**Author's note: Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Sorry it took me so long to upload, I've just been editing the next few chapters and doing school work. So with finals coming up, new chapters probably won't be coming out on a daily basis (like with the first story) as I am scrambling to wrap up this semester. But I'll upload when I can and hopefully this story will be completed by the time Christmas break rolls around. So with that, here's the second story!
**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!
"Come on, Mari. Hold onto my hand."
"I'm a big girl. I can walk by myself," the six year old girl pouted stubbornly, but she wasted no time latching onto her big brother's hand.
Takashi smiled and ruffled her hair playfully. "I know, I know," he said. "But I'm not taking any chances. I don't want you getting lost, okay?"
"I'm not gonna get lost."
"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry," he chuckled.
Since the elementary, middle, and high schools were so close to their house, Takashi had taken it upon himself to pick up his little sister everyday so that they could walk home together. And although she claimed that she didn't need him as an escort, he could tell that Mari secretly enjoyed their after school walks.
She swung their entwined hands back and forth repeatedly as she rambled on about her day and Takashi took in every word. He smiled and nodded, making a comment or asking a question here and there to show that he was listening. In no time at all, they had entered their neighborhood and the duo walked down the familiar streets towards their house.
"Oh! Good afternoon, Takashi," a passing neighbor greeted them warmly, and Mari instantly shut her mouth, her gaze narrowing at the older woman blocking their path.
"Hello, Miss Yada," her brother nodded politely in response. "How are you doing today?"
"I doing just fine, thank you," she smiled. "Are you walking your sister home again?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You're such a sweet boy. Take care on the way home, you two."
Continuing down the sidewalk, Mari looked over her shoulder and cast an untrusting glare at the little old lady behind them. Miss Yada's seemingly kind and innocent demeanor may have had her brother fooled, but Mari knew better. She had heard the old hag gossip to the other neighbors about their family; the crone practically worshipped Takashi while she constantly belittled the "troublesome little sister".
"Takashi is extremely talented in both sports and academics," Miss Yada would gush.
"He has the makings of a leader, that's for sure," another neighbor would say.
"His mother told me he wants to enroll in the Garrison's Space Exploration Program as a pilot once he's finished with high school," someone else would mention.
"Oh, he'd make a wonderful pilot!" Miss Yada would exclaim.
"What does Mariko want to do when she grows up?"
"Oh, her? She's adopted her brother's dream it seems."
"I guess we can't all have original thoughts."
"With how clingy she is, it's no wonder that Takashi's started to rub off on her."
"Now if she'd only copy the rest of his personality traits. Unlike him, she's such a temperamental and hostile girl."
"I know! The other day she pulled my poor cat's tail after it scratched her."
"What a beastly child."
"She causes quite a lot of trouble, doesn't she? For both her parents and for her poor brother."
"I wonder how they stand her."
"She's so incredibly useless."
Mari was abruptly jolted out of her dream by the din of a deafening alarm and nearly fell out of bed in surprise. Blinking wearily, her vision focused and her breath caught in her throat as she took in the unfamiliar room. Then reality hit her like a ton of bricks as the past day's events came rushing back to her: Takashi was alive and they had found a Blue Lion that had taken them into outer space. And now she (along with her brother and four other boys) was in a castle on an alien planet, trillions of miles away from her cozy bedroom back home on Earth.
Plopping back down on her pillow, Mari sighed and tried to steady her breathing, the initial panic subsiding. The alarm screeching over the loudspeakers continued to drone on and she frowned in annoyance. Was this some sort of Altean alarm clock? Checking her phone, it was nearly eight o'clock AM by Earth standards and she groaned. Good lord, what were Coran and Allura thinking? She'd have to explain to them that it was way too early for humans to get up at this time of day.
Then, as if on cue, the princess's voice shouted over the speakers, "Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking! The castle's about to be destroyed! Go, go, go! We need Voltron now!"
Oh, well, doesn't apply to me, Mari thought tiredly before burrowing beneath her covers again. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to claim her once more, but the alert siren just kept blaring. Grumbling in annoyance, she sat up and retrieved her backpack, fishing out her earbuds from the front pocket before returning to the bed. Once she got comfortable, she plugged them into her phone and began blasting music to drone out the irritating alarm.
