Leaving the depths of the forest behind him, the Courier found himself in it's overgrown part. This was kind of bad, since there were far more monsters in forests like these than in the depths of the forest, where he met Lyra. He didn't need another tribe of Amazons on his ass, but knowing his luck he would come across something just as crazy, if not worse.

As he strolled through the treacherous terrain, a sweet scent entered his nostrils. It was unlike anything he sensed before. Nothing in the Mojave emitted such sweet scent, not even Banana Yucca fruit. Hang on… Why was he able to sense anything? Shouldn't it be filtered out? Was his armour compromised? He frowned, only to remember his brawl with Amazons. He hadn't checked it back then, right.

Stopping right there and then, he brought up his pipboy and took a look at his armour. Just as he suspected, it got damaged in the fight. He cursed his own carelessness as he de-atomized an armour repair kit. It worked on a similar principle to a weapon repair kit. Both could be used to fix a variety of things, from simple nine millimetre pistols to full blown plasma casters and missile launchers, up to the very power armour itself.

He used it to patch up the armour and restore it to the mint condition. However, one thing he realized, if his scent leaked out, then the monsters could easily follow him as long as it persisted. He needed a way to get rid of every single trace of his own smell and maybe the smell of the previous owner, along with the scent of armour and odour.

Scent was quite a complex thing. You simply couldn't scrub your body clean and call it a day. You had to make sure your own scent didn't come out or had to mask it somehow. Power armour was enough for that, especially in a mint condition. Odour was the same thing, as long as the power armour was sealed off completely, it was easy. The problem was the scent of the armour and the remains of the previous user. He had to wash it off thoroughly, before he could get anywhere near monsters. It would also help in masking him off completely.

Then he realized something, his eyes spread wide open. He could have avoided the damn rabbit, probably the Unicorn and maybe even the kobolds being wary of him if he took care of his own scent! He facepalmed at his own stupidity. He wasn't used to taking care of his own smell to that extent and now he paid for his own foolishness. He had to take care of that. He then looked around and gathered leaves, some soil and a few other bits and pieces.

Still, the power armour was nice and all, but he kept running into one issue, monsters. His own stealth field had a rather sharp limit and while it could be used to avoid small groups of enemies. However, against a bigger force or a longer detour, it would stop working at the worst possible moment either due to time or a stray lightning coming out of nowhere.

What he needed was a back up plan, a suit of armour that could keep him hidden at all times and he had just the thing, Stealth Suit Mark 2. It was a suit of medium armour with blue glow. It was modelled after Chinese Stealth Suit and had a plethora of useful functions. It had an inbuilt chameleon field, energy protection, improved his strength, perception, agility and even his ability to sneak around with a sealed off system of it's own. It was a truly remarkable piece of software and too advanced to be used freely.

However, he needed to have it ready in case he came across the likes of Lilim, one of the daughters of the Demon Lord and her husband. He wasn't sure how strong were they, but considering they were top dogs of this stupid world, he was not going to take any chances. First thing he needed was to thoroughly wash himself and for that, he needed a safe spot.

He looked around and to his dismay, there was nothing around him that could act as a temporary shelter. It seemed like his only option at this point was to get to Lescatie and hope for the best. A sigh escaped his lips, the Courier shaking his head at the mere notion of it. He resumed his journey, as he looked around trying to find anything hostile.

A few moments later, it seemed like he found the source of the sweet scent he felt recently. An alrune, part human female, part plant stood a couple hundred feet away from him and she hasn't spotted him yet. He read about that monster before and relaxed a bit. They were not harmless, but because they were stuck to the ground he could easily move around her and not get noticed.

Lowering his position, he began sneaking around the monster, not keen on engaging her in any sort of way. Well, at least that one went well, which slightly improved his mood. The Courier continued his journey, slowly getting out of the forest, until he found himself at the edge of it. There he saw mountains he was going to go pass in order to arrive at Lescatie.

Now, since forest ended it seemed like he was going to deal with new kinds of monsters, like Orcs. Although… if he found himself a nice uninhabited cave, he could probably get himself sorted out, which was a priority. He began walking forward, keeping his eye on the surroundings, when he heard a wheeze coming from above him forcing him to look up.

"I got you now!" A monster yelled as she dived towards him.

The Courier cursed his luck as a black harpy dove towards him, her intent clear. She had a pair of black wings, red eyes and were known to hunt men even when their breeding season wasn't there yet. However, he knew how to handle her and raised his guard. The harpy grabbed his arms and began flapping her wings furiously, but she seemed to be having trouble lifting him up, judging by the frown on her face.

"Wrong move, bitch," He growled and grabbed her legs, before smashing her into the ground with a yelp.

And before she could recover he stepped on her left wing crushing it underneath his boot with loud crack. She screamed in pain, as he pinned her to the ground, the harpy not able to push him off. Tears were falling from her eyes, her ferociousness gone as soon as it came.

"P-please don't kill me," She pleaded, while the Courier snorted.

"Oh really? You just tried to kidnap me, rape me and make me into your husband and now you beg for mercy?" He pointed out, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"I-i wasn't going to hurt you," She protested, only to the Courier to increase the pressure making her yell in pain.

