As Twilight sat at her chair at the Cutie Map, only a few things were going through her head. Not all of those things being good. For one thing, just mere moments after coming back from the Crystal Empire, several of the Vault Hunters took it upon themselves to go to both Griffonstone and the Dragon Lands to get two more pieces of the Vault Key. Given what had happened in both Manehattan and the Crystal Empire, the princess was concerned that the same thing could possibly happen there. Especially since the Dragons have only recently become allies with Equestria and nothing was set in stone in regards to if Griffons and Ponykind were gonna become allies.
So when the Psycho named Krieg personally declared that he was ‘volunteering’ to go to the dragon lands and the Gunzerker named Salvador was gonna travel with Brick and the rest of the original vault hunters, all Twilight could picture in her mind was two political powderkegs that would be enough to rip apart any chance at a partnership between Ponykind and neighboring nations working.
Of course, not all of the vault hunters were out causing unknown mayhem. Two of them decided to stay behind. Zer0 was currently meditating outside of Fluttershy’s cottage and Gaige was right now sitting by the cutie map. Trying to look at her ECHO as she seemed to be getting the hand of a levitation spell. Aside from them though, Tina was also at the table as she helped herself to some tea.
As Twilight joined the two of them, the alicorn let out a sigh. Something the mechromancer picked up on as she looked towards the princess. “Something on your mind, Twilight?”
At first, she was tempted to say no. But the thought of Tina potentially trying to probe at her to spill out information made her think twice as she looked back at the mechromancer. “Well… I’m just a bit worried.”
“Worried about what, Sparklebutt?” Tina now asked, tilting her head to the side.
Part of Twilight really wanted to correct Tina just now, but instead, she just got straight to answering her question. “About the others… It’s a bit complex to explain.”
“So try to explain it then,” Gaige encouraged her. “Does it have to do with that Dragon Lord figure that Spike talked about?”
“That’s… part of it,” the alicorn acknowledged, “The relationship that Ponykind has with both the dragons and the griffons has been rather rocky. After the Gauntlet of Fire, things have begun to actually improve between dragons and ponies…”
“And you’re worried that with Krieg, Maya and Axton over there, they might accidentally screw that up and have you back at square one?” Gaige then interjected.
At first, Twilight tried to think of a better and more discreet way in order to respond, but failed to come up with anything as she let out a sigh. “To put it mildly, yes.”
“Pfft, I honestly think you’re worrying over nothing, girl,” Tina then chimed in, “If anything, Maya’s my girl that’ll keep things in check! She’s the Krieg Whisperer after all!”
The princess of friendship blinked, shaking her head for a moment as she looked back at the alicorn that was sitting across the table. “I’m sorry but… Krieg Whisperer?”
“It’s a nickname that Tina came up with a while back,” the mechromancer now decided to speak up, “It’s because Krieg is a lot calmer and more… tame when he’s around Maya then when he’s around anyone else and I can vouch for that. There are times that even he scares the sh*t out of me.”
Twilight didn’t even have any more questions in regards to Krieg after Gaige mentioned that, but there was still one other thing that was troubling for her. “Okay, but even then, Griffonstone is more concerning. They’re not always known for warm hospitality, any form of trade is inflated-”
“Sounds like Hyperion.”
“-and unlike with the dragons, it's unknown whether or not the griffons will become allies with us. Especially if things go wrong-”
“Twily, twily, twily, listen girl,” Tina interjected what Twilight was saying as she got up on the table and stared directly at her face. Shortly before she began to go into what sounded like a personal speech, “Lily and her crew have been through much more problematic situations than what you’re describing girl. If they try to pick a fight, they can just lift up a hoof and BAM!” At that moment, Tina slammed her teacup on the table as it shattered everywhere. Pieces of it flying towards Gaige and Twilight as the alicorn continued her proclamation. “They’ll show them why they’re known as badasses! They’ll get so soaked to the point that they’ll be begging to have a better relationship with Sunbutt.”
Gaige herself just let out a sigh at the sound of the alicorn’s attempt at a ‘seductive’ voice, shortly before asking Tina a question. “Have you been talking to Moxxi again?”
