The large, vacant eyed monster led them through vacant streets of Neptune's Bounty. He never paused at an intersection, never stopped to make sure he was going the right way. He simply stalked down the street, blank eyes staring unseeingly into the distance. The monster's silence and their unknown destination greatly unnerved the group. If David had had a knife on him he'd have tested the validity of the saying cutting tension with a knife.
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Sandy's softly spoken question lingered in the air for several seconds before any in the group responded.
"Whoever is directing the Splicer has control over the district's security systems. While I could handle security fairly easily you would not be able to. Without Adam in your blood allowing the first aid kits to work you would be in serious trouble very quickly. So in short, the alternative is worse." To David's right, Sam hummed in agreement with Jack.
Tony, it appeared, disagreed. "This is fucking idiotic!" Short patience apparently having run out, he stopped walking and sent the Splicer a glare. "Until you tell us where we're going and who you're taking us to, I am not moving."
For several seconds the Splicer kept walking, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Tony had addressed it or that he had stopped following. Only when the others stopped as well did he react. Slowly turning around he gestured forward with one malformed hand. "Walk."
"Not until you tell us what the hell's going on."
Oblivious to Tony's hostile demeanor the Splicer repeated the gesture. "Walk."
"Shit for brains, we said no."
The Splicer stared uncomprehendingly at Tony for several seconds, apparently trying to process what he'd said. Craggy features shifting slightly into a frown the Splicer repeated the gesture. "Walk."
When no one moved the Splicer shifted in place, his dead gaze sweeping over the others in the rebellious group. As his baleful white eyes swept over David, he was unable to suppress a shudder. There was something wrong with his eyes, the vacant white orbs were dull almost unseeing. If it wasn't for the fact that the Splicer obviously could see, David would have pegged him as blind.
The gesture was repeated once again as the man's features beginning to twist into a faint glare. "Walk."
A chill went down David's spine as he realized what was wrong with the Splicer. His eyes weren't blind; there was just almost nothing in them. There was no spark of life, of intelligence behind his eyes. They were blank, almost marble like, white orbs. It was as if whomever the man had once been was gone, leaving some empty soulless husk behind.
"Walk…now." The man took a shuffling step towards Tony, blank eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.
"Tony, I-I don't think he understands you."
For once the large man actually appeared unnerved, cautiously studying the large Splicer staring at him. "I think you're right about that Sandy."
The Splicer came to a stop in front of Leo, his blank eyes studying the unnerved man. "Walk."
"Yeah…will do." Seemingly satisfied, the Splicer did an about face and shuffled away leaving the increasingly concerned group to follow.
()
The ashwater was falling from the sky much harder now, restricting Alpha's vision to about thirty feet. It crunched dryly beneath her feet as she stalked across the concrete river. Or was it road? The slippery ashwater coating the road moved suddenly, taking Alpha's foot with it. With an oomph the air left Alpha's lungs and she found herself on her back.
Growling softly to herself, she moved to a crouch. Taking a moment to ensure that she was sure footed once again, Alpha moved to stand. A peculiar noise halted her progress. Something was rumbling in the distance, rapidly growing in volume. Standing slowly she turned around, casting her gaze into the sky.
There was a light in the distance, hovering stationary in the air. No wait…it was moving slowly, she could track its way as it slowly moved through the sky. The rumbling kept rising in volume, quickly reaching unbearable levels. Head twitching unintentionally at the uncomfortable noise, Alpha watched uncertainly as the light got bigger.
The noise reached unbearable levels; she could feel it vibrating through her chest. Whimpering she fell to her knees as the light passed overhead. Glancing up through tearing eyes, she watched in confused awe as some…thing flew overhead roaring like some monstrous creature.
Alpha's awed staring was interrupted by a screeching noise. Snapping her head to the source of the noise she saw a large shape with twin lights mounted on it rapidly heading towards her. With the force of a charging Daddy the unknown object slammed into her.
()
Their meandering journey ended at a large metal door. Raising a malformed fist, their guide rapped twice on the door. His task apparently completed, he did an about face before stopping and staring blankly into space.
A series of metal clanks signaled various locking mechanisms deactivating. Theta could faintly hear muffled cursing as whatever monster was inside wrestled with the multiple locks. After several seconds the door opened without warning and they found themselves face to face with Neptune's Bounty's leader.
