Ashen Wastes: The Road to Nowhere?

[Dawnika Snow]

The blank canvas disappeared behind her. The black cracked ground of the Ashen Steppes appeared before her. Dawn looked at the smoky sky that was clouded with ash. It took a moment for it all to sink in, but this felt somewhat like home to her. She couldn't place exactly why.

The noticeable change in heat already had Dawn sweating. She wiped her hand over her forehead and took deeper breaths to compensate for the thicker density in the air. “Fuck, it's hot in here. I need a tanktop and some water.” She held out her hand as the omnilium worked it’s magic shit and a bottle of water appeared in her hand in a handful of seconds. Then she took the time to summon new clothes over her body replacing the clothes she was wearing before, except her beanie which hid her right eye. She wore a loose tank top and a shorter skirt with a pair of white tennis shoes.

Dawn continued on. She didn't know exactly where she was going. This world was big and finding any kind of town or settlement seemed like it should be trivial, but it was actually on the contrary. If there was some settlement, it was far from the gate.

A screech sounded from a distance away. Dawn covered her ears and hid behind a rock protruding from the ground. It was a dragon flying by, and thankfully it didn't notice her. Her dark clothes blended into the scenery quite well. Once it had passed by, Dawn stood and continued on. She should've been surprised by the fact that dragons inhabited this world, but nothing was strange to her. Especially now that her life has changed. It made think of how boring her life was before: A stupid job, stupid bills, stupid people. The only thing she missed was her dog Rouge. The only being in her life she cared about up to this point that wasn't dead or fake. She wondered if she could used her new powers to make life. Could she bring her dog to this world, or only inanimate objects? She took shelter behind a rock again and sat down against it. She focused hard on her furry friend. A bubble of glowing light appeared in front of her. Was it working? It took awhile, but after about a half hour, the Siberian husky materialized completely and shook herself off. “Rouge!” Dawn screamed silently hugging her companion. “I'm glad to have you back.” The dog replied in kind by licking her master in the face multiple times. “Alright!” She laughed and pushed her off. “This place is dangerous, okay? Let's be careful.” She said as she stood again checking to see if the coast was clear. Unfortunately, some scaly fiends had moved in and there wasn't much room to avoid them. “We've got company Rogue, 5 Alpha.” The drakes hadn't noticed the two yet though, they could use that to their advantage. “Let me summon a closer range weapon first, in case things get hairy.” She sat back down to summon her rifle, Oscurità. The black rifle formed in hand and she strapped onto her back. Now she had noticed Mortem had disappeared. “One weapon at a time hunh? Alright then.” She snapped her fingers and the rifle on her back faded away into a black mist and was replaced with the sniper she started with.

Even after another 20 minutes, the drakes had not moved and seemed to be idly looking for food. Dawn wasn’t dumb enough to shoot at them: Skin was one thing, steel was another, but scales? Not even the bullets Dawn carried would go through drake scale. “Rouge, follow Beta.” She said as a code, which the dog understood completely. She lowered her body to the floor and got ready while Dawn pulled her sniper over the rock after applying the silencer. She aimed for the ground by the feet of the drakes and fired a potshot. The whistling of the bullet and rising of the black dust caught their attention. They turned away from the two to investigate while the girl and dog snuck past them quickly and quietly. Once out of range, Dawn relaxed. “This place is very dangerous. Keep your attention focused."

[Kuzuru]

The four travelers looked haggard, hell they were haggard. It was only hours since their collective bouts and they were still reeling from the conflict. Kuzuru, despite having a hole punched between his lower ribs, was faring the best of the four. Hell, he seemed to almost enjoy the pain that the bullet hole brought him. Charles, having lost his coat in the scuffle, trundled along. He hadn’t eaten in a long time and his considerable bulk meant that he had to eat twice as much to feel full. The other bounty hunter, Mallory, kept to himself, occasionally tapping away at his phone. Ribbons of synthetic flesh clung to the metal frames of his cybernetic arms; he had ripped away most of the excess skin, but some of it remained like strips of meat stretched over a pole. Cinder Salt, the female coyotle, was in the worst shape. Her body was covered in slash wounds and she had lost a considerable amount of blood. Every now and again the group had to stop to allow her to catch her breath and rest. It was slow going, but the four did not complain. Hell even if they did complain, no one would really care.

Finally breaking the silence Mallory asked Kuzuru, “hey chief, where are we heading? S’gonna be night time soon, we really should be thinking-”

“We’re almost there,” Kuzuru interrupted.

Charlie grunted and chimed in, “where might there be, oh mighty leader?”

“Ah, I’ll ignore the sarcasm,” the demon said, wagging his finger in the air, “if we’re to be a proper band of mercs we need a hideout, somewhere remote and hidden.”

“In the mountains,” Cinder Salt managed to say.

Black and scarred with bright orange lava streams the mountains of the Ashen Steppes were treacherous indeed. They came to the base of several of these towering leviathans. It was here that they paused for a rest. Kuzuru chose this particular set of mountains for two reasons. Firstly they were secluded, and about as far away from the main gate one could get. Second they looked absolutely badass, like a proper lair should. There was no easy way to climb the craggy beasts, and between the lava flows and potential rockslides it made for dangerous ground. A quiet rumbling could be heard from within the mountains, a sign of violent geological activity.

Kuzuru clapped his hands together and approached the steep incline. This place would make the perfect beginnings of a base. The familiar rainbow glow of omnilium emanated from his palms and he held a sizeable orb of the stuff. He would have much rather used it upon himself, but he figured that the base was an investment. Pay a little bit now to reap the benefits later. Besides, now that he was no longer a member of Ambrosia he needed a place to crash and what better place that the prime real estate in the Steppes? The earth rumbled in resonance as he began shaping their hideout. 

