The sun was shining on that bright, summer day. A young woman with short black hair wearing black clothing was standing outside of the diner smoking a cigarette as she watched the puffy clouds roll overhead. She checked her watch as her patience began to wear thin.

“Damn, what the hell’s Fiona doing in there?” she muttered. As if to answer her own question, a young woman with bright red hair and clothing to match jumped out the window in a crash of glass with two bags of money in hand.

“Time to get the hell outta Dodge, Lorenza!” she yelled as she ran into the street and in a flash of brilliant light, where she stood was now a Rosso Corsa Ferrari Testarossa. She revved her V12 and spinning her rear tires she sped down the road.

“Damn, we’re rolling!” Lorenza shouted and she too changed with a brilliant flash but her vehicle form was a black Lamborghini Countach. She sped off after Fiona following closely behind, making sure the fleet of Dodge Diplomat police cars were well behind them. “Damn Fiona, how much did you get?” Lorenza called her using their built-in car phones.

“About seven grand!” Fiona responded.

“Speaking of getting outta Dodge, you got Gunrunner after us!” Lorenza laughed. The Dodge Diplomat behind them was the cop in question.

“Goddamnit, you twisted dipshits! I knew it was y’all!” the police car behind them yelled from her mounted loudspeaker. She was Sergeant Diora ‘Gunrunner’ Thompson, who, like Lorenza and Fiona, could change into a vehicular form. “Y’all best pull yer asses over if ya know what’s good for ya!” The two Italian supercars ignored the sergeant’s warnings as they continued to race through the city streets and just as they were about to make it onto the highway, they both had to brake hard for the roadblock that was in front of them. Standing in front of a line of Ford LTDs was the Chief of Police, Chief Lynda Theresa Driver. She had her pistol pointed right at Fiona’s Ferrari logo.

“Alright you two, human forms. NOW!” she commanded. The girls didn’t think twice before changing back to their human forms with their hands up, and expressions of defeat on their faces. “Is that both bags, Fiona?”

“Yes Ma’am,” she answered, having both money bags at her feet.

“Sergeant Thompson, grab the money,” Chief Driver commanded and she changed to her human form, gun drawn, grabbing the bags.

“Don’t try nothing funny now,” she spat, her gun pointing at Lorenza.

“To think it was this easy to get the two of you? God that’s pathetic,” Driver spat out her cigarette. “The two notorious robbers on this side of the state, and a fucking blockade stopped you. I’m taking you in. Cuff ‘em.” As Thompson put them in cuffs, Chief Driver changed into her vehicle form, a specially marked Ford LTD. “I’ll take ‘em,” she said through her radio.

“You got it,” Thompson said with a smirk as she shoved them into the back seat.

“Ow, watch the neck!” Lorenza cried.

“Shut yer pie-holes!”

“I didn’t say anything,” Fiona muttered.

“You heard me, bitch!”

“Easy Sergeant,” Chief said.

“Yeah, yeah. They’re in ya now,” she said, closing the door. The Chief then drove them to the station as the rest of the police force followed after clearing the roadblock and making sure traffic could continue as normal. Gunrunner held onto the money bags as they’d have to be added as evidence. As that was being done, Chief Driver stood outside the holding cell Fiona and Lorenza were placed in. After glaring at them with eyes that could kill, she let out a sigh, falling back into a chair, and rubbing her temples.

“Goddamnit, what the hell am I going to do with you two?”

“That was quite the performance you put on, Chief,” Lorenza said with a sarcastic smirk. “We’re the most notorious robbers on this side of the state,” she said in a mocking voice.

“Shut up!” she banged her fist on the barred door.

“What? You know you’re just gonna house us in here for a few days, lie to the press, then quietly let us escape in a few days like you always do.”

“Yeah, for petty crimes and stuff that doesn’t really matter, not fucking full-blown bank robbery! I can’t just let this pass for the sake of job security!”

“I suppose we did overdo it a bit,” Fiona said.

“No shit! God, I might actually have to put you two away for at least a year because of this!”

“Then what are you gonna do?” Lorenza giggled.

“Don’t fucking ask me! This was all your fault! Once the mayor sees that nothing happens in this town, he’s gonna cut my funding!”

“Chief,” Gunrunner said walking in. “Money’s gone through evidence.”

“Alright, we should be clear to take it back to the bank.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she nodded, knowing she was going to be asked to do the job anyway.

“Anyway, until I can get some of this shit straightened out, you both might as well get comfortable. You’ll probably be in there longer than usual. Oh, and Diora has a cellmate for you two to play with. She’s up in holding right now.”

“A cellmate?” Lorenza asked.

“’Play with’?” Fiona asked. As if on cue, the Chief left and brought over this cuffed woman who was tall and thin, with an average chest and long silver hair. She removed the silver-clad woman’s cuffs and tossed her in the cell with Lorenza and Fiona. She rubbed her wrists as the Chief sighed and walked away back to her office.

“What a panty-muncher,” the silver one noted. She turned to the other two and through her dull, red eyes she smirked and sat down. “So… y’all are automorphs too?

“Yeah,” Lorenza answered and Fiona nodded.

