Hey, Hey, Hey Guys! Sorry I had to pospone this chapter. Due to time constraints and due to the fact that I scraped the original, this was the earliest I could put it out. But, I'm fairly happy about this chapter so Yay... and stuff... and stuff...
Chapter 3) Fadir? Thirteen
The next morning was a lot better. Although he was still exhausted, Axton's mindset was clear and functional. He made a cup of coffee and sat on the couch next to Maya, who (as usual) had her nose in a book.
"Good god, what happened to you?" She questions as she looks up at the fatigued commando, noticing his bloodshot eyes and muffled appearance.
Axton hesitated for a moment. He places his turret pods on the table and leans back. "Ugh, nothing special just a bad night; Roland tends to snore really loud." He lies, earning himself a suspicious look from Maya.
Before he can further explain, the siren reaches over and places her hand on Axton's shoulder, immediately noticing how tense and contracted the muscles were. However, before Axton could tease her with a flirtatious remark, a very energetic Gunzerker comes busting though the door.
"HEY! AXTON! MAYA! PACK YO SHIT, WE'RE GOING TO THE HIGHLANDS"
"Wha-why?" Maya chokes out, confused by Salvador's abrupt excitement.
"That one British petrimete is paying us big money to go kill some thresher named Old Slappy or sumthin." Replies the gunzerker with a hint of agitation in his voice, he clearly didn't get to shoot anything all day. He then picks up his bandit MG from the table and vacates the HQ, leaving the two vault hunters in silence.
Maya immediately withdrawals her hand. "Welp, we should get going before he shoots both of us." She utters hastily while setting her book aside to go fetch her gear.
"Yea right behind ya darling." Axton chimes back, scooping up his backpack and holstering his Dahl sidearm. "Threshers, why the hell did it have to be threshers..." He ponders to himself while following the siren out of the door.
…
The rancid aroma of burning tires and pollution fills the warm, summer air as the bandit technical comes to a screeching halt. The group has finally arrived at a lone Hyperion Extraction Plant in the Highlands. One by one the vault hunters vacate the vehicle, huddling together by a patch of soil to go over Zero's plan of attack. The assassin swiftly grabs a stick and starts drawing out a diagram on the earth.
"Ok then, I will go to the left side over here and disable the Hyperion communications while you three kill Old Slappy, who should be lurking somewhere in that artificial lake. Got it?" He questions, looking up to see that they were missing a gunzerker. "Hey?! Where the hell is…"
"AKIMBO!" Yells a voice far ahead of them.
Maya rolls her eyes and runs after their trigger-happy maniac. Zero also stands up to leave but Axton stops him.
"Shouldn't I maybe accompany you, just in case you need backup?" Axton suggests with a hint of desperation in his voice.
"No I'm fine by myself. Besides, we're getting paid to kill a thresher, not a bunch of flimsy robots."
Axton gives the idea up. "It's only one thresher, how bad can it be." He mentaly consoles himself while looking back at the Assassin who flashed :) emoticon before departing. "Cheeky bastard…"
…
Axton catches up to others and takes a knee on the low overhang shadowing the artificial pool. He grabs for his Vladof Renegade and re-chambers it. "Come on out and play ya son of a bitch." He mutters quietly to himself, gritting his teeth in anticipation.
Almost as if it heard the commando's challenge, the ground begins to shake violently, and within seconds a remarkably colossal thresher submerges from the pool.
"WOAH! BADASS IMCOMING!" Chimes Salvador while he swiftly unloads a massive barrage of lead upon the creature.
Axton stands in awe for a second, there was something strangely familiar about the creature. He shakes the thought off and unloads a full magazine into the thresher; the fire rounds scorch its flesh and makes it let off a horrifying bellow. The soldier jams another magazine in and slides back the bolt, but as he raises the sights to his eye, he notices an X shaped scar under the threshers chin. His rifle drops to the ground, and his mind goes blank…
…
17 years ago… On the planet of Hieronymus… -
A young Axton plays in the creek nearby his parent's farmhouse. His merriment comes to a halt as the ground seems to shake underneath him. However the mysterious quake doesn't scare him, and the curious young boy ventures out to the center of the creek, where the vibrations seemed the strongest.
"Mmmraaerak!" A thresher cries out its spine tingling screech as it surfaces from the small pool. Its long, wormlike body shimmers in the daylight as it lurches towards the now frightened 9 year old boy, tentacles at the ready.
Axton turns to flee, but the thresher is too fast for him. With one quick motion, the creature's tentacle latches on the boy's ankle, pulling him further into the creek. Axton shouts and struggles to get free, but the creature's iron grip restrains him from doing so. The tentacle constricts tighter, causing Axton to wince in pain as crimson begins to trickle down his leg.
