Zane was glad to be back on Sanctuary. Sure, that Skywell was fun, but after a while, it got pretty fucking tiring and annoying; something the Operative rarely expected to ever use to describe something.

But, at least it was over.

"Ah, another fragment of the key; very good." Zane watched Tannis appraise and look over the Vault Key Fragment, even going so far as to…sniff it, apparently, much to the aged man's quiet disgust.

Tannis freaked him the fuck out. He just…felt like saying it aloud would create some problems.

"So, we're good? One more to go?"

"Oh, yes, of course. One to go, and then we can access the Vault hidden on Promethea and see if we can utilize the resources within to hinder the Calypsos or whatever our plan was again." Either Lilith didn't tell her, or the weird scientist just…legitimately forgot. Zane wasn't going to press on it.

"Right. So…we're just…gonna take an hour or two and get on findin' the next one." Moxxi's bar wasn't far; Zane was gonna need plenty of alcohol for the next stretch of things. Sauntering out of the lab, the Operative made his way into the bar and was surprised to find Maya there, the other Siren sipping at a martini and chatting with Moxxi.

"Huh, didn' know you two knew each other." Maya turned around and nodded.

"We go pretty far back; the other Vault Hunters and I met her when we were dealing with Handsome Jack's bullshit. Though, glad to see you're still running the bar, Moxxi."

"Always will be, sugar." She crooned, moving to mix some more drinks as Zane plopped down at the bar himself.

"So, got a few questions for ya; questions Mozzy Moze made me think about." Maya raised a brow. "What happened to ya and yer mates; the other Vault Hunters." That made Maya frown; one that told Zane a lot of things, but above all else, it told him things didn't go so well.

"We…more or less, fell apart. Not-like-having a falling out, no. Just…well after Handsome Jack's death, we sort of just…stuck around for a while, but that spark sort of just faded."

"Faded?"

"Yeah," She finished her martini. "Sure, Jack's reign was a fucking nightmare on Pandora, but, in a sense, it kept us all together; kept us pushing towards a common goal. With him and Hyperion gone, we sort of just…didn't see a reason to stick together anymore. We're still friends, more or less, but we're just not a team anymore." Zane tapped his chin. That sounded cryptic.

"So, what happened? Where'd everyone go?"

"As far as I know, Axton went off to be a mercenary and is doing pretty well for himself. Salvador's running around Pandora somewhere, though, with the COV running about, I'm hoping he hasn't fallen in with them." She sighed. "Gaige's somewhere out there, with her robot, and Zer0…well you know where he is."

"Yeah, I do. He's doin' pretty well for himself. Even if his boss is a wimp." Maya chuckled.

"That he is…and…well there was one more Vault Hunter, Krieg. What happened with him hits me the most."

"What happened? You had to leave him behind?" Maya's silence told him what he needed. "Oh…well…shite. I take it things weren't mutual?"

"Sadly. I needed to go back to Athenas, to protect the Order and the people there and he…well, he stayed behind on Pandora, like Salvador. The only thing I know about him is, thankfully, he hasn't fallen in with the COV."

"How do ya know that?"

"If he was, you'd all be dead right now." That was…well that was comforting. "I'm worried about him. When we had downtime, I always noticed he was fighting himself; like the sane side of him was bickering with the psycho side. Makes me wonder how far he's gotten now." Zane drummed his fingers on the bar.

"Why don'tcha go visit him?"

"Augh…I don't even know the first place to look for him. And besides, we need to get rid of the COV first; then I can tie up loose ends and, maybe, get the group back together. See if things can be like old times."

"Well, we'll see 'bout that." Zane mulled on that; something he didn't frequently do. Made him wonder about what him and the others talked about; when they got rid of the COV, would they really still stick together? Or would that spark fade, and they'd fall apart like Maya and her group did?

"Hey, killer, can you come see me on the bridge?" His earpiece buzzed.

"On my way, Lil." The Operative stood up and got walking. "It's been fun, Maya, but Lil needs us."

"I figured. Stay safe out there." The Operative reached the bridge in no time, the other Vault Hunters standing around, listening to Lilith who, upon seeing him, gave him a firm nod.

"Good job out there, Vault Hunters. Thanks to you four, Atlas might just survive this war, but we can't lose sight of the Vault. We gotta get there before the Calypsos, and now we have an advantage."

