A/N: So here's the start of what I plan on being an epic tale. It's actually a reboot of a story I started writing several years back. After looking back on it one day, I realized that it wasn't all that good, mainly because I was too eager to get to the fun parts of the story and didn't bother with good pacing. Well, I intend to fix that here. It won't be a super boring ride, of course. This is GTA, where crazy shootouts is the norm. Don't expect a shootout every chapter, but I'll do my best to keep your attention. So, without further ado, let's get this show on the road!

Grand Theft Auto:

Shadow of the Raven

Prologue

August 15, 2012

Cordell City, USA

The dark green Jester barreled down the street, ignoring street lights, stop signs, and every traffic law known to man. The car didn't run anyone over, thankfully, but it was a very good thing that it was two o'clock in the morning and few people were out on the streets. The sole occupant of the car wasn't aiming to hurt any innocent people on purpose, but his vision was tinged with far too much red for him to give more than a passing thought to the slim number of pedestrians he encountered on his wild drive.

Leon Masters could be an aggressive man when he wanted to be, though he normally maintained a calm demeanor. He wasn't a stranger to anger, however, and at this particular time, he was ticked off beyond belief. His temper most often flared when people attempted to screw him over, or take advantage of his innate desire to help others. Trying to kill him also put him in a mood, though anyone would be put off in such a case. None of those things had him going right now, though. No, there was only one thing, one simple act that set him off this much, and that was when people tried to hurt his family. Well, just his sister, mainly, since his parents were dead and he knew of no other relatives of his. This little fact only upped the level of protectiveness he exhibited for his sister, as losing her would more than likely drive him over the edge. Anyone who fucked with her would feel his wrath, and it would not be pretty. History could attest to that.

Sirens blared somewhere fairly close, alerting Leon to the presence of the police in the nearby area, but it didn't deter him one bit. He couldn't have cared less about being pulled over for his traffic infractions, which probably numbered over a hundred by now. By the time he was finished with his intended plans, the police would have far more reason to arrest him. He'd be long gone before they even knew it was him though, so that particular issue didn't bother him much. Hell, he'd already done more than enough in his lifetime to warrant a permanent residence in prison, so adding a few more notches to his personal record was never going to bother him anyway. Besides, his sister had been wronged, and very nearly had something precious and irreplaceable taken from her. For that, the perpetrator had to die, and Leon was all too happy to administer the punishment himself.

Annoyingly, it wasn't such a simple plan to execute. There were people he had to get through first if he wanted to reach his target. Granted, not much in Leon's life was simple, but this was an unwanted obstacle in his quest for blood. No, it wasn't quite unwanted, if he were honest. Sure there was only a single person he absolutely needed to kill, but those who stood with that person were just as guilty, even if they hadn't pulled the offending stunt themselves. In fact, all of the people who were occupying the location Leon was currently headed to were naught more than thieves and murderers. Leon was a thief and a murderer himself, but he had good reason for his actions: taking care of his sister. It wasn't his preferred way of achieving that goal, but when you're twelve years old, have no parents to guide you, and have to feed your only sister somehow, crime is really the only option one has. That, or an orphanage, but Leon wasn't satisfied with that route, not wanting to run the risk of being separated from his sister, so he hadn't bothered with that option.

It had been six years since that fateful day he'd decided to become a criminal in order to provide for his sister. Since then, his skills had grown considerably, and he was a fairly respected hired gun and thief among the ranks of one particular organization he'd done most of his work for. Pure intentions aside, he didn't fancy himself as any better than the goons he worked with. Killing was killing, no matter the reason. Leon had no intentions to try and justify his actions to anyone, even himself. If someone asked about his motivations, he'd just say he needed the money. If someone found out the exact reason for needing that cash, he'd insist that it didn't make him better than that person. Leon became accustomed to what he had to do to survive, and left it at that. None of that mattered to Leon at this moment, however, except who his enemies were.

They were known as the Raven Syndicate, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Cordell City. This was the group that Leon had done so much for, and had become well known within. It had taken a lot of convincing on Leon's part to get them to let him work for them back when he was twelve, and his words didn't mean all that much to the ears of most in the group. It was their leader, a man named Jerome Waters, who'd taken pity on Leon and allowed him to work for them. Not as a member, but as contracted help. That had suited Leon just fine, since he wouldn't be bound by the rules and restrictions that came with being a full-fledged gang member. It also meant that he could refuse jobs that pushed at his moral boundaries a little too much, as there were lines that he wasn't willing to cross. Jerome seemed to understand that and, after a while, stopped offering the more depraved jobs to Leon altogether. The man appeared to be a good person, or at least as good as a crime boss could be, and Leon trusted him implicitly. Until now, that is.

