The Good Life: Deeper and Darker (ch. 43) (Patreon)

“What the fuck do you mean, he's been captured?” Rumi blurted, a frown twisting at her lips as she regarded Taylor coldly. Another psychopath in Law’s merry band of them. The girl was young, around the age she would have started going to UA, and back home she already would have been a dangerous villain. That, however, wasn't the issue. “How could he get captured? His power lets him go wherever he wants.”

“We must rescue Monsieur Law at once and bring those responsible to the authorities!” Curie, the surprisingly human robot gasped while Rumi stared Taylor down, her arms crossed over her chest. The girl was unnerving -- unblinking and near emotionless. Then Rumi's gaze flickered to Yoruichi who looked like she was choking down chuckles, leaning against the wall of the room they had rented for the night.

“Is this one of his stunts?” Rumi guessed and Yoruichi cackled, confirming as much. Great. It was bad enough she was in kicking distance of him without being able to kick him, but now she had to deal with his childish bullshit? People tended to die for the sake of Law’s amusement and promises to Asami be damned, she wouldn't stomach watching Law do what he did best -- make things unbearable for everyone around him. “I say we let him ‘escape’ by himself and move on.”

The greater good. Rumi never gave much thought to the idea before. Or to ideals in general. That was always something that she left to people like All Might since she figured if he was marching one way, then it was probably the right path to follow. All Might was one of those few genuinely good people that made you want to have faith in humanity despite all the reasons not to. So, she left philosophy for the philosophers and focused on what she did best.

Fighting.

But that was back home, before she was ripped away to a hellish corporate world. There, for a year, Rumi had been… listless. Caught between two evils -- Heartless and Vought. Law was a real piece of work, but Vought and the heroes weren't much better. Then the whole damn world ended and Rumi found herself someplace even worse.

The greater good and the necessary evil. Every instinct that she had screamed to kick Law's head in until it was paste, but cold logic held her at bay. Law was the linchpin that held everything together. He held everything together with reputation, with fear, with raw power, and by drawing psychos like Taylor in like flies to honey. Both her and Asami were in full agreement that Law would absolutely tear it all down as a final ‘fuck you’ to his killers. Meaning that until Law wasn't needed, Rumi had to… restrain herself.

Self-restraint wasn't one of her strong points, Rumi could freely admit.

“I already know where they're taking him, and they aren't going to leave us alone. They're preparing an ambush on the way out,” Taylor informed flatly. Rumi's lips thinned but she offered a small curt nod. If these people were going to attack, it wasn't like she was going to shed any tears over them. Attacking Law might have earned them some points in her book, but attacking her lost them just as quickly. “I'm already dealing with the ambush. They took Law to a sewer facility not far away. Let's go.”

The girl simply took charge, heading to the door and pushing it open. Even without Taylor saying as much, Rumi knew that they planned to attack. She could hear pretty much everything in this sleepy town that wore the veneer of civilization, even with this damn hat she was wearing to hide her ears. Which was why it was surprising that Law was taken because he didn’t bother to resist at all. And, even if she didn’t hear it, Rumi knew what it was like to be sized up by hidden eyes.

“Hello dearies, are you checking out already?” The woman behind the counter greeted them with a smile that betrayed nothing.

Yoruichi stepped forward, throwing an arm around Taylor’s shoulder, making the girl stiffen, “We’re going to go sightseeing and scavenging. We should be back in a few hours! When our friend wakes up, pass the message along, would ya’?” She requested, earning an easy bob of the head from the woman. And that was a glaring red flag of intent -- if they were strangers in a new settlement, in this world, they wouldn’t just leave one of their ‘companions’ behind in a new place.

But the woman didn’t question it because it suited their ends perfectly. Rumi followed along, throwing her hands behind her head and her gaze flickering around. Word spread around the settlement. Most people sucked at hiding their emotions, and when super senses entered the equation, it got a lot more difficult. In the span of a few hours, they had suddenly become an enemy. An intruder inside of their walls, even after being welcomed inside.

Nor did they have to wait a particularly long time for Covenant to start sneaking people out in preparation of ambushing them. Rumi paid it no mind, watching Taylor carefully. She was proving to be one of Law's fanatics, so it would be best to see what she could do in a fight firsthand. “So, where exactly did they take the idiot to?”

