Chapter 47

A/N: I'm back! Good to see y'all again! I just own the story.

/comms/

"Bold is intercom/vid-chat"

Telepathy/dreams/flashbacks

"Whoa!" Zethrid exclaimed spotting the energy balls. Pulling up, she cried out as one hit her and slammed her into Ezor as another orb hit them.

Axca flew her ship between the incoming attacks looking at the ship that sent them gritting her teeth. It was likely that the Sorceress and Lotor's bride were responsible for this. A blast slamming the side of her ship knocked her out of her thouts and she glared at the Guardian craft as it zipped by, weaving through her attacks with annoying grace.

Regrouping with the others, they combined blasts, firing it at Voltron. The great warrior raised the shield, using it to block their attack as they sent him flying back towards the asteroids.

/We can't take much more of this!/

In the Castle, Jaz rushed to get her helmet on. "Tarin, can you teleport me outside?!"

The Galra woman grabbed Krolia's helmet, shoving it on her head. "Let's go!" Grabbing Jaz, they teleported on the outside of the Castle.

Collecting energy in her hands, Jaz fired a beam of white-hot energy across the void towards the ships. The attack on Voltron stopped as they dodged out of the way of the bright beam of light. /Thanks guys!/ Keith said as the duo teleported back inside. /Lance, Pidge, give us some cover!/

/On it!/ they said firing their blasters as Voltron flre through the asteroid field, blasting the rocks apart, creating more rubble that the smaller, likely more fragile ships had to weave through.

Yet, somehow, the three ships still managed to tether them. Wrapping around them, the three ships flew in the opposite direction, before releating the cables, throwing Voltron back into a large asteroid.

/What just happened?/

/Is that…/

/A wormhole?!/ Hunk exclaimed as the violet portal opened.

/They're trying to escape!/

/Haggar/ Allura growled. /It has to be Haggar. She must've gained the ability, but how?/

"We can't worry about that now," Keith replied. "We have to make sure we get Shiro back."

/We're pursuing!/ Sil said as she and Kol chased after.

"Understood."

/But Keith, Shiro isn't, well, Shiro anymore/

"I know. But something's wrong with him. And the Galra or Lotor are behind it," he replied. "We all know he'd never give up on us. We can't give up on him." Voltron got up, and activated its thrusters, flying after them. Getting a warning on his dash, Keith growled. "Guys. One of my thrusters is down. Can you compensate?"

/Those beams torched our power core. I've never seen anything like it/

/We've got maybe thirty seconds of over-clocked burn time!/

"Hit it!" Keith ordered.

Voltron blasted off, getting closer to the portal. /We're halfway through our burn!/

Shiro's ship went through.

/Twenty-five percent!/

The first two Sincline ships.

/Fifteen percent!/

The last Sincline ship entered.

/Eight percent!/

Sil's and Kol's ships dove through as the wormhole began to close.

/We're not going to make it!/

/We're too heavy!/

Keith racked his brain for an idea. There had to be a way to get through the wormhole in time. If he could be launched…that's it! "Disband!"

/What?!/

"The energy from disconnecting might create enough thrust to propel me through the wormhole with Kol and Silyna!" he relayed.

/Are you sure?!/

"Do it!"

Voltron disbanded, and Black flew. Gripping his controls, Keith braced himself as Black got closer to the closing wormhole. Almost there…

He shot through, appearing on the other side. Where a fleet of Galra warships sat waiting. /Glad you could join the party/ Kol said as his and Silyna's ships flew up beside him.

/Dude, your ship's sparking/

"I know, one of my thrusters is down," Keith growled. "I'm gonna have to play this smart."

/Got it. We can cover you/ Kol said as his ship changed to something with thicker armor and artillery. The trio dove through the incoming fire, heading towards the group of ships heading towards the flagship at the center.

/One of 'em's breakin' off!/ Silyna warned.

"I've got it, you two get Shiro!" Keith ordered and the two ships sped ahead. Leaving him with the remainder. Flying to the side, he led the craft through the battlefield. Diving under a ship, he flew up continuing to pull back even after hs finished passing as the other ship began to pass below him. Landing Black on top, he fired her blasters, sending it careening off as he began to regroup with his allies.

