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Ghosts and Raiders Chapter 13

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Transition

"Keep it up! Keep it up! Go go!" Tina cheered atop of Brick's shoulders as he finished his fiftieth set of pushups.

"Aw yeah! That's it!" Axton side stepped his sparring partner and countered with an elbow to his opponent's spine. The Commando laughed and performed a spin kick, knocking the man to the dirt.

"Looks like everyone is doing better." Lilith smiled as she stood next to Roland who was tinkering on his Scorpio Turret. The Soldier looked up to the fiery-haired siren and wiped his brow.

Lilith looked off into the distance where she saw a roped off area of Fyrestone and a group of people sitting in a circle. Curious as to what was going on, the Phasewalker strolled over to the location where she found a piece of paper hanging over the rope that reads "Meditation Zone, please be silent". Lilith evaluated the group within the boundaries.

Zer0 and Maya were sitting upright and unnaturally still, several of the ex-Phantoms looked to be attempting to find an "inner peace" but instead were falling asleep, and Salvador was passed out in the dust. Lilith stifled a laugh and stepped over the rope, taking a seat next to her fellow Siren.


The Phaselocker sensed another person's presence and shifted her position slightly. Maya kept her eyes closed and inhaled deeply, trying to refocus herself. The distant sounds of training faded and a slight tingling sensation could be felt in her left arm. If she was grateful for anything she learned at the abbey, it was how meditation could greatly improve her abilities. Maya proceeded to mentally perform her action skills and review the proper motions to activate certain effects. Soon, the physical signals needed became nothing but mental stimuli and Maya could feel herself falling into understanding.

Behind her closed lids, Maya replayed memories to regress from her meditative state, hearing common phrases from her companions in her subconscious, like Salvador's maniacal laugh as he unleashed his leaden rampage, Zer0's metallic voice as he recited another haiku, Axton commanding his turret in the field, Gaige's cheerful squeal as Death-Trap was summoned, and finally Krieg's psychotic ramblings that soon became coherent messages. The Siren created a face to the Psycho's voice, imagining his expressions under his mask. From there it was a slippery slope downwards. Maya recreated all of her companion's motions, beginning to comprehend his body language, and soon remembered the event that took place yesterday.

The Siren startled herself back to consciousness, feeling her face heat up and her breath hitch in her throat. Zer0 placed his hand on Maya's back and projected a question mark in front of his visor. Maya hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I uh, revisited an unpleasant memory." She lied. The assassin shrugged and resumed his previous activity. Maya pushed herself off the ground and left the group to find something to take her mind off the sudden thoughts.


Krieg had found himself back inside his hut, away from everyone else like he often was. A part of him wanted to be involved with the going-on's with everyone else, but a greater part of him was worried that he would just screw everything up. He knew the danger in the situation was growing as they waited for Ellena to make a mistake. He could tell that everything was beginning to come to a close as the stakes became higher. Any mistake on his part could be the difference between life and death for his comrades.

"I'm surprised they haven't taken us out yet. We're a liability now."The Psycho huffed and stared at the doorway where a few passing figures would glance in from time to time.

"Haiiii there~" Tina squeaked and skipped inside. Krieg took a step back, "Ya should be out there with everyone!" The Psycho shook his head and grunted, the young teen leaned forward and looked at him with a calculating eye. Krieg grew uncomfortable with Tina's sudden seriousness, he shifted his gaze around and twitched slightly. A wide smile broke across the explosives expert's lips and her eyes lit up.

"Oh there you are Craig." She giggled and waggled a finger.

"Craig?" Krieg asked internally.

Tina poked a finger to the Psycho's scarred torso and looked up still smiling, "I knew ya gots outta there alive. Sure, ya maybe kinda cray-cray and insane in da membrane, but y'know~ whatevah~"

"Salt...the wound?"

"She remembers us?"

"Ew, that's pretty nas-taaaay. But even if ya got real messed up, ya still you Craig. No worries 'kay?" She motioned for him to lean closer, which he obliged, and Tina tightly wrapped her arms around Krieg's neck, "Now go kick so serious ass!" She hopped away and twirled around.

"Tina? Are you in here?" Maya asked entering the shack, "Roland needed to talk to-Oh hey Krieg."

The Psycho straightened himself and gulped down the sudden lump in his throat, Tina shifted her gaze between the two Vault Hunters and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at the Psycho. She giggled and nudged him in the gut before skipping out of the shack, leaving the two alone.

