CHAPTER 13: CHASING GHOSTS, PART 2
What can be said about Lars Rodriguez that has not been made clear about him already? Leading a humble life as a juvenile delinquent, living his life by filling it with immoral activities destructive to both society and himself, making his living by selling drugs and finding what he excuses for love in girls 14 and up.
Last night, his arm got ripped off in a fight with his lifelong rival, Otto Rocket.
Two days ago, he was recruited by an eccentric millionaire by the name of Alex Gravity, the owner of the popular skate park chain known as Zero Gravity Zone, in exchange for amnesty regarding a violent incident he caused in the park. Details of what his job would be were not made clear, but what was made clear was all the benefits that had come with the job...
...which included, among many other minor conveniences, the chance to test a completely new technology intended to change the game of skating itself.
It was only last night that he was given his first day on the job, soon being shown that his job is to destroy the remaining businesses in Ocean Shores, starting with Sam's own business of Squid's Electronics. The job then became the utmost appealing to him, and he was more than happy to follow through on it...
...until Otto Rocket had been around to impede on the destruction job, and manage to steal his hoverboard, and cause him to lose his arm.
It is now that he wakes up back in the back V.I.P. room of Zero Gravity Zone, coming to uneasily as the flourescent light fills his eyes. Finding himself laying on a couch, the stinging pain of his lost arm that once made him pass out finally having subsided, his vision came back to him and came into focus, bringing his mind back to the present once again.
Upon opening his eyes, the first thing within his sight was Alex Gravity, standing over him like a disapproving father.
"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, jackass." Alex Gravity said.
After giving a groan that let out both fatigue and annoyance, Lars sat on the edge of the bed, facing his new employer with a rather displeased attitude.
"Ugh... What the hell's with this treatment, man? I get my arm ripped off, and the first fuckin' thing I hear when I wake up is: 'Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, jackass'? And you don't even bring me breakfast after that shit?" Lars asked.
"I would've woken you up earlier, but the my private doctor advised me to let you get as much sleep as possible. He's the one who patched up your stump, by the way. You passed out when you got back and he did his work while you were out. Now, quit your whining for a second and listen." Alex Gravity said.
"Fuck, no, man, you fucking listen! I lost my goddamn arm because of you! And now the Rocket Dork's gonna probably snitch on me to the cops because he saw my face! I never should have taken your stupid job!"
"'Rocket Dork'? So, judging by that very lame excuse for an insult, you know our little interloper personally?"
"Of course I do! The fucker's name is Otto Rocket. He's about the biggest douchebag in this whole town."
"Coming from you, I have a feeling that means second biggest."
"Shut the fuck up, asshole!"
"I will. But as I shut the fuck up, I want you to tell me more about this Otto Rocket. Now, start talking."
"Fine. He's this nigga I knew since we were both kids, always hanging out with my faggot little brother. I used to beat both of their asses just for fun. He's incapable of thinking of literally anything except sports, and especially skating, and he thinks he's better than everyone else at it. He runs this stupid NewTube channel called 'Team Rocket Sports'. They got, like, no fucking subscribers or views. They're nobodies."
"You apparently know their channel."
"Only because they don't shut the fuck up about how they're gonna 'make it big' or some shit. How 'bout you make my fuckin' dick big? Anyway, I used to go to their videos and troll the shit out of 'em with comments, but my account got banned."
"Interesting. This Otto character, I mean, not you. He wouldn't happen to have a sister named Reggie, would he? Skinny girl, purple hair?"
"Yeah, I tried to grab her ass once, and she fuckin' slapped me. How'd you know that?"
"It just so happened that she was one of the people I laid off when I bought out the last source of news in this town. Hmm... Yes, this just might work out in my favor after all. I'm always looking for extreme sports enthusiasts to bring to the team."
"Wait... you're not gonna hire this guy, too, are you?"
