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Guest
er...in case some people didn't read the 'LOOK AT THIS HE'S BACK ect...' post it was the next part of mutant hunter, this. The text below. Look down a bit.
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Mutant Hunter-Intensive Care
“This one’s in critical condition! Get her to the Doc!” Shouted the worried brotherhood guard.
“What’s wrong with the man?” The field medic asked quickly, as they ran down the
metallic brotherhood corridors.
“He’s got a plasma burn and bullet wounds!” The guard shouted as he swung round a sharp corner.
“What about her? Oh god! That’s Elsie!” The field medic cried, as he noticed that the barely living person in his arms was Elsie.
“She’s got burns and bullet wounds all over! Looks like they’ve seen some action!” The guard replied, not knowing Elsie personally.
“Do you know what happened to the paladin team?” asked the medic, as he pulled out a stimpack.
“Some were KIA, some are MIA and the rest are safe, here.” Said the guard as the stretchers were pushed into the elevator, along with the medic. The guard nodded to the medic as the elevator door closed and the elevator began to descend the shaft.
Elsie lay, almost dead on a cold, hard infirmary bed. She was badly wounded and there was a nurse and a doctor, both dressed in brown, neatly cut robes and holding healing and surgical devices were attending to her. The surgical Bay of the infirmary was a small neon-lit room; it was sterile white and had one bed in the centre of the bay. Along the walls were various cabinets and cases, all steel filled with surgeon’s tools, stimpacks, chemicals and other medical equipment.
The doctor injected a strange stimpack into Elsie’s arm and patched up the last bullet wound. She turned to the young nurse.
“Stay with her in case something happens. I’m going to wake up the man.” She told him, before she turned and went out the door into the main part of the infirmary, where Hank lay peacefully, with all his wounds patched up and cells regenerating artificially thanks to brotherhood medical technology. He was lying on a soft, grey bed with a light blanket over him. The doctor shook him slightly and his eyes began to open. The first thing he saw was a bright neon blur from the light above, he squinted and turned his head, to reveal a metallic grey and blue room with strange technology and real carpet. Hank shook his head and looked again.
“Where am I?” He thought out loud, wondering if he was dreaming or dead.
“You’re in the Brotherhood of Steel.” A soft, female voice to the other side of him replied informatively. Hank turned his head to face the woman and he saw a woman in a brown robe, with gold trim and a small smile on her face. She looked down at a console on the side of Hanks bed and typed something in. Hank blinked.
“Wha…what?” he stammered. She looked up.
“The Brotherhood of Steel. The paladins rescued you and your friend Elsie from a small team of mutants. Apparently you got into some trouble.” She remarked, looking back down at the console. Hank struggled to remember. Then he vaguely remembered some of the details; getting an electric shock, being hit by a plasma burst and shooting a strange hunter. Hank ignored his puzzlement and propped himself up on his elbows. He looked around the room and saw a clean, grey and blue, metallic room, with consoles and high-tech equipment all around the room. Hank had never seen anything like it, and never thought he would ever see the inside of the Brotherhood of Steel. It was even more technological than he’d heard. It sure didn’t look as if anyone sacrificed puppies around here, though.
“Do I have do stay here?” Hank asked.
“No, I suppose you can leave, but don’t offend any of the paladins, initiates, elders or scribes. You are a guest here and we wouldn’t usually allow you in.” She cautioned him.
“Right.”
Hank waited for a minute as the doctor typed on a console. He looked around again. He waited.
“Err…” He began, trying to get her attention.
“Hmmm?” She began, looking up.
“Can I have my clothes?” He asked, uncertainly.
“Oh. Sorry,” The Doctor apologised, restraining laughter and walked over to a locker and pulled his leather clothing out “Here you go.” And she passed his clothes. He stood out and began to get dressed. The doctor looked up.
“Oh.” She remarked, extremely embarrassed and exited quickly with a red face.
Hank finished dressing and went out through the door that the doctor had gone through.
“Where are my weapons?” He asked, almost accusingly.
“You can get them when you leave. And when you’re here TRY to be civilised.” She answered. Hank had little idea what she meant, but as she entered the room he caught her shoulder.
“How’s Elsie?”
“She’s…stable.” She answered slowly.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“She’ll live.” She said bluntly as she walked back into the infirmary. Hank walked of down the
metallic, brightly lit corridor, not sure where to go.
