The REALLY Wild Wasteland. (The Fallout RP!)

[Generic NPC 22]

Outside The Cellar: The Heist!!

"Here's how its going to work..." Papa Johnny Shakes trailed off, then called out to Slyph, "Slyph! Grab this asshole! We're taking his bird!"

"Okie dokie Papa Johnny Shakes!" The Girl Cloaked in Red yelled as she charged Mister Enclave Power Pants Man as fast as she could causing her Red Cape to billow behind her like - like - like A CAPE!! Faster and faster she ran, closing the gap between them as she did, her sky blue eyes hyper focused on grabbing the man like Papa Johnny Shakes told her to.

"(Grab the asshole! Grab the asshole! Grab the asshole! Grab the asshole! Grab the asshole!)" The thought repeated itself in her mind over and over and over and over and over again as Sylphee got closer and ever closer to Mister Enclave Power Pants Man

GRAB!!!

"I got him! I got him!" The Blue Pony tailed girl yelled as she smiled big and proud of herself to Papa Johnny Shakes as she held on tightly to Mister Enclave Power Pants Man's Power Armor Covered calf.

Mister Enclave Power Pants Man must have been super strong or something because -

KERPOW!!

A boot to Sylphee's face sent her flying backwards towards the ground. Papa Johnny Shakes was probably embarrassed of such a performance wasn't he?

"HAHAHAHAHAH!" Haha'd Mister Enclave Power Pants Man as he cleaned a bit of spit off of his boot and spotted something glittering on the ground - a glittering red gem'd choker.

HUMMMMMMMMMM

"Not laughing now are you?" Asked a stormy voice as Sylph grabbed the barrel of the Enclave Officer's weapon and pulled on it much harder than the man had been expecting, causing his body to pitch forward as he landed on his chest. Lucky for him, that would be the last thing he would hear as the Plasma Pistol discharged, sending a green bolt of plasma crashing into the man's chest. The plasma cascaded outwards from the point of impact until the Enclave Officer's body was totally consumed and left nothing behind, except for a bubbling puddle of green goo.

Looking at Johnny Truant, Sylph nodded as she headed towards the Black Vertibird, twisting her wrist as she triggered the razor sharp lawn mower blade to extend from her red sleeve.

A couple screams and a splash of blood all over the Vertibird windshield later, the formerly Enclave Vertibird was in their possession.

Heading back towards her items, Sylph packed up her belonging and gestured to Johnny and Beryl to get in.

"Where are we going?" Slyph asked in a voice that sounded something like howling winds and heavy rain as she powered on the bird.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Outside the Cellar

Johnny slung Beryl's limp but breathing body over his shoulder and carried her into the vertibird, where he found a pair of handcuffs, and chained her to a pipe running from the floor to the ceiling before strapping her into a seat. Then, he carefully disarmed her... had to make sure she didn't try to shoot at everything that moved when the ***** came to.

In the cockpit

Johnny strapped himself into a seat on the left-hand side of the cockpit and offered Slyph the seat next to him.

Where are we going?" said Slyph in a voice that reminded Johnny of a hurricane he'd once been stuck in for a month.

"GNR, I think," he said, "ThreeDog and I go way back... and he's gonna want to hear about this. Might give us some caps or at least supplies. Just... watch yourself, he was wandering eyes and hands."

And the charisma of Elvis Presley on riddilin.

I took this opportunity to step in again. I turned to face Slyph, and addressed her calmly and politely in a voice that could destroy worlds and shatter sanity.

"Hello there dearie," I said, smiling, "I was hoping we could have a chance to talk. More or less face-to-face. You're not at all like that bundle of energy and... insipid curiosity that Mr. Truant seems to adore... for whatever idiot reason of his. So... I wonder, do you have any idea how you came to be... shackled like this?"

 

[The Harkinator]

"Aaahh! Um.. hey there." Stuttered William, surprised at the multi-coloured person that fate had thrown at him. Pink, blue, black, MASSIVE PLASMA RIFLE. Who was this person? The helmet display sorted that conundrum out pretty quickly. William thought it was very cool to have a HUD and liked looking at people to make their information pop up. When things are as bad as they can be sometimes a helmet that tells you who somebody is can make all the difference.

This Natsuki Manriki seemed to know #37 quite well and was inviting him to a party with flamethrowers and man-eating plants. How could anyone refuse that? Perhaps it was more of a question of how could anyone refuse Natsuki? When a lady with horns and the most "I'm so happy I could disintegrate you right on the spot and laugh all day" attitude in the world asks you to go burning deadly plants with her, you go.

"Clean up? Sure I'd be up for that. Let's go get some fire." Hoping that Natsuki would lead the way, William tried his best "Go on, it's your show" gesture while wearing Power Armour, how did the Enclave do this all day? On another note, it would allow William to learn some of the layout of the base and learn more about how to imitate #37. Natsuki seemed to know #37 so a little bit of info would be useful.

===========================================================================================

While Asset 18 was getting orderly with the alcohol, Asset 19 was getting orderly with the medical supplies. He checked his first aid kit, unpacking and examining every item, then repacking them to his liking. Asset 19 liked well ordered equipment, it came with being a scribe. A place for everything and everything in its place. All things should work as best they could from robots to teams to packing systems.

This was the calm before the storm, Asset 18 had not finished drinking, he had not even looked up since he had started, or acknowledged there was another at the campsite. This was not good, a wave of pent up rage from the big guy was about to hit. Two bottles of moonshine to go, Asset 18's head was spinning and his speech was slurred, but the sentiment was solid.

*GLUG*GLUG*GLUG*GLUG*

Now that may have been the wasteland record for fastest consumption of moonshine. Asset 18 stood up a little unsteadily, puffed out his chest and pointed at Asset 19. "You, I want to talk to you."

Asset 19 sighed and glanced over, trying not to look for too long. "What about?" Though he knew exactly what about.

