Chapter 17: A Simple Misunderstanding
Time since last contact with RobCo GPS services.
17 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes, 23 seconds...
17 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes, 24 seconds…
17 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes, 25 seconds…
As the sleepy little town of Dawson was preparing to close its gates in preparation for the rapidly approaching night, the town's guardians spotted two lone travelers rushing towards the walls surrounding the city. Dawson's guards, if the town's few volunteer militiamen carrying weapons older than they were could be called such a thing, considered raising the alarm the moment they saw the unusual pair approaching their homes. Fortunately for the travelers, whether it was pity or terror at seeing the bloodied man waving them down from afar, the guards decided to let them into the town before closing the gates for the night, just in case.
No one paid the two strangers much attention as they made their way through the town's streets, and for those curious few who did make the mistake of taking a closer look at the duo, they took care to head home a little quicker once they were out of the strangers' sight. One of the travelers was carrying a surprising number of weapons strapped to his back and belt, most of which were of Solitian make, earning him the ire of more than one guard. It was only thanks to the menacing appearance that his battered, bloodied armor provided him that convinced the few people who had considered stopping the two travelers that it would be in their best interests to let them pass by undisturbed instead.
His companion, while looking far more approachable, made the few guards who cautioned a glance at her feel just as uneasy. Her form fitting black leather armor was enough to leave several of them with a few entertaining thoughts for later once they were alone, but the small lumps pressed against the hood covering her head told them that they would find nothing but trouble if they pursued her. Even if the majority of the guards hadn't happened to notice the inhuman protrusions she attempted to hide, her partner made it painfully obvious that things were not as they seemed with her.
"Julia, I still don't understand why the hell you decided to wear that stupid hood now of all times." The well armed stranger grumbled at his companion, uncaring of whoever overheard them. "I can still clearly see your damn antlers through that thing. Besides, it's not like anything bad will happen to us before we can restock on food and water. Hell, maybe we might be able to find a couple of beds to lay down in for the night."
"I already told you, Six. People like us won't be welcome here." Julia whispered, careful not to expose her identity while adjusting her hood so her antlers would not show so prominently through the thin cloth obscuring her faunus trait. "The quicker we get some supplies, the quicker we can find a place to camp for the night."
"Woah, woah, woah, hold on there just a moment." He said, stopping to turn and face his partner. "Weren't you the one complaining the other day about how much of a pain in the ass it was to sleep outside all of the time where we could be attacked by Grimm at any time?"
"I was not complaining." Julia insisted.
"Riiiiight." The Courier drawled, enjoying the scowl his partner sent his way. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'd sure as hell like to go one night without roughin' it and having to keep your sorry ass safe while you're asleep. Unless you can convince me that you won't fall asleep halfway through the night and let me get eaten alive by some of those mutant wolfmen things, we are shacking up here for the night and that's final."
"Fine, I promise I won't let you wake up to a Beowolf throwing you across the dunes." Julia begrudging replied.
Six took a step forward, the luminescent green light pouring from the lenses of his mask taking on a red tint from his cybernetic eyes as they filled with rage. "Again? You won't let it happen… again?"
"Y-yes." She stammered. "I will not let it happen again."
The Courier gave her answer some thought, the lenses of his mask glowing a sickly green once more, and focused his ire towards the handful of onlookers that had gathered around the duo. The small crowd that had come to watch their squabbling fled from underneath the hate pouring out of him. It wasn't until the last onlooker was out of sight that Six turned back to face Julia.
"Not happening, Antlers. We're staying here for the night whether you like it or not." He declared, scanning the surrounding buildings until his eyes fell upon a familiar looking neon sign that any alcoholic could recognize with a single glance, his shoulders sagging with relief even before he spotted the words 'vacacany' beside the worn doors of the bar a little further down the street. "And I just found the perfect place for us to shack up for the night."
It was a humble bar sign, hanging above an equally modest bar that did not yet appear to be closed. Whether or not he would find the shelter he was discussing didn't matter much to The Courier. He had run out of booze the previous day, and that alone was reason enough for him to decide this detour from the route Alex had chosen for them was necessary. Burning through the last of the food stuffs the Xiong Clan had provided for them the previous day was a happy coincidence in The Courier's eyes, especially since that was what it took to convince Julia to join him after she had sampled his emergency rations.
Being able to annoy his partner in the process was just one more luxury their detour was able to provide him, one that Six would never dare to admit to but gleefully take advantage of all the same. The thought of being able to one up her yet again was enough of a reason for him to start heading towards the bar he desperately hoped had an available room for the night.
Julia, still unwilling to give up without a fight, tried to talk to make one final appeal to whatever common sense he still possessed. "This is a human settlement, Six." She told him in hushed tones, hoping to make him see reason one last time.
Six stopped his march towards what he hoped would be an ample supply of booze, his companion's words freezing him in place. "You keep on saying that shit like it's supposed to mean something, Antlers. You mind tellin' me about what the hell it is that I'm missing here?" He growled.
"We're faunus. They're not." She told him, as if he were stating the obvious. "Don't tell me you forgot about what humans do to people like us?"
"Oh, is that why you've got your panties in a bunch, Antlers?" The Courier said with a laugh as he received yet another murderous look from his partner. "Don't you worry 'bout a thing, lass. If I'm right about the people of this town, then let's just say that nobody has anything to worry about."
"And if you're wrong and I'm right?" She asked him.