He eventually found a workshop, crammed with small pieces of technology; bits of power armour, cannibalised laser or plasma weaponry, computer chips, fibre-optic cabling, various pieces of hardware and all other sorts of hi-tech scrap metal. All this technology disguised the plain, brotherhood walls. The room was quite small and two men clad in combat armour were hard at work. One seemed to be fixing a hi-tech pistol, while the other was tinkering with what looked like a chest-piece of metal armour, with a computer on the back, it was smaller than power armour and shinier than metal armour usually was, and it looked stronger than metal armour. Hank walked over to the worktable that the man was working at.
“What is that?” asked Hank.
“It’s …a piece of messed-up… cyber-metallic armour. It took a few hits in the CPU …an’ I gotta fix it up.” He replied, as he tinkered with a bunch of circuitry at the back. Hank examined the armour thoroughly.
“What is cyber-metallic armour?”
“Well…think of a…Yes!” The mechanic exclaimed as a group of blue lights at the back lit up. He looked up and realised Hank wasn’t from the brotherhood. “Hey, who are you?”
“My is name Hank.”
“Right. You’re not from the Brotherhood?”
“No.”
“Then, I don’t think I can tell you about our tech. Sorry.”
“I’ve seen most of your technology and I don’t understand any of it, except for the guns. I won’t steal any secrets.”
“Err…Alright then. This Cyber-metallic armour (or CMA) is like a hybrid between power armour and metal armour. It uses computers and circuitry similar to power armour, but it is slightly stronger than normal metal armour. The helmets are about the same as power armour helmets but less heavy-duty.” The mechanic explained, proud of his knowledge.
“Thanks.” Hank said and walked out the door.
Rhombus lay down on his bed and then came a loud squeaking noise from under him. The bed was buckling from the weight of his massive power-armour. He smiled to himself, he was proud of the glory he received when he drove away the mutant armies, he was also amused by the fact that he’d barely taken his armour off since then. He let out a small, low laugh and decided not to go to bed. As he stood up he heard the door to his quarters open. He growled and decided that if this was another initiate, he would become severely pummelled. He stood towards the door.
“Who Is There?” He bellowed and went through the door into his living room, revealing a strong-looking, weathered man with scars on his face.
“Is this someone’s room? Some paladin told me it was the bathroom.” He said, without a hint of fear in his voice. His voice was gritty, tough and fearless.
“No. This is MY room. Not a Bathroom! Now Leave!” Rhombus ordered, holding back rage.
“Who are you?” asked Hank and Rhombus’s face changed into an expression Hank couldn’t identify.
“I am Rhombus, Head of the paladins and Brotherhood forces. I also test the better initiates in the arts of hand-to-hand combat. Now leave” He said, though gritted teeth.
“Really? I’m not bad at hand-to-hand. Test me.” Hank said, totally seriously. Rhombus was about to explode in anger and rage when he considered the request and smiled.
“Very well. Follow me.” Rhombus requested, cherishing every moment as they walked to the training room. It was quite a large, grey room with exercise machinery and a large training mat in the centre of the room. Tailus was training with some initiates at the time. Once he saw Rhombus he broke them up.
“Everybody! Rhombus is here to whoop all yer arses, like I said!” Tailus proclaimed and walked closer to Rhombus. “What brings you here, my friend?” asked Tailus quietly.
“This leather-clad fool has challenged me. I want to fight him here, and I want everyone to see.” Rhombus replied, with a huge grin on his bearded face.
“Alright, I clear the mat and put on the cameras so everyone can see it happen from a console. I get someone to contact the Elders and broadcast all over the place! This will be a big event! Imagine it now! Our head paladin, Rhombus, leader of the Steel soldiers, master of judo, wrestling and other forms of hand-to-hand combat versus…what’s his name?”
“My name is Hank.” Answered Hank, as Rhombus was about to reply.
“Versus Hank, um…” Began Tailus but had no idea who Hank was.
“Hank, husband to a murdered wife, sworn enemy of the masters army, hunter of mutant scum, ex-regulator corporal and soldier of vengeance.”
“Wow.” Said Tailus, stunned. Rhombus rolled his eyes.
Every Brotherhood member was watching a console with a vid-link to the fight or was at the fight. Even the Elders were watching on their consoles, but pretending they weren’t. Hank had many supports among the initiates and non-combative Brotherhood members, but Rhombus had 89% of the paladins and a lot of the combative brotherhood members on his side. Hank didn’t really care and thought the whole thing was completely out of proportion. All lights in the Brotherhood were all off, except for a few in the lower level, and a one, powerful light above the ring. This strange lighting system gave a tense atmosphere. He sighed and sat in his dark corner of the training hall, watching Rhombus at the other side in all his armour, surrounded by cheering fans, soaking up the fame. The entire brotherhood had forgotten all about the mutants (Which didn’t matter since they were miles away.) and was focusing purely on this fight. They had even drummed up a prize; a sword, beautifully crafted, it sat in Maxsom’s hands, who was standing in the centre of the mat, waiting until everything was ready. Hank had only just met Maxsom and he liked the old coot, he was straight the point, not all this ceremonial bullshit. The sword itself was magnificent, it was made of a shiny, bright metal, it looked as strong and power armour and sharper than Maxom’s tongue. It had a lightning bolt symbol, starting at the hilt, ending at the tip. Maxsom brandished it with ease, like it was lighter than an empty bottle of nuka cola.
