First place is byebye360 while Bloodyredshade comes in second. Good job you two. Props.
Before we begin I will say there is some language. :O
The Wildcard
Chapter 4
Plague backed away from the window. His mind was in a million different places. He was always a quick thinker, open minded, unshakable. But what he was looking at was too much for him.
The vault dweller had seen many things in his life. But he did not know how to process the fact that he was so far away from the wasteland, his planet, hell, maybe his solar system.
He needed time to think.
Without Plague having to order it, his Pipboy pumped aspirin into his bloodstream when it became aware of the headache making itself known to its owner.
As Plague started undoing the magnetic locks on his helmet, he sat in a nearby seat that faced the window. He filled his lungs with the not needed to be filtered air as he held his helmet in his lap.
The only other person near him was an asari sitting at the other end of the row of four seats. She had been reading something on her Omni tool until she noticed Plague sit. Every once in a while she would take a quick glance. She was wearing a pink colored dress that went well with her slightly darker blue shade skin.
"E…excuse me. But are you a mercenary?" she asked him out of curiosity at the end of the two minute long silence. "I don't mean to be rude but your clothing looks quite different from what I occasionally see other humans wearing."
For some reason the question made Plague chuckle a little.
"Among other things. I guess. I'm I really that out of place?" he asked without looking away from the window. "If you want my opinion… unusual is interesting. Where's the fun in everyone looking the same?"
This time it was the asari's turn to laugh.
"That's an interesting way to see things. Not a lot of humans I've met are as opened minded as you are. Although most humans I run into have a habit of thinking all asari are on their way to Afterlife."
"Afterlife?" Plague asked finally looking away from the glass. Understandable since the word was extremely ironic in his situation.
"It's a strip bar run by Aria T'Loak. Well that proves you are new here." the asari explained.
"How does that prove I'm new here? If I saw you on Earth and asked if you knew where the nearest strip club was, I wouldn't put two and two together."
"The difference is Aria is in charge of Omega. I'm a little surprised she hasn't introduced herself yet. She likes to meet all the interesting arrivals. You know…explain the rules of her domain. If something interesting is happening on Omega, she'll know about it." she said as she moved over a few more seats to get closer. "If you want to avoid some complications in the future you might want to introduce yourself."
Plague couldn't help but notice how close she was leaning to him in the next seat. For some reason he had an effect on the opposite gender. Well…in this case the mono gender. As for why… hell if he knew. (Lady-killer perk. Dam I'm breaking the fourth wall. MUWAHahahah. Take that readers.)
He also couldn't help but notice the slight cleavage the alien was showing.
"What kind of complications?" Plague asked in a slightly manlier voice.
"Many kinds…" she answered as she finally closed the distance and looped her arm through his on the armrest."…You never know what kind of company you could run into." Her voice started to sound more seductive as her eyes seemed to look at him like a predator.
"Well…" Plague leaned in. "…I don't mind the company I have now." Plague whispered close to the asari's ear. "This must be the good kind of company…unless you are the more naughty kind?"
The asari put on a coy smile as she looked into his eyes.
"Maybe I'm a little of both." she answered as her free left hand rested on Plague's leg. "As for how…naughty…" her hand started to slide a little higher."…that could be explored."
"That could be an interesting journey. Maybe if I had a beautiful guide?"
"I think I have enough free time. My I ask your name my…esteemed companion?"
"My name's Plague." Plague answered.
With this the asari blinked a few times.
"Sounds more like a title to me. There isn't a reason for such a name is there?" she asked sliding her hand closer to its destination.
"I'm healthy if that's what you mean." Plague practically blurted out when he realized how negative the word can reflect upon his love life. "Although I have been called many things. You can call me 101 if you want. Makes no difference to me, to tell you the truth."
"Oh but I like Plague. It actually gives you a mysterious background. But this 101. Now that raises more questions. Why would you be called a number?"
