~O~
Clearing the Way
Laura slowly and cautiously made her way into the park, struggling to see through the green mist. The sound of Dan's voice in the speaker was quiet as possible.
"Okay, Laura. There should be a gift shop up ahead," Dan whispered, "I want you to go inside."
Laura swallowed thickly. "Why?"
"Oswald knows you're here."
Laura felt her throat tighten with unease and quickly made her way through the mist. She found herself stepping through the ruins of what once was a gift shop for the park. Not long afterwards, the throaty, rough voice of what could only be a Ghoul filled the air from the speakers above.
"Well now friends, it seems we have another uninvited guest to the park. Up! Up, performers! It's time for another show! Though I doubt you'll even make it to the Theater, stranger."
Laura choked back a groan of fright and clutched her gun close to her chest. She could scarcely make out the sounds of shuffling and growling. Peering outside through a hole in the wall, she noticed several shapes moving slowly in the mist.
"Oh shit..." she whispered, "Dan, I need a plan, here."
"Alright. The Fun House is near you. Do you see it?"
Laura looked around before she noticed a nearby building. It had to be the Fun House he spoke of. She made her way toward it, before stumbling into a food cart, knocking several tools and old plates to the ground.
Horrified, she looked over her shoulder, just as the Feral Ghouls turned in her direction. Groaning, Laura turned and ran.
"Shit!" she cursed.
The Feral Ghouls groaned, pursuing her. Laura hurried toward the Fun House, threw the door open and ran inside. Slamming the door behind her, she could scarcely make out the sounds of scratching and snarling. But it seemed they wouldn't be able to get inside.
"Baker, baker, pastry maker. Shoot and slash and bite and break her. Welcome boys and girls to... The Fun House!"
Oswald singing over the PA system annoyed Laura a little, but she decided not to focus on that and continue her search for him. The Fun House was probably riddled with traps, but at least she was away from being ripped apart by Ferals.
She cautiously stepped through the main lobby and into another room, leading her into a Hall of Mirrors. Laura took a shaking breath and looked around before frowning.
"Fuck!" she hissed.
Dan's voice crackled over the speakers. "Laura? Laura, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm in the Fun House now," Laura said, eyes wandering around the room, "Those Ferals almost took a bite out of me, but I'm fine now."
"Good. Now there are some traps he had set up in there. I can't tell you where, you'll need to figure that out yourself." Dan explained.
Jet and Needles scoffed.
Dan looked up at them with a frown. "What?"
"You're gonna get her blown up into dog food, just..." Jet took the speaker from him. "Let me."
Dan scowled at him and snatched it back. "And have you leading her through the park like a squirrel on a race track? No thanks."
Dixie laughed gleefully when they began to play tug-of-war with the machine. "Ooh, another fight!" she cried, slapping her hands together.
Needles jumped in and pushed his hands between the two. "Alright...ALRIGHT!" he yelled, "You idiots are gonna get her killed if you keep that stupid shit up!"
"Uh, guys?" Laura's voice spoke up from the speaker.
Dan cleared his throat, yanking the machine from Jet before giving the other raider a look. "Yeah, sorry about that, Laura. As I was saying... There are traps in the Hall of Mirrors, so you need to exercise some caution."
Oswald's voice piped up on the PA system again. "Don't worry, the mirrors are too dirty to reflect anything," he sneered. "In your case, I'd say that's probably a benefit."
Laura didn't hesitate and began to fire rounds from her gun through the mirrors, shattering them to nothing more than shards. Dan, Dixie, Needles and Jet had been staring at the speaker in surprise and waited until the gunfire had stopped before Jet spoke.
"Damn." he remarked.
Laura tiptoed her way through the remains of the Hall of Mirrors; she was careful to avoid any signs of traps or other creatures that Oswald probably kept well hidden, just ready for her. She nudged some shards away with her foot before stepping toward a set of double doors marked "EXIT".
