The dense city blocks seemed to drag on forever as we moved slowly through the ruins of downtown Boston, but with a veritable army in tow, it was no surprise we were making such poor time. I truly hated this feeling... To be so exposed and out in the open like this, but hey, at least there was strength in numbers, even if those numbers would've taken my head if they could. That was at least one thing Hancock had gotten right, things might have been bad, but they could always get a whole lot worse...

Even as the thought was forming in my mind, a hard shove suddenly hit me from behind, catching me off guard and sending me face-first towards the ground. Before I knew it, I found myself lying in a puddle of thick irradiated sludge, a roar of laughter erupting all around me. As I wiped the grime from my eyes, I glared daggers at the blurry figure already disappearing back into the crowd.

"Smooth move, smooth-skin!" A ghoul's raspy voice called back as I got to my feet and shook my head, popping a rad-away for good measure. As if this whole arrangement wasn't bad enough, the entire mob seemed intent on making me suffer as much as possible. Not only was I under a constant barrage of back-handed attacks and thinly-veiled threats, but every time I turned around I would find a bullseye tacked to my back. Worse yet, I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ilya since the journey had begun. No doubt she was somewhere up ahead, being charmed by a certain colonial-clad ghoul that was filling her head with more ridiculous nonsense that would only get us killed, but no matter how hard I tried, the men just wouldn't let me through.

So it was an honest relief when we had finally stopped before the gates of Goodneighbor and the mass of men returned home, back to their lives of drug addiction and abject squalor, leaving only Hancock, Fahrenheit, Ilya, the mutant and myself to journey forth. Unfortunately for me, that relief was fast short-lived.

Though we may have been making better time, it was clear by the quickly changing surroundings that we were descending deeper into the dark heart of the Boston wilds, each neighborhood we saw getting uglier and more dangerous with every passing second. Before too long, the metallic song of groaning ruins and echoing winds were replaced by the constant crackle of gunfire and the smell of sulfur and blood. Even Fahrenheit was starting to look a bit nervous as she led the beast through the wreckage, her hawkish eyes on the constant lookout for any sign of danger. Hancock, on the other hand, seemed completely unconcerned. An animal in his own element, he maneuvered deftly through the labyrinthian alleyways without a sound, every passageway memorized from decades of a life on the run.

At last, we found ourselves traversing through the crumbling ruins of the once majestic theatre district, and though the grand gothic statues still glared down at us from atop the towering buildings, it was quickly becoming clear that this was no longer the center of high society it once was. No, the lure of the theatre seemed to attract a different kind of clientele these days... The kind usually reserved for a psych ward or police lock-up, well, back when those were a thing, anyway. Nowadays, they could be more commonly found shooting at you from a blown-out high rise, chem-fried out of their mind and wearing their mother's face as a mask.

Which could only mean one thing... We were in raider country now.

And just like that, bringing along a little extra muscle didn't seem quite so crazy after all. Even as the mutant growled and gnawed at his chains, I'd bet my last bullet he was the only thing standing between us and a slow painful death right now. The raiders around us watched carefully as we walked through their territory, their eyes boring into the back of our heads as they sized us up, no doubt considering which spices would taste better with our roasted flesh.

Every now and again, I could hear the boldest among them hoot and holler in our direction, from colorful catcalls to vicious death threats, the scumbags sure knew how to get under your skin. It wasn't so bad at first, until the details started to get disturbingly graphic. I tried to push it all out of my mind, but thankfully, finally, we turned down one last street and found ourselves staring at the once famous Orpheum Theatre, the architectural dream of a gilded age master, now transformed into a modern day nightmare...

The place was lit up like a whorehouse in a New Vegas back alley, and it was just as loud too. Music blared through the thick wooden doors of the entrance, an occasional wave of cheers and hollers erupting from within. Harsh neon lights illuminated the dark street with an eerie red glow that only accentuated the human misery lying in the gutters, making the whole area feel even more hellish than it already did.

