Chapter 8
A/N: Oh dear god...where am I?! What YEAR is it?! How is it that they announced a new Doom game AND a new Borderlands game in the time it took for me to upload a new chapter?! Sorry, more apologizing later. For now, enjoy the chapter! Remember that I own nothing!
...
The Marauder growled and fell to one knee after skidding to a stop, leaning its weight heavily on the haft of its activated axe as it struggled to breathe amidst the pain. Raising its head, the demon's gaze fell upon the form of the Slayer, who stood with overt animosity in his posture across from it. Despite the Slayer's searing rage however, his form yet lacked a severe degree of intensity, giving the Marauder the impression that he had yet to exert himself fully in their battle. The accursed shotgun weapon that fired explosive rounds rested comfortably in both of his gauntleted hands.
The thought alone of the Slayer having yet to exercise the full extent of his strength caused the Marauder's hatred to flare beyond its already substantial level, and a faded memory of a time before hell flashed briefly through the demon's mind.
Long ago, the Night Sentinels' way of life had been one of a warrior, with even those serving a duty outside the field of battle still adhering to a high standard of martial prowess. For a society composed entirely of capable warriors, showing restraint to your opponent was seen as one of the highest forms of insult, with an exception being made only for training purposes. No matter one's foe, respect was always given by utilizing the full extent of your abilities to defeat them, as it was seen as an honor to merit all of your opponent's might to suffer defeat. To withhold one's strength was to judge another as unworthy of it, and despite the superiority the Night Sentinels often held against the armies of their soon-to-be-conquered worlds, very rarely did their legions give anything other than their best.
And now, seeing the Doom Slayer blatantly retain some of his strength incited a fury within the Marauder that blazed throughout its form and seemingly into the immediate air around it. Not only was the demon unable to destroy that which it hated, but its honor was also being knowingly disgraced. To incite its anger even further, the Marauder heard a grating voice from a nearby flying mechanical drone, the same drone that had observed their battle thus far and seemed content to constantly narrate every part of it. The small flying device circled closer at the temporary lull in the skirmish, but the incessant voice refused to stop, its infuriating tone peppered with an artificial "bleeping" that sounded intermittently.
"JUST LOOK AT THAT DAMAGE FOLKS! WITH JUST A FEW WELL-AIMED ROUNDS FROM THIS LATEST MODEL, THE BEAUTIFUL AND AESTHETICALLY PLEASING DOOM SLAYER HAS GOT THIS UGLY, GOOD FOR NOTHING, PUNK ASS DEMON ON THE ROPES! IF THAT DON'T MAKE YOU WANT TO BUY A TORGUE WEAPON HERE AND NOW, THEN YOU NEED TO GET YOUR MOTHERF*KIN' HEAD CHECKED!"
The Marauder grit its sharpened teeth at the vulgarity and glaring insults from the voice in the drone, its indignance rising even further. Across from it, the Slayer had yet to move from where he stood, seemingly waiting for the demon to rise to its feet before attacking once more.
The wretched sight of the armored usurper was enough for the Marauder to finally snap, and without a moment's hesitation, the armored demon reached behind itself and produced an ingot of the Argent-filled ore that had been uncovered on this planet. Having seen firsthand the effects of this substance on the demonic hordes that already arrived on this planet, the Marauder had brought it along as a last resort, concluding long before the battle that should the Doom Slayer gain the upper hand, the demon would do whatever was necessary to ensure its victory.
The Slayer made no move towards the Marauder as it crushed the stone within its fist, but the demon could see his visor tilt downward in obvious spite as the power contained within the ore coursed through its body, infusing both bone and muscle with a potent energy birthed from two equally ancient and potent sources.
