Chapter 4: Locked Up

Zach slowly started to return to reality, his head still spinning and throbbing since a Vladof soldier gave him a nasty crack to the head. He could tell he was bound to the chair he was sitting in as well as having a cloth tied around his mouth to gag him. He couldn't really get any information about the room he was sitting in, mainly since he had a bag over his head, light breaking through the small tears in it. Lucky for him, the bag wasn't on for long since it was yanked off when a small groan escaped his lips. He immediately assessed his room, seeing it was a small concrete room with a single light over his head and a door in front of him.

There were three individuals in the room other than him. Two were bulky Vladof soldiers in black jumpsuits with black boots and vests with assorted pouches on them. The third individual looked a little out of place from the other two, this one being female with blonde hair that was cut short. She wore black pants and boots with a red tank top that was cut a little too low to be within military regulations. Her dog tags hung loosely at her neck, naturally finding the crevice in her ample bust that she seemed proud to show off.

The female was the one that took the bag off, tossing it aside as she eyed Zach up and down. She reached out and tore the gag out of his mouth, Zach taking the chance to get a little more air into his system.

"Wow." The blonde commented as she leaned forward, putting only an inch or two between their faces. She smirked as she inspected him, Zach's training kicking in and putting on a neutral face. The blonde finished with a smug tone "You look different from the others."

"Different? Others?" Zach questioned, excitement starting to pick up. He thought he was the last clone, aside from the ones that N1ne hinted at. Hearing that there were more gave him a little more excitement in his life. The blonde chuckled a little bit, like she knew something that Zach didn't that was apparently obvious.

"You really think you're the first Zer0 clone we've captured? You're about the… tenth one we've captured so far?" The blonde questioned, looking back at the two soldiers behind her. Zach felt his blood start to boil as his fists tightened. Knowing that Vladof had captured several clones just said that they were probably trying to do the same thing Maliwan did; assassin soldiers. The very thought of his kin being used as cannon fodder pissed him off to no end.

"So, tell me… what's your number, clone?" The blonde questioned with a smirk, leaning over and showing her bust off a bit more than necessary. Zach took a minute to answer, allowing his blood to cool down and get his emotions in check. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off the person that seemed to be in charge of his interrogation.

"12… I'm number 12…" Zach answered as memories started to flood his mind. He thought about his escape from the Maliwan space station, his capture by N1ne and his clone brothers, and his actions of wiping out the clones during the Maliwan assault on Crimson City. Zach looked up to see the blonde and the soldiers have a look of surprise on their faces. He also saw a smile start to work its way across the blonde's face, and it did not look like a good smile to Zach.

"Zer0.12… now this is a treat. You're the clone that slaughtered his kin at the Battle of Crimson City." The blonde reminded as she stepped forward to Zach. What happened next threw Zach for a bit of a loop. She proceeded to sit in Zach's lap, wrap her legs around his waist and drape her arms around her shoulders. She pushed herself forward, nearly burying Zach's face in her cleavage and seriously confusing him. She brought her head down and whispered into his ear, sending chills down his spine.

"Does this turn you on, by any chance?" She whispered before starting to nibble at his ear. She pulled her head back, looking into Zach's eyes with deep blue eyes, Zach looking away from her. The blonde chuckled as she grinded against him, grabbing his jaw and turning his head so he was forced to look at her.

"I'll take that as a yes." The blonde chuckled. She stared into his eyes for a second before throwing Zach for a loop again. She pressed her lips to his and forced her tongue into his mouth, immediately attempting to wrap her tongue around his. She tasted sour to Zach, and a little rancid… but that was probably because it was a forced kiss he wasn't wanting. She pulled away after getting her fill, licking her lips with a smug smile while Zach simply rolled his eyes.

"I was hoping my first kiss would be more enjoyable than that." Zach commented, adding a touch of venom in his voice. He wasn't too thrilled at his first kiss being from some Vladof whore that forced it on him. The blonde seemed to find that hilarious and started laughing at him, the two soldiers chuckling as well.