“They took him down by the lake,” Taylor informed, and Rumi heard gunshots in the distance. “I'm dealing with the ambush. There were blood gulpers available nearby,” She informed, her tone giving nothing away.

Rumi tensed, “You gonna kill them?” She questioned, narrowing her eyes. She was a pretty firm believer in the golden rule of ‘fuck around and finding out’ but it didn't sit well with her to leave anyone to the tender mercies of this little psycho.

“They'll be knocked unconscious,” Taylor said, sounding like she was only bothering because Rumi asked. But, she didn't hear a lie in her voice. Still, it didn't feel good trusting a villain to show mercy, so Rumi looked to Curie.

The machine understood instantly, “I shall ensure their health!” Curie decided, flying off and Rumi breathed a little easier. Taylor said nothing, but Yoruichi was all smiles as they continued down the busted road that led down to a parched lake. There was still plenty of water to be found in it, but based on the old shoreline, it was barely a tenth of the way full, which exposed what seemed to be their destination. At the edge of the filthy murky water, Rumi saw a pipe that was meant to flow into a water treatment plant.

It was blocked off with a makeshift door, but it was nothing that Rumi couldn't knock down with a well placed kick. It announced their arrival, but maybe they would get lucky and they'd kill Law in response. It was a distant hope that had a snowball's chance in hell, but it was a hope all the same.

“The synths are attacking! All men get into position! We’ll hold those inhuman bastards here!” Rumi heard a man shout out from a chokepoint. Taking off her hat, she heard a good dozen people rushing to get ready for their arrival.

Then Yoruichi vanished. Faster than Rumi could see. And, when they rounded the corner, Rumi already knew what they were going to see -- Yoruichi stood on the balcony and all around her, the dozen men and women laid unconscious. Alive, but with broken bones. Rumi clenched her jaw and felt her blood growing hot.

Yoruichi was stronger than her. There were plenty that were -- Rumi was in the top ten heroes back home, but she was under no delusion that she could beat All Might. Normally, it didn't really bother her, but… Rumi had never felt so outclassed as she had been during her fight with Yoruichi. She had been beaten effortlessly, and she was schooled like a first year against a veteran hero. Annoyingly, Yoruichi had even taught her that foot technique that had majorly upped her acceleration, so she had been schooled in a very real sense.

“Law is deeper inside,” Taylor informed as Yoruichi gave them two double Vs for Victory. She pouted ever so slightly.

“Law's not so stingy with his praise, you know,” Yoruichi remarked, making Taylor pause as they eyed a bulkhead door.

“... well done?” Taylor tried, making a wide pleased smile blossom on Yoruichi's face. Then, with a tap of her finger, the bulkhead door that blocked their way crumpled like tissue paper. With another light touch, the solid steel door fell back, revealing the water treatment plant. however, in the time since, it was converted into… a lab?

And a prison, Yoruichi quickly took note as they entered. Steel bars were placed over water treatment tubes, sealing some people inside. Rumi knew the signs of torture when she saw it -- bloody fingernails, electrical burns, food, water, and sleep deprivation. The lab part came from medical equipment and two women that were currently standing near Law, who sat in a chair, looking throughly pleased with himself.

“Stay where you are, or your synth friend gets it,” one of the women exclaimed, putting a gun to Law's head.

Rumi snorted. Her hero training told her that she shouldn’t, but Law wasn’t someone she felt compelled to ‘save.’ “Feel free,” she replied, already deciding that she was going to crack some skulls.

The woman that didn’t have the gun scoffed, “I told you Dr. Patricia! Synths are incapable of empathy. They are just machines with advanced linguistic processors.” The woman stated, crossing her arms and openly glaring at them. She wore a pair of glasses, dark hair cut short. There wasn’t any fear to be found in her gaze and she seemed everything but repentant.

“I disagree with that conclusion, Dr. Cross,” Patricia returned in a clipped tone.

Law completely ignored the gun to his head, “Aw. Are you guys here to save me?” He wore a sly smile, mirth dancing in his eyes. He wasn't taking the situation seriously, and Rumi wasn't surprised. Law had improved by leaps and bounds since their last fight, enough so that a single gunman wasn't an issue for him.

