Chapter 25
When I told Crazy Earl that I'd saved Maya from a death she would've had, he actually did the impossible and gave me a gun for free. But it wasn't just any gun. It was one of the best guns in Borderlands history. It was the Flipper, the best damn gun from the Bounty of Blood DLC because it was able to fire more and more bullets as you held the trigger down, only costing 1 clip of ammo even though the bullets added with every shot!
"A-Are you sure I can have this?" I asked, him nodding at me with a big, meaty thumbs-up.
"YOU BET YOUR ASS, BADASS! NOW GET TO KILLIN' THAT GOD QUEEN! I WILL ONLY BE HAPPY IF YOU KILL HER!" he shouted before then closing the door and locking it all back up again as I then looked at Bloodwing and she cooed at me and rubbed her beak against me.
"I get ya, Bloodwing. You want to work off that meal with some exercise, huh?" I asked, her chirping at that and me smiling. "Okay, I'll check up on the status of the others, first," I said, me contacting the one person that I wanted to check on most, that being Maya.
"Hello? Maya, can you hear me? It's Josie," I said into the ECHO after I'd connected to her.
"BB! What's going on? You still being as badass as usual?" she asked with enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I am. And what's happening on Athenas? It's been a good bit since we've talked, y'know?" I asked.
"Well, your Vault Hunter friends just helped out in killing a bunch of invading Maliwan forces and I managed to get the Vault Key... Ava, we're not taking that," Maya frowned as I then heard the protege's voice.
"Oh come on! I wanna take this so I can help kill some bad guys!" Ava said as I then spoke.
"Maya, what are you saying Ava can't take?" I asked her, wondering what it was.
"The guitar you gave her, why?" she asked as I sighed.
"Just let her join in the fun, would ya? Besides, we won't have to worry about Maliwan anymore. I took care of their president after learning that he was a sick freak that shrunk women for sex and food," I said, Maya gulping before then sighing.
"Fine. But you can't use it at all on the ship, Ava. Only when in battle," Maya said.
"EEEE! Thanks so much, Josie! You're the best!" Ava squealed with glee as I giggled at that and simply proceeded towards where I felt Sasha's life force, it being in none other than the room that Angel, Erin, Torgue, and I shared, which was in the back part of the ship. And after I entered, I then asked Angel an important question.
"Angel? I'm going to need to get Sasha so I can reunite her with Rhys," I said, her smirking and leading me to the shrunken girl, who was still among the other tiny women, only they all had clothes on them now.
"If you're wondering how they got those clothes on them, Erin helped out with her magic to make my spare clothes be able to match the size of whoever wore them," Angel said, me smiling at that as I saw Erin appear from under the bed with Princess Fluffybutt in her hand. I'd decided to let Erin keep close tabs on Tina's prized doll, since Erin was a part of Tina's vivid mind... and that was a good thing, since she treated Fluffybutt like she needed to be treated. Royally.
"So, Sasha? You ready to meet Rhys in person?" I asked, her smiling and nodding.
"I am," she smiled as I held out my hand and she walked onto it, me then putting her in my shirt pocket for a ride as Bloodwing looked ready to go.
"Okay, okay, Blood. We'll get going as soon as the others get here," I smiled... but then I got a message from Tannis.
"Uh, Josie? You've got an incoming call from Promethea. Some girl's calling for some reason," Tannis said as I then wondered who it could be.
"Let it play," I said, wondering if it was Tyreen. But color me surprised when it was a voice I was unsure about.
"Um... are you the Biohazard Breathmint? M-My name is Rosa... I'm the last of Katagawa's siblings, but only because I managed to escape his sight when he planned to kill the rest of our family," the voice said, me being surprised at that.
"I see... and why are you calling us?" I asked, knowing that this was a different person than the side mission in Promethea's side city.
"Because... w-well, I had a feeling he was dead... is he?" she asked.
"He's currently dead, yes. He deserved it, considering he killed almost 1000 women by shrinking them for sex," I said.
"I know... but there wasn't anything I could do to stop that... but now that he's gone, I wanted to ask... someone needs to fill in his shoes at Maliwan and I wanted to be the one to do it... but Tyreen is sure to come after me if I just became the president at the Maliwan HQ, so I wanted to ask if... you could let me hang on your ship? I'd feel safer with a bunch of badasses protecting me," Rosa said, me smiling at that.
"Yeah, we can come get you to Sanctuary. What's your location as of now?" I asked.
"I'm uh... currently being held captive by Rhys... he allowed me to call you and see what you had to say..." she said as I then heard Rhys's voice.
