"I can't tell if he looks healthy... or not." Hunk said taking a closer look at Lance.
"I think he's breathing weird," Pidge observed.
"He always is," Kagome said.
"Oh, come on!" Keith took a step forward and tried to tap the pod, but Allura stopped him.
"Not yet! A few more ticks," she said.
"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks?" Keith asked.
"And what exactly is a tick?" Pidge asked.
They had all taken their attention off Lance and was now crowded around Allura.
"You know, a time-slice," Allura explained.
"What, like a second?" Shiro asked.
"What is a... "second"?" Allura asked.
"A tick?" Kagome suggested.
Pidge rummaged through her pocket and fished out a timer.
"Like this," Pidge said turning it on.
"I'm not sure. I think ticks are bigger. Coran, do you have a ticker?" Allura asked.
"Right here, Princess." Coran took out a beeping device. He walked over to Pidge and the rest comparing the speed of their timers.
"I think ticks are a little slower." Hunk said.
"I can't tell. We have to start them at the same time." Pidge said.
"Okay. Ready, go!" Both of them started their timers at the same time while everyone huddled in closer.
"Yes! I think we're winning." Hunk cheered.
"Huh?" Kagome questioned.
"Winning what? The intergalactic time-measuring competition?" Keith asked sarcastically.
"Yes."
"You guys having a clock party?" Lance asked. He stumbled over to them.
"Aw, Lance, you just ruined it. Uh—Hey, Lance!" Hunk turned around surprised hugging Lance.
"What happened?" Lance drously asked.
"We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk?" Allura asked.
"Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?" Lance asked.
"No," Kagome answered for Allura.
"Yep. There he is." Pidge said.
"Yep, he's okay. Shiro sighed.
"Classic." Keith breathed out.
XXX
Lance was seated at the table eating with everyone else crowded around him filling him in on what happened when he was unconscious.
"He'd be Sendak's prisoner right now, if not for Pidge." Allura praised.
"Well, you wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new Crystal," Pidge said.
"Wow. Thanks, everybody. So, what happened to Sendak?" Lance asked.
"He's frozen in a cryo-pod. We're keeping him here in the Castle." Allura said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lance asked.
"We could kill him," Kagome suggested.
"We don't kill people." Shiro sweatdropped.
"He's too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him." Allura explained.
"So, what's the plan now?" Lance asked.
"We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people." Hunk said.
"Wow! You are really hung up on this lady." Lance teased.
"He is," Kagome said.
"No, it's not like that." Hunk said embarrassed. "Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home—They've been under his thumb for so long, they don't even know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up."
"Then let's get moving. Time to go defend the universe." Shiro said. Everyone turned to leave but before they could, Pidge stopped them.
"Wait, I have something to say first. I need to come clean and... I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me." Pidge cast her eyes aside before looking back up at them. "Just so there are no secrets between us anymore, I can't "man up". ... I'm a girl." she admitted.
Kagome had known for a long time. Not only was it obvious, but after a certain incident, it confirmed her suspicions. She chuckled at the thought of it. Kagome had walked in on Pidge changing one day. In a way, Pidge was glad it was Kagome, after all, they were both girls. Think of what would happen if Hunk or Lance found out the way she did. Pidge might have never recovered from her embarrassment.
"I-I mean, I can "man up" because that's just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to "man up." I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying—"
"Huh—Eh—Wha—?! You're a girl!? HOW!?" Lance asked flabbergasted.
"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone," Allura said.
"Yeah, I figured." Hunk said.
"Oh, yeah, me too," Keith said.
"Wait, w-we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Coran asked. Confusion was written on his face.
"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better Paladin," Shiro said smiling.
"You already know that I know." Kagome shrugged.
Pidge now relieved that no one took it the wrong way, sighed.
"It's good to get that off my chest. Now, let's launch this Castleship!"
"Kagome, can you show me your power things?" Hunk asked on their way out.
"No." she rejected.
"Wait, what? Pidge is a girl, Castle is a ship, and Kagome has powers? How long have I been out?" he asked.
