The Raiders on the catwalk above the entrance to the Combat Zone smirked evilly at her, both pointing their pipe pistols down and at Stone's spike armor. She could feel the bufftats starting to seep throughout her body, her muscles becoming tense and her stance now terse.
"Looksee here," the dark skinned Raider chimed, her voice laced with early victory over the outsider.
Her friend looked down at her in an examining fashion, and his grimy face contorted into a sneer, "You? You don't look like any member of the Combat Zone I've ever seen,"
Stone took quick glances around the disheveled and skeletal buildings, and noticed a large building behind the entrance.
"I'm a new member," she snapped back, "What? No one told you?"
The two glanced at each other before bursting out in laughter; they saw right through her façade. Though they were laughing and it stung her pride, Stone took the chance and drew her assault rifle.
She dispatched the women who was keeled over in peals of laughter, bits and matter of her brain spraying the building behind her. Some blood landed on her friend's face and he flinched. As the gunshot rung out and echoed through the city, her friend stared wide-eyed at the events that so quickly had unfurled, his body frozen to its post and his face dappled in blood.
Stone was grinning madly, her body a cesspool of chems and her mind working in a deranged, yet logical, means of advancement.
She steadied the rifle on the terrified Raider, "Come on then, hands up," she barked out, and watched him slowly comply as he was jarred from his freeze. "Now, I told you I was a new member," she said sweetly, though her eyes were still twinkling with malice.
"There's no weapons allowed in the Combat Zone!" he choked out, visibly shaking.
"Oh," Stone faked a look of remorse, "Then you'll have to forgive me for this," another bullet sprung forth, piercing the Raider's head and he tumbled backwards and off of the catwalk.
She looted the bodies, happily finding ammunition and enough caps to situate her for a while.
Slipping into hiding again, she took out a modified combat knife from her duffle bag and a syringe of psychojet, putting it next to the other battle-use chem. She grabbed a canister of jet, loaded her assault rifle, and placed her 10mm on her hip next to the knife. She tucked her bag into a secure spot, and with everything in tow, she walked confidently up to the double doors of the Combat Zone.
-
The former Orpheum Theatre brought a bizarre whirlwind of memories to Stone; she and Nate had visited the theatre to see concerts and extravagant operas pre-war. She realized the heady feeling was in part from the chem cocktail, but the memories hung around her like ghosts. She shook her head violently as she peered into the theatre from the foyer. There were two Raiders in cages behind the cashier's counter with RULE BREAKERS scrawled above them.
On one side of the grand double doors stood the signs that listed the rules of the fight club:
Tommy's Rule #1
No fighting outside of the cage
Tommy's Rule #2
No caps? No entry!
Tommy's Rule #3
No begging! No loitering!
In the center of the building was a huge cage, one woman swinging viciously at a Raider.
Stone ignored the captured Raiders, who only sneered at her from behind the bars, and tried to listen to the PA system instead. The chaos inside of the building was too raucous; shrieks and bellows and stomping accompanied the sound of bare-knuckled punches being thrown by the lithe woman.
She must've been their prize fighter.
Looking around the Combat Zone, Stone spotted the Raiders perched about the cage. Some were above her, and she decided to pick them off with the pistol. The lower level Raiders could be attacked with stealth. Altogether there were ten of them, equally split on the lower level and on the upper level.
Taking a hit of jet, she took the opportunity of them being enthralled to move in like a liquid shadow, slicing the throats of some. She kept them from squealing out in surprise by covering their mouths and ignoring their feeble bites at her hand and the way they tried to claw at her.
She had taken out four of them when she heard her presence being announced over the intercom, and all remaining eyes were on her. She took cover quickly, administering the psychojet hastily and sloppily, puncturing her vein in the process.
She had to ignore the aching pain for now, and she looked over the countertop in a small, shambled-together shack at the advancing people. Everything moved sluggishly and her vision became tinted crimson.