"I think being raped against one's will counts as that, you really shouldn't have done that," He growled.

"W-wait!" She begged, but the Courier didn't listen and in one swift move, crushed her head under his boot, the brain leaking out from beneath him.

The Courier sighed as he looked at the harpy. Yet another monster that tried to rape him. Was it really too much to ask to be left alone? He looted the corpse and resumed his journey, already thinking of what other monster was going to try and rape him. But first things first, he needed a cave and the mountains that were slowly coming into view would be perfect for this.

He activated his bionic eyes, as the night came, the man slowly climbing the treacherous terrain. It took some time before he managed to find himself a cave. He activated the stealth implant, before slowly making his way inside. The cave seemed empty for the most part, but he had to make sure and probably prepare some traps just in case.

However, it seemed like lady luck was on his side for once, as he found it empty and without a single trace of a monster living here. No faecal matter, no semen stains, nothing at all. That was a good beginning, it was time to set up traps. Good thing the cave was fairly small. It had only one entrance and a main chamber, so setting up defences didn't take long.

Once he was done with that, he de-atomized copious amounts of purified water, a lot of Abraxo, detergents, the Stealth Suit and some of the things he gathered. He used the first two ones to thoroughly clean the armours and then applied the plants and soil to mask the scent of the metal. It should be enough at least in those regions, but he would have to apply a new scent in a place like desert or a whole other region, but that was a long way off.

This process took a better part of two hours, but the result was a squeaky clean Courier and set of armours that should help him out. However, as he stretched himself, he found himself drowsy. He looked at the time and noticed it was two AM. He de-atomized the sleeping bag and was ready to jump into it, when he remembered that it still had his scent. And since he didn't feel like washing it right here, right now, he instead switched to the armour of the 87th tribe, before getting himself comfortable and falling asleep.


What the Courier didn't know was that the fact that a certain monster was roaming the region, when her sense of smell picked up an unusual scent, she did not recognize. She was a manticore, a hybrid beast with a body of a beast, bat-ling wings and a tail equipped with a spiny lump of flesh at the end. Her white hair flowed through the hair, while her red eyes kept looking for the slightest amount of movement. She slowly descended in front of the cave that caught her attention, before she noticed several bear traps blocking the entrance.

That got her interested and as she looked deeper, she spotted a sleeping figure in some kind of sheet of fabric. She sniffed the air, before a lewd smile appeared on her face. It seemed like she found herself a human to ravage. She looked around as she tried to figure out the best way to approach the man without him waking up. With bear traps being the only thing between her and her prey, she jumped and used her wings to silently land a few meters away from the Courier.

She took a step forward, a massive grin on her face, when she felt a resistance on her paw, her eyes spread wide open as loud clang echoed across the cave, tin cans shaking wildly. In that moment, the man immediately stood up and drew his sword, before aiming it at her. She smirked, as she fell on the four, her tail above her, making her look like a monster that eats on human flesh. However, the man in front of her didn't yell, didn't scream, he just gripped his sword harder. A warrior then, she could work with that.

"Well, it seems like my prey is fully awake, it would be too easy, if you were asleep," She said.

"You just triggered my trap, idiot," He pointed out. "So, can you do me a favour and go away? I don't feel like fighting right now. I would like to get some sleep instead of dealing with you."

"Not really, I am here to ravage you and I hope you are ready for that," She said and fired spines at the man.

She watched as the man rolled to the right, narrowly avoiding the attack, a dangerous smile on her face. Oh, she would enjoy beating the man and ravaging him, that was for certain. She pounced on the man, her claws exposed, while the Courier blocked the attack, skidding back a bit. He growled, before pushing her away, making her stagger and before she could recover, he spun around and smashed the sword into her, sending her flying with a yelp.

He activated VATS and frowned as he looked at the small amount of damage he dealt. Whatever this thing was in front of him, she was tough, about as tough as an adult deathclaw and the force he felt behind the attack was similar. The monsters were getting stronger and the girl in front of him wasn't even a dragon and yet she could put up a fight. He really was not looking forward to meeting either a dragon or one of the dreaded Lilim, which was bound to happen knowing his luck.

"Ouch, I felt that one," She complained, as she stood up, glad she didn't land on the traps. "You're quite strong, aren't you?"

"No comment," He replied, as he tried to figure how to deal with the monster in front of him.

"Stoic one? It won't help you much, when I get my tail on you," She said and opened her tail, exposing the pink flesh inside it. "So, how about you surrender, before it gets messy?"

"How about you go fuck yourself?" He spat out, while the monster frowned.

"Hard way it is!" She roared and fired another barrage.

This time he wasn't so lucky and one of the spikes pierced his left thigh, making him growl. He felt the venom flowing into his body, only for it to be neutralized as the filters in his heart took care of it. Who would have thought that being a heartless bastard was so beneficial? He sure as hell didn't. The Manticore grinned, only for her smile to fade, the man not reacting to her venom.

"Why aren't you having a massive erection right now?" She asked, confused.

"As if I would tell you why!" He roared and rushed forward.

