The Fallout (DrTrollinski and Mitheral)

(1x1 RP between myself and Mitheral)


---


USA, 2160


It's been eighty years since the war that ended the world, and most people had come to agreement that war, does in fact change as the time goes on - Billions dead, whole countries destroyed, breeds of plants that acted as food sources extinct, billions of species of animals, all extinct except for some. War. War does change. War changed everything about life that people knew of, and before the war, there were two types of people.


There were the vault-goers, and the unlucky ones. The vault-goers lived a luxury life underground where they had enough food to last them for centuries, as well as clean, non-radiated water that would last them even longer. They could reproduce down here, had sources of essential vitamins to avoid certain diseases and conditions, and they had a lifestyle. The only people that got into the vaults were the following people: The government, the agencies, the doctors, the geniuses, and the rich. Once the vaults were filled and closed, they were destined to never be reopened until 'the world was right again'.


As for the poor souls on the outside, they were forced to sit through the bombing and the suffering. They were the ones that barely managed to survive and reproduce the future generations - they hid it out in caves or underground bunkers that offered very little choice for survival, but they had nothing left to go on. Over the first fifty years, life was a struggle for them, and life was horrendous, in all honesty. Those who didn't get killed by the radiation or the blasts were killed by the raiders, the bandits, or the mutations that the harsh wasteland held. That was all that was out there for them. Following that, thirty years onward and civilization had started to restore. There were radiation zones in countless places, but with the medical treatment they had available for radiation, as long as you didn't stay in the said zones for too long, you'd be fine. We'll learn more of the treatments later on. There were rules of the wasteland that a lot of people knew about, things such as not travelling at night, avoiding fights you can't win, hiding in places you can escape from - all the basic stuff, really. It took brains to know the rules, but it took initiative to know how to follow them. There were hundreds that fell to the wasteland, hundreds that were torn to pieces by an over-irradiated and mutated scorpion, and hundreds that were obliterated by raiders who were looking only to steal food, ammo, water, or guns.


The USA was ran by a supposed government that no one knew about. No one had ever seen them, ever met them, ever heard from them - Well, that's not entirely true. They'd heard from the government, but it was a mere voice on a radio that promised changes to the country and a better life for all - that hasn't even shown the first signs of happening yet. Many people ventured out to try and find the government and their branches - the only known government branches were large paramilitary-like organizations that had the firepower and know-how that was needed to disintegrate anyone that tried to challenge them. Or so they thought. Anything was possible in the wasteland, and with the modern technologies that these guys still developed, those who picked a fight with them never lived to tell the tale. These wasteland warriors were sometimes seen patrolling the wasteland in their armor that could only be compared to that of a Storm Trooper from the Star Wars series - they hunted the things that radiation created. They hunted mutants, super-mutants, ghouls - name it, they'll kill it, regardless of whether or not they are feral or friendly.


In the wasteland there is war. And war always changes.


**


Tonopah, Nevada.


The Good, The Brad, and The Ugly.


Brad sat atop a sandy and dusty hill that wasn't too far out of the town of Tonopah in Nevada. He'd been watching these 'survivalists' for at least a weak now, in their snazzy little town that they'd worked on fixing up, presumably over the course of many, many years. One half of the town was a crater, that was the only problem - the rest of it was fenced off with scrap metal and other stuff that had been welded together to serve as some sort of wall. Brad even thought he could see an old car door on there. He was looking at them through his pair of binoculars; he was lied down in the sand after checking to make sure there nothing dangerous nearby. He knew that there was nothing of the kind when he found the Radecko leaves sprouting on the hilltop. What are Radecko leaves, you might ask? Almost like tea leaves, but different. They have a rather shit-like taste to them, but they were one of the healthiest treats you could have in the wasteland if you didn't mind the diarrhea they may or may not cause. Why were they healthy? Because they were plants that had almost gone through an evolution sequence to survive against the radiation. These things thought off radiation, and they were used for the modern-day medical care in most circumstances, and were one of the primary ingredients in 'Radpaks' - over time, with a lot of trial and error and a lot of mutations, people that were stuck on the outside finally managed to create something that helped neutralize radiation from the body. The only problem was, it was one of the most expensive healthcare items on the market - it was so expensive that you'd think you had to pay for looking at it.


Then again, it depends what you consider expensive. The currency moved to bottle-caps. The only thing that was salvageable from landfills and vending machines. Some had millions, others had only a few - depending on where you looked, a few bottle caps could buy you a gun. It worked in that sort of way, but Brad had his babies all lined up and maintained - he didn't need to waste the nice little saving of caps that he had with him on buying weapon parts or paying for repair services. He knew how to do that just by himself.


He saw some people jump into the air with their hands up high. The wall wasn't really tall enough to keep a sniper out, but he didn't plan on shooting any of these people. He'd been listening to a few of the travelers at campfires after he'd stalked them for long enough and managed to avoid getting seen - apparently this one town was close to getting clean, radiation-free water. And he was guessing that that's what had happened now. They were dancing around and parading about like it was the 4th of July.


"Hah," He chuckled to himself as he tore one of the Radecko leaves from the ground and shoved it into his mouth; he started chewing on it and just ignored the taste. He wasn't suffering from radiation poisoning, but you could never be too careful. ".. Congratulations, boys... Congratulations." He chuckled softly again and then rolled over to lie on his back to look up at the sky. It was a simple and light blue, which was nice to look at for the time-being. He liked isolation and being alone, but today was the day that that was all going to have to change. He heard a shuffling down in the desert sands below the hill he was on, that alongside heavy breathing. He slowly sat up and cocked his gun before standing up, carrying his bag and gear with him as he made his way down the slope - his boots scraped in the sand, but he didn't care, if anything popped out at him, he knew he could take it down easily.


It was a young boy.


The child was crawling through the sand on all fours - it looked like he was struggling to breathe as well. When Brad got close he heard the faint clicking of his rad-counter going off in his backpack. That wasn't a good sign.


"Kid, can you hear me?" He asked, the child ignored him and kept moving, but when he got five feet forward he vomited a pure-white liquid into the sand and then passed out. "Shit." Brad muttered - he didn't know what to do. He never had been good with children, but he had to do something. He picked the child up in both arms and began making a run towards the town, screaming as he got close to the gate. "HEY! HEY! OPEN UP!"


The gates slowly creaked open - they were on some sort of engine or mechanism, and when they opened the screech of rusty gears was heard echoing across the area around them. He didn't care about the noise - this kid was dying, and there was no denying that. Brad had been a bad guy so far when it came to morals - he didn't help those he cared for, so he didn't understand why he was helping some random child. Helping him didn't mean squat, and it wouldn't benefit him either. The child looked very young, and the only thing Brad saw him as was another mouth to feed, and another ass to wipe. The child was pale in the face and unconscious, so Brad just sprinted into the town and scanned around until he found the doctor's office - he burst inside and ran past all of the grimy patients that were waiting to be seen - their skin was half-black with dirt and a lot of their hair had fallen out. This town was a town of poverty, no less.


He kept going through the small building until he spotted the doctor, a sweat-headed man with dirty glasses that looked like they had windows as lenses - his labcoat that he was wearing was dirty with what Brad could only assume to be vomit and blood, but regardless, he set the kid down on the bed and looked at him.


"He's dying. Radiation, I think... Dehydration as well, probably... Do something, doctor... don't let him die." He said, for some reason he had feelings for this little boy that had come into his life in such dire circumstances, but he turned around to leave nonetheless.


"You can't leave him with me. A child cannot sort the payment plan." He said. Brad sighed and instantly turned back and collapsed into a dirty chair beside the bed - he watched the doctor pull out the rich man's medicine. A Radpak. A formula thrown together in any boiler-room and sold for ten times more than what it cost to make it. People still thought only of money - or bottle caps - in even this day and age. It was sad. He didn't want to spend a large chunk of his savings, but he didn't want to be the reason a child died either. He had no choice in this matter any more, and he knew that as soon as he saw the doctor connect an IV to his tiny arm, followed by attaching the Radpak as well. The orange, syrup-like liquid slowly worked its way into the boy's bloodstream. Now it was all down to fate - if he was too severely dehydrated, this would have been a waste of time, and money. (@Mitheral)


(I'll give you a chance to write your character introduction down. I've written a lot - I know the anti-radiation things seem quite strange, but in terms of the video games as well, that's there so things seem more logical. Without that sort of stuff, everyone would die of the radiation - that's their way of avoiding it. The Radecko plants are not in the game, though. I made those up I hope you like that little idea, lol. I look forward to your post. Put your characters in the new character tab as well, eh?)

Mook, Elissa and Sly had departed the Flagstaff region and were already missing it. Even Sly liked Flagstaff. Flagstaff had survived the Skydark, if not structurally, spiritually. Compared to most places it had flourished. A deer farm that had survived the bombs that fell 80 years ago had moved to Flagstaff, a move that was still celebrated like a holiday. Several ranchers had had family in the area. And while the city no longer stood, the people had gathered as close as possible to the original site and re-erected a Pinewood flagpole and re-used the name Flagstaff.


