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Chapter Text

The launch from Arus had gone smoothly, which came as a welcomed surprise from the Paladins and the two Alteans. 

Coran and Allura spent a lot of time in the main control room. Allura would leave from time to time to speak with the hologram of her father, and Coran would leave to fix up the castle. 

Lance spent most of his time relaxing. Occassionally, he'd emerge from his room with a green facemask on to inspect what the other occupants of the castle were doing. 

Hunk spent the majority of his time in the kitchen. He refused to let Coran into the space. While he wasn't testing out new spices or recipes, Hunk would assist Pidge with their tinkering and repairs to escape pods and the ship. 

Pidge spent most of their time in the Green Lion's hangar. They inspected the damage that Sendak had done to the castle and researched what they could on the Galran Empire's tech. 

Keith spent most of his time training. He would occasionally go to the Red Lion's hangar and seemingly sit in silence, either placing himself on the floor next to Red while sharpening his dagger or sitting inside the cockpit. 

Shiro spent his time checking in with his fellow Paladins and would work with Allura and Coran on navigation, even if it did take him a bit to fully understand the terms the two used. 

The sleep schedules of the Paladins (mostly Lance and Hunk) set the cycle of "day" and "night", since there was no sun to go by while in a spaceship. 

As the majority of the occupants of the castle went off the take a well deserved rest, the wormholes started appearing. 

Shiro was peacefully sleeping when he woke to the sensation of falling. 

The Paladins and the two Alteans fell in a heap on the floor of a new room.

Shiro quickly got to his feet. Hunk, who was stuck under Pidge and Coran, groaned in pain. 

As the 7 regained their bearings, they also took time to observe their surroundings. 

They looked be in an enclosed room with a kitchen area that was blocked off by counters. The larger space had carpeted flooring, as opposed to the tiled flooring of the kitchen area, with a large screen taking up the majority of a wall and a semicircles of cushioned seats and couches facing it. 

"Where are we?" Keith asked. 

"I don't know," Shiro replied. He noticed a neatly folded piece of paper on the kitchen counter. He unfolded it and said, "This is a note. It might explain our situation." 

The paper said : ' to the Paladins of Voltron, Princess Allura, and Coran. Apologizes for the sudden trip, but you have been brought here to view your future. You aren't being forced to view the events, but you must decide as a team if you want to view them. If you choose not to, you will not be able to come back and view these videos. The show you will be watching if you choose to is called Voltron : Legendary Defenders. It will follow your adventures and battles and will show some events that you have already gone through, but it will also show many more that you have yet to experience. This show will likely give you an advantage in your fight with Emperor Zarkon. If you choose to watch, however, be aware that quite a few personal memories and moments will be shown, and many secrets will be revealed. Also, don't worry about the passage of time outside of your viewing space. Time has been temporarily paused, so you both literally and figuratively have all the time in the world.

Oh, and there are snacks in the kitchen. Feel free to make, drink, and eat whatever you wish.

I wish you the best of luck in your war against Emperor Zarkon, and may you be satisfied with whichever choice you make. '

As Shiro finished reading the note, Hunk went to verify that the fridge and the cabinets were stocked, which they were. 

Pidge looked deep in thought, while Lance seemed to have already made up his mind. 

"This seems like a pretty good deal to me," he said. "We're getting to see a show about our lives and the future, and we have unlimited movie night time to watch it."

"Yeah, it seems nice, but it may be some kind of trap," Keith pointed out. "We also don't know if the show is accurate, or if we're being lied to and led in the wrong direction."

Allura pursed her lips. "You both make good points, though I do feel as though it would be most beneficial to go through with the viewing. If we think that the information we gain won't assist us, we are not obligated to use it."

"The note said that we'll see events that have already happened," Pidge said. "If we find inconsistencies with what already happened, then we'll know it's inaccurate."

Hunk made his way away from the kitchen and back to the group. "How far back is the show going though? The note said that personal memories will be shown, and I really don't want to relive my awkward middle school phases." He shuddered. "Those were dark times.." 

"Edgy and moody Hunk?" Lance asked. He stroked his chin in though. "I would love to see that. Maybe you and Mullet will find some common ground." 

Keith sent Lance a nasty look, then turned to Shiro. "I still have my doubts about this, but I can also see the benefits. What are your thoughts?" 

"I think that we could gain a lot by watching this show," Shiro said. "Based off the note, we don't seem to be losing anything by accepting. If anything, we'd possibly be losing something by declining."

"As secrets and private information may be shared through this show, we may also be able to learn a few secrets from the Galra," Allura commented. 

"That is true, Princess," Coran said. 

"Have we come to an agreement then?" Shiro asked, looking around at his team. "We'll be watching the show?"

They all nodded. 

As they agreed, the large screen flickered on. 

The 7 got settled with some snacks on the couches, and prepared to watch the show. 

Chapter Text

A theme song started to play as the Voltron logo fades onto the screen and then faded back out.

"Epic, we have our own theme song and everything!" Lance exclaimed. 

The view cuts to space, slowly panning with the text, 'The Rise of Voltron' front and center.

An icy planet came into view. 'Kerberos : Moon of Pluto'. 

"Kerberos?" Pidge questioned. "Is this the past then?" 

Shiro furrowed his brows as dread built up in his stomach. "It would appear so."

A yellow drill came up from the ground and a gloved hand reached out to extract the ice. 

"Easy, son, this ice is delicate," a man, Sam Holt, said, holding out a cautioning hand. The younger man didn't respond to him, but slowed his pace and continued more carefully. 

Pidge's eyes widened. "Matt...dad..." 

Allura looked at them with a worried expression. 

"Amazing...isn't this exciting, Shiro?" The younger man, Matt Holt, said. 

"You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do," Shiro said humorously. He was holding the drill steady while the other two work on the ice. 

Everyone chuckled slightly at Shiro's comment, but couldn't shake the nervous feeling of the anticipation of the upcoming event. 

"This is history in the making," Sam Holt said in awe. "Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth."

"Think of it, Dad," Matt said, turning back to look at his father. "We could use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens."

Shiro shook his head sadly at Matt's comment. 

"My life's work would be complete," Sam replied. 

The ground under them began to shake. 

"Uh, oh," Hunk commented, frowning. 

Sam turned to look around and asked, "What is that? Seismic activity?"

"We should get back to the ship," Shiro suggested, reaching out to put a hand on the other two's back as Matt stood with the extracted piece of ice. 

A shadow fell over them as a large black and purple ship flew overhead, quickly approaching.

Allura's eyes widened in fear, and everyone else goes silent, staring at the screen. 

"What? What is that?" Sam asked in amazement and horror. "It can't be..."

Shiro's eyes widened as a light grows strong on the ship, pointed right at them. 

"Run!" Shiro grabbed Matt and Sam's shoulders and pulled them along. "Come on, run!"

Pidge smiled at Shiro in silent thanks for trying to protect their brother and father. 

Matt dropped the ice as he follows. 

The light from the ship glowed purple and became brighter. It transformed into a beam and fired at the three. 

They attempted to keep running, but slow until they are pulled up towards the ship, screaming. 

---

"This is horrible," Allura said sadly. "I am so sorry that you had to experience this, Shiro." 

Shiro nodded in appreciation for her concern. 

The view went dark, and through it came a muffled male voice who said, "Emperor Zarkon, we were scouting System X-9-Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists."

Shiro jolted awake and looked up, seeing a blue man standing on a platform, speaking to a hologram of an intimidating figure. 

"I don't think they know anything useful," the blue man said. 

The hologram, Zarkon, said, "Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation." Shiro looked to his side and saw Matt and Sam also on their knees beside him, seemingly unconcious. Unlike him, their helmets are still on. "The druids will find out what they know."

"Please, we come from a peaceful planet! We mean you no harm!" Shiro begged.  The blue man turned back to look at him. "We're unarmed--!"

Shiro was cut off when a sentry behind him slammed a gun into the back of his head. He went down and his vision cut to black.

---

Everyone winced at the sound of the gun hitting Shiro's head. 

Shiro faded back info consciousness as he was being dragged down a metal corridor. Matt was being led behind him by another sentry. 

Shiro groaned and a male voice from a closed cell said, "Look, they brought in another one."

Another voices asked, "Who is it?"

The first voice responded, "Over there. It's another one."

"I guess that's the only gossip they get around here..." Hunk commented nervously. 

Shiro made a noise of confusion and looked to his right. Beyond a window there are hundreds of metal cells. Something rang in the distance. 

"There are so many.." Allura mumbled. "This is more motivation to defeat Zarkon, so we can free all the innocent captives on these vessels."

Shiro gasped in fear as he stared off out the window, and then the screen cuts to black. 

---

The view paned to the icy planet Kerberos once again with the text, 'One Year Later' displayed. 

"Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14," a boy, Lance, said. "Begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission."

Allura tilted her head and turns to Lance. "Did you go out to attempt a rescue mission for the lost crew?" 

Pidge grumbled and sank lower into their seat. Lance scratched the back of his neck and said, "Ehh, not exactly. You'll see.."

The view of the dashboard dipped as the spacecraft began descending. 

Behind Lance, Hunk groaned. "Lance, can you keep this thing straight?" 

"You get motion sick?" Coran asked. "How odd for a Paladin of Voltron." 

Lance shrugged and said, "Relax, Hunk, I'm just getting a feel for the stick. It's not like I did this!" 

He swerved upwards and Hunk shrunk in on himself with another groan. 

"Or this!" 

Lance swerved to the side. 

"Lance.." Shiro scolded. 

Lance looked down and said, "Sorry..."

Hunk let out a sigh and said, "Okay, unless you want to wipe beef stroganoff out of all the little nooks and crannies in this thing, you better knock it off, man!"

A blinking signal came up on a screen in front of Pidge. "We've picked up a distress beacon!" They alert.

Lance reached up to tap at a screen. "Alright, look alive, team! Pidge, track coordinates."

"Copy," Pidge responded, turning back around to work on their task. 

Hunk tensed up in his seat as the spacecraft ran into a spot of turbulence. "Knock it off, Lance! Please!'

Lance turned back to look at him. "This one's on you, buddy. We've got a hydraulic stabilizer out."

The spacecraft rumbled again as Hunk pulled a screen towards himself to begin working and he gulped. "Oh, no," he said unhappily. 

"Oh, no," Lancs mocked. "Fix now, puke later."

"I lost contact," Pidge updated. "The shaking is interfering with our sensors."

"Come on, Hunk!" Lance urged. 

"It's not responding," Hunk groaned. 

He got up from his seat and moved to the opposite side of the spacecraft to work on the stabilizers. 

"Why would these ships require the mechanics to travel across the ship for repairs?" Allura asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to position them next to the machines for easy repairs?" 

"..yeah, it's probably a better idea, but humans don't really work that way, I guess," Pidge answered. 

"Nevermind, fellas," Lance said. "Thar she blows. Preparing for approach on visual."

"I don't think that's advisable with our current mechanical and gastrointestinal issues," Pidge argued, deflating a bit at the last part of their statement. 

The Alteans and Shiro laughed lightly at the comment. Hunk grumbled. 

"Agreed," Hunk said. 

"Stop worrying. This baby can take it, can't you, champ?" Lance pat the spacecraft, which in response rumbled violently. "See? She was nodding. She was nodding." He quickly put his arm down. "Pidge, hail down to them and let them know their ride is here."

"That's not a concerning noise at all," Keith commented sarcastically. 

"Shush, Mullet," Lance retorted.

"Real creative," Keith replied. 

Pidge unbuckled and stood to unlatch a radio from above them. "Attention, lunar vessel--."The spacecraft rocked and they fall to the ground with a shout.  

"What are you doing?" Lance demanded. "Buckle your belt. And, Hunk, stop that shaking!"

"I'm try--!" Hunk explained. He stopped and groaned. "Oh, no.." 

"Oh, no," everyone agreed. 

He vomited into the stabilizer unit. 

"Gross," Pidge commented. 

Pidge seated themselves and buckled again and said into the radio, "Attention, lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft. 1-Vector-6-3-Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction, against crew recommendations..."

"What an odd name.." Coran mused. "Creative, but quite odd? Any specific meaning of the name?" 

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge shrugged. 

Hunk slunk back into his seat. 

"No time for your mutinous comments now," Lance said. "They're going under and we're going in."

Lance tugged at the steering controls and came down to go through an ice arch. 

"Look out for that overhang!" Pidge warned. 

"No worries," Lance responded. He leaned back to look at Pidge. "My first year of flight school, know what they called me? 'The Tailor', because of how I thread the needle." 

"I doubt that," Keith commented. 

Lance pulled a weird face as he said this. 

"Lance, I never asked before, but what the fuck was that face?" Pidge asked. 

"AH! Language!" Shiro called. 

"Oh, right, sorry DAD!" Pidge responded. 

He turned back around and steered to avoid the overhang. 

The spacecraft was full of beeping to alert them of the incoming crash risk. 

"Come around, come around!" Lance said go himself. "Come on, come on!"

The spacecraft hit the overhang and spiraled downwards. 

Hunk looked up from his screen and yelled, "We lost a wing!" 

The beeping inside the spacecraft got louder as they get closer to the ground. 

Lance sunk back into his seat and disappointedly said, "Oh, man."

"Well...that went well," Keith said. 

"Enough with your comments, Mullet," Lance hushed. "They're not appreciated."

The spacecraft crashed and the space turned dark. Text appears in front of them and a robotic female's voice said, "Simulation failed."

"A simulation?" Allura asked. "You did so poorly on a simulation yet you're able to pilot the blue lion? How did you manage that?"

Lance gasped in offense and pouted. 

"Nice work, Tailor," Pidge grumbled. 

The simulation spacecraft opened up and Commander Iverson leaned down and said, "Roll out, donkeys!" 

"Donkey? What is that?" Coran asked. 

"Imagine the mice, but with longer legs and a longer neck, but much bigger and brown, with floppy ears," Lance answered. 

Coran nodded but blinked in confusion. "Sounds terrifying. And you're being compared to such creatures?"

The three exited the simulation and line up just outside of it. 

Iverson stood in front of a group of kids and said loudly, "Let's see if we can't use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulation?"

"He's quite loud, isn't he," Allura commented. 

"He always is.." Pidge said. 

A student raised their hand and said, "The engineer puked in the main gearbox!"

Iverson said, "Yes. As everyone knows, vomit is NOT an approved lubricant for engine systems." Hunk flinched at the yelled words. "What else?"

Another student said, "The comm spec removed his safety harness."

Another yelled, "The pilot crashed!" 

"Correct," Iverson said. "And worst of all, the whole jump, they're arguing with each other." He turned back to the three. "Heck, if you're going to be this bad individually, you'd better at least be able to work as a team! Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astro-explorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission."

Keith scowled. 

Pidge jolted and yelled, "That's not true, sir!"

"What did you say?" Iverson asked.

"Thanks, Pidge," Shiro said with a smile. 

Pidge smiled in response. 

Lance moved and covered Pidge's mouth. "Sorry, sir. I think he hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken."

Iverson walked closer to Lance. "I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don't follow in his footsteps."

Shiro gave Keith a scrutinizing look and he shrugged in response. "It was a reasonable response in the moment," Keith defended. 

Iverson turned away and shouted, "Next!" 

---

The screen cut to an outside view of Garrison at night. "Light out in five! Everyone back to their dorms, now."

Lance and Hunk peer around a corner. 

Hunk said, "We shouldn't be doing this." 

Lance turned back to Hunk. "You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team. We're going to grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up, meet some nice girls--."

"I was about to agree with your bonding statement, but your method of bonding sounds questionable," Allura said. 

The lights cut out and Hunk said, "Okay, I'm just saying this here, right now, on the record. This is a bad idea."

Lance ignored him and snuck down the corridor. 

They carried on silently until they got to a window. "You know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don't have much of a sense of adventure," Lance pointed out. 

"Lance brings up a fair point," Coran commented. 

"All of your little adventures end up with me in the principal's office," Lance argued. 

"Another fair point," Coran added. 

The two sneak under the window and crawl away until they can stand again. 

A night guard walked past two trashcans. "L-5 north all clear," he said into a mic. 

Lance gracefully hopped out of the blue trashcan, and Hunk struggled getting out of his yellow one. 

"Oh--" Allura said, looking rather concerned. 

"I'm fine," he said, standing up after being able to get out once his trashcan fell over. 

As they approach Pidge's door, it opened. Lance pulled Hunk behind a wall. 

Pidge closed the door and ran off with a backpack on their back. 

Lance and Hunk emerged and Lance asked, "Where is he going?" 

"I have to admit, yeah, I did look pretty suspicious," Pidge said. 

Pidge sat on Garrison's roof with a bunch of equipment set up around them. Their headphones were on as Lance and Hunk approached them. 

Lance slid up behind Pidge, pulling off a side of their headphones, and asked, "You come up here to rock out?"

Allura gave Lance a disapproving look. Lance averted his eyes in response.

Pidge jumped away with a startled yell. Hunk is a bit behind Lance and slowly crawled towards the two. 

"Hunk, what were you doing?" Shiro asked, tilting his head. 

"I was sneaking," Hunk defended. 

Pidge collected themself and said, "Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, um, just looking at the stars." 

Keith raised an eyebrow and said, "With your eyes closed?"

Pidge grumbled an attempted defense. 

"Where'd you get this stuff?" Lance asked. "It doesn't look like Garrison tech." 

"I built it," Pidge said proudly. 

"It's...impressive?" Allura said. She tilted her head at the tech. "For being made of self-funded material, and Earthling-crafted, it is quite impressive."

Pidge looked offended and Allura gave them an apologetic look.

Hunk slowly slid a hand towards Pidge's computer. 

"You built all of this?" Lance asked in awe. 

Pidge slapped Hunk's hand away and said, "Stop it! With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system." 

"Never mess with Pidge's property," Lance commented. 

"That right?" Lance said. "All the way to Kerberos?"

Pidge deflated with a grumble at the question. 

"You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up," Lance pointed out. "What's your deal?"

Hunk messed with satellite disk that Pidge had set up. 

"Second warning, Hunk!" Pidge said threateningly. 

Hunk groaned but dropped his hand. 

"Look, Pidge, if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any secrets," Lance said. 

"Lance makes a good point," Coran stated, which caused Lance's ego to grow x5 it's usually size of 'massive'. 

"Fine," Pidge relented. "The world, as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of come manufacture or crew mistake." 

Hunk slowly extended a finger to poke at Pidge's computer. 

"STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT!" Pidge yelled. 

The group blinked at Pidge's horrifying display of anger. 

"Remind me to never get on your bad side..." Keith commented. 

"Just don't do what Lance does and you'll be fine," Pidge replies. 

"Hey!" Lance responded. 

"I'm speaking the truth," Pidge said with a shrug. 

Hunk fell onto his side with a defeated groan. 

"Mood," Shiro said, taking a sip of coffee that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. 

"Shiro, are you good?" Lance asked. 

Shiro stared silently and blankly at Lance for a few moments before looking back to the screen. Lance blinked and went back to watching the show. 

"So, I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter," Pidge continued. 

Hunk sat up. "Whoa. What? Aliens?" 

"Okay, so you're insane. Got it," Lance said. 

Allura and Coran made expressions of offense. 

"In my defense," Lance started, "this was before I had ever been in space or met any neat robot lions."

"I'm serious," Pidge insisted. "They keep repeating one word, 'Voltron'." They hold up a colored drawing and tapped at it. "And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it."

"It's impressive that you managed to figure all of this out by yourself, and unintentionally, as well," Coran commented. 

"How crazy?" Lance asked. 

The Garrison PA system goes off and Iverson said, "Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in the barracks until further notice. " 

"That was convenient timing," Keith said. 

Hunk stood and asked, "What's going on?" He looked up. "Is that a meteor?"

A fiery shape was hurtling down towards Earth. 

"A very, very big meteor?" He added. 

Pidge picked up their binoculars and looked at the shape. "It's a ship," they said. 

Lance pulled the binoculars from Pidge's face and held them up to his own, Pidge still holding onto the tool.

"Holy crow!" He marveled. A spaceship was zooming towards the ground. "I can't believe what I'm seeing! That's not one of ours."

"Holy crow?" Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Lance shrugged. "At least it's interesting and creative."

"No, it's one of theirs," Pidge said with a smile. 

"So, wait. There really are aliens out there?" Hunk asked. 

The ship crashed into the ground with a small explosion. 

Garrison vehicles powered on and they drove out of the barracks to inspect the crash.

"They sure did respond quickly," Shiro commented. 

"We gotta see that ship!" Pidge exclaimed. 

Lance and Pidge run off. Lance turned back and said, "Hunk, come on!"

"Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever," Hunk grumbled, but followed anyways. 

---

The three set up on a ledge overlooking the crash site and the Garrison make-shift camp. Pidge was typing away on their computer and Lance was peering down through the binoculars. 

"Whoa! What the heck is that thing?" Lance askes, looking down at the spaceship. He zoomed in on a woman. "And who the heck is she?" 

Everyone stared disapprovingly at Lance for a moment and he put his hands up in mock-surrender. 

Pidge hit Lance and hissed, "Lance!"

"Ow," he said. He refocused the binoculars. "Right, alien ship. Man, we'll never get past all those guards to get a look."

"Aw, man," Hunk said in false disappointment. "Yeah, yeah, I guess there's nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?"

Everyone gave Hunk a disapproving look, and he gave an apologetic look in return.

Pidge's computer beeped and they said, "Wait. They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!" 

"You sure are resourceful, and quick," Shiro praised. 

Pidge smiled. 

Lance and Hunk peered at the screen over Pidge's shoulders. 

On the screen, there was Shiro, strapped to a medical table with three suited doctors around him. Shiro was dressed in a tattered purple and black shirt and skin suit. 

"Why would your own kind do this to you?" Allura asked with furrowed brows. 

"I don't know," Shiro said. 

"Hey! What are you doing?" He yelled.

"Calm down, Shiro," Iverson responded. "We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests." 

"You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds!" Shiro grunted in pain, then continued, " Aliens are coming!"

"I admire your urgency and focus," Allura complimented. 

"Thanks," Shiro said. 

Lance pointed at the screen and said, "That's Shiro! The pilot of the Kerberos Mission! That guy's my hero!" 

Shiro put his flesh hand on his chest in gratitude. 

"Guess he's not dead in space, after all..." Hunk murmured. 

"Where's the rest of the crew?" Pidge asked. 

"Do you know how long you've been gone?" Iverson questioned. 

"I don't know. Months? Years?" Shiro answered. "Look, there's no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They're probably on their way. They'll destroy us. We have to find Voltron." 

"Voltron!" Pidge gasped. 

A doctor said to Iverson, "Sir, take a look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic." 

"It appears his eyes are working," Keith said harshly. 

Shiro gave Keith 'the dad look' and Keith looked away. 

Shiro's metal hand clenched. 

"Put him under until we know what that thing can do," Iverson ordered. 

"What?!" Allura asked. "As in drug you? Without properly assessing your physical and mental condition first?" 

"Yeah, the Garrison can be pretty harsh," Shiro replied. 

"That's an understatement," Keith muttered. 

Shiro panicked and said, "No, no, no, no! Don't put me under! No! There's no time!" 

"They didn't ask about the rest of the crew," Pidge said. 

"What are they doing?" Lance asked. "He's a legend. They're not even gonna listen to him?"

Pidge turned to Lance and said, "We have to get him out." 

Hunk stood and asked,  "I hate to be the voice of reason, always, but weren't we watching on TV because there was no way to get past the guards?" 

"That was before we were properly motivated," Lance pointed out. "We just have to think. Could we tunnel in?" 

"Tunneling?" Keith asked. "That'd take at least a few weeks to do, nevermind a night."

"Hush," Lance responded. 

"Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs," Pidge suggested. 

"Or we dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary--," Hunk said, "little late-night snack." 

Pidge and Lance gave him unimpressed looks.

Everyone also gave him unimpressed looks. 

"Man, I really was a wimp back then," Hunk said.

"At least you've grown since then," Shiro added. 

"No," Lance said. "What we need is a distraction."

Suddenly, in the distance, four explosions went off. Lance jumped back. Hunk screamed. 

"Have the Galra managed to arrive so early?" Allura asked. "They seem to be using an odd attack tactic."

"Is that the aliens?" Hunk asked. "Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!"

"No, those explosions were a distraction, for him." Pidge points down at a hover bike that was riding towards the make-shift camp as most of the Garrison went to investigate the explosions. "The Garrison's headed towards the blast, and he's sneaking in from the other side."

A guy in a jacket jumped off the bike and snuck towards the camp. 

"A good plan," Coran commended. 

Keith nodded appreciatively. 

Lance gasped. "No way! Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guy is always trying to one-up me!"

"He didn't even know who you were, how could he be intentionally one-upping you?" Pidge asked. "Maybe you're just bad."

Lance looked at Pidge with an offended expression and Keith smiled at their comment.

"Who is it?" Hunk asked. 

"Keith!" Lance yelled in response, heading down the side of the ledge the three were perched on. 

"Who?" Pidge asked. 

"Are you sure?" Hunk followed Lance down. 

"Oh, I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!" Lance yelled. 

Keith raised his eyebrows at Lance. 

"Nobody else still has that style!" Lance said defensively. 

"I didn't say anything," Keith responded. 

"Who is Keith?" Pidge asked again, following the other two. 

Inside the lab, a doctor said, "These readings are off the chart." 

The med door slid open and there stood Keith. He furrowed his brows. 

"Hey!" A doctor yelled as all three of them charge at Keith. 

Keith got into a fighting position and knocked the first doctor across the room, causing him to slam into a table and fall to the ground.  The second doctor got throw over a table and landed in a heap on the floor.  The third doctor moved to throw a punch but instead got punched in the face, causing him to fall and pass out. 

"Oh, wow," Hunk said. 

"Very impressive, Number Four," Coran said. 

Keith jumped over the fallen doctor and rushed to Shiro's side. He pulled down his mask and turned Shiro's face towards himself. "Shiro.." Keith murmured. 

He cut the restraints off and pulled Shiro's arm over his shoulder. 

Lance strutted through the door and said, "Nope. No, you-- No, no, no. No, you don't. I'm saving Shiro." 

"Does just always have to be a competition with you two?" Allura asked. 

Lance pulled Shiro's other arm over his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Keith asked, looking at Lance in confusion. 

"Who am I?" Lance repeated, astonished. "Uh, the name's Lance."

Hunk gave Lance a scrutinizing look. 

"Don't look at me like that!" Lance defended. "I was just introducing myself!"

"Yeah, but the method of introducing yourself..." Hunk muttered. 

Lance blinked at Keith when all he got in return was a silent stare. "We were in the same class at the Garrison." 

"Really? Are you an engineer?" Keith asked. 

"No, I'm a pilot!" Lance answered, sounding offended. "We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck." 

"A bit of a one-sided-rivalry you've got going on there," Coran commented. 

Lance grumbled. 

"Oh, wait. I remember you," Keith said. "You're a cargo pilot." 

"Well, not anymore. I'm fighter class now, thanks to you washing out." 

"Well, congratulations." 

The five moved out of the lab, and they saw the Garrison on their way back. 

"Oh, man," Hunk said. "They're coming back and they do not look happy. We've got to go."

Lance, Keith, and Shiro were already on their way to Keith's hover bike, so Hunk and Pidge rush to catch up with them. 

"Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?" Hunk asked, not bothering to wait for a response before getting on. 

"Why'd you ask if you were just going to get on anyways?" Keith asked. 

Hunk shrugged and said, "I was trying to be polite."

As Hunk got on, the hover bike's tail crashed to the ground and the front half was suspended. 

"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Pidge asked. 

"No," Keith replied. 

"At least he's being honest," Coran said. 

The headlights of the approaching Garrison vehicles illuminated the hover bike and all the riders. Keith turned on the engine and turned the bike around and away from the Garrison. 

"Why am I holding this guy?" Pidge asked, readjusting Shiro in the bike. 

"Gee, thanks," Shiro mumbled in mock-offense. 

"I didn't mean it in a bad way, Shiro," Pidge said. 

"Hey, we did all fit!" Hunk pointed out. 

Lance looked back and saw the Garrison gaining on them. "Can't this thing go any faster?" 

"We could toss out some non-essential weight," Keith replied. 

Allura nodded in appreciation at the good insult. 

"Oh, right!" Lance said. He looked around for a moment, then turned back to Keith. "Okay, so that was an insult. I get it."

"Big man, lean left!" Keith ordered. 

"Sorry for that comment," Keith said quietly to Hunk. "I didn't know your name."

"It's no big deal," Hunk said. "Apology accepted."

Hunk leaned left and the bike turned. 

The Garrison vehicles moved to follow and one got turned over, flipping back onto ones behind it. 

"Aw, man! Mr. Haddis just wiped out Professor Montgomery!" Hunk commented. "No, no. He's fine." 

"Your concern for your superiors in commendable, Number Two," Coran complimented. 

"Big man, lean right," Keith ordered. 

The bike veered off a cliff and landed on another ledge below it. Two vehicles follow, one flipping and the other carrying on. 

"That was a risky move," Allura commented. 

"Oh, just you wait," Lance muttered. "You haven't seen risky yet."

"Guys!?" Hunk shouted. "Is that a cliff up ahead?"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Lance panicked. 

"Yup," Keith replied. 

He lowered himself closer to the bike.

"No, no no!" Lance continued screaming. 

Keith flew off the cliff and all the other conscious passengers screamed. The pursuing Garrison vehicle stopped at the ledge. 

"But it lost our pursuers," Keith defended. 

"Yeah, but it was very risky," Lance argued. 

"What are you doing?" Lance yelled. "You're going to kill us all!" 

"Shut up and trust me!" Keith responded. 

As the bike is about to hit the ground, Keith pushed against the pedals and squeezed the breaks. 

Shiro smiled proudly like the dad he is. 

The bike safely landed on the ground and continued on across the desert, leaving the Garrison vehicle at the top of the cliff. 

"That was some rather impressive maneuvering, Number Four, but a warning to your teammates would have been better," Coran said. 

Chapter Text

Shiro, now awake and alert, stood outside of Keith's desert shack. Keith approached him from behind and put his hand on Shiro's shoulder. Keith said, "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," Shiro replied.

Allura smiled at the interaction between the two Paladins. 

"So, what happened out there? Where were you?" Keith asked. 

"I wish I could tell you. My head's still pretty scrambled. I was on an alien ship, but somehow I escaped. It's all a blur." Shiro turned to look at Keith. "How did you know to come save me when I crashed?" 

"Yes, how did you know when to come after him?" Coran asked. 

"You should come see this," Keith said, turning back to his shack. 

---

Inside the shack, Keith pulled a white sheet off of a cork board. On the board were pinned a bunch of pictures with different colored strings and post-it notes connecting and labeling different details. 

"I didn't say this back then, but that's definitely a conspiracy board," Pidge said. 

"It takes a theorist to know a theorist," Keith retorted.

"I'm not confirming or denying anything," Pidge said. 

"What have you been working on?" Shiro asked in awe. 

"I can't explain it, really," Keith replied. "After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kinda lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It's like something... some energy was telling me to search." 

Allura tilted her head at Keith curiously. "An energy? Like feeling the lion's quintessence even though you are not it's Paladin?" 

Keith shrugged. "I don't know, I just felt an energy."

Shiro looked away from the board to look at Keith. "For what?" 

"Well, I didn't really know at the time... until I stumbled across this area." Keith pointed at a circle on the board labeled 'ENERGY SOURCE!' "It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings." He gestured to pictures of said markings. "Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then, you showed up." 

"I didn't realize that whoever hid the lions left clues," Allura commented. 

Shiro looked over to Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, who were standing around a short table. "I should thank you all for getting me out." He held his hand out to Lance. "Lance, right?"

Lance hesitated but shook Shiro's metal hand. 

Shiro noticed the hesitation while watching the moment from an outsider's perspective and frowned. 

Shiro extended his hand to Pidge and they shake it. "The nervous guy's Hunk," they said. "I'm Pidge. So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?" 

"I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's still mean to hear," Hunk said.

"I'm not sure," Shiro answered. "I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's just bits and pieces." 

"An understandable reaction to a traumatic event," Coran stated. 

"Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens," Hunk barged in. "Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Where are they at this very moment?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but I am quite glad that you are not this... prone to panicking now," Allura said. 

"I can't really put it together," Shiro said. "I remember the word 'Voltron.' It's some kind of weapon they're looking for, but I don't know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do." 

Hunk opened a bag and started digging through it. "Well, last night, I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff, and I found this picture." He held up a picture. "Look, it's his girlfriend."

Allura and Coran gave Hunk a look of disapproval.

Hunk chuckled and Pidge snatched the picture away from him. "Hey, give me that!" They snapped. They pulled the bag away from Hunk. "What were you doing in my stuff?" 

"I was looking for a candy bar," Hunk explained. "But then, I started reading his diary." 

Everyone else also gave Hunk a disapproving look. 

"It's rude to dig through others' belongings, but even ruder to purposely invade their privacy," Allura scolded. 

He held up a read book and Pidge snatched the book away too with a quick, "What?!" 

"I noticed the repeating series if numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line," Hunk continued. 

Coran tilted his head. "Is this a human concept, or does it just go by a different name?"

"Frown...who?" Keith asked. 

Pidge quietly laughed. 

Hunk turned to Keith. "It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. And I think I can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter." 

Coran nodded at the explanation. "Ah, so it goes by a different name."

"Hunk, you big gassy genius!" Lance exclaimed.

"It's pretty fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this." Hunk held up a paper with a drawing on it. 

"Give me that!" Keith said, pulling the paper from Hunk's hands. 

He walked back over to the cork board and held up the paper to a picture of the boulders around the outcropping. The outlines of the two images matched up perfectly. 

Allura smiled proudly at her Paladins. 

---

The five stood outside on a small ledge, looking out at the boulders in person. 

"Okay, I admit it," Lance said. "This is super freaky." 

Pidge was holding up a small satellite disk while Hunk was looking down at the device connected to it. "I'm getting a reading," he said as he pulled ahead to follow it, pulling Pidge along behind him. 

"Aw, look at us going on our first adventure," Lance said sentimentally. 

The group followed the reading through the rocky desert and the beeping from the device getting louder as they carried on. 

It was at its loudest when they reach a cave hidden by an overhang. 

They entered the cave and looked around in amazement at the markings on the cave walls. 

"It's quite beautiful," Allura said. 

"What are these?" Shiro asked. 

"These are the lion carvings I was telling you about," Keith responded, his voice echoing in the cave. "They're everywhere around here."

Lance wiped dirt off of one of the markings with a, "Hmm." Suddenly, all of the markings in the cave started to glow blue. 

Allura smiled. "If there was any doubt, this made it quite clear that you are the Paladin of the Blue Lion. She recognized you through her markings."

"They've never done that before," Keith stated. 

The ground beneath the group cracked, giving way to blue light. The ground caved in and they fell. 

They landed in a foot deep pool of water with several large crashes. 

"That fall really hurt," Hunk said, groaning at the memories.

Lance sat up and gasped. "They are everywhere.." 

A giant, mechanical, blue lion sat in front of them, surrounded by a glowing blue force field. 

Even though they had all seen the lions many times before, everyone was still in awe at how majestic the lions were. 

"Is this it?" Pidge asked. "Is this the Voltron?"

"It...must be," Shiro said. 

"This is what's been causing all of this crazy energy out here," Keith said. He approached the dome of light. "Looks like there's a force field around it." 

Lance walked in a zigzag pattern and asked, "Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?" 

"No.." Shiro answered questioningly. 

"Yeah, the eyes are totally following me," Lance stated. 

Allura chuckled. 

Lance sputtered in offense. "Its eyes were following me!"

Keith placed his hands on the force field and it rippled around them. "I wonder how we get through this," he thought out loud. 

"Maybe you just have to knock," Lance guessed. 

As he knocked, the force field glowed brighter for a moment. Lance flinched back with a small yell and the force field dropped. Hunk and Pidge yelled in shock as the blue light around the lion increased. 

"Leave it to Lance to find the non-traditional ways of doing everything," Pidge muttered. 

"Hey, it worked!" Lance argued. 

"Sure did. It's just unusual and very fitting."

The five of them in unison have a vision of five colored lions coming together to create a robotic man with a flaming sword. 

"Whoa.." they all said. 

"Uh, did everyone just see that?" Lance asked. 

"Voltron is a robot!" Hunk yelled excitedly. "Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!"

Allura and Coran smiled at Hunk's enthusiasm. 

"And this thing is only one part of it," Pidge said. "I wonder where the rest of them are."

"This is what they're looking for," Shiro noted. 

"Incredible," Keith said. 

The Blue Lion moved down and placed its head on the ground, opening its jaw. 

Pidge and Hunk screamed and covered their heads. 

Allura raised an eyebrow at their screaming. 

Hunk raised his hands in surrender. "In my defense, I thought it was going to eat me." 

Lance stared at the lion in awe for a moment before grinning and walking up the ramp and into the lion. 

He inspected the cockpit of the lion for a moment and sat down in the chair. "Here's we go.." he said. 

The chair slid forwards and he jerked around a bit, scratched his head, and got settled again. 

Everyone laughed. Lance grumbled grumpily. 

As the rest of the group followed Lance inside, the dashboard lit up and holograms blinked on across the windshield. 

"All right! Very nice!" Lance said. 

"Okay, guys, I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all, y'know, aware," Hunk said. "We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now." 

A rumbling purr filled Lance's mind, and when it faded, he turned back to the rest of the group. "Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?" 

"Hear what?" Keith asked. 

"I think it's talking to me," Lance said. 

He looked down and inspected the dashboard, then pressed a random button. 

"We're just lucky the random button pressing tactic worked," Pidge commented. "It would have been really pathetic if that was the self-destruct button."

The lion stood and roared, causing Hunk and Pidge to scream again. 

Lance smirked and said, "Okay. Got it. Now, let's try this!" He pushed the two steering handles forward.

The lion burst through the caves and emerged, flying through the sky. It hurtled downwards before lifting up just as it was about to hit the ground. 

Allura winced as the close call. 

"If you're already cringing, then I'm afraid you're in for a rough time of watching Lance's flying skills, or lack thereof," Pidge told her. 

"My flying isn't that bad!" Lance argued. 

"It's definitely gotten better, but that's not saying a lot," Pidge replied. 

The lion spun upwards and Hunk and Pidge grabbed onto Lance, screaming, while Keith and Shiro stabilized themselves by holding on the ceiling or walls of the cockpit. 

As Pidge predicted, Allura cringed again. 

"You are-- the worst-- pilot-- ever!" Keith yelled. 

"My stomach and I agree," Hunk added. 

The lion sped up and Lance was thrown to the back of his seat. Pidge's screaming increased in pitch. 

---

Iverson and another Garrison worker stood on a ledge, looking up at a strange blue lion flying around the in loops. 

"What in the Sam Hill is that?" Iverson asked. 

The worker lowered the binoculars and answered, "It appears to be a flying blue lion, sir."

Everyone laughed.

"Astute observation," Coran said. 

Iverson looked to his associate with a scowl and the worker awkwardly scratched their head. 

---

The Blue Lion skidded across the ground, sending up a plume of sand and dust, then started running into a take-off. 

"Isn't this awesome?" Lance grinned. 

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Hunk complained. 

"I'm not making it do anything," Lance said cheerfully. "It's like it's on autopilot." 

"I am eternally thankful for autopilot," Pidge said. 

"Aren't we all," Shiro agreed. 

Lance shot them both nasty looks. 

"Where are you going?" Keith asked. 

