Coming off the high from their successful car meet, Niki, Matt, Tommy, and Will returned to HQ to talk about how much they had made and plans for the future. While they were upstairs discussing, two members of a group of thugs known as Street Fighters came into the garage and started asking why LSU was in their HQ. This came as a shock to them, as LSU had been in this HQ since before Street Fighters was even created, and had been using it for months.
Street Fighters had come into Los Santos Customs many times, and the members of LSU were familiar with them and their antics; they were clearly a small-time gang who liked to rely on their guns over their cars. They knew that they had been in conflict with Crimson Syndicate and had previously dropped colors to fight them. LSU knew SF would resort to violence.
After a brief discussion about who the HQ belonged to, the members of SF left and called for backup. Niki notified everyone on their freq of what had happened, and called in everyone to the HQ to talk. When SF showed back up with numbers, they pulled in and Fuoco immediately got loud and threatened them, saying they had two options: race to keep it or be removed by force. LSU hadn’t done anything to provoke violence from SF; however, they immediately came out of the gate threatening LSU with guns drawn, clearly showing their lack of honor among racers. LSU knew when they refused to remove their masks that they would hide behind weapons if they needed, especially after Fuoco's comment of "There is no way that we are allowing you guys to stay here." Clearly, there was a threat of them pulling out their guns again at any time if they didn't like the outcome.
Niki spoke for LSU at the meeting, and agreed to race for the HQ in a series of best of three. SF chose Observatory, LSU chose Grapeseed, and they diced for the third track (winner would choose). Sean rolled for SF, scoring a 4. Niki rolled for LSU, only rolling a 1. SF chose Vineyard for the last track, which LSU was more than happy with, as it was one of their frequented tracks. They agreed to race an hour after the meeting, starting with Observatory.
After SF left HQ, LSU discussed who would race each track. They decided that Matt would race observatory, and Baxter would race Grapeseed (the track he had invented), and they’d decide on Vineyard if it came to that. Matt and Baxter retrieved their cars and headed up to Observatory for practice laps. After a few practice runs both there and at Grapeseed, the group met back at Observatory to talk with SF regarding rules.
Matt, Baxter, and Niki knew from past experience racing with Alex Croft before his SF days that he wasn’t the cleanest of racers. Many racers in the city complained about his over-aggressive racing style and huge ego. They didn’t know much about Sean Liamhorn or his racing style, and were excited to see what the other leader of SF was made of.
During discussions, LSU knew that SF wouldn’t stand up to their quality of racing. LSU pride themselves on being clean racers, never taking dirt short cuts and avoiding hits or rams when possible. SF being under Alex meant they wouldn’t receive the same respect in kind. Fuoco had complained in the garage about LSU not liking taking off-road shortcuts, calling them pathetic for how they race (essentially, with integrity). However, knowing that SF would probably just pull out their guns again and use force, LSU decided not to press this issue and agreed to race on their terms. This would later cost them.
Matt lined up in his Paragon to race against SF’s John Crownley in his Elegy. The group had spoken with John before the races and actually really liked the guy. He didn’t seem to fit in with the other thugs in SF. As soon as they were on the line, though, John complained about Matt driving a Paragon against his Elegy. This sparked tension, as they had not agreed to restrict what kind of cars could be used for the races, and Matt had warmed up in his Paragon. Eventually, Matt agreed to drive an Elegy to avoid further argument and start the races.
The two of them took off, John stalling early, and giving Matt a lead; however, Matt spun out near the end of the lap due to the unexpected backspin in the Elegy that he hadn’t warmed up racing in. John won the race after taking a dirt shortcut, beating Matt by mere seconds.
The groups shifted to Grapeseed for the second race. Baxter was driving Lucy’s Comet Retro, and Alex hopped in his Paragon. Matt and Niki warned Baxter to expect something underhanded from Alex. Baxter and Lucy were whispering before the race, and he was confident he could dodge whatever tricks Alex threw at him. Little did they know what was to come.
Baxter and Alex took off, speeding down the first straight away on the track. As soon as they hit the first turn, Alex veered off into the dirt, cutting the first corner out and ignoring the hairpin as Baxter rounded the difficult corner. Baxter stayed with him, though, just behind him as they sped through the shops in Grapeseed. Baxter tried to pass him a few times, but Alex continued to cut him off, until eventually Alex spun out on a big turn. Baxter took his opportunity to pass Alex, veering around him and taking the lead.
After crossing the highway the second time and coming into the last braking zone of the track, Baxter took a defensive line going into the turn, and Alex plowed into the back of him, intentionally ramming the back of his car and pushing him off the track. This caused Baxter to have to brake to get back onto the track, allowing Alex to pass him and take the lead. Alex finished the race in first after the ram, sealing the fate of the HQ to SF. This wasn’t a shock to anyone, as they expected Alex to show just how disrespectful he was willing to race.
LSU were distraught, but they had known from the beginning of this conflict that at any point, SF could (and probably would) just decide to pull out their weapons again and take the HQ by force, even if they won. LSU weren’t willing to risk their lives for an HQ, especially because they knew the cycle of groups like SF, and that they’d be wiped out soon enough anyway. They shook hands with Alex and Sean, wished them luck, and left Grapeseed.
Although losing the HQ was frustrating, LSU had been scoping out a new location for some time, and went to look at it after the races were finished. They brought the group to look at the new location, and everyone’s general consensus was that they liked it and were going to be happy there. The group settled into their new HQ, happy with how they had performed and knowing that they’d take honorable racing over dirty tricks any day.
