Rush—Crush to Deliver
4:47pm Portland, Liberty City
"Wu-hu!" Takashi Yamazaki shouted as he zoomed up to middle of Saint Mark's. He made a sharp right to another part of Saint Mark's. He shifted to high gear and jammed his right foot to the gas pedal. Skid marks were on the street when he blitzed through it. He turned right that lead him to an intersection. He headed right to Portland View. If that wasn't enough, two LCPD cars tailed him in his track course. He made a power slide to the right and another right turn that lead him right to Chinatown.
"HQ! HQ! –Request for back up—chuff!" The policeman uttered to his radio comm. while tailing the fugitive.
He pressed the call button once more.
"I'm pursuit of what it looks like a black…Sentinel—not an ordinary Sentinel…"
The policeman made a hard turn to gain sight at his pursuer. They were at Atlantic Quays and the cop still trailed the Sentinel.
"We should do something to subdue this creep, Li!" a policewoman radioed the policeman.
Li glanced behind him and saw another LCPD car, driving behind.
"Yeah, I know…" Li radioed back. "Alright—Kinomoto…back me up!"
He began to push the gas pedal. The wheels burst up smoke by the torque. Eventually, he caught with the Sentinel. Takashi waited long enough for the police to make their move—and they did. He anticipated the moves of the young police guy. He strafed his car right, blocking the policeman's way. They were five meters away from the Callahan Bridge.
"Let's get him!" Sakura shouted at the radio comm.
Li caught up with the speeding Sentinel. His front bumper was close on the Sentinel's rear bumper. Takashi knew that and made a hard left to Trenton. He made another left turn, crossing a short path walk. He steered the car to another left and blazed to Chinatown again. The two cop cars were still tailing him. He looked his rear view mirror to see if the cops were still there behind him. He past by Liberty Bank and honked his horn.
Two Triad Fish Vans zoomed out behind them and followed them.
"I still need some back-up here—chuff!" Li radioed again.
"I'm on my way—chuff!" a voice complied from Li's receiver.
---
Takashi made power slide to the right, drifting to Portland View. Seconds later, they were now at Saint Mark's. He drove a curb, twisting the steering wheel hard and made another right turn. The traffic wasn't heavy, making the turn a breeze. He zoomed uphill in an attempt to shake of the cops at his back.
"Here's something for you!" Takashi said, grinning.
He jammed his right foot on the gas pedal. It went over an 80 kph just before the police could reach him. Unbelievably, just before Takashi hit the top of the hill, he made an unsuspecting U-turn and went past the two cop cars.
"In your face!" Takashi shouted, as he drove past the two cops.
"What the hell…" Li shouted, seeing the Sentinel driving past him.
"He's good!" Sakura praised the fugitive's sleek move.
Li gritted his teeth in annoyance. He can't believe that guy just past without much effort of a poke in the arm.
"Wait 'till I get my hands on him…" Li swore.
---
"I guess I made a slip from them. He-he…" he laughed, relaxing a bit.
Suddenly, out of the blue, another cop car appeared in front of him. Takashi pulled the handbrakes. He twirled around the aggressive car. He pushed the brakes and halted a bit.
"Shit! What hell is that?" he asked him self
He turned to where the car went. He saw a third cop car that almost rammed him. He got a good look at his attacker, getting out of the car. It was a girl who got out of the car, holding a 9mm pistol and pointed at it at Takashi.
"Holy…shit…" Takashi shouted.
He pressed on the gas but nothing—the engine stalled.
"Oh man, come on!" he shouted, twisting the ignition key.
"Freeze!" The female cop shouted.
She went a little closer to the law breaker. Takashi still tried to make the car move but no luck yet.
"Get out the vehicle and put your hands up!" the cop ordered.
Takashi scowled at the girl cop while trying to get the engine running. He tried again but nothing happened. The other cops appeared at the side of the other cop. They exited their car and went beside the third policeman. They had their guns out of their holsters and prepared for more trouble.
"Did we have him?" Sakura asked the female cop.
"…Hope so, Sakura…" the female cop replied. "Stay back! I think he's armed."
"…Only way to find out," Shaoran said to them.
Shaoran pulled his gun out its holster.
"Get out and put your hands up!" he ordered.
Takashi didn't respond, instead he turned his head behind the car and grinned.
"You'll be having a big surprise…" he muttered, grinning devilishly at the cops.
Suddenly, the unthinkable happened. Out of nowhere, a fish van ran in front of the Sentinel, blocking it from the sight of the cops.
