**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)
Scarlett's heart was beating frantically as she and Acxa hopped out of the Double Trouble into one of the hangars of Ezor and Zethrid's cruiser. Thankfully, there were no other ships being stored here, and therefore no guards milling about.
"Who knew a trip to the market would turn into a stealth rescue mission," Scarlett said. "We're getting good at this sorta thing, aren't we?"
Acxa nodded. "It's just our luck that those two were the ones to find the paladins. If it were any larger fleet, we would be in trouble."
Scarlett hummed in agreement. She pulled up the blueprints of the ship on her gauntlet screens. "Okay…it looks like they're being held a few floors below us," she relayed, the cell block highlighted on the map. "What's the plan?"
"You go down and free them. They've had their weapons confiscated, so you'll need to retrieve those too," Acxa said, calm and composed as ever. "It's over for us if Zethrid and Ezor are alerted of our presence. I'll make my way towards the bridge and take out as many of the crew as I can. The more who are out of commission, the more time we'll have to escape."
"Meet back here and make ourselves scarce in the DT once the paladins are back in their lions?" Scarlett asked, and Acxa nodded. "Sounds good. See ya in a bit."
Running for the exit, the two hurried down the hall and split, heading their separate ways with their respective goals in mind.
Vargas ago, the Double Trouble had picked up a sudden signal from the edge of the system. The readings indicated it was about a day old, a fairly new message that was waiting for someone to hear it. Curious, Scarlett had tapped into it, only to nearly be knocked out of her seat as she heard Pidge's voice trying to contact her dad on Earth. She almost couldn't believe it until she ran several background checks on the signal, making sure that it did indeed come from the Green Lion of Voltron. It had been three decaphoebs. The paladins were back. They were alive.
Ditching their plans to go to the market, Scarlett and Acxa tracked the signal's source all the way to the Galra cruiser that had been taken over by Zethrid and Ezor. Unfortunately, the two warlords had recently found and captured the lions and the paladins. Now it was once again up to Scarlett and Acxa to rescue their friends from the cell of an enemy cruiser.
Coming to a halt at the next corner, Scarlett peeked down the hall. Standing guard in front of the elevator doors were two guards, armed with heavy blasters. She frowned and tucked herself out of sight once more.
"Alrighty. Let's try this then," she muttered to herself as she searched for a way into the ventilation system on her map.
Retracing her steps and going back the way she'd come, she stopped in front of a grate in the wall and yanked it out of place. She quietly slipped inside, shutting the entrance behind her, and was free to move forward. The trek was hot and cramped and dirty as she crawled and slid around in the vents, gradually making her way downwards. When she finally reached the prison level, she paused in front of the grate to peer down at the floor below where a single guard stood in front of an open cell. She stiffened at the sound of muffled voices coming from within the chamber and she held her breath as she listened in.
"Leave us alone!" It was Pidge. Scarlett stifled a squeal of relief, her eyes pricking with tears. It really was the paladins. They really were right here, right below her.
There was a sharp whipping sound and Pidge let out a startled yelp.
"Pidge!" That was Hunk.
"Let her go!" Keith.
Something slammed hard against the metal wall of the cell and Pidge hissed in pain. There were more metallic thuds as she kicked and thrashed against whatever was hurting her.
A scream was almost forced from Scarlett's lips as she suddenly felt something crawl over her legs. She whirled around, ready to face whatever ship bug had stumbled upon her in the darkness of the vents, only to be greeted by four familiar creatures. Platt, Chulatt, Plachu, and Chuchule squeaked softly as they gathered around her face, dancing along her arms and nuzzling her hands in uncontainable excitement. Even the space mice had returned.
Handling them gently, Scarlett hugged them close, sending good thoughts their way.
You four! You nearly scared me to death! she scolded with a half laugh. I'm so glad to see you again.
She was immediately met with a flurry of mental replies.
It's Scarlett!
Hello!
Welcome back.
You look so much older! Wow!
Let's rescue them.
I'm hungry. Do you have any food?
Scarlett swallowed a sigh. Let's focus on saving the paladins first, she encouraged them.
Another heavy bang against the wall below drew their attention back to the vent grate as the struggle within the cell continued.
"Answers!" This voice didn't belong to any of the paladins. It was Ezor. Scarlett's hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms. She and Zethrid were down there torturing them.
"We told you, he's – " Keith's voice was cut off as the entire cruiser abruptly lurched with an explosion from somewhere far off. The red emergency lights began to flash and an alarm blared overhead.
"Hull breach in hangar one. Lockdown sequence initiated," an automated voice reported over the loudspeakers.
Wee woo wee woo wee woo!