"I had a feeling you guys would get to Katagawa! So, you want to meet me so you can get your new Maliwan friend to Sanctuary?" Rhys asked as I smiled.
"It'll be a bit of a swap. I give you someone you hold dear that I managed to find kidnapped on the Zanara, I get Rosa and the Vault Fragment piece you own," I smiled, Rhys sounding confused.
"Someone I hold dear? Kidnapped on the Zanara? Who is it?" he asked as I simply used orange powers to warp directly to him via the ECHOnet, him gawking at my arrival... but then opening his mouth in shock at who I had in my shirt pocket.
"Rhys?" Sasha asked as I picked her out of my shirt pocket and had her stand on the palm of my hand.
"S-Sash...Sasha... Is it really you?! I-I'm not dreaming, am I?" Rhys asked in shock as Sasha smiled.
"You're not dreaming, Rhys. Would you like me to prove it?" I asked, him smirking and shaking his head.
"Uh, no thanks... s-so.. why are you so tiny?" Rhys asked Sasha in surprise as Rosa spoke, me then seeing that her appearance was similar to Katagawa's, with her being skinny and frail, but also having freckles on her face with her brown hair done into dual pigtails as well as a small chip missing from her left ear.
"He shrinks innocent girls to serve as sex toys and free meals on the Zanara. My guess, she was captured and forced to do awful things," Rosa said, Sasha sighing.
"Luckily, I didn't get into any of those scrapes, but I heard horror stories from the other girls that I was mixed in with, including someone else that Josie knows named Doctor Samuels... something about Hyperion and having ties to people called Tiny Tina and Krieg," she said as I nodded.
"Well, I'm just..." Rhys was about to say before his voice broke. "I-I'm sorry... I'm just... so happy.. I thought you were dead... I'm so glad you're alright," Rhys smiled as he then held onto the tiny girl and hugged her tiny frame close to his chest, me smiling at how she was getting a tiny bit squeezed, but Rhys ended the tight hug after a couple hits from Sasha's tiny arms. "O-Oh, sorry. I uh... guess I don't know my own strength," he said in concern.
"It's okay, hon... though I was actually shrunk just two days ago, so I'm gonna be stuck at the size of a doll for about 5 days until I can regrow back to normal. Now, do you want to give the Vault Key fragment to Josie? I feel she's earned it as well as the location of the Vault," Sasha said, Rhys smirking and nodding as he then got into a special hidden computer safe and opened it with his hacking cipher before then handing me the fragment that laid within it.
"The Vault is under the center-most part of the city, in Neon Arterial. Be careful, though, because I'm sure that Tyreen will be expecting you," Rhys said, me nodding at him as I then thought... and got an idea.
"Actually, you think you can contact Zer0? I want to try and get her to join us in the Vault," I smirked.
"I'll contact uh... her... yeesh, I always thought Zer0 was a boy," Rhys admitted as I then held onto Rosa and I then heard a voice from behind me.
"I'm coming right now.
It's time I killed something big
It's Vault-Hunting Time," said the voice of Zer0 from behind me as I then looked at her and... well, I was shocked for one simple reason. She had her helmet off! And it was only at this time that we were able to see what Zer0 was... she was, get this, not human! In fact, with all the purple stuff that coated her skin, it only made me think of one thing that I decided to stay hushed on... but it was one thing I knew for a fact. She was not just an Assassin... but an Eridian! Her face looked completely human, but with tiny gills on her cheeks, a light on her forehead that was yellow, and her head was shaped exactly the same as her helmet, since her hair was attached to her skin.
"Before you say something...
Yes, I'm an Eridian
The last of my kind," she said, me nodding at that as we then used Orange breath to return us back to Sanctuary, where I saw that all the teams were back and that the Vault Hunters were eyeing Troy with daggers... well, most of them.
"Hey, where'd you disappear to?... I thought I was gonna shoot stuff with ya and... stuff," Aubrey said with a little bit of impatience, yet her voice didn't really show it. Bored as always.
"I kinda had to save Troy from getting killed by his sister... then I got sidetracked because of a bunch of people that needed rescuing on the Zanara... one thing led to another, I got Katagawa killed, got a Vault Key fragment from Rhys, and I've managed to get the last living member of Maliwan on our side. Rosa, badasses. Badasses, Rosa," I said, the group chuckling at that as Troy simply stared in frustration.
"And just how do we put together the Vault Key? That's my question," Una asked in confusion.
"Simply give me the pieces and I think I can do it," I said, Moze handing me her piece as well as Torgue handing me the piece his team had gotten.
