It all started when the Saints came to town, and began mucking everything up. He hadn't done much research into the new gang until he had frozen their assets for Loren, and once he had watched their leader punch the glass on the ATM he was intrigued. He made her helpless, and yet she was still strong. It was very interesting. He began the research immediately. Looking into the gang, and following their growth through Stilwater. The bond that their leader and Johnny Gat possessed, the same Johnny Gat that was murdered by Loren, was incredibly strong. From what he could uncover they were the only original Saints left, or he was. That's when he began to worry.
The woman that lead the new gang seemed unstoppable, and frankly terrifying. He knew he would be untouchable from behind his computer, but he still had an inkling that perhaps that wasn't going to be the case with the boss.
He had a sense that he would be locked in the trunk of a car, and left there to die a gruesome death, or given a tattoo with nuclear waste. Luckily he had his safe space, a place where he was comfortable watching the leader of the Saints from afar.
He began to realise exactly what was going to happen, and what that meant for him and the syndicate. They were going to win. He hoped it wasn't the case, but the evidence was stacked against them.
"The Saints aren't going to back down." He spoke to Killbane, hoping that someone would see reason. Unfortunately that wasn't the case at all. He paced uncomfortably while Killbane just flexed his muscles and told Matt to relax.
"Matty, there's nothing to worry about."
"My thoughts exactly Mr. Killbane." Loren said entering the room. "The Saints are no more than a white noise of empty threats." Matt knew that wasn't true, he'd seen how full their threats were. His phone started buzzing in his pocked, and he pulled it out.
"With respect, sir." Matt simpered, sliding the phone across the table to Loren. "I'd say empty is no longer applicable." He had gained a little more courage as the video showed the Saint's boss putting a bullet in the head of a Syndicate member, and proceeding to shoot out the camera.
"Matty it's not a big issue, we'll crush the Saints before the week is out." Killbane promised while
admiring his build.
The meeting was dismissed, and Matt's worries were ignored. The Morning Star had no idea what they were dealing with. They grossly underestimated the enemy, and that would be their downfall. He didn't know whether to wait it out, or switch sides, or get out of town.
He chose to not make any drastic decisions, and instead immersed himself in his pixelated kingdom. On one screen anyway, the others displayed various video footage of the saints, and live feeds from all over Stilwater.
Somehow they had managed to take a fairly large bomb from a military compound, despite having their assets frozen. They broke in and slaughtered trained soldiers with ease before stealing an explosive. They were out for blood. The Saints were going to paint the streets red.
Matt began focusing less on his virtual reality, and more on the video feeds of the Saint's boss. He still didn't know her name, and he figured he may never find out, but it was something he wanted to know. He watched carefully as she ran at an armed guard and somehow avoided all the bullets fired at her. She managed to grab him and snap his neck after using him to absorb bullets.
His attention was drawn to another video of her walking into the Morning Star tower, and it was currently happening. He quickly debated whether or not he would text Loren a warning, though he assumed the man already knew. The Saints weren't exactly subtle. Matt made the decision that an eye for an eye was only fair, Loren killed Johnny Gat, now he needed to die. Then maybe the Saints would leave the rest of them alone. He hoped.
Matt followed her journey through the building closely, watching her mutilate countless nameless men and women not once faltering. Once she found Loren he was on an express elevator down to the basement, and Matt didn't know why he felt that Loren didn't deserve to get away.
He hacked into the buildings security and stopped the elevator as he watched the Saint's boss shoot a chandelier to take the quick way down. It defied all logic, and somehow he knew she could do it. He turned the elevator back on when he knew she would be able to destroy Loren, and he watched.
The boss shot Loren in the knee then proceeded to beat the living crap out of him. She stomped on his head until it was mush, then ran like hell out of the building. The entire thing exploded, and he knew why they had taken the bomb.
~~
The Saints had been quiet the last couple of days, likely preparing for Mr. Gat's funeral. Matt often watched the video camera footage from the penthouse when he could, like whenever the boss takes a ride down to the lobby. In those moments she is truly alone and he can see her pain. The pain of losing someone close to her. It's the only time she lets it show.
He's not sure why he cares, but he didn't want to see her suffer. He never really had any friends to lose, but he still knew a fraction of her pain.
On the last elevator ride before Johnny's funeral he watched her completely break down, the only way she knew how. She beat the living hell out of the elevator. There were fist dents in the steel doors and her knuckles were bruised and bloodied.
He felt as though he was invading her private moment, so he turned his computer off, and walked over to the television. Nyte Blayde was on, so he took a break from life and focused on his favourite fictional character.
~~
15 minutes into the episode, and an emergency news broadcast cut off his show. The memorial bridge had been blown up. He felt his heart race, and he climbed off the couch and raced to his computer. He needed to know exactly what had happened, he knew the news was paid for by the Syndicate, and he needed to know exactly who was responsible.
He hacked his way into the city traffic cameras and watched Killbane destroy the bridge and he saw that no car had made it to the other side. He felt himself getting hot and he couldn't figure out why. It was relief he was feeling, because relief didn't make one feel sick. He searched through live feeds around the city looking for any sign of the Saints. His last effort was at the penthouse elevator which he feared would be empty.
To his dismay it was empty, so he laid his head down on his desk. There was a strange hole inside his chest, and his stomach was churning.
He didn't know how long he had been sitting with his face on his keyboard, but his phone buzzed and he was brought out of his own mind. Killbane had texted him, requesting a meeting. Matt figured since Loren died they needed to discuss his predecessors. Matt rubbed his eyes, and looked up at the screen. There she was in the elevator with her crew.
