H Y P N O T I C

Call

They all sat in the car. Felix sat in the passenger, Sirius driving, Locus sitting in the middle of the back and Venus putting her feet up on the seat and leaning against Locus. She stared out the window,watching the buildings go buy. She tilted her head back to check on Locus, who had his eyes closed. Dipshit in the trunk had to ruin the quiet moment and started to bang on the side. Felix just leaned to turn up the radio and Venus turned her attention back to the window.Sirius sighed as they came to another red light, "Come on...""Relax.Job's done.""It'snot done until he's in custody and we get paid." "Then just run it." Sirius scoffed, "Yeah, last thing I need now is a traffic ticket." "Wow.Mason Wu, trained killer of men, draws the line at public safety.""Gates, I am not-" Locus interrupted, "Codenames." The two men looked at Locus then, each other than back at the intersection.Sirius sighed, "Look, the money's just a little tight right now."

"Money? We just scored the bounty of our lives. Split four ways thatasshole's still buying me a new car, you get your wife some thin gnice, Venus buys herself forty new pairs of heels, Locus does..."He looks back at Locus, "...whatever he does with money. I'm assuming therapy?" Locus gained a pain expression on his face, and only Venus felt the low rumble that ran through his body. "Don't think that those shoes aren't coming out of your paycheck, Felix." Venus said quickly to lighten the mood. Felix continued, "Look, the point is we're gonna be fine. Collect our bounty, lay low for a little while, and when things cool up-" Something then beeps on the cars monitor, "The fuck?" Sirius looks at it. "Hey! Stop, stop! HEY STOP!" Felix says as they almost hit a drunk pedestrian. Felix looks at him, "Jesus, man. Pay attention." "What is it?"Locus says. The monitor reads.

GABRIEL LOZANO

BOUNTY NOT FOUND

"Oh-"Felix says. The four eventually find themselves in an abandoned parking lot. Locus was seated on the trunk, Venus was on the roof,Felix was pacing. Sirius kicked a can out of frustration, "FUCK!""They have someone inside the IPD."Locus says. "No,that's not possible." Sirius replies."Every police force has bad cops, even the big ones." Felix explained.Sirius grew even more angry, "Bad cops? They erased his record. As far as they're concerned we've got an innocent man tied up in our trunk. The fuck we supposed to do with that?" Locus added, "And we still need to cover equipment costs for the mission." "GODDAMN IT!" Sirius kicked the car with his metal leg, leaving a dent.Venus looked at Sirius, "Honey, that doesn't fix our problems."He just sighed. Felix, who was bent down, popped up with an idea, "I know how we make our money. I don't care what his record says,Gabriel is not an innocent man. But he is the son of one of the wealthiest men in this city. And we have him in our trunk." "No.""Sirius-" "We are not crooks!" "Sirius-" Felix pushed."We are not crooks!" "Sirius-" Felix continued. "Ransom?Are you kidding me? That's what you're suggesting, right? You wanna hold this kid for ransom?""Thinka bout the money." Felix continued."The four of us set out to stop criminals. We do good, we get paid,everybody wins. Ransom makes us no better than the guys we're tryingto take down!" 

Felix put his hands out to reason, "Philosophically speaking, I see what you're saying. I do. But you're not thinking about this pragmatically. You're the one that brought us together.You saw something in us that we didn't, and you saw the good we could do with our talents. But what you don't see is that Gabriel Lozano is a bad person. His father Ruben is a very bad person that pays bad people to do bad things. We hold his son ransom for, fuck it, let's say double the bounty, and we are taking money away from Lozano. Weare hurting him financially. You see the logic here? We're still helping the city. Ruben Lozano takes a major hit, and we reunite a family." He said all in a sickly sweet voice. Venus hopped down from the roof, "He brings up a good point, Si." "It's likely Ruben would become more protective of his son once he's back. Less men causing trouble on the streets, less income to keep those men happy, it could yield better results than the original mission."Locus added on. Sirius gave in, "Alright. So who wants to make the call?" They made their way to the edge of town, so they would be in somewhat quiet. Sirius and Felix head up to the building, leaving Venus and Locus to get the kid out of the car. Venus put a hand on Locus' arm, "Hey, are you alright?" "I'm fine." He started to walk but, she grabbed his arm again, "Locus...I mean it, are you okay? It...it got a little heated between you and Felix before."His eyes softened, hearing the sincerity in her voice. He placed a hand on her cheek, lent down and place a kiss on her forehead,"Really, I'm fine." She smiled and they continued with their job. 