The wounds it had sustained so far were immediately forgotten as the Marauder rose to its feet, meeting the Slayer's gaze and exhaling slowly in response to the overwhelming sensation of strength now flowing through it. Around the two figures, the drone continued to circle, the voice from within still spouting its dribble:
"WHOA, NOW WAIT JUST A GODDAMN MINUTE, FOLKS! IT LOOKS LIKE THE HORRIFICALLY HIDEOUS DEMON STILL HAS AN ACE UP ITS NONEXISTENT SLEEVE! AS YOU WILL SEE MOMENTARILY, HOWEVER, THIS BULLSH*T 'POWER-UP' WILL NOT MAKE A LICK OF DIFFERENCE, AS THE PHYSICALLY PERFECT DOOM SLAYER WILL NO DOUBT—"
The voice was drowned out over the sound of the Marauder's super shotgun blasting the drone to pieces. A few more outraged words and bleeps forced themselves out of the ruined machine as it crashed hard to the ground, then the drone went silent, eliminating all noise in the immediate region save for the low hum of the Marauder's axe.
The Doom Slayer gave one look over the demon's form, which was now glowing with a hard red aura thanks to the infusion of the Argent ore, then slowly but deliberately drew a weapon that the Marauder had not seen in millenia.
The choice weapon of the Sentinel kings, the Slayer held the hilt of a Crucible in his hands, and as the Marauder's eyes narrowed at the familiar sight, the Slayer activated the weapon, causing wraithfire to leap forth and take the familiar shape of his choice weapon of war.
The fact that a few of the symbols glowing prominently along the blade were foreign to the Marauder was barely heeded, and with murderous intent, the demon charged, raising its axe high and swinging powerfully for the base of the Slayer's neck.
…
Axton had always considered himself to be among the ranks of individuals who had seen some of the craziest and messed up things the universe had to offer. Death, destruction, war (with and without war crimes), famine…all had been witnessed by the Commando at some point in his life. A not insignificant number of those had been seen after he had arrived on Pandora too, which was enough for Axton to consider himself among the "privileged" few that could claim that they had seen some of the craziest shit known to man.
And now, taking at the sight before him, Axton could comfortably say that if he were to organize his craziest and most evil sights into a list, then this would easily be in his top five. Mildly impressive, all things considered.
After gaining access to the interior of Control Core Angel and cautiously traversing a few airlocks and hallways, the Vault Hunters had come across one final massive door, which once opened, had revealed Angel's inner chamber. To say it was gargantuan was putting it mildly, as the large circular space was nearly wide enough to park a spacecraft in. With a ceiling that stretched nearly three stories above them, the only man made enclosures Axton had seen that were this large before had been aircraft hangers utilized by the Dahl military, though those had been designed to store entire detachments of fighters and transport planes instead of just a single Siren and a vault key.
As the large entrance to the chamber slowly closed behind them, Axton's attention was then drawn to the only thing occupying the chamber, which was large enough to merit the size of the room housing it. A vile contraption of metal pipes and plating sat square in the epicenter of the circular floor, its chilling composition rising from the ground all the way to the vaulted ceiling far above. As Axton craned his neck to see its entirety, he noted that the pipes and components that fed the machine before them snaked inward from all around the top of the chamber, seemingly growing from the walls and the ceiling and pushing towards the center as they slowly worked their way downward. Closer and closer they bunched together, until they all culminated in one final bulbous mechanical component, making it as though they were roots stretching towards one specific source.
That component, which appeared far more sinister than the rest, seemed to serve simultaneously as an injection and suspension mechanism for the entity directly below it, and Axton's eyes widened in a swirl of complex emotions as he laid eyes on the voice behind the ECHO for the very first time.
It was Angel, in the flesh.
Axton heard Maya let out a small but audible gasp from next to him as she and the rest of the vault hunters also took in the sight.
After hearing her voice for so long, it was a little difficult to fully recognize that the young woman floating helplessly before their eyes and the troubled A.I. that had both hindered and helped them since that train crash were one and the same.
As with the other two Sirens Axton had met, a few of the immediately obvious aspects of Angel's appearance were her tattoos, which were glowing in a bright blue-white color. The second most obvious thing about her were her Siren wings, illuminated in a color similar to her tattoos, though in great contrast to the fiery orange wings that Lilith sported when she used her powers.
