Chapter 6: Exploration And Relaxation
Three Count Casino:
Killbane stood in the backroom of the casino with his cell phone to his right ear and listened to the details of the recent attack on his businesses. "I see… Well, looks like we're going to have to deal with this in a 'professional method'." Killbane spoke before ending the call he had been listening in on. He looked relatively calm about the whole situation and appeared to be taking this easily.
Suddenly, Killbane's phone was flying at a wall and broke into a dozen pieces as it kissed it violently, completely shattering it, making it a useless pile of scrap.
Killbane then lifted the nearby table and threw it at the wall as well. This was the feat of his strength, yet only a small taste of what was left to come around the room.
"THAT MOTHERFUCKING DICKBAG OF A SAINT!" Killbane shouted loudly, making the entire casino vibrate, understanding the reason why one had to be terrified by the Luchadore leader. Despite what he said about being an honest business man on the radio show of Jane Valderamma's, his anger spoke of a different story, indicating his true lies. The patrons inside the casino could feel the evil aura swimming from his body in the small room in the back. Whoever would've dared to enter that room would be begging for a death wish.
Killbane had started bashing at the walls, leaving heavily imprinted marks that scarred them pretty badly, but nothing that wouldn't be repaired in a matter of hours. Killbane's fists however appeared to be in better condition, almost as if they weren't abusing the wall at all.
Killbane was about to smash a whole case of supplies in the vault, not expecting his eyes bleed into something he didn't expect to eye at the time. He looked down and grabbed the item that he suddenly got interested in that erased his sudden burst of fury and brought it close to his face, focusing ever so carefully upon it. His angered expression then turned to a viciously evil one and went to his happy place inside his head. The item in his hands was Angel's old mask. Thinking about unmaking Angel was literally something that worked like a drug for him.
"Yes… I remember. The fall of my old partner, and the rise, of Killbane…" After a few moments of sucking in the precious thoughts of his, he started to let out a few gasps of laughter. Then it turned into a chuckle, and then it became absolute chaotic laughter.
Saints HQ:
The Boss, Pierce and Angel strode in with expressions of annoyance from the event that had only happened less than an hour ago. The Luchadore businesses were all but destroyed and Killbane was no doubt taking this news pretty hard. The thoughts Angel had were only of how much he thought Killbane was taking the news and couldn't help but feel a spark of long hard success pushed onto his own shoulders.
Pierce then went for the main couch in front of the plasma screen TV and dived onto the cushions that rested on it. He sighed as he let out a breath of relaxation, appreciating their job being done.
"Man that was some serious shit." Pierce says.
"I know. But I've just glad that it's all over and that we can just sit back and relax." The Boss says. "What about you, Angel?"
"Don't be foolish, Murderbrawl is not too far now and we need to be ready for Killbane. I need to be ready." Angel says deeply.
"Angel, we'll deal with it when the time comes." The Boss says.
"You don't get it. Killbane is a madman. He isn't someone who you can just push aside and not have him come back for seconds. He doesn't respect honor so I have to challenge him again." Angel explained.
"I thought you said you weren't ready to face Killbane. What the hell's this all about?" The Boss asked.
"It's about how I must show him he isn't better than anyone. But I can't do that yet." Angel says hardly.
"Seriously? You haven't given me any reason why you are explaining it like that. I mean it ain't that black and white." The Boss says. "Unless you're acting like a pussy."
Angel then had enough of The Boss and his questions. He turned around and went for the leader of the Saints in a fast walking pace. The Boss knew Angel was up to something and got into a defense stance. Pierce also watched in silence and started to get concerned when the vibes had suddenly changed. But he wasn't prepared for what had happened next. Neither was The Boss. Angel grabbed The Boss and threw him at the glass table in front of him, destroying it and wrecking a previously unfinished chess game being played by Pierce. It was unknown when it was started, but it wasn't very recent.
"Holy fuck, man!" Pierce shouted in pure terror.
Angel then jump over The Boss and forced his left arm down to his chest while he dealt The Boss many vicious punches in the face. No one who had experience with the Saints was crazy enough to take on The Boss. But apparently Angel had managed to rip that image apart just by his recent actions from only seconds ago.
Pierce just stood there after getting up and didn't know what to do in this situation. Angel was beating down the last badass of the Saints right before his eyes and that meant that Pierce was as good as dead if he would step in.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" Pierce says quietly as he paces back and forth trying to think of something. Despite trying to speak to himself to clear things up, the punches against The Boss was more audible than the noise Pierce was making.
Suddenly a big blur of beige swarmed over the couch and to the scene where Angel and The Boss were involved in. Whatever it was, it was big.
"Stop this madness!" The voice cried out loud and sent Angel flying near one of the doorways directly leading to the pool.
The Boss slowly got back up with both hands on his nose. He was pretty disoriented after Angel's blows had gotten the best of him. He knew Angel was strong, and crazy. But he didn't expect the ex-Luchadore boxer to lunge at him like that.
"Boss, are you alright?" Pierce says while coming to his side and grabbing his back to lift him from the ground and shattered glass. The Boss was too busy trying to gather what had happened together to even be pissed off at Angel.
Oleg let Pierce worry about The Boss and he focused his attention to the angered wrestler. Apparently he had been provoked in some way to make him attack The Boss in some way. Instead of continuing to draw his vision back to the giant male standing before him, he just turned away and went out one of the doors to get some alone time at the helipad.
Oleg sighed and looked back to The Boss who had finally pieced everything together. However, his response with his facial expression proved that he understood a lot less than what Oleg could have.
"Ah, that asshole fuckin' jumped me for no reason. I can't wait to get my hands on him for this." The Boss threatened.
"Are you so sure that it was for no reason?" Oleg questioned before turning to Pierce. "What did he do to provoke him?"
"Uh…" Pierce started before noticing The Boss eyeing him, almost threateningly like he was going to punch the celebrity for talking bad about him. "He… didn't say anything… I think."
