Author's Notes: It'll be more obvious in SR3, but Hanabi x Kaneda is a fairly valid ship. Just sayin'. If she had to make a choice between most people and her bike, she'd choose the bike without hesitation. And if she had to choose between Matt and the bike...it'd be a really hard choice. Bike is life, bruh!
"Yo, Hanabi," the Boss called as they walked into the hideout's office.
"Sup?" Hanabi asked, glancing up at the Boss briefly before refocusing on the game of hackeysack she was playing with Shaundi.
"Come up top with me for a sec," the Boss said. "I have a surprise for ya."
Hanabi quirked an eyebrow and exchanged a quick look with Shaundi before tossing the sack back to her and following the Boss into the elevator leading topside. When the doors opened, Hanabi's immediately clapped eyes on a Kaneda motorcycle just outside the elevator entrance. The bike had been painted black with purple fleur-de-lis symbols on either side instead of silver with a dragon motif and the yellow Tron-esque lights that she had come to associate with the Akujis' had been replaced with purple ones. It was one of the most beautiful things Hanabi had ever seen and she was rendered speechless for a moment, only able to gape up at the Boss before finally letting out a stunned "Wha...?"
"Well, I guess I don't need to ask if you like it or not," the Boss said, giving Hanabi an amused smirk as she walked around the bike, inspecting it. "When we took down the Ronin we appropriated their vehicles, including this little baby. Obviously those old Ronin colors had to go, so I took it down to Rim Jobs and had it repainted. While I was there, I had 'em give it a few upgrades too; we're talkin' reinforced frame, increased tire durability and torque, and once you're out ridin' it, you'll notice the kneecappers in the tires."
"And you're just giving this to me?" Hanabi asked in disbelief, still not looking up from the bike.
"Yes and no," the Boss answered, waiting until Hanabi looked up at them before continuing. "Vogel's scheduled a press conference tomorrow evening to address the...'unfortunate and untimely deaths' of his former business associates. I plan on takin' him out at the conference as payback for siccing those Masako goons on the Saints. Gat's gonna be situated on a nearby roof with a sniper rifle to help take out his security, but if something goes wrong and Vogel still manages to get away, I'mma need you and Kaneda here as plan B to chase down that armored limo of his. Once we take Vogel out, you can do whatever you want with the bike."
"Uh-huh..." Hanabi was silent as she studied the bike a bit more before glancing toward the street. "If I promise to keep it in good shape for tomorrow, can I take it out now?" The Boss quirked an eyebrow. "Y'know, so I can get a feel for how it runs? Make sure I'll be able to handle it tomorrow?"
"Don't bullshit me, kid," the Boss chided. "You picked up flying a helicopter in all of five seconds; I think you can figure out a different version of something you've driven your whole life. Just admit you wanna go joyridin'."
"Fine. I wanna see what this baby can do," Hanabi admitted.
"By all means," the Boss replied, gesturing toward the street. "Just be sure you keep it in good shape for tomorrow."
"You got it," Hanabi agreed as she revved up the Kaneda and sped out of the parking lot.
The next evening saw Hanabi on the Kaneda again, idling on a sidewalk near the old Saints Row church. From her position, she could just barely see Johnny perched on a nearby roof with a sniper rifle at the ready. She subconsciously reached down to touch the SMG strapped to her belt as Vogel began to address the crowd of reporters gathered in front of the church, only to jerk her head up at the sound of a gun firing. 'What the hell? There's no way the Boss made it to Vogel already,' she thought as she glanced around to try to locate the source of the shot, looking up toward her brother just in time to see him kick a security guard off the roof he'd been perched on. 'Well shit...' All she could hear following the initial shot was people screaming and more guns being fired, before Vogel's limo sped past her and off down the road. 'I guess that's my cue,' she thought, revving up the bike and speeding off after the limo.