"I was raised in a vault." Plague answered after a chuckle. "The planet I am from went through a nuclear war a few hundred years back. Before the bombs fell the military built a few hundred of these "Vaults" to protect the citizens and those they saw at the time as important. My home vault was Vault 101. The surface is mostly radioactive."
"Wow. That's quite…sad." the asari remarked. "I'm guessing you left the vault for a reason?"
Plagues eyes looked a little saddened.
"Some circumstances are hard to avoid… Now, enough about me. My I ask for your name?" Plague asked.
"My name is… Morinth." she answered as her hand finally rested upon its targeted destination, only separated by the fabric of Plague's pants he wore in the current armor combination. "For obvious reasons I'm guessing we can't go to your place. Let's go to mine."
Plague and Morinth both got out of their seats without separating.
"Lead the way." Plague said with his right hand holding his helmet.
As they walked Morinth noticed a crowd and a medical transport far away.
"What a strange day it is. First some human manages to pummel a krogan to death, and now this." she stated as she waved a hand towards the far off crowd.
Plague didn't comment as they walked.
He was about to ask more about the asari people, but stopped as he noticed some kind of four eyed alien walk up to them. His body was humanoid shaped. The only difference was the four black eyes that seemed to be giving Plague an extremely irritated glare, and the structure of the head.
"Can I help you with something?" Plague asked when the alien blocked his path.
Morinth gave Plague a playful smirk.
"Human, head to Afterlife. Aria T'Loak wants to speak with you." the alien ordered.
"It was only a matter of time I guess. I told you she would introduce herself." Morinth commented.
Plague let out a long sigh as he looked at the four eyed cock-blocker.
"I guess it can't be helped." Plague then whispered in the asari's ear. "Any chance we can continue this later?"
Morinth pushed some buttons on her omnitool and Plague's omnitool pinged.
"Let's do a rain check." she said before she gave him a passionate kiss.
She then walked off into the crowed as Plague let out another sigh. He then looked at the alien with a look of disappointment.
"You couldn't have waited an hour or so?" Plague asked sarcastically.
The four eyed annoyance just shook his head as he motioned for Plague to follow.
It didn't take long for them to get to Afterlife. The place was lit up like New Vegas in Plague's opinion. That also added to the growing list of things he didn't like. It reminded him of the man he ripped apart in his own casino, only to within the next twenty-four hours bring down a tower that housed someone equally annoying to him.
Plague was never a fan of crowds, lights, sounds. He preferred the quiet wasteland, the sound of the wind carrying itself across the land, annoyances instantly silenced by one well-placed gunshot or something blunt in his hand crushing the annoyance's skull, the nice and calming songs playing on his Pipboy. It was better when he wouldn't have to listen to that annoying Three Dog.
The music that flooded his ears as the doors opened almost made him want to claw out his eardrums and then see if it was considered cannibalism to eat your 'own' flesh.
The dam place had another thing that annoyed him.
"God damnit! My eyes!" Plague almost shouted as the laser lights washed over him.
The now practically blinded human rubbed his eyes. He wanted to ram his helmet on his head and set the visor to its darkest setting and curl up in a corner while at the same time, find a way to disable the helmet's speakers to mute the world.
A hand touched his shoulder only for him to pull away. Forcing his eyes open he followed the bored alien.
As they walked Plague unsurprisingly risked a few glances at the asari dancers to again become blinded by the light.
With a few profanities he mumbled two words. "Worth it…"
The alien lead Plague to a booth up some stairs. Once they reached the top Plague struggled to keep his eyes open. He made out a blue figure sitting on what Plague assumed was a couch, as four-eyes behind him gave him a shove.
"Damn it four-eyes. Aren't you blinded?" Plague shouted over his shoulder. He then looked back to the figure in front of him and gave a slight bow. "I'm assuming you are Aria T'Loak?"
He was answered by a slightly amused chuckle.
"I'm guessing you are more nocturnal?" a female voice asked as Plague saw a glint of orange.
Almost instantly the lights dimmed allowing Plague's eyes to adjust almost instantly.
