Chapter 8: Kingly Shopping Malls
Matt And Kristen's House:
Note: Sorry that it took so long to complete this. I have been under a lot of thoughts recently and didn't have much of a mood to write down the story, but I did work many times every few weeks to get this chapter done. And now here it is! Enjoy!
It had been only an hour since Matt and Kristen had left the abandoned part of the city and the two had already taken showers. Despite the two being a couple, they were less than ready to see each other's true forms that resided beyond their clothes. It was something that they would have to adapt to when and if they decided to take their relationship to the next level. Matt had taken the liberty of letting Kristen have the first shower while he took the second one. The smells and wetness would be able to leave their clothes and bodies once they were all washed off, but the smell would remain in their minds for a bit. The only trouble was dealing with the reason for the smell. The area they were walking in really needed some changes, which meant draining the unspeakably messy water and laying down cleaner stuff to replace it all. Though Matt was pretty certain that the other Deckers would be able to do it, or so he would think.
The two Goths sat on the bed of their house watching the news. It had appeared that since their leave from Steelport, a lot of interesting things had begun to take place. STAG was completely locking downtown solid and the aircraft carrier known as the Thermopylae had been destroyed by the Saints. It was a wonder as to how The Boss had managed to do it, but it was clear he was the one responsible for what had been done. Once again, Matt was gathering more reasons to be glad to be gone from Steelport. The leader of the Saints is nothing but a chaotic menace that broke through barriers that had more solid strength than what he could actually throw against them. This news report was no doubt holding him responsible for the lives lost and STAG property damaged.
Once the report was over, nothing but pointless news had come on. There were a few things that had happened in Crystal City like a few car jacking's, a few robberies and even a few torched buildings. The places that were burned down weren't just regular places, but much rather ones with some business value.
Matt and Kristen then flicked through the channels looking for something else that was interesting, praying that a better program was on. There was nothing to do but get bored since they needed to get their clothes cleaned up and they didn't have the right equipment. They needed working with the right machines and cleaning products to get them back to the clean glory they were purchased as beforehand. But they needed to find something else to do that wouldn't get their presence noted by the local gangs. The only clothes Matt and Kristen had clean were their Decker outfits, which exposed themselves.
They didn't want the Decker name being exposed yet it as it would alert the opposing gangs of something else to come, and that would make things become more difficult. The two would need to find a new source of clothes and quick.
Suddenly, Matt had flicked to a channel that made his attention rise. He never expected to see what he just did but he was a lot more interested in the television than before.
There was a celebration being held somewhere in Crystal City that appeared to be around the main downtown area. It was on a channel that appeared to be news related, or so it appeared to be.
There was a view of a shopping mall and it appeared very new and untouched. There were at least a few hundred people standing around the front of the complex and a stage the separated the crowd apart. On the stage, there was a white man with black hair in a blank suit who stood at the microphone on the stage watching the crowd. He was about to say a speech, judging by the look he was given to the crowd.
The man then tapped the microphone and the crowd suddenly turned dead silent, expecting him to begin with the introduction and the speech he would present to everyone. He turned to his left and let out a cough so he could speak with the crowd more clearly. He then turned back to the microphone and started to speak.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Eric Smith and I am here today to welcome Crystal City's first mega-mall that has been founded by one of the most richest and wise men who ever lived. He once lived on top and now he's a changed man. He is one of the most respected authors of our time and will probably be the only one too. Without a further ado, please welcome... Benjamin King!" Eric exclaimed while jumping back and letting another man come up on stage.
The second man coming up on stage wore a black suit that could be matched with the shade as gold intertwined with it. There was also a golden tie to brighten up his clothing as well. He had some nice pair of glasses that were easy to see through as well. On both ears, two matching diamond earrings shinned brightly in the lights of outdoors which looked more real than fake. The complexion his outfit gave clearly shown his motivation at the moment. He was taking this seriously and wasn't planning on doing anything that would get anyone hurt. No doubt that this was what Ben had become after the perils of being betrayed by the Vice Kings.
Ben stepped up to the microphone and started to speak, not needing to clean his throat.
"Good evening everyone." Ben started. "My name is Benjamin King and today I am here to officially announce this mall open this mall and let all of you experience first class supplies that'll make your living feel a lot easier. But before I cut the ribbon, I would like to explain my reason for the decision to make such a place."
Everyone looked at Ben with curious glances that asked for the reason for the mall's existence. Due to him still being a well respected man after losing his main fist ten years back, he clearly deserved his chance to explain his reasons to the public.
"For years when running the Vice Kings, we were originally in place to defend the good people of my hometown, Stilwater. As a kid from Sunnyvale, I always wanted to do my part in protecting my neighborhood with my friends. It all looked good from the beginning, but it wasn't how things would stay after gaining power. We good more caught up in the media related business and we came selfish business men with no heart and memory of our original ways. I took the VKs from a heroic gang of Stilwater to a media group with criminal values. There was just no heart anymore and I took it all away. I'm very amazed that I still live these days, because suffering against betrayal from my entire crew should've been enough to kill me. I was lucky that the Saints were there to help me, because I definitely would've been put in the ground. Taking down the Vice Kings however wasn't any redemption for me to pay my respects to Stilwater. So after a decade of thinking, I've decided to open up a mall here in Crystal City, to help more people than take everything away. It might not be Stilwater, but the funds I will be gaining from this business I'm opening will be assisting Stilwater by handing it to the people who suffer the most."