"Oh you know, because I've had it with you. We were fine until y'all showed up and tried doing something. I had a pretty damn good thing going as a merc, I was tough. Folks knew to stay outta my way or do what I want. I used to be a somebody that nothin' bad ever happened to. Sure I'd get into a few scrapes but I always came out swingin' and happy. I got my simple jobs done and I got my simple pay. Things were goin' well. Then you show up, suddenly I... I'm wanderin' around an Enclave base and coulda been killed any second by the folk I was talkin' to. I ain't no professor or doctor or fancy Brotherhood scribe like you but I know when I'm in over my head. I know when I'm up against something I can't beat. Something tougher than me scares me, I don't want no business with no Enclave. It was all a bit of harmless fun oh we can be assets but those people are stone cold killers. When we were last here you sent some guy in there and told him it'd all be fine but it aint! He's dead, we're workin' for the enemy and we didn't even get anything for your people. We can't try again so we've failed.

I'm not Enclave Asset 18, I'm Dudley. You aint Enclave Asset 19 you're an asshole. A stupid, pompous, stuck up little shit of a scribe that lets everyone else tell him what to do and aint fit to lick dust off my boots. So like I said, I'VE HAD IT WITH YA!" Upon saying these words Dudley ran straight at Evan (through the fire I may add) and wildly swung at him, punching him in the jaw. Dudley raised his fist to punch Evan again...

 

[maninahat]

The Cockpit

Beryl coughed up a black splatter of something nasty and spat it across the room. She delicately tried to move her hands, only to find them chained in place. Sitting in front of her was Johnny, showing off as usual. It was then that she recognised the taste of whiskey and hard drugs on her lips. It didn't take her too long to connect the dots.

"Well, I knew it was only a matter of time before one of us would end up locked in your sex dungeon," she said to Johnny, "But I didn't expect to be your first choice."

She spat up the back of Johnny's chair. It then occurred to her they were no longer in the dusty cellar, but in a vertibird - a moving virtibird.

"I suppose you're going somewhere with this plan? That is unless you're really as big an idiot as I thought, and are just stealing proprietary aircraft for the fucking fun of it."

She noticed that Sylph was being silently distracted by something - a small mercy. She felt her handcuffs. Normally, someone would try picking them open with a safety pin or some such bullshit. Beryl didn't bother with that. Instead, she started squashing her fingers together, carefully teasing her hands out through the shackles a bit at a time.

 

[TheDoctor455]

The Cockpit

Johnny is... gone for now.

"Well, that's a fine thank you for saving your worthless life, wretch," The Editor said, "I am the reason that Mr. Truant keeps saving your geriatric ass."

I coughed, then breathed in and out slowly to calm myself.

"I had Mr. Truant perform CPR on you," he explained, "Just as I had him drag you out of a firefight you had no hope of winning. I am the only reason that you're still breathing you ungrateful cow!"

I breathed in and out again, trying to stay calm.

"You have your uses," I continue, "I'll give you that much. But my patience for your trite little absurdities is wearing thin. Hence the handcuffs. You see, if Mr. Truant had not chained you to your seat, you, given your track record up to this point, would have most likely tried to shoot everything in the cockpit before trying to jump out of the bird WHILE it was in the air. I know you like to think of yourself as intelligent, but really? You've been making a string of bad decisions lately. Now please be quiet while I try to talk to Slyph's true self here. You are not needed for the duration of this conversation. Thank you."

I turned my attention back to Slyph.

"So, I ask you again, dearie," I began again, "How did you come to be shackled like this? And... do you have a name of your own? Or do you share a name with your... cheery counterpart?"

 

[Generic NPC 22]

Vertibird Cockpit:

"So, I ask you again, dearie," The personality that shared a body with Master Johnny began again, "How did you come to be shackled like this? And... do you have a name of your own? Or do you share a name with your... cheery counterpart?"

Slyph had been paying attention, to everything, as she turned to undo the handcuffs on Mistress Beryl.

"Apologies Mistress, I had no idea that Master Johnny had placed these upon your wrists." Slyph said subserviently as she twisted the key and loosened the handcuffs until they had loosened enough for Sylph's new Mistress to release her hands. As long as she was around, she would protect Mistress with her life.

Turning her attention back to the personality that had overtaken Master Johnny's body, she glared at him with stormy blue eyes that wanted nothing more than to stab the man who looked at her in the eye. She had been under the control of that half of a halfwit for too long and needed to take out some of her baser urges on something, preferably human, preferably healthy - for now.

"Don't presume that you can address me the same was as Master Johnny. Despite the fact that you and he share the same body, I am not under your control nor do you have my loyalty." The girl hissed venomously as she once again looked at the controls for the Enclave Vertibird.

She had been unable to disengage the Auto-pilot and even though her first Master had attempted to teach her how to countermand terminal overrides, this particular piece of software was proving to be quite the challenge.

BEEP!

An error message flashed on the console, informing Sylph that should she attempt to countermand the auto-pilot's programming again, the Enclave Vertibird would self destruct, taking all on board with it. While she was unable to alter the course of the flying machine, she was able to see where it was taking them.

Destination: Home Base

The information illicited a frown from the 18 year old woman as she decided to save the information for later. For now, she needed information about the Entity that had overtaken her Master Johnny.

"I am also Slyph." She responded simply as her subconscious opened various pieces of compartmentalized memories that separated herself from her "alter ego."

"Is a coin still not called a coin regardless of whether it displays heads or tails?" The girl asked rhetorically, indicating her acceptance of her and her "sister's" shared name; thankfully that was one of the few things they shared in common.

"The reason is clear is it not? My original 'Father' wanted someone that could act as both his devoted daughter as well as serve as his bodyguard." The girl said coldly as she looked out the window, remembering the moment that she had first laid eyes on her "Father."

