Old Friends, Unfinished Business
Five months after the incident with STAG attacking Steelport, the Saints were officially declared heroes for their stand against STAG's attempt at terrorism. Senator Monica Hughes thanked Vince for his act of heroism, despite not feeling like a hero because of some things that he had done. However, Cyrus Temple led his team to do something far more heinous than what the Saints would have done. Although the Saints have engaged in criminal activity, domestic terrorism was something that they would not attempt, especially if the lives of innocent civilians were at stake.
In that time, Vince had started dating Shaundi. With the two having feelings for one another, it didn't hurt to give the dating thing a try. Also, the government offered to pay for a lot of the damages in Steelport, as well as rebuilding the Saints HQ in Sunset Park.
But Vince had some unfinished business with a loose end, or at least someone he had felt was a loose end. Sure, STAG and the Syndicate were finished, as Cyrus Temple and Phillipe Loren had met their ends. However, a new ally that Vince had made in that time, Cypher, had noted that the one person who had betrayed the Saints and was still out there, and that person was Dexter Jackson, better known as Dex, who was also a former Saint himself.
Three years prior, Vince had dealt with Julius Little, who was rather hypocritical in the whole ordeal, but Vince only killed him because Julius was going to try to kill him right then and there. He had no idea that Julius would try to betray what he made, but he got in too deep, and this was during a time when Vince was just a soldier who became the primary gunman for the Saints, but then things had escalated during that gang war with the Carnales, the Vice Kings, and the Westside Rollerz. When Vince dealt with Julius, it turned out that Dex double-crossed both of them.
For the past three years, when Saints teamed with the Ultor Corporation to form the Saints-Ultor Media Group, they had made a partnership with the current Chief Executive Officer, Eric Gryphon. However, there were other parts of Ultor that didn't side with the Saints. With Dex running things in another branch of Ultor, it was revealed that not only did he fund for STAG and then convince Senator Hughes for their deployment, but he had also done business with the Syndicate. It would explain why there was an Ultor factory in Steelport, but Dex never told Loren what was in the gas. It was something that seemed amiss when dealing with a crime syndicate with power over the entire city.
In those five months, Vince had talked to Gryphon and Tera about the whereabouts of Dex. No one knew for certain. After the attack on Steelport from STAG that the Saints had averted, Dex had vanished. Gryphon and Tera, as well as Cypher, had agreed to help Vince locate him. The other person for the job was Kinzie, who had the technological skills to locate Dex.
Vince had also gotten to know Cypher, who had filled him in on how she had gotten this job. It turned out that when she was younger, she was recruited against her will to train to become an assassin, which was why she was good at what she did. This lifestyle wasn't her first choice, but she made a career out of it. She had a bone to pick with Dex as well.
After some time had passed, Kinzie filled Vince in on where Dex was – he was located in a southwestern city called Santo Ileso.
All of the Saints wanted to help on this, but Vince declined as the only people he wanted in on this were Johnny and Cypher, both of whom knew Dex.
It was now time to settle this once and for all.
SANTO ILESO
The plane had landed somewhere outside of the city. Vince had heard about this city, as it, too, was a crime-ridden city in the United States. Like Stilwater, as well as Steelport, it was stated that a couple of gangs run this city, called Los Panteros and the Idols, along with an international private military corporation called Marshall Defense Industries, which according to some reports, was not unlike STAG or Ultor's Masako team. It made Vince wonder if Ultor had a partnership with them, too.
This city looked different from each district as had their own feel, with the factions and gangs going with their respective territory. Los Panteros ran Rancho Providencia, which was in the desert and felt like the barrio, not unlike some of the areas the Brotherhood of Stilwater or the Carnales ran. Marshall ran Lakeshore, Santo Ileso's metropolitan area and they were known for their headquarters being a tower that was similar to the Phillips Building in Stilwater. The Idols ran Monte Vista, the city's high-end district. It was in the middle of the desert with cacti not too far, as well as rock-faces miles outside of civilization.
But this trip wasn't about checking out the city or casing in case they wanted to take it over. No, this was about unfinished business with a former friend and former gang lieutenant. Nobody was here for a vacation.
