You may not know this, but I'm not just a writer, I'm also an illustrator and a composer. So, sorry for the slow updates.

I did manage to create my very own Puella Magi oc in the meantime, and uhh... I'm planning to compose another piece of music after I post this chapter. Just a heads up.

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

T'was a tense noon in the Mojave Wasteland. Normally, the peaceful town of Goodsprings was quiet, but today one could feel the disturbance and tense atmosphere in the air.

If tension were a visible thing, one would see that the tension within the Prospector Saloon is the thickest around.

Silently, Madoka Kaname and Sunny Smiles snuck through the front door to get a better view of the commotion between Trudy and one of the thugs.

"I'm done being nice. If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?" said the thug.

Madoka silently gasped. It seems this whole town is about to be in trouble.

"We'll keep that in mind. Now, if you're not going to buy something, get out." Trudy defiantly retorts.

With that, the thug strode away, bumping through Madoka without even paying any attention to her.

Madoka was merely started by that gesture, but Sunny was glaring holes at the offender until he left the building.

After a few seconds, the tension is mostly gone. Trudy finally snapped out of it and noticed Madoka and Sunny standing in front of her.

"So, you're the girl that has been the talk of the town. Welcome to the Prospector Saloon. Please, have a sit." Trudy gestured the both of them to sit down on the vacant chairs.

"What can I get you?" Trudy asked the both of them.

"I'm not thirsty. How about you, Madoka?" Sunny replied.

"Um, can I have a glass of water?" said the still-thirsty Madoka.

"Sure, give me a moment." Trudy replied while she prepared a glass of water. After a few seconds, Trudy put down a glass of water in front of Madoka. Madoka was tempted to down it in one go, but held herself back after what she just did not too long ago.

"So uh…" Madoka wanted to ask what had just happened, but trailed off.

"What was that all about?" Sunny asked.

"It's those Powder Gangers. They're looking for that trader that we hid." Trudy replied with a grimace.

"Powder Gangers?" Madoka asked.

"There was a prison break nearby not too long ago, and the escaped inmates there started calling themselves the Powder Gangers." Trudy explained to Madoka.

"I did see a prison on my way here…" Madoka muttered, before asking further, "What exactly are they doing here?"

"There was a trader that came here to hide. His name is Ringo. Apparently, his caravan was ambushed by the Powder Gangers. I don't know what he did exactly, but it made the Powder Gangers angry and want us to hand him over." Trudy explained again.

"And they're gonna attack this place if we don't comply." Sunny concluded.

"Yep." Trudy confirmed.

"That's terrible! What are we gonna do?" Madoka exclaimed.

"I'd say we shoot them. Show them that we mean business. Everyone in this town has a gun, right?" suggested Sunny, her trigger finger feeling a little itch.

"Almost everyone. If those thugs managed to break out of an NCR prison, we might need all the help we could get." said Trudy.

At this point, Madoka had just finished her glass of water, but she still doesn't feel satisfied.

"More water?" Trudy offered.

Madoka nodded, perhaps a bit more eagerly than usual.

Trudy noticed her eagerness and filled the glass of water before handing it again to Madoka. As she put the glass down, she asked Madoka for help, "I don't feel right asking for help from someone as young as you to shoot a bunch of bad men, but it's not like you can go anywhere at the moment."

"Why is that?" Madoka wondered. The detail was a little fuzzy, but she could see New Vegas, shining in the distance when she was at gunpoint back at the cemetery. She was thinking of walking straight up north once the issue here is done, but that idea was immediately crumpled when…

"The road to the north leads straight to New Vegas, but it was recently infested with deathclaws and cazadors." Trudy delivered the bad news.

"Deathclaws? Cazadors?" asked Madoka, who was still a bit clueless about what those two are. However, she could tell from the name alone that 'deathclaws' and 'cazadors' sounds very dangerous.

"What? You never seen one before?" Sunny asked, feeling a bit incredulous about how Madoka doesn't know what a deathclaw is. She could understand Madoka not knowing what a cazador is, since they're native to the Mojave, but she couldn't believe Madoka not knowing what a deathclaw is. They're all over the continent!

