Hello crazy, beautiful world! MandaloreTheScribe here, who regretfully informs you that this isn't the next chapter. This is a scene that I wanted to put at the end of one of the last couple updates, but unfortunately I couldn't as it didn't fit the tone of the chapter. So I decided that I would put it in as it's own "Minisode", a form of mini chapter that I'll use for minor scenes that I want to include, but couldn't fit in otherwise. Don't worry, I am hard at work on the USJ arc, it is coming!

While we are here, is anyone else excited for the fourth DLC campaign for Borderlands 3? I know I am!

Borderlands is owned by Gearbox and 2KGames and My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Funimation. Please support the official release.

Please rate and review!

"This means someone is talking."

'This means someone is thinking to themselves.'

This means it's a flashback.

*This means it's a sound effect!*

{This means I'm speaking in a different language!}

Angel in a Gilded Cage

Mexico; the hot, arid region of North America. For centuries it had seen hardships from outwards as well as within. The advent of quirks made an already unstable country even more chaotic during the time period. But now like the rest of the world, it had settled into its own "normal", even if it wasn't pretty in some places. Just as it had always been, it was a place of lawlessness and illegal business.

The perfect refuge for those with something to hide.

Wary travelers took heed to find a respectable establishment to rest for the night. For as the sun goes down, predators come out to hunt. Unscrupulous individuals peddling in narcotics, dangerous weapons and dirty deeds peddle their craft. The once vibrant cities and towns turn into hives of violence and crime.

And in one such town there is no place more with a more savage clientele than "The Coyote Den" home to a gang of bandits known as the MadDogs.

A dingy little bar separate from the rest of the town near the highway, mothers warned their children of the people who live up to the establishment's name. Ravenous and hungry, they pounce on anyone encroaching on their territory. You would have to be completely foolhardy, no, insane to enter.

"NGYAAAA!"

*CRASH!*

Bystanders outside jumped back as a man flew through the front window in a shower of glass. Sounds of splintering wood, shattering glass and other sounds of general mayhem echoed from within. A bar brawl? At the Coyote Den no less? Who'd be so suicidal?

"I LOVE THIS TOWN! RAAAAGH!" Towering at around eight feet was a colossus of a man. His veins bulged under his skin, coursing up and down his corded muscles, his arms as thick as tree trunks. His fists eclipsed the head of the bar patron in his grasp, throwing him around like a ragdoll as he lifted him over his shoulder.

"FROM DOWNTOWN!" He bellowed and threw the man out the window after his friend. "IT'S GOOD! HA HA!"

So caught up in his bloodthirst, the giant didn't notice the MadDog running behind him with a machete raised to chop at his neck.

Only to get tackled by a dark skinned man, carrying the attacker and slamming him into a wall.

"Watch your six Brick!" He yelled as he punched the man twice in the stomach then finished with a strike to the mouth, making him slump to the ground with half of his teeth.

"I knew he was there Roland!" Brick protested behind him

"Where would you be without me?"

"I knew he was there!" He repeated childishly.

"Hmph, right." Roland snorted.

To which Brick responded by picking up a chair and winding it back.

"Oh shit!" Roland ducked as the furniture flew overhead and smashed into the man sneaking up behind him, exploding in a shower of wood as the attacker fell to the floor groaning.

"I had that one." Roland objected.

"Ha, right." Brick wiggled his head as he mimicked his friend's voice, then they both started chuckling.

What had meant to be a quick meeting with the local gang had turned into an all out bar brawl. Their goal had been to pay respects and get permission from the most prominent bandit gang in the area to pass through their territory. Unfortunately...

"Hey Brick!" They turned to see a redheaded woman riding another bandit, her legs wrapped around his throat in an attempt to force him into submission. "Remind me again why you punched the lieutenant in the face?" She yelled as her captive's face began to turn blue.

"He had a spider on his face! I thought he'd appreciate it! I said I was sorry, didn't I?!"

"That was a tattoo!"

"Well if he thought it was a good idea to get a pic of a creepy crawly on his face that anyone would wanna punch, I don't think this is on me!" He shot back as he slammed his fist down on another attacker, making him fold in half.

"Need any help there Lil?" Roland asked, to which she shook her head.

"Pshh, no! I've got this!" She denied a moment before the man she was straddling charged backwards.

"Gah!" Lilith felt the air leave her lungs as she was smashed against the wall, losing her hold and landing on the ground, her opponent gasping across from her trying to catch his breath. Seeing the one strangling him on the floor, the man snarled something in Spanish, his skin darkening and hardening into solid stone.

"Well?!" Lilith asked, beckoning with her hand as she got to her feet. "Come and get me, big guy!"

Taking her invitation, the MadDog bore down on her, raising his granite fist. Just as he brought it down, there was a flash of purple light. Blinking away the spots in his eyes, he stumbled back at seeing that the woman was gone.

Next thing he knew, there was another flash as she reappeared to his left, the strange markings on her skin radiating a bright orange light and punched him across the face then disappeared again, her fist leaving a red hot indent on his skin, melting the stone.

