So… I didn't get too much in ways of feedback when I comes to the last chapter, so I'm going to advance the story anyway… And regardless the poll results… I'm going to make the next chapter a romantic scene between Gaige and Krieg… and if you guys don't want to read something like that, I'll write this chapter so you can skip it without missing out on the story… Enjoy!

Chapter 12; Firestorm. Begin.

Character Perspective: Krieg.

This drunken girl led me sluggishly to the fast travel station, casually looking back at me as though I would run away… Now… I'm not exactly a gentleman, but I wouldn't refuse a lady… provided they were old enough to make the right decisions… As I reasoned to myself why I shouldn't take advantage of Gaige's drunkenness, an all too familiar voice echoed in my head…

"You should make her scream until she loses consciousness and eat her other arm so she has two robotic ones!" it shouted insanely, its voice resembling that of a psycho bandit.

"No… I can't do that to her… She would never get close to anyone ever again… And I left all that behind when I got outa that prison…" I reasoned to the voice in a strong tone.

We continued on to the station for several more moments before Gaige spun around and narrowly escaped losing balance, falling into me. She again snuggled into my chest and her face turned hot and red.

"Mmmm… Krieg… What do you think of me?" she asked in a very provocative voice. She opened her eyes and looked up to my face, pushing my mask up to see my true face.

"Well…" I began.

"Tell her you want to tear her insides apart with your - The voice interrupted.

-No! Stop talking!" I shouted inwardly.

"But you know you do! You can't lie to me, remember? You know you want to shove it so far into her that she rips apart! Now! Tell! Her!" It continued, gaining volume.

I dropped to my knees, clutching my head and grunting in pain as I tried to overpower the monster inside my mind. Gaige seemed startled slightly by this and her grip on my stomach loosened a little. She then tightened and began to rub her face into me even more, causing me to open my eyes, seeing her smiling face.

"I can tell you're fighting with your inner voices… And I know how hard that can be… But don't give in to them… You're good deep down, I can tell… Don't let them take that away from you…" she whispered, kissing the side of my face, causing me to tear myself away from the pain to stare at her. The pain stopped and I looked deeply into her glazed green eyes.

"Thank you…" I replied, pulling her up from my lap into a hug, taking in her scent. She smelled of booze, obviously… but beneath that was the subtle smell of Motor oil and dust… and beneath that was an enchanting smell… I enjoyed it a lot and sat there with her in my arms for what felt like hours, just enjoying the smell that I couldn't recognize. I pulled away from the hug, looking into her eyes again, beginning to speak.

"That smell… What is it?" I asked in a low voice feeling lost in her green stones of eyes.

"You can smell my perfume? I can only smell motor oil most of the time… It's the smell of lilacs… they're a flower that used to grow on Earth… When the planet went to hell, they moved the seeds of all living plant species to new worlds to grow… one of them was my home world, Edin-5…" she replied in a voice that seemed too coherent for a drunk girl. "…I really do miss my old home… but I like it here just as much… It's so exciting here! The last time I had so much violent fun was the last time I was on my home planet and killed a classmate of mine…" she trailed off, her eyes seemingly distant as she broke eye contact.

"I said it before, but thank you… I feel a lot better now… Let's go…" I said, lifting the two of us up from the pavement and walked into the fast travel station, activating it and preparing for the transportation. Gaige looked over to me and winked just before the world around us turned to the digital lights and tunnel-like energy of the network. The world came back together and I looked around, noticing the water all around us… My eyes widened and my mouth fell open at the sight of so much flowing water on Pandora. Gaige giggled and pulled out her pistol, her eyes instantly turning slightly insane as she slowly marched off toward the opening to the cave. I followed her, pulling out my shotgun and turning on my shield. It wasn't much, but I'd managed to find an old Hunter's Shotgun that still worked quite well, and found an Order Shield on a bunch of dead guys in Sanctuary before going to the Crimson Raider Base. Gaige noticed my lack of equipment and laughed, tossing me a pistol that very closely resembled hers but had a scope.

