Miss Vicious , Her saga and story... Options

[Acadian]

Listen to SageRosa.

[Renee]

Wow, that's great advice! I just want to be able to kick back and relax, knowing the story is posted. But not to worry, here comes the next episode.


Episode 73: Instincts

Date: Sunday, October 7, 4:40 AM


"Hallowed Moor regiment, this is Dog Palace, copy? ... Hallooooowed Moor, can I get a ten-four? Over!"

For hours, Dogmaster's second-in-command had been at it, calling into both of their Georgetown hams (each radio tuned to a different frequency) while Dog was half-crazy, wandering in and out of the mansion.

"Hallowed .... Moor .... regiment! Agh, this is aggravating!"

It'd been a long time since either of them had slept. Dog and Cheese Head had received an enormous shipment of Peru's finest the day before, which was now keeping them going. Cheese had discovered that South America had survived the Great War without getting hit by countless bombs, and was eager to trade with the North. The cartels were gone, but plenty of hillside farms were still in business down there. The two crimebosses were hoping to soon extend their product throughout the Wasteland.

Problem is, Cheese and Dog so far had a literal ton of supply, but hadn't yet built their demand! --- So for now, there'd be no end to this party: they could snort the stuff until their noses fell off. They could keep themselves awake until they'd literally crash & burn, with nothing close to a safety net to catch them. In the Twenty-third century there is no equivalent to a Narcotics Anonymous, or even a network of friends/family to save their souls once they've hit rock bottom. Not that either of them would make it to NA's First Step: admitting they are powerless over their addictions. Dogmaster, admit he is powerless?

"The hell's goin' on up there?" Dog stomped into the radio room. He wavered a bit on his feet; his paranoia way beyond.

"Duh-dunno," was Cheese's answer. "Last we heard from the the ... the Talons, our very own Vicious had gone down into the ...

"What? Gone down where?" Dog's face loomed over one of the hams like a gargoyle.

"That she gone down into the cave to guh-grab the boy.... and the Talon, he.. he... had discovered what she was up to."

"Y-you think she made it???" Dog asked this while nearby servant began chopping another line of nose sugar. Hell, make it two.

"Dunno hoss. Not a clue."

The pair continued bombing their brains and trading turns in front of the radios for the rest of the night. Wasn't until sometime later in the morning, after they'd succumbed to fatigue and had crashed on the floor, that the call finally came in...

"Hallowed Moor regiment to Dog Palace..."

... both of them virtually backflipped off the floor, leapt toward the intercom tuned to 50 MHz, practically slamming into each another. "Dog Palace, ten-four..."

Apparently, the rest of the Talons from Fort Bannister had finally arrived at Hallowed Moor Cemetery at oh-nine-fifty hours. And what they had to report was disturbing. Everyone on the premises had been killed, including G Zuss himself! Only a couple wastoid chicks from his flock were found wandering sadly about.

Where is Vicious? What happened to the slaves?

Most of all, what happened to the boy? The boy which Dogmaster wanted for his own collection of humans?

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10:15 am
The morning is overcast, cold, and drizzly. They'd spent the night in Big Town's Common House, a place where anyone can stay, assuming they are decent folk.

Taneesha Jones had slipped out of her tramp clothes and back into raider armor by now; an effort to halve the attacks she and Chuckles could potentially face as they travel south to Georgetown. She has full confidence that she, herself, will be fine. Hopefully, any raiders they encounter will leave Chuck alone. If not, Vicious's plan is: "He's my son, back off!" Which should work. Because even vile outlaws such as raiders often possess a soft spot for kids. They were all kids once, themselves.

And if that doesn't work, well.... we all know what'll happen next.

"Hey, why are you dressed like a raider?" Chuck asked after Vicious emerged from the bathroom.

And the standard parental answer: "Some things you'll understand when you get older, Chuck."

As the pair of G Zuss survivors leaves Big Town; Red, Kimba, and Shorty waving goodbye, a loud commotion occurs to the north. "Whoa, you see that?" From their vantage point, they are able to witness the landing of a Vertibird across the bridge. Three of them, actually.

Vicious takes a gander through her binoculars, before handing them to the boy.

"HaHaHa!" Chuck chuckles. "Are those Talons?"

Both of them begin cracking up as they watch. - The aeroplanes' doors open wide. An entire platoon of soldiers exits the 'birds after they make their landings, all wearing drab grays and greens. They search the vicinity of Hallowed Moor Cemetery like a bunch of confused ducklings pecking for scattered birdseed. Vicious and Chuckles witness Bannister's sarges from a distance as they bark orders to two-dozen grunts. They begin searching in wide concentric circles, trying to discern what'd happened.

"Look't them all, Chuckles! Buncha nitwits. .... Uh oh! Seems like one of them just found the flamethrower dude I dispatched with my Blamhammer. ... Aww, ain't that sad."

"You got him good!" Chuck grins. "You're like a comic book hero, Tan!"

The Talons are confused and angry, shouting and blaming each other in the distance. If only they'd flown in the previous day, things might now be under control. But it seems they've missed whatever happened the night before, and now someone's got questions to answer.

"C'mon, Chuck. Let's go, before they get the idea to investigate over here."

"Okay!"

"Hey, Red? Shorty? Kimba? You never saw us, okay?"

The residents of Big Town promise to keep quiet. Their only worry is their homes and houses could get massively searched in X amount of time, problem being that most of the slaves had arrived from Hallowed Moor the night before.

Chuck and Vicious begin walking south. Vicious takes a moment here and there to occasionally look behind, glancing through her binocs, until she can no longer see the chapel or the soldiers.

... And now that she's got the time to think and ponder upon the situation with the boy, questions begin to arise. She and Chuck had had a longish talk the night before about the whole 'father' thing. Taneesha had decided that for now, perhaps it's best not to reveal the full story to the boy. What would happen if he learns his father is one of the very top crime bosses in the entire central Atlantic region?

Her conclusion: Something seems fishy about her latest assignment. Pieces falling into place. She's got no idea why her intuition is triggering, but she sure has plenty of doubts.

- The boy had insisted he'd never had a father, or even a father figure, his whole, entire life. He'd been raised an orphan by a group of traveling merchants for a while, then had been dropped in front of Little Lamplight for whatever reason; the adults had not explained why.

- Seems Chuckles had never suffered memory loss. Never had a concussion, never had his head smashed while playing stickball, and so on. His memories from the age of five or so are pretty much intact, is Tan's overall thought. Red, Big Town's doctor-in-residence, agrees with Tan's assessment.

- Something about georgetown had been written in G Zuss's ledger, along with an obvious manifest of slave descriptions. "georgetown" been scribbled in the same handwriting as the rest of the page, so obviously the prophet himself had written it. But it'd been written in such a way that it seems part of a code. Question: why would G add Georgetown into his notes at all? Just the fact that 'georgetown' had been written into the manifest, and Georgetown happens to be where Dogmaster runs his operation...

"Something ain't right."

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2:34 PM
The morning rain had cleared to a glorious but chilly afternoon. Vicious by then had protected the boy from one bloatfly, two molerats, and a small radscorp. Each time, Chuckles did the right thing; he'd rush off, then dive into some tall grass or behind a bush. Each time, there'd be a moment of dread after combat was over, Tan wondering if he was okay. But the boy had Wasteland Smarts. He'd hide, then find her once the shooting was over.

None of the raiders they passed raised a fuss about Chuckles. The raiders of Springvale overpass, the hooligans outside Super Duper Mart, the thugs just west of Bethesda Ruins, they pretty much ignored him.

Passing by Super Duper Mart, Vicious got the sudden urge to see if Bratty and Q-Tip were still inside. But the moment passed. And maybe it really was time to move on from those two, for good. She'd grown up a lot, past few weeks. Chances are they had not, and never would.


3:10 PM
Tan and Chuck stopped by Megaton for an hour, to grab a bite to eat. Tan had changed clothes yet again, back into her jeans + crop top combination. She wondered if she'd see Lucy West during her brief stay, but Tan's former friend had not emerged to Megaton's plaza.

Being around such genteel society, people greeting each other with casual comments about the weather and mostly being nice, triggered something within the boy. He began fantasizing aloud about his father. Wondering if he's also got brothers and sisters to play with. Already, he's building it up in his head: Christmas toys and birthdays and family Zonopoly games around the fire.

Ohhh no.... thinks Taneesha Jones. Not even close.

