The initial impact hurt less than it should have. Being something of an expert when it comes to being thrown through walls at this point, I knew a thing or two. But when I hit the wall, while it was certainly far from comfortable, didn't hurt like it should've.

I fell to the floor with a flop and watched as muted light danced around my body, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass.

'… Oh, right, aura… ow.'

I'd say I scrambled to my feet at lightning speed, but hitting the wall had thrown me for a loop. That wasn't even accounting for whatever I'd unwittingly put in my system. I'd been too relaxed; I knew Junior was going to try something. I'd ignored my common sense and was now paying for it. My body didn't want to move right. Everything felt a tad off kilter and a bit numb. Even the amount I was forcing myself to move was taxing.

But I wasn't letting it stop me.

Cardiac Arrest had a nice little bonus to it. A secondary filtration system meant for pulling poisons and toxins out of me. It'd helped me a few times in the past. But it wasn't fool proof, or even all encompassing. If I'd stayed as Heartless as I'd been in the Big Empty, I wouldn't have even felt it. The filtration in the fully mechanical heart was exponentially more powerful. It would've made sure whatever Junior had spiked my drink with would've been kicked out before it reached the rest of me. As it did with all toxins.

Up to and including alcohol.

Fun fact about toxin filtration, it doesn't ignore alcohol. Even if I still managed to get any of its 'practical' effects, I wouldn't feel any of its, arguably more desired, mind numbing properties.

So aside from the fact I preferred having all of my bits and bobs back where they belonged, I liked being able to drink too. Shocker.

Of course that also left me vulnerable to situations like this, but these also qualified as being pretty rare.

'Not rare enough, apparently.'

The filters would pull the toxins out with enough time, and I wasn't going to let some lousy chemicals stop me. Even if I didn't scramble to my feet as much as I wanted to, I did force myself to them. My eyes took in my surroundings as fast as they could. Even through the grayscale, I could pick out the speakers and 'mixer' that'd made up the 'DJ's' area. Junior must've hit me up into it. I stumbled blearily over to the 'mixer' and leaned against it for support, quickly trying to gain a grasp on the new situation.

I could see everyone still below me on the floor. Junior's thugs had mostly congregated to Yang during the fight, and had stayed that way now. Though they had yet to encroach on the clearing she'd made around her. Which she herself still laid in the center of. Junior and the twins Stood a couple yards away from where Yang lay. Likely the spot they'd launched me from. He looked smugly off towards where Yang lay, not seeming to notice I was back on my feet.

I yanked off my spiked knuckles and drew my .45, fully intent to make him regret taking his eyes off his opponent.

That was, until I saw one of his goons starting to close in on Yang. Likely trying to make sure she was actually down. Before he got close enough to check though, I whipped my pistol to him and cracked off three shots at him. The gun roared like thunder and echoed through the large hall of the club.

I watched my first shot go wide of the thug, planting itself in a different, closely clustered thug. The other two found their mark at center mass though. He stumbled back into the cluster, with his fellows acting as his cushion, though they didn't seem to be trying to catch him.

Everybody took notice of me with that. They'd probably figured I was going to stay down. My aim snapped back to Junior as he looked ready to retaliate. I aimed square for his head.

"I can take the head off a moving target half your size from fifty paces, Junior!" I bellowed, tired and very much angry. "You stay the fuck away from my friend or I'll be painting the walls with your gray matter!"

The thugs didn't make any immediate movements, they seemed to take me at my word despite outnumbering my forty to one. Junior though, faced me fully. Looking at me like I was stupid or had a death wish.

"Is that supposed to be intimidating?" He growled

"Yes, moron." I answered, splitting my attention between him and his thugs. "Because you clearly have no clue how bad you've fucked up right now."

"I told you to leave."

"And told you to keep it to yourself. I knew the moment we walked in that nothing good was going to come of it."

"Then that makes you an idiot for coming in anyway."

"You're right, it does…" I looked at Yang for a moment. I couldn't judge anything about her from this far away. Couldn't tell if she was conscious. Couldn't tell if she was coherent. Couldn't tell if she was even breathing. I had no clue what Junior had given us beyond it was making me tired. It could've been anything from sedative to a neurotoxin for all I knew. "But now I'm not feeling as amiable as I had been."

Junior looked at me a moment long, then looked over to Yang, and back to me with a smug smirk.

"I was worried it wouldn't work." Junior said "We used enough of that stuff on her to take down a Goliath, with how she kept going I thought it wasn't working."

I tried to remain focused, angry and focused. If I allowed myself to get distracted things were going to only get worse. But that didn't trump the fact that whatever he'd given Yang could very well be killing her. I didn't give much of a crap about myself right now, I'd power through, but I had no clue what'd been done to us. My pip-boy could probably tell me, but checking it wasn't going to be easy. Especially not at that moment.

"What. Did you. Give us?" I asked, maintaining my angry growl.

"Hmph, I wouldn't worry about that now." Junior answered "I'm more surprised that you're still standing than anything."

"I'll be doing a lot worse than that if your boys don't get away from her."

"… You really don't seem to understand your situation, do you?"

As if on cue, every one of Junior's boys with a gun put me in their sights, and the melee wielders readied themselves. They all fanned out across the room near Junior keeping me in their sights. All but two of them abandoned Yang. Though they were mostly identical to everyone else, I recognized the one I'd just shot. He looked a tad ruffled.

"You're in my house." Junior said firmly, a vicious smile spreading on his face "You're in my kingdom. In here, I call the shots and say how things go. Blondie made the mistake of thinking she could take the crown. I'm planning to fix that. But outside of here, you think I'm alone?" He gestured to the twins now. "I've got connections with the Mistral Spiders and more than a few favors I can call in. When people want to know something, they pay my price. When someone needs muscle, they come to me for help. Only two people have been dumb enough to try and screw with me. I've already got Blondie here on the floor. As soon as I've got my feet under me, Torchwick's going to be joining her."

'When the hell did Torchwick get involved in this…'

"You know Torchwick?" I asked

"Of course. I know all the action that goes on in this town. I know more about this town than those idiots with the badges could hope to. If I want someone or something found, I find it."

"… So instead of Just telling Yang what she wanted to know, you let her beat the shit out of you?"

Junior lost a bit of his smile to an angry snarl. Guess I struck a nerve. He didn't like being reminded that he wasn't as powerful as he liked to think.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Junior growled.

"That's what my teammates seem to think." I answered coolly "And, what can I say, I hate to disappoint."

Junior and I continued to glare at each other for a moment. A tense, silent moment that felt like it stretched on for hours. You could've heard a pin drop as we stood there. All it would take was one wrong move to light the powder keg, but no one gave it.

Junior's boys stood at the ready.

My .45 was trained.

Junior stared me down.

The twins stood with him, placid.

And the two thugs near Yang waited.

If anyone did anything, we were all in for a fight. I didn't like my odds either. Properly prepared I wouldn't give a damn, and just plow through them. But I was lacking in pretty much every department, on top of having something in my system. I was keeping steady, but if I didn't figure out what had been done to me it was only going to get worse. If it was poison, Junior wouldn't need to do anything. Despite my resistances, prolonged exposure would kill me if I couldn't filter fast enough. Even if whatever it was wasn't out right toxic, the effects were going to take time to wear off. Regardless of what happened, it would be an uphill fight.

But Junior seemed to be aware of one fact. I didn't seem to care about my situation. So even if it wasn't a fight in my favor, I'd still give them hell the whole way through.

So we stood there. Watching and waiting. Seeing who would blink first.

"… Hm- he he heh-"

To my surprise, Junior didn't blink.

He just chuckled.

He gave a small, dark laugh and shook his head.

"You know, kid, I like you."

"…What?"

