#the vault hunter training shit that she did with athena

[sunnwalker]

fiona borderlands playable vault hunter borderlands four.Please

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

I've mentioned this before a few times but seriously imagine if instead of Maya having to die (let's be real), Ava got Tyreen's powers and realizes being a Siren actually isn't as cool as it seems cuz whoops thousands of people are now hunting you for sport or experimentation and you can't touch anyone anymore without accidentally hurting them. You may now regret begging for the siren curse. Also, we'd actually get to see Maya train Ava as a Siren AND see what the phaseleech powers would have been like if they weren't broken between two people and the Phasewalk/lock powers weren't thrown into the mix.

Yes I'm still on this alt. Scenario because I think it would have been really cool and helped develop Ava as a character since her entire thing up until Maya's death was literally just "I'm going to be a Siren Vault Hunter" and then at the end of the story she just gets it without really working for any of it or even being prominent in the plot at all. She shows up, like, twice and then disappears until Troy dies. She literally just shows up at the end of the Troy fight and gets powers for that cutscene. I don't hate Ava but I will admit that was kind of a 'forced' moment for me. I knew what they were trying for, but damn they really missed the mark trying to make Ava Maya's lil trainee cuz we barely see them interact, and Maya isn't even alive long enough after her introduction to have the two of them talk beyond arguing. Im guessing a lot of their interactions were cut, and maybe also because Athenas was only a single map, but still.

And yeah okay for Ava to get powers, Maya dies and I guess that can be considered a drawback for her, but let's be real the issue I truly have with this whole thing is that Ava doesn't even work a BIT on screen to prove to the players she's a good choice (and in fact 2 of her most prominent moments are her disobeying a fan favorite character that then dies- it doesn't help her case). Maya dies, but that's not Ava's fault imo, and so Ava does literally nothing the whole story (I'm down for arguments either way, but the minute Maya decided holding Troy physically instead of using her Phaselock was somehow the better option when she knows at least one of those siblings can give others the deadly suck by physically touching them, my brain just shuts off) and she also learns nothing. If anything, she probably learns that if she just yells it enough at people, she'll get what she wants, cuz that's pretty much the extent of what she does in the main story beyond being sad and lockpicking (u wanna leave Athenas? Okay. You get your wish. You wanna be a Siren? Okay. Here's some powers. You wanna be a Vault Hunter? Okay. Here's the ship. Everything she yells about in the beginning of the game is handed to her just because um. Maya, I guess. She earns none of it herself). If, instead of it being Maya's powers, she got Tyreen's powers as one last "fuck you" to the Raiders, I think it'd make it feel a bit more like she's not just being handed everything she wants without working for any of it or learning a lesson because plot. Her character doesn't really change from the start of the story to the end, except that she's a bit sad that Maya died. It just feels so wrong. Idk. I think it'd be pretty cool if Ava accidentally hurt someone in the Raiders because she couldn't control her new powers so she could have that "oh shit" realization moment that a) being a Siren isn't all it's chalked up to be and b) she's gonna have to work to get her powers under control or risk hurting everyone around her. Her having that hurdle I think would have made a lot more people at the very least appreciate her as a character instead of calling for her death (yikes!)

Uh. Yeah. I have no idea what came over me to write this. I think Ava's biggest flaw to me is that she had Potential to be a good character but the writing fell flat under her. It started a story with her and then dropped it (like another character we know 🤔 his name rhymes with... boy), so she never really develops or learns beyond getting sad that Maya is gone. I don't hate her, but I can see why some people would, tho it's not really "her" fault, it's the writing, if that makes any sense.

Also, interesting note, I do consider Roland's death to be because Lilith ignored Angel's request and showed up, unlike Maya's. I don't think Jack would have shown up in control core Angel unless he thought there was very, very good reason to, and Lilith was Right There for the taking. He seemed to even plan that out, having the collar on him and everything, and Angel knew to warn them specifically because of that. Before that, Angel tells Jack that Maya is incapable of processing eridium like her (either due to ignorance or a desire to stop Maya from having a similar fate to her own) so Jack wouldn't have brought the collar for Maya. That said, it's fully Jack's fault Roland died and the blood is on his hands, I just don't think the situation would have played out the same without Lilith there.

Unlike that, I think the situation in the Vault of the Rampager would have happened regardless if Ava showed up or not. I always assumed the cutscene that happens when you 'leave' the Vault is actually what's happening while you're inside, and when the VHs walk out, Ava is alone.

If that's the case then Maya would have been alone when the twins showed up, and probably would have been done for like Lilith was, as Lilith is supposedly the More Powerful Siren. We'll never know for sure, but I get the feeling things would have played out pretty much the same. It's not like the twins showed up for Ava, they wanted the Rampager, and the Rampager was already dead when Ava made herself known. Maya's alone, against 2 cult leaders with no way of contacting the other VHs cuz they're in the Vault and Tannis is the only one who apparently can (since Maya does not have a freaky live action pop up ad, good for her) and echoing is a no go as it's established connection is awful down below the city. She can only Phaselock 1 person at a time, so she either Phaselocks Tyreen (if she even can) and gets dusted by Troy, or she Phaselocks Troy and gets her powers stolen (and probably killed or left to die by cultist) by Tyreen. No winning for her. It would have happened regardless if Ava was there or not, so people blaming Ava for Maya's death should probably just blame the finalized script.

I don't think it's right to blame either Lilith or Ava for their respective loved one's death. Like yeah Jack wouldn't have gotten that opportunity to kill Roland had Lilith not shown up, but Jack wasn't suddenly forced to pull the trigger because Lilith showed up. He did that all by himself. Similarly, Ava not showing up wouldn't have stopped the twins from attacking Maya. She just changed the topic of conversation a lil bit. And Ava has all the combat ability of thin air at this point, so her appearance or non-apperance made no difference whatsoever when it was Maya vs the twins.

