The casino deal succeeded: And with that, The Saints were back. The Poseidon Casino was robbed; the money taken to Aisha's place for safety. That mistake would have sad consequences in the future for Johnny Gat, as the Ronin were, of course, not happy about it. Their cash was stolen and now they were diminished in the eyes of their Big Boss Akuji, Shogo's father.
On the Saints' side, however, this easy money cheered the crew and reinforced their confidence.
Even better, The Saints also got their 15 minutes of fame on the daily news, it was the first time Stilwater heard of them on TV in years.
So much noise got the attention of the most of ambitious son of a bitch you'll probably ever meet, highly placed in the Ultor Company: Dane Vogel.
He had more than one reason to care. First, Ultor had business with the Ronin. The fact they were so easily attacked showed just how much Shogo couldn't take care of business when his father wasn't around. Just like in stock market, you need to get out before they go down. Now the Saints market value just went from zero to high in the space of a few days. Dane decided to jump, and take this new opportunity to his profit.
Not much could be done officially, but since big companies can afford to muffle everything with the right amount of cash and influence, all it took was one call to the chief of police.
Troy was pissed about it, useless to say. The last thing he wanted was to go near the Saints again. So he picked someone else for the job…
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'Wait, aren't we supposed to be concerned about arresting these people? I came here to fight criminals, not make friends with them?'
'Its not all bad, Max.' Troy tried to make it sound better than it actually was. 'It will help us taking The Ronin down.'
'And who will take The Saints down?'
Troy found nothing to counter that, and replied with a tired sigh:
'We're out of staff, money and organization. We're in no position of being picky.'
'Oh, is that so? You don't seem too thrilled about the idea either buddy.'
'Look, I am going to be honest with you. I hate to lower my pants and bend every time one of those yuppie motherfuckers want something done from us. But you have no idea the amount of pressure Ultor is putting on me for this. Without their support the PD can't survive in this city.'
Max heard this one before, many times. He understood it was useless to argue, Ultor wouldn't leave them alone. And Troy probably couldn't find anyone else for the job, if he dared to ask him this. He respected him, and decided to accept it, thinking he kind of had a natural telent to attract shit more than anyone else in the planet.
'So what do we have to do?'
'The Ronin are holding a porn ring at Ultor's Science museum. They need to stop the activity there.'
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First impressions on The Brotherhood:
It was a disaster. Not only the cops interrupted their meeting with Maero, the tattoo freak son of a bitch had the nerve make an insult, instead of an offer concerning the Saints and The Brotherhood siding up.
To top that, The Boss bumped into Donnie. He was the coward bastard who run away when she and Lin, one of her best friends at the time, were about to be pushed into the canal inside the trunk of Lin's car.
On Carlos side it wasn't great either, not only his first attempt as a Lieutenant failed, he also had the displeasure of meeting Maero's girlfriend, Jessica. She was quick put him back at the place where she thought he belonged, comparing him to a house cleaner.
They left the factories district, pissed, The Boss driving while Carlos was explaining to her hotly:
'I swear Boss, I've delivered Pizzas before, but I never, ever, cleaned up someone's house in my life!'
'Huh, ok.' She replied as she raised an eyebrow unsurely, not knowing what to do with that. Her mind was on more urgent matters to be honest.
He checked himself in the front mirror and turned his face from side to side.
'Do you think it's my cap?' He removed the purple knit hat briefly and The Boss got a glimpse of his hair. Weird hair cut... Yeah, now she kind of understood why he kept that thing on his head all the time.
She sighed and tilted her head backward, taking the cap off his hands and throwing it back on his lap, slightly losing her temper. He was supposed to think as a Lieutenant and be focused on how they were going to get back at those assholes, like she was now. He didn't get it... They just declared war on each other and all he retained from that conversation was a random insult from Maero's racist bitch. Something had to be done about his lack of confidence, it was getting him nowhere fast.
'Will you let it go? They're fucking neo nazi, skinheads, I dunno, whatever shit you want to name them. She is a fucking racist, didn't you get that?'
'Still... She didn't say anything about you.'
