The group of mercenaries, the captured raider and the old Stranger had hiked through desert sand and hills to reach a settlement that could resupply them for the long journey ahead of them.
"You sure it's a good idea to bring a raider in there?" Rodger asked. They had reached the outskirts of the town and followed the old man closely, for he was the only one to know anything about this place.
"Yeah...I gotta agree with Rodger here." Courtney said. "I don't think bringing in a captured raider is exactly good for any of us."
"Nonsense! Do you see any turrets? Armed guards? How about fortifications of any kind?" The old man said.
The town seemed to not have any defenses whatsoever. Yet the inhabitants did not care. They seemed to be enjoying spending their time out in the street, blissful of the dangers The Wasteland holds.
"-Why are there no defenses?" Jr. asked. "They could easily be attacked by...anything!"
"Heh. The place has a fail safe if the time ever came where they had to use it." The old man said.
"What's that exactly?" Courtney asked.
"Every sensible person here is armed well enough to put down a couple critters, vermin, and even invaders. But the crown jewel of their defense is the big red button that launches mini nukes at the town from the mountains." The Stranger said.
"Jesus." Rodger reacted. "Wouldn't that kill them and level the town as well?"
"Oh most certainly! However, they know the danger of that button. That's why they built their town atop an old Vault-Tec vault that was long abandoned." The old drifter explained. "I think it was Vault 27."
"Why was it abandoned? Was it a control vault?" Courtney asked.
"Heavens, no!" The old man exclaimed. "Far from it. The rotten eggheads at Vault-Tec deliberately filled the vault with 2,000 people, double the total sustainable amount of 1000."
"Sounds...uncomfortable." Rodger commented.
"After about a hundred and fifty years of staying underground and killing others cause they had to share beds, they opened the door and ran off into The Wasteland. God only knows what happened to them." The Stranger explained. "Years later, a band of squatters moved in and made the vault their home. Of course, that was before they had their defenses."
They walked into the town and were met with kids playing in the streets and the adults going about a working day.
"Welcome to Interplace." The old man introduced them to the settlement.
"This place seems nice." Courtney said as she removed her hat to get a look of the town.
"Yes. Sad that we can't stay long, but we have to get you lot resupplied." The Stranger reminded. "Come! I know just the place."
The old man walked through the streets as the others followed. They stopped at a large building, the biggest one in town.
"What is this place?" Rodger asked.
"The Town Hall." The old drifter answered. "I know it may not look like much, but it's the most important building in the entire town."
The old man opened the double doors of the building and walked into the reception office. He walked over to the counter in the room as the others hung back. There was a lady behind the counter reading an old Pre-War magazine.
"Excuse me?" The old drifter got the attention of the receptionist. "May I speak with the mayor?"
"You have an appointment?" She asked.
"Well...no, but I do know them very well." He said.
"Mhmm." The lady didn't believe him.
"Ma'am please. It is very important that I speak with them." The old man pleaded.
"I'll put you on the list, but I doubt they'll speak with you." The lady said as she handed him a piece of paper and a pen. "Write your name here and I'll give it to them." She said.
The old man signed the form and sat down in a chair. The others decided to join him on various seats around the room. Jr. propped the raider next to the old man.
"So what now?" McKilla asked.
"Now...we wait." The old man said.
"Why don't we just go to a general store or something and restock there?" Rodger asked.
"Because a general store doesn't give you things for free." The Stranger answered. "The mayor owes me a favor."
The group remained in an awkward silence for a bit. Jr. looked around and noticed a framed picture on the wall.
"Who's that?" He pointed to the photograph.
"I assume your pointing at the framed photograph on the wall." The old man said, he was still blind. "That is the towns founder, Tom Cain. You can find photographs of him all over this room.
Jr. looked again and noticed many more pictures of the founding of the town many years ago. However, he also noticed one particular picture hung on the wall. It was Tom Cain for sure, but there were other people standing next to him. One of the people was a massive token of interest.
"Is that who I think it is?" Jr. asked. He went over to the framed photo, took it off the wall and brought it to the group. "Is that Micheal?" He asked as he showed the picture.