Oh God I've been typing for like an hour BYE bed time for me

[thehandsomeasshole]

@starttheanarchy from X

"Then why use them for a job they are not meant for, just keep them to their original purpose and make something new that works for what you need. And because quality work will save in the long term with less repairs, replacements, and malfunctions over all. And your welcome." The wide grin could be heard in her last three words. She was raised to have some manners after all. "And DT could probably do it as long as the load weight isn't over hmmm..." She drifts off as fingers tap together, mental math being calculated. "Eight tonne? Maybe less. I'm not exactly sure on that front since I actually haven't tested his limits on that front. Hmm something to test another day." Her eyes drifted over the floating form of her robot as it stayed ever vigilant of her surroundings. She knew it could do some heavy lifting since she had used previous versions to move things in the junk yard.

Eyes roll at yet another reason on why to avoid corporations, and another as he seems to enjoy being a pest.

"Actually last thing I did was fix up several things that were in disrepair in Overlook, since too much of the population of that poor town have the skull-shivers and had no access to the medicine. Something about repair tickets being ignored or something like that. And I didn't come here for the shallow reason of becoming rich, I'm opening the vault to try and prevent a very clearly corrupt corporation from monopolization on something that might be a blessing or a curse." If she had it her way, she would keep it locked forever since no one has a full understanding of the capabilities and issues of Eridium that began to spawn after the first one opened. To many variables and yet everyone wanting to just add more into the chaos.

"Yes, yes. The definition fits, but you seem to think I am on the same level of depravity like the Fleshrippers or the Bloodshots. To which all I can say is, rude and incorrect. And princess? Really?" That got her to shoot a glare back at the space station.

"Not everyone. Yes there are people who still deserve a chance to be treated like a decent human because they are. But you seem to be hard at work for making it so those people are just as dead as the rest. And you are right, no one has used an army of robots to lay siege on a planet in the name of their own ideals. They used armies of people, and all of them were considered like a plague upon humanity in the context of history. Dictators, tyrants, oppressors, authoritarians, monsters. Wonder how will you be written down."

At the laughter, and how it grew as she talked about what started this whole hot mess off for her on planet side, it made her skin itch with irritation. Out of everything on this fucking disaster hellscape, it was Hyperion that tried to kill her first. Sure others might have had to deal with bandits at other stops, but she went from off the inter-space shuttle to the train with no issues.

It was fair to say Jack was the first person to try to actually kill her. Even when escaping Eden-5 they were aiming for capture to make her life a living hell instead of a death sentience. It was one of the reasons she was trying so damn hard to keep surviving at this point, out of spite for the asshole who tried to kill them after using some shitty signs to inform them of their supposed doom.

Hands were clenched into fists and she could feel a chill roll through her body. It was like the ice never left at times.

A deep breath as she turns her face to the sun that burns the landscape, she is fine and alive. And she isn't going to follow his script and get pissed. She isn't going to scream like everyone else on this planet. The Mechromancer is going to do what she always does, go against what is expected.

"How about you tell me something else instead. You worked with the Crimson Raiders? What happened? What is the full story, from beginning to end?" Her voice is calm and even, one that seems to hold no judgment and wanting to listen. And she does, after all there isn't much information on the group. Gaige had no plans to jump ship, but she honestly had as much trust for them as she did for most anyone on this planet that wasn't shooting at her. Eden-5 taught her that the only person she could ever trust was her father and the friends she created with her own two hands.

"No bullshit, no propaganda. Just your side of the story. I have time."

Jack did smile at the little sass she threw his way, despite himself. "Well, empty, those things weigh nearly five tonnes. So, nice try. I guess." He chose to ignore her initial comment about using the loaders for their designed purpose. There was not enough patience in Jack's body to unpack all of that right now.

"Oh, the vaults are definitely a curse. But, once you get the ball rolling around here, there's not really anything anyone can do to stop it." Jack shrugged lightly, scanning through the first four pages while he spoke, "You just… gotta do what you can before another idiot comes along and screws everything up even worse than you did."

"Nah, you're right. Princess made me feel a little icky. How about… I- I'll get back to you, I'll think of something real good." he laughed lightly, beginning to scribble down some notes on the papers before he continued. 

"You sure as hell act like 'em, you and your bandit buddies. Just exactly how many things or people have you killed since you got to Pandora? Hey, look, I'll even give wildlife a pass cause- Well, you could kill a hundred skags one day and the next day there'd be two hundred more. Let's just focus on people. Maybe you're not running around screaming about meat bicycles, and maybe it is a little rude of me, but it's also correct. You just don't wanna admit it."

"The people who are still decent in this universe are few and far, kid. In my entire life, I've only met two people who were truly selfless." One's dead and the other’s… worse. "But, you do realise that if it wasn't me up here, it'd just be someone else? Hell, Dahl and Atlas would still be plowing through planets like they're big balls of paper and slaughtering everyone in their way while going off about fighting for those planets' freedoms and peace."

"Ooh, I love tyrant! Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Always considered myself more notorious, than anything else." The sharp, almost humorous-sounding edge to his voice gave the impression he was teasing her, "Kid, it's nothin' I haven't heard before. You really think I'm gonna be kicking it anytime soon, anyway? Nah. Nope, not happening! I got way too much to do."

Jack's brows knitted together and slowly raised in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Sure, maybe she didn't care, he'd just never had a person who hated him ask for his side of the story before.

He decided not to express his shock.

"So, I'd been working on Helios since it launched, I was, uh-... A- a programming and engineering specialist for Hyperion for ten, fifteen years, maybe. I was in charge of most of the construction, getting together schematic proposals to give to my bosses, all that kinda shit."

"The first time I met Lilith and Roland was when Dahl decided they wanted to massacre all the workers on Helios and take it over. They… They didn't discriminate. If you worked for Hyperion, they'd gun you down without even batting an eye. They killed so many of the workers up here, I knew them all personally. We- we didn't even have a real military then, for God's sake! They shot workers out of the sky when they were trying to evacuate. That was the level of murderous psychopaths we were trying to deal with. We defended as best as we could, but even the freaking loaders weren't weaponised yet, I had like… Six hours to get them into a position to defend themselves, and you bet your ass I did it. I guess that actually answers your earlier question, too. I used them for a job they weren't made for out of necessity, the damn Lost Legion shot at them when they were running away, too. Assholes."

