"No funny business kid. Unless you prefer your little girlfriends here with a torso full of lead."

Vallory was making her daunting threats again, or in the case of a murderous helmer, it was more of a promise. With her threatening words now ever-present inside his head, Rhys began his short stride to the main controls. As he stood face-to-face with the seemingly complicated machinery, the panel itself, in its own right, appeared rather simplistic to the man with advanced Hyperion technology lodged inside his pupil. Without hesitation, Rhys proceeded to enter the coordinates for their intended destination. Inside his head, binary thoughts began emerging. Though, typically, you'd have both a side that leaves you with anguish and concern, but also a side that counteracts it, providing a grade-A solution to those initial worries. This wasn't one of those moments.

On one hand, the demoted employee, who sought revenge against his newly-deceased boss by committing desertion and larceny, was now heading back up into the unknown. A place where he had been blacklisted. An enigma; What kind of destruction now reeks havoc inside? What exactly is this chaos that they're getting themselves into? Just thinking about it left Rhys terrified. But, on the other hand, was Sasha's well being. As Rhys glanced behind him, the corner of his tired eye managed to identify an odd occurrence. It wasn't the typical sight of Finch and Kroger in casual conflict, nor was it the irony of Vallory, placing the barrel of a Peacemaker within inches of a defeated Fiona's skull. No. It was the lonely figure of Sasha, blankly staring down at the ground, with a look of not only despair, but also hopelessness. This girl, the girl that seemed so full of cheer and liveliness a short while ago, was now a shade of her former self. Emotions, cascaded from her motionless figure. It broke Rhys' heart.

"Hurry it up, Reeze. I'm not the patient type." August demanded, still most likely agitated by the "break-up" with his fake girlfriend. It took every fiber of willpower in his body to not retaliate, but Rhys kept his cool. With the coordinates now set for Helios, Rhys rotated sharply, with a look of displeasure still ever-present on his face, and headed back to the platform. Not bad for an Assistant Vice-Janitor.

Rhys, now bound by his restraints once again, positioned himself next to Sasha. Providing reassurance that all would be well, Sasha continued to gaze down. He awaited a blink to materialize from her somber eyes. Nothing. And just like that, Rhys' look of displeasure, was soon the look of a heartbroken man. Before he could re-attempt to provoke a reaction from the depressed Pandoran girl, an unrelenting force struck the back of his head. As Rhys fell to his knees, the hoarse voice of The Queenpin entered his eardrums.

"You better quiet down, young man. Last person that pissed me off, ended up with a serious case of a stomach ache." Referring to Vasquez, who was fed a generous helping of a shotgun blast to the mid-section.

Dazed. Disoriented. Rhys was seeing stars. The shooting pain surrounding the back of his head, pulsating like a drum. Almost at the point of blacking out, he tried to look up. Straining at the attempt, a simple task becoming one of impossibility, he catches a glance of a blurry figure standing in front of him. One of a familiar, fluorescent blue glow.

"Wooooo! Yeah baby!" the voice, full of excitement and exhilaration, buzzed in the ears of Rhys. As a beam of light formed and enclosed around the docking station, his vision grew darker and darker, like the light of a lantern, drifting further and further away into the ocean. The voice uttered one last remark.

"Fasten your seatbelts, kiddos. Next stop; Helios!" Rhys' eyes shut tight.

…

A gleaming blue sky, set ablaze by the scorch of the blistering sun. Velutinous clouds formed in the shape of, what seemed like, various creatures that inhabited the dusty plains of Pandora. Skags, Rakks, and even a 3-armed bullymong were resembled. As Rhys acknowledged these fascinating sights, sudden realization hit, he had apparently regained consciousness. Slightly bending his arms to elevate himself from his planked-state, he was met by the warmth of a gentle touch. With instinct, he turned his head swiftly to the right. A warm smile greeted him, with the gleaming green eyes he could recognize from a mile away, glistening in the natural radiant light of the environment. It was Sasha. Rhys shot up faster than the speed of light.

"Sasha?! Oh my god, what happened?! Where are we?!" Rhys panicked, still unsure whether that smack on the head was influencing him in some way.

"Rhys, Rhys. It's OK." Sasha calmly assured. "Everything's fine. Just like you promised."

Rhys. In a state of confusion, and still somewhat on edge, slowly knelt back down onto the crisp meadow. His face transitioning into a mix of both relief, and shock.