"I just said it's on autopilot!" Lance argued. "It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it." 

"What did it say, exactly?" Pidge asked. 

"Well, it's not really saying words," Lance said defensively. "It's more feeding ideas into my brain.. kind of."

"Looking back on it, that didn't sound reassuring in the slightest," Lance said. 

Everyone else silently agreed with him. 

"Well, if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone," Hunk reasoned. He looked up at the ceiling of the cockpit. "Sorry, lion. Nothing personal." 

Everyone gave Hunk a dirty look. 

"You can't just give Zarkon the lions," Allura scolded. "It won't stop him. If anything, it will only motivate him further when he knows nothing will be able to stop him."

Shiro stood up straighter and looked at Hunk with a hardened expression. "You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Pidge said. 

Everyone stared in silence at Hunk for a few moments. "Oh," Hunk said awkwardly. He put his hands up in surrender. "Never mind then."

"Yes, nevermind indeed," Coran agreed. 

The lion flew up and out of Earth's atmosphere, roaring into space. 

A large, black and purple space cruiser appeared out of nothing, looming over the lion. 

Everyone gasped and Hunk said, "Uhhh... Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?" 

"The 'holy crow' strikes again," Shiro said. 

Shiro stared wide-eyed at the cruiser. "They found me..." 

Suddenly, several beams of purple light were fired at the lion. 

"This is the moment the true regret started to kick in," Pidge commented. "This is the moment we all knew that we did a little fuck-y." 

"Pidge!" Shiro said. 

"The dad-mode kicks in again," Keith observed. 

"We've gotta get it out of here!" Pidge yelled.

Lance pulled back on the controls and said, "Hang on!"

The Lion turned around and dodged the beams. 

"All right, okay, I think I know what to do," Lance said. 

"No matter your intent, I do not feel reassured by those words," Allura commented. 

Pidge leaned over Lance's shoulder and urged, "Be careful, man! This isn't a simulator."

"Well, that's good," Lance chuckled. "I always wreck the simulator."

Keith made a face of concern and judgement. "We're lucky to have survived this encounter with you as the pilot." 

"Oh, I'd like to see you do better," Lance snapped. 

"I could," Keith responded. "Any day, I can give you a demonstration."

Pidge flicked their eyes between the two at the banter. 

The Blue Lion zoomed towards the cruiser, and as Lance pushed on of the controls and blue laser was fired back. As it beamed across the side of the cruiser, explosions erupted along the line. 

"Let's try this," Lance said, moving the controls again. 

The Lion spun around and dragged its claws along the cruiser, deeply scratching it and causing more explosions to go off. 

"Nice job, Lance!" Shiro praised. 

"Getting praise from dad is a great feeling," Hunk added. 

"Not you as well," Shiro groaned. 

"Face it, Shiro, you're old and are surrounded by children you have illegally adopted," Pidge said. "Kidnapping is just illegal adoption, and since you are the only adult here, you technically kidnapped a bunch of minors."

Allura and Coran gave the two concerned looks. 

"Okay, I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet," Lance said. 

A blue Galran stood on a platform, speaking to a hologram. "Lord Zarkon, the escaped prisoner and his people found the lion. It attacked us and is heading out of the system." 

"Follow that lion and alert all ships in the area to intercept," Zarkon ordered. "Capturing that lion is your first and only priority."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the blue Galran said. "Full power after the lion!" 

The Galran cruiser turned and chased after the Blue Lion. 

"Oh, no!" Hunk screamed. 

"They're gaining on us!" Pidge alerted. 

"It's weird," Lance pointed out. "They're not trying to shoot us. They're just chasing."

"Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good?" Hunk asked. "I am not on board with this new direction, guys." 

"Where are we?" Keith asked. 

Shiro looked out the windshield. "Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos."

"It takes months for our ships to get out this far!" Pidge exclaimed. "We got out here in five seconds."

Coran frowned. "I didn't realize humans were so primitive."

Out of nowhere, a swirling wormhole appeared in front of the Blue Lion. 

"What is that?" Hunk asked. 

"This may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there," Lance said. 

"I know it ended up being the right move, but this really wasn't your brightest moment," Keith commented. 

"Where does it go?" Pidge asked quietly. 

"I don't know," Lance confessed. "Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?" 

"Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do," Shiro said. "I was we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together." 

"Spoken like a true leader," Allura said. 

Everyone looked to Lance. Pidge placed their hand on his shoulder in reassurance. 

"All right," Lance said. "Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow." 

The lion flew through the wormhole, and just as the Galran cruiser was about to follow, the wormhole blinked away. 

"I didn't realize how close that was," Hunk commented. 

Everyone inside the lion groaned at the turbulence of flying through a wormhole. They emerged and saw a planet that looks similar to Earth in coloration. 

"Whoa..." Lance marveled. "That was..."

Hunk bended over and vomited, causing everyone else to move away a bit. 

"So sorry," Hunk said while coming up for air. 

"I'm just surprised it took this long," Pidge stated. 

"I have to agree," Coran said. "With how often he vomited in the simulation, I would have through an action-filled flight in the Blue Lion would have more of an effect."

"I don't recognize any of these constellations," Shiro observed. "We must be a long, long way from Earth." 

"The lion seems to want to go to this planet," Lance said. "I think...I think it's going home."

The lion rocketed towards the planet. They entered the atmosphere of the planet. 

"Guys, personal space," Lance said to the others, who were crowded closely around him. "Hunk, your breath is killing me." 

"Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?" Hunk asked. "Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?"

"It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?" Lance answered. 

"I don't know if you noticed, but we're in an alien warship," Keith said, standing up straighter. 

"Oh, are you scared?" Lance taunted. 

"With you at the helm? Terrified."

"Anyone in their right minds would be terrified of your flying skills," Pidge added. "You've gotten better, but you definitely sucked at it."

Lance looked at Pidge, then looked at Shiro for backup. Shiro shrugged in response. 

As Lance looked back to Pidge, they were staring at him and grinning mischievously. 

"All right, knock it off," Shiro said. "No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together."

"So, what do we do?" Pidge asked. 

"First, we find out where we're headed," Shiro answered. "Lance?"

"I don't know," Lance said. He looked around at the rest of the group's blank stares. "I'm sorry. The lion's not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shh! Listen. I think I hear something.." 

"Oh fuck, I remember this moment," Pidge said. "Lance, you're a disgusting creature." 

"Language, Pidge!" Shiro scolded. 

"I hear it too.." Keith said. 

"It's, uh-- It's kind of a-- a high-pitched squeal?" Hunk described. 

"Ugh! Lance!" Everyone, beside Lance, covered their noses and groaned. 

"That was very inappropriate of you, Lance," Allura scolded. 

"But seriously, there's a castle up ahead," Lance said. 

They all made sounds of awe. 

Coran pridefully puffed out his chest at their on-screen amazement. 

The lion landed down in front of the castle.

"Keep your guard up," Shiro instructed. 

Pidge turned back to look at him. "Something wrong?" They asked.

"My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again." 

"That was a really sweet sentiment, Shiro, but it didn't do great for the stress levels at the time," Hunk added. 

They emerged from the lion, who sat up as soon as they were all on the ground. 

"No!" Hunk yelled. "I knew it was going to eat us!" 

The lion roared and castle door glowed and opened.

Allura looked at Hunk and said, "You should put more faith in the Blue Lion. She wouldn't have led you all out here just to kill you."

Hunk came out from where he was hiding behind Shiro. "Oh, the door is open." He turned to look at the lion. "Guess I was wrong about you."

The group walked into the dark castle. 

"Hello?" Hunk called. 

His voice echoed throughout the castle and everyone turned back to glare at him. He shrugged in response. 

"This is how you get killed in horror movies," Pidge said. "Hunk, you would be killed second." 

"What's a horror movie?" Allura asked. 

Pidge grinned. "We'll have to watch one when we have time."

"Nooo," Hunk groaned. 

"Wait, who would be killed first?" Lance asked. 

"You," Pidge responded. 

"From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger," Pidge noted. 

The lights above them turned on and they all looked up. 

A feminine, robotic voice said, "Hold for identity scan." 

A blue beam of light fell down onto the group, and then individual rings of light rose around them, scanning. 

"Why are we here?" Shiro asked the voice. "What do you want with us?" 

The lights down a select path turned on, serving as a guide. 

"I guess we're going that way," Pidge said. 

"Hello?" Hunk called out again. 

The lights flashed on in front of them as they walked and turn off behind them. 

They made their way into a circular chamber with 8 raised circles surrounding a podium. 

"Where are we?" Lance asked. 

"It's..some kind of control room," Pidge said. 

A pod rose from on of the raised circles. The figure of a woman was visible through the glass. A second pod raised, holding a man. 

"Are these guys...dead?" Hunk asked cautiously from behind the podium.

"We did look quite dead, didn't we?" Allura said to Coran. 

He fiddled with his moustache. "We did indeed."

The first pod opened, revealing Allura. Her eyes opened and she gasped, shouting, "Father!" As she fell forwards. 

Lance jumped forwards and caught her. She looked up at him and he blushed at the closeness. 

"Hello," he said with a smirk. 

Everyone besides Lance groaned. 

"Who are you?" Allura asked. "Where am I?" 

"I'm Lance. And you're right here in my arms." 

Allura glared at him and said, "Your...ears."

Lance glanced to the side, as if looking at his ears, and asked, "Yeah?"

"They're hideous," Allura stated. She pulled away from his hold. "What's wrong with them?" 

Pidge and Keith laughed at the moment, Keith trying to muffle his while Pidge released their laugh full force. Allura giggled at the two's reaction. 

"Nothing's wrong with them!" Lance argued. "They heard exactly what you said about them!" 

Allura grabbed him by the head and forced him to kneel at the ground, taking him down screaming. 

"Who are you?" She demanded. "Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?" 

Pidge cheered Allura on. 

"A giant blue lion brought us here," Lance frantically explained. "That's all we know." 

Coran twirled his mustache. "That wasn't a very convincing response, even if it was true."

Allura skeptically looked around at the other occupants of the room. "How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless..."  She released Lance and he stood up with a groan. Hunk was hiding behind Shiro again. "How long has it been?" 

"We don't know what you're talking about," Shiro answered honestly. "Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help."

Allura smiled at Shiro. "That was a very kind and diplomatic response, Shiro. Thank you."

Shiro smiled back at her. "No worries."

Allura looked at him skeptically then said, "I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep." 

She walked over to the podium and placed her hands on the two pads. The podium lit up and a hologram appeared above it. 

"Okay, that's how that works," Pidge noted. 

While Allura was typing away at the podium, the second pod opened. 

Coran gasped and screamed in alarm. "Enemy combatants!" 

He jumped at Lance with a kick, who dodged, and Coran ran into the other pod. 

He flapped his arms around to stabilize himself. "Quiznak! You're lucky I have a case of the old 'sleep chamber knees'. Otherwise, I'd grab your head like this, wrap you up like so--" He did a violent hand gesture, "One, two, three--" He snapped. "Sleepy time!"

Pidge gave a slow clap. "Very well done."

"Well, before you did that, I'd--" Lance did a chop and a kick. "Like that."

Keith laughed. 

Lance turned to Keith. "That would have worked! I am a very skilled fighter!"

"Really? How could you do that when I've already come at you with this?" Coran did several aggressive jabs and accompanied them with odd sounds. 

Allura scowled in annoyance at their antics. 

"Man, these guys are good," Hunk complimented. 

Shiro and Allura shook their heads disapprovingly while the other paladins murmured variations of an agreement. Coran looked pleased with himself. 

The podium beeped and Allura said, "It can't be.." 

"What is it?" Coran asked. 

"We've been asleep for 10,000 years," Allura revealed. 

---

She had a flashback to a fiery scene. Galran ships were approaching the castle, and a hologram of Zarkon appeared. 

The Paladins gasped at the battle scenery and Zarkon. 

"He's ugly," Pidge commented. "Bug-faced dude."

"Zarkon," King Alfor said accusingly. 

"Your fleet has been destroyed, Alfor," Zarkon bragged. "I will be there shortly to claim Voltron." 

As the hologram lowered, a cruiser shot a beam of light at the castle.  The castle hissed with static and the occupants groaned at the force of the blast. 

"Father, we must form Voltron and fight before it's too late!" Allura urged. 

Pidge and Keith nodded in agreement. 

"It's already too late," Alfor responded. "We must send the lions away. We can't risk them falling into Zarkon's hands." 

"We can't give up hope!" Allura argued. 

"I'm sorry, daughter," Alfor apologized. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her cheek. "If all goes well, I will see you again soon." 

Allura closed her eyes and took in a shaky breath. 

A small flash of light appeared at his fingertips and Allura went limp. As her vision blinked in and out, she called out, "Father!" 

"I love you," Alfor said to her, and her vision went black. 

---

The flashback ended and Allura said, "Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization..." She looked away from Coran and her eyes hardened. "Zarkon.." she hissed. 

Shiro gasped at the name. "Zarkon?"

"He was the king of the Galra," Allura explained. "A vile creature and enemy to all free people."

Shiro looked down. "I remember now... I was his prisoner."

Allura looked at him with shock. "He's still alive? Impossible!"

"I can't explain it, but it's true," Shiro said. "He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron."

"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does," Allura explaind. 

---

Inside of the witch's chamber, purple crystals of energy floated around her. She looked up suddenly and gasped. 

Allura furrowed her brows at the scene. 

She found Zarkon standing at the edge of a platform and said, "The Blue Lion has returned, and now I feel a resurgence of Altean energy." 

"Alfor's daughter lives?" Zarkon questioned. He turned to face the witch. "How?" 

"I know not," she responded, "but it is time to reclaim what is rightfully ours."

Everyone gave the on-screen witch sour looks. 

"Yes," Zarkon agreed. "I shall wipe that foul race from the universe forever and take back Voltron. Contact my commanders." 

---

At a Galran cruiser, purple electricity powered on Sendak's mechanical arm. He clenched his fist, and the excess energy sharpened and faded. 

A male voice behind him said, "Emperor Zarkon requests an audience." 

Sendak went to the control room and a hologram of Zarkon appeared. "Commander Sendak, the Princess of Altea is alive and hiding in your sector. We believe she alone holds the whereabouts of the remaining lions. Your battle fleet is the closest to her location. Retrieve her and the lions. With them all, the Galra Empire will be unstoppable."

"I fight for the empire," Sendak said, lowering himself into a bow. "I conquer in the name of Galra. No foe has ever stood in my way, and none ever will. Vrepit sa!" The hologram blinked away and Sendak stood. He turned to his crew and commanded, "Set a course for Arus."

Chapter Text

Back at the castle, Coran urges, "Princess, you must eat. It's been 10,000 years." 

"I'm not hungry," Allura says. 

"You're definitely beating me on that one," Hunk comments. "One hour is too long, let alone 10,000 years."

"Man, 10,000 years?" Lance asks. "That's like one thousand plus ten." 

Keith turns to him and says, "That's...times ten."

"Whatever, dropout," Lance snaps. 

Keith scowls at him. 

"Keith was right though," Pidge adds. They critically stared at Lance for a few moments. "Lance, I have no idea how you were passing your math classes."

A plate of green goo floats in front of Hunk. He holds his stomach. "I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starving." 

"Yeah, but you've thrown up like, five times," Pidge points out. 

"Hm, yeah, that is true," Hunk says. 

"Hmm, good point," Hunk agrees. 

"Aye! Agreeing with my past self!" 

Hunk picks up palm-fulls of the green goo and starts eating. 

"I can't believe your civilization created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago," Shiro compliments. "It must have been an incredible place." 

"Yes, it was..." Coran says sadly, "but now it is gone and we're the last Alteans alive." 

The room goes silent. Allura looks down sadly and clenches her fist against her chest. 

Everyone sadly looks at the screen. Coran gently pats Allura's hand. 

Coran walks closer to Allura and she hugs him tightly, softly sobbing into his shoulder. 

Allura hears squeaking. She gasps and looks up.

Inside her pod are four mice. She smiles and says, "Looks like we're not the last, after all."

"I feel like a truth needs to be spoken," Pidge says. They stand up on the couch and clear their throat. "While earth mice are a lot uglier than Altean mice, -" 

"That's mean to Earth mice, they're doing their best," Hunk pouts. 

"- Earth rats have a lot more character than Altean mice." 

Lance gasps in shock. "You take that back right now! The Space Mice are plenty character-ful!" 

Allura tilts her head. "I don't know what your..rat creature is, so I don't feel I can properly make a judgement on this. But I agree, the Space Mice have a lot of character."

"Ah, but you see, you're mistaking character for intellect," Pidge says. They hold up their hand to hush Lance when he tries to argue. "Shush, you foul man-creature, your superior is speaking. Now, as someone with both character and intellect, they are both very different things. The Space mice are very smart. They show very strong problem solving skills and have a great understanding of language. But they're kinda basic." 

Keith tilts his head back and forth in agreement.

Shiro wrinkles his nose. "They're alien mice, Pidge, how can they be ba-" 

"Hush, father, I'm not done yet," Pidge interrupts. They walk across the couch to Shiro and readjust his hair floof before walking back over to their spot. "The Space Mice are basic. They're smart, but that's about it. They don't do much else besides observe people and snitch. Earth rats are full of a lot of character. They'll bite you and steal your crackers, but they'll also sit around your neck like a scarf and wobble around on their stubby little legs. They have personality and said personality changes between the individual. They're also quite smart as well, they just don't know how to work spacecrafts like the Space Mice can. But I theorize that if we gave rats advanced technology they'd find a way terminate our youth and kill the human species as a whole. They'd finally achieve their species-wide goal of domination and finally get the recognition that they've been craving for eons. Rats are and will continue to be the-"

"Let's just get back to the show," Lance interrupts with his arms crossed. 

Pidge grumbles but sits back down. 

An alarm blares and the mice startle. 

"A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!" Coran yells. 

"How did they find us?" Allura asks. 

"I'm not sure, but I bet it's Keith's fault," Lance accuses. 

"Say whatever you're gotta say to make yourself feel better," Keith responds. "After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!"

Lance gets real close to Keith's face and yells, "I'll stick you in a wormhole!" 

"Lance, that retort didn't make sense in the slightest," Pidge comments. 

"It made perfect sense, you just don't know it yet," Lance grumbles. 

Shiro rushes over and pushes Lance away from Keith. "Stow it, cadets!" Lance raises his arms. Shiro continues, "This is no time to place blame. It's time to work as a team. How long before they arrive?" 

"Why did you raise your arms like that?" Keith asks, giving Lance a judgemental look. 

"I think it's to make himself appear bigger to intimidate you into admitting defeat," Pidge says. 

Coran holds up a few fingers and does some math. "At their speed? Oh. Well, carry the two... I'd say probably a couple of days." 

Allura harden's her gaze. "Good. Let them come! By the time they got here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire!" 

"This is entirely too optimistic for our track record in the luck department," Pidge mutters. 

Keith nods in agreement. 

Allura grumpily purses her lips. "The fate of the universe is in your hands. There's no room for doubt. We all believe in you, so there's no room for you to doubt yourselves. To doubt is to accept the possibility of failure. You must work to succeed and push forwards through all hardship to protect those who cannot protect themselves." 

Hunk wipes away a few tears. "That was beautiful, Princess."

Hunk sucks the crumbs off his fingers and burps. "Sorry. Food goo." His stomach rumbles and he makes an alarmed noise. 

"Princess, there are five of these lions," Shiro points out. "How are we going to find the rest?"

The mice squeak from Allura's hands. 

---

In the control room, Allura steps onto the raised platform in the center of the room. A beam of light shines down on her as she closes her eyes. 

"King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force," Coran explains. "She alone is the key for the lions' whereabouts." 

"Connecting machines to people's life forces doesn't sound safe, but it seems fine so I'm not going to question alien technology while I'm this far into it," Hunk comments. 

Allura opens here eyes and the room fills with floating holograms of stars, planets, constellations, and other celestial objects. 

The group looks around in wonder and 'awe's at the display. 

"These are coordinates," Pidge observes. "The Black Lion looks like it's in the same location as the Blue Lion." 

"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage," Coran says excitedly. 

Pidge scrunches up their nose. "That sounded very demeaning, looking back on it now." 

"Fear not, it was not intended that way, Number Five," Coran responds. 

"Very observant," Allura compliments. "That's because the Black Lion is in the castle." 

"To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands," Coran explains, "King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present." 

"As you have found, the lions choose their pilots," Allura says. "It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain." Allura waves her hand and the holograms move with her. "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion." 

A hologram of the Black Lion floats towards Shiro as Allura speaks. 

Allura waves her hand again and the holograms move once more. "The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion."

A Green Lion hologram floats towards Pidge.

"The Blue Lion--" 

"Hold up, let me guess," Lance interrupts. "Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?" 

Allura gives him an unamused look then continues on. "The Yellow Lion is caring and kind." She waves both her hands. "Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together." 

Hunk points at himself doubtfully. 

A Yellow Lion hologram floats towards Hunk. 

"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master," Allura continues. "It'a fasted and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone." 

Lance smiles expectantly, but the Red Lion hologram floats past him and to Keith.

"Keith, you will fly the Red Lion." 

Keith gives a small smile while Lance looks unhappy.

"Wait a second...," Hunk mutters. He mumbles to himself and does some heavy thinking. "We're all wearing the colors of the lions we were assigned." He turns and looks accusingly at Allura. "Did you just assign us our lions based off of our clothing?"

Allura looks away sheepishly. "That might have had some sway in it, yes, but it didn't dictate the entire decision."

Lance asks, "What? This guy?" 

Keith's smile drops. 

"Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet," Allura says. "There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, it might need some work." 

"Don't worry, we'll find it soon," Coran reassures. He puffs out his chest. "They don't call me 'The Coranic' for nothing. ...It's because it sounds like 'mechanic.' So... Coranic, mechanic. It's not-- It doesn't sound... exactly like it. It's similar." 

"This both makes perfect sense and makes no sense at the same time," Lance says. 

The hologram lions roar and fly together. 

"Once all the lions are United, you will form Voltron," Allura says, "the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe." 

The hologram lions glow brightly and when the light dies down a giant hologram Voltron is in their place. 

"Awesome!" Lance exclaims. 

"Wait," Hunk starts. "Okay, we're going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?" 

Shiro gives Hunk a scolding look. 

"What?" Hunk defends. "I was curious. I just met aliens for the first time and I didn't know if they had to pee or not."

"It's rude to ask, though," Shiro says. 

"Now we don't have much time," Shiro says. "Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one." Shiro places his metal hand on Keith's shoulder. "Keith, you stay here. If you locate the Red Lion, go get it." 

"In the meantime, I'll get this castle's defenses ready," Allura adds. "They'll be sorely needed."

"I'll ready a pod and load the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion," Coran says. 

The Blue Lion and the Pod split off and head out to get the two lions. 

Two short pillars rise from the platform that Allura is standing on and she places her hands on them, and as she does they start flowing. 

"We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two or your Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work," Coran instructs. "The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Uhh... Enjoy the trip!" 

"Relatively peaceful, you say," Lance mutters. 

"Wait! What? No!" They all say, Hunk adding, "I did not receive the memo on this," then disappear through their respective wormholes. 

---

Shiro and Pidge emerge from their wormhole and fly down towards a blue and green planet. They walk through the forest, Pidge holding a devise so they can keep track of where they're going. 

They walk until they come across a river. Pidge points at a boat, which is sitting on the riverbank. The boat has a lion head carved into it. 

A giant, sloth-like creature appears besides the two and Pidge jumps onto Shiro. 

"What is that thing?" Lance asks. 

"Sloth. Big sloth," Pidge replies. 

The sloth creature slowly turns to them and makes a sound. 

"It's just a...whatever...that thing is," Pidge says. 

Pidge hops off Shiro as the creature walks away. It turns back and motions for them to follow. 

"I...I think he wants us to get in his canoe," Pidge says. 

"He looks trustworthy, but it also just doesn't seem smart to get into boats with big, alien sloths," Hunk comments. 

Shiro shrugs. "Then I guess we should go." Pidge stares at him in silence for a moment. "I've been locked up by aliens for a year. This is nothing."

Everyone besides Shiro makes awkward expressions at the mention of his imprisonment while Shiro nods along with his past comment. 

He sets off to follow the creature and Pidge reluctantly follows. 

The sloth creature paddles the boat along the river. Odd, yellow, caterpillar-looking creatures emerge from the bushes and sway back and forth, making chirping noises as the boar passes. 

Pidge smiles at them and laughs softly. 

The boat goes through a cave with a lion marking carved above it. 

"I wonder if Hunk and Lance are having as good a time as us," Pidge ponders. 

"We weren't, thanks for asking," Hunk grumbles. 

---

Inside the spinning Blue Lion, alarms are blaring and Hunk and Lance are screaming. 

"Ah, seems the castle's system was a tad bit out of date, then," Coran notes.

Lance sharply turns to him. "Ya think?"

"Oh, no! No, no, no!" Hunk screams. "Oh! Oh, no!" 

The Blue Lion swerves through the sky to avoid blasts from Galran jets. The sentries inside fire off small missiles, which just mostly miss the Blue Lion. 

The last missile hits, and the Blue Lion goes down. 

Everyone cringed at the hit. 

"I thought Coran said these planets were peaceful!" Hunk yells. 

"Maybe 'peaceful' means something else in Altean!" Lance responds. 

"Hm, no, I don't think it does. We have different uses of 'peaceful' and different pronunciations, but they all mean relatively and same thing," Coran murders, twirling his mustache. "What does it mean in your language?" 

"Not infested with Galra, that's for sure," Lance responds. 

Lance manages to barely avoid hitting the ground and pulls up just in time. The jets continue to chase as they fly through the rocky landscape. 

As the Blue Lion flies over a pit, sentries on the ground fire up at them with guns. 

"According to the coordinates, we're right on top of the Yellow Lion," Hunk says. "It's below there, where they're mining for the ore. They don't even know the lion is there. Or maybe they just got here and they're digging for the lion? What do you think, Lance?" 

"Who cares?" Lance yells. "Just go get it! I'm dropping you down there."

"Me? Down there? No. No, no, no," Hunk replies. 

"Yes, I'll cover you," Lance insists. 

The Blue Lion dives to the ground and starts running, trampling sentries as it goes. 

"What if the Yellow Lion doesn't work?" Hunk panics. "What if I can't get in the mine? What if I start crying? It's too late. I'm already crying!"

"Mood," Shiro deadpans. 

Keith turns and give him a concerned look. "Are you doing okay?" 

"Yes, maybe, probably yes. Either way, it's all internal. Don't worry about it," Shiro replies. 

Keith raises his eyebrows and awkwardly nods in response. 

Lance turns back to look at Hunk. "Sorry, no time for questions."

He presses a button and Hunk is dropped out of the lion screaming. 

Hunk lands on the ground and rolls to the entrance of the mine. 

"That looked painful," Allura comments. 

"It was," Hunk agrees. 

The Blue Lion blocks incoming fire and goes back to fighting. 

Hunk runs into the mine and sits behind a metal wall for cover. He opens up a control box and starts messing with stuff. 

"Yeah, sure, just drop me off in an alien planet," he grumbles. "That's cool, man. It's only occupied by mean purple aliens that want to kill me, but whatever. Just ignore them and go connect with a big, yellow, mechanical cat. Easy-peasy. Yeah. That all makes a ton of sense to me."

"All valid complaints," Pidge says. 

He sticks wires together and they spark. The platform he was sitting on lowers itself down into the mine. 

The cave walls glow yellow with similar wall markings as the ones in the cave of the Blue Lion. "Cool," Hunk says, smiling. 

He runs to a cave wall. The mine rumbles and dust falls from the ceiling. 

"Okay, I'm in a giant hole. Now what, Hunk?" 

He moves to walk away and the spot he was previously standing glows with a carving of a yellow lion. 

A target-shaped carving shows up on a wall. 

"How am I going to get through that?" He ponders. "Hmm? Hmm..."

He looks behind him and sees a large drill. 

"Good thinking, Hunk," Pidge compliments. 

Hunk grins. "Thanks."

---

Outside the cave, the Blue Lion is taking heavy fire. More jets fly in. The Blue Lion takes off and flies towards them. 

---

Hunk drills through the wall and sees the Yellow Lion surrounded by a force field. He gasps and stares up at it. 

---

The Blue Lion dive-bombs a jet and bites it, causing it to explode. 

The jets swerve past the Blue Lion and all fire at the entrance of the mine. 

The Blue Lion fires shots at the jets and one explodes, but before it does it fires a missile at the mine entrance. 

"Hunk!" Lance yells. 

The missile hits, exploding the mine and the surrounding pit. 

Everyone makes different expressions of concern. 

"Oh no!" Hunk yells. Everyone looks at him, then he pauses as if realizing something. "Oh, wait, I already knew this happened. It's still concerning to see from the outside though." 

Lance stares down in horror. 

---

"I know the Princess said this is supposed to be my lion, but what if she's wrong?" Pidge rants. "I mean, she's probably not wrong. She's a princess, but I'm not a pilot, even though I've always wanted to be a pilot. I read all the fighter manuals, but never got to fly the simulator. But hey, I can't be that worse than Lance. He crashed all the time." 

Lance scowls and everyone else smiles at Pidge's comment. 

Shiro and the sloth creature share a look and Shiro shrugs. 

"But what if I get in there and it doesn't respond? What I get in there and it's too big and my feet don't touch the pedals? What if there aren't even pedals?!"

"You're rambling," Shiro says. "Listen... Our commander on the Kerberos Mission is the smartest man I ever met, and he always said, 'If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great'." 

"Those are good words of advise," Allura comments. 

Pidge smiles. 

Pidge's face lights up at Shiro's words. They then gasp as the boat stops in front of a vine-covered temple. 

"Oh wow, that's a pretty spot," Hunk says.

The two get out of the boat and the creature waves them off. 

As they approach the temple, carvings of lions start to glow green. Pidge pulls ahead of Shiro and continues on. 

"Go," Shiro says. He smiles at Pidge. "Be great."

Pidge smiles back and runs up the steps of the temple. 

They reach the top and look around, disappointed when they don't see the lion. They hear growling from below them and look down. The spaces between the vines glow green. Pidge grins and jumps down with a shout. 

"It would have been really disappointing if I had gotten seriously injured while doing that," Pidge notes. "I mean, I didn't, obviously, but if that hadn't worked out that would've sucked."

Shiro stands with his back against a pillar. The ground rumbles and he's shaken off the pillar, and the Green Lion emerges from the mess of vines. 

---

The Blue Lion flies away as the Galran jets fly after it. 

"Hunk, come on!" Lance calls. "Please, buddy!" 

The Blue Lion gets hit and goes down. 

Everyone cringes again at the hit. 

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Going down! We're going down!" 

He pulls on the handles, but the lion slams into the ground before anything can happen. 

Lance sits up after the tumble and looks out the windshield. "Oh, no.." 

The Galran jets are quickly approaching the Blue Lion. The front jet fires off two missiles and Lance braces himself for the hit. 

Everyone besides Lance and Hunk brace themselves for a horrific sight. 

Instead, the Yellow Lion bursts from the ground and blocks the hits. It runs from the smoke and flops belly-first onto the jets, causing them to explode. 

Shiro looks relieved. 

"You okay, Lance?" Hunk asks. 

"Hunk!" Lance says. "I thought you were dead! You jumped in front of those shots to save my life!"

A call opens and Hunk appears on Lance's dashboard. "Well, actually, I was trying to get out of the way. Thankfully, what this lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in armor. Man, can it take a beating!"

"Really nice of you, Hunk" Pidge comments sarcastically. 

"Hey, I was just being honest," Hunk defends. 

"Sometimes it's better to just lie," Pidge advises. 

The two startle at the blasts of the dozens of incoming Galran jets. 

"We've got incoming!" Hunk alerts. 

A call from Allura pops up on the dashboard of the lions. "Paladins, please hurry back," she urges. "I can't hold the wormhole much longer."  

"Let's get out of here!" Lance yells. 

The two lions take off and fly up to the wormhole just above them. 

The Yellow Lion gets hit from behind and starts spinning towards the wormhole.

Hunk groans and covers his mouth. "Not this again."

"Quit screwing around, Hunk! The wormhole is closing!" Lance says. 

The two make it through the wormhole just as it closes. 

"That was too close," Lance says. "I didn't realize we were that close to being left behind."

---

Back at the castle, Shiro, Pidge, Keith, Allura, and Coran are all in the control room. 

Lance and Hunk walk through the door, both groaning. 

"You made it!" Allura cheered. 

"Yeah, just barely," Lance says, rolling his shoulder. "That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!"

"Think how I felt," Hunk adds. "I am Hunk."

"Yeah. We had a tough time, too," Pidge says, smiling at Shiro, who returns the gesture. 

"Is this one of your 'better to lie' situations?" Lance asks, scowling and crossing his arms. 

"Yes, yes it is," Pidge confirms. 

"Did we find the Red Lion yet?" Shiro asks. 

"Allura just located it," Coran says. "There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus!"

"I feel like that last one was bad news," Hunk says. 

"Hm, maybe so, Number Two," Coran agrees. 

"They're here already?" Shiro asks. 

"Yes," Coran answered. "Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting-- It's more of an art than a science. Hmm?" 

"Definitely more of an art," Hunk agrees. 

A large hologram of Sendak appears. "Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here go confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet." 

The hologram blinks out and everyone stares at the space where the hologram once was. 

Chapter Text

"All right, let's not panic," Shiro says. 

"Not panic?" Hunk asks. "The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us. We only have four lions."

"A very good reason to panic, in my opinion," Hunk agrees with his past self. 

"Technically, only three working lions," Pidge adds. 

Hunk pats Pidge's shoulder. "That's right. Thank you, Pidge. Three working lions and a castle that's, like, 10,000 years old."

"Actually, it's 10,600 years old," Coran adds. He adjusts his jacket proudly. "You see, it was built by my grandfather--"

"Thanks, Coran," Hunk says. "Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!"

"Agreed," Hunk says. 

"Wait!" Allura says. "This castle has a particle barrier we can activate."

Lance tilts his head flirtatiously. "Girl, you've already activated my par--"

"Lance!" Shiro scolds. 

Shiro gives Lance another scolding look. 

Lance grumbles but doesn't argue against it. 

Coran pulls up a hologram of the Galran cruiser. "The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last."

"If a civilization didn't advance for 10,000 years and they continued to overrun pretty much every new planet they came across, it would look bad on the planets at that point," Pidge says. 

"Panic now?" Hunk asks. 

"No," Shiro says. "We've just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly."

"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day," Lance proposes. 

"Wimp," Pidge says, sticking their tongue out at Lance. 

Lance dives them the middle finger and Pidge launches themselves at Lance and tackles him to the ground. 

Shiro pulls Pidge off of Lance and scolds, "Enough, this is childish."

Pidge and Lance settle back into their seats and Keith says, "I was rooting for you, Pidge."

Shiro gives Keith the same scolding look and he looks away. 

"It was a good effort, Pidge," Allurs comforts. 

"Hey! Is everyone teaming up against me?" Lance asks. 

Everyone besides Shiro nods. 

"I second that, yes," Hunk agrees. "We tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have three. We can't form Voltron. I mean, I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance. That you were talking about."

"Then it's settled," Lance says. He walks over to the Alteans. "Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy." 

Coran glares at him, his eyes full of anger. 

"We can't just abandon Arus," Pidge insist. "The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them." 

"I still agree with my point," Pidge says. 

Keith nods in agreement. 

"Okay," Hunk says, acknowledging Pidge's point. "If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we--" Hunk hisses. "--outta here."

"Sendak could destroy the planet then come after us anyways," Keith argues. "Staying is our only option." 

Lance approaches Keith. "Here's an option: shut your quiznack."

Coran and Allura gasp. 

"Alien cuss words are fun," Pidge says. 

"Agreed," Keith says. 

"Quiznak," Pidge adds on. 

Coran and Allura stare at the two. Allura sighs and says, "At least it's not targeted. That is an acceptable use."

"I don't think you're using that word correctly," Keith says. 

"What do you know, Mullet?" Lance taunts. 

"More than you, apparently," Pidge says. 

"We're staying!" Keith argues.

"Leaving!" Lance argues. 

"Staying!" Pidge argues. 

"Snake!" Hunk argues. 

"Guys, stop!" Shiro yells. The younger four separate and cross their arms. "Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?" 

"Ever the diplomat, Space Father," Pidge says. 

Allura smiles a 'thank you' at Shiro, who nods and smiles back.  

Allura's eyes widen. "I...I don't know."

Coran looks up. "Perhaps your father can help."

Allura turns to him. "My father?" 

---

Doors slide open and Allura and walks through. 

"Coran, what is this?" She asks. 

"King Alfor knew there was a chance he might never see you again," Coran explains. "So, his memories, his very being, were stored in this computer for you." 

Allura approaches a large metal device that is glowing blue. She reaches out to touch it and the light rises in a blue orb and explodes out in sparks of blue energy. 

The scenery around Allura turns into a field of pink flowers surrounded by mountains. Behind her, on the device, stands a hologram of King Alfor. 

"It's a beautiful scene, Princess," Shiro compliments. 

"It truly is," Allura agrees sadly. "It's a shame that I am unable to show it to you all in person."

Coran puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

"Father!" Allura says with a smile. She rushes over to him. "Father, it is so good to see you."

"Allura, my only child, how I've missed your face," Alfor responds. 

Allura smiles sadly and looks down. "I'm so frightened." She sits at the base of the device. "A Galra ship is set to attack, and I don't know what to do. Please, Father, I need your help."

"I would do anything to take this burden from you," Alfor says. 

"I don't know if we should run to preserve what we have or stay and risk everything," Allura continues. "I want to fight, but the paladins of old are gone." She looms up at the hologram. "I know what you would do."

"I scattered the Lions of Voltron to keep them out of Zarkon's hands," Alfor explained. "You urged me to keep them and fight, but, for the greater good of protecting the universe, I chose to hide them." 

"I think I understand," Allura says. 

"No, daughter, you were right," Alfor argues. "I made a terrible mistake, one that cost the universe countless lives. Forming Voltron is the only way to stop Zarkon. You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the lions and correct my error." 

"He sounds like a very wise man," Shiro says. 

"He was," Coran says. 

---

Allura comes back to the control room in an Altean bodysuit. "You five Paladins were brought here for a reason," she says. "The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. We are the universe's only hope."

Shiro nods once and says, "We're with you Princess."

---

Allura leads the Paladins to the armory. There are five pods that hold different colored suits of armor to match each of the lions. 

"Your suits of armor," Allura says. 

Each Paladin stands in front of their armor to inspect it. 

Hunk stares at his, which appears to be fit for someone thinner than him. He holds out his hands on either side of the armor then compares the distance of his hands to himself. 

"Wait, does the armor have a set size it shrinks to or does it stay the same size until their paladin changes or..dies?" Pidge asks. 

"I mean, we have our own armor to test it out, but you make a good point," Hunk says. "Sometimes it shrinks, sometimes it stays the same size. It's confusing."

"Princess, are you sure about this?" Coran asks. "They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer." 

The paladins all make sounds of offense, and some slight sounds of agreement. 

"No, but they're all we've got," Allura replies. 

Lance grumbles in annoyance. 

"Boys, it's time to suit up," Shiro announces. 

"Would you just say 'Paladins, it's time to suit up' now, or would you say 'bois, it's time to suit up' in the general 'with da bois' saying?" Pidge asks. 

Shiro blinks at them. "Probably just 'Paladins'." 

Pidge slumps back into their seat. "Boo, you chose the boring option."

A short montage of suiting up later and the Paladins are all dressed. 

