Starlight Saint

Chapters

Prologue
Damaging the Machine
Courtroom Drama
Years Go By
Fated Friendship
Canonizing
Turf War
Rollerz Spy
Explosive Finish
Operation: Silent Bullet
Parasite Planted
Punctured Tire
Roadkill
Wrath of the Sun
Boom
Pawn Takes Rook
Knight Moves Forward
White Knight Captured
Gambit Strategy
Check...
...and Mate
Striking Red
Collection
Protection
Infiltration
Assassination
Negotiation
Possession
Termination
Foul Play
Making Friends
Jailbreak

Prologue

Today was the day she awaited with anticipation. Ever since that alicorn and her friends ruined everything that she had spent years building up, her thoughts were focused on her revenge.

She had spent months planning her revenge. She studied the six of them; their behaviors, their strengths, their weaknesses, their doubts, their fears, and anything else that she could use to ensure her plan went off without a hitch.

The final piece of information came into her clutches. During Twilight’s lecture on cutie mark magic, which filled her with disgust, she had learned of the point of origin of her enemies’ cutie marks; a Sonic Rainboom from years ago.

With everything she needed to carry out this plan, Starlight Glimmer, a unicorn mare with a lilac coat and royal purple mane and tail with a teal stripe and a cutie mark of two overlapping four-pointed stars, one purple, with two trails of turquoise vapor, proceeded to the Canterlot Train Station to take the train to Ponyville.

During the ride, Starlight took out the time travel scroll that she had stolen from the Starswirl the Bearded section of Canterlot Castle. The current version would only allow her to go back so far and only for thirty seconds. It wasn’t enough time for her to carry out her plan though. However, she knew her way around altering spells so all she had to do was remove the limitations and use the magic within Twilight’s castle to power it.

In her haste, however, she neglected a key rune that would come back to bite her in the flank soon.

Once the train was entering the station, Starlight teleported out of the train and ran toward Twilight’s castle while avoiding the town’s denizens.

Once inside, she proceeded into the map room feeling pleased with herself that everything was going according to plan. Soon, the princess and her friends were going to learn to respect her.

She reclined in Twilight’s throne and kicked up her back hooves onto the map table as she awaited her victims. She didn’t have to wait long as she heard their conversation as they entered the castle.

“Maybe I was more stressed about that speech than I thought,” Twilight reasoned.

“Yeah. That sounds better than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge,” Spike agreed.

“Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kinda silly.”

As they entered the map room, Spike’s eyes widened in horror as he spotted the pony they were just talking about. “Or it’s totally true!”

“Welcome home, Twilight!” Starlight cheerfully responded with her biggest shit-eating grin. She then cast her spell on the scroll which fired a beam at the map table, activating it and showing the map of Equestria.

“What are you doing, Starlight?” Twilight demanded.

Starlight villainously laughed, “I’d tell you, but I wouldn’t want to–”

That was when something Starlight wasn’t expecting happened. The aura around the scroll suddenly turned from Starlight’s turquoise magic to a purple close to her mane color. It then fired a purple beam at the map which completely changed the displayed image from one of Equestria to what appeared to be a huge city built onto a pair of islands in the middle of a massive lake.

Starlight’s eyes widened as she saw this. Whatever it was, it wasn’t Equestria at all. “Wh…what is this? This shouldn’t be–”

Suddenly a vortex opened up over the map table and began pulling in whatever it could. Twilight was able to keep herself anchored to the floor with her earth pony magic while her wings kept Spike from being pulled in. Starlight was not so fortunate as the vortex sucked her in. Starlight screamed in panic as she fell into the vortex which closed once she was inside.

The map room became silent for a few long moments before Spike broke the silence. “What…what happened?”

“I…I don’t know, Spike.” Twilight began looking around the crime scene but discovered that the map returned to normal. The only evidence that something happened was the scroll that was left behind. “She left the scroll behind. Maybe I can analyze it and find out where it took her.”

“I dunno, Twilight. Maybe it would be better if she were left wherever she ended up.”

“You know I can’t do that, Spike. Help me gather up the girls. We need to discuss what happened here.”

Stilwater, Michigan 1990

The city was a dump. It had been that way for many years. If you were rich and powerful, you got to live on the northern island where everything was much nicer and people lived in luxury. If you weren’t, you lived in the slums on the eastern side of the southern island. The western side was somewhere in the middle.

Stilwater was a city plagued with crime in almost every conceivable form. Some were paid to blow up property to force landowners to pay protection money, some were paid to steal cars for parts, some decided on whoring themselves out for a living. Other crimes included drug trafficking and defrauding insurance companies.

The biggest problem within the city was that the dominant power within the city wasn’t the city government and its police force. Rather, it was the street gangs and the most powerful gang at this time was the Vice Kings whose members wore yellow clothing to show their affiliation, also known as “flags”.

The Vice Kings were not without their competition though. The first gang to hold domination over Stilwater were Los Carnales who wore red. The Carnales were a gang of Hispanics and Caucasians led by the Lopez family. Backed by a Columbian drug cartel, the Carnales dominated Stilwater. When the brutality of the gang became too much, the Vice Kings were formed under the leadership of two men named Benjamin King and Julius Little and their gang quickly became powerful enough to push the Carnales out of the city for a time.

Unfortunately, with the Carnales all but wiped out, the Vice Kings effectively replaced the Carnales as the dominant power in Stilwater. Disgusted by this, Julius left the Vice Kings by a term known to the gangs as “dropping flags”. Julius had faded into the background since then.

Since the Vice Kings had no real rivals left in Stilwater, Benjamin King had turned to legal means to accrue wealth since money was no longer an issue. However, this only allowed the Carnales a means to get back into Stilwater and reclaim most of the southern island. The two sides had been engaging in brutal turf wars ever since.

Worse yet, there were rumors of a third gang who were beginning to gather power in Stilwater. This gang wore blue for their flags. They weren’t worth the attention of the other two gangs but that would change over time.

In the sums of the Carnales-held territory walked a couple who had just graduated high school, one of them just barely. One was a man of asian descent with slicked black hair and brown eyes wearing square sunglasses while the other was a woman with dark skin and hooped earrings. The man’s name was Johnny Gat and the girl was Aisha, who had preferred nobody knew of her last name.

“Eesh, we are gonna be set for life!” Johnny proudly declared.

Aisha gave an exasperated sigh, “Johnny, we are definitely not ‘set for life’. Your school transcript is proof of that.”

“What can I say? My fists and their faces were drawn to each other like magnets,” Johnny quipped.

“You put half of those people in the hospital and half of the student body transferred to a school out of town to get away from you.”

“And it made the boring graduation ceremony a lot shorter than it coulda been so I did you a favor.”

“Ugh!” Aisha had no idea why she put up with Johnny. Sure, the guy was muscular, hot and able to handle his own against the Carnales and Vice Kings crews, but his methods were a little too excessive as he left bodies in his wake. He was also very cocky. She contemplated whether it was worth staying in a relationship with him.

Just then, a bright flash of light went off in a nearby alleyway, taking the two by surprise. “What was that?” Aisha asked.

“Dunno, weird flashbang, though. All flash and no bang.”

At first the couple decided to ignore it but the sound of an infant crying changed their mind quickly. They proceeded into the alley to investigate. They found the burn marks that they first assumed was from a flashbang grenade until they spotted an infant in the center of the blast. Even stranger was the unblemished white and gold katana that lay next to the infant.

Aisha picked up the child and gave her a quick inspection to discover that she was carrying a baby girl. “Doesn’t look like there’s a note anywhere.” Johnny noted. “No sign of the mother either. Must have been one hell of an unwanted pregnancy.”

“Johnny!” Aisha admonished. She then quickly decided to drop it because there were more important things to deal with. “Look, we can’t just leave her like this. I say we take her with us.”

“I figured you were gonna say that, Eesh. I was already considering the wallpaper for the nursery. How does Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland sound?” He then picked up the katana. As he did he had to wonder why the kid was laying next to a weapon. If it were an omen it seemed like a good one. “Nice sword.” He then rested the blade on his right shoulder.

Ignoring the sword, Aisha did have one other important detail to consider. “What should we name her?”

“There’s plenty to go around. Doesn’t seem to be african american or hispanic so caucasian names will have to do. We can go with Alice, Sarah, Cynthia…” The infant frowned and fussed at the name suggestions. “No? Well we have plenty more options.”

As he considered more names he saw a strange mark over her left eye: two overlapping four-pointed stars with turquoise vapors. “Well, well, what do we have here?” Johnny inquired. “Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight…”

The infant giggled and clapped happily from Johnny’s recitation. “You like that huh? Hey Eesh, whaddya say we go with Starlight?”

“That’s a beautiful name and she seems to like it. Starlight it is.”

What the two didn’t realize was that taking this child under their care would lead to a time of great chaos in the world in the years to come.

Damaging the Machine

The day after they prevented the convoy raid, Starlight and Paul spent some time checking out the sights in Chinatown. They explored the Chinese Gardens and looked at the lion statues. They also checked out the Sad Panda Building.

While they were looking around, Starlight listened to some of her favorite songs on her phone. Some part of her wanted to take a day off from the activities but she figured that she could once the Rollerz were history.

Paul had gotten bored out of his mind as exploring things was not interesting to him. He tapped Starlight on the shoulder to get her attention. “What’s up?” she asked. He pointed to her phone and in the direction of Misty Lane. “New developments with the Rollerz? Not yet, Lin and Donnie are probably still brainstorming how to make up for the loss of the parts from the delivery trucks.”

Paul groaned. Starlight could tell that her friend wanted to do something that was not looking at things so she thought about what they could do.

Starlight’s phone rang. She found that it was her father calling so she quickly answered it. “Hey daddy!”

“Hey there little Star, would you mind doin’ me a favor? An old friend of mine runs a club on Misty Lane. He called me askin’ for some help but he didn’t specify what. He seemed worried that the pigs might be tappin’ his calls for some reason. You mind headin’ over there and find out what’s got his panties in a twist?”

“Sure daddy, we’ve actually been thinking about what we want to do until Lin gets us more info.”

“Thanks pumpkin, see ya.” The call ended and Starlight received a text from her father of the man’s address a few moments later.

“Looks like we found something to do,” Starlight said. Paul then looked really eager to get going.

About fifteen minutes later the two were at the club. Upon entry they met with a dark skinned man with a black hat and gray jacket who stood in their way. “One of you Starlight?” he asked.

“That’s me,” Starlight answered.

“Reno is expecting you.” He then moved aside to allow them through. “One other thing, Aisha is your mom, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Starlight wasn’t sure why he asked that question but it made her a little suspicious that he might try something which made her slowly reach for her Wado Ichimonji. However, she stopped when she noticed him pulling out one of her mother’s music albums from his pocket.

“Can I get her autograph?” he asked.

It was relieving that the man was one of her mom’s fans. Plus she had a feeling that the man wasn’t the stalker type because of his line of work and that Reno hired him. With a giggle she took the CD. “If my mom got paid for every autograph she gave out we’d be living in these suburbs.”

“Yeah, I hate that her company is squeezin’ her dry like they are. At least she has a husband who’d make a better bouncer than me.”

“So, who should she make this out to?”

“Make it out to Jack.”

Once Jack let them through to the back they spotted Reno, a bald man with a lighter shade of dark skin wearing sunglasses and having a pair of women leaning on him. “Hey, it’s Johnny’s little girl!” Reno greeted. “I hear you’ve been takin’ after your dad. Which is good because I need a huge favor right now.”

“My dad said you were worried about cops tapping your calls?” Starlight inquired.

“Yeah, some cop just transferred to town and he ain’t payin’ me any respect. The bitch come in here runnin’ his mouth tellin’ me he was gonna put me out of business. What he didn’t know, was I got a couple cops on the payroll and they told me the raid was tonight. I want you two to go out there and stir up so much shit the cops gotta look elsewhere…while they on yo’ asses I can hide all the K. I know it sounds risky, but I’ll even throw in hazard pay for your troubles.”

“Sure, anything for a friend of my daddy,” Starlight accepted. “This actually works out to our benefit because Mr. Wong has someone on his hit list who works for emergency response. Once they are lured into the open we can take them out.”

“Ha, you really are Johnny’s girl. I owe you so many birthday presents already, I need to keep up.”

“So how should we go about causing shit?”

“Jack will take you to my personal weapon stash. Find a place and go apeshit. Don’t care what happens after that, just don’t do it near my place.”

A short time later, Jack showed Starlight and Paul a secret room. Opening the door, what they found was the dream of any would be psychopath and terrorist. They found a secret armory loaded with a huge cache of weapons, including explosives like grenades and RPGs. There was enough in the room to start a small war. Paul loaded up on the explosives while Starlight, not wanting to carry around the dangerous explosives because she didn’t have Paul’s strength and because carrying around so many explosives all at once was almost as terrifying as wearing one of Jigsaw’s death traps from the Saw movies, Starlight chose to carry a pair of SMGs and load up on ammo for her main weapons.

From there, the two went to various neighborhoods away from Reno’s holdings and started behaving like terrorists by blowing up everything they could. Starlight held many cars at gunpoint and forced them to leave their vehicles so Paul could blow it up with an RPG. He also threw grenades through windows and scared the residents into leaving before he hurled molotovs into the buildings which set them on fire.

As the neighborhood was set ablaze, emergency crews entered the area which included police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. Paul used grenades to blow up the police cars while Starlight looked for the EMT that resembled Jackie. After a few minutes of searching she found her target and shot her in the head with her revolver. It was a pistol anyway so should have still counted.

Once they started running low on ammo the two decided to end their spree of destruction there while the two stole one of the Nightingale model fire trucks and drove through a Forgive and Forget to get the law enforcement off their backs. They then turned the truck over to Dennis.

With their fun time over, Starlight checked her phone and noticed that something was going on at the mansion so she turned on her spy app to find out what was going on.

Sharp and Price were in the living room with the former looking a bit stressed and more than a little irritated. “I know he’s your friend, Joseph, but I will not let that nimrod ruin my plans.” Starlight guessed that he was talking about Donnie.

“Your plans?” Price questioned.

“Our plans,” Sharp corrected.

Price decided to let the matter go and defend his friend. “Look, Donnie may be a little flaky, but he always steps up at the end.”

“I certainly hope so.”

Donnie and Lin then entered the living room with the former looking proud of himself. “Lin and I got this shit down,” he declared.

“This should be compelling,” Sharp snarked.

Donnie continued, “Alright kids, check this shit out. So we lost the parts the buyers wanted, and there’s no way a shipment like that is going to roll through here any time soon. Lin and I did the math, and there are a couple key cars that we can strip down to get the parts we need.”

“See? What’d I tell ya? This guy’s a fucking genius!” Price then headed toward the exit. “I’m gonna go get the boys ready.”

“So your plan is to go steal cars. You really know how to think outside the box, Donnie.” Sharp snarked.

Surprisingly to Starlight, Lin seemed intent on standing up for Donnie. “Don’t talk to him like that!”

“I’ll take your advice to heart.”

“It’s not advice.”

“A threat? How refreshing.”

“Listen up you–”

“L-Lin, don’t worry about–” Donnie weakly tried.

“Shut up, Donnie!” Lin and Sharp said in unison.

“You were saying?” Sharp asked.

“I was about to tell you to go fuck yourself,” Lin growled.

“And here I thought we were bonding.”

Having enough of Sharp’s snarky tongue, Lin led Donnie out of the room. “Let’s go, Donnie.”

“That’s probably the smartest thing you’ve said all day,” Sharp said with his typical snark, earning him a good look at Lin’s middle finger.

Starlight sighed as she turned the app off. “Lin is playing with fire right now. It’s one thing to get emotionally close to an enemy, to piss off the smartest member of the Rollerz is just asking to get your cover blown. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sharp already suspected that Lin was a double agent.” Paul shrugged.

A few minutes later the two received a list of cars from Lin, showing them the vehicles that the Rollerz intended to steal. Leaving the matter of the potentially outed spy aside, they needed to work on making sure the Rollerz didn’t get the parts they needed to continue to deny the gang the cash they needed to continue functioning.

Still, Starlight and Paul took a moment to look at the list. Paul whistled in awe at the featured vehicles while Starlight added, “Say what you will about the Rollerz but you can’t say they have poor taste in cars.” Looking away from the list, Starlight had a quick discussion with Paul about the plan of action, “So, how should we go about this? Demolition or something fancy?”

Paul pulled out one of the grenades he had left over from using Reno’s arsenal and juggled it with one hand. “Fireball it is,” Starlight agreed. She then used her communicator to her drone. “Laserbeak, scan the area for vehicles according to the specifications of the list on my phone.”

A few seconds later, Starlight’s GPS highlighted the locations of several cars in the area. “Let’s get going before they hijack those cars.”

Once they reached the first car on the list, they noticed the Rollerz were already getting ready to steal it. Paul threw an unpinned grenade into the back of the car just as a thug was getting into it. The shattering of glass in the back seat gave away what was about to happen so he dove out of the car knowing that he wouldn’t have been able to get rid of the explosive in time. The blast still got the thug pelted with debris where a hospital visit was in his immediate future.

Starlight and Paul made it to the second car in time just as the Rollerz arrived so Starlight used her Wado Ichimonji to cut down the thugs before blasting the car repeatedly with her shotgun until the engine was ruined.

The third car was blown up with the last of the RPG rockets which left one last car in the area to be dealt with. A Rollerz thug was already driving off with it but not before Starlight punctured the fuel tank with her shotgun which left a trail of gasoline as the car moved. Paul smashed a burning molotov onto the trail which ignited the gasoline. The fiery trail chased the escaping car which moved too slowly to escape the blaze before the flames reached the tank and blew the car up.

“I think that should be enough cars to fuck them over,” Starlight noted. “Even with the rest of the cars on the list they shouldn’t be able to get enough parts to satisfy their mysterious buyers.”

Paul nodded. Without the parts the Rollerz were going to be hurting for cash and that was probably going to piss Sharp and Price off. Seeing as they had effectively fucked the Rollerz over, this called for a celebration. He took out a flyer for a sushi restaurant in Chinatown that he was curious about and showed it to Starlight.

“Huh? You want to check out the sushi restaurant?” Paul nodded. “Sure, I’m game.”

Half an hour later the two were trying out the various kinds of sushi which was hit and miss for both of them since some didn’t agree with them. Still, most of it was good and it was a way to pass the time while they waited for the fallout of the gang’s latest failure.

Starlight had a bad feeling that they were going to need to take action very soon and she had a good idea why.

Once the app informed her of another conversation, Starlight opened the app to see what was going on.

Price appeared to be trying to calm Donnie down, assuring him that the latest incident wasn’t his fault. Once his call ended, he threw his phone into a wall with all his might, smashing it. “FUCK!”

“That was productive,” Sharp snarked.

“That’s the second time those two Saints fucked us!”

“Three times, if you count the attack on the garage. Quite a coincidence…” The way Sharp said that sent alarm bells through Starlight’s head.

“Whaddya mean?” Price asked.

“Well let’s think. The same four people knew about those jobs. If I didn’t sell us out, and you didn’t sell us out, who else is there?”

“Donnie? Donnie may not like it when things get messy, but there’s no way he’d turn on me…”

“Which brings us to…”

“Lin…” Price concluded.

“Bravo,” Sharp applauded facetiously.

“This is gonna be a bitch to explain to Donnie,” Price groaned, knowing that his friend was developing feelings for the apparent traitor.

“Luckily, you’re not going to.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Please, you’re too attached to the boy. I’ll handle this.” Sharp offered.

“I don’t give a shit what you do to Lin, but you better not hurt Donnie,” Price warned.

“Of course, Joseph. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Starlight closed the app and used her communicator to Laserbeak, “Laserbeak, show Lin what you just saw, and hurry. Show the recording to Julius afterward.” She then looked at Paul. “We need to move if we want to be sure Sharp doesn’t get to Lin first.”

Paul nodded and left some money on the table, not bothering to count it since they were in a hurry.

Meanwhile, Lin was working on her car at the mansion when she suddenly spotted Laserbeak perched on her hood. “Huh? Aren’t you Starlight’s toy?” The construct then played the important parts of the recording which made Lin’s eyes widen in horror as she realized her cover was blown. “Fuck! I need to get out of here, fast!” Thankfully she kept her keys with her as she quickly got into her car and turned on the engine. She spotted Sharp walking toward her so she got the car into gear and got out of there as fast as she could.

Once Lin got the message, Laserbeak flew to the other side of the city to the church where Julius was hanging out with the other lieutenants. The flight took a few minutes thanks to the jet propulsion systems installed into it.

Julius and Johnny spotted the construct that landed near them. “Laserbeak? What’s goin’ on?” Johnny asked. Laserbeak then played the recording which gave the two an idea of what was going on. “Looks like Lin’s cover is blown. Starlight will probably be tryin’ to make sure she gets back safely.”

“Let’s hope she got enough info on the Rollerz that we can put ‘em down for good,” Julius said. Laserbeak then played previous recordings, giving Julius the impression that this Will Sharp person was a huge figure among the Rollerz.

“Sounds like killin’ Sharp will fuck up the Rollerz in every way,” Johnny noted.

“Yes, it seems that without Sharp, Price will be easier to take out. It’ll probably make him more dangerous though. For now, we need to come up with a plan of action to take out Sharp.”

Johnny nodded then turned to Laserbeak. “Hey Laserbeak, once they have Lin secured, have the three of them come back here.” Laserbeak nodded and flew away.

“Just what is that thing, anyway?” Julius asked.

“Just one of my daughter’s pet projects,” Johnny chuckled.

Courtroom Drama

While Paul wanted to head to the courthouse to rescue Johnny from death row, there were a couple of things he needed before heading there. The first thing he needed was something that could not wait.

“Any of you know any clothing stores nearby?” Paul asked. Since he was still wearing his prison uniform, he would be drawing police notoriety just by running around.

“I spotted a Sloppy Seconds thrift store nearby,” Alberto offered.

“Maybe someplace that actually has a selection?” Paul complained.

“Quit being picky and let’s head over there,” Starlight chided.

The store wasn’t far from where they were; they could actually reach it on foot. Once they got there Paul spent some time looking at the limited selection of clothing available since, as the name implied, the selection was composed of whatever people had either outgrown or developed a distaste for so they were sold to the store to get back a little of the money used to purchase the clothing.

In the end Paul settled for a pair of gray sports shorts and a white tee shirt while noting that he would find something better at the first opportunity and once he had more money.

Paul lamented when Starlight told him that the money he had saved up five years ago had to go into the medical expenses needed to keep him alive. It was enough to clean him out so he was nearly broke. What he had was just enough for the clothes he just purchased. At the same time he had a tiny bit of jealousy for Starlight who had plenty of money in her account and he suspected that her account was only going to grow larger while they were taking over Stilwater again.

Putting his jealousy aside, he still had enough money left for a drink and he really needed one after what happened. “Hey Star, do we have time to visit a bar around here? I really need one after what I went through.

Starlight considered Paul’s request and thinking about what happened, she couldn’t blame him for feeling that way. The trial was about to start but she felt that Paul might feel better with a little alcohol in his system. “I guess so, but let’s be quick about it.”

The nearest bar was a Tee’N’Ay strip joint which Starlight didn’t feel disturbed by nearly as much as she used to. Larxene had taken her to a few strip bars over the years she spent in Pittsburgh so the experience had helped her get used to it.

The bar was a few blocks away so Starlight got her friends in the car to take them there. Since they were five people now there wasn’t room for Paul anymore so he had to hijack his own ride.

Once at the bar, the five sat at the bar stools while the dancers were giving their show behind them. The bartender was quick to give each of them their orders.

On the TV, they noticed a news broadcast by the reporter Jane Valderamma who reported that Johnny was arrested a couple of years ago for attempting to assassinate Troy Bradshaw while pointing out the three hundred eighty seven counts of first degree murder on his record which would mean he would be sent to death row.

“Hey Barry, turn that shit off,” someone beside Paul demanded as he sat next to him with a bottle. The man wore dark red clothing, indicating a possible connection with The Brotherhood.

“We were watching that,” Paul stated.

“Guess you bitches aren’t anymore.”

Paul was grateful that Starlight was able to restore his muscles enough for him to fight, though he still felt a little winded after he smashed the man’s beer bottle in his face and knocked him out.

“Can you turn that back on?” Starlight requested. The bartender complied while Jane continued her report about Johnny’s fate. “I think it’s about time we head over there.”

As the group prepared to leave the bar, the unconscious man’s buddies appeared looking for a fight. Paul put up his fists to defend himself since he found that he didn’t have the strength to lift a bar stool yet. However, that didn’t stop another barstool from floating up behind the Brotherhood thugs and bashing them unconscious.

“Glad you haven’t changed, Star,” Paul thanked.

Starlight shrugged, “What can I say? Something about them just draws furniture to them. Now let’s head over there.”

As they left, a couple more thugs tried getting in their way only for Savage to hurl them out of the bar while Alberto pulled out a shotgun and blasted them. They then entered their vehicles and headed straight for the courthouse. They made sure to conceal their weapons as they headed into the entrance as they didn’t want to tip off the cops their intentions yet.

Spotting Jane Valderamma and her cameraman, Larxene decided to have a little fun by jumping in front of the camera and waving into it. “Hey all, I just wanna give a shout out to my lame friends over in the Big Apple. When you guys finally get those sticks out your asses, let me know.” Once she gave her shout out, Larxene followed the others into the courthouse.

Once inside, they obtained the information that Johnny’s trial was being held on the second floor. Larxene, however, had other plans.

“Hey, I’m just going to…check out the facilities…if you know what I mean.” Larxene then headed for the nearest restroom. Starlight wondered what her friend was up to as the way she said that told her that mischief might be brewing in the near future.

Deciding not to think too much about it, the rest of them casually headed upstairs while the guards appeared to let them pass despite the fact that the media wasn’t allowed inside. Starlight wondered if Troy had something to do with it but found that she didn’t care either way.

The hallway where their destination was unguarded so they decided that it was a good time to bring out their firepower.

Inside the courtroom, the judge, an elderly dark-skinned woman called Judge Melmack, looked over an album that contained a large number of gruesome photos of the various murder scenes where Johnny was involved.

"Mr. Gat, you've been convicted of over three hundred murders, do you really expect this appeal to work?" Melmack rhetorically asked.

“Your Honor, I think the count should be lower since it was in defense of my daughter. Like the time three Rollerz grabbed her. There have been numerous instances where the old gangs tried using my daughter as a hostage against me.”

“While I can understand you acting in defense of your daughter, killing them was still excessive. I can't offer much leniency since you used excessive force. Even if I did mitigate the charges due to circumstances there are many instances where your daughter wasn’t involved. Unless you have powerful connections ready to help you out, I’m afraid you won’t be able to avoid the chair.”

Just as Johnny was about to make an angry and aggressive retort, the sound of gunfire and pained screaming came from just outside the courtroom. Legal Lee, Johnny’s Lawyer, knew of an opportunity when he heard it and stood up. “Your Honor, I’d like to call for a hasty dismissal of this trial on the grounds that this courtroom is about to be attacked.”

Melmack was about to deny Lee’s motion but as the pained shouting and gunfire grew louder, she became less certain that the guards were going to be able to handle the intruders. With a quick decision, Melmack banged her gavel to accept the motion before getting up to leave the room in a hasty exit.

One of the bailiffs was unfortunate enough to investigate the noise only for the door to the hallway to break from its hinges and fall on him. Another officer raised her weapon to deal with the intruders but the assailant was quicker as she found a weapon pointed at her.

“Drop it.” Paul demanded.

Raising her arms in surrender, the officer let go of her gun which fell to the floor and discharged a shot which caused everyone to duck as a bullet ricocheted around the courtroom for a moment.

Once the room was quiet, Legal Lee rose his head from the desk he was hiding under to offer his services for anyone hit by the bullet.

“‘Bout time your burnt ass woke up,” Johnny quipped.

“More like burnt and withered. I had to go through a lot of effort to get him walking again,” Starlight corrected as she entered the courtroom.

Johnny gave a wide smile as he quickly got out of his seat and rushed over to hug his daughter. “Pumpkin! Why didn't you tell me you were back in Stilwater?”

Starlight gave her father a flat stare, “Because you were arrested and likely not having your phone with you because they normally confiscate it.”

Johnny waved his hand dismissively, “Details. Let’s get out of here.”

“Savage, Alberto, find us a ride out of here. We need something that can fit six people.”

Savage nodded and ran ahead, trampling the guards who got in his way. Alberto ran after him.

Seeing as they were going to be fighting their way out, Johnny collected the gun from one of the bailiffs and checked its ammunition. There wasn’t much so he would have to collect what he could on his way out.

“So, those guys are your new friends? Where’s the crazy chick you were tellin’ me about?” Johnny asked.

“She said she was checking out the facilities which tells me she’s up to something,” Starlight replied.

Paul, Starlight and Johnny began fighting their way out of the building, taking out any guard who shot at them. Starlight tossed a few guards off the second floor with her magic. Johnny and Paul used a couple of guards as human shields to deal with a group of guards ahead of them before hurling their shields across a snack bar.

Once they reached the bottom floor, the three noticed that there was a lot of water on the floor. Apparently with the commotion they were causing, nobody decided to check where the water was coming from. That was when Starlight realized what was happening. “Guys, back up!” she warned.

“What’s the matter, Star?” Johnny asked.

“Just watch.”

Sure enough, a large group of guards gathered in front of the entrance, not caring that there was water all over the floor, courtesy of a certain someone flooding the nearby restroom.

“Freeze! Put your hands in the air!” one of the guards demanded.

“Or you can put your weapons on the floor and you won’t be lit up like a house on Christmas,” Came Larxene’s voice from nearby. The woman was sitting on one of the x-ray scanners at the entrance behind them. The guards looked behind them and saw the electrified knives she was carrying. Their sense of self-preservation reminded them that there was water on the floor. Combine the two and the guards knew that the woman had their lives in her hands.

With no choice, the guards placed their guns on the floor. Larxene then jumped onto the floor and waved for Starlight and the others to follow her.

Once outside, the four spotted a police van with Alberto and Savage inside. The four quickly jumped inside and closed the door. Starlight gave Alberto the address of her house and they were away. “Before you get there, take us through a Forgive and Forget on the way. I uploaded it to your GPS.”

“Forgive and Forget? What kinda place is that?” Larxene asked.

“I guess only Stilwater has those places,” Starlight explained. “They’re a drive through where you pay the vendor and he somehow sweeps our crimes under the rug and takes the heat off us. It works for law enforcement and gang aggression.”

“Really? How does that work?”

“No idea but I won’t question it.”

Larxene snorted which quickly turned into laughter for a few moments. “Man, I’m liking this city already. I can cause all the trouble I want and I just need to use one of those places to make everyone not pissed at me.”

“It’s still good to practice self-control. I’d rather not test the limits of Forgive and Forgets in case I do something they can’t conceal.”

Larxene shrugged, “Yeah, fair enough.”

“Thanks for bustin’ me out,” Johnny said. “Eesh would have killed me if I got executed.”

“How’s mom taking it?” Starlight asked.

“Well, seeing as she warned me not to go after Troy, I’m probably lookin’ at a few weeks on the couch.”

“How long were you in jail anyway?” Paul asked.

“Two years and thirty one days.”

“Not like you were counting…”

"Yeah, right? It's weird...people inside were betting how long I'd last...when I was first busted guards were always tryin' to put me in the ground. After Troy became chief of police it all stopped...Troy must be more forgiving than I am."

“When did Troy become Chief of Police?” Paul asked.

"You better start getting with the times. Julius is missing, Ben King wrote an autobiography, Dex is a...don't even get me started with Dex…”

“He’s a corporate officer for Ultor,” Starlight supplied.

“Seriously?” Paul questioned. “Actually, don’t answer that. I just realized that would be what that asshole would do. Guy had a big head before now he has a job to inflate his ego even more.”

“As for Troy,” Johnny continued. “Word is he's become obsessed with finding out what happened on your little boat trip with the Alderman."

“At some point we should probably pay him a visit to see what he has. I’d love to find the son of a bitch who tried to blow me up and show them how I feel about that.”

“Hopefully he hasn’t skipped town,” Starlight muttered.

“Hey, while we’re talking, would your mom mind me couch surfing for a bit? I forgot to find an apartment online,” Alberto informed. Larxene and Savage also realized that they were also without their own place to stay while they were living in Stilwater.

“We can talk rent later,” Johnny postponed. “For now we need to let Eesh know we’re back.”

Once they arrived at the house, Alberto, Larxene and Savage admired the mansion which had its own arch that said “Starlight Estate” on it.

“Not a bad place, Star,” Larxene complimented. “My old home was bigger but this seems to be the best-looking place I’ve seen in this city so far.”

“And you swiped it from some lawyer? Impressive…” Alberto whistled.

“Let’s go inside and say hi to my mom.”

As it turned out, Aisha was waiting for them at the entrance. She had a deep frown pointed at Johnny which foretold what he prophesied earlier. That didn’t stop her from running over and wrapping her arms around him. “It’s good to see you back and alive.” She repeated the process with Starlight, “And you as well, Starlight.”

Starlight returned the hug. “I’m back, mom.”

Once they broke their hug, Savage tapped Starlight’s shoulder and pointed her to a couple of men in suits that she recognized as the uniform for Mr. Wong’s people. Starlight had a feeling that things were going to get really busy for her soon.

Years Go By

Aisha and Johnny continued their walk down the street, only this time Aisha was now carrying a baby Starlight in her arms. Johnny was carrying the sheathed katana he found over his shoulder. Though when he tried to unsheath the weapon to get a better look at it, he was surprised that the weapon wouldn’t budge from its housing.

Johnny grunted as he struggled to pull the blade free, growing frustrated over time. “Fuck! Did someone super glue the entire blade into this thing?” After a few more attempts he gave up and returned it back onto his shoulder. “Whatever, it’ll make for a nice wall decoration at least.”

“Johnny, I wish you wouldn’t curse in front of Starlight.” Aisha chided.

“Why not? If she doesn’t learn it from us she’s gonna learn it on the streets or in school. And those kids are learning to curse younger and younger.”

“I know, but I’d still like for her to have her innocence for a few years.”

“Fine, I’ll keep the cursing to a minimum for Starlight’s sake.” Johnny said while wrapping an arm around Aisha.

Aisha smiled, “Thanks, Johnny.”

They soon reached Johnny’s car which was a Bootlegger, a two-seated hot rod with a light gray body. Since Starlight was going to be living with them he would need to buy or steal himself a four-door vehicle later.

Once the two were in the car and Starlight was as secured as they could get her, Johnny drove off toward Aisha’s apartment. On the way he drove past a battle between the Vice Kings and the Carnales. Tempted as he was to take them both out, Johnny had to focus on making sure Starlight and Aisha were safe.

The family managed to reach the apartment without incident. The apartment wasn’t a healthy place to raise a baby but they didn’t have much choice at the time since they were short on cash. Aisha knew that she would have to be the one to provide for the three of them since most places in Stilwater had already fired Johnny by the time he graduated because each time some idiot pissed him off by trying to rob the place. Any place that would accept Johnny because of his fighting skills refused him because the place was under one of the three gangs’ control and he had already done something to annoy each of them.

It was agreed that Johnny would be a stay at home dad for Starlight so he handled the cleaning and half of the cooking in addition to tending to Starlight’s needs.

Stilwater being as it was, there was no shortage of excitement in Johnny’s life and while some of the excitement became a threat to the baby, it only motivated him to count the number of bones he breaks in an offender’s body before he had enough.

The first time such an incident occurred, Johnny was surprised to notice that Starlight giggled happily whenever he beat the fools within an inch of their lives. “You like that, huh? I can already tell we’re gonna get along well.”

It was a few months after they found Starlight that Johnny and Aisha began to notice unusual happenings with Starlight. One of them was objects glowing in a turquoise light and floating around. The two of them were beginning to wonder if the apartment was haunted but they couldn’t afford to move at the time so they had to deal with it and hoped that the ghosts weren’t hostile.

Another incident happened when they saw Starlight’s hair growing in. When they found her, she appeared to be at the age when the infant would be freshly out of the mother’s womb so it came as a shock to the two when they saw purple hair growing on her head with a few strands appearing teal. Since human hair was typically either black, brown, blonde, red or gray, this was very odd. Even the doctors they took her to couldn’t explain the phenomenon.

By the time Starlight was age six, she was ready to attend school. Johnny and Aisha found that Starlight learned her colors, shapes and numbers quickly so they didn’t have to put her through kindergarten, which was a relief since Stilwater didn’t really have a program like that since the rampant gang violence had the daycare facilities shut down because parents feared their children getting caught in a massacre. Not to mention that the State of Michigan didn’t require children to attend kindergarten.

Starlight had proven herself ahead of the curve in school which made her a target for bullies up until she showed that she wasn’t afraid of getting suspended from school. She had watched her daddy fight and she picked up on a few of his moves which led to a few unfortunate bullies getting bloodied. The bullies backed off from her quickly afterward.

Sometime after Starlight’s seventh birthday, Johnny and Aisha witnessed another strange phenomenon. It started when Starlight called out to them. “Mommy! Daddy!”

The parents guessed that their little girl wanted to show them something. Where normal parents expected some drawing or an art project to put on the fridge, Starlight threw those expectations out the window when she appeared to be floating in a turquoise aura.

“What the fuck!?” Johnny exclaimed. Aisha gasped.

Starlight didn’t seem scared. In fact, it almost seemed as if the girl was somehow controlling this aura. She demonstrated this as she moved in the air as if she was swimming in it.

“Johnny, remember that time we saw objects floating in Starlight’s room? You don’t think…”

“Yeah, good thing I told that ghost hunting group and their great dane to fuck off,” Johnny quipped.

“Johnny…” Aisha chided.

“Right, right, no cursing.”

Starlight finally lost her concentration and dropped right into Johnny’s arms before she fell asleep. He put her back into her bed where he tucked her in. “Never thought parenthood would be like this. Usually you deal with temper tantrums, making messes of various types, bringing stray animals home, typical kid stuff. Us? We get something like that kid who could move objects with her mind like in that one movie. What was her name? Maddie? Margaret?”

“Yeah, I saw that movie too and we won’t be like those awful parents.”

“Ya got that right.”

Ever since that night, Starlight had been working on controlling her powers and discovering new ways to use them. They allowed her to do so on the condition that she never use her powers on them.

Years passed and Starlight got better control of her powers which she had taken to calling magic since it felt right in her mind for some reason.

Speaking of minds, one day Starlight ended up pulling a prank on the school principal where she used her magic to take control of his mind and had him sit in on a class while she demonstrated her engineering knowledge as she dismantled his car and assembled the parts into a mechanical bird that she named Laserbeak. Needless to say, the principal was furious when the spell wore off and he found out what happened to his car. However, he never found out who the culprit was.

When Starlight took Laserbeak home Johnny asked where she got the bird from. He was impressed that she made the construct and was laughing uproariously when she heard where she got the parts from.

“Y’know, the parental side of me couldn’t be more proud, the rest of me is imagining the priceless look on the principal’s face and wishing someone took photos.”

“Here you go, daddy!” Starlight handed the photos of the principal throwing a fit and acting like an angry monkey next to his car that looked like the Rollerz had been there to strip it of its parts. What was more hilarious was the fact that Starlight had actually painted a Rollerz tag on the car.

There were times where Starlight did get caught in her mischief but the school let her antics slide because of her grades. She was actually at the top of her class and the school. This was making the school look too good for them to institute any harsh punishments such as expulsion so they had to settle for giving her detentions.

Of course, the school also wanted Starlight to graduate faster when her antics were causing the staff a lot of grief so they put her into an accelerated program and she ultimately graduated by the time she was ten. Middle school was met with similar circumstances and she ended up in high school at thirteen.

Expenses were piling up for Johnny and Aisha though. Johnny’s employability was still non-existent and Aisha wasn’t making enough from her jobs to pay for Starlight’s tuition.

That was when Aisha found an opportunity for them to make a lot more money when she discovered that Kingdom Come Records was holding an audition for singers.

Johnny was skeptical because the business was owned by the Vice Kings. However, Aisha went anyway and she blew the judges away with her singing and she signed the contract that started her singing career.

It only took a few months for Aisha to realize that she made a terrible mistake in going to that audition since they were now extorting and manipulating her into staying with them and becoming a source of income for the Vice Kings.

Johnny contemplated on what he could do to get Aisha out of this mess and while he did think about blowing the place sky high, he didn’t have the resources to do so.

A knock at the door led to a fateful meeting that day as Johnny opened the door to find a middle aged dark-skinned man rearing a purple shirt under a black leather jacket along with a black leather hat, baggy black pants and bright orange sneakers as well as a gold chain around his neck with a holy cross.

“Who are you and what the fuck do you want?” Johnny asked.

“Names Julius Little and I’m here because I know your reputation, Johnny Gat.”

“You and everyone else in this shitty town.”

“How would you like it if you were given the chance to make this town less ‘shitty’?”

“I’m listenin’”

Julius nodded and began his pitch, “We all know this city is plagued with motherfuckers who think they’re entitled to have the whole thing to themselves. I say it’s time to get rid of them, once and for all. I’ve worked with Benjamin King for years before he became another problem. I’ve fought the Carnales for years and just when we get rid of them they come back for more. Now we have the Rollerz movin’ into Stilwater. All three of them are fighting turf wars left and right and God knows how many innocents are caught in the crossfire.”

“So where do I come in?” Johnny asked.

“I need people who can get things done. People who are sick and tired of the way things are and ready for things to change and be that force of change. That’s why I’m raising a new gang who can take the fight to the Vice Kings, the Carnales and the Rollerz and return this city to the way it’s supposed to be. If you’re interested, meet me at the old church on Saint’s Row. Thank you for your time.” With that, Julius walked away and Johnny closed the door.

Johnny spent some time contemplating Julius’ offer. It was tempting to just join Julius and bust some heads, but he also had his responsibilities with Starlight. He couldn’t just go to war against a bunch of gangs and potentially put his daughter in danger. He would need to consult Aisha about this.

Said person returned home a few hours later looking very stressed. She seemed ready to collapse anywhere and Johnny quickly caught on to her condition. “Eesh, what the fuck happened?”

Johnny knew that Starlight was out shopping right now and she had taken that katana with her for protection so he didn’t have to worry about cursing in front of her even though she picked up on the words around the start of middle school. He also found out last year that only she could pull the sword out of its sheath since he tried after her successful attempt and failed, meaning that it had to be tied to her magic somehow.

“My record company is what happened! Fucking parasites!” Aisha growled. “They’re working me to the bone and I can’t quit because of that fucking contract. Even worse is that I seem to have a stalker who won’t leave me alone.”

Johnny led Aisha to the couch where she laid flat on it before she continued her complaints. “Then there was the turf war between the Vice Kings and the Rollerz at Prawn Court. I nearly got shot at least three times!” After a few more minutes of venting, Aisha let out a deep sigh to calm herself. She gave Johnny a serious look. “It’s getting worse out there, Johnny. It’s a three-way warzone out there and none of them seem to be winning. I’m worried Starlight isn’t going to make it to eighteen before one of these gang members guns her down.”

“Don’t worry, Eesh. I’ve been teaching Starlight how to fight so she won’t go down that easily. I also had her visit one of the local Friendly Fires on the way home and pick up a piece. It’s about time I taught her how to use one.”

“Johnny, I…” Aisha’s trailed off. She hated the idea of their daughter having a gun but Stilwater was too dangerous and as much as she hated the idea, Johnny was right. “Just…just be there to watch her back if she gets into trouble.”

“You know I will, Eesh.” The two then shared a brief kiss moments before Starlight entered through the door.

“Hey mom, hey dad!” Starlight greeted. “I got that piece you asked for.” She showed the two the VICE 9 pistol she bought.

Johnny smiled and walked over to her, pulling out an NR4 pistol and briefly putting a hand on her head. “Attagirl, now it’s time for some father-daughter bonding time.”

After a fun time at a shooting range, with Starlight showing that she had good marksmanship skills, the two returned home and Starlight went to bed.

Johnny sat in the living room alone since Aisha went to bed early. He sat there thinking about Aisha and her worries. She was right, the turf wars were intensifying and no side showed any signs of giving ground. At this point the Rollerz had taken over the western sides of the city and the commercial districts, the Carnales held the industrial districts and the airport and the Vice Kings were in control of most of the northern island and the red light district on the southern island.

There was also the fact that his violent side was itching to go out there and start a kill count. He’d been keeping it in check for years for Aisha and Starlight but he knew that he needed to do more to protect them.

He knew what he had to do.

Taking out his phone, he used the GPS app to locate the old church. He had somewhere to be tomorrow.

Author's Note

You may have noticed that Johnny was making a reference to a film in this chapter. The movie he was referring to is called "Matilda" which came out in '96. If you have time, you should look it up. It's actually a pretty good movie in my opinion.

Fated Friendship

Starlight continued her life in high school without much issue. Although lately her father was sometimes picking her up while looking a little roughed up. She would have felt worried about him if she hadn’t noticed that he looked very energetic whenever he looked like that, as if he had done something that made him feel so alive. Given the fact that she had noticed that the gangs had paid more attention to him lately, she had a good idea why.

She later asked Johnny about this and he only gave her the truth. “I got tired of the VKs, Carnales and Rollerz uh…messin’ around in our neighborhood so I joined the up and coming gang to get rid of ‘em.” Johnny took care not to curse in front of Starlight as per his promise with Aisha.

“You’re talking about the Third Street Saints? I heard that they claimed the church as their headquarters but haven’t made any moves to take back the city yet.”

“That’s because Julius is still goin’ out recruitin’ people he thinks will be useful in taking out the other gangs. He recently picked up this know-it-all prick named Dex. Claims he has some good ideas on takin’ them out.”

“If he’s that shorthanded, maybe I should help out too,” Starlight offered.

“Can’t let ya, young lady.” Starlight looked away sadly for a brief moment before Johnny continued, “Not yet, anyway. Eesh would kill me if your grades slipped because you were spending nights helping the Saints. Julius also has a strict policy of not allowing kids going to school to be part of the Saints. The war’s not so important that we need to sacrifice our education.”

“So I can join the Saints when I graduate?”

“Yep, even though you’ll still be sixteen by then Julius didn’t think about kids who graduate early.”

Starlight quickly rushed over and gave her father a big hug which he knelt down to return. “Thanks, Daddy!”

Feeling motivated, Starlight returned to her studies and continued her high school life. Her freshman through senior years went by quickly as Starlight proved herself the top of her class in every subject, including physical education. She also took martial arts classes for her extracurricular activities, though she was actually doing that to prepare herself for her life outside of school.

Starlight was fully aware that crews from the rivaling gangs had made attempts to kidnap her over the years but her father was always nearby to give them a hard lesson about how bad that idea was, for the ones who survived, anyway.

The years passed and soon Starlight found herself standing before her graduating class as the valedictorian. There was no contest for that spot. Starlight gave a speech about how she planned to help improve the conditions of Stilwater though she never elaborated how she would do so. Everyone assumed that she would go into politics.

Soon the speech ended and everyone left high school with their hopes and dreams. Many of which would be dashed by the harshness of reality while others would rise to greatness. Some would leave Stilwater to continue their education elsewhere since the city had no universities.

Starlight, Johnny and Aisha had dinner that night at a high end restaurant on the northern island to celebrate Starlight’s graduation. Despite the way the record company was treating her, Aisha was glad that she was getting paid well so they could afford the expensive meal.

Aisha had a feeling that this would be the last time they would have such a meal for a very long time.

Starlight spent the next few days relaxing at home. Aisha gave her plenty of spending money so she went shopping for a new wardrobe. If she was going to join her father in fighting the gangs she might as well be showing the flags. What caught her eye were a pair of damaged skinny lavender jeans, an aquamarine shirt with lavender bordering, a black sleeveless jacket, a pair of black high-heeled boots and a lavender beanie with stars on it.

She bought that and whatever else that caught her attention before she drove to the nearest Friendly Fire. She had just received her driver’s license by this point so she didn’t need her father to drive her around.

After looking at the selection in the shop she decided on a .44 Shepherd revolver and a 12 Gauge shotgun. The shopkeeper didn’t bat an eye at the fact that a sixteen year old was buying guns. Stilwater was too dangerous for people to be walking around unarmed these days since the gangs didn’t care about who you were. Starlight also bought as much ammunition for her weapons as she could carry.

Starlight returned home after that and prepared herself for tomorrow when she would head to the church with her father and join the Saints.

However, Starlight was restless that night and couldn’t get any sleep. After a few attempts to do so she gave up and decided to go for a walk, bringing her weapons, including her Wado Ichimonji sword and Laserbeak, with her for protection.

During her stroll through the streets, she walked past a street vendor who was selling watches that she suspected were either stolen or cheap knockoffs of what they were modeled after. A sex trade worker considered selling her services to Starlight but quickly found out that she was still underage for such things.

She quickly hid herself when she noticed that she was about to walk into an escalating situation when she noticed a crew of Vice King thugs spray painting over a Rollerz tag, which was graffiti on a wall that displayed their gang name. A crew of Rollerz came up to them and a fight broke out. The situation worsened when a crew of Carnales drove up to them and shot at them. The initial exchange left some of the Vice Kings and Rollerz dead on the ground before the other two crews retaliated and killed most of the Carnales crew, including the driver. The dead driver had his foot pressed on the accelerator and the car ended up crashing into a wall. The surviving Carnales thug crawled out of the car only to be killed by the remaining Rollerz thug who was then shot by the remaining Vice Kings thug. However, before he could celebrate his victory, he ended up dead too.

The assailant was a brown-haired guy smoking a cigarette who wore a dark purple shirt with a white and purple horizontal stripe. He was accompanied by Julius. The two investigated the scene for a moment before the assailant convinced Julius to leave the area, “You go on ahead Julius, I gotta make sure none of this gets pinned on us.”

“Alright, Troy. Don’t linger here too long.” Julius then ran off.

Starlight then overheard the man, Troy, talking to himself where she heard some interesting info. “What a fucked up mess this is. Monroe’s bustin’ my ass to get me to keep the Saints from turning into another problem for Stilwater. As if the other three weren’t bad enough. Fuckin’ Monroe and most of the precinct is swimming in King’s bribe money so we have to turn a blind eye to the VKs. The Carnales are backed by the most powerful drug cartel in the western hemisphere so we risk retaliation if we come down on them too hard. We can’t even get at the Rollerz because they know someone who knows every loophole in the legal system so they get off with slaps on the wrist.”

Starlight found it strange that Troy knew so much about what was going on with the city police department. The way he was talking to himself implied that he was part of the police department. If he was close to Julius then he was likely undercover from a high position among the Saints.

Still, a source of information about the movements of the Stilwater Police Department is valuable so she decided to let the matter lie for now and watch herself around him.

After that she continued her stroll through the slums until she noticed another altercation. This time it was a bunch of thugs, who didn’t seem to be wearing the red, yellow or blue of the other gangs, ganging up on some guy with black hair. Starlight hid in the shadows again to assess the situation.

“You think you’re so tough, Paul?” one thug taunted. The victim, Paul, held his hands in front of him to try to assuage the thugs but it only made them more aggressive. “Oh, so now you’re too good to talk to us? We’re gonna fuck you up that the fuzz won’t identify you!”

“We take this guy out, Price will surely let us into the Rollerz,” another thug declared.

As the thugs took out their melee weapons, Starlight had enough and quickly moved in with her sword drawn and Laserbeak in attack mode, ready to use its weapons on command. The thugs didn’t see her coming one one of them ended up with her blade against his neck. “What the fuck!?” the thug called out, making the others look toward him.

“Back off!” Starlight threatened.

“Who the fuck are you, bitch?” The thug paused for a moment before he noticed her hair. “Wait, that hair! Are you with the Saints?!”

“Is that what you should be asking right now while your friend has a blade to his throat?”

One of the other thugs decided to do something foolish and pull out his gun only for Laserbeak to lock on to his action and fire a laser that scorched his hand and made him drop his weapon at Paul’s feet. “Agh, fuck!”

Another, more level-headed, thug had his friends calm down as he reminded them of something obvious. “Let’s all calm the fuck down. Remember, it’s five against two and those ain’t good odds for—” His sentence never finished as a bullet flew through his skull.

Starlight noticed that Paul had grabbed the gun and shot the guy which made her smirk. “Correction: four against two. Wait, scratch that.” She then executed the thug she held at swordpoint. “Three against two.” She then pulled out her revolver and aimed at another thug. “Soon to be two against two.”

“Let’s get out of here! These two are crazy!” cried out one of the remaining thugs. The other two agreed and the three of them ran off.

Starlight wasn’t about to let them off the hook so easily, however. As a police car moved past her and Paul, she fired a round at it which caused the driver to hit the brakes. She then used her magic to clean the revolver of her fingerprints before leaving a beacon on it then teleporting it into the thugs’ hands. She would use the beacon to reclaim her weapon later.

Paul wasn’t paying attention to Starlight’s magical antics and was sitting against the wall thinking about how he was nearly killed before he could make a name for himself. As he contemplated this, he saw the girl’s hand being extended to him. “Let’s get out of here, fast!” she implored.

Paul decided to stop thinking about what happened and listened to Starlight’s suggestion as he grabbed her hand and was pulled up. The two quickly disappeared into an alley just as the cops were starting to look around for witnesses while they interrogated the thugs.

Once they were far enough away, the two stopped running while Starlight attempted to get him to leave. “We should be safe now. Hurry home before you get jumped again.” Strangely, the man didn’t seem intent on leaving, as if he were concerned for her safety. “Don’t worry about me. The Saints’ headquarters is around the…” She trailed off for a moment as another crew of four Rollerz pulled up to them with malicious grins on their faces. “...corner.”

“Well, look who we have here, boys, Little Lady Gat.” one of the Rollerz remarked.

Noticing the troublesome situation she and Paul had just ended up in, Starlight quickly had Laserbeak fly off to get help. In the meantime she had to stall them. “Buzz off, losers. You know what will happen to you when my dad finds out you tried to attack me.”

“Yeah? Well let’s see who’s faster, him or a bullet?” He then pulled out a T3K Urban SMG and aimed it at Starlight. “Puttin’ you down will make Gat think twice about messin’ with the Rollerz.”

Paul decided then to try and be a hero by placing himself between Starlight and the Rollerz to try and protect her while aiming his pistol at them. However, the thug wasn’t intimidated. “Aw, looks like we got a hero. Now he’ll be collateral damage.

As he prepared to fill Paul full of holes, the thug’s shooting arm ended up with a bullet lodged in it and the sudden sharp pain made him lower his weapon and clench his new wound while shouting in pain.

“Steppin’ into Saints territory is bad enough. Messin’ with my daughter and her new muscle, that’s a death wish.” Johnny warned as he approached the scene.

While the Rollerz were distracted, Starlight teleported behind the SMG-armed thug and sliced off his hand holding the weapon. “Motherfucker!” he screamed. The rest of his crew hesitated which cost them their lives as Starlight pulled out her shotgun and blasted them from point blank range, filling their bodies with buckshot.

The surviving Rollerz member who was grasping onto his bleeding severed wrist ran off in a panic, but not before making one last threat, “We’ll remember this, Gat! You, your daughter, and that bitch next to her, you’re all fucked!”

Once the thug was gone, Johnny gave a proud smirk to his daughter. “Nice moves, Starry.”

“Thanks, Daddy.” She then looked at Paul, “And thank you for trying to protect me.” Paul shrugged his shoulders in response, downplaying his achievement.

“So, do you have a name or do I need to give you one? I was thinkin’ Playa.”

“It’s Paul, actually,” he responded.

“Paul?” Johnny scoffed, “Sounds boring.”

“Daddy, honestly!” Starlight scolded. “Anyway Paul, you should get home quickly before more of those motherfuckers show up.”

“Actually Star, I got a better idea. Why not let this guy join the Saints?”

“If he wants to join then he can come to the church tomorrow morning,” Starlight offered. “Anyway, I’m just excited that I will finally be able to do something about Mom’s stalker.”

“Now Starlight, we went over this. If you’re planning on taking him out, make it look like an accident or a suicide. That way it’s less likely to be traced to you.”

“Don’t worry, Daddy. I already have a plan to deal with him.”

“Atta girl!” He then looked at Paul and held his hand out to him. “So, you in?”

Paul didn’t hesitate and grasped his arm in Johnny’s hand to show his resolve to join the Saints.

“Alright, you two should head home tonight. I’ll let Julius know we have a pair of new recruits who need canonizing tomorrow morning.”

Paul broke away from the trio and headed on home while Johnny escorted Starlight back to their home.

Canonizing

The sun rose over Stilwater after an exciting night of gang violence. Starlight’s eventful night stroll had gained her a new friend and allowed her to test out her weapons.

Speaking of weapons, the first thing Starlight did when she woke up was use her magic to lock on to the beacon she placed on her revolver and teleport it into her hands.

After that she proceeded with her morning rituals to get ready for her meeting with the Saints.

Starlight overheard her parents talking. Her mother seemed to be worried about her. “Johnny, are you sure this is a good idea? She’s gonna be placed in a lot of danger and most of Stilwater will see her as a threat if they find out about her powers.”

“Starlight will be fine, Eesh. I trained her and she’s learned a bunch of martial arts at school. Plus she’s packin’ a lotta firepower now. If they’re gonna see her as a threat, it’s gonna be because of the destruction she’ll be capable of with those weapons.”

Aisha sighed, “You’re turning her into you. I blame myself for that, though. I haven’t had much of an impact on her life.”

“Nonsense, Eesh! You helped keep her on track with her studies and she graduated at the top of her class because of it. I just taught her how to fight. You definitely had an impact on her life.” There was a pause in the conversation, but Starlight assumed that the two were embracing each other.

“Thanks, Johnny, I needed that.”

“Anytime!”

Starlight finished getting ready and holstered her weapons before leaving her room and meeting her father at the door. “Ready to go, Starry?”

“Yes, Daddy, I’ve been looking forward to this,” Starlight replied excitedly.

“Then let’s get going.” The two left the apartment and headed for the church. Since the church wasn’t far, the two walked to the Saints headquarters.

On the way, Johnny looked over the weapons Starlight was carrying and noticed that his daughter had an interest in the classics. The .44 Shepherd revolver, though old fashioned, was still one of the stronger pistol-type weapons sold at Friendly Fires. The same could be said for the 12 Gauge shotgun. The Wado Ichimonji was still her strongest weapon though.

“You look like you’re ready for a zombie apocalypse,” Johnny commented.

“You never know when you might run across a zombie, especially with that voodoo service that moved into town recently. They advertise about bringing dead loved ones back to life and the other gangs might use that service against us.”

“Good point, maybe I need to up my arsenal as well soon.”

Paul soon caught up with the two, his footsteps heard from behind them to announce his presence. Starlight found it strange for someone to not speak so much as a greeting but she had to guess that the guy was extremely shy.

“Hey Paul,” Starlight greeted. “You ready for your canonizing?”

Paul looked at Starlight with confusion clearly on his face. Apparently he had no idea what he was about to get thrown into.

Starlight answered his confusion, “Daddy tells me that it’s a hazing ritual to join the Saints. Apparently getting into a fist fight with your soon-to-be homies is the requirement for joining the Saints.

Paul cringed at what she said. Apparently he was not expecting to be hazed.

Johnny noticed the look on Paul’s face and laughed, “That look reminds me of her first grade teacher’s face when she and I had a parent-teacher conference about a book report Starry wrote about a story called Animal Farm. She was deeply disturbed by what she wrote.”

“I have no idea why she got so upset. The teacher said we could choose any book we wanted and write a detailed report on it. Just because it’s a fictional setting about animals creating a fair and just utopia where all are treated equally doesn’t mean that they need to get bent out of shape over it,” Starlight complained.

“The whole class needed therapy after she read it out loud in class,” Johnny whispered to Paul.

However, Starlight heard what her father said and pouted, “Not my fault they can’t handle the idea of animals seeking to liberate themselves and determine their own destiny.” She snorted. “Look, can we just get to the church already? I’m tired of thinking about how limited peoples’ imaginations are.”

“Alright, alright,” Johnny said. That didn’t do much to cool Starlight’s mood as she sped up to get some distance from the two men, though Johnny spotted the red glow on his daughter’s face. He whispered to Paul again, “Funny thing is, we couldn’t punish her because her teacher gave her an A+, albeit begrudgingly. I even took her to see the premiere of the movie remake of that story back in ‘99.” The two shared a laugh at that. Starlight still heard the laughter and had a good idea what they were talking about which only deepened her blush.