As Axton watched, he could see a strong stream of plasmic purple Eridium sprouting from the bottom of the contraption above Angel and flowing directly into the Siren's body, changing and swirling beneath her skin before emerging and continuing even further below her, this time tainted white by what Axton assumed to be essence from Angel herself. The energy then flowed into a smaller device that seemed of similar make to the bulbous contraption above Angel where Axton could see the three pieces of the vault key orbiting around in a slow hum, each piece constantly being fed by their own steady stream of Angel's power.
The supernatural appearance of Angel's wings and tattoos combined with the sight of her levitating a few meters above the ground gave her an air of divinity, though any initially empyrean impressions of her were quickly shattered as Axton stepped closer.
Despite her suspended position, Axton could see a deep weariness through Angel's form, her shoulders slumped and her limbs hanging weakly at her sides. Her head lolled to the side as though she were too exhausted to lift it, and Axton felt a flash of empathy and anger at Handsome Jack when he saw that her body was nearly devoid of any muscle mass. It all but confirmed Axton's suspicions that Angel had been suspended beneath this machine for a very long time.
"Christ…" Axton heard Gaige mumble from his right. "I mean, I knew Jack was sick in the head and everything, but…"
Gaige trailed off as Angel's motionless form finally stirred, and slowly, the captive Siren raised her head and blinked wearily, her eyes squinting as if in effort to see them clearly. Her long black hair covered one side of her face, and in the suspension, it floated freely as if underwater, held only in place by a hairband. Axton felt another pang in his chest as he wondered just how much she had actually used her physical eyes throughout the years. Angel's expression then turned into that of a soft smile despite the tiredness on her face.
"You made it," her voice rasped. "I knew you would."
Slowly, Angel's form began to straighten up as she lazily turned her body midair to fully face the Crimson Raiders. As she did so, her face suddenly hardened and her tone became rushed.
"Quickly, you need to disable this machine. Look up–"
As if her words had activated it, a shrill alarm began to sound, and before their eyes, a large energy field formed around Angel as well as the machinery above and below her. The suspended Siren weakly lifted her arm as if to stop the shield from forming, but it was obvious that she had no control over the systems that maintained her prison. The act of simply trying seemed to exhaust her.
All around them, Axton began to hear the telltale sounds of digistruct equipment whirring to life, and in a reflexive response, the Crimson Raiders fell into a defensive semi-circle with their backs to the energy field around Angel, weapons raised.
Though none of them could see any immediate threats, they did not have to wait long before the massive door to Angel's chamber opened wide once more, this time issuing forth what Axton estimated to be dozens of loader bots. Their appearance immediately put Axton on edge, not just because of the powerful weapons they carried, but also due to the enhanced armor and reinforcement sported by their chassis. Most loader bots were robust in their own right, but well placed shots to joints or between segments of armor would be enough to dismember if not outright disable them, which had presented the Vault Hunters with a significant exploitable weakness to counter the sheer numbers of bots Hyperion would throw at them on average.
These units, however, possessed far better armor and innate durability, so much so that Axton could very easily make out the extra armor on their bodies despite the low lighting in the chamber. To further solidify that these loader bots were a cut above their average counterparts, each one sported a coat of stark white paint rather than typical Hyperion orange with white streaks, and as the last of the bots filed into the room and trained their rifles on the Crimson Raiders, a large screen mounted on the wall of the chamber flickered to life, showcasing Handsome Jack's face twisted with fury.
"I warned you. I was loud and clear. But like always, you braindead savages didn't understand," spoke Jack, his live feed face nearly snarling every word.
"So take a good look around, kiddos, because this room is gonna be your grave. Now, get the hell away from my daughter!"
Jack's face disappeared from the screen just as the enhanced loader bots opened fire, and while the Vault Hunters scrambled for what little cover could be found, Axton noted with a sense of dread that digistruct modules that he had not previously seen before began immediately constructing additional troops.
