The Vault Hunters walked through the city of undead anxiously, their hands at their weapons in case anyone nearby made a move. It was doubtful that the Grave Knights in charge knew of their presence, but it was still a good idea to be cautious here.

"Why does everyone seem…dead?" asked Aurai quietly, tugging her new jacket over her body to separate herself from the crows around her.

"They must be some sort of undead," murmured Wolfenstein sniffing the air. "They reek like corpses. They aren't Grave Servants or Knights, so I have no idea what they are. Either way, be careful. Don't talk too loud about anything."

They paused when they saw a figure in the crowd before them, a tall and imposing one carrying a huge machine gun. This figure they recognized though, one they did not want to see either.

"Him," murmured Taika snarling, grabbing her sniper rifle on her shoulder. "What is that fucker doing here?"

"Does it matter?" asked Baldemar gripping his assault rifle. "That asshole deserves to die."

The figure was walking through the crowds in an obvious panic, asking and begging people around him for some unknown task. His face was unwashed, his long hair clearly greasy and messy from lack of a shower. He apparently hadn't slept in days, his eyes having numerous bags under them.

"Please, someone, I need help!" exclaimed Masher pleadingly, trying to stop people for just a second to talk to them. "I'm looking for a man, about six foot, has two gauntlets on his arms! Have you seen him?! He was kidnapped from me and…!"

The giant stopped, staring through the crowds right at the Vault Hunters.

"You…" he murmured astonished.

He stormed through the groups of people as fast as he could, his breathing rate accelerating. He was not angry at them at all, his face only holding signs of desperation. He collapsed to his knees in front of them, staring at them in amazement.

"Vault Hunters, thank God," panted Masher bowing his head, his face covered in sweat. "Listen, my servant Carnifex was kidnapped and I need your help finding him. It's an emergency!"

They remained silent, saying absolutely nothing and staring at him with expressions of pure hate.

He paused, noticing the looks they were giving him. "Okay, okay, I get it. You all hate me for what I did to Aurai, I get it. But aren't you all some kind of big goddamn heroes? Can't you just overlook that stuff?"

He grabbed Baldemar's armor futilely, staring at him pleadingly. "Come on darkie! Don't be such an ass about this! I never did anything to you personally!"

"You harmed the family," stated the inventor calmly. "That is enough for us to never help you."

Masher let go of him, reaching Taika. "Okay, I get it. I fucked up a lot, I was a dickhead. Bitch, don't hold it against me. I'm like that, it was part of my job description. Come on, that shit was in the past!"

"Just because it was in the past doesn't mean we can let it go," snapped the huntress coldly. "Learn that next time you want a favor from someone you fucked with."

The giant went over to Wolfenstein, grasping his long coat desperately. "Okay, I really didn't mean what I did to her! It was a joke, a passing thing! I really wasn't going to do that, I swear on my brother's life!"

"What you were going to do is irrelevant," spoke the wereskag blankly. "What matters is what you did."

Masher finally reached Aurai, small trickles of tears in his eyes. "Aurai…you know I didn't mean that stuff right? I wasn't gonna…do…anything with you! You know I wasn't that kind of guy! Come on!"

Aurai glanced at her comrades, ignoring the man in front of her. She didn't even acknowledge his existence, staring right through him like he wasn't there. "I think we should get going. We should check that large tower over there for the Grave Knights."

The other Vault Hunters nodded and began walking away, leaving the giant in the streets.

"Wait, you can't just walk away!" yelled Masher pleadingly. He tightened his fists, closing his eyes as he did so. "Okay damn it! I'm sorry! I am really, really sorry! But please…just help me find Carnifex!"

He began to cry softly, the tears making streaks down his dirty face and staining his hair. "I can't live without him! It's like I'm missing my arm or leg! I treated him like shit but he stuck with me, and now I can't imagine my life without him! Please, you don't even have to work with me or talk to me! Just please get Carnifex back safely! I'm begging you! I'll do anything to see him back safely at my side! You can even kill me for my crimes if you want!"

He collapsed to his knees, his sentences turning into sobs. "Do you think I like being like this? This goddamn freak of nature who was raised by a coldhearted bitch to act the same exact way to everyone he met?! I hate being me! The only reason I don't blow my own brains out is because I have to take care of my little brother, who might have a chance of a normal life if I try hard enough! I don't care about myself anymore, all that matters is the two people I hold precious to me! And now…because of my stupidity…Carnifex is gone! Please, please get him back!"

He finally completely broke down, clutching a small medallion around his neck, a keepsake no doubt. His tears were far from graceful, snot and saliva mixing into them as they flowed down his face and stained his armor thoroughly.

He paused, noticing a shadow falling over him from above. He looked up, seeing a silhouette standing over him.

Aurai glanced down at him, extending a small hand towards him, as if to help him up, she was smiling softly, her face cast in the glow of the sun behind her.

"Masher…get up…" she said quietly. "Aren't you looking for Carnifex? You'll need to stop crying if that's the case."