XXX
On the Bridge, Allura walk on to her podium and two controls rose out of the ground.
Seats popped out of the ground, and this time, there was one for everyone. Including Kagome. She let out a breath knowing that she wasn't left out and sat down. A screen popped up in front of everyone with details on the Castle.
Allura placed her hands on the controls and began initiating take off.
"Activate interlock," she commanded.
"Dynotherms connected," Coran informed.
"Mega-thrusters go."
"We are ready to depart Planet Arus on your mark, Princess."
"Firing main engines for launch."
The Castle rumbled as the wings folded in and the engines roared. When everything was set, they began rising. The rock beneath them crumbled after growing over the Castle for such a long time.
XXX
"Okay. So, when we get there, what do you think? Do we just roll up and like, start blasting? Or do we land and have some... kind of public address system, like, 'Attention, Galras. This is Voltron. Turn yourselves in!'" Hunk paced around the Bridge. "No. Blasting, right?" he asked Kagome.
"Why are you asking me?" she asked throwing her hands up in the air. Dissatisfied with her answer, he turned to the rest of the Paladins.
"Hunk, calm down. And yes, blasting." Keith reassured
"Eh, it's our first big rescue mission. He's excited." Shiro said.
"Excited to see his new girl-friend~" Pidge teased.
Hunk gasped in his defense.
"She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met and I admire very much."
Right when he finished his sentence, alarms start blaring.
"What is it? Are we being attacked?" Shiro asked.
"No, it seems to be a distress beacon. It's coming from a nearby moon. Apparently, a ship has lost power." Allura informed.
"I wonder who it is," Pidge asked.
"Whoever it is will have to wait. Shay has first priority. We can check back on them when we're done." Hunk said.
"The Paladin Code states that we must help all those in need." Allura reminded.
"Wow! This is so cool. It's like we're space cops on space patrol. Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?" Lance asked.
"Uh, no, but we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them," Coran suggested.
"Perfect!"
"No, it's not." Kagome deadpanned.
Ignoring Kagome, Lance started to imitate a siren.
"No, not doing that," Shiro said covering Lance's mouth. Kagome chuckled at the motion. Out of all the people, she did not expect Shiro to be the one to do it. Hunk? maybe. Keith? Yes. But Shiro? It was a surprise.
The Castle reached the moon and turns upright slowly descending.
"Attention, damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you." Allura said over the speakers. "Stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us." Allura ordered.
"Yes, Princess," Coran answered.
"Kagome you stay here in case Coran needs help."
"Eh ok." Kagome shrugged. Right from the beginning, she planned to stay in the Castle and train herself.
"Well, let's get going," Shiro instructed. All the Paladins grabbed their helmets and made their way to the front.
Kagome watched them descend from a distance and turned to Coran who was working on the Castle.
"Coran."
"Yes?" he asked not stopping his work.
"Can I go?" Kagome asked.
"Sure, I'll be able to handle this alone." he confidently said. "I'm actually younger than I look. Have I told you about when i-"
"Bye," Kagome left the Bridge and walked to her room before she was roped into another one of Coran's stories.
The doors opened for her and she stepped in dodging the blanket she put on the floor. Kagome pulled it off the saw that the blood on the ground was almost completely faded. Kagome rubbed the stain with her finger and looked at it noticing a red mark on her finger. She wiped it on her shirt and looked back at the faded symbol.
Sighing, she stepped on the blanket and started to wipe it off. The moved her leg around like a mop cleaning off the red marks, when she was done, Kagome picked up her blanket and inspected it. There was an occancial red spot or two, but nothing out of the ordinary. With the limited space in her room, Kagome was unable to train as she would like to.
Today, everyone was gone. Taking advantage of the situation, Kagome decided that it would be best to train in the Training Deck without freaking anyone out. She grabbed her pack and made her way to the room.
It was time to put Midoriko training into use.
