John was gawking at the holo-projected live video-feed he'd just witnessed. This Lorenzo guy had looked like someone out of one of the old Superhero Comics with that odd armor and moves. Though, he wasn't sure if Lorenzo would have been considered the Hero or Villain of the comic that was besides the point. He'd just watched literal aliens get turned to ash. That was...terrifying to witness, yet the idea of an entirely different world fascinated him. Mostly because he wasn't sure what sort of chems the locals could cook up with what they had.

While he was contemplating just what sort of shit-show he'd found himself in, the door to the room opened allowing Lorenzo to walk in, still whistling a merry little tune to himself.

"Alright John, follow me and I'll set you up in some temporary lodging while the implant we spoke about before is being made." He turned and John followed after hesitating for a moment. The man still hadn't cleaned his armor off, it was covered in the acrid smell of burning copper from the blood of those alien things. A stark reminder that this wasn't a normal person he was dealing with, even by Wasteland standards. Even the way he moved seemed too, stiff almost. It reminded him of a half ruined book he'd found in an abandoned storefront once, even though he barely remembered what little of it he could read. John followed silently behind Lorenzo, taking in the long hallways all made of the same blue crystal. Passing guards that looked like tiny armored horses out of a pre-war children's book, and some that looked downright weird, like the small lizard, an 'Akun' if he remembered correctly, wearing odd purple combat armor holding a small assault rifle while its turreted eyes swiveled about never staying in one spot long.

As they passed it, it very obviously struggled not to focus on Lorenzo while they walked into a small room, which held a television, a model he could recognize thank God, a sofa, plush looking cot, and a mini-fridge with a table on the side that had a small coffee machine and several bottles of booze sitting on it. "You can stay here for now, it should only be an hour or two before someone comes to grab you, just listen to the instructions given and it should go fine." Lorenzo said not looking at him as he turned and made his way back out of the room. Leaving John on his own, seeing this he turned on the television to see what was on, since sometimes he'd find pre-war television stations still playing on loop, rare as it was. From what he knew there would be much more than old looping buggy programs playing on this one.

Setting the remote aside for a minute John stood and walked into a small side-room which turned out to be a tiny bathroom, it had a shower, sink, mirror and toilet, alongside a small towel rack which was already filled with towels. Ignoring all of that he stood in front of the mirror looking himself in the face. Turning the sink on be cupped his hands under it before splashing himself in the face with the water, wiping it off on his sleeve. "What the hell have I gotten into this time?" He questioned aloud to himself, his reflection didn't answer. He sighed going back into the room, he'd just have to ride this one out.

--------------------------------Nick Valentine, Old State House--------------------

"So, you say he was just passed out on a chem trip in this room, and when someone came to check on him he was just gone?" Nick questioned, looking at the room briefly before returning his gaze to the person he was speaking with, Hancock's second in command, Fahrenheit.

Fahrenheit nodded in affirmation, the cigarette between her lips glowing as puffs of smoke blew from her nostrils as she exhaled. "Yeah, normally that wouldn't be too out of the odd for Hancock but he'd always tell someone he was gonna be gone if it was for more than a few days, an no one saw him exit, so unless he jumped off the balcony he didn't just walk out of that room since we have Triggermen guarding it at all times, I want this fixed before people start getting jumpy and asking questions they shouldn't be asking, cuz I ain't got the answers." She was clearly unhappy at the fact the man had vanished, and by the looks of it a little worried. Not too much given she knew he could handle himself but still.

Nick lit his own cigarette, though it did nothing for him in the same sense it would for a human, it did let him get into character, old habits die hard after all. "Alright so he was here, then he wasn't and there's no chance he snuck out since someone would have seen him, any specifics I need to know?"

Dropping her cigarette to the floor and crushing it under her boot to stamp it out, Fahrenheit pointed to the large red couch sitting against the wall. "He always sits there for his chem trips, an when I came in the room had crap all tossed about, papers n whatnot, but no furniture was moved, no blood, no obvious signs of a struggle, and the Triggermen heard nothing otherwise they would have burst into the room with their submachine guns at the ready, I'll leave you to your investigation, just please let me know if you find any clues that can tell me where the hell that damned fool wandered off too." With that said she walked out, closing the doors behind her. Looking at the two Triggermen guarding it she scowled. "If you hear anything out of the fucking ordinary at all in that room I want your asses in there within two seconds, otherwise I'll fucking skin you!" They stood stock still, just giving a slight nod. They'd worked for Hancock an Fahrenheit for a long time now and had long since gotten used to how each of their respective Bosses worked.

