AN: Naruto & Fallout are owned by Masashi Kishimoto, TV Tokyo, & Bethesda Softworks, please read and enjoy the epicness.
"Talking/Talking!"
"Thoughts/Thoughts!"
"Alien/Robot/Creature/Terminal/Machinery Dialogue!"
*Actions!*
Nuclear Badlands
Chapter 4: The Deathclaw Migration
Capital Wasteland - Bailey's Crossroads - Three Weeks Later
Having aided the Outcasts in their struggle against the Super Mutants, Naruto had quickly left the facility; it wasn't that he had a problem with anyone but, Sibley in particular had started to demand for his equipment.
Shortly after opening the vault Naruto had tweaked the Chinese Stealth Armor and removed its camouflage system. Utilizing the tools he had taken off the Zeta, he had created a much smaller module and had used the components of one of many Stealth Boys within the Armory to reduce the amount of expelled gamma radiation to almost none and had upgraded the modulating field to reflect light from both sides of an object in order to make the user completely invisible.
Naruto had also upgraded his attire; wearing his Raider Commando Armor, he had equipped the Stealth Armor gauntlets and shoulder pads as well as the chest piece, belt, knee guards and boots.
What caught the attention of the Outcast was the Alien Disintegrator he had taken apart to upgrade his Gauss Rifle. No longer did the weapon drain five Microfusion Cells per shot; with the parts he had scrapped off a pair of Plasma and Multiplas Rifles he had given it a super conducting barrel and a special chamber that would hold up ten bolts per cell. He had then replaced several parts with that of his Disintegrator, making the weapon much more reinforced and lighter. It was now a weapon that any military unit would die to get their hands on.
The third and final piece of equipment was his Katana, having removed the kinetic energy storage device within his Super Sledge along with the Shocksword's electrical components and the remains of his Disintegrator he had put together a very complex system within the entire blade itself giving it an EMP discharge, a super heated edge, and a shock damage feature. The golden guard and handle were removed and replaced with a more digital black and blue variation.
For the final touch, Naruto used his Omni-Blade to melt his Super Sledge; while time consuming, the materials were used to quickly yet carefully harden the Katana into a much denser alloy. While not as strong as his Adamantium bones, the sword would most definitely not be broken so easily.
The scabbard was another thing he had to work on, as he didn't want to simply carry the blade in grasp. Measuring the length to five feet, he melted several bits of Scrap Metal into an equally lengthed iron scabbard.
With that kind of equipment it was no wonder Sibley wanted them for the Outcasts, he of course had demanded he make more, sadly the results were Naruto's decline and explanation that they did not possess the right parts for him to recreate them. When he wouldn't back off, Naruto had left the group with a pair of Alien Crystals; it kept him and several other Outcasts off his back while he read a Volume Five Big Book of Science on how to tweak Microfusion Cells into Bulk, Max, Overcharge, and Optimized variations.
Olin herself had attempted to gain some answers, wanting to know how he was able to communicate with her. His only response was, "We're not alone in this universe" now Olin made it clear that she she did not believe in extraterrestrial life and had asked if it was cased by a radiated mutation, or if it was from an implant of some sort, the list went on.
Though not believable,Naruto had gained his own answers through telepathy and quickly left whilst saying his farewells to McGraw; not wanting to deal with the other Outcasts.
There were many things to this world that he had yet to understand but, at least he knew what the bottlecaps were for.
Now we find our blonde Meta-Human wondering the north area of the ruined city, his active Omni-Tool showed a holographic image of the Capital Wasteland, something he had secretly downloaded off Olin's Terminal.
"Cause one dog ain't enough and two is too low, its me Three Dog, here today with a public service announcement... Okay, kiddies, the settlement of Greyditch has gone... quiet. Attempts to make contact have been met with... silence. If you're up that way, then you might wanna pop in and check what's what, until next time, this is Three Dog-" giving a dog's howl over the radio which got a light chuckle from the blonde, "-And you're listening to Galaxy News Radio, bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts... and now some music" the record scratches and begins to play Jack Shaindlin's "Let's Go Sunning".
"Greyditch, huh?" checking up his map and raising an eyebrow, "Not that far from here, might as well" following his map, he headed towards Greyditch in hope of finding anything to scavenge.
Anchorage Memorial
"Find anything Dogmeat?" standing above the historical monument, Kat and her furry companion searched for any supplies that might prove useful for their trek towards Vault 112. She had searched through the Holotapes her father had left behind Jefferson Memorial, many were based on what both her father and Dr. Li had called Project Purity.
From the little bits of information she had gained, the entire operation was purify all radiated water within the Capital Wasteland and maybe someday the rest of the world. Luckily Dr. Li had given her father's last known location and off she was on another goose chase.
Hearing a growl from her companion she turned to see Dogmeat with a blueprint in his mouth, "Good boy" she pets him, getting a wagged tail in return.
"Deathclaw Gauntlet... Deathclaw Hand, Medical Brace for extra structure... Leather Belt to render the hand rigid, and Wonderglue to hold it all together... ... ... ... ... ... what's a Deathclaw?" she asked herself as she scavenged a rather mutilated corpse; its arm torn off, legs were shredded by what looked like teeth, chest was slashed open by a claw mark, and in its abdomen was a large hole with most of its internal organs missing.
Resisting the urge to gag, she stripped the corpse of any Bottle Caps, Chems, and Ammo within its bloody possession. She heard Dogmeat whimper in fright, "What is it boy?" she felt the ground shake as many stomps were heard across the bridge. Crouching down, Kat moved over to the ledge to see hundreds of large tan demonic looking creatures; with large forward curved horns, spikes traveling down from their heads to their long tails, and if their razor fanged jaws weren't intimidating enough, their rather sharp five to seven foot-long claws played the part.
"Well, that answers my question-"
They were everywhere, through rubbled alleyways, rocky cliffs, and ruined buildings; trekking from the east part of the city towards the west of the Capital Wasteland. More soon followed, these were black and dark blue in color but, were twice if not thrice the size of all the others; what made her jaw drop was when a black Deathclaw, seemingly five times larger than its peers waltzed by.