Lo and behold, standing next to the founder of this town in the photo was The Prodigy himself. How we know this is because in the room with them was a mirror facing the back of Micheal which displayed the 25 on his back. The photo was in black and white, so you couldn't see any of his distinguishing features. But you can make out that he was young and not from The Wasteland.
"Yes...That is him." The old man said, knowing the photo all too well.
"Wow." Rodger said as he looked at the photo. "I guess he was real after all. I've just been assuming all that was some made up glory story." He confessed.
"Trust me. He's was as real as Frank Horrigan and the Enclave were." The old man said.
"So why is he in the photo? Did he help found the town?" Courtney asked.
"No. No, he didn't help found the town." The old man said. "He's the reason why this place isn't invaded."
—
Morning had risen and people had awoken from their slumber. The night girls went back to the clubs, the markets reopened, the children played in the streets, and the thugs hid amongst the crowds. Everyone was awake, all except Micheal and Bonnie.
The duo slept soundly in their motel room. Their breathing was calm, their bodies were comfy, it was a feeling the both could find peaceful. During their sleep, the two had unknowingly embraced each other and had the other in a soft hold. Dogmeat had joined them on the bed and he slept just as sound as his master was in his employees embrace.
The first to awake was Bonnie the mercenary. Her eyes slowly shuttered open to the new day. She noticed Micheal up against her, peacefully dozing away like a baby. Usually, Bonnie would push anyone away if they tried to do this, ...or break their face into a million pieces. But Bonnie had just stayed in bed with Micheal in that same position. She found it calming, like a happy memory being relived.
"Heh. Probably dreaming bout his vault." Bonnie said about Micheal sleeping. It was all so peaceful.
"Am I...interrupting something?" A new voice said.
Bonnie shot herself up, accidentally kicking Dogmeat and elbowing Micheal in the face which woke him up. She grabbed her rifle and took aim at the stranger from across the room. It was a woman in some strange militaristic fatigues.
"Who the hell are you?" Bonnie demanded an answer. "How did you get in here?"
"Calm down. I don't mean any harm." She said. "I am Senior Initiate Grace with the Brotherhood of Steel."
"More of a reason to kick you out." Bonnie said.
"I was sent to discuss the deal that Vault Dweller set." She said.
"Bonnie." Micheal said, now fully awake. "We may want to hear this."
Bonnie was hesitant to put her gun down, but eventually reluctantly obliged to hear her out. And then shoot her.
"Your request has moved along the ranks of the Brotherhood right up to the High Elder." The Initiate explained. "They have personally accepted your offer."
"Well that's good." Micheal said.
"However, The scribes don't have any records of anything that can help you. But we can lend you aid on your journey in return of the records from your vault." She explained.
"Aid?" Bonnie questioned. "What kind of aid?"
"The High Elder has personally selected one of our troops to follow you as a companion. Do you accept these conditions?" She said.
"Say no." Bonnie ordered.
"Sure. It'd be nice to have another gun." Micheal accepted.
"God damnit." Bonnie cursed.
"Very good. Where would you prefer to rendezvous with our trooper?" She asked.
"Ummm...We need to go up Interstate 29. Maybe they could meet us there?" Micheal suggested.
"Very well. I shall inform your offer to him immediately. Good day." She said as she opened the window and climbed out it.
"...We could have just unlocked the door." Micheal said.
Two hours have passed and the trio were ready to hit the road again in their longest trek yet.
"You don't seem happy?" Micheal said to an irritated Bonnie.
"Me? Why shouldn't I be happy?" She sarcastically said. "We got a fucking Brotherhood jerk off joining us."
"What's your beef with the Brotherhood?" Micheal asked.
"The Brotherhood are nothing but a bunch of close minded, old world bastards with a hard on for toasters." Bonnie said. "You can't trust them."
"I don't know. They seemed pretty ordered." Micheal said.
"Yeah. And so were the Enclave, but they were just the same." Bonnie fired back.
"Okay. You keep telling me all these factions and groups of people as if I know who they are." Micheal said.
"It doesn't matter. Just know that you can't trust a tin man." Bonnie said.
"Where is this guy anyway? We've been here for awhile." Micheal said.
They were waiting where Interstate 29 began for this Brotherhood soldier. They heard something move behind them, Micheal recognized it as servos or pistons. They looked behind them to see a Brotherhood Paladin in T-51 armor wielding a laser rifle.