Rhombus eyed the sword, lustfully, stood up and signalled the fans to be quiet. Tailus acting as his manager whispered something in his ear. Hank had a female paladin by the name of Shannon as his manager. She was the one who tricked him into going into Rhombuses room and she was stationed at the door usually. All of the fans were now deadly silent as rhombus stood up and cleared his throat.
“I intend to win this sword and this fight to prove my strength and skill.” Rhombus proudly announced. The fans cheered. Hank stood up.
“Good for you. Lets go.” Hank said impatiently and the crowd cheered. Maxsom hushed up the crowd and cleared his throat, sounding like he was trying to hack up a lung or something. He pulled some little notes out of his robe and began to read.
“Tonight, for honour, respect and this sword,” He read, and sliced the air a couple of times. “Rhombus,…oh boy…leader of the Steel soldiers, master of judo, wrestling and other forms of hand-to-hand combat versus…who wrote this?” Tailus looked embarrassed “Versus Hank, sworn enemies of the masters armies, hunter of the Mutants, ex-regulator commando, master of all weapons, wasteland warrior and soldier of vengeance.” Hank looked surprised. Maxsom rolled his eyes and went to the side of the ‘ring’.
Hank and Rhombus entered the ring at opposite sides. Hank tore of his leather jacket, symbolically, revealing his tough, weathered muscles. He clicked his fingers and readied his fists. His face showed nothing but concentration. Rhombus entered the ring smiling and waving. He did a couple of fancy moves and clicked his neck. The fan cheered wildly.
“Prepare to be Crushed!” Rhombus threatened and stepped in a fighting stance towards the centre of the ring. Hank dropped his fists and stood normally, with an expression of total and utter disbelief on his face.
“You’re not expecting me to fight you in your robo-suit, are you?” Hank asked, almost scornfully. The crowd laughed as Rhombus looked down on his armour with an expression of almost shear panic on his face.
“I…I…err…Ah.” Rhombus stuttered slowly, then hung his head and walked back into the corner. He walked out of the door and into his quarters, where he slowly changed into a blue vest with the insignia of the Brotherhood and black trousers. The walked from the training room to his quarters was dubbed ‘Rhombuses walk of shame’ by the brotherhood, and was watched by all from the consoles.
A few minutes later Rhombus was back in the ‘ring’ and ready to fight. His reputation somewhat smeared, he felt still little fear and would enjoy this none the less. The lights all off except for a few emergency ones and a bright neon one above the ring gave a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere, The fighters could not see the crowd but the crowd could see them and every bead of sweat would be clearly visible on either of the fighters. Maxsom raised the sword above his head, and as he brought it down he shouted
“Begin!” As soon as this the two warriors began circling and trying to sum the other up. Hank lunged forward, taking a heavy swing. Rhombus easily avoided it and used Hank’s second of disorientation to drive a powerful uppercut into Hank’s jaw. Hank stumbled backwards, barely keeping his balance. Rhombus threw a mighty punch towards Hank, but missed. Hank crouched and ran at Rhombus, full-force. Hank grabbed his lower torso, like a rugby tackle and kept on running towards the back wall. Rhombus could barely move and was rammed powerfully into the wall. Hank released his grasp and rhombus sprung to his feet. Hank aimed a punch at his chest, but Rhombus caught Hank’s fist and quickly manoeuvred it behind Hanks back. Rhombus began pulling up, causing Hank great pain. Hank punched behind his head with his free hand and felt it hit something. Rhombus relinquished his grasp and took a few steps back, holding his nose. A drop of blood seeped through his fingers. Rhombus looked at it and rage grew in his eyes. He ran at Hank full speed, throwing wild punches. Hank felt at least seven punches strike him and some blood fall out from his nose. Hank stumbled into the crowd, who stepped away from him. Hank lay on the groung, motionless. Rhombus walked over to him, raised his fist and drove it as hard as he could, towards Hank’s face to end the fight. Hanks eyes sprung open and his hands shot out to catch the speeding fist. A few centimetres closer and Hank would have needed lots of surgery to make him looked normal. Hank threw the fist to his left and delivered a powerful kick into Rhombus’s kidney. The effect was incredible; Rhombus clutched his side and tried to breathe in. He had had the wind severely knocked out of him. Hank stood up and raised his fist, as he did Rhombus swung around to face him and flung his arms around Hanks lower torso. He picked Hank up over his shoulder and smiled a look a triumph. Rhombus began spinning around and around and he lifted Hank up above his head with both arms. Hank kneed him straight in the face. Rhombus fell back, dropped Hank and fell to the ground. Hank pulled himself up of the ground, bleeding, bruised but still standing. Rhombus was lying incapacitated on the ground; his face covered in blood and his body covered in bruises. His eyes were closed and he looked bad. Tailus ran over to Rhombus and checked if he was conscious. He was completely smashed so Tailus slung him over his shoulder and ran down to the infirmary. Everyone cheered and Maxsom walked into the ‘ring’.