"Well, seems you're a bit herdier than the others," Oswald remarked, begrudgingly, "No matter. The show must go on!"
Laura stepped through the doors, passed a few Cappy statues and Bottles. Where was he? She found her way through a tunnel that led into a partially-flooded room with two bottle-shaped spinning contraptions. A few Ferals wandered through the water, snarling and hissing.
It seemed like they couldn't quite reach her, so she was able to walk toward the maintenance tunnel without concern. Gun held close, Laura kept watch for Oswald.
"...What are you doing out of costume again? You know Nuka fires people for breaking character."
Laura paused, making out the familiar sound of his voice close by. She slowly walked down the tunnel toward a window that looked down into a storage room.
A Ghoul dressed in a paint-spattered tuxedo stood in front of a Feral. Laura was surprised to see he was radiating a green glow. It wasn't often a Glowing One maintained their state of mind. This was Oswald, for sure.
The Feral growled softly and Oswald chuckled a little. "Yes of course I'm kidding. But seriously, the clown make up helps scare the invaders off and there's a new one in the park."
Laura furrowed her brow.
The Feral growled again and Oswald sighed. "No. No I don't think that's going to work this time. There's something different about this one." He straightened the tattered costume the Feral Ghoul was wearing before stepping back to admire his work. "There. Back in character. I need to prepare some more surprises for our visitor so I'll leave you to find your way out. Don't worry. Rachel will be back with a cure and we can finally put an end to this."
Laura watched as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Cursing, she stepped into the room, only to have the Feral Ghoul turn to her with a snarl. She opened fire on the Ghoul, sending it stumbling backwards in a hail of bullets.
The Ghoul collapsed, dead to the floor. Laura crept passed it, followed the tunnel until she was outside again. Groaning, she looked around for signs of Oswald, but couldn't see him anywhere.
She sighed. "Dan, I think I lost him."
Dan frowned, barely making out Laura's voice through the static of the radio. "Laura?" he said, "Hey, you might want to check King Cola's Castle. Can you hear me?"
Laura could barely make out the sound of his voice.
"King...Castle... ear me...?"
She glanced up beyong the green haze and spotted the castle nearby. She'd heard enough from Dan's voice struggling to get through to assume Oswald would definitely go there.
O
Laura made her way to the castle and stepped inside. Fortunately, the air was clear of radiation, which gave her a moment to remove the helmet and take a breath. Clearing her throat a little, she sat down to rest for a moment before deciding what to do when she confronted Oswald.
She furrowed her brow and reached into her bag, pulling out the holotape she'd found earlier. It had been the one of the Ghoul who mentioned Oswald's name. Could that have been the Rachel he talked about in the tunnel?
Maybe there was a way she could face him and no one had to die.
Fitting the helmet back on, she made her way into the theater of the castle. There was a puff of smoke above her and she looked up, aiming her gun at Oswald, who now stood on the balcony that overlooked the room.
"I'll admit, I didn't think you'd make it this far. I can tell you're different than the usual invaders, so I'll not bother with the usual tricks and illusions I use to scare off the superstitious." he said, with a smile on his face.
Laura frowned. "Yeah, I read a little more than some of them..."
Oswald tilted his head at the jibe. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, then reappeared in the same manner in front of her.
"You raiders are all the same. You come into someone's home, steal their belongings and kill those they care about. I'm not going to let you kill any more of my friends. This is our home, not yours." he said.
Laura nodded her head in agreement. "I know. I didn't want it to continue in bloodshed."
A derisive laugh. "A raider who doesn't want bloodshed? Do I look stupid to you?" he snapped. "You come here, attack my friends, try to steal our home and have the gall to claim you aren't my enemy?"
Laura lowered her gun. "Yeah, that probably sounded stupid." she agreed. Sighing, she looked up at him. "You said you were defending this place for a while. Was there someone looking for a cure for you out there? Was her name Rachel?"