The Deathclaws seemed to make way for the larger predator, it gave a glass shattering roar and to Kat's surprise they all followed in its steps. "Must be the leader of the herd, come on Dogmeat, best find a way around these things" she says, after facing several mutated creatures it was obvious that if one noticed something to chew on the others would join in as well.
South of Greyditch
Rocks tumble away as Naruto comes out of an alleyway, "Not much further-" he says seconds before his stomach growls. 'Hopefully there's something better than those MRE packets (Meal, Ready-to-Eat)' said meals were pre-cooked in 'boil in the foil' packets that could be warmed by immersing them in water, which would then activate the heating cells within the pouch. The food itself contained a boneless porkchop along with standard sundries, while a high protein based meal, one would get sick of it after consuming it day in and day out.
"HELP!~~" snapping out of his thoughts, he rushed towards the source of the SOS.
Coming into view, an eight-year old brunette wearing a roughed up Ragamuffin Outfit, what caught Naruto's eye was the large mutated red ants that were chasing him. The boy dove underneath a demolished car as the ants snapped their pincers after him, they pushed against the car in attempt to flip the four-wheeled vehicle off.
"Someone, HELP!" he shouted, in an instant was an ants head blown off, splattering its inner juices on the boy and startling him in the process. The ants turned their attention to their sudden attacker and where met by a plasma bolt to their exoskeletal bodies, Naruto rushed towards the car but was blocked off by another wave of ants. A soldier ant charged at him with its pincers wide open, Naruto readied his Gauss Rifle but, was startled when it suddenly breathed out a stream of flames.
"Whoa!" dodging out of the way, the other ants followed suit.
Naruto backed away from the mutated Fire Ants as their flames crept closer, 'Hey kid, can you hear me?'
'W-What? Who are you? How can I hear you?'
'Just listen, I need you to get to a safe distance while I deal with these things'
'B-But there's so many of them-'
'Don't worry about me, just go!' the boy gulped and crawled out from underneath the car and ran towards the nearest building. Seeing that he was out of harm's way, Naruto activated his Kinesis Module and grabbed hold of the tattered car before flinging it at the swarm of ants.
The car rolled across the road, smashing ants and scrapping their remains on the pavement.
Strapping his Gauss Rifle to his back, Naruto unsheathed his newly developed Bolt Katana and slashed apart the remaining soldier ants. Their bisected wounds were painted by a super heated electrical burns in which no guts nor blood could escape, the blonde Meta-Human examined his weapon with a grin, it had the desired results.
He was knocked out of his trance when a soldier ant tackled him to the ground, Naruto held the insects lower jaws as the pincers snapped and fires blazed. Using his arm to lift the ant off him, he reached into his second holster and brought out his Trench Knife, skewering it on the side of its head Naruto was able to flip the ant off him before repeatedly stabbing the ant with the sharp edge.
Another pack of ants swarmed in through the alleyways with their pincers ready to spew, activating his Kinesis Module, the Katana flung itself back into Naruto's grasp and began to swing away. The boy took a peak from one of the shattered windows and gasped as he watched the blonde Meta Human slashed apart the fire breathing insects.
The slaughter continued for another two minutes before the soldiers called for a full retreat, the ants crawled back into their holes deep beneath the metro. Naruto sighed and sheathed his blade, "You can come out now!" he shouted.
The boy cautiously walked out, peeking both left and right for any more insects, "T-That was amazing, t-those things didn't even stand a chance"
"Yeah well, you mind telling me why there were man sized fire breathing ants after you?"
"THOSE things!" reffering to the mutated insects, "It's all their fault! They did this to us! Y-You've got to help me, please you just got to"
'The kid's scared, something must have happened for him to come running off into the Wastes, bugs as huge as these would only chase off an intruder until their as far away from the hive...' Naruto thought before asking, "Listen kid I'd like to help but, I need to know more first".
"Those... bugs, they're all over Greyditch, they killed everyone, please... you've got to find my dad"
'An eight-year old with a missing parent and a swarm of mutated insects after him... yeah, I'm getting to the bottom of this'
"I'll find him alright, just calm down"
"You will? Really? Thanks a whole lot!-" he then pointed to the distance where Greyditch came to view, "My house is the one closest to the huge sign and the old diner, my dad was going for our supply cache when the ants attacked" he explained.
Naruto nodded and began his trek, "Is there any place you hide while I search?" he asked, not wanting to leave the boy alone in the open waste, "W-Well, there is the personal shelter next to the old diner, dad always said to stay away from it... but, I guess it's supposed to be safe" with a nod, Naruto motioned the boy to follow.
"Never got your name kid-"
"Huh? Oh um, I'm Bryan Wilks... and you?"
"Naruto-"
"Nah-roo-toe?"
"Strange name I know" about five minutes of walking did they reach the outskirts of Greyditch, while it seemed quiet, the dry winds spoke otherwise.
"Okay there's the shelter, I better-"
"Get back!" Naruto held the boy as a Fire Ant Worker crawled out from within the diner, activating his Omni-Tool, the Gauss Rifle was transfered into its own storage space and was replaced by a Hunting Rifle. Now branding a scope, Naruto took aim and blew its head off, "Alright let's go" knowing the fired .308 round would attract any nearby ants, the two rushing towards the shelter.
Bryan attempted to open its door but, found them to be locked. Taking a look at the side of it, they saw a eight coin slot with 'Exact Change' written on it. Neither of them had the coins necessary to open its doors, so Naruto skewered the doors auto-mechanics and opened the door manually, "I'm off, stay here and don't do anything stupid" he speaks as he closes the door on Brian.
Recalling Bryan's residence he entered only to back off slightly at the heat emitting from within, "It's like a furnace in here" he walked into the living and shielded his mouth and nose from the black fumes. In he saw multiple dead Fire Ants as well as the corpse of one Fred Wilks, kneeling down he examined the body and its surroundings. Empty 5.56mm rounds on the scorched ground below next to the Chinese Assault Rifle in Fred's grip, the body itself was scorched to a point that borderlined second and third degree burns as well as multiple bite marks on his legs and abdomen.