Allura places her hand on a table and the tabletop fades away to reveal four bayards. "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin." 

As Hunk reaches out and holds his bayard, it transforms into a bulky gun. 

Keith's transforms into a sword, and his other hand gets equipped with a shield. 

Lance's transforms into a slimmer gun. He cheers and playfully points it around. 

Pidge's transforms to have an extended topside that ends in a rounded, glowing, green blade. They slice it around in they air to test it out and smile. 

"Aw, you got a cute little bayard," Lance teases. 

Pidge jabs him with it. Lance screams as a electricity surges through his body and he falls over. 

Pidge smirks. "Yeah, it is pretty cute."

Everyone besides Lance snicker at the scene while Lance grumbles, "Hey, that hurt."

Allura turns to Shiro. "Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin."

Shiro smiles and says, "I guess I'll just have to make do."

---

Back in the control room, Allura says, "You'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship."

"That's a pretty big ship," Keith observes. "How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is?"

"Well, it's not a matter of 'we'," Pidge replies. "It's a matter of 'you'."

"Hm, no pressure or anything," Keith comments sarcastically. 

"Well, you succeeded, so it's not like the pressure was unwarranted," Pidge added. 

Keith smiles at Pidge. 

"At least now we get to see how many failed attempts you made," Lance butts in. 

Keith scowls and Pidge gives Lance the middle finger. Lance gasps in mock offense. 

"Pidge is right," Hunk agrees. "Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and like, track it down."

"Yeah," Lance says. "You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?" 

"Yeah, the one you made fun of me for," Keith mutters. 

Keith nods. "Yeah. You made fun of me for that."

Keith makes an exasperated expression of 'see what I mean?'

Lance smiles proudly. "And I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo." 

"Keith," Allurs says, "remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect." 

"You must earn the cat's respect, young rodent-pupil of mine, " Pidge says in an odd, vaguely British accent, turning to Keith and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tame the wild cat and you will do many great things." 

Lance and Hunk snicker to each other as Keith stares at Pidge in confusion. 

Allura and Coran look at Shiro questioningly and he just shrugs. 

Keith nods. 

Shiro puts his hand on Keith's shoulder and turns to the rest of the group. "All right. Here's our plan of attack. The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lion, but they don't know we have the Green Lion, too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up." 

---

Lance and Hunk fly towards the Galra cruiser. 

---

Inside, Sendak opens a call. 

"Purple cat man returns," Pidge comments. 

Lance says, " Attention, Galra ship. Do not fire. We're surrendering our lions."

As they get closer to the ship, Lance mutters, "Hope this works." 

---

"While Sendak is distracted," Shiro continues, "Keith, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, find some way to take down that ion cannon. " 

---

The Green Lion flies to the underside of the ship. Pidge takes out their bayard and cuts a circle from the metal for them go climb through. 

"Pidge, what's your ETA?" Lance asks.

"We're in," Pidge replies. 

---

"Activate tractor beam," Sendak orders. 

---

The metal panel above Lance and Hunk starts to glow at the tractor beam is activated.

"What's that thing?" Hunk asks. 

"I think that's our signal to get out of here!" Lance yells. 

The Blue and Yellow Lion swerve out of the way of the beam just as it fully powers on.

---

Sendak stands up straighter at their movement. "They lied to us. Launch fighters!" 

"Why did he assume we were lying?" Hunk asks. "A giant purple laser was pointed at us. Anyone in their right minds would run away."

---

"Hunk, you dismantle the ion cannon while I take these jerks on a space ride!" Lance says. 

"Ten-four!" Hunk replies. 

As they move towards the cruiser beams of light are shot around everywhere. Explosions light up with areas where ships are destroyed. 

---

Keith peeks around a corner and move around. Shiro and Pidge follow him.

Shiro stares down the corridor and is struck with memories of his time as prisoner. He remembers sentries taking him to a lab table and someone staring directly into his eyes. 

"Uh oh," Hunk mumbles. 

Shiro groans and his breathing picks up. 

Keith turns back to him at the noise. 

"I've been here before," Shiro realizes. "After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here." 

"So, that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here," Pidge says hopefully. "We...we've got to rescue them."

"Pidge, we don't have time," Shiro says, his voice shakey. "We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus."

"But we can't just leave prisoners here!" Pidge argues. 

"Pidge, wanting to rescue prisoners is admirable, but perhaps that moment wasn't the optimal time to take a detour," Allura says. 

Pidge scowls. "Then what else is Voltron for? We're meant to be saving people, and this is saving people!" 

Allura purses her lips but doesn't argue back. 

Shiro walks a few steps closer to Pidge. "Look, no one understands that more than me, but, in war, we have to make hard choices. Now, let's get moving."

Shiro moves to walk away and Pidge shouts, "No!" They look down. "Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos Mission with you."

Allura's eyes widen and she makes a sound of understanding.

"Commander Holt is your father?" Shiro asks. 

"Yes," Pidge answers. "I've been searching everywhere for him and my brother. And I'm not going to give up looking when I'm this close. I won't!" 

Pidge turns to walk away when Shiro says, "I'm coming with you."

"Uh oh, splitting up," Hunk says. "This never ends well in horror movies."

"What?" Keith asks. 

"I remember where the prisoners are held," Shiro explains. He turns to look at Keith. "Keith, you go find the Red Lion." 

"By myself?" Keith asks. 

"Minor change of plans," Shiro says. He takes a step closer to Keith. "You'll be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus. So--"

"Proceeds to get caught immediately," Pidge comments. 

Doors down the hall slide open. 

"Run!" Shiro says. 

Keith runs left and Shiro and Pidge run right. 

Keith slides to a halt after a bit of running. "Great," he mutters. "Now, which way?"

He stares up at a logo on a door. Footsteps are quickly approaching, so he picks a direction and runs. 

---

Hunk charges at the ion cannon and rams into a purple force field instead. He flies backwards. 

"What the quiznak?" He says. "What is that? A force field?" 

---

"Particle barrier up," Allura says. 

A blue force field forms around the castle. As soon as it's formed, it flashes away. 

"Is that what's supposed to happen?" Coran asks. 

They slide open a small compartment to see two crystals. One is connected, but the other is not. 

"How did you manage to fix that?" Hunk asks. 

"I'm assuming it'll be shown," Allura responds. "If not, I'll explain the situation."

"All the barrier crystals are out of alignment," Coran observes. 

"We have to fix it immediately," Allura says. "Without the particle barrier, we'll be defenseless." 

"We're both too big. What can we do?" Coran asks. 

The mice squeak and run over to the compartment. They scamper inside. 

"Ah, the mice," Hunk says, nodding. "Makes sense." 

"The one thing they're good for.." Pidge mutters. 

"The mice!" Allura exclaims. 

"How do they know how to do this?" Coran questions. 

"I can hear them talking to me," Allura explains. "I think our minds are connected." Inside the compartment, the mice as busy trying to push the crystal back into alignment. "It must be from sharing the sleep pod for 10,000 years." 

"At what point do you think you were linked?" Pidge asks. "Like, were you connected at 1,000 years, or could I get into a pod for a minute or two and come out linked?"

Coran twirls his mustache. "That's an interesting thought, Number Five. We may just have to test that one out.." 

The mice succeed and the castle is back to full function. The mice squeak excitedly. 

"Thank you, friends," Allura says.

Coran puts a finger on each of his temples and strains at the mice, making an odd grunting sound as he does. 

"Coran, what are you doing?" Allura asks. 

"I'm trying to get them to make me a sandwich," Coran answers. 

Pidge clicks their tongue and shakes their head. "You don't want nasty rodent paws all over your food. Even rats are unsuited for that job. So many diseases are spread this way, even alien ones, I bet."

Allura gives him an unimpressed look. 

---

Keith runs through the ship, making quick decisions at turns and keeping an eye out for sentries. 

He finds himself back at the same door he started at and groans. "You've got to be kidding me!" 

"Ha, you're lost," Lance taunts. 

Keith scowls. "Like you could do any better."

He focuses on calming his breathing and closes his eyes. "Patience yields focus."

Shiro smiles.

"Ah, taking inspiration from the wise words of the father," Pidge says with a nod. 

Shiro looks at Pidge with a raised eyebrow. 

He hones in on the quintessence of the Red Lion, and then works on tracking it back to himself. 

"You magic desert powers!" Lance exclaims. "See, you did take my advise."

Keith rolled his eyes. 

When he figures out the path, he opens his eyes and says, "Gotcha."

---

Shiro and Pidge race down the halls and towards the prisoner section of the ship. On their way, they run into a floating droid. 

It scans them, then Pidge fires a quick laser at it, disrupting its functioning. 

"That thing saw us," Shiro says. "We should get out of here."

"Wait. I think this might come in handy." Pidge picks up the robot and pokes around at its wiring. "Now, I'll just reset the controls..." The robot's lights blink on blue instead of purple and it floats up again. "And it's working for us." Shiro and Pidge stand. "I'm going to call you, 'Rover'. Follow me!" 

"Oh, so that's how you got them.." Hunk notes. 

They make their way to a flat door with no windows. 

"Open up," Pidge orders the robot. 

The robot turns to the door, scans a previously hidden touchscreen, and the doors open. 

"Excellent, Pidge," Shiro praises. 

Inside the cell, all the prisoners cower back against the wall. 

Allura and Coran frown at the state of the prisoners.

"This was not how prisoners were treated at the start of the war," Allura says. "There were regulations for how prisoners were treated, codes of honor.. It is not surprising to see how barbaric the Galra have become, but it pains me to see how it effects innocents."

Everyone else nods in agreement. 

Pidge ducks under the still rising door and calls out, "Dad?" 

They look down, disappointed, when none of them appear to be human. 

"Don't be afraid," Shiro says. "We're here to help you escape." 

One of the aliens in the back look up with wide eyes. "It's you...It's you, the Champion." He looks around at his cellmates. "If anyone can get us out of here, he can."

"Wh... What did you call me?" Shiro asks. 

"We don't have much time," Pidge alerts. "Let's get to the escape pods." 

"Let's go," Shiro ushers. "Come on!"

---

Outside, Lance flies around and dodges blasts. "Whoa-ho-ho! Yeah, buddy! This is way more fun without Hunk's barfing!"

"Rude," Hunk mumbles, crossing his arms. 

Hunk grunts as he rams the Yellow Lion against the force field again. 

---

Keith makes his way to the force field of the Red Lion. 

"Bingo," he says. He reaches out and touches the force field. "Let's get out of here. Open up."

The force field doesn't go down. 

"This method only works for me," Lance says proudly. "Blue and I had an instant connection."

"Hm, no, it worked that way for everyone so far," Pidge points out. 

"It's me. Keith. Your buddy."

Nothing happens. 

Keith's eyebrows furrow. "It's me! Keith, your-- I am your paladin!"

Everyone besides Keith quietly giggle at his manor of speaking with the Red Lion. 

He knocks on the force field when suddenly, shots are fired at him. 

"Uh oh," Hunk comments. 

"Yes, Hunk, uh oh," Pidge agrees. 

He ducks out of the way and activates his shield. 

"I'm bonding with you!" He yells at the lion. "Hey! Come on! We're connected!" 

"What's with you and bonding these days?" Lance asks. 

Keith glares at him. 

Keith summons his bayard and charges at the sentries. "You're not getting this lion!"

He swings at the sentry and it blocks the blow with its gun. In return, it tries to ram him with its gun. Keith blocks with his shield and knocks it away. 

Another sentry charges and Keith slices its legs off from the knees down. 

"Ooh, good hit," Pidge compliments. 

"Thanks," Keith says with a smile. 

"Knees, begone!" Pidge continues. 

Keith moves to charge again but his shield gets shattered by a shot. He's tossed back and he slides across the floor. 

Everyone winces. 

He stands, looks around for a quick moment, and forms a plan. He activates the lower half of his helmet and slams a button to open up the doors into space. He holds onto the keypad while the remaining sentries are sucked out into space. 

"Um, a not very well thought-out plan, but a plan nonetheless, I suppose," Coran says. 

Keith struggles to hold on as the pulling force gets stronger. He looks up at the Red Lion. 

A piece of debris knocks him on the head, causing him to lose his grip. He manages to keep hold with one hand, but as he tries to grab on again another piece of debris hits him.  He's sent flying back into space. 

Everyone else looks concerned. 

Shiro gives Keith a 'you good?' look and Keith nods. 

He looks around frantically, and his eyes widen when the Red Lion zooms towards him with an open jaw. 

Keith smirks as his seat slides forwards towards the controls. "Good kitty. Let's roll."

"The first thing you say when you've made a connect with the Red Lion is 'good kitty'?" Pidge asks, slowly turning to look at Keith. "You're not a dog person, right?" 

Keith shakes his head. 

"Good, because nobody besides hardcore cat people say that to robot cats," Pidge continues. They make an odd expression. "Well, and one other group, but...I'm not going to get into that." 

Shiro gives Pidge a scolding look. 

---

"Hurry!" Pidge urges on the prisoners. 

A drone commands, "Halt!" 

"When has saying that ever stopped somebody?" Lance asks. 

Hunk shrugs. "Maybe it's peer pressure?"

Sentries approach and Shiro moves to stand besides Pidge. 

He raises his mechanical fist, and as he does it swirls with purple energy and glows. He falls to the ground with a groan of pain and access energy swirls around his hand. 

Everyone looks at Shiro in concern. 

"Does it hurt you to use your arm like that?" Allura asks. 

"No. Not after first moment, no," Shiro responds. 

His hearing becomes distorted as he stares down at his glowing, purple limb. 

Pidge's distorted voice cuts through the haze. "Shiro, what's wrong?"

As his hearing clears, he stands and charges at the sentries. He blocks a shot with his hand and slices all the charging threats as he gets to them. He slices two in half at once and punches his first right through the abdomen of another one. Pidge watches, wide-eyed, as the sentries crackle and lay limp on the ground. 

"Same, Pidge," Hunk comments. 

The escape pod backs away and out of the cruiser and the alien that recognized him says, "Thank you, Shiro."

"That's not creepy at all," Hunk says. 

"Wait!" Shiro calls after him. "How do you...?" 

Pidge nudges Shiro's arm. "Shiro, that was amazing! Where did you learn to fight with that?" 

Shiro looks down at his hand and says, "No idea. 

---

Hunk shoots a laser at the force field surrounding the ion cannon. The force field starts to crack. 

"Come one, just break, you stupid thing!" Hunk yells. 

After a few more moments, the force field finally breaks. At shatters away from the ion cannon. 

"Score one for Hunk!" He calls out. 

He flies forwards and slams into the ion cannon. 

The Blue, Red, and Green Lions fly overhead and Hunk exclaims, "You guys made it!" 

"Kitty Rose has left the stage!" Pidge calls. 

"Ooh, they gave your lion a better nickname than you did," Lance says, mock shock on his face. 

Keith shrugs in agreement. "It's a decent nickname."

Pidge smirks at Lance. 

"Let's get the heck out of here!" Lance says. 

"I hope I stopped that cannon. I could barely make a dent in it," Hunk says as the Yellow Lion takes off. 

---

"They stole the Red Lion!" A commander informs Sendak. 

"It wasn't yours to begin with," Allura growls quietly. 

"After them!" Sendak orders. "Either we get those lions or we blow this whole planet to cosmic dust! Fire the ion cannon!" 

"Hm, the Galran Empire's mindset at its finest," Hunk says. 

"Sir, the ion cannon has been damaged."

"Then, send the drones to fix it!"

The cruiser picks up speed towards Arus. 

---

At the castle, all the lions are sat down in their hangars. The lions glow and the Black Lion is freed from its chamber. It sits up are roars, causing the other four lions to join it. 

Allura sighs in relief while Coran cheers. 

Then, alarms blare in the control room. 

"Oh, quiznak," Coran says. 

The Galran cruiser is quickly approaching.

"Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere," Allura informs. "We need Voltron now!"

Shiro gets into his lion and slides up to the dashboard. 

The Black Lion roars and flies out of the hangar, followed by the other four lions. 

---

"The ion cannon is back online!" 

"Fire!" Sendak orders. 

The ion cannon fires up and shoots at the castle. 

---

The particle barrier is hit and everyone inside feels the impact. 

"Man, those Galra guys repair things fast," Hunk points out. 

"Yes, it is easily learnt through mass genocide and colonization," Allura remarks coldly. 

Everyone winces.

"The barrier gets weaker with every blast," Coran informs. "Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless." 

"I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while," Allura says, "but you have to form Voltron now to we'll all be destroyed."

"Jeez, no pressure," Hunk remarks. 

The particle barrier is hit with another blast from the ion cannon. The barrier crackles with electricity. 

"Listen up, Team Voltron!" Shiro yells. "The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?" 

"Inspirational," Pidge comments. "Stating facts, then building off of it."

The team all nods. 

"I'm nodding. Is everyone else nodding?" Hunk asks. 

"Yes," everyone replies. 

"Let's do this!" Shiro says. 

The lions all run forwards in a formation out of the particle barrier. 

"Uh, how?" Lance asks. 

"Good question," Keith says. "Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?" 

"The power of friendship," Pidge deadpans. 

Shiro shrugs. "That's not too far off, to be fair."

"I don't see a 'combine into giant robot' button anywhere on my dashboard," Hunk adds. 

The lions jump off the end of the bridge and keep running. 

"This is insane!" Pidge yells. "Can't they just cease fire for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?" 

"Man, if only the world worked like that. That's be awesome!" Hunk says sincerely. "We, as people, need more rest and relaxation."

Allura gives Hunk a sour look. "There is not time for rest during war." 

Hunk grumbles. 

The Green Lion circles back and bites a fighter jet out of the sky. It tosses it back and slams it into another jet. 

The Red Lion shoots a laser from its tail at another jet. 

"We've got to do something," Keith says. 

The Yellow Lion slams into the Red Lion, causing it to go flying off into the ground with Keith letting out a yell. "Hey!" 

"I stand by my previous opinion," Keith comments. "That was uncalled for."

"Okay, that didn't work," Hunk states. 

A call from Allura appears. "Quickly, Paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!"

"Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll just combine," Shiro suggests. "Take off on my cue. One..two...three, Voltron!" 

They fly up in formation. 

"Here we go!" Keith yells. 

"Come on, come on!" Lance urges. 

"Nothings happening," Shiro observes. 

"Hey, wait, wait, wait!" Lance yells. "I feel something!" 

"I do, too!" Hunk responds. "I feel it. It's like we're all being pulled in the same direction!"

 Allura facepalms.

"Uh, guys, I think I know why," Shiro points out. "Look up." 

The tracker beam from the cruiser is aimed at the lions and is pulling them slowly towards the ship. 

"What the cheese?" Lance asks. 

Keith gives Lance a questioning look and Lance says, "Hey, don't just my stress phrases!"

Keith raises his hands in surrender. "No judgement here, I was just wondering."

"Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!" Pidge yells. 

---

"Send a report to Emperor Zarkon: 'The day is ours'," Sendak orders with a grin. 

"Overconfident jackass..." Pidge mutters. 

"Pidge!" Shiro scolds. 

"What does that word mean?" Allura asks. "Is it a bad thing?"

"It's rude and is considered foul language on Earth," Shiro explains. 

Allura ponders his words. "Well, it seems like Sendak deserves the name-calling then. Well done, Pidge. He is being quite the...jackass, wasn't it?"

Pidge grins and nods while Shiro rubs his forehead out of stress. 

The cruiser fires another ion cannon blast at the castle. 

---

The castle is hit and the particle barrier goes down. 

"Oh no!" Hunk yells. "We're doomed." 

"Hunk, this already happened," Pidge comforts. 

"Oh, right, sorry," Hunk replies sheepishly. "Just getting into the reliving of our pasts and soon futures."

Coran and Allura groan and fall over. 

---

Shiro sees the castle and says, "Oh, no!"

"I don't care what you say, Shiro," Hunk yells. "I'm panicking now!" 

Hunk continues screaming as they're all carried up. 

"It can't end here!" Pidge yells. 

"This is it!" Lance announces.

"It's been an honor flying with you boys," Keith says. 

"Oh, no!" Hunk screams. 

"You Paladins are so quick to doubt yourselves," Allura notes, furrowing her brows. "We'll need to work on that in future training." 

All of the Paladins groan. 

"I thought I left therapy behind..." Shiro complains quietly. 

Keith gives Shiro a concerned look but moves on when be receives a head shake. 

Sendak grins at the scene while Allura looks frightened and sad. 

A blast from the ion cannon is aimed at the lions. 

Shiro strains against his handles. "No! We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can't give up. We are the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail! We won't fail! If we work together, we'll win together!" 

"Yeah!" Everyone yells. 

"Go Space Dad!" Pidge, Hunk, and Lance cheer. 

The lions all glow their respective colors. A montage plays of the lions coming together to form Voltron with theme music playing in the background. 

"We should install this kind of music into the lions when this happens," Pidge states. "It's a lot more epic looking here. Usually we just sit in silence."

Everyone nods in agreement.

The ion cannon blast fires, but misses the castle and hits across the lake from the castle. 

---

Sendak gasps in fright and whispers, "Voltron..."

"Ha! Be afraid, cat man!" Lance taunts.

---

Allura and Coran gasp at the sight. 

---

Through the dust, a large figure stands atop the Galran cruiser.

Voltron. 

"I'm a leg!" Hunk shouts. 

"Indeed, Hunk," Pidge comments. 

"How are we doing this?" Lance asks. 

"I don't know, but let's get that cannon!" Shiro yells. 

Voltron grabs onto the cruiser and rips the cannon right from the ship, throwing it to the ground.

Voltron punches the ship, and the Red Lion, now inside, shoots laser beams, causing the front half of the cruiser to explode. 

Pidge quietly cackles. "Imagine working in your boring office job and this happens to you. Boom, giant lion face." 

---

Sendak falls forwards from his spot and stares up in anger at Voltron. 

---

Voltron makes it's way into the ship and fires off more lasers. 

---

Sendak backs away in fear and escapes. 

"Coward!" Lance shouts while everyone else looks on with angry judgement. 

---

Voltron flies right at the cruiser and straight through it, effectively splitting the ship in half. 

Voltron lands as the ship explodes behind it.

"We look epic," Hunk marvels. 

---

"Good work, Paladins!" Allura congratulates.

The Paladins all smile at the praise. 

The paladins are sitting outside catching their breath. Lance, Pidge, and Shiro all pull of their helmets. 

Shiro pats Keith's back, causing him to stumble forwards as he didn't expect the pat. 

"Bit unsteady there, Mullet?" Lance teases. 

Keith glares at him and turns away.

"Thanks, pretty lady," Lance says. 

Allura groans.

"We did it," Shiro says proudly. 

Keith pulls off his helmet and adds, "Heck yeah, we did."

"Oh my heck," Pidge comments. 

"What?" Hunk asks. 

"Did you see his hair? Look at that flip! Lance, you should be ashamed of yourself. Did you see that hair flip, Lance?! Did you?!"

Keith blushes while Lance grumbles and sinks into his chair. Shiro and Allura giggle while Coran twirls his moustache. 

"How did we do it?" Shiro asks. 

"I was just, like, screaming the whole time," Hunk says. "Maybe that did it."

Pidge puts on their glasses and looks down sadly. Shiro places a hand on their shoulder and they look up at him. 

"We're not going to stop searching until we find your brother and father," Shiro assures them. "Wherever they are, I know they'd be proud of you."

Pidge smiles. 

Pidge smiles at Shiro again. "Thank you," they say. 

Shiro smiles back. 

"We won the battle, but the war has only just begun," Allura says. "I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions." 

"Good thing you paladins know what you're doing, because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again," Coran adds. 

"Totally," Hunk agrees. He then turns to look at Coran. "Wait, what?"

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time," Lance adds. 

"And you only had to fight one ship," Coran agrees. He does some dramatic hand movements. "Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe." 

"Motivating," Pidge remarks. "Truly, an inspiration to us all." 

"Why thank you, Number 4, I'm glad you noticed my charm," Coran says cheerfully. 

Everyone blinks at him. 

"Defenders of the Universe, huh?" Shiro says. "That's not a nice ring to it." 

"Was that the end of the episode?" Lance asks.

"It seems so," Shiro muses. "Next one?" 

Everyone else nods eagerly. 

Chapter Text

"Some Assembly Required". 

An alarm blared, waking Hunk up with a yell. He rolled off his bed and out of the door with his blanket still wrapped around him.

"This was mean," Hunk said. 

The scene cut to Shiro, who was fully dressed in his paladin armor and doing pushups in his room. 

Allura's voice yelled from the intercom, "Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking!" 

Shiro startled slightly and ran out the door. 

The scene cut once to Lance, who was lying in bed with headphones and a facemask on. Peaceful music played, him unaware of the alarm. 

"The Castle's about to be destroyed!" Allura yelled. 

Keith, who was dressed for the day and studying his knife, jumped out of bed, grabbed his jacket, and ran out the door. 

"Go, go, go! We need full Voltron now!" 

Pidge startled from their spot against one of cyropods. Their computer flew out of their lap in their rush to run to the control room. 

In the control room, Allura and Coran are standing around, unharmed and safe. 

"You've got to sell it a little bit more," Coran advised. He cleared his throat and shrieked, "Oh, no! Allura is dead! Aw, it's horrible! Her head fell off!" 

Allura jumped back in alarm and stared at Coran. 

Coran crouched down on the ground, pretending to be mourning Allura's imaginary body. "Wait! What? Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it, Allura's head? What are your final words?"

"At least you're enjoying yourself, Coran," Pidge said. 

"Yes, I do quite enjoy putting my acting skills to the test," Coran said, puffing out his chest. 

"Coran," Allura groaned. 

"Oh, yes, Princess, I'm listening." 

"It's over," Allura said, looking over at four of the five Paladins who have arrived in the control room. 

"Oh, I know!" Coran raised his arms and grasped at the air dramatically. "If only Voltron had been formed!" He startled out of his act as he noticed the Paladins. "Oh!" He stood up straight and pulled a circular disk out of pocket. "Time!" 

Keith and Hunk stared grumpily at the two Alteans while Pidge sleepily rubbed at their eyes, Rover hovering behind them. 

"Rover!" Pidge smiled. 

"I guess this isn't an actual attack," Shiro said. 

"And it's a good thing it wasn't, because it took you...Coran?" Allura scolded. 

"Seventy-five degrees," Coran declared. "Oh, sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer."

Allura gave Coran annoyed look. "However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Shiro is in uniform. Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards? And where is Lance?" 

"At least Keith and I were dressed and awake," Pidge muttered. "Hunk is here, but Lance was very late. I want credit for being awake before Hunk. Also, always being prepared for battle seems miserable." 

The control room doors slid open with a hiss and Lance strutted into the room with a robe and cat slippers on, his skin shimmering with lotions and hair flawless. 

He yawned. "Good morning, everybody. What's going on?"

"Nice slippers," Keith complimented.

Lance squinted at him. "I can't tell if you're being serious or mocking me." 

Keith rolled his eyes. "You decide. Take it as you will." 

"Coran and I have been up for hours getting the Castle back in order," Allura said. Lance, Allura, and Cora moved to gather in the center of the room with the other four. "We had to run a test on the alarms, and we decided to test you as well. Guess which one failed." 

"Hey!" Hunk said sleepily, still yawning. "You got to sleep for 10,000 years, man. Monday night, I was on Earth. Now, I've flown through space, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, eaten good in a weird castle. That's a lot to process in, uh...I don't know. What day is today?"

"It's the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!" Coran answered. 

Hunk's looked at him unimpressed. "It's a lot to process." 

Allura uncrossed her arms to pull up a hologram. "You must understand the stakes of our mission. Over the last 10,000 years, the Castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations." A hologram map of the galaxy flashed into the air. "So we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe." She swipes her hand across the air and the hologram shifts. "Earth is here. An attack on your planet is inevitable." 

"The stakes are very high, but I feel you put too much pressure on us from the start," Hunk said to Allura. "I'm still tired and I've had a good week and a bit to adjust." 

Allura nodded. "I'll admit that my way of expressing my... how do I word this? My way of expressing my need for haste was a bit too harsh, but it was not unfounded. Some people, somewhere in the universe, will treat you in the same way. If it wasn't me, then it would be someone else. At least you had time in the Castle, away from the public eye, to get used to this pressure." 

"I guess," Hunk said. 

"Oh, no," Hunk said worriedly. 

"Exactly," Allura agreed. "Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the Castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so we can begin fighting Zarkon." 

Shiro nodded solemnly. "The Princess is right. Let's get to our lions and start training." 

Pidge turned sharply to look at Shiro. "Wait. But I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship." 

"Negative, Number Five," Coran said. His body was contorted sideway as he held his arms out to measure Pidge's height. "I have you ranked by height, okay?" He stood up straight. "The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow." 

"I don't agree with the height ranking," Pidge commented. "I feel targeted." 

"That's right," Allura said. "Now, get to your lions." 

---

The Paladins set off to their individual elevators to get suited up. They take ziplines down to long tunnels. 

However, Hunk's zipline stops midway. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on? What's going...?" He falls to the floor with a groan and his zipline carries on without him. "Aw, come on." He has to slide down the rest of the tunnel. 

"Hunk, your experience here has been the worst out of all of us," Lance said. "You got left by the zipline? That's the best bit of the way down." 

"Don't worry, I got to experience it a bit later," Hunk said. "But yeah, I think the Castle actually hates me." 

The rest of the Paladins land safely in pods that takes them down another tunnel and into their lions. 

Hunk's pod leaves without him and he groans. 

"Wow, the Castle actually does hate you," Lance agreed. 

Hunk nodded. 

The rest of the Paladins are in their lions outside the Castle.  "Should someone go in after him?" Lance asks.

The Yellow Lion finally emerges from the Castle to join the others. "Hey, sorry everybody!" Hunk says. "Seriously, though, can't they park these things, like, a little closer to the bridge?" 

The Lions move and line up. 

Shiro stares steadily out of his Lion. "Alright, guys. Let's just fly in tight formation until we're totally in sync." 

A hologram screen from Allura pops up in all the Lions. "Feel the bond with your lions and your fellow pilots until five become one unit and you form Voltron!" 

The Paladins cheer in unison as they launch and begin flying in formation. They cheer each time they make turns in the sky, but after a few turns they tire until Hunk is the only one bothering to keep up the act of excitement. 

"At least an attempt was made on my part," Hunk said. 

"Clearly this isn't working," Shiro said, all of his past enthusiasm having been drained from him. "Let's set down for a little bit." 

"Maybe we should be building Voltron from the ground up," Keith suggested. 

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked.

"I mean, let's try literally building Voltron, like, stacking on top of each other." 

"Like a cheerleader pyramid?" Lance asked mocking. 

Keith scowled. "You got a better idea?" 

Lance frowned at being called out on his bluff. 

"It wasn't a terrible idea," Pidge pointed out. 

"Exactly," Keith said, crossing his arms and glaring at Lance. 

"It's worth a try," Shiro said. 

---

The Lions landed, stacking on top of each other. The Blue and Green Lions are on the bottom of the pile, then Red, then Black, then Yellow. 

"Hunk, what are you doing?" Shiro asked, exasperated. 

"In my defense, I was tired," Hunk said. 

"Fair," Shiro said. 

"What do you mean?" Hunk asked. 

"You're supposed to be the leg over there," Shiro explained. 

Hunk's eyes widened. "What? No. No, no, no. I'm pretty sure that when we did it last time, I was the head. Right?"

"You yelled, 'I'm a leg!'," Lance pointed out. 

"Yeah, I was yelling a lot of things," Hunk argued. 

"Many things were yelled during that first formation," Shiro said. 

"Shiro's the head," Keith said. 

"All the time?" Hunk asked. 

Shiro's shoulders tightened. "Let's just try it my way for now."

"Okay, but next time I call head," Hunk said.

Pidge tilted their head. "Hm, yes, I too would like a turn at being the head. Do you think we can all switch Lions for a day? Maybe with pick from a bowl just to be fair?" 

"Your bonds with the Lions shouldn't be treated so carelessly," Allura scolded. "They are powerful machines and creatures and should be respected." 

"It was just a suggestion," Pidge muttered. 

---

This time, Blue and Green are at the base with Red and Green stacked neatly on top of them. Black slowly lowered down onto the pile. 

"Okay," Shiro murmured to himself. "Arms and legs... and I'll form the head." He landed. "Now, channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus. Focus." 

The Paladins shut their eyes and focused. 

The stack sat in silence and the wind was blowing calming across the ground around them. Nothing happened. 

Shiro peeked an eye open. "Is everyone bonding and focusing?" 

Everyone else opened their eyes. 

"Why was this so much easier before?" Lance asked. 

"Probably because we weren't thinking as clearly," Pidge said. "And we were stressed. And we had a good common enemy. But mainly because none of us were thinking well." 

Shiro sighed. "Let's take a break." 

Allura's voice cut through their intercom and her hologram appeared again. "Sorry to interrupt, but I may be able to help. Yesterday, you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle." 

The Paladins all voiced their agreements.

"Perfect," Allura said, smiling. "Because I need to run a diagnostic test on all of the Castle defenses. This should help." 

"This was also mean," Hunk said. "Allura, you were very mean that day." 

"Sorry," Allura said. 

"It's fine, just don't be that mean ever again," Pidge added. 

"I will certainly try," Allura said. "I can make no promises, but I can guarantee you that I will try." 

The Castle's particle barrier materialized and began firing lasers down at the Lions. The Paladins made noises of panic and began fleeing from the attack. 

Lance screamed. "Okay, go, go!"

"Allura, what are you doing?" Keith yelled, gripping his controls tightly.

A hologram of Allura appeared. "Running a diagnostic test on the Castle defenses and inspiring you!" She smiled and clasped her hands together. "I believe in you, Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!" 

The Blue Lion split off from the group.

"Forget this!" Lance said. "I'm heading back to the Castle!" 

"I wish," Hunk grumbled. "That would have been nice." 

As the Blue Lion leaped to pass through the particle barrier, it was shot back with a crack of electricity. Lance groaned in pain as the Lion rolled into the ground. 

"Please stop!" Hunk begged as the Yellow Lion swerved out of the way of laser attacks. "Please! Have mercy on us!" 

Allura frowned. "Do you think Zarkon is going to have mercy on you? He's probably on his way right now to destroy us all!"

"Hm, kind words," Pidge said sarcastically. "Such a pleasant thought." 

In the control room, Allura pressed a few buttons on the defense keypad. A voice echoed out, "Auto-lock-on engaged," as she walked out of the room.

---

The scene cut to Zarkon's ship, surrounded by a large fleet which was draining the remaining resources from the core of a once thriving moon. 

"Oh fuck," Pidge said. 

Their words accounted for everyone when they saw Zarkon's main ship. Shiro didn't even scold them. 

"That's huge!" Lance said. "Sure, can make a big robot guy, but look at all that!" 

"I have confidence in you, Paladins," Allura said, but she was also shocked. 

"You have returned early," Zarkon said. "Did you complete your mission?"

"Why is his face like that?" Hunk asked. "Wait, that was mean. Wait, this is Zarkon, I'm allowed to be mean."

"Don't go for appearance, that's easy," Keith advised. "Get a bit creative with it if you are going for appearance, though. Make the insults hurt." 

Shiro gave Keith a scolding look and Keith shrugged in response. 

"Are you going to tell me to not insult Zarkon?" Keith asked. 

Shiro sighed. "No, you know what I'm giving you that look for." 

Keith slumped in his seat. 

A Galran officer knelt before Zarkon's thrown spoke, "Sir, the moon's crust became unstable. Staying any longer would have cost half my crew." 

Zarkon frowned and grumbled in thought. "Hmm, perhaps, but the half that survived would have been stronger." 

The officer's eyes widened, and he looked up in confusion. 

"Why is he surprised that Zarkon is being ruthless?" Allura asked, scowling at the officer. "They are aware of all the bad being done yet they do nothing to stop it. They're just as bad as Zarkon." 

"Weakness is an infection," Zarkon continued. The screen shifted to a close-up of his glowing, purple eyes. "Better to cut it off than let it spread." 

"How come some of the Galra's eyes are purple and some are yellow?" Hunk asked.

"Human eyes also come in different colors," Pidge pointed out. 

"That's true," Hunk said. 

"I've read stuff about humans have purple eyes as well, but I just thought it was photoshop until I saw Keith," Pidge added. "Not an insult, by the way, I think your eyes are sick." 

"Thank you," Keith said. 

"Wait, you have purple eyes?" Lance asked. 

"I'm surprised you didn't notice," Pidge whispered to Lance and they laughed when he glared at them. 

Keith scowled. "Yes." 

"I thought they were brown." 

"I wish. No offense to Allura or Coran, but I was called a whole bunch of alien-themed nicknames and insults when I was younger because of my eyes, and I was accused of wearing contacts to 'seem different' on several occasions." 

"No offense taken," Coran assured. 

"That sucks," Pidge said. 

Keith nodded in agreement. 

Robotic soldiers marched over to the officer and carried him off by his arms.

"What have you and your Druids come up with to capture Voltron?" Zarkon asked, not even bothering to look to the hooded woman he was speaking to. 

"I have been working on perfecting something," Haggar said. "Something that will strike fear into the hearts of any that stand against it. Voltron may have surprised Sendak, but he will not be able to overcome my creation." 

---

Back in the castle, the Paladins, minus Shiro, are lounging on a circle of cushion chairs. Allura and Coran walk into the room with Coran swiping through a small, handheld hologram. 

"Are we at full power on condenser number five yet?" Allura asked.

"No, still just 84%," Coran said. 

Allura noticed the Paladins and her face lit up. "You did it! You formed Voltron!" 

"Thanks for the confidence," Hunk said. 

"You're welcome. I still have that same confidence," Allura said. 

Keith glanced up at her. "No. The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in." 

Allura's face fell, and she looked over at them, unimpressed. Coran looked worried. 

"At least you were honest about it," Allura said. "It would have been worse if no one had said anything and I noticed that you hadn't formed Voltron when I went to check the recordings." 

"What?" She snapped. 

"Oh, right," Coran said. "Sorry, Princess, I had to turn off the Castle defenses to test the fire suppressors." 

Shiro entered the room and put his hands on his hips sternly. "What are you guys doing in here? We're not taking a break." 

"Shiro's right," Allura said. "You should be training." 

"Space Mom and Space Dad are trying to get us to do our work again," Pidge said, looking at Hunk. 

Hunk laughed.

Allura frowned. "Shiro and I are not your parents." 

"It's a joke they have," Shiro explained. "It's because we act like parents. Besides, any kids I might've had wouldn't have a mom and a dad." 

Hunk groaned and flopped his head back against the couch again. "We've been training. When are we going back to Earth?" 

Pidge sat up. "I'm not going back until I find my family." 

"Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Zarkon," Shiro interjected.

Lance stood up and crossed his arms. "How are we going to fight? We can't even figure out how to form Voltron." 

"Well, I'm not surprised," Coran said. "You know, the original Paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side by side. They were like a pack of yalmors linked at the ears." 

Lance scowled. "Wow. Yeah, that's definitely not us."

He flopped back onto the couch. 

"Mood," Shiro and Pidge said. 

They looked at each other and laughed. 

Coran and Allura looked at each other in confusion. 

"During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team," Coran said. "But that will only get you so far. You'll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and then beating Zarkon next time. You should try working out on the training deck." 

"There's a training deck?" Hunk asked. 

---

In Zarkon's palace, Haggar stalked down a corridor. She entered a room that was guarded by four similarly cloaked figures, but they were wearing white masks. A beast growled from the darkness within the room. 

