Soul Eater: New Vegas
By Vivalarapture
Authors note- I want to thank Cherryberry998 and Goldenravish for reviewing. Thank you, guys! (:
Chapter 9, Chewpacabra's and Commie Ghosts
Finally finding a new place to settle, for at least the time being, is surprisingly nice. I brought the money from trading with Cliff to Eruka and she showed me to the dingy room on the top floor where I'll be staying.
I toss my bag onto the bed and pull the pistols from my waistband and put them on the side table. I hang the rifle on the bed frame and pat it affectionately. I know I have to be careful around here, but having Soul protecting the town makes me feel a little safer.
I balk at myself, groaning out loud, "Get a grip, Girl!" I mutter angrily, snatching two rubber bands out of my pack and roughly pulling my hair into two pigtails. I fall onto the bed and huff at no one but myself. OX has already powered down on the floor, and it doesn't sound like such a bad idea to doze off for a while.
After my nap, I'm expecting the afternoon sun to blind me as I walk outside. I open my door and get ready to shield my eyes, but I realize it's not even day time. How long have I been out for? This adventuring is really messing up my sleeping schedule. Checking the moon's placement in the sky, I figure it to be about 11:00 pm, more or less. I began walking down the cracked and dirt-riddled steps of the motel's staircase, figuring I'm not getting back to sleep anyways.
It's oddly quiet, even for this sparsely populated wasteland. As I walk through the front gate of Novac, OX beeps a few sporadic notes, his antennas twitching as he hovers ahead of me. I follow behind him, raising my pistol. As he heads north towards RepConn, I glance around my shoulder, checking the dinosaur's mouth for a familiar face. I see the white-haired man, rifle pointed directly at me. I lift my hand and nervously wave. His rifle quickly shifts from north to south.
I giggle and feel heat rise in my cheeks as I continue walking. I pad out towards the few houses on the outskirts of town until I see a man with a teddy bear stuffed animal strapped onto his head, shuffling around awkwardly. I raise an eyebrow, walking towards him.
He cranes his neck to stare at me as I get closer to him. He snarls and put his hands up, "I'm not gunna talk!"
OX hovers in closer and the man looks like he's going to ruin his ragged trousers. "Talk about what?" I ask, intrigued with the odd man.
He sighs and lets his hands hang down by his side, "Confound it. You can't let on that you know anything. What do you want from me?"
I raise my hand out for him to shake, "My name is Girl. I just wanted to introduce myself."
The man looks incredulously at my hand for a moment, before shaking his head quickly, "No, no, no. They might be watching. They're always watching. Always hiding, never showing. They might be inside that garage!" He exclaims, rolling behind the fence. "Quick!" He shouts, "They gon' see you!"
He has his body pressed up against the chain-link fence, as if it isn't see-through. I put a hand on my hip and peek around at him, "Who?"
He flings his head towards me, eyes wide and mouth ajar, "The cannibals! You're one of them, aren't you?!"
He side steps as quickly as one can side step and presses himself into the side of the fence opposite of me. I chuckle, walking over to him again. OX had quickly grown tired of the mans "quirks" and had buzzed off annoyed after a few words from the man.
I tip my head at him, grinning as he slowly opens his eyes.
"I'm not a cannibal. At least not yet." I bare my flat teeth at him and giggle as he shivers and stands up.
"Well alright. I believe you. None of those cannibals could ever find my hiding places. Except for that one time. But they took the form of mole rats, and I just-"
I press a hand over his mouth as his rant grows with volume and I don't want to wake anyone. "I bet. So, what do you do around here?"
He pulls my hand off of his mouth, wiggling his arms around before continuing, "I watch and I listen. I'm like smoke and mirrors for those robot dragons. I know AAAAAALL!"
I try to quiet him as he starts yelling, but he becomes silent before I have to. He slumps over onto the ground and I nudge him with my foot to make sure he didn't just sporadically combust. I sit down next to him, waving a hand in front of his face. He sits up quickly, re-adjusting his teddy bear hat.
"I can still talk to you, but we better be careful! Them chewpacabra are sneaky bastards. I only met one other man in my life as sneaky as that chewpacabra. We was walking in the desert looking for a crashed alien spaceship and he turned to me and said, 'Tezca, I think you should go on forward and-"
I sit up, smiling, "Hey, your name is Tezca?"
He slaps himself in the side of the face, making the teddy bear that seems to be tied to the top of his head with old twine, slip to the side a bit, "DAG NABBIT! I was never supposed to say my name!"
