Chapter 1
– Angel's Chamber –
"I'm not going to say it again, Angel. You need to do this. And it will only be once, I promise. I make sacrifices all the time, sweetheart. It's what heroes do. And it's time for my daughter to step up and be a hero to Pandora as well."
Handsome Jack stood in front of Angel, the impenetrable orange shield of Angel's prison separating them. He stared down at his daughter in a feigned sympathetic look, mixed with irritation from the previously heated argument they had been having. Angel was on her knees at his feet with watery eyes staring back at him in a pleading manner.
"Jack- Dad, why would you even do something like this?" Her voice pleading and nearly a whisper from fear. "You want me to birth a genetically modified human being and toss it at Roland and the Crimson Raiders like a weapon!" Her mood turned to righteous anger as she stood up, "Do you have any idea how fucked up that is!?"
Angel's face of anger quickly contorted to a face of pain as she doubled over from a continuous electric shock to her collar, screaming in agony as her father berated her. "Language, Angel. Language." The shocking ceased, allowing Angel to once again gaze up at her father and listen to his condemning words. "Roland and his little Raider asshats have a Dahl commando with a prototype anti-personnel turret, a teenage brainiac with a respawning death robot, a cloaking ninja-assassin, a gun-toting roid-raging midget with seemingly endless ammo, an eight foot tall berserker with the strength of a super gorilla, a Pandoran native drunk whom happens to be the best sharpshooter on this side of the galaxy, our escaped slag psycho-mutant experiment, and two Sirens with kickass powers, one of them apparently constantly jacked up on raw Eridium. And don't get me started with Roland, the one who brought all this scum together in the first place. So my solution to that rag-tag band of freaks and sirens is to create a badass that can take them all on and get rid of them for good; because everything I throw at them, they all seem to survive, and I can't even think to bombard their crap hole of a flying city now because their aforementioned Eridium junkie can apparently just poof it to somewhere else on the goddamn continent, bandits and all!" His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed into almost a sneer when he uttered his next words slowly, "And I know the original four Vault Hunters were able to kill The Destroyer because it was weak, and it was weak because it had just woken up and didn't have enough time to reach its full potential. And that was just with the four of them. There's six more of them now, and I know that same thing can happen to the Warrior. Trust me, the vault on Elpis told me everything. I need these Crimson Raiders and all their Vault Hunters out of the picture. Otherwise, they will find a way to kill my Warrior before he becomes useful."
Jack took a few seconds to regain his composure and run a hand over his hair. "That's why I need you for this now more than ever; to help me create the solution to that problem. I need you to do the honor of bringing this... awesome problem solver into the world, because your Siren DNA will pass on to him- yes, it will be a boy- and give him the powers of a Siren. You, Angel, a Siren yourself, delivering the first male siren in the Universe, and last I checked, all Sirens are sterile. Think about that, Angel. You'll be doing something huge, something otherwise impossible," Jack took a brief moment to pause, and after no more interjections from Angel, he knew this argument was finally coming to a close. "Gestation period is only three weeks, and in that meantime, you won't have to worry about me shocking you, so, sweetheart, it won't be so bad. We've got equipment all ready for installation that will make this a bit easier for you." A handful of engineers and loaders entered the chamber with a few large advanced medical machines in tow, placing them all around Angel's shield-prison. "All you need to do is carry, then bring him in. They'll do all the rest." Jack pointed to three scientists in lab coats that had just entered the chamber after the muscle had cleared enough room moving their machinery. They each had their own face of apprehension and guilt as they walked in. They clearly didn't want to do any of this.
This really is happening, Angel thought, a single tear rolling down her cheek. No sense in postponing the inevitable. I'm going to give birth to a spliced super soldierto destroy the only people that are able to free me. Another tear found its way down her other cheek. What felt like a nightmare the past several minutes was actually becoming so horrifyingly real. She looked back up from her previously repressed realization. "How do you know this will even work?" Angel asked in a defeated, but still frightened, tone.