"What the fuck," Pidge said. 

"Pidge!" Shiro hissed. 

"I'm making observations here," Pidge said. "Keith cusses all the time and you don't get on him for it." 

"What? Keith?" Shiro looked at him. 

Keith scowled at Pidge. "Snitch." 

"I think I have the opportunity you've been waiting for," Haggar said. The creature's yellow eyes glowed down at her from the shadows. "How would you like to get your revenge against the Champion?" 

Shiro winced. 

The creature narrowed its eyes and growled with a grin, stepping out of the darkness to join Haggar. 

---

Coran cleared his throat from where he was standing looking down at the armored Paladins in the training deck. "Two, two, one, two. Okay, listen up, guys. The Paladins Code demands you put your team member's safety above your own. A swarm of drones is about to attack. It's up to each of you to do everything you can to the other members of your team."

Drones flew out of a hatch from the wall and advanced on the Paladins, who were standing in a circle. The Paladins drew their shields from the wrist of their armor. 

"Wait, wait, wait," Hunk said. "What's going on?" He startled himself with his shield. "Whoa, did you guys get one of these?"

Shiro looked back at Hunk. "Get ready." 

The Paladins braced themselves as the drones began firing lasers at them. 

Hunk ducked, which caused Pidge to be hit by a laser. They fell through a hole that opened up beneath them. They absence left Hunk to be hit, and he too fell into a hole. 

"Protect your teammates, or no one will be there to protect you!" Coran said.

"Good advice," Shiro noted. 

Coran nodded in thanks. 

Shiro, Keith, and Lance back up with their backs facing each other and raised their shields. 

"Time to increase intensity!" 

The drones sped up, both in speed and their firing. 

"You three were doing well up until this point," Coran said. 

Keith and Shiro were focused on defense. Lance glanced over at Keith and taunted, "You keeping up over there, Keith?" 

"Lance, I know this is hard for you, but can you stop looking at Keith for two seconds and focus, Pidge teased. 

Lance sputtered. "What? I was just trying to make conversation! People do that! Besides, Keith is an ugly sight to see. Why would I want to torture myself?"

Pidge raised an eyebrow at Lance. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

Keith gritted his teeth. "Just concentrate on keeping me safe." 

Lance scoffed. "Me? I own this drill. You're the one who needs to concentrate." 

The drones lowered and Keith and Shiro both dropped with them, but Lance didn't. Keith was hit and also fell through a hole. Lance fell through moments later, then quickly followed by Shiro. 

"Oh, how I love seeing Lance say something then get proven wrong seconds later," Pidge said. 

"Agreed," Keith said, "but not at my expense." 

Coran groaned and put his hand to his face.

---

Lance stood at the center of an electric hologram maze, still in the training room. 

"To form Voltron, you must trust in each other," Coran said. "This ancient Paladin maze will teach you that trust." The maze turned invisible. "Your teammate can see the walls, but you cannot. So, listen carefully. If you touch the walls, you'll get a slight shock."

Lance put on his helmet and looked around. "Wait. Who's guiding me through?" 

Keith stared down at a map of the maze. "Take two steps forward." 

Lance deflated. "Oh, no, not Keith. Why does he get to be the man on the mic?"

Keith scowled. "I did just fine guiding you, it wasn't my fault that you don't listen." 

"I listen plenty!" Lance argued. 

"Yeah, to every other word," Keith said. 

"Girls, girls, shush," Pidge said.  

"Now, just sit tight," Coran said. "You'll get your turn."

"Like I said, take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps that direction," Keith said. 

Instead of going forward, Lance immediately turned right and walked and ran straight into a wall. He shrieked and stared accusingly at the elevated room Keith and Coran were in. "You did that on purpose!"

"Why in hell would I do that on purpose? You'd just do the same to me whenever it was your turn to guide, which you did, but that time actually on purpose," Keith said. 

Lance rolled his eyes. 

"You're not listening," Keith said.

"You said, 'turn right'," Lance argued. 

"But before that I said, 'take two steps forward'."

Lance grumbled to himself. "Two steps-." He runs into a wall again and shrieks. "We're switching places right now!" 

---

Outside, the Paladins were flying their Lions in formation. 

Over the comms, Coran said, "You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with his Lion.

"I don't understand why the default pronouns for everything has to be masculine ones," Pidge said. "Just say 'they', I beg of you. It's a lot easier and more inclusive." 

Lance smirked. "No problem. Me and Blue are best buds for life, for real."

"Perfect," Coran said. "Then you won't have any issues with this exercise. Everyone, put your Lions into a nosedive!" 

"You've been called out on your bluff," Pidge said with a laugh. 

Lance grumbled a few complaints. 

The Paladins all directed their Lions downwards. 

"This is an expert-level drill that you really shouldn't attempt until you've been flying for years, but, uh, we're in a bit of a rush, so here we go." Coran waved his hand a new button flashed into the air. He pressed the button on the screen. "Activating training helmets!" 

The visors on the Paladins' helmets went dark and they all made noises of surprise. 

Lance screamed. "Coran, what's happening? I can't see!"

"You must learn to see through your Lions' eyes," Coran instructed. "The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the Lion feels!" 

Hunk whimpered and he quickly pulled up. "Mine feels scared!" 

"That may have been cowardly, but it was also very safe," Hunk pointed out. "Shiro and I were the only ones who came out of this exercise completely fine." 

"You still going, Keith?" Lance taunted. 

"You know it," Keith said. "You?" 

Lance grinned. "Going? I'm speeding up!"

"Oh, yeah?" 

The Blue Lions hurtled towards the ground and the Red Lion soon follows. 

"Must be getting close," Lance said. 

"Must be," Keith echoed. 

Lance smirked. "You getting scared?"

"I'm not scared!" Keith yelled. 

Then, the two Lion crashed into the ground, sending dirt and sand into the air with the impact. The two Paladins groan as the weight of their Lions dislodge them from the sand and they roll away. 

"I win," Lance claimed. 

Pidge rolled their eyes. "You're both idiots." 

Keith shrugged and made noises of half agreement while Lance glared at them. 

"What was that noise?" Pidge asked in alarm. "Did they crash?" 

Pidge pulled up, crashing into a rock on their way away, while Shiro continued downward. He had shut his eyes and focused on connecting with his Lion. 

He felt a ping of energy and his consciousness is linked with the Black Lion, allowing him to see the world through the Lion's eyes. He was able to pull away just as he was about to hit the ground, as well as dodge all the rocks on the way back up.

Everyone beside Shiro made noises of awe at what Shiro's connection with the Black Lion looked like. Shiro smiled and felt very proud of himself. 

"I think I'm getting this," he said. 

"Excellent, Shiro!" Coran exclaimed. 

---

"Now the most important part of the Paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron," Coran said. "Everything else has to fade away. This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between Paladins." 

"To be fair to Pidge, this exercise was the worst," Keith said. 

"Thank you," Pidge said. "Having your privacy invaded isn't fun, even if it is just a trust exercise." 

The Paladins were back in the training room, but this time they were sitting on the floor in a circle with circlets pressed against their temples and foreheads. The Paladins' thoughts were displayed on holograms in front of them. 

Keith had been thinking about his house in the desert, Lance had been thinking about his family, Hunk had been happily thinking about food, Pidge had been thinking about the picture of 'him and his girlfriend' that Hunk had snooped at the previous day on a glitchy screen, and Shiro had been thinking about the Garrison. 

"Come on, everyone, clear everything," Coran continued. "Now, focus on forming your Lion." 

All the Paladins beside Pidge were able to cleanly form their Lions and bring them together to form the parts of Voltron.

"Keep your minds open, work together. Good! Keep focusing! Only one to go!"

"Pidge, stop thinking of your girlfriend," Keith snapped, opening his eyes. 

"Sorry," Keith whispered.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Pidge responded. 

"I wasn't!" Pidge yelled. "Hunk was rooting around in my head!" 

"I thought we were open," Hunk explained. "You can look in my head hole." 

"Everyone has to be able to look in everyone's head holes!" Coran said over the intercom. "Clear your minds!" 

The Paladins shut their eyes again and reformed their Lions. The Lions were brought together.

"Good! Almost there. Now form Voltron." 

The arms and legs piece onto the body, but then the Green Lion glitched away. 

"Pidge!" Lance complained. 

Pidge yanked their circlet off and tossed it away. "I'm done with this!" They crossed their arms. "Look, I don't like everyone grubbing around in my head!" 

"Oh come on, Pidge, we're starting to get the hang of this," Shiro said. 

"I'm just... I'm just tired, okay?" Pidge said. 

Shiro frowned. "Okay. Let's take a break." 

---

Coran passed out pouches of juice to the Paladins as they sat in the lounge. "You have been working hard. Maybe it's time to relax a little."

"We look so goofy," Hunk noted. 

Pidge laughed. "Shiro, you're sitting crisscrossed." 

Shiro smiled

Allura stormed into the lounge with the mice on her shoulders. "What are you doing lying around? You're supposed to be training!"

"Just resting a bit," Coran explained. "You know, you can't push too hard." 

"What do you mean, 'can't push too hard'?" Allura scowled. 

Keith made obnoxious noises while sipping on his juice pouch. 

Pidge cackled. "That was a great move." 

Keith smiled. 

"Get up, you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the Gladiator!" 

---

In the training room once again, the Paladins had their weapons equipped. 

"In order to defeat, the Gladiator, five Paladins must fight as one," Coran explained. 

The hatch above Hunk's head slid open and an armed robot landed behind him. Hunk yelled and fired lasers from his canon at it, but all missed as it jumped toward him. Keith raised his shield before Hunk's projectiles could hit him. The robot swung at Hunk with its staff and knocked him flat on his back, then jabbed him in the stomach and delivered an electrical shock. 

Pidge ran at the robot and sliced at it with their bayard. It blocked and Pidge spun around it, looking for an opening. They blocked most attacks from the robot with a bit of trouble but was unable to fully block a kick to the face. They were knocked onto the floor as well, rolling over Hunk. He groaned in pain. 

Lance shot at the robot at a distance. The robot ran at him, and Lance blocked with his gun. Shiro and Keith ran in to help as Lance's gun way knocked out of his grip. Before he could retrieve it, he was bonked on the head by the robot's staff and stocked. Keith blocked an attack from the robot with his sword. The robot spun around and hit Lance in the chest. He was flung into Keith, and both were sent sprawling. 

Shiro's metal arm lit up as the robot approached him. He got a flashback to the sentries in the arena and froze up as the robot swung toward him. Keith jumped in-between Shiro and the robot and blocked the staff. 

"Uh oh," Hunk said. 

Everyone else also looked concerned. 

"Shiro, are you okay?" Keith asked. 

Shiro was staring blankly at the floor. 

Keith was knocked back into Shiro and both fell to the floor.

"Keith got beat up twice," Hunk noted. "I Just stayed down after one." 

The robot powered off and Allura walked over to the Paladins. "That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child! You're not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!" 

"I fully believe that was a lie," Keith said. 

"Man, your child soldiers must be wild, then," Pidge commented. "Do Alteans not have child labor laws?" 

Allura looked embarrassed but didn't respond. 

---

In the dining room, the Paladins are sat next to each other at a long table. 

"Ahoy, Paladins!" Coran said. "I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this meal, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux!"

"Smells great, Coran," Shiro said. "Thanks." 

"I had no clue what you were talking about, that goo didn't smell like shit," Pidge said. 

"Pidge!" Shiro shouted. 

They shrugged. "I might just have a bad sense of smell, but that goo doesn't smell like anything to me." 

The Paladins moved to dig into their green goop, but before they can start eating Coran whipped out a device and pointed it at them. It bound the Paladins together at the wrists by cuffs. 

"Hold the phone!" Lance said. 

"I saw a lot of solid individual performances today, but you're still struggling to work as a team," Coran said. "So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day." 

"Bonding," Pidge echoed, quietly enough that only Keith heard them. He scowled and they silently cackled. 

Lance and Hunk try to tug their hands apart but their wrists only snap back together.

Hunk turned to look at Coran. "Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing." 

"This one's a classic," Coran said. "You get to feed each other, like a pack of yalmors!" 

"Coran, I'm starting to see a pattern here," Lance noted. "You bring up yalmers a lot, whatever they are." 

"It's pronounced 'yalmor', and yes, I do talk about yalmors a lot," Coran said. "They're fascinating creatures, really. They have unique social structures, even among closely related species." 

---

A set of dark armor had been made for Haggar's beast. As it sat inside the suit, Haggar and the Druids raised their hands and surged magical energy into both it and the suit. Zarkon watched from above. The creature was sealed up in a coffin-like container. 

"Uh, oh," Pidge commented, trying not to get scolded by Shiro again. 

"Well, now that seems too goofy," he said. 

Pidge shrugged. "Just let me cuss freely." 

---

Hunk tried to take a bit, but Lance jerked his hand and it splattered in Hunk's face. As Lance's arm get pulled around, he ended up dragging Keith's hand into his food. 

"Oh, nice," Lance said with a scowl. "You defiled my food goo!" 

"It's your fault!" Keith said. "This is ridiculous." 

Allura growled to herself as she tried to eat in peace. "Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?" 

"Hey, Allura, you had no room to complain," Pidge said. "That entire situation was brought on by yourself and Coran, who was probably also listening to you." 

"Yes, but you do complain a lot," Allura said. 

"Yes, but that's not the point," Pidge said. 

"Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro asked. "Everyone's been working really hard today." 

"Yeah!" Keith said, standing up. "We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like... like..." 

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance suggested. 

"Yes," Keith said. "Thank you, Lance." 

"Again, idiots," Pidge said. 

"You do not yell at the Princess!" Coran said. 

"Oh, the princess of what?" Pidge asked. "We're the only ones out here and she's no princess of ours!" 

"Yes, speak your truth, Pidge," Keith said. 

A glob of food goo smacked into Pidge's face. Allura had shot a spoonful at them and Coran watched on with shock. 

"Go loose, Pidge!" Keith encouraged as he flung his plate toward Allura. 

Pidge looked at Keith. "You're my enabler." 

He shrugged. "I'm not going to deny it." 

Coran blocked her with his body and a towel, then launched a larger spoonful back at all the Paladins. 

Hunk shook the food off of his face. "Oh, it's on now." 

He slammed his face into his plate and got a mouthful of goo, then used it as a projectile as he fired it from his mouth. Allura and Coran were both covered. 

"Hunk, I have to admit, that was gross," Shiro said. 

"Yeah, sorry about that," Hunk said sheepishly. 

"It's quite alright, Number Two, it washed out easily enough," Coran said. 

Everything devolved into further chaos as more food was thrown around. 

Allura fell back into a chair when she was out of breath. 

The Paladins glanced at each other and laughed at the sight of the food goo battle. 

"Enough!" Allura shouted, halting the laughter. "Do you see what you're doing?" She smiled. "You're finally working together as one!" 

Keith looked at Lance. "Hey, she's right!" 

"I actually don't hate you right now," Lance said.

"Gee, thanks," Keith said sarcastically. 

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked. 

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro said. 

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered. 

"Actually, I was thinking dessert," Hunk said. "But, yeah! Let's do it!" 

The Paladins raised their arms in a cheer then fell onto the floor. 

---

The Paladins, all cleaned up, headed to their Lions. 

"Everyone ready to do this?" Shiro asked. 

"Rodger that!" Pidge said.

"It's on!" Lance said. 

"Yes, sir!" Keith said. 

"I was born ready!" Hunk said. 

"Then let's go!" Shiro shouted. 

The sequence of Voltron forming played. Voltron landed on the ground and Allura and Coran stared up at it in awe. 

"I told you I could get them to do it," she said. "They just needed a common enemy." 

"It's true," Coran agreed. "Like the old proverb says, 'A man can be driven to do anything if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him." 

"Truer words have never been spoken," Lance said. "My mom can vouch for that one." 

Allura frowned. 

---

Back in their normal clothes, the Paladins were again sitting in the lounge. 

Lance pumped his fist. "Man, that was cool! I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight."

"Not me," Keith said. "When my head hits the pillow, I'm going to be lights out."

Hunk pulled the two into a side hug and said, "I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man. You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers all the way. I love you guys." 

Shiro pat Pidge's shoulder and they pat the mice's heads. 

"G-forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, maybe a little," Hunk admitted. "I don't know. It's been a tough few days." 

Keith hopped over the back of the couch to leave as Shiro, Lance, and Hunk got up and walked out the normal way. Pidge remained seated. 

"Keith, you're such a creature," Pidge said. "You lived in a shack in the middle of nowhere, you crawl over furniture, you hunt alien radio waves, you probably hunt cryptids and the supernatural as well." 

"That's fair," Keith said.  

Shiro stopped and looked at Pidge. "Going to bed, Pidge?" 

"In a minute," Pidge said. 

Shiro smiled. "Good work today. We're really coming together." 

As they all walked off, Pidge's smile dropped and they pulled the picture out of their pocket to look sadly at it. 

---

At Zarkon's ship, he said to Haggar, "This beast will allow us to destroy the Paladins. And then, Voltron will be ours." 

A large warcraft flew past the window they were looking out and flew off at hyper-speed. 

---

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good," Hunk said. 

"Well, now we know how that robo-beast was created," Shiro added. 

"Yeah, I guess, but I also wasn't too interested in knowing in the first place," Keith said. 

"Well, I want to see what the next episode now," Pidge said. 

"First a quick snack break?" Hunk asked. 

"Deal," Pidge agreed. 

Chapter Text

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance went to get snacks while Keith and Shiro gathered pillows and blankets from a new discovered storage space under the couch cushions. Allura and Coran were kept entertained by a CD player. They fidgeted with the volume and played a few songs from musicals. In the kitchen, Lance made hot chocolate while Hunk made buttered popcorn and sliced some fruit. Pidge had located the pantry and was stuffing a pillowcase with gummies, chips, candy, cereal, and other snack foods. 

Small tables were moved around the couch and food was piled onto all stable surfaces. Everyone settled back on the couch with blankets and snacks to continue watching. Shiro pressed play on the remote. 

At Zarkon's ship, purple energy was directed into his kneeling form by the Druids. 

"Sire, the beast is almost to Arus," Haggar reported. 

Zarkon stands, his limbs crackling with the energy. "This Quintessence gives me so much power, I could fight the Paladins myself." 

"Please, I would love to punch you in your ugly face," Lance said. 

"Oh, please, you wouldn't even be able to reach his face," Pidge teased. 

"Says you, shortie!" Lance yelled back. 

"There is no need," Haggar said. "My creature will destroy them and capture the Voltron Lions for you. Then, the most powerful weapon in the universe will be ours." 

---

"Return of the Gladiator".

On Arus, Shiro said, "Great job training today, guys. We're really getting the hang of Voltron." 

The Paladins, minus Pidge, walked into the dining room.

"Seriously, how far do you think my Lion kicked that broken alien ship?" Lance asked, looking at Keith. He stopped and crossed his arm, Keith stopping with him as well while Hunk and Shiro continued on. "Must have been like a mile!"

Keith glanced at him. "Yeah, that'll come in handy when the Galra challenges Voltron to a soccer match." 

"Hey, I did something cool and you can't handle it," Lance said with a frown. "I get it."

"Your kick ruined our balance. We fell." 

"Ah, back to needless arguing," Pidge sighed. "I didn't miss this in the slightest."

"That falling part was Hunk's fault." 

"Hey!" Hunk said, taking his helmet off from where he was sitting at the table. 

Shiro sat down beside him. Keith and Lance moved to join them. 

"All right, save your energy for fighting Zarkon," Shiro scolded. 

"Ever the dad," Hunk said. 

Shiro frowned and shook his head. 

Coran entered the dining room with a covered platter. "Hello, guys! How was the Voltron workout?"

"We're getting there," Shiro said. "Are you and Allura almost done fixing the Castle so we can leave this planet? I feel like we're sitting ducks here on Arus." 

"That's an interesting thought," Coran said. " 'Sitting ducks', you said?" 

"Yeah, it's like...feeling like you're just sitting waiting to be shot," Shiro replied. He frowned after he said it. "It's kind of a morbid expression, now that I think about it." 

"Just about," Coran answered. "In the meantime, to get your minds off those duck seats you're worried about, I made you guys an authentic ancient paladin lunch!" 

The paladins gasped in excitement at the announcement, but the mood sharply dropped when Coran pulled the lid off the platter. On the plate was a steaming green mound with odd yellow pods jutting out of it.  Lance held his nose as he moved away in revulsion. 

"I forgot how disgusting that looked," Pidge said, shaking their head just at the thought. 

"And smelled," Lance added. 

"Coran, you just got me hooked on that goo and now you're switching it up?" Hunk groaned.

"This is packed with nutrients," Coran explained.

Hunk leaned closer to the plate and sniffed. "Oh! It smells disgusting!" 

"I know!" Coran said. "That's how you know it's healthy!" 

Hunk awkwardly smiled at Coran, a plant in hand, while Lance and Keith moved further away from the dish. "Coran, we're on a planet now with fresh herbs, spices, and whatever this thing is. A tuber? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back to the kitchen and spice things up." 

"Hunk, have I mentioned that you're my best friend and my favorite person in the Castle?" Lance said, blinking innocently at Hunk. 

Hunk tapped his chin. "Hmm, I thought that was Pidge when they made you an essential oil diffuser? Or Allura whenever she does anything at all? Or Shiro when you want to win arguments with Keith but still lose anyways?" 

Pidge cackled as Lance looked away sadly. 

"Where's Pidge?" Shiro asked. 

"He's probably checking on those prisoners we rescued from Zarkon," Coran said. He munched on the meal he had prepared. "They'll all be waking soon in the infirmary." 

As Shiro moved to get up to go to Pidge, Coran shoved a forkful of the paladin meal in his face. "Open the hatch! Food lion coming in!"

Shiro groaned in disgust at the food while Coran made a plethora of plane noises. "No. Just...no." 

"You don't know what you're missing!" 

---

Pidge was sat on the floor beside the pods in the infirmary. They tapped their foot anxiously.

The doors slid open as Shiro entered. "You're as anxious as me."

Pidge startled at his voice. "These aliens we saved know something about my family. They have to!" 

"I hope so." 

"They recognized you, didn't they?" They asked. "They called you 'Champion'. What does that even mean?" 

"Should we start calling you Champ?" Lance asked jokingly. "Y'know, finally reverse the dad roles here?" 

"Please don't," Shiro said, responding in a more serious tone than what Lance was expecting. 

Lance immediately dropped the topic. 

Shiro sighed. "I don't know. I can't remember very much from that time. But the way those guys looked at me when we freed them...I don't know if I want to find out." 

Just then, one of the pods hissed as it opened. A grey alien man with a single antenna sighed as he woke. 

--- 

Hunk slid bowls of artfully made food onto the table in front of Lance and Keith, who both had forks and knives out, ready for eating. 

Lance chuckled in awe and hunger right before he and Keith began viciously devouring Hunk's creations. 

"Man, Hunk, your cooking must be extra special if even Keith is eating that fast," Shiro said. "I've never seen him eat so quickly." 

Hunk smiled. "The secret ingredient is love."

Coran stood with a scowl on his face as Allura walked up behind him, smiling. "They like the paladin lunch!" She said.

"I don't want to talk about it," Coran muttered. 

"I just got the final nebulon booster working," Allura said. Coran turned to her, looking happier at the delivery of the good news. "We should be able to leave Planet Arus tomorrow and take the fight to Zarkon. 

An alarm went off through the castle, the rooms flashing red. 

Allura gasped in shock from the sudden noises while Hunk made a noise of confusion, Lance finishing scarfing down the last of the food as he stood up. 

Allura swiped her hand through the air as camera footage from the outside flashed onto the wall.

A small alien creature darted between rocks, peeking out over one at the castle.

"What is that?" Keith asked.

"Ever on the defensive, Mullet," Lance teased. "Can't you relax for a bit?" 

Keith scowled. "What if he was a spy? Then you would be upset with me for trusting him so easily. Which you'd be doing from inside a Galra prison, might I add. At least someone in this group is being cautious."

"I don't know what it is," Allura said. "Maybe it's a local Arusian." The creature made strange noises as it scampered closer, holding a small weapon close to its chest as it ran. "He's approaching the Castle."

"Aw!" Hunk exclaimed. 

"Doesn't look too dangerous," Lance said with the smirk. 

"You never know," Keith cautioned, summoning his bayard and bracing his shoulders. 

"No!" Allura said. "Alteans believe in peace first. Let's go welcome them." 

She turned and walked off. 

"That's adorable," Hunk said, following her. 

"Hey, maybe we can knit him a little sweater!" Lance added, him too following the now-forming group. 

"Do you know how to knit?" Pidge asked. 

Lance looked at them skeptically. "Yes." 

"That's cool, you should make me a pair of socks. The Castle floor is too cold when I get out of bed." 

Lance's expression relaxed and he nodded. "Okay, will do." 

"I'm not taking any chances," Keith said. 

---

The Castle doors opened. 

The Arusian made a noise of alarm and jumped behind a rock as the group of five exited the Castle.

"Greetings," Allura said, bending down next to the Arusian's hiding spot with a warm smile. "We know you're there. No harm will come to you." 

The Arusian jumped out with a mighty battle cry, swinging his weapon threateningly at Allura. 

Hunk brought his hands to his face and said, "Aw!" 

Keith stepped in front of Allura and put his arm out in front of his group and raising his bayard. "Wait! He could be dangerous. Drop your weapon!" 

"Keith!" Shiro scolded. 

Keith held his hands up defensively. "He was literally charging at Allura with a weapon! You want me to just sit there and not do anything?"

"No, but-", Shiro started. 

"I appreciate your concern, Keith, but maybe deal with it with verbal defense rather than physical next time," Allura said. 

Keith looked away and rolled his eyes. 

"No one takes Klaizap's weapon!" The Arusian, Klaizap, said, holding his weapon higher. 

Allura furrowed her brows at Keith and said sternly, "Keith, put that away!" Keith sighed and reluctantly put away his bayard, still standing defensively. Allura spoke in a softer tone to Klaizap. "Please, kind sir, accept my most humble apologies." 

Klaizap's posture relaxed. "I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors. Our village is over Gazrel Hill. I come seeking answers as to why the Lion Goddess is angered with her followers." 

"Followers?" Coran asked. 

"Lion Goddess?" Hunk said, echoing Coran's tone. 

"Are we gods?" Pidge asked. "Can I be a god and rule over a village?"

"Pidge, no, we're here to get rid of corrupt powers, not become them," Shiro said. 

"I wouldn't be corrupt!" Pidge argued. "I'd just have them make funny sculptures and carvings!" 

Klaizap gestured to nearby engraving in stone of a lion-headed figure. "The one the ancients spoke of." 

Keith blinked dramatically in confusion. 

Pidge laughed at his expression. 

Allura smiled and said, "What makes you think she's angered?" 

"Destruction is everywhere," Klaizap said, waving his hand across the air. "In the past few suns, fire has rained from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky." 

Hunk whispered loudly to Lance, "I think he's talking about Voltron." 

"Yeah, I got that," Lance said. 

"You two are so good at whispering," Pidge said sarcastically. "I applaud your efforts, however."

"You have not angered the Lion Goddess," Allura assured. 

"How can you be certain?" Klaizap asked worriedly. 

"Because I am Allura, and this is my Castle." 

Klaizap gasped and dropped his weapon, bowing before her. "Lion Goddess!" 

"Please, bravest warrior, take us to your village so that we may meet our neighbors." 

"What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?" Keith asked. 

She turned to look at Keith. "Part of the Paladins' mission is to spread peace and diplomacy. Arus has been our host for 10,000 years. These people deserve our thanks." 

---

Pidge and Shiro handed warm drinks to the recovering prisoners, who were wrapped up in blankets and sitting together near the healing pods. 

"At least somebody was there to be with them when they woke up," Hunk said. "Imagine waking up in a strange Castle after being prisoner for who knows how long and having no idea where you are." 

"I don't have to do much imagining, that's not too far off from how I woke up," Shiro added. 

"So how long were you held captive by Zarkon?" Pidge asked. 

"Some for years," the grey alien said. "Decades, maybe. It's hard to tell. Time becomes a blur."

He took a sip as Pidge said, "Then you must have been there when my dad and brother arrived. Sam and Matt Holt?" 

"I never knew their names, but I certainly remember the other two Earthlings that arrived with Champion." 

" 'Champion'," Shiro said. "Why do you keep calling me that?" 

"You really don't remember? Unbelievable! You were a legendary gladiator, undefeated in the ring. You defeated an infamous Galra gladiator known as Myzax. That was the day you earned the name 'Champion'. I was there, as was the young Earthling."

-

The scene phased into a flashback to a dark gladiator arena, surrounded by thousands of onlookers. 

Everyone looked on at the scene with darker expressions. 

"We were all prisoners, forced to fight for the entertainment of Zarkon. That day, we were set to fight Myzax, a vile beast many thought could never be defeated." 

The prisoners, with Matt in front, stood in a recess of the arena walls, waiting to fight a giant brown-grey alien equip with armor and a purple, electrified weapon which it flung over the crowd in a form of showmanship. The purple sphere of energy arced through the air and came flying back towards his staff. 

"Slaughter awaited us all. This 'Matt' was the first of us sent to fight. But fate had other plans." 

As the red haze keeping the prisoners retreated, a sentry pointed to Matt with a bladed weapon, beckoning him to fight. Shiro pushed past Matt, throwing him to the ground, and ran at the sentry. 

"You were so thirsty for blood, you injured your fellow Earthling." 

"That doesn't sound like Shiro," Keith said. "Something else was definitely said, or there was more context." 

Shiro smiled. "Thanks, Keith." 

-

Pidge gasped and turned accusingly to Shiro. "You attacked my brother? Why?" 

Shiro looked down sadly. "No, it can't be true."

"I was there," the grey alien said. "We all were."

"After my brother was injured, there was he taken?" Pidge asked.

"I know not." 

"I don't believe it," Shiro said. "There's got to be more to the story. I-I couldn't have hurt my friend." His eyes widened. "Wait. That ship we were held captive on crash-landed on this planet." He started walking off. "They'll have logs of prisoners, some information. 

Pidge ran after him. "I'm coming with you."

---

The Red, Blue, and Yellow Lions were landed near a small town. 

Traditional festive music played as the three Paladins and the two Alteans stood around the celebrations. Hunk was handing out food to Arusian children while Allura and Lance smiled at the playful dancing, Coran hugging another Arusian tightly.

Allura frowned. "Coran, did you pick up that Arusian or did they ask to be picked up?" 

Coran pondered. "I don't remember." 

Keith frowned and looked around skeptically, a small group of Arusians looking up at him anxiously. 

Lance laughed. "They almost look afraid of you! Guess your brooding persona just has that effect on people?" 

Keith frowned and crossed his arms. Shiro shook his head at Lance. 

The town leader walked to Allura. "Oh, Lion Goddess, I, King of the Arusians, formally beg your forgiveness." He bowed and clasped his hands together. "Please have mercy on us and accept our traditional Dance of Apology as atonement for our wrongdoings." 

The Paladins and Alteans anxiously looked at each other. 

The King clapped and an Arusian dancer ran in front of him and stood in formation. 

"Commence Dance of Apology! Hoorah!"

A horn sounded and she began dancing along to the beat of drums. 

"This is weird," Pidge said. They looked at Lance. "Lance, you should learn an apology dance." 

Lance gasped at them. "What? Me? Why?" 

"You do a lot of things that warrant apologies," Pidge carried on. "I would forgive you quicker if you danced instead of talked more." 

"Please, there's no need for this," Allura said, looking concerned. 

"Moontow, halt!" The King said. All the music stopped and Moontow stopped, balancing on one leg and looking panicked. "The Goddess has refused the apology. Start the sacrificial fire. We must throw ourselves in." 

Shiro's eyes widened. "Well, that turned dark quick." 

"It was a strange back-and-forth of emotions, this situation," Keith agreed. 

A torch was tossed onto a stack of wood and it burst into flames, nearby Arusians screaming at the sudden blaze. 

"No!" Allura yelled. "No sacrifices!" 

The King turned back to Allura as an Arusian on a pole was being lowered over the fire. "So, we may proceed with the dance?" 

"Was that guy really ready to go into the flames or did those other guys just really hate him?" Hunk asked. 

Pidge shrugged. "Maybe both?" 

"That's a better alternative," Allura said nervously. 

The King clapped and the music and Moontow started up again. The dance ended with all the Arusians bowing to the Alteans and Paladins. 

"Please, please rise," Allura said. "Thank you for that, but I am not a great being worthy of your worship. I accidentally put you all in danger. It is I who should be apologizing to you." The Arusians gasped. "I am Princess Allura, and these are the Voltron Paladins. Although we originally came from different worlds... and have very, very, very different traditions, we wish to live alongside you as friends." 

The King rose to his feet. "But the mighty robotic angel... has it not come to destroy us because of our immoral ways?" 

"Are angels a universal concept?" Pidge asked. "Or has Earth religions become such an infectious ideology that it spread to space, too." 

"Pidge," Shiro warned.

"What? You're gonna tell me that I'm wrong? Next we're gonna hear about Space Jesus and you're still going to scold me for my thoughts." 

"Voltron? No. In fact, that mighty robot is here to protect you." She smiled and projected her voice to the crowd. "Let it be known that Voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!" 

The Arusians cheered and ran forward to celebrate the Paladins and Alteans, hugging and laughing alongside them. 

Keith tried to walk away but was pounced on by an Arusian who hugged him around the stomach.  He stumbled in shock and awkwardly held his arms out from his sides. "I don't usually hug strangers, but, uh...Man, you are cuddly." 

"Thank you," the Arusian said in an oddly deep, masculine voice. 

Everyone besides Keith stared at the screen for a moment before laughing. 

Keith grumbled and stared at the floor. 

---

At the crash site, Shiro and Pidge used their jetpacks to get inside the wrecked ship. 

Pidge slid down the slopped floor and said, "This looks like the master control board, but there's no power." 

"All you need is power?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, but one that's compatible with Galra tech." 

Shiro clenched his robotic fist and it glowed purple. He placed his palm down on the control board and the table lit up with the same energy as in his arm, red screens and holograms lighting up across the table. 

Lance mischievously glanced at Keith. "Purple and red, huh?" 

"What are you insinuating?" Keith asked defensively. 

Lance held his hands up in mock surrender. "You thought it, not me." 

"Say it," Keith said, glaring daggers into Lance. "Say it out loud and I'll be the judge of the consequences." 

"Lance, Keith, calm down, stop insinuating stuff about the other being an alien," Shiro said. "If anything, I'm the most Galra here." He clenched his robotic fist. "It's pretty useful." 

Allura glanced between the three and furrowed her brows. 

"I can't believe you got this to work." Pidge tapped their wrist and a blue hologram screen appeared. They tapped at a few buttons. "My dad's and Matt's whereabouts must be logged here somewhere. Once I download this information, I'll find some way to decode it back at the Castle." 

"What if it's like, bugged data or something?" Hunk asked. "What if you download a bunch of corrupted files?" 

Pidge shrugged. "I wasn't thinking at the time." 

A boom and a rumble sounded in the distance and Shiro startled. 

A dark, Galran pod entered the planet's atmosphere and rocketed towards the surface. 

"Oh, no," Shiro muttered, eyes wide. 

"What is it?" Pidge asked. Their eyes were locked on the screens in front of them. 

"Something just entered the atmosphere. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it's big, it's Galra, and it's coming right for us. We gotta go!" 

Shiro moved to leave. 

"Shiro, don't move!" Pidge shouted, pushing his hand back down onto the control board. "I'm only 15% done. I'm not going anywhere." 

Shiro sighed and looked up at the spacecraft in the sky.  The progress bar filled as the pod got closer and closer. 

"Pidge, I'm sorry," Shiro said, grabbing Pidge and carrying them out of the wreckage of the ship. 

"No!" 

Shiro rocketed them into the air and used his comm to speak to the rest of the Paladins. "Team, come in! We need backup! Hello?" 

---

Allura was communicating with a crowd of Arusians as Keith leaned against a nearby tree. 

"Shiro?" Allura asked. 

"Where is everyone?!" 

"What's going on?" Keith said. 

The ground rumbled and the crowd of Arusians panicked. 

Keith stood up straighter and looked to the sky, spotting the Galran spacecraft. "Oh, no. We gotta get to our Lions!" 

The Arusians ran for cover as Allura urged, "Everyone get inside and stay down!"

Hunk ran past her. "I'm on it!" 

She voiced confusion as Keith dragged Hunk the opposite way, grumbling, "Not you!"

Keith sighed. "Hunk." 

"I know, I know, I'm getting better about it, though." 

---

Pidge squirmed and grunted as they were dragged away. "No! Shiro, let me go! My father!" 

The pod was almost upon them.

"You wouldn't be able to do anything for your brother or dad if you got squished," Shiro said. 

"I know, I was just being stubborn," Pidge grumbled. 

"Run!" Shiro yelled, pushing Pidge in front of him as he ran from the wreck of the ship. 

The spacecraft hit the ship and the ground exploded. Shiro and Pidge were flung into the air just as the Black and Green Lions arrived to protect their Paladins. 

Shiro and Pidge stood as the dust from the explosion cleared. 

"Our Lions just saved us," Shiro said. 

"Yes, just as the Paladin needs their Lion, the Lion needs Her Paladin," Allura said. "She'll work to protect Her Paladin when they aren't in sight."

"I didn't know they could do that..." Pidge turned to look at the pod and pointed. "Huh? Um...Shiro?"

The massive pod was taller than even the Black Lion, looming over the two Paladins as it slowly opened, revealing a huge mech and its shell slammed into the ground. 

It powered to life with red and purple energy, charging up to attack. Its eyes locked onto Shiro. 

"Get in your Lion!" Shiro yelled, the two splitting off and running to their respective Lions. 

The mech raised its arm as a purple sphere of crackling energy was created as its hand spun. It reared its arm back and flung the energy sphere at the Black and Green Lions, who moved out of the way right as the purple energy hit the ground and sent chunks of rock and soil flying. 

The mech retracted its arm and the energy sphere flung sideways towards the Green Lion, narrowly missing them and then flying back to the mech's hand. 

Hunk winced. "Those shots were both way too close." 

It flung the sphere at the Green Lion again. They shot a beam of blue energy at the sphere, which caused a midair explosion, but did not deter its set path in the slightest. 

It hit the Green Lion. Pidge groaned in pain as the Green Lion was sent hurdling into the ground.

Hunk and Lance both squirmed at the impact while everyone else winced. 

The mech, with the sphere back in hand, ran at Pidge and the Green Lion. 

Just as it raised its arm to strike again, the Black Lion jumped on its back and bit down on its shoulder platting. The mech swung its arms around and it spun to dislodge the Black Lion, flinging Her off and into the ground as well.

"In moments like these I can really see how the Lions are built like cats," Shiro said. 

Coran nodded. "Alfor did have a strong love for feline creatures, hence the design choice. They weren't his favorite animal, but they were definitely up there." He coughed into his hand. "Others...more heavily influenced him towards the feline design." 

More laser beams rained from the sky as the Red, Blue, and Yellow Lions arrived. 

"Lay down some covering fire so they can get out of there!" Keith said, scanning the battlefield and directing the Red Lion to fire again from Her jaws.

Shiro nodded as Keith took charge when he was momentarily out of the fight. 

"I'm on it!" Lance responded. 

The Blue Lion raised Her tail and fired another shot at the mech. 

The Yellow Lion ran across the ground towards the mech. "Check this out! Battle-lion head-butt!" 

