One Powerful Saint

By the time that Vee and Shaundi made it to the campus for Stillwater U, everyone was out having fun; College kids were either drinking, smoking or just trying see who could get off with who.

"Just like when I came here…" Vee chuckled to himself. "So what's the plan, Shaundi? We just shake down every frat boy until he coughs up cash or Loa Dust?" He asked as he saw her looking like she was in her element.

"You do it however you want to, dude…I got my way of doing things and you figure your's out…You said you went here right? Go with your gut~" Shaundi suggested with a sly wink.

"Yeah, last time I went with my gut in college, I ended up under the table after 7 whiskey bombs, 5 Rum Gunners and something called a "Cross Country Slammer" with a Japanese Art Major, an Italian exchange and a German Hockey Captain clinging to me." Vee mentioned as he had flashbacks to a giant German girl calling him cute and throwing him over her shoulder followed by the Art Major walking in on them in the middle of the "deed"…The Exchange wasn't even planned but somehow all they could hear was a woman yelling "Bomba in buca~!" before jumping into the pile.

"Heh, nice~" Shaundi said with a grin but that quickly wiped off her face as she looked like she was piecing something together. "Wait…Wait a fucking minute…YOU were the "Axis of Fucks" of Stilwater U.?! I thought you were just some urban legend guys spread around campus for dick measuring…" She mentioned as she kept her eyes on him.

"They talk about it here?" Vee asked in confusion and somewhat surprised that his first time in a College dorm bender ended up as an urban myth.

"Duh! Of course people talk about it, you ended up banging Cosima fuckin' Bellini!" Shaundi was inadvertently yelling since she was shocked that her boss didn't seem to recognise what kind of deal this was. "She's a fashion model now called Joule."

"Damn…That's new to me…Though to be fair, the lights got knocked out and I was too blitzed to guess faces…." Vee mentioned honestly; "But still, let's get to looking around." He pointed out to get them back on track.

"You got it boss…Who knows, you might get to add good ol' USA to your conquered list~" Shaundi smirked and playfully shook her hips before wandering into the crowd, leaving Vee alone as people started whispering about the legend once they noticed that he was the one that Shaundi was talking about.

Vee was awkwardly trying to navigate the campus as he could practically feel the stares piercing him but decided to focus up and found his way to a back alley.

"Here, take it and go."

Vee found his mark; A guy in a green hoodie with jeans and a cigarette poking out of his mouth, shoving a small baggy into a frat boys hand and pocketing the wad of money. "Hey buddy, was wondering if you can help me with getting something."

The guy looked Vee up and down and he could tell this guy wasn't a regular; "Oh yeah, with what? Trying to find out who to rat?! I know your game asshole and I ain't playin'!" The guy barked as he pulled the jacket open a little to show he had a knife tucked away.

"Roll it back, tweakazoid…I'm no narc, I just wanna see what your game is…" Vee mentioned as he knew the guy was one of the paranoid types and he'd rather not have to resort to violence…yet. "I heard you guys around here are selling Loa, I wanna buy."

"Loa Dust? That's pretty good dope, though good shit has a pretty big price tag on it…20 bucks for a sniffter." The guy haggled him as he held up a bag.

"How about I give you 100 for the whole thing?" Vee mentioned as he pulled out a stack of 10s. "And then you can tell your suppliers that you ran out with a chunk of money."

"Look man, I can give you a small amount…I got other people lining up on campus to get this shit…With all the other dealers backin' out and switching flags thanks to some new psycho gang on the Row, this stuff is in short supply." The Guy mentioned as he then pocketed the baggy; "Tell you what, you make that 100 into a 1000 and I'll cut you in on half."

Vee had to laugh, this guy was either real ballsy or real delusional. "Oh you're funny…Tell you what, I'll make you a counter offer….I'll take the full thing and you can walk away without trying to count your teeth." Vee said with a smile on his face, letting the guy know that he may be smiling but he wasn't screwing around.

"A-Actually, 100 for the whole thing sounds good…" The Guy could feel his heart drop like a frozen rock into his stomach and gave Vee the baggy. "I-In fact, it's on…me?" The guy was about to hand it over without a charge for money but found that his outstretched hand had a 100 in it now.

"See? Not so hard is it? Keep the change." Vee then walked off as he pocketed the Loa dust to go look for more.

"Ey big man!" A girl called out as she waved him over; "You looking for something to take the edge off? Why settle for a bum when you can get some primo shit right here?" This time it was a dark skinned girl wearing a green visor cap, a white sleeveless top under a Feed Dogs hoodie with black sweatpants and hi-tops.

