Blaze1992: Well she certainly is b***hy, I think she either needs to get laid or get severally wasted.
Also since this is a multi-verse based fic may I ask what are the chances of you using both people/things from Saints row games and Hellsing Ultimate?

NeoNazo356: Well, you have to remember, Carolina is "the best of the best", #1 on the Freelancer Leaderboard (which puts her near the "level" of guys like Solid Snake) which she earned. Yet, she got "passed over for promotion" by someone SHE sees as largely unqualified (like in those office dramas where the long-time worker gets passed over for a young Upstart). CONTEXTUALLY, her feelings are justified. She may not've handled those feelings in the best way, but she is justified in having those feelings.
As for Saints Row and Hellsing Ultimate, while this story is a Multi-Crossover, those two IP will remain fiction-within-the-fiction. Basically, Saints Row will be a video game within the story, and Hellsing Ultimate an anime that is watched.

NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin: While you said the nanosuit was not the one from the games. Could it at least rival a scarab. From young justice, Hmm I wonder what the combination of scarab and nanosuit, both in this and the end of crysis 3 would be. Also nanospore targeted to the blacklight virus would clean it up in a snap.

NeoNazo356: Can the Protosuit rival a Reach Scarab? The answer to that is a flat "No", it simply isn't powerful-enough compared to the Scarab's pliability in its uses. The Protosuit might be able to use Cloak to hide or Armor to weather attacks, but the Scarab could flash-fabricate optical methods to get around Optical Camouflage, and concentrated fire would wear out the Protosuit's energy that it needs to keep up its Armor. The Protosuit is simply "too young" to match up for something that's been used for who knows how many centuries of intergalactic domination.
As for the Nanospore targeting the Blacklight Virus, it's a Prototype, so it doesn't even have that function right now. The Protosuit is basically a test-bed for Ceph Nanotechnolgoy and its applications for things like augmented vision, optical camouflage, enhanced strength, and armor as-shown-in the Crysis 2 trailer where the functionality of Ceph Nanotechnology was put on full display.
Also, the Blacklight Virus is a virulent pathogen, while the Ceph Spores on the other hand are a nanomechanical pathogen. They're two completely different things, like Germs and Viruses. The Nanosuit when fully-developed was designed to fight alien nanotechnology, not terrestrial viral pathogens. Also, the Tunguska Iteration is reliant on there being pre-existing strains of the Blacklight Virus stored inside the Nanosuit's deep tissue layers to facilitate the creation of "antibodies", something it won't allow functionally with the Blacklight viral pathogen because the suit is self-contained against foreign antigens, whereas the Ceph Spores are made from similar material to the Nanosuit so that is allowed inside.
The Protosuit is a prototype, meaning that functionally, it is very inferior to the Nanosuit as-shown in Crysis 2 (the Nanosuit 2.0), whose usage of the Tunguska Iteration you reference. Anything the Protosuit can do, the Nanosuit 2.0 can do better, and not everything the Nanosuit 2.0 can do can be done by the Protosuit.

Warmach1ne32: ...Totally out there theory. Vergil is Doomguy's descendant and the war is against Half-Life Combine.

NeoNazo356: Doomguy is from the FUTURE, 2022 at the earliest. Half-Life on the other hand is fiction-within-the-fiction; and by "the-fiction" I mean THIS fiction.
Oh, and this story takes place in a variant of Earth-16. That means Mars is already occupied, meaning even if Doom wasn't already fiction-within-the-fiction, events would not play out like in the games.

LordGhostStriker: SATAN!?

NeoNazo356: When Hargreave said "unspoken demon of the battlefield", he meant a figurative Demon. Also, if anything, Satan aka "Lucifer Samael Morningstar" would be a Fallen Angel, not necessarily a Demon.

LuckyShadowWolf: So Virgil is the descendant of Big Boss or someone similar?

NeoNazo356: "Someone similar". Solid Snake and Liquid Snake themselves are "descendants" of Big Boss in that they were Clonated. However, unlike X-23 to Wolverine, Solid and Liquid Snake were identical clones of Big Boss, albeit they were Fast-Grown and had Nanomachines mixed in, hence the Accelerated Aging as-seen in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Arnold (Guest): It seems like it is implied that he has some connection to Venom Snake, Big Boss, or even Quiet. Les Enfants Terribles, the project in which produced the Sons of Big Boss, may have played a part in Virgil's birth. So, do any of these theories have merit?

NeoNazo356: You all will just have to wait and see. The clues are there, but whether or not they pan out in the end, as-expected, will have to wait until the big reveal.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Bludhaven
October 23, 22:35 EST

"You sure you wanna go back home so soon?" York asked over the Codec as Virgil rode back towards Moxxxi's Red Light, their mission hours before completed.

"Yeah, I'm sure," the teen replied. "The guns we used were completely untraceable, and there isn't any way Police Commissioner Creed could link me to what happened back there, so there really isn't any reason for me to hide. If anything it'd be more suspicious if I weren't around in the event he shows up for a home visit."

"Well, alright then. You be sure to get plenty of rest, it won't always be this easy, so you should enjoy moments like this when you can."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," he said shutting off the Codec link. "Thanks for the lift. I can take it from here," he said to the driver the moment they pulled up to the back alley behind the Red Light.

"I'll be out of your hair as soon as your safety's been confirmed," the driver stated, Virgil nodding as he shouldered his duffel bag and made his way to the backdoor with his key. Making his way into the building, the bar was deathly quiet. Tip-toeing his way upstairs, mindful to dodge the squeaky step, he was halfway to the stairs leading up to the next floor when a lamp suddenly went on.

"You're home awfully late."

"Shaula…! Scared the hell out of me," Virgil said trying to calm his heart.