With Fahrenheit out of the room and leaving him to his own devices, Nick began searching the place. He'd been here a few times before to investigate things for Hancock, so he had a passing memory of how the place was supposed to look. Couching down he looked at the various empty jet inhalers on the ground, and a few syringes still filled with Med-X, one of which upon further inspection was half empty. Valentine scowled silently to himself, he never did approve of how recklessly Hancock allowed and even actively encouraged people to use chems on the daily. He'd learned to live with it, Old World laws didn't much matter anymore. Standing back up he pulled out a camera from his bag and began snapping photos of the room. Once the photos had been taken he slipped it back into his bag, he walked into the bathroom that was off to the side hoping something inside might provide an insight into how the man vanished.

The Old State House was just that, old, very old. Valentine thought there was a high chance of some hidden doorway or passageways in or out given the age of the building, and since many of Boston's older buildings had such things, false walls or hidden floors, but no inspecting every inch of brickwork, wallpaper or plaster uncovered nothing. No hidden latch, switch, button, or lock. Giving a sigh of frustration he sat on one of the wooden chairs scattered about, pulling a lighter from his pocket he went to reach for the pack of cigarettes he kept on his person at all times, only to pause. Were his optics deceiving him, or was something shining faintly under the couch?

Tucking the lighter back into his pocket Nick walked up to the couch, slowly putting a hand on one of the cushions as he knelt down to get a better look at the source of the light. There, at the very back of the couch against the wall was a small marble that looked to be shining like a weak flashlight, flickering like the batteries were dying. "Hmm, now what are you supposed to be?" He'd never seen anything like it, at least he didn't think so. Carefully he lowered himself flat onto the floor trying to reach it under the couch, since the couch itself was bolted to the floor giving him no chance to just move it.

The moment his hand touched the small orb, the weak dimming glow suddenly became a blinding flash, his optics flashing in an attempt to compensate for the sudden changes in the light, but Nick had no chance to even let out a yell of surprise as one moment he was reaching his arm under the couch, and the next he was literally pulled into the orb within less than a second of his hand making contact with it. Without warning he landed face first into the wall of an alleyway, while he couldn't feel physical pain he still winced thinking about what that sudden impact may have done to some of his more...delicate components.

Slowly standing up, Nick noticed he was no longer in the Old State House, nor anywhere in Goodneighbor since the alleyway he was in was far too clean. Sure it had bins of trash and refuse like any other he'd ever seen, but the ground wasn't littered with empty chem containers, busted bottles or spotted with any bodily fluids. Hearing something crunch when he stood to his full height he looked down and glared. The camera that he'd had with him in his pack had been smashed into the wall when he'd smacked into it. That thing was expensive to get, even more so to maintain and get film for. He sighed, that was a problem for later. For now he had to figure out just where the hell he was.

Looking at the exit of the alleyway he saw the sky slowly turning from a deep pink to a dark purple color as the sun set. That wasn't right, it was only 2:00 PM when he was investigating the State House. The sun shouldn't have been setting for another several hours, putting the oddity away and choosing to ignore the fact he'd somehow lost several hours without even a registered system reboot he crept across the alleyway, hand in his pocket gripping the handle of his .44 revolver just to be safe.

Peeking his head out of the Alleyway his eyes widened slightly at sights that reminded him of Nick's, the real Nick's time as a Pre-War investigator, cars rolling up and down pristinely paved roads, sidewalks lit by lamps dotted about on poles that still had power. All of them flickering to life one by one as the sun set across the horizon. A horizon filled to the brim with tall skyscrapers stretching towards the sky. Almost like Boston before the bombs hit. Somewhat stunned at all he was seeing Nick crept out of the alleyway, picking a direction at random to walk.

He kept his head down, hat tilted to hide his face while he walked to nowhere in particular. Just where the hell was he? How did this place have so many cars running, why did the buildings he'd seen in the distance not look like they'd been in ruins for over two hundred years of wear, tear and abandonment? Had his Memory Core finally corrupted itself to the point he was having hallucinations? Given his synthetic nature, could he even hallucinate? He wasn't sure and he didn't like it.

With a shaking hand he reached into his overcoats pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes and lighter he'd been reaching for before he tried to grab the marble and lifted one to his mouth, the lighter taking several flicks before it lit, the tip of the cancer stick glowing orange as he puffed. It didn't do anything for him, but it was calming all the same as he tucked both items back into the pocket from which he'd grabbed them. He looked at his hand, which was still shaking with some worry. Maybe he'd jostled around one too many delicate parts in that smack to the wall, so he initiated a system self diagnostic.