"These guys are some of the greatest geneticists Hyperion has to offer, who assure me that this will work and not cause any harm to you or the child. Right, doctors?" Jack glanced at the three scientists in lab coats, who all three in return nodded out of fear and passed their respective guilt-ridden glances toward Angel as they got to work. "They gave me a huge explanation about the whole thing. Got pretty boring, but to sum it up for ya, he'll have… a few extra chromosomes, but otherwise look like a regular guy, save for any Siren markings he may have. Mentally… that's a different story. Let's just say I have a way of making sure he only attacks the bandits, the Raiders, … and any other jackasses that piss me off or betray me." Jack glanced to the side, fists clenched, brooding over the memories of the people that betrayed him on Elpis, but only for several seconds.
These several seconds were enough time for Angel to collect some of her thoughts on this genetic abomination she will be forced to grow inside of her. A mentally unstable artificial Siren with the abilities to fight and kill my only friends, and this thing is going to be my son. Angel then realized this thing would also be very much human and would likely have emotions and rational thought just like everyone else. She took this as something positive, but it saddened her further at the fact that this being, her child, would be born for only one purpose: to kill her friends… though they wouldn't see her the same way after being forced to betray them. Angel's melancholic daze was shaken away when Jack started talking again, though she decided to cling onto that one positive thought for her child.
"I'd honestly much rather grow this bad boy start to finish in the vat, but we learned that the hard way." Jack glanced at the doctors again. The three scientists shuddered in haunting memory of the many lifeless husks of barely human failed specimens; the outcome of the first couple months of this project. "If our Siren pulls it off, and I'm sure he will, I could seriously have this guy as my bodyguard – and yours too, of course. He'd be a bit too stupid to follow orders more complex than 'destroy', 'protect', 'halt', et cetera, but really, that's how bodyguards should work!" Jack chuckled, "And the Siren thing, I've just realized, isn't fitting for him, since he'd be a dude. I think I'd rather call him… a Manticore. Sounds fierce, powerful, masculine. Why didn't I think of that before?" He turned his head toward the scientists again, "Change the name to that, will ya? Way better than the lame title you guys came up with." He returned his cold gaze back to Angel and finally remade eye contact with his daughter. Jack kneeled down toward Angel's level and looked into her tear-sodden blue eyes, "Be a good girl and let the doctors do their job… please." Jack's expression turned to what seemed like genuine guilt after those words, albeit subtle, but enough for Angel to notice and be left speechless from surprise. The display of emotions went as quickly as it came, however, and was replaced with his usual uncaring, apathetic gaze. He stood back up and walked toward the exit, ordered one of the scientists to inject Angel with a sedative as soon as the force field "protecting" her went down, and left the chamber.
Angel didn't even bother to struggle. Though the sedative was purely to prevent any resistance to what the doctors had to do to her, she had given up trying to resist what Jack was already setting in motion. As drowsiness began to consume her, the scientists began hooking her up with wires and narrow tubes to a couple of the previously mentioned machines, and would afterwards be ready to inject the spliced DNA into one of Angel's eggs. The last thing Angel saw before fading into unconsciousness was one of the scientists' digital tablets open to a file named:
Project Manticore
Author's Notes
There will be Author's Notes at the end of most, if not all, chapters of this story where I will plot down my thoughts on the respective chapters (without spoiling, of course), and these sections are completely optional to read; they are not critical to the reading of the story. I can answer any questions regarding chapters and clarifying any text read throughout them, but any questions with sensitive material to the story, i.e. things that can spoil the plot, I cannot answer. I'll simply urge you to keep reading if there are chapters afterward or ask for your patience in hopefully finding your answers in future chapters.
This is story as a whole is something I started on my own that isn't school related, and I graduated high school in 2014. Needless to say, my writing skill is rusty and below college level for sure. I am definitely not an upholder of New England high society English, but I will make an effort in correct grammar and spelling for sure, at least for the story itself.