"Then we're still not the ones who have anything to be afraid of." Six patted the hefty pistol dangling from his hip to emphasize his point. "Now enough talk, we should probably find a room for a night before everyone here falls asleep. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have to wake up in another dumpster again."
As much as she wanted to argue her point, the thought of waking up in a nice, warm bed instead of the gritty sand dunes she had grown accustomed to over the past two weeks quickly won her over. Julia followed Six towards the bar in silence, still choosing to keep her hood down despite his muffled laughter whenever a passerby's gaze lingered on her longer than the bloodstained mailman.
That silence held until Six kicked the double doors to the bar open, nearly ripping them off their hinges with a well placed kick, revealing a surprised looking bartender and several equally concerned human patrons. With everyone's attention focused on him after his overly dramatic entrance and feeling quite satisfied with himself, Six lazily strolled up to the counter, every patron staring at him as the bottle cap spurs of his boots jangled with every step he took on the wooden floor as his partner did her best to follow him without being seen. Julia hardly had to try given the ragged look of her partner, but even so she did everything she could do to not associate herself with him.
"What the hell do you want?" The bartender shouted at Six as he laid an arm against the counter between himself and the bartender.
Six didn't back down against the harsh tone thrown at him, nor did he waver once he got a look at the tanned, scarred man capable of wrestling a super mutant into submission trying his best to intimidate him with looks alone. The only thing the Courier did notice about the brave yet foolish owner of the bar was the way he reached for something hidden underneath the counter before him and the way he looked at his patrons for any potential support in case things went south. It wasn't exactly the strangest thing Six expected for his potential victim to do, but regardless of the unease and lightheadedness he felt from looking at the bartender, he decided to treat this bar owner like every other one he met back in the Mojave.
"Food, drinks, and beds if you have any to spare." Six answered, pulling a few cards of Lien and throwing them on the counter in front of him in the hopes of ending things peacefully.
The bartender took a moment to inspect them, three white Lien and one green, before giving his answer. "Not happening pal. We don't serve your kind around here." He told them, pulling out a worn fire axe and brandishing it with malicious intent. "I'll keep the Lien though. Consider it my payment for not calling for the guards the moment you walked in here."
"Maybe you didn't hear me clearly enough." The Courier growled, shifting aside one of the flaps of his long coat and revealing Penetrator for all to see. "Me 'n my partner here would like a place to rest our heads for the night, and we're more than willing to pay for what you have to offer."
Six pointed his thumb behind his back at Julia, the faunus following suit by putting a hand on her own weapon too. "One way or another, we can pay whatever price you ask of us. It's up to you whether or not you want us to pay in Lien or blood."
The bartender didn't flinch, even though his patrons were doing their best to flee the bar before they could get caught up in whatever would happen next. He did, however, start sweating the moment the last of them were gone and realized he was now alone with an armored maniac packing enough firepower to take over the town on his own. The bartender tried his best to feign confidence, but Six instantly eased up now that he saw the bartender's tough guy act for what was even if his previous discomfort from earlier hadn't faded away yet.
"Be sure to speak up now." The Courier let out a menacing laugh. "Gotta make sure I hear your last words loud and clear so I know what to carve on your tombstone if you try anything funny."
"W-woah, there's no need to get hasty there, friend!" The bartender stammered, his bravado from earlier completely abandoned now that he was outnumbered. "I'll do whatever you two want! I don't want any trouble with bandits, I just-"
"Alright, hold on a second. I'm gonna stop you right there before things get more fucked up than they already are." The Courier raised a gloved hand to interrupt the bartender as he tried to make sense of what was happening. "What exactly did you mean when you said 'We don't serve your kind around here'? Because from where I'm standing, well..."
Six let out a sigh and pointed back thumb towards Julia again as he continued, oblivious to the way she was pulling her sword out for some additional 'persuasion'. "My partner here has been very insistent that the people of this town ain't exactly the biggest fan of faunus and that's what I thought you were on about when you started talking tough, big guy. Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, tell me you're not thinking exactly what I think you're thinking right now."
"Y-you're not bandits?" The bartender gasped, still unsure of what was happening but certain that he wanted to stay on The Courier's good side.
"God fucking dammit." Six grumbled. "That's the eighth time in a row I've had this shit happen..."
"I told you wearing the hood was a stupid fucking idea, Antlers! Do us both a favor and take that damn thing off already! It wasn't hidin' much of anything anyways, not with your antlers holding the thing over your face." He shouted behind him, Julia deciding it would be best to expose her faunus heritage now rather than risk another unfortunate misunderstanding.
"Yes, of course I'm the one that looks like a bandit, not the dumbass that's covered in Grimm blood!" She shouted back at him.
Six carefully inspected himself before bothering to reply. "Okay, you've got a point, but still, fuck you, Antlers. I'd have hosed myself down if we had any water to spare, and let me just say that you ain't exactly looking like one of Gomorrah's finest either."
"What does that even mean?"
"That means you look about as bad as I do." The Courier laughed. "Maybe even wor… no, no I take that back. You still have both your eyes."
"Uhh… so you're not here to rob me?" The bartender asked, his wavering voice stopping Six and Julia's bickering as quickly as it had started. The duo quickly turned their attention away from each other and focused on the bartender, who immediately shrank underneath their gaze.
"Does it look like we're here to rob you?" The Courier asked him, taking a good long look at the trembling fire axe in the bartender's arms, completely oblivious to Julia sheepishly sheathing her sword behind him.
