Into the Great Wide Open Chapter 5: Coffee and Cigarettes

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout: New Vegas or RWBY. The former is owned by Bethesda Softworks and Obsidian Entertainment while the latter is owned by Rooster Teeth.

[Amphitheater, Beacon Academy, Vale]

Marston, ED-E, Cass, and Boone stood in the back of an amphitheater, where teams were being inducted into the academy. The courier was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed and one of his legs propped up. He then looked up at the huge screen that was right above the stage. According to the screen, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were now a part of Team RWBY, with Ruby as the leader. Marston blinked at the team name and then tilted his head, trying to make heads and tails of it. He then looked over to his three companions.

"How the hell you think you pronounce that name? Ree-wooby? Rwa-by?"

"I think it's pronounced 'Ruby', boss, like the kid's name," Cass guessed as Marston simply let out a chuckle. Cass raised an eyebrow at this.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothin'. Just thought its funny how the team name gets formed from those kid's initials. Hell, I bet I can come up with a name with our initials."

"Really?"

"Yup. I'd guess we'd be called MERC. I, of course, would be the 'm'. ED-E would be the 'e'. Cass, your first name would fill out the 'r" of the name. And last, but certainly not least, Boone's first name would be the 'c' of the name."

"Hm, impressive," Cass said as ED-E let out a beep in agreement. Marston then suddenly put a few commands into his PipBoy and two items materialized in his hands. The first was a small, white rectangular box that had the words "Fancy Lad Snack Cakes" written on it in red. The second was an amber-colored bottle. On its label was a drawing of a sunset with the words "Sunset Sarsaparilla" written underneath it. Boone frowned and raised an eyebrow at this as Marston began to open the box while holding the bottle underneath his armpit.

"You're really doing this here of all places?"

"Hey, killin' things works up an appetite," the courier defended as he opened the box. He then took out what looked like a small, chocolate cupcake that was topped with powdered sugar. The courier popped the cake into his mouth, chewing it and savoring the chocolate taste and the creme filling. He then swallowed it before speaking again.

"I'm surprised these things still stay fresh after two hundred years," he said as he took out the second cake and ate it as well. He flatten the now empty box and placed it in his satchel, before taking the bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla and opening it. He took a swig of it before he noticed both Ozpin and his assistant approach him. The courier lowered his drink as he made eye contact with the headmaster. Opine finally broke the silence between the two.

"Now then, you said your name was Daniel Marston, correct?"

"Yup, the one and only."

"Very well. Now that the initiation ceremony is over, would you and your companions please follow me to my office? We have much to discuss."

"That's am understatement," Cass muttered as the courier and his companions followed Ozpin and his assistant out of the amphitheater They walked across the school courtyard until they arrived in front of what looked like a very large clock tower. Ozpin ushered the group inside of an elevator, and pressed a button to the top floor. Marston waited patiently for the elevator to reach its destination, standing between Boone and Ozpin's assistant. He suddenly felt the urge to smoke, so he brought out a cigarette from the inside of his duster. As soon as he brought out his lighter, however, he felt the cigarette suddenly get smacked out of his mouth. He looked up to see Ozpin's assistant glaring at him, holding a riding crop on her hand.

"I should remind you, Mr. Marston, that this is a school, and we do not tolerate your disgusting habit."

The courier lowered the brim of his hat over his eyes before answering her question.

"Apologies, it's a force of habit, miss…?"

"Glynda Goodwitch."

"Right," Marston said as he picked up the discarded cigarette off the ground. He decided not argue with Glynda about his smoking habit, remembering a piece of advice his father gave him: there are two ways to argue with a woman, and neither of them work.

With a ding, the elevator arrived at their destination and the group stepped out. The floor they arrived at was what looked like a very large office. There was a very large window that over the school in the front of the room. The only furniture in the room was a glass desk with a few metal chairs in front of it. However, there was one thing that stood out to Marston. There were gears above the ceiling, separated by glass, constantly whirling and tick-tick-ticking away. The courier and his companions stepped forward, but was stopped when he heard Ozpin clear his throat. The group then turned around to see Ozpin and Glynda standing next to what appeared to be a locker.