INSTITUTE UNIFIED OPERATING SYSTEM SCAN INITIATED. SCANNING........

G2-PV2

SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC

OPTICAL SENSORS.......OPERATIONAL RUNNING 85% CAPACITY, MINOR MAINTENANCE REQUIRED.

AIR COOLING UNIT.......OPERATIONAL RUNNING 90% CAPACITY.

LIMB ACTUATED MOTORS.....OPERATIONAL RUNNING 76% CAPACITY, EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE REQUIRED.

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT......OPERATIONAL RUNNING 80% CAPACITY. .....ERROR...... SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE OVERDUE.

SOLID STATE MEMORY.......ERROR.....ERROR.....MINOR DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED, PLEASE CONTACT CERTIFIED MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN FOR FULL SCALE REPAIRS. INITIATING BACKUP OF STORED DATA.....ERROR.....UPLINK DISABLED.

FUSION CORE........OPERATIONAL RUNNING 60% CAPACITY. CELL RECHARGE OR REPLACEMENT REQUIRED WITHIN NEXT 80 DAYS.

SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE......SYSTEM STATUS RUNNING AT 67% FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY, CONDITION YELLOW.

Nick gave a dissatisfied grunt, he knew he'd need some tuning up soon but damn he'd need it a lot sooner than he'd expect. And he wasn't even in Diamond City where he kept a few Gen-1 and Gen-2 synth 'corpses' he'd collected over the years for spare parts. He was in dire straits if he couldn't find a way to recharge his fusion core here, if he was stranded wherever the hell here was that long.

While he was walking, someone bumped into him, they hadn't been looking where they had been walking, it was an equine that reached up to his lower chest who quickly gave a short bow before scampering away. "Very sorry Officer!" That interaction made him halt for a moment. Firstly that tiny horse had spoken, secondly it was neon colored with eyes so large they should logically not fit inside that skull leaving any room for sentience, yet it spoke perfect English. Thirdly, it had called him Officer which was something he'd not been called in a long, long time going off Nick's Pre-War memories. He had to force himself to stop thinking about it lest he cause a system crash and eventual reboot trying to process it.

Nick shook his head and kept walking, muttering to himself trying to figure out just where he was without looking odd, it was dark now as the sun had set mere minutes ago, but the streets remained lit up with the white and yellow glow of street lamps, cars still rumbled almost silently down the roads. It was all almost overwhelming, flashes and video-clips, that was as best he could describe it, of Pre-War Nick's memories beginning to flash in and out of his optics for brief moments before his vision glitched and returned to normal leaving him wondering just what his system scan had missed. Or how badly that data corruption truly was. He wasn't able to ponder that for long as he heard the sound of metal smashing in a nearby alley.

Out of pure mechanical instinct he reached into his overcoat grabbing the grip of his revolver, creeping closer to the alley as his auditory sensors picked up the sounds of a struggle, before there was a click and a sudden bang. That was it for him as he rushed into the alleyway to see another Equine lying on the ground with a puddle of blood rapidly spreading out from its still breathing body, though it was ragged. Standing over it was another Equine, this one having wings, and now moving to aim at the other's head. Without thinking he drew his revolver and fired, blasting the gun out of the Equine's Hoof. He wasn't even going to question how it held the damn thing. "Stop right there, the next one goes between your eyes." He commanded, taking on the tone of an Officer without thinking. Nick didn't just shoot the thing in the head first out of pure habit due to the glitches he'd been seeing moments before, reminding him further of Valentine's days as a Pre-War officer and detective.

The winged Equine flared its wings, preparing to take flight. Oh no, he wasn't having that, within the split second the Pegasus had flared it's wings and began to crouch for a takeoff another shot fired from his revolver, hitting smack dab in the center of one of its wings, causing it to jump, flapping for a moment before the pain of the new injury struck it causing it to flop ungraciously into the side of a trash can, screaming in pain. Not wanting to give the thing a chance to recover he rushed forward and cracked his revolver against the side of the Pegasus's head knocking it out, the thing's head going limp against the concrete with a thwap.

Rushing over to the one who'd been shot before he'd entered the alley, he looked at the wound. Thankfully it was non-fatal, or he assumed so given it was still breathing, looking up at him with squinted large golden orbs that made his wires want to crawl out of his frame and hide. Nick pushed the feeling down, and began applying pressure to the wound as best he could given the lack of proper hands. The Equine, a mare he learned by the voice, spoke with a wheeze. "Bitch wanted to borrow more money from me and didn't like it when I told her she didn't pay me back the last three times." She coughed, thankfully no blood coming up, that meant at the very least her lung's hadn't been penetrated. "Shot me in the fucking chest that featherbrained fool! I need to get to the hospital, is your patrol car nearby?" She questioned tilting her head at him.

