borderlands 3

THIS IS NOT MINE

'Is this... for real?'

I am currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of my room, as when I had tried to stand up moments ago, I was jump-scared ruthlessly.

I tilt my head slightly as I gaze at a blue floating screen in front of me, the first word at the top of the screen glowing a bright golden color with small sparkles radiating from it.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have been selected via our monthly lottery system to be placed into another world!

"…"

"What?"

Every month, we pick ten lucky humans to be sent to another world! Some with fun abilities and overpower items, while some are just granted a new body to start fresh! And you, sir- your name is unimportant because it is going to be changed shortly- have won the JACKPOT!

"What?"

Every human who is unsatisfied with their life is entered into a world-wide lottery to see if they can change their fate, and you, soul number 29385880 (Of unsatisfied souls) have won the GRAND PRIZE of this month's lottery!

I stare at the screen with narrowed eyes and get up, ignoring the screen as I walk to the kitchen of my shitty apartment and get a glass of tap water.

Hello? Are you... ignoring this?

I rub my eyes slightly, 'ugh... is there a gas leak or something?'

You don't think this is real? Understandable! So, we have taken the time to grant you some proof of our legitimacy.

I raise an eyebrow at this.

Look in your glass of water!

I look down to see a crystal eight-sided dice made of some sort of black crystal with gold numbering.

"What the fuck?"

So, you believe us now?

"…"

"Sure." I sigh as I reach two fingers down into the glass and pull out the dice, then I take a simple drink of water.

If you do not wish to be transported to another world, you will simply forget about all of this... you have a day to decide

"No, No" I let out a small sigh and set down my glass on the table as I take a seat in one of the chairs, waving my hand towards the screen in a shoo-shoo manner. "Do the thing then, I am tired of this world."

Grand! Please present your dice!

I look down at the table where I had placed the dice and slowly pick it up, the screen morphing to show a small black diamond slot that I wordlessly insert the d8 into.

I blink once as nothing seems to happen, but when I re-open my eyes, I am in a dark void, surrounded by small galaxies that are slowly spinning around me.

A female voice makes itself known.

"As the grand prize winner, you get to pick the world you are being sent to, an item, and a skill/ability to help you on your way!"

"Now, what item to you wish to have? Keep in mind, it must be within reason for the world you are being sent to, thus nothing absolutely ridiculous for a world similar to your own."

"…" I briefly flinch at the sudden noise, but accept it as that wouldn't be the strangest thing that has happened to me today.

"Wouldn't it be better to decide the world first? That way I can have an item and skill that fits nicely with the world so I am not too much of an oddball?"

"Hm, sure, sounds nice! So, where do you wish to go?"

'Hm, let's compile a short list of tv shows, games, movies, and anime that I have seen or played...'

'Tv shows and movies elude me... so let's do games! Touhou? Mn... I know literally nothing about that world, I haven't even really played it so all I know is that Yukari can kill you with bullshit... so maybe not there... Borderlands? Hm...'

'Skyrim? Tempting... it is definitely tempting.'

'Spyro, Crash, and Ratchet and Clank are out, I'm not a furry. and I had the Hyperdimension Neptunia games on my steam account because of a sale and me swearing I was going to eventually play them, but I barely played even the first one... so that's out... shame, I never did get to play them, did I?'

I tap my chin.

'might as well move onto animes... My Hero Academia? No. Quirk law, All For One, and Bad Touch Man is a mega turn off. Dragon Ball? Pfft- it sounds cool, but when planet busting becomes a meager feat and power suction goat appears- which is a dumb fucking villain by the way-... I'm fucking out!... Roshi blew up the moon in dragon ball when his power level was like two-hundred! POWER SCALING IS TOTAL BULLSHIT! They should blow up the planet by simply powering up when their power levels are in the millions!'

'Toriko? I only saw up to like the end of the English dub... but the food tempts me so much... though, the bird-anteater-robot-plague-mask-monsters scared me as a child'

'…'

'putting it under a 'maybe'.'

'One piece? Naah I would probably live out the dream of punching a celestial dragon in the face... then get utterly fucked by overpowered admiral bullshit...'

'Jojo's? Mn... stando-powah is tempting... but four seasons take place over like one hundred and fifty years so that's a big 'no' unless I want to waste my ability or item on immortality... Fairytail? The time skip would give me a lot of time to myself... and I do sort of want to figure out why the hell Draco, Hydrus, and the Pheonix aren't important celestial spirit keys... but no, Immortal foes who can kill people by loving too hard and the damn EVERYTHING DRAGON SLAYER of Acnologia is a big no for me.'

'That time I got reincarnated as a slime? Fitting, but no...'

