An-This chapter will contain heavy themes such as abuse, death, heavy drug usage, incarceration and depression. Be warned.
Rio
It was now noon time as the Sun shone bright on the beautiful city of Rio De Janeiro.
The crew cruised through the streets of Rio, in their respective vehicles of course, smoothly as they prepared to get their mission started, granted without the hauler this would be much more difficult but, at least they were actually at their location now.
"This is unreal." Tony said in pure admiration for the many beautiful sights the city had to offer.
"You can say that again." Geleel added in as he took note of the numerous fruit and the people cohesively shopping at them, it made the place so vibrant.
"Awesome!" Frostee shouted as they drove by a set of people performing Capoeira.
"Dope." Echo said with a smirk as she admired the array of houses and their uniquely bright colors.
"So what's the plan? How are we gonna find Layla and find out what these gangs are up to?" Cisco questioned aloud as everyone began thinking over that.
"We've got all we need right here, can you see the formula, or do you need me to...magnify it for ya!" Tony exclaimed as he flexed his left arm, as if they could see him from their own cars.
Unfortunately, they did not need to see him to know exactly what he was doing.
"You're flexin 'aren't you?" Echo questioned in a flat tone.
"Yup." Tony said in a strained voice.
"Be careful Tony, we don't want you to have an accident in your car now do we?" Geleel questioned with a light chuckle.
"Very funny Geleel." It was Tony's turn to be sarcastic.
"Nah deadass though, how exactly do you expect to do this? You just gon walk around and flex your arms at random men and expect them to just start sprouting info on all the street gangs?" Geleel questioned the Toretto.
"It's not about me flexing my arms! It's about them seeing this formula tattoo, ya know, the tatt that everyone seems to be looking for, I just need to get out in the streets and make sure the right people meet...Marchelo." Tony stated as he added in a dramatic voice at the end.
"Marchelo who?" Echo questioned him.
"I will answer that question when I am parked and find out where I wrote down my cover name." Tony answered her swiftly, and with that, Echo was fighting the urge to facepalm while driving.
"At least he finally got the last name pronounced right." Geleel said with a shoulder shrug as they continued driving through Rio.
After a short while of driving they had finally come to a stop in what seemed like the middle of this town.
An entire crowd of locals was standing in front of their cars as the mass of people were seemingly mesmerized by the vehicles.
The crew stepped out of their respective vehicles as they congregated around Tony's metallic charger.
"Looks like the locals have great taste." Tony said with a smirk as he took note of the awe and stupor that was being directed towards them.
A sudden engine hum was heard as they turned to see a orange colored 2016 BMW I8 drive by them, the windows were tinted so they couldn't get a glimpse of the driver.
Unfortunately for them, the car's driver immediately sped off in an instant as all that was left behind was a smoke cloud.
Geleel could faintly read the license plate as the I8 came out of view, it stated 'Adios.'
The crew then shrugged the car off, it was expected to see supercars and street cars in Brazil, hell, they were driving their own.
"Woah, awesome!" They heard a voice shout as they turned to see a young Brazilian teenager walk up to Tony's car.
"Can I take a picture with your car?" The kid questioned Tony as the former brandished a phone.
"Yea ofcourse." Tony offered with no hesitation as they both began posing in front of the car.
Tony wrapped the kid in a side hug using his right arm as the former was ready to take the picture.
"Yeah!" Tony said with a smirk as he flexed his left arm to show off the tattoo in the picture.
The boy then flashed the picture as he separated from Tony and began looking over the picture.
"Woah...obrigado! Thank you!" The boy exclaimed before running off from the group, Tony smiling proudly at his deed.
"If everyone here is that friendly, this is gonna be a piece of cake." Tony said smugly.
"Yea, while you strut around with your tattoo we'll try to go see if we can find any shady underground types looking for formulas." Cisco stated as he and Frostee didn't wait for anything, they immediately turned around and began walking off, the monkey, which was now dubbed as Donut, screeching the entire time.
"First splitting up in the jungle, now we're splitting up in a foreign country?" Geleel questioned no one in particular.
"Yea...what could go wrong with that?" Echo asked in a condescending tone.
Surely enough the two of them had begun walking down a street together.
"I'll take this way, you take that way Geleel." Echo said as she gestured in opposite directions.
"Don't worry I got you MarMar." Geleel said as she sighed to ignore the nickname.
"Just shoot me a text if you need..." Echo trailed off at Geleel's deadpanned expression, right, he no longer had a phone.
"My bad, look, take this." Echo said as she handed him a small pod-like device.
"This'll let me track your every movement and your location, so if you need me you can press this button right here and I can come give you back up." Echo explained as Geleel gave her an arched brow in response.
"Ya know this thing just sounds like an excuse for you to stalk me, is there something you wanna say?" Geleel questioned with a cheeky expression as Echo rolled her eyes.
"Just call me if you need me, loser." Echo said before drawing him in for a swift hug.
"Love you G." She then said before turning and beginning to walk off.
"Love you too MarMar!" Geleel shouted back at her as he began leaving to go in his own direction.
As Geleel continued walking down the street, he tried his best to remain vigilant, he was in Brazil after all, this was a whole new country, if he slipped up he could get hurt...or even worse.
"Dê uma olhada nela." Geleel heard a voice state, he didn't fully understand what the man was saying because he didn't speak Portuguese, but for whatever reason he decided to sneakily make his way over to where the voice was coming from.
