Caine Brooke

"*Cat got your tongue? It’s your sister who should be remaining silent, not you. You know? Because…**bang, bang?***"
—Caine, taunting Matt[src]

Caine Brooke is the self-proclaimed rival of the Anomaly and a secondary antagonist in the first half of *Someone Else,* and a reluctant ally towards the second half. A Vault Hunter known initially as **the Explosions Master,**and later **the Executioner,** Caine recklessly invested in experiments on his body that granted him his Aerokinesis. This allowed him control air pockets in close vicinity to him, creating bubbles of pressure that could be released and creating explosions that could get extremely large.

Most of Caine's past is unknown. It is a mystery how he ended up joining the Gemini Corporation, except that he was quickly enrolled in the Gemini Vault Hunter Training Program and passed with flying colors, whereupon he placed in the Alpha regiment almost immediately.

Caine was not well-liked by his allies, especially not Commander Sharp, as they viewed him as brash, reckless and incredibly disrespectful of his peers. Although the latter were true, Caine was also surprisingly intelligent and methodical, able to use his Aerokinesis in a variety of creative ways to take down his opponents.

He only considered himself equalled by Matt Rye, in some areas, but Caine always believed himself to be superior regardless.

## Stationing on Pandora

Caine was stationed on Pandora to search for the Vault on the corporation's behalf, and also to find Matt to bring him in to face his punishment for betraying them.

The former later turned out to be a wild goose chase, as Gemini had already found the Vault and simply cloaked it, and was intended to keep Matt distracted so they could figure out how to harness a mysterious type of energy that the Anomaly gave off to open the Vault some other way. He began searching at the same time Matt did, using those same Vault Instincts that Matt possessed.

It is unknown when he arrived on Krolantia, but it is certain it was some time after the Anomaly did, although neither of them would find the Vault as it was being hidden by Gemini.

He frequently sent threatening ECHO calls towards his supposed rival, telling him he was going to find the Vault before the Anomaly would. Matt was not intimidating by this, and Caine merely wanted him to know that he was "superior".

## Attacking Sanctuary

Eventually, the Explosions Master learnt that Matt was in Sanctuary  and a part of the Crimson Raiders. A month after the Friendship Gulag incident, Caine orchestrated an attack on Sanctuary with his Alpha regiment of Vault Hunters. He began attacking the Sanctuary shield with the aid of his allies, increasing the amount of stress being placed on it every second, aware that the shield was shock *absorbent*, not shock negation, so could be overwhelmed with enough force.

He was confronted by Gaige in his attempt, to which he announced he was going to bring him in. He was shocked and angered to hear that Matt was dead, and declared that he would kill everyone there, and attacked Gaige. He threw her down to Sanctuary, and began to beat her up, bellowing that the Anomaly was his to kill only.

For a moment, Caine was distracted and was punched in the face by Gaige. He slammed her back into the wall and the crater he had previously created, about to use his laser gauntlets and explosions to kill her.

He was stopped in his attempt by someone demanding he correct his language. Caine was promptly thrown into a wall before he could even see who it was. Looking up, the Vault Hunter saw Matt, broken and bloody, using an upgraded form of his Chronokinesis. Happy that his rival was alive, the Explosions Master proceeded to announce he was going to kill him, and engaged in a battle with the Anomaly, but he was ultimately defeated by a more powerful Matt.

Caine was subsequently catapulted out of Sanctuary, and was caught by his Gemini allies and escaped before Brick's Buzzards could capture him.

## Challenging Matt

### Initiating the challenge

A few days later, Caine received a final ECHO call from Matt, who ordered that they meet face to face, for a rematch of sorts. Caine was stipulated not to kill Matt, however he could bring him in if he managed to knock the Anomaly unconscious.

The Explosions Master accepted reluctantly, already believing himself superior. Matt informed him to meet him and Aurora at Overlook in half an hour. Caine was prepared to use any means necessary to win the battle, reading the Anomaly's file to brush up on the man's history and finding out about his sister. He planned to use this against him during the fight.

### Arriving in Overlook

Caine arrived at Overlook not long after Matt did, and similarly to Matt, he did not come alone. The Vault Hunter arrived on the scene with the Taurus spaceship, which warped in above the small settlement to intimidate the Anomaly. Commander Sharp, who was piloting the ship, ordered Matt to bring himself in to the corporation lest they fire on the town.

Matt threatened to leave if they tried such a thing, prompting Caine to order his own superior to "stand down". Sharp derided him for attempting to give orders his commanding officer. However, the Vault Hunter pointed out that the CEO/Director of Gemini wanted the Anomaly, so if he fired on the town, Matt would be gone immediately -- rendering the entire mission pointless.

Realising he had been outwitted, Sharp then demanded that Caine bring Matt in or he would be fired from the corporation effective immediately. Caine doubted the commander could do that without authorisation from Director McCain, but he didn't care since he believed he was going to win the instigated fight.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Enhanced/Modified Physiology:** Caine engaged in Gemini experiments to enhance his biology, to provide him with abilities that would allow him to become the most powerful Vault Hunter ever.
	+ **Aerokinesis:** Caine's experimentation provided him with the ability to manipulate air pockets, using his limbs at conduits. He can compress air and then release the pressure built to generate violent shock waves capable of knocking down houses. He can use this to create earthquakes, by creating strong currents of air through the ground, that were so strong they appeared to cause the ground to crack apart.
	+ **Inhuman Physicality:** The experimentation on his body also enhanced the Executioner's body to beyond human levels, giving him nearly unwavering stamina, superhuman strength, fast brain processing speeds, a high metabolic rate, and honed senses such as sight, hearing, taste, and smell. He used this to gain an upper hand on his opponents, especially during fights as he could react much faster than the normal human. His honed senses made him ideal to chase down traces of opponents, making it easier to find Matt on Pandora and Axton on Divaloca.

### Abilities

* **Genius-Level Intellect/Expert tactician/Leader:** Caine may be extremely conceited, but he is still very intelligent, able to outsmart Matt on a number of occasions. He used Matt's PTSD against him, a dirty but effective move, which caused the Anomaly to freeze and thus allowing the Executioner to win the fight. He is well-educated in all aspects of science, able to use his Aerokinesis effectively, and is aware of the applications of the power. Caine is surprisingly well-read, enjoying classics like *Great Expectations*, *A Christmas Carol*, *Trials and Tribulations* and much more. He has read a few books that even Commander Sharp, an avid reader, thought were challenging. Caine has shown to be an effective leader, able to draw together his group of Gemini Vault Hunters under a common goal, utilising all of their talents effectively. Whilst he is not thought of fondly as a leader, no one can deny he is expert in leading Vault Hunters, and large armies, and is more than willing do whatever he orders others himself, which is likely why people are willing to be led under him as he is willing to get his hands dirty.
* **Master Manipulator:** Caine is masterful at manipulating other people into doing what he wants, all the while he sits back as his work his done for him. He manipulated Aurora into hating Matt even more, resulting in her uneasiness in believing the Anomaly. He was manipulative that Matt feared that Caine would be able to trick Gaige into doing what he wanted, hoping they wouldn't meet. His fears were proven correct when he successfully convinced Gaige to free him while he was chained up in Marshall Friedman's jail in Sanctuary, by pretending to be more emotional than he really was. It was Caine's idea to turn the Crimson Raider Vault Hunters against one another, after Matt kept knowledge of the supposed future from them, which nearly causes a complete schism between them. However, the Executioner is not perfect in manipulation, as the Anomaly is not fooled by his tricks and was able to prevent him from killing them, suggesting that he was susceptible to manipulation as well.