"You know what, don't answer that." He continued, digging out yet another bundle Lien from his pockets, an exact match to the previous four he threw out. "Consider this an apology for causing this little misunderstanding."
"Wow… forty-six Lien." The bartender lamented as he took the Lien in front of him. "You shouldn't have. You really, really shouldn't have."
"Fuuuuu… hold on a moment." The Courier groaned, tapping away at his Pipboy as he did so.
"Okay, this is going to sound kinda weird, but I doubt this is going to be much weirder than everything else I've said so far, so bear with me. I've recently lost most of my memories on account of some crazy fuckers cutting me open and replacing whatever the hell they wanted to with metal, and it seems the value of different colors of Lien happens to be one of the many things I can't seem to recall. So I'll tell you what, just call out a color and I'll happily hand it over to you if you'd be so kind as to forget any of this shit happened." The Courier said.
"With a mouth like your's, I can't imagine why someone would have tried knocking some sense into you." The bartender mumbled.
"Just answer fucking the question, dickbag. In case you haven't forgotten, I don't exactly have a reason not to shoot you in the gut and leave you to bleed to death." The Courier said, taking a seat on a nearby stool, pulling Penetrator and laying flat on the counter with the barrel pointing straight at the bartender.
"O-of course." The bartender said now that he was properly motivated, furrowing his brow with thought as he decided to see how far he could tempt fate. "You said any color of Lien, right?"
"So long as I have it, it's yours. All you need to do is ask, and who knows? Maybe you'll be seeing a whole lot of it's friends too once you decide to stop being such a smartass." The Courier informed him.
"Orange." The bartender immediately blurted out.
Six fiddled around with his Pipboy for a moment after hearing the bartender's request before finding what he was looking for. He then nonchalantly threw the plastic card in front of him. The bartender stared at the money he was offered, almost as if he was waiting for it to attack him. Six gave the bartender a moment to do something, anything, but the rough looking man appeared to be frozen on the spot. Six soon grew tired of waiting for him to do something, and decided to make it clear that his patience was running out.
"If you don't want it, then I'll just take this back and-"
The Courier was about to retract his peace offering, but the bartender frantically grabbed for it before Six came anywhere close to touching the counter.
"There is no way I'm passing up on five hundred Lien!" The bartender exclaimed, coughing in embarrassment after noticing the amused looks Julia and The Courier were pointing towards him. "Err, I mean, it wouldn't feel right to refuse your gift, sir."
"Cut that fancy shit out before you get ahead of yourself, buddy. You're not fooling anyone, least of all yourself." The Courier told him, turning to beckon Julia over beside him. "Fucking hell, one moment you're scared shitless and the next you're a better brown noser than that dipshit NCR scientist that somehow managed to become an ambassador."
"Anyways, come on over and take a seat girl." He said as he waved his partner over. "The stools here are softer than anything we had back in the Mojave."
"You can remember that but not your own name?" She asked, scrutinizing the battered gas mask covering her partner's face to see if he was joking or not.
"Yeah, and I'm just fucking thrilled to know how sore my ass was back then instead of something basic like my goddamn name of all things." He grumbled. "Now stop your bitching and take a seat."
Six turned to the bartender once more, this time thinking carefully before he made another scene while carefully ignoring the New Vegas Hello being sent his way. For some reason, just looking at the bartender was giving a headache, and with the potential of a half decent drink on the horizon The Courier hoped to at least fix one of the problems that were bothering him, the other being a distinct lack of booze in front of him. "Alright, let's try not to fuck this up again. How much for a couple of warm meals, beds, and enough drinks to forget any of this shit ever happened?" He asked.
"I'm not eating anything a human serves." Julia interrupted before the bartender could give his answer.
"Go ahead and starve then." The Courier spat out, tapping away at his Pipboy as he faced his partner. "I'll be sure to dig out some more Salient Green for you and-"
Six didn't even bother finishing his threat, the mortified expression on Julia's face after having only mentioned the vile food stuff they had been forced to rely on earlier that day was enough to silence any arguments she had for him.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Six gloated. "Anyways, how much is this gonna cost me?"
"Just give me a hundred Lien and I'll call it even." The bartender said.
"Great." The Courier raised his left arm and scanned his Pipboy for the correct amount, before remembering he had no idea what he was looking for. "Uhh… what color am I looking for, and how many, if you don't mind me asking?"
"One light brown, two blues, or five greens." Julia volunteered.
"Thanks. Really woulda been nice if you could have told me this shit before I made myself look like a complete idiot, Antlers." Six grumbled as he handed over a beige card to the bartender who carefully snatched it and ran off to what the duo could only presume to be the kitchen to prepare their meals.
Of course, he did think to ask about that beforehand, but giving Julia something else to lord over him wasn't an idea Six had been willing to entertain over the past few weeks.
"I didn't think you needed any help with that?" She fired back.
"Cactus, Antlers." Six snarled. "Biggest. Girthiest. Cactus."
The faunus was about to offer her own retort to his indignant treatment towards her, but the bartender's reappearance silenced her and Six from arguing any further. The platter of food balanced on each of their rugged waiter's arms and two mugs filled to the brim with steaming hot coffee they carried, a luxury back from the Mojave that Six never believed he would find in a dinky little bar, left the weary postman drooling from beneath his mask. While it certainly wasn't the liver killing goodness he had been aching for, it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. The food set out before them was more than what Six had been expecting too, consisting solely of a small salad filled with things he couldn't quite identify yet was willing to learn more about in an instant and a small chunk of meat for each of them, while Julia hardly batted an eye at the meagre meal before digging into her own portions.
