Paladins, GO!

by Iisarainbowpig

After a rather devastating attack to team Voltron, leaving the Castle severely damaged, the small makeshift family retreat through a mysterious wormhole. They exit into a world so familiar yet so foreign to them. And who were these teen super heroes who lived in a giant T?

11. Chapter 11: Showtime, The Sequel

Ho ho? What's this? A double update?

Yes, yes, my friends, I have provided thee with a double update! Why? Because Silver and I felt bad that we didn't update in like a month, and we didn't want to come back with only two short specials. So! Here we are! Also we're kind of breaching mini arc territory so... we gotta keep it rolling ;P

Also this was a very long chapter to write AND edit so... you're welcome.

Enjoy~

---

"Holy quiznak, what are you doing back here?!" Lance shrieked at the sight of a very familiar long-haired alien prince sitting on the sofa casually.

"Who's he?" Adam whispered to Shiro, surprised at Lance's visible disgust toward the purple-skinned male.

"Lotor," Shiro responded quietly.

Adam scowled, righteous fury welling up inside him. He had heard all about Lotor from the others. Specifically, what he had done to Shiro. And he wasn't happy about any of it. "Isn't he-"

"I'll explain later," Shiro promised, kissing Adam softly.

Pidge made a gagging sound from behind, causing Shiro to break the kiss and roll his eyes at Pidge's antics.

"Allura and Coran called me a few nights ago and asked me to return," Lotor said, enjoying the agonized look on Lance's face.

"So that's what you were doing that night!" Lance accused a slightly guilty-looking Coran and Allura.

"Well, I believe that Lotor's presence here would help us return to where we are supposed to be," Allura responded primly.

"So you guys disappeared for all that time just to make a call?" Pidge asked suspiciously.

"Y-yes. Of course," Allura said nervously, looking at a suddenly sweating Coran.

"What did you actually do?" Pidge pestered. "You didn't just call him. There's no way."

"Well, we did, and that's all that happened," Allura said a little waspishly, getting anxious with the Green Paladin's inquisitive nature. "Not that it concerns you."

"Sheesh, you don't have to snap," Pidge muttered, rolling her eyes. "I get it. Princess duties and all."

Remembering Coran's harangue that night, Allura's guilt increased tenfold. "No, I'm sorry, Pidge-"

"It's fine," Pidge interrupted with a hand held up, "I get it."

"Pidge," Coran said warningly, "the Princess is apologizing. Listen to her."

Blinking in surprise, Pidge begrudgingly turned back to Allura. "What?"

"I'm sorry for being rude to you all. I did not mean to be so arrogant in my manners." Allura bowed apologetically to all the shocked Paladins.

Adam crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "Sure," he muttered sarcastically, earning a light nudge from his fiancée. Adam huffed, still not happy with the way he had heard Allura had acted toward Shiro.

"We forgive you, Princess," Hunk said gently, placing a large hand on Allura's shoulder.

"Speak for yourself," Pidge muttered saltily. Keith gave a quiet hum of agreement.

"I know I've wronged you, Keith," Allura said, looking the Red Paladin in the eyes. "And I will try my hardest to improve."

Keith shrugged. "Okay."

Adam placed a hand on the Red Paladin's shoulder and fixed Allura with a hard stare. If the way she had treated Shiro was bad, Keith had been the subject of downright abuse. And Adam already felt protective over Shiro's socially inept, angsty, younger brother.

Knowing this was the closest to acceptance she was going to get right now, Allura sighed and turned to Lotor. "I am so sorry for the way the Paladins have treated you."

"No, no, it's amusing," Lotor said with a smile.

"Pidge, Lance," Allura said with a sigh, "try and at least be kinder to Lotor. You three should do something together and try and get along!"

"Pidge and I already get along quite well," Lotor mentioned to Allura with a small smile.

"Why is he saying that?" Lance whispered to Pidge.

"Because I was acting nice last time to get the metals," Pidge whispered back.

"Oh yeah."

"Pidge? What are you and Lance whispering about?" Lotor asked.

"Uh… ways we can become closer together," Pidge said with a large smile.

"Yeah! We have the perfect idea!" Lance chimed in.

