A/N: I'm late af on updating this. Forgive me for that. I binged the fuck on playing MKX and Black Ops 3 with the PS4 I got for my birthday. I'm 18 now people! Which means I get thrown in butt rape jail if I break the law. But I don't have the balls for that, so I should be fine unless I get framed on some racial profiling bullshit. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! Think I've tortured you all long enough.

An idle tune was flowing through Rhys' lips casually. The tune was a cheerful one; something to raise spirits or to show good mood. It would normally make sense if the day was going good. But the image took a grisly turn. A Caucasian man; his throat nearly burned to a crisp and his body aching and bones broken. A fistful of his hair in a relentless and unforgiving metal grip. Struggling was not the best option. He'd be more likely to rip his roots out before he got out of the grip. But he knew the Hyperion wouldn't get far. So many Lancemen were around here. He wouldn't get far.

Sure enough, Lancemen came up and drew several weapons. He noticed many of them were weapons Rhys got for them. Others were stubborn and went with their simple pistols, but they knew they had the advantage here.

"Let him go Hyperion!" one the officers yelled.

"Get your bosses. NOW," Rhys said. His tone was absolute; it left no room for argument. But that would be challenged.

"You don't get to make the demands here. Now..." Rhys response was to infuse his hand full of electricity for about two seconds, causing the soldier to scream in pain from the electricity traveling through his body before deactivating it. Rhys was enjoying this far more than he'd care to admit.

"Oh, what now? I can't hear you over the sound of your bastard partner screaming. Bring them in here. Unless you want him to die, in perfectly which case I don't mind cause he's a piece of shit, but if you want to save his sorry carcass... Bring. Them. Here." Rhys' tone was as cold as ice now. The Lancemen knew they had him outgunned and outnumbered easily. But they knew he wouldn't hesitate to use Jameson's body as a human shield for most of the bullets. So Corporal Jessup nodded before walking away. Rhys laid the man's body down and used it as a foot rest while keeping his revolver drawn. But it was hanging idly at the side while he was waiting.

"Ah, pain. It's not as fun when you're not the one doing it, is it?" Rhys said as he looked at the Raider under his feet. His mouth was covering the dirt, so nothing but mumbles came out. "Course not. Unless you're a masochist and a sadist." Rhys walked over to him and raised his head while forcing him to look at Rhys, his eyes flashing with raw anger. "Months. Fucking months I let you toss me around like a piece of garbage. So many times when I could've done this and been done with it. But I didn't. I sat there and took it. I sat there and let you use the base fact that I exist around here to threaten me to be your punching bag. Guess what? I punched back, and it hurts, don't it? I certainly hope it does."

"You want to do this the hard way?" a female voice with barely restrained anger said. He looked up to see the Lanceman came back with the Siren bitch and her two other asshole friends. He refused to call them by name. He had no respect for them at all. Unless they did the right thing here, which he wasn't counting on.

"This isn't really hard at all. We can acknowledge that some of your soldiers are a piece of shit and fix it," Rhys said idly.

"The only piece of shit here is you, pendejo," Mordecai growled.

"Pudrirse en el infierno, borracho patético," Rhys snapped at him, making Mordecai growl from being called a pathetic drunk. But he didn't move. Rhys tapped his revolver on the Lanceman's head to check if he was still conscious. He was. Though there was no telling how much longer he had. His ability to breath sounded like it was getting hard and harder.

"You people claim to be on the right side. You people claim to be fair. Your claims are bullshit. Your claims have yet to be proven by facts. I am the living proof that you people are no better than Hyperion with your little selective society," Rhys said, the words dripping with venom and disgust as he looked up from the soldier under his feet. The absolute hatred in which he said Hyperion threw some people for a loop, but Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick were looking at him with a look of absolute anger. The feeling was mutual with Rhys. He did not back down with his stare. If anything, his stare was somehow more murderous than Lilith's was. And her stare was deadly enough to make Alpha Skags whimper for their mothers.

"Don't you dare compare us to..." A gunshot rang out and there was a groan of agony. Rhys shot the soldier under his feet in the foot.

