Good Intentions

by Shaneman17

Paul was no stranger to evil, having spilled enough blood to flood cities. Still he had done it with good intentions, to protect the innocent and create a better tomorrow. However after falling into hell he realizes that just killing the bad guys may not have been enough, maybe redemption was the way to go. Maybe with the help of the princess of hell he could change everything.

6. Are you not Entertained?

Man I hope you guys enjoy this. I had t push myself to get this done in time to post it on the twenty third. I want to wish you guys a happy fifty third pre-anniversary of the Great War and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 6: Are you not Entertained?!

Hazbin Hotel

Inside the Hazbin Hotel, Charlie was attempting to redeem her guests, though she was bummed that Paul had left, but she couldn't blame. Those library people were scary. So, while he was gone, she had the brilliant idea to take the first step in bettering themselves, learning to trust.

So, she had came up with a rather simple idea that had the minimum chance of someone getting gruesomely hurt. Trust falls.

So there Angel was on stage thinking about what to say. "Somethin' about myself, huh? How about this? I LOVE to suck-"

"I swear to fuck if you say dicks!" Husk yelled from the small crowd.

"-popsicles, ya sicko! Get your mind outta the gutter!" Angel said before falling backwards into Husk's waiting arms.

"But, you know, dicks too!" Angel said looking up at the gambler with a grin, causing Husk to scowl back and drop him to the floor.

"Ow. Learn to take a joke Whiskers!" he said getting up just as his phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his coat and scowled as he saw it was an unknown number. "I'll be right back, I gotta take this."

Make his way to the far side of the room, he answered the call. "Look asshole, I don't care how much of a superfan you are or how you got this number, but you need to hang and walk away before I-"

"Angel, its Paul." The mans voice said from the other end of the call.

"Soldier boy? How'd you get my number." The spider asked.

"I grabbed your phone when you weren't looking and got it in case of an emergency. Speaking of an emergency, I was hoping to ask you about the V Bowl."

The very mention of the sporting event caused the porn star to scowl. "Please don't tell me you're planning to go. I was just starting to like you."

"I'm going but not for that reason. You said your boss was bringing in new talent for the orgy fight, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. With an thing like that, people really get off on the raw emotions of experiencing something like that for the first time. I did it a few times but after a while things started getting stale, even for a fan-fucking-tastic actor like me. So every now and then Val tags in the new hires to get a fresh experience." Angel said through gritted teeth.

"And what if he decided to grab random sinners off the street?"

That actually caught Angel by surprise. Valentino was a monster and snatching people off the street wasn't beyond him, it could sour his reputation. No one wanted to buy anything from an overlord who would strike out randomly like that, they didn't want to accidentally sponsor their own tormentor. Although if the payoff was good enough, that could easily be overlooked.

"If he did, it would have to be people who are a cut above the average fugly mouth breather." Angel replied and it finally dawned on him why Paul was asking about it. "Did he snatch someone you know?"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "a Librarian named Miss Mayberry."

Angel let out a hiss at hearing her profession. "Shit was she hot too?"

"Not sure what's considered hot down here, but she had a mostly human shape and yeah, I'd consider her attractive. That's just going to make things worse for her, isn't it?" Paul asked.

"There is literally an entire kink centered around sexy librarians. Shit, the only thing worse is if she were a sexy schoolteacher."

"Huh, funny you mention that." Paul said hesitantly, causing Angel to drag a hand down his face.

"You're fucking me. Sexy teacher and librarian combo? Yeesh, she's going to be in for a rough time."

"Not if I have something to say about it. In fact, the reason why I called you is to ask if you knew a way I could sneak into the V Bowl and get her out?" Paul asked.

"What!?" Angel yelled into the phone, cause the others to look over at he waved them off before lowering his voice to a more calm level. "Are you nuts? The V Bowl is Vox and Val's baby. Tens of thousands of people buy tickets every year while its broadcast live to millions across the ring. Anyone who gets caught accidentally screwing up are lucky to get away with a light maiming. What you want to do is worse than suicide because at least there you die."

"Angel, while I'm flattered you care enough about me not to want to see me suffer endless torture, I have to do this. It's just who I am. If you don't want to get involved, I understand and won't hold it against you. That being said I would rather not go in blind, but I will if I have to."

Angel stood there for a minute, silent and conflicted as he warred against giving the man information and wanting to keep himself as far away from this on coming disaster as he could. Eventually one side won and after letting out a long sigh he asked, "What do you want to know?"

He could almost feel the man smiling on the other end of the call.

…-…

A few minutes later

"Thanks for the help fluffy."

"Normally I would say anytime but I'm pretty sure I'm never going to see you again. Good luck soldier boy." Then just like that he hung up the phone.

I glanced at my own phone before turning it off and tucking it away in my coat pocket. I hadn't been idle as I talked to Angel Dust and had managed to close the close the distance between me and the arena. From this distance it looked rather large and stood out amongst the buildings of Pentagram city due to the fact it was a massive round coliseum made of a glossy black metal that reflected the bright blue lights that were attached to the sides. I could also see what looked like red spotlights waving back and forth and shining into the sky. It was obvious after seeing the TV demon that he modeled the place after himself.

As I made my way towards the building, I thought over what Angel had told me.

The orgy fight was apparently a staple of the V Bowl and was always the grand finale which meant I had some time to get in before that happened. Getting in was a rather simple matter of sneaking in through the back bays where supplies were constantly being brought into the arena. That included snack foods, drinks and the intended victims of the games. Unfortunately, the librarian was most likely already chained up and ready to be presented so it wouldn't be that easy. Angel had made sure to emphasis that there would be dozens of workers, security guards and cameras between me and where she was being held. He had tried to deter me, but I told him I had plenty of trick up my sleeve to get past all that.

After that it was just a matter of getting to where she was being held. Angel had said that as part of the finale, they make a big show of revealing the sex workers to get people excited. They did so by having doors open in the middle of the arena as a platform raises up a pillar with the 'entertainment' chained to it for all to see. It was barbaric but it gave me the opportunity to sneak and get her out without much issue.

With an outline of a plan set, I finally arrived at the arena. The V Bowl was already in full swing but there were still massive amounts of people int the area. Most were sat around in groups with televisions hooked up to portable generators, drinking beer and cooking various foods on grills. It was disturbing how casual everyone was acting as the sinners were just hanging out, joking a laughing as they enjoyed their day. All the while various bloodsports played out on the screens with fans cheering on their favorite racer or gladiator while others groaned as their favored competitor had his head cut off and disqualified.

It reminded me of old world footage of sports events like car racing and football games. It was a strange contrast to see such normal behavior against a background of bloody violence.

I made my way through the crowd, having to turn down a few offers of beer along the way. As I approached the back, the groups of people got less and less until I came upon a locked gate and I watched as the workers went back and forth as the guards watched over them.

I stood there for a few minutes making it look like I was just fiddling with my hellphone while I was actually watching the people come and go, looking for an opening. The moment came when a truck carrying kegs backed up to the loading dock and the trailer blocked everyone's view. The moment that happened I pulled up my pipboy and in a flash of light I changed my riot armor out for the stealth suit Mk III.

As a direct upgrade to the Mk II, there were several noticeable differences. First was that all the white plating was instead colored a dull yellow and it had a black hood attachment that covered the head. It also had a full face mask that resembled the one attached to the Chinese stealth suit, only with a green visor instead of orange. It came with everything the Mk II had but I had managed to do what the Think Tank couldn't and managed to incorporate the Chinese stealth field technology. It was also radiation resistant by necessity.

As soon as I had the suit on, I crouched down and I felt an electronic tingle run across my skin and a glance down revealed that my form had become transparent, almost invisible. Satisfied with my stealth capabilities, I picked the lock to the gate in less than a second and made my to the loading dock.

I ducked behind the truck as a worker started wheeling out a keg as they made their way to the automatic door. They never even noticed me silently following behind them and as far as the security camera could see, I was nothing more than a small blur. As soon as I stepped inside, I ducked into a nearby closet and waited until the coast was clear.

Once the dark hallway was empty, I made my way deep into the facility, looking inside every room for potential threats or ways to figure out where the holding cell was. My eyes widened behind my mask as one of the rooms appeared to be a dark server room, and there int the corner was what looked like an ant man and a mantis girl, both dressed in black guard uniforms, making out and obviously getting ready to get freaky. I briefly wondered just how in the hell that would work before shaking my head and deciding to take these two out of the equation.

Reaching for the doorknob, I clicked the button to lock it, then pulled out a bobby pin, shoved it into the inside lock and broke it off. I grinned at the couple's backs before shutting the door with a soft click.

With those two out of the way, I continued on, avoiding workers and guards as I went. I was somewhat lost with no idea of where to go when I stumbled on to a room full of monitors with a couple of guards sitting in front of them, watching for anything suspicious. Slipping inside, I made sure to close the door as quietly as possible and crept over to the guards and looked over their shoulders. The guard on my left was some sort of purple furred tiger and the one to my right was a bipedal wasp demon, neither of which noticed me. As I looked at the screens I saw nothing that stood out to me, that is until I saw a screen with a black pillar on it, one with a couple dozen demons leashed to it by their necks. Most of them were just sitting still with their heads hung in submission while others were pulling desperately at their chains, doing everything they could think of to free themselves. The rest appeared to just be breaking down, the fear and hopelessness of their situation had broken them.

It was a rather depressing sight but thankfully I found the thing I needed. One of the screens didn't have camera footage, but instead it had a map of the underground complex and showing where the cameras are and their status. I quickly memorized it and was about to leave when the door began to open. I immediately put myself flat against the wall as another guard walked in, this one a humanoid demon with red skin and black goat horns sticking out of his blonde hair.