'Of course she didn't Carlos because I'm not all sweet like you, looking for acceptance all the time and I don't enter their turf showing how much I'm impressed by the guy's godamn trucks'
She almost said it out loud in the intent of making him mind his attitude but thought it to be too brutal, and decided to take the friendly road, replying indulgently:
'No but Maero did. And do you think I was never discriminated because of my origins? Of course I was. Some people are like this. What can I say? If you can't shoot them, just ignore them... Relax... We'll think of something.'
This remark made him feel a bit better, like this wasn't an exclusive thing related to him been lame or something, like he most often tended to think.
He looked at her, more assured, and nodded.
'You don't look like a house cleaner, chill.'
She shook her head, thinking that someday soon she should start been blunt with him when needed, or he would never learn to pull this job right, use his potential. One look towards his now relaxed and innocent face, drumming his fingers on the cars' to the song on the radio made her change her mind and chuckle in afectuous forfeit. 'Not today anyway'.
He was often so quiet, only his smart mouth made a quick appearance from time to time. Always in the background, trying his best to go unnoticed. Sometimes you would just forget about him. But he was always present when needed, with an useful solution, or solid support.
She remembered what happened a while ago, when they were been chased and lost trying to escape the caverns.
He fought their opponents with the same efficiency and tenacity she witnessed when they were escaping the island.
Even when he was surrounded.
One security guard grabbed his neck, a second would probably shoot him.
She aimed too and was about to take out the aggressor, but he was quicker to counter that, smashing his knee with his foot, then pounding the man's jaw with the back of his head, promptly sending him to the ground, while with his free hand he shot the second one with impressive precision.
'If we go up, we're hitting the street. If we go down, we're taking a boat out of here.'
He figured it all out already, much quicker than she would in spite of the experience she had. She remembered how she paused for a moment, smiling on the inside, feeling proud for him. If it wasn't for the fact that he didn't believe in himself, Carlos would have been a hell of a Banger. But she would make him work on that.
'I'm sorry I'm boring you with my stuff.' He said, unsurely, feeling her gaze on him.
She smiled again and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
'Not really, Carlos. Now, what we need to do it to find a way to show him who the Saints are.'
His smile broadened to a wide grin at those words, like her recognition meant the world to him.
'Well, he likes trucks, right? Reminds me when Hector and I were kids. There was this neighbor of ours who went to complain to our mother about our cat scratching his car with his claws, so she ended up giving Zorro away. In retaliation, we took stones and scratched the old man's car completely. Now, what if instead of stones, we took some explosives at Samson's and blew his babies away?'
'That is what I want to hear. And that bitch Donnie is working for them now. Two birds, one rock.'
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A couple of weeks later…
Five am sharp Max waited, dressed in jeans, simple shirt and shades at the Humblebolt street where he was supposed to meet the Saints. All that could be done from their side was ready. He had two other policemen under cover waiting for him and the gang at Charred Hard fast food inside the center.
Now it came the hard part. Waiting to know if the Saints would keep their part of the deal.
Not a full minute passed by since he waited and a purple Magma rolled from behind a huge truck it was hidden, three people inside. A woman was the first to step out of it, the same one he saw at the penitentiary days before.
'You Max Payne?'
He nodded, thinking how almost every interaction that started this way ended up bad for him. Things were tense.
'Come in. We're ready.' She continued as he entered the car. 'A little warning, just in case I didn't make myself clear enough on the phone. Don't try to pull any shit on me or any of the boys or you're dead. Now put this on.'
She tossed him a purple bandana to cover his face.
So much for first impressions.
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Max's POV
We tore fast towards the center, radio loud, The Saints all warmed up for the fight.
I took one look at the one driving our car: A small blonde dude, he had a huge bandage peeking from his shirt. He didn't seem nervous in the slightest way, for all I knew he could driving to his death. He was 16 or 17 at most.
The age where those kids should be carrying books to school, instead, they were carrying guns to drive bys.
In spite of everything I couldn't help but have human feelings against those young misfits. I lived enough to feel sorry for them. Having a gang was like having a family. What did they look for? Money to survive, discipline, somewhere to belong, something that gave them pride and value. Shit, in a twisted way, this was really what this was all about.
What sort of difficulties and disappointments shaped them into this? I looked directly at that girls' hazel eyes just once, but it was enough to understand that she why she was so dangerous and feared in that city.