The place became a place of commerce specializing in livestock and veterinary practices. Naturally this had attracted gangs who lusted after the food. Fortunately the small town had boasted some Rangers. Noone is sure is these were from Texas … or the military. More than one of these heroes laid down their lives to keep the town safe. So did it really matter?


The three friends had gone to Flagstaff to trade in their horses which were suffering from the hard trek. Things had gotten so bad that they had very nearly killed their steeds for food. Sly, of course, hadn’t bothered with a steed. Mook, however, would never have been able to keep up with either of the girls. But they hadn’t been able to afford the best steeds when they started. They weren’t much better than nags.


They had managed to trade up for a single decent horse. Mook tried to insist Elissa spend equal time on the steed. But in the end he had been forced to relent and ride more than his share to make the best time.


They had heard stories about a great city called Luvee where nearly anything could be bought or sold. It was a sort of Shangri La, a city of sin, games of chance. The people of Flagstaff had warned against going there. Luvee was a place where people disappeared. It was dangerous. But that hadn’t stopped the friends. They were looking for weapons to take back their home.


*************





Somewhere a little south of the Lake Mead Recreational Area.


Gone Fishin’


Mook studied his mini sextant. It was one he had designed himself from an old schematic. The group had begun to consider the sextant one of their most valuable possessions. With it they were never lost. The young man nodded to him satisfied they were on course. Then he turned back to the girls. This was when his smile faded.


Elissa looked like death warmed over. But he knew she was using a healing trance. She had done something very stupid. She hadn’t walked down to the edge of a pool to check if the water was drinkable. Unfortunately it was. Worse, it had been home to a mutated catfish that had grown to some 20 feet in length. The thing had tried to make a meal out of the healer. The catfish had developed mutation similar to a lungfish. It was amphibious enough to crawl onto land for short periods. Worst mutation - not counting sheer size - had been the barbels. They had been covered with a neurotoxin. The fish had managed to have swallow Elissa. By sheer luck she had had the reflexes to dive backwards, which means it had been swallowing her feet first. At least the thing hadn’t had much in the way of teeth.


By the time they had rescued her they were all being affected by the neurotoxin which was a topical agent. Elissa had nearly died from it, having been exposed the most. Mook had restarted her heart twice. Sly was having trouble even holding her bow for hours thanks to trying to physically pull Elissa out of the fish’s mouth. She had been half panicked. If Mook hadn’t kept his head … It had been Mook who had ignored the fact that the love of his life was about to become fish food and drawn his rapier to start stabbing for the fish’s spine. It had taken several tries.


Well, they now had managed to harvest the fish for meat for a few days before leaving the area. It wasn’t wise to stick around a kill you couldn’t process for very long. Other predators soon showed up to clean up after the humans. Meat was meat, no matter the source. Mook had found them an unoccupied cave big enough for the three of them and the horse in which to hole up until Elissa recovered.

One Hour Later





"He should be fine." The doctor muttered simply, Brad rose his eyes away from the ground and looked up at him. This had gotten really dull, and the smell of the doctor's office just made him want to run out screaming. This place was horrible. He looked at the young boy on the bed who's color had originally flushed out of his face - it had come back now, and his smooth and pale skin had now began to blush in the slightest, not only that, the boy squirmed around and smacked his lips together in his sleep.


".. He needs water." Brad said as he stood up and went over to the side of the bed; he placed a finger down on the boy's lips and noticed that they were dry and cracked. The doctor smiled as he stood up and took out a clean bottle of water from a bag he had on the ground - he quite literally shoved Brad aside and opened the boys mouth, then he squeezed the bottom part of his neck while tipping some water into his mouth. It went down with ease, but there was still no promise that he'd live. A good sign was when the boy started coughing and choking - he had some sort of life left in him.


"That costs extra."


"Of course..." Brad groaned. "Is he going to live? That's all I care about."


"There's been some complications with his regeneration of cells - this is all cells across the body, including the brain." The doctor sat down at his desk and sighed.


"Explain."


"When we're born, we're born with the neurons in the cerebral cortex. They can never be replaced - the thing is, the radiation this boy was exposed to has caused a mutation in which damaged cells with regenerate at a much faster rate - this includes the neurons I spoke of." He explained, Brad scratched his head.


"So what you're saying is wounds will heal faster for him?"


"Essentially. I don't think you're seeing the importance behind the neuron regeneration - that's one thing scientists have never been able to naturally cause. The body will not regenerate neurons. Until now."


".. Look--.. I don't particularly care about that... Will he be up and moving around, will he be able to talk, walk, wipe his own ass - that's all I need to know. If I'm stuck with something that can't even tell it's alive, I don't want to live with that burden."


"You won't. He'll be fine. I've said that." He urged, in a little annoyance this time. Brad gave a simple nod and then sat back down - he didn't know how long he was going to be waiting for this kid to wake up, but he couldn't just walk out and leave him now that he'd been here this long. He looked at the boy's face and tainted brown hair - for some reason he reminded Brad a lot of himself when he was younger - that was the first link between the two. Brad saw something in this kid, but he wasn't looking forward to whatever tasks this kid may be sending him on. Regardless of how he felt, he also had sympathy. The kid was in rough shape when he found him, and no parents had come by looking for him yet - he assumed that everyone this kid had ever loved was dead now, and there was nothing either of them could do about it. Hell, he didn't even know what the kid's name was, let alone where he came from or what happened to him.

Elissa looked over at Mook who had stayed close to her at much as possible during her recovery. He hadn’t said anything to her about straying too close to water without backup. Neither had Sly. And they wouldn’t either.


“Thanks,” she said softly.


Mook glanced at her. “You’d have done the same for me - and have come to think of it. Sly too.”


“No, I mean for not lecturing me about it.”


Mook smiled a little. “Didn’t see any point in that. I don’t want you dwelling on it so much. We all screw up now and then. Besides, now we have fish for dinner. You make good bait.”


Elissa glared a little, then laughed. “Not as good as Sly. Seems like she is always running from something.”


“Bite me,” Sly muttered.


Elissa chuckled. “Is that what you keep telling them?” She could tell Sly was trying not to smile. “Thanks to you too. How are your arms?”


Sly nodded. “Better. Wore off eventually. Glad that pool was as small as it was. That fish might have been larger otherwise. Remember the ones back home?”


“Inland whales, I think someone called them,” Mook nodded. His tone changed abruptly into a business one. “We are going to hole up here until tomorrow. I want to be sure that toxin has worked its way out of your system. Sly, we are going to need extra game to smoke and salt. Old maps show the main crossing over the Rado River is an old dam - a famous one before the Skydark. Flagstaff said it is under Fed control - NCR - and a checkpoint. They shouldn’t care about my plastique. Not that much of it and I plan to trade with it in lieu of caps anyways. And they are supposed to be pretty liberal about toll payment - within reason.”

Money's Cheap





Another hour later and Brad awoke to a splutter. The boy was waking up. He sprung up and ran to his side and looked over him - he looked much healthier than before, but wherever the doctor had disappeared to was unknown to him. He knew one thing, though, and that was that the doctor kept his money in a drawer, locked at the bottom of his desk. He was thinking about picking the lock and taking a couple of bags of caps, but maybe now wasn't the best time. He looked over the small child as his eyes slowly opened up - his eyes were brown, just like his hair, but they appeared to have a tinge of blue or green in them - it was hard to tell. He looked up at Brad with big panicked eyes and squirmed a little.


".. Hey there, kid. How you feeling?" Brad asked, the boy looked up at him and his lip quivered for a few moments before he promptly burst into tears. Brad was never good with kids. He sighed and sat down on the side of the bed. ".. Not a very nice welcoming to a guy who just saved your life, is it?" He said, it was intended as a joke, but the kid kept on crying. Brad sighed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. ".. Hey--.. Stop crying, kid... It's okay. You're in a safe place, I--.. um... I'm not going to hurt you, alright? You're in a doctor's office." He tried again to calm him down but it didn't work - the child curled up in a ball on the bed and faced away from him. Brad slowly rubbed the side of his face and sighed again. He was in for a long day.


".. I want my mommy--.." He whimpered, Brad sighed and hesitantly put a hand down on his shoulder. He was trying to avoid upsetting the kid any more.


".. I know--.. I don't know where he is, but I'll help you look for her once we get out of here, okay?" He said, the child sniffled and sobbed but nodded. At least he had someone he could trust now. The doctor soon walked back in and looked over them both.


"I see he's awake. You'll want to be prepared for the post-medical sickness that can occur with Rad-treatment. Especially in children." He said, he then turned to Brad. ".. One-hundred-and-fifty caps, sir."


"Jesus Christ..." He went into his bag and tossed him two small bags of bottle caps. They jingled around when the doctor took hold of them, but now he had to wait for him to count the caps out. That was going to take a while.

Hoover Dam


Mook had to fight a tendency to roll his eyes. He had expected this. Caps. It was probably the dumbest form of currency anyone could have chosen to use. But Horn had had Flats and rounds as well - spent brass. But at least that had more value in being smelted. The fee had been nominal, not trumped up. He had openly shown the the plastique. The NCR were more concerned with larger quantities of explosives - like those used for damaging the dam. A small quantity was something they could use to make an IDE to defend it.