Nick paused. "I, I uh don't have a patrol car ma'am, I was walking when I heard you smash against one of the dumpsters."

Her ears flattened, before glaring at the still form of her attempted assailant. "Grab my phone from my saddlebag, dial 000 and request the cops an ambulance." She slid the saddlebags towards him with her tail, while applying pressure to herself to keep the blood from flowing freely.

While looking for the phone Nick questioned the mare. "How are you calm about being shot?" Wastelanders often just bit the bullet (heh) and did what little first aid they could do if they didn't have the caps for a doctor, this little horse was a lot calmer than some of them he'd seen.

The mare gave a short salute as best she could while still keeping pressure on the hole in her chest. "Rose Petal, I was formerly a member of the Crystal Empire militia, this ain't my first time being shot at bucko." Rose said with a proud snort.

Finally having found the phone nick smiled to himself while be fucked around with it for a few moments, tapping the phone icon and dialing 000, hitting call it dialed for only three short rings before it was picked up. "This is 000, what is your emergency?"

"I've just stopped an attempted mugging, a mare's been shot, the assailant was shot twice and is knocked out, but still alive, I need an ambulance and police over here." Rose had simply told him what to say when they picked up, after watching him struggle for two minutes to operate the phone.

"Ambulance and police are on the way to your current location sir, please hang tight and try to keep the blood flow from her wound to a minimum if you can help it, they'll be there in one minute, thirty seconds." The line went dead as the 000 operator hung up. He wasn't sure that was proper protocol since he'd remembered listening to some old 911 calls, the operators were supposed to stay on the line if they could, and they hadn't even asked the location!

Rose was rather calm, given the situation Nick had found her in. He went back to helping apply pressure to the wound, ripping part of his trench coat to soak up some of the blood. Exactly one minute and thirty seconds later a large boxy vehicle rolled up, lights flashing silently while a patrol car pulled up next to it. Paramedics quickly rushed out, two unicorns wearing white and red uniforms carefully levitating Rose into the back of the Ambulance, (That'd nearly made Nick bluescreen for the lack of a better term). Once she'd been loaded into it, the vehicle all but flew off as its tires screeched against the road, now blaring its siren.

Nick hadn't been asked anything by the two paramedics, but both Rose and her attacker had been put into it so he was going to assume she'd be fine, turning his attention to the patrol car he got a sinking feeling of dread in his chest when two gen-2 synths stepped out. They looked off, eye's glowing green instead of the trademark yellow, they somehow looked bulkier than the one's he'd seen before. Wearing blue uniforms that reminded him of Pre-War cops, sans the oddly thick chest armor each wore, almost like a more compact version of Combat Armor.

What really drove the differences home was when one of them spoke, its voice still harshly synthetic, but nothing like the Gen-2's he had heard speaking before. "Unidentified Android unit, state designation and assigned role."

When Nick didn't respond right away, one of the 'Androids' reached down as if to grab something off its belt, lifting the thing up it looked almost like a barcode scanner he'd seen in some ruined grocery stores he'd scrounged around for spare parts, it lit up as the 'Android' raised it at him like a pistol, a wide arc of blue beams running up and down his body before it began beeping red. The moment it did, the eyes on both machines turned from a pleasant grass green to dark neon red. "Unidentified and unauthorized android unit, you are to be taken into custody for further investigation, if you do not comply you will be disabled.'' It's partner had pulled out what looked to be a very violently charged stun gun, if the crackling arcs of pure electricity was anything to go by.

Not wanting to have his circuits fried, Nick raised his hands dropping his revolver to the ground with a clatter, kicking it over towards the androids. "I'll come willingly, I'd like to speak to someone in charge here."

The eye's went from red, to yellow as one grabbed him by the arms, strapping some weird electrified cuffs to his wrists. "Your Compliance is noted, please proceed." He was carefully stuffed into the back of the patrol car the two had arrived in, watching out the window as the alleyway vanished behind them Nick knew this wasn't the Wasteland he'd known.

---------------------------------Crystal Empire Throne Room-----------------------------------

Discord had watched with amusement and glee as Lorenzo had let loose after so long of nothing but being a boring 'ruler', it was fun to watch the chaos the man could cause. Thinking to himself while completely invisible, floating around Lorenzo in circles like a ghost, a light-bulb flashed unseen above his head, a large tooth filled grin spreading across his face. Lorenzo had looked happy and excited when he was putting those 'Manuka' in their place, getting to let loose for the first time in ages. Perhaps he'd enjoy a short...vacation of sorts. Pulling a calendar out of nowhere Discord began flipping through it rapidly while wearing a pair of oversized reading glasses.

