Disclaimer: I don't claim ownership of anything from the Saints Row universe. The only thing I own is this story based on the series and my own original characters that appear throughout.

Chapter 2 - Canonized

Previously...

"In a minute" came Julius' authoritative response. Turning back to her, he began to stand. "Look the Row's got a problem. Come to the church if you want to be a part of the solution" he said before turning to walk away.

Vivian's brows drew together as she watched the duo leave.

Did I just get scouted to join a gang? The fuck?

XxX

Vi couldn't believe she was doing this.

She was about to join one of the gangs of Stilwater and she had no idea what crazy train of thought had led her to this point. There were a thousand ways that this could end up badly for her. She could be killed, maimed, cut down or beaten to death! She wasn't cut out for this sort of shit! People would end up scraping pieces of her off the side walk and her name would be pasted on the front page of a newspaper.

No. She couldn't do this.

But if there was one thing that Vi knew, she knew about the insane amounts of cash that could be made in gang operations. Sure the money wasn't exactly clean and she'd have to fight tooth and nail to get it but goddammit she needed it.

Scrunching up the coffee cup in her fist, she tossed it into the nearby trashcan and strode across the street corner towards the church. Considering the circumstances, this church seemed oddly intimidating as it loomed overhead. Vi let that thought slide. There was no changing her mind now. She needed this.

Spotting a few purple clothed members walking down the sidewalk towards the back of the church she decided to follow them. She mentally cursed herself for wearing just a simple pair of dark cargo shorts and a black tank. But she supposed neutral was better than no color at all, right?

Turning the corner she noticed how many purple clothed people were actually gathered. There weren't that many to be intimidated but there were still too many to be set at ease. She gently elbowed her way deeper into the crowd. Though she felt extremely out of place in the sea of purple, she was set at ease by Troy standing on the top of the stairs. At least there was one familiar face in the sea of strangers. She felt even more at ease when Julius emerged from the church doors. They both looked exactly the same as that night when they had saved her life.

"Every motherfucker here knows what we need to do" came Julius' voice, cutting through the chatter. The crowd quieted down as they turned to listen to the man speak. "Now those bitches be riding around here thinking they own these streets… I don't care what flags they flying – Rollerz, Carnales, Vice Kings. No one's making those nigga's scared to walk the Row" he said, gesturing with his arms. A low murmur spread through the crowd. Vi couldn't pick out what they were saying but it seemed Julius was doing a good job of riling them up. "We about to lock this shit down right now" ground out Julius as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"Fuck yeah!" came a voice from ahead of her. Turning, she saw a head of dark hair with frosted white tips. What kind of weirdo would want hair like that?

"Who the fucks this chick?" came the same voice, and she looked down to meet the shades of the man who was undoubtedly addressing her. Who the fuck wears shades that dark when it's not even sunny outside? Who the hell did he think he was talking to her like that? Fucking four eyes…

She felt unease rip through her as a scowl appeared on her face. A few of the members began to circle her and she felt her fists clench at her sides. She felt like a lamb being surrounded by a pack of wolves. Hungry wolves that were looking to take a bite out of any fresh newbie that didn't prove their worth.

"Who the fuck's asking?" she ground out, glaring at the man with the sunglasses.

A low murmur crept through the crowd as Four Eyes quirked an eyebrow in response. He smirked and took a step to advance on her before Julius spoke once more.

"Troy and I found her… Gonna see if she'll ride with us" said Julius, giving her a nod of approval.

Four Eyes stopped dead in his tracks and turned his unimpressed expression on Julius.

"Julius if she wanna run with the Saints then she gotta be canonized" said Four Eyes as he faced his boss.

Canonized? Now no one mentioned being canonized.

Before she could even respond and tell Four Eyes to shove his initiation up his ass, Troy decided to speak.

"Hey... He's right Julius" said Troy, speaking around his smoke. "Everyone had to do it."

Julius' mouth set in a thin line across his face as he met her glower, "You ready for this, playa?"

How many ways were there to say no? She couldn't count at the moment but all she knew was that she needed this. Were there a lotta pricks to fight off? Yes. Was she scared? Of course. Was she still going to do it? Fuck yes.

Think of the money V! Think of the money!

