Full summary: Lotor had planned to capture the Princess of Altea and use her to bring down the Voltron Alliance in one fell swoop. Instead he ensnares one of the human Paladins. But Lotor is not one to despair. He can rewrite the script and turn this tragedy into a real headliner. After all… the show must go on. / "He is rather aesthetically pleasing," Lotor purred, hand gripping Lance's chin. "Almost Altean, really. However," a knife pressed below Lance's eye. "He is missing something." A shark-like grinned adorned Lotor's face as dark ocean eyes widened in realized horror. "Come," Lotor leveled the knife. "Let us see if red is your color."
Timeline Notes: Takes place during season four up through episode four, The Voltron Show (and where a lot of the inspiration for this was drawn). This means the Naxzela events nor Lotor's generals turning on him have happened. Lotor is still most definitely our delicious villain here.
Story notes/warnings: It's me, prepare for my standard graphic imagery and violence with mutilation to boot this time around. Non-consensual touching (not really of a romantic/sexual nature though, think possessive). Gen fic, no pairings. Plenty of Langst complete with my version of Altean!Lance. Bet you've never seen it quite like this before. How dark does my mind veer? Answer: Very. Enjoy!
xxx
Razzle Dazzle
Act I: Center of Attention
Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate
Give 'em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather 'em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?
What if your hinges all are rusting?
What if, in fact, you're just disgusting?
Razzle dazzle 'em
And they;ll never catch wise!
Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em a show that's so splendiferous
Row after row will crow vociferous
Give 'em the old flim flam flummox
Fool and fracture 'em
How can they hear the truth above the roar?
xxx
xxx
Lance's head had just hit the pillow when the alarm blared to life.
Months and months ago when he first arrived in space he would have buried his head back under said pillow and ignored it, knowing it was Allura trying to keep them on their toes with another drill but he valued his beauty sleep over the non-stop training regiment the Altean princess loved ever so much.
A few weeks ago he'd have jumped to action, armor that he kept now in his closet on in under two dobashes and he'd careen down the hall, stumble a bit as he had to retrace his steps from Blue's hangar to Red's instead, and fly out to battle with guns blazing.
Now though…
He groaned, the sound so pitiful it hurt to hear, and exhausted ocean eyes forced themselves open. His body robotically tumbled off the bed and made for his closet where his last clean under-armor suit hung. His armor, dumped unceremoniously on the ground and covered still in blaster fire and nicks, was the next to be tugged on. His hands shook lifting the heavy breastplate and Lance clenched them tightly to stop the tremble. Not now.
He trudged out of his room, despite the urgency and the still screeching alarm unable to force himself to move any faster.
He was just so tired.
They all were though. The past few days – Three? Four? He had no idea anymore – had been nonstop fighting. Lotor had barely given them a varga of rest before the next attack was launched – a distress beacon on a planet, a robobeast of the Druid's creations, an attack on a coalition base – and Voltron had been struggling to keep up.
They couldn't get ahead. Despite all of their attempts they couldn't make heads or tails of where Lotor was going to go next and they were forced to be reactive instead of proactive each time. Lance recognized it as a good strategy. An excellent one, really. The fighting, the exhaustion, the constant despair of being too late to fully save the transport or planet or whatever it was… They were being worn down, chipped away piece by piece and there was nothing they could do except keep struggling on and praying it all somehow made a difference.
The Blades of Marmora were doing all they could to help but their own resources were spread thin. Keith and Kolivan had video chatted in… earlier in the day, Lance thought, maybe, and the former Paladin had looked as tired as they all felt, a bandage spread across his cheek and his mullet practically drooping.
Lance wished he'd had words to cheer him up but it had taken all he had to remain awake as Kolivan had filled them in on the most recent intel, not that it was of much help. They'd had to break off early anyways as the distress signal alarm went off again and Voltron had had to fly out to engage with Lotor and his generals once more.