“We have our winner!” He announced to the crowd. Everyone cheered and Maxsom slowly handed Hank the sword. Hank smiled and waved slowly, as if he were really tired. Then he spotted Elsie’s smiling face in the crowd. She was lower than everybody, Hank didn’t know why until he noticed she was on a strange chair with wheels. Maxsom hushed up the crowd so that Hank could speak.
“Err…When I began…this…I didn’t know it…would be…stay in school…thanks…” Hank slowly managed and then fell to the ground.
Twenty minutes later he was awake and walking through the corridors away from the infirmary pushing Elsie on her wheel chair.
“So, what happened to your legs?”
“Well, a bullet severed a nerve near my spinal cord and it means I can’t walk, at least for now.”
“What do you mean ‘at least for now’?” Hank asked.
“The doc. thinks she’ll be able to repair the nerve or something. Hey, congrats on your winning, by the way.” She commented and smiled.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Talk more tomorrow, this is my room…just on the left here,” Said Elsie, pointing to left. Hank followed her finger to a door. She pressed a button on the side and wheeled herself in. “Thanks, see you later!” She thanked him as the door slid closed.
Hank walked back to the infirmary to see the doctor, and Rhombus. He approached the steel door with ‘Infirmary’ on it, pressed the button and entered.
Rhombus lay on a bed unconscious with a strange bandage over his nose. The doctor was standing next to him, with a thin smile on her face. Hank nodded in greetings and walked over to the side of Rhombuses bed.
“Is he awake?” Asked Hank.
“No.” She replied simply.
“Can you wake him?”
“No.” She replied again.
“Ah.”
“Why do you want a to wake him? Do you want a rematch or something?”
“No. I want him to have this.” He answered, brandishing the sword.
“Firstly, this is a hospital and that is very likely to do the opposite purpose of what this room is for. And secondly, giving that back would be a huge insult, not only to Rhombus but the rest of the brotherhood as well!” She explained.
“Why?”
“Because these swords are symbols of honour. They are one-of-a-kind! Each of the elders and Maxsom has one, and Rhombus would love one. They are worth more to him than power armour, and if you just gave it away…”
“In that case, I won’t give it to him.” Hank interrupted.
“Good.” She said proudly.
“One more thing, where are my quarters?” He asked.
“I show you on a map. Here, look at my pipboy.” She revealed her wrist with a small piece of technology on it. It had some small red buttons and a glass screen on it. It was made of a shiny metal and had a funny little character on the side. She pressed one of the buttons and the screen lit up to show a map of the brotherhood complex. She pointed to a room.
“That’s where you are, okay?”
“Thanks.” Hank said, as he turned away.
“By the way, when I said civilised, I didn’t mean ‘Go pummel Rhombus!’” She called as he left. Hank smiled.
Jerry sat in his room, alone, nothing to do and nobody to talk to.
“Maybe I shouldn’t talk as much or that guy might have stayed a little longer.” Jerry said to himself. His spirits brightened up when the door slid open and a leather-clad man entered, walked over to a bed, lay down and shut his eyes.
“Hi, my name’s Jerry, I guess I’ll be your new room-mate. So I see you like the bottom bunk, that’s okay cause I wanted the top bunk, so what’s your name? Mine’s Jerry and I…” Jerry managed at an incredible speed.
“Hank. Now shut up.” Hank answered, silencing Jerry. Jerry undressed and went to sleep.
Hank slowly drifted to sleep, contented, for he had not only won a battle against the brotherhoods finest, but also he had silenced Jerry, the mouth. Incredible.
_________________________________________________________________ That's all. Enjoy? or has everyone just not reponded to the other post?