"I compare you because it's true. Anyone who didn't fill the norm in Hyperion's place of business was usually dead or had disappeared off the face of the galaxy. You are doing no different. You people do not trust me. I could tell you that bandits found a way to get in here, and you would assume I was bullshitting. Then dozens of citizens and soldiers are killed. Your lack of faith completely boggles my mind after so long of putting up with your shit. Not only did I put up with it, I've been NOTHING but helpful to you all. Even after I deal with the undeserved bullshit beatings your soldiers give me every other night, I've been nothing but helpful while you've all been a bunch of vindictive, bitter assholes who can't get past their own prejudice long enough to realize that I was here to help you!" The snarl that came out of Rhys' mouth was animalistic. His help was constant even after being treated unfairly every day. And now that it was all coming to the surface, the anger was there. And it was ready to consume him.

"You said..." Corporate Jessup spoke up. "...something about our soldiers coming down to beat you. Well, I know for a fact..."

"If you say you haven't been doing that, I have the scars to prove it. You see the ones one my face? The bruise that's there?" Rhys said, his stomach twisting painfully as he continued. "The blade marks on my back? The burns? I've seen the patterns. You can't do that to yourself. They have to be done against you. The used hypos I throw out every time this happens? You're a bunch of creative sons of bitches when you wanna make a Hyperion hurt, don't you? A Hyperion that hasn't done a damn thing to you. And don't use the pathetic excuse that I exist counts. Have I really done anything to you yet since I've been here? Be honest with yourselves if you don't want to be honest with me."

Jessup and a few of the soldiers' shoulder's eased up even if only slightly. Hyperions never played victim. Especially to Pandorans. And judging by the scars on his face, it didn't look like he was lying about this. Some of the scars on his face were healed. Others were still a little red; threatening to bleed if irritated enough. And from how he was talking, there were more on his back.

"I don't blame you in the slightest for what you did," Gaige said as she and Zer0 walked up to the situation at hand. "In fact, I'd break a lot faster than you did."

"Now, I know you've defended this... guy on many cases. Why, I don't know." Lilith spoke with barely restrained anger, as if she was trying to be somewhat civil towards Gaige since she helped saved them and Pandora. "But you're blind as to why..."

"I don't blame him for doing this. He's been taking crap from your Raiders for months now. Even Zer0 didn't know until he discovered it himself. The fact that you are not willing to even let him him explain and take into the smallest consideration that he may be telling the truth is stupid. But I know why. You're mad that Jack killed your boyfriend," Gaige growled at her. The frustrations Gaige had with the woman before Rhys even came along were fueling her argument.

Mordecai and Brick looked at Lilith expectantly, and they were not disappointed. A muscle jumped in the corner of Lilith's lips, and her hands tightened.

"This is getting out of hand," Rhys said, focusing everyone's attention on him again. Except for Lilith and Gaige. They were still staring daggers at each other. "I want you to acknowledge one simple fact. Just let me know if you think this is something I would make up."

Rhys wasn't wearing his traditional suit. He decided on a T-shirt and cotton pants. He was surprised to find that it was very much comfortable. He definitely wore suits too much. But as he raised his shirt, he kept his revolver in hand as he turned his back to them. There were a few hisses. Some of them were from voices he recognized. He could also hear scoffs. Other than that, there was silence. Then a slender hand was placed on his back. Much too gentle to be a soldier, so he let it rest. The hand wandered his back; the tips of the fingers tracing over his scars in a caressing fashion.

"Your back looks more like you've been living in a psycho's basement for months. Not here," Gaige's soft voice said.

"It's fine. Felt so good to get my payback," Rhys said as he stepped further and put his shirt back on. He noticed that Zer0 was looking directly at Lilith and the others. He wouldn't be surprised if they tried to attack him while he had his shirt pulled up.

"At least inject a hypo into him! He's almost dead!" one of the soldiers yelled, gesturing down at the soldier Rhys shocked. There was no pity in his gaze or his gesture, but he injected a hypo in his neck, healing his burns for the most part and easing the soldier's pain. But Rhys kept his feet planted on the man's chest, and for the first time since he met him, he didn't think of dare trying to fight him. He might've pushed his luck, but he didn't regret it in the slightest. Whatever it took to make these Hyperions suffer.

