Starlight Saint

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.