Title: "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
Author: April Richards
Fandom: "Voltron: Defender of the Universe"
Rating: MA (for language, sexual situations)
Category: Keith/Allura, Drama/Angst, Humor, Romance, WAY WAY A/U
Summary: After a massive attack by Prince Lotor, Keith faces the traumas of his childhood.
Author's Notes: *text between * means internal thoughts*. "*text between "*" means conversation over a phone or communicator or some such device.*" I am "updating" "Voltron" and giving the characters things like mp3 players, CDs, cars, and clubs. I figure a planet and century that has something like Voltron, there's no reason why Princess Allura can't have an iPod. ;) Also the poems/songs "You Fight" and "Midnight Sentinels" were written by me and don't use them with out my permission.
Disclaimer: Voltron is owned by World Events Productions, ltd. And "Wake me up when September ends", "Jesus of Suburbia", and "American Idiot" are owned and sung by Green Day and are on their "American Idiot" CD. I am using both with out their permission and I am making no money off this. Thank you very much.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Captain Keith Akira Kogane slipped a small CD into his player and turned up the volume. A rich voice echoed through out the room. "I am the son of love and rage. The Jesus of Suburbia. From the Bible of 'None of the Above'." Keith sang along with the music, tapping his foot. He did not hear his door slide open or the soft foot steps of Princess Allura, the ruler of Planet Arus.
"Keith?" Allura asked, raising her voice to be heard over the music.
Keith turned off the disc. "Princess, I, uh, didn't hear you come in," He blushed.
"What were you listening to?" Allura picked up the jewel case laying by the CD player. "Green Day. I never heard of them. Are they an Earth band?"
"Yeah, from like 200 years ago. I found the disc at a vintage music store in Washington, D.C. Maybe four days before coming to Arus," Keith said. "Please, sit down," He got up, sat on his bed and waved towards the now empty chair.
Allura sat down. "Thank you. I didn't know you liked punk and heavy metal," She commented while look through the discs. Some were Galactically known bands like The Broken Blades and The TASER Tigers. But antique bands from the 20th Earth Century, such as Sex Pistols, Def Leopard, Metallica and Guns N Roses, also populated Keith's music list.
"Well, the Galaxy Alliance tends to frown on things like heavy metal, tattoos and body piercings. They want their Space Explorers to be squeaky clean. You know, make good impressions on other planets," Keith rubbed the back of his neck. "But for me, it's a great way to release stress. I wish there was a club near here. There was one near the Academy called the Ninth Circle. It was great. I went there every weekend."
"The Ninth Circle? Like in Dante?" Allura laughed.
"Yep. The owner was named Joe Dante. It had some great local bands. I think my favorite was Heretics," Keith sighed.
"You know, there's a club near here called Fallen Angel. The band, The Crooked Daggers, plays there every Friday and Saturday," Allura said. "And today's Friday," She smiled.
"Are you asking me out?" Keith asked.
"Only if you want me to," Allura said coyly.
"Give me time to get dressed," Keith stood up and went to his closet. He threw a pair of tight black jeans on the bed and found a black tee-shirt with a glowing tiger carrying an electric rifle. He dug through his closet. "Now where did I put my combat boots. I hope Lance didn't borrow them."
"I'll ask him while I go to my room. Last I saw, he was in the recreation room," Allura said. "I'll see you in an hour."
"I'm looking forward to it," Keith smiled. As soon as Allura left the room, Keith undressed and pulled on the tight black jeans. He slipped the tee-shirt over his head, not caring that it messed up his hair. He pulled a case, made of battered silver leather, out of his closet. Then, he went into the bathroom connected to his room. Keith opened the case and pulled out a half-full bottle of super hold hair gel. "I know I had a full bottle before I came to Arus," He grumbled. He squirted gel into his hands and started pulling his long black hair into spikes.