"I managed to get the vault hunter's I'd hired down to Elpis in a moonshot, think you've met a couple of them. They got to Concordia thanks to-" Shit. He hadn't actually thought about Janey in a while. He'd ask Athena how they were both doing, but she'd probably curb stop his head before he could even say hello. "-uh, this mechanic. They asked Lilith and Roland to help cause, y'know, Dahl had stuck a jamming signal somewhere on that moon and I couldn't work Helios's defences until it was shut off. They knew people on Helios were dying, and they said no."

"They only started to help when their lives were in immediate danger and Dahl got control of the moonshot laser and start firing away at Elpis. I really did trust 'em to help us, y'know? Like they promised they would."

"I guess they kinda did. We managed to get control of the laser again and… They blew it up. They nearly took the whole space station down just because they didn't want Hyperion having it. That stupid laser could've saved Pandora, you know. It could've- The blasts were so concentrated we could've wiped out an entire bandit settlement and their nice neighbours next door would've barely felt the ground tremble. I'd worked so hard on that laser. You have any idea how hard it was to make? How much progress they destroyed when they blew that damn thing up? A lot! A whole, freaking lot and-... Sorry. Off topic. Uh…"

He made a small noise, "Oh, yeah. Anyway, after that it was just a rush trying to get to the vault before anyone else did. Dahl was already there, but after what happened with those two I wouldn't have been surprised if they got to the vault first just so we couldn't."

"But, we did. My vault hunters took care of the- The Empyrean Sentinel, I think they called it. Big bastard, more human than the other vault monsters. Freaky stuff."

"So, the Sentinel was dead, and we finally got to the vault relic. It looked like… Nothing. Very underwhelming. Just a weird little floating vault symbol. I decided to touch it and-..." Jack went quiet for a while, his knuckles growing white with how tightly he was gripping the armrests of his chair, "And I saw… everything."

He felt sick even talking about it. The pit in his stomach growing deeper and he knew if he didn't stop soon he'd fall into a full blown breakdown. So, he took a shaky breath in and continued.

"Wasn't long after that when Lilith made her grand entrance. She destroyed the relic and- blasted the fuck out of my face. You ever had your face branded by some freaky eridian technology? It sucks. Real bad."

He let his head drop back, and he rubbed his eyes, "So, there's my side. Think I can quit my day job and become a professional story teller?" Though he tried to make a joke, the fire in his voice seemed to have dissipated. He just sounded… tired.

[sir-adamus]

Jack was always awful

so there’s this general (and frankly bizarre given there’s plenty of easy access to the context) consensus in the fandom that Jack was actually a decent guy until the Pre-Sequel (and that everything is Lilith and Moxxi’s fault blah blah blah, yeah yeah, we get it you’re very transparent)

but here’s the thing like, the series itself doesn’t agree with you, so let’s put things in chronological order:

Before Borderlands 1

- murdered his first wife (oh sure he claims Angel did it, unable to control her powers, but he’s also a self-serving liar and canonically gaslights her, “he’ll try to guilt you, to make you think it’s your fault”, so calling bullshit on that), and oh how convenient that now he gets to exploit Angel’s abilities for his own ends afterwards

- Jack forces a very young Angel into a ‘chair’ and forces her to use her abilities for his own gain in climbing the corporate ladder by having her pretend to be an AI, using the death of her mother as an excuse - she is in there for the rest of her life until her Vault Hunter assisted suicide and she is under his near constant control (she’s not even allowed to swear)

- murdered his second wife (oh yeah he claims she ‘bolted’ in TFTBL but the first time we heard about her, in the mission “Get to Know Jack” in BL2, it’s stated that she disappeared after finding out about Angel, and Jack strangles the guy who brought her up)

Borderlands 1

- made Angel manipulate the BL1 Vault Hunters so they’d open the Vault and unleash the Destroyer (and release Eridium, which he was planning for); when she questions him he yells at her to shut up - to put that in full context, he used Angel to trick the Vault Hunters into releasing an alien superweapon that would’ve killed everyone on the planet if they hadn’t killed it

Before Borderlands The Pre-Sequel

- used the eye of the Destroyer to construct the Eye of Helios, a wave motion gun, with the intent on using it to commit genocide on Pandora (yeah just an FYI - building a giant laser powerful enough to nearly blow up the moon to target ‘bandit camps’ when Jack defines a bandit as anyone he doesn’t like - doesn’t make him look like a good person)

- briefly dated Moxxi, she dumped him when she realised what a sociopathic monster he was beneath his ‘nice guy hero’ facade (he also blew up her Underdome for this, though whether that was before or after the Pre-Sequel is left unclear)

- started hiring for body doubles, like Timothy Lawrence, who had their bodies reconstructed to be identical to his and bombs implanted in their faces to prevent tampering with the permanent alterations, and forcing said doubles to sign NDAs preventing them from even saying their own names

- begins mining Pandora for Eridium (and refining it - the Slag runoff from the refinement is used to charge the Eye of Helios), which reduces part of the landscape into a craggy wasteland spewing lava, volcanic ash constantly raining down (the Slag runoff of Eridium refinement is also just dumped all over the place, polluting the planet further)

this was all before Jack made his first chronological appearance

Borderlands The Pre-Sequel

okay here we go, Jack makes his chronological debut here

- loses his temper and murders the Meriff after the latter tries shooting him in the back and misses, yells “I was gonna let you live you dumb bastard, what is wrong with you?!” before commenting that it felt invigorating

- gonna just make a whole sub-thing for Felicity:

when Felicity starts having doubts during the ‘build a robot army’ plan, Jack dismisses her like he’s not even listening because he’s more focused on getting what he want, he then proceeds to casually threaten Gladstone Katoa (”By the way, last guy who double-crossed me's got nothing but a bunch of bullet holes and a stupid look on his face. Get me?”)

later when Felicity suggests just copying her because she’d find it much less terrifying than being uploaded to the Constructor, Jack asks her to clarify how much less terrifying - “It's the difference between brain surgery and being scanned.” - Jack just says he’ll ‘think about it’

Felicity complains that she doesn’t enjoy killing, he just waves that off by saying he doesn’t enjoy it either

he then orders Felicity’s mind wiped because copying her would take too long, offers a half-hearted apology when he says Elpis can’t wait, and then tells Gladstone to “Keep the military stuff, anything that can help us in a fight. Trash the rest.” Afterwards he doesn’t even care that he’s just had Felicity killed because he got his cool robot army

- ejects Gladstone and a couple other innocent scientists into space because one of the scientists still working in R&D might’ve been a traitor, so he killed all of them just to be sure (well he had his Vault Hunters do it but same diff) - what a hero. he then immediately tries to turn it around like he did everyone a favour - “Y'know, if I hadn't airlocked those scientists, one of 'em mighta turned those defenses back on just as you were walking through. Woulda fried you like a skag steak. Think on that.”