Nevertheless, Sunny decided to educate Madoka anyway, "Deathclaws are...imagine an angry giant lizard that walks on two legs, thick-skinned too. Very cunning beasts are what they are. They could run fast enough to catch up to you despite how big they are."

Hearing this, Madoka imagined a situation where she was being chased by a deathclaw and then promptly torn to shred by it. Madoka shuddered at the thought.

"As for cazadors, they're a bunch of giant bugs whose poison will kill you if left untreated. They could probably take down a deathclaw in large number." Sunny continued to explain.

Madoka doesn't like bugs, and hearing that they can take down a deathclaw only makes her more frightened.

Trudy noticed Madoka's fear and only shook her head, before explaining the situation in the south, "Meanwhile, the road to the south very recently had a surge of raiders, mostly Powder Gangers. I'd say it's the least dangerous of the two directions, but that's not saying much."

"Hmm…" Madoka came from Primm, which is down south. She was at least more or less familiar with that route. Madoka decided to go back there later and… what? Tell her employers that her package was stolen?

Madoka took another sip.

"I'd say we wait for Ringo to sneak out and take the Powder Gangers with him, but I think those bunch of convicts will ransack this place regardless at this point. I did stood up to the one in charge…" Trudy said while lightly rubbing her own chin.

"Well, just throwing him to the wolves like that would leave a bad taste in my mouth anyway." Sunny shared her thoughts on that idea.

Sunny then turned to Madoka, "So, Madoka, what are you gonna do now?"

"I… I guess I can help around…" Madoka answered.

"Great! I'll go to Easy Pete for explosives and Chet for ammo, Trudy can rally the rest of the town folks to set up an ambush." Sunny laid down the plan.

"As for you Madoka, you could go and fetch Doc Mitchell and his medical supplies. We're gonna need them. Oh, and let Ringo know that we're about to defend the town. Would be a shame to not have a sharpshooter like him in the shootout. He's currently hiding in the gas station near Doc Mitchell's house. You can't miss it." Sunny explained further, telling Madoka on what she'll be doing to help.

"Alright. I'll do it." Madoka replied, this time with more determination behind her voice. And then she remembered something, "How about Victor?"

"What about him?" Trudy said as she narrowed her eyes at the mention of Victor.

"Can he do something to help us? He did save me from that grave." Madoka asked, wondering why Trudy seemed reluctant on involving Victor.

With some hesitation, Trudy replied, "I don't know… aside from strolling around town and acting like a cheerful cowboy, he never actually helped anyone before, and he's been here long before I even got here. I don't trust him."

"What?" Madoka thought, finding that newfound knowledge strange.

Sunny and Trudy had already left to do their part of the plan, leaving Madoka to do her part. She started letting Doc Mitchell know about the upcoming fight.

"Hello? Doc Mitchell? Are you home?" Madoka hailed as she knocked on the door of Doc Mitchell's house.

After a few seconds, the door opened, "Ah, Madoka. You're back here sooner than I expected. What can I do for you?" Doc Mitchell asked.

"The town is in trouble, and we need your help!" Madoka started with that to get his attention.

"What sort of trouble?"

"We're about to be attacked by the Powder Gangers soon."

"Oh, say no more. Luckily for us, the last courier that came here handed me a stockpile of medical supplies." Madoka beamed at the good news, "I should have plenty of supplies to patch everyone up. Can you help me with it?"

"I can, but I have to meet someone else first. I'll help you as soon as I'm done!" Madoka said, before running off to the gas station at Goodsprings.

"Alright, take your time." Doc Mitchell waved, before turning back and began preparing all the supplies he could afford.

Madoka walked up to the gas station with reckless abandon. As she entered the building, she was surprised to find a gun pointed at her again.

"Who's there?" said the man who pointed the gun at her. "Are you with the Powder Gangers?"

"N-no, I'm with the town. Are you Ringo?" Madoka clarified, with a hint of fear for her life.

"Oh. Yeah, I am. What do you need?" Ringo replied, cautiously.

"We're planning on ambushing the Powder Gangers soon, and Sunny wants you to be there for the fight." Madoka answered. Her fear slowly but surely whittled away.

"Is that so? Will it be just her?" Ringo asked as he put his gun down, but not away.