"I… I thought I lost you." Rhys exhaled. Without second-thought, he said the first thing that came into his head. The unsureness of what happened up to this very point left him shaken, flustered with distress running cursive through his body. Sasha's elegant smile returned.

"Rhys. I'm not going anywhere." She proclaimed, in a mellow tone.

Sasha's solemn voice was all he needed to finally settle down. He gradually lifted his head once more, a smile of his own arose from the pits of despair that was his concerns. The sound of the rustling leaves, dancing in the wispy breeze, averted his attention. Upraised behind them, was an enormous red oak tree. Its behemoth-like presence, overlooked by its tremendous beauty. As Rhys basked in the grace of this gift of nature, the moment of bliss would soon take a turn for the worse.

Now realizing the horror above him. The once gleaming blue sky, was now a dark, ashen gray, surrounded by thunderous clouds, darker than night itself. The blazing sun now lost amongst them. The expression of Rhys had reverted back to its state of terror, as the wispy breeze became a harsh, aggressive wind as strong as a bullymong. As chaos ensued, Rhys, snapping back in an instant, reverted his attention back to Sasha. But, I can assure you, that the next thing he witnessed with his own two eyes, was something I wouldn't even wish upon my worst enemy. Sasha, her glistening green eyes now wide open, motionless. Her complexion of pale skin, an outstretched mouth and her figure, stiff as a board, sent shockwaves down the spine of the man that had longed to tell her what he really felt about her. A canvas of pure terror coated his facial expressions, a gunshot wound present on the lifeless corpse of Sasha had become visible. With the crimson-red river now flowing towards him, Rhys tried to scream. He was unable to. His voice, paralyzed, as he kneeled there, frozen in fear. His eyes grew weary once more. An obscure voice, rather distant, began approaching him. Collapsed, immobile, Rhys' eyelids, too heavy to keep ajar, closed once more. Closer… and closer… and closer. The voice made its presence known..

"Rhys! Wake up!"

…

His eyes burst open once more. A recognizable face affronted him, grabbing his shoulders whilst shaking them back and forth furiously. Amidst the revival, hued gunfire commenced, bullets flying everywhere, and nothing else but the sound of blood-curdling screams of pain nearby.

"Rhys! Oh thank god. Come on, move your ass!"

It was Sasha. Rhys couldn't believe his eyes. Was all of that just a dream? How could he be sure that he was entirely awake for this? After the nightmare that ensued inside of his disoriented mind, he was certain that he'd awoken back to reality. With Sasha now offering her delicate hand, Rhys reached out and took a hold of it. The comforting warmth that he felt was all the confirmation he needed. Forcing himself up, the two scurried towards the nearest safe haven they could find. Avoiding the ensuing chaos and the subsequent gunfire, Rhys' attention was focused towards a wounded August. A trio of bullet-holes embedded his abdominal region, leaving nothing but a canvas of crimson-red plastered on his torso, seeping through his once turquoise vest. Sasha, seemingly ignoring the soon-to-be corpse, lead both her and Rhys into a nearby office. Before the doors enclosed behind them, Rhys glanced towards the defeated psychopath once more. With his head raised in an agonizingly difficult manner, his blood-shot eyes crossing with Rhys', August gave one final look, one of despair, one of regret. The door shut completely, as did the optics of August. The rest of his body crashing down into a pool of his own blood, lifeless.

With the anarchy now seemingly averted, Rhys turned his attention towards Sasha, living, breathing. A single tear trickled down his cheek. Sasha, displaying a look of concern, urged him to speak up.

"Rhys? Hey. What's wro…." Before she could finish her sentence, an unsettled Rhys launched himself towards her, wrapping his outstretched arms around her. His eyes now tight shut, another tear emerging from the enclosed eyelids. A tear of melancholy. A tear of reprieve.

"I… I thought… I thought you were…" He couldn't finish. He had been mentally traumatized by the events of the nightmare. His usual witty, cheerful self was lost for the moment, replaced by a being of both disturbance and distress, a figure that was literally shaking with fear. The image of Sasha, breathless and lifeless, had proven too much. It was in that moment, that heartfelt moment, that proved life without her was no life at all.

Taken aback slightly by the Hyperion boy's initial reaction, Sasha's bewildered look became one of sincerity. Almost as if she could physically feel the severe distress coursing through his body. The mumbled sentence, the words unable to escape from his lips, the sheer evidence of heartbreak pouring from his pupils. She pondered whether or not this current situation had involved her in some way. As she wrapped her arms around him, returning the comfort in the form of a hug, she knew that, deep down, this must have involved her. With a gentle release, Sasha averted her gaze towards the line of sight of Rhys, his sad eyes now staring back.