“Get ready to pucker up, you damsel in distress,” Yoruichi replied, pressing forward without care. “You two seem pretty sure that we're synths. Got any proof?”

“Your companion answers to questions three and eight indicated a high likelihood of being a synth. Has the Institute finally caught wind of our existence? To send such a force… we must be close!” Cross whispered to herself, so focused on the science that she completely ignored the situation they were in.

To that, Law shrugged in his seat. “I wanted to learn more about synths and the Institute, and they seemed like a decent source. They built their whole identity on beating them -- a real ‘ends justify the means’ kind.” He elaborated, making the womens’ lips thin. “They also forgot to mention that the test is only twenty percent accurate, and they only know for sure post mortem.”

Rumi’s lips pulled back into a snarl -- murderers, then. Torturers and murderers. There wasn't a police force in this nuclear hellhole. No one to stop them. The closest thing that existed to that was them -- Law and his band of monsters. And that was the blackest of ironies.

“A necessary sacrifice and I'm sure the false positives would be thankful knowing what their sacrifice gave way to -- a reliable way to detect synths. They have infiltrated our society so thoroughly and to the uppermost levels…” Rumi didn't like the smile that appeared on Law’s face when he vanished, only to appear standing where Dr. Cross stood a second ago. He grabbed one of the scalpels and with a flick of his wrist, severed the head of Dr. Cross.

A gunshot rang out, only for it to fail, the gun exploding in Patricia’s hand and taking one of her fingers with it. Rumi didn't feel any pity for her in favor of ripping open the cages while keeping an eye on what Law was doing.

“This world really is something else,” Law announced, Cross sputtering in confusion at how she survived her beheading. Law split her head in half once more and-

Circuitry. It wasn't like any that Rumi had ever seen -- there was silverish-white that was sheathed within the brainstem while organic white circuits expanded out into the brain.

A synth, Rumi realized.

“Impossible! We-... we would have…!” Patricia breathed, holding the bloody stump of her finger.

“Having a synth investigate anti-synth measures,” Law noted while Cross sputtered denials. Then expressed open horror when she saw what was inside her own head. Rumi's stomach twisted when she heard the denials -- that kind of horror, you couldn't fake. Cross hadn't known she was a synth. “If you had made any tangible progress, I imagine she would have been given a signal to kill you all and wipe any trace of your existence off the map, along with your findings.”

Law appeared thoughtful as he held up her head, “I smell a conspiracy.”

“If the Institute is real, then we need to handle them,” Yoruichi remarked. “Before they infiltrate us. How'd you find that one?”

“I went with what I would do,” Law admitted easily. “So, how about you start talking and tell me what you actually know about this Institute?” Law ordered, putting Cross’ head back together.

…

The answer to that question was ‘not a lot.’ They knew about as much as anyone else seemed to about the Institute, and they had additional information about synths. That most were completely unaware of their condition, though a few were and they were given specific instructions to subvert Wasteland factions. There was also mutterings about an underground railroad, but the doctors had no idea if they were real or not.

What they did manage to do was send them in the direction to potentially learn more about the Institute -- Vault-tec's regional HQ, where they had found the Safe Test to implement in Covenant.

“To my knight in shining armor,” Law said playfully as they left Covenant behind. He kissed Yoruichi and Rumi rolled her eyes to the sky above before glancing back at the prisoners that they had liberated. Covenant itself was being left as it was, though based on the reveal that they had been infiltrated by synths, Rumi saw an implosion pretty much as soon as they were gone. The prisoners were released to do what they wanted, but Law offered safe harbor over at Nuka-World if they made it.

Then he reached out to pat Taylor on the head, “Good job -- you handled the situation well,” He praised and Rumi saw Taylor's expression flicker. She wasn't used to praise, that much was clear, but Rumi saw the effect that it was having on her when she leaned into his touch ever so slightly. Law glanced at her and Rumi openly glared back, so he sent a wink her way and a teasing smile.

Rumi said nothing, content to put the entire situation behind them and continue onward down the busted road that led into Boston itself.