Starlight managed to regain her composure as they reached the church courtyard where a large gathering of purple-wearing thugs were gathered. Julius and Troy stood inside an archway of the church which gave him an elevated position to give his speech. Seeing Johnny arriving, Julius figured it was time to get started.

“Everyone, can I get your attention?” The Saints stopped their conversations and looked up at their leader. “Every muthafucka here knows what we need to do. Those bitches be ridin’ around, thinkin’ they own these streets. I don’t care what flags they’re flyin’...Rollerz, Carnales, Vice Kings…we ain’t about to be scared to walk the Row. We ‘bout to lock this shit down…right now.”

The thugs cheered, knowing that it was time for them to make their move against their rivals. However, one of them suddenly noticed Starlight and Paul and called them out. “Who the fuck are these two? One of them looks like they’re wavin’ our flag with that dye job, but I ain’t never seen her before.”

“They’re with me,” Johnny said. “They’re here to roll with us.”

Julius looked at Starlight with scrutiny. To him, she didn’t look like she was fully matured physically. “Girl, you look like you’re still in high school. Johnny, you know what I said about bringin’ children into the Saints.”

“I graduated high school a few days ago. I was moved up a couple of grades in elementary,” Starlight explained.

“It’s true,” Johnny confirmed. “This is my daughter, Starlight.”

“You mean that girl you keep gushin’ about, Gat?” one thug asked.

“You did say that you didn’t want work in the Saints to interfere with school work, Julius,” Troy added. Even though he was uncertain about allowing someone below the age of eighteen into the Saints, Julius didn’t account for the loophole for accelerated education students.

“Alright, fine,” Julius sighed in defeat. “I hope you two are ready for your canonizing, then.”

While the thugs were moving to surround them, Starlight leaned over to Paul. “Is it just me or does he sound like Keith David?” she whispered. Paul shrugged.

“Alright Starry, I’ll need to hold on to your weapons for this,” Johnny said. Starlight handed her weapons over before she cracked her knuckles while Paul cracked his and his neck. The latter put up his fists while Starlight assumed a combat stance she learned in school.

“Nothing says we can’t work together. I strike, you block,” Starlight suggested.

The first two rushed in to deliver a swing to both of them. Paul blocked his attacker before countering with a punch to his face. Starlight ducked under a punch meant for her face and delivered a strong uppercut to her attacker which knocked him flat on his back.

Four more came after them which made things more difficult but still manageable. Two of them tried to punch their targets while the other two aimed lower by kicking them. Paul had to duck a punch and block a kick before he delivered a straight punch to the kicker’s gut. He then rose quickly and headbutted his puncher which sent him to the ground before Paul kicked his kicker to the ground.

Starlight sidestepped her attackers before elbowing the puncher in the kidney area to stun him and delivering a palm strike to his chin. A tooth was knocked loose from that hit. Her kicker tried to kick her again but Starlight sidestepped the kick and grabbed his extended leg before she hit the kneecap with her elbow. It was hard enough that it made him howl in pain and fall on his back to grab his knee, but not enough to deal any real injury. She didn’t need to go that far with this fight.

Surprisingly, the third wave composed of six attackers was easier than the last because there wasn’t much room for the attackers to strike at the duo without some friendly fire as one thug struck one of his friends in the shoulder with his elbow in an attempt to punch Starlight who ducked the punch and grabbed another kicker’s leg before throwing him backward. A sweeping kick sent the other two on their backs.

Paul wasn’t as lucky as Starlight as he received a few punches to the face and a kick to his gut which knocked him on his butt. He got back up and kicked one attacker in the gut and onto his back. Another attacker tried to punch him again but Paul dodged the blow, grabbed his arm and threw him toward Starlight who kicked his face, knocking a few teeth loose and knocking him out. The last attacker knew he was done for as Paul delivered a punch to his gut, followed by a few punches to his face and a kick to his side to knock him to the ground.

Before another wave could move in, Julius called out for the end of the fight. As the thugs backed off, Troy walked up to Paul to give him a bro handshake. “You two earned your colors today.”

A guy wearing a shirt like Troy’s with a gray denim jacket over it and wearing a purple headband walked up to the two of them. “That’s some impressive shit; the only other Saint who kicked ass like that was Johnny.”

“Who do you think taught her, Dex?” Johnny pointed out.

“C’mon Johnny, you really think she learned martial arts from you? I ain’t never seen you fight like that.”

“Daddy did teach me the basics of how to fight,” Starlight defended.

“Heh, what a daddy’s girl.” one of the thugs commented. A death glare toward the speaker from both father and daughter shut him up quickly.

Julius walked up to the two to give Paul a fist bump and a handshake to Starlight. “Welcome to the Third Street Saints, you two.” He then got everyone’s attention again to continue his speech from earlier. “Let’s get down to business. If we’re serious about takin’ back the Row, we gotta let those muthafuckas know what time it is. Now you break it down, and it’s all about respect. Get enough of it, they’re gonna back off, and we’re gonna move right on in. We got some friends in town that could use some help. Give ‘em a hand. ‘Course, you can always drop any muthafucka flyin’ the wrong flag. So long as word gets out that the Sants is on the Row, I don’t give a damn how you do it. You feel me?”

Once Julius was finished talking, Troy led Paul to the nearest Friendly Fire to buy himself a firearm to protect himself with. Johnny returned Starlight’s weapons while they waited for their friend to make his selection.

Once he was ready, Starlight joined Paul and Troy to take out a group of Vice Kings patrolling the area. The yellow shirts were taken by surprise as Paul eliminated two of them with a few shots from his pistol. Another pair of VKs were paying so much attention to Paul that they failed to see Starlight sneaking up behind them and lifting the burden of their heads from their shoulders with her Wado Ichimonji sword.

Another group of VKs were on the next block ahead of them where they each took out one pair. Paul’s VICE 9 pistol was a cheap weapon so it took a few rounds to take out each of his targets. The last pair was eliminated by Starlight when she took out one with a couple of shots from her revolver while she avoided returning fire from the remaining VK. The thug made his final mistake by trying to chase after her when she ran for cover behind a building as the last thing he saw was the barrel of a 12 Gauge.

Once they were finished clearing the streets, Starlight had a feeling that more VKs could come at any minute to avenge their homies. That was when Troy drove up to her with Paul riding shotgun. “Get in quick!” he ordered. Starlight complied and jumped into the back just before Troy hit the accelerator.

“Looks like you two got their attention,” Troy pointed out. “If it ever gets too hot, go to the nearest Forgive and Forget. They’ll cover up anything.”

“Forgive and Forget? What kind of place is that?” Starlight asked.

“Some rich tycoon saw the rampant violence that goes on in Stilwater and decided to open a chain of drive-thrus where you pay a sum and they clean up the mess you made. Doesn’t matter if it’s the other gangs or the police, they can make it all go away so they don’t bother you anymore…until the next time you piss them off. Don’t ask how they do it though, nobody knows.”

As he finished his explanation, he drove into a building that looked like a small tunnel for vehicles to drive though. Troy stopped at a window in the drive-through and handed the attendant a small bundle of cash. “Money cures a lot of ill will, my son.” the attendant said in a priestly tone.

As the car exited the building, Troy returned to the road and drove toward the nearest Freckle Bitch’s fast food joint. “Now that everything’s taken care of, let’s get somethin’ to eat. I’m jonesin’ for a fun bag.

Starlight and Paul shrugged while Starlight added, “Sure, I could eat.”

She never thought that she would be having a good time with friends. She never did have friends in school since her intelligence and antics had her classmates scared of her. Now that she was with the Saints, she had a feeling that things would be looking up for her.

Turf War

Starlight, Paul and Troy enjoyed some burgers and fries from the local Freckle Bitch’s fast food place after taking out a patrol of Vice Kings roaming around the area near the church. However, now that the thugs had been taken out the Saints had no problem claiming the rest of Mission Beach, the neighborhood where the church was located. With this, the Saints had claimed the first piece of Stilwater from the rivaling gangs and established a foothold in the gang war.

When Troy didn’t have his mouth full, he addressed some parts of their war that they hadn’t gone over yet. “While Julius said that we should be droppin’ muthafuckas wavin’ the wrong flags, it won’t mean a thing unless you do something big to move them out of the neighborhood. Even then they ain’t givin’ up the area unless you can lock down your rep.”

“What do you mean?” Starlight asked.

After he finished his meal, Troy took out a cigarette and lit it. He took a puff before explaining, “Get the unaffiliated locals who have some influence in the area on your side and your reputation will drive them off. Julius has some contacts who might help with that. Help them out with whatever they need you to do and they’ll spread the word that the Saints are the real deal and we get the respect needed to make those muthafuckas back off.”

“So what do we need to do to take the city from them?”

Troy blew out a puff of smoke into the air. “Sometimes we gotta fuck up their operations and scare them off. Other times we locate places where a whole crew is holed up and we gotta clear them out. The Saints move into those neighborhoods either way.”

So what do we need to do now?”

“Right now, we need to build our rep before we can make another move. We don’t dare move too deep into enemy territory just yet though so we need someone nearby who can get us started. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone nearby who can boost our rep, would you?”

Starlight thought about that for a time before an idea popped into her head. “I think I know someone. I just hope he isn’t pimping Peggy again.”

Before they headed to her acquaintance’s usual pimping spot, Troy took Paul and Starlight back to her house so they would use their own wheels to get around since he wasn’t their chauffeur.

The household owned two cars thanks to the money her mother was getting paid. With that money her father bought a Venom sports car painted purple with a golden serpent dragon on the sides and gold rims. That car wasn’t at the house right now since Johnny was out and about.

Starlight’s car was kept in the garage. It was a Reaper, also known as a hearse. The Reaper was customized with a V8 engine, wheel-rim spikes, quality hydraulics and had a lilac paint job which felt right to her for some reason. The doors also had the star symbol with twin vapors icon like her birthmark. The vehicle was also equipped with a music player containing a list of Starlight’s personal favorites.

Paul whistled in awe at the custom job on Starlight’s vehicle while the girl looked at it with pride. She then pulled out her keys which had a Decepticons icon keychain attached to it. She then jumped into the driver’s seat while telling Paul to hop in.

As Paul continued looking at every feature of the car, Starlight answered the question he wanted to ask. “I got this car from a summer job I had last year. Mr. Wong likes spoiling his employees who do a good job.” Starlight anticipated that Paul would wonder if he should work for Mr. Wong for a nice car so she added, “Back then, he only wanted me to deal with people who owed him money as a warning to make them pay up. I got those people on the FBI Most Wanted list and they paid up quickly. Last I saw him he was pretty pissed about something and was starting to look around for hitmen to hire. He had me quit working for him because he didn’t want to see me get arrested for murdering his enemies.”

Paul then wondered how much Wong was willing to pay to have those people dead. He considered visiting him at some point.

Starlight knew that her contact operated in Harrowgate, a neighborhood controlled by the Rollerz and was west of Mission Beach, so she drove around the area while avoiding traffic until she located the contact. He was a dark-skinned man wearing a maroon shirt along with a purple jacket and pants. He was carrying a goblet.

Much to Starlight’s disgust, it appeared that he was overseeing his only bitch, Peggy, who was as homely as they came. Paul was also cringing from looking at her.

“Hey Will,” Starlight greeted. “I see you haven’t gotten rid of Peggy yet.” The woman in question gave Starlight a dirty look.

“Well, if it isn’t Starlight!” Will greeted. “You finally ready to wave that fine ass of yours? Wish I could get rid of fugly Peggy but she’s the only bitch I’ve got. Can’t be a pimp with no bitches.”

Starlight cringed at his question before responding with barely contained irritation. “Okay, one, I’m still underage for that kind of work. Two, no, just no. Three, how about I steal some bitches from the other pimps in the area so you can stop making people go blind from looking at Peggy. Finally, FUCK NO!”

“Easy, I was just yankin’ your chain,” Will assuaged. “Though I will take you up on that offer for some of them fine bitches turnin’ tricks for other pimps. Do that for me and I’ll cut you in on what some of the bitches make and spread the word that the Saints are the real deal.”

“It’s a deal then.”

Paul and Starlight decided that they could capture more bitches in separate vehicles so Paul decided to find a four-seat car driving down the street and carjack them. Paul was glad a cop wasn’t watching or things would have gotten troublesome for him.

Starlight drove around until she found a pimp wearing a blue fur robe watching over three of his bitches where she pulled out her revolver and shot him in the head, frightening the sex workers. “Get in the car right now!” Starlight commanded. The sex workers felt the commanding presence of the girl and obeyed her without question, getting into the car.

Starlight started to head back to Will when she noticed a blue sedan barreling toward her carrying thugs wearing the blue shirts of the Rollerz. Starlight cursed as she realized that the pimps would obviously have some security. Still, dispatching the thugs wasn’t difficult and she made her delivery. Paul arrived with his own group of sex workers and Will was imagining the money he would soon be making. Of course, he also offered to help the Saints in their war as well.

When Will was satisfied, Paul abandoned the stolen car and returned to Starlight’s vehicle where the two headed toward the church to plan their next move.

However, as they were heading that way, Starlight received a call from Troy. To save the explanation, she put the phone on speaker. “What’s up?” Starlight asked.

“I heard a rumor that an old liquor store in Athos Bay is being used as a hideout for the Carnales. Why don’t you two go and check it out.”

Athos Bay was a neighborhood located south of Mission Beach so it wasn’t far from where they were.

Invading the store was easy and while they were slightly outnumbered, it wasn’t by much and there were only a few Carnales in the store using the tables and machines as cover. Paul charged in and a few bullets grazed him but he managed to take down a few of the thugs while Starlight used the distraction to blast more with her shotgun.

While Paul was cleaning up, Starlight headed out the back to look for the one in charge of these thugs. The Carnales lieutenant in charge of the place noticed her coming and tried to make a break for it in his car but Starlight used her magic to teleport into the escaping car in the passenger seat, freaking out the lieutenant for a moment. “Shotgun!” Starlight called out as she blasted him with said weapon.

With the lieutenant dead, the car began to swerve so Starlight opened the door and rolled out of the car moments before it crashed into another car.

Once the hideout was fully cleared, the Saints moved into the neighborhood and claimed Athos Bay from the Carnales.

The sun began to set but there was still time to do more today so they returned to the church. Of course, the sun was setting but the excitement was not winding down yet as Julius and Troy exited the church. They spotted the two arriving and ran toward them.

“You two got here just in time,” Julius said. “I just got off the line with Johnny and he told me you could handle it since he wanted to have some private time with Aisha. He tells me he taught you everything he knew about fighting. I wanna see if there’s any truth to those words.”

“I got a tip that there’s a turf war going on right now in Harrowgate,” Troy added. “If we crash their party we can take out all those sons of bitches at once.”

“Hope you two are strapped, cause we’re about to go in hard.”

“I hope this is as big as you say, I haven’t had a real challenge all day,” Starlight said.

“Now you’re starting to sound like Johnny,” Troy lamented.

By the time they reached the dockyards where the turf war was taking place there were already a few Saints moving in while the other three gangs were fighting one another. Bullets were flying all over the place and a few cars painted in the respective gang’s colors drove in to cause havoc. The dockyards were in utter chaos.

A group of Rollerz were pincered between the Saints and a group of Carnales so they were the first target as the four left Starlight’s car. At first the Rollerz were mostly focused on the Carnales since there were only a few Saints attacking before Paul, Julius and Troy charged in and each took one of them down. Starlight moved in and started cutting down more of them with her katana before shooting one of the Carnales with her revolver when he spent too much time gawking at the girl’s carnage.

The four left a trail of bodies in their wake as they began tearing into the Carnales while more Saints arrived to reinforce the offensive. A couple of red cars moved in to reinforce the Carnales but Troy’s marksman skills he picked up at the academy helped him take out the drivers so the cars sped through the railing and into the lake.

While Paul and Julius were busy treating the red-shirted thugs like the stock characters they made themselves out to be, Starlight rushed straight for the lieutenant who was too busy shooting at a group of Vice Kings so he didn’t notice his assailant until he saw a blade sticking out of his chest.

Dealing with the Vice Kings was a little more difficult since the Saints were their only competition in the area at this point. At first there were only a couple of VKs to deal with in their path with a critically damaged car at the end. Troy and Paul took them down and continued down the path.

A few VKs were foolishly standing next to the damaged car when a reckless Rollerz car barreled into it and took them all out in the blast. One of the VK lieutenants was caught in the blast but somehow managed to survive it long enough for Starlight to finish him off with her revolver.

As they headed toward the last of the VKs at the end of the docks, Starlight had a feeling that they would need to make a quick getaway soon. After all, there was no way the commotion going on here was going to go unnoticed. She reached for a button on a bluetooth communicator she designed herself and pressed it. “Beaky, bring the car to me.”

The last group of Vice Kings had decided to make a last stand at the very end of the dock. They also lacked the necessary awareness of their surroundings to realize that they were standing next to a leaky barrel of oil. A trail of oil led to a small puddle which Starlight fired at with her revolver while just outside the shooting range of the VKs. The spark made by the bullet ignited the oil and led the blaze to the barrel which exploded a moment later, taking out the last of the VKs in the area.

Just then, the sound of police sirens were heard by the Saints and were getting louder. This meant one thing. “Guys, we got company!”

Just then, Starlight’s car drove up to her and she hopped in. Given the situation, Troy, Julius nor Paul decided to question how that happened and just got into the car.

The police arrived just then and Starlight hit the accelerator to get out of there quickly. Their escape would take some effort though as some police cars moved to pursue them.

“Lose the fuzz and get us back to the church,” Julius ordered.

It took some tricky driving and a few near misses of other vehicles before the police realized that chasing their suspect wasn’t worth the effort required to catch them and returned to the dock to investigate the scene of the disturbance.

With the pressure off, Starlight led the group back to the church.

Julius led the others into the church where all of the other leaders were gathered, including Johnny. He had them gather ahead of time because he wanted to make his announcement when he returned. The lieutenants stopped talking among themselves as their leader made his way to the stage to begin his speech.

“Listen up people…I got some serious shit to discuss. Yeah, we took Saints’ Row back. Don’t think for a second that’s gonna stop ‘em. Unless we wipe all those muthafuckas out, they’re just gonna keep comin’, and they ain’t gonna be happy. It ain’t gonna be settled until the Carnales, the Rollerz and the Vice Kings ain’t nothin’ but a memory.

Dex, you got the Carnales. Ever since they hooked up with the Columbians, it’s like they own this town, and with that drug money rolling in, we can’t compete. Be smart how you move against ‘em. The Lopez family been runnin’ that gang for thirty years. There’s a reason they’re still around.”

“Got it,” Dex acknowledged.

“Troy, you’re dealing with the Vice Kings.”

“Not a chance…” Troy rejected. Starlight had a feeling there was a reason Troy didn’t want anything to do with the VKs and if what she overheard him say was true and given how King has the SPD in his pocket, it was understandable that the undercover cop wanted to keep his job when this was all over.

“Fuck you say?” Julius responded indignantly.

“Anyone but them.”

“You scared of going against Benjamin King?”

Seeing Troy begging Julius not to involve him with King, Johnny decided to volunteer himself for the task. “Man, fuck that, I’ll take King out!”

“Johnny, it’s not that simple,” Julius tried to explain.

“Daddy isn’t going to be reckless while I’m around,” Starlight pointed out. “Besides, King’s using mom as a hostage so I doubt he will try anything until we’re ready to move on him. I already have a plan for him.”

Julius looked back to Johnny who shrugged, “It’s true. My little star’s been doin’ her research on the VKs. She can take the lead once she’s ready to make her move on ‘em.”

Julius decided to simply go with it since he’d rather see someone smart leading the efforts against King. “Fine, Troy, help Dex with the Carnales.”

“Who’s got the Rollerz?” Dex asked.

“I do,” spoke a female voice from within the crowd. An asian woman with black hair tied in a floral pattern and held by hair sticks then made her way to the front of the crowd. She was wearing a black, sleeveless short top and blue baggy pants with a white stripe down the length of the sides.

“Lin? The fuck you wearin’ blue for?” Johnny asked.

“I asked Lin to hook up with the Rollerz,” Julius explained. “We don’t know much about these fuckas, so I wanted one of us on the inside.”

“I didn’t know the Rollerz pimped bitches,” one of the thugs crudely remarked, which earned him a punch to his face that sent him to the floor.

“Any other comments?” Lin asked.

“Yeah, when you punch, don’t throw your shoulder so much…” Johnny quipped. “Starlight could throw a better punch than that.”

“Fuck you, Johnny,” Lin responded with a middle finger.

Julius decided to wrap up the meeting before things escalated. “Once we’re done here, go talk to Dex, Lin or Johnny. Starlight, you and Paul are gonna be the key to takin’ back this city so I’ll let you decide what order we take these fuckas out. It’s our time now. Let’s get this shit started.”

Starlight nodded, “One shall stand, three shall fall.”

After the meeting and after the Police had finished their investigation, the Saints moved into Harrowgate and claimed it from the Rollerz.

Rollerz Spy

The next day dawned after an intense evening of fighting. Starlight stretched as she worked off some stiff muscles with a little morning exercise. She then went to the bathroom to perform her morning rituals.

The turf war in Harrowgate last night was exhausting for Starlight and by the time she got home she was tired to the point that she passed out the moment her head hit the pillow. Now she was feeling refreshed and ready for the action to come.

Today was the day the Saints were going to push against the rival gangs. However, the general consensus among the leadership was to take out one gang at a time as it would give the other gangs the idea to let the Saints deal with their rivals and take them out when they’re exhausted.

The Saints would let them believe that while they had Starlight and Paul spearhead the attack while expending few resources.

Now came the thought about which gang they would focus on first.

Starlight already knew who she and her muscle would go after first so it was only a matter of meeting with the member in charge of dealing with them.

She soon received a text from Paul stating that he would be coming to pick her up. It made sense for Paul to take them since they would need to be incognito for this and her car was too high-profile for such a task.

The two had decided to attack the Rollerz first and take the least known player off the citywide chessboard. From what Starlight overheard from Troy, the Rollerz had some strong legal muscle that gave the members a sense of safety from the city government so she would need to find out who was protecting them on top of finding out who was leading them.

Paul soon arrived outside of Starlight’s house, the sound of the pickup giving him away. It was a vintage Betsy truck that Paul had procured for the task.

“Have fun on your little date, Starry,” Johnny teased.

Starlight rolled her eyes, “Daddy…it’s not a date! We’re going to meet up with Lin to start pushing against the Rollerz.”

“Ah, so they’re the ones who got your attention the most, huh? Well, try not to make too big of a mess.”

With that Starlight entered the vintage pickup. Paul drove them to the western side of the city, deep in Rollerz territory. “Lin said to meet her at the Ultor Dome. I texted her through an untraceable number that we were on our way. She said that some meatheads were hanging out with her and would get rid of them once we gave her a signal. Also, I have some contacts in Rollerz territory that I need to check up on so we’ll be doing that while we deal with the Rollerz.”

Paul nodded and took the highway to the arena on the western edge of town. The drive took a few minutes while they listened to whatever was on the radio. Paul’s taste in music didn’t align with hers but she put up with it since he was the driver.

The two spotted Lin hanging out with a pair of Rollerz who appeared to be ogling at her car, a white and blue Voxel with riced bumpers, race tires, spoiler, fat exhaust, hardtop and a honeycomb grill pattern.

Starlight used her magic to enhance her hearing while turning off the music so she could hear what was going on. Meanwhile, she sent Lin a text that she was certain gave nothing away as a signal.

“That’s a sweet ride Lin,” one thug said.

“Uh huh,” Lin automatically responded, not paying attention to the thug.

“Who tuned it for ya?” another thug asked.

“No one, I did it myself.” Lin paid more attention to her phone while trying to tune the others out.

“The spoiler looks like Donnie’s work,” the first thug guessed.

“No way, that underglow screams Ricky Liu,” the other argued.

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

“What is this, fuckin’ third grade?” Lin snapped.

“Whaddya mean?”

“Forget it. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Shrugging, the two thugs walked away with one commenting to the other about how Lin totally wanted him. Once they were out of sight, Starlight and Paul exited the truck and approached Lin who was muttering “Assholes…” about the two thugs earlier.

“Shopping around for a boyfriend, Lin?” Starlight snarked.

“Please, those dickheads couldn’t tell a carburetor from a spark plug. I ain’t interested in brain dead apes like them.” Lin rolled her eyes and shook her head before she got to the main topic. “So you’re Starlight, Johnny’s little girl? He claims you’re as smart as you’re tough. Let’s hope you got plenty of both.”

“We’ll see if I can meet your expectations soon enough. So what’s the plan?”

“Honestly, I haven’t heard much, mostly macho bullshit. Only interesting news I got was a shipment of high-performance cars coming in today. It’s not much so we need to make the best of it. Jack the truck before it completes its delivery and take it to Samson. He’ll load up the cars with a few surprises, then finish the delivery.

“Sounds like a start.”

“I also heard rumors of someone climbing the ranks fast. Some guy who said they lost his hand to a sword-wielding maniac. Know anyone like that?”

Starlight and Paul shared a knowing look, then a laugh. “So, any idea what the guy replaced his hand with? Paul’s betting on a hook.”

“No idea. Now get out of here before someone sees us.”

The two nodded and returned to the vintage truck. Since they didn’t need to be subtle now, Starlight tapped her earpiece to connect with her mechanical pet. “Laserbeak, bring the car to my location.”

Paul then drove the truck through the streets and headed east, intent on meeting Starlight’s car partway. After a few minutes they spotted the lilac Reaper moving toward them and stopping at the side of the street. Paul parked the truck nearby and the two switched vehicles.

Once inside Starlight’s car, she then took to the highway to begin the search. “Laserbeak, launch. Recon and surveillance, target any Peterliners carrying a shipment of vehicles, possible Rollerz escort.” She then switched her phone to GPS mode and awaited results. Laserbeak hacked into local car dealerships for shipping information. Within seconds the results came back and discovered that there was a shipment nearby with a single blue sedan staying near it.

“Thanks Beaky, stand by for further instructions.”

It wasn’t long before they were able to catch up with the truck. Dealing with the escort was no issue as Paul shot the driver. He then had Starlight move to the left side of the truck where he opened the car door and positioned himself for a dangerous leap. Starlight had to admit that the guy had balls to try a stunt like that.

Thankfully Paul made the jump and held onto the trailer for dear life as he then shimmied his way to the passenger side of the truck then to the cab. He punched through the window with his pistol which spooked the driver into slamming the brakes, catapulting Paul a fair distance forward.

That was when Starlight found out that the guy had a talent for ragdolling to minimize his injuries whenever he was sent flying. She had a feeling that the guy got into a number of vehicle-related incidents growing up. She kept this in mind for later.

Seeing Paul getting yeeted also had the effect of getting the driver out of the truck to check on the guy who scared him.

“Hey, buddy, you okay?” the driver asked. Paul managed to sit up, rubbing his head. He was definitely going to need to get his head checked after that.

“He seems okay. For you, on the other hand, that depends on how cooperative you are.” The driver turned around and saw Starlight pointing her revolver at him. “I have a new destination for your shipment. Play nice and you get to tell your family about the bad experience you had.”

Paul slowly and groggily got back on his feet after a few attempts. He found his gun a few feet away from him.

Having no choice, the driver let his captors into the truck while he took the wheel. It was a tight fit since the cab wasn’t designed for three people but they still managed. Starlight had Laserbeak follow behind with the car.

Rollerz reinforcements eventually came and tried shooting at the truck but Starlight had the driver ram the vehicle into them. The bulky vehicle had no problems smashing the small blue sedans into debris on the road on its way to Samson’s garage in Mission Beach.

Eventually the Rollerz gave up the chase and the truck arrived at its destination. For his cooperation, Starlight was nice enough to call the driver a cab to take him wherever he needed to go and gave him enough money to pay for the fare.

With their task complete, the two had time to spare until Lin needed them again. With that in mind, the two got into her car and headed back into Rollerz territory, specifically a themed neighborhood called Chinatown where an old friend of hers lived.

On the way, Paul pointed to the mechanical bird perched on Starlight’s shoulder, finally curious about what that thing was. “You want to know about Laserbeak? He’s an old school project. I built him with parts from the principal’s car. I continued making upgrades to him since, even giving him an AI to expand his utility.”

That had red flags raised in Paul’s mind. He had seen those movies where AI end up enslaving the human race and felt concerned that the mechanical bird might be the beginning of such.

Starlight noticed that Paul was slowly reaching for his gun and had a hunch what this was about. “I’m going to guess that you’ve watched plenty of sci-fi movies, Paul. I’ve watched my fair share of them as well. I can assure you that I’ve taken every precaution to ensure the AI doesn’t go rogue. He has plenty of failsafes in him to make sure he remains obedient to my wishes.”

Hearing that, Paul decided to let the matter go. He wasn’t sure if the failsafes would hold forever but he trusted Starlight. He still hoped that she had a contingency plan in case the AI was in a rebellious mood.

They soon entered the chinese-themed district of Stilwater. The Rollerz thugs who patrolled the area paid them no mind since they weren’t on alert at this time. Either word didn’t spread very quickly among the gang members or there was an implied rule where they didn’t mess with you as long as you didn’t mess with them in their territory.

Regardless, Starlight knew where her friend was at this time of day so she parked the car near a tea shop. Upon entering, Laserbeak flew off of Starlight’s shoulder and flew toward a table where two men of Asian descent were seated. The younger of the two wore black tunic with a red serpent dragon design on both sides of his shirt. The elder of the two wore a green tunic with black sleeves and a black serpent dragon design on both sides. He also wore glasses and a bowler hat.

The old man heard the mechanical bird coming and knew who had come to pay him a visit. He chuckled as he allowed Laserbeak to perch on his arm. He then spotted Starlight and Paul coming toward him. The younger man, his translator, left his seat and took his place standing next to his employer while Starlight bowed to her former employer in respect, prompting Paul to hastily do the same. They then took their seats across from the old man.

The elder, who Starlight knew as Mr. Wong spoke to the two of them in Mandarin Chinese so the translator had to get to work. “What a delightful surprise. My old employee comes to pay this old man a visit. And you brought someone with you, your boyfriend perhaps?” he chuckled.

“Nah, I only met him a few days ago. He makes for good muscle, which will be useful in our war against the Rollerz. I see you’ve been holding up pretty well despite them oppressing the area.”

“Ha! Those greenhorns thought they could harass me? They wouldn’t last a few seconds against the Triad. I should know, I used to be one of them. I may be retired but I can still fight almost as well as I could in my prime. So, why have you come?”

“As you may or may not know, Paul and I joined the Saints recently and we are currently on a campaign to drive the Rollerz out of Stilwater. The others will follow soon enough. I’ve come to request your assistance in boosting our reputation in Stilwater, in exchange for whatever you wish for us to do, of course.”

Wong frowned as he understood that his former employee was getting herself into trouble again. He still took comfort knowing that she had the support of one of the gangs in Stilwater behind her, even if it was the newest gang. He knew Starlight well enough that she could turn the weakest gang into the reigning power in Stilwater if she had time and resources.

The main reason he had to fire Starlight from her job before was because the task he wanted done would have made her liable for murder charges and he didn’t want to dump that burden on her. Now that she was with the Saints, the liability was greatly diminished. Because of this, he decided to give her a chance.

Wong then took out a folder that the translator noticed. Starlight noticed the shocked expression on his face before Wong spoke again, prompting the translator to continue. “This folder contains the specifics about a group of men who have wronged my family…go and speak to them, but they are not to be harmed. AARRRGH!” That was when Wong shot his translator in the leg.

While the young man was rolling on the floor clutching his bleeding leg and doing his best to remain silent so as not to anger his employer further, Wong had to finish what the translator tried to mislead the duo into doing in English. “He heard me wrong. I wish for them all to be dead. Study this list and the photos, learn everything about your targets.”

The two studied the photos and profiles while noticing that each one of them had the name of a weapon on their photos. Starlight suspected that the mentioned weapon was what Mr. Wong wanted them to use to kill their targets as proof that they committed the deed.

Going down the list, first was an emergency medical technician named Jackie who was to be killed by a VICE 9 pistol. Next came a sports fan named Alan who was to be shanked by a knife. After that there was a trucker named Jose who was to be gunned down by a T3K Urban SMG, a wealthy person named Charles to be beaten to death by a nightstick, a hippie named Roxanne to be shot by an NR4 pistol, a jogger named Juan, whose appearance left little to the imagination, to be blasted by a Tombstone shotgun, a hot dog mascot named Bucky who was to be obliterated by a hand grenade, then there was an FBI agent named Bill who was to be shot by a K6 Krukov assault rifle.

Starlight had a feeling that Mr. Wong really hated the hot dog mascot.

“We’ll get this done, Mr. Wong. We’ll just need to stop by a nearby Friendly Fire to pick up some of these weapons.”

“Do try to keep your friend in one piece, he looks like he can barely hold a weapon without shaking,” Wong chuckled. “These people can be killed at your leisure. For now, I offer you a place to sleep for the night. The sun is beginning to set and you two look like you’ve had quite the adventure today.”

“We’ll take you up on that offer,” Starlight said. “I will need to let my parents know where I’m staying tonight so they won’t worry.” Wong nodded and gave her the time she needed to send a text to her parents.

Wong politely waited for Starlight to finish before he continued, “Before we retire to my home, I felt that you should know about someone else who seems to know you who is under my protection. Her name is Laura and she says that she misses her little sword girl.”

“Laura? My old chemistry teacher? I haven’t seen her in over a year, not since she got fired for teaching us how to make crystal meth, saying there’s a good market for it in Stilwater and we could make some good money selling it.”

Paul gave Starlight an incredulous look. “Yes, Paul, she really did teach us how to make things that the FDA would frown upon. This led to her ending up on the FBI watch list. Though how she kept her place in the PTA I’ll never know. Anywho, we’ll check up on her tomorrow.”

Wong led the two to his abode where he assigned them rooms. Starlight spent the rest of the evening having dinner with Wong while going over what she learned about the Rollerz. It wasn’t much, other than she suspected that the gang had an interest in cars. Given that their symbol was a wheel that should have been obvious. On the bright side this meant that she knew where to hurt them and Lin had a good idea what that shipment of cars was going to be used for, hence the idea of trapping the cars.

Starlight was looking forward to what came next.

Explosive Finish

The next morning, Starlight and Paul made their preparations for the day. Since Starlight didn’t have any of her toiletries, as she had spent the night at her former employer’s house, she had to make do with whatever Mr. Wong was able to provide.

Once they were ready, the two left the house and continued their campaign against the Rollerz.

Before they left, Wong stopped them at the doorway, looking like he wanted to ask them a favor. Since his translator was in the hospital for a bad leg, he had to use his English dialect. “Would you mind checking in on Dennis at his shop? He appears to be having trouble procuring the vehicles I requested of him. Please help him to fulfill my order if you can.”

Starlight nodded, “Alright, we’ll do that first.”

Before they did anything else, they paid a visit to the local Friendly Fire to stock up on the weapons they would need for Wong’s contract kills.

Starlight knew the directions to Dennis’ shop so she directed Paul on the shortest route there. However, on the way there, she had Paul stop the car so they could get out.

As the two left the car, Paul gave Starlight a questioning look to which she pointed to a man in a hot dog costume. The two approached the man who tried to advertise Freckle Bitch’s to them.

“What did you do to piss off Mr. Wong?” Starlight demanded.

“What the fuck are you talking about? I don’t know any Mr. Wong,” the mascot, Bucky, replied.

“You had to have done something to piss him off. Did you hurt or kill one of his family?”

“Look lady, I have a hard enough time walking around in this sweltering suit. After what happened at the Freckle Bitch’s I worked at, I was bumped down to the guy who walks around in this humiliating outfit so I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone.”

“What. Happened.” Starlight growled.

“It was an accident, okay? I was manning the grill that I never bothered to clean. Manager said it was my responsibility to keep the thing clean but he didn’t pay me enough for that. Some Asian chick decided to check the grill while I was takin’ a smoke break. Next thing I know an explosion happened and the kitchen burst into flames. She ended up dead and I ended up fired. It was a wonder that I got a job at another Freckle Bitch’s. Now fuck off!”

Now that Starlight thought about it, she remembered Wong saying that his granddaughter worked at a Freckle Bitch’s to teach her some valuable lessons. She was starting to see why Wong hated this guy. “Your negligence led to the death of the granddaughter of one of the Stilwater’s most influential figures outside of the gangs.”

“So what? Wasn’t my fault she was a dumb bitch.”

Those words had sealed his fate. Bucky obviously had no remorse over what he did. She really didn’t want her day to start off with her feeling angry, but she couldn’t always get what she wanted. Finally having enough of the guy’s callous behavior, she turned her head to her friend. “Paul, would you do the honors?”

Nodding, Paul pulled out a hand grenade and pulled the pin as Starlight shoved the mascot down onto his back. Paul quickly forced the explosive into the man’s suit where he couldn’t reach it before they made a run for it. The mascot cried out for someone to help him up until he breathed his final breath. The two dove for the sidewalk as the mascot exploded.

Starlight and Paul dusted themselves off. Starlight took a few moments to cool her emotions, though it was long enough for Paul to find a vending machine on the street and come back with two cold cokes. Once Starlight was focused enough, she noticed the drink being offered to her and she quickly took it and let the refreshing taste cool her throat.

“Ahh, thanks I needed that,” Starlight sighed in contentment. “I wasn’t sure why Mr. Wong wanted this guy killed with a grenade until I heard his story. I suppose his granddaughter’s been avenged. Thanks for helping me with this and thanks for being my friend.”

Paul rolled his eyes and waved his hand that told her that he didn’t want to be hearing some mushy stuff. He also gave her a smile that told her that he was still fine with it.

With the moment over, the two returned to their car and headed to Dennis’ shop. The mechanic seemed to be stressed over a phone call he just made. “I am so fucked,” he sighed.

“Hey, Dennis, Mr. Wong said you might need some help procuring some vehicles?” Starlight asked.

“Really? He sent someone to grab them for me? That would be a big help. I have a list of the vehicles he wanted. If you can get me the cars on the list, I’ll not only spread the word of the Saints, I’ll even throw in a rare car for you to use.”

Starlight received the list from Dennis. She raised an eyebrow at some of the vehicles requested. She could only guess why Wong would want a Peterliner semi-truck cab but had no idea why he would want a Nightingale model fire truck. The Halberd compact car seemed normal. Then she saw that the rest required specific modifications. A Westbury minivan required muscle rims, a Varsity truck required a street grill, a Raycaster sports car required a racing exhaust, an Attrazione sports car required a sports front bumper and a convertible roof, finally a Zenith sports car required a racing exhaust and a convertible racing roof.

Deciding not to question it, the two left the shop and considered their next move.

Suddenly, Starlight’s phone rang. She checked the ID to find that Lin was calling so she accepted. “What’s up?”

“Meet me at the nightclub on Misty Lane. Samson’s finished the delivery so now we have to talk about what we do with ‘em,” Lin informed.

“On our way,” Starlight then ended the call.

On their way to the nightclub, Paul pointed to a Halberd parked on the side of the street and parked the car near it. “Alright, I’ll head to the nightclub and get the info, you deliver the car to Dennis and we’ll meet once I know where we’re going,” Starlight decided.

Paul nodded in acknowledgment before Starlight took the driver’s seat of the car and headed to Misty Lane while Paul got out and stole the Halberd. The trip to the club was uneventful and she parked the car near the entrance.

Once inside, Starlight was glad they were playing one of her favorite songs for her to dance to as it helped her to get into the groove and make herself look inconspicuous.

It wasn’t long before Lin approached her, dancing alongside her. “So, where’s your boyfriend?” she joked.

“I could ask you the same thing, you had two of them,” Starlight returned with a smirk.

“Heh, you two did good. Now we move on to phase two of this plan. Those cars you stole have been rigged to explode once the engine reaches a high enough temperature. I need you to make sure those cars get nice and hot. There’s a race going down in Chinatown tonight, and I think you should give them some tough competition. I know these guys, they have short tempers. Get them pissed and they’ll hit the nitrous to blow past you. When they do, boom. As soon as those cars are wrecked, get the hell out of there.”

“This is my kind of mission. Daddy taught me everything I need to know about pissing someone off.”

“Then I look forward to seeing your handiwork,” Lin smirked.

Once she left the nightclub, Starlight had Paul meet her at Misty Lane. Since she was here, she might as well pay an old acquaintance of hers a visit.

Since the race would be in the evening, according to Lin, this meant that she had some time to kill. Once Paul arrived they headed to the suburbs where the wealthy citizens dwelled. Starlight remembered Laura’s address so she had Paul park the car in front of it before approaching the house.

Before they reached the door, it opened to reveal a blonde woman with hooped earrings and wearing a floral blouse. The woman, Laura, seemed nervous about something before she spotted her company. “Hello…sorry I can’t stay and talk but I need to pick up my youngest…Starlight!” She then ran up to her with a cheerful smile. “It’s been too long my little sword girl! How have you been?”

“I’ve been good, Laura.” Starlight remembered that her old chemistry teacher didn’t care for formalities so she allowed her students to call her on a first name basis. Starlight then gestured to Paul, introducing him.

“Oh? You got yourself a boyfriend? Well of course you would have one with how smart and good looking you are.” Laura let out a dreamy sigh. “I need to get one myself, my kids need a male role model in the house.”

“Well I hope you find one someday. Anywho, you seem nervous about something, anything we can do to help?”

Laura’s anxiety returned as she remembered what she needed to do, especially if she wanted to keep up her lavish lifestyle. “Well you see, I’m not actually picking up my youngest from school. Let me explain, one of my colored friends told me that the real money isn’t in piano lessons, it’s in the latest craze called koma. It wasn’t hard to figure out how to make it so now I just need to sell it. My friend set up some deals with my son’s friends but I’m nervous about going into the city. Mr. Wong has been generous with protecting me from those blue-wearing hoodlums but the real issue is that I’m on the FBI watchlist. If they catch me selling, they will be all over me like butter on cookies. If you could protect me from them while I make the deals I would greatly appreciate it. I’ll even help you and your friends out when I have the time.”

“Sounds good,” Starlight accepted. “I have a feeling that this will be the highlight of my day.”

What followed really was the highlight of her day. Laura had to be the one to drive since she knew where the locations of the deals were. Things started out tame with a few police cars coming to try to arrest Laura while Paul shot the drivers of the police cars to end their pursuit. Things became progressively more intense as the Rollerz became involved. Though while the gang was becoming increasingly aggressive the law enforcement was also ramping up their activity over time.

It wasn’t long before the SWAT teams were called in to stop the dealings so it took some skillful driving from Laura to avoid the barricades while Starlight and Paul took out the pursuers. When the police choppers were being called in, Starlight had Laserbeak hack into the onboard systems to force the chopper to crash into SWAT vans as they went.

By the time Laura was nearly finished with her deals, FBI vans started giving chase. For any normal person this would be a terrifying experience, for Laura the chase was invigorating for her as she continued avoiding roadblocks while her guards took out more officers. At one point, Starlight saw one of the drivers in an FBI van and remembered his face on Wong’s hit list. She then had Paul pull out the assault rifle and bombard the windshield until he managed to kill Bill.

“That’s another mark off of Wong’s hit list, too bad I couldn’t have done so myself while wearing a yellow jumpsuit. I loved that movie,” Starlight commented.

“You saw it too?” Laura asked. “Tell me, what was your favorite part?”

Paul decided to tune out the movie discussion and focus on killing cops and agents.

By the end of the route, Paul and Starlight had caused an unbelievable amount of destruction to the law enforcement which Starlight was certain was going to be on the news tonight. Daddy was going to be so proud of her. She also received a cut of the money gained from the deals which amounted to over ten grand.

The chaos had also struck fear into the hearts of the Rollerz and made them more nervous about fighting her from that point forward.

To make sure the heat from the cops stayed off, Starlight had Laura visit a Forgive and Forget.

By the time they were finished the sun was setting. It was about time for them to head to Chinatown to have their race. They found a Zenith on the street and took it before they hurried to where the indicated racing spot was and joined the group.

While they waited for the festivities to begin, Starlight overheard some Rollerz talking and heard something a little interesting.

“So that’s what you wanna be called from now on? I mean, you already took step one to bein’ a pirate, maybe you wanna be called something along those lines?”

“Hey, fuck you man, I’m goin’ with Hook Blade and I’m gonna own it.”

“Whatever, man…”

Before Starlight could think more on that the racers had begun to move toward the starting line. It appeared that it was time to begin the race. Once all racers were in position, a skimpy woman ran out to the middle of the road to start the race, trying to place herself out of the immediate path of the cars.

The woman raised her hands and the drivers revved their engines. She then began the countdown, “Three…two…one…”

While the other drivers were waiting with anticipation for the woman to let them slam the accelerator, Starlight ran through a number of insults she had in her mind while Paul revved his engine.

“Go!” the starter called out.

The drivers took off quickly and Paul made sure to keep up with the third place racer, keeping the driver within earshot of his competition.

“The race has already started and you’re already at the back of the pack? Maybe you should tell your granny to learn how to tune up your car better,” Starlight called out.

“What d’you say about my grandma?” the driver shouted.

“Well you clearly don’t know how to tune up a car, we could pass you and then lap you many times over before you finish one.”

“That’s it, you’re goin’ down, bitch!” The driver then hit the nitrous, leading to the car exploding a few seconds later.

Starlight laughed at how easy it was to trick the driver into blowing himself up while Paul hit the accelerator to catch up to the next car. “Alright, next idiot.”

The process was repeated once they caught up with the second place driver while Starlight battered at his pride until he also hit the nitrous and exploded.

For the first place driver, Paul simply passed him while Starlight called out, “See you at the finish line, muthafucka!” That was all she needed to do to get the last car to hit the nitrous and blow up.

Once the racers were all toast and since their car was wanted by Dennis, the two headed to a nearby Rim Jobs to get the required customizations placed on it before giving it to the mechanic. Starlight summoned her own car and drove the two of them back to the slums and into their own territory before the Rollerz realized what happened.

Paul pulled up to Starlight’s house but before she could leave, the guy stopped her, making a gesture that he wanted her to give him something, particularly money while pointing back toward Chinatown followed by his hand and drawing a question mark in the air, or rather a hook.

Starlight rolled her eyes and handed Paul fifty bucks since he won the bet on what the guy who Starlight attacked a few days ago would replace his hand with.

Starlight entered the house and saw her parents watching the news. Aisha had a look of concern on her face while Johnny was laughing loud enough that everyone in the building could hear him.

“That girl is either going to make us rich or get us all killed,” Aisha commented.

“That’s my girl!” Johnny said as he continued to watch the recording. He was definitely recording this segment on his TiVo for future entertainment.

Meanwhile, the Rollerz in Chinatown were trying to figure out how the race was disrupted and this let them get distracted as a crew of Saints moved into the neighborhood and forced them out, claiming another piece of Stilwater in the name of the Saints.

Operation: Silent Bullet

Starlight got out of bed and stretched as she prepared for another day of dealing with the Rollerz. She did have to wonder what Lin would have in store for her today so she made sure she had plenty of ammunition for the day.

One of the benefits of working for the Saints was that the income generated from various sources around the neighborhoods owned by them was shared among their members. As such she received a small cut of what the Saints earned periodically, which was about eight hundred today when one of the thugs came by to give her share to her. Julius mentioned that the cut would get larger as the Saints controlled more neighborhoods.

Before she went out the door, Aisha stopped starlight to tell her something. She didn’t look like she got much sleep last night and Starlight suspected that the stalker had said or done something to make her uncomfortable. For now Starlight would hold back her wrath until the Rollerz were finished.

“Hey Starlight, since you’re taking on the Rollerz, I have a contact who could use your help. His name is Phil and he runs a garage in Copperton.”

Starlight smiled and gave her mother a hug which Aisha returned. “Thanks for supporting me, mom. I’ll head out and help Phil when I can.”

Once she was ready, Starlight headed out the door and used her car to pick up Paul.

As they headed back to the western sides of Stilwater, Starlight received a call from Lin. She answered, “What’s up?”

“Hey, I think I got a way to get in deeper with the Rollerz. First though, Julius wanted me to tell you about a storage facility in Pleasant View where the Rollerz stash some of their high-performance cars. He wants you to clear them out so we can take that place over. When you’re done, meet me at the teahouse in Chinatown in a few hours. I need time to get away from these muthafuckas.”

“Alright, we’ll head for the storage facility right away.” Starlight ended the call and put her phone away. “That should give us enough time to help Phil out with his problems,” she told Paul.

Once they reached Pleasant View, Starlight parked the car a few blocks away from the facility to avoid raising suspicion. Now, it was time for recon. “Laserbeak, give me an aerial survey of the storage facility. Locate all blue shirts and blue cars within the facility and its entrances.”

Laserbeak complied and took to the air where it began a scan and spotted a fair number of Rollerz patrolling the facility as well as a number of unattended cars within the storage buildings. It then relayed the information to Starlight’s phone where she thanked her drone for the info.

“I think the boys would appreciate a nice gift. We’d need to take these guys down quietly though so they won’t think to use their cars against us. It’s still early morning so we will have to work fast before it gets too bright.”

Paul nodded in agreement so the two made their way to the facility. The front entrance was guarded by two thugs. Starlight had an idea but she didn’t want Paul around to see what she was about to do. “Check around the other side and see if there are guards there,” Starlight suggested. Paul nodded and headed to the other entrance.

Now that she was alone, Starlight called upon her magic to take control of the minds of the guards and have them shout insults at each other before they would get into a fight. This caused some of the patrol to investigate and try to break up the fight. The thugs were so focused on the fight that they didn’t notice Starlight approach them with her sword drawn. By the time they noticed that their numbers were dropping it was already too late.

Meanwhile, Paul found that the rear entrance had only one guard who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there so he didn’t appear to be vigilant. Because of this he was able to sneak up to him and snap his neck. He then moved the body to the alley he came from before.

The remaining guards noticed that their homie was missing so they went to look for him. Because of this and because they weren’t aware that something was amiss, nobody was watching their rear because if they did they would have noticed the katana-wielding girl behind them.

The moment one of them shouted in pain the other guards turned to find Starlight pulling her sword out of the thug’s chest. Though they pulled out their weapons they were caught off guard when her partner sprayed the rest of the guards from behind with a T3K Urban SMG.

Once the last guard fell, Starlight gave a call to Julius to let him know that the facility was cleared and that they could move in at any time.

Starlight pulled out a cloth and wiped her sword clean of the blood before putting it away. “Not bad for a stealth job,” she commented.

While they waited for Julius’ crew, the two decided to check out the rides that were left behind. Paul pulled out the chop shop list to check it against the cars in the facility. Starlight noticed this and walked over to him as he seemed to approach one building in particular. “Find one?” she asked.

Paul nodded and pointed to a Raycaster sports car. “Good find!” Starlight noted. She began to inspect the car and was delighted to find what she was looking for. “It even has a racing exhaust so we won’t have to spend our funds at a Rim Jobs putting one in.”

Paul looked at Starlight questioningly, wondering what she was talking about. Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Rim Jobs? We went to one yesterday. They’re all over the city. They offer a great selection of customizations for vehicles, especially the quality fuzzy dice decorations.”

Paul cringed at that last part, thinking they were tacky.

“Hey, I think they’re cool!” Starlight defended.

Paul rolled his eyes.

Starlight snorted into a pout. “Whatever, let’s just get this car dropped off and go see Phil.”

As they left with the vehicle, Julius’ crew moved in and claimed the cars. They would need a paint job before they would be ready to be used by the Saints but it was a small price to pay as they drove out the Rollerz from Pleasant View.

Once they dropped off the Raycaster to Dennis they headed to Copperton, a neighborhood held by the Rollerz, to pay the contact a visit. The guy in question was wearing a white tank top and a dark yellow bandana with brown zig-zag stripes.

The man heard the two coming and went to greet them. “What can I do for…Starlight? Hey, it’s nice to finally meet ya. I’m Phil, an old friend of your mother’s. She once tried to hook me up with her sister but it never worked out.”

“That’s news to me. Still, it’s nice to meet you.”

“I take it your mom still has that stalker?”

“Yeah, but he will be dealt with in due time.”

“Here’s hopin’. So, what brings you to my shop?” Phil asked.

Starlight explained how she was doing work for the Third Street Saints and they were looking for people to spread their fame throughout the city. “I don’t expect you to help us for nothing so if you have something that needs done we can do so.”

Phil thought for a moment and decided to give the two a shot. “Well, if you aren’t afraid of gettin’ your hands dirty, there’s a few cars I’d like for you to get. Most of them are driven by the Rollerz so you’d be sendin’ them a nice ‘fuck you’ as a bonus. Hijack the cars and bring them to me. I heard you’ve been helpin’ Dennis, but I need this list done ASAP. I’ll even throw in a customized Attrazione.”

“I think we can handle that.”

“Tell your mom I said hi,” Phil requested.

Once they left Phil’s shop, Starlight had Laserbeak track down the vehicles on the list. The first target was a Mockingbird compact car, one of the main models used by the Rollerz. Starlight drove up to the target while Paul shot the driver. He then entered the car and drove it to Phil. The Rollerz weren’t too happy with what happened so Starlight had to help Paul by dealing with pursuers. They soon turned the car over and moved on to the next vehicle.

The process was repeated with the other vehicles. This included a Rollerz-owned Zimos standard, a Taxi, a Rollerz-owned Ricochet station wagon, a Thorogood pickup, a Rollerz-owned Voxel standard, a Titan armored truck, and a Rollerz-owned Quasar SUV.”

While Paul and Starlight were hijacking the Titan, which made the police upset with them, Starlight decided to take the wheel for this one. She noticed some foolish woman walking along the middle of the street in a gray dress that went past her knees while wearing sandals. Not wanting to waste time avoiding her and noticing her face looked familiar, Starlight decided to forego shooting the woman with a pistol and just run her over with the truck.

“Stupid Hippie!” Starlight shouted at what was left of Roxanne while Paul silently crossed the woman off the hit list. She sighed as she grumbled, “It’s like they think consequences don’t apply to them and so they think they can do whatever they want. Next thing you know, we’ll see them running for office.” Paul cringed at the thought of someone like that elected into any office.

Once they turned over the last car and visited a Forgive and Forget to get the Rollerz and cops to back off, the two headed over to the teahouse in Chinatown to meet with Lin.

Inside they spotted some skinny guy in a suit offer his lighter to Lin who took it and lit her cigarette before she tossed it over her shoulder, giving the guy a hint that she didn’t need him around. The guy took the hint and walked off, bumping into Paul’s shoulder. “Fuckin’ asshole,” he bitterly grumbled. Paul gave the guy an intimidating look that made the skinny guy back down and leave. Starlight took a spot to Lin’s left and Paul to her right.

“Seems you have ways of makin’ new friends,” Lin commented. “Things are movin’ too slow. We gotta step it up. I hear a guy named Joseph Price calls the shots. I don’t know much about him ‘cept that he’s friends with some mechanic named Donnie. If we get in good with Prince’s crew, we’ll always be one step ahead of those fuckers. Here’s the plan, go and tear up Donnie’s shop. Right when you’re about to finish off Price’s buddy, I’ll rush in and save the day. Make it look good but don’t you two dare mess up my car. If we’re lucky, Donnie will arrange a meet with Price. Thanks for buying my tea.” Lin then walked off.

While Starlight was alright with the plan, she was suddenly feeling a bit petty after Lin made her buy her tea, especially when the bill came to them to show that Lin ordered an expensive blend. She would remember this.

Donnie’s shop was in Sommerset which was the next neighborhood over from Chinatown. There was no need for subtlety for this one so they took Starlight’s car and drove up to it.

Paul got out first and began gunning down the thugs outside the shop while Starlight found an entrance into the garage. Since the objective was to scare Donnie, she decided to go inside giggling like a madwoman with her katana drawn. “Donnie…” she singsonged.

Her antics had the effect that she was going for as the thugs were talking about how they were here for Donny while trying to shoot at her. Starlight kept her moves erratic to throw off their aim. Once Paul joined in on the action, he distracted them so that Starlight could move in and cut them down. She continued giggling as they moved deeper into the shop.

“Fuck, this chick is nuts! Get Donnie outta here!” one of the thugs called out.

By the time they found the mechanic they had nearly cleared out the entire shop. Once Paul gunned down the last two bodyguards Donnie fled out the back with Paul chasing after him. He missed his shots on purpose but was still close enough to keep the mechanic unaware.

Just then, Lin drove up and called for Donnie to get down. He dove to the ground as Lin fired her SMG at Paul, intentionally missing him as he took cover behind a trash can. She then yelled for him to get into her car which Donnie wasn’t about to question. He slid across the hood of Lin’s car to get to the passenger side which she wasn’t too happy with as it scratched her hood.

Paul, feeling a bit cheeky, fired a couple of rounds that hit the door of Lin’s car. “Mother fucker…” she growled as she fired another burst, this time trying to hit Paul.

Lin suddenly noticed Starlight running toward the rear with her shotgun. Still giggling like a madwoman, she fired a shot that took out the rear window of Lin’s car. “Oh, you bitch!” However, she couldn’t fire at Starlight since she used the rear of her car for cover.

“Oopsie,” Starlight giggled

Not having time for this, Lin decided to drive off to lose the two. Paul grabbed a nearby Rollerz car and the two got in to give chase.

Wanting to get back at the two for messing up her ride, Lin decided to do some insane off-road driving through a group of trees and into a drainage channel. However, Paul proved to be a skilled driver as well as he kept up with her.

Meanwhile, Paul continued firing at the car while leaving a few more bullet holes. Starlight also took out her revolver and took aim. “Stay on target. Stay on target…” she muttered.

“Uaaah! Do something!” Donnie cried.

“I swear, if she puts another hole in my ride…” Lin thought. Suddenly, glass shattered as a bullet from Starlight’s revolver destroyed her side view mirror. “Okay, I'll admit that was a really great shot. Ugh, I need to remember never to make them buy my tea again.”

“Alright, I think that’s enough. Time to lose them.” Starlight said.

Nodding, Paul made a wrong turn on purpose which let Lin and Donnie escape. Lin looked back and noticed that they weren’t being chased anymore. “Looks like we lost ‘em.”

“By the way, who are you?” Donnie asked.

“I’m Lin.”

“Well, thanks for saving me. Let me set up a meet with Price, he will want to thank you.”

As they were talking, neither noticed a certain mechanical bird had set itself up as a hood ornament on Lin’s car.

Back with Starlight, she received a confirmation on her phone from Laserbeak that they were in position. “Alright, once Laserbeak plants the bugs in their headquarters we can hear everything that goes on in there.”

Paul gave a look that made him feel a little nervous about being near her.

“You do realize that was an act meant to scare Donnie, right? I had to sell it. I did get a few lead parts in my school’s drama club, after all. I’m just that good!”

Paul rolled his eyes before he heard his stomach growling. Hearing that caused Starlight’s stomach to make the same sound. “Huh, forgot we haven’t had lunch yet. This has been one crazy morning. Anyway, let’s find some place to eat.” Paul nodded in agreement.

With Donnie’s shop cleared out, the Rollerz lost their stronghold in Sommerset and left it vulnerable for the Saints to take over.

Parasite Planted

Having gotten Lin closer to the Rollerz leadership through Donnie, Starlight and Paul celebrated the completion of their latest mission by having lunch. The day was only half over so they wondered if they could do more against the Rollerz before the end of the day.

The two had a meal at Freckle Bitch’s while they waited for Laserbeak to finish setting up what surveillance equipment it had in order to listen in on the conversations of the leaders.

As they were eating, they spotted a Varsity truck pulling in, driven by a dark-skinned man with a very nice shirt and pants. His clothes looked expensive though his vehicle didn’t. Paul pulled out the hit list and informed Starlight that it was Charles.

“Huh, must be trying to hide the fact that he’s rich from this part of town,” Starlight noted. “He’d have done better if his clothes were cheap too. At least the truck has a street grill.” Shrugging, she handed Paul a police nightstick. “You know what to do.”

Nodding, Paul walked up to Charles and led him into an alley, leaving the naive rich man to believe that there was something interesting there. What followed was a series of pained shouts and heavy impacts while Starlight casually leaned against a wall near the alley entrance and checked her phone. The nearby pedestrians had a feeling that they really didn’t want to ask questions so they kept walking.

Once the shouts ceased, Paul emerged from the alley and went to the restroom at the Freckle Bitch’s. He returned a few minutes later cleaned of the blood.

