Chapter 2. What Must Come To Pass

"This blows…" Axton muttered to himself as he scratched at his little black box strapped to his belt; his fingers itching closer and closer.

The three Vault Hunters—Axton, Maya and Lilith—were on their journey to investigate the case of the Eridium mining sites. The mining of Eridium had ceased once Handsome Jack was dead—since he was the one mining it all—but now they were being started up again.

Either someone REALLY likes Eridium, or someone's picking up after Handsome Jack left off. Maya thought as she stalked across the sand, her combat boots kicking sand into the air as she walked across the dusty terrain. And that would be rather disastrous.

Lilith was by her side, watching from the corner of her eyes as the blue-haired siren frowned obviously in deep thought, her expression hardening by the second. Lilith was thinking about her Siren sister.

So much…Bullshit had conspired in the last few weeks. Maya had been through so much and she had the scars to prove it.

She's changed, everyone knew that. But she changed even more when Krieg had become lost to sanity once again.

Maya noticed Lilith watching her, so she shook herself of her thoughts and tried her best to go back to her normal self.

A loud roar was enough to make the Vault Hunters instinctively reach for their weapons.

"Skags," Lilith muttered, shaking her head slightly.

"Don't worry ladies, the Commando will-" Axton grinned as he swaggered up between the two sirens where he was cut off by Maya's fixed hand on his chest, pushing him back from going any further.

"No. This is the perfect opportunity to test our abilities together, Lilith"

A skag spotted the Vault Hunters, letting out a roar which alarmed the other skags, ready to charge once the Alpha gave the order.

Maya let her arm drop by her side and walked closer to the pack, not bothered by their aggressive growls as she neared.

"Yeah," Lilith smirked as she pushed past Axton. "'The Commando can sit this one out while the badass Sirens take care of a few dogs"

Axton stuck out his tongue at them as they turned their attention to the Skags. Axton muttered something about dogs and sirens under his breathe and walked back a few paces to avoid the slaughter to come.

The Alpha Skag let a high pitch roar and suddenly the entire Skag pack charged.

Both Sirens shared a rare smile as Axton watched from the sidelines.

"This will hurt!" Maya raised her glowing tattooed arm out and forced the Skags into her sphere of purple and black energy, willing her converge skill to suck in every Skag, sending them crashing into one another. Maya set her arm down, nodding approvingly at her work.

Lilith stepped up, activating her Phasewalk. The Siren said nothing as she blinked in and out of reality, making her way to her companions Phaselock bubble. Lilith blinked back into existence beside Maya where she did a clearing motion with both hands. Immediately, the sound of Skags being exploded filled their ears. Limbs flew left and right, seeming to miss the two Sirens as they watched, not fazed by the true gruesomeness of their actions.

Both Sirens kept their eyes locked on the Skags being ripped apart as they raised their hands and exchanged a fist pound.

"THAT," Axton said, making both Sirens to turn around. "IS," He ran towards them, a huge smile of his face, as his eyes twinkled in amazement. "AWESOME!" The Commando ran straight past the Sirens and towards a SMG littered on the ground.

Both Maya and Lilith looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Just admit it," Lilith said, continuing to walk, swerving past the blood and body parts scattered on the ground. "We're freaking awesome"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

With the other group

(A/N: Sorry guys it seems I forgot to include Salvador's name in the other group! So just to clear it up, Axton, Lilith and Maya are one group while Zero, Brick and SALVADOR are in the other!)

"SHOTGUN DRIVING!" Salvador ran to one of Scooter's Catch-A-Ride simulations.

"No way Slab," Brick's voice came. "As much as I love your style of killing them bandits, I'd rather not die by driving off the side of a cliff"

"WHAT?!" Salvador turned around to meet the larger man towering over him.

Salvador tried his best to stand tall, but the fact was, Salvador was not the tallest person in the world.

"Slab," Brick's said. "You're too damn short"

Salvador's face went bright red with anger. Brick turned to jump in the driver's seat when both men noticed that Zer0 was already seated inside.

A red hologram flashed a '0' symbol.

