Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, and all intellectual properties belong to their respective owners.

Any and all original characters (OC) belong to their respective owners and will be credited.

I only own the original characters that I make.

The author's notes will be at the bottom in bold text.

"normal Speech"

Inner thoughts

"telepathic speech"

(foreign languages translated)

Speeches may be combined if necessary.

Thank you, and please enjoy the fanfic.

Matthew found himself surrounded by a dark black mist; no matter where he turned, only the mist remained. Finally, after a few more minutes of aimless wandering, the boy heard a cacophony of screams of pure terror, a few begging for either a mercy that will never come or their own mothers. Then, one by one, the voices were brutally silenced, a coppery liquid splashing onto the young doctor's face.

As Matthew wiped his face and looked at his hand, seeing it covered in a thick coat of blood. As the boy looked up, he sees a figure before him with their back turned, slightly twitching erratically. Slowly the figure turned around, and Matthew saw the true individual; Himself.

But he looked different; he was covered head to toe in blood, with a twisted, sadistic smile covering his ashen face, shark-like teeth with blood dripping off them. His bright blood red slitted eyes twinkle with a twisted glee as his razor-sharp bloodstained claws drip precious lifeblood from some helpless victim.

The twisted version of the young doctor cocked his head and says, "Bloood."

Matthew shuddered in fear as he quickly backs away until he hits into something behind him. The young boy pats the object behind him franticly, feeling its scaly hide. Then, slowly, Matthew looks up and sees the menacing smile of a giant Deathclaw looking down on him, eager to take a bite out of the doctor with its serrated, bloodstained teeth.

Quickly, the boy backs away from the beast with shuddering, heavy breaths until he can feel heavying breathing behind him. Shakily, Matthew slowly turns around and is face to face with his twisted self, madness in his eyes as it stares back with frighting glee. Finally, the twisted boy says, "Give me bloood."

Matthew could only scream in horror.

Matthew awakens with a gasp, his body drenched in sweat. Frantically, he looks around, trying to get his bearings. As he slowly calms down when he notices that he isn't in any immediate danger, he notices that he feels unusually restrained and a heavy weight covering him. He sees that he is in a straight jacket, tied down with rope, and wrapped around in heavy metal chains on a bed in a room made of dirt.

"what the flar-" Matthew starts to softly say, before he notices that he isn't alone. Across the room, leaning against the wall, was Riddick. The Berserker simply stared at the boy with an unreadable look on his face. The two simply stare at each other in tense silence, before Riddick said, "You have the Red Thirst."

Gulping, Matthew softly replies, "Yeah, I do."

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Riddick asks, "How?"

Nervously, Matthew truthfully says, "I almost died, and someone poured a vial of blood down my throat. I blacked out shortly after that."

Frustrated, Riddick heatedly says, "Do you have any idea what this means? What's going to happen to you? This isn't something you can just brush off and say, 'oh well'. This is something that will endlessly consume you for the rest of your life. There is no cure, no treatment, just the endless thirst for blood that WILL drive you to madness." Riddick was pacing around the room throughout his rant, tears welling up in his eyes as he endlessly worry for the boy.

Terrified, Matthew whines, causing Riddick to suddenly stop and see how scared the poor boy is, and knows that berating him will only make things worse. Taking a deep sigh to calm himself, he approaches the frightened child and kneels by his bed and says, "The others and I will do our best to help you manage your…condition, okay. We're not mad at you. We're just worried about you, and will do everything in our power to help you. Understand?"

Nodding his head with great trepidation, Matthew asks, "Where are we?"

Riddick replies, "We are in a series of trench networks called the Mall, your grandfather, Alex, controls this area. He was greatly distraught for you when he saw what happened to you. The others and I had to pry him away from you so he could focus on his duties. We had to tie you down because we weren't sure you were still a threat, though that seems to not be the case now."

As Riddick sets about removing Matthew's restraints, the boy asks, "How long was I out?"