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5:45 pm
Tan (redressed in Vicious armor) and Chuckles finally make it! Tepid Sewers, straight ahead. Though the rescuer's doubts had continued to swirl, she could not think of any reason why she shouldn't continue the mission, taking the boy to his father. But should she at least warn Chuck about who his father is and what he does? Or should she allow the boy to be surprised? Either way, Tan (at some point) began to realize she was becoming attached to little man.

As they near the sewer's door, a familiar figure comes striding the avenue toward them.

"Oh no."

"What?" asked Chuckles.

"It's the chump."

"The Chump?"

"Hey Vicious, it me." Lamont Stamford, the man who'd gotten Taneesha involved with Georgetown in the first place, walks toward them. Still wearing his Chinese officer's jumpsuit, still dabbed in cologne. "Remember me?"

"Course I remember you, chump."

"Ha ha very funny. So, I see you got the boy. How ya doin' kid?" Stamford asks, hunkering down on his knees like adults do when speaking to children.

Wary of strange grownups, Chuckles says nothing. And that's fine. Lamont stands fully. Pulls Vicious away from the boy so the elders can engage in Big People Talk.

"So um, listen," Lamont says, keeping his voice low. "I got something to tell you, and maybe you won't be surprised."

"Oh yeah?" Here we go. "Does it have anything to do with a connection between G Zuss and Dogmaster?"

"Hey, you got it," Stamford says. "I know you think I'm a *D-bag*, and maybe you's still pissed I got you into this mess. But there are a few things about the Dog you don't know."

"I'm listening."

"The man's not just into chems, not just branching into Dukov's game, prostitution, that is. Dog is also a slaver. A slaver who's got even greater reach than G Zuss, having access to all the local raiders."

"Dag. I'm actually not surprised."

"Just think about that. Think about Dogmaster, getting on his radios, recruiting the thousands under his command. Instead of them rumbling innocents like usual, he's got them kidnapping Wastelanders. For money. And he's got the clout, believe me. 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue. Treasury Building, I've seen it. Piles of cash as big as a house. Man's gonna own the Wasteland if he ain't stopped."

To prove what he's saying, Lamont hands Vicious some documents. Vicious takes a look at a couple of them before getting impatient. "Hey, I don't need to see those. I believe you."

"I don't know why he wanted the boy specifically," Lamont continues. "Why that kid became Dog's latest want. But there ain't no way that boy..."

"His name is Chuckles."

"Right. Ain't no way Chuckles is Dogmaster's son. For one thing, I know for a fact the Dog can't have no kids."

"Really?"

"He told me one night, after his second bottle of Pinot. Man is impotent. Or whatever the word is, for those who can't reproduce."

"Um, pretty sure that's sterile. So really? Dog can't have no children? Well hmm."

"Anyway. So, I'll take it from here. Take the boy, that is," Lamont suggests. "Ready to come with me Ch--"

"Oh no, no, no, no HELL no. You will not take Chuckles from me! The boy is mine!"

She stops herself (whoa!)... becomes conscious... of her fingers.... which'd just inched toward her Tazer. Cripes. What the? Tough gal Vicious, maternal instincts she doesn't even know she has, kicking in.

"Err... he's under my watch, is what I meant to say. Ain't no way I'm letting him get away from me, dig? Um, not until he's safe, that is."

"Okay, hey, that's cool," Stamford's got his palms out; same gesture he'd used when Tan the cleaning lady had threatened him on the boat. "Well, take him to Rivet City, then. Hey, maybe I'll come with you. But we ain't going to Georgetown."

And this becomes the plan. While Cheese Head and Dogmaster stress and worry and snort themselves into oblivion, barking and screaming at their 'servants' with endless demands, Dog finally getting into his Vertibird with a pilot so they can search from the air, Vicious and Lamont casually lead Chuckles to Rivet City, where hopefully he'll be safe behind a zillion of tons of galvanized steel.

"Soooo, I'm still going to meet my father?"

"Kid, that fool ain't your father."


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Leaving Big Town

Blamhammered Bloatfly (ewww....)

Raiders leave Chuckles alone (phew....)

The Chump

No way the kid is Dog's, the man is impotent. Think that's the term.

Blamming a centaur

Sneaking by supermutant camp -- (by then the Blamhammer was nearly kaput, and her Badlands armor falling apart...)

Mission Complete!

"Let's get some Sugar Bombs, Chuckles."

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Notes: Welcome to Level 9! I rewarded Vicious a thousand XP for brining the boy to Rivet City! Which boosted her a whole level. Added points into Energy Weapons, Small Guns, Sneak, Repair, and Speech. Gave her the Toughness perk.

Maybe in the future I'll continue gaming with Tan like I still do with Janet. There just won't be a huge story...

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 25 2024, 04:46 PM

[Lopov]

I was right in thinking that Dogmaster tricked Taneesha! But I didn't know that he's a slaver! Damn bastard! I thought that maybe the boy witnessed something that he wasn't supposed to see and that the Dogmaster wants him dead. It's good that Tan decided to "keep" the boy and protect him. Though I think that we haven't seen the last of the Dogmaster. He doesn't come across as someone that lets his prey go away lightly.

Agh, this is aggravating!"

Do you know, who you just almost quoted? Yours (and mine) "favorite" BG companion - Xzar!

Montaron, you are so AGGRAVATING!

[Acadian]

Well that was a twist I didn't see - Chuckles is not the Dog's pup. Now I'm wondering (as Chump and Tan are) why he's so keen on getting this particular lad.

And Dog's also into slavery. Probably shouldn't be surprised.

Tan's reaction when Chump tried to take custody of Chuckles was magnificently done and you built up to it perfectly, with several hints that the lad was worming his way into Tan's heart.

Back to Blivvet Pritty! Tan can teach Chuckles to be the assistant to the assistant cleaning woman. . . or not.

[SubRosa]

So the Dog and Cheesester are making use of the old Bolivian Marching Powder to stay awake while they try contact their peeps on the radio.

Wait a minute. Dogmaster wants the boy for his own collection of humans? That sounds... distrubring. Did he lie to Miss V about Chuck being his son, in order to convince her to rescue him? Or did she just kidnap him from a different kidnapper?

I take it those 3 vertibirds full of mercenaries are the same ones who reported to Dogmaster on the radio. I wonder if they will pick up on Miss V and Chuck's trail, and begin a pursuit?

It looks like Miss V is suspicious too. That reference to Georgetown in G-Zuss' files implies that he was supplying Dogmaster with slaves. But why would the Dog be so interested in this one kid, that he would go to all the trouble of wrangling up Miss V and sending her after him? Chuck must be important somehow.

Miss V effortlessly switches back and forth between identities. She is like a superhero, or villain, as the case may be.

There it is, Lamont came clean, and explained what Dog is up to. They can go to Rivet City, but I don't think the Dogmaster is going to just give up after all this. He is going to go after Miss V. Unless she goes after him first. It looks like the Wasteland is not big enough for the two of them.

[Renee]

Argh... nit ... nit .. nit... correction.... clarification...Sheesh!

This post has been edited by Renee: Today, 10:46 AM

Yeah yeah...

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 25 2024, 10:13 PM

[macole]

Blammhammering bloatflies. Good times, yeah

[Renee]

Well happy holidays Part One. We had a good Thanksgiving here yesterday. Stayed up with my brother & mom until nearly 2. But I'm unable to sleep hardly past 9, if that, due to lifelong habits of

So I decided to break the final, upcoming episode into two, it just is better this way because this week's story will be more relaxed to write, while next week will be more intense, to read and to write.

@macole, vampire hunter: Sounds like you've got some experience. Have you ever Blamhammered a bloatfly? 🦟


@SubRosa Florens: Bolivian Marching Powder!

Did he lie to Miss V about Chuck being his son, in order to convince her to rescue him?

Yes. Even the word "rescue" is going too far actually. This has become a Tale of Two Slavers, although Dog is more of a buyer, G focused more on selling.

And yes, the same Talon speaking on the radio to Doggie dog & Cheesy is one of the soldiers from Fort Bannister who landed in the 'bird. See, Tan and the slaves got out just in time. If she'd waited until morning to make her move there'd be no way, because the place is now swarming with Talon Company!!!

It looks like Miss V is suspicious too. That reference to Georgetown in G-Zuss' files implies that he was supplying Dogmaster with slaves.

Yes. They've been corresponding for sure.

But why would the Dog be so interested in this one kid, that he would go to all the trouble of wrangling up Miss V and sending her after him? Chuck must be important somehow.