"You've got stones." Junior continued "You've got enough sense to tell when something's going to go poorly for you. But you're not too bad in a fight, and seem pretty quick on your feet. Which is something I can't say for some others here."

He gave an angry look to all of his thugs, one that was meet with near universal disappointment.

"What does that have to do with this?" I asked, not lowering my .45.

"It means I know you're smart enough to tell you aren't going to win." Junior said darkly "That if this keeps going, my boys are going to kill you. When they do, we'll chop your body into pieces and dump you in the sea for the Grimm."

I remained stoic in the face of Junior's threat. He looked like he meant it. But looks mean little.

"My business, on the other hand, is only with Blondie." Junior said, cool "She's going to pay for what she did. I'll make sure of it… But that doesn't mean you need to."

"…"

Junior spread his arms wide in an opening gesture. "All you have to do, is put your gun down and walk away. I'll forget this ever happened."

"You expect me to abandon her?"

"No, no, of course not. She's not going to be alone, after all-" Junior's arms gestured to everyone else in the room "My boys and I can be pretty good company."

'… Is this asshole really saying what I think he's saying?'

"… You really must think I'm an idiot." I growled "After everything that just happened, do you really expect me to just walk away?"

"Maybe." Junior said, shrugging "You seem smart enough, but I could be wrong, and I do know the Grimm are hungry..." Junior looked thoughtful for a moment, then gave me another dark, wry smile. "Tell you what, I'm feeling generous."

"Generous?"

"Yeah, you walk out, and I'll owe you a favor. Consider it a 'thank you' for bringing Blondie back here."

I stared blankly at Junior for a moment. There was no way he could be serious.

"-and before you do anything rash-" Junior continued "I just want you to consider the weight of what I'm offering you." He motioned to the room at large, to the forty some-odd people who were either pointing guns, swords, or some other pointy objects at me. All of them looking either extremely pissed off or threatening in their own meager way. "I'm offering you a chance to walk out of here, with absolutely no strings attached. To go with it: A favor you can cash in whenever you want. Maybe you need some scratch? I've got you covered. You need some extra muscle? I've got a room full of 'em."

'You ain't got anything I could want you fucking-'

"Or, hell, maybe you just want to find someone. Like I said, I want someone found, I find them."

"You sure about that?" I asked "Because last I checked, Yang was looking for someon-"

I felt the words die in my mouth, as a telltale grinding filled the air.

"What was that, your scroll?" Junior asked.

I didn't move. I couldn't risk taking my eyes off of anything.

"… It's rude not to answer your scroll you know." Junior sneered.

"… Don't move." I growled.

I slapped my pip-boy up into my face and snapped into VATs. The only measure I could take to buy myself time. For all I knew Junior would gun me down that moment I snapped back to reality. But I had to know what this little back and forth had just set off. I wouldn't be able to change the screen of my pip-boy while in VATs either. So it would only answer one question.

Which it did.

Then unleashed a torrent of others.

The pip-boy had opened to the data screen, the quest log to be specific.

There were a few new quests I hadn't looked into yet, but they weren't my focus. The quest at the top of the list was.

Because it filled me with unease.

Mind Games

-Walk out of the Club

It took what felt like an eternity for my brain to react. When it finally did, I was thankful time was effectively frozen, because I would have been having a meltdown.

'Mind Games… MIND Games!?'

I was at a loss. Not because I couldn't figure out what it meant, but because of the implications.

The quest had come up immediately after Junior mentioned being able to find people. The person I was 'missing' was in fact little more than a mind. And the pip-boy had officially recognized it as an option.

'WHAT. THE. FUCK.'

It was about then that the A.P. System kicked me out of VATs and forced me back to the world. It hadn't felt like I'd had very long to do anything in VATs. But that might've just been a side effect of whatever was in my system.

I quickly whipped my pip-boy out of my face and re-focused on Junior, keeping a firm grip on my composure.

"… That was fast." Junior said, smirking "You actually read whatever it was?"

"Yes." I growled.

"Ok, ok… So, what's it going to be?" Junior said, cool and nonchalant "Walk away with a favor in your pocket or join your friend here on the floor?"

I fought back the urge to freak out. Things had just become infinitely more complicated. Again.

"… WELL?" Junior boomed, clearly feeling in control "Don't be an idiot, kid!"

I grit my teeth and stared out onto the dance floor, coming to grips with my situation.

I had a way to find Dala. I had a way to find Dala! Even if it didn't immediately take me to her, it was a lead. Given enough time, with the lead I now had, I would find her. The 'quests' just seemed to work that way, always branching out into one another in some way.

The implications of that, only lead to one end though.

'I… I can go home.'

That single thought hit me harder than anything Junior'd thrown at me, hell, anything Yang had too. If I found Dala, I could get back to the Mojave, hell I might even be able to salvage the reason for this whole mess in the first place.

I could see Cass again.

'…'

I had to fight to keep my arm from dropping right then and there. But my aim dipped.

Junior saw it.

I expected to see every gun in the room roar to life, hundreds of little metal cazadors coming to sting me.

But nothing happened.

Junior just smiled. A cold, confident, smile that said he knew he'd gotten through to me.

"No shame in it kid." Junior said, smooth as glass "It's just good business."

I tried to keep my aim up, tried to keep the fight in me alive. But then I'd think of Cass, happy and smiling, happy and awake.

The fight left me, and I struggled to stay standing.

Nobody moved, but I knew Junior wasn't hesitating anymore. He had me right where he wanted.

All I had to do was walk away.

I closed my eyes. Somewhere in me, something screamed not to do it. But it was so far away it was nothing but distant echoes. I didn't want to leave Yang here. I didn't want to walk out of here. But I knew, deep in my gut, this was the fastest path home. Ozpin had been silent about progress towards my return and I wasn't going to get there on my own. If Dala was here, and this was my shot at getting to her, I had to take it.

All it cost was a friend.

I didn't have to be here for whatever they had planned. I didn't have to know. I didn't want to know. She'd been lying to me. Refused to tell me anything. Refused to give me a reason why everyone had been on edge with me.

All it cost was a friend.

She wasn't a companion. Companions don't lie to each other. They don't intentionally try to lead you into harm's way. They have your back no matter what. They listen to you when staying to fight is a bad idea.

All it cost was a friend.

I hardened my heart. Shut out every little emotion I could. They wouldn't see me through this. I had to do this. There was something I had set out to do, and I could yet see it done. I could go home. I could see Cass. I could see it all through. Screw this place, it wasn't my home. I didn't give a shit about anything that went on here. I'd been brought here by means I had no control over and had made due. I'd gotten the crap kicked out of me at every turn, waiting for a chance to go. MY exit was in front of me now. I need only take it.

All it cost… was Yang.

'… and what would Ruby say, when her sister didn't come home?'

I felt a pain in my chest, in the pit of my heart.

'What would she do when she found out something happened to Yang?'

The pain re-doubled, like someone was taking a sledgehammer to it.

'She already lost her mother; would you take her sister too?'

I felt the walls I'd tried to build around my heart crumble. My emotions coalesced on me like the scorching rays of the Mojave sun.

'Could you live with yourself, knowing you tore her family away from her, just to save your own?'

I held onto the thought of Cass, even as my emotions dug into me. The thought of her awake, happy, and smiling.

'And what would Cass say, if she ever learned what you did?'

I held on to it. Because it was the only sanctuary I had.

'And what would you do, knowing you must live with it?'

But the thought faded, and I was left to bare it alone.

The screaming voice wasn't a distant echo anymore. It had found its way to me. Even as I tried to block it out. To do the thing that would help me. I just wanted to go back to the Mojave. I wanted to hold Cass in my arms again. To feel like I had some control in my life. Control I hadn't felt in a long time. Not since I'd lost her.

'… and I would do that to Ruby? ...'