The Boss had mentioned that they planned on taking one of the Ultor patrol cars to chase after Vogel as well should something not go as planned, so Hanabi wasn't surprised when she saw shots being fired at the limo from one of the cars following her. Still, her Kaneda had one thing the patrol cars didn't that would make taking out the limo much easier: kneecappers in the wheels. She sped up to catch up to the limo's left rear tire before getting just close enough for the kneecapper in her front wheel to pop it, moving to do the same to the left front tire as the Boss continued firing. Doing so managed to slow the limo a bit and wreak havoc on its handling, but Hanabi wasn't done yet. She slowed the Kaneda enough to allow her to fall behind the bike again, and waited for a pause in the Boss's shooting before moving swiftly to the limo's right side and pulling up to finish what she started.
"Looks like she's finally starting to back off," the driver of Vogel's limo commented as he watched Hanabi fall back behind the limo.
"She didn't honestly think she could run us off the road on a motorcycle, did she?" Vogel scoffed, trying to keep his voice steady despite his growing nervousness. He flinched slightly as another volley of gunfire hit the back of the limo.
"Uh...I don't think that was her plan, Mr. Vogel," mused a security guard in the limo's passenger seat.
"What do you mean?" Vogel asked.
"Didn't you feel anything when she pulled up next to us?" the guard elaborated. "I think she just took out the tires on the left side of the limo."
"Don't be ridiculous," the driver replied dismissively. "There's no way she could have-" He glanced into the side mirror to see sparks flying from the left side wheels. "Are you kidding me?! How?!"
"Hang on, hang on, she's pullin' back up," the guard observed. He looked down at the wheels of the Kaneda as Hanabi took out the right rear wheel and moved up to take out the front wheel, barely visible kneecappers shining in the light of the setting sun. "The bitch has spikes in her goddamn tires!"
"Even if she takes the tires out, the limo's are is still top of the line," Vogel said confidently, though it seemed as if he was trying to assure himself more than anything else.
"Yeah...about that... It looks like that other psycho just depleted the last of the limo's armor," the driver told him.
Vogel was silent as he watched Hanabi slow down again, turning her head to glare at him once she was level with him and wordlessly flipping him the bird before finally falling back. "Looks like we have no choice but to fall back to the Phillips building. I'd like to see the Saints try to shoot their way in there."
A loud crashing sound caused Hanabi to look behind her and slow to a stop once she'd pulled back from the limo, firing her gun at any security guards that got too close. The Boss, who had been using the patrol car to help keep the Ultor goons off Hanabi as she took out the tires in addition to shooting at the limo themselves, had rammed into one of the other cruisers to keep the Masako inside from shooting at Hanabi. This had caused both cars to swerve and become wedged in the entrance of the underpass they were currently sitting, resulting in an increasing number of patrol cars piling up at the entrance as well. The Boss quickly exited their vehicle and sprinted toward Hanabi, hopping onto the Kaneda behind her.
"Come on, Hanabi," the Boss urged. "We ain't finished here yet. We got Vogel on the run and I'm not lettin' him get away this time." Hanabi nodded and immediately sped off in the direction the limo had gone, the Boss firing on any guards that were stupid enough to get in their way. With the limo's tires blown out, they were able to catch up quickly and were just in time to see Vogel retreating into the Phillips building.
"Dammit!" Hanabi shouted. "How are we supposed to get him now?"
The Boss was about to open their mouth to answer when their phone rang. They fished it out of their pocket and held it to their ear as Johnny's voice floated through the receiver. "You kill that asshole Vogel yet?"
"We're workin' on it, Gat," the Boss replied. "He's hiding in the Phillips building. The whole thing's in lockdown; we can't get in."
"There's security relays all over the outside out that place," Johnny told them. "You take an attack chopper and take those things out, you'll crash their security."
"A fucking attack chopper?!" the Boss repeated incredulously. "Where the fuck are we gonna find-" They paused as Hanabi tapped their arm and pointed toward a Masako attack chopper parked a short distance away. "Oh well, shit, that's convenient." They looked down at Hanabi as the pair rushed toward the chopper. "You think you can fly this thing, kid?"
Hanabi nodded. "Yeah, I got a look at the blueprints for it when I snuck into the Pyramid. Shouldn't be too hard."
"What kind of heat is it packin'?" the Boss asked as they climbed in.
"Machine gun and homing missiles, I think," Hanabi replied as the chopper ascended.
"Awesome," the Boss said. "You fly, I'll shoot?"