BANG!
A loud, crackling noise tingles Axton's eardrums as the pressure on his leg dissipates. He opens his eyes to witness clumps of splintered flesh scattered around the creek, while the bright crimson dyes the murky water. A hand helps him up to his feet. He looks up to see none other than his own father, Clinton Woods; a grizzled, burly man with his prized Jakobs double barrel suspended over his shoulders.
"You alright lad?" Questions Axton's father, staring down at his son's bloody shin.
"Yea, I'm fine. Thanks dad." Mumbles Axton in relief. If his dad didn't show up, he would have been ripped to shreds.
"Okay, well I don't want you playing 'round here anymore. Those threshers' quite feisty little ones." Axton's father lectures in a stern voice.
"Ok Dad…" Complies Axton as his attention shifts to the dead corpse. "Hey, how did you kill it so fast?" He questions his father thoughtfully.
Clinton answers his question with a long hardy laugh. "I suppose you are getting to that age now are ya?" He ruffles his son's hair and points at the dead thresher. "See my shot placement? It's focused on the side of the threshers face, near his eyes. Pop enough of those and the thing will be dead in seconds."
"Mmmraaaerrak!" Clinton turns around to observe a significantly larger thresher emerge from the ground. He draws his machete from his waist and with two rapid motions, he gashes the creature leaving a X shaped laceration underneath the head. The thresher drops to the ground dead, its blood further contributing to the already discolored water.
Clinton turns back to his son and reloads his shotgun. Axton watches in awe as the deadly, nickel plated double barrel gleams in the sunlight. His father noticed his excitement and smiles warmly.
"Axton, one day this work of art will be yours. I promise." He says humbly while patting his son on his back. "Now let's go ho-"
Something wraps around his waist. He looks down in horror to find that the thresher he presumably just killed was only wounded, blood still dripping from its chin.
"Let go of me you son of a bitch!" Axton's father yells as he unloads a shot into the creature's torso. The buckshot pellets pierce the flesh and cause the thresher to screech, but the tentacle around his waist tightens and his right arm is restrained by a second feeler.
"Dad?!" Axton screams in terror as his father is lifted out of the air.
The ground begins to quake again, several more threshers pop out of their holes to join the feast. One lunges at Axton, but the nimble boy evades it. The swarm of wormlike creatures shift their attention to the future commando.
"Run Axton! Run and don't look back lad!" Clinton yells, cringing at the excruciating pain of being constricted.
"Bu-But Dad?" Axton whimpers helplessly.
"No buts! Just run before they get you too!" His father exclaims, now losing the ability to breathe.
Springing to his feet, Axton turns around and bolts in one direction. As his footsteps squish in the damp terrain when it begins to storm, he slips and lands face first in a muddy puddle.
The screams of his father can no longer be heard, the only sound that exists now is the grief stuck, fatherless child sobbing in the rain.
…
"You may as well blame yourself for your father's death Axton." The wicked voice begins to mock him as the commando's vision goes dark. "You cowered in fear and ran helplessly as your own father was murdered by threshers. You call yourself a hero? Everyone that once loved you is dead now. Your father, Sarah, it's only a matter of time before you kill someone else!" The voice bellows angrily.
"NO! SHUT THE FUCK UP! IT'S NOT LIKE TH-"
"Not like what Axton? Not your fault?" The voice cuts him off, letting out a devious chuckle. "If it's not your fault then why aren't they here? Think about that for a bit, I'll be waiting here for you Axton. Axton…Axton…
"AXTON! HELP US!" A familiar, panic-struck voice snaps the weary commando out of his trance.
"AMIGO! SNAP THE FUCK OUT OF IT AND BACK US UP!" Another voice shouts in distress.
Axton looks down in horror. Maya is restrained by one of the tentacles, fighting to get free of its iron grip. He reaches for his turret pod but discovers it isn't attached to his belt. "Idiot! You left it on the table!" He curses himself. Enraged with his own stupidity, he jumps down near Salvador and opens fire on two of the tentacles causing each of them to catch fire and split with a nauseating sizzle. Meanwhile, the Hispanic Gunzerker is struggling to fight back the large thresher with his last remaining weapon, a small Vladof TMP. He, however is effortlessly knocked to the side by one of Old Slappy's tentacles.
"Let go of me you bastard!" Maya growls as Old Slappy begins to lift her in the air. Frantically she attempts to phaselock it, but the thresher is well anchored to the ground and refuses to comply. The tentacles squeeze tighter, causing her to whimper in pain.