Both Brick and Salvador mumbled angrily, jumping onto the vehicle.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Moron!" Maya hit the accelerator, speeding over little sand hills and squashing a few skags at every turn.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Axton asked as the accelerator slowed to cool down. He was sitting in gunner while Lilith sat in the back, seeming to enjoy the wind against her face.

Maya paused, "Possibly"

"Great" Axton said bluntly.

"Oh shut up, Axton!" Maya said, "I know EXACTLY where we're going"

Axton's eyebrow rose. "Really? Where?"

Maya slammed her foot down on the accelerator once more. "Up" and with that, the vehicle flew up another sand hill causing Axton and Lilith to jolt violently in their seats, cursing the Siren as she shrugged them off with a maniac laugh and a daring smile.

"See? I told you I knew where we were going" Maya smirked, doing a flip out of the car. Axton and Lilith shook their heads, jumping from the vehicle as they rubbed their limbs.

"Fuck, Maya…Remind me NEVER to let you drive again" Axton wobbled awkwardly off, rubbing his arm.

"I think I'll Phasewalk next time…" Lilith moaned as she rubbed her thighs.

"Pffft," Maya let out, "That's how awesome people drive"

The three Vault Hunters continued on their way. They came to the location of an Eridian mine and quickly set to work.

Time skip

"Oh my FUCKING god, Axton!" Maya shouted, covering her ears to block out the screams of terror. "JUST FUCKING KILL HIM ALREADY!"

Axton twirled a dagger around his fingers, smiling at his companions outburst. She's funny when she's angry, but she's downright SCARY when she's pissed off.

Usually, Maya didn't mind the sweet screams of torture. She rather enjoyed it. Watching as bandits begged for their pathetic lives. But a menacing headache had started to develop, and she couldn't handle the throbbing it caused.

With one swift move, the Commando lunged the knife into the Rat's knee, earning some more screams of pain. Axton, still gripping the handle of the dagger, started to push the knife further into the Rat's knee, almost trying to dig out the flesh.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Fuck this!" Maya marched up past Axton, grabbed the Rat's head, and turned it sharply to the left. The Rat's body slumped off the chair, his hideous mutated body limp.

"Meh," Axton shrugged. "We got all we needed anyway"

"Fuck me…" Maya muttered under her breath, shaking her head as she walked back towards Lilith who was busy looting some Eridian, thankful for the silence of high pitch screams.

Axton stood and made his way over to the Rat to grab his dagger stuck in his knee. "Thanks, mate" Axton mockingly pat his back.

The commando ran outside to follow his two Sirens. Axton smirked devilishly as a sudden thought entered his mind…

"Hey, Maya!" Lilith called to her Siren sister, waving her over with a hand. Maya jogged over towards her.

"What's up, Lil?"

Lilith pulled out a good chunk of Eridian she had collected and handed it to Maya. Maya shook her head, stepping back, "You know that stuff doesn't work on me"

"Just take it, M. In case of an emergency" Lilith said.

Maya could feel a soft tingling feeling, making its way throughout her body. It engulfed her slowly, making the small hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and her fingers twitch with sudden energy.

"Just for emergencies" She nodded, reaching out her hand to grab the element.

The light feeling suddenly became more sudden, like smooth electricity had shocked her body. And for some reason, she loved it.

Maya took the purple glowing substance and stuffed it into the bottom of her front pocket, feeling its cold surface buzz against her skin.

Lilith watched curiously as Maya stuffed the Eridian into her pocket. Just beyond her, Lilith watched as Axton attempted to sneak up on Maya.

Axton put one index finger to his lips, continuing to advance on the blue-haired Siren.

Lilith resisted the urge to shake her head.

"If it does work though," Lilith got out, shaking herself of her thoughts, "Look out for some more awesome powers"

"RAAAA!" Axton jumped Maya.

Instinctively, Maya's arm glowed a light blue and Axton was immediately caught into one of Maya's Phaselock's.

"FUCK, AXTON!" Maya yelled angrily, seeing her companion suspended in thin air. Maya let her Phaselock drop, sending Axton to face plant the ground and swallow a mouthful of dirt.

"I COULD HAVE KILLED YOU!"

Axton shook himself off, spitting out crumbs of the ground. "Yeaaaaaah," The Commando said, "I don't think Maya needs anymore powers"