I don't really know. Maybe it's because Dog & G had some sort of agreement which fell through, and G owed Dog X number of humans. Or it's a simple dispute of money (as is often the case in the underworld).

Or... maybe Dog is way delusional. Saw the boy's picture in G Zuss's latest 'catalog' of pictures. Really wanted Chuckles to play the (forced) role of his son, since he, himself cannot reproduce. If that's true, he wants Chuck to become his protégé in some sick/twisted way. He'll teach son everything there is to know about wh0ring, bossing, and slaving.

I'm leaving some mystery here.

They can go to Rivet City, but I don't think the Dogmaster is going to just give up after all this. He is going to go after Miss V. Unless she goes after him first.

There ya go!


@Acadian the Paladin: There are a bunch of twists, this is true. And there are few more to come. See it's better this final chapter's getting split in two; it'd be close to 4,000 words otherwise. Some impact would get lost.

Alright, had a thought. I think G Zuss was purely into the money side of slavery. He's taking members from his flock who "won't be missed" and trafficking them for money. Dogmaster has been a buyer in the past, but is thinking of expanding into becoming a full trafficker. It's not very well explained, but you may have noticed Dog has servants who bring him wine. Those are actually slaves that he's bought. I never got around to fleshing that side of the story as much.

Dog didn't want G killed because G & Dogmaster have worked together in the past, but there was some sort of disagreement between the two, and Vicious was merely supposed to grab the boy and go. Thing is, Doggie had no idea Miss Vicious has a conscience. 🐶 And that she'd act upon it.

Hey thanks!

..... Yeah, Ribbet [censored]ty!


@LadyOfMaribor: Yes you were right. I love how ppl seem surprised that Dogmaster is just a lowdown, dirty dog who tried to play Vicious.

I thought that maybe the boy witnessed something that he wasn't supposed to see and that the Dogmaster wants him dead.

That'd actually be an excellent plot twist! - And yeah, Tan becoming sort of maternal towards the boy is something she did not expect.

That's funny Xzar says "aggravating". I Mean cripes, LOOK WHO'S TALKING!


What's going on outside? Alright, it's very firmly overcast, not sunny at all. ☁ Weather was wrong, but that's okay. Supposed to be sunny tomorrow all day. So I'll finish my Skyrim install today, and do the Vicious gaming tomorrow.

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 29 2024, 04:55 PM

[Renee]

Episode 74: From Day Job to Decision

Tuesday, October 9, 2277


It'd been nearly two weeks since she'd left Rivet City, recruited for the missions of Georgetown. Now that she's back aboard the ship, firmly returned to ordinary life, survived a whirlwind of dangerous activities, and liberated four slaves, Taneesha Jones is a bit messed up. She needs a few days for herself, to think and let go.

She returns to her cleaning job. The work is methodical and meditative, just what she needs, and there's plenty to do.







In just ten days (thereabouts), the residents of RC have already trashed a lot of common areas, and nobody's bothering to clean! -- Well, Janna Torr still sweeps and mops the Marketplace, concentrating mostly on the floor of Gary's Galley, but the rest of the ship is once again a mess. Several RC residents greet Tan cheerily as they catch her picking up cans and bottles, scavenging pieces of scrap metal, spraying doorknobs and staircase railings with Abraxo. Those who'd conversated with Tan during her initial janitorial days sometimes ask where she's been. - It's nice that these folks noticed her absence at all: folks like Father Clifford, Shrapnel, Angela Staley, even Cindy Cantelli, the market's notorious chem merchant. Seems "Tan the Jan" had made an impression.

"Hey Miss Jones! Did you go somewhere? Haven't seen you in a while."

The cleaning lady can only answer in vague terms. "Had to return to Megaton," or "Caught a bug, was stuck in my room." Never does she go into details. Not that it would make much sense if she did. "Well I got called by the Potomac's top raider boss, who wanted me to assassinate two defector deadbeats, and for that I got paid enough money for the rest of my life. But THEN he convinced me to rescue a young boy who is supposedly his son; the boy'd been enslaved, you see. ...But get this! Me and a high-ranking member of that same raider boss, a lieutenant who has recently decided to double-cross his ruthless employer, have determined that the kid can't possibly be his, so now here I am, back at my day job, trying to decide what to do next! Hey, can you hand me that washcloth?"

--The full story would no doubt cause a lot of scratched heads, knitted brows, and awkwardly-changed subjects, while whomever she's talking to suddenly has 'somewhere to be', in an environment where hardly anyone needs to be anywhere!

The boy had become a handful. After his liberation, Tan noticed the kid was hyper, but she'd chalked that up to the excitement of escaping the cave.

But no, turns out the kid is just hyper. Always running about the Marketplace instead of sitting still, Tan needing to reprimand the youngster occasionally. There's never any challenge from him at these moments; Chuckles never talks back. He considers Taneesha Jones the equivalent of a superheroine; the boy obeys his rescuer, but it's more than that. He puts Tan on a pedestal.

"She's like a character from one of those ancient videogames!" Tan overhears Chuck saying to a guard one day. "Call of Shooty or Grand Theft Cargo or Fallout Antics!"

"Fallout," the guard replies, "Great game. I once had a Preystation Handheld encoded with Fallout 18. Sometimes I feel like we're all a part of that gaming franchise, eh?"

"Whoa, an adult who plays videogames! I never heard that before!"

But it's also the fact he's twelve. Most kids his age, after being told that their new home is going to be an entire naval ship, are going to go nuts with curiosity and exploration. Which is exactly what happened. Throughout the day and into the night, it'd become a challenge keeping tabs on the kid's location. Top of this, trying to get the kid to fall asleep at night next to an alcoholic bar doesn't help, sheesh.

The boy is doing what his new 'mommy' tells him, at least. He follows her rules: no wandering into the Upper Deck, keep yourself around adults at all times, no talking to strangers, and so on. Tan allows him to explore the ship while she goes to work, "as long as". He gets lost within Rivet City's corridors just like she does, but that's as bad as it gets.

Overall, Chuckles is rarely a brat. In fact, Bratty is way brattier!

Thing is, Taneesha is enjoying her return to civilian life, but! ...she can't get too comfortable. Soon, it'll be necessary to confront the situation in Georgetown head-on, somehow.

Because Dogmaster? He's still out there. With billions of Prewar bills at his disposal, the Dog can pay dozens of scouts if he wants, who'll then scour the entire Wasteland looking for Vicious and the boy.

"If the Chump could find me here on this ship, any halfwit with the promise of riches can do so."

Question is: does the Dog realize she's no longer playing by his rules? Does he know she and the boy are even alive? Only a matter of time before he finds out. And he won't stop paying scouts, paying less gentlemanly versions of Lamont Stamford that is, until he does.

Speaking of money, Taneesha gets paid forty caps from Janna Torr, first day back, which amuses her to no end. Especially because the payment Cheese promised came true: a suitcase full of nine-thousand bills had been delivered to her Rivet City room for assassinating Cr4nk and BODDY-BAGGZ. The Custodian from Ellicott City is worth just over 60,000 caps for assassinating those two, yet still derives satisfaction from earning a few dozen cleaning behind a ship full of lazybutts.

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Tuesday Evening
"There you are!" Aspiration calls after running into Taneesha on Day Two of her return, just outside the Muddy Rudder. "Damn girl, thought you was a goner!"

"Nope, I'm back," Taneesha says. "Returned just yesterday."

"Well, come have a drink with me, come on, let's go have a, ahh, whoops! Sorry 'bout that. You still a teetotaler?"

"Yep, still am," Tan says proudly. "Actually, how long has it been since I've partaken?" She thinks back a bit while both women have a seat. "September 27 was my last cig," she realizes. "Fifteen days sober."

Belle Bonnie rushes over. "The usual?" she asks. "Yeah," the ladies answer. Which means: a Cuban cocktail for Aspiration, glass of dirty water for Tan.

"Whatcha been up to, anyway? How was Georgetown?" Aspiration asks. "Uh, never mind. I actually don't want to know."

Tan's relief at that moment is immense.

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Location: Georgetown West, Dogmaster's Palace
Date : Thursday, October 11

Three miles away, the initial all-nighter binge between Dogmaster, Cheese Head, and a few trusted minions had become an all-around, nonstop blowout.

The "Dog Palace" had become a combination brothel / party house over the past few days, attracting Dukov's off-duty *hookers* and the company of several of the Wasteland's more ... uh... sociable personalities, who were being flown in on Dog's Vertibird as word spread far and wide. All due to that ginormous shipment from Peru.