"Before we begin, would you please leave your weapons here?"

"What, you don't trust us, teach?"

"I'd just prefer to be on the safe side, Mr. Marston."

"Fair enough," Marston said as he pulled That Gun and his knife off of his belt and placed it in the locker. Cass followed next, putting away her shotgun, Dinner Bell, her .44 revolver, and her combat knife in it. Boone went last, placing his marksmen carbine, 10mm pistol, and machete in the locker. Cass and Boone went over to the chairs, but before Marston and ED-E could go over, Ozpin stopped him again.

"All of your weapons, Mr. Marston."

"Huh. You're perceptive, ain'tcha."

Marston moved his hands behind his duster, and lifted it up. On the right side of his backside, kept between the belt band and pants, were three throwing knives that had a handle wrapped in red ribbon. The courier quickly withdrew the knives and placed them in the locker. Marston then removed a pistol kept in his waistband. Said pistol was a heavily customized Colt 1911. It was compact in size, with a skeletonized hammer and trigger and a snakeskin pattern grip. Etched on both sides of the slide was a text in Greek. Marston quickly turned the safety off and ejected the magazine before placing it in the locker. He then placed his left foot against the wall and pulled up the pant leg. He pulled out a small knife from his boot, placed it in the locker, and then went over to the chairs, with ED-E following him. He took a seat as Ozpin sat down at his desk with Glynda standing besides him.

"Now the, where shall we begin," Ozpin said rhetorically as Marston shifted in his chair, trying to get comfortable. As soon as he got comfortable, he answered the headmaster's question.

"Well, I guess you want to know where we're from. Well, you probably wouldn't believe this, but we ain't even from this Remnant place."

"What if I told you that I did believe you, Mr. Marston?"

The courier did a double take at Ozpin's response. The headmaster stared at the courier stoically as Glynda began to explain things.

"Indeed, we saw your arrival when we were surveying the student's initiation," she said as she played around with a device that looked like a pane of glass. She then showed the device to the group, where a video played on it. It showed footage of the Marston and his companions arriving in the forest after a large flash of white-blue light. It then went on to show the group's encounter with the Beowolf, Marston healing his leg injury, then bringing out his hatchet and rifle, and finally the group leaving. Marston looked on interest at the footage before looking at Ozpin.

"You said that you got this from surveillance footage, right?"

"Correct. Like Miss Goodwitch said, we caught sight of you during the student's initiation," Ozpin replied as Marston took out a cigarette and his lighter. Glynda glared at him with his riding crop. Marston gave her a look before turning his attention to Ozpin.

"You don't mind if I smoke, do ya? It's not like I'm doin' it on campus or anything like that?"

"Go ahead," he answered as Marston lit up and blew out a puff of smoke, the cigarette now being in the corner of his mouth.

"So you I guess you want to know what kind of world we come from, teach? We we come from-"

"A world ravaged by fire and radiation, caused by the destructive nature man," Ozpin said, interrupting the courier. Marston's jaw dropped in surprise, letting his cigarette drop to the floor. Boone lowered his sunglasses at this, his face remaining stoic and impassive as usual, but his eyes held a bit of surprise. Cass simply leaned back in her chair and raised her eyebrow at Ozpin's statement.

"What are you, some sort of psychic," she asked as Marston picked his cigarette off the ground and placed it in his mouth. Ozpin let off a chuckle as he answered Cass's question.

"I am not, Miss Cassidy, but let's just say that you aren't the first person from the Wastelands to come to Remnant."

Marston took a drag on his cigarette before he answered Ozpin.

"Well, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. Go on, tell us who this other visitor was."

"Very well," Ozpin said as he cleared his throat before beginning his tale.