"Man, that library bitch hits hard." The demon said rubbing his jaw and getting the attention of the other two guards.

"Told you not to try it. She kicked to shit out of Twitch when we grabbed her off the street." The tiger man said with a chuckle. "Lot of anger in a small sexy package."

"You're lucky she taught you a lesson," The wasp demon buzzed. "You know what would have happened if you spoiled her before the event. Valentino would have found out and it would be our asses that would be nailed to the wall."

"Quite worrying, he never would have found out." The demon said before putting his hand on the wasp's shoulder and squeezing just hard enough to be painful. "Not unless someone ratted me out."

The bug man managed to shrug off the man's hand. "Fuck you, I'm no snitch. Still would have gotten caught though. Valentino has this weird sixth sense when it comes to knowing if someone is used goods."

"Sting's right, the guy would have known. Look if you really want to see the bitch on all fours, just wait in here for a couple hours. We've got a perfect view of up top." The tiger said, motioning to a larger screen with a color image of the arena.

They currently seemed to be a motorcycle race going on. A bat demon wearing a red jacket and helmet was neck and neck with a green skinned demon woman who wore Egyptian style jewelry and wrappings around her chest and face. They were bumping each other as they went, and the mummy girl ducked her head as the bat swung a wing at her face. She responded by pulling out blue and gold staff out of nowhere and shoved it into the front wheel spokes of her competitor's motorcycle. The bat's motorcycle immediately flipped into the air and came crashing down on top of its rider. I couldn't hear the crash itself, but I could hear the thundering sound of the crowd's cheers.

The blonde demon had a nasty smile on his face as he watched the mayhem on screen. "I think I'll take you up on that. Can't wait to watch the Champ break her. I might even take a turn after everything's over, if there's anything left of her that is." He said with a chuckle.

The tiger let out his own laugh, but the wasp man, Sting, just shivered. "I've gotten off on a lot of things since coming here, but I don't understand how you guys can stomach that kind of thing. The things that man does makes me want to puke just thinking about it."

"That's because you grew up in one of those settlements, makes you nice and soft." The demonic man said while poking the wasp's exoskeleton.

It was about that time that I decided I had heard enough. These guards didn't know it yet, but they had earned my wrath. Whoever this Champ was, it was obvious that they were a sadistic monster, and two of these guards got off watching their cruelties. Also, the last thing I needed was for my little breakout to be immediately foiled by some attentive guards.

I stepped away from the wall and I felt the stealth field deactivate, rending me visible once again. Of course, the three guards were so engrossed with what was going on in the arena they didn't even notice me, not until the flash of my pipboy gave me away.

Sting was the first one to notice so he swived his chair around and his insect eyes widened as he finally saw me. "What the he-?" was all he got out before my sword separated his head from his shoulders. He seemed the least vile, so he deserved a clean death. The other two wouldn't be given that mercy. They had just begun to turn towards me in a panic when I brought my cosmic blade down on them.

The cosmic blade was many things. An instrument of death, a wonder of science, a work of art and a symbol of the NAR. The design of the blade was based off the jian, a double-edged sword wielded by the officers of old Chinese army. Its hilt was based off the personal shocksword wielded by general Jingwei, though instead of a hilt resembling a lion's face, it resembled a pair of outstretched wings. The blade itself glowed a bright fiery orange as the saturnite was superheated by the amber colored electricity that ran along the blade. It was an amazing weapon and an even better propaganda tool. Seeing the leader of your nation charge into battle while wielding a glowing sword that could simultaneously electrocute, set on fire and cut through just about anything, whether it be man, beast or machine made for some excellent propaganda. It always had the soldiers gawking whenever they saw it in action. It was more than enough to deal with these two.

The tiger man had managed to get out of his chair before I sent a kick that knocked him back into it. The demonic man had who had still been standing managed to pull he pistol out of its holster and began to take aim. A casual swing of my blade sent his weapon as well as the arm holding it clattering to the floor. He began to open his mouth to scream when another swing removed his jaw, letting out nothing more than a lord gurgle. No need to let him alert anyone else to my presence.

With that threat momentarily removed, I turned back to the tiger who had managed to get out of his chair and was going for his own weapon. I swung my weapon again and watched as his throat began to spill red human like blood. He clutched at his neck as his eyes filled with panic and fear, desperately trying to stem the bleeding. Stepping forward, I thrust my blade into his chest, piercing where I believed his heart should have been and out of his back. He stood still for a second before the lights of his red eyes winked out and he collapsed to the ground.

Turning back to the final demon, I was slightly surprised to not see the man on the floor in pain, but desperately trying to pry his gun from his severed arm's fingers. I had to give the man's credit, he had a strong will to survive. I made my way over to him just as he took hold of the pistol's grip. Just like before, I removed his arm just as he was beginning to take aim. He didn't even have time to cream before I brought the sword down in a downward strike, cutting the man vertically in half. We both just stood there for a few seconds before the man literally fell to pieces, his two sides sliding apart and dropping to the floor with wet splats.

I stood over the bodies of the sinners, feeling the rush of victory overtake me, though that feeling was mixed with irritation as I felt the radiation flood my body. I let out a sigh before sheathing my blade on my and set to work looting their bodies. I had no idea how long it would take for them to regenerate but I wasn't taking any chances. The first thing I did was take their pistols, small blocky nine millimeters with a cursive "CW" on the barrel, my guess being it stood for Carmine Weaponry. After pocketing the pistols along with their spare magazines, I decided to duct tape their wrists and ankles together, just in case they regenerated before I was done.

Satisfied with my work, I left the room and made sure the door was completely closed before continuing down the hallway. A left here, a right there, it was surprisingly smooth sailing as I had not seen another guard for several minutes. I didn't know if that was because of the lack of intelligence of the security personnel, or because they were so sure that no one would dare mess with an Overlord's business that they only needed the minimum number of guards. Either way it made my life easier.

As I turned the last corner, I saw another demon standing guard outside a reinforced door, locked with an ID card scanner. The demon himself stood about seven feet tall, with his large limbs being nothing but exposed muscle and his head was one giant bloodshot eyeball. He also held a black boxy shotgun in his meaty hands and an ID card hung from his hip. He would have been a rather intimidating sight if not for the small black baseball cap that sat on top of his eyeball head.

I didn't waste any time, so the moment I saw him, I unsheathed my sword, pulled back my arm and threw it with all my might. Throwing a sword was not like throwing a knife or hatchet, the length and width of the sword made throwing it far more difficult. It was only after hours of practice could you reliably hit your target and even then, it wasn't likely to be anything fatal because the blade wouldn't be able to penetrate deeply enough. I however had plenty of practice learning how to throw my sword and the saturnite edge was so unbelievably sharp that it had no issue slicing through flesh and bone.

The sword flew through the air so fast that the guard didn't even have time to…I was going to say blink but I'm not sure that applied to Mr. Eyeball. Either way, the guard could nothing as the sword slammed into his chest, its tip severing his spinal cord as it exited his back. The force of the hit was great enough that he was thrown against the door, the sword penetrating the steel and pinning the demon to it.

Looking around to make sure no one had been around to hear that, I found that I was all alone. Walking towards the demon, I noticed smoke rising from his body as the wound bubble from the heat and his limbs jerked as the electricity coursed through him. Reaching down, I atomized his weapon before plucking the ID card from his belt, then yanking the sword out of his body. He crumpled to the floor in a tangle of limbs before I shoved him out of the way and used his card to unlock the door with a quiet beep.

The door swung open, and I stepped into the room full of prisoners.

The actual room was rather spacious and mostly empty. It was obvious that this room wasn't used much save for occasions such as this. Bult into the walls were several dozen cells, each made of steel bars that left their occupants exposed but with no way to escape. They were all empty now, but there were signs that most have them had recently been occupied. No doubt some of the prisoners had been captured a while ago, not all of them had been last minute additions like Miss Mayberry.

The prisoners themselves were exactly like I seen on the camera footage, chained to the pillar by collars around their necks. Some were looking at me with fear in their eyes but all eyed me with suspicion. I swept my gaze over all the demons, looking for the purple skinned librarian and it didn't take long to find her. She was sitting off to the right and looked to be in rough shape. Her shirt was ruffled and dirty with what looked like dried blood, her left sleeve was completely torn off, exposing the straps of her black bra and there was a large bruise on her right cheek.

Making my way over to her, the prisoners all flinched away from me as if expecting me to lash out at them. When I finally got to her she got up from where she was sitting, got into an amateur combat stance and glared up at me.

"What, you want some too?!" she spat. "I'll give you exactly what the other bastard got!"

She was hurt, tired and although she tried to hide it, I could tell that she was scared. Yet she still had the guts to fight back against someone much larger than her and armed with a sword. I couldn't help but smile behind my mask.

"Ha! No thank you, I hear you pack a wallop. Nah, I just came to ask if you changed your mind about me autographing the Survival Guide." I said while putting away my weapon.

She looked extremely confused for a few seconds before it clicked. "Paul?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"The one and only."

"How the-where did-What are you doing here?"

"Saving the damsel in distress? You know, typical knight in shining armor stuff." I said with a shrug and pulled out a screwdriver and bobby pin and got to work on unlocking her collar.

"Why?" she asked, sounding extremely confused.

"Why what?" I replied as I twisted the lock and watched as the collar fell to the floor.

The librarian rubbed her neck to relieve the irritated skin. "Why did you come to rescue me? We're in hell, people don't just do things like that. How did you even know I was here?"

