19 Playdate!

The next morning after breakfast, Kane and the others, minus Tannis, all gathered together to head into town. Luna wanted to see everyone, and Maya wanted to see if Pandora was anything like the rumors' said it was.

She was in for a rude awakening, as Pandora was so much worse! Radar was also coming in one of the Meat Suits, which would be kind of interesting, as this would be the first time that he/she hadn't gone there in a robot body. Tannis would of course be staying to play with her new toy, which wasn't really a surprise to anyone.

It wasn't long before everyone was gliding through the air towards New Haven. Luna was still too small and weak to do it on her own, so she was strapped onto Kane's back.

There were quite a few occasions over the last few months where they got to glide on the planets they visited, and it was there that Maya got to learn, and where Luna had tried and failed numerous times, to the point Kane didn't even bother to listen to her begging and pleading to go by herself.

To be fair, Kane didn't think there was a 7 year old kid that could glide, so it wasn't as big of a deal as she was making it out to be.

From up in the sky, Maya got a good look at the state of most of the planet, and it was plain to see that she was not impressed with what she saw, and that wasn't even the best part.

"Just wait until you meet the locals!" Kane said over his mic, the wind being too loud to hear normal speech. If Kane thought it was fun to be here, this planet was going to be the death of her.

Maya had learned more than she ever thought she could from Kane over this last year, and it was honestly a little disheartening.

She thought she was special for being a Siren, she wasn't. She thought she was good with a gun, she wasn't. She thought she could beat anyone in a straight up fight, she couldn't.

Kane had beaten her daily for months in any style of fighting she wanted, which had been a serious wake up call.

Her powers were a joke in comparison to his, as despite Phaselocking him, he would disappear right before her eyes, then she would feel pain. That was how things usually went between them. One second she would think she had he upper hand, then feel a burning pain somewhere that would put her down for the count.

It wasn't all bad though. Kane had taught her a few different fighting styles, how to counter others, gave her a new shield and ECHO device, and taught her a bit about her powers. She couldn't absorb Eridium or anything like that, but Kane had theories as to why, but nothing was set in stone just yet.

Kane had taught her to use her powers as often as possible, and even explained a bit about the Skill Tree's and possible paths she could take her powers.

The way his mind thought of the different ways a Siren could use their powers was a little frightening to be honest, and if she was being honest with herself, Maya was kind of terrified of Kane.

He was bordering on the line of sane and psychotic, but she wasn't sure where the tipping point was. Kane had a cold persona that made one believe he would do anything to see the world burn, and that's the impression Maya got from hanging around him, but that wasn't really true.

He smiled, he laughed, he liked to play around, and he could cook. Having seen Kane interact with Luna and Radar, Maya was sure that he was more human than he let on, he just had extreme trust issues. And he liked killing people.

When they got to New Haven, Kane was relieved to not see a certain scarred Lady waiting for him. It had been over a year since he last saw Helena Pierce, and if he could keep it that way, all the better.

Walking down the street, Kane recognized a few people standing around the place, but there was no one that really stood out to him.

It wasn't long before he, Luna, Radar, and Maya were walking through the door to Marcus' shop, but he had scarcely crossed the threshold when alarms started going off in his head, prompting him to teleport further inside the room, narrowly missing the meaty fist that hit nothing but air where he was standing previously.

"God damn it, Brick!! What's your problem?!!" Kane asked, already sighing at the sight of the behemoth glaring at him.

"You left me! Is that anyway to treat your bestfriend?!!" Brick shouted, dashing towards Kane before swinging at him, but Kane was always gone a second before the fist was about to connect.

"I got you a present, Brick!" Kane said, halting the Berserker mid-swing. "What is it?!" Brick asked excitedly, his anger from before completely gone now.

"That was fast." Mordy commented from the side, looking kind of bored, but he still gave Kane and Luna a wave, then looked back and forth between Radar and Maya. "Shut up, Mordy!!" Brick said, not taking his eyes off Kane as he rubbed his hands expectantly.

Hoping to stop the potential calamity that was Brick, Kane brought out a large tray of deserts, enough to feed over a dozen people, so he hoped it should be enough to satisfy Brick at least.

"AWESOME!!" Brick shouted, grabbing the tray with his left hand, while his right hand was already stuffing a piece of chocolate cake into his mouth.

"Hey, Mordy!" Kane said, walking over as he extended a case of beers, much to Mordy's joy. A shrill cry echoed out over the shop, causing Kane to look over towards where it came from, only to see Bloodwing flapping her wings.

"As if I forgot about you!" Kane said, waving a massive bloody steak into the air, which was promptly snatched by said bird.