As expected they interrogated Mook about where he had obtained it. For this he responded with a lie - which he hated to do. “Salvage. And it is stable too.” He watched as they sliced off a small piece and burned it. That was one of the nice things about plas ex. It was stable even when burned.


“Salvage?” the NCR man asked.


Mook didn’t like the tone. But there were times when having skills could get you into trouble. Elissa was extremely careful about admitting she was a trained healer. Admitting things like that could get one pressed into service. “A trader brought stuff into our ville. It was old but still had some viable plas ex.


The ranger grunted. He was sure Mook wasn’t telling the truth. But he was also sure that the young man was being defensive moreso than deceptive. He glanced over at the man doing the testing who nodded appreciatively at the plastique. “You know, the NCR can use people with knowledge about explosives …”


Mook smiled. “My ville’s in trouble. I have business in Luvee. I am hoping to purchase enough tech to bring things back to normal back home. That reminds me. What are the rules - taxes - for transporting tons of weapons and explosives across this dam?” The ranger looked at Mook like he was mad to even ask. “I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”


Mook sighed inwardly. Luvee was starting to look like a poor way to get the tech he wanted. Really what he needed were just the blasting caps or det cord. He could make most explosives himself. Hell, he even understood the principles of a nuke. But he understood that understanding basic concepts was a far cry from an actual device. And he was betting that any sources of uranium were Government controlled even today. Not important. Conventional weapons would prove far more useful. But the electrical components were extremely difficult to come by. Most were destroyed in Skydark.

After the caps had been counted he got his meager amount of change that he swore the doctor had ripped him off for and then left with this child - the child couldn't walk just yet, so, much to Brad's displeasure, he had to carry the child to the nearest public restroom that was put together in the town so that he could wash him up a bit - he was filthy, and he wasn't going to be walking around with any filthy child, not a chance. Plus, he felt bad for him, because the tears kept flowing but eventually just became silent and discreet.


He had to use cold water in this dirty old restroom, but at least the water was clean. The last thing he wanted to do was give the kid cholera, because that would make the whole thing pointless. He had to use his balaclava that usually sheltered his face from sand when he traveled the wasteland, but that was replaceable - the kid was shivering and sniveling while he got cleaned up, and he wasn't particularly comfortable with a stranger stripping him down and washing him, but it was something that had to be done.


".. What's your name...?" Brad asked quietly as he cleaned the back of his legs, the boy quickly wiped his eyes and sniffled again.


"My--.. My name's Luca..." He sobbed, Brad nodded slowly and then ran some more water onto the rag he was cleaning him with. He was almost done now, but now he was getting to the part he was least looking forward to - he was going to have to clean the front of Luca's legs and his private area, which he knew was going to freak them both out, but he just tried to speak to him to take his mind away from it, and to hopefully keep him calm.


"I'm Brad... How old are you, Luca?"


"F-F-Five..." He shivered, Brad nodded. There was a brief silence while Brad started cleaning the area he really just wanted to leave alone. Shit. This isn't what he intended to happen - he wanted to talk to him.


"I see... I'm twenty-three... Do you know how many years older than you I am? Can you tell me?" He asked, what he got in response took him by surprise.


"Eighteen..." He sobbed his reply almost instantly. Brad froze for a moment. That was pretty damn freaky. 'Just the radiation poisoning...' He thought to himself in an attempt to reassure his panicked mind.


"That's right..." He smiled at him and then put the rag back in his bag. It was done. He pulled a blanket from his backpack and wrapped it around Luca before picking him up. ".. Okay. We need to go get you some new clothes - Your old ones are too dirty." He said, Luca nodded and put his head on his shoulder to resume sobbing. The kid was badly shaken up, and with all the stuff that had happened, I'm pretty sure any child his age would be, too.

Luvee (Las Vegas)


Luvee dwarfed Horn - the entire Barony of Horn. Horn had several villages under its control - not taken by force but built through colonization efforts and in the interest of agriculture. Horn had the advantage of excellent natural physical barriers, swamps to the North and South, a great lake to the East beyond which was a mountain range, and nearly impassible mountains to the West. Luvee was about as open and exposed on all sides as was possible. However the entire city was surrounded by a massive wall of reinforced concrete, an outer ring of razor wire, anti tank traps. The exposed region was raked. Short of a large military force it would have been a fools errand to attack the city. Mook imagined that if the Government was determined to do so it could take the city. But it served a purpose. It gave people an outlet. And it gave the Government an IN to the underworld.


Prices were surprisingly low for travellers. Then again, Luvee depended on travellers for its economy. They had their own farms - hydroponic farms - inside the city walls. These were carefully guarded. Theft from City resources was usually a capital offense.


The first thing Mook and the girls encountered was the local graft - a kid who asked if they wanted someone to watch their horse and things while they stayed in town. Mook had heard about this. These kids would babysit a car. Anyone who messed with a car guarded by one of these kids soon ran afoul of the local thieve’s guild. It was a racket. But it was also well worth it to pay - and pay well. A handful of caps was worth a hundred times that.


“Hell yes, we do. Your reputation precedes you. I don’t suppose you can recommend a good rickshaw service - preferably one who knows where we can find some services. We’ve been travelling and could stand real baths.”


Sly looked about as sullen as she could be. She HATED Luvee. She had hated Horn, which had been considered a huge city by her standards. This place made her feel like a caged animal. It didn’t help that she drew a lot more stares than usual. Mook was half afraid she would start lashing out at them soon.

The Pocketed Rags, Tonopah, Nevada





The Pocketed Rags - the finest little store in Tonopah, as they called it. It was a place to buy armor and clothes, and that's why Brad and a naked child that was merely shielded by a blanket were here. He didn't like armor, it slowed you down too much - a good bit of lightweight leather not only did a fair amount of protection if you could avoid getting shot at, but it also let you move around as quick as you needed to. Luca looked around the store with wide eyes when they first walked in, and the man behind the counter lived up to his name. Goop. Goop was the town's clothe vendor, but why was he called Goop? Because of a radiation defect - he had a pocket that had grown under his chin that gradually became fat with his saliva - the poor guy couldn't help it, and quite frankly, he liked the nickname the town had come up with for him. Occasionally, this said pocket would let loose and empty the saliva - no one knew if this sort of mutation had any purpose, but no one made an effort to find out if it did. As soon as Luca saw him he looked mortified.


".. Morning, Goop..." Brad said.


"Good morning, Brad--.." He looked at the child. "New in town?" He asked, Brad nodded.


"Yeah... He's a friend--.. I... Uhm.. I'm looking after him for a while." He said, it was an obvious lie but Goop just ignored it. Brad went around the store in search of something that he wanted for the child - a lot of it was something a raider would wear, and he didn't want a kid being dressed in that. He went back to the counter to look at Goop and then sat Luca on it as well, still wrapped up in the blanket. ".. Goop--.. I'm not dressing this kid like a bandit. I want something simple, like the clothes I got here the first time, you know? The leather?"


"Ah--.. the leather outfit?" He asked, Brad nodded.


"Yeah, but--.. I--.." He looked at Luca and sighed. ".. I want them made differently. I don't want it to be a jumpsuit or anything like that. The outfit you gave me had the zipper on the front and back so you could do the whole 'stop and go' sort of thing. I don't want that for him - I just want the leather shirt, pants, some underwear, and some footwraps. I need the boots as well, they're important." He said, Goop scanned the young boy up and down for only a few seconds and then jumped straight to work. He worked quick - Goop was probably the best tailor that Brad had ever met in his travels, and despite his horrific look, he was probably one of the most kindhearted and caring people you'd ever run into - Brad never knew how he was so intelligent when it came to the creation of clothes and armor, but he let him get on with it.


Twenty minutes later he had the whole outfit ready - the stitched leather pants and long-sleeved shirt, the leather footwraps, the strong leather boots, and he'd even throw in some fingerless gloves, all for good measure. Brad pulled Luca down from the counter and removed the blanket from his body - then he helped him get dressed into everything Goop had given him. The underwear was a little strange, but it offered comfort nonetheless. Once the kid was fully dressed he looked a little happier, but not by much. The footwraps were like socks, but in a sense they were better with the boots - they helped prevent sores from occurring.


".. Wonderful. If it ain't the Green Mountain Ranger." He grinned, but Luca didn't understand the reference. The Green Mountain Ranger was an old pre-war TV show that was almost like a Steve Erwin show - one man versus the wild. It was great, and the only thing Brad had ever seen of it was posters and magazines, but in his childhood days he still liked to believe that The Green Mountain Ranger was still out there somewhere.


"It's on the house." Goop croaked as he smiled at them both, Brad didn't try and argue against that. In the wasteland, if you get offered something for free, you take it.


"Before we go, have you got any more of those balaclavas? I need two more." He said, he watched Goop climb up onto his chair and then reach up to a shelf above him - he pulled two dusty old balaclavas from a box and set them on the counter in front of him.