Slowly, the empty spaces filled with nothing dust dust, dead trees, and rocks gave way to crumbling buildings. The shattered skyline of Boston began to near, and it was a haunting sight. It was irrefutable proof that the world was dead. That civilization was dead.

It made her recall her lessons about the Dark Age when quirks first began to manifest, and how society collapsed. And, even at a distance, she could hear a very different kind of life coming from the city -- the cracks of gunshots, the odd distant explosion, the crumbling foundations groaning underneath the weight of time. It took them a full day to reach the outskirts of Boston, and at all hours, Rumi heard violence echoing out.

When they reached the inner city, it wasn't any better. There was a war going on inside of Boston at all times, people fighting over scraps of civilization. And, sometimes, who was fighting wasn't entirely human.

Rumi's gaze went up to a massive hulking body that hung from a street lamp. Motley green skin, heavily muscled, and it had to stand around seven to eight feet tall. A ‘super mutant’, Rumi realized. They had been included in the briefing that Asami had given her to prepare her for this trip. They were just one of the many dangers to be found in this world.

Well, to normal people.

Rumi found her gaze drifting to the busted out storefronts that now lined the broken roads of Boston. Her attention landed on a mannequin that still stood in a shattered window -- time hadn't been kind to the outfit. A leather half jacket, a pale yellow, perhaps white originally, sundress that fell to the mid thigh. It was a cute outfit. Within the store itself, she saw a faded and bullet hole ridden poster of a woman in a white embroidered sweater with one slender shoulder peeking out and tight fitting ripped jeans.

Fashion was a hobby of hers. And this world had an odd, almost retro fashion. The world was the same age as her own, counting the Dark Age, yet it was as if this America was frozen in time culturally. Even before the bombs fell.

Taking out a small notebook, Rumi made a small note and scribbled a doodle of the outfit. She had no expectations on getting her hands on any fabric, but it was a hobby. The notebook was steadily filling up because she found plenty of unique sources of inspiration-

Rumi heard a heartbeat appear behind her and she lashed out with a kick. Her guts tied themselves into knots when Law simply leaned out of the way of the kick, unbothered by it. When they last fought, she nearly had him. He just barely was able to dodge her attacks with his ability to move around. Now he didn't even need to. “Oh, cute outfit,” Law remarked, looking at the notebook.

“Fuck off,” she snapped, gritting her teeth as she snapped the book shut. Yoruichi, Taylor, and Curie glanced their way but continued on.

“Hey, I was being genuine. I didn't know you were into art,” Law said, holding his hands up placatingly. And…

“Fashion,” Rumi corrected, leveling a glare at him. When she agreed to go on this mission, Rumi and Asami both figured that her role to play would be to stop Law from going on a bloody rampage. Making life harder for people that had nothing. Instead, the biggest issue Rumi was having was Law’s… Lawness. “What's it to you?”

“Can I see? Asami's suits work great, but they're a little drab,” Law replied and her eyes narrowed.

Annoyingly, it was an opinion that she shared. Function over form. Necessary, perfectly understandable, but still dull. “Are you trying to fuck me, or something?” Rumi asked, glancing over at Yoruichi. The two of them went at it like… well, like fucking rabbits. It would be impressive if it wasn't so fucking annoying -- they were keeping her up at night.

Law snorted in amusement, continuing along the broken path, “You'd rip it off.”

Rumi flashed him a dangerous smile that was all teeth, “How about you come over here and find out?”

“No thanks. I'm rather attached to my dick,” Law replied, unbothered by the hostility. “But, maybe when this little adventure is done you could design the uniforms? Or something?” He offered with an indifferent shrug and Rumi frowned.

“...You are trying to fuck me,” Rumi said, unsurprised. She was one of the top ten heroes back home, and one third of the reason for that was because she was a bunny girl with another third being because of her ass.

“Nah -- well, I'm game if you're game, but I mostly want some cool outfits,” Law admitted without a hint of shame. “Fashion isn't really one of my strong points-”

“I noticed,” Rumi couldn't help but to interject, looking for a reaction.

Law didn't even blink, “Hurtful, but fair enough. I did mostly slap together my costume,” he admitted and Rumi fought off a frown.

