Miss Vicious Delicious, Her saga and story... Options

[Renee]

Chapter One: Miss Vicious Delicious

Date: August 19, 2277, 11:06 AM

Location: VAPL-66 Power Station

They called them raiders, Takana and Neeptu. Social and demographic miscreants who nobody would touch. Nobody would accept. Not the Enclave. Not even Talon Company. Collectively, they were groups of young adults who lived each day as though it'd be their very last. Because often it was their very last.

As the Psycho they'd squeezed into their arms took brilliant effect, both of them were sizzling.

The common misfit known as Neeptu Daalu steadied himself, and squinted his eyes. "See? See her now?" he asked his partner. "Told ya there's a wastelander out there! The little b----. Look how she's dressed. In a freeking Parkstroller! Prob'ly good for a few caps." He was speaking loudly, his booming voice being echoed by a nearby overpass.

"Haah? I don't see a thing," said Takana Topov, Neeptu's partner. Takana had done well as a dancer, far away at Dukov's place. But she'd done even better as a thief.

Together, Takana and Neeptu had plotted to steal hundreds of caps from her former employer. And they had been successful at this. In fact, the job had been easy. Neeptu pretended to be a john while Takana depleted some of Dukov's stash of cash. It was over in less than a minute, their getaway boat floating just meters away. Then the good life had begun. They'd finally been able to afford Psycho, Jet, and all sorts of other goodies, which had been clouding their judgment for days.

"Ya need some glasses!" Neeptu announced. "C'mon, just follow me!"

The pair scrambled off. They readied their pieces: Takana's pistol went *clink!*, and Neeptu's went *shink!* ... but neither of them could possibly know their prey was not some gentle lamb who'd cry and run.

"Oh hell no!" The lady in the Parkstroller brandished her only weapon, a rusted old iron tool.

She went to work. Jumping, hopping, and skipping around the raiders and their clumsy efforts at gun play. ...Bam! ... Crash!... At close quarters, their Chinese pistols were next to useless. The lady in the Parkstroller might never be as good with a hand weapon as the cannibalistic fiend known as Rattler, but as a member of the 'raider' demographic herself, neither was she somebody to try messing with.

----------------------------------------

Takana Topov

Neeptu Daalu takes a beating

"Oh hell no!"

Unexpected help

Goo' boy!!!

Miss Vicious Delicious throws away her Parkstroller for something new

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 21 2022, 03:09 PM

[Renee]

Date: 12:37 AM 08.25.77, Thursday, August 23, 2277

Crouching and crawling, moving, unsure. The day was hot, but not sweltering. Gunfire blasts from somewhere unseen. *Bkkssh!!!* ... Something exploded across the river. Vicious side-stepped behind a mailbox, taking cover. A small battle was going on over there, and it wouldn't stop until at least one opponent was down.

She shook her head. "This never will end," she said to the mailbox, which had Made in Baltimore, 2063 stamped into its side. ... Two-hundred and fourteen years ago! ... She gripped its warm metal exterior. Another explosion across the river. "What would it'a been like, before all this?" Vicious asked the mailbox.

What would it have been like?

Who would she become, had her life occured before the Great War collapsed society two centuries ago?

Who would she be, had she grown up in that society?

According to the exalted consensus (statistics in history books and newsreels) chances are she'd be comfortably middle class. More educated for sure. But even if she'd grown up in poverty, her life and surroundings would be nothing as bad as this! Bombs and guns and gigantic mutant creatures.

Pshew!! a bullet whizzed by.

Though the ministers who'd raised her had done the best they could, Miss Vicious couldn't help but wonder. What would it have been like to go to a shopping mall? Polished floors, dreamy music, not a speck of dust to be seen. Maybe she'd go there with all her high school friends, riding in the back of a mighty Corvega, her hair freshly-straightened at some salon. Maybe she'd have a girlfriend, someone she could trust, and they'd go on double-dates. Maybe she'd have a boyfriend, who wasn't a chem-addicted fiend. Maybe she'd have a part-time job in some pleasant air-conditioned office, looking forward to brighter things and bigger money as the prospect of college loomed.

...Or maybe none of that would happen. Maybe she was glorifying the past; maybe she'd have a life just as screwed up back then as she did today. But there was no way it could be as bad as this, hunkering behind this mailbox to avoid stray gunfire.

After another few seconds of noise, it seemed as though the fight across the river finally came to its end. Whoever was left standing over there was probably flooded with adrenaline! Ears ringing, thoughts distracted. Vicious had been in those shoes enough times. But, it was over. Now would be a good time to go.

She patted the mailbox, then remembered it'd be very wise to change out of her raider gear, and back into ordinary clothing.

---------------------------

Two hours later...



"Welcome ... toooo ... Megaton. Friendliest town ... around."

