Maya and Krieg arrived in Frostburn Canyon, the cold air burning Maya's delicate skin. She had made sure to dress for the journey up here, while Krieg hadn't even bothered to put on a shirt. Maya touched her hand to his chest. He was impossibly warm. She held her hand in place just a moment too long, unaware of the hellfire psychos that were heading their way.

"HURTS SO GOOD!" Krieg, now on fire, whipped around and barreled through the other psychos, mowing them down with his buzzaxe as he went along. Maya ran after him, shooting wildly at any bandit she came across who Krieg hadn't decimated. She quickly realize she couldn't keep up with his spastic movements and insane speed. It was as though being on fire energized him. She stepped back and watched. Did he enjoy being on fire? She thought about that time she caught him setting himself on fire, and how his arm was completely smooth. No sign of a burn, nothing. Surely, by now, he'd be in serious trouble, being on fire for so long. Was it possible that the experiments Hyperion did to him somehow made him immune to fire damage? What about the other elements? Maya gathered a tiny, flickering sphere of lightning in her palm. She bounced it around from each one of her fingers while she waited for Krieg to put himself out in the snow. "Hey, Krieg, catch," she tossed the elemental orb towards him, holding her breath as she let it grow larger while it charged towards him.

"I HAVE THE POWER!"

"We are going to kill so many people together."

As they made their way through the camp to the Firehawk's lair, Axton's voice came over the echo. "Have you found any of the Firehawk's signs yet?"

"Uh, no?" Maya had completely forgotten their mission in the midst of everything.

"There are seven signs, you may have passed a few already, but they do stand out," Axton chuckled.

"A-ha, found one!"

Just ahead, a psycho pinned to a post pointed them in the direction of doom. The Firehawk may have been a ruthless, vicious killer, but at least he shared Krieg's keen decorating sense.

"Step off, Raiders, this is between the Bloodshots and the Firehawk! Once my boys bring his ass back to me, he's gonna pay for every Bloodshot he's killed. We're gonna string him up from his own freakin' intestines!" A gentleman named Flanksteak introduced himself through a brief echo message. Krieg immediately responded to his name, "MY INTESTINES QUAKE FOR THE TASTE OF YOUR MEAT."

Deeper and deeper through the Blisterpus Camp they battled, leaving mounds of Bloodshots in their wake. "BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOOOD!" Krieg screamed out.

"Keep goin', Bloodshots! That demonic… THING will rue the goddamn day it messed with us!" Flanksteak hollered over the intercom.

Lightning struck Maya at her temples. Electricity ran down her temporal lobe and filled her senses. "That demonic THING… get her away from me!" Painful memories inundated the space between her skull, numbness washed over her body to protect her from feeling too much. Not too long ago, things were so much different. She was "holy," "clean," "revered." Now, she was just a shadow of who she used to be, red eyes glowing in a dark cloud of her former grace. "Conquer yourself!" A voice shrilled. Conquer Yourself. Yeah. Go away, just like you did all of those years ago when we needed you the most.

Krieg realized he was alone in his consumption of the bandits, not that he minded, but, where was his Maya? He spotted her yards away, back slumped against a dead tree. Her eyes… she wasn't with us right now. Was she speaking with the gods? He checked her ears. No, no change, yet. "Where are you, Princess?" His inner voice murmured. "Your Princess is in another castle — in another castle — in another castle," the words repeated in his head. "She'ssss not heeere anymoooreee." The voice hissed. So familiar, yet, so strange. "Jack?" Krieg's inner voice questioned. The voice laughed, that haughty, presumptuous laugh. "If I were as handsome as you… bwahahahaha. Oh but look at you now. What job could you possibly hold now?" The laughter whipped around Krieg, he could feel it prickling his skin. How did he not see it before? Jack. Handsome … Jack.

The blood of all of his hatred dripped down and blurred his vision. "RED! I SEE THE RED! I YEEEARN FOR IT!" Relaxation rushed over him. Sweet release. Body pieces. Body peaces. The voices of the angels sang out to him again. He was starting to notice a pattern. "You must save her from herself. She can't do this without you." Time slowed down. "THE FLOW OF TIME IS ALWAYS CRUEL WHEN I HAVE A BONESAW!"

Maya looked up suddenly, a small smile held her lips up. At least they couldn't take away her good memories, too. "I thought I'd let you do all the work for once," she jabbed him in the ribs softly. "Let's get going, I think the Firehawk is just up ahead."

"You think the Firehawk's got Roland, huh?" Handsome Jack Echoed in. "Y'know, I heard the Firehawk liquifies bandits and drinks 'em like flesh smoothies. But nah, I'm sure your pal Roland is just fine. Of course, if Roland hadn't been such a dumbass in the first place — whoops! Almost spilled the secret!"