Krieg stared at Maya before zoning out, thinking about what Tina had just said to him. She was right, he was still himself, even if he was fucked up beyond all repair. But with the semi-sorted knowledge of his past, maybe he could keep his act together and not fall back into his murder-loving, blood-lusting monster self.

The Psycho's hands twitched and he jolted in place, how long had it been since he had actually killed something? At least a few days. A slow churning feeling in his veins was aiming to send him over the edge now. He could feel the blood rushing to his head as he thought about slaughter. Frenzied thoughts rushed through his mind, drowning his rational subconscious.

The Siren snapped her fingers in front of Krieg's face, "Hey...You alright there?" The Psycho shook his head and squinted at Maya, his heart still set on bloodshed. She placed a hand on his upper arm and felt his muscles tighten much like they did before he went on a rampage.

"Krieg, keep it together." She warned, "Come on Krieg, you've been doing so well. Just hold it out a little longer." The Psycho relaxed slightly.

"Hey...How about we take a little walk outside town? I'm getting a little stir crazy." Maya suggested, hoping to get his mind off killing for a bit so she could get him away from everyone else.

"Yeah...outside..." The inner Krieg choked as if being strangled by the ideas of murder.

"TAKE ME OUTTA HERE! BLOOD MUST RAIN!" The Outer Krieg bellowed, Maya yanked his arm and quickly paced to the gate with her Psycho in tow. The two got a few strange looks from the others, but a mutual understanding that they shouldn't interfere seemed to get through.

"Open up!" Maya ordered the man at the gate, who quickly obeyed and watched as the pair swiftly headed out into the open expanse of desert. Krieg could slowly feel his control slipping from his grasp as the seconds passed. He revved his Axe and snarled.


A loud explosion stopped everything and all attention focused to the Fast Travel station in town.

Masses of malformed Phantom Psychos materialized from the Ethernet and began to scream profanity as they wriggled their excess limbs. Maya tightened her grip on her partner's arm and with all her strength, swung him around towards the horde of mutated bandits. Krieg stumbled slightly then regained his footing and held his weapon up high as his vision grew redder and redder. In his tunnel vision, it was only him and the disfigured enemies.

Everyone else ran for cover, fearing that Krieg may attack them instead.

With a war cry, Krieg swung his spinning blade into the messes of limbs and bodies, causing them to seemingly explode. He laughed manically as he carved into flesh and blood rained down on him like an April shower. As the carnage subsided, the Psycho fell to his knees and drew his attention to the only figure left.

Maya.

The Siren just stood there with an unreadable expression. She paced her way up to the Psycho and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Feeling better now?" She asked, Krieg nodded and smiled under his mask.

The Fast Travel whirred to life once more, the bulky figure of Ellena pieced together, and the Savage now stood in the corpses of her troops. An annoyed snarl passed her lips as she raised her claw.

The Siren and the Psycho looked over at the Phantom woman. Ellena stood ready to fight.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Maya laughed as her allies spilled from their hiding places and drew their weapons to aim at the enemy.


The Crimson Raiders all stood around the now apprehended Savage as one of Verner's "Brother's" set up the communication to Marlene.

"She'll never take what you have to offer." Ellena hissed at Roland.

The screen flickered to life, revealing the enemy Siren.

"What is it Ellena?" Marlene asked. The Savage's expression automatically fell slightly.

"We have your right hand." The Soldier stated. The Phasecontroller bit her lip and smiled.

"Okay. Fine. Just kill her then."

Ellena choked, "W-What?! I...I...Darling...Why?"

The holo-screen fizzled out. A silence fell over the group.

"I hope you're all comfy cozy up in Opportunity. With all those left over rejects." the Savage mumbled heartbrokenly.

"Keep her in confinement," Roland ordered, Salvador and Brick grabbed the prisoner and removed her from the room, "She might have more to say."

...So, I am not proud of this chapter.
It's literally me going from "FUCK. I MESSED UP THE pLOT" (yeah, remember that whole ordeal back in chapter 11?)
to "HAHAHAH A REWORKED IT ALL"
So...yeha.
SOrry guys. You all really deserve the best but this just.
Im so sorry.
I let you down.
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Ganjamira's avatar
Nooooooo, you did´nt messed it up - I think its great!:la:
Especially the scene with TinyTina - I was desperatly waiting you bwould put something like this in - the theories that he´s Tinas father are bullsh*t to me, but its cute to think of him as her saviour and otherway arround^^

PS: Sorry I commented so infrequently on the previous chapters:nuu: