"You okay, little one?"

Ray Mond was seething. Her hands were twitching without her handy red bloodied wrench, and her brown eyes were dialing in the insanity of the past few months. She looked at Vinny, her adopted father and the only man in Chang Gang whom she truly looked up to.

"Would you be?" She asked, unafraid of the ranks and the orders. The tapping of her feet corresponded to the ticking of the clock. "I did everything I was asked to, so why was I summoned back?"

Vinny Pistone let down his pistol on the wooden stool and sat in front of Ray. He looked worn out and tired since the last time Ray saw him. "We have something to say, and it was best that you were here for it."

Ray raised her eyes, glancing at the seriousness of Vinny's dark gaze. She clasped her hands nervously, her heart beating rapidly against her ribcage. She had forgotten how much she missed the crazy adrenaline of her racing heart and everything that came with it.

"If this is about Chatterbox, I did what I was told..."

"Chatterbox - or Jagger - or whatever he goes by now..." Vinny took a deep breath, hands on his thighs and tension creasing on his forehead. "He went batshit crazy after you left. He went against his NCO; he killed anyone who crossed paths with him. He assassinated most of the gangs in the city, he destroyed the police force singlehandedly, and almost killed Mr. K. Half of the city is either in the ICU, or dead."

Ray couldn't believe any of it. She was hiding since the past year, under cahoots of different names and personalities. She was told to do so by CG and was promised a handsome rank order, money and a life where she'd never have to work another day again.

All she had to do was fall in love with Chatterbox. Or pretend to. She had to make the stupid, idiotic clown fall for her, completely wrap him under her finger and then leave him so he could succumb to his insanity and die. He was a ticking time bomb to the city and all of the gangs wanted him gone, before he went batshit crazy. They needed to eradicate the man and everything that he had so the city could be relieved of the foolishness and the clownery.

And for that, Ray Mond was chosen.

When Taco and Ramee, Chang Gang's core members recommended Ray Mond for the plan of deceit, Mr. K laughed aloud. To trust Ray Mond, the silly, goofy and erratic girl for a suicide mission was truly laughable. After Randy Bullet's treacherous behaviour and being banished from the city, Ray Mond had escaped the city only to return famished and needy. However, Mr. K decided to go with the girl, given there was nothing he had to lose from it.

If she won, Chatterbox would die. If she didn't, then she would. It was a win-win for him.

So, Ray Mond was chosen from the gang to lure Chatterbox with her charm.

She played her cards really well. Or, rolled her die. She acted like the helpless, crazy, insane woman every time she crossed paths with Chatterbox or the clowns. She made herself vulnerable, emotional and more of what Chatterbox needed at that time. She killed for him, she was ready to die for him, going all in to win his love and affection. And it did. She loved him, yucked him, and then left him when he was the most vulnerable.

That was when CG decided to send Ray Mond away in safekeeping while they took matters in their hands. They thought Chatterbox would die slowly, going insane day by day, and be killed by his own clownery. Things spiraled way too quickly when the unleashed monster of the goofy clown surfaced and engulfed the entire city under his treacherous deeds.

Death. Blood. Cries. Pain. Tremors of Chatterbox's fear elapsed in the city, in every house, in every corner until the streets and the skies remained dark.

"I did everything I was asked to!" Ray Mond was infuriated by the turn of events. How was she to be blamed for things she was ordered to do? Especially with the way they had summoned her back like a criminal on the run. "How is this my problem now, Vinny?"

"I know, kiddo. Trust me, I opposed when Mr. K asked for you. But..."

"But what?"

"Taco is dead."

Ray Mond's heartbeats dropped. She looked at Vinny like he would say sike and laugh at her reaction. But nothing of that sort happened, Vinny simply looked remorseful.

"What?"

"The clowns killed him. Twinkles tied him upside down and put him in the lava pit until nothing remained." Vinny gulped, with his hands fisted and murderous glint in his eyes. "They injured Ramee, until he could walk no more. Not just them, Ray, almost all of the gang is done for. The city is done for. There is nothing good left in Los Santos. That is why we had to bring you home like a refugee."

"What about Mr. K?"

"Him and the mayor, the rest of the LSPD or whatever remained of that - they decided you were the only way to stop this clown and his killings."

Ray Mond laughed, sarcasm dripping in every word she said. "Wow, so risk your life for the gang and the gang doesn't think twice before throwing you under the bus. Some family, huh?"

"Ray, you have always been my family."

Ray got up from her seat, unable to stay in one place with her anxiety beating her up. "I have no family. I thought the gang was my family, but I was merely a pawn. I have no one. NO ONE."

"That is why you are here, Ray." Vinny stood up to face the agitated Ray Mond who had driven her fist across the stony walls. "They have him."