"Same answer for both questions, Laila. She's the one who told me you got grabbed by Valentino thugs. Plus, you have no room to talk about saving people, she told me how you fought the bastards off long enough for her to get away. After I heard that, there was no way I could let you be thrown to the wolves like this."

Miss Mayberry stood there with a look of shock plastered on her face before she started to chuckle, which soon turned into full blown laughter. It was a desperate half mad thing full of fear and relief. It didn't come as a surprise when that laughter transitioned into sobbing with tears rolling down her face.

She looked so small and vulnerable my body acted before my mind realized what I was doing. I pulled her into a hug and she immediately buried her head into my chest and cried herself out as I rubbed her back. The other prisoners were staring but I ignored them, Miss Mayberry obviously needed this. We stood like that for a few minutes until the tears eventually stopped flowing and she pulled out of my embrace.

"I'm sorry about that." She said, rubbing away her tears. "That was inappropriate."

"Don't worry about it, you obviously needed to get that out of your system." I reassured her.

"So, what about them?" She asked as she turned back to others who were watching us.

"They're coming with us." I said as I held up my lockpicking tools.

"Really?"

"Yeah. They may be a bunch of demons who probably deserve to live in this. Shithole, no one deserves to be gang raped." This caused a roar of approval from the prisoners and a rush of bodies as they all fought to be the first one freed.

I was a master of lockpicking, but it still took a few minutes to get through everyone. Most of the demons were fairly attractive or exotic looking, like a grey skinned girl dressed in a dark gothic dress, a well-built red skinned demon man with a cowboy hat and an open denim jacket that showed off his abs and a curvy black skinned woman who had markings that made her resemble La Catrina. It didn't surprise me that Valentino targeted people like them, but what did surprise me and made me see red was the last four prisoners. They were smaller than the other prisoners with two of them only coming up to my knees and if I got my demons right were imps. They were dressed in clothes that looked like something a rancher would wear with the man wearing a straw hat and the woman with a blue and orange shawl wrapped around her shoulders. They looked up at me with fear and a hint of warning in their eyes as they pulled the two smaller imps closer to themselves. The woman clutched a boy dressed in a white shirt and overalls while the man held a girl dressed in a small pink dress, now dirty and torn in some places.

A family of Imps, captured and taken from their home and forced into a nightmare. I could imagine what Valentino was thinking when they were brought in, and it made my mechanical heat pound with fury and hate. A husband forced to watch as his wife was held down, forced to watch with no power to stop it. Children ripped from their parent's arms, screaming for mommy and daddy to save them as millions across hell watched and cheered. My blood thundered in my ears, and I could feel a warmth building in my chest. It started as just a few embers but soon it bloomed into a raging fire, and I knew it would grow constantly without end, or until it broke free. It was around that time that I heard the ticking of a Geiger counter.

Realizing the danger, I forced myself to calm down with slow breaths. The rage subsided and the ticking quickly stopped. The imp family was looking at me with fear, no doubt sensing my fury.

"Sorry about that, just got mad seeing you lot like this. Now don't worry, I'll get those collars off you in a jiffy." I said began to pick their locks. The adults were easy enough to deal with, but the children were a different matter altogether. Every time I approached them, they would squirm or try to hide behind their parents. It was a major hassle until I had an idea.

"What are their names?" I asked the parents. The father looked extremely hesitant, but the wife answered in his stead.

"Beau and Belle."

"Hi there Beau, Belle." I said nodding at them as I got on one knee. "Those are some pretty cool names. My name's Paul. It's not as cool as yours but I think it's pretty neat. What do you think."

The little girl just stared at me but the boy managed to find his voice, even if it was a whisper. "I-it's a cool n-name. I guess."

"Thanks. So, I know you guys a real scared, but I want to help you get out of here and go home. In order to do that I need you guys to stay still and let me take those collars off. So let me make a deal with you. If you guys are real still and let me take them off, I'll let you guys have a couple bottles of soda. As long as it's alright with the folks? I asked.

The dad looked conflicted for a moment but eventually nodded. "Yeah, they can."

"Dad says yes. So, who's first?" I asked.

After that it was easy to deal with them. The first one to step forward was the son. After I reatomized a bottle of Nuka Cola for him, the little girl stepped forward and let me free her to get her own bottle. Watching her take a sip and then break out into wide smile was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

I ruffled her hair before standing up and placing myself in front of the door, getting everyone's attention.

"Alright people, listen up." I said with as much authority as I could into my voice. "Right now, we are underneath the V Bowl and through this door is your freedom. The problem is that there are about a dozen guards wandering the halls. But luckily for you I am one scary son of a bitch and if you follow my lead, we'll be out of here in no time."

"It won't matter, were fucked either way." A blue skinned man in a purple tuxedo said. "Valentino knows who we are and if we don't show, he'll hunt us all down and drag us back. Then he'll make us wish we had just gone through with this."

"Yeah, the guy's a petty bastard like that." The cowboy demon said in agreement.

"Doesn't mean we should just lay down and take it!" a sphinx looking woman spat.

At that point the whole group fell into arguments and infighting. Some were saying they should make a run for it and damn the consequences while others believed it would be best to just take the gang bang and hope for the best, believing that the Overlord would do much worse to them if they didn't. All the while the imp family looked on, the little girl hugging the soda bottle like a teddy bear, trying to find comfort amongst the fighting.

I just stood there, thinking. If what they said was true, and this Valentino really was that vindictive, then he could render this entire rescue moot. Although I suppose it was all about saving one's face here. Valentino was an Overlord, which meant any failure would be seen as weakness and the others would take advantage of it. One way to reduce that sort of damage is to publicly punish the ones responsible, or at least the ones blamed for it. Normally this sort of problem could be solved by killing the guy, but the problem was that he wouldn't stay dead, not unless I could convince Vaggie to loan me her spear. Still, that might be too late by the time I hunt him down. No matter which way you looked at it, they were fucked.

Unless I could shift the focus of his ire. I started to smile behind my mask, one full of sadistic glee as a plan started to form in my head.

"Alright people quiet down!" I yelled, causing them all to fall silent.

"Good, now listen up, there's been a change of plans! Do what I say, and you'll get out of here alive and without having to look over your shoulders. Now the first thing you need to do…"

…-…

Three Hours Later

With practiced ease, I attached the electronic receiver to the sealed tin can and smiled as the light lit up, signifying it was active. With that done, I carefully set the can to the side with all of the others, brushing aside all the empty nuka bottles. I did a quick count and was satisfied with the dozen cans I had and atomized them for later.

After that I just sat there in silence, listening to the occasional roar of the crowd as something exciting and no doubt deadly happened up top.

I was by myself in the large room, the prisoners had long ago made their way to the camera room, armed with the shotgun and pistols I had taken from the guards. Miss Mayberry was keeping her eyes on the screens, looking for any signs of trouble while waiting for the right moment to escape.

The plan itself was fairly straightforward and simple. Valentino would go after anyone who caused his grand finale to go sideways, which meant that when that platform was raised and there was no one there to "participate", it was a simple thing to go after the escaped prisoners. However, it would be an altogether different matter if the platform wasn't empty, but instead found the intended entertainment replaced with one of a more…violent…nature.

So, there I was, waiting for the finale to start so I could come out and cause chaos. During my little distraction, the prisoners would make their way out, any guards they came across would be swiftly taken care of and by the time anyone realized they were escaping, the prisoners would be the last thing on their mind. I had even told them that if they were still concerned about being tracked down, they could hide out at the Hazbin Hotel. I very much doubted Charlie would ever turn them away. Of course that meant I was putting myself in the Vee's crosshairs, but at this point I didn't particularly care. Plus, with what I had planned, they wouldn't be able to recognize me even if they saw me again. Speaking of that particular part of my plan, it was probably about time to suit up.

Getting to my feet, I lifted up my pipboy, went over to my apparel section and pressed select. There was a flash of light, but unlike all the other times, no item appeared in my hands or on my body. Instead, a large mass appeared in front of me, standing about seven feet tall. What stood before me was a large set of X-02 tesla power armor. Its attraction coils on its pauldrons glowed with amber electricity and its once black surface had been repainted a dark green with a white four-leaf clover behind crossed sabers painted on its right breast.

Several years ago, back when I had just returned to as well as annex the Capital Wasteland, one of the first things I had done was try to find some of my old friends, Reilly's Rangers. At first, I couldn't find them and had briefly thought the worst had happened, but I managed to find them in Fort Independence. Apparently after the Outcasts rejoined the Brotherhood, they had just abandoned the place, and Reilly had seen an opportunity. Not only were Reilly and the rest of the crew still alive, but they had also grown their mercenary outfit significantly. They had been surprised at first to see that the snot nosed kid that had saved their ass all those years ago was actually the ruler of the NAR, but quickly got used to it and treated my like they always had. That day we had done nothing drink beer and share stories of our adventures. Not to brag, but I won. Eventually I had forced my self to leave but before I had left, they had decided to gift me the armor as way to show their appreciation. They had put scavenged quite a bit of armor from the Enclave after they were destroyed. They had dubbed their custom armor the Lucky Devil power armor.

It wasn't the strongest power armor I had In my collection, but It was still precious to me as well as the only set I had brought with me to the cabin. I had wanted to see if I could increase the armor's electrical field, but that could wait for after I got back to earth. For now, the Lucky Devil would be more than enough to suit my needs.

I made my way behind the armor and had just grabbed the release valve when I heard something that sent a chill down my spine.

"Ah, I was wondering what you had planned. Never were one for subtlety were you, child?" a woman's voice said from somewhere behind me. The problem was that I knew was alone just a second ago.

