A/N- It's been awhile, guys, but here's chapter nine! I wasn't even going to post this today but your reviews encouraged me to keep on writing what ended up being my longest chapter yet ;-; thank you, as always. Darcy, you are honestly so awesome. Mondlichtvogel: I'm so happy to have such a loyal fan! Ace and Remi, y'all's bosses sound adorable and badass. Anchorgurl, ask and you shall recieve ;). FeistyGreenSnake, thanks the games are always so hilarious that I feel I have to make the story at least a bit funny to sort of honor that sense of humor DX. StopTalkingToMe, no worries you're right on time! I'm happy to have you. Glittermask, it's great to see how happy this makes you. Matt is pretty great, isn't he? xDemoiselleGothique, I hope this is soon enough :). This one is a Boss POV chapter and contains more of the actual game than I've probably put in in a while but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway! It was very vital to the story that this chapter existed.
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Saints Row or any of its characters. The content of this story was not meant to insult anyone in any way, shape or form. Rated T for violence and coarse language.
Chapter Nine: Femme Fatale
I'd honestly never have imagined that I, at the ripe old age of twenty-one, would be seated next to my former enemy playing Nyte Blayde: Nyte of the Undead in his room on his PS3. The irony of this situation is still too difficult for me to grasp and I try to gloss over it by kicking my opponent's butt at his own favorite game. I do love videogames and destroying hordes of zombies so keeping focused on this is much easier than trying to make sense of the rest of it.
"You can't just sneak up on me like that!" Matt whines as my character strangles his from behind. I roll my eyes, well aware by now that he is what most people politely refer to as a "sore loser".
"Then why'd the game give me four hundred points for it?"
"Details." he mutters, his lower lip sticking out in a pout. For just a fraction of a second I feel like pulling him closer to me and smashing his lipstick-covered mouth over my own, but that desire is gone as quickly as it came. I've been getting weird urges like that more and more often over the past several weeks and they're really starting to bother me.
Three rounds and three stunning defeats later, Matt finally throws his controller down and crawls up onto the bed we'd been leaning against. The sounds of techno music and discordant, happy voices float up to us from downstairs where his Saints (formerly Deckers) are enjoying their time off, a momentary reprieve from all the zombie growls I'd heard over the past few hours.
"So what'd you think?" he asks after a few seconds, a hand thrown over his face in what I assume is a gesture of shame.
"It was fun," I admit, "But seriously, why the fuck do I have to kill you and the undead at the same time? It's usually one or the other."
"That's what's so unique about it!" his voice rises in pitch as he gets more and more excited, "Few other games are willing to address a situation in which you and the other players are enemies rather than allies in a post-apocalyptic world. Many critics agree that it is a very interesting dynamic."
"Well this critic is thirsty," I point to myself, "Get me a drink, would you?"
He does it without complaint, getting up and grabbing two sodas from the minifridge across his room. Matt slides back down next to me before handing me mine and cracking his own can open. We sit in near-silence for a while longer, absorbed in our drinks, when he interrupts with the last thing I thought I'd ever hear him say.
"I know your name."
It comes as a shock, this revelation, because he's never actually said my name out loud before. Kinzie is the only other person who knows my real name and she's taken to calling me by it whenever we're alone (something that bothers me a little, but oh well).
"Really." I say by way of an answer. He nods, sipping at his drink nonchalantly.
"What else do you know about me?"
Matt puts down his A.G. Barr cream soda and gives me a this thoughtful look like he can't quite remember. I get the feeling that it's all for show because I've come to realize that he has a near photographic memory.
"I know about Carlos."
I flinch at this, but stop myself from reacting in any other way. I'd love to punch him right about now but this is Matt. It's my job to keep him safe.
"I know that the statue the Saints like to put up in pretty much every plot of land they own is a replica of the younger you."
If I was a normal girl, I'd blush at this and deny it vehemently, but I'm not so I maintain my stoic demeanor instead. In my defense that statue was designed back when I was still in a coma and the Saints had thought me dead. It's more of a tombstone than anything else.
"And I know you have family in Stilwater," he seems to be finishing up, "But I'm not sure who they are or where exactly they live."
"So you don't know why I joined the Saints." I mutter, more to myself than to him. I shouldn't be surprised. This is the one thing about me that not even Johnny knew.
"No. Are you going to tell me?"