The crowd cheered after Ben had finished his explanation, admiring the generosity the ex-Vice King leader was giving. His change from the crime lord to the generous man he is today had made him more popular to the people rather than he would've been during his gang days.
Ben picked up the microphone with his left hand and started to walk down the right side of the stage and went for the back. From the looks of it, there appeared to be a red ribbon that stretched from wall to wall. He pulled a pair of big scissors with a bit of gold painted all over it and positioned it in his hand carefully. The microphone was then held close the dark skinned man's mouth and he spoke once again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby announce this shopping mall to be... OPEN!" Ben shouted as he cut the ribbon to the complex.
The entire crowd let out very excited cheers of the grand opening of the mall and started to rush forward to the entrance. Ben didn't bother stopping anyone, as his part in the opening was over. However, he would be staying here for quite some time as he didn't look like he was in a rush to leave just yet. Ben just stood at the wall to the left and proceeded to speak to agents and some fans that wanted to ask him questions, assuming that they've read his book Regicide and wanted to ask about it, and maybe possibly a sequel to the popular book.
Meanwhile back in Matt's and Kristen house, the two looked amazed at the mall appearing on the television. It seemed too good to be true to see how the writer of Regicide had taken the oath to open his own building in Crystal City. The idea seemed risky, but Matt and Kristen both had the same idea.
"We should go to that mall right now!" Both Matt and Kristen exclaimed while turning to face each other.
Matt and Kristen looked into each other's eyes with surprise and glee at the thought of both desiring the same idea. The two gave a smile and got up off of the couch the two were sitting on.
"I swear it was like destiny for us both to say that." Matt says.
"Yeah, but I think we might be doing more than we should be. After all, we have only been here for a few days now, so the chances for us to get into trouble is pretty high. If all the other gangs do indeed know us Deckers." Kristen states.
"It might be dangerous for a little bit, but we'll be in with a large amount of people inside the mall." Matt said, before he realized something. "Oh God, there's going to be a lot of people there."
"Really? You're more worried about a mall full of hundreds of people than the chances of gangs targeting us?" Way to go making priorities, Miller." Kristen says with a sigh.
"Alright, I suppose you do make a very decent point. We'll watch for the possibility for gangs as the priority plan for heading out." Matt says.
"Good, glad to see that you know what is important. You had me worried there for a moment." Kristen says.
"I suppose..." Matt says. "Shall we depart from this place?"
"Of course." Kristen replied.
The two Deckers then left the house with everything off and no sound of anything creeping, thus leaving nothing but darkness and silence on the property. With the exception of constant traffic and walking people of the night, the world grew silent around the house.
Crystal City Downtown:
Matt Miller drove his Attrazione down the busy city with Kristen in the passenger seat. The ride to the mall was going to be a long one because of the people infested in the area. For a city that was in its night time setting, the place was still very busy. It was similar to New York here. Crystal City was a city that never sleeps.
Soon, the orange colored vehicle had made it into the mall parking lot and drove down the ramp. With no surprise, Matt and Kristen had discovered that the underground parking was full of vehicles that had already taken their places. Either that they were the customers here or they were the workers. The size of this place indicated that many parking spaces would be congested by the vehicles of those who maintained a job here. By the time Matt would find a space to pull in it, the place would probably be filled with more than just a crowd of people at every step of the way.
"It would seem that we're going to have to face a lot of people here. I just hope we don't end up getting stuck in one spot like many popular places." Matt says.
"It'll happen if we don't take control, and I doubt that cyber god technical stuff will work here, since you know, it's the real world and everything." Kristen says.
"Yes, I know. I just wish I had a lot more respect from it though. Living with the burden of filthy people stepping all over me is just a sick degrading thing to live with. I will never allow that to continue to happen in the future." Matt says.
"You have the Deckers, Matt. We're all you need for now and we'll show this city what we are truly capable of." Kristen says. "For now, let's just keep watching our backs and make sure we have as much fun as possible before we get back to the gang work."
"Of course, dear." Matt responds.
Matt continued to keep driving his vehicle down and in circles around the parking lot. It had seemed that the creation of this place was more for the interior than the exterior as the parking lot seemed to have gone deep into the ground by more than ten whole levels. The amount of driving Matt did seemed fairly more ridiculous than he had ever driven in his life. The repetitive movements was silently making the leader of the Deckers yell in his own mind. He had to get his mind off this mess he was in.
"So, are you a big fan of Benjamin King?" Matt questioned.
"Of course, I had read his book Regicide and I found it an amazing read." Kristen responded.
"I didn't know you had read it before. I have to admit, I haven't read it before myself. What exactly happened inside book?" Matt asks.
"It explained the beginning of his gang the Vice Kings and how the Vice Kings had fallen. I'm surprised that you don't know what it's about." Kristen says.
"Well I did watch the movie version of the book, but I didn't know whether or not it was a bit different from how the book went." Matt explained.
"You should've read the book version of the story, Matt. The movie may have had a created view of the story, but the words and text of the book made it a lot more emotional to read." Kristen says. "If you want, I'll let you read it sometime."
"Maybe, though I would rather just get a downloaded copy of it. Text on technology is so much simpler to handle and does require forcing your hands to bend a book constantly." Matt says.
"Printed text is something to appreciate with art, Matt. Don't just get a downloaded copy of a book. Appreciate the uses of taking an original copy." Kristen says.
"I suppose, if I must." Matt says. "Anyway, do you want to meet ?"
"Of course I do. It was because of him that I had decided to turn my head into knowledge in the first place." Kristen responded.
"You were with the Deckers for quite some time, I'm sure you would've most likely gained your passion for education from our technology needs." Matt says.
