James zipped up a new brown leather jacket as he finished changing into the next day's clothes. It was a new day. The sun had barely risen and James was treated to a sunrise over the Charles with the Old North Church in the background. James munched on a leftover Mirelurk cake while he took in the sight for himself.
Marie murmured in her sleep and rolled over in her sleeping bag in the back of the pick-up that Arcade had gifted him a few days ago. A Brotherhood vertibird whizzed by overhead carrying a load of crates towards the Boston Airport. James chewed on his cake a few more times before fixing the creases in his jacket.
"Okay!" James shouted and slammed the side of the truck. "Time to get up!" James shouted, jerking Marie awake. James began holstering his weapons. He always had a pattern. First the knife inside the jacket. Then his father's M1911 into holster on his left leg. Amata's 10mm into his right. Then the carbine rifle onto his back. Lastly, James snatched a hunting rifle from the trunk bed then loaded a fresh magazine into it. "Ready?" James asked.
Marie sat up in the trunk bed and glared at James.
"What do you think?" she responded. James rolled his eyes and motioned for her to get out. He sighed and watched his breath wither away in the cold morning air. "It's cold." Marie shivered. James shrugged.
"Winter's coming, kid." James said casually. "It's about time to start getting ready for it."
"What are we doing up so early?" Marie asked, annoyed. "We have a car. There's no point in waking up early to get around anymore!" Marie climbed out of the truck after throwing on a sweater and saw what James was looking at.
"Now you get it, huh?" James asked, laughing at her before starting to walk.
"That's not funny James!" she cried as she stared at the wooden gate reinforced with steel girders at various points. "You know what that is right?"
"No, not really." James said said eyeing a wall riddled with graffiti. The piece that stood out to him was "Crime Alley". "Locals say this is the most dangerous place left in the Commonwealth. I want to check it out for myself."
"Is that why you loaded up on guns and knives?" Marie asked almost disgusted with how James slapped on pieces of armor haphazardly over his leather jacket and jeans. "You know that's not going to help you in Crime Alley right?" James smiled.
"So it is called Crime Alley!" James said, oblivious to Marie's obvious fears. He laughed. "What a dumb name!" He said as he passed a guard. The Minuteman tipped his hat towards James as James passed through the underpass. It was a dark wooden tunnel that only allowed one man through it at a time. James stopped suddenly as a thought entered his mind.
"You know how to use a gun right?" James asked quickly.
"What?" Marie asked, completely unprepared for James rushed thinking.
"A gun." James replied, holding up his 10mm pistol and shaking it the way he would a toy at a dog.
"I know what I gun is." marie replied, annoyed. "And yes, I'm actually a Sigma Academy qualified crackshot." She said matter-of-factly.
"Well, then maybe instead of expecting me to be impressed with your said 'skills' whenever you put the school name in front of it, and instead show me how it's done." James said confidently, handing her the pistol.
"You sure?" Marie asked, turning white as she grabbed hold of the cold metal. "Am I going to kill anyone?"
"Ha!" James laughed as he chambered a round into his hunting rifle. "I really hope so!"
James quickly passed exit of the tunnel and was met with endless barricades and wooden scaffoldings. Dead bodies littered the floor. Dried blood caked in the gutters. Flies whizzed around, clearly enjoying the atmosphere. James took a deep breath and continued walking.
"This place is so gross." Marie complained. James kept a watchful eye out. Crime Alley resembled a warzone with heads stuck on pikes and wooden signs that had spray painted words that indicated marks and pieces of territory. James walked straight through the entire carnage. Marie eyed the windows and saw people had their guns trained on James.
"James…" Marie whispered warily. "There's people with guns here."
"I know." James replied without looking back at Marie. "Isn't this exciting?"
"No, it is most definitely not exciting!" she hissed back at him. "This is not what responsible people do!"
"Who ever said I was responsible?" James asked, genuinely confused.
James and Marie walked for at least three blocks of more of the same and reached and intersection. The place was clearly an old theater. Some of the neon had been replaced marking in bold letters the name of the establishment to be: The Combat Zone.
