They had a plan, and it was time to carry it out.
Seto knew their chances of freedom were slim, but it was too late to back out.
The floor panel had been difficult to pry into at first, but once he made a few dents in the metal, it was like molding clay. He had to work quickly, taking a long time was not an option. If the guards took him out of the cell, there was a chance someone would see his handiwork.
Greer and Seto knew the patrols well, they had memorized them. The guard patrols were too dangerous due to them being made up of two guards, they would need to try and attack the singular guard that fed them.
The half human grunted as he wrenched the panel forward, the slight screeching sound it made making him freeze in fear. When no guards appeared, he looked down under the panel and let out a thankful grin. He had been right, the generator for the forcefield was underneath their cells.
He looked up at Greer and nodded his head. The quilled alien returned it, and then scooted to the edge of his cell. Their plan was ready, all they had to do now was wait for an opening to strike.
As they sat quietly, Seto's fears began to rise up in his mind. It wasn't the first time he had faced a life or death situation, but this time it was different. There was no magic, there was no Yugi to save the day. It was only him, Greer, and whoever else may follow. If they failed, there was no going back.
Giving up isn't an option, I can't let these bastards win. Seto forcefully reminded himself as he placed his hand where his necklace would be. Mokuba, Yugi, everyone… Please, give me the strength to succeed.
His thoughts were cut off at the sound of rolling wheels. He leaned forward and looked towards the left of their cells. The door had opened, the guard who fed them was walking down the hall with the cart of meals.
Seto felt his heartbeats speed up as he turned his gaze to Greer. He could see his own determination reflected in his friend's eyes. It's time. There's really no going back now. Seto thought, his hand positioned at the generator. I'm… I'm ready.
The guard's cart rolled into view, and their captor turned his back to Seto as he moved to give Greer his food. At that moment, Seto's grip on the small generator tightened, and he pulled with all his might. A surge of pain traveled through his veins before he finally managed to wrench the generator free, and seconds later forcefield trapping him in the cell was gone with a weak buzz.
The guard turned towards the sound, but he was too slow. Seto grabbed the back of the guard's armor and shoved him forward, his body hitting the forcefield on Greer's cell. He then pulled the struggling guard backwards, throwing him into the empty cell he had occupied moments ago.
The guard hit the wall with a loud clang, but recovered quickly and hurriedly reached for the weapon on his waist. Seto felt his heart seize, but he couldn't allow himself to panic. He grabbed the heavy cart the guard had been pushing and shoved it forward with all his strength. It crashed into the guard, who released a shriek of pain before going still.
The hallway was silent in the wake of Seto's victory, until Greer let out a loud, victorious howl. "Hah! Take that you bastards!"
Seto's eyes looked from side to side, but the hallways were still empty. He turned towards his friend, holding a finger up to his mouth. "We're not out of danger yet!" He whispered. "Let me get you out, and we'll go from there!"
His eyes scanned over to the small screen by the door, it displayed the image of a handprint. He had seen the Karalis use it many times, so he knew what to do. As quickly as he could, he dragged the unconscious guard over to the door, pulled off his glove, and pressed the limp hand against the screen.
There was a pleasant chiming sound, and then the forcefield trapping Greer was gone. The quilled alien was quickly to hurry out of the cell, his eyes wide with a mixture of glee and anxiety. "I'm… I'm out!" He looked at Seto and gave a sharp-fanged smile. "Thank you. Now let's get what we can off that guard and get everyone out!"
Seto gave a slight nod, and then looked back down at the guard. He grabbed what armor he could, the chestplate and the helmet. To his dismay, the helmet was too damaged to wear thanks to the cart's impact, but the chestplate would work. When he looked away from the helmet, he found himself, for the first time, staring at an unhidden Karalis face.
Their skin was the same viridian green that half of Seto's body was colored, with pointed ears that spiked upwards three times. Their neck had lines around it, and their nose were merely slits. Their hair was a darker shade of green, and sharp, white teeth.
"So that's what they look like…" Greer whispered next to him in awe, and then let out a snort. "Dunno why they hide, their personality is just as ugly as their faces. Now, quick, put him in my cell before he wakes up!"