“Oh? Whatever do you mean, fair lady?” Tina asked in a tone that Mad Moxxi would call her ‘dressy voice’, before noticing the broken teacup she destroyed. “Why, I’ll be… Whoever caused this mess must clean this up immediately.”
Twilight and Gaige had only one response for that. “Uh… you did that?”
“Well, that just sounds absurd… I’ll go see if Flashy McSen-Frizzle is available for cleaning duty,” With that, Tina got up, jumping off the table and prancing off as she began to look around the castle. Leaving Twilight and Gaige just shocked before they looked back at one another.
“I think they’ll be in good hands,” Gaige replied back, before asking a new question. “So… on a much different subject… can you teach me teleportation? I’ve been trying to read up on it, but it seems difficult. So, could you give me the bluff notes?”
Out of all possible things, it seemed like Maya could not be able to catch herself a break. First, it was going to the Crystal Empire to find her piece of the key… only to be stranded up there for a few days, then she found herself having to come along because Krieg of all people ‘volunteered’ to go to the Dragon Lands to get the next piece. At first, it seemed like a reasonable idea. After all, it seemed like a simple ‘go in, grab what you need, get out’ kind of scenario like the plan was for the last two times the vault hunters went somewhere to get a key. Yet, there was no such thing as simple to a vault hunter.
To make matters worse, Spike’s explanation on dragon culture did not do anything to really help boost her confidence. A lot of it was based on the values of power, pride and greed. Which not only was stupid, but sickening… and when Spike helped Ember become the new Dragon Lord, one particular dragon named Garble wanted to become Dragon Lord just to subjegate ponykind. Let them be in fear or else face the wrath of a dragon.
“God dammit,” She thought to herself as they approached the cliff that overlooked the dragon lands. Thinking about Garble only lead to her thinking about when she was raised on Athenas… and how the only good memory she had of that place was putting a bullet in the skull of that lying dickhead, Brother Sophis for using her as a way to get whatever he wanted and subjugate the people of Athenas.
Of course, even though she personally did not want to revisit that subject, that motion was thrown out the window a few seconds after arriving. “Hey Maya, you alright?”
The siren blinked, realizing that Spike was trying to get her attention as she turned to the dragon. “Y-yeah, I’m alright. Why did you ask?”
“You kind of seemed like you were spacing out after I told you about Garble,” the dragon told her in response, “Is something wrong?”
“No, no. I just… remembered something that I would prefer to forget,” Maya retorted as she looked around. Feeling the heat under hooves as she took a good look around. The mountains in the distance and the rising heat in the dragon lands made her think about a few places on Pandora upon arrival. The first was the Eridium Blight, considering that upon arriving from The Dust, there was a giant volcano that kept spewing ash and sulfur everywhere. The second was the Torgue Forge that was not far from the Badass Crater of Badassitude, since it was used as a scrapyard and metalworking facility.
Mainly though, it made her think of Heroes Pass and the Vault of the Warrior. Though, the one obvious difference was that there was no Hyperion assholes occupying the place and there was no ancient eridian warrior that planned to wipe every living being off the face of the planet. So, that seemed like a plus to her. Of course though, there was also some of the locations Tina had them visit in Bunkers and Badasses… but that couldn’t quite count. Because, well, they’re in Bunkers and Badasses.
After a couple of moments to get herself adjusted, Maya looked around a bit and then looked towards Spike. “All right, where do we go from here-?”
Of course, there was one rather major problem… one that, upon noticing, had her immediately turn to the commando that was nearby. “Where’s Krieg?”
“I thought you were watching him?” Axton said shortly afterward. “Oh, sh*t.” he followed with upon realizing the implications of what he was asked.
“Well, crap. We only just got here and now Krieg is possibly wandering off on his own!” The frustrated siren groaned, “Just great… now where could he possibly be?”
It was at that point that Maya felt a claw poke at her side for a moment as she turned around to see that Spike was trying to get her attention. “I might not exactly know as much about your friend like you two do… but I got one theory.”
“Wha-?”
“BATTER UP!! LET’S PLAY SOME PAIN BALL!!!”
Immediately, all three of them stopped what they were doing and turned in the direction of where they heard Krieg’s voice come from. Maya had Spike get on her back as she and Axton took off in that direction, fearing that he was getting in a confrontation with the dragons who called the dragon lands their home.