Oswald's anger melted from his face. He sighed, shut his eyes for a moment and seemed to collect himself. Laura still took no chances in case he would be set off again; she maintained her hand on her gun, but she didn't want to instigate an attack if she had a choice.
"Yes," he said, evenly. "She went out in search for a cure 200 years ago. We've waited for her to return. We can wait as long as it takes."
Laura sighed, stared at the holotape in her hand. "Rachel's dead."
Oswald's eyes widened. "What?!"
"Here..." Laura offered him the holotape. "She left this for you."
He took the holotape from her hands and his features twisted with sorrow. "No. No...my poor Rachel," he moaned, clutching it tightly to his face. "How could I allow her to leave my side on such a difficult journey alone? This is all my fault."
Laura sighed sadly. "I'm sorry." She didn't know what else to say.
Oswald cleared his throat, cradled the holotape in his hands before regarding her with a newly hardened resolve. "Well that does it, then. It's up to me to leave here and find the cure myself," he said, "I'll gather what remains of my friends and we'll leave this place in your care. Don't worry about the radiation, it will no longer be a burden to you and your kind."
Laura looked shocked. "Wait, you really want to leave?"
"I have to." Oswald said, gravely.
"But you do know it's dangerous out there, right?" Laura pointed out. "It's not like it was 200 years ago."
"I know. But this is something we have to do. Don't worry. You won't see us again."
Laura watched as he departed. Several Feral Ghouls emerged from their hiding places, following him out of the castle.
O
The air was clear again.
Raiders filed their way into Kiddie Kingdom once the radiation sprayers had been shut off. Laura was picking her way through a tower, thinking about what had happened with Oswald and the others. She felt guilty for having them pushed out of their homes, but perhaps it was better that way. Especially considering the many raiders there were.
Gage walked up to her with a smile. "Well, I'll be damned. I can't believe you actually did it."
Laura laughed and straightened. "I made you guys a promise and I stuck through with it. No more than that."
Gage chuckled. "You really are downplaying it, huh?" he said, "But it's like I told you; we ain't never been on solid ground like this before. But all the parks? You actually cleared them out. Hell, kid, you've really got what it takes to be one of us."
Laura smiled a bit. Then, she glanced to the side and noticed an odd outline on the wall. Furrowing her brow curiously, she approached it and noticed it resembled the shape of a Cappy. Realization lit her face and she reached into her back, scanning for the glasses.
"What are you doing?" Gage asked.
"I promised Sierra I'd look for those Cappy's for her." Laura explained. "I think that's one of them behind you."
Gage glanced over his shoulder. He made a face and shook his head. "Really? You're giving that Nuka Cola nut the time of day?"
Laura shrugged. "Hey, all of those Cappy's might lead to something. You never know."
Gage rolled his eyes. "Alright..."
He shook his head, walked away and Laura fitted the glasses on her face. She noticed the Cappy in detail now, bearing the letter "I" in a speech bubble. She murmured thoughtfully, scribbed it down on the map of Nuka World to remember it.
"Okay! Okay, what about this one?"
"No."
"This one?"
"You already showed me that one."
Laura looked around, frowning before she stuck her head out from one of the cracks in the tower wall. She found Jet and Needles going through boxes of old costumes. There were piles of old animal masks lying around them.
"Hey, guys?" she called down to them. "What are you doing?"
The two looked up at her.
"Hey!" Jet yelled. "We're just looking for some new masks! We found a whole closet full of 'em!" His face lit up and he reached into the box, pulling out a giraffe mask. "What do you think?"
Laura shook her head. "I don't know, Jet. You're more of a hyena kind of guy."
Needles and Jet looked at each other for a moment.
"Yeah, she's kinda right." Needles agreed.
Jet nodded his head. "Yeah, alright. I'll take the hyena one."
Laura chuckled and shook her head before wandering down the stairs. She passed a smashed glass case, paused and looked into it when she spotted something glittering inside. Curious, she reached in, pushed some glass aside and pulled out a watch. It had remained perfectly intact, save for a few scratches. Nuka Girl was centered on the face of the watch.