"No, Trudy's currently rallying the rest of the town. Apparently, they have their own dispute now."

"Alright, I'll be there soon enough. Let me gather my things first." said Ringo, who smiled at the thought of the entire town helping him, even if it's for a different reason that just his well-being.

Madoka and Doc Mitchell were hauling crates of medical supplies to the Prospector Saloon, some of which are unrecognizable, and she was supposed to be the nurse aide at her school back in Mitakihara. What even is a stimpak?

She would ask why they were even bringing addictive chems to a gunfight, but a more important question came up.

"So uh, Doc?" Madoka started asking.

"Yes, Madoka?"

"While I was out hunting with Sunny, I almost got jumped by a gecko."

"Are you alright?" Doc Mitchell asked, only a little worried by that.

"Yeah, I'm okay, but… Well, when I was trying to shoot the gecko, everything seemed to slow down and I could see percentages around the geckos. What was that all about?" Madoka asked Doc Mitchell about that occurrence.

"Percentages…?" Doc Mitchell started to think for a few seconds, before he realized what was happening, "Ah, that must be the V.A.T.S. doing its work."

"V.A.T.S.?"

"Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System." Doc Mitchell clarified, "Some people who wear their Pip-Boy can do it, although a majority of them perceived time normally while in V.A.T.S.."

Doc Mitchell then glanced at Madoka, "It would seem that the V.A.T.S. are compatible enough for you to have your perception of time slow down. You're quite lucky."

"Ohh…" Madoka said while looking at her Pip-Boy.

"There's even a rumor that some people who are in V.A.T.S. could perceive time as if time itself is stopped." said Doc Mitchell.

"Wow… What else do they do?" Madoka was impressed with what was given to her, and decided to ask more questions regarding the V.A.T.S..

"They could make you shoot faster than your enemies can pull the trigger," Doc Mitchell explained further.

Madoka remembered how fast her finger moved when she was jumped by that gecko.

"also pretty handy when you need to shoot at something specific, so use them wisely."

Madoka nodded.

The rest of the walk was done in comfortable silence. The crates that Madoka was hauling were somewhat heavy, but manageable. She wondered if she'll be doing this more often sooner or later, considering that she is now working as a courier. Madoka hoped that her courier work won't get her sidetracked in finding a way back home.

Eventually, Madoka and Doc Mitchell arrived at the Prospector Saloon. There was already a crowd gathered around it, Madoka reckoned that there were 10 people there, including Trudy, Sunny, and Ringo.

Not as much as she expected.

"Is this everyone?" Madoka asked.

"Yeah, it's bad timing I'd say. Most of the town folks who own a gun went out on a hunt today. This is pretty much everyone that I could muster." Trudy replied, gesturing to the seven other people that Madoka did not recognize.

"Hopefully they don't bring a whole platoon at our doorstep, otherwise we're really in trouble." Sunny remarked.

After observing the small crowd, Trudy decided to gather everyone so that she could inform everyone of whatever battleplan that she had hatched. "Alright everyone, gather around.".

Putting the crates down, Madoka gathered among the small but sufficiently-armed crowd.

"Soon enough, our town will be attacked by the Powder Gangers, and it's up to us to stop them. I want some of you to hide inside the nearby house, while the rest of you will fight them outside. We have plenty of explosives, so don't be afraid to use them when you have to."

And so Trudy explained the plan in more detail, hoping to keep casualties on her side as low as possible.

Madoka, along with Trudy and 2 other gunmen, was sitting behind a wagon that was parked in front of the saloon. Waiting for the Powder Gangers to arrive.

Sunny, Ringo, and everyone else had already moved to their positions. Hoping to ambush the Powder Gangers. Doc Mitchell had taken refuge within the Saloon.

In an attempt to pass the time, Trudy tried to strike up a conversation with Madoka, "So, Madoka, was it? How do you feel about your first gunfight?"

"Um, I guess I'm a little scared…I never thought I had to shoot a person before." Madoka replied, half-sheepishly, half-terrified.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, it's either us or them." Trudy tried to reassure Madoka.

"I guess so…"

Suddenly, they heard gunshots. It seems the Powder Gangers are finally here.

Trudy cautiously peered over the wagon that they were hiding behind, to see exactly what they were dealing with.

