QUICK NOTE:
When text is like this, either Rhys or Fiona is the one speaking
When this text is just like this, it means that the kidnapper is speaker
When text is like this, either Shadow or Plutia is the speaking
Not to worry later on I will put labels on who is speaking
(Opening Theme: Hamatora the Animation Opening 1)
I was born here… On Pandora… In a city cast in shadow known as Hollow Point… It's in a cave. Anyway for a long time it was just me and my sister. Just a couple of kids stealing what we could to survive. That is until we met Felix. We tried to nab his wallet. Not only did he stop us he showed us how to do it better we've been working together ever since.
I was born on Pandora as well, but my parents were killed by Bandits when I was little. At the time I was having a hard time surviving on my own. I sometimes find myself not eating on some days. Fiona found me while I was begging for food. She took me back home and I became her and Sasha's little sister. From there, her, Sasha and Felix started to teach me how to be a Con Artist like them.
This was our latest scam. And it was the biggest one yet… The one that would set us up for life.
That sounds familiar.
What can I say? A lot of these stories start out the same way.
-Sometime Ago on Pandora; Hollow Point (Fiona & Plutia's P.O.V)-
It was just another day within Hollow Point among the small family of con artists within a carven. Plutia sat on the couch humming to herself as she was sewing her doll named Iris which was a gift from her late mother; the doll had on the same dress as her the only two differences was the doll had red eyes and long dark purple hair with lilac blue at the ends.
While Fiona on the other hand was nervous about what was about to happen. They were going to con a company man from Hyperion, by the name of Hugo Vasquez. She pacing because she was nervous about what she might have to do to fool the one who was going to sell the merchandise, August.
Plutia had just finished patching up what was needed on her doll which was the eye. "There we go, all done!" Plutia said holding the doll out in front of her; admiring her own work, "Iris is all better now!"
Plutia noticed the way her sister was acting. "Big sister you're sweating. Are you nervous?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Fiona said to her, "This is taking way too long. She's waiting for us."
A man with a mechanical eye patch was working on the merchandise while Plutia sat next to him and watched. "Fiona, relax." He said to her, "There's nothing to be nervous about."
FELIX
RAISED FIONA, PLUTIA & SASHA IN A LIFE OF CRIME
"Hey Felix?" Plutia asked, "Are you almost done?" "Yeah, just about." He replied. Felix made the finishing touches to the merchandise, he then turned on something and the merchandise shined a purple light.
"It looks good." Fiona said to Felix.
The merchandise of course turned out to be a Vault Key which was a fake. "If August is a fence worth his cut, he'll be selling it to some Hyperion stooge… It should be good enough to fool one of them."
Plutia stared at it in awe, "Wow… It looks like the real thing." She couldn't help but say.
"Indeed." He said, "Not too many people have seen a Vault Key real or otherwise, so no one will know that this is a fake."
Plutia attempted to touch it but Felix slapped her hand lightly. "The paint may still be wet so don't let anyone touch it. That includes you Plutia." Felix said. Plutia made a pouty face.
"Don't touch it? Really?" Fiona said, "If Plutie here can't avoid touching it I'm pretty sure others won't be able to either. So how am I supposed to manage that?"
"Don't know." Felix replied, "But I'm sure you'll think of something. You always do."
Fiona had a nervous look on her face again. "You don't have to worry about this big sister." Plutia had said, "Besides you're better at this than I am."
"She is absolutely right." Felix said, "You're a pro. This is what you do. Your sister may have bought the mark, but you're the one that'll close the deal by playing whatever role you need to get the job done. If she introduces you as a tiny psycho, you'll squat down and scream about poop trains. Okay? The first introduction is who you are. You, Sasha, and Plutia have to work together."
Fiona let out a loud growl, "I have the shiniest meat bicycle!" Plutia couldn't help but laugh at her tiny psycho impression.
"Exactly." Felix said to her.
Fiona put her hands together, "Well, it's showtime." She turned to Plutia, "Alright Plutie, you ready to see your sisters in action?"
Plutia nodded her head, "Of course!" She got up off the couch and went beside Fiona clipping her doll to her belt on her dress.
"Fiona." Felix said to her, "When she gives you your role, you play it as best you can. The deal came together faster than I'm comfortable with, but… it's worth the risk… so it's best to take precautions against the unforeseen." Felix took out what appeared to be a small golden pistol. "The Purple Skag is not the type of place you walk into without a backup plan." He said.