"Of course I am. If he was good enough to take you down and steal one of my boards, then he'll be more than helpful in getting what I need done; he could speed the plan along much faster than I thought. Besides, he's gotten his hands on my property, I'm going to need it back."
Though Lars well-known for being insufferable and obnoxious towards even the smallest of inconviences and perceived slights, perhaps in this one instance can he find a reasonable justification for the anger he feels now. Losing a limb that served him well throughout his life, the certainty that it would go unavenged enraged him instantly.
"WHAT?! You seriously want this punk to join us?! AFTER HE SEVERED MY GODDAMN ARM?! How do you know he hasn't snitched to the fuckin' cops by now?The cops probably already got my DNA and shit from my arm back in that alley!" Lars shouted.
"Don't worry about your old arm, we managed to get rid of that and dispose of it cleanly. No evidence."
"Oh, well, that's real fuckin' great, now I can't even have a chance of getting it reattached! How am I supposed to jerk off now?!"
"Will you shut up about the arm? I found a fix for it."
Further appalled by Alex Gravity's flippant attitude to his missing arm, Lars looked back at him with complete rage, backing up the volume in his voice to go with it.
"...How... the hell... do you fix... A MISSING ARM?! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GONNA JUST GIVE ME A NEW ONE?!" Lars screamed.
"Why, yes, I will." Alex Gravity said.
Then, given the sure and calm answer, Lars' anger subsided, turning to confusion under his employer's confidence.
"Uh... What?" Lars asked.
"Get up. I wanna show you something." Alex Gravity said.
Leading Lars off the couch, Alex Gravity escorted him to a small work table. On the table was a large object covered with a work cloth, concealing the identity of whatever may be under it. Alex Gravity, more than eager to reveal the strange object, walked to the side of the table, taking hold of the cloth.
"Mr. Rodriguez, I give you..." Alex Gravity began to say.
He then pulled off the cloth, revealing the mystery object to Lars Rodriguez. Looking at the object, Lars deduced that it was an advanced robotic arm, unlike anything ever seen in the field of prosthetics before. However, the implications of the arm's history are of no importance to him, with getting the robotic arm attached to him as his only interest.
"...the D-248 Bushwacker by Membrane Laboratories. This bad boy comes with a machine gun, flamethrower, a grenade launcher, hookshot, and chainsaw, everything a growing boy needs." Alex Gravity finished.
"Shit, man. Where'd you get this thing?" Lars asked.
"A little bonus that was included when we obtained the missing piece to our famous hoverboards. Turns out Professor Membrane bionically augmented himself with these things, and this was a new prototype that he made for himself. I figured it would come in handy, no pun intended. Go ahead and try it on."
More than eagar to obtain a new arm to replace his old one, Lars pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, immediately stuck his remaining arm stump into the Bushwacker. The arm then it up and began activating various electronics, seeming to register Lars' arm as it was inserted, beginning to connect itself to him.
It begun by sending small drills into his skin and bones, piercing through to his nerves to connecting itself onto them by running wires onto them. The connection process, sounding as brutal as it looked with the audible whir of the drills, was extremely painful and agonizing to its new user, causing Lars to scream and wince as the arm contiuned its designed process..
"AHH! THIS HURTS LIKE A SON OF A BITCH! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Lars screamed.
"You're the one who wanted a new arm so badly, don't complain. According to the instruction manual, it's connecting itself to your nervous system so you can control it like your old arm. Give it a minute. It'll pump some painkillers into you when it's done." Alex Gravity replied.
After a long and torturous connection process, the arm finally stopped its drilling and wiring, finished making its connections to its new user. Once fully connected to its new user, the arm began to distribute painkillers into Lars' blood stream, chemically bringing him relief to the painful process of connecting to him.
Upon feeling the release of the painkillers lightening the stress load on his mind, Lars breathed a sigh of relief, recognizing the effect of the drug in his body.
"Oh, shit... That feels good... I gotta find where they make that shit, it'll sell like fuckin' hotcakes..." Lars moaned.
