Got Dust, Will Travel

It had been a day since the meeting with Maero. What could have been a civil agreement turned ugly the moment when not only Maero offered a small cut of the action, but also insulted Vince and Carlos, as well as the Saints in general. If Maero had been a lot more civil and explained the reasoning in a calmer manner, then maybe things would have turned out better. For all Vince knew, Maero could have proved to be a good ally in the fight against the Sons of Samedi and the Ronin.

At the moment, Vince wanted to place focus on the other gangs. He had Carlos look at some other info on the Brotherhood, but couldn't find much. Pierce, on the other hand, was doing his best at looking into what the Ronin was involved in, especially in the northern parts of Stilwater.

Vince sat at the bottom of the staircase of the Saints' hideout. It was still in its derelict state, but there will be work to be done soon. He got out a Vice 9 and loaded the pistol with a magazine and cocked the gun, like he was ready to do some damage on any gangs soon.

"Hey, I got you a present," a female voice said. Vince looked up and Shaundi approaching him with what appeared to be a light bulb in her hand.

"A light bulb, just what I always wanted," Vince sarcastically said.

"Come on, you think I'd just give you a light bulb?" Shaundi said and then smashed the light bulb against the railing of the stairwell.

"A face-shredder, just what I always wanted," Vince said with the same sarcasm as before.

"Smoke this," Shaundi said, putting in some kind of substance inside the bulb and lit it with a lighter.

"Ever hear of using a pipe?" Vince said.

"Pipes cost money," Shaundi said. "Money that can be used for drugs or shoes, or even fixing up this place."

Shaundi took a hit and passed the bulb over to Vince. Though he didn't take a hit, he smelled the substance with the smoke coming out of the bulb.

"Smells good, what is that stuff?" Vince said.

"It's the Sons of Samedi's number one product, they call it Loa Dust," Shaundi said.

"But you smoke it," Vince said.

"They suck at marketing, what can I say?" Shaundi said. "The point is this shit is all over campus. I mean, frats are buying it by the pound. If we get enough of the stuff, we might find out how to make it ourselves."

"And then we sell it for cheaper and steal their market," Vince said.

"Exactly, I had some of the others try it out," Shaundi said. "I even had Carlos try it. Pierce even tried when it took some convincing. It can make us some money."

"How much stuff are we talking?" Vince said.

"I don't know, 3 pounds?" Shaundi said. "Two for science, one for the weekend?"

"I can live with that," Vince said. "So you said that we can find this shit at the university, huh?"

"Yeah, and get this, they have dealers in the frat areas and near the observatory," Shaundi said.

"Looks like I am going to fuck up their business," Vince said. "Carlos!"

Carlos looked up as he sat at a table with some other fellow gang members. "Yeah, Boss?"

"What do you say we take a little ride to Stilwater U?" Vince said.

"I'm down, I guess I can help out," Carlos said.

"Okay, let's get going," Vince said as those were ready to leave the hideout.

"Hold on, one more thing," Shaundi said. "Listen, when you get to Stilwater U, be careful when you're taking on the Sons of Samedi."

"You don't have to tell me in case we were to get shot out there," Vince said.

"They're not just gang bangers, these guys are out of their damn mind," Shaundi said. "For God's sake, they're named after the vodoun lord of the dead."

"Voodoo? Don't tell me you believe in that shit," Vince said.

"Just be careful, okay?" Shaundi said.

"Don't worry, me and Carlos will handle some guys slanging dope to the Skeeter fans," Vince said.

Vince and Carlos continued to go up the stairs and went all the way to the main entrance to leave the hideout. Once they were outside, the purple Compton was parked in front of the mission and they both got in the car. Vince put on the radio to The Mix 107.77, as a female caller with a familiar voice asked the DJ, Darius Masters to play "Sister Christian" from Night Ranger, causing Vince to shut the radio off.

"What's the plan?" Carlos said.

"Shaundi told me about some dealers that are pushing that shit she showed me," Vince said. "I'm going to take their stash."

"You think it will be that easy?" Carlos said.

"You're my lookout guy," Vince said. "If you see some guys in green, holler."

"I will," Carlos said.

Vince drove the car from the mission to the university. They had gone all the way to the west side of Stilwater. What was funny to him was that they crossed Sommerset, an area the Brotherhood ran, while the Sons of Samedi ran the university area. With the car being purple, suddenly some Swindles and Legions started rolling down the street as the Compton drew their attention.

"Hey, man," Carlos said. "Remember yesterday what happened with Maero? I think he's trying to get them to follow us."

"We're heading into another territory," Vince said. "Besides, right now we need to focus on the Sons of Samedi. We'll deal with the Brotherhood later."

Carlos sat there with a look of unease. He was still new at this whole gang lieutenant stuff. He felt that he needed to step up a bit, but Vince had him there as his lookout for any dealers. It was only daytime. Students walked around the campus neighborhood, as well as the campus itself. Carlos looked around for any people in green, maybe carrying weapons because drug dealers often had to be packing heat for protection.