First he forged the stairway, and it climbed high up the mountainside snaking back and forth. From a distance it would be difficult to discern the difference between a man-made walkway and a naturally occurring path. At the path’s apex a small door was carved into the stone, and on it the symbol that Kuzuru intended to use as their callsign was imprinted. He was running low on omnilium and set to work shaping the inside of their hideout. Moving the earth and chewing through stone was more expensive than he imagined. In the end he only managed to create a fraction of what he wished. A large atrium served as both a common area and a recreational area. Several smaller rooms served as living quarters, a simple bed and nightstand made an appearance in each one. A kitchen was made, as was a lavatory. Finally he created a generator room underneath it all. Two large geothermal generators churned as they harvested the heat deep within the earth; they generated more than enough electricity to power the whole institution.

“Welcome to your new home boys and girls,” Kuzuru said, beads of sweat pouring from his brow.

“A hidden mountainside base, real original chief,” Mallory responded and began to ascend the stairs.

They stayed silent as they trundled up the staircase and into their new headquarters. A low rumbling noise groaned from the door as it slid open, powered by an unseen contraption. Each member of the group went their separate ways once inside. Charlie puffed his cigar and watched television, while Mallory sat at a nearby table and tinkered with his damaged arms. Cinder Salt used the bathroom to wash the blood from her fur and tend to her still bleeding wounds. Kuzuru retired to his room and laid down in his bed. He surfed the dataverse with Renji’s phone and began to ingest as much information as he could stand to stomach. Overall the band of misfits were tired, injured, and very much ready to rest.

[Dawnika Snow]

The Vigilante trudged on, thankful she was able to out maneuver the drakes that had somehow snuck up on her. She ejected the clip from her sniper and replaced the bullet she had shot with a new one. Fully loaded. The clip snapped back into the reloading chamber. She also screwed the silencer off the muzzle. Switching to Oscurità, Dawn and Rouge continued to search for what they were looking for, if only they knew. The world around her seemed ripe with wrong, but it didn't seem anyone she had met was trying to stop it. Granted she'd only met the robot teenager, but if there was someone around here trying to help things get better they were very absent in this area. It looked like death incarnate in these ashen wastes. Volcanoes and clouds of smoke weren't very inviting.

A river of lava poured past her right side. The heat was unbearable, but to her left was a fissure that was a far enough fall to kill her. “Damn Rouge, I can only imagine how you feel.” A whimpering whine came from her canine companion in response. Dawn stopped and shared her water with Rouge, pouring it gently into her mouth and letting her lick the opening of the bottle. She gave her a soft pet and continued onwards.

The two traveled on for what felt like hours. Avoiding the beasts and creatures that inhabited this area of the universe. Dawn was starting to wonder if her choice to go through a different gate was a bad one. Though she was nearly lost in thought, she felt it: The earth shifted somewhat silently. It was like an earthquake, but there was no way an earthquake of such unimpressive magnitude would happen next to volcanoes. Something was going on. Rouge knew it too, her ears perked up and tail shot down. “C’mon Rouge, let's investigate.”

The two traveled past an opening in the rocks that led to the mountains. Just as they cleared the rocks, a small opening of flat land stretched a few meters before the mountain rose. Looking up the slope, rocks protruded slightly like a stairway, though at first glance, she almost missed it. “Rouge. Delta.”

The dog responded quickly, jumping ahead of Dawn, who followed behind her. The husky walked up the stairs slowly with Dawn watching her six. The both of them on high alert. The door with an odd symbol stood in front of them. “Shall we knock?” She looked at her companion, who gave her a head tilt in confusion. “You know me too well.” She stroked her ear and slowly opened the door, peering in to see if anyone was around. The first room was led into by a hall, so no one was near the entrance. She squeezed through the door and led Rouge into the hall. She formed a mirror with omnilium in her hand and peered around the corner with it. A man sat a table tinkering with his arm with a screwdriver. His arm was made of metal.

“Damn,” his said aggravated, “the chief really fucked up some of my circuits.”

His back was turned slightly out of out of the angle of his line of sight. “One Alpha.” She whispered to Rouge. “Blind, 180. Continue Delta.” Rouge crawled low to the ground past the man fiddling with his arm, followed by Dawn after her. The went further down the hallway. It branched off into selerate rooms, one with the door open, a man lay on his bed fiddling a phone. “What should we do?” She whispered to her companion. She returned with a response of clenched teeth. “Commando? Idk, he looks tough. Maybe we can get some info off him though.” She took a moment to think, trying to get a plan together quickly. A stoke of genius came across her. She bump his wall with the butt of Oscurità, making a loud thump, catching his attention. Kuzuru stood after setting the phone down.

“What the hell is it now?” He slowly walked to the door. As he got close Dawn slipped past the corner of the door into the room. She moved almost too quickly to see, throwing her rifle around his neck and getting behind him. The metal of the gun pressed to his neck but wasn't choking him. “Me and Rouge want some answers. You're gonna give them to me.” Kuzuru grinned, things were getting real interesting, real quick.

[Kuzuru]

The poor demon didn’t even manage to summon a set of fresh clothes before some new bullshit reared its head. Here he was, shirtless, covered in dirt and ash, and held prisoner by some sort of fucking ninja. Great, just great. The girl pulled them back into his room and nudged his door shut with her foot. He did not struggle. She felt frigid against his body, but in reality his flesh stayed at an abnormally high temperature. He tried to glance backwards and catch a glimpse of her face, but she was careful to keep control of his neck. Kuzuru sniffed the air, taking in her scent. Finally he spoke, and posed a question to the intruder “who is the everloving pits of goddamned hell are you?”

Her voice was light, but she responded sternly, “you’re the one answering questions right now, what is this place?”

“Well you’re in my room,” Kuzuru said, “although it looks like everyone thinks they can barge right on in, so I’m not sure if I could really call it my room.”

Her grip tightened around his neck and she said, “that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh? What did you mean?”

The demon was being obtuse. If he wasn’t so damned tired he would’ve changed gears and tried to fight her, but as it stood he was more interested in fucking with her then anything. He tried to get a good sense of her strength, but it was hard to gauge anything. Did she incapacitate the others or did she sneak by them? Either way this girl had piqued his interest more than she irritated him. She stayed silent, she was not going to play games. Kuzuru sighed.

“Well we don’t really have a name yet, but you’re in the heart of my little startup,” he admitted, “you’ve really stumbled into a hornet’s nest here, girl.”

“Startup?” she asked.