"Well, I could always use fun for the weekend, what have you got?" Vee asked her as he walked over to see if he could get a second sample.

"Well, I got everything that some guys like you could want…Or if you feel adventurous then I got some Loa Dust, it costs a little more but I can assure you that it's worth the price." She mentioned as she smirked at getting her hooks in; "Plus it'd give you an in with some of the college parties around here…And I can tell that a guy like you would get sucked down faster than the blow~" She remarked with a wink, partially trying to butter him up to sell more though there was a small part of her that was curious to see what this guy was about.

"Alright, say I wanted to buy all your Dust…How much would you want for it?" Vee asked curiously as he reached for his wallet but the girl stopped him with a laugh that would've been less than sincere to other people but to him it was a little more…coy.

"Oh honey…Loa Dust is strong stuff and it gets expensive…VERY expensive in bulk." She hummed but then lightly tapped a manicured finger to his chest; "But since I find you cute and so far no one's bothered trying to buy…How about you earn yourself a discount~" She purred softly and ran her finger up and down his chest; "You give me something good to wow me and I'll shave off some bucks from the price, sound good?"

Vee smirked a little, deciding to play along with her; "And what if I can wow you…more than once?" The Saint asked her with an equally sly smile on his face as he could tell she was into it but also trying to keep on track.

"Careful with what you say, big man~ Because plenty of guys have tried to play that card but…They fell short, still think you wanna talk big~?" She decided to try psyching him out.

"I like putting in the effort…How about I show you just how I can put my money where my mouth is while the offer's on the table." Vee opted with a grin as he figured this could be a fun time.

"Table, bed, backseat of my car…You name the place and I'll put you through your paces for a good 15 minutes~" She smirked up at him but ultimately dragged him off to the dorms where she was staying, leaving much to the imagination as the door slammed and the girl started to sensually giggle.

——About 1 hour of "Wowing" Later——

Nearly everyone on their dorm floor could almost hear the sound of a bed bashing against a wall over the raucous moaning and screams that sounded like they could be heard from space as Vee took his shot to "Wow" the lady that later introduced herself as Amy. A sweating Vee was currently sat up in the bed and draining a bottle of water as Amy was currently clutching onto the sheets with a face that looked like her brain melted and panting heavily while trying to pretty much unscramble her thoughts. "So…How was that for wowing you?" He asked as he couldn't help but grin a little at seeing the dopey look on her face.

"You….Okay, first off; Oh my fucking God, where have you been all this time?!" Amy quizzed him with an almost hungry look on her face; "Secondly….Yeah, you blew a lot more than my expectations~" She mentioned as she eyed his body; Her hunger went up as his pants went down when she realised that the suit he wore did nothing to disguise his body amongst other thing, the guy was lean but the somewhat muscular physique made him a distracting sight to look at. "You can take the Dust, you earned it~"

"Heh, I appreciate it…" Vee said as he nursed a rather harsh looking love mark on his neck that was slowly healing up but then got cut off when he heard a banging on the door.

"AMY! YOU IN THERE?!"

"Manny? Shit! You gotta go, now!" Amy became nervous as she pulled her shirt back on. "Don't worry about the money, that one's on me~" She whispered to Vee as he buttoned up his shirt and pulled on his pants.

"Who's that? Boyfriend?" Vee asked as he grabbed his jacket, the unending pounding on the door making it pretty telling what it could be.

"Him? Ew, no! He's my supplier…He must've been waiting for me when we…oh, damn! We've been at it for an hour?!" Amy checked her phone and felt her eyes bug when she saw the time.

"Well, time flies when you're getting off to the sound of a cute girl." Vee said to tease her a little but found his response to be a pillow to the face by a blushing Amy that was trying to keep serious, though when a girl was pink in the face and wearing nothing but her t-shirt and her underwear made it hard for him to stay serious.

"Shut up~ Now go on, out the window…Believe me when I tell you, the gang that Manny runs with is not one you wanna mess with!" Amy warned as she saw Vee climbing out the window and pulled her own pants back on. "You'll come back again, right?"

"For a fun time like this? Hell, yeah." Vee agreed as he hopped out of the window of the first floor dorms and snuck away as the conversation between her and Manny got underway, figuring he could get an added leaning; He decided to listen in.

"You weren't picking up…You know that with the Sons around, I can't waste time messin' around with you."

"Sorry, I just got caught up with some friends…But look, I got some cash here for some of the stuff you gave me." Amy mentioned as she shoved money in his hands. "Though I'm gonna need more Loa Dust…Think you can score me more? They're the biggest seller here."

"I'll ask VC if he can hook me up…And I can hook up with you while I wait~" Manny said with an audible smirk.