It led him to an alleyway as he poked his head around the corner to see a group of four men surrounding one girl, she seemed to be about his age, if not slightly older.
"What you got for us, querida?" Another one of the men questioned.
She had a basket of produce in her hands as she seemingly held onto it tightly.
Unfortunately, one of the men slapped the basket out of her hands as the produce spilled all over the floor and they began to laugh at her expense.
The girl's expression was unreadable, but she was clearly not having a pleasant time with these assholes.
"Alright, enough play time, I think it's best you just give us everything you have before you get hurt." The largest man there threatened as Geleel's already deepening frown got deeper.
This girl was severely outnumbered, he had to step in and help even if he had no idea what he was getting himself into.
However, before Geleel could even make a move, the girl did something that shocked not only him, but the men that were attacking her.
Right as the large man was poised to grab her, she immediately drew a blade from her waist band as she sliced the man clean across the face, which elicited a sharp cry from him.
The man then felt his face and brought his hand back to reveal the red liquid seeping from the new gash on his face...
The girl was seemingly unimpressed as the men grew furious once more.
They all lunged at her, simultaneously trying to attack the girl, but nothing they were doing was working, she had a counter for every attack they threw at her.
When one man threw a punch, she dodged under it and delivered a swift roundhouse kick to his temple, rendering him unconscious.
When another tried to run at her, she swiftly turned on her heels and used his own momentum to send him crashing into another man, rendering both of them out of commission.
The girl's eyes scoured the area before her for the last man, but unfortunately when she was focusing on the other 3 he had found a way to get behind her.
"I'll kill you!" The man shouted as the girl swiftly turned to see that he had a silver glock .17 pointed directly between her eyes.
Before either of them could even think of doing anything, the man was met with a firm fist to the face, knocking him to the ground unconscious and making him drop his gun to the floor.
The girl looked from the man on the floor to her strange 'savior.'
It was Geleel, but she didn't even know anyone else was here; she was sure her life would've been over right there, where did this guy come from?
"Need some help?" Geleel questioned the girl as he offered her his hand.
She hesitated for a second, it was still strange how he had shown up so abruptly but, he saved her life so she at least owed him the benefit of the doubt.
"Thanks." The girl thanked Geleel curtly as she now stood up fully.
They shared an awkward look, sure what happened had just...happened, but they were still technically strangers.
The girl then kneeled down to begin picking her produce up and put them back in their basket.
She then watched as Geleel kneeled down and began helping her pick some of the fruits and vegetables up.
He stood up to his full height as he picked up the last mango and dusted it off before dropping it into the basket.
The dreadhead smiled at the good deed, before taking a glance at the unconscious men on the floor...this was all happening so fast.
"Alvarez." He heard the girl speak as he snapped towards her, her brown eyes staring directly at him.
"Huh?" Geleel questioned as he was too lost in the moment to fully process what she said.
"Carmen Alvarez, that's my name." The girl had introduced herself and Geleel internally called himself an idiot, how did he not realize what she was trying to do?
Geleel then thought for a second, should he give this girl his real name? Sure he was supposed to be undercover but, she didn't seem like the shady spy type, or even remotely close to a gang member, this was just a civilian, what could go wrong with her knowing his actual government name?
"Barlett, Geleel Barlett." Geleel introduced himself as he shook her outstretched hand.
"Thanks for the assist, adios." Carmen said curtly before beginning to walk off.
Geleel watched her back, which her curly hair draped over a bit, as she got further and further away, she had just fought off three large men and was just proceeding to leave in such a callous manner, as if this was nothing...
The dreadhead then took note of these men and their features...they all had gang tattoos, sure they could've attacked this girl for the fact that she was seemingly an easy target, but there was still a chance this Carmen Alvarez girl knew something about the gangs in Brazil, and Geleel wasn't gonna pass that up.
He then picked up the glock .17 the man had dropped, leaving that there was sure to be consequential, he thought as he placed the gun into his waistband.
"Aye! Wait up!" Geleel called out to Carmen as he ran up to her, she turned to him with an arched brow.
"Wassup?" She questioned him as he walked beside her.
"Nothing really, just wanted to make sure you were getting back home safely ya feel me?" Geleel questioned her, he wasn't particularly lying, but he wasn't telling the full truth.
"I think you and I both know I can clearly handle myself." Carmen rebutted Geleel's 'worry.'
"I mean don't get me wrong, you definitely got moves, but if it wasn't for me stepping in you would be visiting the big man upstairs right about now." Geleel reminded her as she rolled her eyes.
"What are you? Some typa vigilante? Save the poor 'damsel in distress,' and then get in her panties because you're so cool and noble?" Carmen questioned Geleel as he hummed and put his hand onto his chin.
"Hmmmmm, nah not quite...I'm more of just a guy that chooses to do the right thing, ya know?" Geleel questioned her as she shook her head at him.
"Riiiight." Carmen drawled out as she, despite her previous judgment, actually allowed Geleel to walk side by side with her now.
"You drive?" Geleel questioned her after a faint silence had befallen them.
"Yea." She answered cryptically.
"So why don't you just drive to avoid the assholes in that area from muggin you?" Geleel questioned her.
"You just answered your own question gringo, if I brought my car into an area like that, what do you think would happen?" Carmen questioned him as realization struck him.
"You'd probably be missing all your tires by now." Geleel answered cryptically.