"AND THAT'S ONE MOON LASER AND ONE FUCKED-UP PLEASURE SHIP COMPLETELY BLOWN THE FUCK UP!" Torgue shouted, me not even caring about the swearing and the loudness, since the babies weren't around.
"Okay... now to focus..." I sighed as I then held the three pieces in front of me and began to use my Siren powers from the scrolls, me merging my own powers into the key and forming the three pieces together with a purple light emitting from it after I'd finished up. And I had just made the Vault Key 2.0, everyone being impressed, minus Troy and Lilith, who had on a scowl and a small smirk respectively.
"Alrighty, then, this key is done. And thanks to Rhys, we now know that the Vault on Promethea is located in this specific location, in the middle of the city," I said, pointing to the virtual map of the city to the area where the Vault was said to be buried.
"It'll be pointless to travel there, you know?" Troy said with a frown. "Tyreen and I had already settled in that area and had the COV dig their way to the tombs that are connected to the Vault. Even though I'm no longer with them, I know that it's going to be a firefight just to get there." It was then that I smiled as I activated orange breath and looked at him with seriousness.
"If you want, you can help out. Give a bit of revenge to Tyreen," I said, him frowning at that, but then simply holding onto my hand. I wasn't afraid, since his collar was still on him.
"On one condition. I want you to do to me what you did to my pappy, even if it was temporary for him," he said, me tilting my head... before I realized what he wanted.
"You mean... you want to be absorbed by me?" I asked in shock. Was he being for real? Or was there another motive to it? "Is there any reason as to why?"
"I hate to admit it, but your songs are pretty badass... I want to look into your brain so I can sing alongside you when we face Tyreen. Her main plan is to absorb the strength of the guardians of the Vaults so she can become godly. We need to kill the guardians before that happens, which will make her mad enough to attack us... and I want to sing a song alongside you, but only after being inside of your body long enough to agree on lyrics," Troy said, me being surprised at his reasoning.
"Um... sure, I'm game for that... but remember, the moment you leave my body, the collar gets back on," I said, him nodding as I then held onto him and thought of the color of the rainbow, me then sighing as I absorbed him and only him... and I didn't stop until I'd gotten all of him inside of me and only then shifted to orange afterwards... "And so we're clear, Troy, I'm the one in control of the body. I'll pull the trigger on my brain if you try to take over my bodily functions or my Siren powers, got it?" I said, him scoffing in my thoughts.
"Fine, fine, fair enough... bitch," he complained. I simply ignored his backsass and looked at the others.
"Well... now that that happened... what's the plan?" Amara asked.
"The plan is this. We're going to execute a three-pronged attack on the area with my orange breath being used for getting our groups to specific locales. The first area is the COV camp outside of the entrance to the tombs. We're going to need heavy hitters for that one, so I'm enlisting Torgue, Amara, Moze, Salvador, and Axton to handle that area," I said, the group smiling widely. "Next is the area that's directly inside of the Catacombs... it's no doubt also heavily guarded, but since it's in a tight corridor, we'll need some fast and nimble fighters. Zane, Una, Erin, Maya, and Gaige will handle this section... but at the same time, I can't really sense any technology I can teleport to at the main area of the Vault, so the third team to take on the guardian of the Vault will be myself, FL4K, Scarlett, Aubrey, Zer0, Angel, and... Ava," I said, Maya immediately getting huffy at that and having something to say.
"Oh, no! I'm not going to le-" she was about to say before I spoke over top of her.
"EASY, Maya!" I shouted, her then shutting up and letting me talk. "She's going to be well protected and I'm only bringing her along for one reason. To give her a proper experience of being a Vault Hunter. I promise you I will not let anything bad happen to her. And if I do, you're allowed to do anything you want to me," I said, Maya nodding at that.
"If anything happens to Ava down there, I'm going to rip off your left arm," she said, me sighing and nodding.
"Fair enough. And just to give it some more fun, Bloodwing will be filming everything during our fight as well as anything that might also happen," I said, Maya nodding as she then put up her hood with a smile.
"It's time to get crazy," she smirked as Ava jumped up and down excitedly.
"Oh my gosh! I get to battle with THE Biohazard Breathmint! I won't let you down at all!" Ava smiled widely as I then focused orange breath and proceeded to initiate the attack with Team A getting left off at the COV camp, particularly in the outside area by the subway... and I made sure to get them to a high vantage point.
"Begin the attack whenever you want," I smiled at them before then teleporting back to Sanctuary to get both Team B and Team C ready. After everyone held onto me, I then teleported us directly to the closest computer to the underground tunnels, it being at the start of the catacombs and it being a COV computer. And it was then that Troy spoke to me in my thoughts.