With the connection now complete, the new appendage now fully ready to try out, Lars concentrated his focus onto the arm, attempting to raise it as he would his old one. Just as mentally commanded, he lifted his new arm up with ease, moving it around as if it was his old one and feeling no difference from before.
Coming to full realization that the arm was now his own, Lars began to smile and snicker.
"I take it you like it?" Alex Gravity asked.
Lars, making a vulgar motion of quickly moving his hand up and down, began to feel more satified with his new arm, testing one of the few capabilities that he cared for.
"Oh, yeah. I like it." Lars said.
"Well, then, you're going to love this. Follow me." Alex Gravity said.
Alex Gravity then led Lars to an assortment of firing dummies set up for him, acting as if introducing a child to a playground. The setting was obvious enough to make Lars immediately catch on to what was required next of him, extending his arm to the dummies, ready to fire upon the targets.
"Oh, shit, that's right. This thing's got weapons and shit. How do I change the hand to a gun?" Lars asked.
"Just think it and it'll come up. Try saying what you want aloud until you get the hang of it. Don't be afraid to make some noise, we've got hours before we open." Alex Gravity answered.
Picking one dummy out of the group, Lars pointed his new arm at it and concentrated hard, trying to conjure a mental image of the arm changing to his desired weapon. The idea that a ephebophillic drug dealer with little interest in the future could possibly concentrate on anything is difficult to imagine...
...but for a man like Lars, the opportunity to destroy is a task that he could never have his focus taken away from.
"Machine gun." Lars thought aloud.
Obeying his mental commands, a machine gun barrel came out of the side of his arm, showing that his thoughts worked. With a mental command akin to flicking his finger, the machine gun fired several heavy-caliber rounds per second with deadly accuracy into the dummy, reducing it to a pile of demolished wood in seconds.
More than satisfied with his new weapon, Lars immediately moved on to the next weapon added to his arsenal, moving to his next target.
"Flamethrower." Lars thought aloud.
At his command, the machine gun retracted, with a small flamethrower unit appearing in its place. With another mental command, Lars unleashed a huge burst of fire at a larger group of dummies, engulfing them in a huge wall of flames, incinerating them to ash within seconds.
"Grenade launcher." Lars said.
Following his next command, the flamethrower retracted and the arm opened up to show a long barrel, wide enough for the caliber of a launchable grenade. With another mental command, Lars fired a grenade straight at another dummy, completely obliterating it in a huge explosion upon contact.
"Hookshot." Lars said.
With his next mental command given, the arm reconfigured and concealed the grenade tube, retracting it back within the body, with a smaller tube appearing on the side of his arm. With his next mental command, a hookshot fired from beside the tube, latching into the one remaining dummy.
"Chainsaw." Lars said.
After giving his final mental command, the arm once again reconfigured and retracted the hand itself, putting a loudly-revving chainsaw blade in its place. With the hookshot still attached into the last dummy, Lars yanked the dummy towards him, running the chainsaw at full speed as he did so.
As the dummy began to approach the now-cybernetically enhanced Lars, he sliced it in half with a simple swing of his chainsaw, severing it in two.
After having tested all of his weapons, Lars retracted both the hookshot and chainsaw, reverting his arm to its normal state. In another few bright moments during Lars' employment, this demonstration left an impression on Alex Gravity, leading him to clap at Lars' performance.
"Still upset about your arm?" Alex Gravity asked.
"My old arm? Man, if I knew you had this thing, I'd have cut off my old arm myself." Lars replied.
"Now, about Otto Rocket, I trust we won't have any problems with his employment now that your little debt is paid?"
"Yeah, yeah, you wanna invite him on. No problem. Maybe I'll even thank him for helping me get this cool arm."
