Yosh! This is Squalo King with a new chapter of Demon of Pandora.
Gaige: Listen up, boys and girls, this is fanfiction, not like Spock and Kirk making babies, unfortunately, but still a fic. Randy, Gearbox owns the original story and Take 2 or 2k. No need to worry all of those who love my amazingly cool character; nothing here is affecting me and is merely the writer's interpretation of what I would do if I knew a guy named "Lee." He's not making any money either, so chill out. *Sigh* Can't believe I got regulated to DLC treatment
Meet the Gang
Hyperion Eridium Train
"What the hell do we do now?" thought Lee.
As the Hyperion train went on its trail at breakneck speeds, Lee tries to regain his composure after shaming himself in front of his allies: Gaige, Deathtrap, and Salvador. Not to mention he did it in front of the set of stowaways much like them: a Blue-haired woman whom he called a Goddess, a Commando with a Dahl rifle in hand and an enlarged Psycho prepared to ride his meat bicycle to hell. Luckily, Lee's humiliation had somehow dosed the flames of aggression and combat on the train, everyone's weapons were down, and they were just looking at him. Salvador was still patting Lee's head, chuckling at his pain.
"Is he okay?" asked the Blue-haired Goddess.
"I don't know, haven't seen him do this before," said Gaige. She was a bit concerned and confused about Lee's well-being, though part of her was annoyed at the idea of him acting this way over getting rejected. Deathtrap even floated over to him,
*Robotic Puppy noises*
He pokes Lee in the back, but he doesn't get up. This causes mechanical marvel to worry. Salvador just kept patting Lee's head and playfully jostling his hair.
"Don't die now, Nino, Muchos pieces en el mar," said Salvador in a joking manner. However, Lee groaned in embarrassment, even though he didn't understand the last portion of what Salvador said.
"He looks like he wants to die," said Maya, with a little concern. The Commando narrows his eyes at Maya and smirks.
"Well, you did reject him petty hard." teased the Commando as he points his rifle at him jokingly. This was a bad idea.
"*RAAAHHGH, FORESKIN PHYLACTERY!" yelled The Psycho.
His roars startle everyone. Lee looks up at the Psycho, and he was just as confused as everyone else. Before anyone could process what he said, Psycho gripped onto his blood-stained weapon and began to swing it around again. He aims at the Soldier, but the Commando evades the attack by jumping back. The Psycho's buzz-ax hits the wall,
*SLAM*
It hits the wall. It startles everyone, with the shock causing Lee to get to his feet quickly.
"Shit, that's it!" yelled the Commando as he aimed the barrel of his gun at the Psycho's head.
Soon everyone aside from Lee, Deathtrap, and the Blue-haired Goddess points their guns at the large Psych. Psycho tries to attack again and go berserk on everyone on the train. However, the Blue-haired Goddess again holds back the large Psycho with one hand and aims her tattooed hand at everyone else.
"Ready DT!" said Gaige as she prepped her Hyperion SMG. Deathtrap then formed his energy claws and floated near Gaige to keep her safe.
Salvador took one of his guns and smacked the back of Lee's head with it.. Lee nearly cried in pain, but he decided there was enough yelling. Salvador, however, smiled like a madman at the situation before them.
"HAHA, Stay awake, Nino, it's getting fun!" yelled Salvador. Lee himself had gotten up and got into a fighting stance.
"Alright, I'm up!" said Lee.
Although Lee was unsure about this fight, he had faced off against Psychos before, but never as big as this or even with such a large weapon. The Psycho was clearly more powerful, and he knew a fight would be trouble in an enclosed space. Then there was the fact of the matter of the Blue-haired woman's tattoos. She was clearly a Siren, her powers were unknown to the others, and she was more than likely dangerous. And Lee could feel the energy from Maya's tattoo,s it was like being inside of a lightning storm. All this combined with Handsome Jack being in the front car was nothing but trouble and worse if they got caught.
"Back off, assholes!" ordered the Siren while her tattooed hand was aimed at the others. Her tattoos began to glow brighter.
"*Groan* This song and dance again?" complained the Commando. "I said if he went rabid, then I'd plug him."
He then looked down his sights, prepared to fire; however, the sight of the Siren's tattoos kept him from firing right away. He glances at the new arrivals and sees them prepared to fight as well. This gives him more confidence as he wasn't sure he could take the Psycho and the Siren on his own.
"And I said I wouldn't let him," said the Siren back with a hint of venom. "Put your guns down!"
Gaige shook her head, keeping her gun trained on the large bandit.
"No freaking way, not while Psycho is going, well psycho!" said Gaige as she pointed her SMG at the large bandit, while at the same time worried about the Siren's unknown powers.
" THE MURDER OF CROWS WILL FALL TO THE MEATGRINDER!" yelled the Psycho as he swung his Buzz-axe around like a madman, hitting the walls and spewing nonsense. Salvador cocked one of his guns and pointed them both at the Psycho.
"Good, he's ready looks ready to go Brujah!" said Salvador with a grin.
"THE DELIVERY MAN IS HERE, TIP HIM WITH YOUR HEAD!" yelled the Psycho.
As guns were pointed at her compatriot, the Siren tried to contain the situation. She desperately wanted to keep a firefight from happening, but that window was closing and fast. She didn't want to cause a commotion with her powers, and she didn't want her Psycho friend going crazy. Desperate for a voice of reason to speak with her, she sees Lee. Lee was the last to get on the train; he had walked into the situation and didn't immediately shoot her friend despite what his assumed allies were doing.
"Hey you!" said the Siren as she looked in Lee's direction. Lee jumped a bit; all eyes on the room turn to him, though the Psycho continued to swing his weapon.
"Me?" uttered Lee. He kept his fighting stance, though he blushed, remembering his earlier embarrassment.
"Yeah, you got here late Z- um, um-" the Siren realizes that she had not gotten his name, and a tint of embarrassment hit her, "S-Sorry, but what's your name?" asked the Siren. Lee felt strangely awkward, being asked in such a situation. Salvador takes this another way and elbows him with a chuckle.