"Hey, Brother," Lance leaned against the door way of the bathroom. "Allura told me that you two were going to a club. Oh, want me to get the back of your hair?" Lance stepped inside the bathroom.
"Yeah. I can never do it myself. Thanks."
Lance put the gel into his hands. "You're running low," He commented.
"Tell me about. And I know I had a full bottle before we came to Arus. I stopped at the store to get it, just in case Arus didn't have a place that sold the hair gel. I guess some one used it before we got our stuff back from the crash," Keith referred to their space ship that crashed on Arus, before they were taken prisoner by King Zarkon.
"Maybe some one used it? Maybe a Doom solider."
"How, they're all bald," Keith laughed.
"Well, maybe they wanted it for Prince Lotor," Lance smirked.
Keith choked on laughter. "That's an image I don't need!" Keith leaned over the sink and applied black eyeliner around his large, black eyes. The eyeliner made his eyes look darker, almost like a midnight sky.
"Keith?" Allura walked into the bathroom. She had her long, blonde hair in a braid with the top of her hair spiked. She also wore black eye liner. She had on low-rise plaid pants and a black baby doll tee-shirt that showed off a nine-pointed star around her belly button and an angel on her lower back. Instead of boots, she wore plaid high-tops. "I'm out of black lip stick. Can we stop at the drug store on the way to the club?"
"Borrow mine," Keith took the lip stick out of his case and tossed it to her. "I didn't open it, yet."
Allura joined Keith at the mirror and glided the lipstick over her normally pink lips. She handed back the lipstick and Keith applied some to his lips. Lance stood back and laughed. "You two look like Sid and Nancy!" He howled. "Nice tats, Princess."
"Thank you. They were a sweet sixteen present from my father," Allura smiled. She pulled down her top slightly, showing off a portrait of her parents over her heart. "I had this done after Father died."
Keith rolled up his sleeve and showed off a heart with his parents' names in the center. "I had this done when I turned 18," He said.
"You two are perfect for each other," Lance snickered. "Tattoos and body piercings."
Keith rolled his eyes and put in his various piercings, including one in his nose and one in his left eye brow. "Lance, do you know where my boots are?"
"Try looking deeper in your closet. You put them there when that General was over here. You didn't want him finding them and giving you a hard time, remember?"
"Oh right, I'd forgotten."
Just then, Nanny came into the room. Lance shushed Keith and Allura then stepped out of the bathroom. "Hey, Nanny."
"Lance," Nanny turned her nose down at him. "I am looking for Keith."
"He went to a club to blow off some steam," Lance said truthfully.
"What are you doing in here?" Nanny asked suspiciously.
"Borrowing a book."
"But you came out of the bathroom!"
"Well, nature called while I was in here. Don't worry, Keith won't mind. We share things all the time," Lance smirked. "If I see Keith I'll let him know that you are looking for him."
"Thank you," Nanny turned on one heel and marched out of the room.
As soon as Nanny left, Keith and Allura tumbled out of the bathroom. "Thanks for the cover, Lance," Keith high-fived Lance.
"Any time," Lance smiled.
Keith dug through his closet. In the back, he found his combat boots. He sat on his bed and pulled them on. "Well, Princess, ready to go?"
"I'll cover for you," Lance promised.
"Thanks, Brother, we'll owe you."
"Big time," Lance smirked and grabbed a book. "Just in case I run into Nanny."
Together, Keith and Allura slipped out of Keith's room and ran down the corridor. The pair avoided the guards patrolling the hallways and entered the garage. Allura's pink car stood farthest from the door. Instead of using the pink car, the pair went to Keith's red four by four. Keith held the door open for Allura. "After you, Princess."
"Thank you," Allura sat down in the car.
Keith jumped across the hood and sat in the driver's seat. He pulled out a set of keys dangling from a twisted keychain. Allura looked at it. "Keith, what happened to your keychain?"
