New Perspective ~ A Handsome Jack x Reader Story

Chapter Two ~ You're Cornered and Screwed, Respectfully

          "How's that working out for you, sweetcheeks?"

          Shit. 

          You looked up at Handsome Jack, a rifle resting on his shoulder, locked and loaded. What do you do now? You were in way over your head. Eyes glued on the megalomaniac in front of you, you fumbled for your gun. Jack's eyes followed your hands and chuckled, kicking the gun away from you. "No ya don't!" He snickers, now kneeling in front of you while you glanced back at your only chance of surviving. 

          "Shit..." you mumbled under your breath, looking back at Jack's masked face. He just smirked at you, enjoying your distressing state. Then, suddenly, he stood up. 

          "Well, I have to say I'm pretty surprised you Vault Hunters were able to pull this off for this long! I hate to say it, but I'm gonna have to shut down your little shit-fit," Jack says, now pointing his rifle at you. "Hope you understand, though, I could care less if you didn't." 

          In a moment of desperation, you harshly kicked your foot at Jack's shin right as he shot the rifle. This startled Jack, causing him to jump back and miss his shot, the bullets landing right beside your head. Taking your chance, you scrambled up and ran down the hall. You heard Jack grumbling curses as your rounded the corner, running through the door Jack appeared in. Hoping Jack would decide you were insignificant, you stumbled and hid behind some boxes. You paled as your hands grazed your empty holster, realizing that you left your gun in the hall. Cursing at yourself, you stumbled farther in the room, looking for something to protect yourself with. The walls and ground shook as Tina's bombs went off in the halls of the station, causing you to stumble more and fall to the ground. You pushed yourself to stand as you realized your friends' plans. They weren't just going to attack the station, they were going to destroy the station. And you were in it. 

          A state of panic washed over you as you came to the conclusion: you had to get the hell off of Helios. Darting your eyes around the room, you spotted a console that you quickly rushed to. Landing your hands on it, you glazed your eyes over the screen, searching for anything that would lead or hint to an escape pod. The ground shook again, knocking you to your knees. Grabbing the console, you pulled yourself to your feet. Taking one last look at the console, you spotted a button labeled 'prepare escape pod.' You slammed your hand down on it, hearing the gears work somewhere in the room as something that sounded large started lumbering to position. You stepped back from the console, finally able to compose yourself. This moment of relaxation quickly came to an end when you felt a hard hit on your back. You stumbled into the console, the wind knocked out of you. 

          "Sneaky little prick, aren't you?" Jack growled from behind you. You glanced back and down to his legs, as you realized he was leaning more on his right than his left. You took note that you did do damage when you kicked his shin, as he clearly had a limp. Your chest rose up an down as you took deep breaths, watching his eyes wander the console. "An escape pod, huh?" He mumbled, raising an arched eyebrow, "hmm... not a bad idea, cupcake~" He hummed, stepping away from you. 

          You watched as he walked to the other side of the room, where the lumbering loud object from earlier landed. It had turned out to be an escape pod, as Jack stepped up to a keypad beside the door. Grasping your surroundings, you began to move your legs towards Jack as his back was turned. "You see~" he called out, tapping on the pad, inputting a code, "even if you were to successfully knock me out and crawl over here with what strength you would have left, you wouldn't be able to open the pod!" You growled under your breath as he spoke, staggering closer and closer to Jack. 

          As the door to the pod popped open, Jack turned around just in time to see you a few feet away from him, ready to fight one last time. Jack cackled at you, pressing on the key pad to initiate a launch countdown of ten seconds. "As hilarious as it would be to knock you down to the ground a second time, I've got a pod to escape in. I doubt you would have a chance. Hope your death isn't as painful as the others~" Jack chuckled, turning his back to you again. 

          That was a mistake. 

          Summoning all the energy you had left in you, you pounced forward and tackled Jack from behind. He yelped as you both wobbled for a few moments, finally toppling into the escape pod together. Pulling back, you watched Jack's face contort into anger as he attempted to push you out of the pod. However he was too late, as the door sealed itself. He pushed you off of him, attempting to pry the door open so he could kick you out. He then lost his balance as the escape pod detached itself from its holder, preparing to shoot off to Pandora. Jack's spun around to you, anger clear on his face. 

          "You bastard..." He huffed out, glaring at you. You shifted away from him, to the other side of the pod. 

          "W-We're both escaping together, you can't kill me," you forced out, trying to sound confident. 

          "Ah but we'll see about that.." Jack grumbled, reaching out his hands to strangle you. He didn't get to, however, when the pod completely detached itself from the station. Jack yelped once more as he tripped, hitting the ground in front of you. He made a sound that could only be described as a disgruntled breath. Before he could get up, the pod shifted once more, causing now you to lose your balance and topple to the ground beside him. The pod shook constantly as it began to hurtle towards Pandora, neither of you got a chance to balance yourself enough to stand. Lifting your head against the pressure, you met eyes with Jack. His expression was clear, as he mouthed the words with a scrunched up nose, 'I'm gonna kill you.' Before you got a chance to react, the pod rocked and knocked both of you against one of its walls, resulting in the both of you passing out. You both lay there, unconscious, as the pod hurtled toward Pandora.