"It's Lee," said Lee. "And what's yours?" he asked back. Gaige then smirked a little and butted in. She kept her gun trained on the Psycho.
"*Scoff* It's Goddess, duh," she said in a teasing manner. Lee blushes and leers at her Gaige, who smirks. Salvador and the Commando held back their laughter from Gaige's joke. Lee wanted to jump off the train rather than die of embarrassment. The Siren herself was a little embarrassed and decided to rectify this,
"My name is Maya, and please don't call me Goddess or Child, though Goddess sounds cool," said Maya. Lee raised an eyebrow hearing the word "Child".
Maya had on a thin yellow combat suit with only one sleeve leaving her tattooed arm free. She had on dark blue jeans with a strap around her waist where it holsters a book at her side. She had two blue dots under her left eye, blue lipstick, and blue eye-shadow. Her eyes, however, were not blue but grayish. She holstered a Fire Maliwan pistol and a Maliwan SMG on her back. Lee could feel the energy coming off of Maya's arm, it was like a lightning storm that was being contained.
Lee nods, with some hope that the joke had ended. He keeps his gaze on Maya and Psycho and kept a fighting stance.
"Nice to meet you, Maya. Now can you explain what you and that crazy Psycho are doing here?" asked Lee
A bit irritated due to the situation, the question causes Maya to leer in their direction.
"Me, I think I should be asking you all that question!" she said. "We were on this train first," She then aims her tattooed hand at the Commando.
"And he was fine until that idiot came in here and tried to shoot him," said Maya. The Commando felt offended and scoffs at her remark.
"Aw come one, I thought I was rescuing a hot girl from a psychotic war giant." complained the Commando. "How was I supposed to know he was your boyfriend?"
The Psycho then swings at the Commando, and he misses by a hair. Maya pushes the Psycho back a bit, trying to keep him from charging.
"Then the second time was when the midget and little girl came in here, pointed their guns at him and made some death robot appear from nowhere!" said Maya. She then gestured to Deathtrap.
Deathtrap then tapped its claws together nervously.
*Shy Robotic noises*
Lee looked back at Gaige and Salvador for confirmation. He folded his arms, a bit irritated.
"Ha ha ha, it was instinct," said Salvador with pride. Gaige then jumped in.
"Hell yeah, we drew first!" she yelled. Lee grumbled a little and was about to reprimand her. However, Gaige put her gun down and pointed at the Psycho. Deathtrap mimicked her actions and pointed as well.
"You can't blame us for that; look at him!" said Gaige.
Just then, as if on cue.
"I'M THE CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!" yelled the Psycho.
Lee looked at him, disturbed and confused as everyone else was.
"See?" said Gaige. She then points her guns back at the bandit. Lee nods and gets back into his fighting stance.
"I get it, kinda wish I didn't," said Lee.
The Psycho then began to swing his weapon more. Maya then turns around and tries to calm him down.
"Krieg stop, we can't get caught, or Hyperion will kill us both!" she said with urgency. The Psycho then began to swing slower until he stopped, much to Lee, Salvador, and Gaige's surprise.
"PRICKLY NEEDLES WILL POP FROM THE METAL BALLOON!" yelled Krieg.
"Relax, I can protect myself," said Maya.
Lee and the others watched as Maya spoke to the one known as "Krieg." Krieg had stopped waiving his Buzz-axe around and was looking down at Maya. What was strange to everyone was that Krieg seemed to pay attention to her; he was focused.
"SCREAMS!" Okay, somewhat focused.
"He's not going nuts," said Lee.
Lee then looked at his friends, and He gestured toward them to put their guns away. Gaige was the first to do so. She silently signals Deathtrap to put his claws away. Lee then turned to Salvador and tried to get him to do the same. Salvador, unlike Gaige, was still reluctant to do so. Lee gestured for Salvador to put his guns away again, and like before, Salvador shook his head.
"Don't wanna," said Salvador; He kept his guns trained on Krieg's head, hoping for a fight to start. Lee
"Salvador, put your guns away!" said Lee, nearly yelling. Salvador groaned at the request. Gaige then went over to him and whispered.
"Remember we get to pop Jack's pretty skull off, so keep it in your pants."
Gaige's words swayed Salvador. He smiles, remembering why he was there. He then puts his guns away, loaded and unused. The Commando had seen this and was curious as to what Gaige had said. It was then that Lee had looked the Commando's way,
"You too," said Lee.
The Commando saw that he was outnumbered. He was the only one with his weapon pointed at the Psycho, and he had calmed down again.
"Fine, I know when I'm voted off, but I'll shoot him if he does anything funny," said the Commando. He puts his weapon away, though he was prepared to draw his pistol if something happened.
Maya saw that everyone had put their weapons away. She then puts her hand down and begins to relax slowly.
"Thanks," said Maya. She looked back and Krieg and patted his shoulder.
"Okay big guy, now let's just enjoy the ride now," said Maya Krieg, then nodded in a somewhat crazy fashion.
"YES, PRETTY, LADY!" said Krieg. He then sits down in the car, not yelling or making a mess of things. He had disregarded the scars in the room he created and merely stared out of his mask.
Krieg, with his a gigantic body, was shirtless like Lee, but with no cloak. He had a strange mask with a large philter and one open eye hole showing his deranged stare. He had large shows and brown baggy pants—a gauntlet with metal screws and studs. As for weapons, along with his large Buzz-axe, there was a Torque Shotgun( Ravager Stabbing Hulk) on his back.
Lee, Salvador, and Gaige looked in awe as Maya had not only calmed down this raging psychopath known as Krieg but seemingly command him as well. Not to mention an important factor to all this was,
"She can understand him?" Lee questioned, his headache slowly fades. Salvador tapped Lee's side to get his attention.
"One of her Bruja spells, Nino," said Salvador aloud. Lee couldn't entertain the idea fast enough,
"They can do that?" he asked aloud and excited.
"Excuse me," uttered Maya aloud.