The Yellow Lion slammed into the mech and knocked it off balance, forcing it to disperse its energy sphere to catch itself before it hit the ground. 

"You guys okay down there?" Keith asked. 

"Still alive for now," Shiro answered. 

Pidge laughed. "Good response." 

Shiro smiled. 

The Green and Black Lions launched off the ground with the time given to them from the mech's fall. 

The Lions grouped together in the sky as the mech stood. 

Hunk's comm panel appeared on screen as he spoke. "Are the Galra behind this?"

His cam was joined by Shiro's. "I think so, but I've never seen anything like it." 

"So, what's the plan?" Lance asked. Shoot at it with everything we've got? Take out its weapon? Call it names?" 

"One of those options doesn't quite fit in with the others," Pidge said. 

Keith and Pidge's comm cams appeared on screen along with Lance's as he finished speaking. 

"If we want to take this monster down, there's only one way to do it," Shiro said firmly. The Lions roared and began glowing their respective colors as they zoomed towards each other. "Form Voltron!" 

The formation sequence played. 

"That was, like, a minute long," Hunk said. "Does it take that long in real life or is this just for dramatic effect?" 

"Eh, it doesn't take this long," Coran said, "but it's not instant either."

Voltron landed down heavily on the ground in front of the mech. 

"Remember, we are one unit, fighting with one goal," Shiro said. 

The mech formed another energy sphere as Voltron braced for battle. 

Voltron charged and dodged the thrown sphere, going in for a punch. 

But the punch was met with the mech's fist, halting all the momentum. The Green fist went in for an uppercut and got a hit in. The mech stumbled back. Voltron went in for a double-fisted strike but was met with the mech's arm as it rose to its feet again. It raised its fist as it summoned the sphere, moving out of the way as it slammed into Voltron. 

Everyone winced, Allura and Coran more severely. 

Voltron laid sprawled on the ground as it raised its fist once again and brought the sphere back down towards Voltron, but They dodged out of the way just as it hit the ground where They once were. 

"I thought Voltron was the most powerful weapon in the universe!" Keith said. 

"Don't go underestimating the power of Voltron now," Coran said. 

"I can underestimate it all I want when we're getting our asses kicked by a stupid robot," Keith argued. 

Shiro gave him a scolding look. 

Keith sighed. "Would you rather I say getting our butts kicked? It has the same meaning, just one's more silly sounding." 

Voltron flew backwards away from the mech as it flung the energy sphere again. 

"Yeah, so how is this monster kicking our butts?" Hunk asked. 

Keith gestured at the screen and Pidge joined him with wild hand movements. 

Shiro sighed.

Pidge raised their hand for a high five and Keith reluctantly obliged them. 

Voltron turned to look at the sphere as it flung past and the mech shoulder slammed Them while They were turned. 

Voltron fell just in front of the Arusian village. 

"Oh, no! The village!" Shiro said. "We have to protect those people!" 

The Arusians and Alteans huddled together in a cave as Voltron fought.

Voltron was hit by the sphere again but lifted off just before hitting the ground and sliding into the village. 

"That was close!" Shiro noted. 

"It was a lot closer than it felt," Shiro added. "Thankfully we didn't crush the village."

Voltron flew past the mech in the opposite direction of the village, luring it away from the Arusians. 

"We got him away from the Arusians, but we can't take him down!" Pidge said.

"I've got it!" Lance said. "I'm going to power-kick that orb thing!" 

"No!" Keith argued. "The last time you did a kick, we fell!"

"Stop living in the past!"

Voltron charged at the sphere and Lance roared out a battle cry as he prepared a kick to the sphere. He missed the kick and said, "Oh, no!" As the sphere instead hit Voltron in the face, sending Them sprawling to the ground as the mech charged. 

"I think living in the past works out just fine," Keith said. 

Lance muttered to himself and sulked. 

"Pidge, fire lasers now!" Shiro commanded. 

"Got it! Fire!"  The Green hand extended and the wing of Voltron came together to form a shield. "Oops, uuh..."  Pidge frantically clicked buttons to get the lasers to fire. 

"No! Lasers! Lasers!"

The mech slammed into Voltron and sent Them to the ground again. The sphere hit them again, sending Them sprawling in the opposite direction. The sphere returned to the mech's fist and Voltron struggled to Their feet. 

"Every time we focus on that orb, we're blindsided by the monster!" Hunk noticed. "And every time we focus on the monster, the orb hits us!"

"Then what do we do?" Lance asked. 

"Orb!"

Voltron was hit and fell back. 

Warnings flashed across Keith's windshield and screens. "Shiro, we gotta move! Shiro, are you there? Shiro!"

"Thanks for being concerned about me," Shiro said, smiling. 

Keith stiffly nodded in response. 

- 

Shiro was having flashbacks of his fight in the arena with Myzax." 

-

"That sound...I recognize this monster from my time in Zarkon's prison. I know how we can beat him!" 

As the mech charged with its fist outstretched, Voltron dodged out of the way. 

"Listen, there's a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon, and every third time, that orb needs to charge up. That's this monster's weakest point. That's when we strike." 

"Okay, so what do we do in the meantime?" Hunk asked. 

"Defense! Pidge, we need that shield!"

The shield was brought up just as the sphere hit and the Paladins groan at the force of the hit. 

"That's one! Two more to go!"

The sphere hits the shield again and Voltron stumbled but kept Their footing. 

'We can't take much more!" Hunk said. 

Shiro's vision flickered between the old monster and the new one. "Last one! Everyone, brace for impact!" 

The sphere hit and the shield broke apart into two pieces, landing in the dirt. Voltron kneels as They recuperated. The sphere returned to the mech's fist. 

"This shield sucks. It broke in like four hits," Pidge complained. "Can we make the shield better at some point? Y'know, update Voltron on the current tech?"

Coran and Allura frowned but didn't disagree with the thought process. 

Shiro gasped. "Now!"

Keith put all his force into the forward controls and a laser was shot from the Red fist, hitting the mech square in the chest and knocking it to the ground. 

But the mech rose to its feet again, sphere in place and ready. 

"It didn't work!" Pidge said.

"So, now what?" Lance asked. 

They all grunt as Voltron was hit again. 

"When I attacked him before, I had a sword!" Shiro remembered. 

"Orb! Orb!" Hunk warned. 

Voltron was hit again. 

"We can't take another shot like that!" Pidge said. 

Inside the Red Lion, the space glowed red. A new section rose from the control panel, a slot for the Red Bayard. "Wait a second, guys! I think my Lion's telling me what to do." 

Lance snapped, "Well whatever it is, hurry up and do it! He's about to fire his third shot!" 

Pidge shrugged. "I don't totally disagree." 

Keith scowled. 

The sphere hit Voltron and They're sent sprawling back as the mech charged forward. 

Keith summoned his bayard and inserted it into the slot his Lion was telling him to put it, twisting to lock it into place. 

"Jeez, that was dramatic," Hunk commented. 

Voltron was able to summon a sword just as the mech reached Them, slicing the mech in half and causing it to explode. 

The team cheered at the victory. 

"Yeah!"

"We did it!" 

"How did you do that?" 

Keith looked shocked as he came out of his daze and took his bayard back out of the slot. "Whoa. Thanks, Red." 

---

Haggar shouted in anger at the defeat of her mech. "I'll make another, more powerful," she swore.

"Please don't," Hunk said. 

"That won't be necessary," Zarkon said. "Sendak is still alive on Arus. I've given him instructions for how to proceed." 

"Can he be trusted?" Haggar asked.

"I trained him and he has his mission. He fights in the name of Galra. Only success or death will stop him. 

"Well, at least now we know to show no mercy," Allura said. "They won't stop unless they're killed or put out of action."

Coran frowned but nodded in agreement. 

---

"Zarkon has challenged us to rise from the mud and prove our worth," Sendak said to his remaining men. "We will not let him down."

Throk said, "Sir, how are we going to take the Castle with just the two of us and five damaged sentries?" 

"By exploiting our enemy's weaknesses." 

"What weaknesses?" 

"The worst weakness of all : They value the lives of others," he said as he stared down at the Arusian village. 

Allura scowled. "That isn't a weakness, you Galra are just heartless and cruel." 

---

Back in the Castle, the Paladins and Alteans prepared a ship for the ex-prisoners to leave on. 

"Good luck out there," Lance said. 

"Thank you all for everything," the grey alien said. "We never dreamed we'd see our families again. But you gave us hope. You gave the universe hope." 

"This is the true purpose of Voltron," Coran commented, nodding proudly at the Paladins. 

---

Pidge sat outside staring sadly at the ground below.

Shiro approached them. "Pidge, there you are." 

"Hmm?" They look up. "Why would you hurt my brother? You were friends." 

"I did it to save him."

"What?" 

Shiro sat down next to Pidge. "My memory of the event came back when we were fighting the monster. Your dad was being sent off with the weaker prisoners to a work camp. Meanwhile, Matt and I were forced to fight in the gladiator arena. Matt was going to fight first, but he was scared. We all were." 

-

In Shiro's flashback, Matt was panicking and said, "I'm not going to make it. I'll never see my family again!"

"You can do this!" Shiro said. 

Matt gasped as he was chosen as the first to fight. 

Shiro made up his mind on what he was going to do and pushed Matt back into the other prisoners to grab the weapon from the sentry before Matt could be forced to. "This is my fight! I want blood!" He yelled to the other prisoners. His face softened when he looked at Matt and was dragged out to fight. "Take care of your father." 

-

"You saved him?" Pidge said, their eyes tearing up. "You attacked him so they would choose you instead."  They leaned forward and hugged Shiro tightly. "I'm so sorry I doubted you! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

The Space Mice crawled up to Pidge's shoulder to comfort them. 

Shiro hugged them back. "I can tell you really miss them. I know they miss you, too. Your brother and father would be proud of you, Katie." 

Pidge's eyes widened at the name. 

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," Shiro reassured. 

Pidge groaned. "Now the secret isn't safe. I mean, I already told you guys, but this is a bad omen for future secrets." 

"We knew what we were getting into with this," Shiro said. "Not a lot you're able to hide when your life is being played on a TV screen." 

"Can we call you-" Lance started. 

"Fuck no," Pidge said. "If you call me Katie, I'll gut you." 

"Pidge!" 

Chapter Text

Update, I lied. I got depressed again. Whoops

I AM STILL TRYING THOUGH

But there's a reason for this update. I heard that Voltron is being removed from Netflix in a month, so yikes.

But good news, I have screen recording on my phone.
For legal reasons, I am not doing anything with this feature. I will be sad to see Voltron leaving >-o

> - o

Anyways, there will be an extra delay while I sort *nothing illegal* out.

Just know, I am working on this still, I just need to still have the source material O-O

Chapter Text

"Fall of the Castle of Lions". 

Arusian music was playing as the screen zoomed in on the Castle of Lions, the dark night sky and moon illuminating in the background.

"The monster fell from the sky!" The Arusian King narrated. He, Allura, and a few performers who were acting out a battle stood at the top of the stairs while Coran, Keith, Lance, Hunk, and the rest of the Arusians stood across the hall at the bottom of the stairs watching the performance. "It was an epic battle, but Voltron was victorious!"

Keith glanced at Shiro. "Geez, even I was at this party. What were you up to?"

The two performers acting out the mech hit the five Voltron performers and the five fell over. The crowd below murmured. 

"No. I said, 'Voltron was victorious!' "

The performers glanced at each other and as the Voltron group reformed, the mech group fell down. The crowd cheered. 

Lance shrugged. "Well, I guess that's how historical events are recorded incorrectly so easily." 

Allura walked over to the King. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for that wonderful production. It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow, but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe. Your Highness, please accept this gift." She held out a small device and he took it carefully from her open palms, smiling. "This will allow you to contact us anytime you need help. Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance." 

The King held up the device to the crowd and shouted, "Hoorah!"

The crowd echoed his cheer. 

Hunk wandered over to where Keith and Lance were standing. 

"We ought to get something like that," Hunk said. 

Keith, who had been smiling, looked at Hunk with confusion. 

"Holy shit, that expression is amazing," Pidge said. They took their phone out of their pocket at took a picture of the screen and Keith's face. They cropped the image and smiled proudly. "A masterpiece." 

"Language," Shiro said as Lance asked, "Wait, how do you have your phone?" 

Pidge glanced at him. "It was it my pocket when we found the Blue Lion, duh." 

"Yeah, but how is it working out here?" 

"I hooked it up to the Castle's wifi, or whatever it's called in the Castle. The internet and messaging don't work anymore, we're too far away I guess, but I'm working on that problem. Maybe I'll figure out how to access space YouTube." 

"Like what?" Lance asked, holding a cup of mysterious liquid.

"You know, like, a cheer," Hunk said. "Like, a team cheer that we do." 

Lance rubbed his chin. "Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay. How about, uh... 'I say Vol' and you say 'Tron'. Vol!"

Keith stared at Lance in confusion as well as Lance danced along to his own chant. "Uh... Voltron?"

Pidge grinned as they watched the interaction. "Never change, Keith." 

Keith glanced at them. "I still don't get it. What else was I supposed to say?" 

Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith. "No! No, no, no. The cheer includes the instructions. I say 'Vol', and you say..."

He grinned and held out his cup, cueing Keith. 

Keith tilted his head forward. "...Voltron?" 

Lance sighed and put his hand on his hip. "We'll work on it."

Keith raised his hands in confusion. "How does this make any sense? I don't get this chant." 

Lance rolled his eyes. "It's been explained to you four times now, I think you're unteachable." 

Keith scowled. 

He turned away to take a sip from his cup as Keith exaggeratedly shrugged at Hunk.  

Lance's eyes widened at the taste of the drink and his entire body quaked. He wiggled around, his limbs almost appearing to be seizing. 

He rushed over to Coran and demanded, "Coran, what is this?" 

Coran calmly turned to him. "Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods." 

"More like nectar of hell," Lance muttered. 

Lance dropped his hand from his mouth and stared in shock and offence at his cup, which had spilt in his panic. "It tastes like hotdog water and feet."

Pidge scrunched up their nose. "Ew." 

Hunk shook his head, eating his Earth snacks. "No thanks, I'll pass on Nunvill." 

"Yes, makes a wonderful hair tonic as well." Coran dipped his fingers into his cup and flicked the Nunvill onto his moustache, causing it to sparkle and fluff up as he walked away. 

Lance retched. 

Shiro stood against a wall, observing the festivities as Coran approached him.

"Not feeling well? Try some Nunvill." 

"I'm glad I passed on that one," Shiro said. 

Coran frowned. "Maybe my tastes are just more developed." 

Allura silently shook her head. 

Keith and Hunk fussed over Lance in the background as he stood rigidly still. 

"Aww, you do care," Lance said, blinking innocently at Keith, making babbling noises at Keith teasingly. 

"Shut up," Keith muttered, crossing his arms. 

Shiro smiled at the interaction while Pidge looked between the two and grinned. 

"Settles and stomach and brightens your smile," Coran continued. 

Lance fell sideways and collapsed. Hunk and Keith stood with their hands held close, just staring in horror and concern. 

"Oh, lovely," Shiro commented. 

"I'm not sure we should be letting everyone wander in and out of the Castle like this," Shiro said, ignoring Coran's offer. "It doesn't seem safe." 

"You sound like Keith," Hunk commented, teasing affectionately. "Is this where he got the outlook from?" 

Keith scowled. 

Shiro shook his head. "And look what this situation resulted in. Seems pretty realistic of an outlook, now, looking back on it." 

"Oh, these Arusians won't hurt anything..." Coran winced as two Arusians flew past while clinging onto a floating platter of cups. "...much." 

The sound of dishware shattering quickly followed. 

"Besides, it's only fair to let them see the inside of the Castle that's been sitting on their planet for so long." 

"But who knows when Zarkon will attack again?" Shiro pushed off the wall and walked off. "I'm going to do a perimeter check, just in case." 

---

Outside, along the tree line, Sendak watched the Castle. 

"Commander Sendak," Haxus said, "the sentries are in position around the Arusian village."

Sendak grinned. "Luck is on our side. Look, the Castle defenses are down. The door is wide open. With all the Arusians coming in and out, it should be nothing for you to infiltrate." 

"I may not have to. Look." The device Haxus was looking into zoomed in on Rover and Pidge walking past the entrance. "The small one has a Galra drone they're repurposed. If I can just get close enough to clone its signature code, I can send our bomb drone in undetected." 

Pidge scowled. "Small one? You motherfucker." 

"Pidge!"

"I knew you would not disappoint me, Haxus."

---

Allura overlooked the Arusians and Paladins below.

Keith was handed a cup by a passing Arusian.

"Don't drink it, it's a trap," Lance warned. 

"Too late for that warning." Keith shook his head from just the memory of the taste. 

Allura smiled. "Look at them, the new Paladins of Voltron. The fate of the universe is on their shoulders." 

Keith mistakenly took a sip from his cup and had a similar reaction to Lance, coughing up his drink out of reflex onto Hunk. 

"It has claimed another victim," Pidge said ominously. 

Hunk groaned and yelled, "My eyes!" 

He turned around and had two lollipop looking treats held up to his eyes. Keith looked worried but laughed along with Hunk when he started to laugh. 

"I guess Keith's stomach is stronger than yours, Lance," Pidge teased. "He's still standing after drinking that." 

Allura watched the interaction with concern and disappointment. "I must portray strength, so no one can tell how concerned I am about the fate of our mission." 

The Paladins all looked at Allura with varying levels of hurt. 

She sighed. "I am not so worried anymore. I had yet to see you all in a true life-or-death moment. The events to come proved me wrong." 

The space mouse on her shoulder squeaked at her and her eyes widened. 

"Let's keep that a secret." 

The mouse squeaked again. 

"Who else has secrets?"

Lance gasped. "They promised not to share!"

The mouse joined the rest of the mice on the railing and acted out a few secrets. 

"Hunk tried to eat what? That is rather amusing. What other secrets?" 

Hunk frowned and grumbled. 

She frowned at the next display. "That seems like Lance." 

She then gasped. "Pidge is a what?"

Pidge made a mocking face at the mice on-screen. "Those mice are creeps." 

Allura frowned at them. "They are not, they are just observant." 

She grumbled and stared down at Pidge suspiciously. Pidge subtlety pulled their bag off their back and grabbed a nearby platter, dumping all of the treats on it into their bag before letting the platter fly off again. They put back on their bag and eyed an Arusian who was walking past. They snatched a swab from their hands and quickly cleaned their ears, sniffing it curiously, then throwing it out of their hand in disgust. 

"Pidge," Shiro said, looking at them disappointedly. 

Pidge held up their hands defensively. 

Allura frowned and side-eyed the mouse. "Are you sure?" She received a nod. "I'm getting to the bottom of this." 

---

Lance stared into his reflection in a cup of purple liquid. "I guess we should get used to this space juice. Who knows when we'll get back home again." 

Hunk was twirling his cup around. "Yeah, if ever." 

"Way to be positive in a time of need, Hunk," Pidge said. 

"Hey, I didn't know he needed comforting," Hunk argued. "I was just being realistic." 

Lance frowned. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, if this Zarkon guy has been ruling for 10,000 years, how long do you think it will take for us to fix it? You know, if we live." 

He eyed a passing platter and took a bowl off it. 

"Right. That," Lance said. 

"Hey, what do you think the chances are of us landing on a nacho planet?" 

Lance smiled sadly. " Well, there's only one planet with Veradera Beach, pizza shack looking over the water, and the garlic knots, and my mom's hugs..." He sniffled. "I'm sorry, I think this Nunvill is getting to me. I've got to go."

"Sooo...like a 2%? Or what?" Pidge asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

Lance shrugged, looking away from his on-screen crying. "I'd say 3%, 5% on a good day." 

Keith glanced at Shiro. 

"Whatever you're thinking of saying, just say it," Shiro said. 

Keith looked at him innocently. "I don't know what you mean." At the lack of response, he added, " 'Imagine having a mom'. That's the joke." 

Shiro shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "Same here, bud."

He looked down as he walked away. 

Allura descended the stairs and approached Pidge. "So, Pidge, we haven't had the chance to really talk. Tell me about yourself." 

Pidge hummed in thought, Rover hovering next to their head. "Well, I like peanut butter, and I like peanut butter cookies, but I hate peanuts." They scowled at the thought of peanuts. "They're so dry. Also, I sweat a lot. I mean, in general, unrelated to the peanuts."

Allura frowned as they spoke then moved in front of Pidge as they tried to walk away. "I suppose I was thinking of something a little more personal.  She leaned forward and smiled, winking and hinting for them to share. "We have a lot in common."

Pidge scowled as Allura leaned down to their height. "Like what?"

Allura's eyes widened. "Oh, well, both of us had our fathers taken away by Zarkon."

"Yeah, but I'm going to get mine back."

Everyone who wasn't present for the insult looked shock. 

Lance let out a shocked breath. "Hoo, wow. Uh, deep cut there." 

Pidge looked down shamefully. They had already apologized, but still felt guilty. "I'm sorry, Allura, I was angry at my situation, not at you, but you were used as an outlet for my anger. You didn't deserve that, I'm sorry." 

Allura nodded silently. "I know loss can be hard, and I appreciate your apology. And... I still stand by my previous words. If you ever need to talk to anyone about loss, I am here to serve as a listening ear or advisor, even if you aren't certain they are gone yet. Loss is heavy, even if it's not through death." 

Pidge smiled. "Thanks." They grinned and elbowed Lance. "That means you're not welcome to our grief sessions."

Lance's jaw dropped. "What? So only people with one confirmed parent are invited?" 

Allura glanced at Lance. "Both my parents were taken by Zarkon, I have no parents." 

Lance breathed out a breath of air. "Oh, yeah." 

"I also have no parents," Coran added. "They passed during the genocide as well." 

Keith shrugged to himself, silently raising his hand. "Same." He looked at them awkwardly. "I mean, not to the genocide thing, but the 'no parents' thing." 

Lance looked around awkwardly. 

Allura gasped, hurt by their words. 

Pidge winced. "Uh, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to-" 

"No, I understand," Allura cut them off. She leaned down again. "I just want you to know that you can confide in me. If there's anything you ever want to talk about..." 

They stared at each other in silence. 

"Anything," she repeated. 

"Not weird at all," Hunk commented. 

"Huh?" Pidge's eyes widened, then, they looked down. "Okay, I do have something to tell you." 

Allura grinned excitedly. "I had a feeling. What is it?" 

Pidge looked to the side sadly. "I'm leaving Team Voltron." 

Allura's smile fell from her face. "Wait, what?"

"I decrypted the information from the Galra ship about where my family might be, or at least where they were. I've made up my mind. I'm leaving tonight." 

"I could have broken the news better," Pidge reflected. 

Allura nodded. "Definitely."

"Pidge, you can't. You're one of five paladins," Allura argued. She put her hands on Pidge's shoulders. "You have a sacred trust to defend the universe."

Pidge pushed away from her. "My first priority is to find my family! I thought you of all people would understand. If you had a chance to get your father back, wouldn't you?"

"Damn," Keith said quietly. 

Shiro glanced at him. 

"Yeah, yeah, language, I get it," Keith mumbled. 

"Not what I was getting at," Shiro said softly. "Just don't get too in your own head now, yeah?" 

Keith looked at him with wide eyes, then nodded. 

Allura clasped her hands in front of herself and gasped. 

"I'm sorry," Pidge said quietly. They turned away. "I should go tell everyone else."

---

Shiro stood outside the castle. 

"Shiro?" Pidge called. "I need to talk to you."

Shiro turned to them. 

A bit away, Haxus was crouched behind a rock. He peeked over it an aimed a scanning gun towards the paladins, locking in on Rover. 

Lance sighed. "I thought that was a real gun for a sec, not just a scanner." 

"Signature code cloned," he said. 

He ducked back behind the rock and turned to the drone beside him. He pointed the gun at the drone and sent the copied signature into the robot, the red drone turning green. 

"Bomb activated." 

Haxus grinned to himself as the drone flew off towards the castle, then ran off and jumped off the ledge. 

"Okay, I'm sorry, I know this is a tense moment, but did he just Naruto run off that cliff?" Lance asked. 

"Yeah," Keith said, "the cliff that he then jumped off of in the same position. I'm glad I wasn't the only one to notice that." 

"Wait, you know Naruto?" Hunk asked. 

Keith looked at him dryly. "Yes, I know Naruto. I've been on the internet before, y'know." 

Shiro and Pidge walked back inside with Rover trailing behind them.

The imposter Rover hovered in the doorway behind them and followed them inside. 

---

Lance was sat sadly, resting his head on his fist. 

Keith glanced at Lance. 

"Mind if I join you?" Coran asked. 

Lance turned as Coran hopped down from the control panel next to Lance, who was sat looking out into space in the control room. 

"How far away from Earth do you think we are, Coran?" Lance asked. 

"Let's take a look." Coran placed his hand on the navigation pad and the room filled with a hologram map of the surrounding expanse of space. "Earth is over here." He pointed to Earth, then dragged his hands over the map, moving it further away. "And we're all...the way over..."

Lance looked at the map sadly. "You ever notice how far the planets are from each other, Coran?"

"Yes." Coran was still moving the map around. "Haven't you been paying attention?"

Lance walked over to Coran. "Yeah, but I mean, like, they're really, really far away. Like, say, Earth. It's so far, I can't even see it. The...The blue oceans, the white clouds, green grass... I...I can't see any of it."

"You miss Earth. I understand. I miss Altea." Coran patted Lance's back comfortingly. 

"I know we're supposed to be brave paladins and Defenders of the Universe or whatever," Lance held his fists up, miming a heroic pose, "but, honestly, I just want to go home." 

Hunk nodded. "I'm homesick, too, buddy." 

"If I could go home, I would," Coran reassured. 

"I miss rain and splashing in puddles." 

"Rain?" 

"Yeah. It's water that falls from the sky." 

"Oh! We had that on Altea. Only, it wasn't water, more like rocks. Razor-sharp and boiling hot. Oh, they could knock a hole right in your head."

Hunk tilted his head. "So... not rain at all. Just, like, a deadly meteor shower." 

"Sounds fun," Lance sarcastically commented. 

"Yeah..."

---

The imposter Rover ominously roamed through the castle, scanning the corridors. 

---

"Pidge, no," Shiro said. 

They were joined by Hunk, Keith, and Allura. 

"The download from the Galra ship was enough to at least get me in the right direction to start my search," Pidge said. "I have a pod all ready to go." 

"You can't leave," Keith argued, his face tense as he approached Pidge. 

Shiro looked at Keith knowingly. Keith rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

Pidge scowled. "You can't tell me what to do!" 

"If you leave, we can't form Voltron," Keith said slowly. "And that means we can't defend the universe against Zarkon. You're not the only one with a family. All these Arusians have families. Everyone in the universe has families." 

"Yeah, I have a family," Hunk butted in, gently pushing apart Keith and Pidge. "They live on Earth. I want to be with them. Is that, like, a thing that can happen?" 

Allura looked shocked. "You want to leave, too?" 

"Of course I do!" Hunk said. He looked down. "Look, Voltron is super-cool, don't get me wrong, but I never signed up for a lifetime in space, fighting aliens." 

Keith's face was trembling with anger. "You're putting the lives of two people over the lives of everyone else in the entire galaxy!" He angrily approached Pidge, holding his arms out. 

Lance raised his eyebrows at Keith. "Calm down, dude. It's not worth getting this angry over it." 

Keith huffed. "This is the past; I am not reacting like this now. You don't have to tell me that." 

Shiro stepped in and held Keith's arm. "Keith, that's not how a team works."  Keith looked at Shiro, mouth opening to argue, but he silenced himself. "People have to want to be part of it. They can't be forced." 

Keith looked down, clenching his jaw, and Shiro let go of him. 

"Scolded by dad," Pidge commented. "RIP." 

" 'Not mad, just disappointed'," Keith said quietly to Pidge. 

Pidge snickered. 

Shiro turned to Pidge. "If you want to leave, we won't try to stop you. But, please, just think about what you're doing." 

"I'm sorry," they said, still looking down. "You're going to have to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion." 

They turned and walked away, Rover following behind them. Allura, Hunk, and Shiro all looked sad while Keith was standing with his arms crossed. 

"POV, Keith's natural state," Pidge joked, trying to keep the mood light during the tense scenes. 

"I can't believe it," Allura said, clasping her hands to her chest. "This team is falling apart. How will we ever form Voltron?" 

---

Lance and Coran were leaving the control room when a green drone flew into the room. 

"Hey, Rover," Lance said, waving to it. 

The drone flew up to the crystal on the ceiling. 

Lance turned around. "Wait. Where's Pidge?" 

Pidge raised their arms victoriously. "Observant Lance for the win."

Lance smiled. 

The drone beeped and blinked red. 

Lance gasped. He jumped to throw Coran to the ground. "Coran, look out!"

"I never thanked you for this," Coran said. "You risked yourself for me, and I am deeply touched by your actions."

"No problem, I'm sure we all would have done the same thing," Lance said sheepishly. 

---

The Castle shook from the explosion and panicked Arusians screamed, trying to flee the Castle. 

Keith, Allura, and Shiro looked around and Hunk made noises of panic.

Pidge, who had just been about to board their pod, looked around in confusion. 

The Castle powered down, all exterior lights dimming. 

---

As smoke cleared in the control room, Coran struggled to get to his feet. He groaned as he moved. 

The rest of the team entered the room, coughing from the smoke. They spotted Coran and Hunk and Shiro knelt down next to him. 

"What happened?" Shiro asked frantically. 

Coran groaned. "I'm not sure."

Allura spotted the destruction further into the room and gasped, rushing over. "The crystal!" She then spotted another figure on the floor. "Lance!"

Shiro ran to his side, holding his head and checking him over. "Lance? Lance!" 

Lance held his hand to his chest and pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. "I'm touched by your concern." 

Lance shirred and groaned. 

"We have to get Lance to the infirmary!" Pidge assessed. 

Hunk had Coran upright and was supporting him, holding one of the Altean's arms over his shoulders. 

"Without the crystal, the Castle has no power," Allura said. 

Keith stared in concern at Lance. 

Pidge gave Keith a teasing look and stuck their tongue out at him. He made a face back at them. 

"He doesn't look good," Shiro noted. 

The Arusian King entered the room. "Lion warriors, our village is under attack! We need help!"

"Let's get to the lions!" Keith said. 

"You can't," Allura reminded. "They're sealed in their hangars. There's no way to get them out. We're defenseless." 

"Will you not help us?" The King asked. 

"I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling the pressure of the universe right now," Pidge said. "This guy is kind of useless. Bro, a bomb just went off in our Castle, we have a lot on our plates. Let us think for a second." 

"We'll help you," Keith stated. "We just..." 

Lance groaned again and everyone turned to him. 

"This is bad," Hunk said. 

Coran moved to stand on his own. "We have to get a new crystal to get the Castle working again. But, to get a new crystal, we need a ship."

Pidge's eyes widened. "The pod I was loading, we can use that! I left the bay door open."

"I can use the scanner in the pod to see if there's a Balmera nearby. Hunk, you come with me. I'll need someone big to help me carry the crystal."

"Gee, thanks," Hunk mumbled. 

"A Balmera?" Hunk asked. 

Coran started heading off. "It's where the crystals come from. I'll tell you more about it on the way!" 

Hunk and Pidge followed Coran. 

"I'll go see what's happening at the Arusian village," Keith said. 

Allura looked at him. "I'll go with you, Keith. I brought this on the poor Arusians."

"I'll tend to Lance and stand watch over the Castle," Shiro said. 

He looked back down at Lance when Allura and Keith ran off. 

---

In the hangar, Coran and Hunk got into the pod. 

"It's our first bit of luck," Coran assessed. "There's a source not too far. We won't need a wormhole to get there, thankfully." 

Pidge stood outside the pod. "I made some modifications to the shuttle." They pointed to something on the dashboard. "The first change is a cloaking device that I reverse-engineered from the invisible walls on the training deck. The second is a tank of booster fuel that I mounted on the fuel line." 

"Using that during flight would turn the whole pod into a bomb!" Coran yelled. 

"Not another bomb," Lance groaned. 

Hunk whimpered and looked at Pidge in terror. 

Pidge smiled. "Okay. Maybe you shouldn't use that modification after all."

Coran stared at them critically. 

'We ready to hit it?" Hunk asked. 

"Right. Let's go," Coran said. 

The pod powered on and launched. 

Pidge held up a thumbs-up. "Good luck." 

Hunk gave them a thumbs-up in response. 

The pod flew out of the Castle and out of the atmosphere. 

---

Shiro had Lance slung over his shoulder. "Hang on, buddy. Help is on the way." 

"Not to question your actions in a critical time, but that's what I'm doing," Pidge said. "Why are you carrying him like that? That's a horrible way to carry a person with unknown injuries."

Shiro shrugged. "I don't know what I was thinking, I guess I wasn't."

His eyes widened as he noticed Galra approaching the entrance to the Castle. Sendak was leading the charge, with many robot sentries following behind him. 

Shiro took a step back. "Sendak." He lied Lance down on a ledge and ran to confront Sendak at the entrance. 

"Stand aside," Sendak ordered. 

"Big cat man," Pidge commented. 

Shiro raised his fists, his robotic arm glowing purple. "No. You're not getting in." 

"Yes, I am." 

Sendak reared his metal arm back and he swung towards Shiro. 

His clawed hand crashed into Shiro's chest, pulling Shiro forwards and flinging him into the ground. Sendak raised his fist above Shiro and slammed into him, throwing him backwards and sent him rolling away. 

Everyone winced. 

"Being dragged across concrete even with armor is rough," Pidge said. 

Shiro pushed himself into a crouching position and readied his metal arm again. 

He slashed at Sendak and met another of his oncoming attacks. He dodged around his fist and snuck in hits whenever he could get any.

Keith watched the fight intently, rooting Shiro on in his head even though he knew that Shiro would be fine in the end. His body was tensed, and he subconsciously moved slightly like he was actually fighting. 

They both punched at the same time and their metal fists met, blocking each other. 

Sendak grinned. "I see you spent some time with the druids. They do love to experiment. Too bad you didn't get the latest model." 

"Oh, shut up," Pidge groaned. "I hate when people talk smack in the middle of fights. It just proves you're a cocky piece of shit."

Shiro didn't scold Pidge for that comment. 

Sendak's fist disconnected from the rest of his arm and shot towards Shiro, tethered by a beam of purple energy. 

Shiro was flung back into the Castle and rolled across the hall, landing beside Lance. He got to his feet just in time to dodge Sendak's flying hand. 

Sendak jumped towards Shiro, and he caught Sendak by his flesh arm, flinging him over his head and throwing him into the ground. 

"Nice," Keith praised, nodding. 

Shiro smiled. "Thanks."

They had their robotic arms to each other's throats.

"Let him go, or your friend won't make it," Haxus called. He tossed Lance to the ground and two sentries held guns, both pointing at Lance.  

Pidge retched dramatically. "They just know Sendak would have lost. They had to threaten an unconscious person to win." 

While Shiro was distracted, Sendak punched Shiro in the chest. Shiro went flying and landed beside Lance. 

Hunk groaned. "That was a cheap shot. He should be ashamed of himself for this." 

"The Galra do not care how they win, they only want to win," Allura said. "If they have to fight dirty to win, they will." 

Sendak grinned. "Voltron is ours." 

Pidge sat behind raising on a balcony above them. They held Rover to their chest. "Oh, no."

---

Keith and Allura ran up to a group of Arusians that were standing over their village, watching as explosions shook the valley below. 

"What's happening?" Allura asked.

The King pointed. "Look! Attackers!" 

Another explosion blocked their view. 

"I'll go in for a closer look," Keith said. "Stay here with them." 

"Keith!" Allura yelled as he jumped off the ledge and slid down the dirt wall.

Shiro sighed.

He ran through the blazing town. He saw a few sentries standing still, but as a tower fell beside them, they toppled over. "What?" He saw a head fall off of one of the sentries, wires exposed. "Oh, no. They tricked us!" Over his comms, he relayed to Allura, "It was just a diversion to separate us and thin the Castle's defenses!

Keith stared at the fire on the screen. He had been too full of adrenaline to focus on anything else at the time, but now that he was viewing the events from an outsider's perspective, he realized just how much he disliked the fire. 

Allura's eyes widened, and she looked back to the Castle. 

---

In the control room, sentries hooked a new, purple crystal into the Castle system. Lance and Shiro were sprawled out on the floor beside each other. 

"Power up the Castle," Sendak ordered. 

The Empire's logo flashed up onto the walls of the room as the lights of the Castle turned back on, now purple. 

Allura and Coran both looked deeply upset, more so than the Paladins. 

Sendak checked over the Lions from cameras in each hangar. "The Lions are all in their bays. Raising particle barrier. Begin launch sequence." 

A purple barrier descended over the Castle just as Keith and Allura were arriving. They were locked out of the Castle. 

Keith slammed his fist into the barrier. "We're too late. No!"

"They have control of the Castle," Allura said. "They're taking Voltron!" 

---

"Make contact with Emperor Zarkon," Sendak ordered. 

Haxus clicked on a screen and a call flashed to life on the hologram screen in front of them. 

"Sendak," Zarkon said. 

"Great, he's still ugly," Pidge grumbled. 

"My mission is complete," he reported. "I've captured the Altean Castle, along with all of the Voltron lions. I am currently preparing for launch and will be delivering them all to you shortly." 

"This news is most pleasing. You have done your duty. Vrepit Sa!" 

Sendak held a fist to his chest. "Vrepit Sa!" The call disconnected. "Haxus, ready the Castle for takeoff." 

"Yes, Commander." 

---

Keith drew his sword bayard. "Can we break through the barrier?" 

"No," Allura said. "And whoever has taken the Castle has a crystal, which means they'll be able to fly the ship. We have to stop them." 

Keith looked back up at the Castle. "How are we going to do that?" 

Pidge's voice came through over Keith's comms. "Keith, can you hear me?"

"Pidge, is that you? Where are you?" 

Inside, Pidge hid behind a wall. "I'm inside the Castle. Sendak has taken over and he's preparing for launch. He's got Lance and Shiro." 

"Pidge, listen," Allura said. "If they've started the launch sequence, then we don't have much time before liftoff to stop it." 

"What do I have to do?" Pidge asked. 

"You have to get down to the main engine control panel and disconnect the primary turbine from the central energy chamber. If you can do that, Sendak will have to reset the whole system. That might give us enough time to find a way to stop them." 

---

Hunk and Coran approached a green, rocky planet. 

"Is this the Balmera planet with the crystals?" Hunk asked. 

"It's not a planet," Coran corrected. "Balmera are ancient animals. Petrified but still alive. Their bodies naturally create the crystals that help power many Altean ships. I often accompanied my grandfather to visit these majestic creatures when he was building the Castle of Lions. I'll never forget the first time I saw the sparkling surface of a Balmera. You're in for quite a treat." 

As they approached the surface, the image of a beautiful landscape was replaced with a gloomy, rocky scene with Galran drills mining out large holes into the Balmera's surface. 

Allura gasped. "Oh, no, what have they done to the Balmera? They have nearly killed it!"

"Oh, no," Coran said. "This is horrifying. The Galra have turned this into a mining colony! They're completely destroying it! They have no regard for the poor creature!" 

An alarm beeped as a ship approached overhead. 

"Uh, oh," Hunk said. "We've been spotted." 

"Hailing unidentified craft," a male voice called. "State your ship ID, entry code, and landing destination." 

"Oh, no, what do we do?" Hunk asked. 

