[center][b][h3]Zer0[/h3][/b]
[b]Level 3:[/b] 6/30
[b]Location[/b] Scrapyard – End
[b]Word Count: 1,286[/b][/center]
[hr]
Zer0 watched with satisfaction as his bullets pierced through the mech.  That satisfaction quickly turned into irritation as the bullets apparently didn't strike the weakpoint because the damn thing just kept going.  He would've made a snarky comment at the one who had given out the intel for not updating it, but it wasn't worth the effort.  He still had a badass to kill, after all.

But before he could open fire again, he saw that his bullets had ripped into his new friend / fellow Vault Hunter, who was now struggling as the tank's turret had plowed into him. Disappointment at himself and the Courier welled up within him as he started running forward as the tank flew up into the sky with a solid rocket jump. With a simple push of his limbs, Zer0 sent himself over the moat while the others continued the attack. They would do fine, he decided, because that jump was a last ditch effort if Zer0 had ever seen one.

Even Jack had had one, right before Zer0 and his friends had kicked the fucking face in of the Destroyer and Lilith had melted the bastard like the skag-sucker that he was. Even now Zer0 could only wish for the most painful of deaths for that maniac.  Worse than any of the psychos on Pandora, worse than even the failures of the Badass Arena of Badassitude.  He had been a plague on the galaxy, abusing his own kin for gain, and everwhere was better with him gone.  Zer0 just hoped that he stayed dead.  The only one he knew of who had tried to bring the deadman back, Professor Nakyama, had died when he'd fell down his holo-stairs like the pathetic little man that he had been.  Destroying his samples of DNA should have been enough, but with this Galeem...Zer0 hoped that he didn't take the dead, too.

Zer0 stealthed as Death himself launched onto the offensive.  He landed running, unstealthing moments later, before hearing more than seeing the demise of the tank bot while the engineer and his turret went down like a grubby Bullymong popped in the head. Unfortunately, the Courier wasn't much better off at this point. B0re was a highly useful skill, but Zer0 was used to allies who didn't get behind an enemy when there was a sniper who's bullets penetrated everything on the other side.  He was also used to Maya and her ability to just shoot them back to full health whenever she felt like it, or using her Siren abilities to just instantly revive them from the brink of death. Sure they could all pick each other back up, but she could do it immediately and at a distance.

He really missed his team.  They worked so well together. Idly he wondered where they might be.  If they would be found in this world as a puppet like everyone else had been so far. The thought was a little disheartening and a little exciting, if he was being honest. That would be a real challenge, fighting his fellow Vault Hunters. The badasses of all badasses.

He stepped up towards the Courier, who had made a mad dash to grab the spirit left from Bastion while Zer0 had still been in the air.  A shake of his head, and Zer0 crouched beside his comrade. So many of their rather large team had gotten injured, he couldn't imagine that it had to do with the size of the team.  They didn't work together like how he and the Courier had in the canyon.  Zer0 didn't even mind that he didn't know the name of the drifter.  A little mystery was healthy, something that he knew tenfold more than anyone else.

Blazermate had done the brunt of the stabilizing of his friend, consuming the spirit of the Engineer before continue her work to heal the Courier back to full health. With a nod towards the robot, he held out a hand for the Courier to take.

[i][b]“I apologise.
Miscalculation, but you
Should learn how to dodge.”[/b][/i]

The apology wasn't the greatest, but Zer0 also wasn't the only one at fault in this kind of situation.  He'd just need to keep better track of his new allies so that they didn't get in the way of his bullets. A simple enough personal challenge for him to beat.

Pulling the Courier to his feet once Blazermate was done with her administrations, regardless of if the man had accepted his hand, Zer0 continued speaking.

[i][b]“Badass you may be
But even badasses can
Fall victim to death.”[/b][/i]

With that said, he went to collect one of the souls (the Biri Spirit) from the moat now that Bowser had decided to blow them up. Might as well take advantage of the situation, if no one else was going to.  Holding the random soul in his hand for a moment before he crushed it to collect its loot, Zer0 considered what it would give him.  Maybe he'd get lucky and get a better sniper, though b0re really made even the worst of snipers more then capable of destroying even the Bunker.

Whatever the weapon was going to turn out to be, however, it would be useful.  If not for him, then maybe for an ally.  And hell, maybe duping worked in this world, too.  He'd need to ask Michael if he would be willing to test that out with his big ass sniper.  Zer0 could feel his fingers itching to get his hands on that thing. He crushed the soul, a brief thought of what that meant for the souls themselves before he decided that he could think about those thoughts later.

Glancing up at the castle, he was reminded of the time that they had stormed the deserts to take on Captain Scarlet. Her mighty sandskid was, arguably, almost like a fortress.  Add in that Hyperious the Invincible had taken refuge in a giant rig...

Would there be a Hyperious hiding within?  A new target, a new Raid Boss? He couldn't help but feel that the bright light falling was a signal of a real challenge waiting for him.  He'd find it one way or another, defeat whatever beast the orb of light had summoned for them, and collect the loot that it dropped.

Or he wasn't a Vault Hunter.  Falling back into step beside the Courier, Zer0 tried to track where the light landed.  He'd remember where it landed if he could make out any of its surroundings, and he'd make sure he came across it eventually.

[i][b]“Follow the light, de-
feat the raid boss that follows
Burn it all to dust.”[/b][/i]

He spoke softly, likely softly enough that only those closest to him would hear, but his voice carried a hint of emotion to it for the first time since they had all awoken.  It was a flavoring of anger, perhaps, or maybe excitement.  No one but him would know for sure, but each thought of what he was feeling was about as correct as the rest.

This was his obsession.  He flourished in violence and challenges, and having something as powerful as a Raid Boss to look forward to, for that was what he assumed it to be, was like giving an alcoholic the most expensive bottle of liquor on the planet.

And the fact that this Galeem was not unlike one of the Eridian weapons like the Warrior had been?  That only added more to the fire burning within him.  The greatest challenge of all just sat there in the sky, waiting for him.

Waiting for him to destroy it.

[i][b]“A million stars
A bright light turns red with blood
As the light is snuffed.”[/b][/i]