Lee tenses up, hearing that. He and Salvador look to see Maya leering at them. Before an apology could be uttered, Gaige grabs their collars and pulls them behind her.
"She's not a witch boys, she's a Siren," uttered Gaige. She then grinned, showing her teeth, and pumped her fists in the air in excitement.
"A super cool Siren with the power to control Psychos!" yelled Gaige. Maya shook her head.
"That's not my power, trust me, I'd know," she said. Lee then points at Krieg,
"But you can talk to him, he told you his name, and he did what you said!" he said, bursting with curiosity and confusion.
"Bruja Spell." said Salvador, unconvinced.
Maya turned to Krieg as he was sitting down. He seemed harmless and dangerous at the same time. She smirks and looks back at the others. She shrugs.
"I just listened and asked him to keep calm; he's still a person," said Maya. She sits down on one of the metal rectangular boxes.
"As for his name, he sort of screamed it at me, and it's written on his Buzz-axe," said Maya. Lee shuddered at the idea of anyone being close to Krieg's Buzz-axe.
"And your actual power?" asked Gaige.
"I might show you later, but not here where Hyperion can get me," said Maya. Gaige and Lee were disappointed as it was common knowledge that Sirens had unique powers that would make most tremble in their boots.
"YELLOW HONEY AND PISS!" yelled Krieg. Salvador chuckled to himself as he heard this.
"I like him," said Salvador. He smacks Lee on his back.
"Just don't try and touch the Blue Bruja, Nino," he said in a teasing manner. Lee blushes at the memory and lowers his head in embarrassment, with Gaige, the Commando, and Maya chuckling at him. Lee then steps in front, but not too close to Maya.
"Yeah, sorry about," said Lee.
"Don't sweat it, but why did you call me that?" asked Maya.
Lee was about to answer, but the Commando jumps in. He strides in front of the two groups and smiles. To Lee, it was like Jack's smile, but it seemed genuine and friendly rather than just being arrogant. His military attire was of a brown combat shirt with a black holster strapped for his weapons, dark green pants, a strange camera-like device on his right shoulder, and dog tags. His brown hair was styled and slicked back with a few bangs flipped up, and his forehead was a metal arrow above his left eyebrow. He had a backpack for his equipment. Lastly, he had metal boots and knee guards. The rifle on his back was a Dahl Onslaught Minigun, a Maliwan Rocket Launcher and at his side was a Vladof Despair Fighter pistol. Lastly, around his neck hanged dog tags, and with them were a pair of wedding bands. Strangely enough, Lee and Gaige thought there was something familiar about him.
"Since I was late for introductions, let me take the stage.." said the Commando.
Before anyone could object, the Commando confidently puts his hands to his side. He smirks and flexes his muscles under his clothes.
"Name's Axton!" he said with vigor and confidence.
Axton then began to do a body-builder pose. Much to the confusion of most and to the entertainment of Gaige. He continued with his fool-hearty introduction.
"Ex-Commando," he puts one finger up, "Handsome Stud" second finger, "Elite Rifleman," third finger "and Vault Hunter!" said Axton. He holds four fingers, then gives a thumbs up. Lee and Maya both groan at Axton's intro. Gaige, while Salvador looks curiously at him.
"Great, I gotta deal with this kind of guy." thought Lee. Due to his unexplained deja vu, Lee keeps his guard up.
"I'm Lee," said Lee. He tries not to come off as threatening, kept his composure. He knew he recognized Axton from somewhere but couldn't place it.
Gaige then pushes Lee out of the way, allowing Axton to see her.
"Name's Gaige!" she said in with as much vigor as Axton's introduction.
"Strongest Necromancer," one finger," Badass Bitch," two fingers, "Brilliant Genius," three fingers, " and Hottest Woman on Pandora!", she puts her fourth finger up and then a peace sign. She then gestures to Deathtrap.
"This is my amazing BFF, Deathtrap!" she said. Axton smirked at Gaige's intro, and Lee groaned seeing her copy this guy they had met. Deathtrap then pumps his mechanical arms as Axton did
"Cool intro, nice robot arm too," said Axton. Gaige blushed a little and robot arm.
"Aw, thanks, I made it myself," she said. Lee then jumps in and speaks to Gaige with a spark of amazement and splendor in his eyes.
"You made your arm?!" he asked, shocked with a gigantic smile on his face. Gaige blushed more and more due to the praise she was getting.
"OF course, part of a project with Deathtrap that used to send commands and digistruct him whenever I want," said Gaige proudly.
"You made that super cool death-bot, too; I like you, new guys." Said Axton.
"CLICKITY CLACKTY POTATO PEELER!" yelled Krieg
"Krieg thinks he's cool too," said Maya. Gaige and Deathtrap then beam with pride.
*Excited and Happy robot noises*
He put out his fist to Lee, who looks at it; he reluctantly hits it. Axton then held his fist out to Gaige and Deathtrap, they fist-bumped him, and all three made explosion noises.
Axton then eyes Salvador. Since Krieg wasn't going nuts, the Commando had enough time to really get a look at him. He chuckled at Salvador's childlike size and many manly features. He walked over to him and Looked down at Salvador, who wasn't smiling and was scanning up and down as if he was ranking him. This was a weird mannerism to Gaige and Lee.
"What about you little man, what's your name?" asked Axton. Salvador smirks and puts his hands out in a cocky manner.
"I'm Salvador," he said.
Salvador then extends his hand. Axton examines Salvador's hairy fist. He shrugs and takes it. Salvador then pulls Axton down to his face. The Commando struggles to get free, but Salvador was stronger than he appeared. Axton saw Salvador's facial feature up close: his beard, broken nose, scares, and his horrible smell.
"H-Hey, let me go!" ordered Axton.
"Aprobado," uttered Salvador. He released Axton, causing him to fall on his ass. Lee nearly snickers at the sight of this.
Axton gets back up and nearly pulls out his gun with only the memory of Krieg holding him back. Salvador immediately shot away any complaint he was about to yell,
"Your Dahl soldier," said Salvador.