Things started off slowly. A trusted guard inviting his girlfriend over, who invited her girlfriend, who then called her homies at the wharf, who then asked permission to bring a D.J. over to liven up the music... It was fun at first, but now things were getting out of hand.

After a few fights and other moments of ruckus, Dog and Cheese tried to enforce a dress code. Because that was the first step to ensure party guests behaved back in Prewar days, right? They also began charging money upfront (not required for hottie females; the more *tarts*, the better). Dog's guards were supposedly not allowed to use the Bolivian blow, but it became all too easy to sneak a bump or a bag here and there. Pretty soon everyone in Georgetown West was wasted.

Because of this, Dogmaster's attention became constantly distracted. He'd initially been wanting answers right away about the situation with his 'son', but finding the boy and Vicious had been pushed way to the backburner, as partygoers wandered in and out, everyone wanting to dance, snort, and fornicate, everyone complimenting the Dog on his elegant home and the never-ending celebration within.

This was how it was back in the day, from what they'd heard. Georgetown wasn't just where politicians lived, it was a place of drugs and debauchery.

Folks (often rich folks) crawling Georgetown's bars and crashing Georgetown's parties, everyone getting sloshed on Chablis, hammered on Henny, cut up on Croak after work. Socializing, carousing, looking for fun. Dogmaster found himself enjoying the sudden attention; he was becoming a celebrity, almost. Because of this, his methods were slipping. He suspected Vicious and the boy were still alive somehow, started thinking it's time to delegate some scouts and soldiers to begin a search. But then he'd get distracted. Maybe a *harlot* wanted to *pluck* his *rooster*, maybe a servant stepped out of line, requiring some verbal discipline.

"Yo, we'll get on that in an hour..." Dog would say to Cheese. An hour became two hours which became "...tomorrow, for sure. Hey, crank dat stereo!"

As the Best Party of 2277 continued into mayhem, nobody was watching the inhouse camera system Cheese had spent weeks wiring up earlier that summer.... Nobody there, seated and alert to view the dark figure tiptoeing the end of Tepid Sewers' passages, where the system's network of cameras began. Cheese himself was completely neglecting his usual duties, he'd been having too much of a blast. Dog's top tech had been a studious Wisconsin nerd growing up, who'd managed to get himself involved with the underworld after answering a call from the Dog's radio 900 miles away, but look at him now!

Nobody was monitoring the cameras when the young, raised-religious female with a shotgun on her back and a 'toy' at her side slid by each screen in Cheese's radio room, one after the other.

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Bugthesda Wastelander Glitch (look closely. That's an NPC all wrapped up in those bars & levers! A generic Wastelander got crushed into the door apparently! )

Tan and Mei - (Mei is the former slave Tan promised to keep safe from harm.)

Play Date

Tan and Janna Torr

Playing Pool



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Notes: With so much money to cash in, the merchants of Rivet City can barely keep up as Tan exchanges it in slowly for caps!

[Acadian]

Tan the (secretly very wealthy) Jan!

Loved the chat about old time vid games like playing Fallout 18 on Preystation!

Great that Chuckles is looking up to Tan as the ‘adult in the room’. He could do ever so much worse than have Jan as a role model and 'parent'.

Good that Dog has been partying his brain cells away. That has given Tan time to recharge, think things over, settle Chuckles into life on the Big Ship, etc. I suspect, she's right - it's not over with her and the Dog.

Now it seems she’s decided to go Dog hunting. After all, there ain’t room in the badlands for both Vicious and Dog.

[Lopov]

Looks like it's Tan that decided to wrap this affair with the Dogmaster up! I expected that he'll send a plat00n of his t00ns after her and maybe he intended this but Tan was faster!

It's the final countdown!

[SubRosa]

So Tan the Jan has returned to Rivet City. I imagine that she will be plotting her next move against the Canine Captain of Crime.

At least Chuck is less bratty that Bratty! It sounds like he might be ADHD.

Yep, those 40 caps from Janna Tor will make a big difference. But at least they came honestly, not covered in blood.

Uh oh, the Bolivian Marching Powder has arrived from Peru. Now it looks like the Dogmaster is going to turn into Tony Montana from Scarface. But I get the feeling that he is the one who is going to meet Miss V's "little friend"...

[Renee]

Hey I'm pretty sick. Went to doc yesterday and it's a combination cold/fever/touch of bronchitis. Chances are story won't get posted until tonight or tomorrow.

Ah yeah, the story. I decided to split the final story in two again, mostly because last week was Thanksgiving, bla bla bla. So this will be this week's story and then NEXT week will be the final story.

@Rosa: Canine Captain of Crime!
Yes, that was my thought too; kid's got ADHD.

We can get into Tan's head for a moment on the money. From her perspective she's not so bothered; she's more concerned about her Witness family up north, and the threats made against them.

One of these days I need to watch Scarface. But your intuition's spot on regarding ... well I don't want to spoil.


@Acadian: Yeah, I wonder if Call of Shooty sucks! Or what we're supposed to do in Grand Theft Cargo: steal warehouse shipments instead of cars?

Thanks.

Good that Dog has been partying his brain cells away. That has given Tan time to recharge, think things over, settle Chuckles into life on the Big Ship, etc.

Correct. Also, she has no idea what's going on atm with Dog. She thinks he's going to send scouts after her and that she only has so much time.


@Lopov: Yes. And as stated above, she thinks Dog is doing X but really he's doing Y. Z shall be the final countdown conclusion.

Have some cake, everyone.

[Acadian]

Aww, hope you're feeling better soon, Renee!

[Renee]

Thanks, Paladin.

Episode 75: Aspirations


Bluebird ran to the cellar to fetch more wine. Sometime in the past year, Bluebird's taskmaster, a man who'd taken the nickname of a canine (something a Cherokee like Jorda would normally respect), had discovered an entire warehouse filled with ancient, premier-quality wines in the D.C. area which had gone unscathed by the Great War. Many crates and bottles were transferred into the Georgetown cellar, where Bluebird now spends many days and hours with the others.

Once a tribe member, now a "servant", Bluebird had been captured in Virginia some months ago, in the Postwar village of ᏧᏍᏆᏅᏁ ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏍᏙᏕᎿ (Smoking Man in the English language). The former tribe member was then negotiated through a network of ham-radio auctions, finally sold to the highest bidder: the man who'd named himself after a canine. Bluebird, like many slaves, had been defiant at first. Resistant and disagreeable. Had tried to exploit the way canine-man was adamant about calling them "servants" rather than "slaves", but oh, the Cherokee had learned quickly that one does not point out such illogical points of view in canine-man's home.

Lately however, things had changed. A whole group of newcomers were virtually invading the Dog House. "ᎤᏴᏫ ᎩᎦᎨᏍᏗ".... Bluebird muttered... partygoers. "ᎦᏙᎵᏙ ᎦᏙᎠ ᎯᎦᎡᎯ ᏅᏯ," Bluebird plans escape from the canine man's home. It's only a matter of time, really. The attentions of canine man's guards had wavered these past few days, as the home's population increased with a slew of well-dressed guests, everybody getting drastically affected by the Devil's powder they'd been consuming.

"ᎦᎾᏟ ᎩᎦᏪᎵ ᏅᏙᏏ," Bluebird said, grabbing a 250 year-old bottle of Sauvignon for the ongoing party upstairs.

Only a matter of time.

Date: Wednesday, October 10, 11:24 AM
Location: Rivet City Stairwell Restroom

"Hey, Tan!" Aspiration calls, wig flopping as she runs toward her friend with a huge grin. High-heels clatter loudly upon the metal floor as she nears the custodian. Amazing she doesn't fall over wearing those things!

"Hmm? What is it?" Miss Jones drops her mop into a bucket of soapy water, splashing a bit. "Can'cha see I'm busy?" She smirks, while Chuck (who'd come along with Tan to 'help' her clean) does some weird little dance.

"Mmm hmm yeah, always cleaning, always spraying, you know you're a miracle, right?" The entertainer's face continues to beam. "Such a gig you've got yourself, making Rivet City sparkle." Aspiration makes a gesture with her hand into the air, like a fairy pointing her magic wand.

"Indeed." Taneesha squeezes soap onto the floor. Begins swabbing the deck. "So... what is it? What's on your mind? Seems you's about to burst with whatever it is."

"Um yah, that is how I feel, about to burst." Aspiration crosses her arms, a puzzled look upon her face. "Because like, why didn't you tell me?"