The giant stared at her amazed, then grinned and grabbed her hand. He pulled himself up, standing far above her with ease. "Thank you so much Aurai! I can't even begin to say I'm sorry for…!"

She then punched him clean in the testicles, hitting through his armored cup and causing him to stop talking. He gasped loudly, all the wind being knocked out of his lungs. He leaned forward, his ear landing right next to her mouth.

"That's for everything, cunt-bag," snapped Aurai, her voice dripping with the psychotic side she had used during their fight. "You're lucky Dion or Alan wasn't here, or you'd already be a stain on the ground. Hell, you're lucky I'm in such a fine fucking mood, or I'd have jump-roped with your goddamn spine right about now. I'll help you find your bitch, but I just want you to remember something: you crawled and begged me for my help. You're my bitch now, and I don't want you to forget that."

She backed up, flashing her standard cheery grin all over again. "Okay, let's go find Carnifex! Come on!"

She ran off excitedly, giggling to herself as she skipped merrily away.

Masher stood stunned for a good ten seconds, his eyes like saucers in his head. "What…the…fuck…?"

Wolfenstein glared at him, his expression still unfriendly. "I recommend your hurry up and show us where we should start. Aurai may be fine working with you, but you make my skin crawl looking at you. Get going."


Masher escorted the Vault Hunters down a side street of the city, his machine gun lying across his shoulders casually as he moved. They were far away from the busy crowds from earlier, now in a fairly abandoned sector of the city, similar to a ghetto.

"I set up shop with another acquaintance of mine who also has a kidnapped someone," explained the giant. "It's a rocky relationship, but necessary for both of us."

"If you are involved, I bet anything would be rocky," murmured Taika.

He snarled. "Go to Hell bitch, or go back to the kitchen. I already begged for your help, I ain't gonna kiss your ass anymore."

"Just show us the way," barked Wolfenstein.

The giant rolled his eyes and opened a door in one of the buildings, crouching down to step through the low doorway. He walked down the hallway of the building, moving past several sealed doors into various other rooms that looked empty.

"I found this place a week ago. It had no one in it, so I figured it'd be fine for me to use while I prepared for the next step in the journey. But…this is also where Carnifex was kidnapped…I was such a dumbass…"

He reached a door at the end of the hall, opening it and stepping through.

"Hey bitch, I got some allies!" roared Masher loudly into the room. "You'll like them, they're old friends of ours!"

Someone at the far end of the room was busying typing on a computer, her back to the door. She glanced back, exposing her tanned skin and flashing eyes.

"Ah, the Vault Hunters," murmured Elena Tear blankly, not at all concerned she was literally ten feet from what used to be here enemies. "Good, we found people with combat experience. I don't know what you had to do to convince them to help you Masher, though I suspect some fellatio was involved."

Masher grunted, scowling in anger. "Fuck you slut. Either way, ya, they agreed to help us. Better be dammed happy I got them too."

"Ah, excellent," said Baldemar stepping forward, his gentleman grin flashing on his face. "I was hoping we'd work with someone like you, someone with honor and grace."

"Flattery does not interest me, and neither do men like you," stated the Shark Maiden coldly, turning back to her computer to continue performing whatever she was doing. "I have far more important matters to attend to, such as the location of my dear Paige."

[Richard McGuinness] "Ouch, strike one."

[Scotty "Roundhouse" Dale] "Ah please, Baldemar wouldn't hook up with another girl. Gaige would kill him."

Wolfenstein sat next to her, gazing at the computer analytically. "Hacking into the network of the tower?"

Elena nodded. "Yes. I am searching for any log files they may have had about either Paige or Carnifex, though the only records they have seems to be the entries stored when we arrived in this city. No other records except of them, even when Paige purchased some groceries the other day with a credit card. If that is the case, a private organization may have captured them."

"Bull," snapped Masher, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a sealed plastic bag. It was a strip of flesh, caught on a nail and sealed for freshness. The skin looked decomposed, though it still held the normal color of a living person. "This thing was found on the window near Carnifex's room. It matches the kind of skin Tikari and Viitta had, meaning a Grave Knight or Servant or whatthefuckever kidnapped them."

"Tikari and Viitta are dead," stated Aurai blankly.

"I am aware," said Elena calmly, not at all bothered by the news. "In all honesty, their deaths do not alarm me. They may have been my colleagues, but I did not think of them as friends. Call me cold-hearted, but it is hard for me to care about a greedy miser and a psychotic serial killer given how little I interacted with them."

"Fair enough," murmured Taika dryly.

The Shark Maiden returned to the computer, her hands dancing across the keyboard. "If you all have any information on them, I recommend you tell me right now. I am beginning to grow exasperated in this hunt, and I become rather irritable when I am exasperated."

"That's an understatement," murmured Masher quietly. "You killed a pizza delivery boy last time you got 'irritable'."

"He attempted to flirt with me, even after reminding him of my current relationship," countered Elena. "Vault Hunters, do you possess any information?"