"What the…" Sakura screamed, drawing her pistol.
Seconds later, another fish van rammed the three police cars. A couple of Triads came out of the first fish van. The first one, wearing a blue jumpsuit, threw his bat at Li. That bat hit Shaoran hard on the head and chest. He flinched—at the same time dropped his gun. The other one ran towards the rear of the van and shot at the police cars with his Uzi. The second pair of Triads, who were behind the cops, did the same. The three enforcers could only do was to duck from the fire. A little later, the Triads eventually stopped firing. They hurried back to the van.
Takashi twisted the ignition key one more time. Luckily, the engine responded. The engine roared to life with its powerful glory.
"Oh yeah!" Takashi shouted gloriously.
He shifted the car to reverse. He stopped, shifted it to first gear and sped off to a nearby lane. The first fish van followed Takashi. The other van ran over a portion of the police car and sped off. The driver of the second fish van made a F.U. sign before they disappeared.
"Damn it!" Shaoran shouted.
He slammed his fist against the ground; the other two cops got to their feet but shaken after the incident. Suddenly, Syaoran and went to his colleagues.
"You two alright…?" Shaoran asked them.
The third cop nodded slowly, putting back her gun to its holster.
"They really got us by surprise," Shaoran admitted.
"Yeah, I know…" Sakura paused for a moment to think. "Who's that guy anyway?"
The policewoman shook her head. She then wiped off some of the sweat on her head.
"I didn't get a good picture of him," she replied.
Shaoran shook his in grief.
"This would be a problem," Shaoran commented.
He looked around to see if there were any witnesses. No witnesses have been found.
"We should call for a ride," Shaoran said to them in a calm voice.
"Good idea!" Sakura agreed.
"But there is a problem, guys."
The policewoman pointed at the totaled cars behind their backs. Suddenly, sparks appeared without warning from the car wreck.
"Oh man!" Shaoran exclaimed.
---
5:20pm Chinatown, Portland
The three cars stopped by a deserted alley. Takashi and the four Triads got out of the car and went to an entrance door. Takashi approached the door first. The Triads looked around, with their Uzi's at hand—prepared to take out enemies who gets in there way. Takashi turned around and bowed before the Triads.
"Thanks for the save earlier," he said to them.
One of the Triads chuckled.
"Eh-he, no problem, kid."
"It was lucky that were just standing-by before you honked that horn," another Triad said to Takashi.
Takashi smiled at them and chuckled.
Suddenly, the door opened. A man peeks out of the steel door. Takashi turned around and him a little jumpy.
"Hey, dude," Takashi to the man, "special delivery!"
The man looked at Takashi then noticed the Triads behind the boy. The man recognized the blue jumpsuit, those black baseball caps and the guns they were carrying.
"Oh, it's you…" the man grumbled. "So, did you get it?"
Takashi nodded.
"This will keep you from trouble, you dirty bastard," one Triad said to him. "So, don't screw this up."
"Easy…" Takashi said, lifting his right arm and blocking the Triad's way.
Takashi glared at the man.
"Don't screw this up, man…" Takashi said, "—or I'll be the one to screw you."
"Let's go!" Takashi said to the gang.
The four Triads made their good bye glares at the man. The man shook with fear, seeing their eyes.
"Have a blast," Takashi said to the man, waving his right arm and bid good bye.
The four Triads hopped back to their fish vans and drove off. Takashi went inside his borrowed Mafia Sentinel. He twisted the ignition and drove off. The man saw them left him and went inside his building.
---
6:18pm Callahan point
The three vehicles stopped by at Greasy Joe's to have some grub. Takashi and his companions went inside the restaurant. There were few people dining-in tonight as Takashi noticed. Some of the customers were just truck drivers from Portland Harbor. It was a little silent compared to some eat outs he visited. Takashi found his seat and his buddies looked for theirs. Soon, a young waitress came to them. The girl had chocolate brown hair and had a fly away on each side. She wore a white baby tee shirt with the sleeves short and pink; a denim mini-skirt and a pair of sandals on her feet.
"Hey, guys…" The girl greeted them with delight.
Takashi smiled at her.
"Hi, Rika…" He greeted back.
The girl smiled back at Takashi.
"How did the mission go?" she whispered curiously.
Takashi grinned.
"Well, nothing much—piece of cake," he replied proudly.
Rika chuckled.
"You're sitting…" Rika paused. "Where are you buddies?"