"Good boy. Now, this one, I have a plan for. Give me all the information you have about him, who he is, how he thinks, how he acts, and I can flesh out this little plan better. I'll have the rest of the boys do some work on him, and break him into the fold. This'll leave you doing most of the heavy lifting regarding what places I need hit. Your job should a hell of a lot easier with that new arm."
"Oh, hell, yeah. I remember seeing some shitty Japanese movie with this chick in a schoolgirl outfit, going around fucking people up left and right. This should do the job well."
"The Machine Girl? Oh, yes, I do have a taste for those low-budget Japanese horror films from time to time, very creative stories and special effects, but I won't be having you killing anyone with that. Property damage is our goal, murder's no good for business."
"Pssh. Fine. Blowing shit up's more fun, anyways."
"Well, don't worry about that for now. Just relax for the day, party all you like, and at night is when you get your next assignment. Work hard, play hard. That's how I treat my employees."
"No problem, man. Hey, you got PornPub Platinum here?"
"Er... No, why do you ask?"
"Cause I'm horny and I wanna try fapping with this thing. I wonder, if I jerk off with it, it'll feel like a stranger, or like I'm jerking off with my left hand?"
Given an uncomfortable and disgusting question and answer alike, Alex Gravity sighed and shook his head, stepping away from Lars in annoyance.
"What? What'd I say?" Lars asked.
Concurrent to Lars' bionic upgrade to his lost limb, as well as his subsequent acts of self-pleasure meant to further test the new arm he received, the situation regarding Otto was also repeated to Reggie Rocket over several Good Burgers shared between the group.
As they concluded filling their stomachs, the story so far, too, was finished, giving Reggie a full familiarity with the events at hand.
"So, that's the story. Lars got caught up in some weird cyber-gang of terrorists or something, blew up Squid's store, and all we got to show for it is this weird-ass hoverboard. We need to figure out who these guys are and what their game is." Otto said.
"Are you kidding me?! All this is happening right now in our city, and you didn't think I should know?!" Reggie shouted.
"Tito said we shouldn't have told you in order to keep you safe or something. To like, you know, protect you and stuff."
"I don't need to be protected. I'm a grown woman. I'm literally older than you."
"I didn't say I wanted to protect you, I don't give a fuck. I said it was Tito's idea."
"Fuck you, Otto!"
Reggie retaliated against Otto's crass statement by bashing him in the head with a plastic Good Burger cup, spilling its half-finished contents of cola and ice all over him.
"Ow! Fuck!" Otto groaned.
Otto's pain was but a minor concern, for Sam took the effort to step in front of the hoverboard and protect it from the liquids and ice, sparing it from water damage.
"Careful! This thing's crazy weird and high-tech, I don't want anything potentially harming this thing! If you have to hit your brother, please do it without destroying the hoverboard!" Sam pleaded.
"Oh, thanks for sticking up for me, Squid." Otto said.
"Well, you were being kind of a dick to Reggie."
"Now you're taking her side? Are you really that desperate to get laid?!"
"OTTO! I am NOT just trying to fuck your sister!"
Sam's remark then brought greater shock out of Reggie, making her look to him with confusion and offense.
"Wha-WHAT?! Where did that come from?!" Reggie yelled.
"Oop... I mean... I... Uh..." Sam stammered.
"No, don't answer that! Just... Ugh... Just explain to me how this thing works. Tell me what you know about it."
Attempting to put aside the awkward moment aside, Sam closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to focus on the task at hand.
"Okay, okay. Come over here and I'll show you." Sam said.
Leading Reggie to the workstation where the disassembled board laid, Sam gently moved it to the center of the table, positioning it where its insides could be more easily seen. Taking a small prodding tool and a magnifying glass from the workstation, Sam then began to make his presentation of the board.
"I've been doing a deep analysis on this thing all night. The technology put into this board is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Not even the armed forces use this stuff. It's decades ahead of anything seen in the world today." Sam said.
"How can you tell this stuff is so advanced? No offense, I know you're good with electronics, but you manage a computer store. How do you know this stuff so well?" Reggie asked.