Pausing his work, Riddick says, "Roughly about three days or so. Everyone replaced that damaged relay dish, and Three Dog held true to his word and informed us about the next lead to your father. We've been waiting for you to wake up to plan our next move."

When Riddick finishes removing the boy's bindings, Matthew sat up and saw his freshly cleaned gear. Riddick noticed the young doctor's confused look and clarified, "Your equipment was quite…dirty, after your…episode."

"O-oh, I see." Matthew hesitantly replied.

After Matthew puts his gear back on, he and Riddick left the room and into an underground hallway, with Super Mutants and armed humans moving to one place or another. Riddick led Matthew throughout the base until they finally emerge outside. As soon as he did, Alex was immediately in Matthew's face, franticly checking him over for any injuries while asking a flurry of questions. "Are you okay!? Do you need something to eat!? Are you thirsty!? Does anything hurt!?"

Matthew put his hands on Alex's chest and lightly pushed him away and shouted, "Grandpa! Please back up. I'm okay, really." When Alex took a step back, Matthew continued, "I'm a little rattled from my… near-death experience, but otherwise I'm fine. How have you been holding up?"

Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, Alex says, "I'm fine, more or less. There haven't been any problems here. Are you sure your okay?" Matthew nodded his head to ease Alex's worries, who take another deep breath, and he continues, "Thank god, I didn't want to lose any more family. Don't ever worry me like that ever again, got it?" Matthew nodded his head again, much to Alex's relief. "Then I won't keep you away from your companions then, just, please stay safe, okay?"

"Ok." Matthew answered, and he and Riddick left the trenches shortly after and approached the Brotherhood-held Washington Monument, where Matthews group is gathered. As soon as the group sees Matthew, Dan and Mike rushed up to Matthew and franticly inspected the boy while asking a flurry of questions. "Are you okay!? Do you need something to eat!? Are you thirsty!? Does anything hurt!?"

Groaning in annoyance, Matthew mutters, "Oh god damnit, not this scut again." Dan and Carver looked expectantly at Riddick, who simply nodded his head and gave a thumbs up, much to their relief. Mike, however, was pissed, and pointedly said to Matthew, "You promised me that you would be safe. And what did you do? You almost died!"

Flinching at Mike's tone, Matthew looks down in shame and mutters, "I know, and I'm sorry for breaking my promise…I failed your trust in me, brother."

Pausing, Mike calms down and softly says to Matthew, "I'm sorry for going off on you like that. I have just been so worried about you. When I heard that you were injured, I felt like I failed you. I just want you to be safe. Will you forgive me, brother?"

Bring his head back up, Matthew gives Mike a small smile and replies, "Only if you forgive me, bro." and proceeds to hug Mike.

When the two separate, Shephard coughed into his hand and says, "Everyone here is simply happy to see that your okay now, more or less." Referring to the Red Thirst.

Matthew anxiously asks Shephard, "So…how much do they know?"

Shephard replies, "Just what our resident super soldiers told us, but don't worry about it too much. We won't think of you any less." He says assuredly, before his smile fades as he continues, "But we do need to talk."

Taking a breath, Matthew says, "Shoot."

Putting his hands on his hips, Shephard sighs and says, "While we do have a lead to your fathers' location…you're not going."

Matthew shouts in surprise and anger, "WHAT!? WHY!?"

"Because you almost died." Shephard stated, and he continued, "You have the gear to make it out in the wastes, but you don't have the skill or training to SURVIVE it. So, while one group goes and continues to follow leads, another will go with you and train you how to fight and survive out here."

Matthew stutters and says, "b-b-b-but why!? Why split the group! Why not just stay together w-w-while we look for clues, o-o-r w-" before Shephard interrupts Matthew and sternly says, "MATTHEW!"