"Who are you?" the bouncer asked gruffly. James looked up calmly at the man. James was tall, around 6 foot. But this bouncer stood a full head taller than him and ate enough to feed at least three men. James smirked at the man.
"I'm here to participate in the games." James replied calmly. The bouncer reered his head back and bellowed a large laugh that made Marie's ears hurt. The people on the scaffolding above laughed and pointed at James as well. Something that made Marie shrink in fear. But James didn't move.
The bouncer threw his head forward and slowly inched his face closer to James.
"What makes you think you can just ask for a thing like that?" the bouncer growled, eyeing James's weapons and paying especially close attention to James's jacket. The bouncer didn't stop until his forehead was pressed against James's forehead. James glared the man straight in the eye.
"What I think doesn't matter." James said softly. "But I'm not going to repeat myself after this. Let me in. Now." James's entire expression changed. The gang members on the scaffolding were now reaching for their weapons. Guns, clubs, knives, whatever they could get their hands on. James saw them and flipped a hidden knife from his right sleeve into his palm. The bouncer glared hard at James.
"Everyone stop!" a voice rang out from above. The bouncer froze and snapped back into attention. James visibly relaxed, as did the rest of the people on the scaffolding. "Let's see what this new blood can do." James raised his arm to block out the sun as he attempted to catch a glimpse of the saviour of the people he was ready to kill. "What's your name, lad?" it was now clear it was a woman's voice.
"James." James called out.
"Aw, Cait!" the bouncer moaned. "I just wanted to have a little fun with 'im!" Cait from on a balcony waved aside the bouncer.
"Ah piss off, Jerry!" Cait replied. "Let the man in and let's show him the proper welcome he deserves!"
The doors were pushed open for James as he waltzed into the building. Warriors, strapping on armor and other pieces of equipment James eyed them carefully but gave each one a polite nod. The warriors would spit at him, with one landing on his jacket. James froze and turned to see the perpetrator.
A skinny tanned man with a white skull painted on his face laughed at James's anger. James noted that the man had three earrings on his left ear and a blond mohawk while wearing a simple vault overalls that were decked out with pieces of scrap metal.
"Pussy" the man spat again. Marie gave him a face but otherwise made no move to indicate any sort of challenge. James and Marie were led into a large auditorium with a gargantuan metal cage in the center. Seats were filled with people of all kinds. Faction leaders, prominent gang members, everybody who know everybody was here.
"Ah, James!" a slavic voice called from the side of the room. James looked around, surprised to hear of someone who knew him. Vadim, the brute of a man rushed over and enveloped James a giant hug.
"Agh! Why is everyone obsessed with hugs now?!" James groaned as he attempted to breathe. Vadim backed away and scratched his nose.
"James! It is so good to so you are alive!" Vadim explained with a huge grin.
"Vadim, you're here, now." James said, slightly confused.
"Ah yes, you may be wondering why I am here, well, I have decided to open another bar!" Vadim roared and waved enthusiastically to his new bar. It was a wooden building constructed to appear similar to the Dugout Inn.
"Ah, great. Vadim!" James attempted to sound supportive, but it seemed as thought Vadim didn't care.
"I know! Exciting right?!" Vadim exclaimed and threw his burly arms into the air. "Imagine the caps that will be made now! We'll be rich, my friend! Rich!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on." James said, slowly down his excitable friend. "What do you mean, we?"
"Oh well, of course you remember the loan you gave me, right?" Vadim asked. "You know, all those years ago?"
James scoffed as he tried to recall. "Yeah, but that was to secure and buy the Beantown Brewery, Vadim, not this!" Vadim waved James's concerns aside as if there were a bloatfly hatchling.
"I did do that, James." Vadim said, finally serious. "I did everything you asked. To the letter! It's just that I had a little leftover after acquiring the brewery that I, well, I began a chain."
"You started a bar chain?!" James asked. "Where's my money, Vadim? How could you do that?!"
"Well, I thought you were dead, see?" he replied.
"That's not what you do when you think a friend is dead!"
"You don't understand, I opened chains all over the Commonwealth and also distribute free product to your soldiers. In fact, Sanctuary is my biggest hit yet. You wouldn't believe the kind of caps we make all over now!"