Keith positioned Black beside the crafts of his friends, and used her claws to rip his way through the hull. Shoving Black's head in, he spotted them, and growled as Ezor slammed the airlock shut. "Darn it!" he growled as he heard blaster fire. Pulling Black away, they took to the air as the ship from before gave chase.

/I see a vent/ Silyna said /I'll get inside and collect as much data as I can!/

/I'll help Keith. Looks like he needs it/

Keith growled, glaring in the general direction of his fireteam. He was doing fine on his own, thank you very much. Now came the challenge, how to get him and Kol inside the ship?

A white pod emerged and Keith's train of thought stopped dead in its tracks. "Shiro?" he whispered. Hitting the thrusters, he sped after him. "Shiro! Shiro come in! I know you're there! I don't know what's wrong, but I know we can fix this. Let me help you!"

/On your six!/ Kol called and Keith ducked in his seat as a blast came from behind him and Kol's ship flew along his left. /Seriously, you need to watch your back!/

"Kol! Go back with Sil and help her out!"

/She can handle herself. They won't know what hit them. You on the other hand, need someone to keep your head in the game/

/We're going into hyperjump. I'll rendezvous with you guys as soon as I can/ she called.

Keith nodded, Kol was right, Silyna could handle herself just fine. She, like him, had trained to fight Hive. The Galra would be a walk in the park for her. She just needed to go in, steal their intel, maybe kill Lotor and Haggar, and get out. Feeling a sense of distress, he ran his thumb along Black. "Just hold on a little longer girl."

-.-

"Ok, the Lions are in their hangars and are recharging," Pidge informed from where she sat at her station.

"Structurally speaking, the Lions are at about sixty-percent," Hunk added. "Whatever those ships hit them with really did some damage."

"Still no word from Keith, Kol, or Silyna regarding the situation on the other side," Sky commented crossing her arms. "Unless you have something Princess?"

Allura opened her eyes and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The wormhole must've despoited them beyond my ability's reach."

"But maybe not mine," Tarin spoke up. "I'm an expert in tracking spells. I might be able to give us an idea of their location."

Allura nodded, pulling up the map. "Do your best."

Tarin nodded, "I'll need something of theirs."

"I have Sil's cloak," Wren said holding one up.

Jaz pulled out the quintessence toy Keith loaned her. "I got this from Keith."

"Perfect," Tarin said taking the items. Setting them out in front of her, she held out her hands and closed her eyes. The markings on her face began to glow, and the objects began to float. Opening her eyes, the objects flew across the room. Stopping by a star before splitting apart in different directions.

"Sil's in the Thizonian system and Keith is in the Ilenix," Tarin estimated. "Your Warlock is likely with either one of them."

"Why would they separate?" Lance questioned.

"Two birds, one stone," Jaz answered. "Keith is after Shiro. Sil, and most likely Kol, are after Haggar and Lotor."

"I'll try to contact some coalition forces to provide assistance," Coran said walking towards the monitor when the power shut down.

"What's happening?" Allura demanded as all the Guardians summoned their ghosts and began interfacing with the system.

"It appears all of the Castle's systems are shutting down one by one!" Coran informed. "It looks as though someone's hacked into the ship's mainframe and set loose a kill protocol of some sort."

"Have you tried an override?" Pidge asked as she began typing.

"Have you tried counteracting with a live protocol?" Hunk offered. "Is that a thing?"

"The virus is moving too fast."

"I'm in the system," Pidge said.

"Same," Sky added.

"Ditto," Wren voiced.

"Do either of you have a way through subroutes eighteen or nineteen? I'm completely locked out!"

"Skipping ahead!"

"Setting up blocks, Gaaf'll try to contain it before it gets any further," Wren replied.

"Sprectral generator down! Stabilizers are down! Main turbine's down! Crystal matrix offline! Particle barrier generator down!"

"There!" they all exclaimed. "We got it isolated. Now we just need to lock it down."

"We should use a multi-layered tri-tetragonal quarantine," Pidge said typing.

"Wiping the program would be more efficient!"

"Sky! That could damage any of the affected systems!"

