April 6th, 2018, Friday
Pidge let her fingers glide over the keys of her computer, silence enveloping everything. She sighed to herself, leaning her head backwards.
The other Paladins were currently visiting with Lotor; save Shiro, who was doing who knows what elsewhere, so she was alone.
She rubbed her scalp for the third time in as many minutes, considering going to find Shiro. She wanted someone to talk to, and, although she didn't want to admit it, (like, ever,) he was the closet, most patient friend she had. Pidge sighed, collecting her equipment. She should probably head to her room and get some shut eye, she was exhausted.
Pidge stretched, letting her arms reach over her before starting for the door.
She was amazed how the castle could simply read her mind and open up doors.
Pidge wondered if she should have just brought along her computer, instead if this towering stack of tools, computer chips, Bayard, wires, a few connectors, and one gauntlet.
The lights flickered off above her, and she groaned, guessing that it was the night cycle. Was it that late? All she wanted was a simple nap…
In the dark, she tripped over her feet, dropping her building of supplies. An arm steadied her, and an exasperated voice greeted her.
"Be careful, Pidge. You could have hurt yourself. You okay?"
"Thanks, Shiro. I'm fine-." Pidge cut herself off, letting the last sound linger on her tongue for a moment more as she stared at the ground, at the arm her hands clutched. And at her hands.
Yellow. Everything was tinted yellow.
She raised her head, sucking in a breath when her eyes met cold, yellow ones.
Pidge felt her Bayard appear in her hands, teleporting from the floor. She snarled, raising her fist to strike Kuron, anger blurring her gaze.
Kuron grabbed her electric spade in his metal grip, prying the Bayard from her hands and tossing it away like a rag doll in two seconds flat.
Pidge reached our her hand to summon the Bayard again, but Kuron grabbed her hands, shoving them behind her back, making her squirm.
Pidge thought of Shiro, letting a cry arise from her mouth. She hoped that the coms still worked at night time.
Kuron grabbed her cheek bones, forcing her to face him. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his, her attention completely on him.
"You deserve to die a long, cold, lonely death, girl," Kuron hissed, his fingers driving into her skin enough to draw blood, "after escaping my last attempt at your demise. And, judging by the sensors, there's no one here accept you and me."
The sensors picked up the DNA of anyone on the ship, projecting the results to a mini computer on every floor.
Pidge longed to scream at him that Shiro, the real Shiro, was here too. And that the DNA that the sensors mentioned was probably his, not the clone's.
"So now, you will die. But…" Kuron trailed off, his metal fingers beginning to glow. "Wouldn't it be better to destroy you, little by little? To haunt you…?"
Pidge stiffened, fear pounding in her chest. When Kuron said something, hs meant it.
"I…loath…you…" she hissed, and she could've sworn she heard her cheek bones crack from the effort.
"I know. I hate you, too." Kuron purred before letting his fist collide with her jaw.
Everything went fuzzy for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself alone in the hallway, tears of horror pooling on the ground, blood pouring from her mouth, (it was salty) and pain flaring through her stomach.
Her mind echoed thoughts of anger, bewilderment, and of worry. "Kuron. Kuron. Oh, Kuron Kuron Kuron." It chanted, and she folded into herself, sobbing.
She heard footsteps, not daring to raise her head for fear of meeting yellow eyes. She felt strong arms shake her, worry filling every jerk.
"Pidge? Pidge! Katie!" The voice was Shiro's…but should she trust it…? "Kathryn!"
That did it. Pidge opened her eyes, glancing up. Oh. It was Shiro. The real Shiro. HER Shiro. "Hey…Ta…Takashi…" she hated how weak her voice sounded, how tired she was. She felt her head begin to drop to the ground, but Shiro caught it.
"Pidge." Shiro grabbed her shoulders, forcing her into a sitting position. "What. Happened."
"Kuron." She gasped, a flash of yellow eyes crossing her memory, reminding her of all the pain the horrid clone had caused her. "He…he escaped…hates me." She groaned, her head nodding forwards, dipping for her chest.
"Quiznak." Shiro forced himself to look away from Pidge, his gaze encircling the room. "Yeah. Probably should have guessed…" he leaned Pidge against the wall, the unconscious girl slouching without his support.
He headed towards a green light in the far corner, outstretching a hand gently towards it.
The lights actually weren't supposed to be off, it was hardly noon. Kuron must have messed with the systems, causing a blackout. Shiro had to pry open his doors just to look around. Probably the Cryo-pods wouldn't be working either, just his-or rather Pidge's-luck.
He hadn't heard Pidge's cry of distress through the coms, he had come to see how she was doing. And, as was obvious, she was faring poorly.
He reached down-realizing that the light was the Green Bayard-, and scooped it up. It shrank down to it's classic form in his hand, and he sighed. Oh, Pidge.
Then a horrid thought accrued to him. Why hadn't Kuron finished her off? Unless he was coming back-!
