The plan was supposed to be simple: Philip causes a scene, Chano slips away, and the girls get to safety. But as soon as Marco led Bella and Rina toward the secondary vehicle in the dark alley behind the restaurant, the air changed.
"Master," Phenphen's voice crackled over the comms, breathless as he sprinted alongside Marco. "The two guys at the bar were just the tip of the iceberg. I'm seeing three more vehicles closing in on the alley. And Chano... you're not going to believe who's leading the pack."
Blocking the alley's exit was a gold-plated SUV that screamed "bad taste and high budget." The door swung open, and out stepped the man from the penthouse—wearing a tuxedo even tighter and shinier than the one from the night before.
"Where is she?!" the Greasy Man screamed, backed by four professional-looking mercenaries in tactical gear. "Where is my Queen?!"
"You again?" Rina gasped, ducking behind Marco. "How did you even get past the perimeter?"
"Because of me," a deeper, more polished voice boomed. A second man stepped out of the SUV. He looked like a more successful, slightly less oily version of the suitor. He wore a sharp designer suit and held a high-end tablet. "I am Don Rico, and unlike my brother here, I don't just bring sunflowers. I bring resources."
"Kuya! Get her! She's the one!" the Greasy Man pointed frantically at Rina.
"Marco, get them in the car. Now!" Chano's voice barked over the comms as he and Philip burst through the kitchen doors.
Philip didn't hesitate. He reached into the back of the secondary vehicle and pulled out the giant, three-eared Labobo plushie. "Go, go, go! I'll hold them off with the monster!"
As the team piled into the armored sedan, Philip wound up like a professional pitcher and hurled the massive plushie directly at the Greasy Man's face.
SPLAT!
The fake plushie hit the suitor mid-sentence, the felt teeth catching on his sequins. In the confusion, Marco floored the accelerator, the sedan roaring as it pushed past the gold SUV.
"After them!" Don Rico roared. "No one embarrasses a family of entrepreneurs!"
The BGC Chase
The chase was on. Three black SUVs and one hideous gold one tore through the streets of BGC. Chano sat in the passenger seat, his laptop open on his knees, bypassing traffic lights to turn them green for their escape and red for their pursuers.
"Master, they're gaining!" Phenphen shouted, tapping his tablet. "Don Rico is hacking the city's grid! He's countering my overrides! He's actually... he's actually pretty good at this!"
Suddenly, the gold SUV pulled an aggressive PIT maneuver, slamming into the side of the sedan and forcing them into a construction zone. The car spun to a halt, surrounded by high concrete walls. Don Rico's mercenaries swarmed the car before Marco could reverse. The Greasy Man scrambled out, tripping over his own tuxedo.
"Come with me, my Queen! My brother has a yacht! We can live in the basement of the yacht!" he wailed, reaching for the car door.
But as the mercenary reached for the handle, Chano didn't reach for a gun. He reached for a small remote on the dashboard.
"Philip," Chano said, a cold smirk returning to his face. "Did you finish that modification I asked for?"
"Ready, Master!" Philip grinned.
Chano pressed the button. Back in the middle of the construction zone, the discarded Labobo plushie—which had been dragged along under the gold SUV's bumper—suddenly began to glow a violent red.
"ONLY YOU HAVE AWAKENED MY SLEEPING HEART! ONLY YOU HAVE AWAKENED MY SLEEPING HEART!"
A 130-decibel blast of the suitor's own recorded voice erupted from the plushie, amplified by the surrounding concrete walls. The mercenaries dropped their weapons, clutching their ears in agony.
"What is that?! My ears!" Don Rico screamed, dropping his tablet.
"It's the sound of your brother's failure," Chano shouted over the noise.
While the villains were incapacitated by the sonic assault of the loop, Marco didn't miss a beat. He put the car in gear, smashed through the construction barricade, and disappeared into the night.
The Aftermath
As they reached the safety of the main highway, the silence in the car was heavy. Then, slowly, Phenphen started to giggle. Then Philip started to roar with laughter.
"Did you see his face?!" Philip wheezed. "He got taken out by a fake Labubu!"
Rina was leaning her head against the window, exhausted. "Chano... please tell me the Labobo stayed there. Please tell me it's gone."
Chano glanced at the rearview mirror. "Oh, it's gone, Rina. But I think 'Basement Queen' is officially a legend in the BGC underworld now."
Bella adjusted her hair, looking remarkably unfazed. "We need to deal with Don Rico. He's clearly more dangerous than his brother. But for now..." She looked at Rina. "Nice work with the construction lights, Takahashi."
"I just wanted to go home," Rina whispered.