A/N -Okay, so, I've been gone awhile...again. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I started working ahead in chapters and didn't come back to edit older ones when I should have. Like this one. But here it is, and there will be more updates soon, since I've written nearly four chapters ahead.

Have a good day everyone and enjoy the latest chapter! :)

EDIT - I received a review that pointed out, due to Tales from the Borderlands, this chapter has an AU element. I'd not played the game so I had no idea what was in it. I didn't think it was canon, since it was a telltale, I thought it was just a side thing. But I'm still keeping it as canon as possible...(and it will definitely go along with Borderlands 1,2 and the Pre-Sequel). Anyways, I hope you still enjoy the read! :)

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VI. Ashes and Guns Build History

After a journey across Elpis and through a fast travel station, I finally felt my feet hit solid pavement at long last. The solid pavement of a town. But before I could appreciate it, I was instantly assaulted by a wild cacophony. I blinked my eyes several times as I tried to absorb what I was seeing, hearing, and smelling.

No...

I sped forward as screams tore at my eardrums and the sounds of gunfire filled my ear. I saw loaders, people running from them, dying. Smoke invaded my nose and lungs. I stopped to cough, doubling over as hacking took over me because my body wasn't accustomed to the environment yet. However, I pushed on, covering my nose and mouth as best I could with my hands, eyes stinging.

I caught sight of Handsome Jack, who was obviously responsible for this attack. He stood beside a familiar constructor and I hurried towards him. I wasn't sure what to do at all, but I needed to stop this. Somehow...

"Heeeyyya, buddy!" Called Handsome Jack, turning to face me. He patted the constructor happily. "Remember our good friend Fellaa..Felo.. Oh, I remember! Felicity! Remember Felicity? the robot with the sexy voice? It's doing so well in its roll!" He frowned. "Unfortunately, it's lost it's sexy voice...but, hey, it still sounds absolutely badass."

"Construction complete," the machine in question said in it's supposedly badass baritone.

Right on cue too. It's newly made loaders hurried forward to join the fight, if it could be called such. My stomach churned in horror when I realized that their were some of the familiar EXP loaders with them.

Suicide machines to take down civilians. It was absolutely despicable.

"Can't wait to make more!" Jack laughed, slapping the machine again loudly.

My mind became distracted by what surrounded me and I walked past him to gaze upon it in a horrified fascination. I barely noticed him nearby now. I was enthralled in terrible interest by the broken buildings that were burning in the oxygen the citizens had been using to survive and the horrible mess.

Whatever fight the citizens had put up, if any, was gone, drained from them. They emerged traumatized and weary, hands in the air to signify their surrender. All of them had pale faces and various injuries. Bodies lay amongst broken glass and rubble. Loaders stomped through the wreckage, rounding up the surrendering survivors.

No, no, no, no... If only I had arrived sooner... I thought desperately. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a hand clapped my shoulder happily.

"Well, took you long enough," Jack laughed happily. "We're just finishing up here."

"What's this?" I finally managed, trying not to sound as scathing and disturbed as I was.

"Whaddya mean?"

"These people...so many dead."

"Listen, kiddo." Jack said slowly, as though explaining to a child. "We offered them a fair deal. Join us, and we won't make them choke on smoke from their burning homes! I mean, what could be better than joining Hyperion?"

"But..what could Concordia even offer? I mean you called it a cesspool yourself," I pointed out, speaking quickly as a jittery feeling overcame me. Nerves.

"It may be a cesspool, but it's the biggest settlement on Elpis. Which means it's the one with authority. Elpis is as good as ours, pumpkin. Which means we've got access to all of her... Well let's just say it's highly beneficial. It'll be a good start when approaching the bandits of Pandora... I mean, not one more cent is leaving my pocket to use Elpis' satellite space! I'm awesome," he declared.

I felt uncertain. On one hand, I wanted to say everything that was on my chest. On the other hand, I wasn't looking for a premature death at the hands of this...monster. This tyrannical man.

"Um...I just think...feel like maybe this is, a little, um, extreme? Surely..." I trailed away, swallowing nervously.

Jack sighed and turned away, stepping towards the prisoners being herded in our direction by the loaders.

"We'll talk later," he said. "Just remember it's not your place to question...and please, take some mental notes of what's going to happen here. It'll be for the best."

That's when I noticed Wilhelm. I nearly gaped at him. He no longer looked human. Half of his body seemed to be covered in metal. Or maybe it was metal through in through. It made him considerably more bulky, and very much more intimidating. I almost shrunk against the constructor nearby, wanting to disappear from this mess, but I managed not to. I did take a step back though.

When had he done that to himself?

His metal parts clanked as he walked over, holding a gun. "It's done," he spoke in a voice that sounded like an angry AI. Or an enthusiastic one. It was so strange.

I turned away from him and studied the faces of the prisoner's, distinctly recognizing a few of them.

"I'm just here on vacation!" Someone shouted indignantly.

"Yeah, I don't even live here!"

"My boyfriend's dead! You're going to pay!"

"You kill Nina's friend!" A heavy Russian voice boomed out.

I glanced at Nurse Nina, who was glaring fiercely at their captors. Us.