Axton widened his eyes. He backs away from Salvador; however, he takes no time getting whatever swagger he had lost back. Lee walks over to Salvador; he grabs Gaige by her hoodie and brings her with him. This was the first time he had seen Salvador act in such a way, so caution was his first response, as well as keeping Gaige from getting caught in a trap.
"Hey, at least take my hand or something?" complained Gaige.
"Careful, we still don't know these guys, and the solder dude looks familiar, but I can't place it.." whispered. Lee, he lets her go. Gaige was also filled with the nagging feeling of nostalgia when she looked at Axton. Gaige quickly got her Echo-1 out and began to rummage through it for a moment for anything about Axton.
"Who are you, muscles?" she thought.
"Salvador, do you know this guy? Asked Lee.
"No, but all Dahl Soldiers have those tags," said Salvador as he pointed at them. Axton just shrugged.
"Alright, I used to work for Dahl, big woop," said Axton.
"What we're gonna have a problem?" he asked,
"Course not; I killed more men from that pile of shit corp in my sleep.," said Salvador. Lee facepalmed himself at Salvador's claim; Axton himself had his hand near his pistol.
"He meant starting a fight, not you winning," said Lee. Salvador smirked and folded his arms.
"Ha, so you say!" he said in a cocky manner. Before Axton himself could clarify, a mighty shriek rang through the air.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIII!"
The shriek was filled with shock, happiness, euphoria, but most importantly, it was loud as hell. The source was Gaige. By the time her shriek was 1/3 finished, everyone but Salvador had covered their ears. Then, just when the scream was done.
"HA HA HA HA HA," Krieg laughed in an attempt to copy Gaige.
"What the heck Gaige, you nearly blew my ears off," said Lee
"It's you!" she yelled while pointing at Axton like an excited schoolgirl. Axton smirks and stands in a cocky manner.
"What?!" yelled Salvador; he looked around, confused at the situation.
"Okay, so you know him?" asked Lee. Gaige then showed Lee her Echo.
"Know him, who doesn't?! He's that super-cool Commando that was all over the Echonet. He beat back some Maliwan jerks and helped free planets under occupation!" said Gaige excited.
"Whats she excited about!?" asked Salvador.
"She said she knows this guy," said Lee. Salvador picked his ears for a bit.
"I don't use a pipe, and I smoke cigars," Salvador answered.
Axton nearly burst out laughing, with Maya confused and Gaige having a look of guilt and concern.
"Great Gaige, you broke him," said Lee, annoyed.
"I-I'm sure his hearing will come back," said Gaige in an unsure tone. Deathtrap even looked concerned.
*Worried robot noises.*
Gaige then showed Lee several posts and articles. Many contained pictures of Axton; some were selfies; one was of Axton beating the crap out of Mercenaries with the Tediore emblem on their shoulders. One was of him with his shirt off atop a tank and a picture of him inside a classified base. It finally hit Lee,
"I knew you looked familiar!" said Lee. Axton was beaming with so much pride he was practically the sun.
"Finally, two fans on this backwater planet that recognize me," said Axton. He then gets out a pen and two pieces of paper. He quickly signs them and hands them to Lee.
"Here you go, kid, Axton special." He said. Lee didn't take them and saw they were autographs with head-shots of Axton as if he were a movie star.
"I don't want y-"
"Thank you!" yelled Gaige. She pushed Lee out of the way and took one of Axton's autographs. She then got her Echo ready to take pictures.
"M-Mr. Axton, could you please take a selfie with me so I can make those bitches at my old school?" asked Gaige; Axton tossed his pen to the side.
"Sure, anything for a fan," he said
"FUCK YEAH!" he screamed in his head.
He and Gaige then grouped for the photo, leaving no wiggle room. Axton stuck his tongue out while making rock-star horns with one hand. Gaige used her free hand to give a peace sign while making a kissing face. She took the photo and looked at it in pride.
"Thanks, you're so awesome!" said Gaige.
Maya was confused by the attention Gaige was giving Axton. When she first saw Axton, he tried to hit on her, and Krieg thought he was hurting her. He's annoying and nearly killed her friend twice, yet Gaige was gushing at him for some reason.
"Seriously, this guy is famous?" asked Maya.
"Infamous is more like it," answered Lee. Salvador then smirks.
"I'm infamous; what he does?" asked Salvador.
"You got your hearing back for that?" asked Lee. Before Salvador could get a word in, Gaige once again interrupted.
"He charged into an enemy base that was illegally stealing minerals on his own!" said Gaige proudly. Axton blushed, embarrassed at the memory.
"Had only two pistols, 3 grenade mods, and a special something. Had to procure some extra guns while I was inside; those mercs bought cheap though," said Axton. Lee narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, I heard there were also supplies that ended up the destroyed cause of your stunt," said Lee. Axton rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Yeah, take a tip from a pro; rations are flammable," he said, shamelessly.
Maya and Lee were a bit thrown by this statement. Salvador seemed a bit impressed, and Krieg himself was talking to himself.
"The mouse has burrowed into your soul!" Everyone ignored that statement, though worried about its meaning. Gaige continued.
"He captured a group of terrorists!" said Gaige gleefully.
"Easy mission, scared those civvy killing bastards easy," said Axton impressed. Lee facepalmed himself. Maya and Salvador knew what this meant and let him clarify.
"Gaige he strapped a bomb to a Senator's back doing it!" said Lee.
"Seriously?" asked Maya. Salvador, however, laughed to himself, hearing this.
"Eh, he was a dick," said Axton casually.
"He also stole money from small companies on his planet, so he was a big dick," said Gaige.
"I can appreciate that," said Maya, a bit surprised at Axton's actions.
"Ha, small-time, but not bad," said Salvador. Axton smirked.
"I knew I'd win them over," He thought. He glanced at Krieg, who was leering at him, and over at Lee, unsure about him.
"Well, 'except him."