".. Also--.. You got some of those wash-strips in stock?" He asked with a sigh as he looked down at Luca. Wash-strips were wide leather strips, about ten inches long, and were coated in a dried coating that was water-proof. This was one of science's modern discoveries - it was used to make gear even more safe from water for film crews back in the day. These strips weren't for 'washing', per se. They were for wiping, and as disgusting as it sounds, they could be washed and reused without trouble. ".. Give me a box with those, too..." He groaned - He was only thinking about Luca there, especially with the post-treatment sickness that could occur. He knew that a kid wouldn't be careful enough to wipe his ass with Radecko leaves, so this was the best he was going to get. Goop got as he asked, and also gave him a little air-tight metal container. It was built from scrap metal and polished by whatever people could find, but it was going to be needed. He handed one balaclava to the kid and then shoved everything else into his backpack. "Thanks, Goop. We'll see you later."


"Goodbye." He muttered. Luca was walking now - he walked alongside Brad as they went towards the exit of the town. There was a long journey ahead of them.

Beginner’s Luck


Mook and the girls weren’t even able to make it through their first meal in Luvee without someone trying to lay a hand on Elissa. Sure she was beautiful - without equal if you were to ask Mook - but did everyone and his brother think Mook was a pushover that they could take her from him without a fight? The funny thing was, he and Elissa had an understanding about that. Mook was NEVER to interfere. Elissa could handle her own fights. While Mook didn’t like that, he was pragmatic enough to know she was right.


Fortunately the caps they had paid the kid - plus the expense of a meal for the kid - as well as two of the kids friends - proved more than worthwhile. The kid had discreetly tried to shoo the kids as he was working. And they had been ready to go. But Mook had made an immediate offer for them to join in the meal. It was essentially a tip.


When she local had tried to grab Elissa privates the man had drawn his hand back in pain. The kid sat there next to Elissa holding a small knife. For a moment it looked as though the man would start a fight. But his friends pulled him back. And it was lucky for him that they did. These kids almost always had an older kid without shouting distance if not in line of sight. Just backhanding one of the younger kids would have cost the man a finger. Cutting a kid cost a hand. And killing one ….


For dinner conversation Mook decided to ask the kids about gambling - the games, rules, and such. Cards sounded way too easy. He pointed out that someone could easily remember the cards dealt and decide if the odds favored certain actions. The kids eyes grew wide. Then quickly explained about “Counting Cards.” Mook didn’t understand the rule, but thanked them for the advice. Then he decided he’d be better off gambling on races or some other sport. He asked about the policies of betting on the odds for those and winning.


This didn’t seem like so much a problem, though he suspected that too much winning would bring trouble. No House wanted to lose money. So he was going to have to choose carefully and avoid winning any long shots - no matter how tempting. No … he was going to have to intentionally lose more often than he won, but win with enough odds that he came out ahead.


The next morning he paid a visit to the stalls to see the various steeds. He didn’t linger. But he did make a mental note about the physical parameters of every horse and jockey. Now he wasn’t going to have time to watch how they raced to see their behavior. He knew a little about horses though. Elissa knew a lot more though. She was a trained vet. So he asked about the general nature of each breed of horse - what it was bred for. They had just had a similar lecture in Flagstaff so he wasn’t starting from scratch.


By the end of the first day he had come out far ahead of where he had planned to get. he had turned 300 caps into 1800. He had only planned on a fraction of that. So he decided he ought to call it quits on gambling and paid the kid and rickshaw driver with extra caps.

It was Just a Joke, kid.





Luca stared at this horrific beast that Brad was milking. Honestly, what in the world was that? It was a cow, but it had no fur. It was just a red-skinned demon with two heads - This is what the radiation of the wasteland spat out at the world. It wasn't aggressive if you didn't attack it, and the milk it produced was incredibly healthy and didn't cause sickness - in fact, it helped put it at ease. These cows were known as the Brahmin. No one knew where the name originated from - it accordingly had a Hindu background, but Brad never looked into it. The milk was much like the Radecko plants, and was used for treatment against radiation.


Luca wasn't expecting this thing when he accepted the offer of a glass of milk.


Brad put a glass of the sweet-tasting rad-fighting milk in his hand and nodded. Luca just looked at it, completely mortified. He didn't know that this was where the milk he used to drink came from - he could feel the heat of it seeping through the glass, and he just stared up at Brad in horror.


"Come on, kid. It's fine. You were probably fed this stuff when you were a baby - I know I was." He chuckled, but Luca didn't laugh. Instead he tried a sip of it. Oh. It wasn't so bad. He looked at Brad and nodded sheepishly at him before gulping the rest of it down - that was the last stop in the town that they were going to be making. The Brahmin were often used by road merchants who traveled the wasteland for a living - every merchant had one or two guards with them that often carried rusty but powerful automatic rifles. No one messed with them. The only downside to Brahmin milk was that it caused frequented urination for a few hours, but then it wore off.


They soon left the safe walls of the town, and Luca looked around, mortified once again. This place looked too scary for him, especially as he's only five years old. He didn't even recognize this place - it was just sand and dust and mutated cacti that stuck out of the ground. Is this really where these people had been living? He didn't know, but he was happy that he was with someone who was the equivalent of a Luvee Mercenary. Brad just walked forward, seeing as he'd be going South that way. As soon as Luca saw him walking, he quickly scrambled to catch up with him, kicking the sand up in the air as he did so. Once he was back at his side he stuck close to him while also taking a few minutes to admire the gear and guns that he had on him - he wouldn't dare touch any of it, though.


".. Wh--.. Where are we going?" He squeaked in question.


"Las Vegas."


"Las Vegas...?"


".. Ugh--.. 'Luvee'." He said, knowing that the kid would more likely understand that. He hated that abbreviation, but he thought that he was the only person he knew that still called it by its real name.


"Oh--.. I know Luvee... I've never been there, though..." He shrugged and continuously glanced over his shoulder to look back at the town. ".. Why are we going there?"


"Because we're on a mission from God, pal." He said, followed by a chuckle. Luca frowned in confusion.


".. My mommy said that God ain't real, 'cause if he was he wouldn't let all of this happen." He stated, Brad sighed and rubbed his forehead. He'd possibly been partnered with the most logical five-year-old in the wasteland.


"It was just a joke, kid."


The journey was going to go on, and if they were lucky, they could reach 'Luvee' within a couple of days, if not less. It all depended on whether or not they kept up their pace or got slowed down by something. Brad was hoping that the Brahmin milk would keep Luca from falling ill on the way there, but he highly doubted that that was going to be the case.

300 caps must have seemed like a fortune to the kid, but Mook made it clear that he understood the score - and that he planned to be around for a few days. The next morning the kid was waiting - as was the rickshaw. He exchanged pleasantries and they were off. This time their destination was the combat arenas. To be fair, he really didn’t approve of gladiatorial combat - especially to the death. Technically these fights that was off to see were just cage fights. They didn’t have to be lethal. But they were always bloody.


Neither of the girls seemed to care for this sort of ‘sport”. They cared for it even less as Elissa and Sly were both given stares. A female archer with a fancy bow and a woman with two swords was unusual even for Luvee. Mook recognized the dangers and half regretted coming here right off the bat.


Betting on human fighters was going to be a lot harder. Unlike animals humans generally relied on training. He soon decided this was a sport he was going to have to lose a lot at before he could start winning. He’d have to keep the bets a lot smaller.


Sly, however, found a sport she could enjoy - archery. Of course she could be so lucky as to have anyone offering a golden arrow as a prize to compete for. No, it just wasn’t that popular of a sport. The sports she found more common - though the betting was much smaller in scale and unregulated - were knife and dart throwing. While far from her specialty was wasn’t bad at either. And she won more than she lost.


Mook’s day was worse. He broke even. He won betting on Sly. But he lost betting on fights. Overall, not the best day. He hated subsistence gambling. Sure they could manage, but it would take forever to come up with enough funds to buy the things he really wanted - assuming he could even find them for sale. Three people finding the means to take back their city was going to be easy at all.


Of course, Mook had already accepted the fact that they might never be able to return home. That said they were also looking for … something … a better place perhaps. For now he settled himself of finding ways to finance the next leg of whatever journey they chose to make.

It was a long, long night. Luca had got up several times and vomited everything in his stomach, even if that was a little bit of stomach acid. It was constant throughout the night, and Brad didn't really know how to be supportive there, and just told him that things would be okay. Which, for the record, didn't work at all.


The next morning, they were up as early as four o'clock and on the road to Luvee once again. It wasn't going to be an easy journey, and Luca was even more tired than Brad. Brad considered it and realized that it wasn't really fair to force the kid to get up that early, but it was something that needed to be done. It was essential that Brad could get back to Luvee - He was about to win back the money he got scammed out of by the doctor, and he was going to win as much as he could carry - without putting on too much weight, of course. He had a golden tongue and the strength of a lion - both assisted him in making money.


They'd been on the road for thirty minutes when Luca desperately tugged on his sleeve and stopped him.


"What's wrong?" He looked down at the panicked child.