"There. He's alive. Now we can get back to the topic at hand," Rhys said, twirling the revolver idly.

"So what do you want? I mean, you have some reason for keeping him alive unless you wanted something," Mordecai spoke up.

"I just want the bigotry to stop. That's it," Rhys said, before chuckling. "But we all know that won't happen. You all hate me. You all despise me to the point where I'm not worth any kind of positive consideration or equal treatment. Even after I gave you my word of loyalty. Even after I went through the trouble of giving you the weapons your so desperately needed as well as the tech. Improving upon your shield generator was me. Even after all of that, you can't get past the fact that that I used to be Hyperion." Rhys looked up at Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai. Weirdly enough, to them at least, his stare held them. It was a type of seriousness that perked the ears.

"He's lying! You know he is! He's a Hyperion!" the soldier known as Jameson shouted at them. He spoke spitefully as he tried and failed to glare at the man who was using his body as a footrest.

"More ignorance," Gaige said idly.

"In the meanwhile, I don't believe you," Lilith said. Rhys' lips thinned and was about to respond when Gaige beat him to it.

"Are you serious? Did you not see that?!" she spat at Lilith, pointing at Rhys. They knew they were referring to his scars on his back. Some of the wounds open, fresh; ready to bleed upon pressure. Rhys unconsciously flexed his shoulders at the uncomfortable feeling he felt when several stares on him.

"Scars? You could've done that to him," Lilith said idly. As it were a fact. The anger that crossed Gaige's face at the accusation flew on her face immediately; her face turned red and her young face was twisted with fury. Her face looked like the Fires of Hell were burning underneath. If anyone normal saw the look on Gaige's face, they would've thought she was possessed by the devil himself.

"How fucking dare you accuse me of doing something like that to a friend of mine?!" Gaige said, her voice coming out like the growl of a rabid skag that just got kicked in the jaw. Her fists were balled up to the point where her human one was turning whiter than usual and her metal one was making a subtle noise from the gears that were groaning from the grip she was putting on it.

Rhys put a hand on her shoulder, making her backhanding him with her metal hand in her anger. Rhys' head jerked to the side hard from the force, his jaw burning from the blow. As he groaned softly from the pain and placed a hand to it, Gaige's shoulders relaxed and blinked a few times before the anger on her face disappeared and it was replaced by a look of regret.

"Oh my... I'm sorry! I got upset!" Gaige said, trying to get him to lower down to her level so she could examine his jaw. He got out of her grip and waved a dismissive hand.

"It's fine. I'm used to pain at this point," Rhys said, summoning a hypo and injecting it into his jaw. The relief was immediate. He saw one of the soldiers dragging the soldier he hurt and Rhys moved past Gaige to move on.

"Fuck it. Take him. I don't even care anymore," he said, moving on to head back toward the garage. But Mordecai grabbed his arm, to which Rhys' response was to glare at him. Mordecai gave him a hard stare of his own, but Rhys' was more piercing. There were more hostility in his stare because there was something personal in it that made the look all the more deadly.

"Let. Go. Of. Me," Rhys growled through his teeth. "You put a hand on me, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life just like him. Try me." Mordecai saw the murderous intent and the personal venom he held in what he said. There was no more of the emotionless neutrality. There was no more of the hesitancy of trying to get along with him or trying to play peacekeeper. No more respect. No... consideration. At all. Just... hatred. Hatred and bitterness. As much as he didn't like him, the change in him was startling. So Mordecai did as he asked. He let him go.

