MLP-Multiverse: Chimera - The Snake's Charm

Chapter 3: A Brave New World

"I tell ya, ya never know who your real friends are until both your backs are at the wall."

Well, here we are at the present time, and I could not ask for a better life. I have two jobs I love doin, a fry cook and a jukebox technician, though as time passed, I pretty much became a full-on mechanic. I'm reminded of Grandpa for a moment. Poor Grandpa Stanley, he was mortified by the incident, and we hadn't talked so much since then. He was the one who taught me how to use my tools, and here I was, becoming a right expert with them. Either way, I love my jobs, cause no matter which one I'm doin, I'm always covered in grease. I tell that one all the time, and I usually get a laugh. Mr. Mack has been less than enthused lately though. I wonder if something is wrong. I'll ask him a soon as I can.

I head down the hall to the atrium before I get to the stairs, but I see something a bit surprising. Almost everyone in the vault is collected in the atrium, and Mr. Mack is standing on the upper balcony, like he's about to make a decision. After everyone gathers, I wait and listen to what he has to say.

"People of Vault 101... I have an important announcement to make. As of today, we are running DANGEROUSLY low on supplies." Immediately, everyone in the vault is panicking. I can't imagine what we're supposed to do without food or common everyday supplies. I listened to what he had left to say. "Food, Amenities and medicine are running out, and as we must remain inside the vault at all times, I have no choice but to try something different. I will open the door, but ONLY to send out a small scout party into the wasteland, in order to find food and supplies. I can think of no one better than our resident thugs, the Tunnel Snakes."

"WHAT!? That's BULLSHIT!" I know that voice. Dammit, Butch is gonna say something stupid again. I hold him back from the stairs and whisper to him.

"Butch, wait, stop! Shhh, listen, if he lets us out into the wasteland, we can see what's going on out there." This seems to get his attention, since he stops what he's doing and stands still to listen to the rest of the announcement.

Mr. Mack continues the announcement to say, "For security reasons, I'm issuing each scout an N99 10mm pistol and a security baton, although I'm sure the Snakes have their own weapons as well...", He added with a smirk. "For survival purposes, they shall also be issued a medical kit, with 2 stimpaks, a doctor's bag, and several chems we could issue. Also, take plenty of water, boys. Now go out there and bring back whatever you can find, make me proud, boys." With this, he turns and strolls back into his office as if nothing is wrong, and he didn't just say we were going to die. This is crazy, What does he expect us to do? Well, everyone else is going nuts, so maybe WE have to pony up to the plate... so to speak.

I head over to the armory, where I see Stevie again, and he hands me a pistol and baton. I go to grab the needed provisions, and he looks at me earnestly saying "Hey kid, you've been doin' great since we picked you up, and I want ya to know, we're really counting on you now. If you come back from this, you'll be HEROES."

"I... dunno what to say, Steve. I'm kinda at a loss. Maybe if I come back successful, I'll be able to process this properly." I laugh a little bit, with him joining in. I see the other Tunnel Snakes walk in and gather up the needed supplies. I also see Stevie give a hug to Wally, much to his chagrin, afterwards slipping a note into his hands. As the years pass, Wally's gotten kind of shitty to the people who really care about him. He could NEVER see Butch as a leader, though I do, being his best friend. Beyond that, he seems to look down on our newest member, Freddie. The kid suffers from Vault Depressive Syndrome, so you would think he could show at least a LITTLE sympathy, but no. I feel like he doesn't understand that brains aren't everything. If you want to be a leader, you need to think of EVERYONE. I step towards em, here we are, all 5 of us, and ready to go out into the wild wasteland and find fresh provisions for the vault. I am SO ready for this, but I should see what they think. "Hey guys, you all ready to go out and kick some ass for Vault 101?" I give a wide grin and put a hoof up to mimic a man shaking his fist triumphantly.

"Hell yeah, guys!" Freddie is the first to answer. Thank goodness he's in such a good mood, I was starting to worry about him. normally he has trouble even with something as simple as getting out of bed. Yeah, his depression can hit him pretty hard sometimes.