"Bingo." She said with a light clap as they continued walking.
"Fine then smart one, I don't see an issue with walking sometimes anyways." Geleel said as he placed his hands behind his head, Carmen sighed once more.
"You're not gonna let up, are you?" She questioned him.
"Nope." Geleel said as he took the basket from her and opted to carry it for her.
"Ay dios mío..." Carmen trailed off as they continued walking to her house, how did she possibly find herself in an actual conversation with this strange boy? Much as letting him go to her house...
Later on, sure enough, Geleel found himself walking through the front door of Carmen's home, he of course stopped to take note of the vehicle in her yard that was covered by a tarp, he wondered what type of car she drove, but he couldn't ask her right now.
"Wait in the dining room...and take your shoes off." Carmen said as she took the basket from Geleel and he complied with her rules.
The dread head then sat in the dining room as he waited for Carmen to come back.
"I hope you like platanos!" Carmen called out to him as Geleel arched a brow, he did like them but, was she about to cook for him?
Surely enough, after a while he began to smell the scent of the food being fried.
Before he knew it, Carmen had appeared before him with two plates full of food, she placed one in front of him before sitting down and placing one in front of herself.
"Woah, this looks good I won't even lie." Geleel said as he took in the aroma of the food.
"Thanks, not really my best work." Carmen said with a faint chuckle, Geleel was happy to see that despite their abrupt and violent meeting, she was actively starting to open up to him more.
"You kiddin? This is amazing." Geleel said as he picked up a platano and prepared to bite into it, only to yelp in shock when Carmen reached over and slapped it back onto the plate.
"You have to pray over your food before you eat it, house rules." Carmen said as Geleel deadpanned at her, she coulda just said that.
They both bowed their heads and closed their eyes before mentally stating their own individual prayers and thanks.
With that out of the way, they began to eat the food, and Geleel would definitely admit how delicious it was, if the speed with which he was eating it wasn't proof enough anyways.
The dreadhead stopped eating as he heard Carmen subtly laughing to herself, he gave her an arched brow.
"What?" He questioned in a muffled tone as he tried to chew the rest of the food that was in his mouth.
"You're gonna hurt your chest...why do you eat so fast?" Carmen questioned Geleel as he took a second to swallow everything before answering her.
"Well for one, I can appreciate good food when I taste it...and two, I eat like every day is my last because tomorrow isn't promised..." Geleel trailed off as Carmen seemingly understood him, but when the latter snickered to herself and started laughing at him he frowned at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that was so corny but...it was real though." Carmen said as Geleel rolled his eyes at her with a smile and began eating again.
"So, what's your actual deal? Not everyday I meet an American who's willing to put his life on the line to save someone he doesn't know in a foreign country." Carmen relayed to Geleel as he crossed his arms.
"Why are you so fixated on me being American? How do you even know I'm American?" Geleel questioned Carmen as she arched her brow and tilted her head at him.
"Who you foolin' with that accent?" She questioned him.
"I can have this accent and still be cultured." Geleel stated as Carmen hummed.
"Touché." She admitted defeat, he had a point there.
"Besides, what's your deal anyways? You don't exactly have a run of the mill Brazilian accent." Geleel stated, alluding to Carmen's evidently Dominican accent.
"What do you know about accents?" Carmen questioned him.
"More than you'd think, mami chula." Geleel said in a mocking tone as Carmen was actually taken back by this...maybe this guy did know his stuff.
"Fine, fine, I get it, you're not uncultured, but if you ever call me that again I'll cut you." Carmen warned him as he threw his hands up in defense.
"You got it boss, now how about you tell me the Carmen Alvarez backstory already?" Geleel said as Carmen paused for a second, she let this guy into her home, would it hurt to tell him her origins.
"Fine, not much to it, my father was born in Santo Domingo and my mother was from Puerto Rico." Carmen began as Geleel listened.
"When I was about 5...my pops went to jail for something I don't really want to discuss, all I know is that he made things way harder for my mom than it should have been." She continued as Geleel listened more intently now.
"After about 7 years had passed, my mom finally trusted another man with her heart, that man's name was David Perez, he seemed like a really nice man, and within a year, he had gotten my mom pregnant with my little brother." Carmen spoke, Geleel faintly smiled at that, at least the story was taking a turn for the better.
"Things were good...until they weren't, David started...changing, he started drinking, doing cocaine, and...he started putting his hands on my mother, but the one time it got so bad was what took my mother away from me and my little brother." She continued on as she fought her tears from coming out.
"They were arguing so much that night, my mom told me to take my brother and leave the house for a bit...he was just a baby, she didn't want us to witness what was happening, still to this day I don't even know what happened but all I heard was two gunshots, and then that was it...the screaming and the sirens were the only thing flashing through my mind that night...the night I lost my mother forever." Carmen finished as her breath hitched, Geleel did not expect her story to be this tragic.
"Then they sent us down to Brazil to live with our abuela...she's been sick in the hospital for a year now...now I just try to make an honest living for myself and for the sake of my brother." Carmen added one last detail as Geleel soaked everything in, all the while she was trying to maintain her composure.
"Carmen...I...I'm sorry I made you relive that-" Geleel cuts himself off as Carmen stood up swiftly and began wiping the tears that were forming in her eyes.
"It's fine...look, when you're done with your dish, put it in the sink, I gotta use the bathroom..." She explained to him before quickly leaving the room.