"I was referring to the knowledge that expands beyond the ideals of machines and networking devices, Matt. You can learn to use a computer, but how will it help you in your everyday life? It just cannot assist you with every meaningful task of your life. That would just be absurd." Kristen says.
"Fair enough, Kristen." Matt responded.
Soon, the Gothic leader of the Deckers had found a suitable parking space a little further down. Judging by the numbers imprinted on the walls all over the place, it had appeared that they were thirteen levels down below the ground. The parking lot seemed to be constructed like how a core scraper was built, though the stores and businesses were obviously located at the surface.
Once Matt had pulled into the empty parking space available, both himself and Kristen had exited the Attrazione and walked to the back of the vehicle. Matt looked around the area with a disappointed expression and sighed.
"What's wrong, Matt?" Kristen asked with a small amount of concern.
"It seems like we're going to be in here for a bit. We're down by more than ten whole levels and it'll take more than just a few minutes to get out of here." Matt responded.
"With the eyes like yours Matt, I can see why you would say that." Kristen responded.
"Whatever do you mean? It's clear that we'll be in here for a long time." Matt says.
"Yeah, if you couldn't spot the elevators on the same level." Kristen retorted while pointing to a wall with two elevators with white doors sitting there. It was right at the end of the parking lot with no one standing around them, assuming that people were more than ready to visit the mall.
"Oh, well... look at that." Matt says embarrassed by his clear lack of observation to the lifts.
"Just lock up and get to those elevators..." Kristen says with a sigh.
"Alright Kristen." Matt says while locking up his orange colored Attrazione.
Soon, the Gothic couple had gotten out of the elevator and entered the shopping mall. From only a brief second of observing the area, it was clear that the stores were that of the high class kind and definitely cost a lot to set up here. There were many titles that both Matt and Kristen didn't even know about, despite their knowledge.
From the area that the two teens were in, they saw what appeared to be clothing stores all around them. Some were noticeably funded from rich people who didn't spare any expenses for items and the store security. There were men wearing black suits around those stores who were very tall and clearly looked like the kind who could hold their own against a common thief. The men clearly released a fearful aura from people who appeared shady. as well as Matt, who as a hacker didn't spend much time outdoors. Seeing these men made him feel a slight amount of panic. Kristen however didn't feel such emotions towards these men. They may be big and strong, but she was fast and dangerous. If she wanted to, she would taken all of the security out in this part of the mall in only seconds and it would only take at least a minute for her to wipe out all the evidence that she could've left behind. Though she had more brains than to cause trouble. And due to both her and Matt wearing their Decker colors, it was definitely a not so wise idea to tread into those ideas in such a public place.
Around the area, groups of people around the ages of twenty to thirty were roaming around the area, appearing to be looking from their items that they find interesting. The people here looked interestingly noticeable, either because of their actions or because of their styles of their clothing. This however was a lot more reassuring to Matt, as noticing everyone a lot more easier also meant that he would be able to spot a hint of trouble, should anything start to go down here.
Suddenly, Kristen's attention drew to what appeared to be another Gothic store that was located inside the shopping complex. However this one looked a lot more pricy than the one Matt and Kristen had been to not long ago.
"Hey Matt, let's go to that store! It looks awesome!" Kristen cried, though trying to not sound completely fascinated with it.
"If you wish, then sure." Matt says.
Kristen then tugged Matt's arm and started pulling him with her to the store. She seemed more interested in looking at fashion right now then watching her own back. Then again, it was basically what Matt wanted to focus on, however the threats that seemed to be lurking around Crystal City made things even more unnerving as they were much more different than the basic enemies that remained in the open. The incident in the abandoned part of the town was an example of strangeness as the weird mutations that the insane man that he and Kristen had encountered seemed more dangerous than one could assume. His place within the city must be pretty high in order to be able to turn people into monsters. In Matt's theory, the enemies that Kristen and he had faced was only but a cell of what was really in the city. If all of the turned people were to come after them, then he would've guessed that things would've turned out a lot worse.
Matt had decided to observed the sign of the store and quickly repeated what it said. "Full Gothic Metal Gear, hey?"
"Yep, not a bad title, wouldn't you agree?" Kristen asked looking to her boyfriend.
"I suppose the name suits, but I could've come up with something better." Matt objected.
"I'm sure you could have, Matt." Kristen responded.
The two Goth's then looked around the store and saw what the interior was like. There were dimed lights all around the store that made everything a lot darker with some areas very hard to see. There were at least six other customers there of the Gothic type that were idolizing the fashion and too focused to notice the two Deckers that had entered the store's boundaries.
Kristen then started scanning at a section of the store where a lot of slimmer sized outfits were located and instantly took an interest in some clothing. A rack where black skinny jeans were lined up made Kristen attracted and she knew that she had already decided what her next new bit of clothing would be.
She then walked to the rack and checked each pair of jeans there thoroughly. Curious enough to ask, Matt decided to in hopes of getting a proper answer. No one he ever knew looked at clothing like she was doing right now. The only time he ever saw someone looking around like that was when he trained his Deckers to hack and observe at very fast speeds.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find the correct size for me to wear." Kristen responded. "These jeans look very good and I hope you don't mind buying me a pair." Kristen then turned to face Matt, almost giving him a puppy stare.
"I suppose I could-"
"Or ten?"
Matt then stood there with a flabbergasted expression on his face, with his Gothic makeup only making it more noticeable. Apparently Kristen had liked the jeans that she saw so much that she really wanted to dip into Matt's current funds that he had left. If she were to continue asking for more, she would probably drain Matt's cash in only a week... or less.