"It was my Dad's," Keith answered simply. Allura nodded and buckled her seat belt. "You'll have to tell me where this club is, Princess."
"It's on the outskirts of the kingdom," Allura said. "Just go south west on King Alfor Lane. You can't miss Fallen Angel. It tends to stick out."
"Okay, Princess," Keith pulled out of the underground garage. Two guards started to stop them, but backed off when Keith and Allura showed their Voltron Force badges: badges with the royal crest, a golden crown over a golden cross, surrounded by the five Lion colors, cradled in between a gold "V". The badges rested in slim leather wallets and had a photo identity card next to it. The guards waved them through the gates. "Gee, I guess the guards didn't recognize us," Keith laughed. Allura giggled.
(Outside the Fallen Angel Club)
Allura was right. The Fallen Angel, painted an eye-searing purple with a black angel statue on the top of the club, did stand out from one story, single family dwellings that surrounded it. A high, sound-catching fence protected the neighbors from the window-rattling music that echoed from the club. Keith pulled into the parking lot and parked as close to the entrance as he could, even turning the truck so that it faced out. Allura looked over at Keith. "Why did you park like that?"
"Just in case we have to leave quickly," Keith answered.
"Good idea," Allura agreed. "I'm looking forward to a time where we can go out and not have to worry about being interrupted by King Zarkon."
"Me too. I think the whole planet is," Keith sighed.
They got out of the car and strolled over to the line waiting to get in. The line moved quickly, especially with underage teens being kicked out of line. "IDs," The bouncer grunted. Keith and Allura held out their Voltron Force badges. "Oh…go right in! Forget about the cover charge!"
"Thank you!" Allura smirked.
The pair ran into the club. Keith paused to look it over. "It reminds me of the Ninth Circle only less smoky," Keith hollered over the din.
"Smoking is forbidden in all clubs and bars and restaurants. By the King's Order," Allura shouted proudly.
"That's great! Let's go into the Mosh Pit!" Keith put his mouth against Allura's ear so she could hear him. Allura nodded. Keith took her hand and guided her into the pit. In the middle of the jostling crowd, Keith and Allura stood, waiting for the next song. A punk with a blue, spiked Mohawk slammed into Keith. Keith slammed back. The Crooked Daggers, three women in their twenties, started up a hard guitar intro. The lead singer, a woman with dark pink hair, pulled the microphone close to her face.
"The battle lines are drawn," She sang.
"You face down the enemy," Sang the two other members.
"At the crack of dawn. You fight!"
The pit was soon filled with a writhing mass of people slamming into the each other. Allura hesitated at first, but soon she was crashing into people, including Keith, with the same enthusiasm as Keith. For Keith, each collision released the tension from being Captain of the Voltron Force. For a brief time, he was just a club goer. Not a respectable member of Galaxy Garrison. Not a Space Explorer. Just Keith Kogane.
"You fight!"
"For your people!"
"You fight!"
"We depend on you!"
"You fight!"
"Save us from this fate!"
"You fight! You fight!"
"Gaze down into Forever."
"You see your fears"
"Swallowing the Never, You fight!"
Allura laughed, wild and free. While she had attended concerts at the club, she had never rammed her body into some one else's in the Mosh Pit. As Keith slammed into her, she reached around and pinched his back side. Keith laughed and returned the gesture.
"You fight!"
"For your people!"
"You fight!"
"We depend on you!"
"You fight!"
"Save us from this fate!"
"You fight! You fight!"
A punk with metallic red hair rammed into Keith, knocking him down. The punk smiled and held out his hand, helping Keith up. "Sorry, dude," He yelled into Keith's ear. Keith waved him off. Keith grabbed Allura's hand and pointed to the massive speakers that framed the stage. Kids were getting up on top, taunting the bouncers then diving off into the crowd.