"Sorry I'm late. I was dusting off my old rifle." It was Jenkins.
"Jenkins! It's been a hot minute." Micheal exclaimed at the sight of him.
"That's "Paladin" Jenkins. I didn't earn that title for nothing." He said.
"Well alright, Paladin." Micheal said. "Shall we hit the road?" Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"I would like to be debriefed about our mission. As well as who our associates are." He said.
"I'm Micheal, you already know that. That's Bonnie, and this is Dogmeat." Micheal introduced the gang. "Welcome to the team."
"Pleasure to be here. What is our destination?" He asked. The gang started to travel down the interstate.
"We gotta travel to Sioux City and then...I don't know. Something about a riddle. We're looking for someone who might know what we need." Micheal debriefed.
"Might know? So we have nothing on this guy?" Jenkins asked.
"Nope. Other than he's the best chance we got." Micheal said.
"Exactly how far is Sioux anyway?" Bonnie asked.
"Ummm...Let me check." Micheal said as he pulled up the map on his Pip-Boy and used his mathematic skills to good use. "About...four days on foot."
"Four days?! Where the hell is this place?!" Bonnie said.
"Iowa." Jenkins answered. "We sent a scouting team there, place is a ghost town."
"Thank you...Tin Man." Bonnie didn't want an answer from him.
"Tin Man? What, like The Wizard of Oz?" Micheal asked.
"What's The Wizard of Oz?" Bonnie asked.
"It's an old story before the war, written by L. Frank Baum in 1900." Micheal explained. "It's about this girl from Kansas, Dorothy, and her dog, Toto, being sucked up by a tornado and ending up in the strange new world of Oz. The Good Witch told her to follow the Yellow Brick Road that'll lead her to the Wizard that can get her home. She gives Dorothy magical ruby slippers, mostly cause her house fell on the witch that owned them before. Along the way, Dorothy makes companions who seek the Wizard to get something from him: There's the Scarecrow, who wants a brain, the Tin Man, who wants a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who wants courage. However, they're being watched by The Wicked Witch of the West, who wanted to steal the ruby slippers from Dorothy, but the slippers were bound to Dorothy. It's a good book."
"Sounds like a jet fueled fever dream." Jenkins said.
"They made a movie out of it in 1939. It was one of the two films released that year to be filmed in full color, the other being Gone With The Wind. My vault had it on holotape!" Micheal said.
"So what? Is our Brotherhood guy here our Tin Man?" Bonnie asked jokingly.
"I guess. What do you seek, oh Tin Man?" Micheal asked his new armored companion.
"I'm here just to protect you until your mission is complete." Jenkins said.
"Ah! He seeks the hearts of his fellow soldiers." Bonnie said.
"And you're the Scarecrow!" Micheal said to Bonnie.
"Do I look like I'm made of straw?" Bonnie said.
"You seek peace of mind. Does that count?" Micheal emphasized.
"...I guess. I suppose Dogmeat is Toto." Bonnie said as she looked to the mutt.
"Obviously." Micheal agreed.
"And that makes you Dorothy." Bonnie said with a smirk.
"Damn straight!" Micheal said. "I'm rocking those ruby shoes! They bring out the color of my eyes." He joked. "All we need now is a Cowardly Lion."
"I doubt we're gonna find anyone like that." Bonnie said.
"You never know. The Wasteland is a magical place after all." Micheal said.
"Yeah. So magical it gives you cancer from the air." Bonnie joked. "Do we have to walk four days? Can't you just fix a car up like you did in back near Danbury?"
"Sorry. That car wasn't blown to high hell." Micheal explained. "Can't do shit with just metal."
"Well at least play some music or something to pass the time." Bonnie said.
Micheal tuned back into Pilgrim Radio and the voice of the DJ came back on the air.
