The fireworks boomed loudly in the night sky, there lights seeming brighter then that of the stars. The Chairman, the name of the great mafia ruled by Benny that had control of New Vegas were celebrating the third year of there rule.

Daniel Dillinger sat outside the Atomic Wrangler, wearing his white polo shirt and black pants. His curly hair was covered by a black business-hat that barely allowed his green eyes to be seen. Leaning back in his chair, Dillinger let off a sigh as the door to the Atomic Wrangler opened and out walked a bald man in rags... or rather, he stumbled. Clutched in his hand was a bottle of vodka, the buffoon stumbling about.

"Bingo," Dillinger said quietly, eying his target. To his joy, the drunk stumbled right toward the chair near Dillinger and let his body fall on it, chuckling.

"Hey there, ranger," the man that Dillinger knew to be named Garus muttered, "Why aren't you celebrating the holiday? This day here was the day that Benny won us good ol mercenary folk complete independence from those NCR buffoons and Mr.House! Celebrate your freedom!"

Dillinger gave off a amused grunt as a smirk formed on his face. Closing his eyes, he slowly began to slide his hat off, turning and opening them to stare at Garusbdirectly. His targets eyes suddenly widened in recognition, horror. Before Garus could react, Dillinger sprung from his chair and grabbed Garus by the collar, pulling the drunk with ease from the chair and slamming him against the wall.

Garus didn't have a chance to move as he found himself looking directly at Dillinger.

"Y-you! Y-your supposed t-to be d-d-de-"

There was a click as Dillinger slid a red seven shot pistol from his belt, pressing it against Garus's forehead. "To be dead? Believe me Garus, I died two years ago. Im just the ghost of the past coming back to take some vengeance. Now, give me one reason why I shouldn't put a bullet right through your thick skull right now!"

"I-I-I had nothing to do with her death," Garus said, fear heavy in his voice. Dillinger could feel his target shake, see the sweat forming on his forehead. That fear, just witnessing the bastard have it run through his body was bringing Dillinger a satisfaction... but it was not enough. He wanted to make Garus suffer. "Li-listen, I h-had no idea what B-Be-Benny and the others were planning! All I knew was Benny wa-wanted so-someone dead, and he hired m-me-"

"Don't [censored] me Garus," Dillinger hissed, the anger in his voice something not even he recognised as his own. "You knew exactly who it was you were killing. You knew all about Benny's plan! You had a choice, and you chose to take everything I valued, so WHY SHOULD I NOT RETURN THE FAVOR?"

Garus squeezed his eyes shut, begin to whimper. Seeing the excuse of a man was beginning to make Dillinger feel disgusted and the urge to pull the trigger and be done was already taking over.

"I-I... I did it... I did it because I owed Benny. We a-all owe Benny, for our independence. The sacrifices he made, his soldiers made... they freed us from House and the NCR, they saved us from the Legion."

Dillinger narrowed his eyes, slowly pulling the gun away from Garus and backing up. He looked to his left, watching some children kick a stray dog for a little entertainment.

"You think your a free man, Garus," he asked calmly, yet with much hostility, "Is this what you call freedom? Woman living in these slums, trying to survive every day so that they can raise there families... families composed of children whom they do not even know the fathers of? Is freedom being told that youv can't enter some place without the proper amount of currency. A amount that the people here are willing to do anything to get, even if that means they sell there own dignity?"

"Freedom is having one leash removed from you, only to have it replaced by another?" Dillinger looked to Garus, feeling the anger rise up in him once again as his target simply stood frozen, sweat dripping all over his body. "Freedom is finding the only satisfactions in life to revolve around [censored], destroying lives, and dooming yourself? No Garus, that is not being free. That is not being independent."

"Th-then w-what is?"

"...Freedom is the ability to let go. To stop fearing things that are happening, that have happened, and that will. Its the ability to accept the fact that things are currently what they are and that what has happened has happened. The ability to know that when you go for a future, your going to get hurt, the worst of things will happen, but no matter what is thrown at you, you will become whatever you want at the end, not what is allowed right now."

Garus and Dillinger simply stared at one another, the fireworks booming loudly. Garus seemed to relax, chuckling a little in relief.

"I see... so... I can change. Does this mean your not going to kill m-"

Three gunshots interrupted Garua as his brains and skull fragments were blasted into the wall behind him. Some bystanders let out screams as his blood splashed against Dillinger's face. The body collapsed on the ground just as a loud series of booms from the fireworks echoed in the lit up skies.

Grabbing his hat and sliding it on, Dillinger holstered his weapon and walked away from the corpse.

Freedom. The ability to always keep fighting for the best. The ability to always keep enduring the worse.

Happy Fourth of July! Don't get to drunk to the point where you get your face blown off!

Impressive! Is this just a one chapter story or are you planning on making more? Can't leave me hanging, bro!

Nice Black, this was quite refreshing. A "what if" scenario with Benny at the head of it all, quite unexpected, so I applaud you for that :clap:

And it was a very fluid read, a plethora of small grammatical errors, maybe caused by exhaustion? Whatever the reason, a re read would catch those easily enough, if you cared. Really the only potential problem, and I say that because it is really a small thing, perhaps insignificant.



You didn't really need to tell us, and you shouldn't. A writer should able to show us fear without telling us. Show not tell, a standard for writing I believe. And you did show fear right afterwards so it's not beyond you, just need to curb that habit for telling.

Other than that, I liked this. Loved it? Perhaps. I would certainly love to see more with Dillinger if you keep this up, Great Job.

Thanks very much for the feedback Ytrium, I truly appreciate it. Im going to blame some of the grammatical errors on me typing this up with a phone, but the fact is I should probably do some review with grammar sometime this month.

As for whether ill do more of Dillinger or not. I have been thinking about it, and honestly want to. The only reason I stopped the last time was because of school and other projects. The computer I was doing those projects on broke however and the urge to give Dillinger another go has grown into me. So the answer is likely yes Sniper.

Thanks again for the feedback Ytrium, its always welcome and wanted and helps tremendously in both, keeping me motivated and correcting my mistakes. I look forward to more.