Geleel stared at the table solemnly...he kinda felt like a dick for making her revisit those memories, if he had any clue he would never have asked her about it.
Suddenly a few pitter patter small foot steps approached the dining room as Geleel arched a brow, they sounded too small to be Carmen.
When he turned around, he was met with the sight of a boy no older than 7 years old staring at him.
"Who are you?" The boy questioned as he walked up to Geleel and eyed him suspiciously.
"Uh, I'm a friend of your sister's, name's Geleel Barlett." Geleel offered a hand to the boy, the latter narrowed his eyes at the former's hand.
Geleel then slowly pulled his hand back from the kid with an arched brow.
"I'm Mateo! And I'm the boss around here." The now dubbed Mateo introduced himself.
"Oh word?" Geleel questioned him with a knowing smile.
"Uhuh! My sister said so." Mateo said with a shrug as Geleel shook his head and began eating again, the kid was funny to say the least.
"Hey, you my sister's boyfriend?" Mateo questioned Geleel as the latter almost choked on the food he was swallowing.
"W...What?" The dreadhead questioned as he coughed and slapped his own chest.
"You better treat her right, or else I'll come after you myself." Mateo said as he jutted his finger at Geleel's face.
"Mateo!" Both boys turned at Carmen's shout to see her standing by the entrance giving her brother a warning look.
"What did I tell you about having manners?" She questioned her brother as she messed with his hair.
"What? I'm just making sure he knows who's boss." Mateo said as he crossed his arms.
"Alright boss man, why don't you go watch Spongebob in the living room while I fix you a plate?" Carmen suggested as the young boy lit up with excitement.
"Yayyy!" He exclaimed before leaping off of the chair and running into the living room.
"Sorry about him, he didn't say anything crazy did he?" Carmen questioned Geleel.
"Nope, nothing at all." Geleel answered swiftly as Carmen arched a brow at him, that was suspicious.
Later
It had been about an hour since Geleel had finished his food.
Carmen stood in the kitchen washing the dishes as she smiled to herself, she didn't know what really to expect from this guy, but he didn't seem like a threat, he was genuine.
She finished the dishes as she prepared to go greet the boys, who were both in the living room by this point.
Right as she was about to say something to get their attention, she immediately realized that they were playing a game, she wasn't really into video games, but she knew this one, it was 'MARIO KART 8.'
"Come on bruh you cheatin!" Geleel shouted as Mateo tried to mess up his controller.
"No you're just bad!" Mateo shouted as they both chuckled hysterically and continued playing the game.
Carmen couldn't help the smile that was pulling at her face, she wasn't really able to be around and play with her brother, the kid was by himself here most of the time and barely had the chance to sit back and laugh and be happy.
Yet here was this guy, Geleel Barlett, who seemingly came out of nowhere, playing games with her brother and making him giggle uncontrollably, he genuinely seemed so happy because of the dreadhead.
"Yay! I won!" Mateo shouted as Geleel rolled his eyes.
"I bet you won't rematch me though." Geleel taunted as Mateo plopped down next to him.
"I bet I will!" He shouted as they began selecting their characters again.
Suddenly the pod that was in Geleel's pocket buzzed, immediately drawing his attention.
Geleel pulled it out and immediately checked it to realize he had 57 missed calls from Echo...yea putting this thing on DND earlier was NOT the best idea, his best friend was going to have his head.
"Shit." He said underneath his breath.
"Uh, sorry lil man but, I gotta go now." Geleel said to Mateo who frowned slightly.
"Nooo, I was having so much fun." Mateo whined as Geleel stood up with a smile.
"Don't worry Mateo, I can always come back some other time." Geleel explained to the kid who beamed.
"Really?" He questioned excitedly.
"Sure, who else is gonna kick your butt at video games?" Geleel questioned him before walking over to Carmen.
"Sorry Carmen, but I gotta go handle some business." Geleel explained as Carmen nodded.
"Nah it's cool I understand, handle yours, and...thanks." Carmen thanked Geleel, which caused him to arch a brow.
"For what?" Geleel questioned her.
"Saving my life...and being good to my brother, you gotta good heart Geleel Barlett." Carmen stated as she flashed Geleel a smile.
"I try to, and don't mention it, it was fun hanging out with you and your brother." Geleel explained as Carmen began writing something down on a small slip of paper.
"Here, if you're free we can hang out sometime." Carmen said as she had written her number down on the slip and handed it to Geleel.
"Thank you Carmen..." Geleel trailed off, he didn't know how he was gonna text or call her with no phone but he'd figure it out.
The dread head was brought out of his thoughts when the hard shelled afro-latina woman suddenly drew him in for an embrace.
He was a bit taken back since her attitude towards him had shifted a lot since earlier, which made sense, he had earned her trust now.
Geleel then returned the embrace as he inadvertently inhaled Carmen's scent...vanilla with a hint of wood...
They separated after a bit, and Geleel could swear he saw a small pink tinge appear on her face but she had swiftly turned her head so he wouldn't see it fully.
He didn't have time to make fun of her or say anything witty since he really had to go, so he did just that.
"Bye Carmen, bye Mateo!" Geleel shouted before exiting the house.
He'd have to walk fast to ensure Echo wouldn't rip his head off...or maybe run.
The Others
Echo, Tony, Cisco and Frostee had already met back up as they were on their way back to the cars.