"Howdy doo all you creeps and critters." He said. "It's me again, Long John DiVagria, with more news on that kid from Vault 25...We all know The Mine, that hellhole that is actually a slave pit ruled by raiders. Well good news! They're dead. The Prodigy rolled in with his canine companion, Dogmeat I think he calls him, and turned their own security turrets on them, freeing the slaves. He also made noise in Bordertown recently by stopping some thug who abused our lovely ladies on the street. I tell ya, I'd like to have an interview with this guy...Maybe let him come on the radio one day. Anyway, I know you're all itching for a song. Here's Big Town by Roy Brown." The song started playing and the group listened to it as they walked down Interstate 29.
Hours go by and they pass all hosts of crazy things: giant bugs, rouge robots, Micheal even spotted some guy in weird power armor with an eyebot in the distance. Micheal wanted to talk to him, but Jenkins wouldn't let him. Shame, he looked like he had a good story to tell.
"Are we any closer to this place?" Bonnie asked.
"Yes, but no closer than we'd like." Micheal answered honestly.
"Can we stop? My feet are killing me." Bonnie said.
"Why stop now? We're making good pace." Jenkins inquired.
"You're not the one having to walk on his feet." Bonnie pointed out. "Fucking power armor."
"I guess we can try and make camp, but I don't think we're safe out here." Micheal said.
Dogmeat barked and started running up the hills. He had caught a scent of something.
"That mutt is gonna lead us into more trouble." Jenkins said.
"Whatcha find boy?" Micheal followed Dogmeat and saw he was pointing his nose at something. Micheal looked to where he was facing and saw a town in the distance.
"Well I'll be damned! That dog is actually good for something." Bonnie said as she and Jenkins joined the scenic view.
"Could be full of enemies." Jenkins said. "The Legion patrol this territory."
"No...Doesn't look like its Legion. No people nailed to crosses anywhere." Bonnie disagreed.
"Only one way to find out." Micheal said.
He walked toward the town and the others followed. They reached the shantytown with a wooden sign out front with its name: Interplace. The place was small, some of the buildings were mashed together with scrap metal, carts laid dormant in the street, but it certainly wasn't empty. A guard ran up to them.
"Hey! You better have a damn good reason why you're here." He said as clenched onto his gun.
"Woah! No need to get vulgar friend. We're just a band of merry travelers." Micheal tried to calm him down.
"Yeah? Where ya traveling to? Fucking no man's land?" He said.
"Technically, yes. But that's not important." Micheal said.
"Look guy, we're harmless. We just want a place to rest for a bit." Bonnie explained.
"Well you can't rest here. Piss off!" The guard ordered.
"Now hold on, Adam." A man came up to the guards side. "We don't need to be so hostile to newcomers."
"But sir! They could be Legates." The guard said.
"They certainly don't look like Legates to me." The man said. "I do apologize for this rude welcome. My name is Tom Cain, I am the founder of Interplace. What brings you to our little town?" He asked the group.
"Looking for a place to rest. We're heading North." Micheal said.
"Well then come on in! Sorry if it's a little messy, we've ran into some...problems." He said. "I suggest you go to our community center, you'll find the people here to be welcoming."
The man walked off and the guard gave the group a glare as he walked away as well.
"I'm hitting the bar. I need a drink." Bonnie said as she separated from the group.
"I'll scout around. Try to learn every entrance, exit, whatever." Jenkins said as he separated from Micheal to do his Brotherhood business. That just leaves Micheal and Dogmeat.
"...You wanna go to the community center?" He asked his canine friend. Dogmeat stuck his tongue out and faced his master. The boy and his dog walked around the town and eventually found the community center, which was built out of an old high school.
"I wonder what it was like for teenagers to have to come here everyday." Micheal said as he looked at the hallways of the old school building.
It was littered with old posters, rusty lockers, and folk walking around. The cafeteria was rebuilt and served food out to the residents, the gymnasium was used for sport events, and the classrooms were a multitude of apartments, storage, and even medical bays. Micheal noticed one person in the medical bay was wearing some old riot gear with a heavy duster over it.
The Prodigy walked around for a bit and eventually decided to get something to eat in the cafeteria. He walked in and noticed a lot of people sitting in at the tables, people in the kitchen cooking whatever they could cook and kids running around playing. The children were playing with old toy guns and wearing costumes. Some had on toy masks that resembled Vault Boy or something, others had on hats and capes, but one girl in particular caught Micheal's eyes.
"Stay back, you raider scum!" She playfully said to the other kids. "For I am...The Prodigy!"
