LAL2: Return of the Missing - IC

Faez, still invisible, sprinted out of the cell and nearly crashed into the wall. The floor was slick, and he was using all claw.

Safyr3 laughed softly to herself, hearing his feet on the slippery floor. She waited patiently to be let out, eying Eti hungrily.

Eti went to each cell, unlocking and opening them all with his head down.

Kalia, the syratopes, and finally... Safyr3.
He accidentally caught her eye while sliding the key in, and seeing the look on her face, quickly looked away.

Of course, Safyr3 had no intention of killing Eti now. It was just if he tried anything....

Safyr3 slithered past Eti, coming up next to Opajik.
"Hey are you okay?" she whispered.

Meanwhile, Parell looked around for Faez, who appeared next to his side.
"Ah!" Parell said, hugging him.

"I think so," he said, his voice low as he watched Eti, who was standing a good few feet away, clearly unsure of what he was supposed to do.
"Gah." Opajik rubbed his face for a second. "This is completely insane..."

He looked at Safyr3. "Don't... Don't hurt him, okay?"
He took in a deep breath, and let it out with force. "He's my little brother."

"I won't," Safyr3 whispered to Opajik, "just... don't let him hear that..."

She turned away, looking at the rest of the group.

"What now? What do we do with him?"

"You're coming with us," Opajik said, addressing Eti directly.
He turned around. There was a lot of anxiety and embarrassment on his face, but the anger was still there. It started to make itself more present. "No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are," Opajik commanded.
He was answered with a defiant silence.

Opajik walked up to him, and said, in a bit of a softer tone, "Eti. I don't know why you're here, or even what's going on, but I know that if you stay here you will most likely die."
That got Eti to listen for a moment. "You don't.. Know that..." he said, barely believing his own words.
"You had one job." Opajik gestured to the now empty prison cells.

Eti blinked. Suddenly, something came over him. He shook his head furiously.
"No. There's no way I'm going," he said, and then, with venom, "I'm not like you."

Opajik's brow creased. He looked back at Safyr3 and the others.

"Knock him out," Safyr3 suggested.

Faez giggled, and Parell did a double-take.
"With what?" he asked.

"I don't know...the gun? Does it have a stun setting?" Safyr3 asked.

Vienna examined the weapon. She found a switch and flicked it. "Here we go."
She handed it to Opajik.

He looked at Eti, and Eti looked at him.
"Don't." It was now Eti whose voice was pleading.
Opajik fought to ignore it. "Do you have another suggestion?"
"Please just let me stay here."
"They'll kill you."

Eti sighed. He shut his eyes for a moment, shaking his head.
"It doesn't really matter to me anymore."

"...Eti. Will you please come willingly?"

"No. Don't make me go."

Opajik didn't want to see the look on his brother's face as he fired the gun.
He only opened his eyes once he heard him hit the floor.

Safyr3 winced, feeling the slightest bit of sympathy for the now-unconscious Eti. She attempted to comfort Opajik, coming up close.

"Don't worry..." she said, "we'll convince him."

Opajik stared at where Eti lay on the ground.

His expression was almost hard to look at. It was filled with pain and guilt and emotional torment; the self loathing was almost radiating off of him.
He made a bit of a groaning sound as he looked away, and approached Vienna.

He put the gun in her hands. "I don't... want that," he said quietly.
She was going to say something to him, but Ekko spoke before she could. All of the syratopes had watched the entire scene fold out in complete silence.

"Shouldn't we be escaping now?"

Shaenn had just enough self control not to cheer when the younger Invader fell. Still, it was good to see that they could take care of themselves, if only against Opajik's coward brother.

Kalia winced. "Yes, we should be going..."
She looked around.
" Anyone know how to get out?"

At those words, a thought occured to Opajik.
In all the recent commotion, he'd had his hands full and totally forgotten.

"Wait," he said. "Kydi...?"

Ekko frowned, and said, "He sure didn't act like he wanted to be saved..."

"Kydi just looked really shocked to me!" Faez chimed in.

Safyr3 was torn, and didn't comment. Kydi...He was the main reason they'd had the courage to brave the Dim. Could he really have turned on them?

"Ekko?" Safyr3 asked. "You saw Kydi last....what was he like?"

"Well, I mean, he did look pretty upset."
She crossed her arms. "Still, he should have done something, don't you think? If it bothered him that much..."