"That was your first kiss?" The blonde laughed, still sitting in Zach's lap. She continued to laugh, the soldiers chuckling behind her and making Zach's blood boil just a little bit more. After a minute, the blonde stopped laughing and sighed, looking back at the soldiers and questioning "Hey, you two, know what that means?"

The blonde slowly turned her head back with a venom filled smug smile and pointed out, with all intent to ridicule and verbally harm Zach, "That tells me, like every other clone I've humiliated… and mutilated, you. Are. Alone."

Zach fought every urge to get emotional, to not spill critical information about his friends, or worse, his sister. He knew what the Vladof whore was doing, she was trying to get him emotional and say things he knew shouldn't be said. It was a classic interrogation technique… and he was not going to fall for it. He reeled in his anger and went back to his normal grumpy glare that he had perfected talking to the blonde.

"So, what are you? A soldier? Officer? Or some lap dancing whore?" Zack questioned, attempting to get a read on the woman who was interrogating him. The blonde unhooked her legs from Zach and stood up with a smile. She reached out, lightly patting his cheek twice before pulling back and slapping him across the face, leaving a massive stinging red mark on his face. She then grabbed his hair and yanked his head up, forcing him to look at her as she answered his question.

"I'm an officer of the Vladof Army… and a woman who enjoys sex. But right now you are my prisoner… and my bitch." The blonde growled happily, probably getting some form of pleasure out of what she did. She continued "And I am gonna have fun with you. All. Night. Long."

The two soldiers stepped out for a second and returned with a large cart that was covered in a variety of tools that could easily be used for torture. Knives, nails, hammers, drills and even a few containers of different chemicals covered the cart. The blonde reached over and grabbed a cordless drill, giving the trigger a few test squeezes to check on the power.

"This one is my favorites." The blonde stated with a twisted smile. She leaned forward, pressing the drill bit to the top of his left hand. With an evil grin, the blonde pulled the trigger and started to tear into Zach's hand, his scream of pain filling the room.

O00000O00000O

The woman named Krystal stood up from her pod, legs a little shaky as Angel kept a hand on her blade. This woman was a huge unknown and the last thing they could do in such a small, confined space was let their guard down.

"Krystal?" Angel repeated, just to make sure she heard the woman right. She heard that name before, an assassin her father knew and supposedly killed, only to learn she had survived and attempted to kill her parents. Luckily, her mother beat Krystal to the punch and killed her. Angel knew that it couldn't be the same woman since she looked about Zach's age.

"Yes… that's my name…" Krystal answered as she finally stood up straight. She surveyed the room the same way Angel or Zach would… looking for escape routes as well as the individuals that would get in her way. Whoever Krystal was… Angel knew that she was a trained assassin. Krystal's eyes fell back on Angel as she questioned "Where is my Dad?"

"Your Dad?" Patrick questioned.

"Yes. He also goes by N1ne." Krystal responded, her gaze falling to the team bruiser. The group that knew N1ne were a little taken back, surprised by the news that N1ne even had a daughter. It was silent for a minute, until Lynn stepped into the room and shattered the silence.

"Angel. I need you in my room." Lynn exclaimed, ignoring Krystal's presence entirely. Angel nodded and Lynn headed back to her room, Angel giving out an order before heading out herself.

"Lydia, keep an eye on Krystal. Krystal, please stay put." Angel ordered, the two nodding. Lydia stepped forward as Angel walked out, checking Krystal out a bit. She was an attractive woman, her black suit clinging to her curves nicely, really exaggerating her bust.

"So, Krystal… what are you into?" Lydia questioned, trying to get a feel for the woman. It was a simple question, and was really the safest when it came to learning sexual orientation. Krystal looked at Lydia, eyeing the woman before suddenly rushing forward. Krystal was about an inch away from Lydia's face, causing the Vladof runaway to get a tad flustered and her heart to start pounding.

"I'm straight." Krystal replied with a smile, which Lydia thought made her look that much more attractive. Lydia's face lit up as she took a step back, the other two in the room chuckling at the small moment.

