A/N: I was doing a bit of internet surfing a few days ago. I was hoping to find a model of the Citadel and the Flotilla from Mass Effect. Don't know how that managed to bring me to a life sized body pillow of Tali. A little dissapointed they don't have one of Legion. Speaking of my favorite video game trilogy, there is another hidden reference. Find it and you get a kiss.
Ulysses and Joshua have officially arrived. They'll be great for some potential Adventures I have planned in the future. I'll just have to do my best to resist the urge to give them their own romance.
Chapter 21: A Not So Needed Expulsion
Seeing Ulysses and Graham proved to be quite refreshing to Courier Six's spirit. She viewed the two men as if they were both the incarnation of the term badass. And to be fair, no one tried to disagree with her. Either thanks to the fact everyone else viewed them in the same fashion, or in the fault of the fact that not too many people understood them as personally as Six did.
This idea was only strengthened when they were once again reunited in the forest. Not only did the introduction go past the edge of spectacular, they also made several small yet noticeable modifications to their appearances since they last saw other.
It was a little weird, and for the students and faculty at the Academy, it was even in someway terrifying. To see Joshua without his bandages, not a sight anyone should have to endure. But Six would be lying if she said it wasn't a little bit exciting to see his true face. Aside from his eyes and choice of attire which in no way whatsoever surpassed the Courier's, Ulysses looked like your ordinary man you would find in a small town.
But there was little time for them to celebrate this reunion. Coco, still trapped in a very intoxicated and out of mind state, needed immediate medical attention. Which also meant they were once again going to have to fast travel in order to return. While Six's two old friends were well adjusted to seeing the horrors that occupy the Multiverse, the four new companions were not. As a result, there was even more vomiting once they returned to the Academy.
Needless to say, a lot of the people present in the Academy at the time were a little more than shocked to see a bunch of students and two complete strangers appear out of virtually, or a virtual, nowhere. But there wasn't anytime to explain why the device allowed teleportation.
The Courier theorized that Coco didn't have much time left until she would inevitably suffer an overdose. So having Joshua and Ulysses carry her and with the aid of Velvet's directions, they all rushed her somewhere she could receive proper medical treatment.
Six could tell that everyone was pissed off at her. And they weren't exactly trying to hide it from her, leaving her alone with her two friends after they dropped Coco off. She wasn't going to worry about that however. She could try and make it up to them another time.
For now though she really wanted to speak with the one who helped her crush the White Legs, and the only other person who has walked the most dangerous of roads. ''I'd say it's been a pretty weird day, right?'' She said rather casually starting the conversation.
A few seconds passed without a proper response from either of the men. Joshua decided to be nice and give her a few words. ''No more than it usually is when you're around.'' He said, getting a nice laugh out of the Courier. ''You have a rather bad habit of summoning the abnormal wherever you go.''
Before Six responded to the claim that she absolutely agreed with, she took a few minutes to bask in the sexiness of his one of a kind voice. She wasn't attracted to men, but she was able to make an exception with the man's beautiful and poetic way with words.
After her turn of not speaking for a few awkward seconds she reminded him of the added benefits of being a magnet for the bizarre. ''But think about all of the cool stuff that happens to me because of that. Going to the Big MT, the Divide, Zion, the Sierra Madre. And those are just the places, think of the people. Ghouls that were obsessed with going to space, that Elijah guy who almost killed me with the flashing light people, those three strange men who showed up out of nowhere and asked for funding for some kind of resurrection project, and best of all... you guys.''
The Courier once again forgot that being categorized as a weird person isn't exactly appealing to most people. Her two mentors were willing to overlook her bad judgement in words. That and Ulysses decided to ask a few questions that he had just come up with.
Positioning himself in front of Joshua he spoke to the other Courier. ''You seem to have already adjusted to this place in a short amount of time.'' He said, his voice sounding very different without his mask. ''Thought you would, always manage to find a way. How did you preform against the beasts in the forest?''