“Take the truck to Dennis,” Starlight offered. “I’ll wait a little longer to see if that meet will happen soon.

Paul nodded and drove off in the Varsity.

A few minutes later, Starlight received a notification from Laserbeak which meant that something was about to happen at the Rollerz headquarters. She activated the app and listened in.

From Laserbeak’s camera, she could see that they were in the living room of what looked like a cozy mansion, probably the one in Misty Lane, where two men sat. One looked pretty ripped. He was bald and wore a black tank top with blue zipper pants with black and white stripes. He also wore sunglasses and a chain around his neck. He looked like he could be a stand in for Vin Diesel. The other man looked like a distinguished older gentleman in a business suit.

“So he’s okay? That’s great!” the tough man cheered.

“Yes, how could we possibly score dime bags without him?” the older man sarcastically questioned.

“Oh come on, Uncle Will, he’s not that–”

“Sup, Price?” Donnie greeted as he and Lin walked in. He and the tough guy, who Starlight found was Joseph Price, shared a bro handshake.

“You scared the shit outta me, Donnie,” Price said.

“I scared the shit outta me,” Donnie added.

The older man, Will, continued his spree of sarcasm, “Donnie, it’s always a pleasure when you bring strangers into my house.”

“Aw, fuck, I forgot, this is—”

“I’m Lin.”

“She totally saved my ass, Mr. Sharp, she’s a helluva driver.”

“I’m the best racer that ever came out of Chinatown,” Lin bragged.

“How come I’ve never heard of you?” Price asked.

“Cause I got tits.”

“Is that what you call those?” That earned Price a punch to the face. “Suppose I deserved that.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“My nephew has a…unique sense of humor,” Sharp offered.

“That was supposed to be funny?” Lin growled.

“I thought it was, until you hit me in the face,” Price joked.

“Yeah, then it was hilarious,” That earned Donnie a close up view of Price’s middle finger.

“Joseph, you better hurry. You don’t want to miss your meeting,” Sharp urged.

“Sorry, I gotta take off,” Price said as he hurriedly made his way to the door. “Lin, it was nice meeting you. I’ll catch you later Donnie.”

“So we’re finally hitting that convoy tonight, huh?” Donnie asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Donnie,” Sharp firmly stated.

“Sure you–”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Donnie.” Sharp repeated in a dangerous tone.

“Oh…riiight. Lin, just sit tight. Price should be back soon.”

“As stimulating as this conversation is, I’m afraid I need to make some calls. If you’d excuse me.” Sharp then left the living room.

The conversation came to an end so Starlight closed the app. “So they’re hitting a convoy, huh? Sounds like another opportunity to fuck them over,” she muttered to herself.

Just then, Paul arrived and wondered if Starlight had any useful info. She informed him about the convoy tonight and got a look at the two leaders of the Rollerz. “The convoy will probably arrive in a few hours so we have some time to kill. I also need to dig up some info on someone named Will Sharp. I have a feeling that he’s a big shot among the Rollerz, given how he seemed to have some control over Price.”

Since she was finished listening to the enemy leaders, Starlight decided to give her construct a break. “Laserbeak, go into solar recharging mode.” Paul gave Starlight an amused look. “What? Just because we’re gangsters doesn’t mean we can’t be eco-friendly.” Paul shrugged at that.

As they were wondering what they were going to do for the next few hours, Starlight’s phone rang. She checked the ID to find that Laura was calling so she answered. “Hey Laura!”

“Starlight, how are you doing today?”

“I’m good, I just had some fun eavesdropping on those people at the mansion in your neighborhood.”

“You mean the one owned by Mr. Sharp? He’s an…interesting person, though it’s really hard to strike up a casual conversation with an attorney of his caliber. He always keeps himself so guarded.”

“Well, depending on how things are he might not be around for much longer. Anywho, what’s up?”

“Oh right, I just received a call from another friend of mine who also happens to be my neighbor. She runs this club of exotic dancers and she was wondering if I knew someone who could help drive her girls around while they give private dances to her special clients.”

“We can go pay her a visit, just text me the address and we’ll be there.”

“Thanks dear, talk to you again.” Once Laura said her goodbye, Starlight hung up. Paul looked at Starlight questioningly, wondering how she could be so close to a school teacher. “Laura is an interesting friend. Remind me to tell you about the time she showed me how to make a pipe bomb.” Paul then decided to put that information on the back burner and focus on other things.

Once Starlight received the text, she had Paul drive them to Misty Lane and to the indicated address which turned out to be a strip joint and bar.

The two headed to the entrance where Starlight encountered an issue where her age would give her problems. The bouncer stopped the two at the door. He asked for their IDs. While Paul’s ID was good, he had to refuse entry for Starlight.

“Sir, you’re good to come in. However, the girl has to stay out here. Can’t let underage kids inside.”

“Think you can handle this one solo?” Starlight asked. Paul gave a confident nod and went inside.

Sighing, Starlight was left to wander around with nothing to do while Paul was chatting with the owner. Thankfully, her phone rang to show that Phil wanted something. “What’s up?”

“Hey Starlight, what are your thoughts on racing?”

“Bet I could outrace a certain someone I know from Chinatown,” Starlight confidently stated, hoping that certain someone felt that jab.

“Well, there’s a race going on around the north side of the Ultor Dome soon. If you hurry, you can net yourself some cash and prizes.”

“Sounds good, I think it’s time to break in my new ride.”

Once she hung up, Starlight made a quick detour to Phil’s garage where she brought out her new Attrazione and headed to the racing location.

She soon found herself in an area where a number of racers were gathering while a woman with dyed midnight blue hair was directing the racers. Starlight suspected that she was the officiator.

“OK people, if you aren’t at the line in five, you aren’t racing!” the woman shouted. She then spotted Starlight. She hadn’t seen her until now so she figured that she just got here. “You here to race?”

“Yep, I heard there’s some cash and prizes in it,” Starlight replied.

“You better hurry up and get to the line then. The winner gets a coupon for a ten percent discount for customizations at any Rim Jobs for a whole year.”

“Selective parts or whole store?” Starlight asked.

“Whole store.”

“Sounds good.” Starlight then drove her car to where the racers were gathering.

The starter girl gave her countdown and the racers floored their accelerators. Starlight proved to be a formidable adversary at the wheel as she used some tricky maneuvers to stay ahead of the other racers. The race was a checkpoint race so she had to make sure to drive over lines of fire that served as checkpoints as she went.

She smoked the first bunch of racers but she also found that she was in for a series of races before she was through. She ended up taking part in five checkpoint races, two lap races and one point to point race. None of her opponents were worthy challengers for her skills.

Once the series was over, the woman approached Starlight with the coupon. “Those are some sweet skills you got. There's more events like this one going on in other parts of the city. If you're interested, I'll let you know where they are once the locations are announced. They will also be giving discount coupons for Rim Jobs and the discount stacks. Also, if you win 3 coupons, present them to one of the race officiators and you will be given the grand prize: a 50% discount at Rim Jobs for a whole year. You can have your rides modded dirt cheap for a whole year.”

“Are these coupons transferable?” Starlight asked.

The woman shrugged, “I guess. Just don’t go losin’ them or it’ll be your loss and someone else’s gain.”

“Right. What’s your name, by the way?”

“Libby.”

“Well Libby, how good of a driver are you?”

“Pretty good, not ‘you’ good, but pretty good. Better than these losers at least.”

Starlight took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote something on it before handing it to Libby. “If you’re looking for some side cash, give this number a call. He’s a good friend of mine who’s looking for a driver.”

Libby looked at the name associated with the number then took a moment to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. “Wait, Wong? As in Wong Sheng Tai? Fuck girl, you have some powerful friends in this city.”

“He’s actually a pretty nice guy as long as you don’t mess with his family. Just tell him Starlight recommended you.”

“I think I will call him tomorrow,” Libby decided.

“Great! Anyway, I have somewhere I need to be very soon so I need to go. Later!”

A few minutes after Starlight left, she received a text from Paul telling her that he was taking a shower at Wong’s place and would be ready soon. Starlight replied by asking why he was doing so at a time like this. He replied with: “The things that I experienced in the car I was driving are things that you are still too young to hear.” Starlight figured that Jenna had him drive her sex workers around so they could do their business with clients. She did recall during one of her races that she saw a car trying very hard to dodge news vans.

Shrugging, she returned her Attrazione to Phil to switch out for her Reaper and headed to Wong’s place to await her partner. She also considered that if she was to move her family and herself to a new place it would need to have a bigger garage if she keeps getting new rides.

Once Paul was able to face the world again, he jumped into Starlight’s car and headed toward Misty Lane. She reactivated Laserbeak on the way and had her drone track the shipments of car parts. Much to her dismay, while she heard that the Rollerz were hitting a convoy it didn’t look a thing like a convoy since the trucks were all in separate locations.

“Ugh, Donnie needs to learn the definition of a convoy,” Starlight complained.

Thankfully, the first truck was nearby and the Rollerz were not far behind. One of the attackers was taken out quickly when Paul made a lucky throw of a grenade into the backseat of their car. Starlight took out the driver of the other attacking car which allowed the delivery truck to escape.

The second truck had three attackers. One attacked first and had a little accident when Starlight secretly grabbed their steering wheel in her magic and forced them to crash into a wall. Two more ambushed the truck from further down the road so Paul and Starlight took out one driver each, allowing the truck to escape.

The Rollerz had beaten them to the third truck and were already shooting at it so she had to use her magic to make one of the attacking cars bump into another in order to trick them into thinking they were competing against each other. It worked and both of them crashed. The last car was taken out by Paul.

Once the last of the delivery trucks was no longer in danger, Starlight had Laserbeak return to Sharp’s mansion while she waited to hear the fallout of their actions.

Meanwhile, Starlight decided to use the search engine on her phone to look up Will Sharp, or rather William Sharp. She already figured that the man was an attorney from what Laura said and she found that he contributed money regularly to Alderman Hughes and his upcoming mayoral election campaign. There wasn’t much else she could learn.

Not long after, she received a notification from Laserbeak that there was something going on at the mansion. Opening the app, she first spotted Donnie getting high from smoking a huge joint with Lin sitting next to him. They seemed to be talking about car parts until Sharp and Price entered the room.

“They all got away?” Sharp asked.

“That’s what the word is.” Price replied.

“How did this happen?”

“A couple of the Saints fucked up our boys.”

“Two individuals made a mockery of your crew?” Sharp asked, incredulously and with more than a little disappointment.

“Probably the same two who fucked up my shop,” Donnie added. “I think they’re the Fifth Street Altar Boys or somethin’.

“The Third Street Saints,” Lin corrected.

“What she said.” Donnie took another puff of his joint only for Price to grab it from him.

“Will you quit smokin’ that shit? I need you to focus!” Price admonished.

“If you need me to focus, I’d pass that shit back,” Donnie coughed.

“Donnie…”

“Alright alright. You got some time before the buyers need those parts, right?”

“The buyers?” Lin asked.

“Oh, they’re a bunch of guys overseas that Mr. Sharp kn–”

“Donnie, do we need another…conversation?” Sharp interrupted warningly.

“Sorry,” Donnie apologized.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, just think,” Price urged.

Donnie then asked for some time while he and Lin thought of something which Lin voiced her commitment to helping.

Starlight turned off the app and thought about what was said. She then believed that she had a firm grasp on how the Rollerz worked now. “So, Sharp is collecting car parts to sell to overseas buyers while using the Rollerz as a means to obtain the parts illegally without having to spend money to acquire them. Some of what he collects from the buyers goes towards Hughes’ campaign in exchange for using his influence to make the Stilwater PD turn a blind eye to the activities of the Rollerz, even getting them to let the thugs off with a slap on the wrist. Sharp is most likely the mastermind behind the Rollerz so taking him out will probably cripple the Rollerz.”

Paul thought for a moment before he pointed to a picture of Aisha Starlight had stuck to her visor. “What are you going on about? Wait, are you talking about her stalker?” Starlight asked. Paul nodded. “It’s possible, but unlikely. That kind of person is normally just an elusive shut-in who acts normal in public and acts like a creep when they think nobody's looking. We don’t even know his name so the PD won’t be much help.”

Paul shrugged and turned his attention back to the Rollerz. As they were thinking about how to deal with Sharp, Paul found a small pipe in the street and had an idea. He then presented the pipe to Starlight with a smirk on his face.

“Oh? You want me to back up my claim earlier?” Starlight asked. Paul nodded. She then accepted the object with a smirk of her own. “Very well, let me show you what I learned in chemistry class.”

Paul gave his friend a sympathetic look wondering what kind of childhood she must have had. “Don’t give me that look, the only reason Child Protective Services hadn’t come for me is because they’re scared that daddy will rampage in their office if they tried to take me away. Given his reputation he really would.”

Starlight spent some time gathering the necessary reagents to crafting a pipe bomb while talking more about how abnormal her life was. Paul did wonder if his friend had a plan for the bomb which she assured him that she did, promising a huge explosion when she was ready to use it.

Paul had a feeling that whatever she had planned was going to be as huge as the promised blast.

Punctured Tire

Since Starlight’s car was nearby, she and Paul quickly got in and headed toward Misty Lane hoping that they weren’t too late.

Neither were sure if Lin was alright now that her cover was blown. They could only hope that she was in a position to make a quick escape.

Driving as quickly as they could while dodging many cars along the way, the two soon found Lin’s car and she was being shot at by a number of Rollerz. The worst part was that her car was not looking so good as it was full of holes and it was only a matter of time before they hit something that would damage the engine. A few lucky shots had punctured Lin’s back tires and the engine was beginning to emit smoke.

They didn’t have time to take out the pursuing Rollerz since it looked like Lin’s car was on the verge of exploding and taking her with it. Starlight had to think quickly and realized that she would need to do something risky to save her.

“Paul, take the wheel!” Starlight ordered. To the mute’s surprise the girl suddenly disappeared which left him panically grabbing the wheel and trying to avoid any obstacles while he struggled to get into the driver’s seat and gain access to the pedals.

Meanwhile, a panicking Lin was now terrified as her car was severely damaged. She knew that if she stopped or bailed from the car the Rollerz would capture her and use her as a hostage against Paul and Starlight. However, if things kept going like this she was going to die anyway from her car blowing up.

Just as she was about to resign herself to her fate, a loud pop sounded beside her accompanied by a bright flash which momentarily blinded her. She was glad there were no obstacles ahead of her to crash into. Before she could process what happened, she felt her arm being grabbed. Just as she noticed her car catching fire, everything in her view had changed abruptly and left her feeling completely disoriented. There was also a wave of nausea to accompany that.

“Don’t you dare throw up in my car!” threatened a familiar voice. Thankfully a paper sack was provided which Lin quickly grabbed and emptied her lunch in it. Once she was done she tried to regain her wits and get her bearings. After a few moments of catching her breath, Lin’s mind calmed down and she soon realized that she was in the backseat of another car.

“Paul, get us back to the church!” the voice ordered. Lin recalled the name and soon realized that she was in the company of Paul and Starlight. “Are you alright?” Starlight asked.

“Wh…what happened?” Lin asked. “Last I remember I was in my car and it was on fire, now I’m here.”

“Don’t worry about that right now, just relax,” Starlight softly spoke. “The Rollerz have totaled your car and they believe that they took you out so we’ve lost them. We’re headed back to the church to draw up a plan of action. Thanks to you we have all the info we need to take them down.”

With that, Lin had fully regained herself and was back to normal. “Alright, let’s regroup with Julius.”

Half an hour later the group arrived at the church and went inside where Julius was meeting with Johnny, Dex and Troy. The Saints were relieved to see that their members had returned unscathed.

“Lin, thank God you’re alright,” Julius said. “When the Rollerz figured out whose flags you’re actually flyin’ I feared the worst.”

“To be honest, I’m lucky to be alive. I don’t know how she did it, but Starlight managed to rescue me in the nick of time,” Lin said relievedly.

“Actually, before we continue, could you hold on for a few minutes?” Starlight asked. “I need to take care of something real quick.”

Starlight left the church and made sure nobody was around visibly or audibly. Once she was sure she was alone she teleported back to her mother’s house. Her mother offered her a cold, refreshing coke which she gladly accepted while she gave the album disc she received from Jack to her. Starlight quickly explained the situation and Aisha grabbed a marker and signed it to Jack.

After that she performed an exhausting series of teleports across the city to deliver the signed album to Jack before she performed another series to get back to the church. By that time she was very exhausted and that coke she had was extra refreshing as a result.

Once she was ready she returned to the others to resume the meeting. “Sorry about the wait,” Starlight apologized.

Julius began, “Alright, now we know how to take down the Rollerz. Given Price’s behavior it seems that the mastermind of the Rollerz is his uncle Sharp. Take him out and the Rollerz will be on their way out. With their income cut off Price will be easier to deal with, but probably more dangerous as well. Lin, Starlight, Paul, you three have observed the Rollerz long enough to understand how to deal with them. Do you have an idea on how to get Sharp into the open?”

“I think I have an idea,” Starlight offered. “Sharp is a lawyer who keeps his employees out of jail using his money and connections. We should use that against him. Julius, do you know any Rollerz who have been arrested lately?”

“Actually yes, some of the Rollerz have a court date coming up and Sharp will probably be throwing paper and pussy at the jury to get those muthafuckas off. They’re all sequestered at an apartment building in Tidal Spring.”

“Excellent! I have an idea to deal with them. I just need some illegal fireworks before tonight.” Paul volunteered to obtain the fireworks but gave a confused look as he wasn’t sure what the plan was. “Don’t worry about it, just make sure nobody sees you with the crates and bring them to the apartments.”

“Oh, I get it!” Dex realized. “That’s actually pretty clever.”

While Starlight and Paul would usually find someone to help in order to increase the Saints’ reputation, they decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing and unwinding at an arcade. They had spent several days dismantling the Rollerz and it was about time for a well-deserved break.

After a few hours of leisure, Paul went to Chinatown to buy up several crates of illegal fireworks in secret while concealing them under a tarp on a large pickup.

Meanwhile, Starlight was overseeing the operation when she spotted something that kind of grossed her out. A man wearing nothing but a pair of shoes and a speedo was jogging in her general direction. The man’s outfit alone offended Starlight and she could understand why Mr. Wong would feel wronged by this man as well.

Still, this looked like a good time to polish her acting skills since the man’s appearance really helped her get into character. She then pulled out her shotgun.

As the man started to jog past her, Starlight let out a horrified shriek that got the attention of everyone around her before she screamed “Pervert!” and blasted the man into a bloody mess on the street. She then panted heavily to further sell the act to the crowd which got her the reaction she was hoping for: sympathy.

After a few minutes of this she told the crowd that she would be okay now and they could move on, which they did. Paul ran up to her and looked at her with concern to which she responded with a victorious smirk as she pulled up the hitman file and crossed Juan’s name off. “Six down, two to go.”

Paul was then reminded how scary Starlight can be sometimes.

That evening, a truck drove up to the Tidal Spring Apartments carrying the instruments that would drive the Rollerz out of the area. Paul and Starlight could tell that the Rollerz guards were unaware of any intruders in the area which was perfect for their plan. Paul looked at Starlight as he was really curious about her plan now.

“Here’s the plan, I’m going to sneak the crates into each apartment where the jurors are located. I know which apartments have jurors because I had Laserbeak check. I just need you to get their attention and lead them on a chase around the place while I work. I’m also going to place an anonymous tip to the police, so don’t attack them. Make yourself look like a victim to the cops. If we succeed, we can take this place without firing a shot.” Paul looked like he wanted to ask how she was planning on smuggling the crates into the apartments to which Starlight responded, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll carry out my part, you do yours.”

What followed in the next few minutes was Paul making a spectacle of himself to the outdoor Rollerz guards which led to them calling out that a Saint was running around which led to a bunch of thugs chasing after him.

Meanwhile, Starlight called the police and left a tip about possession of illegal fireworks before she levitated the five crates of fireworks and headed into the complex. With the guards distracted, it was easy for her to teleport a crate into each apartment while choosing rooms that weren’t occupied. She planted two crates in two apartments on one side of the complex before hurrying over to the other side to plant the other three, taking care to avoid the chase going on.

One police car arrived as she planted the last crate. Noticing the spectacle going on, he called in for reinforcements who arrived a few minutes later. Paul purposefully placed himself into a corner while the thugs were aiming their pistols at him. Before a shot could be fired they were forced to drop their weapons as officers aimed theirs at them.

After that, the police investigated the tip where they went into the various apartments and discovered the crates and checked the contents. This led to the SWAT team being called in. The jurors had no idea how the crates got there but the law enforcement still had to hold them for a few days which meant that they would miss their court date.

Paul continued his victim act to the police until he saw an opening for him to escape and regroup with Starlight who gave him a victorious smirk, “And not a shot fired.”

Paul scratched his head in exasperation, wondering if this girl was insane.

“That takes care of phase one of my plan to deal with Sharp, now I need to set things up for phase two.” This should work if I’m right about Troy.

It was still early enough in the evening for the Saints to still be at the church. They returned to the building and Paul went inside to give them the signal to move in on Tidal Spring while Starlight found a secluded place to place a call to Troy.

“Hey Starlight, what’s up?” Troy answered.

“Are you alone right now? I’d like to discuss something with you in private.”

“Uh, can you make it fast? I’m, uh, doing an important job for Julius.”

Starlight could sense that he was trying to lie to her. He was making it too obvious. It further confirmed her suspicions so she pressed on. “Then let’s cut to the chase, I’m pretty sure you’re a cop.”

For a few moments the line was silent. Starlight had a feeling that her fellow interlocutor was struggling to come up with a response after that shocking accusation. What she got was a pitiful defense, “W-what makes you s-say that?”

Starlight rolled her eyes that he had all but admitted to being a cop. She suspected that he may have barely passed undercover training which was enough to keep the rest of the Saints fooled, but not her. “Still trying to deny it? Then let me spell it out for you. I overheard your little monologue the night before me and Paul joined the Saints. You said a few things that sounded like something someone from the PD would say, such as ‘Monroe’s been bustin’ my ass to keep the Saints from turning into another problem for Stilwater.’”

She could hear Troy cursing despite his attempts at not having her hear it. He calmed down after a few moments. “I’m guessin’ you’re callin’ to blackmail me?”

“Maybe a little, but nothing that will involve innocents. You see, you’re going to be part of my plan to take down Sharp. For that I need your position in the Stilwater PD for this to work.”

“Whaddya need?”

“Remember that court case on the Rollerz coming up? Since the old jury will have to be thrown out after what happened tonight a new group will be selected on short notice which means that Sharp won’t be able to rely on them and it will pressure him into attending the court in person. I want you to be a part of the security staff there…”

Starlight went into the specifics about Troy’s role in the plan to which he agreed to it since he felt that he didn’t have much choice now.

However, Troy had one last question to ask before the call ended. “What if your dad finds out about this, Lady Joker?” He had apparently decided to give a code name to her since he had a feeling that they were going to be making more hidden deals in the future.

She decided to go with it, it did seem like a name that could grow on her. “Lady Joker, huh? I like that one. Anyway, since this is for the benefit of the Saints, I’ll keep your secret as long as you help us. I can keep daddy off your back but just know that you will suffer a worse fate than daddy beating you up if you betray us. I’m actually quite skilled with a computer and your wages and retirement fund aren’t safe from me. That would make for good compensation for any betrayals you might commit.”

She could hear Troy gulping. If she had a record in the PD then Troy would know that she could do a lot worse to him than her father ever could.

Once she went over the plan she hung up and headed back home to rest up for tomorrow.

The Saints were very lucky that night. The incident at the apartment not only drove the Rollerz out of Tidal Spring but because the arrests had also thinned out the Rollerz near the Ultor Dome which made defending it infeasible so they were forced to abandon that neighborhood to the Saints as well. Only Copperton and Misty Lane remained controlled by the Rollerz at this point.

The next day Starlight and Paul didn’t have much to do since the court case was tomorrow so they would need to find something to do today.

Starlight was in favor of increasing the odds of Sharp’s attendance in court and she had an idea on how to do so. “Mr. Wong gave me the number and address to an attorney in Chinatown. We’re going to see if he can help out.”

After a few minutes they were in front of the door to the lawyer’s office and went inside. They were greeted by a man who put on a friendly act in order to sell his services. “Welcome to my office! You can call me Seth. What can I do for ya? Were you in a car accident? Walking accident? Coffee accident? Self-inflicted stab wound accident? Your injuries are worth money to both of us.”

Starlight looked at Seth in confusion at what he mentioned. “Coffee accident? Self-inflicted stab wound accident? What?” She shook her head and tried not to get sidetracked. “Nevermind, I was hoping to hire you as a defense attorney for tomorrow’s Rollerz case and lose it on purpose. Mr. Wong personally recommended you for legal services.”

“Ah, Mr. Wong, nicest fella in the whole city. Well, I can help ya but even though he recommended me I can’t give my services for free. I’d be losing money over this and I can’t accept that.”

“So what do you need us to do?”

“Well, as I said, your injuries are worth money to us. If at least one of you were to get yourself injured by like…say…playing in traffic during rush hour, that should cover my legal fees.”

This subject made Starlight a little uncomfortable. It was one thing to go around hunting bounties for Mr. Wong, it was another to watch her friends injuring themselves for cash.

However, Paul still volunteered for this since he was sure his ragdolling skills would come in handy. Starlight wanted to stop him but it seemed that he really would pull almost any stunt for money.

In the end Starlight had no choice but to watch as Paul was battered repeatedly by various types of cars, including civic vehicles such as police cars and ambulances. He always knew to go limp just before the impact to reduce the damage he took. The people who witnessed this thought he was insane for running around a busy street. The drivers tried to swerve away which only fueled the chaos and led to a few bystanders on the sidewalk being hit.

Starlight tried to assist Paul by using her magic to fortify his body to withstand the impacts but the scene was still painful to watch.

In the end, the insurance companies were forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for his medical bills so Seth was ready to uphold his end of the bargain. Starlight had a feeling that she would have to get used to seeing Paul maim himself in traffic in the future. She didn’t like it but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Paul was also concerned that this activity was going to be a thing for years to come.

“This is the worst money we’ve ever earned…” Starlight moaned. Paul nodded in agreement.

With the mood fully dampened, Starlight and Paul went home to await the trial tomorrow.

Coincidentally, as if something unlocked in Starlight’s mind, an idea for an enchantment spell she could place on clothes popped into her mind. The spell was made to offer some protection from explosives which would help a little if someone tossed a grenade at them. Deciding that it couldn’t hurt, she secretly placed the enchantment on Paul’s clothes as well as her own.

The next day at the courthouse, everything was ready. Julius had informed Starlight that one of his boys spotted Sharp driving into the city heading in the direction of the courthouse. Everyone moved into position.

Sharp moved up the stairs and into the courthouse grumbling about a bunch of nimrods hiring an incompetent lawyer to represent them, likely referring to the arrested Rollerz. He headed toward the entrance to the courtroom before one of the police officers guarding the entrance stopped him.

“Hold on a minute, you’re Mr. Sharp, yes?” he asked.

“What is it? Be quick, I am a busy man,” Sharp growled.

“I need you to come with me for a moment, sir. Someone’s requested your presence in a private room.”

This should have sent red flags in Sharp’s mind. After what happened to Lin, he figured that the Saints would be out looking for revenge. However, he chose this time to disregard his suspicions since it would be foolish for a bunch of thugs to invade a courthouse and that was all that the Saints were.

The officer led Sharp to an empty office. The lawyer looked around the room for anything that might have confirmed his suspicions but he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“Stay in here, Mr. Sharp, they’ll be with ya soon.” He then closed the door and locked it.

Upon hearing the lock click, Sharp suddenly realized that something was very wrong. However, he didn’t realize that he had already fallen into a trap. The last thing he saw before the darkness took him was a man swinging a baseball bat between his eyes.

Sharp came to a little while later sitting in a chair. It didn’t take him long to realize his hands were tied behind him and his legs were tied to the chair legs. He also realized he was being gagged.

Now that he knew his situation, Sharp took a look at his captors. One was a black haired man, probably the one who knocked him out. Another was a girl who seemed to be of high school age with purple hair with a teal stripe. The third was a bit of a shock for him. He had no idea how she survived the attack, though the thugs never found the body so he had his suspicions. Now they were confirmed.

“Wakey wakey, Mr. Sharp. It’s time for the festivities to begin,” Starlight coaxed.

Lin removed the gag from the lawyer who glared daggers at the three of them. “How did you escape?” Sharp growled.

“That’s for me to know and you to consider the mystery for the rest of your life,” Starlight answered.

Paul also wanted to know how she saved Lin but Starlight was being extra tight-lipped about it. He could only hope that she would trust him with that information at a later point.

“It would seem that I have underestimated you. I thought you Saints were just a bunch of stupid children, like Donnie.”

“Don’t you dare talk about Donnie like that!” Lin hissed.

“Easy Lin, he’ll get what’s coming to him.” Starlight gave the lawyer a huge shit-eating grin. “You’re not as clever as you think you are, William Sharp. You never even noticed the second spy who was eavesdropping on your conversations.”

Sharp soon adopted a genuinely shocked expression, as he never suspected that the Saints would have a second spy feeding information to his captors. “What second spy?”

Just then, Laserbeak perched on Starlight’s shoulder. The girl rubbed the top of its head. This little guy has been feeding your conversations with Joseph and Donnie to me. That mechanic has some of the loosest lips I’ve ever seen.

Sharp looked at the girl in disbelief. He had never imagined that someone would bug his house from under his nose. Even more unbelievable was the fact that he was utterly outplayed by a high school girl. This was truly a nightmare turned reality. “What do you plan to do to me now?”

Starlight’s grin widened as she rifled through the man’s pockets until she found his phone. Looking through it she could tell there were some encryptions and passwords protecting his files but nothing Laserbeak couldn’t handle. “Laserbeak, decrypt the data and download all files to my phone.”

The process took a few moments as the security wasn’t hard to break. It certainly wasn’t anything like that one time she tested her skills by hacking into the Pentagon. She suspected that at least one person noticed but since they never responded to her attack, she figured that they never traced the hack to her.

Once the data was downloaded and decrypted, Starlight had a look at the contents with a smug grin on her face. “What have we here? Passcodes to your various bank accounts, the phone numbers of your contacts, a few personal files that I don’t care about but could be used for blackmail, the codes to your mansion’s security system…” She looked away from the phone and gave a wicked smirk to Sharp who was starting to look like a boiled lobster from anger. “Thank you for this wonderful gift, Mr. Sharp. Now I have a gift for you. There’s a shipping crate at the airport with your name on it and we will need to be leaving soon. I even put some air holes in it and paid the shipping costs out of my pocket. My gift to you is a one way trip to a run-down desert town called Santo Ileso.”

Before Sharp could protest further he was suddenly given more time for a nap, courtesy of Paul’s baseball bat.

Leaving the courthouse was not difficult thanks to Troy handling security. Sharp was placed into a body bag and carried out. Whenever someone saw them, Troy made the excuse that they were transporting a body to the morgue.

Outside the courthouse, the group decided to be inconspicuous about transporting Sharp’s unconscious body by stealing a car they could all fit in. It just so happened to be a Westbury minivan that conveniently had muscle rims installed. Sharp was placed in the back while Paul, Starlight and Lin drove to the airport. While the airport was deep in Carnales territory, the enemy gang left them alone for the time being.

Once at the airport, they quickly stuffed Sharp into a crate she had designated for transport aboard a cargo plane. The crate was loaded up by the crew and was set to take off soon. Since the Rollerz were still unaware of what happened to Sharp, there was no chance of a timely rescue attempt.

“That takes care of him. Price will probably think we killed him and act rashly from now on,” Starlight figured.

At that moment, however, a blue car approached them and came to a stop. To everyone’s surprise it was Donnie who got out of the vehicle. The mechanic had a concerned look on his face. “Lin? I thought it was you. I thought you were dead, then I saw you with these two Saints. Is it true what Price said? Were you really working with them the whole time?”

Although the time they spent together was short, Lin felt bad that she used Donnie like she did. He may not have been much of a fighter, but he could definitely keep up with her in a conversation about cars and she was impressed by his work. Not to mention that he did look kind of cute.

Lin didn’t have the heart to lie to him, he deserved to know. She sighed, “It’s true, Donnie. Though I did have a great time talkin’ about cars with you. You’re actually kinda cute when you get passionate about cars.”

This left Donnie stunned at the admission but at the same time she called him ‘cute’. This filled the naive mechanic with some hope that not everything from their time together was fake. “Um…is it still possible that we have a chance to go out sometime?”

Lin chuckled, “I’ll think about it.”

Starlight approached the two which made Donnie jump in fright as he remembered her from the attack on the shop. “Hey, sorry about the whole psycho act. I needed to scare you into escaping with Lin. The whole shooting up the car was partly to sell the act and partly because I was feeling a little petty at the time because Lin made me pay for her expensive tea.”

“I’m sorry, alright! Fuck, if I knew you were gonna get like that I’d have ordered something cheaper,” Lin groaned.

Starlight giggled, “Apology accepted.” She then looked at Donnie and gave him a serious look. “I’m gonna level with you, with Sharp out of the picture the Rollerz are in their death throes. I suggest dropping the blue before you sink with them. I know Price is your friend, but he won’t be able to keep the Rollerz going for long. I’ll give you three choices: Drop your flags and lay low until the war ends, change your flags to purple or go back to the Rollerz and risk getting killed. For you, I will give Price a similar choice but I doubt he will walk away without a fight.”

Donnie was now left with a dilemma. There was no way he would ever betray Price, they had been friends for years. That meant that he couldn’t join the Saints as that would be seen as a betrayal. He also didn’t want to die in a losing battle, if what Starlight said was true. In the end, he only had one choice that would preserve his life without betraying his best friend.

“I’ll drop my flags,” Donnie decided.

Starlight nodded, “Let me give you the address to head to Mr. Wong’s place. He will protect you until the war is over if you drop my name. Once the Rollerz are through, the Vice Kings and Carnales are next. The war will end once they are finished, or we are.”

Donnie thanked Starlight and received the address on his phone before he got into his car and drove away. The rest of them followed suit as they didn’t want to be on the tarmac when that cargo plane took off.

After dropping off Starlight and Lin at the church, Paul delivered the Westbury to Dennis before stealing another ride to get back home.

Roadkill

With Sharp on his way to a permanent vacation in the desert and Donnie in hiding under Wong’s protection, Starlight and Paul returned to the church to plan their final moves against Price and the Rollerz.

Neither were worried about Price all that much as he didn’t seem the type who could plan anything other than simple approaches to problems. If anything, he only seemed a little smarter than your average thug.

Starlight also suspected that getting rid of Sharp was going to have plenty more consequences other than an angry nephew. Aside from Sharp’s mysterious buyers and Alderman Hughes being cut off from a source of income, there could be others who would be upset by this. However, that was a worry for the future.

Back at the church, Julius and Troy, who was back in his casual street attire, were waiting for the two to see what direction their plans for the Rollerz would need to go, depending on if Sharp was still a threat or not. Upon their arrival, Starlight gave them a victorious smirk that reassured the leaders that everything went according to plan.

“The Rollerz are now without their brain trust so now it’s just Price that we have to deal with.”

“Good, with Sharp out of the way, the Rollerz will be nothing but a memory soon,” Julius said.

“It will probably be some time before Price figures out what happened so I say we take advantage of the confusion,” Starlight offered. “Since the Rollerz only hold Copperton on this island and Misty Lane on the northern island, I say we move in on Copperton. What do we need to do to drive them out?”

“I think I know where to hit them to do just that,”Julius offered. “Some of the Rollerz have been takin’ a lot of interest in a receiving station in the truck yard. You may wanna be careful goin’ in. With only two hoods, they will be heavily defended.”

“Sounds like we need to militarize for this one. I’m gonna stop by a Friendly Fire and make sure we are ready for this.”

While Starlight went shopping, Paul made a short run to his house where he stocked up on pipe bombs that Reno’s people had been providing him ever since he and Starlight helped him out. He only had ten of them available so he had to make them count.

The two regrouped in Copperton and headed for the truck yard in Starlight’s car. Paul wondered what his partner brought that would help them take the place. “We should have enough firepower between us to take the place,” she responded. “It’ll be up to our skills to survive beyond that.”

It wasn’t long before they found the truck yard and drove into the middle of it. From there they would be subjected to a “King of the Hill” scenario where they would have to hold the location until the Rollerz gave up.

At first only a few Rollerz cars drove in to try and deal with them which was manageable with their usual weaponry. As time progressed, more Rollerz entered the truck yard to deal with them. After a couple of minutes the yard was a battlezone. With the number of Rollerz entering the area turning into a small army, Starlight decided that it was time to unleash her secret weapon.

“Laserbeak, activate the turret and target their vehicles.” With that command, the back of her Reaper opened up and a small turret rose from it. The turret was designed as an automatic RPG launcher that fired rockets one by one at the enemy cars, demolishing them and taking a large number of Rollerz out in the explosions. Paul also used most of his pipe bombs to help blow up cars and Rollerz.

Starlight saw one rocket go stray and hit a bystander who was observing the mayhem. The man wore an orange jacket and black pants. After the fight she would identify the man as Jose and mark him off the list.

After the army of Rollerz were annihilated, Starlight and Paul breathed a sigh of relief until they heard the sound of a vehicle starting up nearby. A few seconds later they spotted a Peterliner semi-truck cab driving toward them intending on running them over. The two avoided the attempt by diving to the side.

Unfortunately, Laserbeak had expended all of the ammunition. However, that didn’t matter when Paul lit his last pipe bomb and threw it into the open window of the cab that the thug was trying to shoot out of. In his panic he got out of the truck only to land on the blade of Starlight’s sword. The bomb did some damage to the cab but not a lot since the homemade bombs were not as destructive as grenades.

Seeing the piles of bodies in the area, Starlight decided to snap a few photos of them and send them to her father who would be a bit jealous that he didn’t get to be a part of this.

Paul looked at Starlight, wondering what they were going to do now. However, by this point Starlight had grown tired of playing the interpreter game with him. It was fun for a while but now it was starting to bore her. “As fun as it’s been to interpret your expressions and motions, isn’t it about time you spoke up? We’ve been working together for a while now so just say what you want to say.”

Paul shrugged, if Starlight wanted to hear what he had to say she’d better be ready for whatever he dished out. “Fine. My name is Paul Hanksaw.”

Starlight gave a bright smile, “See? There we go! I’ll get you out of your shell yet. Anyway, once the Saints take this place, only Misty Lane will be left. Right now, I’m wondering what stunt Price is going to pull.” She activated her communicator. “Laserbeak, stealth recon. Return to the mansion and keep an eye on Price.”

Once the drone flew off on jet propulsion, the two were left alone until Paul broke the silence. “A turret?! Seriously?! How the fuck did you install a turret in your car?”

“I built it, obviously,” Starlight replied, as if what she had done equated to a simple school project.

“Also, how the fuck does a a school age girl build something out of car parts?”

“Didn’t seem all that hard. I know that I could probably make a fortune from Laserbeak’s design, but it’s best to keep him in limited supply. Wouldn’t want the military using my own tech against me at some point.”

“Fair. Anyway, I’ll get this semi delivered to Dennis and meet you back at the church.” Paul then boarded the truck that had tried to run them over a few minutes ago. Starlight waited for her companion to get back before they returned to the church.

Just as Paul returned, Starlight’s spying app went off. She called Paul over so they could look at this together.

Starlight then activated her spying app to see what was happening. They noticed that Price was giving a rallying speech to the Rollerz in front of the mansion which spelled trouble.

"Listen up, people. We're done dicking around with the Saints. These streets were ours before those bitches from the Row showed up! And when they stepped, what did we do? They fucked up our race, and we just took it. They fucked up our deliveries, and we just took it. And now they made my Uncle go missing, and who knows what the fuck they did to Donnie. Now, I'm only gonna say this once. We're not gonna sit here and fuckin' take it!” The crowd roared in cheer. "Light 'em up, boys. We're burning Saint's Row to the ground."

As the thugs got to their cars, Starlight cringed. “That’s not good. Predictable, but not good. Looks like he’s about to raid the Row. We need to warn Julius.”

Starlight decided to let Paul drive this time since time was of the essence. “Drive fast and to hell with traffic laws!”

“Don’t blame me if I wreck this thing,” Paul warned before he sped off toward the church. The drive was reckless but thrilling for Starlight as the speed they were moving at got her adrenaline pumping. She saw that they had a few near misses and left a few people pissed off at them. They also sped past three stop signs and a traffic cop that had to direct traffic at an intersection where the lights weren’t working. It would be a surprise if that didn’t get them a little notoriety with the police for a time.

They made it to the church in record time. Julius saw them arrive but the way he saw them do so told him that something important was going on. “What’s goin’ on? Did something happen?”

“Yeah, Price is leading a convoy raid on Saint’s Row as we speak,” Starlight informed.

“I was about to mention that. They’re comin’ in pretty fast,” Troy added.

Julius cursed, “Alright, Starlight, Paul, you’re with me. I know a route we can use to hit ‘em from behind.” He figured the Rollerz would use the highway since it was the fastest way here. Julius had them hop into his Zenith convertible sports car while he drove.

Using Julius’ route they made good time reaching the convoy. The Rollerz were driving past the west side of the Ultor Dome by the time they arrived. Once they were sure they were at the tail end of the convoy, Julius floored the accelerator and quickly caught up with the last car. “Alright you two, blow these assholes off the highway.”

Julius had provided an RPG and an assault rifle for them to use. Paul took the RPG so Starlight took the rifle.

Starlight struck first, taking out a convertible with the roof down, leaving the driver and passengers exposed to a hailstorm of bullets. Paul blasted a second car near the first one. With those two taken out, Julius sped up again to catch up with the next cars.

The process repeated with another pair of cars, and a trio of cars, and so on. Starlight counted eleven cars totaled so far before they came up to Price’s Attrazione.

Paul aimed a rocket at Price but wasn’t expecting the Rollerz leader to slam the brakes and give Julius’ car a fender bender. Starlight and Julius had the presence of mind to buckle up, Paul, not so much, which resulted in him flying into the road. Starlight fired a few rounds at Price but he managed to drive away.

The two who didn’t leave the car abruptly got out to check on their friend who remembered to ragdoll so he was only a little shaken. “You should buckle your seatbelt,” Julius commented. “Just the same, we ain’t lettin’ him pull that bullshit again. I want you two to raid his mansion and fuck it up. If you see Price there, you know what to do.”

“Actually, thanks to Sharp I have the deed to the mansion,” Starlight offered. “I wanted to surprise mom once the Rollerz were dealt with because she always wanted to move into someplace nicer than that loft.”

“Right, you mentioned you took everything from Sharp’s phone. In that case, take your dad with you instead. Johnny’s been gettin’ a little antsy about the lack of action at the church and this should be what he needs to calm down.”

“Sure, I could use some father-daughter bonding time.”

“Meanwhile, I need a favor from Paul. One of my contacts told me that he needs some help. It’s best Paul handles this one alone anyway. Helmers may look like trailer park trash but he knows plenty about what goes on in the city. Thing is he treats all women like they’re his bitches. That’s why I’d like to avoid you meeting him, in case he pisses you off.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea,” Starlight agreed.

Julius dropped Paul and Starlight off at the church before Paul hijacked the nearest car driving nearby and drove off. Starlight headed into the church and quickly found Johnny lounging with his feet on a desk. He smiled as he saw Starlight enter the room.

“Hey there pumpkin, thanks for the pic. I made it my new wallpaper on my phone.”

“Hey daddy, I got a new mansion for us to move into. I wanna surprise mom with it once we finish off the Rollerz. Speaking of, let’s go check the place out and do some cleaning up.”

“Aww, honey, isn’t that more your mom’s thing? Maybe we can help clean it together later.”

Starlight smirked, “Did I forget to mention that the mansion is also the Rollerz HQ? That kind of cleaning.”

That got Johnny to his feet. “In that case, let me get my cleaning tools.” It didn’t take him long to go through his personal weapon stash and collect his favorite revolver as well as an SMG, a butterfly knife, an assault rifle and a baseball bat. “Alright, I’m all set.”

The two took Starlight’s Reaper to the mansion. On the way, Johnny thought about keeping how they got the new house a secret from their mother. “If your mother asks, let’s say we won it in a…lottery.”

Starlight giggled, “I’m pretty sure she would see through that. She knows you too well and she knows we’ve been fighting the Rollerz. She will figure it out quickly.”

“And yet she still lets me handle the PTA meetings.”

“Because she didn’t want to deal with the snooty parents from the suburbs,” Starlight countered. “They know better than to mess with you.”

“Says my daughter who shipped her bully to Madagascar.”

Starlight groaned, “I’m starting to think this is going to turn into a habit since I recently shipped Sharp to some desert town after I stripped him of his assets.”

“Heh, your go-to plan to get rid of your problems is to ship them off somewhere far away and let them be someone else’s problem. Personally I prefer killin’ them off so they don’t one day come back to be a problem, but that’s me.”

The two soon arrived at the mansion and jumped out of the car. Johnny drew first blood as he took out the door guards with an assault rifle. After that, Starlight used the mansion’s security codes to open all doors in the mansion, which took the thugs inside by surprise.

Once inside, the two split up to take care of the different areas of the mansion. Starlight ran around like a sword-wielding maniac and cut down every thug she saw which terrified some of them. One of them also ended up with a growing wet spot on his pants. Johnny went in guns blazing, though he used an SMG and revolver while doing his best to avoid collateral damage. He wasn’t about to have Aisha move from one trash heap to another.

During her exploration, Starlight found some car keys in an upstairs bedroom. Swiping them, she resumed her murder spree.

Once the mansion was cleared out, the father and daughter met in the backyard. However, she had seen no sign of the Rollerz leader. “Daddy, did you find Price?” Starlight asked.

“No I haven’t, pumpkin. Musta run off somewhere.”

In case Price was still around, Starlight checked the garage. However, all she found was his Attrazione. It also had the modifications that Dennis was looking for. It was also the last item on his list so the mechanic would be glad to have this task complete.

Johnny went to work clearing the bodies from the house while Starlight received a call from Paul. She figured that he was finished with whatever Helmers wanted him to do. “Hey Paul, you done?”

“Yeah…” Paul answered, his tone sounding a little irritated.

“What’s wrong? You alright?”

“Sorta, it kinda feels wrong to return a bunch of bitches to a guy like Helmers. When I met him he tried tossing a can at my head when I accidentally knocked over his stack of beer cans. The way he talked about his bitches was pretty gross too. Not to mention how he reeked of beer.”

“Eugh, glad I wasn’t there. Anyways, can you come by the mansion? We found Price’s car and Dennis will want it to complete his list.”

“Alright, and speaking of lists, I think I found that sports fan, Alan. He ended up in the crossfire when I killed a Rollerz pimp. That was the last guy, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll call Mr. Wong later and tell him. See you soon.” She hung up.

“Is Paul actually talking?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, though I think he’s only willing to talk to me at the moment, it’s still progress though.”

A few minutes later, Paul arrived to take the car. Starlight handed him the keys and he drove off with the vehicle.

“So, you’re workin’ for Wong again?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, he’s been a great help for Paul, Lin and I while we’ve been dismantling the Rollerz.”

“Heh, he’s probably proud to see his little errand rat all grown up.”

Starlight rolled her eyes and the two continued removing the bodies and leaving them somewhere for some corpse cleaner to pick up.

Half an hour later, the house was cleared. That was when Starlight received another call from Paul. “What’s up?”

“You’re not gonna believe this, I just got a call from Price. He says he wants to meet us at the car dealership on Misty Lane so we can settle this.”

“I’ll be right there.” Starlight ended the call. “Looks like Price is looking for a showdown, though I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Go on, sweetie, finish what ya started,” Johnny said. “Whatever you decide to do to him, I’ll be behind ya all the way.”

“Thanks daddy.” Starlight kissed her father on the cheek and headed out the door to her car.

Before she got in, she moved to the back of the car and opened it. She had a special compartment there that she made to store small things since she installed that deployable turret. She opened up the compartment and pulled out the pipe bomb she made a few days ago. Most of the material that went into making it was what you would find on the street but the explosive within was more potent and would rival a hand grenade in explosive power. She planned to use it on Price, and it seemed that the time was now. “Looks like it’s your time to shine.”

The drive to the car dealership was short and Paul was there waiting for her. Price was still not there. Where could he be?

Starlight exited her car and walked up to Paul who was looking impatient and irritated, which was understandable, given recent events.

“Nothing?” Starlight asked.

“Nothin’,” Paul repeated. “I’m gonna be so pissed if he bitched out.”

As they waited, the sound of a large vehicle was heard nearby and was getting louder. The two were almost certain that it was a semi and they wondered if it was Price.

The sound got louder which had the two on alert and looking around until they spotted a large car hauler barreling toward them. The two dove aside in the nick of time as the semi drove through where they were before and fled down the road.

“Ugh…déjà vu…” Starlight groaned. “You alright, Paul?”

“I got run over by a muthafuckin’ truck, what do you think?” Paul complained.

Starlight rolled her eyes, “Quit being a baby and let’s go after him.”

The two scrambled for Starlight’s car while she was driving. They quickly caught up with the fleeing hauler that was smashing any car that got too close to it. Price quickly found that his enemies were following him and showed that he had an arsenal in the cab in the form of pipe bombs that he tossed out in an attempt to get rid of the two. Starlight was able to avoid the bombs but found that there was no way they could get close without risking getting crushed by the massive vehicle.

“We need to reduce the mass of the vehicle to get close. Paul, destroy those cars in the trailer,” Starlight ordered.

Paul nodded and brought out an assault rifle before opening fire on the blue cars in the trailer. The shots tore through the metallic body panels of the cars and struck the fuel tanks. Fortunately for them the tanks were filled so the tanks exploded when they were damaged. The explosions damaged the trailer while the process repeated with the other cars.

After a few more explosions, the trailer was blown off which prompted Starlight to do some skillful maneuvering to avoid it. With that part gone, only the cab remained. Starlight had to dodge the bombs still but the truck was now less of an issue.

After avoiding another bomb, Starlight was able to move up to the right side of the cab to put her plan into motion. Using her magic, she latched on to the small door that housed the compartment where the fuel receptacle was located and ripped the door open. Using her knees to keep the car moving steady, she lit her special pipe bomb. Price tried to slam the cab into her car so Starlight was forced to slow down and avoid the hit. She then floored it to move back into position quickly enough to toss her bomb into the compartment.

Price had the presence of mind to think about what happened. He saw the girl holding what looked like a pipe bomb in her hand a few seconds ago, then he just heard a clunking sound. He had a bad feeling about what was about to happen which prompted him to open his cab door and jump out, rolling to avoid injuring himself too much.

However, he was still injured anyway because jumping out while speeding on the highway was never a good idea. He was thankful that the rolling still kept his injuries to a minimum. He still ended up dislocating his left shoulder and damaging his left wrist. The impact alone probably cracked a few ribs at least. He could only hope he didn’t get any internal injuries from that.

Lying prone on the road, Price witnessed the semi explode seconds later. If he delayed any longer than he had, he wasn’t sure he would have survived that.

This was not the end of his misfortune, however, as the lilac reaper stopped a few feet from his position. The two who had ruined everything emerged from the vehicle and stared at him. The girl pointed a revolver at him.

“Get it over with,” Price growled.

Starlight’s answer came in the form of an ultimatum, “You have two options, Joseph Price: disband the Westside Rollerz and walk away or meet your end here. Either way, your gang is finished.”

“You gotta be joking! After what you two did to Uncle Will and Donnie, you think I will just walk away without dishin’ some payback?”

“What do you think I did to Will and Donnie? Both of them are still alive. All I did was ship your uncle to some desert town called Santo Ileso. If he’s a survivor, then he will have a chance to get back on his feet someday. His contacts have most likely cut ties with him though so he will be on his own.

“As for Donnie, it was easy to convince him to drop his flags and hide out until the gang war was over. I have his phone number if you want proof that he’s okay.”

“Fine, put him on and let me see for myself,” Price responded.

Starlight then pulled out her phone and dialed Donnie’s emergency contact number. The call was answered a few seconds later. “Yeah?“

“Hey Donnie, this is Starlight. I have someone who wants to talk to you.” She then handed the phone to Price who used his good arm to hold it.

“Donnie? Is that you?” Price asked.

“Price? Y-yeah, it’s me. Are you alright? What are you doing with Starlight?”

“Donnie, did she do anything to hurt you?”

“No, I saw Lin with her and followed them. All she did was give me an ultimatum to drop my flags which I accepted. Sorry I couldn’t be more help to you with the Rollerz.”

“Hey hey, it’s alright, Donnie. I know how you are when things get messy. I’m just glad you got the chance to walk away. There wasn’t much either of us could have done to stop what happened. You, me, even Uncle Will got outplayed. It was just shitty luck that things turned out like this.

“Will you be okay, Price?”

“We’ll see, Donnie.” Price then hung up the phone and handed it back to Starlight. He then addressed the girl. “I still don’t like what you did to Uncle Will, but I ain’t gonna lose sleep over it. He may be family but he is still a prick. I never liked how he treated Donnie.”

“So you’re gonna disband?” Starlight asked.

“Yeah, I can admit when I’m beat. Guess I’m gettin’ off easy compared to what you did to Will.”

“Yes you are, I gave you this chance as a favor to Donnie. He seems to have taken an interest in Lin and I’d prefer not to do anything to muddy that relationship.

Price smiled, “Heh, so Donnie’s got a girlfriend now. I’m happy for him.” His smile quickly faded as he had something else to say. “Since you did right by Donnie, I’ll give you this warning. Between us, the Vice Kings and the Carnales, we’re the weakest of the three. You Saints may have gotten stronger after takin’ us out, but will it be enough to stand against the other two?”

“We’ll find out,” Starlight shrugged.

“Anyway, can you take me back to the mansion while I call what’s left of my boys our last meeting?” Price asked.

“Sure, also, if you’re looking for work after this Mr. Wong could use a man with your skillset. He might also have use for whoever still follows you after you disband.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Author's Note

This wraps up the Rollerz arc. The chapter got a little long and I considered splitting it into two, but I wasn't confident I would have enough I would have enough content for one of them. Hopefully I can avoid making future chapters this long. No promises. :twilightsmile:

Wrath of the Sun

After his surrender to Starlight and Paul, Price was driven back to the mansion. On the way, he called everyone who remained of the Westside Rollerz and had them meet him back at the mansion for a very important meeting.

After an hour, Price began what was to be their final meeting to announce that the Rollerz would be disbanded, effective immediately. This meant that everyone would have to either drop their flags or find another gang to join. Some members were confused by this while others could see the truth for what it was: The Saints had beaten them.

Among the ones who dropped their flags, one member was feeling very resentful for what happened. He couldn’t believe this was happening. The same bitch who cut off his hand had also brought his gang to ruin. From that day he swore his vendetta to Starlight in silence as he dropped his flags and went into hiding.

After the announcement, Price had left to go find Donnie. Starlight returned home where her parents greeted her.

“So, is it done?” Johnny asked.

Starlight nodded, “Yep, the Rollerz are just a memory now.”

“Julius will be glad to know that.”

“You should take a day off from working with the Saints to unwind,” Aisha offered. “Better yet, a week.”

Starlight hummed, “A week is tempting, but if we don’t push against the Vice Kings or the Carnales soon, they might come to us first. I think we can afford a day though.”

“Then let’s have a family outing. It’ll be good for all of us, especially since I have to return to the studio in a couple of days.” Aisha was not looking forward to that.

“If it makes you feel any better, mom, I got the deed to a mansion on Misty Lane,” Starlight offered.

“We, uh, won it in a lottery,” Johnny lied. However, Aisha saw through that lie quickly.

“Johnny, if you’re gonna lie, make sure the other person doesn’t know you that well. It doesn’t take a genius to know Starlight swiped the place from the Rollerz. While I’m not all that comfortable moving into a place that was once a gang headquarters, it’s still better than where we’re living now.”

Johnny’s embarrassment was compounded by his daughter giving him an ‘I told you so’ look.

Aisha continued, “After our outing tomorrow, I’m gonna start gathering some boxes for us to put our stuff in. I’m also going to check out the mansion and see what we keep and what we sell.”

“Sounds good to me,” Johnny said.

“I’ll call Paul and tell him he can do whatever he wants for tomorrow,” Starlight offered.

The next day was filled with activity as the three went to have lunch at some uptown restaurant followed by a movie at Max Visions Theater in Humbolt Park. They decided on ‘The Gods Hate Kansas’. After that they went to the Stilwater Science Center where Starlight had a blast while Johnny was bored out of his mind until some random passerby started hitting on his daughter which ended up with the poor guy on the receiving end of her father’s fist-fueled catharsis and the family having to leave quickly before the cops came.

After a dinner at a place of Johnny’s choice, which he picked Freckle Bitch’s, much to Aisha’s exasperation, the three returned home to prepare for tomorrow.

The next day, Starlight did her morning rituals before heading back to work with her father while Aisha began making preparations for their move.

At the church, the other Saints were going about their business while Johnny made himself comfortable behind his desk in a room that had a number of Aisha’s posters on the walls. He avoided putting the more questionable ones up because Starlight wasn’t ready to see those yet.

Since Paul hadn’t checked in yet, Starlight decided to pass the time listening to her music for about an hour before Julius came into the room. Starlight put her headphones away to pay attention to her leader.

“You did fine work takin’ out the Rollerz, Starlight, but now it’s time we moved on to bigger fish. We still got King and the Lopez brothers to deal with. It’s time we started movin’ on one of them. Who are you plannin’ on goin’ after next?”

Starlight pondered on that for a few moments. However, she already knew who she planned to target next. “The Vice Kings have been a thorn in mom’s side for too long, so Paul and I are taking them next.”

“Alright, Johnny and Dex will tell you everything we know about who King surrounds himself with.”

As Julius left, Paul approached her. Starlight quickly noticed that her friend looked like he just got out of bed while holding his head as if he was nursing a headache. “What happened to you?” Starlight asked.

“Overslept and I have a hangover. Since we were taking a break yesterday, I spent it taking part in the demolition derby. I won first place and celebrated with a night of drinking.”

“Well, congratulations on winning the derby. I hope you are still in a decent fighting condition because we’re about to go after the Vice Kings.”

“Ugh…alright, let’s do this.” Despite his willingness to get the day started, it was obvious that Paul was very hung over and Starlight was concerned that it might hinder his performance today.

Starlight wasn’t sure about his effectiveness while in that state so she turned to one of the thugs nearby. “Hey! Bring me a shot glass, an egg, a bottle of worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and a bottle of Tabasco Sauce.” She handed the thug some money for the groceries. “Please hurry!”

The thug ran off and returned fifteen minutes later with the requested items. She put the glass on a table before taking an egg from a carton and breaking it, placing the raw yolk into the glass. She then added the other ingredients before handing the glass to Paul. “Drink this.”

“What the fuck is that?” Paul asked.

“It’s a hangover remedy. I could have added tomato juice to it to make it look less disgusting but I felt that you needed to learn a lesson on not overdoing a night of revelry when you have things to do the next day.”

“I ain’t drinkin’ that.”

“Don’t blame me if you get gunned down by some common thug just because you couldn’t think straight with your headache.”

As much as he wanted to protest further, Paul’s headache was painful enough to be a distraction he didn’t need. In the end, he acquiesced to his friend’s offer. “Fine!” he grumbled. Paul pinched his nose and threw back the glass. It was as disgusting as he imagined it would be and more. The taste wasn’t too bad but the slimy texture alone would serve as a reminder to control his drinking in the future. The remedy helped a little, enough that he felt that he could fight effectively despite the headache.

With that done, Starlight led Paul to Johnny’s office where he and Dex were waiting for them. “What kept ya?” Johnny asked.

“Nothing important,” Starlight dismissed. “What do we need to know about the Vice Kings?”

“First, you should know about the kind of man we’re up against. The Vice Kings are named after their leader, Benjamin King. That don’t happen unless you’re a professional or a badass and in King’s case, he’s both. Then you got Tanya Winters who runs King’s sex trade and Warren Williams, their numbers guy. Thing is, Tanya’s leadin’ most of the higher ups by their cocks, including King’s enforcer, Anthony Green. About the only one Tanya isn’t manipulating is King.

“Sounds like this Tanya person is setting things up to stage a coup against King,” Starlight noted.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured too,” Dex affirmed.

Starlight remembered something else that she overheard from Troy a while ago. He mentioned something about Monroe and most of the precinct being bribed by King which meant that it won’t just be the gang they will have to contend with. She would have to plan her next steps more carefully this time.