The screaming stopped, and I stopped trying to push my emotions into the background. I dragged them forward. I could feel and hear them well enough now without assistance. They were there, at the forefront of my mind, ready to be dealt with.

The first of which: Disgust.

Disgust at Junior, for being who he was.

Disgust at his men, for being willing to follow him. For being complicit in whatever he had planned for Yang.

But most importantly, Disgust at myself. Disgust for even considering the shit Junior was spewing for a fraction of a second past his first breath.

Disgust was followed closely by a much more potent emotion. One that was going to ensure I was going to do things that were going to probably get me killed.

Rage.

This was only going to go one way now. But I had one thing Junior didn't at the moment. One thing that most don't count on in the middle of a fight.

Surprise.

I calmly looked around the room. Gathering my bearings on all the black and white. I looked at the lights overhead. The dance floor, with its occupants. The mixer, with its myriad sliders, switches, and knobs. I took note of something else it had as well, sticking out of a compartment just in reach.

Something that kicked my resolve into overdrive and put a smile on my face.

My brain feverishly stitched together what could generously be called a plan. If you were so pissed off that an unrelenting assault constituted such a thing. But my first objective was clear, and something that finally eased the pain in my chest.

Get Yang out of their reach.

I'd move onto the rest once that was done.

I rebuilt the walls around my heart, and spoke.

"… You're right, Junior." I said, voice even and defeated "It is good business, no shame to be had in it." I carefully set my .45 on the mixer remaining calm, focused. "Safe Passage, a favor, and a new friend in the Vale underworld, right?"

"He he, Well, Friends might be a bit generous."

"Hm, maybe... But I'll tell you this: I wouldn't just be an idiot to turn you down." I slouched against the Mixer, my hand reaching and griping the item in its compartment "I'd be a crazy fucking fool…"

With practiced hand, I whipped the .45 Submachine gun from its compartment in the Mixer. It might not have been one, but its design was close enough. I didn't aim at anyone in particular, I just sprayed the dance floor. There were too many to take head on as it stood. The fact that I'd noticed this gun was here was a miracle on its own. The kick wasn't as bad either, which I chalked up to the gun using Dust instead of my standard propellant. I couldn't hear it over the roar of the gun either, but I was certain the pip-boy just told me I'd failed the quest.

Shame.

That aside, I got what I wanted. Everyone on the dance floor scattered like radroaches the moment I sprayed. I'd needed to buy myself a window for what came next.

I released the trigger, raised the barrel to the ceiling, and fired at the light fixture. One by one the lights went out in a hail of gunfire and broken glass.

The gun clicked empty right before the last light broke, but that was all I needed.

I swapped the submachine gun to my off-hand and grabbed my .45 from the mixer. I looked off to Yang a fraction of a second ahead of my reflexes. One of the thugs still stood there, dazed. The other having scuttled off before he got hit.

I proved my marksmanship by putting two in his head. His aura shattering on the first.

"Here's MY offer!" I roared, firing a third at the final light. No more than a trio of seconds passing since I'd grabbed my .45 "Run or die!"

Darkness filled with room, the grayscale finally cutting to black. Just in time for my night vision to kick in.

I slapped my hands up across the mixer, hitting every switch I could. I only had so much of an idea how this thing worked. But I was going to need every advantage I could get. It was dark, they wouldn't see me. If the music was on and loud, they sure as hell wouldn't hear me either. I didn't care what music came on, just as long as it did and was loud. I didn't bother making sure it was perfect either, I didn't have time.

The job done well enough, I hauled myself over the mixer, dropped the submachine gun, and fell to the floor below. Keeping the Submachine gun wouldn't have helped. I didn't actually know what caliber it was, and if it wasn't built strong enough the gunpowder might just cause it to blow-up in my face. I probably fell for about a ten to fifteen feet. I did my best to land softly, despite the protests of my body.

My landing was mercifully masked by the gunfire that filled the air. Dozens of muzzle flashes lit the room up in sporadic bursts. A few of them were off course in wild fashion, but the majority of them had found their way back to the mixer. Blindingly bright balls of fire pointing to where I'd been standing not less than a few seconds ago. I didn't wait for them to correct their aim either, I stayed crouched and moved to Yang. The gunfire helped muffle my already soft footsteps. Meaning even if they could've heard me move before, they couldn't now. Not over the din of it.

I scrambled over to Yang as quietly and quickly as possible. I wasn't going to count on them shooting at the mixer longer than maybe ten or twenty seconds before moving on. We couldn't be out in the open when they did.

I found Yang's limp form in the shade, just as she'd been when I'd blown the lights out. This included the thug, who's head I'd perforated, lying dead on the ground about five feet away. From the little I saw of him; he was missing a large chunk from the back of skull.

I didn't focus on him though, I focused on moving Yang. Moving quietly on your own wasn't hard; doing it while trying to carry a second unconscious and limp form, was. Which was part of the reason I needed to be in cover before they realized I wasn't at the mixer anymore. Unfortunately, there weren't a whole lot of places that would adequately serve for long term cover. The pillars on the dance floor could certainly help obscure me and Yang, but were nowhere near adequate. I couldn't go back to the Mixer either, that spot was compromised until after they checked it. There was the possibility of this place having some rooms in the back, but I didn't have time to go looking for or get to them.

Which left me with one, workable, option at the moment.

Hobbling as quickly as I could with Yang, I dragged her behind the bar under the Mixer while doing everything I could to not give away we were hiding under the current target of everyone else in the room.

The firing stopped the moment Yang was with me behind cover, and I went completely still. I listened intently for movement, any sign that they'd seen us. The first thing I picked up was what sounded like an air raid siren, slowly winding up. But beyond that, I heard no movement.

"… Well, what're you clowns waiting for?" Junior growled "Go find him!"

At that I heard footsteps. Though they sounded like they were approaching the bar, I could hear them moving to one side of it in particular. It wasn't the side I'd moved in from, so I took that as my cue they hadn't seen me. I didn't breathe a sigh of relief though, I was still in the Nightstalker's den, just hiding in a corner they hadn't checked yet. But I'd bought a few seconds to continue my plan.

I used them to get a better handle on what had been done to me and Yang. I placed a few fingers under Yang's nose to check she was breathing. She was, I felt slow and deep puffs of air brush my fingers. I then moved them to her neck and checked her pulse. It was slow, slower than I was comfortable with, but her heart was still beating. It seemed somewhere close to forty-five, maybe fifty.

Satisfied she wasn't keeled over yet; I opened my pip-boy to the stats section. I couldn't be sure what was ailing me was the same as what was ailing her. But I wasn't going to count Junior as keeping dozens of different poisons on hand to help incapacitate people.

That was even knowing I was in a bar. A place whose sole purpose was carrying dozens of different poisons to help incapacitate people.

The stats screen came up with a muted buzz and I scrolled over to the EFF section. The pip-boy was good at figuring out what was affecting me at any given moment. Though I never understood how it knew my helmet had built in night vision. It picked up the whisky well enough, and gave me the usual description of what it did: inebriation, making me feel stronger, and occasionally being a more charming fellow.

What was listed below it, not so much.

Hexa Narcosis Venom: END -3, STR -5

It took me a second to recognize the name. But I did, from one of Port's lessons. He'd mentioned the name in passing, saying that most hunters just called the beasts 'Hexans'. From the descriptions he'd provided, I'd have just called them Giant Fucking Spiders. He'd gone on at length about them, but gave note to their tendency to do the same to people as most spiders do to other insects. I.E. slowly dissolve and drink them, thanks in large part to their venom working as an incredibly powerful paralytic neurotoxin.

I was suddenly very thankful for having a slightly mechanical heart that removes poisons.