"How many of them are there?" Madoka nervously asked.

"Fifteen men. All of them armed. Get ready, they're getting closer." Trudy answered.

Madoka peeked through the side of the wagon with her varmint rifle, and crouched. She had watched some war documentaries before, telling her that keeping her body profile small will lessen the chance of her getting hit. Madoka hoped that it would do her good.

She saw 2 of the town folks already laying on the ground, seemingly wounded. But the Powder Gangers weren't faring any better, for they have already went down to 10 men.

Madoka, who was still unnoticed by the Powder Gangers, activated her V.A.T.S. and took aim. There, she learned that she could shoot the weapons that were held by the Powder Gangers. After a little contemplation, Madoka aimed at a stick of dynamite that was held by one of the Powder Gangers and fired.

The resulting explosion immediately took out 4 of them, including their leader.

Now down to 6 men, the Powder Gangers finally noticed Madoka and her group, and decided to charge at her position, shooting at her all the while.

Madoka quickly pulled the bolt of her rifle, aimed, and shot one of the convicts in the head. Trudy (who somehow managed to get her hands on a submachine gun) and the rest of the town folks quickly mowed down the rest of the Powder Gangers.

By the time they were done, the only sound that could be heard was the wind, and the pained moan from whoever managed to survive. As the tension left her body, Madoka soon realized that her right arm was shot.

"AHHHHHHH!" Madoka screamed, mostly due to the bloody sight rather than the actual pain. Her adrenaline still numbing most of the pain. Clutching her wounded arm, Madoka tried to calm herself down. As a nurse aide, she may have seen her own fair share of wounds, even on herself, but a gunshot wound was new to her.

"Madoka! Tch! Doc! We have a wounded here!" Trudy calmly beckoned Doc Mitchell out.

Soon enough, Doc Mitchell came out with his medical tools and started to examine Madoka's wound.

"Hmm, it's actually not as bad as it looks." Doc Mitchell commented, before pulling out a stimpak, "One of these should be enough." he said as he injected the stimpak into Madoka's wounded arm.

Almost immediately, Madoka's bullet wound was healed.

Feeling that the pain in her right arm was gone, Madoka looked at where the wound used to be.

Only a bloody bullet hole on her clothes was left behind.

"What just happened?" Madoka asked.

"I used a stimpak on you." Doc Mitchell casually replied. "How do you feel?"

Madoka moved around her formerly-wounded arm, and was surprised at how quickly it recovered.

"Huh, I'm okay now."

"That's good."

Before she leave the town, Madoka made a mental note to ask for some stimpaks for herself to bring. It might come in handy in a place like this. Besides, Doc Mitchell seemingly had plenty to spare.

Looking at where the fighting had taken place, Madoka was surprised at herself for how easily she managed to kill these people. She never thought that she had it in her to do the deed, and yet here she was, having already taken down five men in the fight.

"I did that?" Madoka asked herself with some uncertainty.

"We did that." Sunny corrected, while walking up to Madoka's group alongside the rest of the town's defenders.

"Say, was it you who shot that dynamite that one of them was holding?" Trudy asked, since she was there to witness what Madoka did in that battle.

Madoka only nodded.

Trudy smiled, "You did good, Madoka. " and proceeded to reassure that Madoka did a good thing just now, "If we didn't fight back, we would all probably be dead."

Madoka was left in deep thoughts.

Trudy then faced the rest of the town folks to ask how the battle went, "Sunny, how many casualties on our end?"

"2 wounded."

"How about them?" Trudy gestured at what's left of the Powder Gangers that attacked that day.

"All down, 3 of them still alive."

Trudy nodded, "Alright, bring them to Doc Mitchell's house. The rest of you, move the corpses to the cemetery." and just like that, they get to work.

Madoka was still in deep thoughts, before Doc Mitchell snapped her out, "Madoka, could you give me a hand?" he said while gesturing to the wounded men on the ground.

Snapped out, Madoka nodded, "Oh, right."

Madoka was grateful that she didn't have to deal with the corpses that the others were currently dragging to the nearby cemetery. After all the action, Madoka wouldn't want to puke out whatever meager content was currently in her stomach. After all, she didn't get to eat anything for a couple of days.