"You've got to be joking... fine." Matt responded.
"Thank you, Matt!" Kristen cried and hugged her boyfriend tightly as she let go of the jeans on the rack. The jeans then proceeded to swing back and forth on the hangers slowly as they clashed with neighboring pairs.
As Kristen let go of her partner, Matt couldn't hide a smile he had on his face and gave a small chuckle to his girlfriend. She really knew how to get into his soul. It was then however that he had begun to think about how this could bring up bad effects.
Suddenly, Matt realized what was happening within his own head and smacked the thoughts out mentally. He didn't know why he had thought of this particular situation as a bad thing, but his paranoia was surely causing his negative thoughts. He quickly eliminated that thoughts of negativity and checked back to see what his girlfriend was doing.
Matt watched Kristen and he saw her picking out the jeans for herself and decided to perhaps give her a hand. The one thing that Matt had to compliment about her personality was her persistence. It never seemed to die down and it made her more lifelike. Or at least it was now seemingly more lifelike as Matt had only recently decided to take note of her being a person. Though he would've noticed earlier if he actually bothered to pay a proper mind to what she wanted back in Steelport. Now he really wished that he had listened to her more.
As Kristen continued to pick up more jeans, she noted Matt coming closer to her to give her a hand in picking up the clothing needs. As she watched Matt pull his hands out to her, she gave Matt the clothing. "Thank you, Matt. I hope you don't mind giving me a hand."
"Of course not, you are my girlfriend of course and I am your gentleman." Matt retorted almost feeling embarrassed at the thought of saying that.
Kristen gave Matt a somewhat serious glance as if thinking he was weird. This made the leader of the Decker feel slightly unease, and Kristen saw it. She then dropped her expression from her face and her checks lit up as she giggled. "You're very funny, Matt."
"Well, as long as being funny is what you want then I guess..." Matt responds.
After about thirty minutes of looking around the store for new clothing, both Matt and Kristen decided to get to the register where another Gothic male stood. This male seemed to be close to the two Deckers' ages. Matt however noted that this guy half reminded him of his friend who works at 'Nobody Loves Me' in Steelport, but this guy he however had longer hair than him and he also wore what appeared to be very slim leather. However, his personality seemed a bit more... open than the other guy, as Matt could tell by looking at him. Though he couldn't tell by looking, it was more of an educated guess at best.
"Sup, you lookin' into buyin' some threads?" The Gothic casher asked the couple.
'What a very odd Goth. He definitely seems to have a very interesting way of communicating. Surely not that much of a Goth if he seems to act like a total gangster.' Matt thought out to himself.
"Of course. I'm certain that given our need to approach you with a certain amount of clothing indicates that we are needing something." Matt responded, clearly annoyed with this guy.
"Gee man, chill out." The Gothic casher responded. "Just put your stuff up on here and I'll do every part of what you want correctly." He said while patting an empty spot next to the register and also dropping his attitude that he was giving.
Saints HQ:
The Boss has returned back to the crib with Shaundi, Pierce and Viola following close by. The Boss seemed somewhat pissed off, despite leaving the STAG aircraft carrier not that long ago. It had only been three hours since then and the sky above Steelport has died down into a near black color. The glooming lights that had once been the towers of the Syndicate carried their pink, green and blue lights into the air. They shinned directly into the HQ, but not that much. After the incident that they were in, they all just needed to relax and get a few beers to chill the hell out.
The Boss' first instinct at the moment was to get to the center couch of the crib and jump over it to lay down on it. And he did what he wanted in only seconds, not sparing even one. He then shifted his arms behind his head and remained still for a few seconds, before...
"Pierce, get me a beer."
"Can't you get your own, Boss?"
"Pierce, beer, now." The Boss said again, with a more of a stern voice.
"Chill man, I'll get you your damn beer." Pierce said when heading up stair to where the bar was on the east side of the penthouse.
Shaundi and Voila went to go sit on different couches that angled the one The Boss was on. The two women weren't exactly the best of friends... then again, those two weren't actually friends anyway.
The relationship between Shaundi and Viola was only but a mutual one. Since Viola had realized that she had hated the Syndicate after the death of her sister Kiki. It wasn't that she had hated the group before Kiki's death, but she had realized the mistake by running with them. Now she was rolling with the Saints, but that didn't seem to change who she was. The trust that the Saints would be giving her was more than a milestone off.
Angel hated her because she worked with Killbane and considered his lost to him fair. It disgraced his honor.
Oleg hated her because she worked with Loren while he was being used to create clones of himself, which Viola didn't object to. The brute sized Saints still doesn't trust her, even after her betrayal of the organization.
Zimos hated her on a fair level, considering his position as a sex slave in Safeword, which left him disgraced after being treated like a bitch... literally.
The only ones that seemed to regard Viola as an ally formerly was The Boss, Pierce and Kinzie. Since they weren't as badly affected by Viola as the others were, they felt a bit more open with her instead of wanting to push her away. The Boss at first didn't believe she was truthful, but after a while of seeing what her motives were, he had begun to accept her for who she was becoming and allowed her to stay.
Pierce had came back from up stairs with four beers, two in each hand. It was clearly obvious that his intention was two give all four of the crew the beers. Being generous, he sometimes did things for people without them asking.
Pierce first went to Viola who sat on the eastern side of the couches, then to Shaundi who sat on the western couch. He then jumped over the couch on where the Boss' feet were and then handed the beer out to him.