I giggle, patting him on the shoulder, "It's alright, Tezca. I won't tell anyone."
He scowls into the dirt, but didn't continue his self harm, "Well, all right. But make sure you don't think it either, or the aliens will snatch it from your brain and come find me."
I nod and put my hand over my heart, "I swear not to say it or think it."
I eye him carefully, taking in his appearance. "Hey," I start, "Why do you wear that stuffed bear on your head like that?"
He looks over at me, eyebrows raised, "What stuffed bear?"
I shake my head in exasperation, "Just.. Never mind."
He looks at me like I'm crazy, but I let it slide as he begins to jabber on again. "There's always weird stuff happening in this town."
"Oh? Like what?"
He throws his arms out, swinging them in a wide arc, "Besides the chewpacabra turning brahmin into mince meat?! All the commie ghosts up at RepConn?! They want to steal the rockets to paint a Lennon face on the moon!"
I interrupt, confused, "Who's Lennon?"
He jerks his head to look at me, "You ain't the brightest bulb in the lamp, now ain't ya? Anywho, they been planning it since before the Great War! They was waiting! And the shadowy folk that took away that snipers brother!"
I sit up straight, "What shadowy folk? Who took Soul's brother?"
He pulls at his hair as he rants, "The mole rat men! They come up from the ground to steal the maidens hair and live in their fancy mud mansions! They-!"
"Tezca." I say slowly, "Tell me more about who took Soul's brother. When did you see them?"
Tezca rolls his eyes, as if I just can't keep up with his factitious story, "They went into the office late one night! Then they went into his room and came out with that white haired man!"
I run a hand through my hair, contemplating what that might mean as Tezca continues his raving about mole rat men. The office? What would be in there?
I stand and wave at Tezca, who is rolling around on the ground, yelling gibberish, "Thanks for all your help, buddy."
He pauses his spasming for a moment to tip an invisible hat at me as I walk off. I reach the door to the office, and stand outside, not knowing exactly what to look for once I get inside. OX hovers over my shoulder, apparently ready to be my companion again now that Tezca and his insanity is gone.
I open the door and step in very quietly, hoping no one is inside. I look around, but it seems empty. I pace through the small office, feeling a little lost. I come over to the desk and notice a safe stuck into the floor. I kneel down next to it and feel my eyes start to roll back into my head as my vision darkens.
"And this is how you crack a safe, asdfghjkl." I was small, I could tell. Maybe seven years old. I knelt on the floor, much like the floor I was on now. There was light streaming in through windows all around me, but a shadow blocked most of the sun from my eyes. A man was kneeling next to me, pressing a few buttons on the safe. I can see him grinning as the safe popped open.
He reached inside and pulled out a handful of caps, "See, this is how you get rich, dear. You don't let anyone get in your way. I raised you to be ruthless."
I can feel my younger self nod sharply, and grab a tiny fistfuls of the caps as well, jamming them into my pockets.
I groan as I come back to the present, my head aching again. I scowl at the safe in front of me, wondering why something like this spurred on a flashback. I slam my hand down on the floor, growling to myself. None of these flashbacks are helping me at all.
I reach toward the safe, contemplating if this will actually work. Maybe that flashback helped after all. I press a few buttons on the pad, the same ones the man from my flashback pressed, and the safe door opens.
I grin, my eyes gleaming as I look inside. There's a very big bag full of caps, but I push that aside, even if my subconscious is itching to grab it and run. I pull out a piece of paper, reading it carefully.
"We, the representatives of the Consul Officiorum, have this day bargained and purchased from Eruka May Crawford of the township of Novac the exclusive rights to ownership and sale of the slave, Wes Evans, for the sum of one thousand bottle caps. We covenant with the said, Eruka May Crawford, that we have full power to bargain and sell said slave.
M. Scribonius Libo Drusus et al.
-Administrators of M. Licinius Crassus, Consul Officiorum ab Famulatus "
I gape at the paper, horrified at what I am reading. Eruka had sold Wes to Asura's Legion as a slave. I put a hand over my mouth, shaking my head. That evil woman is going to get what's coming to her. I grab the paper and stuff it into my pocket. I'm about to close the safe, but think better of it and also grab the bag of caps.
She won't be needing them, right?
I sit heavily down on the couch, knowing it won't be long before Eruka comes into the office. I dig the red bandanna out of my pocket and tie it around my head.