"Long ago, there lived a King that ruled the country of Vale. He was wise and benevolent, and his people loved him for it. However, he was threaten with war by the Kingdoms of Mistral and Mantle when his Kingdom expanded into their territory. The King wanted to avoid conflict with the kingdoms, but when it became inevitable, he decided to fight. However, before he waged his war against the kingdoms, he met a man. The man was called the Vault Dweller, for he had lived in an underground vault for most of his life. He had done many accomplishments, from defeating the mutant army of a mad man called the Master, helped developed a small village into a fledging republic, founded a settlement named Arroyo, and fathered a child. He had recently left Arroyo to wander his world, but through some means, had ended up in Remnant. The Vault Dweller helped the King in the wars against Mistral and Mantle. After the wars had ended, the King gave the Vault Dweller his sword as a sign of their friendship. The Vault Dweller, in turn, had the sword melted down and made into a pair of revolvers. One day, the Vault Dweller decided to explore the rest of Remnant, and help those who were in need. However, years later, he simply disappeared, with no one knowing where he went to."

Marston processed all of this as he finished smoking the rest of his cigarette. The Vault Dweller definitely rang a bell in his head. He remember his mother, telling him about the tales from the west, stories about the Vault Dweller and the Chosen One. After all, she did tell him that she originally came from the village of Arroyo before heading out east, meeting his father, and settling down to start a family and grow crops. If he had to guess, then he'd figure that the Vault Dweller had discovered the same bunker that he and his friends did, and had ended ended up in Remnant when he had activated the device.

Marston placed the butt of the cigarette in his pocket as he straightened himself in his seat. He turned to Cass, who had a flat, unimpressed look on her face. The former caravan boss raised an eyebrow at Ozpin.

"How can we tell you ain't bullshitting us," she asked. However, before she could go any further, Marston interrupted her by lifting up his left forearm to Ozpin, showing off his Pipboy.

"Tell me: did the Vault Dweller had something like this on his forearm?"

"Yes, I believe he did," the headmaster answered as Marston leaned back in his chair and smirked. Cass just simply frowned as Marston addressed Ozpin again.

"Now, I doubt you have a way for us to get back home, unless you happen to have a hot air balloon or a pair of magic slippers?"

"I do not, Mr. Marston. However, I have an offer to make to you."

"What, you wanna enroll us at your school? Hell, I think we're all way too old to be doin' that. And I don't think I'd look good in a schoolboy uniform."

" No, nothing of the sort. My offer is this: I will let you and your associates stay here at Beacon. We have spare rooms to accommodate you, and I think I can find some work for you to do. Does this sound reasonable to you?"

Marston placed his finger and thumb to his goatee and began to think over it. Cass leaned forward over to him to give her boss her own two cents.

"Take the deal, boss. Sounds like a pretty good offer to me. Hell, I don't think we're going to get a better offer."

"Hm, got a point, Cass. These rooms come with hot water, right," Marston asked as this time, Glynda answered his question.

"They do, and I believe you could do with a shower, Mr. Marston."

"Hm, you got a point there," the courier said as he pressed he turned a dial on his PipBoy before scrolling down on it before looking back up at Ozpin.

"There's another problem I wanna address, Ozpin: do you happen to use these as your currency," he said as he then pressed a button on his PipBoy. A flash appeared and a small paper bag appeared in his hands. However, the bag's contents were the real item of interest: bottle caps. They were two of types of them in the bag. One had the words "Nuka Cola" written on it in white while the other had the Sunset Sarsaparilla logo on it. Ozpin looked on impassively while Glynda blinked in surprise.

"Bottle caps?"

"Huh. I guess you don't use them then. Then what do you use? Coins? Paper bills?"

"We use Lien, Mr. Marston," Ozpin said as he brought up a plastic card and held it in his hand. It had a turquoise color to it with a stylized "L" in each of the corners, and a number ten in the middle. Marston looked at the lien card in interest.

"Plastic money, huh? To be honest, not the strangest currency that I've seen. Hell, I once made a delivery to a place that used military grade ammunition as its currency. But I'm gettin' off topic. You see, Ozpin, I bring up the money because I needed to confirm if we were flat broke in this world. Now that I know, I have a favor to ask of you. ED-E, bring it on out."