"And as I said before, you're home awfully late," the pajama-clad freerunner repeated. "My sister's been worried sick about you," she said eyeing the bag over the teen's shoulder, the outline of the Kinetic Aspis clearly visible. "Where've you been?"

"Just taking care of a few things, and they've been taken care of," Virgil deflected. "Point is, I'm not going anywhere for a while. I'll be here in the morning, so if you don't mind, I'd really like to get some sleep. After that, I'll talk to Athena as much as she wants."

" . . . Fine, I'll let you off the hook. Just this once," Shaula said looking him in the eye. "But you'd better talk to my sis after this. No more of this Lone Ranger bullshit. If she's going to make weapons for you, for whatever you're doing, you'd better damn well keep her in the loop."

"All I want… is to keep her safe. That's why I've left her out of the loop like I have," Virgil defended.

"Yeah, well fat lot of good that does you when she starts losing sleep over it. After you left the house, sis spent every night huddled over a police scanner 'til she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore."

"Well, I'm back, so she can put the police scanner away," Virgil answered, tired of being badgered like this.

" . . . Get to bed then. You look like shit, and I don't want my sis seeing you like this," Shaula huffed tiredly.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Virgil said walking off, stopping with one foot on the stairs. " . . . You're a good sister, and next to that I may as well be a complete stranger," he conceded. "I might not be able to claim to care as much about Athena as her own family does… but regardless of that, I do care about her. I want to get to know her. I'm not sure how far this road between us will go, but after everything I've seen… everything I've done… I don't want to quit before I started only to spend the rest of my life wondering "what if" or "what could've been"."

" . . . Shit wasn't this complicated when I was growing up," Shaula conceded.

"Yeah, well…" Virgil said as his eyes drifted to where he felt… where he knew Manhattan was; like a bird, or a fish, or any animal that knew instinctually where its birthplace was. "Times change."

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Moxxi Residence
October 24, 08:30 EST

"Hey. Hey. V-Card. Hey. V-CARD!"

"What do you want…? It's eight-thirty in the morning…" Virgil grumbled from his bed. Superpowered suit or not, the night before was still exhausting, and all he wanted to do was sleep like the dead.

"You got some friends waiting for you downstairs," Tina told him, the once-sleepy teen groggily sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Who… this early in the morning…?" Virgil asked.

"Dunno, but there's three of 'em." Tina shrugged.

'Three? What the hell…?' Virgil groaned as he rolled out of bed. *Thud* " . . . Ow."

Getting dressed, Virgil dragged his way down the stairs and into the bar. The Red Light was sparsely-populated by the early-morning drinkers, but Flowers' black-and-gold jacket stuck out like a sore thumb, making York and C.T. easy to find as well.

York's attire was a tan hooded coat with the New York logo, a white shirt, with matching pants and sneakers. C.T.'s attire was a tight-fitting black pants and shirt with a fashionable jacket and matching brown boots. Flowers' attire consisted of a black-and-gold jacket, a UCF Knights T-shirt, gray pants, and black sneakers.

"Hey there, kid! You ready to buy us some drinks?" C.T. asked with a casual grin.

"You guys wanna get drunk? This early in the morning?" Virgil asked exasperatedly as he rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere in the world," C.T. said with a smile. "And I've been to those places, so I know what I'm talking about, now pay up!"

"You guys do know you still have your own cuts, right?" he asked in referendum to the large stacks of bills he gave each of them after he looted as much of Vertigo's drug money as he could fit into his combat webbing.

"Yeah, but no drink tastes better than a free one~" C.T. chirped happily.

" . . . Fine. Let me grab my wallet," Virgil grumbled as he made his way up the stairs.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

"This place serves food?!" York gaped in shock as Virgil ate a breakfast of eggs and bacon while the rest of them were getting drinks.

"Only for special cases. That and I live here," Virgil replied as he ate. "You know… I wasn't expecting you three to come collect so soon."

"Yeah, well, gotta enjoy the good times while you can," York replied. "It's a big world out there, and anyone could die at any time. I assume you saw the bottom of the Leaderboard."

"Yeah. Death by gator. Amongst other things," Virgil nodded. "So… I'm a bit surprised to see you all topside."

"What, did you think we all lived under a rock?" York asked. "We do have lives outside work. Some of us just find it easier to fit in than others."

"Yeah," Virgil hummed, thinking about what Maine would look like standing at the bus stop like a normal person. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"So kid, what's your poison?" C.T. asked.

"Root beer. Most alcohol's a little bitter for my tastes," the teen admitted. As he rightly should. "Plus it'll be another five years before I can legally drink. Closest you'll catch me doing is classy drinking at a party or something."

"So…" York hummed as he tapped at his ear, switching to Codec. "Wanna explain your sticky fingers?"

"Just thought you guys deserved a bonus. Can't promise that for every mission, but I want to build good relations with the other Freelancers."

"Well, promises of loot can do that for you," York hummed. "Here's hoping they all go that smoothly," he said raising a glass.

"Yeah, sure," Virgil said passing Moxxi another c-note to keep the booze flowing.

"So tell me sug', how do you know these strapping young men?" Moxxi asked as she ogled the two Freelancer males.

"Co-workers/Poker buddies/Carpool," Virgil, York, and Flowers all answered simultaneously, the youngest of the group glowering at the contradictors.

"Smooth. Very smooth," C.T. hummed as she drank.

"And who might you be, sweet thang?" Moxxi said as her lustful attention turned to C.T.

"Well your sexual preference is as clear as glass," C.T. huffed, not put off in the slightest.

"Just one preference? How you wound me~" Moxxi swooned.

"Connie, you do not want to open that box," Virgil warned, the brunette glowering angrily at him.