In less than a minute, they would be up to their armpits in loader bots.
"Hate to say it Roland, but I'm not really liking our position here!" Axton called out, raising his rifle to return fire despite his incredibly exposed position.
"Get on the other side of the forcefield!" Roland called, referring to the field that had formed around Angel and the equipment housing her. "We can hold them off using it as a barrier!"
Roland had barely finished speaking before the Vault Hunters began to move, hastily retreating to the other side of the shield where the bot's presence was the weakest. Unfortunately for them, the digistruct modules that continued to churn out more enemies were located all around the chamber, meaning that until they were disabled, nowhere would be safe.
"Target the modules, make sure they can't replace their losses!" Roland called, though by this point, each one of the Vault Hunters had developed an innate combat strategy of destroying any Hyperion digistruct modules as early as possible. With a few shots from Salvador's shotgun and an admittedly amazing throw from Kreig's buzz axe, all of the modules on the far side of the chamber were disabled, meaning that at least the Crimson Raiders would have to worry about any loader bots spawning behind them.
The downside to their current position became readily known as they all regrouped around the other side of Angel's containment. The circular shape of the chamber and the massive forcefield in the center meant that despite their relative obstruction from the current line of fire, their enhanced loader bot adversaries were able to attack them from two opposite fronts. Axton hissed in frustration when he realized they were forced to split their already small force in half to cover both sides at once. To make matters even worse, the entrance to the control core opened once again, revealing even more specifically enhanced loader bots who continued to bolster their barely depleted forces pressing in from both sides of the chamber.
"I can't…I can't stop them," Angel called weakly from the other side of the shield, and a small part of Axton recognized the novelty of hearing her voice in person instead of through the fuzz of the ECHOnet.
"The injectors…" Angel said, weakly raising her arm to gesture to the large piping that all snaked downward towards the heinous machine that pumped her full of Eridium.
"Destroy them…and you'll deactivate the entire system. The defenses…my life support…this entire facility will shut down…"
"How?" Maya called. "The forcefield is covering everything. I don't even think I can phaselock through it."
"Control panel…" Angel rasped, her form now hunched over completely in its suspension, as though just physically talking had drained her completely. She seemed to find just enough strength to point her arm towards a small platform sitting up high on the far circular wall just above the large door they'd entered through. Though the distortion from the force field kept him from making out the finer details, Axton could see a small console sitting upon the platform.
"It contains the override to lower the shield…"
"Uh, yeah, and just how exactly are we supposed to get up there?!" Gaige called from Axton's right, the mechromancer using her summoned Deathtrap to draw away the ever-increasing tide of gunfire.
"There's no ladder, no jump pad, and definitely no cover! It's not like we can just–"
As if on cue, the hellhound warped between the two closest augmented bots to both her and Axton, leaping almost too fast to follow and tearing the optic eye out of one and knocking the other one to the floor before warping back to their line. The hound made no motion to acknowledge either of them as it spat out the now-crumpled metallic eye from its mouth and paused to catch its breath.
Remembering Kreig's recollection of how the hound had been able to teleport him above Bloodwing during their altercation at the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve, Axton spared a glance at Gaige despite the gunfire around them, raising a humorous eyebrow at the look on her face when he saw that her train of thought was following his exactly. Gaige fumbled with her words for a moment, then spoke up again with an air of indignance.
"Ok so, like, even if one of us could teleport up there, you still wouldn't have any cover! You'd be shredded by these weird 'Angelic Guards' as soon as they saw you were up there!"
"Sounds like you guys could use some backup then! Heads up!"
Axton jolted at hearing Lilith's sudden voice, and a familiar orange explosion heralded the Siren's arrival on the scene. Having chosen a dense portion of the Angelic Guard bots to be her entry point, shrapnel and fire were blasted in every direction as Lilith effectively stagnated the Hyperion advance.
Her Siren wings fully ablaze, the red-haired powerhouse rose from her braced position as the flames around her faded, then offered a satisfied smirk before drawing her pistol from her hip and joining the rest of the Vault Hunters.
