Vlad stood in front of the massive fortress of a high school uneasily. He grasped the handgun on his waist nervously, watching the last trickling of students enter the school. Vlad grabbed his ECHO communicator off of his hip and hit "record".
"I am Vladof Antakov." he said, his voice thick with a Russian accent. "Today is first day at Pandora High. I am level one, equipped with repeater handgun and five clips of the ammunition bullets. I am enter school building now."
Vladof gripped the hem of his jacket, black with a red stripe across the back, and put a foot onto a step. He ran his hand through his head of short, black hair and ran up the rest of the stairs. Letting out a soft sigh and pushed open the door.
The halls were filled with students, passing by hurriedly. Vlad stood there in shock at the huge crowds of passers-by. Back on Promethea, in Vlad's old school of New Moscow High, there were about a fourth of the students at Pandora High School.
"You okay, guy?" A student placed his hand against Vlad's shoulder. "Are you new here?"
"Da." said Vlad. "Can you help me? I am looking for the class of Taseeter."
"Uh… Who?"
"The class of Taseeter. It says I need to be in Taseeter for first class period." said Vlad. Vlad's aid raised his hands in surrender.
"Sorry, dude. I can't really understand you." he said. He mouthed out an apology and turned away. Vlad looked around in confusion, muttering to himself angrily. He stopped student after student, asking them where to find his class. Each time, they would walk away due to the language barrier. FInally, Vladof had enough. He turned to one last student to ask for directions.
He was tall and muscular. His eyes were sharp blue, shining like diamonds. His hair was golden blonde and fell down to his neck, hidden beneath a green, camouflage beanie. He had his hands in the pocket of his dusty blue jeans, and there was a black pin in the shape of a "D" pinned to his camouflaged fatigues.
"Hey, bud. Can I help you?" he asked, his voice gruff and deep.
"Do you know where can find class of Taseeter?" asked Vlad.
"I'm sorry. Who?" Suddenly, Vladof swore loudly in Russian, spouting profanity and uncertainties out loud for anyone to hear. The camouflaged aid grabbed Vlad's shoulder softly.
"Hey. I speak Russian. Go ahead, just speak normally." he said with a bright smile. Vlad's spirits rose, and he began spouting out requests in his natural tongue. Vlad's new friend requested his ECHO, which Vlad gladly handed him.
"Oh, I get it. You're trying to get to Tassiter's class!" he said, opening Vlad's schedule log. "Hey, we have the same schedule. Just stick with me for today and you'll be fine."
"Thank you very. My name is Vladof." said Vlad. "Vladof Antakov."
"Okay, Vlad. I'm Vincent Dahl, but most people call me by my last name." said Dahl. "Come on, Vlad. It's almost time for class."
Dahl cocked his head to the left and began to fall in with the flow of traffic. Vladof jumped in behind him and followed through the crowd. They walked for about a minute before opening a door to their right. The classroom was filled with students, about twenty all in desks with their ECHOs out onto their tabletops. At the front of the room, at a large desk was a very stern looking man, with small beady eyes behind a set of small bifocals.
"You are very nearly late, Dahl." he said, his voice antagonizing and nasally. "And who is this stray you've adopted?"
"Sorry, Mr. Tassiter. I was helping Vladof here." said Dahl. He took a seat at one of his desk and gestured to his right, to the last empty desk.
"And this is Vladof?" asked Tassiter.
"I am Vladof Antakov. I am foreign student exchanging from Promethea." said Vlad, taking a seat next to Dahl. "Today is first day at Pandora High."
"Of course it is. And I take it you took Economics I last year? And Fundamentals of Economics the year prior?" asked Tassiter.
"Eh…?"
"Uh, Mr. T? He doesn't speak very much English." said Dahl. "Do you mind if I translate for you?"
"Very well. And do not call me 'Mr. T'." said Tassiter. There was a loud ringing sound from the halls. "And that is the bell. Very well. Let us begin. Last week, we spoke of the economic rush of Pandora, which lasted a total of five Earth years. After our little dirt-ball's big boom of monetary success, it fell into the deep recession we are currently in."
