The sky was a dark purple, far removed from any sun. The seas were churning masses of tar. The land itself was cracked like the dead skin of some extinct beast and the buildings were its exposed bones. The ruler of this desolate place, King Zargon, sat tense upon his throne. This blue face was tight with frustration and his muscular fingers drummed on the arm of his chair. The old crone, Haggar, was sitting by Zargon's side. A thin brown cloak hid her body save for her face and one hand that was gently stroking a thin, blue furred cat. Another man, dressed in royal attire and much younger than the king, stood at the base of the tall throne. It was Prince Lotor, Zargon's only heir who was very eager to inherit the throne, whether his father was done with it or not.
This fuzzy, flapping eyeball made its way into the throne room and perched itself onto Haggar's arm. The blue cat hissed menacingly at it.
"It's about time Haggar. That spy of yours is long overdue," said King Zargon roughly.
"Sorry for the delay, Your Highness, but I'm sure it was worth the wait," said the witch in a raspy voice.
"I doubt that," said Lotor. "Twice now we've sent that spy out and each time it came back with nothing."
"Patience Prince Lotor. Third time's the charm, after all," scorned Haggar. She stroked the eyeball with a single finger. "Go on, my sweet. Show us what you've seen."
The small black pupil of the eyeball blinked and then an image appeared in the air before the evil trio. It was the Castle of Lions control room, as seen from above. King Zargon watched as Tony, the Super Stars, and Coran discussed the battle between Voltron and the insect robeast, the problem with the broken dynatherm, and the locations of the only living beings who might now how to fix the mighty defender of Arus.
"So, Voltron is now nothing more than a worthless pile of scrap metal," crowed Lotor. "This is the perfect opportunity to attack."
Haggar went back to stroking her cat. "We cannot attack Arus yet. The repairs to the robeast are not yet complete."
"Then speed up the process, Witch," commanded King Zargon. "I want that monstrosity of yours ready before Voltron is completely repaired."
"No worries about that, Father," said Lotor. "Without the dynatherm, Voltron will never work again."
King Zargon sat in thoughtful silence for a moment. "Haggar, what is a dynatherm?"
Haggar knew more about Voltron than anyone else on Planet Doom, but even she could not be sure. "I'm afraid I don't know sire. Perhaps it is the mechanism that allows the five Lions of Voltron to draw their energy from the forces of nature."
King Zargon snorted skeptically. "Well, whatever it is, Voltron is nothing without it."
"All the same, Father," said Lotor silkily, "allow me to take a small squadron of ships down to Arus and capture the hidden engineer's before the Super Stars reach them. That will give us more time to repair the robeast."
"Yes, Lotor, a fine idea," agreed the King. Lotor bowed and marched out of the throne room with a conceptual smile hidden from his father. He had been struck with sudden inspiration. If he could get hold of just one of those engineer's he could learn the purpose of the dynatherm himself and gain control of Voltron's power. Then, Planet Arus, Doom, and the lovely Princess Allura would be his.
When Haggar's spying eyeball returned to Planet Doom, another miniature spy was also leaving the Castle of Lions, heading towards the forest. At first glance, it was just a dragonfly, except that this dragonfly was almost half normal size and made of metal. The eyes were opaque glass lenses. Its aluminum wings hummed steadily as the bug made its way through the forest canopy and over to a small area where the trees had been cleared. Within this small radius were three large armored vehicles floating silently a foot off the ground, unsupported by wheels or legs. Three metallic rings lined with sharp triangular teeth floated around each vehicle like the rings of Saturn. Within the same clearing, several M.A.D. agents and their two teenage generals, Smithe and Max, were sitting on fallen logs. Smithe was dressed in his usual gray plate armor while Max sported his light-weight multi-colored armor. The M.A.D. agents were cloaked entirely in black jumpsuits with masks over their faces.
Everyone looked up as the metal dragonfly flew towards them and landed neatly in Max's hand. "This thing worked like a charm."
Smithe smiled his agreement. He was holding a small communication device with a television screen and speaker in his hand. He twisted a knob on the side of the device and an image appeared on the screen. The image was of the inside of a stone room. A huge fireplace containing a roaring fire could be seen behind a wooden desk with a computer terminal on it. In front of the desk was a high-backed chair, but only the back of the chair was visible. The M.A.D. insignia (a menacing-looking cat's head) was prominent on the chair's back. A single muscular arm clad in a black sleeve and a metal glove was draped casually on the right armrest.
A deep, gravelly voice came over the communicator, speaking only a single word, "Report."
"The Dragon-Spy worked perfectly, Dr. Claw," said Smithe. "I…
"We!" interjected Max.
"We were able to see everything in the castle and you were right; something big is definitely going on." Smithe relayed the entire conversation between the Super Stars and Coran, including the Stars mission to find the remaining engineers in the hopes that one of them would be able to fix Voltron's dynatherm.
"This presents us with an excellent opportunity," said Claw thoughtfully. "If we can gain control of Voltron, it will be child's play to take over the rest of Toon World. No one could stop me." Claw was silent for a moment, then asked, "What is a dynatherm, anyway?"
Smithe was at a loss to explain. "Well, we're not really sure, sir. No one in the castle knew, not even Coran. I'm thinking it might be part of the flight system."
"More likely it's integral to the robot's weaponry," said Claw.
"I think it's what makes the Lion's armor so shiny," said Max. Smithe looked over at his partner with a raised eyebrow. "What?" asked Max.
"Never mind," said Claw sternly. The metal hand came up into a fist. "There's not enough time to send more troops. The robeast will be back by the time they get there. You two lead my agents in the new Cyclone Cutters and head off the Super Stars. Bring me those engineers. We will force them to repair Voltron for M.A.D. and reveal the purpose of the dynatherm."
Both generals saluted with a fist to the side of their heads. "Yes, sir."