"Not a chance," I smile, trying to communicate that this isn't meant to offend him, "What about you? How'd you end up in Steelport?"
Matt picks up the remote from on top of his bed spread and switches his TV off before turning back to face me. There's a certain glint in his eyes that I've become very accustomed to seeing recently, something I'm starting to feel that I'd rather not do without.
"It's not very complicated. I grew up in England but...things just move so slowly over there. I enjoy the pace of life here and that, as well as Loren's offer, is why I came here."
"Loren's offer?"
"He and the DeWynters scouted me out. They needed a hacking prodigy who was young enough to be amenable to their wishes," he scratches at the metal of his soda can with his thumbnail, "I guess I fit the bill."
This thought seems to have upset him for some reason. He has this look on his face like he's staring at an advertisement for the series finale of the Nyte Blayde TV show.
"Matt," I begin, unsure of what I really want to say, "What's my favorite color?"
"Purple, obviously."
I mimic the sound of a game show buzzer going off after a wrong answer. He raises his eyebrows, clearly surprised.
"It's not?" he inquires and I shake my head, "Then what is it?"
"That's not my point," I say evasively, "The Saints color is purple, even though that's not even close to being my favorite."
"You could've just changed it to the color you wanted, once you became their leader." Matt says, and I can tell that this is exactly what he did. Everything about the Deckers is based off of everything about him.
"It's not about me, though." I launch into my explanation, "The Saints are who they are, not what I want them to be. They follow my orders but at the end of the day, I belong to them as much as they do to me."
"What's your point?"
"I want you to stop making that face," I mockingly switch out my neutral expression for his melancholy one, "Because you haven't screwed the Deckers over, okay? Morningstar failed, but you didn't. You fucking beat me."
He grins smugly at this, a wide, unabashed smile that would look out of place on anyone else besides him. With his head cocked to one side he challenges my authority.
"Why aren't I the Queen of the Saints, then?"
I elbow him in the gut just hard enough to remind him who has the upper hand here.
"I could eviscerate you in ten seconds flat, Cybergod. Never forget that."
His hands are folded over his stomach, protection against any future attacks orchestrated by me. With that smug smile still in place he give me an equally patronizing answer.
"Anything your heart desires, my liege."
"Pierce, fucking pick up the phone when I call you!"
My lieutenant completely ignores me as I storm into our headquarters, his attention focused entirely on the chess set in front of him. Matt slides into place beside me and begins analyzing the board.
"You should move that rook ahead two spaces." he tells Oleg, garnering an angry glare from his opponent.
"Rook?" Oleg seems pretty confused by Matt's English phrasing.
"It's the-"
"Pierce, what's happening with Killbane?" I interrupt. He looks up when I talk, but I can tell he's not really seeing me.
"Heard back from Legal Lee. Studio wants you to do a screen test for Gangstas in Space."
"Fuck that, we're done being corporate whores." I proclaim, "So who's win-what's that?"
A gigantic STAG emblazoned mass is flying toward us at top speed and all of us are definitely within its impact zone. I grab Matt's arm without thinking and drag him behind a couch along with me, covering his thin frame with my own as a fucking VTOL crashes through the glass window that wraps around our penthouse. I wait a few seconds before I chance looking around. Matt's blue eyes are the first thing I see, widened and afraid but lacking the weakness I've come to expect from him. He looks...determined. Oleg and Pierce come out of their respective crouches to take in the scope of the destruction done to us.
"God. DAMN. It" Pierce enunciates each word as if it will be his last. Instead of making sure no one else is injured, he's entirely fixated on his upended chessboard. I release Matt and stand up so I can better appraise the gigantic wall of machinery that has replaced our windows. Redecoration at its finest.
"What the hell is going on?!" I demand from no one in particular. My lieutenants exchange a glance that lets me know that they are just as confused by the situation as I am. I let out an angry sigh before reaching for the SMG strapped to my hip.
"We gotta get down there."
It becomes apparent that the entire city has been thrown into chaos the further down our elevator goes. By the time we've spilled out onto the street we're already face to face with a wave of what looks like STAG/Luchadore soldiers. They're shooting at each other and at us, stray bullets occasionally hitting innocent bystanders on the sidewalks. This more than anything else strengthens my resolve because while I have no qualms about murdering in general, I do have a rule about not harming innocents if it can be avoided.