In response, the monster jumped back across the bear traps and grinned. However that soon faded as well, as the man was able to run through all the bear traps without triggering a single one of them, her eyes spread wide open. She ducked beneath a swing that could have taken her head off, before smashing into the man as she tried to tackle him. However, even that failed to do anything, before the man smashed her with a sword and made her tumble once more.

"You… what the hell are you?" She asked, a bit of blood falling down from her forehead.

"Your worst nightmare," He growled, terrifying presence kicking in.

The monster paled at the sheer amount of bloodlust coming off from the man. Her body tensed, as she realized this was no longer a fight for a husband, it was a fight for her own life! Her instincts screamed her, making her dodge back, barely avoiding the blade. She had to run, to escape, as she turned around and began running, her wings extended.

However, before she could jump off, the man smashed her into a side of the cave. She tried to stand up, to move, but as she saw the blade coming towards her head, she tried to roll. But it was too late, making her scream, as she was sent flying, before landing right in the bear traps. They all snapped to her body, her limbs, even her tail. Tears began coming out of her eyes as the man walked up closer to her, her body shivering as blood slowly dripped from her wounds.

"No… please, don't kill me," She pleaded, while the Courier walked up to her, his eyes cold.

"I asked you to leave and now you ask for mercy? Why should I listen to you, when you won't listen to me?" He pointed out with a growl.

"Please…, let me go," She said. She didn't want to die, not like this, not without falling in love with a man of her life.

"Normally, you would be dead by now, but considering the fact that you are on the verge of death, I am going to toss the coin twice. If you win the first one, I will let you live, if you win twice? I will even heal your wounds. But if you lose the first one, I will kill you right here and now, while if you win the first one, but lose the other one, I will leave you here, deal?" He asked, while the monster nodded. "So, what will it be? Heads or tails?"

"Tails…," She muttered weakly and held her breath.

He then tossed the coin into the air, as he watched it fall on the ground, heads down. He sighed, before taking the coin once more and tossing it into the air. It spun on the ground, before it stopped heads down, once again. What the hell fate? She was trying to rape me, why did you decide to spare her?

"Alright, it seems like you get to live," He said and slowly walked up to her. "I am going to help you out, it's going to hurt, but you will feel better soon enough, understood?"

"Y-yes," She muttered and hissed as the Courier unlocked the first bear trap.

He then put down his duffel bag and pulled out a doctor bag. He gently bandaged the wound, the Manticore glancing between it and him. Once he did that, he repeated the process for the other limbs, until none of the bear traps remained. He then gently lifted the monster, who yelped from a surprise.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a blush.

"I am going to have you rest on the bed, don't take it the wrong way, you are my patient after all," He explained and carried her to his sleeping bag. He then pulled a bottle of Bitter Drink which housed a potent medicine, which could heal many wounds.

"Here, drink this in one go. It will help heal your wounds, but you must drink it in one go or your stomach won't be able to handle it," He explained, while the monster nodded weakly.

She took a sip, before coughing violently. "It's bitter…"

"It's called Bitter Drink for a reason," He explained, while the Manticore nodded and drank it all in one go.

"Thank you," She said weakly, the medicine slowly healing her wounds in front of her eyes.

"Don't thank me, thank fate they decided to spare you," He said in response.

"Fate… huh? Do you believe in it?" She asked,

"… A bit? Not into whole destiny and what not, but sometimes, things that shouldn't happen, happen," He replied and sat away from her. "So, since we are past trying to kill each other, why don't you tell me why did you think it was a good idea to try and rape me?"

"You were alone… and I thought it was a good opportunity," She explained.

"Did my scent bring you here?" He asked, while the monster shook her head.

"No, I felt something different," She replied. "… You were going to kill me, weren't you?"

"Pretty much. You attacked me and I defended myself, under different circumstances you would have been dead by now," He replied.

"I see…," She muttered, her ferocious persona hidden for now.

"Not so smug anymore? Not proclaiming that you will rape me?" He pointed out, while the monster shook her head.

"Would rather have me act like this, prey?" She said with a smug look.

"Do whatever you want," He replied. "Now, how are you feeling?"

"Better, much better," She explained and lightly stretched herself.

"Good, then my job is done. Now, get out," He ordered, stood out and pointed to the exit.

"I bet it's because you can't handle a strong woman like me," She said.

"Nah, I prefer meek ones, the ones that engage in basic courtship," He replied, while the manticore grinned.

"Let me guess, you love Kikimoras, Kobolds and such, don't you?" She guessed, while the man shrugged in response.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," He replied. "Now, get out, I won't ask the third time."

"Sure, sure, I am leaving, have a nice nap," She said, swished her tail, till it brushed past him, while giving him a lewd smile. "I hope we see each other again, handsome."

And with that she unfurled her wings, winked at him, before launching herself into the air. The Courier sighed and massaged his temple. He hated his luck at times. Maybe it was his punishment for killing that harpy? Maybe some higher being hated his guts or maybe, just maybe, he was just that unlucky. He had no clue. And with that, he packed himself up, changed to Scorched Sierra Madre Power Armour and left, the sooner he got to Lescatie the better.


Slower updates from now on, but I hope you enjoyed it.