'Konosuba?'

'…'

'PFFAHAHAHAHHA!'

'One Punch Man? A cool world in theory, but probably poor in execution... a place where monsters literally show up everywhere is sort of bad... though having to work my way up through the ranks to S rank would be pretty cool... but Saitama... a gimmick character that can one-shot you regardless...'

'if I want waifus, I could always go to Dxd~! mn... fighting gods is a little eck though.'

'Pokemon or digimon? They could be swapped fairly easily, and seem cool, but no, I think I will pass on this one, there isn't really any way to empower humans in those worlds- besides those digimon transformations from season four and the end of three- and I really don't want to rely on my partner.'

I pause as I think back over my many choices. 'damn... I am such a weeb...'

I let out another sigh. 'I guess I can sate my lust for hoarding powerful mystical objects in this new life I am being granted... so it is either One Piece, Borderlands, or Skyrim... each have their own number of shinies, but compared to Skyrim, the One-Piece world just seems... bigger... and compared to both of those borderlands seems MUCH larger... considering, yknow, planetary travel n all.'

"I have made my decision!" I exclaim into the milky darkness of space.

The screen appears once more.

"GRAND! What location did you choose?"

"Borderlands."

"Wh- Really?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"Surely?"

"Yeh."

"…"

"Alright then~ I won't question your death wishes because that world is pretty FUCKED UP."

"It's all a part of my five-step world domination scheme."

"…"

"Are you being... like... serious?"

"Yep!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Well okay then~ what sort of items and abilities do you want?"

"Time stop..."

"…"

"Oh. I can see how and why you feel confident about going into borderlands... but isn't totally busted powers like that more of a... Touhou thing?"

"…"

"Or Jojo thing?"

"Mn."

"Fine then, I assume getting Timestop is your first step?"

"Part of it."

"The item is part two?"

"Yeh."

"Well, what sort of item do you want then? A kickass gun, a summonable loader bot friend, a pet dragon, a bag of holding to store all your sweet loots?"

"I want to be a male Siren."

"Wai wha?"

"I want elaborate black swirly tattoos across half of my body from the neck down that allow me drain all living things of their power."

"…"

"Yes, I am pulling a Tyreen, what of it?" I scoff. "But instead of her normal powers of enhancing herself, I want to be able to do that ANNND create items from the energy stolen.

"Alright... fine. Those two things are acceptable I suppose, considering the place you have subjected yourself to... but you don't get to choose when exactly you appear on pandora, save for the fact you will be appearing at some point in the many games."

"Fair nuff..." I shrug.

"Grit your teeth."

"Wait what do you- AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

I sit up with a cold sweat. 'what a strange drea-'

I realize that I am not in my normal apartment room, and instead in some sort of run-down wooden shack laying on a futon that seems to be made of leather stuffed with straw or some other sort of plant life, and I am wrapped up in a blanket made of torn cloth that has been sewn together into multiple layers and using a backpack as a pillow, a cold draft seeping in from the cracks in the wooden walls, from under the door, and a couple small holes in the ceiling that have been shoddily patched with nails and torn pieces of cloth or bandages.

"Oh." A squeaky pre-pubescent voice murmurs.

"Oooooh." I sigh, fully realizing that I have most likely been put in the body of a child.

'hn... I guess this is for the best... it said I was at some point in the borderlands game's timeline... so that is anywhere from one to three... and that is... a ten-year timeline? eleven? If I were to guess the maximum, I would say is twelve.'

'So, if I am ten now... and I'm at the very start of borderlands... I will be twenty-two by the time borderlands three comes around... but I think I am about twelve? Maybe fourteen? So I can be anywhere from twenty-six to literally just looking outside and seeing the moon crash into pandora.'

I quickly look down at my hands to reveal... I am wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

'Typical, I guess?'

I pull back the sleeve on my left hand revealing... nothing...

"…"

I pull back the sleeve on my right hand, now noticing black markings that proceed past my wrist on the back of my hand and let out a quiet snort as I see writhing black markings that curl and twist around my arm.

I pull my sleeve down and see that the black marking on the back of my hand seem to stop after about an inch or so past my wrist, except for the centermost one which goes up to my middle finger and curls around the base much like a ring.

'now, how do I activate my powers? Like is it a feeling or like do I have to try and focus-'

I watch as the black line glows purple and quickly trails its way under my sleeve.

"Huh... neat how do I use my time stop though..."

upon your first level up, you may stop time for 5 seconds...

A screen appears in front of me.

'what the actual hell is that?! Do I have the gamer system as well?!'

Negative, this the 'Borderlands Isekai' system, and its screens function like those in the games, allowing you to have a skill tree, Inventory, map, F.P.S. package, Etc~

'…'

"Skills?"