"Uh uh…Agreement, remember? I give you money for drugs, you don't try to play me like those other girls you go around campus with...I heard the stories about you."

"Tch…Fine, have it your way….You'll hear back from me in a week." Manny sulked with a resentful tone before the door slammed.

"So, Manny's with the Sons…Maybe I can hit him up on the way there…" Vee thought to himself as he straightened up and acted casual as he went to one of the walkways when he saw the man in question.

Manny was by no means a punk; around 6 and a half foot with a mean look on top of being built like your average gym bro but he offsided it by having a pistol tucked into the back of his sweats' waistband in a not quite so subtle way. "Fucking tease…I give HER more money than she gives back, the least she can do i-The fuck you want?"

"You Manny? I have a few questions for you…" Vee decided to chime in and question the supplier. "One of the dealers around here tells me you're the guy to go to for Loa Dust."

"What about it? Because I don't have any…So unless you want something I got for sale, go bother someone else, jackass!" Manny snapped and shoved Vee in the shoulder, the subsequent blue balling plus Amy turning up short on his payment had made him one very irritable man.

"Okay, let me rephrase that…Tell me where you get the Loa Dust from and I'll forget you taking that tone with me." Vee mentioned with a serious look as he crossed his arms. "So how about it, wanna play nice?"

"You better watch what you say, slim…Because I can easily pop you between the eyes…And that's if the boys I'm running with don't get you first." Manny threatened him and pulled out his pistol to point at an unamused Vee.

Vee sighed; "Alright, this next part's on you…" He warned before quickly slapping the pistol out of Manny's hand and then swinging a hard jab into the taller man's throat.

"You…You have any idea who you're fucking with?!" Manny yelled in a hoarse voice but the only answer he got in return was a swift kick to the head, rendering him unconscious.

"I do, but I honestly don't care…" Vee grumbled as he then called Shaundi; "Any news?"

"Damn man, You got great timing! I just got a tip that Mark Gabby is slinging near by. The guy brings in a lot of money for the Samedi...taking him out should hurt them pretty bad, plus I've heard he does some real skeevy things to squeeze return buyers by the 50s so added bonus." Shaundi mentioned as she was about to finish up, though it sounded like she was hesitating on the next part; "I've gotta warn you though; The stuff I heard about the Sons are some serious shit! They're not just gang bangers, these guys are outta their damn minds. For God's sake they're named after the Vodoun Lord of the Dead!"

Vee scratched his head and then looked around for this Mark guy, "Shaundi, you're running with a gang called The Saints, names don't mean much outside of coolness." He pointed out as he hung up and saw the guy outside an observatory; "Mark, right? I wanna talk business with you abo-HEY!" Vee started calm but yelled once he saw Mark had bolted after pushing a buyer into him.

"I ain't talking squat to you, Saint! I know those colours!" Mark yelled as he made a mad dash for the parking lot while shoving people. "Shit shit shit shit! I gotta let the Sons know or I'll end up dead!"

"Shaundi! Bring the car around an-HOLY SHIT!" Vee tried to call Shaundi but was thrown for shock when he saw Shaundi speeding up in his car and practically ran down Mark. "Okay, we'll talk about you driving my car like that later but that's a little excessive, don't you think?!"

"Relax, I only hit him hard enough to get him a month's stay in the hospital…plus your car's super fast too so I took what I could." Shaundi waved it off as Mark groaned on top of the bonnet before passing out. "Did you get the samples?"

"You bet…Let's finish our little side project and get cooking." Vee grinned as he dragged Mark off of the hood of his car before walking to the driver's seat. "Alright, out."

"What? Aw, come on…Can't I drive it more? This thing's a beast on four wheels!" Shaundi pouted before climbing over into the front seat; She had managed to climb into the car when she heard Vee calling her to bring the car around and a simple press on the gas rocketed her through and into Mark.

"Sorry, Shaundi…But that's EXACTLY the reason that I'm only letting very few people into the drivers seat…Now let's get going before we end up making more of a scene." Vee then jumped in and got them both away and heading towards the hideout.

——Later, in a limo——

"Gentlemen, how was business today?" A deep voice echoed from in the limo as a bald, dark skinned man sat near the back in a white and green suit, this man was known only as The General; The leader behind the Sons of Samedi and rather than accepting business within a set building, he had opted to conduct from within a moving limosine. Surrounding him was his right hand man and the enforcer/primary reason to listen to the General, Mr. Sunshine along with Veteran Child; A weaselly looking pale man with dreadlocks under a rastafarian beanie and holding onto a stack of money.