She popped back into existence and gave him another hit on his right, fading away before he could get at her. Then it happened again below him, Lilith delivering a cracking uppercut, forcing his head back and making him stumble.

A flash above. Lilith roared as she planted her boots in the bandit's face, throwing him off balance and propelling him into a digital jukebox. His head smashed into the glass and he collapsed as the machine started playing, filling the air with the drums and trumpets of Salsa.

"Ooooooo! I like this song!" Brick said as he started shaking his hips to the beat. "Unngh, yeah! GYRATION!" He yelled, punching out a man's teeth.

Letting her markings cool down, Lilith took a second to breath and glance about amidst the chaos.

"Anyone see Mordy?"

Just as she said that, two bodies burst out of the kitchen door. Two men grappled with each other as they collided with the bar, knocking bottles of alcohol off the shelves. The thin, bandanna and goggle wearing, goateed man seemed to be worse off against his beefier opponent as he got kicked in the stomach against the far side of the bar.

"Unnngh…" He groaned, looking up to his attacker who was advancing on him with a combat knife.

"{I don't suppose we can just settle this over a drink?}" Mordecai asked in his birth tongue, picking up a bottle of tequila and pulling off the cork as he stood up.

"{I'll be drinking your blood, asshole!}" The man bellowed, raising his knife into a downwards stab as he ran forward.

"{Gross.}" Mordecai retorted simply and took a deep breath. Immediately, the world slowed down, the roar escaping the man's lips, sounding like he was submerged in molasses. He watched the knife shimmer in the light of the bar, plunging down ploddingly. Easily reacting to the attack, Mordecai stepped to the side and wrapped his free arm around the man's own, twisting around until he had a controlling grip on his opponent.

He breathed out and everything sped back up as he flipped the man over his shoulder, slamming his back onto the bar. While his opponent was stunned and recovering from the pain, he wrested the knife from his hand and stabbed it down, nailing the man's limb to the wood, eliciting a pained howl.

"{Should've taken the drink idiot.}" He chuckled and took a swig from the bottle, relishing the feeling of the burning liquid running down his throat.

*BEEEP! BEEEP!*

He blinked at the sudden noise ringing from his pocket. He reached in and pulled out his satellite phone.

'A message from Moxxi?' He thought as he started pulling it out. It had been several months since the last message, as they had agreed that they needed to maintain radio silence so no one could trace the signal from the Raiders to where Angel was hiding, or vice versa, leaving the line only for emergencies.

'Hopefully nothing has gone wrong!' He thought nervously as he opened the message.

Thankfully it wasn't urgent, instead it made him smile.

"Hey guys!" He called out, catching his friend's attention as they were finishing off their respective enemies.

"What is it Mordy?" Roland asked, standing up after suplexing a man through a table.

"Got a message from Moxxi, take a look!" Mordecai tossed the phone to him.

Turning it over, Roland held it so Lilith and Brick could see over his shoulders.

It was a picture of Angel wearing the crisp grey uniform of Yūei Academy, standing before the gate of the illustrious was posing for the camera, making a peace sign with her fingers. Her skin was clear, her hair was longer now and well brushed and most importantly, she wore a great, happy smile on her face.

At the bottom of the screen:

Heartbreaker: Angel's first day of school!

It wasn't easy being on the run. With heroes scouring for them from city to city, organizations such as the FBI and Interpol on their trail and private bounty hunters hoping to cash in on the reward for their capture, they couldn't afford to relax or become complacent, always on the move.

But this message, this single image, that carefree smile on their friend's face. It reminded them of what they had seen. What they had done. What they were fighting for.

Who, they were fighting for.

All three of them smiled.

"Awwww!" Lilith cooed. "Look at her! She looks so happy and cute!"

"Looks like she's been getting some sleep. Doesn't have those bags under her eyes no'more." Brick pointed one of his huge fingers at Angel's face.

"If there's one thing Moxxi can do, is help people relax. Heh heh heh!" Mordecai snickered from the bar where he was rummaging through the shelves.

"Jokes aside, we did good guys. We did good." Roland sighed, relieved that he could say that all of the trouble and danger had been worth it, if the girl they had helped escape America, the one who was haunted by her past, could finally follow her dreams.

"Hell yeah we did! I think that earns us a toast!" Mordecai laughed as he walked over to the group holding a quartet of beers between his fingers, which he passed out to his friends and retrieved his phone.

"You're right Mordy." Roland nodded and raised his bottle, the rest following his example.

"Gentlemen!"

"Hey!"

"And Lilith." He amended with a playful smirk. "A toast, to our momentary victory. The fight isn't over, not by a long shot, but we can take satisfaction in knowing that we fought, so she wouldn't have to. For Angel."

"FOR ANGEL!" They all cheered and hit their bottles together.

Which promptly exploded, covering them in beer and glass.

"Dammit Brick!" Lilith yelled as she shook some of the shards and alcohol from her hair.

"Whoops. My bad." He chuckled bashfully.