[hr]

Montana: 10 years ago

Shithead opened her eyes slowly, her stomach growling in hunger, as her mind told her that it was time to wake up as feeding time neared. Looking around the darkened holding pen, her eyes caught sight of the latest batch of dead men and women. They were weak, frail and stank of shit as some of them had soiled themselves when the Keepers had caught them. Some of them sat there, eyes wide eyed in horror as they realized their fate. Others wept openly and loudly, making Shithead wish that she had been allowed to keep her weapons with her when she slept.

Creeeeee-CLUNK!

Shithead knew that sound. It was the sound of happiness. It was the sound of people who cheered for her and best of all, it was the sound that they were going to feed her soon.

Only this time it was different.

A man in a dark suit and a tall hat stepping in through the holding pen doors, looking about curiously as the Keepers spoke to him. For what it was worth, Shithead didn't know what the Keepers were saying, but the man who was not one of the Keepers was gesturing at her. The Keepers kept shaking their heads until finally, they seemed to relent and nodded, causing the man, who she would know first as Master and then as Father, to smile as he approached the door to her cell.

Confused, Shithead, thought that it was time to go to the cheering place and held out her hands, ready to accept her weapons causing her soon to be Master and Father to say something to her that she did not understand and shake his head. Hesitantly, he took her by her hands and lead her out of the Holding Pens and never took her back.

[hr]

Enclave Vertibird:

Shaking her head, Sylph turned back to the Entity that had consumed Master Johnny.

"Where I come from and how I came to be is of no consequence. The only thing that is of importance is Mistress Beryl and Master Johnny continue to live. You, whomever you are, are only protected because you share the same body as my Master and if you do anything to cause him harm, I will seek your death, just as I seek the man who killed my original Master."

Slyph found herself playing with the jeweled choker, as if contemplating whether she should put it on or not. The Enclave Officer and the Pilot had proven to be only appetizers for her wrath's hunger and if she knew anything about where the Vertibird was taking them, it was that there would be plenty of opportunity to vent her frustrations, annoyances and grievances with the world.

 

[TheDoctor455]

The cockpit

Hi. This is Johnny Truant's body, I'm not in right now, so if you'd like to talk, please leave a note or something on my forehead at the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. BEEEEEEP!(1)

(1) I, through processes which a simple human mind could not hope to comprehend, saw the memory that flashed through Slyph's minds.

"What a delicious little memory you have there, Shith-heead" I said, with equal amounts of eagerness and hatred, "I... am beginning to understand why Mr. Truant wants to help you so much. You remind him of himself. You are both such tragically broken things, its no wonder that he's drawn to you like a bee to a burning flower... he knows he can't help you, not really. Perhaps no one can. But... he still wants to try, in his own stupid way."

I paused, smiling to let the effect of what I'd said sink in. And then it listened to what she had to say.

"Hurt Mr. Truant? Me?" I said, genuinely offended, "I have no intention of doing so. And I do not consume him. I... am mostly along for the ride. Every now and then, I... give him some direction. How do you think it is that he just happened to be in Minefield around the same time as your little caravan was passing through? Did you think that merely a coincidence? Did you really buy that fool's tale of a job for that air-brained Ms. Brown?" I couldn't help but chuckle at that, "As for my... presence in Mr. Truant's haggard form now... well... I was... invited, shall we say. Oh, Mr. Truant didn't know he was calling out to me at the time, but... it was an invitation nonetheless. And he did need my help, oh yes... he still needs my help. Sorely. And I intend to fulfill his wish. But... don't worry, I have no intention of leading him to his death. Which is why I've been having him fight the Enclave tooth and nail all these years... every time I step onto their board, they take notice... and try to find me. I have no interest in their... foolishness. So I avoid them when I can, and scare them off at every opportunity."

I paused again. Mr. Truant nearly got out of school early today.

"Hmmph," I begin again, crossing Mr. Truant's arms, "I would have thought they'd have gotten the message with the Cave Dweller I sent to assassinate their nascent little transistor-tube of a president. Well... their former president now, I suppose. Mr. Truant is far too much fun, my dear. But, if you need to be convinced... very well, I'm tiring of this conversation myself actually. Oh, and in the future, call me by my function... I am simply an... Editor."

---

Johnny Truant blinked, then checked around him, and noticed GNR already starting to fade into the background.

"Slyph?" he said, noticing that her necklace was off, "Are you okay? Did that...thing say or do anything to you? Oh god... whatever happened, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting you and even, her mixed up in all this. Damn it. I thought I'd finally lost their scent."

There was no anger in his voice now, only a kind of quiet, understated despair.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

Enclave Vertibird Cockpit: Enroute to Enclave Vault

"Slyph?" Master Johnny said, noticing that her necklace was off, "Are you okay? Did that...thing say or do anything to you? Oh god... whatever happened, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting you and even, her mixed up in all this. Damn it. I thought I'd finally lost their scent."

The Girl Cloaked in Red looked over at Master Johnny for a moment, her brow furrowing as she remembered where the Enclave Vertibird's Automated Pilot was taking them.

"I'm functional Master Johnny. The Editor, as the other entity calls itself, spoke but didn't do anything to either myself of Mistress Beryl." She responded, looking back towards Mistress Beryl to ensure that she was comfortable in the passenger hold of the Vertibird.

Slyph's stomach growled loudly, causing the young woman to turn away in what might have been embarrassment.

"I'm mostly functional." She said flatly in what could have been a joke, but was stated in such a serious manner it was hard to determine. Flipping open the top of her pack and peering inside, the calmness the girl had maintain suddenly evaporated.

"GODDAMN ANNOYING *****!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" The Girl scream angrily as she pulled out a bag filled with Rad-Scorpion Meat. It seemed that there was nothing BUT rad-scorpion meat in Sylph's backpack.

"I - HATE - RAD-SCORPION MEAT!!!" The Red Cloaked Girl continued to thunder as she continued to dig until she reached the bottom of the bag and found nothing but defeat.

Sighing, the girl turned to Mistress Beryl and Master Johnny.