".. I've--.." He paused and put his hands over his bottom. Oh, dear. The sickness hadn't worn off just yet - now it was going from one end of his body to the other. ".. I've gotta' go!" He yelled sadly, Brad quickly groaned and pulled him off to the side of the road and behind an old burnt out bus. He quickly dug a hole by shoving his foot into the ground and scraping it backwards - it wasn't much, but it was something. He turned and Luca was practically dancing on the spot and trying to resist the urge to burst out into tears. He looked like he was in pain.


"Go. I'll wait around the corner..." He sighed and then walked away. He heard the leather pants hit the floor, and then the other disgusting noises that Luca produced over the couple of minutes he was behind there. The smell was god-awful, but Brad couldn't leave him where he couldn't run to his aid if something happened. He just waited and did his best to put up with it - he'd been in the same spot once, so he felt sorry for him regardless. A couple of minutes later Luca took a deep breath and called out to him.


"Braaaaad...."


".. Yeah?"


".. I'm done..." He said quietly. Brad sighed in relief. Hopefully that was going to be the last time they had to stop. He reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the wash-strips before holding it around the side of the bus.


"Take that and clean up. I'll wait, but bring that with you, alright?"


There was a long pause. ".. I can't..."


"What do you mean 'you can't?" He asked, this time with a hint of anger.


".. I don't know how..." He whimpered, Brad facepalmed with his free hand and took a deep breath. It was literally him that was going to have to do everything. He tied his balaclava around his face to hopefully block out some of the smell and then went around to the back of the bus - he approached Luca who was crouched and hovering over the hole Brad dug in the ground - I'll spare you the details of what else Brad could see there. He hesitantly cleaned the boy up with the one strip and then tossed it into the air-tight metal box. He was going to have to wash that later on - Waste not want not, as they say. He watched Luca pull his pants back up, but was taken by surprise as the child came over and hugged his leg. He looked pale, and he was shivering - this just made him feel even more guilty for being so aggressive. He picked him up and let him sit on his back. He figured he could carry him the rest of the way.


It was another four hours and two bathroom breaks later that they arrived at the gates of Luvee. Finally, after the long journey, they were finally here.

Sly was starting to feel truly depressed. She didn’t want to leave her friends. But she almost never spent more than a day in a village. In a place like Luvee she couldn’t hardly sleep. She would have slept with the horse, but that would have been taking a serious chance at being robbed in her sleep or worse. Mook and Elissa were at least being sensitive to the fact that Sly would have had to listen to any noises they made.


And that meant noone was really enjoying their stay in Luvee.


It was late and noone was sleeping when Sly finally broke the silence. “Guys, how long do we plan to stay here? You know I don’t do cities. Yeah, I know you asked me In or Out before we entered the city. I hadn’t realized the place would be so big. That’s why I decided on In. I’d never have known if you were in trouble.”


Mook nodded in the darkness. “Well, I still wanted to check prices on automatic weapons, grenades - and even rockets if anyone will part with them. But I think I am going to find the cost too steep. And getting them back to Horn unused is unlikely. And to carry enough to do the job we’ll need a vehicle or extra pack mounts. So I think we may have to be satisfied with gathering extra funds and move on. Luvee is proving good for that much at least. Can you stand it another day or two?”


Sly sighed. “I suppose. The place stinks.”


Mook tried not to smile - even in the darkness. Sly’s senses were sharper than his in some ways. “Tell you what. We can all go shopping tomorrow. Maybe you can find something shiny with some of the money we made.” He felt Elissa fight a giggle. Sly would never use perfume or wear fancy clothing. But she did like the occasional bauble. He had no doubt she was smiling a little.


“Okay,” Sly said. She knew Mook was just bribing her. But … well, she did like shiny things on occasion. “Maybe a little something.”


“Whatever we find, make sure you let me check it for rad - especially any metals,” Mook warned.

It was nice to get through the day in Luvee. Luca was still sick throughout the day, but Brad decided to invest in one of the nicer rooms that was in an old hotel connected to one of the casinos. Some of the classic games still went on, but a lot of it was just a way of getting more money out of you. He didn't play games there, oh no, he played a different kind of sport. And tomorrow, he was going to play it again - he hadn't done it for over a year, so he was a little rusty, but he knew he'd do just fine after the way the wasteland had toughened him up. He was a non-lethal player, which is why the people loved him. It was funny, he thought he'd be recognized by some of the people there, but no one knew who he was. He figured that tomorrow he'd change that.


After one final visit to the bathroom at nine o'clock, Luca was ready for bed. He looked ghastly, but Brad saw that he was a little more comfortable by it now that he had access to a working toilet. Brad was as well, seeing as he was the one that was, you know, wiping him. Regardless, he got the wash-strips that they used during the day all washed up and ready for use again, and also washed the air-tight box out. Once that was done, he went and got Luca tucked into bed - the hotel rooms were cleaner than most, but they weren't in good shape. At least the people that ran this place were decent enough to give the beds a scrub-down after each visitor used them. It was hard to sleep in Luvee, and even though Brad was absolutely exhausted, he realized that Luvee never sleeps. Luca didn't either. At midnight, Luca came crawling into Brad's bed, sniveling and sobbing - that was all he needed, but he eventually managed to get the child off to sleep by telling him one of his wasteland-wanderer stories. That also put himself to sleep, in a way - it put his mind at ease seeing as it made him realize that he wasn't risking getting eaten alive during the night any more.




The following morning, Brad let Luca sleep in for a while. The kid needed it after his body had been flushed of everything - controlling his dehydration was tough, but he managed it. He woke the boy up at around nine o'clock and then got him dressed. They went down to the kitchen area that the hotel-casino had - the kitchen was more of a merchant, and the prices were ridiculous, but they managed to get some Brahmin steaks for a small fee after Brad managed to work his golden-tongue ways on the woman behind the bar. Luca ate like an animal that morning. He was starved, and it was evident that he never asked for anything to eat from Brad when he truly needed it.


After breakfast he had one goal. That was visiting the arena master to book a fight. Yeah, book a fight. Not bet on one. He was going to show this little town what-for, and he was going to do it by kicking ass. Each fighter was limited to five opponents, even if they lost some of them. It was at their own risk, and many people had died doing it, but Brad was smart, and he knew that even if he won a single fight, he'd get a nice little chunk of some of the bets, and he'd come back tomorrow. That was the trick behind it all, though. He became richest when he revisited Luvee, because he was just like a new face. No one bet on him, and therefore, the house kept all of the bets, and he got an even bigger share when he won. It truly was a beautiful system that they had going here.


The arena master saw him approaching with the young boy at his side and instantly rose from his seat, his face taken by disbelief.


".. B--.. Brad?! You're alive!" He let out a wild laugh. "You're alive!" He said again, literally dancing over to him to shake his hand.


"Of course I am. You know I don't die." He chuckled. ".. I'm not here for a social gathering. I need to fight. That's all I want right now--.. I have my--" He paused and looked down at Luca. ".. My adopted son. I need to get money to pay to support him." He said, the arena master just nodded and the went back to his little table that was set behind a cage. That was a necessary precaution. And before Brad knew it, he was signed up to go against his first opponent of the year - now he just had to wait for the spectators.


Talk went around town of an 'old fighter' returning to the arena once again. There were rumors about him, both good and bad, but it looked like Luvee was on a fifty-fifty scale with this new guy that they were talking about. The word quickly spread around to every shopkeeper and every citizen, both rich and poor - well, most of them, at least. A lot of them were going to be attending this fight, even if they were only placing a mere five caps on either opponent.

If I Were a Betting Man


They spent half the morning at the bazaar. Mook spent the little bit of money he planned to spend anything on just getting some needles and thread for repairs to clothing. And he went ahead and re-soled his combat boots. They hadn’t really needed it just yet, but he never knew when he’d get another chance.


Elissa seemed to have cloth in her brain for that was all she looked at. If he didn’t know better he’d have thought it was some sort of nesting instinct. But he watched patiently, never complaining. He’d promised shopping and he always kept his promises.


Sly, on the other hand, looked at jewelry for hours. He was sure she looked at some of the pieces more than once. She was like a kid in a candy shop. For someone who hated the city, she had a fondness for bazaars and their trinkets. Sly was also a haggler. Mook was sure she liked to argue just for the sake of arguing when it came to money. It was as though she thought she was getting ripped off if the seller didn’t argue enough. And on top of that she had to pull Mook over for a “professional appraisal” for each piece. And for all the trouble Sly went through for a single earring - about the only thing she ever bought - she’d wear it once or twice, then pack it away somewhere.


Mook still thought it was fun to see her triumphant look when she was done. She didn’t even look that proud when she took down game with a difficult shot.


*********


Mook had wanted to get back to the matter of making money, not spending it. He could have gone on his own and left the ladies to fend for themselves. But the simple truth was that while the girls could fend for themselves better than he could, he looked like a kid with no experience in the world - like a target. There was no point in advertising - and he was going to need his caps to gamble with.