"Do you see anything?" Vince said.

"Not yet," Carlos said. "Maybe we should check more into the campus town."

Vince turned right onto a street between Brown's Nutty Coffee and the Stilwater University Arena, where it hosts some demolition derbies and some other campus events. He went northbound and made a left on a street where some businesses were. Carlos took another look outside the window.

"I see something," Carlos said.

Vince looked through the windshield and saw some people dressed in green. They were all male and African-American, or even Afro-Caribbean as this gang was stated to be.

"Got to be them," Vince said and hit the brakes and put the car in park. He got out a couple of automatic Kobra pistols. Carlos got out his Vice 9 pistol.

They both got out. Vince and Carlos wasted little time in dropping them like flies before they could even get a shot on them. With the Saints starting up again, it was like they weren't a threat. Vince had automatic pistols and two of them dropped quickly, while Carlos shot as much as he could. He had experience with a gun, but not a lot. He was able to get a few shots on one of them until he went down and fired a few more to the last one until the magazine was emptied. Thankfully, that guy was down after the last bullet.

"Okay, now we need to see who is holding the stash," Vince said.

Carlos looked at him like this was crazy. All four members lied there in pools of their own blood. Though he shot a couple of them, the idea of searching the clothing of dead bodies was crazy enough. Carlos looked at the bodies, while Vince went ahead and searched them. He trembled at the sight of having to put his hands on one of the corpses, until he saw a bag lying right next to one of them.

"Hey, Boss, I found a stash," Carlos said.

"Pick it up, let's take it for ourselves," Vince said.

Carlos went ahead and picked up the bag and put it in his pant pocket. The two ran back to the Compton. Vince put the car in drive and they were off to check the observatory area.

As soon as they hit the area, it was the same process as before. Vince put the car in park and they got out and down a flight of stairs as there were a few guys in green in that area, along with students. The two raced down the stairs and Carlos saw a Caucasian male in green, likely a member of the Sons of Samedi. He quickly drew his pistol, which he had reloaded and shot the man in the back but only hit his shoulder. Just then, several civilians scattered on out of there as they didn't want to be caught in any crossfire, and some even dropped to the ground to avoid any gunfire.

Like before, wanting to make this quick and easy, Vince used his Kobra pistols and just fired some shots at a man in green that stood in a tunnel under the observatory. Carlos dropped the other man as two more shots turned out to be fatal. Farther up ahead from them was another white man wearing green standing on top of a ground with a symbol, likely the university's insignia. Both Saints fired at the man. Blood came out of his chest, stomach, right leg, and left shoulder and he dropped, along with a baggie with the stash. Vince went to go pick it up, but to his right near a planter with bushes and a tree, as well as benches, another man wearing green loaded a T3K Urban. Carlos figured that the Samedi member was ready to flank Vince. It didn't matter how up to speed he was with the shooting, he was not going to let his boss, mentor, and friend go down.

BANG! BANG! Carlos let out two shots, one hitting the man near his chest and hitting him in the neck, causing blood to spurt out of it and then he fell to the ground. Vince looked to his right and then behind him with Carlos holding his gun and was at a complete stand-still.

"Thank you, Carlos," Vince said.

"No problem, Boss," Carlos said. Vince was now being called Boss. Maybe he was starting to like being called that.

Vince got out his Ill Wireless phone to make a call to Shaundi. "Hey, Shaundi, I got the dust."

"You got great timing," Shaundi said. "I just got a tip that a dealer named Mark Gabby is slinging near by. This guy brings in a lot of money for the Samedi. Taking him out should hurt them pretty bad."

"Got it, I'll look for him," Vince said. "How do I find him?"

"Word has it that he drives a green Wellington," Shaundi said.

"On it," Vince said. "Carlos, let's move."

Carlos followed Vince up the stairs and quickly got into the Compton. Now they have to look for the green Reaper. They rolled around the university area some more. The Sons of Samedi ran the area. They mostly saw some green Stilettos and Churchills rolling around. Shaundi mentioned that he drove a Wellington, a station wagon.

"Could that be the guy we're looking for?" Carlos said. Vince looked up and saw that particular vehicle rolling around up ahead on a road near a building that likely had classrooms.

Vince hit the gas hard and merged onto the opposite lane. He stepped on the gas some more until he got closer and swerved onto the other lane, causing the Wellington to brake hard and tip over a bit. Vince made a quick u-turn and BOOM! The Compton rear-ended the Wellington.

Both he and Carlos were fine and quickly got out of the car. Vince towards the driver's side and quickly opened the door and pulled out a Caucasian male, probably in his mid-20s, wearing a green T-shirt with denim shorts and a green rag on his head.

"Are you Mark Gabby?" Vince said.

"Who wants to know?" Mark said. "Yeah, that's me. Who the fuck are you?"

"Somebody who's about to take over your business," Vince said and poked the gun's barrel right to the man's chest and let out three shots to it. Carlos looked inside the car and found more of the Loa Dust in there and picked it up. Meanwhile, Mark Gabby's body slowly slid to the ground with blood smearing over the door to the backseat.