Seto began to lift the body, but stopped at his companion's request. "How will we open the other cells?"
"There's a button to open all the cells, they've used it a few times since I've been on here. I think it's by the exit to the prison block." Greer grabbed the gun by the broken cart, checking the ammo. "They've dragged you out enough times, right? You know where that is?"
Seto nodded and pointed to the right. "The way they take me is that way, let's go!"
They didn't know how much time they had, so the two hurried to the end of the long corridor. Along the way, many other prisoners trapped in their cells took notice of the odd sight. An anxious murmur fluttered around the corridor, it seemed nobody knew how to react to a potential escape.
"There!" Seto whispered, pointing to two panels on the wall. One was used to open the elevator to exit the prison block, but the other likely opened all the cells.
Greer's brown eyes brightened excitedly, only for his face to fall moments later. "Shit, it's the handprint again! We're not going to get all the way back in time, what do we do?!"
The half human felt the same despair as his friend, but then an idea popped into his head. He remembered what the scientist had said, Seto had fused with their own DNA when they were attempting to invade Earth. He brought his viridian green hand up, and wondered. If he was half-Karalis, then maybe…
He reached out, and pressed his hand against the second screen. After a tense moment, the pleasant chime rang out again. Greer and Seto let out similarly surprised gasps, and spun around just in time to witness all the force fields disappear.
"You did it, Seto, you did it!" Greer exclaimed as he ran forward, waving to the confused prisoners. "Come on, everyone! Let's get out of here!"
But none of the prisoners moved to approach them. In fact, several of them moved to return to their cells without even reacting to their potential freedom. Seto and Greer exchanged a concerned glance before they returned their focus to the prisoners.
"Why aren't you coming out? You're free, let's go!" Greer tried again.
In the prison cell closest to them, a lavender alien with four spindly arms let out a loud scoff. "What's the point? As soon as the Karalis find out what you've done, they'll kill you, and if we tried to escape with you, they'd kill us too! Nothing will change. If we stay in our cells, we won't get punished, and our families will be safe. It's…" His dark purple eyebrows knitted together. "It's better this way."
Several other prisoners nodded their agreement, a somber feeling covering them all like a blanket. Even Greer seemed rather put down by the lavender alien's words, the hopelessness that the others felt was almost too overwhelming to stop.
But all that it left Seto feeling was anger. He let out a frustrated growl, and moved to stand next to Greer. "Cowards! All of you!"
The crowd of prisoners jolted at his loud voice, their eyes turning to him.
"Do you really believe that sitting in these cells is what's best? You know that's not true! Even if they won't kill you now, that's where you're headed! And your families will be the next to die, it doesn't matter what promises the Karalis told you. People like them won't stop until they have whatever they want, even if it means killing everyone in their path!"
Greer made an affirmative noise. "The Karalis killed my brother, they promised my family peace after his death, and yet here I am the same as you all! They do not care for their promises, they care for power, and if we don't rise up against them then they will never stop!"
Near the front of the crowd of prisoners, a small red alien with scattered white spots allowed her voice to rise up. "How does that change anything? Even if we fight, we're all going to die anyways."
"You don't know that, we could take over this ship, we could destroy it, or we could die, but we will never know unless we try!" Greer exclaimed with a gentle smile in an attempt to pass his hope onto others.
The crowd was no longer silent, several hopeful whispers began to emerge, but it wasn't enough just yet. Seto knew they needed more encouragement before they chose the admittedly dangerous option they were presenting.
Seto sighed and reached his hand up, to where Mokuba's locket would have been. "I have a brother. He's on Earth, a planet the Karalis were trying to take. I fought back, without even realizing who the Karalis were. But, now that I know…" He clenched his fist, and turned to stare at the crowd with a determined expression. "I'm not going out with a fight! They may kill me, they may attack my planet, but if I stand against them and die today, at least I can die knowing that I fought to protect what I love!"
Greer's ears perked up, and he raised his fist into the air "Seto's right! And if some of us survive, we can take our victory to other planets! We can inspire others to fight back! We can take down the Karalis together! Now, who will fight with us?"