"No! Maya!" Axton yells furiously at the sight of the siren being constricted. Adrenaline rushes through his body as he angrily sprints towards the Old Slappy, who greets him with a barrage of tentacles. With pin point accuracy, Axton the Commando swiftly takes each of them out by aiming at the joints that connects it to the torso. His rifle's Maliwan compositor radiates brightly with a light crimson glow as he unloads the rest of his magazine into the side of the thresher's face, taking out many of the creature's multiple eyes. Old Slappy bellows in pain as it lifts his head up. Seeing the opportunity to deliver the final blow, the enraged commando unpins a sticky MIRV grenade from his belt, and lobs it at the wounded thresher. The metal exterior of the grenade chemically bonds with the creature's flesh and within seconds, expels its deadly shrapnel and child grenades across Old Slappy's torso. The creature drops dead with a loud thud, causing its tentacle to drop the siren to the ground.
"Maya!" Axton shouts as he sprints over to his teammate's body. Anxiously, he brushes her hair back and checks her pulse. "Still beating, she's just unconscious from the lack of oxygen." He lets off a sigh of relief and scoops her off the ground, nesting her in his arms. Salvador comes running over, looking back a few times at the bloody mess Axton has created.
"Holy shit Amigo! That was awe- OH SHIT MAYA!" Salvador yells, noticing the crumpled siren in Axton's arms.
"It's okay Sav, she's just unconscious." Axton consoles his friend. "We should get her to Zed though, could you go get Zero?" He continues, motioning towards the Hyperion Plant.
Salvador runs off and Axton carries Maya up the hill to the road. He delicately sets her down against the railing and stares down at Old Slappy's corpse. "I need to make sure." He harshly mumbles to himself, taking out three more MIRV grenades. He chucks each of them at the dead thresher and shields his eyes as a colossal explosion engulfs the body. Something flies and lands at his feet. Satisfied, Axton crouches down in front of Maya and wipes a bit of blood off of her beautiful face.
"Maya, I'm so sorry." He mumbles solemnly. He gets up and inspects the object at his feet. "A rusty shotgun?" He thinks to himself. However, as he examines the weapon closer he freezes and becomes paralyzed in shock. "Dad's shotgun…."
…
A few minutes later, Zero and Salvador return with a fresh bandit technical. Axton lifts Maya into the bed of the vehicle noticing how light she was, and the group speeds towards the nearby fast travel station in Overlook. The commando lays Maya across his lap, resting her delicate head on his left arm while cradling her legs with his right. About halfway through the trip, the siren stirs and opens her gorgeous blue eyes. She opens her mouth to speak, but is too exhausted to. However, she notices how warm and secure she feels in Axton's grasp. The commando greets her with a warm smile, and Maya drifts back to sleep, realizing she's safe in his hands.
…
The vault hunters arrive back at Sanctuary in record time, and Axton carefully carries Maya to Dr. Zeds. Zed is a close friend to the commando, so he tends to Maya with great care and precaution (Unlike most of the patients he receives) and reports back to Axton that she only suffers a few broken ribs. He gives the relieved commando a cartridge of painkillers and informs him that she will be unconscious for a few hours before sending him on his way.
…
"Jessup! Could you give me a hand with the door?" Axton projects at the guard. Jessup quickly complies and opens the door for him. Axton grins as he walks by the soldier, noticing his fresh new corporal insignia on his uniform.
Axton walks down the hall still holding Maya in his arms. He stops at his quarters and kicks open the door to find Roland and Lilith making out on the sofa. The two immediately stop to look up at the confused soldier.
"Dude! Knock first!" Exclaims Roland with a panic-struck tone.
Axton lets out a laugh at his flustered friend. "Sorry man, Maya's unconscious and this room is closer." He explains, laying the siren delicately in his bed and pulling the sheets over her weary body.
"My god, what happened?" Questions Lilith worryingly about her siren sister.
"A thresher constricted her, she'll be fine." Axton replies, carefully brushing Maya's delicate hair out of her face.
Lilith grins, and whispers something into Roland's ear. The two get up and head towards the door, Roland gives Axton quick pat on the shoulder on his way out.
Axton sits down on the couch and monitors Maya, waiting for her to move or stir a bit. About an hour goes by, and he grows weary. He walks over to his bag and takes out his ECHO device. However, as he sat back down he noticed Maya's beautiful blue eyes staring back at him. She stirs lets off a feminine yawn.
"This isn't my bed." She utters wearingly, studying the bed with her arms.
"Yea, it's mine. My room was closer." Axton replies, grinning at the siren.