"I think I know the song to play and sing... Battle against a true hero. Pretty fitting, but your lyrics are much more so. You sing one verse, I sing the next, got it?" Troy asked as I simply smiled.
"Great choice," I smiled at him, though it was with my thoughts and not out loud so as not to confuse the others. We then proceeded to spelunk through the caves before we then heard some screeching sounds from within.
"W-What was that?" Ava asked in fear.
"They are Eridian soldiers... my guess, they don't want this Vault to be unearthed," Zer0 said, everyone simply nodding... and why weren't they questioning her appearance? She had put the mask back on before anyone saw her skin. "Also, it's nice to see you again, Ava... I've been worried about you."
"I missed ya too, Zeena," she said, that making all of us stop in place... as I then asked on question.
"Zeena?" I asked, Zer0 sighing.
"Yes... that's my true name," she frowned as I simply smiled.
"No harm done, I actually think Zeena's a cute name," I admitted.
"Hey, she's mine, Harem girl!" Ava said to me with some sass and a raised voice... which only caused the shrieking to get louder.
"Nice one, Ava. Now you've disturbed the hornet's nest," Maya said with a frown. And it was then that the soldiers showed up, us then needing to use our guns on them, since they were trying to kill all of us... well, except for Zeena. After we'd managed to take out 50 of them and only got to the halfway point, I had to ask something.
"How come they aren't attacking you at all, Zeena?" I asked, the Eridian assassin speaking afterwards.
"I do not know why
Maybe because you-know-why.
I'm Eridian," she said, that making Maya smirk as well as Angel.
"I knew it!... Kinda. I felt some kind of Siren-like stuff inside your body, but I knew you weren't a full Siren," Maya smirked as the next to speak was Una.
"Wait, I thought the Eridians were extinct?" she asked as Zeena spoke.
"I was in a deep slumber for centuries... but I was rudely awoken on Aquator when Handsome Jack opened the Vault of the Destroyer... I hid my identity behind these clothes for that very reason... and because of Eridians having an insatiable bloodlust to anything unlike them. You're just all lucky I'm able to control it well enough around trusted allies," Zeena said without Haiku, which made me smile.
"You know, it's kinda shocking to hear you speak without the Haiku stuff, Zeena. It's kinda cool, yet creepy to hear you speak normally and without the voice change," Gaige admitted to him.
"Don't care," Zeena stated bluntly as we finally got to the area nearest to the Vault and I then looked at the others with seriousness.
"We're going to go down there and try to open the Vault. You guys should stay here and cover us from anymore of those Eridian guardians or any COV bandits. And if you see Tyreen at any point, shoot her on sight. Do not engage in hand-to-hand combat," I said, them nodding at me.
"You got it," Maya stated as I then slid down the slide that lead to the Vault along with Team C. And Ava looked very excited as I then took the Vault Key and placed it in the slot, which opened the way to the Vault... but also riled up something inside of it.
"What's that sound?" Aubrey asked, me now seeing she was afraid.
"That would be the one guarding the Vault. Head's up, guys. We're in for a fight," I said as I then got out the Flipper gun that I got from Earl and cocked it. We then saw the creature emerge from the Vault and he looked pissed. "Bring it on!" I shouted as I then started to fire the gun at him, the giant brute then trying to rush me as I had to dodge out of the way of his big meaty paws while the others in my group started to attack him with their own weapons. And Ava played a tune on her guitar that I recognized instantly. The battle music for Badassasaurus! And it not only was able to absolutely shred in terms of beats, but it also managed to slice right through the giant monster's body with its music, which I definitely didn't expect! And once it cut clean through its stomach, the monster fell to the ground and I knew that it was barely hanging on.
"Oh my god..." I gawked as I looked at Ava and I smiled. "Congratulations, Ava. You've just become an official Vault Hunter!" I smiled, her getting extremely giddy before jumping up and down in excitement.
"WOOHOO! I did it! My life finally means something! Haha!" Ava cheered as I then looked at the others with a smile.
"You guys go on ahead and loot that Vault. I'll stay here and cover for you," I said, them nodding and going to the Vault... and the second they all entered it, I felt the presence of a Siren nearby. One that I groaned at.
"Well, well, look who decided to-" I was about to say before... something happened. Something I didn't expect. Tyreen grabbed onto my arm and then took a bladed gun and... stabbed me right through my stomach! I gasped as I then pushed myself off of her as I felt the blood escaping my body... the sharp pain of it was indescribable, which was matched only by the feeling of the hot blood pouring out of the wound... I was in the worst pain I'd ever felt as I then had Troy leave my body. If I was going to die, he wasn't. He looked at me in shock afterwards as I handed him the collar and he looked at Tyreen, who looked at him in anger.