Matthew immediately stays silent, tears welling in his eyes. Shephard sighs again and looks the boy in the eye, and says, "We're going to look for you father, but we also need you safe and ALIVE. Going on like this is reckless and dangerous. Do you want us to tell your father that he doesn't have a son anymore because you died?" Matthew shakes his head, and Shephard continues, "This doesn't mean that you're not going to help find your dad, just that you're taking a break to learn how to survive, okay?"

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Matthew simply nods his head, not trusting himself to speak. Accepting Matthews's answer, Shephard continues, "Dan, Riddick, Clover, Jericho, and Dogmeat will go and follow a lead to Rivet City." As soon as Shephard said Rivet City, Jericho starts sweating bullets and mutters under his breath, "Oh shit."

Shephard then continued, "While you, me, Carver, Mike, and Ailbert will go and follow a tip your grandfather gave us to train you." Confused, Matthew then asked, "Ailibert?" before he finally notices the group's newcomer, a Necron Overlord wearing a kilt, sash, and Scottish cap, with green glowing eyes, wielding a modified Automatic Vitan Plasma Rifle. The Space Marines were noticeably keeping their distance from the xeno with uneasy looks on their faces.

The Necron extends his hand and replies in a thick Scottish accent, "Why hello there lad! Nice to finally meet ya in the land of the living. The names Ailibert Alastair, Overlord of the Saorsa Dynasty and father of modern science and robotics. How are ya lad?"

Matthew could only stare at the Necron in shocked silence, before his face slowly starts smiling, his eyes having an excited twinkle in them, and his body starts shaking with barely contained excitement. Suddenly he extends both hands and starts furiously shaking the Overlord's metallic hand while excitedly shouting, "OH MY GOD, YOUR AILIBERT ALASTAIR! I'M SUCH A BIG FAN OF YOUR WORK! ARE YOU GOING TO JOIN OUR TEAM!? CAN YOU TEACH ME STUFF!? CAN I GET YOUR AUTOGRAPH!?"

Ailibert simply smiles through it all, and when Matthew finishes his barrage of questions, the Overlord simply says, "You're an excitable lad, aren't ya? Ah, just like me own kids."

Confused, Carver asks, "Wait, you have kids?"

Waving his hand in a so-so manner, Ailibert clarifies, "Well, they're actually androids I personally made, originally I made them to be nannies for kids and families. But I later decided otherwise and simply kept them as maids in my mansion back in Appalachia. They always called me dad, so I just decided to take them on as family." Putting his hand under his chin and rubbing it, he continues, " Actually, I wonder what they been doing all this time?"

In a clean white, two-story mansion in Appalachia, two Android wearing light-blue maid outfits stand on a balcony overlooking a well-kept garden. The Android on the left turns to the other and asks, "H-hey Molly?"

Molly turns to the first Android on her right, and she replies, "Yes, Franny?"

Franny asks, "When is dad going to come back home?"

Sighing, Molly says, "I don't know, hopefully soon Franny."

After their brief discussion, the two go back to overlooking the garden, before an explosion erupts at the edge, with an enraged feminine British voice calls out, "GOD DAMNIT AVERY!"

"FUCK YOU BOBBY! HAHAHA!" shouted back a cheerful tombot.

Taking another sigh, Molly turns to Franny and says, "I'll go get the garden tools, and a fire extinguisher."

Nodding her head, Franny replies, "I-i-i'll go get the others." And went back inside the mansion before tripping and falling on her face with a frightened shout.

Shaking her head at the scene, Molly looks back at the garden and wistfully says, "Where are you Dashy?" and turns back and gracefully walks back into the mansion.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ailibert simply says, "Ah, I'm sure they're just fine."

"So, we'll going to someplace and train me how to not die, Right?" States Matthew.

Nodding his head in confirmation, Shephard says, "Yeah, basically."

As everyone split up to get ready for their respective journeys, Jericho walks up to Shephard and nervously asks, "So, ah, who are we supposed to look for at Rivet City?"

Shephard answers, "A doctor Li, supposedly Matthew's dad went there to talk about something; Three Dog also mentioned that he was also planned to go to a place called the Underworld, a place a bunch of ghouls settled in."