"Not sure this'll help, but we did notice something when we killed Gueule," spoke Baldemar. "There was another person with him, probably another Grave Servant. I don't know if that helps you at all, just something we noticed."

The Shark Maiden nodded, looking through the computer files she was currently on. "Yes…that does help. There is some mention of transferring people to someone marked as a Grave Servant, but it does not list a name or location. This computer is not advanced enough to access the restricted files."

"Teresa Pangolin has a computer that could do it," offered Taika. "Of course, you'd have to leave here to use it."

Elena stood, her face still blank. "Good, it's probably wise for us to leave this location. We are too close to the powder keg. Our enemies may notice that something is up and trace back to this computer."

She then smashed her fist into the computer, shattering it into pieces that exploded across the room from the force. She dusted off her hand and turned, walking towards the door like nothing had happened.

"Jesus F. Christ that woman is goddamn crazy," murmured Masher. "Well, whatever. So where is this Teresa's place?"

"It's a chapel in the ghetto," replied Wolfenstein. "I'll lead the way."

"Oh great, a chapel. I think I needed to talk to a pedophiliac priest anyway."


Swarna sat on a huge bed of cushions in her room, her head lying back casually. Her hands were twirling above her head, the glowing pentagrams in the gloves tracing lines through the air with every motion. She seemed absorbed into the activity, her eyes expertly watching each one and creating simplistic line patterns with every flick of her wrist. It was fairly astonishing to watch, as she did so with an aura of grace and ease that most artists would be fairly envious of.

"Hmm…if only I knew a way to make solid pieces in the air…" she murmured quietly. "That would be nice. I could keep them and stare at them for hours, perfect the technique…hmm…"

A short woman came up near her, wearing a maid's outfit. She was holding a tray with a pitcher and cup on it, the cup already full with liquid. The woman offered the tray to the Grave Servant. "Tea for ya ma'am."

"Ah, yes, thank you Paige," stated Swarna grabbing the tea cup, sipping it lightly. She smiled, the taste of green tea gathering on her tongue comfortably. "Very good Paige, you definitely know how to make tea."

"Thank ya ma'am."

Someone knocked at the door of her room, opening it slowly. It was a fairly tall handsome man, wearing only a dark red bathrobe over his body. He looked remarkably young for someone so tall, his physique thin but muscular, like an athlete.

"Ma'am, is it time for my session?" inquired the man quietly, his face one of curiosity and mild anxiety.

"Ah, yes, I nearly forgot," replied the Grave Servant sitting up. She grabbed a notebook and pencil, opening to an empty page as she did so. "Come on in Carnifex."

The man walked into the room and stood in the center, his head tucked low in slight embarrassment. He was tugging at the edges of the bathrobe, which didn't even go past mid-thigh on him or close completely in the front, exposing…well…a lot of things.

Swarna grinned, placing the pencil against the paper. "Okay Carnifex, now…take off the robe."

Carnifex paused, then shed the robe, exposing his naked body.

Paige stopped dead, her nose trickling with blood. She hurriedly looked away, a huge red blush on her face. "…wow…"

"Yeah, I know," murmured the Grave Servant. "I agree completely. Now stand right there Carnifex. This won't take long."

She began etching his body into the paper, her pencil like lightning across the surface. She expertly carved every detail of him as if she had done it a thousand times, getting a nearly-perfect photo-copy of him. She smirked as she drew the more private locations, clearly enjoying the sheer detail she could put into the area.

"You really are an impressive specimen Carnifex," she commented midway through the drawing. "Like a Greek god…I see why Masher chose you as a partner."

"…thank you…" murmured Carnifex quietly, who was currently too embarrassed to say more than a few words at a time.

Swarna had taken the both of them only a few days ago, finding them to be more than suitable subjects for a good drawing or two. She did this activity a lot; kidnapping people, drawing them, then sending them back home. It was a mild obsession at this point, as she would do this to a person she found even remotely interesting at this point. She didn't even have to force people into her custody, using her Grave Servant powers to draw them in of their own will.

As her power was 'to draw', she could create any object by sketching it down on any surface as long as she was concentrating on it. Of course, this power also extended into abstract concepts, like drawing emotions such as loyalty or devotion, which was exactly how these two got bound to her service. She made them believe they were loyal to her for some favor they had long forgotten, and due to this instinct they did anything she asked. It was a bit cruel, but she didn't want them to do anything too unpleasant. All she wanted to do was document and draw them. After that, she really didn't have anything else for them to do that came to mind. Though both of them were extremely attractive…

"Perhaps a visit to the playhouse is in order," she murmured biting her thumbnail, chewing on the surface liberally. "Hmm…maybe later."

She put the pencil down, examining the drawing she had just made. It was a near perfect black and white copy of Carnifex's nude body, posed similar to a Greek or Roman statue. It was pretty good, mostly due to the subject material's attractiveness, and she was definitely keeping it.

"Very good Carnifex, you're done," she said tearing the page out, placing it on a small table nearby. She grinned and looked at Paige. "You're next."