"But yes, you assumed correctly." the asari answered as Plague realized that the glass behind her went to a darker tint. "You haven't been on Omega long, yet you have caused quite a stir amongst some of the gangs." she started as another alien with for eyes walked in front of him and did what Plague guessed was scanning him.
At first everything looked fine. There was a 3D model of a human body. Then all of a sudden it started scrambling and flashing red.
Automatically every alien in the booth except Aria aimed guns at him.
"I don't know where you are hiding your weapons human, but hand them over. NOW." the scanning four-eyes ordered.
With a chuckle Plague looked around the booth. After examining every corner in a matter of seconds (six extra seconds 'examining' the dancers between the couch and the window) he looked back at the alien.
"First off: Even if I was going to, there is not enough room in here for my gear. Second: Just try it you four-eyed freak. Third: Can you please tell me what your damn species is called so I can come up with better insults then saying four-eyes every three seconds? And fourth: Why don't you go fuck a krogan. That is unless you prefer not to be the one fucking? What you and your krogan lover do behind closed doors is none of my business. I don't judge."
By the end of Plague's rant the alien was speechless. The look on his face showed disgust, hatred, shame, humiliation, and pretty much every negative emotion Plague could think of. Even a few he didn't recognize.
After a long silence (besides the dam techno) the alien finally pulled himself together and looked like he was about to say something but was interrupted by a sudden burst of laughter behind him.
"By…the Goddess…" Aria barely managed to say between the laughing. "…I…wow…"
The asari seemed to be acting extremely out of character. Plague guessed as he took a few more glances at the shocked aliens around him. Even the dancers just froze.
After almost half a minute the asari finally got back to her relaxed sitting position. But even then there seemed to be a slightly amused smirk on her blue face.
"Please. Have a seat." she offered waving a hand towards the part of the couch closest to her guest.
Not one to refuse a woman's invitation, Plague took a seat on the left side of the couch and placed his helmet next to him.
"You know my name. But I am yet to hear yours?" she asked in a questioning tone.
"Just call me Plague madam." Plague said as he tilted a nonexistent hat on his head.
"Plague? Surely that's not your real name? After all who besides a krogan would name their offspring a disease that spreads rapidly through a population?"
With that response Plague tilted his head as he gave Aria a questioning look that met hers.
"Plague is not my real name. I'm sorry T'Loak. But my name is one of the few things I have left. Please just call me Plague or 101 if that's more suitable to you?" he explained.
"Well what you call yourself is none of my concern, but alright Mr. 101. I have some questions for you. First off." Aria's expression was replaced by a look of annoyance. "How the fuck did you get in my station without anyone noticing?"
"I…" Plague scratched his head in deep thought. "I…don't even know the answer myself. Last I remember was going out in a blaze of glory, taking my enemies with me. Next thing I know, a lizard is standing over me. The rest I think you know."
Aria's expression became more calm as she pulled out what Plague found out was called a data pad.
"You single handedly killed two krogan on your own. One unarmed, and the other a member of the Blood Pack in close quarters combat with knives." she read. "That is quite intriguing. As I said before, you have caused quite a stir amongst the gangs of Omega. The Eclipse and Blue Suns want to hire you while the Blood Pack is out for blood."
"I'm guessing that's a bad thing? Sorry if I am not as shocked as I should be. I don't know those first two gangs, but if the rest of the Blood Pack is the same as the krogan there is nothing to worry about." Plague informed in a surprisingly calm voice,
Aria just raised an eyebrow as she looked back at him.
"I don't know if you are brave or foolish. I'm not sure you fully grasp the situation." Aria said.
"Those who are brave are foolish. Without fear how can you meet the challenge? Without fear where is the thrill? Without fear you cannot push yourself beyond your limits. There is no such thing as bravery. Everyone fears something."
"You say that as if you learned it the hard way." Aria added. "I suppose only time will tell. So Mr. 101, what do you fear?"
After a pause Plague looked at her with a look that showed an intense expression. "Bobbleheads."