"Let's just get this over with" she ground out as she cracked her knuckles

Feeling a few of the members step closer, she backed herself away from the wall of people that wanted to swarm her. Bringing her fists up to her chest, she put one foot in front of the other.

Fists up. You got this V, focus.

"Let's go boys!" came a loud voice that Vi couldn't decipher.

A scrawny guy with a mop of messy brown hair made a lunge for her. He grabbed her forearm before she had a chance to react and attempted to pull her into the mob of people waiting to beat her to a pulp. Vi dug her heels into the ground and brought her other fist to meet his face. His grip seemed to loosen only slightly so she brought her fist back up and repeatedly mashed him in the face. She felt the adrenaline kick in as a rush filled her. The man let out a cry before she struck him across the face with the back of her fist, effectively knocking him down.

She felt a harsh tug on her hair as her head was snapped back. Before she knew what was happening she was pulled back into two other guys who were itching for a fight. Throwing her head backwards, she knocked her head into someone's face. The harsh yelp in response was pleasing to her ear. A sting of pain cut through her skull but she forced herself to continue. Throwing her fist forward once more she clocked a blonde male square in the cheekbone. Turning she grabbed the hand that had grabbed her hair and threw the person into the remaining man. Her gaze turned back to meet the sight of the blonde who was still clutching at his face. Thinking fast, she quickly aimed an unforgiving kick to the back of his knee. He keeled over in pain and she grinned at the sight.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay down hombre" she called out, feeling high off the rush.

A swift hit to her side drew her out of moment as she felt the air get knocked out of her. Another hit her in the back of her shoulder and she bent over in pain. Coughing loudly, she turned to meet a girl and a guy who had undoubtedly attempted to double team her. The girl didn't seem like much and her short pixie cut certainly wasn't intimidating either. Vi pulled her fists tighter into her chest before she quickly knocked the male beside her in the calf. He stumbled backwards and she took the opportunity to roundhouse kick him in the face. The pixie girl seemed surprised as Vi turned on her. She drew her fist back and floored the pixie girl in the face. This drew a cry from her as she fell backwards at the impact. Hearing footsteps come up behind her she quickly brought her elbow back and hit the guy behind her in the gut. He doubled over in pain and Vi took this time to grab his arm and twist it behind his back. He cried out in pain as she brought him to his knees. She would've went farther if Troy hadn't chosen that moment to butt in.

"Enough!" came Troy's voice as he walked towards her.

Releasing her grip on the man, she smiled in satisfaction as he scrambled away from her. The others that had also fallen around her slowly got to their feet as well.

"You earned your colors today" said Troy, nodding with his hand outstretched. She felt pride rise within her at her ability to please one of the higher ranked members. She quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a half hug.

"That's some impressive shit!" came another voice as a hand came to rest on her shoulder. Turning she met the gaze of a dark male who wore his hat on backwards. His hair stuck out at odd angles and she guessed he was also someone of importance. "The only other Saint who kicked ass like that was Johnny" he continued, grinning at her and turning to look at Four Eyes.

"Shit, took me half the time" said Four Eyes as if it were a secret. Vi could feel his ego inflating from afar.

"Welcome to the Third Street Saints, V" said Julius as he gave her a fist bump. "Let's get down to bidness."

"Now if we're serious about taking back the Row, we gotta let those motherfuckers know what time it is" he said and Vi felt herself nod along with Four Eyes. He cracked his neck as their eyes met once more. "Now you break it down, it's all about respect. Get enough of it, they're going to back off and we're going to move right on in. Course you can always drop any motherfucker flying the wrong flag. So long as word gets out that the Saints is on the Row, I don't give a damn how ya do it… Ya feel me?"

Vi nodded curtly. Pile on the respect and drive out any rival gangs. It seemed simple enough. The whole process would take a little time to get used to but it seemed the worst was over for now.

"V, I need you to hang around. I'm gonna need you to talk to you in just a second here" said Julius as he glanced at her.

She only nodded in response but not before noticing the alarmed expression on Troy's face. Julius quickly stepped away along with Dex, Troy and Four Eyes. The four men formed a small huddle off in the corner as they went to discuss who knows what. Her brows furrowed in response to Troy's lack of faith in her. She didn't have much time to dwell on it though due to heavy pat on her back that pulled her back to reality.