"Miss me?"
"Lilith! Dammit, you were supposed to wait until Angel was ready for extraction!" Roland barked, the annoyance in his tone clear in contrast to his usual level-headed demeanor.
"Yep, and I didn't listen! What else is new?"
Axton didn't know if Roland had a response to that, but if he did, Lilith cut him off before he could speak.
"Feel free to lecture me all you want once this is over, but how about for now you just be grateful and let me do my thing?"
There was a pause, then Axton heard resignation in Roland's voice as he answered.
"Alright, fine! Everyone, provide covering fire and keep the bots off of me while I disable the field. Once it's down, target those Eridium injectors with everything we got! Everyone ready?!"
Everyone signaled their agreement, and with their new plan in place, Roland nodded and addressed the hellhound specifically, inclining his head to the raised control console as he did so.
"Alright then, Fido, I'm gonna need a lift."
…
VEGA, while simultaneously monitoring the situation back at Control Core Angel, devoted nearly all of his remaining processing power to cataloging the fight before him. As expected, the Marauder's speed and strength had surged considerably upon consumption of the Argent Eridium, and now, both it and the Slayer had forgone their firearms in favor of a fierce melee, their two energy-powered weapons clashing and arcing as the two foes traded blows.
Despite the Slayer's apparent mastery with any weapon VEGA had seen him utilize so far, the A.I. noted curiously that his usage of the Crucible seemed to be on an even higher level still, likely due to a long-standing history with the weapon type. To an outside observer, VEGA surmised that the distinction between the Doom Slayer and his weapon would begin to blur due to his fluidity, and one could easily begin to perceive that the two were not two, but instead one single entity. One weapon. One force even.
With the subject of identity in mind, VEGA also noted with an even greater interest that while the Marauder's axe hissed and crackled upon contact with the Crucible, the latter weapon emitted a range of tones that at first glance were not all too different from the sounds of the axe. When VEGA listened further, however, he noticed that the sounds seemed to conjoin with each other into a deliberate melody that surged and ebbed with the battle itself, creating a rhythm that VEGA could easily organize into a pattern. And after listening to the weapon for just a short period of time, VEGA concluded that the most accurate way to describe the phenomenon before him was that the Crucible itself was singing.
A few more moments of intent listening solidified VEGA's theory entirely, as it was more than enough time for the A.I. to dismiss any possibility of coincidence. There was now no mistaking it. The Crucible was actively singing as it clashed and sparked against the Marauder's own weapon, and if VEGA could hear it as distinctly as he could, then there was no doubt the Slayer heard it as well.
The knowledge of the Crucible's autonomy had been evident to both of them since its creation, but witnessing how it acted and reacted to the world around it firsthand was still a topic of extreme interest to VEGA, and he could see the excited aura of the weapon through his sensors as it surged through both the hilt and the blade.
Steadily, the Crucible's will begin to swell with the intensity of the melee, or perhaps it was the rise of its own energy that escalated the struggle, VEGA was unable to definitively tell due to its unity with the contest. Higher and higher it flowed until it seemed unable to climb any higher, its song reaching a fever pitch that was now almost loud enough to drown out anything else.
There was a brief moment of withdrawal in which the song cut off completely, then a climactic note was struck by both Crucible and Slayer, the weapon singing out with a tone of finality as the armored warrior landed a powerful strike against the flat of the Marauder's axe, the force of the blow enough to wrest the weapon from the demon's grip despite its enhanced strength. The surprise on the Marauder's face was subtle but distinct as its weapon launched up and away from the battle, and it turned back just in time for the Slayer's tightened fist to crash into the side of its face.
The punch had come from a slightly elevated angle, providing more than enough downward momentum to cause the Marauder's legs to partially buckle from the impact. Its head jerked to the side as it gave way to the follow through of the strike, and with a sharp crack that echoed across the Tundra Express, its face mask came free, forgotten just as quickly as the axe.