Angel went after Lynn, entering her room that was clearly set up for her. On the far wall was a large computer set up, but it was a little junky since it was salvaged from the spare parts lying around the station. Nickoli was working on a spare table to Lynn's right, both of them looking like they had been working hard since they got back. Angel spotted a small ashtray on Lynn's desk with several burnt out cigarettes in it. She knew from Justin that when Lynn got stressed, she smoked, so this job was really stressing her out.

As Lynn sat back down at her set up, she pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and got right back to work. The entire set up basically told Angel the news… it wasn't very good.

"So… how goes the progress?" Angel questioned, already knowing the news. Lynn opened her mouth to explain, but Nickoli raised a hand as he approached Angel with a somber face.

"Well… we didn't think Vladof took as many precautions with their tech. They've rigged their ECHOs with data scramblers. If anyone tries to break into it, it sets up several firewalls and security measures. Since this one was just from a basic soldier… we can only assume this is how all of theirs work. Nickoli took a deep breath and threw out a heavy sigh filled with regret as he finished "We… haven't gotten anywhere yet."

"I can still find his location… it's just going to take a little bit longer than I originally thought." Lynn added as she continued working at the computer. She saw the slight twinge of worry on Angel's face, who was currently trying her best to stay strong, and needed to assure her. "Don't worry Angel, we'll find your brother."

"Alright then. I'm heading out." Angel exclaimed in a flat tone, hiding her worry with her training. She turned and was about to walk out when Nickoli caught her shoulder. She turned to look at him, seeing worry in his face.

"Where are you going?" Nickoli questioned. The last thing he wanted Angel to do was go out and do something stupid, he loved her and didn't want to lose her.

"While you and Lynn take care of finding Zach your way, I'll start looking for him my way." Angel stated as she looked forward.

"How's that?" Lynn questioned as she leaned back in her chair. Angel turned and looked at Angel with a raised eyebrow.

"Seriously? Did you forget that I'm an assassin? I know how to find a target." Angel responded with a smug smile. Nickoli wrapped his arms around Angel, kissing the side of her head.

"Just be careful, okay?" Nickoli asked. He didn't want anything to happen to her, even though he knew she could easily handle herself, being both an assassin and a Siren. Angel smiled and turned her head, giving him a quick kiss.

"Of course. " She assured him as she walked out. She headed to her room to grab her helmet, finding Krystal leaning by the door with a few weapons from the armory. Angel raised an eyebrow and questioned as she opened her door "What are you doing here?"

"I'm coming with you to find your brother." Krystal stated plainly as she followed Angel into her room. Angel's eyebrow stayed raised as she grabbed her helmet.

"How did you-. " Angel started to question.

"You aren't the only one with assassin training. Your friends are nice… but need a little more training when it comes to fighting an assassin." Krystal pointed out as they headed to the front gate. Angel nodded in agreement, not really wanting to ask what Krystal did to her friends. She was pretty sure Krystal didn't kill any of them, but they were still unsure of what she could do.

"Well, if you're going to be with me, then you need to make yourself useful. If you slow me down, I will leave you behind." Angel pointed out coldly. She was looking for her brother. She couldn't afford to have anyone slow her down.

"Understood." Krystal responded as they made it to the Moon Zoomy and summoned a vehicle.

O00000O00000O

Zach slumped in his chair, his face busted a thousand times, his hands drilled and stabbed a hundred times more. The blonde officer dropped her knife on the cart, astounded that Zach was healing as fast as he was and yet he was still maintaining consciousness. She smirked as she lifted Zach's head with her finger under his chin.

"I'm amazed. You've taken more punishment than I've ever seen for a clone, and I've tortured my fair share of clones." The officer explained with a smug smirk. Zach's blood started to boil again since this bitch decided to mock him after torturing him. His anger got the better of him and he spat the blood that collected in his mouth into her face. She smiled as she wiped the blood off her face, and then proceeded to grab Zach's collar. She pulled back and started to punch Zach in the face, again and again and again and again.