"Here… It's an Infinity Pistol… Never reloads, never runs out of ammo… Just point and shoot…" she said with a grin. I looked down at the pistol with amazement before holstering it.

"Not to sound ungrateful… but… I prefer to cut people up instead of shooting them… Got anything for that?" I asked, pulling out my buzz axe and pointing to it. Gaige just giggled and tossed me a pistol with a huge blade on the end of it.

"I recognized the shield you're wearing… Zero wears the same one… You're gonna need that…" she giggled, pulling out her Infinity pistol and continuing walking toward the cave entrance. I inspected the pistol in my hands and pulled up the digital info on both it and my shield. I read them and immediately smiled brightly, flipping down my mask and beginning to laugh maniacally, still following this odd girl. I caught up with Gaige and pulled out another of my old, favored weapons; an Eridian Thunder Storm Blaster.

She marveled at the alien weapon as we slowly continued, observing the strange shape and design. I looked to her and said;

"Never reloads… Has to recharge though… Although… You could use it more than I could…" I said, tossing the ancient energy weapon to her and pulling out another shotgun to take its place. "The projectiles naturally bounce off walls and objects, so with your skills, they'll almost always find a target…" I said with a smirk, now taking the lead.

We soon came across a Badass Bandit dressed like a pirate, spewing some nonsense about the desert and cannonballs. I just went into my Blood Axe Rampage and split him right down the middle with one swing. I looked over my shoulder at Gaige, her eyes were wide and her mouth was open slightly out of surprise, but soon she pointed to something behind me. I turned around and saw another Pirate cocking his rifle, beginning to fire at me. My shield quickly crumbled at the strain of the powerful exploding rounds and I felt a surge of power as it did. I lunged at him without hesitation and swung my axe at his face. He reacted just fast enough to block my attack with his rifle. The Torgue Machine Gun snapped in half at the force of my axe, falling to the ground in pieces. I laughed maniacally again, swinging my axe around again at his shoulder, again, he dodged. He ducked just soon enough to keep his head and tried to uppercut me with his large hands; he hit. The impact was barely felt as I was only slightly pushed back, he looked up to my face in surprise at my resolve when I finally buried my buzz axe into his head, killing him instantly. Blood sprayed in excess from the gaping wound in his forehead, drenching me in blood. By now, my Rampage wore off and I put away my buzz axe and turned to Gaige with a glimmer in my eye that scared her. I walked slowly over to her, pulling up my mask and smiling. She took several hesitant steps backward, shrinking up against a wall and dropping her pistol in fear. I stepped toward her a few more feet and leaned down so that our lips were mere millimeters apart and whispered to her:

"Thanks for helping me…" I then leaned in and forced our lips together, wrapping my arms behind her lower back. She hesitated for several seconds, confused and surprised before her body fell limp and her lips began to move in mine. Her arms took to my neck and pulled me closer; she pulled tightly, lifting herself off of the ground and groaning softly in the kiss. We broke several moments after, breathing heavily and our eyes opening to lock to each other's.

Gaige whispered breathlessly, "Wow…" before lowering herself to the ground and blushing heavily. She scrambled to recover her pistol and stood up again, her blush still growing redder. I laughed loudly, turning from her and continuing through the tunnels until I came across an opening where the waters flowed out and pooled into an underground spring that flowed infinitely. My eyes widened and I began to step slowly toward the edge, peering over into the blue waters. Gaige placed a hand on my shoulder, gaining my attention; I turned to face her and she smiled up at me, nodding like she was my mother, allowing me to go play. And at that moment, I was a child; I grinned brightly, removing my mask and destructing it, I then dived into the water. Lucky for me, where I chose to dive had just enough deepness to allow me to dive without killing myself, but I definitely cracked up my head a little…

I resurfaced, clenching my forehead with one hand, laughing at myself as Gaige laughed at me as well.