Johnny continued his explanation, “Anyways, from what Julius told me, the VKs were started decades ago by him and King in order to drive out the Carnales. They succeeded, but that’s when things turned sour for Julius when he saw the gang he built with King turn into another group lookin’ to control the city, makin’ them no better than the Carnales. Seein’ this, Julius dropped his flags and went into hiding for a while until he started the Saints.

“Makes me wonder how Julius feels about King now,” Starlight wondered.

“Who kn–” Johnny’s phone suddenly rang. He looked at the caller ID to find that it was his wife calling. “Hang on, your mother’s callin’.” He answered, “Aisha, what’s goin’ on?” His cheerful expression quickly dropped to a concerned frown. “Whoa, slow down. Okay, that’s not slower, that’s louder. Shit! Where are they headed? Don’t worry, we got this.” He ended the call.

“What’s up?” Dex asked.

“Some muthafuckas grabbed Aisha’s sister right off the street!”

“WHAT!?” Starlight shouted.

Starlight’s mind briefly turned to her aunt Delilah who was always supportive of her sister and helped her to stay on the straight path to become the person she was today. She often visited and played with Starlight as she was growing up. She also curbed Starlight’s tendencies to be more like her father. It worked to some extent as she never turned out as violent as her father was, though she did find her own way to be a menace to her enemies.

Starlight loved her aunt dearly and was about as close to her as she was with her parents. Because of this, things were going to get messy today.

“Shit man, that’s the sixth girl this month.” Dex said. “We know who’s doing this?”

“Yeah, the Vice Kings,” Johnny accused.

“No way man, kidnapping ain’t King’s style.”

“Probably that slut Tanya goin’ behind King’s back, wouldn’t be surprised.” Johnny turned to Starlight and Paul. “Change of plans. Aisha said they were drivin’ a yellow sedan. If that ain’t more proof that it’s them, I don’t know what is. Meet me at my car nearby. We’re tailin’ those fuckers to find out where they’re keepin’ the girls and getting them back.”

As the three were leaving, Dex put a hand on Paul’s shoulder to stop him for a moment. “Keep an eye on those two, they look really pissed and I don’t want them going too far with their rampage.” Paul nodded and left.

A few minutes later, the three entered Johnny’s Venom sports car. “Let’s go.” Starlight coldly stated.

Johnny drove around casually while looking for any yellow sedans who might be around. Thankfully they didn’t have to wait long as they quickly spotted the vehicle. Johnny tailed the VK car to an old warehouse. They spotted the driver leaving his car and opening the passenger door and pulling out a dark-skinned woman wearing a strapless top that showed her love for Aisha on it.

Seeing the way the guy was forcefully marching Delilah into the warehouse while hitting her in the head with his pistol set Starlight over the edge.

Johnny stopped his car beside the sedan before Starlight quickly got out. She unsheathed her wado ichimonji and pulled out an SMG. Her gaze promised blood. “Stay here,” she ordered. Paul got chills when he heard that while Johnny was disappointed that he was going to miss the coming slaughter. He figured that Starlight needed some stress relief to help her calm down.

The next two minutes were a cacophony of pained screams as Starlight cut down the thugs who dared to abduct her aunt. She wasn’t about to allow the condemned to fight back so she used her magic to force their weapons out of their hands. She didn’t want this to be a battle, this was to be an execution.

After turning the warehouse into a bloodbath, Starlight found a locked door in the back. She knocked on it to see if her aunt was there. “Aunt Delilah? Are you in there?”

“Starlight? Is that you?” Delilah asked.

“Yeah, I cleared the warehouse of your kidnappers. Is there anyone else with you?”

“Just me and two other girls. The one who was leading these guys was dressed like a pimp. He’s got the key to the door. I heard that he was planning on going to Tee’N’Ay.”

Starlight looked around the body count she had made and didn’t see anyone wearing pimp clothes so she figured that the pimp went to the place Delilah mentioned. She wasn’t sure what Tee’N’Ay was though.

“Alright, I’ll be back with the key. If it’s not me but someone wearing a purple shirt, you can trust them.” Starlight figured that she was probably not going to be coming back to the warehouse if she got her hands on the pimp who led this kidnapping ring, so she would entrust this to Paul.

Starlight then teleported her shotgun and a few rounds into the holding cell. “If they are wearing yellow, use that for self-defense,” she instructed.

“Huh? How did all this just appear in here?” However, Delilah’s question went unanswered as her niece ran out of the warehouse and jumped into her father’s car.

“The leader went to Tee’N’Ay,” Starlight informed Paul and Johnny.

“Gotcha!” Johnny put the car in reverse and quickly drove all the way back to the road which scared nearby drivers. He knew of a Tee’N’Ay one block over so they checked it out.

As Starlight got out of the car, Johnny and Paul also got out. “Wait out here,” Starlight ordered.

“Not gonna happen, little missy,” Johnny countered. “One, I wanna mess up this guy’s face before you do whatever you intend to do to him. Two, your mother would make me sleep on the couch for a week if she found out I let you walk into a strip joint unattended.”

Starlight gave her father a scandalized look, “Wait, that’s what Tee’N’Ay is?!” While she had received sex education recently, it was still an uncomfortable topic for her, but one that she felt that she would get used to before long.

“Let’s go,” Johnny said before the three of them entered the place. A bouncer looked ready to deny them entry but he wasn’t wearing yellow so he could be someone neutral.

However, even if he was neutral, that didn’t exempt him from getting floored by Johnny and knocked out cold. “Look at that, sleepin’ on the job,” he quipped.

Inside, the strip bar was lacking in sex workers but there were a few Vice King thugs inside, one of them was dressed in a luxurious yellow coat with a fur collar, a typical look for a pimp, which meant that he was their target.

Paul and Johnny made short work of the thugs while Starlight guarded the entrance to make sure the pimp didn’t escape. The pimp was then forced onto the floor on his stomach by her father. “You made a big mistake kidnappin’ my sister in law. I would have looked for better ways to fuck you VKs over than to deal with you, but you fucked up real bad.”

Making good on his promise, Johnny rolled the pimp onto his back before he smashed his face with a baseball bat. The impact knocked out a few teeth and broke his nose, leaving him in need of plastic surgery if he ever survived today. After breaking his fingers and another hit to the head, the guy was knocked out cold.

Paul grabbed whatever sturdy material he could find to make a rope with it and tie up the pimp. Johnny picked up the unconscious man and carried him outside to his car.

“Trunk?” Johnny asked.

“Trunk,” Starlight affirmed.

Before he did that, Starlight rifled through the pimp’s pockets and found the key to the warehouse door. She tossed the key to Paul. “Take my aunt and the girls to the church,” Starlight ordered. Paul nodded and went off to find a car to hijack.

Johnny then stuffed the pimp into his trunk and the two jumped into the car. “Let’s take him to Mr. Wong’s place.” Starlight offered.

On their way to Chinatown, Starlight called Julius to let him know that Bavogian Plaza, which was where the warehouse and strip bar were located, was ripe for the taking. She then placed a call to Mr. Wong to inform him that they were bringing someone who needed to be punished while pointing out his crimes.

After a few minutes, Starlight and Johnny arrived at Wong’s manor where they dragged the pimp who regained consciousness inside.

Wong awaited them in the foyer with his translator whose leg was in a cast.

“This is the one who kidnapped someone under my protection?” Wong asked.

“Fuck you, old man!” the pimp snapped. “I ain’t afraid of you or the Saints. Tanya don't give a shit about who's under your protection. To her, you're just some washed up Triad from the past who still thinks himself a big shot. You ain't shit!”

Wong frowned, “Disrespectful of his elders as well as women? It would seem that you are in dire need of discipline. This seems to be a good first task for my newest enforcer.”

The elder called for someone to enter the room. To Starlight’s and Johnny’s surprise, that enforcer turned out to be Joseph Price. The former Rollerz leader bowed respectfully to his new boss as part of his training. “What do you need, Mr. Wong?”

“This man in yellow is in need of strict discipline and I task you with delivering it to him however you see fit.”

Seeing the colors of a rival gang and the go-ahead to do to him as he pleased brought a wicked grin on the man’s face. “With pleasure, Mr. Wong.” He then grabbed the man by his velvet robes and dragged him into another room.

Wong then turned to the family duo. “Thank you for delivering this matter to me. Go and make sure that your aunt is alright.”

Starlight and Johnny bowed respectfully and left the manor. On the ride back home, Johnny voiced his thoughts, “Kinda wish I coulda done more to him, but this’ll do. Once we make sure Delilah is alright, let’s check on your mother and tell her the good news. I’m sure this’ll be the last straw for her. In which case, I think tomorrow we should really make her day and finally execute that plan of yours.”

Starlight smiled, “Finally!”

Boom

Following the take down of the Vice King’s kidnapping ring, and the takeover of Rebadeaux, Delilah, Starlight’s aunt, decided to spend the next couple of weeks at the mansion her sister’s family was in the process of moving into. Wong also hired a few bodyguards to protect her in case the Vice Kings tried to kidnap her again.

Starlight had managed to calm down after the incident. The next day at the church, Starlight noticed that Paul seemed a little nervous when he saw her again. Starlight was curious about the man’s expression so she asked him, “What’s with the look?”

“You are scary as fuck when you’re pissed off, girl! I saw what you did in that warehouse. It was so bad that I had to blindfold your aunt and those girls to spare them the trauma.”

Starlight chuckled nervously, “Maybe I did get a little carried away…”

Paul spread his arms in exasperation, “Ya think?! Anyways, you and Johnny said you wanted to take care of your mom’s stalker today. What do you know about him?”

“Not much, he started stalking her a month after her first album went public. She receives occasional creepy calls. I started tapping the calls to find out more about him but all he did was make a bunch of sounds like he completely forgot what he was going to say the moment mom said ‘hello’. She also mentioned that someone in a van had been tailing her car sometimes. Mom finally decided to stop answering every call that the Caller ID didn’t identify.

“One time I followed mom to the studio and saw a man in a yellow suit. One of the staff called him Mr. Williams so I’m guessing that was Warren, their numbers guy. I spoke to him about the stalker but he told me that they didn’t have time to be dealing with every lovesick fool who tailed her. Then he insulted me for being a fan of some small-time street gang because he thought I dyed my hair purple. I’m gonna remember that when I see him again.”

“Hey, you got a moment?” Lin suddenly called out as she walked toward them.

“Whatcha need, Lin?”

“A friend of mine needs some help with a project. Remember Samson? He heard what you did for Dennis and he was wondering if you would do the same for him.”

“Sure, we’ll visit him when we have the time.”

“Thanks.” Lin walked away.

Before Starlight could continue voicing her revenge plot against Warren Williams, her phone rang. Her ID showed Wong’s number. “What do you need, Mr. Wong?”

“Could I trouble you for a moment of your time? One of my associates has a problem that requires someone of your skillset. His name is Marcel and said he will be at the Sea Roses Pub in Shivington in a few hours to await my response.”

“Sure, I’ll meet him later.”

“Thank you for doing this for me.” The call ended.

“Looks like our popularity’s rising,” Paul quipped.

“We can deal with those matters after we execute the plan. Let’s go check on daddy before more people come or call asking for favors.”

As they entered the office, Starlight and Paul were greeted with something that felt like a cliche office romance as they walked in on Johnny and Aisha making out, each sharing a passionate kiss.

Starlight groaned as she witnessed the scene. “Seriously, you two?” This caused the couple to freeze and hastily break away, which also caused Johnny to trip over his chair and fall on his back on the floor.

“I dunno, office romances aren’t all that bad,” Paul commented, earning him a deadpan look from his partner in crime.

While Johnny was working on getting back on his feet, Aisha apologized, “Sorry about that, I got a little too excited at the thought of finally being rid of two of my biggest problems today and one thing led to another.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, “Let’s just get this show on the road.”

“Right, Eesh has a recording session in a few minutes so we gotta make her disappear and send the Vice Kings a nice ‘fuck you’ on top of that,” Johnny informed. “And Starlight’s the one with the plan so she can tell you all about it.”

“Alright, so to begin with…” Starlight began.

A few minutes later, Starlight, Paul and Aisha hopped into Aisha’s car. Paul took the wheel and drove them to Samson’s garage. The mechanic was known for his skill in rigging car bombs. The only downside to his work was that his car bombs tended to be unstable so any reckless driving would lead to an explosive end for the driver and passengers.

The drive to the shop was uneventful, though Starlight did catch a glimpse of a van parking on the side of the street as they entered the garage.

Samson, a dark-skinned man wearing a hunter green tank top and his hair done in dreadlocks, was just finishing up on whatever he was working on as some customers arrived. “Hey, Starlight, Paul, wassup? How did you like my last masterpiece?”

“It was as spectacular as I was hoping for Samson. You ready for your next work?”

“Hell yeah! Wait, isn’t that your mom’s car? Isn’t that your mom inside?” Samson asked.

“Yep, it’s all part of my big plan to save her from the Vice Kings.”

“If you say so. By the way, did Lin tell you about my latest project?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing you want me to do you the same favor I did for Dennis?”

“Would you do that for me? I got the list in the back. Take a look while I get to work.”

Starlight quickly found the list that Samson was referring to. She and Paul took a look at the contents of the list and found that there would be some challenges ahead.

First was a Cavallaro domestic sedan which wouldn’t be hard to find, neither would the Keystone sedan wagon, Nordberg SUV, nor the Nelson luxury car, since the downtown area was the best place to find luxury cars. However, the Keystone would require a retro spoiler, the Nordberg would need a sports spoiler and the Nelson would need a street spoiler.

The Quota was a peculiar vehicle that ran on three wheels and only had room for one person. It was like someone installed a small booth on a motorized tricycle. It was also a civic vehicle typically driven by meter maids.

Starlight could only facepalm as she noticed that Samson had also requested one of the FBI’s SUVs. She would have to find a way to enrage the law enforcement again, but she wasn’t about to get Laura involved in that mess again. She had been through enough.

The Mag SUV wouldn’t be easy to find, but the Bulldog SUV would be a challenge since that was rarely seen anywhere in Stilwater. The Mag needed off road bumpers and off road rims while the Bulldog needed a luxury body and stylish rims.

Starlight folded up the list and put it in her pocket while they waited for Samson to finish.

It took about half an hour for Samson to rig the car with explosives, while Aisha had to assure her producers that she was only running late and would be there soon. She also received some anonymous calls which she guessed were from her stalker, but she ignored those.

Once the car was ready, Samson had to warn them that they didn’t have a lot of time and that the explosives weren’t stable so they had to be careful to avoid any collisions.

As they drove out of the garage, Starlight noticed that the van was still there. She could see through the van’s windshield and noticed that there were a number of monitors installed in the back of the vehicle. The driver didn’t look remarkable, just some mediocre person with glasses.

“Aisha, why do you never return my calls?” the guy spoke out loud. “That thug is no good for you. I know I can treat you and your daughter right, better than he ever could.”

Starlight didn’t pick up on what the guy said but she was fairly certain that the guy was the stalker. “That him?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Honestly, I’m kinda disappointed. He just looks like some lovesick fan.”

Aisha shrugged, “Most stalkers tend to be obsessive fans who don’t get out much.”

While the stalker continued looking at Aisha, he didn’t notice that Paul had left the car and went all the way around the van to meet the stalker from behind. He knocked on the driver side window to get the man’s attention. At first the guy mistook Paul for a cop since he wasn’t aware of his surroundings so he lowered his window to address the man. The stalker noticed that he wasn’t wearing a uniform so he assumed he was some guy wanting something from him. “What do you want?” he asked.

The last thing he saw before black overtook his vision was Paul’s fist.

Starlight got out of the car while Paul pulled the man out. “Can’t believe this loser was the one giving my mom grief all this time.” Her hand glowed, showing that she was casting a spell. “Well, at least I can come back here later and salvage whatever tech he left behind.”

“What do you plan to do with that?” Paul asked.

“Probably hack into the FBI again. Gonna see if I can troll that one agent who found me snooping last time.”

“You need to find a hobby,” Paul remarked.

Once the spell took hold, the stalker got back on his feet and trudged to Aisha’s car where he got into the driver’s seat. Starlight had Laserbeak summon her car and the two were on their way to the studio with Paul at the wheel.

On the way, they spotted a fuel truck that made a bad turn and blocked off the closest road to the northern island along with a couple of police cars who were investigating the incident.

“We don’t have time for a detour. Paul, take care of this,” Starlight ordered. “I need to concentrate on the spell.”

Shrugging, Paul pulled out an assault rifle and a bottle of liquor with a cloth in the mouth. He then fired on the fuel truck’s container to create a few holes for the gasoline to leak through before lighting the molotov and tossing it at the growing puddle.

In a moment, a huge explosion rocked the area that likely incinerated the truck driver and the cops around the truck. Starlight was glad that the blast didn’t do much damage to the bridge, at least. “Crude, but effective.” They then continued across the bridge, avoiding any burning debris.

“That’s my usual way of dealing with obstacles,” Paul remarked.

Starlight scoffed, “Are you sure you aren’t some long-lost brother of mine? You sound like daddy when you say things like that.”

They soon arrived at Kingdom Come Records where Starlight had Paul park at a safe place away from the studio while Aisha left her car and entered the building with the stalker following her moments later.

Aisha walked up to the desk clerk who noticed the arrival of their company’s starlet. “Running a little late today?” he asked.

“Hey now, you gotta look good to sound good,” Aisha preened.

“Want me to let ‘em know you’re in?”

“Would you do that for me?”

The receptionist picked up the phone and dialed his boss’s number. He waited a moment for the other party to pick up before he informed him, “She’s here, Mr. Will–.”

As he said that, several gunshots rang through the lobby. The receptionist watched in horror as he saw Aisha gasping as her clothes sported growing crimson stains. She collapsed a moment later.

The receptionist was now panicked as he saw the man with glasses pointing a gun at her, telling him that the man was the killer. “Mr. Williams, call an ambulance! Aisha’s been shot!” he screamed into the phone.

The haze suddenly cleared from the stalker’s mind where he witnessed the scene before him. He saw the gun in his hand and put two and two together which had him panicking. “Oh my God! What have I done!?”

A few moments later, while the two were panicking about what happened, Aisha’s body suddenly vanished. That was the last thing the two ever saw before a huge explosion in front of the building went off and demolished the towering building. Flames soon engulfed the studio. By the time the rescue crews arrived, there wasn’t much of the studio left to save. The crews would later declare that there were no survivors.

In a building a safe distance from the blast, Starlight and Paul observed the studio going up in flames. Paul whistled in awe. “Damn, Samson does good work.”

“All according to plan…” Starlight preened.

“Could you have timed that a split second later?” Aisha sarcastically remarked as she got up from the floor. She wasn’t happy that she was covered in fake blood, but she was still glad that her troubles had gone up in smoke. She observed the damage with the two. “It almost feels like a nightmare coming to an end when I look at it.”

“Seems my talents in arts and crafts paid off here, huh mom?” Starlight asked.

Aisha sighed, “I have no idea how you managed to make such a realistic fake gun, but I’m even more curious as to how you managed to synthesize all that fake blood for this.”

Starlight shrugged, “What can I say? I’m a girl of many talents.”

“You are forty flavors of insanity is what you are,” Paul commented.

“Takes one to know one, mister throws-himself-into-traffic-for-a-quick-buck,” Starlight shot back.

“Well, you are certainly multi-talented,” Aisha pointed out. “Though I can’t help but feel like I reenacted that one rapper from that animated sitcom.”

“You mean The Boondocks?” Paul asked. “I saw that too. That rapper was weird, he got shot a lot and survived each time.“

“Anyways, Johnny will be coming to pick me up soon. Good thing we brought a change of clothes since I need to make myself look as inconspicuous as possible until the Vice Kings are eliminated. You two should go pay a visit to my lawyer, Legal Lee, and tell him what happened. He will get the life insurance company to pay out on my policy. We can use that to make any necessary renovations to the mansion.”

“Alright, we’ll take care of it. Take care of yourself, mom.”

The two didn’t have to go very far since Legal Lee’s office was in the Adept Way neighborhood which was next to their current location, Union Square.

As they headed for Adept Way, Starlight received a call from her father, telling her that he was coming with a crew to pick Aisha up. It was decided that the Saints would move on Union Square during the chaos caused by the destruction of one of the VK’s main holdings. This also allowed the Saints to gain a foothold in the downtown area of Stilwater.

They soon reached the lawyer’s office and entered. The lawyer was a dark-skinned man wearing a black shirt under a yellowish beige suit and tie as well as a pair of glasses. Why he would choose that color, neither Starlight nor Paul would ever know.

Lee was talking to someone on the phone as the two entered. "How many times do I have to explain it to you Miss Jackson, do not walk around without wearing your neck brace. If someone catches you it could severely hurt our chances in court. Just remember: the whiplash has caused excruciating, chronic pain. You got that? Good. Have a good day Miss Jackson."

After ending his call, Lee turned his attention to the two. “What can I do for you, Miss Starlight?”

“Guess my parents told you about me,” Starlight figured. “Anyways, the nearby studio that was blown up, you heard that, right?”

“I did hear the explosion, I take it there’s some legal matters to take care of in regard to that?”

“Sort of, my mother, Aisha, was ‘caught up in the blast and was killed’.” she informed, while using air quotes. “I also heard that she was shot in the back by her stalker before the blast.”

Lee could tell from her body language that Starlight meant that Aisha had faked her death, probably to get out of her recording contract. She was probably here to collect on the life insurance policy. Well, this wasn’t the first time he helped someone defraud an insurance company. “Alright, I’ll handle the matters of the insurance policy. While I’m doing that, perhaps you two might assist me with another matter related to insurance. I heard about what you did to help Seth.”

Starlight had a good idea where Lee was going with this and she still felt a little uncomfortable about it. However, Paul seemed up to the task so who was she to deny him this so-called pleasure in life. “If it’s what I think it is, then Paul here is your man.”

“I take it he was the one who did this before? Very well, I’ll get you set up for this then you may do as you wish.”

“Have fun, Paul. I’m going to pay a visit to Mr. Wong’s associate, then head home.”

“You’re still associated with Mr. Wong?” Lee asked.

“He’s been good to me so it’s only right that I return the favor,” Starlight responded. She left the office in her car and headed for Shivington in the western central part of the city.

The neighborhood was a fairly large one and had few places of note since it was in the ghettos. Starlight’s destination was the Sea Roses Pub in the center of the neighborhood. Once she arrived, she went inside to find the guy she was looking for. Her entry earned her a few stares from the bar patrons but she paid them no mind.

“What’s a kid doin’ here?” one of the patrons asked.

“I’m looking for Marcel. I’m on business from Mr. Wong,” Starlight answered.

The patrons looked at each other and wondered whether they should answer that. However, a voice from another part of the tavern called her to him. “Over here.” Starlight then headed over to take a seat next to the man. The man wore an orange and brown jacket over a white t-shirt and a pair of glasses that made him look like a college student.

“You’re Marcel?” Starlight asked.

“Yeah, I take it you’re the one Mr. Wong sent? Aren’t you a little young to be doing dirty work?” Marcel asked.

“Is your situation not so dire that you can choose who handles your issue?” Starlight countered.

“Fair enough.” Marcel passed a list over to her containing eight names and their descriptions. “One of my homies is in trouble and I need your help. He’s got a big court case comin’ up and the prosecutor has a whole line of witnesses that could put him away. Needless to say, that ain’t gonna happen if you have anything to say about it. I don’t care how you do it, but they can’t be allowed to attend that trial. You know what I’m sayin’?”

“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for those people.”

“Thanks. It means a lot to me.”

Starlight then left the pub and went to her car before taking a look at the list of targets. First was a bouncer named Dick. He looked tough. Next was an old man named Marty; he shouldn’t be too difficult. Then there was a businessman named Richard followed by a chauffeur named Henry. Next was some western wannabe named Billy Bob and a hustler named Don. The last two were a delivery truck driver named Hank and a meter maid named Louise.

She put the list away and started her car, heading home. Now that her family was secured from the Vice Kings, she was planning on causing the gang all sorts of grief, starting tomorrow.

Pawn Takes Rook

The day after the destruction of Kingdom Come Records, which freed her mother from their binding contract and the terror of her stalker, Starlight prepared for another round of weakening the Vice Kings’ grip on Stilwater.

As she was leaving, she overheard her parents discussing a celebratory dinner for her newfound freedom. Johnny wasn’t certain it was a good idea for her to go out in public until the Vice Kings were brought down, but Aisha insisted on it.

Starlight left them to their discussions while she went into town to look for something to do while the Saints plotted their next move.

As she was driving around the western part of the city, she spotted an elderly man walking down the sidewalk. Remembering that there was an old man on the list, she brought it out and checked it against the old man. Sure enough, they matched.

Starlight had a few plans on dealing with the witnesses and she had more freedom to deal with them compared to Wong’s list. She exited her car and approached the elderly man.

“Excuse me,” Starlight called out. “Are you Marty?”

The old man stopped on hearing his name being called and turned to face the girl. “What’s a young whippersnapper like you want with me?”

Starlight figured that the elder wasn’t about to bow out of testifying against Marcel’s friend so easily, though she preferred not to cause harm to the elderly either. She wasn’t that cruel. Instead, she figured that a little deception would probably work on him.

“I’m with a group of volunteers going around reimbursing the witnesses for an upcoming court case. Apparently, the suspect was found dead in his cell a couple of days ago so we can’t hold the trial. I have been authorized to give five hundred dollars to each witness for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

“Really?” Marty asked. “Darn shame what happened to him. Kids these days are dying younger because of all that gang violence going around. I’d hate to see you get wrapped up in that. You look like a smart girl so I doubt you’d be dumb enough to get caught up in that.” Despite the irritation from that comment, Starlight maintained her facade. She was still a tiny but tempted to bop him on the head for that comment but she ignored that feeling.

Starlight handed Marty the five hundred and the two went their separate ways.

A few minutes later, Starlight received a call from her father, informing her that they decided on the fancy restaurant, Mikano’s, for dinner tonight. “Once you finish up with what you’re doin’ meet us at the restaurant downtown,” he added.

“Got it.” Starlight hung up and considered if she should go home early. However, her phone rang again. This time it was Julius. “Yeah?”

“Starlight, looks like our next target is Sunnyvale Gardens, mine and King’s old stompin’ grounds. Some of Warren Williams’ crew are gonna be meeting to discuss getting in on the drug trade. Take those muthafuckas out.”

“Really? Sounds like it would be a bad idea to branch out with us and the Carnales competing against them.”

“All the more reason to send that message and make sure it sticks. The meeting is in an abandoned loft overlookin’ a junkyard.” The call ended.

Hearing that the target location was a loft, Starlight had an idea. She then dialed Paul’s number. The man responded after two rings. “Hey Paul, you wouldn’t happen to have a sniper rifle handy, would you?”

“There’s my dad’s old hunting rifle that he doesn’t use anymore. Why?”

“Get it and meet me at the abandoned loft in Sunnyvale. You’re about to get some target practice.”

Half an hour later, the two met near the loft. They hid in a nearby building to see what they were up against. There were a fairly large number of thugs in the junkyard while some occupied the loft. They needed to secure the loft and the high ground before they could have a chance to clear out the yard.

“Here’s the plan,” Starlight began. “You hit them high and I’ll hit them low. Clear out the loft and take up a sniping position. Cover me while I deal with the ones in the yard. The entrance faces the street.”

“Got it,” Paul affirmed before heading around the meeting area toward the loft entrance. Kicking the door open, Paul entered the building, guns blazing as his pistol proved reliable in close quarters. He ascended the stairs of the building while taking out any Vice Kings as he went until he reached the top floor.

The apartment he entered was old and decrepit and there was a massive hole in the wall that overlooked the thug-infested yard where Starlight was lurking. It was the perfect spot for sniping.

After clearing out the apartment, Paul pulled out the hunting rifle and took aim at the yellow tide below.

Starlight waited patiently for a signal for Paul, which was when she realized that she forgot to come up with a signal. However, she trusted that Paul would come up with something that would let her know to begin her attack.

A loud bang sounded from the loft that gave Starlight a clear idea that she should begin. As a thought on the side, she considered helping Paul get a proper sniper rifle that wouldn’t give away his position because there was no room for subtlety with that rifle. Since his birthday was in a few weeks, she mentally patted herself on the back for coming up with his present so soon.

The first shot and the first dead got the attention of the Vice Kings in an instant. One thug screamed “Sniper!” before everyone took cover behind the junk between them and the loft where they spotted Paul. Another was dropped before all of them were covered.

With their attention on Paul, Starlight snuck in and stealthily took out the Vice Kings from behind with her sword. There were a few who noticed Starlight, but that distracted them from Paul who took the shot and ended them.

Just as the yard was nearly cleared, several VK cars entered the yard and began shooting at Starlight who was forced to take cover. The reinforcements were taken out one by one by Paul until they decided to take cover.

With stealth no longer on the table, Starlight started using her guns to take out the Vice Kings. She saw one thug fire an RPG at Paul so she quickly grabbed the explosive in her magic and redirected it at one of the enemy cars, blowing it up along with the thugs standing next to it. She then focused on the thugs who brought RPGs while she trusted Paul to watch her back.

After a few minutes, the small warzone was filled with the bodies of yellow-wearing hoodlums while Starlight had a few scratches from bullets that grazed her. They would heal and would serve to get her to think up better strategies than the one she used today.

Paul soon returned to Starlight. He noticed her state which wasn’t surprising after having to fight an army of thugs. The only time the Rollerz were ever that numerous was when they attacked that truck yard. “Guess even you couldn’t escape that situation unscathed,” he commented.

“I got careless and should have considered the possibility of reinforcements. I won’t make that mistake twice.”

“Yeah, this reminds me of my high school prom when the punch got spiked with ecstasy. Things got wild after that. I was the only one who didn’t drink the punch and watched the show from the rafters.”

“You didn’t…” Starlight began warily.

Paul held his hands in front of him to assuage her, “No no, I just saw the guy who did it and knew what was about to happen. I wasn’t popular in high school so I couldn’t just tell them not to drink it.”

“I see, well I have a dinner to get to so we will have to call this an early day. Feel free to do whatever you want, just don’t binge drink again. Save it for after the VKs and Carnales are finished.”

While Starlight was prepared to end their operations for tonight, there was still plenty of daylight left and Paul wasn’t ready to head home. He would be restless for the rest of the night if he didn’t have his fill of fun.

He then spotted a Cavallaro parked in the nearby street and remembered that Samson wanted one. He figured that his day without Starlight would start there.

After delivering the vehicle, Paul decided to wander around the red light district until he walked past the local Tee’N’Ay where he and Starlight dealt with a VK pimp the other day.

A bouncer outside the strip joint spotted him and called out to him. “Hey, are you with the Saints?” Paul nodded. “Good, my boss, Samantha, is lookin’ for someone who isn’t affiliated with those yellow fuckers who caused trouble for her to help her recoup the losses she incurred by them. Name’s Bruno, by the way. We need someone to drive my boss’s girls around to give our high-paying clients private sessions. You game?”

Paul didn’t like the first time he had to drive girls around so they could tickle people’s fetishes and that wasn’t about to change. However, the cut he received from Helmers was still considerable. Say what you will about the slob, but he paid well. As long as they did too, he would go along with it so he nodded to the bouncer.

Bruno led Paul inside the club to discuss the details of the job. However, the bouncer had to deal with a paparazzi who was taking pictures of his boss who wore very nearly nothing. He grabbed the photographer’s camera and yanked it out of his hands and threw the guy to the floor. “No fucking cameras!”

“Please, I-I-I thought,” the paparazzi stuttered.

“You thought you could come in here and get a story, but let me tell you somethin’ that ain’t gonna happen. Now get the hell out!” Bruno then threw the photographer toward the entrance.

“You’re gonna wish you never did that, when my lawyers get through-” was all the paparazzi said before Paul punched him out.

“Nice! Thanks for saving me the trouble,” Bruno thanked.

After Paul got the details from Samantha, his dirty job began.

Meanwhile, Starlight arrived at Mikano’s restaurant where Johnny was waiting for her. It took her some time to get ready since she needed to dress for the occasion and she was glad that the money she made so far, especially the wealth she stole from William Sharp, allowed her to afford some brand name dresses and cosmetics. She was careful to disinfect and apply ointment to her shallow wounds before applying makeup because she didn’t want to end up sick the next day.

Johnny had also dressed up, though his choice in outfits was barely passable by the staff, but they weren’t about to call him on it because of his reputation. He smiled as she walked up to him. “Thanks for waiting, dad,” Starlight said.

“Hey pumpkin, I see you took your dog off the leash for a few hours.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, “He’s a friend, not a pet, dad.”

“Just jokin’ sweetie, though you gotta admit that he doesn’t do much by himself unless you tell him.”

“Hopefully he’s doing things for himself right now. It’d be disappointing if he just went home after we parted ways. Anyways, let’s find mom before she gets mad at both of us.”

A couple of hours later, Paul was getting out of the shower at home to try to feel clean again. He still felt a little dirty despite that, but he was now more restless than disgusted right now so he decided to go out and do more.

Paul was surprised when Samantha offered her services as an ally when he finished his job. Who knew the sex worker knew her way around an assault rifle. What was more shocking was that she was shameless enough to go around using it while committing indecent exposure.

Paul’s wandering led him downtown where he found a flyer requesting a driver. The location was a warehouse in Amberbrook in the Museum District. It seemed like another job for him and it would help get his mind off his impromptu lessons on kinks.

He later arrived at the warehouse and found the side entrance. He knocked on the door and it soon opened. Paul had a feeling that the guy on the other side of the door didn’t bother to check who it was which lowered his impression of him. “Come on in, bro,” he said.

Once inside, Paul noticed several tables with packages of what was most likely drugs. Seeing what he had and being so open about it made Paul wonder if the guy was an idiot, especially since he sent out fliers to advertise himself. He could only hope the guy wasn’t too stupid to live so he could receive his payment, at least.

“You here for the job?” he asked. Paul nodded. “Good, I’m Marvin. I ain't one to bullshit so
I'm gonna lay it all on the table for ya. I got the best goddamn product in Stilwater. Now see that's good, 'cause my buyers need this shit like porn stars need cock, but stealin' junkies away from other dealers has a tendency to create bad feelings, you know what I'm sayin'. You cover my ass while I'm slingin', and I'll make sure you see the green.”

Paul could only hope that this operation wouldn’t be as intense as when they helped Laura with her deliveries.

Unfortunately for Paul’s sanity, things did get intense as he found himself being chased around by what felt like the entire police force. The Vice Kings were at least as aggressive as the Rollerz were when it came to dealers like Marvin. During the route, Marvin also dropped the fact that he was on the FBI watch list like Laura was. It was déjà vu all over again and worse was the fact that he had to do this without Starlight. He swore that if he ever survived this that he would never knock Starlight’s strange powers.

However, there was a silver lining to all of this. When the FBI ended up trashing Marvin’s car, Paul took this opportunity to hijack an FBI SUV and was able to finish the route after leading Marvin through a Forgive and Forget.

The chaos caused by this incident struck fear in the Vice Kings and made them a little more hesitant to take him on in the future.

When he dropped the guy at the warehouse, Marvin had one last thing to say before they parted ways. “You did good out there, my man. Since you did right by me, I’ll throw you a little bonus to that fat stack I just gave you. I know you Saints are fuckin’ up the Vice Kings, so I’ll let you in on somethin’ interesting. That queen bitch of theirs runs a brothel in Prawn Court. Take that out and the VK will really be hurtin’.”

That was good information in Paul’s mind. This was a chance to take more territory from the Vice Kings and show Tanya that messing with the Saints was a bad idea.

Paul contemplated bringing Starlight along for this but he also considered that his friend was spending some quality time with her family and he didn’t want to butt in on that. Not to mention how invading a brothel would probably make Starlight a little uncomfortable since she was still a little too young for places like that.

After he dropped the SUV off at Samson's garage, Paul decided to call up a few of his fellow homies nearby and storm the brothel. It started with taking out a few yellow cars patrolling Prawn Court before his group of four busted in and started shooting anyone wearing yellow. Sadly, a few sex workers got caught in the crossfire while others huddled in the corner looking like they would be in need of therapy after this.

Once the brothel was secure, Paul sent a text to Julius to let him know that Prawn Court was ripe for the taking.

Several hours later, in a penthouse on Adept Way, three dark-skinned men were holding a meeting. One was muscular and wore a black t-shirt with a yellow stripe and a silver chain along with silver rings. The second was more scrawny and wore a yellow suit with a black shirt along with silver rings and chain. The third was more muscular than the second but not as much as the first. His suit was the inverse of the second’s suit.

“How much is the studio incident gonna set us back?” the third asked.

“The incident? I’m sorry. I thought some muthafuckas blew up my shit,” the second complained. “I didn’t realize it ain’t no thang.”

“How. Much,” the third repeated firmly.

“Including the loss of revenue from Aisha’s death, I’d say we’re talkin’ millions.”

“Okay. We got a few contractors that owe us. Convince them to hook us up. That takes care of the building. As for Aisha, throw together some memorial box set. People eat that shit up. That should recoup some of our losses. How’s Tanya’s side of things?”

“Grip is short, Mr. King,” the first answered.

The third, Benjamin King, frowned as he heard that, “I’m not happy, Anthony. You said she could handle it.”

“It’s not her fault, Mr. King,” the first, Anthony Green, defended. “The Saints have been fuckin’ with her.”

“You see what’s happenin’ here? The Saints took out the Rollerz and now they think they can step to us,” the second, Warren Williams, said.

“Everybody calm the fuck down,” King assuaged. “We ain’t gonna start a war every time some muthafuckas act hard. The Rollerz were just a bunch of racing junkies led around by some two bit lawyer. I let them stick around because they weren’t worth the bullets and their territory wasn’t worth taking.”

“We gotta talk about the Saints,” spoke a female voice. Said person entered the room wearing a small light gray bra top and short skirt as well as floral stockings.

“Thank you!” Warren called out.

The woman sat in Anthony’s lap while greeting the man with a sultry voice. She then turned to King. “They’ve taken Prawn Court.”

“How did this happen?” King asked.

“How the fuck you think it happened? Look, we need to get together here and just-” Warren shouted but was interrupted by King.

“What we need is for you to shut the fuck up, you feel me?”

“Yeah…” Warren mumbled.

“What?” King dangerously asked, getting out of his seat.

“Yes, Mr. King.”

King then sat back down to conclude the meeting. “I’ll have Monroe put some pressure on the Saints. While they’re distracted, it should be easy to take back what’s ours. Everything else is business as usual, understood? Now, this meeting is over.”

Knight Moves Forward

Paul was listening to some tracks at a Scratch That music store in Sommerset while Starlight was eagerly searching for the latest albums of her favorite artists. She loved her mother’s music, at least the ones her parents let her listen to, but she was not a one artist person.

“Starlight, you gotta listen to this track,” Paul said.

Starlight put on the headphones and listened to the sample song. While she could get into the rhythm of it, the song wasn’t something she would put on her favorites list. “Not bad,” she commented. Once the song ended, she put the headphones down and the two walked out of the store with their latest purchases.

Once they were in private, Starlight decided to ask what Paul did yesterday as she had heard that he had caused quite a commotion. As Paul explained his day, Starlight made sure to mark the Cavallaro and the FBI SUV off Samson’s list. She wasn’t so sure about calling up someone like Samantha for any future tasks but she would keep her in mind just in case.

Once Paul finished his tale, Starlight smiled proudly at her friend. “Impressive work! I knew you could do things without me. Though I am concerned that the Vice Kings are going to try something soon. They aren’t stupid like the Rollerz.” She shook her head, putting that thought on the back burner for now. “Anywho, I think you deserve a reward.”

Paul gave her a look of outrage, “Seriously? What do you think I am, a dog?”

Starlight pulled out a small catalog of mechanical designs. “You’re right, maybe I shouldn’t be rewarding you with your very own mechanical drone. I shouldn’t be treating you like a pet, after all.” She began putting the catalog away.

“Now hold on, maybe I can at least take a look and see what you have,” Paul hastily said. If he were honest, he was a little jealous of Starlight’s mechanical pet and had sometimes wondered what it would be like to have one.

Paul didn’t miss Starlight’s smirk so he rolled his eyes as he took the catalog. He looked through the few models available and was impressed with each one, but only one design looked like it suited his tastes. “How about this Ravage model?” he asked.

“That one, huh? I will need some car parts and weapons to build it. Select a paint job and I will have a project.”

Before Paul could choose, Starlight’s phone rang. The ID displayed her father’s number. “Hi daddy, what’s up?”

“Hey pumpkin, you might wanna head home early and lay low for a while. Looks like Monroe’s comin’ down hard on us.”

Starlight understood what was happening. Based on what she had seen from the police, Monroe wasn’t the type to suddenly come after the Saints on a whim, that would require encouragement from a third party and she knew who that party was.

It was unfortunate that Mr. Wong’s protection only offered limited protection from the police. If the cops were after her personally, things might get ugly for him since dealing with the city government was tricky business and could lead Mr. Wong to ruin.

“Alright, I’ll head home then.” She hung up.

“Trouble?” Paul asked.

Starlight nodded, “Yeah, looks like King’s sicced his police attack dog on us. We’ll need to be careful to avoid getting arrested.”

“Police attack dog? What are you talking about?”

“A reliable source of info I received told me that Police Chief Monroe is receiving kickbacks from King.”

“So we’re dealing with the Vice Kings who are backed by the pigs?”

Starlight nodded, “Yep, we will need to come up with a plan to turn the cops against King. For now, we need to weather this attack.”

Starlight’s phone rang again. It was her father again. “Yeah?”

“Change of plans, the Vice Kings are tryin’ to get Tanya’s old digs back. Head over there and drive ‘em out.”

“Understood!” Starlight hung up and looked at Paul, “Looks like the crackdown was a cover to help the Vice Kings retake Prawn Court.”

“What? That was the first hood I took solo! Ain’t no way I’m gonna let them take that from me!”

The two quickly jumped into Starlight’s car and headed straight for Prawn Court while breaking many traffic laws but not gaining any police aggression since the police were usually apathetic about how anyone drove unless they injured someone.

They soon arrived at the area where the Saints and the Vice Kings were fighting. Paul pulled out an SMG and started turning the attackers into swiss cheese while Starlight sliced and diced the poor thugs with her sword.

The last lieutenant found himself alone with a number of Saints pointing their weapons at him. He wildly waved his SMG at everyone around him, daring them to make a move on him before he made his declaration, “Tanya is gonna know about this! Just you wAARGH! My eye!”

As the thug was making his declaration, Starlight teleported in front of him and slashed his left eye. The other Saints, except Paul, thought she moved in anime style to cut him since they didn’t believe that magic existed in the world while they watched so much anime that they actually believed that anime things could happen in reality. “Yeah yeah, I’ve heard it all before,” Starlight retorted.

Clutching his bleeding eye, the lieutenant dropped his gun and bolted. “I’ll drop your ass for this, bitch!” he called out as he ran away.

“Looks like that’s all of them,” Paul said.

“Yeah, great work everyone. Now find some place to lay low until the cops chill out.” The Saints nodded and left while Starlight and Paul made their getaway.

Since Starlight’s car could be identified easily by the police, Paul found a car to hotwire which turned out to be a Keystone sedan. They took the car to Starlight’s mansion. Thankfully, they made it there without incident and avoided being followed by the police.

Aisha and Delilah saw them coming and decided to make some tea for them to calm their nerves since they were sure that they had just come out of a tense situation. “Hey you two, how’s the war going?” Aisha asked.

Starlight sighed, “It was going alright for a while, but now King is using his connections with the police against us.”

“That’s not good. Do you still think you can take down the Vice Kings?” Delilah asked.

“Yeah, we just need to take advantage of Monroe’s need to maintain his public image. If word got out that he made a deal with King, it would ruin him. If the secret is threatened, Monroe will turn on King to save face.”

“Do you plan on hacking the police mainframe to find evidence to blackmail him with?” Aisha asked.

Starlight shook her head, “Tempting as that is, mom, I doubt Monroe is stupid enough to leave evidence of his illegal activities on the police mainframe.”

“You never know unless you try.”

A few hours later…

I can’t believe he’s stupid enough to leave evidence on the police mainframe. Starlight thought as she examined Monroe’s transaction records. The expenses were far greater than what the department should have been capable of with their budget. She should know since she looked up their budget as well. Not only that, but the expenses went into personal purchases. Even more damning was the fact that she also found a bank account in Monroe’s name that was titled “King Kickbacks” which held a significant balance. It wasn’t as much as what she received from taking Sharp’s assets, but it came close.

Realizing how idiotic the police chief was, she wouldn’t lose sleep over emptying the account. However, that would come later as she wanted to have some fun toying with the Vice Kings before she kicked that hornet’s nest.

“Find anything?” Paul asked. He and Aisha were looking over her shoulder while Delilah stayed behind them.

“A lot more than I was hoping to find, actually,” Starlight noted. “Seems I grossly overestimated Monroe’s competence. I found plenty of evidence of him receiving kickbacks from King.”

“I figured you would,” Aisha said. “Monroe only got the position because his predecessor was on the force too long and went senile, forcing him to retire and picking Monroe as his replacement.”

“Word on the street was that Monroe was the lasiest officer on the force and underperformed to the point where he should have been kicked out years before the chief retired,” Delilah added.

Starlight giggled, “Now I really won’t feel bad about robbing him when the time comes.”

Suddenly, Starlight’s phone rang again. “Daddy’s calling again.”

“Tell him to hurry up and deal with Warren,” Aisha playfully requested.

Starlight picked up the phone and answered. Johnny replied, “Hey sweetie, looks like the cops have simmered down for now. Most likely because Monroe can’t spend too much time hunting us or it’ll look suspicious since they aren’t arresting any VKs. Chances are Tanya’s got a base of operations somewhere near Prawn Court since she seems interested in that place. I’m gonna look into it. I’m also callin’ because Julius wanted me to pass on a request to you. Seems some VKs are meetin’ at a parking garage in Filmore to discuss rigging games. For some reason he seems pissed about some hockey game.”

“Alright, we’ll take them out. Also, mom wants us to hurry up and deal with Warren.”

“Heh, probably will happen sooner than later if Tanya tries to use her boy toys as meat shields. Take care, sweetie.” The call ended.

“Looks like we can resume our day,” Starlight said.

“Let’s get going,” Paul declared.

Before they headed for Filmore, the two stopped at a couple of places. First, they stopped at the nearest Rim Jobs to put a retro spoiler on the Keystone Paul stole. They then turned the car over to Samson before Starlight summoned her car with Laserbeak. They headed for Filmore in the downtown area of Stilwater and west of Union Square.

Upon arrival, Starlight had Laserbeak scan the garage for any notable features. After a minute, she was informed of the VK vehicles on the various levels of the garage as well as a small makeshift ramp that could be used for a risky getaway.

Starlight wasn’t taking the risk of one driver getting lucky from a jump like that. “Laserbeak, deploy turret. SAM mode.” The back of Starlight’s reaper opened to reveal its turret that aimed its explosive payload into the air.

“Sam mode? Who is Sam?” Paul asked.

Starlight rolled her eyes, “SAM, S-A-M. It’s a military acronym for Surface to Air Missile.”

“Oh.”

“Alright, let’s go in, rampage and clear them out.”

“Good thing I bought plenty of grenades from Friendly Fire earlier,” Paul remarked.

“Just stay the hell away from me in case you pull a pin by accident,” Starlight demanded. “You’re a good friend, but not good enough for me to get blown up with you.”

The two proceeded to move from level to level in the parking garage while dealing with anyone and anything in yellow. Starlight took out a few with her revolver and SMG while switching to her shotgun when enemies got close. By now the Vice Kings were wary of getting too close to her since she was known to be brutal with a sword.

The real reason Starlight was not using her sword to attack the VKs was because her partner was targeting their cars with grenades and she didn’t want to be caught up in an explosion in case Paul made a bad throw.

Their tactics proved effective as the two left a trail of death and destruction all the way up to the top level of the parking garage. Only one car was on that level. However, the thug was in no mood to be annihilated so he quickly got into his car and floored it toward the makeshift ramp.

Instead of giving chase, the two watched the guy drive off only to be obliterated in midair by a rocket.

“Send a text to Julius to let him know that Filmore is ready to be taken,” Starlight ordered.

While Paul was writing the text, Starlight received a call. This time it was from Mr. Wong. “Hi Mr. Wong. What can I do for you?”

“I am glad to know that you are alright after what just happened with the police.
I was wondering if you or your friend would be interested in handling a request that has been made to me.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“The owner of the $tock$ nightclub in Nob Hill has requested the service of someone not afraid of committing acts of widespread destruction. Would that interest you?”

“Sounds like something that Paul might do since he is...brave enough...to carry around a bunch of high explosives.” Starlight suggested, putting a positive spin on Paul’s reckless habits.

Wong chuckled, “I thought you might say that. Also, Libby wanted me to pass along to you that Tyrell is in need of a racer in Brighton. She praises your racing skills so she is looking forward to seeing you win his series.”

“That sounds like something I want to do. Thank you for the heads up, Mr. Wong, and to Libby as well.” Starlight ended her call and let Paul know about the job offer.

“Sounds fun,” Paul replied. “If working with the Saints doesn’t work out for me, then maybe I could apply to be a demo man.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, “Sure, all you would need would be a grenade launcher, an eyepatch and a Scottish accent and you’d be set.”

As they left the garage, Starlight witnessed a sight that made her even more disappointed in Stilwater’s law enforcement. A meter maid was collecting quarters from parking meters and placing them into a bag, which was within her duties. However, she noticed the woman taking a few of those quarters and putting them in her pockets, as if keeping some for herself.

“She’s stealing quarters from the parking meters?” Paul questioned.

Starlight suddenly remembered that there was a meter maid on the list of witnesses Marcel wanted dealt with. Bringing up the list, Starlight found Louise the meter maid on it and the woman fit the description in the picture.

Using a nearby payphone, Starlight placed a tip to the Stilwater PD. The police may be incompetent, but they weren’t about to let someone get away with stealing what may eventually go into their paychecks.

The police arrived a few minutes later to apprehend Louise who was a block away from her vehicle, a Quota compact vehicle. Paul used the commotion of the arrest to steal the meter maid’s vehicle and deliver it to Samson.

Starlight headed to Brighton to participate in Tyrell’s races, which he was grateful for since he was desperate for another racer and glad it was the one who took first in Libby’s series.

As Tyrell expected, Starlight smoked the other racers in eight races and earned her second coupon for Rim Jobs customizations.

Meanwhile, Paul headed for Nob Hill where he found the club that was owned by a middle aged woman named Mary. Mary was after her ex husband’s alimony payments and he wasn’t paying. It was Paul’s job to go around demolishing everything her ex owned until he paid up. Mary also promised whatever he wanted as a reward for the assistance.

Unfortunately for Stilwater, Paul got overzealous in his rampage as much of downtown ended up on fire that night. The fire department was working overtime for this and the police department lost a lot of good men that night.

Regardless, the deed was done and Paul returned to Mary for his reward. Interestingly enough, Paul asked for a steady supply of hand grenades to go along with his steady supply of pipe bombs.

When Starlight heard about this later, she facepalmed as she began thinking of her friend as the most reckless man in Stilwater and probably the luckiest man in Stilwater, given that he keeps so many explosives near him, and yet he hadn’t gotten himself blown up yet.

White Knight Captured

Starlight woke up the next day in a bed in a room she chose for herself at the mansion.

Yesterday was still on her mind as she recalled Tanya’s attempt to retake Prawn Court but failed. That didn’t mean that she wouldn’t try again soon so they needed to take out her stronghold before she could round up more thugs to try again.

What was worse was that as long as King was bribing the police, it would be like facing two forces at once. That was a matter that she would deal with in due time.

For now, Starlight got up and performed her morning rituals and prepared to leave the mansion for another day of attacking her enemies.

However, today had other plans for Starlight as her mother stopped her at the door looking like she wanted something from her. “Hey Starlight, I know you’re about to go out to deal with the Vice Kings, but I really need your help with something.”

“What is it, mom?” Starlight asked.

“I’d like to make some progress in our move into this place. As long as I'm holed up here, I might as well get some things done which is why I’d like for you to gather up a few boxes of our decorations as well as some of the kitchenware so we don’t have to eat out every night.”

Starlight shrugged, “Sure, I just need to give daddy a call to let him know I’m going to be late.” She pulled out her phone and dialed her father’s number.

“What’s goin’ on, pumpkin?” Johnny answered.

“Hi daddy, mom asked me to move some of our stuff from the loft to the mansion so I’m going to be late.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie, you could use a break after all the help you’ve been against the VKs. Me and Paul are gonna be hittin’ up the old police station in Shivington with a crew. Apparently that’s where Tanya’s been holed up. We should be back with the good news by they time you get to the church.”

“Want me to send you Laserbeak to help?” Starlight offered.

“Nah, your bird did enough with the Rollerz. Let it rest, though do keep him off the internet. Last thing we need is him hackin’ into N.O.R.A.D.

Starlight and Aisha, who overheard the call since it was on speaker, groaned in exasperation. “Again with that reference?” Starlight asked.

“Hey, you never know, that movie might be a look into the future.”

Starlight ended the call before she lost more brain cells listening to her father’s crackpot theories. “Alright, I’m headed for the loft.”

“Be careful out there, Starlight,” Aisha warned.

Starlight spent the next few hours packing decorations and kitchenware into the boxes Aisha had prepared beforehand for the move. To help the process, Starlight used her magic to levitate the objects into the boxes before sealing them to make sure nothing fell out during the trip to the other side of the city. She also removed a significant amount of food from the fridge since her mother would need ingredients to cook dinner.

After packing it all up, Starlight physically carried the boxes to her car since she didn’t want to risk nearby onlookers seeing her magic. This ended up taking more time but it was something that needed to be done to keep her secrets safe.

Once she was finished with her task, Starlight headed for the church.

Once she got there she noticed the somber mood around the church before she noticed Paul looking a little beat up. However, alarm bells started ringing in her head before she searched the rooms and her father’s office for any sign of the person she was looking for. Panic setting in, Starlight turned to Paul and glared at him. Paul looked away.

“Where is my dad?” Starlight asked.

Paul knew that what he was about to tell Starlight was going to upset her greatly. For a brief moment he considered lying to her to protect her but something told him that would only make things worse so he took a deep breath and spoke the truth, “He…was captured by the Vice Kings.”

“He what?!” Starlight shrieked. She then grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to her level. “What. Happened.”

Powering through his hesitation, Paul explained the failed mission to take out Tanya’s base of operations. It had started out well as they took out many of the thugs as they chased down Tanya up until they reached the top floor, thinking they had cornered her.

However, this turned into an ambush as Paul got blindsided by Anthony Green and made Johnny drop his weapons. As Johnny was mouthing off to Tanya and Anthony about Tanya’s sexual escapades with Warren Williams, he ended up angering the muscular bodyguard into hitting him with the butt of his shotgun then followed by shooting him in the knee. Johnny retaliated by stabbing Anthony in the foot before the two started fighting. Paul used this chance to escape and return to the church.

By the time Paul finished his story, Starlight was grinding her teeth in barely contained fury before her expression darkened. Starlight gave Paul a look that almost made him want to put up with subjecting himself to a week of driving around sex workers. “We are going back there and saving him. Right. Now. Come with me,” she growled.

Paul managed to find his nerve after that and briefly stopped her, “Hey wait, you ain’t thinking of just the two of us attacking that stronghold, are ya? Tanya’s probably had it reinforced by now so we need to get another crew together before we try again.”

“Fine, grab whoever you can off the street and meet me at Shivington. That should be enough.” Starlight left the church and drove off.

Meanwhile, Paul hurried and rounded up a crew of three Saints before he stole a four-door car for all of them to fit in. Paul headed to Shivington after Starlight where he found her car parked a block from the abandoned police station. Paul and his group checked their weapons before they found Starlight peeking around a building, looking at the police station. As Paul suspected, there were new guards protecting the police station.

Paul rapped on the brick wall loud enough for Starlight to hear without potentially alerting the VK to their presence. “We’re here,” Paul whispered.

“Good,” Starlight nodded. “Even if they moved daddy somewhere else, his crew might still be in there. If we can save them fast enough they might still be in enough of a fighting condition to help us take over the place. If Anthony and Tanya are still in there, those two are going to be in for a bad day.”

“Just say the word and we’ll fuck ‘em up,” one of the Saints offered.

“Let’s move in.”

Everyone readied their weapons before they charged in. The two VK at the station entrance spotted the group coming and pulled out their pistols only for them to find that their holsters were empty. At the same time, they saw the weapons they were searching for in the hands of the girl leading the charge. They couldn’t get a shout out before they each took a bullet to the head.

Starlight wasn’t about to give the VK thugs inside a chance to mount a proper defense so the strategy was to hit them hard and fast. Kicking the door open had the effect of causing the VK in the building to scramble to realize what was happening. The disorganization cost the thugs their lives as they were gunned down by Paul and the Saints thugs.

They stopped at a stairwell that had stairs leading into the basement and the top floor of the station. Starlight had everyone be quiet for a moment as she tried to listen for any sounds on the other floors. There was shouting on the upper floor which sounded like someone alerting others of intruders while pained shouts below which suggested prisoners being tortured.

“Basement first,” Starlight ordered. “Paul, with me. The rest of you keep them busy until we get back.”

“You got it,” one of the thugs replied.

Starlight and Paul went down the stairs to the basement level where the holding cells were located. Starlight started cutting down any thugs who got in her way with her sword as the pained shouts grew louder.

They soon found a few Saints being beaten by a trio of VK thugs who were having too much fun to pay attention to the sword-wielding girl coming up to them. One ended up decapitated while the other two were shot in the head.

The injured Saints were looking bruised and bloody but otherwise still looking like they could fight as Paul and Starlight helped them to their feet. “You guys looking for some revenge?”

“Fuck yeah!” one Saint replied. The former prisoners armed themselves with whatever the VK had on them as well as the pistols that Starlight stole earlier.

“Where is Johnny?” Starlight asked, using her father’s name in case they didn’t know her relation to him.

“Tanya and her bodyguard left the station with Johnny so they left one of the lieutenants in charge of this place.”

“Fuck!” Starlight cursed, “Alright, let’s secure this station so Julius can move some more Saints in to take this neighborhood. Don’t kill the Lieutenant, he might have info on where Johnny went.”

With the crew liberated, the group headed back to the ground floor where the others were. Starlight had them move to the upper levels and clear out the rest of the VK while noticing that one of them was wearing a tacky yellow overcoat, probably to show his status as the one in charge.

“Fuck ‘em up!” the lieutenant ordered the remaining thugs in the station.

However, the VK were outnumbered and were taken down quickly, leaving only the lieutenant who was staring down too many gun barrels for him to keep his composure, not to mention the sword pressing his neck.

“Where. Is. Johnny.” Starlight demanded, putting emphasis on each word.

“He’s Tanya’s little toy to break now. You shoulda known better than to mess with the Vice Kings,” the lieutenant replied with all the bluster he could muster which crumbled quickly when he looked into Starlight’s cold eyes.

“Would you care to rephrase that? Consider your next words carefully as this will be a matter of life and death for you.”

“Look, I don’t know where Tanya took him. Tanya don’t tell us nothing!”

“So by your own admission, she did tell you something,” Starlight said, calling him out on the double negative. “I suggest you quit stalling, nobody’s coming to save you and the longer we hold this position, the more my bloodlust swells. I am beginning to lose control of my self restraint.”

“Okay okay, I don’t know where they took him, Tanya only tells anything to the few she trusts.
But I heard that she is overseeing the reconstruction of Kingdom Come Records. You might find her there.”

Starlight removed her weapon and shoved him to the floor as she suddenly smelled the scent of ammonia and quickly realized what had happened. “Eugh, clean yourself up and for your sake, drop your flags. Next time we meet I may not be this merciful.”

With that warning, Starlight had the others leave the station while calling Julius to let him know that Shivington was ready to be taken over.

“I think we need to head back to the church and regroup,” Paul offered. “We need more info about when Tanya will be at the studio.”

“Alright, let’s see if Julius or Dex has anything for us.”

On the way to the church, Starlight and Paul noticed a white Bulldog SUV parked near one of the lofts in the area. The vehicle had the logo of First Born Loans that had the icon of a stork holding a sack of money in his beak. “Those guys…” Paul grumbled.

“You know them?” Starlight asked.