The Boss reached out for the beer that Pierce had handed to him and then cracked it open. Normally under a lot of stress, The Boss would've grabbed both beers from Pierce, which would've forced the Saint celebrity to go back for another one of his own. The funny thing that The Boss noted however was how Pierce appeared to be holding his beer protectively.
The Boss gave a very small grin to that, as it seemed like Pierce held onto the glass bottle like it was his own life. Pierce seemed a bit serious with his beer, but The Boss didn't really care.
The Boss then got up and then decided to chuck down his drink. It only took a few seconds before the glass bottle was finished. He then toppled the bottle upside down in his hand and then threw it in a random direction within the penthouse. However, it didn't make a smash sound but rather made a hitting noise of a sorts.
"Ah, my fucking head!" A voice cried from the distance. "What the fuck Boss!"
However, The Boss didn't really care at this moment. His mind was in a mixed state of chill, aggression and no simple care in the world. The three Saints on the couches then watched their leader, expecting him to do something else. However he just sat there in idle for a few moments, focusing on the edge of the pool to the penthouse he could see reflecting with the purple lighting that lingered inside the pool. However that didn't last long.
"Pierce, grab me another beer."
Benjamin King's Shopping Complex:
Matt and Kristen were both walking around and were now wearing their second disguise clothing that they had purchased. The cloths there were a lot more clean than what most in store clothing would've been. When Benjamin King had decided to make a Shopping Mall like this, he sure seemed very serious in making it just right for customers to be interested in. The environment was clean and the slightest amount of dirt was quickly cleaned by the workers here. There was a lot of high class points within this complex, but any kind of person was welcome, even the window shoppers.
As Matt and Kristen continued to look at the stores that they walked pass, they noticed a small crowd who were watching who appeared to be Benjamin King standing around talking to his fan one by one. He appeared to be respectful to everyone here, which was a good character for the ex-Vice King. The years appeared to have been well for him, after the leave of Stilwater ten years ago. As a writer, King had continued to learn more, and become a lot wiser. He was a veteran of the lowlife and made something of himself, which inspired people. Even Kristen seemed somewhat inspired the him. King has a lot of influence still to this day.
Kristen was excited to see the writer of Regicide here right in front her. She must've loved what the writer had produced from his mind, as she seemed to feel a lot of appreciation from his work. She had already decided to walk up to Benjamin before Matt could ask her a question.
Matt watched as she went to go speak to King, but he decided to stay back from him. Matt wasn't exactly comfortable speaking to celebrities of a sort, as he always knew he would say something he shouldn't. And it was Kristen's idea to meet Benjamin King, while Matt didn't see an interest in the writer. He didn't know the life of the ex-Vice King well, but from what he had heard, it was where King's downfall from power in Stilwater had started, which lead down the path to writing about what he had learned and power King had once. Now his power was his knowledge that continues to enlighten people's lives and gives a meaningful value that Matt has yet to notice.
Meanwhile, Kristen was only a few feet away and she noticed that King had already finished speaking to all the people that were interested in him and they had decided to resume shopping and doing their own thing, as well as saying their happy goodbyes to the author.
Benjamin then saw Kristen walk up to him with what appeared to be a smile on her. It looked sweet to Ben, so he decided to very nice to her when he spoke. "Why hello there."
"Hi, ." Kristen responded as calmly as possible. "I'm a real big fan of your work. You've taught me a lot about life choices and how they can affect you."
"Why, thank you for that. I'm always glad to meet a fan of my work." Ben says with a smile and gave a small chuckle to the Gothic girl. "What's your name? Do you live here in Crystal City?"
"My name is Kristen. I only came into town with my boyfriend a few days ago. We recently moved from our old city to start somewhere new. We've just trying to avoid trouble from our old home."
"I see. Where did you live before coming here?" Ben asked, a bit curious about her whereabouts before coming here.
"We have lived in Steelport for a fair amount of time, but now we've decided to start fresh and maybe do things differently." Kristen responded.
"Interesting. What was the reason you both left Steelport? I heard the gang trouble there was being dealt with by the Saints." Ben says.
"Well..." Kristen starts.
Suddenly as Kristen was explaining, a loud smash sound came from one of the stores, which made, Kristen and Ben look directly towards the area. Matt continued to watch from afar as the events played out. From what could be seen, glass had been shattered in one of the stores, which appeared to sell jewelry of the expensive kind.
From where the smashed window was, a Toad had broken through and two helmeted people were riding on it with a shitload of expensive fashion. As the Toad had begun to speed off, four security guards had started chasing the robbers. Then a male shopkeeper with a grey suit had followed outside of his store and then shouted...
"Stop them! They've got at least eight thousand bucks of merchandise that they didn't pay for!"
Kristen who was with King had decided to do some good. She had gotten into a couched position and then decided to activate her Decker Specialist boots. First she stood up into a straight position and then her boots started glowing with a blue neon effect. Then, the boots activated their wheels and raised her a few inches higher.
The sight Ben was seeing from Kristen was surprising him and he didn't know what to expect next. He was then a bit more impressed when the simple girl that he had just met had suddenly started bolting down the shopping center as a blue blur. She was amazingly fast and she was quickly catching up to the Toad that was getting away.
The two criminals that were riding thought that nobody could stop them. The way that they were moving, they almost thought that they were unstoppable. That is until they were introduced with the force of Kristen.