The big news going around was an old fighter returning. Mook was already not especially sold on the idea of gambling on humans. He did most of his gambling on horse races - something he understood better. And as before he was having trouble keeping his winnings down. If anyone realized what he was doing to win, they would probably kick him out or worse.


To Mook, physical performance not dependent on will or skill, was determined by sheer physical parameters: muscle mass, mass distribution, general health, limb length. It was mostly a matter of physics - biophysics. So he tied up about 1000 caps, doing his best not to more than double his money. He even had the girls place some of the bets. But ever that was starting to look suspicious by the time the Big Fight came around.


Now earlier in the afternoon he had decided to check out the fighters. If they had been gladiators he might have gotten a better read on the fight. An “old fighter“ returning to the ring could mean several things. The guys might be desperate for money. Why else would someone fight for money? He might be expected to take a dive. He might be there to help a younger fighter’s career. The rumors didn’t help narrow the real odds down.


Mook refused to bet until he actually saw the man. The guy didn’t look THAT old. That meant that “old” meant the guy had likely started fighting when he was a kid. And that meant experience. “Now if I were a betting man, I’d go with experience.” Of course, with 50/50 odds they might be planning to pit the guy against some behemoth. The Kid was saying nothing. And that was Mook’s biggest clue. Before the rush started as they brought in the opponent, Mook dropped 1000 caps on Brad to win.


Almost immediately Mook regretted the decision. He probably should have made his bet earlier. Oh, he had already made up his mind. But still … if his winnings in the races were too high he might have some trouble to contend with. Of course, he didn’t HAVE to collect. But if his winnings were anything like his first day, he could end up walking out of the city with nearly 10,000 caps. Hell, he’d need a pack mount to carry his winnings …. and a coffin.

Well, I Might Just Do That





"Look... Just find a place to sit - I've got all of our stuff in a locker, so no one's going to rob you. I'll get this brushed up as quick as I can, okay, kid?" He said, Luca didn't look impressed. The arena was packed with people that were all different types of shady characters - this was before the contenders and even been revealed, so no one recognized who Brad was. They all knew who the other fighter was, but Brad was a nobody here.


Which is exactly why he was about to become rich.


He'd placed his everything on himself - 1,243 caps. He'd get one hell of a big payout when he won this fight, and with everyone else betting against him that only meant more money for himself. He'd get a nice handful from the pot when he won this fight, and he knew it. Luca looked panicked about what he was going to be doing, but soon he was going to learn that his worry was for nothing.


".. I don't like the people here." Luca whimpered, Brad sighed and crouched down in front of him.


"Look, the people here work in a funny way. If you don't bother them, they won't bother you, okay?"


".. But--.."


"Kid, there is no 'but' to any of this. The best advice I can give you is this - Find someone normal-looking, sit down next to them, and if anyone offers you anything or offers to take you anywhere, just say no, alright? People ain't persistent here, because that gets 'em in trouble."


There was a long pause, but then Luca hugged Brad as tight as he could. Brad was shocked. He wasn't used to having someone show affection like that. He returned the hug lightheartedly with one arm and then ruffled Luca's hair.


".. Be careful, Brad." He said.


"Well, I might just do that." He replied, an anticipating grin shooting across his face as he watched Luca walk off. He went down to the locker room to prepare himself. They had the choice of different types of armor, all of which had old stains of urine and feces from old fighters who had either succumbed to the pain and fear, or had died. Yeah, he didn't need any of that - he stuck in his pinstripe black suit pants and his leather belt, and then took his trench coat, waistcoat, and shirt off, revealing a finely chiseled body that was the result of years of physical activity and wasteland-wandering. He remembered back in the day here when he was only seventeen years old and trying his first rookie fights. It was probably the most terrifying thing, and being beaten around the arena was never a fun experience. That was until he started kicking ass.




Luca ran through the crowd until he saw some normal-looking people. Comparing them to others, they didn't look like they were from around here, and even with any abnormalities, he still considered them normal - if they weren't from Luvee, it was okay. That's what went through his mind. It took a little while of running around in panic to find the seats, but at least he'd got there in the end. He didn't know a single thing about any of these three people, just that they'd come to watch the fight. The only one who looked different was the woman who seemed to be a cut of a different cloth - a cut of mutant and human thrown together. Yeah. He wasn't going to sit next to her. He decided to take the free seat beside the man that was sat with them - he didn't say a word to any of them, he just sat down and stared into the arena to watch the fight happen. (@Mitheral - He's near your characters, just to clarify)


"Ladies and Gentlemen of Luvee! Welcome to the Arena!" The announcer called out - Most towns had power, and sadly Luvee abused the power they had by using city-wide and local intercoms. There were cheers going off in the crowd already, and that unnerved Luca but he continued to watch all the same. "Today, we've got a surprise and specialty fight for you! An old brawler has returned to the arena to show us what he's made of..." He said, the crowd started booing. That was always a good start. ".. My friends, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you the toughest bit of jerky in the wasteland - Brad. GREEEEEEEEEEEENE!" Yeah, he over-emphasized it, and the crowd were already chanting death threats and throwing junk onto the arena when they saw Brad walk out. He was shirtless and exposing every bit of muscle that he could, but he was traveling light. That was the idea. He didn't seem discouraged, though. He held his arms up in a 'come on, guys' sort of manner and slowly rotated around to look at everyone, a sly grin coating his face.


"Come on, I'm new in town!" He yelled out, but was interrupted by the announcer.


"And his opponent! The radiation-domination, the lizard of the ranks, we give you 'Scales'!" The voice echoed around. This guy had the most mediocre commentary, but it was better than nothing. Out at the other end of the arena a muscular man ran out onto the dusty arena floor and looked right at Brad. He didn't care about the danger. He wanted Brad dead. He was a man that was severely impacted by radiation poisoning, and his body was covered in scale-like growths that ran right up to his face. The only unaffected areas were a small patch on his stomach, and the left side of his face. Oh, and before I forget, this 'Scales' guy was holding a blood-stained wooden club in his right hand. That was always a good sign.


".. Well... I'm in for a treat..." Brad muttered sarcastically to himself. Luca sat up beside the three people with his legs tucked up on his seat - he was hugging his legs and was literally hanging off the edge of his chair in anticipation. His eyes were wide, and his jaw was slightly dropped. Brad wasn't his father or anything like that, and he'd only known him for two days, but he still cared about him; after all, this man did save his life and treated him with care in his time of sickness. That was something Luca was never going to forget - if he died now, he wasn't sure what he'd do. (@Mitheral - I'll post the actual fight after your next reply. I'll give you a chance to write out character reactions and such to the commentator and the random child that has come over to sit next to them )


 
(@Mitheral)

Elissa had her eyes half closed behind her sunglasses. Even with her foam earplugs - Mook’s invention - the noise of the crowd was giving her a headache. She had been in crowds before. But THIS was a whole different magnitude of loud. She could handle gunfire. One loud bang generally was something she handled just fine. Several wasn’t even too bad. But grenades or sustained high volumes were another matter.


She briefly recalled Mook giving her with her new earplugs the first time. He had presented them in one of those felt boxes that used to be used to offer an engagement ring in. The look on her face must have been priceless. She hadn’t waited for him to open it. Instead she had thrown her arms around him and laid a kiss on him that left him speechless and confused for a full minute. For all his genius he hadn’t realized what the box was normally used for. He spoke with shock finally saying that he hadn’t even opened it yet. When he did and she saw the earplugs Elissa hated to admit that she got a little cross with him actually slapping the earplugs away.


Later when Mook showed up to apologize - for what he still didn’t know - Elissa interrogated as to whether he thought it was funny. Still confused he had explained that he had thought she could use the earplugs to help block out too much noise. Realizing that he was confused, her anger not as out of control she asked if he knew what the box was normally used for. When he turned pale, then a little reddish and shook his head she realized he hadn’t meant any harm. Then she told him he was an idiot, but forgave him and explained. Then he turned REALLY red.


Now Elissa was more than grateful for the earplugs. Mook had made a lump of foam the size of a nerf football and carved out dozens for her. She still carried the ring box with as many as she could stuff inside.


******


Sly was nothing short of miserable at the Arena. Bluntly there were simply too many people. Her sentient hair was plastered to her neck as she seemed to try to shrink. She had kept her skin and hair toned normal looking when they first arrived in the city - always a safe bet just in case the locals harbored an outright hatred of mutants of any sort. That was her default when first meeting people. When she was out hunting or getting into a wilderness fight her body blended into the background like a chameleon. And then there was the times she was with people she trusted - or in a city like Luvee - where she didn’t have to hide what she was - that her true colors made themselves apparent.


She sat there holding the flip flops made with soles from a tire. Mook and Elissa had insisted she buy some back in Grants for walking around in larger villes where nails, broken glass and such were more likely. She usually didn’t need them. The soles of her feet had callouses worn in them since early childhood. Personally she thought they made her wear them so she couldn’t sneak up on them. She also thought she was quieter walking around in them than Mook trying to sneak on his best days. She had accused him more than once of trying to find every twig in a forest to hop on. Another she had pointed to one he had missed.


