Pandoran Nights Chapter 4.
Stepping out onto the concrete was as new as it was nostalgic. The shifting winds howled softly above the ramshackle buildings and the fist atop the spire, bringing with it the smells of his once welcoming home. Krieg stood at the precipice of the transport station in Sanctuary, his friends all gathered around him. His hands bound and his prized weapon held in the hands of another. The hands of the opposite side of the coin that was Krieg. Zero.
"I do not like this/ This entire situation/ It seems suspicious." Zero said, holding Krieg's buzz axe in his left hand, his Law Pistol in his right.
"That's why Krieg's here, Soldier. This situation has too many missing clues." Roland said, taking the buzz axe from Zero and looking to Krieg. "And he may not have answers, but a gun sometimes has fingerprints from the one who pulled the trigger." Roland said, turning on his heel and beginning to walk towards Raider's HQ, the others following suit.
"This buffoon had best take care to not harm Clork or I will remove his legs like Jack did to Phillipe." Tannis said, watching as several Crimson Raiders hoisted Krieg, rather skillfully, upside down, into the ceiling chair in Tannis' office.
"Don't worry. Your uh... Friend will be perfectly fine." Roland replied, turning towards the upstairs, into the command room, the others in tow. An uneasy silence filled the room as all the Vault Hunters gathered around their leader. "Okay, Angel. First thing's first. Don't go behind my back again. We're a team. Remember that." He said, looking to her. The timid siren nodded in affirmation. "Good. Now. You followed Krieg for quite some time. Did you find that dart in the video? It may be our only lead."
"Sadly, no. I could not find it anywhere. It must have dissolved in the days that followed the incident." Angel said softly.
"Okay... I don't want to be the one to say this, but are we just going to ignore the gorilla upside down in the other room?" Axton asked, looking at the others.
"I know you don't trust him, soldier; we've all got our doubts. But I trust Maya's judgment. And after hearing that there's actually something in his head keeping him in line? I'm hard pressed to believe he didn't do that on purpose." Roland said, looking over to him.
"Yeah, and he wanted to kill himself after remembering. You don't do that unless you really regret it." Mordecai chimed in.
"We've spent enough time talking about the past, let's worry about the present. Angel, you said that you've been scanning Krieg's mind, right? What have you found?" Lilith said, calling everyone's attention to the timid siren.
"Nothing but white noise, thoughts of meat and dismemberment, and Maya; his mind's clearer than one would expect." She replied softly, a slight smile on her face.
"Nothing about the incident?" Lilith asked, one of her eyebrows raising in curiosity.
"Nothing until he remembered on his own. He was under a fog. His body was not his own at that time. When he regained awareness, he believed that Sanctuary had been attacked by bandits and he somehow had been blown off the edge or something." Angel responded.
"Not too far from the truth, actually..." Axton commented.
"Enough, soldier. I know you're upset by what happened. We all are. But it's not his fault." Roland replied.
With that, a loud, blood curdling scream echoed from the room below. A recognizable, young and decidedly feminine scream: a scream that came from one very recognizable Mechromancer down in the other room.
"Great... Who forgot to brief her that Krieg was on the ceiling?" Roland asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose before looking up to the others for some sort of reaction. After being met with simple shrugs by his allies, he just sighed audibly before waving dismissively, the others, save Lilith, all slowly funneling out of the confining room.
"What the Fuck do you mean "forgot to tell me?!" Gaige fumed, several moments later, her volume audible throughout the entirety of Sanctuary.
Salvador visibly sweat-dropped as he held his hands out defensively, incredibly unnerved by the young girl, surprisingly enough. It was at this very painful moment that Axton walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Gaige's shoulder.
"I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. This whole thing doesn't sit very well with me either." Axton said softly, pulling the young woman into a kind embrace. She instantly softened at his touch, her ire still seethed beneath the surface, however, it quickly settled.
"I'll forgive you this time, turret boy, but don't let it happen again or I'm having Deathtrap take your "girl" out for a night on the town. And you know where that'll lead..." she replied, adopting a sly smile as Axton audibly gulped, fearing the worst. Following that situation, Roland and Lilith slowly made their way down the stairs, immediately realizing exactly why Gaige screamed like she had.
Kreig was dangling from the ceiling, as they left him, however, his one visible eye and neck were tinted obviously redder than usual due to blood flow, though his poker face was impeccable. All of this compounded to create a look that could only be described as a "Nightmarish Spiderman" as Gaige had said in the midst of her terrified rant. Lilith gasped softly, placing her left hand at her chest, as if to hold her heart steady at the horrifying sight of Krieg's disturbing visage staring down at the two of them coming down the steps.
"That... Is legitimately disturbing..." Roland said as he stopped at the bottom of the steps.
"The blue piranhas nipping at my nose play such a sweet soliloquy of sandwiches." Krieg said, obviously more bored than uncomfortable.
"Should... Should we take him down before he... uh... gives one of us a heart attack?" Lilith asked, still holding her chest, her heart only settling down just now.
"Normally, I'd say yes, but this is possibly the best way to keep him restrained we've got in Sanctuary. My safe hasn't been structurally the same since Maya lost a duel with Zero." Roland replied, still looking up at the suspended psycho above.
(Maybe it would be better if you all just chained us up over the edge or something?) Krieg's inner voice commented, using Lilith's mind as a conduit.
"Wah! Holy shit! Voice in my head!" Lilith shouted, startled greatly, taking a step back and holding her temples.
"Take it easy, Lil, we all heard it." Brick replied.