"You want big sister to shot her way out?" Plutia asked him tilting her head in confusion
"Might need a bigger gun than that." Fiona said
Felix got up from his seat, "It's only for emergencies, just like how Plutia's friend is for emergencies."
He proceeded to install the small gun right into a hidden mechanic in her sleeve. "One bullet." Fiona said. "That's right." Felix said, "You'll always be able to talk your way out of more situations than can shoot your way out of."
With the hidden mechanic the gun went into her sleeve. Felix closed the case shut and Fiona reached out for it when he was handing it to her; he pulled back slightly. "Wet paint." He reminded her.
"No touch." She said while taking the case. Fiona took Plutia's hand and they headed out the door. "Emergencies only!" Felix soon shouted.
"Don't worry, we got it!" She said to him.
"And remember Plutia." He said to Plutia, "Don't let your friend come out unless if absolutely necessary."
"Hmmm…" Plutia said, "Well I can't control myself when I get mad, but I'll do my best."
"That's all I need to hear." Felix said, "Good luck to you and look out for each other. I'll meet you over there."
Fiona and Plutia both exited the cavan and went towards their destination; The Purple Skag. Luckily it wasn't to far from where they were so it was an easy walk. Plutia stayed close to Fiona as they approached the bar. They stopped in their tracks however when they saw a large man just at the entrance wearing overalls.
"Great…" Fiona said, "Felix didn't mention a bouncer."
"I'm just going to assume that's bad." Plutia said tilting her head.
"It is." She said, "Stay behind me Plutie in case things go south."
Plutia nodded and stayed behind her as they approached the front door. The large man like Fiona thought, he stopped them from entering. "Sorry." He said to the two of them, "No one's getting in here today. VIP's only."
TECTOR HODUNK
GREAT AT VIOLENCE, BAD AT EVERYTHING ELSE
"Private function." He continued to say, "There's Fyrestone Tavern down the road. If you really need a drink they'll take care of the two of you."
"He doesn't seem very bright." Plutia whispered, to which Fiona immediately shushed her. She then said to Tector, "Why do you care? I mean does this really matter?"
"Of course it matters!" Tector said to Fiona, "It's ma' job! I ain't lettin' no one in there what's not supposed to be in there."
"... Yeah." Fiona couldn't help but say. They attempted to walk into the Purple Skag again, but once again were stopped by Tector. "Whoa, no, no." He said as he stopped them, "Lookit me and lookit at you. You two ain't just pushin' your way past me. No Ma'am. That's ain't gonna happen."
Plutia's eyes widened when she saw a certain on the wall of the bar. "Umm, big sister?" she said getting Fiona's attention. "What?" She whispered to her, "What's the matter?" Plutia pointed towards a wanted poster with her face on it and another one with Plutia's face on it as well. "Oh." She couldn't help but say.
Tector had also noticed the posters as well.
"Wait a second…" Tector had said, "That's the two of you there. Your faces on the paper with the writin' on it. What's that about huh? What's them words say?" Tector had pulled out the gun, pointing towards Fiona. Plutia couldn't help but cling onto her sister when she saw the gun.
Fiona was quick to come up with an excuse seeing as how, Tector couldn't exactly read, "That's the VIP list. And we're on it. They probably put the a picture to make it easier for you."
"That's a short list." He pointed out.
"Well, we are important." She said with a smile.
Tector had an unsure look on his face, "I don't know…" He said.
Just than the door to the bar opened and it was revealed to be a young woman with short dreadlock hair that both Fiona and Plutia had seemed to be very familiar with.
"Out of the way Tector!" She said, "They're the VIP's we've been waiting for."
SASHA
FIONA'S OTHER KID SISTER; PARTNER IN CRIME
"Dang Sasha." Tector had said, "Why didn't you tell me they were with you? So sorry about that." Fiona and Plutia walked up to Sasha. "Can't believe that worked." Sasha said after she sighed with relief.
"I can't either." Fiona said to her.
Plutia couldn't help but hug Sasha to which she grunted. "I'm so happy to see you *big sis!"
(*Plutia calls Fiona big sister while she calls Sasha big sis)
"Plutia, I've been gone a couple of hours silly." Sasha said getting her off.
"I know but it feels like forever." Plutia said.
"Come on we'll talk more inside." She said to both her and Fiona. They entered the Purple Skag; before Fiona entered, she ripped off the poster of both her and Plutia and she went inside. They went to the bar where Sasha started to clean up any thing that was on the bar. Plutia sat on one of the stools while Fiona leaned on the bar.