'You're not a hero. Your just a walking corpse'
Frank Horrigan, Fallout II
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Mutant Hunter-Intensive Care
“This one’s in critical condition! Get her to the Doc!” Shouted the worried brotherhood guard.
“What’s wrong with the man?” The field medic asked quickly, as they ran down the
metallic brotherhood corridors.
“He’s got a plasma burn and bullet wounds!” The guard shouted as he swung round a sharp corner.
“What about her? Oh god! That’s Elsie!” The field medic cried, as he noticed that the barely living person in his arms was Elsie.
“She’s got burns and bullet wounds all over! Looks like they’ve seen some action!” The guard replied, not knowing Elsie personally.
“Do you know what happened to the paladin team?” asked the medic, as he pulled out a stimpack.
“Some were KIA, some are MIA and the rest are safe, here.” Said the guard as the stretchers were pushed into the elevator, along with the medic. The guard nodded to the medic as the elevator door closed and the elevator began to descend the shaft.
Elsie lay, almost dead on a cold, hard infirmary bed. She was badly wounded and there was a nurse and a doctor, both dressed in brown, neatly cut robes and holding healing and surgical devices were attending to her. The surgical Bay of the infirmary was a small neon-lit room; it was sterile white and had one bed in the centre of the bay. Along the walls were various cabinets and cases, all steel filled with surgeon’s tools, stimpacks, chemicals and other medical equipment.
The doctor injected a strange stimpack into Elsie’s arm and patched up the last bullet wound. She turned to the young nurse.
“Stay with her in case something happens. I’m going to wake up the man.” She told him, before she turned and went out the door into the main part of the infirmary, where Hank lay peacefully, with all his wounds patched up and cells regenerating artificially thanks to brotherhood medical technology. He was lying on a soft, grey bed with a light blanket over him. The doctor shook him slightly and his eyes began to open. The first thing he saw was a bright neon blur from the light above, he squinted and turned his head, to reveal a metallic grey and blue room with strange technology and real carpet. Hank shook his head and looked again.
“Where am I?” He thought out loud, wondering if he was dreaming or dead.
“You’re in the Brotherhood of Steel.” A soft, female voice to the other side of him replied informatively. Hank turned his head to face the woman and he saw a woman in a brown robe, with gold trim and a small smile on her face. She looked down at a console on the side of Hanks bed and typed something in. Hank blinked.
“Wha…what?” he stammered. She looked up.
“The Brotherhood of Steel. The paladins rescued you and your friend Elsie from a small team of mutants. Apparently you got into some trouble.” She remarked, looking back down at the console. Hank struggled to remember. Then he vaguely remembered some of the details; getting an electric shock, being hit by a plasma burst and shooting a strange hunter. Hank ignored his puzzlement and propped himself up on his elbows. He looked around the room and saw a clean, grey and blue, metallic room, with consoles and high-tech equipment all around the room. Hank had never seen anything like it, and never thought he would ever see the inside of the Brotherhood of Steel. It was even more technological than he’d heard. It sure didn’t look as if anyone sacrificed puppies around here, though.
“Do I have do stay here?” Hank asked.
“No, I suppose you can leave, but don’t offend any of the paladins, initiates, elders or scribes. You are a guest here and we wouldn’t usually allow you in.” She cautioned him.
“Right.”
Hank waited for a minute as the doctor typed on a console. He looked around again. He waited.
“Err…” He began, trying to get her attention.
“Hmmm?” She began, looking up.
“Can I have my clothes?” He asked, uncertainly.
“Oh. Sorry,” The Doctor apologised, restraining laughter and walked over to a locker and pulled his leather clothing out “Here you go.” And she passed his clothes. He stood out and began to get dressed. The doctor looked up.
“Oh.” She remarked, extremely embarrassed and exited quickly with a red face.
Hank finished dressing and went out through the door that the doctor had gone through.
“Where are my weapons?” He asked, almost accusingly.
“You can get them when you leave. And when you’re here TRY to be civilised.” She answered. Hank had little idea what she meant, but as she entered the room he caught her shoulder.
“How’s Elsie?”
“She’s…stable.” She answered slowly.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“She’ll live.” She said bluntly as she walked back into the infirmary. Hank walked of down the
metallic, brightly lit corridor, not sure where to go.
He eventually found a workshop, crammed with small pieces of technology; bits of power armour, cannibalised laser or plasma weaponry, computer chips, fibre-optic cabling, various pieces of hardware and all other sorts of hi-tech scrap metal. All this technology disguised the plain, brotherhood walls. The room was quite small and two men clad in combat armour were hard at work. One seemed to be fixing a hi-tech pistol, while the other was tinkering with what looked like a chest-piece of metal armour, with a computer on the back, it was smaller than power armour and shinier than metal armour usually was, and it looked stronger than metal armour. Hank walked over to the worktable that the man was working at.