"Yep, so no matter what, they ain' gonna get into that Vault." Zane affirmed. Lilith nodded herself, heading to the center of the bridge.

"Hell yeah, but for now, let's check in with Rhys. He's supposed to have intel about the final key fragment." Zane walked over as Claptrap dialed him up, though as the robot muttered to himself, Zane raised a brow.

"The fuck kinda name is Strongfork?"

"Is that not a pitchfork?" FL4K inquired. The robot's question went unanswered as the Atlas CEO appeared.

"Heeeeey, thanks for fixin' my little death-laser problem; morale's soaring, cause of it!" Rhys exclaimed.

"You're welcome. So, do you know where the key fragment is?" Lilith asked. Rhys, now, looked quite distressed.

"Well and, uh…pl-please don't be mad…but…I have the third key fragment. It's in here Atlas Headquarters." Zane's eye twitched.

"What the absolute fuck? It's been with you this whole time?!" Moze said it for him, thankfully.

"I-I mean, yeah; look, key fragments are worth billions. The research benefits alone could keep Atlas profitable for decades! I've already done some experiments with it, some…taste tests, that sort of thing. Fun fact, the key tastes like sour apple, so that's nice."

"Why were you licking it?" FL4K asked, though it didn't seem like Rhys was going to answer.

"T-The point is, you've earned it. So, c'mon down to Atlas HQ whenever you want to, and I'll gladly hand it over." Zane sighed. Well, at least that made things better. "I'll have Zer0 let you guys in through the secret entrance, that way, no one panics cause you four are pretty scary…especially you, um…i-is it Frank?"

"FL4K." The Beastmaster said dryly. The transmission ended and Lilith shrugged.

"So, you four can head down there whenever you want to." The Operative nodded and left the bridge, heading back to the bar so he could catch the drink he wanted, seeing Moxxi mixing another drink.

"Hey, sugar," She set down a freshly made rum and coke, no doubt for him. "I got a lil' proposition for ya, if you're interested."

How could he refuse?

"So, explain to me again why we aren't heading straight for Atlas HQ?" Moze asked as she stepped out of her Cyclone, making sure the keys were with her as the Gunner watched her friends do the same. They were in an odder area of the city; one that seemed generally populated by COV fuckers as opposed to Maliwan's fuckers. While normally, she wouldn't give two shits, something about this didn't sit right to her.

"Moxxi asked me for a favor," Zane said, loading his handgun. "Whaddya know about a fella named Killawatt?" Moze furrowed her brow.

"Nothing."

"Good. Moxxi filled me in; he's a bigshot billionaire who's apparently hostin' a 'free for all' for ladies, and whoever wins can have sex with the dumb bastard."

"…why would anyone—"

"Money does wonders to the mind, Mozzy Moze. Makes people do stupid shit. That, and most of the broads in this competition are already pretty fuckin' stupid." He had a point.

Still, Moze noticed that her and the others were at the entrance to Lectra City; a rugged, run-down part of the overall city that, for the most part, seemed like COV territory.

It also didn't help that they were standing at what appeared to be a red-carpet event, with screaming fangirls, all of them chanting that guy's name.

And, on cue, a death-sphere appeared, with the holographic silhouette of the man himself.

"Hey! Only broads are allowed to participate in this battle royale, but, then again," The sphere loomed eerily close to Moze. "This one's pretty cute. You wanna bed a millionaire, girl?" She was repulsed and disgusted at the same time and resisting the urge to blow the bot to bits.

"She ain' here to slob on that pencil yer packin' downstairs," Zane interjected. "We're here on behalf of Moxxi. She wants us to fight in her name; draw this shite out and all that."

"Ooooo, now I'm interested! I'll see where this goes, then. Til then, here's the rules. Every contestant has a token; whoever gets four tokens wins the grand prize, two rounds of sex with ME!" Moze had to hold back bile. The fangirls scattered to, no doubt, participate, the Gunner shaking her head.

"Well, that was gross."

"No kiddin'," Zane shook his head. "Regardless, Moxxi needs some time to get down here and find something that'll cut Killavolt's cord, so, for now, we gotta play along." Moze grimaced.

"I'm not bedding that assclown."