That battle had… it had not been good. Lance winced, nearly tripping into a wall as his feet felt like he'd strapped boulders to them. Exhaustion was weighing heavily on all of them and it was making them slow.
Red had been hit by an ion cannon before they'd even managed to land on the distressed planet, as despite her speed Lance hadn't been able to maneuver her out of the way in time. His heart clenched at the pained roar Red had screamed out as a hole blasted through her rear hull. It was miraculous, really, that she'd been able to land as well as she did rather than sending them into a freefall crash.
Lance had thought that would be the worst of it, but the universe loved to prove him wrong. Once on the ground fighting against a small army of sentries that the Galra just seemed to mass produce with no stop, it had taken a new near deadly turn.
Allura had been overwhelmed in her section, one second stretching her bayard whip into the masses and the next her shriek echoing over the comms as one of Lotor's generals – Lance hadn't learned their names but the big one who really liked to blow stuff up – had tried to apparently blow up Allura. His hands clenched at the memory.
Shiro had fought tooth and nail to get to the princess' side and Lance had joined him, picking off sentries with a desperate vigor as the large Galran female had made as if to take Allura away. They had managed, somehow, Lance was foggy on the how part of that, and had retreated back to the castle, leaving planet Scacad a smoldering heap and another mark of failure.
However, upon their retreat the Galran army had cleared too and Lance was sure that meant something but he wasn't sure he was capable of even adding two plus two at this point – okay, that made four, he could still do that – to puzzle over those details. He'd just settled with relief that the Galra had left and hoped – prayed – for a reprieve. Just for a little while.
They needed it. Because of the constant fighting they had been patching themselves up as best they could with supplies from the infirmary as they could not spare the time for a cryo-pod and the pain was starting to show.
Lance was pretty sure that Hunk had cracked ribs even though his best friend stoically bore it. Shiro had already had to have Coran pop his dislocated right shoulder back into place and was barely able to lift his prosthetic let alone fight with it, which made his rescue of Allura all the more incredible. Lance allowed himself a small grin. Shiro had been… different since he'd returned to them, but his love for his team and his desire to protect them was as fierce as ever.
Pidge and Lance were a mess of bruises and small cuts and Pidge had been complaining of a building migraine that she'd been unable to shake. She needed sleep, Lance knew, but that was something in very, very short supply.
And now Allura had had no choice but to go into a pod. Lance hadn't seen the wound but he imagined it was similar to his own run-in with an explosion and she had required the technology to heal. It was beyond not ideal because they were short not just a Paladin now but also their ability to wormhole. Coran said there was enough residual energy for them to jump once but that would be it until Allura was awake and Coran, looking as worried as Lance had ever seen him, had said that would still be nearly a quintant from now.
Red was also out for the count and Hunk, upon seeing the damage, had grimaced and said if he was lucky – and lucky meant having time and energy and the ability to move without wincing at every stretch – he might be able to patch Red up in two days.
They did not have two days.
They apparently did not even have two hours, which was the amount of time from them getting back into the castle from Scacad, as the alarm was going off again and they had no choice but to respond.
Lance reached the bridge, surprised to see that he was the second. Shiro, standing at the console with Coran, gave him a tight, tired smile.
The sharpshooter forced himself to go stand next to the other males as he knew if he sat in his chair he would not be getting up from it again. A moment later Hunk sidled in, slowly, and behind him was Pidge who had her visor on and darkened against the bright light of the bridge. Migraine was still bad then and Lance sent her a sympathetic look that she didn't see, eyes closed and swaying slightly.
"Another attack," Shiro said, as if it could be anything but. "Planet Nataea issued a distress beacon. Some type of robobeast. We're going to need the Lions."
"Red is still out," Hunk yawned and Lance put a supportive arm around him to keep the larger boy up. "Sorry, Shiro. I—"
"Not your fault, Hunk," Shiro cut in. "I know." His charcoal eyes landed on Lance with a tired sort of intensity. "Lance, I'm going to need you to pilot the Blue Lion."