- this is the point in the story in TVHM where Athena admits she’d been suspecting she’d been working for the bad guy for a while

- kills Zarpedon because he gets bored of listening to her when she’s trying to explain what’s in the Vault on Elpis

- Moxxi tricks Jack and his Vault Hunters into blowing up the Eye of Helios, telling Jack she should’ve done it a long time ago because he’s a “power-hungry psychopath” - “I've been watching you, Jack. And behind that smile, behind that hero complex, there's something wrong about you. If you come down from Helios alive, a lot of decent people will live to regret it.” Jack screams that she, Lilith and Roland are no better than bandits because they destroyed an alien superweapon that he wanted to use (so i really don’t get why anyone was sympathising with him on this)

- Jack grows increasingly savage and unstable following this as the metaphorical mask starts slipping; ranting about how he’s going to ‘deal with them all’, threatens his boss just for asking for an update, then talking about how he wanted to use whatever’s in the Vault to kill Roland, Lilith, Moxxi and “all those sons of bitches”. he then loudly threatens Tassiter’s life after he calls to say he’s fired again (and like, okay, Tassiter’s an asshole, but he’s ‘dickhead boss’ asshole, he’s not ‘strangle you for talking shit, being in the same room or just for breathing’ asshole, which Jack is). it all comes to a head after he gets the treasure in the Vault and it shows him the Warrior and how to get to it (use Eridium to charge the Vault Key using a Siren as a catalyst), before Lilith punches the relic into his face, scarring him and destroying whatever restraint he had left - he plans to scorch Pandora in fire

- Jack makes good on his threat to Tassiter, strangling him to death and taking over Hyperion

- Claptastic Voyage - Jack sends his Vault Hunters after the H-source code that was buried in Claptrap’s virtual mind by Tassiter. full of access codes, prototype schematics and all sorts of Hyperion secrets. he uses it to destroy Claptrap’s product line and to add insult to injury, kills our Claptrap - who’d been retrofitted into a Vault Hunter. only reason he survived was the Shadowtrap (the true AI behind Vaulthunter.exe that Claptrap’s base AI overrides) keeping him functioning, his own incredibly robust chassis (as a result of being INAC and the Fragtrap) and Hammerlock finding him

Before Borderlands 2

in no particular order

- kidnapped Tannis and tortured her for days to make her give up the Vault Key

- started injecting the Eridium he’d refined into Angel to increase her power in order to charge the Vault Key faster - this also left her so reliant on Eridium that cutting off her supply would kill her in less than a minute

- started forcing his scientists to experiment on the population of Pandora (’bandits’), often by threatening and blackmailing them, like he did Dr Samuels by holding her wife hostage. this experimentation resulted in Psychos like Krieg, as well as other mutants

- the aforementioned experimentation also makes up Tiny Tina’s backstory - her family was taken there and while she escaped, her parents are dead or worse

- he destroyed New Haven, a central location from the first game, trying to flush Lilith out. Helena Pierce was forced to relocate her people to Sanctuary - she didn’t make it, and Jack made fun of her face scarring for good measure, and a number of New Haven citizens in the process

and a lot of others that i can’t remember the specifics on

Borderlands 2

oh jesus christ

- literally blows up a train to try and kill the Vault Hunters at the beginning of the game

you know what there’s just too much in BL2, i’ll just stick to the main ones

- captures Mordecai’s beloved companion Bloodwing, mutates the crap out of her and then blows her head off - later puts her decapitated corpse on display in his city Opportunity

- forces Angel to manipulate the new Vault Hunters into taking down Sanctuary’s shield so he can blow it up

- when Angel gets sick of him and communicates with the Vault Hunters against his orders to try and help them stop him, he starts torturing her

- kills Roland, steps over Angel’s body to gloat and then caps that off by capturing Lilith, hooking her up to Angel’s Eridium injectors and starts stabbing her because the Eridium makes her heal quicker

- summons the Warrior intent to kill everyone on Pandora so he can ‘civilise’ it

Tales from the Borderlands

- first thing he does is threaten to kill people

- second thing he does is to try and strangle Rhys

- everything following that is trying to manipulate Rhys into doing what he wants; he only cares about Rhys so far as he cares about his own continued existence (i mean he outright tries to kill Rhys as soon as he’s not in his cybernetics anymore)

- he actually becomes even more of a textbook abuser here, because he’s constantly trying to isolate Rhys from the others

- if Rhys trusts him, he’ll goad Athena into attacking Cassius, which he’s very excited about - and makes sense when you consider how she reacted to him killing Gladstone and those scientists on the possibility that one might be a traitor. he wants her to attack someone who had nothing to do with the order to kill her sister to make a hypocrite out of her

- nearly everything he says is a lie to manipulate Rhys; he never means a word of it and it’s always serving his own interests

- right up to the end he never accepts responsibility for his own heinous actions and is constantly pawning off blame and fault to others

and that’s not even nearly all of it. tl;dr, just cos a guy says he’s a hero, doesn’t mean he is one. actually, if someone has to point out what a great person they are all the time? that just means they’re full of shit

[crushedbyhyperbole]

Psycho Killer - Chapter One

Fandom:  Borderlands 2

Pairing:  Krieg/Maya

Word Count: 5613

Chapters:  4

Warnings:  Violence, blood and gore, smut.