Instead though, they three of them found Krieg staring down a group of quadruped reptiles with long sharp tails that were throwing rocks at him. All the while the Psycho was swinging his buzzaxe to try and hit them like it was a sporting event. Which… seemed baffling.
“Okay, out of all the things I thought were going to happen, this was not one of them,” the siren admitted, “What are those things anyways?”
“I think Twilight called them Slingtails,” Spike replied back, “I remembered seeing some during the gauntlet of fire. They place boulders on their backs and hurl them at any who pass by with their tails. Firing them like a catapult.”
“Well, at least they aren’t like the Stalkers back on Pandora. I mean he is entertaining himself in a way that doesn’t result in him outright killing something immediately.” Axton commented. “Besides, how many do you think he can hit before too many get tossed his way?”
That just had Maya look back at Axton with a raised eyebrow. “Is that really the most important question that comes to mind right now?” All Axton did was give off a shrug as Krieg continued to swing his axe at the incoming projectiles. Missing a few of the boulders that he swung at, but striking a few of them and sending them back towards the slingtails. One of the boulders even went as far as breaking a piece of a cliffside as it fell down in the distance.
“INSURANCE FRAUD!!”
“Um… how long do you think he’ll keep doing this for?” Spike now nervously asked as the three of them continued to watch.
“Probably until he gets distracted by something else,” the siren admitted.
Almost as if Maya had predicted it, Krieg soon turned his head up towards the sky as he began to holler again. “TO THE SKY!! IT’S A RAKK! IT’S A BUZZARD!! IT’S-” Before he could finish, one of the boulders from the slingtails blindsided him as it threw him backwards. Of course, Maya and Spike were more focused on what Krieg was pointing out to them as they turned around. Just in time to find a blue dragoness holding a crystalline scepter with a blood red stone land only feet away from where they were standing at.
“Ember!”
“I was wondering what all the commotion was about,” the dragoness spoke up, before looking back towards the group. “When I received a letter from your princess of friendship, saying that a few odd travelers would be coming here, I honestly did not expect this.”
“So you’re the dragon lord?” Maya now asked, a bit surprised as she looked back at Ember.
“That I am,” the dragoness responded. “Though, aside from Spike, who are you?”
“I’m Maya. This is Axton and over there is-”
Before she could finish, they heard the sound of rocks breaking apart as Krieg began to pound his buzz-axe, before charging at the cliff basin that the slingtails were at. “I WELCOME YOU TO THE ORGANIC SLAUGHTER MARKET!! FILLED WITH FRESHLY MURDERED CORPSES THAT I PLANTED IN THE DIRT!! TODAY, WE HAVE A SPECIAL DISCOUNT ON ROCKS AND SALT!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!”
That just had Maya let out a deep groan as she let out a sigh. “... And that’s Krieg,” she finished her original statement. “He means well, yet… he has a hard way of saying what he means.”
“Should I even-”
“NIPPLE SALAD ON SALE NOW!!”
“-I think I’ll just take your word for it,” the dragoness explained, before looking towards Axton. Seeing that he had been silent for sometime as he looked back at her. “What? Got something to say?”
“Nothing much, just admiring the view.” To which Maya promptly smacked him upside the head… and across his jaw. He then just glared at her while she just gave him a flat look and raised her hoof again, literally asking him to speak up. After rolling his eyes he then looked back towards Ember. “Anyway, we were just waiting for you or until Krieg got done with his… uh, entertainment I guess.”
“Could you tell me more of what it is that you seek?” Ember then asked, “Your Princesses letter said you were looking for something, but did not specify as to what that something was.”
“Well to put it simply we are looking for something that looks like this.” Axton then showed her his piece of the vault key. “It’s a piece that belongs to a key, and one of those pieces are here in the dragon lands. Though we have something that helps us find it, having someone along who knows these lands well would make this go by a lot faster.”
“Hmm… Would this piece also happen to cause any out of the ordinary?” Ember then asked. “Because a couple of dragons that I had out on patrol spotted something unusual when the were trying to harvest gems from the nearby caves.”
“What kind of unusual thing?”
“Well… to put it simply, some of them reported gemstones being attached to three legged rock creatures. Some the like of which we have not seen before.”
