Voltron: Legendary Defender
A terrible nightmare
Chapter one: Breathless
A dark void was the world the Former Black Paladin stood in. He looked this way and that,... nothing. Shiro stared down at his hands. The flesh on each was a comforting sight, but suddenly he felt a burning sensation in his right arm. A flash of light and extreme pain changed things in a blink of an eye. Looking down again, his Galra robot arm had replaced his former arm. He activated it, and it glowed that Galra purple as it had. Another flash, zapped the white Altean/Garrison tech arm that Allura and Sam made for him, replacing his Galra one. Something appeared in front of him, a mirror. The reflection he saw terrified him. He saw himself standing there, with the same white loose-fitting clothing he'd worn when he got his newest arm attached. The only difference was the bare flesh stub from where his arm once was. The surface of the mirror fluctuated like a computer until it finally showed Sendak, also without his arm. From when he'd been taken prisoner, after he tried to steal Voltron from them. 'We're the same, you and me. Both, part of the Galra empire.' He said, his words echoed around him.
His head suddenly felt heavy as he remembered Haggar's ability to control the clone, who's body he now possessed. He felt her in his head, and heard her laugh ringing in his ears. He also remembered the injury he sustained from fighting her by himself in Zarkon's main ship. His side aching in rememberance. The pressure intensified and he fell to his knees. And a blue light made him look up. He saw the diamond that was once the Castle of Lions, it was inside the Atlas's power core. It glowed that calm friendly blue, but it soon turned a staticky purple as that powerful, quintessence sucking robeast sucked the power from the Atlas, and him along with it. He felt himself slipping away, when a punch to the chest knocked the breath out of him. Looking up to see the deliverer of the fist, he was horrified to see the clone of himself standing there. His arm still extended from the punch. Standing up Shiro could see his eyes were glowing yellow. And then Zarkon, Haggar, And Lotor appeared behind him.
'No' Shiro breathed. The clone then drew a sword from his glowing Galra hand, and somehow wielded the evil Black Bayard as well, and charged toward him with both, ready to attack. Shiro froze unsure of what to do, and the clone sliced with both blades and...
Shiro awoke in a panic. His breaths came in gasps and his body was damp from sweating. His pupils were small to show his extreme terror. He calmed a little, realizing that it wasn't real. And he tried to lay back down to go to sleep, but couldn't after such a terrible dream.
The next morning he was strolling down the halls of the Garrison, he headed down to the hangers and met Sam in the Atlas.
"We've made some improvements to the Atlas's control systems making it faster and more maneuverable in battle. Especially yours, Shiro." Sam explained. As he listened a muffled whisping and ringing suddenly drown out Sam's voice and he felt like a vibrating frequency. He grabbed his head as though he was having a migraine.
"I'm sorry." He said finally. "But I need a break." Shiro then left without waiting for Sam to reply. Sam was going to respond but Shiro was already gone, so he just stared blankly after him.
Later on, Shiro stood looking up at the Voltron lions. He was reminiscing of being a Paladin. And what it was like to fly the Black lion and form Voltron, and then fighting as the mighty robot. He remembered their battles with Zarkon and how hard it was. And his battle with Haggar on their main ship, he could almost still feel the pain from her magic blasting him in the side. And the experimentation he endured for almost a year, it sent chills up his spine just thinking about.
"Shiro? Are you ok?" Keith's voice behind him made the former Black Paladin jump.
"Oh- uh, hey..Keith." He shook his head with a smile. "Nah I'm fine, I'm just thinking about what happened out there." He glanced back at the Lions, suddenly the vibrating feeling returned.
"I know. A lot happened out there... You've been through a lot,.. we all have." Keith agreed gazing at the lions too.
"Anyway, we should be getting back," Shiro said finally, walking away. "It's been a long day already." Keith taken aback by this, but silently followed him anyway.
That night Shiro tossed and turned again, the lions, the Galra, and the alien races that they'd saved hovered around his mind. Playing out randomly, and reminding him of all he had endured. The void of Voltron's inner quintessence where his mind once lived seemed to become the place he remained. He was lost in an infinitely dark place with seemingly no way out. Anywhere he turned a piece of his past in space was there to torment him. He woke up with a start again. And as he calmed down again, he groaned in frustration.