"Okay, so what are you doing here?" James asked.
"This is my latest franchise! I was checking up on the property, making sure my staff wasn't getting swindled by the lowlifes, you know?" Vadim said with a hand raised over his mouth as if to muffle his voice. James rolled his eyes.
"So where's my money then, Vadim?"
"That's the problem, you see because Bobrov brand is now so big, well, all of the money is already going back to the Enclave."
"Wait, that's it?" James asked, exasperated. "You mean, this whole time you could have just told me that I'm already paid back?! Why didn't you start with that?"
"Well, that is because I have proposition. Very lucrative, very good opportunity!"
"Mr. James, we're ready for you." the bouncer said while slamming his shoulder into James as he passed.
"I'm sorry, Vadim, let's put a pin on that." James said and turned away from his entrepreneureal friend. But he turned back. "But if it's really lucrative, consider me interested." he said before continuining.
"Here's the deal!" Cait shouted, silencing the room of fighters. Marie continued to stand by James, refusing to sit in the theater with Vadim and the others. James stood still but had his fingers wrapped around his knife in his sleeve.
"Despite what I said about the combat zone, we have a few rules to follow!" Cait shouted again. "No heavy armor! Leather's fine, everything else, out of the cage or out you go!"
"No guns! I don't want to see you tryin' to sneak away with a pistol. I'll cut your hand off meself before you could even hope to squeeze the trigger."
"As for weapons, knifes and clubs are acceptable! Whatever you need to smash a man's head in, but nothing outrageous, I'll be the judge o' that. Are we clear?" Cait finished and was answered with a roar of approval from the fighters. Marie looked up at James.
"James, leave you weapons with me." she said quickly. "I don't want any of those people getting their hands on them."
"Don't worry about them, kiddo. They wouldn't dare touch my stuff." James said reassuringly as he began to take off his weapons.
"Guess you set them all up for nothing, didn't you?" Marie said mockingly. James shrugged as he fiddled with his armor and ripped them off. The gangs would often stare at James, eyeing his high tech and high quality equipment. Marie would subsequently shoot a glare their way to stop them from glaring. No one likes a teen glaring at them. They don't know what to do when it happens.
"Maybe." James said, unconvinced as he laid his pistol down carefully. "Watch this one especially well, it's special."
"Why is it special?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Tell me!"
"I said don't worry about it!" James insisted before walking towards the arena.
James approached the cage door, stepping into the door marked three and stood before it. Lights flickered on and Cait was illuminated with a cool blue hue that made the stage very clear to see.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the event of the night!" Cait's voice roared from a microphone. A barbarous cheer roared from outside.
"Nice coat." a gang member said as he stroked James jacket. "Mind, If nick it after I kill you?"
James smiled at the man. "Not if you want to keep you hand."
"It's time for Murderbrawl!" Cait howled as the doors flew open. Most of the fighters charged into the brink. James stood still for a few seconds and watched as men and women entered the ring and immediately began carving into one another. James stepped out and began to whistle. He so wished he could play music, but he took off his Pip-boy during the prep to save some weight.
"C'mere, pretty boy!" a fighter growled as he charged James with a makeshift spear. James sidestepped and lunged forward with his knife in his right hand. The knife entered the man's neck and promptly lodged itself in his skull. James tugged, but the knife wouldn't move. James grunted and snapped the spear away from the now dead fighter.
A woman approached James with a fire axe and a shield. She banged the head of the axe against her shield and jumped around as if she were some kind of viking. James smiled and swung the spear upwards. The woman charged but James quickly swung the spear down onto the woman's helmeted head. The woman stumbled backwards as James grabbed her arm and threw her to the side. The woman rolled forward and recovered quickly.
"Hey!" James remarked. "You're pretty good!" James dodged a few axe axes before parrying one with his spear. He reached his leg forward and tripped the woman before pinning her to the floor by the stabbing the spear into her shoulder and the ground. The woman roared at James for sparing her.