"Connie~ Cute name~" Moxxi cooed, C.T. shifting uncomfortably in her seat before leveling an angry glare at him.

"Hey, you chose to come to this bar for the drinks I owed you. This is on you," Virgil rebuffed.

"I like it. Nice and homey," Flowers hummed as he drank.

"Give me ten minutes and I'll show you homey~" Moxxi cooed as she trailed a finger down his arm.

"Better you than me," York chuckled.

"Oh don't worry, there's enough of me to go around, and room for two~" she cooed trailing her free finger down his arm. "I wouldn't mind squeezing you in~"

"Keep the drinks coming, Moxxi. I've got stuff to do," Virgil said slapping down more money on the counter, essentially gluing the Freelancers to their chairs for their questionable choice in drinking venue.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Stepping up into the living room, Virgil spotted Tina and Rina sitting in the living room playing a game on a heavily-modified XBOX 360 held together with duct tape. He knew there was a story behind that, one that'd be pretty crazy because the picture quality of the game they were playing was much greater than the last time he played the 360, but right then and there he had more-important stuff to do.

*Knock-knock* "Athena, you there?" Virgil asked.

The answer he got in return was a sleepy murmur and the sound of socks shuffling against carpeted floor. The door creaking open, the sight that greeted Virgil caused his cheeks to flush bright red, while simultaneously sending blood in the opposite direction. Athena's eyes were clamped shut with sleep, her bedhead sticking out in every direction, whereas her attire, or lack thereof, consisted of a loose-fitting white T-Shirt that exposed a matching white bra strap, ordinary panties, colorful socks, and nothing else.

The genius girl sleepily rubbing her eyes, when she caught sight of Virgil and realized what she was wearing, or rather, what she was not wearing, her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and she let out a startled- "Eyaaaaagh!" –as she tumbled backwards.

"I'll uh… give you a moment," Virgil said tearing his eyes away before he closed the door, letting out a heavy, embarrassed sigh as he pressed his back against it.

"Uwoooooh~ Hentai-senpai saw panty-shot desu~" Tina squealed in an incredibly grating butchery of the Japanese language.

'I really hope this is just a phase,' Virgil groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, the door giving way behind him a moment later as gravity pulled him out of the hall and into the room with a *Thud*

"W-Welcome back," Athena stammered as she straightened her hair, now clad in a pair of blue pajama pants and her shirt straightened. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Not in the slightest," Virgil said with a smile. "You kept me safe and sound, without fail."

"Heheh… That's so corny," Athena chuckled. "But… yeah… I did keep you safe, didn't I?"

"As-advertised," Virgil said with a smile. "Um… Listen… About being out of the house so much…"

"I understand," Athena cut him off. "I'm worried sick the entire time, but at the same time… I believe in you," she said in such a pure, honest way it caused his face to flush red. "I'm not really sure what it is I feel about you, I've only known you a few months, but… I don't want there to be any "what ifs" between us."

"You know… I told your sister the exact same thing after she pulled a light switch surprise on me," Virgil admitted.

"You know, I've never actually seen that in real life," Athena hummed idly.

"Yes, well, it's way more terrifying in real life. Almost gave me a heart attack."

"I'll take your word for it," Athena replied. "She doesn't mean anything by it, she's just trying to be a good sister."

"Yeah, I get where you're coming from," Virgil nodded. "So… Uh… I hear you've been hooked into the police bandwidth," he said as his eyes drifted left to an improvised police scanner, jury rigged together from an old trucker radio and miscellaneous parts from communication devices held together with duct tape. Definitely looked like a last-minute job.

"Yeah…" she admitted. "Not really my best work, it was a bit of a rush-job, but it still works at least."

"So… I take it you more or less know what went down last night."

"To an extent."

"I see," Virgil hummed. " . . . So um… Are we still cool?"

"Y-Yeah, of course we are! No other guy I've known has ever gone this far for me! You might've gone a little far with Vertigo, but in all honesty I feel like he had that coming. I…" she paused. "I know that's petty of me… and I'm fine with that."

"Oh. Good. I wasn't sure if this would alienate me from you or not, so-"

"I understand," she said reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just… I'm glad you're okay."

" . . . So…" Virgil hummed as silence reigned between them. "What now?"

" . . . Halloween's coming up in a week, and Tina and Rina plan on raiding the better half of Bludhaven for candy. You wanna join in?" she asked after a moment.

"I… would love that," Virgil sighed, happy for some normalcy after the night prior.

"Alright then, it's a date~" the girl said with a wink, only for the girl to flush red and cover her face in embarrassment a moment later. "I can't believe I just said that out loud! Aaaaah!"

"Well… At least things are getting back to normal," Virgil sighed with a smile, hoping that nothing would force him back into action so soon after the last bit of lunacy.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Moxxxi's Red Light
October 25

"So… I have to ask…" Virgil hummed the following morning over breakfast. "It's been… well… forever since I celebrated Halloween like a normal person, so I guess what I'm wondering is, what should I dress as? Should I go into town and buy something or…?"

"Well, I've been thinking on that since yesterday, and I think I actually have a plan for that," Athena said putting down her fork. "Follow me. We're going to the workshop."

"Wait, you mean that isn't your workshop?" Virgil asked as Athena headed away from her bedroom.

"Not for the big stuff, no. Plus, do you know how hard it'd be to get large packages up those stairs?" Athena asked.

"Oh, I know how to handle large packages~" Moxxi cooed playfully. "Especially how to get them into tight spaces~"

"Save it for Valentine's Day, mom," Athena sighed embarrassingly as Virgil trailed along after her.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Athena and Virgil's little foray took them into the back alley behind Moxxxi's Red Light. Turning to the right, Athena brought Virgil one building over to stop in front of a large steel bulkhead camouflaged to look like the rest of the wall; an effective ruse at-a-distance, but severely lacking under more-direct scrutiny. At the very least however, the reputation of the Moxxi Family to shoot first ask questions never kept snoopers and such at bay.