Ray tilted her head, facing Vinny. Her hands were bleeding from the impact of the constant punching, but not more than her heart. "They have him? Who?"

Vinny held Ray's shoulders. "The clowns, Chatterbox. They have him. They have your twin, Yuno. Chatterbox had given an ultimatum to us to find you in a week or Yuno gets slaughtered in front of the City Council. Today is day seven."

For the first time in years Ray Mond had tears in her eyes. She refused to cry, so she bit the insides of her cheeks and dared to meet Vinny's eyes.

Not her twin. Anyone but her twin.

"Where is he?" She said, readying to end the war she had started. She picked her backpack and removed the rabbit mask from the bag, a red rusted wrench and an intent to murder. "Where the fuck is that clown?"

Ray and Vinny got ready to leave to the funhouse, that noon. She clearly didn't want to miss the deadline and be the reason her twin would die. Vinny, on the other hand, only wanted what Ray wanted. So, he was determined to stick with her, even if it meant being killed off by a bunch of clowns.

"Mr. K wants to see the both of you." Zolo, one of the few CG members that remained of the once renowned gang called out to Ray and Vinny. "He's ready when you two are."

Ray walked off straight to the hiding chambers under the manor and was surprised to see the once haughty and daring leader, look pale, fragile and at a loss of words. Mr. K was on a wheelchair, his head and arms bandaged. Besides him was the last core member, Bobby and few of the faces whom Ray never associated with before. 

"Ray Mond. It is a pleasure to see you back in Los Santos." Mr. K filled the dark chambers with his quirky dull voice. "I am afraid, we could not greet you back in a way we promised you we would."

Ray Mond exhaled in frustration. "Mr. K, I heard Chatty... Chatterbox has my twin? How... How did that even happen?"

Mr. K looked at Bobby who nodded and pushed the wheelchair towards Ray and Vinny. Now that there was hardly an arm's distance between them, Ray could see the terrors of Chatterbox's reign clearly on the gang leader's face. Not just him, the rest of the members seemed equally distraught and hopeless. 

"Chatterbox... well he turned into the one thing we feared the most, Ray Mond. A time bomb. And he has been sabotaging everyone with himself. He has killed his own too, more than half of the clowns are dead, no gangs remain, whoever could escape - tried to do so. The LSPD failed, we failed... no one could get a hold on the insane clown." Mr. K looked Ray Mond in her eyes, a sad expression painted on his old face. "Yuno... well, we thought he was also in hiding given the circumstances and with you gone. But Chatterbox found him somehow and has kept him captive in the funhouse. That was when we decided to let you know, because, you deserve to know."

Ray Mond gulped, nervous and exhilarated at the same time. "I spoke to Yuno a few months back, he said he had left the city... so how did Chatty even find him?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Ray Mond." Mr. K crossed his hands, fingers placed against each other. "All we can do now is hope that you can bring some sense to this fucked up city and pray to God, if there is one, to stop this madness."

"So, I have to go to the funhouse?"

"I think that's the only way out of this."

"They'll kill her." Vinny was the voice of reason. He had already lost so many friends and family members. He'd be damned if he let his daughter die too. "That madman, he'll torture her into being like him. Sending her in the lion's den is simply signing her death warrant, Mr. K. I cannot let that happen. We gotta have another way!"

"Vinny..." Mr. K reached his arm out to console the vulnerable man. "If there was a way out of this, CG would have eradicated that bastard long back. But you know that nothing else can be done now. This is the last chance we have. Ray Mond has to go face the clown herself."

Vinny lowered his gaze, visibly disappointed in himself. Ray Mond touched his arms, they weren't as muscular as they were before, but they still seemed comforting and homely. 

"It's okay, Vinny. I know you mean well, but Mr. K is right. I started this, so I will have to end it as well." 

Mr. K looked pleased. "Very well then, Ray Mond. You have always been CG's pride and CG will always have your back. Zolo and Bobby will help you with any ammunition and resources you need, and we'll be on standby if you need backup."

"If Ray is going, then I'll go with her." Vinny declared, determined to die with his little one if he couldn't do anything else for her. "I don't care if I die..."

"But- "

"No Ray Mond. You asked me to be your dad." Vinny held Ray Mond's cold hands and pressed it in an assuring manner. "Let me be one. Please."

Ray Mond looked at the strong, rigid hands of Vinny holding her scrawny cold ones and felt a sudden sense of comfort and relief. She nodded, tearing up and readying to face the clown to finish what she had started. 

"Chatterbox." Ray Mond spoke to herself when the two of them were ready to leave the CG safehouse and enter the mayhem of madness. "Let's end this game."

_