“What is that?” asked Hank.
“It’s …a piece of messed-up… cyber-metallic armour. It took a few hits in the CPU …an’ I gotta fix it up.” He replied, as he tinkered with a bunch of circuitry at the back. Hank examined the armour thoroughly.
“What is cyber-metallic armour?”
“Well…think of a…Yes!” The mechanic exclaimed as a group of blue lights at the back lit up. He looked up and realised Hank wasn’t from the brotherhood. “Hey, who are you?”
“My is name Hank.”
“Right. You’re not from the Brotherhood?”
“No.”
“Then, I don’t think I can tell you about our tech. Sorry.”
“I’ve seen most of your technology and I don’t understand any of it, except for the guns. I won’t steal any secrets.”
“Err…Alright then. This Cyber-metallic armour (or CMA) is like a hybrid between power armour and metal armour. It uses computers and circuitry similar to power armour, but it is slightly stronger than normal metal armour. The helmets are about the same as power armour helmets but less heavy-duty.” The mechanic explained, proud of his knowledge.
“Thanks.” Hank said and walked out the door.
Rhombus lay down on his bed and then came a loud squeaking noise from under him. The bed was buckling from the weight of his massive power-armour. He smiled to himself, he was proud of the glory he received when he drove away the mutant armies, he was also amused by the fact that he’d barely taken his armour off since then. He let out a small, low laugh and decided not to go to bed. As he stood up he heard the door to his quarters open. He growled and decided that if this was another initiate, he would become severely pummelled. He stood towards the door.
“Who Is There?” He bellowed and went through the door into his living room, revealing a strong-looking, weathered man with scars on his face.
“Is this someone’s room? Some paladin told me it was the bathroom.” He said, without a hint of fear in his voice. His voice was gritty, tough and fearless.
“No. This is MY room. Not a Bathroom! Now Leave!” Rhombus ordered, holding back rage.
“Who are you?” asked Hank and Rhombus’s face changed into an expression Hank couldn’t identify.
“I am Rhombus, Head of the paladins and Brotherhood forces. I also test the better initiates in the arts of hand-to-hand combat. Now leave” He said, though gritted teeth.
“Really? I’m not bad at hand-to-hand. Test me.” Hank said, totally seriously. Rhombus was about to explode in anger and rage when he considered the request and smiled.
“Very well. Follow me.” Rhombus requested, cherishing every moment as they walked to the training room. It was quite a large, grey room with exercise machinery and a large training mat in the centre of the room. Tailus was training with some initiates at the time. Once he saw Rhombus he broke them up.
“Everybody! Rhombus is here to whoop all yer arses, like I said!” Tailus proclaimed and walked closer to Rhombus. “What brings you here, my friend?” asked Tailus quietly.
“This leather-clad fool has challenged me. I want to fight him here, and I want everyone to see.” Rhombus replied, with a huge grin on his bearded face.
“Alright, I clear the mat and put on the cameras so everyone can see it happen from a console. I get someone to contact the Elders and broadcast all over the place! This will be a big event! Imagine it now! Our head paladin, Rhombus, leader of the Steel soldiers, master of judo, wrestling and other forms of hand-to-hand combat versus…what’s his name?”
“My name is Hank.” Answered Hank, as Rhombus was about to reply.
“Versus Hank, um…” Began Tailus but had no idea who Hank was.
“Hank, husband to a murdered wife, sworn enemy of the masters army, hunter of mutant scum, ex-regulator corporal and soldier of vengeance.”
“Wow.” Said Tailus, stunned. Rhombus rolled his eyes.
Every Brotherhood member was watching a console with a vid-link to the fight or was at the fight. Even the Elders were watching on their consoles, but pretending they weren’t. Hank had many supports among the initiates and non-combative Brotherhood members, but Rhombus had 89% of the paladins and a lot of the combative brotherhood members on his side. Hank didn’t really care and thought the whole thing was completely out of proportion. All lights in the Brotherhood were all off, except for a few in the lower level, and a one, powerful light above the ring. This strange lighting system gave a tense atmosphere. He sighed and sat in his dark corner of the training hall, watching Rhombus at the other side in all his armour, surrounded by cheering fans, soaking up the fame. The entire brotherhood had forgotten all about the mutants (Which didn’t matter since they were miles away.) and was focusing purely on this fight. They had even drummed up a prize; a sword, beautifully crafted, it sat in Maxsom’s hands, who was standing in the centre of the mat, waiting until everything was ready. Hank had only just met Maxsom and he liked the old coot, he was straight the point, not all this ceremonial bullshit. The sword itself was magnificent, it was made of a shiny, bright metal, it looked as strong and power armour and sharper than Maxom’s tongue. It had a lightning bolt symbol, starting at the hilt, ending at the tip. Maxsom brandished it with ease, like it was lighter than an empty bottle of nuka cola.