"You betcha ass we are!" Butch and Paul reply with as much enthusiasm as I expected, or didn't expect due to Butch's reaction earlier. Maybe he really DID want to see the outside world. I don't blame him, I was much more than curious.

"Shut up, Pony-boy. Let's get this over with." Wally, I can never fully understand this guy. Ah well, time to go. First off though, how do I use this pistol with hooves? I try to hold it with both hands, but I keep fumbling. Stevie, still nearby, decides to help, but it doesn't go so well. I try putting it between my hooves, but I can't pull the trigger. I try levitating it against my hoof like Butch's switchblade, but my other hoof is too big to pull the trigger. I even try something kind of silly, I put it in my mouth and pull the trigger with my tongue. BANG! I blow a hole right through one of the ammo lockers.

"Holy Shit!" I open my mouth, dropping the gun. "Did you see that? I really CAN use a gun. Beat that, Wally!" I smile wide and proudly at my display.

"Congrats kid, ya shot an unarmed ammo locker." As usual, something shitty to say.

Stevie chimes in, clearly impressed, "I dunno, did you see how many guns were in that locker? He was clearly heavily armed." He starts chuckling, with a few of the guys joining in. Wally still looks so miserable. At this point, if that guy has something on his mind that makes him like this, I don't wanna know what it is.

i put the gun back in my mouth and lift the switchblade with a hoof. I try to look as cool as possible, and the rest of the Snakes seem to go for it. Stevie wishes us good luck, and outside we go, headed for the vault door. On our way, everyone is cheering, wishing us luck, and for a split second, I see Miss Ellen, Mr. Mack, and even Grandpa Stanley wave at me. Thank goodness he's doing alright. We head to the door's control panel, and the weight of our scouting mission finally hits us. We have to go out into a wasteland no one has ever seen before, facing something none of us had ever seen, and DEFINITELY more dangerous than any radroach, and HOPE there's food, water, or medical supplies out there. Not only that, but find it and bring it back alive. Maybe we ARE screwed... I look back at the guys and they all seem to feel it too. I always treat Butch like our leader, but I know how discouraged he can get. I have to say something.

"Alright badasses, you ready to go out there and prove who REALLY owns this vault?" They don't seem to buy it at first, but eventually, they start to mumble among themselves. First one to change his tune of course, is Butch. He steps forward and asks...

"Hey, who the hell said YOU were the leader, huh?" He slugs my shoulder and starts laughing "Aight, pussies! Who's gonna get out there and show that wasteland who's boss!? Either you get out now, or I KICK you outside!" We all stand at attention, and start moving towards the door, but first we need the password. Wally pulls the piece of paper out of his pocket and reads it off.

"HeartofGold. The hell is that?" Wally reads and then questions. It hits me. I dunno what, but for some reason, I feel ill. Sheesh, I haven't even made it outside. I answer him.

"Wally, it must be the password. Put it in." He does, and the door lock mechanism springs into action. With a sudden alarm sounding throughout the vault, a light flashing around us, and a loud WHIRRRR! and CLANK! the door opens, slowly rolling aside. Again, I'm struck with a massive feeling of familiarity. WHY does this all seem like... what do they call it? Deja vu. Like I knew this was gonna happen. Whatever, time to move on. We all saw the vault open into a massive opening of stone we could only assume was a cave, and on the far end was a wooden door. We all headed towards the door and pushed it open.

Immediately, a great flash of light comes over us, and we're stunned. We figure it was just bright outside, but I have a gut feeling that we'll learn the hard way that years of growing in an underground vault does not prepare you for a burnt out, broken, and bright skied wasteland, left over from a war several centuries ago, and even more generations spent living like nothing happened.

I look around, amazed by what I see. Skeletons of old buildings and houses, and a street covered with old husks of once driven things the Humans call "cars" are strewn about. Imagine it as a carriage that eats a flammable juice in order to pull itself. I look around further and see several ugh... Human skeletons. The people fighting this war did horrible things to our home. So, that gives me a question to answer. Why did we get stuck with the leftovers? This hurts me the more I look around, so I turn to Butch and say this.

"Hey, what's say we get this over with? I'm beginning to like this place less and less."