The eyebot let out a a few beeps, which Marston frowned at.

"No, not that."

It let out another beep, to which the courier let out a sigh.

"No, it's not that either."

ED-E let out another beep, and Marston smiled at the response.

"That's what I mean."

"How do you understand it," Glynda asked in confusion, to which the courier responded with a shrug.

"I listen carefully."

The eyebot's radar dish let out a flash and five items landed on Ozpin's desk. They were gold bars, and each perfectly rectangular, with the words "10 oz. Pure Gold" engraved in it. Marston held up one of them with ease, as if he were picking up an eraser.

"Now, me getting these hands on these things is a long story, and a story that I don't want to remember anytime sure. I got out with 37 bars, and I managed to sell off most of them. I kept five of these in reserve in case of an emergency. And I think now counts as one. You think you can do a favor for me, Ozpin?"

"You want me to find someone that can exchange your gold for Lien?"

The courier chuckled as he folded his arms across his his chest.

"Like I said, you're a perceptive one. Hope that you can find a buyer for 'em. I had a really damn hard time trying to find buyers for the other 32," the courier said as he got up from the chair stretched out a bit.

"Well, is there anything else you need to talk about?"

"No, I believe we're done here, Mr. Marston," Ozpin said as he brought out a slip of paper and what looked a plastic rectangle that had a thin line going down the center and a small golden diamond in the center. Marston took both and inspected the rectangle as Ozpin explained both items.

"You'll find the number of the room where you'll be staying at on the paper, and you use the scroll to open the room's door."

Marston held up the now named scroll as he looked at it.

"This a scroll? Doesn't look like one," Marston commented as he placed it in his back pocket. He then gave Ozpin and Glynda a tip of his hat.

"Y'all have a nice day."

With that, Marston, Boone, Cass, and ED-E made towards the exit, stopping to picking up their weapons (with Marston taking some time to gather up and properly store his on his person). As soon as the group left in the elevator, Glynda turned and looked at Ozpin.

"Are you sure that it's wise to let a person like him stay on campus, let alone work for you?"

"Glynda, I believe that Mr. Marston is the kind of person who we need."

Next Time - Settling In

A/N: Welcome to the latest chapter of Into the Great Wide Open.

First off, sorry about the fact that it took over two months to update my writing. Here is a two word explanation for my dry spell: Microsoft Office.

Apparently, Microsoft has updated Microsoft Office, and I usually write all of the chapters to my fics in Microsoft Word. I found out that I had to buy the new Microsoft Office in order to use Microsoft Word. However, when I found that the price for the new Microsoft Office was around #100, I more or less said "Fuck that noise!" and decided to type this chapter in Doc Manager. And that transition took a hell of a time getting use to, hence the long update.

But to be fair, this isn't nearly as bad as my dry spell in the latter half of 2015.

Anyway, I'd like to give a shout out to my friend, beta, and an awesome author in his own right, Rocker1600. He came up with a suggestion about Ozpin knowing about the Wastelands, and suggested that someone from the Wastelands had previously came to Remnant. And thus the story involving the Vault Dweller was born.

And I also made a few references in this chapter, such as one to Stephen King's Dark Tower novels (which I have started reading, I am enjoying them so far, and I eagerly look forward to the movie that's coming out this August). Whoever spots these references and mentions them in the comments get brownie points.

And my personal life is going pretty well. This summer as been pretty fun and a breath of fresh air after the shitty semester I had this year. I've been working at my summer job (dishwasher/food runner at McAlister's), playing Xbox games such as Prey (really damn good game), and bingeing shows as Westworld (which I've only just started watching) and the previous seasons of Game of Thrones (really looking forward to the next season coming in a week). And I've been going to the movies, including Wonder Woman, Baby Driver, and Spider-Man: Homecoming (which all are damn good films in their own right).

Anyway, please leave a review (since I appreciate feedback) and don't forget to fave and follow. I'll see you all next update.