What its more dangerous than a person that has nothing to lose? I knew it by experience.
I wondered what kind of life shaped her into this, and if it was similar to mine.
I sensed immediately that, even if appearances seemed to point otherwise, we were two of a kind. And before I knew it, I felt linked to her, somehow. Understood.
Was it because of this feeling, was it my savior complex, was it because she was so charming, or was the danger that made me feel responsible for her already? I'll never figure it out. It just happened. I rolled with it.
'We're dropping here Gus.' The Leader of the Saints commanded, as they approached the Museum, and he was quick to halt. 'Ready?' She asked the kid and nodded, his eyes peaking over the bandana he too wore, full of determination and excitement. Both gangsters clicked their fingers together in a sign of appreciation and jogged to cross the street, followed by me and the other Saint.
'Third Street!'
It would be redundant to say that people on the street started to withdraw.
The Boss, like they called her, was the first one to kick the doors open, showing that the Saints were not big fans of stealth and tactics. She just swung her arm and 'Baam!' took the first shot at a rival gangster guarding the door.
His head exploded in a bloody mess and splattered pieces of it all over the walls.
It was enough to make most visitors scream and lie on the floor, or run for their lives.
The center was crowded. More than anything right now I hated Ultor for risking the life of so many civilians for nothing, but it was too late to go back. At least five Ronin spotted us and opened fire.
By then panic officially took hold of the place, people were running, bumping onto each other, out of control.
It was hard to see who was in yellow or who was not. Civilians were hit as the Ronin and even the Saints did not hesitate to use one or two as human shields. What did I get myself into this time? I was starting to have a glimpse. But the carnage had just started.
The Ronin had all the advantage over us, they were on the second floor, it was a 'shoot fish on the barrel' situation.
I took cover behind a sign, my ridiculous, outdated chivalry making me look for the Saint girl to see if she was ok.
I must confess couldn't help but notice the way she took things under control. She wasn't perfect at shooting or fighting, but her boldness got her anywhere she wanted.
I was impressed to see that she could wipe a small army of Ronin on her own, often improvising and hardly even seeming to break a sweat.
Was it courage or insanity? She could be really numb when it came to physical pain, hinting that something in that skull was dysfunctional to say the least.
No wonder she and Gat were so loved at the gang. They provided, in a twisted way, a parenting figure for most of gang members. Because of my work, I knew the profile of people who were prone to join street gangs: Apart from the natural disposition to be violent, they came from broken families, lacked a sense of self worth, esteem and unconditional love. Too bad such touching reasons would create such gory results.
Not without difficulty, we made our way up breaking each wave of Ronin resistance.
One of the hardest parts was done, but it wasn't over. So we hurried to the doors that lead one long corridor, and then got the employees part of the center. We received mild support from the two undercover cops who were not so quick to pick up the pace and dragged behind.
As I passed the door, more trouble waited inside.
Great, now we were surrounded.
Been more in numbers the Ronin had tenacity and aggressively responded to every shot, fighting for two for their own survival.
The Boss shot the closest one, successfully taking him out. However, another one who was coming just behind swung his hand in the air, something passing right over her head and landing one step away from me.
'PIPE BOMB! SHIIIIT!' She had the time to warn.
It caused a huge mess, it was a dumb move because it ended up hitting both sides, confined in that closed space.
Then there was this moment of morbid desperation, where the quicker ones to recover had to be even quicker to take out those about to.
I was thrown backwards, not really hurt but mostly stunned. I hadn't yet been able to get up and two men dressed in yellow were already on me, one of them assholes punching my stomach. To be honest I made the task easy for him, bloating it with all the take in and beer I consumed on a regular basis. Meanwhile his little buddy was strangling me. I did all I could, hoping that the others could hold themselves too.
Gus, the little guy, was lucky to be pinned against the wall by the other Saint by chance, who took retreating steps back, unfortunately for him tripping and taking the shots that were meant to hit his friend. He stepped in front of his fallen colleague protectively though, been fast to shoot everyone who was still on the floor.
As I looked for the Boss, saw her brawling on the floor with a Ronin, trying to grab his rifle.