"I told you, I almost made it into M.I.T., remember? Maybe I wasn't good enough to actually make it in, but just to have a shot is pretty impressive, not to toot my own horn. I also managed to hack into the plans for Shaffika's concert when we were all kids, remember? Stuff like this just comes naturally to me."
"Yeah, Reg, he's like a Rain Man with tech stuff. Our boy Squid's wicked smart." Twister said.
"More or less. It just makes sense to me, kind of like physics just made sense to Einstein. I'm not quite as smart as he was, but I like to think I'm getting there."
"Okay, I get it. I'm not here to watch you sniff your own farts. Any idea where this thing came from?" Reggie asked.
"We have no idea, that's the point. All we know so far is that this group of bad guys has the gear, and they're doing bad things with it, like blowing up my livelihood. I have no idea who these people are, but, if I find out, you'll be the first to know."
"But what about where this tech came from? That might be a clue, right?"
"I don't know that, either. This stuff didn't exactly come with a signature written on it. But I'm usually good at recognizing where gear like this comes from. I have a talent; I know it when I see it."
Upon hearing the familiar saying from Sam, Otto remembered an instance when a representative of Membrane Labs spoke the same to him.
"'You'll know it when you see it'." Otto repeated.
Reaching into his pockets, he searched out for the business card that was given to him by the man, digging throughout various belongings resting in his pockets in attempt to find it. Hearing the reminiscing inflection in which Otto spoke as well as his frantic searching, the others looked to him to discern what his thoughts were.
"Something important came to you, cuz?" Tito asked.
"Yeah, give me a second. I got it somewhere. I think these are the same pants I wore when I got it." Otto said.
In attempt to find the card, Otto pulled out a condom from his pocket, handing it to Twister to remove it from the way of his search.
"Here, hold that, Twist." Otto said.
Unenthusastically taking the condom, Twister's disgust was not made from the fact he had to hold the condom itself, but what he read upon it.
"'Expiration date: January 2014'?" Twister asked.
"Yeah, that's my lucky condom. That's from the same pack I lost my V-card with." Otto said.
"Ugh. Jesus, dude."
Finally locating the business card out from his belongings, he handed it to Sam, who took it and read it with skepticism.
"Squid, I think I found where this hoverboard came from." Otto said.
"Membrane Labs? What do they have to do with this? And why would they give you their card?" Sam asked.
"We were leaving the smoke shop when this dude in a van pulled up to us and told us they lost some weird tech around here, but they didn't tell us what they lost. They just said we'd know it when we see it. Well, this looks like some weird shit that looks like some lost tech, and I know that just by looking at it."
Sam then looked to the card and hoverboard in a back-and-forth motion, thinking over the new information given to him.
"What's wrong? Squid, c'mon, isn't it pretty obvious now? This is obviously some kind of weird prototype they lost." Otto asked.
"I still don't know. I know that a lot of stuff goes on at Membrane Labs, but I can't see them building floating skateboards. That's more of an idea for Hollywood: Sounds cool on the screen, but probably costs too much to make in reality." Sam said.
"The fuck does that mean? They obviously made it, you got it right there."
"No. Somebody made it, yeah, but I'm not convinced that it was Membrane Labs. It does explain where the tech itself came from, though. Maybe whoever stole it reverse-engineered it to make these."
"Okay, but that means the bad guys have the stolen tech, right?"
"I would assume so."
"That means we can't get the cash reward. Shit."
"Wait, what? What cash reward?" Reggie asked.
"The guy promised us a pretty big cash reward if we found the stuff and brought it back. If we don't have it, and this hoverboard ain't it, then we don't get the money."
"Figures. The one time I think you're actually gonna do the right thing, for once in your life, and you do it for the money."
"Hey, I was trying to help way before I remembered the card, remember? Besides, not all of us have nice, cushy office jobs like you, Reggie. Some of us are dirt fucking broke with almost no money to spend."