"I will be taking my leave now. You know what to do should you need me." The girl said as she started putting on her red gem'd choker.

*CRACK!!!*

The sound of the punch echo'd all through the cockpit as the girl punched herself in the face before closing the clasp of her choker.

"OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!" Sylphee said in disbelief as she suddenly found herself sitting in the Formerly Enclave Twirlybird with Papa Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel.

"Papa Johnny Shakes!? Why - why - why'd you hit me!? What did I do wrong?" The Girl in Red whined as she clutched her face looking a bit like a wounded pet. Or at least she did until she notice:

"Oh my gosh! Rad Scorpion Meat! My fave fave! Thanks Papa Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel. You guys are the bestestest!!"

 

[The Harkinator]

WHAM! As the sound effect goes, a punch from Dudley was certainly much more of a WHAM than a BIFF, BAM, POW or even the mighty KAPOW. Evan hit the floor, blood trickling from his lip down to his chin. Then the next punch came, but Dudley was drunk and not aiming, in fact he hadn't even registered his opponent was on the ground.

Dudley was all power, no precision. Evan was no power all precision. Even scribes get combat training in the Brotherhood and Evan knew exactly where to strike. Dudley had staggered past him with the second punch and was vulnerable, Evan kicked the back of Dudley's right knee and the big man went down like a tonne of bricks. Evan may not have been that skilled in unarmed combat but his opponent was badly drunk and should be easy to subdue. He got up and walked over to the heap that was Dudley.

I say SHOULD because Dudley wasn't going to stay down. As Evan approached he quickly stood up, windmilling his arms and catching Evan's side. Unfortunately, he was still facing away from Evan who put his arms around Dudley's neck and stomped on the back of his knee. Once again Dudley went down, but not too far as Evan was there to support him, yet also start strangling him. Dudley thrashed around and Evan could not keep such a heavy man still, Evan was shaken loose long enough for Dudley to reach his bowie knife in his boot. Pulling it out in one swift motion Dudley smashed upwards with the handle, breaking Evans nose.

Evan staggered back, blood now running from both his lip and nose now. He almost staggered into the fire but dazed as he was he was still in his right mind, though the pain was immense. Dudley was now armed, that knife was big and mean looking and if he wasn't careful Dudley might kill him. Evan was sure that under normal circumstances Dudley wouldn't kill him, but drunk and angry Dudley might. It was time to remember training, he had to control the fight and get that knife away from Dudley before he did some serious damage. Out here a nasty cut could mean infection and infection could mean death. All injuries would have to be cleaned with purified water and treated with any medical supplies they could muster.

Step 1: Move in on Dudley's left side, the knife was in his right hand pointing away from the body. The further he was from that knife the better.

Step 2: Use the back of the knee trick again, Dudley's own heavy weight was an advantage in most fights but would only serve to count against him if he was falling.

Step 3: Once fallen get the knife out of his hand, without that Evan would have more ways to attack.

Step 4: Go for the knockout, a little time out would give Dudley time to sober up and calm down. It would also allow Evan to restrain him without difficulty.

Ok time to give that a whirl and see where it goes.

Step 1: Evan moved in on Dudley's left si- SLAP! This one wasn't even a punch, it was a straight up slap in the face. It didn't hurt as much as Evan thought it might but that knife was coming around now, slashing at his neck. Evan leapt straight at Dudley and the knife bit deep into Evan's combat armour, but did not go through. Already unsteady on his feet, this impact knocked Dudley over once again, where he hit his head on a small rock, though this did not knock him out.

Dazed and confused, Dudley struggled to get up again as Evan ran back to the campsite, looking for something else to knock Dudley out with. What, what, what could he use?

THE TOOLBOX. That heavy metal wonder of the workshop was still sitting on the ground next to William's bike. Evan picked it up in one hand and ran over to Dudley's empty bottles, picking one up and throwing it at him. The fire blocked Evan's view and the first two bottles missed, the third hit Dudley square in the chest, triggering a ground shaking charge straight through the fire, Dudley's boots were singed and his trousers caught fire.

Only one thing to do: USE THE TOOLBOX EVAN!

Said toolbox connected with the side of Dudley's head, knocking him out right there and for another time, going down like a tonne of bricks. Evan rolled him onto his back and patted out the fires on his clothes. Evan then went to fetch the first aid kit, all nicely packed, of course he started treating his own injuries first, but a few cuts to the face were easy and a broken nose was manageable. The real problem would arise if Dudley had sustained any burns while he ran through the fire, or concussion at the repeated head trauma.

 

[The Harkinator]

"Owwww, I feel like I went twenty rounds with a Yao-Guai. With my hands tied behind my back. Wait my hands are tied behind my back. My legs are tied too. This can only be the work of: EVAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Yup, Dudley had finally come round, it was well into the night now and the fire was almost gone. Evan had dressed most of his wounds and had a bandage over his nose, making him look a little strange. Dudley hadn't had his wounds attended to, though his shirt was now torn and forming improvised bonds.

"Yes Dudley?" Evan's voice was slightly off, probably due to the broken nose, yet his tone was calm and cool. This man was in control here.

"What did ya do to me?" Said Dudley, rolling around on the ground because it was basically the only thing he could do right now. Also because his head was still ringing from an untimely toolbox impact.

"I gave you the beating you deserved, but not the one you need at this time. That beating is coming now, though it's more of a... verbal beating." Said Evan, turning to face Dudley.

"Fuck you shitstick."

"That was stupid of you, I'm trying to help. I forgive you for attacking me, you got your punishment. I know why you did it too, because I'm the only one here you can take your anger out on. You're angry with yourself Dudley, you just can't accept it, so you project onto the nearest person as a way of covering your own back."

"Shut up you!" Snapped Dudley, clearly worried about someone trying to psychoanalyse him.