Annoying. Law was annoying. He would be a lot easier to deal with if he was some frothing at the mouth psychopath like Asami thought he was. He was a monster -- Rumi had seen that first hand. But that didn't mean he was a monster all the time. In the past couple of days…

Law was almost likable. He laughed easily. He didn't take himself seriously to the point he was perfectly happy to be the butt of a joke. He did his best to prove otherwise, but he was smart too. Ninety percent of the time, he seemed to be a half decent person that she wouldn't mind sharing a drink with.

Then he did something like playing a sextape of him and the President of the USA to the world. Or created a ‘Chimera’ from dozens of terrified people. Or-

Rumi rolled her eyes, “I'm not designing your outfit for free.”

“Oh, for free? What would you want?” Law questioned and Rumi gave him a sly smile.

“How about you drop dead?” She asked, fluttering her eyelashes for him. Law didn't mind the hostility at all. He treated it like she was flirting.

“Wouldn't you want to do that yourself?” He prompted, cocking an eyebrow at her. He really didn't mind at all that she wanted to kill him. It was less of a near constant urge as it had been when they first set out, but if given the chance, Rumi would be perfectly happy to kick his head off. “How about a bet, then? We spar, and if I win you let me take a peek in that book of yours and you design me an outfit.”

Annoying. "And when I win?” Rumi prompted despite herself, finding herself… amused for a lack of a better word.

Law shrugged indifferently, “I'll be dead?”

Rumi closed her eyes and took a breath. Law reminded her of someone and she wasn't at all comfortable with the comparison. However, when she opened her eyes and began to speak, she heard the sounds of shuffling. Looking over, down the street, she saw the Vault-tec building. More importantly, she saw a flash of green in the window -- another super mutant.

Only this one was alive, with what seemed to be an RPG on his shoulder. A rocket of some kind launched forward, sailing right at-

Rumi found herself standing on a rooftop, disorienting her for but a moment. She was disoriented still when the missiles struck the ground where they had been a moment before, and Rumi's ears were filled with ringing and she was blinking away white spots as a small mushroom cloud blossomed where they were. Was that a nuke? That thing launched a nuke at them?!

“Okay, new bet,” Law said, and Rumi hated the excitement in his voice because it mirrored what she felt. “Whoever kills the most super mutants wins.”

Rumi winced, seeing more glimpses of green in the half ruined building. “What do I get if I win?” She couldn't help but ask, a smile pulling at her lips.

“Same wager,” Law answered all too easily and Rumi couldn't help it.

She laughed.

“You're on,” Rumi accepted, blurring forward towards the Vault-tec HQ, catching sight of one of the super mutants. The window was long since busted out, so her heels slammed into his sternum with enough force that he was sent flying through the wall.

Instantly, Rumi was greeted with the scent of blood and rot. Dust went up as the wall caved in, revealing the source of it. In wire meshes, Rumi saw bags filled with blood covered bones -- some new, some older. Some looking like they were the bones of children.

There was no law in this world. No structure. No civilization.

And nothing that said that she had to pull her punches.

The super mutant started to get up, his sternum shattered, but he was still alive. They were tougher than the glass bones she had been forced to deal with for the past year. Her smile grew as she raised a heel up high above her head to bring it down upon the super mutant’s head, and she felt it break under her foot, even as the rotting floor gave out.

“‘Umies! ‘Umies inside!” Rumi heard, the sounds of gunfire filling her ears as she landed on the lower floor. An office of some kind. Rumi darted forward, sailing low to the ground directly towards the super mutant that was blind firing inside the building. She kicked up, knocking the barrel of the gun high before she pushed herself up with her hands, spinning in the air sharply to deliver a cross kick to the sides of the mutant’s neck.

It was an attack she wouldn't dare use back home, and the mutant proved why when his head came right off in a spray of blood. Flesh tore, muscle was rendered, and bone shattered -- it wasn't quite as satisfying as hitting something that wouldn't break under her blows, but the simple act of not holding back released a knot of tension that had been building for the better part of a year.

Rumi heard a clap of thunder and she went on the prowl, searching for prey in the halls of the building. It looked like a normal office -- she never really bothered with a hero agency since it would just slow her down, but she knew the look. Honestly, it reminded her enough of Vought to be nauseating.