Vince drove down the deserted roads in a purple Atlantica that he had rented from when he landed in an airport a few towns over. As the distance dwindled, civilization had become clearer and clearer. The desert heat, the southwestern feel, it was apparent that this was new territory for both Saints.
"Damn, what kind of place is this?" Johnny said.
Vince looked around. Although he had researched the city, a city in what appeared to be in the middle of nowhere was something unusual. Could he have been desensitized to how Stilwater was with its great diversity and had different feels on different islands. Steelport, on the other hand, had a much different feel. This place, however, had large dinosaur displays on the side of the road, as well as a huge mountain of stone that looked like it had been carved to look like a tyrannosaurus. It might have taken years to get that artwork done.
"Doesn't matter, we're only here on business," Vince said.
Johnny had the GPS. Cypher told the two Saints that she would assist them in some way, but she went her own way to get to Santo Ileso. Vince pulled over and was not sure if he was lost or if Johnny punched in the correct address to get to where they needed to be. They pulled over in an area where there were various businesses around, but one thing that grabbed their attentions was that there were orange muscle cars around, such as Bootleggers, Phoenixes, and Hammerheads. Several people who looked to be in good shape and had tribal tattoos, dressed like gear-heads, motocross bikers, as well as fitness enthusiasts, were seen walking around and hanging out in the vicinity.
Vince figured that these people ran things around here. Seeing as he and Johnny were the only Saints there, it was nothing they couldn't handle, but they weren't here for them.
A muscular Caucasian man with a goatee and a bald head and visible tribal tattoos on display from his tank-top walked up with an African-American woman with dreadlocks who looked to be rather fit and wore the same colors. However, she had an orange sports bra with a red lining and a Panteros imprint on her bra, as well as gym shorts with the same color patterns. She appeared to be the man's girlfriend, as well as right-hand. Vince and Johnny saw these people coming towards them. Both Saints gripped any pistols they had, when the bald man, who appeared to be the leader, knocked on the window. Johnny and Vince looked around as the gang members surrounded. The Panteros' leader gave a signal to roll down the window. Vince and Johnny were outnumbered. All Vince could was comply to their orders.
"May I help you?" Vince said.
"Yes, you look in the wrong part of town," the leader said. "We all know who you are, but this is our territory."
"Fuck off, man, you don't know who you're fucking with," Johnny said.
"Look, on any normal day, I would be up for a fight and gladly fuck you up," Vince said. "But this is not a normal day. I don't know you. We're not here for you. Let's not do this."
"Sure," the lady said. "You Saints think you can just come into Rancho Providencia and take our shit. Yeah, yeah, we know. We know that you have Stilwater at the palm of your hands, as well as Steelport, but this is a different place than those cities."
Vince rolled his eyes and sighed. "Again, we're not here for you. We got lost. We want to surprise an old friend of ours. We heard that he is living out in these parts, somewhere in Lakeshore. I heard that he is in some tall building over there."
Just then, the tension from the Panteros went to a stop. The two leaders looked at each other.
"Well, why didn't you say so?" the Panteros leader said. "My lady and I will give you directions."
The two leaders gave them the address that they needed. They knew which building that they wanted to go to.
"Why are you willing to help us?" Vince said.
The Panteros leader said, "We have had tension with this security agency in Lakeshore. They've been fucking with us lately. Besides, my lady and I may know who you are. If you got some shit to deal with, then go do it."
Vince and Johnny nodded, but the glare on both of their faces didn't come off that easily. That gang was ready to attack them, but if that gang had tension with a security agency that ran that part of the city, the tension must be intense that they would let the Saints go like that. Or maybe they were messing with them. After all, they recognized Vince Shane and Johnny Gat.
It took some time. Vince and Johnny crossed into the Lakeshore district, which was felt like they crossed a threshold into a different place. This was the metropolitan area of Santo Ileso. Johnny looked up as they drove along the freeway and saw a tall building at the center.
"I think that's the place," Johnny said. Vince took a glance. So much intrigue came to mind at that moment. The skyscraper had a blue color scheme to go with it. This gave him a vibe that was similar to the Phillips Building in Stilwater, as well as the Syndicate Tower in Steelport.