“Well that is unusual, and that would mean what we are looking for is nearby that area then. And those creatures are more than likely guarding it or something.” Axton then lets a sigh. “Those creatures are also called crystalisks, they use their crystals for ranged attacks like sending a lot of little crystals out or sending out a large one that embeds in the ground then explodes. However if you get close they can either use one of their legs to create a shockwave or creates a rapid series of shockwaves. I mean if you want to try, you can punch the crystals on their legs and that will take them down real quick.”
“In other words, that sounds like something we gotta do,” Maya simplified. “Could you show us where you found them?”
“Yeah, it would help a lot and we can deal with your problem as well.” Axton said as he then pulled out his tomahawk.
Ember herself nodded, before turning around as she began to walk away. “Very well. Follow me.”
“Well… that’s definitely progress,” Maya thought to herself as the group followed the dragon lord with Krieg joining up with them a few moments later. “I wonder how Lilith and the others are doing in Griffonstone right now. Surely, it can’t be too hard, right?”
Of all the things Roland was expecting to do in Griffinstone, this has got to be the last thing he expected. Roland just sat at the bar looking at his drink as he hears fighting going on behind him. He takes a glance back to see Brick having the time of his life as he tosses two griffins off him and then goes back to pummel them again. He then quickly looks back at his drink and lifts it up as a brown and red colored griffin comes sliding across the counter and shortly afterward hearing Salvador laughing. He then looks to his left and sees Lilith bang her head softly onto the counter, trying to forget about what is going on right now. Mordecai however, is just watching this all with an amused look on his face by the entrance to the bar, staying outside as he watched.
“Seems like this is nothing new to a pony like yourself.” The bartender says with a knowing look.
“You have no idea.” Roland then tries to take his drink, only for it to get snatched out from under him. He just sighs. “One more, stronger this time please.” Placing a few bits on the counter.
“Coming right up.” The bartender says while chuckling to himself.
“SWALLOW THIS, PENDEJOS!!” They heard Salvador shout as he punched a griffon so hard that he broke their jaw… and their beak.
Meanwhile, Lilith herself raised her head up from the table as she looked back to the soldier. “Remind me again how this happened, exactly?”
“Do you want it from when they insulted Salvador…” Roland paused as his drink was placed in front of him, to which he quickly downed it. “Or when Brick decided to add fuel to the fire?” Right after he said that he heard a massive crack, and when he turned around he saw it was Brick banging the heads of two griffins together.
“WHOS NEXT?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!” Brick shouted out in glee as he dropped the griffins he was holding.
Roland just looked back at Lilith. “So yeah, take your pick because the end result will be the same either way.” He then just lets out a heavy sigh.
“I would think Salvador first, then Brick,” the siren replied back, “Brick sometimes only jumps into the fray when he’s encouraged to do so.”
“BIENVENIDOS A LA FIESTA, AMIGOS!”
“WOOHOO!! THIS BRINGS BACK SO MANY BADASS MEMORIES!!!” Lilith now heard Mr. Torgue himself shout through her ECHO device. “GRAB A BEER AND KICK SOME REAR!!! BECAUSE IT’S A BEATDOWN BAR BRAWL!!”
“Of course, hearing that doesn’t quite help at all,” Lilith herself admitted as she went back to lying her head against the table.
“THIS FIGHT’S REMINDING ME OF MY DAD AGAIN!! ALCOHOLISM DESTROYS FAMILIES!!!”
“Yeah, they’ll be just fine.”
“Just so we know ahead of time, do you know exactly how many of those things were in this cave?” Axton then asked Ember, just so he has an idea of how much of a pain this will be.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to get a number as to how many of those beasts are in there.”
“Once we are done there, you won’t have to worry about those things anymore.”
“That would be fortunate-”
“WE’RE SMASHING ROCK CANDY NOW!?!” They all heard Krieg scream from out of nowhere, before running past the group like a bloodthirsty hooligan.
“Krieg, calm down… That’s not the right way.” Maya said, which made the Psycho stop before turning back around.
“LEAD THE WAY, PRETTY LADY.”
“Hunh…” Spike then spoke up, “Looks like Tina is right. You are the Krieg whisperer.”
“Who is this Tina you speak of?”