There was a long stretch of silence as everyone digested their words. Then, to the surprise of everyone, the first one to step forward was the four-armed alien who denied them in the first place. His green eyes looked at both Greer and Seto, and then he nodded. "I will fight with you!"
"I will fight with you!" The next alien, the red one with white spots, exclaimed.
The somber mood was gone, and replaced with burning determination as many more of the prisoners began to crowd closer and call one after another.
"I will fight with you!"
"I will fight with you!"
"I will fight with you!"
The duo felt invigorated as they looked at the crowd of prisoners and the newfound hope on their faces. Seto felt a smile rise onto his face as he raised his fist and declared,"Then let's do this, together!"
The usual silence in the grey corridor of the Karalis ship was broken unceremoniously at the sound of the elevator opening. None of the guards paid it any mind, it wasn't odd for guards to move from floor to floor. What they couldn't ignore was the sound of a blaster, and the collapse of one of the guards.
All the guards spun around, and found a crowd of prisoners pouring out from the elevator. Seto Kaiba and Greer at the front, with the quilled creature holding the blaster that had shot one of their guards. "Surprise!"
The nearest Karalis guard reached for his gun the same time that Seto charged forward, his green hand forming into a claw that slashed straight through the armor. As the guard stumbled, the half human grabbed his blaster and quickly shot at the guard several feet away.
All the prisoners burst forward as another group emerged from the elevator, the corridor breaking out in several violent fights.
The lavender creature used all four of his arms to his advantage, grabbing two guards and slamming them against each other to use their bodies as a shield. The small red alien with white spots followed behind until she found her chance, grabbing the guard's knife the lavender alien handed her and using her strong legs to leap high into the air and throw, the knife sinking into another guard's helmet.
As the prisoners began to force their way further down the hall, the doors in the corridor began to open and several more guards emerged. Seto barely avoided a blast as he scrambled backwards, a second blast hitting a green alien nearby in the head, who collapsed instantly.
Shit! Seto thought as the guards began to storm forward, their weapons were ranged and they were aiming for as many of them as possible. He held the Karalis body against him as a shield, but he didn't know how much it would help. Had they lost already?
A loud, guttural roar exploded down the hall, and made several of the guards freeze. Seto's eyes widened at the sight of the elevator, the large yellow creature the guards had struggled to imprison had finally gotten his turn in the elevator, and he looked angry.
The guard nearest to the creature frantically turned and shot a blast at the yellow creature. The red blast hit, and left a dark mark on the tough skin, but the creature barely stumbled. The red eyes turned to face the guard and, with a roar, he sprinted forward.
His clawed hands slammed into the guard's small body and sent him flying, he crashed into two guards further down the hall, their weapons clattering out of their grasp. Seto could hear Greer let out a victorious cheer as the fighting began again.
Seto dove forward and grabbed two of the guns, tossing them towards the lavender alien. He caught them in his two free arms and gave a yellow-toothed grin, before he began shooting with surprising accuracy at the panicked guards.
They pushed the guards past the window, and near the large metal door that led to the laboratory, the same one where Seto was constantly tortured by that damned scientist. A burning anger rose up inside of him, and he found that he couldn't help himself. He shoved the door open, and pointed the blaster as he stepped inside… But the room was empty, it seemed the scientist was gone.
The half human let out a sneer, but the sound of a blaring alarm stopped him from exploring the room further. He left the laboratory, and found himself in a corridor bathed in red light. He looked towards the wall at the alarm.
"Sounds like they know we're on our way!" Greer called from by his side.
Seto let a smirk return to his face as he held the blaster closer. "Then we shouldn't keep them waiting, should we?"
The group made their way further down the hall, which is farther than any of them had been before. They skidded to a stop at a crossroads, with a Karalis sign showing which led which way.
The red alien let out an angered noise. "Stupid Karalis language! Can anyone read it?!" She demanded, the knife covered in purple blood clenched tightly in her grip.
Nobody seemed to know what to do, until Greer turned to Seto. "You can use the doors, can you read the signs?"