"Holy hell, I didn't think you'd be able to prepare a feast fit for a tyrant in just a couple of seconds." Six murmured as he waved his Pipboy over the food, trying and failing to set off his Geiger counter as he did so. "This looks like the best damn meal I've seen that I didn't make myself."
"I wouldn't say this is anything special, but after a few paying customers abandoned the place once you started making threats..." The bartender insinuated. He would have continued, but the sight of Six drawing a knife out from the inside of his long coat and plunging it into the small morsel of meat on his plate instantly silenced whatever complaints the bartender had for him.
"Like I said before, I'm sorry about the misunderstanding, but you weren't exactly making things better by waving your axe around in front of my face." Six replied, trying his best to ignore his aching head as it started to throb in pain. "If it's any consolation, I'd be more than willing to pay for anything else your other customers might have left behind. I've been needing to pick up a few supplies anyways."
"Fair enough, I suppose." The bartender conceded. The prospect of making a couple hundred more Lien made it far easier to stomach The Courier's proposition without an argument.
"And sweet mother of Graham, is this what I actually think it is?" Six practically shouted as he raised the mug of coffee up for inspection.
"If you think it is the last bit of coffee I had left, then yes." The bartender informed him.
Six didn't even bother adjusting his mask before pouring the entire mug of caffeinated goodness through his air filters and down his throat in the hopes that it would be able to cure his growing headache. Neither the bartender nor Julia were surprised when he quickly spat out what little coffee had managed to seep through the filter of the rebreather built into his mask. Both of The Courier's spectators had expected him to ask for another drink or attempt to recover a while longer after his disastrous first sip.
Instead he startled them both by exclaiming, "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?!"
"This isn't fucking coffee!" The Courier continued to rant as he threw his mug down in rage, shattering it in a storm of porcelain that Julia's aura effortlessly blocked as effectively as Six's armor. "You can't even taste the fucking tobacco in it for fucks sake!"
"Who puts tobacco in their coffee?" The bartender muttered in confusion, blissfully unaware of the dirty look The Courier sent his way.
"Well, after that giant disappointment, I wanna ask you something before I start chowing down." Six drawled out, nursing his aching head with one hand as he watched Julia tear into the piece of mystery in front of her without any hesitation.
"No, the salad doesn't have any tobacco in it either." Julia said between bites, ignoring Six as he flipped her off.
"Sure, ask away." The bartender said.
"This meat..." Six raised up the chunk of cooked flesh attached to the end of his bowie knife, waving it around cautiously, as if he were too afraid to touch it himself, "Well, let's just say where I'm from, you learn not to eat things if you don't know where they came from, especially when it comes to 'mystery meat'. You never know how literal some small town cooks are whenever they say they serve people, and- dammit! Don't choke on me now, Antlers!"
Before Six could finish what he was saying, Julia spat out the bite she had taken out of the meat they were served, sputtering up half chewed gobs of food, tears streaming from her face as she struggled to get herself under control. The bartender, although only mildly concerned for the safety of one of the unusual customers before him, was more than thankful that he also didn't have anything to choke on once he realized what The Courier was trying to ask him.
"I… am not a cannibal. I would rather die than serve faunus of all things to one of my customers." The bartender said, swallowing back a wave of nausea at the very thought.
"And what about human meat?" The Courier asked impatiently, his headache and previous discomfort taking a backseat to his rising temper. "You're being awfully specific here, friend."
"I don't serve that either." The bartender hastily replied.
"Alright then, I'll take your word for it then." The Courier said, digitizing the meal in front of him for later much to the bartender's surprise.
"Why the hell- *hack* -would you ask something like- *hack* *hack* -THAT while we're eating?!" Julia shouted at him in between pained gasps.
"Hey, I asked that before I took a bite out of the mystery meat this guy decided to serve us, so don't be blaming me for your fuck up." Six fired back at her. "Besides, after hearing about how much you hate humans from 'round here, I figured there had to be a damn good reason for it. Serving the other, other white meat seemed like the most likely answer to me up until now. Hell, I'm surprised you didn't ask that question yourself, Antlers."
"Besides…" The Courier shot a glance at the bartender, a baleful red gaze piercing through his soul as Six turned his attention to the man as he continued. "From the way our friend here is making it sound, I'm guessing there's more than a few places known for serving what some of my favorite victims call 'the most dangerous game'. Isn't that right, friend?"
The bartender made the tactful decision to take a moment and choose his words carefully before speaking. "I haven't heard of anyone on Sanus serving people as food." He said a bit too carefully for his patrons' liking.
"Yet you're not saying you haven't heard rumors of it happening somewhere else." The Courier finished for him, tugging on the loose thread the bartender had left dangling in front of him. "You're really going out of your way to not say shit like that doesn't happen, you know."
"That's… well… in my line of work, you tend to hear all sorts of things…" The bartender stammered, doing his best not to look back at the furious glare Julia pointed at him. "I personally tend not to think too much about what those damn soldiers from Mantle and Mistral start talking about when they can't handle their drink but, like I already said, you can't help but to hear all sorts of things…"
"The sorts of things you either don't want to know, or would get killed for asking about." The Courier finished for him, a hint of melancholy behind his words leaving the bartender more afraid of The Courier now than when the heavily armed mailman had first barged into his bar.
