Chapter 47: Blackout

Lars strolled out from the Silver Rush. Turning back to look up at the laughter coming from the top story, he sighed as he turned to head home. Thirty-something Lars would have looked upon the sight of six grandkids yelling and screaming and shoving things up their nostrils and saw something horrific and to be avoided at all costs. Fifty-something Lars saw something that could give the old bastard Gavino warmth and purpose in his old age. And what did Lars have?

An empty tower and a lifetime of booze and sex, which gave him a daughter whose condition he hadn't been updated on for days. A daughter he had no idea how to raise, who he only narrowly prevented from being terminated when her mother accepted his bribe money in exchange for raising her after she gave birth. A daughter who, aware that parenting was a team effort, had inspired him to find women who he could see waking up next to for the next eighteen or so years. After many attempts, he had all but given up, particularly after seeing how Arcade and Ulysses and Gavino and the Boones and even IA had taken to raising her in his frequent absences.

Things went well until she became a teenager. Lars wasn't surprised in the slightest, he knew how awful he was as one, but he didn't consider that she didn't grow up as he did, in a close-knit tribe somewhere in the deadwoods of Oregon. Instead, she grew up in a city of vice, where the warmth of neon hid the cold realities underneath, realities that even in his time as Governor he could not defeat. So he said nothing when she started hanging out with an older rascal who broke her heart so many times. So he did nothing when her arguments in Freeside would later escalate into fistfights in Westside. He would post bail when she woke up in a holding cell but never expected her to say anything about it to him when she came home and locked herself in her room.

Did he end up spoiling Rosa? Maybe a little, spared rods and all that, but it went deeper than that. Rosa didn't surprise Lars in any capacity. He knew what would go through her mind before she even thought it. He understood his daughter, and so rather than take the time to educate her, he figured all he would have to do was wait and be patient and she would come around to his way of perspective before too long. In hindsight, perhaps he had waited too long. Now here he was with twenty years of time he couldn't get back.

Jake watched as the Governor sauntered his way past the gates of the Strip. As the gates closed behind him and the securitrons continued their vigil, Jake looked up and down the street. Most people had gone to the fight, just as they predicted. Now was it. They had a twenty-minute window, any screwup here would jeopardize everything. Jake found himself putting faith in unseen gears and untold plans. This payout had better be worth it. Checking his watch for the final time, he jogged after the Governor, flashing his Strip pass as the gates opened upon their uncrowned soon-to-be king…

The knee collided with the skull. The fighter folded onto the ground as the crowd let out cheers and jeers. Andrea let out a holler as the victor danced around the ring, soaking in the adulation. Ziyi sipped on her drink as she kept staring at her companion. The luxury box had been installed to give VIPs and other dignitaries a little extra something to charge for, but some people wanted privacy to chat while the rabble below enjoyed the circus. Speaking of, Boone and Ulysses sat in the cheap seats near the aisle, both with their own buckets of pinyon nuts. The wait to get them had taken the better part of an hour, as the Thorn was now packed to capacity.

Danny Blanco strolled out to the center stage as the defeated was stretchered out. "…Ladies and gentlemen," Blanco began, soaking up the anticipation of the crowd. As stupid as this fight was, the box office had taken his doubts behind the shed. He was on the cusp of becoming the richest fight promoter in the last hundred years. Next thing he knew he would be looking up real estate in Shi-Frisco or New Reno for a new media empire. And it was all going to begin here.

"Tonight… your main event!" he called out, much to the cheers of the assembled. Boone and Ulysses both continued to watch impassively, arms folded. Andrea continued to scream as loud as she could. Ziyi snuck a peek down Andrea's open shirt, her interest completely detached from the event before her.

"First, presenting the champion of humanity! Weighing in at two-hundred and forty-five pounds, he is the reigning and undisputed greatest wasteland warrior, please put your hands up for… LIONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL JOOOOOOOOOOHNSTOOOOOOOON!"

The musclebound fighter stormed into the ring, screaming insults and taunts at no one. He moved to the center of the ring, posing and flexing as Blanco laughed and imagined the beachside property he was going to buy at the end of the month. Continuing to psyche himself up, Johnston charged the fence, grabbing it and screaming as the crowd felt electrified, almost as much as Johnston himself literally felt.