Seto was about to shake his head, but he decided that he should at least try. He stepped past the group and up to the sign. For a few moments it simply looked like squiggles, but after he blinked a few times, he found he was able to understand what it was saying. Whoa...
"The cockpit is to the left, and it looks like storage and guard barracks are to the right!" Seto managed to explain after getting over his surprise.
The crowd of prisoners let out excited noises as they hurried to the left, but Greer didn't follow them. The quilled creature remained static for a moment, and then burst off in a sprint to the right.
"G-Greer? Greer!" Seto called, and hurriedly ran after his friend.
Somehow they managed to get by with only a few guards, all of which were quickly shot down by the duo. Then, once they reached the storage area, the porcupine creature began to furiously dig through all of the crates and cabinets.
Seto stayed by the door, glancing outward for any threat. "Greer, what are you doing?!" He hissed in irritation.
"It has to be here! It has to be!" Greer whispered as he tossed aside another box and dragged another forward. "I'm not leaving unless I find it!"
"Find what?!"
"Aha!" Greer gasped in excitement as he jumped up, holding up a bronze colored chain that had a singular, shining blue gem on it. "I found it!"
Seto lowered his gun slightly and frowned. "A necklace?" He questioned,"Are you serious right now?"
Greer quickly put the necklace on. "Of course I am! This necklace was from my family, my parents made it for me when I was born, and I've had it since. It's a tradition, I couldn't leave it behind if I knew it might be here!"
The half human's anger melted away in an instant. I shouldn't be mad at him, if I knew Mokuba's locket could be in here I would have done the same. But there's no way it could have survived the explosion. He stepped towards his friend, clasping a hand on his shoulder and giving him an understanding nod. "I'm glad you found it, now let's go!"
The duo ran out of the storage room, only to be forced to a stop as they found themselves surrounded by guards, all their guns aimed at their heads. They froze and raised their hands, and Seto cursed their luck.
Before the guards could pull the trigger, Greer's hand moved down and shoved Seto to the floor. As he hit the ground, he watched as his friend spun around in a circle, his quills shooting off his head and landing in the guards. Some managed to pierce through the armor, others didn't, but it started them enough for Seto to get an advantage from his place on the floor.
He turned and shot at several of the guards, with a now stationary Greer doing the same. When the guards had fallen, Seto quickly got back on his feet, grabbed Greer's hand, and burst into a sprint.
They followed after the rest of the prisoners, and found them in a large group, with more guns than before shooting at the guards, while the yellow creature clawed through many of them like an unstoppable barrier.
They came upon another crossroads, and Seto quickly pointed to the right. "Cockpit is this way!" He read aloud, and the crowd hurried to follow the signs. They rounded a few more corners which were oddly clear of guards, only to skid to a stop at the sight of a dead end. What?!
When the crowd turned to go back, they found a blast door sliding closed just before the last corner, trapping them all in a long slice of the corridor. Shit! They've got us!
Among the frightened chatter from the group of prisoners, a voice rang over the intercom, one that chilled Seto's blood… The Scientist.
"Now, now. While I must admit that I found this whole escapade of yours quite entertaining, it is time for this to end. You've had your fun, now either die where you stand or return to your cells, and I may show mercy."
Seto growled. "Mercy? Mercy?! What kind of mercy is that? More time for you to stab me with your damned needles? A few more weeks of stewing in a tiny cell before you actually kill us? You call that mercy?!"
"I call it the more… Favourable option, Seto Kaiba. I would implore you to take it, or you will have to watch all your little friends die."
It was unspoken, but Seto still caught the implication anyways. At his change in expression, he heard the scientist let out a sickening laugh.
"Ah, I always forget how intelligent you can be, it must be the Karalis in you. You think I would kill you too? I cannot lose such an amazing test subject, but I can make you suffer even worse than you'd imagine if you do not surrender right now."
Seto's heart pounded against his chest, gripped by fear he hadn't been prepared to feel. He wanted to go back to Earth more than anything, but if the Karalis were going to keep him for their own twisted science experiments, then he would rather die.
He panted and backed up, looking around for any way to escape the situation. There were doorways, could any of them lead anywhere? He hurriedly read the signs, and froze. It seemed that the Karalis didn't realize where they had trapped them… The Engine Room door was right next to them.
