Typhon took what happened to Troy well. Considering how some fathers reacted to him killing their kids, Zane expected a punch to the face or, with how short Typhon was, to the dick. Instead, he…didn't, yet Zane sort of wished he did…somewhat. Mainly because this was different. He didn't even like those parents, and most were completely fine with their kids going on to be murderers and thugs he had to put down. For Typhon? He was just trying to make the best of a shite situation, and Zane had to give him that.

The Operative focused. The others had dropped another Maliwan goon, and they were nearing the spot they began from. In a few moments, Zane and the others stood upon the massive pedestal…where Tannis was also waiting.

"The fuck—"

"What? I absolutely refuse to miss something like this," The weird scientist stated firmly. "…also I'm still curious on my compatibility with Mr. DeLeon."

"He's very devoted to his mate, even after her demise. Your chances are dismal, yet above zero." FL4K stated.

The keys were all placed down and a red, hard-light bridge formed, connecting them to the massive Vault Typhon spoke about earlier. The group moved along it, and as they walked, the massive doors slid open. Despite the tensions and risks before them, Zane still found the time to drink in the architecture…he wasn't one for history, but he was in one of the oldest places in the galaxy…so that was fun.

But, yeah, savin' the universe. Sightseeing could wait.

"This is all a dream come true…" Tannis sighed, almost giddily…though, really, giddily meant creepily, at least to Zane. "but we must focus. Typhon, how do we proceed?"

"Oh, real simple; just gotta find the Machine's control console. Let's start there."

Their travels took them across a stone bridge, with…well the architecture, somehow, just got more impressive the further they went.

"Damn…think a pic of this place'd sell for a fortune." Zane mused.

"Yep. Those Eridians, they never did anything small," Typhon spoke with a smile. "And that led to us gettin' a planet-sized machine to seal off an entire planet." Fair point.

The new room the team reached was bathed in eerie, red light, and had a massive…well structure in its center. One Zane went out on a limb and assumed to be the Machine Typhon kept referencing. There were other things scattered about as well, but for the most part, the Machine occupied Zane's focus.

"Still, this is a very complex and ancient machine…one I wish I had decades to study and dissect bit by bit…but time works against us, like it always does. Typhon, how do we begin?"

"Oh that's easy; slap each key down on those pedestals. It'll drain some energy from the Vaults on the other planets and BAM, Destroyer's sealed away again." Sounded…very simple.

Each of them grabbed a key and got to work. Zane set up the Eden-6 Key, Moze the Promethea one, Amara the Athenas one, and FL4K the Pandora one. The moment all the Keys were in place, like clockwork, more Guardians arrived, Guardians who were quickly killed, courtesy of the combined effort.

"Good thing I never told my daughter about this place—the one contingency I had set in case…well…THIS happened." Least he had a plan in place.

Zane blew apart another Guardian and slammed a fresh mag into his SMG. He wanted to ask why the fuck there were so many, but considering they were at a literal planetary superweapon, he expected resistance and then some.

Another Guardian exploded and they advanced on the control console for the Machine…only for several bright flashes to occupy their vision…and then followed by maddened screams. Screams Zane recognized all too well.

"Fuckin' cultists!" Moze called. A psycho got lit up and a zealot got set aflame. The group took cover behind more rocks as more cultists teleported in, appearing damn near everywhere.

"What the hell is this?" Typhon called, spawning a gun with his Fabricator, and then shooting a charging psycho. "You know these yahoos?"

"Cool trick, huh, dad? Say hello to my NEW family!" And there was Tyreen, throwing salt in the wound.

Typhon's face fell. "Shoulda known."

"We'll stop her, alright?" Amara assured the short man, reloading her shotgun and gunning down a cultist. "All we need to do is activate the console, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't think her friends'll give us the chance. Not unless someone distracts 'em."

"It's ain' very hard to distract a psycho, remember?" Zane chucked a grenade over his shoulder. "Either give 'em some meat, or give 'em someone else to fight. Observe." Zane popped out of cover and pointed at a psycho. "Oi! The one next to ya thinks yar a cunt."

"WHAT?! HOW DARE HE!" Said psycho charged and bashed the nearby cultist across the head, which led to a chain reaction of them fighting, stabbing, and otherwise gunning each other down. It also didn't help that the remaining Guardians moved to target them, which led to the remaining members of Tyreen's "happy family" getting mowed down.

Zane's relief vanished when even more bandits appeared, this time flanking them.

"Shite. Typhon! Tannis! Get up there and get that shite active. We gon' have to fight." The short man nodded and hobbled along, getting to the console along with Tannis and getting to work. Zane hopped behind more cover and went back to shooting, swearing up a storm when a grenade exploded nearby, knocking out his shields. "Someone cover me! I ain' got shields!"