Maya and Krieg exchanged a sideways glance and continued on forward. "Listen, even if you DO rescue Roland from this Firehawk guy," Jack continued, "the Crimson Raiders ain't exactly long for this world. You know what? I think you deserve a little hint: my secret involves your pathetic resistance dying, me laughing, a lot, and then I'm going to find you and lock you up in a cell for all of eternity. Sound good? Sounds great." Static sound waves pierced the air as the transmission ended.

"BLAKE!" Jack spun around in his chair.

"Sir?" A tired, but refined voice responded.

"Put out a warrant. One hundred billion fucking dollars for 'Krieg,' property of Hyperion. Make a separate note for probable Siren bitch that he's teamed up with. Blonde. Super hot. Weird tattoos on her left hand and arm."

"Dead or alive, sir?"

"For the psycho? Dead's fine. But for the Siren? Alive and kicking."

Handsome Jack's eyes glowed beneath his mask. He smoothed back his hair, adjusted his blazer, fastened the last snap on his vest — that one was always coming undone — and arranged his base layer just so… there, perfect. He made his way to Opportunity's Fast Travel station. "Where to, sexy?" the voice asked. Jack closed his eyes. "The Bunker." Time to get serious.

Back at Frostburn Canyon, jets of flames greeted Maya and Krieg at the entrance of the Firehawk's Lair.

"How quaint," Maya thought. She watched closely for the timing of the traps. Krieg ran right through the flames, giving no regard to the mechanics of the scheme. He flipped a switch at the end, allowing Maya to follow at her own pace. The sounds of their footsteps ricocheted off of the cavern's walls as they approached the platform ahead. Two Bruisers walked out, clearly looking for a good time.

"I SEE MEAT MUSCLES!" Krieg yelled.

"Stay focused." Maya warned.

A blinding white light blanketed the area. Maya's heart raced as she struggled to put together the pieces of everything that was happening in front of her. Her conscience slowed, her pupils dilated. She could see everything and nothing all at the same time. Her journeys were laid out before her eyes, so many memories brought forth at all at once. She saw the turmoil in her soul, the pain of her power being divided. She opened her eyes, and saw a single ball of fire crashing down to the ground in front of her. My fire. I've missed you. A sultry figured formed in the flames, wings spread wide; a siren.

"Sup," the fiery maiden said right before falling to the ground. "How ya doin'? The bandits call me the Firehawk, but the name's Lilith. I'm with the Raiders, we spoke earlier as you might remember. I keep the bandits in line so Roland can focus on taking down Jack. Anyway, long story, lots of internal bleeding. Could you help me up?"

Krieg took the question literally and picked her up with both hands, setting her gently back down onto the arena, but she wasn't strong enough to stand on her own. Maya had been practicing restorative magic in her downtime, but hadn't come across a case this advanced before. "Don't make me have to do this again," she joked.

"Oof, I need a pick-me-up. Get me some Eridium, will ya? I should have some in one of my strong boxes."

Maya dutifully searched through the strong boxes until she found Eridium. Didn't take long. She handed it over to Lilith, wondering what she intended to do with the chunk of unrefined energy. Maya watched, almost in horror, as Lilith absorbed the Eridium. She told herself to control the look on her face, and not to judge, we all have our vices, after all, and hers was a 260 pound slab of meat.

"Ahh, thanks," Lilith sighed. "Bet you're looking for Roland, huh? He's not here — the Bloodshots grabbed him. Made 'em cocky, too. Never came after me this hard."

"They're in here. GET 'EM!" a Bloodshot cried out.

"Heh. Now the real fun begins. I'll see if I can't phaseblast a few of them for ya." Lilith smiled. The psychos poured in, and with that, Lilith was gone. Maya watched as she zipped into an alternative dimension, a beautiful streak of purple amdist the sterile grey environment. "Watch out! Psychos!" Lilith warned. "I'LL SHOW YOU A PSYCHO!" Krieg pulled out his buzzaxe and started to dance. Hackin' and whackin' and slashin'. He's hackin' and whackin', choppin' that meat!

Maya couldn't let Lilith and Krieg be the only ones having fun. She cracked her neck and got to work, phaselocking a Badass Psycho high in the air. She didn't know why she felt like showing off. Sure, Lilith was a Siren, but why did she feel the need to prove herself? Was it because Lilith was older? Did she want her acceptance? Maybe. A "thank you" would be nice, too, but that could come later. Maya watched the psycho burn as she shot at him with her SMG, bullets flying in all directions, some hitting other enemies, some hitting Krieg. "SHOOT ME 'TIL YA LOVE ME!" he called out, jovially. Friendly fire never bothered him, rather, it fueled the rage inside of him.

"Well done!" Lilith cheered Maya on.

"So it goes…" Maya bid the badass farewell.