Leon never expected Jerome to pull a move like the one he did, but it was stupid of Leon to outright assume that. A criminal, no matter how kind hearted they seemed, was still a criminal at the end of the day, with all that entailed. Leon had put too much trust in the man, and his sister had almost paid for that mistake. The more he thought about it, the more Leon came to believe that this was some kind of karmic payback for all of the things he'd done over the years. He could've lived with that, had karma not decided to use his sister in its plans. Living with it, whether she had been hurt or not, was not an option.

Leon was roused from his thoughts as he pulled up a few buildings down from his destination, an abandoned warehouse utilized by the Raven Syndicate. The police hadn't spotted him driving recklessly, thankfully, which would've caused him unnecessary trouble. That stroke of good luck allowed him to focus on the task at hand, which would require every ounce of focus he had. The building wasn't horribly large, but it was bound to be filled with gangsters, even at this late hour. Far less than would be present in daylight hours, but a formidable number all the same. Nonetheless, it was a good target for Leon to hit, as the number of enemies shouldn't be too overwhelming for someone of his skill. His primary target wasn't going to be hanging around, but all Leon wanted to do was send a message, both to Jerome and the rest of the Syndicate. They would learn that pissing Leon Masters off was not a good idea if they sought to remain among the land of the living.

Leon stepped out of his car, taking care to close the door quietly. He wasn't afraid of anyone who might be around, but his job would be a bit easier if no one expected his arrival and the slamming of a car door could be heard quite well in the dead silence of night. He started walking towards the warehouse, but was stopped by the ringing of his phone. He answered the call quickly and dipped into a small alleyway between two buildings, not wanting to give himself away too easily.

"What now?" he answered gruffly, knowing exactly who was calling and why.

"Leon, get back here right now!" his sister ordered. "Are you keen on dying today or something? Do you have a death wish?"

"No, I'm just making a point. If you seriously think I'm letting that fucker get away with what he did, you must not know me so well."

"It's not worth it, Leon. Come home, please. I don't want you throwing your life away." Leon was quite aware of her feelings about his little excursion. She hadn't wanted him to go out in the first place, but this was something he couldn't just ignore.

"What kind of brother would I be if I let this shit slide? Sorry Violet, but that's not the way I roll. That asshole is going to pay."

"So what, you're just gonna march right into his stronghold and shoot him?" Violet asked, her tone clearly indicating how stupid she thought that would be. "That is not the plan of a man who wants to remain alive."

"No, I'm not stupid enough to try something like that. I'm only sending him a message right now. I figure killing a bunch of his peons is a pretty good message," Leon responded.

"No, that's an even worse idea. He'll know what you plan on doing and act accordingly. How does that serve you any purpose whatsoever?"

"Fear, Vi. I want him to feel fear. I want him to know that he fucked with the wrong people and now he's about to pay the price." The malice in his voice was heavily apparent, even to him. It didn't really bug him in this case.

"How about just letting it go, for my sake? We don't need the trouble your actions will bring down on us. This isn't important enough to go storming off about." Though Violet couldn't see it, Leon's face twisted into a look of pure rage, remembering the reason he was out here now, and appalled that she didn't think it deserved retribution.

"He tried to rape you!" he spat out. "There's no fucking way I'm taking that lightly, and you shouldn't either!"

"He didn't succeed," Violet said quietly. "I'm fine. You don't need to go on some wild rampage because of it."

"Sorry, but yes I do. Go lay down, and I'll be back in a little bit."

Violet started to say something else, but Leon cut the connection, turning his phone completely off so she couldn't call him again. He knew she'd keep trying, attempting to cool him off, but there was no stopping this. His rage was boiling, and if he couldn't get to Jerome now, he was going to make sure that the man knew what was coming.

Without further thought on the matter, Leon left the alleyway and approached the warehouse. He walked over to the side entrance, where everyone had to enter at, and raised his hand to knock on the door. He would've rather avoided doing so, but there were no easy ways into the place that wouldn't announce his presence too loudly. Luck was apparently on his side for this endeavor, as the door opened and someone Leon knew well walked out.

"Hey, Mikey," Leon greeted. "Where might you be heading this late?"

"Leon…," Mikey breathed fearfully. "I heard what happened."