Oleg, Pierce, and I join the fray, leaving Matt behind an upturned car to target our enemies with the reaper drone. If it were anyone else besides him I wouldn't trust them with it, but it is and this makes me feel safer somehow.
I move through the throng, knocking a head here and putting a bullet through a man's chest there, but stop abruptly when I hear Kinzie's voice through the tiny chip in my ear.
"The city's falling apart. Fights everywhere."
Her sentences are short and choppy, punctuated by the faint sound of a keyboard clacking away in the distance. I adjust the chip with one finger so I can hear her over all the shooting and screaming.
"This is my city, Kinzie!" I say, fighting down my hysteria, "I can't let them rip it apart!"
There's a crackle and the line goes silent for a moment before a third voice with a familiar British accent joins in on our conversation.
"It seems that this is what the STAG initiative was meant to be." Matt adds in, "They're deploying soldiers within the sectors with the most gang activity."
Kinzie bursts in with a screeching noise that I would more easily associate with a long-extinct dinosaur species.
"MATT FUCKING MILLER GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY FUCKING LINE BEFORE I FUCKING BASH YOUR FUCKING UGLY FACE IN!"
I freeze up, running into Oleg's back as my legs stop their motions. Never in my life have I heard that many 'fucking's in one sentence and never in my life have I been more impressed with Kinzie's hatred of Matt.
"Jesus…" I breathe, too scared to speak any louder. Pierce bumps into my shoulder as he runs past, looking scandalized that I'm not currently helping them.
"That was a tad excessive, don't you think?" Matt pipes up. He sounds much less put-off than I feel, but maybe that's to be expected. He has to deal with Kinzie's hatred of him on a daily basis.
"Skinning you alive would not be even the slightest bit excessive."
"Kinzie, please just tell me how to fix all this!" I plead with her. A missile hits a couple of Luchadore trucks to my left, letting me know that Matt finally got that reaper working.
She lets out a low groan and stops bothering the Brit for a moment.
"I'll keep my ear on the police band, let you know where things are really bad."
"Thank you."
I hear a click, signaling that one of my two hacker friends has removed herself from our comm system for the moment. The area in front of the Saints' HQ is now nearly devoid of all threats and I feel comfortable enough to check on my people.
"I'm good," Pierce assures me as I look him over for injuries. Oleg runs up to us with Matt right on his heels, still clutching that all-powerful reaper drone in his thin hands.
"We both are well." Oleg announces, "Have you contacted Kinzie?"
"Yeah, actually-"
"New Colvin." the aforementioned agent pops into existence in my ear, "You might wanna get over there, like, now."
We follow her instructions to the letter, clearing three more areas of crazed Luchadores and STAG soldiers until Kinzie directs us down to the Armory. We maintain the same formation we'd used before, Oleg at the helm with me and Pierce bringing up the rear, Matt commanding missiles to our location from a short distance away. This must be the largest concentration of enemies we've faced yet because even Oleg is starting to get winded.
"Hey, I was thinking: we might die here," Pierce calls out an ominous thought, "Anything you want to get off your chest?"
"Way to be a downer, Pierce…" I mutter just quietly enough that only Matt can hear me over the comm system. He snickers in reply, a sound that is immediately drowned out by the tenor of Oleg's booming voice.
"He has a point. Were Kinzie here, I'd pour out my heart."
"What?!" Pierce shouts back, clearly shocked. I'm not surprised, however, having seen the development of their relationship coming along nicely for the past few weeks.
"It's rare I find an intellectual equal." Oleg supplies as an explanation. I take the opportunity to blurt out my truth, trusting that the excitement of bringing down hordes of enemies will force them to gloss over it.
"I still see Johnny."
My statement is as simple as it is confusing, and it's no wonder that neither of my companions seem to understand it. What I want to tell them is that I often spot Johnny's face in a crowd when he's not really there, that I hear his voice when there's no way in hell he'll ever be close enough to speak to me again, but I refrain from making myself any clearer.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Pierce bellows, genuinely curious. I ignore him as Matt begins to state his truth only to me.
"I love you."
I feel my heart stutter to a complete stop for a few seconds before it finds the strength to start beating again. It's surprising how much his words are affecting me here and now, but even more surprising still is the way it hurts to hear them.
"Don't ever tell me you love me just because you're worried I'm gonna die." I command firmly. I don't mention to him just how badly this entire exchange reminds me of my last words with Carlos.
"Yes, my liege." Matt quickly backtracks, "I'll just keep it to myself for now."