Carlos carried the drugs with him as he and Vince walked back to their car. Vince got out his phone again and called Shaundi.

"I took that fool out, Carlos and I got the drugs," Vince said.

"Good times," Shaundi said. "Meet me at Apollo's in Sommerset. Bring me the dust there, and I can start working on our little science project."

"We'll meet you there," Vince said.

As they drove off, some other men, as well as women in green ran up and looked on. Some of their fellow soldiers and dealers were wiped out, as well as one of their main dealers, as they saw his body laid out in the street next to his car.

It wasn't long until Vince and Carlos pulled up to Apollo's. Shaundi came out with a box full of donuts.

"Whoa, you got a lot of donuts there, Shaundi," Vince said.

"Hey, I got the munchies and it was either this, Freckle Bitch's, or Phuc Mi Phuc Yue," Shaundi said. "I wanted something sweet. Take me back to the hideout and we'll get started."

"May I have one?" Carlos said.

"Sure, I got a lot here," Shaundi said and passed a donut to Carlos. "Want one, Vince?"

"Not right now, maybe later," Vince said. "How did you get here?"

"I got a ride," Shaundi said. "I was pretty stoned. I told one of the guys that you and Carlos were close and that maybe you could give me a lift back to the hideout."

"Okay, I get it," Vince said.

Man, how does she eat like that and not gain a pound? Vince thought.

They were on their way back, while some red trucks and motorcycles that were parked had some people look on at them. It seemed that the Saints were upsetting more people in Stilwater now.

Meanwhile, on the streets between Shivington and Sunnyvale Gardens, a green and black Hounfor rolled around. The Hounfor was a custom-made limousine that had a look similar to a hearse.

Inside, an Afro-Caribbean man with a bald head sat in the very back wearing a white suit with a green shirt and some chains. He lit up a cigar and started to smoke it. This man was known as The General. The limousine had guns mounted on the walls for decoration.

The other two men in the vehicle were another Afro-Caribbean man with dreadlocks and a black suit with a green shirt, and a Rastafarian cap that had a hole in it to show his dreads. This man was known as Mr. Sunshine. He sat in the seat in the middle of the vehicle.

The other man was a Caucasian man in his mid-20s wearing glasses, a green T-shirt, and jeans, along with dreadlocks and a Rastafarian hat as well. This man was known as Veteran Child. He sat near the front cab of the limo.

"Gentlemen, how was business today?" The General said with a Caribbean accent.

"Here's today's take," Veteran Child said passing the money to Mr. Sunshine, who then passed it to the General. The General looked at the stack of money and moved his hand a bit, like something seemed irregular about it.

"There are many singles where 50s should be," the General said.

"Yeah, about that," Veteran Child said. "I couldn't get a hold of some of my guys."

"These men steal from the General?" The General said.

"No, I'm not saying they're stealing," Veteran Child said.

Mr. Sunshine looked right at the General.

"Yo, Papa Shango, I'm talking to the General," Veteran Child said to Mr. Sunshine, who then turned his attention towards Veteran Child.

"On the streets, you may be a popular DJ, Veteran Child," Mr. Sunshine said with a thick Caribbean accent. "But when you're in this car, you'd do well to remember your place."

"My place?" Veteran Child said.

"My friends, please, be civil," The General said. "Veteran Child, look into the matter of the missing money. If one of your bag boys is indeed alive, take one of his hands. I doubt he will be late again. If he is not alive, I think we have a greater problem."

"You want me to cut off some dude's hand?" Veteran Child said.

"If he stole from me, he needs to learn," The General said.

"Yeah, that makes, um, sense," Veteran Child said.

"Is there a problem?" Mr. Sunshine said.

"No, I mean, it's no problem, I got this," Veteran Child said.

On the inside, Veteran Child felt he was in over his head. It was clear to him that Mr. Sunshine didn't approve of his presence in the gang. The General probably didn't think too much of him but was being professional in the matter. If only they knew what really happened and they were about to find out soon enough what happened with Veteran Child's dealers.

Author's note: That's it for this one. I know I keep mentioning this, but like I've stated before, I'm doing a little mixing up in my versions of the missions. Ergo, why I had Carlos join in on this. I'm also bringing to light about his lack of experience in the gang life.

I will note that I barely found out that Baron Samedi was actually a folklore legend and until finding out about this, I mainly knew of the henchman from the James Bond movie, "Live and Let Die." I will note that the character was inspiration for the wrestler named Papa Shango, whom Veteran Child called Mr. Sunshine. Papa Shango was a character in WWE (then known as WWF) where he was a voodoo priest. Of course, the wrestler who played that character was best known as The Godfather much later on. Just thought I'd mention that. Seeing as some of the creators of Saints Row were wrestling fans, especially as seen in SR3, I'm not surprised that they made a reference to that.

Next up, a jailbreak! Stay tuned.