Three skill trees appear in front of me, appearing much like the third game's skill trees, going left to right, there is a green tab, 'Stand Strong', next, the blue tree and is simply named 'Artificer', and the final tree is the red one just named 'Chronos'.

So, the basics are: Green seemingly focuses on survivability, draining, and empowering myself with drained energy, blue for creating better and better items with my siren powers, and the final red tree Is related to time stop.

'sidenote: I should really think of a good name for myself...'

I let out a quiet sigh, watching the misty breath go past my lips, then crawl out of my bed and to my full height of about five feet, probably a bit under that however.

'it's sort of chilly...'

I tilt my head and start thinking about the numerous locations I could have landed in as I sit down beside my bed. 'hn... I could always be in the southern shelf... or any of the land near sanctuary... or literally on the opposite side of the planet...'

'you know... I really only played borderlands two and the main story for three... I am kind of fucked, aren't I?'

My vision trails over to the backpack I was using as a pillow, I quickly search through it revealing the whitest of white Jacobs pistols I have ever seen, one of the four shot ones from the third game which you got in the tutorial... I had it wrapped in cloth and the rest of the bag is filled with straw, so that explains how I was able to sleep on it, but otherwise, inside the bag is three packs of beef jerky, two bullets, a couple flasks of water, and finally an echo device.

The gun is loaded, so I have six shots in all.

Hidden under the pillow, is a knife that has been wrapped in loose bandages, probably to prevent myself from accidently cutting my neck and head on it as I slept, but loose enough so that I could swing the blade out and stab anyone who breaks into my little home.

Beside the knife, is a simple black sheath with a button clasp to keep the knife contained.

I lean my head back against the wall behind me and let out a small sigh, then get up and creep over to a boarded-up window, then peek out through a small gap near the bottom.

'Snow... but I sort of expected that with the draft and al- oh my god there's a masked bastard meandering towards my house with a buzzaxe.'

I grab my knife and simply cower next to the door on the opposite side of the hinges so I don't get fucking BASHED with it if it is kicked open.

'as for names? namey names... for my name...'

'I'm thinking...'

'sbeve.'

'ah yes, the mighty vault-hunter sbeve... and his adventure to slay the Calypso twins... or Jack... or the destroyer- taking care not to eat the destroyer considering how well it turned out for other people'

'but really, an actual name, please?'

'…'

'hn... David could work, but I-'

*CRASH*

My door is kicked open as the psycho walks into the room, only to trip and faceplant as I grab his shin with my SUCC hand and stab him in the knee with my stabby knife-wielding hand.

"MY SPLEEN TICKLES!"

I watch blankly as he thrashes around and red ooze starts running up my hand and into my tattoos, his flailing seem to be getting weaker as I climb onto his back and hold him down the best I can.

*Crack*

He freezes, skin and clothing turning a sickly grey and hardening as if he was made of stone... because it ismade of stone now... he also seems to have chunks of Eridium poking from his back and around the back of his leg where I grabbed him.

'holy shit... I just killed a man... and I feel... FUCKING GREAT! Like what the hell is this feeling?!'

I pause. 'this isn't normal... maybe I am just desensitized to their deaths at this point or maybe it is the positive reinforcement of the high I get afterwards?'

"…"

I attempt to slide the prone statue out of my home, but... it really isn't budging at all, so I had to settle for turning him slightly so I could at least close the door.

I look at my right hand and clench my fist. 'I... could get used to this feeling.'

In the distance I hear a train blare its horn.

'am I in-' I sharply inhale. 'ah damnit...'

I look out my door to reveal a BIG ASS SKELETON of some dragon demon thing.

'This... could actually be worse... huh... not all that bad, but kind of annoying that goliaths should be around... but with the ability to stop time for five seconds, I should be fiiine... just need to watch out for those pesky Joestars and I'll be good.'

I completely close my door and nod at the prone statue. "Now back to naming myself..."

I am silent for a couple of minutes.

"Hrm... what do you think of David, statue friend?"

He doesn't respond.

"I'm going to go with David..." I note with a small head tilt.

I look back to the giant skeleton. 'ah fuck it.'

I peek out of the little house, looking left and right... I quickly grab my gun and rush outside, towards the skeleton.

I place my hand on it.

"…"

"Damn. It's empty..." I pout. "I knew it wouldn't be that easy..."

I quickly return to my home and sit down, quickly scanning through my skill lists in depth.

"…"

And it is decided that I am going HEAVILY into the red tree first.

You have leveled up x1

'grand! I have now unlocked my first skill, and out of creation, ranged arm, and time stop... what ever will I choose?!'