He was…not what Theta had been expecting to say the least. The first thing she noticed about him was his height, he was short almost laughably so. Even Sandy was taller then him, and she was the shortest in their group. The second thing she noticed about the man was his weight, he was…rotund for lack of a better word. His waist was almost as wide as he was tall. Privately Theta wondered if he was pushed down a hill if he would roll. Snickering at that mental image Theta leaned slightly against David.
"Please, come in, come in." The monster's voice was surprisingly deep for its small body size. Seeing that the others weren't moving to follow he grinned. "Oh no need to fear, what could I possibly do to the likes of you. I'm unarmed after all...though so are you."
Laughing at what was apparently a joke the monster motioned for them to follow. Seeing that the others weren't following Theta rolled her eyes, she wasn't scared of some jiggling ball of flab. The monster's creepy smile widened as he saw her enter his room and the others following her lead.
"Welcome to my humble abode my friends. I am…" The monster gave a theatrical bow. "Theodore O'Leary." The monster's home was filled with machinery and wires. Several screens displayed what looked to be a map of the area and there was a monitoring station in the corner that showed the views of various cameras locate around Neptune's Bounty. "As you can see, I've got quiet the set up here."
"Yeah…this is…nice." Theta sent David a raised eyebrow before looking back to the rotund monster.
"Yes…and it was this setup that showed me just who was traveling with you. It's been what? Eight years Jack?"
Jack jerked in surprise, eyes narrowing as he tried to remember if they had met before. "I don't think I know you."
Releasing a friendly laugh the monster waved his hand dismissively. "I wouldn't expect you to; you were rather busy slaughtering the residence of this armpit of the city weren't you?" The rotund individual sat casually in a large padded seat. "I was there; I almost ran into you…happily some of my more hostile brothers attacked and I was able to hide."
Jack shifted uncomfortably, nervously glancing towards the others. "I'm…sorry?"
The man laughed before spinning around in his chair a few times. "Oh, don't be sorry. If you hadn't done that I wouldn't have this proposition for you." He came to a stop his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the group with something akin to cunning. "Because of your previous escapades throughout the city, many of the Splicers viewed you in an almost reverent way. Jack that bastard son of Andrew Ryan, created in a lab by his father's nemesis Frank Fontaine. Born without freewill he was still able to kill both his father and his creator."
Seemingly ignoring Jack's piercing glare, the monster leaned forward grin widening. "Doc Lamb capitalized on this and began to preach that you were the ideal that all her 'true utopians' should aspire to. Many followed only because they thought it was what you would have done."
Theta glanced around at her companions; it appeared that besides the witch she was the only one not surprised by the revelation of what Jack was. She'd heard tales of the 'great Jack', after seeing what Jack could do she had had her suspicions.
Jack appeared incensed at the monster's inconsiderate telling of his story; he must have feared what the others would think. He must not want to be seen as a monster…Theta could sympathize. Though as far as monsters went, he was a lucky one. There was no mistaking her for a human…
"What are you proposing?" The tension was obvious in Jack's voice.
"I am proposing that you utilize your…unique situation for our advantage. Set me up as the official leader here, not just the guy all the drugged out Splicers fear, and I'll use my power to get you what you want." The monster paused, his gaze turning lecherous as he surveyed Sandy. "What is it you want? Money? I can do that. Women? I can do that though…" He chuckled, eyes purposefully focusing on Sandy's chest. "They won't hold a candle to that."
"Fuck off you shrimpy creep."
The monster's only reaction to Sandy's insult was a wink. "Adam? I can do that."
Seemingly pushing aside his anger for the time being, Jack grinned. "We don't want Adam, or money. Women though…we're looking for a certain type…a certain rare type."
The monster's grin widened as he saw Jack taking the bait. "Oh, you can tell me. I'm not the type to judge…"
"We're looking for the short, pale skinned, yellow eyed variety."
The monster leaned back in his chair, face a mask of disappointment. "Oh…Jack…Jack…Still on your crusade? I'd have thought that the whole freewill thing would have made you a bit more…selfish."
Jack's eyes narrowed as he sent the small monster a piercing glare. "No, it just made me sympathize more with those that don't have the gift of freewill."
"Fine, I can do that. It's fucking pointless though. The more you save the more Lamb will take from up top." He leaned forward cunning black eyes lingering on the witch. "You already know how to save those little brats, why do you have the penitent sinner with you?"
