KISMET ─ vento aureo.

▹ TWO ;

☆ ⁺ ⠀«⠀ GET THIS BABY AIRBORNE

★˚⋆ YOU FLICKED THE TURTLE CARD OVER the Lady's head and immediately ducked. Strobes of light shot through the air as Mista's Pistols aimed the elector pulses at the goons, taking them out like bowling pins. You saw Trish hook a leg around the goon retraining her, sweeping his legs out from under him and neatly swiping his elector. She clipped the goon who came next over the temple, twisting out of his grip.

"Catch the turtle!" Lady Legarde screamed. Two elector blasts flared behind, knocking her forward. As you swung yourself out of the booth, Mista was sliding in to grab Narancia, jostling the Lady aside. Clenched between his teeth was the turtle card.

Showoff.

"Sorry I'm late!" Mista crowed around the card, hoisting Narancia over his shoulder. His yellow Pistols floated behind him, hurling obscenities at the goons they'd felled. The turtle was passed back to Trish, who grimaced and wiped it against her pants. Your crew then hightailed it out of the bar.

"What happened to our pilot?"

"Sedative," Trish answered, setting her elector to Incap. "Haul ass, guys. The Lady's not going to be happy we took her turtle."

Thankfully, there were only a handful people out at the late hour, and they were smart enough to keep out of your crew's way. You darted beneath neon-lit storefronts, brushing away vape smoke from teens hanging outside.

"You really need to work on your aim, Cap," Mista said. "Barely caught the turtle open back there."

"Why don't we stop and I'll throw it again?" You were scanning the narrow streets for a Levi to jack into. Shouts rang in the distance and feet pounded the pavement.

"What'd the Lady do to piss you off? I thought you said you were reeling 50k from her."

"Obviously, it didn't work out." Trish tugged the back of your jumpsuit, jutting her chin to a red Levi parked in front of a tattoo lounge a few feet ahead. You skidded to a halt in front of it, thanking the stars Fugo had downloaded the lock picker onto your holopad. It almost made the seven hours it had taken worth it.

You swiped your holopad over the driver's side door, then launched yourself in, unlocking the back doors for Trish and Mista. As soon as you heard the flump of Narancia's body hitting the seat, you were tearing away from the tattoo lounge, sheepishly ignoring the yells that followed.

As you swerved around black-clad figures on hoverboards and raced through floating red traffic lights, Trish leaned over the centre console, swiping her fingers over the dash to bring up your contacts now that your holopad had automatically synced. She tapped on Fugo's contact, then again when he didn't answer.

"What the hell is he doing?"

You banked a hard left to throw the Levi onto a side street. You could see a cluster of black Levis in your rearview now, hounding your crew like a swarm of wasps.

"Get Narancia awake," you said. "You two need to get these guys off our ass." A few more turns and you'd be at the docking bay the Passione was waiting at.

A hard slap sounded as Mista brought his palm across Narancia's face. Fugo decided to pick up at the same moment Narancia shrieked with pain.

"What's—what's going on?" Fugo's voice sounded froggy. Stars, he hadn't been napping, had he?

"Open the ship's bay doors," you said. "The deal was a bust. We still have the turtle and about five Levi's on our tail. We're headed to the ship now. The minute we're in, you're flying us out of here."