"What a fucking idiot," Andrea laughed as the crowd chanted for Johnston. Ziyi had sent her bodyguards to wait either outside the arena or were stationed back at the hotel. As time had gone on and her stay in Vegas had extended for weeks, she found herself sending quite a few of them home. Nothing they did wrong, but the expenses were starting to add up day-by-day, and the Strip was said to be the safest place in all of Nevada between the securitrons within and the Judicial Marshals without. In the cheap seats, Boone and Ulysses both had their eyes trained on the staff armed with prods as they readied opposite door while Blanco continued his spiel.

"And… his opponent…" he ominously muttered. "An abomination from an era of science and madness, a relic of mankind's doom. An apex predator, the likes of which stalks our nights and haunts our dreams. This creature is said to weigh in at approximately one thousand and five hundred pounds. Of course, none have lived long enough to find out…"

Johnston was punching his jaw in anticipation while the arena staff readied the gate, waiting for Blanco's go ahead. "…Introducing… the Arizona Killer… the Sonoran Beast of Madness… the Eater of Man and Monster… THE DEADLIEST PREDATOR HUMANITY HAS EVER SEEN… THE! CLAWS! OF! DEATH!"

And with that, Blanco immediately retreated out of the ring, exiting through a doorway right as the gates began to open. The darkness inside lulled even the most excitable members of the audience into a near reverent silence. They could do nothing but watch and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. Finally, Blanco had enough and spoke into a walkie-talkie, and before too long a few sparks shot out from the darkness.

A one-horned deathclaw unceremoniously trudged out of the darkness. Immediately, the audience could see that the lizard had been graffitied upon, covered in something that could almost resemble warpaint. Staring ahead, the lizard brought its tail into the arena just as the gates snapped shut behind it.

The crowd let out a cheer as the lizard surveyed around it. Never before had he been so close to so many humans. It imagined leaping into and rending them all to shreds. Of course, as it imagined all this, the tip of its tail had contacted the fence, the sparks snapping the lizard back to reality as the bell began to ring.

As Ziyi looked at the sight before her, her mind was flung back to her lowest points. Shivering in the wasteland nights. Starving during the day. Debasing herself by stealing from doctors to stop the pain across her back. The cold iron giving her some measure of peace when tucked under her chin. The cellar in Fort Tandi…

Ziyi took the biggest swig of the evening with her whiskey. Seeing him here, once again in the scales, brought all those memories back. If it hadn't been for him, if it hadn't been for those two… She wasn't sure she wanted to see what happened to him but still agreed to come when Andrea asked her to, no doubt to ask later to join her when they went to the Lucky 38 to meet with Lars next morning. Still, the radiant little starlet was much more pleasant to focus on…

Johnston had spent the last few weeks strategizing the fight. He had drawn up diagrams and charts, using the best crayons he had available. He was going to time this perfectly. That lizard had a reach advantage on him, no doubt. But, in extending its reach, there was an opening he could exploit before it could swipe at him again. So, he was going to wait until it attacked, duck the blow, charge in, and land one right under the jaw. Countering. Fight 101.

"KILL HIM!" Andrea screamed. "TEAR HIS GUTS OUT AND EAT THEM!"

"You really think Johnston can do that?" Ziyi asked as she inched closer to Andrea.

"…Wasn't talking to Johnston," Andrea admitted. "I'm rooting for the lizard."

"…How about we make a bet?" Ziyi smiled. "If the lizard wins, I pay your family's rent for a year. If Johnston wins, we go back to my room and make a movie," she purred.

Ziyi had been drinking ever since she entered the box. She had polished off three whiskeys and was working on a fourth. Andrea knew about Ziyi's inclinations, but the Senator had always made sure to keep things respectful, so she didn't take the offer seriously. "Right, sure," Andrea laughed as Ziyi continued to drink.

"That lizard does not want to be here," Boone said aloud.

"Wild animals don't handle confinement well," Ulysses agreed. "Blanco is too blinded by greed to realize that. This might be a lousy fight."

"Least the nuts are good," Boone said as he popped in another mouthful.