"Six, please tell me this is another one of your sick jokes." Julia quietly pleaded as she slowly pushed her meal away now that her appetite had been thoroughly ruined.
"I'm afraid not." The Courier told her, letting out a mirthless chuckle as he reminisced about his past adventures for a moment.
"Hell, I remember visiting a real fancy place that was selling human flesh to rich folk as 'a most exquisite feast fit only for the most refined of palates'. God, I wish I shot every one of those bastards when I had a chance instead of letting them pin the blame on that obvious fucking creep that tried making me a member of their little club of cannibals." He rambled on, oblivious to the worried stares of his audience. "At least I didn't make the same mistake twice with those fuckers in Sloan."
"You can remember that, but not your own name?" Julia asked incredulously.
"There's some things that, no matter how much I wish I could forget them, I doubt I'd ever be lucky enough to stop remembering 'em every now and then. My little adventure in the Ultra-Luxe is one of many things I can't help but to remember from time to time." The Courier drawled on. "The sight of those mask-wearing man eaters, the smells coming from the kitchen, the taste of whichever poor bastard their ringleader served me…"
"You're lying." Julia muttered to herself. "You have to be lying."
"I've got pictures of the place and their *ahem* 'human resources', Antlers. If you want to see them to know I'm not lying, then all you need to do is ask." The Courier told her before pointing to the mug of caffeinated goodness before her.
"Anyways… are you going to finish that or do you mind if I empty it for you, lass? I've been fucking dying for anything ever since that Deathjaw attacked us." He asked, seemingly indifferent to everything he had mentioned previously. "Sure, the coffee here might be shit, but it's still coffee."
Julia clenched her fists and looked ready to strike Six, but managed to reel her temper in just in time before they could come to blows. She also chose to ignore how tightly the bartender was clutching onto his axe as she turned around and headed up the lone flight of stairs at the back of the bar. Six happily interpreted her departure as an answer to his question and gleefully claimed her drink for himself.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, Antlers?" The Courier shouted after her once he finished with his second mug of coffee for the night, downing it through his gas mask again in one swift motion and splattering half of it on himself in the process.
"Some place where I don't have to listen to your insanity anymore, you psychopath!" She shouted at him.
Her partner slowly shook his head in disappointment as he watched her storm up the stairs in a fit of rage. "Fucking civilized city slickers." He sneered. "With the way she's acting, you'd think the little princess I've been travelling with has never heard of people getting cut up into meat pies before."
"I don't think many people have heard of such a thing. I know I haven't." The bartender uneasily confessed.
He didn't want to say anything, but for some reason, he felt compelled to speak when every bone in his body said that nothing good could possibly come from talking with the man before him. Everything about The Courier screamed danger even before he had mistakenly held up the bar. Hearing the man talk about how cannibalism seemed to be an almost regular occurrence from the Mojave, wherever that hellhole was, made him seem that much more imposing to the humble bartender. Then again, every second he spent talking was one less second The Courier could use to terrorize him. The prospect of annoying the man seemed far less dangerous for his health and sanity than if he let the man continue rambling on.
"So…" The bartender muttered as he mustered the courage to ask a question he wanted, no, needed to know after listening to The Courier's ramblings. "You haven't eaten… people before, right?"
"Not intentionally… errr, I mean, not knowingly." The Courier answered, oblivious to the slack jawed expression adorning the bartender's face. "Sure, raiding a known cannibal's pantry for anything that was edible wasn't exactly my greatest moment either, but in my defense I didn't think the crazy fuck would have stored his kills right beside his stash of beer. Guess that goes to show how much of a damn dumbass I was back then."
The Courier slipped a few forkfuls of salad underneath his mask, careful not to expose his face to the bartender who was still frozen in shock until they heard frantic footsteps storming down the stairs and a frantic looking Julia glaring daggers at Six.
"YOU WHAT?!" She shouted at him.
"Like I said, every time it happened was because someone else served it to me without telling me exactly where the meat came from, or I was too fucking stupid to question where the hell a couple of chemed up bandits were so well fed until I thought long and hard about how many chunks were missing from their victims." The Courier explained in an attempt to appease his partner. "Well, except that one time, but between starving to death or making the most of everything I had available to me… I suppose you can figure out how that one went since I didn't starve to death. Not even sure if what I hate could be considered human anymore either, come to think of it."
"Now, before we get any further with this, there's something I gotta ask you, Antlers." The Courier rambled on, checking the mug before him for any traces of liquid relief and cursing at having found them empty when he hadn't even come close to satisfying his frayed nerves or sore noggin. "How the hell did you hear me from upstairs? You don't strike me as the stealthy type with the way you charge at things like an angry Bighorner, and most people I know don't have ears that good."
"I'm a faunus just like you, you idiot. We all have better hearing than humans," She turned to glare at the bartender, who matched her furious look with one of his own, "I'm surprised you didn't figure this out sooner, or was this something else you 'forgot'?"
The Courier, having finally lost his patience with his partner and unable to hold back his curiosity any longer, decided it was finally time to see just how far her hatred went. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't ever recall saying that I was a faunus, Antlers." He said.
The air between the two hotblooded travelers noticeably chilled as Julia slowly realized what her partner had told her. Six carefully studied the myriad emotions rolling over the faunus woman's face, her prior anger falling into an almost comical look of confusion before morphing into a horrified grimace, before deciding to throw caution to the wind now that one of his many secrets were out and see exactly how she felt about humans.