“My, what a conundrum we find ourselves in, eh?”

“I guess.”

“So what are y’all in for?”

“Bank robbery,” Fiona answered. “You?”

“Drug smuggling.”

“Jesus Christ,” Lorenza muttered.

“Can’t really help it. It’s just who I am,” she said stretching her arms up before reaching to Lorenza for a handshake. “Name’s Senna DeLorean.”

2: The Breakout of Deals

    "Senna DeLorean, huh?" Lorenza asked thinking for a moment.

    "Come on," Senna said. "I know y'all need the cash to run this here police station and I can get y'all said cash, but we gotta get outta here first."

    "Then I suggest you overpower us," Chief Driver suggested, not looking up from her paperwork.

    "Gotta crowbar?"

    "Under the bed." Senna stopped momentarily and Lorenza picked up the meager mattress in the holding cell. Sure as shit, there was a crowbar. "Best hurry, before Gunrunner comes back from the bank." The three in the cell looked at each other before nodding as Lorenza grabbed the bar and pried the door open, breaking the lock and Senna went over to the Chief before knocking her out with a phone book.

    "That may have been overkill," Fiona muttered.

    "Nah, she'll be fine," Senna smirked. "Should we tie her up?"

    "Just leave her," Lorenza said, grabbing some pistols from the shelf. "Gunrunner will think she's just slacking." They all grabbed some more things before heading out.

    "Will you even be able to keep up with us?" Fiona asked her as Lorenza transformed into her vehicle form.

    "Let me ride if you can," Senna said and Fiona blushed slightly before transforming as well and Senna rode shotgun. The two Italians sped out of town and cruised down the interstate for several hours before coming to a Motel near the border. They pulled off and stopped transforming and hiding behind the building. "How y'all Italians holding up?"

    "We'll need some fuel here soon," Lorenza said with a sigh.

    "We didn't grab any gas cans," Fiona said. "Damnit."

    "Well, I guess y'all can ride since I still have a full tank. Now, we ain't gonna go anywhere fast, but it's still outta this town." She walked back out front and changed into her DeLorean form.

    "Alright come on," Lorenza said to Fiona who nodded. They climbed in, stepping down under Senna's gullwing doors and Senna continued down the interstate for another few hours before pulling into a gas station for them to fuel up. "Looks like there's no one around." She had Senna go inside and mess with the register and once Lorenza pulled the pump switch up, she brought the fuel nozzle to her mouth and drank her fill.

    "Man, y'all drink fuel like a truck," Senna muttered, watching the numbers on the pump, wads of cash in her hand.

    "So what?" Lorenza asked, handing the nozzle to a rather thirsty Fiona who drank her fill.

    "I mean I know I'm not as fast as y'all but sheesh."

    "You really don't have room to judge," Fiona said, wiping her mouth off having finished. "Who's driving next?"

    "We'll stick out," Lorenza said. "Senna should keep driving until we're at least a few hours into the next state."

    "Alright then, guess I'll be doing the work," Senna said with a shrug. "Hey actually, can we head to a buddy's place? I owe him some of this cash."

    "Will it be dangerous for us?"

    "Well, let me put it this way," she said pointing at Lorenza. "He could out-drag you."

    "What are you saying?"

    "My friend Garreth. He's a GNX."

    "Shit."

    "Oh," Fiona said dreamily. "I love the black boys."

    "Come on," Senna said changing back into her stainless steel form. The Italians climbed in and Senna drove down the interstate before taking an exit and heading north. As the day came to an end, they kept going, going through a few different towns until they came to more of a city. Senna brought them to a motel and they got a room. As Fiona sighed, laying back on the bed Lorenza was trying to get the TV to work. "Hey, shut that off. I need to make a call." Lorenza sighed and shut the TV off as Senna dialled a number from the phone. "Hey Garreth, been a bit hasn't it?" They watched as Senna's expression changed. "Yeah I have the money, okay? Do you want the coke too? Okay, okay. Look, I'll meet you here in a bit, had to pick up a couple of buddies. I know. Okay, later."

    "So?" Fiona asked.

    "Well, I can hopefully end this debt," Senna smirked. "If things go well, he won't take all the cash I get from this coke."

    "How much do you have?"

    "I've got several pounds locked away."

    "Don't even tell me where," Lorenza said with a disgusted expression.

    "Hey, it's not like that," Senna said. "I don't do butt stuff." They all left the motel room and rode in Senna down to the industrial district, by the railyard. They stood around for a minute before a man in a black suit walked into the building they parked in.

    "Please don't tell me that shiny piece of shit drove in here," he muttered to himself. The Italians stood by as Senna transformed into her human form, smirking at the man.

    "Still calling me that, huh?" she shrugged.

    "My black ass walking in here would draw less attention than your slow shiny ass."

    "Look, I got your cash here." She handed him a bundle of money and changed back into her vehicle form. "Hey Fiona, check my door sills." Fiona nodded and pulled at the panel, revealing a space where two plastic-wrapped bricks of cocaine were stored. The man smiled and took them.

    "Senna, you're gonna have to be smarter than that. They got drug dogs that can sniff this shit out." Fiona put the panel back and Senna came back to her human form.