Johnston took up his stance, bouncing up and down as he waited for the lizard to strike. He was patient, not looking to force anything, seeing as the lizard had its nose in the air and was currently sniffing to get his bearings. So, Lionel decided to wait a few minutes until the beast acclimated to its new surroundings. He figured maybe the noise was throwing it off and considered asking Blanco for the microphone to ask the audience to calm down and stop distracting it.

The lizard caught a scent. Glancing to the box seat, he saw her. The other female seemed to recoil in horror as that little vermin continued to ignore him. Well, perhaps he could send her a message?

The crowd watched in disgust as the lizard lifted its tail and took a dump on the metal floor as it continued to stare at the luxury box. Blanco screamed in outrage while Lionel laughed, Andrea covered her mouth, and Boone and Ulysses shared a look with one another. Ziyi wasn't even going to pretend to be surprised.

"…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Blanco screamed at Lionel. "GET IN THERE AND MAKE ME SOME MONEY!" he ordered at the crowd began to laugh and jeer.

The lizard continued not to move as the human drew closer, tepidly at first and with more confidence later. Lionel finally decided to stop waiting for his opportunity and take it. He rushed forward, preparing to land a full body uppercut against the lizard's ribs. Charging forward, he dug his feet in as he prepared to land the punch… only for the beast to lean back just slightly enough for him to miss. Johnston could only watch in awe as the lizard drew itself up to its full height, hunching its body as the audience settled in anticipation. Blanco was chewing his fingernails down to the nubs. Andrea was leaning into the window, with the Senator checking out her ass. Boone and Ulysses both unconsciously reached for their sidearms.

The lizard then turned and walked away from Lionel.

Lionel and the audience both balked at the sight. The lizard himself paced along the fence, ignoring Lionel as it looked for something to take its attention. The crowd was silent at first. Then came the snickering. Followed by the boos. Then the taunts and, worst of all, chants for refunds. Blanco was looking at the biggest flop of his career, and his future was tied to a pacifist deathclaw and the world's most marketable idiot. He screamed at the attendants. "GET THAT THING MOTIVATED, NOW!"

"Heya, boss!" Yes-man chirped as Lars entered the Lucky 38. The Governor nodded to his robotic flunky as he strolled to the elevator. "What's the plan for tonight?" Yes-man asked.

"…Bed, probably," Lars admitted.

"…Same old, same old?" Yes-man added.

"…Have you gotten any word about Rosa?" Lars asked.

"I'm afraid not. I did, however, get a word from the NCR about a particular individual in Arizona who could be of interest to you regarding his history and-"

"I don't want to hear it," Lars waved him off. "If it's not directly about her, save it."

"Okey-dokey," Yes-man continued to smile vapidly.

"Thank you," Lars replied. "…you're my best friend, Yes-man. Have I ever told you that?"

"Yes, you have!" Yes-man cheered.

"I did?" Lars said, surprised.

"Yeah-huh! And usually, you follow up with how sad that is! Don't worry, I don't take it personally at all!"

"…Ah, now I remember," Lars nodded. "Thanks for reminding me."

"Anytime, boss!" Yes-man waved as Lars entered the elevator. "Have a good night!"

"See you in Hell," Lars waved back as the doors shut.

Yes-man took up his position standing guard over the elevator. For five minutes, he stood in silence as the seconds on the nearby clock ticked away. Then, the doors opened and a handful of unauthorized figures entered the base of the tower. Without skipping a beat, Yes-man had all his armament brought to bear against the intruders.

"Woah-woah-woah-woah," the stranger up front put out his hands. "We're guests here!"

"I strongly doubt that!" Yes-man cheered. "On whose authority do you have to be here?"

"Mine," the lead figure stated, acting as if nothing could be more obvious. Two other figures began to flank him as the others began taking up positions around the ground floor.

"I'm afraid the rest of the intruders need to leave," Yes-man replied. "I'll be forced to use lethal measures if they continue without proper authorization."

"They have proper authorization," the figure announced.

"From who?" Yes-man asked again.

"From me," the figure repeated, annoyed.

"And on whose authority does your authority come from?" Yes-man asked once more.