Oleg looked at the leader of the Saints with a disapproving look and grabbed his shoulder respectively, gaining The Boss' attention with the action. Oleg then forced The Boss to sit down and turned back to Pierce again. "Pierce, go and a towel."
"Uh, sure big man, whatever you say." Pierce replied before he went to the kitchen.
"Oleg what is this about?" The Boss asked knowing he was about to say something that related to a lecture of sorts.
"I know you feel annoyed at Angel for giving you a beating, but you have to understand something: he has been through a lot in his life that deserves no more disrespect than what you get. He is a man who carries the burden of shame from his beliefs. I'm fairly certain you had done something to disgrace his heritage. Did you?" Oleg asked, yet also sounded demanding at the same time.
"I didn't do shit, other than asking him why he couldn't go after Killbane yet." The Boss answered with his voice sounding muffled due to his left hand holding his nose.
"Surely that wasn't what set him off like that. What else did you spit out to him?" Oleg asked, wanting a further explanation.
The Boss sighed before he answered with a question. "If I give you an honest answer, will you stop asking me these questions, Oleg?"
"Of course. I am a man of my word." Oleg replied.
"Right." The Boss then confessed to his crime. "I called Angel a pussy. I thought he was hiding behind his cowardious thoughts to avoid the fight. He seemed to determined to face Killbane one on one that he only practiced like some steroid fuckhead with serious problems of his own."
"You do know that Angel doesn't believe in his fear, as he refuses to use it." Oleg says before pointing to the view of Angel's head as he stood at the helipad in solitude. "That man has it tough, because he lacks what is needed to avenge his fallen honor. Until he can recover what is lost, he cannot move forward to crush Killbane."
"Oleg, what you're telling me sounds like complete bullshit. He only has over a week before Murderbrawl begins. How the fuck is he going to gain that so called 'honor' back in that time?" The Boss questioned.
"If you have listen to what he explains, then everything wouldn't be to colorful to you." Oleg says.
"I listen to the bullshit he says all the time, yet do you hear anything important coming from his mouth? One thing for sure, I sure as hell don't." The Boss says.
"You may hear Angel speak, but do you truly listen?" Oleg asks. "His mind speaks for the objective, but his heart, it carries the cries of his lost fight. His true goal is to reclaim his mask from Killbane. And if he cannot regain it before facing Killbane in the ring, then his goal to regain his honor will be for nothing."
"That's why he decided to go all out on me?! Because of a stupid fucking mask?!" The Boss shouted angry. "This sounds like complete bullshit! He already told me about the mask before and I still don't give a shit! Fuck the mask!"
Oleg cringed as The Boss ignored the lesson he had to understand. This was going to be a long day if he didn't start to listen.
Matt And Kristen:
Matt Miller and Kristen Morningstar road in the Decker Attrazione through the city streets as they explored for a new place to reside in. Due to the recent issues with the cargo jet being breeched, Matt had decided that expanding to a further location away from the jet was the best choice to avoid a total disaster from striking at them. While Matt couldn't promise his and Kristen's safety, he could at least delay the enemy factions roaming around the city by moving constantly. But time was of question. How would they continue to manage a whole week without their gang here to support themselves? This was somewhat of a dire situation.
The area Matt had decided to search around was an interesting point of the city. It was right at the edge of a part of the city and appeared to be full of hotel designed housing that could remind someone of the Suburbs District back in Stilwater. If anything, this place carried a lot more value in both appearance and how much it would cost to construct.
There were many cars parked out in front of the houses, revealing that each house owner was a resident with at least a medium wealth interest. The vehicles were new but appeared to be more common than the ones seen regularly in Steelport. These were improved models but appeared to be Stilwater brands as Matt had observed quite a few Mags parked out the front of a few places.
"Matt, why are we in an area like this? I would've thought we would've gone to another apartment area." Kristen says somewhat confused.
"Yes well, I changed my mind about that idea. What we need is a place that is so average that we would fit in nice and easily." Matt concluded.
"Yeah, I don't think our current getup is what we're going to fit in with. Well your clothing I mean." Kristen said reminding herself about her Goth accessories from earlier.
Matt frowned at her conclusion. She wasn't wrong about Matt's clothes. It all spelt Decker leader all over it, which would leave him an open target for picking off if spotted by gangs. The main trouble about it all is the fact that no matter where he would go in the city, every location was a gang turf of sorts. None of it being under Decker control.
"I guess we're just going to have to deal with my clothes then." Matt says.
The Attrazione than sped up a bit and went towards the town again, expecting to find some more clothing stores again. This hiding nonsense was actually starting to get on Matt's nerves, and his main affiliation with everything used to be hiding. Here, he felt as if being in the open was a good thing, even a bad thing as well.
Saints HQ:
The Boss continued to be getting lectured by Oleg as he just sat there with Pierce's towel in front of his face, drenched in water and covering his nose. The punches appeared to have been clearly severe enough to cause a ton of blood to spew out. What was crazy about it however was that there was more blood coming out than what a normal human being could carry in their body. This was very strange.
"The point of a man's honor is to respect something he has been following for his entire life, refusing to let it go without a fight. Angel is forced under such pressure, not because of choice, but because it is what he believes in. The Mask gives him more than just the courage he needs to fight, but it also gives him the will." Oleg says while collapsing his right fist into his left hand. He was now pacing in front of The Boss as if gaining his every word with each step.
The Boss just eyed Oleg with glances that continued to only give generous noted thoughts yet no sign of breaking through to him. As the next line proves…
"A mask is a mask. Big deal."
"To you perhaps, but in Luchadore tradition, it carries the symbol of his very existence. To him, it's like a man who lives without air. It just isn't possible." Oleg says. "You know what he feels? Death, and it isn't his own, but his pride's. Without it, he is nothing. If you have pride, then you will understand what I'm getting at."
"I do have my pride, Oleg. It's my pride for running shit and taking assholes down to prove I am superior. It's my law that will be known at the end of the day." The Boss says.