Whipping my body around, I pulled out my cosmic blade and held it at the ready. I scanned my surroundings, looking for the source of the voice and initially found nothing, just an empty room. That is until I looked closer and saw a figure standing in the dark lightless corner, leaning against the wall. I couldn't make out any details about the woman, but I could see the silhouette of her figure and I could tell several things about her. The first was that she looked to be wearing a wide brimmed hat, second was that she fit the standard hellish body type of tall and skinny, and third was when I say tall, I mean tall. From what had seen of Hell the heights of demons varied greatly with the average tall demon standing between seven to eight feet in height. This woman was a giant, easily ten feet tall, if not eleven and able to look a super mutant master in the eyes.

I tensed my muscles and got ready to act, waiting for her to make her move. For a while we just stood there, neither of us doing anything and it was actually starting to get annoying. Wasn't she going to try something, anything?

"Well? You going to do something or just stand there?" I asked.

She didn't answer me, but I did notice that she tilted her heard in what looked like confusion.

"Oh, now you're trying to be quiet. Next time you want to be stealthy, don't talk. Now, who are you and how did you get in here?" I said, pointing the tip of my sword at her.

This time she did more than tilt her head. She pushed herself off the wall and took a step forward, closer to the light, allowing me to see that she was wearing some sort of red long coat. "You…can see me? Hear me?" She asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. I guess whatever stealth tech or power you had to sneak in here is on the fritz." I said.

That caused her to let out a small laugh, one that absolutely beautiful yet still sent a shiver of unease down my spine. "Oh Paul, it not me who's faulty."

I sucked in a breath of air as my heart started thudding in my chest. She called me by name.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" I asked with anger in my voice.

"How do I know your name? What proud mother wouldn't know the name of their child." She said as she stepped into the light.

The demoness was beautiful, with sharp features that reminded me of a predator with grey skin that was so pale it was almost white with long black curly hair that fell to her midback. She wore a large wide brimmed black fedora with a red and white checkered design underneath and an open sleeveless red trench coat with a lining that matched the hats. Underneath the coat, she wore a black and grey checkered tube top that exposed her midriff, long black gloves that went her shoulders, black tight-fitting pants and knee high red heeled boots. The thing that drew me in was her eyes. With her sclera blazing a fiery red and her irises glowing a brilliant heavenly silver. They were magnificent pits and I could feel myself getting lost in them, because despite their hellish appearance, they made me feel something I hadn't felt in years.

Safe.

I hadn't felt safe for a long time, not since I woke up that one morning in Vault 101 and found my entire world thrown into chaos. After that it had been a rollercoaster of violence and madness. Yes, I had found friends and companions out in the wastes and experienced highs and lows with them, created memories that would last a lifetime, and I had even come to love them like family. Yet despite the companionship and my own growing power, I hadn't felt safe even among them. My last memory of safety was back in D.C., standing in the Jefferson Memorial and giving my father a hug before I went to do some last-minute maintenance on Project Purity. That was the last time I would ever tell my dad that I loved him, the last time I had truly felt loved.

Feeling that emotion again almost had my eyes watering and it was only through force of will that I didn't break into tears. Of course, it was about that time that her words registered in my mind and that love turned to white hot rage.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?!" I growled. "I may have never met my mom, but I know damn well she's in heaven with my dad, not down here."

The woman just flashed me an amused smile and I hated how something deep in my soul felt comforted by that smile.

"Oh, I may not be your birth mother, but I am the one who loved you, raised you, taught you the ways of the world and made you who you are. It's actually wonderful that you can see me now. You never noticed me before, never even knew I existed, and it broke my heart." She said with a small frown and clutched her chest with both hands.

I struggled to understand what she was saying. She claims to have made me who I am? Bullshit. The only one who could lay that claim was dad, him and the harsh world I had been born into. The wastelands had been my crucible, and it was in those fires that I was remade, no longer some weak vault dweller, but a wastelander. Although I was concerned about what she meant by me never noticing her before.

"Oh? And just what have you done for me? You claim to have done so much for me, name one thing."

"Hmm, how about several." She said as she slowly walked towards me. "I was the one encouraging you when you confronted Roy Phillips after what he did at Tenpenny's Tower. I was the one who gave you the strength to rise up and take your revenge on the Enclave for what they did to James. I was the one who made you realize that no one else had but you had both the skill and the strength of will to create a nation powerful enough to take back North America. I was the one looking on with pride as you took the power for yourself and crowned yourself king."

As she spoke, she drew ever closer until she was standing right in front of me, looking down at me with a motherly smile.

"But if you were to ask what was the first thing I did you was? I would have to say it was killing your birth mother, Catherine."

The moment those words left her lips, I felt something dark and vicious descend upon my mind. She could have been lying. My mother died in childbirth, her last act on earth had been to bring me into it. My dad told me that's how she died, and Dr. Li had confirmed that was indeed what happened. My father had in a way blamed himself for her death, believing that she would have lived he had just forced her to stop working herself to exhaustion everyday trying to get Project Purity working. The truth was that her death was due to tragic circumstances, and no one could be blamed for it. Yet for some reason when the tall woman said that she was the one who killed my mother, I knew deep in my soul that what she was telling me was one hundred percent the God's honest truth. In that moment, I hated her with every fiber of my being. And when I hated someone, I got violent.

She was within striking distance, her guard was down, and she was a large target. My weapon was already in my hand with the tip was already aimed at her chest. It was all too easy, too simple and had I been in my right mind I would have realized something was wrong. But I wasn't in my right mind. Hate and rage had clouded all my judgement, so I gave in to my wrath and thrust my sword upwards into her chest, the tip pierced her heart and exited out her back. I prepared to support the weight of her body as she fell over dead, but that never happened. She didn't collapse or fall over, didn't gasp in pain.

All she did was give me a warm, proud smile.

It was then that I realized something. When I stabbed the woman there had been no resistance. The sword's saturnite blade was impossibly sharp and could cleave through bone as easily as it could paper, but even then, there was always some resistance. Yet I felt nothing even as the hilt of the blade had slammed int her chest, only the weight of the weapon itself. It was almost like she wasn't even there.

My eyes widened as I looked up at the demoness and I let my arm drop and watched the blade simply fall through her. I lashed out at her with couple more slow swipes and watched as the blade harmlessly passed through her, no more effective than cutting the wind.

I let loud a startled chuckle as I realized what was going on. "I'm losing my mind. You're not even real. Just a figment of my imagination."

This caused her to scowl at me and I instantly felt a cold weight settle onto my shoulders and my mind was suddenly bombarded with sensations of overwhelming fear and terror, sending my thoughts into a 'fight or flight' response. "Oh, I am very real." She said as she loomed over me, her hair writhed in the air as if it was alive and red eyes with slit pupils manifested out of thin air, surrounding me, watching me, waiting to strike. For the first time in years, I was afraid, genuinely afraid for my life. I thought I had long ago lost my fear of death, but somehow this one had reawakened it.

Then just as fast as it had happened, the eyes disappeared, the overwhelming sense of fear left, and the woman was back to her beautifully demonic self. The only thing left of that experience was my shaking breath and my hammering heart.

"I'm simply not here in the flesh." She said with a smirk.

"W-who are you?" I asked, hating how that leftover fear made me stutter.

"I have had a lot of names over the millennia and even more titles. Like you." She said gesturing towards me. "Paul Alexander Harbinger, a good and powerful name. Humble protector of men who is a warning of things to come. Sends a shiver down my spine. Although I am rather partial to your titles. The Lone Wander, the Courier, the Wildcard, the Last, Best Hope of Humanity, Messiah, Lord of the Wastelands. You have dozens more and every one of them just has gravitas, but I must say I absolutely love your newest title. The King in Yellow has a certain ring to it don't you think? Your cults certainly think it does."

I let out a snarl at hearing her words. I hated that last one, I hated why it existed and I hated that some people of the wasteland had seen fit to elevate me to an idol of worship. It was beyond aggravating dealing with them and convincing them I wasn't some divine being was borderline impossible. I had gained a lot more respect for Harold being forced to deal with the Treeminders for more than twenty years.

"I don't want their worship." I spat.

"And yet you have it all the same. I wonder, just what would happen if the people of your nation learned why it is all your clothes are made to be radiation resistant. Would they see you as an abomination? Or would they see it as proof of your…divinity?" she asked as she stared deep into my eyes.

"I don't care what they think of me. Now you never answered my question. Who are you?" I demanded.

"Like I said, many names and many titles. Some of them a mortal like you could never understand. But since you and I go so far back, we don't have to be so formal. You can just call me…Roo." As she said her name, I swear I saw her teeth change until they looked less like human teeth and more like something you would find on an anglerfish. It only lasted a moment, but that twisted smile seemed burned into my mind.

I shook my head to dispel those disturbing thoughts. I could freak out later, for now I still had to deal with this…thing.

"Well Roo," Just saying the name felt wrong. "Why the hell are you here? Whatever you are, it's pretty obvious you're uber powerful and no doubt have better things to do than follow me down into a gladiator pit. So why are you?"

"Oh Paul, you underestimate your own importance. Besides, I wouldn't miss watching your work, it's just too damn entertaining. I can't wait to see those amateurs above us realize what a real monster looks like." She said flashing me a grin.

"I don't know if you can say the same, but I'm no monster." I said defiantly.

Roo stared at me for a few seconds before breaking out into laughter. It had a musical quality to it but there was something dark underneath its melodic notes.