"Let's speaker dive!" Keith catcalled into Allura's ear. Keith ran through the crowd with Allura behind him. Keith climbed up the speakers and waiting until the bouncers were almost on top of him. Keith pulled his pants down, mooning the guards. He pulled them up and dove into the crowd. He crowd surfed until he was at Allura's side again.
"Keith, you're crazy!" She shouted into Keith's ear.
"You're next, Princess!"
"Your sword clasped in your hand."
"Your nerves harden into steel!"
"To defend your land, you fight!"
Allura ran to the speaker on the other side of the stage and climbed up. She waved her braid at the on coming guards then wiggled her backside. She not only caught the eyes of the bouncers, but of the drummer. Allura blew the drummer a kiss. The drummer caught the kiss and pressed it to her cheek. As soon as the bouncers could see the angel tattoo on her lower back, Allura jumped off the speakers. Keith applauded Allura's daring. As soon as the pair was reunited, Allura hugged Keith. Keith lowered his head and kissed Allura. Allura pressed against him. The crowd did not hit into them, allowing the couple their brief make out. Keith and Allura parted, out of breath. "Wow," Both gasped together.
"You fight!"
"For your people!"
"You fight!"
"We depend on you!"
"You fight!"
"Save us from this fate!"
"You fight! You fight!"
The crowd clapped and hooted at the end of the song. "This next song is an instrumental called "Pissed Off"," The lead singer informed the crowd. "Pissed Off" started with a heavy drumming solo. The bass guitar joined. Shortly, the lead guitar, played by the lead singer, also added to the cacophony. The instrumental was anger distilled into music. Re-invigorated, the crowd resumed their painful and chaotic dance.
As soon as "Pissed Off" ended, Keith and Allura left the Mosh Pit and went into the single, unisex bathroom. A tall, lanky boy with silver hair and blank eyes wrote rambling poetry over the graffiti-covered walls. As soon as he saw Keith and Allura, he spoke: "This is our temporary immortality, man! Holy Scripture going into Infinity!" He handed the couple markers. "Add to the greatness, if only for a short time."
"Thank you," Allura said. "What do they call you?" She asked as she drew a black angel on the mirror.
"The Poet," The Poet bowed. "The Bard of the Fallen Angel."
"It's an honor to meet the Bard of the Fallen Angel," Keith said, able to speak in normal tones since the thick walls of the bathroom dulled the music into faint thumps. Keith drew a black lion holding up his middle finger.
The Poet looked over their artwork. "Awesome. The Lion and The Angel," The Poet drifted off.
Keith and Allura raised their eyebrows at each other and snickered. "Would you like to get some drinks, Princess?" Keith asked. "My treat."
"Sure. This place makes great ginger beer."
"Great," Keith said.
The pair walked back out into the wall of noise and over to the bar. Keith leaned over and screamed to the bartender, "Two ginger beers please!" The bartender nodded and put two bottles on the bar.
"Five credits each!" The bartender held up all ten fingers.
Keith produced his credit card and ran it through the reader. The bartender nodded his thanks. The couple took their drinks and skirted the Mosh Pit as they found the only unoccupied table. It had one chair. Keith sat down and pulled Allura into his lap. They took their first sips of the ginger beer, searing their throats on the way down and warmed their stomachs. A wondering photographer approached them. "Picture? Only twenty-two credits each," He suggested.
Keith and Allura nodded. Allura leaned against Keith's chest and both put up their left hands, with the pinky and pointer fingers up, the rest down into a fist. The photographer took their picture. He held out a mini-credit reader. Allura pulled out her card. "I'll pay this time," She said and ran the card through the reader. She held up two fingers. "We'll take two pictures."
"Where can I send them?" The photographer asked.
"The Castle of Lions," Allura said. "In care of Princess Allura and Captain Keith Kogane."
"Yes, Your Highness!" The photographer wrote down the information and scurried away.
Allura snuggled against Keith, her mouth close to his ear. "Keith, I've been thinking about my life and the future."
"What did you decide, Princess?" Keith asked.