Opening the cover of what was now revealed to be a phony fuse box, Athena entered a 6-digit pin on a touchpad with alternating number positions, scanned her fingerprints, performed a retinal scan, and voiced her name- "Athena Moxxi." –into a microphone in quick and practiced succession.

The next moment however, a panel above the door opened and a large single-barrel turret with a double-drum magazine slid out into view, training its sights on-

"Fuck me…" Virgil groaned as a laser sight dotted the middle of his chest.

"And guest," Athena clarified, the large turret disengaging.

'Did I just witness an Incredibles moment?' Virgil gaped as the turret retreated into the wall, realizing he'd seen all this somewhere before. "Um… What was that?"

"What? My automated defenses?"

"No!" Virgil gawped. "Well, yes, I do mean that," he amended, "but what I'm mainly focused on is…" he said taking a deep breath. "WHY THE HELL DOES YOUR MAIN TURRET LOOK LIKE A GIANT ROBOT PENIS!?" he cried in shock.

"It looks like a what?!" the blond gaped, rapidly pressing buttons on her console and causing the turret to fold back out for inspection, the girl going bright red in the face after realizing that her gun turret did-in-fact resemble a "giant robot penis" as Virgil so aptly put it. "Oh god, this is so embarrassing…!" she said hiding her face in her hands.

" . . . Do you wanna talk about it?"

"NOOO!" Athena cried with a red face as she got behind Virgil and pushed him through the door, which closed shut with a *hiss* behind them.

*Sniff-Sniff* "Why does it smell like piss and booze in here?" Virgil asked into the darkness. "I mean, I know we're right next door to a bar, but still-"

"Lights," Athena voiced as she clapped her hands, a series of overhead LEDs causing the room to be bathed with light, revealing a large laboratory with smoothed concrete floors, white wall and ceiling paneling, larger workstations than what was in the girl's own room with product covered in tarps, and a passed-out drunk on a couch in the corner of the room-

"Wait what?" Virgil asked rubbing his eyes before looking back at the far-corner of the room, if only to ensure he really did see the passed-out drunk sprawled out on a very out-of-place red upholstered soda. "You see the passed-out drunk on the couch too, right?"

"What, you mean Gruncle Rick?" Athena asked looking over her shoulder. "Oh, yeah, he's fine, just leave him be. Judging by the number of bottles on the floor around him, I'd say he's so shit-faced he won't come to until later this evening," she said giving the floor around him a once-over.

"Okay… But why is there a passed-out drunk on your sofa?" he asked giving the old drunk a once-over.

"Gruncle Rick" as Athena called him was a very tall, lanky, rail thin old man, almost unhealthily so. He had a dimly tanned ashy complexion and spiky grey-blue hair that went out in all directions with a matching unibrow. As was befitting his age, his face was wrinkly with bags under his eyelids, a pressure fold above his unibrow, and laugh lines around the corners of his mouth. His attire consisted of a white lab coat with a pale blue shirt underneath, brown pants, a dark brown belt with a yellow buckle, and black shoes. True to form he did appear to be shit-faced drunk, more than a dozen bottles of booze messily scattered on the floor around him, green-tinged drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth and soaking into the upholstery.

"Sometimes he drops by to crash on our couch," Athena shrugged. "Mom vouches for him so that's good-enough for us, and Gruncle Rick's actually the one who helped me set up this lab after I stopped going to public school."

*Urp* "School is-isn't a place for-" *Ffrt* "-smart people," Gruncle Rick drunkenly slurred in his sleep.

"This is actually the first time this month I've seen him," Athena commented. "Most of the time he's out doing… Okay I don't really know what he's out doing when he isn't here," the blond amended after a brief pause, "but he's never brought anything bad home after him, so mom doesn't ask, and I'm not really close-enough to care all that much to be honest."

"Even though he helped you set up your first lab?" Virgil asked with a quirked brow as he looked around. It wasn't even close to what you'd find at Wayne Tech, LexCorp, or even Kord Industries, but it was still functional. The walls were reinforced, the windows were boarded up, and there was a powerful-looking air conditioner and ventilation system in the ceiling to keep hazardous fumes from accumulating.

"He didn't actually do all that much work, most of it was left up to me," Athena shrugged. "Still, he helped me get started with my small business, so that's why I gave him access codes and a couch to pass out on."

"I guess that makes sense," Virgil hummed.

The next moment Gruncle Rick suddenly shot upright as though in a fit of night terrors, eyes wide and crazed before a bony finger extended Virgil's way, the old man screaming- "Nothing you do matters! Your existence is a lie!" –before his eyes rolled up in his head and he resumed unconsciousness, snoring and farting like nothing had ever happened.

"What did he mean by that?"

"The answer is not to think about it," Athena hummed as she turned Virgil away from the crazed senior and instead pushed him towards something standing very tall and upright, hidden beneath a large white tarp. "So… Here it is."

"Here what is?" Virgil asked looking at the tarp, debating whether or not it was his place to unveil it. Whatever it was, it appeared to be quite large, but the opacity of the tarp made it impossible to see what was underneath.

"Hold up, let me grab a stepladder," Athena said walking off, returning a moment later with aforementioned stepladder before taking hold of the large tarp from the top, carefully pulling down from over what it was concealing, its weight drawing it down the rest of the way revealing…

"Holy… fucking… shit…!" Virgil gawped at the sight that greeted him. "Is that…? I mean I know what it looks like but… Why in the hell is there a…?"