Oleg then detected an opening in The Boss' words and decided to use that against him, hoping to give the leader of the Saints a perspective on his own side.
"So, that would mean that if your title as a successful gang boss was stripped from your body, then you would be left with nothing besides your damaged pride?" Oleg asks.
"C'mon. I've lost my place before and I always get it back." The Boss says while trying to lean back and put his feet up, only for his shoes to smack down on the destroyed glass and scattered chess pieces on the floor. It made him cringe at losing that action. He would send one of the Saints to get a new one soon enough so he could do it again.
"Then think of it like this: Imagine losing your gang after a big showdown with one of your enemies and losing all you built with it. Do you really think anyone will respect you after losing what made you strong?" Oleg questioned.
"Well I…" The Boss starts. "I guess I can't really say no to that, but I think Angel did go too far with his sudden outburst against me."
"Perhaps he did." Oleg says before pushing The Boss to his feet and moving him towards the door Angel had gone through before. "Perhaps you should give him your word of approval for defending his pride. Considering the lonely road he has been on, it is quite surprising that he is able to live on."
"Alright, if you say so big man." The Boss said back.
When The Boss had gotten outside, he had noted that Angel hadn't moved from his spot and continued looking forward, aiming his vision at the park and the old Morningstar skyscraper just north of it. The leader of the Saints just sighs and stared at Angel for a short moment, trying to read his thoughts, if that was even possible. It was always unclear what Angel ever did imagine, but it was enough to make him think.
Finally The Boss knew he had to do something and struts hardly to the lone wrestler, who sat at the edge of the helipad now, dangling his feet off of the edge. The Boss wasn't crazy enough to do something like that, but he probably would parachute off of it a bit if that bored.
Once The Boss was only but a foot away from Angel, he had decided to break the communication silence that was between the two of them. Angel was no doubt going to refuse to speak first, so it was up to the leader of the Saints to begin.
"Angel?"
Nothing but complete silence from the wrestler, as if he really wanted to shut out The Boss from his world and just sit in his own forever. The Boss, knowing that he couldn't leave without communicating to Angel had decided to start up again.
"I understand why you reacted as you did."
Angel continued to just glare out to the north and appeared unaffected by him. However, despite how much Angel was going to not going to answer to him yet, he was listening to each word carefully.
"Oleg was explaining to me about your pride and he managed to bring up the points that prove your place isn't what it should be. You've said before that you had been stripped of your honor and that it took a lot away from you, yet all I thought it was, was cowardliness."
Angel merely blinked as the sentence had been finished. It wasn't what he wanted The Boss to say, since it didn't imply any meaning to it. He was only just wasting his time if he didn't build up to a point of this conversation.
"But now I know that it is more than all that." The Boss confesses. "In your case as a masked wrestler and my case as a leader as a gang, both reputations are a hard thing to admit to losing. I wouldn't ever want to be stripped of my gang. Ever."
Angel came close to turning around and responding to The Boss, but still a factor remained that he needed to finish what he said before answering and exiting his silent state.
"You were never a pussy, Angel. But instead I know now that you're trying on the inside. You really want to beat down Killbane, but what matters to you is what is your respect and loyalty to yourself. Your mask was what gave you the power to be who you are, just like how respect from my gang and my own power makes me who I am."
Angel sighs silently and knew what he was getting at. But would he get to the damn point already? Because Angel had enough of this, since it was just drawing on like fresh breaths, it felt as if he wasn't heading anywhere.
"Angel, your mask was taken away from you and I just kept on throwing insults at you, knowing that you've been through hard times. I shouldn't have ever judged you so harshly." The Boss says before coming closer to Angel slightly, knowing that only a foot of space seemed too pushed in from the start.
"I'm…" The Boss starts, both knowing what he was going to say, but decided to twist the words around a bit to avoid sounding like a pansy. "All I want to do is stop Killbane, but knowing what it means to you, I know I over stepped what I shouldn't have. It's a personal matter to you, so I want you to be at my side when we take down Killbane. You down?"
Angel slowly decided to turn around and faced The Boss. He knew that this was the right time to make a response. The Boss was trying to understand this now that he had actually listened to how Oleg had placed everything from his perspective.
"Yeah, I'm down." Angel says. The Boss extended his right hand to Angel and the latter quickly took it in acceptance. The Boss then pulled Angel from the edge of the pad and nod at each other with a sign of respect.
"C'mon, man. Let's go. We might as well use the day to do something relaxing. Fighting Luchadores was fun, but I think we're long past that for now." The Boss says.
"For now. But remember, fighting in Murderbrawl is not going to be easy. If you really want to beat Killbane too, then you'll have to be ready." Angel says.
"Man, I told you that I've been ready for a while now, haven't I?" The Boss asked while walking towards the penthouse again.
Angel then sighed and spoke up again with a slight sense of humor attached to his voice. "I guess you're too proud to see what you might face."
"I guess I am." The Boss replied smartly.
"Then you had better come to my GYM. I'm going to make you watch a movie." Angel says.
"Man, this place has movies too. We can just watch one here." The Boss says.
"Oh no, this one I'm going to show you is something you'll be glad to have seen. It might be… educational." Angel says.
"Oh, yeah, you really know me so well…" The Boss says sarcastically but accepting Angel's idea.
The two men then walked into the penthouse to get ready to get back to Angel's GYM. Though their fight with the Luchadores was over for today, dealing with STAG wasn't questionable since they continued to roam the city streets as they remained on patrol.
Matt And Kristen:
The Goth couple had arrived at another clothing store location. This one just like the last was the same company, but in a different general location and some slight changes to the items. It was either that some models were displayed differently or the store carried a few different colors. Either way, it was the exact same brand and place.
Matt nodded at the place as if it was calling to him with an opening of sorts, since it carried the themes of Goth all over it. It wasn't surprising since he and the crew of Deckers were nothing but Goths underneath their other roles as young British people with a knack for manipulating technology at their greatest desire.