"What the hell do you think Dex would be doing at a place like that?" Johnny said. "Do you think Ultor is trying to take over this place as well?"
"Gryphon told me this was where Dex was headed, probably for an important business deal," Vince said. "If Dex could help fund STAG, then maybe he is trying to work a deal with that security gang that those guys back there told us about, or maybe they're another corporation."
"For real?" Johnny said. "Ain't like we haven't taken down some corporations ourselves. The Syndicate was like a mix of a crime syndicate and a corporation. We took over Ultor. Dex must be getting desperate."
"We didn't take over all of Ultor," Vince said. "We may have Gryphon on our side, but when Tera came to help us with the zombies, it seemed that Dex went on his own. We only have the media group of Ultor, but that's it."
"If Dex is in there, then we better go in prepared," Johnny said.
Out of the blue, Vince's phone rang. He quickly answered. "Yeah, Cypher, what's up?"
"I'm on the roof of a building, I see Dex," Cypher said. "He's in a meeting with Atticus Marshall, the head of Marshall Defense Technologies. I will cover you."
"We'll be right there," Vince said.
Inside the Marshall building, an older man with a cowboy hat sat in his large office. This man had a white and blue suit and light gray hair and a goatee. In front of him was Dex, who wore dark gray suit with a pin of the Ultor symbol on his jacket, a white shirt and an orange tie.
"Well, Mr. Jackson," Marshall said. "I can't say that I am opposed to this idea. With this gang problem we have here in Santo Ileso, I know that my people had helped provide the technology for STAG when they tried to occupy Steelport, but then you know what happened. That one gang got the best of them. But you didn't give us much credit."
"Mr. Marshall, with all due respect, aren't you forgetting that we worked together on getting the technology together?" Dex said. "Dane Vogel had all of these schematics and had planned on talking with you before his death about the gang problem in Stilwater. But in those three or four years, you also helped provide the funding that was necessary to get STAG off the ground. We offered to have your name imprinted in their uniforms but you declined, remember?"
"And it turned out to be for the better," Marshall said. "STAG failed at taking down the gangs. They could have taken down the problem in Stilwater. Hell, they could have taken down the problem here."
"Which made me realize that paramilitary groups aren't the answer to take down these gangs," Dex said. "Besides, I have an understanding how gangs work."
"If you say so, Mr. Jackson," Marshall said. "I remember Dane Vogel looked at me as a role model, but then he got killed. The gangs here aren't as big of a problem as they were in Stilwater, or Steelport for that matter. The Idols and the Los Panteros, they worry about their own shit, but if they cause problems, my people know a way to solve them."
"First of all, it's either the Panteros or los Panteros," Dex said. "Second, we may have helped out with STAG, but their own mission was at the request of the government. All of the money we put into their tech, their ships, it went to waste because of the whole Saints problem. I know I had worked with Phillipe Loren, but the Syndicate was pretty much done when STAG came into the picture."
"What is it you want, Dexter?" Marshall said.
"I still want a share in all of the tech, because even though you provided some of the funding, Ultor did the same," Dex said. "Ultor has partnered with you before. We can't let the fuckup in Steelport affect this partnership."
A beep was heard. Marshall heard a sound coming from a speaker on his desk. It was from his intercom. A female voice said, "Mr. Marshall, it appears you have some visitors."
"What? That's impossible," Marshall said. "I don't remember inviting anyone. Besides, I'm in a meeting right now."
The speaker went silent for a bit, but then said, "Sir, they insist that they come up. I didn't ruin anything, but they said they wanted to surprise you and your client."
"What?" Marshall said.
It wasn't long until the sounds of gunshots were heard, as well as yells coming from the hallway. However, a couple of yells were heard, sounding like someone had been assaulted, as well as a demand to put their hands in the air. The two doors with a logo that had an M with a line drawn in an arc had opened. In walked Vince and Johnny, held at gunpoint by two men in white and blue outfits, as well as accompanied by men in SWAT-like outfits with the same color scheme.
Dex looked up. "Well I'll be damned."