"Last year when Fallout 3 came out and the Fallout series finally received three-dimensional graphics, there was a bit of a demand for long-time fans regarding custom-built memorabilia. Armor, weapons, bobble heads. Sure, you could get that stuff online, but long-time fans wanted stuff with a bit of realism to it instead of plastic die-cast replicas, so color me surprised when an enthusiast from out-of-state wanted a functional suit of Model T-45 Power Armor," Athena explained as she pointed to aforementioned suit of armor, held by the shoulders with the sort of scaffold normally reserved for lifting engine blocks out of semi-trucks.

"Okay… but why is it still here?" Virgil asked looking the incredibly impressive piece of tech over.

It was roughly six and a half feet tall, maybe three wide at the shoulders, and compared to the graphics in Fallout 3, the replica before him was even more impressive, the sort of thing one might see in Fallout 4 whenever that comes out; assuming it used a more-powerful next-generation graphics engine to capture greater amounts of detail than the now-current generation of consoles could afford. The entirety of it was painted gunmetal gray with tan-colored accordion-style under armor between the joints, and had the Brotherhood of Steel Paladin symbol embossed across the chest in white paint. Every weld, every fin, every crimp, and every rivet made it look like something a nuclear-powered military would create, but what really caught his eye was the loving detail that Athena put into the helmet. Tinted glass lensing, headlights, and rebreather tubes pulled the ensemble together and made it look like the sort of thing you'd have to steal from an alternate reality to have in real life.

"Well, my client paid in installments, and he wanted something functional instead of just a costume, so what I made first was the Power Armor Frame, the basic exoskeleton that the functional pieces of a suit of realistic power armor would go over. After I gave him a progress report complete with photos, he sent more money, I added more armor and features, and so-on," Athena explained. "However, when 85% percent of the work on the suit was completed, I wasn't able to contact him anymore. Since I had that much of the suit done, I decided to finish the last 15% out-of-pocket as opposed to letting something nearly-complete sit in a corner and collect dust."

"So this thing is all-yours then?" Virgil said as he continued to gape at the T-45 Power Armor. It wasn't nearly as streamlined as the Nanosuit, but the Power Armor in of itself possessed a rugged beauty the next-generation suit simply couldn't match.

Power Armor was a man's romance after all.

"Yes, though I didn't have much use for it until I realized I could walk it out on the streets for Halloween and not get so many eyebrows raised," Athena hummed. "Or get the cops called on me," she slumped realizing she might get mistaken for a supervillain if she walked around in that thing without proper context. "So yeah… How'd you like to wear this for HallowEEEP!" the busty genius squealed in surprise as she was wrapped up in a hug by the now-excited teen, her face flushing as she felt the brunette's firm and corded muscles enveloping her.

"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" the teen cheered happily. Back in Manhattan, a fond memory he had of his foster-brother Daniel was playing Fallout 3 when it came out, making their own characters and debating whose approach to character customization was better. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought he'd get to drive real Power Armor though.

"I-I'm glad you think so…" Athena said with a flushed face as she returned the gesture, her hands ghosting up and down his muscular back as he lifted her feet from the floor. "Now, listen, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I want you to take off all your clothes-"

"WHUH?!" Virgil gawped, red-faced at the request.

"Not what I meant!" Athena gawped. "What I mean is, I need you to take off all your clothes so I can fit you for the under-armor you'll need to operate the replica Power Armor," she explained hurriedly.

"Under-armor?"

"It's basically a vacuum-sealed jumpsuit covered in hard points and attachments for interfacing with the Power Armor Frame. While not entirely necessary, it will protect you from the heat and moving parts inside the suit," Athena explained. "Your measurements are a little different than my intended client's, but I can make the necessary adjustments and have you in that suit of armor for trial runs within the hour."

"Oh!" Virgil said with a flushed face. "Uh, sorry about earlier. After the episode with the giant dick cannon-"

"Please don't call it that."

"-my mind went to a dirty place when you told me to take my clothes off."

"I'll… give you a pass," Athena said, flushing in embarrassment as she looked up at the retracted turret positioned above the door. "Just… wait until I can set up a curtain so I can give you some privacy."

"Sure, no problem," Virgil said taking a calming breath. "Hey wait a minute… That thing isn't nuclear-powered is it?" he asked worriedly, remembering that in the Fallout universe everything was nuclear-powered.

Even the alarm clocks were nuclear-powered!

"No, of course not!" Athena pouted. "You really think I'd work with radioactive isotopes without the proper facilities?" she asked poignantly, sounding offended Virgil would even insinuate such a thing.

"I just wanted to be sure," he said waving his hands. "So… What is it powered by?"

*Urp* "If you want a more curable form of cancer-" *Frrt* "-why don't you try walking through the mushroom clouds?" Gruncle Rick drunkenly slurred off to the side.

"A salvaged LexCorp Series Alpha Power Cell," the girl answered. "In order to recount the losses caused by the discontinuation of the LexCorp Police Battlesuit, the bulk of that power cell's stock was sent out to the open market for mass consumption after it was revealed that usage of the Series Alpha had some rather addictive side-effects," she then went on to explain. "As far as lightweight high-yield power sources are concerned, that was pretty cheap," she summarized. "Didn't even need to re-tool it all that much."

"Hey wait a minute, I remember that story…" Virgil said thoughtfully as he tapped his chin. "Corey Mills, he was the guy who went nuts, right?" he raised. "Wait a minute, is this thing even safe then?"

"The psychological side-effects are only a consequence of the suit, not its power source," Athena dissuaded. "Don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe. Apart from the power cell, everything else is Wayne Tech or other local parts' manufacturers."