Salvador then pondered something. He had not forgotten why he had agreed to sneak onto the train; Lee had promised him and Gaige a chance to kill Handsome Jack. They didn't account for the new faces, though it didn't slow his draw seeing Krieg. Now that things were calm, he had a thought,
"Hey Nino," Salvador calls to Lee; everyone in the train car looks at him.
"Let's have these guys join us. The Bruja, Loco, and Dahl Dog can help-"
Before Salvador could go any further, Lee runs over to him, grabs him, and covers his mouth. Picking him up, Lee takes Salvador into the previous car without anyone stopping him or properly processing what happened.
"W-What the hell?" uttered Maya.
"He just up and kidnapped scruffy," said Axton.
Lee then poked his head back into the car and looked directly at Gaige and Deathtrap. He had startled everyone but acted as nothing had happened.
"Gaige, can you and Deathtrap please come with me? We need to chat," said Lee. He then quickly leaves as he came in.
Gaige wanted to question what was going on, but she knew Lee well enough that this had a reason behind it.
"*Sigh* Come on, DT, let's see what he wants," said Gaige.
*Questioning Robot noises*
She and Deathtrap then went into the other car.
"What's up with him?" asked Maya. Axton shrugged.
"Heh, probably upset that his girlfriend is a fan." said Axton.
Salvador dusted himself off from Lee, practically dragging him away. Lee looked down at him as Gaige and Deathtrap entered the room.
"Dang Nino, you really are strong," said Salvador. Lee shook his head as Gaige walked in with Deathtrap following her.
"First, thank you, second, what the hell were you thinking?!" asked Lee angrily. Gaige then stood next to Salvador with Deathtrap floating behind them both.
"What, I thought we made some new friends," said Salvador.
"Salvador, you can't just tell them what we're up to; we just met these guys," said Lee. Gaige then looked down at Salvador, annoyed.
"What did you do this time?" asked Gaige.
"He was going to ask them if they could come with us after the vault and bring up that we're after Jack," said Lee. The memory of his promise caused him to almost panic.
"Damn, I almost forgot about that last part!" he thought to himself.
"Wait, seriously, that sounds awesome!" said Gaige. Salvador laughed with Deathtrap clapping his hands. Lee folded his arms, looked at his allies judgmentally.
"Are you two serious?" asked Lee.
"Come on, Lee, I know things didn't work out when we got on the train, but we got to meet a Siren, her Psycho thrall, and a kick-ass commando!" said Gaige. Lee facepalmed himself.
"Gaige, we just met these guys; we don't even know what they're doing on this train," said Lee.
"So what? You didn't know us when you met us and we're cool heck, you even asked to come with me after I shot you," said Gaige. Lee was about to open his mouth, but he stopped himself before he could say a word. He thought about it and realized that Gaige was right.
"Good point and Salvador did almost run me over trying to save me, and we're pals now," said Lee. Salvador grins and wipes his nose in a cocky manner.
"Your welcome," he said. Gaige then looked down at the blue-haired dwarf.
"And you shot at me," said Gaige annoyed.
"Your welcome," said Salvador.
"But that was luck, and that might not save us this time," said Lee. Gaige shrugged.
"I guess, But they seem cool even though we don't know Maya or Krieg," said Gaige.
"Or Axton," Lee said, interrupting Gaige. He was annoyed that she had forgotten to include Axton since he was just as suspicious.
"But they probably know more about the Vault," said Gaige.
"Well, they didn't shoot at us; what more do you need?" asked Salvador. Lee didn't hesitate to answer.
"We need to check them out first, see why they're on the train," said Lee.
"So just ask them; seems simple enough," said Salvador. Lee agreed, since earlier when he asked, they were in a tense situation. However, when Salvador said this, he drew two Shotguns, one Jacobs and one Bandit. When Salvador tried to go back, Lee and Gaige stop him immediately.
"Aww, come on," said Salvador.
"Yeah no, remember Krieg, and you don't need a gun to ask them this shit," said Gaige.
"Put them away, Salvador," said Lee. Salvador grumbled as he put his weapons away. However, they even did remind Lee of something. He goes into his pocket and pulls out the Hyperion gun that Jack had given him.
"Speaking of which, you can have this," said Lee as he held out the gun to Salvador. Salvador took it and examined the weapon. Gaige did the same and saw that it was Hyperion.
"Nice gun," said Salvador.
"Yeah, where'd you get that?" asked Gaige.
"Oh yeah, that's right, I haven't explained yet," said Lee.
One Explanation later
"Whoa, seriously?" asked Gaige. Lee nods though he was a little worried.
"Yeah, listening to him and him touching me made me sick," said Lee. Salvador was examining his new gun; from the barrel to the handle and the magazine cartridge in between, it was a normal gun.
"And you got loot out of it, you'll survive this planet yet!" said Salvador impressed. Lee felt a pang of pride hearing a bandit veteran say such a thing.
"Of course, Marcus would have shot you," said Salvador.
Marcus and Orphan
"Would you really have shot Mr. Lee if he tried talking a free gun from you?" asked the Orphan. Marcus nods.
"Oh, Most definitely, store policy," said Marcus proudly. The Orphan nods.
"I know, just wanted to check." said The Orphan.
"You know me so well, kid," said Marcus, amused
"Back to the story." said The Orphan in an excited tone.
Hyperion Train(Story)
Gaige then swipes the gun from Salvador, he nearly jumps at her for it, but she gives it back right away.
"Nothing wrong with it," said Gaige.
"He used it to try and kill me," said Lee. He thought back to that shootout.
"He really is dangerous, he got behind me without me seeing, and he nearly killed me," said Lee. Salvador then shrugged and folded his arms.
"It'll be different here; Lynchwood was an open area," said Salvador. He then tapped on the steel wall of the train.
"But there's only forward and backward to go on a train," said Salvador. Lee and Gaige were a bit stunned by Salvador's simple yet effective reasoning to their advantage.
"Wow, that was actually kind of smart," said Gaige. Lee then pointed at Salvador's head.
"I think your scream rattled his brain," said Lee. Deathtrap nods in agreement.
"So, where's the train going?" asked Salvador.