"Not until I'm finished, you had your little speech, now I'm having one. You're a big guy, a tough guy. Everything about you screams power, your minigun, your massive knife and that broken axe you lug around. You're a bruiser, in the Brotherhood you'd have made a good Paladin, might even have got yourself on a special team, though never as the leader of one, you're an attack dog for hire not the pack leader. My point is you're competent and dangerous, you're the Sentry Bot of mercenaries, everything is basically a breeze for you, but now you've met a bunch of guys from your worst nightmare, because they are better than you, at everything. They are stronger than you, they are faster than you, they are tougher than you and they hit harder than you.

You're feeling helpless, like your skills aren't useful, like you're the deadweight on this mission. You haven't really come up against anything you couldn't beat before and now you have you don't like it. That explains why you expressed your anger in such a physical way, you had to feel stronger than someone again. And in control of something, since you took this mission you've felt like you've been dragged from place to place and met people more important than you. You feel like you're a piece in somebody else's game. Maybe you are, maybe we all are and I understand why you might not be able to cope with that.

You say it's my fault William died, I didn't know what was going to happen in there. We knew what this mission meant when we took it, you could have said no and left but you didn't. You've got to deal with failure just as much as success, are you going to let the Enclave beat you this easily? Or are you going to suck it up tough guy and start helping?"

"What a load of brahmin shit."

"I was worried you would respond like that, ok, no more Mr nice Evan. I was going easy on you in our fight because I know your weakness, all I have to do is say one word and you turn into a puking, shrieking mess on the floor." Evan walked over to Dudley and grabbed him by his hair, pointing his head away, "So do you want to help, or will I have to step things up?"

"You wouldn't dare kiddo." Said Dudley, with just a hint of fear in his voice.

"Processing."

BLAARRGGGHHH!!!

"Ugh, fine. Now untie me. Bleh."

 

[Pink Gregory]

"Journal, I have a confession to make. Look, it's...it's just I'm rather unwieldy upon the land, you see? This has been explained thousands of times - but that's alright, I wouldn't want you to misunderstand me - I am; oh what was that venerable line, a traveller in a strange place? No, no, that can't be it, doesn't quite have that 'ring' to it, as they say...oh! but I forget myself."

"A walrus has little place above the earth. I have decided this upon completion into my study of contemporary lifeforms and also my study of obvious bullshit. Completed many studies of that one, me. I'm completing one right now."

"A reason? Well, simply what could I do but lie flat and mock spasm? Judging by what I've researched, a good old violent spasm can be enough to delay wild beasts until the situation is resolved, preferably by other interested parties, but resolved nonetheless. No ammunition, no fingers, and no upper body strength, at least not at that moment. It's a simple matter of delegation. I am he who is Wet. My survival is of utmost importance. At least, I'm beginning to believe that thinking in such a manner may reduce the seemingly incorrigible levels of stress that I've been experiencing. Simply put, concern has become tiresome."

"I won't hesitate to inform you, as searing bolts fell about us, I didn't care. As creatures howled and cried and roared and raged, I simply didn't care. As those luminous men prayed, prayed to me, praised me for my judgement, I cared not. As those ghastly brutes hauled us upon the vessel and into the stinking brig, I cared not for a thing in the world. I didn't even care when they beat Abraham..."

"...he's laid out in the corner..."

"...he's bleeding..."

"...*glug* I'm alright, Jack."

 

[maninahat]

Beryl slowly got to her feet.

"Quite a show you two were putting on," she said, rubbing her hands where the cuffs had been. "Anyone seen my gun? I was thinking of shooting up the cockpit and jumping out."

She had to think about her next move. She was the only sane person here, and that somehow was putting her at a disadvantage. She didn't realise that Johnny could be any more of an asshole, but this editor character was pushing her buttons something terrible. She was long overdue to do a number on him.

Over in the corner washer nine iron. As Sylph had gotten back into the habit of making a nuisance of herself, Beryl was free to delicately slip the club out, unseen. She quietly moved over to a particularly important looking piece of aviation machinery. Confident that both Johnny and Sylph weren't paying attention to her, she took aim, poised, and swung the club full force into the nearest computer console.

The Vertibird lurched violently. Beryl tossed the club back over to her bag.

"Oh shit! What the hell was that?" she shouted, as green sparks started belching out of the club shaped hole in the console. "Must have blown a fuse!"

The vertibird swung violently from left to right. The starboard engine spluttered out, causing the vehicle to sag to one side. Beryl knew it couldn't stay in the air for much longer. She held on tight to the chains that had bound her down.

This was going to be a rough landing.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

Mister Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird Cockpit:

This was going to be a rough landing.

That was probably the understatement of the year seeing as how the starboard engine had stopped working and the rest of Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird was built like a rounded brick and flew about as well as one too. Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird didn't just sag to one side like Mommy Meryl Barrel thought was going to happen, Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird started spinning in a motion counter to the one that the port engine was spinning. Not only that but since Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird's engines provided lift a well, only the port engine was doing the lifting and was now causing the Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird to twirl along it's longitudinal axis.

The result was -

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE - *gasp* - EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" Wee'd the girl in the red cloak as Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird started doing something fun. It had definitely been a boring ride except for when Papa Johnny Shakes had punched her.

*CLICK* went Mommy Meryl Barrel's seat belt as she strapped herself in.

*CLICK* went Papa Johnny Shakes' seat belt as he strapped himself in.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE - *gasp* - EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" went Slyphee's mouth as she didn't strap herself in but instead lifted her arms in the air to make the fun ride even funner. This was even better than that time Daddy the First took her to Busch Gardens and took her on one of the rides.

This was going to be a rough landing.

The blue haired girl didn't quite know what that would have meant if someone had told her that since she had never been in Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird before and she had never seen one go KERSMASH! like Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird was about to.

[HEADING=2]KERSMASH!!!!!!!![/HEADING] went Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird.