As Tassiter spoke, Dahl repeated the lesson in Russian for Vlad. Vlad recorded everything said onto his ECHO device, for future reference.
"And then, our disgusting tiny planet was blessed with the little fortune of The Vault legend." continued Tassiter. "As soon as The Vault rumors began, they spread from every end of Pandora, from Sawtooth Cauldron to Frostburn Canyon. As soon as the whispers of The Vault left the planet, they exploded across the ECHOnet, attracting the infamous Vault Hunters."
The door flew open with a loud bang. Every girl in the class screeched with glee as the teenage boy stepped into the room. He stopped in front of the class with an arrogant smirk on his face. His hair was short and brown, combed back and slick. One eye was bright blue, the other emerald green. Though his eyes were strange, there was no denying how handsome he was.
"Did somebody call for a Vault Hunter?" he asked, clicking a button on his wrist-mounted laser cannon.
"Where in the name of all things holy did you get a laser cannon?" asked Tassiter. "Having weapons in class is a Class II violation. And, on top of that, you're late. Care to explain yourself, Hyperion?"
"Not really, Tass. Look, I'm late and you're tired, so why don't you just give me detention and be done with it?" said Hyperion. Tassiter clenched his fists angrily.
"I'm not getting paid to keep you in line, Hyperion. Hell, I'm barely getting paid at all." growled Tassiter. "Have a seat and make sure you're here after school for detention."
Hyperion rolled his eyes and turned to face the class. He surveyed the area until his eyes fell on Vladof.
"Uh… Who's the jackass in my seat?" asked Hyperion. Vladof didn't look up; All of his attention was devoted on the Russian-English Dictionary PDF on his ECHO. For some reason, he couldn't seem to find a lot of the words that Tassiter and Hyperion were using.
"Hello? Asshole? Get the hell outta my seat." said Hyperion, leaning against Vlad's desk. Vladof glanced up in confusion.
"Eh? Do you speak to me?" asked Vlad.
"What are you, some kind of retard? Yeah, I'm talking to you, shit-for-brains. Get out of my seat." said Hyperion. He was using too many words too quickly for Vlad to keep hold of. He used a strategy he normally employed when speaking to a non-Russian: deflection of language.
"I do not get what you mean, asshole." said Vlad. "I am in seat, retard?"
Hyperion primed his wrist cannon and aimed it at Vlad's forehead, finally speaking the one language Vlad understood. Vladof reached to his waist and drew his handgun, which he pointed at Hyperion.
"Guns away! Now!" ordered Tassiter.
"You sure you wanna pick a fight with me? You're level one." scoffed Hyperion. "How's a level one supposed to beat a level fifteen?"
"By having a level thirteen on his side." said Dahl. "Go fuck yourself, Jack-off."
"Jack-off? Dude, is that the best insult you have? Add 'off' to my middle name?" asked Hyperion, pointing his cannon at Dahl. "I guess it is kinda hard to make fun of 'Hyperion' and 'Helios'. They're both much cooler than, uh, Steven?"
"Vincent. Vincent Dahl, the guy who's gonna kill you with his fists." growled Dahl.
"Duel me after class, jackass, and we'll see if you can talk so big with a mouthful of lead."
BANG!
"Shit!" yelped Hyperion, grasping his knee in agony. Blood poured from his leg as he fell to the ground, rolling and screaming in pain.
"Pangolin! Get in here right now!" yelled Tassiter into his ECHO. "We have a situation!"
"Vlad! Put the gun away!" said Dahl. Vladof blew the smoke from his barrel and shoved his gun back onto his holster.
"Dahl! Hyperion! Uh… Foreign Kid! Detention, all of you!" shouted Tassiter. "Now get the hell out of my classroom!"
"Why would you do that?" asked Dahl, leading Vlad out of class. "You just shot Hyperion!"
"He was bully. In New Moscow, bullies get shot." said Vlad. "I help if you help. We are friends, no?"
"Dude, you just shot my arch-nemesis. Damn right we're friends." said Dahl. He shook Vlad's hand and waited for the Pangolin to come in and whisk them away for detention.