Putting on a pretty confident face, Six answered his question. ''I killed a good amount of them. The meat is absolutely delicious. Though you have to get it fast before they disintegrate. Oh, and I should also probably that I nearly destroyed half the forest and shot a bunch of Cops in the City.''
Ulysses wasn't planning on bringing it up, but her first experience sounded much better than his own. When he first came to the other World he was nothing more than a young and naive man serving in the Legion. He wanted to know how much use it could truly be to Caesar.
He had to find out the hard way that even the might of the Legion couldn't conquer this World. After he brought in a small squad of Legionaries to see what kind of Military they would be dealing with, Ulysses immediately regretted finding the place. In the end only he managed to escape with his life intact.
Wanting to make sure no one else would discover the horrors that could easily destroy the New World, he sealed it's entrance, locking it up so that no one else would become a victim. But that was quite a long time ago. Things were very different than from how he remembered them.
Finally Ulysses decided that he would leave his thoughts alone for now. After that he found that Six and Joshua were having their own conversation while he daydreamed. ''That's a shame.'' Joshua said to the Courier. ''It always seemed like you two were very happy together.''
In a bit of a sad manner she shook her head. ''I really do miss being with her. Of course we're still friends... even have the added benefits. But for awhile now our relationship has been completely over. When I get back to the Mojave I'm hoping that I'll be able to change that.
Ulysses asked a question about the Courier's old Girlfriend. ''Her name is Veronica, right?'' He asked, getting a nod and widened eyes as an answer. ''Christine told me about her at the Big MT. How she was separated from her because of Elijah. It is an understandable reason for wanting someone dead. I'm assuming that you never told Veronica that you left her at the Sierra Madre?''
That accusation made Six put on an angry frown. Not the one of deceiving her lover, but of leaving one of her Companions behind. If there was one rule that she would never bend or break it was that one. ''She wanted to stay.'' She said, crossing her arms. ''Apparently someone has to be in charge of watching over that place. If it was up to me I would've brought her back to the Mojave and let her join our little team. Unfortunately that can't happen due to that fact I can't get back to the Madre. And even if I could, there is no other reason for me to go back there. I learned all the secrets and I got all the treasure.''
Most of the treasure anyway. She only manged to escape the vault with a few of the gold bars. Still, just a few of them were still valuable enough to the break the entire economy. And by the end of her shopping spree when she returned it was more than broken.
''What's the real reason you two are here anyway?'' She asked, realizing she should have done so when the chance first presented itself. ''I know it's not because you missed me or something along those lines. Especially sense there's no one else in the Mojave who knows about this place.''
Joshua was about to inform her that they were there to make sure that she was okay, that they were summoned by odd and mysterious individuals, and Ulysses's previous knowledge and encounter with the World and its people. But he would have to wait for another chance, for they were about to be interrupted.
The two individuals doing this interrupting being Miss Goodwitch, who looked extremely upset but that was nothing too out of the ordinary, and then there was Ozpin, who looked like he was very concerned about something, most likely because he had heard about what happened in the forest.
Before the Courier could think of the right words to use to calm them both down she took a turn being interrupted. Only this time it was solely Goodwitch who gained her attention. She gained it by beginning to walk at a faster pace. Six just guessed that she was very eager to receive her explanation. What ended up telling her that she was wrong was a hard slap to her face. More specifically it was to her right cheek.
Ozpin sighed, knowing that it was really stupid of him for not have guessing that would have happened. He approached Glynda and placed a hand on her shoulder. A good sign that she was going a little bit too far. Everyone else completely agreed.
Glynda crossed her arms and gave Ozpin a particular look. It was the kind of look you give someone when they're supposed to say something they're not too eager to say. After giving just one more sigh and helping her up, Ozpin began to speak with Six.
''Miss Courier.'' He said, his voice as gentle and as kind as ever. ''After we received the information of what took place within Emerald forest Including the ideas that you might have supposedly drugged Miss Adel, and caused four of the other students to become traumatized, I'm afraid you'll no longer be allowed to attend the Academy.''