"Oh, Okay." She answers quietly. Maya gets up and walks towards Axton, who is shocked by her instant recovery. She stops at his feet and wraps her arms around him affectionately. "Thank you for… You know, saving my life." She pulls back and grimaces in pain.
Axton pulls out the painkillers from his bag. "You have two broken ribs darlin', the doc gave me these. You sure you're okay?"
"Yea, don't worry, I'm a siren." She assures Axton while taking the pills from his hand. "See ya later Ax." She adds cheerfully before walking out the door.
"Ax… Well she's never called me that before." Axton thinks to himself.
…
Axton sits up from his bed. The sweet aroma of Maya's perfume still lingers on his bed as he reaches for his echo devise. He turns it on and reads a message from Salvador.
"Good job today at killing that thresher Amigo! Everyone's gathering at Moxxi's for a drink, come on by."
"Huh, well I could use a bit of alcohol right about now." He thinks to himself as he exits his room. He walks down the stairs but stops halfway. "I wonder if Maya wants to come." The soldier walks back up and makes his way down the hall to Maya's room, where he shockingly found his teammate up and lively.
"Oh hey Axton, what's up?" She cheerfully greets the commando upon his entry.
"Hey darlin', wanna go join the others at Moxxi's?" Offers Axton in his typical flirty tone.
"Oh um, I don't really drink. I usually just stay back here whenever they go." She answers uncomfortably
"What?! You never drank before? C'mon I conquered my fear today, you can as well." Axton grins holding out his hand.
"Ugh! It's not that I'm afraid it's just that…." Maya begins to retort "Fine… Well I guess if it's with you." She gives in, grasping the cheerful soldier's warm hand.
…
The bar was lively as Maya and Axton stepped in. The cacophony the piano and chatter rushed through Maya's mind as the two made their way to their friends.
"Whoa, Maya you came too?" Roland pipes out, somewhat surprised to see her here.
"First time for everything." She shoots back with a smile.
Axton orders a couple of beers and hands one to Maya. She sits down and takes a small sip. It was rather bitter, but she kinda liked it. Felt like old friends seeing one another after years of being apart. She downs the rest and smirked with pride at Axton.
"There ya go Maya! Told ya you could do it." Axton smiles patting her on the back. Moxxi smiles from across the room and brings them a pair of shot glasses.
"Here you go sugar, on the house." She said with a smile, winking at Axton. He slides one over to Maya.
"What the hell is this?" She asks eagerly pointing at the small glass.
"It's called a shot. They have quite a kick to them, you sure ya wanna try?" He answers raising his glass
"Hell ya I do!" She answers with excitement, clapping Axton's glass and gulping it down.
Her mind goes blank, her vision becomes blurry and words turn into slur. "Axton?"
"Yea Maya?"
"You're really pretty Axton."
Axton can't help but crack up, Maya is drunk off her ass.
Why are you laughing Axton? I don't see any jokes around here." Maya spits out, stumbling around the bar.
Axton grabs hold of Maya's shoulders to prevent her from falling. "Ok Maya, let's get ya home." He says with a chuckle.
"Hey Axton. Do you think Zero has a face?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't he?" Axton was having too much fun with his drunk friend.
"Well he always wears the mask and… ZERO! DO YOU HAVE A FACE?" She projects across the room
"Um… ya…" The confused assassin mutters.
"He's lying, he's just jealous cause he doe-" Maya passes out on the floor, midway through her sentence.
"Oh dear" Murmurs Axton as he picks her up and cradles her in her arms again.
"That's two times today soldier. Three and I'll have you court martialed for being such a lucky bastard." Laughs Roland, playfully punching Axton on the arm.
"Ah shuddap man, I'll see you guys later." Utters the commando with a grin on his face.
…
Axton carries his princess back to HQ in his arms. He approaches Jessup who is still standing outside the command center.
"Oh my, again sir? It's only been like a few hours." Chuckles the corporal as he opens the door.
Axton the Commando carefully lays Maya the Siren in her bed. He pulls the covers over her and runs his fingers through her beautiful hair. He vacates the room only to be approached by Lilith in the hallway who didn't say anything, but instead smirked and raised her eyebrow.
The soldier enters his quarters and lies on his bed. His attention shifted towards his father's shotgun, now cleaned and placed against the wall. "How the hell did that survive?" He didn't even want to know right now. Right now he just wanted to enjoy the silence and isolation of his room.
BOOM HEADSHOT! Well thats the chapter guys, I really worked hard on this one so sorry if I was a bit behind schedule. Make sure to leave a review if ya enjoyed the chapter. Always remember that the best time to wear a striped sweater is all the time and ill see you guys next chapter!
-PlatinumShark