Hard to say whether Bryan's father was either burned or repeatedly bitten to death, searching the body he found a small slightly scorched business card with his name and work address on it, he also found a small key but, to what? Giving a sigh he left the building to report the bad news.
A Fire Ant crawled out of a hole and opened its jaws to have a round fired at its head, giving a knock, Brian opened pushed open the door, "Come on tell me already".
"I think I've got some bad news-"
"W-What? What happened?"
"Bryan... your father's dead"
"He's... he's dead?" he took a deep breath, " I guess I already knew... too tired to cry anymore"
"Bryan, I'll stop whatever started this that much I'll guarantee you"
"You've got to, so that this can't happen to anyone else's family... I wish I'd met you a long time ago, maybe then my dad would still be alive" he pauses, "Thanks for doing all of this, I'm feeling better now that you're here"
"Yeah, well I'm off again, don't open this for anyone else"
"Right" Bryan replied as Naruto closed the door once more, "Now where to start?" he asked himself, Greyditch was about the size of an average town, it could take him hours if not days to find anything related to the sudden swarm of Fire Ants. He walked around the block, steadily avoiding any Workers or the flames they had produced, eventually finding himself in front of the shack that was conveniently located next to Bryan's burning home.
Turning the nob, "Tsk, locked-" it then clicked, he brought out the small key Fred Wilks possessed and inserted it. Giving a turn, a click was heard and Naruto opened the wooden door. Inside Naruto came across a computer terminal, a desk containing a hot plate, test tubes, microscopic lens, a chemistry set, and a Hollowtape. There were also several metallic boxes and suitcases along with an empty pod of some sort.
Naruto took the Holotape and read it with his Omni-Tool, "This could be the fifth time I've forgotten the code to my desktop terminal, II really must learn to be more organized. the password for my terminal is 'formicidae', how hard could that be for me to remember? Note to self, destroy this holotape as soon as my move to the new lab is complete"
Glancing at the terminal, the blonde Meta-Human powered it up. After several seconds it had asked for a password and typed it in, 'Formicidae' pressing enter was the password accepted and opened up three option.
-Activate Science Robot
-Science Robot Command Input
-Personal Notes
Naruto glanced over at the empty pod, "Guess the first two are useless, let's see what's on number three" pressing the down command key, he opened up Doctor Weston Lesko's personal files. Up popped up three files.
-Where did I go wrong?
-Sample Location Discovered!
-Dangers
Clicking the first, he viewed the open file.
'Batch A27 is a complete failure, I must return to my original formulas and begin the process all over again. Perhaps the pressure of working in these conditions without the proper laboratory equipment is to blame, perhaps I simply didn't splice the correct genetic instructions or perhaps I am fatigued. Whatever the case may be, A27 is proving to be a disaster, I must introduce a new formula soon or I may not be alive to see my hypothesis come to fruition'
Naruto had gotten somewhat of an understanding on what this Doctor was attempting to do, he however required more information to prove his thoughts correct. Opening the second file rose some concerns about the ant mutation.
'I've found the perfect specimen for my experiments inside Marigold Station! I've set up shop underground for now while I prepare the experiment. All I need is a bit of last-minute programming on my robot and it will be ready to perform the delicate injections. Soon I will prove to everyone that my formula is a viable alternative to the destruction of these misunderstood beings'
'So this guy created these ants in attempt to develop an enhancing formula?' now getting the big picture of how the attacks could've started he selected the third file.
'I realize the dangers involved in tampering with nature, I've hears the rhetoric and the hoopla about playing god. However, I am determined to reduce these poor things back to their original state when they were harmless, only through genetic recoding is this possible. All that is needed is the proper test subject, my search continues as I tweak the formula'
"At least he's trying to fix this but, it seems like he's more focused on that formula of his rather than the damage done to Greyditch... wait, does he even know what's going on up here!?" Naruto wondered. He shut down the terminal and proceeded to investigate the mentioned Metro Station.
Having trekked through the darkness of the underground metro and nearly being set ablaze by a fractured gas pipe, courtesy of the Fire Ants that resided within, Naruto had came across a door that led into what looked like a small lab. Chemistry sets here and there, complex equations on billboards, and several chunks of ant meat on desks.
A man branding a Lab Technician Outfit jumped at the sound of the opening door mechanics, seeing it was a 'human' much like himself he gave a sigh, "Oh, you startled me... you really musn't creep up on people like that"Naruto removed his hand from his sheathed Katana, "Sorry, I didn't expect to bump into anyone alive down here" he responded.
"That is precisely why this is the ideal place for my work, do you realize you're trampling about in a delicately balanced and high sensitive experimentation area?"
"Your... experiments?"
"My experiments are of a complex nature and would take a scientist to explain... oh wait! I am a scientist, how marvelous!" Naruto sweatdropped, "My foray into reducing the girth of these insectoid creatures is of utmost importance, I intend to generationally reduce their immense structure by way of a pre-birth induced mutagen, isn't that clever?"
'So this guy must be Lesko, I thought as much'
"I get it, you're trying to make them smaller over time by injecting the eggs" he replied.
"My word! You understand perfectly! How marvelous!"
"So what exactly went wrong?" this caused Lesko to scratch his head sheepishly.
"Well, I'm afraid I've made slight miscalculations in the mutagen, instead of lowering their size, the brood hatched with a new biomechanism, I call their genetic abberation, Pyrosis; the ability to emit flame from their bodies... I may be able to correct this error but, I can't get near my equipment"
Naruto sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "You know I'm a little surprised that you didn't attempt this in a controlled environment first"
"Your knowledge of experimental procedure surprises me-"
'Tsk, you have no idea' Naruto thought in annoyance.
