POV Rio
In the morning, we make our way over to Pickman's Gallery. It only takes a few minutes to get there, and once we arrive, we see a few Raiders standing guard outside. There were only 6 of them, so it was easy to deal with them. I took two, and everyone else took one each.
After dealing with the Raiders, we entered the building. The first thing I noticed was the smell. It smelled like death and spoiled blood. The next thing was the unnerving feeling I had, like, there was something unnatural here. I used the Hoshigan and found out immediately what it was. There was a potent magic artifact below the house. And by the looks of it, it was Evil Magic or Corrupt Magic, depending on what you want to call it. Either way, it was bad news.
BOOM
As we enter, we hear a missile launcher shoot and explode, followed by the screams of several unlucky Raiders. Then another explosion followed shortly after, which was followed by screams and the sounds of a collapsing room. The sounds kept going for a minute as more and more traps kept going off, killing and maiming Raiders left and right. Once it stopped, we decided to move from the entrance hall and move deeper in.
"You know, when I hired you to scout out Pickman Gallery, I wasn't expecting you to TAKE me here," Hancock complains.
"Well, this way you don't have to pay me," I say with a smug smile.
"Haha, yeah, I guess that's true. Still, let's get out of here as fast as we can. This place gives me the heebie jeebies," Hancock comments.
Everyone else agrees, so we keep exploring. We see the painting, and I have to admit they are... abstract and very unsanitary.
'Thank god I am immune to blood-borne illnesses, as this place seems like the place to spread HIV and AIDS like wildfire.'
Just in case, I used some cleaning magic to clear a way forward for us. There wasn't much loot to get besides Raider junk, so we just went straight downstairs. As we enter the tunnels, we feel the air shift. It becomes colder and... Oddly uncomfortable to be here. We also didn't find any enemies or traps in the tunnels.
When we got to the end of the tunnel, we saw Pickman being held up by 5 Raiders, one of whom was in some nice T-51F Power Armor. He seemed to be the leader. The Raiders not in Power Armor would be my friends' targets. I would surprise them all by sending a round into the head of the leader.
Pfft
A single shot hits the back of the Raider leader's head, and the helmet isn't able to stop the bullet completely. The Raider is sent forward and almost falls over. The other 4 Raiders either get killed with a single shot or get mauled by Dogmeat with an assist from Pickman. The Raider leader recovers and goes to attack us, but he doesn't get the chance as once he turns towards me, I send a round through his visor, killing him instantly.
THUD
He falls over, and the ground shakes. Once they are all dead, Pickman looks at us with gratitude.
"Those people deserved worse than death. But I thank you for your help. I wouldn't have gotten out of that alive, most likely," Pickman comments.
As he thanks me, I start looting the area. I wasn't going just to leave a good condition suit of Power Armor to rot, and I had a feeling that this wouldn't end peacefully. That, and there were two other items of interest. The first was the Lockpicking Bobblehead. It gave me 15 Stat Points and made me better at bypassing locks. It read Lockpicking's not just about twisting tumblers... It's about unlocking the future, one turn at a time! There was also Astoundingly Awesome Tales Issue #5, The Mad Russian's Revenge which increased Posion Resistance by 5%.
"Yes, well, I was sent here to investigate the rumors of a serial killer. I don't suppose you know anything about that?" I ask sarcastically.
"I prefer the term artist. I collect their heads and make them into something... better. But I suppose some might find my ways... uncanny. But regardless, I owe you a reward," Pickman responds.
"Hmm, well then, perhaps you can give me the necklace you are wearing," I ask.
"Hmm? Oh, you mean my amulet? I... Would prefer to keep it," Pickman says.
"Yeah, I can't allow that to be. You see that amulet is a cursed artifact and I need to destroy it," I reply.
"Cursed, you say? No... No, it's not cursed. It was given to me by my patron," Pickman says while his body slowly starts to morph.
"Crap, get back!" I scream, and everyone backs off.
Pickman's skin turns pitch black and slimy. His face morphs into a bunch of tentacles and gnarled, yellowed fangs. He also gained a few more eyes. His arms transformed into long, spindly appendages with razor-sharp claws at the end. His legs multiplied and became a pair of 3 with twisted joints that looked like they were broken, and they had bones piercing the flesh to act as additional spikes.
"SCEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCHHHHH!" Pickman screeched with an ear-piercing call.
Everyone else didn't hesitate and opened fire. I meanwhile started charging a spell. Pickman was laser-focused on me, so he ignored the non-magical damage as he was likely immune to it, and he charged at me. He swiped at me while I narrowly dodged the attack. The claws had sliced through the brick wall like it was wet paper. But that was all the time I needed to charge the spell.
"Triplet Maximize Magic Purifying Light!" I scream.
Three beams of cleansing light hit Pickman, and he screeches even louder. His form becomes smaller, but then he turns into a mist and surges towards me. I try to cast a spell to protect myself, but he hits me and enters my body.
"SCEEEEEEEEECCCHHHHH!" Pickman screeched as he was ejected from my body.
Pickman was even smaller than before, and he wasn't moving anywhere near as fast. I was still cautious as I knew that a corner rat will always bite.
"Heheheh. HHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You... Mortal... You may have bested my vessel, but you won't live to escape. The deepest pit of hell has opened for you, so don't keep the devil waiting... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Pickman, or rather what is possessing him, yells.
The place shakes and the exits collapse. Then I smell fire and see that the entire building is on fire. Pickman falls to the group like a puppet with its strings cut. But the laugh doesn't stop, and the body starts to swell. I quickly realize what is about to happen and cast a sealing spell to contain the exploding puppet.
"We need to get out of here!" Hancock screams.