"Here's today's take…Fresh off the suppliers." The beanie man mentioned as he placed the stack of money in the General's outstretched hand.

The General quickly skimmed through the money but the look on his face somehow managed to betray his disappointment. "There are many singles where 50's should be…Is there something that you wish to tell me, my friend?" He asked with an calm tone and even as he was, it was difficult for anyone to gauge just how he felt.

Veteran Child felt both The General and Mr. Sunshine grow into giants as their collective gaze fell on him. "Y-Yeah, about that...I couldn't get a hold of some of my guys…Not sure if they were all busy or if somethin's happened…"

This however did nothing to appease the suited man in front of him, "These men steal from The General?" He would ask in a beguiled voice as he leaned forward with a more interrogatory stare.

"No, I'm not sayin' they're stealin'..."

This time Mr. Sunshine was the one to inquire. "Then perhaps YOU took the money, has radio work not paid you enough?" He asked in a quiet, raspy voice that one would expect from a crypt keeper.

Veteran Child narrowed his eyes indignantly as he argued back at the Enforcer. "Fuck off, Papa Shango…I'm talkin' to The General." He snapped at Mr. Sunshine but what he said didn't quite register until the room began feeling colder.

Mr. Sunshine however didn't look angry but he pulled out a straw voodoo doll like it was a gun. "You may be a popular DJ in the streets, Veteran Child...but when you're in this car with the two of us, you'd do well to remember your place if you wish to remain healthy."

"My place?" Veteran Child asked with a noticeable growl and he was looking like he was ready to call the bluff of the Samedi's Number 2 when The General pulled his cigar out to light it and shut them up with the click of his lighter.

"Gentlemen, please be civil, we are all friends here... Veteran Child, I want you to look into the matter of the missing money...if one of your bag boys is indeed alive, find out what happened and then take one of his hands...I doubt he will be late again after that. If he is not alive, then I think we have a greater problem to be concerned with…"

"Hold up, You want me to cut off some dude's hand? Just like that?" Veteran Child paled at the thought as he could feel the phantom aches in his wrist just imagining the prospect.

"If he stole from me, he needs to learn…So yes…I don't just want you to do it…I EXPECT you to do it, are we clear?"

Veteran Child gulped as he realised just how little choice he had, the self preservation that rattled around was enough that he'd rather let one of his boys lose a hand instead of him losing his head. "Y-Yeah, that makes, um...sense."

Mr. Sunshine chuckled at seeing Veteran Child's weak stomach at the prospect of enforcement. "Is there a problem? Perhaps I can show you as a demonstration…All I need is your hand."

Veteran Child flinched back as he reaffirmed what little he could. "N-No! I mean, it's no problem, I got this…You'll get your money, General."

—Back at the hideout——

"Come back later, I'll see what we got for a finished product~" Shaundi waved at Vee as he left to go check on Pierce while she worked.

"So what's the…Huh, what's the dollhouse for?" Vee asked as he saw what looked like an approximate recreation of a casino.

Pierce sucked down a beer as he tch'd irritably while Johnny showed up to join them. "Doll house, my ass… What this is will be how we gonna fuck up the Ronin."

Vee chuckled as he took a beer from the offering Johnny as they eyed the placd to hear Pierce out. "This oughtta be good..."

Pierce smirked as he held up a chess piece. "Trust me, it is…The Ronin have an investment stake in a place called "Poseidon's Palace" so I figured hitting their biggest money maker is a good way to show 'em we not fuckin' around and get some good cash flow to us in the process."

Vee nodded along as he sipped his beer; "OK, you've got me listening…So what's the actual game plan?"

Pierce started mimicking moves with the figurines to emphasise the plan. "So you and I enter the casino here...once inside we need to distract this security guard, I was thinking you could catch me cheating, call me out on it or some shit like that. Anyway, while the guard's concerned with throwing me out, Gat'll sneak in through this security door...don't worry, I already got today's passcode from the blackjack dealer that Shaundi used to fuck. Now, once inside, Gat'll have to sneak past the guards to cut the power....when that happens we only have about 45 seconds before the backup generator turns on. During the blackout, though-"

Both Johnny and Vee made some blank looking blinks as the massive infodump took them for a loop. "Hold up man...I mean, I love the dream house you built here and everything. But what if we just start here...walk into the casino, and just shoot all the motherfuckers that are between us and the money?"

Pierce looked a little dumbfounded at the fact that it was both steamrolling over his plan but also the fact that it could probably work. "Well, ya know-"

"Not to shit on your plan, Pierce but that sounds needlessly complicated. Gat's way would be a lot faster..." Vee mentioned honestly as he got up.

