Hello once again, sorry that the wait was longer than usual but at least it wasn't as slow as the last chapter. Nothing much to say other than that I messed up a bit on the Inventory System with everyone getting one more weapon slot and completely forgot about it. But that's it so read on...

Chapter 9: Sorrow and Grief

With their luck, once they made it into Sanctuary Roland was MIA, possibly a POW. So instead they helped this crazy mechanic named Scooter install a bunch of fuel drives or something into little pillars that were supposed to make the city fly. They didn't work.

Axton went into a small hospital because he was still feeling sick from the little show Maddox gave them. Of course the doctor said he was fine and had him help with surgery on some Hyperion retard that decided to swallow a chunk of eridium. In short the Hyperion guy died and left blood all over the place. Dr. Zed tried to warn Axton that he was not an actual doctor. Which explains why the surgery was messy.

Salvador left and was with Clap Trap who ordered him to collect a ton of rocks for some stupid stash. Which the hiding place for it fell apart so he didn't have to do anything. Maya, Zero, and Krieg all were in the command center. Gaige was with Marcus, a munitions trader, and was helping him test out the new elemental weapons that came in.

Maddox however sat on the rooftop. The images he got from the psycho burned in his mind. Questioning if the girl had survived if her parents did, where could they be. Then there was Reiss laying there all bloody and broken and dead. All these burned into his mind at once and made him want to disappear. Wish he had never come to this world to find these things, wished he never sought to find someone like him, wished he never became a freak, wished that he could just restart his life and pretend that none of it happened!

Unable to take it anymore Maddox flew into the sky using a good amount of his energy and shot back down straight into a bandit camp causing a brilliant angry red explosion of plasma and fire! Maddox stood up, his eyes blinked red every couple of seconds. There was nothing left of the camp. Buildings and bandits were all disintegrated into nothing. Just a big crater that billowed with smoke and Maddox was right in the middle of it.

Gaige had walked out of the munitions store and went into the command center. Seeing everyone was there except for Maddox. She knew he planned on leaving when they came to Sanctuary, but she at least thought he'd say goodbye. "I guess he already left." Gaige said looking at the floor.

"Yea… I guess he did. I didn't even see him leave." Axton confirmed.

Suddenly, they heard a very loud noise that shook everything. They all rushed to the outside balcony and saw a giant red mushroom shape that came from an explosion.

"Could that be?" Maya turned to Gaige who was nowhere to be seen.

Gaige was already out of Sanctuary and in a Runner headed straight for the explosion that was echoed with black smoke leaving a known bandit camp. Gaige finally made it to the bandit camp, at least what was left of it. The smoke was thick black and because she didn't have her arm repaired yet she wasn't willing to go in the pitch black area not knowing what she may run into. "Maddox?" She called, there was no answer. "Maddox?" She said desperately hoping he was ok. Still no response came from the smoke cloud. Thinking she had no other option, she disappeared into the thick black smoke. Covering her mouth and nose and squinting her eyes as best she could as she ventured into the endless void. "Maddox?" She called again and instantly regretted it as she breathed in a thick cloud of black smoke. She began to cough violently, breathing in the fumes of burnt corpses and disintegrated metal. Her cough began to get worse and she began to collapse with the intensity of her coughs. She fell flat and felt her vision fade. But just before the darkness consumed her consciousness she saw a blink of red eyes for a good two seconds.

2 months before Maddox lands on Pandora

Maddox landed in front of a house and knocked on the door. Where Anika's mom opened it. Her eyes widened, "Maddox you're alive. Look I haven't seen Anika for a long time. I don't know if she's alive, but you need to find her before she kills herself. If she hasn't already." She said panicking.

Anika laid in the field that was now with long grass. She got up and pulled out her knife. She decided that if she was going to kill herself it would be in the field where her and Maddox made so many memories. Taking the knife she cut her knee. Watching the blood run down her leg. Failing to notice that some of the blood began flying in a certain direction. She then put the knife down, and picked up a gun that she was hiding under her shirt. She began to load it. The flying blood then landed on Maddox. His eyes glowed red for a split second and he knew exactly what Anika was doing and where she was. He flew in that direction, hoping he'd make it in time.

Maddox made it to the field and was unable to find her because of the long grass. He used his ability to look for her heat signature, as soon as he located her, he flew into her direction. She was still alive, so he could make it. However, when she came into his view a loud bang sounded off, and Anika dropped to the ground.

Maddox halted to a stop. "No!" Maddox couldn't believe it. He knelt down at her body, she was dead. She committed suicide.