"What's wrong, Antlers? Why don't you tell me what's bothering ya, lass?" He taunted, pulling Penetrator off of the counter and flourishing it between him and his potential target from across the room. "Don't be shy now. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to you 'cause of a simple misunderstanding on my part."
"Y… you're a human?!" Julia stammered in disbelief.
"...well, I sure as hell ain't a fucking faunus." The Courier grumbled, chuckling as Julia grimaced at his answer. "By the way, congrats on being the first one from your little group of wannabe rebels to ask me that obvious fucking question, Antlers. I was sure Bunny Boy was going to try and snooker me into admitting that before anyone else would, you especially."
"You're a human." She droned on once more as her hands tightening around her sword instinctively, the Courier steadying his shooting arm as best he could in response.
"I suppose you can say that." He goaded. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Problem!?" Julia shouted. "You lied to us-"
"Brahminshit, Antlers." Six interrupted. "I never lied to you… I just never told you or your faunus friends the truth since I didn't think any of you cared what I looked like underneath my armor. Looks like I made the right fucking call on keeping my mouth shut if this little hissy fit of yours is anything to go by."
"Besides," The Courier continued, leaning his left arm on the bar counter and letting his hand cannon dangle menacingly as he prepared to push his partner a little further than he already had. "What's the big deal about me being a human anyways?"
"HUMANS! KILL! FAUNUS!" Antlers shouted in flippant rage.
The Courier didn't flinch at her outburst, not even as she drew out her sword and pointed it straight towards him. Instead, he let out a tired sigh and turned his attention to the bartender who had made the tactically sound decision to back off as far as he could.
"Hey, bartender, do you wanna kill my partner here just because she's a faunus?" Six asked the terrified man.
"N-n-no!" He stuttered back.
"Wow, what a coincidence! Neither do I!" The Courier gasped in feigned surprise, before his careless attitude started to take on a more menacing aura.
"At least, that's what I would have said before you started sounding like some of the grade-A assholes I've left for the vultures to fight over, Antlers. Now, I'm thinkin' I might have been a bit too easy on you for your 'human this' and 'human that' shit you keep on going about after all." He growled, pointing Penetrator towards Julia's head once more.
Enraged by the way she was being talked down to; by not just a human but a lying, psychopathic, murderous human she had dared to stand up for; Julia intended to let Six know who was in charge. "Shut up, human, I don't wa-"
The sudden bang coming from the 12 gauge slug The Courier fired silenced the faunus almost as quickly as it taught her that she wasn't nearly in control as she thought she was.
"That…" The Courier drawled, gesturing to the gaping hole in the wooden wall beside Julia's head. "...that was a warning shot. The next one won't be. Got it?"
His partner seemed to understand his words clearly as she sheathed her sword once more, but The Courier hadn't forgotten about what else she had at her disposal. "Don't even think about trying your luck with that submachine gun I gave you either. I might not have an aura like most of you people, but we both saw what I can do without that cheap shit." He told her.
Julia continued to glare at him as he studied her, waiting to see if she would be bold, or rather, stupid enough to act out against him despite the overwhelming advantage he currently held against her. She did nothing more than scowl at him, and after a minute of staying locked in each other's gazes The Courier considered continuing their conversation right then and there. It was only thanks to the bartender's nervous coughing from behind the relative safety of his counter that Six decided it would be best to finish things elsewhere.
"Hey bartender, you wouldn't happen to have any spare rooms you could loan us for the night, do you? Maybe one that's… soundproof?" The Courier inquired.
"Y-yeah, here you go. It'll be the first room up the stairs, on your left." The hapless bartender said as he slid a pair of keys to The Courier.
"Much obliged." The Courier thanked him as he tried, and failed, to catch the keys before they slid off the counter.
"Mother fu- well, there goes the fucking moment. Goddammit." The Courier complained as he bent over to pick up the room keys off the ground.
He pocketed one of them and threw the other to Julia, who caught it with all the grace he currently lacked. She was about to say something to the seething mailman, but one more good look down the barrel of his gun was all it took to convince her it was better to wait before saying whatever was on her mind. Both The Courier and the bartender watched her slowly march up the stairs, muttering curses underneath her breath with every step before either one of them moved.
The bartender let out a sigh of relief once Julia was out of sight. Six simply holstered Penetrator and caressed his aching head once more now that it was just the two of them together.
"Am I the crazy one for thinking that Antlers wouldn't be so much of a pain in the ass just because I'm a human?" The Courier asked the bartender.
"No, not at all." The bartender answered far too hastily for The Courier's liking.
"Are you saying that just because I put a fist sized bullet hole in your wall?" The Courier then asked, before adding. "Oh, sorry about that by the way."
"Uhh…"
"You know what? Don't answer that. It's probably for both of us if you keep your mouth shut." The Courier said as he tossed a few hundred Lien on the counter.
"Anyways, I'm going to have a… very enthusiastic 'talk' with my partner now." Six said as he stood up from his barstool. "But before that, I gotta ask you a little something."
"S-sure. What would you like to know?" The bartender asked, still eager to please The Courier however he could.
As off putting as he found the bartender's act, Six decided to go ahead and ask his question anyway regardless of the repercussions. "You got any absinthe stored away somewhere that I could get my hands on?"
"I'll need to check." The bartender answered.
"Wha… what the fuck do you mean you have to check? This is your goddamn bar! How the hell do you not know what drinks you have in stock?" The Courier shouted at the bartender in a fit of anger.
"Fuck it. I'll take all the absinthe that you have, if you have any." The Courier grumbled.
The heavily armed mailman started to make his way up towards the stairs, but turned back to the bartender to make sure he wouldn't be facing any more disappointments than he had to tonight. "Before I go, I just wanna make sure you heard me correctly. When I say I want all of your absinthe, I mean I want all of your absinthe. I did not say I want a lot, or most, or even some absinthe. I said I want all the fucking absinthe you have so I can drink away this fucking headache." He said, nestling his helmet in his hands once more.
"I don't know if it's from having to deal with Antler's shit, chem withdrawal, or burning through the last of my alcohol yesterday, but… fuck me, I need something to clear up my head. I don't care if absinthe is what I need, but even if the only thing I can do is get drunk off my ass then I'll be happy." The Courier rambled on in front of the bartender.
"Well, what the fuck are you waiting for?" Six told the bartender. "Do you need a warning shot to motivate you too, or should I skip the warning and check to see what you have for myself?"
Rather than answering with words, the bartender ran back into the kitchen before Six could consider brandishing Penetratorfor some additional motivation. Without anything else holding him back and feeling that things involving Julia could only go one way, The Courier took the time to remove his currently loaded magazine and drop another slug to replace the one he used before jamming back in place. For some extra comfort, he also checked to make sure the bowie knife strapped to the inside of his long coat was loose enough for him to draw at a moment's notice.
Six doubted he would need either, but it never hurt to be prepared. At least, that was what he thought as he made his way to the room he knew Julia would be oh so eagerly waiting for him in.
ITS wait was almost at an end.
The LESSER and DREG were finishing their own preparations, and once they finally returned IT would finally be able to remind all of Vacuo that IT should be feared, not the other WANDERER.
All IT needed to do was wait for the PAWNS to report back once their unwitting allies had done their part, and then IT could finally be free to do whatever IT pleased once more.
...at least, that was what IT was supposed to do. Something had gone wrong, or perhaps something had gone right. IT could never be quite certain what the PAWNS were thinking, and cared about their own machinations even less so long as they did not give IT a reason to kill them.
The QUEEN had given the PAWNS their orders, just as SHE had given IT a similarly simple task to follow. IT could not imagine these PAWNS ruining HER plans, yet IT would not have hesitated to kill them should they have failed their mission. Much like the PAWNS, IT too had ITS orders.
Unfortunately for IT, one of those orders now required it to manage the lesser KIN that had been drawn to the WANDERER once again. Unlike IT, they were far too young to understand what SHE asked of them. The lesser KIN were a simple bunch, easily attracted to the darkness that poured from desperate LESSERS and DREGS. For some reason, they seemed easily attracted to the WANDERER'S presence. Even IT found it difficult to resist ITS most basic urge and slaughter the possible contender to ITS title.
Sometimes, these primal urges to seek out and slaughter prey seemed to be all the lesser KIN could act upon. One such KIN, a lowly MUTT, decided to go against ITS commands and tried to run towards the unsuspecting town before the slaughter could begin. The other KIN watching it looked ready to join the MUTT, but unlike the unthinking beast that rushed forward without a thought about what little authority it's petty strength provided it, the other KIN watched IT to see what IT would do first.
IT smiled, baring ITS savage fangs for all to see, happy to have a reason to put the remaining KIN in their place. As much as IT wanted to run the MUTT down and rip it apart in a flurry of rending claws and hungering fangs, IT did not trust the KIN to behave as they should. Instead, IT broke off one of the many long, white, spear-like quills from ITS back and threw it towards the MUTT with all of ITS strength. The MUTT was only a speck from where the KIN and IT were standing, but even so, they could all hear its dying yelp as the quill pierced through the MUTT'S skull and pinned it to the dunes.
The lesser KIN might not have been the most intelligent of ITS kind, but even they could understand the fate in store for them if they disobeyed ITS commands now.
"WAIT." IT snarled, the closest of the KIN backing away from IT as quickly as they dared.
"SOON. NOT YET. SOON." IT growled, no happier than the others at the QUEEN'S request.
Those words were as much of a reminder to the lesser KIN as they were to ITSELF, and they all eagerly awaited the moment their patience would be rewarded. All they could do now was wait, and their wait was almost at an end.
Special thanks to most good ones were taken for beta reading my madness once more.
Comments:
David4679: Six in this story is a moron. 20 chapters and still can't figure out he is on another planet.
Uhh... thanks? Is this a Fallout 2 reference? It feels like a shoutout to Sergeant Dorn...
If it is, then thanks! That was exactly what I was aiming for. I've always found characters with a 'simple, not stupid' mindset are some of the most interesting ones to write. They're never too smart so as to be insanely overpowered or derail a story by eventually coming to the conclusion that world domination is much more realistic than whatever their original problem was, yet capable of outwitting an enemy who fails to realize that 'book smarts' are not the same as 'street smarts' or practical experience. Never forget that general intelligence does not carry over to all areas. We all know rocket scientists are smart, but I know I don't someone who doesn't know how to fix my air conditioner to do any work on it.
If this comment was not a Fallout 2 reference... then I guess I showed Six's competence overshadowing his lack of general Intelligence a bit too much. Don't forget that not only do stupid people generally not last long in survival situations, but knowing that fish exist requires 6 Intelligence. Going by this small little detail, I made the reasonable assumption that the Fallout universe's average Intelligence is pretty damn low compared to our standards.