She killed another three, each one vanishing as soon as they were dead before the sounds of violence stopped in the building. And, to her immense annoyance when she went down to the lobby, she saw their kills grouped up.

“Eight to five,” Law smiled at her, and she wanted to smack the smile right off his face. It was triumphant without mocking. Worse, she couldn't even say that he cheated because her kills were pretty identifiable.

Rumi asked underneath her breagh, “Whatever. I'll just get you next time,” she muttered.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes, “Alright love birds -- enough flirting. Law, what exactly are we looking for here?” She asked while Rumi sputtered. Curie didn't help things by gasping ‘Oh my, romance!’

But, before Rumi could do anything, the dilapidated lobby around her vanished and it was replaced by cold gray walls. All except for the wall she stood before, which seemed to be a giant computer with a small monitor on a desk before it. She looked around, breathing in stale air and idly realized there was a large bulkhead door behind them.

“We're underneath the building in a secret basement,” Law informed, taking a seat at the computer. “Vault-tec seems to have some secrets, and I want to know them.”

“I thought we were here to check the survivability of the Vaults?” Taylor voiced, her tone faintly suspicious.

“That was before I learned Vault 81 was going to experiment on people to make a panacea- or, as close as they could get,” Law amended when Curie went to correct him. “So, clearly, the Vaults aren’t entirely for saving the human race. I want to know what else they’re doing and maybe what goodies we can find,” Law said, booting up the terminal and it welcomed him. It took Law a moment to sort through the menus, but Rumi found herself leaning over his shoulder.

She was curious as well. And she wanted to know what connection Vault-Tec had to the Institute, or maybe they were one in the same. Investigative heroics wasn’t one of her strong suits, but that didn’t mean it was a weakness.

Law brought up a list of Vaults, and Rumi saw that there was a hundred and twenty two of them in total. However, her stomach clenched when only seventeen of them were marked ‘Control.’

Some were marked ‘Social Experiment’ and others ‘Research and Development.’

Law went through them one by one and suspicion gave way to naked horror. In Vault 11, the position ‘Overseer’ was elected to be sacrificed by the population for the sake of maintaining the infrastructure for food and water. Vault 19 deliberately drove its inhabitants insane with subliminal messaging. Vault 29 was filled with children under the age of fifteen with the youngest being five. Vault 75 was a eugenics program to create genetically perfect humans, which were then trained to become super soldiers.

There were more. Vault 87 created something called the Forced Evolutionary Virus, and upon inspection of the data, Rumi recognized the results as super mutants. Vault 95 was filled with addicts in recovery that were told there was a stash of drugs hidden in the vault with them. Vault 101 was an eternal dictatorship. Vault 108 was attempting to achieve immortality via cloning. Vault 111 experimented with cryogenics, freezing people indefinitely.

The list just went on and on. She felt ill when she read of the Vault that was filled with a thousand men and one woman. Others simply made no sense -- a Vault where people were forced to live alongside wild animals. Another vault that had one person and crates of puppets. Another where clothes were designed to fall apart, forcing everyone into nudity after six months.

“This is evil,” Rumi hissed, gripping the back of the chair with white knuckles, the fabric and metal warping under her grip.

“It’s pretty fucked up,” Law agreed, surprisingly. “I’m not even sure what it was all for. I’m not seeing anything about some grand plan where half of this crap would be relevant. Fuck. Some of it is damn obvious what would happen -- I know what addicts will do when you tell them drugs are in the building.” Despite herself, Rumi found it interesting that of all the horrible, awful things that they just read, that was the one that stood out to him.

“They might have just been a provider. Can you see where the data was supposed to go?” Taylor questioned, and it might have been Rumi’s imagination, but she thought she heard a quite fury in her voice.

Law clicked a few buttons noisily, bringing up a new menu… “Huh. Seems like they kept that pretty hush hush,” he noted when he encountered an encryption. Hiding the people who had sponsored the atrocities that they just read about. “But, not quite good enough,” Law said with a smile, clicking a few more times before he brought up a name.

HalluciGen.

It seemed like they had their next destination.