A Cold Cold Path

[Claptrap]

While he knew he should be feeling tension before a fight with someone as dangerous as Ballad, Kuzuru's guitar solo had bolstered Claptrap's confidence to unforeseen levels, which wasn't saying much when the normally nervous little robot was concerned. Claptrap checked the ammo in his pistol as Ballad delivered his speech, making sure his clip was full. It was, of course, as he hadn't used it since he fought the Harbinger in the Nexus, but it was better to be sure than to end up one bullet short of a dead enemy.

As Ballad came up to Claptrap, the robot was hoping for a nervous compliment to his imposing stature and incredible strength. At the very least, he was expecting a laugh in the face and a request to bring out the real opponent. When Ballad simply passed him by, however, indignation built up inside of the robot. 

Struggling not to give Ballad a piece of his mind, Claptrap observed the people he would be fighting. First was a girl, surprisingly young and a short as Claptrap himself. This didn't sit well with Claptrap, children had no place on a battlefield. The really young ones, at least, Gaige had proved that some kids could take care of themselves.

Moving on to the next person in line, his eye settled on a young man with black hair and a cold expression on his face. Claptrap was about to nudge Shadow before the boy sprouted a pair of shadowy claws, momentarily freezing Claptrap in shock. When he recovered, the robot put away his pistol and pulled out his shotgun, just in case he needed the extra firepower.

The third opponent was a creepy looking guy with even creepier needle claws, like something out of a bad horror movie. He seemed to be having a disagreement with the angsty demon boy, which was just fine with Claptrap. A team who didn't work well together was much more vulnerable. Claptrap has first hand experience with this, with his voice sounding like a malfunctioning autotuner and all.

Finally, Claptrap came to the man himself, Ballad. The strongest of their opponents, as well as the Blades' paycheque in human, or at least Claptrap thought he was human, form. At a glance, the executioner wasn't overly intimidating. He just seemed to be a guy of regular build, presumably with a coupe of guns. What made him intimidating, however, was his demeanour. Ballad seemed to ooze an imposing aura from all of his pores, so powerful that Claptrap would have more than likely just fled instead of fight the man, but he had a job to do and he wanted to finish it and bring the man to justice, sweet, wallet filling justice.

Pumping his shotgun and making a noise presumably meant to mimic a gulp, Claptrap turned slightly towards Kuzuru, waiting for the order to attack and trying not to accidentally pull the trigger out of sheer anticipation.