"Indeed, I have skipped a step and directly modified an entire brood, perhaps I was too hasty... I was so certain it would work, in order to correct this mistake I'll need to get to my terminal to modify the mutagen"
"So what exactly needs to be done?"
"Well, since you offered, allow me to elaborate, my terminal is set up in the Hatchery Chamber near the Ant Queen, if I can reach it I can then continue to work on improving the mutagen" he explained, Naruto nodded but, had to ask.
"If the Queen's your concern, why not deal with it directly?"
"Oh heaven's no, if she were harmed in any way, months of data would be lost, your objective would be to eliminate what I call her quintet of Nest Guardians, filthy little abominations"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "So how exactly will this undo the mayhem you've caused?"
"I've rigged the equipment at my portable terminal to emit what I call an Inhibitor Pulse, once I send this pulse, all of the remaining ants will lose their empathic link with the Queen and frenzy, destroying each other in the process" Naruto nodded, understanding the plan; best to deal with them all at once rather than one at a time.
"If it'll stop the ants from burning down Greyditch, I'm in"
"You'll do it? How marvelous! Be cautious my friend, the Nest Guardians can be quite tenacious"
Naruto closed his eyes as he thought through his plans, 'Long range seems the best course of action, better avoid the Queen while I'm there'.
"Anything else you want to tell me about the Fire Ants before I go?"
"Well, like I've explained, the mutagen has enhanced their fortitude and provided them with Pyrosis, they're quite radiation-free however... or, well, as radiation-free as any other mutated creature in the Wasteland"
"Right~~~ so how exactly did you go from changing their size to breathing fire?" Lesko sighed at this.
"Playing with genetic codes isn't simple... do you realize one tiny tweak at any point in the last million years could have completely changed us? Going from attempting to change their size to generating their Pyrosis ability is no surprise at all"
"Then how are they able to exhale flames?" he curiously asked, knowing how they gained the ability but how they were able to do so was the unanswered question.
"The stimulation of the subject's evolutionary trigger by the mutagen caused a bio-defensive reaction metamorphosing the ant's venom glands, this process caused unexpected oscillation in the venom molecules at such a vast rate that it produces a thermodynamic biochemical reaction, as the subject ejects the volatile solution it becomes conflagrant due to the new structures in it's maw I call its Calefaction Array, amazing isn't it?"
While Naruto wasn't too happy about his loose fire breathing creations, it was a rather interesting piece of information. Then he recalled the eight-year old he promised to help, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Bryan Wilks would you?" he asked.
Lesko groaned in annoyance, "Far too curious, his incessant questioning would often come when I was the most absorbed with my calculations, he had no regard for the importance of my work"
Naruto frowned, "You do realize that you ruined his life, right?" the elder man scoffed at that, "You have your ideals and I have mine, I'm down here to complete my experiments at any cost, if that means the lost of a few lives to save generations of lives in the future then its a small price to pay"
Holding back a growl, "Couldn't you have taken responsibility for his father's death?"
"All scientists take responsibility for their failures, because it comes with the territory, I will take this experimentation to completion without roosting on the moral high ground, if I allow emotions to enter the mix then all this time and energy spent will have been for nothing"
"And yet you couldn't let him know that you were alive down here"
"I can't risk leaving this place... I have to continue monitoring the Hatchery for any further mutations in the next brood, I have no time for children and their petty games, what do they know about the importance of my work?"
'For a supposed scientist, he isn't very smart... children have yet to have their brain's develop and gain information on the subject, Bryan could have at least helped out around here while he worked, god this guy's a dick' he thought.
"Whatever, I'll kill the Guardians and be done with it"
"Yes, you do that and remember what I said, if we want to exterminate the ants then the Queen must not be harmed" Lesko reminded as Naruto opened a nearby door leading deeper underground and into the Hatching Chambers.
Naruto snuck by the ant wastes and slightly moist ground, his Stealth Module activated and his Hunting Rifle ready to fire. The sounds of cackling pincers and crawling legs crept closer, placing his back against a corner, he watched as a much larger variant of the Soldier Fire Ants crawl by.
Taking a hand off the Hunting Rifle, he slowly grasped his Trench Knife and unsheathed it. Without warning Naruto sunk the blade into the ant's head, keeping a hard grip the ant struggle for several seconds before going limp.
Deeper into the chamber, the Queen Ant noticed the sudden connection lost of one of her Guardians, with a shriek she ordered her remaining guards to investigate, knowing she could handle herself if under assault.
The Fire Ants were quickly getting frustrated, several of their Soldier including two of their Guardian's have been killed by an unknown intruder. Despite their high sensory ability they should have located the intruder with little to no difficulty, however the lack of movement made it impossible to for them to spot the Meta-Human. The loud gunshots of the rifle didn't help either as it echoed throughout the Chamber.
With little to no effort were their numbers reduced to none, Naruto walked past the pile of corpses and down the corridors. He quickly hid behind a wall once he gazed upon the Ant Queen, she was huge, bearing rough pincers, wings, and a large sack on her lower half.
"Holy shit-" he muttered before hearing a small scratching sound, he turned in time to see a Guardian pounce on him, causing his Stealth Module to deactivate. Naruto held its pincers high up from his face as the insect spewed flames, with a grunt he forcibly pulled the ant to the side and relentlessly began to beat down on it. After several strikes its exoskeletal skull began to dent until, with a sickening crunch had its olive green blood splattered out of its head.
Swatting away the liquid off his hands Naruto snuck past the Queen and deeper into cave, in search for any more Guardians.
Doctor Lesko was currently analyzing data from his previous entries when he detected an anomaly within the Hatchery. He heard the door behind him open and turned to see a Naruto wipe some of the green blood off his face and armor.
"I've detected some changes within the Queen's Hatchery with my equipment, what's happened?"
"Killed all the Nest Guardians, what's it look like-" he then spat on the iron floor, "God its my mouth" giving it a wipe.
"Excellent! Then I shall proceed to my portable terminal at once and make the necessary changes to the formula, thanks very much for everything... you've been a quite useful lab assistant-"
'Lab Assistant!? If anything I'm a Field Specialist' he thought.