“Yeah, I figured there is a lot of omnilium to be had in this world,” Kuzuru said, “catch is you gotta fight for most of it, so me and my merry band of jackasses are planning on being swords for hire.”

Dawn whispered something to her dog and it scampered over to the door. One ear perked up and listened for footsteps. There were none to be found, Charlie and Mallory were too busy lounging and Cinder Salt was still mending her wounds. Kuzuru’s demeanor shifted. Muscles tensed and he licked his lips.

“Tell me something nameless intruder,” Kuzuru said, “you’re sneaky which probably means you don’t like to be seen, and judging by that rifle wrapped around my neck you like to stay far away from potential threats, you’ve also got a guard dog so you can slink away before any trouble gets too close. So this leads me to believe that you’re some kind of sniper or a covert ops kinda gal. So please tell me why you thought it was a good idea to come this close to someone so dangerous.”

Before she could even think of answering Kuzuru kicked both of his legs outwards, forcing her to let go or be dragged down to the ground with him. She chose the former and he caught himself as he fell. Blades slipped out of his skin and made an alarming noise as they cut through the air. With a twist of his body he entered a crouching stance and turned to face her. He was going to lunge and impale the girl, but before he could even think about springing towards her she levelled her gun towards his head. Time froze. Checkmate. There he was, on his knees and staring down the barrel of a rifle.

In another world he would’ve taken the gamble. Death just meant sitting around for a couple years waiting for another hapless sap to possess. Here in the Omniverse not only was he immortal, but his host was as well. Sure he had been able to wrest almost permanent control from Renji, but he had no understanding on how resurrection would affect this dynamic. He’d only had the body for what, three days? Maybe four. Either way, not long enough. So it was for this reason, above all others, that he stayed his blade. He let out a half-hearted laugh. Without a word his blades retracted and he tumbled back onto his ass. He shrugged, raised his hands, and said, “okay, you win girlie I’ll talk.”

And so he did. He told the girl about almost everything. He started with his awakening in Ambrosia. Then he told her of the coyotles and their sage. He told her of Mallory, Charles, and Cinder. Finally he told her of their agreement to form a mercenary guild. She stayed silent, but kept her aim true. After his story Kuzuru paused for a moment and grinned. She raised an eyebrow and he said, “you know, you seem like you’d fit in quite well with our crew of assholes.”

[Dawnika Snow]

Dawn got slightly angry. She quickly smashed the butt of Oscurità into Kuzuru’s forehead. “You really think you’re funny?” The demon staggered back slightly as the metal bashed his skull. It seemed more pleasure than pain for him.

“No not at all. As foolish as it was for someone of your specialties to sneak into my base, you have talent. You got in completely undetected, with extra baggage.” He pointed to the watchdog.

“Rouge is a trained recon dog. She is capable of handling herself.” She replied keeping the gun trained on him, but staying out of arm's reach.

“Yeah, whatever. Anyways, you have the amazing skills of an assassin in your blood. Not afraid to kill and great at keeping yourself hidden. What do you say, girl?” He smirked at her.

Dawn thought for a moment. Clenching her rifle tightly in hand, ready to blow his brains out. The problem was that he was right. Her skills were useful.

“And, what do I get in return if I did join? Let’s just talk on a ‘What if-?’” She said, lowering her rifle and reaching down to help him up. They locked wrists and she pulled him to his feet.

“The simple spoils of a prime. Protection and Omnilium.” He replied. Omnilium. That glowing energy she used to summon weapons. She could feel that there was a limit to it and earning more means more power. Being more powerful means she can protect herself better and help this world more. She reached out her arm for a handshake.

“Fine, make me one of your assassins then.” Kuzuru gladly accepted the handshake and smirked. Who knew this would turn out in his favor?

“Alright girlie, you're in. I am Kuzuru, I'm the leader of this band of assholes. You got a name?” He asked.

“A name is as useful as a gun without bullets.” She replied. Her name was something she was willing to share in good time, just not yet.

Kuzuru chuckled lightly, “A fair point. Though I doubt you wish to be called ‘Girlie’ all the time.”

“Shadow, the Vigilante. Just call me Shadow for now.”

“Is that your real name?” He asked with eyebrow raised. “Seems made up.”

“It is. Ever heard of an alias?” Finally the vigilante holstered her gun. “Rogue, Zeta.” As she spoke the code word the dog stood down. She made her way next to her master, sitting down to her left side. Dawn gave her a quick pet as a ‘good job’ gesture.

[Kuzuru]

“Fine, whatever, Shadow it is,” Kuzuru said, shrugging his shoulders and raising his hands.

He never understood the idea behind keeping your name hidden from others. After all if no one knew your name how were they supposed to fear you? At any rate he decided not to press the issue. He yawned and retracted his blades, the spurt of excitement that she brought was fading. With a step towards the door he motioned the girl out into the hall. She lowered her rifle and edged towards the door. Kuzuru rolled his eye and tipped his head, “come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the gang.” He paused and added, “don’t worry darling, we don’t bite.” Without waiting to see if she would follow he walked towards the living room.

It was a mood of refractory recharging. Tired as dogs and licking the wounds of war no one was in the mood for chitchat. This changed as Kuzuru introduced the newest member of their crew. Mallory, who was in the midst of texting his sweetheart, set his phone down and raised an eyebrow. Shadow kept her dog closer and her rifle closer. Charles turned down the volume on the television and asked, “where the hell the broad come from?” Dawn shot daggers at him.

Kuzuru sighed and said, “she’s not a broad Charlie.”

“Yeah don’t be a dick Charles,” Mallory added.

“At any rate,” Kuzuru said taking a step to the side to allow Dawn the spotlight, “this here is Shadow, she snuck in here while you chucklefucks were jacking off, she’ll be joining our crew.”

“Uh… hi,” Dawn said, waving at the others. She was greeted with varying levels of enthusiasm, ranging from indifference to a friendly hello.

“Right, now that that’s outta the way,” Kuzuru said, stealing back the limelight, “we need a name for our crew, any thoughts.”

“Ehhh, there’s five of us so how ‘bout the Frisky Five,” Charlie said, “I like the ring to that I do.”