“Yeah, Mike and Dan, vicious loan sharks and persistent as hell, at least when it comes to money. My parents used to live in the suburbs until dad borrowed money from them. He missed the repayment by one day so they took the house and my dog as interest. They’re also known for taking organs as payment, nothing’s sacred to them. Pisses me off seeing them still up to their old antics.”

“Well, how about returning the favor.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“If I recall, Samson was looking for a Bulldog and their car looks like it has the customizations on it already. They also look like they’re pretty busy beating up that guy for money. Catch my drift?”

Paul snickered as he caught on to what Starlight was leading him to. “Alright, I’ll see you back at the church later. He then exited the car while Starlight drove off, leaving Paul to exact his sweet revenge.

Mike and Dan spent another ten minutes beating up their client, unaware of the crime taking place. “You have twenty-four hours to give us back our money or we’ll be coming for whatever you have,” Mike threatened.

“And remember, body parts are not out of the question,” Dan added. As the two left the loft, Dan looked around for something that should be there but wasn’t. He scratched his head wondering what happened. “Hey Mike, didn’t we park around here?”

“Of course we did, I specifically remember–” Mike then noticed that their car was nowhere to be found. He covered his face with his palm. “Seriously?! Again?! That’s the fifth one this month! Why can’t these stupid teenagers get their own car instead of stealing from good, hard-working businessmen like us? Did you remember to get insurance for it?”

Dan looked at Mike in outrage, “Insurance? Are you mad? Do you know how much that costs? It’s like one grand a year. No way I’m paying that much out of the millions we make a month for something as expensive as insurance.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I have no idea what I was thinking there. Let’s call up our chopper to lift us back to the office.”

After Paul handed the vehicle over to Samson, who quickly painted over the vehicle and checked for tracking devices to ensure the loan sharks didn’t come after him, Paul headed for the church where he found Starlight sitting with Julius and Dex at a table. “Good, you’re here. Sit down, son,” Julius ordered. Paul took his seat at the table. “We got a way to rescue Johnny.”

“From what I hear, the shit Johnny said about Warren and Tanya really got to Tony,” Dex said. “Now, the only time she’s allowed out of his sight is when she’s checking on the rebuilding of the recording studio.”

“Yeah, the lieutenant did say something along those lines,” Starlight affirmed.

“Every day that bitch gets driven to the construction site in a limo, then sneaks off to
get her freak on with Warren before she goes back home to Tony. While she’s busy with Warren, deal with the chauffeur and take his place. When she’s done with what she wants you to do, she’ll have you drive her back. Once you’re at Tony’s you know what to do.”

“You sure that’ll be where they’re keeping my dad?” Starlight asked.

“Like I said before, kidnapping ain’t King’s thing,” Dex reminded. “No way she would have him brought to his place and I doubt Tanya wants Tony and Warren in the same room together for a while after what happened, so that leaves Tony’s place.”

“Alright, we’ll be back, with my father,” Starlight declared before she and Paul left the church and headed for the rebuilding studio. The two stayed inside a nearby building waiting for the limo to arrive.

The limo arrived half an hour later and they watched as Tanya got out of the vehicle to run into the studio. The limo started to drive around which was their cue to move in and seize the vehicle. Paul jumped in front of the limo with his guns pointed at the driver which prompted the car to stop. Starlight moved to the driver’s door and opened it before pulling the man out.

Starlight’s eyes widened for a moment before her mouth shifted into a smirk as she recognized the man from a photo. “Well well well, if it isn’t Henry. Last I checked, you have a court date coming up to testify against someone.” She pointed her revolver at the man. “Too bad you won’t make it there.”

“Please, don’t kill me!” Henry begged. “If you don't, I promise I won’t testify.”

“How do I know you’ll uphold your end of the deal?”

“I…I’ll give you my home address. You’ll know where I live so it’ll be too dangerous for me to testify without you finding me.”

“Fine, if the defendant gets off, I promise I’ll burn the address paper you give me.”

“It…it’s a deal then,” Henry then wrote his address on a piece of paper and handed it to Starlight before he bolted.

“Hopefully that takes care of him, now, Mr. Chauffeur, it’s about time for you to pick up Tanya.”

“Alright, keep a reasonable distance behind me,” Paul said before he entered the limo. Starlight entered her car and began to follow the limo while keeping a safe distance from it. Tanya entered the limo soon after Paul returned the vehicle to the studio and they left.

Tanya ended up having Paul take her to a few places, including an Impressions clothing store and a Friendly Fire to pick something up for Tony.

Their plan was nearly derailed when some Saints who were unaware of the plan tried to attack the limo. However, Starlight drove in front of them to stop them. “What do you guys think you’re doing?” Starlight demanded.

“We heard that Tanya’s in that limo so we came to take her out,” one of the Saints replied.

“Back down, we need her alive to take us to Johnny..”

“Oh…sorry, our bad.”

Starlight groaned in exasperation before she left the Saints behind to catch up to the limo. The vehicle eventually stopped in front of a tall building in the high end retail district, or more specifically a condo in the Atlantis Avenue neighborhood. The address read “707 Springfield” and Starlight watched as Tanya exited the vehicle. Paul followed moments after.

Starlight parked her car behind the limo and went after the two. She entered the building and looked up a set of stairs just in time to watch Paul punch Tanya’s lights out.

“If she gets a concussion from that, all the better,” Starlight bitterly grumbled. While she and Paul checked their weapons, Starlight added, “You go in and distract Green, I’m going to look for my dad. Either way, Tony is not walking out of this place.”

“Paul nodded, “Got it!”

Paul kicked the door open and started blasting VK thugs with a shotgun which took them out quickly. Tony spotted Paul attacking his guys and pulled out his shotgun before he opened fire on him. The shots shattered a lot of glass and porcelain but Paul managed to avoid the buckshot. Paul was out of shotgun ammo by the time Tony arrived so he started using his SMG and pistol. However, Tony was built like a semi and shrugged off the bullets, though they were still wounding him.

While the two were fighting, Starlight used an invisibility spell to sneak past Tony and enter the room behind him where she found her father tied to a chair that had been left on its side. Starlight lifted her spell and pulled out a knife and began cutting the rope.

“Hey sweetie, sorry you had to see me like this. Not one of my proudest moments,” Johnny greeted sadly.

“It’s okay daddy. I decided to save you first because I figured you were looking for some revenge.”

Johnny chuckled, “Heh, you know me so well.”

“Mind if I soften him up first?” Starlight asked. “I have some grievances I want to air out with him.”

“Go right ahead, pumpkin. Try to leave him alive for me so I can finish him.”

“Oh, I intend to.” Starlight’s eyes and hands began to glow.

Paul and Tony continued their fight as the bodyguard continued to tank Paul’s shots like his muscles were made of armor plating while he used his shotgun as a shield whenever Paul aimed for his head.

Just as Paul was running low on ammo, he was surprised to see a chair floating in the air before it darted toward Tony and smashed itself against his back. “Ugh!” he grunted. Tony turned around to see where the chair came from only to find nobody behind him.

Suddenly, several more chairs and a dining table smashed themselves upon Tony from multiple directions. Despite his muscular build, Tony wasn’t holding up to having furniture smashed on him. Furniture from all over the apartment floated into the dining room and crashed into him. He soon found himself in a pile of broken wood as he collapsed on the floor, bruised and bleeding. Exhaustion settled in as the damage from the bullets and the furniture took their toll on him.

“The fuck just happened?” Tony weakly spoke. Then to his horror, Johnny entered the room with a pistol aimed at him. His bad knee glowed with a pain reduction spell so he could limp his way to him. Tony was too tired to defend himself anymore.

“You just took a tour of a furniture factory, that’s what happened,” Johnny answered. “Now, where were we?” That was the last thing the bodyguard heard before a bullet pierced his skull. Johnny wasn’t quite finished though as he unloaded an entire magazine into Tony’s corpse before throwing the gun at him.

“I think you got him, daddy,” Starlight said.

“I know, that was just for catharsis. I’m feelin’ much better now. Anyways, I need to pay a visit to a hospital to get a leg brace. You head home and tell your mother that I’ll be back soon.” Johnny turned his eyes to Paul. “I heard Green say he’s got some heavy shit in the back. I’ll have some of our boys roll on over and bring the hardware back to the church while we secure this hood.”

“Mom is going to be so mad when she finds out you got injured,” Starlight pointed out.

“Eh, she'll get over it. This kind of thing happens when you are part of a street gang.”

Starlight shrugged, “True. One thing’s for sure, King is going to be in for a really bad day tomorrow.”

Gambit Strategy

A new day dawned in Stilwater as Starlight rose from her slumber and prepared to have her first prepared breakfast at her new home.

Last night was interesting when Johnny came home from the hospital. He got an earful from Aisha about how reckless he was when he attacked the abandoned police station. Johnny simply let her vent until she was satisfied since she looked like she needed to let out some pent-up stress.

The bright side to all of this was the fact that the Vice Kings lost one of their executives with the death of Anthony Green. Starlight had a feeling that Benjamin King was going to start losing control of his empire very soon since he lost his bodyguard. From what Starlight had surmised from the executives, Warren Williams and Tanya Winters were too ambitious for their own good and this would spell trouble for King soon.

Now that they had weathered the counterattack from the Vice Kings, Starlight decided it was time to remove King’s trump card from the game and she had all the tools she needed to do so.

“Hey pumpkin,” Johnny greeted as Starlight entered the dining room where Aisha was nearly finished cooking breakfast. “While I was at the hospital, Dex called me and wanted to meet us and Paul at the Sloppy Seconds clothing store on Harrowgate. I just know he’s gonna bitch at me too.”

“Johnny…” Aisha warned.

“What? It ain’t like Starlight hadn’t heard the word before. Besides, she’s sixteen, she would have heard it sooner or later.”

After picking up Paul, the three headed for the clothing store on Harrowgate to meet with Dex who they found sitting on a countertop. “Good timing, I got a plan to hurt the Kings,” Dex said.

“Do I get to do some murderin’?” Johnny asked.

“No.”

“Your plan blows.”

Instead of continuing the argument, Dex made an attempt to return to the main topic, “Hear me out, alright? King’s obviously got somethin’ goin’ on with the police–”

“Yeah, he’s been giving Monroe kickbacks and I have the bank account info to prove it. There’s a decent amount of cash in the account.”

Dex’s eyes widened in shock, “How did you…never mind. Just…just go out there and cause some havoc. If we turn the public’s eye to the Kings, the police won’t have a choice but to come down on them.”

“Not really,” Starlight remarked. “As long as the money is still coming in, Monroe will still go easy on the Kings, even if your plan does cause tension between them.”

“Oh, and I suppose you have your own plan, little girl?” Dex mocked, showing his irritation.

“Hey, back off from my daughter, Dex,” Johnny growled. “Just because she is good at makin’ plans doesn’t mean you can go off on her.”

“Whatever,” Dex tossed Paul and Johnny a yellow jacket and a yellow hoodie. “Put those on.”

“I’m yellow enough as it is, Dex.” Johnny quipped.

“Just put the damn shirt on and go on a rampage already,”

“What about me?” Starlight asked.

“What about you?” Dex snapped. “Look, in case you haven’t noticed, your hair is purple. I could count on one hand how many people in this city have purple hair and the Kings already know that someone with purple hair is trying to fuck ‘em up. If the media sees you rampaging with these two, King will be able to use the footage against us.”

“Alright, we’ll head out and do some damage. In the meantime, chill out.” Johnny warned before he and Paul left the store.

Dex took a few deep breaths to center himself before he turned his attention to Starlight. “Sorry I blew up on you, It’s just that I take pride in being the brains of the Saints. I thought I needed to make sure Johnny had the Kings handled, but I don’t think I’m needed for this operation anymore. I think with you, Johnny and Paul, you have this shit locked down so I’m gonna turn my attention to the Carnales while you three finish up with the Kings.”

Dex then tossed Starlight a map of Stilwater that had five places marked with yellow circles. “Those are the locations of where I found the cops meeting the Kings to get in on their protection rackets. Deal with them however you want.”

He then started to leave the store from the back since he didn’t want to risk getting caught up in the rampage, but paused for a moment. “One other thing, a lot of Kings have been seen going in and out of an abandoned grocery store in Huntersfield. That’s all I’ve figured out.”

Starlight watched Dex leave. While her opinion of the guy had soured a little, she had more important matters to take care of. Since she wasn’t going to be part of the rampage, she decided to consider how to deal with the grocery store.

After a few minutes of coming up with ideas, she thought of one that could work because of what was going on right now. She then pulled out her phone to call a certain undercover cop. It took a few rings before Troy picked up. “Yeah?”

“Hey Troy, I need your civic connections again. Would it be possible to send a squad or two to the abandoned grocery store on Huntersfield?”

“That place that’s a stronghold for the VK? No can do, Monroe wouldn’t allow it.”

“Turn on a radio or TV and see what Jack Armstrong has to say.”

Starlight waited for Troy to look for a media outlet and tune it to the news. After a few minutes of waiting, Troy picked up again. “Wow, that’s unusual behavior, even for the Kings.”

“Even if this doesn’t break up their relationship, the public is going to demand Monroe to do something about the Vice Kings and he will probably respond by dealing with one of their holdings in retaliation to ease public opinion. I want you to direct Monroe’s wrath to that grocery store.”

“You know that Monroe still won’t hold them for long,” Troy pointed out.

“Just long enough for the Saints to move in and claim another of their strongholds.”

“Alright, if Monroe’s as pissed as you say he is, I should be able to sweet talk him into raiding that store.”

Starlight headed to the location and waited at a nearby location for a couple of hours before she saw several police cars and S.W.A.T. vehicles park in front of the grocery store. The police came armed with shotguns and rifles and looked ready to use them if the thugs didn’t surrender. Thankfully, the thugs proved that they had a survival instinct and surrendered themselves to the cops.

While she knew that the police would only hold the thugs for a short time because of the deal with King, this would give the Saints enough time to take the store over and claim Huntersfield. Also, because of the chaos stirred by Paul and Johnny in Glenview Hills, also known as Nob Hill, earlier, the Saints were able to drive the Vice Kings out of two neighborhoods. Considering that the VK had nearly half of Stilwater in the form of fourteen neighborhoods out of the thirty-six that compose the whole city, they still had five territories left.

Regardless, Starlight had a feeling that the hotheads of the VK leadership were not going to stay quiet anymore.

Meanwhile, at King’s meeting room in his penthouse on Adept Way, Benjamin King was on the phone with Richard Hughes, a city alderman. King tried to explain that it was the Saints who committed the destructive acts but the footage showed two men in yellow, a color the citizens associate with the Vice Kings these days, committing the acts so the citizens were going to blame his gang and make stronger demands for the city to take action against them.

“No, I’m not making any excu–-I will. Tell your wife I said hello. Goodbye, alderman.” King hung up his phone with a resigned sigh.

Warren, who was rudely leaning back with his feet on the table, took this time to try to reason with his boss in his own way, “Great, now we got yo’ crack ass friends trippin’. Like I said, fuckin’ with city hall is a waste of time. We even lost two more hoods because of this wack-ass bullshit you got going with the cops.”

“You’re wrong, Warren,” King shot back. “Workin’ with city hall is what gives us power.”

Warren pulled out his GDHC .50 pistol to show to his boss. “Yo, fuck that. This is what gives us power.”

After everything that was happening today, King was finally fed up with his subordinate’s whining. He was not in the mood to put up with him. “Get the fuck out of my office!” he ordered.

Warren silently complied with King’s order, though the look in his eyes said that this wasn’t over.

Once Johnny and Paul gave the media enough footage of their trail of destruction, the two found somewhere to hide before they ditched the yellow clothes and left the area in Johnny’s car. They met up with Starlight at the church. Starlight noticed that her father was looking especially refreshed after what happened. “I think that bonding experience went pretty well this time. Sorry you didn't get to be part of that, sweetie. I'll make sure you get to be part of the next one.”

“Don’t worry daddy, I had some fun while you two were away. I’d say the Kings are nearly finished by this point. Dex gave me an idea about our next move. Let’s discuss this in your office.”

Once they were in Johnny’s office, Starlight unrolled a map of the city with the yellow circles on it. “Dex said that these are the places where the cops meet up with the Vice Kings to receive their cuts of the money the Kings receive from their protection rackets. I’ll leave it to you on how we deal with them.”

“See, this is why your plans are better than Dex’s plans, sweetie,” Johnny explained. “It gives me room to be me. I already have the perfect plan, just need to borrow some of Tony’s noisemakers and I need Samson to rig a car bomb for me. While I go get everything ready, why don’t you and Paul go find some things to do to entertain yourselves.”

“Sure thing daddy, I have some things I need to check off my to-do list anyway.”

As Starlight and Paul headed out, Starlight received a call from Wong. “Hi Mr. Wong,” she answered. “What can I do for you?”

“I have another request for your services. A client of mine in Tidal Spring requests the
services of someone who can steal a few cars for him. He heard about how you helped his friend Phil and would like for you to do the same for him.”

“Sure thing, we’ll get on that right now.” Starlight hung up and informed Paul of their next destination which turned out to be a delivery business that was still in the process of setting up. The client was facing the building he was admiring, wearing a striped shirt and a black vest.

“You two must be the ones Phil recommended. I’m Sam. I know this place ain’t much to look at, but this place is gonna make me rich. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to handle a rig. When I tried getting a job truckin’, they told me they don’t hire kids from the ghetto. So I’m gonna start my own company and put those bitches out of business. I need you two to jack me some rides so I can get started.”

Sam then handed the two a list of cars he wanted while the two raised an eyebrow at Sam when they saw some of the items on the list. However, they shrugged and left to start their job.

The first three cars earned them some ire from the Vice Kings since they were owned by the gang. However, Starlight and Paul easily evaded them and turned the cars over to Sam. The fact that he wanted a Reaper like the one Starlight drove gave her mixed feelings about stealing one for him, but they found a standard Reaper to give him. While they had no problems stealing a Voxel sedan and an Interest sedan, they had to steal another troublesome FBI SUV which made Starlight question why such a troublesome vehicle was desired by mechanics.

A stroke of luck gave Starlight and Paul the opportunity to steal two Mag SUVs that were being driven by two individuals who looked like they were racing each other. Whether they were friends, rivals or brothers, neither Starlight nor Paul cared. Paul shot up both of their vehicles and forced the two to stop their cars. Starlight and Paul threatened them to leave their cars behind and run away before they each took the wheel of a Mag.

“Meet me at the B.P.S. store downtown when you’ve delivered that one to Sam,” Starlight ordered.

“Why do we need two Mags again?” Paul asked.

“Because Samson wants one too. Since this one needs some customizations and I’m the one with the discount coupons, I’ll be taking the one to Samson.”

“And the store?”

“I’ll explain when we meet again.” Starlight then drove off to the nearest Rim Jobs to get it customized before she turned it over to Samson. She had Laserbeak follow behind her with her car so she could return to it when she was finished.

Half an hour later, the two met back up at the B.P.S. delivery store in the downtown area. However, Starlight raised an eyebrow at her friend who was wearing jewelry for some reason, particularly, silver chains and a medallion.

“Why are you wearing that?” Starlight asked.

“Dunno, Sam said I could use some bling for some reason,” Paul responded.

Starlight rolled her eyes, “I have no idea what the appeal of that is, but keep it anyway in the off chance I come up with an idea on how to make use of it. For now, let's head around the back. There’s someone there I’m hoping to catch before he goes out on delivery.”

Once they reached the back of the store, which was where packages were loaded into trucks, Starlight saw who she was hoping to meet. “Take the wheel of the truck. I’ll hit the side to let you know when to take off. Your destination is the airport.”

“Wait, you aren’t going to…” Paul realized.

“If he doesn’t comply, then yes.”

Hank was loading the last of the packages he was to deliver for the day and prepared to close the back door of his truck when a mysterious force lifted his body and hurled him into the truck where he crashed into a few of his packages. As he tried to recover from what happened, he spotted a silhouette get into the back of the truck with him moments before the door closed and he was left in complete darkness.

However, the darkness was only temporary as a turquoise light illuminated his surroundings while he heard the sound of the intruder knocking on the walls moments before he heard his truck’s engine turning over. As he felt the vibrations of the truck as it was running, he realized that he was being kidnapped.

“What do you want from me, a ransom?” Hank asked. “You’re wasting your time, I’m not worth anything.”

“Oh, but you are worth something as a witness to an upcoming trial that you are supposed to be a witness for and that’s something we cannot allow. Now, are you going to be cooperative and not testify, or do I need to make sure you don't?” Starlight asked.

Hank now had a better idea about what was going on now. Someone didn’t want him to testify against that criminal and they hired this girl, and whoever was driving his truck. However, the criminal was also his bully in school and he wasn’t about to walk away from the chance to put him behind bars. However, he needed to find a way out of this mess.

In the end he decided to try his luck and hope the girl was gullible enough to believe him, “Alright, I won’t testify against him now let me go.”

However, if he were a person with a shred of luck, Hank would be in a better career field than a delivery driver. To his misfortune, the girl easily saw through his lie. “Right.” she spoke.

Hank suddenly found himself lifted into the air where he saw one of the larger boxes, one large enough to fit a person, getting emptied out. A floating packaging tape gun started wrapping him from his feet up to his neck in tape before he was deposited in the box and was sealed inside. A small hole was made in the box to give him a breathing hole.

Hank screamed obscenities, which went unheard because Starlight put earplugs in her ears, the entire trip to the airport where his box was loaded up into a cargo plane bound for Santo Ileso.

As the two watched the plane load up the last of its cargo, Paul gave Starlight an incredulous look, “Is this going to be a thing for you? Sending people to Santo Ileso when you feel like it?”

“I’m contributing to the town’s development. Besides, I was in a mood for some irony.”

“So what’s gonna stop him from calling the police on us when he gets there?” Paul asked.

“I’d be a fool if I sent him just anywhere. Last I checked, Santo Ileso doesn’t have a cell tower for miles. That place is a dead zone. Besides, the PD is too lazy to handle every complaint unless it directly affects them.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Starlight was about to summon Laserbeak to bring her car to pick them up but Paul stopped her at the last minute when he spotted a Nordberg SUV nearby. Since Samson was needing one of those, Paul decided to use that to take them back to the church since they were sure Johnny was ready with his plan.

On the way to the church, Starlight told Paul to stop when she spotted a familiar face on the sidewalk talking to someone. The man looked like he was trying to peddle cheap watches to someone. Starlight looked at the list of witnesses where she had marked off Hank and noticed that the peddler was the street hustler Don.

Starlight had done some research on Don after Marcel gave her the list. Apparently, the man was a notorious scammer who sold junk that looked convincing to gullible people. He pulled this stunt with a lot of people in Stilwater and the police were not in the mood to deal with him.

With this information, Starlight pulled out her phone and accessed her social media. Paul looked at her questioningly, “Is this really the time to be checking your Facebook?”

“Trust me Paul, there are plenty of fun ways to make sure someone doesn’t testify in court and I am about to use one of them. Have you ever heard of a flash mob?”

“You mean one of those instances where a bunch of people get together to make some creepy artistic expressions before dispersing?”

“Yep, you are about to see what happens when a flash mob gets violent.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later a number of cars turned up and a lot of angry people got out of their cars to approach Don. The mob quickly cut off his escape route. Starlight and Paul watched the scene unfold while Starlight dialed 9-1-1. Don ended up viciously mobbed by nearly everyone he had scammed at one time or another. By the time the crowd was finished and left the area, Don was beaten, bloodied, bruised and left unrecognizable on the sidewalk with a number of fractured bones, barely alive.

Starlight suspected that Don was going to be staying at the hospital for a very long time, well beyond the date of the upcoming trial.

Once they heard emergency vehicles coming, Paul decided that it was time to get going.

They stopped at a Rim Jobs and customized the Nordberg they stole before turning it over to Samson. Starlight summoned her car again to deliver the two to the church where she spotted her father waiting for them next to a blue Cavallaro. The two parked and headed over to greet Johnny.

“Hey pumpkin,” Johnny greeted. “You ready to get this plan going?”

“Sure am, daddy.”

“Alright, I’m gonna drive over to where the cops are picking up the protection money from the Kings. Paul will make ‘em cease and desist in a brutal way. If we make sure the only cops hit are the ones workin’ for King, people are gonna ask questions and the cops are gonna have no choice but to come down on the VKs to save face.”

“This is going to be a two-pronged plan,” Starlight added. “While daddy’s plan will wound the cops’ pride, I’m gonna appeal to Monroe’s greed. While Paul blows up the meeting areas, I’m gonna hack Monroe’s secret bank account where he keeps King’s bribe money and make it look like King’s taking back everything he gave him. Monroe’s an incompetent police chief so he isn’t going to think twice about the thought that King is backstabbing him. For once he will be motivated to do his job.”

“Alright, we got our plan, let’s do this.”

The three got into the Cavallero which Johnny warned was rigged as a car bomb so he had to drive carefully. Once they reached the first meeting area, Paul pulled out an RPG launcher and fired a rocket into the area that obliterated most of the thugs and cops while Johnny drove on through.

From there they drove from meeting to meeting while fending off some angry thugs and cops while Starlight focused on her phone as she cracked the bank account passcode for Monroe’s account and King’s account. From there she initiated a transfer of liquid assets to the VK leader’s account while making it look obvious. However, Starlight felt that neither Monroe nor King deserved that money so she carefully transferred the money again through a series of offshore accounts, courtesy of Sharp, before ultimately ending up in her account.

After the last meeting was forcefully interrupted, Johnny drove through a Forgive and Forget to get the heat off them before he headed for the studio reconstruction site. The three exited the vehicle while Johnny opened the trunk to find a number of explosive charges inside. He armed the explosives and pulled out a detonator before closing the trunk.

“I think the Kings are through kissing the Policeman's ass. Now, I'd say it's time to give
Warren a nice final "fuck you" and this'll have been a helluva day,” Johnny said while the three walked away before he hit the detonator, blowing up the car and further damaging the studio and undoing all reconstruction efforts.

Starlight smirked, “Oh, this won't be the final present we have for Warren, I hope he appreciates my gift to him.” She then pulled off one last hack and transfer while imagining how much hell the Vice Kings were going to catch after what she did. “How’s that for a ‘loan’, Warren?”

Police Chief Monroe was sitting at his desk lazily skimming through reports that he really didn’t care to read. He could see how his predecessor went senile after all the paperwork he probably went through on a daily basis. However, he wasn’t going to be like him. He was going to enjoy his eventual retirement living in the lap of luxury thanks to King’s money.

Suddenly his phone rang and he checked the ID. “Huh? My bank? What could they want?” He answered, “Hello?”

“Is this Richard Monroe?” the employee asked.

“I am, why are you calling me?”

“I wanted to let you know about a breach in our security and I regret to inform you that your account was the target of the hacker. I regret to inform you that we were unable to prevent the contents of your account from being emptied.”

“What!?” Monroe shouted. He had a feeling that he knew which account the employee was talking about and as he thought about it, his face took a darker shade of red as rage gripped him. “Who did this?” he demanded.

“While we are unable to track the hacker who committed the act, we know that your assets were transferred to an account belonging to someone named Benjamin King.”

“That dirty, no good thieving backstabber!! He will rue the day he made a fool out of me!” Monroe’s shouting was heard by everyone in the station. However, they all knew about his deal with King so it wasn’t that much of a shock that he would openly talk about what went on between him and King. However, Monroe’s tone gave the officers the impression that things were about to get lively for them.

Dan hung up his phone with a calm demeanor. However, while he looked calm on the surface, there was a boiling fury threatening to erupt within him and whenever that happened, heads rolled. He called to his brother, “Mike? There’s something we need to discuss.”

“What is it, Dan?” Mike asked.

“It would seem that all of our liquid assets that we loan to debtors have disappeared.”

“That is a serious problem, Dan. Do we know who did this?”

“Thankfully yes, it would seem that our money ended up in the account of someone named Warren Williams.”

“One of the Vice King leaders? Why would he ‘borrow’ that amount from us?”

“I have no idea, but since he did so without our permission, I see no need to extend to him the common courtesy we give to our other clients.”

“Twenty-four hours?” Dan asked, implying the grace period before taking action.

Mike nodded, “With interest and a fee for grievances caused against First Born Loans.”

Benjamin King was not having a good day.

The mess earlier about the two Saints rampaging downtown wearing his colors had muddied up his relationship with city hall since he couldn’t prove that his gang was being framed. Adding to his growing headache was the fact that Warren was getting a big head and was almost certain that he was planning to turn on him.

His day worsened when he received a call from Monroe who gave him an earful over the phone about him taking back the money he gave to him for no reason. King tried to reason with the chief that he had no knowledge of this but the police chief was not in the mood to listen to reason. When the call ended, King was certain that his deal with the police and city hall was finished. He had a feeling that the Saints were involved in it. He couldn’t imagine anyone among Julius’ people who could pull off such a devastating stunt so it had to be someone he recruited recently.

However, before Benjamin could think more on this, Warren barged into his office with Tanya. “See, this is what I’m takin’ ‘bout. Fuckin’ with city hall was a waste of time.”

“Who said you could come in here?” King asked.

“We need to talk,” Tanya pressed.

“Do we now.”

“You’ve been putting yourself before the crew,” Warren accused. “If you hadn’t been wastin’ our time stickin’ your nose up them white boys’ asses, we coulda owned the whole damn game by now!”

“I’ve told you before, we ain’t gettin’ into that shit. The Vice Kings were founded to keep the other gangs in line. Me and Julius didn’t create this gang just to see it become another Carnales.”

“Lotta good that did, Carnales came back the moment your hold slipped and now they’re back and we got the Rollerz and the Saints on top of that. It’s because you were a pussy that they came back and took over those markets we coulda owned. So either grow a pair or do us all a favor and drop yo fuckin’ flags!”

King was now officially finished with Warren so he grabbed him by the head and pressed him against the table. “You forget who you’re talkin’ to. I am Benjamin muthafuckin’ King! I’m the man who took a bunch of baby gangstas from Sunnyvale and turned them into one of the most influential and feared forces in this goddamn city. You know how I did that?”

“How, Mr. King?” Warren grunted.

“I did it by knowing when it was time to build, when it was time to watch and when it was time to act. I’m through carrying your punk ass. If I were you, I’d drop those damn flags and get the fuck on out of here before I erase your ass.” King then let Warren go.

However, Warren glared at King in defiance, “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

“You ain’t hearing me, son. I said–”

“Yo, fuck that, you ain’t hearin’ me.” That was when Tanya opened the door and allowed a large number of thugs into the office.

“What’s the meaning of this?” King demanded.

“I built, I watched and now I’m acting,” Warren stated, throwing King’s words back at him.

King growled before he grabbed one of the baseball bats from a thug and bashed him with it. He ran across his table and made for the door while avoiding the other thugs. While he managed to escape, Warren managed to wound King with a round in his shoulder.

This attempted coup had finally convinced King that Julius was right all along about what the Vice Kings had become but was too blinded by his pride to see it. Having no other choice now, King decided it was time to swallow his pride and call the one man who could help him, enemy or not.

The coup ultimately turned out to be another blunder by Warren as the thugs used in the coup were the ones protecting Humbolt Park in the museum district. When one of the Saints thugs reported the weakened resistance, Julius sent a crew in to secure the neighborhood, bringing the VK-owned territories down to four.

Check...

A few hours had gone by since Starlight’s cyber caper. Evening had given way to night time and it was time for Johnny, Paul and Starlight to head home for the night.

Starlight was certain that she had turned Monroe’s fury on the Vice Kings after leading him to believe that King had taken back his kickback money. Given how apathetic the cops usually were, she was certain that Monroe wasn’t going to question what happened and would turn his attention to Benjamin King.

Warren Williams was also considered doomed at this point after her other cyber caper. If what Paul had told her about those two was true, the rapper’s career would soon meet an abrupt and tragic end. This only left King and Tanya to deal with.

“Ready to go, sweetie?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, just need to put Laserbeak into sleep mode and we’ll be on our way,” Starlight replied.

However, as if the winds of misfortune had blown their way, they soon found that their night was not over yet. Julius entered the office with a grim look on his face as he hurried over to the three. “Saddle up you three, I need you to head back downtown.”

The three raised their eyebrows at their leader as they wondered why he needed them back out on the streets so urgently. “I take it that this can’t wait until tomorrow?” Starlight asked.

“No,” Julius replied. “This is an emergency, King just called me, seems one of his boys got a big head and tried to take him out. He’s pinned down at the park in Amberbrook and needs some help.”

“You do realize that he’s the leader of the enemy gang we’ve spent the past few days dismantling, right? Isn’t it a good thing for him to be taken out of the game? I’m pretty sure Tanya will be easy to deal with once he’s gone.”

Julius frowned, “I know he and I haven’t seen eye to eye in years, not since he turned the Vice Kings into another problem for Stilwater. But at the end of the day, he’s still my homie and I ain’t gonna let him eat it if I can help it. He and I built the Vice Kings together when the Carnales were in control of Stilwater. Now I want you three to go out there and bring King back to me safe and sound. I ain’t playin’ around here, you feel me?”

Realizing that Julius was willing to pull the boss card if it meant getting what he wanted, Starlight acquiesced to Julius’ demands, to which she turned to her drone. “Laserbeak, head to Amberbrook and provide cover fire for Benjamin King. Change target designation to friendly.”

With a chirp, Laserbeak flew out of a window and north to Amberbrook which stood at the northeastern corner of the city. With a sigh, Starlight looked to her father and friend. “Alright, let’s get going.”

The three took Starlight’s car as she drove them to Amberbrook park. Truthfully, Starlight was not looking forward to this as some of the feelings she had toward Warren, for his part in her mother’s contractual captivity, bled over toward King as well for being his boss. Even if King had no idea of the conditions his subordinate had subjected her mother to, this was still a failing on King’s part for not noticing what his underlings were doing and this made him just as guilty in Starlight’s eyes.

By the time they arrived, the park was in chaos as an army of Vice King thugs were in positions using the architecture as cover while they attempted to surround and kill a man in a black suit with a yellow shirt and black tie. However, they weren’t as focused on King as they could have been as Laserbeak had taken out a few of the thugs before Starlight’s group arrived.

With the chaos caused by the drone, Starlight found that they had the element of surprise on their side so Johnny readied his shotgun, Paul pulled out a pair of SMGs and Starlight readied her sword. The three cut a swath through the encirclement and took the thugs by surprise. By the time they readied themselves for the Saints’ assault, nearly half of their number were wiped out.

This allowed them to reach the center of the park where they found Benjamin King holed up. He took out a few more thugs before he noticed the Saints. “You’re the ones Julius sent? Aren’t you two the ones who ran around wearing my gang’s colors?”

“Yep, had the time of our lives makin’ your boys look bad,” Johnny quipped.

Ben ignored the comment before he watched the drone blast a few more thugs with its laser. “The hell is that thing?”

“That’s my Laserbeak,” Starlight answered. “Now let’s get out of here before I change my mind about saving your ass.”

Ben noticed the hostility in Starlight’s tone. He had been around long enough to tell when somebody was upset. He determined that there were some personal feelings behind her words, as if he had done something to her in the past, though he knew that he had never met her before. Still, this wasn’t the time to be breaching that topic as there was something he needed done first. “My car is nearby, it’s the yellow Mag.”

Instead of protesting which car they would take, the group decided to go with it and lead Ben to his car while she had Laserbeak take her car and follow behind them. A few VK patrol cars tried to interfere with their escape but Paul still had some explosive ammo left over from their earlier joyride so he pulled out an RPG and blasted the cars before they got too close.

Once inside the car, Paul took the wheel where he began driving toward the church. However, Ben had other plans. “Warren has to be around here somewhere…” he mused.

“Don’t worry about him,” Starlight said. “I’ve already signed his death warrant. He will be dead by this time tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say that ‘Warren’ took out a massive ‘loan’ from some people you really don’t want to owe money to.” Starlight cryptically stated.

“Why would Warren borrow money from…” Ben paused, interpreting the meaning behind the words that Starlight put an emphasis on. “You make it sound like you had something to do with it. Did you somehow make it look like Warren stole money from a loan shark? Wait, was it you who stole the money I gave to Monroe?”

“Yes to both,” Starlight answered. Her tone then grew cold enough that everyone in the car could feel the chill, “What do you plan to do about it?”

There it was again, the hostility that implied that he had done something to her and she was holding herself back from carrying out some sort of revenge plot. “Look, since we aren’t going after Warren, can you at least tell me why you are being so hostile to me. I can tell that this goes beyond the fact that I’m an enemy gang leader.”

“Fine, since we are having that conversation now, this pretty much has to do with what you subjected my mother to. I believe you are familiar with Aisha.”

Ben was taken aback by the name the girl dropped. As far as the records showed, Aisha had died in the explosion that demolished the studio. “I had nothing to do with that explosion, young lady. It was the Saints who blew up my studio and took your mother from you.”

“You think my mother’s dead? Seems that plan worked like a charm.”

“What do you mean?” Ben asked.

“My mother is still alive, she just faked her death to get out of the contract. What I’m mad about is what your subordinate did to force her to stay signed on to your company. She suffered years of misery under Warren’s emotional blackmail so you could keep using her to generate your income.”

“I see, you blame me for not keeping Warren in line.” Ben sighed. “I suppose I should take part of the blame for not knowing what Warren and Tanya were up to. I knew that they were too ambitious for their own good. I even suspected that they did things I didn’t want them to do behind my back. They never liked that I wanted to run a legitimate enterprise to help keep order in Stilwater. They wanted more; consumed by their greed. They don’t care how dangerous it is to allow their ambitions to run rampant and I should have dealt with them a long time ago.“ He paused. “Take me to Julius.”

Despite how Starlight felt about the guy, there was a part of her who was glad that he was willing to accept some responsibility for his underlings’ actions. It didn’t change anything between them, but Starlight was willing to let go of her anger for the time being.

After Ben was dropped off at the church, Starlight Paul and Johnny switched to Starlight’s car and dropped Paul off at his house before heading home to get some rest.

The massacre at Amberbrook allowed the Saints to move in and claim the area from the Vice Kings.

The next day, Starlight got up and got ready to head out. As she was getting dressed, she received a call from Wong who told her that the madam of the brothel on Bavogian Plaza was seeking assistance.

“I’ll pass that along to Paul. I’d rather not deal with sex workers, they make me uncomfortable.”

Wong chuckled, “Yes, you are still a little young for that sort of experience. Perhaps you may desensitize yourself after a few years. Strange things happen in this city and they will get stranger with time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Starlight bid her friend farewell before she called her other friend to let him know that someone needed his assistance. She gave him the address to the brothel before she ended that call.

Not long after, she received another call, this one from her father to which she answered.

“Hey sweetie, looks like Julius is waitin’ for King to recover before we plan our next move. Seems you have a free day today. I’ll call you if there are any interesting targets that you can take out.”

“Alright, bye daddy.” Starlight hung up before thinking about what she was going to do today.

Suddenly, Starlight remembered that Marcel’s friend’s trial was tomorrow so she needed to get rid of the last three witnesses today. She had Laserbeak look at the list and scan the faces of the last three targets before the drone chirped and flew off. Starlight was a little annoyed with herself for delaying the witness hunt for so long and counted herself lucky that she had a free day to hunt them.

Laserbeak soon relayed the locations of the three and Starlight was surprised to find two of them near each other. She then got in her car and hurried over to the location.

Once she got there, she spotted Richard, the businessman, getting into what appeared to be a Nelson luxury car. Starlight rushed over to the man’s side window before he could leave and knocked on the glass. Richard lowered his window slightly and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “That better not have left a mark on my window,” Richard warned.

“Sorry to bother you sir, but I am a volunteer from the courthouse going around looking for the witnesses to a case.”

“You mean that trial that’s supposed to take place tomorrow? If this is their way of getting me to attend it, they are gonna have to do better than that. I have better things to do than waste my time and money talking about what some no-named punk did.”

Starlight was taken aback by that. Indeed, this guy had already decided not to attend the trial and that made things much easier for her. However, while that issue was resolved easily, she also wanted to try to talk the man out of his car since Samson needed one.

Fortune favored Starlight that moment as Richard suddenly spotted a tough-looking man walking down the sidewalk looking slumped over as if something bad had happened to him. The tycoon looked between the man, who Starlight recognized as Dick the bouncer, and Starlight.

“Young lady, can you talk to him and see if he’s looking for a job? I could use some hired muscle after what I heard about yesterday’s gang-related mayhem.”

Hearing that, Starlight quickly formed an idea about how to kill two birds with one stone. She feigned a thoughtful expression as she put a hand to her chin and hummed. “Hmm, If you give me your car I can sweet talk him into accepting your job offer.”

“You mean this luxury vehicle that I have ten more of in my underground parking garage at home?”

“Uhh, yes?”

“Deal!”

Starlight rolled her eyes while Richard wasn’t looking. It annoyed her to hear rich folks talk about owning a bunch of things they didn’t really need for the sake of flexing their wealth. Still, a deal was a deal so she walked over to Dick and gave him a concerned look. “What’s wrong, mister?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing someone like you should be concerned about,” Dick responded in a sad tone.

“I’m willing to lend you an ear if it’ll help you feel better.”

It took a little more coaxing, but Starlight was able to get the story from the former bouncer. Apparently, the night club he worked at wasn’t doing so well so the manager had to lay him off. He had bills coming up and he couldn’t afford to pay them.

This worked out perfectly for Starlight as she presented Richard’s job offer for a bodyguard and pointed out that the guy was loaded so she figured he paid well. She pointed to Richard to show him his new employer. Dick, who wasn’t about to turn down a good offer, walked over to Richard before the two went into a discussion about the terms.

With the terms of the deal fulfilled, Richard left his car and allowed Starlight to enter it.

Before she could leave, Dick asked if there was anything he could do to repay her for helping him get a new job, to which Starlight asked him not to attend tomorrow’s trial and they would call it even. Dick agreed and Starlight left with the car.

“So, how are we getting around town then? Unless you are up for walking?” Dick asked.

“Oh, heavens no! I’ll just call up one of my employees and they will bring a car around,” Richard answered.

After Starlight got the Nelson customized and turned over to Samson, which completed the list of cars he wanted, She began her hunt for her final target on Marcel’s list. According to what information she could gather, Billy Bob was a cowboy visiting from Texas and he had a plane to catch the day after the trial. Starlight wasn’t sure why the man wanted to visit Stilwater of all places because it was a dump, but she could only consider that people have their own tastes.

Once she found the man, she discovered that he was annoyed by the fact that his last day in Stilwater would be in a courtroom. However, when he met Starlight, who gave him the same spiel about her being a volunteer at the courthouse, she informed him that all of the other witnesses had dropped out of attending the trial which encouraged Billy Bob to follow suit so he could enjoy his last day in Stilwater doing what he wanted instead.

Once Billy Bob left in excitement, Starlight crossed the name off and called Marcel to let him know that the prosecutor no longer had witnesses to call on. Marcel then asked her to meet him at the bar again so he can give her something as thanks for helping his homie.

At the bar, the two sat next to each other before Marcel pulled out an SMG and handed it to her. It looked like a T3K Urban but it was shinier than the usual variant. “It’s a special custom-made model my homie gave me as a token of our brotherhood. I want you to have it, and I’m sure he would want you to have it too. It packs more of a punch than any other SMG you’d find in this city and has better range and clip size. Downside is that the ammo for it is harder to come by.”

“Thanks, I’ll take good care of it.” Starlight then left the bar to look for something else to do.

However, she soon found herself wandering town and found nothing worth noting. She saw some Saints thugs spray painting the Saints logo on walls where the rival gangs once had them. The Rollerz weren’t going to protest since they disbanded and the influence of the Vice Kings had almost completely vanished from Stilwater.

Of course, some former Rollerz decided to wear purple and experienced the ritual of canonizing. Starlight wondered how many Vice Kings they could get to convert once that gang was history.

Starlight finally decided to return to the church where she found Paul who was wearing more jewelry than the last time she saw him. “What’s with people giving you necklaces and medallions lately?”

Paul stuck his tongue out at Starlight, “It’s called bling and it makes me feel amazing.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, “You want to go around looking like a pimp, be my guest. But the moment someone comments about me being your property, I’m chucking your chains into the lake.”

Paul shrugged, “Fair.”

“Ah, just the two I needed to see,” Johnny said as he spotted them. “Seems Julius found something we can do while we wait for King. Apparently the remaining Kings on the southern island have been hidin’ out at the waterfront in Rebadeaux. I gotta go check on Eesh so you two can go crash their rooftop party. Come back home when you’re done.”

“Sure thing, daddy.”

With that, Starlight and Paul took her car and headed for the waterfront. While Johnny wasn’t specific about which building the VK were hiding in, Rebadeaux was a small neighborhood of four blocks. There wasn’t much to it other than a middle market clothing store, a tattoo parlor and a movie theater that only played R rated movies since Rebadeaux was in the red light district.

They soon located a residential building that Paul noticed a VK thug enter. They quickly followed after the thug and found that they were in a stairwell which would serve Starlight well as she drew her sword and cut down the thug just behind the door. Starlight charged up the stairs and took out more of them while Paul followed behind. He knew that he wasn’t going to get much action in close quarters with his friend in front of him.

The trail led them up several floors before Starlight entered a hallway on the second from the top floor. She remembered that there was a fire escape that didn’t reach the ground level and she could only access it from that floor.

The two tried every door in the hallway until they found one that Paul could kick open where they ran inside and dealt with any thugs within. They then slipped through an open window and onto the fire escape to climb the stairs to the roof.

With plenty of open space to work with, Starlight pulled out her shotgun while Paul pulled out an assault rifle. The thugs had plenty of places to take cover but Paul was ready for that with a few hand grenades to force the thugs out of hiding. One thug didn’t see the explosive and was sent flying off the roof.

“You can’t seem to leave home without a few explosives anymore, can’t you?” Starlight commented.

“They work so why shouldn’t I?” Paul quipped.

Starlight looked toward the street once the rooftop was cleared. What she saw made her chuckle as she realized that Paul’s demolition skills were going to come in handy here. “Looks like a good time to test your RPG aiming skills. The Kings have some patrols in the area.”

Paul took his position near the edge where he pulled out an RPG and took aim at the yellow cars coming in their direction.

The problem with RPGs was that their travel time was a little slow and could only move straight so hitting a moving target was a bit of a challenge as Paul missed his first three shots, instead hitting a pedestrian, a street light and a yellow car that didn’t belong to the Vice Kings. The fourth shot would have hit a VK patrol car except they swerved and the rocket somehow ended up hitting a police patrol car instead.

“Are you trying to hit everything that’s not a gang vehicle?” Starlight groused. “Try again.”

Paul grunted as he fired another rocket. However, Starlight wasn’t taking any more chances as Paul was wasting ammo on the attempts and they didn’t have unlimited ammo. She began to grab the rockets in her magic and guided them to the gang vehicles to make sure that they hit their intended targets.

After a few more VK cars were blown up, they didn’t see any more thug partols. They waited a few more minutes to make sure they were in the clear before Starlight called Julius to tell him that they could move in on Rebadeaux.

“Guess I need to work on my aiming at fast moving targets,” Paul figured.

“I’d suggest some time at the shooting games at the arcade,” Starlight offered. “Let’s head home and get some good rest, I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be quite exciting.”

Meanwhile in King’s former office, Warren Williams was kicking back in the chair that Ben used to sit in, feeling like he was on top of the world.

Tanya Winters was just outside the room looking irritated as she expected the Saints to try something to finish off Warren so she could claim complete ownership of the Vice Kings. Unfortunately, taking him out was too risky for her and she wasn’t much of a fighter. She would have to find some way to serve him up to the Saints on a silver platter.

Warren took this time to check his bank account to see if he had the funds to redecorate the penthouse in his image. While he knew he had about fifty million in his account, he was not expecting to see that it had jumped to nearly a billion. He had no idea where the cash came from but he didn’t care as he was more concerned with the lucrative expenses he was about to incur.

This excitement would soon turn to sheer terror as a nearby window shattered. Before Warren could figure out what was going on, he soon found himself caught in a net with a line coming in from the window. Looking out the window, he spotted a helicopter with the First Born Loans logo on it. “What the fuck?!” he shouted before he found himself being pulled toward the window. “Tanya, help me out!”

Tanya looked in the room and spotted what was happening. While she never imagined this happening to Warren, this was a fortunate thing for her so she decided to pretend that nothing was wrong and walked away from the door.

Warren screamed in terror as he and his chair were dragged out the window where he fell a few feet from the top of a ten story building before the line went taut, leaving him hanging from the helicopter while holding onto the net for dear life.

While Warren was screaming for his life, Mike looked down and called out to him, “Thank you for choosing First Born Loans for your liquid needs. Unfortunately, you have failed to pay back the loan you took from us on time so now we are allowed to seize what you took from us with interest. We also need to have you pay a fee for taking that money from us without our permission.”

“Permission? I didn’t take no money from you!” Warren protested.

“Doesn’t matter, whether it was you or a third party, we don’t care. By the way, are you an organ donor? That was a rhetorical question, by the way.”

Nobody knew what happened after the helicopter flew off. One thing was certain: Warren Williams was never seen nor heard from again.

...and Mate

Starlight and Johnny headed to the church for another day of taking down the Vice Kings. However, after everything they had done to the gang, they decided that today was the day that they would deal the finishing blow to Tanya and end the gang once and for all.

“I hope King is ready for this, I’m gettin’ tired of waitin’ on him,” Johnny said.

“I know he’s Julius’ friend, but if he tries anything, I’ll end him anyway,” Starlight promised. “I still don’t know if we can trust him.”

“Doesn’t matter whether we do or not, what we do to King will be Julius’ call. He’s the boss, after all.”

“Yeah, I just hope this doesn’t come back to bite us.”

“You and me both, pumpkin.”

By the time the two arrived, they noticed that Paul was waiting for them before they entered the church. One of the members told them to head to Julius’ office for a meeting.

In the office they found Julius but no sign of Benjamin King. However, once the three took their seats, the door opened to reveal Ben entering the room.

“Lookin’ good, Ben,” Julius greeted.

“Been a long time, Jules,” Ben responded.

“Sorry ‘bout Anthony.”

“That was business, let it go,” Ben assured, before chuckling. “Never expected him to get crushed by floating furniture though.”

While the two leaders conversed, Starlight kept a wary glance at Ben.

“So what’s the plan?” Johnny asked, wanting to get the actual meeting started.

“We kill Tanya and I get back to business,” Ben proposed. “If what that girl said the night before was true, Warren’s probably dead by now.”

“For the record, my name is Starlight.”

Ben nodded, “Noted.”

“Given that Starlight pissed off First Born Loans to deal with him, Warren’s definitely dead by now unless he’s a badass,” Paul remarked. “I borrowed a few grand from them a while back and they hunted me down like bloodhounds until I paid them back. I had a few close calls where I was surprised I survived.”

“Well I can assure you Warren’s no badass,” Ben said.

“Warren’s fate aside,” Julius interjected, attempting to get the conversation back on track. “I gotta give it to you straight, Ben, I had them save your ass so we’re straight. The Vice Kings, they’re through.”

Ben scowled, “Then why are you wasting my time? Just kill me and get it over with.”

Starlight kept her hand near her sword in case Julius gave the word.

Julius continued, “You have a choice. You can keep your fuckin’ pride and die here, or you can be a man and walk away.”

Ben was taken aback by what Julius said. He never expected his old friend to talk to him like that, let alone consider killing him. He could only chuckle, “When did you get the balls, Jules?”

“What’s it gonna be?” Julius pressed.

Ben nodded resolutely, “I ain’t walking away until Tanya’s dead. If I do so now, it’ll be as if I was running from her with my tail between my legs. No way in hell I’m letting her get away with this.”

“Understandable,” Starlight shrugged.

Julius gave Ben a friendly smirk, “My brutha.”

“If I may, since I already agreed to do this, I’d like to ensure the safety of the few who are still loyal to me,” Ben requested. “They are at the headquarters keeping an eye on Tanya and relaying what info they can to me.”

“Very well, but we’re finishing the rest off.”

Once Ben and Julius agreed to the terms, Ben began the strategic part of the meeting. “Alright, I know where all them fools hang. The cops have set up ambush points in Brighton. We roll in, get their attention and lure them to the ambush.”

“And you’re sure the cops are actively hunting Vice Kings?” Paul asked.

“They definitely are, just before the coup I got a call from Monroe and he was pissed. No doubt in my mind that whatever deal I had with them was broken thanks to Starlight.”

Starlight gave an innocent look while feeling quite proud of herself on the inside.

Johnny laughed, “She’s gonna make one hell of a cyber terrorist one day.”

“Daddy!” Starlight admonished.

“Not that I would condone that or anything,” Johnny hastily corrected. “Anyways, you and Paul take King and do his plan. I gotta get ready for the big finale.”

“Hope you two are ready for this,” Ben warned.

“It’s good to have you back, Ben,” Julius said, patting Ben on the shoulder.

The three agreed to take a car stolen by Paul since this operation put Starlight’s car at too much risk since they needed to be chased while getting constantly shot at while Ben’s car was liable to get attacked by the police ambush just as much as the other Vice King vehicles. Paul found a four-door vehicle for them to take before he drove to the Brighton neighborhood.

On the way, Ben decided to try at some small conversation with the two. “So does Julius ever talk about growing up in Sunnyvale?”

“Sometimes, though he never goes into detail about it,” Starlight replied.

“Yeah, things were simpler back then. This city used to be something better, before the Carnales rolled in. After that, Stilwater gradually turned into a cesspool of debauchery. The drug market opened the way for other illegal markets to open. The cops were overwhelmed by this and started becoming apathetic, turning a blind eye to the smaller things like traffic violations. The law enforcement couldn’t act against the Carnales for fear that they would anger the largest drug cartel in South America.”

“What do you know about the Carnales? You know we’ll be gunning for them once we’re done with your former gang.”

“Ain’t much to know beyond what you may have heard already. Los Carnales used to own this city until I grew tired of them oppressing Sunnyvale. Me and Jules formed the Vice Kings together and took the city from them, though we never could drive them out. We may have killed the former leader, Alejandro Lopez, but his sons are more tenacious than he was, especially their enforcer, Victor Rodriguez. Even Anthony would have struggled in a fight against that guy.

“Hector Lopez runs the gang now while his brother Angelo is his second. Hector is the level headed of the two while Angelo is brash and reckless. If you’re planning to go after the Carnales, my advice is to take out Hector as soon as possible. It’ll make their movements more predictable with Angelo leading them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Starlight noted.

They soon entered Brighton where they drove around and noted a number of police cars on the sides of the road with a large number of cops looking well armed. “Alright, let’s get started, I’ll lead you to them and you two piss them off and lead them to the ambush,” Ben instructed.

Ben directed the two to four locations around Brighton where groups of Vice King thugs hanged out. In one location Starlight shot one thug in the head with her revolver before Paul led them to the ambush where the cops unleashed their arsenal to disable the gang vehicle and arrest the crew.

The remaining locations were done in a similar fashion, though Starlight tried out her new Platinum T3K Urban SMG and sprayed the thugs with bullets. Two fell to the barrage while the other two were lured to the ambush.

After they took out the four hangouts, Starlight, Paul and Ben noticed the cops leaving with the surviving thugs in their cars since they couldn’t arrest any more thugs with the numbers they had.

Once the cops were gone, Starlight placed a call to Julius to inform him of the success of the mission and that the Saints could move in on Brighton, leaving Adept Way as the only territory of the Vice Kings remaining.

The three returned to the church where Starlight and Paul chatted with the thugs for a time while Ben and Johnny had their own conversation. Since there wasn’t much else to do at this point, all Starlight and Paul could do was wait for a new development.

A few hours later, the two were called to Johnny’s office where he went over what he learned. “I’ve been chattin’ with King, and it looks like Tanya’s takeover didn’t sit well with everyone. The Vice Kings are fighting amongst themselves. Seems you were right, Starlight, takin' Tanya out will be easy without Warren helping her.”

“Let’s just make sure I get my shot at her, I still need to make her pay for kidnapping Aunt Delilah. She is the ringleader of the kidnapping ring, after all.”

“Can we expect help from King’s loyalists?” Paul asked.

“Maybe, King said his homies are in the penthouse where Tanya’s at, waitin’ for King to get there before they come out. Still, let’s hope he hasn’t gone soft after not being in the field for a long time.”

Just then, Ben entered the room with a shotgun primed and ready. “Don’t you worry ‘bout me, boy, ‘cause I’m gonna handle mine.”

“Guess we’re about to find out if you’re as badass as daddy said you were, gramps,” Starlight giggled.

“Aight, let’s roll,” Johnny ordered before they headed for Ben’s car.

As they got in, Ben let them know of a place he wanted to go first, “Our headquarters is in a penthouse suite on Adept Way. Tanya's probably changed the elevator code by now. But I do know where we might find out where we can get the new code. Head to the Impressions store on Nob Hill.”

“What's over there that has the code?” Johnny asked.

“Not ‘what,’ ‘who.’ Tanya has a fashion consultant she tells everything to; some Eurotrash muthafucka named Stefan. He shouldn't be too hard to break.”

“Hate him already.”

“What’s Eurotrash?” Starlight asked.

“Rich European people with a weird way of talking and actin’ like they’re better than everyone around them.”

“Ugh, I can’t stand people who flex their superiority like that. Mind if I try getting the password from him my way?”

Johnny chuckled, “Normally I’d say let me handle it, but I think this situation calls for your touch.”

They arrived at the uptown clothing store and headed inside where they found a tanned man with a circle beard and wearing black slacks and a pink button-up shirt. The man gave an indignant look to the group coming in and dramatically walked over to them. “Who do you think you are, barging into Stefan's boutique? Especially you, the girl with yesterday's hairstyle.
That color looks so ugly on you and who are you trying to fool with that teal stripe? Go back to the '90s where you belong.”

Starlight frowned, she had expected an obnoxious person when she met Stefan, but even her father’s description didn’t prepare her for how aggravating he was. After walking up to her and insulting her looks, any thought about showing mercy to the man had vanished.

Starlight put on her most charming smile that concealed the promise of torment to the European before she spoke, “You must be Stefan.”

Stefan frowned, insulted that the girl had never heard of him before. Though he probably should have expected such a lowly peasant girl to not hear of him. “Are you blind? Of course I am Stefan, now go.”

“Before I do so, I wanted to tell you that you just talked your way into being the test dummy of my latest trick. Wanna see? That was rhetorical, by the way.”

Starlight snapped her fingers before Stefan felt a painful sensation for a moment before he felt something leave his body and float over to Starlight. Stefan took a moment to see that an icon was floating in Starlight’s right hand. The icon looked like a pair of sparkling crystal scissors.

The next surprise for Stefan was that for the first time in a long time, his mind drew a blank on ideas for fashion and hairstyles. He looked around his beautiful store in desperation but he couldn’t think of any of the many ideas that were usually flying around in his mind. “Wha-what have you done to Stefan? Stefan can no longer see beauty!” The next thing he did was look around for a mirror to see if the girl had messed up his looks and to his horror, he spotted something he found truly ugly: a black equal sign under his right eye.

Stefan shrieked as he saw the blemish on his looks, “AHH! You have made Stefan look asymmetrical! Stefan looks like a piece of modern art, the ugliest art there is!”

Stefan soon found himself curled up on the floor crying his eyes out until Starlight walked over to him with a look of disgust on her face. “I can undo what I did to you for two things: the passcode to Tanya Winters’ penthouse elevator and an apology for criticizing my natural hair.”

Stefan looked at Starlight with shock, “What? You were born with that hair color? Stripe and all? Stefan feels so sorry for you being born that way.”

Starlight’s smile became strained as she was now extremely tempted to destroy the icon which she suspected was tied to the man’s talents for fashion. By sheer will, she managed to resist that urge. “I have this condition where I compulsively crush things in my hands and this icon,
which I suspect is the source of your fashion talents, looks very fragile. Right now I am holding it back by sheer will alone but I don’t think I can hold it back any longer.”

“Okay okay okay! The code is 3131 and Stefan is sorry for insulting your natural looks now please spare Stefan the life of a peasant.”

Despite the apology, Starlight was still feeling spiteful. While she did return his talent to him, she decided on a special punishment to make him think twice before insulting her looks again. With a snap of her fingers, Stefan’s punishment began. “That will wear off in a week, have fun.”

Dreading what happened to him, Stefan looked in a mirror again and shrieked. His skin was a deep purple. He couldn’t show his face like that in public as that would obliterate his reputation. Instead, he did the one thing a man like him could do in his situation: he passed out.

