C0unting Zer0's
Episode 1 Chapter 5
A/N: Here it is the final chapter of episode 1, thanks for everyone who has been with me this whole time or the people who have just joined. You all are amazing fans and if this is the last chapter it was a good ride.
PS. thank you so much MonsterJunkie who notified me that I had posted the wrong draft. It was very unprofessional and I apologize, it won't happen again.
Ten stood alone in a dark room, finally after years of searching he had found him, her, it... He had found Zer0. The one who had started it all, "So many years... Wasted on this pitiful thing. He will pay for all he has done."
"Ten honey" a sweet voice said as a door opened and let in a few rays of light "We found this one trying to get on a ship to Eden-5" a masked thin curvy figure in skintight armor walked into the room dragging a smaller stockier one with brown hair behind it. Ten looked over and sighed "Nine, what have you brought me this time?"
"Well little ole' me?" She asked putting on a fake southern accent, although you couldn't see her face everyone knew that nine was a woman because of her slender figure and her suggestive demeanor.
"Drop the act Nine who is this?"
"I simply brought one of the traitors that Four failed to catch, Three was far to easy to catch I have no idea how it took you this long."
"Screw you!" Three muttered through his bloody mouth and bruised face.
"Now now Three" said Nine spinning around and squatting to eye level with the defeated Three "Is that any way to speak to a lady?"
"I wouldn't exactly call you a lady" Muttered Three through broken teeth and spit blood onto her mask
"You know Three just because I'm a lady" Nine said slamming Three's head against her knee making him emit high shrill cries "Doesn't mean I cant kick your ass."
"I don't agree with your methods Nine" said Ten as Three's cries faded
"But you love my results!"
"Yes I do... Speaking of that Kain got us the DNA sample we required for the plan"
"Oh have I been waiting for this! Give it too me!"
Ten produced a single blue hair from a utility belt he wore "Don't waste it Nine you are imperative to the mission"
"You have no idea how long I have been waiting to play a siren!" She said gleefully "This is the role I was born to play!"
"You'll never catch him you know..." drawled Three "He'd kill all of you in a heartbeat, if he still has those."
"Oh Three you always were to serious" She said as she delivered a quick kick to his jaw knocking him out cold "Now gimme that hair Ten." Ten handed the hair over and as soon as it touched he mesh of Nine's gloved hands it disappeared in a red flash. "Ohhhh" Nine moaned as her armor began to change and ripple "You have no idea how good this feels" red sparks began to travel across the surface of the armor and her appearance began to shift and warp until she was identical to Maya "How do I look honey?" she jibed Ten
"We have no relationship outside the plan Nine I must inform you once again, otherwise you look identical to the weaker siren"
"Well you are no fun Ten, I hope you treat Three well"
"We will have a heart to heart talk." Ten muttered as he materialized a battleaxe in his hands "No go do whatever it is you need to. But stick to the plan!"
"Sure I will" said Nine as she flounced out of the room " I might have a little fun along the way though."
"What the hell!" yelled Axton as he jumped away from an explosion and slid into cover next to Salvador "How did Kain get so many loaders?"
"No idea ese'" yelled Salvador back "Have you seen Brick anywhere?"
"He went into his rage and ran off somewhere, I don't know." Axton yelled peeking over the rubble he was using as cover "Brick! We need some help here!" He fired several shots over the mound of debris but it only seemed to agitate the Rocket Loader even more.
"BLOOOOOOD"Brick yelled tearing into the loader that had Axton and Salvador pinned down, he ripped the metal body of the robot in half like it was tissue paper. "Still the best around" He chuckled "That puny little thing had you pinned down?"
"Brick,"Axton said "That thing had more firepower than all of Eden-7! Where on Pandora did Kain get that kind of military tech?"
"Obviously not on Pandora pal" Brick said in his thick deep baritone "We don't need to discuss where he got the robots, we just need to... SMASH ALL OF THEM!" He yelled as he began to turn an sprint towards a few loaders coming down the hill at him yelling "IMMA KILL YOU KAIN"
"What is wrong with that man?"Axton asked turning to Salvador
"When in Rome ese..." Salvador sad as he turned and charged after Brick "Save some for me hombre!"
"What! When in Rome what do I do? Wear a toga? Sal!... Goddammit." Axton said as he jogged after Brick and Salvador. "This is a bad idea" Axton mumbled to himself, he was putting everyone in danger, not that he really cared for Brick or Salvador they were both just angry shouting idiots, Mordecai was too depressing and while Lilith was pretty... but she was a total bitch. Maya was really the only approachable person on the team, she was nice, she was fun, and best of all she was pretty. Recently she had shown an interest in him and that was even better, a new deal could be worked out with Kain and his associates once Maya was out of their custody. If being a backstabbing traitor for all these years had taught him anything it was never too negotiate at a disadvantage. The only thing unaccounted for here was Zer0, that freak was worse than Mordecai always being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it had left but who knows when it will come back. Maya always used to stare at Zer0 whenever he was in the room but recently she had started to get warm and cozy to him... He didn't know why but it probably didn't matter.