"That was a good scrap back there..." came the voice of the blonde guy she had punched in the face and kicked in the back of the knee. "...For a chick anyways" he finished with a wry grin.

Vi shrugged his hand off her shoulder and turned to face him fully to take in his purple hat, purple baseball tee and dark wash jeans. The pixie haired girl she had punched in the face came to stand beside him as well, dragging the muscular man that had tried to double team her.

"That was some shitty effort from a guy who went down after a kick to the back of the knee" she retorted, crossing her arms.

She watched the pixie girl attempt to stifle her laughter but fail miserably.

"Whaaaat?" he responded, elbowing the laughing girl next to him. "You told me to stay down didn't cha? I wasn't going to disobey when you asked me so nicely."

Vi felt her lips turn up at the corners and she couldn't help but smile. Whatta dork.

"Pleased to meet cha! The name's Kitty!" said the pixie as she threw out her hand in front of her. "Uh, wait... do we do handshakes around here? Crap, I can't even remember" she said, sheepishly with a confused expression.

"S'alright" replied Vi with a small smile. "I can dig it."

A small silence lingered as the two shook hands. Kitty was grinning widely just like a Cheshire cat and Vi could completely understand how she had gotten her name.

"Oh! You've already met Jack... this here is Big Max!" said Kitty cheerily, gesturing first to the blonde and then to the bulky man beside her. Vi simply nodded to both men in turn. Jack offered her another grin while Big Max just grunted in her general direction. She supposed that was the most that she would get out of both of them.

"Well, I guess they're just letting anyone in these days" came another male voice and Vi watched as Kitty's smile dropped.

The lanky, brown haired boy who had tried to throw her to the other Saints had decided to make an appearance. What the hell was this? Some fucked up game of Guess Who? She doubted she'd remember all the names and faces at this rate if more of them kept popping outta nowhere. But she'd definitely remember this one since his opening line was a fuckin' insult.

Vi cocked an eyebrow in his direction but chose to say nothing.

"I mean look at those arms... Can you even lift a gun?" he scoffed at her as her eyebrow raised even further. Was this guy for real? What the hell was this? Grade school?

"I'm gonna let that one slide, pendejo. You must've taken too many hits to the head after I repeatedly punched you in the face because you must be out of your goddamn mind" she responded, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What the fuck didja just-"

He was cut off as Troy cut into their conversation.

"The boss wants to see you, V" said Troy, looking between the brunette and Vi with wary eyes. "Come with me" he finished and pulled her by the arm.

When they were far enough away from the group, she struggled to pull her arm out of his grasp.

"You sure know how to make friends, V" said Troy, as he shrugged off her struggling.

They had barely walked a few steps towards the boss and his lieutenants before Vi wrenched her arm out of his grasp.

"I can walk by myself!" she ground out as they approached the other three. "Dang, if y'all had told me I'd be getting a fuckin' babysitter with this gig I might've opted out!"

Four Eyes apparently shared her sense of humor and chuckled lightly. Dex's lips twitched but his face remained neutral. Julius and Troy did not seem too impressed by her joke and Julius even went on to give her a hard stare.

"This ain't no joke, playa. You've been canonized. There's no backing out now" said Julius.

"Damn I know that, boss. It was just a joke. Now can you tell mother hen Troy to stop babying the shit outta me and dragging me around by my arm? At this rate, I'm gonna buy him a child leash for Christmas cause I know he'd strap it to any motherfucker that passes him!" she retorted, scowling at Troy.

Julius gave Troy a brief look before Troy stepped away from her and posted up beside Julius. Dex couldn't stop the grin from sliding across his face now. "Damn girl, aren't chu just a ray of sunshine!"

She gave Dex a mischievous grin before turning back to Julius. "Troy said you needed me?"

There was a momentary pause as Julius looked around the group. "Yeah, Troy and I gotta go out and handle some shit and I wanna see how you handle yourself. Troy, give her the down low" said Julius as he turned towards his apparent second in command.

Troy turned and met her eyes. "So I got a tip that there's a turf war goin' on right now at the docks. If we crash that party, we could take all those sons of bitches out at once and take the docks for ourselves" said Troy.

Vi watched a look of glee spread across Four Eyes' face as he went to speak only to be interrupted by Julius.