The green haired vixen was internally fuming, she wanted so badly to get her hands on her best friend, but fortunately for him he hadn't arrived on the scene yet.
Despite that, Echo was still happy about one thing, she got to see a really nice mural earlier and she couldn't wait to talk about it.
"The art up in this place is for real yo! Earlier I saw this bunch of smaller pieces of a mural that together, make up this HUGE mural of a woman." Echo emphasized the majesty of the painting, choosing to ignore her resentment towards Geleel right now.
"I learned Capoeira!" Frostee shouted as he did a spin kick and a flip.
"Actually the music started playing and it was like my body already knew what to do!" He corrected himself as he started dancing.
"Poor Donut's in a food coma, that's how good these acaí bowls are." Cisco said as he held the disgruntled monkey in his arms like a sick baby.
"We have a acai bowls in L.A." Tony reminded Cisco flatly.
"Well not like the ones here, and it's pronounced, ah-sah-ee!" Cisco shouted.
"That's what I said, acai." Tony challenged.
"Ah-sah-EE!" Cisco shouted once more.
"You think those acaí bowls are good with french fries?" Frostee questioned his friends.
"Hey! We're getting off track! Our friend is out there and she needs us, man, who knew international spying would be this hard?" Tony questioned the group.
"Me! I did..." They heard Geleel's voice trail off as the dreadhead had come upon the scene, he was seemingly out of breath as he placed his hands on his knees.
"Woah Geleel, why you so gassed bro?" Cisco questioned him.
"Well-ack!" Geleel exclaimed as before he could make any form of an explanation Echo had already closed the gap between them and grabbed him roughly by the shirt collar.
"Woah! Woah!" Geleel exclaimed as Echo pulled his shirt forward so that they could be face to face, her irate expression pierced a hole through his panicked one.
The other boys watched on in fear for Geleel, he was in the shitter.
"Where were you, huh?" She questioned Geleel with a dangerous tone lacing her voice.
"Echo wait-ack!" Geleel once again exclaimed as Echo yanked the shirt again, she didn't care if she was damaging it.
"You're not answering fast enough, do you know how insane 57 missed calls sounds?" She questioned him once more.
"What were you doing? Why was the pod set to DND?" Echo continued firing rapid fire questions.
"And- Wait a minute..." Echo trailed off as she caught a whiff of the scent that was radiating off of him.
"Is that vanilla? You don't wear any fragrance that's vani-" Echo is cut off as an array of loud engines draws all of their attention.
Echo lets go of Geleel's shirt collar as the entire crew stood body to body whilst 5 motorbikes surrounded them.
"Ohhh snap." Cisco said in a dead tone.
They were in defense mode as one of the cyclists got off of their bikes.
The man then approached them as he still had his helmet on.
"Uh oh..." Tony trailed off as he was in the middle of the group.
He chuckled nervously as the man seemingly glared at him from behind the helmet visor.
The man then removed his helmet to reveal himself to be a tan hued man with short wavy hair.
"Bem-vindo ao Rio." The man said to the crew cryptically as they sighed in relief.
"Looks like Marchelo's backstory worked." Tony said with a smirk on his face.
"Please tell me you didn't say that thing about the flying fish." Echo said as Tony was about to answer her, only for the Brazilian man to approach the crew even more, this time that same boy that took a picture with Tony's car earlier had emerged behind the man.
"You sure these are them?" The man questioned the boy as Geleel eyed the latter suspiciously...this kid snitched on them.
"Look for yourself." The boy answered the man as he did just that by raising Tony's arm up and inspecting the tattoo.
After doing his check, he surmised that this was a legit tattoo and crew.
"Follow us amigos, we're heading back to headquarters, our bosses will meet us there." The man said before getting back on his motorcycle.
'Bosses? Since when did these guys have more than one boss?' Geleel mentally questioned.
"Lead the way muchacho." Geleel then heard Tony state as the crew all went to their respective cars.
"Thanks for the picture, I'm saving up for a car like yours." The boy said with a smile directed towards Tony, who foolishly flashed it back.
Tony then took off as Geleel came by soon after, purposely using his tires to splash some dirt towards the kid.
"Hey!" He shouted at Geleel as the crew had all driven off by now.
"Yo, these guys have mad pull in the streets or what?" Echo questioned as the cyclists were able to stop civilians from going simply so that the crew and the SUVs that were leading them to the headquarters could pass through.
"Probably a really big crime ring going on here, so glad we're just blindly following them without any clue as to who they really are." Geleel said as a cyclist drove up beside him.
"It doesn't matter, there's a big chance Layla's probably involved with them somehow." Tony relayed to his team.
"You sure about that?" Cisco questioned him.
"The organization that Ms. Nowhere sent us to investigate is the same group that's looking for this formula." Echo actually aided Tony for once.
"Exactly, so she has to be here, everyone stay sharp." Tony warned his team as they continued driving towards the HQ.
They finally arrived at the HQ, which was really just a fancy villa.
The gate to the villa was opened as the vehicles all began going through in a straight line, the two SUVs first, the crew's cars, and the cyclists behind them.
"That's the flower from the formula!" Frostee shouted as he took note of the array of pink flowers growing in the garden area.
"Say that a little louder, Frostee, I don't think we look suspicious enough yet." Geleel said with a deadpan.
"Besides, that flower doesn't look like an exact match to me, the coloration is different." The dread head followed up.
"Maybe that's the national flower?" Tony questioned.