The five Raiders that were rushing down the ramps in slow motion wasted five bullets, and the last Raider standing was running out of the cage from the woman. She was already beaten down, and Stone almost felt it merciful to shoot her.
The only two remaining people were in the cage, the woman panting from her fight and the announcer looking on at the carnage desperately as Stone approached them slowly. The chems were wearing off and she could feel the building bruise in the bend of her elbow.
The ghoul announcer looked around, "Is it over?" he looked about, "Well, that could've gone worse."
The woman laughed, "I dunno Tommy, seemed like quite the performance from where I was standin'," her voice was laced with an Irish drawl, and Stone took an immediate liking to her.
"Are you fucking high or something?" he growled at her, "Why am I asking? Of course you are."
She bristled at him, "Still won the fights, didn't I?"
"You're strung out and getting sloppy is what you are," he pointed out with contempt, "But I suppose you ain't got to worry about that now." The ghoul looked around at all the dead Raiders and eyed a fatigued Stone. "This one just put us out of business. I'm not sure if I should kiss you or have my Little Bird here feed you your own entrails."
"I told you to quit calling me that!"
Stone cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, I just figured you guys might be in trouble."
"Trouble? Nah, but keeping those idiots entertained was what kept the lights on, not exactly sure what we're gonna do now."
"To hell with 'em! More will come. Just need a quick breather and I'll be ready to go," the 'Little Bird' snapped at Tommy who glared at her.
"A breather?" he asked in disbelief, "You mean so you can slam more of that junk in your arm?" He shook his head, "No no no, I think this was a blessing in disguise," Tommy turned to Stone, "You caught the end of that bout, what did ya think of Cait's work?"
Stone narrowed her eyes, "Why do you ask?"
"Consider it… professional curiosity. Now, what did you think of the fight?"
"She's talented," she confessed, eyeing the girl.
"Good, you might be able to do me a favor. Here's my predicament: I suddenly got no audience. No audience means I've got no caps comin' in," he turned to Cait, "and if you ain't bringing in caps Little Bird, you ain't an assist. You're a liability; to me and to yourself."
"So, here's what I'm thinking. Let's say I let you take over her contract, she goes with you and watches your back."
Stone crooked an eyebrow at him as he continued, "Look, you'd be doing me a favor while I try to get the place back in order. What do you say?"
"Me? And her? Don't I get a say in all this?"
"That ain't how a contract works. Besides, you really want to stay here? No caps, no audience, no one to talk to but yours truly."
"Jesus, point taken."
"That a girl. So, she's on board. Now what about you?"
"Sure, I could use someone watching my back," Cait stared at Stone in disbelief, and Stone turned her arm ever so slightly so she could see the punctured vein. A whisper of a smile crept on her face as Tommy tossed Stone 106 caps, 'the exterminator's fee.'
The two exchanged more words as Stone pocketed the caps.
"No go, you ain't welcome here Little Bird."
"You're a real sonofabitch Tommy."
"You don't have to tell me."
Cait looked at Stone with a face mixed in wistfulness and anger, "Well, c'mon then. I'm gettin' pretty tired of this shite hole."
The two left the stadium together, Stone staying quiet as they reached her hidden duffle bag. She was unsure of what to say to the Irish girl, but she knew enough to on how to break the ice.
"Well, I've been bumming around the Commonwealth," Cait simply stared at her impatiently, and Stone returned to rummaging around her duffle bag, "It can get pretty damn boring."
"You don't have to tell me, I'm not daft."
Stone found some jet and held it out behind her, shaking the little canister, "So we might as well liven it up." She felt Cait snatch it from her and heard the canister empty, and she turned to see the girl smirking.
"Maybe this won't be so bad then," she tossed the empty canister as Stone threw the duffle bag over her shoulder, marking the Pickman Gallery on her map.
Stone jutted her hand out and Cait looked at her, wrinkling her nose in confusion, "Name's Stone, and you can bet your ass it'll be far from bad." Laughing, Stone started walking to the elusive Gallery.