Beckett and Little Larry drove to the lab in the warehouse to pack up more of their money in a briefcase. They drove to a local tailor to get some suits to change into, then headed to a fancy casino.
"Let me do the talking." Little Larry said as they pull up to the entrance.
"All right, just as long as I get my $42,000." Beckett said.
"Oh, we'll come back with a lot more than that, man." Little Larry assured.
They got out of the car and walked into the casino. They walked around the place, looking for someone in particular. Little Larry spotted an elderly man wearing a silk suit, sitting at a poker table.
"Smash-Mouth." Little Larry said to get the man's attention, then showed off a hundred dollar bill.
But, he was too focused on the game in front of him. It's a good thing too because he won with a full house. When the game was over, the elderly man finally looked up and saw Little Larry's bill. Instead of saying anything, he motioned for some men in all black to escort them away. Two men grabbed Beckett, while one man grabbed Little Larry. The men in black took them to separate places.
Beckett struggled to get the men's grip off of him. Then, a fist fight broke out between the three of them in the hallway.
Little Larry was taken to private room to chat with Smash-Mouth. The two of them were sitting in a sofa.
"Is that idiot, Donnie still teaching you everything you know? But, you haven't done or said one intelligent thing yet today." the elderly gentleman said.
"Look. I'm done with Donnie, okay? I did this, from my lab and it is flawless. Take a gander." Little Larry explained, pulling out another hundred dollar bill for his suit pocket.
"Does Donnie know you're here?" Smash-Mouth asked as he took the bill into his hand.
"No, of course not." Little Larry said.
"Good, it's best that way. I wouldn't want to him to get worked out. He's a jealous man." Smash-Mouth said as he held the bill up to the light.
"That he is." Little Larry agreed.
"Now, I understand that you arrived in a Bentley." Smash-Mouth said.
"Yeah. Continental Supersport." Little Larry said.
"You pay cash for that?" Smash-Mouth asked.
"Of course. What else?" Little Larry said.
"You're not only being taught by an idiot, you're an idiot as well. And if you ever come around here waving cash like a lunatic again, I'm gonna rip your face off. You got that? I'll see if this bill passes and we'll be in touch." Smash-Mouth said, then got up from the sofa.
"I thought we're gonna do the exchange." Little Larry said as he got up from the sofa.
"Well, you thought wrong." Smash-Mouth said as he put on his silk suit jacket.
Then, Little Larry was escorted out of the casino by one of the men in black. The car was already waiting at the entrance.
"Beckett?" he questioned as he noticed his friend already in the passenger seat with a bruised face.
"They took the briefcase out of the trunk. There's nothing left. We have to get out of here now! Let's go!" Beckett said.
Little Larry went around to the driver's side and drove away from the casino as fast as he could.
"For your trouble." he said, handing a stack of cash to his friend.
"Do you think this is gonna cover it? I did all of this because I assumed a pay day was in order. My Dad's always told me to never assume anything and now I'm just a jerk with a fat lip who's three steps closer to his freaking grave." Beckett said out of frustration.
"We just need to wait for Smash-Mouth." Little Larry said.
"Smash-Mouth is a psychopath. We ain't getting our money back. Open your eyes, man!" Beckett shouted.
Little Larry drove onto an exit ramp to get off the interstate in order to get back to their town. He then drove into the parking lot of a burger place.
"Oh. There's some girls here, man." Little Larry said, looking out the car window to see some people eating outside.
"Are you serious?" Beckett questioned.
"What?" Little Larry questioned.
"This isn't fun." Beckett admitted.
Without them knowing, Smash-Mouth had followed them from the casino back into town. He sat in his car across the street where from the burger place, watching Little Larry's every move. He also smoked a cigarette to keep himself occupied.
Two of the girls left their table and went over to the parking lot. They were admiring the Bentley. Little Larry rolled down the window to talk to them.
"Hey. How old are you two?" he asked them.
"18. Why?" one girl answered.
"You're acting like a juvenile." Beckett said to knock some sense into his friend.
"Jeez." Little Larry said.
"You know Samuel was right. We're stuck in the mud. I'm better than this." Beckett said.
"No, you're not. We are who we are, Beckett. We are who we are." Little Larry said.
"I'm outta here." Beckett said as he got out of the car.
"Don't go, dude. I have the car." Little Larry said to persuade his friend to stay but it didn't work.
Little Larry noticed that those two girls were still standing near window.
"Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" he shouted at them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Samuel and Ashlyn sat out on the front porch. She was showing him some key things in her stories. He looked up and saw that Grace was walking over, which made him cower in fear a little bit because of the injury she caused him.
"It's okay, Samuel." Grace said to him.
"It's super late." he said back.
"I know, I snuck out." Grace said.
Ashlyn kinda felt like the third wheel, so she cleared her throat.
"Oh. Grace, this is my new friend, Ashlyn. Ashlyn, this is one of my neighbors, Grace." Samuel introduced.
"Hi there." Ashlyn said, offering her hand.
"It's nice to meet you." Grace said as she shook her hand.
"I have something for you, Samuel." she said to him.
"You had something for me last time too." he responded.
"I found this in my grandfather's stuff. I'm sorry it's kind of old, but I think you might like it." Grace said, holding out a Phantom Halo comic book.
"Hey! That's your favorite." Ashlyn pointed out.
Samuel took the comic book into his hands and examined the cover.
"1961? This is his first appearance, this is his origin! You know just like Shakespeare's Prince Hal, everyone underestimated the Phantom Halo." he said.
"Prince Hal?" Grace questioned.
"Yeah. He ran with this group of thieves in the underbelly of London and then he threw away his old clothes and become King Henry the 5th and successfully conquered France." Samuel explained.
"Wait a second! Isn't an old comic book like this worth a lot of money?" Ashlyn interjected.
"Yes. Listen, I appreciate the thought, but I can't take this. It's worth like $100,000." Samuel said.
"What's going on in there?" Grace asked when she heard his father's voice coming from inside the house.
"It's my Dad and he's drunk." Samuel answered.
"So what were you two doing out here before I came over?" Grace asked.
"I'm trying to teach Samuel how to write a story. So, I was showing him the various things that go into it." Ashlyn explained.
"Cool. Can you see?" Grace asked.
"Sure." Ashlyn said, opening up her journal.
The three of them sat outside and had a few conversations about different things.