Present

Gaige tried to sit up but was unable to use her left arm. Remembering that her left arm was still damaged she propped herself on her right arm and looked around; however, she couldn't really see anything. "Hello?" she asked trying to find out what was happening. She rubbed her eyes trying to see if that would help her see better. It didn't help much; only to make everything smudged in her dark vision. "Why can't I see anything?" She said to herself.

"You're awake!" Maddox said surprised and relieved.

"Yea, I'm up, where are we? Can you see anything?"

"We're in a skag cave. I can see just fine; but it's because I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak."

"A weirdo?"

"No"

"Numb nut?"

"No"

"A goof nut?"

"No… wait what?"

"Goof nut"

Gaige laughed a bit "I've never heard anyone say that before."

"I'm a first then."

"What did you see when you were in the psycho's head?"

"A girl and her mom and dad in a Hyperion structure. They were going to be test subjects."

"Oh… I see."

"Yeah,"

"So… what happened?"

"I don't know what happened to them. I was in the eyes of the person standing in line behind them. The man before he became a psycho."

"What about the smoke?"

"Oh… uh you couldn't breathe and I found you and took you here."

"No… I mean why did you nuke a bandit camp like that?"

"I uh… I needed to take my anger out."

"Because of what they did to Reiss?"

"No. Because of what I didn't do. Save him."

"You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"Why not? I stood there and believed him when he said he was fine when I should have scanned him for injuries and fixed him up. Maybe me coming to Pandora was a mistake. All I seem to do is make stupid dumb decisions and I got someone killed."

"Don't say that!"

"All I seem to do is make dumb decisions and get people killed."

"Stop it!" Gaige screamed at him; tears threatening at her eyes.

"All I seem to do is-"

"Then why am I still alive?" She snapped, tears still threatened to drip and her eyes were full of anger and sadness. Maddox just stopped and looked at the ground as his eyes continued to blink red. A little faster than it was after he nuked, but not much. "Why am I still alive? If all you do is make dumb decisions that get people killed then how come I'm still alive?"

"Do you know how many people have died because of me? How close they all were to me? I caused the crime on my home planet to skyrocket when I was under the organizations power. This caused my family to die completely. My trainer Ivan Miller who was like a father to me died trying to help fake my death so I could live a normal life, when I should have known that I should have just fought them instead. Then my childhood friend, I should have shouted her name, knocked the gun out of her hand with my power, and she killed herself because she thought I was dead and I was right behind her when she pulled the trigger. All I've done is get the people closest to me killed. So, you want to know why you're still alive? It's because so far you're being lucky. Eventually your luck will run out. I would be the reason for your death."

Gaige didn't say anything for a while. Finally unable to hold back her tears in the dark cave as she collapsed back on her knees. "You're such an idiot."

"That's what I've-"

"Why would their deaths affect you not coming to Pandora? You didn't even know Reiss. So why does one death here on Pandora cause you to wish you didn't come? From what I can tell, all you've done is save lives. You saved mine who knows how many times. You saved everyone in our group on that train when it exploded." She began to move closer to him. Hugging him as tight as she could. Ignoring the dim red light his eyes gave off periodically. "Do you know what that power core did? It's being used as a battery to power a shield that covers Sanctuary from Hyperion. From Handsome Jack. You saved everyone in Sanctuary. So don't leave Pandora, you need to try and help that family you saw in the psycho's head. You need to find out what happened to them. You know it's all Hyperion's fault that they are dead or mutated. Reiss was trying to get the power core to protect Sanctuary from Hyperion, so it's their fault he's dead. Don't leave Pandora when you've done nothing wrong." Tears still streamed down her face.

Maddox put his arms around her, and hugged her tightly. "You're right. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry. I'm not going to leave Pandora, not yet. Thank you." Every word he said was true, not a single piece of deceit hidden within.

Gaige didn't want to move. She liked their current position, and could easily confirm that she liked him. Maybe even more than like. But she knew that he'd leave the group soon. Off to find this other being like him. "When are you going to leave?"

"Wha? I just said I wasn't."

"I mean to find this other dude like you."

"Oh, I decided that I'd help deal with Hyperion first."

"Really!?" She looked him in his blinking eyes looking for truth.

"Yea, really." He pulled her back into the hug.

"Not that I don't want you to stay, but why?"

"I've got a few reasons." He told her. Maddox didn't know what his main reason was. Maybe it was because staying with this group would give him an easier chance to punish Hyperion for all their crime, or maybe it was the girl in his arms. Maddox didn't know exactly how he felt about her. He knew he was very fond of her, and wasn't wanting to lose her or put her in more danger than she already was. She was more than a friend to him. She was a best friend; a close one.

He held her tighter, and she listened to his heartbeat. She found it comforting, and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was because it told her he was alive; he wasn't some programmed robot like Death Trap or those loader bots from Hyperion. He was alive, and he had human emotions. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"You're heart... it's different isn't it. It's not like a human heart is it."