"What have you done?" Troy asked as I felt almost every part of my body run cold.
"D-Dammit... with just... one hit... I'm already... ugh... Blayde J-Jr... JJ... my... loves... my... kids... just like that... I'm dying..." I sighed, expecting to die... but guess what happened instead? The monster I'd just slain then pulled its upper half towards me and touched me with its hand... and after that, I then gasped as I felt a whole bunch of power enter my body... as well as a voice!
"No... you must stand strong, Siren..." the monster said... and I understood him! "Use the powers that you've learned... as well as accepting my knowledge of combat... and Eridian teachings... take this disgusting woman down... before she kills the universe..." the creature said as I then felt my inspiration kick in... as well as my wound being completely healed up! I then took out my guitar and started to play the beginning tune of Battle Against a True Hero.
"YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO TRY A LITTLE HARDER THAN THAT!" I shouted loudly as I looked at Troy and he nodded. Duet time.
"~You think that you're hot, you think you're a god?
There's no room for gods that take, all of those lives lost!
Now you'll face me, I'm the hero of this battle!
I'll break your pride and your bones I will rattle!" I sung the first part before Troy then started to sing... and I also gave the bitch the vision of her being utterly skewered by tiny knives, just like in the Undying Undyne fight in Undertale!
"There'll be no more pain, you won't kill again!
Face a true badass the blade of evil's bane!
The future looks grim, the chance to survive is slim,
but we don't live or die based on selfish whims!" And then me and him sung the next part together.
"Howling voices ring, from their suffering
Their hopes and dreams is what causes us to sing!
Now we'll rise again, this shall be your end!
You will never break our DETERMINATION!~" both me and Troy sung as Tyreen managed to get on one knee from the amount of pain we were inflicting on her, even if it was either fake daggers or our roasting voices echoing throughout the giant halls. And it was then that the others started to emerge from the Vault with the loot in hand, them looking at us as we then got to the good part.
"~Everyone's... hopes and dreams!
Tonight they all... rest on me!
I'm the badass, and you're the asshat!
So tonight, you are gonna splat!"
"Honoring those... who have died!
You played me a fool, it is you who lied!
I will stand strong, through your turmoil!
All of the blood, in me has finally boiled!~" we sung in parts as Tyreen then slammed her fist into the ground and then growled at us in her agony.
"SHUT! THE FUCK! UPPP!" she shouted as loud as a banshee, which made the place start to vibrate a bit and I then frowned at her angrily as I stopped the song.
"And why should we? You brought all of this on yourself, killing innocent people for kicks, absorbing people you consider family... thinking of your brother as nothing more than a means to an end? You're going to die here, in a place where no one will remember you," I said... but then, I saw something strange happen... Tyreen clutched her head and... I could've sworn I saw her head begin to have something gurgling inside of it.
"N-No... NO! I will not... let you... control me! GET THE FUCK OUT!" Tyreen shouted as I then got the idea to look in her head with the last of the powers on the scroll with mind reading powers... and I was shocked to see that Tyreen actually had, get this, a second personality inside of her! And this personality then screamed so loud that some of the ceiling started to produce pebbles and we then saw something even more shocking... Tyreen multiplied into two different beings!... One looked exactly like Tyreen did while the other looked like it was... well, the opposite look of Tyreen! Dark brown skin, black hair that was exactly like Tyreen's, but mirrored, the tattoos were gone, and she looked like she was confused... whereas Tyreen was even more pissed.
"You fucking bitch! I'm gonna-" she was about to shout angrily before Troy then shot a bullet directly at Tyreen's lower leg, her then falling to the ground and seething from the pain.
"Just go and leave us alone, whoever you are," Troy said... why didn't he aim for the head? I knew exactly why. If Tyreen died, so did he. But I was shocked at how Tyreen tried to escape via teleporting away... and she saw that she couldn't.
"W-What the?.." she said before then trying again... and then she tried to grab onto the other self and try to absorb her... and even that failed! "NO! NOOO! I'll kill you all for this! I swear I will!" Tyreen shouted angrily before then resorting to Fast Travel and escaping before anyone could fire a shot at her... leaving the alternate version of her standing in front of us.
"Um... I think I'll ask it for all of us... what the fuck just happened?" Scarlett asked in shock.
"I'm... honestly not sure myself.." I admitted as I looked at the other half of Tyreen and asked her a question. "What's your name?" I asked her... all she could say was one word.
"Nyriad."