*****


Sly's eyes zoomed in on the first fighter - the one Mook had bet on - and smiled as she scoped out his physique. Not an ounce of fat on him. And he seemed to be at ease in the ring. No fear either - well almost none. She hoped he had a little. Fear, if controlled, kept you alive. Then as Scales made his appearance her hopes for some extra caps were dashed.


“Mook, tell us you didn’t bet on the little guy. Scales looks like he could kill with his breath.” Sly was frowning.


“I sort of wish I hadn’t. I think he’s going to win this one. Gut feeling. And I have a bad feeling about the races. I may have won too many of those too.” Mook sighed.


Sly cocked her head to one side and looked over at Mook. “Win?” She turned to look at Brad. “Maybe. Waitaminut. How can you win too much?”


Elissa spoke up. “Suppose the guys who have to make the payout don’t WANT to make such a large payout. However, the point is they WILL pay them. Not paying would cost them their lives in Luvee. On the other hand we could be considered persona non grata and booted out of the city - along with our winnings.”


It was Elissa who noticed Luca first. She glanced at the Urchin they had hired, then back at Luca. No connection between the two. Luca wasn’t one of them. The kids clothing was all new - new to him anyways. He’d been sick recently. Mook’s rad counter wasn’t going off. The kid had had decent treatments. His clothes had probably been disposed of. She had treated enough cases to know. It’s what she would have done.


But that wasn’t the end of her diagnosis of the boy’s condition. It was the boy’s fixation on the fighter - Brad - and the fact that the boy was otherwise alone, that led her to believe there was a connection. She nudged Mook and nodded her head at Luca.


Mook had already noticed Luca, but for very different reasons. The kid’s eyes - they had tiny flecks of blue and green in them. He gave Luca a friendly nod. “Let me know if you have any trouble seeing the fight.”

Luca almost jumped out of his skin when Mook spoke to him. He let off a little squeak but then realized that Mook and the other two didn't seem all that bad - he wasn't going to get hurt, it seemed, but he remembered what Brad said. He didn't want to be rude, so he just nodded and gave the best smile he could before looking back to Brad in the arena.


"FIGHT!"


As soon as the commentator gave the word, Brad didn't move. He stood perfectly still on the spot in a ready stance as this scale-covered barbarian with a wooden club came charging at him - he got closer. Twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet. And then it happened. As soon as the club went down towards Brad's shoulder, not only did Luca turned and bury his face in Mook's side while pulling on his jacket so that he could hide himself even more. He thought something was going to go wrong.


It didn't.


As soon as the crowd gave an 'oo'ing' noise, Luca instantly looked back up to see that Brad had floored his opponent with ease. How did it happen? He waited for literally milliseconds before the club struck him and then jolted his shoulder out of the way. Once that was done, he grabbed Scales' opposite shoulder and dragged him down towards the ground - as he fell, Brad's knee went straight into the weakness spot on his stomach and he went down like a sack of bricks with a loud 'oof'. The crowd suddenly fell silent as Scales stumbled back to his feet to look at Brad - Brad didn't return that respect. Instead he was turned with his hands behind his back as he walked around and stared up at the audience for a moment. Luca's jaw was dropped, but he still held onto Mook's jacket - he didn't really realize he was doing it. Just in case he needed to hide his face again, I suppose.


"What's the matter, everyone?!" Brad yelled up at the crowd. "This city forgotten my face already?! Aren't you used to something so... Casual?!" He called out - everyone just looked around at each other and then back down at him. For some reason, they showed no disrespect any more, just silence. Scales was too confident, and Brad new that - Brad was deluding him into thinking that he was also a confident person - he was confident, yes, but he was giving the impression that he was overly-confident. And overly confident people always fuck up. That was Scales' first problem - he was far too confident for his own good. That was evident when he ran at Brad and tried to get him from behind - he was swept off his feet almost instantly. Brad ducked and felt the whoosh of the club fly over his head - that's when he stuck a leg out and quickly spun around to take Scales off of his feet. It was strange. Brad was so calm - he didn't even take deep breaths and calmly walked away from his opponent. Scales sat there for a moment in the sand and dust, breathing heavily with his anger slowly building up. He wasn't used to being mocked like this.


Luca tugged anxiously on Mook's sleeve a few times. He was reluctant to talk, but his eyes remained locked on Brad while he slowly and mockingly walked in the opposite direction of Scales. He seemed to meander, though - he went around like a curve in a river, just so smoothly and calmly, almost as if he wasn't in the ring with a scale-covered psycho who wanted to tear him to pieces.


".. What's he doing--..?" Luca asked in the quietest squeak of a whisper that he could manage. ".. Why--.. why isn't Brad fighting...? He's gonna' get hurt, and he won't fight!" He added - he began to look upset right there and then. His young and innocent little mind couldn't understand that Brad was playing with his opponent to bring him down to a level where he was easiest to beat.

Mook looked down at Luca and smiled reassuringly and lowered his voice to speak calmly. “Theatrics. Brad knows what he’s doing.” Mook had been using his makeshift telescope to watch the fight - at least until Luca buried his face in his cloak. Then he had become more worried about having a pocket picked. When he had pulled it out he wished he had thought to check the bazaar for a set of binocs. He had seen a pair before and dearly wanted some. With the telescope already locked in a good focus he shifted the scope over for Luca to look through.


“Watch where Brad’s attention is. It LOOKS like he’s staring at the crowd or into the distance. But his eyes aren’t focused. His attention is on Scales - the big ugly guy. Brad could have already won. But imagine how upset these people would be if he won in a couple blows. If anyone blinked they would miss the fight. They came to see a fight. They came to see a show. They might think the fight was rigged. And I am glad to see it hasn’t gone to Brad’s head. Elissa or Sly here could probably take Scales. Well, Elissa definitely. Sly’s not so much a fist fighter. But Elissa knows right where to hit to make it hurt the most - and she’s fast. Combine, speed and experience and unless the guy you are fighting has a lot of armor, you will probably win.”


Elissa and Sly looked over. Elissa waved and smiled. Sly just gave a single wave of her hand. Sly’s eyes looked a little funny for an instant before returning to normal, the pupils oversized. Her hair had begun to loosen up a little.

Luca nodded and smiled and then instantly refocused his attention back to the fight, but he still clung onto Mook just in case something happened. He was definitely reassured, though - he actually understood a lot of the big words that Mook was saying, but he didn't really know how. It just kind of happened. His brown-green-blue eyes followed Brad around the arena - he watched him pace. And then he saw how angry Scales was. Scales was so infuriated that you could swear you could see the steam being exhaled from his nose - his fist was clenched around the club to the point of it almost breaking. This is exactly what Brad wanted him to do.


".. Isn't it funny, show-business?! You get someone as capable as me, placed against someone like that?! HA!" He yelled - this is what really got Scales riled up. Even more so when a few people laughed at Brad's comment - with a roar he charged forward, the club held high in the air. Brad didn't turn - not yet. He waited. Waited until he could almost hear this beast breathing down his neck, and then he turned around - the club came right at him and he hopped backwards - the amount of force Scales had put into the swing put him at a big disadvantage with the amount of momentum that it gained. As soon as he missed he almost stumbled to the ground, and when he was close to the floor, Brad sent his foot straight up and delivered a harsh kick to Scales' face. With a howl he went down like a rock once again and just lied there for a moment before pouncing to his feet and going into a blind fury against Brad - this didn't last long at all. Brad grabbed the scaly wrist that belonged to the arm controlling the club and stopped it right there - he did an elegant little loop under his arm while keeping hold of it, and then he had him in a weak armlock - with the most simple and gentle twist, the club popped out of his hand and Brad caught it with his free one - he delivered an elbow to his back to only wind him a little, he then pushed him forward, jumped up with his legs tucked in, turned himself while he was in the air, and sent a solid dropkick with both feet straight into the center of his back - Scales flew forward and slid through the sand on his chest and face. Brad tossed the weapon aside and watched it bounce off and roll perfectly to the edge of the arena. If Brad was one thing, he was an honorable fighter - in times like this, he wouldn't walk into an unfair fight, and he made sure that the other person wasn't too handicapped either - of course, even without the club that was still the case here, but it scored him some gold points from the audience.


".. He threw it away..." Luca muttered quietly, gripping Mook's jacket in suspense while he watched his friend work his magic down in the arena. He didn't know Brad knew how to fight like this.


Scales got back up and walked up to him this time. Brad stood still, perfectly ready for whatever was coming - he saw a Scales' right arm twitch, and he knew right there what he had to be ready for - by the time the punch came to him, he'd already slapped it aside. In the moment Scales took to recuperate, Brad used his free hand to clock him on the weak side of his face. That certainly did the trick - he stumbled back and Brad made his move. He rushed in there and sent another punch to his face - that left Scales stunned. In the time that Scales was dazed, Brad grabbed his scale-ridden back with his bare hands and forced him to bend over beside him. Then the knee became his most essential weapon - the knee went to Scales' stomach at least a dozen times, the vast majority of the shots hitting the weakest spot there. Scales went down into the dirt again, completely breathless and humiliated. Brad walked away once again and went to the center of the arena where he stood there and basked in the silence.