"We do?" Pidge asked Lance in confusion. Lance gave her a look and Pidge immediately smiled again. "We do!"

"Oh?" Lotor asked interestedly. "What is it?"

"Follow me," Lance said, tugging Pidge with him. Curious, Lotor got up and followed Lance who was struggling to hide his large grin.

"Is this a good idea to let those three go alone?" Robin asked, unconvinced Lance and Pidge had suddenly changed their opinions of Lotor that quickly.

"Probably not," Shiro replied, "we'll go and help them if we hear chaos."

"Chaos?" Allura inquired, getting a bad feeling about her suggestion.

"You know, yells, shouts, loud noises," Shiro said casually, sitting on the sofa and watching Beast Boy and Cyborg play a video game. Adam sat next to Shiro, leaning back against the sofa as his fiancée watched the game in rapt fascination. The following round, Shiro politely asked to try and easily defeated an aghast Cyborg, who had already beaten Beast Boy, quite quickly.

---

"What are you doing?" Pidge hissed to Lance.

"I have a plan," Lance said with a snicker. He stopped at Keith and Coran's room. "Here we are!" Lance announced.

They went in and Lance gestured to the bed. "Please, stay over there and remain here for a bit while Pidge and I get the required materials for our… bonding time."

Lance, never having let go of Pidge, dragged her outside with him. "Pidge, let's go and gather a bunch of hair ties, ribbons, hairspray, etc."

"Ooh," Pidge said in delight. "We're playing with his hair?"

"Yup!"

"Actually, I'm going to go back in and keep him occupied and unsuspicious so you go and gather the things. I recommend Starfire's room. She has a bunch of hair stuff in there."

"Okay!" Lance chirped and skipped off.

Pidge entered Keith and Coran's room with an innocent look on her face. "Lance went to go get the things and I am going to keep you entertained while we're waiting."

"Why are we doing this again?" Lotor questioned.

"We're… setting aside past grudges," Pidge responded with a mysterious smirk.

"Okay…" Lotor said, oblivious to all of the bad things about to happen to him.

"So… how is your father?" Pidge asked casually, trying to find out exactly how good Lotor was here.

"Oh, he's… in space jail," Lotor said rather sadly.

Pidge blinked. "Huh?"

"He… tried to destroy the planet known as Altea while trying to bring back my mother, but he was stopped and thrown in prison."

"... I see…" Pidge said, amazed. "I kinda want to stay here if everything's that simple," she mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Lotor asked, not quite having heard her.

"I'm so sorry that he's in prison," Pidge said with false sympathy.

"Oh, it's-"

"PIDGE, TACKLE HIM!" Lance yelled as he slid into the room, arms full of hair products. Pidge tackled the surprised Lotor and managed to get him to lay flat on his back. Lance dropped his armful of products and joined in, taking over for Pidge as he basically laid on top of the struggling Lotor.

"What are you doing?" Lotor asked, gritting his teeth as he tried to move his trapped arms.

"Holding you still! Pidge! Start!"

"Oh it!" Pidge scrambled to the pile of hair products and grabbed a few hair ties.

"Pidge?" Lotor said in betrayal. Pidge scampered to his head and began portioning off his hair.

"Lance, you didn't grab a brush," she complained as she had to hold Lotor's head steady because he kept tossing it.

"Sorry, I didn't know which of Starfire's alien things was a brush," Lance apologized with a slight grunt as Lotor kneed him in the gut.

"Wow, it's so soft," Pidge marveled as she began braiding a random third of his hair.

"Pidge, a little- ugh- help?" Lance huffed as he began to lose his grip on the bucking Lotor.

"Okay!" Pidge, not letting go of the hair, moved so she was straddling Lotor's chest and arms and Lance was able to move down and sprawl across his legs.

"Wha- Why are you doing this?" Lotor cried in confusion.

"It's bonding!" Lance panted, out of breath from hanging onto Lotor while dodging his flailing limbs.

"What in the world is this?" The three looked to the door to find everyone else gathered there and staring at the pile of humans and alien incredulously.

"We're bonding," Lance repeated cheekily.