"Brazil's national flower is the yellow ipé." Echo corrected him with a smug expression.
"You know an awful lot about flowers, how long were you in Girl Scouts?" Cisco questioned Echo as they continued driving.
"Oh I'm the cookie queen dawg." Echo boasted as the cars finally came to a stop and the crew stepped out to see another Brazilian man standing on the balcony before them.
"Alright, the bosses will be here in a few, wait inside." The man ordered the crew as they began walking towards the entrance of the villa.
"Guess we can't know this guy's name either." Geleel said sarcastically to Echo, as he expected her to chuckle like usual.
"Hey, you don't get to make sarcastic or snarky comments until you clear your name Mr. DND." Echo said as she jutted her finger into Geleel's chest, eliciting a groan of annoyance from the latter, she was not going to let anything go until he told the truth.
As the crew finally got inside the villa they couldn't help but take in how clean and shiny it was, everything looked so beautiful.
They walked up the stairs to the second floor as they noticed a giant portrait of a pink haired woman, she seemed to be dressed in royal garments.
The crew then made their way over to a lounge like area as Cisco naturally decided to prop himself onto the couch.
"Man, this fancy furniture is so uncomfortable! Give me a recliner from the dump any day." Cisco complained.
"Yo! This is the woman I saw in that mural earlier!" Echo shouted as she pointed to another portrait.
"Look, check it out! That's what I was telling you guys about earlier!" Echo exclaimed as she gestured to the mural that was on a large wall across the town from them.
"And if some people knew how to check their text messages they would've seen her earlier too." Echo added in as she looked Geleel up and down.
"Oh my Gosh." Geleel said under his breath in exasperation.
"Anyways! Who is that?" Echo questioned the Brazilian man as he laughed joyously.
"Santa Rafaela." He answered Echo.
"She must be pretty important; huh?" Echo questioned again.
"Important is an understatement, this was her home..." The man trailed off as he went into a long spiel about Santa Rafaela's legacy.
From her wealthy upbringing, to her father's leadership of the Moreno family, one of the strongest families that controlled the favela.
He also detailed the beauty Rafaela brought to Brazil...only for that beauty to be taken away when gangsters from the other four families assassinated Senor Morena...killing Rafaela in the process.
"Woah...that was deep." Cisco said as he sniffled.
"Are you crying right now?" Geleel questioned the oaf as the latter straightened up.
"No!" He shouted swiftly.
Before they could continue, they all heard the sound of 2 car engines, meaning 2 new people had arrived at the compound.
"The bosses are here." The Brazilian man confirmed to the crew.
"Alright guys, it's Marchelo time." Tony said smugly as they all turned to the stairway and waited for these 'bosses,' to show their faces.
As they waited anxiously...they all fought the urge to gasp when they saw none other than Layla Gray, clad in a black leather jacket, make her way to the top of the steps, a scowl marring her features.
Tony was in utter befuddlement, all he could muster was a measly 'huh?'
Layla had two other males walk up behind her, but the fourth face that emerged from the stairs was one that almost made Geleel's eyes bulge out of his head.
'No way...' He mentally trailed off, it was Carmen...and from the same deer in the headlights expression they both shared, he knew she was thinking the same thing he was.
Unfortunately, they both could not voice their surprised minds as that would cause suspicion to rise from both of their current teams.
"Where is he?" Layla's voice brought them out of their thoughts, the two teams now stood adjacent to each other.
Tony chuckled nervously at that as the country girl took note of his tattoo.
"So you're the famous guy with the formula." Layla deducted as Tony stretched his hand out to her.
"Marchelo." He said in a grave voice as Layla gave him an unimpressed stare.
"Right..." She trailed off before roughly grabbing his arm and twisting it.
"Woah!" Tony exclaimed as he grunted in pain.
"Take a photo of the formula." Layla instructed Carmen as she did just that.
"Done." Carmen said gravely as her phone flash went off.
"Good." Layla said coldly before shoving Tony back into his crew, forcing them to catch him.
"Now take em out." Layla said with a smirk as the rest of her crew, minus Carmen drew machetes.
The Spyracers gained defensive stances as they prepared to fight back.
Echo swiftly leaped up with an adrenaline cry as she delivered a swift roundhouse kick to the Brazilian man from earlier, effectively putting him on the floor.
Cisco then grabbed two of Layla's men as he roughly slammed them onto the ground.
Frostee used his newfound Capoeira skills to avoid the machete swings of one of the cronies.
He allowed the man to run right into a dropkick, but he could not celebrate as a heavyset man was charging at him from behind.
Luckily, Donut was able to send that man over the ledge of the balcony by screeching and grabbing onto his face.
Donut now stood on the chandelier in the middle of the room as the heavyset man hung on for dear life.
Tony was having a hard time dodging Layla's punches, mainly because he wasn't fully aware that she was NOT acting, she was actively trying to punch his lights out.
"If I didn't know any better...I'd say you were actually trying to hurt me!" Tony shouted as he dodged one of her kicks, Layla's kick was so powerful it smashed through the stair railing, eliciting a sharp cry of pain for her.
"Woah! Are you okay?" Tony questioned her as Layla growled at him.
She then swiftly turned and delivered a punch to his midsection, effectively knocking the wind out of him.
"Wow...you're really keeping your cover." He said in a strained voice as he fell to the floor.