"He was acting strange," Vienna nodded. "But he was with the Overarch and the Hunter, after all..."
She looked up, something dawning on her. "You don't think they did something to him, do you?"

Safyr3 was horrified at this thought.
"...Did...something?" she choked out. "Like what?"

She gazed at her own body, glaring at the metal plates. She nervously started clicking her claws against the floor.

"I don't know... Brain washing... Or-- what if they're threatening him? What if he's being forced to--" She shook her head and stopped. "I don't know."

Ekko was getting impatient. "Someone could come down this hall any minute, you guys. We have to make a decision."

Safyr3 thought it over, carefully going over the scene in her mind. She clearly remembered leaping for the Overarch, but what else had been going on?

The Hunter had been there. He'd drawn a sword and moved in to attack her. Right? Hadn't he? Somehow that didn't seem right...He'd done something though.

"Guys," she said, "what happened when I attacked the Overarch? Did Kydi do anything to indicate which side he would take?"

Kalia shook her head. "I don't... remember."
She wondered, though. He had definitely looked upset...

Shaenn shrugged, "I just wanna go home. If you guys think we could take him with us, fine, but I'd better not get killed because of our 'rescue mission.' Just sayin' "

"We've risked our lives on a rescue mission for you," Vienna said flatly. "And are planning to go even further with it. Would it kill you to think of someone other than yourself for once?"

Vienna was giving Shaenn a good glare when the faint sound of boots on metal could be heard around the corner.

Opajik cursed. They'd taken too much time.
Ekko and Rhey immediately started running. Opajik frantically helped shove Eti's unconscious form onto Safyr3's back, and then climbed on himself.

"QUICK!" he yelled.

"Which way?" Safyr3 asked, tense.

Parell climbed onto Faez's back. Faez gave a broad grin and twitched.
"Just like old times!" he squeaked.

"Oh whatever I'm going!" Safyr3 cursed, sprinting down the hallway away from the sound of marching boots.

Just as everyone was on the move, there was the sound of voices turning the corner. Casual chitchat quickly became yells of "HEY!" and "STOP!"
Opajik looked back. There were only two guards, but they seemed to already be summoning backup.
He swore again.

Vienna was running on her feet, starting to fall behind them as Safyr3 picked up speed.
"Wait!" he said. "We need to get Vienna!"

Safyr3 wheeled around, claws digging into the metal wall as she spiraled up onto the ceiling, down on the far wall, and around behind Vienna. She literally ducked under Vienna's legs, caching her on her plated back.

"Everybody hold on!" she called, picking up speed.

Faez matched her evenly, keeping stride.
"We've got to get rid of them, Safyr3!" he stated.

"Yes, captain obvious..." Safyr3 puffed. "Or at least outdistance them." To Opajik she said, "where should I go?!"

"Umm," Opajik said. "Forward!"
"Just try to keep going as fast as you can," Vienna filled in, seeing as Opajik evidently wasn't of any use. "Me and Opajik will watch for signs of where the exit might be."
Behind her, he nodded.
The limp Eti was placed between them both, and Opajik did everything to make sure he wouldn't fall off while they were moving.

They sped down the halls, drawing more and more attention with every turn.
A group of guards was already collecting behind them, with more on the way.
They needed to be fast, and hope that they wouldn't end up facing a dead end.

Opajik crossed his fingers.

"Seems like we do a lot of running and less fighting now," Safyr3 grumbled, claws itching for action. "Always the running..."

An unsuspecting guard was greeted as they turned another corner. Safyr3 lashed out with a forepaw, sending him sprawling across the floor. He didn't stir. Safyr3 kept running...

"We've still got to get everyone out of The Dim," she said, reminding everyone. "If we can get out of this building, we can get a ship. Everyone look for an exit."

Vienna and Opajik had their eyes peeled, but all they could see were guards.
They were everywhere; rushing out of every hallway, every room; and every corner turned brought more of them.
Some of them were firing guns - hopefully stun guns - but a lot of them either couldn't aim properly while on the move or would stop to shoot only to fall too far behind.
The few shots that did make it their way had to be watched for.
Opajik could only wonder how the syratopes had managed to make it this far on foot.

Up ahead, a grand staircase arched upward to a higher level. If it made any sense, it would be one of the higher levels above ground. They were on what must have been the prison floor, one story underground. Anything higher up was much more likely to have an exit.
"Go that way!" Opajik pointed, although the stairway was easily visible. It was huge.