She had on an old repairman jumpsuit with the number 25 made out of yellow fabric sewed on the back. She had some welded metal with drawings on it strapped to her arm which was suppose to resemble a Pip Boy.
"You'll never win! You're outnumbered!" One of the other kids said.
"Oh yeah? Get him Dogmeat!" The girl said. She pushed a wooden horse with wheels toward the group of kids. The horse bumped one of the kids in the arm. "Ha! Got you now."
Just then, an older girl around Micheal's age, walked over to the girl.
"Hey. We gotta go." She said. She was the older sister.
"But Jordan! I just got Dogmeat to do the thing." The little girl exclaimed.
"You're still hung up on that Vault Dweller? I keep telling you he's not real, it's just some made up story on the radio." The older sister said. "Something to make people tune in. You know how it is."
"But what if he is real? What if there really is a Prodigy and his trusty canine?" The girl refused to believe her.
"We all thought the Warrior was real, but they were a bigger hoax than The Calculator." Jordan said. She grabbed her little sister by the hand and pulled her away. Jordan wasn't looking in front of her, so she bumped into someone.
"Hey! Watch it!" She said.
"Why is everyone so rude?" She bumped into Micheal.
The little sister looked beyond her sister and her eyes widened in amazement at the sight of the real Prodigy.
"Jordan! It's him!" She pulled on her sisters pant leg.
"Who's him?" Jordan asked, not knowing what was in front of her.
"It's The Prodigy!" She was obviously a fan.
"Yeah? Well I'm John Caleb Bradberton." She said as she pulled her sister away from Micheal. She wasn't a fan.
"What do you reckon that was?" Micheal asked his canine friend, only to find that he had wandered off. He looked around and saw Dogmeat had gotten into the trash bin.
"Dogmeat!" Micheal said as he ran to his dog and pulled him out of the garbage. "No! We do not eat trash! ...at least not when people are looking." He said. Just then, the sound of a horn could be heard from outside. "What? What'd I do?"
Most of the people got up from the tables and ran out of the community center, the rest hid in random hiding spots.
"What's going on?" Micheal asked one of the people hiding in a locker.
"You gotta hide man! It's not safe!" He said.
"What? What's not safe?" Micheal asked.
"It's the Legion! They're back!" He said as he shut the locker door, sealing him inside.
"Legion?" Micheal repeated.
A loud explosion went off outside and some of the glass windows of the community center shattered.
"RETRIBUTION!" One of the Legates outside screamed, but was soon silenced by gunshots.
Micheal took cover behind one of the walls and peered out the window. There were hundreds of Legion soldiers storming the front entrance and many civilians returning fire. Bonnie and Jenkins were in the midsts of the battle as well, Bonnie behind cover and Jenkins firing his laser rifle at them.
The Prodigy whistled to his dog to join him at his side. Dogmeat ran over to him when he was called.
"Go find help boy!" Micheal ordered as bullets wizzed passed him from the walls and splinters flew through the air.
Dogmeat ran off through the halls of the old school as Micheal ducked and weaved stray bullets as he ran through the halls. One bullet graced his thigh and Micheal fell to the ground. The young Vault Dweller grabbed his thigh and winced in pain. He felt anger rise in him.
"Damnit! Shit...Fuck!" Micheal said as he looked to his wound. It shouldn't kill him, but it hurt like hell. The pain was bad, but what it had awoken was worse. Much, much worse.
"Get up." Micheal ordered himself in the same voice he had when he threatened Marcy. He bounced up to his feet and ran through the halls. He reached a room on the second floor. Micheal wiped his eyes and was partially back to normal.
"Where am I?" He asked himself.
He looked around and found himself in one of the many storage rooms, one particularly full of junk and busted weapons. He heard the war zone that was the outside and decided to put this junk to good use.
"Alright Becker." He said as he cracked his fingers. "Let's get to work."
He dug through the junk and eventually came across an old notebook. He flipped through the pages and eventually found a page with drawings of a weapon. It appeared to be some kind of sword that could catch fire called a "Shishkebab." It didn't have any schematics for it, but the parts could be identified clearly.