"Well, let's go in. The sooner I'm out of exposed clothing, the better. I don't want to be an open target for the latter gangs to kill." Matt says.
"They'll have to go through me first, before I go through them of course." Kristen says switching to the American accent once again.
"I do worry about you a lot more now, Kristen." Matt says softly. "Just don't…"
"Matt?" Kristen called as she saw him start to hesitate speaking. His face looked to her as she stared with confusion into him. His eyes spoke more emotion than what his voice did.
"Just don't… don't keep defending me if you're close to your limits." Matt says hardly. "I wouldn't want you to die for me. Because all I'd have left is my loneliness. I would have no reason to exist without you, and I see that now."
"Matt…" Kristen says with her eyes fluttering with emotions, never expecting Matt to tell her to risk him to save her own life. She then moved closer to Matt and put her arms around him, holding him tightly. "I'll never get killed, and that's a promise I'm going to keep."
"I believe you." Matt says back quickly. "But I dislike the single thought of you leaving me like that. If you were to suddenly disappear from my life for good, I'll probably kill myself."
Kristen the pushed Matt up against a wall right next to the entrance of the store and held him there forcibly, depending his attention to be directly focused on her. With a serious glance into his eyes, Kristen gave him a strong warning. "Matt. Don't you EVER dare think about killing yourself. You're far more important to me than I could ever possibly imagine."
"How can you possibly even say that?" Matt asks bringing himself out of her grip. "It wasn't that long ago that I was being a pushy dick and just forced you around like some servant doing their master's bidding. Admit it; I'm probably the worst boyfriend you've ever had in your life."
"Yes, you are." Kristen replied with a simple tone.
Matt's heart then dropped and almost shattered as she said that. He wanted her to admit her true opinion, but when she did it had almost made him break. This wasn't what he had actually expected, but then again it was something he did think she would say. But why was he so surprised.
"See?" Matt asked while looking up into her face. "Was it… so hard to say it?"
"No. It wasn't." Kristen says with a serious tone and crossing her arms while tapping her right foot on the ground. She didn't look happy or angry, but instead she appeared to show no trace of emotion on her face. She then crouched down to Matt and grabbed his chin before putting her second hand onto the back of his neck. "Because you're the only boyfriend I have and will ever have."
Matt's world then stopped freezing over about in sorrow and sadness and transformed into a sunnier place that felt mostly at peace. But where was she leading onto?
"W-what?"
"Matt, despite everything you've put me through; you've actually given me a fun life in the Deckers." Kristen says. "Before I had been signed up for your crew, I literally had no skills to benefit from and only got to stay with Loren because the last contract my father had with him was the most beneficial to the growing Syndicate. If anything, my place there was most likely because he wanted me to become a business person like him or something else." Kristen then gripped Matt's right arm and returned him back to his feet. "It's because of you, Matt. It's because of you that I remain here today, standing as a survivor. I ain't alone as long as you're still here. It's because of you that the Deckers will return."
Matt thought about what she and didn't know what to say about it all. Sure, he may have been very pushing the past few years, acting like a badly performing leader and being more worried about his own self instead of the gang. But his selfishness wasn't always with a personal result. It's because of Matt that the gang stood as it did. Being successful as a big group of hackers was something Matt had made, yet it wasn't always the hacking that made the Deckers on the inside. Since Matt had built everything and made more space for his group to settle in, he had managed to give them more than he had realized before. They had their own freedom in exchange for working for Matt Miller. His mind then gave him a sigh of relief has he had realized that. He would soon be saving the Deckers lives again soon. But most importantly, Kristen was alive. And Matt would do anything in his power to keep it that way.
"Thank you, Kristen." Matt finally says, appreciating what she had said to him. "I'm gladdened that you've had some fun during my rule over the Deckers. I really did appreciate what I had until I lost it all, but this time I'm going to do things right." Matt then said before clenching his right fist and holding it up high in a vow. "We cannot just rely on technology to do everything in our business. It is unjust and foolish."
"Matt?" Kristen questions while facing Matt oddly.
"From this day, the Deckers will no longer be a foolish gang with only relying on cyber tech, but we'll also get into more modern businesses. Forget only using technology for our fronts. It only managed to get us hurt in the end." Matt says bravely.
"Matt, where is all this coming from?" Kristen asks.
Matt's racing mind think suddenly started to slow down, but continued to keep moving as he explored the answer. He couldn't find the answer however, but he didn't care about that either. "I'm not sure, Kristen. But I'll tell you one thing: it's what'll bring us both and the Deckers higher into this world."
"Well then, I hope we can get started as soon as possible then." Kristen said starting to get excited with the idea of beginning fresh.
"As do I." Matt says before the couple walked inside of the store.
Inside, there were more items to wear here. It was as if the place had only been stocked up recently. This one also appeared to have much more expensive clothing than the other store, which seemed regardless considering it was the same company.
It was Matt's turn to pick out new clothing. Kristen was already in her new clothes and Matt had to admit that she looked good in them. Even with his admiration to her appearance earlier the day before, the effects weren't suspending any time soon.
"Wow, this place has just about everything." Matt comments out loudly. "I swear I could never find anything like these bits of clothing in Nobody Loves Me back in Steelport."
"Yeah, everything in this city appears a lot newer than what we got before moving up here." Kristen agreed.
The two of them then moved around the store while searching for suitable clothing for Miller to get. It took at least thirty whole minutes before the Goth male was satisfied with everything he got. Normally in his case he would've taken twice as long to be accepting of clothing that didn't relate to the Deckers.
While the Decker leader was changing inside of the changing room of his, Kristen just sat on a pile of boxes at least twenty feet away. Because of the amount that was laid out, she couldn't be bothered to move them to get closer. With her legs crossed on one another, she leaned her right elbow on her top leg while she used her phone to do all kinds of random stuff. She was messaging one of her other friends in the Deckers who appeared to have been notified by Matt as well. Apparently it was a female as well, since the name read 'Jenna' on the name slot.