Tan continues to work; Abraxo-water pushes the floor's grime away. "Tell you? 'Bout what?"

"'About what?' she asks. About Georgetown!"

The mop stops moving. "Georgetown?"

"Um, yah," Aspiration's foot starts tapping the floor, impatient. "About the Biggest Party of Twenty-Two Seventy-Seven, in Georgetown West of all places, where you supposed to've gone?"

Taneesha stands and stares. "Chuckles, go play, or .... something," she says to the boy. Pretty sure that's one of the things parents tell their kids when they need them to be in some other room during 'Big People Time'.

"Come on, don't play! Don't tell me you didn't know about the party. Seems a whole lot of folks headed that way. All kinds of fests going on: dancing, playing, they even got some D.J.s with stacks of Prewar records playing music."

"Do what now?" -- Is she talking about Dogmaster, in any way, shape, or form?

"Hmm, look at you, playing dumb, like you's tryin' to keep it from me," Aspiration shakes her head with mock disapproval. "Well guess what? Now I know, and now I'm goin'. Me and a couple others from R.C., we are going. And I am very surprised you chose not to tell your new, supposed best friend, about the scene up there, mm mmm. Supposed to be in some spot called the Dog House."

Oh, Goddess... "Look, Asp."

Aspiration crosses her arms. "Hmm? I'm listening."

"It is really, actually, not a good idea to head up there. Stuff you don't know. See, the reason I had to go was...." *Crap*, here it is... "Was I had no choice. See, the guy running that party is really a slaver, okay?" Tan blurts while trying to keep a straight face, already knowing how ridiculous the explanation she's about to convey will sound. Yet now that she's started, her prerogative is to finish. "Guy up there threatened to ah... do something mean to my Jehovah's Witness family up north, unless I agreed to take out .... to ah... to uhm..."

Damn, how do I explain? .... Asp will never believe this...

And yes, seems her friend ain't buying it.

"Come on now," Aspiration's hand goes to Taneesha's shoulder. "You don't need to make *stuff* up, mmkay? Maybe you wanted to keep Georgetown a secret, hmm? Keep Georgetown a secret from your friend, hmm? Maybe you got a squeeze up there, whatever. Maybe the boy's father is up there, and somehow you gots custody now, whatevv. Well, guess I understand..." she says dramatically, eyes rolling.

"No, Asp, see, you actually don'--"

"But now that I KNOW, ain't but flood nor fire gonna keep ME away from an actual, an actual, party." The entertainer does a quick twirl. "Been waitin' all my life for a real-life shindig, you know? Dancing! Vogueing!" She does a quick skitter across the floor, almost slipping upon a puddle Tan hadn't yet mopped.

"Hey, watch it! I ain't done cleaning yet!"

"You know how much money I'm gonna make, now that I got what sounds to be a vibeing audience to perform? Lawdy, it just sounds too awesome. I gotta start packing..."

"No, Asp, seriously, NO!"

"Shh, shh my child. Stop it, Tan... Just stop, okay?" Her expression is now serious. "I really am surprised, maybe even disappointed, that you'd not tell me, your supposed friend, about what sounds like it'll be my lifelong dream-audience to perform, mm hmm, okay?"

"Asp..."

"No, ain't no 'Asp', Taneesha. What is it you think you're trying to pull here, keeping such a secret from me when you know I'm all about the princess ball?"

Taneesha Jones tosses the mop to the floor, clatter!, frustrated. How do I even begin...?

"Now. Me and some others, including a couple dudes packing serious heat to keep us safe, are going to start packing for the journey north, you are welcome to come, of course. See, 'cause I always include MY friends...

"Apparently we can just walk through Tepid Sewers to get to the big G.W. The raiders down there are being paid not to mess with anyone traveling through."

"What?! They are?"

"Can't believe you'd choose not to tell me..."

"But I AM trying to tell you..."

"Yah, whatever." Aspiration's hand goes up, palm out. Taneesha's favorite gesture. "NOW you trying to tell me. But why couldn't you tell me couple weeks ago, hmm?"

Taneesha says nothing. What's the point? There are times in life when folks just gotta learn for themselves.

"Listen, we're still cool, okay?" Aspiration continues. "We still cool. But maybe you might want to think about how you treat those who are supposed to be your friends, okay? Because right now I'm a little ticked at you, hate to say, but there it is. Friends don't keep secrets, dig? Not secrets like this."

Taneesha begins to protest, really has no idea what she'll actually say, but by then it's too late.

"Talk to the hand, chica!" Aspiration is gone.


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

Aspiration the Cook -- (When starting this episode she got some new AI which put Asp into Sandbox mode, in Gary's Galley. And she decided to take over the kitchen when we found her! )

"Talk to da hand!"

Aspiration Drama Over


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

Notes: Aspiration's outfit from Little Black Dress by d_ivanov

I changed Aspiration's race to Hispanic because of the face/body mismatch of color. The Alt+F4 trick doesn't work in FO3, and none of the other "fixes" I've found online works.

[Lopov]

Great foggy pic from the Rivet City

Looks like that Taneesha will be a party-breaker in the final story!

"Talk to da hand!"

...and be quiet, child!

---

Get better soon, renegade!

[SubRosa]

Welcome to Bluebird the servant, totally not slave. I appreciated your inclusion the way that people in the real world liked to use the euphemism of servant in order to try to lessen the immorality of enslaving people.

It looks like Aspiration is feeling quite aspirational about the big party in Georgetown. Uh oh, I hope Taneesha can talk her out of going there. She probably end up a slave in no time at all. OTOH, a big blow out like this would be the prefect opportunity for someone to sneak in and off the Dogman, just like the end of Scarface.

Well that was dramatic, hand talking and all. It looks like Taneesha is under the gun here. If she is going to help her friend, she is going to have to get to the Dog Pound before Asp does. Or at least with her. And as long as she is there...

[Acadian]

Nice glimpse of what's going on up at the dog pound through the eyes of Bluebird.

Nothing is ever simple! Now Aspiration is trying to commit suicide by dog dancing and doesn't even realize it! This is likely to accelerate Taneesha's plans and include rescuing the hand that wouldn't listen.

[Renee]

Alright, things are coming together, really want to thank everyone for their attentions here and there.

It's funny how we used to talk about how some things in stories which are "filler" to the writer, become applauded by readers, Lopov. I'm talking about the cloudy pic. I just put that there because I had an extra picture, and it was just a perfect place to put a chapter break. It's not that great to me. A moment before pressing PrintScreen you could see the sun as this vague, silvery disc. But right as I clicked the sun moved under a cloud.

But graci. 🍵 Are you sure that she's going to break the party?


Thank you, SubRosa. Yes, for whatever reason Dog doesn't want to refer to his slaves as slaves. He's got some twisted idea that everyone he's got under his 'employ' wants to be there, because his place is so nice.

Heh ha, still haven't watched Scarface! I wonder if it's on the Criterion channel. Anyway, Aspiration is gone! She definitely went to the party. Whether or not she made it all the way, I'm not sure. Well, even if she's not Essential, she should still make it there. The only enemies along the way which can affect her are mutants, and they don't show up unless the Player (us) is in the same cell. She is also part of a faction compatible with raiders.

Still, you never know what can happen in these open world games.


The Bluebird part (as well as the Asp/Tan argument) were both late additions, Acadian. I had those ideas some time last week while writing the final chapter, and decided they had to go in.

If you'll notice, the timeline between two weeks ago and this upcoming episode got messed up. Somebody is stalking through Tepid Sewers two episodes ago, yet Tan is still in Rivet City last episode. Oops!

Asp should be okay, actually. She's in the same "Renee-added" faction compatible with raiders and Dogmaster himself. Everything will be okay, you'll see.

All: I'm still messing with some quest stuff but the story should go up late tomorrow or on Sunday. Ciao.

[Renee]

Last night we got Chinese food and my fortune cookie message was: "Walk the words you talk. Talk the words you walk." Which sounds like one of those one-liners an action hero would say, right? Pretty apt for the story to come.


Episode 76: Dog Days

Date: Thursday, October 10, 2277


Minimum Temperature: 48.0 °F
Maximum Temperature: 63.0 °F



The dark figure tiptoes the end of Tepid Sewers' passages. Takes a left and stalks into the underground generator room where the network of cameras begins.