"Don't worry, just give me a minute," I calmly reply.
I channel my mana into a separate high-level spell while maintaining the sealed bomb. Sweat streaks down my face as I have both my hands containing the exploding Pickman while my wings try to create a portal for everyone else to escape with. Normally, I would just let it explode, but whatever this thing is, it isn't a normal creature and seems to contain a vast amount of Evil Magic. Contact with that stuff is never good.
Whooosh
A blue portal finally opens.
"GO!" I scream.
Everyone starts running through the portal, but Cait is the last to go out.
"Come on, Rio! We're all out now, it's your turn!" Cait yells at me.
"For you! Not for me!" I say while using my magic to push her through the portal as it closes.
I was nearly out of mana, which means the portal couldn't be maintained anymore. The shield spell was cracking, so I knew that it wasn't going to hold for any longer. I took a deep breath and let the shield spell go.
POV Cait
"Rio no!" I scream as the portal closes.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM
The ground shakes as a massive explosion goes off. I look up to see a 3-story green mushroom cloud. We run over to the new crater and see that the entire building and most of the block have been erased. We searched for a while, but we couldn't find Rio. It didn't help that the area was now a small lake because the Ocean had filled in the crater. But eventually, he found Rio under some rubble. Before we could touch him, he woke up and told us to stay back.
"I am covered in Evil Magic residue. Give me a minute to cleanse it," Rio said with a small smile.
Rio looked terrible. His wings were twisted in ways they shouldn't be able to. Most of his fur was burned off, and one of his eyes was white as if it were blind. His body has several injuries that looked like burns but were off, as they looked like they were moving. And most painfully, his horn was cracked. Rio told us once about how sensitive horns were. So I can only imagine how painful that injury must be.
It takes a few minutes, but eventually, Rio casts a spell, and the black burns vanish with a loud hissing sound. After that, he seems to relax a lot, and we help move him. When we do that, we find that there was a large gash in his lower back. It wasn't leaking much blood, but it was the size of a golf ball, and we could see his organs.
"Jesus, you look like sh*te," I comment.
"Gee, thanks, Cait, for your glowing compliments," Rio says with a clearly sarcastic tone.
"You're welcome," I reply.
Rio grumbles about something, and we set up camp while Rio slowly heals. I wanted as the wounds slowly closed, and I had to admit it looked gnarly and kind of cool.
"You know most people find it rude to stare a people," Rio comments.
I cough and look away and try to hide the little blush I have.
Several Hours Later...
POV Rio
I finally managed to heal myself, and I can move around again. It wouldn't normally take this long, but my mana regen was temporarily broken due to overdrawing my mana. It also came with the side effect of giving me a killer headache. As I was getting up, Piper came over to me.
"Hey, Blue, you sure you should be up after that?" Piper asks.
"Yeah, I'm healed now," I reply.
"That's good. But um, this whole situation with Pickman or whatever that thing was has gotten me thinking. I think I have an answer to those questions," Piper says.
"Oh, then please elaborate," I say.
"I'm Piper Wright, the older sister of Nat Wright, and more importantly, I am her family. I don't want to lose her. And because I don't want to lose her, I can't push her away. No. I won't push her away. I want to be there for when she falls so I can lift her back up again. And if Nat decides to become like me, then I will support her. If she wants to do something else, then I will support just as much. Nat is her own person, and I have no right to dictate what her life should be," Piper says with a serious tone.
"I am glad you think that," I say with a smile.
"That's not all. I want to be there for her, which means I want to leave the group to spend more time with Nat," Piper says.
"Of course you can. In fact, I would get mad if you didn't. Nat is young; she needs a role model to look up to. Or at least someone to watch over her," I reply.
"Heh, yeah, I should have guessed. So... I guess this is goodbye for now," Piper says.
"Until next time, yes, but life is always full of things like that. We will see each other. Likely fairly soon. And make sure to take good care of your sister. If you ever need anything from me or the Minutemen, just ask. Oh, and get ready to publish McDonough's crimes. I believe that a change in leadership will come to Diamond City soon," I comment.
"Ha! You got it. I can't wait to see that slimy, corrupt politician squirm. And don't worry, I won't make the same mistake again. I will cherish the time I have with Nat," Piper says.
After talking with Piper, I got the notification that I was now Idolized by Piper and have gotten her max affinity perk. Gift of Gab: Thanks to your relationship with Piper, you receive double XP for speech challenges and discovering new locations, and 3% more XP from all sources. The perk was pretty great. Anything that increases XP gain is fantastic.
After getting the perk, we send Piper off with a bit of a celebration. Then we prepare to head off to Cabot House. But then I think better of that, as I was in the neighborhood, so I could deliver the goods to the Railroad. Maybe even get an alliance of sorts.
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Author's Note:
So Piper leaves the party, but I think she is another person who doesn't make sense to stick around Rio forever. Most of her plot line is that she wants to protect Nat and still keep her lifestyle of telling the truth to others. But don't worry, another person will soon be joining the group. He is one of my least favorite companions, but oh well. Not fully sure if Rio will keep him around, as their personalities might clash a bit.
Now, as for what happened with Pickman. I am sure many of you are aware that Pickman is a reference to HP Lovecraft's Mythos. The Eldritch exist in Fallout, so Pickman would therefore be related to that. Combined with the fact that he is a serial killer and has killed a lot of people. Supposedly, all his victims are Raiders, but I am not fully sold on that. And it wasn't mentioned, but Pickman has a larger-than-normal Mana capacity, which is also why he went after Rio. They love eating things with high Mana capacities. Also, painting with blood is very unsanitary. Until next time, Ciao.