Otto's comment made Reggie turn away in shame, leaving her in a position where she could no longer hide the truth as she did the previous night.
"What?" Otto asked.
"I lost my job." Reggie said.
"What?! But didn't you just tell Raymundo you got promoted?"
"Yeah, I did, well... I lied, okay?!"
"But why?!"
"Because some of us in this family actually want to be competent human beings who can maintain jobs, and impress their parents, you know! It's called making your parents proud!"
"Oh, you are such a fucking kiss-ass. You lied to dad just because you were too fucking ashamed to tell him you got fired. How'd you get fired, anyway? Tried to write some article on how much of a fucking bitch you are?!"
"I didn't get fired, you asshole! The newspaper got bought out by Alex Gravity!"
Reggie's confession then made the rest of the group listen in with intrigue and confusion, discovering this news only now and surprised to hear it.
"Wait a minute. You said he 'bought out' the entire newspaper?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. You didn't hear? That must've been on the news or something, right?" Reggie asked.
"Did Raymundo hear about it on the news to see through your lie?" Otto asked.
"I didn't expect dad to hear about it on the news. He barely watches the weather channel these days."
"And if Noelani or Tito happened to hear about this, you don't think that would've blown a big-ass hole right in your story?"
"Well... it was a heat-of-the-moment thing, okay? I was hoping to get another job by the time he heard about it. Besides, why do you care? Since when are you the overly-caring brother?"
"I only care enough to laugh at you and your fuck-ups. Not so high-and-mighty with your self-made success story, are you?"
"At least I'm fucking trying here, you piece of shit! It took a fucking near-death experience after you threw a hissy-fit at dad's party last night to make you at least somewhat reponsible! I got there years ago!"
"You were the bitch who peaked in high school! I get to spend my time skating and chilling with weed all day, you wasted yours in a fucking cubicle!"
"I did what everyone else is supposed to do, and I don't live in a fucking pigsty!"
"I'm not everyone else! I'm Otto-Motherfucking-Rocket!"
"Oh, yeah, I know, you're the big, bad, mighty Otto Rocket. You think you're just better than everyone, you selfish little-!"
The argument was set to run its course for what may have been hours, with enough fuel from both to lead it on, but the rest of the group understood all too well that the situation at hand was far more important. Intervening to his stop the fight between his metaphorical niece and nephew, Tito put himself between them to stop their fight.
"Hey, hey, hey, cuzes! Can't you see what you two are doing?! We got ourselves a big problem in Ocean Shores, and all you can do is squabble like a couple of nene over a berry. I remember when there was a time that you two were friends and siblings. I remember a time when all you cuzes were the tightest group in all the neighborhood. I don't wanna see all that get thrown away over nothin'. Ancient Hawaiian saying: 'Two coconuts that grow from the same tree have no reason to let their hard shells keep them apart'." Tito interjected.
As always, Tito's words of wisdom were lost in translation upon the group, who all looked to each other with confusion.
"Now, I want the two of you to say you're sorry and hug." Tito said.
Letting out a sigh, Otto opened his arms for a hug to comply with his metaphorical uncle's request.
"I'm sorry, Reg." Otto said.
"You should be." Reggie said.
Otto lowered his hands with another sigh, with Tito intervening to get the other Rocket sibling to apologize as well.
"Hey!" Tito scolded.
Reggie then sighed as well, opening her own arms for a hug.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, too." Reggie said.
Otto then stepped forward and grabbed his sister in a hug, to which Reggie repeated the motion. As the two shared a brief a hug as Tito requested, their fulfillment of his wishes brought him a content smile, accepting the motion as the first step to be taken in a long, tedious way of repairing a broken relationship.
"That's better. Now, Reggie, cuz, why don't you tell us a little more about this Alex Gravtiy guy and how he bought out your newspaper?" Tito asked.