"Get some ammo, this ain't over yet." Lilith commanded. "They found another way in!"

"I guess I'm not getting any ammo after all," Maya remarked.

Crazed Marauders and Badass Psychos hurried to their deaths one by one.

"Well, that was fun. Feeling tapped out, though — could ya get me another hunk of Eridium?"

Maya tracked down another piece of Eridium. "Yeah, that's the stuff. Give it here?" Lilith asked the second Maya got her hands on it. Maya began to worry about Lilith's apparent dependence on the stuff, but felt it was best not to meddle in the affairs and addictions of someone she had just met. "Ahh, thanks," Lilith said after Maya gave her the Eridium. "After the first vault opened, my Siren powers have been getting a little… awesome, thanks to this Eridium stuff. No idea why. Now, let's talk about rescuing my boyfriend."

"Roland's your… boyfriend?" Maya was a bit surprised. Lilith seemed so gutsy and free-spirited. Roland was phlegmatic and just plain boring. Opposites attract, or so they say.

"Well… ex-boyfriend," Lilith muttered. Maya felt relieved somehow. The world had balanced, the universe had righted itself. All was as it should be. "Before the Bloodshots grabbed him, Roland was getting intel on this… vault, and what Jack plans to do with it. You have to find him. I gotta head back to Sanctuary, keep the city in one piece while Roland's away. But first, I'm going to teleport you into the Bloodshot Stronghold — that's where they're keeping Roland. You'll catch 'em by surprise and have a real advantage. It'll be great. Hold still."

Violet light radiated from fiery siren. Weightlessness surrounded Maya and Krieg. Maya quickly gave into the sensations, letting herself flow gently through the atmosphere. Krieg felt particles of his body detaching and breaking away. Blip. Bleep. Bloop. It felt different than the teleporters at Hyperion, but that was old tech. This kinda tickled. THUD. Complete darkness engulfed them. "Oh crap!" Lilith's voice. So far away. "Sorry, I'm… still getting used to this. Hold on, I'm going to try again, just… let me get some Eridium."

Can you hear the music that I feel, Maya? Krieg's eyes — both of them — opened suddenly. He was no longer on Pandora. Pillars of creamy white marble stretched endlessly into the sky. He inhaled deeply. The air was so pure. He missed clean, unpolluted air. Krieg looked ahead to see seven platforms in a circle. He dashed ahead quickly, his boots making a pleasant clicking noise as he ran. "The Seven who are there, bring them here!" a voice called out from above. He looked up and all around, but didn't see anyone. He combed the hair out of his brow with his fingertips and sat down on the ledge overlooking a waterfall. "Don't feel discouraged, even during the toughest times," the voice continued.

Krieg got up turned around to leave. He didn't have time for a lengthy dialog.

"Krieg? KRIEG, please wake up!" Maya pleaded. Always willing to do as his Maya commanded, Krieg slowly opened his eye. He liked when Maya was the first thing he saw when he woke up. She relaxed. "Good. Let's get going, we need to find Roland."

There were so many things Krieg wanted to tell her, but couldn't. There were the usual things: I love you, you're beautiful, you smell nice, I'm hungry, is it bath time yet, but all of those things, she already knew. She didn't know the things he couldn't share, the things that even if he was totally compos mentis, he wouldn't be allowed to tell her. He wanted to warn her so badly.

"Great. You made it to the Stronghold. Roland should be around there somewhere," Lilith came in through the Echo. "I'm sure you can handle yourselves, but if anything happens to Roland… make sure NOTHING happens to Roland."

"Don't worry, we'll get your boyfriend back." Maya replied.

Shortly after their transmission ended, a voice spoke softly in their ears. "Do not be alarmed. I need you to stay calm, and do not let on that anyone is talking to you." Maya looked around. "Krieg. Are you hearing this?" "You don't have any reason to trust me," the voice continued, "but I need you to believe that I'm here to guide you - I'm here to help you find the Vault. You must do everything I say. I'll contact you again soon."

"So, you could hear that, right? That wasn't just me?" Maya asked Krieg again. Krieg nodded his head. Maya tucked her hair behind her ear. So round and smooth. Sigh. Still, this was a good sign. She had been contacted by an ethereal being - but how? It didn't matter. She was now confident she'd be able to find this vault everyone was talking about. Maya really hadn't given the vault much thought until Lilith mentioned that the opening of the last one had strengthened her powers. "Onward," she commanded. She pulled out her sniper rifle and slowly rounded the corner, her sights set on a Crazed Marauder. She inhaled. His heart beat steadily in his chest. Not a care in the world. She exhaled. By that time, he was already dead.

"You're gonna die today!" a bandit yelled out in response to his fallen comrade.