As Kristen was busy on her phone, a group of three Goth males were scoping the place as if they were looking for something interesting. Nothing was giving them a direct taste until they saw Kristen sitting on the spot with her phone, looking bored as the day went by. The apparent leader of the group smiled as he saw her in solitude and decided to move up to her and give her some 'company'.
"Hey, beautiful." The leader of the group starts while giving a smile to the Decker Specialist Elite. Kristen jut ignored the group as they tried to come on to her.
The leader of the group appeared to be offended by her ignoring them and decided to push her phone away from her and get her attention.
"I said 'hey beautiful'". The leader said sounding as if he wanted something in return.
Kristen just sighed and put her phone away before giving the group a smile that could read many positive emotions flowing through her. The group thought that she was starting to like them since her smile appeared less forced than someone might think. On her side, she was actually raging at these guys for daring to come on to her. She was with Matt and that's what she would only settle with at this point.
"Hey, how are you?" Kristen asks.
"What's a beautiful little thing like you doing here all alone? You should be having fun with us." The leader says.
"Yeah, we can show you a fun time." The Goth on the leader's right says.
"Yeah, you got a nice body, baby." The last bold member says. Apparently he was British as well, though Kristen had been holding onto the American accent since she had last switched.
'Do these guys really expect me to go with them and fuck them?! Ha, right, like they're even going to touch me! They had better not make one more move on me or they'll regret it!'
"Oh, thanks!" Kristen says politely.
"So good lookin', how about we go around out back and show you a good time?" The leader suggested with a sick seductive voice.
Kristen's smile almost dropped, but she managed to hold it as she responded. "That sounds like a good idea." She then walked past them and turned around while drawing her index finger to them and leading them outside.
"Well boys, looks like we're going have some fun." The leader says before they went outside.
Five Minutes Later...
Matt exited the changing room and had his new clothes on. His opinion when looking into the mirror before was a positive one that left him pleased with his visual appearance. Now all he wanted now was the approval of Kristen. Not only did he pick the clothing for a hidden disguise from rival gangs, but he also wanted to see her happy with his choices he had decided.
When Matt had looked at the pile of boxes, he saw Kristen sitting there casually while holding her phone and typing a series of characters onto what looked like a social networking website. Matt was certain that is was the one that Deckers had been using called 'D-chat' that he had remembered making when he was bored and needed a way to make contact with the crew while maintaining a higher chance of not getting discovered sending information about. His initial plan for it was to be used for important tasks and file transfers. Instead, he had discovered that his crew was using it for acts of socialism between themselves. While he didn't approve of the idea, Matt had decided to let it pass, since it didn't really impact his plans at all.
"Hey Kristen, sorry for keeping you waiting." Matt says as he saw her look up and smiles at his appearance.
"It's no problem, Matt. I managed to find some entertainment while I was waiting anyway. Or the entertainment managed to find me." Kristen explained.
"Alright, if you says so." Matt says not exactly understanding what she was implying. "So, how do I look."
Kristen held her answer in suspense as she looked from top to bottom on the Decker leader. She gave nods of approval as she admired the scenery of Matt Miller.
What Matt had chosen was different than one would expect. He looked as if he was wearing assassin clothing instead of a Decker leader's outfit. It contained less blue and was fully black. He had a coat that stretched like a cape flowing down on a super hero. When looking at Matt's pants, he had apparently gathered up a holster for his right leg, assuming that it was based from his Deckers one that he owned. His footwear appeared to be steel cap boots with a shiny silver reflection at the tip, which made them look quite valuable.
"Sexier than Nyte Blade." Kristen says with a smile.
"Really?!" Matt asked excitedly to her answer.
"Yeah." Kristen says putting away her phone and standing up. "Now, let's go. I think you've done a good job picking the range of clothing you looked at."
"Well, as long as you think I'm sexier than Franklin Knight, then I am more than pleased with what I have then." Matt says before heading to gather his stuff up from the changing room and carrying it all over his shoulder. Matt then went out of the changing room and followed Kristen up to the register to pay for the new clothes Matt had chosen to acquire under his ownership.
Soon, the Goth couple went out onto the street and was heading for the Attrazione of Matt's parked nearby the entrance. As Matt was about to enter the vehicle, he suddenly stopped and decided to check out what was happening on the D-chat site. The first thing Matt had seen was a status put up by Kristen about seven minutes ago. Curious to see what it said he scowled down to read the text.
Lol, three guys tried to hit on me while Matt was busy changing into a new set of clothes. The arseholes didn't even get the hint that they're not my kind. They really wanted to have sex with me, but they must know the truth now, because I killed them in an alleyway just next to a clothing store. Lol, I luv my Shock Hammers. Losers!
Matt stopped reading and looked back up and looked towards the store, curious of what he would find in the alleyway to the side just near the door. He then proceeded to walk more into the general direction of the location presented by Kristen and got himself a good view. Kristen noted Matt's actions and smiled knowing that he had seen her status update just then and got curious to see her work. Matt then spotted three dead men in the alleyway with blood smeared all over the area. Some were in… interesting positions as well.
The leader of the group appeared to have been served with terrible blows to kill him and his face was buried into a wall on the side of the building. What was funny was that it was as if he was just standing there, watching the wall pretty close. But it looked like he had been glued their instead. The marks of blood around his body splotched on the wall suggested the worse for him.
The other two men however appeared either in better or worse condition. The long haired Goth male appeared to have had some fractured bones that were clearly new. His entire upper right arm appeared to have been shattered on the inside and his torso area appeared to have been crushed too. His rib cage and upper neck were destroyed as well. His head however appeared to have been left intact, but remained to carry a horrified expression of agony and pain before he had died. He also appeared to have coughed up blood from some attack against his body, assuming that it was a critical hit. The one main part that looked mostly painful to Matt was the big trace amounts of blood draining and dripping from between the guy's legs. Apparently a nut-shot with a Shock Hammer was no joke. He cringed at the sight.