"Guess what? You're getting what you wanted. I'm done. I'd sooner see this entire planet burn to death with me along with it than to spend another second here, busting my ass trying to bring you a better city with better weapons and technology and getting nothing but flak for it. People shunning me because of where I came from. Getting beat because of it. Scars littering my back because it. Because of the lack of growth you are showing, you are doing nothing but proving Handsome Jack right about how you may be capable of being nothing but a bunch of savages. And it kills me to say that. You not believe it, but it does," Rhys ranted before pointing to the side, somehow making Mordecai suddenly feel there was no control in his case for him. "Gaige tried to kill me the first time I met her. We're best friends. Zer0 saved my life and the life of someone I cared about without knowing who I was. Even after finding out, he didn't care. Moxxi damn near strangled me after I had to tell her what happened to her son and another one of my friends and even she tolerates me at the very least. Do you have any idea what it's like to watch someone you care about die to save your life and the lives of others and then face that very person's mother and tell her that he is dead?! Would a blatant bully like you even have the fucking courage to do such a thing? Imagine if you had to look the people of this town in the eye and tell them that they're leader is dead?"

Now there was a layer of shock traveling through some of the soldiers. They knew that the mechanic, Scooter, had been missing for a while, but the fact that he was dead?

Mordecai's look hardened at the mention of his friend, and his face lined into the grimmest smile he had ever seen.

"I know the stories. He was your friend," Rhys said, pointing his index fingers at Mordecai. "You weren't there when he died. They were. Most of the Vault Hunters weren't very affected by Roland's passing, but Gaige was. She confides in me. And she tells me that she did not want to inform anyone that Roland was dead. She just wanted to take a moment, calm down, and gather herself so that she could continue so they could try to get this war done. But no. You would think that any of the friends of the person that died would tell the people of the town, but no. You let a stranger do it for you. Someone who didn't want to do it. You tried to bribe her into doing it. She still refused. Then you go low enough to try guilt tripping her into it, which drove her to actually doing it. Just how much of a cowardly, nerveless little fucker can you be to guilt trip her into informing the town that their leader and your best friend died?! And you claim Hyperions don't give a shit about anyone. You didn't give a shit enough about the people of the town to tell them that their leader and some of them friends that he died. That is the worst example of leadership I have ever seen."

This time Brick was looking at his friend strangely. When Gaige came to him about the news about Roland, Mordecai already told him. His assumption was that his friend had already gotten the news around. Not that he... bribed and guilt tripped someone else into telling the town instead. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't believe a word the Hyperion said. And a part of him wanted to call him out on it. What stopped him was that Mordecai was staring at the Hyperion and saying... nothing. Not a word. Not trying to deny, which is something he would've jumped at if it really wasn't true. But... he wasn't saying a word.

Mordecai glanced at Gaige, who looked at him sternly, but Rhys snapped his fingers.

"Hey!" he barked. "Don't look at her motherfucker. Look at me. Look at someone who isn't afraid to make it known." Rhys' throat sounded like something was animalistic was resting in it and was speaking for him. It was low and primal; like a savage creature. Then Rhys got tired of waiting and moved in front of his field of view.

"Let me tell you something. You can look death in the face and not blink. You can kill a bandit and a Hyperion without batting an eyelash. But you can't tell people that your best friend died and come to terms with what happened. Or did just not care that he died? Is that it?" Rhys accused, looking Mordecai directly in the face. On this, Mordecai barked at him.

"You accuse me of not caring about my friend, you filthy little Hyperion fucker?!" he yelled.

"I'm accusing you of being a cowardly piece of shit who guilt trips people because he can't deal what's going on in his head!" Rhys yelled back louder before pointing at Lilith. "I've seen more pain from what happened to him from her then I've seen you shown from anything from you from any of the stories I've gotten from Gaige. She can't fucking stand me and I can't fuckign stand her, but I've noticed the stress she holds on to everyday. The pain. Like everyday she's walking around this place is like walking on a skag's back. But you... you show absolutely no regard for anything it seems anymore. Not your best friends. Not the people of this city. Just your alcohol and eliminating anything Hyperion. What a pathetic existence."

Now these were words that shocked everyone. Including Lilith. She knew for a fact that her face was constantly stony. Hidden. Veiled to hide herself. Even more than so when she knew a Hyperion was living here. And she was even more on her toes and on edge than usual. No one had noticed it. Somehow, he did. Not only that, it faintly sounded like he actually gave a shit. But the domineering side of her told her that it was to prove a point. But she couldn't shake that small feeling that there was some kind of concern in what he said.