Takashi pointed where his buddies were. Rika looked where Takashi's finger was pointing at. She saw the four Triads, sitting on the other side of the restaurant. They waved hello at Rika. Rika waved back at them.
"So, what can I get ya?" Rika asked Takashi.
"Oh, the usual…" Takashi replied, leaning on his seat.
Rika wrote it done on her pad.
"Okay, wait for a while."
Minutes later, Rika served Takashi's food on his table. A little later, they chatted. Suddenly, Rika's phone rang from her pocket. She picked her phone and answered who was calling.
"Hello…" She answered. "Sr. Wu…"
She began to pause for a moment to listen on her phone. Takashi began to wonder who Rika was talking on her phone.
"Yes," Rika uttered, "I'll be right there."
She hung up.
"What's the sitch?" Takashi asked Rika curiously.
Rika shook her head.
"Call you later, Takashi," she said. "I think I have a job for you."
---
8:00pm Hepburn Heights
The alarm buzzed, making Takashi wake up from his calm slumber. He turned the alarm clock off, and then dropped again. A few moments he picked himself up. His room was small. All his things were compacted to one place. He got up just wearing a denim pants. He walked towards the washing machine at the far right corner of the room. He got a grey shirt with red sleeves and a pair of socks on top of the washing machine. He put them on, groomed him self and got out his temporary hideout. Next to his hideout was a small garage that can only store one car. The garage door opened automatically. Inside, lied a black Patriot
Okay, Rika told me last night to have breakfast at Greasy Joe's and meet here there, he told him self.
"What could it possibly be?" he said, jumping on his Patriot. "I guess another delivery mission."
He twisted the ignition. The engine roared as he pressed on the gas pedal. The shifted the car in gear and got out of his hideout.
He glanced left and right to see if there were cars on the street. He steered the car to the left, driving off. He was on the opposite lane before he steered on the right lane.
It was a pleasant morning; bright and beautiful. The sun raised perfectly that blended on the tall, green tress of Hepburn Heights. Takashi drove across the warm roads to Portland View were he would meet Rika. He drove inside the parking lot of Greasy Joe's. He got out of the car and the locked the car doors of his Patriot.
The young man went inside the restaurant. As he got inside, he scanned the area and looked for Rika. He spotted her and far left of the restaurant a little later.
"Yeello!" Takashi greeted.
He sat down in front of Rika. Rika smiled at him and was happy to see him.
"Yamazaki," Rika said, "let's eat first, then we talk."
After they ate breakfast, they cut to the chase.
"Alright," Rika said, "it's time for your job."
Takashi drank a glass of water and grinned at her.
"So, what could that be?" Takashi asked.
Rika pulled out a piece of paper out of one of her breast pockets of her shirt. She gave that piece of paper to Takashi. Takashi read the contents of the paper. He raised an eyebrow, making a questioning face at Rika.
"Another delivery?" Takashi gave back the paper to Rika.
Rika nodded. "A…'friend' of ours needs help in delivering a package to Staunton Island. This certain package needs some TLC and must be delivered as quickly as possible. You gonna need your fasted car you have, get the package from Portland Harbor and avoid the authorities when you get there."
"Authorities…?" Takashi said, interrupting Rika.
Rika nodded slowly for she knew this job would be tricky.
"Our 'friend' needs you to give this package to some gang leader in Staunton," she explained. "I'm not sure what that is—but it seemed important."
"Figures…" Takashi uttered.
He leaned on his seat to relax his back a bit.
"Bottom-line is," Rika said, "at about quarter to two, he will leave the package somewhere in the harbor. He said that he'll leave on top of the roof of a building with gas tank beside it—be careful!"
"And why?" Takashi raised an eyebrow.
"The LCPD will investigat the harbor because of a crime committed a few days earlier. They might think you're a suspect—which you are five minutes after the allotted time."
She picked her cup and sipped some coffee. Takashi knew what to expect on this mission. He grinned with excitement.
"You should find another way around that harbor if you met up with them," Rika told him.
"That…would be tricky," Takashi said, frowning.
"Takashi," Rika said, looking rather serious, "I know you're a good driver and can do this type of job but please be careful."
"Ah, come on. You know me; I'm not that idiotic to head them on. You can count on me to deliver… whatever it is in Staunton. So don't worry—much."
"That's what I'm afraid of…" Rika sighed.
"Oh shush, how dramatic," Takashi replied.
"Good luck, Taks" Rika said, smiling
"Thanks…" Takashi replied.