Starlight Saint

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.”