I was also very fretful for Yang. The venom itself wasn't necrotic, the Grimm did something else for the dissolving bit. But she'd still been given an incredibly potent chemical whose sole purpose was to make it so the victim couldn't move at normal dosages. If Junior had been literal regarding how much he used, it was a miracle Yang's heart hadn't stopped. That may have been something her Aura had helped with, but there was nothing I could immediately do to help her. The body is good at filtering and expelling toxins, given enough time. But that didn't change we might not have that time.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"He's not up here!" A voice called from overhead, the sound of the siren getting louder

'Correction, we don't have enough time.'

They were going to find us both if I stayed. But I wasn't planning to. I'd just needed to make sure Yang was ok. Or at least going to be able to survive on her own for a bit. I hadn't gotten either of those, not with knowing what had been done now. But it just gave me one more reason to not show mercy.

One down, forty-two to go.

I slid a new magazine into my .45 as the air raid siren reached its zenith and stayed there. I moved back out from behind the bar. I could barely hear the thugs tromping back down the stairs, but I saw them before they saw me.

"Why didn't you morons turn the music off!?" Junior boomed, trying to be heard over whatever music was apparently playing.

"The mixer's wrecked!" A thug shouted back "Someone shot it full of holes!"

I kept my ear open to them as I worked my way back over to where Yang had been. I didn't have a lot going for me right then other than surprise and my night vision, both of which only lasted until something screwed them up. Coupling with that, I only had weapons that worked by making very loud and very bright explosions.

Which is why I went back to where Yang had been. The corpse laying on the ground had something I could use.

I moved quickly to and past the corpse, grabbing the hatchet from its hand as I went.

I looked back long enough to see that one of Junior's group had broken off from them, and was making their way towards where Yang had been. He practically tripped over the corpse of the first guy before looking down to see what was there.

"You've made a mistake 'Steve'!" Junior shouted "'Cause when my boys find you now, I'm gonna-"

"Holy Shit!" The thug shouted, turning back to the group "Braun's dead!"

I bit back the immediate urge to have the thug join the other one. Instead, I crept a little further into the shadows, then reached into my pocket and pulled out the next needed component of my plan. I ran it slowly and methodically along the bit of the axe. Doing so might have imbued some of its attributes onto the axe itself, but that wasn't my intent. I just needed to make more surface area.

Satisfied, after having thoroughly coated the blade, I took out my lighter. I struck it alight, and held the component to the flame. It was old, having been picked many months ago by this point, long having dried and shriveled. There was, however, still some residual moisture in it, likely picked up from the surrounding air. But that was acceptable. For what I needed, the more smoke it produced the better.

I knew my gasmask wouldn't protect me though, so I was as careful as possible about not breathing in any smoke as I coaxed the flame to the component.

When it took, crackling and popping lightly, I took aim and tossed the datura root into the crowd of gathered assholes. I had no clue if it would have any effect, or how long it would take, but that shit made me see burning yao guai. If it did anything, it would be a boon.

The smoldering root arced through the air and landed somewhere in the center, near Junior. I couldn't tell if anyone had noticed it, but they gave no immediate reaction, which was a good sign.

"… Alright, screw it, scrolls out everyone!" Junior shouted.

I could see everyone collectively moving to their pockets. I chose then to act. I moved silently from my position and surged the thug standing over the other's corpse.

I leapt towards him and brought the hatchet down as hard as I could on the back of his head. I expected it to push back slightly, before deflecting off entirely. His aura was still enabled as far as I could tell.

I hadn't expected it to get buried half way into his skull.

There had been some resistance initially, which ate most of the force I put behind my swing. But it hadn't been enough to stop my attack. The bit got lodge into his head with a wet *thunk*.

The thug gave a surprised gasp, before going painfully still. The faintest movements being nerve twitches as his body tried to understand what'd just happened. It wasn't going to. But even if it could've, I kicked him in the lower back. As he fell away, the hatchet bit deeper.

He fell to the floor, and I grabbed his Scroll before dashing forward and out of immediate sight once more.

Not a moment later, somebody had their scroll out, casting light in the gloom, burning bright as star in my night vision. They saw what I'd done to the other thug now.

"Kobalt!"

The Droning Air-raid siren was joined with the crash of drums and the scream of a guitar. Something I could only vaguely discern amidst the warbling, almost electronic white noise that played with it.

"… Well, don't just stand around!" Junior roared over the music "Find him!"

Only some of Junior's boys actually broke away from the group, it looked to be five of them. The rest stayed tight knit, guns at the ready. One would imagine they were suddenly on edge or something. The group moved to where I'd laid their friends low, then subdivided into two more groups. The group of three went the way I'd already been, and the other two followed hot on my heels.

I moved ahead of them in the darkness, staying ahead and just beyond the range of their lights. We were fighting on a mostly flat, open area. I didn't have much option when it came to cover. The only options available were the pillars the spanned the room.

So, naturally, I moved to the nearest one and did my best to hide behind it. At least as best as one can hide behind a rounded object anyway.

The thugs came in, close and quick, and they only missed me because I skirted just a little further around the curve. They missed me and walked on a few steps, before stopping abruptly. I struck before they could turn to face me, chopping the hatchet into the neck of the nearer thug. Again, feeling less resistance than I should have but still burying the axe into his neck.

Even as the thug came to grips with his sudden injury though, his friend became very much aware of my presence. Turning quickly to face and shine a light on me. I got a glimpse of the panic on his face before I kicked his friend into him and free of my axe. They tumbled to the floor, the first thug struggling to keep pressure on his wound while the second tried to get free of the first. Before he did, I brought the axe down on his head. I heard the bit crunch against his skull before he went deathly still. His friend joined him slowly, dying with a raspy gurgle.

I bit back my own disgust, listening to my surroundings to see if anyone had heard what'd happened. But over the music, it was hard to hear much. But I did hear someone begin to sing, likely in chorus with the music. His voice smooth and soft in contrast to the wailing instruments, which now died down to a low rumble.

If this machine doesn't stop, what will you do if it never goes out- never goes out of season~?

I took stock of the room. I could tell from the lighting that Junior and his boys were still huddled in the center of the room. They hadn't noticed me, but I knew if I lingered, they'd start-

"Hey, what's the holdup you two?" Junior shouted, his voice directed towards the pillar I was hiding behind.

'shit!'

Before I had a chance to move, all of the light seemed to funnel towards the pillar I was hiding behind. casting a stark shadow of the pillar past me. I was unseen, but only so long as I stayed in the column.

It never stops as it turns, there ain't no passion yet it burns, introducing my prison~

I didn't panic. I was too angry. Instead, I took stock of my surroundings, including that I noticed some lights were bobbing my way from around the bend. I was going to get caught eventually, and I knew that when I did, I was going to be at a disadvantage. The datura, if it was going to work at all, still needed time to burn. It was my only advantage that I could count on. I had no idea why or how I'd already cleaved through four of them, but I wasn't going to count on repeats of that to keep me alive.

I turned and took stock of the pillar I was using as cover.

It had scaffolding running up it, and looked to be in the process of reconstruction.

I grit my teeth and began carefully climbing the metal beams that constituted the platform. Pulling myself as high as I could without being made visible. At about ten feet off the ground though, one of the beams gave way suddenly and clattered noisily to the floor.

'fuck.'

The thugs' slower approach was replaced with a sudden frenzied sprint. I didn't bother trying to keep climbing though. At this point, if they saw me, they saw me. Instead, I loosened my grip slightly and kept my hatchet at the ready.

They came around the corner, and immediately saw their friends lying on the floor. There were three of them, probably the other three from before. I heard one of them call the name of one of the guys on the floor and rush over to him. The other two joined him, but didn't kneel. Instead they looked for me, lights probing the darkness.

"What the hell is going on over there!?" I heard Junior shout

Oh-Whoa, losing myself in this place, soon I'm gone without a trace, freed with that final Incision~

The nearest thug did a quick scan of the pillar's base. He took notice of the broken metal lying on the ground, and I saw his light begin to snap up towards me.