"Opportunity, Hyperion city basically," said Lee. Gaige then got out one of her maps and began to look at it.
"That's a far way out from the Dust," Lee and Salvador take a look, "Was never able to get in,"
"More of his goons than we can handle there, and from Lynchwood to there on these trains, the trip will take an hour or so," said Gaige. She puts away her map.
"So we better see if these will go onboard or even what they want, and fast," said Lee. Gaige then took a pose as if she was a super-hero, and Deathtrap did the same.
"Leave that to me, Gaige, the recruitment extraordinaire!" she said in an excited voice. Deathtrap then began to clap.
*Proud robot noises*
Both Gaige and Deathtrap rush back into the last car. Lee sighed, but this time it was in relief. Despite what had happened, they seemed to gain some control over the situation. Now all that was left to follow through get to Jack and find out more about the Vault.
"We're lucky we haven't died yet," said Lee with caution.
"Ha, lady luck's got a crush on us," said Salvador.
"Speaking of which, give me back my cards!" ordered Lee.
Salvador then got out Lee's deck of cards and handed it to him. Lee counted and saw they were all there. He and Salvador joined the others, but Lee had the aching feeling that a set of eyes were on them. He looks back for a moment and sees no one there.
As of now all were relaxing in the train car. Axton was leaning against the wall, Maya standing next to Krieg as he was still sitting down in the back, Lee was sitting on one of the metal containers with Salvador standing next to him, and Gaige standing with Deathtrap near the car entrance. When Lee and Salvador returned they saw that Gaige was already trying to give a good impression,
"Vault Hunter, you too?" asked Maya as she looked at Lee.
"Yeah, I got to this planet a few days ago," said Lee. He was shuffling his cards in his hands as he spoke.
"I got attacked every day I got here, I heard about Pandora and its way worse than the rumors," said Lee
"That sucks and I know the feeling. When I left home I didn't know that Sirens had such a fucking target on their backs," said Maya annoyed.
"FLAILS OF THE DEAD WILL ECHO IN THE NIGHT!" yelled Krieg. She pats Krieg's shoulder.
"Relax, I'm not dead yet," said Maya.
"Although everyone on this planet I met tried to capture me for Hyperion or kill me," she said annoyed. Lee winced hearing this, it was a familiar kinship that was immediately identified,
"Yeah, I guess you're like me. and like me you probably beat them down when they tried," said Lee. Maya nods,
"Yep.," she said. Lee then looked at Krieg who shot a glance at him with his crazed eyes. Lee jumps and looks away, nearly dropping his cards. Salvador then laughs at his cowardice.
"Guess we know his reason then." Lee thought. Maya then looks at Gaige. She looked the same age as Lee was so she was curious about her as well.
"What about you, your new to Pandora too?" asked Maya
"I got here earlier than him, survived on this turdball for months," said Gaige, she had her nose in the air, with the smell of pride around her.
"Any bandit that came my way was a puddle of blood and guts," she said. Axton chuckled.
"I can only imagine its cause of that killer robot," said Axton. Deathtrap spun around with happiness at being addressed.
"And you seriously made him yourself?" asked Axton. Lee's ears perked up and he looked Gaige's way, same as Axton. She blushed and patted Deathtrap's chest.
"Yep, science project third place," she said. However, Gaige grumbled to herself, gritting her teeth at the memory
"Should have been first place," said Gaige with a hint of venom. No one could fathom why the hell Gaige did not win. The only thing that could have beaten out Deathtrap in their eyes was a Doomsday machine.
"You got robbed," said Axton
'For real, your super amazing Gaige." said Lee. Gaige blushed a little and giggled.
"Aw, thanks boys," said Gaige. However, Maya noted Gaige's wording and called her out.
"Wait science project, did you attend a school or something?" asked Maya. Gaige's blush vanished and she felt a stream of embarrassment and shame. She wanted to keep quiet, but she remembered what they wanted out of Maya and Axton(Krieg was a lost cause)
"Y-Yeah, I went to the Highschool for gifted kids and of course a lot of them were rich spoiled brats," said Gaige. Her face nearly twists in disgust on the thought.
"Was it that bad?" asked Lee. He draws a card, he winces as he sees a low number.
"The girls were judgmental prissy bitches and the boys were just horny dumbasses with no brains to speak off," said Gaige.
"And I was pretty much smarter and prettier than them," said Gaige with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Guess you left to use your skills as a Vault Hunter," said Axton. Gaige's face nearly turned red from embarrassment.
"Uh, yeah let's go with that," said Gaige. The change in attitude toward Axton's statement was a tad concerning, but anyone with interest decided to leave it alone for now.
"What about you Maya, why come here?" asked Lee. Maya then wore a sour expression, a reaction that Lee didn't expect.
"I came from a planet called Athenas, I read about Pandora, Sirens being drawn here and the Vault," she said. She then pats her book, a movement that Lee and Gaige noticed.
"So what have you found out coming here?" asked Lee. Maya shook her head.
"Nothing but old stories and tales," said Maya disappointed. Lee and Gaige lower their heads.
"So even though you're a Siren you're stuck in the water too?" asked Gaige.
"Do you feel anything while on Pandora?" asked Lee. "Cause most of what I got coming here was just headache," Maya looked down at her tattoos, she made them glow for a moment. She sighs.
"I feel something, it's strange, pulling at me," said Maya.
"Your arm's a compass, Brujah?" asked Salvador. Lee grumbled hearing that while Maya groaned herself.
"I don't know where the Vault is, shorty," said Maya. She kicked at the wall a little with her heel.
"I thought if I were going to find more about Sirens and the Vault then I would go after Hyperion, I heard these trains go to their bases so I hopped on," she said.
"BLUE SAPPHIRE!" yelled Krieg. Maya laughed hearing Krieg yell such a thing. Everyone else was a little thrown by it, with Salvador being amused.
"And him, what's he doing with you?" asked Lee. Axton then cleared his throat.
"Asking for a date?" asked Axton. Lee and Maya ignored him.