"Works for me," Hanabi agreed. She continued to move the chopper upward until they came upon the first security relay and she moved in closer so the Boss could get a clear shot to take it down. Neither of them spoke; they were too focused on their tasks. They were about to move on to the second relay when Hanabi spotted something in her peripheral. She looked behind them to see another attack chopper flying onto the scene and she immediately moved away from the Phillips building. From there, it became a balancing act between staying still long enough for the Boss to get a lock on the chopper to fire a homing missile and staying mobile so the chopper wasn't able to get a lock on them.
"Hanabi, stop moving for a second," the Boss ordered. Hanabi shot a confused look toward the Boss, but did as she was told. Once the chopper was stationary, the Boss waited for just the right opening and, when the opposing chopper paused to get a lock on them, they fired a homing missile of their own, destroying the chopper instantly. They looked over to Hanabi again with a triumphant smirk on their face. "Okay, let's keep movin'."
Hanabi smiled and rolled her eyes. "Showoff."
The second and third relay stations went down easily enough and Hanabi and the Boss continued their steady climb to the top of the Phillips building. Soon enough, the fourth and final relay came into view and Hanabi raised the chopper until they were even with it. The Boss was just about to make the shot when, once again, Hanabi spotted another attack chopper flying in to intercept them. She was about to pull the chopper back again when the Boss spoke up. "Don't even think about it. This is the last relay; we can't miss this shot."
"Are you kidding me?!" Hanabi replied. "We'll be sitting ducks if we just stay here like this."
"Don't worry. I'm already getting a lock on that chopper as we speak," the Boss assured her. "Just give me a second..." They fired the machine gun, destroying the final relay.
Hanabi kept glancing nervously between the Boss and the chopper drawing steadily closer. Her eyes widened when she saw the chopper fire a missile that immediately began spiraling toward them and she looked over to the Boss again with panic evident on her face. "Boss!"
"Do NOT move this chopper, Hanabi," the Boss warned. Once they had a sufficient lock on the other chopper, the Boss fired off a homing missile of their own...just as the missile from the opposing chopper hit them. Unlike the opposing chopper, theirs remained in the air but it was smoking horribly and a loud buzzing alarm filled the cockpit.
"Okay, time's up," the Boss declared. "Hanabi, get us to the top of the building. Now that security's down, takin' out Vogel shouldn't be a problem."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hanabi muttered but she moved swiftly to get the pair of them to the uppermost windows of the building. Once there, the Boss shot out the windows using the machine gun before opening the hatch to the still-smoking chopper's cockpit, pulling Hanabi onto their back, climbing onto the nose of the chopper, and jumping through the window. Once they'd landed on their stomach inside the building, they quickly removed Hanabi from their back and shoved her a short distance away. Hanabi, who hadn't had a chance to react to any of this, could only shriek indignantly. "Boss, what the fuck?!"
"Just trust me and stay down!" the Boss shouted back.
Hanabi glanced back at the chopper. Without anyone to pilot it, the chopper wobbled for a moment, but once the blades made contact with the steel exterior of the building, they were instantly flung off in several directions. Hanabi and the Boss pressed themselves flat to the ground as the now bladeless chopper crashed into the window, the spinning rotors keeping it mobile. Hanabi could feel the machine gun's turret just barely graze her back as the chopper swept over them before falling back out the window and crash-landing onto the roof of a nearby building...where it promptly exploded. She and the Boss got to their feet and walked to the window, taking in the smoking wreckage below them. "Well...that happened."
"Never a dull moment," the Boss quipped. "Now let's take care of Vogel."
The pair charged down the hallway toward what they assumed was Vogel's office. Unsurprisingly, the office was swarming with Masako, so the Boss and Hanabi, each beyond tired of the orange-clad guards and about one hundred and ten percent done with Vogel's shenanigans, pulled out their shotguns to make short enough work of them. Once all the guards had been cleanly dispatched, Vogel, armed only with a small pistol and uncomfortably aware of how outclassed he was, was quick to throw his gun down and fall to his knees.
"Alright, let's not be too hasty here," Vogel said quickly. "You're upset, you're frustrated-" The Boss pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Vogel while Hanabi cocked her shotgun again. "-and you've both got guns. Which, ya know, I would really like it if you would put those away."