"I won't be forced into marriage. I won't marry some fob boy prince who only sees me as a stepping stone to power. I will marry because I love the man."
"That's great," Keith said, turning his head so he could talk in her ear better.
"And I've found the man I love."
"Who is that?" Keith asked, worried.
Allura looked at him. "You," She stroked his face.
Keith's eyes widened. "You know, Princess, we could finish what we started down in the Pit," Keith stroked her neck and moved down, tracing her collar bone.
"And what would that be," Allura asked coyly.
"This," Keith pulled her towards him and kissed her. Allura threaded her arms around his neck. Keith kissed her neck and moved down towards her collar bone. Allura threw her head back. Suddenly their communicator bracelets buzzed and vibrated. Keith and Allura started. "Dammit!" Keith swore. "This is Keith!" Keith growled into the communicator.
Lance's picture appeared on the tiny screen in the center of the communicator. "*Keith, sorry to interrupt your date, but we have a report of several Doom fighter ships just over the planet.*"
"Any coffin ships sighted?"
"*No. Not yet anyway.*"
"Okay. We're going to warn the people at the club then get back to the castle."
"*Right, Lance out,*" Lance signed off.
Keith and Allura ran down from the raised table area and up to the stage. The bouncers tried to stop them, but both pulled out their badges. The bouncers let them onto the stage. Keith whispered into the lead singer's ear then both jumped off the stage and dashed outside. As they left they could hear the lead singer stop the music and announce "Okay, we just got word of an incoming attack. The shelter's over that way. Every one move in an orderly fashion and we can wait out the attack."
Keith and Allura ran to the truck and jumped in. Keith sped out of the parking lot, squealing his tires. He raced down King Alfor Lane. A black and white patrol car flashed its lights, signaling for Keith to pull over. Keith complied, rolling down his window. The officer got out of his patrol car and carefully approached Keith's truck. "ID please," The officer demanded. Both pulled out their badges. The officer looked at them and nodded his head. "Sorry, Captain, Your Highness," He said, handing back the badges.
"There's an attack coming," Keith said just as the sirens wailed.
"Okay. Good luck!" The police officer ran back to his car and sped off.
Keith broke several traffic laws getting to the Castle of Lions. At the castle, he barely waited for the gates to go up before pulling to the garage. A guard approached them. "I'll park your car, Captain," The guard said. "So you and the Princess can get up to the Control Room."
"Thank you," Keith threw his keys towards the guard. The guard caught them. Keith and Allura ran to the elevator and punched in the number for the floor that the Control Room rested on. The elevator shot down until it reached a security door. Keith punched in his identity code. The door opened, revealing the metal interior of the Control Room.
"We're here, Coran," Allura said as the pair dashed out of the elevator.
"Very good, Your Highness," Coran said as he turned around. As soon as he saw Keith and Allura in their punk get up, his mouth dropped open. "Princess Allura!"
"Princess Allura, what were you doing out in public in that get up!?!" Nanny demanded. Pidge and Hunk laughed. Lance smirked.
Keith ignored Nanny and Coran. Instead he addressed Lance. "Where are the Doom ships?"
"About to enter the atmosphere," Lance pulled up the image on the screen.
"Let's get into the Lions and meet them before they get too close to the ground," Keith ordered.
The Voltron Force ran to the elevators that would lead them to the Lions. As soon as they were in their robotic Lions, the Lions took off to meet up with the Doom ships in the sky.
"*Keith, should we form Voltron?*" Hunk asked.
"*Not right now. Let's just take out the Doom ships and then see what Lotor has planned for us,*" Keith ordered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On Prince Lotor's ship, the prince of the Drule Empire paced back and forth. "Don't forget to target the Black Lion," Lotor ordered Cossack.
"Yes, Prince Lotor," Cossack saluted. He turned to the microphone in front of him and ordered the robotic ships to target Keith's Lion.