"You claim I'm pathetic? What about you? You followed the heels of a madman for years, never noticing the suffering and tyranny going on down here. You licked his heels and kissed his ass for the longest, looking for him to give you a little handout of his power cause that's all you fuckers care about. You claim I care about nothing? What about you? What do you bother to care about other than the people who you have to like cause they got you a place here?" Mordecai explained. The angry look that was on Rhys' face turned into one of stone.

"Ok. You wanna know what I give a shit about? My best friends. I've been friends with Vaughn since I was a child. After I had no parents. He was my best friend. I gave up the only opportunity I had to get off this planet for him. Not to mention 5 million dollars to go along with that deal. Among the trust I held for another one of my friends, Yvette, she betrayed me. She had no faith that I would survive Pandora, so she cracked a deal with the asshole of the company to try and get something out of it. I knew her for a few months, and even among that, call me an absolute fucking dumbass, but I forgave her. I saved her life on Helios and gave her an escape pod I could've used to escape. That's dedication. That's loyalty. That is friendship. Shall I go on?" Rhys questioned, ranting with pure resolve. He didn't even wait for an answer.

"Ok. How about the fact that I could've let Moxxi stew in the fact that she might've never known what happened to her son. Ever. I gave her that closure. I told her what happened and gave her the details. He died a hero if you bothered to care. Everyone here wanted to kill me once I took one foot on this city. I knew that I might've been killed if I told her. But I did. And I gave her the closure she wanted so she could move on and mourn."

"Or let's look at the fact that when Gaige and me first met, I had her on the ropes. Barely, but I had her. I knew she was a Vault Hunter. I knew she hated Hyperion. I knew she would kill me without a second thought. She's still alive because I didn't kill her. I didn't take her own gun and put a bullet in her head. No. I let her go. I had absolutely no motive in it."

"Now let's look at another picture here. I've lost everything. I have no idea where my friends are. One of them could possibly dead. The other I talked to once since I was on Helios months ago. Haven't heard from him since. The two Pandorans I befriended? Gone. No trace. No idea whether they're alive or dead. And I can't dedicate time to look for them because I have to stand here and deal with your shit cause you would suspect mutiny for me looking for my friends."

Now this is what caught everyone's attention. As Rhys spoke, he didn't bother to hide the tears streaming down his face. The resolve was on his face, but he looked like he was also just short of a breakdown.

"You've never felt trapped in your own little hellhole, have you? You went through war, but you had most of your friends. You had your town that was basically your family. Well what the fuck do I have? My mom dead cause of Hyperion, my dad God knows where, and all my friends gone and probably dead. I have a few people in my corner with you against me. So yeah. I'm tired of it. I'm upset with it. And I'm fucking miserable on the inside. I don't even give you a fuck if you see me cry. You think you know suffering? Walk a fucking mile in my shoes." Angrily pushing Mordecai to the side and angrily rubbing his eyes of his tears, he stormed towards the garage.

There was a type of subdued shock among the converged group. The tears that flew from his eyes surprised many. It wasn't even about what had been done to him. It was about what he had been through before he had came here. And then when you stacked it on top of what he was dealing now, many of the soldiers were surprised he hadn't gone through a full mental breakdown. But in that moment, he looked like he was close.

"I bet you're real happy, aren't you? You made the Hyperion cry. You made him give up. I bet you're all real happy about it, aren't you?" Gaige said spitefully. Despite what she thought the soldiers felt like, the answer was no. Surprisingly, no. None of them felt happy, not even satisfied. Most felt empty; like there was no point in it. Others felt guilty. For once in their life, they looked at him as a person. Not Hyperion, but a person. And, dare they even think it, no one deserved what he had on his shoulders if everything he said was true. And there was almost no doubt that it was. Any arguments that it wasn't was feeble. Very feeble.

"No. I would say I don't. I... daresay I feel kind of bad for him," Jessup admitted. Gaige was not forgiving in the slightest.

"Oh, now you feel sorry for him? Should've thought about that when you added stress to somebody by, I don't know... having your soldiers beat the hell out of him every other night?" she said venomously. Though she was much younger than any of the soldiers, it was amazing how she was able to make them, grown soldiers feel like misbehaving children.