'They've had a good show. It's time to put this to an end.' He thought to himself. He closed his eyes and took a long deep breath, the muscles on his chest tensing a little - the rest of his body became loose and relaxed. It was unclear what was going on, but soon enough it was obvious - Scales ran at him for one final try, and once again, when he heard the footsteps get close he launched himself up off of the ground and used his tensed upper body to swerve himself around in the air. One leg went out, his foot slightly angled, and he gave a roar as he spun around and struck Scales in the weak side of his face once more. He landed, near enough perfectly, into a position where one knee was on the ground. He stood up and brushed himself off as Scales fluttered off to the side and eventually collapsed. That right there, was a concussion. He passed out, out cold, KO'd. Brad looked around once again, and eventually people began slowly clapping, which then lead to an applause. Even the people that had lost their bets were clapping for him, but no one was cheering. There were no voices. Luca joined in frantically with the clapping, a huge grin on his face while he tapped his feet on the ground in excitement. Brad had won. And he'd won a lot.

“Crap, he won.” Mook thought. Then he spoke aloud. “Well, it anyone out there bet a lot of money against Brad, I am guessing they aren’t so happy right now.” People were starting to move about with low regard for anyone around them. “Kid, you need to either stay put for a little bit or stick with us until we work our way to the dressing rooms and Brad. This crowd could run you over. Tell you what, I’ll give you a piggy back ride. That way you can see where we are going.”


Mook leaned down and lifted the kid. Mook might not have been a warrior, but he was no slouch. he lifted Luca with ease to his shoulders and settled the kid. “Just don’t cover my eyes. Although back home we used to have races like this with the person giving the ride wearing a blindfold and the race being run through an obstacle course. They were supposed to be for fun, but people bet on the outcome.” Mook laughed at a memory that popped up.


The Baron’s son, Alex - now the currently deposed Baron of Horn - had been Mook’s steed as unlikely as that had been. They had raced against Elissa and Sly. Of course, the girls had won easily. And the Baron had not exactly been amused even if his son couldn’t stop laughing. If not for the Baroness the incident might have landed Mook in very hot water. Mook hadn’t wanted to let Alex be the horse. But Alex had been stubborn and defied convention.


The group worked their way slowly toward the ring, around and then towards the dressing rooms. There was little point in trying to collect his money just yet. There would be a crowd now anyways. And if they ran out, Mook wasn’t really concerned. Sly kept making suggestion to give Mook the spurs. Elissa just suggested a Giddyup. Mook just laughed.


Of course they ran into trouble getting into the dressing rooms. But Mook asked them to let Brad know his “son” was waiting with Mook, Elissa and Sly. They were willing to wait, but didn’t want Luca left alone.


To be very honest Mook hadn’t been thrilled with Brad’s efforts at being a father. And it was then that it dawned on Mook that Luca wasn’t even Brad’s son. In fact, they might not even be related. No father would leave his son in a crowd like that.

Brad was busy washing himself in the room where the lockers were kept. He was tired after that fight, but not fatigued. He washed the sweat from his body and then put on his shirt and waistcoat again. Was he going to collect his winnings now? Of course not. That was a bad idea - You'd either get mugged or stabbed and then mugged. He didn't want that to happen. Once he gathered up all his gear, he slung his bandolier back over his shoulders - he was about to make his way out when a man walked in and ran his eyes across him.


".. Greene. Some folks out front want to come in - they've got your son with them." He grumbled, Brad was shocked. 'My son?' He thought to himself. Oh well, at least Luca had been making friends. Brad walked out and inspected the three people that stood before him - they weren't from around here. He knew that immediately - he'd been here enough to know what people looked like if they lived here, and these guys didn't even match a single similarity.


"Brad!" Luca grinned and looked at him. Brad gave a half-smile and looked up at him as he was sat upon the shoulders of a stranger. "Look, new friends!" He said simply, followed by sliding down Mook's back and then running up to Brad to hug his legs - Brad wasn't good with affection, so he just ruffled his hair and smiled.


".. I can see that, buddy... Told you you'd be fine, didn't I?" He chuckled a little and then looked up at Mook. He may not have done affection, but he knew how to be civilized. ".. I see you've met Luca... Thanks for bringing him to me. I'm Brad. Brad Greene." He stated with a quick nod and smile as he held out a hand to Mook - he shook all of their hands, eventually. (@Mitheral - You can make your next one short, if you wish. When it comes to characters talking, I think that's almost a necessity.)

Mook gave a relaxed smile and accepted the offered hand, shaking it firmly. “I would be Mook. It seemed like a good idea to keep … Luca … from getting trampled by the crowd as it departed the Arena.” Then he straightened himself. “But I don’t want to be rude. This is Elissa.” He gestured to Elissa who was finally removing her earplugs and placing them into a small pocket.


Elissa had started to remove her sunglasses when Mook gestured to her. Not wanting to be rude either she held them in her left hand while extending her own right hand to shake Brad’s. “A pleasure to meet you Mr Green.”


“And that on our far side is Sly,” Mook noticed that their friend was standoffish as usual.


From the Arena to the dressing rooms Sly’s appearance had changed once more, this time becoming something very normal looking. It was almost an unconscious reaction to the impending meeting with Luca’s ‘father.’ She gave a curt nod and duplicated Elissa’s handshake. “Good fight.” She really wasn’t the best people person.


Mook raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses, making his forehead go taut. “I dunno about that. The only good part of it was Brad’s showmanship. It was kind of a mismatch - David vs Goliath.” He paused and looked at the girls. “Small guy vs a really big, supposedly unbeatable guy. It was a famous fight from long ago. Tonights fight went about the same way - right down to the exchanges of insults … and wealth. It was one of those winner takes all fights.”


“Speaking of winning, I have a lot of bets to go check the winnings on - including one of you Brad.” Mook winced. “I made a tidy little sum. Too much I am afraid. I am hoping those paying out aren’t too sore about my winnings. I bet on a lot of races too. You know, you and Luca are welcome to join us for dinner. If you win big, always spread the wealth a bit. If you join us, I have a rickshaw waiting. Might need a second one though. I have some other … friends … that I hired to watch over my things. Local guild. And I tip well. Elissa, we are going to need at least one more horse. We ought to convert some of our new found wealth into that.”

Brad laughed. ".. The grand story of David and Goliath. Quite a sound comparison." He leaned over and swept Luca up off the ground, grunting as he lifted him up onto his shoulders. ".. I hate to brag, but back in the day, I fought guys that were twice the size of him. The trick behind it is the spectators. House kept all the money, because mostly everyone, if not all of them, bet against me. Bigger cut for myself - I bet on myself to win, so I've got an even bigger payout waiting. I'm guessing you're new to Las Vegas, if not new, you're not from around here - That's a compliment, for the record." He smiled a little and then took a deep breath, his eyes scanning around the surrounding area - there weren't a lot of people collecting their winnings, would you believe it.


He looked at Sly for a moment and observed how she was acting. He didn't really think anything bad of it, so he kept smiles going all around. Luca was busy doing childish stuff and messing with Brad's hair or covering his eyes occasionally while he was talking - After Brad won the fight, and left Luca alone, he didn't have the energy to be angry or stern. Whenever Luca did something like that, he just occasionally chuckled along with him.


".. With the sort of money you're going to be walking around with, I don't think they'll be a single person that you can trust. You're going to be paid out in Luvee Chips. They can be spent here and converted to caps when you leave." He said, he motioned one hand off to where the collection booth was and started walking, presumably with them. ".. If you didn't know already, when you convert the chips to caps, you'll get star bottle caps. One of those is equivalent to a hundred regular caps - they can't be forged because of the way they're made. You'll see how. Regardless, that system was put in place for High Rollers who didn't want to carry their thousands around in a travel wagon." He chuckled a little and went up to the booth with Luca still sat on his shoulders, he leaned forward a little bit and leaned onto the surface of the counter. The man behind it simply handed him a small bag - he shook it about. Plastic chips. Brilliant. He grinned in excitement as he turned it over to read the front of it. '13.4'.


Before any pocket-pickers could see the amount he'd won, he quickly slipped his backpack off and shoved the small bag right down to the bottom, underneath all of the water, food, and other objects that he had in the bag. That would prevent anyone from getting it unless he took the bag off of his shoulders. Once he'd tucked it away he threw it onto his back once again and then turned to look at Mook, Elissa, and Sly.


".. I don't know what your winnings will be. Mine are pretty high purely for the reason that a lot of people were against me, and I got a nice percentage. I'd recommend that you keep your winnings in a place no one could reach." He chuckled a little and then stepped aside. ".. Also, I and Luca would love to join you for dinner, right, buddy?" He rolled his eyes up to look at Luca, whom of which was still messing around with his face and hair - he wasn't being obsessive, but he was just styling Brad's hair in a goofy sort of way.


"Yeah!" He said, smiling. If Luca was on-board, Brad was as well - and vice versa. Brad looked at them and nodded.


"That's us. You can choose where we eat tonight."