This story is of course in the plot of Borderlands 2, more specifically after the events in Opportunity but before the assault on Control Core Angel, but with my own twists that drastically change some parts and details about the story, and centered mostly around events involving my OC and Angel. My OC will also take a lot of inspiration from the Incredible Hulk, more specifically the movies, as I was never interested in comics, but always saw the Hulk as my favorite superhero ever since I was in Elementary school. There will be differences with my character, of course.
Many game mechanics will be removed/altered to add more realism, but also more suspense and drama. Here's several of them in case you are curious or want to waste some time:
-The New-U system does not exist and never will exist. No respawning. Perma-death.
-There are fewer fast travel stations, some of which are completely non-operational, and each are more spread out across many miles.
-There are no miracle healing hypos that take seconds to mend wounds. They take much longer to be effective and they are far less efficient; more doses are required throughout the healing process, depending on severity. They cannot do much with fatal wounds, but they do get the job done with non-fatal wounds.
-Salvador, Krieg, and Brick are among the few characters who keep their unrealistic natural healing rates, some more than others. Everyone else is completely normal. (And yes, Krieg can still enter his badass form).
-The first two mountains of meat mentioned above have horrible aim with firearms: because Krieg's mind and focus are pretty crappy in general to say the least, and because Salvador likes to go gunzerk. A lot. Gaige also has equally horrible aim due to inexperience, same with other certain characters.
-Maya's Phaselock as a whole is less effective, its usefulness dependent the amount of mass being affected (note that weight does not matter… get it? Matter). The duration decreases and the amount of concentration increases the more massive the person or object, and is flat out useless on objects that are too massive. She can additionally move the object in question (like in the opening credits) up to a set velocity proportionate to its mass. Her cooldown also changes depending on how much mass she had affected and for how long. Maya cannot use the orb of slag or heal with Phaselock.
-Lilith is very resistant against fire. Wouldn't make sense otherwise.
-Elemental weapons do not exist. Elemental ammo, however, does exist, and can be swapped with most firearms depending on the situation. Elemental status effects (completely engulfed in flames, corrosion, electricity, and cryo) are drastically less likely to occur. Slag is left out entirely from weaponry and is purely a mutagen.
-Torgue weapons are the only weapons that can use explosive ammo, since they are built to handle the massive recoil of the much larger and heavier projectiles. They are also much harder to handle because of said recoil and because of their weight; shotguns and rocket launchers can only be used by the strongest and bulkiest of people, assault rifles are a bit more safe, and pistols can be used by average people who can handle a kickback harder than a .44.
I could make the above list even longer, but you get the idea. I'm trying to make this story a bit more realistic than in the game. And also because I'd like to add my own spice to this soup… not my best analogy.
The science fiction and game mechanics I do leave in, I will try to explain in the most scientifically convincing way I can, but I am going to have to get really creative with some, so bear with me. It'll be kinda like how Mass Effect explains their mechanics, except they're actually good at it. Some people coin the term "Space Magic" when they try to make things that are most likely physically impossible seem like they actually could happen (hell, maybe some of it can), so I'll be using that term as well.
I want this story to be about friendship and love of different kinds – not just romantic love (but there will be plenty of that, generous readers), and coat it in darker adult themes like intense violence, drug use, and possibly unsettling topics. There will be many action scenes, "Hulk" scenes included, in which I'll do my best to portray with words, and there will also be some detailed sexual themes in which I'll try my best not to be too explicit (however, my Pathos will involve a lot of fluff in between certain events; I will be attempting a lot of character interactions). Needless to say, this is M rated. It may not seem so for the first chapter or few, but it will most likely get pretty violent and adult-themed later on, depending on how I progress the story, so discretion is advised. On another note, there will be actions and interactions from characters that some would find very strange… You'll have to see.
All in all, my goal for this story is to portray feelings of empathy, rage, passion, love, and melancholy, to name a few, but to also cater to those who enjoy reading more gritty, primal, violent stories and scenes. Like I said before, it could get graphic. Before I type a kilometer's worth of paragraphs in this one entry, I'll end my first session of Author's Notes here. Thank you very much for taking the time in reading my Prologue… and these notes, since you wouldn't be reading this sentence otherwise. Unless you read from bottom to top, in which case, good luck.