"Oh, dear child. I don't know whether to call you naïve or a liar. You, Paul Harbinger, are a monster. A killer beyond compare. From the moment you beat Stevie Mack to death with a baseball bat, you never stopped killing. Your thirst for violence was never satiated and you never wanted it to. What's your body count up to now? The last time you checked a few years ago it was approaching six digits. Care to give your pipboy a gander and see just how many people you've personally killed?"

I gritted my teeth and glared at the demoness. Yet no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't refute her claims. How could I? She hadn't said anything that wasn't true.

"You butchered raiders by the dozens. With rage in your heart, you crushed the Enclave and destroyed their dreams of rebuilding America. You tore apart the slavers of the Pitt and left them to be devoured by abominations. You exterminated the Zetan's and took their ship for yourself.

When you went west, you crossed the entire Mojave to find the man you shot you in the head and carved through anything that got in your way. You pillaged the City of the Dead, sentenced the White Legs to an agonizing and slow death, and enslaved the men of knowledge of the Big Empty and made them enjoy it. When you decided to claim New Vegas, you slit the bull's throat, forced the bear to flee in fear and betrayed House, tampered with his mind and forced him to work for you.

Once you were king and cemented your rule over the Mojave, what was the first thing you did? You lead an army of steel golems into the Divide, your greatest mistake, and slaughtered the Marked Men and the Tunnelers to the last. Your first act as ruler was to commit not one, but two genocides. You are a monster. Yet somehow, you are still a good man."

I blinked at her sudden compliment. I glanced at her and that dark smile of hers had transformed into something far sadder, yet still seemed proud of me.

"You were thrust into a world that takes good men, grinds them down until either they die or give in to the cruelty and violence. You killed Stevie not because you wanted revenge for what he did to Jonas, but because you wanted to protect your best friend Amata. Despite the oceans of blood you spilled, you never killed anyone you didn't see as an enemy or thought of their death as a mercy.

When you first stepped out into the wasteland, the first thing you did was save Megaton from the bomb and Burke's plot. You stopped the Enclave from genociding the capital wasteland. You freed the slaves of the Pitt and gave them hope of a better tomorrow. You saved humanity from further Zetan incursions and not once were you ever tempted to use the death ray to make the world bow before you.

When you found the man who had almost killed you, you let him live when you had no reason to. In the Sierra Madre, when the others cared for nothing but their own greed and selfish desires, you made sure they survived and learned to let go. In letting the lives of the White Legs be ended by the hands of fate, you stopped a redeemed man damning himself once more. You saved the Mojave the twisted minds of mad scientists and used them to make wonders. You conquered a city not to satisfy your greed or pride, but because you saw that no one else was willing to put the people first. When the bull died, the east was freed. When the bear ran, the pain of their collapse was lessened. When House was usurped, he was used to focus the chaos of Big Mountain.

Before you exterminated the Marked Men, you did everything you could to see if their minds could be returned to them. When you saw that nothing could be done to save them, you put their scarred and tortured souls to rest. The Tunnelers were a threat to all, a piece of a long forgotten past that should have remained there. You merely did what should have been done millennia ago. Everywhere you go, death and destruction follow in your wake. Paul, the apocalypse ain't got nothing on you." She said with a small chuckle. "Yet despite the chaos and devastation, everything you have done was with the best of intentions and to make the world a better place. The amazing part was that you did.

You, Paul, are a monster. But a righteous one."

I didn't know what to say to the woman as I tried to stop the tears that fell from my eyes. I didn't even know when they had started Whatever this woman was, she knew me on a level that no one ever had before, and she had laid my deeds bare. The good, the bad and the ugly. I had no words for her, no curses to unleash upon her or kindness to offer.

It was at that moment that a roar from the crowd penetrated deep underground, causing Roo and I to both glance up at the ceiling. After that, I felt the platform shift under my feet and I realized the finale was about to start. I was about to turn away from the woman before I heard her voice call out to me once more.

"Paul."

I stopped where I was and looked over my shoulder at the woman. Her smile had lost its sadness and once again turned vicious.

"Show those fools the wrath of a righteous monster."

I had a mask covering my face, but somehow, I knew she could see the smile that matched hers. I gave her a nod before turning around and climbed into the Lucky Devil.

…-…

Overlord Vox was not necessarily what most people would call a happy person. Considering he was in Hell, he had every reason not to be happy. Sure, he could fake it for the camera but anyone semi perceptive could tell that he was almost always upset with something or someone. Annoyed and irritated was his go to emotions, but now his 'employees' knew to stay out of his way because for the last couple of days he had been legitimately pissed. No one mentioned it, but they all knew it was because of the return of the Radio Demon.

Thankfully for his workers, he was less likely to take his frustrations out on them when he had something big he needed to focus on, and the V Bowl was big. It was something that the demons of hell could look forward to after the fear of E-Day and it was carefully designed to get people's blood pumping for hours until it reached the climax that was the gladiator orgy. Which was why Vox was beyond pissed at what Valentino pulled at the last minute.

"You better not have fucked us Val." The TV headed demon said as he turned towards the moth demon who was sitting next to him, his red fluffy wings he usually had wrapped around him were draped over the back of his chair.

"Oh just relax. I picked these sluts out myself. Oh, everyone is just going to love watching the studs break in my new bitches." Valentino said he licked hips with his long tongue.

"Except they're not your bitches!" Vox screamed as his left eye glitched. "You have literally thousands of experienced hookers and whores to choose from and what do you do? You grab some assholes off the street! Our brand is perfection, and our customers expect perfection! Yet on one of the most important days of the year, rather than go with professionals, you went with people who can't even be called amateurs!"

Despite being yelled at by an Overlord, Valentino didn't seem to care at all. "Oh cool your cock, would you? You wanted perfection? Well then, I had to spice things up because things were getting dull. I needed to toss in some virgin blood and there's nothing like taking someone's cherry in front of everyone. Those kinds of experiences just can't be faked." He said while panting and a glance down showed Vox just how into it his partner was.

"You better be right because our hundred contestants just got cut in half." Vox said as he turned back to his screen and plugged himself into the system. He and Valentino had done this so many times they didn't even need to be in the stadium to oversee things, instead they managed the show from the comforts of their tower. Velvette would have been with them to post about the games but unfortunately, she had to deal with the meeting of Overlords that Carmilla had called. When she got back, he hoped she could confirm his suspicions about what…happened…to the angel.

From the camera in the arena's announcer booth, Vox watched as one of the gladiators decapitated another. The moment his head hit the floor, Vox activated a loud horn as the stadium lights flashed red and blue. All the fighting in the arena stopped and the crowd let out a cheer of delight as they realized the first half of the finale was over, and they all knew what was coming next.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Hacksman is the last to fall and with that the gladiators have been cut in half. Literally in some cases. Too bad for those fucks because that means they are disqualified and are gonna missing out on the best part."

The remaining fighters let out whoops and hollers as they realized that meant they were the ones who did get to participate.

"Now for all of you new fucks, the rides not over yet. Once you grab your prize and have a bit of fun, you have to defend your ill-gotten gains from the Champion!"

As he yelled the last part, the crowd broke out into a chant, screaming "CHAMP" over and over again in anticipation. Vox let a smirk cross his face at their enthusiasm. He may not like the sick bastard, but he couldn't say he wasn't a money maker. Val had made the right call hiring him.

"Now for the moment you've all been waiting for! CLAIM YOUR PRIZE!" he bellowed as the door in the middle of the arena opened and the pillar and platform ascended.

His smirk fell off his face as instead of a couple dozen demons chained up and ready to get fucked, there was a large seven foot tall, horned, metallic looking green demon. Unlike most demons of his height, there was nothing scrawny or thin about him.

The demons of the arena stood there confused and not sure what to do. Were they all supposed to share this guy or maybe fight for him? No one had any clue what was going on until wone of the gladiators, a yellow dog man stepped forward.

"So, do we, uh, do we fuck you?" he asked.

The green demon let out a distorted electronic chuckle before he lashed out and grabbed the demon by the throat and lifted him into the air as the canine clawed at the arm the held him. All he accomplished was scratching the paint, if barely.

"Nope. You're the ones getting fucked."

The demon closed his hand, and the entire audience the dog's neck was so thoroughly crushed that his head literally popped off his shoulders. Then with one hand, the Lucky Devil flung the body into the crowd, and when the body hit the stands, the nearest onlookers were covered in gore as it splattered on impact.

From his seat in his tower, Vox turned to glare at a fuming Valentino. "Perfection my ass."

…-…

The Arena

From where I stood, I could hear the crowds whispering among themselves, trying to figure out what was going on. To my slight surprise, no one was panicking or rushing towards the exits. In fact some of the demons near the man I threw were looting his body for souvenirs. I supposed when you lived in hell and couldn't die, there was no real reason to run just because a gladiator got little feisty. Boy was that going to cost them all as I could see a slug demon holding up the tin can device I slipped onto the dog man's body before I sent him flying.

"Heh, surprise! We knew you all were starting to get bored with the usual stuff, so we decided to change things up!" Vox said over the speakers, lying through his electronic teeth. He was just trying to cover his ass. "Say hello to the mean green machine! For all of you fighters still in the game, the first one he puts this bastard down gets all of tonight's entertainment for yourself. So get to killing!"

Heh, I had to give the demon credit, he knew how to think on his feet.

Unfortunately for the demon nearest me, he couldn't say the same. The fish man with glowing gills just stood there in shock as I ran in him over and his body was crushed underneath my steel foot. One again I felt the heat of radiation flow through me, but I was going to have to get used to it, because I had dozens of demons glaring at me with hunger in their eyes. They all brandished their weapons, let out their war cries and charged me head on.

