Disclaimer - This crazy bunch belongs to Deep Silver and Volition! I don't think they would be happy with anyone else at the reins.
Spoilers for SRIV are going to be all over this. Just a warning if you didn't pick it up from the summary! I joked about taking a stab at the possible scenarios that could happen over at Tumblr, but didn't think I'd take one myself. Or that it would turn more serious than fun. Apologies if anything's a bit spotty!
Part 1
Time travel was the shit.
Nothing was too far, nothing was too obscure, and if they could think of it, the machine could take them as close to it as possible. Raptor attacks and Easter Island heads topped the experience off, especially when half of the heads turned into monuments to Saints Flow.
Sure there were 'concerns' about the changes made to timelines and all that pseudoscience crap, but what they found was that the timeline they didn't alter could be accessed as easily as the one that they had. Matt had fallen out of his chair when this was confirmed, and to celebrate the boss took a bag of fireworks to shoot off of the Great Pyramid.
They also might've blown up Easter Island by accident, but that timeline was kind of fucked anyway.
Once the initial shine had worn off they got to thinking about things that might need changing. It was inevitable. You give someone a device that can let you change damn near anything, they're going to eventually come up with an event that could've gone differently.
Shaundi laughed at the idea of changing things, but the question was left in her eyes. What to change?How to change it? Pierce had the same look, and the two traded ideas while playing pool with Asha. Pierce's idea to become the King and then his own impersonator earned an eyeroll from the agent, but he didn't let it sway him. There was another Saints Flow monument to make, and the music industry to influence.
The boss wanted to headbutt a lot of dictators in the face. Asha had a counter to that idea as well, asking her if she had forgotten what her new empire classified her as. Details, details, she said, dismissing it quickly, but the glowing armada still remained. And the courtesy hit she let Asha take later stung like hell.
Zinyak's technology gave them too many options and too much hope. Kinzie had fun with the device, but steered clear of it once Pierce brought up the initial idea. Any suggestions to clone Oleg were met with a punch to the face, and the boss took three before she finally decided to drop it.
By the end of the week, however, both Oleg and Birk had rejoined their crew, and another set of possibilities opened up before them. Cloning didn't have to be the answer. A simple trip to pick up a lost friend would do. Kinzie and Matt had argued the benefits and downsides for hours once the job was done, leaving King to translate their furious gibberish into even more furious English.
His own thoughts followed shortly after. "The past is the past," he said, confident as always, but unsure of what exactly they were all getting into. "It's okay to dwell on it for a time, but move on. That's what we're meant to do."
But what can you do when a portal to the past is staring you down? Begging you to give it a shot, just this once? For all his hesitation, not even Benjamin "motherfucking" King was able to suppress the twinkle in his eye that appeared whenever time travel came up.
You can leave the past as the past, but a trip every now and then was far too tempting to pass up.
Johnny had to agree.
"...cutting out the middleman. There are big plans for this place, and for them to continue you and your Saints must be dealt with accordingly. It is unfortunate that-"
"Right, right. Salt the Earth, cut the fat, get back to business, all that evil villain shit. Before you continue, I've got one big question for you. Do you have any chicken bazooms on this little pleasure cruise?"
Hughes scrunched his eyebrows together. "Bazooms?"
"No?" V let out a heavy sigh and let her hand creep towards the gun hidden in her hoodie. "Then we're done talking. There's a Freckle Bitch's with my name on it, and I'd like to hit it before I turn thirty."
Hughes' chuckle was cut short by the sound of shouts. He stared past V and she whipped around in time for a large figure to barrel into her, sending them both tumbling over the boat's railing. She barely had time to scream before she hit the water, thrashing against whatever grip the other person held on her.
They held tight, however, dragging them up for air just as gunfire broke out. "The fuck?" she choked out, still too disoriented to grab her knife or gun.
"It's a trap. Just get out of the water before they figure things out." the man said, half supporting her as they swam awkwardly away from the shitstorm unfolding behind them.
Trap, eh? She could break away from him and try to duck out of sight, but too many guns were aimed at them right now, and her focus was still jarred from the sudden impact. She had no choice but to go with the flow for now and then quiz the shit out of him later.
He hit the edge first and yanked her up onto the platform, shooing her in front of him as they ran for cover. Some of Hughes' crew spotted them, shooting wildly at their retreating figures, but the minute they ducked down an alley, the man with her pulled out a small remote, smacked it a couple of times and hit a button.
She barely had time to look over his Stilwater hoodie before a large explosion tore through the air, causing her to press her back against the brick wall for support. Her ears rang, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the road where she could see hints of the glowing flames.
The man next to her moved, large sunglasses obscuring his eyes, and slapped something wet onto her head. V's hands flew up, expecting anything. It was her hat.
She gaped at the man standing in front of her and he cracked a grin. "I think we should get out of here."
With no voice to speak of at the moment, she could only give him a nod.
They piled into the nearest car, some rusty Go!, and her odd partner-in-crime hotwired it in no time, whistling when the car came to life. "Fuck yeah. Now to get to a place with some decent fucking food."
The engine revved and she pulled the seatbelt down to buckle in, missing it a few times before fastening it. "What's your deal?"
He flicked the radio on and checked the mirrors for anyone following them. "My deal? I think by now it'd be pretty obvious."
A taxi tried to cut them off and he sped ahead, ignoring them as he straddled the line between their lane and the other. V gripped the seat and kept her eyes on the road. "Enlighten me."
"Do I really need to spell that out to you?"
Her hair felt ready to stand on end. "Yeah, I think you do, because saving my ass is one thing, saving my ass from an ambush is another. Especially when it's followed by a goddamn boat explosion!"
"If it makes you feel any better, you were supposed to be caught in it." he said, turning the large dark lenses of his sunglasses over to her briefly.
No, it doesn't. "And how would you know that?"
"Because I'm a fucking mind reader, that's why."
"Pull over."
He looked right at her this time, taking in her sharp scowl. The fact that she looked like a drowned cat probably didn't do her any favors, but he seemed to get the message. "Sure thing, boss."
They screeched to a halt on part of the sidewalk, causing the car behind them to careen into the other lane. There was plenty of light here, so she had no trouble looking at him. "Johnny, this isn't funny."
"I was wondering why you weren't smiling." He grinned, but there was still something off about him. Something unfamiliar. "You want the easy answer, or the whole one?"
"The whole one!"
"Julius wanted to light you up like the fourth of July, so I crashed the party. Would've brought the welcome wagon with me, but Miller kept on whining about unnecessary strain to the portal. Big fucking deal."
Miller? Portal? Julius? "What?"
"Time travel's a bitch like that."
She stared at Gat for a good minute before opening the door to their car. She took three steps and hit the pavement.