Flashback
"Kagome." she heard. "Who are you! Show yourself!" she demanded looking around her surroundings. All there was a white mist the covered the grassy plains."There is no need to be afraid of my child." the voice called again. "I wish you no harm.""Where are you?" Kagome asked looking around. "Show yourself!" she repeated. Then a gust of wind blew the fog away and there stood in the middle of the field was a woman. She had on a traditional hakama and her hands were folded in front of her. On her 14th birthday, she was dragged down a well and forced into the feudal era dealing with all the horrors of the past. It would be a surprise if she agreed to this.
End flashback
After Kagome died, she woke up in the world. Apparently, she was an orphaned teenager living on her own. It made things easier for herself, but every once in a while, she thought of her friends and family. Sure she had Midoriko, but she could only see her at night and they weren't necessarily friends. When Kagome finished her training, Midoriko saw her less and less.
She killed off the last of the robots on the training deck and wiped the sweat off her brow. Cuts and bruises littered her body, not only that, but blood soaked through her clothing making her look worse than she actually was.
XXX
"Uh, I never trusted those guys, right from the beginning!" Kagome heard Hunk say on the intercom.
She was walking around in the Castle when she noticed that the Blue Lion was gone. Kagome was about to inform the team until she heard the conversation between Lance and the other Paladins.
"I mean, I know, at first, it was just like a feeling in my gut, you know?" Hunk rambled on. "But when I was replacing that thermal pipe, the pipe was cracked, but none of the hardware around it was damaged."
"Okay, we get it!" Keith said. Kagome stood next to Keith in the Lion with her hands on her hips.
"I mean, if the thermal pipe is cracked, then, obviously, hello, the entire assembly should be totally roasted."
"Okay, we get it." Kagome sighed.
"We should've had to replace the entire undercarriage of that reactor. So, right then, I was, like, positive. Foul play."
"Okay, we get it!" Everyone yelled.
Kagome watched as the ship flew into the asteroid belt weaving through rocks like it was nothing.
"We'll never get through this asteroid field!" Pidge cried.
"Maybe I can just bust through!" Hunk said.
He rammed his Lion into the closest rock and it ran into another one creating a sort of chain reaction. It caused all the asteroids to knock into each other making things worse.
"Nope. That was wrong. That was a bad idea." he said.
"Keith, you're the only one who could possibly fly through this. We need you, buddy. Get in there and flush him out." Shiro said.
"You got it. See you on the other side." Keith said.
Keith went forward dodging the moving asteroids slowly catching up with Rolo. Kagome gripped Keith's armrest to try and steady herself in the Lion. Keith glanced at her arm and noticed her blood-soaked clothes.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
"Just training, don't worry, I'm fine," she reassured.
"Ah-hu," Keith asked skeptically.
"Just shut up and drive," she said.
Keith jumped asteroid to asteroid flying and running faster than before. They landed on an asteroid that was close to another almost crushing them. Rolo's ship showed up on the screen and Keith flew the Lion closer to it avoiding them from getting crushed.
When they started to gain on them the ship fried purple lasers at them. Keith pulled up and dodged the bullets returning fire. Both sides fought Rolo's ship suddenly pulled up and they were met with an asteroid.
Keith avoided crashing into it and threw a boomerang at the ship cutting their guns. It gave off some static before exploding. The ship tried to escape but the Red Lion shot one of their engines. The ship spun out of the asteroid belt and they easily caught the ship.
"Yeah! Haha! Hey, Lance, I got your Lion back." Keith cheered.
"Thank you, Keith. Now, can you come and unchain me?" Lance asked.
"Say no," Kagome whispered.
"What's that? I, uh... Y-You're cutting out. I can't—I can't hear you."
"Oh, come on! I thought we bonded. Keith? Buddy? My man?"
XXX
"Since your ship really doesn't work now, you'll have to wait here for a rescue," Keith said.
Everyone stood outside the Castle of Lions talking to the Rolo and his Crew.
"Thanks... for sparing our lives," he muttered.
"If it was up to me I wouldn't have," Kagome said.
"Now that these guys are dealt with, let's get to the Balmera and save Shay and her family." Hunk said.
"You may not believe this," Rolo said catching everyone's attention. "But I hope you do stop Zarkon. It's a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me to where I am today."
