit him. So the crime cartel's of San Andreas want a piece of this also?"

Ken nodded, "But the real threat here is not the Leone's or the renegades, if you want to take over this town you'll have to go through this guy."

Ken threw a photo down of a man wearing a divided mask with only one eye visible; Tommy stared down at the picture.

"Who the hell is this guy?" He questioned Ken, "Some kind of a freak in a gas mask playing criminal?"

"His name is Slade," Ken informed him, "no last name, family cannot be traced, and nothing on his background. The only thing I could find on him is that he's in league with this crime syndicate called the HIVE."

"And his whereabouts?"

"Unknown, but if I were you I'd start dealing with our competition from Liberty first. Toni is staying in the Caligula hotel at the other side of town-room number 366."

"And the other two?"

"CJ and Claude have yet to be traced, but we should be able to find them by the end of today."

"So until then," Tommy cracked his knuckles, "I'll just have to give our friend from up north a little greeting from the Vercetti family."

Jump City Mall:

Claude took one last puff on his cigarette then stamped it out before entering the city mall. First thing was first: he needed supplies. After checking the map of the building, Claude took notice to a promising gun shop on the second floor. Passing by an electronics boutique, he quickly noticed some commotion.

Figuring it was nothing but a disgruntled customer he continued on-he couldn't have been more wrong.

BAM! A bomb set off and Claude was sent flying in the air along with others that were nearby. His body splashed into the cold water of a nearby wishing fountain, Claude rose-amazed to be still alive and checked his body for any injuries. Finding none he stood firm when he heard mocking laughter and found himself looking in the face of an…overweight teenage geek?

Control Freak cackled as he pressed another button on his remote control-the walls around him crashed and a monstrous television set with teeth stepped out into the sunlight.

Confused, and frightened Claude stepped back. People around him scattered in all directions, screaming and trampling over each other in a complete panic. Control Freak seemed to enjoy all the havoc he was causing.

"Run, run, as fast you can! You can't escape me! I control all!" Control Freak shouted triumphantly.

It took only a moment for Claude to regain his cool; the sideshow freak was going to mess things up for him. Claude reached into his jacket to withdraw a concealed berretta. And he just couldn't let that happen.