Drunken drifters and jet-lagged junkies stalked the street, always looking for an easy target for a quick hustle or shakedown. (They had a habit to feed after all...) Not only that, but on every corner there stood a scantily clad woman offering up her "services" to those still hanging out in the plaza, their pinstriped pimp looking on from the shadows with a fedora covering his scar-ridden face.

And there, above the entrance, was a bright flashing marquee, the headline "Skinny Malone's Combat Zone" written in what looked suspiciously like blood...

I stood there, dumbfounded. Barely able to speak. I may not have known what Hancock had meant when he said we were going to a show, but this definitely wasn't what I had in mind.

Ilya let out an audible gasp and pointed out a makeshift stage in front of the theatre where several people were tied to wooden posts and had burlap sacks over their heads, the words "RULE BREAKERS" painted in red behind them. Worse yet, none of them appeared to be moving.

"Hancock, what the hell kind of place is this?" I said, no longer able to contain myself, "What are we even doing here?! We can't be seen in a place like this, we're like lambs at the slaughter out here!" I said as I wrapped my arm around Ilya's shoulder, the girl paler than death and visibly shaken.

"Aw, what's the matter, Burnsie?" He replied with a condescending smirk, "Ain't you never been to a real raider's den before? Never knew a Knight of the Brotherhood to be so scared of a few dirty scavvers, but then again, this is you we're talking about... Honestly, how did you ever expect to make it through Nuka World without me?" He added with a smug smirk, and I couldn't help but wonder once again, if this was all just one elaborate trap.

"Oh c'mon now, don't give me that look," He said with a wave of his hand, "Do you really think I'd risk Miss Astor's safety just to teach you a lesson? I don't go writing checks my ass can't cash, Burnsie, unlike some people I know... The truth is, these rat bastards ain't nothin' but talk. This is Malone's turf after all, and he's got turrets and sentinels set up all around this district. So believe me when I say these nut jobs all know their place 'round these parts," he added, spitting on the ground as he did, but I still wasn't convinced.

"I just think it would be safer if we-"

"Listen," he cut me off with a sigh, "Just stick close, follow my lead, and keep your damn mouth shut, got it? You manage that and everything will work out just fine... You have my word."

And with that, he grabbed ahold of the door handles and flung them wide open, the sound crashing through the theatre like a gunshot in the night.

The music stopped. The fight stopped. Everything stopped.

Everything, except the thundering of my heart in my ears.

From the moment Hancock had opened those doors, I knew we hadn't a chance in high-flying hell. As if we had walked right into an old west saloon, the record skipped, scratching to an abrupt halt as every eye in the joint slowly turned on us. Even the two fighters panting on the center stage stared dumbfounded at the spectacle standing in the doorway, not that I could blame them now that I thought about it...

So a ghoul, a super mutant, and a Brotherhood Knight all walk into a bar... I thought morbidly to myself. Sure sounded like the beginning of a bad joke if I had ever heard one, and judging by the looks on the local's faces, I wasn't sure I wanted to know how it ended.

Suddenly, one of the fighters broke free from his reverie and threw a devastating punch, catching his opponent off guard. The man's fist slammed into the other's skull, connecting with a sickening CRACK that sent him flying face-first into one of the caged arena's supporting metal posts.

THUMP

The man crumbled into a bloody heap on the stage floor, his head gashed open and knocked out into oblivion.

The room tensed. The whole crowd sat and stared at the hulk of a man now lying on the ground, their drug-addled brains barely able to process what had just happened. No one said a word, the room so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop...

Then, the room erupted into a sudden roar of whoops and hollers, the people jumping to their feet as they shouted with glee. They'd gambled big and won, and by the look on Hancock's face, that's exactly what he'd been hoping for.

And just like that, the mood eased. The music started up once again and the men returned to their drinks, counting their winnings as the stage was reset for the next match.