"What?!" Pidge exclaimed as it began to wreck havoc again. "The virus has countermeasures specifically targeting my quarantine!"

"How?" Jaz questioned as everything powered down.

"It's like…it knew."

"If this shuts down the teludav's mass generator, the ship, along with everything in the neighboring subsystem, would be destroyed," Coran informed grimly.

"Then we have no time to waste!" Wren said following Pidge his ghost flying right behind him as the two guardians followed her.

-.-

Invisibility made missions like these ridiculously easy. Silyna hovered high above the witch, fighting against every instinct she had screaming at her to destroy the dark beast down below. Right now, that wasn't the main objective. Her mission was to steal their intel, find out what Haggar wanted with Lotor, and get out.

The door hissed open and the Hunter watched as the traitor was shoved forwards by the trio of women. "Pince Lotor," Haggar spoke, turning to face him, "my son."

Judging from the generals' reactions, that was a fact they were not aware of. Interesting.

"The anger you feel towards me is to be expected. But understand that the events that transformed me into the witch Haggar also shrouded any glimmer of maternal instinct I may have had for my one and only child."

Silyna raised a brow, "may have had" woman, if you're saying that then you got none.

"However," Haggar continued, "you continued the work I started all that time ago and have indeed seen it through to heights I could have only imagined. Your never-ending pursuit of knowledge is truly—"

"Enough!" Lotor snapped.

Thank the Traveler, Sil wasn't sure how much more of that woman's rambling she could have taken before just assassinating her then and there.

"My mother ceased to exist when Honerva drew her last breath. Do not believe for a moment that I would ever except you as kin," Lotor snarled. "You are an abomination! A twisted perversion of what was once so pure and beautiful. The end is near witch. I know you can sense it."

Sil cursed under her breath pulling out several daggers.

"If you beg for your life now, maybe I will take pity on you when the time comes," he spoke and the Guardian frowned. Was he not talking about her presence? Then what…her eyes widened as Axca pushed Lotor aside and fired at Haggar.

What. Just. Happened?

Evidently she was not the only one who was confused because the other two generals seemed lost as well. "Did you just kill her?"

"Are you working with Lotor?!"

The cuffs came off with a clatter. "I can explain everything, but I assure you she's not dead," Lotor said. "If you're with me, we need to get to the Sincline ship and leave now."

"Uh…sure?"

"We're headed for the Castle of Lions' last known location."

"Sir, the wormhole desposited us on the far side of the Thizonian system. We'll need to make multiple hyperspace jumps and even then it will take some time."

Silyna grinned to herself as she retreated. It may take some time for them, but by the time they got there they would be prepared.

-.-

/That it?/ Kol asked as they flew down towards a celestial body.

Keith nodded, looking at the scanners and spotting the pod. "Shiro's here."

Kol turned his ship and it evaporated into storage as the Warlock hovered above the ground. The ground rumbled as Black touched down and Keith jogged down the ramp. "My scanners got footsteaps heading to those caves."

Keith nodded summoning his sparrow. "Let's move." Driving off, the two Guardians followed the tracks through a vast cave system, making quick time due to their vehicles. Leaping over a ridge, they slammed their heels on the groud, quickly stopping in front of doors.

A Galra instillation? Here?

Sharing a glance, they walked inside, waiting in the elevator as it descended. It hissed to a stop, opening the doors and they stared. The facility was massive, built far into the side of the rock with rows upon rows of strange glass tubes that reminded Keith of the Castle's cryopods.

"What is this place?" Kol asked as they walked along glancing at the dark tubes.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it," Keith replied walking to the end of the long platform full of pods. Reaching out, his fingertips gently brushed over one, and it burst to life.

They could only stare in horror.

Inside, was a person, and not just any person, Shiro. Keith's brows furrowed. How…how was this possible—there was no way this was possible! That couldn't be Shiro! He didn't have the scar, the hair, he even had both of his arms. It was like he never even went to Kerberos.

Another pod activated, another Shiro. Then there was another, and another, and another, they just kept going.

"It's a cloning facility," Kol realized jamming his knife into one of the pods.

"What're you doing?!"