"So how does this realistic suit work?" Virgil found himself asking, a glint of awe in his eyes as he beheld the T-45 once more.

"Well, since the games weren't a lot of help in that regard, I had to get a little creative," Athena replied. "Since power armor in the Fallout series doesn't appear to use any recognizable form of unified hydraulics system, I had to derive the suit's strength-boosting abilities from servomotors strategically placed within key points of the frame," she explained. "Also, instead of gloves and boots, I decided to use fully-articulated mechanical hands and feet which mimic the wearer's hand and foot movements via controls in the forearms and shins. This increases arm and leg length by about a foot, so you'll need to get used to manually controlling limbs that aren't your own."

"Athena… You're a freakin' genius," the teen gawped.

If he were of the nerdy demographic, he might've been inclined to say- "Talk dirty to me." –in light of that explanation since nerds, at least as he understood, found tech-speak to be highly erotic.

Maybe.

Probably.

"I know," the girl replied with a smile as she moved a dividing curtain on wheels over to a stool in the corner. "Now, if you don't mind…" she said flushing red in the face a little bit as she nervously held a tape measure in her hands. "Strip."

At this, Virgil could only *gulp* audibly.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

It was one thing to strip down for Dr. Grey. Innuendos or not, the woman was still a trained medical physician, so it wasn't all that embarrassing to disrobe.

Athena on the other hand if anything was an engineer, and thus it was automatically weird when she told him to take off all his clothes so she could take measurements of his body.

Not to mention the amorous nature of the girl's mother caused the teen's mind to go to a dirty place every time her fingertips ghosted across his body.

Of course, Athena wasn't much better off. While she had caught a glimpse of Virgil in the shower a while back, it appeared he'd become even more fit since then. Positioning him in a way that was reminiscent of the Vitruvian Man, Athena was privy to all of the teen's proportions, which wasn't helped by the fact he'd opted to wear a tight-fitting set of boxers instead of loose. Holding his arms out at right angles to his body, the girl was able to feel his corded muscles as she ran the tape measure along their length, the feeling of his broad shoulders and his lean, muscled torso as well as his more-defined abdominals caused sparks to dance along her fingertips and up to her brain as she measured him.

A few awkward minutes later and Athena had the numbers she needed. Telling him to remain seated on his stool while she got to work on the under-armor, the two teens were left to stew in the sexual tension that saturated the air around them, the dividing curtain being the only thing preventing the other from seeing their reddened faces.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity to the two hormonal teens, Athena held out an altered jumpsuit for Virgil to try on, as well as a bottle of talcum powder with which to help him into the tight-fitting suit. The suit itself, reminiscent of the Recon Armor from Fallout 3, was largely olive with black accents, snug in a few places but not uncomfortably so. If anything it looked like the kind of thing you'd wear inside a NASA spacesuit.

"Huh… Not bad. I didn't know you could sew," Virgil hummed as he stretched this way and that, happy at the least it was a little roomy around the crotch.

"Well, some of the wearable gadgets need to have alterations done to things like gloves or greaves," Athena replied. "Is it tight anywhere? Do I need to make more adjustments?"

"For the time being it all seems fine," Virgil hummed.

"That's good," Athena nodded. "The last piece that doesn't really need much adjustment will be the under-armor hood," she then said pulling out "Snoopy Cap" from the same box she pulled the rest of the under-armor from. It was colored olive and black like the rest of the under-armor, and looked like the Communications Carrier Assemblies used by NASA in their spacesuits. "The helmet will muffle a lot of outside noise, so I had to install a headset into the helmet. It'll take a little getting-used-to, but I think you'll be alright."

"So… I'm finally going in, huh?" Virgil hummed as he looked at the T-45 armor in awe.

Before Athena could reply, an intercom *beep*ed loudly, the girl going over to a wall panel and asking- "Hello?"

"I just wanted to say, that's what she said~" a familiar sultry voice cooed.

"Mooom?! How'd you even hear that!?" Athena gawped.

"Phh, I'm like Superman, I know when I'm needed."

"I'm hanging up," Athena sighed as she cut off the line. "Sorry you had to hear that."

"Meh, I'm used to it," Virgil shrugged. "Now, how 'bout you help me slip on in there?"

" . . . "

" . . . "

"Wait for it," Athena groaned.

*Beep*

"I've got a place you can slip on int-"

*Click*

"Really need to install that Innuendo Filter," Athena sighed as she walked over to the back of the suit. Turning a large circular valve handle, there was a series of hissing noises before the T-45 armor opened up along the arms and the legs, the butt-plate folding down while the back of the torso folded upwards. "Now, let's get you fitted, and then see how well you walk the walk."

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Following some minor mechanical alterations the positioning of the hand and feet actuators inside the suit in relation to what they controlled, Virgil began his training course for the replica T-45 Power Armor with gusto.

The actuators for the hands and the feet were located in the armor's wrists and ankles respectively, so it took a bit of practice manipulating limbs that weren't his own and had a bit of lag to them. In addition, the hand movements were a bit sluggish, not something he'd do brain surgery with, but he'd be able to pick up and move things easily enough.

When it came time to learn to walk in the power armor, he had to do so with the world's most-complicated set of training wheels, i.e. removing the brakes on the crane holding the Power Armor upright and attempting to put one foot in front of the other while being suspended by the shoulders like a slab of meat. As it turned out, the "training wheels" were completely necessary, because the first time he tried lifting his foot he almost kneed himself in the face.

Athena was quick to point out that due to the slight lag, he'd over-extended himself, trying to raise his leg for too long a period due to said delay which resulted in him lifting his foot up far more than intended. If he didn't have the crane holding him up, he'd have tipped completely over and wrecked the suit, which Virgil learned wasn't as-resilient as something in Fallout; in summary, it was not the sort of thing you'd take into battle, since the steel exterior was actually placed over a shell of lightweight aluminum to make less work for the armor's servomotors, thus extending the battery life.