It went boom boom.
Perfect timing. All according to plan.
I'm still hungry.
Quiznak. What had Acxa done? Scarlett bit her lower lip as her mind reeled with possibilities, but she didn't dwell on any of them for long. Zethrid, Ezor, and one other pirate rushed from the cell to inspect the damage, the door swishing shut behind them. They'd only left one man behind to stand guard. This was her chance to free them. She had to trust that Acxa was okay and hadn't been captured while she completed her part of their mission.
Okay guys, Scarlett nervously prompted her rodent companions. Get ready to throw some hands in three…two…one!
She punched the grate out of place and it clattered loudly to the floor, rightly startling the guard. The mice leapt from the ceiling, latching onto his face and scratching at his eyes. He screamed, flailing around as he tried to pry them off. Dropping down to the floor in front of him, Scarlett landed a solid punch to his gut, sending the air rushing from his lungs. He keeled over, clutching his stomach. The mice promptly released him and Scarlett delivered an axe kick to the back of his head, rendering him unconscious as he crumbled to the floor.
"Nice work," she grinned as the four mice crawled up to perch on her shoulders, chirping in triumph. Her heart racing with anticipation, she quickly unlocked and opened the cell door to greet her friends after such a long time apart.
Eight people cautiously looked out into the hallway, their eyes widening in surprise upon seeing her and the mice. Pidge, Shiro, Lance, Keith, Allura, and Hunk – all the paladins were here, handcuffed but seemingly unharmed. Coran was nowhere in sight, but a young female Altean and Krolia were amongst their group, much to Scarlett's surprise. She stared at them, dumbfounded. After all this time, none of them looked like they'd changed in the slightest, except for Keith, who seemed older and now had a triangular mark on his right cheek, and Shiro, who was missing his prosthetic arm and had a full head of snow-white hair.
But they were all alive. They were all here and real and in the flesh. She'd imagined their return almost every day in the past three decaphoebs, imagined how she'd react and what she'd say to them. Sometimes she thought she'd cry and crush them in a welcoming hug. Other times she thought she'd scream and punch each of them for having left her and the others for so long. But as she stood there, frozen beneath their confused gazes, no words came to mind as she struggled with her conflicting emotions.
"Um. Hiya!" Scarlett finally managed, suddenly feeling sheepish for having gawked at them for so long. "It's been a long time guys."
Lance blinked at her, a playful smile gracing his features. "Well, hello there," he replied, all suave as he casually leaned against the wall. "And who are you, pretty lady?"
The mice twittered in amusement and Scarlett's face twisted in horror as she made a gagging noise in the back of her throat. Lance was flirting. With HER. She knew she had changed a lot since she'd last seen them – she'd shot up in height, her curves had come in, her hair was longer and in a braid, and she'd had to acquire a new suit for everyday space travel. But she didn't think they wouldn't recognize her completely, let alone have one of them try to hit on her.
"What the quiznak is wrong with you?" she snapped, tempted to smack Lance upside the head. "Don't you recognize me, you dingus?"
"What?" Lance said, looking mildly offended. "I've never seen you a day before in my life!"
The mice chirped and Allura's eyes widened as she listened to them. "Wait a tick," she said. "Are you…Scarlett?"
"The one and only," she replied, proudly placing her hands on her hips.
Lance's mouth fell open in horrified confusion. "Scarlett?" he shrilled and the others gestured for him to shush. "Y-You can't be her!" he hissed, quieter this time. "Scarlett is younger and about this short and you're…" He waved vaguely at her from head to toe. "...well, you're not!"
"Trust me, it's me," she huffed. "Who else would save your sorry butts out here?"
Pidge's brow furrowed as she searched for an explanation. "But…How are you here? What happened to you?" she asked. "Why do you look so much older?"
"Do Utearens age real quick or something?" Hunk wondered in disbelief.
"Not any faster than humans," Scarlett assured him. "I should be asking why you all look the same."
Keith frowned. "What do you mean?"
Scarlett sighed and dragged a tired hand down her face. For whatever reason, they were all too confused by her appearance. And while she had a million questions of her own for them, their time to escape was ticking away.
"Ugh, we can talk more about this later," she decided. "Let's focus on getting out of here first."
No one argued with her. Whipping out her luxite dagger, she sliced off their restraints. Then producing her map again, she pointed to two spots highlighted on her screen. "Your lions are in hangar one. Your helmets and bayards are here," she said, showing them the scan of the cruiser. "Let's get them and get outta here."
The mice squeaked in her ear again, alerting her to a new problem. Allura's expression shifted to one of concern as she listened to their words.