"Not you, Johnny" said Julius, as Four Eyes' face fell. "Just me, Troy and the chick gonna go handle this. We already got backup arranged."

"Julius, you sure it's cool we take this kid instead of Johnny?" cut in Troy as he gave Julius a wary look.

"Troy, you worry too much. She'll be fine" said Julius, chuckling lightly.

Vi let out a huff as she stared at Troy pointedly. She was being given the opportunity to prove herself to the two highest ranking gangsters here and Troy was having doubts cause poor Four Eyes was being shafted? Bullshit!

"Don't worry, Troy. I'm sure your four-eyed lover will be waiting patiently for you to come home" she bit out before she could stop herself.

Troy's face registered surprise and Johnny even took a threatening step closer to her.

"The fuck you say? I'm not his fucking lover, alright?" he ground out as his fist tightened visibly at his side. "And four eyes? That's what you call people who wear glasses you dumb bitch!"

"Bitch? Who the fuck you calling a dumb bitch, cabron? You're the dumb ass motherfucker who be wearing his sunglasses when the sun ain't even out! Fucking four eyes!" she retorted quickly, stepping up to meet the challenge.

Dex quickly stepped in between the two and used his hands to separate them. "Alright, now just cool it! We're all Saints here. If we're gonna get shit done, you two are gonna have to learn to get along, alright?" he spoke, pushing Johnny back with one hand and Vi back with the other. He glanced back and forth between the two as their scowls only increased. "You cool, Johnny? She's fresh meat, she don't know any better" he told Johnny as the man backed off slightly. Turning to Vi he shook his head before saying, "And you gotta learn some fuckin' respect, sweetie. This is your first day in the Saints and already you riling up one of the lieutenants. That's not good news."

Vi bit her lip and met Johnny's gaze. She couldn't see his eyes behind his sunglasses but she guessed he was staring her down right now. Fuckin' hell if she let some egotistic loudmouth make her miss this opportunity. She needed this. She grimaced and nodded gingerly.

"Just one thing Dex."

"What, V?"

"It's kinda difficult to focus on what you're saying when your hand is copping a feel of my chest" she said.

Dex met her eyes and looked down between his hand on her chest and her face. He repeated this action before stepping back, clearly flustered. "Sorry, V. I wasn't thinking when I tried to pull you and Johnny apart I kind of just-"

"S'alright. I won't charge ya this time but if it becomes a habit, we may have a problem" she said impishly, winking at him. "I usually have a clear, 'look but don't touch policy' in place."

Dex just shook his head in response as a sheepish smile rose on his face. Julius chose that moment to break the awkward silence that had risen.

"Now that we got that petty bullshit outta the way, we can finally get back to business" he said, looking between Vi and Johnny. "I ain't gonna lie to you... When we go in there it's gonna be rough so I'm gonna cover you this time. Once you get the ball rollin' then you on your own."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a scuffed looking VICE 9 beretta. "I got a few clips for this piece so I'll supply you so you don't get your head blown off. It's been good to me and I know you're gonna make good use out of it too. You ever used one of these things?"

Vi reached over and grabbed the piece. "I just point and shoot, right?" she said, feeling the weight of the beretta in her hand.

"Basically" came Johnny's voice as he shrugged. "Just keep your head down, watch the recoil and make sure the safety is off when you needa make the kill" said Johnny as he leaned over to flip the safety on and off to show her how it's done. He stretched her arms a bit straighter and tighter. He urged her to hold her shoulders higher and closer to her body. Vi gave him a look of surprise at his help but didn't say anything. He simply shrugged in response and said, "What? I like my guns."

"Keep saying that, Four Eyes and you're gonna start to sound like a gun-toting psychopath" she said with a blank face. He looked like he was gonna get riled up again until his face broke out in a smile.

"I am a gun-toting psychopath" he said, grinning wickedly.

Vi didn't have much time to contemplate the truth in his words but she let her lips curve upwards in response.

"I hope you're strapped in, playa. 'Cause we about to go in hard" said Julius with finality as he handed her a few clips of ammo.

She nodded and slipped the ammo into her pockets. Vi then turned the safety on the VICE 9 before sliding it into the hem of her shorts. Vi covered it with her tank top but the faint outline of the gun told her it was barely concealed. Not that she'd need to conceal it where she was going.