Summary: Maya meets Krieg.  There’s explosions, blood, death and desperation.  And a happy ending.

Author’s Note:  Inspired by and adapted from the Borderlands 2 intro, and taking aspects from Krieg’s intro video (A Meat Bicycle Made for Two), and gameplay. I fell in love with Maya and Krieg whilst reading other Maya/Krieg works, they’re just so raw!

You can Read this work on Archive Of Our Own.

Chapter One:  Meet the Meat.

Days on Pandora were long. Longer than on Athenas anyway. And it was hot.  Too damn hot.

In this godforsaken place there was scarcely a proper night.  It was rare to say the least, only happening for a few rotations once a cycle, when Pandora’s two suns were aligned and would sink below the horizon granting a boon of darkness.

Why had she even come here?

Oh, right, yeah.

She murdered her guardian, toppled the monastic Order of the Impending Storm – whom had raised her, and threw her whole planet into discord.  After that, the only obvious solution was to run.

Becoming a vault hunter was easy. She said so, and was believed - no proof required.

She hopped on a transport freighter to another star system and vanished.

Pandora was rumoured to be home to many Eridian vaults.

Here, she aimed to make her fortune, learn about her origins, and kill bad guys; after all, she was born equipped.

None of it had been as easy as she thought.

Her desired fortune hadn’t come; people on Pandora looked to vault hunters to right the wrongs done to them, and those kinds of jobs didn’t pay well, if at all.

That was her current predicament.

Sat on a worn-down bench at the Wasteland Station, in the shade of the busted-up canopy, Maya contemplated all the fucked up decisions that had brought her right here, right now.

It had been the right thing to do, rebelling against The Order.

Sophis, her guardian, had groomed her into becoming the face of death for Athenasians who failed to obey.

They all feared her.

At first she liked the power, thrived on it.  Some part of her still craved that control.  But not like that, not killing innocents.  Maya wasn’t about that life any more.  But she wasn’t about protecting the weak either.  Sure, she’d kill bad guys for a bit of cash or a decent looking piece of equipment, but being a hero…?

Nahhh.

Pandora’s two suns beat down on the Arids relentlessly.  Heat shimmering in the distance looked like water.  Tempting her.  She had 1 health vial left, a small one.  If the train didn’t come soon, she would likely die from dehydration.  There was nothing around, no skags or rakks even to grant her a second wind if she collapsed.  There wasn’t even a Fast Travel, not that she could afford it.

Along the side of the track she saw movement. It was too dark to be a shimmer, too slow to be a vehicle, and too big to be a skag.

She stood, scoping her SMG for a better view.

“Is that… a psycho?”  She frowned.

Moments later, sure enough, cresting a rise in the rough landscape, was a psycho.   He was huge, more like a badass, but the proportions were all wrong.

Well, shit!

Maya kept her sights trained on the approaching hulk.  He was still too far away for her SMG to be effective.  At this point, she regretted selling her sniper for the train ticket north.

The psycho was sauntering, if that’s even something you could put in a sentence to describe psychos.  Swinging his buzzaxe casually as he walked, he seemed to have not a care in the world.  He tossed the axe in the air a few times, letting it spin above him before catching it by the handle, easy as you please.  He saw her, stopping dead just out of range, staring, axe idle by his side.

She jumped down the steps, landing in the dust with an ‘ooomph’.  There was no hesitation, she let rip, static charges crackling wherever her bullets struck. She absolutely had to take him down at a distance or she might not survive the encounter.  There were no funds for a reconstruction, it’d be game over for her.

The psycho dodged, weaving side to side, taking a few bullets but not enough to do any real damage.  He slid behind a boulder, muttering to himself.

Each time he peeked around the boulder she shot at him.  Maybe if she could keep him there until the train came then she’d jump on and escape safely.  There was no telling how long that would be, the trains came with no regularity, and she doubted she had enough bullets to last.

During a reload the Psycho screamed a battle cry and ran at her.  She got her SMG up fast enough to scatter him off course, making him dive down onto the dirt, raging in frustration.

“TURN AROUND, PRETTY LADY!”  He bellowed.

For a second she thought it was a ploy to distract her but suddenly she felt exposed.   Reeling around she saw a group of bandit rats that had crawled out from under the station floor supports.  She’d completely missed that.  One was running at her, too close to bring her gun up, too quickly for her to make a run for it.

Whumph!  The sickeningly wet crushing sound of a skull being split filled her ears.  The warm splash of blood on her face almost went unnoticed as she watched the bandit pitched sideways into the dirt, a huge buzzaxe protruding from the broken face.

“TEAR THE FLESH!”

Startled, she saw the psycho rushing into the frey, shotgun raised and firing.

The psycho had thrown his axe to save her.

Maybe he just missed you.

“BOOMTIME!”  He screamed as explosives detonated in the group, scattering body parts all over him.

Maya quickly took down several of the rats nearby, the shocks sparkling through their prone bodies.  By now there was no one left alive, the psycho had shredded them all.

“BLUE LADY MAKES CHRISTMAS MEAT!” He laughed maniacally, cackling behind his mask.

She kept her SMG aimed at him, but there was no sign of hostility.  He merely looked at her with his one bloodshot eye, twitching and restless from his exertions.

Movement behind him drew her eye. A survivor was crawling out from under a pile of other dead rats, his blade raised to strike the psycho.  She could let him do it, but something in her said ‘save him.’

Her power was weak, but she had enough to deal with one rat.  The phase-lock took instantly, lifting him up in a blue ball of energy.  Twisting and screaming, he crumpled inside her field.  Dead.

She felt the moment he passed, like a sudden breeze of cool air against damp skin at the nape of her neck.  She shivered and dropped the body.

“Who are you?”  She asked, narrowing her eyes to meet the psycho’s one-eyed stare.

He was all rippling muscles and scars. Crude iron armour adorned one arm and one leg, he had bandages haphazardly wrapped around other parts of his limbs.  He wore only pants, a makeshift harness and a modified psycho mask with a bulky filter.

He seemed to consider her question before shouting.  “I’M THE CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!”.  Jubilantly he waved his buzzaxe in the air.

