Pandoran Nights. Chapter 2: Shellshock. Begin.
Krieg shot up from his haphazard slumber, his chest heaving violently as it had since the first night he could remember. He lifted his mask, rubbing his scarred face with his bandaged right hand. He felt a soft burning in his eyes that he'd not felt since his afternoon spent at the train station as he prepared to leave his friends and try to atone after nearly harming Maya during their underwater play several weeks earlier.
(It's alright, pal, we'll make that dream real again soon, don't worry.) Krieg's inner voice said softly in his head. Krieg nodded solemnly as he replaced his mask over his face, now inspecting the darkened world around him. Due to what could have been years traversing the wastes of Pandora, Krieg naturally became accustomed to the darkness quickly, his vision clear against the night that clutched him. The make-shift shelter he'd forged out of scrap had done well to protect him from the elements that night, but his thrashing in his sleep and his sudden start just moments ago had ruined the pieces of scrap piping that he'd use to support the canopy above his feet. Bent piping and dented scrap metal laid at his side as he shuffled to his feet slowly, inspecting the land around him. The dead thresher several meters away was being picked at by passing skags that were paying him no mind. He looked over at them and simply sighed, consciously deciding to leave them be. (It's a sad day on Pandora when the noble psycho tires of killing.) Krieg's inner voice commented. Krieg simply continued on, tearing a tendril off the dead beast and eating it as he walked on, taking small, disinterested bites of the tough flesh of the worm-like creature.
"Uoooaagh! The powerhouse in the bloody stream does not bring forth the nickel fists!" Krieg shouted, smacking himself on the forehead with his open palm in frustration.
(Yeah, I'm sorry, big guy; I don't know what happened either.) Krieg's sanity replied in a solemn tone. Krieg grumbled audibly and continued on through the dusty wastes.
Miles stretched on in all directions; the infamous Pandoran desert engulfed the insane man. Just then, a ping sounded from his Echo Communicator. He feverishly answered the call.
"Vanilla obfuscation!" He shouted into the communicator immediately to signal that he'd answered.
"Um, hello, Krieg?" a soft, nervous voice said over the Echo.
(That's Angel! WE'RE GOING HOME!) Krieg's inner voice shouted with happiness.
"How may my pastel of voracious flower pedals requiem?!" Krieg bellowed with glee.
"I... I just wanted to tell you that Maya loves you, even now... She... She said that she'll... That she will see you again soon..." Her voice was shaking, not with fear or fury but sorrow and despair. "I... I'm sorry!" she said, immediately ending the call.
(Call her back! NOW!) Krieg's inner voice shouted at him. Krieg grabbed his Echo and dialed her number. She answered, now openly sobbing.
"I'm sorry... I just... Why did you do it, Krieg? Why? ...I... WE thought you were getting better! ...But... You..." she spoke in between heart wrenching sobs. Unable to continue speaking with Krieg, Angel again hung up the call, hacking his echo to prevent him calling back.
(What the hell happened? What did we do!?) Krieg's inner voice asked himself, now confused. Krieg clutched his head, for once trying to remember but getting nothing. (What did we do?!)
"NYAAAAAHGH! I DON'T KNOW!" Krieg screamed back, his hands clenching his head tightly as his muscles tensed on reflex. A shooting pain blitzed through his head at that moment, causing him to bellow with agony as memories flooded his mind. His knees buckled beneath him and he dropped onto the dust and sand below, clutching his head. His nails dug into his scalp, tearing away skin and creating deep, bleeding wounds as he clawed at the source of his agonizing pain.
(Argh! Krieg, no, I know it hurts, but we need... Uagh... To remember!) Krieg's insanity shouted at him. He stopped digging at his head and laid on his back, digging his hands into the sand repeatedly to hold from mutilating himself.
"Ah! Now THAT! Was a lunch!" Brick said, leaning back in his seat, finally finishing his meal. All the others were near catatonic after the sheer amount of food they'd ingested, however him, Krieg, and Salvador had continued eating ravenously while the others lounged in their seats, attempting to digest without passing out. Angel and Zero were gone as they usually ate where the others would not see his face; a treasure that only Angel could behold.