XxX

Vi parked the Aqua in a corner of the lot and noted the blue clad guys that were littered around the area. She thanked god for the shitty tinted windows on the car. She hesitated before she moved to open the door which didn't go unnoticed by Julius.

"Don't worry, playa" he said and she turned to meet his dark eyes. "You stick with Troy and me and you'll be fine." Out of the corner of her eye, Vi saw Troy nod in agreement from the backseat.

"So what colors are we gonna be shooting up today, boys?" she said, grinning.

Julius chose to stay silent while Troy shuffled forward in his seat. "We need to take out the three gang lieutenants from each rival gang. Blue for Westside Rollerz, red for Los Carnales and yellow for Vice Kings. They won't be easy to get to. We gotta pick off the guys around 'em before going after them. We got some backup though from some of the boys back at the church so if you see purple, don't shoot" said Troy. "Just go slow and watch your surroundings. This'll be over in no time."

Sounds easy when you say it like that.

Vi could only nod in response though her main priority was not to get shot. She quickly unbuckled her seat belt and followed Julius and Troy. The trio ducked around a giant shipping container and observed their surroundings.

"What do you see, playa?" asked Julius as he looked at Vi pointedly.

Vi took that as her chance to speak up and prove herself. If he was gonna test her then she sure as hell wasn't going to back down from the challenge.

"I see a lotta Rollerz surrounding that blue car over there with a few scattered around here and there. If we can take out a few from here, it'll cause a buncha confusion and cause them to run for cover. Our best bet is to blow up their ride, hopefully take out a few more and pick the rest off as we go. We don't got a shot for the few guys scattered around but if we start a fire, it's bound to cause panic. With backup, we got this one in the bag."

There was a moment of silence before Julius gave her a nod. "Take your pick" he said, as he gestured to the Rollerz ahead of them.

Vi hesitated for a moment and chewed her lip in thought. Removing the beretta from the hem of her shorts, she removed the safety just like Johnny had taught her. Stretching her arms and tightening her shoulders, she closed one eye and aimed for the Roller that was closest to their position. Gripping the gun tightly, she fired and felt the recoil shock through her arms. Good thing Johnny had warned her about it or she'd probably have clocked herself in the face.

The shot hit the guy in the neck even though she had been aiming for his face. He went down, clutching his neck fruitlessly and Vi felt a shock run through her knowing she had caused someone's death. There was no time to debate whether what she had just done was right or wrong. Her shot had rang out throughout the area and the Rollerz were in an uproar. They shouted at eachother to take cover and Vi took that as her moment to move. Breaking free from Julius and Troy, she headed for a stack of boxes ahead of their current cover. Moving closer to their enemies, she pulled her gun up again and fired at two Rollerz that were within her line of sight. Troy and Julius began to join the fight as well as they let loose their own gunfire.

The two Rollerz dropped quickly and Vi took aim for the car that was blocking a few other men from her view. She began to paint the vehicle with bullet holes but only saw a trail of smoke rising up from the front of the car. Taking aim at where she thought the tank was she fired a few rounds before watching as the whole thing exploded. The impact shook the ground and she instinctively covered her ears from the sound. Debris from the car began to rain from the sky and she could barely process how fucking awesome that moment just was. The Rollerz behind the car were undoubtedly dead or on fire so she didn't have to worry about them.

"Man! Johnny is gonna love you!" called out Troy as he watched her advance further.

She didn't bother to grace that comment with a response. Her and Four Eyes bonding over some carnage? Maybe he could be right. Still, the man was a pain in her ass for now even if he did teach her a thing or two.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some people in purple join the fight. Thank god backup was here. This thought gave her confidence and she found herself moving farther into the docks, killing all in her way.

Ducking behind another box as bullets showered over head, she waited with baited breath for the onslaught to stop. When it did she quickly slipped around the side and went to fire her weapon. The resounding click made her duck back behind the box and curse herself. For fuck's sake! Why didn't she keep track of her ammo. Quickly digging into her pocket, she tried to reload her weapon but dropped the clip.

"Fuck!" she shouted out loud and reached for the clip with shaking hands. Finally managing to reload her weapon, she turned and fired around the box.

"This shit belongs to the Carnales!"