Before he saw me, I threw myself off the scaffolding, landing on and dragging him to the floor. My hatchet bit into and out of his head in quick succession, as I then rose and tackled the third Thug. We struggled for a moment as he tried to get me off him, his arms snaked between mine and keeping me from grappling him properly. With a twist, he loosened my grip on the hatchet and it clattered to the floor.

"He's here!" the other thug shouted, scrambling to face us.

With fervor, I re-drew my .45, stuck the barrel to the head of the thug I grappled, and pulled the trigger. His head didn't explode, but I watched it smack back hard against the floor. On instinct, I whipped my arm around to the other remaining thug and pulled the trigger five times in rapid succession. I watched three of the rounds flatten against his chest, but the other two punched holes through him, and he stumbled back onto the corpse he was just mourning.

A manic part of me didn't stop, and I turned back to the thug I was grappling. He'd barely begun to recover when I jammed the pistol back into his face and tapped the trigger until the slide locked back. It was only two shots, but it was enough. The first shot shattered his aura and his head burst on the second.

I wanted to stop and breathe. The toxin was still trying to hammer me to a stop.

Unfortunately, Junior's little legion chose right then to start shooting, having now discerned where I was. Bullets spider-webbed the opaque-glassy material that constituted the pillar.

Look… Look my heart is a bird, it needs to sing and to be heard, not this clockwork PRECISION- YEAH!~

Guitars and drums boomed as I Rapidly Reloaded my .45. I picked up my hatchet, braced myself for the inevitable, and broke cover at a dead sprint.

And the machine grows- IDIOTIC- Who's gonna be, it's ingenious critic~?

I streaked across the room, firing wild into the crowd. Likewise, they fired right back at me.

I fired until the slide locked back again. I couldn't tell if I was hitting anyone, with the blindingly bright light shining at me. I continued sprinting towards the opposite side of the room, intent on taking cover behind another pillar. But before I could get there, several more thugs broke free from the cloche and got in front of me. Some of the gunfire subsided, so I had to guess they weren't going to be trying to fire on one another. I took a quick glance over my shoulder, and found that the thugs had made the decision to try and wall me in with another group having taken position at my rear.

Four to my front, four to my back, an open range to my left, and an army to my right.

There was a pretty good chance this was going to hurt.

Everybody loves the perfect solution! To beat the odds against the poorest poss-ible substi-tution!~

Neither group standing to my front or rear dragged their feet. They came at me at the same time. I had enough time to eject the mag and load a fresh one. Right as the slide released though, the closest one to my front lunged at me, stabbing his katana single handed at my chest. Like he was just wielding an over-sized shiv.

I slapped the blade aside with the face of my hatchet, and returned his lunge with one of my own, swinging the hatchet in a wide, powerful arc at the arm he was using to wield. It seemed that whatever had been on my side up until then though, wasn't anymore. I felt the bit of the axe strike true, then deflect off of him, his aura absorbing the impact. He staggered to the side, and before I could ready to strike again, I dodged to the left, knowing that the ones behind me were looking for an opening. Sure enough, one went flying to where I'd been, machete in his hand and slicing at the air. If I'd stayed still, he'd have done a number to my back.

But even as I regained footing, the other six came rushing in. I didn't wait for them to start getting close though. With all of my targets in front of me, I took aim with my .45 and fired on them.

I kept my aim focused on the closest one for the moment, a machete wielder, concentrating Fire on his head and chest. Three hammered his chest, and a fourth hit his head. The fifth flew into the distant cloche of criminals behind him, hopefully beaning someone else. With the fourth one though, I watched as light warbled over the thug, and he staggered amongst his charging group. Before I could get another shot off at him though, another thug charged ahead of him and at me with a hatchet near identical to the one in my hand in his own.

What you see is never what you're gonna get!~

He swung his hatchet at me, and I intercepted with my own. The handles connected with a synthetic smack, and I pulled my hatchet up, connecting and locking the heads of the weapons. The thug seemed to realize I was in prime position to do him harm, and tried to press me back. It earned him the honor of getting shot in the face at point blank range. The moment he began to push, I whipped my .45 up in my off hand and fired off the last two shots in the mag. If I'd tried that at any greater distance, I wouldn't have anything but the wind. The thug's head snapped back like it'd been smashed twice by a sledgehammer in rapid succession. His grip faltered, and a flourish relieved him of his weapon. I dove in again and struck him in the side of his chest with the bit of my hatchet.

Everybody's playing, Revolution Roulette~…

While I struck him though, one of his friends took the moment to return the favor to me. A sharp, burning pain traced its way across my shoulder blades, coupled with the faint lull of tearing fabric. The initial pain was momentary, but I could feel warmth spreading from it down my back.

I shoulder checked the thug in front of me, turned, and swung the hatchet as hard as I could. The thug that'd attacked me backpedaled as fast as he could, but I still managed to just clip him, the bit of my hatchet catching his neck. If he didn't have his aura, I'd have likely nicked his carotid. In his hands, was one of the long-bladed machetes, its edge lightly slicked with crimson.

The fucker had cut me.

I knew better than to stay standing though, and let his friends take the example. Instead, I returned my attention to the thug I previously shoulder checked, and put the pressure on him. I knew as soon as I did his friends would jump in again. But this time I was ready.

The thug had recovered enough to try and counter me as I took another swing. But this time it was a feint, I'd wanted him to do that. I used his hatchet as a hook, and pulled him towards me. I struck him in the side of the head with the butt of the hatchet. The strike might not have hurt him, but it dazed him, which I used to weave my way behind him.

As predicted his friend had made another swipe at me. I kicked the first thug in the small of his back, and he fell into his friend. They tumbled into each other but remained upright. I had a second to slap another magazine into the well of my .45 and release the slide. Before I could swap hands and take aim though, another two of the thugs seized their opening on me plus the one who'd been wielding the katana.

The three of them came at me of opposing angles, making sure I couldn't dodge to the side. I tried to work out the fastest course of action. I couldn't keep dancing around them forever and their auras made it that much more difficult to be rid of them.

Right about then, I remembered an important thing about aura I'd discovered.

I turned to face the katana thug and used the momentum, pivoting my arm and throwing the hatchet at him. It tumbled end over end and clocked him square in the head. He staggered and I rushed him. Before he could recover, I swung my leg up as hard as I could and kicked him in the balls.

He went stock still, jaw dropping as a thready scream of pain crept from his mouth.

I silenced it with the barrel of my gun. I pulled the trigger and watched the back of his head burst outward. In a sluice of red. His body shuddered for a moment, then fell to the ground dead. I turned back to the other two thugs that'd tried to pin me. Slipping into VATs to better judge my shots.

Time screeched to a halt, and I had the moment to figure out how to hit them. Both of the thugs seemed to be in different stages of recognition. Like they'd just realized I was not only willing but trying to kill them, despite the fact I'd already left a couple of their friends dead on the ground as evidence to it.

Of the two thugs though, one of them had been in the process of opening his mouth to speak.

I used it.

"Blon-"

Time squealed forward with a bang. My pistol cracked thunder and spat a wad of lead at the speaking thug.

I watched one of his teeth chip and the bullet flew through his mouth. Then he flew back, his words dying off in a death rattle as he laid there.

Gives you no arguments to trade, you can try the key, or you can wait, but the lock will not open~

The other thug ducked away from his dead friend, and didn't give me enough of a target to shoot either. So I gave him a shot to the torso, for posterity, and used the window to reach down and collect my hatchet.

"Move you idiots!" Junior boomed.

As I knelt though, I watched as the crowd of thugs lighting us parted ways, straight to Junior at the center.

Who now had, what looked like, a rocket launcher.