"And for that I would like to give you a sample of my Mutagenic Bioenhancer"
"Say what now?"
"Its a secondary formula I have created in order to enhance the human body and do not worry I have ran diagnostics and have done the calculations numerous of times, it is one hundred percent guaranteed to work"
'Jeez, what's with him and formula's... ugh, fuck it, I at least deserve something out of this' Naruto thought, "Fine give me the injection" he reluctantly agreed.
"How marvelous! Which injection did you want? Will it be the Ant Sight or Ant Might?"
'He has two? Okay I'm guessing sight would increase my perception while might does my physical strength... in this world, I'm gonna need-', "Ant Sight" he decided.
"Ant Sight it is then, now hold still please" bringing up the syringe, Naruto removed his right shoulder pad and allowed him access to his arm. Disinfecting the area, Lesko then sunk the needle into the boy's arm. After injecting the fluids, he removed the syringe and was about to patch up the bleeding hole when he noticed it close up almost instantly; removing his glasses to see if he was hallucinating, for it was not scientifically possible.
'Must have been my imagination-', "Well, I best get to work" Lesko stated before leaving the lab and towards the Queen Chamber. Naruto noticed the Ant Might Syringe on the table and with a few seconds to ponder, he took the needle and stored it within his Omni-Tool.
Exiting the Marigold Metro and back into Greyditch, Naruto removed his Hunting Rifle from its strap and cautiously walked back to the shelter he had left Bryan in. Taking notice of the ant corpses as well as the few that were currently attempting to kill each other, "Guess it did work after all" he muttered as he approached the shelter.
"It's getting kinda hard to breathe in here" he heard Bryan from within, giving a good tug Naruto opened the single door to meet said brunette.
"You're back! It was so weird, the ants... they all went nuts and started fighting each other"
'So he did leave shelter-' Naruto deadpanned, "Well, just glad you're okay"
"I just wish I had something to give you for all the work you did but, I never really had much to start with"
"Don't worry about it, at least you won't have to worry about the ants anymore" Bryan nodded sadly, "I guess now you'll be on your way and I'll have to try living here by myself, I hope you'll come back and visit someday"
Naruto had no clue if the boy was either serious or guilt-tripping him, he gave a sigh, "Look Bryan, I can't just leave you here by yourself, so... after we give your dad a proper burial, come with me, we'll find you a place to live"
"Y-You mean it, thank you so much!" surprising the older blonde with a hug, Naruto unsurely ruffled the boy's hair before the two headed back towards the boy's house. About two minutes later did Bryan walk out with a pair of shovels while Naruto carried the corpse of Fred Wilks in a bridal fashion; respect for the dead after all, he wasn't going to sling him over his shoulder.
*Pant, Pant!*
Rocks slide as Kat tumbles down a tattered concrete hill, Dogmeat following suit, "Go, go, go, go, go-!" several roars were heard from beyond the other side as the ground began to shake, and shadows crept closer. Both Vault Dweller and canine got up from their positions and ran towards an empty city, 'Dammit! I knew I should've waited for them to pass!' she thought, having been spotted by one and forced to defend herself, she had emptied an entire 5.56mm magazine on the Deathclaw which not only failed to bring it down but, attracted the entire herd.
"Keep running!" she shouted, Dogmeat continued to dash as fast as his four-legs could take him, taking a look behind, the Deathclaws were still on her trail. She and her companion entered the ruined city and into a narrow alleyway, safely avoiding a swing from a mutated chameleon's razor claws.
Kat and Dogmeat took the time to quickly catch their breaths, taking a glance at the Death claw to see it slowly plow through the brick walls, it roared as it attempted to swipe a claw towards the human. "This way-" leading her companion down a passageway, hopefully none of the other Deathclaws would have seen her.
Unbeknownst to Kat, the leader and mother of all the Deathclaws, the Matriarch, had yet to take her eyes off her prey.
Naruto patted a deep pile of dirt with the base of the shovel, while Bryan wrote the finishing touched to plank tombstone.
It read...
In loving memories of Fred Wilks
Devoted and Beloved Father
Born March 13, 2241- Died May 30, 2277, Age 36
Rest In Peace
Saying his final goodbyes, Bryan retreated back with his temporary guardian, "Any idea on who or where we should look?" Naruto asked, not too sure on which settlement to leave him in.
"Well, dad always told me about my cousin Vera, she lives on some big, giant ship somewhere or something, dad called the place 'Rivet City' but, I dunno where it is"
"Hmm, shouldn't be too much of a problem-" his Omni-Tool opened up the holographic map of the wastes, 'Whoa-' Bryan thought as Naruto skimmed through it, "Megaton... Takoma Park... The Linkon Memorial... Ah! Here we go Rivet City!" pointing at the lowest right corner of the map.
"It's not that far from here-" Bryan stated.
"We're walking so, it'll take us about a day or two-" his stomach growled once more, "Make that three, it's gonna be a long and possibly dangerous road ahead of us, so keep your eyes open for anything useful" Bryan nodded and followed the blonde Meta-Human deeper into the city, Naruto was hoping to cut through the city and head towards the bridge that connects to the southeastern area of the Wasteland.
"Wait-"
"What? What is it?" Bryan asked, wondering what the hold up was, "You hear that?" due to Naruto's high Perception as well as the mutagen given to him by Lesko, he had developed an more Keen Sensory Ability. Adding onto his Depth Perception, Far Vision, Hearing Sensitivity, and Sound Localization; Naruto had detected two incoming targets and several hundred more heading in their direction.
"We might wanna get out of here, quickly, let's go!" not too sure, Bryan did as requested and ran in Naruto's general direction. Picking up a nearby sound he turned and was nearly knocked onto his back by an orange haired female in an armored blue jumpsuit alongside her furry companion.
Kat herself wasn't too lucky and fell back herself, "Oof, jeez what did I hit" she muttered.