Lance blinked, not sure if he'd heard right while at the same time his heart did a weird sort of clenching of joy and pain all at the same time.
"What?" he repeated instead.
"We need all the Lions we have available to fight," Shiro explained. "Since the Red Lion is out of commission you'll need to pilot the Blue Lion."
"But I'm not Blue's Paladin anymore," Lance said, and it still hurt to say it. He'd loved his beautiful girl with everything he had. He understood why it had to happen, he really did, but when she'd shut him out with her particle barrier without even an explanation it had felt like someone had stuck a knife in his heart and twisted it. Even being accepted by the temperamental Red Lion had not soothed away that hurt.
He couldn't face that rejection again if Blue told him no. Not like this, when he felt everything bubbling so close to the surface and run so ragged.
"She'll let you in," Shiro said with far more conviction than Lance felt. And he supposed Shiro could say that with confidence. Black had, eventually, let him back in after all. And unlike Shiro, Lance had never left his Lion.
His Lion had just left him.
"What's the plan?" Hunk asked, his arm slung over Lance's shoulders giving a small squeeze that Lance accepted gratefully and the ache in him lessened.
"It's fast," Shiro said. "We're going to have to slow it down because with the Red Lion gone we don't have the speed to keep up."
"It does appear to be limited to the ground," Coran said, his tone lacking the normal levity that Lance appreciated. The advisor was just as exhausted as the rest of them and seeing Allura hurt that badly had to have been hard on him, Lance thought.
Coran was saying something else but Lance tuned out, only to come back in as Shiro said, "Lance, you'll use the Blue Lion's ice abilities to try and freeze it to the ground, got it?"
"Got it," Lance said, although the words did not sound like his own.
"Meet everyone outside the castle in five," Shiro said. He gave them all what was probably supposed to be a supportive smile but it just looked too weary for that. "Nataea and its people are counting on us. We won't let them down."
He strode from the room with a confidence Lance sorely envied. He eyed himself and his fellow Garrison teammates, seeing the slumped shoulders and Pidge's off-centered tilt.
"Come on guys," he said, trying to force a note of joviality, "Let's do this."
Pidge nodded, winced at the movement, and Hunk gave both of them a gentle squeeze on their arms. As one they headed out of the room, leaving Coran to continue his observations on the creature terrorizing the planet.
They broke off in the hallway and Lance felt his heart thudding louder and louder as he approached Blue's hangar. He hadn't been here since she had rejected him. He hadn't wanted to intrude on her growing bond with Allura with his own feelings. Blue had done what needed to be done and he couldn't fault her for looking out for the universe.
He strode in, the particle barrier standing firm between him and the Blue Lion.
"Hey, Blue," he greeted softly, hoping his voice didn't shake.
She did not respond.
He rested a gloved hand against the barrier, the blue glowing brighter under the connection but not yet dissolving. "I know I'm not your Paladin anymore," he said, hating the lump that filled his throat, "but Allura and Red are hurt. Shiro hoped… I hoped," he said quieter, "that you would let me pilot you. Just this once."
And to his relief the shield shimmered under his hand and faded away. Blue's yellow eyes gleamed with life and Lance was surprised to feel her presence thrum through him – a longing, a hurt, a happiness – and he smiled while blinking back tears. "Missed you too, beautiful." He straightened. "Ready to go kick some robobeast butt?"
An answering growl echoed in his mind and Blue lowered her mouth for him to enter the cockpit. He did so, feet clanking almost too loudly on the ramp.
His food stash was gone, he noted as he settled himself into the pilot's chair. So was his spare blanket he liked to keep since Blue could get a little cold. Red had firmly balked when he'd first tried to sneak some cookies on and had become indignant about the blanket, as she was the Lion of fire and the idea that her pilot had wanted a blanket had seemed to offend her.