A salvo of Six rockets issued from the tube at a single shot. Flying close nit at first, then spreading slightly, before beginning to re-converge on me.

"Shit!"

I rolled out of the way a second before the rockets hit where I was standing, the blast sent me sprawling anyway. I was instantly reminded how much being on the receiving end of an explosion blew.

So you're left with sanity to lose, 'cuz the machine is a ruse, another invention to rule them~

The explosion had rocked and staggered me, but at least I was in one piece. Which was more than I could say for the thug I'd been paying attention to. Junior had accidently launched him somewhere.

As the explosion faded into recent memory though, the path to the center of the group re-sealed itself and commenced firing once more. I pushed myself to my feet with all the grace of a drunk pack Brahmin. I knew better than to stay still and make an easy target out of myself, but my body didn't want to cooperate. The poison may not have stopped me, but the more banged up I got the closer that fact was to changing.

My hatchet had been blown somewhere else courtesy of the explosion, along with the katana that'd been resting there. But it didn't bother me much. I could get another.

I focused my attention back on the thugs immediately attacking me. There were still five of them. Three of them were armed with hatchets, one with a machete, and another with a katana.

I didn't plan, so much as re-balance.

I shot the machete wielder in the head, and he snapped back. He might have been dead, but I had no way of knowing. I was fairly certain I'd shattered his aura earlier though. His fellows unconsciously reeled away from him, like they could contract what killed him if his falling body touched them.

It worked for what I needed though, and I charged the four remaining thugs. As soon as they got their bearings, they tried to return it in kind, but by then I'd already gotten close to the one I was aiming for.

The katana wielder made a diagonal swipe at me with his blade. I brought my .45 up and used the slide as a guard to guide the blade past me. The blade scraped and gouged into it as it was redirected. It would be a bitch to fix later, but I'd trade being dead for having to do it any time.

As the blade swept past me, I brought my free hand up and punched the thug in the throat. Then I put my knee into his stomach, grabbed a portion of the Blade's handle with my free hand, and pulled him against me. I wrenched the sword free of his grip, and head-butted him on the nose. He stumbled back, and so did I. Though mine was to avoid the other thug's attempt to gang-up on me.

It didn't entirely work, since one of the hatchet boys caught my arm with the toe of their bit. Fabric ripped unevenly and my arm stung as he took a bite out of my arm. But that was all he got before I was ready to retaliate.

"You fucker, this shit costs money!"

Oh Whoa, it's like a fistful of snake-eyes, a hand grenade with bye-byes, like a million spent on nothing~.

I returned my pistol to my belt, and gripped the katana with both hands. Its balance felt good in my hands.

The thug seemed to realize what was coming, and tried to back away. But I kept with him, swinging the blade in a horizontal slash at his stomach. I could feel the blade catch him, and as I completed the cut, reversed my grip on the blade and brought it up in a diagonal cut. With each cut successful, I moved along with another, striking as fast as I could for as long as I was able.

In the Mojave, katanas and blades of their type are not common. There are blades close in style to them, such as the shishkebab and some forms of machete. But the only out-and-out 'katana' style blade that was available, were the ones sold by the Gun Runners. They had problems. The edge retention was poor, requiring constant re-honing and sharpening. They were balanced such that you needed to use both hands to wield them properly, and even more practice to do so effectively. If the person they were being used on was even moderately armored, the blade struggled to cut even if the blade was freshly sharpened.

They were beautiful weapons, but were either very flawed or intended for use in specific circumstances.

But, used when all the proper circumstances were met, you did not want to be on the receiving end of them. Because they are light, swift, and dangerously sharp blades, whose sole purpose lies in rending flesh in as few cuts as possible.

This was best illustrated when one of the last cuts I gave the thug shattered his aura, and the blade bit into him mid-strike.

The thug had a second to howl in pain, then I brought the blade around again so quick he didn't have time to register it. With a single, clean stroke I separated his head from his shoulders.

Look, it's kinda like picking the lock, when you never went, knock-knock 'Hello, is anyone home? I'm coming in.' with a touch of foreboding!

I turned to focus on the three remaining. One of them was already charging towards me, and I wasted no time going to meet him. As he swung his hatchet to strike me, I used the flat of the katana to redirect the hatchet past me. Katanas were not made to lock weapons in place, edge to edge. Very few are in fact. But it was made to counter smoothly with practice.

Before he could ready another swing, I struck him hard and fast. In the time it would've taken him to strike me, I slashed him three times. In turn, staggering him with each strike and buying me time to strike again. By the time he'd actually recovered, I'd hit him six times.

When he did recover though, he got lucky. When he swung his hatchet this time, the bit caught my chest ripped a small chunk out of me.

The hit stumbled me, and he tried to repay me for my previous attacks. But unlike him, I could take a hit and keep going. I deflected his follow-up strike once more, and struck him the throat with the end of the Katana's handle.

He made a small coughing sound as I switched back to the blade proper. With a single follow-up stroke, I shattered his aura and cut from his shoulder to the middle of his chest. He made a gurgling cry of pain as I kicked him off the sword and continued my charge to the last two thugs.

Neither had bothered to move, they looked stunned, like they were coming to grips with what was happening. Before they fully could though, I cut one of them in two from ball to breast-bone. He'd had no aura protecting him, so he must've been the one whose aura I'd shattered earlier.

Before he'd even hit the ground though, I'd moved onto his friend, who'd only just begun to raise his hatchet. I struck the hatchet, and he lost his grip on it. I kicked it away, and used the momentum to begin hacking away at him. I'm not sure when he'd actually died, but I remember striking him until he hit the floor as a bloody, chopped up mess.

And the machine grows-PARASITIC- Who's gonna criticize the good critic~!?

I turned and faced the crowd of lights pointed at me, and took note of something. They'd stopped shooting at me. In fact, it seemed like they were just staring at me now. Perhaps they were all starting to realize just what they were up against. Pity it'd only taken twelve of them to figure that out.

Before they had the chance to do anything though, I fell to one knee and pulled the Flash Bang from where I'd stashed it. In as deft a motion as I could manage, I pulled the pin and hurled it at the crowd of people. Bracing myself for the subsequent burst of furious light and sound. I heard a bit of scuffling, probably as the thugs tried to put space between themselves and whatever I'd thrown. Plus one or two gunshots as they tried to regain composure.

Then the grenade went off, and the world dulled slightly into a high-pitched whine. I opened my eyes and saw that the thugs had been caught off guard, and no longer had their lights focused on me. I was in the shadows once more. Before that could change, I picked up and ran back the way I'd come from earlier. Once they realized I'd move, their frenzied trains of though would probably scream I had either charged them or run to the opposite and of the room. And I was right, seconds after I was behind cover, more gunfire erupted, but none of it was directed at me. I bit back a tired, half-psychotic laugh, brought on by the fact that I was somehow still alive.

I leaned against the pillar and caught my breath. The toxin was taking its full toll on me. I'd kept ahead so far, but they'd gotten some good hits in on me. My chest and back especially hurt, and while they weren't bleeding as bad as they could be, I knew they would be eventually. I grit my teeth and tried to steady myself.

Everybody loves the perfect solution, to beat the odds against the poorest poss-ible substi-tution.~

Over the din of the gunfire and the steadily decreasing whine form the flashbang, I heard the sound of another rocket being launched. Followed by an explosion, and the sound of falling glass.

Some ancient, hair-trigger instinct in me screamed, and I ran away from the pillar and towards the next one down.

Not even three seconds after I had, another salvo of rockets destroyed the pillar I'd been using for cover. I'd barely had time to get behind the next one before the thugs had regained their composure and had their lights sweeping the room once more.

What you see is never what you're gonna get!~

"You think this is funny you little shit!?" Junior roared, full of rage and vitriol "I'll bring this whole fucking place down!... Fandango!"

I leaned out from my pillar enough to see one of the thugs turn to Junior.

