18 - Kyle’s Adventure in Fallout 2

[A/N: Another episode of Kyle's Adventure through the Fallout Universe. Also, the next chapter will be the release of Project Zomboid and the store will be getting some new customers Keep in mind this fic will be mostly slow pace fic, telling stories of people playing the games, and what they'd do with the resources, items, and various shenanigans the Multiverse Offers]

[A/N: Current author here, I have been waiting an hour for my internet to fix itself before I could post this chapter ;-; and, I will also say, work is kicking me in the balls, since now I have to go into work tomorrow on my day off, basically stopping me from writing the chapter for next week]

When Kyle completed the first Fallout after getting rid of the Master and the Mariposa military base, he thought that would be it, but upon completion, he was met with a system message.

[Congratulations on completing Fallout 1! You have unlocked Fallout 2!]

[You can choose to continue through the Continuation Feature and continue your journey where you are, or move on to the next game, Fallout 2 and start a new journey.]

[Congratulations! You have earned 50 Credits for this run!

+25 for completing the main quest

+10 for slaying at least 1,000 entities

+5 for slaying at least 500 Humanoid Enemies

+5 for discovering all locations

+5 for discovering most encounters]

That was by far the most amount of credits he has earned from a single run!

As for continuing his journey, he thought about it for a bit, but eventually decided to move on to the next game, and get a 'fresh breath of air.'

Kyle feels that he has found his calling, and honestly, has never felt better more alive since he found this game a year or three ago.

Kyle doesn't know what would have happened if he didn't find this game years ago, but what he does know, is that he won't give it up, not now or ever.

So, whenever Kyle was forced to leave the world, he spent his time hunting down those he once worked with, those that caused suffering to others in the night, and, with the money he liberates from them, he uses to continue his journey.

His old life felt so foreign compared to the life he lived now, and he honestly couldn't picture going back to the way he used to live. So, when he found himself at the character creation screen once again, he couldn't help but smile, knowing he'd be facing the unknown once again.

And wanting to improve himself even more, this time he pumped the five free SPECIAL stats he got into intelligence, leaving the rest at a meager five and intelligence at ten.

And his three tag skills went straight to Small Guns, Repair, and First Aid.

He long since found out, that skills provided 'Instinctual knowledge' and not actual knowledge, for example, with enough skill points in Small Guns, you'd instinctively know how to use small guns accurately and with greater effectiveness. So, Kyle has been learning from this instinctual knowledge allowing him to focus on putting his points in other areas.

Slowly but surely, Kyle has been improving himself, and eventually, he will learn everything, he just didn't know whether that would be before or after he finished the 'Game,' not that he actually wanted it to have a 'finish.'

Once he did that, he was given the list of traits and was happy to see some new ones on the list.

After some thinking, he eventually chose 'Skilled' and 'Thick Skin.'

He figured learning how to deal with his emotional state without 'Desensitized' would be incredibly useful, especially since it would mean he could select a different trait to use.

He took a deep breath and started the intro.

"War. War never changes.

The end of the world occurred pretty much as we had predicted. Too many humans, and not enough space or resources to go around. The details are trivial and pointless, the reasons, as always, purely human ones.

The earth was nearly wiped clean of life. A great cleansing, an atomic spark struck by human hands, quickly raged out of control. Spears of nuclear fire rained from the skies. Continents were swallowed in flames and fell beneath the boiling oceans. Humanity was almost extinguished, their spirits becoming part of the background radiation that blanketed the earth.

A quiet darkness fell across the planet, lasting many years. Few survived the devastation. Some had been fortunate enough to reach safety, taking shelter in great underground vaults. When the great darkness passed, these vaults opened, and their inhabitants emerged to begin their lives again.

One of the northern tribes claims they are descended from one such Vault. They hold that their founder and ancestor, one known as the "Vault Dweller," once saved the world from great evil. According to their legend, this evil arose in the far south. It corrupted all it touched, twisting men inside, turning them into beasts. Only through the bravery of this Vault Dweller was the evil destroyed. But in so doing, he lost many of his friends and suffered greatly, sacrificing much of himself to save the world.

When at last he returned to the home he had fought so hard to protect, he was cast out. Exiled. In confronting that which they feared, he had become something else in their eyes...and no longer their champion.