“What the fuck Charles? The ‘Frisky FIve’?” Mal said, turning around in his chair to make eye contact with his friend. This sparked an argument between the two on what constituted a “proper name”. It was like a train wreck orchestrated by two well-spoken idiots. Kuzuru enjoyed watching them, but eventually it grew stale and he put a stop to their argument. Standing in the corner of the room, bandaged and ragged Cinder spoke up, “The Ashen Blades.” Everyone turned towards her and there was a moment of silence before Kuzuru snapped his fingers and pointed at her, “I like it! I fuckin’ like it Ms. Salt.” Kuzuru turned on his heel and before heading down the hallway whispered to Dawn, “take whichever room ain’t occupied, I’m going to hit the hay.”

The demon whistled a haunting tune to himself as he walked into his room. There was one last order of business. He needed new threads, something unique and flashy. A small orb of omnilium danced around his fingertips. After several minutes he had a decent wardrobe. He smiled and picked an outfit from the pile of clothing. Once changed he sat in his desk chair and fiddled with his phone. A devious thought crossed his brainpan. The Ashen Blades needed some kind of ceremonious entrance upon the scene. Something arrogant and foolhardy, and a public video declaration of conquest would do just the trick. With a smirk he opened the camera on his phone and hit record.

[Dr. McNinja]

[Nexus]

After leaving "Omnitube", Gaige sighed. The coordinates seemed to be far away, and it appeared that there was no Catch-a-Ride station anywhere nearby. In fact, Scooter wasn't here at all. Ugh.

The Handsome Jack nightmare thing - which turned into some freaky little white dude - told her to use the rainbow rock. Maybe it was some form of Eridium or something? Maybe that's just what they called Eridium here. 

"Alriiiiiight," Gaige thought, "Why not? Could be cool." 

She stuck out her hand and tried to imagine a polychromatic crystal in her hand. She focused it, imagining now Scooter's metallic voice shrieking, "Catch-a-RIIIIIDE" Soon enough, the voice became real. Gaige opened her eyes and saw the familiar arcade-like booth. 

"Catch a RIIIIII-"

"Yeah, I got it, Scooter," Gaige grumbled as she typed in her authorization code. She summoned an Outrunner and got inside. These heaps of junk didn't even have proper ignition primers - you had to floor the pedal and hope for the best.

Luckily, with a loud screech, the car started zooming along.

[Ashen Steppes]

Gaige slammed both feet on each pedal and jerked the steering wheel to the right. With a horrible screech and a flare of sparks, the car started sliding and spinning. Eventually, the car stopped spinning, and the Mechromancer pulled the parking brake.

She glanced at her ECHO device. The waypoint indicated that the location was right next to her, but she had to climb a narrow pathway. Well, narrow enough that she couldn't drive on it.

"I see they hate drivers here, too," Gaige grumbled, sliding out of the car. To her dismay, the car suddenly disintegrated, shattering into digistruct particles.

"Oh, come. ON!"

Gaige groaned loudly, then drew her smig. She had a bad feeling about this. Pointing it upwards, she jogged up the walkway. The waypoint blinked on her minimap. She quickly glanced at her surroundings, searching for any sign of the person she was looking for. Her metal arm was engaged, prepared to summon DT with a simple hand motion.

"Hello?"

No response. Further ahead, there was a large building, somehow hidden behind various craggy surfaces. She gazed through the scope. Oddly enough, the smig she was holding did not have the telescopic sight that it did on Pandora. She'd look into that later.

"Anyone hooooome?"

The bad feeling was at a climax. Gaige shrugged and jogged lightly to the door. Chirpily, she rapped on the door. There was a strange symbol at about eye-level. It looked like an upside down Vault symbol, but as if it was in parentheses. On top of that, it was like someone swiped the brush through the middle when the paint was still wet. Kinda pointy, if anything.

Gaige knocked on the door again.

"Is this part of the mission or something? Should I be shooting something? Hello?"

[Claptrap]

(Deeps)

After signing up for the OCL, Claptrap left the building while he waited for the other competitors. He was unsure as of what to do, so he summoned up an ECHO device and checked this world's equivalent of the ECHOnet. He browsed for some mercenary work before his eye settled on a recruitment message. 

"The Ashen Blades... Mercenary work, eh? Sure, that sounds great!" Claptrap happily wheeled over to his crashed technical, forgetting the horror of his entry into the verse. He started up the car and reversed, wailing as he backed into the verse portal. 

(The Steppes)

Claptrap's technical slowed through the verse gate into a area strangely reminiscent of Elpis' volcanic regions. The heat was bound to cause some problems in Claptrap's tech. After all, anything above room temperature was dangerous to CL4P-TP units. Claptrap stepped out of his wrecked, and now dysfunctional, technical. 

The little robot whistled, or at least made a high pitched whine in an attempt to mimic a whistle. "I haven't seen places like this since I was on the moon. Haha, that brings back memories. Bad ones." Claptrap meandered forward, shotgun in hand as he kept an eye out for kraggons. You could never be too careful in these volcanic places.

The robot made his way towards the mountain base of these 'Ashen Blades', careful not to fall into any of the many lava filled fissures. He had just reached the base of the volcano when he heard something nearby. The robot ducked as best he could and peered around a large rock. There were a pair of draconic creatures standing nearby, speaking in an odd language. 

Claptrap gasped. Kraggons? They were evolving! Claptrap decided to avoid a confrontation at all costs. He didn't want to tangle with a regular kraggon, let alone a sentient one. He quietly snuck by, and began to ascend the mountain to meet these Ashen Blades fellows. 

As Claptrap rose, he realised that humans and robots weren't the only intelligent life here, and he would have to avoid stepping on any toes if he wanted to last here. These thought were immediately dispelled by the greatest hurdle of the robot's trip. 

A little further up the mountain, Gaige tapped her foot as she waited for an answer. Before the mechromancer could knock again, she heard a familiar whine from below. "Not stairs! Uuuuugh." Could it be? No. But, she should at least check. Gaige turned around and took a few paces away from the door and, low and behold, Claptrap was trying his best to drag himself up the flight of stairs.