Hemming and hawing to himself for a few moments while he flipped through it his smile widened even further, it would seen his friend didn't have anything actually important to do that someone else couldn't do for him, with that in mind Discord threw the calendar away as it burst into chocolate confetti. Within a moment he'd made himself visible and grabbed Lorenzo by the shoulders, narrowly avoiding a blast of plasma fired from the man's pistol, always twitchy it would seem. "Lorenzo my old pal, I've noticed how elated you seem to be after your little spat with that tiny rebellion, why not indulge in some real fun for a change?" He questioned, the grin never leaving his face.

It was amusing to watch Lorenzo quirk an eyebrow. "What the hell are you on about this time Discord?"

"Tsk tsk I expected you to jump at the opportunity to let lose, oh well not like you have a choice. You're going on a little vacation my friend, so enjoy it, see the sights, take in the local atmosphere and enjoy the local foods! You'll be gone for a day or two at most, so make the most of it!" And with a bright flash before Lorenzo could so much as argue, he was gone and Discord was giggling to himself at the prospect of all the lovely chaos that man would cause. Sure it was violent chaos but chaos nonetheless.

----------------------Lorenzo POV------------------

I had just finished tapping away at the report Frank had sent me after the Manuka had been curb-stomped for a third time since the occupation of their former world began, it was long, overly detailed, and pretty much boiled down to Frank asking for permission to start executing Manuka at random if another rebellion began, of which I denied, but did authorize him to 'have some fun' with those actively rebelling in whatever way he saw fit, and given we all know Frank, his idea of 'Fun' is something the Manuka would very much not find fun. Then Discord had to show his mismatched ass up and decide I was going on an impromptu vacation.

Honestly I wouldn't have minded if he'd fuckin asked instead of just throwing me across...dimensions? Not sure, one second I was sitting in my Throne Room the next I was inside a concrete tunnel dimly lit by barely functional overhead lights, long bulky pipes snaking across the ceiling and one side of the wall. The moment I noticed that I began to wonder exactly where I'd been tossed, then a voice from overhead speakers I'd not noticed before began to play. "What's this? Another dumb fuck tricked into entering the Gauntlet? And we didn't even see this one come in folks! Sneaky fucker, for those who don't know or are just too damn high to listen, this is RedEye from Raaaaaaaaaaaider Radio! And it looks like we have another sack of shit to watch die in the Gauntlet!"

Aiming up with the plasma pistol I'd almost shot Discord with, I blew the speaker to melted slag with a single bolt, as it did however two turrets opened up from the end of the hallway, the speed their shots rang out was laughable as I twisted behind one of the pipes sticking out of the wall. Entering V.A.T.S time slowed to a crawl even more than when I'd use Jet, selecting the targets I let the V.A.T.S system take over, taking down both turrets with two shots each, the bolt's of plasma melting into the turret's casing and setting off the ammunition inside in a small explosion of gunpowder and shrapnel.

Equipping my Alicorn Armor I began to grin, putting on my Wendigo King's crown, maybe this wouldn't be so annoying after all, I thought to myself strolling through the now unguarded door. Beyond the door was a wide room that held five doors, each one the same color and half rotted wood, all makeshift looking. Speakers overhead began blaring again. "Our new vic has a choice to make! Five doors, one leads further in, the others to certain death! Let's see what this fuck-ZTTTTP!" As with the last one, this speaker was blown apart by a blast of energy and melted into slag, arcs of electrical energy running down my outstretched gauntlet.

Kicking at the first door on the far left resulted in it cracking apart from the force of the blow, rotted wood shattering with no resistance showing a room filled with flamer traps, which I backed away from just in time to avoid being crisped up, each door was kicked down one by one, all of them filled with traps of some sort except the last door, which lead into a hallway lined with dozens of turrets with a door at the end labeled 'exit'. Reaching into my inventory I pulled out a baseball sized orb and threw it into the room, taking cover next to the wall as it blew with a shower of electrical pulses.

Hearing a resounding series of 'error' beeps turrets tended to make when EMP'd I poked my head back into the room, whistling a happy tune while I shot each disabled turret, enjoying the sounds each one made while they blew apart. This wasn't how I remembered the layout of the Gauntlet from the Nuka-World DLC, but variety never killed anyone. Snickering to myself at my own joke while passing long dead corpses of the prior people to try and survive, then through the exit door which slammed shut behind me, maglocks engaging from the sound of the clicks the door made.