"Me apparently" Naruto offering a hand, she looked at him oddly before taking it, "Sorry about that but, you guys can't stay-"
"GRRR!" Dogmeat growled, out from around a corner did three Deathclaws waltz in, Bryan got behind Naruto as he rose his Hunting Rifle, "What... the hell... are those?" he uttered.
"T-Those are Deathclaws, my dad always said that they live up north of the Wasteland... b-but what are they doing here!?"
"I think now would be a bad time to say that there are hundreds of these things heading our way right now" Kat pointed out.
Naruto grit his teeth and looked around, "We need to get to higher grounds, keep quiet and follow me" he whispered, Kat herself wasn't one to trust any random stranger much less out in the Wasteland however if she wanted to survive long enough to see her father once more then she would have to do as instructed.
They snuck towards an alleyway that led out of Greyditch but, stopped when the Deathclaws 'spotted' them, "Oh shit-" Kat muttered.
"Come on" Naruto motioning her to hurry up, she looks back and forward between the Meta-Human and the Deathclaw before moving into the narrowed passageway. The mutated chameleon sniffed the spot Kat once stood before turning to her and the group, with a roar it alerted its brethren and swiped its claw at the group.
"Run!" Naruto shouted, without a second warning they all dashed out, over the small fence and into the Capital Wasteland. The Deathclaws began to make their way out of the city and searched for their prey, Naruto aimed his Hunting Rifle and pulled the trigger. The targeted Deathclaw roared in pain as a small yet bleeding hole was found just above its heart, in its anger it along with the two others shortly followed by five more, chased after the four.
"Their catching up!" Kat warned, Naruto bit his lower lip and stored his Hunting Rifle into his Omni-Tool, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Vault Dweller. Replacing the lead firing gun with his plasma based Sniper Rifle, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks crouched onto one knee and aimed his Gauss Rifle, "Are you nuts!" she shouted.
However, a single round from the plasma weapon was enough to shut all doubts, the Microfusion bolt had tore off a Deathclaw's horns and shredded through its snout before exploding in a bloody mess along with the rest of its head. Keeping a steady aim, Naruto continued to fire until the last Deathclaw had fallen. More roars soon filed the air as the entire herd slowly poured out of Greyditch like a flood, "Naruto!" he turned to see a three larger Deathclaws, each were black in color, coming in close (AN: Alpha Deathclaws).
Without warning Kat brought out her Chinese Assault Rifle and blazed a magazine at the first, the bullets scrapped its tough hide causing it to switch targets. 'No!' Naruto shot five rounds into said Deathclaw's leg blowing it off and leaving a bloody stump in its place. The other Alphas swung their lethal claws in which he dodged by diving under their legs letting them crash onto each other. Naruto jumped on its tail and crawled up and onto its back, taking notice the Alpha swung its claws back in attempt to both kill and get the human off him. Brining to life his Omni-Blade, he sunk it into the creatures skull, to his surprise the blade slowly sunk in, 'It's got a thick hide, gotta keep on pushing' the Deathclaw continued to roar in pain as the blade was amble to breach its skull and into its brain.
With a hard tug, Naruto ripped the heated weapon out and jumped off of the collapsing Deathclaw and landed on the crippled on with a hard stomp to the head he fired a round and splattered its skull on the grounds below. Now giving the chase to the group the third Alpha swung its arms wildly at the blonde, "Stay back!" blasting the Deathclaw with a Stasis bolt, the mutant chameleon was temporary immobilized.
The four continued running until they reached a large Super Market, "What... do we do!?" Bryan asked, clearly out of breath. Kat looked around until she found a latter heading straight for the roof top, "Up there!" rushing towards it to find it chained up and locked.
"This'll take a second-" taking out a Bobby Pin and a Screwdriver she began to tweak the lock. Naruto looked back to see that the Stasis field had dropped, "Not enough time!" his Omni Blade came to life and cut loose the chains. The ladder dropped to their level and quickly climbed up, "Bryan you go first, your turn-" Kat picked up her companion and climbed the stairs.
"Watch out!" Naruto turned and dodged as the Alpha swung and slashed apart the lower ladder. He ran around the store with the Deathclaw hot on his trail, he hood-slid over a car with his predator shredding it open and knocking it away. Naruto climbed up alongside a bus and quickly kicked open a window and dove in with the Alpha leaving a metal shredding slash mark in place.
Naruto backed away from the metal walls as the Alpha rammed against the side of the bus, glass shattered and claws pierced through the rusty metal. Crawling underneath the seats, he began to move towards the front, sadly the Alpha's curved horns caved in and pushed aside the seats. "Oh crap-" he muttered, "You've gotta do something!" Bryan shouted.
Kat bit her lower lip, what can she do? Her Assault Rifle barley punctured the Deathclaw's hide, she needed something stronger, something that went 'boom'. Taking notice of the shredded car, which was currently expelling smoke, 'That's it!' she thought as she rushed to the edge with her rifle drawn.
The Alpha grunted as bullets pierced its spiked backside, turning to see the human assaulting him it growled in annoyance, the two were too high up for it to reach. Seeing the window of opportunity, Naruto dashed out of the bus, "Hey! The car! Use the car!" Kat shouted.
'The car?' taking a glance at the four-wheeled machine, the rising black smoke gave him the reminder of his past encounters with Raiders. 'It just might work-' he thought in time for the Alpha to spot him, unsheathing his Katana he charged the Deathclaw.
Blocking its claws by the razor's tip, Naruto dove through it's legs and towards the car. Jumping overhead he sunk his Katana deep into the leaking motor engine, turned the hilt, lit the slightly dried motor oil with a spark of electricity and jumped away as the Alpha slammed its claws down. Keeping his head down as the car exploded, the Deathclaw was knocked on its back with severe scorch injuries and a lost arm.
"You've got to be shitting me, that thing's still alive!?"Kat muttered as the Deathclaw struggled to get up, Naruto picked himself up and walked over to the mutated chameleon, he stabbed its free claw and pinned it to the ground, raising his Gauss Rifle, he aimed and fired.