"Claptrap?! Is that you?" She exclaimed. 
"Oh, Gaige. I mean, minion, I mean, Gaige! I didn't expect to see you here." Claptrap laughed sheepishly. 
"Uh, could I get a little help?"

[Dr. McNinja]

"Ooh, yeah, sure thing!"

Gaige activated the digistruct core in her left arm, and moved it as if she was lifting something heavy with it. With that motion cue, the arm digistructed Deathtrap.

"Hey bot!" Gaige cooed to him, "Can you go grab Clappy?"

The robot made a grunting noise.

"Hey, don't take that tone with me! He's our buddy."

The robot gave another, slightly whinier tone.

"Says you. I think he's adorable, and not annoying at all!"

The robot made a noise as if it was blowing a raspberry. Gaige gasped.

"Deathtrap, watch your language!"

The robot seemed to roll its eye, digistructed claws dragging against the ground.

"I'm serious, DT, I'm counting to three! One..."

In a shimmer of blue light, Deathtrap hovered down the walkway. Unceremoniously, it picked up Claptrap, lifted him up, and dropped him at the head of the walkway.

"Oh. Many thanks, minio- I mean Gaige! And you too, Deathtrap!" Claptrap seemed to beam as it wheeled back and forth. "If only I were able to climb stairs, I wouldn't have so much trouble."

Gaige shrugged. "Whatevs. Good to see a friendly face, Claps!"

"You too, Vault Hunter!" the yellow robot chirped, ignoring the glares of Deathtrap, "Now, let's go see what this is all abo-AAAAH"

Claptrap fell backwards, slowly bouncing down the walkway, crying "OW." each time he fell. With an unexpectedly loud clutter, he finally tumbled to the bottom.

Gaige and Deathtrap looked at each other.

"Yeah, you're gonna have to get him again."

With a whine, Deathtrap and his sagging shoulders hovered down the stairs.

[Kuzuru]

While he had managed to fix most of the damage done to his right arm Mal was having difficulty repairing the other one. While Kuzuru’s blades weren’t quite sharp enough to carved through the metal limb they did manage to inflict substantial, and probably irreparable, damage. The ex-bio-shell commander had experience with cyberkinetics he was not a skilled mechanic. Still he carried a small set of tools with him and tried his best. However, he did not make it far before their was a knock, followed by some shouting, at the front door. He looked at his arm and tried to move it. There was a spark and a twitch, but ultimately his left forearm was little more than a shapely length of deadweight. He frowned. There was another knock at the door. Mallory looked over at Charles, who sat watching television oblivious to the going ons around him. Mal spoke, “hey big guy, go answer the door will you?”

“Answer it yourself,” Charlie said, exhaling a plume of cigar smoke, “I’m watchin’ the telly I am.”

“Oh come on ya dickhead,” Mallory held up his limp-wristed left arm and continued, “I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”

Charles grunted, flicked the ash from his cigar, and finally he stood. The lumbering behemoth of a man hadn’t bothered to change clothes since his tussle the previous day. His sleeveless shirt was stained with sweat, ash, dirt and a small splatter of blood. Even the tattoos that crawled up his meaty arms seemed blurred and faded. Hell, he hadn’t even removed his mud-crusted boots yet. With resignation to his fate he grabbed his revolver from the dining table, took a moment to make sure it was loaded, and set towards the front door. He mumbled to himself, some harmless chiding aimed towards his friend Mallory. Charlie came to the front door and slid it open, keeping his gun pointed towards the newcomer.

“Hello there,” he said, “sorry to say it miss, but we don’t allow solicitors on our property.”

Deathtrap edged in close, ready to protect Gaige from the potential threat. Charles noticed this, but did not care. He was tired and not in the mood for caring. The girl said, in an annoyed tone, “Uhhhh, we’re here for a job, sooo....” The man said nothing, and he shifted his cigar around in his lip. He looked back over his shoulder and lowered the pistol. After another few seconds of awkward silence Gaige cleared her throat, “ahem.”

“I’m trying to remember what the boss said,” Charlie said and scratched his temple with the barrel of his gun, “he said that a few more people were coming to join us and that ‘if they looked like they could fight let them in’ you’ve got guns and claws which is good enough for me, come on in.”

With a bit of trepidation the visitors followed Charles. They walked through a hallway that carved through the heart of the mountain. At the end they came to an atrium that acted as a common area. Charlie’s television was still playing. It cast melodramatic voices across the otherwise silent room. Mallory took notice of the newcomers, but said nothing and continued tinkering with his broken arm. Charlie spoke over his shoulder as he walked towards the bedrooms, “I’ll go get the boss, make yourselves at home.”

Kuzuru had just laid down for sleep, finally being able to catch some much needed Zs when three hards raps smacked against his door. He groaned and shuffled out of bed with an urgency usually reserved for geriatric patients. With half-opened eyes and a scowl he opened the door. Charlie nodded towards the common area and said, “your friends are here.”

“What?”

“The ones from the Dataverse,” Charles said and turned around, “there I told ya, I’m going back to the telly.”

Kuzuru sighed. Who knew running a mercenary guild would be so bothersome? He shuddered and stepped out into the hallway. He had shed his regular clothes in favor of red silk pajamas. He had no interest in changing for the newcomers, and he debated on whether or not to greet them at all. After a short deliberation he decided it was best to come and socialize with the newcomers. He stepped into the common area and said, “welcome aboard! As you can see you’ve caught me at a bad time, but I’ll take a minute or two to introduce myself. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m the boss here and I go by Kuzuru, really I’m a nice guy.” Mallory blew a raspberry, but the demon ignored him, “feel free to take an empty room, decorate it as you like I don’t really care. I’m heading back to bed, we’ll reconvene in the morning. Ciao!” With faked enthusiasm he smiled, turned on his heels, and left the group to their own devices.

[Dawnika Snow]

Being introduced to the others was nothing more than formality. Dawn hated formalities. They made her nervous and quieter than she already is, if that was possible. Without saying a word to the group of three, she retreated to her room quickly with Rouge. It was empty.