"Hey, come on now Mr. Roboto, no more of this." She requested in that soft, mellow tone that Rhys had become accustomed to, as she lightly dragged her finger across his damp cheek, wiping away a tear of indignant. Now staring deeper into his eyes, Sasha coolly asked Rhys what had caused this sudden act of affection. With the troubled soul now displaying a more calmer and relaxed demeanour, Rhys prepared to explain all, until a scintillating light became visible on the right side of his face. The luminous glow enough to cause a state of confusion between the two. Sasha, turning her head towards the direction it was coming from, had now transitioned from a state of confusion, to one of sheer shock and awe.

Pandora. The planet of homicidal degenerates, dusty wastelands, blood-thirsty monstrosities and all round destitution. No. It was no longer that. The delightfulness and amazement presented by her reaction, of seeing Pandora from above? It was in that moment, in her eyes, mesmerizing, entrancing, just simply… beautiful. Sasha's gobsmacked mouth opened.

"It's just… so…" Oh no. Here we go again. The sentence that was so familiar, the sentence that Rhys had embarrassed himself by interrupting the last time. Maybe it was for the best that he just kept his mouth sh…

"...romantic." Sasha finalized. Once again, her emerald-greens dilated, glittering. Her smile as expressive as ever. She faced Rhys. With initial shock and wide eyes, Rhys turned to face her. Those dilated emerald-greens. That expressive smile. Suddenly, this was all too real. Sasha slowly leaned in, Rhys doing the same. She placed her hands on his shoulders, he placed his on her waist. Slightly on her tiptoes, she closed her passionate eyes, he closed his. The view of Pandora, illuminating their very presence. All of these bottled up feelings, these hidden feelings, about to be sealed with a…with a...

"Rhys?!" A piercing voice alerted the two. As they both swiftly snapped their attention towards it, still arm in arm, Rhys would be the one to recognize her. It was Yvette, bloodied skirt and all, with an unconscious Fiona leaning upon her shoulder.

"Oh god! Fi!" Sasha cried out. And just like that, the moment of pure bliss had vanished completely as Sasha bolted towards her immobile sibling. Sasha held her sister's hand, a look of uncertainty upon her.

"She's fine, don't worry." Yvette assured. "She said that you two were in trouble, figured she was telling the truth. That's when we ran into trouble of our own."

"Thank you so much for getting her out of harm's way" Sasha said, both sincerness and meaningfulness present in her tone of voice. Rhys had never seen her so distressed. Before Yvette could place Fiona down on the desk nearest to her, a 'HUGO VASQUEZ' sign still present, there was an almighty thud coming from outside of the door. Turning their heads towards it, Yvette would be the first to express her concerns.

"What in the hell was…" Before she could finish, an emphatic explosion erupted through the metallic doors, leaving a hefty void. Yvette, Sasha and a still unconscious Fiona were pummeled to the ground by the unrelenting force, as Rhys watched on in horror from a slight distance.

"Nooooo!" Rhys yelled at the top of his lungs. Before he was even a few yards into a dash for his fallen comrades, a bullet, appearing from the hazy smog, pierced into his right thigh. What followed was a scream of agonizing pain.

As Rhys lay there, injured, unable to get back up to his feet, he was met by a presence through the smoke. As the figure grew ever nearer, Rhys' uneasiness grew ever higher. Emerging from the mist, Vallory, seemingly unscathed from the blood-bath that had just occurred, was holding that same Peacemaker she'd used to do a number on the back of Rhys' noggin'. Behind her were a couple of remaining goons, one of which was the mustached assassin, Kroger, grasping a pair of broken sunglasses that once belonged to his partner in crime; Finch.

"I told you kid, I fucking told you." Vallory growled, in a very aggressive tone. "Once you piss me off, that's the final straw. Your shitty coordinates got my son killed."

Rhys tried to respond, but before he could, Yvette, still grounded, began to awaken from unconsciousness. Noticing this, Vallory marched towards her, a look of intent in her dissimilar eyes. She was now towering over Yvette.

"What was that saying?" She directed towards Rhys. "Oh. That's right. An eye for an eye…"

Yvette, eyes half-open, could make out a figure looking down from above. The silhouette of a gun, now with the barrel pointed point-blank towards her blurry gaze.

"Rhys?" Yvette mumbled from under her breath, the breath that proved to be her last, as Vallory pulled the trigger.