Seto turned and pressed his hand on the screen, and the door chimed for a moment before sliding open. But before he could walk through, he heard the scientist yell,"NO!" And the door quickly began to slide shut again.
It never got to finish shutting, because the large yellow creature's clawed hands quickly grabbed against the doorway, the strong claws sinking into the metal and tearing the door straight off.
"Whoa…" He looked up at the creature and nodded. "Thank you!"
"Stop right now! I'll send in the guards! I'll kill you all!" The Scientist exclaimed, his voice much more strained than before.
The lavender colored alien sneered as he followed after Seto. "If we're going down, we're taking you with us!"
"Our technology is too advanced for you! You'll never figure out how to control it!"
"We don't have to know how to control it!" Seto declared as he raised his blaster towards the large glowing engine in the middle of the room. "We just have to destroy it!"
His eyes scanned the machine, and caught sight of a red warning marking on a nearby valve. He turned his aim towards the valve, and pulled the trigger. Behind him, several others did the same until-
BOOM!
The force of the explosion sent the few in the engine room flying backwards. Seto's head hit the metal wall and his vision faded in and out as he scrambled backwards.
The engine was shuddering as the single explosion set off a chain reaction, heat filling the room as the few inside sprinted out the open doorway just in time for a second, larger explosion.
The whole ship shook, and several of them fell to the ground from the force. The alarm began to blare once more, and the blast doors suddenly flew open. There were no guards, but Seto could see the screens on the side flickering and glitching. The explosion damaged more than just the engine it seemed.
"I don't think the cockpit is a good idea anymore!" The small red alien called out among the panic.
Seto stumbled upward, his head throbbing as he tried to think past the pain. "We.. we have to." He forced himself to raise his voice. "The escape pods, they were to the left! We can make it!"
The crowd hurried back the way they came, taking down any more guards as they found their way to freedom. Along the way, they heard several more explosions, the ship began to shake even more.
Eventually they came to a large room with walls liked with escape pods on either side. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to get them off the ship before it exploded. "Everyone, hurry!" Greer called as they sprinted inside.
Suddenly, several of the escape pods opened up, revealing guards with the guns drawn. The gunfire began again as the prisoners were either gunned down or scrambled for cover. Seto and Greer dove for a nearby pile of crates, while those who didn't get shot hurried to do the same.
The yellow creature let out a roar and stormed forward, he managed to swipe a few times, knocking a few guards out before the blasts became too overwhelming and he crashed to the ground.
"No!" Seto exclaimed, turning to look at Greer. "What.. what do we do?!" .
Greer looked at him with the same fear, his hand going for his necklace. "We-"
Another huge explosion rocked the ship, one so violent that several of them were launched straight off their feet and to the floor or thrown from their hiding spots.
Seto hung on to Greer as their hiding spot was destroyed by the tremors. Not wasting any time with thinking of a plan, Seto hurried forward and grabbed the guns, sliding them backwards towards any of the escapees who may know how to use them.
Soon enough the blasts we're returned tenfold, and the guards on the ground were no longer moving. The group of prisoners, what was left of them, were unmoving for several seconds, afraid of more guards appearing, but none of them did.
Another tremor was enough to shake them out of their stupor, and Seto quickly stood up straight and motioned to the escape pods. "Hurry!" He yelled to the group,"This may be our only chance!"
The prisoners quickly dispersed somewhat, but tried their best to stay in small groups to protect themselves. The lavender and small red alien stayed together and hurried toward the yellow creature on the ground, while others ran to the nearest pods they could. Seto watched until everyone was in pods before running to follow Greer into one.
"How far away can we get in this thing?" He asked the quilled creature, who was staring at the screen with a panicked expression on his face.
"I-I I don't know! It's all in their language, I can't read it, you need to do it!"
"I don't know how to control the escape pod!"
"I can help you! Just tell me what it says!"
Seto felt his heart pounding as he took Greer's spot, his heart pounding. "Okay, okay, I- I can do this. It's… It's saying that the farthest distance it can do one jump before it will have to find a planet to land on… W-what's a jump?!"
