Borderlands: Apex Predator

Maxwell's visor flickered as he activated Echo Vision, quickly mapping all enemies in red and competitors in yellow. A circular minimap of the arena scanned into place, settling in the top-left corner of his display.

"It's like a game, handy, though it seems to have a range limit." Maxwell focused his attention on the northern section, where the cells had opened. A total of thirty-five enemies.

Maxwell pulled EVA from his back, a weapon with fragmenting projectiles, perfect for dealing with multiple foes in a confined space.

A heavy scent of blood began to emanate from Maxwell, causing the nearby competitors to falter. His posture, with a nearly predatory focus on his prey, made the others instinctively step back. A small circle of space formed around him, nervous glances shared among those closest.

"Oh, don't be shy, my loves! He doesn't bite... well, not too hard~" Moxxi teased the remaining competitors. She was always on the lookout for a champion, and cowards had no place in her world.

It seemed to work. Some competitors gritted their teeth and advanced, even though being close to Maxwell made their bladders threaten to betray them.

Maxwell scoffed, wasting no time. He activated his jump kit, the boosters on his back propelling him forward.

He ran along the crumbling walls of the buildings, leaping from one to the other as the clash below him began between the two factions.

As the chaos unfolded, Moxxi watched from her tower, narrowing her eyes with growing interest. "Oh, he's got special toys, huh? But he doesn't seem to belong to any corporation around here. Could he be from another galaxy?"

Maxwell let himself drop near a group of enemies, using the remaining momentum to slide across the ground.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

EVA spat lead, tearing and mutilating the bodies of the foes in his path.

"Six kills." Not letting his momentum fade, Maxwell activated his jump kit again, launching himself back onto the walls, ready for the next set of targets.

His clothes rippled in the wind, and from the corner of his eye, he spotted suspicious movement. His eyes darted to see a Psycho tossing a grenade his way.

"The audacity of this idiot!" Maxwell twisted mid-air, the grenade grazing past him. As he completed his spin, he pulled out his Kraber and fired before the grenade could explode behind him.

*BAANG* *BOOM*

Cockling the Kraber, Maxwell used the explosion's force to propel himself in another direction. His shield had protected him from the shrapnel.

"Well… crap." Unfortunately, his bad luck had him landing right in front of a group of armed Psychos.

"I'LL WEAR YOUR SKIN AS PAJAMAS!!!"

Maxwell's hand moved swiftly to his waist.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

[Trigger Discipline lv.24>25]

+9[C]

"Seven…" Maxwell murmured before vanishing, causing some in the crowd to gasp in surprise.

Reappearing behind the group, Maxwell kicked up dirt, sending dust into one of the Psycho's faces before using his Grappler to yank the furthest one toward him.

He wrapped the cord around the Psycho's neck, who thrashed desperately for his life, but eventually succumbed to lack of air.

+6[C]

"Eight…"

"Oh~" Moxxi's thighs squeezed together at the sight. "The boy knows how to handle ropes. I wonder if he's as good with those toys outside the arena?"

The audience roared with laughter and cheers, well accustomed to the queen of the Underdome's teasing innuendos.

+2[C]

"Nine…" Maxwell counted as he snapped the neck of the last one, twisting it 180 degrees as the Psycho was still trying to clear the dirt from his eyes. Maxwell then turned his gaze to the tower, a muffled chuckle coming from his helmet.

"Damn, that woman's such a flirt." He exhaled deeply, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Looks like the letter worked… I almost lost a great engineer."

Maxwell quickly refocused when a red dot appeared behind him. He stabbed backward just in time, skewering a sneaky Midget Psycho who had tried a surprise attack.

"Ten… Better save the flirting for later. Regeneration left my body less prepared than usual, I can't afford to let my guard down."

Although he had reached the required number of kills to advance to the next arena, Maxwell still had a mission from the system. But he could feel his body slowing down, making the task of avoiding injury even more challenging—and more thrilling.

Cleaning his Data Knife, Maxwell jumped to a nearby building, leaving a trail of flames in his wake.

The other competitors, unlike Maxwell, were struggling to deal with the Psychos and bandits. The most terrifying thing about Psychos wasn't just their madness—it was their visceral ferocity that even the wildest beasts lacked.

Maxwell pondered for a moment that the rise of Psychos on Pandora might be due to long exposure to prisoners mining near the Vault, which caused such frenzy and obsession with the Eridian treasure.

It was just a fleeting thought as he decided to head for the highest point in the arena, considering that using his Kraber from a distance would be the best option while keeping his kill count steady.

With his earlier performance, no one dared think Maxwell was being a coward. In fact, his distance caused some relief in the Underdome, for both competitors and bandits. Although the Kraber's roar made it clear Maxwell had no intention of stopping his one-sided massacre.