“Someone we know of back over in Ponyville,” Maya simply explained, as she switched out the pistol that she was using originally to the Jakobs Revolver known as ‘the Maggie’. “Now let's go. Those Crystalisks aren’t just going to get rid of themselves.”
“It’s gonna be a blast for sure.” Axton said as he pulled out his Swordsplosion and cocked it.
Ember just raised an eyebrow, while looking back towards Spike as she asked him a question. “Should I be concerned about how they’ll handle this?”
“Not really… though once we get there, we might want to back up first,” he advised the dragon lord, “It would be better to watch them from a distance.”
“That would be best, wouldn’t want you to be in the ‘splash zone’ one would say.” Axton’s comment did not exactly help Ember feel any better on the matter, especially with what exactly something like that would imply. “And the fact Krieg might accidently hit you with his buzzaxe.”
“‘Might’ being the optimal word in that sentence,” Maya added.
“I’M GONNA SMASH THEM ALL INTO ROCK CANDY!!!”
“Well, enough time wasting and time to get hunting.”
Even though Axton’s words were rather optimistic, Maya felt a bit concerned. Not because of what they were up against, but because of the likelihood that a group of Crystalisks being left unchecked was not a good thing. Especially when they might just look like a crystal before rising up from the ground and then smashing you with a stomp of one of its legs.
Back on Pandora, it turned out that these creatures were… supposed to be peaceful. Yet, when a DAHL executive named Ms. Harcheck fatally shot the security officer that befriended one of them and was vouching for them to not mine the crystalisks, they became violent and the executive was murdered by the same crystalisk that was befriended.
Of course, that was on Pandora. In Equestria, the circumstances can be much different.
“Hey Maya, hurry up or you’re gonna get left behind!”Axton said as he started flying ahead and noticed Maya slow down.
“And of course I forget that Axton has wings now.” She said, before running to catch up with him. Part of her was tempted to phaselock Axton in place just to teach him a lesson, but perhaps that would be best saved for later. Because just as soon as they made it to the entryway, two crystalisk’s emerged from the ground as Maya readied her pistol. All the while Krieg charged in like a maniac.
“HERE COMES THE BAD TIMES!!”
The first move that Maya did before firing was Phaselock the first crystalisk, holding it in the air as it had all the crystals that were on its legs form together in one place. Making it easier to hit their weak points and take them down as Krieg smashed at it with his Buzz Axe. After the first crystalisk was down for the count, the phaselock itself moved in sub-sequence and seeked out its next target as it held another crystalisk up in the air. One that Axton was able to shoot at from his position in midair.
As the bullets from his weapon shredded through the second crystalisk, both of them exploded shortly after, leaving behind nothing more than the crystals that were on its body as the entrance to the cave they were guarding was now clear. “Alright… let’s see how big of a mess we’re dealing with.”
“Well considering where we are and what we’re dealing with, I’m expecting a lot of them.” the Commando said as he reloaded his shotgun.
“You think?” Maya asked sarcastically.
“No I was expecting only a few of them and then b-” Axton began, only to get smacked again. “You are just waiting for any excuse to hit me, aren’t you?” He said with a flat look.
“Sometimes, you just bring this on yourself,” the siren told him in response, “At least be thankful it’s me smacking you and not Gaige. Getting hit with her metal arm would hurt like a bitch.”
Axton just rolled his eyes. “Fair enough, and I unfortunately know what that feels like. I pissed her off once on accident, couldn’t feel my arm for about a week after she hit me.”
At one moment, Maya smiled. But then she placed a hoof in front of Axton. Blocking him from proceeding. At first, he wondered why she would do that. But the answer came to him as he looked farther ahead. More of the crystal stubs in the ground rising up as Crystalisks. With a giant crimson one in the back that reminded her of the crystalisk named Blue.
“Okay… this is far worse than I was expecting,” the siren admitted, biting her bottom lip. A few crystalisks were something that she could easily handle… but this many? This was the equivalent of a bad varkid infestation, in the varkid were replaced with giant walking rock monsters instead. “So, what’s-”
“HAHAHAHAA!!! SMASH THEM ALL!! MORE SALT TO THE WOUND!! I WILL USE YOUR STONES AS CHALK TO WRITE MY ALIMONY CHECK!!! LET’S DO THIS! KRRRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEGGGG!!!!!!!”