"Scan me and find out, machine," the figure outstretched his arms.

Yes-man decided to be thorough and committed the figure to a deep-tissue scan. It would scan his blood, down to the near atomic level. As a machine, Yes-man couldn't permit mistakes. And so when the results came back, Yes-man immediately corrected the error.

"Heya, boss!" Yes-man chirped as Jake let out a grin.

"Machine, please roll your worthless chassis out of the way so I can introduce some of my associates to their new quarters."

"Understood, boss. I'll use the time to check some of my logical parameters, I could have sworn I saw you earlier!" Yes-man chirped as his computer brain screamed at the paradox it was confronted with.

"Please do," Jake said as he and his two associates got into the elevator. The DNA cloak had worked. It would not last forever, but in the time they had left, it would be more than enough. As the elevator doors closed once more, Emma watched as one of the mercenaries primed a pulse grenade, just in case the machine happened to get any funny ideas.

A beer bottle smashed itself against Johnny's horn. The crowd was now fully jeering that he didn't want to amuse them. The human, Lionel he believed he was called, was following him around, screaming taunts to try and goad him into action as he tried to avoid all the food and garbage being thrown inside the ring.

Blanco was on the microphone trying to explain the "no-refund" policy to an already agitated crowd, the sight of which caused even the typically stoic Boone and Ulysses to both crack up in amusement. Andrea was currently jeering at Lionel, flipping both birds at the hapless fighter as she returned to her seat. "Well, I guess I'm going to end up winning the bet after all, huh?" Andrea gloated as the audience continued to cheer.

"…Take your clothes off," Ziyi whispered in her ear, causing Andrea to jump at being startled.

"Ugh! Warn a girl next time!" Andrea rubbed her ear as she turned to look at the Senator. Ziyi's eyes were glassed over. She had discarded the rest of her drink and had now finally turned her attention to Andrea, fully. "…I want you, Andrea. Now," she deadpanned as she slipped her coat off.

Andrea laughed nervously. "I… ha-ha… I think you've had enough," she replied as she tried to take Ziyi and sit her back on her chair. Ziyi responded by grabbing Andrea and forcefully kissed her neck. As Andrea fell back in shock, Ziyi all but forced herself on the other woman.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Andrea screamed though it was drowned out by the cacophony of the audience. Ziyi wanted a few things. To be loved, warm, safe, and free to live as she saw fit. Being a senator allowed her to live out most of these publicly. In private, however, was when she remembered. Remembered what it liked to be alone. Weak. Helpless. Feelings she had learned to repress for years had now suddenly started to come bubbling up back into her mind. So she needed to correct it, by force if she had to. Johnny had a way of somehow bringing out the "best" in everyone.

"GIVE ME THAT THING!" Blanco screamed as he grabbed a cattle prod from a hesitant attendant. The lizard was about to pass right by him. Angling the stick, Blanco drove the device right into its ribs. The resulting stab of pain finally elicited something that resembled a reaction in the beast.

Johnny had had enough. He smashed his body into the electrified fence, bellowing in pain as the charge surged over his body. He felt something smack into the side of his leg, and turning down he could see the man had kicked him hard enough to register. That was when Johnny had gotten an idea.

He turned and reared his head towards Lionel. Barely containing his joy, Lionel backed up and prepared to brace himself against the beast. Johnny charged him, horn down as he made to gore the fighter. Lionel was ready for it, prepared to roll out of the way at the last possible moment, leaving the beast exposed long enough for him to really lay the shots into his ribs. What he was not ready for was for the lizard to switch things up mid-charge, opting instead to scoop Lionel up in its claws and slam him against the electrified fence. The arena watched in horror as Lionel screamed in agony while the lizard kept pressing him against it, ignoring the pain he himself felt.

"STOP IT!" Andrea cried as Ziyi tried to force her tongue in her ear. Sadly, this was not something she was unfamiliar with, as she had dealt with her fair share of overly handsy producers and agents. She knew Ziyi had something of a reputation and weakness for women, and she had very opaque intentions for where she hoped her relationship with her would end up. But she never thought she would go this far, never thought SHE of all people would stoop to something like this.

