The grey Sentinel zoomed along the desert road at ninety miles per hour, heading towards the city of Las Venturas. Driving like a drunk, Max could barley keep his eyes open, but he couldn't close them due to the incredible pain factor. I wasn't soon before he lost control of the car, swerved off road and tumbled a ten or so feet into the desert, only one mile from Las Venturas.
Max opened his eyes to see the light blue hospital walls, the scent of medicine in the air. He gagged. The fucking smell he hated. The room was simple, a brown door, a bed, a metal stand with food and pills on it next to the bed, the IV, and a small square window opposite the door. Max studied the room, and then himself, feeling the bandages around his chest, examining the IV's in his arm. The taste of blood in his mouth had gone away, not that he wasn't used to it. His bones ached, and his body was covered in dark purple bruises. His mind drifted off, but he came back to his senses after a few minutes. He started thinking. The police were obviously downstairs, waiting for him to become conscious, they would arrest him and question him, but how many days had gone past? Did they find the blood stained badge? If they did than his guess was reality, if not he might be able to flee without being discovered. The room had no sign of the date or time.
He had no chances to take staying there and doing nothing about it. He ripped the IV's out of his arm without screaming. With no time to loose, he rushed around the room, taking a bottle of water and a few pills from the metal end table. He put on his hospital robe and approached the window. There was daylight, Las Venturas was awake and booming, endless cars passed by below, endless people passing by, all with their own problems just like Max had his.
He was loosing focus. He popped a pain pill in his mouth. Footsteps outside the door, no time to loose. It was a two story drop to a grassy area surrounded by brush. Out the window he went, landing was a cause to send pain through his whole body, reawakening old wounds. It felt almost like his legs would snap. The parking lot was on the other side of the complex, he stuck to the exterior wall making his way to the front. Passing by the front entrance an officer was staring out the window, looking outside probably waiting for Max to wake up. It was too late, before Max realized the cop was there he had been spotted. The chase was on, Max disappeared into the overcrowded parking lot searching for a car to steal. He was becoming the very thing he swore to protect people against.
He lost count of days sitting in his dark apartment in Liberty. Loosing friends, getting betrayed, killing an innocent kid, nearly dying over and over. It was too much. He couldn't think straight. Paranoia had corrupted him, for now. It caused him to spend most of his days sleeping, not leaving his apartment and eating TV dinners, watching phony reality shows like 'Liberty City Survivor'. The only weapon he had left (which he always kept by his side) was an old .45 hand pistol. The days continued to pass until one late afternoon, a yellow light making the apartment and Max himself glow, was when there was a knock at his door.
He took the .45, aiming it at the door as he slowly opened it. He was ready to kill the bastard at his door.
"Max! Don't shoot!" the man spoke. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and dark blue acid washed jeans. Long blonde hair.
A name came to Max's mind. "Pierce?" He had the weapon was still aiming at the man.
"What the fuck?" he sort of shrugged, "It's me, Max. Leon."
"Shit."
They sat down in the living room. "Max what's going on? What happened to you? Look at this place?"
Max glared around at the trash on the floor, the holes in the wall, the dark purple bruises on his fists.
"I feel like, I've lost everything. I don't even know how. What the fuck happened, Pierce?"
"Leon."
"Oh, sorry."
"Max."
Moments passed. Max shrugged. "What?"
"I, I-uh. I think I can tell you about what happened."
'What happened." He stared into his eyes. "What happened?"
"I was, at the hospital waiting for you to wake up, when I think I put the pieces together. How they pulled it off. That is, until recently."
Max picked up the soda can from the coffee table. He took a drink, then urged Leon to continue.
"Th-this Joey situation." Max made an angry face, he was pissed at Joey still. "I think he really was against the Jack Crime Family Organization. I think, that he, uh, was 'persuaded' by this Kingpin fellow, he almost got assassinated. Kingpin tried to kill Joey, but he failed, and for that he got whacked by the JCF. Phil Jefferson, by this time, was supposedly 'killed,' and uh, was working with the JCF because of his greed problem, being brainwashed by the JCF and their, irresistible offer. At this time, he had no way to fight, or he would be discovered alive, not dead, thereby blowing his cover. Like I said, Kingpin failed his mission, it was probably Connor who came up with the brilliant idea to eliminate Kingpin, so Phil could take his place, his disguise. They got to Joey, threatened him, they knew he was working with you and Pierce, you two would never go away. Joey endured his pain, to make his story look real, Phil did shoot him at the park, but not bad enough to kill him. It was a sacrifice he had to make, a little pain to survive. Joey was with you all the time, so the JCF always knew where you were, what you were planning. They probably even set up fake deals, like in the warehouse Venturas. It was all elaborately planned.
"Don't you see Max? The desert err-uh, war, thing, was supposed to be an ambush for you." His voice raised. "They let you survive to get on the plane, and lead us to this, set up, at Verdant Meadows. But they did fuck up, the tried to handle too many things at one time. They made enemies, with this Tommy Vercetti and Claude. Even worse was that these two dudes were attacked at the same time, so they made an alliance and attacked the JCF as they were going to ambush us, they made a fatal mistake, which lead to their demise."