"What?" the princess asked. The mice continued to chirp and cheep. "The lions were blown out of the ship."
"Oh, for quiznak's sake," Scarlett muttered.
She thought Acxa was going to be taking out Zethrid, Ezor, and the other pirates. Maybe when she'd gotten to the bridge and found it empty, she had to come up with a new plan. But now that she'd blown open one of the hangars, the rest of them were now sealed shut, including the one containing the Double Trouble. She supposed it was a disposable ship – they'd taken it from a no-good shape-shifting bounty hunter, after all – but it had been nice to have a secondary backup form of transportation. There was no way Scarlett would have enough time to override the hangar door systems without being caught, and there was no way she was going to risk her life trying to save it. Thank goodness they hadn't taken the Kintsugi here.
"It's a part of Coran's plan. He's trying to rescue us," Allura continued to translate for the mice. "And Acxa's helping him."
"What?" Keith stared at the mice in surprise.
"She came with me," Scarlett said, and when he looked at her for an explanation, she waved his concern away. "Again, I'll explain later. Now let's go!"
Leading the way, she booked it down the hall until they reached the elevator. The nine of them crammed inside and rode it up to the level where their equipment was being stored. With most of the crew distracted by the hull breach, navigating the empty halls was a breeze for their large group. They didn't see a single pirate until they turned another corner and one nearly as tall as the ceiling blocked their path. Thankfully, his back was to them and he hadn't noticed their appearance. Not so thankfully, what was keeping him distracted was Coran in a very poor Galra pirate disguise. The Altean advisor was getting swiftly beaten by the massive goon, but he refused to give up the fight despite hardly being able to stand on his own two feet.
Scarlett reached for her blaster, ready to take Coran's attacker out, but Allura beat her to it. Nearly doubling in size using her shifting abilities, the princess pounded a large fist into the back of the pirate's head, sending him to the floor out cold. As she shrank back to her normal size, Coran groaned and sank to his knees, prompting Lance and Keith to help him up.
"See? You got lucky," he slurred, disorientedly glancing between the two paladins supporting his weight.
"Coran, where's Acxa?" Keith asked, trying to get him to focus.
"I don't know. Where am I?" Coran wondered.
"Are…you okay?" Shiro asked, raising a concerned brow at the old Altean.
"Never better," Coran replied with a weak thumbs up. "Now let's get our belmards and hayards."
"So he's not okay," Scarlett muttered, stepping over the pirate's body. "Got it."
"Don't worry. We got you," Lance assured him with a small smile, and Coran squinted at him with unfocused eyes.
"Oh, thank you, Princess Allura," he drawled, and Lance's smile faded as he let out a tiny sigh.
With Coran in tow, they continued on their way. It didn't take long before they reached their destination, a small storage room with its door wide open. They crowded around the entrance, observing as two guards played with the paladin's equipment.
"Okay. They have weapons and we don't," Lance whispered, taking note of the long blasters strapped to their shoulders. "Any suggestions?"
"I mean, I have my dagger. And I have this," Scarlett murmured, showing him her gun. "I'm still not an expert shot like you though."
Lance stared at it, his hopes dwindling. "Really? Just that tiny pistol?"
"Hey, I'm an inventor, not a soldier," she huffed. "Not all of us have a magical bayard that transforms into our ideal weapon, okay?"
Lance grimaced at the little gun. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing," he relented. "Okay. So I'm thinking – "
"Unhand those bayards, you scallywags!" Coran suddenly shouted, jumping out from their hiding spot.
Lance and Pidge pounced on him, clamping a hand over his mouth and wrestling him back to safety. But it was too late to go unnoticed now. The guards inside held their blasters at the ready and approached the door, ready to face the escaped paladins waiting in the hallway.
"So much for the element of surprise," Pidge muttered.
"For the love of the ancients…" Scarlett tsked as she charged her blaster, waiting with bated breath for the right moment to strike their two enemies. But before she could, Keith was already on the move, his bayard manifesting in his hand and elongating into a sword. Without any hesitation, he charged the guards, taking them out in a matter of seconds.
"Bruh," Pidge gawked at him as they entered the room.
Unfazed by their impressed grins, Keith put on his helmet. "Scarlett, lead the way out. Lance, keep the team together," he instructed, already heading for the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" Lance asked, stopping him before he could leave.
"Acxa saved our skin. I'm not gonna leave her behind."
"Well, obviously not," Scarlett agreed. "She came with me. I'm going too."
"No. You have the map, you get everyone out of here," Keith ordered, firm but not unkind. "I'll meet up with you guys soon."
Scarlett frowned and opened her mouth to argue, but before she could, he ran out of the room and disappeared down the hall.
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