She punched him several more times until his shirt tore and he fell onto his back, but the officer wasn't quite done with him yet. She jumped on his chest and continued punching him until the two soldiers grabbed her arms and pulled her off of him. The blonde officer took a deep breath and straightened her clothes out, her cleavage still popping out of her red tank top.

"Sorry about that, Sweetie." The blonde apologized as one of the soldiers pulled Zach upright. She reached over and patted Zach's cheek gently before giving him a light kiss on his puffy, bloody cheeks. She ordered "Boys, take this handsome devil into his cell block until we're ready for our next round."

The soldiers nodded undid Zach's restraints, dragging him by his shoulders and his feet dragging against the ground.

"Shame we didn't get to have fun with you." One of the soldiers grumbled. The other soldier grunted in response, agreeing with his fellow soldier. Apparently they got the sloppy seconds from the blonde officer whore. The first officer chuckled "Maybe we'll get some action later."

Zach was too dazed from his beating to do anything, so he simply stayed quiet. The guards tossed him into the cell, Zach landing face first on the cold concrete as the bars slammed shut. Zach simply stayed on the floor until someone started helping him up and put him on the bed. He could hear them talking, but it was all just a dull roar since he was dizzy from being thrown like a doll. His vision started to blur, but he saw a vague image of the individual that was helping him; his own face.

O00000O00000O

Krystal and Angel made it to Concordia and easily found several drunk Vladof soldiers, easy prey to get information from. The two soldiers stumbled out of the bar, barking about finding some fun for the night. Angel started moving far to the soldiers to pick pocket them, but Krystal put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"What is it?" Angel questioned, turning to Krystal. She was a bit confused on why they were stopping since it was such an easy target.

"Follow my lead." Krystal stated as she reached up and unzipped a good portion of her suit, revealing a lot of cleavage. Krystal then undid her hair, letting it fall free and fluffed it a bit, making her look quite slutty. Angel looked down at her own bust, or lack thereof, and sighed a bit. She wasn't exactly fond of showing off her skin, she never was, and definitely wasn't now since she was with Nickoli.

"Krystal, why are we… doing this?" Angel questioned since she didn't want to participate.

"Because, it will be much easier to get closer to them if we look more… easy." Krystal pointed out, cocking her hip a bit and causing her bust to bounce a bit. One of the men from the bar whistled at her, Krystal allowing herself to smirk a bit.

"I'm not very comfortable with this." Angel grumbled as she looked at her feet.

"Come on. You want to find your brother, right?" Krystal questioned.

Angel took a deep breath and sighed, knowing that she really did want to find her brother. She simply had to get over her own self-consciousness of her body and follow Krystal's lead. She reached up and unzipped her suit a bit, going to the same length as Krystal, but barely showed anything. Krystal sighed and shook her head, seeing that this was going to be a little harder than she originally thought.

"Here, let me just…" Krystal offered as she reached over and started to pull down more on Angel's suit top. She continued to unzip until she basically took off the entire top. Krystal put her hand under her chin and thought for a second before finally suggested "You may as well remove the top since you don't have a chest to show off."

"I will not!" Angel barked, grabbing her open top and tightly closed it, her face turning a bit red. She hated showing her body to others, Nickoli being the only exception since he praised her body.

"Just… pretend that your boyfriend is looking at you." Krystal suggested.

"How did-."

"You don't need to be an assassin to see you two are nauseatingly in love. Just pretend you're trying to seduce him and grab his ECHO. Okay?" Krystal suggested again, hoping that this was a way that would work. She was going to have to help Angel with the art of seduction since Angel seemed to be too shy to do so. Krystal learned that an assassin needed to be able to do whatever it took to get their target, even if that meant having to seduce them.

"Okay… let's do this…" Angel stated as she took her top off and stored it in her inventory, leaving her standing in her dark blue bra and assassin pants, looking more the part. The two got ready and started walking, both of them popping their hips as they approached the two drunk soldiers, who easily spotted them and started whistling. Krystal got up to the soldier, pressing herself against him with a very flirty look. Angel did the same, pushing herself against the soldier, who proceeded to grab her ass. Angel had to fight every urge to crack the soldier across the face, but it was for her brother.