"Just stay calm," Coran said. He then spoke into the Intercomm. "We don't really need to land. Uh, we're just looking around, if that's okay." 

The much larger ship descended towards them. "Unidentified craft, land immediately and prepare to be boarded." 

"Okay," Coran said. "Thank you. See you down below." 

He glanced upwards, then pulled on a level and send the pod hurdling backwards, away from the large ship.

Pidge cheered and Coran smiled proudly. 

Hunk screamed. 

As Coran steered, canons down below shot up at them.  "Not done, yet. Hold on!" 

He directed the pod down into one of the drilled-out holes. 

"Coran! Coran!" Hunk screamed. He paused, going silent. "How deep is this thing?" 

They crashed into a support structure, and Hunk resumed screaming as they fell, Coran joining in on the screaming.  

When they came to a stop at the bottom, Hunk noticed glowing eyes coming from a dark corridor in the earth. "Coran, what lives at the bottom of these mines?"

---

Pidge pushed their way through a door, grunting from the effort. They dismissed their bayard and held the door open. "Here, Rover." 

Rover flew through the door and squeaked, hovering over an empty column that dropped very far down.  

"Okay, Rover, here we go," they said.

They pushed off of the wall and jumped the gap, using their jetpack to boost them across. They kicked off again, propelling themself down the column. 

---

"Run main cluster activation sequence," Sendak ordered. 

"Activation sequence initiated," Haxus said. "Powering up for launch." 

---

Pidge entered a large chamber with a glowing machine in the middle. "Okay, Allura, I'm near the turbine. I think it's started." 

"Then you'll have to hurry," Allura said. "Cross the catwalk to the main column in the center." 

Pidge did as instructed and stopped in front of a screen. "Okay." 

"Now, open the hatch. Find the central computer control hub and enter the following sequence..." 

Pidge stared into the hatch. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Which one is it? All the labels are in Altean!"

"I still need to learn Altean..." Pidge mumbled. "I should do that once we're done with this..."

---

Haxus turned around. "Commander Sendak, we are ready for launch." 

---

Beams of blue energy flowed towards the turbine in the center of the room, towards Pidge.

"I can't tell which one it is! Allura? Allura?" 

Pidge stood up and started into the swirling turbine. 

---

Keith and Allura had to step away from the barrier as it shook, preparing for launch.

"I've lost connection with Pidge!" Allura said. "Oh, no! It's taking off!" 

---

Pidge looked around, crouching down and looking at the hatch again. They activated their bayard and sighed. "Whatever." 

They shoved their bayard into the machine and slashed inside, breaking the tubes. Pidge was thrown back by a burst of energy. 

Lance clapped. "Yeah! There we go!" 

Pidge grinned. "Blind destruction for the win!"

The turbine crackled and powered down, the ball of energy significantly shrinking. 

---

"The main engine just shorted out," Haxus reported. 

Sendak walked over to his screen and looked at the room's camera. He spotted Pidge running out of the room with Rover. 

"We have a saboteur," Sendak said. "Find him and take him out." 

"Wow, and he misgenders people?" Pidge said. "Way to end the episode, man." 

"Sheesh, that was the heaviest one yet," Hunk said, sighing. "I could barely handle this, and I knew what was going to happen in the end. Imagine how bad it's going to be for battles we haven't experienced yet."

Lance cringed. "Oh, I didn't think of that. What if one of us dies and we just have to keep watching?" 

Shiro frowned. "Well, hopefully none of us die. I have faith that we'll succeed." 

"Next episode?" Pidge asked.

Everyone nodded and they put in the next disc.  

Chapter Text

"Tears of the Balmera". 

"Haxus!" Sendak yelled. "I want whoever's in this ship found and terminated!"

Pidge glared at him. "Can't even use the world killed? Lame." 

Lance was still passed out on the floor, but Shiro had woken up and was sitting on his knees.

"Commander Sendak," Haxus said, "I've received a transmission generating from somewhere inside."

Allura's voice was heard through a recording. "There's not much time before they get the ship running again. You must shut off the particle barrier so we can get in." 

Allura grumbled. "Great, all of our conversations were overheard." 

"You got it," Pidge's voice said in the recording. "Tell me what to do." 

"The particle barrier generator is beneath the main hull." 

"She's telling the intruder how to take down our defenses," Haxus reported. 

Pidge groaned. "Oh, like they're not the intruders here. They literally took over the Castle and are calling me, a resident, an intruder. I hate them so much." 

"Yes, but she's also giving away his location," Sendak said. He turned to the sentries. "Find that room. Kill the Paladin." The sentries left to room to fulfill their order. "Repair the engine. Emperor Zarkon has commanded us to bring him Voltron. This ship will rise before day's end."

---

On the Balmera, figures approached Hunk and Coran from the darkness. Coran was backing up slowly while Hunk was standing with his bayard drawn. 

Hunk whimpered. "Okay, don't come any closer! I don't know how to use this very well." Earth-toned aliens emerged, wearing tattered clothing. "Wait a minute. You're not Galra." 

"A very nice threat, Hunk," Lance teased. 

"Nor are you," said the alien with earrings. 

She gasped as the entire chamber shook, dust and rubble falling and being dislodged. 

"A patrol!" The male alien called. He put his hand on the other's shoulder. "Shay, we must take leave from these ones, now." 

"Wait, please!" Coran pleaded. "We need your help. If the Galra find us, they'll kill us." 

"Or torture us," Hunk added. 

"Or keep us as some sort of creepy pet to play with how they please," Coran said, holding his hands up in claws to mime the Galra's evilness. 

Shiro raised an eyebrow at Coran, who shrugged. 

"I have heard of conquering nations doing stranger things to those they take captive," he justified. 

"Not our problem, Hairy Lip," the male alien retorted. "Galra see us near you and they kill both you and us. Shay, exeunt!"

He gestured for them to leave. 

"No!" Shay said. "These many years only Galra have been seen here. I will not turn my back on the skylings." 

Lance nodded approvingly. "I like 'skylings' as a title much better than some of the other ones I've heard so far." 

Coran's shoulders relaxed. 

"Vex!" The male alien hissed. He and Shay ran towards the Altean pod and lifted. "Grab a side. In here. Hurry!" 

They carried the pod into the tunnel they emerged from. Hunk stood guard, holding his gun towards the entrance of the tunnel.

He dismissed the gun and turned to the aliens.  "Thanks for saving us. I'm Hunk." 

"Shay. And this one, my brother Rax." She smiled. "How did you fall to us?" 

"Well, we came looking for something." He shrugged. "And you guys might be the right people to help us find it."

---

"Pidge, have you made it to the generator room?" Allura asked. 

Pidge ran through the halls. "I'm in. This technology is so advanced, I don't know if I can figure it out."

"You can do it!" Hunk encouraged. 

Pidge glanced at him. "Thanks, bud, but I kinda already did it." 

"Yes, you can. The lives of your fellow paladins are at stake. You can't give up."

As Pidge stood, thinking, they had a flashback. 

Lance gasped dramatically. "Not another flashback. Hopefully this one won't be as traumatic as Shiro's." 

Pidge shrugged, grinning. 

"Hope you enjoy this home-cooked meal, Matt. After our launch to Kerberos tomorrow, we'll be eating freeze-dried peas for the next two months." 

Pidge, Coleen, Matt, and Samuel Holt sat around a dinner table, a dog sitting on the floor beside Coleen. Samuel spoke to Matt affectionate. 

"Don't lie," Matt teased. "I know you love those peas, Dad."

Shiro smiled at seeing the interactions between his old crewmates. 

Pidge stared sadly at the screen. They missed their family. 

"It's true," he said, smiling and moving his fork around his plate. "Those Garrison chefs really know how to genetically manufacture a delicious vegetable." 

Pidge sighed. This version of them had long hair and was wearing a purple-pink dress. "I wish I was going up with you guys."

Lance tilted his head. "Wait, you have long hair here. When did you cut your hair?" 

Pidge waved their hand around. "It'll probably show it at some point during the episode. I thought of it as well, so if they're showing this, they'll probably show the big chop scene as well."

"Just you wait, kiddo," Sam said. "Something tells me that you're going to have your own crew someday. You're going to fly with them to worlds so far away, we can't even imagine. I bet my bottom dollar you're going to be part of something that makes the whole universe sit up and take notice."

---

Footage of a rocket taking off was played and a woman reported over it, "The Galaxy Garrison mission to the distant moon of Kerberos is missing, and all crew members are believed to be dead." Pictures of Shiro, Sam, and Matt were shown. "The Galaxy Garrison has said the crash was presumably caused by pilot error." 

Keith rolled his eyes. "All of those news reports were bogus. None of it was accurate information." 

Pidge nodded. "Tell me about it.." 

Coleen sat in front of the TV screen, staring in horror while Pidge stood behind her on the stairs, tears welling in their eyes. 

"It is, indeed, a sad day for all humanity," the TV droned on. 

Pidge made annoyed noises. "That's such a sucky thing to say after a tragedy." 

Keith nodded in agreement. 

Pidge's face hardened in determination. 

---

At the Garrison, Pidge was in one of the offices, typing away on a keyboard in the dark. The lights flicked on, and their expression of focus switched to one of shock. 

Pidge stepped away from the desk when they saw Commander Iverson in the doorway. 

Shiro looked at Pidge in shock. "You broke into Iverson's office?" 

Pidge nodded. "I needed the real information." 

"How were you not banned from the site for this?" 

"Oh, I was, I just registered using a different name." 

Shiro sighed disapprovingly. 

Keith nodded along to their words. "Fair, did you at least get anything good from it?" 

Pidge shook their head. "Nah, he came in when the footage started getting to the good stuff." 

Keith shook his head. "Iverson has terrible timing." 

Shiro sighed. These kids were going to give him migraines. 

"You again?" He yelled. "Get off my computer! How did you get past the guards?" 

He approached them. 

"You said the spacecraft went down due to pilot error," Pidge said. "I saw the video feeds from your probes. There's no evidence of a crash anywhere on Kerberos!"

"Those feeds are classified!" He grabbed Pidge by the shoulder and dragged them out of the room. "I could charge you with treason for hacking into them!" 

"Where's my family?" Pidge demanded. 

Iverson turned to a nearby guard. "Escort Miss Holt off the premises and make sure every guard knows she's never allowed on Garrison property ever again." 

Pidge glared at him as they were grabbed by the arms by the guard. "You can't keep me out! I'll find the truth! I'll never stop!" 

Present-day Pidge stared down sadly, then looked up, determined. "Okay. Talk me through it, Allura." 

Allura said, "Shutting down the barrier from this room can be dangerous. Remember, the barrier is also a weapon. So, stay away from the energy arcs." 

Pidge glanced at the energy on the walls. "Don't touch the giant lightning bolts. Got it." 

Hunk made noises of agreement. "You'd think most people would stay away naturally, but no, they don't. The warnings are needed." 

"Now, what I'm going to need you to do is--" 

Rover squeaked and rammed into Pidge, pushing them out of the way of a shot from a sentry. Pidge screamed and ran as more sentries approached. 

"Pidge!" Allura yelled. "Hello? Are you there?" Outside, Allura looked stressed. "Pidge, what's going on?" She realized something. "Wait... the mice. Maybe they can help." 

"Oh, no," Pidge grumbled. "Not the mice again..." 

Allura glanced at them. "Why? They're helpful." 

"I still don't trust them..." 

She shut her eyes tightly and focused on sending her thoughts to the mice. 'Friends, I need your help.' 

The yellow mice woke up, rolling over and looking startled. It bumped into Allura's jewelry box, shaking it and waking the other mice, who were sleeping inside of it. They ran off. 

Allura stared at the screen. "Have they been the ones stealing my jewelry?" 

Pidge held their arms out. "See? This is what I was saying!" 

---

Rover peeked around a corner and ducked back behind for cover when it was shot at. 

Pidge pulled up Rover's feed of what it saw of the sentries. "My only way out is two floors up? Seriously?" 

They were shot at again and threw their arms over their head. 

They created a hologram of themselves and sent it running out of their hiding spot. The sentries turned and began shooting at the hologram, and when they hit it, it flickered away. A stray shot had hit on of the energy arcs, and a streak of lightning shot off of it and towards the sentries, hitting them and shorting them out. 

"Smart thinking," Shiro said, nodding. 

Pidge grinned. "Thanks." 

Pidge ran around them and dodged shots as they got further away. They activated their bayard and shot it at a higher-up ledge where Rover was hovering, using it like a grappling hook. They hit the wall hard and grunted. 

"Ouch," Hunk mumbled. "That looked painful." 

They looked back. "Whoa! Can't believe that worked!"

They scrambled away into the tube as the remaining sentries began shooting at them in their new position. 

"You stay and guard the generator," one sentry said, then two ran off, leaving the third to guard. 

"I didn't know they could talk," Hunk said. 

Lance nodded, equally surprised. "Huh, strange." 

Pidge sliced through a wall and kicked the thin metal away, crawling out into the training room.  

The two sentries jumped through the observation deck, landing in front of Pidge. They began shooting just as Pidge summoned their shield. 

They pulled up the feed from the room and realized, "The invisible maze! Let's see them get through this." 

"Ah, so many fond memories of this room," Lance said sarcastically, shooting a look at Keith. 

Keith scowled at him. "What?" 

Lance stared at him silently for a moment, then went back to watching the screen. 

Keith sighed in annoyance. 

They ran towards the sentries, diving under their legs and past shots to get to the area where the maze would appear. The loading bar on their hologram screen signaled it was fully charged and they turned on the maze. As the sentries turned to follow them, the first sentry ran into the invisible wall and the electrical currents immediately tore it apart.  The second one ran into the invisible walls repeatedly, but just appeared stunned after each hit. 

Pidge pressed a button on the floor and a hatch opened up. They crawled in and Rover followed. 

As Pidge crawled through the tunnel, the remaining sentry followed them down. It shot at them and followed as they scrambled away. 

The sentry took aim and fired a shot which hit Pidge in the back. They fell forwards and into a hole in the floor of the tunnel. They scrambled to catch themself but slipped and fell through. 

Everyone beside Pidge gasped. 

As they faded from view, the point of their bayard came flying back up through the tunnel. The sentry dodged it and fired down into the tunnel. Pidge used their bayard to keep themself from falling too far. 

Hunk sighed in relief. "Phew, close one." 

"Hunk, I'm right here, I lived," Pidge said. 

"Oh, right," he said sheepishly. 

One of the sentry's shots bounced back and hit it, causing it to fall. Pidge moved out of the way as the bot fell past them. 

They let out a sigh of relief, but the entire tunnel shook when the sentry hit the bottom. Their arms flailed as they slipped backwards, about to fall all the way down as well, but Rover caught them. 

They sighed again. "Rover. Nice save, buddy." 

Rover beeped happily. 

Allura smiled. "Rover is starting to grow on me." 

Pidge grinned. 

---

Hunk and Coran were sitting around a fire with the Balmerans. 

Hunk took a sip from his bowl and lowed it. "Thanks for the delicious soup. Are these potatoes in here?" 

"Space potatoes," Lance mumbled. 

"Grandma's special dish for special visitors," Shay said. "Cave-root for the skin. Cave bugs for the soul."

Hunk paused mid-chew, then forced his mouthful down. Coran gulped. Shay's grandma sat beside them, watching happily as they ate. 

Lance looked at her sadly. She reminded him so much of his own abuela. She had passed, but in her last months she developed dementia and cooked, but it always tasted horrific. He would eat it just to make her happy and move on. 

"Oh, thank you for the bugs," Coran said. 

Grandma smiled, revealing her single tooth, and poured her serving into Coran's bowl.

"Okay, I think that's too many-" 

"So, how many of you are down here?" Hunk asked. 

"There are thousands here on Balmera," one of the male Balmerans said. "We work and live in these mines." 

"We harvest crystals for Zarkon," Shay added. 

"Zarkon," Hunk muttered. "That's so sad that he's enslaved an entire planet. 

Allura nodded sadly. "This is why Zarkon must be stopped. The Galra will continue to do this to every planet they come across until the entire known universe is enslaved." 

"Zarkon may rule, but we still have family," the male Balmeran said. "That's where true happiness comes from." 

Rax stood up angrily. "Galra would tear our family asunder if they found these ones. Everyone comes to Balmera and takes, but gives nothing in return." 

Shay looked down. "In the past, those who took the Balmera's crystals would replenish her with energy. It was an equal exchange. But the Galra only take." She pressed her hand against the ground and the earth beneath her palm glowed. "It is no wonder we can feel her suffering." 

The Balmera made noises of pain. 

"I'm sorry that we put everyone in this situation, but the faster we get the crystal and get out, the faster everyone is out of danger," Hunk said. 

"We're looking for a battleship-class crystal," Coran said. 

The male Balmeran's jaw dropped in shock. "Battleship-class crystals? Those are most rare. Galra soldiers guard them ceaselessly until their harvest. Your quest is in vain." 

"There is one," Shay said, "found only weeks ago. It is almost excavated." 

"Quiet," Rax snapped. "Even if they could steal the crystal from the Galra, battle patrols wait to take down their ship. These ones have no chance of getting out of here alive, with crystal or without." 

Hunk frowned and turned to Coran. "Okay, so this crystal we need is basically the hardest thing in the universe to get." 

Coran put his hand to his chin. "I don't know about the hardest. There is the scaultrite mineral found only in the stomachs of giant weblums." He nudged Hunk with his elbow a few times. "Collecting that stuff's no picnic. But, yes, this seems very difficult." 

Lance made a face of disgust. "Hopefully we'll never have to deal with that."

Hunk nodded in agreement. 

"You may stay here until Balmera gives another crystal," Shay offered. "One that is hidden from Galra eyes." 

"We don't have that kind of time," Hunk said. "I got an injured friend who needs to get into a magical healing machine, stat." 

"Hunk, you fix the pod," Coran said. "I'm going to do some reconnaissance and see if I can come up with another plan." 

Coran stood up and walked off. 

---

Pidge sliced open another tunnel cover and punched it open. 

They peeked around the corner, and when they saw that the hall was clear, they leaned back against the wall and relaxed. They pulled their helmet off and Rover hovered above them. They go into another flashback. 

A long-haired Pidge stood in a Garrison uniform, staring into a mirror. "First day of school. Time for a haircut." 

"Ah, the chop," Pidge said, looking at Lance. 

They picked up scissors from the bathroom counter, took a deep breath, and chopped off their hair. 

---

"I made it!" Lance cheered. "I'm a fighter pilot!"  He did a little dance and hummed along to a song. He saluted. "Hasta la later, Keith!" He put his elbow on Hunk's shoulder. "And look, you're my engineer." 

Keith sighed. 

"Always thinking of Keith first, aren't you, Lance?" Pidge teased. 

Lance sputter. "What?! No! I was just excited that I beat my rival!" 

"He didn't even know who you were," Pidge said. 

"And when he found out, he didn't seem to care too much," Hunk added. 

"Dude, not helping," Lance grumbled. 

"Cool," Hunk said. "Uh, can I do that from the ground?" 

Lance's face fell and he snapped his head towards Hunk. 

He leaned in towards the screen. "And our communication officer is... Who the heck is Pidge Gunderson?" 

"Right here." 

Behind them was Pidge, who had their hand raised slightly. 

"Welcome to the team, Gunderson," Lance said, walking over to Pidge with Hunk. "I'm Lance, your fighter pilot." 

Hunk held out his hand for Pidge to shake. "Hey, I'm Hunk."

"We got a lot of great times ahead, so we should probably start bonding now," Lance said. 

Pidge made a mocking face at Keith. "Bonding," they whispered. 

Keith scowled and jokingly pushed their shoulder. "Shut up." 

Iverson walked over to another staff member behind Lance, and Pidge leaned to look past Lance. 

"Security for the Galaxy Garrison's mainframe is our first priority," Iverson was saying. "It's been breached once. And by a little girl, no less." Pidge scowled at that comment. "It cannot happen again!"

Iverson walked away from the lady he was talking to and towards the cadets. Pidge stood rigidly and put their hand up in a salute.

"Wrong arm, cadet," Iverson said. 

Lance and Hunk scrambled to salute as well as Pidge switches arms. They let out a sigh of relief as Iverson continues walking. 

"Hello?" Lance said. "Pizza? Girls? Astronauts?" 

Pidge's face drops as they start walking away. "Sorry, I don't have time to mess around with you guys. See you in the simulator." 

Lance puts his hands on his hips, looking upset. "What's his problem?" 

Rover hovers beside Pidge's head. 

"You know, Rover, I haven't always been there for my team. But this time I will be." They put their helmet back on and continue on down the hallway. "Come on." 

Above where they just were standing, the space mice were sitting in the vents. They ran through the tunnels in the walls to help Pidge. 

---

On the Balmera, Hunk was fixing up the Altean pod while Shay watched. 

"Tell me, what is the sky like?" She asked. 

"They sky?" Hunk paused and looked at her. "You seriously have never even seen the sky?" 

Allura frowned again. "This is truly a miserable existence. We must return and free the Balmera." 

Hunk nodded eagerly. "Yes, they need to be freed."

Shay looked down. "No... but, at night, I sneak up as high as I dare, trying to imagine what it is like." She climbs up on top of the pod and crouches. "Oh, lucky are you to fly in this machine to worlds far from here."

"Well, it doesn't have to be like this. You can be free, too."

She looked confused. "Free?"

Hunk smiled. "Yeah, free." 

She jumped down to stand in front of him. 

"It means you can go where you want, be what you want, do what you want," Hunk said. "No Galra masters to tell you what to do."

"It makes no sense," Shay said. "Zarkon controls everything."

Hunk folded his arms. "Nope. No, things are changing. Have you heard of Voltron?" 

Shay smiled softly. "A child's tale." 

Hunk frowned. "It's real. I'm one of the paladins, and Voltron is going to defeat Zarkon." 

"You are?" Shay asked. 

"Stop filling this one's head with your shadow show!" Rax interrupted. "The cavern is our home. This will never change." He turned and began walking away. "Come." 

Allura looked saddened by his words. "The absence of Voltron really has had an effect on the moral of the universe. We must focus on regaining the trust of the universe as well." 

Shay silently followed while Hunk watched her leave, looking disappointed. 

---

Haxus was in the room with the turbine. 

"Powering sub panels," Sendak said through their comms. "Sub panels energy transducer is go."

"Aye, sir," Haxus said. "Opening pathway to link with bridge. Initializing main cluster reboot." 

Pidge was climbing up a ladder along the wall, far above him. They opened a hatch and scanned the machinery inside as Rover caught up to them. They downloaded the data. 

"Gotcha." 

"Initializing complete," Haxus reported. "I'm set for main power up." 

"The bridge is go," replied Sendak. 

"Powering up." 

Pidge matched the movement on their own screen. "And up, and up, and up. I would not want to be touching a metal surface when this thing overloads." 

Lance grinned and looked at Pidge. "A little electrocution time?" 

Pidge nodded proudly. 

They looked behind them to watch the events unfold.

An alarm started blaring on the screen in front of Haxus. "Sir, something is wrong." 

The energy surrounding the turbine expanded, and bolts of lightning shot out. One struck Haxus, and he dropped to the floor screaming in pain. 

Pidge jumped from the ladder as the energy shockwave went through the walls and held onto the Rover, the two hovering slowly towards the middle of the room. They dropped down in front of Haxus just as he sat up. 

"You're the one causing all this trouble? A child?"

Pidge held up their bayard defensively. "I'm not a child. I'm a Paladin of Voltron."

"You can be both," Shiro said. 

Haxus stood up, chuckling while he drew a purple sword. "Let me tell you something, child. I'm a soldier of the Galra Empire. Nothing stops me but triumph or death." 

"An Empire of soldiers with this mindset is dangerous," Allura said. 

He yelled as he charged, his glowing yellow eyes shining with malice. 

Pidge ducked under his sword, sliding away from slashes and strikes. They shot off the blade of their bayard, but Haxus wrapped the energy tether around his blade and used it to fling them into the control panel for the main engine. 

He stepped towards them. "Nowhere left to run. Nowhere left to hide." 

He raised his sword to stab them. 

Rover rapidly approached him, beeping and providing a distraction. 

Pidge slid under his legs and wrapped the energy tether around one of his ankles, causing him to stumble closer to the edge of the platform. 

Rover charged and rammed into his head, knocking Haxus back towards the turbine. 

"Yeah! Go Rover!" Lance cheered. 

As he fell, he reached up and grabbed Rover. 

"No, Rover!" Lance said, emotionally doing a rapid 180. 

Rover beeped in alarm. 

"Rover!" Pidge yelled. 

Haxus dropped his sword but was suspended by his hold on Rover and his one foot on the platform still. 

Rover whirred and glowed brighter, then powered down. As Rover fell, so did Haxus. 

Pidge ran forwards to help Rover but was too late. 

Haxus fell to his death, screaming while falling, with Rover falling with him. 

"Our first visual organic death, I think," Shiro said. "Every other time has been robots, or we just haven't seen any proof of casualties."

"No!" Pidge screamed, kneeling at the edge and reaching down helplessly. 

"Haxus, report in," Sendak said over the comms. 

His voiced caused Pidge to snap out of their mourning. They walked over to the hologram.  "Haxus is gone, and you're next!" 

"Hang up on him," Keith said. 

Pidge sighed. "I wish I did." 

"You've slowed me down, but this ship is mine! You will turn yourself over to me immediately!" 

"Never!" 

"Well, then, maybe your leader can convince you." 

Keith glared at the screen. 

"What do you want?"

The sound of Shiro's voice made Pidge's eyes widen. 

"Your friend wanted to hear from you," Sendak said, standing behind Shiro, his metal hand crackling with energy. 

"Pidge? Pidge, don't listen to--" 

Shiro was cut off when he was electrocuted, crying out in pain. 

Keith glanced at the Shiro next to him, Shiro offered him a hand to hold, and Keith accepted the offer of comfort. 

"No!" Pidge yelled. They shut their eyes. 

"You can make it stop. Turn yourself in," Sendak said. "His suffering is in your hands." 

---

Back on the Balmera, Hunk, Coran, Rax, and Shay were back around the fire. 

"Is your ship repaired that you may depart our presence?" Rax asked, his arms crossed. 

"Uh, are you saying that you want us to leave?" Hunk said. 

"Yes." 

Hunk tilted his head. "Well, it's working, but we can't leave without the crystal." He looked at Coran. "You come up with any ideas how to get it?"

"Actually, yes," Coran said. 

---

They emerged from behind a light. Instead of two people, they were now one. With Hunk as the legs, Coran sat on his shoulders with a helmet on his head and a cloth wrapped around him. They unsteadily walked out. 

"Oh, no," Allura groaned. 

"I can't believe I'm the legs again," Hunk complained. "I'm the one who took down the guard. I should get to be the head." 

"Not this again," Lance said. "

"Shhh! Legs don't talk." 

They approached two other guards. 

"Oh, hello gentlemen, shift's over. Boss needs you back at the guard shack," Coran said. 

The guards looked at each other, then back at the strange guard. "Verify identification code." 

"Right. I didn't want to have to do this, but I'm going to have to pull rank." An arm emerged from under the cloth. The wrist was bent backwards. "You guys are in big trouble, right? So, hand over those blasters and ID badges." 

Allura sighed, resting her head in her palms. 

The guards raised their guns. "Verify identification code or be destroyed." 

"Okay, okay. I've got it right... here!" 

Coran pulled back the cloth and revealed Hunk with his machine gun drawn and ready. Hunk began shooting at the guards, only stopping when they went down and stopped moving. 

Coran jumped off of Hunk's shoulders. He walked over to the crystal that was being guarded and placed his hands on it. 

"What are you doing? We got to hurry!" Hunk said. 

"I'm not just going to pry this out of here like some Galra monster," Coran said. "The Balmera is a sacred being. You have to communicate with it. Let your life forces connect. This is the way it was done in our time." 

Allura nodded approvingly. "We need to return this practice to all Balmeras. We must give to take."

"Whoa. You really know your Balmeras." 

The crystal stopped glowing, and the earth fell away from around it, allowing it to be collected. It began to tip over, and Coran rushed forwards to catch it, struggling. 

He yelled as his spine popped, and a cracking could be heard.  His head slowly turned to Hunk, almost horror movie-esc. "I think I'm broken." 

Allura and Lance tried to hold back laughs, but Pidge did not bother trying. 

Coran grumbled. 

Hunk sighed, then turned when he heard blasters being readied. 

He was met with the sight of many guards pointing their guns at them. 

Coran groaned and grunted as he stood up, hunched over. "Okay, guys! All right, I hate to do this. Blasters and badges, come on. Give them up." 

He slowly fell over, and Hunk awkwardly grinned and put his hands up in surrender. 

"You gave in so quickly," Keith said. 

---

"I'm impressed that you managed to escape," Sendak said. Pidge stood behind a nearby wall. Shiro was kneeled next to a sprawled-out Lance. "Perhaps it would be worth the trip to your planet to see if the rest of your kind have your spirit. Of course, they will all end up broken, just like you. Now that we have Voltron, every planet, every race, all share the same fate." 

The 'humans' all scowled. 

Lance made an 'x' in the air with his arms, "Nuh uh, no alien invasion on Earth today, thank you very much."

---

Hunk and Coran were stuck behind a purple wall. 

"Quiznack!" Coran said. "I can't believe they saw through our disguise." 

Hunk, who had been hunched over, stood up quickly.

"Someone's coming," Coran hissed. 

Shay was approaching them slowly. 

"Shay?" Hunk said. 

She held a guard's severed arm up to the door and it fazed away.

Allura stared at the screen. They really needed to repay these Balmerans for their kindness and help in getting the new crystal for the Castle. 

"Make haste to your pod," she said. "The crystal is prepared for departure."

"How did you get the crystal?" Coran asked. 

"I was assigned to take it to the upper levels, but instead I took it down" Shay said. "Soon, they will discover my ruse. Time is short." 

She turned, but Hunk stopped her. "Why are you helping us? You'll get in trouble." 

"Because your words touched my heart," she explained. "I wish for freedom for all Balmera. Perhaps your Voltron can make it so." 

Hunk nodded sternly. 

Shay led them to their pod, but they were met by more guards, and another. 

"No," Shay said. "Rax, why?" 

"These two bring only trouble to our family," Rax said. "It was the only way to protect you." 

Lance groaned. "Traitor!" 

Hunk went to draw his bayard, but Shay put a hand out to stop him. 

"No!" She knelt to the ground and placed her hands flat on the ground. "The Balmera will save us." 

The ground beneath her glowed, and the Balmera groaned. 

"Shay, no!" Rax yelled, backing away. 

The cave ceiling shook, and rocks began to break loose, crushing the guards. 

Lance cheered. "Yeah! Go big rock creature!"

Coran and Hunk ran to the pod. 

The remaining guards emerged from the rubble, shooting at the fleeing group. 

Hunk summoned his shield and blocked blasts heading towards Shay. 

He ran ahead, and while he did so a shot was directed towards Shay. 

A beam hit Shay, transforming into binds and wrapping around her arms and legs. She yelled and tumbled to the ground. 

Allura gasped. "No!"

Hunk turned. "Shay!" 

As she was dragged away, she said, "Go! Make haste!"

"Let her go!" 

"No, Hunk!" Coran said. "We have to go!" 

Hunk looked back and forth, conflicted. He got into the pod and yelled to Shay, "I'll come back for you, Shay! I promise!" 

The pod closed and took off. 

"If we can't shake these patrols, we might be back here sooner than we want!" Coran said. 

They jetted out of a different tunnel, dodging the smaller ships that were outside waiting for them and flying up towards the top of the hole. 

---

The last sentry was patrolling around.

The space mice on a light above watched it walk under them. They descended upon it, causing it to punch itself in an attempt to get them away. The pink mouse bit its hand. It accidentally fired a shot and the recoil sent it teetering sideways. 

The mice jumped off of it just as it fell over the railing and into the energy arcs. 

The mice scurried over to a control pad and tapped a button, lowering the particle barrier. 

"Wow," Pidge sarcastically mumbled. 

---

"It worked!" Keith said. 

"They did it!" Allura celebrated. 

They ran into the Castle. 

---

Sendak typed away on his screen. Camera feed notified him of movement, and he turned to see Pidge standing in the doorway. 

He shot his hand towards Pidge, his claws digging into the floor as they jumped over his hand, leading him away from the door. 

The real Pidge sat next to the doorway, watching as a hologram of themself was chased away. 

Lance cheered. "Yes! Another distraction! Let's go, Pidge!" 

They ran over to Shiro and knelt down in front of him. "Shiro, wake up. It's me, Pidge." 

Pidge jolted and yelled as a hand grabbed their back and pulled them into the air. They struggled and squirmed in the hold. 

Hunk let out a breath of air. "Geez, that was a jumpscare and a half.

"You really thought your little hologram trick would work with me?" Sendak asked. 

Keith and Allura ran into the room. Keith drew his bayard. 

"Stand back," Sendak ordered. 

A shot hit Sendak square in the back, knocking Pidge from his hold. 

Lance had woken up for a moment and shot him, but quickly passed out again. 

"My coma awakening," Lance said dramatically. 

Shiro stood up and charged at Sendak. He was quickly kicked away, but it provided Keith with an opening. He sliced at Sendak, his sword gliding against his side. As Sendak stumbled back, Keith kicked him in the stomach. Sendak whirled around and grabbed Keith by the shoulder, dragging him into the air. Pidge leapt in and sliced the energy connection to his hand. 

Keith watched the fight intently, making mental note of the errors he made. He had left his chest open when he charged, and that could have led to Sendak getting an opening on him. 

While the fight was going on, Allura ran over to the primary control panel. 

Pidge whipped their bayard towards Sendak and it wrapped around his ankle, electrocuting him. 

Keith went to slice his head, but Sendak caught his sword.

"Geez, Keith, a headshot?" Hunk asked. 

Keith shrugged. "He needed to be taken care of." 

"Brutal, man."

Allura typed in command to the keypad. "Keith, now!" 

Keith kicked Sendak in the chest and sent him flying back into the crystal just as a barrier went up, locking him inside. Sendak punched at the barrier, but gave up when it didn't budge. 

Pidge cut Shiro's cuffs off of his wrists and helped him stand. 

"Lance, are you okay?" Keith asked, offering his hand to Lance to help him stand, but ended up kneeling next to him instead with their hands clasped together. 

"Awwww, hand holding," Pidge said. 

Keith pointed to the screen. "See! This is the bonding moment. There's video proof now."

Lance looked away from Keith accusing stare. "I still don't remember it." 

"We did it," Lance said. He looked at Keith and smiled softly. "We are a good team." 

Keith locked eyes with him and smiled back. 

Shiro smiled at seeing Keith's reaction, looking at him knowingly. 

---

"We can't shake them!" Coran yelled. "We're not going to make it!" 

Hunk's hand hovered over the turbo button Pidge had installed. 

"Uh, it may turn us into a giant fireball," Coran warned. 

"Maybe, but it's our only chance," Hunk said. 

Coran looked back and saw that he was correct. "Fine. Fire in the hole!" 

Hunk pressed the button. 

The pod shot forward, pushing the two back into their seats. It rocketed them out of the pit as the air exploded behind them, launching them out of the Balmera's atmosphere. 

Hunk cheered. "We did it!" 

---

With the Castle back on, Lance was placed in a healing pod. 

"After a day in here, he should be fully healed," Allura said. 

Shiro turned to Pidge. "Pidge, we can't thank you enough for all you did. I can't help but feel that you were meant to be a part of our team... but I understand if you want to leave." 

"Dad used to tell me know close he was with his crew members," they said, smiling. "They were like family. Now I understand what he was talking about." Shiro smiled at their words and Pidge looked up at them. "I'm staying with you guys. Let's stop Zarkon for all our families." 

"Good to have you back on the team," Keith said. 

Hunk sighed, leaning back in his seat. "That one was tiring." 

"You can say that again," Lance said. 

"From here on out, we won't know the outcome of our battles," Shiro reminded them. "We don't know if this is accurate to our future yet, but it might be real, so just keep that in mind." 

Pidge nodded along. "We still need to launch, so Lance will probably wake up next episode, and then everything is all new from there."

"It's both exciting and terrifying," Allura said. "We could learn so much information that can be utilized to defeat Zarkon, but we could also learn more than one person should ever know."

Hunk shrugged. "Eh, my brain has already been overloaded. What's some more gonna do?" 

"Next episode!" Lance said. 

Chapter Text

"Taking Flight".

Lance still hadn't emerged from the healing pod. 

Pidge had their face close to the glass, closely reading the charts on the front of the pod. Keith was close beside Pidge, staring at Lance closely for any sign of conciousness. Allura and Hunk looked a bit confused, and Shiro was in the back looking questioningly at Keith and Pidge. 

Lance looked at the two of them. "Awww, you two do care!" 

Keith and Pidge glared at him. 

"Shut up!" 

"Oh, fuck off." 

"I can't tell if he looks healthy or not," Hunk said. 

"I think he's breathing weird," Pidge added. 

"Hmm, gee, thanks."

Keith poked at the glass. "Oh, come on!" 

Allura swatted his hand away. "Not yet! A few more ticks." 

"You're like an impatient cat," Lance teased. 

Keith looked for something to throw at him and snatched an empty water bottle from Shiro. It hit Lance in the chest, and he pretended to get shot down. 

"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks?" He said. 

"And what exactly is a tick?" Pidge asked. 

"You know, a time slice," Allura said.

"Like a second?" Shiro asked. 

"What is a 'second'?"

Pidge took out their phone and pulled up a stopwatch. "Like this." 

Allura watched it for a moment. "I'm not sure. I think ticks are bigger. Coran, do you have a ticker?"

"Right here, Princess." 

Hunk and Pidge walked over to Hunk and examined the device, with Allura following. 

"Ah, much better entertainment," Pidge said. 

"I think ticks are a little slower," Hunk observed. 

"I can't tell. We have to start them at the same time." 

"Okay. Ready... go!" 

Keith and Shiro walked over to observe as well. 

"Yes! I think we're winning!" Hunk cheered. 

"Winning what? The intergalactic time-measuring competition?" Keith said. 

Hunk looked at him seriously. "Yes." 

Behind them, the healing pod shimmered and opened. Lance fell out and stumbled away. He made his way over to the ground. "You guys having a clock party?"  

Everyone beside Hunk stared at him in shock. 

"What an underwhelming welcome," Lance muttered. 

Hunk groaned, annoyed. "Aw, Lance, you just ruined it." He did a double take. "Hey, Lance!" 

Hunk picked Lance up in a hug and a squeaky-toy sound effect played. 

Allura laughed. "Why did you make that noise?" 

Lance shrugged. "I didn't actually, but it was added I guess." 

"What happened?" Lance asked sleepily. 

Allura hovered a hand over his shoulder. "We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk?" 

"Talking? Eating?" He grinned. "Are you asking me out on a date?" 

Both Allura and Keith groaned. 

Allura scowled and crossed her arms, turning away. 

"That's such a Keith-like pose," Pidge teased. 

Keith side-eyed them. 

"Yep, he's okay," 

"Classic." 

Keith crossed his arms and looked away. 

Pidge pointed at Keith and Allura on screen. "Look! They're both standing in the same position!" 

Hunk slowly nodded. "Yeah... they are." 

---

Lance was sat in the dining hall and was eating a bowl of goo. The yellow mouse was sitting on his arm, one on Allura's shoulder, and the other two between Keith and Pidge. 

"He'd be Sendak's prisoner right now, if not for Pidge," Allura said. 

Lance was letting the yellow mouse eat from his spoon. 

"We'll, you wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal," Pidge added. 