Jack yanked his pistol from his belt and fired the gun in the air over his head. The loaders readied their weapons loudly and the captives became silent. Jack's hand fell, returning the weapon to its holster. Apparently, he preferred that noisy weapon to his more sophisticated wrist lasers.

"People of Concordia!" The President of Hyperion started. "Please, relax! All you've got to do is sign up with Hyperion! I mean, this didn't have to be so hard." He spoke in a light, relaxed voice that belayed the carnage.

"Oh really?" A woman stepped forward, her face had bandages on it, and her eyes burned angrily. "I suppose we were just supposed to sign our lives away to a dickhead like you?" She ran a stressed hand through dirty blonde hair.

I sucked air through my lips. I had recognized her before she even spoke, though it'd been awhile since I last seen or even spoken to her properly. It was Janey. I wanted to call out to tell her to shut up. To step back. To go unnoticed. But it was too late. Jack wouldn't let anyone talk to him like that... at least not for long.

I shuddered miserably.

I wondered if she knew me now. The way I looked. She hadn't glanced even slightly in my direction yet. She was focused on the other Jack. But I felt she must have noticed me, standing right beside the constructor that had constructed their demise. Felicity...

"Ah, sweetheart." Jack said, staring right at her in a maniacal way. "What's your name?"

"Why do you care, Dickhead?"

"Hehe...tough are you? Let's see here," he paused and furrowed his masked brow, thinking.

I knew he wasn't really thinking as hard as he appeared, and the life-like mask seemed to somehow enhance the motion. It could almost have seemed cartoonish, with its hard lines, like the way a clown's make-up highlighted his facial expressions. But it was a lot worse than any cartoon, and Jack was no clown.

Janey. Why? Don't do this!

Almost unbidden, a rhyme she told me awhile back entered my head. But it was altered. Handsome Jack got smart with Janey. She pulled out her shotgun, and took his brainy.

A strange desire to laugh bubbled up at such an image, but was gone instantly. The scenario wasn't going to happen. It was obvious that she had no weapon whatsoever. Besides, things didn't work out like that. Curse her courage.

Jack said, "Ah-hah! I know just the thing for tough. Tell me, what's the saying about...um smarts... Damn, what was it?!" He scratched his head. Abruptly, he twisted, stepped towards me, and literally dragged me out of the shadow of the constructor.

Finally, Janey's eyes locked on me. As did everyone else's. I knew in an instant that Janey knew who I was. I tried hard not to look away, but I couldn't. I could only feel shame clinging to me. I turned towards my employer instead, trying to appear confident, yet I felt like sinking into the ground instead..

"Help me out, Buddy," Jack encouraged.

My mind went blank as I looked into his mismatched eyes that reflected my own. My throat was dehydrated and scratchy. I cleared it.

Then, with some mortification, my dry voice uttered something unbelievable, like a machine, very clearly. "All brawn and no brains?" I felt shock at those words. How could I play into this terrorist's mad games? How could I...?

It was clear that survival had made itself a priority.

I refused to look at anything other than that insane gaze, because for some reason, it was the only one that didn't fill me with shame and misery at the moment. I knew that to look at the prisoners would only guilt me further.

He laughed. "No-no-no-no, not what I had in mind. Good try though... Oh, wait! It's coming to me...yeah! That's right! They say that when you do something dumb, your skull's thick."

I saw his hand move to his waist. I saw the fingers clasp his pistol. I saw the weapon raise up.

"Let's see if yours is thick enough to stop a bullet, Babe." He said calmly.

Everything froze. I saw the fear in her eyes. I saw the muscle contractions as he pulled the trigger. I flinched, but it didn't save me from witnessing the impact, the way the flesh ripped and bone cracked. It was an image I couldn't erase from mind, and it lingered as the lifeless, headless body impacted with the broken concrete.

"Whoahow! Talk about awesome! Hehe, that was too great!" He sighed. "I guess her skull wasn't thick enough."

Janey got smart with Jack. He pulled out his pistol, and her skull did crack.

Numbness spread through my limbs. Shock. I recognized it. Felt it creep through me like ice. I longed to reach out and try to fix this mess somehow. Then nausea hit me as I managed to turn away. I swallowed, refusing to vomit and reveal that along I was filled with disgust and fairly hateful of all this.

"Wilhelm! Get the rest of this lot back to Helios...I've got a history to build."

I felt him slap my back heartily.

"Not bad at all, Kiddo. You're getting better at being me, which is excellent!"

He walked onward, leaving me standing there.

I couldn't have disagreed more on how excellent it actually was. I also couldn't look at the marred body on the ground. I wasn't really as squeamish about blood and such anymore. But the body belonged to someone I had cared about. A friend. He'd killed her with absolutely no remorse. Had he known that she was a friend once? No, that was impossible.

Then, there where the others. Some must have known me to an extent. And they'd seen me do the most horrible thing in front of all of them. Absolutely nothing.

That was the worst of this mess. I hadn't tried to stop him.

He'd slaughtered Janey and others, and the only thing I'd done was play along with his little act. I didn't know what kind of history we were building, but I didn't want to be a part of it. I found myself wondering if I couldn't locate an escape from this terrible future I foresaw.

But I knew it was ridiculous.

There was no escape from madness. Not this kind anyway.

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End of chapter 6