Dawn got to work right away. It was a bit bigger than a normal apartment bedroom, so that was nice. The walls were made of rock, but she would fix that. She sat on the floor in the middle of the room and focused her Omnilium, making a wall and ceiling out of drywall, not rock. Then came the soft carpet, coloured in a deep purple.

Summoning this much took quite a bit of energy. She could feel the power of the Omnilium coursing in her body. It was what was empowering her and using so much of it made her feel weak. On that note, she decided to take a break after a half hour of summoning the rooms frame. The furniture shouldn't be nearly as hard.

Another fifteen minutes went by before she started summoning again. The small bed in the far corner of the room, covered with a pink comforter. Soon other additions such as a TV, a desk with some books and pens, a guitar on a stand in one of the corners next to a set of drums, and a video game system appeared in the room. The last addition was a small dog bed with some squeaky toys for Rouge, and of course her necessities. She partook in the food rather quickly. Dawn on the other hand switched the game on and relaxed awhile, she believes she'd earned it.

[Dawnika Snow]

Gun blared through the speakers of the flat screen TV. It was nice to sit down and relax after close encounters with homicidal robots and fire breathing drakes. Be her human or prime, she has her own desires, and she will see her endless life be a decent one. Or so she thought it would.

She gripped the controller tightly as pain coursed into chest. It felt like her heart was melting into a pile of boiling blood and organ. She yelled out as her heart felt set a blaze.

“What the hell is going on?! God-Fuck!” She yelled out.

”You're mine now. That’s what’s going on.” A woman’s voice echoed from the back of her head. The shocked woman stood and grabbed her rifle taking aim at the air trying to find her target. The voice only laughed in response. ”Your weapon would never harm me, girl. You’ll be lucky to aim that gun when I take over.”

“Go fuck off. I don't know what you think you are, but I am not so easily controlled.” She replied.

”Your concern is none of my business welp, this body is mine now, whether you like it or not.” Pain seared through Dawn’s skull as the demon tried to take her mind for her own.

“You're all talk!” Dawn laughed. “I'm too strong willed you piece of dogshit!” The pain suddenly stopped in both her chest and head. “Hehe...ha!” She laughed as she breathed heavily. “You can't do it can you? You're too weak!”

”You laugh now you sad excuse for a human, but soon this body will belong to me. Remember thy name, Kagetsume, for soon it will be the only thing that matters to you.” The voice echoed.

“I'm not a human you idiot. I'm a prime. Stronger than a human could ever wish they could be.” She said breathing heavily. The voice disappeared and the standing dog at her side looked worried and confused. She could not hear the voice in Dawn’s head. A whine escaped her breath, as way to ask if she was fine. Dawn just laid on her back and pet her furry friend.

“I'm gonna need a Dr. Pepper after that one.” She said as she summoned the cool can of soda in her hand and popped it open to take a drink.

A sigh of relief fell over the short silence as she finished the drink. “So now I'm getting possessed by a demon from hell? Shit never ends for me Rogue. Never. Maybe I should ask Dagger-Arms about it. No human as he looked would have blades protruding from his arms. Maybe he's a demon.” She stood up and headed to the door, opening it quickly and heading down the hall looking for Kuzuru.

[Dr. McNinja]

"Winch."

Deathtrap handed Gaige the device. The Mechromancer then pressed it against an opening, hearing it click satisfactorily. 

"Screwdriver."

Deathtrap's hand transformed into a miniature drill. Not combat-ready yet, (if used in combat it would probably shatter and cover DT in tiny steel splinters and damage most of his systems pretty permanently) but Gaige was working on it. For now, it was a good replacement for the screwdriver she always seemed to lose. 

Deathtrap leaned in and began screwing in the winch onto the device when the pair heard a shout.

"...hell is...od, FUCK!"

Gaige and DT glanced at each other, concerned. Out of nowhere, she felt a hand on the back of her neck.

"Hey, girlie," a psycho's voice chanted, "Wanna play?'

Gaige seized a wrench and spun around, swinging it. She then drew her smig and unloaded a clip at the voice, pumping bullet holes into the stony surface. Her breathing became heavy as she snatched another clip from her backpack and let the expended one drop to the floor. She slammed the clip into the smig and stared down the iron sights.

"I've got some games we could play-"

Gaige felt a tingling on the inside of her stockings. She jumped and aimed her gun side to side.

"And we could get my friends to play, too!"

"DEATHTRAP!" Gaige screamed.

The robot's eye turned bright red and it drew its digistruct claws. With a distorted roar, Deathtrap skewered the stool that Gaige was sitting on earlier. Splinters flew like wood shrapnel, covering Gaige's clothes with sawdust. 

DT was about to completely obliterate the stool when Gaige laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa boy, whoa," the girl panted, "Sorry, you don't have to- It's okay. You can relax. I just-"

Deathtrap nodded. His eye turned blue again. 

"Ugh, now I don't have a stool..."

DT whimpered and lowered his body. He clumsily tried to use his digistruct claws to pick up the wooden shards and piece the stool together again in vain. The sight of a large death machine bewildered by the stool that it smashed, and trying to piece it together, was adorable enough to lift Gaige's spirits.

"Heh, DT, don't worry about it. You know I work standing anyway."

Deathtrap whimpered again, lowering his head.

"No, no. It's not your fault," the Vault Hunter sighed, "You were just doing what I-"

"...piece of DOGSHIT!"

Gaige turned to listen to the noise next door. It seemed that the noise of Gaige's smig had not caught her neighbor's attention at all.

The Vault Hunter hopped onto her bed. She couldn't help but wonder why those things bothered her now. Back on Pandora, she had no qualms about killing those bandits. She didn't mind blood and guts landing on her clothes. It actually made her look more bad-ass. The best friends that Gaige had were mass murderers and bloodthirsty psychopaths.

So why did these memories bother her now?

"...too weak!"

Her neighbor was screaming again. Deathtrap cocked his head to listen. Gaige scratched her nose.

"Maybe we should talk to her? See what's going on? It might be nice to chat with someone else in this camp."

Deathtrap's lenses focused, as if to signify glee. With a squeal, Deathtrap digistructed two mugs of hot cocoa. Gaige laughed and took one, feeling its warmth in her palms. She took a sip. Just like how Dad used to make it.