"Did you now? How'd you hear about it? Were you there when it happened?" Leon asked dangerously, his hand reaching for the gun in his waistband. He considered Mikey a friend, but if the large man hadn't stepped up for his sister, there was going to be hell to pay.

"A few people are talking about it. I wasn't there myself, but I wouldn't just let that happen, man. You and Violet have been too good to me."

"Good enough to stand up to your boss?"

"Yeah, man. My mom was raped by a boyfriend once. I was too scared to do anything about it, and I've regretted it ever since. I couldn't let someone else go through that kind of pain, especially a friend."

"I see," Leon said, looking thoughtful. "You're a good man, Mikey. I can't really see why you'd join up with people like this."

"I was following my brother, to be honest," Mikey revealed. "I really looked up to him when I was younger, but now…"

"Clarence in there?" Leon asked, pointing at the door Mikey still held open.

"Yeah, he is. He ain't perfect, but don't kill him. I don't know what Mom would do if she lost another kid."

"I'll let him live, no worries. I need someone alive to let Jerome know what happened anyway. Why don't you get out of here? No one needs to know you knew what I was going to do."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Mikey said, stepping out of the way so Leon could get inside. "You know that Jerome's gonna be pissed about this, right?"

Leon didn't answer Mikey's question, closing the door on the chubby man and putting all his attention to the occupants inside. They were all about to become very effective messengers.

The whole thing took no more than five minutes. Since so many of his targets were sleeping, and Leon had his gun silenced, it was a simple feat to kill everyone inside; everyone except for Mikey's brother that is, who Leon let live as he promised. He told Clarence to let Jerome know exactly what had happened and who was responsible, as well as who was next. At the time, Leon felt it was an excellent idea.

Now, however, with his anger spent for the time being, it was quickly replaced by fear. All of Violet's words were coming back to him, and he was starting to realize that he let his rage get the better of him. He still wanted Jerome to die, but now he saw that his plan was a very poor one. Attempting to incite fear in a man who led a powerful gang was not terribly smart, and retribution was likely already on its way. Leon didn't want to be there when the car full of gangsters pulled up to deliver that retribution.

"Violet, wake up! We gotta get the hell out of here!" Leon yelled as soon as he scrambled into their apartment. "Come on, we don't have time to waste!"

"You went and killed them anyway, despite what I said, didn't you?" Violet accused, having not been asleep at all.

"Yes, I did, and I've only now realized why you said it was a bad idea. Come on, we gotta bounce!" he said hurriedly, grabbing a small duffel bag from the closet and stuffing it full of money from the clothing drawer.

"Dammit, Leon! We could've avoided this, but no. You had to run off half-cocked and blow people away in anger! Real fucking smart!" Violet yelled angrily.

"I don't need that right now, okay? Let's just get out of here."

"Fine, whatever," she sighed. "Let me get some clothes together-"

"No time for that. We'll buy new ones later. Let's just move."

Leon led Violet outside to a where a red Tailgater waited, engine already running. Violet looked around questioningly before turning to Leon. "Where's your Jester?"

"In my lockup," he answered. "I don't want them fucking my car up."

Violet said nothing else, getting into the car quietly. Leon hopped into the driver's seat with a determined look on his face and hit the gas immediately, barely giving Violet time to put her seatbelt on, and foregoing his entirely.

"So where are we going anyway?" Violet asked after they had passed a few intersections without seeing any other cars. Leon didn't answer her for a moment, looking straight ahead as he drove, his brain working overtime to come up with an answer.

"Liberty City," he said after a long period of silence. "I got some connections there, and it should be relatively safe for us."

"Liberty City isn't exactly known for being the safest place in the world," Violet pointed out. Leon knew she had a point, but it was the only place he could think of at the time that had people he knew living there, and didn't require a trip across the whole of the United States. Then again, perhaps such a trip would be better.

"It's all I got for now. We can work out something more permanent when we get there, okay?"

Violet didn't say anything to that, opting to stare out of the window. She spoke up again after a few minutes.

"I'm scared, Leon. I don't want to die."

"It'll be fine. There's no way Jerome will go through too much trouble trying to find us. It isn't worth his time," he said, trying to calm her. Truthfully, he had no idea how far Jerome would go.

"Even if that's true…we probably aren't gonna come back here again, are we?"

"Not anytime soon, no."

The conversation ended there, with neither having much more to say. Even if he did have something to say, what could make this situation any better? All Leon could do was just add this to the list of mistakes he'd made over the years, and hope for the best.