Unlike what old world movies would tell, there was no honor in a fight like this. They didn't come at me one at a time or wait their turn to attack. They tried to use their numbers to mob me, to tear me apart like a pack of wild dogs would. They jumped onto my armored form, swinging away with swords, knives, clubs and I think one of them even had a trident. I stood still as they attacked, making sure to guard my joints and making a token effort in warding them off. I wanted them to surround and dog pile me, because though they hadn't yet realized it, they were walking right into my trap.

Once I felt the armor starting to tip under the combined weight of dozens of bodies, I activated the armor's tesla system, appropriately named the Devil's Inferno. Amber lighting burst out from my armor and into the demons, their Romanesque weapons and armor serving as perfect conductors. The demons screamed in pain as their various forms of flesh began to bubble and blacken, the one who had hair suddenly found it ignited. I couldn't smell it through my helmet's filters, but I knew the smell of burning flesh must have been overwhelming.

The ones on the outside of the pile were no doubt confused as the sinners closest were suddenly doing everything in their power to get away from me and trampling the slower gladiators underfoot. Satisfied with the carnage, I turned off the electricity and threw my arms back to dislodge the charred corpses that still clung to me, sending some of them flying at the still active combatants.

The gladiators backed away from me, now much more wary, which was perfect for me because it gave me time to take in the damage I had done. There were about a dozen blacked bodies littered around me, meaning I had reduced their numbers by at least a fifth. Then I saw one of the burnt corpses move, seemingly trying to crawl away. I couldn't have that.

Grabbing the thing by their head, I saw that the demon was so burnt that I couldn't even tell what gender it was, not that it particularly mattered at the moment. Pulling back my arm, I sent a metal fist crashing through their ribcage and out their back. I made sure to stealthily reatomized and hid a can inside the chest cavity before throwing the body into the crowd on the opposite side of the previous one. The crowd roared their approval, uncaring that I hit an audience member in the process.

I herd the crunching of footsteps behind me, and I spun around to see demon that resembled an African water buffalo charging me with his head lowered and horns aimed at my chest. With his head down like that, he didn't realize I had sidestepped his attack until he felt my metal fingers grab the back of his armor and yanked him towards me. He struggled against my literal steel grip but could ultimately do nothing as I lifted him up into the air with both hands, and then brought him crashing back down onto my armored knee. His spine snapped in half and his body folded around my leg, much to the crowd's delight.

I hated these people, hated the fact they literally came here to get off on someone else's pain and misery, but I could help but soak in their applause. Something deep and dark inside me reveled in putting these demons in their place, loved the feeling of spilling blood. I had felt that way, but I had tempered that bloodlust and that call for violence by only unleashing it on those I considered evil, like raiders, super mutants and slavers. If someone made the foolish mistake of attacking me, I would show them no mercy.

I supposed Roo was right, I really was a monster. But right I was a monster who was fighting to protect some of the few demons I had seen any shred of good in them. I refused to let that light be stuffed out by some cruel bastards who just wanted to use them to fulfil their sick fantasies.

Picking up the buffalo man, who seemed to still be conscious, I flung him headfirst at another one of the fighters, a nine foot tall pale man with disgustingly long and skinny limbs. The skinny man's chest collapsed the buffalo demon's horned head slammed into it at high speeds. Their bodies hadn't hit the ground before I had moved on to my next target.

A pink skin and white haired woman with a single black horn jutting out of her forehead thrust a barbed spear at my chest, but I stopped the strike by grabbing her weapon just behind the tip. She tried to drop her spear and retreat, but I wouldn't allow that. Grabbing her by the face with my free hand, I jerked my arm and tore her head from her shoulders, spun around and slammed her horn into the top of the skull of another gladiator. Then lifting up the spear in my other hand, I sent the weapon hurting through the air, managing to impale two demons at once.

I heard a roar from my left and suddenly felt something heavy and powerful slam into me and nearly made me stumble. Turning around, I came face to face with what looked like to be a four-armed white gorilla. He let loose another roar and let me see a mouth full of fangs before hitting me with a flurry of blows. The power armor was made to survive the fury of war, but like all things there was only so much punishment something could take before it gave. It wasn't anywhere close to the breaking point yet but that didn't mean I should just let the demon wail on me without reprisal.

I let the King Kong reject land a few more hits before I retaliated. As he threw a punch at my chest, I met his fist with my own. Flesh and steel met with a wet squelch, and suddenly the gorilla's hand was a bloody mess of shattered bones. It lashed out in pain with another of its fist's, but I managed to catch this one. Gripping it tightly I used the demon's weight against itself and executed what I thought was an excellent one arm shoulder throw. As soon as the gorilla slammed into the ground, I lifted up my left foot and sent it smashing down onto its skull, my foot now absolutely covered in grey matter.

Let go of the white furred arm just in time to snatch a blue and black skinned three eyed frog out air. I tilted my head to the side to avoid the long sticky tongue that shot out of its mouth, the end dripping with what looked like some sort of caustic acid. I grabbed the tongue before it could pull back, and with a quick but powerful, ripped it out of the thing's mouth. It screamed in pain as blood spilled from its maw, but I shoved my right arm down its gullet to silence its cries. Then I activated the tesla field along my arm, burning the sinner from the inside out. Before I pulled my arm out, I left behind another can and then much like the times before, sent the body hurtling into the crowd.

It went on like that for minutes. Some gladiator would gather the courage to attack me, only to promptly be torn apart. Heads were smashed, limbs broken, jaws ripped off, eyes gouged out and flesh was seared black. Every now and then I would take one of their bodies and toss it into the excited crowd, all the while the people were unaware of the devices I planted them. With every death I could feel my radiation levels rising and the heat in my chest growing and spreading to my limbs. I could even begin to hear my Geiger counter let at small ticks as the fight went on.

Eventually I ran out of my devices and solely focused on my opponents which much like those cans were quickly running out. I was down to just two gladiators. One bulbous fly demon who was buzzing about in panic and a mantis woman who stood there shaking in fear. It was clear they were both terrified and were figuring out whether they should fight or take flight.

With a scream of madness, the mantis girl chose fight.

When she leapt at me, I just held out my hand and her by the top of her head. She used her clawed hands to try and free herself but like demons before her, it was in vain. I held her up and made sure to stare deep into the fly demon's compound eyes, not even look at the demon in my grasp as I flexed my power armor's fingers and cracked her head open like a melon.

"Boo." I whispered at the fly, who immediately scream in fear, threw his knives into the air and started flying away in a panic towards the arena entrance. I was content to let the thing live, but unfortunately for the fly, the moment he got close to the gate, a stream of fire erupted from the darkness. He was fried instantly, and his corpse fell to the floor, his flesh sizzling and popping as the flames consumed him.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but the crowd seemed to know as their cheers intensified.

"Well would you look at that? The man of mystery has butchered all these poor bastards. Not bad, not bad. He might even be champion material! Although I don't think the current champ is going to give up that title so easily." Vox said sounding smug.

"You know and love. He's the most unhinged, nastiest and downright fiendish bastard this side of hell! Men, woman and children are never safe when he's around and hey, we wouldn't want him any other way. He's the grill master, the chef who loves his ass well done, the bastard who brings the heat!"

Entrance to the arena was blocked by a curtain of flame and out of the fires came a demon that stood about eight feet tall, with cloven hooves and ever inch of his skin that I could see appeared to be charred black and in some places the muscle was exposed. He wore dirty steel armor that had black spikes sticking out of his shoulder pauldrons. Not much of his head was exposed but I could tell it wasn't human shaped. The face seemed elongated and covered by steel welding mask with a single red square lens to look out of while two horns like a bighorners curled out the sided of his head, and I could make out a mohawk over his mask. The thing that immediately caught my attention was the black, double barreled flamer in his hands that was hooked up to a large red fuel tank on his back.

He was a rather Intimidating demon, yet there was something oddly…familiar…about the man. I wracked my brain trying to figure out if I had ever run into demon like him since ive been down here but came up with nothing. So, if I hadn't run into him in hell, maybe I knew him back when he was alive? Following that train of thought, it only took me moment to put the pieces of what knew about the man and my eyes widened in shock. The only person I knew matched this demon was…was…

"Its Cook-Cook!" Vox bellowed and the crowd cheered.

"Fuck yeah it is!" the fiend screamed he let loose a burst of flame of flame from the top barrel while the bottom one lobbed balls of fire into the air like an incinerator, not caring that he set several of the audience members on fire.

As the he made his way towards me, I clenched my teeth as a new rage burst to life. I could feel the heat inside me grow ever hotter and my Geiger counter was constantly ticking now and unlike last time, I did nothing to quell it.

Cook-Cook was one of the Fiend Bosses that had terrorized the outskirts of New Vegas for years. The Fiends weren't a massive threat, but they were a constant thorn in the Mojave's side, or they had been until I slaughtered their leadership. Motor-Runner as the only Fiend who wasn't high on chems all the time was the ruthless leader who held the gang together, Violet was nearly as feral as her dogs and Driver Nephi was monster in close range combat. All three of them had been people to fear, but of all the Fiends, the one who had terrified people the most was Cook-Cook. The raider had made a name for himself as rapist, arsonist, sadistic killer and possibly as a cannibal. There had been no act too depraved for the man and if only raped you, you were getting of easy. Most people he burned to death after he was done using them. He didn't care if you were a man or woman, young or old, hell you didn't even have to be human he'd rape and burn you to death and laugh about it. He was one of the few people I had encountered in the wastelands that I could truly call irredeemably evil. I had enjoyed watching him scream as I burned him to death with his own flamer.

Now here we were about to throw down again. I was going to enjoy this.