I followed Hancock as he stepped over the threshold, the raiders parting like the waters of the Red Sea as we made our way over to the bar, a rickety little shack slapped together down by the stage and stocked with some of the most irradiated booze I'd ever seen, all high enough proof to burn the balls off a bear...

Hancock ordered a drink from the surly-looking barkeep, who served it to him in a glass so filthy it made my skin crawl. Hancock, however, didn't seem to mind at all, chugging it down without a second thought and quickly ordering another. To my shock, he actually offered it to me with a yellow-toothed smile, but in an instant, my stomach turned sour. I shook my head furiously.

"Well, guess that just leaves more for me then!" He laughed at the look on my face, swallowing half the glass in one gulp before easing back into his chair, his beady eyes scouring the room for his contact. A part of me almost wanted to speak up, ask what the plan was and who we were waiting for, but before the words even left my mouth, he shook his head, a sharp warning to keep my mouth shut.

Suddenly, the voice of a woman startled me from behind, a voice so soft and sultry sweet I thought I must be hallucinating. How else could something so beautiful exist in such an ugly place as this?

"John-nee? My John-nee? Why, iz zat really you? Oh, it iz! It iz... My John-nee..."

I spun around to find a beautiful woman standing there, wearing a magnificent red evening gown that seemed to cling to her every curve as she approached Hancock with outstretched arms. She took the man into a loving and familiar embrace before kissing each of his rotting cheeks with a European flair.

"Oh my John-nee..." the woman said with a long deep sigh as she sat next to the ghoul, her eyes filled with longing as she leaned in to whisper more of that intoxicating accent into his ear.

"How long 'az eet been, darling? Far too long, I know zat much. Tell me, deed you come to listen to my next zet? I 'ave been working on a new song just for you, you know... Oh! Unless you are 'ere to take me back to Goodneighbor? Because, non! I cannot! Ze money, it iz too good here... Ze inspiration, too evocative! I could not possibly go now... Why, I do not think there is a single thing you could do zat could convince me... Do you?" She asked with another breathy whisper as her fingers trailed down his chest.

I didn't know what to do. I felt like a deer caught in the headlights, unable to look away no matter how hard I tried. It wasn't just that it was uncomfortable, either... because honestly, it just didn't make any sense! This woman looked like she had walked right off of an Old World movie screen, with that long black hair, those dark dusky eyes, and god, those ruby-red lips... she was every Wastelander's wet dream. So what the hell was she doing here? Let alone fawning over a ghoul like Hancock. The man was one ugly son of a bitch, like all ghouls, you could easily mistake him for something scraped off the side of the road on a hot summer's day. And that was being generous...

To make matters worse, I was starting to get the feeling this wasn't just some cheap call girl, either. The more I thought about it, the more I started to think I'd seen this woman before, heard her sultry voice... In fact, I was sure of it. But where?

And that's when it clicked. This was none other than Magnolia Labelle, the biggest celebrity in the Commonwealth and possibly the most talented songstress in all the New World.

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it sooner. Most of the entertainment these days came from the same old records we'd all heard a million times before, maybe a little Bing Crosby here, a splash of The Ink Spots there, and on occasion you'd get lucky and hear some Dean Martin before they played that dang Wynonie Harris song about his grandma with a gambling problem. But few places were lucky enough to have an artist like Magnolia Labelle to give them something truly beautiful and new, something that actually spoke to the world as it was, and not how it used to be.

As if reading my mind, Hancock quickly flashed me a cocky grin that only I could see, daring a sly wink before returning to his usual devil-may-care attitude.

"Sorry, Mags, this here ain't a social visit," Hancock replied with an indifferent shrug, leaving this beautiful woman to pull back, a look of hurt in her eyes that almost left me wanting to pummel the prick into the ground. That was, until I watched that hurt turn into the most seductive pout I'd ever seen. It was then that I realized this was all just part of the game they were playing, just two strange lovers dancing in a deadly dive bar at the edge of civilization.