"No… it's not human."

"Can I… uh see it?"

Maddox hesitated for a second, and began questioning himself. Was he willing to reveal what he was; his own weakness that could kill him instantly. Maddox let out a heavy breath. "You'll need to get off my chest to see it."

Gaige nodded and sat up; still in his lap. His chest opened up; the black inside was illuminated by a slowly pulsing bright red crystal shaped object. The crystal was being circled by 4 black crystals that were a little smaller. She lifted her flesh hand to touch it, but looked at Maddox's eyes for permission.

Seeming to know what she wanted; Maddox nodded. Her hand slowly and gently grabbed the crystal. It was perfectly smooth, and she could feel its power in her hand. It had more power than the Hyperion Station's power core. Which was fairly unstable. However, Gaige could tell that this crystals was nowhere near being unstable. It was gentle, and pulsing in her hand. It's brilliant red light would dim just for a second with one pulse. Then the second pulse came, and it would come back to life. She was mesmerized by it. This is what kept Maddox alive, this is what gave him his power, this was Maddox. His conscious, emotions, thinking, all of it was right in the palm of her hand. She gently put the crystal back in his chest, and watched as his chest closed back up; protecting the fragile object.

"Thank you Maddox, for everything." She said as she leaned back into his chest. They were both comfortable and not wanting to move. Sitting in each other's arms for a long while. Finally; Gaige spoke up again. "Maddox, I-I think I'm…" this was it. She just had to say it, to admit it and tell him. "I think I… I'm falling… falling asleep." She finished; cursing herself, for ditching what she was planning to actually do.

"Is that so? Well I guess it's getting pretty late. We should head back to Sanctuary before the others really start to worry about us, of course it's more likely you than me." Maddox said as he began to gently push her off so he could get up. Gaige reluctantly stood up with him, and leaned on him again. He was a head taller than her, so it made it very easy to lean on his shoulder. He led her out of the cage, and kept his eyes a constant bright red so she could see where she was going. Before they made it halfway out; Maddox's eyes stopped glowing red, and they stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" Gaige asked unable to see anything.

"My power, I need to have a recharge soon. We'll need to continue the rest of the way in the dark. My eyes have night vision so if you need to grab onto me; go ahead." Maddox replied to her. Almost immediately her hand went forward and snatched into his hand. She debated whether or not to interlock their fingers as they started to move forward, but ultimately decided against it; thinking it would make it awkward. Their whole way through the rest of the cave; Gaige had a massive blush across her face. She was glad Maddox led the whole way through; because he could have seen it.

After they made out of the cave, Gaige asked, "How far away from the crater are we?"

"Not far, the crater is just right over there." Maddox pointed in Gaige's blindspot to the crater. Gaige looked and was surprised that smoke still rose from it; not as thick and black as before, but still there nonetheless.

"There should be a Runner that I drove here." Gaige informed.

"I'll follow you to it." Maddox said as they walked there. However, when they arrived; there was no Runner in sight. "Uhh… could have bandits gotten to it?"

"Maybe." she sighed, "Let's find a Catch-A-Ride and get out of here."

"No, that'll take too long, I'll fly us there."

"Your power is low, I can't let you do that."

"Yea… I guess you're right." Maddox said defeated. "Actually, do you have your Electronic Vexation on you?"

"Yea?"

"Shoot me with it."

"What?! No, I won't do that."

"I wanna try something, please shoot me."

"No, I will not."

"Why?"

"Why! Uhh hello, you want me to shoot you."

"Look, maybe the electricity bolts it shoots will charge me."

"Huh?"

"The electric gun shoots bolts of electricity right?"

"Yea…"

"I basically run on energy, electricity is energy. You shooting me, should in turn power me up."

"O-ok." Gaige hesitantly took out her Vexation and aimed it at Maddox. She felt her hand shake, since she had to one hand it since her arm still didn't work, and because she was still really unsure about this. She closed her eyes and began to squeeze the trigger, but quickly redirected the gun somewhere else. "I'm sorry, but what if it doesn't work and you get hurt? I-I can't do this."

"Gaige, I've done this before. It'll work; I promise."

"Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." Gaige said as she raised the gun again and closed her eyes as her shaky hand pulled the trigger. The bolts flew out of her gun; hitting Maddox. Just like expected, the bolts simply absorbed into his body, giving him a little power.

Gaige opened her eyes, and looked at Maddox. "See, told you it would work. Now quit standing there and keep unloading on me. I'll pay for the ammo." Maddox gave her a goofy smile.