"Hey big boys." Krystal flirted, changing her voice to something more girly and flirty.

"Hey there, sweet cheeks." The drunken soldier slurred.

"Me and my sister here heard you were looking for a good time." Krystal flirted, reaching up and caressing the man's cheek. Both of the soldiers started to laugh as they nodded at each other.

"Sisters… that's hot…" The soldier with Angel chuckled, Angel feeling the soldier get aroused. Honestly, Angel felt disgusted to be doing what she was… it just felt wrong and she felt like she was cheating on Nickoli.

"We're definitely looking for a good time. You two want to join us?" The soldier with Krystal questioned. Krystal slid her hand into the soldier's back pocket and snatched the ECHO, Angel doing the same with the guy she was with.

"We would love to." Krystal replied as she slipped the ECHO into her own back pocket. The soldiers drunkenly laughing as they wrapped their arms around the girls' waists. They were about to start walking away when Angel came up with an idea to sneak away.

"Oh wait! I forgot our… special toys… for tonight. I'll be right back." Angel exclaimed as she snaked out of the soldier's arm. Krystal saw what she was doing and immediately joined in.

"I'll help you get them." Krystal exclaimed as she snaked out of the soldier's arm. She caressed his chest and flirted a bit more "Where can we meet you boys at?"

"Oh, you can find us at Banjo Point. Can't wait to see you two there." The first soldier exclaimed. The two stumbled away, laughing and cheering at their score for the night, leaving Angel and Krystal shaking their heads. Krystal looked at Angel with a raised eyebrow, a tad confused at the sudden change in her attitude.

"Special toys?" Krystal questioned as Angel quickly took her top back out and threw it on.

"I was improvising! I feel dirty…" Angel barked as she zipped her suit up. Krystal shrugged and pulled out the ECHO, finding it unlocked and open for her to look through.

"I think I can find out where they took your brother. What's his name?" Krystal questioned as she started going through the ECHO device.

"Zach, and you know how to hack?" Angel questioned as she tied her hair back up.

"No, but I know how to look through some messages and emails." Krystal responded as she continued to look through the ECHO. She searched for a minute, earning a few more whistles from the drunkards at the bar. She finally found what she was searching for; a message pertaining a captured individual. Krystal announced "Found it. It says 'Target acquired from the train station will be sent to the old Hyperion hub for questioning."

"Yes! We have a location! Let's get the others and get out of here." Angel stated as she took the ECHO from Krystal. She put both of them in her Siren hand and froze them until they shattered. Krystal smirked and nodded, impressed by her abilities. It wasn't a secret that Angel was a Siren, the tattoos were a dead giveaway, but Krystal was impressed by her abilities.

"Interesting. Let's go." Krystal exclaimed after she zipped her suit back up. The two headed for their ride and were ready to figure out how to get Zach back.

O00000O00000O

Zach slowly woke up with a splitting headache which pulsed a dull pain with every heartbeat. He rubbed his head and sat up, attempting to get a better idea of where he was, and finding that clone. His vision started to clear to see he was inside a concrete cell, similar to what would be seen inside a prison. He looked around, and saw several Zer0 clones. One with white hair approached Zer0 and took a knee by the side of the bed.

"Hello, brother. I am Zer0-1." The clone greeted. Zach couldn't believe what he was seeing, this clone looked like Zer0 if he had aged about 20 extra years.

"Ugh, hi… why are you older than the other Zer0 clones?" Zach questioned as he rubbed his head, trying to massage his headache.

"We are first generation clones. Failures to the Maliwan Corporation, so we were simply tossed aside." Zer0-1 answered. Zach attempted to get out of the bed, but another clone, younger than 1, but not by much, kept him from getting out of bed.

"Stay in bed. You're still healing." The clone urged, keeping Zach in bed. Zach was far too tired and sore to argue, so he simply sat in the bed.

