"Megaton is obsolete. The last vestige of a cobbled, desperate past. It needs to ... go away. And you're going to see that it does."
Those were the last words the wannabe gangster Mister Burke spoke to the Asian man in the next room, before everything went to hell
fast in Moriarty's Saloon. A few moments' prior, Miss Vicious had taken a seat at the bar. Gulping, then nursing the beer she'd bought for 5 caps. The bar was noisy. Patrons in conversation, most of them chatting about nothing special. The bar's radio crackling with static, which caused the ghoul bartender to abandon telling Vicious the story of his life (not that she was disappointed). Eyes wandering about the semi-crowded room. The former raider had completely relaxed by now, reveling in her newfound obscurity. Happy to be viewed as just another Capitol Wasteland settler going for a buzz with her golden, refrigerated beverage. She had plenty of caps. Maybe she'd even purchase a second.
"Dammit!" Gob the bartender exclaimed, smacking the bar's stubborn radio. "I just had Galaxy News Radio an hour ago! Now, it's all gone to hell."
"Gob, will you just give it up, already?!" said the brunette gal in her husky voice. Vicious remembered this gal from two years before, but could not exactly remember her name. Nola or Nora, something like that.
"Excuse me Nova," said the ghoul in a tone which resembled pebbles grinding against each other. "If you haven't noticed, this is a bar! And all bars should have proper music playing. It sets the mood. It sets the atmosphere. Who wants to listen to static? Hello?"
Vicious took another swallow, doing her best to drown out their conversation. By now her beer was almost gone. Time for a follow-up. But to everyone's surprise, this was the moment when it all began.
"You want me to do WHAT?" said the Asian man in the next room, doubling his voice in volume. It seemed as if he was shouting purposely, so everyone in Moriarty's could hear him. "You and your associates are both douchebags, and I'm tired of this nonsense. Both of you can GO TO HELL!"
"I can assure you," said the man in the suit, his voice also rising. "I'm not one to be trifled with! Why do you knuckle-draggers always insist on doing things the hard way?!"
By now, everyone had gone silent, listening for whatever would come next. All except for the static-driven radio, which kept crackling without a word. Vicious got up from her bar stool to have a look, clutching at her near-empty bottle.
"Whatever, dude," said the Asian man. "I'm putting a stop to this right now. *Frack* going to Lucas Simms, he's had his chance to take you on, yet has done nothing. And so I say this now... NOBODY is going to destroy Megaton. Not you, and not your hidden A-hole associate."
"Oh yeah?" said the man in the suit, getting up and going for his piece. "And what are you gonna do about it?"
"Say hello to my Louisville Slugger, loser!" The Asian man grabbed the baseball bat from his back, going into a wide-footed stance, aiming to maim...
The resulting noise was sudden and VERY loud, especially in this confined, metal space.
Gunfire from the man in the suit, a series of cracks and smacks from the baseball bat wielded by the Asian as he hopped, skipped, and danced from side to side, catching the suited-man's elbow here, his torso there. Everyone scattered, but nobody fled! ... Another crack! A grunt!
The two men rolled on the floor, stirring some dust. A chair got knocked into miscellaneous stuff. Another blast from Mister Burke's gun, most of its ammo going straight into the nearest wall! ... And then finally, a sound similar to a hammer splitting open a large piece of mutfruit,
SPLAT!!! ... Though Vicious could not see exactly (other bar-goers obscured her view), she knew exactly what it was, and did not particularly wish to gander the wannabe gangster's crushed-open head.
Blood was pooling in the next room.
With the death of Mister Burke over, most of Moriarty's customers burst with applause, happy about something which Vicious did not yet understand. Not until Gob the bartender explained what Mister Burke, the man in the suit, was all about. ... "Guy had some sort of bug up his ass about blowing up the bomb here in Megaton. Which means all of us would have been blown to smithereens, if he was serious. Of course, none of us took him all that seriously," Gob said. "But maybe he meant what he was saying, somehow. Who knows, right? Who knows."
By now, the Asian man had cleaned off his bat, and was sitting at the bar, waving away a drink which the blonde lady at a nearby table offered to him. As if nothing had happened. Mister Burke would be somebody else's mess to clean up, apparently.
Miss Vicious Delicious sat down next to him. "I'll have another," she told Gob.
Just another day in the Capitol Wasteland.
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After her second beer, Vicious was ready to go for a tinkle. Moriarty's sole toilet consisted of an alcove set off to the side, with only a flimsy sheet hanging from its doorway for privacy. Fortunately, Megaton had dedicated restroom shacks for men, and for women. It had been yet another long day, full of adventure, guns, and now a bloody baseball bat. She was looking forward to spending a few moments alone, before heading to the Church of Atom, where she'd hopefully arrange herself a bed to sleep upon.