It only takes about an hour for Eruka to waltz into the offices "Oh dearie, what are you doing here? You have a room!"
I push a smile onto my face and stand up, "I have to show you something out front. Do you mind walking with me?"
Eruka flicks a piece of hair out of her face and nods, "Sure!"
It's a short walk from the office to the front of the dinosaur, but it feels like ages. I feel horrible about having this seemingly nice woman slaughtered, but every time I feel bad, I remember how Soul looked when he talked about his brother, and a flame of rage expands in the pit of my stomach.
I slow down as I walk in front of the mouth of the dinosaur. I can't look up. I don't want to see his face when he figures out who took his brother away. A loud crack rings out in the silent desert and I feel liquid spatter onto my boots. I turn to see Eruka's lifeless body fall onto the ground.
I sigh and walk back towards the town. I have to go see him. I stop dead in my tracks as a familiar large silhouette falls over me.
"Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit! If it isn't my old friend from Goodsprings!"
Patty stands in front of me, her mechanical arms on what could be called her hips. I gape up at her, my heart nearly coming up my throat. I'm sure she had seen the exchange that left Eruka dead. Would she say something to me about it? What did she think?
I scramble to get my thoughts in order, "Uhm.. Hello, Patty. What are you doing here?"
She giggles and lifts a metal hand in a wave, "I just got the notion I should head up to New Vegas! I guess I'll figure it out when I get there!"
My heart starts to beat at a normal pace again, but apprehension is still prevalent in my mind, "What a coincidence we would run into each other.."
Patty shrugs, "Well not really! Seeing as it's the only road up to New Vegas, it shouldn't be too big of a surprise if we run into each other from time to time!"
I nod slowly, still trying to comprehend seeing the robot here. "Well.. I should really be getting going. If there's nothing you need from me..?"
She waves at me as she rolls off, "Nope! I just wanted to say howdy!"
I wave back halfheartedly as my confusion over Patty turns to sadness when I see Soul. His head is hung low, a pack slung over his shoulder.
"Soul.." I start, not exactly knowing what to say.
"How did you know it was her?"
I pull out the paper from my pocket and hand it to him, "I found a bill of sale."
He scoffs and I hear his voice catch, "What a perfect piece of evidence.." He pulls out a small bag and throws it at me. I weigh the bag in my hands, not feeling very comfortable taking his caps.
"What are you going to do now?"
He shrugs, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I really don't know, but I can't stay here. Maybe I'll go hunt down Asura's Legion."
I take a step forward, reaching out my hand, "Come travel with me. We'll hunt down the Legion together."
He glares at my hand, "You don't want to travel with me. Trust me."
I shake my head, "I do. OX is a fantastic ally in battle, but it'll be nice to talk to someone for a change."
I point a thumb over at OX who somehow makes an offended sound. When Soul doesn't answer, I take another step forward, my hand still outstretched, "Don't snipers work in teams?" I pause for a moment, wondering where that piece of information came from. It seems to work though, because Soul's lips pull up into a semblance of a smile.
"I guess it could be nice to travel again. I'm not as efficient without a partner. So where are we heading?"
I grin, patting him on the shoulder, "New Vegas is the destination. But we're heading to RepConn to rid this town of its commie ghost problem, first."
Soul raises an eyebrow at me, "You've been talking to Tezca, haven't you?"
I laugh and continue pulling on his hand towards my room to grab my bag, "I have. That man is a well of information if you can translate through the crazy. Kilik wants me to get rid of the ghouls at Repconn in exchange for some information."
Soul nods and I can see something flashing in his eyes. I unlock the door to my room and grab my things. The tension in the air is thick after I mentioned Kilik, and I decide to say what he must be thinking about, "Kilik said he was your best friend. Now that you know he had nothing to do with your brother being taken, why don't you go make amends?"
Soul fidgets and doesn't answer, so I busy myself with packing up my room while he thinks.
"I will, but not right now. I'm leaving so they'll know I was the one that killed Eruka. Not that I really care about that slimy woman, but I should give them some time to cool down first. People will be waking up soon and Kilik's shift starts in 20 minutes. Let's leave now and I'll talk to him after we take care of the ghouls."
I smile slightly and put my rifle over my shoulder, "Alright, sounds good to me. Commie ghosts, here we come!"
Soul makes a comment about my sanity, but the feeling of hope pooling in my belly makes it so I don't even care.
