Author's Note: Isn't it convenient that the Vault Hunters of Borderlands 2 boarded the same car, of the same train, all at the exact same time?
What stories could be told, if all but one of the Vault Hunters missed that fateful train?
Let's start with Zer0.
000ooo000
"I'm just saying, at least this isn't an escort mission."
Two former Crimson Lance were out in the heat of a Pandoran afternoon, posted to "guard" the entrance to their employer's camp. If it weren't for the visible differences in their armor (and the missing arm on the current speaker), they could have been mistaken for twins.
Their complaining spared their lives.
Hidden by his Decepi0n cloak, Zer0 lowered his sword and paused to listen.
What was an escort mission?
The overqualified guard continued, holstering his pistol to gesture wildly with his remaining arm. "Remember the VIP we were assigned back on Androchen? The idiot had assasins after him, and he still insisted on having afternoon tea time in the freakin' courtyard!"
The other guard tilted his helmet in a way that suggested a smirk. "Didn't that guy end up sneaking away from us in order to that?"
One-armed guard huffed. "Then they blamed us when he got sniped." He moved his remaining arm as though to cross it, before looking down and sighing. "Guard duty may suck skag bits, but at least on Pandora they don't expect you to be a bodyguard."
"Still sore about the VIP on Athenas?"
"Hell yes. I lost my arm because that douchebag wouldn't stay put like I told him to!"
By now, the still-cloaked Zer0 had sheathed his sword and activated the recording function in his helmet. If he understood correctly, defending a target was far more challenging than eliminating one…
Zer0 had been looking for a challenge for a long, long time.
Oblivious to his presence, the former Crimson Lance soldiers continued to commiserate about the grey hairs they accumulated defending clients from a laundry list of dangers, and the constant vigilance it demanded.
Zer0 took notes.