The Toad that they were riding on the got shot up into the air and then it begun to tip to the side, as the vehicle was falling, the two crooks went down screaming. It was easily to tell that they were both males now. Once the two criminal were on the ground and disconnected from the Toad, they were trying to recuperate and remember what was happening. The driver to the vehicle was already standing, but the passenger was still down. The security was quickly following up behind them and it would've only taken seconds before at least one of them was caught. Taking no risks, the criminal on foot bolted as fast as he could, leaving his accomplice behind to fend for himself.
"You can't take me back to prison assholes! I ain't going to be someone's bitch again!" The running criminal cried, revealing his time in prison and experience there.
Suddenly, as he was running he was yanked back and then thrown back to where his partner in crime was. He was levered against the Toad and then knocked out as he hit it. All he remembered seeing before he blacked out was a blue blur. Security then arrived and picked off the two helmeted people. They were quickly taken away by the security and the stolen property was then returned to the store and was going to be checked for damages.
While the two criminals were being dragged away from the nearby civilians, Kristen watched as everything was being cleared away. Matt was running to catch her as she watched. The blades on her boots had been returned to their inactive state and made her look as if she was wearing normal blue neon shoes.
"Holy crap, are you alright?!" Matt asked as he stopped right next to her.
"I'm fine, Matt." Kristen says. "I can handle myself, so you don't need to worry about me."
Just before Matt could give another statement, Benjamin King, the owner of the shopping complex had walked to where Kristen had stopped; clearly looking more interested rather than shocked to have experienced what he saw.
"Wow, you were pretty impressive, subduing those two crooks like that. Thank you for what you've done." Benjamin says.
"Oh, no problem, Mr. King." Kristen responding putting her hands together getting into a fan girl mode. "I don't think anyone should steal from a business you own. You've given a lot of lessons that people can learn from, and you've done a lot of good to give back to the community."
Matt watched as Kristen expressed inner goodness. He found it ironic how even one of his Decker members could even express an ounce of goodness, especially from Kristen. Though from what the experiences that she had lived through, the ideals of doing good may have sounded like a good idea to her.
"Well, I can say that I try at least, but I can never give back enough to fully justify what I have done in the past. The only thing I can do is try and make the world a better place." Benjamin says. "But I have to express my gratitude to you. What you did was impressive, and I don't know how to properly thank you."
"You don't have to do anything at all Mr. King." Kristen says. "I was only trying to help out a bit."
"No, no, I think you deserve something." Benjamin says. He then put his hand inside the depths of his yellow coat and pulled it back out again with a white card with writing on it. There were a few large paragraphs of gold on the card and King handed it to her. "It's the least I can do for you." Kristen then read the card out in a low toned voice.
"'If you are a holder of one of the Kingly cards, then congratulations, you have been invited to stay at the mansion of Benjamin King, the writer of the book Regicide.'" Kristen said but didn't read the next few rows. "Wow, you mean I can stay at your own personal property?!"
Benjamin chuckled and then responded happily again. "Of course girl, well, you and your boyfriend I mean." King said while looking at the Goth male who was standing next to the Goth girl. The look on his face made it clear that he had social interaction problems of his own. "Hey, young man."
"Oh, uh… hello there Mr. King." Matt responded while trying to act as sincere as possible. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine myself." Benjamin says putting on another smile. It was clear that Matt needed to get used to people and Ben was thinking about helping him with that. He then turned his attention back to Kristen. "Remember, if you hold on to that card that I have just given you, it'll allow you access to my property. You'll be escorted by my personal staff and they'll send you in to my office. Once there, I'll make sure you two are settled in nicely."
"Wow, thanks again, Mr. King!" Kristen says back excitedly.
"Anytime. Sorry, but I have to go now, and check up on things. I hope to see you again very shortly." Benjamin says.
"Alright, take care Mr. King!" Kristen says waving at the writer as he walked away.
"You two do the same. And be careful around this town, there are some very interesting character types out here that can get you into a lot crazy trouble. Just looking out for you." Benjamin says.
"Thank you for the tip, Mr. King. We'll be careful!" Kristen responded.
Crystal City, Abandoned City Section:
After exploring the shopping complex and meeting the well known Benjamin King, the couple of Deckers had decided to go back to the place that they had only taken over hour ago to see whether or not the bums or someone else had decided to set up shop here once again. And by the Deckers deciding to go back, it was actually Kristen while Matt basically begged to not go there at night. His anxieties were the most troubling to deal with.
Due to the high about of space and less closed of areas that the place had, it served as a potential point of interest to control. The amount of territory that could be made here was quite high and if the Deckers were going to start up in Crystal City, they would need to strike high within the city.
The idea was that if the leader of the Saints could do it himself, what was stopping Matt from doing the same thing? The Saints may have had media as a source of income and loyalty, but as hackers, the Deckers consisted of many forms of income and loyalty, such as hacking into high valued companies, and stealing secret military plans that were vital for control. The amount of potential that the Deckers' had was high, but the Saints were very fast at striking blows against the Syndicate, which proved to make a mostly set demise for the gangs.
Matt and Kristen had reentered the control room that contained the computers again, which were still in idle where they were last time and remained undamaged. Because of the risk of this place falling into any rivals' hands, Matt had decided to plant bugs around the area that would alert him of anyone approaching the area and count how many people have entered. While the bugs didn't carry anything lethal or non-lethal, they would still prove useful to explain how popular the place would get uninhabited. It would be better if the Deckers got here ASAP, or things might not go as expected. Two Deckers in a city with many questionable foes, it wasn't a walk in the park.