She shoved her off. For a smaller woman, Ziyi was surprisingly resilient and persistent. So as she moved to resume her attack, Andrea struck her across the cheek.

In that moment, Ziyi found herself back somewhere she never, ever wanted to go back to. She was back in that cold, dark basement, pleading for everything to end. Her violator, beating and taunting her, had prepared the chain as the hook sank into her back. As her feet left the ground, she had gotten one last look at his face as he put the sack over her head, stopping for a moment to kiss her goodnight.

She had become Titus.

The glassy film had left her eyes, and the tears began to replace them. Horrified and sickened, she crawled as far away from Andrea as she could. She felt like she was going to puke, and not long afterward, she did. A part of her hoped that something important had come up with her sick, so she wouldn't have to live with the notion of what she had just attempted to do. "…I'm sorry…" Ziyi mumbled, pitifully. "I'm so sorry…"

A bullet struck the side of Johnny's skull. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the attendants had drawn a small pistol on him. These humans hated fair the moment it didn't benefit them, Johnny thought to himself as he dropped away the fighter. A small door had been cracked open by some attendants who pleaded with the barely conscious Lionel to crawl towards it and escape. Lionel, once the bloatflies in his head quit swarming, perked his head up to look at the small opening. Shaking his head clear, he stumbled back to his feet, ignoring Blanco screaming at him to end the fight.

"…Hey, stupid!" The fighter slurred out as he tried to steady himself. The lizard turned to look at him, just barely surprised that he was still willing to keep up this ridiculous farce of a fight. "…You're big and ugly," Lionel rambled as he tried to figure out which deathclaw he was seeing was the most dangerous. His brain, such as it was, was still rather fried. "And you smell… REALLY BAD!"

Johnny whipped Lionel across his cheek with the tip of his tail, sending the fighter sprawling onto the ground. He then eyed the gate that had been opened slightly. Panicking, the attendants swiftly sealed it shut as Blanco tried to remember how much he had insured Lionel for all those years back. Ulysses and Boone both charged down the aisle, brushing past the attendants. Grabbing one of the cattle-prods, Ulysses conferred briefly with Boone, agreeing to a plan on the fly to save Lionel before the lizard killed him.

Andrea slammed open the door of the box, storming away from Ziyi as she profusely apologized and pleaded for forgiveness. Her respect for her senator had plummeted. All these years of hearing of the Governor's less than stellar reputation with women when it was Senator Feng Ziyi who was the worst offender. At the crux of everything, Ziyi was little more than a boozer with too much time on her hands who'd probably crawl back to Gomorrah before too long. Ziyi had curled up, the shame humiliating her on a level she hadn't felt since she found out Veronica…

"OPEN THOSE GATES!" Boone ordered as the attendants stood aside. While Blanco protested, Ulysses angled the prod right by the lizard. Extending his arms as far as they could go, and bracing himself from the residual shocks, Ulysses stung the creature right in the eye. The deathclaw screamed. "AHH! FUCK YOU!"

The arena went quiet. Ulysses, Boone, Blanco, Lionel, and even Andrea all stopped what they were doing at just looked on as the lizard rubbed its eye. "Fuck… that fucking hurt… shit… right in the eye… why would anyone…" As the lizard blinked his vision back, he noticed the silence around him. He stood and watched as all the humans surrounding him stared at him in awe and shock. "…WHAT?!" he snarled before realizing it.

"…Magic talking deathclaw," Lionel mouthed as several more attendants poured into the arena with high-powered rifles. As instructed, the firing squad took their positions and shot the reptile, perforating the lizard as it was brought down.

Lars sat on the sofa, looking out over the expansive lights beneath him as he downed another bottle of sarsaparilla. It was getting late, and despite all the hype, he wasn't interested in the results of the local fight. He just wanted to call it an early night and get ready for an early morning of doing the same stuff he had been doing all day today. When the elevator rang, he grimaced and turned to tell Arcade or whoever that now wasn't the best time.

The super mutant shoved his way out of the car first, charging towards the Governor. In his day, Lars Perez had been considered one of the deadliest combatants the wasteland had ever seen with a propensity for shotguns, unparalleled swordsmanship with a machete, and a knack for explosives. However, he did have a weakness that could be exploited. There was little he could do about being jumped by three assholes who caught him off guard, much like Benny discovered when he attacked the former courier.