"Wow. Thanks, everyone." Lance grinned and turned to Keith. "Sounds like the mice did more than you, though." 

Keith groaned. 

Keith scowled. "I punched Sendak!" 

"Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off." 

Keith looked hurt. "We had a bonding moment. I cradled you in my arms!"

Pidge held their arms out. "Ah, there it is." 

Keith glanced at Lance. "You saw it happen; you can't deny it." 

Lance crossed his arms. "I don't know why you're so obsessed with this. Nothing even happened." 

"So, you admit you remember it?" 

"Geez, yeah, fine, I remember waking up from my coma after being blown up and seeing you being clingy!" 

Keith growled at him. 

Pidge cackled. "Please fight." 

"No fighting," Shiro said. 

"Nope. Don't remember, didn't happen. So what happened to Sendak?" 

"He's frozen in a cryo-pod," Allura said. "We're keeping him here in this Castle." 

"You sure that's a good idea?" Lance asked. 

"He's too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him." 

Lance seemed satisfied by Allura's answer. "Sooo, what's the plan now?" 

"We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people," Hunk said. 

"Wow!" In front of Lance, the yellow mouse was in his bowl eating the rest of the goo. "You are really hung up on this lady." 

"Only you would see my actions as romantically motivated," Hunk said. 

Lance stared at him in mock offense. "Bro..."

"No, it's not like that." Hunk looked down. "Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home-- They've been under his thumb for so long, they don't know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a paladin is all about. It's time to man up." 

Pidge's face fell and the two mice beside them looked at them. 

"Then let's get moving," Shiro said. "Time to go defend the universe." 

Everyone started to leave, then Pidge said, "Wait, I have something to say first. I need to come clean and I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me. Just so there are no secrets between us anymore, I can't 'man up'. I'm AFAB. I mean, I can 'man up' because that's just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to 'man up'. I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying is--"

Lance's face behind Pidge was one of pure shock.

Pidge laughed loudly. "Oh, I didn't even see your face before this. That's amazing." 

They took a picture of the expression. 

Lance muttered to himself. 

Lance sputtered. "Wha..?! You're AFAB? How?" 

Pidge jumped from the sheer volume of Lance's voice. 

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone," Allura said. 

"Yeah, I figured," Hunk said. 

"Oh, yeah, me too," Keith added. 

"Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Coran asked. 

"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin," Shiro said. 

Pidge sighed in relief, their shoulders relaxing. "It's good to get that off my chest. Now, let's launch this Castle-ship!" 

Lance shook his head. "Wait, what? Pidge is not a boy and the Castle is a ship? How long have I been out?" 

Pidge laughed again. 

---

Allura stood on the platform in the middle of the bridge. Hologram screens flickered into the air in front of her. 

Individual color-coded chairs rose from the ground for each paladin, giving them access to the Castle's stats and controls as they sat down as well. 

The two pillars rose on either side of Allura and the placed her hands on both. "Activate interlock." 

"Dynotherms connected," Coran responded. 

"Mega-thrusters are go." 

The four pillars connected to the main Castle body started glowing even brighter and the ground began to rumble. 

"We are ready to depart Planet Arus on your mark, Princess." 

"Firing main engines for launch." 

The earth around the Castle fell away and into the water as it rose into the air. 

The Arusians in their village watched as the Castle flew away and cheered. 

The Castle flew off into space, officially leaving Arus.

"Okay, now this is officially the future," Lance said. "It's probably going to be accurate, since everything else was accurate so far." 

"This whole experience is kinda wild," Hunk said. "I mean, we're literally watching our futures." 

---

The Main Galran Empire ship appeared in frame. 

"Sire, if capturing Voltron is the Empire's number one priority, then I suggest we begin moving the main fleet toward its last known location posthaste." 

"Okay, so it would be good to get as far away as possible," Hunk noted.

Haggar turned to Zarkon. "Lord, after many years, the Komar experiment is finally ready. Soon, we could have more quintessence at our fingertips than ever imagined. We must test it before moving the fleet." 

Allura's faced tensed. "Quintessence? What would she want with quintessence?" 

"What's quintessence?" Lance asked. 

"It's...well, it's essentially every living thing's life force. You each have your own quintessence, and it's what keeps you alive and soulful." 

The Galra who had been kneeling before them stood. "We don't have time for any more of your magic. We must move our ships now." 

Haggar ignored him. "Voltron is the most powerful weapon ever created. His puny ships will never be up to the task. We must be well prepared for our next encounter." 

Zarkon slammed his hands down onto the arms of his throne. The Galra in front of him flinched back and dropped into a kneel again. 

"Bug bitch," Pidge mutter. 

"I know better than anyone the power of Voltron," he said. "Haggar has my trust. We will perform her test."

---

In the halls of the cruiser, a Galra commander who had been speaking to Zarkon said to another Galra (Thace), "The witch has his ear. Keep sending our offer out to any scum between Planet Arus and Balmera X-95-Vox. I'll capture Voltron on my own." 

---

Everyone was in the bridge. The Paladins had moved to sit around Pidge as they worked on their computer, sitting on the stairs. Hunk was pacing around.

"Okay, so, when we get there, what do you think?" Hunk asked. "Do we just roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of public address system, like, 'Attention, Galras, this is Voltron. Turn yourselves in'?" He glanced around for feedback, then slumped. "No. Blasting, right?" 

Keith held out his arms reassuringly. "Hunk, calm down. And, yes, blasting." 

"Yes, blasting," Lance teasingly mocked. 

Keith scowled at him. 

"It's our first big rescue mission," Shiro said. "He's excited." 

Pidge leaned back against the stairs and looked upside-down at Hunk. They said teasingly, "Excited to see his new girlfriend." 

Hunk gasped in exaggerated offense. "She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met and I admire very much." 

"A rock you admire," Pidge repeated. "A very good explanation, Hunk." 

An alarm went off and Hunk looked around in surprise. 

"What is it? Are we being attacked?" Shiro asked in alarm. 

"No, it seems to be a distress beacon," Coran answered.

"It's coming from a nearby moon," Allura said. "Apparently, a ship has lost power." 

Hunk sighed. "What about Shay? We don't have time to stop." 

Allura turned to him. "The Paladin's Code says that we must stop to help anyone in need."

"I wonder who it is," Pidge pondered. 

"Whoever it is will have to wait," Hunk said, his hands on his hips. "Shay has first priority. We can check back on them when we're done." 

"The Paladin Code states that we must help all those in need," Allura said. 

Allura gestured to her on-screen self. "As I said." 

Lance stood up and grinned. "Wow! This is so cool. It's like we're space cops on space patrol. Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?"

Coran looked back at him. "Uh, no, but we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them." 

"Perfect!" 

Lance held his hand to his mouth and started making a siren noise. 

Shiro quickly turned and covered his mouth. "No, not doing that." 

Pidge smiled. "Aw, it's like you're wrangling toddlers." 

Shiro sighed. "Yeah, that is what it feels like a lot of the times. Especially with those two." 

He pointed at Keith and Lance, who both looked at him with offense. 

"We're not toddlers!" Lance exclaimed. 

"I am nowhere near his level of annoying," Keith said at the same time. 

Lance turned his look towards Keith. "Hey! I am not annoying." 

Allura grumbled. "Yes, you are definitely proving that point now." 

Lance crossed his arms and sat silently, trying to prove that he could be quiet. 

The Castle approached the moon where the signal was coming from. 

There, two aliens and a robot were sitting around a campfire. One alien was a purple-skinned man with a stick between his teeth, and the other was a yellow woman with shoulder armor. 

As the Castle landed, it almost blew them away. 

A speaker from the Castle said, "Attention, damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you." 

"Whoa," the purple alien said. "Nice ship."

---

Allura looked at Coran. "Stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us." 

"Yes, Princess." 

---

A small pod dropped from the door of the Castle, letting Allura and the Paladins onto the moon below. Allura smiled and walked towards them. 

The purple man stood with an odd-looking wrench in hand. "You don't know how glad we are to see some friendly faces. Most folks don't want to get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from the Galra."

Allura looked surprised. "I did not expect to meet rebels so soon. Hopefully they will be able to help us in our fight against Zarkon." 

"So, you guys are fighting the Galra?" Lance asked. 

"Well, I don't think Zarkon is exactly quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can." He uncrossed his arms. "I'm Rolo. This is Nyma, and our cyber-unit, Beezer." 

Nyma smiled. "Hi." 

In Lance's eyes, sparkles danced as she looked at him. He blushed. 

Everyone sighed or groaned.

"Typical." 

"Lance." 

"You never change." 

Sparkles also danced around Beezer as Pidge looked at it in awe. They inspected Beezer as Lance inspected Nyma. "Cool robot!" 

He gave Nyma a flashy look. "Hi! Name's Lance." 

Pidge gave Lance a sideways look. "So, 'name's Lance' is typically your flirty introduction, isn't it?" 

Lance grinned and nodded. "Yup. It's pretty cool, right?" 

Pidge snickered. "And you only use this line when you're flirting?" 

He looked at them, confused. "Yeah? Why?" 

They laughed harder. Keith looked at them, concerned, when they collapsed halfway onto them. "Keith, please, tell me you understand." 

He tilted his head. "No? What does that have to do with anything?" 

Hunk caught on and looked at Lance. then at Keith. "Oh. Oh." 

"What?" Lance asked, even more confused now. 

Pidge waved their hand. "Ignore me, ignore me. Carry on watching." 

"Was your ship damaged in a fight?" Shiro asked Rolo. 

Rolo looked away from the strange actions of Pidge and Lance. "Yeah, we've really been through it with the Galra. Parts are hard to come by." He looked up at his ship. "Luckily, we were able to limp to this moon about a week ago. If you didn't pick up our distress signal, I--" 

"We're happy to help," Allura smiled. "I am Princess Allura of Altea, and from now on, you won't be alone fighting the Galra." She held her arm out to Hunk, Shiro, and Keith. "You'll have the Paladins of Voltron by your side." 

Rolo glanced at Lance and Pidge, unimpressed. "Okay." 

Allura gave them a stern look. "This will need to change. As Paladins, it is your job to present a dignified and secure front to reassure the universe." 

Pidge and Lance nodded. 

"I don't think they've heard of us," Shiro said. 

"It has been ten thousand years," Keith added, looking at Lance and Pidge with an unimpressed stare as well. 

Pidge groaned. "Keith, buddy, don't lump me in with Lance." 

"Hey!"

Pidge was sitting on Beezer, playing with its ears. 

Lance looked away from Nyma. "Voltron? Five robot lions that combine into this big robot...guy?"

"Sounds impressive. I'd love to see it." Rolo grinned, then raised his hand in thought. "Or him. Them." 

"Them," Allura said. 

"Why don't we get to work on your ship? I'm sure we all have places to be," Hunk said quickly. 

"Sure," Rolo said, smiling. He opened up the back of the ship. "Pretty much our whole flaxum assembly is shot. I don't know what kind of extra parts you carry in this rig of yours. I've never seen anything like it." 

"I'm sure we can get you back up and running," Allura reassured. "Give Hunk a list of what you need. Coran can show you where to find it." 

In the background, Lance flexed for Nyma and did finger guns while Shiro sighed and shoved Lance's shoulder. Nyma giggled. 

"Real impressive, Lance," Pidge teased. 

Lance scowled at them. "Hey, she seems to like it." 

Keith glared at him. 

"Okay," Hunk said. 

"We'll go with you. Don't want you to have to carry all that yourself. Come on, guys," Rolo said. 

Hunk held up his arm, stopping him from going towards the Castle. "Uh, I don't think so. You can just wait out here." 

"Hunk, don't be rude," Allura scolded. 

Lance pointed at him. "Yeah, mind your manners. There are ladies present." He did finger guns at Nyma again and Allura rolled her eyes. "Hey." 

"Oh, I'm sorry, but does anyone remember the last time we let our defenses down?" Hunk looked at Lance. "Someone kind of set off a bomb. Remember, Lance? You were almost killed." 

Lance's shoulders slumped. "Oh, yeah." 

Shiro made a 'fair point' face. "Yeah, we probably should be more careful." 

Shiro brushed past Lance. "Hunk's right. Sorry, but we have to be cautious." 

Rolo smiled. "Hey, I don't take it personal. That's how it is out here."  Beezer printed out a receipt and Rolo took the paper, holding it out to Hunk. "You've got to look out for your own. You're doing a good job, big man." 

PIdge poked at Beezer, grinning, and the robot jolted, turning to them accusingly. 

"I'm peacefully flirting and they're harassing a robot, but I'm being criticized? I see how it is..."

Hunk took the paper, looking at Rolo with an unconvinced expression. "Yeah. Thanks." 

---

"My planet was destroyed by the Galra and I was taken captive. I managed to escape, but not before I lost something." Rolo pulled up his left pant leg and tapped on his calf, his prosthetic leg making a metal clanging noise. 

Rolo was sitting on a crate while Keith leaned on one, and Allura and Shiro stood next to Keith. 

Shiro flexed his Galra arm. "I know exactly how that feels." 

Hunk dragged an Altean crate off the Castle and over to them. "Well, I hope there are some parts in here that'll fit." He frowned, looking over at Rolo. "Y'know, to get your ship moving?" 

Rolo raised his hand in greeting. "Great! Thanks." 

"So, what can you tell us about Zarkon's forces?" Allura asked. "Where are they concentrated?" 

Pidge zoomed past in the background, sitting on the back of Beezer. 

Shiro side-eyed Pidge. "This won't happen when we meet them." 

Pidge looked down and shook their head. "Nope, won't happen." 

"Well, his command ship sits right in the center of the Empire," Rolo answered, looking grim. "He mostly calls the shots from there and has his minions do the work, depending on who's closest. This is the territory of a real nasty bugger named Sendak." 

"Oh, we've met," Keith said. 

"How far away are we from the center?" Shiro asked. 

"We're way out on the fringes--" 

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I think you guys are kind of keeping Rolo from working," Hunk said. "It's just that we're in a hurry. A hero named Shay saved my life, and I swore I would return to do the same for her and her people. You understand."

Pidge danced around Beezer behind them. 

Rolo stood and walked past Hunk, patting him on the shoulder. "Sure. Sorry." 

Keith tilted his head, glancing at Shiro. 

Shiro sighed. "I don't get this one. I've at least slightly understood your other ones, but not this..." 

Keith gestured at the screen. "He's got a nice voice, he's got a nice face, and he's got stories." 

"Yeah, and he's also shirtless and purple." 

Keith shrugged. "Neither are hard declines for me."

Rolo tapped at the keypad on the crate and opened it, inspecting the supplies inside. 

Pidge was sat on top of Beezer, meditating. 

"Hunk, we're going to get going soon, but I think Rolo might have some information that could be helpful to us," Shiro said. 

Hunk glanced at Rolo. "Not for nothing, but I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw him. I think we ought to leave him with parts and just say, 'adios, amigo'." 

Rolo turned around. "Hey, bud! Sorry, but do you think you can hunt down a length of thermal pipe about yay long?" He held his hands apart and adjusted the space between them. 

Hunk groaned. "On the way." 

Shiro walked over to Rolo. "So, are there more freedom fighters? Any kind of organized resistance to the Galra?" 

Allura looked to the screen, anticipating his answer. 

Keith and Allura joined Shiro. 

"Only folks who haven't been colonized yet," Rolo said, "or the lucky few, like us, who managed to escape somehow." 

"Well, we're going to change all that," Keith assured. 

"Hm, you are being quite talkative," Shiro commented. 

Keith shrugged. "Future me feels the same way. He seems kinda shady, but he's kinda..."

"That's good to hear, but I've got to warn you, it's pretty bad out there. You don't know what you're up against." 

A way away, Lance was chatting to Nyma, who was sitting on another crate. 

"I mean, there are only five of us in the entire universe, so I guess you should say it's kind of a big deal," Lance bragged, putting his hands on his hips. 

"I don't understand," Nyma said. She tilted her head. "The lions are ships? Are they, like, flying statues that you ride on?" 

Lance waved his hand. "No, no, no. They're magic, but also super scientific and advanced. And they fly crazy fast and have all these incredible weapons. Really, the entire Castle is just insane. I wish you could see it." 

"Yeah, it's too bad we're not allowed inside." She looked down sadly. "I would love a tour from one of the knights. But I guess the big one is in charge, huh? You have to obey his orders?" 

Hunk scowled. "I don't like her. She's taking advantage of Lance." 

"Who, Hunk?" Lance asked, scoffing. "I don't have to listen to him!" 

Hunk gasped. "I just defended you!" 

Lance held up his hands. "I didn't say that! Not...not now me, at least. Future me doesn't know what he's talking about." 

"Future you is like one hour in the future." 

Lance took Nyma by the hand and pulled her off the crate, leading her inside the Castle. 

---

Nyma gasped when she saw the bridge. "This place is incredible!" 

Lance ruffled his hair, smirking. He pushed off the doorframe. "Yeah, I guess. You get used to it." 

Nyma clasped her hands in front of her chest. "But it's so gigantic. It must take you forever to get to your lion. " 

"Ooh, you'd be surprised." 

---

They both laughed and cheered as they zipped down the hang-gliding tunnel towards the Blue Lion, Nyma holding onto Lance tightly. Lance blushed and smiled. 

---

The pilot's seat slid into the cockpit of the Lion. Nyma was sat in the seat, looking around in awe, while Lance was sat across her lap. 

"She's probably evil, but girlboss," Pidge said. 

Allura and Coran looked confused at their word choices. 

"Pretty slick, right?" Lance said. 

"Unbelievable! Take me on a ride around the moon?" 

Lance's eyebrows shot up and he blushed. His eyes darted to the side. "We should probably get back to the others." 

Nyma frowned, disappointed. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe Keith will give me a ride." 

Keith exaggeratedly retched and Lance gasped. 

"Nope," Keith said. "I don't like her." 

Pidge glanced at Lance. "Damn, she caught onto your and Keith's weird tension really quick." 

Lance gasped again. "We have a rivalry! Not 'weird' tension!" 

Lance sputtered. "What! No! Hold on a second!"  She smiled and held her hands in front of her mouth as Lance moved his foot to turn on the Lion, hurrying to get started up. "What's the point of having the Lion is you can't enjoy it, right? Giddy-up, buddy!"

---

Hunk looked up just as the Blue Lion left the moon's atmosphere. He groaned. "Oh, Lance!" 

Rolo put his hand on Hunk's shoulder. "Let them have their fun. Thanks to you, this thing is just about ready, so we're going to be on our way soon. Too many light years on that guy, I guess." 

Hunk frowned. "Yeah..." 

---

A large Galra ship was sitting above a planet. Four mechanical arms met in the middle of an opening out the bottom of the ship, with four hovering pads above the base of each arm and another above the center. 

"What even is this?" Pidge said. 

"Begin the ritual," Haggar said. She raised her arms to either side of her. She was stood on the center pad. "Druids of the four directions, join us!" 

The four druids in each direction fired beams of energy into the center, the magic all coalescing in the center around Haggar. She swirled her arms around, yelling as she worked to control the magic. The purple light transformed into a dark magic, collapsing into the center, then rocketing outwards and downwards, straight into the center point of the four arms. 

Everyone was staring at the screen in shock. 

"What the fuck," Pidge commented. 

Shiro didn't even bother responding. 

"This is a terrible abuse of magic," Coran said sadly. "This is not how the systems of the universe are meant to work."

As the magic infused with the metal, the purple energy spread to the rest of the ship, redirecting it down into the green planet below. 

Allura gasped. 

A purple elk-looking creature was munching on red plants and paused when the air shifted. 

The plants blackened as quintessence drained from the life on the planet, funneling up towards the ship. The entire planet turned brown and black as the life was drained from it. 

An odd shiver was felt by Allura and Keith at the sight. 

Haggar's platform levitated towards Zarkon. "The Homar experiment was a success. We have gained an entire planet's quintessence, a feat that would have normally taken us years."

While everyone was sad, Allura looked devastated. "No... quintessence is not meant to be stolen like this... this is very wrong..." 

A large device was in front of Zarkon, full of the blue quintessence. 

Keith glared at the screen. "And now he has this, great..."

"Most impressive," Zarkon said. "This will revolutionize the way we advance throughout the galaxy. Mining and colonizing planets is a thing of the past. With this must power available at out whim, we can now spend all of our time hunting down and capturing Voltron." 

---

Nyma gasped. "Look, a kinetic spring! Let's land over there! The minerals reflect off the water, making a rainbow." 

The Blue Lion flew over the moon's surface, flying down lower to graze the surface of the water and present what she was saying. 

Lance was still blushing and smiling. "Wow. Is there anything you don't know?" 

Nyma tapped a button on her bracelet and a red dot started blinking on it. Rolo had on the same bracelet, which was also blinking as he worked under his ship.

"I knew there was something wrong with them!" Hunk said. "See! Now me and future me were right!"

He grinned and pushed himself out from under the ship.  "I think this thing is just about ready for a test flight." 

Keith was leaning against the side of the ship and took a step away when Rolo emerged. 

Rolo walked away. "Beezer, come co-pilot for me. Be back in a tick." 

He rushed into the ship, Beezer rushing along behind him. 

Hunk pushed his goggles up. "Uh..."

Allura and Pidge looked confused. 

The ship powered on a dust flew everywhere. They put their arms over their heads. The ship flew off. 

---

Lance and Nyma were leaned against a strange tree-like plant. Nyma had a hand behind her back. 

"So, you want to see how fast I can climb this tree?" Lance asked. 

"That was so random," Pidge said. 

Nyma giggled. "Aw, you are cute. Let me show you something. Give me your hand." 

Lance blushed and took her hand. 

In a flash, Nyma twirled Lance around to grab his other hand and had cuffs placed on both of his wrists. She slammed him into the tree and a light ring trapped his wrists against the trunk. She stepped back. 

Lance's eyes widened. 

Lance looked around, confused. He wiggled his wrists and gave her a suggestive look. "Whoa. This is kinda..." 

"Lance!" Shiro scolded. 

"I didn't say anything!" Lance argued. "Nothing wrong was said!" 

He stopped talking as Rolo's ship hovered above the Blue Lion. The ship's tracker beam pulled the Lion up and into the ship. Beezer beeped and cheer as Rolo grinned. 

Allura glared at Lance. "Lance, this is unacceptable. You must never let your behavior compromise the Lions." 

"This is future me, not current me! Current me knows this now!" 

"Nyma, what's going on?" Lance asked. 

Nyma smiled and hooked her foot through a rope that was tossed down. "Sorry, Lance. Maybe we'll meet again. 

Lance shed a tear as the was raised away. 

The ship flew off, leaving Lance stranded. He looked around and his eyes landed on his helmet, which was a few paces out of reach. "Oh, quiznak!" 

"Oh, great," Lance grumbled. 

---

The rest of the Paladins and Allura sat around waiting for Rolo to come back with the ship. 

"How many ticks have they been gone?" Pidge asked, kicking their feet.

"I don't know," Allura said. "I hope they didn't break down again." 

"Something ain't right," Hunk said.

Meanwhile, Lance struggled to reach his helmet. His foot just barely met his helmet when he contorted himself as much as he could. He kicked his helmet closer to his head. "Guys! Hello? Little help?" 

Shiro looked over at his helmet in alarm. 

Everyone got up and put their helmets on.

"Lance? Lance! Are you alright? What's going on?" Shiro asked. 

"Uh, well, I'm kind of chained to a- a tree..." 

"Terrible news..." Pidge muttered. "If only this could happen in our downtime and not in an important situation." 

Hunk crossed his arms. "I knew it!" 

"And I think Nyma and Rolo just stole the Blue Lion." 

Hunk threw his arms to his sides. "I knew it!"

"Where are they?" Shiro asked. 

"Uh, space?" 

"Very helpful, thanks." 

"Uh, I never trusted those guys, right from the beginning! At first, it was a feeling in my gut, but when I was replacing that thermal pipe, the pipe was cracked, but none of the hardware around it was damaged." 

"Okay. We get it," Keith said, resting his cheek on his fist.  

"If the thermal pipe is cracked, then, obviously, hello, the entire assembly should be totally roasted."

"Okay! We get it!" 

"We should've had to replace the entire undercarriage of that reactor. So, right then, I was, like, positive. Foul play." 

"Okay, we get it!" Everyone said. 

The remaining Lions launched from the Castle. 

---

"Commander Prorok, my name is Rolo. I understand you're offering a reward to anyone helping capture the Voltron Lions." 

The Paladins groaned. 

"Oh, come on." 

"He must know that won't help anything!" 

"Idiot..."

"That's correct," the commander said over the call. "Do you know where they are?" 

"I know where the blue one is. It's in my ship."

"Excellent. Bring it to me and you'll have your reward immediately." 

"Just a tick. My friends are I have a bit of a checkered past. Some stolen merchandise from the Galra Empire may have fallen into our possession without us knowing about it." 

"Well, I'm sure that a full pardon can be arranged for the brave souls who bring Emperor Zarkon a Voltron Lion. Is that all?" 

"We'll take the reward, too," Nyma said. 

"Of course." 

Prorok hung up. 

"Alright. We're on our way." Rolo grunted and stretched, cracking his knuckles. He leaned back in his chair. "I almost feel sorry for those Voltron folks. Seemed like a nice bunch." 

"So, help us fight instead of hindering us," Allura muttered. 

"If you're feeling guilty, you can always turn yourself in," Nyma said. She turned. "Stealing from Zarkon carries a life sentence." 

"They don't seem that nice." 

"Gee, guess we won't help you guys next time, then." 

---

"Send the nearest fighter squadron to the area of the transmission," Prorok ordered. "I'm not trusting some bounty hunter with our prize." 

Pidge groaned. "Everything that can go wrong is going wrong." 

---

An alarm went off inside the ship and the three bounty hunters looked up, surprised. Rolo pulled up the feed from outside and saw the other four Lions chasing after them. 

"No way..."

Rolo pulled up the manual steering wheel frantically. 

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Nyma asked. "There's no way we can outrun those lions." 

"Not in the open. Good thin the Zorlar asteroid belt is right up here and I know that like the back of my hand." 

He directed the ship inter the asteroid belt, weaving around asteroids and chunks of debris. 

Shiro glanced at Keith. "Your moment to shine?" 

Keith rolled his eyes. 

The Lions stopped.

"We'll never get through this asteroid field!" Pidge said.

"Maybe I can just bust through!" Hunk suggested.  He went quickly forward and rammed into an asteroid, but a larger one was bounced back towards him. "Nope. That was wrong. That was a bad idea."

"Keith, you're the only one who could possibly fly through this," Shiro said. 'We need you, buddy. Get in there and flush him out." 

Lance grumbled. "Geez, why do you have so much confidence in him?" 

Shiro shot a cold look at Lance. "Keith has the best score on the Garrison simulation course. This will be easy for him." 

Lance scoffed. "No, Kogane had the highest score." 

Keith stared incredulously at Lance. "What's my last name?" 

"I don't know," Lance said, rolling his eyes. "Why does it matter?" 

"My last name is Kogane," Keith said. "Also, how do you not know my last name? All the Garrison teachers call cadets by their last names." 

Lance crossed his arms and looked away. "I'm not obsessed, that's why." 

Keith nodded and grinned. "You got it. See you on the other side." 

The Lions dispersed and Red shot forward into the asteroids. 

She twirled around asteroids and jumped off larger rocks to gain speed. 

Keith pushed the steering handles forward as another large asteroid closed in overtop of them. Red jetted through the gap just as the rocks hit. 

Everyone put Keith and Shiro tensed and gasped at the close call. They were locked into the chase scene on the screen. 

Red caught up to Rolo and the alert popped up on his screen. 

His eyes widened. "No way. Get on the blasters. Take him down!" 

"Copy," Nyma said as Beezer beeped in agreement. 

Laser canons raised from the back of the ship and began firing at Red. She dodged both the asteroids and the shots. Her jaw opened as she fired her own shots back. 

Rolo grinned as he dodged. "This kid can flat-out fly." 

Keith smiled. 

"He's gaining on you!" Nyma warned. 

Rolo grunted and turned up at the last second before he would have hit an asteroid, darting around it. 

Keith tensed and Red used her leg jets to avoid colliding, swerving around it and throwing her jaw blade at the ship, slicing the cannons off of the ship. 

"Yes!" Pidge cheered. 

"Blasters are offline!" 

"We've got to get out of here!" 

Rolo activated the jets on the ship in an attempt to get away. 

Red fired another blast, hitting the ship directly in one of its engines and exploding that part of the ship. 

Everyone cheered. 

The three inside grunted and jolted from the impact. 

Red caught up to the ship and landed on top of it. She dug her claws into the hull and pulled it back out of the asteroid field. 

The other Lions surrounded the ship and Rolo groaned in defeat. 

"Yeah!" Keith cheered. He smiled fondly. "Hey, Lance, I got your Lion back." 

Pidge elbowed Keith after seeing his expression. 

"Thank you, Keith," Lance said, also smiling. "Now, can you come and unchain me?" 

Keith grinned. "What's that? I, uh... You're cutting out. I can't... I can't hear you." 

"Oh, come on! I thought we bonded!" There was a brief moment of silence. "Keith? Buddy? My man?" 

"Oh, so now we bonded?" Keith said, raising an eyebrow. 

Lance sighed. "Yes, fine, we bonded. Happy?" 

"Yeah." 

---

The Paladins and Allura stood in front of the bounty hunters, next to their grounded ship. 

"Since your ship really doesn't work now, you'll have to wait here for a rescue," Keith said. 

"Thanks for sparing our lives," Rolo said. 

Allura frowned. "Yes, we are better than the Galra. We will not kill if it's not necessary." 

"Now that these guys are dealt with, let's get to the Balmera and save Shay and her family," Hunk said. 

"You may not believe this, but I hope you do stop Zarkon." Rolo looked down. "It's a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me to where I am today." 

Everyone considered his words. 

---

Haggar approached a group of Druids. "All this quintessence will turn you into the strongest, most horrifying fighter ever created." A weird purple lizard sat in front of her, its eye swiveling around. It licked its eye. "One that even Voltron will not be able to defeat." 

Everyone groaned. They had thought the last scene was the end, but no, they got a sneak peek for Haggar's next experiment. 

"Leave that little guy alone!" Pidge said. "He looks goofy!"

"It's sad seeing what these guys were before their transformation," Hunk said, frowning. 

Lance sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait and see what monstrosity it turns into..." 

Chapter Text

"Return to the Balmera".

The Castle approached the Balmera. 

"We'll be arriving at the Balmera soon," Allura said. "Liberating these Balmerans from Zarkon's grasp will not be easy." 

Everyone was gathering in the bridge, standing in a semi-circle in front of Allura's platform while Coran steered. 

"So, what's the plan?" Lance asked. "We go in there and just-- pow, pow, pow!" He did dramatic finger guns. "And free the prisoners?"

Keith sighed. "Not more sound effects..."

Keith side-eyed Lance. "What was that noise?"

Lance smirked at him. "Laser guns."

"No, Lance, I think you mean--" Hunk raised his arms in front of him and imitated a laser cannon. "Bow, bow, bow! Pow!" 

"That sounds like fireworks," Lance said. 

"Technically, they more like--" Pidge made a single finger gun in front of themself. "Ba-choo, ba-choo, ba-choo!"

Allura glanced at them, confused. 

"Okay, enough with the bad sound effects," Shiro said. "Besides, it's more like--" He dropped to one knee and mimed firing a gun. "Blam, blam, blam!" 

"Not you, too," Keith groaned. 

Allura looked confused, just like her on-screen self. "What was the point of that... display?" 

Keith shrugged. "I don't know, ask them."

Lance looked between Keith and Allura. "Uh, obviously it was to prove whose gun sound effects were most accurate." 

"But you're all imitating different types of guns?" Allura added. 

Lance opened his mouth to respond but stopped. "Oh, we are. Huh..."

Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk looked shocked, then said:

"What?"

"You're crazy." 

"No way." 

"Wrong." 

"Paladins, focus," Allura said. 

"Besides, we can't just shoot at the Galra," Hunk added. "This Balmera, it's, like, alive. And from what we've seen, it doesn't look very good." 

"Yes, it's an atrocity what the Galra have been doing to this grand beast," Coran said. "Stealing its crystals, its very life force, without ever performing the energy rejuvenation ceremonies to heal it." 

"After seeing Shay's people enslaved, it made me realize how bad Zarkon really is." Hunk's face furrowed in concentration. "And we're the only ones who can stop him." 

"Okay, so we can't go into the tunnels guns blazing," Shiro said. He looked at the other Paladins. "Plan B. We figure out how to draw the Galra up to the surface and battle them out there." 

"Wait, I know!" Hunk exclaimed. "If we attack all of this big mining stuff on the surface, the Galra troops will have to come out to defend it. Then we beat them up, head down to the tunnels, Voltron saves the day." 

A graphic played over top of his explanation, and at the end the drawn Lions had big smiles, and a sparkle sound effect played. 

Lance turned to Hunk questioningly. "Is this how you imagine things?" 

Hunk looked sheepish. "Yeah..."

"How will we know how many are left down in the tunnels?" Keith asked. 

Allura smiled. "We can track the Galra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life Indicator Point Technology." 

She pulled up a diagram and Pidge rushed forwards, inspecting the hologram. "Oh, BLIP tech!" Their eye slid to look at Allura when she just stood in silence. "It's an acronym."

"One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop sensors into the shafts on each side," Allura continued. "Then we'll be able to see where the Galra and the Balmerans are. There are already sensors built into your suits." 

"I can do it," Pidge offered. "I just modified the Green Lion with the invisible maze's cloaking ability. I should be able to fly around unnoticed." 

Pidge gasped. "Yes! I had this idea, but I didn't know if I would be able to do it!"

Coran zoomed in to a structure on the ground with a large hologram. "That's their main power generator. If you take that down, it will severely weaken their defenses." 

"We'll stay in cloud cover and give tactical support," Allura said. "With the Castle's defenses weakened from Sendak's crystal, we won't be of much help to you."

"I'll take out the power generator," Shiro said. "Keith, Lance, Hunk, you take out these big mining rigs around the area." 

Hunk cheered, "Yeah! Okay, let's do this! Let's go kick some alien butt!"

The Castle shook as it entered the Balmera's atmosphere. The Paladins got into their Lions, suited up in their Paladin armor. 

Lance smirked, messing around with the Blue Lions controls as he waited. "You think the Balmerans will have a parade for us after we've freed everybody?" 

Shiro looked at Lance critically. "A parade is all you could think of?"

Lance shrugged. "Parades are nice." 

"It's not about the glory, Lance. It's about freeing prisoners from Zarkon." As Keith spoke, video feed from his Lion popped up in the other Lion's dashboards.

Lance glared at Keith's face. "No, I know. I know. But still. When they--"

He was cut off and grunted when Blue suddenly took off along with the rest of the Lions. 

Everyone laughed and Lance just grumbled. 

As soon as they were spotted, the Galrans below started firing up at them. 

The Lions dodged the shots and flew closer to the Galran machinery. 

"This is it," Shiro said. "Get your heads in the game. Remember, the Balmera is a living creature. Make sure you pinpoint only the Galra installations and not its surface." 

"Initiating cloak."

Green flickered away, turning invisible. She flew over pits and dropped BLIP devices down them. 

Blue spun around, firing down at the cannons below to take them out which Yellow rammed into towers as she flew near them. 

"How do I take this thing down?" Shiro pondered. A screen popped up in front of him, showcasing a jaw weapon for Black. "What's that? Jaw blade? Okay! Let's do this!" 

Allura, Coran, and Shiro looked shocked. 

"This is amazing!" Coran said. "The Black Lion must really approve of you; it took her months to trust the last Paladin enough to expose him to her jaw blade." 

Black's eyes glowed as her jaw blade appeared. She flew down to the base of the towers and sliced them as she passed. Explosions followed a few seconds after she flew away. 

"All sensors delivered," Pidge reported. 

Red twirled around shots from the largest cannon. She fired a super-charged beam at the tower and the metal melted around the site of the blast. 

Keith looked at Shiro teasingly. "I got a power-up, too." 

Shiro smiled. 

Keith smiled. "Whoa! Did you guys just see that? I got fire power!" 

Lance pouted. "Hey! I want that!" 

"Oh, no," Keith said.

The tower began crumbling, starting to fall back towards the Balmera. 

Yellow flew down below the tower to slow its fall. "Hey, we can't let this thing hurt the Balmera!" 

"I think my Lion knows what to do!" 

Blue zoomed forward and fired a blue beam at the tower. Ice crystals formed as it made contact with the metal. Yellow quickly flew away. The ice froze the tower in the air. 

Lance cheered for himself. "Yes, take that Keith! I got a cool ray as well! Mine's cooler, though!"

Keith rolled his eyes. 

Lance grinned. "Aw, snap! These rays are super cool, just like me!" 

The Lions landed down on top of the ice. 

"Great job, team!" Shiro said. 

Keith looked around. "Where are all the troops? They're not coming to the surface." 

Hunk's video feed popped up. "Yeah, I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys down in the mines." 

"We've located a hangar full of Galra fighters just below the surface," Allura announced. "Someone has to take those out before they can launch." 

"They're luring us down, but we have no choice," Shiro said. "Keith, Lance, you guys hit the hangar. Hunk, head to the prison to rescue Shay and the other Balmerans. Pidge and I will track down the Galra soldiers." 

Pidge laughed. They glanced at Keith teasingly. "Worst pair-up, right?" They shrugged, then said quieter, "Or best, depending on who you ask." 

Keith glared at them. "Shush." 

The Red and Blue Lions bounded away. 

"Yes, sir." 

"Ten-four!" 

The Green and Yellow Lions followed.

"On it!" 

"Let's do this!"

---

At the Galra central command ship, two Galra were on an overlooking platform. 

"Commander Prorok, we have word from the troops on Balmera X-95 Vox. The informants were right. Voltron is there." 

Hunk scowled. "I bet it was Rolo and Nyma. Those guys were shady." 

Prorok stood up straight. "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan." 

The Galra behind him asked, "How do you wish to proceed? Should we inform Emperor Zarkon?" 

"Contact Subcommander Ylvik. His fleet is awaiting my command. Tell him it's time to attack. I will update the Emperor." 

He turned and grinned. 

---

Black landed down and Shiro departed in a smaller pod as her force field went up. 

Below, Keith and Lance were sneakily making their way around the hangar in their small pods. They got out and slid down to an area overlooking the fighters. 

"The entire hangar's only being guarded by a few sentries," Keith observed. He drew his sword, starting to head down. "Let's go!" 

Lance made of noise of annoyance and Shiro glanced at Keith. "Take your time a bit, yeah?" 

Keith slumped. "Yeah, yeah, 'patience yields focus', and all that. I got it." 

Lance grabbed Keith by the back of his chest plate and pulled him back down. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He pat the top of Keith's helmet. "Cool your jets, Keith!" 

Pidge laughed and nudged Keith. "Ha, you were grabbed like a cat." 

Keith elbowed them a bit harder than they did. They laughed more. 

Keith pouted at being thrown back onto the ground. 

"Don't you remember that stuff about the Balmera thing being a sensitive animal?" 

Keith looked up. "Oh, right."

He readjusted and put his hand to his chin in thought. 

"Yeah, so we can't just blow things up like a psycho." 

Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith. "Yeah, mullet, no blowing stuff up." 

Keith scowled. 

Lance tilted his head at him and gave him an accusing look. 

Keith glared at him. "You got a better idea?" 

"I do." Lance pointed. "We sneak into the control room to shut down the bay doors. That'll trap the ships in." 

He smirked at Keith. 