Micheal put the book on a nearby table and grabbed whatever he needed to make the weapon. He picked up mounds of scrap and jumbled it together on the table. He found an old katana sword, probably a relic from a museum or something. He connected copper wiring and tubing to an old spray can, which held the lighter fluid from many lighters scattered around, connected the tubing and wiring against the blade to create a spark from an old igniter from a propane barbecue grill, and a motorcycle handbrake as the trigger to release the lighter fluid to the spark to create the flame. He cobbled that all together as the war raged on outside and he now had a new weapon to his arsenal: the Shishkebab, a flaming sword. He grabbed the book and the sword and was about to step out, but something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Micheal stopped in the door frame and turned around to face something big under a cover. He went over and removed the tarp and what he saw was legendary. It was broken sure, but he could fix it up right quick. He only saw this kind of thing in the old documentaries that were shown in the vault.
"oh.." Micheal said. "You and I are gonna have lots of fun." He picked up some tools and immediately started fixing his new prize.
The battle raged on in the streets. The Legion has been trying to expand territory to the East, considering they are at a standstill in the West with the NCR. This town was the only town left in the state that hasn't been taken over by Legion forces because the townsfolk have been fighting back. Today was gonna be different.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS MICHEAL?!" Bonnie shouted from cover as the wall of bullets and spears came at them. The battlefield holds the bodies of both dead Legionaries and civilians trying to protect the town.
"I DON'T KNOW! HOLD YOUR POSITION, SOLDIER!" Jenkins ordered.
"WHAT POSITION?!" Bonnie howled back as she ducked from even more bullet storms. One struggles to breathe in an atmosphere that is 80% lead.
The battle raged on for a few more minutes, but eventually it all stopped. The Legion has stopped firing upon the civilians. The people poked their heads out to see what was happening, but it's best they didn't know. A giant shadow had lured over the town as the Legion rolled in a towering box. Whatever was inside it, wanted to get out. Legates prepared themselves at the front of the box with long cattle prods.
"What the hell is that?" Bonnie asked.
The massive wooden cage banged from inside and some of the support beams and rope had broke. It banged again and even more damage to the cage was done.
"I don't think we want to find out..." Jenkins said.
"RELEASE THE BEAST!" One Legate ordered and the ones holding it in place had let go. The massive hatch of the cage slowly opened, but the beast inside burst out of its box. It was giant, it was angry, it was an armored Super Mutant Behemoth in Legion hands.
"...Holy shit..." Bonnie said slowly at the sight of the hulking green giant.
The beast roared and killed a few Legion members before storming into the town. The townsfolk fired everything they had at it, but it was only making it angrier. It smashed buildings, sent people flying through the air, turned people into red piles of guts. This was certain to be a Legion victory, even if the town is destroyed.
"THIS THINGS INVINCIBLE!" Bonnie shouted.
"JUST KEEP SHOOTING!" Jenkins said in desperation.
Bonnie had ran out of ammo and Jenkins soon after. They ducked behind one of the carts.
"We can't fucking kill this thing!" Bonnie said.
"Yes we can! We just need more firepower." Jenkins claimed.
"WHERE THE FUCK CAN WE GET MORE FIREPOWER?!" Bonnie argued his claim.
The duo looked around them to try and find anything and found Dogmeat hiding in the cart.
"Dogmeat?! What the fuck are you doing?!" Bonnie said to the mutt. "Where's Micheal?!"
Dogmeat jumped out of the cart and ran the other way. Bonnie and Jenkins watched as the dog ran, but saw that he was running toward someone. It was Micheal, and he was carrying something under a tarp over his shoulder.
"HEY! YA BIG GREEN UGLY BASTARD! OVER HERE!" He was trying to get the attention of the behemoth. The monster's gaze fell onto the young Vault Dweller. The monster bolted at Micheal, but The Prodigy had a little surprise for his new friend.
Micheal threw the tarp off and revealed him to be wielding the wrath of God. The Prodigy had repaired a very unique gun with the title "The Davy Crocket" engraved in the metal. An M42 Tactical Nuclear Launcher. More commonly known: the Fat Man.