[HEADING=2]SMASH!!!!![/HEADING] went Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird's windshield as the Girl in Red was launched from where she was seated, through the windshield and out into the Wasteland outside of Mister Now Ailing Black Formerly Enclave Twirlybird's cockpit.

[hr]

Montana: 11 years ago

Shithead stood in the middle of the cheering place as people cheered as she took the machete that the Keepers had given her and used it to carve a claw off of one of the Giant Claws and Tail Bugs that they had put in the cheering place with her. Shithead smiled as the cheering people cheered louder as the Giant Claws and Tail Bug let out a high pitched scream and lashed out with its tail, causing Shithead to swing the machete in a defensive arc, sending the tip of the Tail flying before the machete, now reversed gripped plunged into a spot between the Giant Claws and Tail Bug's many eyes.

The creature bucked up and down for a moment but finally shuddered once and died.

That was when Shithead's shoulder erupted in pain as the last of the Giant Claws and Tail Bugs stabbed her in the back of the shoulder with its tail. The pain almost caused Shithead to black out but she knew what that meant as she had seen it happen to the other things and people that they had put in the cheering place with her. Turning around, she was able to avoid a repeated stabbing by the Giant Claws and Tail Bug's tail.

Remembering what she had done the last time, she swiped at the tail as it closed in on her and sent it flying. The effort of such a move, however, was just a bit too much for Shithead to handle as she came down to a knee, the pain in her shoulder spreading to the rest of her body, causing it to scream in agony. She didn't quite understand what was happening or why she was feeling that way.

"*HURK!!*" Shithead wretched as the pain caused her tummy to cramp up. It was at that point that she realized that the cheering people weren't cheering any more. They were making a different noise, one that sounded bad.

"BOOOOOOOO!!" The cheering people boo'd as some of them pointed and laughed at Shithead causing her to feel angry. She'd never heard that noise before and it felt like the people didn't like her anymore. If the people didn't like her anymore then she wouldn't get fed by the Keepers.

Slowly, Shithead got up to her feet, her body complaining at her as she did but she ignored it. Instead, she started charging at the Giant Claws and Tail Bug, howling as she did:

[HEADING=2]"HA-HA-HA-HAAAROOOOOOOOOOOOO-[/HEADING]

[hr]

Somewhere:

[HEADING=2]"-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!![/HEADING]

Shithead opened her eyes as she heard herself howling, her body felt like it was in pain, especially her shoulder. Sitting up suddenly, the world almost went black but she knew what that meant as she had seen it happen to the other things and people that they had put in the cheering place with her. Looking at her arm, Shithead saw that someone had stabbed her with a metal beam (one that was used to reinforce the cockpit windshield of the Enclave Vertibird). They had stabbed her but they didn't kill her, she realized as looked around her.

The smell of blood, intoxicating blood, was everywhere as some of it trickled down from a cut she had gotten on her forehead. It didn't bother her. What did bother her was that she was somewhere strange and what's more she couldn't hear the cheers from the cheering place. It made her scared but the Keepers didn't like it when she was scared and so she went to what they had taught her to feel if she felt scared, angry.

Snarling, she felt her body react to her anger as she slowly picked herself up and saw a black machine smoking not far from her.

So this is what the Keepers put in the cheering place with her. This black machine was too big to put in the cheering place and so they must have taken her outside, something that had happened once or twice before. Looking around her, she saw no machete but she did see the metal beam sticking out of her shoulder.

Howling once again, she pulled the metal beam out, and started approaching the black machine, intent on killing it and anything inside of it.

[HEADING=2]"HA-HA-HA-HAAAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"[/HEADING]

 

[maninahat]

Beryl deftly unbluckled her seatbelt and fell from her upturned chair. She did a quick inventory check - all limbs and fingers were present and functional. Even her bones all seemed in one piece. She could taste blood. Reaching into her mouth, she tugged out a loose tooth and tossed it to one side - no worry, she had plenty of those left anyway. Her chin was open and dripping onto her suit - no worry, she could buy a new one any time.

As she crawling through the interior of the smoking, mangled vehicle, something came into view. Through the smoke, she could see that a huge opening had been torn into the side of the vertibird. Even better, a battered medikit lay on the seat in front of her. She cracked it open and found both a stimpack and a bloodpack. splendid. She stuffed both in her pockets and rolled herself out of the steel carcass.

She quickly surveyed her surroundings. It was a nice panorama. All dirt, cliffs and green-brown filters. Same as anywhere else, really, but at the same time, too unfamiliar to get one's bearings. That felt somewhat comforting at least, and Beryl saw the current situation as a net improvement.

Beryl was then alerted by a distant yelling. She slowly turned, and saw Sylph running over this way. Still alive? she thought, Typical. Something was strange though. Sylph was brandishing some kind of weapon, and she wasn't so much as running, as charging straight at Beryl and the vertibird. Umm...

Sylph was getting kind of close now, and the hysterical laughter was an awful lot more menacing at this distance. Beryl took a step back, and looked around for her machine gun. Oh god, she's snapped. Where is it? Her baggage and her Chicago typewriter were still within the wreckage. She wouldn't have time to climb in and fetch it. She looked around for some kind of defensive weapon - a Fat Man would have been nice - but saw none. But there, on the ground! The nine iron! Beryl deftly picked it up and held it out in front like a sword. Lacking any formal fencing or golfing training, it wasn't much of a comfort, but it was something. Sylph was only a dozen yards away now. Beryl knew this fight was going to go bad for her. She grimaced.

Fffuuuuuu

 

[TheDoctor455]

Crashed Vertibird

Given the long string of bad luck he'd had over the past several hours, it seemed to Johnny as though his luck was finally turning around. Slightly. Maybe. Because just at the foot of the wreckage was his treasured lever action rifle. Johnny unbuckled his seat, and carefully and quietly climbed down. Once on the ground again, he quickly scooped up his rifle and snuck up behind Beryl. Once he was directly behind her, he saw that Sylph was about to go on a rampage.