"Let him leave. There's nothing for him here. Things won't change," Lilith said coldly before walking away. Gaige and even a few of the soldiers including Jessup looked at Lilith in disbelief. Gaige just shook her head in disgust before walking off towards the garage. She caught him leaving just outside, his coat on and rubbing his temples with his ECHO on his belt.

"I don't blame you for getting out of here," she said.

"I'm done. I don't know what else I can do. I try. And I try. And I try. And they just push and push and push me over closer and closer to the edge. To the point where you just want to jump yourself," Rhys said, his shoulders slumped. Gaige looked at him in sadness. He truly looked like a man who had just... given up. Fought with the last of his strength, and was just exhausted.

"I'm coming with you," Gaige said.

"You're not. I want these days to myself. I want to hit the road in peace," Rhys said. Gaige looked slightly hurt, but he put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not permanent. You will see me. Just until I've dealt with a few things. Take care." Rhys gave her a kiss on the the top of her forehead before giving her a hug. He supposed it was the most affectionate he had been with someone.

"You better not take too long," Gaige told him firmly, but the voice crack gave up the facade of how serious she sounded.

"I will," he assured her before standing up straight and walking past her. Rhys walked towards the Fast Travel and he could feel the stares on him before a single whoop broke the air.

"That's right! Get the fuck out of here you... GAHAWWW!" The one citizen that whooped was cut off by his own scream of pain after Rhys put a bullet in his knee before shooting his other knee and making him fall to the ground. He then made the gun disappear.

"That's for the misery you've been causing me jackass. And you deserve more," he said, raising the hood on his jacket before continuing. He went to the Fast Travel, chose a destination, and left.

Gaige was sitting on the ground and she pounded the ground, the frustration of the entire situation working its way into her mind. The frustration manifested itself into tears as she took ahold of her hair and gripped it tight, wondering why her closest friend here had to leave. Now she really wanted to leave. The people wouldn't change. And it made her wonder why she bothered staying around here. The only one she felt like she could talk to before Rhys was Moxxi and occasionally Maya. So to have to someone who she had that closeness with leave was more than upsetting.

Gaige stood up and dragged herself back to the garage. She sat in the middle and she just sat there in silence. The atmosphere was depressing and she was silent the whole time.

"There you are sugar. You mind telling me what's up? I'm getting a weird vibe from every... one..." Moxxi trailed as she saw how empty the garage was. "Alright, what happened? What happened to all the stuff in here? Why are you on the ground? Where's..."

"He's gone," Gaige said, not bothering to hide the misery in her voice. Though he assured her that he wasn't gone for good, she wasn't exactly reassured.

"Oh." Moxxi sounded flatter than a soda left in the hot sun for seven Pandoran days. "I kind of wanted to talk with him as well, but uh... yeah." The faint click of her heels let Gaige know that Moxxi was talking away. Gaige knew she was upset. She was just better at hiding it.

After lying there for what seemed like hours(and most likely were), Gaige finally stood up and walked up the stairs and decided to pass Moxxi's before she went back to the hideout. She was nowhere to be found. Gaige finally decided to give into her exhaustion and head back to the hideout with the rooms she slept in.

But as she was on the way to the main building where their bunks were, she could hear arguing going on. The two voices were apparent: Moxxi and Mordecai. And if her instincts were right, it wasn't about alcohol or the fact that they were exes. So she stuffed her fingers in her ears as she rushed past.

As Gaige rushed through, she caught a glimpse of Moxxi's face, which was visibly red even through her makeup. Mordecai looked incensed as well in his yelling as well. Probably the most he's ever been towards the woman. As she neared them, she was still moving fast, but still caught a few words.

"...are a pathetic drunk motherfucker!"

"You agree with-" That was as far as she heard before Gaige made it inside. She went upstairs and she ignored everyone she past before she went inside a door, closed it, locked it, and put her head under of a pillow. She just wanted to ride out the insanity and count down the days that Rhys would finally contact her and get her the fuck out of here. Cause to be quite honest, she was about to have a meltdown. And it was likely going to either be on Lilith or Mordecai. Nice and civilized, it would not be.