Plutia looked around, "Where's that man that you're talking about big sis?" She asked, "What's his name again?"
"His name is August." Sasha told her, "He's with someone right now so we've got a second. He has some trust issues. He keeps asking about you so I'm just gonna tell you what I told him. Fair warning, it's a lot."
"Great." Fiona said sarcastically.
Sasha had started to explain Fiona's role to which she would play, "Okay, so here's the setup. Your name is Lidia Strauss. We're old friends. You're an archaeologist that stole the Vault Key from a dig site on Eden-6, but you're originally from Eden-5. You contacted me and we met at Pyro Pete's just after Mercenary's Day to talk about the deal. Then I set up the deal with August. You provide the key, August and I provide the deal, then we split the money 3 ways. The rest of it, you're just gonna have to improvise."
Fiona was trying to process the information while Plutia on the other hand had her head flat on the bar with her brain steaming. "My head hurts big sister…" Plutia said. "Well when you get to our age you're gonna have to remember things like that." Fiona told her.
"It feels like a lot of work though."
"I know, but you'll have to live through it when your time comes."
Sasha had then asked Fiona, "So did you get all that? I know it's a lot but he kept on asking."
Fiona nodded her head and said, "Yeah I got it Sasha, this isn't my first rodeo."
"Good. Good." She said, "That's a relief."
"What about me?" Plutia asked them, "What do I do?"
"You're still trying to learn how to be us." Sasha said to her, "You just sit back and just watch and learn and if needed, you'll provide back up."
Plutia smiled and said, "Okay. I'll be back up."
They soon heard August coming down the stairs with one of his clients named Tommy. Fiona motioned Plutia to move. She nodded and moved from one of the stools to one of the tables.
"Tommy come on." He said to him, "How far do we go back?"
"I've known your family for a long time August." Tommy said.
"That's right. Which is why this is all gonna work out. Now you say hi to the missus for me, okay?"
"We'll do August… heh, buddy."
"Tector!"
Tector came into the Purple Skag, "Yeah boss?" He asked.
"Make sure Tommy gets home alright." August told him. "Thanks again!" Tommy said to August as he walked out of the Purple Skag. Tector turned to August and all he did was nod at him; Tector pulled out his gun and stepped outside. August walked over to Sasha and took a moment to place a kiss on her cheek, surprising both Fiona and Plutia at that.
"I don't believe this." Fiona mumbled.
"Big sis never mentioned that." Plutia whispered.
Sasha then went into action, "Hey August, this is-" August took notice and said, "Oh hey. Sasha tells me that you've got something cool to show." They were momentarily startled by the sound of what appeared to be a the sound of a loud, which made Plutia just freeze; she held her urge to not run and grab onto one of her sisters and just cling onto to them to ignore the loud sound. Fiona noticed this and felt bad that she couldn't do anything to blow her cover.
"It's… Lidia right? Lidia Strauss." August asked getting Fiona's attention again, "Sasha's told me a lot about you. She ensures me you can be trusted."
Fiona smiled and said while keeping calm, "That's me. Lidia Strauss."
"I apologize about the delay." He said to her, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
Just than the man who was named Tommy, came running back into The Purple Skag; He had appeared to be in distress.
"NO!" He shouted, "NO! NO! PLEASE!"
Tector came rushing back in, and pulled the trigger on his shotgun and it had hit him on the back of shoulder; He fell to the ground hard right on his face. August removed himself from the bar and walked over to Tommy.
"Please…" He pleaded, "Please… August… I'll pay… I'll pay… I'll pay…"
Tector handed the gun to August; He pointed towards Tommy. "You are." He said to Tommy. With a single shot, Tommy's brains blew out of his head, and a small amount of blood landed right on Fiona's cheek. Plutia was frightened by what had just happened, once again she held the urge to run over to one of her sisters to cling onto. She instead removed her doll from her belt and hugged it as hard as she could calming herself down.
"I hope this will be over soon." Plutia couldn't help but think.
"The little bastard had a Maliwan shield on." Tector explained, "Shocked me real good. Sorry about the mess boss. Won't happen again."
August walked over to Fiona. "Well that was exciting." He said wiping the blood off her cheek. He turned over to Sasha, "Hon, bring us over a couple of drinks then start moppin' up that blood. I don't want to have to get the floors redone."
"Sure thing babe." Sasha said to him.