Johnny made sure that he was far enough away from both Beryl and the vertibird that A) Sylph's rampage wouldn't spill over onto him (hopefully), and B) just close enough to Beryl to be able to whisper to her and still not be in reach of that damn 9-iron.

"Don't move, you fucktard," Johnny said, an unusual cold edge creeping into his voice, "Drop that club, and I'll make this quick. Don't... and I'll let Sylph have her way with you."

 

[Souplex]

Frank stood behind a large robot.
Frank was getting really sick of climbing giant foes. Hopefully he could get back to fighting human-ish sized enemies.
Thankfully, Nuka-Cola Quantum is quite sticky.
[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ]Franklin Rose is climbing a robot. Why is he climbing a robot?
To hug the robot. To envelop the robot. He wants to make love to the robot.
Challenge the bot! Challenging death!
...Tough young knights, armored bodies...
There is a passionate affair going on between Frank and the robot.
Why does he climb the robot? Because he's in love.[/link]
Frank briefly worried about being detected by his new found radioactivity, but he knew it was a non-issue as Geiger counters aren't made for pinpoint scanning, the entire area was various levels of blue and radioactive, and robots don't care about radioactivity anyways. (Yes Jack, I can read your mind. You're not thinking of a number, you're trying to trick me by thinking about ducks instead.)
Frank had managed to climb past the lower body, and was now on the upper half. There was no danger of the robot turning around and seeing him. There was however, a rack of explosives further on his path. Frank pressed on anyways. The robot didn't know where he was, and detonating nukes on yourself probably violated some self-preservation programming.
Eventually, he came to a point that felt hollow-ish.
Here goes nothing.
[Unarmed 100][Piercing Strike][Bonecrusher][Striking Points: Repair 100]Frank began hitting the new hollow spot with his Displacer Glove.
It was denting.
Unfortunately for Frank; he had gotten some unwanted attention. A very large hand was coming to swat his current location.
Frank dropped down.
[Strength]As Frank fell, he caught himself on a lower piece of robot. He was still on the upper half of Boxy, but he had lost a fair bit of Progress.
Luckily this robot had some grooves on it. Probably for maintenance workers to hold onto.
Frank took out his Gauss Pistol and fired on a spot further up to hopefully throw it off his trail.
Small ports began to open up all around him, liquid-adhesive, along with robotic tentacles came out around him.
[Repair 100]If they were symmetrical around a point, it was a structurally weak point.
The way out is through.
Using all his cunning, Frank devised a potent combination of smashing, pounding, hitting, wrecking, and maybe some breaking if he was feeling frisky.
Before he could make it through, he had a sticky tentacle on his left arm, right leg, and one was on his helmet too.
Frank had never seen any hentai, but he still didn't like where this was going.
[Repair]Being prehensile costs structural integrity.
[Unarmed 100][Piercing Strike][Bonecrusher][Striking Points: Repair 100]With his free arm, Frank severed the tentacle on his left arm. He still had a chunk of tentacle stuck to it, but that's besides the point.
The still attached half of the tentacle began sparking and flailing.
Frank grabbed the tentacle, and stabbed it into itself, shorting out the whole limb.
The pulling of the head and leg tentacles were getting unpleasant, and now a large hand was coming for Frank.
[Unarmed 100][Piercing Strike][Bonecrusher][Striking Points: Repair 100]Frank severed the tentacle around his neck, and began to bungee down.
As Frank fell he kept himself vertical by grabbing onto the tentacle around his leg with his left hand.
His left hand was now stuck to the robot, but he wasn't falling anymore.
[Unarmed 100][Piercing Strike][Bonecrusher][Striking Points: Repair 100]Frank severed the last tentacle at the base so it couldn't try to shock him, and caught back onto the robot.
He looked a bit silly at this point, covered in Quantum, and tentacle chunks.
Tentacles... Seafood... Frank would really like to eat some of those Mirelurks... His grandfather had once told him that there were no Mirelurks outside of the East Coast. It sounded terrible.
The hand was still searching for Frank, like a human looking for a particularly annoying mosquito. Frank was no mere mosquito.
The hand was blocking his path back up. The way out was not through this time.
[Tactics 65/50]If an opponent commits resources to defending one area, other areas become less defended...
[Perception]The joint connecting the left "leg" to the "pelvis" was visible.
[Science 65/50]The square-cube law states that as you scale up, mass increases faster than volume. This meant that the legs would be under considerable stress.
Frank saw the limp tentacle that was on his left arm before him.
He grabbed it, and swung down at the joint. It was about to take his mass, time his acceleration, plus his Displacer Fist, plus half the weight of the robot all at once.
[Unarmed 100][Piercing Strike][Bonecrusher][Striking Points: Repair 100]Meteor kills dinosaur!
*CLUNK!* *....Lurch...* A combination of redundant armor and gyro stabilizers kept the thing standing.
Frank began to think he might need some help with this thing...

 

[maninahat]

Beryl snarled in the direction of Johnny.

"Point that thing at the right person," she said out the side of her mouth, "you think she won't kill you too?"

It was a volatile situation, that was for sure. Beryl's choice was between having her head blown off, or having it caved in. To call it a Mexican stand off would be generous: she was just an old lady, facing off against an Elderich Abomination and a demented killer, and neither were even within reach of her golf swing. Whether she dropped or used her weapon either way, she was dead. She took the only reasonable course of action - she slowly paced a few steps to the right, allowing an easier route for Sylph to reach Johnny. Now the young sprat had a choice of targets, the odds felt a lot fairer to her.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Crashed Vertibird. Seriously, madam, I know your life is in peril but could you please observe some common courtesies? Thank you Beryl. -The Ed.

Johnny kept his rifle firmly trained on Beryl as she moved.

"Point that thing at the right person," the cold ***** said,"you think she won't kill you too?"

Johnny couldn't help but laugh madly at that.