"Tsk, tsk, so impatient." he said to himself. A man roared as he charged James's with a sword. James caught the man's sword arm, kneed him twice in the stomach before flipping the man over his shoulder. As the man flew into the air, James nicked the sword and threw the man to the ground. With one hand still grabbing onto the man's wrist, James twisted hard and heard the bones snap and crunch in his grip. The man screamed as the bones in his arm fragmented. Then James kicked the man in the groin before turning to face another threat. This man punched James's in the face causing James to stumble backwards. James recovered and the intercepted the man's next punch with the blade of his newly acquired sword.
The sword cut between the man's knuckles and lodged itself into his wrist. James twisted the sword and wrenched it away causing a spray of blood as he did so. The man screamed but James jumped into the air and stuck the man's throat with the sword. As the man fell to his knees dying. Yet another charged James. This man was clearly inexperienced as James noted while mentally marking all of the man's weak points. He backpedaled and cut an edge onto the spear and waited for the man to run again.
The man charged, just as James predicted. James waited for the man to strike and ducked at the last second, catching the man and using his momentum to slide the man over James's shoulders and onto the freshly cut spear edge. The man's weigth forced his impaled midsection to run down the spear and onto the women, which appeared to kill her. James wasn't sure.
James eyed remaining targets and flipped the sword in his hands before continuing the gruesome work. It didn't take more than five minutes before James stood alone and surrounded by red and a rather large pile of bodies.
Cait entered the ring, clearly impressed. James fought the urge to smile as he wiped his face. He was covered in blood.
"Thought you liked your jacket, love." Cait said, quickly. James looked at her curiously.
"I do love my jacket. Why would you say I don't?" he returned, Cait gestured at him and James realized that his beloved brown leather jacket had been carved up, with cuts and larges scraps missing. James sighed and threw off the jacket. He inspected it before tosing it alongside the bodies.
"I guess, not anymore then?" Cait asked.
"I guess not." James sighed.
"You might want to replace your shirt, next round starts in a minute." James saw what she meant, the shirt was also cut. The thick jacket had helped to prevent most of the damage. James was rather unharmed, only a few scratches really, but his grey t-shirt was also ruined.
"Not enough time." James replied as the buzzer rang and the blue switched hues to red. James threw off the shirt. The crowd apparently seemed to approve with the ceaseless applause and the cries for more.
"Wow." Cait remarked. "Quite the brazen one, aren't we?" James shrugged and spun the sword in his grip.
"I thought this was a classy place."
"And what gave you that idea?"
"Obviously the screams for more. What percantage of your viewers are female?"
"Small, but the staff here. Almost 90%"
"Then you do have quite the place then." James said with a smile. Cait laughed before eyeing James hungrily. Though he wasn't Grognak the Barbarian, he was lean and toned. Enough for bigger Silver Shroud? He thought to himself as the door flung open. A new competitor, though it was only one. Cait has disappeared. The man was alone. He was a ghoul.
"This man claims to be an old Chinese officer!" Cait shouted to the crowd. The ghoul spun his sword around flashily showing off his skills with the blade. James observed carefully with approval. He'd seen it before. He had to fight off General Jingwei, using the same moves. James hid a smile and entered the starting stance of the Chinese form he had learned from recovered lobotomites at the Big Mt.
The ghoul shook in horror as he recognized James's stance. He said something in the language James recognized to be Chinese. He couldn't understand it but he made out "taijijian!" James readied himself, while the ghoul did the same. However, the ghoul's confidence seemed to be shaken as he was no longer as flashy as before.
"Ready!" Cait roared. The Chinese Officer curled up into his form, while James retained his composure. "Fight!"
"Well, I have to say, I've never seen anyone with moves like those!" Cait remarked as James wiped his arms with a dirty rag. He grimaced at the thought of the diseases that could be infecting his body at that moment. The chinese officer was dragged out of the arena, unconsciouis and his sword, broken off its hilt.
"What are you going to do with him?" James asked, still watching as two giant men dragged the ghoul out of sight.
"What? Him? The loser?" Cait asked before laughing obnoxiously. "He get's tossed out. We won't kill him. But we won't protect him from people who had their bets on him either."
James grumbled before walking out. Cait reached for James in an attempt to get him to stay, but James persisted. He walked back out through the theater, still shirtless and now apparently trailing along a group of fans.