By what VEGA assumed was sheer instinct alone, the Marauder caught its fall with one arm before it stumbled completely, and with its vile teeth now visibly grit in rage, the demon bellowed and forced itself upright, pushing off its outstretched arm and coiling its fingers to retaliate.
The Slayer answered first.
As the Marauder twisted to strike, the Slayer's other fist, still curled around the now sheathed Crucible, flashed forward, smashing against the Marauder's face from the other side this time. There was an audible snap that VEGA confirmed to be from the Marauder's spinal column, and immediately its form stilled, falling to the ground completely this time without resistance.
It had been hardly a fraction of a second since the loss of its weapon.
To VEGA's intrigue, the Marauder's body remained tense despite the severance of its central nervous system, its muscles clenching and twitching as they continued to surge with the Argent Eridium's power. The dull red glow upon the Marauder's vegetative form did not dissipate, and the few grunts and snarls from the demon as it struggled fruitlessly to rise made it clear that despite its broken neck, it was still alive.
The Doom Slayer watched the Marauder's contracting form for a few moments before stepping closer, his movement slow but full of purpose. The demon ceased its struggles as the Slayer's shadow fell over him, and with enraged defiance, its vibrant red eyes bored deeply into the armored human's visor, its hate undiminished by its immobile body.
"Suffer and perish, slave, for you shall never know anything else."
Its body finally went limp when its skull crumpled beneath the Slayer's armored boot.
…
Roland's brow furrowed even further as he typed commands into the console, the constant echoing of gunfire a constant reminder that time was off the essence. Unfortunately, the console was proving rather difficult, as Jack had also programmed a wide variety of failsafes and redundancy measures into the system that ran the facility. Roland's soldierly discipline allowed him to suppress the urge to look down and check on his team as they continued to battle the ever-constant hoard of enhanced loader bots down below, though he still listened and felt relief each time he heard Salvador's crazed laughter or Kreig's manic ravings.
As his fingers danced over the keys, VEGA's voice crackled over the ECHOnet.
"The demonic presence in the Tundra Express has been eliminated, Commander Roland. Unfortunately, neither myself nor the Doom Slayer are able to discern their point of origin. Intriguingly it seems they have gone to great lengths to ensure we do not. Your comrade, Tiny Tina, is being escorted back to Sanctuary as we speak."
"Understood," Roland replied, continuing to work the console as he listened to VEGA's report. "How soon can you reach us?"
"We are en route now. Estimated time of arrival: ten minutes."
"Well, let's hope Roland gets this forcefield down before then," Axton chimed in from down below. "Speaking of which, how's it going up there, boss?"
"In progress," Roland called down, doing his best to ignore the slightly heckling tone of the Commando.
"Have you tried shooting it yet?" came Salvador's bellowing laugh. "Maybe the hound should have warped me up there instead!"
"Not that we aren't totally kicking ass down here, Roland," Lilith added. "But I can't help but wonder if Sal has got a point…"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Roland said with finality, flinching as a stray shot from one of the Angelic Guards whizzed a few feet above his head. It had not been the first since he had landed on the platform. "A little less fire headed my way would be helpful too!"
"More foes incoming," came Zer0's voice, and Roland could hear from beneath him the sound of the large door opening again as more Hyperion bots pushed into the chamber.
"Take as much time as you need, / but take it faster."
Roland decided not to respond to Zer0's less than helpful comment, as he doubted it would do anything to help the situation. Just a little bit further and…
With a final press of a button, the console let out a low drone as Roland finally bypassed the security system. With nary another thought, Roland immediately entered the command to power down the force field, the sound of the deactivating system carrying over the clamor of battle below.
Roland snapped his gaze to the force field, and his heart jolted in his chest with relief as its telltale shimmer began to wane. For a brief moment it persisted, then the air cleared completely as it dissipated completely.
"The shield is down! Hit the injectors, now!"