"You should have thought of that before you sent a team to wipe out my gang," the Boss replied.
"I tried telling the board that going after the Saints was a big mistake," Vogel assured them.
The Boss shrugged. "They should've listened to you."
"Believe me, right now I am agreeing with you one hundred percent," Vogel said, slowly rising to his feet. "But you have to look at the positives; you're alive, they're dead, and you have the Saints number one fan running Ult-"
The Boss didn't give him time to finish before shooting Vogel point-blank in the face. The force of the impact sent him sailing out the window and down about a hundred stories before hitting the pavement below with a sickening crack. They stepped up to the window and, after glancing down briefly to see a police car rush up to Vogel's body, looked out over Stilwater, now completely controlled by the Saints. They studied their prize for a little longer when the sound of footsteps rushing up behind caused both them and Hanabi to whirl around, guns at the ready, only to see Pierce and Shaundi rushing up the steps toward them.
Pierce raised his arms up in surrender before putting his own gun away. "We missed it?"
"Told ya," Shaundi said before gently whapping Pierce's shoulder and holding her hand out. "Now pay up."
"Where the fuck were you guys?" the Boss asked.
"Traffic," Pierce answered.
"What?" the Boss deadpanned.
"He's not jokin'," Shaundi elaborated. "The roads have been blocked off."
"Did you guys see my brother out there?" Hanabi asked.
"Oh, he's fine," Shaundi assured as she walked over to the girl. "He's still out there killin' cops."
"Figures," the Boss said as they pulled out their phone again and dialed Johnny's number.
"What is it?" Johnny asked when he picked up.
"It's done. Time to pull outta there," the Boss told him.
"You sure? GET THE FUCK OFFA ME!" Johnny shouted, causing the Boss to jerk the phone away from their ear as the sound of rifle fire came through the receiver. "I mean, I'm not runnin' outta ammo any time soon."
"I'm sure. See ya back home," the Boss said.
"Later," Johnny replied as he hung up.
"Who you callin' now?" Pierce asked as the Boss began dialing another number.
"Our ride," the Boss supplied.
"Hey Boss, if it's all the same to you, I think I'm gonna go meet up with Johnny," Hanabi said.
"Fine. Just be careful when you get out there," the Boss cautioned.
A short time later, the Boss, Pierce, and Shaundi made their way to the helipad where Tobias was waiting for them. The red-haired hippie exchanged a quick fist-bump with the Boss and eagerly accepted the blunt Shaundi offered him, taking a quick hit as everyone got settled into the helicopter. "Welcome aboard," he told them all as the helicopter lifted off.
As the group crossed over the bridge leading back toward Purgatory, Pierce and Shaundi glanced out of the side of the helicopter to see Johnny and Hanabi crouched behind a couple badly dented police cars; Johnny was eagerly firing at the police on the other side of the cars and it looked like Hanabi was switching out ammo before she resumed firing. Johnny caught their gaze and offered them a quick salute before continuing his assault while Hanabi smiled and gave a little wave. Pierce smiled back and playfully shook his head at the pair before turning forward to address the Boss. "So what do we do now?"
"This is our city," the Boss reminded him. "We do whatever the fuck we wanna do."
Ending Notes: And that, my dears, is a wrap on the SR2 portion of this fic! Now, as I mentioned before (either in the last Ronin chapter or the first Ultor one), I am going to be doing a handful (read:4-5) filler chapters that take place between the events of SR2 and SR3. I know everybody hates filler stuff, but I think these chapters are needed to kinda...set the stage, I guess, for SR3. I don't want Hanabi's personality change to come out of left field the way Shaundi's did.
Now, some of you have told me that you're really eager for Matt to finally make an appearance. Trust me, I am too, so fear not! He's actually going to debut in one of the filler chapters! And yes, he and Hanabi are going to interact with each other...kinda.
Speaking of Matt, the overwhelming majority of you seem to want me to include his girlfriend, so I'm gonna give you what you want! Hannah's gonna be included as are a small handful of Decker OCs whom I can't tell you too much about with revealing their significance to and relationships with Hanabi.
Thank you guys for sticking with me this long and thank you so much for reading! As always, feed back and constructive criticism are more than welcome! Geekinthepink, out!