Chapter 1 – The Unlucky Escape

Liberty City was once a golden city for gang's way back in the early part of the 21st Century. Now there was no Mafia left in Liberty City since the Forelli's had no living sons after Mike Forelli had been blown up in a car bomb in 2001 and Joey Leone of the Leone Family Mafia was shot in Shirago in 2002.

Now in 2019 Liberty City was as full of criminals as it ever was. One of these criminals was Claude Speed. Claude Speed had a plan to make the largest robbery ever at the Bank of Liberty in the Ghost Town with his three friends Bob, Lee and Sanchez.

Claude Speed, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City, 2019

"Have you took Equinox 4.0 and loved it" the radio said "well guess what, there's a new Equinox from Zaibatsu Pharmaceuticals, Equinox 5.0, Equinox 5.0 is new and improved which can cure even more illnesses, Ask your doctor about Equinox 5.0… today"

Then suddenly the voice speeded up "Equinox 5.0 may cause nausea, loss of sleep, blurred vision, leakage, kidney problems and breathing irregularities. Do not take Equinox 5.0 if you are operating any machinery, driving a car, pregnant, a child of low age, unhappy or if your family has a history of mental disorders,"

"Equinox 5.0, softening life's harsh realities!" the radio finally said

Suddenly Claude turned the radio off.

"What are you doing?" Bob asked "I was listening to that"

"What, you were listening to a commercial" Claude said

"Yeah, anyway Chatterbox was coming back on" Bob said

"I've been listening to that since I was five" Claude said "and it has never got any different, still the same old crap, someone phones in and Lazlow insults them, repeat, anyway I don't want to be calmed down before I make the biggest robbery ever"

"I'm going to get that Equinox 5.0 soon" Bob said

"You're kidding me, right" Claude said

"No, I've got the last three Equinoxes'" Bob said "what's wrong with it?"

"What's right with it more like" Claude said "firstly I don't like how many side affects Equinox gives you and secondly I don't particularly think much of the owner of Zaibatsu, it's owned by some half-Cuban gangster named Red Valdez"

"Yes, but it's not developed by Red Valdez, it's developed by a Dr. LaBrat" Bob said

"That doesn't matter" Claude said "I won't trust pharmaceuticals made by gangsters, I've heard bad stories about him"

"Hey will you two stop arguing" Lee said

"Yeah homies, ya making me nervous" Sanchez said

The blue Kuruma was parked just on the grassy knoll beside the tunnel to Ghost Town. Lee who had tanned skin and had shaved his head so a centimetre of hair remained, and he was wearing a white vest and jeans was the driver.

Claude Speed was the man who was to lead the robbery had short brown hair and he wore a black jacket and blue jeans.

Bob was a slightly chubby man with brown hair and was wearing a red sweater and black trousers; he was only drafted in at the last minute because they needed someone extra to make sure none of the customers in the bank moved.

Sanchez was a Mexican with long brown hair and beard, he was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, he spoke in a thick Mexican street accent and he was there to crack the safe.

All four of them had grown up together and now they were facing the biggest robbery ever.

"Claude" Lee said "is it time to do the robbery yet?"

"Yes" Claude said

Lee pressed down on the accelerator and made a left turn into the tunnel, he drove very slowly just incase they caught the attention of the LCPD. Lee kept on driving through the dark tunnel. As they came to the Bank of Liberty they made a sharp turn and parked just outside it. Claude, Bob and Sanchez stepped out of the car and took their Colt 45's out of their pocket. They weren't using shotguns for this job. Sanchez then took a brown bag to put the money in. Lee parked the car the quickest way out of the bank car park while the other three ran into the building.

They burst in and Sanchez shouted "Yo homies, touch the ground"

Claude and Sanchez didn't wait to see what happened; they ran into the back of the bank leaving Bob to make sure none of them moved.

The bank manager was sitting in his office when suddenly the door came bursting in and Claude came over to him.

"Right, how do you open the safe?" Claude asked

"You're supposed to be the robbers, you work it out" the bank manager said

Sanchez kicked him in the face so hard that his nose started bleeding.

"Now ya tell me homie now or I'll shoot you" Sanchez said

"Okay follow me" the bank manager said

The manager took them along a corridor, up a lift and into a room where there was a safe. The manager pushed a few numbers into the safe and the safe swung open. Claude and Sanchez's

"There you go, take the lot" the bank manager said "you'll never reach heaven"

"This is heaven" Claude said

Sanchez put all the money into the brown bag and they ran out of the room, down the lift, into the corridor and back into the main bank where Bob was still making sure none of the clerks or . They ran out of the bank building when suddenly they halted to the spot and there was a hail of bullets. There were five black LCPD cars, a dozen policemen and a helicopter hovering above them and Lee and the blue Kuruma were nowhere to be seen.

Bobs body was lying lifeless on the ground full of bullets.

"You heartless bastards" Claude shouted "why did you have to shoot him, he didn't even plan this robbery, he isn't even a criminal, he didn't even want to help with the robbery, I forced him"

"Get down on the ground" one of the LCPD men shouted with a megaphone "both of you"

Claude and Sanchez didn't argue and reached for the ground. The policeman with the megaphone walked over to them.

"What are your names?" the policeman shouted

"Sanchez" Sanchez said

"What is your first name?" the policeman again shouted

"Me don't have one homie" Sanchez said

"I will blow your head clean off if you don't tell me your first name" the policeman shouted

"Me telling tha truth homie, me have no first name" Sanchez said again

"We'll check that" the policeman shouted and then turned to Claude "and who are you punk?"

"Claude Speed" Claude said

"So you were born with a first name" the policeman shouted sarcastically

Claude's father had often told Claude the story of how he had got his first name. His father had said back when he lived in Shirago he had met a man the day Claude was born. The man like Sanchez had no first name but didn't seem to have any second name either. But this man's nickname was Claude and as soon as Claude's father Vince heard this the name stuck and so he was named… Claude Speed.