"Get the lights back on!" Junior bellowed.

Without a word, 'Fandango' took off from the crowd. Where ever he was going, it was probably to do what Junior'd asked. I couldn't let him do that, the darkness was my only advantage at the moment. I lost that; my chances went from slim to none.

But I didn't move. Junior probably expected me to. I go to take 'Fandango' out, I give myself away. I stay where I was, when the lights came back on, I'd be a sitting duck. He'd put me in a catch-22. All I did for a moment was stand there, breathing, thinking.

Everybody's playing, Revolution Roulette~!

Then Junior started laughing.

"Ha! We're gonna find you, asshole!" he shouted "Then we're going to take our time with Blondie!"

I stayed still.

"You shouldn't have made this so difficult!" Junior gloated "If you had, we'd have been quick about it!"

He was trying to rile me now, I knew it.

"He he he, who knows?" he asked "Maybe I'll keep you alive. Just long enough to-"

My feet moved before my brain caught up. I darted out from behind the pillar and ran straight at the crowd.

I'd carved up two of the thugs before anyone took notice, their auras failing to provide resistance once more. I waded into the crowd with a fury. I didn't focus one who I was hitting, only that I was hitting someone. It didn't take long for them to realize I'd gone on the offensive. But the tight quarters of the group made it hard for them all to react at once. Even as I carved into and laid a fourth thug low, they were still trying to get bearing on me. None of them tried to shoot me, but the ones with weapons began to trying to gang up on me.

Some of them succeeded, and I felt them hitting me, blades cutting and stinging my skin. But I just kept moving, never letting any of their attacks sink deep enough or hit true enough to put me down. I just kept swinging.

… Everybody has the perfect solution~

Then I felt the blade of the katana hit something, then wholly break free of the handle it was mounted to.

I didn't lose a step, I just kept going. Punching and kicking anyone not bright enough to move. People hit the floor, but I kept swinging, right until I found my focus and drew my .45 once more. Shots rang out and I heard cries of pain. I didn't focus, just aimed to maim and kill.

… But it's just hard to resist, the sweet seduction~

I felt the slide lock back, and before I could load another magazine, I just began pistol-whipping anyone close to me.

… There ain't no trick to winning double what you bet~

Eventually though, my strikes stopped hitting anything. The thugs had all backed away from me in a giant circle. All armed and ready, but not close enough for me to do anything. They had me surrounded now.

… welcome to, Revolution Roulette.~

The music petered off, and we were left with only the sound of everyone's breathing. I fell to a knee, feeling like my lungs were ready to burst into flame.

Then the lights kicked on blindingly bright, and I fumbled to turn my night vision off. These lights weren't hanging from the rafters I'd shot at not long ago, but were coming from further overhead. These ones weren't dying the room, in Red, black, and white either. The room's filter had disappeared and everything looked normal now.

The thugs had me encircled, guns, blades, and axes ready to come in at me. The only reason they hadn't riddled me yet was probably because they didn't want to shoot the guys across from them.

Looking around me though, I saw ten of them on the floor in close proximity to me. All in various stages of being dead or dying. That left about twenty of them to surround me, which looked about right. My .45 fell out of my hand and to the floor. I was exhausted.

A space opened up in the circle and Junior, plus his twin hookers, moved to fill it.

"Hmph." Junior huffed a vicious smirk on his face. "You really are a crazy dumbass."

"Like you have no idea." I growled, still pissed but too immediately exhausted to act.

"It's a shame." He shrugged "I could've used ten guys like you and I'd run this whole damn city."

"You wouldn't be able to stand one of me." I spat back "I don't like being told what to do."

"Oh well, your funeral."

Junior flipped his bat around, and I watched as it transformed into the rocket launcher I'd seen him with earlier.

'Fuck's sake, is everything a gun here?'

"Got any wiseass remarks, before I blow you apart?"

I stayed silent for a moment. Stayed calm for a moment. I was pretty sure there was no way out of this now. Not unless Junior was secretly an undercover cop and he chose right now to turn on everyone.

He didn't look like he was.

So I just took a deep breath and closed my eyes, figuring I should at least die without my lungs burning like atomic fire.

As I did, I was greeted by a familiar smell. My eyes opened, and I watched as the colors of the room began to mottle and blur.

And I began to smile.

"Yeah" I said, feeling myself redouble "Does anybody else smell that?"

Junior gave me a confused look, and I watched it spread through the circle.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of stupid joke?" Junior asked.

"Maybe." I answered.

I watched as one of the thugs suddenly went wide-eyed, and started looking around at everyone. Then he started screaming incoherently and opened fire. The thugs nearest him quick backed away in surprise, and the circle around me gave way. One of the thugs regained themselves momentarily though, and tried to restrain the thug.

"Arancio what the fuck are yo-o-OH FUCK!"

He quickly gave up trying that himself, and joined 'Arancio' in firing wildly around the room.

With that, madness descended on the room once more. The music came crashing back in along with it. Part of me had to wonder what they were all seeing, as they started violently murdering each other by mistake. For me, it was flaming Yao Guai.

Datura root is some scary shit.

But I knew the Yao Guai weren't real, and kept focused on Junior, who seemed to have no idea what was happening.

"What are you doing!?" Junior shouted to his men, narrowly avoiding get hit as one charged him with a hatchet. Junior smacked him upside the head with his rocket launcher before the thug even had a chance. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Cotton!?"

"Probably thinks you're some kind of scary monster." I said, grabbing my pistol and rising.

Junior turned back to me with a fury in his eyes and seethed "What did you do?"

"Paid a bit of karmic retribution to ya." I growled, more than willing to return his anger and then some. "So tell me, what do you see?"

Junior blinked, and I could almost watch the fury melt from him. It was a steady, but visible process. Starting at his eyes and trickling down the length of his body. Anger and tension replaced by terror, ice cold terror. The color practically drained from him as whatever he saw caused him to slowly back away from me.

"Well tell me, Junior, what do you see?"

"G-get the fuck away from me!"

The moment he spoke, I knew what he would do next, he would try to hit first. Before he could, in one fluid motion, I returned my .45 to its holster and lunged at Junior with a Legion Assault. He couldn't get his weapon around in time to block it, and I punched him in the face at full force. He staggered and I began to lay into him, punching as hard and fast as I could force my body to give. Striking his ribs, stomach, face, neck, any place he made a target I was going to pummel him.

He seemed to regain himself for a second and tried to swing his rocket launcher at me. I dodged it handily, and countered like a scribe. I was going to throw every bit of malice I had at him. Each hit I gave, I knew he wasn't feeling most of, his aura would let him slough it off. That just made me want to hit even harder. I might not have been able to hurt him, but I would carve my intentions into him regardless.

A wise woman once said that the Caravan code of the Wastes is simple. You don't fuck with the one who brings you your mail. I didn't have any letters or parcels. But I was delivering a message, one written in a language people like Junior spoke.

Junior made another swipe with his rocket launcher, but this time I didn't bother dodging it. Instead, I just slammed him with a Ranger Takedown. I watched him clear fifteen feet, easy, smacking into a pair of thugs who were strangling each other on the way down.

Everybody loves the perfect solution, to beat the odds against the poorest poss-ible substi-tution!~

In a rare moment of insight, I paid mind to the twins who now stood next to me, and had watched my attack on Junior.

I looked at them for a moment without saying a thing.

They said nothing in turn, but gave each other a look.

They then turned and calmly, if briskly, walked to the exit of the building.

'Smart.'

As I turned to look back at Junior though, I saw he'd already brought his rocket launcher back to play, the business end pointed my way. In a movement so quick I swear I heard the sound barrier break; I drew my .45, dropped the magazine, slid a new one in, and released the slide. So fluid and seamless I felt like a fucking machine. By the time I had, Junior had just fired the rockets from the tube.