He loaded the Fat Man with a mini nuke and launched it, which set young Micheal stumbling back from the recoil. The mini nuke whistled as it flew through the air as the many inhabitants and Legates watched. It landed square in the shoulder of the giant. The monster was submerged in a beautiful miniature nuclear explosion and his arm had been decimated.
"Call me Jerry Lee Lewis! I'M SPITTING GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!" Micheal said. The behemoth roared in pain and staggered to the ground, the earth shook as it hit the dirt. It looked up at its attacker and saw another mini nuke flying at its face. Once a horrifying beast of carnage that left nothing in its wake, now reduced to a massive pile of flesh and bone from a Vault Dweller.
"Fee fi foo fum." Micheal stood on the corpse of the massive beast he'd just put down. "I smell the blood of a Legion man." He unsheathed his Shishkebab and ignited it in front of the Legion soldiers.
"KILL THAT DEGENERATE!" One of soldiers shouted. Before any of them could fire upon the new target, time had stopped for Micheal once again. He selected three soldiers scattered across the street, each making a pinging sound to solidify what was to come.
Time had begun to move as a snails pace once again. Micheal moved fast, seemingly just appearing out of thin air in front of his targets. He sliced his sword at them and each got their taste of his Shishkebab. As one soldier died, another was about to.
As the last Legate Micheal had chosen fell, time started again with Micheal in a different spot. For them, Micheal had just teleported and killed three men in the blink of an eye. The Prodigy ran through the warring street and sliced another soldier trying to stand up as he ran by. Bullets rained down upon him, but he had either deflected them or dodged them. The ones that did hit seemingly did nothing to him.
He was a juggernaut, an unstoppable barbarian man. Most of the soldiers fell at the hands of the blue boy with the flaming sword. Dogmeat had joined in the fight and took care of the Legion mongrels and even some soldiers had fallen victim to his jaws. Bonnie and Jenkins soon fought by Micheal's side with weapons they scrounged from the battlefield.
"Keep them coming! You're not quenching my thirst!" Micheal chanted in his alternate voice, his face splashed with fresh, warm blood from the soldiers. The cracks and holes in the street were now flowing with gallons of Legion blood, the pavement saturated with guts, gibs and body parts.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" One of the higher ranked Legionaries ordered the surviving troops to retreat. The remaining Legates ran back out into The Wasteland, away from The Prodigy.
"They're turning tail!" One of the townsfolk chanted as they watched from one of the buildings.
The townsfolk ran out of the buildings and cheered as the Legion had been lost and their town would live another day.
"Shit...That was intense." Bonnie said as she slumped her shoulders in relief.
"Excellent strategy bringing a Fat Man. We needed that fire support." Jenkins complemented Micheal, but the young Vault Dweller didn't respond. "Micheal?"
The two companions looked behind them to see a peculiar sight: Micheal had his back faced to his allies and Dogmeat was just staring at his master. Micheal still had his sword in his hand and hung his head, but he sounded like he was softly speaking to himself.
"Having a nice conversation there? Who's winning the argument?" Bonnie joked.
Micheal immediately stopped his rambling and slowly raised his head to turn and face his companions. It was our Vault Dweller, but something was...different...about him. Blood dripped down his jawline and his teeth were stained red from the blood oozing out of his mouth, but he smiled. His vault suit had holes from the bullets that hit him and plowed into his skin, but he didn't feel it. His eyes, his once innocent looking eyes filled with kindness and wonder, were ruby red with dark pupils that could stare down your soul...but he liked it.
"Mikey?" Bonnie asked, not knowing what was wrong with their Vault Dweller. "You, uh, you alright there?"
"Mr. Becker, I do believe we should get back on the road soo-" Jenkins tried to give his word, but he was cut off when Micheal roared at the two, sounded like the kind of roar only the devil could make.
"Jesus! Christ." Bonnie said as she and Jenkins took a step back from The Prodigy.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. Micheal's smile was the worst, but soon his smile dropped from his face and was replaced by one of confusion.
"...I do believe I've been shot." Micheal said in his normal voice.
He lost all control of his legs and fell face first into the pavement. His breathing slowed and his vision began to blur. The last thing he could see was the figment of his companions rolling him over. But then...blackness. Darkness. Micheal was standing in a dark space with nothing around him.
"Why do you keep doing this?" But he wasn't alone.