Images of a black female, dressed in raider garb and wearing a mask, display across the row of security monitors in Cheese Head's radio room, shuffling perilously closer. The female is not aware of the cameras, yet this doesn't matter.... nobody is monitoring the monitors. Cheese himself is currently busy with a green-haired *bimbo* who'd wandered into the Dog House an hour ago. Hey, you're cute! Wha'cher name! she'd slurred high on croak. Cheese, who'd never seen so much *kitty* in his life, had become utterly preoccupied.

Little does Dogmaster's top tech know he's got less than an hour to live.

Miss Vicious stalks closer. She wears the armor of the Potomac's Badlands gang. Though she has distanced herself from them these past few weeks, she still wears their garb, which allows her to evade attacks from the Wasteland's raiders. Her face is disguised with a mask; a hard plastic facepiece once used for playing the ancient game of hockey. Normally she doesn't cover her face or head; doing so downplays visual and audio cues, which downplays the ability to react. Today, however, she's hoping for the element of surprise. It'll be important to surprise her target at the very last moment.

To further her disguise she's gotten yet another hairstyle: "L'il Devil" Rivet City's barber called it. Practically bald this time! --- Oh no, you got your braids cut! -- the residents of Rivet City cried as they saw her walking around with a nearly-shaved head. But that's just the thing. As soon as she enters the Dog's turf everyone would otherwise know who she is...

The watchdogs of A Cuppa Joe, the once-coffee shop/now Dogmaster's Guard House, had perhaps been instructed to immediately grab Vicious (should she appear unannounced). These are things she suspects, anyway.

Vicious is armed with her customized shotgun, her 'Peace Officer Perp COntrol Resource Mechanism' (POPCORM in Twenty-first century Germantown cop jargon; uh, her Tazer in other words), three grenades and three frag mines. Her guns and her armor had been repaired to perfection by the better gun smith she'd found in Rivet City's Upper Deck; the guy who fixes stuff for the ship's security force.

"Your dog days are done, Dogmaster." She hopes to confront the man before he knows what's coming.

But that's not the only reason she is here. Though she'd been planning to head to Georgetown on her own, Tan's original impetus had gained additional momentum roughly twenty-four hours ago. Not only because Aspiration had decided to head north (causing Vicious/Taneesha to fear for the dancer's life) but also: Lamont Stamford had shown up in Rivet City the day before. Caught her eating lunch at Gary's Galley, actually.

According to Stamford, a coup is about to take place -- an ultimate overturning of power!

Lamont had been performing his duties day after day, week after week: taking orders from Cheese and the Dog while quietly planning with a group of others. -- Dig this, Vicious: we about to stage a revolt, he'd informed. And we need your help with just one thing: take the Dogmaster out, he'd said, casually chomping some precooked Mama Dolce's Salisbury Steak. You take him out, we'll do the rest. -- Payment, even more money than Vicious currently has, shall be given if she is successful, of course. Somebody new will be in charge after 'the job' gets done. Not Lamont himself, but someone just as ruthless (yet supposedly fairer) than Dogmaster.

Honestly, Vicious doesn't care who'll potentially be on top. As long as he or she ain't another *D-bag* slaver who threatens the folks who raised her.

She stalks through a door, climbs a set of ancient stairs which thousands of Metro riders once walked each day, and enters the tunnel's final section. Steps through the gate, and into the plaza of Georgetown West.

A quarter-mile away as the party continues to roar, Dogmaster's intuition suddenly triggers. - 'That small, still voice', the shrinks once called it; the voice which is sometimes heard under all the others chaotically vying for our attention during moments of stress or distraction. From the depths of his newfound snowflake addiction, something deep within the canine's cerebral cortex quietly shouts: pay attention chief, something ain't right.

In the past he would've regarded such a thought. Heeded it. It's his intuition which (like that of Vicious) has kept him alive, surviving the past few years while other meatheads perished, eventually allowing Dog to paw his way to the top.

...The thought is there....

.... the Dogmaster stops.....

...Almost acts upon it. Starts to head into the radio room, just to see if--

...Then it's gone, slipped into the fast-moving chute of rollercoaster-like synapse-flashes which occur during the use of croak.

A new song blasts from Dog's prewar stereo: I got hos... in different area codes.... Some honey begins grinding on the Dog. Hey, great bash! she coos in his ear; yet more praise to boost his enormous, expanding ego. "Wanna go somewhere... special?"

"Yo, where'd you get that suit?" a dude interrupts as the Dog dismisses the honey's offer. "That's pretty fly!"

Compliments and more compliments, Dogmaster is The Man. The dude is referring to the Dog's new 'carpet suit', custom-tailored by one of his more talented apparel servants. The honey is forgotten. Like a bone tempting a dog, the party's host cannot help but chase what he craves most: attention.

Another stray thought flashes within the Dogskull, a little louder than before. This time, the raider boss reacts. Puts down his latest glass of vino... "Yo! Cheese!" he calls.

By then, it's already too late.

"Oh. My. Gosh! What are you doing here?!"

As Vicious makes her way past Radiation King, a quiet outlet store staffed by one lonely scavenger (who'd been enjoying the incredible influx of sales from partygoers looking for extra chems and random goods), a familiar face approaches. Vicious removes her mask.

"Yep, I'm back," says the familiar, red-haired face.

"I can see you're back. But what are you doing here?" She asks the question, yet already knows the answer.

"Probably the same reason you're here," Buck Norris says in his dry, Southern rasp. "Been pondering why I returned to the Wasteland myself, when it's warmer down south."

"You were headed south, but came back?"

"I was," Norris confirms. "Guess it's because I've always been the type to take orders from just one person. And that person is me."

"Oh lord." Vicious mumbles, tongue in cheek. "So full of yourself. But at least you're good at what you do."

"And now it's my turn. What are you doing here?"

Vicious looks around the streets of Georgetown. Suddenly notices: every last raider on the plaza looks to have recently been killed. Only one man remains standing: Buck Norris. "Put it bluntly, I'm here to uh, have a 'visit' with the Dog."

"A-ha..." Norris's brow knits. "Seems we're both here for the same reason. To put it bluntly."

"So..." she catches the man's vibe, the determined look upon his face, and (most of all) the giant knife he's got at his side, which appears recently used. "Funny how life works sometimes. How two unrelated individuals sometimes come to the same conclusion."

"Always remember that success begins inside you, Tan," Norris quips. "If you can't see it first, no one else will."

Taneesha snickers; yet another Buck Norris adage. "Well, doggone it. Shall we have ourselves a look inside the Dog House?"

Though neither of them verbalizes their current intent, both are on the same page.

[][][][][][][][]

3:45 PM
They enter A Cuppa Joe, currently staffed by the same human watchdogs (plus an assortment of actual dogs) as before. Vicious steps forward as Norris hides himself behind a nasty curtain.

"Feefty caps to en-tear da premases," the foreign guy with the dreadlocks says to Vicious. "Udder-wise, you moost leave da way yoo came."

Vicious likes the watchdogs despite whom they're loyal to, so she gives them a choice. She's not paying caps, and she's also not about to exit. In fact it'll be them who should step aside, at least for an hour or so. "Leave the Guard House now, or face consequences." The watchdogs, of course, are not about to give up their precious posts to some lady wearing ragtag armor and a scuffed-up mask from Click's Sporting Goods/circa 2075.

--That's when her unexpected partner reveals himself. "You've heard of Death, right?" out comes Norris, and out comes his knife. "Well, Death once had a near-Buck Norris experience. Want to find out what that means?"

The watchdogs decide they'd like to give it a try. The ensuing fight is typical Wasteland: messy, quick, and chaotic. Lieutenant Norris carves two guards (eliminating both) with his combat knife in literally less than fifteen seconds while Miss Vicious blasts the other with her Blamhammer: BKSSH!! PKSSH! - There's a moment after both guards are down when Norris and Vicious look to the door which leads to the Dog House, thinking maybe someone's about to burst through, especially after all that noise! But the door remains silent, mostly because it'd be impossible for anyone to hear her shotgun blasts with Dog's party goin' on the door's opposite side. The party's music is so loud, they can feel the stereo's woofers thumping from where they stand.

Best part is, two of the mongrels survived! And all of this occurred while Bing Crosby sang 'Pennies from Heaven' from the guards' radio.

Vicious steps into a filthy bedroom. Changes out of her raider armor, and into a set of stylish Twenty-First century clothes: a jeans, jacket, striped shirt combination. Hockey mask in place, she hopes to blend with whatever crowd is upstairs.

"I'll stay here," Norris says. "Make sure nobody gets by. Plus, look at me! I haven't got anything cool to wear for the party," he pouts. "Nah, just kidding. You handle what needs to be handled, I'll keep anybody from getting by."