"How many times have I told you not to bring that thing into my shop?!!" Marcus yelled out from the counter, his angry question directed at Mordeccai.

"I don't know... 23 times, tops!" Mordy answered, getting a sigh from shop owner. "You're paying for any damages it causes!" Marcus yelled, though this time he was looking pointedly at Kane.

"Why do I have to pay for it?!" Kane asked, wondering if Marcus had finally went senile. "That bird lover is too broke, and I can't punish the bird..." Marcus said, shooting a side glance at Bloodwing, who in turn stopped eating the steak to stare at Marcus, as if the two of them were having a staring contest.

"Creepy little bird!" Marcus added before visibly shuddering, then turned his attention back to Kane. "Besides! They're your friends! The only reason they're here is because of you!!"

Kane knew Marcus was right, but he still wasn't too thrilled about possibly having to pay for a damage bill if Brick, Mordy, and Bloodwing destroyed the shop, but it was chump change compared to the wealth he had, so Kane didn't really bother too much about it.

"Whatever! So what do you have for me?" Kane said, this time he was the one rubbing his hands together expectantly. In response to his question, Marcus handed Kane a slip of paper with a bunch of numbers, but Kane only really cared about the number at the bottom of the page. It was a big fucking number.

"How much Eridium is this?" Kane asked, wondering if Marcus was trying to screw with him. "A storehouse full!!" Marcus said, all smiles. "Hmmm... How has the mining been going?" Kane asked, wondering if that was really enough Eridium for being gone a whole year.

After all, Marcus had gotten over a ton of the stuff in just a few weeks, if even, though Kane failed to realized that most of that had been purchased by Marcus, then resold it back to him at a higher price.

"It was going well at the start, but you were right about Hyperion. After Atlas abandoned the planet, Hyperion has been setting up shop all over! They're not allowing any further expansion of Eridium mines that don't belong to them!" Marcus explained, making Kane frown.

'I wonder how my own mines are doing?' Kane thought darkly, then was stumped for a second as he remembered something.

"Aren't you a Hyperion investor? Can't you just use that to expand your mining?" Kane asked, causing Marcus to sigh.

"No... I had a good thing going for a few months, but then some son-of-a-bitch froze all stocks across the board! I was paid out for my share at top value, without a say in it!! It wasn't just me either, it happened to thousands of people, but the ones who tried to complain, some how ended up disappearing. I still made a few million, but I'm outraged! I'll kill the little bastard!!" Marcus shouted, making a strangling motion with his hands.

Kane wasn't sure if this was the doing of multiple high ranking members of Hyperion, or the work of Jack. In the game, Jack forced all of the board members of the corporation to sign over their shares of the company to him, but Kane wasn't sure if he had the power to do that right now.

He should still be just a lowly little programmer without his robot army, so the fact that he was already making a move was a little unsettling. I mean this could very well be how it happened in the game, but it just went to show that Jack didn't really let anything stop him from getting to the top, and Kane wondered if it was worth it to let him become CEO of Hyperion before he killed him.

"I see... well, whoever it is, we'll be sure to let them die screaming!" Kane said, getting a nod of agreement from Marcus, and of course, Brick.

"So how do you want your payment? Gold, diamonds, cash? All three? It's up to you?" Kane asked, this time causing Marcus to rub his hands together, giving the people watching them the impression that they were both supervillains.

"Give me a moment!!" Marcus said, then began crunching some numbers. What followed was Kane giving Marcus half the payment in gold, a quarter in diamonds, and a quarter in cash. Marcus had deals involving all sorts of things, and he no doubt would be making more off the gold than he would if it was given to him in all cash.

Of course, aside from the gold, money and diamonds, Kane unloaded a warehouse full of alcohol in a private bunker below Marcus' shop. It was so reinforced, Kane figured it could survive a fucking nuke without issue.

Done with that, Marcus gave Kane the location and key to the storage house, and Kane said he would be back in a few minutes. That's all it was, just a few minutes that he was gone to load up all the Eridium, and when he got back, there were three sets of eyes staring daggers into his skull.

"What?!" Kane asked, looking at Brick, Marcus and Mordy.

"You have a secret fortress with a pool?!!" ""And a bar?!!" Brick said, followed by Marcus and Mordy talking at the same time about his bar.

Looking over to the only three people who could have known, Kane saw Maya not looking back at him, while Luna looked to the side with her hands behind her back, and Radar had a smug smile on his face.

"If it helps, sir, I haven't told anyone your secrets!" Radar oh so helpfully commented, getting an elbow from Maya in response.

"This is why!! This is why I can't have nice things!!" Kane shouted at Maya, who at least had the decency to look abashed. "Mine was an accident!" Luna commented, though she shut up when she saw the look in Kane's eyes.