I gaze out the window, the falling snow frozen in place throughout the misty air, a single drip from an icicle passing by the cracked window and pausing just in front of the crack, a dropped bullet frozen mid-air after I dropped it.

The bullet hits the floor with a *Clink*, and the water droplet slams into the window sill and splatters across it.

To the side, I see a small icon.

Timestop: Cooldown 60 Seconds

'that is still SO COOL'

I had leveled up again after I briefly wandered outside and stole energy from a larval varkid amidst a time stop... but I have instead decided to go into the 'Stand Strong' skilltree, the green one, instead of the 'Chronos' red tree.

I mean, sure, time stop is cool, however going into this tree early will definitely pay off in the long haul.

It makes me a little sad that I can't actually upgrade my time stop quite yet, buuuuut the perks the green tree gives me is superior to potentially even doubling my timestop.

There are three 'skills' at the very bottom of the 'stand strong' skill tree that I have begun investing into.

Regenerative body: 1/1

You gain more passive regen the more lives you have drained 

Current count: 28/100 

Current Regen: 0.01% every five seconds.

Heavy Blows: 0/5

Your melee attacks deal an additional 10% damage.

Strong Bones: 2/3

You have an additional 20% Hp

It's smart to go into the tree that will constantly be getting upgrades due to me killing things... being a vault hunter, there is going to be a wake of dead men wherever I go...

Plus, I could eventually use TFS perfect cell's line of 'You couldn't fathom how many dead men are behind me.'

I frown as I look up at the sky.

I still hadn't determined when exactly I am in the series... but it's at least before the pre-sequel or during borderlands two due to the fact that there's a giant 'H' up in the sky... does that place me after borderlands one? At least past or during the pre-sequel...

'Hrm...'

I sigh and shake my head. 'there are so many places I'd rather be than on pandora... it has- or had considering the first has been opened probably- like six or seven vaults on it... also can be blown up if the moon gets charged.'

'let's see, the warrior's vault, torgue's vault, the opened destroyer vault, the vault you get that translator in after killing troy, the traveler- which technically isn't ON pandora, but I'm going to include it... then pandora itself'

I shake my head again and stand up, making my way to the door. 'I don't really know how tales from the borderlands went... all I know is that they got some sort of mcguffin and deus ex machina loaderbot is op.'

'no time for this... there are creatures to absorb!'

And thus, the small boy stalks his prey...

The bandit has no idea what is nearing him...

I creep forwards on a mission, just as the man begins to turn, he freezes, allowing me to jog forwards and grab his wrist.

He unfreezes and looks where I was moments before, then flinches as he realizes something is touching him, then, with a loud 'crack' of his flesh being transmuted into stone, he is transformed into a statue with eridium stabbing throughout his body.

You have leveled up.

'grand! This takes me up to what, level seven? I GET TO PUT A POINT INTO MY TIER TWO ABILITIES!'

Tough Body: 0/5

You gain 6% Damage Reduction against all non-elemental effects.

Strengthened Body: 0/1

You go stronger by devouring the lives of creatures drained

Current Count: 0/100

Current Strength: 1.2 times stronger and faster than normal.

Celebrity Cruncher: 0/1

You can gain perks by draining certain important characters.

I put a point into 'Strengthened Body'

It's definitely a wise choice to put it into it right now, due to the whole regenerative body thing...

It's doing quite well, actually!

Regenerative body: 1/1

You gain more passive regen the more lives you have drained. 

Current count: 132/1000 

Current Regen: 0.05% every five seconds.

One hundred lives... I have taken over one hundred lives during the time I have been here... which has been about three weeks

I resume my wandering.

Admittedly, they've not ALL been sentient, I'd say a good eighty to ninety percent of that number has been just varkids and skags.

Luckily, I seem to sustain myself hunger and thirst-wise by draining something... sort of like Tyreen.

ANYWAYS it's still a twenty percent increase to my physical abilities! And it'll only grow as I drain more and more.

I take a brief moment to leap, widening my eyes as I cover a good six to seven feet vertically. 'oh right... pandora's gravity... plus my enhanced strength...'

I touch down with a small smile and stretch my arms.

I've been wandering for a while... this place has tons of little hiding spots if you know where to look.

I stare into my reflection in the ice of a nearby glacier for a moment before continuing on.

I'm just a kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen, short black messy hair a little over an inch long, purple eyes with almost an eerie glow, luckily none of my siren tattoos appear on my face or neck, but they are on my collarbone so I have to tug my shirt up every now and then to keep them hidden.

I should start heading back soon... but I really have no idea where the hell I am in this god forsaken tundra in relations to Tina's place... but I have seen a river, and if I remember correctly, she lives