“Y’know, I think it’s a major improvement,” Johnny commented.

After that display, Ben would know better than to mess with Starlight from that point onward. He then put a pin on that thought and led the group back to his car. “Let’s go, it’s time to deal with Tanya.”

The group got into Ben’s car and headed to the VK HQ on Adept Way. Once they arrived, Johnny asked Ben what the plan was for this operation to which he simply stated that they would head in, kill everyone who got in their way to the elevator and kill Tanya. Johnny smiled as Ben’s plan was his favorite kind of plan.

Once inside, all hell broke loose as the four ended up in a fight against an army of VK thugs who were spread out all over the foyer. Starlight and Johnny went after the thugs on the lower floor while Paul and Ben went after the ones on the upper level.

Starlight avoided as much gunfire as she could while moving in to decapitate her prey with her sword while using her platinum SMG to deal with distant enemies to support her father.

On the other side of the room, Johnny used his combat instincts to know when to take cover from enemy gunfire and when to start blasting with his assault rifle.

Paul was above Starlight with a pair of SMGs showering thugs with bullets while using pipe bombs to scare hiding thugs into the open. He didn’t want to use grenades or molotovs as they could risk causing unwanted structural damage or start a fire.

Ben was slowly awakening to his old self back when it was his people and the Carnales decades ago. Despite his cushy lifestyle dulling his instincts somewhat, he never truly forgot the badass he used to be as he advanced on the nervous thugs and blasted them with buckshot.

Once the thugs in the foyer were wiped out, the four headed to the elevator on the upper level while Ben inputted the new passcode to get them to the penthouse.

Of course, the four would have to endure the long awkward silence of an elevator ride before they could reach the penthouse. Ben was fine with that since he could use this time to temper his nerves before the final confrontation. Paul just stood and waited patiently for the ride to end.

Johnny, however, couldn’t take the awkward silence for long so he spoke his intentions, “I’m gonna skull fuck that bitch.” This comment put a disgusted look on Starlight’s face.

Paul was the one to respond to that, “Hope you don’t mind hepatitis.”

Starlight’s disgusted look soon gave way to a devious smirk as she decided to tease her father a little, “Should I tell mom you cheated on her before or after she finds out?”

Johnny was shocked by what seemed like a threat to rat him out to Aisha so he had to quickly salvage the mess he put himself in. “Ah, hey! C'mon, it was a joke, just some light humor for the elevator ride.”

“Mom said to rat you out if you ever considered cheating on her. But I can easily forget about that for an advance on my allowance and you doing my chores.”

“Are you kiddin' me? You robbed Sharp for everything he's worth, stole Monroe's kickback money and now you want an advance on your allowance? King, help me out here.”

Ben chuckled, “You're on your own for that one, son.”

Johnny could only groan as his joke backfired spectacularly and now he had to worry about being in the doghouse later. Still, that was a matter for Future Johnny to deal with. For now, he checked his ammo and made sure his weapons were fully loaded. The others checked their weapons too.

“When did I raise such a greedy daughter?” Johnny muttered.

“I heard that!” Starlight admonished.

Once the doors opened, the three walked out of the elevator and engaged anyone in yellow. They soon spotted a few of the penthouse occupants who weren’t wearing yellow which came as a shock to the yellow wearers. At first they assumed that they were dropping their flags all of a sudden but when they started attacking them, the thugs soon realized that they had some traitors.

The traitors dealt with the thugs and walked up to Ben with their weapons lowered, showing themselves as the loyalists. “We’ve been waitin’ for you, boss.” one of them said.

“Good to see all of you,” Ben replied. “Now, let’s go kill Tanya.”

Once all of the enemies in the penthouse had been taken out, Ben led the group through an office room with cubicles and toward the main office.

Opening the door to the main office revealed Tanya all by herself with her feet on a desk and a smug look on her face, something that caused Starlight to have a strange image of a lilac horse with her hairstyle flash through her mind for a brief moment before she lost it and focused on the woman in front of her.

“Some guys just never get enough of me,” Tanya quipped.

“I’ve had more than my fill of you, bitch,” Johnny growled.

“It’s over, girl,” Ben declared. “You’re not gonna fuck your way out of this one.”

“That’s cute, sweetie.” Tanya then put her feet on the floor as she began to pull out an assault rifle. That’s just–”

In that moment, two things happened. First, Starlight, not wanting to give Tanya any chance at resisting her fate, teleported right next to her with her sword coming down. The second, Tanya’s hands and assault rifle fell to the floor with the woman’s arms now ending in bloody stumps.

“So much for a handjob,” Johnny quipped.

It took a few moments for Tanya’s brain to register what happened before she started screaming in agony as the pain finally registered. However, things didn’t end there as she found herself being levitated off the floor and her back pressed against the window behind her.

Tanya realized the horror of her situation and lost all of her composure in that instant. “No, please don’t! It…it hurts!”

Ben, not caring about the magical feat going on right now, walked over to Tanya with a grim look on his face and pressed the barrel of his shotgun against her stomach. “Oh Tanya, do yourself a favor and die with some dignity.”

Ben pulled the trigger and turned Tanya’s insides to a pulp which also shattered the window behind her. Starlight, to make sure she was dead, hurled her out the window. Given that they were many stories up, Tanya’s body flew a long distance across several blocks and possibly a couple of neighborhoods before she finally landed in a busy street. If the shotgun and the fall didn’t kill Tanya, the cars running her over probably would.

“That was for my aunt!” Starlight called out.

“Well, that takes care of that,” Johnny congratulated. “We’d best get out of here, the cops will be here soon.”

Ben spent a few moments looking out the window before he turned to the exit. “That is some crazy-ass powers you got there, girl. Though I suppose you're gonna need them if you're planning to go after the Lopez brothers. Since you took my boys down, I believe you have a chance against them. Just remember my advice and you should be fine.”

“Right,” Starlight responded. “Just be sure to take care of your people and try to keep them from turning into another Warren.”

Ben chuckled, “I will, though we won't be sticking around Stilwater for much longer. Some will probably stay, but the rest of us will probably go traveling for a while. I'd like to find something else to do with my life.”

Johnny sighed, a little sad that the campaign against the Vice Kings was finally over. “I gotta get home to Aisha and tell her the good news. Unfortunately, I probably won't be much help against the Carnales since Eesh will probably have me on full moving duty for a while. Try not to kill Dex, I know you two haven't seen eye to eye since a few days ago.”

“I’ll try not to,” Starlight replied. “No promises though.”

Once Starlight delivered the news to Julius, the Saints moved in on Adept Way which officially meant that the Saints had taken over the entire northern island. Tomorrow, the Saints would turn their attention to the south and begin the final phase of the gang war that would determine the fate of Stilwater.

Author's Note

Those of you who could spot the irony in that final scene, well done. As for the rest of you, look at this and tell me you don't see the irony.

Striking Red

After the Vice Kings were toppled, Julius had Paul and Starlight take a day off to rest and prepare themselves for the final phase of the war to take Stilwater. With the Rollerz and the Vice Kings no more, only Los Carnales remained. Chances were that they would be the toughest gang they would face.

Knowing this, Starlight decided to scout around the southern parts of Stilwater held by their remaining enemies. Before she headed out, Paul called her to ask if they could scout the Carnales territory together. Starlight smirked as she realized that both of them had the same idea.

Since this was a scouting mission and being that there was a potential risk that the Carnales might recognize Starlight’s car, Paul hijacked a car for the impromptu mission.

The southern parts of Stilwater was where the Latino community was concentrated. Both legal and undocumented Latino immigrants lived in the area which was part of the reason most of Los Carnales was composed of Latino thugs.

While Starlight had repeatedly driven to the airport which was in the southern end of Carnales territory, she never took the time to look around the area. She did notice a number of Carnales thugs around a villa in Ezpata which bordered Chinatown and suspected that the Lopez Brothers might be leading their gang from there.

Other than that, there wasn’t anything of significance to note in their tour of the southern island. Since the Carnales were specialized in drug synthesizing and trafficking, Starlight did take note of the warehouses as places where potential labs could be housed.

Speaking of trafficking, Starlight suddenly remembered an old buddy of hers whom she hung out with whenever school life was becoming stressful for her. Her friend was always pretty mellow most of the time until someone tried stealing from him which would trigger him. She found out quickly that when the man was triggered, everyone in hearing distance of his shouting would know it.

“Let’s go to Fox Drive, I’d like to visit an old friend of mine. He’s pretty cool, I think you’ll like him.”

Paul shrugged and headed over to Fox Drive which was south of the Saints-held Athos Bay across a couple of bridges. Starlight saw a familiar van that looked like something out of the Seventies and had Paul stop the car before they got out and headed into a junkyard.

“Last I heard from Tobias, he was slinging while his buddy, Billy, watched his back. I wonder how he’s doing now,” Starlight mused.

They soon got their answer when they heard a gunshot up ahead. They quickly spotted a shirtless man wearing nothing but a pair of multi-colored baggy pants and a beaded necklace. He wore no shirt and no shoes and he was currently in the middle of unloading an entire clip of ammo into a man wearing a black coat.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN STEAL FROM ME?! YOU THINK YOU CAN FUCKING ROB ME?! YOU STUPID! FUCKING! BACKSTABBING! PIECE OF SHIT!” he screamed, unloading several rounds into the man’s corpse.

Paul cringed at the display of rage he just witnessed. He had never seen anyone get that angry before.

Strangely, as if a switch was suddenly flipped, Tobias’ demeanor had suddenly gone from enraged to completely chill as he noticed his new company. He smiled as he noticed his old friend, “Hey Starlight, sorry about the mess. Billy here thought it would be a good idea to skim off the top but…” He fired one last round into the corpse, which Paul figured was Billy. “He was wrong…”

Suddenly, Paul felt on edge about being around the guy who seemed like he could change his expressions too fast for his liking. “...You’re right, I do like him,” he tried, though nobody bought that.

“What’s with you?” Starlight asked, sensing Paul’s discomfort.

“How does someone go from pissed off to chill that fast?”

“Relax, bruh,” Tobias assuaged. “You’re friends with Star, so you’re fine with me.”

“As long as you don't try to cheat him. As you can tell, that can really trigger him. Other than that, he's a pretty chill guy,” Starlight added.

“Since you’re here, you mind helping me out?” Tobias requested. “Since Billy here decided to abruptly retire from the business, I need someone to watch my back while I make a few deliveries.”

“I can guess what you’re delivering, but I have to ask: Are you on the FBI watch list?” Paul asked. “Last two times I helped someone with their deliveries I had them on my ass toward the end.”

“Nah, man, I’m actually pretty low on their radar since I’m in a low income neighborhood. It’s those punk Latino kids you gotta watch out for. Anyways, let’s roll.”

Just like with Laura and Marvin, Tobias drove around and made the deals while Starlight and Paul made sure to keep him safe. The runs were a little easier than the last two times since they now had a sizable income and could afford to keep fully stocked on ammo at all times. The difference was that the police presence was minor this time while the Carnales became increasingly aggressive in trying to stop Tobias.

“So, you Star’s personal muscle?” Tobias asked.

“I’m her friend, actually,” Paul replied.

“Kind of both, really,” Starlight shrugged.

“That’s good, can’t have too many friends,” Tobias nodded. “Don’t you have a boyfriend yet? I bet all the guys are giving you looks.”

“Nah, statistically most relationships around my age end in break ups so I’ll hold off on things like that until the market matures. What about you?”

“Me? Nope, ladies can’t handle my ‘unique’ charms.”

Paul suppressed a scoff as he heard that. He had seen Tobias’ “unique charms” in the junkyard and it would take a woman with a certain kind of crazy to want to date him.

“Well, I can set you up on a date with someone if you want,” Starlight offered. “I know someone around your age who’s single and holds well under pressure.”

“I suppose I can give your offer a shot,” Tobias shrugged, unsure if the offer was a good idea.

Eventually, the Carnales grew so furious with Tobias stealing their customers that they started breaking out the heavy artillery in the form of RPGs which forced Starlight to start using her magic to protect them by sending the rockets back at the Carnales. Beyond that, the deliveries went smoothly.

The fact that the Carnales were unable to deal with one drug dealer who was protected by the Saints had shown the gang that their enemy was a force to be reckoned with. This, combined with the times with Laura and Marvin, had also shown the law enforcement that the Saints were not to be underestimated.

As they said their goodbyes to the seemingly unhinged man, Starlight promised to set him up on that date once the Carnales were finished. They then returned home to finish their day off in peace.

The next day the two returned to the church as it was time to begin moving against the Carnales. Yesterday’s stunt had shown Starlight what their next opponents were capable of. The Carnales were obviously heavily armed for warfare, possibly in preparation for their war against the Saints. Sure, the Vice Kings had thugs carrying around RPGs, but the Carnales seemed to have their thugs armed with enough explosives to demolish half the city. Starlight had no doubt that the Columbian Cartel were providing them with weapons. This was going to be an uphill battle.

Starlight and Paul entered Dex’s office. The man was expecting them as he had everything set up on his board on the wall, including a map of the city and some photos depicting Carnales.

“Hey you two, glad you could make it,” Dex greeted. “Ready to get started?”

“Yeah, what do you have for us?” Starlight asked.

“Check this out, as you probably know, the Carnales were the first organized gang in the city until Benjamin King stepped up against them. I ain’t worried about their history as I am worried that A: the Lopez brothers are crazy muthafuckas, and B: Victor, their enforcer, survived a dozen VK drive-bys. There’s also their connection with the largest drug cartel in the world which would make any Johnny-like plans utter suicide.”

Starlight gave Dex a flat stare but Dex ignored it and continued, “The plan is to cut off their income then go for Hector. Sound good?

“I agree with the plan,” Starlight said. “King did mention that taking out Hector would be the best way to weaken the Carnales. Angelo’s brash personality will drive a wedge between the Carnales and the cartel without his brother around. We will have to deal with Victor at some point but that’s going to require some more planning if we’re to take out that tenacious bastard. So where do we start in attacking their income?”

“Good question,” Dex nodded. “There’s a couple of drug labs in warehouses located in The Mills and near Southern Cross. Both are fairly small hoods so you should find the warehouses easily.”

“So we’re assaulting two labs in two territories?” Starlight inquired, seeking clarification. “Seems like a bit of a bold move but if Paul and I each take a lab at the same time it should ensure that they won’t have time to reinforce either one.”

“That should work as long as you two can handle the labs solo. You two do a lot together but can you handle solo missions?”

“We’ve got it handled, Dex, don’t worry about it.”

Once they were finished with their briefing, Starlight took her car and headed to Southern Cross while Paul hijacked a car and headed for The Mills.

Heading across the bridge from Athos Bay, Paul entered Fox Drive before turning into The Mills where little but an industrial mill, a few small warehouses and barely any housing was located. The target warehouse was easy to find just off the main road where he got out and started blasting the surprised Carnales thugs with a shotgun.

The thugs were lightly armed so Paul didn’t have to worry about any destructive weapons like he and Starlight encountered yesterday but he still had to make sure to avoid being hit anywhere that could lead to a lethal wound while blasting the thugs.

He soon reached what looked like the back room of the warehouse where he noticed some makeshift equipment that he suspected was used in drug production. After tossing an active grenade at the equipment, Paul quickly left the room before a huge blast devastated it.

With the lab destroyed, Paul only needed to deal with any reinforcements and get back to the church.

Technically, the warehouse Starlight was looking for was in Cecil park which bordered Southern Cross, but Starlight didn’t care about the technicalities as she parked near the entrance of the warehouse which had a wall and a gate.

Pulling out her platinum SMG, Starlight began her attack by taking out the guards near the entrance to the warehouse itself. Once inside, she switched to her shotgun and took out the few Carnales who were actually inside the warehouse which made Starlight feel a little disappointed that there were so few defenders of the site. She quickly located the lab and blasted it with a bolt of her magic while raising a barrier to protect her from the resulting explosion.

“Come on, at least the Vice Kings put up a better fight than you idiots did,” Starlight complained.

One thug who was barely alive raised his head in defiance to Starlight as he growled, “Vete al la mierda, bruja! (Fuck you, witch!)”

Starlight frowned as she fired a round of her revolver in the thug’s face. “Rude, yet insultingly accurate.”

Once she was finished, she returned to the church to report the news.

While Cecil Park was still well defended thanks to a stronghold in the area, the neighboring Southern Cross was left vulnerable so the Saints moved in on that territory as well as claiming The Mills, bringing the war against the Carnales to a good start.

Dex was still planning their next move and there was still enough daylight to do something else before the end of the day.

“So, anything from Wong?” Paul asked.

“He did point me to another mechanic looking for some cars but he also wanted me to deal with someone who is supposed to meet us at the airport. From what I heard, she’s hiring hitmen to eliminate people who have been standing in her way of buying up their properties.

“Isn’t that what Wong had us doing before?”

“Wong’s list involved people who have wronged him or his family. Marcel only wanted us to make sure a bunch of witnesses dropped out from a court case. This woman, Deb, wants someone to eliminate a number of innocent people so she can buy their properties and rent them out to people for obscene prices.”

“Maybe we should ignore this one?” Paul suggested.

“Nah, I’ve got a better idea. For now, let’s head over to Miguel’s place.”

On the way to Miguel’s shop in Charlestown, which was deep in Carnales territory, Paul wondered about Starlight’s close ties with Wong and it brought him to ask the question that had been bothering him. “You seem awfully close to Wong, are you planning on succeeding him at some point?”

“I’m not sure there’s anything to succeed in his organization. He’s just a retired Triad member with a number of loyalists working to make Stilwater a better place. I can’t really say if the organization was made to live on without him. Though I did ask him about that and he told me that while I would make a worthy successor, that my potential was bigger than anything Stilwater could contain.”

Paul chuckled, “He sure knows how to flatter someone.”

The two soon reached the garage and looked around to find a head-shaved man in an electric wheelchair driving over to see them. “What homes, you two never seen a man in a wheelchair before?”

“You sound like you’ve had a bad day,” Starlight remarked.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just in a bad mood,” spoke a woman who walked up to Miguel, who Starlight figured was Jen, his wife. “Ain’t that right, baby.” She then kissed Miguel on the side of his head.

Starlight smirked, “Gotta count your blessings, Miguel. Doesn’t look like Jen is leaving you anytime soon.”

Miguel’s face gained a faint shade of red, “Heh, you got a point there. Still hate that my boosting days were ended by that pig, Monroe. Then he got promoted to chief afterward, life sucks sometimes.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I stole the kickback money he took from the Vice Kings,” Starlight offered.

Miguel chuckled, ”That does make me feel a little better. Anyways, since you seem to know my name, you must be the ones Mr. Wong sent my way. I have the list tacked on the wall. Do this for me and I’ll even give you a coupon for a fifty percent discount on all car repairs at Rim Jobs for a year in addition to the cash…cool?”

“Sure, I’d rather take that than the cars that other mechanics have been offering me. I have no interest in amassing a fleet of cars, unlike Paul here.”

“Hey, I thought they looked cool,” Paul protested. “Besides, I don’t plan on keeping them since I could make a lot of cash selling them if I find myself strapped.”

While Paul was grabbing the list, Starlight made a quick phone call to someone before the two regrouped.

Looking at the list, Starlight spotted the odd ones quickly. While Miguel was looking for a Reaper sedan, there was no way she was giving him her car. Stealing an ambulance could be troublesome if she wasn’t careful since stealing civic vehicles could get her into trouble with the cops. She didn’t see much issue in stealing a Destiny sedan, a Taxi, a Slingshot compact, or a Bootlegger sedan. She knew that the Vice Kings drove Compton sedans around so she might find one in the former gang’s territory somewhere. The La Fuerza sedans were typically driven by Los Carnales so she would probably see Paul hijack one later.

After bidding Miguel and Jen farewell, the two head over to the airport. More specifically, they headed to the hotel near the airport. Once they arrived, Starlight went over the plan with Paul, “All you have to do is follow the script and we will get easy money from this.” Paul nodded and went inside. Starlight headed over to some bushes. “Laserbeak, execute the operation.” The drone chirped and flew off.

Paul was soon greeted by a woman in a red dress with a floral design carrying a martini and a briefcase. “Don’t ask questions, just come with me,” the woman ordered. Paul complied and went over to an area with a pair of seats and a table.

Once the two were seated, Deb placed the briefcase on the table and opened it, revealing numerous stacks of twenty dollar bills. Paul surmised that there were thousands of dollars in that case. “This is for you…” Deb said before placing a series of photos on the stacks. “...if you kill them in the methods specified for each photo.”

Paul looked at each photo and barely managed to suppress a cringe as he looked at the people. He saw a SWAT team member and a picture of a sniper rifle, a construction worker and a molotov cocktail, a roller skater and a GDHC .50 pistol, an obese sex worker and a knife, a mailman and an SKR-7 Spree SMG, a utility worker and a Tombstone shotgun, a dockworker and a baseball bat, and the one that made his blood boil, an old woman and a VICE 9 pistol.

Paul had a thing against killing the elderly, children as well. Unless they were really deserving of it, he would try to avoid killing old people.

Deb gave a sultry chuckle, not knowing the fury boiling within her interlocutor. “Right now I’m willing to bet you’re thinking of one of two things. Either you’re thinking, ‘There’s no way I can kill someone who’s done nothing to me’ or you’re thinking, ‘How am I going to spend all that cash.’”

“Well, you’re right that I am thinking of one of those two things. Unfortunately for you, it’s the former. Fuck you and fuck your contract killing ways!” Paul growled.

Deb frowned as she heard Paul’s vehement refusal of her offer to which she pulled out a pistol and aimed it at him. “Really now, you helped Wong kill a bunch of people and now you’re getting cold feet?”

“Those people wronged his family,” Paul shot back. “One of them even brought about the death of his granddaughter.”

“These people have wronged me,” Deb countered.

“For what, not wanting to sell to you?”

Deb’s eyes widened a little as she heard that but quickly regained her focus. “I see you’ve done some research. A pity, I prefer those who are more inclined to do as told and not ask questions. I can’t have you going to the cops about this so you will have to die in this empty hotel lobby.”

Paul gave his most annoying grin, “Ain’t gonna be empty in the next few seconds, bitch.”

As he said that, a nearby window shattered as a metallic canister bounced on the floor and rolled up next to Deb. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what was about to happen but it was too late to protect herself as her vision was met with a blinding white light. By the time her vision returned, she noticed two things: Paul was gone and she was now surrounded by a SWAT team. Ironically, John, one of the targets, was among them.

“You are under arrest for multiple charges of murder-for-hire throughout the State of Michigan,” John declared. “We have your recorded confession and now we have the photos as evidence. You’re going away for a long time.”

“Looks like that anonymous tip was legit after all,” another officer remarked.

While Deb was being carried off, a certain avian drone who was responsible for recording the scene and broadcasting it to the police flew toward the bushes around the hotel. Within sat Starlight and Paul as well as a briefcase full of cash.

“George Clooney has nothing on you,” Paul commented.

Starlight scoffed, “I wish. The things he pulled off in those movies were done without magic. Though I did take some inspiration from that.”

As Laserbeak flew toward the two, they decided to leave the bushes so the drone could perch itself on Starlight’s shoulder. Paul still had one last question as they got into Starlight’s car, “I saw the cops leave with a briefcase just like this one, but I thought I grabbed it when that flashbang went off.”

“You did, I just conjured an illusion of the briefcase. It’ll vanish in an hour, then they will probably be scratching their heads about it for a while. Anyways, let’s go see Mr. Wong and tell him the good news.”

After they arrived at Wong’s place and gave him the news, Wong smiled before presenting the two with rewards for all of their hard work so far. The rewards came in the form of three weapons: A platinum AS12 Riot shotgun, a gold-plated GDHC .50 pistol and a platinum RPG. Paul was quick to accept the RPG since Starlight preferred to stay away from explosive weapons if she could help it. She accepted the shotgun and pistol though.

Once they had finished their business with Wong, the two returned home to rest before they continued their war against the Saints’ enemies.

Collection

Starlight and Paul spent some time hanging out at the church while waiting for their next mission. Since Starlight had some time to kill, she went to the nearest Friendly Fire and picked up some cleaning kits for her weapons. She wasn’t about to allow her platinum weapons or her gold pistol to suffer from lack of maintenance, especially so soon after receiving them.

While Paul admired his new platinum RPG launcher that he was eager to try out very soon, he gave a contented look at Starlight. “I'll say this about Mr. Wong, he knows how to treat his employees.”

Starlight nodded, “Yep, he taught me success isn't the only time people should be rewarded.
He believes loyalty is a precious gift and should be rewarded as well.”

“Still, are you sure this won’t affect how future clients look at you after calling the cops on Deb?”

Starlight shook her head, “Mr. Wong said that he will take the flak for any repercussions that my actions brought. He’s making sure everyone knows that I only did what I did under his orders. Plus, that cash we took from her was the cherry on top.”

“By the way, any chance you’d be willing to share those weapons, including the SMG?” Paul asked, glancing at the platinum and gold weapons.

“I don’t see why not. You can handle these weapons as well as I can, at least.”

“Awesome!” Paul cheered.

“Just remember that you will be paying the ammo costs if you do use them. I’m not paying for the ammo that you used.”

“Fair,” Paul shrugged.

“Alright, now where is Dex?” Starlight wondered.

“If you’re looking for Dex, he and Troy are waiting for you two at the gas station near Freckle Bitch’s,” Julius remarked as he passed by them.

The two looked at Julius then at each other before they shrugged and headed for the gas station. They found the two in question looking at a map they laid out on top of one of their cars while they were discussing a strategy for something. “What if we came from here and here?” Troy wondered, pointing at two spots on the map.

“No, they’d just see it coming,” Dex rejected. “Cops pull that shit all the time and it never works.”

“Shit. Alright, so what should we do then?”

“What are you two discussing?” Starlight asked as she and Paul approached them.

“Since you’re both here, I guess we can get started,” Troy began. “I got a lead on where the Los Carnales cut all their shit,”

“The Carnales.” Dex corrected.

“Wha?”

“Rio Grande river. Jesus!”

“Let's set Troy's lack of attention in Spanish class aside for now and focus,” Starlight directed. Troy looked away in embarrassment.

“Right, anyways, we ain't raidin' the factory just yet,” Dex stated.

While the matter of what Troy said about the Carnales ‘cutting their shit’ and Dex mentoning a factory might seem confusing, Starlight was able to piece together that Troy had located a drug production factory.

“Why not?” Troy asked.

“Cause I'm not a gun-toting psychopath named Johnny Gat.” That comment earned him a hard stomp on his foot, courtesy of Starlight. “Argh! Fuckin’ bitch!” he shouted as he started nursing his injured foot.

“Perhaps you would care to rephrase what you said about my daddy?” Starlight flatly asked.

Troy shook his head, knowing that he would have to arbitrate between the two to get anything done. “Alright, calm down, you two. Dex, you know you deserved that knowing who her father is.
Starlight, I know he's being an asshole but he's still the one in charge of this operation.
We need to get along if we want to bring Los Carnales down.”

“I’ll do my best to get along with him, but if he’s going to continue talking shit about my dad, he’s going to see how petty I can be.”

Dex grumbled as he started favoring his good foot. “Right, one of my boys called and said they saw a truck with a heavy LC escort leavin' the factory district. It's probably loaded with drugs, but that's just a bonus; our real target is the truck itself. I need it brought to the Row in one piece.”

“What do you need the truck for?” Troy asked.

“Let's just get the truck first, then I'll tell ya the rest of the plan,” Dex responded, dodging the question.

“I'm just sayin' it'd be nice to know.”

“Shit, Troy, what's with all the questions?” Dex growled, getting defensive.

Starlight sighed and rolled her eyes at Dex’s display. “Come on, Paul, let's go get him his truck…” As she and Paul moved out of earshot of Dex, she grumbled. “I swear, that guy can be such a child sometimes.”

“I wonder if Troy is up to something,” Paul contemplated.

“I'm not worried about Troy, I know how to handle him. I may still be a minor myself, but Dex is an adult acting petulant. I didn’t see any harm in telling us what the truck was for, though I have a good idea what the plan is.”

As they reached Starlight’s car, Troy joined them for the ride. Apparently he was part of Dex’s plan to hijack the truck. “Alright, let's go get that truck. You two cover me and I'll jack the truck.”

The three took off while Troy directed Starlight to a dockyard in Poseidon Alley at the southern end of Stilwater. As they were in transit, Troy decided to voice his concerns. “Just between us, I was fine with cleaning out the Row and driving out the gangs, but getting into this drug shit ain’t cool. Someone should talk some sense into Julius.”

“Whether it’s the Carnales or independent slingers, there’s too much demand for drugs in Stilwater. It’s a seller’s market here and there will always be someone trying to control it. Whether it’s the Carnales, the Saints or an outside party, it doesn’t matter. The issue is that there are so many junkies in Stilwater that only a fool would pass up such a lucrative opportunity.”

Troy blinked, unable to respond to Starlight’s accurate assessment for a time until they were halfway to the docks. “Alright, how are you so smart? Not only can you build a functioning robot and hack computers but you seem to have a grasp of economics as well. I can’t imagine you getting that kind of knowledge from the crappy high school we have here. And don’t try to defend it, you and I both know that if the educational standard of Stilwater’s school system wasn’t the piece of shit it is, Stilwater wouldn’t be so lousy with thugs.”

Starlight shrugged, “Don’t know what to say, the internet is a powerful tool and you learn a lot from it.”

Troy scoffed, “Of course you would learn your skills from the internet. Soon enough everyone will follow this example and the next thing you know, kids’ll be taking classes online.”

As they drove into the dockyards, Paul began firing at the unsuspecting Carnales in the area and took a few out before they caught on to what was happening. The car stopped a short distance from the objective before the three left their vehicle and continued engaging the Carnales.

Paul borrowed the platinum SMG and Starlight used her sword to cut down any red thug near the truck while Troy went directly for the vehicle.

“Come on, boys! Try me!” Starlight taunted. She ducked and weaved around the hailstorm of bullets heading her way while using her gold pistol to take care of thugs who tried to keep their distance. The thugs were mainly using pistols so they were not difficult to deal with.

At one point enemy reinforcements arrived as several Carnales cars drove into the area. Seeing this, Paul decided to try out his new toy. Grabbing the platinum RPG launcher from its holster on his back, he aimed and fired at the vehicles, taking out the reinforcements before they could exit their rides.

After a few minutes of fighting, Troy finally managed to hotwire the truck and get it started. Hearing the engine, Paul and Starlight realized that it was time to get out of there. They took out a few more thugs before reaching their car just as Troy began to drive off in the truck.

Acting as escort, Starlight followed the truck while Paul blasted the pursuers with his RPG while switching to the SMG whenever the cars got too close to the truck to avoid any unwanted damage to it.

Eventually the Carnales gave up the chase and Troy was able to take the truck to Samson’s garage without further incident. Troy wiped the sweat from his brow as he left the truck, relieved that the mission was at its end. “Well, we got the truck Dex wanted. Now all we gotta do is figure out what he needed it for.”

“I think it should be obvious what he needs it for. He may have been trying to act cute by keeping his intentions a secret but he’s actually quite predictable,” Starlight remarked.

“Whaddya mean?” Troy asked.

“Think about it, you two were planning on raiding a drug factory and he asked for a truck. What do you need for a successful raid and what could you imagine would fit in this truck?”

“Well, obviously guns and a crew but…oh,” Troy realized. “So that’s his plan.”

“Using one of the Carnales delivery trucks, one could get close to the factory without raising an alarm and by the time one is raised, it’s too late as they are caught with their pants down.”

Troy chuckled, “Gotta hand it to you, you really know how to steal Dex’s thunder, Starlight. Anyways, I gotta get this truck repaired for the raid.”

With the truck delivered, Starlight and Paul head back to the church to consider their next move. Though before that, Starlight decided that it was time to see if another hunch of hers was correct. “Laserbeak, stealth recon mode. Investigate the residents of that villa in Ezpata.” The drone chirped and flew off.

“What about that villa that catches your interest?” Paul asked.

“It’s one of the nicest places in the southern parts of Stilwater, a good place for the leadership of the Carnales to reside.”

“You mean the Lopez Brothers?”

“Yep.”

Just as they returned to the church, Starlight received a call from an unknown number. “Hello?” she answered.

“Buenos dias, Señorita Starlight. I am Rico Martinez, your jefe (boss), Señor Wong, gave me your number so I could contact you myself. I prefer to offer jobs directly to those I work with instead of through another. I have a job for you, could you and your friend come see me at my club in Southern Cross?”

“I guess so, but this better be good.”

Starlight and Paul found their way to a club with a railroad crossing sign that said “On Track” with neon lights in the form of red and blue train cars and a number of old and worn posters on the walls. They headed inside to find a club with a dance floor that was literally smoking while they found a relaxed latino man by himself wearing an expensive black shirt.

The latino man beckoned them over, “Ah, you made it! Gracias for coming on short notice.”

“What do you want, Rico?” Starlight asked, keeping her guard up since she didn’t know what his intentions were.

Rico chuckled, “Relax señorita, I ain’t gonna ask you to go after innocent people. I got a little work for you two. Until I opened this club, I was a nobody. My neighbors, my family...nobody gave a fuck about me. But as soon as I had money, that all changed. Suddenly, everyone's my friend, and they all need favors. Now, I ain't got a problem helping people out as long as they understand the consequences. If they meet their end of the deal, it's no problem. When they don't, I need people like you to help me make those pendejos (assholes) understand why nobody fucks with Rico Martinez.”

“And that comes in the form of…” Starlight inquired.

“Two words: property damage.”

Paul smiled, “Looks like my RPG is getting a workout today.”

Rico chuckled, “Speaking of RPGs, once you give them the message, I’ll even provide you with a large supply of ammo for it along with the liquor nobody wants because it tastes awful. I’m sure you can find a better use for it.”

Hearing about the liquor, Paul’s mind immediately drifted toward the idea of a supply of molotov cocktails. It would certainly be good for taking out groups of enemies.

Just like the times with Mary and Reno, Paul and Starlight headed out to do some damage to the places specified by Rico. Once again people were screaming in terror in the street as Paul demolished everything in sight with grenades and pipe bombs as well as a few shots from his RPG while Starlight’s sword tore through cars and fences like butter.

Just like last time, fires erupted in the area and emergency crews were soon on the scene. As soon as they decided that Rico’s enemies got the message, Paul pointed at an ambulance, stating his intent on stealing it and giving it to Miguel.

“I wonder if we should take the medical equipment in the ambulance for ourselves in case we get injured,” Starlight wondered. However, after thinking about it for a few moments, they decided against it.

The two went their separate ways and agreed to meet at the church later. Meanwhile, Starlight checked her phone to see if there were any developments from Laserbeak. She noticed that the camera was on so she could see five latino people near the pool: four men sitting at a table and one woman in a red two-piece bikini who was sunbathing.

One of the men wore a scarlet suit and a gray tie. He also had a scar over his right eye. Another wore a scarlet shirt and black pants with black suspenders while having a chain around his neck with the Carnales cross symbol. The third man had his hair done in a ponytail and wore a black vest over his white shirt with his pants being scarlet. The fourth was a balding man, likely middle-aged, and wore a gray suit and a white shirt.

Starlight recognized the first man as Hector Lopez and the second as Angelo Lopez from the photos. She also identified Victor Rodriguez from the photos as well. The fourth was a mystery that she hoped would be cleared up soon.

“Angelo, I need you to go to the lab tonight,” Hector ordered. “One of our shipments didn’t arrive and I want to make sure no one’s skimming off the top.”

“No problem,” Angelo responded.

“Angelo, you promised we’d go shopping tonight,” the woman complained.

“Ah shit. Hector, I told Luz I’d take her downtown. Can Victor take care of–”

“Is Victor sitting at the table, Angelo?” Hector rhetorically asked.

“Yes.”

“So if I wanted Victor to handle it, I would have asked him, right?”

Angelo sighed before looking at Luz, who Starlight suspected was his girlfriend. “Luz, we’ll go out tomorrow.”

“But Angelo–” Luz protested.

“¡Coño Luz, cállate la boca, okey! ¿No me oíste? (Damn Luz, shut your mouth, okay! Didn’t you hear me?)”

“Gracias,” Hector thanked.

“You should be nicer to the lady,” the older man suggested.

“Oh yeah Angelo, métete la verga en su boca, eso la callará. (Oh yeah Angelo, put your dick in her mouth, that will shut her up.)” Victor joked to which Hector, Angelo and Victor shared a laugh at Luz’s expense. Starlight was going to pretend she didn't know what that meant.

“¡Véte al carajo! (Go to hell!)” Luz growled.

“Mira (Look) Luz, come on mama, don’t be so sensitive,” Angelo mollified.

However, this did nothing to assuage Luz’s irritation as she headed for the patio door.

“Señorita, a moment,” the older man called out, prompting Luz to stop for a moment. “If Angelo is busy, I can take you out tonight.”

“Mr. Orejuela, I couldn’t–” Luz responded flirtatiously.

“Nonsense, it would be my pleasure.” The older man, Orejuela from what Starlight heard, turned to Angelo. “Unless you have a problem with me entertaining the lady.”

In a fit out outrage, Angelo stood up and was about to scream at Orejuela. However, a look from his brother warned him against it. Mollified, Angelo sat back down and begrudgingly acquiesced to Orejuela’s offer.

Orejuela offered to see Luz at eight in the evening for the shopping trip before Luz smiled and headed back inside with a satisfied look on her face. Orejuela then turned to Angelo and commented, “That a lotta woman you got there, Angelo.”

“I know,” Angelo grumbled.

“Eh, I always thought she was a bitch,” Hector commented which Victor laughed in response. Angelo glared at Orejuela who returned with one of his own.

Hector’s phone suddenly rang which prompted the conversation to be put on hold. “Sí, ¿Qué pasa? (Yes, what’s up?) ¿Qué? ¿Pero qué pasó? (What? But what happened?)”

“What is it?” Angelo asked.

Hector ignored his brother for a moment as he listened to his subordinate over the phone, his features shifting from shock to anger to seething rage. “¡Esos malditos imbéciles! (Those fucking assholes!)”

“That didn’t sound encouraging,” Orejuela commented as Hector ended his call.

“Everything is fine,” Hector voiced, though his frustration was clear on his face and his voice.

Orejuela didn’t buy those words, though he rose from the table and headed toward the patio door. “Of course it is. If you would excuse me, I’m going to check on the señorita.”

As Orejuela walked away, Angelo’s anger broke through what little self restraint he had. “¡Ese viejo sucio maricón, yo le mato si le toca a Luz! (That dirty old man, I’ll kill him if he touches Luz!)” If Orejuela heard what Angelo had said he showed no signs of reacting to it.

Hector frowned and gave his brother a stern glare, his cool tone prevalent. “Angelo, you are my brother and I love you, but if you let your dick fuck things up with the Columbians I’m gonna cut it off.”

Mollified, Angelo lowered his head. “Forgive me, Hector.”

“Don’t let it happen again,” Hector warned.

“¿Y qué fue eso? (And what was that?)” Victor asked, referring to the phone call.

“Those pendejos (assholes) from Saint’s Row are the ones who took the shipment. With the Columbians arriving, we can’t show any weakness.”

“The Columbians are already here,” Angelo pointed out, referring to Orejuela who Starlight suspected was the liaison for the Columbians.

“All the more reason to settle this now. Victor, Angelo, gather your men together. It’s time to tear Saint’s Row apart.”

Once the three men left to begin their preparations, Starlight cut the feed. She had everything she needed to know right now and the Saints needed to make preparations for an imminent assault on their home base. “I better tell Julius about this right away,” Starlight voiced before heading into the church.

Protection

After calling Paul to warn him about the imminent threat to the church, the two headed back there without delay while Starlight called ahead to Julius to warn him that the Carnales were rallying and heading their way soon.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Julius replied. “If those bitches wanna take the fight to us, they better be ready to bleed for it.”

By the time Starlight and Paul returned to the church, they noticed that groups of Saints thugs were taking up positions in buildings while watching every street for signs of their enemies. The bridges connecting the southern districts to the slums were heavily fortified.

Paul took Starlight to one of the safehouses where he stashed some of his stockpiled ammunition and loaded up on as much of it as he could carry while Starlight helped herself to the pistol and SMG ammunition.

While they were arming themselves, Paul decided to tell her something that he was hesitant to say since he had never had a friendship as strong as the one he had with Starlight before, “I don’t tell this to just anyone, but my birthday is in a couple of days.”

Starlight smiled as she heard that, “Is that so? This is perfect timing actually since I already know what I’m getting you.”

“You do? What is it?”

Starlight giggled, “As if you would get that answer from me so easily.”

Paul shrugged, “Fair enough. By the way, I figure that sword of yours is a personal heirloom or something since you keep it on you at all times, but do you think I could try it out?”

Starlight thought about that and knew what would happen before a devious smirk graced her face as she removed the sheathed blade from her back and handed it to Paul. “You can try.”

Paul held the weapon by the sheath and stared at it for a few seconds, admiring how it looked. However, it was when he tried to take the blade out that he realized why Starlight had that look on her face like she was pulling a prank on him. Try as he might, he couldn’t make the sword budge from its sheath as if the entire weapon was immersed in super glue. After a few more futile attempts he handed the weapon back to Starlight while shooting her a glare.

“I thought you wanted to try the blade out,” Starlight questioned with feigned innocence, before she couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore.

“Very funny, I guess this is more of your magic stuff at work?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why myself, but for some reason the blade is connected to my magic somehow.”

“Well, at least no one can use it against you, I guess.”

“Anyways, we’ve had our fun, but I think it’s time to show the Carnales why red shirts are a death flag. You ready for this?”

Paul cocked the platinum shotgun he borrowed from Starlight before holding it over his shoulder. “Right behind you!”

Shortly after the two left the safehouse, they received reports from the thugs in the field that several convoys of Carnales vehicles were crossing the bridges into the slums. A number of cars were taken out by RPGs before they charged past the fortifications only to encounter more fortified locations which made the Carnales suspect that the Saints were waiting for them.

The battle only lasted a half hour as the last of the Carnales quickly realized that they had driven into a proverbial meat grinder. However, Angelo, who was leading the attack, managed to escape. While a crew of Saints had him pinned down, he was rescued by Victor who helped the leader wipe out the crew before they fled back across the bridge, but not before Starlight popped the rear tires of their car with her gold pistol to add insult to injury.

“And don’t come back!” Starlight called out.

While the Saints were celebrating their humiliation of the Carnales, Starlight and Paul returned to the church where Julius was waiting to congratulate the two.

“Good job driving the Carnales from the Row, but this can’t go unanswered. We may have sent Angelo home with his tail between his legs but now we need to drive the point home that their days are numbered.”

“What do you have in mind?” Starlight asked.

“Since you busted up their drug labs and stole one of their shipments, their drug ring is hurtin’. Because of that they’ve moved to gun running. I found out they’ve set up a weapons plant in an old steel mill on Fox Drive. Make sure their business doesn’t get off the ground. Take out the equipment as well since we don’t have a use for it. Swing by Samson’s for some explosives.”

“We can do that,” Starlight affirmed before another idea popped into her head. “By the way, can I ask you for a favor?”

“What is it?” Julius asked.

“I want to set something up to throw Angelo off his game. However, I don’t plan to put it into action until Hector is out of the game. Can you forward the locations of all of the vacant buildings in the Carnales territories to Mr. Wong? Tell him to wait for my signal before sending his men to inspect the buildings while making sure the Carnales are aware of them. I plan to have Hector taken out by then.”

Julius wasn’t sure what Starlight had in mind, but her past track record with the other gangs left him little room to doubt her. “Alright, I’ll take care of it. For now, take out that plant.”

With a nod, Starlight headed out with Paul to Fox Drive. On the way there, Starlight called Wong and told him her plan and hammered out the details. They also stopped by Samson’s garage where they received four charges to blow up the steel mill’s equipment.

When they got there, they found that the mill was heavily guarded. Starlight had a feeling that the Carnales weren’t taking any chances since the Saints had taken out a number of strongholds in the past. Either that or the Carnales really wanted to make sure their weapons business succeeded. Further observations drew Starlight’s attention to a pair of rooftop snipers.

“So what’s the plan?” Paul asked.

Starlight observed the complex a little more through a pair of binoculars until she noticed an easily accessible path to the roof from the back of the building that could lead Paul to the snipers’ positions. The wheels started turning before her idea took form. “You still have your dad’s hunting rifle?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if we were going to need it again but I kept it just in case. Why?”

“Remember Sunnyvale Loft?”

“Ah!” Paul realized. “You sure you can handle being in the yard for long? There’s a lot of them this time.”

“There’s a lot more room to work with as well. Plus, I think I can show off a little more since I’m not as worried about them having enough time to mount a proper defense against me if word gets to Hector.”

Paul nodded, “Alright then, I’ll hit ‘em high, you hit ‘em low.”

Once the plan was acknowledged, Starlight hid out of sight behind a fence near the entrance and teleported Paul to the unguarded rear of the steel mill.

Fighting back a case of nausea and a few choice words he wanted to have with Starlight at some point about teleporting, Paul quickly climbed his way to the top of the roof. Taking out his rifle, he loudly took out the rooftop sniper which got the attention of everyone around the mill. Acting quickly, he followed up by taking out a sniper perched on a walkway on the side of the building.

Once she heard two shots go off, Starlight made her move, charging in with her sword drawn. With everyone’s attention on Paul, Starlight had plenty of time and the element of surprise on her side.

Taking several nearby cement blocks in her magic, Starlight kept them at the ready before engaging the defenders in melee combat. She managed to cut several down before the Carnales took notice of her. Once this happened, she bashed several more thugs in the head with the cement blocks.

The Carnales soon realized they were caught in a pincer attack between a swordswoman using weird powers they had only ever seen in movies on one side and a rooftop sniper on the other side. Because of this, they had no idea who to focus on and none of them were smart enough to tell the others what to do. This resulted in the defenders being wiped out quickly.

Not long after the yard was cleared out, a door into the mill’s receiving station opened, releasing a few more thugs into the yard who were sniped from behind by Paul.

“We have our way in, let’s go!” Starlight called out. Paul jumped off the roof and ragdolled to minimize any damage he took from such an action. Somehow it worked as he got up and dusted himself off before pulling out a shotgun.

The two entered the receiving station and cleared out the Carnales inside before finding a door into the main plant. Paul switched to a pair of SMGs and sprayed the thugs on the walkways while Starlight cut down those around the equipment. Seeing the streams of molten slag in the room and several barrels that she hoped were filled with something flammable, she took the barrels in her magic and hurled them into the slag. The resulting explosions distracted the Carnales long enough for Paul to finish them off.

With the room clear, Paul began planting bombs with one by the equipment, one by a series of pipes and one in the foreman’s office. Paul decided to plant the last bomb at the top of the plant, but not before telling Starlight to evacuate first. Starlight nodded and teleported out while Paul headed out the back and climbed onto the roof where he followed a rusted metal walkway to the top of the plant before planting the last bomb. With the charges set and less than a minute to escape the imminent blast, Paul sprinted with everything he had to get down to the roof and jumped from it again, once again ragdolling. With a few seconds left, Paul got back up and got some more distance before diving forward as a series of explosions rocked the area.

With the plant demolished, the remaining Carnales in the area understood that the entire operation was scrapped so they retreated. Seeing this, Starlight called Julius to tell him the good news and to send in a crew to claim Fox Drive.

“I think we’ve done enough damage to the Carnales for today,” Starlight commented.

“We still have time to do something else,” Paul offered.

Starlight shrugged, “Yeah, but tonight’s the last series of races of the year. Libby called me earlier and said that Lorenzo, who’s running these races, is waiting for me.

“Alright, I’ll go find something else to do then.”

“See you tomorrow, Paul.”

“You too, Starlight.”

Once they parted ways, Starlight picked up her racing vehicle and headed for the gathering place for the street racers at the western end of Poseidon Alley. She soon found Lorenzo, a Latino wearing a green and black jacket, staring at a magazine sideways. Lorenzo took a few moments to notice Starlight’s presence which caused him to hastily toss his magazine aside. Much to Starlight’s dismay, she caught a glimpse of a picture of a man in nothing but his boxers laying on a car. She had nothing against Lorenzo’s tastes, but she wasn’t ready to see what she saw.

“Uh, hey, what’s up…” Lorenzo laughed awkwardly. “Uh, you didn’t see…”

“I saw nothing!” Starlight hastily replied.

“C-cool cool, right so…Starlight, is it?” Lorenzo asked. Starlight numbly nodded in response. “Right, now that you’re here, we can get started.”

Lorenzo led Starlight to the other racers who were having a meet and greet until they spotted her and Lorenzo. He quickly got the racers into position and got the races started.

Once again, Starlight demonstrated her superior driving skills by smoking the other drivers. One particular driver in a Bootlegger was doing his best to keep up with her and was doing fairly well for most of the races but could never keep up with Starlight in the end.

Once the last race was over, Starlight received her discount coupons for vehicle customizations, including the ten percent and the fifty percent coupons.

Before Starlight could head home, that one racer who came the closest to keeping up with her stomped toward her with a furious look in his eyes. “I demand a rematch!” he shouted.

Starlight gave a flat look at the sore loser, “Are you really that butt hurt over losing a few races? Why should I entertain your demands?”

“What, are you gonna go running home to your mommy whenever a racer calls you out?”

“Grow up, I’m not going to rise to your tantrums just because you can’t lose with dignity.”

As Starlight started to drive away, the racer gave one last insult in a desperate attempt to get a rise out of her. “I hear your mom was pretty famous before she died. She must have sucked a lot of cocks to get so many record deals because her songs sounded like nails on a chalkboard combined with cat screeching!”

Straight’s car came to an abrupt stop before turning her head back to the petulant man. She could take a lot of things, but the racer had just crossed the line. “Fine, you want your race then you shall have it. One thing though: this will be a high stakes race with both of our cars at stake. Understood?”

“Hell yeah! You’re going down, bitch!”

The two did a lap race around several blocks in the neighborhood. As Starlight expected, the racer tried his best to overtake her. However, she was done with him so she stopped holding back, using nitrous to boost herself along the track even if it proved unnecessary. The thing was that she didn’t want to just beat him, she wanted to lap him to drive the point home that he was out of her league. The racer stood no chance.

Once the race was over, the racer didn’t bother with the last lap and just stopped his car next to Starlight’s car. She gave the idiot her most menacing glare, “Next time you insult my mom, you'll be getting my sword to your throat!” she threatened.

“Mark my words, I will crush you one day! You hear me?!” The racer ran off, but not before Starlight magically tied his shoelaces together, making him trip and throw away the last of his dignity.

Once the idiot was finally gone, Starlight called Paul to get him to pick up the Bootlegger she just won. However, she found that her friend was in the middle of taking several showers again, just like the last time he escorted several sex workers around town. This time it was a job from some club owner named Jack who paid him in cash and a zoot suit.

Since Paul was going to be indisposed until morning, Starlight decided to call Julius and have him send a wheelman over to pick up the Bootlegger and deliver it to Miguel. Thankfully, the car had the necessary modifications that the mechanic needed so there was no need to pay a visit to Rim Jobs.

With the car being delivered, Starlight was finished for the day and headed home to enjoy a nice warm meal.

Infiltration

After a night of rest and Paul having a nightmare about the R-rated things that went on in a car he was driving last night, he and Starlight returned to the church for another day of dealing with the Carnales. Of course, Paul had to pick up a coffee on the way to help him be fully prepared for whatever action would go down today.

As they entered the church looking for Dex, Julius found them and informed them that Dex and Troy were waiting for them at Samson’s garage. He also mentioned that Dex had requested a full crew for some reason that he refused to divulge. While his behavior annoyed Julius, he still granted him the crew for whatever operation he was planning.

Starlight groaned in exasperation, “He’s starting to remind me of Warren Williams. His big head is going to get him in trouble.”

“If he starts somethin’, I won’t hesitate to put him down,” Julius warned. “It ain’t gonna be like with Ben.”

“For now let’s just go along with his plan. I don’t know what’s gotten into Dex, but right now we need his tactical thinking to take down the Carnales without starting a war with the Columbians.”

After saying their farewells to Julius, Paul and Starlight headed to Samson’s garage where they found Troy waiting just outside the building.

“Hey you two, Dex is bringing the truck around,” Troy informed. “Let’s hope his little Trojan Horse plan works.”

As he said that, Dex approached them with a shocked look on his face. “How’d you figure out what I was planning?” he demanded.

While Starlight could have told him the truth, she instead turned her eyes to Laserbeak who was perched on her shoulder, giving the guy the idea that she used her drone to figure out the plan. She wasn’t here to pick another fight with Dex since it seemed as if he had a fragile ego. As much as Dex tried to hide his plan, it was still easy to figure out from a few clues.

“I hate that thing!” Dex growled, getting in Starlight’s face. “Why you always gotta be stealing my thunder, Starlight?”

“Dex, chill! Alright?” Troy ordered. “Let’s get this plan going.”

Reluctantly and because Troy was still ranked above him as Julius’ second, Dex backed away from Starlight who did her best to keep her anger under control. However, one thing was for certain, if Dex ever betrayed the Saints, she would show him no mercy and may find more pleasure in taking him out than she should.

Dex sighed, “Anyways, the truck is being loaded up with a crew. Drive the crew to the drug factory in Pilsen and take the place over. Take care not to blow up the equipment. We need it to compete with the Carnales in the drug market once we're running the place.” He then walked away, likely to cool off after his little tantrum.

Once the crew was loaded up into the stolen delivery truck, Paul took the wheel while Starlight took the shotgun position. The crew in the cargo hold were quite vocal about their eagerness to take down the Carnales, some making bets on how many they would take out. The two ignored them and headed south toward Pilsen.

On the way, Paul decided to ask Starlight about that project they discussed a week or so ago, “So what features are you planning to put into that Ravage drone?”

Starlight almost looked at him in surprise. Honestly, she had nearly forgotten about the project she promised for Paul. However, while she knew what she wanted to make for him, she wasn’t sure if her current knowledge of robotics was enough at this time for what she envisioned.

“Ravage will be mainly designed for supporting fire so there will be a few weapons integrated into it, but I also want to do more. However, self-teaching in the field of robotics can only get me so far and I need an expert to guide me in the field to fill in any gaps in my knowledge.”

“Maybe when this is over you can pursue that college degree,” Paul suggested. “You have all that money from robbing Sharp and Monroe so you should be able to afford any college at this point.”

Starlight did consider her options for colleges, though she did have some issues with that, one of them no longer being one after she cleaned out Sharp and Monroe. Her high school offered little when it came to extracurricular activities because of their pitiful budget, but she still took what courses and activities she could to make her transcript look decent and the self-defense classes may or may not help. She learned enough Mandarin from Mr. Wong to get by but she wasn’t sure if she could put that into her transcript since she didn’t learn that from an official source. She would have to show off her engineering talents if she hoped to pursue a degree in robotics.

Still, she wasn’t sure what the future held for her so she wanted to keep her options open. “I don't know, I'd like to see how things pan out in the near future before I commit to any plans. Though I would like to see if I can rob the Lopez brothers to further increase my little nest egg. I may consider pursuing a robotics degree so I can design a few upgrades for Laserbeak as well while building Ravage.”

Paul nodded in understanding, “At least you have a plan for your future, just be careful since you don’t want the wrong people to know what you can really do.”

Starlight nodded, “I will. I will also need to keep Laserbeak a secret from everyone outside Stilwater. The last thing I need is for some blabbermouth making calls to the feds, leading me to getting recruited into some paramilitary organization or something.”

Paul gave Starlight a weird look, “That sounds…oddly specific.” Before Paul could elaborate further, they found that they were nearing the factory and the crew in the hold was getting more riled up by the second, making further conversation difficult. “Alright, we’re about to enter the factory. Hope you’re ready.” Starlight nodded in response while reaching for her sword.

Once the truck came to a stop, the crew sensed that it was time to get the party started so they kicked open the cargo hold doors and they started jumping out while spreading out and shooting any Carnales who saw the truck.

The place quickly went on alert as a number of Carnales thugs came at them from both sides of the factory while some were shooting at the Saints from the scaffolding along the factory perimeter. Starlight took care of them by throwing them off the scaffolding with her magic which left them open to shotgun blasts.

The Saints made their way around to the back of the factory where the doors were open. A sign above the entrance told Starlight that the place used to be a plastic factory until it was shut down and abandoned. Most of the crew stayed with Paul and cleaned out the exterior while Starlight led a few inside where she began cutting down the thugs manning the machines.

“Come on, boys…” Starlight taunted while spinning her sword. “I don’t bite!”

While the Carnales tried to defend the factory interior they found that Starlight was a terrifying enemy with how she brutally slaughtered them one by one and that terror caused their morale to plummet. After a few minutes of fighting, the thugs gave up and retreated. “¡Esta perra está loca! ¡Salgamos de aquí! (This bitch is crazy! Let's get out of here!)” one thug shouted.

The Carnales were in full retreat at that point though a few Saints did manage to gun down a few of the retreating thugs while the rest managed to escape in their cars.

While the Saints cried out in victory, Starlight took a cloth to wipe the blood off her blade before looking at her reflection in the blade. “Why are boys puddy in my hands?”

Paul rolled his eyes, “Do you really want me to answer that?” he asked dryly. “Anyways, let’s call Julius and tell him the good news.”

“Let me mark this factory’s address first.” After Starlight found the address and texted it to Wong, she called Julius and informed him that the factory raid was a success and the Saints could take Pilsen from the Carnales.

“Good work, I'll send another crew there to reinforce the area,” Julius informed. “In the meantime, I'd like for you and Paul to look into the Stoughton Shipyards just to your south. I heard the Carnales got in another big shipment of drugs. There's too much product for us to take, so make sure they can't move any of it either.”

“How much are we talking?”

“Enough to fill six large crates. If we had access to heavy equipment, it would be another story. Unfortunately we don’t, so do what you can to dispose of it.”

Once the call ended, Starlight started to consider what was available in the factory. Noticing the cargo trailers often hitched to semi cabs, an idea formed in her head. She drew her sword again which Paul raised an eyebrow to. However, he was more focused on their new mission. “So how are we going to dispose of the containers? I can find a bulldozer and shove them into the lake.”

Starlight smirked as she raised her sword to one of the cargo trailers. “No, I have a better idea. See if you can find a Peterliner somewhere. Check the Copperton truck yard if you are having a hard time finding one. Meanwhile, I’ll get the crew ready to hitch this to the Peterliner. This is going to be how we steal the cargo in Stoughton.”

Starlight then proceeded to cut into the walls of the cargo container, using her magic to help her cut through the metal. She moved all the way around the container until she had completely cut out the walls. The crew then moved in and lifted the severed walls off of the trailer, leaving a flat bed.

Half an hour later, Paul returned with a Peterliner and positioned it as best as he could in front of the trailer hitch. The crew helped to move the flatbed into place. Starlight entered the truck with him and told him to head to the shipyard. “Julius said that we are dealing with six large crates of drugs and the flatbed will barely hold them so don’t drive recklessly or we might lose a crate,” Starlight warned.

They arrived at the shipyard within a few minutes since the neighborhood was near the factory. At first the Carnales guarding the area were confused about the truck driving by but they didn’t recognize any enemies yet. However, that confusion turned into shock and disbelief when they saw one of their shipping containers floating in midair and landing on the flatbed. Several Carnales rubbed their eyes because they believed that what they saw was impossible.

By the time Starlight landed her third container on the flatbed, the Carnales finally got their acts together and realized that their shipment was being stolen. However, their guns were nowhere near effective enough to stop a passing semi while their crates mysteriously floated onto the trailer so they were able to steal the last container and leave. A few Carnales vehicles gave chase but a few well-timed grenades and pipe bombs took out their pursuers.

The truck returned to the factory without further incident while the awaiting crew cheered about how they humiliated the Carnales twice in one day. When Julius was informed about what happened he was shocked and glad that they now had a firm foothold in the drug market.

“And Julius said we couldn't move that much product. He underestimates me sometimes,” Starlight gloated.

“Did you even know you could lift that much?” Paul dryly asked.

Starlight blushed and chuckled awkwardly, “Uhh, truthfully, no. Guess I learned something new about myself today.”

“And you called me reckless…”

Starlight was about to argue when her phone went off. Her ID informed her that Wong was calling. Answering it, Starlight tried to give her most professional tone which fell flat as she was still trying to work out her embarrassment. Still, Wong ignored that and gave Starlight the new request which made her give Paul a pitying look which gave him a bad feeling.