Just another change, Lance had sighed then, and done his best to accept it.
"Ready?" he asked, placing his hands on familiar controls and received an affirmative in his mind. "Then let's do this."
Blue took to the skies without the speed of the Red Lion, but with more of a playful leap that Lance appreciated given the dire circumstances. Red was always so serious but Blue, while still focused, was calmer in his head and Lance relaxed into it, even as he told himself not to get comfortable. It wasn't like this was going to last.
The others were already in their Lions and Lance was hard-pressed to hide a grin at Hunk's cheer as he and the Blue Lion showed themselves.
"I knew you could do it," Shiro said and Lance basked in the light praise. His tone turned harder. "Let's go. Time to remind them why you don't mess with Voltron."
They blasted off towards the planet, Blue falling into formation alongside Yellow rather than the lead that Lance and Red normally took. They cleared the atmosphere a moment later and got their first actual look at the robobeast that Coran had pulled up on the far range cameras.
"It's ugly," Lance commented. It looked like a giant centipede, the key word being giant as it was easily the size Voltron made on its own. It was a dark brown, providing it camouflage on the rocky surface of the planet, and Shiro was not kidding, it was fast. Upon seeing them it reared up and seemed to almost flicker as it rushed towards them.
Lance barely had time to pull Blue up and away as the beast reared itself in front of them, smashing forward with a thud that shook the whole area. He yelped a moment later as it went for him and Blue again, extending itself to its full height and revealing that each arm sported barbs and a gaping mouth full of teeth snarled at him.
"Lance, stay out of its range!" Shiro ordered.
"Trying," Lance ground out, barrel rolling out of the way. Blue didn't respond as fast as he was used to and the slower movements were costing him.
He needed to stay lower too so he could try and freeze some of its legs when it made contact again with the ground as otherwise the bulk of its body shielded the smaller appendages.
"Come on, girl," he muttered, gripping the console stick. "We can do this."
Blue roared out her agreement and a burst of ice flew from her to strike the ground, a mere tick too late. They tried again. And again. And again.
Occasionally they would encase a small portion of it, but the creature was just too fast. Its momentum would free it (and sometimes leaving a limb behind in the process in a trail of green ichor that had resulted in hearing Hunk throwing up over the comms). But they couldn't get a lock on it and time was stretching from minutes to half hours now and Lance could feel fatigue settling in.
Shiro and Hunk were throwing everything they had at it missile wise but the armored shell on top was too strong and the creature was shifting and rolling too quick for any lasting hit on its less protected underside.
"They always have a weakness," Pidge growled although without the usual bite. "What is it?"
"It's the stomach for sure," Shiro said and Lance nodded his agreement. "We just need to get it to stay still long enough for a good hit."
"You might want to hurry that idea up, Number One," Coran sounded over the comms. "I detect incoming on the Blue Lion's flank."
"Seriously?" Lance griped, wheeling Blue about to see what was up. His eyes widened as he took in a too familiar battle cruiser speeding his way that housed a Galran prince. "Oh come on!"
That was all he had time for as Lotor's ship opened fire and Lance got Blue's shield up in the nick of time to catch the shots. He tried to pull away, to let Lotor go fire on the Black Lion as was the usual in this game of theirs, but the ship followed him.
"I could use some help here," he called out, sending Blue into a nosedive that made the blood rush to his head to evade another shot.
"Swing wide," Shiro instructed. "I'll cover you."
Lance liked that plan very much.
But as Blue shifted to evade another blast from Lotor the robobeast loomed large.
"Lance!" Hunk yelled out a warning but there was nothing to be done as it clipped Blue's side and sent the Lion tumbling paw over tail through the air.
They hit the ground with a bone-jarring thump and Lance felt Blue's pain through their link. He didn't even have a moment to try and reassure her as Lotor's ship was bearing down on them again and shooting blast after blast. The shields flickered under the assault.