She entered the Women's Restroom, which was blessedly empty. Walked into a stall, closed its door. Laid her lead pipe and Chinese pistol upon the stall's trash receptical. Weary she was, but the excitement of that surprise attack was already fading away. "Just another day in the Capitol Wasteland," she chuckled as she relieved herself. She realized she was slightly buzzed from the beers. Nowhere near to being sloshed, but her head was pleasantly swimmy. Maybe she'd go for a third. But then, securing a bed in the Church of Atom might become more difficult, as other settlers grabbed their cots.
"Yo, girl."
Vicious stiffened, readying her pistol by instinct. It was a man's voice, standing somewhere within the shack. She looked under the door in front of her, and could see no feet. Shooting through the door, going for an easy wounding, would not be an option.
"Yo girl," his voice was low, as if he was trying not to draw attention from anyone who might be just outside. "Say something. I know you in there."
"Damn right I am," she answered, pulling up her trousers left-handed, while keeping her pistol ready and pointed. "The *flip* you doin' in here? Don't you know this is the ladies room, fool?"
The male voice apparently did not care. "I know who you is, girl. You was livin' here couple years back. Don't know your name, but I know who you is."
"Are," she corrected. "I know who you
are, fool."
"Huh?"
"You got about two seconds to get the *flip* outta here, before I start wailing."
"I know who you ...
are," he ignored her warning, but heeded her grammar lesson, "and I want to talk to you before--"
But he never got the chance to finish his statement. "HELP!!!" Vicious screamed, banging upon the stall's inner wall one side, and the shack's thin metal bulwark on the other. "HELP!!! RAPE!!! RAAAAPE!!!" The entire restroom (being mostly made of tin) was shaking a bit.
The man cursed, telling her to keep her voice down, but of course that was not on her agenda. Within another five seconds, he gave up! Vacated the Women's Room in a hurry. She could hear his feet scuffling, and the shack's door opening then slamming shut. Vicious used the opportunity to rush out of the stall, gun pointed and ready! A moment later, somebody opened the shack's entry door, and began to rush in. Vicious's trigger finger gave a few ounces of pull.
"Hey! Hey, what's going on here?" Somebody was rushing in. Are you alright?"
It was the blonde lady from the bar. Vicious searched her memory a second. Lucy West. Vicious relaxed, put her cheap, tarnished pistol back in its holster. "Hey," Vicious said forcefully, almost shouting. "Did you see some fool go rushing out of here? Sounded like he was moving in a hurry?"
"No! Why, no!" Lucy said, alarmed.
Miss Vicious rushed right by Lucy, out into the night, again readying her gun. Got into a stance, pointed this way and that. But the man who'd been in the restroom (nor any man at all) was not to be seen. Vicious was joined outside by Lucy.
"There was a dude in there," Vicious told Lucy West, her voice calming, but her pistol still affixed to her right palm. "Dude came bustin' into my stall, right as I'm doin' my thing, you know? I think he was in there trying to... I don't know." She holstered her gun, disappointed. "Damn. I coulda taken care of him too. If only."
"Hey, well, I didn't see anybody, honestly." Lucy grabbed Vicious's wrist. "I heard you screaming in there though, and ... you know how it is. Things are not easy here in Megaton either, as you just witnessed firsthand in Moriarty's."
Vicious said nothing. Looked to the scrap-metal planking below her feet.
Damn.
"Hey, don't be sad!" said Lucy. "Come with me. Come on. We'll have another drink, okay? It'll be on me. And then you can come to my place. Nobody will come crashing into my pad without dealing with my Little Prince, right?" she said, patting the piece at her side.
"Well..." A free beer, and then a free, safe place to stay? Why argue with fortune? "Well, okay. I guess. If you sure about it."
"I am. We need to stick together, out here. You can crash on my couch, it'd be lovely, in fact, if you did. My brother Ian has been away for awhile, and I think .... well... why don't you just follow me?"
Miss Delicious did so. Whoever's voice she had heard in the restroom was not to be heard again that night.
"Shoulda busted a cap right into dude," Vicious muttered, while the two ladies returned to Moriarty's.
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Gob the Bartender"You want me to do WHAT?""I'm getting out of here!"The bat comes out...First base...Second base... Go Ichiro!Mister Burke has been pwned.Just another day in the Capitol WastelandThis post has been edited by Renee: Oct 5 2020, 06:06 PM