Shiro sat around a long conference table of commanders. He, Keith, Sam and Matt were debriefing the group with more information from their time in space. The paladins stood in the background accompanying them. Sam and Matt had an Altean hollow-graphic device showing slides if different places and facilities they had seen. They were explaining the technology used in and on each place and planet, and how they would help their own technology here on earth. Shiro was trying to listen and pay attention, but the dim light was causing him to nod off. He tried extremely hard to stay awake. His left elbow rested on the arm of his chair and his head slowly anchored down on it.
"This technology is what went into the creation of Shiro's new arm." Sam continued. "And how has it been working for you Shiro?"
"Oh..um, good."Shiro straightened up quickly. "It's been working great. Never better."
"Are you alright commander?" Iverson wondered curiously.
"Of course." Shiro responded clearing his throat. "Sir." He tried to look very much awake. Keith wasn't convinced, he knew Shiro better then that.
"Ok, Shiro's been acting really strange lately." Kieth said finally laying his hands firmly on the table in front of him. He looked from on Paladin to another.
"Yeah." Pidge nodded. "I've been hearing some strange things have been happening with him."
"And that thing this morning at the meeting." Lance pointed out, crossing his arms. "Totally unlike him."
"So we know something's up." Hunk concluded. "What do we do about it?"
"We've been asking him if he's ok, and he's said it's nothing." Keith reminded them. "But now I think its time to put him on the spot."
"Keith's right, lets go find Shiro." Allura agreed.
The team had been looking for him for a while, when they somehow found themselves walking past the medical bays. Suddenly, Sam came out of one of them.
"Hello everyone." He greeted, happily grinning. "Where are you all off to?"
"Hey Sam," Keith returned the greeting, "we were actually looking for Shiro. Have you seen him?" Sam's smile faded.
"You could say that." He sighed, then he glanced back over his shoulder. Looking past him, Keith couldn't believe it.
"Shiro!" He gasped pushing past Sam and coming closer. Shiro lay on his right side, his back to the door. Coming around to him, Keith knelt down and nudged him gently. "Shiro? Shiro?" He looked up at Sam. "What happened, is he ok?" Fear gripping him like chains. "Shiro!"
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid he can't hear you." Sam told him calmly. "Not with the drugs I've given him." Keith froze and stared up at him in surprise.
"Drugs? You drugged him? Why would you do that?"
"Because he asked me to." Sam sighed. A gasp rippled amongst them.
"But why?" Pidge was confused.
"He didn't tell you?" Sam remarked thoughtfully, yet very unfortunate. The older man closed his eyes, then, opening them again, he continued. "His nightmares have returned." A gasp echoed amongst them again.
"The ones from when he was a prisoner?" Keith guessed.
"Yes. He told me they're back,... and he hasn't been sleeping well because of it."
"I still don't understand why this happened." Keith said, shaking his head glancing back at Shiro.
"Well he asked me to knock him out, so that he could try to get some good rest in. To make up for the sleep he's been losing." Sam explained. "He's sedated enough that he shouldn't have any dreams. Hopefully he'll get some much needed rest."
"This doesn't make any sense." Keith decided, he stared at Shiro's still face for moment before continuing. "Something is really wrong here."
"I agree with you." Sam nodded. "He has been struggling for a while." Sam turned to one of the Medical Technicians beside him. "Keep an eye on Shiro." He told them. "You have Commander Shirogane's instructions." He handed them a chart. "I will return shortly, and if I don't call me when the time is up."
"Yes sir." The med tech answered, with a nod.
"Now let's go." Sam said finally, turning back to the Paladins. "We need to discuss this somewhere quiet. The higher-ups must not know about this until we root out the problem."
When they had reached a quiet conference room the team all sat down, and told Sam what they'd seen.
"I see what you mean." Sam remarked thoughtfully after hearing what they had to say.
"So you agree that something must be done about it?" Allura implied.
"Absolutely, but what?" Sam scratched his chin.
"First we need to talk to him." Keith decided. Sam glanced over at him.
"You're right." Sam agreed, immediately rising from his chair. "Let's go see if he's awake."
As Shiro slipped back into reality, he was greeted by the concerned faces of the Paladin's standing over him.
"What... What's going on?" He yawned, sitting upright.
"We need to talk Shiro." Keith said simply.
"Ok," Shiro shrugged, a little puzzled. "About what?"
"About how you've been acting lately." Allura answered, stepping closer.
"Sam told us your nightmares are back." Keith confirmed. Shiro was taken aback by this.
"Oh," Shiro's eyes fell down to the left. "That." This was the last thing he was expecting them to say. "There's not much you can do."