"Hang on Lance, I'm coming!" Hunk bellowed. Lance would have expressed his thanks except that the robobeast came back for another pass and sent him and Blue tumbling again.
"You know," Lance gasped, as he righted Blue. "I normally like the whole center of attention thing." He dodged a swipe from one of the robobeast's many arms. "But this is a little much."
Yellow's bulk slammed into the centipede and Lance took the short breather while Shiro unloaded at the exposed underbelly. The creature screamed, so high it left Lance's ears ringing, before it flipped over and the beams reflected harmlessly off its back.
"Why are they targeting Lance?" Pidge demanded, breathless, as the creature did not retreat far and instead came back towards the Blue Lion despite her barrage on it.
"Don't know," Shiro's voice was clipped. "Lance, how are your shields holding?"
"Not good," Lance admitted as they flashed once more as Lotor's laser fire connected.
"Get to the air," Shiro ordered. "At least get out of range of the robobeast. Hunk, stay with him. Head to the castle. Once you're in range have Coran open fire if Lotor follows."
"Roger that," Hunk said at the same time Lance chirped, "You got it, boss-man."
He pushed Blue's thrusters on to pull the Lion back into the sky and felt Blue's relief at the action. "Almost done, beautiful," he murmured to her. He still had no idea how they were supposed to take out the robobeast, but for whatever reason he was being targeted and if he removed himself from the fight maybe it would help the others.
His stomach clenched as he wondered why he was the target. Had he been deemed the weak link? No, he frowned. Allura normally piloted Blue and there was no reason to suspect he had taken her place. Just chosen at random then? Seemed a little odd for someone as calculated Lotor.
Blue dodged clumsily around the robobeast's last attempt, separating him from Hunk for a moment, but he was already propelling into the air and soon would hit the atmosphere. Whatever the reason, he decided, it was almost done with and once they were all safe again they could maybe try and figure it out. He was too tired to think of anything beyond what was right in front of him.
Speaking of he glanced back out Blue's front window from the rearview, just in time to see a ship materialize yards away.
"Quiznak!" he swore, jerking back on the controls but he and Blue were too close. They plowed almost face first into the large cruiser and Lance felt his brain rattle around his skull at the impact.
And then came the real pain.
He screamed as lightning seemed to sizzle and arc about Blue and the Lion roared out her distress. Dimly he heard the others yelling over the comms but his own cries were echoing in the space as the energy rolled off the enemy ship and sank into him and Blue.
Weakly he tried to jostle the controls, to pull Blue free of the ship that was causing them such pain, but Blue didn't so much as twitch, her limbs locked by the energy and his own hands slipped off as a new pulse filled the cabin.
Everything seemed to glow yellow, so bright that Blue's windows became reflective. He saw himself, blood dripping down his face inside his helmet and mouth opened in a scream beyond sound and face a mask of absolute agony.
And then he saw no more.
xxx
Author's Notes:
So. Yes. New fic. Think of chapter one as like, dipping your toes in the water before your friend (or enemy, really) shoves you into the freezing cold pool because that's how quick this story is going to take off. It's a short one (for me) of a grand total of five chapters and about 25k words. I'll post about twice a week until we finish so settle in for a quick, hard, hot ride :D *sizzles* Again, please see warnings up top, but gen relationships for me as always.
The title, as you can see, is a reference to theatre and of course the song form Chicago, along with Lance's quote from season four "Razzle dazzle time!" However; if you look at the original lyrics, "Razzle Dazzle" is actually quite dark. It's all about trying to cover up something imperfect and make it larger and better than it seems. You can see why this speaks to me so much with Lance. Our boy isn't quite that bad, but he does hide his insecurities behind his shield of bravado and laughs.
Drop a comment below if you're joining me for the ride. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks guys! (And hey, it's Valentine's Day apparently! Shower your author with love by leaving a review!)