Heyo back again. 1st boss fight for the group! Get reading!
Previously
"Even more the reason why I'm going to help you." - Gaige
"You can't, if you got hurt because of me…" - Maddox
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"Say goodnight." Rouf said as he began to pull the trigger. Just then a red streak went straight through Rouf's head. Rouf fell to the ground as the red streak faded away. Axton followed the streak and it led it a black figure who turned and phased through the wall.
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"3! 2!" Tina shouted as the missiles fired off. One missile flew off into the track causing it to break while the other disappeared over the cliff. "I got bored." The second missile exploded and the train barreled into the river below. They all ran up the train where the latest missile hit.
Fighting their way through the wreckage wasn't hard. Most of the loaders were already damaged. But the big fight was still coming.
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Chapter 18: Wilhelm
The vault hunters dropped off a short ice cliff. There was a nearby badly damaged fast travel station that emitted yellow holograms instead of the usual blue. A little next to the station was a chest.
"Everyone lock in load. I've got a feeling there's something big on the other side." Axton warned.
"I agree. I'm getting some very powerful energy readings just on the other side. It could be the vault key." Maddox confirmed.
Once they were all ready, they walked out into a large opening. Train parts were buried in the snow. In the middle was a fully intact train car.
"That car right there. There's something powerful in it."
Suddenly, the car began to move and float above the snow. It was too late before any of them noticed that it wasn't floating but a human that was mostly machine was picking it up. The car was hurled at the group. No one moved, they couldn't go anywhere.
Maddox knew that was something he had to stop. Maddox stepped forward in front of them. Forcing all of his energy to move into his legs, arms, and back, this caused them to harden like stone. The train car flew into Maddox, and he caught it sliding back and barely stopping it from crushing the rest of his team. Maddox transferred his energy into his arms and launched it back at Wilhelm. Wilhelm shot a laser beam from his eyes and cut the train car in half.
"We need some sort of plan!" Maya shouted.
"Agreed." Axton commented.
Maddox wasn't processing anything they were saying. He had one objective and one objective only: Kill. In the blink of an eye Maddox rushed forward at incredible speed. His friends calling out to him to stop but they couldn't get through to him. A EXP Loader seemed to pop out of nowhere and knocked Maddox off balance. Wilhelm used this to rapidly rotate and slam Maddox into the wall. Maddox stood up and ran at Wilhelm again. Wilhelm launched missiles at him and as Maddox was focused on dodging the missiles Wilhelm once again slammed him into the wall.
Maddox still got up and ran at Wilhelm again. His friends could only watch him and felt powerless. They knew they needed to do something, but they didn't know what they could do.Maddox was repeatedly slammed against the wall and was repeatedly still getting up. However, each time was taking a heavy toll on him. Maddox staggered back up and was hit by Wilhelm again but this time he was flying over the ice cliff. Gaige could rest knowing that he was safe now. Wilhelm wasn't planning on him getting away that easily. He launched a grapple and hooked onto Maddox and slammed Maddox against the ice wall again and again and again. Maddox couldn't stand and knelt on his hands and knees coughing. Maddox knew that if he was human he would already be dead. Wilhelm turned his attention away from Maddox and primed a barrage of missiles towards his friends. Just before the fatal missiles were unleashed Wilhelm felt a small ping on his ankle. He turned his attention to see Maddox weakly punching at him.
"You leave them alone."
"So you're still able to stand? I can fix that." The barrage of missiles had a new target and all launched at Maddox. Maddox was against the ice wall again, this time he couldn't move. His eyes violently blinking red signaled the end of his fight.
"How am I supposed to win?" Maddox spoke in a quiet voice. Wilhelm stopped and Maddox's friends began to listen. "I'm supposed to take on Noitalihinna who has destroyed whole galaxies? I can't even beat a cyborg. I can't win. I alone am not strong enough to win."
Wilhelm had a huge cannon on his back and began charging it and aimed at Maddox. "This railgun will pierce through your chest and destroy your heart. You will die."
Maddox closed his eyes and prepared for his end. Gaige ran in and grabbed the grapple that was attached to Wilhelm and threw it at DT who caught it and spun with enough force to cause Wilhelm to turn and fire off the cannon in a harmless direction. Wilhelm made an attempt to swing Gaige into the wall but found that DT had not only pulled so hard to make Wilhelm turn, but also caused his arm to be completely severed. Gaige swung Zero's sword into Wilhelms leg breaking important circuitry and causing him to collapse Gaige proceeded to empty a mag into his head. Wilhelm was dead.
Gaige reloaded her mag and walked over to Maddox. "This is why I can't let you face him alone." She knelt beside him and he put in a lot of effort to look at her. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "I don't want to… no... I can't afford to lose you. I'm going to help you face Noitalihinna. We're in this together."
Maddox tried to speak, his energy was too low. He took way too much punishment. Gaige summoned DT and had him shock Maddox to restore some of his energy. "I want you to help. But I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you died for my agenda."
"Is that not what dating someone is supposed to mean?" She whispered. "To sacrifice for your partner?"
Maddox fell silent. He knew she was right. "I-"
"Maddox… I want you to know that you're not alone anymore. Those days of being alone on Rehtona are over. You don't need to run away anymore." She spoke softly, tears streaming down her face while she smiled.
Maddox captured her into a tight embrace. Gaige buried her head into his neck. "I know. I'm just afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"Afraid to get too attached. I'm afraid that one day you will all leave me alone. So I try to separate myself as much as I can so when the day comes I know I'm already prepared."
"I promise. I won't ever leave you."
"Don't make a guy a promise. If you know you can't keep it."
"This is one I won't break." Gaige stood up along with Maddox. Maddox put his arm around her for support. Maddox spotted a powercore on the ground which most likely came from Wilhelm.
"That's gonna keep Sanctuary safe for a long time." The gang picked up the power core celebrating and left towards the fast travel station.
"Tori, the target is confirmed. It's Maddox." A black armored figure with glowing red lines decorating his armor spoke into his helmet radio.
"Good work Ethan. We just need to find a way to get him alone."
There you have it. I know the other members were not really involved much. I couldn't find a way to bring them in. Just to let you know the Inventory Update is still the same. They haven't gotten any chance to rest yet and if you know the Borderlands 2 story line they aren't going to be able to do it when they get back to Sanctuary.