"Your wrong."
"I am not!"
"No, I mean, the JCF aren't over. They still have Nicolettis right hand man, they have to. The JCF will retreat to their allies in Venturas. And if I know how the mob works, I will have a bounty on my head. Shit! I'm fucked!"
"No, Max."
"Yes! Yes I am, you see. I-I, ugh! You don't even understand. I KILLED A KID!" Max arose from his seat, using violent hand jesters as he continued talking, pointing at the window, at Liberty City.
"Was it self defense?"
"It doesn't matter! The jury is gonna. They don't. AHH! Okay, the jury is going to take in consideration the events that have happened in the past month or two. There is no fucking was that I will be okay. Even if I say it was self defense, with what has happened, my word is shit to them! They'll think, that I am just a dirty cop, who has to lie to save my ass! Don't you see?"
Leon arose from his seat now, speechless. Max was pretty much fucked in his opinion now too. "Well, what are you going to do?"
"I… I don't fucking know! Damn it!"
"Do the feds know you're here?"
"They should, they'll come eventually. Damn."
"Max, I don't know what you are going to do. But it's getting late now, and I can buy you some time." Max raised his eyebrow. "I'll tell the precinct that I saw you, uh, headed out of town. Okay?"
"Thanks, Leon."
"No problem, take care." With that, Leon walked towards the door, disappearing behind it.
Tommy Vercetti was headed towards Liberty City. He was wearing a black collared shirt and light blue jeans. His hair was gelled up, and was wearing glasses. His only thought was revenge. Max ruined it, Phil was dead. Claude was dead. Max was going to be dead next. He was staring out the window, the plane a few thousand feet in the air. It was only a matter of time before the Juank Air flight would come to an end, ultimately leading Tommy to Max.
It was on the news, the feds were going to search Max's apartment. Luckily Tommy had a source to locate the apartment. It was a race against the feds now, he had to take down Max Payne before the feds did. It wasn't long before the skyline of the city was outlined in the distance.
Slowly the plane lost it's height while swinging around the city to acquire it's landing position. Down below Tommy scanned Staunton Island, trying to find Max's apartment from his sight. A nice tune in the background was fitting, "I ran (so far away)" It reminded him from the better days, the young days. Speaking of not being young, he needed to shave his beard. Later for that though, today he had to go after Max.
The airport was in sight now, the plane lowered towards the runway, only a few hundred yards away. To be ready, Tommy needed to get a weapon, he had his day planned, only two tasks remained. Go to ammu-nation, and then got to Max's. The sun was beautiful, the sky a bright blue, barley and clouds, it was a good day. The plane became jittery as it touched down, around twenty minutes later Tommy grabbed his suitcase and exited though the metal detectors. It was good to be back in Liberty City. He held his hand out for a passing Taxi among the crowded sidewalks and streets. A Taxi pulled over, Tommy set his suitcase in beside him, in the backseat. "Hello there, I'm Daniel." he was an older man, gelled red hair, slightly wrinkly face. He dressed casually, he looked like a nice fellow.
"Hi," Tommy nodded, giving him a handshake. "I'm Tommy."
"Where you headed?"
"Ammu-Nation, Staunton Island."
"Alrighty."
He arrived, pulling over. "Want I should stay here, after you get done?" The driver, Daniel asked.
Tommy maneuvered the suitcase out of the seat. He shook his head, "No thanks. I can walk from here."
"Alrighty, that'll be seven thirty-three." Tommy paid the man a twenty, said he could keep it. Daniel thanked Tommy and then drove off to find another fare in Staunton Island.
Tommy entered the newly stocked store with a thick wallet.
"Gooday." An employee said. "Anything I can help you find?"
"Yeah, I have a, uh. Well, here." he handed a paper to the man. His eyes widened.
"Wow. Okay, I'll be happy to help you find this. Customer." He chuckled a bit.
Tommy followed the employee deeper into the shop. The floor had grown in size, it now had many isles. Guns and ammo populated the store like people do Liberty City, anywhere and everywhere. "Ah, here." The employee said. "A Colt Single Action Army." He unlocked the revolver safe, grabbing a beautiful, highly customized version 3 SAA.
"Great." The Single Action Army was a classic revolver. The version three released in 2007 had a customized frame, longer barrel, a filed down hammer, etc. All in all, it was more powerful than the desert eagle, and more accurate than the PSG1 sniper rifle.
"Ya know, some say this is the greatest handgun ever made."
"I acknowledged that."
"Excellent. Now, for the ammo, you wrote, ten boxes?"
"Yes."
"That'll be expensive, I hope you have the cash."
"Believe me, sir. I do." The employee grabbed the correct amount of merchandise and then headed back to the counter. There Tommy gladly paid the cash and exited the store. He put the weapon in the suitcase, and headed down the street, towards the center of Staunton Island to finish his job. "Paybacks a Bitch, ain't it Max?" he said to himself.