Dozing off again for what seemed like just a few minutes, Mari was abruptly awoken once more as Shiro yanked the warm covers off her. Then in one swift movement, he scooped her up, effortlessly slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before heading out into the hall.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the heck, man?!" Mari shrilled, removing her earbuds and squirming uncomfortably in her awkward position.
"Allura said for everybody to get up," Shiro said, his hold on her unwavering as she fidgeted. "Including you."
"Nooooo, I'm tired Takashiiiiii," she whined. "Can't you just let me sleep for a few more minutes?"
"I already let you sleep in for an hour longer than the rest of us."
"It's been an hour already?"
"Yep. It's time to get up and face the day!" he exclaimed much to cheerfully and Mari groaned.
"But you guys don't even need me to form Voltron," she grumbled.
"That may be true, but that doesn't make you any less a part of this team. If everyone else has to get up early, then that means you do too," he said.
"You're so mean," she huffed and Shiro chuckled.
"I'm just being fair," he smiled slightly. "Now stop complaining. Training starts today."
While Allura continued to check the Castle's systems, Mari and Coran were put in charge of overseeing paladin training. It did not go well, to say the least. None of the five boys were in sync in the slightest, and exercise after exercise, they failed to work as a team. By the time it came for them to fight the Gladiator, it came as no surprise when they were all defeated with ease.
"You guys have the worst teamwork I have ever seen in my entire life," Mari commented as she watched them from the training deck's control tower. "Were you even trying to defeat that thing?"
"Hey, give us a break will ya?" Pidge groaned as he picked himself off the floor. "We're tired, okay?"
"Yeah! Unlike you, we've been working our butts off all day!" Lance pitched in.
Mari frowned and crossed her arms defensively out of habit. "I got up the same time as you guys."
"Shiro let you sleep in an hour longer," Keith muttered and she shot him an irritated glance.
"Whatever," she quickly brushed off his remark. "The point is, that simulation was five against one and you were all equipped with much more deadly weapons that your opponent. You should've won easily."
"You weren't the one fighting that thing," Hunk nodded pointedly at the immobile Gladiator android that sat in a crumpled heap on the floor. "It's super hard to beat."
"Oh, please," Mari rolled her eyes but Lance was quick to cut her off.
"Oh, yeah? If it's so 'easy' to beat, then why don't you try and fight it?" he challenged.
"Yeah!" Pidge was quick to agree. "You haven't done a single training exercise all day!"
"It's not really fair if you think about it…" Hunk added timidly and Mari's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Hey, I'm not the one who's going to be flying a lion and constantly getting thrown into combat situations from now on," she fired back, her irritation levels beginning to to rise rapidly. "Besides, unlike you guys, my attire isn't exactly armor. I'm not gonna fight that thing unless I have protection."
The boys were quiet for a moment, frowning up at her from the training deck floor. Then Keith suddenly smirked and said, "It sounds like you're just too scared to fight it."
The paladins could almost hear whatever remained of her patience snapping in two. They watched as she yanked off her headset, tossing it to a startled Coran before disappearing from the control tower window.
"And now she's pissed," Shiro sighed tiredly.
"You really know how to push her buttons," Pidge muttered, addressing the Red Paladin.
"Keith, why'd you have to provoke the beast?" Lance groaned.
"You're the one who started it!" he shot back defensively.
"Oh no, she's gonna kill us!" Hunk squealed. "We pushed her over the edge and now she's gonna kill us!"
When Mari entered the room, the Yellow Paladin yelped and cowered behind Shiro, using him as a human shield as the ticked off girl approached. Her expression was murderous and she already held her staff in hand, the weapon extended retractable blade and all.
"Coran, start the same level training sequence," she called up to him, brushing past the paladins as she marched towards the center of the room.
The Gladiator that had been sprawled out on the floor immediately disappeared and another one dropped from the ceiling. Its gaze locked onto its solitary opponent before whirring to life and lunging at Mari. It brought its staff down on her like a sword and she managed to nimbly dodge out of the way, only for it to quickly retaliate and sweep-kick her out from under her feet. She landed on her back hard and was just barely able to avoid being hit with the butt of the robot's staff.
Come on, pull it together! she scolded herself. It's just like you, using a staff and martial arts. You've competed in tons of competitions like this!
Yeah, against humans, not alien robots! her logical side immediately countered.