Within minutes, the first wave was over, but the subsequent waves took longer due to the deaths of some competitors. One thing worth noting was that once inside the arena, there were only two ways out: survive all five waves or have your corpse carried out.

Maxwell, like the crowd, was growing bored with the monotony. Moxxi noticed and didn't waste time. She signaled one of the staff below, who understood and ran to open a single cell.

Roars and guttural growls echoed from afar, with the thick iron bars trembling under the weight of the beast imprisoned within.

The iron bars began to rise slowly, creaking as if resisting the sheer force of the creature inside. Deep, guttural growls reverberated through the arena as the massive shadow of a Psycho emerged from the cell.

The spectators, who had been laughing and cheering, fell into a tense silence.

"Holy hell, a Badass…" Maxwell muttered, not in fear but with a strange sense of nostalgia as he watched the Psycho.

He was much larger than the common Psychos, with sickly pale skin. His right arm was disproportionately massive, while the left, shriveled and atrophied, hung limply at his side. It would have been a comical sight if he weren't wielding a buzz-axe big enough to cleave a man in two with a single swing.

Maxwell's emotions settled as the novelty wore off. He aimed the scope at the Badass's forehead, his Kraber glowing faintly in gold.

Moxxi noticed his movements and, being well-versed in weapons, knew the Badass wouldn't survive the shot. Not wanting the fight to end prematurely, an idea popped into her head.

"I've got an offer for you, darlings!" Moxxi announced with a mischievous smile. "I promise a special reward to whoever defeats the Badass Psycho without using firearms."

Their eyes locked for a moment. Maxwell knew she wanted to entertain the crowd more than she wanted to test his offensive capabilities.

"Woman…" Maxwell sighed, the offer too tempting to simply finish the Badass with a headshot.

Slowly lowering the Kraber, he slung it over his back.

The Badass Psycho let out a frenzied roar, swinging his massive axe toward Maxwell. The pilot activated his Stim, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline flood his veins, heightening his speed and reflexes.

The axe sliced through the air, but Maxwell was already gone. Using the jump kit, he launched himself to the side, twisting mid-air and landing gracefully behind the Psycho.

Maxwell extended his hand and activated the Grappler, the cord latching onto the Badass's oversized arm. He pulled with all his strength, trying to unbalance the beast.

The Psycho roared in anger and, with a brutal show of force, yanked the cord back, dragging Maxwell along with it. Unable to resist, Maxwell was flung toward the monster. Instinctively, he retracted the cord to avoid being crushed, but the momentum hurled him through the air, out of control.

As he sailed through the air, Maxwell saw the Badass Psycho raise his axe and, with a vicious swing, hurl it toward him. Unable to dodge, Maxwell knew his shield wouldn't withstand the hit.

In a split-second decision, Maxwell fired his Grappler, aiming at one of the nearby competitors. The hook latched around the man's waist, and with a fierce pull, the competitor was dragged directly in front of Maxwell.

"NO, NO, WAIT—!" the man screamed in panic, trying to break free. But it was too late.

*CRACK* *SPLASH*

The impact was brutal, silencing his scream in an instant.

Maxwell dropped the competitor's split body, deciding to end the fight quickly—his chances of getting injured or worse, killed, were too high.

Maxwell raised his Data Knife and, taking advantage of the remaining Stim, charged forward. The Badass Psycho roared, lifting his massive arm to crush him in one blow. But just as the strike came down, Maxwell vanished, activating his Cloak at the last second, leaving the monster confused.

Maxwell reappeared near the Psycho's leg, and with strikes so fast that only a golden blur could be seen.

One, two, three, four, five...

A sequence of stabs was delivered mercilessly, each strike slicing through flesh and tendons. Starting from the knee and working upward to the torso, until Maxwell plunged the Data Knife into the neck, pulling the blade with a final cut.

A spray of blood erupted, creating a sinister mist in the air. The giant fell to its knees, low painful grunts escaping its mouth, still fighting to stay alive, unable to accept its impending death.

*BAAM*

+33[C]

"..."

The Badass Psycho finally collapsed forward, his body hitting the ground with a heavy thud, and with that, the night in the Underdome came to an end.

The crowd was silent for a moment, and then erupted in deafening applause, roaring with excitement at the brutal spectacle.

Maxwell stepped back, wiping the blood from his knife with a swift motion.

"L-ladies and gentlemen," recovering from her stupor, Moxxi's sultry voice echoed through the speakers. "What a splendid finale to our night!"

The remaining competitors began to be escorted out, and Maxwell, now free from the spotlight, followed the flow. As he walked, he could still feel the eyes of the crowd on him, but there was something else waiting for him.

Upon leaving the arena, he found Moxxi, leaning against one of the corridor columns, a provocative smile on her lips.

"You surprised me, kid," she said, walking away with her hips swaying seductively. "Follow me. We have a few things to discuss."

"Can't I clean up first?" Maxwell muttered to himself but still followed behind.