Roland had barely finished the order before Kreig's buzz axe blurred through the space between the floor and the ceiling, its thrower using his substantial upper body strength to hurl the weapon with deadly precision at the injector directly above him. There was a loud clank as the steel of the blade buried deep into the piping and stuck, having struck with enough force to stick into the wound it had made in the monstrous machinery.
Liquidized Eridium burst from the rupture around the axe, coating the weapon in the potent element and shooting powerful jets of the substance in every direction. Moments later, more jets of Eridium began to burst through the piping as the rest of the Vault Hunters followed the Psycho's lead.
Bullet holes began to pepper the other injectors as the Crimson Raiders turned their firepower above, taking what little cover remained to ignore the remaining Hyperion bots in favor of the aloft mechanisms.
The structural integrity of the piping barely kept it from bursting completely at the seams as their assault continued, but the large machinery began to groan as the damage it had sustained began to take its toll. It continued to hold against the sustained gunfire for a few more moments, then the injectors all exploded simultaneously as rockets from a now very-impatient Salvador exploded against their hull.
The air was instantly filled with the purple sparkling sheen of Eridium as it cascaded out from the now ruptured piping, the Vault Hunters just barely getting clear of the torrent as the plasmic substance dyed the machinery around it and the floor beneath in a glowing lavender hue. The metal components that had once channeled the powerful element into its unwilling captive screeched as they were torn to pieces by the pressure, but their chorus was drowned out completely as Angel herself screamed in unbridled agony, and her pain surged out beyond the walls of her prison, her pain of such magnitude that it seeped into all the electronics around her, causing Roland to flinch as her cries carried through his earpiece and what seemed to be the entirety of the ECHOnet as well. The other Vault Hunters all reacted similarly, their own earpieces acting as conduits as well to connect all of them to Angel's pain.
The specialized loader bots that they'd been fighting all responded as well to the Siren, their limbs seizing and sparking as her emotion fried their internals. Within a second, all of the opposition had ceased to function, their burnt-out internals making them no longer able to stand let alone fight.
Over the crash of the now lifeless loader bot husks, Roland turned to see Gaige swearing up a storm as her robotic arm began to spasm as well, as even its circuitry was not exempt from the effects of Angel's outcry.
With her brow knit in obvious annoyance, the mechromancer struggled against the spasming limb for a moment before cursing with finality and activating a mechanism at the base of the metallic appendage. With a hiss and and a metallic clunk, Gaige's arm decoupled from the base of her shoulder and with no small note of irritation, the teenager pressed another button at the base of the limb, causing it to go limp as it deactivated completely.
Like the arm, Angel herself writhed and contorted in her suspension as her body was deprived of Eridium for the first time in countless years. Her nearly nonexistent muscles strained and quivered in sudden and severe withdrawal, and even her ethereal wings reacted as well, arching and clenching as though they were made of muscle and bone like the rest of her.
There was another second of agonized screaming, then Angel's body slowly began drifting down from its hover, going slack at last as the machinery around her whirred down and quieted as well. Her glowing tattoos and wings flickered weakly for a few moments, then fell dark, the wings dissipating completely.
From where Roland still stood on the platform, he could see Maya move forward to catch Angel as she slowly descended to the floor, Kreig following closely behind to assist her. The massive chamber became eerily silent for the first time now that the machinery and the loader bots had been deactivated, and it was broken only by a small clap of thunder as the hellhound arrived on the platform and teleported Roland back to the ground level with the rest of the Crimson Raiders.
Though Roland's vision blurred and he felt slightly nauseous from the teleportation, he blinked rapidly to refocus himself as both Kreig and Maya gently lowered Angel into a sitting position, her back resting against the odious hulking machinery that had once kept her as a prisoner.
"It's done…" Angel croaked, her eyes glassy yet determined despite the obvious pain she was obviously still felt.
"It's finally done. Thank you…friends."
Roland stared down at Angel for a moment as the Siren turned her gaze to each of them in turn, then the Soldier turned to Lillith, whose face was a mask of conflicted concern. Seeing Angel in such a state had no doubt made the Firehawk rethink some of the antagonism she had previously harbored towards her fellow Siren, and even though much of her anger and distrust had been justified, it was obviously difficult for her to retain her previous level of her animosity at seeing Angel like this.