After the call, Starlight sighed as she told him the new request, “Mr. Wong has another client who needs help. It's some doctor named Raymond Gonzales and he wants your help
in fabricating medical reports for money. Hope you're ready to play in traffic again…”

Paul groaned as his phantom pains from his previous flights through the streets started acting up. “Not that I’m complaining about the money, but there’s gotta be a better way of doing this kind of thing.”

“Unfortunately, a successful scheme requires witnesses and they need to watch you injure yourself. False witnesses would only risk them getting caught with the perpetrator and a false report without witnesses will also get the perpetrator caught. Insurance companies want proof of the medical claims and injuring yourself is the most convincing way to make them fork over the cash.”

“Still hurts. A lot.”

When they met the Latino doctor, he acted like he was the first who came up with the insurance fraud scheme, apparently ignoring the fact that Seth and Legal Lee had them doing the exact same thing before. Starlight had a feeling that this guy might be incompetent and was probably going to screw up and get caught. However, that wasn’t her problem.

After a couple of hours of Paul maiming himself with cars driving over the speed limit because the cops couldn’t care less about traffic violations for some reason, Starlight mended what injuries she could before hailing a taxi. However, that turned into a carjacking as Paul pointed a gun at the driver and made him abandon his vehicle. They took the taxi to a Rim Jobs for a cheap customization before delivering it to Miguel before Starlight summoned her car and took them home.

“I can’t wait to see what you got me for my birthday tomorrow,” Paul remarked as he got out of the car and headed toward his house.

Starlight smirked, “Trust me, it’s going to be amazing.”

Meanwhile, at the villa…

“Manuel, you worry too much. Everything is under control,” Hector reassured.

However, this didn’t stop the Columbian liaison from worrying. “I’ve heard some nasty rumors, Hector.”

“Like what?”

“That one of your drug labs was shut down.”

“¿Qué eso? No es una problema. (What’s that? That’s not a problem.) One of our couriers thought he could cut the shit out of his deliveries. It looked like we were missing a lot of product, it really was just this pendejo. Angelo took care of him.”

“And the drugs?” Manuel asked.

“Found.”

“What about that gang from Saint’s Row?”

“A bunch of mulas (mules), a nuisance, nothing more.”

“Your father would have killed them all by now,”

Hector narrowed his eyes, “I am not my father, he was killed by some advenedizos (upstarts) from Sunnyvale. I will not make the mistakes he made.”

The two were suddenly interrupted by the sound of glass shattering and a woman screaming. A moment later, Luz angrily walked out of the house with an equally angry Angelo following her. “Hey, don’t you walk away from me, puta! (bitch!)” Angelo shouted.

“¡Ay Angelo! ¿Qué te pasa? (Oh Angelo! What is wrong with you?)” Luz shot back. “¡Es tan grande que pueda ser mi padre mijo! (He’s so old that he could be my darling father!)” Manuel frowned as he heard that.

“Mira (Look) woman, you listen to me–” Angelo shouted.

“Enough!” Hector roared while getting out of his seat, silencing the couple. “¡Yo estoy intentando trabajar aquí! ¡O se comportan o salgan de mi casa ya! (I'm trying to work here! Either behave or get out of my house now!)”

Not wanting to anger Hector further, Angelo and Luz quickly retreated back into the house. Manuel took this time to get out of his chair and head toward the back gate, but not before giving a remark dripping in sarcasm, “You’re right. Looks like everything is under control, Hector. We’ll talk about this more when the others arrive tomorrow.”

The sarcasm was not lost on Hector. As Manuel left the house, Hector kicked the chair Manuel was sitting in moments before. He knew that he was losing control of the situation. He wanted to downplay the Saints to not make his gang look weak, but he knew Manuel saw through the ruse.

Things were getting worse with each day. Not only did he lose two drug labs and the weapons plant to the Saints, but he learned today that the Saints had taken over his drug factory and stolen another shipment. Though the report made him wonder if the lieutenant needed to be admitted into an asylum for how insane it sounded. He also had to wonder how the Saints anticipated the attack on their home turf with enough notice to prepare fortified positions. Someone was playing him for a fool and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

However, that would have to wait until after he met with the other Columbian representatives.

Assassination

Returning to the church the next day, Starlight found Paul reading a book which wasn’t as surprising as the title of the book. She couldn’t help but wonder if her father put him up to reading it just to mess with her.

“‘Animal Farm’, huh? Did my daddy ask you to read that just to mess with me?” Starlight flatly asked.

Paul said nothing for a few moments as he placed his bookmark on the page he was on before closing it. He shrugged, “Yes, though your mom was in on that too. Coincidentally, it’s also the book my book club had chosen for us to read before the next meeting. It’s nice when you have a group that can openly discuss controversial stories without getting their undies in a bunch over the political aspects within the story.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, “One: you have a book club? Two: that has to be one of the most intelligent things I’ve heard you say so far.”

Paul smirked, “In reverse: I have my moments, and yes, I have a book club. I do have a life outside of the Saints.”

Starlight shrugged, she knew that Paul wasn’t offended. “I learn something new about you every day.”

“Yep, and it’ll be a long time before you fully unravel the mystery that is me. So, where’s my birthday present?”

“It’s at the Friendly Fire nearby. I actually came to get you so we could go together.” Starlight sighed as her expression instantly turned bitter. “Unfortunately, Dex is there too since he has our next mission lined up.”

At this point, Starlight’s opinion of Dex was lower than the bottom of Lake Superior, the deepest of Michigan’s Five Great Lakes. The man’s ego was so big that it was a wonder how he could get his head into the church. The only reason Starlight listened to him at this point was because Julius put him in charge of dealing with the Carnales. However, once the ties between the Carnales and the Columbians were severed, she was uncertain if Dex would have any further use to the campaign.

Paul rolled his eyes, his expression dry as a desert. “Great, let’s go see what he wants, I guess.”

The two then headed over to the Friendly Fire across the street and entered to find Dex talking to a female sales clerk with blonde hair. “Welcome to the Friendly Fire,” the clerk greeted as she turned her attention to the two. “What can I get you today?”

“I’m here about the McManus,” Starlight responded.

“Ah, our finest product. Wait there, I’ll bring one out.” The clerk took a few moments to open a case in the back before assembling the requested weapon. She came out with what looked like an expensive-looking sniper rifle. “As per store policy, I have to give the presentation for this weapon.”

The clerk cleared her throat before she began, "This is the "McManus". As you see, it's fully collapsible and comes in a stately black attaché. The eighteen inch cryogenically treated stainless steel bull barrel gives this rifle a guaranteed accuracy of point two minute of angle at six hundred yards with match grade ammunition. With its hand reamed chamber and match grade trigger, the "McManus" is designed for the marksman who wants to reach out and touch someone at a moment’s notice."

“It’s perfect, I’ll take it,” Starlight said.

“Lovely, would you like it gift wrapped?” the clerk asked.

Starlight pointed to Paul, “Nope, just give it to Paul here. That’s his birthday present.”

The clerk gasped in delight, “Oh my! Well Happy Birthday to you! You two must be great friends for her to buy you this amazing piece of hardware.” The clerk was cautious in her assumptions of Starlight’s relationship with Paul. She didn’t want to assume they were lovers in case she said something that might offend them and ruin the sale.

Thankfully, the two weren’t offended as she gave the rifle to Paul while Starlight completed the transaction. A huge grin appeared on Paul’s face as he admired his newest weapon while the three of them left the store. “Wow! This is the most advanced rifle on the market! I've wanted one of these for months ever since I heard about it.”

“I figured that you would want something that didn’t make so much noise,” Starlight explained. “Still, I can help you clean and polish your father’s old rifle if there is some sentimental value to it.”

Paul nodded, “Thanks, that old rifle brings back good memories of times when my dad took me out shooting.”

Before the conversation could take an emotional turn, Dex finally spoke up to get to the main topic. “Aight, let's get this shit going. First of all, tight job on that factory, you two. We found a memo that said that Hector is meetin' with the Columbians tonight at the Poseidon Alley docks. Hector's boys will be packin' serious firepower. In other words: RPGs. A direct assault on the meeting area will be suicide. Take your new toy and find a nice, tall building to wait on. When you see Hector makin' his move, take your shot. When it all goes down, the Carnales are gonna blame the Columbians because they’re gonna think they got fucked bad. Good luck, you two.”

Once Dex returned to the Church, Troy, who was nearby, approached the two with some additional information for their mission. “While the meeting is tonight, I suggest you don’t be late. To make sure Columbians and Carnales get fucked from this whole ordeal, I called in a tip to the cops about the meeting happening a little later than the actual meeting time to give you time to get out of there after you've fucked them up.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes at Troy as he had done something she wouldn’t want him to do. She would need to have words with him. “Paul, can you head back to the church real quick? I need to have a word with Troy.”

Shrugging and not caring about what was about to happen since he was still admiring his new rifle, Paul did as told and returned to the church while Starlight led Troy into a nearby empty alley. “Why did you tip the cops to this?” she demanded.

Troy sighed, knowing that this conversation was coming. He took a drag of his cigarette before he explained, “Listen, I didn't have much choice. Monroe has been getting impatient with me and he's starting to suspect that I had actually become one of you guys. I had to give him something or he would pull me from this gig and likely do something stupid like lead the entire precinct on you guys. He knows how dangerous the Saints are becoming, especially since you were responsible for the downfall of two gangs, soon to be three. The grace period was all I could afford to make sure you don't get caught up in a sting operation.”

Starlight put a hand to her chin as she processed that information. It was clear that Monroe was starting to bring his full attention onto the Saints and that would be a problem in the near future. However, that would have to wait until after the Carnales were taken out. “Tell me, what would you like to see happen after the Carnales are taken out?”

Troy shrugged, “Honestly, I’d like to see the Saints disband since I was in it to get rid of the other gangs plaguing Stilwater. I hope Julius will since he wouldn’t want to see the Saints become another Vice Kings, though there are some who would see the Saints continue once it’s all over and they’re the people I’m most worried about.”

Starlight nodded, “Well, we can discuss this another time. For now, I have things to do before tonight.” She then left the alley first and returned to the church, followed by Troy.

As they entered, Troy suddenly remembered something that he needed to tell Starlight, which was the main reason he went to see them at the Friendly Fire. “By the way, Julius wants you and Paul to head over to the refinery at Black Bottom. The place ain't of much value to the Carnales, but they’re hanging out there like they own the place while tagging the place up to display their ownership. Julius wants you to send a message to them by tagging over their tags. You ever done any graffiti?”

Starlight shook her head, “No, painting isn’t really my strong suit.”

“Well, do the best you can.” Troy then left Starlight who went to get Paul and informed him of their newest mission at Black Bottom. Strangely, Paul seemed really excited about this mission for some reason but he wouldn’t explain why until they got there.

About fifteen minutes later, the two arrived at the Black Bottom Refinery. Starlight was surprised that Paul brought a duffel bag with him that was loaded up with spray paint cans. She wasn’t about to question where he got them from since they would be needed for this mission.

As they expected, the place had a significant number of Carnales thugs guarding the place. The complex appeared to lack any facilities where one could conceal a drug lab so the refinery was likely a place for them to hang out.

The two moved in and started shooting at the defenders with pistols and SMGs as they approached the first piece of graffiti with the Carnales design on it. Paul had Starlight cover him as he stood in front of the logo and put the bag down and opened it to pull out two cans of spray paint and got to work painting over it. The Carnales noticed what was happening and were enraged by Paul’s actions. However, Starlight put them down before they could aim at her friend.

Surprisingly, the paint job only took a few minutes before Paul announced the tag complete. Starlight couldn’t help but be amazed by the level of detail Paul put into his graffiti. “Wow, impressive!”

“I took a lot of art classes back in school,” Paul explained. “I’m actually surprised they still had such a program since I’ve heard a lot of art programs got cut in schools across the US and the Stilwater school district is poorly funded.”

Starlight shrugged, “Well, hope you’re up for doing that a few more times. Now let’s keep going.”

After clearing the area around another Carnales tag, Paul repeated his work on it before they started heading up the catwalk to deal with the tags on the upper levels. With the upper levels being a more confined place to fight, Starlight started taking out her enemies with her sword.

Paul painted over two more tags on the next level before heading to the upper levels to paint over three more. By that point the Carnales finally gave up and retreated from the refinery. It took a few minutes for the two to find out that the Carnales only made seven tags around the refinery.

Once the thugs were gone, Starlight reported their success so Julius could send some of his people to take the place over. At the same time, Starlight noticed a few people wearing suits among the Saints thugs. The suits explained that they were part of Mr. Wong’s people and they were there as part of Starlight’s plan against the Carnales. The Saints decided to accept the explanation and let them be. Starlight smiled as she could see that everything was going according to plan so far.

“So, you think I could give Laserbeak a paint job? I bet it would look good in purple,” Paul offered. However, a laser beam from the drone nearly hit his foot which made Paul jump back. Laserbeak, who was perched on Starlight’s shoulder, gave him a look as if it was wary of him. “Is it just me or does your drone have its own personality? I would think it would want a different look instead of that scarlet coat it has that could cause people to mistake it for something from the Carnales.”

Laserbeak tilted its head as if it wanted to convey something but lacked the proper functions to do so before it flew onto Starlight’s hair and suddenly changed its color to match its royal purple color while simulating a teal stripe as well to complete the illusion. Paul soon realized that Laserbeak was trying to convey snarkiness by showing off that it could change colors on its own. “Well fuck you too…” he moped.

“Alright you two, that’s enough,” Starlight chided. “Paul, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before that Laserbeak has a function that allows it to change colors. It’s part of its stealth functions, especially during times where I need info from an enemy.”

Paul shrugged, “Eh, I’m not too bothered by it, though it is good to know. Still, it would be nice for Ravage to have some stealth functions too.”

“We’ll see.”

“Anyways, I take it Wong’s men are getting into position, given the ones here?”

Starlight nodded, “By the time the Carnales catch wind of Mr. Wong's men in the area, Hector should be dead by then. In the meantime, he has something else for us. Someone named Ralph near the airport needs help with his shipping company and he wants us to hurt his competitors. He will give us the list when we meet him.”

“More carjackings, huh? Sounds fun! Let’s roll!”

The two arrived at the address of a warehouse near the airport where they met a tough-looking man in a brown overcoat and fedora. The man introduced himself as Ralph and that his shipping business was fucked because of his competition. He handed them a list of cars carrying shipments that he wanted stolen while telling them that they could keep whatever they stole, including whatever they made from selling the shipments, since he only wanted to see his competitors suffer for ruining his business.

Neither Starlight nor Paul were sure why Ralph was willing to shortchange himself for the sake of revenge but they weren’t going to argue since it meant more money for them.

The first shipment they hijacked was carried in a Carnales vehicle. More specifically, a La Fuerza which was wanted by Miguel. After stealing the car and making the thug driving it regret their line of work, Paul took the car to the nearest Rim Jobs to give it the needed customizations before handing it over to Miguel.

After that, Paul and Starlight hijacked three more Carnales vehicles along with four others including a Bulldog that Starlight secretly wished she could have found sooner while she was scratching off a previous list of vehicles to steal. There was also a police car on Ralph’s list which Starlight considered strange but she went with the flow of things.

Once they finished hijacking the shipments they returned to Ralph, he rewarded Starlight with a set of leather racing clothes since he heard from Wong that she liked racing. He also gave them an armored truck but they weren’t sure what to do with such a vehicle so they left it with him for the time being.

With the task complete, Starlight and Paul soon found themselves with little else to do until tonight so they decided to check out the shops in the downtown district. Starlight didn’t really care for the clothing but she found a few music tracks that she couldn’t get from the other music stores in Stilwater.

After a few hours of shopping the two discovered that the meeting would begin soon so they dropped what they bought at Starlight’s house before heading over to the docks. Keeping away from any Carnales patrols, the two climbed up a dumpster to reach a fire escape to climb to the top of the building before heading across a connecting path to another building that gave them a great view of the meeting area.

During the climb, Paul was busy assembling his new sniper rifle and preparing it for its first use. Once it was assembled, and Starlight checked it as well to make sure it was ready, the two remained hidden until the meeting started.

A few minutes later, they spotted a trio of four-door cars: two fully red and another red with a white top between the other two. The three-car convoy looked like a typical escort pattern which made it easy to guess that Hector was in the middle car. This also made Starlight wonder whether Hector was still underestimating the Saints or if he was so confident that the meeting wouldn’t be disrupted. Either way, this would be his fatal mistake.

“Once the talks start, take the shot,” Starlight whispered. Paul nodded and pointed his rifle toward the cars. “All escorts need to be taken out as well. We can’t have word getting to Angelo that a Saint sniped his brother.”

The cars came to a stop near the end of the docks and twelve targets emerged. Just as Dex warned, the escorts were packing RPGs while the odd one out wore a crimson overcoat. Using the scope to zoom in, Paul locked on to the figure. He couldn’t see the man’s face, but he had to assume that he was Hector. The Carnales approached a group coming toward them from the end of the dock wearing white or light gray suits. It was assumed that they were the Columbian representatives.

Once Hector and the Columbians were near each other, Paul took aim, doing his best to make it a headshot. Keeping his breath steady and his nerves calmed, he squeezed the trigger.

In the next moment, several things happened. Hector Lopez dropped like a sack of potatoes and everyone there realized there was a sniper nearby. Realizing this, the Columbians fled the area while the Carnales scrambled for cover. Paul managed to snipe two more thugs before they began retaliating.

By now the Carnales realized where Paul’s position was and began firing rockets at him. Starlight offered to help but Paul rejected it, stating that he was having the time of his life right now and he didn’t want her magic to make things easy for him.

Shrugging, Starlight instead decided to pull out her phone and look up the Lopez family’s bank accounts. It took some doing but she managed to locate them. It wasn’t hard to hack into the accounts as the passwords were easy to predict, even if the passwords were in spanish.

Following this, Starlight executed a series of transfers to dummy accounts and offshore dummy accounts before the funds ultimately ended up in her account. Seeing how much she gained from this made her whistle in awe as she found that not only would it get her through college, but it would allow her to live comfortably for years to come. “Jackpot!” she declared.

As she finished the last of the transfers, she noticed that the sound of explosions had stopped, informing her that Paul had finished off the last of Hector’s guards which meant that it was time to get out of there before the cops showed up. The two were able to escape unnoticed thanks to the confusion.

On the way back to the church, Starlight called Wong to give him the go-ahead, “Mission accomplished, time for the next phase.”

Wong chuckled, “Well done! My men are in position as well. Mr. Price has been waiting for a chance to show what he can really do.

An hour later, the docks were teeming with police officers. The Carnales who survived were being loaded up into the police cars along with a few of the Columbians who failed to escape in time.

Victor, who arrived to investigate what happened, remained hidden as he did his best to gather what information he could for Angelo. He eavesdropped on a conversation between two officers and found out that they had been tipped off and had confiscated a lot of drugs as a result of the sting operation. The worst part was that he heard that someone had killed Hector.

Hearing enough, Victor snuck out of the crime scene and contacted Angelo.

The door to Angelo’s office flew open and a panicked Luz entered. Her expression was ghostly pale. “¿Qué pasa, Luz? ¿Por qué irrumpes aquí de esa manera? (What's wrong, Luz? Why are you barging in here like that?)”

“Angelo, it’s terrible! The credit card you gave me has been declined!” Luz exclaimed. “I went out to buy some shoes but the card was declined due to insufficient funds!”

“¡Imposible! (Imposible!)” However, as Angelo was preparing to call his bank to find out what happened, he received a call. “What is it? I’m in the middle of a problem.”

The call was from Victor who informed him about what happened at the docks. Angelo’s eyes widened in shock and his skin turned pale before it started turning red with fury. "Victor, listen to me very carefully. I don't give a fuck about the drugs, I don't give a fuck about Orejuela--"

“What about Manuel?” Luz asked.

“¡Mira mujer! ¡Cállate el hocico! (Look woman! Shut your snout!)” Angelo snapped. He returned his attention to Victor, “Who did this to my brother?”

“What about Hector?” Luz asked.

“¡Luz, por favor! (Luz, please!)” He roared at her before returning to his call, using every ounce of his willpower to calm down, “Okay, okay, you're right. You deal with the Saints, I'll handle the Colombians. If Manuel is behind this, yo le voy a enseñar por qué la familia López es la más fuerte! (I'm going to teach him why the Lopez family is the strongest!)"

Angelo hung up the phone and attempted to calm down as he prepared to take action against the Columbian liaison. However, as if his day couldn’t get bad enough, he received another call. However, he failed to suppress his rage this time, “¿¡Qué pasa ahora!? (What is it now!?)”

This time the call was from one of his field lieutenants. The lieutenant reported that his boys had come under attack from a group of people in suits. More interesting was the fact that the new attackers were shouting in Chinese, giving the impression that whoever was attacking them might be aligned with the old man, Wong Sheng Tai. From what Angelo recalled, the old man was a retired member of the Chinese Triad but he still had connections to that clan.

What was worse was that the Saints who were guarding the areas that had been taken from the Carnales were hanging back as if the conflict had nothing to do with them, hinting at a possible alliance between the Saints and the Triad. If that was true then his situation had gone from horrible to outright catastrophic.

With so many problems piling up on him all at once, Angelo was feeling overwhelmed. Unable to control his anger any longer, Angelo slammed his phone so hard on the holder that he smashed the whole device. “¡Esto no puede estar pasando! (This can't be happening!)” he roared. “Como si mi hermano muerto fuera lo suficientemente malo, ¿ahora las potencias extranjeras quieren un pedazo de la familia López? (As if my dead brother was bad enough, now foreign powers want a piece of the Lopez family!?) Well bring it on! Saints! Columbians! Manuel! Triad! I’ll take all of you on!”

“Angelo, what about the credit card?” Luz asked.

That did it. No longer seeing reason, Angelo threw the remains of his phone just past Luz, barely missing her and shattering against a wall behind her. Fearful for her life, Luz bolted out of the room screaming while Angelo had a meltdown and flipped his desk over.

Once the police cleared out of the area, Several crews of Saints and a few Triad members moved in and took over Poseidon Alley.

Negotiation

Starlight and Paul took their time heading to the church by eating at one of the numerous Freckle Bitch’s around the city. It wasn’t that they weren’t aware that they needed to be quick to press the attack on the Carnales now that Hector was no longer leading them, they simply weren’t looking forward to dealing with Dex and his ego.

Taking out Hector Lopez would send a message to Angelo and the rest of the Carnales that they weren’t going to be around much longer. Starlight was sure that many of their members knew how much of a loose cannon Angelo was and the only one who could keep him from doing something stupid now was Victor Rodriguez, his enforcer. That would be something that Starlight intended to rectify soon.

Starlight had no doubt that Angelo was shaken up after a vicious combination of terrible events reached his ears at nearly the same time. Between his brother’s death, the loss of his wealth and the paranoia he likely felt about the “Triad” and the Saints working together against him, Starlight was expecting him to try something stupid soon.

Once they finished their meal and threw the wrappers in the trash, since they were gang members, not litterbugs, the two sighed in resignation and headed for the church and Dex’s office.

Once they got there, they noticed that he was with Troy discussing their next move. Starlight noticed Troy pulling out what appeared to be a photo as they entered the room. “Wong's people have Angelo pretty unnerved, more so than I expected,” Troy noted. “Right now he's got Victor and his crew going after just about anyone who pisses Angelo off. But right now we have bigger fish to fry.” He laid the photo on the table, displaying the face of a middle-aged man that looked familiar to Starlight before she remembered that video that Laserbeak recorded and recognized him as Manuel Orejuela.

Troy continued, “This guy is the mouthpiece for the Colombians, Manuel Orejuela. He's the source of the Carnales' power. Smoke this guy and the Carnales will be crippled for good.”

“Yeah, but so will we,” Dex pointed out. “Kill him and the Colombians will be all up our asses. We need to figure out what his game is first, then we’ll decide what to do.”

“How are we gonna do that?”

“Best thing would be to meet with him and find out. You know where he hangs out?”

“Yeah, well, I’d start with the strip clubs.”

Before the conversation progressed further, Starlight had to interject about this. She had a feeling that they were about to overstep the authority Julius had allowed them in dealing with the Carnales. Dealing with an international drug cartel didn’t seem within the scope of their campaign. “Wait, hang on, are you proposing that we meet with the Colombian representative?”

“Yeah, why?” Dex asked.

“Because I’m pretty sure that meeting with foreign representatives, especially the most powerful cartel in the world, goes beyond the scope of what we are allowed to do against the Carnales. We need to bring Julius in on this.”

Dex stood up and glared at Starlight, “I’ve got it handled, we don’t need to involve Julius in this.”

Starlight met Dex’s glare with her own, “Even so, if would be better safe than sorry to have Julius’ input on the matter. I see nothing wrong with that.”

“Fine! If you don’t want to be a part of this then get out of here and go be a bitch somewhere else. I don’t need you anyway, I can handle this myself.” In a huff, Dex walked out of the room and headed toward the exit.

Starlight took a deep breath to calm herself, trying to shake off some of the annoyance she felt for the petulant man. She then looked at Paul, “I hope I don’t regret saying this but…” she sighed, “...go with him. Make sure he doesn’t get himself killed. As much as I would rather see him shot up for his stupidity, he's still a Saint. I'll go inform Julius about this.”

Paul shrugged, “If you say so.”

As Paul quickly headed out to catch Dex before he left, Starlight left the office while still trying to work out her irritation. She thought about how Dex had become less bearable because of his overinflated ego. The man was becoming more of a liability to the Saints because he always considered his plans were the best ones and he hardly considered the input of others while thinking he was a big shot. In short, he was a narcissist.

By the time Starlight found Julius, she had calmed down enough for her to hide her irritation and maintain a professional demeanor. Julius saw her coming and addressed her, “What’s up, Starlight? I thought you would be with Dex right now.”

Starlight gave a tiny wince as Julius uttered the name but kept her cool regardless. She then proceeded to inform him about Dex’s plan to meet Manuel Orejuela of the Colombians which caused the man to frown. Starlight also pointed out that she tried to get Dex to consult him on this but he wouldn’t listen.

Julius gave a grunt of dissatisfaction, “Thanks for bringing this up with me instead of going with Dex on his fool errand. You're right, he should have come to me first before heading out to meet with the Colombians. He doesn't seem to understand how disrespectful it is for a lieutenant to meet with someone like Orejuela before me. Let's hope they don't meet 'cause that could cause problems for us.”

“Yeah, the last thing we need is for the Colombians to come down on us just because Dex didn’t show proper respect to their liaison.” Starlight sighed. “Anyways, I’ve heard from Mr. Wong that the Carnales are pulling back for some reason and that has me worried that they might be planning something.”

“Good instinct, you really are a lot like your father in that way,” Julius complimented.

“I think he’s smarter than most people give him credit for, it shows that he can pull off some daring stunts and return home without any permanent injury.” A thought crept across Starlight’s mind about her father in the Army as a top grade soldier but chuckled at the thought as she figured that he would get kicked out within a week with the way he was.

Shrugging, Julius steered the subject back to more important matters, “Since the Colombians and the Carnales are at each other’s throats now, I’ll see what I can do to get the Colombians on our side. Can I trust you, Paul and Troy to finish off the Carnales?”

Starlight quickly picked up the implications of what Julius just asked and felt an equal but great amount of relief and joy at that. She determinedly nodded, “Count on us!”

Julius nodded, “Good, now go wait in my office, I think you will enjoy this.”

Starlight headed to Julius’ office and waited in a seat since Troy was inside as well sitting on a sofa. The two didn’t say anything important in case one of the other Saints was listening in and Starlight didn’t want to blow Troy’s cover by accident.

The two waited a few minutes before they heard the sound of a car pulling into the parking spot by the fence. It was a few more minutes before the doors opened and an irate Julius entered followed by a confused Dex and an indifferent Paul.

“Julius, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Dex said, clearly not knowing what he did wrong.

“The deal is that you went to talk to the Colombians without me!” Julius snapped.

“We didn’t even get to meet him, Jules.”

“And don’t call me Jules, you haven’t earned it.”

Dex rolled his eyes, “Fine. Julius, you put me in charge of the Los Carnales…” He paused as he realized his grammatical mistake before he glared at Troy. “Shit, now you got me sayin’ it!”

“I don’t need you becomin’ another Warren Williams,” Julius warned. “Don’t act bigger than you are.”

“I had it handled, Julius,” Dex tried.

Having enough of Dex’s attempts at justifying his actions, Julius got into his face, “Not anymore. You're relieved until further notice. Starlight, Paul and Troy can handle the Carnales from here.” He then backed away and addressed the others while Dex stomped out of the room. “I'll arrange a sit down with Orejuela. Meanwhile, I want you to find a way to take Victor Rodriguez out of the game for good. The sooner he’s out, the sooner we can finish off Angelo.”

Starlight nodded, “You got it!”

After that, Starlight and Paul began looking around the city for signs of Carnales activity. However, even in their own territory they seemed to be acting as if they weren’t on the verge of falling apart while guarding the five neighborhoods they had left.

Since Victor was proving difficult to track down, Starlight and Paul decided to find something productive to do, such as finding more vehicles for Miguel. They decided to steal a Reaper sedan from one of the city’s funeral homes while making sure to not steal one that had a casket in it as they had no intention of crossing lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

After delivering the Reaper, the two decided to explore downtown until they found a yellow Compton that had been abandoned by the Vice Kings after their gang disbanded. Paul had the car customized with the necessary parts before he delivered it to Miguel before the two resumed exploring the southern island for any sign of their quarry.

“Where is he? I would think Victor would be out hunting Angelo’s enemies,” Starlight complained.

“Maybe he decided to fuck off and leave town?” Paul weakly offered.

Starlight gave Paul her flatest stare that she could manage since he said something that was simply dumb in her ears. “Do you seriously believe the words that came out of your mouth?”

Blushing, Paul lowered his head in shame, “No…”

The two shared a laugh after that. It was an amusing bit since it took their minds off the frustration of Victor’s elusiveness.

Starlight’s phone rang. She found that Wong needed them for something which she guessed was another client needing something, which if the pattern held then it would have to be someone wanting their help stealing sex workers from pimps again. “Hello?” she responded.

However, Starlight was caught off guard when the call was not what she expected as she heard the sound of gunfire in the background. Dread creeped in as she had a bad feeling of what was going on. Thankfully, Wong sounded slightly amused when he called as he chuckled. “Hello Starlight, it would seem that your plan worked a little too well. It would seem that our mutual acquaintances decided to go after me. Would you be so kind as to remove these annoyances from my lawn?”

“We’ll head over right away.” Starlight ended the call while a deep frown crept onto her face. “Angelo has balls, I’ll give him that. Seems he ordered an attack on Mr. Wong. I’m not sure how he managed to slip a crew past our lookouts, but that doesn’t matter since we’ve been called to exterminate some pests.”

“I’m always up for causing some mayhem,” Paul responded. “With any luck, we’ll find Victor there.”

“Right, let’s get going.” Starlight drove her car as fast as she dared on the streets as she needed to avoid traffic and still manage turns. It was a good thing that the police still ignored traffic violations; one time where Starlight praised police apathy.

Once they arrived, the two were shocked by the number of Carnales vehicles parked in front of Wong’s manor. There were enough cars to fill a small parking lot in the area with what seemed like nearly a hundred Carnales pointing their guns toward the manor. There were also a few carrying RPGs so the situation didn’t look too good. More importantly, they spotted Victor’s Bulldog SUV driving around the area.

“Holy shit! There's gotta be at least half of the Carnales here!” Paul exclaimed.

Starlight stepped out of the car and drew her sword while her hands began to glow. “Doesn’t matter, we’re going to mow them down like the weeds they are. You ready Paul?”

Paul pulled out an RPG, “They’re about to be on the receiving end of a Michael Bay movie.”

Not wanting to engage Victor just yet, Paul and Starlight slipped past Victor’s patrol pattern while Paul rushed forward and tossed a few active grenades beneath the vehicles of a few unsuspecting Carnales thugs. The resulting explosions sent a number of cars flying into the air and the thugs flying away. This opened a hole in the siege and allowed the two to slip past the line before the thugs knew what was going on.

Seeing the two coming, Price, who stood at the entrance of the mansion, called for his men to provide covering fire to take the pressure off the two. Price led them into the mansion and out of enemy fire for the time being.

“Am I glad to see you two,” Price voiced with relief. “Mr. Wong wants these guys out of here, pronto. I ain’t lettin’ them anywhere near Mr. Wong or Donnie.”

“We’ll take care of this,” Starlight assured. “I think it’s about time I showed these guys who they’re dealing with. Time to cut loose!”

“Somehow, I get the feeling that the next few minutes are going to make people question their grip on reality,” Paul commented.

“The ones who survive, anyway,” Starlight added with a chuckle.

While Price ordered covering fire for Starlight and Paul once again, the two began avoiding fire from the Carnales attackers before Paul looked for opportunities to use his RPG to blow up more of their cars. He also tossed grenades and pipe bombs to thin out the attackers.

Starlight, deciding not to hold back anymore, started showing off with her magic by levitating their cars and hurling them into others, terrifying the Carnales who survived such an ordeal. She also caused some of their cars to start driving on their own while smashing themselves into other cars and running over a few thugs like they got caught in a demolition derby.

Starlight’s display of power destroyed the morale of the attackers and caused some of them to flee. However, Wong had men stationed in buildings around his mansion and were ordered to ensure that none of them escaped. The ones who surrendered were captured while the ones who resisted with their guns suffered bullet wounds to their arms and legs before they were captured. The ones who tried to get into their cars to escape were stopped as they noticed a minefield in the street and surrendered afterward.

Once the Carnales numbers were thinned out, Starlight decided that it was time to go after the leader of the attack. The issue was that Victor was constantly moving around in his SUV so she couldn’t get a lock on him with her magic. Price noticed what she was trying to do so he had some of his men force Victor into slowing down with grenades in his path so he would focus on evasive maneuvers. This gave Starlight the opportunity to make her move on the enforcer.

Once he slowed enough, Starlight locked on to the vehicle and teleported to the roof. She quickly raised her sword and pointed it downward to plunge it into the roof and into Victor’s right shoulder. The pained scream she heard informed her that she had succeeded in her stunt.

“Argh! ¡Maldita bruja! (Fucking witch!)” he screamed. He then tried to throw Starlight off his vehicle by wildly swerving his vehicle. Since she had nothing to hold on to, Starlight figured that she would need to make a quick exit but not before she magically locked his car doors and reinforced the glass to make sure he couldn’t escape from the Bulldog SUV. She then jumped off while using her magic to levitate herself onto the lawn of Wong’s mansion.

Victor didn’t see where he was going as the pain of the sword in his shoulder and his desperation to remove the dangerous girl from his car had temporarily blinded his spatial awareness long enough for him to crash his car into a nearby building.

With Victor trapped and stunned from the crash, Starlight quickly began Victor’s execution by piling a few cars onto Victor’s Bulldog. She then shot an exposed gas tank under one of the cars which caused fuel to leak out and leave a trail on the street. She then called for Paul to give her one of his molotovs which she lit with a small magical flame before she aimed her throw at the flowing fuel trail.

“¡Vaya con Dios! (Go with God!)” Starlight called out before she tossed the bottle that shattered on the fuel, igniting it. She also made sure to undo the spells she put on the Bulldog at the last second to prevent the chance that Victor would survive what came next because of her own power. The trail quickly traveled back to the punctured fuel tank.

The resulting explosion caused a chain reaction which blew up every other car next to it, including Victor’s Bulldog. The explosion also set the building that Victor crashed into on fire, but Wong would later tell Starlight that he had that building evacuated beforehand.

The explosion also sent Starlight’s sword flying from the wreckage and toward Starlight where it landed harmlessly by her feet with the blade slightly embedded into the ground. She collected her weapon and sheathed it.

Paul quietly walked up to Starlight with an awestruck expression as his eyes were unable to leave the flames for a time. After a few minutes, Paul finally found his voice again as he expressed what he saw. “That was…intense. And so badass.”

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief as she broke free from the same trance that held Paul. “Yeah, when I think about what I did, I think I scared myself a little.”

“Well you scared the shit out of me. I had no idea if you were going to survive that or not.”

Starlight chuckled, “Well, I guess that's what happens when you lead an interesting life. Anyways, we better go make sure Victor was caught up in that. When it comes to a man who survived a dozen drive-bys, you don’t leave anything to chance.”

“Right.”

Using her magic, Starlight lifted the cars she piled on the Bulldog before examining the wreckage. She quickly spotted an unmoving burning body within the remains. She barely managed to recognize Victor’s features before his body was completely engulfed in flames.

Satisfied with the confirmation, she returned to Paul to continue watching the blaze. A disturbing thought crossed her mind at one point where she thought of Troy lighting a cigarette over Victor’s burning corpse but quickly filed that thought in a place in her mind where things went to be forgotten forever.

Paul shrugged and placed a hand on Starlight’s shoulder. She looked at him as he pointed a thumb at the mansion. “Well, I think he’s definitely dead at this point. Let’s go check on Mr. W to see if he’s okay.”

Starlight nodded, “Yeah, with Victor gone, Angelo is out of allies so now we can start taking what’s left of the Carnales territories with ease.”

Starlight and Paul headed back to the mansion reinvigorated with the thought that the end of the gang war was finally in sight.

Possession

Starlight and Paul found themselves having some free time until they made another move against Angelo. With Victor out of the picture, the Carnales lacked the bite they used to have and it wouldn’t be long before they were only a memory like the Rollerz and the Vice Kings.

Since Julius was busy making contact with Manuel Orejuela to negotiate a deal, the two decided to watch a movie at Starlight’s house which ended up being the ‘99 remake of Animal Farm. The two discussed the comparison between the movie and the original book and noted the differences between the two.

“Weird, Napoleon ends up being almost indistinguishable from humans in the book but in the movie the animals rebel and Napoleon ends up dead,” Paul noted.

Starlight shrugged, “Very few movie producers ever stay true to the book’s contents, whether it’s because of the ever-changing standards of society, political reasons or because the directors wanted to add their own spin to the movie. Though I did hear that the CIA funded a cartoon version in ‘55.”

“Really? Why would they do that?” Paul wondered.

“Something about propaganda against the Soviets to prevent the spread of Communism. Decades of paranoia, glad I wasn’t born during that time.”

The two watched the movie to the end. Seeing Napoleon’s fate made Starlight think about bacon for some reason. “I’m suddenly getting a craving for bacon, how about you?”

Paul shrugged, “I could eat.”

However, before they could leave their seats to satisfy their cravings, Starlight’s phone rang. “What’s up?” she answered.

“Sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing,” Julius apologized. “I need you two to head to Cecil Park. Troy found another drug lab in an abandoned building that needs to be taken out. Be careful, with the Carnales in their death throes they will use everything they have to defend their holdings.”

“Alright, we’ll take care of it.” Starlight hung up.

While Paul was expecting them to head over to Cecil Park right away, he raised an eyebrow in confusion as he noticed that Starlight was dialing another number instead. “What are you up to?”

“I figured that an acquaintance of ours is looking for a way to get back at the Carnales after what happened yesterday. Since Cecil Park is only a couple of neighborhoods away from Chinatown he might be willing to help out.” Starlight’s attention was focused on her phone as she heard a couple of rings before the other end was answered.

“Yeah?” responded the person.

“Hey Joseph, want to do a little damage to the Carnales? It’s not far from where you are.”

“As much as I really want to after putting Donnie in danger yesterday, I have to stay near Mr. Wong in case the Carnales try something like that again.”

Starlight giggled, “I doubt they will be in any position to try that again any time soon. Not only did they lose their top enforcer in that failed siege, but I’m pretty sure the Carnales lost most of their numbers too. Angelo may be an idiotic hothead but he’s probably more focused on Manuel Orejuela. He’s practically living out a D-list Mexican drama.”

Price laughed loudly as he considered that thought. “Yeah, that is pretty pathetic. I’ll talk to Mr. Wong. If he agrees to let me go, where do you wanna meet?”

“There’s an abandoned building being used by the Carnales in Cecil Park as a drug lab. See you there.”

After ending the call Starlight and Paul headed straight for Cecil Park where they found the building that had some Carnales thugs guarding the area.

As they inspected the building in secret they heard someone making soft sounds to get their attention. They looked around until they found Joseph Price getting their attention from a nearby building. The two snuck over to Price without alerting the enemy thugs.

“It looks like their lab is on the upper floor,” Price informed. “Some of Mr. Wong’s men also spotted a number of rooftop snipers on the nearby buildings. With how well it’s guarded it may well be Angelo’s last drug lab.”

“It may be his best attempt to scrape up some money to continue funding his organization,” Starlight surmised. “Since I cleared out his bank accounts, Los Carnales is probably running on fumes. Since they will probably be trying desperately to hold on to this place, I can imagine they will try to call for reinforcements to stop us.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“Paul and I will head to the upper floor. Since Paul is the one with the sniper rifle, he will take out the snipers. You remain at the entrance, take out any reinforcements that show up but focus on the one leading them. I will deal with the lab and make sure the building is unusable in the future.”

“How are you gonna do that?” Paul asked.

“Take your time in dealing with the ones carrying RPGs but focus more on the ones with rifles.”

Paul raised an eyebrow but decided not to question it. Instead he focused on infiltrating the building while Price lingered behind to guard the entrance.

Once inside, the two quickly began taking out any Carnales defenders trying to keep them from the lab as they climbed the stairs to the upper floor. They then proceeded to clear out the upper level which left the place to themselves.

However, the snipers on the nearby buildings heard the commotion and began to prepare their weapons to deal with the intruders.

As ordered, Paul focused on the ones carrying sniper rifles. He had a clear view of the snipers since it was still daytime while he ignored the ones with RPGs and trusted that Starlight knew what she was doing.

One RPG carrier fired a rocket which ended up caught in Starlight’s magic and flew into the building where she froze it with time magic and left the rocket in the lab before waiting for another rocket. After a minute, Starlight had gathered five rockets and left them temporally frozen in the lab while Paul focused on the snipers. With a nod from Starlight, Paul took out the RPG carriers while Starlight gathered two additional rockets for her plan.

Meanwhile, reinforcements arrived at the base of the building where Price used a few pipe bombs and grenades to take out some of the cars. He soon noticed one thug who seemed to be barking orders to the others which left him to guess that he was the lieutenant in charge of the group so he pulled out an assault rifle and sent a shower of bullets in his direction.

The lieutenant ducked behind one of the cars which was when Price tossed a few more grenades in his direction to flush him out before the lieutenant was forced to leave his cover and fell to Price’s assault rifle.

Once he finished off the lieutenant, the rest of the thugs turned tail and ran away just as Starlight and Paul exited the building. Starlight addressed Price with a look of urgency, “Hurry, we have less than a minute to get out of here before my makeshift bomb goes off.”

Price was momentarily curious how Starlight had a bomb when he didn’t see any on her before but decided not to question it as the three fled to the safety of a nearby building moments before Starlight’s time spell wore off and the rockets flew into the lab equipment. The simultaneous explosions created one large explosion that blew up the entire top portion of the abandoned building and left a few small fires inside and near the lower level of the ruins.

“Fuck, what kind of bomb was that?” Price asked.

Starlight giggled, “I said it was a makeshift bomb. I just used what materials were given to me.”

Price chuckled, “Knowing you, it was probably made from something nobody would believe. Anyways, thanks for bringin’ me along for this one and have fun finishing off the Carnales.” He paused as he remembered something else he wanted to tell them. “Oh, and Mr. Wong also wanted me to tell you that another client of his needs help. Loreana’s brothel is nearby and she needs help getting her girls back.”

With that Price left the two to head back to Wong. Starlight called Julius to tell him the good news and to begin expanding into Cecil Park. This left only Barrio, Charlestown, Ezpata and Wardill Airport under Carnales control.

“I’ll go ahead and handle Loreana’s problem,” Paul offered. “You wanna help out?”

Starlight considered Paul’s offer but she still felt uncomfortable around sex workers. She was sure they were nice people but she wasn’t ready to deal with them just yet. However, there was still the matter of finding the last two cars that Miguel needed to complete his list. “I’ll pass, I’m going to find some cars to steal instead,” she responded.

Paul shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

“Just don’t come back with more bling like last time, you looked ridiculous,” Starlight playfully requested.

Paul gave a fake huff, “I’ll have you know that bling made a lot of ladies fawn over me.” Starlight chuckled as she rolled her eyes.

The two went their separate ways afterward. Starlight began her hunt for vehicles throughout the southern part of the city on the hunt for a Destiny sedan and a Slingshot compact. It took her a couple of hours to find the vehicles she needed and a little more time to have the Slingshot she found customized for Miguel.

Miguel decided to reward Starlight for her hard work with a coupon for a year’s worth of vehicle repairs at half price at all Rim Jobs in Stilwater. While Starlight didn’t plan to drive around damaged cars or get her Reaper wrecked, it was still good to have something to soften the financial blow in case something did happen.

Starlight waited half an hour for Paul to finish his task before he called and said he would meet her at the church. When she got there she quickly found Paul since he was wearing something that made him stand out. It took every ounce of willpower Starlight had not to facepalm.

“Really?” Starlight flatly questioned.

Much to Starlight’s annoyance, Paul was wearing a purple faux fur coat and a purple pimp hat with a stripe of leopard spots and a feather. With the jewelry he may have kept after his previous runs of trafficking sex workers, he would be easily mistaken for an actual pimp. His appearance was further accessorized with a pimp cane.

Paul proudly stuck his nose in the air with an exaggerated haughty look that greatly tempted Starlight to slap him but stayed her hand since she knew he was only messing around. “Say what you want about this but you know I look good.” Starlight failed to hold back a laugh at Paul’s acting while Paul looked at the cane in his hand. “Regardless, I’m keeping the cane. This thing has a shotgun built in.”

To demonstrate, Paul aimed his cane at the wall around the church cemetery. He pulled the trigger which unleashed a blast powerful enough to blow a small chunk out of the wall. Starlight whistled in awe of the powerful weapon. “Wow, that is useful.”

“What is going on out here?” Julius demanded as he walked out of the church.

Starlight and Paul looked at their leader apologetically before Starlight explained, “Sorry about that, Julius. Paul was just showing off his new toy.”

Seeing the cane in Paul’s hand, Julius decided to drop the matter and move on to more important things, “I see. Anyway, come inside. There’s something we need to discuss.”

The two followed Julius inside and into his office where he began briefing the two on their next task. Troy was in attendance. As it turned out, Julius had struck a deal with Manuel Orejuela where the Colombians would work with the Saints exclusively in exchange for the drugs that the cops had confiscated during the night at the docks where Paul put an end to Hector Lopez.

“Are you nuts?!” Troy questioned. “The cops probably have the drugs stashed away in their evidence locker. They’d lock the place down before you’d get anywhere.”

“Do you have an idea?” Starlight asked.

“Yeah, if you load a car up with explosives you can blow a hole right into the evidence locker. I know a guy who gave me the blueprints to the station in Barrio where the drugs are so I know where to blow the hole.”

Starlight nodded, “Good, once we blow the wall, we can have a crew loaded up into that delivery truck we stole from the Carnales a few days ago. They can go in through the hole and load the drugs into the truck and we can haul the goods back here. Problem is that the cops aren't going to be too happy with this stunt. I'd expect them to bring everything they have down on us. They will probably bring the FBI in to stop us as well.”

“Yeah, I’m not fond of the idea since it’ll mean a heavy body count. I’m hoping you got an idea on how to lower that.” Troy was really hoping that Starlight had a plan that would keep the casualties to a minimum since every dead officer would compound his guilt.

Starlight smirked, “Actually, I do.” She then proceeded to tell Paul and Troy about her plan to make the operation run more smoothly which she noticed Troy giving a sigh of relief as he heard it. She knew that Troy would like to keep the death toll as low as possible and she couldn’t blame him.

Once Troy pointed out the location of the evidence locker from the street side, Paul and Starlight headed out to steal a car to deliver to Samson to rig it to explode. Meanwhile, a crew of Saints were loading up into the delivery truck with one of the thugs at the wheel.

Once the bomb was ready and the crew was ready to go, Starlight gave a signal to Laserbeak.

At the Barrio police station, Chief Monroe was lazily looking through paperwork with a bored expression while wondering when the day would end.

As he mumbled to himself a wish for something interesting to happen, his phone rang. Not bothering to check the Caller ID, he answered, “Chief of Police Monroe speaking.”

“It’s an emergency, Monroe! City hall is under attack by the Saints! Send every man you have down here immediately!”

Monroe was quickly shaken from his stupor as he recognized the voice as none other than Alderman Richard Hughes, the man who helped him to become the Chief of Police after his predecessor retired. “Y-yes sir, Alderman! I’ll mobilize everyone I have available right away.”

“Hurry! The Saints are tearing the building–” The call was cut off as a busy signal replaced Hughes’ voice..

“Hello? Alderman Hughes? Hello!” Monroe tried calling him again but the line failed to connect. “Dammit!” He then pulled out his intercom to speak to everyone in the station and ordered everyone to mobilize immediately.

“That should buy us some time to get to the station and get out,” Starlight said.

“I have so many questions as to how that actually worked,” Paul wondered.

Starlight giggled, “Simple, I did some research on the Alderman and found that he had a hand in a number of things going on in Stilwater. Sharp funded his campaign and he was King’s connection to the city government. The only group who didn’t have a connection with Hughes was the Carnales. Obviously Monroe is Hughes’ attack dog. So, I had Laserbeak simulate his voice while using his numerous campaign ads as samples to create a near-perfect simulation. After that, it was a simple matter of filling Monroe with a sense of urgency while cutting off any communication to and from the police station to make Monroe panic.”

Paul lost focus for a few moments which led to a few near misses of other cars on the road which could have led to both of them getting blown up had Starlight not shrieked to knock Paul out of his stunned silence. “If I said it before, I’ll say it again: that drone is scary.” Paul spoke as if they hadn’t nearly been blown by a collision while driving a car rigged to explode.

“Just focus on the road, you can admire Laserbeak later,” Starlight snapped.

Thankfully, the drive to the police station went without further incident. With nearly the entire police station heading downtown toward City Hall, there were hardly any officers left in the station save the few taking calls. Paul drove up to the part of the wall designated by Troy before the two exited the vehicle and took shelter behind a building before the car exploded, blowing a hole into the police station.

As the alarms went off, the delivery truck backed into the hole in the wall where a number of Saints entered and began grabbing everything that looked like drugs, whether it belonged to the Colombians or not.

While the truck was being loaded, Starlight and Paul remained on the lookout for any cops who might try to stop them. With communications to and from the station cut off, there was little worry about the police force suddenly turning around to head back and defend their headquarters in any timely manner. The few cops who weren’t around weren’t foolish enough to try to stop them.

The drugs were loaded within a few minutes and Paul took the wheel of the truck to drive it back to the Row. A few police cars did give chase until Starlight shot their tires to force them to give up the chase. Other than that the truck was delivered with little incident.

“Well, now I can honestly say I'm not going to be accepted into the Police Academy,” Starlight cheekily stated.

“Maybe you can try for the FBI. I hear they employ hackers like you all the time,” Paul snarked.

Starlight scoffed, “Pass.”

The two didn’t bother to stick around as a group of cartel members came by to reclaim their merchandise. They instead returned to the church to spend the rest of the day watching movies.That was the plan until Julius came by to request Paul to come with him to meet with Orejuela at one of the city’s strip bars. Julius wasn’t about to ask Starlight to come with him since he’d rather not expose a minor to such a place which Starlight agreed.

Paul would later tell Starlight about what happened, which involved Julius shaking hands with Manuel to mark the beginning of their partnership and Angelo barging in by himself to try and kill Manuel for stealing his girl only to fail and flee. Manuel would give Paul the address to Angelo’s villa which wasn’t all that useful since Starlight already knew where the reckless gang leader lived.

Tomorrow, Starlight surmised, would be the day that she and Paul put the final nail in Angelo’s coffin.

When the police returned from their wild goose chase, they saw what happened but none of the officers on duty could tell Monroe what happened since they didn’t want to lose their lives trying to investigate the incident.

Enraged, Monroe ordered an investigation of the entire neighborhood to find clues only for them to find a few Carnales hang outs. The thugs were arrested which caused the Carnales to lose control of the area.

Julius knew that sending anyone to take Barrio at this time would only get them arrested so he decided to leave the area alone since the Carnales didn’t control it anymore.

Termination

The following day after the Saints raided the police station, Starlight was in her mansion getting ready to head to the church for her next move against the Carnales. Before she left she decided to watch the news because she wanted to see how the media and the city government reacted to the events that occurred.

She was not disappointed when a number of police officers were interviewed by a reporter named Jane Valderamma. Jane made a comment about the police being made to look like incompetent fools when she learned that at least seventy percent of the police force responded to a fake tip about an attack on City Hall only for the real attack to be made against the station. She reported that around five hundred pounds of illegal substances, the substances that were confiscated a few days ago from a Colombian Drug Cartel, were stolen by the Saints. Needless to say, Chief Monroe was made into a laughingstock.

Starlight laughed as she saw the embarrassed look on Monroe’s face on the television. Once the report concluded, Starlight turned off the television and prepared to leave for the church.

However, she was stopped at the doorway by her father who had that look that told her that a bloody massacre was going to happen today and he was going to be in the center of it. “Hey pumpkin, ready for some father-daughter bonding time?”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, “I thought you still had things to do to complete the move.”

Johnny shrugged, “Eesh said that I need some time out of the house. We got most of our stuff moved over so we can afford to take some time to unwind.”

That got a smirk from Starlight, “That’s nice of mom, but I’m guessing that she found some of your hidden things and she needed some time to cool off with you out of the house?”

“Well, mostly just a few angry letters from your teachers and principals.”

“I thought you burned those,” Starlight questioned.

Johnny chuckled, “What, and destroy something that makes me feel so much joy knowing my daughter is a chip off the old block? Not a chance.”

A knock on the door prompted the two to halt their conversation and answer. The door opened to reveal Paul on the other side. “What’s up?” Paul greeted.

“We’ve just been talking about how daddy has been keeping angry letters from my teachers and principals as keepsakes instead of burning them so mom wouldn’t find out about them,” Starlight responded, glaring at Johnny.

Paul gave a deadpan look at Johnny, “You’re insane.”

“Keep flattering me and we’ll be best friends,” Johnny snarked.

“Anyways…” Starlight interjected with an eye roll. “Let’s get to the church and deal with the Carnales. I have a feeling that Mr. Wong isn’t going to have any extra work for us today so I’d like for us to take out Angelo today.”

With that, the two headed over to the church where they saw Julius and Troy having a conversation until they approached. “Glad to see you two ready for action,” Julius greeted. He saw Johnny with them and guessed that he wanted in on the action which he was fine with since the hard part of dealing with the Carnales was over. All that remained was finishing them off. “I take it you plan on finishing the Carnales off today?”

“That’s the plan,” Starlight responded.

“Then we better make sure they have nowhere else to run. First things first, I need you to head over to the warehouses in Charlestown and take the place over. I'll have some of our boys lockdown the area soon.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Troy commented. “I would have been worried that Angelo might have hired some muscle from out of town by now but it seems the Carnales are still so strapped for cash that they can barely afford ammo for their weapons right now. There's no way he'd be able to afford outside help.”

“Let’s hope whoever is over there puts up a decent fight, I’d hate to be disappointed,” Johnny commented.

The three decided to take Johnny’s car to the Charlestown warehouses where they encountered minimal resistance from the Carnales at first. Once they had cleared the area they found that they needed to hold out until Saints reinforcements arrived to drive the point home to the dwindling gang that they had lost that territory.

In the meantime, Johnny and Paul decided to have a competition to decide who would get the most kills since the Carnales continued to drive into the area to stop the three from stealing more territory from them. The two were doing their best to keep count of how many thugs they dropped though with so many driving in, that proved difficult.

“Running on fumes, Paul? I’m already up to twenty-five,” Johnny taunted.

“That’s bullshit, I’m pretty sure five of those are mine and that I have twenty-seven,” Paul shot back.

“Heh, keep tellin’ yourself that.” Johnny then took out thug number twenty-eight.

Starlight scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Boys…” she mumbled as she cut down her thirtieth thug with her sword.

Eventually the purple cars of the Saints arrived, each loaded with thugs carrying SMGs and shotguns. Seeing that they were outnumbered and the fact that there were so few of them left, the Carnales signalled a retreat and fled back to where Starlight was certain was their headquarters.

Seeing the Carnales in retreat, Starlight pulled out her phone. “Alright, I’m gonna call Julius and let him know that the operation was a success and to have him send out additional crews for what’s about to happen.”

“What is about to happen?” Paul asked.

“Obviously the Carnales have retreated back to their villa in Ezpata. That’s as good of an invitation to a party at Angelo’s place as anything else at this point. You two in a partying mood?”

Johnny chuckled, “You know me, baby girl, I always love a good party.” He then pumped his shotgun.

Paul held his Pimp Cane over his shoulder. “Let’s go have ourselves a fiesta!”

No matter how many times Starlight looked at the weird weapon in Paul’s hand, she cringed from the thought of pimps carrying such an object. “I know that thing is a weapon, but it still looks weird.”

Starlight then called Julius to inform him about the success of the mission and that she planned on raiding Angelo’s villa since the Carnales were vulnerable now. Julius thanked Starlight for the information so that he could send a few more crews her way to secure Ezpata and the airport. Once she ended the call, the three jumped into Johnny’s car and drove over to where the villa was located.

Once they arrived, the villa quickly turned into a shootout where Starlight sprayed a few Carnales near the pool with her SMG which caused them to fall in and turn the water red. Using a corner of the house to her advantage, she forced the thugs to come to her before she decapitated them with her sword. Seeing the first few fall like that, the remaining thugs on the patio were hesitant to move closer to her as she taunted, “What’s the matter boys, scared of little old me?”

Their hesitation cost them as Johnny took out the thugs from behind with an assault rifle. “Starin’ at my daughter’s gonna cost ya,” he snarked.

Meanwhile, Paul looked around the patio while looking for Angelo. However, the man in question was on the second floor balcony walkway that connected two separate rooms in the house. He tried shooting at Johnny and Paul since they were the only ones in his line of sight at the time. Paul quickly spotted him and pulled out his RPG to fire at him, forcing him to leap away to avoid the blast. “¡Mierda! (Shit!)” he shouted. He then fled into the room on the other side of the balcony while avoiding Johnny’s gunfire.

With the villa mostly cleared out, the three headed into the building to chase after Angelo, dealing with any thugs within and heading up the stairs to the second floor and across the balcony.

Upon entering the room, Starlight quickly noticed that Angelo looked ready to shoot at anyone who entered his view so she had a shield spell ready to protect them. However, as they entered, this precaution proved unneeded as Angelo’s gun jammed. With the element of surprise lost, Angelo decided to jump out of the second story window. Paul pulled out his pistol and shot at Angelo where he landed. He missed a few times but one bullet hit Angelo in the shoulder. Clutching at his wound, Angelo dove through the window into his garage. Paul jumped off the balcony in pursuit while Johnny and Starlight took the stairs. However, by the time they got there, Angelo had already driven off in his car.

“Fuck! That slippery bastard got away!” Johnny cursed.

“Ten bucks,” Starlight said, holding her hand out toward him.

“Are you kidding me? You’re loaded enough as it is!” Johnny complained with a groan. He couldn’t believe that his own daughter was blackmailing him because he cursed in front of her. Yet, at the same time he couldn’t be more proud. “Fine…” He gave her the money.

“Daddy’s language aside, we have their headquarters now and the few Carnales he has left could fit in a phone booth. He’s probably going to try to skip town and try to rebuild. For that, there’s only one place he can go.”

“The airport…” Paul concluded.

“Let’s go, I know a shortcut we can use to get to the airport quickly.”

Meanwhile, Angelo was nearing the airport. Since his entire organization was destroyed, he would need to get out of town fast so he could find somewhere to rebuild. He would deal with Manuel another day. He quickly called Luz to tell her that she needed to get to the airport as soon as possible and that she only had a few minutes to get there before he left her behind. However, much to Angelo’s dismay, Luz still insisted that she pick some shoes for the trip which very nearly made Angelo curse Luz out in spanish.

Since they couldn’t afford a plane with their lack of funds, Angelo had no choice but to hijack one. The last of his gang were with him in his car. They broke into the airport and quickly located an unoccupied personal jet he could use for his escape. The thugs got the plane open and they began to board while hoping that Luz wasn’t far behind.