"That's..." Keith's eyes widened. "...actually is a better idea."

Shiro nodded approvingly. Good, Keith was learning to be more social. 

Lance grinned, looking proud at future him's plan being approval. 

Lance nodded and headed off, Keith following behind smiling.

They snuck across one of the structural supports towards the central control room. 

---

Hunk traveled through a tunnel in his pod. "Allura, Coran, what's my location? All these tunnels look the same. I can't remember where the prison is." 

Coran twirled his moustache. "You're on the right path. Turn right at the next tunnel. Once you get there, you'll have to disable the energy doors. Be careful. It looks like it's heavily guarded." 

---

A Galra sentry was typing on a screen in the control room. 

"No, no, it's over here," Lance's voice whispered. 

"I know what I'm doing," Keith hissed back. 

Keith's sword stuck through the ceiling and sliced in a circle. 

The sentry looked around, confused as to where the noise was coming from. 

"You two are horrible at stealth," Pidge said. "You were heard by the sentry almost immediately."

The guard looked up just as Lance jumped on the cut section and landed on top of the sentry, crushing it under the heavy metal slab. Keith jumped down, used one are to hold onto the side of the ceiling, then let go and landed. 

"Yeah, no biggie, just a causal show-off," Hunk teased. 

Pidge leaned back so Lance couldn't see them and mouthed to Hunk, 'it was never casual.'

They both giggled. 

"Keep an eye out for those guards," Lance said. He rubbed his hands together and approached the screen the sentry had been in front of. "I'll see if I can find a way to shut the hangar doors." 

Keith nodded and walked off to crouch in the corner in front of the large glass window to observe the hangar below.  

"Uh...Hmm. Nope. Maybe...Uh...." Lance hovered his hands over the screen and tapped at a few buttons. "Uh...hmm... I don't know what I'm doing here. It's all Galra gibberish." 

Keith walked over the nudged Lance to let him sit in front of the screen. "Let me see." 

He studied the screen for a moment, then put his hand on the hand-pad in the center of the screen. The computer beeped, and the hangar door started closing. 

Coran looked confused for a moment, then glanced at Keith. Those types of keypads were made very specifically...

"Whoa! How'd you do that?" Lance asked. 

"I... just put my hand on the handprint." 

"Maybe more of your loner desert powers coming out," Lance teased. 

Keith rolled his eyes. "Definitely not." 

---

Hunk watched his yellow dot on a map as he traversed the tunnels. He approached a large purple door, and the sentries around it started shooting at him. 

He came to a stop and jumped out of the pod, hiding behind it and using it as a shield. He summoned his bayard and shot at the sentries, blowing their limbs away. 

Hunk lowered his machine gun. "That was way too easy. I definitely don't have a good feeling about this." 

He grabbed the robot's hand and used it to open the door. 

Coran nodded silently to himself, observing.

He followed the tunnel in deeper, avoiding groups of sentries whenever he saw them. He unlocked another door, and behind it was a group of Balmerans, the ones he had eaten with the last time he was there. 

Shay's dad smiled. "Hunk, you have returned." 

They stood to greet him, and Hunk clasped their hands to return the greeting. "I promised I'd be back. We're here to help. Where's Shay?"

Rax, who was sat in the corner, spoke up. "Our life may not have been perfect, but our family was whole. Your arrival has left us imprisoned and torn apart. As soon as your attack started, they took her away to the core of the Balmera. For all we know, she could be gone for good." 

Hunk's eyes widened. "No... We'll save her, for sure."

Hunk looked shocked. 

"Paladins, are you there?" Allura said through Hunk's helmet. "The Galra troops are moving down the tunnels. It looks like they're going down toward the center." 

"They must be headed to the core," Hunk said. "That's where they're holding Shay." 

He ran off to go help Shay. 

---

Shiro was still driving around. "They're drawing us into an ambush," he said, "but we don't have a choice if we want to save Shay. We have to follow. Lance, Keith, get to the core. I think we're going to need everyone together to get through this firefight." 

"Copy that," Lance said. "We're on our way." 

Keith slashed through the screen as he and Lance ran to meet up with the others. The door shut as they left, and Lance turned to shoot out the hand-pad so no one else could get in. 

Shiro nodded. "Smart move." 

---

Pidge stopped their pod when they came upon a narrowed part of the tunnel. 

Allura said, "You're in an area where the tunnels are too narrow for your speeders. " 

Pidge hopped out of their pod. "Yeah. Proceeding on foot." 

They started through the tunnel but ducked around a corner as a shadow approached. They whispered, "There's someone here."

"Looking into it," Allura responded. 

Pidge drew their bayard and leaped out. 

"Pidge, no! Those are Balmerans!" 

Pidge stopped and sighed in relief. They waved, then winced as the Balmera groaned and shook the tunnels. 

"Oh, it was just children," Pidge said. "I was hoping to do something badass." 

"Pidge!"

The child Balmerans ran off. One tripped, and just as a rock was about to fall of them, Pidge picked them up and used their jetpack to get them out of the way. The other two children hugged the third when they were reunited. 

"Don't worry," Pidge said. They then said through their helmet mic, "Hey, team, be careful. The Balmera is very unstable." 

---

Keith and Lance stopped as they came upon a group of sentries. They hid behind corners as they started being shot at and the Balmera groaned as the shots hit the wall behind them. 

"They're shooting is destroying the Balmera," Keith said, shouting to Lance from where he was sitting on the opposite side of the hallway. "We gotta do something." 

Lance grunted as a shot got close to hitting him. "Well, we can't shoot back. It'll just make it worse."

He peeked around the corner and saw support beams above the sentries. He followed the platform over to a ladder behind Keith. 

He pointed at Keith, to the ladder behind him, then to the sentries, pointed with two fingers to his eyes, back at the sentries. 

Keith turned to Lance with an utterly confused expression. "What was that even supposed to mean?" 

Lance blankly looked at him. "It meant 'you go up the ladder and I distract the sentries.' It was an obvious gesture. Haven't you ever played Charades? Y'know, for family night?"

Keith scowled. "No." 

"Oh." 

Lance looked away awkwardly.  

Keith shrugged, completely confused about what Lance was trying to convey. He looked around the corner as well, and when he turned back, he noticed the ladder behind him. He smiled and pointed at it, starting to climb the ladder. 

Lance looked unamused. 

He jumped out from around the corner to draw the attention of the sentries. He made taunting and mocking noises and summoned his shield just as they aimed at him. 

Keith jumped from above the sentries with his sword drawn. He sliced the first one in half with the momentum from his jump, stabbed one through the chest, turned and sliced through the third, and threw his bayard into the last one with enough force to also cut through its gun as well. 

Allura nodded approvingly. "Very good, Keith." 

Keith smiled. 

Lance glared at Keith. 

Lance dismissed his shield and gave a thumbs up, grinning. 

---

Hunk yelled as he charged forward. He stopped when he saw that there were no Galra there. 

"Oh, that's definitely a trap," Pidge said. 

Shay was in the center of the zoom, hanging by her wrists which a muzzle over the lower half of her face. 

Shiro winced. "That's terrible." 

Everyone else nodded in agreement. 

"Shay! You're alive!" 

Her eyes widened when she saw Hunk and she frantically shook her head. 

Hunk shot the chains away and caught her when she fell. He helped her to her feet, and she reached to unclasp the muzzle. 

Shiro ran into the room. "Where are the Galra? If this is an ambush, they should be here waiting for us." 

Pidge ran in, and just as they made it through the doorway, all the doors in the room slammed shut. The doors did the same behind Keith and Lance. 

Pidge threw up their hands. "Great, now we're all just locked in here."

"Not an ambush," Hunk said. "More like a trap." 

"Whatever it is, keep your guard up," Keith warned. 

"The Galra, they gained knowledge that you would return to the Balmera," Shay said. 

Shiro and Pidge landed in the center of the room with everyone else.

"How?" Pidge asked. 

"I know not. But they set this trap just for you. I was the bait." 

"Who could have possibly known that we were heading here to save Shay?" Shiro asked. 

"Rolo!" Hunk accused. "Those liars must have told Zarkon."

"Thank you, future-me," Hunk said. "We're really on the same page here."

Shiro turned around and looked at the doors. "We have to figure out how to get out of here. " 

"Wait!" Lance said. "We have a giant Castle ship hovering in the sky. Allura, can you please come get us?" 

Allura frowned. "How do you expect me to get to you?"

"How do you expect her to do that, genius?" Keith said, standing with his arms crossed. 

"Same person, different fonts," Pidge muttered. 

"I don't know, maybe they got teleporters or something." 

"We're quite occupied at the moment," Allura said. She jolted as the Castle's particle barrier was hit. "We're completely surrounded by Galra ships and we're taking heavy fire!" 

Alarms blared on Coran screen. He turned to her. "Princess, our particle barrier won't last much longer!" 

Everyone looked very concerned. 

"Paladins, you need to get out of there as soon as you can!"

Lance looked around dramatically. "This is it! We're going to die in here. I can say bye-bye to that parade." 

Everyone groaned. 

Lance grimaced at his future-self. "Okay, that was a bit insensitive." 

Everyone looked at him in judging silence. 

"Get it together, guys," Shiro said. "Allura, we'll get there as soon as we can." 

"Perhaps my people can help us get out," Shay suggested. She put her palm against the yellow, mushroom shaped mass in the center of the room. "This is how we communicate. The Balmera senses our vibrations and sends a message to those in the tunnels." 

"Ooh, that's cool," Pidge said. "Maybe I could implement that in some tech on the ship..."

"Are you sure someone will be able to hear your... hand from all the way down here?" Keith asked. 

"The Balmera will deliver the message."

She closed her eyes and the yellow organic matter under her palm started glowing. 

In another tunnel, Shay's family stopped when the rock around them made noises. They turned to Rax, who scowled and knelt down to press his hand against the ground. 

His eyes widened. "It's a message from Shay." 

The family smiled and her dad said, "She's alive!" 

"The Paladins of Voltron went to the core of the Balmera to save Shay," Rax relayed, "and now they are all trapped." 

Shay's father frowned. "Then we are all doomed."

Allura frowned. "They give up so quickly. We need to serve as a beacon of hope for the universe, and to do that we need to spread the word of Voltron's revival."

Rax stood. "This is all my fault. I conspired against them, and because of my actions, Shay was imprisoned. The big yellow one was right. If we ever hope to be free, we must take action." 

"But how can we rise up against our Galra overlords?" 

Rax approached him. "What choice do we have? They have stolen all of the crystals from our Balmera. Our lives are worthless to them now." 

"But Balmerans have never fought..."

Rax's brows furrowed in anger. "You taught me that without family, we have nothing. The Galra have taken Shay. How can we do nothing while the Paladins sacrifice everything to save us? We must do our part!"

Allura nodded along as he spoke and smiled. 

---

On Central Command, Prorok knelt in front of Zarkon's throne. 

"Lord Zarkon, I have news to report. News that will likely please you, my Emperor." 

"Proceed."

"I have the Voltron Paladins trapped on a Balmera in the Javeeno star system. I've ordered a fleet to capture the lions and destroy the Altean Castle." 

"You fool! You dare make plans without informing me?"

Lance snickered. "Ha, take that Prorok!"

Prorok bowed his head. "Forgive me, Emperor, but I saw an opportunity and I took it for the glory of the Galra Empire." 

Zarkon frowned. "I suspect that you are seeking your own glory, Prorok. But you do not realize Voltron's power." 

Pidge stuck her tongue out at on-screen Zarkon. "Yeah, he's only seen us fight a few times, but he already knows our strength!" 

Coran frowned, but didn't say anything.

---

A group of the Galra fighters flew away and back down to the Balmera's surface. 

"They're heading down into the tunnels!" Coran gasped. "They're going to steal the lions!" 

"Paladins, the lions are in danger!" Allura said. "You must get back to them immediately!" 

Coran noticed an alarm. "Princess, something's locked onto us." 

"Oh, no," Hunk said. "That doesn't sound good."

A large Galran ship flew in on hyperspeed, approaching the ship. 

Allura's eyes widened. "Paladins, do you copy? There's a battle cruiser locked onto us. If it fires with its ion cannon, I don't know if we can survive." 

"We're trying, Allura," Lance said. "Shay's pressing her hand against a wall, which apparently sends vibrations to the other rock people, who vibrate back or something? Hand talking? I guess the answer to your question is, 'yes, we copy'."

"Amazing explanation," Pidge said sarcastically. 

Lance scowled. "I think future-me did great."

"Shay, are you sure the Balmera is sending your message?" Shiro asked. 

Shay didn't answer, instead focusing on communicating. 

---

Shay's family was outside one of the doors. They pressed their hands against the door, and it started glowing. The Balmera crushed the door and collapsed it inwards, allowing her family to get inside. 

"That's sick!" Pidge said. "Man, these guys are so cool." 

"Rax!" Shay said. 

"We must make haste! We know a shortcut through the tunnels." 

The Paladins started to follow him out. 

"Allura, stand by. We're on our way up," Shiro said. 

The Black Lion was being lifted up by two fighters. 

Allura held her hands in front of her chest, clasped as she worriedly watched the outcome. 

"Paladins, hurry! They're taking off with the Lions!"

Shiro pushed his steering bars as far forward as they could go, and as soon he got close enough, the speeder was pulled up by Black.

Her particle barrier dissipated, and she flew off towards the Castle, 

"Guys, did everyone make it to the lions in time?" Shiro asked. 

Red and Blue took off from the pit they were in, and Green and Yellow met them in the sky. 

"Come on, Shiro," Lance said. "Who do you think you're dealing with, a bunch of amateurs?" 

The rest of the Lions broke formation, while Blue continued forward and slammed into a metal tower.  Lance yelped. 

Keith stifled a laugh. 

Lance gave him a half-hearted glare, then looked away. 

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Shiro asked. 

"No."

"Let's go!"

Red, Green, and Blue returned shots at the fighters while Yellow rammed into them and Black used her jaw blade to slice through them. The sky lit up with explosions. 

Red and Blue fired their powered beams at retreating crafts, melting and freezing them respectively.

Yellow bulldozed through a series of jets, but three more above descended upon her.

"Hunk, look out!" 

Green, with her shielded back plating, protected Yellow from the shots. 

"Got you covered!" Shiro said, slicing through the crafts with Black's jaw blade. 

"Phew!" Hunk sighed. "Thanks, guys!"

"We look so cool!" Hunk cheered. 

The cruiser started glowing. 

"It's charging its ion cannon!" Coran announced. 

"Divert all shields to the bow," Allura said. 

Coran did as told, and just in time for the ion cannon to fire and hit the shield. Alarms blared inside. 

"Paladins, I need you immediately!" Allura said. "Five more ticks and we're finished!" 

The Paladins all looked worried. 

"Allura, Coran, if I have to witness your on-screen death, I don't know if I can continue on with this," Hunk said. "I really hope you end up being fine." 

Allura smiled. "I appreciate the sentiment, Hunk, but I have faith that you will succeed. Do not sell your skills short."

Shiro's brows furrowed in concentration. "Okay, team, let's form Voltron!"

Voltron flew up to the cruiser, pushing it up to move its ion cannon away from the Castle. 

"Right now is our chance, Princess!" Coran said. 

"Full power on the blasters! Locked onto target. Fire!"

The Castle cannon fired back at the cruiser. 

Shay and Rax emerged from underground to watch. 

The Castle shot through the ion cannon, and the combined force caused it to explode. The explosion radiated, also destroying the other fighters. 

Everyone cheered and clapped. 

"Yeah!" 

"Woohoo!" 

"Yes, we did it!"

"Yeah!" Hunk and Keith cheered. 

"Nice shot, Princess!" Pidge said. 

"Yeah! The parade's back on!"

Everyone's cheerful mood dropped a bit at Lance's words. 

---

"The Galra fleet and all sentries on the Balmera have been defeated," a soldier reported to Zarkon. 

Zarkon's eyes narrowed. 

"No!" Prorok said. "How could this be? Lord Zarkon, I will do all that I can to recapture Voltron for the Galra." 

"Silence, Prorok. I have plans that you cannot comprehend." 

"Away with him!" Pidge said. "Sentence him to death!" 

Shiro raised an eyebrow at Pidge. 

Pidge shrugged. "Hey, we'll probably have to fight him at some point. Characters aren't given names in stories unless they'll come back up again later." 

Lance glared at them. "Hey, no overanalyzing the media here. I want to be surprised." 

Pidge stuck their tongue out. "We're here to overanalyze. I want to know as much as possible. It's out future, dumbass." 

"Pidge!"

"Yeah, yeah..." 

---

Voltron landed down on the Balmera's surface. 

"Mission accomplished," Keith said. 

"And just in the tick of time," Allura added. "The Castle's defenses are battered and will need to fully recharge." 

Alarms went off inside the Castle and Allura looked up. 

"There's an unknown object incoming!" Coran said. "It's about to crash into the Balmera!" 

Lance groaned. "Great, no rest time for us, then." 

A large Galran pod crashed into the creature's surface, causing an explosion as it hit. 

"Aw, fuck, it's the weird lizard thing, isn't it?" Pidge asked, slumping in their seat. 

"What the heck is that?" Lance asked. 

"Trouble," Shiro responded. 

The screen faded to black. 

Everyone made noises of disappointment. 

"I hate cliffhangers," Pidge groaned. "Next episode. Now." 

Chapter Text

"Rebirth". 

The dust began clearing from around the large Galra pod. 

"Oh, no," Pidge said.

Hunk frowned. "Please tell me there's not a giant monster in there. Please tell me it's empty, or full of space candy. One of those two. Either one is fine." 

Shiro raised an eyebrow a Hunk, who just smiled sheepishly. 

"I don't think it's a pinata, Hunk," Lance responded. 

"If it's the same kind of monster that attacked us on Arus, we already know how to beat it," Keith said, ignoring the other commentary completely. 

He pushed his bayard into the slot and the red arm of Voltron summoned their sword and, on their left, their shield. 

"Hold your ground," Shiro instructed. 

Lance tilted his head. "Wait, I get the point of that, but we're in robot lions, we can't physically stand our ground." 

Pidge snickered at the question while Keith also tilted his head, considering the logistical problem Lance's words pointed out. 

Steam released from the pod as it crashed open. A long-armed creature stood at the center, still and silent, until it lifted its head and its eyes locked onto Voltron. A green beam of energy shot from its chest. Voltron raised their shield to block the blast, but the force pushed them back. 

"It's not candy!" Hunk yelled.

"And it's not the same monster!" Lance added. 

Voltron pushed themself out of the beam and darted away from the blast as Shiro said, "We need to draw its fire away from the Balmera's surface.' 

As Voltron advanced towards the monster, it jumped into the air and fired another beam. 

The Paladins braced themselves as the force of the attack violently shook Voltron. The monster continued to fire shots as Voltron dodged, flying around the beast to find a good angle for an attack. They swung at it, but it ducked under the broad strike of the sword and fired back, landing a hit on their side. Voltron dodged two more attacks and turned just in time to block a third. 

"We can't hold out!" Lance said. 

Pidge glanced at their Lion's analytics. "My Lion's weakening! If the shield sustains structural damage, we're done for."

"Pidge is right," Keith said. 

Lance scowled. "Oh, Pidge is right? I'm the one that said we can't hold out!"

Keith rolled his eyes. "Why is it only me you have a problem with? What's your deal?" 

Lance waved his hands around and quickly looked away from Keith, but didn't respond. 

Pidge looked at Lance accusingly and Shiro looked back and forth between Keith and Lance. 

Keith's eyes widened. "Lance, watch your footing!" 

Pidge laughed. 

The Blue leg slid onto uneven ground and Voltron toppled to the ground as the shield split in two. 

They coughed, cutting off their laugh. "I mean, oh shit, this sucks."

Shiro groaned. "Okay, Team Voltron, disband." The Lions split apart at Shiro's order. "Everyone! Evasive maneuvers. It can't shoot us all at once." 

The monster held out it arms, and more blasters rained a flurry of beams at the Lions. 

Shiro sighed and said, "Okay, it can do that, too." 

"I hate this thing," Hunk groaned. 

The Castle of Lions managed to get a hit on the monster. It was momentarily stunned and lost its footing, but then it redirected one eye at the Castle and shot. 

Allura and Coran braced themselves. 

Allura looked at the monster. "Where does Zarkon get these beasts from? And how do they keep finding us?" 

"Princess, the particle barrier won't sustain much longer," Coran warned. "It's still not at full strength after the blast from the Galra ship." 

"Keith, try to draw its fire," Shiro said. "I'm coming in from above." 

"Roger." 

Allura and Coran looked confused. "Roger?" 

"Who is this 'Roger' fellow?" Coran asked. 

"It's not a person, it's more like a saying that means you understood what the other person is telling you to do," Keith said. He thought for a moment. "Maybe. I think? That's how I've always understood it at least." 

Shiro nodded along with his explanation. "Yeah, that's correct. It's 'message received' or 'okay'." 

Red sped towards the monster and fired laser blasts at it. It angled its body towards the Red Lion, but as Black approached from behind one of its eyes swiveled around the shot at her. 

Shiro pulled back on the control and just barely dodged out of the way of the blast.

Red maneuvered around the beast with ease. "We need to find its blind spot."

Lance laughed dryly. "Try finding the blind spot of a thing with that many eyes." 

Keith scowled at him. 

"I don't think this thing has a blind spot, it has like 1,000 eyes," Pidge said. 

"Laser eyes, laser eyes!" Hunk screamed as a Galran tower toppled over and nearly hit Yellow. 

"What do we do?" Pidge asked. "Fighting this thing's like fighting an entire fleet at once." 

Red flew alongside Green as Keith assessed the situation. "I think we gotta aim for those laser eyes and take them out." 

"We only have five Lions, we can't possibly hit all of its eyes," Pidge said, slumping in their seat. 

"We'll cover you from up here," Allura said. 

The Castle fired more shots at the beast, and in response it turned its body around to focus its attack on the Castle. 

Coran's screens flashed red and alarms rapidly increased in frequency. "We've lost the spectrum generator, going to reserve. There's a fire in Vin Bay 3! Suppressors on! Suppressors are out!" He turned and his face was horrifyingly grim and close-up. "Princess, the ship is being torn apart!" 

"Jesus fucking christ, that face is fucking terrifying," Pidge said. 

"Language, but I fully agree," Shiro said. 

Coran frowned but was inclined to agree as well. 

"We're taking heavy fire up here," Allura said. "We're in trouble!" 

"Princess, pull back! Get out of its range now!" Shiro said. 

Allura's expression hardened. "We will not abandon you." 

"You're not abandoning us, we're about to pull back anyway." 

"We are?" Hunk asked. 

"We can't hold out," Shiro explained, frowning. "We have to. Lions, to the mineshafts. It's the only place the monster can't get us." 

"The last time someone said that it found a way," Pidge muttered. "Never say never with this thing." 

"Roger that," Pidge said. 

The Castle gained altitude. "Heading into orbit."

Red and Black dove into the tunnel after Hunk, barely avoiding another blast. 

Rubble and debris rained down around the Lions as they landed. 

Hunk, Keith, and Shiro ran over to speak with the Balmerans. 

"What is happening?" Shay asked. 

"There's a monster up there that Zarkon sent to destroy us," Keith said. 

"A monster? Will Zarkon's savagery ever abate?" She drew her arms up to her chest. "Perhaps our people were never meant to be free." 

Hunk frowned. "Don't speak like that," he said softly to on-screen Shay. 

"Awweee," Pidge whispered teasingly. 

"Shay, don't give up," Hunk said. "Zarkon's power grows with every planet he conquers, but he's weakened by every being that fights back. 

Shay frowned. "Fight back? Against a monster like that? How?"

"I don't know, but we can beat it," Hunk said resolutely. "Tell her, Keith." 

Keith side-eyed him. "Can we?" 

Shiro gave Keith a disappointed look. 

"Yes, we can," Shiro said, giving Keith a disapproving look. "This is our first mission, and we're not going to fail. We can beat it. We just need some time to come up with a plan." 

"Ha! Same expression!" Pidge laughed. 

Hunk gestured to Shiro. "See? Told you we can. Thanks, Shiro." 

The mineshaft shook and everyone braced themselves. The Balmera groaned in pain. 

"Did you guys feel that over there?" Hunk said into his comm. 

"Yeah, we feel it," Lance responded. 

Pidge looked around. "It's that sound again. What is that?" 

The ground beneath them started to splinter and crack as the pained noises continued. 

Everyone looked very concerned. 

Shay's grandma placed her hand over the crack sadly, and the rest of the family gathered around her. "That great noise comes from the Balmera itself. Our home crumbles beneath our feet. The Balmera is dying." 

---

"Coran? Allura? Are you there?" 

"Shiro?" Allura responded. "We're here." 

"The Balmera-" 

"We already know," Coran interrupted. "Our scanners are showing the life energy draining from the Balmera." 

Back on the Balmera, Pidge pulled up the scans Coran was viewing. "How does that happen?" 

"Removing crystals from a Balmera is like removing a vital part of the mighty beast," Coran explained. "The Balmera needs time to regenerate itself to stay healthy. But the Galra's greed may have cost this noble Balmera its life." 

"So what's gonna happen?" Hunk asked. 

"Its core will collapse, destabilizing the entire skeletal structure. Anything or anyone remaining on the Balmera at that point will be crushed into dust." 

Shock flashed across Shiro's expression. "How long before its core collapses?" 

"Probably a matter of hours," Coran sadly reported. "The mighty organism willingly gives itself to all, but not all return its kindness." 

Allura lowered her head. "Then our time is short. We'll evacuate the planet. We need to get all the Balmerans to the Castle of Lions before the planet implodes." 

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan, but how on earth do you plan on landing the Castle with that monster thingy on the surface?" Hunk asked. 

"You'll need a distraction," Pidge said. 

"I don't like any part of this situation," Hunk said, frowning. 

"We'll engage the beast in our Lions," Shiro said. "With it distracted, Allura and Coran will land the Castle and load all of its citizens. 

"Or we can load the Balmerans into our Lions, a few at a time, and shuttle them to the ship," Lance said, poking his face into Pidge's screen. "Y'know, no engaging ferocious laser eye guy. How long would that take?" 

"Days?" Coran guessed. "Weeks?" 

"We only have hours," Keith said, frowning. 

"Look, we don't need to beat this thing, we just need to bait it away from the ship," Shiro said. "Provoke and evade." 

"Like crows," Keith said, nodding his head. 

Pidge's eyes lit up. "Yes! Exactly like crows!"

Hunk put a hand to his chin. "Okay, here's the thing, I'm worried that we're gonna be really, really good at the provoking part, and then, like, really bad at the evading part. But if- if this is what it takes to save Shay and everyone on the planet then I'm in." 

"Can you contact the other Balmerans?" Keith asked Shay. 

Shay nodded. "I can, but I know not what they'll say. Leave the planet? Our home?" 

"It's the only option," Allura said. "I'm coming down." 

The Paladins and Coran looked at Allura in shock and concern. 

She scowled and crossed her arms. "What is the problem here? You all risk your lives all the time, and the second a propose a risky idea everyone is opposed to it?" 

"Princess, no, it's too dangerous," Coran said. 

Allura scowled at him. "Someone has to be there to lead these people out." 

"You're coming down?" Pidge asked. "That thing will spot your pod and blow it to pieces." 

"Let me worry about that. You just focus on keeping the creature distracted." 

The Lions flew out of the mineshafts and the monster immediately locked its attention onto them. It flew after them as the Lions fled. 

"Okay, we've provoked, time to evade," Hunk said. 

The beast crashed through pillars of rock in pursuit of the Lions. 

Inside the Castle, Allura suited up into her helmet and bodysuit and ran to a pod. 

"I would hardly call that a pod," Pidge said, frowning. "It has no walls." 

"Princess, we've lured the monster away," Shiro reported. "It's time." 

"I'll contact you all when I'm on the ground," Allura said. 

"Be careful out there," Coran said. 

The pod launched out of the Castle and towards the surface of the Balmera. 

"Is that Allura?" Lance said in shock, spotting the pod that was really more like a space-version of a diving scooter. 

"Oh, that really just isn't a pod," Lance said, putting his hands against his head in stress. "Oh, geez." 

Hunk noticed the monster spot Allura and said, "We gotta protect the Princess."

Yellow dived in front of a blast from the monster that had been aimed at Allura. Black landed on top of the beast and jumped off its head, easily angering it and redirecting its attention. Blue shot ice at its head before it could retaliate.

Allura and the pod descended into a mineshaft, and it slowed just before hitting the ground. She stood. "I'm on the ground." 

"Hurry!" Shiro said. "I don't know how long we can hold this thing off." 

Allura ran towards the Balmerans. "Shay, I'm going to need your help." 

"Princess?" Shay asked. 

Allura placed her hand on the wall of the tunnel. "Have you contacted the other Balmerans?" Shay looked sadly at her family. "What is it? What's going on?" 

"All Balmerans give thanks for the kindness you and the Paladins bestowed upon us, but, alas, we cannot take leave of our home." 

Hunk visibly looked even more stressed. He groaned and shut his eyes. 

Allura furrowed her brows. "What?"

"If our great Balmera's life cycle is over because of us, then our desire is to stay with it until the end." Shay looked at her family, making eye contact with each of them.

"But you'll never survive," Allura argued. 

"We contacted the others and all agree," Rax said. "It's not right that you risk your lives for us. Please, away. We ask for no more guilt and shame upon us." 

"It is our wish," Shay added. "The wish of all Balmerans." 

Allura frowned. "No. I won't give up on you. I won't give up on any of you, no matter the circumstances." 

Coran looked at Allura with pride, but he was also reasonably nervous and worried for her safely. 

"But we do not ask this of you," Shay argued. "Please."

"I have heard your words, now let me speak mine. I want to talk to the Balmerans. Can you get a message to them from me?" 

"There is no need to speak for you," Shay's grandmother said. "You have a unique power within. The Balmera will carry your words." 

She pointed at Allura's hand on the wall and it was glowing, just like Shay's when she had spoken to the others. She gasped and pulled her hand away. 

Shay's grandmother held her hand and placed it back against the wall. "Speak your heart, child. All can hear you."

Allura closed her eyes. "Balmerans, this is Princess Allura. You don't know me, but I am here to help. I know what it's like to watch your home planet die, for I come from planet Altea, a planet that has long been destroyed by the Galra, but I refuse to give up. "And now you all have the same choice. You can decide now to devote your lives to making sure this never happens to another planet. I am eternally sorry for what has happened to the Balmera. But I beg you, do not let its dying be in vain. Honor the Balmera's death by refusing to give up. Join me in my fight against the Galra." 

Shay's grandmother also placed her hand on the wall. "Your words have touched our hearts." 

Pidge clapped. "Bravo, good speech." 

Allura smiled. "Thank you." 

Allura smiled and bowed her head. "Thank you." 

"No, thank you. You've given us reason to hope again." 

Allura spoke again to the rest of the Balmerans. "Everyone, head to the caves just under the surface."

---

Coran tracked the movements of the Balmerans from the Castle. "Princess, your speech must have worked. The Balmerans are moving towards the surface. 

"Coran, we're just beneath the surface," Allura relayed. "Triangulate my position. This is your landing zone." 

"Yes, Allura, readying ship. Castle of Lions coming in. Paladins, how are you holding up?" 

--- 

Red flew through the air after being blasted and steadied once more. Keith looked down at the beast below. "I think we got 'em pretty distracted. Are the Balmerans in position?" 

"They're making their way to the top," Allura responded. 

The Balmerans stared up in awe at the Castle of Lions as it descended towards the Balmera's surface. 

Coran touched down in a loading pod to greet them. "Load them on! Hurry now!" 

They all braced and wobbled as the Balmera groaned and the ground continued to crumble. Most of the Balmerans, who had not yet made it to the surface, were left stranded as felling rock and debris blocked their escape.

Everyone made varying motions and facings of stress. Hunk tugged at his hair anxiously and Allura had her hands clasped in front of her mouth, staring intently at the screen. 

"No!" Allura yelled. 

Coran ran over to Allura. "It's on the verge of collapsing. We have to go!"

"But the Balmerans!"

"We can't leave them," Allura said firmly. 

"They're trapped," Rax said. "What can be done? Time is short." 

The Balmera shifted again as the monster hit the ground, chasing the Lions as they flew away from it. 

"Every hit weakens the Balmera," Hunk said. "Have you evacuated yet? What's happening?" 

"The Balmerans are trapped," Coran reported. "Just keep distracting that beast." 

Hunk's eyes widened. "Uh, do you want us to distract it by dying? Because that's what's gonna happen." 

"Guys, remember when I said we didn't have to beat it?" Shiro said. 

"Yes, I remember that." 

"Well, we might have to beat it."

Shay collapsed to the ground. "We're lost. All are trapped with no chance for escape." 

Allura knelt next to Shay. "We can't give up." 

Shay looked up at her and softly asked, "But what can be done?"

They looked over when light began emanating from below the ship. 

"The Balmera. The ground beneath your mighty ship appears healed." Shay smiled. "Its essence thrives. But how?" 

Coran gasped. 

"The Castle," Allura gasped. 

"Not just the Castle," Shay's grandmother said, "but you as well."

"It's true," Coran said. "Your Altean energy combined with the ship's crystal has revitalized this part of the Balmera." 

Allura got to her feet. "That's it! Maybe we can perform the ceremony you spoke about. We can save the Balmera." 

"What ceremony?" Rax asked. 

"In the days of old, when the Alteans were given the gift of crystals from a Balmera, we would repay its sacrifice by performing a ceremony," Coran explained. "A sacred Altean would reinvigorate the Balmera with quintessence. In this way, we had a symbiotic relationship."

Allura put her hand on Coran's shoulder. "The Galra have only ever been taking. It's time we give back. I can connect with the crystal on the bridge and use the Castle's power as an amplifier." 

"When your father performed the ceremony, it was on a much smaller scale. I beg you. To heal an entire planet, it could take more energy than you possess. You may not... live through it." 

The Paladins looked concerned, and Coran looked down sadly. He knew she would want to proceed regardless. 

Allura looked over at him. "I know you're scared for me, Coran, but I must try."

Allura, along with the Balmerans, placed their hands on the ground and focused on giving back the Balmera. Energy flowed from the Castle and onto the Balmera, expanding the healed area. 

Coran gasped as he looked around in awe. 

In the background, the Paladins and the beast were still fighting. 

It chased them around continued firing at them. 

Keith grunted. "Guys, this isn't working! We'll never take this beast down in our Lions." 

"Well, forming Voltron didn't work either," Pidge reminded. 

Hunk and Lance held on to each other, basically trauma-bonding over intense anxiety for something that was happening in only a day or two. 

"Not without some way to shoot all those laser eyes at once," Lance said. 

Hunk's bayard slot raised and he gasped. "That's weird. What are you trying to tell me?" He summoned his bayard. "Guys, guys! Something's happening here. I think there's a way to take down all those laser eyes at once." 

"Well, what is it?" Pidge asked. 

"Do you remember how Voltron formed that sword with Keith's bayard? I think my Lion's trying to tell me I can do the same thing with my bayard." 

"Are you sure?" Keith asked. 

"Let's find out. Form thingy!"  As Hunk shouted, he slammed his bayard into its slot and turned it. It did nothing. "It didn't work." 

Pidge cackled and Hunk smiled sheepishly. 

"Because we didn't form Voltron yet," Shiro pointed out. 

"Oh, right, yeah, I know." 

"Guys, whatever we're planning, let's hurry up and do it," Pidge said, narrowly dodging a laser blast. 

The beast spotted the Castle of Lions and moved to attack it. 

"We've gotta defend the Castle," Shiro said. "Everyone, follow me! Form Voltron!" 

The beast charged up a large blast to send at the Castle, but as it advanced Voltron shot a laser beam at it and got between it and the Castle. A giant yellow canon materialized in their hands. 

"Yes! GO HUNK!" Lance cheered. 

Keith covered his ears and Pidge cheered as well, quieter. 

The beast recharged as Voltron fired, their beams meeting in the center. 

"What in the wizard duel is happening?" Pidge joked. 

The Paladins strained, but they were still being overpowered by the beast. 

"It's not enough," Shiro grunted.

"We'll have to try something else," Hunk said, pulling back on his controls. 

"How are we even going to stop this thing?" Hunk groaned. "Nothing is working!"

The shift in angle caused the beasts beam to deflect and fly off into the air. 

Voltron flew out of the way and the beast followed, recharging. 

Hunk's scanners locked in on all of the beast's eyes. "Are you guys seeing this?" 

"Roger that," Keith said. 

"That doesn't make any fucking sense," Pidge said, munching on some popcorn and shaking their head. 

Keith sighed and leaned his head back. "Yeah, it really didn't." 

"Let's see what this thing can do. Engage!" Shiro said. 

When the canon fired, instead of shooting one powerful beam, dozens of smaller ones shot out and hit the robot's eyes repeatedly. It fell to one knee and crackled with purple electricity. 

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance cheered. 

"Is it dead?" Keith asked, not convinced. 

"Uh, maybe? It's still upright," Shiro said. 

Allura and the Balmerans were still performing their ritual. Allura allowed the energy collected in her body from the Castle to flow into the Balmera, turning its surface a brilliant shade of blue. 

"Guys, look," Shiro said. 

The blue faded from the Balmera as it healed. 

Just then, the beast lifted its head. 

Pidge jumped. "What the fuck, I didn't notice how horrifying its face is before now." 

Lance groaned. "Why can't this ugly thing just die already. I really thought we killed it there." 

It continued its attack on Voltron. 

Keith slammed forward his controls and Voltron advanced, punching the beast square in the chest. 

It flew back and landed with a thud on the ground, unmoving.

Everyone cheered. 

"Okay, now it looks pretty dead," Pidge said. 

Allura stopped the ritual and immediately toppled over onto her side.

Everyone made noises of concern. 

Shay rushed over to her. "Princess! Are you alright?" 

Coran was quickly beside her. 

Allura cracked open her eyes. "Did it work?" 

"Yes," Rax said, lifting his hand from the ground. "The Balmera lives. It thanks you." 

The Paladins had exited their Lions and rushed to the Princess's side. 

Suddenly, the beast got up again. 

FUCK OFF BRO ANNOYING ASS MFER

Just as it was firing up another shot, the Balmera created crystals at its feet that quickly encased the rest of its body, trapping it.

"The Balmera just saved us," Coran said. 

"Is it finally dead?" Pidge groaned. "I hate this thing so much." 

"It better be dead," Lance muttered. 

Allura looked down and gasped. "Look at the crystals!" 

Little crystals were sprouting from the ground of the Balmera, growing and becoming larger. 

Hunk patted the ground and said in a voice like he was talking to a dog, "Oh, whose a good Balmera? You are! You are! Who ate the big monster? You did! Yes, you did!" 

Keith went back to his usual crossed-arms posture. "Dude, what are you doing?" 

Hunk shrugged. "What? It's alive. And it loves my scratches."

---

It was night on the Balmera. Shay and Hunk sat on a cliff, staring up into the sky.

"A little romantic stargazing date," Pidge teased. 

"Thank you for honoring your vow to return," Shay said, smiling at Hunk. 

Hunk smiled back. "I should be thanking you. You made me understand what's most important."  Hunk frowned and looked down, then looked back up and the starry sky. "Zarkon and his Galra Empire are destroying lives. I'm a part of a team that can change that. I know that now."

The sky began to lighten, and Shay gasped. "What is that?" 

"It's the dawn of a new day." 

"AWWW," Pidge carried on. 

Hunk ducked his head and lightly smacked their arm. "Oh, shush, you."