LoVe On A Place Like Pandora: Epilogue

A/n: Sorry for the delay with this chapter. For the first week, I had examinations, and afterwards, I got too caught up with all the freedom I had. I used this to finish up Saints Row IV and Bioshock Infinite, and then afterwards I traded Bioshock for GTAV, and that explains why I took an even longer time to get this chapter up.

Also, no I am not a plagiarizer who took Saddlecreeper's chapters and uploaded them, and then proceeded to write my own epilogue. I decided to change the name, cause Saddlecreeper was like my 12-year old alias thing. More people call me 'Phail' these days as a result of my Minecraft Username and a Skype username which was meant to be temporary.

The elevator jerked uncontrollably as they made their descent into the vault, causing Maya to lose her footing. She reached out and grabbed the first thing she could to steady herself, not wanting to be thrown out of the elevator and into the pit of lava below when they were already so close to ending Jack's tyranny. To die now would be a waste. Her hand gripped onto something warm, and she got down to her knees, her back colliding with the railing behind her. Only then she realized what she grabbed onto was a hand- Zero's hand. She stared up to his visor, to see him flashing a '?' at her. She turned her reddened face away from him, pulling her hand out of his grasp hastily.

"Aw, come on! That was supposed to kill you guys! I mean that sudden unexpected stop should have killed at least one of you guys! Fine, I'll just off you guys myself once you get down here… Child murderers…" Jack taunted over ECHO, as the elevator began to function normally again, and the hammering of Maya's heart against her chest grew fainter.

"So uh… Do you guys wanna hold hands? Say a few encouragements?" Gaige suddenly asked, gulping. The other five turned to stare at her for a moment, surprised at her sudden "kindness".

"Uh… My mom and dad used to do it with me all the time whenever I was going to take part in a competition." She added, smiling softly, as though she was about to tear up at the thought of her parents.

"Why the hell not," Axton agreed, shrugging as he took Gaige's hand. (She blushed a little) The others stepped forward, with Maya trying to stay as far away from Zero as possible. Salvador stretched out his short arm to reach Zero's, but when he grabbed it, it vanished. There, standing in the corner of the lift, was Zero, who has used a hologram to escape having to hold hands.

"You're not going to get out of this one, Amigo! Come, we've saved you a good spot!" He grinned, and dragged Zero into the circle, right next to Maya, who gulped and took his hand reluctantly.

"So uh… Don't die, I guess." Gaige smiled nervously.

"I'LL RIP HIS SPINIE OUT WITH MY BARE HANDS AND USE IT AS A TOOTHBRUSH!" Krieg shouted, earning him an encouraging smile from Salvador and disgusted looks from everyone else.

"Yeah, what Krieg said," Gaige shrugged.

"I mean, come on, how hard can it be, right? He's just one guy." Axton smirked arrogantly.

:Later, they would realize that that one guy was in fact one of the hardest opponents they'd ever encounter.

"Get off!" Maya shrieked, wrestling with a volcanic rakk which had sent her crashing to the ground, inches away from getting her hair charred in the lava. She pulled a knife out of her belt, stabbing it repeatedly until it hung loosely from her grasp. Letting out a sigh of relief, she hurled the carcass into the lava, watching as it sunk.

"Better watch your back better next time!" She heard Jack's laughter, but by then it was too late, and he had struck her face with a hard blow from his fists. Planting her feet down onto the burnt rock beneath her feet, she was barely able to keep herself steady and save herself from falling into the lava.

"Shit!" She cried, raising her left palm to her cheek to press down on the bruise, and with her other hand, began firing at Jack, who backed off into a rock behind him.

Only he realized it wasn't a rock. He turned to see Zero materializing, and gripping his katana, thrust it into Jack's chest before the shield-generating-flying-robots-of-doom could come to his aid. Jack spit out a mouthful of blood as his pistol slipped out of his palm.

"Goddamnit," He mouthed, as he started to run towards his control panel.

"I'm not done yet!" He declared, as the vault hunters circled him. Before they could react, he dove towards the vault key and mustering up all the strength he had, shoved it into the hole (That's what she said?) which was intended for it. Lilith fell to the ground next to Jack, and a purple shield surrounded them. Maya began to pound against the barrier with the sides of her palms, trying to find a way to free the trapped siren.

"Maya, behind you!" Lilith screamed, and when she looked at what had gotten Lilith so terrified, she nearly died right there. A giant creature had emerged from the lava, and let out a menacing roar. Its body was made of volcanic rocks, and adorned with bits of dried lava.

"Warrior!" Jack bellowed, and the Warrior turned in his direction, as though awaiting his commands.

"Kill." With that final word, the warrior leapt from its perch, lunging at the group of Vault hunters, who instantly dispersed.

"Aw shit." Axton mumbled, running somewhere safe, throwing his turret behind him.

"Damnit, we should have killed Jack when we had the chance!" Maya shouted, letting out a yelp as she felt someone touch her shoulder. She jumped forward in surprise to see Zero, with a smile showing on his visor and a hand on her shoulder, causing her cheeks to turn a deep shade of crimson, which was fortunately masked by the warm glow of lava around them. Not exactly the most romantic of places, but it was Pandora after all, and its population of psychos and mostly dead terrain wasn't very attractive either.

"We're likely going to die today. So I would just like to say some things that need to be said." He started, his hand dropping back to his side before he placed it on his thigh.

This… Is this it? Maya thought to herself, enveloped in a strange, unfamiliar warmth which had clouded her thoughts. All that she could think about was Zero, as everything around them seemed to fade away.