“Sure.”  Maya couldn’t help but smirk.  For a psycho he had remarkable control and even seemed to understand her.  He’s different.  “Thanks for the help.”

Her voice had always been kind of flat, it went well with her sarcastic inclinations.  She knew her gratefulness came across as insincere, it always did, but she figured the nuance would be lost on him anyway.

“SHUT UP!”  He screamed, smacking himself in the side of the head a couple of times.  “PRETTY LADY MAKES GOOD PAIN!”

Putting her SMG away, she extended a hand to him.  “Maya.” She said.  “My name is Maya.”

The psycho looked like he was going to shake her hand, extending his gingerly, but instead he slapped hers away, cackling.

Well fuck you then.  Asshole.

“MEAT BYCICLE KRIEG!”  He shouted at her, continuing to laugh until he was bent over coughing harshly.  He lifted his mask ever so slightly to spit blood into the dirt.

As quickly as it had come, her limited view of his face was gone.  His mouth kind of looked normal, his jaw strong and smooth.  There was no visible hair on him at all and she found herself wondering if it had been a result of the experiments he’d undoubtedly undergone, or whether it was a conscious choice.  Did he shave?

“Your name is Krieg?”  She watched him toeing an obviously interesting piece of dead bandit as if it held the secrets of creation.  “Pleasure’s all yours I guess.”  She said sardonically, huffing down in the shade again.

Now we wait.

Continue to Chapter Two.

[writr4luvrs]

Request: Nisha finds a young child and takes them in.

{\}

Being alone is what you've had to deal with since the orphanage shut down, your care taker rain into debt, and no one was going to consider taking in a child that was "too old". One by one the children were either getting jobs, leaving the city to join the bandits, or were just... gone. Soon, you had to leave the city because you weren't contributing to the cycle of economics.

In the beginning, living outside the city sucked: being constantly shot by bandits especially since you were part of a bandit gang, having to live in constant war for territory; nearly suffocating, either cause you lost track of time or you bandit brothers and sisters wanted to prank you; or constantly being nearly eaten by the Elpis' many creatures. Though, one bandit treated you different, teaching you everything she knew about Oz kits and how to make them last, how to add mods to them, or how to make them simply explode. She was a great teacher... until she died while joyriding off a cliff in a moon buggy (the way she wanted). After the incident you left the bandit gang and walk, stole a buggy til it ran out of gas, and found a garage in a not so quiet area.

You turned it into your own shop using your knowledge of Oz kits, and despite selling the kits, earning what little credits you could, life outside the city still fucking sucked. And, hey, maybe it got worse once a few bandits started becoming aware that maybe your kits were maybe rigged to fail over a period of time so that maybe the bandits would come back and maybe you could earn a few extra alleged credits.

"You little shit..." one of the six bandits growl at you while the rest thought to trash your garage. You thought you could just con me out of my fucking money?!" he grabs you up by the collar, god you hope he doesn't punch you again.

"You signed a warranty." You recall the paper with a handwritten sentence that stated "No refunds" with just a line underneath it for signature. "I can't read, asshole." He replies. You pause, haven't thought of that before.

"Well... I don't understand how that's my fau-" earning you another punch in the face and you thrown to the floor. While lying there, thinking over all that had happened the last few months to avoid this very moment. You tilt your head up to the sound of a gun cocking and see that it's aimed at you. The sight makes you start to silently cry, making it hard for you to breathe, you didn't want to die. Seconds before he's able to pull the trigger, he turns around to the gunshots and his crew yelling at someone. You use this opportunity to run, earning bullets in your direction and as you take cover behind a toppled over desk, and peaking over you see a brown woman in a cowboy hat. It was like everything was in slow motion as you watched her take out the gang so... easily. The show was interrupted as a bandit falls in front of you, eyes rolled and tongue out of their mouth.

You gag at the sight, you want to throw up but you feel like you've run out of fluids due to the earlier punches to your stomach.

Within seconds, everything was quiet until you hear footsteps in your direction and the desk is kicked and you no longer have your cover, finally getting a clear look at the woman, immediately blurting the words: "Are you emo?" earning you a scowl. "The one eye covered is kind out of style don't you think?"

"Hey, at least mine is clean, kid." she responds, you hint that she's amused. "And that's not how you respond to someone that just saved you."

"It's the trauma and shock talking, besides I had everything handle."

"Did you?" she refers to the tear streaks, bruises, and the destroyed garage.

"Downsides of being an entrepreneur."

"Sad to see the job officially over."

"Huh?" You question as you move amongst the garage to pick up some valuables, sad when you see the only baby picture of you crumbled.

"Putting it blunt, I'm being paid to keep your little ass from continuing your independent business."

"Says who?!"

"Says the credits sent to my account, you're lucky I don't kill you like ordered and if I don't someone else..." she nods to the dead. "will." She looks around, opening lockers for anything that will aid her in her journey, she was leaving. She was right, you knew more bandits would come and if not bandits, assassins like her who would kill you for their capitalist employer. You dropped the no longer valuables and grabbed your bug out backpack, you're going with the cowgirl.

The cowgirl steps out of the garage, her Oz kit activating and you followed, your Oz kit activating as well. "What are you doing?" she questions after taking no more than a couple steps.

"What are you doing?" you question back.

"Walking." she answers, continuing her journey, taking a few glances over her shoulder seeing as you continued to follow her steps. She turns around to pick you up, retrace her steps and place you back at the garage before she continued only for you to continue following her. "No, no. I am not playing mother duck."

"Well, I can't stay at the garage."

"Then go to Concordia."

"I can't and won't."

"Well, you can't follow me!"

"I don't want to be alone." She replies by throwing her head back and letting out a loud groan.

"I might actually kill you..." she mutters. "You can't follow me, I do bad people stuff."

"Yeah..." you blink.

"I kill and have killed hundreds of people and creatures, gone to many dangerous lands, and have agreed to illegal deals for a lucrative amounts of credits, you will not follow me." You give her a silence and a slow blink, you began dissociating at the word 'have' and she realized you weren't listening and sighs. "The moment we get somewhere safe and quiet, you are to stay there and not follow me.

