In truth, while Dominic was on the run and living a life less than ideal, his situation wasn't the worst. The ones truly suffering were his brother-in-law, Brian O'Conner, and his sister, Mia Toretto, who had helped him and Vanessa escape.
Although this time, having Vanessa along prevented them from being pursued to the ends of the earth like in the original story, where they were almost driven to poverty and had to seek refuge with Vince, whom Brian had significant conflicts with, they weren't much better off. After escaping from the U.S. to Brazil, their paths inevitably crossed with Hernan Reyes' men, leading them right into another mess.
Drawn by the lure of a hefty payout, Dominic and Brian ended up boarding a train with the help of Reyes' men, aiming to steal a few cars impounded by the DEA. Among those cars was a Ford GT40 driven by Mia, inside which was a CD containing crucial information about Reyes' smuggling routes and cash stash locations. This CD inadvertently set Dominic and his crew on a collision course with Reyes.
After a brutal encounter with Reyes' henchmen, Dominic and Brian, thanks to their protagonist luck, managed to escape from Reyes' men, albeit not without difficulty. Unlike the original story, where they fought back and killed their captors, here, they barely escaped during a moment of inattention from their guards during a meal.
This escape was just the beginning of their nightmare. The real-life Hernan Reyes was far more formidable than the bumbling antagonist from the movie. Upon discovering their escape, Reyes, the undisputed underground king of Rio de Janeiro, launched a relentless manhunt. Even Vanessa, who had nothing to do with the escape, was targeted by his wrath. Poor Vanessa couldn't even return home, forced to hide with Dominic, Brian, and Mia in the densely populated, maze-like Rocinha favela.
However, fate gave them a fighting chance. With their deep knowledge of cars and Reyes' unusual reaction, Dominic and Brian discovered a memory card hidden in the CD player of the Ford GT40. This card was crucial to Reyes, and upon examining it closely, they saw an opportunity to get rich and exact revenge on Reyes. Following the plot of the original story, Dominic decided to call in favors from his friends worldwide and plan a heist against Reyes.
But this time, Dominic wasn't dealing with the same weak and foolish Reyes from the movie. Coupled with Hobbs' relentless pursuit and Castle's meddling, the storyline had already veered wildly off course. This unpredictability was why Castle preferred to stay on the sidelines, watching the show unfold rather than getting directly involved.
Castle had lost his edge of foresight over the plot. Based on the intelligence he gathered via the dark web after arriving in Brazil, he didn't believe Dominic and his team could successfully rob Reyes. This real-world Reyes was no pushover. From his ruthless response to their escape alone, it was clear that expecting Dominic's ragtag group to pull off a heist against him was wishful thinking. Castle could only wish them luck in their doomed endeavor.
As the days unfolded, everything went as Castle expected. Despite Dominic rallying a group of friends, they were constantly on the run from two groups: Reyes' men and Hobbs' team. The little fat boy, meanwhile, stayed safely in his hotel, not yet meeting up with them. Perhaps Dominic, informed by Tej, realized that the fat boy was just a nerd with practically zero fighting ability and only maintained contact with him over the phone. This, however, inadvertently played to the fat boy's strengths, as he excelled in working from a safe distance, tinkering with computers.
Using the fat boy's hacking skills, Dominic's team managed to evade several of Reyes' men and Hobbs' searches, all thanks to the city's surveillance system the fat boy had already infiltrated. This gave Dominic a new respect for the fat boy's capabilities. Without his help, they would've already been captured or killed by Reyes' men or Hobbs' team.
Castle, on the other hand, enjoyed the drama from his hotel. He even had the hotel set up five additional TV screens in his suite to monitor the live feed from the surveillance cameras the fat boy had hacked. For days, he lounged on his luxurious leather sofa, laughing at the real-life survival game unfolding on the streets of Rio, starring Dominic and his crew against Reyes and Hobbs.
After three days of watching this real-life survival show, Castle grew bored. He had the fat boy discreetly intervene, helping the exhausted Dominic and his crew escape Reyes' and Hobbs' clutches and lead them to a temporarily safe location. He wanted these real-life action stars to rest up and perhaps consider turning their frustrations from being hunted into a renewed determination to rob Reyes.
Two days earlier, following Castle's instructions, the fat boy had prepared a well-equipped villa in a wealthy neighborhood of Rio for Dominic's team. He also ensured that the entire surveillance system in the area was under his control. This high-end residential area was safe for a few days, providing a perfect hideout for Dominic's crew.
Castle had prepared this safe house to observe whether these so-called 'chosen ones' from the original plot would regroup and strike back at Reyes or admit defeat and slink away from Brazil. With the storyline already off the rails due to his interference and Reyes' more formidable real-life counterpart, Castle found the evolving situation increasingly intriguing.
From his observations over the past few days, Castle concluded that the real Hernan Reyes was far more competent than his movie counterpart. He had made only two minor mistakes: failing to prevent Mia from driving away the Ford GT40 on the train and letting Dominic and Brian escape due to a momentary lapse in his men's vigilance. Other than these, Reyes had been relentless and efficient.
Without Castle and the fat boy feeding Dominic's team advance warnings about Reyes' and Hobbs' movements, they would have been captured long ago. But Castle had grown tired of this survival chase. So, he decided to offer the safe house to the beleaguered team, hoping to rekindle their spirit for a high-speed showdown on Rio's streets.
Meanwhile, the fat boy, now a fully committed accomplice, discovered that Castle's creative mind, coupled with his own technical prowess and the thrill of manipulating the three groups as they played their deadly game, was more entertaining than the scantily clad women on the beach. As long as he could keep his friend Tej safe, the fate of the others wasn't his concern.
For Dominic's crew, the past few days of being on the run made them appreciate the fat boy's hacking skills even more. His assistance was invaluable, allowing them to avoid capture by Reyes' men and Hobbs' relentless team. They were happy to keep the fat boy in his behind-the-scenes role, safeguarding their actions in Rio.
Thus, the situation took an odd turn. The fat boy gained Dominic's crew's trust, who preferred him to stay in his current supportive role. Meanwhile, Reyes' men leveraged their home-field advantage, determined to capture Dominic's team. The final group, led by Hobbs and including the Brazilian cop Elena, hoped to track down Dominic's crew and apprehend them.
As the drama continued to unfold, everyone was playing their part in this unpredictable, real-life "Fast and Furious" saga.
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