Geleel dodged a swipe from Carmen's blade, even though he was still a bit taken back by the fact that not only Layla, but the girl he had met earlier, who was seemingly normal...was leading this type of operation.
"So this is the 'honest,' living you're trying to maintain for your brother, huh?" Geleel questioned her as he blocked her kick with his forearm.
"I don't know, is this the 'business,' you had to handle?" Carmen questioned him as she tried to deliver a roundhouse kick to Geleel's temple, only for him to dodge under it and catch her leg on his shoulder.
He held it there as she was forced to balance on one foot, but when she smirked at Geleel, he was confused.
The dread head soon realized why she smirked as she leaped up and used her free leg to kick him clean across his face, sending him tumbling down the steps and landing in a heap right next to Tony's downed form.
Layla and Carmen both stood victoriously as the boys rose to their knees.
"We're getting our asses kicked, aren't we?" Geleel questioned Tony.
"Yup." Was all Tony could say.
They turned to see Layla and Carmen about to approach them again but everyone in the room froze when they heard Donut screech and looked up to see the large chandelier had fallen from the ceiling, leaving a large thud and crack to the floor in its wake.
"What the-ack!" Layla exclaimed as Donut screeched and jumped on her face.
"Get off!" Carmen then shouted when Donut jumped onto her face as well before he ultimately left them both alone and jumped over to Cisco's shoulder.
"There's no way out!" Tony shouted as he realized the exit was crawling with more goons who were piling in.
"I've got an idea, follow me!" Cisco shouted as Tony's entire crew ran behind the oaf.
Cisco then used the couch to smash through one of the windows as he swiftly ran through it and jumped out.
"This was the master plan?" Geleel questioned as they all followed suit and jumped out the window with loud thuds following.
"Did you have a better one?" Echo questioned him as they scrambled to get up and run to their cars.
They all got in their respective cars as they sped out of the compound.
Layla and Carmen ran outside to realize the crew was trying to make a break for it, but they knew they couldn't let that happen.
They assembled a small team of goons and the chase had begun.
"Okay guys, I think it's time we called Ms. Nowhere!" Tony shouted as they sped through the streets of Rio.
"I'm on it!" Frostee stated as he began trying to call Ms. Nowhere.
After about 5 minutes of trying to get Nowhere to reply Frostee groaned.
"I think Ms. Nowhere's ignoring me!" Frostee shouted in annoyance.
"Okay new plan! Everyone split up!" Geleel shouted as the crew did that.
When they split up, two cyclists began chasing Cisco's baja as he tried desperately to lose them.
Echo was being chased by a white SUV as she smirked to herself, she knew it wouldn't be too hard to lose him.
Tony
Tony of course was being chased by Layla as she pushed her GT to the limit, she did not want him to escape.
With a grunt, Layla swerved her car into Tony as he nervously glanced back at her, she was sure to protect that cover pretty well...
"You're doing really good at this undercover stuff, Lay!" Tony shouted back at her as the country girl growled to herself before activating her saws.
"I'm gonna cut that charger right in half, pretty boy." Layla said with a smirk as Tony gasped at this, she sounded dead serious.
Geleel
Geleel was speeding down a street of his own as he was seemingly free from any heat at the moment, no SUVs or cyclists had gone after him.
Unfortunately, before he could fully relax, a loud engine roared ahead as he turned to his left to see that same orange I8 from earlier coming straight towards him.
Geleel was in utter shock as the I8 drifted onto the road he was driving on and began speeding after him.
When he got a closer look at the driver, he gasped when he realized it was none other than Carmen Alvarez, it makes sense as to why her car was hidden in her yard now, that thing probably attracted so much police attention she could only drive it at night.
"Of course...aren't you just full of surprises today." Geleel said through gritted teeth as Carmen smirked and kept on chasing him through the streets.
Echo
Echo was getting annoyed with this SUV now as he continued chasing her and ramming into her hyperfin.
"You know what, I think it's time for an alley rally!" She shouted as she noticed an alley coming up.
"Keep comin, keep comin..." She said to herself as the SUV didn't seem to wanna let up.
"Heh." She said to herself as she used her hyperfin's superior mobility and flexibility to easily squeeze through the alley way.
Unfortunately for the SUV driver, his car was stuck in the slender alley way due to how wide it was.
"I lost my guy!" Echo shouted gleefully as she awaited the rendezvous point that Frostee would surely be getting for them soon.
Cisco
"Have you gotten onto Ms. Nowhere yet?" Cisco questioned Frostee.
"No! She's still ignoring my texts! And I KNOW she saw them." Frostee said in annoyance.
"Rude." Cisco said in disgust as he continued trying to escape the cyclists that were on his tail.
"I'll just keep trying." Frostee said with a groan.
After about 50 more messages, Frostee finally got a response from Ms. Nowhere...granted it wasn't a nice one but...it was a reply nonetheless.
"Guys! She finally responded! It sounds like we ruined her mission but...she has a safehouse location for us! Sending locations to you all now." Frostee said as he did just that.
"Got it! Thanks Frost!" Tony shouted over the comms.
Before Frostee could respond he was forced to yelp as Cisco continued to swerve in an attempt to shake the cyclists, but the effort was futile.
"Yo I think we might be in trouble, I can't shake these guys..." Cisco said with worry, lacing his words.
Suddenly he turns down a street as he unfortunately notices the same elderly man he bought acaí bowls from earlier pushing a cart across the street.