While the Power Armor replica looked and felt impressive, at the end of the day it was still a mechanically-powered costume.

Albeit, a highly-functioning costume, but a costume nonetheless. It wasn't designed to weather a storm of gunfire, grenades, rockets, lasers, and plasma bolts; it was designed to look pretty, and more-importantly, look cool.

During the course of his practice-walking, Virgil realized just how much he took for granted the Nanosuit's ability to seamlessly conform to his body's own movements.

With the Nanosuit it was like moving his own body because the relationship between his and the suit's size was a 1:1 ratio. However, between his body and the Power Armor it felt like a ratio of 1:1.16 instead. Not only were his proportions different, but in addition to the fact that there was a slight delay between his action and the reaction of the actuators and servomotors, there was also the fact that his range of articulation was severely hampered by the mechanical limitations of the armor itself.

It took several hours of training simply to get the hang of walking because of how fundamentally different it was to use a mechanical power armor than it was to use his own body, and he hadn't even started on things like stairs, crouching, squatting or any other maneuver he'd have to use to compensate for his significantly larger frame. Not to mention the suit's bulk threw his spatial awareness completely out of whack because he kept bumping into things, and he was a lot more top-heavy than he was used to.

However, when it came to mastering the inner workings of operating a fully-functional set of powered armor, that… was a story for another day.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Moxxxi's Red Light
October 26, 08:00 EST

The following day, after waking up early and getting a hearty breakfast in him, Virgil's initial plan had been to go to Athena's secondary lab and spend the rest of the day practicing with the T-45 Powered Armor replica so he wouldn't embarrass anyone on Halloween night by falling over and being unable to get back up.

At least not without anything short of a tow truck.

Or god forbid a construction crane.

He wanted to be able to master that sort of analogue control scheme because not only did it feel really cool to do something like that, something he'd only thought possible in a dream or an alternate universe, but he also felt like he'd be able to more-objectively appreciate the work that went into the Nanosuit Prototype itself if he could master the usage of something so primitive in comparison.

Those plans however were sufficiently dashed when the bandaged form of Re-l's driver made himself known on Moxxi's doorstep.

"Anyone ever tell you ya look like a psychotic burn victim?" Virgil asked the scowling man leering down at him.

"Once or twice," the man said gruffly. "Get your shit together. The boss wants you in hair and makeup for some new threads."

'Another day, another dollar,' Virgil hummed to himself. "I'm heading out, Moxxi!"

"Bring home that bacon, sug'!" the sultry woman cooed.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Following the rather tense ride up to Gothic Renaissance, Virgil hurried up the elevator, and was eagerly received by Leeron, a certain spring in his step as his eyes twinkled.

"Oh, I am so glad you could arrive on such short notice, hon'. Re-l set up something special for you today that you'll be just perfect for!" the effeminate man cooed.

"Does it have something to do with Halloween? I noticed the ground floor looked more gothic than usual," Virgil hummed. "And that's saying something."

"Got it in one! Real Fashions always comes out with the best stuff on Halloween, and the fresh blood you bring to the table is just the thing we need to push our newest line of product," the man said clapping his hands together.

"I'd have thought Kazkis would be the one pushing product, what with him being in the game longer and all."

"Yes, well, for what the fashionistas drew up, we needed someone on the younger, slender side," Leeron said eyeing the red-haired teen up and down. "Not everyone is fit to model every look, so you really are the only one who can help the boss out with this."

"Gee, not pressure," Virgil shrugged, following the man to hair and makeup.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Having a newfound appreciation for the lengths that Leeron went through to transform him from a crowd-goer at a Dave Matthews' concert to the sort of person who'd be at home on the red carpet, Virgil noticed with greater clarity the startling transformation he'd undergone for the recent shoot he'd been called out on.

His hair, minimally trimmed, was swept back and styled giving him an aristocratic look. His skin tone had been evened out in places and his blemishes in addition to the scar on his cheek had completely disappeared. His teeth were also given a thorough brushing making each row resemble a line of pearls.

Suffice it to say, if he went back on the bus he arrived in and the same people from before were there, they'd be hard-pressed to recognize him as the same person.

Of course, after seeing just what he was being asked to model, Virgil could only think to himself-

'If any of those vampire-obsessed assholes from high school were still alive to see me wearing these… I would never hear the end of it.'

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

One Hour Later…

"Why the long face, hon? Don't you like the new threads?" Leeron asked post-shooting as Virgil discarded his final set of modelling clothes atop the partition.

"They're a little too vampire-y for my tastes," the brunette said poking his head around the side, holding out his hand to which Leeron passed the teen his original pants back.

"Well I think you looked fabulous in that look. It really brought out the red in your eyes~" the effeminate man cooed.

"So I've been told," he replied as he finished lacing up his shoes. "Honestly, the quality of the new line is amazing, it's just… I never really saw myself ever getting involved in fashion, so whenever I'm wearing this sort of thing before anyone else… I can't help but feel that the outfits are wearing me instead."

"Oh don't you worry about that. A few more shoots and you'll be gushing with confidence~"

"Please don't say gushing," Virgil shuddered. He wasn't really homophobic, he was just more-used-to the female variety of homosexual. Leeron's more masculine brand of homosexuality was just something he needed more time to get used to. The culture shock would wear off eventually. "So, do you happen to know when the next shoot it?" he went on to ask, his mind thinking a month in advance to Thanksgiving. " . . . You're not going to have me dress like a pilgrim, are you?"

"Oh heavens no, that isn't the sort of fashion we make here," Leeron shook his head.