The final Goth who was bold was piled inside of a trashcan with his feet sticking out up high and no physical damage could be spotted, or at least not too easily. While his lower half appeared to be left undamaged by force and abuse, his upper body was still questionable. Just before the top half was cut off from view inside the trashcan, there was a big trace of blood on the shirt that went down deeper inside the garbage. Matt didn't know what Kristen had done to the guy, be he didn't wish to see the result himself, since it would most likely disturb Matt greatly seeing the damage.
Matt then turned back around and went back for his ride. This was evident enough to prove that Kristen was more than capable to defend herself in a place like this. It was a good thing she had taken her Shock Hammers along with her. She was quite skilled with them and also assisted her in making her a formidable opponent to people.
When he had returned to the Attrazione, he saw Kristen just standing there in idol, waiting for Matt to get the vehicle open. She gave Matt a look of acknowledgment for noticing the three dead Goth males in the back. Matt stops in his track and looked into Kristen's eyes awkwardly, not expecting to see the mess she had left behind. She stared back feeling awkward too, not knowing what to say to one another.
"So…" Kristen starts.
"So…" Matt says back.
"I… took out some trash minutes ago." Kristen says awkwardly.
"It's fine. Now, I think we should look for a new place…" Matt says suggestively and almost urgently. "…before we get noticed."
"And how will we do that when we're traveling inside a vehicle that spells 'Decker' all over it? That vehicle has got us pretty exposed, you know." Kristen states.
"Not to worry. This car has some surprises that I'm certain will make you fairly impressed." My retorted as he pulled up his right sleeve and revealed his small key pad console and pressed a few buttons while balancing out everything he had over his left shoulder. Once he had pressed almost all the buttons, Matt had finally pressed a final one that sounded like a confirmation noise and the Attrazione had begun to change.
The most notable thing about the car was that it was changing color and removing the Decker decals all over the body, leaving the body with no gang tattoos. The under glow had also changed as well as other neon blue features. Basically, everything that was Decker blue or detailed had been changed to orange or a new style of art. The logos were effectively replaced by black outlined stars with orange on the inside. Basically the stars were of Syndicate design, but were more blackened and filled with orange.
Once the vehicle had stopped changing, Kristen just stood there, awestruck by the show that the car had just presented in front of her eyes. She had seen many technological advances made by Matt before, but she didn't expect any of these to be presented into the real world. Matt had just shown her a remarkable new advancement.
"Matt, that's impressive!" Kristen exclaimed with joy.
"I'm glad you like it. It is actually still in its experimental stage. I'm happy that it managed to hold out for the first try." Matt says with coolness going through his breaths.
"This was experiential?" Kristen asks. "It doesn't seem that important, depending on the situation it's used for."
"What I mean is that I'm glad it didn't self-destruct. This vehicle's technology is so deeply intertwined with the engine that it drains a lot of the power just to make everything work, bring it to a critical level." Matt explained.
"Wait, so you could've just made the vehicle explode?" Kristen asks. "And we're literally standing next to it?"
"Uh, I guess I should've taken a lot more consideration when thinking about using it. Well, too late now, yeah?" Matt asks.
Kristen just sighed in disbelief and opened her side of the vehicle to get in. She appeared to have been surprised that Matt had tried something that could've actually killed themselves. "Matt, you're so unbelievable at times…"
"I know, I know, but at least it didn't explode." Matt says defensively while opening and entering his side of the Attrazione.
Once the two Goth's had put all their stuff down safely inside the car, Matt started the engine and begun to drive. But before he left, he decided to observe the store again, remembering that he or Kristen hadn't even checked the name of it. They were so busy trying to get new clothes that they didn't even spot the easiest thing in front of them. Matt got it confirmed and couldn't believe he didn't notice it sooner. It was called 'Gothic Topic'.
"Of course…"
"What was that, Matt?" Kristen asks.
"Oh, nothing, Kristen. I'm just checking the name to the store. I'm surprised we didn't even notice it earlier." Matt answered.
Kristen then took an interest and viewed the store name herself, agreeing on what had said about not noticing it. "So, it was called Gothic Topic. This place appears to be pretty expensive."
"Yeah, and this place seems to beat Nobody Loves Me by a fair mile. Dom would be jealous of the pay here. I doubt these employees get anything below a high payout." Matt says agreeing.
"So, time to look for that new place?" Kristen asks.
"Of course. I was also considering checking that area we were looking inside of before again. I recall seeing a few signs that said for sale on the fronts of the houses. Perhaps we can fix ourselves with one of those?" Matt suggests.
"Well, they did look pretty classy." Kristen admits. "Sure, I think that would be the most suitable choice for us."
"Splendid." Matt says happily and started to head back to the neighborhood that they were searching around earlier.
"Hey, Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you mention anything about those places you saw before? I would've thought the logical thing to do would be to speak up about them." Kristen says.
"At first, I did think about mentioning it. But I also wanted to see if there were other places we could get to looking into. After all, I doubt we're going to be able to fit all the Deckers in one house. The thought of even attempting that is absurd." Matt says.
"Not like I suggested that or anything." Kristen says. "But I do think we should find us a new place to fit the entire crew. Spending all our time in small places won't help us gain any territory."
"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find somewhere useful to hold our gang up." Matt says.
"Then we had best hurry. As you said, we only have a week, maybe more before the rest of the Deckers arrive and I wouldn't want our presence to be well known before we can prepare for a proper place to live in." Kristen says.
"Exactly, which is why I also want to test out that new hacking method I found. If possible, I'll be able to get us some dollars that we can buy some real expensive stuff with." Matt says with a grin of amusement.
"We're also going to need a backup plan before start to get over excited about this new method, otherwise we're screwed." Kristen says.
"Oh relax, I'm sure we can find somewhere for the Deckers to go very soon. We just need to keep our eyes open for that one place in particular." Matt says.
"Alright, Matt." Kristen says accepting their current plan.