Vicious passed by Deputy Weld, the cheap robot sentry who stood guard outside of Megaton's entrance. She felt a certain chill as she neared the town's inner gate. How long had it been since she'd last been here? She thought for a moment. Almost two years, was the answer.

"Hungry ... pard'ner?" said the robot in its tinny voice from behind her. "Try the Brass Lantern."

"Guwd I hope they don't give me any brahmin crap," she muttered to herself, as she pushed the town's creaky inner gate open.

And there he was. Lucas Simms, The man who had forced Miss Vicious out of town two years ago, walking straight toward her. Tall, dark, but not so handsome. He was sporting a silly cowboy hat, wearing an armless coat despite the day's heat. This was the man who'd told her to leave Megaton, and never come back.

Vicious nibbled her lip. Of course, back in those days, she hadn't been given her current nickname, yet. Therefore, nobody in Megaton knew her as Vicious Delicious.

"Another newcomer," Lucas said pleasantly.

She steeled herself as the tall man drew near.

"Hello there," he said in his baritone voice. "Name's Lucas Simms. Town sheriff, and mayor too, when the need arises."

Vicious said nothing at first. Obviously, the man, this mayor or whatever, was not recognizing her. "Tawny," she replied. "Tawny Jones. Uh. Been awhile since I been in Megaton."

"The quiet type, huh?" Lucas was still smiling. "Fine. Might help keep you out of trouble. I hope you're not some weirdo. Got enough of those already."

"Me? Oh no, not me. I just here to visit the Church of Atom, sir." Vicious thought back to the blonde she'd met in Tenpenny. Now there was a weirdo. "That church is still here, right?"

Lucas did not answer her question verbally, instead, he gestured. "I'm glad we understand each other," he said, pointing to the church. "Now, is there something I can help you with?"

And there really was nothing he could help her with, so she simply walked away. He didn't recognize me! she realized. ... Was it my hairstyle? Vicious thought backwards in time again, back to when she was seventeen. Surely she had a different hairdo back then. But she was also younger. Skin not so rough. Face not so weathered by frequent outdoor weather. And no fights. No lowlife thug nonsense. Not in those days.

Overall, did it matter? The fact that Lucas did not remember her was a good thing. She relaxed.

"Hello," a settler greeted as she walked by, lost in thought.

Vicious paused in front of The Brass Lantern, Megaton's semi-outdoor eatery. Jenny Stahl was still here, roasting something yummy. Jericho, the town bully, strode up and began to give Jenny some *crap* about whatever. It was always something with that guy. Across the plaza was Megaton's gigantic, unexploded bomb. And before this bomb were some of Megaton's settlers, standing in the radioactive water which surrounded the bomb.

"Each of us shall know peace! Shall know an end to pain!"

Confessor Cromwell, giving yet another sermon.

"I urge you my friends. Come! Drink with me and pray... pray to Glorious Atom! I give unto you. I beg of you, to use me as your vessel guide me into--"

Vicious did not need to hear the rest; all that nonsense about how the bomb would save them all, or whatever. She began to walk away. The Church of Atom would shelter her while she stayed in town, but she didn't have to subscribe to their ludicrous theories.

"Behold!" the preacher continued behind her. Silly man, taking in those rads by the minute. "He is coming with the clouds! And every one of us shall witness Atom's glow!"

"Yeah, right," Vicious muttered, heading to see if Moriarty's still existed. Rain began to fall just as she reached Megaton's saloon.

//////////////////

Afternoon was getting late, it had been a long day.

She sidled into the saloon, and up to its bar. Rain pattering outside. The bar was somewhat crowded with people, smoke in the air. Vicious lit a cigarette of her own. A ghoul was tending bar, while an Asian man wearing combat armor argued in the next room with the older dude whose name Vicious forgot. The dude who always wore a suit, and sat in that big, comfy chair.

"Hey smoothskin, you need something?" asked the ghoul.

Vicious checked her caps, and was surprised to see she had quite a few. Being cautious, she ordered a beer, which was the cheapest thing on the menu. Mm, refrigerated beer. She took a long swallow, as Gob (the bartender) began to tell the former raider his life story, instead of the other way around. Vicious looked around. Nobody noticed her. Not even a glance of recognition. This was good, this was good.

In the next room, the Asian man's voice began to rise.


--------------------------------

Deputy Weld greets Vicious

Megaton Plaza (these pics are mostly for Acadian to see how dilapidated Megaton is)

Mayor / Sherriff Lucas Simms

Megaton's Bomb

Moriarty's Saloon

Bar Scene


Vicious leveled up to 2 during this session! I gave her the Thief perk, and dumped points into Energy Weapons, Lockpick, Small Guns, Sneak, Speech... I forget what else.

This post has been edited by Renee: Sep 20 2020, 09:04 PM