And you followed, even after finding the seemingly unquiet and high temperature place she wanted to dump you at, you continued to follow her, learning her name was Nisha and she was a vault hunter.

At one point she got sick of it and threatened her way into getting you a "free" stay in Concordia of the now dead Mayor and Sheriff's luxury apartment. You stay there happily and took every moment to be at her side whenever she visited the small city, asking her about her journey, her guns, her hat, her make up, her friends, etc. It bugged her, she even yelled at you due to her annoyance. She yelled, calling you a bother and wished you'd stop pestering her. It took one of her colleague to get her to stop.

The incident made you embarrassed, it hurt you, making you leave the city, getting barley lost, distracting you by throwing rocks at small alien pests. Despite your efforts to get closer to her, you were still alone. You sit in the moon's dirt and hug your knees, drawing in the dirt slowly, ignoring the fast falling stars and quickly darkened sky only for you to be picked up by your collar and look eye to eye to Nisha. "Where have you been? You know it's dangerous to leave the city?!" Only responding to her was a pouty face and eyes that looked away from her, she let you go and sighs, a hand on her hip.

Nisha knew why and unknowingly to you, it upset her that she automatically compared herself to a deceased relative. A moment passed before a quick "Sorry" left her and she grabs your hands to guide you back to the city. "Don't leave again, it's too dangerous and you can get hurt and..." she stops her rambling. "Just don't, not without me and not without protect." She takes you to Moxxi's bar and you both sit at the bar in silence for a moment before she orders two shots of sambuca, you smelt the scent even before Nisha handed one to you.

"I'm going to say this once, look at me," she begins, making sure you have her strict attention. "You will not leave this city without me until you are old enough and well and ready to protect yourself. I will train you and you are not to question me, I'm teaching you to survive, understand?" You give a hesitant nod as an answer. "I want to hear you."

"Yes... I understand."

"Good, now drink fast." she downs the shot before setting the glass on the bar, she waits for you.

"It smells bad." she grins, waiting for you. You down the shot as quickly as possible, making a face and sticking out your tongue in disgust, earning a chuckle from Nisha. She places a hand on your head giving a proud "good." It isn't even a minute later before you run outside the bar and throw up in the nearest corner.

"It was one shot...to be fair it was sambuca." she guides your dizzy figure to your home and gets you in bed.

"I don't want to drink sambuca again."

"That's fair, it was only an agreement."

"I don't have to call you mom do I?"

"Please don't."

"Now I have to call you mom, mom."

"Stop." she sings before turning out your lamp light.

"With auntie Athena and and uncle Wilhelm."

"And cousin claptrap.."

"...Nevermind." you fall asleep.

[doppeldonger]

The Scarlet Letter

The first time he sees her, he’s just released from the doppelgänger program to be moonshot to Elpis, his clothes fresh and his face new and unused. He acts the “handsome asshole with bravado” part quite well, if he says so himself; the swagger looks just right on his fit figure, hands casually in his pockets like he owns the damn place.

But then he sees her.

The colorful lights of the bar caress her pale skin, bringing out her perfect curves; he can’t take his eyes off of the bar owner, her merciless chest, the tiny dress hugging her body, and that voluptuous smile gracing her gorgeous face.

He should be saying something, cracking a joke about how she’s Jack’s ex- or hell, complimenting her, even… But he’s simply speechless, so it’s no surprise that the only sound leaving him is a strangled gurgle. Nisha throws a glare in his way, tipping her hat low and approaching the bar; she rolls her eyes at Timothy’s dumbstruck expression and shares an amused look with Wilhelm before she dives in, peppering Moxxi’s ego with insults. Timothy shakes himself, shedding his reverie like one wakes up from sleep and he interrupts the kinky cowgirl, “Fuck off, Nish! If you’ll get nasty like that, go get yourself a drink and shut up.”

The way Nisha is looking at him speaks a thousand words, like “I’d snap your fucking head if I wasn’t so amused by your show of bravery.” or “You’re lucky you’re Jack’s doppelgänger or I would’ve torn your face off by now.”

The way Moxxi is looking at him, though… Her electric blue eyes shine with amusement and appreciation alike, the angry snarl directed towards Nisha now changed into a pleased little smile, reserved just for him. Looking at the bar owner, Timothy can feel his face burn up in crimson.

Gosh, he’s so embarrassed.

The second time he sees her, the mood is much darker although the scenery is the same. The so-called betrayal of Moxxi, Lilith and Roland left behind long ago, the Vault of the Sentinel has been raided dry; Jack has received the accursed visions, engraved every little detail in the ever-scheming brain of his and dethroned Tassiter just a week ago. Claptrap’s done for, Athena has quit, a very-bored Aurelia following her not much later. That leaves Nisha, Wilhelm and Timothy to deal with Jack’s crazed shenanigans. Juuuuust lovely.

Wilhelm makes his way to the R&D department to let them work on his future robotic enhancements and Jack departs with Nisha for Pandora to take over Lynchwood.

Not before he leaves a gift for Timothy, however.

Thinking back, Timothy is certain that “gift” is for Jack rather than for him; after all, the doppelgänger was the one left screaming in pain on the floor with Jack looming over him with a manic smile on his lips and a brand in his hands.

The moment Jack abandons Timothy to have fun (A.K.A. wreak havoc on Pandora) with his new girlfriend, the doppelgänger abandons Helios to wander around Elpis aimlessly until his feet drag him into Moxxi’s bar, his clothes crumpled, the scar on his face new and hurting like a bitch.

Pulling his hood lower onto his offensive face, he makes his way to the bar and the absence of his usual polite-and-cheerful attitude immediately alarms the bar owner. She can’t look past the shadows of his hood, and it takes a good deal of coaxing to get his head up just an inch.

And then she sees it.

They end up in the backroom Moxxi uses as her lodging whenever she’s running the bar on Elpis, the woman shaking with fury as opposed to Timothy’s cold nonchalance and resignation. She demands answers, just like he expected her to do, barely able to contain her frustrated screams at Jack’s boldness. He’s just silent, sitting on the edge of Moxxi’s bed sized just for a queen like her, eyes looking at a spot in the wall and unseeing.