"Hey!" James shouted at the mob of people surrounding the defenseless but definitely conscious Chinese Officer.
"Get out o' here, Champion. This is a personal matter!" A man in blue suit shouted at James while aiming his revolver at the ghoul's head. The ghoul croaked some more chinese but James couldn't understand him. James raised his own pistol and fired. A red flare shot into the air and exploded with a puff. Laughter echoed around him.
"You think that's supposed to scare us?! Who do you think you're kidding?" A man in a black leather jacket shouted from below. The man approached James and drew a switchblade. "Now get back in there, and keep making me money. And don't you worry your pretty little head about what happens out here, ok?"
"Sure." James replied as a red dot materialized on the man's hand.
"What the?" The man asked before a blue laser round tore a hole through it. The man barely had time to gasp before another round exited his throat. The mob dispersed, cowering away in fear. A vertibird flew over Crime Alley as the alley erupted into a mass panic.
"Who is this guy?!" the blue suited cried out. A line of rope shot down with an Enclave Officer landing next to James. Two Troopers hammered down from above and clanked to attention, weapons raised at the mob.
"I believe you sent a call for support, Supreme Commander." The Officer said.
"Whoa, I'm Supreme Commander now?" James asked. The Officer gave James a curious look.
"Why, yes sir." The Officer replied. "The Leadership voted to promote you for better organizational purposes regarding the leadership model."
"Huh, cool." James replied.
"What are you orders, sir?" the officer asked once more.
"Keep this man safe. Find the holotapes that flash-teaches people Chinese and make sure he treated well." James said as he pointed at the ghoul surrendering below the troopers and cowering in fear.
"Of course, sir." The Officer said before snapping his fingers at the troopers. One bent down and offered a hand while the officer looked back at James. "Any other details to note, sir?"
"Yeah, make sure Boone, Danse and Arcade are notified of the situation. If possible get them to pick up the language or at least find a translator. Lastly, I want an undercover patrol safehouse set up here as soon as possible."
"Of course, sir." The officer replied before continuing to direct the ghoul to safety. James returned up the path to the theater, past his new entourage of fans and returned to the ring.
"Any requests for the big man in the cage?" Cait asked.
"I'll fight ten this time." James said quickly.
"What?" Cait asked softly, the crowd had died down as well.
"Ten fighters!" James yelled out and was answered with a roar of approval.
"Huh, you're crazy!" Cait laughed as the cage doors opened and ten fighters entered the ring.
James grinned and entered the fray. He turned to find a fighter poised to stab him. James redirected the blade to enter the man's collarbone. James put a leg behind the man's right leg and gave him a slight shove, flipping him over. Then James quickly ducked under a spear and dove between the legs of the woman wielding it before swiping his legs sideways to trip her. The woman fell as James got to his feet and caught the spear as it fell.
James entered a defensive position as the remaining 9 fighters attempted to surround him. James circled and eyed his targets carefully.
"For those of whoever who are unfamiliar with Murderbrawl, the Contester always challenges up the ranks until he fights the Grand Champion! By taking on ten at once, the only fighter left after this battle is the Grand Champion himself!"
James ducked under a spear thrust and spun his upper body around the weapons, swinging his spear wildly as he did. The looks on the fighters' faces were priceless as they were contorted with surprise and utter horror as he whipped around the last sword and shot his spearhead through a man's throat and clipping another's nose. James dropped to his knees and shot the spear through a woman's knees.
Though brutal, his methods were effective and now extinct in the modern age of combat. James somersaulted through a maze of stabs and slashes and rolled to a stop, donning a quality sword and rudimentary shield in the process. James thought back to the training he received from Charon about hand-to-hand combat. The ghoul was ruthless in his training and held back no bunches. But Charon had trained him well, James's natural advanced agility once expedited the speed granted to him by Charon's training. Then the additional combat training he receieved from other Great War veterans, mostly from the rehabilitated in Big MT also helped. But his experience in street fighting can only be credited to his time in the Pitt. The countless hours James spent in the streets busting skulls was the only thing that granted him every advantage in the arena.