Hm. Maybe Mags would like it.
She pocketed the watch and decided to make her way back to Nuka-Town USA. Mags was waiting for her outside of the Parlor and stopped her with one hand.
"Laura, wait. You can't go in there yet." she said.
Laura looked surprised. "What? Why?"
Mags smiled thinly now. "I may have had a little idea," she told her, "And it would have been remiss of me not to allow it considering the circumstances of our...relationship. Lizzie's getting everything ready."
Laura laughed, confused. "What are you talking about?"
Lizzie stepped outside and smiled when she saw her. "Hello, Laura. It's good to see your trip to Kiddie Kindgom yielded positive results. And you're alive and well."
"Thanks." Laura said, with a small nod. "So...what are you guys doing in there?"
Lizzie chuckled. "Well, Mags thought that after your success, you and her could share a pleasant evening together. I just had to make certain that everything was suited to your particular needs."
Laura raised an eyebrow and Mags gestured for her to follow Lizzie first inside. Laura was amazed by the sight of an elegant table display and food laid out; corn, Brahmin steaks and food she hadn't laid eyes on in months.
"Wow!" she exclaimed. "Is that Brahmin steak?"
Mags chuckled. "I insist on the best. As you know."
"So what's the occasion?"
"Celebrating." Mags explained. "Your success and our prosperous future."
Laura smiled. "Oh." Then, her smile disappeared and she glanced down at her bag. "Oh..."
Mags raised her eyebrows. "Your enthusiasm isn't quite what I expected it to be." she said, dryly.
"Huh? No! No, this is really great, Mags," Laura quickly sought to correct herself. "And I'm happy you did all this, but... It makes what I brought back for you look really stupid by comparison."
Mags blinked. "You have something for me?" she said. "Let's see it."
Laura hesitantly laughed, hand closing around her bag. "You won't like it."
"Laura, don't be ridiculous." Mags reached for the bag at her side. "Let's see what you've brought."
Laura didn't bother to argue and she sighed as Mags took the bag and ran her hand through it. She paused, tilted her head with a curious murmur before pulling out the watch. She glanced up at Laura, who shrugged her shoulders.
"It was just something I thought you might like." she said, with a weak smile, "I know you'd mentioned having a watch last night that you lost, so I thought..."
Mags cleared her throat. "It's fine."
Laura looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yes." Mags fitted the watch around her waist. "I appreciate gifts, as should anyone."
Laura smiled now.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. Sit. I have good Brahmin steak I won't see wasted."
O
Laura laid beside Mags in her bed that night.
The leader of the Operators didn't seem particularly pertubed by the fact that William was typing on the computer and watching them from the corner of his eye every so often. Laura was talking about a few Diamond City stories and Mags was listening quietly the whole time.
When it seemed like she was tired enough, she fell asleep under Mags' arm, her hand draped across her chest.
"Huh. Talked so much she tired herself out." William quipped.
Mags chuckled and shook her head. "She had quite the day."
"Do you really think she has what it takes to be one of us?" William asked. "Girl's still too soft, I think. She could have killed that damn Ghoul in Kiddie Kingdom. Instead, she let him walk free. They could come back while we're all asleep."
"That Ghoul was smart. He won't come back. And Laura got the job done."
William still didn't seem so certain, but said nothing more on the topic. And Mags had been right about one thing; Laura did the job and now they owned every park in Nuka World. So perhaps the seasoned raider wasn't considering the bigger picture. Somehow, Laura survived it all and he had to respect that much.
"Yeah, you're right." William agreed. "Hell, guess we should take our successes where we get 'em."
Mags started to rise, but Laura stirred, holding her tighter in her sleep. The raider woman laughed a little and glanced skeptically at her brother.
"Now she won't let me go. A week ago, she was scared to even touch me." she remarked.
"Well, Mason had a hand in that..."
"Yes, maybe he did. But I finish things. As you know."
William smiled. "You do."