Pidge tied off the braid and grinned at them brightly. "You guys should join us! His hair is so soft and silky!"

"Help me…" Lotor said weakly as he blushed from Pidge's awkward position on his chest.

"Keith, go grab a brush!" Lance ordered.

Keith stared at them for a moment longer before shrugging. "Okay. Whatever." He walked out of the room.

"Keith, you're not actually doing it, are you?" Shiro called.

No response.

"These are the people you have been with for the past two years?" Adam asked archly, examining the Lotor pile intensely.

"Yup," Shiro answered, looking at the scene fondly.

Hunk stared at Pidge and Lance hesitantly. "Don't you think Lotor should at least be sitting up for this?"
Pidge and Lance exchanged looks.

"Do you agree to let us play with your hair if we let you go?" Pidge asked, giving him a hopeful look.

"..." Lotor glared at them before resigning himself to his fate and sighing. "Fine."

Pidge grinned at him and hopped off, taking the brush Keith was holding out, and Lance begrudgingly got off of Lotor's legs.

"I feel betrayed," Lotor said, feeling hurt. Pidge's grin faltered for a minute, feeling bad for this good version of Lotor.

"Sorry Lotor… but your hair just looked so nice that I wanted to play with it…"

"I would have let you if you had asked," Lotor said tiredly. "My daughters always want to do the same thing."

"Daughters?" Matt asked in shock, reeling back.

"Yeah, Allura's," Pidge answered her brother, smirking at the crestfallen expression on his face.

"Doesn't she hate him?" Adam asked Shiro, receiving a nod in return. "Then how….?"

"... Sorry," Pidge said to Lotor sheepishly. Lotor smiled in slight amusement.

"I forgive you."

"Pidge, you aren't doing it right!" Lance complained. "Do you not know how to style hair?"

"Well… when I had long hair, I just always put it in a ponytail," Pidge confessed. "And mom, dad, and Matt didn't really know how to style hair… so…"

"That sounds like him," Adam remarked.

"Well when you're a guy, that kind of stuff doesn't matter as much!" Matt said defensively.

"But your sister is basically your brother now," Adam said, lips quirking upwards.

"I take offense to that," Pidge said as she accidentally created another knot in Lotor's hair.

"Oh my lord, give me the brush," Lance said, snatching the brush from her.

Pidge raised a brow as she sat a few inches away. "You know how to style hair?"

"I have a niece, Pidge," Lance deadpanned, not looking up from his careful ministrations.

"You're an uncle!?"

Lance shrugged. "Big family. Like...huge."

"And your sisters," Hunk added, joining in and taking a portion of Lotor's hair as well.

"See? It's not that hard, Matt," Adam teased, nudging the brunette lightly. "Lance could do it."

"Well…" Matt mumbled, not really having a response to that.

"Hunk, you know how to do hair too?" Pidge asked, shocked.

"Niece."

"... What's next? Keith, do you also know how to do hair?" Pidge asked sarcastically.

"No," Keith responded with an eye roll.

"At least that answer was expected," Pidge grumbled.

"Hey, is there a TV in here?" Lance asked, looking up from his intense braiding. "Let's watch something!"

"Like what?" Keith asked skeptically.

"I don't know. Turn on the TV!"

As soon as the TV was turned on, a very familiar looking notification popped up.

"Would you like to watch The Feud?"

"Coran, do you have something plugged in?" Hunk asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was watching my favorite show!" Coran said in his defense.

"Well, should we?" Shiro looked around and seeing the interest on everyone's faces, clicked yes.

Immediately, spot lights began to turn on one by one, illuminating a stage as an enthusiastic announcer with a nasally voice introduced the show.

"Hello! And welcome to another exciting episode of the craaaaaazzziest game in the galaxy! Garfle Warfle Snick!" The stage fully lit up, revealing the two sets of five contestant tables on either side of the stage, lit up with the multitude of screens and flashing lights. "And now, here's the host of Garfle Warfle Snick, Bob!"

"Ugh," Pidge groaned, recognizing the show.

"No." Keith grimaced, refusing to look at the screen.

"Why is someone named Bob hosting such a crazy show?" Cyborg questioned.

