What happened? The car kinda left me strapped on cash, and Rich said that robbing liquor stores was one of the best ways to get some spare change in my pockets. Turns out it's not exactly legal. It also turns out that the LSPD, clumsy and corrupt as it may be, is extremely quick in dispatching its forces. Richie yells something at me, but I can't hear him over the gunfire, the screeching tyres and angry shouting cops.
"Let me drive, take the gun!"
In a rather risky and slightly awkward maneuver, we shift seats, while Rich hands me his gun. I lean out of the window halfway and start spraying. The first burst pops a tire and sends the cruiser careening along the highway, before smashing into another, sending that one crashing into a streetlight and exploding in a satisfying blast.
"Good shot, David! You..."
A bullet smashes into the car window, sending a spiderweb of cracks across the windscreen.
"...having fun?"
He seems to be enjoying himself. I shoot one bullet straight between the eyes of the cop that fired that shot, and grit my teeth as his colleague straight up throws the corpse out of the car before grabbing the steering wheel himself.
"Cops here are something else, eh?"
"You bet! They're sending choppers, so use this."
He hands me a clip with a yellow finish. I give Rich a curious look, to which he just says:
"Handle with care!"
I hear the rotors now, and look out to see a police chopper, complete with two tactically outfitted officers on the sides, coming up behind us. I calm my breath among the thundering gunfire, tap Richie's gun on the hood of the car, and line up the scope with the pilot.
"You don't need to aim with those bullets, just shoot, man! C'mon!"
"Yeah, what are they? Auto-seeking bullets?"
I smirk and press the trigger. My face shifts to one of disbelief as the first shot liquefies the pilot, the second only leaves an arm of the agent on the side, and the third slams into the engine, detonating before the entire chopper explodes mid-air.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS IN THOSE BULLETS, MAN?"
He just laughs as we reach Paleto Bay, and take a detour on the beach, merrily mowing down casual beach-goers relaxing in the warm evening.
"You're paying for the damages to my car, right?"
"Don't worry about those, man. Just live in the moment for once!"
One of the cops gets a lucky shot on the other back tire, and we swerve uncontrolledly on the sand, sending a snogging couple lying next to a fire straight to Heaven with many broken bones and busted organs.
"Rich, we can't keep going for long!"
"I know a place, just let me get the GPS! You keep the cops off us just a bit longer!"
He's losing his peppy demeanor and has his lips tightly snapped together in concentration. I keep firing at the cops while he hands me the clips, and I soon realize he's doing quite a lot by himself. Note to self, buy him a very expensive drink when we're out. If we get out.
Past Mount Chiliad, he swerves onto a dirt road, sending us flying over a pick-up driven by an astonished looking redneck. I fire one of the explosive bullets at the truck, making a rather ugly woman somewhere a widow. Never liked rednecks, anyway.
We pull up on a dirt runway, if that even makes sense, and Rich jumps out of the car. I follow suit, before the cop cars arrive. He starts running towards some sort of private plane, a Velum model. He hops on one of the wings and gestures inside.
"You're piloting, get this thing revved up while I hold them off!"
"Why?"
"You've actually flown a plane once, if that shit on LifeInvader wasn't just a lie!"
Righto. As I hop in and start pressing buttons, Rich pulls a honest-to-God machine gun out of his pocket and starts firing at the car that has just arrived at the landing strip. As I finish startup procedures and the propeller starts spinning, Rich throws a few somethings towards the back of the strip.
The plane starts moving, and he scrambles to get back in. We gain velocity, and Richie taps me on the shoulder and points backward. I spare a glance and see the cop cars exploding, probably from that little present my friend gave them.
"And with that, we're clear. Good job, Dave, my boy. You've successfully escaped your first police chase."
"Really? We're clear?"
"Cops are too lazy to keep searching once you're gone for a while. Helps us underground folk wonders. Besides, I can pilot too. Just wanted to test you out. And with that, you've made it official."
"What?"
"You've now transformed into a regular Los Santos citizen. Same as all of us crooks. Wanted, but never catchable. You're a real criminal now. Now I can really say, Welcome to Los Santos."