The room I was now in was filled with open barrels of radioactive waste, all glowing a comforting dull green. My pipboy's geiger counter ticking away. That'd be worrying for someone else, for me it was like a warm breeze as I soaked in the radiation. "Tick tock, that geiger counter doesn't seem to like tha, wait what the fuck are you doing?!" RedEye shouted in shock over the speaker while I looked directly into the camera across the room, reaching my arms into the barrel and pulling out two glowing globs of radioactive waste, it emitted a pleasant heat while I lifted the blob upwards. "Holy fuck folks this guy's either crazy or high!" Was all the speaker managed to get out before the blob I'd pulled out of the barrel was thrown into the speaker, then at the camera. Both of the devices were fried by the radiation in the process while I laughed.

------------------Nuka World Raiders---------------

The new vic smashed through another door, right into what RedEye liked to call the 'Audience Participation' segment of the Gauntlet. Watching on the camera's as he spoke over the radio and speakers. "Looks like our guest decided to show his face again! Well boys, have fun! Let's see how long he lasts with all you fucks having some fun!" Raiders from all three groups began shooting through the grate that served as a makeshift floor, peppering the guy with rounds, all of which seemed to harmlessly ping off the odd armor he'd been wearing the entire time. Then he looked up with a grin so unnaturally wide a few raiders stopped shooting out of pure confusion, even if this guy had been wearing combat armor he should have at least been bleeding a little, if not torn into a bloody mess! Yet there he was, grinning up at them with a smile that made skin crawl.

Before RedEye could see what happened next the Camera was suddenly encased in a layer of what looked like ice, screams being cut off mid yell while raiders began to flee to the sides of the grate where they'd be safe. "Let's get this show on the road, I've not got all day!" The Gauntlets next victim said in an overly giddy voice. Just what sort of FREAK stumbled into the Gauntlet this time? First he managed to literally grab toxic radioactive waste with his bare hands, and chuck it, but hadn't keeled over from the rads afterwards, and now this?

Gage was standing behind Overboss Colter in his massive, if admittedly patchwork makeshift Power Armor suit, adjusting the large thick cable that was wired directly from the Arena's ceiling into the back port of the armor. "You got me wired up yet Gage?"

"Yeah Boss, all wired up and ready to go." He replied, stepping back holding the toolkit he'd used to refasten the cable into the Fusion Core port, all its power came directly from the Arena itself. Though that didn't mean it would become useless junk if the cable was cut, since the armor had two fusion core slots jury-rigged into the back inside of the armor itself, Colter's own admittedly not stupid idea. A rarity for the man. If the cable got cut or too damaged to feed the suit power, the duel-core's he'd installed would give him an hour of movement before he was stuck inside a metal brick. It wasn't nearly what the cores should have provided, but when you're working with makeshift equipment and makeshift fusion-core ports, it was surprising it even worked at all.

Not needing the word from Colter he went into the back room to switch off the alarm that was triggered when the newcomer passed the door in the hallway which looked down into the Arena through a metal grate. Gage looked up from a side window built into the room he'd shut the alarm off in. Colter staring up at the person behind the grate with a cocky smile. "Ah, there's my latest victim now. Heh, don't look like much. Here's a quick rundown of how this works. You go stock up, make yourself presentable, and then we're gonna give these folks a show." Colter's grin widened, though it was hard to see inside the odd makeshift helmet he wore from the outside.

"A show where I decorate these walls here with your lovely brains, thanks to this suit I'm the only one who wins this fight. Period. You think your odd armor will do you any good? Think again." Colter looked back at Gage. "Alright Gage, let em in, somethin tells me I'm really gonna enjoy this." Colter's armor began sparking with arcs of barely contained electricity dancing across his entire suit of Power Armor. RedEye's voice rang through the com system. "It's almost time, after a run like that this ought to be the best slaughter yet! Remember, the longest survival time against Colter still stands at one minute, thirty seven seconds!"

Gage snuck away from the alarm room into a side room just next to the locker rooms, which had been converted into a makeshift armory loaded with all sorts of goodies the Gang's had managed to steal over the years, where all the people stupid enough yet strong enough to make it this far had the chance to gear themselves up with anything in the room, given they could carry it. Pressing a button on the intercom in front of him he started talking, wasting no time on idle chit-chat, he had to do this fast before Colter realized he was gone. Once he confirmed the newcomer had actually entered the makeshift armory room he held the intercom button down. "All right, listen the hell up if you want to make it out of this alive. I've only got a minute, find the intercom on the wall, I'll make it quick."