"Yeah, let's go talk to her," she mumbled into the drink.

She grabbed the other cocoa from Deathtrap and opened the door. She quietly tip-toed towards her neighbor's room and knocked on the door. Even now, she was only reassured by the fact that her Jakobs shotgun was slung around her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" she called out, "I've got some hot cocoa. You wanna talk?"

[Dawnika Snow]

As the Ex-Vault Hunter approached her neighbors door, it swung open and a girl just slightly taller than her stepped out quickly almost colliding into her. Her reaction speed was good though, for she stopped before crashing into the newcomer. The Vigilante took a step back, standing next to her dog.

"Uh, hello?" Her tone suggested that she assumed Gaige had heard her, making her feel a bit embarrassed. She scratched the back of her neck and her face turned slightly red.

“You alright? Thought I heard you yelling or something.” Gaige said calmly. She peaked into the room a little. It didn't seem to match the owner very well. Dawn wore mostly black and red while her room was pink.

“To be honest with you, I'm not entirely sure.” She replied. “This world seems to be getting at me in the worst way. Makes you wanna tear your hair out. Ya’ know?” The warm mug of cocoa caught Dawn’s eye. Was she here to actually talk? If so, that would be a first. It was then the Vault Hunter offered the cup to her.

“Yeah, seems like it was made to test in the worst ways. Would you like some cocoa? It's fresh.” She said, but the woman raise her hand in silent refusal.

“Sorry, I don't really drink warm beverages. Don't like ’em all that much. I prefer soda.” She said, walking into her room and leaving the door open as if telling her she could come in. Gaige stepped in her room with Deathtrap. Now that she got a better look at it, it did seem to match the owner in its own way. The mini fridge and game console gave that impression.

“Call me Shadow.”

“Assuming that’s not your real name?” Gaige said, taking a seat at Dawn’s desk, but sitting in it backwards to face her. “Look like a shadow with all that black. I'm Gaige, by the by.”

“It’s not. Just an alias. Names are useless to an assassin.” Dawn looked at Gaige a bit more closely. Observing her clothes and her style. “Mechanic? Possibly on automata?”

“Uhhh, what?” She said confused. Was she talking about her? “You mean, am I mechanic?”

Dawn smirked and chuckled a bit, “Nah, I mean you are a mechanic.” She said, leaving Gaige even more confused. She offered the Vigilante a look that meant she wasn't following. “Your clothes are spotted with some kind of a dirt, looks like grease or oil stains. One of your arms is metallic, full functionality which mean you must know how to keep it in good repair. I'll also take a flying guess that you're a loud and social person that loves being up close and personal with their targets. The shotgun gives that away. Lastly, that robot over there.” She pointed to Deathtrap with her Dr. Pepper in hand. “I almost guarantee you built him from scratch, no help at all.”

The Vault Hunter was amazed she got all that from just looking at her. Was it some kind of power like sirens have? No, it couldn't be. Sirens powers are amazing and special in their own way. “How could you know that?”

“Keen observation.” Dawn said simply. “Your robot friend has his own presence that screams personal design. A personal design that matchs your nature perfect.”

“You're an odd one Shadow. On the other hand though, you're pretty cool.”

As the master talked, the pets of the owners seem to have their own silent conversation. Rogue stared at the metal abomination as if it understood it by it presence. Deathtrap simply returned the gesture.

[Claptrap]

Unphased by the half-heartedness of Kuzuru's greeting, Claptrap went on ahead into what he figured was his room.

"So, this is where I'll be living from now on, huh?" Claptrap chirped brightly as he wheeled into the dark cave that was his new room. "Well, it's a lot cleaner than my old place." 

Claptrap quickly set about decorating the room, first creating a rug and a pair of armchairs. True, he rarely got any visitors, but he liked to pretend that people would come to his door constantly, asking if they could come in, take a seat by the fire and discuss firearms and/or high fives while enjoying some quality brandy, not that Claptrap drank. Or could drink. 

Claptrap roused himself from his daydream to continue decorating. If he wanted to take a seat by the fire he would, of course, need a fireplace. This posed a slightly more significant problem. If he wanted a fireplace he needed a chimney. Claptrap summoned up a drill and a significantly more square hard hat.

Getting to work, Claptrap began drilling into the wall on the far end of the room. The rock was hard at first, but after a bit of work the stone began to chip away. Progress was slow but steady, and eventually Claptrap had dug out a cube of a similar size and shape to Claptrap himself. 

Claptrap positioned himself inside of the hole to begin drilling the chimney before realisig that he had no idea how deep into the mountain he was, and could be digging for hours before he hit the top. Claptrap shrugged, as much as a robot without shoulders can shrug, and decided to just make a fireplace and put an electric heater inside.

Now that the makeshift hearth was finished, Claptrap proceeded to add the finishing touches. Namely a gun rack on one wall with a book shelf next to it, filled with books on subjects such as guns, robotics and advanced high five techniques. On the other wall was a large picture of the vault huntes and other citizens of Sanctuary, with Claptrap as the focal point. 

"Ah, perfect. Now this feels a little like home." Claptrap paused. He had lost track of time working on his room and had completely lost track of time. "Time to go see what else is in this place." Claptrap wheeled out of his room and rolled down to the common room. 

"Hello mercenaries!" Claptrap shouted chirpily, raising his hand to give a high five, only to be silenced by a 'Shut up!' from the man watching the television. Claptrap's hand dropped to his side immediately.

"Oh-Kay!" Claptrap said cheerfully before turning around and wheeling right back to his room. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room!" The robot announced. "I said shut up!" Could be heard faintly from the common room, accentuated by a slightly displeased growl from Deathtrap a room or two over.

Claptrap switched on his 'fire place' and jumped into his armchair, shotgun in hand. Claptrap summoned a rag and began to polish his gun while relaxing in his chair. "Just you wait, Claptrap." He said to himself, "You'll show then how cool and helpful you are, then they'll all want to come over and give me high fives."