Felix made the call but, was met with voice mail, "MOTHER FUCKER-"He slammed the phone down on the table. "Maybe he's not home?"Sirius said. "Very funny." Felix responded. The phone started to vibrate, Felix picked it up, "Hello?" "Where is my son?" The voice responded. Felix then put the phone on speaker and then started to speak in his normal douchey way, "I'm pleased to inform you that Gabriel is here with us safe and sound." "Should he not be in the custody of the police?

"Well that's funny. You see it turns out that your son is completely innocent! Must have been some sort of mix-up at IPD. It's an honest mistake." "Hmm.I see. Then what, may I ask, are you planning to do with him?"Felix then laughs maniacally, causing the three to look at each other,concern in their eyes. Felix continues, "Oh, Mr. Lozano I can promise you that we have all sorts of plans involving your son, but what ultimately happens to him is entirely dependent upon the actions you take within the next few minutes. See we went through a lot of trouble apprehending young Gabriel, so if you want him back you will transfer four million credits to a specified bank account. Once the payment has been received, we will provide you with Gabriel's location, and the two of you can move on with your lives. I know this must be difficult for you, Mr. Lozano, but please know that if your payment is not received before sunrise, these will be the last words you hear from your son."Felix pulls of the tape, the kid had little time to beg for his life before Felix placed a gun to his head. Felix continues to speak, "So,Mr. Lozano. I suggest you think very carefully about the- "You're a fucking idiot." Felix turns to his partners who just shrug. Felix speaks in a shaky voice, "I'm sorry?" "No you're not. But I'm going to make you fucking sorry. I'm going to make you wish you never set foot inside my fucking nightclub, you stupid rat faced shit!""Mr.Lozano, I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation."He emphasizes his point by shooting the kid  in the leg, who screams and cries loudly. 

"Hey!"Sirius says. Felix motions for him to stop. "Shut him up." Locus covers the kids mouth and nods. "Four million credits, or your son is dead!" Felix says, anger bubbling in his voice. "You think I give a shit about my son." Everyone looks surprised, eyes darting to one another. "My son is the worst thing I have ever brought into this world. A fuckingdisgrace. He couldn't even run the nightclub I gave him. He is a parasite that has done nothing but piss away my fortune. If you want the truth, killing him would be doing me a favor. Unfortunately, this does not excuse you of the damage you have already done. I have a reputation to uphold. If word got out that two bounty hunters killed my men, shot up my property, and kidnapped my son, all without consequence, that would most certainly be a sign of weakness. Which is why I am personally going to bash your skulls open and feed you to my dogs. Do we understand one another, or have you not yet grasped the gravity of the situation?" Felix grips the phone tighter."You're full of shit, Lozano. And now your kid costs five million." Sirius makes a frantic movement to question Felix's methods. 

Venus' eyes could only dart between the two. Ruben continues "Far too bold.It's obvious I've worked in this world longer than you have, boy.You're a bad liar. But so you know that I'm not bluffing, I can tell you that the bounty hunters, Locus, Venus and Felix, will not live to see the sunrise."The three exchange worried glances. "Oh that's right. I know your aliases. I know your faces, and your scars.I know you're at the abandoned quarry outside of town." He speaks smugly. They all panic, Sirius, Venus and Locus grab their weapons and check outside the window. What I want you to know is that I already have more than enough information to find you in this city,and if you somehow manage to slip away, I will find the people you know, the people you love, and I will make them suffer in your place." Sirius panicked and quickly grabbed the phone, "Stop!Wait wait wait wait stop! Look, take your fucking kid, alright? No ransom, no money, just take him and you'll never see us again.""I'll be seeing you soon, gentlemen." With that he hung up.Sirius screamed and threw the phone. In typical Felix manor, he started pointing fingers. It wasn't until the poor Lonzano kid sniffled out, "I got a chip. In my neck. I got a, a GPS chip My dad put it there And there was a girl under my desk." "Underyour...oh. Oh, oh that is perfect, classy too!" Felix snapped at the kids. Sirius looked at them, "I have to call Megan." He said frantically.

"You're not doing shit, Wu." "She could be in danger." Venus tried to calm him, "Mace, calm down, let's just think this out, okay?""Well we are all in danger, until we sort this out!" Felix yelled again. The arguing was ceased by a gunshot. The three looked towards Locus, who had shot Lonzano in the head. "Codenames." He grumbled out, walking out, leaving the three stunned and horrified.