The witch smiled slightly as she nodded to the obnoxious ball of fat. "As I assume you know, I was the one who found the cure for the Little Sisters." The monster nodded. "I am attempting to expand on it. I plan to modify it so it doesn't only work on Little Sisters. To do that I need two things, protection…" She gestured around herself to the group. "and Adam."
The monster sat still, seemingly deep in thought for several second. It turned fully to the witch, its gaze serious for the first time. "You…you really think you can cure…all of this?"
The witch smiled and gave the monster a nod.
The monster's boisterous laugh echoed around the small room as he shook his head. Wiping a tear from his eye he smiled broadly. "Well hell…in that case I'd help you even if you couldn't help me. You can help me however, so…I'll need to call a meeting."
Eyes narrowed in suspicion the large monster stepped forward. "A meeting for what?"
"Why a meeting for Jack to publicly denounce Lamb and appoint me the leader of Neptune's Bounty…what else?
()
"-all the poli-" Pain wracking her body jolted her to consciousness. "-ou all right?" Alpha blinked confusedly, idly wondering why there was ashwater gently falling onto her face. "Are you okay sweetheart?" Bemused, Alpha allowed her eyes to focus on the human leaning over her prone body. Much to her surprise he seemed genuinely concerned for her. "Why the hell are you dressed like a spaceman?"
Alpha sent a confused gaze over her body. Her suit had been damaged by whatever had impacted her. Groaning she sat up, glaring slightly at the human standing above her. "Those are some bizarre contacts you got there." What were contacts?
She moved to stand, only to hiss in pain. Her leg was broken. "Don't worry, there's an ambulance on the way." What was an ambulance, and why was it supposed to help her? "Damn, when I hit you I thought you were dead."
Alpha's gaze was fixed on the unfamiliar human instantly. He did this…he hurt her. With a flick of her wrist she sent the man flying into a drift of the ashwater. Wrapping her fingers around the dented bumper on the front of the man's vehicle, Alpha flipped it over her head and brought it down on the man. The man screamed once before, with a crunch of metal and bone, he fell silent.
Snarling to herself, and ignoring the horrified yells coming from the other humans who had witnessed the…incident, Alpha limped towards her target's home. Having lost her patience, she didn't bother checking to see if the door was locked, she simply thrust her hand forward and blew the door off of its hinges.
Ignoring the strange sirens that seemed to be approaching, she advanced into the house. Already screams were echoing throughout the interior, she was eager to see if she could add to them.
()
"You're supposed to be a Big Sister right?" Theta sent the rotund monster a surprised glare. What sort of question was that?
Obviously seeing her irritation, the fat monster raised its hands defensively. "I meant that, you seem…ill equipped for a Big Sister." Theta's glare deepened. She knew she had no armor; the stupid freak didn't need to rub it in.
"You're quite prickly aren't you? While you've been growling I've been trying to find a way to say that I think I could help with that." Theta paused, head tilting to the side; did he mean that he could get her equipment?
"If you would follow me please?" Theta sent a bemused look David's way before moving to follow the rotund monster. Despite herself, she was comforted when she heard him fall into step behind her. She knew it was stupid, that it was irrational, and that anything that could kill her would certainly obliterate him. She just couldn't really help herself, she felt safer when he was near.
"So…what's the surface like? Has it changed much?"
"Um…well there was World War Two…"
"I'm aware of that! I meant what subtler things have changed."
"I don't know, it's the world how much really changes?"
"Fine, if you won't tell me I'll just have to wait to see for myself."
Glancing at David out of the corner of her eye, Theta could clearly see that he was trying to hide the fact that he was upset. Thinking of his home clearly saddened him. Theta felt her anger flare slightly at the monster's insensitivity. Anyone with a brain should know that David wouldn't want to talk about that. Humming, in what she hoped was a comforting manner, Theta grabbed his hand in hers. She was relieved to see the ghost of a smile appear on David's face and for his hand to give hers a grateful squeeze.
"And if you lovebirds are quite finished, here we are."
Theta turned to snarl at the monster but stopped short, her eyes widening in shock.
"Holy hell..."
Inwardly, Theta agreed with David's assessment. Hundreds of weapons were arrayed on various weapons racks. They appeared to be roughly organized by weapon type, scatterguns, arrowthrowers, fastshooters, smallguns, and even some farguns.