"There's not much else to say. He just walked in, handed the boss a check, and, a day later, he closed down the place and set off for Florida. Handed all of us severance pays on the way out." Reggie said.
"Just like that?"
"Yep, just like that."
"That's weird. That's really weird. An millionaire theme park owner steps right into the one and only newspaper in town, buys it out, and the boss checks out and bails. What's that about?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. But what I do know is that there's no way to report this incident to the public. Unless... maybe, he wanted that to happen."
"But why?"
"I don't know. Make sure no news got out about your store, maybe? Maybe that's his way of covering it up."
"But any idiot could report on this stuff and upload it on the internet with a smartphone." Twister said.
"Yeah, anyone like Twister." Otto added.
"Anyone with a phone wouldn't be smart enough to investigate these things deeper. I'm a journalist. I know how to do that. I'm also the last one in all of Ocean Shores now, everyone else bailed the city, like pretty much everyone else whose business went belly-up." Reggie said.
"That would be a pretty sneaky way to cover his tracks. So assuming Alex Gravity is the bankroller for these guys, why's he doing it, and, if he's the one who stole the tech, then what did he steal, and why's he making these hoverboards out of it?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. But I can tell you, from what we know so far, the only way to find that out is to find Lars. He's our only link to these people."
"Wait, if we know it's Alex Gravity, then can't we just call the number right now and let them have at him?" Twister asked.
"Because we don't know that it's him. We don't have the evidence. This is all just speculation. All we got is this hoverboard, and that's probably not good enough for Membrane Labs. They'll know there's more." Sam said.
"So we gotta find Lars and make him talk. That sounds good to me." Otto said.
"But where would we start to look for Lars? Since you saw him, he might be hiding out somewhere that we can't find him. Assuming he is working for Alex Gravity, he could've hidden Lars out of sight."
"The answer's in the question. Alex Gravity has him, so he'll be at Zero Gravity Zone. Besides, if I know Lars, and I do, the man's probably off skating somewhere. He lives for skating. And what's the number-one skate park in the city?"
"But, wait, didn't you say his arm got torn off?" Twister asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"So, wouldn't he be in the hospital? Why would he skate if he's seriously injured?"
"I've had broken bones, but that never stopped me from skating, right?"
"Well... I guess not."
"Doesn't matter, Twister's right. Nobody goes skating after you get your arm ripped off. You might be stupid enough to try it, but I don't think Lars is." Reggie said.
"Fine, so that means he may be at a hospital. We'll check there. But I still have a feeling he might be at Zero Gravity Zone."
"Okay, then Twister can check the hospitals, and you can check Zero Gravity Zone. Sounds like a plan." Sam said.
"And what are you gonna do?"
"Continue studying this board. See what else I can find out about it."
"And I'm gonna try to clean this shithole of a house if I'm gonna spend any more time in it than I have to." Reggie said.
"And I guess I'm gonna help her, because I can't stand the smell, either. And, uh, I'm not smart enough to help Sam." Tito said.
"Alright, sounds good to me. We find Lars, we make him squeal and turn over Alex Gravity, and then that cash reward is as good as ours. Sounds like motherfuckin' Team Rocket's back together." Otto said.
Otto's declaration brought a sense of pride and strength in the rest, leading them to congregate to one another. As the others approached, Otto raised out his hand, prompting the rest to follow him in a familiar handshake that they all shared as children, and, despite never having shared it as a group for years...
...those who were separate from the team joined in as if they never left, all saying...
"Woogity woogity woogity woogity!" The group called.
The team then let out a triumphant cheer after sharing their familiar group handshake, feeling a connection long since lost in the years.
And Tito, the proud uncle he was, watched on with a smile.
"Goddamn, that felt good." Sam said.
"Sure did, Sammy." Reggie said.
"Missed how that felt with you guys in it." Twister said.
"Yeah. Now, let's get started on finding Twister's asshole brother and taking down his new boss." Otto said.