Forsaken by his people, he strode into the wasteland. He traveled far to the north, until he came to the great canyons. There, he founded a small village, Arroyo, where he lived out the rest of his years. And so, for a generation since its founding, Arroyo has lived in peace, its canyons sheltering it from the outside world. It is home. Your home.

But the scars left by the war have not yet healed. And the Earth has not forgotten."

He stumbled as he found himself standing in what looked to be a hut with a strange woman covered in tattoos and wearing a hooded robe before him.

"Come in, 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘖𝘯𝘦. There are things you must know. The village is dying. The signs are everywhere. Withering crops...dying brahmin...sick children," The elder spoke hastily before continuing.

"There is hope, however. A slim hope that few know of. The old disks speak of an item called the Garden of Eden Creation kit. It is said that it can bring life to the wasteland. This will be your quest if you prove yourself worthy."

"If I am worthy?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, Chosen One, your must first journey to the Temple of Trials for proof. If you survive, come back and talk to me some more. Our life is in your hands, chosen one. Prove yourself. Find the GECK, be our salvation."

"And where is this...'Temple'?" Kyle asked, noting the strangeness of how the Vault Dweller lived out the rest of his days, forming a tribalistic village instead living out his days in Shady Sands, an honestly much better choice.

"Head north of the village, Klint will lead you there. I wish you great success, Chosen One," The Elder informed Kyle, before having him exit the tent.

Stepping outside, Kyle found that the village wasn't exactly large, based on the number of buildings, there could not be more than a hundred people in the village.

Standing right beside the village, with a spear in each hand, must have been Klint, seeing as he tossed me the spear and nodded to me.

"Come, we travel to the temple."

"How far is the Temple?" Kyle asked.

"An hour's walk north of the village, hidden," Klint replied with a gruff voice.

"I'll follow your lead, mind if I ask some questions as we walk?"

"So long as they are not in regards to your trial," Klint replied with a glance.

...

I learned much from our talk, most importantly, I learned the date.

It was the year 2241, and eighty entire years passed since when the 'Vault Dweller' left his vault and began his journey before eliminating the Master and destroying the Mariposa Military Base.

It was strange to see how much fervor and respect Klint showed for what Kyle felt to be himself. Even more so to hear the deviations of details in the stories from what Kyle knew he did in his final run.

For example, there were 'tales' of the Vault Dweller fighting something called 'Deathclaws.'

And from what he learned about them after, Kyle is glad he didn't run into any in his final run.

Soon enough the two of them reached what looked to be a strange old temple.

It had to be at least a hundred years old, if not older, and strange enough, it was an old building on the side of a rather large hillside, and sitting just above the entrance was a sculpture of a face.

"This is where we part, you must venture forth into the Temple of Trials and strive to succeed, you may not exit until you finish the trial," Klint informed me while gesturing towards the temple with his spear.

With just pants and a spear, Kyle sighed but still stepped forward.

He hadn't had much experience in using melee weapons and preferred firearms, but if he had to learn, might as well do it now.

Climbing up the stairs and walking into the temple, Kyle began walking down a hall with his focus running in overdrive for any sudden attacks, traps, or sudden movements.

Suddenly the chittering of what sounded like insects echoed down the hall, causing him to grip tight on the spear.

What concerned him, was that these insects sounded...𝘣𝘪𝘨.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward before immediately stopping due to hearing something coming towards him.

Raising his spear, he watched as three dog-sized brown Ants came into view before him, causing his eyes to widen.

'Ants? Does that mean there's a damn Giant Ant colony in here?' Kyle asked himself, knowing that Ants of such a large size if allowed to make colonies, could be incredibly dangerous.

With hardly any fear, I charged forth and thrust the spear as hard as I could into the head of the closest, causing a disgusting crunch sound to echo down the hall as the spear easily stabbed through the entire ant.

Seeing one of the ants charge and near, he kicked the ant as hard as he could before ripping out the spear.

Seeing that the ant he kicked was on the ground struggling to get off of its back, Kyle focused on the other ant, quickly ending its life as well.

Then, walking over to the other ant still stuck on its back, wriggling and shaking in an attempt to roll over, Kyle planted his food on its thorax and thrust the spear through its head.

Taking in a deep breath, he couldn't help but sigh upon hearing even more ants coming his way.