    "So what do you even do with that?" Lorenza asked him.

    "All I'll fucking say is it keeps my company going," he laughed. "Shit, I'll tell you what, you fine ladies keep an eye on our druggie here and we can keep this business relationship afloat." He shook Fiona's hand. "Garreth Niles Xander, Buick GNX at your service."

    "Appreciated," Lorenza nodded.

    "Right, well, ya'll best split before the pigs get here. I'm sure someone's seen us."

    "You tip em, like last time?" Senna asked.

    "Fuck Bitch, I can't snitch on ya'll if you're bringing me this kind of bank. Trust me now, I'll be seeing ya'll around." He transformed into his Buick form and drove off, the sounds of his turbocharger spooling.

    "Hm. He can't be faster than me, no way," Lorenza scoffed.

    "He may have half as many cylinders, but that turbo of his is nothing to sneeze at," Senna said. "Let's bounce." 

3: 8-Bit My Ass

    The next morning, the three of them headed out of town. Lorenza drove first as the other rode. After their first fuel stop, where Fiona switched with Lorenza, Senna asked a question.

    "So rather than just listening to Rush all day, what should we do with our cash?"

    "What would you suggest?" Lorenza asked.

    "Hmm. Oh! Hey, these stupid kids don't play video games anymore. I bet we can go to some video store and find some cheap second-hand consoles. There's so many of them out there."

    "Why would we do that?"

    "Why not?"

    "I'm not really in the mood to play an Atari right now," Fiona said.

    "And people like you are the reason we had the video game crash..." Senna mumbled with a pout.

    "Who cares? Plus we're on the road right now, they don't make mobile game consoles, and even if they did they'd cost out the ass."

    "So?"

    "Home computers are getting better anyway," Fiona muttered.

    "So?"

    "Look, if we find an arcade we'll stop, okay?" Lorenza sighed, giving in.

    "Sweet." They continued driving until they made it to another big town where sure enough, Senna was staring out of the window and she saw an arcade. Before she could even say anything, Fiona stopped and opened her door. Lorenza shoved her out.

    "We'll be at the gas station," she told Senna before Fiona drove off. Senna sighed and walked inside, looking over all of the arcade machines before putting some dollar bills in the change machine, getting some quarters and starting up a round of Centipede. As Senna was focused on playing, she didn't notice a younger girl pull up a chair and watch her until she used her last quarter.

    "Whoa you scared the crap out of me," she told the kid.

    "Sorry, you're just so good at that," she said.

    "Well, with enough practice you can get this good, kid."

    "I mean, I don't play Centipede all that much."

    "Oh, so you prefer Donkey Kong, or Pac-Man, huh?"

    "Those get boring after a while though."

    "Jeez kid, is there any game you like? Frogger or something?"

    "I like the racing games." Senna sighed.

    "Of course you do." Senna saw the aura around the girl, knowing she was an Automorph just like her. "Look kid, I can tell you're a car, just like me. Hop on up here and play some 2-player with me." The kid pulled her chair closer as Senna started a 2 player round of Centipede.

    "So how do you know I can change into a car?"

    "We have a faint glow around us that only our kind can see," Senna said, scoring many points until it was the girl's turn. She played well, but not as good as Senna. "That's how we can tell. I'm kinda getting the vibe of a Japanese car coming from you."

    "Well, my Dad says I'm a 200SX."

    "Nissan huh?" Senna said.

    "Yep. So what are you?"

    "A DeLorean." The girl went quiet for a few minutes.

    "You're not a drug dealer are you?"

    "Why does everyone assume that?"

    "Are you?"

    "Well yes."

    "And why are you hanging out at the arcade?"

    "Why aren't you in school or something? What are you 8?"

    "I'm 14. How old are you?"

    "That's not important, kid. Look the point is, I just won, so it's time for me to leave my initials," she said, setting her initials on the high scoreboard to SDL. "Plus, I got a ride waiting." She didn't even see or hear Lorenza and Fiona walk in.

    "Not even number 1 huh?" Lorenza asked. "I thought you were good at this."

    "What can I say? Stupid kid held me back and distracted me."

    "Hey!" the kid said. "My name is Yokuna."

    "Shut up, Pipsqueak," Lorenza scoffed. "Let me show you a real score." Lorenza, not knowing how to play Centipede, got a low score and was defeated by the centipede quite quickly.

    "Haha!" Senna was laughing at her. "I thought you knew about these 8-bit games."

    "8-bit my ass," Lorenza huffed in anger. "Let's blow this place." She stood up and left, Fiona following.

    "Your friends are stupid," Yokuna said.

    "Hey, I may hang out with them, but I wouldn't say we're friends," Senna said with a shrug. "At least not yet."

    "Then how do you know them?"

    "We broke out of jail together." Yokuna froze.

    "Am I in danger knowing you?"

    "Eh, don't get into drugs and you'll be fine, Kid." Senna patted the girl's head, walking towards the door. "Oh hey, when I come back at some point, I'd best see your initials higher up than mine, okay?" She left and turned into her DeLorean form, driving after Lorenza. Yokuna didn't know if she should take that semi-positive message she was left with to heart or not.