All of that noise served only attract more other gang members, coming out of the other rooms like they were been vomited there.
Arms locked by the brawl, still on the floor, I saw her tilt her head back and even if her vision was now upside down she could still guess the approaching Ronin were going to shoot her within a second. She managed to steal the rifle from the Ronin on top of her, hugging him close to her body so she could fire at the others. Except, this wasn't what you call an ideal scenario to aim. She could take one, but missed the other two.
'Oh Fuck.'
I did my best to help, shooting as many as approached, but our opponents where great at martial arts, so I found myself disarmed in no time.
But then, a single, perfectly placed shotgun shot sent both in the air.
Gus. He was chuckling, and she couldn't help but chuckle back. He didn't forget to watch her back. This Saint was a fucking magician. He already cleaned most of the room in the short space of a few seconds, like he was a small army himself.
Renewed by this she punched her opponent on the forehead with the back of the rifle and in the same motion rolled on top of him, grabbing her gun. Next, I will always remember this 'endearing' display of power, she grabbed the guy by the collar and shoved his head to nearby fire extinguisher, shooting and blowing it along with his brains.
In spite of my disgust, I saw that she and Gus instinctively placed each other right next to the place where me and their friend stood, their backs touching so each one could cover their side of the room, quickly dispatching the last ones who were still ganging on me as well.
I caught by breath, as they checked on their friend who was sitting on the floor, covered in blood.
'This looks pretty bad Boss.' Gus told her.
'Take him back to the hideout now. I am calling Gat to pick you up at the front of the center.'
She finally looked at me, and came closer.
And then, both surprised me, as now their hands were extended in my direction, providing me a solid support to get up.
The Boss tossed me the rifle, keeping the gun. I had to thank them both, sincerely, and even if she tried to hide it, I saw that I just made her unease.
She seemed relieved to have a distraction, quickly answering when her cell phone rang. It was Gat, who had just arrived to pick up the boys.
They retreated to the main room, as she covered their wait out, and I waited for her to return.
We had no problem to take the servers out, ending the dirty business that was kept there.
All that it was left was the money in the counting rooms.
'I guess this is it.' I said. 'They told us to just shoot the money and leave.'
She seemed shocked at this.
'No I am not shooting money, man. This is blasphemy.'
To confirm her words, she grabbed a trash can, empting the plastic bag on it and tossed the bills inside.
'There. Take the other one. It's only fair that you have a share too.'
'This is blood money.' I simply shook my head.
Our way out seemed like a walk in the park, the place was now dead silent. Until we reached the glass corridor, that is. The cell phone rang again, breaking the silence.
'Gat? How're the guys? We're done here, made some cash too, fucking a..'
I could hear the voice on the other side, and it didn't sound so excited:
'Boss?! I'm calling to give you a heads up, their sending in a…'
'...Chopper.' I completed grimly, looking outside as a huge and yellow armored helicopter made it's way towards the center.
She hung up and turned to me, and we both grinned with irony.
'Fuck, it was too good to be truth, wasn't it?'
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Bruno and Carlos were walking down the Barrio streets. They halted in front of a door that had a huge neon hand at the entrance.
The sign read Tarot –
Amarres de amor efectivos –Fortune telling
'Come on bro, this is stupid. One hundred fucking dollars?'
'I'm telling you, my mother would never let a year go by without seeing one. What does that tell you?'
'That she was just as dumb as you.'
Carlos entered the place first and sighed in frustration, indicating an arm chair at the waiting room.
'Bitch, bitch, bitch… Just wait for me, ok?'
He moved the little bell curtain that separated the waiting room from the small one where the fortune teller received her clients.
It was a pretty creepy n' cheap place she got there. If she made so much money predicting the future right, maybe she would be affording a better place to rent.
Yeah this was beginning to look like it was a bad idea alright.
'So carino?' A middle aged woman with thick Spanish accent greeted him. 'What can I do for you?'
'Buenas Tardes Senora. I saw you ad on the internet.'
'Senta te, senta te carino.' She invited him to sit and he did, hesitating a bit.
He cleared his throat, crossing and uncrossing his legs nervously.
'I just started a new life recently, and I want to know what it will bring to me. And, uh... Actually...'