"Haggar, is the ship carrying our five robeasts in range yet?" Lotor asked.
"Forgive me, Your Highness, but the ship was behind us and was delayed by a meteor storm. It will be here in six hours or there about," Haggar bowed before Lotor.
"Incompetent witch!" Lotor threw a goblet of wine at Haggar.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the skies of Arus, the Doom ships converged on the Black Lion. Bolts of lightning shot out of the ships. Black Lion jerked and spun. Inside the Lion, Keith screamed as energy coursed through his body. A faint "*Ow, my ears,*" came from Black Lion, then the Mecha slammed into the earth with a shaking thud.
"*KEITH!*" Allura and Lance screamed as the lights in the Black Lion's eyes went out. The Doom ships ignored the rest of the Lions and continued their assaults on Keith. The Blue and Red Lions dove towards the circling Doom ships. Claw missiles and blades sliced into the Doom ships. The Green and Yellow Lions circled over head, making sure that no more Doom ships snuck into the atmosphere and attacked the distracted Red and Blue Lions.
After several tense moments, the lights came back into Black Lion's eyes. "*This is Keith. I'm back online,*" Keith said in a shaky voice.
"*Keith, are you okay?*" Lance asked.
"*A little cooked, but I'll survive.*" Black Lion joined the fight and quickly decimated the remaining Doom ships.
"*There's Lotor's flag ship! It's escaping back into space! We can get him now!*" Hunk yelled over the communicators.
"*Let him go, Hunk,*" Keith ordered. Black Lion wobbled.
"*Keith, what's wrong?*" Pidge asked.
"*I think Black Lion's systems need to be checked. That surge over loaded them,*" Keith admitted.
"*Let's land then. You should get checked out too, Keith,*" Lance suggested.
"*Yes, Mother,*" Keith teased his best friend.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On Lotor's flag ship, Lotor growled in anger. "Retreat back beyond Arus' moon! We'll wait for the robeasts' ship to join us then Arus and the Black Lion will pay."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the Voltron Force exited the elevators, Coran and Nanny shared a look of distaste at Keith and Allura's clothing. Keith stumbled and Lance helped him to his feet. Nanny took in Keith's pale face. "What happened, Keith?" She ran to a panel in the wall and pushed a button. The panel rolled up, exposing a First Responder's kit.
"I took a few thousand volts," Keith admitted.
"Those ships can put out 20,000 volts easily, Keith," Hunk, the mechanical expert of the team, said.
"20,000 volts? But wouldn't Keith be dead if he took that much energy?" Allura asked, concerned.
"It's not the voltage, it's the milliamps that are fatal, Princess. A milliamp is 1,000 amps. And it takes forty milliamps or greater to kill some one," Hunk explained. "So those ships have high voltage but relatively low milliamps."
"Where did you learn this?" Allura asked.
"There's a show that was on the Discovery Channel back 200 years ago. Called "Mythbusters." I love that show. I have all twenty seasons on mini disc," Hunk boasted proudly.
"You mean that show with that strange guy in the beret and the hyper red-headed guy?" Lance asked.
"That's them," Hunk smiled.
Nanny examined Keith. She took his blood pressure and listened to his heart. "Your blood pressure is up a bit and your heart is still racing, but that is from the shock. Now, squeeze my hands," Nanny held out her hands. Keith rolled his eyes, but complied. "Your grip is good. I don't think you suffered any long term effects from the shocks. But, you have burns on your ears and by your left eye. And on your nose. The electricity traveled through those ridiculous earrings you have. Does Galaxy Garrison know about them? Probably not. What gentleman pierces his ears all the way up to the top and puts metal in his nose and eye brow?" Nanny scolded. She paused. "And how is your back?" She asked, suddenly.
"It's burning a little bit," Keith admitted.
"Well, let's see if there are any burns on your skin. Drop those pants if you can even get them off!" Nanny ordered.