"Who the hell…?" Marshall said.
"Oh, Mr. Marshall, these two men are a couple of old friends of mine," Dex said. "I would like you to meet Vincent Shane and Johnny Gat."
"Oh, so they were coming to see you," Marshall said. "That makes sense."
Marshall recognized these two men. The Saints had been all over the media across the nation. He also knew that they were well-known criminals.
"You know, I need a break," Marshall said. "I will leave you two to catch up with your friend."
Marshall went to walk out of his office. Dex signaled the two mercenaries who held Vince and Johnny at gunpoint to put their guns down. However, they stayed, just in case something was to go down.
"It's been a long time, Dex," Vince said with a venomous tone.
"Yeah, you don't call or write anymore, where's the love?" Johnny sneered from the sarcasm in his voice.
Dex grimaced at the sight of the two men. So many questions flooded his mind at that moment. The last time he had seen these two in person was eight years prior, after the stuff that happened with the Saints, Chief Monroe, and Mayor Winslow in Stilwater. Although Dex remained in Stilwater when he worked with Ultor, he didn't cross paths with the two men, but knew what they were up to. Hell, he was in Steelport when the Saints were there, but they didn't see each other.
"What are you doing here?" Dex said.
"We wanted to surprise you," Vince said. "We have a little, how do you say it? Unfinished business."
Dex knew he shouldn't have asked. Although it had been nearly a decade since they saw each other. It had been three years since the incident in Stilwater, whether it was with the three gangs or with Ultor, and had taken off. In those three years, Dex hadn't been a problem, until it was revealed that he had a hand in the funding for STAG. It was obvious to him what the two Saints wanted.
"Come on, can't you just let shit go?" Dex said. "It's been years."
"Right, right," Vince said. "I was in a coma. Johnny was in jail. We rose to power once again. But then you set both Julius and I up. I know what Julius did to me was fucked up, but what you did was fucked up, too."
"I bet you would have gone after me, too, huh?" Johnny said.
Dex grimaced once again. "I don't need this. Men?"
The two mercenaries drew their guns ready to fire at Vince and Johnny. They held rifles, ready to blow holes into the back of their heads. Dex turned around to look away.
BANG!
BANG!
Dex looked up and turned around and saw Vince and Johnny standing there, but the two mercenaries were down, with blood and brain matter staining the floor and the wall.
"What the fuck?" Dex said.
Vince looked at the two corpses. "Oh, that? Oh, we just have some help."
Vince held up a phone and put it on speaker. "Hello, Dex." The sound of the female voice caused Dex's eyes to widen when he heard that.
"…Cypher?" Dex slowly said.
"That's right, Dex," Johnny said. "She's working with us now."
"Okay, you're clearly here to kill me," Dex said. "Just get it over with."
Dex went to kneel before them and put his down as he looked ready to accept his fate.
"Not yet," Vince said.
"Huh?" Dex said.
"We may have unfinished business," Vince said. "But what I want to know is why you decided after three years to have STAG come after us. We also know that you had worked with the Syndicate and tried to get them to take us out."
"Are you fucking serious?" Dex said. "You think I had something to do with the Syndicate targeting you? Don't act like I don't know about that so-called 'publicity stunt' on their bank in Stilwater."
"Well, they sprung up overnight to come to our neck of the woods," Johnny said. "I had never seen a bank that had all of the tellers and guards packing that much heat. They went in behind our backs to try to take Stilwater from under us."
Dex laughed. "Are you listening to yourself right now? They went in because they knew that the Saints had become corporate sellouts. I find it funny how you guys called me a sellout for getting a job with Ultor when shit was getting heavier for us, but look at what happened to you guys."
"Fuck you," Johnny said as he glared at Dex deep in the eye. Dex knew Johnny's emotion right through the dark lenses of his sunglasses.
"I know I've heard that one before," Dex said.
"You knew that we hadn't gone completely soft if you went in and convinced Senator Hughes and Mayor Reynolds to have STAG try to fuck us up and all of Steelport," Vince said. "But look at STAG now."
"You know," Dex said. "I'm surprised that you two didn't kill Troy. I was the first to see he was a cop."