"So, which clone are you?" Another clone questioned.

"My clone number is 12. I called myself Z-12 for short, and everyone around me called me that. I eventually took the name Zach." Zach explained, remaining in bed. All of the clones murmured to each other until one of them recognized Zach's number.

"12? You're the clone that slaughtered all our brothers!" The clone barked as he stood up. Two other clones stood up as Zach laid back on the bed. A wave of guilt slammed into Zach as he remembered what he did. He grabbed his pillow and smothered his face with it. Luckily, Zer0-1 stood up and acted as the peace bringer, trying to ease the entire situation.

"Brothers no! We all know what our original purpose was for Maliwan. Foot soldiers. Our brother put an end to their suffering and torment." Zer0-1 argued. Apparently it worked since the other three clones seemed to calm down and took their seats. Zach took the pillow off of his head and decided to share his thoughts.

"I was just so angry. To have me, and all of my brothers, treated like pieces of meat. We were designed to be lambs for the slaughter. So… in my state of emotions, I thought if I were to take away the sheep from Maliwan, I thought I'd cripple them. In a way it did, but I also planned on taking my own life after that." Zach responded, loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Really? What stopped you?" Zer0-1 questioned.

"My sister, Angel. She's the daughter of the original Zer0. She punched me in the face and dragged me out of there." Zach answered. There were several gasps from the clones.

"You… met the original Zer0?" Zer0-1 questioned.

"Yeah, he took me in… well… he let me in his house, but he eventually warmed up to me." Zach answered.

"So, who is Zer0's wife?" Another clone questioned.

"Maya, the Siren that helped take down Handsome Jack." Zach answered.

"What's Angel like?" A different clone asked.

Before Zach could answer, one of the soldiers from the interrogation room started banging on the cell bars with a baton. All of the other clones almost instinctively went against the walls, staying clear of the soldiers.

"Alright, 12. You've had your rest, and it's time for your next session." The soldiers went in with their guns pulled out, one of them grabbing Zach and tossing him to the floor. The guards proceeded to kick at Zach, aiming for his softer spots. One of the clones decided to use the opportunity and sneak the keys off his belt, stashing it silently in his pocket. It was a good amount of time before the soldiers were done with their fun, leaving Zach a crumpled heap on the floor while they laughed. A clone helped Zach to a bed while the other started plotting their escape.

"Let's get out of here." The clone that stole the keys exclaimed as he went for the cell door. Zer0-1 stood in front of the cell door, making apparent they weren't leaving just yet.

"No, not yet. If Zer0-12 has allies out there, then they'll be here soon. We will make our escape then." Zer0-1 planned. "Until then, we'll wait and form a plan."

Zer0-1 huddled together with his brothers and made a plan while Zach laid on the bed and recovered from his beating.

O00000O00000O

Angel and Nickoli sat on a ridge that had a clear view of the Vladof base, and it was heavily fortified. There were heavy defenses, turrets placed on high metal walls, tight security, patrols that went around the interior every five minutes, and vehicular patrols that travelled around the outside.

"Alright, I count 10 snipers on the rooftops… and two guards on every single entrance." Nickoli answered as he stared through a pair of binoculars. Angel was staring down the scope of a sniper rifle and surveyed with Nickoli. It looked like Vladof was taking every precaution against infiltration. Angel continued to look around until she spotted several large open backed trucks with large bots on them. They resembled Maliwan bots, only much bigger, more armor, and more guns.

"Hey, Nicki, look at the trucks down there." Angel pointed out. Nickoli focused on the trucks, seeing the new robots on the truck. They had more of a boxed chest and broader shoulder pads, more than likely due to thicker armor. There was a mini gun placed on the right shoulder with a large back to hold all the ammo. The left hand had been replaced with an assault rifle, no need for an actual hand.

"Those are new." Nickoli commented as he lowered his binoculars. "But it gives me an idea. It's risky… but I think it could work."

"Well then, let's get back to the base and discuss said plan."