"Never said ya had to. Judgin' from things, he's a one pump chump." The Operative looked over to Amara and FL4K. "So, we're gonna have to split up. Find a broad with a token, lay 'em out. When ya get your token, head to the bar here. Moxxi's gonna mark it on your ECHOs or whatever." Moze was still wondering why they took such a disgusting detour to their mission but…she could look at the bright side, at least.

Murdering Killavolt would be funny. Least she hoped it would be.

Amara ran her thumb over the bloodied token, shaking her head as she made her way to the bar Zane talked about earlier. She didn't expect there to be so many COV morons out here but, at the very least, they were about as coordinated as the usual bunch were, hence why they were nothing but bits scattered around. That fangirl was even weaker; Amara just Phaseslammed her once and the bitch exploded into gore.

She wanted a work-out at least, but unfortunately, she got merely disappointment, just like any woman to leave Killavolt's bed, most likely.

The Siren also ran her thumb over the battery she collected; something Moxxi told her to start gathering after one of the others laid out the first contestant. Apparently, they were needed to destroy Killavolt's shielding; something Moxxi said that made the assclown practically invincible.

That was going to change, thankfully.

Arriving at the bar, Amara found the others all sitting and standing around, Moxxi mixing Zane a drink that the old man downed in one fell swoop, though the bartender's focus was drawn to her as she approached. "Well, do you have it?" Amara set down the token and the battery, Moxxi giving a grin as she accepted just the battery. "Good, should make this a lot easier. Thanks to how…lackluster Killavolt is, I often had to experiment and make my own toys to compensate for his disappointment; this is a…special kind of toy."

"Diggin' the innuendos, Mox," Zane chuckled, pounding back another drink. "But, how're we gonna get your gadget on him?"

"Hand it in with the tokens, silly. I implanted it in my own token, just to make sure he doesn't miss it." Amara accepted the clearly rigged token, taking care not to trigger it as she stuffed it into her pocket. "Now, head to his…ugh…'Killarena', and hand in the tokens. Then, take him out in any way you like."

"Good," Moze was already heading out. "I wanna get this shit over with; if I have to hear one more innuendo from that fucker, I'm gonna stomp on his dick with Iron Bear when we see him."

"So long as you don't damage his head," FL4K was heading out as well. "I could use it for a trophy…or a coffee holder."

"Aye, so let's get this show on the road." Zane was gone as well, leaving Amara to stand in the bar alone for a moment, the Siren looking over at Moxxi.

"Before I go, I got a question."

"Shoot."

"Why do you even have a bar here?"

"Atlas' CEO owed me a favor; I cashed it in and got a bar set here. It was supposed to be a nice lil' hangout spot for anyone and everyone but then Maliwan had to go and ruin it."

"Ah." That made sense. "One more thing, what exactly are we getting out of this?" Moxxi tapped her chin.

"Let's just say your Operative friend's asked me for a special favor. One that involves helping a friend out." Helping a friend? Well, that was cryptic. But, still, Amara followed with the others and, after murdering literally anyone and everyone, they were standing at the entrance to Killavolt's arena, and after a quick ECHO from Moxxi, were inside.

The lobby of the 'Killarena' was honestly quite luxurious, but then again, it was luxurious compared to the rest of Lectra City. Zane was already ascending the stairs, the Siren hearing the distant, yet close chants of fangirls for the lecherous bastard, so they were close to finally finishing this shit.

Following with the others, Amara found herself standing in a narrow corridor with a large hole at the end. And, of course, the fangirls were chanting and standing around, though they all glared daggers at them upon arrival.

"Go home, Vault Thieves! Before we—"

"Before you what?" FL4K questioned, reaching for their knife. "Last I checked, we slaughtered the contestants and, if you continue to run your mouths, you'll be next." Now all the fangirls were just…terrified, staying silent and adverting their gazes.

"Huh…good work." Amara dropped down the hole, as did the others, the Siren finding herself standing in a large, clearly dangerous looking area. Fans were corralled and gathered above it to watch as, standing in the middle, was the douchebag himself.

"Well, Vault Thieves, hand over the tokens, and if you're lucky, I might let y'all watch the fun." Amara resisted the urge to gag, but waited until the others handed over their tokens before she approached and handed over her rigged token.

"Nghghghgh!" His shield exploded and he collapsed to a knee, Amara following up with a Phaseslam at point blank, sending the moron flying into the wall.