Lars barely managed to duck under the haymaker, diving away as the ghoul with a cane intercepted him, striking at him in the ribs. Right as Lars moved to attack her, the super mutant caught him and suplexed the Governor through the couch. As it broke, Lars felt the pain in his back flare up as he worried something might have broken. Then the third occupant strolled out and capped the Governor right in the chest.

The older man spat up some blood as the ghoul rounded on him and planted her knee on his back, taking his arms and restraining him. Jake smiled as he holstered his BB pistol behind his pants. "…Looks like a successful assassination if ever I did see one."

Lars had been shot before, so as much as it stung, he knew the wounds weren't fatal. Glaring up at Jake, he snarled as he struggled against Emma's binds. "…Just take whatever floats your boat and get out," he spat. "I'll kill you later."

Jake knelt down to the Governor at near eye-level. "Now, now, old man. I'm not here for your trinkets and baubles. I… we have come to acquire something much greater." Jake theatrically motioned to the windows. "We're after real estate, man! This city, the nation, it's all going to be for sale after tonight. And you're going to be the one to sell it."

"The hell do you think you can make me do a thing like that?!" Lars wheezed as Jake fished out a contraption with a needle and stuck the Governor in the neck. "Because I'm going to do it on your behalf. I'm going to force the Vegas Council to submit and sign over the city to the only one the securitrons answer to," he explained as he extended another needle out of the contraption and stuck himself. "Yes-man won't be able to tell us apart from a genetic level, after all," he winced.

"…Nice plan, genius," Lars seethed. "Except now you're trapped with me in a tower without an escape route. All the council needs to do is wait you out or you get bored and kill me, then you're screwed."

"Flawless logic," Emma chuckled. "Except we've already established certain contingencies," she explained as she pulled out a pocket watch. "…T-minus thirty," she grinned.

The arena sat in silence as the lizard lay lifeless on the ground. All except for the wailing of Lionel at the loss of "the most magnificent combat beast the world had ever or would ever see in this lifetime." Boone had entered the arena and took Lionel by the arm, escorting him out as Blanco tried to reason what had happened to a disinterested Ulysses.

Ziyi stood in the overlooking box, looking out at the mutilated remains of Johnny Guitar. He saw her once again. Her shattered arm, her punctured lungs, broken jaw, all the pain she endured to protect Ziyi. The scribes later told her that her heart had just stopped an hour after Ziyi had been taken into the bunker. She never had a chance to say goodbye. Not to either of them. It was just her now. Alone. Scared. Weak. Ashamed. Twenty years and nothing changed.

The power died.

Unbeknownst to anyone within the arena, agents working on behalf of Emma Buckwald III had infiltrated and planted charges on a select number of powerlines leading to and from Vegas between Hoover Dam and Helios One. Not enough to seriously damage anything beyond what it would take a reasonable amount of time and cost to repair, but enough to cripple the main communications of the New Vegas defense matrix, as well as most power auxiliaries. The Vegas City Council, for at least a day or so, would be blind and deaf. Enough time for a prison uprising to the east and an incursion by mercenaries to the north, dual crises that Vegas would struggle to handle with its key leader held hostage by a genetic imposter.

It also cut all the power to the arena, from the lights to the air conditioning to the electrified fence. The sudden onset of darkness caused a minor panic in the crowd. A few of them started thinking that this entire show had been some kind of bizarre arthouse project and began starting a rumor mill amongst the rest of the audience.

When the red emergency lights finally kicked on, the audience screamed in horror. The deathclaw was back on its feet, bleeding profusely but seemingly no worse for wear. Its claws were now on the uncharged fence, and it began to laugh. It scaled over the fence, into the frightened and panicking arena-goers. One of the attendants tried to prod him back into the arena. This time, Johnny wouldn't let the insult slide.

