Archived La Vie de Luxe - Oh Canada!

[Narrator]

[Hobbes]

"Leave Laurent behind?" Hobbes laughed. "Yes, Agent West. I suppose if you are suggesting I strap myself into the backseat of our suspect's car I would probably need to leave Officer Laurent behind. His uniform just might give him away, grubby as he may appear. Not to worry. I know how to get Laurent out of sight."

Reaching across to his passenger, Hobbes grabbed the officer by the neck and pulled him roughly to the car floor.

"Je suis désolé, mon ami. Sorry, my friend." Hobbes hissed excitedly to Laurent. "Ce que je fais c'est necessaires. This may be necessary.

"I'm ready to do the switch whenever you are, Nina." He said into the communicator. "If this works out, we'll have our suspects held hostage faster than Julius Caesar did over the Senate of Rome."

 

[Vic]

The one-time world's greatest salesman snapped a look to his rear view mirror and, from the red light of his Buick, could see the blond girl driver behind him. It's ACME alright, young, plucky, with an electric car. Classic. Dang she looks mad, and she was moving closer too.

Seeing lights up ahead, Vic guessed that was the blinking orange that told people to slow down. Vic pushed the gas petal as far as he could, the old car bucked and sputtered, but it did exactly what it should and the speedometer needle moved faster to the right.

 

[Nina West]

"Affirmative on that, Agent Hobbes," Nina saw the Buick speed off and quickly push the pedal on her car too. This electric car wasn't made to go so far so fast, so it stayed at around the limits. Nina cursed then said under her breath, "Come on Fumigalli, lose me, lose me already!"

 

[Vic]

Gonna lose you now, ACME Electric, Vic smiled to himself. This here maneuver is what we call the Italian Seesaw. When they passed an intersection, he spun the Buick around, it was a bigger car, so it didn't move so much in circles. The Italian Seesaw usually involved at least two Mini Coopers, but this was gonna have to do.

Now facing Nina's car, he got the Buick moving again. It was kind of like playing Chicken, but he's heading for the intersection, not a collision, and having done this several times, he could predict the other driver's direction.

 

[Nina West]

Watching the big car turn and head her way was like watching a buffalo do exactly that. Nina slammed on the breaks and veered to the next safest opening on the road. Twisting the steering wheel, she caught a glimpse of the driver and passenger of the Buick. Holly Golightly! Did that girl have fangs?

 

[Vic]

Vic swerved pass the little electric car with the sort of skill you learn after going to jail for wreckless driving. Popping a grin Nina's way, he screeched down the intersection, splitting off towards the city. He was surprised the tires didn't pop or the engine didn't die through all that.

"That was easy," Vic chuckled, "now let's head downtown before this thing starts to stink and all the cop flies come in for a landing."

 

[Nina West]

Breathing a sigh of relief, Nina got out of the car and looked down the smoky path the Buick took. "Agent Hobbes," she said to her communicator, "they went down towards R 14, looks like back into the city..." She wanted to say one of the people in that car had fangs, but she wasn't sure if it was just a costume, so Nina kept quiet. "I'll be standing by. Good luck."

 

[Narrator]

[Hobbes]

"Roger that, Agent West. I am in pursuit." Hobbes replied, voice tinged with excitement. Veering right, the K-Car squealed onto Rue Monteblanc, adjacent to Route 14. An ancient Buick roared past the street and Hobbes snarled in surprise, clamping down on the accelerator and rolling onto the sidewalk to bypass the dense traffic.

Losing his side mirror on the traffic light's post, Hobbes tore after the Buick aggressively, blindly cutting off a minivan and a couple of transport trucks.

"I believe I am closing in on the suspects, Nina." Hobbes said. "If they don't stop now, they never will."

Engine snarling, Hobbes pulled behind the Buick and leaned heavily on his horn, sending one long blast of baritone tenor to the lead vehicle.

"Come on, Vincent." Hobbes flashed his lights. "Time for you to meet your new 'hired hand.'"

 

[Narrator]

[Kyzano]
Dragon growled some hearing the one blaring note from the other car. Shaking her head a touch she paused. Wait... that was the... "Vic keep driving."

It was the car that had been trying to signal them earlier. Same exact horn pitch. And she doubted that two cars would have the same, least not on the same night.

"I think it's the second car. The horn sounds exactly the same." She informed the driver. Her eyes cast back at the car following them.

 

[Vic]

"This guy again?" Vic inhaled through his teeth, "he really wants to talk, ah? Let's see what he has to say. If he tries anything fishy, we'll jump him." Vic wasn't usually so brave, but he did just blindside a cop, he was feeling lucky. Plus, his partner tonight's got claws.

Turning on the yellow blinking signals, he slowed down, pulling over to the side of an emty road for easy getaway if need be. "Let's wait and let him come over here first," Vic kept an eye on the rear view mirror, "This guy looks too uptight to be an ACME Detective."

 

[Narrator]

[Hobbes]

Exhaling in satisfaction, Hobbes pulled up sloppily behind the Buick without signaling. Rolling up his sleeves and messing his hair, Hobbes Rifled through his glove compartment, looking for something tough and slightly disgusting like a toothpick or a cigarette to finish his image, but pulled out a half-finished package of Hauls instead.

"Close enough." He muttered, popping one in his mouth. Looking down at Officer Laurent, Hobbes whispered quickly, "Attendez l'agent de ACME. Elle s'appelle Nina West. Wait for the ACME agent. Her name is Nina West."

"Oui, Monsieur."

Stepping out of the car, Hobbes walked over to the parked Buick, his heart throbbing with each step. Upon reaching the driver door, Hobbes crouched to be eye level with the suspect, who he saw was, in fact, Vincent Fumagalli.

"Fumagalli?" Hobbes asked through the glass with a thick French accent. Moonlight bounced off of Hobbes' glasses, making his eyes impossible to see. "I am François Robespierre. I was acquisitioned by a red dame to help you." Hobbes glanced around shiftily. "You have all of Montreal fuzz out on the attack tonight, my friend. Why did you go right for that trap downtown? I tried to warn you away."

 

[Narrator]

[Dragon]

Dragon got out of the car, shutting the door, she moved to about three feet from Hobbes and crossed her arms, staring him down. She didn't like this, her instincts were telling her that something was off. She sniffed a few times at the air.

Odd... this human... his scent smelt like two. She continued sniffing at the air a bit, her eyes narrowing at the human as the barest hints of a growl stroked at her vocal cords.

Dragon didn't like this. She didn't like it one bit.