Jericho starts to sweat bullets again and mutters, "Ah Shit, her."

Confused at Jericho's response, Shephard asks, "Her?"

Rubbing the back of his head nervously answers, "Li is one of my ex-wives, and we didn't part on the best of terms."

Understanding Jericho's nervousness, Shephard lamely says, "Ah, well…good luck with that." And left the ex-raider.

Looking down dejectedly, Jericho mutters, "Ah fuck me in the ass."

In an abandoned building overlooking the Washington Monument, stood an Android wearing a red sequin dress with a black raven tattoo painted on its left arm. The Android had fiery red hair and electric blue eyes, using its enhanced vision to spy on Matthews group from afar.

Answering an unheard call, the Android answers it and says, "Hello? Yes, I see him. No, he doesn't suspect a thing. Understood." The Androids Eyes zoom in on Ailibert and asks, "What about my father? Understood. I'll keep my distance for now sir, Dashy out."

Dashy hears a noise outside her room and sinisterly smirks and says, "Well, at least I'll have some fun before my work begins at least." and shifted her arm into a Plasma flamethrower. Dashy sultry walks out the room, her hips swaying side to side, before activating her active camo and disappearing without a trace.

It was noon when Matthew's group reached Bailey's Crossroads, and Matthew has been metaphorically talking Ailibert's ear off the whole trip, not that the old Necron minded. He has been in an E.M.P. induced coma from a Chinese spy for who knows how long, but he's more than happy to have someone to talk to, especially when it's a fan like Matthew.

As the group enters the stairway exiting the Bailey's Crossroads Metro, they come across a group of three Brotherhood Outcasts wearing black and red painted T-45d power armor. As soon as the Outcasts see Matthews group and aggressively shouts, "You idiots got a damn Deathwish, walk 'in through a warzone? Why are you here?"

Shephard steps forward and answers, "Where here answering you guy's job offer."

Incredulously, the Outcast says, "What, another this soon?" he shakes his head and continues, "Whatever, listen up locals, if you want the job, you're going to have to help us clear the Super Mutants between us and our base camp. If not, then just piss off and stay the hell out of our way, got it?"

Ailibert says, "Wow, he's more uptight than me brother's third uncle's cousin, Achmed."

Carver turns to the Overlord and asks, "Why, what does he do?"

Ailibert simply replies, "He's a suicide bomber."

After that, Matthew's group join up with the Outcast and clear building after building of Super Mutants, with Shephard and Carver taking the lead. Ailibert swiftly turning the hulking monstrosities into green goo as he opens fire with his Vitan Plasma Rifle. Mike sticks close to Matthew throughout the whole time, burning away any mutant that gets too close to any of them, while the young doctor finishes off any surviving Super Mutant with his Vitan Laser Rifle.

The group soon reach an area that was once under construction before the Great War, with a functional elevator found in the center of the site. The Outcast turns to Matthew's group and says, "Alright, thanks for the assist, now go to the elevator. It'll take you to our base camp. I'll radio Protector McGraw that your coming." And went back to his team to continue their patrol.

Matthew's group pile onto the elevator and go down into the base. When the elevator reaches the bottom, the door opens, with a group of armed Outcasts to greet them. One of them steps forward and snidely says to the group, "So, you're the mercs that Morrill radioed in about? None of you look so tough, but whatever, follow me."

Ailibert says, "Wow, his voice is drier than my skin."

Confused, Carver turns to Ailibert and asks, "What skin, you do-"

"It's a flesh wound." Ailibert immediately interrupts.

"But-" Carver continues.

"A FLESH WOUND!" Ailibert angrily shouts.

Startled, Carver puts his hands up and backs away, dropping the subject. After the tense exchange, the group follows the Snide Outcast to his commanding officer. The Outcast turns to Matthew's group and politely says, "Thank you all for coming. I'm Protector McGraw, the commanding officer of this base. I heard from Morrill that you all were interested in the job?"