At the moment, Madoka was dragging an unconscious Powder Ganger, while Doc Mitchell easily dragged two of them on his own. Accompanying them were the two wounded town defenders, who could still walk on their own, but were too wounded to help Madoka and Doc Mitchell.

"You're surprisingly calm dealing with these wounded men." Doc Mitchell remarked.

"Back from where I came from, I was the nurse aide at my school." Madoka replied, smiling at the thought of home.

"Really? Well, I'm not exactly a nurse, but ever thought of working as my aide?" Doc Mitchell asked.

Madoka actually considered it, "Well, I already have a job as a courier…" but she wouldn't be able to explore if she had to stay in one place, "But I'll think about it."

"Alright then." replied Doc Mitchell.

Madoka had something else to tell Doc Mitchell, "Trudy said that she'll be celebrating that victory with a free drink for each person. Are you going to be there?"

While Doc Mitchell smiled at the offer, he shook his head in refusal. "I'd love to, but I still got these people to patch up. You can go ahead to the saloon as soon as you're done bringing them to my house."

"Really?"

"Yeah, go enjoy yourself. You earned it." Doc Mitchell affirmed.

At this point, they were already near Doc Mitchell's house. As soon as she dropped the wounded man near the bed inside, Madoka got up to leave these wounded men in Doc Mitchell's capable hands, "Um, thank you again, Doc."

"Don't mention it, just doing my job."

When Madoka entered the saloon, a dozen people were there, cheering at their recent victory. Looking around, Madoka was trying to find where Sunny is at among the small crowd.

"Madoka! Over here!" Sunny, who was sitting near the bar, waved at Madoka.

Madoka went straight to where Sunny is at and took a seat. Next to Sunny was Ringo, who was knocked out cold from drinking vodka.

"I was wondering when you'd show up."

"I wasn't gone for that long, was I?"

"We didn't actually waste a lot of time dragging the corpses, some of the folks volunteered to dig the graves."

"Ah."

Soon, Trudy came over to them, seemingly quite happy.

"Madoka, you're finally here. First drink that you order is on the house. What can I get for you two?" Trudy asked them.

"I'll have a bottle of Nuka-Cola." Sunny ordered.

"Alright, how about you, Madoka?"

Madoka was looking around the assortment of drinks on Trudy's shelves, before her eyes landed on the bottle of vodka in front of a knocked-out Ringo. Suddenly, Madoka remembered on how her mother used to drink alcohol after a stressful day at work. Madoka felt like she could use one right about now.

"I'll have… what he had!" Madoka asked, while pointing at Ringo's vodka.

Had Trudy herself been younger, she would have been terrified at what she just heard. Right now, she only had a slightly patronizing look. "Aren't you a little too young for that?"

"C'mon Trudy, I drank stronger things at a younger age. I think Madoka can take it." Sunny interjected, trying to convince Trudy to let Madoka drink vodka.

After a few moments of silence between them, Trudy gave a sigh and finally relented, "… Alright, but don't blame me if you get any hangover."

Madoka was on her third bottle.

At this point, even Sunny was a little terrified at Madoka's alcohol tolerance.

Madoka had finished her third bottle.

"Um, Madoka. I don't think you should drink anymore." Sunny tried to convince the drunken Madoka to stop.

But no one else could stop Madoka, "C'mon, I can take more of thissssssssss…" until Madoka suddenly passed out and banged her head on the table, dropping a vodka bottle on the floor. Thankfully it didn't shatter.

Despite their concern, Sunny and Trudy couldn't help but giggle at the sight, cherishing the moment while they could, because they know that Madoka wouldn't be staying at Goodsprings for long. It's too bad that Madoka had to return to Primm soon, hopefully she'll come back to visit Goodsprings from time to time.

Madoka had not only survived, but also won within her first true hurdle in the Mojave, with the notches on her proverbial pistol numbered one and four more. Alas, this is merely the first of the many challenges that Madoka would face in the wasteland. With her business done in Goodsprings, her next destination is to head back to Primm to figure out what her next move would be. Will her trip back be smooth sailing? Find out next time on Puella Magi Madoka Magica: New Vegas.