"Yes I have a base with a pool in it, and yes it has a bar, but no you may not come visit!" Kane said, looking to the three individuals who had yet to see his home.

"OH COME ON, KANE!! WE WON'T TELL ANYONE!!" Brick said, sounding like a child begging his father for piece of candy, and promising not to tell his mother. The begging lasted for about 10 minutes, at which point Kane finally gave in, though it was mostly to keep Brick from hunting him down.

Apparently now that he knew about it, he wasn't going to stop until he found it. Kane was pretty sure he didn't have anything to worry about, but there was still that small chance that Brick could find it, especially with Mordy's help, and he didn't want to risk something like that.

"Hey, where's Lilith and Roland? Didn't they want to come see us?" Luna asked, figuring if they were going to bring Brick and the other two to Paradise, they may as well grab Roland and Lilith.

"They went to the moon for a little vacation. They should be back in a few weeks." Mordy answered, perking Kane's interest. If they were on the moon, the events of the pre-sequel were underway, and he had a few things he wanted to do with it.

Done with his dealings in New Haven, Kane brought everyone back to Paradise, where he left them all with their jaws hanging to the ground.

Kane gave them all a grand tour of the place, and when they got to the bar, Mordy and Marcus looked as though they had found the room they wished to die in, though Marcus was a bit torn between it and Kane's armory.

That had been a magical sight for all of them, even Maya and Brick. A good portion of the explosives were thrown into a bin, and Brick claimed that for himself, not bothering to ask Kane, who didn't really care about some sticks of dynamite so long as they didn't go off inside the base.

When they got to the pool, Brick took a run and jumped into the air, trying to do a cannonball, but he somehow landed on a couch to the side of the room. Kane had acted fast, teleporting over to him and moving him without Brick being able to stop it.

"Brick, you're fully clothed with your boots on, covered in dirt, blood, and organs. There is no way in hell you're getting in my pool like that!" Kane said, grumbling at the audacity of some people.

"Change rooms and showers are over there!" Kane said, pointing to a room only a few feet away from him, then tossed a large assortment of swim trunks and tee-shirts at their feet. One of them was bound to fit these guys, so he left it at that.

15 minutes later, everyone was splashing about in the pool. Brick was pretending to drown Mordy, who by the looks of it was actually getting drowned, Maya was swimming laps, Luna was kicking back and forth on her little ducky tube, and Kane and Marcus were sitting in the hot tub relaxing. As for Radar, she didn't like swimming, not one bit. Said something about them messing with her circuits.

It wasn't until a little over an hour later that they all got out of the pool. Brick and the others were surprised to find their clothes were all cleaned and pressed, while some things were straight up brand new compared to what they had before.

After that, they all went to the bar, where Luna and Brick at ice-cream floats, while the others all had different drinks. Mordy had a Budweiser, while Marcus and Kane had Bourbon on the rocks. Maya had a fruity drink that she had made herself, and Kane was sure it didn't have a name, so he left it at that.

"Can I stay here?!!" Brick pleaded, making Kane groan. He figured this was coming, but he didn't want anyone else to stay here, at least not yet.

He wasn't planning on sticking around on Pandora for any amount of time, and he had no grand illusions about what would happen if he left these guys here.

Brick would probably blow the place up or invite a bunch of people to it so he could kill them, while Mordeccai would invite Roland and Lilith, or Moxxi, which was marginally worse, and soon this would become a base for the people of Pandora, something Kane wasn't going to let happen, even if he had to become the villain and kill off the resistance so they couldn't come here.

Marcus would use it as a hideout, and would no doubt rob him blind one day, or something in that area. No, he really didn't want to let that happen.

"Brick... I'm going to say this once, and I hope you don't take it the wrong way. Not a chance in hell!!" Kane said, bumming Brick out.

"But, I'll bring you to visit every time I'm here, and I'll even give you your own room!" Kane added, immediately brightening up the big behemoth.

""ME TOO"" Marcus and Mordeccai shouted at the same time, making Kane sigh for what felt like the thousandth time today. In the end, Kane gave them all one of the spare rooms, and even helped them all get a new wardrobe, though it came at a bit of a cost.

That night, Kane led Maya to his room, then locked the door. He had suffered a lot today because of her, and now he was going to get her back for it. Though she didn't seem too against the idea at least.

The fun couldn't last too much longer, and Kane knew that. He needed to make sure he was on Helios sooner than expected.

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(A.N. Here's a little info dump on the weapons from Borderlands, and my opinions on the manufacturers.)

Atlas - Above average damage and magazine capacity.