"He saved my life," said Maya. Lee nearly drops his cards hearing that. The others were filled with the same sense of shock.
"S-Seriously?" asked Gaige.
"Yeah, some weird-looking bandits with gasmasks attacked me from behind." she looks back at Krieg.
"Big guy saved me from them, even after I shot him," said Maya.
"TUMORS UPON THE LAND!" he yelled.
"He tried leaving, but I ended up inviting him to come along," said Maya Lee didn't need to retort this. He looked at Gaige, who was smiling at him, and back to Salvador who was picking his nose.
"I-I can see that," said Lee.
Gaige then looked to Axton, her chiseled hero.
"And you Axton, why'd you come on this train or even to Pandora?" she asked Axton with intrigue. Axton puts his hands behind his back in a relaxed motion.
"Well after I left my unit I was a bounty hunter for a bit, course I had other jobs too," said Axton. He then made his hands into finger guns and "shot" in the air.
"Thought I would be fun, going after cool and new kinds of thugs, making a cool-ass name for myself in the stars." He said with a strangely innocent smile on his face.
"Then I heard about the Vault from this radio station; Hunter Hellquist I think," uttered Axton.
Lee chokes at the memory of Jack's performance and drops his cards. He earns the attention of everyone in the room as he quickly picks them back up.
"I-I heard that station too," said Lee as he regains his composure. Axton nods.
"Yeah, it was kind of cool and cheesy." he then saw an opportunity to test his acting skills. "Wanna see how it went?" he asked.
Before Gaige could even breathe,
"NO!" yelled Lee, Maya, and Krieg(strangely) enough in unison.
Disjointed, Axton's plan was shattered to bits.
"So you after the Vault for money?" asked Lee.
"Well yeah, but there's something more important to it," said Axton. Lee's curiosity was now at a new height, anyone who heard Axton speak had felt the same. They waited for his response to answer what this 'more important' thing was.
"FAME BABY!" yelled Axton. Lee's eye narrowed annoyed, Maya sighs with exhaustion at Axton's attitude, Krieg just stares at Axton, Gaige however still acts intrigued, and Salvador just shrugs.
"Whoever finds the Vault will be remembered throughout all of history and a great explorer, survivor, and a HERO!" yelled Axton. He then pulls out a poster; it was of an adventurer with an energy whip, there was a tagline that read; TYPHON DELEON AND THE FIRST VAULT.
"Is that a poster?" asked Maya.
"Hey it's that Typhon bastard," said Salvador.
"Who?" asked Maya. Everyone aside from Krieg was confused by Maya's response. Most people knew who he was, especially those on Pandora. He was known as an expert adventurer, a man of charm, intelligence, perseverance, and a fool.
"The first Vault Hunter from Pandora, ever actually," said Lee, He draws one of his cards and once again is given a low number.
"That's the first Vault Hunter?" asked Maya. She looked at the picture and honestly didn't know what to think.
"I thought it'd be a Siren," she thought disappointed.
"He went after the Vaults and his name's practically carved in the stars," said Axton. He put his poster away. He then pointed his thumb at himself.
"If that turd farmer can find the Vault then there's no way a trained Commando like me ain't taking his shot!" he said in a cocky manner. "I'll be even more famous,"
Lee looked over at Salvador. He didn't expect a clear answer or even for Salvador to remember but it was worth a shot.
"Salvador you were born on Pandora, please tell me that you remember if you met him at all." requested Lee.
"Nada," said Salvador.
"But you remember his name," said Gaige annoyed at the Pandoran's selective memory.
"Drugs and alcohol, don't make me repeat myself," said Salvador. He tried snatching away Lee's cards, but his hand is smacked away.
"And you're here. Why?" asked Axton as he pointed at Salvador.
"Though it would be fun and I ended up bumping into Nino and Robo-girl," said Salvador. Gaige smirked at her nickname.
"This was after he nearly ran me over trying to save me," said Lee.
"Your welcome!" said Salvador proudly.
"He shot at me too and now we're pals, sort of." Gaige pointed out
"Your welcome!" repeated Salvador. Axton shrugged.
"Pretty simple reason I guess," said Axton. He then looked in Lee's direction.
"What about you kid, why are you after the Vault since you are so curious about me," said Axton.
Lee narrowed his eyes at Axton. He shuffles his deck.
"Don't flatter yourself, I'm more curious about Maya than you," said Lee. He blushes realizing what he had said and before a joke could be told.
"Not like that!" he yelled. Gaige, Salvador, and Axton stifled their laughter.
"THE CLOWN TWISTS HIS CRIMSON INTESTINE BALLOONS!" yelled Krieg. No one wanted to know what Krieg meant this time. Then Lee looks at Maya and gives her an apologetic look, she knew what it meant.
"Don't sweat it, Lee," said Maya.
Lee sighed and looked down at the floor. He paused before answering, but as he did Salvador witnessed Lee giving a sad look. It was a strange reaction that he hadn't noticed in Lee, and Gaige took note too.
"I guess I want to see what's inside," said Lee.
"That's it?" asked Axton. Lee shrugged.
"When I was a kid, everyone my age wanted to be a Vault Hunter," said Lee. He looked up at the ceiling. "It was like wanting to be a superhero or an alien." He draws a card.
"Or a Super Hero Alien," said Salvador. Lee gestures to Salvador, agreeing with his statement.
"All those stories, all that treasure, all those people dead chasing after them," said Lee. "My mother said that there are as many Vault Hunters as there are stars in the sky, I wanted to see if searching for it is worth anything," said Lee.
"So your just curious, kind of vague the way you said it" stated Maya. Lee blushes embarrassed at hearing this.
Lee's reasoning for coming to Pandora seemed a bit different than the others. It wasn't just for fun or with a defined purpose, it was about curiosity. At least at this time, it does. He looks at his card and saw that is was an Ace.
"Ha, I win!" he said to himself. He then puts his cards away.
"So your kind of like a scientist or whatever," said Gaige with interest. Lee smirked at the idea.