She paused as she watched the grinning monster waddle into the room. "And now, the pièce de résistance!" Grabbng a random scattergun, the monster pulled. With a slight groan, the weapon's rack it was mounted on spun around. Theta's blood ran cold when she saw what was mounted on the other side.
Mounted on a mannequin lay the armor of a Big Sister.
It appeared to have been damaged badly at some point, the chest and most of right arm appeared to have been replaced. The helmet was not the standard issue for a Big Sister, presumably the original helmet had been too damaged to salvage. The metal cage that normally would have held one of her younger siblings was gone; apparently the monsters hadn't seen fit to replace it. "Scavenged it off a Big Sister that was savaged by something. I was going to keep it as a private memento, a trophy if you will, but…I figured you could put it to better use."
Reverently, Theta approached the armor that had born witness to her sister's final moments. She gently grabbed the original glove, turning it over to reveal the designation that had belonged to her sibling. Epsilon…Epsilon was dead. Theta had liked Epsilon, she had been a bit on the air headed side but she had been kind. Theta sent the monster a pointed glare, with a jerk of her head she motioned for it to leave. When the monster failed to react to her demand, David cleared his throat. "Lard ass, get the hell out."
"Hardly a fitting way to treat your host." Theta's snarl ended the monster's brief anger.
"I can take a hint." The monster slammed the door on the way out; apparently he was a bit peeved.
"You putting the armor on?" Theta glanced over her shoulder and gave him a nod and a smile.
David's face colored slightly and he shifted uncomfortably. "I-I can leave, if you want." Theta shook her head softly signing to him that he didn't need to leave. "I'll just turn around…yeah?"
Shaking her head with a smile Theta shrugged indifferently, she still didn't understand why humans found skin scary.
"So uhm…how bout those Yankees?"
Theta hummed in confusion, glancing over her shoulder towards David. What was a Yankee? Her pants joined her shirt on the floor as she turned her full attention to the armor.
"I wonder how Jack's going to handle his speech. He doesn't seem like much of a talker."
Theta nodded in agreement, not that he would see, and grumbled to herself as she began to dutifully latch every clasp of the armor.
"Do uh…do you think we should keep an eye on Tony? He really doesn't like you."
Grunting dismissively at the prospect of that idiotic human actually being a threat, she grabbed the heavy metal boots.
"Yeah, I doubt he'd attack you without provocation. So uh…try not to piss him off."
Theta huffed softly at that, she didn't actively antagonize him…much. If he started something though, she'd finish it.
"That wasn't a reassuring noise." Laughing softly, Theta grabbed David by the shoulder. When he turned around, she smiled slightly and gestured to her armor.
"Well it's…bulkier I'll give it that." Theta huffed and crossed her arms. "No, I meant that it looks more armored then your old one." Smiling to show that she had been teasing, Theta nodded. The monster's repairs hadn't been flawless, in the end they seemed to have just welded additional metal armoring onto the outfit.
Pulling the gloves on, Theta surveyed the various weapons that had been left next to the armor. There was a harvester, several blades of various shapes and sizes, a bulky contraption that appeared to be a harpoonthrower, and, much to Theta's delight, a punchgun.
Humming to herself, she strapped on the harvester, wincing slightly as she stabbed the intravenous feed into her arm. Almost giddy she pulled on the punchgun's glove, shoving several extra shells into some of the various pouches adorning the armor. After a moment's contemplation, she picked up the harpoonthrower as well. She smiled broadly at David, giving an excited squeal and small hop.
"So…this is like Christmas for you huh?"
Theta frowned slightly, that word was familiar…memories flitted around the back of her mind. Just out of reach…like an itch you just couldn't scratch. Seemingly noticing her bemused expression, David handed her the helmet. "That badass armor just wouldn't be complete without this, now would it?"
Cupping the sides of David's face, she pulled him in for a quick kiss. He stiffened against her momentarily before relaxing into the kiss. She felt him smile against her lips before pulling away. "Well its…umm…its nice to see where we stand."
Taking a step back, David held her helmet out again. "Come on, don't want to start any untoward rumors, now do we?"
Smiling, she gave her human friend a parting wink before sealing the helmet with a hiss.
Sorry for the wait, I had a minor case of writers block and a major case of Skyrimitis. It's not my fault! The new add on is awesome!
Anyways, here's the next chapter of David and Theta's story.
As always please read and review.