Miss Vicious , 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.

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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]

Don't waste your time fighting blind-minded thoughts of despair
Hold on! To your love...


Lucy West woke the next morning, feeling optimistic.

Adjusting to life in cramped and quirky Megaton had been challenging at times. The letters she’d sent to her family up in Arefu hadn’t been answered for over a week, definitely a cause for concern. But she felt more optimistic this morning. She had made herself a new friend.

Sun was shining through the tiny cracks in her tin metal bedroom, a gentle summer breeze creaked its joints. Lucy and her new friend hadn't spent long chatting the night before, when suddenly Taneesha yawned. Not a stifled-under-her-writst sort of yawn, but a real jaw-cracking, open-faced mawing. It was though her guest hadn't meant to do it. "Uh, sorry," Taneesha said, grinning. "You don't know the day I had...you only got to see the end of it."

But Lucy got it immediately, she understood. Stood right up off her couch, allowing her guest a place to rest. Talk could wait until the next morning. It had been a long day. Not to mention, Taneesha had come into town from the wasteland, where every day was a long day.

After going to bed upstairs, Lucy was surprised to hear her visitor began to mutter to herself. Taneesha was doing so quietly, but the night was also quiet, and Lucy's place fostered a slight echo. So, it was impossible not to hear. Lucy focused her ears. Curiosity. After a moment, she realized Taneesha was saying some sort of prayer. Not to Atom, but to God! “Phew,” Lucy exhaled. One thing she did not want was to have one of those nuts in her home.

So ... this next morning. It came as a surprise when Lucy woke with vigor, clamped downstairs to her living room / kitchen, but then discovered her new friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Taneesha?"

Lucy moved quickly past her home's entrance, peering into its pantry area. No Taneesha. Instead, Lucy found a note, propped upon her scrappy dining table.

Hey Miss West,

Thank you for letting me stay. Sorry I have to run.. but I don’t want to be a burden or anything. I feel like maybe I Maybe I’ll see you around town.

Taneesha

“Well shoot,” Lucy said aloud, a little saddened. She had just begun to think perhaps she and Taneesha could embark on a little adventure. Headed northeast. Maybe to Arefu itself. "I do hope I'll see her around town," she mused as she poured herself some Sugar Bombs.

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THE BRASS LANTERN, 9:52 AM

"Now I KNOW I've never seen you in Megaton, right?" Jenny Stahl, The Brass Lantern's cook, asked the young lady standing before her. "We get people passing through here all the time. Anyway if you're hungry, you came to the right place. What can I get you?"

Still early morning it was. Taneesha's head ached slightly from the previous night's alcohol. "Mac and cheese," she answered, looking forward to an actual hot meal, her first in almost a week. She gazed around momentarily, then focused upward. Thought she caught a glimpse of Lucy West leaving her two-story box, high above. She felt a little something about that, like maybe she should not have left Lucy's place so abruptly. That lady had been so kind the night before. But ...Taneesha Jones had never been the sort who liked to freeload off of other people. Last night had been an exception.

"Hey, I won't say it's all fresh," said the cook, "but it'll keep you going,"

Taneesha sat down next to a blonde lady wearing black and white armor, thinking it was the most fantastic set of armor she'd ever seen. Like something out of an action comic. Jericho, that bastard, stood off to the side, watching Jenny heat up Taneesha's breakfast. Thankfully, he was being quiet this morning. Behind them both, a lady wearing a guard's outfit strolled amongst a smattering of settlers. And as always, Confessor Cromwell had already begun his morning sermon.

"...Give your bodies to Atom, my friends! We shall see our release from the pain and hardship of this world, as we leap into Atom's glow...!"

"Oh my guhd." Taneesha tried to stifle her voice, hoped she succeeded. And ah, her meal was ready. Goopy mac & cheese carbohydrates, poured righteously. She began to dig in, the food was good and hot. Taking a second mouthful, then a third. The pasta squished delightfully in her mouth. At this moment, she felt a sudden hand upon her shoulder.

"Don't try the noodles." It was the blonde in the gleaming black and white armor, getting up to leave, speaking matter-of-factly under her breath. "I think I saw something moving in mine."

Taneesha chuckled. Had another bite, then looked to her left. The blonde in the fantastic hero armor was already nowhere to be seen.

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THE CHURCH OF THE CHILDREN OF ATOM

"The Confessor is truly the Child of Atom," said a dark-skinned man as Taneesha walked in the church's door. He was imparting to Taneesha what she assumed he thought was divine wisdom.

She walked a few steps more into Atom's church, her shoes whispering upon sheet metal floor.

"Speak to the Confessor, or the Mother, if you wish to know more." This was said by a large-chested woman wearing an armless white shirt. The woman's shirt was white, but stained with a few dark flecks which Taneesha assumed was blood.

"I .. uh, do dwell within Atom's Glow." Taneesha tried, before having a seat at a table nearby. Oh my guhd, what am I doing here? she thought to herself, fidgeting a cigarette from her satchel. Suddenly, she was a little nervous. She needed to think. And sometimes, having a smoke was the best way to do it.

Thing is, the Children of the Church of Atom's members frequently turned over, as some "children" joined, and some children stayed. Others? They moved on. So she wouldn't be noticed as an outsider, at least not right away. But still. What exactly was she doing back in the church? As she exhaled some smoke, she hoped the two children at the other table would leave her alone. And they did.

She thought back to the Year 2275, when she had first arrived in Megaton. Scared, and seventeen. The group of Jehovah's Witnesses she'd been traveling with had scattered some days before (getting constantly shot at had helped), now she was on her own. In her previous faith, The End was always coming, and always The End was near. Better prepare for Paradise, as those who were faithful would trend towards the Kingdom of Zion. The Earth would perish in fire and hailstones. All of this was always given some date just ahead, whether this date be weeks, months, or years. It was how she had been raised. Perhaps it was because of this religious background that she'd instantly flocked to the building she was in now. Being within its walls, she cared little for their faith. But at least she had gained back some of the life she had known.

Back then, she had had good reason to flock toward the church. Where else was she going to go? Heading back north to her home was not an option; she'd never make there alive, especially on her own. But now? Where else could she go now? Maybe back to Big Town. Yeah, that could be. Nobody really worked in Megaton except the cook, the bartenders, the merchant, and Sherriff Simms. The whore in Moriarty's. The folks who ran the clinic. But in Big Town, everybody had a job, everybody who was able, that is. She could head there, maybe get back on her feet under less constrained conditions.

She nodded to herself, crushing her cigarette into an ash tray. Got up, and headed toward the church's refrigerator. Everything would be okay, she thought as she opened the fridge, grabbing some iguana meat. She could stay here the night perhaps, maybe say a few "hail Atoms" here and there. Otherwise, she'd be out of Megaton by the next day.

"Hey put that back!" the lady in the armless shirt with its dried blood exclaimed.

"Stop! Thief!" a man called aloud, getting up from across the room. He paced over quickly, and snatched the food from Taneesha's hand.

"But I thought--" she started.

But what was the use? They knew, somehow. She was not one of them. In the past, this wouldn't have mattered. The church's refrigerator had been communal during her previous Church of Atom stay. Obviously, this had changed. Not wishing to cause any more concern, she left the church's confines quickly.

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Lucy West

Mac & Cheese breakfast

The Church of Atom

"Oh my guhd."