"Hey, you green fuck!" he screamed for everyone to hear. "You think you can come in here and smack the shit out of these worthless assholes? I don't fucking think so because that my gig you hear me!? Although I am looking for a new bitch. The whores around here break to easy, but you seem like you could last a while. Now how's about you be a good little bitch and get on all fours and I won't be too rough. Hell, I won't even use the flamer…this time."

He let a cruel laugh at his own inside joke. I just stared at him, refusing to dignify that with a response.

"Hey bitch, you deaf or just stupid?" he asked.

"You died screaming."

"…What?" he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"You. Died. Screaming." I said slowly. "You begged, pleaded and whined like a bitch as you burned. I'm pretty sure you also pissed yourself but considering your usual stench that was probably an improvement."

"No, I didn't you little fuck!" the man lifted his custom flamer and let loose a flurry of fireballs. "I went out killing NCR bitches like a badass!"

I ducked and weaved through the onslaught of attacks. I could see why he had preferred the standard flamer; his aim was crap.

"You died alone and afraid! Sixteen years ago, a man with a rifle found you in the middle of the night and could have killed you at any time. A bullet to the heart and it would have all been over before you even knew what had happened. But he thought you didn't deserve a simple death like that. He decided to make it a painful one instead. So, he started by killing your brahmin."

"You keep Queenie out of your whore mouth!" he yelled as he continued to shoot at me from a distance.

"He watched as you screamed and lost your mind. He watched as in your rage, you burned the Fiends with you to death. They didn't even know why you turned on them but soon you were all alone, screaming in the wind. The man took aim from where he was perched and blew out your kneecaps. You fell to the ground and wailed like a baby!"

Cook-Cook tried to close the distance, but I just made sure to keep just out of reach. I could see his frustration building as his body shook with rage.

"Then the man walked up to you, and you could do nothing as he beat you into the ground and took the flamer off your back! You saw him ignite it and you started begging, saying you'd do whatever he wanted! That you would suck his cock, that you would let him fuck you in the ass, that you would be his little baby bitch!" I spat out with as much venom as I could muster.

"As he stood over you, he never once thought about taking you up on any of your offers. Instead, he could only think of the boy you burned to death as you made his sisters watch. He thought of all the people who died in agony, begging for their lives to your sick amusement! So, when it was your turn to beg, he ignored you. He used your own flamer to boil you alive in your own metal armor, making sure that his smiling face would be the last thing you ever saw."

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" the former Fiend screamed as he whipped his weapon about like a madman, not even trying to aim at me anymore.

"After he watched you die, pulled out a ripper and sawed your head off. He left your body to be picked apart by the vultures and turned your head into the NCR for bag of caps. And do you want to know the best part?" I asked with a smile. "I spent all the money getting drunk in Vegas! Your life was only worth single bender!"

I let loose a mad cackle as the demon let out a scream of rage.

"I'll kill you, you fucker!" he yelled as he charged me and this time I didn't dodge.

I was bathed in fire, but my armor easily protected me from the flames, not that Cook-Cook noticed. He was so deep in his anger that he failed to realize several things. First was that a short burst from a flamer was only going to scorch the paint, and second, he had never let his finger off the trigger. He was screaming his head off and had just gotten within striking distance when his flamer ran out of fuel.

"Oh shit." The demon squeaked out before I literally grabbed him by the horns.

With all the strength of the power armor at my disposal, it was easy to lift the man up and start spinning in place. It was difficult trying to maintain my balance in such heavy and bulky armor, but I was both agile and had plenty of experience with power armor, so I managed it. I was really starting to gain momentum when there was a crack and Cook-Cook went flying, bouncing painfully across the ground. Glancing at my hands, I realized the I still had both of his horns in my hands, their ends dripping with blood.

Dropping the horns to the dirt, I walked over the pillar, found the longest chain I could and ripped it from the column. I gave it a few experimental swings and snapped it like a whip. With a nod of approval, I turned to face Cook-Cook, who was just getting to his feet and putting a new fuel cannister in his flamer. I was just about to approach the demon when I heard something strange.

Here in the middle of hell, in a gladiatorial arena with a roaring crowd screaming for blood, I heard the sound of a bow being pulled across violin strings. Those few notes immediately brought back memories of the Capital Wasteland. Camping out on the irradiated ruins on cold lonely nights, Agatha's violin music had been one of the few things that had given me comfort, especially after I lost dad. Looking behind me at the pillar, I realized that the sound had come from above. Shifting my gaze upwards, there on top of the black stone with her hair swaying in the wind, was Roo. In her hands she carried a beautiful silver violin that gleamed underneath the stadium lights. She had it pressed up against her left cheek as she tested the string and before tuning them.

She saw me looking up at her and she gave me another wicked smile. I looked at the crowd to see if any of them had noticed her but from what I can tell everyone's attention was focused solely on Cook-Cook and I. Turning back to her, I tilted my head in silent question.

"None of them can hear or see me, which is just fine by me. This song was meant for your ears only." She said as she readied her instrument. "In honor of your reunion with your old acquaintance and the wonderful finale you have planned, I present to you Wicked Games."

She began to play and the song she produced was both simple yet beautiful. It had a swaying rhythm yet behind its notes was a hint of something dangerous but hidden out of sight. I found myself swaying in time tune with the music as I made my way towards my hated enemy.

He launched several more fireballs and I easily dodged them without missing a beat, and I retaliated by whipping him in the side of the face with the chain. His head whipped to the side as he stumbled but managed to stop himself from falling. Before he could attack again, I sent the chain crashing into the side of his knee, making him to cry out as he was forced to kneel. He brought up his weapon despite the awkward position he was in. I ignored the flames as I launched the chain at him again, this time making sure that it didn't whip him, but wrapped around his neck.

With a powerful tug, Cook-Cook found himself flying through the air before I struck him in the chest with a flat palm strike. I heard his ribs crack as he was launched back, landing awkwardly on his fuel tank and worsening his injuries.

Stepping up to him, I pulled the weapon out of his hands and the tank off his back and tossed it to the side. Cook-Cook tried to crawl away but with the chain still wrapped around his neck, he wasn't going anywhere. I pulled him back towards me, but he lashed out with a hooved kick that bounced off my armor with a clang. Grabbing the offending leg with my free hand, I flung the man into the air before letting him and then catching by his chest piece. The demon was taller than me by a foot, but holding him like this, he seemed so much smaller. I was somewhat surprised when the sinner pulled his head back for a headbutt and slammed his mask into my helmet. It didn't go well for Cook-Cook, no doubt forgetting that I had torn off his horns, his head protection was nowhere near as sturdy as mine. He let out a groan as he clutched at his masked face, though I made sure he quickly forgot about his face as I activated the armor's Tesla coils.

His metal armor may have been good against small arms fire, but it was awful against energy weapons, what with steel being an excellent conductor and all. So, I watched as the demon writhed and spasmed as amber electricity coursed through his body and just when I saw him on the edge of consciousness, I cut off the power and he fell limp in my grasp. I gave him a quick shake and his only response was to groan in pain. Satisfied that wouldn't fight back, I began to wrap him up using the chain, making sure it was so tight that he was immobilized. Once I was done, I dropped him to the floor and went to grab the discarded flamer.

I don't know if Roo was simply playing the music as it was supposed to be played or if she could sense my intent, but as soon as I picked up the weapon, the music intensified and the menace that had been hidden had been exposed.

"This bring back any fond memories Cook-Cook?" I asked as I prepped the flamer.

"F-fuck you b-bitch." He managed to croak out as he coughed up blood.

"What? No begging this time? No offer of sexual favors? Heh, guess you managed to grow spine after you died. But you know what? I think I'm going to take you up your previous offer. I've got something long and hot you can suck on. Now open wide."

Although he struggled to break free, Cook-Cook could do nothing as I slammed the nozzles down his throat, ignoring the sound of flesh tearing as they reached his stomach. I smiled behind my helmet as I pulled the trigger and stepped back to watch the show. It didn't take long for the flames to burst out of his abdomen as he writhed in agony. His flesh bubbled and melted until he was nothing more than a charred husk. All the while the crowd cheered, and the violin played on.

"Well, well would you look at that! It looks like we've got ourselves a new V Bowl Champion!" Vox said with what I could tell was fake cheer, not that the crowd noticed or cared.

Their shouts changed, instead of a mass of noise it became a unified chant of "New Champ! New Champ! New Champ!"

In that moment, I realized how much I hated these people. Tens of thousands of people who had condemned themselves to damnation had decided to spend money on tickets to watch people maim and kill each other. They wanted to watch the prisoners be gang raped and when they didn't get it they were disappointed until they got to watch more carnage. They had cheered for Cook-Cook. They had cheered for Cook-Cook. They had cheered for Cook-Cook!

Now here they were cheering for me, and it made me sick. Any and all sympathy I potentially had for these people was dead and buried. Now it was about time I burned this whole fucking stadium down.

"So, Champ," Vox spat. "What do we call you?"

What do they call me? I hadn't considered that. With this armor they would never be able to recognize me out of it, but I suppose if I gave them a fake name it would just make it an even larger goose chase. I was about to try and figure out a name when all of a sudden one just pooped into my head. I didn't know where it came from, but it just seemed right.

I held up my hand for everyone to see and using the armor's pipboy uplink, I reatomized a detonator. Its trigger already primed.

"Heh. You can call me…Abaddon." When I pulled the trigger, Roo's song reached new heights, and the arena ignited.