He tore into the staffers, scattering them as he ripped into the screaming offender. Boone and Ulysses tried to quickly usher the attendees to flee in an orderly fashion, to no avail. They could only watch helplessly as many were trampled as they pushed and shoved amongst one another. Blanco screamed for his gunners to put the deathclaw down. Unfortunately, in an effort to save some extra money, the generator for the emergency lights had been purchased third hand. It was prone to flicker, and deathclaws didn't need much light to see. The gunners would, as their volley would result in several other arena attendees being shot, a few fatally. One of them would be Daniel Blanco himself, with half his face destroyed as his dead eye stared out wondering how everything had gone so wrong.

Ziyi and Johnny locked eyes. Ziyi felt regret. Johnny felt contempt. The deathclaw let out a bellow as it began charging up the stands towards the luxury box. Ziyi closed her eyes and braced for contact. Even she couldn't help but flinch when something grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away. Her eyes shot open as she realized that Johnny was tearing into the luxury box where she had been, and she was being whisked away. Looking up, she saw Andrea calling into a walkie-talkie. "Bradley, O'Donnell, anyone? Come in! Do you read?!"

The women heard the lizard hiss behind them as it began to pursue them over the hundreds of other scattering humans. "C'MON, MOVE IT!" Andrea snarled as she pulled Ziyi with her, reaching the private exit on the balcony right as Johnny managed to climb atop it. "I WILL FIND YOU!" Johnny screamed as he dove into the crowd, hacking his way through anyone between him and wherever the exit happened to be.

Lionel watched as the lizard bowled over the audience of fatasses and weaklings. They didn't understand the reality of what they were witnessing. More than a deathclaw. More than a talking deathclaw. More than a magic talking deathclaw. This thing was an…

"UNKILLABLE MAGIC TALKING DEATHCLAW!" Lionel screamed in delight as he ran after the lizard, ducking under Boone and Ulysses' attempts to restrain him. Leaping over the fallen attendees, Lionel was convinced that today would be the best day of his life when he finally got his hands on the lizard and fought it to the death.

The door swung open gently as the figure glided inside. At the kitchen table, Arcade Gannon was passed out, his wine-assisted slumber the only thing helping him deal with what had become known to him as the Johnny Conundrum, in the end deciding to pass out for the night and hoping the situation would resolve itself in the future. The figure tossed the files onto the kitchen table, each one listed for Floyd Wilson's eyes only. The councilman understood how this worked.

The figure then helped itself to the refrigerator, taking out a Nuka-Cola and a straw. Placing the straw right above his throat, the figure looked out to the window only to be caught off guard by what he saw, or rather, didn't.

His time in New Vegas had well acclimated him to the sight of the New Vegas skyline, its light pollution and everything. So, when he saw nothing but darkness, he realized something was wrong. A bit out of his normal wheelhouse, admittedly, but killing rogue Judicial Marshals, scaring away the monsters under little Rosie's bed, and figuring out what happened to the lights were all things that needed to be done for the city's sake.

He polished off the Cola, setting it beside Arcade, the cap of the bottle being his tip. Flexing his fingers, the man formerly known as Saeed Hassan, aka Malocchio, aka "Mr. Bones," went out to do his job.

Not long after he left, a device that for the last few years had served as an over-engineered paperweight that had been left on the kitchen counter began to light up and buzz. "*bzzt*…Hello? Hello? Dr. Gannon? Is anyone there? For the love of all that is logical and raisin-able, please pick up! Blast, losing recep-*bzzt*"

EXCERPT FROM THE JUDICIAL MARSHAL'S TRAINING GUIDE AND MANUAL

Internal Affairs: OK, now to deal with some very longstanding FAQs. Yes, IA is in fact very much real. No, we cannot tell you anything about IA. Yes, IA has access to all your files. Yes, IA answers directly to us. No, we are not permitted to disclose any names of Judicial Marshals IA has dismissed.

I know it's a bit of a big ask, but as Judicial Marshals, you are all bestowed powers and privileges that are primed to be abused. I don't like thinking this about any of you, but IA is and shall remain our best way to counteract any abuse of power on behalf of the Judicial Marshals. Necessary Evils and all that. Just keep your noses clean and remember how to do your jobs right, professionally and ethically. And don't worry, if IA is after you, you'll know. -Deputy Chief Natalie Boone