She eventually sits down next to him, rubbing soothing circles on his back and tries to get him to do something, to talk, to scream, to cry… she just wants him to stop bottling up his emotions so.

But he feels so, so embarrassed.

“It’s not your fault.” she murmurs, carding her long thin fingers through his disheveled hair and thinking how easily he revels in the gesture Jack hated so much. He was supposed to be a face like Jack’s and nothing more, but he’s a completely different human being under all the plastic surgery and training; she falls for him a little just by watching him there, the deep bass of the club providing background noise, albeit muffled. “You’re a wonderful person, and you deserve none of this.”

His head snaps up and he looks at her disbelievingly, “I do! I asked for all this when I signed up for this shit!”

She can understand how he feels, “You couldn’t have known. Don’t be embarrassed.” She knows, she knows, and that makes him feel all the worse. He ends up sliding off the bed onto the floor nevertheless, his aching face buried in her lap in hopes for alleviation her gentle hands could provide.

He leaves her and her bar after a while, eyes puffed up and sniffing, his hood back on his head as he heads out. He’ll have to return to Helios eventually, he has a tight schedule since Jack will be back soon, but he still has some time to clear his head. She knows it too, so Moxxi sees him off with a sad smile and a friendly advice, “Hubris is the downfall of a person, but humility is no better.”

The third time is the charm, and they see each other in conditions that are much different when they meet all these years later. Timothy is working for the CEO of the biggest company around, but it’s not Hyperion anymore. The guy who goes by the humble name of Rhys is a much better boss than Jack could even dream of becoming; and he knows how much Timothy has suffered in the hands of the said man, having housed him in his head in the form of a distorted AI. So it’s no surprise when Rhys sends Timothy to Moxxi with an offer: Come open up shop in Serenity, the city we built over Opportunity as Atlas, for a better future. Flashy, just like the young CEO himself, if you ask Timothy, but both men know it’ll make Moxxi interested; they’re asking her for her bar and her mechanic excellency alike, after all.

So, here he stands, in the middle of Moxxi’s bar up on Sanctuary with Brick and Mordecai sent to accompany him by Lilith; they still don’t trust him after all these years, and he can’t really blame them. He doesn’t mind their presence either, it keeps the curious residents of the floating city away from him; no questions about his face or voice dared to be asked. When he sees her, he’s as stupefied as he was all those years ago on Elpis; his clothes worn off from age and violence just like his face, but Moxxi seems unchanged as opposed to him with her lovely purple dress worshipping her curves and with her electric blue eyes.

She seems surprised to see him, because of all the years they remained apart without communication or because he’s brave enough to set foot in Lilith’s city, he does not know. He bets on both as he settles in a bar chair, the other vault hunters sitting on either side of him like menacing bouncers (who’s protecting who, and from whom at this point? He just doesn’t know). He orders a drink he knows he won’t touch, he’s not really into alcohol (Jack called him “a pansy” along with many other insulting slurs in the past for it); plus, the sight in front of him and the mission he’s on are much more interesting to him.

“Hey.” he greets her, still feeling a little tongue-tied after all these years. He gives her a genuine smile and offers his hands to her across the counter. Her surprise morphs into joy and she leans to put her hands in his, his order long forgotten. Brick and Mordecai make gagging sounds (especially Mordecai, glaring at him all the while he makes sure how much he hates the scene he’s witnessing. Right, Moxxi’s exes.), but Timothy and Moxxi simply end up giggling at the reaction.

She smiles at him and he can feel his soul being cleansed of his sins with that gesture alone. “It’s been so long.” she whispers and he nods, “What brings you here, Tim?”

“An offer, actually.” Moxxi raises a curious eyebrow and lets out an interested hum. “I work for Atlas now, and the CEO himself has a proposal. Gosh, don’t look at me like that, Moxxi; unlike the last one, this one isn’t a narcissistic asshole with a high killstreak.” That gets a laugh out of the three of them and Timothy counts that as a win. “He wants you to set up a bar in Serenity, he thinks it’ll be a good way to draw people to the city. If you’re interested in an Atlas city, it can’t be bad, right?” He smiles at her, quirking an eyebrow. “He also wants you to open a shop that’s similar to uh…” he coughs, embarrassed, “To Scooter’s.” The hands in his grasp tense for a moment, a look passing Moxxi’s eyes. “Rhys knew Scooter, says he was one helluva guy, talented and fun and all that.” He gives Moxxi’s hands an encouraging squeeze and the bar owner graces him with a proud smile.

“That’s Scooter, alright, that’s my son.” she replies, head held high and not a tear shed. She’s a strong woman, and Timothy knows he’s fallen hard for her yet again. She relaxes, looking into Timothy’s eyes, “That’s what your CEO wants. What do you want?”

The ex-doppelgänger smiles at her with a loving expression, “I just want you to be happy.” (“Booooooooooriiiiiiiing!” Brick moans in the background.)

But Moxxi gives him a matching smile, and he’s over the moon, “How about… We talk about this over dinner?”

Timothy sputters, along with the other vault hunters, “D-dinner?” Ah, there he is, the shy, polite guy she met all those years ago. She chuckles, “A big offer like that can’t be discussed over alcohol, can it? Plus, I really, really missed you.”

That deep, sultry tone, that voluptuous smile he came to associate with her, those electric blue eyes darkening with promises not said aloud… That does it for him, and he ends up feeling embarrassed once again, crimson dusting his cheeks like it did the moment they met all those years ago. “I-“ he clears his throat, ‘cause wow, it’s getting hot in here and his throat is perched, “I’d love that, Moxxi.”

Two weeks later, Moxxi sets up two shops in Serenity, enrapturing the residents easily with her bar and mechanic shop alike. She works awfully close to apartment complex Timothy resides in, but nobody makes a mention of it.

And if she ends up unofficially moving in with him eventually, sharing his food, his shower, his bed and his love, none of them is complaining.

 This request is great and you’re great, @torrarina!