"Gotcha!" Moze stood up and drew their fire, mowing down anyone approaching with her assault rifle. She ducked back down when her shields got popped as well, forcing her to recover them. "Fuck! They're not playing anymore. They really want this shit stopped."

"Poor fucks don' realize that means no more Pandora." Zane hissed as he reloaded. "Tannis! How much longer!?"

"Just a bi…oh no…" Zane whipped his head around, only for a shockwave to ring out. Both he and Tannis went rolling down the steps to the console, and sure enough, Tyreen stood at the top, holding the thing that powered said console.

"Aw, is this for me? You really shouldn't have." She sneered and crushed it in her hand.

"Fucking—" A blast of fire sent Moze flying back.

"Moze! You bitch—" The bitch teleported over and grabbed Amara by the neck. FL4K shot towards her, only to be struck as well, and when Zane readied his handgun, he got hit too, sending him to the ground with muffled grunts. She was different than Troy in that case; the fucker just stood around, prattling…she went straight to it.

CRACK!

Typhon's whip ensnared Tyreen by the neck. The bitch was yanked back, hands grasping the electrical whip holding her, yet she seemed…unable to escape from it.

"No use, starlight." Typhon said, holding onto the whip. There was no more wittiness and no more humor to his voice. Just firm, focused conviction. "Your mother helped me make this, specifically to deal with a Siren. Big shocker it turned out to be for now, right?"

"Grr…let me GO!" Tyreen growled, still trying to fight the whip.

"No. I let you go once, and look how that turned out? You're literally on the verge of ending the universe, all 'cause you wanna be the brightest star in the galaxy!"

"It's your fault! You kept us locked up here, gave us all those ideas! What'd you THINK happen, hmm? That we'd just LIKE being trapped forever on this heap of a planet?! Trapped with a washed up has been of a Vault Hunter?!"

Typhon firmly scowled. That struck a nerve. "I gave you what I could, and I worked from nothing."

"I don't care! Cause I'm gonna take WHAT'S MINE!"

Her hand enclosed around Typhon's neck and lifted him up. There was no more conviction on his face…just sorrow.

And then Zane saw the thing in his hand. A bomb.

"Then I'm sorry I didn't love you both enough, starlight."

And said bomb was detonated. There was a flash of light…but no boom. Zane got to his feet and saw an explosion, but it was tiny, and condensed…and then he realized Tyreen had, quite literally, Phaselocked the explosion, condensing it in place…and then she sent it at him, knocking him into a wall with a sickening crunch.

"Typhon!" Zane got to his feet with a stagger. Tyreen stared at the old Vault Hunter, and suddenly vanished; teleporting herself, and her remaining goons, away.

"FUCK!" Moze pushed herself up from the ground, nursing the burn on her shoulder. "We were THIS FUCKING CLOSE! And now that bitch just sabotaged the only thing that could stop that fucking universe ending shitstorm!"

"So…now what?" Amara coughed, holding on to her throat. "Where do we go from here?"

"You…do it the…old fashioned way."

The four of them turned towards the wounded man, slumped against the wall. Typhon clutched his chest, coughing up blood. Zane wasn't a doctor, but he knew the man wasn't in a good state. He wasn't gonna make it. "Stop her…at all costs…the old fashioned way."

"We'll…we'll do what we can." Moze's rage was gone, replaced with somberness. "Just…we'll try, at least."

"You ain't gotta try…you're Vault Hunters. You kill monsters. And…" Typhon trailed off, soon going into a coughing fit. "She's become one…so you know what ya gotta do. Just…promise me something."

"Anything." FL4K spoke.

"Don't be the last Vault Hunters. Don't let this be where…it…all…ends."

The little man closed his eyes, and Zane knew that was it.

"We won', bud…we won'." Zane sighed. "Alright, people, no way 'round it. We gotta get back to Pandora, and kill that bitch. Ain' gonna be easy, nor fun. But…well it's what needs to be done."

"For everyone she's hurt." Amara firmly nodded.

"For all the shit she's done." Moze growled.

"For the universe I've come to cherish." FL4K added on.

"And for the man right there who started all this shite. So, for Typhon, let's go finish this shite. Once and for all."


[Delayed cause of IRL circumstances. But here a short, but powerful chapter, detailing the moment we knew to come. Same issues as before; hard to make it work "feasibly" considering the Vault Hunters were in the room when this shit happened. So, I found a way to not only fix that, but make the confrontation more emotional.

I'll forgo reviews for now, but it's clear we're in the final stages of the story. Nearing the end.

Thanks for reading.]