"Okay good, because even if the pictures from history class were just an exaggeration, I do not want to sport the retro look," the teen shuddered. Bereft of "chic" fashion sense as he was, he still had the good sense to avoid that sort of train wreck. "Well, that's the last of it," he said lacing up his shoes. "Do you need me for anything else?"

"No no, you've done more than enough. Enjoy the rest of your day."

'It feels really weird doing this little work for so much money,' Virgil thought to himself as he began to leave.

"Oh! And don't forget, we're having a little Halloween party on Friday! Make sure to come!" Leeron said toward the teen's back.

"Don't worry, I will," the teen replied.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

A short ride to the Red Light later…

"Hey kid," the psychotic burn victim look-alike said out the passenger's window as Virgil approached the front door. "Catch."

*Whack*

"Ah! My face!"

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

"Yeesh, what happened to you?" Mordecai asked from the living room sofa, he and Brick vegging out in front of the TV.

"Don't ask," Virgil grumbled, rubbing his aching face with one hand while cradling a rectangular package under his other arm. Entering his room and casting off his shoes, the teen proceeded to break the tape holding the parcel's contents away from the world, spreading them out upon his bed for further scrutiny.

Suffice it to say, he was a bit surprised to see that included within the package was a top-of-the-line laptop, and if the H&R logo on the front was anything to go by, the laptop came from Hargreave & Rasch's tech subsidiary, Hargreave & Rasch Electronics. The laptop itself was thin and sleek with a carbon fiber exterior, and according to the specifications card included, it rivaled if not outright surpassed similar models from the likes of Wayne or Lex.

'Although, with how much money I looted off of Vertigo's drug money vault, I could've just bought something like this,' Virgil lamented, only to realize if this was a gift from Re-l of all people, there was bound to be a great deal of non-standard hardware included as well.

All the more reason to ensure it never fell out of his hands.

Moving on, he turned his attention to the next piece of hardware from within the package, something definitely non-standard.

"Is this the Brain-wave Analyzer from Back to the Future?" he asked raising up a familiar, albeit radically streamlined version of aforementioned device from aforementioned movie. Instead of having a diameter that went from one shoulder to the other, it was closer to a light helmet instead. Something one wouldn't strain to hold up on one's own.

Thusly, he turned his attention to the final portion of the parcel, a single hand-written note which read as such.

Dear Virgil,

While your recent work ethic had been admirable, unfortunately I will require you to sequester some of your free time towards your education. As you are well aware, your time at Cascades High was cut short by unforeseeable events, and while your subsequent vacation has allowed you to acclimate to your new lifestyle and process what has happened, it's time to re-invest in yourself.

While it's true I want you to be skilled with the "sword", I also want you to be gifted with the "pen" as well, for there may come a time when the latter is mightier than the prior on the battlefields you tread.

All you will need, and beyond, to complete your GED are included in the enclosed laptop. Please be sure to wear the provided helmet and plug it into the USB port whenever you carry out your studies. While there isn't a required deadline for completion, your expedience on the matter would be most-appreciated.

Opportunities to pursue a higher education, can be discussed at a later date.

Sincerely,
Re-l Mayer

"Well…" Virgil hummed as he booted up his laptop. "Guess I couldn't avoid school forever," he said as the screen lit up, the desktop vacant of any iconography sans a single folder in the middle that read Homework. "Alright…" he said rolling his neck as he secured the helmet to his head. "Let's see about putting a couple hours in before lunch," he said as he got to work.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Moxxxi's Red Light
October 28

"Yo V, you been on your computer a lots, haven't you?" Tina asked that morning at breakfast.

"Yeah. What of it?" Virgil asked behind his beverage.

" . . . You been lookin' at porn haven't you?" Tina asked, the teen spitting his milk into the air.

"Gross," Brick grumbled.

"Tina, I'm studying for my GED. Why would I be looking up porn?!"

"Well, why wouldn't you be looking up porn?" Brick asked.

"Maybe 'cause he has a real girl to spend lots of time alone in a closed room with~?" Moxxi cooed, Athena blushing up a storm as she tried to stutter out a response.

"Moxxi, we aren't having sex, we're getting ready for Halloween," Virgil said fighting his own blush.

"Not for any lack of trying," Moxxi sighed ignoring the latter half of his statement.

"Mom you are not helping!" Athena blushed.

*HALLOWEEN SPIRIT*

Moxxxi's Red Light
October 29

Over the next couple of days, Virgil received equal parts heckling for both the amount of time he spent in his room on his computer, and the time he spent in the workship with Athena. When it came to his schoolwork, he was cycling through the required materials and subsequent testing with an almost alarming speed. Whether it was because he himself had simply matured a great deal after realizing how much he'd taken for granted, or because of the DNA Computer he now had in his brain, he was definitely picking up on the allotted subjects much faster than when he'd gone to school the old-fashioned way.

Of course, since his home-schooling had a lot less bullshit (and bullshit people), the amount of studying he was able to complete and carry out made a great deal of sense. The fact that he was wearing what he assumed to be a brain-wave monitor on his head only cemented the speculation that there was something going on inside his head his superiors wanted to study.

Clinical trials or not, it still meant money coming in in the long run, so the why or the how of it wasn't all-that-important.

Another day coming and going, the Moxxi family and tenants sat around the table for a nice dinner, the bar quieting down enough to enjoy the relative peace and quiet that came from living in the bad part of town.

"Hey Virgil, isn't the company Halloween Party supposed to be tomorrow?" Rina asked off-handedly.

This question of course, caused Virgil's fork to fall out of his hand mid-bite, silverware meeting porcelain with a light *clink*

"Oh fuck! I completely forgot about that!"

To Be Continued…