“Oh god dammit, he just went in,” Maya cursed, seeing Krieg going on a rampage as his body began to morph and change. “After him!”
“I mean it’s Krieg, do you expect ANYTHING ELSE when enemies are around?!” Axton said as he got up into the air for better coverage… which was not as high as would’ve liked since the first thing that happened was hit his head against the cave ceiling. “Damn it, well i can’t exactly give some cover fire from the air, however…” He then noticed the ceiling was big enough for something else. “Hey, stand in front of this!” Which he deployed his two turrets on the cave ceiling with distance between so they wouldn’t overlap their shots.
“Good call. I’ll see if I can phaselock some for you!” Maya called out, lifting up her left foreleg at the first Crystalisk she saw. Providing targets for Axton’s turrets as they locked on to each crystalisk that was lifted into the air while the commando himself focused his fire on some of the crystalisks on the ground. Krieg though was taking a different approach, switching between smashing things with his buzz axe, throwing his buzz axe at the crystals on the crystalisks legs and when he morphed back to his normal self, began to fire off explosive rounds from a gun that Krieg kept on hand. The pearlescent Torgue shotgun known as ‘Carnage’.
They were making progress towards where the big one one in the back was, but something didn’t seem right.
“Uh, I don’t know if you feel this but I have a feeling that big one is a lot different than wha-” Axton then had to quickly duck as a beam suddenly came shooting from the crystals of the big one, which was named Garnet. “THE F*CK?!!? IT SHOOTS LASERS NOW?! THATS BULL-” once again he ducked and had to move around from the multiple beams that came his way.
“Okay, just what the hell?!” Maya yelled.
“HACKS!!!”
The three of them quickly dove for cover in the area around the big one.
“Ok despite this being high grade BS, how can we distract it when all of its crystals ARE F*CKING LASER BEAMS?!!?” Axton called out to the others, hoping for a solution.
“Don’t look at me. The only kind of lasers we had to deal with were the ones on the constructor bots-!” Maya told him. “If the crystals are what’s projecting the lasers, then we need to try and-”
“RIP AND TEAR!! BREAK THEM ALL!!”
“... Yeah, what he said.” Maya summarized, getting an idea as she switched weapons. Putting the Maggie away and trading it out for something that had a bit more firepower. The Torgue pistol that was referred to as the ‘Pocket Rocket’. “Hope you got some heavy firepower. We’re going to need it.”
“Well I have one thats good for big targets at least, but I don’t really use it often.” Axton commented as he shifted through his inventory for a new shotgun, the Flakker. “But as it says, Flak the world.”
Maya smirked at that, before throwing a grenade as it warped over to where the crystalisk was and began to explode into a multitude of child grenades. Normally, she would keep on one of the grenade mods that she got from Bunkers and Badasses like Fire Storm or Magic Missile, but right now, the Bonus Package seemed like the best option since they needed to focus on making the crystals explode. Once the grenades went off, she began to fire off rounds from her Pocket Rocket.
In the distance, Ember and Spike could only sit and watch as the explosive mayhem that was in the cave. To the dragon lord, it was one thing to face an enemy head on against overwhelming odds… but this was much different. Not only were these three facing the beasts that were in here, they looked like they were enjoying it to a rather frightening degree. “Is… this normally how they face danger, Spike?”
“Ember, with everything that has been going on in Equestria right now, ‘normal’ would be putting it lightly,” the young dragon replied back, “Trust me, you haven’t seen the rest of their group yet.”
That had the dragon lord blink, “There’s more of them?”
“Yeah, three… well, more like seven if you count the original four, but that’s not important at the moment,” He began to clarify before explaining a bit “The other companions include a stallion that sees weapons as toys, a unicorn mare who willingly cut off her own foreleg for a science project-”
“She willingly dismembered herself?!” Ember’s eyes widened in horror.
“Yeah, but there’s a lot to unpack there with that one,” Spike sighed, “Besides, she has a metal foreleg to replace it.”
Part of the dragon lord seemed horrified, but another part of her was interested to learn more. Yet, now was not the right time or place to discuss those matters. “And what about the third one?”