The first shot caused a roar of pain, the second cracked its horns and fangs, the third shattered them, the forth caved its head in with a sickening crunch, and a third blew its head off completely. Blood spewed from the large chunk of flesh as Naruto pulled his blade off the twitching palm.
"Get out of there!"
"Naruto run!"
Turning to see a pair of Deathclaws coming in fast, "Oh this is bullshit!" he yelled, narrowly avoiding the killer swipes. If that wasn't enough, the entire herd was mere feet away from the area, 'Damn it what do I do, it takes my Stasis two minutes to charge and even then I can only hit about three... I can't keep running forever, I've got to-' he spotted the river that separated the Super Market from the West Farragut Metro Station.
He changed course and headed towards the radiated waters, just as he jumped, a Deathclaw managed to slash his left flank. Waters splashed and the Deathclaws, sniffed the air, from what Kat could deduct the mutant chameleon's weren't fans of getting wet. Soon a pool of blood arose from beneath the waters filling the air with a dreadful scent, the Deathclaws took this as a more pleasant smell.
"Oh no-" Bryan gasped upon seeing the red liquid, Kat placed a hand on his shoulders and gasped herself, "Get down!" she whispered as the Matriarch stormed through. The Mother and remaining Alpha Deathclaws gave a signal to make way as she stopped by and sniffed the corpse of its child, the Matriarch herself was one of the two first ever Deathclaws in existence and she herself had given birth to many of the Deathclaws who had spread throughout the continent.
She sees all Deathclaws as her children... eleven were just killed and another was dying from wounds inflicted by the female human, she gave out a roar which forced Kat and Bryan to cover their ears. The other two Deathclaws joined up with the others, the Matriarch growled as if it demanded to know who was responsible. The two grunted in response, communicating in a way neither Kat nor Bryan could understand.
Within the rivers irradiated waters, Naruto had sunk to the bottom his open wound was slowly yet surely closing up, His Adamantium bones had made him much more heavier than the average human and had a much slight trouble staying above the water's surface. He grunted in pain, the wound was deep, he had come to understand how Deathclaws got their names, if their target hadn't already died from the first swing then they would most likely bleed to death if not treated on time.
It also didn't help that he was running low on oxygen, he gripped his closing wound and paddled his way back to shore. With a splash he gasped for air and crawled up on the other side of the Market, this of course didn't go unnoticed by the Matriarch who in which her younger children had just finished reporting the events that had transpired.
She growled and stormed over to the river, Naruto panicked when she entered the waters but fell surprised when she sunk half way up to her torso. She herself wasn't one for water and instantly backed out. The Matriarch sniffed the air, unbeknownst to Naruto she had memorized his scent through his blood.
To her, the Meta-Human was the largest threat to her entire family, once she had safely secured them to their mating grounds in the Deathclaw Sanctuary, northwest of the Capital Wasteland; she WOULD be out for blood, she will not stop, she will not rest, until her target was eliminated.
Naruto felt dread crawl up his metallic spine as the Matriarch glared intensely at him, with a final roar, the herd began to move away from the Market and back out into the Wasteland. It took forty-five minutes for every single Deathclaw to leave their sights, not once has the three survivors plus one dog seen so many of the mutant creatures. With his wound fully healed Naruto struggled a bit as he swam back across, Bryan climbed back down first with a Dog carrying Kat following suit.
Dogmeat surprisingly got the blonde Meta-Human first and startling Naruto as he tackled him to the ground, "Whoa, down boy, heel-" he lightly plucked the canine off as he continued to lick his face. "Are you okay!?" Bryan asked, with Kat helping the Meta-Human to his feet.
"Yeah, it cut pretty deep-" showing the slash mark on his flank, the leather clothing torn and the light metal armor piece shredded open.
"Wait, where's the wound?" Kat asked, knowing they could not close not heal in such a short amount of time. while a Stimpack does have that effect it could take hours for a heavy wound like that to heal upon use.
"I had a little accident with Super Mutants that led to being trapped inside a compound radiating with several waste barrels, I left four days later and with a rather useful mutation, now my immune system triples the amount of cells needed to restore lost tissue" he lied, not like she would believe the truth anyway, either way it sounded more believable.
"Radiation tends to do that, don't know whether you're lucky to have that ability or that you survived that many days without becoming a ghoul"
"What can I say, Lady Luck tends to shine on me"
"So... where are you two headed?"
"Rivet City, hopefully this kid's cousin will take him in.-" he ruffled Bryan's hair, "What about you?"
"I was on my way to Vault 112, when I came across the herd-" now that she thought about it, the Deathclaws were heading in the Vault's general direction, "But you know what, Rivet City sounds lovely this time of year" with that the three survivors plus one canine, made their way towards the large Battleship.
"So what's your name?"
"Hmm?"
"It's not everyday you meet someone that's not trying to kill you"
"Hehe, that's true... names Katherine but, everyone calls me Kat, and that there is Dogmeat" pointing to the Husky that was licking Bryan's petting hand.
"Name's Naruto, the kid's Bryan" he introduced.
Capital Wasteland
The Deathclaws continued to pave way towards their destination, any survivors and or animals steered clear of the migrating creatures. The Matriarch glanced back towards the distance and growled maliciously.
Next Chapter: Dropping Below Pittsburgh
AN: That's a wrap guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter and sorry there wasn't much Deathclaw action but, I had intended to split the chapter between a side-quest and a planned event. I do hope you guys liked the appearance of the Deathclaw Matriarch, I did a little upgrade to make her a much more larger and stronger variant of the mutated species alongside the Legendary Deathclaw, though I kinda feel bad for putting Naruto on her hit list he will be preparing himself for that incoming battle so no need to worry.
Also I do plan on brining in more mods to the story including cut creatures like the Night Ghouls, Super Mutant Gargantuans, Wanamingos, and the Deathclaw Alphas (Will be renamed as the Omega Deathclaws as to not confuse with the New Vegas variants). Since so many of you have asked this of me, I will be placing in the Zeta Crew Mod and I thank Culaio for sending the info and will be featured in the second Zeta arc.