"If it wasn't for Troy, I wouldn't be here, neither would Johnny," Vince said.
"Troy kept a lot of guys off my ass, he kept Vince on life support," Johnny said. "And you think we should have killed him for that?"
"He may have been a cop, but at least he still saw us as his friends," Vince said. "You, on the other hand, you could have helped us. I thought you would help me find Julius, but you were no better. You brought in your army of assholes to try to kill both of us. Hell, it hurt to have to kill Julius, because he betrayed all of us. He was about to shoot me before I shot him. I had no choice."
"You two left a lot of fucking bodies in your wake," Dex said. "And you say that I am the bad one?"
"You used to be the one to try to make the smarter approach," Vince said. "I may have killed a lot of people, but I did it under orders, or because a lot of people tried to kill me. You then decided to fuck all of us over. Shit, Dex, you had Cypher try to kill us. I could have killed her, but then she told me that you paid her to kill me and Johnny. What then, Dex? Were you going to have her or STAG try to kill the rest of the Saints? Did you forget that you were a Saint once?"
"Who? Like Pierce, Shaundi, and those people who joined in Steelport?" Dex said. "I'll never forget where I came from, but Vogel had a good idea in mind to make Stilwater a better place, but no, you guys had to fuck it all up. Oh, and if you're wondering about the rest of your crew, without you two, I'm sure that Pierce and Shaundi wouldn't have stood a chance in the fight against STAG."
"Things would have been fine if you didn't come after us when you did," Vince said. "So I was right. You wanted the Saints to be done, so you orchestrated everything from having Cypher to try to kill us, as well as STAG trying to fuck all of us up."
This back-and-forth argument made Dex open his eyes a bit. Although time had passed since the past incidents, none of these men had let go of the past problems. Johnny was in jail. Vince had been put in a coma from an explosion that he managed to jump away from, but the force of the blast still almost killed him.
Dex quickly went to Marshall's desk and sounded the intercom and called for any reinforcements to come in, whether it was his own security or Marshall's security.
Many of Marshall's mercenaries, as well as Ultor Masako members stormed the office. Vince and Johnny picked up the rifles that the two dead mercenaries dropped and ran towards pillars. There was a good number of mercenaries that went in. Both Vince and Johnny fired a few shots, but with them being outnumbered, it could take just a few shots before they put the two Saints down for good. It didn't matter what they had survived. With little cover around, there was no way that they would survive taking a few shots. Even if Vince and/or Johnny took down one or two, more would come in and likely flank them.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Three men were dropped. Cypher still had her eye to the scope of her McManus 2015 rifle. Johnny and Vince dropped any that kept coming in. However, it wasn't long until they ran out of bullets.
BANG!
A shot was fired to the wall. Both Saints turned around. Dex had pulled out a .45 Shepherd. Both Vince and Johnny looked at Dex like they didn't know what to think.
"You had that on you the whole time?" Vince said.
"You could have killed us when you had the chance," Johnny said.
"Just like you could have killed me," Dex said. "I won't hold back now."
Dex pointed the gun at Johnny first, because he knew how trigger-happy that man was and then wanted to take down Vince afterwards. He panted hard, trembled, and grimaced hard at both men, like he was upset that these two men just wouldn't die. It was clear to him that these two men would be the ones to come to Santo Ileso to confront him. Dex had never met the other Saints, but he was familiar with them. Vince and Johnny were the only two Saints left who were there from the beginning. It was now time to put down the two originals.
BANG!
Blood and flesh splattered all over the place as Dex got shot in the shoulder. He grimaced in pain from the gunshot.
BANG!
"AAAAAHHHH!" Dex yelled. Another shot. This time it was to one of his legs. Cypher had shot him from the distance. She didn't kill him, as she knew that the two Saints had more of a score to settle with him. Dex slowly crawled, but it looked more like he was dragging himself on the ground, as blood smeared all over the floor.
"You know what, fuck this," Johnny said. "We spent a few years not worrying about this fool. He ain't worth it, Playa."
Vince chuckled. "Man, that brings back memories of being called that. Come on, let's get out of here."