'You don't need to say more...' The lady smiled, most of her clients coming there for the same reason. 'What's her name?'
Carlos lowered his head. 'Oh. I don' really know that.' He was staring at his hands while tossing his skull cap from one to another. He sighed and stopped, looking at the fortune teller.
'I am crazy for her, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't see me that way. And, if I tell her how I feel, she would reject me. It's complicated, it would mess things up, cuz she also happens to be my boss. '
She put some Tarot cards over the table and told him to shuffle and cut. Then asked him to chose ten cards. She displayed them in a symmetrical way, face down at the table. He wasn't as believing as he was before but even so his heart was beating faster in expectation of what she was to tell him.
She turned some of the cards and stared at them for a long time, seeming increasingly worried and puzzled.
It seemed like one eternity to Carlos.
'So? What do you see?'
'What the cards are saying is indeed strange.' She had a goose bump. 'Not a lot of it it's clear to me though, a big part of your future is foggy and impossible to tell.'
He was getting progressively disappointed. I should have listened to Bruno . Give her more cash and the fog will lift right off, like i don't know this one.
'Do you have a picture of her?'
He searched in his wallet, the only picture he had of the Boss.
It was a mug shot, horizontal lines behind her head. The lady put the picture over the table and took another card from the pile, not caring where it came from as long the costumer was paying. She placed the picture on the table and took another card, putting it next to it.
'But, my dear... ja tienes esta mujer en tus manos.*'
'What do you mean?'
'I see a lot of people in her entourage, but you are the one for whom she keeps all that's sweet in her. I am seeing that you work for a big company maybe, with lots of employees?'
'Hmm. You could say so.' Carlos grinned, not wanting to tell her what their business really were.
'She loves them all but you hold a special place in her heart. 'But...' She looked at him and smiled, shaking her head. 'She sees you as a boy, not as a man. The love is already there, because your bound with her is very, very old. Older than this life.'
The woman pressed her hand hard on her forehead.
'Your boss has a heavy karma. She has a very dark side. It's not uncommon to find former idealists amongst the people capable of doing the most awful things. But she can also accomplish good ones, if anything she is fairer than the people she is fighting, that is for sure.'
She paused again.
'You can bring her good side. She had no one to love her before. The kind of love you have can provide what she needs to stop her from doing enormous atrocities. You are, in a way, her guardian angel... You have the power to do it.' She stopped suddenly, like she was seeing something she didn't want to share and that was impossible to be prevented, resuming sadly. 'But it will cost you...A lot.'
'It doesn't matter.' He said. 'Whatever I need to do for her, I will. I think I could give my life for her.' He only paid attention to the parts that concerned what he wanted. 'Will I be able to be with her then?' He asked hopefully.
'... Yes, yes you will. It's sure.' She replied, but decided it was enough with the nice stuff and that it was time she capitalized a little. 'It might take a while, I can see she is involved with someone else for now, but if you want, for two hundred dollars I can take care of it.'
Carlos was too excited about what she said and decided to pay it anyway, even if he had a lot of doubts about this. What harm could come? Besides, he was superstitious enough to think that it couldn't hurt.
'Do you have a picture of yourself?'
He searched his wallet again for it, she took the Boss's picture and his, placed them both together, and folded them seven times. Then, she took a red string out of a small box at a shelf that was cumulating with her hocus pocus books and wrapped it around the paper pieces, securing with a tight knot.
'Show me your wrist now.'
Carlos raised an eyebrow in confusion but removed his watch and placed his arm on the table, wincing a bit as she used a small blade to make an incision, letting his blood drip over the small package.
'Ideally, I would need her blood too, but this will do. Keep this with you, and show it to no one.'
'Gracias!' He said, paying her and putting back his cap back on his head.
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Bruno looked at his friend, he knew him enough to understand he couldn't hide very well his satisfaction right now.
'Great, she told you everything she thought you wanted to hear, right?'
Carlos put one arm around his friend shoulder:
'Ah...' He sighed, his face illuminated by inner joy. 'Are you hungry?'
'Kind of. Let's go to Apolo's?'
'Yup. And it's on me.'
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* But my dear, you already have this woman wrapped around your finger.