A moment later a voice that sounded...wrong, somehow, spoke into the mic. "Yes?" It was brisk, brief, but the man on the other end sounded almost....jovial.

Deciding to keep on script with his plan, Gage continued. "I'm the guy that's going to get you out of this alive, so listen up."

"All right, I'm listening." Was all he got on the intercom speaker, which he'd turned the volume down in an attempt to make sure no one could hear his little conversation.

"Look, you made it this far, you obviously got skill. But this fight coming up is rigged, you get me? Overboss Colter....his Power armor's set up to draw energy from the electric grid in the Arena. Damn thing's invincible, you name it, someone's tried it. Miniguns, grenades, not a scratch. You get what I'm saying?"

The intercom on his side crackled to life. "Oh I get what you're sayin, and I'm lovin the sound of it so far." What the fuck, this guy was actually excited about fighting Colter? Maybe this guy was just what they'd needed after all. "You want to win? I stashed a weapon in the lockers, get it. It'll look like a red Nuka-Cola bottle with a pistol grip."

"A Water Gun? Well I've done more with less, what next friend?"

Gage couldn't put his finger on it, but the longer the man spoke something was just off about his voice, almost like it wasn't natural. Even through the distortion the intercom speaker was giving it the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He decided to ignore it for the time being, he could worry about how the guy's voice bothered him after Colter was hopefully dead. "Once the water hits Colter's electrically-charged Power Armor the circuits are gonna short out, it'll kill his defenses, but you'll only have so much time to do some damage before they recharge. You take him out I promise you, it'll be worth every minute you spent in this Gauntlet. All right it's time, I'll open the door, see you on the other side." He cut the connection to the armory intercom and snuck back into the control room, giving Colter a thumbs up.

Gage watched Colter turn to the crowds made up of the various raider gangs that ran Nuka-World, lifting his electrified arms into the air as he began to hype them up for the slaughter to come. "Disciples! Are you ready for blood!?"

The crowd of people in the Disciples seating section began chanting in unison, stomping their feet and shaking the stands they all sat in. "Death death death death!"

Colter turned his head towards The Pack. "And the Pack, Are you ready for things to get wild?!" He growled out at the raiders dressed in a variety of fake fur, mascot costume parts, real animal skins, and colorful body paint that looked more at home at a children's birthday party, if the one doing said painting was a child themselves. The members of The Pack began cheering wildly, howling and growling like actual animals, eager to see more blood shed upon the Arena floor.

Almost as if an afterthought Colter turned his gaze to the Operators seating section, but kept the same eager voice he'd used for the first two up. "Operators! Are you ready to watch me notch another kill!?" The only reaction the Operators gave him was a few dozens of the raiders giving half hearted half-assed applause, still he'd take what he could get. Finally Colter turned his attention to the person standing behind a maglock security door looking through the grate with no expression on his face. "And you....are you ready to die?"

The man on the other end of the door actually chuckled! Chuckling in the face of certain death, well at least he wouldn't die that way, Colter would make sure he died screaming just like the others. The door swung open while Colter pulled out his combat rifle, aiming and shooting the second the iron-sight landed on his latest soon to be victim. "Let's do this!"

RedEye's voice blared from all the speakers in and out of the Arena, one sentence that rang loud and clear across half the park. "And the slaughter has begun!"

Raiders watched as the man ate bullets like a sponge, oh sure he bled, but for some reason every wound was rapidly healing each time he got hit, the man in odd decorative looking armor dashing to the side and pulling a laser rifle from god knew where, blasting apart at Colter with reckless abandon. It was almost pitiful to look at, Gage thought to himself. What a waste, he'd had hope this one would manage it but then he'd gone and ignored his advice. He was just turning to look away with a sigh as Colter dropped his combat rifle and grabbed the man by the neck, electrocuting him. So much voltage ran through the man held in his Power Armored hand that electricity began to arc out of the man's eyes as he laughed before his head exploded into dozens of bloody chunks.

What a disappointment, was all Gage could think before the crowd gasped in sheer shock and surprise, so he focused back on the Arena and his jaw hit the floor. The man who he'd seen die with his own eyes, watching the guy's head literally fucking explode, was standing five feet away from Colter. Head tilted to look at the floor, his odd looking armor's back flared to life with what looked to be wings of actual fucking flames? Then he spoke, and his voice was even worse not distorted by the intercom system he'd used before to briefly speak to the man, it made all the hair across his entire body stand on end. Primal animal instincts telling him to run, yet he ignored it again.