"Aw, now don't look at me like that, baby! You know me, any other day and I'd be converting you to Goodneighbor like a preacher trying to save your soul... But as it stands, I got business with the big boss, you understand? We had a meeting and I intend to keep it, even if he don't."

"Well, I suppose I might be persuaded to help," the woman tried once more, but with one stern look from the ghoul's dark eyes, she relented with a deep sigh, "Oh, very well, but just so you know, 'e won't be very 'appy about it. Zat fight was not supposed to go zat way. He will be none too pleased to 'ear he 'as to pay out so much to so many of these... raider scum..." she added with a curl of her lip.

"Well, I suppose that's the price of dealing with dogs, eh? Just go ahead and let him know I'm here darlin', thanks," the man said, but Magnolia didn't move, hesitating as a cautious eye landed on the super mutant standing in the back.

"He... iz also not going to be very 'appy about ze mutant... situation. Perhaps if ze beast could only wait outsid-?"

"Nah, I don't think so. I'd rather keep him close, if ya don't mind," Hancock cut her off with a dismissive wave, "Now run along sweetheart, I ain't got all day..." And with that he turned his back to her, ignoring the look of hot indignation on her face.

"Oh John-nee, why must you be so cruel?" the woman cried out with all the drama befitting a true diva like herself.

"Fine," she conceded, "For you, John-nee, I will do zis thing, but after you are done, you are to come and see me. I will not let you slip through my fingers once again, mon amour, I want to see you again. Do you understand me?" She commanded with her hand on her hip, but Hancock gave her nothing more than a noncommittal shrug, leaving the woman to storm off in an angry huff.

Several minutes passed by and we eventually found ourselves easing into an old booze-stained table, with nothing to do but drink and wait. Fahrenheit, on the other hand, kept to herself in a dark corner as the crowd avoided her like the new plague, not that I could blame them or anything. Every now and again, the room would rumble with a guttural growl as the beast would gnaw at his chains, roaring out whenever someone would venture too close, just in case they didn't know how badly he wanted to bash their brains in. Super mutants hated humans. Simply hated them. In their twisted, miserable minds, super mutants were the master race, the one true inheritors of the Wasteland as only they were created to withstand its nature. He growled again, this time as his beady black eyes shot towards Fahrenheit, the controller to his collar and the key to his freedom in her hands.

We continued to sit quietly for what seemed like forever, Hancock greeting a few people here and there even as Ilya kept her head down and her mouth shut, not having spoken a word since we'd arrived. I could only hope this meant the girl was starting to rethink this whole 'Nuka World' thing after all. Lord knew I wouldn't mind that change of heart right about now...

As Hancock drained the last of what had to be his fourth or fifth beer, I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to what happened only moments ago. Magnolia Labelle... The Magnolia Labelle... I mean, how the hell does something like that even happen? What the hell does he got to offer a celebrity like her that she can't get from someone with more money, more power, and better looks? It just didn't add up, none of it did. I snuck another look at Hancock from the corner of my eye, the booze running down his radiation scars like rivers in a canyon and I shuddered in disgust. I mean, how could anyone, let alone a famous and beautiful singer like Magnolia Labelle, be attracted to... that?

It had to be some sort of trick, it just had to be. He probably paid her to put on the act, just to boost his own ego and put me on edge. As if a thing like that could ever have a chance with her, or any woman for that matter. Yeah, that was it. Had to be. There was just no other explanation, and Magnolia was a performer, after all.

But then again... said an obnoxious little voice in my head, He certainly did seem to have charmed over Ilya awfully fast. She was only just now starting to trust me and I'm the one that broke her out of the vault!

No, I had to stop that. This was exactly what Hancock wanted, to get in my head and make me second guess myself. There was a difference between him and me and that was he was willing to tell her anything she wanted to hear, whereas I told her the truth from the very beginning. It made sense that someone as naive as Ilya would make the mistake of trusting a filthy snake in the grass like him.