The two turned around and headed to the doors as Dex groaned in pain as he got one foot on the floor and used his left hand to guide him to his feet.
"NOOOOO!" Dex yelled. "DIE!"
Vince turned around and saw that Dex was about to draw his gun once more. He rushed towards Dex, while Johnny stood there and watched as Vince tackled Dex to the ground and delivered a few punches to his face. After that, Vince saw the bullet holes on the window. It was broken enough and then saw Dex lying on the floor. He walked to Dex.
"Get up, Dex," Vince said and then helped guide him to his feet and then dragged him towards the window. As they stood right to the window, Vince looked at Dex dead in the eye.
"Say good night, Dex," Vince said and then lifted him and threw him towards the broken window. The glass shattered. Dex yelled as he dropped lots of stories to the ground.
SPLAT!
Vince looked down and saw Dex's corpse lie there, splattered and smashed as blood and parts of his body had broken off. Johnny walked up and saw the remnants of his and Vince's former friend and fellow gang member.
"Damn, Boss," Johnny said. "I knew we would get Dex one day, but I had thought of slicing or stabbing him, or pumping full of lead. This is something else."
"It's been a long time coming, Johnny," Vince said. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Out of the blue, Marshall and a few of his security guards and mercenaries walked into his office.
"Shit," Vince said.
"What the hell happened in here?" Marshall said.
"I got into an argument with my friend," Vince said. "It didn't end well. Listen, I'll pay for the damages on the windows and the wall, as well as the bodies."
"No," Marshall said. "You did me a favor. Dexter Jackson and I had some problems with our partnership for months. He was getting a little greedy at times. I got a lot of money. I'll pay for the damages."
"Are you serious?" Vince said.
"Yes, sir," Marshall said. "You two go on ahead now. Besides, my name is on the goddamn building. This is my town."
"Okay," Vince said and shook Marshall's hand, and Johnny did the same.
As soon as they got out of the building, many people surrounded Dex's corpse. Vince got out his phone and made a call.
"Cypher, it's done," Vince said.
"I know, that's a hell of way to get rid of him," Cypher said.
"I did what I had to do," Vince said. "It was great working with you."
"Hey, you ever need help, just call me," Cypher said.
"I will," Vince said. The call had ended.
Johnny looked around. "Man, this city has some potential."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Think we should take over this city as well?" Vince said.
"Nah, I'm thinking we should check out more of this, I hear there's casinos and shit," Johnny said. "We should go check that shit out."
"Sounds good to me," Vince said. "Maybe one day we'll see about taking over this city, but not now. Besides we're here, let's go have some fun. Maybe I'll call some of our people to come out as well."
"Whatever works, Boss," Johnny said.
Sometime later, the Saints had all gone to a movie premiere for "Gangstas in Space." It turned out there had been a reshoot. This time Josh Birk played the lead role while his love interest was played by Jenny Jaros, who played Princess Kwilanna, an alien princess who had escaped her planet from the clutches of an alien overlord named Zinyak, the ruler of the Zin Empire.
Although the Saints had produced the film, they decided that it was time to put aside being corporate whores. They still had a hand as they were managing Birk's acting career, but they had two cities to run. They had their hands full for it, but things have been going well for the Saints.
Now it was time to see what they had to plan for next.
THE END.
Author's note: That's all, folks! I can't believe it took a year and a half to finally finish this. I had wanted to get this done sooner, but things got in the way. But I finally finished it.
If you're wondering, yes, I used the setting for the Saints Row reboot as the setting for this chapter and also talked about the factions/gangs from that game. I don't think that the mainline games are tied to the reboot, but look at it this way – the GTA series has their cities like Liberty City, Vice City, and the San Andreas cities mentioned throughout their continuities like the 2D universe, the 3D universe, and the HD universe. Saints Row could do it that way with Stilwater, Steelport, and Santo Ileso.
Also, I would like to thank all of my readers for their support of this story. I know I wanted to finish this sooner, but thankfully, some of the ideas had changed over time and I am glad that I went with those changes. I don't think I would have thought of those ideas at that time. This had been one of hell of a project for me.
Again, thank you for reading this.