"If you two are done with your romantic sideshow, you might notice that you're pretty much done." Kinzie's voice returns, snapping us back to the present. A quick three-sixty tells me that we've cleared out the entire armory of dangerous individuals.
"Yaaay, I'm a hero." I say in a somewhat sarcastic tone. Oleg and Pierce are both smiling at me, clearly pleased that the four of us have survived this battle to end all battles. My phone starts ringing as I return their grins and I pull it out of my pocket only to see that it's Angel calling me. I don't get much out of the conversation besides the fact that Killbane is at the airport trying to escape Steelport in all this madness and that Angel is going to go after him alone despite my insistence that he wait for me to get to him. I'm just about to explain the situation to Matt and my lieutenants when the cellphone rings again, this time displaying a number I've never seen before.
"Hello, Saint." the stranger says and I recognize her voice as that of Kia, Cyrus Temple's second-in-command.
"Yeah, hey, look I really don't have time for this right now so if we could do it, say, tomorrow, I'd really appreciate that."
"That's very funny." Kia sounds quite bitter, "I wonder if you'd still be laughing if you knew that I have Shaundi and Viola in custody right now."
My heart drops down way to my stomach as I process this statement and I recognize the threat that it represents right away. I have to get a hold of Legal Lee so he can bail our girls out of whatever they've gotten themselves into.
"They won't talk without a lawyer present," I list off something that reminds me of the Miranda Rights, "And you can't keep them in jail unless they've been charged with something."
"You should come down to Magarac Island."
This doesn't make any sense. Pierce makes a questioning gesture, unable to hear any of our conversation, and I'm not sure what to tell him.
"Why?"
"As it turns out, the Saints are about to blow it up." I can almost hear a wicked smile in her voice.
"Yeah right," I scoff, "We've been running around the city cleaning up your fucking mess."
"We'll see how many people believe that when the bodies of your bitches are found in the wreckage."
The line goes dead before I have time to respond to this, and even if it hadn't I'm not sure I'd know how to. I feel like the world is shattering around me and I have no idea how to put it back together. Matt, having driven to us during my conversation with Kia, shakes me until I'm level-headed enough to make them understand the situation.
"You can't make it to both and you can't let Shaundi die." Pierce breaks in before I'm done explaining, "Fuck Killbane, he ain't worth losing our girls."
"Killbane is why you're here." Oleg disagrees, "Don't let everything Shaundi and Viola have fought for be for nothing."
Pierce looks at him with incredulity etched on every line on his face and for a moment I'm sure that the smaller man is going to throw a punch at the gargantuan humanoid we'd adopted into our ranks. The moment passes, however, and Pierce instead turns to me with distress evident in his eyes. He doesn't need to worry; I'd made up my mind long ago.
"Kinzie, I need your help." I say to the comm system, "They've got Shaundi and-"
"I know," she sounds like she's trying to soothe me, "I'm at the docks. Come here fast."
I start running for the closest car the second Kinzie clicks off the line, thinking of Shaundi and Angel and nothing else. There's a good chance that the latter of the two will die today; I have my doubts about him taking down that behemoth, Killbane, on his own. Shaundi, on the other hand, is someone I will either save or die trying to. I'm so deeply entrenched in these thoughts that I don't realize anyone was following me until they grab my hand.
"I just-" Matt starts to say, but I cut him off before he can finish.
"Sorry, Matt, you only get one emotion-packed goodbye per fight to the death."
I try to pull my hand out of his and open the driver's seat door, but he refuses to release me. His grip on me tightens instead and he pulls me closer to him. Matt's gotten taller in the last two months we've been together, something that becomes apparent as I notice that his eyes are now nearly level with mine.
"I just wanted to remind you how much each Saint cares about you." he says, nodding towards Pierce and Oleg, "You're not just their boss, you know. They would all lay down their lives for you."
I look at Pierce and Oleg too and am surprised to find them staring back with distressed expressions.
"Why are you telling me this?" I say, my voice coming out kind of strangled. He moves another step forward and it's hard to breathe with him this close.
"They would never forgive themselves if you didn't make it back."
Are British people always this manipulative? I'm torn between wanting to throw him through the windshield of the jeep in front of me and wanting to drag him forward so his stupid, perfect lips can finally meet mine. I struggle with this dilemma for milliseconds before deciding on the latter.