Angel's GYM:
The Boss and Angel were sitting on the bed in the back. The bed was owned by Angel and appeared to be messy assuming that he never did make it, and his current living conditions seemed to prove the reason behind it.
Angel had put in a tape in a VCR player and pressed play to make a movie appear on the screen. The Boss didn't understand why Angel had a VCR player and tapes. It wasn't like modern technology wasn't capable of transferring regular tape to DVDs.
"So, what is this movie you're showing me?" The Boss asked sounding bored.
"It's an educational piece that involves fighting. It might teach you a thing or two about Murderbrawl." Angel explained before turning to The Boss. "This is if you're willing to learn."
"Pfft, should I get the popcorn?" The Boss asked sarcastically.
"Just shut up and watch." Angel replied, ignoring the question.
"Alright man, it's your show." The Boss says while leaning back. Angel just sat still and burned his vision onto the screen.
As The Boss and Angel watched the screen, a watermark of one of the past Murderbrawls appeared on the screen. Apparently Angel was showing The Boss one of the games from the old days, because the quality was more than just fuzzy and the coloring was slightly off from what they would've seen in person.
"Welcome fans to another exciting year of Murderbrawl!" A voice shouted over a microphone.
"That's right fans, welcome to the show!" A second voice called out excitedly.
"I'm your host, Zach!" The first voice says.
"And I'm your host, Bobby!" The second voice says.
"AND WELCOME TO BURDERBRAWL XXX!" The two announcers called excitedly.
The Boss sighs as he hears the two announcers shout. Zach and Bobby, I've should've known…'
"Angel, why are you showing me old clips of Murderbrawl? It's not like we're living in the past now, right?" The Boss asks.
"I'm showing you this because you need to see what Killbane is truly capable of. If you go in without any kind of knowledge of his fighting techniques, then you're as good as dead." Angel explained.
"So, remember that I hold the title of 'Butcher of Stilwater' Angel. I'm pretty sure Killbane will have to understand that." The Boss says.
"Titles don't mean shit compared to hard work." Angel retorts.
"Oh yeah, where did you hear that crap from?" The Boss asks.
"If I'm not mistaken, that Shaundi woman told me that you once said that to her, correct?" Angel asks.
"I… uh…" The Boss starts while getting a deep glance from Angel. He couldn't lie; he did remember saying such a thing five years back when taking on the first of the Sons of Samedi. Disagreeing with his own words made him sound like a fool. "Shit…"
"So you remember saying that?" Angel asks.
"Yeah, but forget about it. I'll just shut up now." The Boss says.
"Good." Angel simply replied.
The TV continued to show the two men the previous Murderbrawl, which appeared to be focused on Killbane, assuming that Angel recorded it from that part and skipped to Killbane's match. The Boss was sure that Angel had only recorded it from that spot, but he couldn't exactly tell.
Killbane was fighting some random guy in a green mask who appeared to have more balls than brains packed. Killbane appeared to be wearing his traditional fighting outfit and advanced on the shorter muscled guy, who appeared to be too dumb to tell that he was going to be more than injured in this match. He advanced to Killbane and let out a punch inside the gut of the Luchadore leader, who appeared to have had zero effects from it.
Killbane then took the guy's arm and lifted him into the air. Slowly but surely, Killbane had begun to add pressure to his hand holding the guy's arm. The tighter it got, the more the smaller wrestler appeared to be grinding his teeth harder and harder.
"Look at that, Bobby! Never have I ever seen such a display being pulled by Killbane's strength before!"
"I haven't either Zack, and I can only tell that it's going to get a whole lot more brutal from here."
"Just look at the man's face, Bobby! He's doing his best to remain silent, but how long can he hold on?!"
"Under Killbane's pressure? Zack, the guy should already been screaming, but it looks as if he's just trying to play it cool, and that could mean that he'll be-"
Soon, there was a sudden snap, and the arm was shattered while Killbane was able to close his entire wrist. The small wrestler shouted loudly in horror and pain as he felt his right arm become entirely useless for the remainder of his fight career and life.
"Whoa, that snap has sure ended it! I doubt he'll be able to compete in the fight any longer now!"
"Agreed, Bobby! Seeing this man with that wreck of an arm reminds me of that 'accident' on Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax when that mascot got shredded by that wall of blades."
"That's what I was also thinking as well, Zack. A pity that the show's alterations forced that to be removed from the game."
"I still don't get why that was a removed feature, Zack. After all, it was what made the show more interesting and a challenge for our competitors."
"I couldn't agree more, Bobby. It was because of the blades that I wasn't so fearful to make bets on random people who dared to run inside the maze of death traps."
"Uh… what?"
"Uh, anyway back to the fight. It looks as if Killbane isn't done yet with that fighter, Bobby."
"Yeah… it seems as if he plans to take him for a spin with one of his famous finishing attacks, Zack. But I'm more curious about which one it is that Killbane will use."
Killbane then suddenly forced the smaller wrestler higher and held him on his back while he held his right arm in agony.
"He's holding that guy above his own head! God, I wonder what Killbane's plan is." Bobby exclaimed with both excitement and fear for the Luchadore leader.
"As do I, Bobby. As do I." Zack says in agreement.
Suddenly, Killbane brought the guy down at such a fast pace and pulled his right leg up to get in the way of the smaller wrestler. He collided with Killbane's leg at such speed that a large rippling crack could be hard throughout the arena. The shorter wrestler's face was held upside down by Killbane's arms and his body's structure was broken in half. The worst part however was how damaged the guy actually was, though he couldn't live through that torture because of how gruesome it clear was. The guy was left limp, dead and broken in Killbane's arms.
"OH MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Bobby's voice could be heard shouting loudly.
Killbane then through the body away from himself and it landed outside of the ring, making some bone shattering noises to go along with it.
"Holy shit! That really was something to show the audience today... wouldn't you agree, Bobby? Bobby?"
"Uh... uh... yes, Zack! I'm sure Killbane has a lot of people who stand there admiring and fearing his great strength. It shows just how he is deserving of the title as 'The Walking Apocalypse'."