The group simply nodded their heads, and McGraw continues, "Good, I must warn you that you are not the first group to take this job, and each one has died. My team's mission is to access the contents of the armory, but it's lock behind a blast door, and we can't get the blasted thing open. From digging through the file on the computers, we need to go through a training simulation in order to access the armory."

"The Operation Anchorage Simulation?" Ailibert asked.

McGraw nodded his head and asked, "Yes, but how do you know?"

"I helped create the simulation and VR Pods. But why are you having so much trouble with it? The Simulation is completely harmless. It shouldn't be killing anyone." Ailibert stated.

Shaking his head, McGraw says, "It used to be harmless, but a Chinese spy infiltrated the facility and sabotaged the equipment. So not only it's the reason why we can't open the armory, but also why the Simulation kills anyone who dies inside the simulation. My team's specialist has tried to solve the issue but hasn't met with any success."

"So, we need to go in the simulation, not die and complete it, and the armory is pretty much open, right?" Matthew asks McGraw. The Outcast nodded his head and said, "Essentially yes, but there's more. There are three unknown individuals within the simulation. We have no idea how long they've been there, who they are, or if they're the reason so many men are being killed. So, when you go in, be careful. Defender Sibley here will take you to Specialist Olin to prep you to enter the simulation. Good luck."

Sibley leads the group into another room containing five VR Pods, with only two open. Sibley walks up to specialist Olin and snidely remarks, "Hey bitch, got you more saps for you to get killed, make sure they actually complete the sim before you fuck up again."

Narrowing her eyes, Olin angrily replies, "Go to hell asshole, you know damn well that none of this is my fault. Now piss off and go jack off to something or whatever." After the exchange, Sibley walks off, grumbling under his breath.

Turning to the group, Olin calms down and says, "Sorry about that; he's just been on my ass this whole time, and the stress of it all is getting to me." Shephard nods his head and says, "Don't worry about it; from what I understand, he seems to piss people off pretty easily."

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Olin says, "Thanks, now as you can see, there are only two pods you lot can enter, so I'll let you all decide who goes in and who helps out here." And returned to her work.

Shephard stepped up and said, "Alright, so Matthew and I will go into the simulation cause that's the whole reason why we're here. Mike and Ailibert will help Olin with the tech and improve our odds."

Carver pipes in and asks, "And what do I do?"

Matthew says, "Whatever anyone needs help with, let Isaac take over if we need his technical expertise. Maybe keep an ear out to make sure we don't get backstabbed."

Carver sighs in resignation and says, "Alright, I'll do what I can."

Shephard turns to Olin and says, "Hey Olin, we're ready to get started."

A few moments later, Shephard and Matthew wear the simulation suits and sit down in the pods. Olin is plugging in various needles and wires into the suits as she explains to the two, "Alright, I'm plugging you two to the pod's built-in nutrients. This basically means that if you get stronger in the simulation, you get stronger in the real world. Also, one day out here is the equivalent of one year out there, got it?" the two nod their heads, and Olin continues, "Alright, close'em up."

The pods shift and close around the two, the panels flash a bright light, and all goes black.

On the surface in a building overlooking the construction site, stood the Dark Ranger using a pair of binoculars, watching the Outcast Patrol take the elevator down into the underground base. The Dark Ranger turns to a Talon company merc at his side and says, "Gather as many men as you can. We're laying siege to that base."

I have two important announcements to make.

The first is I am beginning to go back to college and won't be able to update as often. I'll try to post chapters when I can, but please be patient.

The second is that I am going to make a second fanfiction account in Archive of Our Own (AO3). I'll update the chapter and bio when I get the invitation.

When I decided to include Emmy the Robot, I decided to use the character in Know Your Memes. I don't own any of these characters other than the ones I own.

(Edit) My AO3 Account is Alpha_Marine_117.

In the meantime, please Follow, Favorite, and Review.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Edit 2: I made a few minor changes throughout the story.