"Perfect!" And it really is perfect. Seems Norris is here to support, not just for the glory. How rare is that in the world of takedowns and coups? Perhaps Lamont Stamford (or someone) had prearranged the lieutenant's role, just as she'd been prepped the day before. Vicious doesn't ask.

"Quite the dig is raging upstairs, but we gotta be careful," she says. "One of my friends from Rivet City s'posed to be in there. And she's got no idea I'm about to crash the party."

"Complications. Always complications, right?"

"Plus, supposed to be a bunch of innocents inside. Can't go blasting and zapping with my guns." And with that, she decides to leave her precious Blamhammer, her grenades, and her mines with Norris. Maybe they'd know who's behind the mask if someone enters the place carrying a bunch of weapons.

"So how exactly are you going to handle the targets inside?"

"My goal is to make sure nobody gets hurt, of course," she begins. She then lays out the rest of her plan.

"Well, huh!" Norris seems impressed. "Gotta say, that's an unusual approach."

"Yes, it is. Hope it'll work. Pretty sure it will. Especially the final touch."

"Especially the final touch," he nods. "That's something I would've never considered, and I'm Buck Norris." He scratches his beard. "Now Tan, before you go, just remember this..."

"Uh oh. The only time we fail is when we stop trying?" she smirks. "Or: You don't initiate violence, you retaliate?"

"Hehheh, damn! Gotta come up with some new advice. Seems you know my words of wisdom too well."

Vicious begins climbing the steps.

[][][][][][][][]

Until now, Taneesha Jones/Miss Vicious had entertained all sorts of theories and scenarios as to how the final confrontation with Dogmaster and Cheese Head could do down. She could get got (*mission failed*), they would (*Mission Completed*). Or nobody would! Maybe her adversaries wouldn't be in the Dog House at all. Maybe they'd decided to fly Dog's Vertibirds to the Chesapeake, where the party would continue on his supposed nuclear-powered yacht.

In the end, she would be surprised at just how smoothly the plan she'd concocted the night before while lying in Belle Bonnie's rentable storage room would unfold.

4:46 PM
Inside the Dog House, the party indeed is raging. Music blares from every room; drinks are flowing, everyone's dancing, or gyrating, or performing 'acts of interest' perhaps better left undescribed, lest the SpikeTV network receives even more unwanted legal attention from the ESRB.

She spies Aspiration in a room to the side, doing some sort of voodoo-looking dance to a small crowd of spectators. Asp is busy at the moment, very good. Just keep doing whatever the heck you is, Miss Aspiration. Even though Vicious's face is still covered, there's still that chance the entertainer could notice her friend just arrived.

Vicious searches the place. Multiple rooms. It takes a few minutes navigating the crowd until she finds the Dog, sitting on a couch. Wearing yet another fancy suit, this one is a gaudy red color. Such a pimp you are, meanie.

The euphemism comes to her: Every dog has his day.

"Hey, Dog."

"Wha---, whatcha want?" he staggers, really out of it. Lamont had warned her about this. Already, she can see the man's a far cry from his usual, unflappable self. His eyes are bleary, his nose is runny, and the white powdery substance -- 'croak', Lamont had called it -- can clearly be seen dusted upon the Dog's upper cleft. The boss looks at his assassin, but due to her mask he cannot discern who she is.

So she tells him. "Hey, it's me. Vicious."

"Vicious!!!"

Immediately, his demeanor changes. She'd been fearing he was after her; that somehow, he'd figured she had defected his organization. But whoa...seems her assumption was wrong. "You made it back!" he grins happily, like a wolfhound about to get fed.

"Yup. Here I am."

Dogmaster rubs his face. "What you think of the party, Vissh? Yo, pretty fly."

"It's not what I expected."

Dog reaches toward a table. Grabs a small platter covered with the same white powder under his nose. "Wanna try some croak? I gots lotsa croak, you wanna try some croak? Gotta try some croak, Vissh."

Mm. Seems the man's forgotten her recent vow of substance-abstinence, not to mention her latest assignment: the rescue of his so-called son!

"Told ya I don't do no chems." Vicious glowers, a bit insulted actually. But because of the mask he can't see her expression. "Anyway," she says, adrenaline spiking (because here comes the start of Stage A). "Anyway, I got your boy."

And this catches his attention. "You got my boy?"

"Mm hmm, the boy is outside."

"*Truck* me! He is here?"

For the moment, his surprise is genuine. The Dog forgets all about the music blaring, all about the numerous guests raving, he even drops the rolled-up bill he'd been using to snort his next line of croak. -- It's rather surprising to Taneesha, this significant change of behavior. She's almost fooled by it. Finally, the Dogman reacts in a way that seems almost human.

...But she cannot be fooled. Taneesha Jones can't just go with face value. Thinking quickly, she devises a little test.

"Hey. So what's his name?" she asks. "I mean, I found the boy up at G Zuss's compound just like you said. Rescued him," she smiles under the mask. "But when I asked his name, he didn't know he has one! You got any idea?"

This next moment's important. Like a skilled interrogator, Vicious pays close attention to his face....and the Dog flinches.

..."Oh his name? His name is um--"

And there it is. Man is stumped; he has failed her little test! Even though the name the kid's been using, 'Chuckles', seems made up; seems like one of those silly names the kids of Little Lamplight invent for themselves, the big, bad Dogmaster himself was obviously unprepared for her impromptu quiz. And it's because the boy was never his in the first place. Chances are, Dog had seen the kid's picture in one of G Zuss's slavery catalogs. He may genuinely want Chuckles to become his son...

"Bobby," he finally says, snapping his fingers. "I named him Bobby."

"Bobby, huh?"

Vicious has a look around. Notes the array of revelry going on, but also notices a couple of Dog's 'servants'. An elder lady who's in the middle of cleaning something from the floor. Another (a native American-looking fellow) getting reprimanded by one of the Dog's guards. Despite his face, which is a mask of stone, he's got that same demeanor of despair encoded within his aura.

"So, where is the boy?"

"Oh, you wanna come see him?"

"'Course I do!" Dog barks with a flash of anger. "He outside, you say?"

"Mm hmm, he is! And let me tell you, Bobby is real excited to meet his actual father. All he could talk about, past few days. He been talkin' about playing some football, beating you at Zonopoly, watching whatever prewar TV recordings you got in here..." Vicious at this moment is glad for the mask! She's embellishing too hard! The Dog, even in his croaked-up state, might be able to discern she's lying if her countenance wasn't covered.

"Well damn, why ain't you bring the boy inside?"

Wow... really? "Dude, you must be outta your mind. You think it's a good idea, to bring a young boy, a young BOY, in here? With all these chems and half-naked fools playing Romper Room?"

"Hmm," the Dog considers. "A'ight. Guess you got a point."

"You think? Stop playin' games with me, Dog. I know what I'm doin'. Boy's been through enough, okay? Kidnapped, locked up, thrown into a dark cave for days, then rescued by some stranger, me. He ain't ready for all this," she waves vaguely at the party.

"Cool. Well then. Let's go see...uh..."

"Bobby," she reminds.

"Right. Let's go see Bobby."

And just like that, Vicious's plan reaches Stage B: Convince Dogmaster to leave the Dog House. They walk down the stairs of the messy guard house (Dog apparently not realizing the place is now empty of sentries) in which Buck Norris again hides behind a curtain. They step outside, to the plaza of Georgetown Shoppes. Here, Dogmaster covers his eyes. Seems the sunlight is hurting them after days being indoors, Peruvian powder invading his nose.

"You gonna get some mad payment for this," he suddenly says.

"I am?"

"Sure. I ain't forgot your money, Vissh. Whatever your contract was for," he promises, distracted.

And now that they're out here, the raider boss pauses, intuition gone red. "What is this, girl?" The plaza is not only empty of children, it's also empty of raiders. He looks all around. "Where the *cluck* is he?"

Miss Vicious removes her mask. "He ain't here."

"What?"

"I lied," she says, tossing her mask to the ground. She then grabs her Tazer. Points it into his back. "Your 'son' ain't here. He's actually somewhere safe, you *ferking* lowlife slaver."

And NOW the Dog is pissed. "You dirty double-crossing little----" He begins to grab for something under his jacket.

"Ah, ah, nope," Buck Norris says, stepping from A Cuppa Joe's door, buck knife in hand. "Don't want to do that, sir."

"Damn, where all my guards?" the Dog suddenly realizes, looking around. "Where my raiders?"