Rhombus eyed the sword, lustfully, stood up and signalled the fans to be quiet. Tailus acting as his manager whispered something in his ear. Hank had a female paladin by the name of Shannon as his manager. She was the one who tricked him into going into Rhombuses room and she was stationed at the door usually. All of the fans were now deadly silent as rhombus stood up and cleared his throat.
“I intend to win this sword and this fight to prove my strength and skill.” Rhombus proudly announced. The fans cheered. Hank stood up.
“Good for you. Lets go.” Hank said impatiently and the crowd cheered. Maxsom hushed up the crowd and cleared his throat, sounding like he was trying to hack up a lung or something. He pulled some little notes out of his robe and began to read.
“Tonight, for honour, respect and this sword,” He read, and sliced the air a couple of times. “Rhombus,…oh boy…leader of the Steel soldiers, master of judo, wrestling and other forms of hand-to-hand combat versus…who wrote this?” Tailus looked embarrassed “Versus Hank, sworn enemies of the masters armies, hunter of the Mutants, ex-regulator commando, master of all weapons, wasteland warrior and soldier of vengeance.” Hank looked surprised. Maxsom rolled his eyes and went to the side of the ‘ring’.
Hank and Rhombus entered the ring at opposite sides. Hank tore of his leather jacket, symbolically, revealing his tough, weathered muscles. He clicked his fingers and readied his fists. His face showed nothing but concentration. Rhombus entered the ring smiling and waving. He did a couple of fancy moves and clicked his neck. The fan cheered wildly.
“Prepare to be Crushed!” Rhombus threatened and stepped in a fighting stance towards the centre of the ring. Hank dropped his fists and stood normally, with an expression of total and utter disbelief on his face.
“You’re not expecting me to fight you in your robo-suit, are you?” Hank asked, almost scornfully. The crowd laughed as Rhombus looked down on his armour with an expression of almost shear panic on his face.
“I…I…err…Ah.” Rhombus stuttered slowly, then hung his head and walked back into the corner. He walked out of the door and into his quarters, where he slowly changed into a blue vest with the insignia of the Brotherhood and black trousers. The walked from the training room to his quarters was dubbed ‘Rhombuses walk of shame’ by the brotherhood, and was watched by all from the consoles.
A few minutes later Rhombus was back in the ‘ring’ and ready to fight. His reputation somewhat smeared, he felt still little fear and would enjoy this none the less. The lights all off except for a few emergency ones and a bright neon one above the ring gave a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere, The fighters could not see the crowd but the crowd could see them and every bead of sweat would be clearly visible on either of the fighters. Maxsom raised the sword above his head, and as he brought it down he shouted
“Begin!” As soon as this the two warriors began circling and trying to sum the other up. Hank lunged forward, taking a heavy swing. Rhombus easily avoided it and used Hank’s second of disorientation to drive a powerful uppercut into Hank’s jaw. Hank stumbled backwards, barely keeping his balance. Rhombus threw a mighty punch towards Hank, but missed. Hank crouched and ran at Rhombus, full-force. Hank grabbed his lower torso, like a rugby tackle and kept on running towards the back wall. Rhombus could barely move and was rammed powerfully into the wall. Hank released his grasp and rhombus sprung to his feet. Hank aimed a punch at his chest, but Rhombus caught Hank’s fist and quickly manoeuvred it behind Hanks back. Rhombus began pulling up, causing Hank great pain. Hank punched behind his head with his free hand and felt it hit something. Rhombus relinquished his grasp and took a few steps back, holding his nose. A drop of blood seeped through his fingers. Rhombus looked at it and rage grew in his eyes. He ran at Hank full speed, throwing wild punches. Hank felt at least seven punches strike him and some blood fall out from his nose. Hank stumbled into the crowd, who stepped away from him. Hank lay on the groung, motionless. Rhombus walked over to him, raised his fist and drove it as hard as he could, towards Hank’s face to end the fight. Hanks eyes sprung open and his hands shot out to catch the speeding fist. A few centimetres closer and Hank would have needed lots of surgery to make him looked normal. Hank threw the fist to his left and delivered a powerful kick into Rhombus’s kidney. The effect was incredible; Rhombus clutched his side and tried to breathe in. He had had the wind severely knocked out of him. Hank stood up and raised his fist, as he did Rhombus swung around to face him and flung his arms around Hanks lower torso. He picked Hank up over his shoulder and smiled a look a triumph. Rhombus began spinning around and around and he lifted Hank up above his head with both arms. Hank kneed him straight in the face. Rhombus fell back, dropped Hank and fell to the ground. Hank pulled himself up of the ground, bleeding, bruised but still standing. Rhombus was lying incapacitated on the ground; his face covered in blood and his body covered in bruises. His eyes were closed and he looked bad. Tailus ran over to Rhombus and checked if he was conscious. He was completely smashed so Tailus slung him over his shoulder and ran down to the infirmary. Everyone cheered and Maxsom walked into the ‘ring’.