Character Perspective: Krieg
My sinewy stilts began at the wooden gallows before me! All was silent. ALL WAS CALM! The bird of fire and the dark one had primed the fiesta with garnishing and the spleen warden and the arch had retired to their solicitation cauldron! My Meat Maiden bartered with the mass of furnishings within her and her frowning glow was trumpeting on in the distance. Her shallow chicken fingers stroked my pumpernickel jovially! AND I TYPED IT ALL!
...Then came the chives... The Wednesdays! THE PINGING IN MY GINGERSNAPS! And all went governing... ALL! WAS! NOBLE! The crimson in my pleasure folds, the feeling of the flavors, it was all chivalrous and gold! ...but it felt so typhus... so many wheeling sounds... AND THE JOY WAS GONE!
CAN YOU HEAR MEEE?! ALL! WAS! GOOOOONNNE!
Krieg awoke from his memory with burning pains all throughout his body, his veins felt like fire was pushing through them and his bones burned at the joints. His every movement was sluggish and his body felt like it was fighting even against the insane mind that manipulates it. He slowly rose to his feet with shaky footing and stood up straighter, rubbing his one visible eye to clear out the stinging within his brain. That's when the gravity of his memory hit him.
He'd lost it... In that single perfect moment with his love and all their friends, he'd finally snapped. He slaughtered them all, the entire town, torn apart buildings, mutilated goddamn fences for Pete's sake!
(I... No... We didn't... We couldn't! ...NO!) Krieg's inner voice screamed in horror. Krieg himself was filled with despair. His hands shook softly, his every muscle clenching tightly as he stared down at his palms. He silently reached up to his back and pulled out his Buzz Axe, holding it in quaking hands. He stared on at it, wide-eyed, in a trance. "The... The Meat Maiden... SHE WAS MINE!" Krieg bellowed, spinning the axe around and beginning to bash himself in the face with it. The metal, plastic and leather of his mask crumbled away, revealing his blood soaked face to the world as he continued hitting himself mercilessly. His left eye twitched, the right drenched in blood and obscuring his vision with black spots and blood-red images that trailed the present pictures slowly. In another swing, he recoiled, turning the axe the opposite direction, the blade now facing him. "WE'LL ALL GO TOGETHER!" he bellowed, preparing to swing and end his guilt when a voice stopped him.
NO! The voice shouted, pain and fear in its tone.
(An-Angel?) Krieg's sanity asked softly as Krieg barely contained his urge to mutilate and kill himself, digging with his fingers at the hilt of his weapon so roughly, his fingers bled.
Yes... It's... It's me. I... I've been watching you... Checking to... To see if you regretted it... I didn't know... you... Forgot it... she replied in a solemn tone, her sobbing evident, even in the psychic link. But... Now that you remember... You... Want to die as punishment... Maya would be so happy... she continued, the last bit quiet, like she was afraid to say it.
(What... What do you mean? What happened to her?!) Krieg's inner voice shouted at the soft-spoken siren. Krieg's grip on his axe tightened, his tendons locking and his muscles burning with pain at the physical exertion.
I... I don't know what happened to her... When you... Did that... She just... Disappeared... Angel replied.
(What happened to her during our lapse? Did we kill her?) Krieg's sane mind asked impatiently. Angel did not reply to this. (ANGEL! Did. We. Kill. HER?!) it bellowed.
No! I... I don't know... No one else knows either... Everyone reconstructed after you leapt off the city, chasing some Rakk, but she was nowhere to be found. I don't even know if she was a victim... I'm... I'm sorry...
"Then you will track her... You will be the blistering wind at my back... YOU. WILL. BE. THE. OBSERVER!" Krieg hollered, his muscles finally releasing, allowing him mobility again.
I... I know, Krieg. I'm looking. She'll turn up eventually... Angel said slowly, her tone soft and even.
(Then let's go. We have to search for her. No matter how long it takes.) Krieg's sanity said, finally calming down. Angel hacked into their HUD and appeared before them, nodding softly. (And Angel?) It asked, Angel looking at them quizzically in response. (Please digistruct us a new mask, some Insta-Healths, and let us back into Sanctuary. We're going to help you and the others look for her, even if we have to die to do it.) the voice said evenly, Krieg nodding in agreement.
End Chapter 2: Shellshock.
I hope this chapter was good enough to compensate for the short length. I honestly don't know how long I'll have this story running, but it should be a few more chapters. Thanks to everyone reading out there. As always, read, review, and don't be afraid to PM me with any ideas, long comments, or thoughts you may have. Chao!