[Kuzuru]

Sleep had come fast for the demon. It was a heavy kind of sleep that even Clappy’s raucous excavating couldn’t dispel. Kuzuru did not dream, he never dreamed. Of course that wasn’t entirely true, he never dreamed because he never truly slept. Sure Renji’s body slipped into the coma-like state of true sleep, but Kuzuru’s mind was still awake. Thoughts of bloodshed and battle drifted through his mind like rivers of sweet syrup. A warmth enveloped his gut and he felt good . This place, this Omniverse, was the perfect playground for a demon such as he. It was as if Omni had crafted a playpen fit for the ageless demon. The thought would’ve brought a smile to his face, but alas his body slept.

After several hours Renji’s body stirred. Kuzuru stood up and stretched, feeling the tightness of his muscles. There was much work to be done today and he had no intentions to let time slip through his fingers. He opened his phone and sat cross-legged on his bed. The blades needed their first target, and he was going to find them one. For about two hours he spent researching potential bounties and their abilities. A kid in a candy store Kuzuru smiled at the selection of potential playmates. They ranged from street-thugs to eldritch abominations to ancient soldiers, all equipped with fantastical weaponry and abilities. This place offered greater warriors than his home universe could ever create, and that made him downright giddy.

Just as he was about to summon a dartboard to decide who would be his lucky victim, one bounty stuck out like a green thumb. Executioner Ballad. This one was perfect. Not a small-fry by any means, but not a walking deity neither. Armed to the teeth with strange weapons and sporting an even stranger complexion, this Ballad would prove to be a fine target. Kuzuru smiled and loaded the VOD of Ballad’s Colosseum battle. It was an old fight, probably recorded before Renji had officially joined Ambrosia. And, as was the nature of the Omniverse, Ballad had to have grown stronger in the passing time. “Perfect,” Kuzuru whispered, “this one will do just fine.”

Once everyone was awake Kuzuru called a meeting in the main room. He had summoned a projector and created a mission briefing. “Alright lords, ladies, and uh, robots,” the demon began, “we’ve had time to rest and get acquainted with one another, I think it might be time to get down to business.” With that he pressed a button on the remote for the projector. A collage of pictures and video snippets danced across the screen all of them depicting the same man. Yellow eyes, green skin, and attire befitting a winter lumberjack made the man. “Presenting the one and only Ballad,” Kuzuru said, “also known as Hashtag Executioner Ballad.” Another few slides flipped through his battle with Adam in the Colosseum, and a few others revealed Dataverse chatter regarding their target. “With the help of Mallory I’ve compiled everything we know about him, you can download it through our database. I’ll be leading this little expedition, and I want Gaige, Dawn, and Claptrap to come with me. The rest of you are still banged up from the other day so please enjoy your R and R. We’ll be leaving for Camelot tonight.” With that Kuzuru shut off the projector and sauntered off towards his room.

Charles looked towards the remaining members of the blades and said, “you lot better bring back some grub, I’ve got a feeling that no one delivers this far out.”

[Dr. McNinja]

"Well, you're right about a buncha stuff. Yeah, I like to get really close when I'm fighting. I uh..." Gaige sheepishly took a sip. "I actually have pretty bad aim."

The teenager gestured at DT with the other mug of cocoa. The previously stoic and menacing robot squealed with glee, then grabbed it and began to "drink" it. 

"But I had a bit of help. My dad. Like, when I cut my arm off-"

"You cut your arm off?"

Gaige rolled her eyes. "Calm down. It was an accident, gawd."

Dawn almost cracked a smile.

"Anyways," the teenager continued with her legs crossed, "he helped with the transfusion. There was... heh, there was a lot of blood. But hey, look at this awesome metal arm! I can punch through concrete! Look!"

She spun around in the chair and tried to punch through the wall. The metal arm simply bounced off the wall and Deathtrap's form glitched slightly. The husky crouched and began to growl at the robot. Gaige grunted and started tweaking at her shoulder with a screwdriver.

"Well, I used to, anyways."

Dawn eyed the robot suspiciously. Her dog was still growling at DT, who was helplessly scared of the hostile reaction.

"What was that?"

"Oh, like how he shook?" Gaige mumbled, "Yeah, the arm is the source of his signal. It's pretty complicated. See, the arm-"

Dawn stared at the arm. "The arm acts as an antenna that receives your neural signals and broadcasts it to your robot, right?"

Gaige blinked, then pouted in disappointment. "I mean, you know, that's the easy part..."

The two girls sat, staring at opposite corners of Dawn's room.

"Actually," Gaige said, clearing her throat, "I kinda needed a bit of a girl-talk too. I... I don't know, I'm remembering things... differently? Like, stuff that never really bothered me are like, really freaking me out now. A-a-and, like, where I come from? There was this-this-this dictator, and, like, he was about to kill, like, a LOT of people. He tried to kill me! ...sorta. A-and then I had to stop him, because he was about to burn the planet down, but then..."

Gaige shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"I had to kill a LOT of people."

She took a long drink from her mug.

"And, like, what really scares me is that it never used to bother me until I came here. And, like, now it's all coming at me at once, you know?"

"Little young for that kind of trouble," the vigilante commented.

"Yeah, well," the teenager puffed a breath at her hair. "Welcome to Pandora."

Dawn eyed her carefully. "I think you did what you needed to do. And if you need to change who you are, then do it. You've done it before."

Gaige squinted in confusion.

"From your tone, I'm guessing you grew up in a rich neighborhood. And this Pandora place... well, at the very least they have a terrible laundry service. So you must have fallen pretty hard before."

Deathtrap was trying to interact with the dog more. He reached a gentle arm towards the dog, as if he was about to pet her. Rouge was growling less now, but a little more open to the idea.

"Alright, Sherlock," Gaige chuckled, "You gonna tell me anything about yourself? I don't have your special observation powers."

"Maybe later, Gaige," the vigilante sighed, "Maybe later."

Gaige snorted. "Alrighty, then, 'Shadow'. Suit yourself." She took another sip of her cocoa. "You know, I sorta have an alias too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

Gaige raised her chin and closed her eyes triumphantly. "The Mechromancer."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "The Mechromancer?"

"I-" Gaige scowled. "It is a very respectable Vault Hunter title!"

"Whatever you say, Mechromancer."