"I'll explain later, just choose a jump point and hit go!"
The half human scanned over the planets, but he didn't know which to choose, which would be the safest, and they didn't have the time to go over each one. He chose a random planet called Derth, and the escape pod released a chime.
"Greer! We're going to-"
The sound of a blaster made Seto spin around, his eyes widening in horror as he turned to face his friend. Greer's brown eyes stared back at him, wide with shock as a red color began to stain the front of his prison clothes. He stumbled for a moment, and then fell forward. Standing behind him, a blaster held in his hand still, was none other than the scientist.
"No… No… NO!" Seto let out a loud yell, his hand formed a claw once more, and he charged, prepared to kill the Scientist for what he did.
He never got the chance. The Scientist slammed his hand against the button on the outside of the pod, and it slammed shut just before Seto could reach him. He let out a yell of rage and slammed his fists against the door. "NO!"
With a sudden jerking motion, the escape pod disconnected and took off towards the destination Seto had chosen moments before. But Seto didn't care, he didn't even check to make sure the Scientist hadn't somehow tampered with it.
Instead, he fell to his knees and pulled Greer's prone form into his arms, pressing his forehead against Greer's, his hand desperately pressed against his chest to feel the faint heartbeat pressing against it.
"No, no, no… Greer, please! Please!" He begged,"We're almost free, please! Hang on… Just a little longer!"
An eternity seemed to pass by before the escape pod arrived on the marsh planet called Derth. The pod began to burn overwhelmingly hot as it entered the planet's atmosphere, and an alarm began to beep as the escape pod lost control of itself.
It spun off course and crashed through several large trees before landing in the muddy waters and beginning to sink as steam hissed in the air. A banging sound could be heard several times before the door to the pod was forced open, and two bodies fell into the water.
Seto emerged from below the water with a gasp, struggling to swim as he held his friend's limp form in his other arm. It took nearly all his energy to drag them both onto a small patch of grass. He pulled Greer all the way on, and lifted up the man's shirt, gasping in shock at the wound. It was worse than he imagined, a hole by Greer's stomach and upper chest that went straight through him in both spots.
"No, no, no… Greer!" Seto cried out as he stumbled onto shaky feet, looking around the marsh. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY!"
But nobody came… It seemed they were alone, so Seto would have to do it himself. He knelt back down, his heart pounding as he began to tear Greer's shirt to use as a bandage, wrapping it around the holes the best he could.
Then, to his surprise, Greer's eyelids flickered and then opened. His brown eyes turned towards his friend, and he gave a weak smile. "S-Seto…"
Seto looked at him and quickly shook his head. "Greer, don't talk, save your strength. You're hurt…"
Greer let out a wheeze laugh, and shook his head slightly. "No… I need to… I need you to…" He reached up to his neck, for the necklace wrapped around it, but his shaking hands couldn't remove it. "Help…"
The half human gently unclasped the necklace and then pulled back, holding it in his palm for Greer to take. The quilled creature slowly reached out, and brought his hands to Seto's fingers, pushing them to curl around the beautiful necklace.
"...Take it." He whispered.
Seto felt his eyes begin to burn with tears, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. He furiously shook his head. "No, I-I can't! I can't…"
Greer gave his hand a weakened squeeze. "Y-you are not a friend, you are f-family, a brother. P-please… I want you to… To take it... To remember me... "
Seto blinked back tears, he wanted more than anything to deny that Greer was going to die, but he couldn't ignore what was right in front of him. He brought both of their hands together, and squeezed tight. "I-I will… I promise. I'll always remember you, Greer."
"Ah.. Good…" Greer smiled, and turned his head towards the star filled sky above them. "Oh, Seto. Freedom… The stars… It's all so… Beautiful…"
The weak grip on his hand went slack, and Greer's breathing stopped. Seto stared down at his friend- His brother's -happy face silently, his own shaking hand reached out and closed the brown eyes that were filled with life mere moments ago.
Then, for the first time in a long time, Seto lowered his head, and allowed the tears he was holding back to fall free as he descended into mournful sobs.