"Okay, guys, let's split up and look for supplies. Our Pip-Boys have the automap, so don't worry about losing your way. and if worse comes to worse, there's always the tracking device. Wally you go with Paul and Freddie, I'll take Snake. you go south, we'll go north." and we split up, the four of us. As I walk northwards with Butch, we talk a little bit, all the while keeping on our guard for anything that may be out there.

"Hey Butch, why's this place look like shit? Didn't anyone think to clean, or ya know, rebuild society?", I ask.

"I dunno Snake, but they really let this place go. skeletons, broken shit, what were they thinkin'? What'd they THINK was gonna happen if they dropped a friggin' bomb on everyone?"

"Whatcha think they were fightin' about anyway? Resources? that flammable shit that powers cars?

"I don't know, but either way, everyone fucked up big time. Maybe we should just hurry up and find some food. If this is the wasteland, I would pick the vault... at least, I think so."

"Ya think so? What's the doubt?"

"Well, if I stick around the vault, I could be stuck with the same people, the same food, the same job, forever. It sounds so boring. Even if it's safe, why would ya do the same thing over and over if nothing new ever happens?"

"I think I get what you mean. As much as I love my jobs, things get really quiet, and I feel like there's a whole world out there we're missing. Hey Butch, if worse comes to worse, what's say we just go around and make this place our own?"

"Hell yeah, dude. The Tunnel Snakes rule anywhere they go, remember that." Butch's confidence is starting to rub off on me. Whatever could happen out here, I am definitely ready for it.

It isn't too long of a walk until we come across something. It looks like a truck, except it's hollowed out and pulled by a large, two-headed cow. Well, I thought it would be the strangest thing we'll see today. We see a few men, very scary-looking, and dirty as all Hell, wearing what looks like potato sacks with spiked tire halves or leather pads. They were some savage guys, loaded with guns and chems. How would they have chems? Obviously that meant one thing, there are supplies around this wasteland. As much as I get the heebie jeebies just looking at them, perhaps they could help.

That was the worst idea I've ever had... As we walk down toward the caravan, we notice that the back of the truck is holding a huge covered cage, which immediately begins to cry for help. Upon seeing me, the men charge towards me and attempt to grab me, to which I grab the switchblade with my hoof. I fumble with it a bit, but I manage to hold it out, ready to stab the man in front if need be. Unfortunately, while this one raider is toting a sledgehammer at the moment, the other one is carrying some kind of rifle, and pointing it right at my head. Bolt-action, like a gun Stevie found in the armory a while back. I heard them mumbling something, when I see Butch hold his pistol at the rifleman's head. The rifleman immediately turns to him and starts talking.

"Alright, punk kid, listen up! We want that horse you've got with ya. He'll fetch a nice price." Here we go again, another human who treats me like property. Well, while he's not paying attention, I drop my hooves behind my back and try to make a signal to Butch. He's slow to catch on, but he must have understood, as he opens fire on the raider with the sledge as soon as the rifleman starts to speak again. I have no idea how Butch can fire a gun so well, but 2 bullets tear through the air and right into the melee combatant's head, shattering his entire skull. While I'm trying to avoid getting brain matter on my Tunnel Snakes jacket, I'm already using the distraction to duck under the rifleman's barrel. The raider was so startled at the interruption that he fired blindly, completely missing my head. I knew bolt-actions only fire one shot at a time, what an idiot. I pulled out the blade, and took a swing, right into his firing hand. I knew I should have tried to take him down, but I figured maybe if I scared him, he'd save us the trouble.

Butch holds the gun steady as I loom over the raider. As I open my mouth to warn him what will happen if he tries anything, he lifted his good hand to his mouth and whistled loudly. PHWWWWWWWWT! Immediately, we see 3 more men and a woman, all dirty and bloodied, all carrying guns, and running towards us angrily. This is NOT good. I turn to Butch and yell for him to get behind the truck and start shooting, as I grab for my pistol and fit it into my mouth, I smack the raider in the head to put him out. I may regret this, but this is more important. Butch aims and takes a breath, and I suddenly realize how he was so accurate with his shots. He's using V.A.T.S., the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System that came with every Pip-Boy! I realize that even if my Pip-Boy has another name, It might still have that same functionality, and considering I can only shoot a gun with my mouth, that would be VERY helpful.