"YOU DON'T DIE TODAY, YOU DIE EVERY DAY!" Krieg shot back verbally. He grabbed one of the shock barrels and broke it open with the spikes of his mask straps. Human can opener. Heh. "WE'RE GONNA BRING YOU THE POWER!" He charged up his buzzaxe and laid waste to the Bruiser to his left. Maya phaselocked a Bruiser to the right and set him on fire. Fire, oh, to be on fire. Krieg wanted to be set on fire by Maya, too. Hold me close, Siren, and we can stop time together.

Krieg watched Maya in action. She was swift and agile. The way she moved was intoxicating to observe. He spotted a Psycho approach her stealthily from behind with a grenade in his hand. No. Krieg ran towards him with all of his might. It would not end this way. He yanked the grenade away, ripped the Psycho's mask off, and forced it into his throat, then clamped his jaw shut and shoved the psycho away from himself and Maya. "IT'S MANICALLY DELICIOUS!"

"That calmed him down some." Maya remarked. She ran ahead to the central room of the Bloodshot's Stronghold. A whistling whirlpool served as the center piece of the cylindrical chamber. Maniacs and Bruisers seeped into the area in large groups. Maya lobbed a grenade in the general direction of the largest gathering of bandits, shooting it in midair. It detonated immediately; death enveloped the weaker foes. She threw another grenade equipped with Singularity, aiming it at the very edge of the whirlpool. Maniacs and Bruisers alike were drawn into the implosion. Those who kept their balance met death through Maya's SMG. Those who didn't swirled around in the vortex, water quickly gushing into their lungs and claiming their lives.. Krieg attached explosive to his Buzzaxe and hurled it at the largest Bruiser; a shower of blood rained down onto nearby bandits. Once the area was clear, the duo moved forward into the Bloodshots' prison area.

"Hello Friend," the voice from earlier spoke calmly in their ears.
"Who ARE you?" Maya demanded.
"Who I am is not important. Ahead, your friend Roland is imprisoned. Be careful not to attract any unwanted attention. The jail here is overrun with Hyperion Loaders. Stay safe."

"Do you remember what 'stealth' is, Krieg?" Maya joked. "I think we can handle a few Loaders, but let's be cautious anyway." Maya slowly slinked around the corner just before the holding cells. Ahead was Roland, lying down on his cot. Staring at the ceiling, he daydreamed about his past as a member of the Crimson Lance. Life was a lot more simple back then. He remembered the day he met Lilith. He had just arrived on Pandora, hitching a ride on a dusty bus in search of adventure and revenge. Across from him was a young redheaded girl. He had never seen hair so vibrant before. Roland told himself not to stare, and turned his attention towards the world outside of the bus. Sand and dust for miles and miles. He looked down at his hands, then noticed a faint purple light at his side. The young Siren had materialized next to him while he was trying to avoid her. She cupped his face with both hands and pulled him in for a kiss. Roland was so stunned that he remained frozen through the duration of the kiss; his mind unthawed towards the end and urge him to kiss back. Lilith's spontaneity was one of the many things that had attracted him to her as he got to know her more. He felt she was a good contrast to the stiff, uncaring women he knew back home, a good contrast to himself, as well. Even though they weren't a couple anymore, he longed for the day when they could be together again.

Maya quietly made her way towards Roland while scanning the area for a way to get him out of his cell. Krieg decided to stay back a bit. He had forgotten what stealth was. He grabbed a beer from a nearby fridge and sat down on the cold concrete. WATER?! he thought as the beer fizzled down his throat, barely activating his taste buds. This tastes like water, his inner voice agreed. Up ahead, Maya had located Roland. He sat up straight and greeted her, but their meeting was cut short by the sound of Krieg throwing his beer bottle at the wall in anger. "You idiot," she said under her breath, hoping that the crashing glass hadn't caught the attention of any Hyperion bots.

Maya heard a soft whir, but couldn't locate the source. Suddenly, two Loaders smashed through the brick walls of Roland's holding cell. "This'll just talk a second," Roland said, unfazed. He tackled the leading Loader head first to the ground, ripping out its core. He deftly pitched it towards the second Loader as another plowed toward him, slamming him into the cell's bars. Using the carbine arm of one of the fallen Loaders beside him, Roland made quick work of the BUL Loader. "Now where was I?"

Her face remained placid, but Maya was impressed. Roland walked towards the opening in his cell so graciously left for him by the Loaders, unaware that a constructor was waiting for him just outside. The W4R-D3N directed a set of shock beams toward Roland, paralyzing him as it dragged him away. Maya was unimpressed. "And that's how Handsome Jack pays ransoms!" Jack laughed over an Echo.

"Oh no, this isn't good. Follow him. I believe the constructor is headed towards the Ramparts," the voice suggested.

"KRIEG," Maya shouted, "take care of these Loaders!" She ran after Roland, leaving Krieg to dismantle the bots she had left behind.