While being in Crystal City was dangerous without a crew, it wasn't something Matt could back down from yet, for two reasons. One reason being the fact that he had decided to go here in the first place and the second fact being that if he was to try and change his mind about leaving, Kristen would definitely say otherwise and make him stay. Despite the opposite amount of courage Kristen had, Matt was glad at least one of them carried it. In the relationship however, it would seem as if Kristen could never be the damsel in distress. Matt however…
"Alright, so the bugs have been planted. Now all we need to do now is make sure we always have them active twenty four, seven. If these work properly, then we'll see whether or not anyone else is competing for ownership of this place." Matt says.
"Gotcha." Kristen responded and then looked outside of the doorway that they had entered, noticing how everything on the outside was pitch-black.
The way that the buildings were dug in, it would seem as if any source of light died near the entry point and kept everything vastly darkened. Aside from the lit up skyline of the city, everything in the area seemed like a darkened abyss. The ground was entirely unnoticeable from the human eye at this time. Kristen pulled out her phone and checked to see what the direct time was. 10:15PM.
The Gothic girl sighed as she waited for Matt to pack his things up. The bugs were small, but the carrier for them was extra protective of them since they were very sensitive bits of technology that could break easily if not handled correctly. Despite being very delicate, they were very hard to discover, making the worry for them being damaged lessened.
After Matt had finished packing up, he rechecked his bugs that he had placed and made sure that each and every one of them were secured properly. The place to target would be the point of interest, and since the computers here seemed advanced enough for people to be interested in, it would seem like a good idea to set up the bugs in a place like this.
Assuming that the bums had been here for a long time, the notable clearing out of them would attract those who were interested in covering more ground, which also included the two Deckers' who were competing for territory of their own. No crew in Crystal City meant no territory for the Neon Gothic gang from Steelport. Soon, when the Deckers finally make it into the city, they'll be able to help Matt take more locations and hack many more companies for income and help purchase much bigger things to invest in.
Sometimes things were so well guarded that money was a very useful thing to gain the help needed for the wanted supplies. But to make sure that they had enough resources to do so, there needed to be active members of the crew, which is why they were securing this part of the city. To make sure a new headquarters could be assembled for mission building and give the crew a place to stay.
But, as Kristen continued to watch outside in the darkness, light had begun to illuminate from the side where the two teenagers had entered from. There appeared to be multiple spots of flashlight lighting spreading around and getting closer, assuming that there were people walking around the area.
"Hey Matt, we've got company!" Kristen warned while pointing to the now obvious to see lights coming towards the building they were in.
"Ah shit…" Matt says, feeling his heart beginning to pump hard from the unexpected arrival of more people. He then gathered his equipment up and quickly held it around his back with a leather sash. "We need to get out of here, and quick."
"No way, Matt. This is trouble that I think I'll take out personally." Kristen responded. "You get back to the car, I'll make sure that nothing bad happens while we're leaving."
"No way, I am not leaving you here to work by yourself." Matt says. "You might get killed."
"I can handle myself, but you need to do as I say, alright?" Kristen asked.
"A-alright. But you better come back soon." Matt says and went to the exit on the opposite side of the computer room. His footsteps could be heard on the gravel, smashing down heavily and getting quieter each time.
Kristen then turned back to where the lights were shinning from and went to the edge of the door to get a fair look at the people that were approaching the building she was in. She poked her head out from the side and spotted the approaching individuals with her perfect vision, but noticing them was also partly because of the flashlights they were handling. There were a few rows of people moving forward, and some of the lighting was strong enough to reveal what the people looked like.
From what Kristen saw, they were all males wearing leather combat suits which harvested the colors green and pink all over them. This seemed highly odd of a faction of people to wear such clothing. But it was so similar to the Luchadores and their matching colors.
From what Kristen could see, these men were obviously armed and were expecting to kill anyone who was here. Judging from the way that they were walking, it would seem as if they were lowly armed and only carried pistols and submachine guns.
Kristen nodded and knew that these guys were low grade punks who wouldn't be able to hold their own against someone with an elite skill in fighting. This was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel.
"Too easy…" Kristen responded.
The elite Decker Specialist activated her shoes' and the wheels had expanded to the bottom again, raising her a few inches higher. She then zoomed forward and went behind a few dock crates that had been randomly abandoned in the area.
The group of armed men had heard the rush noise and they all aimed around the area filled with crates. "What the fuck was that?" One of the men called out. "Find out what that noise was!"
The armed soldiers then followed what the one thug had ordered and went to spread out around the area, attempting to figure out what the disruption was and make sure to close of their escape routes. The weapons being carried by the men were 45 Shepherds and TEK Z-10s, the classic choices of the year, as they were used frequently all over America to do the dirty business. However, they still couldn't match up to people who lived in the world of carnage.
The group of men had circled around the crates and their search had proved useless to them. They didn't know what the noise had been, but they knew someone or something had to have made it.
Kristen turned out to be on top of the crate, looking down at the thugs as they looked around, searching but coming up clueless with their search. She waited for a few moments as she watched how every one of the thugs moved closer together. That particular movement was what was attracting her to do a proper opening to her attack that she had planned to use.
As the group of thugs had grouped up close together, one of the members had begun asking questions to the other crew members about what the noise could have possibly been. He was explaining it to the best of his ability as the sound that had been made before was quick, but impossible to not mention.
Kristen noticed a fair enough gap between all of the members, enough for her to jump them by surprise. She reached down to the sides of her pants and fiddled with her twin Shock Hammers until they were gripped in each hand equally and detached them from the straps that she had holding them on the sides. She remained in a crouched position as she removed them, avoiding being seen. She then jumped up quite swiftly and managed to direct herself in the middle of the group. She then started descending down fast, with her boots assisting the drop by dragging her down. She then forced herself to push the Hammers below her entire body, expecting to successfully slam into the ground and shake everyone up.