I turn my arm around and quickly search for the button that would activate V.A.T.S., but I don't find it. I do however, find a button spelling S.A.T.S. What the hell was S.A.T.S.? Well, time to find out. Immediately, everything slows down and the raiders charging as us, guns at the ready, are frozen in place like sculptures. I can focus, and so long as the percentages on my Pip-Buck say I can hit an enemy, I can do it. Shit, I never checked my stats, but I notice my Luck and Perception... a two and a seven. High numbers, low critical chance. Fine, I better make sure every shot counts. If I target the nearest one's head, that would prevent him from shooting, but all he had was a small revolving pistol. If these guys are on whacked out on chems, they're gonna miss a LOT. There we go, the big guy has a double-barreled shotgun. I have a better aim at his arm, so I'll shoot him there. Next, I'll take out the crazy guy charging at us with a... looks like a sword. I'll shoot his head, since if he does make it over here, He's got a fucking sword, and I do not want him to properly aim. and then the sniper on the hill. I can't hit his head with a pistol, so what can I do? I set the target for his rifle. If I can gamble on it, I'll knock it out of his hands. If not... I'll pick up this hunting rifle the dead guy dropped... Eww, I just realized how horrible that sounds. Well, desperate times and all that. Boy am I glad that S.A.T.S. freezes time. Time to stop dicking around.

I fire away, and hit... well, to tell the truth, I'm lucky Butch was aiming for the head on all his targets. While I hit the shotgunner's hand, and he drops his gun, I miss the swordsman's head and fail to destroy the hunter's rifle. Butch, however, puts a bullet in the swordsman's head, and he practically launched the hunter's head from his shoulders... SHEESH. It was like one of those scenes from a Grognak comic. Or... Doom Mongous? Of course, I'm just in the wrong mindset! I need to focus on the fight. If S.A.T.S. won't help, I'll do it myself. Just like the roaches. I pick up the switchblade and charge at the gunslinger, and he looses a shot at me, luckily missing. I'm taking a huge risk, but I lodge the blade into his neck, watching him... choke and bleed to death. Oh, that's new. I start to feel a bit sick, but I reach down and take his revolver. I aim for the raider at my feet. He looks up at me, slowly waking up, as if realizing I'm going to end his journey right there, so to speak. as he pleads with me, I notice a gunshot behind me. I assume Butch finished off the shotgunner and tell the raider "I was gonna let ya go, but you had to do something stupid. If I kill you, you won't learn ANYTHING. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed." I see something that makes me wretch. He looks at something that would appear to be behind me, and smiles. It's a gross smile. His teeth weren't treated very well, and his gums look more than a little rotten.

"Alright. Now hand over all your shit and strip down. I'll put these collars on nice and easy... You guys'll fetch a great price at Paradise Fa-ACK!" Whoever is holding Butch hostage is cut off by a switchblade, thrown into his throat. As he coughs up his blood, I step towards him and Butch stumbles away, catching his breath, having escaped a vicious chokehold.

"NEVER call me property, you filthy ape." I command with an unknown anger in my voice, and I swing down onto his head with my right hoof, hearing something give way with an audible CRACK! as the bastard falls to the ground.

"What did you do!? You killed Boss Nitro! Thanks a LOT, man!" I hear the voice from behind me, reach down and pull the switchblade from the raider's neck and point it at the little guy.

"Care to make some sense, RIGHT NOW?" I point the blade at him. Butch watches in shock, thinking I've finally gone off the deep end, no doubt, but I'm listening. I'm not the unreasonable one here, after all.

"I-I'll explain, man, don't worry. Just uh... Can I get up, hold my hammer and uh, not be killed? also uh, ya might wanna free those slaves in the cages." He points to the several vibrating and crying, sheet-covered boxes in the back of the truck.

Leveled Up. Perk Selected.

"Covered In Grease"

Each rank of this perk adds +5 to your Repair and +5 to your Survival skill.