Gaige blushed, and continued to drain her rounds on him. While she shot; she began thinking. This Maddox that had been buried for so long, was he finally starting to surface. She could tell that the Maddox she was shooting was a different Maddox than she knew, and she liked this one much better. Gaige emptied the last of her rounds into him. "That's all I have, sorry. You'll have to give me yours so I can continue."

"Alright." He gave her his rounds so she could continue to unload into him. Eventually they both ran dry.

"That's all of it." Gaige told him.

"Thank you, it'll hold me a little longer. I've also stored some in a special containment for flying back to Sanctuary with extra weight."

"Did you just call me fat?"

"Eh!? No! I was saying that I'll have to fly with an extra 130ish pounds… I probably should not have said that last part." Maddox looked at a face of fury.

"If my robot arm was working; you would have a giant dent in your forehead."

"Speaking of which let me look at it."

Gaige used her flesh arm to lift the cybernetic arm up to him. Maddox looked at the damage which was caused by a psycho. His hand began to glow red and slowly Gaige felt her arm again.

"Now I made sure you can't punch me until tomorrow morning so don't try it." Maddox looked at her cheaply.

Gaige still had an idea to get revenge. She lifted her arm up, although wanting to bring her arm down fast, she found that the speed gear that when into her shoulder and elbow were tampered with to slow it down. Which explained why she couldn't punch him. It didn't matter though, DT was still summoned. "Decapitate." Gaige said with venom.

Without hesitation, DT used its ion claws and sliced off Maddox's head when he wasn't paying attention. Maddox's body fell over and slumped onto the ground. Almost instantly his body reformed with its head attached upright.

Maddox put his hand on his head. "I probably should have just let you punch me because that gave me a headache."

"Well don't call me fat next time."

Maddox opened his mouth to argue but shut it knowing it would be best to shut up. "Alright well we still need to get back to Sanctuary." Maddox knelt down with his back facing her. "Climb on."

Gaige climbed on and secured herself by wrapping her arms around his neck. Maddox shoes turned into thrusters and they shot up like a bullet. Gaige hung on with all her might not wanting to fall. Eventually they leveled out and Gaige was simply lying on his back looking at the world below them.

"Wow." Gaige said in awe.

"What is it?" Maddox asked her.

"I just… I don't know. I never realized how beautiful Pandora looked."

"Yea… it's hard to notice that when you're not trying to die."

The two flew in silence for a while. Even through his back, Gaige could hear the quiet beat of his heart, or crystal, whatever you want to call it.

"I don't care how many times you say it. You're not a freak, you're human." Gaige told him expecting him to argue, but he didn't. He stayed silent.

They soon arrived in Sanctuary. Maddox slowly descended on the HQ building and landed on the balcony. They both walked inside and saw everyone sprawled on the various furniture. There was even a couple piles of gear for both of them and a note on one of them.

Gaige picked up the note and read it aloud. "Gaige, if you are reading this then you got back before we tried to find you. Sorry we took the Runner but we figured you and Maddox needed to talk. We went ahead and ran some errands for Dr. Zed, Hammerlock, and powered up a small gas stations and got a delivery job out of that. The piles of gear are for you and Maddox. If Maddox has not come back, take his gear. There's also a mission where we need to kill some assassins so we figured we'd do that once you get back."

"There's nothing useful for me in this besides ammo, which the SMG ammo is going to you."

"Same with my pile, nothing useful."

Aaand that's it for now, sorry to leave it with such a bad conclusion but there isn't much else I want to do. At least for this chapter.

Inventory Update:

Axton

Electronic Strike- Dahl Sniper

Competition- Hyperion Sniper

Incendiary Aegis- Maliwan Pistol

Adaptive Shield- Anshin

Sticky Lobbed Standard Grenade- Tediore

Maya

Electronic Spread- Tediore Launcher

Negotiator- Dahl Pistol

Standard Shield- Tediore

Rubberized MIRV- Torgue

Salvador

Longrider- Jakob's Shotgun

Gatling Gun- Jakon's AR

Electronic Prowler- Maliwan Launcher

Standard Shield- Tediore

Electronic Homing Effect Grenade- Vladof

Zero

Sniper- Dahl Sniper

Anaconda- Dahl Pistol

Nova Shield- Torgue

Electronic Homing Effect Grenade- Vladof

Gaige

Rifle- Valdof AR

Electronic Vexation- Maliwan SMG

Booster Shield- Dahl

Acidic Sticky Longbow Transfusion Grenade- Maliwan

Krieg

Pounder- Torgue Shotgun

Incendiary Launcher- Bandit Launcher

Acidic Nova Shield- Maliwan

Electronic Homing Bettie Grenade- Dahl

Maddox

Boom- Torgue Launcher

Incendiary Sniper- Dahl Sniper

Roid Shield- Bandit

Incendiary Homing Effect Grenade- Vladof