"I mean…I guess it co-"

"And it's a lot more fun." Johnny added as he followed suit after setting his beer down.

Pierce had to admit that it did have coolness all over it. "Yeah, but..."

"Fuck it, let's go...good call Johnny…One thing though…How are we getting there? Black Horseman seats two." Vee mentioned; "We'll be able to get out with separate cars so Gat can ride with me and Pierce can take another car."

"Aw come on, you really gonna leave me out of this?!" Pierce complained as he followed after.

"Pierce, we don't have any safecrackers in the crew so that's why I need you to go to Friendly Fire and pick up some explosives for the safes in the casino…Plus separate cars means we won't get screwed if we all get caught in one car." Vee pointed out; Showing that despite Pierce feeling put out, Vee had put him into consideration for the whole thing.

With Johnny and Vee now driving in the Black Horseman on the streets, they needed something to help them understand who it was they were dealing with, luckily Johnny managed to do his homework on this other gang they were dealing with. "Man, you are gonna LOVE what I've got planned for the Ronin."

"I can tell from the grin, so can you fill me in on who's calling the shots for the Ronin?" Vee asked as he navigated the streets like a man possessed yet somehow managed to avoid bumping cars.

"Some kid named Shogo Akuji. I gotta admit; Even for me, he's a punk…He probably spends more time on his hair than he does on his bike, but that doesn't change the fact that he's totally ruthless." Johnny explained as he watched the cars honking at Vee as he avoided hitting them.

"Oh wow, I like him already…" Vee mentioned, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he flipped off a truck driver that tried to nudge him out of the way. "Yeah, up your's too!"

"For sure…But one thing's for certain, he's got connections so I asked Pierce to pick up some of the boys to help us out when we jump the casino." Johnny explained as they reached the entrance to the casino and climbed out.

"Alright, you ready? Because once we take out security and whatever protection's going on in there, Ronin's gonna be all over us." Vee mentioned as he grabbed his sawed off shotgun.

"You know it…Let's do it." Johnny grinned as he then kicked open the door to Casino and fired a few shots in the air to get all the gamblers to scatter.

It took a good few minutes up to a half hour for Johnny, Vee and eventually Pierce to blast their way through the Ronin and the safe in order to steal all of the money and get it loaded into the car to be ferried to Aisha's. "And Aisha's alright with this?" Vee asked as he helped to load the cash into the house.

"Fuck yeah, she loves company…Plus we still need to count this out before we launder it." Johnny pointed out as he placed two large duffel bags stuffed with money on the coffee table with Vee doing the same.

"Save that one for the boys, they can distribute it and make sure the money comes back clean…But for now; We grab a beer and start counting up along with watching our backs..." Vee agreed as he unzipped one of the bags and started counting the stacks. "Because knowing what you told me, an upjumped punk like Akuji ain't gonna let this slide."

——At the Ronin HQ——

One of the Ronin grunts wandered around as they were called to the meeting room for their orders, rounding the corner to see Shogo's head enforcer Jyunichi walking out with a heavy sigh as loud yelling could be heard from inside the meeting room. "What's going on? Did Mr. Akuji find out about what happened with the money?"

Jyunichi nodded as he crossed his arms outside of the door to make sure Shogo didn't get disturbed. "Shogo is explaining our failure to his father."

The Ronin gang member looked confused but then remembered where the Ronin stood between Shogo's branch in the States and his father's in Japan, "Mr. Akuji doesn't sound happy...Then again we did lose all of the money at the Casino."

Jyunichi shook his head before looking to the Grunt. "Akuji-san isn't concerned about the money, his ire is directed at Shogo because he has brought him much shame. The Oyabun is planning on coming to America to teach his own son how to lead through his example."

"Is that a good thing for us or bad?"

The enforcer himself didn't know but what he understood was that despite his own warnings to his boss, things were now escalating faster than before. "On that, I am not sure…I suppose it depends on who you are and where you stand with Akuji-san."

There was an angry slam as the shouting stopped as it sounded like Shogo hung up the phone and left the room to confront Jyunichi with a cigarette in his mouth and a frustrated scowl. "Jyunichi, gather everyone. We need the Saints taken care of before my father arrives." He ordered with a snappy tone and looked to the grunt with a glare that warned him to do as he said.

Jyunichi nodded obediently. "We'll get our forces ready, what would you have me do in the meantime?"

Shogo growled in annoyance at his guard's passive comment and then threw his cigarette at Jyunichi. "Whaddya think I want you to do? Take some initiative! Get some of our boys to take with you and fuck up anyone out there that wears their colours!" He yelled with an angry snarl as he stormed past and went to go order the others.