However, as much as he hoped that the Saints would be spending more time looking around the city for him, that hope was dashed as he spotted a purple Venom sports car heading straight for them with the attackers from the villa inside. There was no time to wait for Luz anymore. “Get this plane into the air, now!” Angelo demanded.

“What about Luz?” one thug asked.

“Fuck her!”

The plane’s door closed and Angelo took the pilot seat before turning the plane on. As the plane’s engines roared and the plane began to taxi, Starlight knew that they were about to make their getaway. However, she also had an idea to spare the plane while getting to Angelo.

Using her magic, Starlight amplified her voice loud enough to make Paul and Johnny’s ears ring so the two had to plug their ears. “Hey Angelo, are you sure you want to leave without avenging your brother? His killer is with me right now.” The fact that the plane stopped taxiing gave Starlight the hope that Angelo heard her so she continued, “That’s right, it wasn’t the Colombians who killed your brother, it was Paul here!” She then pointed at Paul who decided to endure the ear-ringing pain long enough to put both of his middle fingers on full display toward the plane.

That taunt seemed to do the trick as the engines cut off. Seeing this, Johnny quickly got out of the car and ran underneath the plane before any Carnales noticed. A few moments later, the cabin door opened to reveal a frothingly enraged Angelo with his pistol pointed at Paul. “¡Maldito asesino! ¡Te haré sufrir por lo que le hiciste a mi hermano! (You murderous bastard! I will make you suffer for what you did to my brother!)” he shouted.

As Angelo walked down the ladder and headed toward the two, Starlight and Paul continued to give their victorious smirks. If Angelo was in his right mind at the time he would have noticed that something was off. He ended up tackled from behind by Johnny who pinned him face down to the ground. The remaining Carnales thugs who were watching tried to leave the plane to help their boss only for Paul to aim his Pimp Cane at them and wipe them out with a single blast.

“I’m gonna enjoy this more than I should,” Johnny said as he cracked his knuckles. Johnny wanted Angelo to be watching his fists so he turned him over. Angelo tried to retaliate with the gun in his hand but Johnny had already anticipated that he would try that as Angelo found the wrist of his hand that was holding the gun impaled by Johnny’s butterfly knife. Angelo howled in agony which didn’t last long as Johnny started repeatedly punching his face hard enough to knock teeth out. A few punches left his face deformed.

After delivering enough punches to make Angelo’s face unrecognizable, Johnny decided that he had his fun and got off the man. Thankfully, Angelo’s suffering would soon come to an end as Starlight walked up to him with her sword poking at his chest.

“You are about to learn what happens to those who make an enemy of Mr. Wong,” Starlight grimly stated as she began pressing the tip of her blade into his chest.

Though his vision was blurry from the punches, Angelo still recognized the girl’s sword poised to end his life like an angel of death ready to send him to his brother. “Buenas noches, Señor López. (Goodnight, Mister Lopez),” Starlight declared before the sword plunged into his chest and through his heart. Angelo gagged and choked for a brief moment before the light in his eyes faded and his body stopped moving.

Johnny, amused by her daughter’s theatrics, looked at Paul. “Glad those Spanish lessons paid off. It was her mom’s idea.”

As Starlight pulled out the blade and started cleaning off the blood, the three noticed a car driving up to them. The driver was a Latino woman who Starlight recognized as Luz. The woman gasped in horror as she spotted the scene. “Oh my God! Angelo!” The three noticed that she was carrying a small shopping bag. As she tried to run up to him, Luz halted as Starlight pointed her sword at her.

“What are you doing here?” Starlight demanded, a deep frown of disappointment on her face. From what she knew about the woman, she was a pitiful woman who chose to marry into money instead of learning any actual skills to obtain money.

“I…I was supposed to leave with Angelo. Please don’t kill me!” Luz pleaded.

Starlight clicked her tongue, “I wasn’t planning to. You’re not worth the effort.”

“Whaddya have in the bag?” Johnny demanded.

“Let’s find out,” Starlight said as she slashed the bag in Luz’s hand, causing it to drop to the ground. Several pairs of designer shoes fell out. Starlight rolled her eyes as she saw them. “Shoes? Really?”

“They...they're from this season's new–” Luz struggled to explain but Paul interrupted her.

“Bullshit, that's from last year's fall collection!”

Starlight snorted and gave an amused look at Paul, “Spoken like a fashionisto.” Paul stuck his tongue out at her.

“So what am I supposed to do now?” Luz asked.

Starlight’s frown returned as she looked at Luz, “You can leave and figure it out for yourself.”

“I have no place to go.”

“I'm sure there's a homeless shelter or two in town somewhere. It's not my fault you didn't try to make something of yourself instead of clinging on to rich people so you wouldn't have to do any work.”

“Can you at least tell me where Manuel is?”

At this point, Starlight was fed up with the pathetic woman and wanted her to go away. She gave a fake smile that failed to hide her devious intentions, “How about you learn how to think for yourself, maybe you will find him if you use your brain. Either way, you have ten seconds to get in that car and drive away as fast as you can before I consider changing the color of your clothes and make you wander around town looking like a Fashion Frankenstein.”

Luz’s eyes widened in horror but she took the hint and ran back to her car and drove off as fast as she could and without caring about speeding violations, not that the police would actually stop her for that anyway.”

Seeing the way she left made Johnny laugh loudly in amusement at the scene. “That’s my girl.”

“Well, I guess this means that the gang war is finally over. Now what?” Paul wondered.

“We head home and see what tomorrow brings,” Starlight said.

“Yeah, I guess that’s enough damage for a while,” Johnny added.

As the three prepared to head home, Starlight informed Julius that the Carnales were no more. The leader thanked Starlight and Paul for their efforts in ridding Stilwater off its gang problem. He then told them to get some rest as he would have an announcement for them and the rest of the gang tomorrow.

After the call ended, Julius took a deep breath, knowing that the time had come for what he needed to do. The Rollerz were disbanded, the Vice Kings were a memory and Ben King had left town to begin the next chapter of his life and the Carnales were permanently put down this time.

With the gang problem ended, all that remained was to bring an end to the final gang plaguing Stilwater: Themselves. To do that, the leadership needed to be removed, the rest would follow soon after. Thankfully, Lin had dropped her flags to be with that Donnie guy and Dex dropped his flags shortly after the meeting with Manuel. Troy shouldn’t be difficult to convince to drop as well.

The only issue would be getting Johnny, Paul and Starlight to leave the Saints peacefully. The three of them were psychopaths in his eyes; it was unfortunate that Starlight ended up raised by someone like Johnny Gat. Still, Julius hoped that he could somehow get Starlight to drop and convince her father to follow suit. The girl still had a bright future ahead of her and enough cash to get into any college in the United States and graduate.

Paul, on the other hand, would be the toughest obstacle to deal with. He may be close friends with Starlight but there was no guarantee that he would drop his flags if she did. No, he needed to make sure Paul left the Saints one way or another and he wasn’t taking any chances.

That night, Starlight was restless, haunted by a foreboding feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

Foul Play

For the first time in a while, Starlight slept in and woke up an hour later than she usually did. It wasn’t that she was more exhausted than usual, it was because she didn’t know what she was going to do today.

With the Rollerz, Vice Kings and Carnales eliminated from existence, the Saints had complete control over the underground markets of Stilwater. Her challenges were behind her so there was no telling when something exciting would happen. “So what now?” she muttered to herself.

She got out of bed and performed her morning rituals while continuing to ponder what her next move was going to be. After she showered and got dressed, she spent some time with her parents at the breakfast table. She saw her father looking especially bored since there was nothing exciting going on. There was talk about the upcoming mayoral elections in the next few days between the incumbent, Marshall Winslow, and Alderman Richard Hughes, but none of them actually cared.

“Have you made your choice for which college you want to attend?” Aisha asked, startling Starlight out of her inner thoughts.

“What? Oh, oh yes, hehe. I actually did make my choice,” Starlight awkwardly said. She took a deep breath to regain herself. “I looked through the websites of various colleges that specialized in my interests and decided on Carnegie Mellon. They have an excellent computer science and robotics program. The new semester will start in the next few months so I’ll need to make preparations.”

Johnny chuckled, “My little girl’s all grown up and goin’ to college. Never needed to go myself, don’t need a degree to be a badass. Though if you wanna be a super badass, a degree wouldn’t hurt.”

“Just don’t get yourself arrested Johnny, With Starlight leaving the house in a few months I’d rather not be in this mansion alone,” Aisha said.

“I’ll do my best not to Eesh, I can’t make any promises though. You know how I am.” Aisha shook her head amusedly, knowing that was the best she was going to get from him.

“Daddy’s reckless behavior aside, I did receive a strange email earlier. It seems to be a full scholarship offer from a group called The Roman Empire.”

“Sounds suspicious,” Johnny remarked. “What would a prestigious family like them want with you?”

“If I were to guess, they probably knew how instrumental I was in helping the Saints take over Stilwater and want to form connections with the Saints. The email also mentioned that they wanted me to meet with the don’s son on campus.”

“That sounds even more suspicious.”

“Be that as it may, I still need to meet with him and decide whether it’s worth the risk of associating with them before I accept any offer. Besides, these aren’t the kind of people you can just ignore.”

“That’s true. Anyways, we need to head to the church and hear what Julius has to say now that the war’s over.”

Starlight nodded, “Alright, let’s finish up and head over.”

Once they finished breakfast and cleaned up the table, Johnny and Starlight headed to the church, picking up Paul along the way.

Once they headed inside the church, they noticed that the thugs were looking in their direction and giving them strange looks. Particularly, they seemed to be giving Paul looks of respect for some reason. Paul was confused by this and so were Starlight and Johnny.

Before they could ask what was going on, Paul’s phone rang with Julius on the other line. When Paul answered, Julius gave a speech to him. “We did it, Paul. 3rd Street owns this town. Now, that's not to say that shit didn't cost, we lost a lotta good boys, but thanks to you and Starlight we kept the losses to a minimum. We crushed a lot of families Paul, and someday they're gonna holla at us. But believe me when I tell you, we did the right thing. With the Rollerz wiped out, Benjamin gone, and the Colombians in our pocket, there ain't gonna be a need for a gang war ever again. And in the end, that's gonna save a lot more lives than we took. So relax, you've earned yourself a break. You've impressed the hell out of me son, and I've told the crew you're gonna be my right hand- hold up, some berry just turned on his flashers. Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to call you back. This may take a while.”

Starlight overheard the call and it made her wonder why Julius chose Paul to be his second instead of her, but decided that she didn’t need the prestige right now since she would be leaving Stilwater in a few months. Still, she remembered that Troy was Julius’ second so she had to wonder what happened. Though she also knew that Troy was undercover so she guessed that with the war over he silently left to rejoin the force.

Still, something about the call didn’t sit right with her. The fact that he was pulled over by a cop made her feel concerned that something might have happened to Julius.

“I have a bad feeling about this. That last part has me worried,” Paul fretted.

“Yeah, I can’t shake the feeling that–” Before Starlight could finish that sentence, Paul’s phone rang again. The ID pointed out that it was the Stilwater Police Department. “And speak of the devil…”

Paul answered the phone and heard the voice of Chief Monroe on the other end. “This is Chief Monroe. If you want Julius back, listen to what I got to say. Quite frankly, I'm pissed off with all of you. I lost my retirement fund because of you. Don't look so surprised, after I had time to think about it, there was no way King would jeopardize our relationship like that so it had to be one of you. And that wild goose chase you sent me and my boys on a couple of days ago made me look like a joke. So now you're gonna pay me back until I'm satisfied. There's a mayoral campaign going on and I want one of the candidates taken off the ballot. Marshall Winslow is in his campaign bus right now and he has an appointment with the northbound. Park that bus on the train tracks tonight or you'll find Julius' body floating in the river tomorrow. Don't disappoint me, Julius is counting on you.” The call ended before anyone could respond.

“The chief of police is blackmailing us?” Paul questioned. “Are they really so corrupt that they would resort to thuggish tactics to make us do what he wants?”

“If word got out about this the public would be in an uproar. It would be one of the biggest scandals in city history,” Starlight pointed out with a smirk. “And I have his words recorded. Isn’t that right, Laserbeak?” The drone chirped in affirmation before playing back what Monroe said.

“So what do we do? Go public with this?” Johnny asked.

“No, Monroe would just kill Julius out of spite if we did that. For now, let’s do as he says until we find an opening.”

Paul nodded in agreement. He and Starlight then left the church to find Winslow’s campaign bus which Monroe was kind enough to pinpoint its location and route. Using a car that Paul stole to remain incognito, they drove up to the bus before Paul shot at the driver which scared him into getting out and running away. The two then abandoned their vehicle and moved into the bus while the cops were scrambling to stop them.

Paul quickly took the wheel while Starlight sat next to Marshall Winslow, a dark-skinned man with short, stubby hair in a black suit with a green shirt. “Who the hell are you two?” Marshall demanded.

“I’m sorry mayor, but our boss’s life is on the line,” Starlight answered. She then introduced herself and Paul.

“Okay, but where are you taking me?”

“Unfortunately, this bus has a date with the Northbound in Barrio.”

“Are you planning to kill me? You said your boss’s life is in danger, I take it you’re not doing this because you want to. Who’s doing this?”

“That would be Monroe,” Starlight answered.

“Monroe!? That would mean Hughes is behind this. I should have known he would resort to this, he’s been tanking in the polls lately so he probably would pull something like this. Hughes has Monroe on his payroll which makes Monroe his attack dog.”

“That’s all well and good, but shouldn’t you be more worried for your life?” Starlight asked.

“Of course I’m afraid for my life. I’m scared I’m gonna die but I’m also pissed that Hughes is using kids like you to do his dirty work.”

Starlight had to admit that despite him being in life-threatening danger, the fact that he puts the well-being of others ahead of himself made him look more respectable in her eyes. However, this also annoyed her because the guy was proving to be the first politician that she cared to not see run over by a train.

Groaning in exasperation, Starlight frowned at Winslow. The bus began to slow down as it came upon the train tracks. “Look, what I’m about to do does not leave this bus. Do not mention what is about to happen. If anyone asks, say that Paul threw you off the bus before it reached the tracks.”

“What are you–?” Once the bus stopped, Paul jumped out and ran away before the collision. Meanwhile, Starlight grabbed Winslow and vanished from their spot in an instant. A moment later the train barreled through the campaign bus, demolishing it.

Back at the church, Starlight and Winslow appeared with Johnny and the Saints in shock from what just happened. Starlight immediately let go of Winslow and fell to her hands and knees, panting heavily.

“Whoa, whoa, Starlight! What happened?” Johnny asked.

“Long…dis…tance…te…le…port…” Starlight answered between breaths. “Not…fun…” She then fell to the floor.

“Help me get her on the couch,” Johnny ordered the thugs.

“I’ll help,” Winslow offered. “She saved my life, it’s the least I can do.”

Johnny and Winslow carried Starlight to a sofa for her to rest on. Once she passed out, Johnny looked at Winslow suspiciously. “What the hell’s goin’ on?”

“Based on what she told me, Alderman Hughes set things up to have me die in some freak train accident, using Chief Monroe to blackmail you guys.”

“What’s that guy want with us?”

“He wants to put forth a plan to level the Row and displace its residents. He’s got the backing of a major clothing company called Ultor.”

“Ultor? You mean like the Ultor Dome Ultor?”

“They bought the naming rights to the stadium a while back. They want to establish their headquarters in the district over the ruins of the neighborhood.”

“That seems like overkill,” Johnny remarked.

“We should probably keep an eye on them for now,” Starlight groaned, waking up from her short nap and feeling a little better. “We may not be able to do anything about them at this time but perhaps someday.”

“Glad to see you’re alright, Star, but what are we gonna do right now? I’d rather not keep being Monroe’s lapdog and I doubt he’s planning on giving Julius back anytime soon.”

“Chances are he’s planning on heading to City Hall to announce my death,” Winslow offered. “He will likely be travelling through Nob Hill since that’s part of his usual route so you can take him out there.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow at Winslow in disbelief at what he just said. “Aren’t you supposed to be a city official? Why are you selling out your Chief of Police?”

“I was planning on firing him when I won the election anyway. The moron never did his job right. Besides, he crossed the line by using hostages to get you to do what he wants. He’s got it coming. Just don’t let anyone know I said that, I do have an image to maintain.”

Starlight shrugged, “I can work with that.”

“Same here,” Johnny agreed.

“What’s going on?” Paul asked, having just arrived.

“We’re going to Nob Hill to assassinate Monroe,” Starlight summarized.

“Fuck yeah!” Paul cheered.

The three took a vehicle they found in the street and headed straight for Nob Hill. They located an intersection that Winslow indicated that Monroe would take to get there and climbed up a nearby building. Paul readied an RPG while Johnny started playing catch with a grenade.

While they waited for Monroe, Starlight stared at a building on the other side of the street. She wasn’t certain but she could see a figure that looked like he was wearing purple and black clothes and carrying an RPG. Squinting her eyes, she could almost make out the figure that seemed to resemble Julius. “Julius?” she muttered.

“What about Julius?” Johnny asked.

Before she could explain what she saw, Paul alerted them that several police cars were heading in their general direction. Starlight shook her head and focused on the main task, “Nevermind, let’s just deal with Monroe.”

While Paul and Johnny were both able to take out a police car, Starlight noticed a rocket being fired from the distant building which informed her that she wasn’t seeing things. The extra rocket took out the third vehicle while Starlight used her magic to flip the fourth and final vehicle onto its back before she used her SMG to puncture its gas tank. The sparks caused by the shots ignited the fuel and made the car explode.

With the police procession demolished, Starlight looked at the distant building again only to find that nobody was there anymore, as if the figure had disappeared without a trace.

Putting that thought aside, Starlight, Paul and Johnny headed back to their car and quickly made for the nearest Forgive and Forget to get the heat from the law enforcement off them.

Starlight wasn’t sure if Monroe was among the police procession, so she could only hope that Winslow’s tip was spot on.

“Anyone else feel like we just did a service for the city?” Johnny wondered.

“Does it really matter?” Starlight replied. “I just hope that whoever replaces him won’t be as much of a scumbag as Monroe.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Paul remarked. “‘Course, the bar wasn’t set high in the first place. He made Napoleon the Pig look like a noble leader.”

“Heh, I think you and I are gonna be best friends, Paul,” Johnny said.

Once they returned to the church, the three had to consider what they were going to do now. With Julius still missing the Saints were unsure of what to do next. Of course, Paul was the leader in Julius’ place so they weren’t completely disorganized.

A few hours into their brainstorming session, Paul received a call from an unlikely source: Alderman Hughes. Paul answered his phone to listen to the politician’s pitch. “Hello young man, this is Alderman Hughes. That was quite a message you sent at Glenview Hills...and trust me, I heard it loud and clear. Now I'd like to set one thing straight...it was Monroe's plan to strong arm the Saints; personally I've always thought you and I could have a much healthier relationship. Now, we've had a rocky start, yes, but why don't we fix that. Come over to my fundraiser tonight, Julius will be there and between the three of us I'm sure we can work something out.”

When the call ended, Paul looked at his phone like it could be a bomb before he put it away. “Never expected a politician to call me. Might as well see what he wants.”

“I don’t like this,” Starlight muttered. “The whole thing about strong-arming us may not have been his idea but he likely put Monroe up to using whatever means necessary to control us.”

Before she could voice her doubts further, Starlight received a text from Troy, telling her to come alone to Harrowgate where she once aided in a four-way turf war on her first day as a Saint. Starlight had a feeling that she knew what this was about but she decided to hear him out. She would make sure she was well armed just in case, though.

“It seems there’s some business I need to take care of. You’ll have to talk to Hughes on your own.”

“I can handle this,” Paul confidently stated. “I can take a politician and his goons if things get rough.”

“What about me?” Johnny asked.

“You are needed here, daddy,” Starlight pointed out. “Without Julius, Troy or Dex around, you’re the only ranked member left to hold down the fort.”

Johnny groaned, “Sometimes I hate being a lieutenant.”

As night fell, Starlight and Paul left the church, both heading separate directions. Neither took long to reach their locations as Hughes’ fundraiser was reportedly being held on his yacht moored in Athos Bay which was next to Harrowgate.

Starlight arrived at the dockyards where she looked around for any sign of Troy. It didn’t take long for her to see him coming into the light of a lamppost. “Glad to see you aren’t trying to ambush me,” Starlight snarked.

“You know I ain’t that kind of guy, I may be a cop but I ain’t Monroe.”

“So why did you call me here?”

“I want to plead with you to bring an end to this gang business.”

Starlight had already planned to leave the Saints to head to college soon, but on the other hand, this seemed like an opportunity to mess with him. “And why should I do that?” Starlight asked playfully.

“Look, I know that Julius plans on disbanding the Saints now that the war is over but there are a few he fears might try to continue the Saints and turn them into another Vice Kings; you, Paul and Johnny in particular. I want you three to drop your flags and forget this gang business. To tell the truth, I've enjoyed my time with the Saints. You guys made things interesting and I've grown fond of you guys. That's why I hope that you will consider dropping because I really don't want to have to arrest you. You, Starlight, have a bright future ahead of you, it doesn't take a genius to know that. With Monroe dead, chances are that I'll be promoted to be the next Chief of Police soon so I'll be in a position to erase your criminal record. Please think this through.”

“What about Johnny and Paul?”

“For some reason, the boys at the station seem to think Paul is the more dangerous one, probably because carrying around a bunch of explosives made him look like a terrorist. It’s been five years since 9/11 and things like that are still a sore spot for most people. They see you as a sidekick and a lesser threat. Don’t ask me why. I’ll do the best I can for him, but I can’t give you any guarantees that he won’t be able to escape prison, not unless the mayor starts handing out pardons.

“As for your dad, he has way too many murder charges on him to successfully sweep under the rug but as long as he lays low I can keep the boys at the precinct from going after him.”

Starlight didn’t like this deal at all. She could convince her father to leave and be there for his family, but she didn’t like the implication that Paul would be a wanted criminal for the rest of his life. She would have to convince Winslow to pardon Paul. Still, the end of the Saints did bring up another concern, one that she had pointed out to Troy once before.

“You do know that with the gangs eliminated and the Saints disbanded there will be a power vacuum and Stilwater will become a beacon for more organized gangs to move in and take the city over, right? The city’s illegal markets are too lucrative to ignore. You would be back to square one within a few years.”

“Yeah, I considered what you said but there's a part of me that hopes for the contrary. I don't know what Julius has planned to make sure the Saints don't come back but I'm hoping I can talk you and your father into leaving the Saints, at least for a time. I'll make you a deal if it will sweeten things. If what you predict comes to pass and Stilwater is once again taken over by a bunch of gangs like before, I won't stop you three from reforming the Saints. I can’t give you more than that as that might risk the public suspecting me of being a Saints sympathizer which gets me fired and who knows who will be promoted in my place.”

“Fine, but I’m keeping a record of this conversation in case you turn on us.” In response, Laserbeak appeared from behind Starlight’s neck, chirping in triumph. Troy could only groan as his future was now in the hands of a teenage girl. “So what happened with Julius?”

“I talked with him while he was in a holding cell and gave him the same pitch. He said that he would see what he could do to get you, Paul and Johnny to drop your flags. I was hoping that he would know what to say to get you to do so. After our talk I got Monroe to let him go.”

“I see,” Starlight muttered. “Honestly, I was planning on leaving the Saints anyway since I plan to enroll at Carnegie Mellon in a few months. I can get daddy to leave easily and Paul is my friend so I can get him to–”

Before Starlight could finish that sentence, a loud explosion was heard to their east. Starlight’s heart sank as a feeling of dread creeped into her very being. She recalled that being the general direction where Hughes’ private yacht was.

“The fuck!?” Troy shouted in surprise. He shook his head to focus on the situation. “We need to get over there now!”

With no time to argue, Starlight and Troy headed toward the scene of the explosion where their worst fears were confirmed as they spotted the sinking, burning wreckage of a yacht with the words Hughes’ Mistake painted on it. It was the same yacht that Hughes was reported to be holding his fundraiser. It was where her friend was supposedly headed earlier.

“PAUL!” Starlight screamed in horror.

Troy quickly pulled out his phone and called for emergency crews to hurry to the scene. If there were survivors, they needed to be rescued as soon as possible. As they waited, Troy gave Starlight a look like a child who had accidentally killed the family pet. “...I’m sorry, It wasn’t supposed to be this way. This was supposed to be solved peacefully, not with Paul getting blown up.”

Starlight stared daggers at Troy. She knew that this wasn’t his fault but she was too upset to think clearly right now. “I will find out who did this and when I do, they are going to pay dearly.”

Troy had an idea who did this. When he spoke with him earlier, Julius seemed convinced that Paul would never quit so it was likely that the bomb was his doing. However, he also didn’t want Starlight to throw her future away on a quest for vengeance. Still, if she found out later it would be his ass on the line. In the least, he needed to give her something to placate her for now.

“Listen, I have an idea who’s behind this, but I don’t want you to throw your life away hunting them down. How about another deal? Go to college, get your degree and when you come back and you still want to find the guy who did this, the evidence will be in my office. The reason I’m saying this is because I want you to go into this with a clear head.”

Starlight already suspected who was behind this based on what Troy said. She also had to admit that he was right about her emotional state right now. She wouldn’t be able to think clearly with her emotions all over the place and her best plans were made when she was calm.

Begrudgingly, Starlight acquiesced to Troy’s pleas, “Fine, but mark my words, when I come back after college, his days are numbered.”

“I’ll forget you said that,” Troy remarked. “For now, please go home and be with your family. I’ll call you when we find Paul.”

Starlight obeyed and headed home where she quickly rushed to her mother’s embrace and began crying. When Johnny found out what happened, he was livid and ready to start a massacre. Starlight managed to stop him.

Starlight desperately hoped that her friend survived the explosion, but she also knew that she needed to continue moving forward for both of their sakes.

In the days that followed, news of what happened spread fast. Those who were closest to Paul reacted mixedly. Some wanted revenge, some wanted answers, some simply mourned and some headed to the bar to drown their sorrows.

One such person falling into the latter was at a bar knocking back a few shots. His colorful pants and shirtless state drew plenty of attention to him. Tobias may not have known Paul long but he would still drink to his memory anyway.

However, he soon found himself no longer sitting alone as a certain woman, who was once Starlight’s chemistry teacher, sat next to him. At first, Tobias didn’t care about what Laura said up until she mentioned Starlight. After that the two found common ground and started opening up to each other.

Of the strangest things to happen that day came when some idiot started a bar fight and angered Tobias. The brutality that came from his rage as he beat the man within an inch of his life usually frightened everyone around him away, but for Laura, she found herself aroused by this.

This was the start of a beautiful, but weird, relationship.

Author's Note

I want to make something completely clear. Just because something is thrown into this story from other universes doesn't mean that the story is going to fully cross over with that universe. In this case, even though Gotham's Falcone family is being thrown into this story does not mean that superheroes like Batman or supervillains like The Joker are going to exist in this story's universe. There will be none of that in this story...as far as I know from my co-author. Thank you for taking the time to look at this. :twilightsmile:

Making Friends

The few months after the destruction of Alderman Hughes’ yacht were hard on Starlight as her worry for Paul had led to several sleepless nights for her. It got to the point where Aisha had to use medicine to help her fall asleep. Johnny had offered to get some marijuana since that could help calm her down but Aisha quickly shot down that idea as she didn’t want to risk Starlight getting addicted to it, not to mention the fact that the substance was illegal.

A few days after the incident, the report came in and Troy personally called Starlight to let her know that Paul was still alive but he was in a comatose state so there was no telling when he would wake up. He also mentioned that Alderman Hughes and his guards had perished in the explosion which gave Starlight a small feeling of satisfaction as she didn’t want the politician to mess with her peaceful life.

With Richard Hughes dead, his wife, Monica, took over the campaign. However she still lost to Marshall Winslow as the public was still against the idea of displacing the population of the Row since it would mean homeless people would flood the city. Monica would later run for City Manager and win before helping Ultor establish themselves in Stilwater in order to fulfill her husband’s legacy; an action that she would quickly come to regret.

While Starlight was relieved to know that Paul was still alive and hopeful that he would wake up at some point, she was also saddened to learn that the Saints had fallen apart. With Julius having disappeared, Paul in a coma and Johnny having agreed to leave in accordance to his daughter’s wishes, there was none left to lead the Saints so the members left one by one until the church was abandoned and the thugs returned to their everyday lives.

Starlight resolved herself to continue moving forward with her life as she made her preparations to head to college, including acquiring the plane tickets to Pittsburgh as well as the books and other educational material that she would need for her college experience as well as considering what personal items she would need for her time there. She also made sure to read up on the school’s history and traditions as well to make sure she didn’t commit any unspoken faux pas.

Before she knew it, she was a week away from the start of her first semester of college. Her parents accompanied her to Wardill Airport. Aisha gave Starlight a long hug that came close to being awkward to show how much she was going to miss her. Johnny told her that if she ever got into trouble that he would mow down anyone and anything that got in his way of getting to her. Starlight made a note not to cause too much trouble since the last thing she needed was Johnny burning down half of Michigan getting to her, and she had a feeling that he actually would.

After bidding her parents goodbye she boarded her plane and flew to Pittsburgh. The flight was a few hours long so the attendant offered her a snack before she took a small nap.

Once the plane landed, Starlight claimed her luggage and headed over to the hotel she had booked for a few days before moving into the dorms. During that week, Starlight took in the sights of Pittsburgh and visited a couple of museums, buying souvenirs to send back to her parents.

When the week ended, Starlight had moved into the quality dorms since she could afford it thanks to the money she had acquired from her former enemies.

As she explored campus on the day before her classes started, she heard someone calling for her. The stranger in question had an average build with an inverted triangular face. He had brown hair and blue eyes and wore a pair of glasses.

The man quickly approached Starlight and gave her a quick glance. “Are you Starlight Gat?”

“Uh, yeah?” Starlight responded, uncertain of the man’s motives.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Alberto, Alberto Falcone. I could have identified you by your unique hair color but I couldn’t be certain since some people dye their hair purple all the time.”

“So you’re the one your father wanted me to meet?” Starlight asked.

Alberto nodded, “Yeah, my father wants me to make a good impression on you so that the Saints and the Roman Empire might forge a good relationship between our two families.”

“Unfortunately, the Saints fell apart shortly after they won the war.”

“I know, but my father believes that the Saints will return one day as long as their most important members are still around.”

“But what about you? Don’t you have your own dreams to chase instead of being a puppet for your father? Did you even want to attend Carnegie Mellon?”

Alberto’s eye twitched as she mentioned him being a puppet but he did his best to keep his composure. “Well, I originally intended to attend Harvard to impress my father, but he insisted I come here instead. He said that he originally intended to send my brother, Mario, to meet you but he noticed that I do good work tuning cars so he sent me instead, insisting that I get a degree in auto mechanics. Though to be honest, it feels sort of right to be pursuing this degree.”

Starlight hummed, “Well, if you want to pursue your auto mechanics degree because you want to, then all the power to you.”

Alberto smiled, “Thanks! So, what are you here for?”

“Computer science and robotics.”

“A double major, nice!”

“I suppose I should thank your father for saving me the tuition fees with that scholarship offer.”

“You would have probably gotten one whether it was from my father or not with the grades you had,” Alberto chuckled.

Starlight raised an eyebrow, “You looked up my grades?”

“More like my father took an interest in the person who led numerous daring attacks against three powerful organized gangs and brought them to their knees, alongside her partner, Paul Hanksaw. He wanted to know everything he could about you, who helped to elevate the Saints to becoming the dominant force in Stilwater…for a couple of days before some unforeseen circumstances caused everything to collapse.”

Starlight was silent for a few moments, thinking about Paul and his fate. It had been several months and Paul showed no sign of waking up anytime soon. She stowed those thoughts away in a box in her mind before returning her attention to Alberto. “Is Stilwater really that famous?”

Alberto scoffed as if Starlight had just asked if the sky was blue, “Of course it is, why do you think so many gangs move into that city. My father makes sure to keep an eye on places with strong underground markets. The Colombian Drug Cartel sought their claim to Stilwater’s drug market for crying out loud. The lax police force there makes the crime rate rival Gotham’s crime rate.”

“So why is your father still interested in me?” Starlight asked. “The Saints fell apart.”

“He’s interested in your connection with the Chinese Triad.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch considering that my connection was through a member who I worked under who had been retired for a long time now.”

“Well, regardless of my father, you certainly left an impression on me. We should hang out more,” Alberto offered.

Starlight shrugged, “Sure, I don’t mind.”

The school year began and time marched on. Starlight didn’t slack off on her schoolwork. She made sure to pay attention to her professors’ every word and took plenty of notes for her to study. Her hard work and dedication to pursuing her double major in robotics and computer science had earned her the top grades of her classes in her first year. Starlight and Alberto continued hanging out with each other as friends.

While the first year went without incident. When the second year began, Starlight soon found herself attracting trouble.

One day as she was heading back to her dorm after classes, she was accosted by a group of goths, given the black clothes and black makeup they had on. Strangely, their black clothes were also lined with blue neon lights. One among them was also wearing roller skates that also had a neon glow.

Starlight tried walking around the group as she didn’t want to cause them problems. However, the goths appeared to be looking for trouble as they continued getting in her way. “Where do you think you’re going, Gat?” the one with the skates asked mockingly.

“Back to my dorm,” Starlight answered. “What’s it to you?”

“Oh, we just came here to introduce ourselves and to put a certain big-headed little girl in her place. You think you’re a big shot because you took down a few street gangs? Puh-lease! All you did was take out a baby gang, a gang led by a man with no ambition and a bunch of Mexicans who were nothing without the cartel helping them.” The woman pounded her hand with her fist. “We’re not afraid to beat down privileged little princesses on campus and we have ways of making the lesson stick.”

This was not how Starlight was seeing her day going. Sure, she made sure to keep up her magic practice while she was alone, but she really didn’t want to reveal that to the goths before her. She also left most of her weapons back home in Stilwater with the exception of her katana which she couldn’t carry around as that would have been a good way to get thrown off campus.

Starlight kept a defensive stance to prepare herself for a brawl as the goths approached menacingly. Despite her lack of weapons she still had her self defense skills to fall back on.

However, that proved unnecessary as the woman with the skates suddenly felt a wave of air pressure by her left cheek as if an object just barely avoided scratching her face. The woman turned around to find a gold-colored knife sticking in the ground.

“Over there!” one of the woman’s cronies pointed out.

Looking in the indicated direction, they noticed a blonde woman with parts of her hair done up like a pair of antennae. She wore a white shirt with a black tie along with a black skirt and aqua jacket. Her boots matched her jacket. She also appeared to be wielding gold knives between her fingers like they were a set of claws. She also had an intense presence with a posture that underlied sadistic tendencies.

“Get lost, emo freaks!” The newcomer ordered.

“Looks like someone’s got a death wish if they’re bringing weapons in on this,” the goth woman said as she pulled out a pair of SMGs. “I’ll be happy to oblige!” She then paused as she realized something, “And we’re not emo, we’re goths!”

Before she could properly aim her weapons and while the others were drawing their weapons, several knives flew at them and nailed the weapons out of their hands. “Does it look like I care? You look emo so I’ll call you emo. Now, take a hike, Grace!” the blonde said while pulling out more knives. “The next ones will be much more painful.”

The goths growled before picking up their weapons and turning around to retreat. “Tch! I’ll remember this! Let’s get out of here.” The woman on skates, Grace, fled at speeds that didn’t seem possible on normal roller skates. She moved as if she was a speedster from a comic.

Looking away from the fleeing goths, Starlight turned her attention to the blonde. “Thanks for that, I was a bit concerned that I was about to do something that would get me in hot water with the school.”

“Don’t sweat it, not sure what you did to get on Grace’s radar, but you better watch her back around her. She’s part of some cyberterrorism group called The Deckers. She was probably testing out those prototype combat skates for her boss. WIthout them she’s just another bitch with a gun.”

“I see. Well, that aside, I’m Starlight Gat.”

“Gat? I think I heard about you. Weren’t you the one who racked up quite a kill count with a sword?”

“That’s me,” Starlight admitted.

“Wow, you’re pretty hardcore. I’m Elrena Xavier, but I also like to go by Larxene.”

“Larxene?” Starlight asked. “Wait, isn’t that your name anagrammed with the first letter of your last name thrown in?”

“You know, you’re actually the first person to figure that out. Impressive! You wanna hang out? There’s this bitchin’ nightclub downtown.”

Starlight smiled, “I’m in!”

By the time Starlight’s third year at Carnegie Mellon came around, she had another encounter with Grace who was accompanied by two more individuals. One was a bald man with a crimson overcoat and black pants. He also wore sunglasses with a red shade. Starlight had to wonder if he was trying to emulate a certain character from The Matrix. Grace introduced the man as Norman. The other man was a muscular Latino who wore a traditional luchador mask over his head with his gray hair in the style of a mohawk. Grace introduced him as El Jose.

Grace thought she had the upper hand this time since she had two of her allies with her. Even with Alberto and Larxene with her, Starlight didn’t like their chances if they ended up having to fight El Jose.

To their surprise, a muscular man came up to El Jose from behind and quickly grabbed his left arm, kicked both of his legs from behind to drop him on his knees, then bent his arm at a weird angle, all before the luchador had a chance to react.

The wrestler’s cries of pain got the attention of Grace and Norman. This gave Alberto the opportunity to wrap his arm around Norman’s neck and pull him to the ground in a stranglehold until he lost consciousness.

Before Grace could react, she found several knives pointed at her chin with Larxene inches from her face. “Just so you know, the only reason you’re not dead right now is because I would like to graduate. After that, we play for keeps.” Larxene gave Grace a wicked grin that promised untold suffering.

“You four think you’re a bunch of big shots? You’re nothing compared to the Syndicate. You have no idea what a real criminal empire is. Come to Steelport and we will show you just how insignificant you truly are,” Grace threatened.

Starlight sauntered over to Grace with a devious look on her face. “Maybe at some point. If fate finds us meeting each other again then we shall see. For now, I think it’s time for you three to make your final exit from this campus. My friends had their fun, now it’s my turn.”

The muscular man who attacked El Jose wasn’t sure what was happening but he had a feeling that something was about to happen so he let go of the luchador who began nursing his broken arm. As that happened, Starlight’s hands glowed and the heads of her three victims did the same. In seconds, the three had blank expressions on their faces as their pupils grew wide.

In the next few moments after Starlight issued a command to them, the three completely stripped themselves into their birthday suits and began running all over campus babbling like they were high on drugs. Campus police eventually came and apprehended the three but not before El Jose injured some of them.

The public display of nudity didn’t affect Starlight nearly as much as it used to. She was eighteen at this point, soon to be nineteen. It also helped that the internet had desensitized her somewhat.

“Did you plant the evidence?” Starlight asked.

“Yep, I left plenty of illegal substances in their rooms and spilled some to make it look like they took more than they should have,” Alberto replied.

“I dealt with the security cameras so Alberto wasn’t caught on film,” Larxene added.

“Good, that should make the rest of our college days go by smoothly.” Starlight nodded in satisfaction. She then turned her attention to other matters, “Now, let’s address the new guy.”

The muscular man pointed at himself questioningly to which Starlight nodded. Looking at him closer, the man had dark skin with spiky black hair. He wore a gray shirt that barely contained his rippling muscles as well as black pants. “What do you want from me?” he asked.

“First, I want to say that was an impressive display of strength you showed and I quite enjoyed how you savagely broke that guy’s arm.”

“He looked like a problem, so I fixed it.”

“I like the way you work. I’m Starlight Gat.”

“Samuel Ravenswood. Ironic to what you said, my friends gave me the nickname Savage, based on the fact that I can be brutal at times, but also because of my Aboriginal heritage. It hurt at first but my friends helped me to see how awesome the nickname was so I decided to own it.”

“Savage huh? I had one friend back home call me a savage nymph because of how I am,” Larxene said. “I actually had to look up what a nymph was before I decided whether or not to pound him. I decided against it since I saw how beautiful they were.”

Starlight, Alberto and Larxene got to know Samuel, or Savage as he liked to be called, and the four began to hang out more. Starlight was also forced to explain her magic and made them promise not to utter a word about it to anyone else.

With the troublesome factors of her college life taken care of, Starlight focused on her studies, keeping her spot at the top of her classes in the fields of computer science and robotics. The knowledge she had gained had given her some insight on how to improve Laserbeak and build a version of Ravage that Paul would jump for joy over once he woke up.

Alberto, Larxene and Savage each contributed their own knowledge into the improvements with Alberto coming up with weapons ideas, Larxene, who was pursuing a degree in electrical engineering, improved the circuit designs and optimized power generation, and Savage, who pursued a degree in mechanical engineering, ensured that both robots had as much freedom of movement as possible with their mechanical systems. Starlight made improvements to Laserbeak’s AI while developing Ravage’s AI.

By their senior year at Carnegie Mellon, Starlight was finally ready to begin performance testing the improved drones. “Okay Laserbeak, time to wake up and see your new body,” she said as she reactivated her drone.

Once activated, Laserbeak began observing its surroundings, seeing Starlight and three others that had been registered as friendlies in its database. It then ran a self diagnostic of its systems to find that its body had been completely overhauled with sophisticated parts and an outer casing with countless tiny fibrous threads made to simulate fuzz and feathers. From a distance, it was hard to tell whether or not it was a machine. Laserbeak chirped in approval.

“I’m glad you approve. Now, let’s test your transformation function.” On command, Laserbeak transformed into a music player with earbuds which had been incorporated in a small compartment in its systems. In its transformation, the fibers receded into itself so that its user didn’t need to feel the fuzzy texture. Though that didn’t mean that the fivers couldn’t deploy again to add texture to its form.

Starlight gave the music player a thorough examination using a handheld scanner while making a few micro adjustments for optimal performance. Once finished, she nodded in satisfaction. She then inserted one of her music CDs into the player and listened to one of the tracks through her earbuds. She smiled as she listened for a few seconds, “Excellent! High quality sound too.” She then looked at the readouts that she took with the scanner. “Molecular compensation system is working perfectly. Security system is still working. Looks like your new body is working perfectly. Next will be the weapon system.”

After performing the same scans for Ravage, who she had to program a temporary virtual intelligence until Paul woke up so she could register his profile, Starlight took both drones to a weapons testing facility on campus. When Starlight tested Laserbeak’s laser on a target, she was a little shocked when she saw that the target had been turned to ash. She made a note to reduce the power output for the weapons because she wanted the weapon to injure, not utterly annihilate. Testing Ravage’s weapons went just as well, given that it was made to be an assault model. Starlight noted to make sure not to tell Paul about its full arsenal until she was sure he could use Ravage responsibly.

Throughout her time in college, Starlight had occasionally called her mother to tell them how things were going while she received news about what was happening in Stilwater. It was drawing close to five years since Paul fell into a coma. Almost half of that time her father spent some time in prison because he found out that Troy betrayed the Saints and tried to attack him. Starlight could only groan at how much of a loveable idiot her father was sometimes.

While Troy kept Starlight up to date on Paul’s condition, he also informed her that he had to have him placed in a prison that was built offshore from the main city since the hospitals didn’t want to keep him on life support indefinitely. Starlight sighed as she realized that she may have to help him bust out if that was the case.

Other than that, what happened to Stilwater was just as Starlight had predicted, though hearing that Ultor had set up over where the Row used to be was not entirely expected. She suspected that the company found a way to worm its way into completing Richard Hughes’ plans without Marshall Winslow’s permission. There was also the fact that three more gangs had established themselves in Stilwater, leading to the city being as it was before the gang war.

The first gang was an offshoot of the Japanese Yakuza known as the Ronin. Their symbol was an Asian dragon in the clouds of a yellow background. From what Starlight knew, the Yakuza and the Triad had a bitter rivalry so it stood to reason that Mr. Wong was not happy about the Ronin’s presence in Stilwater. At all.

The second gang was a Haitian gang called the Sons of Samedi. From what Starlight heard, they were a Caribbean Drug Cartel who took over Stilwater’s drug market when the Colombians were forced to abandon their plans for the city. Their symbol was a green skull with white markings. Troy informed her that the leadership were followers of the Afro-Haitian religion of Voodoo. This told Starlight that she may have to brace herself to deal with dark magics when she faced them. After all, if she could use magic, why not others?

The third gang was composed of the displaced and abused dregs of the slums who had been displaced by Ultor, forming their own gang of brutes and bullies who take what they want and strongarm those who resist. They were known as The Brotherhood with the symbol of a dark red wolf. She heard that Lin and Donnie joined them to get info on them from Mr. Wong’s request.

Starlight couldn’t hide her concerns from the others who had completed their own projects. Alberto had suped up his car with a number of gadgets and weapons to create something that one would usually see in movies. Larxene had created a special pair of electrified gloves that discharged taser levels of electricity and modified her knives to carry the charge. She also added a magnetic feature that would allow her to retrieve her knives from a distance. Savage developed a small fusion cutter powered by a crystal that produced a short beam of plasma energy. It wasn’t like the lightsaber from the Star Wars franchise that he dreamed of making, but it was a step in the right direction.

“Something on your mind?” Larxene asked, noticing the look on Starlight’s face.

Starlight bitterly chuckled, “That obvious huh? My hometown has problems again. I warned Police Chief Troy that more gangs would take over the city once the Saints were gone and it happened. On the brighter side, Troy told me that he saw the occasional twitch from Paul’s body which I’m hoping means that he will wake up soon. I know this is a lot to ask, but can I ask for your help in reclaiming Stilwater?”

Alberto, Larxene and Savage looked at each other for a few moments before they grinned and shared a chuckle. Starlight looked at them in confusion. “About time you offered,” Alberto said. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to get away from my hometown. Too much rain.”

“Same here, I’d prefer to be away from the losers I know back home. They all whine about some kid who likes to key up their cars,” Larxene added. “I swear, they act like old grandpas.”

“I’d like to come as well,” Savage said. “You helped me to see that my dream is possible. One day I will build an actual lightsaber.”

“Thanks everyone,” Starlight said with gratitude. “When we graduate tomorrow, we’re heading for Stilwater. The first thing we need to do is make sure Paul escapes from the island prison then we need to break my daddy out of his predicament.”

“Your daddy’s Johnny Gat, right?” Alberto asked. Starlight nodded. “I heard that he racked up 434 murder charges.”

“47 and a half of those were because of some huge misunderstanding with a birthday clown on my fifth birthday. It’s a long story, but the paramedics said the clown would survive.”

Alberto nodded numbly and gulped, “What about the other 387?”

“A quarter of them were probably from the gang war. Another quarter were more people trying to kidnap me and the rest were from that one time he attended a rave that turned into a massacre when someone spiked the punch which got him really drunk. One survivor was a Latino guy who lost one of his legs. He didn't have the money for a prosthetic so it was replaced with a peg leg.”

“He’s definitely getting the death penalty for sure if we don’t help,” Savage said.

Starlight nodded grimly before she gave everyone a determined look. “Since we are all in agreement, let’s get ready. Alberto, have your dad prepare a plane for us to take to Stilwater. If necessary, let him know that I will see about helping his family make that connection with the Chinese Triad.”

Alberto nodded and made the call.

Starlight blankly stared in the direction she guessed was where Stilwater was and silently prayed for the safety of her friend and her father. “Hang on you two, I’m coming home.”

Author's Note

Because this story seems to be throwing in characters from other franchises, I'm throwing in the Random tag just to be safe.

Jailbreak

Graduation came and went for Starlight and her friends. The ceremony would have been one of her happiest moments if she wasn’t worried about what was going on back home the whole time.

Starlight was actually quite eager to get back home and take back what she had conquered once. She wasn’t about to let a bunch of opportunists steal what she had worked hard to obtain. If it weren’t for who she suspected blew up Paul, the Saints could have become a criminal empire by now.

Of course, she couldn’t blame just one person for the Saints falling apart. The entire leadership was a ticking time bomb for the gang. One was hopelessly egotistical to the point that it was a wonder that he didn’t try to usurp leadership, one was an undercover cop and the last was never fully committed to leading the Saints, content with getting rid of the other gangs before orchestrating the Saints’ downfall.

It annoyed her that her father used to be subordinated to Dex of all people. At least he was smart enough to not try to assert himself over her or things would have turned ugly really fast.

Her thoughts continued to drift to her home as she boarded Alberto’s plane. It wasn’t a large plane but she didn’t need a commercial airliner just for her friends. It had a single aisle with four seats in each row so Starlight, Larxene, Alberto and Savage could sit in the same row together.

The flight lasted several hours and the four were treated to a wide variety of beverages, courtesy of The Roman. Starlight decided on a cider which was light on the alcohol. Just because she was officially twenty-one didn’t mean she was going to be irresponsible. Alberto decided on a glass of champagne while Larxene and Savage decided on a couple of beers.

Once the plane landed around midnight, Starlight reactivated Laserbeak and had it retrieve her car. It took some time for the car to arrive since her house was on the other side of the city from the airport. While they waited, Starlight obtained a complementary map from an info desk. She and her friends gathered what info they could from the workers and anyone they could ask. They would need to know where the lines were drawn and which gang owned which neighborhoods.

After some time they found that most of southern Stilwater was owned by the Brotherhood. This included the Truck Yard, Chinatown, Apartments, Barrio, Docks, and Airport districts. The Sons of Samedi owned most of central Stilwater, with the exception of the Row. This included the Factories, most of the Red Light, Projects, Arena, some of the Expanded Suburbs and a new district that opened up recently known as the University District. The Ronin held nearly the entire northern island. This included the majority of the Suburbs, Downtown, High End Retail, Museum, Marina and some of the Red Light districts. The Row was owned by Ultor Corporation.

Starlight once considered attending Stilwater University which would have officially opened the year Paul fell into a coma, but their reputation and their low quality of educators would not have given her a good education.

Once the car arrived, Starlight drove herself and her friends throughout the city to see what had changed in five years. Other than the fact that Ultor had built a tower in the Row and turned the place into a tourist trap and the new university, there were also a couple of smaller islands to the west of the main city that were part of Stilwater. One island was a prison complex which seemed like a smaller version of Alcatraz and the other was where a nuclear power plant was built to power the city.

Once the group obtained enough information, Starlight gave her mother a call to let her know that they had arrived in Stilwater. Aisha, in turn, informed her that her father’s last appeal hearing would start in a few hours at the Stilwater Courthouse. Starlight and Aisha were certain that Johnny would receive the death penalty.

“Don’t worry mom, we’ll get him out,” Starlight assured.

As her call ended, Starlight’s phone rang again. This call came from Troy’s personal number. It was about time for him to update her on Paul’s condition. “Yeah?” she answered.

There was a pause in Troy’s voice, as if what he was about to say would change Stilwater forever. Finally, with a sigh, he spoke. “I just heard from the doctors at the prison. He’s waking up.”

The shock and elation from the news made Starlight fumble gracelessly with her phone for a few moments which Larxene responded with a snort of amusement. Starlight ignored her and continued her call. “You’re not shitting me, right?”

“I swear it’s what they told me,” Troy replied.

“Fine, you do remember your promise right?”

“Yeah, I won’t stop you from reforming the Saints. Though you better hurry if you plan on rescuing him. Johnny’s going on trial soon. Just try to minimize collateral damage when you’re taking on these gangs.”

“I can’t promise that, especially if clients are out there requesting the Saints to do property damage.”

Troy sighed, “Yeah, I figured that would be the case. City’s gotten weird in the past few years. Some people are actually imitating some of the things you and Paul used to do. There’s also this new television series called FUZZ where people go around dressed as one of us and take police brutality to a whole new level while dealing with the imitators. The producers film around the city and will probably ask you and Paul to star in a few episodes.”

“That seems more like Paul’s thing but I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I know you’re planning on raiding the prison. All I can ask is for you to avoid killing the guards as much as you can. I know they will get in your way but they’re still good people.”

Once the call ended, Starlight turned to her friends, “Change of plans, we need to get a boat to the prison ASAP.”

“I’m on it,” Alberto replied. He then used his phone’s GPS to locate a suitable place where they could find a boat. As it turned out there was a small dock in the University district and there appeared to be a police boat moored there.

By the time they hijacked the boat and took it to the penitentiary, it was 2:30 in the morning. Starlight figured that a stealthy approach would be a wise idea since they didn’t want to get swarmed by the guards so they managed to avoid the lights. It irritated Larxene that they had to be sneaky since she usually preferred flashy approaches, but she also saw the merit in stealth in this case. Alberto stayed behind to tune up the boat.

Once inside the prison, Starlight cast an invisibility spell on herself and the others. She could have done so sooner but she wanted to conserve her magic and the spell didn’t last long.

As they explored the interior trying to find out where the guards were holding Paul, they overheard two guards talking about someone finally waking up after years of breathing through a tube. They followed the guards while listening to the banter about one’s wife cheating on him with an Ultor executive while his daughter was listening to Aisha albums all day.

Starlight’s group followed the guards into a medical ward where the doctor quipped that the patient was doing pretty good for being caught in a massive explosion. Starlight had to move out of the way as a nurse carried another prisoner on a stretcher. The nurse explained that the prisoner was shanked before placing him on a bed next to where Paul supposedly was.

The doctor then took the bandages off Paul’s face and checked to see its condition. “Yes, that looks like it healed nicely,” the doctor commented.

“Ugh…Why do I feel like a tank blew me up?” Paul wondered groggily.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, you’ll be wishing you didn’t soon enough,” one guard said.

“You got anything you wanna say to the judge you better start thinkin' of it now…” the other guard warned.

With that, the guards and the doctor left Paul with the former two returning to their duties. The doctor moved over to another station out of earshot from Paul.

Before Starlight could move to greet Paul, the prisoner beside him greeted him first. “Psst! Hey! Is it really you?” the prisoner whispered.

“Who the fuck are you?” Paul asked.

“Name's Carlos, I'm here to bust you out.”

“Do you have any better reason for me to trust you than just giving me your name?”

“My brother was in the Saints, Michael. You knew him?”

“Kid, unless they were Starlight or the Saints leadership, picking your brother out from the others would be like playing Where's Waldo except Waldo's wearing purple. So unless you have something better, you could be another asshole trying to send me to Hell.”

“Look, I got stabbed to get myself in here to talk to you. Doesn’t it show I’m loyal?”

“It shows that you’re dumb enough to let yourself get stabbed,” Paul shot back.

“I’m trying to help you! You need my help.”

“Fuck that, I’ve got Starlight and the Saints,”

“Sure you do…” Carlos sarcastically replied.

“The fuck that’s supposed to mean?”

“Long story short, the Saints disbanded and no one knows where Starlight is.”

“I’m right here,” Starlight declared as she dropped her spell.

“What the fuck!” Carlos shouted. Paul also jumped in shock but gave a more subdued response.

However, Carlos’ outburst had also alerted the nearby doctor who spotted Starlight and her friends. “How did you get I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I…” the doctor cried as an electrified knife struck him and tasered him unconscious.

Larxene recalled her knife with her glove before turning to the others. “I’m pretty sure we’re on a tight schedule now so let’s save the recap for when we aren’t risking hundreds of guards coming down on us.”

Paul stared at Larxene for a moment before looking at Starlight, “First, glad to see you again. Second, is she with you?”

“It’s been a long time and yes,” Starlight replied. “Now get your ass out of bed, we need to move.”

Nodding, Paul struggled with a surprising amount of effort to get up and put his feet on the floor. “What the hell!?” he wondered. Unfortunately, when he got off the bed he collapsed on the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. He found that moving his muscles was proving to be a challenge as he quickly became exhausted. “What’s wrong with my body?”

Starlight groaned, “I should have known this would happen. I’ll need to use a great deal of my magic to regenerate your muscles. For as long as you’ve been out, they’ve atrophied pretty badly.”

“Fuck, how long have I been out?” Paul asked.

“Five years,” Carlos said.

“Tick tock people…” Larxene reminded them.

“You two clear the way for us,” Starlight ordered Larxene and Savage. “I need to concentrate my magic to regenerate Paul’s muscles since we don’t have the time for months of physical therapy to get him back into shape. Carlos, help me carry him.”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Carlos obeyed.

“I could always zap his muscles back into shape,” Larxene offered. “I’ve heard that electricity can help stimulate the muscles.”

“You can do that when we’re safe,” Starlight smirked.

“Hang on, don’t I get a say in this?” Paul complained.

“Your complaint has been heard,” Starlight replied. “Please wait five to seven weeks for a proper response during which time Larxene will determine whether or not she gives a fuck.”

“Which will be a definite ‘no’,” Larxene added.

Paul groaned while Larxene snickered.

As they exited the medical ward, they noticed some guards in the next room. The guards reacted quickly and sounded the alarm just as Larxene zapped them unconscious. Starlight ordered Carlos to collect their weapons which he complied. Since Starlight was busy working on Paul’s muscles she couldn’t fight as she usually did so she and Carlos both took a pistol.

Since there were no other guards around at the moment, Paul decided to ask some questions while they were carrying him. “I see you have some new muscle. Where did you find these two?”

“They’re my old college buddies. They wanted a piece of the action in Stilwater so I obliged,” Starlight replied.

“Wait, you went to college? How did you manage to get a college education so fast?”

“It wasn’t fast, I actually spent nearly five years getting my degrees.”

“Wait, Carlos wasn’t joking when he said it’s been five years!?” Paul exclaimed.

“Oh sure, believe it from Starlight and not from the guy who’s been nothing but honest with you…” Carlos grumbled.

“Them’s the breaks, kid,” Larxene snarked.

“The guards are probably gathering up to stop us,” Savage warned. “We need a distraction.”

“Laserbeak, you’re up,” Starlight ordered. The drone then hacked into the security mainframe of the prison and unlocked all of the cell doors in the prison, leading to a lot of shouting from freed prisoners all over the complex ready to beat up their jailors.

The group managed to get out of the building only to witness the prisoners and guards fighting one another. The area was dense with rioters and guards who were blocking their way to the docks. The bright side to all of this was that none of the rioters or guards had noticed them as they suspected that some of the prisoners were former thugs from the old gangs.

“So how are you planning on getting us past that, Star?” Paul asked.

“I believe it’s time for Savage to do his thing.” With a nod from Starlight, Savage barreled his way through the crowd like a certain unstoppable mutant from X-Men. The prisoners and guards were bowled over and thrown aside leaving the group to cross the courtyard and pass through the metal gate to the docks.

“Whatever he’s eating, I want some too,” Paul quipped.

Thankfully the police were so preoccupied with the escapees that there were few guards after them so Carlos took the wheel of a nearby abandoned prison bus and drove them over to where their escape boat was.

Once they boarded the boat, Starlight placed Paul on his back so she could fully concentrate on regenerating Paul’s muscles while she had Savage man the mounted light machine gun on the back of the boat in case they had pursuers. Alberto, who had tuned the boat for speed, gunned the boat and headed for Stilwater. The boat ride was a bit rough because of the choppy waters and the fact that they were moving faster than a jet ski which caused Larxene to hang on to something for dear life. Thankfully, nobody appeared to pursue them.

By the time they reached the city, Starlight wiped the sweat off her forehead as she had done what she could for Paul’s muscles. He wasn’t back to full strength but it was enough for him to move freely again as well as fight. Beyond that, Paul would have to make sure he got plenty of exercise to regain his stamina and strength.

With his job done, Carlos left the group as he had his own agenda to pursue for the time being, such as dealing with his deadbeat friend, Ramon. He tossed his gun to Paul who managed to catch it, showing that Starlight’s treatment worked.

“I gotta say, you made some amazing friends, Starlight,” Paul complimented. His expression then became a little more somber. “Was Carlos right about the Saints disbanding too?”

Starlight nodded with a sad look on her face. “It’s true, though with who was leading us, it was bound to happen. Julius wasn’t interested in continuing after we defeated the Rollerz, Vice Kings and Carnales, Troy was an undercover cop and Dex…well, the less about him the better.”

“So what else happened while I was out?” Paul asked. Starlight then gave him the summary about what happened to Stilwater over the five years he had been out, including the new gangs, Ultor taking over the Row and the city experiencing a few additions.

“So, are we heading to the courthouse to save your daddy or what?” Larxene asked.

“I was getting to that…” Starlight shot back with a glare.

“Something happen to Johnny?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, his trial is starting soon so we need to head over to the courthouse. You ready to get back into the swing of things?”

Paul cocked his gun, “Let’s get this shit started!”

Author's Note

Fun Fact: Using your muscles after 5 years of not using them is not fun.