"Not really, wish I could tho-
*BOOM*
Just then a large noise rang through the entire train. The train didn't shake, but the loud and sudden noise shocked everyone. With the peaceful moment shattered, everyone prepares for a fight' they all grab their guns, save for Lee, Deathtrap who was preparing his energy claws, and Krieg who goes for his Buzz-axe, Maya pulled out a Maliwan SMG with a corrosive green glow it. Salvador drew a single Shotgun and his new Hyperion pistol.
"The hell what that?" asked Axton.
"HAHA, it's called fun Ax," said Salvador with an itchy trigger finger.
Maya looked out the small openings in the wall and saw pieces of a Bandit Technical were flying everywhere. Body parts of Bandits; blood and guts flew through the air like fireworks.
"We crashed into some bandits!" she said.
"Idiots, they tried to take the train," said Salvador.
"See anything else?" asked Gaige.
Maya looked around a bit more and saw that the train was making a right turn. It would soon exit out of the dust wasteland into a land of tundra, straight ahead as of this moment.
"Well we're almost there, guess there's a base near a glacier," she said.
Upon hearing this Gaige and Lee rush over to the wall where Maya was. They looked out their own little windows and saw that Maya was telling the truth. As the train entered the territory, the air in the car began to get colder and colder. The outside was soon pelted by snow, and harsh Icelandic winds blew through every opening on the train as it traveled through it. How sun and sand were replaced it ice and cold.
"Well shit is it cold," said Salvador.
"What the hell, that's not where Opportunity is!" yelled Gaige
*Shocked Robot noises*
"You mean that Hyperion city?" asked Maya. Axton then wore a perplexed expression.
"Wait, Opportunity is where this train was going to stop?" asked Axton. Everyone looked at Axton in confusion.
"Yeah, Jack told me-" Lee widened his eyes and felt like the dumbest person in the entire history of Vault Hunters.
"Jack!" he said angrily.
"Yes, bandit, you called?" said Jack from nowhere.
No one knew how, but Jack's voice could be heard in the room. Everyone looked around for the source as quickly as they could. One thing was for certain, though, and they had all walked into a trap.
"Look at all you Vault Hunters, so much power, so much potential, so much I can't let any of you idiots live," said Jack
"Hey, show yourself, Jackass!" demanded Salvador. He readies to fire his new gun.
"Oh, I would if I could; I'm not particularly sensitive about how I look." Jack Chuckles. "You probably should be, though."
Salvador grumbles hearing that insult.
"Spying on me, that's not fucking fair," said Axton as he waved his gun around.
"THE WALLS HAVE SPHINCTERS!" yelled Krieg.
Jack paused before speaking again because, honestly, who wouldn't after hearing that.
"Now I can't honestly fathom how you bandit scum thought you could board my train, with my good, and just expect me not to kick your cheap ass off," said Jack.
As everyone stayed on their guard, a feeling of stupidity, ineptitude, and self-loathing burned their skin and veins. All of them thought they were safe, and they were only being strung along. Lee felt the most distraught about this.
"Damn it, he knew what I was up to!" he thought to himself. He hit the wall out of anger, putting a dent in it,
"Hey, that's Hyperion property kid, I guess since you can't work for me you decided to mess with my stuff," said Jack angrily. "Eridium on this train is worth more than, well, basically any version of you idiots."
Gaige then realized something quickly. Soon Maya and Lee understood as well. Jack saw Lee hit the wall, meaning that he noticed what he was doing somehow. Were their cameras on the train, and they didn't realize it or was it something else.
"Now, I hate to cut this ride short, but I can't accommodate stowaways," said Jack.
Just then, the walls began to open, revealing small camera-like gadgets behind them.
"Holy crap, the Psycho was right," said Salvador; he was legitimately impressed.
At the same time, the metal rectangular boxes began to change color; Hyperion yellow. Everyone immediately got away from the boxes. Soon they change, spinning around as a lower half popping out and lifting them, arms with guns in their hands. They bore a bright red robotic eye located on the left if its mechanical face, limbs that were cubic and box-like, and they seemed to be armed with base looking rifles trained on them. They looked like Deathtrap, except not as cool and not floating. The battle mechs then began to recite binary code.
"01010100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100100 01101001 01100101"
They had surrounded the Vault Hunters. Our "heroes" weapons were drawn and prepared for the oncoming pandemonium.
"Not good!" yelled Axton as he aimed down the sights of his gun.
"Lee, nows probably a good time to talk about that plan to kill Jack!" yelled Gaige. Axton and Maya widened their eyes, hearing that statement.
"Wait, what-" yelled Axton in confusion. Lee ignores him and points to the door exiting the car.
"Everyone fight to get to the conductor's car; Jack's in there!" yelled Lee
Just then, one of the robots tried to shoot Lee. Lee noticed, but before he could attack it, the robot's gun hand was severed from its body. It falls to the ground with cracks of electricity from its severed limb.
"What the hell?!" said Lee. Soon the mech's other arms and legs were cut down until it was nothing but a torso. It falls to the ground, and as it lies there, something unseen stabs it in its eye.
"01010100 01101001 01101101 01100101 0010000-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-"
It dies, and when it does, a holographic veil fades, revealing a sword had pierced its body; the owner was revealed standing on the robot's broken body. Soon everyone took notice and saw this stranger. He had a strange black helmet concealing his face with an outfit that was completely black with only a red numerical zero on his chest, the best way to describe it would be to say he looked like a ninja. His appearance earned the attention of everyone in the room.
"Friend of yours?" asked Maya. Gaige, Salvador, and Lee shook their heads.
"No, but he's skinny as hell,' said Salvador.
"Who are you?" asked Lee.
The Stranger then pulls his sword out of the robot and speaks.
"I have been revealed/ Though I was unknown to you / Just call me Zer0."
That's all I wrote,
As you can tell, not a lot happened, but I wanted it that way.
The next chapter is gonna be a highway to hell to stay tuned.
Review, criticize.
More than likely going to edit this later.
"This is Squalo King signing off."