The Hammers then impacted into the concrete and blue waves from the shock had spit out rapidly, causing the thugs to be caught by surprise and sending them flying away. Five of the thugs had smashed into one of the crates head first, causing their skulls to be seriously fractured and giving them brain damage, killing them violently. The other thugs however were dragged across the concrete either being pushed to the dirt surface in the area or continuing to get their skin burned away from the cement.
Kristen then viewed her targets as she put her Shock Hammers back and notice six of them still moving, while others were either knocked out or dead. The members that were still in motion quickly looked back up and fired their TEK-Z 10s at the Goth.
Due to proper reflexes and good choices, Kristen had backed up with a series of back flips, due to her nibble body. The bullets of the sub machine guns just burst around her and some had managed to graze her hair a bit and cause a slight amount of tears on her black shirt. Once the elite Decker Specialist had stopped her back flips, she had noticed the damage done to her and quickly reached for her D4TH Blossoms that were on her back, shaped like an 'X' as they crossed over. She quickly had her hands on the grips and her index fingers quickly tapped the triggers, letting her rapid fire out on the thugs. Due to the rapidness of the weapons, the recoil of the twin submachine guns was pretty high and made aiming difficult. To counter this disadvantage by a slight amount, she had decided to hold the guns sideways with one over the other.
The thugs noted the attack on them, and quickly started rolling around on the ground to avoid getting hit. One by one, they all tried to get up, only to have most of their own blood explode on their uniforms. Two of the thugs however managed to avoid getting hit and decided to get back on the ground and dived for their dead allies to use them as body shields. Kristen however continued to fire off more rounds against the enemies and ripped right through their corpses and hit the last two. Since her weapons had full upgrades, they allowed her to get targets fatally, even when they were in certain cover.
The blood bath had ended, and the thugs were all dead. The flashlights had been scattered from the Shock Hammer dive in, and most had been shattered from hitting other objects in the area. Kristen noted the enemies a lot more clearly and got better views of their uniform. Clearly they were in a gang of sorts, so it would mean that the Deckers would end up going against more competition for city control of Crystal City. This was one gang that the Deckers might have problems with, since this was clearly only a scouting party.
To make sure that they knew their enemies a lot more by appearance, Kristen had taken out her phone and took photos of the bodies that laid dead in the abandoned part of the city. She didn't admire taking images of the dead, but it was the only way she would be able to help Matt identify the enemies in this city.
Once she was satisfied with the images that she had collected, she returned the phone to her pocket and went back to meet Matt. But before she had decided to leave, she thought of an idea that might help the Deckers. Since many crews these days carried more information on devices, it would serve a great purpose to take one of the dead guys' phones for personal usage when attacking a business that might have. She quickly decided to go to one of the bodies and carefully made sure that no more blood would get on her clothes. Because there was no washer for the clothes that both her and Matt had, it would serve as a good suggestion to not get anything bloody on herself, as all stores were closed and she planned on heading to the personal property of Benjamin King's once she and Matt had gotten up.
She had quickly found a phone in the pocket that she had searched and she instantly pocketed it within hers. The job was done for now, but these bodies couldn't remain here. She knew that she would have to move them sooner or later. Or maybe some of the Deckers could do it for her, once they arrived.
"Well, that ended a lot better than I had expected. I hope Matt's ready." Kristen says to herself loudly. "I hope he's doing alright by himself."
The Gothic girl then quickly begun to run to the car, where Matt should be waiting for her to return. Using her rollerblades would've been risky for tripping if she didn't see where she was heading. Since there was a lot of junk here, the simplest trip could lead her to needing a lot of healing.
Meanwhile, Matt was waiting outside of his car with his 45 Shepherd in hand, watching the entrance to the abandoned part of the city, hoping that his girl would return soon. He had obviously heard the bullets flying around inside the space Kristen was in, but he didn't hear the sounds that her Shock Hammers had given off. Since the bullets had stopped, he had wondered whether or not she had been taken down, or she had brutally taken the enemies down.
Then, the Decker female could be seen exiting from behind a wall and went for the car Miller owned. The leader of the Deckers sighed with relief as he saw her arrive. He moved a few steps closer as he saw her arrive. He didn't know what happened during the fight, but he had a good clue as to what had happened.
"Kristen, you're alright!" Matt cried. "I… I was worried."
Kristen then forced a grin to her boyfriend as she had returned, making Matt smile a bit back at her. However, the moment was cut short as she decided to rush again.
"I would love to have a heart to heart Matt, but right now is not the time." Kristen responded. "Let's go home. I feel the need for a rest."
"Of course." Matt responded. The leader of the Deckers then went to the passenger door of his Attrazione and opened it up for the Gothic girl to enter. He held it with respect as he looked at his girlfriend.
Kristen gave a smile again and sighs. "You're becoming such a gentleman, Matt."
"Well… I'm doing my best to be much more… respectful." Matt responded.
Kristen then entered the car and Matt closed the door once she was in completely. He then went around the car and went to enter on his side. Once he was in as well, he had started the engine and quickly drove off to where he and Kristen currently lived, leaving this part of the city behind once again.
End of Chapter:
Note: While the idea of adding Benjamin King might've seemed a little too fast for this story, it was because I need a reason for a future chapter to this story to make it advance a little bit further. Otherwise it'll be harder to advance.