"Shit!" yelled Kain as he looked down his binoculars at a trio of people tearing through his new loaders, they did not look happy. "The biggest one and the short pandoran one are getting close" he said to a trio of bandits standing nearby "Albert, Carmine, go in and check on the prisoner, Bernie you grab the AMR up on that ridge and rain down some pain."
A resounding "Yes sir" came from the three men and they all briskly walked off to do their assigned jobs, not that they had much choice, c0rruption just removes all of the arguing from the bandit king schtick. He walked toward the igloo that he had trapped Maya in with a firm determination, that traitor Axton had sold him out and was coming here to kill him, better yet he had brought the two most brutal mercs on all of Pandora with him. The only midget more terrifying than a meat Popsicle that goddamn Salvador who somehow managed kill hundreds of bandits when not even standing as high as his belt. The other was the walking freaking apocalypse that was Brick, he had opened two vaults killed what was probably worth two planets full of bandits, and did it all without ever lifting a gun. This guy killed the Destroyer with his fists! He wasn't legitimately scared of either of them but killing two legends today, that would drive his blood pressure to high so it look like he would just have to settle for killing one of them. Before all of this huff and puff however he needed to get Maya out of here, because unlike the Mexican midget and the man mountain, he was actually scared by the man he worked for. Ten made explicitly sure that Maya was to be brought to New Haven as soon as it was confirmed that Zer0 was not coming. Kain had seen people who disappointed Ten before, they were no longer around.
"Oh Maya!" Kain yelled in cheery voice "I'm home!" Kain waltzed through the heavy iron door he had installed, "Are you two done yet? I expect her to be firmly gagged and bound men! She isn't that dangerous!" Kain said turning into the main room and coming face too face with a blood smeared Maya
"You think that I'm not that intimidating?" she said bringing a ball of pulsating blue energy up to eye level with him.
"Now Maya..." said Kain putting his hands up calmly "Lets take a second here..."
"No Kain, you're out of time" Maya said as she opened her hand.
Axton emptied his clip for the third time on this one danged loader and yelled over to Salvador "What the hell man! Kain has got some serious hardware!"
"I know Axton"said Salvador in a strained voice "But we already agreed that we need to kill it not admire it and take it out to dinner!"
"Well actually you just said "When in Rome"... I have no idea what you meant." Axton yelled back opening a pack of gummy worms.
"Screw you! This is a serious mission!" Salvador said firing another clip into one of Kain's loaders "With no Maya and no Zer0 I'm depending on you ese!"
"Fine... but after we rescue Maya I'm gonna need to borrow the good room in the HQ."
"For what?"
"I think you know Sal," said Axton with a wink as he threw a grenade over his piece of rusted metal cover.
"You are gonna try to-" Salvador said before he was cut off by a huge explosion that knocked him and Salvador off their feet and five feet down the hill they were fighting up, they lay flat on their backs as their ears rang and vision began to refocus. "What kinda grenade mod do you have hombre!" Salvador yelled struggling u to one knee, he looked off into the distance and saw Claptrap's igloo a smoking ruin. A dark figure stood alone in the center of the crater where Claptraps house used to stand. Another, less dignified, figure was rocketing down the hill at them and crash landed in the cover that Axton was hiding behind.
"Whew" said an extra-crispy Kain "That girl of yours sure can pack a punch." Kain immediately rolled forward to his feet and dusted of the ash and debris while Axton and Salvador stood slack jawed at his almost instant recovery. "Wanna hear a funny joke?" he jibed.
"Sure..." replied Salvador very hesitantly
"I don't know any" Kain replied pulling out a pistol and shooting Salvador four times in the chest, Axton yelled out and charged Kain with his axe but Kain quickly juked him and pressed his pistol up into Axton's abdomen "No dice my friend" Kain said as he fired a single shot that pierced through Axton and went out his back. "You shouldn't have gone back on our deal amigo, but I like you, so that bullet only skimmed your heart, if someone comes and gets you to Zeds in the next forty-five minutes than maybe you might see tomorrow. Fuck with me again and you might end up like Sal over there. He isn't looking so good, Hey Sal are you OK" Kain yelled prodding him with his foot. Salvador responded by groaning and weakly reaching for a nearby gun. "No no no Salvador, you don't get to live today" He leveled the gun at Salvador's temple and said "Good night hermano, see you in hell." Salvador closed his eyes and uttered a small prayer to the god he had abandoned long ago. "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy..." Salvador's last prayer was halted however when a long thin arrow sprouted out of the arm that Kain was wielding his gun with and Kain muttered "Aw hell" as a small explosion sent him flying backwards.
"Hello Kain, we have a score to settle."
"Zer0... Its a shame you had to come here... This planet changes people, look what it did to me!"
" You were always a sick son of a bitch Kain, the only reason I didn't put you down before was because Ten said he needed you. Kain I will kill you, you are a disgrace to my race"
"Don't you mean "our" race Zer0? They did give me an awful lot of your DNA?"