The Nuka-Grenades I had planted on the thrown bodies started going off, exploding into massive balls of blue radioactive flames that incinerated the demons closest to the blast. They were the lucky ones. Others were literally blown apart by the blast and their flaming remains were turned into deadly projectiles that smashed into and burned even more sinners. The ones at the edge of the blast were the least lucky because unlike their fellows, they were still conscious when they were lit on fire. Their panicked flailing and running just allowed the flames to spread even more.

The first grenade want off and took everyone by surprise, dozens of demons dying to the initial explosion and even more as the flames were passed to their neighbors. No one moved, as though they weren't quite sure what was happening, not until the second explosion went off. After that it was pure anarchy with demons pushing, shoving and trampling each other to run away.

As I watched the carnage unfold, I let out a small laugh that turned into a cough. At first, I thought it pass but that small cough quickly turned into painful retching. I didn't realize what was wrong with until I felt a massive wave of radiation fall on me as dozens of demons died all at once. The heat in my chest that had been building up since the moment that I started the fight, suddenly flared to life like an inferno, and that was only when the two bombs went off. I still had eight more to go.

Ther was another explosion, and the heat was starting to become unbearable as my radiation levels climbed ever upwards and it was about that time that my pipboy's Geiger counter stopped ticking and started screaming. On the fourth blast, I realized with dread that my radiation had soared passed the lethal amount and I realized that it didn't matter if I injected myself with all the RadAway I had, nothing was going to stop what came next.

Using the armor's system, I activated my pipboy and managed to atomize both my armor and stealth suit, leaving me standing there in just a pair of black shorts. Then the fifth grenade detonated, and I fell to my knees in agony as the heat went from uncomfortable to excruciating. I glanced down at my limbs and saw with horror that they had begun to glow. A sickly green light shined from deep in my body, letting me see the outlines of my bones. Then the sixth explosion went off and that glow tripled in intensity, and I threw my head back and screamed. Or I tried too at least, because in that moment the pain had stolen my voice.

Yet over the sounds of sounds of screams and cries of panic, over the thunder of explosions, I could still hear Roo's melody. The tempo had had increased, and I could feel it gaining intensity with each detonation.

The seventh, eight and ninth grenades all went off at once, and what his me wasn't a wave, but a tsunami of radiation and the glow of my body had become blinding, and it felt as if I had a sun burning in my chest. I was afraid of what was going to happen next, my body had never been forced to this extreme before. Yet some made part of me was excited, because I was about to witness something new.

The violin played on, and the tenth explosion rocked the stadium. More demons died and that last bit was the straw that broke the brahmins back. The light coming from my body became even more intense and the heat in my chest finally broke free.

The song reached its crescendo and the world around me burned.

…-…

Carmine's Offices

To say the meeting between the Overlords was a disaster was an understatement, they hadn't even been able to go five minutes before they devolved into arguments and insults, though that had mostly between the third member of the Vee's, Velvette, and hells premier weapons dealer, Carmilla Carmine. Of course, with such strong emotions at play with such powerful beings, it hadn't come as a surprise when they burst into song. One that was beginning to draw to a close.

"Oops! Did I strike a nerve?

'Cause when I brought out the angel'shead," Velvette sang as she tossed said haid onto the table. "couldn't help but observe, that your wrinkled face was turning red!

And why areyouavoiding war? That's what the guns you sell are for! Thanks to my being respectless, one thing I'm starting to suspect is" she said as she got in the taller sinner's face"You know why this angel's headless! Do you have a disclosure?"

"This meeting's over!" Carmilla ended the song, leaving the two women too glare at each other with the other Overlords looking on.

"Well, that was a productive meeting!" Alastor said with amusement from his chair.

"Hm. Fine." Velvette said as she got off the table and towards the door. "Safe travels back to the nursing home, fuckers! You all can kiss my-"

Whatever she was about to say went unheard, as there was a flash of intensely bright light from the windows, quickly followed by a shockwave that either cracked or shattered all the glass in the building. All the Overlords spun around or turned their heads to see what was going on. What they saw made quite a few of them, including Velvette, Carmilla and other Overlords who came to hell during the Fall, pale in fear.

There off in the distance on the other side of Pentagram City, right where the Vox Arena had been, was a roiling mass of fire and smoke. That mass soon took on a distinct shape, one that made millions of people across the city shaking in fear.

"Oh fuck." Velvette said in a low, terrified voice as she stared at mushroom cloud.

…-…

A few hours later

"Please try again!?" Charlie asked slash demanded as she grabbed onto Angel's coat.

"Toots, I've already tried calling solder boy dozens of times. I'm not even getting an answering machine. If he's still in one piece, we won't know unless he shows up in person."

Charlie let go if the sinner with sigh and thanked him for at least trying to get in contact with Paul.

The day had been going so well. The residents had just spent the entire day trying to bond and build trust, and actually seemed to accomplish that after putting Vaggie in charge. After fighting together, Angel, Sir Pentious and Husk were all laughing and sharing stories of their failures and accomplishments. Nifty on the other hand was just laughing like a maniac and Charlie wasn't sure she knew what was going on.

Then there was that massive explosion that seemed to send most of the city into yet another panic and after that came the refugees. They had claimed to be prisoners who escaped from the V Bowl and had been told that the Hotel would be a safe place to hide out while the heat died down. She had been confused at first until they told her that the one who had both freed them and told them to come here had been none other than Paul.

It was at that point that Angel had confessed to them what Paul had planned to do and honestly? Charlie didn't know how to feel. One the one hand, her heart swelled with pride knowing that the man had gone out of his way to save these people. On the other hand she wanted to slap him in the face for doing something so stupidly dangerous and making her worry.

She made her way toward the front door, sat down and pressed her back against it. She was trying to get herself to calm down, but she couldn't help but worry about the man. He was so kind and polite, she honestly questioned what he was doing in hell.

She had just closed her eyes when a loud banging on the door startled her. Getting up off the floor, she dusted herself off and made sure to smile before she opened the door.

"Hello! How can…I...Paul?" she asked with her eyes wide.

Standing before her was what seemed to be Paul, except he didn't look like himself anymore. The first thing she noticed was that save for the electronic gauntlet on his left arm, he was completely naked. She knew she should be more concerned about his health, but she couldn't help but admire his well-built physique and his, rather sizable, package. She fought down a blush before focusing on the most obvious change. He was glowing green and if what she was seeing was right, the light was allowing her to see his skeleton. Finally, were his eyes. Before they simply had a green glow, but now not only did they produce their own green light, but the white sclera had also turned black as night.

"Hey Charlie, how ya been?" he asked, sounding like he was not all there.

His drastic change in appearance was extremely startling, but Charlie managed to push that concern to the side for now. "Shit Paul, are you all right?" she said gesturing to his glowing form.

"What me? Oh I've never felt better." He said with a half heart smile that didn't reach his eyes. The smile dropped from his face a Paul changed right before Charlie's eyes. The glow slowly dimmed until it completely disappeared, his normal skin tone returned and the black of his eyes faded back to white. It was then that Charlie could see just how unfocused Paul actually was.

"You know, now that you mention it, I do feel pretty tired. I think I'm going to take a nap." Paul said before falling face first onto the floor.

"Paul!" Charlie shouted before rushing to help the fallen man.

…-…

Unknown Location

In a darkened room, nothing could be seen save for one large, illuminated screen that showed footage of the day's events. The fight played on and by the end the metallic man was completely drenched in blood. Rewinding to the beginning of the fight, the screen paused on the image of the man and began to scan the image.

"Analyzing." A accented voice of a man said from nowhere. "Mark two enclave tesla power armor, used by the D.C. Enclave, stationed out Raven Rock. Though clearly altered."

The screen zoomed in on the white symbol painted on the armor's left breast.

"A four-leaf clover symbol crossed by two swords. The known iconography of the mercenary group known as Reilly's Rangers, based out of D.C."

The screen the fast-forwarded to just before the explosions, when the figure gave his name. "Heh. You can call me…Abaddon."

"Analyzing. Ninety six point seven percent known match."

It let the video play and the scenes of carnage played out, but the camera was still focused on the warrior, who's armor disappeared in a flash of light and was replaced by a glowing man. The light coming from the man caused a lens flare and proper identification could not be made. So instead of focusing on the man's face, it zoomed in on the gauntlet the man was wearing.

"RobCo Pipboy 3000. Exclusively distributed to vaults built within both the D.C. and Mojave regions. Serial number 101-2106. Last assigned to Vault resident on July 13, 2268. Last known status of resident, alive."

All of a sudden, the screen changed to a solid dark blue background with a light blue horizontal line while a ring of blue light appeared on the floor, illuminating what the screen was attached to.

There was no computer to be found, instead there stood a demon than upon first glance, one might mistake him for Overlord Vox with his screen like head. The demon had the standard tall and skinny frame that was garbed in a fine black prewar suit with red and blue stiped tie that had a large white star in the center. On his lapel sat a golden pin, one that resembled a capital E surrounded by thirteen stars.

"Hello again Mr. Harbinger." John Henry Eden said as the line on his screen fluctuated with his voice. "Just what is a living human doing in Hell?"

…-…

Man, what a ride. So, in case you were wondering what that was all about, I decided to give Paul the Nuclear Anomaly perk, effectively turning him into a walking atomic bomb.

Also if you were wondering about Roo's song, its called Wicked Games by Ramin Djawadi.

So to give a brief recap, Paul executed a stealth mission, saved the damsel, had a heart to heart with evil itself, unleashed his inner doomslayer, caused a mass casualty event, triggered half of Hell's PTSD and got the attention of an old friend. All in a day's work for the world's chewtoy.

Now go ahead and please leave a review and have a pleasant day!