Peeking around the box, she watched as a red Compton rolled up and men in red began to fire at the Rollerz and Saints.

"Like hell it does, pendejo! Chingate!" she shouted back as she shot the man in the chest. He cried out as he fell backwards and out of the Compton. His buddies quickly fired on her but one of the Saints saved her ass by spraying them both with a machine gun. Meeting the gaze of her hero, her jaw almost dropped at noticing it was the small pixie, Kitty, from earlier. Kitty just grinned at her and winked slyly. Vi couldn't help but shake her head as their team moved up further.

A few yellow clad Vice Kings had also joined the fight as the troop reached the end of the docks. Frankly, Vi didn't give a shit what color they were wearing as long as it wasn't purple.

It's one of them or one of us.

"Fuckin' eh man! Can't it ever be easy!" shouted Troy.

"What the fuck you smokin' Troy... This was so fucking easy!" she shouted back and had to stop the laughter from bubbling up. People might think she was crazy if she let that one out. Troy met her gaze and pointed rapidly at the approaching lights. She vaguely registered the sound of a siren wailing over the sound of her heartbeat pulsing in her ears. "Jesus Christ man, this shit is fucking insane!" she shouted as the cop car came into view.

"You're telling me!" came a feminine voice next to her. Turning she noted the pixie girl, Kitty, had taken up residence beside her. Reaching into the small pack on her back, she removed a bottle. It stunk of gasoline and Vi was questioning why the girl had it. Her mind clicked quickly as the girl lit the rag that was hanging out of the mouth of the bottle. "Here! Have this!" she said, before handing her the bottle.

A fucking Molotov cocktail! This fucking puta!

"What the fuck!" shouted Vi in panic.

"Throw it you idiot!" cried Kitty as she sprinted away from Vi.

Vi took one look at the cop car and another at the volatile concoction in her hand before making her decision. Wrenching her arm back, she whipped the bottle as hard as she could at the car as it's driver side door opened. The cop, who had crouched behind the door, was completely unprepared as the molotov burst into flames on impact. The gasoline within the Molotov seemed to splash him as he lit up like a firecracker. Vi doubted she'd forget his screams. The man flailed for a bit before collapsing on the ground.

Silence was heavy in the area as all gunfire ceased. All that was heard was the burning of the car in the distance before cheers broke out. Glancing around, Vi saw the Saints hugging eachother in happiness. It seemed that they had won this fight and not too soon at that. Kitty was all smiles as she checked up on Big Max and Jack. Julius and Troy were quickly making their way towards her.

"What'd I tell ya, Troy? The chick's a natural!" said Julius, smiling as he gave her a heavy pat on the back. Troy seemed to grimace at Julius' words but gave her a friendly pat of his own. "Yeah... I'm glad we found this girl" said Troy but his grimace betrayed his words of praise. Troy didn't seem impressed with her in the slightest. Maybe as the newest addition, she had done too much damage. Hell, she'd take his lack of a response as a compliment over his mothering anyday. "Looks like we won this one. We better clear out before more cops get here. Drop me and Julius off at the church" said Troy as he began to walk in the direction of the Aqua.

Vi took a moment to breathe with her hands on her knees. This drew the attention of Julius as he looked her over. "You alright, playa? You don't look so good" he asked her.

She waved him off. She couldn't afford to show any sign of weakness after she had literally blown them away with a performance like that. "I'm fine... Just never killed a man before. Especially not like that anyways" she said, standing up straight once more.

"The way you pulled it off, I could've sworn you'd have done this before..." replied Julius as he began to follow Troy back to the car. She followed him without question. "But we did it, playa. Saints Row's ours again! But don't think I'm finished with you yet though. I'm holding a meeting at the church. Swing by when you can" he said, glancing at her sideways.

Vi nodded in response. Of course. There was always more to be done and this was only the beginning.

And there you have it guys, chapter 2 is done and I have to say I'm kind of pleased with it. I also have great news that I finally found the first Saints Row after visiting three video games stores in my area! I'm totally playing through it and writing this as I go along. Also, I'm usually pretty good about doing fight scenes but when it comes to Saints Row, there's just so much carnage sometimes that I don't really know how to organize it. Hopefully you liked it and please let me know what you guys think!

- HLF