"That's right, Bobby. That's right."
From The Boss' perspective, the two announcers were actually cowering behind their microphones. It was kinda hilarious to hear, but not for those two apparently.
Angel then turned around to view The Boss and gave him a look that asked questions. The Boss looked back with no changed expressions and frankly seemed less than concerned about what he had just seen.
"Did that teach you anything?" Angel asks.
"Yeah, I think so." The Boss answered.
"Really?" Angel asked somewhat surprised.
"No, I just want to beat the shit outta Killbane a lot more now." The Boss replied honestly.
"Seriously? After what I have just shown you, you still don't feel the need to get ready to fight Killbane?" Angel asks.
"Nope. Because I already know how I'm going to beat the guy." The Boss replied.
"You mean 'we' right?" Angel asks wanting his right to avenge himself and reclaim the lost respect.
"Hey man, you can go in first if that's what you really want to do." The Boss says.
"That is all I'm asking for." Angel says before getting up. "I guess that means you won't be continuing any training, correct?"
"That's right." The Boss replies.
Angel just gives a smirk of amusement to The Boss in response to his short reply. Really, all the leader of the Saints was doing was humoring the fallen wrestler.
"Very well, but don't say I didn't warn you." Angel says before walking out of the room and heading back into the main GYM room, which was actually an old casino room.
The Boss seemed to look fine right now, but in reality, he was calculating Killbane's tactics inside his own head trying to figure out how he could avoid his crushing hands. Watching that tape about Killbane's previous match was actually pretty useful to The Boss. All he had to do was use all his mental energy, which would make things tough for even himself.
Matt And Kristen:
The two Goth teens had spent the next few hours gaining the rights to a new place. The paper work was a lot more easier than those kinds that take a while to fill out and get registered officially. These houses were already complete with a complementary of special needs to accommodate for home living, like a bed, storage space and a few machines in the kitchen. All of the these houses in the area apparently contained the same things in the area as they are valued at high prices. That implied that the area's houses got a good welcoming setup when someone decided to move in next.
It was already 8:00PM and the night sky had started glowing purple in the air, which let out a beautiful texture for the environment there. The city was so great that it even had a reflection on the state of environment. Matt and Kristen had set up on spots on the balcony attached to the second floor while eating fries of a kind that was acting as a welcoming gift inside the kitchen. They were sitting on some expensive wood that seemed too hard to find elsewhere Matt was surprised that it wasn't anything more classy, considering the fact that it was a house valued for the medium wealth residence.
Matt sat deep in thought, thinking of anywhere else to set up the gang at. In a place like Crystal City, it didn't seem that easy to just find an area and claim it for their own. This city was full of a lot of gangs that roam around twenty-four-seven. It had seemed like a good idea before now, but things weren't that black and white.
Kristen was also thinking of the same general subject, but didn't speak her mind, as well as Matt. The two didn't have to ask each other to know that they were thinking of the same thing. They wouldn't be able to relax without the pressure of the crew settling in on their shoulders.
"We're going to need to start looking for a new place to settling in when we get up tomorrow." Matt comments breaking the silence between the two.
"I know." Kristen replies. "But we need to find it sooner than later. It could prove a lot more annoying if we don't make our move soon. It's not like we're going to find a place just by seeing it appear right in front of us."
Matt then stood up and leaned at the rails of the edge of the balcony and sighed to her comment. He wished that it could be that case though, but what were the chances that a new place would just appear right before their eyes? What a load of rubbish.
Matt looked towards buildings that were stretching outwards further away to the left and beyond the water. They land around there was curved like the edge of a lake. All of them were at least eight stories high, and the Decker leader had gotten an interest in that general area. It wasn't those buildings that were getting his attention however. It was more along the path to the right that he had gotten in interest of. While it was extremely dark, he was able to make out at least a whole bunch of skyscrapers with no lighting on them. While they could've all just been shut off, Matt had an edging suspicion that it was that area worth checking out tomorrow.
"Matt, are you alright?" Kristen called while looking at his distracted form.
"Yeah, I am. I think we might have an area to check tomorrow." Matt says.
"Really? I think that sounds like complete crap." Kristen said with a laugh.
"We'll have to figure that one out, but not now." Matt says while turning away and heading back to Kristen. "We should go back inside. After all, it's pretty cold out here."
Kristen nods and picked up both her own and Matt's food. The two then went through the door and shut it, sealing the cold outside and not dragging anymore of it inside.
About ten minutes later, the two Goth were situating themselves in the main bedroom. The bed was already made, but the two needed to warm things up. Matt had gone and turned the heater in one of the halls on, which was actually very effective in warming the place in a matter of minutes.
Matt and Kristen were only here for a few hours and the two clearly already loved the place. Hopefully they wouldn't have to leave anytime soon, otherwise their comfort would be greatly disturbed.
Once the two were settled in bed, everything was at peace. Normally they would've gotten to bed later, but there wasn't much else to do, aside sleeping and gaining more energy for the coming day. They had made sure that everything was safely locked up from the outsiders, as Matt would call the people that he didn't have any contact with. The Attrazione was safely locked up in the garage and the doors to the house were locked tightly. Finally their phones were being charged through the night again, which would make entertainment and communication available throughout the day.
"Night, Matt." Kristen says while closing her eyes.
"Night, Kristen. Sleep tight beautiful." Matt replied. There was sort of an awkward, yet warm feeling the Decker leader felt about saying such things, but he figured that having such a selfish lifestyle for so long would've made it hard to accept his changes.
The dark room was silent and the sound of traffic continued to sound quietly down the street, the noises was a reassurance that everything wasn't too quiet for them to take suspicion on. Things would be somehow different tomorrow and Matt knew it. All he had to worry about however was the possible chance of themselves getting into a fight with the locals of the city. When that time was to come, Matt would do anything in his interests to keep Kristen safe from harm.
To Be Continued. . .