The feeling that hit him was relief, though he wasn't sure why he was feeling this way. She would without a doubt destroy him when she had the chance, but he was relieved she was alright.
Matt tidied himself up, reapplied his makeup, and made his way to the meeting with Killbane.
~~
"Well, ladies and gentleman, Phillipe is dead, and we are at a crossroads; and the question is, who will lead the Syndicate to a new era?" Killbane asked.
"Viola and Kiki are still Loren's right hands." Matt replied. He had no time to react before Killbane grabbed a chair and hit him with it. It threw him on the ground, and he could feel every one of his nerve endings on fire. His vision blurred and the world went black.
"I had someone else in mind." Killbane spoke, straightening his tie.
"Excuse me?" Viola asked.
He could hear Killbane yelling something about generals, but it didn't really matter. Matt's body was shutting down, and he couldn't stop it.
~~
When he woke up he was alone. Everyone had left the meeting, except himself. They had just left him on the cold ground, he probably had a concussion, or skull fracture. His whole body ached, and it took him a good while to muster up the courage to stand.
He grabbed his phone and was tempted to call for someone to pick him up, but what would his gang think if they saw him like this. His authority would be questioned. So he toughed it out. Or he was going to, but someone came in the room with a wet cloth.
"Viola?" He asked, not sure if he was seeing the right twin.
"You're awake, good." Was all she said. He looked at the cloth, and wondered what she was going to do with it. Perhaps water board him.
"I'm sorry." Matt said quickly before she could do more damage. He put his hands up to protect himself and backed away from Viola.
"Matt there is nothing to be sorry about. You were right, but Killbane is beyond being reasoned with." She walks towards him, and he started backing away again. She scoffed, and grabbed his wrist roughly, and yanked him forward. He yelped, and felt something cool on his head.
He looked up at her, and was surprised. She was wiping off his head, he didn't even know he was bleeding until he saw it come off on the cloth. She dabbed gently on the wound and he wondered where the act of kindness had come from.
"Killbane was out of line, and him and Kiki were just willing to leave you here. I couldn't do that. You are as much a part of the team as the rest of us. I needed to make sure you were alright." To those comments put a smile on Matt's face.
She helped him out and drove him home, and helped him inside. When she looked at the screens she turned on Matt immediately.
"What is all of this?" She asked glaring at him. All the kindness from earlier disappeared and turned to vemon.
"I can explain!" Matt said, she was advancing on him, and he couldn't move.
"How long have you been watching them? Did you know when they were attacking Loren?" She asked looking around. "You've been able to see where they are at all moments, and failed to let us know. We could have stopped them!"
She slapped him in the face, and stormed out of the room. He was alone again with a sharp pain in his cheek. He looked down at his feet, and began to panic. What if Viola told Killbane what she had seen, he would do a lot more damage than he did with the chair.
~~
A couple of days past, and Matt still didn't know what Viola had told Kilbane, if anything. Another meeting was called, only this time they were to meet in Matt's sacred place. His office of sorts, and when the hulking Killbane walked in he began to panic. Of course they would kill him here, it made perfect sense. Lure him into a false sense of security, then boom, he's dead.
Once Viola and Kiki walked in Killbane turned to them and shouted. "Hooker assassins?!"
"They came highly recommended." Viola defended. Matt wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about, he had been too focused on his own imminent demise to keep a close eye on everyone's business. He knew the Saints pretty well, and hearing that they had made another attempt on getting rid of them Matt chimed in.
"Ladies, it was a pretty shit plan."
"Tell me something Matt," Kiki began, and he thought she was going to out him. "Did you have a plan? How about you Eddie." She pronounced every syllable of his name to get under his skin. Killbane made a growling sound as Kiki continued. "There's a reason Phillipe left the thinking to us. We're done here." She said turning her back to Kilbane. He reached out, grabbing her by the neck and immediately proceeded to snap it.
Matt's spine ached at the ugly sound Kiki's neck made, and he started to panic. "Killbane!" He stood and backed away from the psychopath in front of him. His hands went to his head, and he couldn't stop staring at Kiki's lifeless body.
"Relax, we only need one of them." Killbane said, as Viola approached her sister's dead body. She was on her knees half lifting Kiki's corpse, and Matt finally turned away. He couldn't stand the sight.
Kilbane was focused on giving Viola a speech trying to justify what he did to her. That she could be prosperous. Matt turned to look again, and Viola's eyes were on him. They were brimming with tears, and she seemed to blame him. His hands were on his mouth now, trying to hold back the nausea that brewed inside him. Nothing good was going to come from this, and he knew it.
She spent hours like that. Long after Kilbane had left, she was still on the ground, holding her sister's corpse close to her. He couldn't stay in the room long, but he'd stop in time to time to ask if she needed anything, and he was always ignored. It was uncomfortable, and he wasn't sure what to do anymore. Killbane had no morality, he just killed someone on his own team, and constantly acted on anger alone.
Blowing up the bridge at the funeral was a low blow, and another shit plan. Killing Kiki was his worst move yet. The next time he checked on Viola her eyes were filled with determination.
"You know a lot about the Saints." She began. "I need you to give me their number."
And so he did. It was the least he could do. Viola left Kiki's body, and told him not to touch it. And so he didn't.
He was trapped in a room with the corpse of his co-worker. He could have left the room, but he couldn't. It was finally real, everything he had done had been from behind his keyboard, but now it was real. It had followed him home, and it was terrifying. If the saints didn't kill him, Killbane certainly would.
~~