"The hell makes you think I care?" he said, "All that matters to me right now is that you get what's coming to you. This entire situation is your fault. All you ever seem to do is whatever you can to bring out the worst in everyone around you. I'm sure that kind of manipulative bullshit works great on the utterly stupid. Because that would make them more useful to you."

Johnny chuckled. He grinned evilly.

"Well, congratulations you cold *****," he spat at her, "You succeeded. You've brought out the worst in both of us. And its biting you in your precious little ass, isn't it?"

Johnny cocked his rifle, and checked his aim; if he fired now, it'd most likely hit Beryl right between the eyes.

"I'm sure the asshat still wants you alive," he kept smirking, " Even after you've demonstrated just how perfectly stupid you really are. But there's little he can do to stop this. Either my bullet hits you, or it misses, and Sylph gets both of us."

Johnny fired at Beryl four times.

ADDENDUM: This simply won't do, Mr. Truant. No. Not in the slightest. First, let's say we raise your metabolism a few degrees, give you the withdrawal symptoms of every drug you've imbibed in the last few days. All at once. That ought to put off your aim a bit. Might still hit something, I suppose. But definitely nothing vital.

Now... about Shithead over there... Time for me to speak again.

"SLYPH!" I called out to the rampaging red princess, "Wake up Slyph! Its time for school!"

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Crash Site:

Shithead had veered off of her path when she saw that one of the two people was carrying a large pain stick, she'd seen them used before when she was in the cheering place when the Keepers would kill one of Shithead's victims that she left still breathing and she knew that the large pain sticks were dangerous. Taking a path that placed the black smoking machine between Shithead and the two, Shithead knew that the large pain stick wouldn't be able to get her and that she could strike from any of many places, the most likely spot would have been from above the smoking black machine, but Shithead was too clever for that, she would attack from the openings in the smoking black machine.

Diving into one of the holes, she heard the two talking, they must have been talking about where Shithead was and they were expecting her to attack from above and realizing that she had the upper hand caused her to smile as she charged forward with the metal bar in her hand, ready to kill the two of them.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Shithead found herself on the ground, surprised to find herself there and not on top of the two bashing their heads in. As she tried to get up, she felt pain in her leg and hip causing her to whimper in pain.

Looking down at her leg and hip, she saw blood, lots of blood coming from the four wounds that the pain stick had caused. Knowing that he time to die was fast approaching Shithead was determined to take one of the two with her as she tried to pick herself up, only to fall back on the ground, again whimpering in pain as she did so.

Seeing that her two opponents were looking at her, Shithead tried to snarl in defiance, thinking that perhaps she could scare them into thinking that she could still fight and send them running away. Only, she couldn't snarl, she couldn't move, she could only stare that the one holding the Pain Stick or rather what was dangling off of the Pain Stick.

A bright red gem that had been mounted to a black piece of cloth dangled there, a gem that caused the girl to recoil in fear and caused her to try to back away from the two, the effort causing more pain to shoot up her leg and hip as she fell backwards, exhausted from the blood loss.

And before the darkness came to smother her, she remembered the man that was to be her first Father and his lessons.

"No!" He had said as he dangled the gem in front of her, standing over her after he had savagely kicked her in the stomach. She had tried to fight back only for him to punch her in the face once again and send her to the ground where he kicked her, again saying "No!" calmly and firmly as he dangled the red gem in front of her.

"Whether you start behaving or you start breaking, it doesn't matter. You will be who I want you to be." She remembered him saying.

"SLYPH!" Some one called out, "Wake up Slyph! Its time for school!"

"It's Saturday. I don't have school on Saturday." Sylph said as she closed her eyes, diving deep into unconsciousness.

 

[TheDoctor455]

The Crashed Bird

Johnny slumped to the ground, struggling against his entire body telling him what a complete and utter asshole he was for taking all of those drugs. The vast majority of his muscles decided to twitch and turn in random directions, causing his limbs to move in odd directions at times. His eyes were threatening to retreat into his skull. His ears kept blaring the same high-pitched whine over and over again. Johnny's brain felt like it was going to melt and then freeze only to be shattered over and over again. His stomach felt like its acid was trying to make a break for it and explode out of his chest and start a colony of stomach-acid-morphs somewhere nearby.

Despite all of this agony... Johnny managed to crawl towards Slyph, he set his rifle and satchel down near her hands. Then he ripped off his shirt and tore into a longish strip of cloth that he used to wrap around the four bullet holes in Slyph's body.

He tied the shirt off as securely as he could to prevent further bleeding, and then whispered, "I'm sorry sweetheart. I don't think I'll be here when you wake up. Just... please, don't listen to Beryl. To her you are nothing but a pawn. I love you Slyph. If I'd ever had a daughter or a niece... I'd want her to be just like you. Sure... you're troubled, who isn't?" Johnny coughed, "You're the kindest, sweetest person I've ever met. And that goes for both of you in there. Wish I could've known you longer."

And with that, Johnny rolled onto his back to stare into the sky. And his withdrawal symptoms took over, causing him to spasm and convulse wildly until they finally settled down and he passed out. Though it was incredibly painful, and he wanted to scream very badly, Johnny didn't. He almost chewed his own tongue off keeping himself from screaming.(1)

(1) You didn't want her to worry, did you, Mr. Truant?

Ugh... you're here. Should've known a little thing like a horrible painful death wouldn't be enough to make you give up on me.

No. Mr. Truant. This is not the end. You're not dead, yet. But you're really pushing your rather limited supply of luck now.

Oh for fuck's sake, either kill Beryl or put me out of my misery.

I shall do neither of those things. Mr. Truant. There is more for you to do and see. More... interesting characters for you to meet.

You're right though... I didn't want her to worry.

I don't know if she can process a thought that complex...

Don't you DARE say a word against Sylph. EITHER of them. You hear me?

If you would let me finish Mr. Truant. I don't know if she is capable of understanding it but... even I have to admit, that was... brave of you.

The hell?