“We have our winner!” He announced to the crowd. Everyone cheered and Maxsom slowly handed Hank the sword. Hank smiled and waved slowly, as if he were really tired. Then he spotted Elsie’s smiling face in the crowd. She was lower than everybody, Hank didn’t know why until he noticed she was on a strange chair with wheels. Maxsom hushed up the crowd so that Hank could speak.
“Err…When I began…this…I didn’t know it…would be…stay in school…thanks…” Hank slowly managed and then fell to the ground.
Twenty minutes later he was awake and walking through the corridors away from the infirmary pushing Elsie on her wheel chair.
“So, what happened to your legs?”
“Well, a bullet severed a nerve near my spinal cord and it means I can’t walk, at least for now.”
“What do you mean ‘at least for now’?” Hank asked.
“The doc. thinks she’ll be able to repair the nerve or something. Hey, congrats on your winning, by the way.” She commented and smiled.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Talk more tomorrow, this is my room…just on the left here,” Said Elsie, pointing to left. Hank followed her finger to a door. She pressed a button on the side and wheeled herself in. “Thanks, see you later!” She thanked him as the door slid closed.
Hank walked back to the infirmary to see the doctor, and Rhombus. He approached the steel door with ‘Infirmary’ on it, pressed the button and entered.
Rhombus lay on a bed unconscious with a strange bandage over his nose. The doctor was standing next to him, with a thin smile on her face. Hank nodded in greetings and walked over to the side of Rhombuses bed.
“Is he awake?” Asked Hank.
“No.” She replied simply.
“Can you wake him?”
“No.” She replied again.
“Ah.”
“Why do you want a to wake him? Do you want a rematch or something?”
“No. I want him to have this.” He answered, brandishing the sword.
“Firstly, this is a hospital and that is very likely to do the opposite purpose of what this room is for. And secondly, giving that back would be a huge insult, not only to Rhombus but the rest of the brotherhood as well!” She explained.
“Why?”
“Because these swords are symbols of honour. They are one-of-a-kind! Each of the elders and Maxsom has one, and Rhombus would love one. They are worth more to him than power armour, and if you just gave it away…”
“In that case, I won’t give it to him.” Hank interrupted.
“Good.” She said proudly.
“One more thing, where are my quarters?” He asked.
“I show you on a map. Here, look at my pipboy.” She revealed her wrist with a small piece of technology on it. It had some small red buttons and a glass screen on it. It was made of a shiny metal and had a funny little character on the side. She pressed one of the buttons and the screen lit up to show a map of the brotherhood complex. She pointed to a room.
“That’s where you are, okay?”
“Thanks.” Hank said, as he turned away.
“By the way, when I said civilised, I didn’t mean ‘Go pummel Rhombus!’” She called as he left. Hank smiled.
Jerry sat in his room, alone, nothing to do and nobody to talk to.
“Maybe I shouldn’t talk as much or that guy might have stayed a little longer.” Jerry said to himself. His spirits brightened up when the door slid open and a leather-clad man entered, walked over to a bed, lay down and shut his eyes.
“Hi, my name’s Jerry, I guess I’ll be your new room-mate. So I see you like the bottom bunk, that’s okay cause I wanted the top bunk, so what’s your name? Mine’s Jerry and I…” Jerry managed at an incredible speed.
“Hank. Now shut up.” Hank answered, silencing Jerry. Jerry undressed and went to sleep.
Hank slowly drifted to sleep, contented, for he had not only won a battle against the brotherhoods finest, but also he had silenced Jerry, the mouth. Incredible.
_________________________________________________________________ That's all. Enjoy? or has everyone just not reponded to the other post?
'You're not a hero. Your just a walking corpse'
Frank Horrigan, Fallout II
I take things reeeal slow)