Her eyes widened as she felt his hand drawing closer to hers. Her breath hitched and her shoulders tensed as his fingertips touched the side of her palm. So Zero had been this stubborn and arrogant, annoying her to death, and yet, she had fallen for him hard, and she was finding it so hard to wrap her mind around the fact that he had perhaps felt the same way she did. For once, she didn't seem to care that they were in Pandora anymore.

"I-," A sudden whip of the Warrior's tail had shaken Zero from his trance, and tackling Maya to the ground, he watched as its tail which was made of what appeared to be volcanic rocks swished over his head, grazing his back for a split second. Yet, that was enough to take out half his shield.

"I'll have to get back to that later," He answered nervously, rushing back into battle alongside Salvador. Maya mentally cursed herself as she swept a tangled mess of blue hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ears. One more mistake like that, and she would be dead. Still, she hated that part of herself which craved for another one of those "mistakes" to happen.

She rushed behind a broken pillar, rummaging through her haversack for something which would be effective against the all-powerful guardian of the vault. She could hear the constant firing of Axton's turret, the fading of Zero's hologram and Salvador's guns tearing the Warrior apart. She could too, faintly hear the sounds of Krieg's buzz axes slicing through the air as they embedded themselves in the Warrior's body. Then the noises grew distinctively softer, for Axton's turret had stopped. Hadn't Gaige upgraded it to last for long durations of time? Speaking of Gaige, where was she? Deathtrap wasn't summoned.

The other three seemed to be doing fine, so she'd might as well check on those two. She cautiously made her way over to the far end of the platform, wondering if she'd find them there, taking cover from the boulders being hurled their way. The warrior let out a roar, as bits of lava where hurled across the battlefield, forcing Maya to sprint to the nearest ledge for safety. She found a perfect position, behind a worn-out, visibly torn apart part of what used to be a pavement. Blindly she stuck out her arm and began firing at the direction she heard the warrior's groans coming from. She must have hit it, for she heard it let out a screech and take a few steps back, flinching.

As its cries died out, she heard certain noises growing louder- what she recognized as crying. Curious as to whom the crying belonged to, she made her way over to the source of the noise which was coming from the far end of the platform.

"No… Please, goddammit, not now…" Came the frantic pleading of a girl. She peered around the corner, and there, kneeling over a dying Axton, was Gaige, blood pooling out of her arm.

"Axton, please! You can't leave now! I'll… I'll find a way to help you… There has to be something…Somewhere!" She cried, searching through her inventory.

"Oh god no…" Maya whispered as she made her way over to the two. Axton had his left leg horribly wounded and a deep gash ran across his chest. She paled as she noticed a sharp rock poking through his abdomen.

"I know… Argh… I got knocked onto this… Looks like it's the end, huh?" He smiled faintly, a trail of blood leaving his lips as he spoke. He broke into a coughing fit as he spat out more blood. Axton was moments away from death, and here he was, retaining his childish self.

She kneeled down by his side, taking his hand into hers. "You were a good friend, Axton," She smiled, holding back tears. For his sake, she wouldn't cry and make it even harder for him. "Thanks, Maya… And make out with Zero, will you?" The sentence agitated her, but she wasn't going to insult a dying man.

"Not a time for joking, Axton."

"Axton, just… Don't leave me here!" Gaige screamed, weeping into his sleeve. Maya guessed she understood how the mechromancer felt. After going through six months on Pandora without her parents, she had adopted Axton as a father figure of sorts.

"Come on Gaige, leave him be." Maya whispered, pulling Gaige away from Axton, whose eyes were glossy and emotionless, when once they had been so full of life.

Gaige sunk to her knees, and only then did Maya notice the source of the blood on her arm. It hadn't been from patching up Axton. Her arm had been dismembered. "Shit!" Maya gasped, watching as Gaige's face lost its colour.

"Kill that motherfucker for me, will you?" Gaige scowled as she sank to the ground, her chest heaving, as it finally drew to a stop.

Maya stood still and pale over her corpse. She had just witnessed the death of two of her friends. Lifeless and traumatized, she navigated her way back to the surviving three. Ignoring the smile on Jack's face, she turned to Zero, pulling him away.

"I can't…"

"Can't what?"

"I just can't keep doing this anymore… I can't keep fighting and watching everyone die around me… And more importantly, I just don't want to have to watch you go like they did…" She didn't realize what she'd said until Zero paused, and tangled his fingers with hers.

"Well, I guess this is it. If it still matters, I love you." Maya let the words leave her mouth, and with a final sigh, she threw his helmet off and lowered her lips to his. She shut her eyes, and mustering up all her strength, she raised her arm capturing the warrior in phaselock. She smiled against his lips as she brought her arm down as they were swept into a cold darkness.

A/n: SO here we have it. I'm sorry if you wanted a detailed description of the kiss, but this is all I can do, being relatively unfamiliar with writing romance. Hope you all enjoyed!

Lilith watches as everything around the barrier is blown to bits, and when the smoke clears, all that remains is the vault hunters' corpses.

"No! Dammit, how?!" Jack screeches, and Lilith throws herself at him, wrapping her fingers around his neck as she watches life leaving his corpse. The barrier disappears, and she steps out of the ring, shrugging her wings off. She kneels down next to Maya's body, and stares into her lifeless eyes.

"So… You guys actually did it…" She smiles. "You deserve the funeral of a hero." She begins to drag the corpses out of the pit, but when she does, she gasps as they disappear in a shower of blue lights.

"What…?"

Secret ending if you bothered to read this far lol.