Zane kept his handgun at the ready as the group moved. The area was clear and piles of dead bandits littered the ground, but he still had a hunch the twins were gonna pull some bullshite and try to either throw another one of those purple fuckers at them or do something to split them up.
Both were also an option…unfortunately. Not much was out of the realm of possibility with the fuckheads.
"…well, sector secure, then. Nothing else is gonna happen." Moze sighed. Zane stared at her.
"Mozzy Moze, ain'tcha ever see those old films? Ya NEVER say shite's in the clear til—" The doors ahead flew open as something strode out. Something clearly dangerous. It was another cultist, yeah, a big one, with that same purple skin tone and glowing eyes as the other fucker they fought back in the manor…which meant.
"Heh, it's been real, Vault Thief," Troy chided over his ECHO. "but Muldock over there's gotta put you four down. Don't feel too bad, though. Least this'll make for entertainment."
"Oh, like yar sex tape with Hammerlock's sister? Yeah, FL4K showed me," Zane shot the robot a look. "Where the fuck did ya even get that, now that we're on the subject?"
"I know a friend of a friend."
Troy, of course, was silent. "That's what I thought. Might wanna go damage control that shite 'fore it's all over the ."
"Psh, why? So everyone'll see me banging a billionaire?"
"'Fore she puts a round in yar arse for lettin' it get leaked." Zane returned his focus to the Anointed just as the fucker shook himself off and prepared his gun.
"Secure the island, family!" The crazed, empowered cultist cried. "I'll slaughter the heretics with my own hands!"
"Oh, if I had a pint every time someone said that…" Zane murmured. He heard Amara open fire at the fucker and Zane's confidence died down when the empowered cultist raised his hand, producing a purple shield that…simply absorbed the shots.
"…shite, when were these fuckers bulletproof?"
"Dunno, don't care!" Moze was already in Iron Bear, laying down fire on the Anointed who slowly skidded back from the hail of gunfire coming his way. "This one of the fuckers who gave y'all trouble?"
"Sorta; last one was bigger!" Amara called, chucking a grenade at the Anointed as more cultists appeared, raining down fire on the team, forcing Zane to throw up his Barrier. They alternated between shooting the encroaching forces and also the Anointed who, for some fucking reason, shrugged off a lot of bullets, but clearly, Zane could tell it was affecting him. They just needed time.
"I have an idea," Amara called. "But you'll need to distract him for a moment."
"Way ahead of ya." Zane loaded more rounds into his handgun and open fired, watching the shots connect with the Anointed's head, forcing the dour idiot to shift focus to him. "Oi! Yar mother was a whore!"
"I KNOW!" The Anointed roared and charged towards him. The old man remained calm as he tossed his Digiclone out, ensuring it was far enough away before, with the push of a button, swapping places with it and causing the hard-light clone to fade when it was struck by the empowered cultist's punch. Now, with a new vantage, Zane was able to rain fire onto his foe's unprotected back, causing the enraged idiot to charge again, though that was ended when something struck his back, causing him to double over…and finally collapse.
"Well, that did it," Zane holstered his gun as, like the last Anointed, Muldock's body was rapidly encased in…he wanted to gues Eridium. He'd ask Tannis later. "Nice trick, Mara Mar."
"Not really a trick," She reloaded her shotgun, setting it to the side just as the last of the cultists were cleaned up by FL4K and Moze. "I just charged up an astral fist and sent it with enough force and velocity to rupture his body."
"…no offense, Amara," Moze began after clearing her throat. "But why haven't you been doing this sooner?"
"Takes a moment or two to charge, and is easily avoidably by deft enemies. Regardless," She motioned to the doors. "We have a gunsmith to rescue, correct?"
"Right, whatshis face—"
"Done." Zane just…stared at FL4K. The Beastmaster had someone slung across their shoulder. "He explained to me the rather cliché reason; the Children of the Vault wanted to force him to produce weapons for them, and when he declined, they opted to capture and torment him until he surrendered to them."
"Y…yeah." The man wearily croaked. "A-Also, and I'm not…complaining…did you really need to have your skag drag me out my cell?"
"Wanted to make sure it wasn't a trap. Mr. Chew's practically invincible nowadays anyhow." Zane just sighed. Least they could get the guy back to the town and hear what Clay needed them to do next…but honestly, he wanted a drink.
He was going to rob the everloving SHIT out of any bars en route. Might as well.
"Well, these are some nice guns…" Moze mused to herself as she looked over the rifle she acquired from that gunsmith's cache. She was…skeptical to touch the key, considering he told her not to ask where it came from, but the payoff was somewhat worth it; an assault rifle aptly named "Dastardly Hand of Glory"…weird name for a gun, but it looked cool enough.
Even came with a nifty scope, too; she wasn't a fan of assault rifles with scopes unless on black ops work but she could make do. They were sorta on black ops work, when one thought about things.
"Yo, Moze," She turned her head to Amara. The Siren stood in the doorway, holding an antique looking shotgun. "You want this one? One of FL4K's beasts found it and…well it's not my taste."
"Wow, thanks," The Gunner reached up to accept the gun, looking over it and giving it a test aim. "never really handled a shotgun much, but now's a good time to learn, right?"
"Heh, yeah. We're in…quite the situation, speaking lightly, but we'll get through it. We've gotten through worse jams, haven't we?"
"Of course, like that fucking moon base!"
"Or when we killed that Vault monster," Amara added with a grin. "Ah…a…shame that it led to things worsening." The way her voice trailed off worried Moze. Amara was always ready for a fight and never ready to back down, yet she sounded…unsure of herself, for once. It was something she didn't like to hear.