As soon as the words left Ozpin's mouth Six's eyes widened. But what came next was even more tragic news for her. The Pip-Boy notified her that she had just officially failed all of her recently obtained Quests. If she still had a heart it would've exploded from sadness right then and there.
But nothing, nothing could've ever prepared her for what came next. Glynda took tight hold of her right arm. Her hand was extremely close to touching the Pip-Boy. She looked back to Ozpin and got a nod of approval from him. Miss Goodwitch then ripped the Pip-Boy right off the Courier's arm.
This was met with immediate retaliation. Courier Six pulled out her .22 SMG and had full intentions on using it to reclaim her property. Unfortunately for her she had almost completely forgotten about the powers Glynda possessed. As a result the fight didn't even last a full second before she was on the ground.
There was a moment when Joshua attempted to intervene. He was almost immediately stopped by Ulysses, who reminded him of the full power of a Huntress. How either of them could easily be defeated by just one of them. With her opponent now firmly subdued, Goodwitch tossed the Pip-Boy over to Ozpin.
In an apologetic voice Ozpin told Six of his intentions with the device. ''I made a mistake not running tests or looking at this device closer when I first had the chance. I won't make that mistake again. And I know how attached you are to this device, but I'm afraid you won't ever be able to see or use it again.''
Everything went silent for a moment. But when the same Courier that survived the Sierra Madre, the Divide, and even the Mile is in the room, it doesn't last for a very long amount of time. She began to grunt and struggle with Glynda further. Eventually she realized it wasn't going to be enough on its own.
So placing every bit of her strength into her right arm, she managed to rip it away from Glynda, who attempted to once again retaliate. But it was Six who now had the advantage, and she used it to punch her enemy directly inside one of the walls.
It was actually a bit shocking for Joshua to be witness to. Ulysses had however been witness to acts far greater. With her opponent now in a state that she wouldn't recover from for some time, Courier Six brought her attention back to Ozpin. She also made sure to pick up her SMG that she had dropped.
Looking directly into the man's eyes, she told him in a reassuring voice, ''I don't want to have to shoot you Ozpin. Especially not after how nice you've been to me.'' But she quickly switches to a cold voice. ''But the power of that device can only be handled and comprehended by me. You have no idea at how dangerous it is to experiment on. Because of that I won't hesitate to kill you if I have to.''
She gave Ozpin plenty of time to come up with an answer. But he didn't move nor did he speak. He could also tell that Six was not bluffing in any way. Finally he realized that he was going to have to say something. But before he could yet another surprising even occurred.
Out of nowhere the Courier just fell to the floor unconscious. Joshua moved up to see what had happened to her, Ozpin did the same. Upon further examination they both noticed that she had some sort of dart sticking out of her next.
Ulysses moved the two other men aside and picked her off of the ground. ''I used Cazador venom.'' He said in a voice that was a little too casual. ''I admit that this is a rather large amount to use. In fact it would kill anyone else. But she's been stung by them enough times that it only momentarily disables her.''
He took a break from his explanation to pick up the SMG. He decided to make the smart choice and hand it over to Ozpin. ''Thought it would be smart of me to put a stop to this before it got any worse. I'm sorry for her rash actions. But she is greatly attached to her Pip-Boy.''
Ozpin wore a look that was both grateful and understanding. ''That has become a little too clear. But I'm sure that you can understand my reasoning for wanting to study it further.'' He moved over to the wall with a gigantic hole in it to check on Miss Goodwitch. ''Now, I'm going to have to ask for you three to leave at once before I am forced to get the authorities involved in our situation.''
''Could I ask a small favor of you, before we are on our way?'' Ulysses said, handing over the Courier to Joshua. Ozpin tried his hardest not to sigh, not wanting to be rude to the man who had possibly just saved his life. He gave him a small nod telling him to ask away. ''Is there any money you can spare us?''