With hardly a fraction of a second in VATs, I took aim at the rockets as they were no more than a foot away from Junior. I pulled the trigger only once, but got treated to the sight of watching Junior's weapon explode in his hands spectacularly.

Even before the ball of fire had subsided, I ran at Junior. Diving through the fire and unloading at the spot where he'd been. I came out the other side of the fireball and found I'd missed. The explosion had blown Junior an even further distance away from where he'd been, and was currently crumpled on the ground. I saw his aura flicker around him for a moment before fading. He clutched his right arm in his left hand, and something looked wrong with his otherwise massive jaw. Like it was dislocated or broken.

All I took from it was that his aura was gone.

I raised my pistol and pulled the trigger.

What you see is never what you're gonna get~

The gun jammed, A spent cartridge was stove-piped in the ejection port.

Junior realized it.

"Son of a Goodwitch!" I growled, quickly racking the slide. My attempt at quickly fixing the jammed round just caused it to fall back into the receiver proper.

Junior wasn't waiting for me to stop fucking up. He turned and bolted for the doors of the club, now open thanks to the twins leaving before him.

"No!" I roared, finally clearing the jam.

I'd been too slow though. He'd gotten out of range.

I sprinted after him, maneuvering past the thugs who were still in the process of killing each other.

Everybody's playing~

Junior reached the stair leading out well ahead of me, and slid the steel doors shut to slow me down.

Everybody's playing~

I bounded up the stairs two at a time, practically crashing into the doors. The steel held firm against my impact and weight. I wasted no time in reaching for the edges though, and began to pull the doors with all my strength.

Everybody's playing, REVOLUTION ROULETTE!~

I pulled, and one of the doors lid before the other. I slammed it with all my might, and it rolled smoothly to the end of its track, and broke free of it. Falling to the floor with a thunderous *BOOM*.

REVOLUTION ROULEEEEETTE~!

The music grew softer as I left the club behind me, though the air-raid siren still pierced the air well. I raced out of the entry way, following the only path Junior could have taken, and burst out onto the street.

The night had hardly changed since Yang and me had walked in. The stars were still out, the air was still humid, electricity still buzzed through the air.

And Junior was nowhere in sight. He'd vanished into the night.

I scanned the streets and alleyways. Looking for movement, listening for sound, searching for any clue as to where Junior was.

I got nothing.

"… DAMMIT!" I screamed, hoarse, tired and angry. Junior had gotten away.

Killing him may not have been a priority, but letting him free did not sit well with me. I stood there for a moment. Catching my breath, calming down, re-focusing on the world around me. My body hurt like hell, and probably looked like it too.

As I breathed, I took note of my surroundings, trying to find little oddities that would distract me. Broken lights, intact windows, signs of a building that hadn't been burgled yet, that sort of thing.

The only thing I took of note though, was a solitary bird sitting on the nearest light post. I only took note of it because some of the lamplight was deflecting off of its feathers in deep opalescent hues of green and blue. That and, well, it was the only bird I could see presently. I wasn't quite sure what it was either. Crows were common back in the Mojave, the feathered little bastards weren't short of carrion. But I'd read that there were other birds like them, both in demeanor and appearance. I think they were called Grackles... or Jackdaws... or was it Ravens?... It wasn't important. It was just odd to see it sitting there.

The little bird seemed to cock its head at me, and I stared up at it for a moment. Fearless little bugger.

"Fly away, Jack." I growled "Lest I ensure you bother me nevermore."

The bird squawked a sour note, then dipped off the lamp post and flew off into the night. I probably wouldn't have actually bothered it if it hadn't. But, let that tell you something, having it watch made me feel guilty.

When I was calm, I took note of the silence behind me. The fighting had stopped, so either all of Junior's boys were now dead or close to it. Ahead of me on the street, Yang's bike sat undisturbed, so at least we hadn't been robbed and assaulted.

I continued listening, not sure what I was listening for, just to wound up to stay calm.

Because of that, I heard the sound of police sirens in the distance. Recognizable from our night on the docks not more than a week or two ago.

It sent an alert down my spine, but by this point I was so doped on adrenaline my mind didn't give it immediate priority.

Instead, I just turned back around and stalked back into the club.

I reached the steel doors to the club and stared out of the sight of the battle. Because that's what it had turned into, a battle. There were bodies and blood everywhere. Some from bullet holes. Most from people being brutally hacked to pieces, and flaming Yao Guai that were currently munching on them for tasty snacks.

The place was half destroyed by this point, and it was going to take more than some duct tape to fix it.

I crossed the ruined dance floor and surveyed the carnage further. I couldn't recognize anyone I'd killed from the people who'd been killing each other. But just because I couldn't didn't mean someone else couldn't.

I reached the bar, and walked behind it.

Yang was still there. Sleeping like a rock and looking like nothing had just happened.

"… at least one of us can rest easy…"

I shook my head, and picked Yang up, hoisting her over my shoulder. I wasn't going to do anything with her, but letting her lie on the dirty floor wouldn't have been polite. I carried her around the front of the bar and pulled a chair out to rest her on.

Before I could, Yang made a gurgling, retching sound. I then felt something warm trailing its way over my shoulder and down my back. I was then reminded of the body's other means of expelling toxins.

"Oh, that's just fucking perfect. Thanks, Yang."

I set her in the chair and took my shirt off. What was left of it anyway, now that it was cut to ribbons, blown apart, and covered in puke. I set it on the bar and walked back around once more. I took a few moments to peruse Junior's stock of liquors and found one that looked suitably brown.

I lifted my mask up and went to take a swig from it. Before I did though, I stopped. Remembering what'd lead into this situation. There was no telling how Junior'd spiked our drinks. For all I knew, his entire stock was spiked.

It probably wasn't, but now wasn't the time to test it.

So I just slid my mask back into place, and leaned against the bar with my bottle. I was pissed. This entire situation had turned into one large clusterfuck. I was fed bad hooch, I had to fight for the life of both me and Yang, Junior escaped and left me with more questions than answers, and to top it off I couldn't even get drunk.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but it wouldn't do me any good.

So I just glared at Yang. For a long, sullen moment.

Then something in me snapped.

"… You know, this was a pretty 'whisky' situation you got us both in." I grumbled to Yang

She gave no response.

"All I wanted was a nice night of drinking, not this pain in the glass."

Still nothing.

"I've been in some pretty bad places, but this one is pretty sub-bar"

I started chuckling

"Heh- I'm honestly feeling a bit burnt right now, even a little sour."

My chuckling began to devolve into exhausted laughter.

He he hah, it's a good thing we went to a club… Pff- HA HA HA-"

I doubled over on the bar with laughter. I needed some sort of outlet for how I felt at the moment. If I wasn't able to be angry, I guess laughing worked as well.

"HA Ha, holy shit, we almost died..." I breathed and let the laughter subside, then gave Yang a lopsided look. "Boy am I glad you're unconscious right now. Otherwise there'd be no way you'd let me live this down…"

For a moment, I entertained the idea of just coming up with more stupid, club and bar-based puns. Then I shelved the idea. There were more pressing issues at the moment than trying to hold onto the tattered shreds of my sanity. The Cops were coming. We were at the scene of an absolutely vicious crime. My finger prints were all over it, and things were generally grim. It didn't matter I'd done it to keep someone safe, what'd happened here would be hard to justify. We couldn't stay, but if we left things as they were, the cops would probably track us down eventually… maybe. They weren't bright, but something like this was sure to light a fire under someone's ass. Maybe some hunters if someone hired them to investigate… yeah, that seemed more likely.

I looked down at the bar. Then out to the bodies strewn about the place. Then at the bottle in my hand. Then the ones behind me. Then my tattered shirt.

"…" I gave a heavy sigh "Such a waste."