"Yeah, but you didn't hear it inside your head!" Lilith shouted at him, still clutching her head.
(Just take it easy, siren. I'm only trying to help.) Krieg's sanity said in a smooth, calm voice.
"What do you mean help?" Roland asked, looking up at Krieg.
(I've been inside Krieg's head for as long as he's been Krieg. I know what we're capable of. I know that if... something happened... these chains and a bad case of vertigo won't be enough stop him.) The disembodied voice replied, echoing throughout the room, Krieg nodding in agreement. (Here's what you should do. Take a big, long chain and wrap us up in it like a body for mummification. Make sure it's the thickest, strongest chain you've got too. Then dangle us over the edge of the city. Watch us in shifts and do NOT let us loose. This is the only way I can guarantee the safety of the city if we get dosed again somehow.) the voice said, its words soft and relatively quiet, but carrying a heavy weight with them. So heavy, in fact that even the members of the Raiders standing outside felt discomfort with the plan. After a long pause, Roland spoke up.
"Give us a few moments to consider." he said, and the group began heading outside and over to Zed's Clinic to make sure the hanging lunatic couldn't hear.
"I don't know. Even if Krieg is a traitor to the Crimson Raiders and all of Sanctuary at large, he doesn't deserve something like that." Roland said out loud to the group.
"I agree with you/ Not even he deserves that/ But if for safety..." Zero replied, trailing off, deep in thought.
"I-if ah may?" Zed said, drawing their attention.
"Zed? You've got something to add?" Roland asked, surprised.
"Yeah. Now... ah don't know the big S.O.B. that well, but from what ah've seen... Well... Beneath all a that meat 'n murder... lies a heart a gold." Zed said in his traditional southern drawl and soft speaking voice.
"But, do you think we should do that to him?" Gaige asked, her eyebrows furrowed with uncertainty.
"Ah believe he said it for our protection. His heart a gold's reachin' out to us. Let's not hurt 'em. He wants to keep us safe, so let's ease his conscience." Zed replied softly, looking down at Gaige before turning his attention to Roland, who in turn nodded in approval.
"Then it's settled. We'll suspend him over the edge of Sanctuary so he doesn't have to worry about hurting anyone. We'll all take shifts watching him and surveying the planet for signs of Maya." He said, the others all nodding to show their understanding.
Content with the plan at that point, the group returned to the Crimson Raider HQ to tell Krieg of their decision.
"We have your answer. We'll follow your suggestion and suspend you over the edge of Sanctuary, but we're going to all take shifts watching you and monitoring planetside for Maya." Roland told the suspended Psycho and his inner saner voice.
(I'm glad you listened. It's for the best of everyone that you all do this to us.) the voice said in response, Krieg nodding in agreement.
"Yes, yes, this is all well and good, but can we please remove the hanging, murderous baboon from Clork now? I am growing increasingly uncomfortable with both his treatment and the greatly increased quotient of breathing individuals within my lab." Tannis interjected, interrupting the moment.
"We'll have him out of your hair in no time, Tannis." Roland replied, walking over to where Krieg was suspended. He, Brick, Mordecai and Axton all worked to remove him from the ceiling and undo his bindings while Lilith Phasewalked away to retrieve the heaviest chain she could find to restrain him with, returning in a blinding flash before the men had even f, returning in a blinding flash before the men had even finished lowering the hulk of a man to the ground.
"Gaige, you, Salvador and Brick: tie him up in the chain. When you're done, go and secure the chain to the Resistance Fist in the center of town. Zero, when they finish securing Krieg in the chain, lead him to the edge of the city. I'll take first watch for signs of Maya and you'll get first guard of Krieg." Roland said, the others all following his instructions to the letter and in about two minutes, all was in position and the Raiders, Vault Hunters, and a gathering crowd of Sanctuary citizens overlooked the "incarceration" of the Ex-Vault Hunter, as many have come to call him.
"Krieg: you have shown all of us that you truly are innocent and are not a traitor to Sanctuary and the Crimson Raiders. You are hereby reinstated as a Crimson Raider and welcome back on the team. However, for the time being, in order to protect Sanctuary and the Crimson Raiders you again serve, we must imprison you in the most extreme manner possible." Roland said in a sincerely solemn tone.
Krieg merely turned around to face the crowd with slumped shoulders and what looked to be a heavy burden on his conscience before saying the following: "This poop train conductor does not blame the statuary or the ascendant. Merely that the pain meat was weak. Too weak to protect his Meat Maiden..." he then grew silent for several moments, his resolve steeling visibly before continuing. "BUT ALL WILL CHANGE AND KRIEG WILL STAND AGAIN WITH ALL!" he shouted, a tear rolling don his mask from his one visible eye. His eye was alight with a single emotion that none of them had ever seen in there before: Determination. Steadfast determinations to earn back the trust and friendship that he'd lost and a determination to hold on to it with everything he was worth and never let it go again. He stood in silence for another moment before speaking once more, taking a step back towards the ledge, not turning around. "THE TROUNCER OF FLESH AND LEAFY FRIDGES WILL RETURN! WITH! HONOOORR!" he bellowed, leaning backward as he finished his last syllable, falling off the edge of the city, now being suspended by his chain prison, an indomitable drive to find their missing team member now renewed to full vigor by their insane teammate.
Chapter 4: The Pursuit of Bloodiness. End.
I hope you all enjoy this new chapter. I've been stuck for quite some time and I apologize if this feels like filler, but writer's block hits me pretty hard sometimes. Anyway, as always, read, review, and PM me whenever! Thank you faithful readers!