"Taking one to study," Kol replied. "Something tells me it could come in handy."

"Hello Keith."

They both turned, staring at Shiro, still scarred and one-armed looking at them with glowing, violet eyes.

-.-

"What did you discover?" Tarin said as they all loomed over Pidge as she typed on her laptop.

"Protocol's countermeasure," she said, "I recognized it."

"How?" Jaz said.

"From the code I scanned from Shiro's arm when we were looking for Galra instillations."

"Wait, are you saying Shiro is responsible for this?" Allura gasped.

"Yes."

-.-

"I've got this! You go!" Keith ordered and Kol nodded, hefting the Clone over his shoulder and flying up to the next level. Watching his teammate leave, Keith turned his attention back to his brother. "Shiro, it's gonna be ok."

"Yes. I know."

"We just have to get back to the Castle."

"We are not going ANYWHERE!" he shouted charging forwards.

Keith's eyes widened and he rolled out of the way, letting Shiro's fist slam into the broken pod. He got to his feet, eyes widening as Shiro's glowing fist slammed into his helmet, sending him flying off the edge of the platform. Flipping through the air, Keith activated his jetpack, rightening himself and landing in a crouch. A shadow passed over his form and he leapt aside as Shiro slammed down, his fist making a crater in the metal.

Light rippled over Keith's frame as Paladin armor was replaced with Guardian. "Shiro," he said pulling out his knife and changing it to its sword form, "please. I don't want to hurt you."

Shiro merely grinned as he lunged.

-.-

"The teludav!" Allura exclaimed. "It's reaching critical mass!"

"Pidge, hurry up!"

"I know, I know!" she said typing quickly as the two ghosts worked alongside her. Pressing the last button the glow from behind the door faded away as the teludav stabilized and the Castle began to slowly regain power.

"Uh, Pidge, how'd you do that?" Hunk asked.

Pidge gulped, bowing her head. "When I was scanning Shiro's arm, I made a copy of its programming. I created a virus that could terminate all its command prompts, in case something like this ever happened…I never thought I'd have to use it."

Jaz reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder, "It was good thinking Pidge. You did what you believed you had to do to keep us all safe. That's what matters most."

-.-

Keith grunted as his back slammed into the metal catwalk. Shiro jumped at him, and Keith got up, swinging his blade and meeting Shiro's own plasma blade. Kicking the older man off him, Keith swung at him, frowning as Shiro easily dodged and thrust forwards making Keith duck. Swatting the blade aside, he swung his fist forwards, grimacing as Shiro wrapped his arm around and twisted it out of the path.

A fist uppercut under his jaw, slamming Keith's teeth together as his helmet flew off and fizzeled into light. Ducking under another swing, Keith ran across the catwalk, jumping over another attempt to slice him in half and vaulting over Shiro's head. Activating his jetpack, Keith flew towards the other platform grunting as Shiro jumped onto him.

The wires snapped under Shiro and he slammed into the ground below as Keith grabbed the broken wire swinging down. He was going to win this, and he was going to bring Shiro back, but in order to do that Keith needed to stop restraining himself.

Keith kicked with everything he had as Shiro got up. The impact sent his older brother flying through the metal guardrail and slamming down onto the next catwalk. Leaping off, Keith sprung off a box and spun around, his blade clashing with Shiro and driving him back.

Shiro was backed against the wall, their blades sparking as Keith continued to close in, his eyes glowing Galra yellow with fangs bared as the Titan tried to crush his opponent. The Black Paladin smiled. "That's the Keith I remember."

"Huh?"

Shiro spun their swords in a wide circle, knocking the blade out of Keith's grasp. His knife implanted the metal not far away. Ducking under another slice, Keith sprung towards his blade, ripping it out of the ground in a somersault as he whirled around to face his opponent. Parrying another attack, Keith rolled under another blow, Shiro's blade slicing through the metal beams and knocking the structure down in between them.

"Shiro, I know you're in there!" he called. "You made a promise once. You told me that you'd never give up on me."

"And I should have abandoned you just like your parents did! They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it too."