Marcus: "Buy an Atlas and you too can see what it feels like to hold the power of the gods in your hands."

Marcus: "Atlas spares no expense in making guns that excel in every area."

(A.N. Great Assault rifles, in Borderlands 1!)

Dahl - High recoil reduction, at the cost of accuracy.

Marcus: "Dahl's guns absorb a lot of recoil, allowing you to stay accurate throughout the fight!

Marcus: "Dahl make guns for professional Mercs. They're heavy, accurate, and effective... assuming you're strong enough to hold one."

(A.N. Most Dhal weapons are burst fire, which depending on your preference could go for any weapon. I don't like them for snipers, as they drain your ammo way too fast, but that is just me.)

Eridian - Alien weaponry, deals generally high damage with unlimited ammunition but often suffers from slow recharge.

(A.N. Not really an Eridian gun guy myself, but I have found some that were epic! Saved my ass in a pinch with the unlimited ammo feature! The slow recharge definitely kills it's greatness though.)

Hyperion - Very high recoil reduction and accuracy.

Marcus: "Hyperion asks, "What good is a gun that doesn't shoot where you point?" Get a gun that's as accurate as you are!"

Marcus: "Enemies only die if you hit em'. So buy Hyperion today."

(A.N. Honestly, the greatest weapon they make is the shotgun in all of the games, save for maybe in the first Borderlands. The more you shoot, the more accurate the gun is, but the opposite is true as well, which just cements it's greatness for shotguns. If you find a Hyperion shotgun with high fire rate, you're set, even if it has a bit lower damage than a different shotgun.

Jakobs - Never manufactures elemental weapons. Very high damage, but with lower fire rate and recoil reduction.

Marcus: "If it took more than one shot, you weren't using a Jakobs!"

Marcus: "Jakobs guns do one thing really well, power!... and honestly, what else do you need?"

(A.N. Greatest pistol manufacturer there is, no joke! Also best snipers! They do a not bad shotgun, but Hyperion still outshines them, in my opinion of course. Not bad Assault rifle either, but they never make anything with burst fire or automatic. Although, firing as fast as you can pull the trigger is pretty damn good, so go Jakobs!)

Maliwan - Only manufactures elemental weapons, which have much higher tech regeneration rates. Also benefits from marginal increases to accuracy and reload speed.

Marcus: "Is shooting bullets just not cool enough for you? Get a Maliwan and light some people on fire!"

Marcus: "Maliwan guns shoot more lightning than the next leading competitor."

(A.N. Really great for SMG, and maybe a sniper, depending on the element and fire rate.)

S&S Munitions - Very high magazine capacity. Usually manufactures elemental weapons.

Marcus: "The S&S philosophy is: Tech plus Ammo Capacity equals I WIN!"

Marcus: "If you find that your gun just doesn't hold enough bullets, then S&S has the solution! More bullets! All S&S guns have extended magazines."

(A.N. SMG and Assault Rifle are really the only ones I can really think of where I've seen this manufacturer excel at, but if you think different, good for you!)

Tediore - Extremely fast reload speed, with a slight compromise on damage and accuracy.

Marcus: "Cheap, reliable, lightweight and incredibly fast reload speeds. Tediore makes an easy to use gun."

Marcus: "If you're on a budget, Tediore is always the way to go!"

(A.N. Not gonna lie, for being considered the worst brand by the other corporations, I love a good Tediore. Reload speed usually trumps most other brands, and in the later games you can use them as grenades. Find one with high damage, and you're probably set. Great for SMG, and that's about all I use them for, or have really seen them for.)

Torgue - High damage and slightly higher fire rate, but suffers from much lower accuracy and recoil reduction.

Marcus: "400 percent more awesome! Also, Torgue doesn't make their guns out of freakin' wood!"

Marcus: "Torgue combines good damage, high firerate, and recoil reduction into one lethal weapon."

(A.N. The bullet speed for most Torgue weapons is pretty slow, but the damage is ridiculous. Their range for shotguns sucks, but if you hit something with them, they're probably gonna die. Reload speed varies, but not super terrible. I like them for Assault rifle, but again, that's just my opinion.)

Vladof - Very high fire rate, good recoil reduction, but suffers from much lower accuracy.

Marcus: "Vladof: you don't need to be a better shot, you just need to shoot more bullets!"

Marcus: "Wanna shoot a lot of bullets really fast? Vladof has your needs covered!"

(A.N. Great for snipers! Love the fire rate, and they usually have pretty high magazines! Damage is usually a bit lower than say, a Jakobs at the same level, but the firing speed makes up for that. Probably my go to for Assault rifles, aside from Atlas or S&S.)