The stranger looked up as he spoke, an odd green glow emanating from underneath the sunglasses he'd yet to take off the entire time. "This little song and dance has been fun I must admit, I rarely get an opportunity such as this to cut back and let loose, so I thank you Colter, for providing a little fun for me, however brief it may have been, but now its my turn." He raised his arms, tesla coils so small Gage had almost not seen them violently sprang to life with arches of electricity not unlike Colter's own armor before he flared his hand's out in a dramatic fashion. As he did electricity arched from his fingertips striking out at Colter's armor, the sheer power surge now flowing into Colter's armor and thus into the Arena itself caused dozens of lights to flicker and dim, some of them shattering entirely.

And Colter, Colter Gage thought with some pity, the man's screams of pure agony as his Power Armor began fusing to his flesh, makeshift armored plates glowing red hot as metal began to drip, the smell of cooking meat sickening to him, he was a raider but he wasn't like the freaks in The Pack, he didn't eat his victims, just killed n robbed em. Then it was over, the light show stopped, the man strolling up to Colter's still screaming form, now stuck in place with the Power Armor's boots melted and slagged into the Arena floor.

The man reached out, ripping the helmet off Colter's armor without a second's hesitation, causing an even louder scream to ring from Colter's abused throat, as in doing so the guy had taken off almost the entirety of Colter's scalp, and about half the flesh on one side of his face in doing so. He threw it to the side, not bothering to look where it landed and almost tenderly reached up, holding the sides of Colter's head. "You are going to make such a fun new project!" His hands lit up again, but this time instead of electricity they froze everything they touched, Colter's skull instantly flash frozen mid scream, before his head and spinal cord was violently ripped out of his own body. The arms and legs of the suit were still twitching about, the last remnants of a body that hadn't known it was dead yet.

Gage watched in muted horror at the scene, as the corpse refused to fall since the Power Armor's frame had fused to the floor, and as Overboss Colter's head vanished into a blur of green energy. The crowd had gone silent, unsure of what to do or say, or even how to react. Then Lorenzo turned his gaze to the Audience who'd been watching the fight, and his grin widened from 'happy' to 'psychotic'

The Gang's who up until that point had been shocked into silence began slowly clapping and cheering, except the Operators who still gave a half-assed attempt at applause. Gage was about to sag with relief that the newcomer had won the fight, that they fucking finally would have a new Overboss who seemed to be able to get shit done, when the Lorenzo spoke, addressing the crowed. "Why are you all cheering? You're next after all, I've only just begun my fun!" Before anyone could react, the guy's hands began glowing again before large jagged spikes of ice suddenly formed inside the bleachers the Gang's had been sitting in, impaling dozens of raiders, the lucky ones died instantly. The unlucky one's had dozens of spikes jutting out of their writhing bodies unable to move due to the sheer overwhelming agony.

Gage had seen enough, and decided to finally heed his gut's warning to get the FUCK out of doge, only to find he couldn't as his legs had been frozen solid. He watched in a frantic panic as Lorenzo whistled a jolly tune casually walking up to the maglock door that separated him from the rest of the Arena. Gage pulled out his pistol and tried shooting at the ice, only for the rounds to bounce off one after another before the sound of a click rang out like a gong, a horrifying sound to hear. Then he was only able to watch in terror as the Maglocked door was blasted into molten slag, the thing pretending to be a man strolling through. The last thing he saw before everything went dark was the azure glow and a sudden shattering noise.

Author's Note

Heya all! Unlike what some of you seem to think I'm not dead, an don't you worry your lil heads about the story. It's gonna continue till I've damn well ensured it's done, an if I do actually kick the bucket prior to that, someone I've got a lotta trust in is gonna complete it, no pressure :P

But seriously no I'm not dead, some people asked if I was, if this was canceled, etc. cuz I took so long to get anythin out, but the truth of the matter is my writing is completely random, when it hits it hits, when it don't ya can't force it. Also didn't help I had my house broken into some months ago an most of my shit smashed apart (thankfully not my laptop, god have mercy on the poor moron who dare's to touch my most valuable item) so that also took up valuable writing time with cleaning up thousands worth of broken canned and dried goods, a wrecked fridge n freezer, a smashed bathroom sink, shattered windows, etc.

Good news is the prick who did it is now in jail, dumb ass didn't even realize I had cameras :D

This was meant to be much, much longer and include so much more than just these two segments, but I felt bad people kept askin what was goin on, an felt I outta post somethin soon, if not on Christmas day then at least right after it, so happy late Holidays folks

7,590 is the word count fim gives me, so not bad eh? As always let me know what ya think, it's nice to read comments :D