If there is a mod you wish to see in the story send me its name and info so I can do some insights. With that said, here's the updated stats from both Courier and Lone Wanderer.
Naruto
S.P.E.C.I.A.L
Strength - 10
Perception - 9
Endurance - 10
Charisma - 5
Intellegance - 10
Agility - 10
Luck - 10
Skills
Barter - 25
Energy Weapons - 100
Explosives - 30
Guns - 43
Lockpick - 53
Medicine - 93
Melee Weapons - 100
Repair - 100
Science - 100
Sneak - 90
Speech - 37
Survival - 100
Unarmed - 100
Perks
Adamantium Skeleton (Limbs can no longer be crippled, +75 to unarmed)
Ant Sight (+ 1 Perception and 25% Resistant to Fire)
Commando (50% more proficient with two handed guns)
Concentrated Fire (75% more accuracy)
Covert Ops (+ 3 to Science, Guns, and Lockpick)
Friend of the Night (Able to see in low-light conditions)
Gunslinger (50% more proficient with single handed guns)
Iron Fist (+15 to unarmed)
Lead Belly (50% less radiation with every drink from an irradiated water source)
Monocyte Breeder (Wounds heal quicker over time)
Paralyzing Palm (30% chance to paralyze with unarmed attacks)
Phoenix Elite Implant (+30% resistance to laser, plasma, and fire weapons)
Piercing Strike (Negate opponent DT with unarmed attacks)
Plasma Spaz (50% more proficient with energy weapons)
Power Armor Training (Ability to wear all Power Armor Variants)
Quickdraw (Draw weapons 75% faster)
Rad Regeneration (Wounds heal 10% quicker with radiation)
Rapid Reload (Weapon reloads are now 25% quicker)
Shinobi (+15% critical chance and 90% sneak damage on all melee and unarmed attacks)
Silent Running (+10 to sneak, running no longer factors a successful sneak attempt)
Slayer (50% speed increase to all melee and unarmed attacks)
Sniper (+50% headshot chance)
Toughness (+30% DT)
Unstoppable Force (Additional damage against enemy blocks)
S.P.E.C.I.A.L Implants (+2 to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L traits)
Sub Dermal Armor (Increase DT, +90% damage resistance to small guns and unarmed weapons)
Xenotech Engineer (+90 to repair and science)
Xenotech Expert (50% more proficient with alien based weapons)
Xenotech Psychic (Can telepathically communicate and steal information)
Inventory
Weapons: Alien Blaster, Atomic Pulverizer, Electro-Suppressor, Trench Knife
Modedd Weapons: Gauss Rifle - Cosmic Steel Parts (-8 Weight), Plasma Chamber (+/- 5 Ammo Capacity, 50% Plasma Damage), Super Conducting Barrel (+25% Accuracy/Damage). Katana - Titanium Blade (+50% Damage and Durability), Volt Module (+ 25% Electrical Damage, 75% EMP Damage to Robots and Power Armor), Advanced Grip (+25% Attack Speed), Iron Protective Sheath (Increase condition by 20%). Hunting Rifle - Scope (3.5x Long Range Optic Scope).
Appeal: Raider Stealth Armor (+30 Stealth), Kinetic/Stasis/Stealth Module, Omni-Tool.
Aid: Alien Biogel x500, Alien Epoxy x500, Jet x2, RadX, Mentats
Misc: Bottlecaps x139, Alien Crafting/Engineering Tools, Small Alien Crystal x 500, Large Alien Crystal x300, Railway Rifle Schematics, Ant Might Syringe.
Ammo: .308 Caliber Rounds x250, 5.56mm Rounds x300, Alien Power Module x5000, Microfusion Cells x1500.
Katherine
S.P.E.C.I.A.L
Strength - 7
Perception - 8
Endurance - 7
Charisma - 10
Intellegance - 10
Agility - 7
Luck - 7
Skills
Barter - 75
Energy Weapons - 35
Explosives - 50
Guns - 65
Lockpick - 50
Medicine - 45
Melee Weapons - 75
Repair - 57
Science - 100
Sneak - 63
Speech - 100
Survival - 80
Unarmed - 35
Perks
Animal Friend (Hostile animals are friendly and will come to your aid)
Child at Heart (Children seem to have chosen you as an idol)
Commando (25% more efficient with two handed guns)
Computer Whiz (Can automatically hack computers)
Concentrated Fire (50% more accuracy)
Daddy's Girl (+15 to Science and Medicine)
Deep Sleep (More actively aware if well-rested)
Demolition Expert (+20% damage with explosives)
Educated (Learn Skills more quicker))
Finesse (10% critical chance with all weapons)
Grey Matters (25% head damage resistance)
Grunt (25% more damage with led based guns, grenades, launchers, and combat knives)
Gunslinger (25% more efficient with single handed guns)
Heave, Ho! (+50% thrown weapon velocity and range)
Hobbler (25% chance to hit an opponents legs)
Rad Regeneration (Wounds heal faster with radiation)
Rad Resistance (25% resistant to radiation)
Rapid Reload (25% faster reloads)
Robotics Expert (+25% damage to robots, can shut down by sneak)
Swift Learner (Can learn skills quicker and more efficient)
Survival Expert (+20 bonus to poison and radiation resistance, additional +15 to medicine, science, sneak, and speech)
Toughness (+15 to DT)
Inventory
Weapons: Weathered 10mm Pistol, Chinese Assault Rifle, Combat Knife
Appeal: Armored Vault 101 Jumpsuit
Aid: Stimpack x45, Doctor's Bag x4, Purified Water x8, Rad Away x15, RadX x30
Misc: Deathclaw Gauntlet Schematics, Rock-It-Launcher Schematics, Key(s), Lucky 8 ball, Vault 101 Canteen.
Ammo: 10mm Rounds x500, 5.56mm Rounds x300
Should be it for now, hope to see you guys next time, Ja Ne!