"You got something to say there, Burnsie?" Hancock asked as he stared me in the face, snapping me back to reality as I realized how long I must have been glaring at the man.

"Oh! Er, no not really... It's just, uh, well," I hesitated for a moment, struggling to find the right words, "I was wondering... How did you and Miss Labelle meet exactly?"

In an instant, I knew I had made a mistake. His eyes narrowed with glee as a wide smile tugged his mouth into a toothy, self-satisfied grin as he readied to pounce.

Oh, why can't I ever keep my damn mouth shut? I lamented silently to myself, knowing exactly where this was going.

"What's the matter, Burnsie?" He sneered with a smile, "Don't tell me you're feeling jealous of an ugly old ghoul like me? Or maybe you just ain't so sure of yourself now that you know who you're up against? ...Oh, now I get it! You're hoping I can give you some pointers, is that it? Sorry, don't know if I can help you in that department, after all, from what I hear your last relationship kind of crashed and burned, now didn't it? HA!"

"Oh just forget it..." I deflected, but he wasn't about to let me off that easy.

"Aw c'mon, Burnsie!" He prodded some more, "Don't be like that, I mean, I can at least try to give you some advice. Like, say you're out on a date with your favorite gal, or fella, you know I ain't one to judge, Burnsie-boy," he added with a wink, "but I'd avoid going anywhere too stimulating. You know, no gun ranges, nuclear silos, or high-flying combustible blimps... We just wouldn't want you to get too excited and set off a pre-emptive strike, if you get my meaning. There ain't nothing worse than unwanted friendly-fire, after all...

I groaned as Hancock laughed again, several nearby raiders joining in the chorus. I guess Goodneighbor wasn't the only dump to get a copy of Piper's "Special Edition" after all...

I sighed. Figures. All of civilization sees me as a laughing stock, so why wouldn't I be one out here in the wild too?

"Oh, and don't forget the time-" He started again, but I slammed my fists onto the table, startling Ilya out of her daze as I did.

"Alright! Alright!" I yelled, giving him the very reaction he'd been looking for all along, "I get it, goddamnit... Sheesh, I'm sorry I even asked."

I couldn't have been more thankful when at last, Magnolia finally appeared again and approached our table, a frown on her face and her hand on her hip.

"Tell me the good news, sweetheart," Hancock smiled at Magnolia and she sighed.

"Eet wasn't 'eezy, darling, I must tell you. He was quite upset, but I 'ave convinced him to 'ear you out, however, he must insist zat ze beast stay exactly where he iz, as he absolutely will NOT 'ave zat thing in 'is office. His words, darling, not mine. I 'ope you understand."

"Fine enough, doll-face, just lead the way," he replied with another smile and the three of us got up and followed the woman across the room, leaving Fahrenheit to watch over the mutant in the meantime. We weaved in and out of the bustling crowd, the place even more packed now than when we had first arrived (if that was even possible), and eventually, we were led towards a small hallway off to the side of the theatre with a small seating area and a large pair of wooden doors. Hancock rushed to open them first, ushering both Ilya and Magnolia inside before himself, an unusually gentlemanly gesture, at least, so I thought. As soon as Ilya was out of sight, I watched him grab a firm hold of Miss Labelle's derrière, eliciting a squeal of delight from the love-stricken woman.

Hancock looked back at me for a moment and gave another wry wink before walking inside, leaving me alone in the empty hall.

I did my best to shake it all from my mind. After all, there were much more important things to worry about right now, like finding a way into Nuka World without losing our heads and keeping that mad Director off our trail. Besides, there was no real reason to worry about Ilya with Hancock. She may have been a naive little fool right straight out of the dark ages, but I had faith that she was still smart enough to see past Hancock's grade of bullshit. She just needed a little more time to see it.

Even so, as I reached for the door handle I could still hear Hancock's words echoing back from the other night, just as clear yet even more confident than before.

I have a feeling Miss Astor and I are going to be good, good friends soon enough, just you wait and see, Burnsie, just you wait and see...