Fiona, Sasha and Plutia noticed that Felix had entered the Purple Skag, almost surprised by what he saw of the aftermath of when he saw Tector drag out the body as Fiona followed August to a table.
"Your business deals always go like that?" Fiona had asked August.
"He said he'd do something, then he didn't." August replied, "I don't abide to dishonest people."
They both sat down, both on each others opposite sides of the table. "So how long have you been an archeologist." He proceeded to ask, "Must be fascinating work. Getting out there in the dirt uncovering priceless artifacts."
"Long enough to find a Vault Key."
"Well that does seem like the perfect amount of time. Really, it's interesting. Where did you say you found this again? Refresh my memory. Sasha mentioned it was one of the Eden's."
"I found it on Eden-6. At a dig site there."
"Right, Eden-6. Marcus is always talking about that place. Says it's really nice."
"It's nice when you find a Vault Key there."
"It most certainly is."
Sasha came with the drinks; she placed them on the table. "Thanks, hon." He said to Sasha. All she did was flash a smile at August and just walked away from the table. August leaned in on the table, "Alright… Let's have a look."
"Of course." Fiona said. She picked up the case and placed it on the table. With a press of a button she opened the case revealing the Vault Key. August was at a loss for words the only thing he could say was, "Whoa… It's pretty." He reached out to touch the Vault Key, which made Felix (from a distance) nervous. Plutia was a bit nervous as well but she noticed her sister playing it calm.
His hand was on the key, "Wow…" He said, "It's beautiful." He immediately pulled back his hand, "Sorry, I haven't touched anything this expensive before.
Plutia who was sitting nearby noticed the small amount of faded paint on his hand.
"OH NO! THE PAINT!" Plutia exclaimed in her thoughts.
Fiona noticed this as well and became nervous. But surprisingly enough, August himself didn't notice it, even when he rubbed his hand on his face. This made them sigh with relief when he didn't notice it.
"Well." August said, "I'm sold. I'll call Vasquez and we'll get this going."
August got up and proceeded to call the client. Fiona turned to Sasha and she silently nodded to her; She turned to Plutia who was still a bit nervous and gave her a wink which calmed her down a bit.
"Ugh… Vasquez, it's August." They heard him say, "Are you buying this Vault Key or what, 'cause I-Hey wait, do you have me on speaker? Seriously? No look… I don't even know what obstinate means, man. What I know is I gotta move this thing right now."
Felix turned towards Fiona; She nodded to him confidentially. Felix nodded back but quickly turned away when August turned to whisper over to her, "I know what obstinate means. These Hyperion guys get uncomfortable around people that sound to competent. They expect a nervous, small time Pandoran thug… So I give them what they want."
He went back to the call, "No, man this thing is hot. I got offers so if you want it, you gotta get down here-No we'll be there soon-That ain't good enough buddy boy, I ain't that guy. I'm trying to do you a solid here, so don't go making things harder because I'll walk."
Fiona had then asked him, "How well do you know this Vasquez guy?"
August had replied, "We've met a few times. He's a bit of a prick, but most Hyperion guys are."
"I've noticed that." She said.
August once again went back to his call, "Look, let me make it crystal clear. I want ten million dollars. That's right, we'll be waiting. Yeah? You say 'Hi' to your-"
He heard a click on the other end, "He hung up."
He took the drink from the table and gulped it down. Afterwards he explained what was gonna happen, "Alright, Sasha will hold the key, since it's clear that you don't trust me alone with it, and seeing as how I just had a guy killed right in front of you… I'm not even offended. Bring your gun babe."
"Got it." Sasha said. She closed the case, and picked it up from the table.
"So that's it than?" Fiona asked August as he made his way towards the door. "She'll let you know when it's done and where to get your money." He replied before saying to Sasha, "Let's go." Thus both August and Sasha exited the Purple Skag. As soon as the door shut, Plutia and Felix got up from their seats and walked over to Fiona.
"That man August seems like a nice person, if you don't count him killing a person." Plutia said to Fiona.
"To think that they both have a thing though." Fiona said, "It still strikes me as well, odd."
Plutia turned to Felix, "What do we do now?"
Felix took a sip from his beer and said, "We'll follow them in the caravan."
Fiona only took one sip from her drink as Felix walked out of the door. "Come on Plutie, let's go." She said, extending her hand to her.
"Kay' big sister!" Plutia said with a smile. She took her hand and they proceeded to walk out of the Purple Skag.
(Ending Theme: Bleach Ending 6 My Pace)