"Fucking kiss me already." I demand, grabbing him by the tie and tilting his head back. I'm waiting for him to meet me halfway and he looks like he's about to, but he ends up taking a step back instead.
"I can't." he is breathless.
"What?"
"That can't be my choice."
"What the hell is taking you so long?!" Kinzie snaps in my ear. I cringe and everything comes crashing back down. I have to save Shaundi. I let Matt go, clambering into the car without another word, and luckily Magarac Island is fairly close by. I'm with Kinzie in less than five minutes. She informs me, while handing me a STAG sonic gun, that there are bombs set up all around the Steelworker monument on the island and that I'll have to blow them into the water in order to save the thing from getting obliterated. I thank her and take the weapon, assuring her that she doesn't need to worry about me. Getting up the based of the monument is fairly easy as it was being worked on by construction crews before this whole bomb thing went down. I make my way to the top where I assume my friends are being held, blowing bombs off ledges and untying captured Saints foot soldiers as I go. I've brutally killed more STAG soldiers than I can count and I'm furious to the point that I wouldn't mind shoving a hand into Kia's ribcage and tearing her heart out.
"Boss!" Shaundi calls out as I reach the heels of Joe Magarac's monument. Kia has her in a chokehold and I have a sudden flashback to the time Veteran Child had held her in the same way back in Stilwater, using her as a shield to keep me at bay. I'm twice as angry now as I ever was then.
"I'm surprised you came," Kia's voice is taunting, as if she thinks that'll actually have an effect on me. I glare at her witheringly. She's been dead since the first second she decided to lay a finger on Shaundi.
"I won't let you hurt what's mine."
To my surprise, Burt Reynolds is tied up and lying on the ground next to Viola. I have no idea how he got captured, but there will be hell to pay when I cut him free. Nobody tries to kill Burt fucking Reynolds on my watch.
"Really? Lin. Carlos. Aisha. Johnny. All you do is let your friends die."
Metaphorically, I suppose this is the straw that broke the camel's back. I lose all vestiges of any control I had over myself and allow the full wrath of my temper problem to take the reins. My hand flies to my pockets and I throw several electrical grenades at Kia's feet, shocking both her and my best friend but truly hurting neither. I reach out, my arm feeling like a phantom limb, and wrench Shaundi away from her captor. Kia is defenseless and I am quite literally manic with anger. She can do nothing to stop me as I shove her to the ground and use the hard heel of my armored shoes to crack through the torso of her protective covering, and I don't stop there. I keep smashing my foot into her until her chest is completely pulverized. She chokes to death on her own blood. I stare down at her deformed body, unable to remember anything besides how glad I am for her suffering.
"Boss…" Shaundi sounds as scared as I feel. She tries to lay a hand on my shoulder but I tear myself away and let out a low hiss. It takes a while for my mind to register who she is, and even longer for my heart rate to slow down enough to understand that I came here to save her.
"Fuck." I mutter, and move towards my two tied up allies. Viola can't seem to meet my gaze but Burt Reynolds is somehow as composed as always.
"I'd greatly appreciate if you'd untie me now." he reminds me. I shake my head and remove his bindings with great care. When I reach over to help Viola, she flinches away from my hand. I pull back, stung, and she gives me an apologetic look.
"I'm just a little frazzled, that's all." she assures me. I rip the ropes from around her wrists but the way she jerked away from me doesn't leave my mind.
"Let's get out of here." Shaundi moves to stand beside me and pulls my arm over her shoulder. I didn't realize that I needed her assistance until she offered it to me. The four of us make our way back down to the base of the monument only to be met with a cotillion of STAG soldiers, led by none other than Cyrus Temple and Monica Hughes. They begin screaming at us the moment they lay eyes on us and Shaundi screams right back in my stead. Eventually both sides of the argument must concur with Mayor Reynolds, who states in rather impolite terms that I saved the city when STAG tried to destroy it. The Saints are being let off the hook.
"So what's the play, boss?" Pierce says over the comm system as Shaundi, Viola, and I catch a helicopter back to our headquarters, "We go back to bangin' in Stilwater?"
I think of everything I've done since I got here, of all the toes I've stepped on and all the enemies I've basically destroyed. I worry over Angel's fate and wonder if Viola will ever get used to the image of me she has seen today. Lastly, I remember leaving my final moments with Matt unfinished. It's a good thing that I'm still alive to return to him.
"Not yet." I say. And we go home.