Keith raised a brow, his father left to keep him out of danger and was currently tearing Earth apart looking for him and his mother was at the Castle in case he'd forgotten. So, under mind control or not Keith was going to slap him for that. And he was going to make it hurt.

"I'm not leaving without you."

Shiro chuckled and Yorak began sounding alarm bells in Keith's head. "Actually, neither of us are leaving." The complex shook and red light began to filter in the area as machines began to spark. Shiro's arm began glowing brighter and he cried out, collapsing from his knees from the pain.

"Shiro!" Keith called watching in horror as the metal clawed its way over the armor and up onto his shoulder. What made him sick was the darkness he could feel rolling off his big brother. It was almost as bad as the witch, as if he'd been corrupted in it.

Shiro swung his arm up and Keith leapt to the side as the ground below his feet began to glow. A violet beam of energy ripped out of the ground, going up until it cut through part of the asteroid above, separating it from the rest of the celestial body.

Looking back at Shiro, Keith turned and leapt off the platform down to the one below. Rolling at the bottom, he looked up to see Shiro watching. His arm activated again and began cutting through the platform. Keith started running.

The laser cut through the other side and the platform began to fall. Sliding down the metal, Keith slammed into the bent ramp at the bottom, using it as a vault to leap off. Free falling through the air, Keith grabbed onto the edge of the circular platform, his fingers making divots in the metal as he forced himself up panting for air.

Why…Why was this so hard? He'd faced worse odds, he'd fought worse monsters. So why was Shiro beating him?

Looking to his right, he gaze at his knife. The answer was obvious, he was family, and even though he promised himself…Keith just couldn't go all out. He could kill him.

Hissing as his injuries began to stitch themselves shut, Keith crawled over to his knife, trying to reach out for it as Shiro landed across from him and strode over. He swung down and Keith managed to grab the knife, barely managing to roll over in time to block the blade from cutting his throat open.

"Shiro, please," he grunted. "You're my brother. I love you."

Glowing eyes widened in shock and a spark of hope ran through him. Maybe Shiro was still in there after all? "Just let go Keith," Shiro pleaded. "You don't have to fight anymore. By now, the Team's already gone. I saw to it myself."

Keith's eyes squeezed shut, tears pricking as he thought about them. Lance, his dorky brother. Hunk, the family member who always wanted to see you smile. Pidge, the endearing if messy little sister. Allura, the mother hen of the group. Coran, the uncle who was always happy to spend time with you. Jaz, the protective older sister you could always go to on a bad day. Skylar, his childhood crush and one of his closest friends. Wren, the wild brother who loved playing pranks. Silyna, the sister who loved dragging you out of bed to go count the stars. Kol, who was the responsible older brother. And Krolia…his mother. The mother he grew up longing for his whole life.

No…no…they couldn't be gone!

Pain erupted along his cheek and Keith screamed, pulling out his bayard and slicing Shiro's arm off. Stnading up, he looked at Shiro sadly, pain written across his face. "You don't understand Shiro. I was made to fight. It's who I am."

Grey eyes looked up to meet his own, and Shiro's gaze widened. "Keith…"

The platform shook and begun tilting, looking around franictally, Keith grabbed Shiro's arm and dug his knife into the metal. The metal shrieked as they slid down, coming to a stop mere centimeters from the edge.

Keith was now all that held Shiro to the platform.

There had to be a way out, eyes flickered over the area and Keith bit his lip. He could summon a ship, but if he transmatted inside, then there was a real possibility Shiro would be left to die. He couldn't do that, he couldn't leave his brother, one of the few people to ever look out for him on Earth, to such a cruel fate.

An explosion rocked the platform, and Keith's eyes widened as they began to freefall. Holding onto Shiro, he turned to look at his brother and opened his mouth. Before anything could leave his mouth he stopped.

When was the last time Shiro had seemed this peaceful?

Keith sat out in the hall ignoring the scalding glare of James Griffin as he sat waiting for Shiro to exit the officer's office. The door opened and James went inside and Shiro came out.

"Hey."

"I know I messed up," Keith said not bothering to look up and meet his eyes. "You should just send me back to the home. This place isn't for me."

"Keith. You can do this. I will never give up on you. But more importantly, you can't give up on yourself."