"And do you think that that makes you anymore of my race than it does Ten, or One, or Four? You are all just copies of the original."
"Enough of this talk! We will end this Zer0, you and me right here... And I fully expect you to win."
"And what about the angry Siren running down the hill at you? That may be something that will turn the battle in my favor."
"One of us will be long dead by the time she reaches us, now no more stalling Zer0, its time for you to kill me."
"May you fight with honor Seven"
"Seven... I haven't been called that in a long time brother..." Kain said as he drew two tanto knives and a few tears welled up in his eyes "Best of luck against Ten brother, he holds all the cards now."
"He does" said Zer0 drawing his katana "But does he know how to play the game?"
The two brothers then entered a dueling dance that was a fighting style so refined and elegant that Maya and Brick who were running down the hill to aid their friends were entranced by it and slowed to a stop. Even Axton and Salvador whose lifeblood was dripping onto the icy ground were amazed by the snatches of this fight they caught through there fading in and out of consciousness. Zer0 and Kain fought for three minutes and twelve seconds precisely and all that it took for Kain to be exposed and Zer0 to deliver his winning blow was a half step too far forward. Zer0 left a bloody gash that went from Kain's hip to his shoulder and that launched him tumbling through the air into a snowbank. The crimson blood Zer0 left on the virgin snow was equivalent to the paints that DaVinci used on his canvas because Zer0 blood and death were Zer0's paints, and the entire universe his canvas. As Kain fell he struggled to his knees to deliver his final words to Zer0, as all villains do and impart his poetic justice.
"Zer0..." He stuttered "Do it, kill me now, absolve me of all I have done, forgive me..."
Zer0 stared at his former comrade, a man who he had once respected and fought beside, who had saved his life and been saved by Zer0. It was a shame to kill his own brother, not one he was born and bound to by the blood ties of family, but bound to by the bands of steel men form under the heat of battle, and the unbreakable bonds they created during their torture at the hands of the Atlas corporation. It was a shame that Ten had twisted this once honorable man into a disgusting and perverted version of himself. However when Kain and Zer0 had fought it had been like old times, Zer0 had not fought Kain, rapist and murderer, king pf the psychos and scourge of the east coast, but he had fought Seven, the honorable warrior who he was proud to be comrades, no, to be friends with. During this entire battle night had fallen and Zer0 was now bathed in the red light of the flaming loaders he had destroyed. He raised his katana to kill Kain and end his misery he heard a woman's voice call him.
"Zer0! Zer0 don't do it! Don't fall to his level!"
Zer0 recognized the voice as Maya's but it felt so far away, he had tasted Kain's blood and needed to finish him. He glanced over to Maya, bathed in the cool blue light of a runners headlights, he Brick helping Salvador with his wounds, Mordecai and Gaige cleaning up the last of the loaders, and Maya, amidst all the chaos calling out to him. She was beckoning him to come back to the land of order and peace, a world where he could be safe. Zer0 was tempted to leave Kain to die in his misery and join Maya... until he saw Axton lean on Maya... and embrace each other... and passionately kiss... The betrayal he felt! He came back for her! He defied his rational thoughts! He broke his own code to try to see her again and tell her how he felt, but no! Pretty boy Axton got to her first... Zer0 decided that then and there that order and peace were not for people like him, instead of joining Maya in the pale blue light of her innocence and serenity he would stay here and wallow in his chaos and rage and darkness. He leaned into Kain's ear and whispered "Kain, I do not forgive you. I forgive Seven the man you used to be." With that Zer0 ran Kain through with his blade and looked into his dammed brethrens eyes as the last words Kain spoke were "Thank... You..." and with that final burst Kain the king of the psychos died and Zer0 fled of into the night, the fire and chaos left behind dwarfed by the fire and rage still burning inside him.
Zer0 stood on a hill overlooking Lairs Burg, contemplating his next action. He had cooled down after his rage at Maya after the battle with Kain. His emotions had clouded his judgment before and he had out himself and Three in mortal danger. He could no longer deny that he had feeling for Maya but after his asinine behavior a few days ago his feelings were now unrequited. "This is a good thing" thought Zer0 " I am a cold calculating assassin and I do not have feelings. I should never have gotten involved with girl, and I will not get involved with a siren." He pulled out his katana and observed the scratches and kinks it had obtained from his battle with Kain. Despite all of the violence that permeated this universe and all the unworthy men Zer0 had slain, Kain was different, Zer0had just killed one of his own brothers. Although Kain had been psychopathic and a deranged murderer he was still Zer0's brother. Zer0 stared off into the distance and saw the bright lights of Sanctuary floating in the sky and made a promise too himself. He would not
leave until Ten was finished with. No more running or hiding, he would end it on Pandora. And maybe for once he could feel what it is like to be the hero.
A/N:Thank you all who read or reviewed but this is as far as I promised I'd go, if you want more let me know, if you want another story or me to stop altogether let me know.
For possibly the last time...
Adios mustachios