Vicious almost feels sorry for him. "Ain't around no more. Your own lieutenant Buck Norris eliminated them all."

"Buck who?"

Norris smirks. "Dogmaster doesn't know who I am. It's because I never actually worked for him. I worked for me."

Oh my lord. --"So, here's what you're gonna do now," Vicious says, continuing to press her electronic gun into Dog's back. "You're gonna get into your Vertibird, okay? And then you're going to fly away."

"HUH?"

"We're doing you a little favor, allowing you to leave," Buck adds. "We don't care where you go. But you're gonna do it now."

"Alright, you got me," Dogmaster resigns, canine-brain already thinking ahead. Because acknowledging defeat is yet another facet of survival. "I'll walk over to my 'bird, and I'll get my *butt* outta here. But you ain't seen the last of me, Vicious. Vicious, and..." he looks over to Norris. "Whoever the *heck* you are. I'm going now."

Dogmaster, who has no idea Plan B has just morphed into Plan C, breaks into a run. Grabs something from his jacket, which turns out to be a set of keys.

---Buck Norris initially takes a couple steps, switching from his knife to his fake Uzi, but Vicious stops him...

... Vicious stops him, but then realizes: her Blamhammer is still inside the Guard House! "Damnit!!!!"

"What?"

"My gun! My shotgun still inside, Norris!"

"It's alright, I got this." Norris aims his submachine gun. Begins pelting the Vertibird from afar with 10mil rounds, just as the Dog lopes himself inside the craft...

...is already inside!... as the Uzi's bullets BOUNCE off the aeroplane's hull, apparently doing zero damage... the 'bird's rotor blades just starting to turn...-- "*DUCK!*" Vicious curses! Could it be that Plan C is about to become Plan Fail?

...And that's when Vicious remembers the Typhon. "Norris!" ...Remembers the giant missile launcher gifted to her by Cheese Head for eliminating the two Dogmaster defectors... "The garbage can!"

She rushes over and removes the can's lid, "YES!" just as the Vertibird begins to gain lift, Vicious grabs the launcher... "Norris! How do I load this?" ...grabs two of the rockets she'd casually tossed into the can several days ago. Norris reaches over... "Hold still!" SLAMS one of the rockets into the Typhon, which Vicious then aims.

....Aims.... places her index finger through the gun's trigger. Is there a safety on this thing?

Just as Dog's copter clears the space before them gaining massive lift gales of cold air billowing all around from the 'bird's rotors seventeen feet above a massive FWOOSH zooms from the Typhon's venturi!!! The missile flames into the air!! --- PKSSSSHHHH!!!!! ---- Dog's Vertibird explodes into a massive fireball of flames and shrapnel! The explosion is heard a square mile all around. Up close, it's a sight to behold... Vicious and Norris, even with their years of combat experience between them, are unprepared for the enormous combustible discharge of smoke and fire and debris which falls from the sky!

Both of them take cover for a minute, avoiding numerous metallic scraps still falling from the sky!!!

"What da hell?" The scavenger of Radiation King comes running out his door. "The hell's going on out here? Seems like it's raining cats and dogs!"

"Seems so," Lieutenant Norris answers. "Gotta say, it's a dog-eat-dog world, the Capital Wasteland is."

The pair of mercs check the 'bird's remains carefully once the craft's ensuing radiation dies down, but there's really no point. They eventually find him. The top D.C. raider boss of the Potomac River is burning to a crisp. What a way to go.

"Just when ya think youse seen it all!" the scavenger yells; a genuine Maryland accent. "Been telling dese losers it's a stupid idea to keep a 'bird sitting in dis plaza! I mean, da hell happened? One of those idiots smoking while fueling up or sumthin?"

"Something like that," Norris answers.

"I'm gettin' back inside! Can't take da world, ya know? 'Swhy I'm in here all da time, sheesh."

"Welp. Every dog has his day," Vicious says, speaking directly to Norris while the scavenger returns to his shop. "Seems the Dogmaster finally had his."

"That's what happens when someone barks up the wrong tree, wouldn't you say?"

"Hey, would you like a doggie bag with your meal?" Vicious snickers as a couple potential revelers show up at the far end of Georgetown Plaza West.

"Nah, I'm fine," Norris smiles. The partygoers turn around, back the way they came. Apparently, they hadn't expected an avenue full of smoke and fire. "But there was one time in school, long time ago, when the dog ate my homework."

"Really? Bet that made your teacher mad as a junkyard dog."

"Nah, I was on her good side. Teacher gave me puppy love."

Vicious begins laughing uncontrollably. Can barely contain herself. "So her bark wasn't as mean as her bite?"

"Only when she wasn't dog-tired. Or sick as a dog."

"Alright, enough!" Vicious shouts, sides hurting from so much chuckling. "Let's let sleeping dogs lie! What are you gonna do next, Norris?"

"Well, as you can see, I'm getting older. Maybe it's time to retire, somehow."

...And the punchline is right there. "Can't teach an old dog new tricks..."

Now Norris is laughing. "Maybe it's time to call off the dogs!"

"Dude. Norris. I got the perfect place for you. You wanna come with me up north?"

"Only if you can promise me a dog's life."

"Oh yeah. Got the spot," Taneesha Jones reiterates. She and Norris return inside the Guard House, where Vicious collects her Blamhammer from the floor. "Um, should we tell the folks upstairs party's over?"

"Nah. No one likes hearing 'last call'."

"Right, They only like hearing: 'let's get this party started'."

The pair returns outside, where the Vertibird still smolders. Job done, Taneesha gobbles a packet of Rad-X, then throws the missile launcher to the ground.

"You're not gonna take that?"

"Lug that heavy thing all the way back to Rivet City? No thanks! But I've heard there's this paladin guy who might want it. Or you can have it, Norris."

Norris looks to the ground. "Nah."

[][][][][][][][]

One month later
They called them mercenaries, Taneesha Jones and Buck Norris. They lived a hard life, running and gunning, playing roles while squirreling mad caps. Now, at the ripe age of nineteen and forty-one respectively, wealthy beyond belief, they hoped to be done with their previous life.

"You were right," Norris admitted as they strode down the hill of what was once the final quarter mile of Centennial Lane. "Ellicott City is pretty sweet."

"Life is great in the 21228," Taneesha smiled. Technically, the 21228 zip code once pertained to Catonsville, the first town which once resided to the east, not Ellicott City, but heck.

"Hey, there are kids here!" Chuckles noticed as they entered the property of the Jehovah's Witness Temple.

"Yes, there are plenty of youngsters."

As promised, the countryside contained fruits and vegetables which are mostly rad-free. Game and wildlife which could be hunted with ease. A lack of the perilous monsters which roamed to the south. The elders and youngsters had crowded around Taneesha Jones upon her sudden return to the temple, all of them assuming she'd perished, all of them fascinated that she'd made it back three years after she'd left.

"Young Taneesha, she's our Second Coming," declared a familiar voice after a few minutes of welcomes, speaking of her in the Third Person even though she was standing right there. "That she should have survived while all others perished, that she was rescued from Route 40 as a helpless babe for us to discover and rear, she is indeed blessed from Prophecy."

"Elder Stave!" Taneesha cried (literally and figuratively), "you're alive!"

Though hugging and similar manners of affectionate display were frowned upon by Jehovah, this was one of those moments when such matters could be excused. Taneesha rushed Stave, nearly knocked him to the ground.

"But I'm already nineteen, Stave. Can't call me 'Young' no more."

"Hmm, guess you're right. Also cannot refer to thee as a standing character in some book; ye are now to be considered Elder Taneesha."

As the Witnesses gathered around for an afternoon of storytelling (one of the only facets of entertainment allowed by their kind), Buck Norris's attention becoming rapt, and Chuckles already bouncing a reconditioned basketball someone had removed from some local store, the sun broke gloriously through formerly gathering clouds.


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Tepid Sewer Guard -- (this guy charged 50 caps for access to Georgetown. I completely forgot about this! At the time Vicious only had maybe 7 caps, so...

Um, yeah

Hockey Mask Vicious

Another Buck Norris one-liner

Confronting a Watchdog

BZZT!

Norris in action - (he really did take two guards out at once. I barely had time for screenshots!)

Tan knows Buck's adages all too well by now...

Dogmaster out of options

Running...

Missile Launcher

FWOOOF!!!

Vertibird on Fire

PKKSSSH!!!

...and the dog euphemisms begin...

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Notes: Dogmaster's fly attire is from Carpet Suit, by Beefy Krunch