"Hey," The Gunner spoke in a firm, clear voice. "We're gonna be alright, Amara. Twins can't do shit to any of us; too scared to. So, we're gonna fuck 'em up, and then we're gonna…I guess cruise together. All of us."
"I'd like that; can't really imagine going solo again, given all we've experienced together."
"Agreed." Moze fell silent for a second as that…pang shot through her again. She still didn't really understand it but, for the most part, she…well she didn't hate the feeling, and all she knew about it was it came around whenever she was around Amara. It was…strange, to say the least. But welcome. It almost made her feel giddy staring up at the tall, imposing Siren.
The Gunner shook her head and focused. "A-Anyways, we should get back to Hammerlock and Wainwright, right?"
"Most likely; they probably have an idea on where we're heading next. Good thing, too. It's getting to be nightfall, and I'd rather not be forced to spend a night on this weird planet." The Siren sauntered off and Moze's gaze remained glued to her retreating figure.
She needed to talk to someone about these…pangs, but right now, she couldn't agree more with Amara; she refused to spend a night on the planet. The mosquitos were probably as big as fucking skags!
"Good to hear y'all freed Reliance from COV oppression, Vault Hunters," Wainwright commended. Amara merely shrugged in response as he approached a weird looking machine in the center of the lodge, one that reminded her of a very ancient record player…albeit a bit fancier looking. "And while y'all were gone, I got this damn thing workin', so," He gestured tenderly to the machine. "Which one of you wants to do the honors, and let us all hear the last words of Montgomery Jackobs?"
"I…suppose I will," Amara stepped over to the machine and rested her finger on what she assumed was the on switch. "though I really hope I don't accidentally break this thing…" She flicked it and, thankfully, the message began to play.
…said message she barely understood: the speaker was clearly intoxicated, slurring over his words, and all-around terrified of something. So…well, so much for the last words of Montgomery Jakobs.
However, a few of the words she did piece together: the Grand Reserve, and the Oily Graveyard, and the Family Jewel. Those were where the key was. So, that's where they needed to look—
"DAMNATION! Ugh, this gut rot's chewing through me like pig through a pile of fuckin' apples! Aw I gotta SHIT…!"
…Wainwright's father did not win an award for famous last words. Far from it.
"Alright…well that's enough." Wainwright reached over and cut the device off, though clearly with some mild embarrassment. "Now, the Family Jewel is my father's ship; crashed out in the jungle not too long after his death. Go find it; if my father's cryptic message is anything to go by, there outta be a Key Fragment on board. Alister and I will investigate the other two clues; leave the COV no leads."
"A wise choice, though I tend to dislike dividing a pack." FL4K spoke up. Amara turned to leave, though she felt her ECHO vibrating…that couldn't be good.
"So, you jack offs are lookin' for the key fragment?" Troy snidely remarked.
"Yeah, let us know when you got it open; was SUPER nice to have my dinner waiting for me when I got there." Tyreen added. Amara growled under her breath.
"Ya might get sloppy seconds this time, arseholes," Zane said into his own ECHO as he walked by Amara. "y'all ain' getting' this one, and if y'all want it, come get it."
"Psh, and what says we won't?" Tyreen asked. Amara could tell already she was sneering on the other end.
"Dunno," Zane replied. "What says our crazed robot won't beat your ass like he did yar brother? Bet he's still seethin' over that arse-kickin'."
"Shut up! He got lucky!"
"T'was never luck," FL4K chimed in. "It was merely me knowing my prey, and knowing you spend more time speaking ill of your sister than being threatening."
"Troy, what the fuck?!"
"H-He's lying, sis! Honest—"
"I am null-gendered, also. Robots don't have dicks. Something, sadly, you and I have in common." And, like every other time the twins were verbally abused, they went quiet.
"Thanks, you two."
"Thank the murder bot," Zane chuckled. "Never knew insultin' those fuckers was so fun! Mozzy Moze, ya gotta try it when they try talkin' shite again."
"…you know I'll just throw curse words at them, right?"
"Eh, that works. Anythin' works; their combined ego's about as strong as Moxxi's happy hour menu."
"…I…don't get the joke." Amara said.
"He means the drinks are weak and virtually alcohol free and, therefore, they're weak and pathetic," FL4K spoke up. "Speaking of, why does Moxxi make those drinks so…lackluster?"
"Somethin' bout not losin' product. Lotta alcoholics aboard the ship..." Amara sighed as she watched them go back and forth. Like she told Moze, she couldn't really imagine herself leaving the group when the job was all said and done. So, she was gonna stick with them as long as she could. Ride the fun out as best she could.
And she could ensure it was gonna be something special.
(Short, weirder chapter. When I got home from work, I was a bit burned out, but still had time to churn this out. Work is…taxing, but I need to start pre-writing the chapter again every day like I used to so I can avoid having to scramble like this. Shouldn't happen again.
So, reviews.
What inspired me to write this? Honestly, I got inspired and bored after playing with my brother, wrote one or two chapters, and when it blew up, I said "fuck it" and kept going. Now, we're sitting at over thirty chapters and we still have a ways to go before this train ride's over.
Yes, there might be romance between Amara and Moze; it's just something that "feels" right, but I'm trying to write it in a realistic, fluid way. Something that just clicks, I guess. Hopefully incorporating such a thing doesn't cause any discourse.
I appreciate the props for the burns I've delivered the twins; something we all wish the chars did when the two fuckers opened their mouths.
Stay safe out there; I heard a lot of states are re-opening things up, so let's hope we don't have another major outbreak.)