Rio Skyron: First off all, mentioning taking Ironwood's hat and the hats of enemies actually reminds me of a friend of mine in Fallout 76 who just loved collecting hats and just wanted every unique hat ever...
Destoyer78901: Whenever I play New Vegas, the pro gamer move is to keep one of everything. I have 6 different containers for all my guns in the sink.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that does this. Organizing them all is a pain, but not enough to keep me from creating a stockpile on every game I play.
Rio Skyron: ...Second of all, I love the talking heart lol. And the Brain's reaction to it lol. Best thing ever.
thewolfgod99: Hah! Fwiends!
I'm glad to see my little gag chapter went over well. For a moment, I thought about scrapping it all since it didn't quite fit with what will eventually be the next chapter. Looks like turning it into an extra was the right call after all.
BONUS!
Quests:
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* Tastes Like Chicken
* _ Investigate the potential of different types of Dust
* _X_ Check the data stolen from Ironcock's Scroll for information
* _X_ (Optional) See if Dust is poisonous
* _ (Optional) Test out each type of Dust in combat
* _ (Optional) Try making new weapons and bullets out of Dust
* _ (Optional) Investigate other means of using Dust
* _ Finish adding my notes to Ironcock's files
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Misc:
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Dust (General):
From what I have learned after two weeks of searching through the files I downloaded from The Major's Scroll, there appears to be three major types of Dust bullets and one (two?) subtype. Overall they are similar enough to gunpowder, energy weapon power packs, and grenades. They are potentially able to be used in place of each with minimal adjustments made to my usual weapons. I'll need to try this out when I get back to the Mojave. Dust also seems to have more mundane uses too. Edible.
Powder Rounds:
Exclusively uses a powdered version of Dust instead of gunpowder. Bullets contain no physical projectiles, much like a blank round. Functions like Dragon's Breath, but are effective at far larger ranges. Causes weapons to shoot out pure fire, ice, or whatever Dust type is being used. Concentration, strength, and projectile shape are all dependent on the amount of Dust in each round, as well as how the Dust is arranged in the shot being fired. No standardized means of distinguishing between contents of Powdered Rounds outside of Dust type. Highly effective against armor, whatever 'Dusted Alloys' are, Grimm, and Aura (need to test). Apparently ineffective against flesh, but damn did getting shot by this shit hurt!
Infused Rounds:
Similar to normal bullets, these are metal projectiles containing pockets of powdered Dust and are propelled by powdered Dust. Projectiles are fired at a third of the velocity of gunpowder propelled bullets of a similar caliber. Not as effective as the other types of Dust sold on the market, but easy to mass produce and capable of SO MUCH POTENTIAL! Not only can different types of Dust be combined to increase the round's potency, but Dust is apparently highly reactive with other types. 'Specialty' Infused Rounds are apparently called Compound Infused Rounds by most Dust merchants. Rounds meant especially for Grimm are cheap. Rounds meant for 'anti-personnel' (apparently different from anti-Aura, which has its own classification) purposes are VERY FUCKING EXPENSIVE and not worth purchasing in bulk. Will need to hand craft my own rounds.
Payload Rounds:
'Raw' Dust Crystals, apparently the form Dust is naturally found in. Function similarly to explosive rounds. Contains immense amounts of potential energy (or lack thereof for certain types of Dust). Highly reactive, explosive, and dangerous. Crystals are commonly hollowed out and filled with another type of Dust to either make them safer to handle or to create a more dangerous type of Dust called Compound Payload Rounds. Can detonate on impact or shortly after hitting their target. The Steam Dust I used against that Giant Deathjaw was apparently a Compound Payload Round. Very fucking expensive, but well worth the price per shot, unlike anti-personnel Infused Rounds.
Compound Rounds:
A variant of Infused and Payload Rounds created by combining different types of Dust. A Compound Payload round consists of a Dust Crystal filled with a different type of Dust powder. Infused Dust Rounds have two variants; the first involves infusing a projectile with two or more different types of Dust powders, the second when an Infused Round is propelled by a different type of Dust Powder. Steam Dust is apparently one of many types of Compound Round. Creation and sale of Compound Rounds is highly illegal according to Mantle. Definitely worth investigating in the future if I can make my own Steam Dust and other powerful Compound Rounds.
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Author's Corner:
GUESS WHO'S BACK?
That's right, the hiatus is over... I hope. I will be able to upload regularly again, although releases will more than likely be occurring once a month until I can create another backlog in order to have some insurance against going two months without an upload again.
Not sure if anyone else noticed what currency I decided Lien should share colors with, but for those of you that got it, I hope it was worth a good laugh. I'm just going to throw in a gripe about F:NV here for once and just say that it is amazing how much bullshit you can pull off against the factions in-game. While Six might not have murdered half of everyone in the factions he has allied with in Remnant at this moment in time, I felt it would be far more realistic for a slight like this to be taken much more seriously than a demotion to 'Wild Card'.
On a completely unrelated note, since I have no pride or shame at all, I want to announce that I have been working on another crossover fic while I was on hiatus because creating more work for yourself is something that any sane writer would do! So yeah, if you like happy and/or depressed gas mask noises, my new W40K and RWBY crossover will not disappoint.
As always, thank you all for sticking with me as long as you have! I hope to see you all again real soon.