James shot past another fighter's defense and stabbed his sword through his chest before whipping around to smash his shield on the last woman standing. The shield broke on impact and also appeared to shatter the woman's neck as she rolled backwards into a messy pile. James dropped the sword and panted as he glanced at the bodies. 10 more fighters dead. He raised his arms challengingly.
"Who's next?!" He roared, and answered with approval. Cait clapped and motioned for her crew to begin cleaning the arena.
"Now where did you learn to fight like that?" Cait inquired.
"I get around." James replied as he caught a bottle of purified water that Marie tossed to him.
"Holy crap, you're massacring them." Marie said, grimacing at the pools of blood. "And are all these scars real?" she asked as she began poking at the numerous scars on James's injured and sore body.
"Ow! ow! " James winced as Marie poked and poked. "Stop that!" he grabbed her hands.
"Well, I can't you're exactly helping business, but you sure made me a lot o' caps today. You still think you can take on the big guy?" Cait asked. She eyed James up and down like a piece of candy but in her eyes, James could tell she was genuinely worried.
"I need to finish this today, so yeah." James replied as he rubbed his sore arm. Marie continued poking his back while he talked, irritating him more.
"Okay, but you asked for it." Cait shrugged before walking off the stage. She locked eyes with James once more before locking the gate.
"What was that about?" Marie asked, looking up at James. James laughed but also shrugged. Marie walked off as the arena began to shake.
"Now, here's a treat, ladies and gentlemen!" Cait shouted. "We haven't seen the Grand Champion himself in two years, because no one's had the balls to face him, but now, it's time to welcome-" James stared into the pit and stared into the glowing yellow eyes glaring back at him.
"It's time to welcome, Sergeant Schultz!" Cait roared. The Deathclaw was lifted into the spotlight in chains. Scars littered its hide and a muzzle served onto to piss it off.
"Oh shit." James muttered as the Deathclaw easily broke the chains and tore off its muzzle. The bits of metal flew everywhere, pelting James's exposed torso. "Ow! Hey!"
The Deathclaw drew its claws and then grabbed James. James lifted his legs up and managed to kick out one of the claws, loosening the Deathclaw's grip enough for James to wiggle out and fall to the ground. James grabbed a length of chain and swung it at the Deathclaw, distracting it. The nit roared and swung its tail at him, the impact catching him in his torso and flinging him is a huge 360 circle before throwing him against the side of the cage.
"James!" Marie shouted from the audience. James tried to crawl to his feet. The deathclaw approached and drew its claws. It kneeled and rubbed a horn against James and roared. James braced himself for the killing stroke but had to wait. He froze and slowly opened his eyes to find that the deathclaw's yellow, rage-filled eyes had cooled. Now it was docile.
"Oh shit, the psycho's run out!" Cait shouted. James stared closely at the deathclaw and noticed a small collar that ended fitting like a bracelet on the Deathclaw's wrist. James looked closely and found that it was a collar and was imprinted with the name: Spot. James looked up and studied the animal's hide and found a familiar brown pattern.
"Spot?" James asked softly and the deathclaw fell to its hands and shifted its head close to James, almost like a wolf bowing to a human. The deathclaw made a guttural sound that James recognized whenever Katherine talked to her pet deathclaw. "It's you. You've been here?"
The deathclaw moaned a reply not unlike Dogmeat's whines. James rubbed the deathclaw's horns. One was significantly shorter than the other, indicating that a horn had been broken off at some point. Also, spot's hide was littered with cuts and bullet scars.
"This isn't right." James muttered, rubbing Spot's snout. The cage door opened and three cage fighters entered the arena with stun batons.
"Wait!" Cait shouted after. "Carl, you don't want to do that."
"It's a deathclaw, Cait. A deathclaw that forfeited the fight. I lost me 1000 caps on the so-called 'Grand Champion'. Now, it's time to get my pound of flesh!" Carl rushed forward, activating the stun baton. The electricity apparently frightened Spot, as the deathclaw shrunk away from the sight.
"No!" James jumped in front of the attack and took the baton to head, electricity and all. All James could feel was pain jolting through his body, then he fell backwards and then darkness.