Standing hurriedly, Mari held her staff at the ready just as the Gladiator's weapon came at her again. She managed to block it this time, but she was alarmed by the robot's brute strength as her staff was nearly knocked from her grasp. Taking advantage of her surprise, the android proceeded to deliver a roundhouse kick to her chest and the air was knocked out of Mari as she was thrown onto the floor. Wheezing and gasping for air, she sat up slowly, one hand pressed to her left side. It felt like it was on fire, pain lacing all throughout her torso.
"You know," Lance piped up from the sidelines. "You can always quit if you—"
"Shut up, Lance!" Mari growled, her eyes never leaving the Gladiator as it began to charge towards her.
Grimacing through the pain, she scrambled to her feet and just barely managed to block its attack. The robot was using all its strength to press down on her weapon, trying to push her down onto floor. Mari's knees threatened to buckle beneath her and she grit her teeth in frustration, unwilling to submit. She couldn't let this stupid piece of machinery beat her, not when she was supposed to be teaching the guys a lesson, proving them wrong and slapping some sense back into them.
For a split second, Mari's gaze flicked to Shiro and she was surprised by his grim expression. He looked pale and his jaw was set, his eyes filled with fear and worry as they followed the match. Why was he getting so worked up? He had seen her fight before, he knew what she was capable of. What was she doing that was making him so anxious?
Troublesome little sister.
Her dream from last night came rushing back to her and Mari nearly lost her balance.
She causes quite a lot of trouble…her poor brother.
It felt like the strength in her arms was being drained rapidly and they began shaking from the strain of keeping the robot away from her. The blow that had been delivered to her chest earlier was aching more and more and it hurt to breathe.
I wonder how they stand her.
The Gladiator suddenly stepped back, but before Mari could regain her composure, it knocked her weapon out of her hands and swept her off of her feet with one end of its staff. She fell onto her back once more and her opponent loomed over her, its weapon raised and ready to deliver the final blow.
She's so incredibly useless.
"End training sequence! End it now!"
The light faded from the robot's eye as it powered down, the end of its staff crackling with electricity as it hovered just inches above Mari's stomach. It dissolved into a blue stream of light as the simulation ended, and as soon as it had completely disappeared, Shiro bolted towards her.
"Okay, that's enough training for today," he said, his voice quivering ever so slightly as he helped her sit up.
"Why'd you stop it?" she said, her eyes narrowing as they focused on her brother. "I was doing fine."
"No, you weren't," Keith scoffed.
"Yeah, you were getting your butt kicked," Lance said.
"You took some bad hits," Shiro continued. "We've got to get you to the medical bay."
Well, he wasn't wrong. Her space suit may have been incredibly durable and flexible, but it certainly paled in comparison to their paladin armor. The left side of her chest was still throbbing painfully and she hoped to God that she hadn't cracked a rib. But it was already embarrassing enough that she had failed to beat the Gladiator in front of nearly the entire team. The thought of having to be the only one to receive medical attention on their first day of training made her feel even more pathetic.
"No, I'm fine," she insisted, scooting away from Shiro and quickly standing up on her own. She winced and inhaled sharply at the sudden movement, another jolt of pain coursing through her left side.
"Oh really?" Shiro raised a doubtful eyebrow. "If you're fine then why are you crying?"
"I'm not!" Mari shrilled defensively just as a hot tear streaked down her cheek. She bristled and furiously brushed them away, wondering vaguely why and when the water works had started. Her cheeks heated up as she felt everyone staring and she had the sudden urge to slap all of them.
"It's all right, my dear," Coran said kindly, having come down to the training deck to help. "Let's go to the examination room and asses the damage."
He gently turned her away from the others and slowly led her to the exit doors. Behind them, Mari could just barely hear the guys whispering amongst themselves.
"Nice going, Keith," Lance muttered.
"Again, you're the one who started it!" he hissed back.
"Aw, man…I feel bad now," Hunk sighed. "We made her cry."
"The stupid robot made her cry, not us," Lance pointed out.
"Well, we provoked her so…it kinda is our faults," Hunk said slowly.
"Will you guys shut up?" Pidge huffed. "She can still hear you."
"What? No she can't," Lance said. "Here, watch: Mari, if you think I'm the handsomest and most talented guy you've ever met, don't say a single thing."
"Shut up, Lance," Mari called over her shoulder just before the training deck doors swished shut behind her and Coran.