“Well… he’s a stallion, but we kind of have no idea what he is. He wears a helmet to cover his face and he speaks in poetry-”
“That doesn’t sound like that of a warrior-”
“-and he also has a sword that, from what we’ve seen, can pretty much cut through anything. That and he can go invisible.”
“… Hunh. I only thought that creatures with magic could accomplish something like that.” Ember commented.
“If you happen to meet them one day when in Equestria, I’ll make sure to properly introduce them to you.”
Back with the vault hunters, all three of them focused their fire on the crystals that were on Garnet’s legs while trying to outmaneuver the incoming lasers.
“Hmm, well i’m going to do something stupid.” Axton said as he decided to fly around Garnet to throw off its aim and to try and destroy some of its crystals.
“God, I really hope he knows what he’s doing. He’s only been practicing like that for a couple of days and now he acts like he’s a master at it,” the siren thought to herself, before throwing two more Bonus Package grenades at the crystalisk to try and shatter the crystals on one of its legs. Of course, when looking back at Krieg…
“Oh my god, Krieg, what the hell are you doing!?”
“I AM MELEEING ITS LEGS!!!”
“Is he insane?! That’s only just going to piss it off even more-” Yet, Maya did not have the time to actually say anything else because with one more strike, the crystals on one of its legs shattered. Leaving only two more remaining as the Crystalisk staggered for a brief moment, “Okay, nevermind, looks like we’re actually getting somewhere. Axton, target the legs!”
“Hey whatever works, I’ll take it!” He then followed the siren’s directions and blasted away at the legs, while also dodging some lasers. Maya took it upon herself to focus on the leg that Axton was not occupied with, still using her Pocket Rocket to try and break the giant crystal down to size.
As time worn on the three of them were able to whittle down its crystals enough that it’s remaining ones finally broke and Garnet finally went down.
“Finally that thing went down-” However the moment Axton said that is when the body starting cracking and split into two more crystalisk spawned from its body, though smaller than the one they just finished fighting but still bigger than a normal one. One of them had red crystals while the other had blue crystals. “God Dammit.”
“You just had to say that, did you?”
“How was I supposed to know the thing did that anyway? Ok I think the red one has fire, cause it reminds me of the magma crystalisk, but the other one I don’t know what it could…” right before he could continue, the Commando got hit by the blue one and fell to the ground hard. “SH*T, THATS F*CKING COLD!!”
“ICY HOT!!”
“N-N-NO SH*T!” Axton commented as he was slow to get up and get in cover as more cryo lasers was shot towards him and drained his shields.
“Oh what the hell…” Maya just groaned, before switching to the Hellfire. First, shooting Axton (for him to stop being a wuss and to thaw any part of him that felt cold), before focusing her fire on the one her ECHO labeled as Sapphire. As for the other, which was named Ruby, she channeled her phase lock to suspend it in the air so she could focus on killing Sapphire first.
“Thanks for that.” Axton just shrugged off the pain and got back into the fight, swapping back to the Swordsplosion and helping Maya take down Sapphire. Krieg himself joined in, firing more rounds from his Carnage shotgun and even throwing the Buzzaxe at the Crystalisk for added measure.
“WHY. DO. THEY. HAVE. TO. BE. SO. BULKY!?” Axton shouted in between each shotgun round that was fired. Once he saw that the crystals were about to be destroyed on Sapphire, he quickly swapped over to see Ruby just drop out of the phaselock and started shooting at that one in turn. The shots causing the crystals to chip away and wear down. “I’ll focus on this one, you guys finish up on-” He then heard the crystals shatter and the death sound of a crystalisk. “Nevermind, we focus on this one anyway.”
It wasn’t until a few moments after he said those words that the last crystalisk finally exploded. Leaving nothing behind but a collection of crystals and rocks. Though, it was within the pile that something was glowing. And Krieg wasted no time diving in to grab what was there.
“DIBS!!”
“Well, four down I guess,” Maya said when she realized that what Krieg was holding onto was the vault key piece that they needed.
“Heh, no kidding.” Axton said as he landed next to Maya. “Here’s hoping The others have a bit of an easier… now that I think about I hope Roland and Lilith are going to be ok when they get back considering some of the shenanigans Brick and Salvador might get into.”
“You and me both.” The siren replied back as they went back to where Ember and Spike were waiting for them.