Reputation (Handsome Jack X Reader)

Chapter 1

"Hey! Get back here, Meatface! I want to strangle your eyeballs out from your itty-bitty head!"

"Catch me if you can-"

More screeches rang out into the dusty air. Psychos fought each other with anything they had- Sticks, guns, knives, rocks, saws... Each one of them fought for what had just been stolen.

"You stole my flesh-gun!"

"Nah, you stole my meat bicycle!"

"That was mine in the first place!"

I watched silently as distorted shouts and nonsense phrases were tossed back and forth. Smirking, I quickly and quietly slipped onto the stolen, rusted motorcycle that leaned against me. The engine puffed and I tensed immediately. The pile of psychos immediately faced toward me.

"There she is!"

"Get her!"

Smiling with pride, I revved the bike and gradually gained speed. Other bandits began to surround me on their own motorcycles, chuckling and gloating as if they already caught me.

Looking around, I saw two bandits speeding up to either side of me, with a large gang chasing close behind. I unsheathed my pistol and cocked it, shooting down a few bandits, in which their bikes swerved and fell, crashing into the dirt. I had to come up with a plan, and noticing the surrounding enemies' speeds, a plan was easy to come up with. I smiled even more.

"We finally caught you now!" one of the bandits called out. They were within arms-reach of my body and nearly grabbed onto the cloth bag that was slung around my neck and shoulder.

"Try again, sometime!" I replied, and I sped up with an instant increase of speed.

I faced forward victoriously as the two bandits crashed into each other, their bikes exploding with flares on impact. The other gang of psychos and bandits crashed into the others, their motorcycles causing an even bigger explosion. Pieces of metal and bandit flesh whizzed past me.

Suddenly, a stinging pain seared through my whole left arm. Not stopping to see what happened, I sped away from the cloud of dust behind me. I hope that none of them survived and are following me...

Having the courage to look back, I saw that no one was following me through the desert. I finally let out a relived sigh, then looked toward my arm, which was still in pain.

A gushing gash ran from my shoulder to my elbow, cutting through the scars and scratches of other past raids. A sliver of black, rusted metal was lodged in it.

"S-Shit..." I whispered. I continued to ride back toward my base. On Pandora, as far as I knew, there weren't many plants or herbs that could stop infection. This was much worse than the usual few scratches and scrapes.

I have always stole enough material to remove bullet wounds, which is the closest injury to the one plastered in my arm. The problem is that it has been a while since I've found a camp with any helpful materials at all.

I knew that I wasn't on the planet long enough to fully adapt to withstand any problems associated with getting dirt and dust into open wounds. I've only been here for a few years. Ever since my family 'banished' me to this place for my dangerous attitude. Ever since the first week, I've found a living as The Stealth Bandit, easily stealing, killing, and manipulating others to survive. The settlers call me that, anyway. I have a reputation now; Gotta live up to it, right?

"Why would I care? Pandora didn't welcome me, but it feels like home. It's almost exactly what I want out of life..." I said to myself. "I just wish that something new happened."

I saw my base soon enough. It was an abandoned bandit trailer, crashed and embedded into the bottom of a large, tall rocky cliff. At the top of the cliff, at the ledge, was a single, huge, dead tree. Inside the trailer was enough for 4 or 5 bandits to roughhouse and live, but I climbed aboard, crashed the vehicle, killed them, and claimed it for my own. I figured that I needed a place to live, so I moved right in. My few posters, bedding, and ammo were all inside, safe in locked lootcrates.

I clumsily slowed and parked the stolen motorcycle, which was mine now. My arm was aching and throbbing with unbearable pain. I couldn't help but groan and whine as each stride over the dusty earth caused the metal sliver to shift.

Entering the trailer, I sat down on one of the two chairs by a small table. Being as careful as possible, I used my hand to pull out the metal piece. It hurt like all hell, but the pain eventually subsided just a little. More blood was escaping my body, pooling on the table and dripping to the floor. I groaned and looked around for a bandage or large piece of cloth to wrap it in.

I slowly stood up. As I did, I heard faint shouting above me. Then I heard tiny thumps and dings on the metal roof of the trailer. I looked out one of the windows. More clangs rang out and shook the whole vehicle as stones and rocks flashed past the glass and bounced on the ground. The shouting grew louder. Then another strange sound filled the air. Before I could focus on the deafening rumbling outside, I heard snapping and cracking. A shower of dirt and rocks flushed past the windows, and victorious screams sounded above. My mind couldn't function properly in the moment. Only a few moments too late did I realize what happened. Those damn bandits were loosening the rock around the tree at the top of the cliff! It would fall straight down and crush the trailer!

I raced toward the door as fast as I could, pushing it open and falling over the trip-rail under the door. Before I could crawl away, the trailer collapsed, the walls and roof crunching above my backside under the weight of the giant tree. Vibrations flowed from head to toe as my whole body went numb. I looked over and outward into the desert. A space ship of some sort was landed there. That's where... that weird sound... came from... before...

My vision began to blur. N-No... I won't die here...