"I am neither man, nor woman," FL4K stepped forward, readying their sniper. "But both deserve more respect than you give." The arena floor was engulfed in electricity, Amara leaping over it as best she could while peppering Killavolt with her shotgun, hearing the others do the same. Unfortunately, she didn't make any lasting injuries, namely because the fucker had another shield that was soaking up damage.

"Get the Vault Thieves!" Some of the fans were leaping down from their stands, charging them now. Amara made short work of them with her shotgun, reloading it rapidly and—

"Amara! Look out!" She turned just in time to feel something shove her back, watching FL4K get struck directly by an electrical wave, sending the Beastmaster to the ground, sputtering for a moment.

"FL4K! Are you okay?"

"I'm quite fine," The Beastmaster whacked their head a few times. "My optic is just temporarily malfunctioning. It should be fine in a moment."

"You won't get one! AHHAHAHAH!" KIllavolt exclaimed; Amara wasn't going to give him the option. Another electrical wave came, this one at her. The Siren leapt over it easily as she clasped her fists together, Astral Arms forming around her as she slammed her fist into Killavolt's head, the fists all doing the same, over and over again, until the moron staggered backwards. His shields were obliterated, and he was in poor shape. The fight was clearly over, and honestly, it was at least entertaining.

Too bad it was Killavolt's last.

"You thought you were hot shit," Amara clenched her hand, one of her Astral Arms clamping down around Killavolt's neck. "But now you'll be in a ditch." And then she squeezed, ending the man's life in a gruesome, bloody display.

"All fizzle, no sizzle—as always, Kenneth," Moxxi chided via ECHO. "Good riddance! Take his backpack, Vault Hunters. I got just the place for it. And Zane, I'll be glad to help you with your special problem when you get back."

Amara was still curious as to what Moxxi meant, but it sounded like she was going to get her answers back at the bar.

Or at least she hoped she would.

FL4K was…moderately amused by Moxxi's idea. She used KIllavolt's backpack to power an outhouse dedicated to him; the Killer Crapper or whatever she decided to call it. It was an amusing play on words and a fitting memorial for someone so dishonorable.

A shame the head was gone; they wanted it as a trophy, but Amara destroyed it. FL4K was fine, though. Such a trophy would have been gross to look at, anyhow, considering the prey's life. They could also hear Moxxi congratulating and praising the others, but they were fine to not be included for now. They were just questioning why they didn't bring their pets.

Then again, FL4K didn't want their beasts eating junk food.

"As for your problem, Zane, I'll be glad to pull some strings and see what I can do, sugar. Feel free to drop by this bar, or the one above." FL4K turned around as the Operative and the others were leading, the Beastmaster speeding up to catch up with them.

"Zane, what was the issue you requested Moxxi's aid with?" The older man just shrugged.

"Somethin' for a friend up in Sanctuary. Don' worry 'bout it." FL4K was still confused by what that meant, but it sounded like they weren't going to get an answer.

Oh well. It was probably nothing anyhow.

"…and that's the gist of it. Seems like you're needed once again to save the galaxy, though the stakes couldn't be higher." He gripped his ECHO in hand, listening to all of this with the biggest grin imaginable on his face. "I'll be sending some messages to the others, seeing if they're down to help out and—"

"Don't bother, Moxxi," He cut her off, making no effort to hide the glee in his voice. "They're down. We've been waiting for a chance like this for years, and we ain't gonna let it go to waste." He was already gearing up as he moved, picking up his guns and slinging them onto his back.

"Good to hear, sugar. Head to Promethea however you can. Oh, and one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you shave before you get down there, Axton. You look like a hobo." The Commando simply grinned.

"Chicks dig the beard, Moxxi. But I'll at least trim it up. Gotta look great for a reunion, after all."

(I was almost not going to upload today; what with it being the day after Christmas. But, things happened, and so I decided to at least give a bit of major plot while having the Vault Hunters handle a side quest. Seeing where that went.

Also, to address a question someone asked, there aren't any Fast Travel or New-U stations. The reason being that, as far as I recall, both were operated by Hyperion, and with them withdrawing from that part of space, both would fall into disarray and disrepair, making them dangerous to use. That, and they take out any tension as, anytime, the Vault Hunters can return home, instead of having to stick around on a planet until they were done.

But, for now, thanks for reading, and happy holidays!)