"Lilith, we don't have much time," Roland reminded her, and her eyes refocused to meet his.
"Take Angel and get her to Zed and Tannis before it's too late. We'll take the vault key and meet you back in Sanctuary."
That had been the plan from the start, but Roland could see a slight frown flit across Lilith's features at the thought of leaving them all behind.
"The hardest part is over. We'll be alright," Roland said, placing a hand on the Firehawk's shoulder.
"I'll be alright."
Lilith hesitated, then nodded and gave a smirk.
"You'd better be."
The Siren stepped forwards suddenly, and Roland's eyes shot open in surprise when Lilith planted a quick but deliberate kiss against his lips.
The Soldier's reflexes, sharpened throughout years of combat and split-second decisions, failed him, and Roland stood momentarily stunned as Lilith stepped back as quickly as she had approached and flashed a smile towards the other Vault Hunters.
"You all better make it back too. The Crimson Raiders won big time today, and if any of you spoil my good mood by dying—"
"I apologize for my interruption, Lilith," came VEGA's voice from the ECHO. "But Angel is in critical condition. Our chances of saving her life are dwindling rapidly with each second we waste."
All eyes in the room turned towards Angel, who despite her malnourished and barely conscious state, looked away slightly as if embarrassed, her tired eyes glancing to the floor as if ashamed.
"I…didn't want to say anything. It might've ruined the moment," Angel's haggard voice whispered, and Lilith responded with a sigh and a roll of her eyes before marching forward and producing a chunk of purple Eridium from her pack.
"When you've just been released from a lifetime of torment and are literally on your deathbed, kid, I think you've earned the right to be a little selfish," Lilith said, and Roland noticed satisfactorily that the usual bite in her tone when addressing Angel was absent.
"Sorry," Angel mumbled, and Roland detected a small smile forming on her thin lips despite the obvious pain she was in. "I guess working under Jack for so long hasn't really helped my assertiveness."
"Yeah well…" Lilith began, absorbing the lavender glow of the Eridium into herself as she knelt down next to the girl. "Don't worry. Next time I see that guy, I'm gonna phaseblast him until his bones disintegrate.
"Gross…" Angel remarked, though her smile broadened slightly at the joke.
"Trust me," Lilith said, resting her hand on Angel's shoulder. Roland saw her tattoos begin to glow as she awakened her powers, and with a smirk of her own, Lilith turned and addressed the rest of the group as she prepared to teleport herself and Angel back to Sanctuary.
"Gross is putting it mildly—"
Lilith and Angel disappeared in a flash of light, but at the last second, Lilith's face contorted into a look of surprise and horror, and Roland frowned as she seemed to be staring at something just behind him.
The Soldier's reflexes returned in that moment to turn and face whatever it was, but not before the sound of a Jakobs-model revolver echoed throughout the once quiet chamber.
...
A/N: Alright, grovel on my knees time. Folks, friends, dudes, dudines, pals, chums, associates, acquaintances and readers...I must apologize once again for being gone so long. Believe me when I say that my writing or this story never left my mind, but unfortunately, it always seemed to take a back seat even when I had time to sit down and continue it. I honestly had most of this chapter written for the looooongest time, but for some reason ended up getting caught up in anything else. So once again, I do apologize for being so late, and I must also stress that I am still continuing this story and have no plans to quit writing any time soon!
That said, on to chapter discussion! We did it! We made it to the part where the Vault Hunters freed Angel and the Slayer got to fight a Marauder for the first time in this story! These guys haven't seen some action since the 'God of War' chapter in 'Universal Doom', and I gotta say, writing demons so badass as those guys always scratches an itch that I have in my brain. Also, BIG cliffhanger at the end! What happens next? Who knows! I certainly don't! Find out next decade when I drop another chapter!
-ImpulsiveWeaver