Two Hours Later…

"…So there I was, spattered in the little bitch's blood and organs… Just standing… I wasn't traumatized or anything; just standing… Then… The judge grades Deathtrap as second Place! …I mean… Hello! He just turned Marcy into meat paste! He not only did what he was programmed to do, but also got rid of the competition! I'd call that a job well done wouldn't you?" Gaige asked calmly. I just laughed, finding her story hilariously ridiculous.

"…*Laughing*… Ah, yeah… I'd call that a win!" I replied happily, smiling at her.

"Thank you! Someone who understands! Ugh! It's so frustrating dealing with people who think you're insane all the time! …Oh… uh… Sorry…" Gaige commented, her eyes locking to mine as she spoke, regretting her choice of words.

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it! I actually am insane! It doesn't offend me one bit!" I then slid my hand to her mechanized one, when they met, she blushed and kept talking for a bit longer.

"Oh, yeah… that… You're probably curious, right?" she asked, a slightly redder blush appearing on her face.

"Not really… I've heard a lot about you Vault Hunters… Especially about you and your giant robot…" I replied, smiling devilishly. Gaige again blushed and tried to avert her eyes. I realized that she felt a little uncomfortable and decided to change the subject. I leaned in and whispered in her ear. "…So… Do you think your arm that can break concrete can stand up to me?"

She lit up with excitement, standing up and pointing down to me, a wide grin across her face. "Damn right, it could!" I grinned at her as well, flipping down my mask and standing up to loom over her.

"Then let's go test this out…" I replied, taking her hand and leading her back to the fast travel station and punching in the coordinates for Sanctuary. Within moments, we were off to Claptrap's, forcing the annoying robot to hold up a piece of concrete above his head. The little machine shivered with fear as I wound up, charging my right arm with energy and expanding it to be the same proportions as a Badass Psycho's. I swung down with my arm, fracturing the concrete and letting out a sigh of content when I changed myself back. Gaige just stared on with a blank face.

"H-how? …How could you do that with just your hand?! You shouldn't even have any bones left! That was impossible!" she shouted in disbelief, pointing at me.

"Experiment, remember? I'm not exactly human any more…" I replied with a large grin. She shook her head; shaking off the confusion and igniting a determination that only made me feel more competitive as well.

"Fine! Then let's see what you can really do! You and me!" she shouted, cracking her knuckles.

"Duel? Fine, But we're gonna have a fist fight, no weapons allowed." I replied, taking off my mask and destructing it away. Gaige grinned and summoned Deathtrap, taking several steps back, I looked to her with a look of betrayal.

"I thought you knew! I never fight alone; I've always got my buddy Deathtrap with me! If you can defeat him, I'll admit that we're equals…" she giggled, taking a seat down next to a still panicked Claptrap. I grinned, pulling out my buzz axe and refastening my mask. I charged the massive machine, swinging my axe right into its shoulder. The axe buried in the metal and the machine didn't even react. I slashed at me with its huge claws, gashing my chest. I was pushed back, pulling my axe from the metal simply me the sheer force of the hit. I ran at it again, this time tearing a hole through the thing's eye, forcing it to release a loud, gurgling grunt and swing blindly at me. I dodged every strike accept for the last, having a piece of my shoulder torn out by its immense digistruct claws. I struck it one last time and effectively tore it in half, forcing it to destruct and fade away. I turned to Gaige and began to walk toward her again, still holding my buzz axe in my right hand.

"Okay! You win! You're stronger! You can stop now! No! Stop!" she panicked, backing up to another wall, trying to protect herself. As a repeat of the last time, I leaned in and whispered to her again.

"Then show respect for your greater!" I then ripped away my mask and again took her lips for my own, pressing her tight to the wall. Her fear melted away as she began to enjoy the kiss, her eyes rolling closed and her hands again taking to my neck. I backed up from the kiss and waited for her eyes to open. "Does this mean that you accept me as your master?" I asked, looking intently into her now glazed eyes.

In a mousy, wanton voice, she replied. "Y-yes!" and pulled me back to her and kissed me.

End Chapter 12: Firestorm.

So… How was it? Let me know what you think! Send me any feedback that you think I should know about. Alright… See you guys later…