Shiro pivoted with a start, his heart thumping. Pidge still lay in the slouched position, her head tilted away from him.
He sighed, scooping her up bridle style. He carried her over to his room, where the doors were still pried open. He had to force the doors closed behind them, and set her on his bed, frowning.
He had to finally admit it to himself, while Lance always seemed to have good luck, Pidge appeared to have the opposite. Bad luck.
The words made him inhale, gently glancing over at the sleeping child. She looked so tiny, so frail.
"Hmm…" Pidge shifted slightly, her eyelids twitching. "Ow…" her eyes flickered open, her eyes taking a moment to get adjusted to the dark, finally finding Shiro. "Uh. What happened…?"
"You said that Kuron attacked you…"
"Right…ow…so, boss, what's the plan?"
"Kuron must've broken the castle, it's a ship-wide power outage." Shiro frowned. "It's impossible to get into any room with prying doors open. So we're stuck. Why didn't he kill you?"
Pidge sucked in her breath, one hand wrapped around her stomach as she thrust herself into a sitting position. "He thinks, after his last attempt at killing me, that I somehow evaded death or something, so he wants me to suffer."
"Ah." Shiro nodded, pursing his lips. "I'll protect you, though."
"We can protect each other." Pidge insisted. "Listen, I can hack his arm, even from this distance. Then, when he's-"
"Pidge, I don't like this." Shiro interrupted, shaking his head.
"Shiro, I beat you once, I can do it again." Pidge insisted, crossing her arms.
Shiro nodded, remembering the painful memory. "Yeah. Okay, you hack, and I'll attack, got it?"
"Hmm." Pidge nodded, before frowning suddenly. "I may need my gauntlet."
Shiro held up her gauntlet, which he had found a few feet from Pidge's collapsed form just ten minutes earlier. "Like this?"
Pidge shook her head, smiling with a strained face. "You're magic, always have everything I need."
Shiro smirked, smiling. "Are you sure that you're okay? I can get some medicine from the infirmary for you."
"I…" Shiro didn't, nay, he COULDN'T have missed the flash of alarm that arose in Pidge's eyes. "…I…I'm FINE Shiro."
Shiro nodded, his eyes not leaving hers as he handed her the gauntlet. "Be careful. Don't over work yourself."
"Eh. It's an easy hack-!"
Shiro waved his hand dismissively, grinning. "Yeah, yeah. Get on with it."
A screen popped up in front of Pidge, and she clicked a few buttons, before tisk-ing under her breath. "Ugh, upgrades…"
"What?" Shiro peaked over her shoulder, and she easily shoved his head away, despite her weakened state, with one hand.
"Can't concentrate." She sniffed, shaking her head. Then, under her breath, she added, "Haggar. She keeps upgrading EVERYTHING."
"Pidge? Is there a problem?" Shiro asked, leaning close to her.
"Upgrades. Haggar somehow blocked every single possible way I hack his arm."
"They can't stay in the Zragon Base forever." Shiro huffed. The Zargon base was actually the main Galra command ship.
"Well…" Pidge began, hesitating. "They…can. Lotor had dorms on his ship for them."
"Oh." Shiro sighed. "So we're trapped."
"I suppose so-!"
The door began to open, sleek, grey fingers appearing as it was pried.
Pidge's Bayard appeared in her hand, and Shiro's Bayard began to glow from his hand's energy.
The door finally was opened just enough to reveal Keith's face. The ex-Paladin took a moment to take in Shiro, and Pidge, and then his knife lashed out. Shiro barely blocked with his arm, alarm flooding his face. In the next moment another Blade was on top of him, her balance upsetting his.
Keith grabbed his knife, holding against Shiro's throat.
Shiro, still shocked, could only stand there in confusion.
"Wait!" Pidge grabbed Keith's arm, everyone staring at her. Her hand was touching her neck, her eyes blazing. "That's Shiro. REAL Shiro, Keith. He's back."
"Oh." Keith's knife dropped from his hand, clattering to the floor.
The other Blade, who had been holding onto Shiro's shoulders, bracing her legs against his stomach, dropped off, releasing him.
"Sorry." She breathed, holding out her arm. "I'm Furita."
"So what's going on? Why's there no power?" Keith asked, ignoring everyone but Pidge.
"Kuron escaped." Pidge told him, sighing. "I don't know exactly what happened, except he has it out for me or somethin', and he-" Pidge to Keith, as quickly as she could, what happened in the week he was gone.
Shiro finally turned to them, frowning. "Okay, everyone, we need to-!"
"Is anyone else tired?" Furita interrupted, blinking.
"A little." Shiro admitted, frowning.
Pidge seated herself on the bed, glancing at the ventilation shaft, where she noticed a faint green mist. "Sleeping gas." She realized, but, by the time she turned to the others, the other three had already collapsed in exhaustion. A tick later, she dosed off, too.