"Look out!" Frostee exclaimed as Cisco swerved to avoid flattening the old man.
The cyclists did not expect this sudden turn as they couldn't stop in time and ultimately crashed right into the baja, effectively sending them flying into the walls of a building in front of them with loud thuds and groans of pain.
Cisco and Frostee breathed raggedy, hell, even Donut was taken back by what had just happened.
"Quickly! In here!" They heard a voice shout as they turned to realize it was the same boy that snitched on them earlier.
"Hey! You're the boy who ratted us out earlier, why should we trust you?" Cisco questioned the boy as the latter smiled at his grandfather before turning back to them.
"Because you just saved meu avô." The boy answered cryptically as Cisco and Frostee thought it over...they didn't really have any better option at the moment.
Cisco eventually just relented and began pulling his truck into their garage.
"Plus...if it helps, I want to check out this truck." The boy said in awe of the baja.
"It DOESN'T help." Frostee emphasized.
Geleel
Geleel was still being relentlessly chased by Carmen, and he had to admit, she was a damn good driver, he was trying everything to shake her.
Fortunately when Geleel's modem lit up and the directions that Nowhere sent for the safehouse was displayed, he knew it was time to shake Carmen.
Almost to spite him, Carmen's I8 rammed into his Camaro again, so much for maintaining the new paintjob...
"Lo siento senora Alvarez, but I gotta cut this one short." Geleel said as he set his car to stealth driving mode, his tires stopped releasing any form of smoke or debris, and his engine's sound had become so silent that not even the sharpest dog could hear it at this point.
The dreadhead's gaze hardened as he noticed Carmen was smirking in behind her windshield, she thought for sure that she had him.
Geleel then refocused on the road ahead of him as he noticed a wall was coming up.
"Time to disappear." He said to himself as he brandished one of Frostee's holodrones and threw it outside of his window.
Carmen was getting ready to finally stop Geleel in his tracks...but then his car virtually vanished from thin air without a sound or trace of it left.
She didn't even have time to question what had even just occured, as her I8 was speeding right towards the wall.
"Diablo!" She shouted as she slammed on the brakes and tried her hardest to turn away from the wall.
Fortunately for her, she was able to turn the vehicle away from the wall without completely smashing into the wall and totaling her car.
Carmen then took a few moments to draw in her breaths of relief, that could've ended terribly.
She then began to get a little mad that she had let Geleel get away...here she thought he was a good guy to have around her brother, but he was working for the feds...it was so clear to her now...she could never trust a cop or anyone associated with them.
"Shit!" She shouted as she slammed her hand against her steering wheel; she was upset for so many different reasons right now.
Tony
Tony was still trying his hardest to escape Layla, but the blonde was relentless.
"Tony, I hope to God you've figured out a way to shake hillbarbie by now." Geleel said through Tony's comms.
"I'm working on it Gele-woah!" Tony shouted as he noticed a large truck coming up at an intersection.
Tony then activated his nitro as he rocketed forward, fortunately this gave him enough speed to miss the truck and speed ahead.
Layla unfortunately had to turn swiftly to avoid crashing into the truck.
Tony had gained some separation from Layla but...he was coming up on a construction zone, this surely was going to end well.
"Say a prayer for meeee!" He shouted as he sped up even more; he was gonna jump the construction zone.
"What? Why?" Geleel questioned him.
"Because I'm going up!" Tony shouted as he activated his second nitro tank and rocketed towards the ramp at the beginning of the construction zone.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" He screamed out as his car flew through the air, everyone in Rio could see this happening, though many would probably not believe it was real.
"Woah! Woah!" Tony exclaimed as he landed roughly on the other side of the construction zone and began speeding away towards the safehouse.
Layla ran up to the edge of the side of the construction zone that Tony had jumped over.
She irately watched as his charger got further and further away...she lost him.
A familiar I8 engine drew her attention as she turned to realize Carmen drove up besides her GT.
Carmen then walked up to stand next to Layla.
The curly headed woman shook her head at Layla to let her know she hadn't succeeded in catching Geleel either.
Layla lets out an annoyed groan, this wasn't over, far from it.
Echo
"So we all good now right, to the safehouse?" Echo questioned the rest of the team.
"Yup/You know it." Geleel and Tony answered on the comms simultaneously.
"You guys go on ahead! Cisco and I will meet you there tomorrow morning! Oh by the way, Ms. Nowhere said she's coming to Brazil!" Frostee shouted over the comms.
"Why?" Geleel questioned over the comms.
"Because she wants to make sure we're safe." Frostee answered as Echo arched a brow at that.
"Oh...wow, that's actually kinda nice." Tonyl said in a genuine tone.
"Wait she just texted me again, she said that we better stay safe because she's gonna come here and I quote, murder us all one by one with her bare hands." Frostee added in.
"Anddddd Ms. Nowhere is back to normal." Geleel said with a chuckle as the rest of the group began chuckling over the comms as well...they were all still a bit confused as to why Layla Gray was acting like this...it didn't seem like a cover at all.
But at least they had all come out of the commotion unscathed.
Geleel was even more confused than anyone...not only did the Layla thing stun him since he was sure she had changed for the better after Vegas, but Carmen working with her or for any form of criminal organization was a huge shock to the system...he was just eating at her house a few hours ago...yet a few minutes ago she was trying to take his life, the world was such an interesting place.
Chapter Fin