"Doesn't mean we don't want to try." Keith told him. "What's been going on?" Shiro leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"I haven't been getting much sleep lately." He began.
"So we've heard." Keith shrugged, with crossed arms.
"And coffee doesn't help,... nothing has." He gave a chuckle at this statement.
"I'm serious Shiro." Keith was beginning to get frustrated. Shiro's gazed directly into his.
"Believe me I know." Shiro's eyes were soft and genuine. "I wish I knew what was happening. But all I can say is that they've returned. And there's nothing we can do about it. They'll go away, eventually."
"And what if they don't?" Allura wondered.
"Then I'll just have to make do." Shiro said simply.
"No, that's not good enough." Keith slammed his hands down on the table. "You've even thinking about all that has happened to you while you were in space. Maybe you need a distraction from it."
"Perhaps." Sam put a hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"And I've got the perfect way to do it!" Pidge thrust her elbows down making fists with her hands on either side of her body. Her eyes sparkling with excitement, as she glanced over at Hunk.
"We figured out how to use the Altean technology, to create a Virtual Reality-style game of Monsters and Mana." Pidge explained. "We used the hollow-map tech from the original board, and concepts similar to the AI chamber in the Castle of Lions. With these helmets we'll be fully immersed in the game." Pidge handed them each a helmet as she spoke, they looked much like there Paladin armor helmets. "These will allow you to interface with the game's system, and become your character." She snapped gauntlets on each of them as well, with help from Hunk. "They even come with remote controls." She said. Pressing a button, she morphed into her character: Mechlavar the dwarf. Each of them in turn pressed the button, each then became their characters. Shiro's character fluctuated into existence.
"What am I?" He asked, looking at the costume he was now wearing.
"You know, you're a Paladin." Pidge responded matter-of-factly. "You were always a Paladin... oh.. right." Pidge looked at the ground. She had forgotten that this Shiro had never played before.
"You can always change it, if you don't want to be a Paladin." Allura informed him.
"It's alright," Shiro smiled, "I'll give it a try."
"So what do you want to do now that we're here?" Pidge asked her friends excitedly.
"Maybe I'll finally be able to avenge my master." Shiro commented wearing a determined smile, but it soon disappeared when he realized what he'd said. The team stared blankly at him. "Sorry...Clone memories." He chuckled at the thought. "Guess I can remember things after all. Even stuff I don't remember."
"But you're not far off." Coran called from the control room above them. "Bloc's town may have been turned back from stone. But Dacon still has others he worked for, and some who worked for him." Coran's voice was very dynamic as he spoke. He was already immersed in the game.
"So let's go find out who they are." Pidge decided excitedly. Shiro looked over at Keith.
"Keith, aren't you gonna play?" He asked. Keith hesitated, but then gave in when seeing Pidge's big puppy eyes begging him to.
"Uh," he sighed, giving in. "Fine I'll give it a try." Pidge's face lit up happily. He turned to the others. "So what do I have to do."
"You have to create a mystical character." Coran told him from the controls. "You can do that on your gauntlet." Keith hesitated his eyes traveling down to the guantlet on his wrist. He then tapped cautiously at it trying to decide what to do. Pidge stood behind him ease-dropping on what he was doing. She quietly peeked around his shoulder, since she wasn't tall enough to look over it. He then became his character, and everyone was impressed with what he became.
"What are you?" Lance was confused.
"Cool, your a gladiator!" Pidge gushed.
"I like it." Allura commented, with a smile. "You'll do great." She gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks." Keith smiled. Shiro grinned too, but then that vibrating feeling returned. He tried to ignore it and continued on. He wanted to give this game a chance, in hopes that he would stop feeling this way once they really got into they game. As they travel through swamps, and across rivers, through forests and over mountains. The world of Monsters Mana becoming more and more real for the group of adventurers. They scaled a mountain ridge when they were met by a castle built into the mountains face. The mountain was surrounded by trees and seemed to stand alone. It loomed over the forest, ruling over it like a mighty God. Allura stepped up closer to the castle, gazing up at its tall doors.
"Come on." She said finally, turning around. "Let's go find the disciples of Dacon." Shiro's character was fluctuating a lot by now. But he'd been back enough that no one noticed. The pressure weighed harder on him, the vibrating got worse and he simply couldn't continue anymore. He grabbed the helmet and his character fizzled away.
"What was that?" Pidge stopped, and looked around, having heard a noise.
"Someone just left the game." Coran reported. Keith glanced around.
"Shiro?" He said, not seeing him.