"Because he is also crazy," Pidge mumbled, leaning on Lance.

Lance swatted at her in annoyance. "Pidge, don't restrict my movements while I'm trying to do a braided crown!"

A small platform slid open on the center of the stage, a strange contraption of a chair whirling out with a strange green alien with four arms grinning in the seat. He opened his arms wide, his grin never faltering as the screen shifted for a second as if the connection to the show were weak.

"Thank you, Norlox. Hi, everybody! Welcome to another exciting addition of Garfle Warfle Snick!" He crossed his arms. "The game where anything Garfle will be Warfled and vice versa. I'm Bob." He gestured to the side enthusiastically, the camera following his hand to the set of table stands to his right. "And now let's meet the intergalactic goofballs we've got playing with us!"

Each of the Paladins rose standing shoulder to shoulder, looking utterly lost and confused. Shiro blinked about him in surprise, Hunk looked panicked and nervous, Lance looked around with a similar expression, Pidge stared questioningly at everything, and Keith looked on guard.

"What is this place?" Shiro asked, looking suddenly very worried.

"Looks like some… kind of game show," Hunk chimed in.

"A game show from hell!" Lance cried, accidentally pulling on Lotor's hair in his frustration and causing a wince of pain.

"Lance, be careful with the pretty hair," Pidge warned.

"Yeah, yeah," Lance said flippantly, undoing his too tight knot in the middle of the braid.

"What's happening?" Keith asked, leaning away from his surroundings as it provided no answer.

"I don't know," Pidge replied with a pensive look. "The last thing I remember, we were all flying in our Lions-"

She didn't get the chance to fully finish as Bob swiveled up right before a shocked Keith, shoving a microphone in his face. "Hi, there! Tell us your name and where you're from!"

Keith furrowed his brows, staring distrustfully at the host. "Wh-what is this?"

"Uh-oh! Looks like someone wasn't listening to Norlox!" Bob said, releasing the microphone attached to his hover chair and speaking to the crowd as the Paladins followed his movement with nervous confusion. Norlox shrugged with a nasally huff, the supposed crowd laughing aloud. "Tell them what this is, everybody." Keith, Lance, and Pidge, the only ones in the camera frame at the time, looked to the camera with unease. The same colorful introduction appeared on the screen, the crowd yelling out the alien show name. "That's right! The name of the game is Garfle Warfle Snick." He turned from the crowd back to the Paladins. "Now, tell us your name, son!" He spun in the air, stopping to lean on Keith's stand and looking up at him expectantly.

"My name is...Keith," he replied hesitantly, "How did we get here?"

"You know, Keith, you shouldn't talk to strangers… even if they are gods," Coran advised. "I don't know if they teach earthlings this, but Altean children are-"

"Well, we didn't have a choice, now did we, Coran?" Keith huffed.

"Well, I'll tell you how Norlox got to be on the show," Bob said instead, pushing off of Keith's stand. "His uncle owns the studio." Norlox glared from his spot across the stage as the crowd snickered. "Alright Keith, why don't you introduce us to the rest of your team?"

"We're… the Paladins of Voltron. This is Shiro, Hunk, Lance-" Lance quickly moved from his observing position by Shiro and struck a charming pose "-and Pidge. But you haven't answered my question. How did we get here?"

"Wow, that was the cringiest thing ever, Lance!" Pidge laughed.

"I don't see any of your stylish and cool moves," Lance retorted snidely, laughing at Pidge's scrunched up expression.

Bob leaned back in his chair with crossed arms as he looked to the crowd. "I hope not the same way I got here. A Moofglider was Jacked on the Holdar expressway and it took forever to get past it!" His chair spun upside down and back up as he explained, holding his head as if he had a headache. "I still smell like Moof!"

"What does a Moof smell like?" Beast Boy asked.

"Probably like you after you sweat in animal form," Raven said sarcastically.

"Hey!"

"Actually, friend Raven is right, friend Beast Boy-"

"What?!"

He was suddenly back to leaning on Keith's table, prompting the Red Paladin to back away nervously. "Okay, Keith, I'm sure you know how to play our game. All you've got to do is accumulate Quanzanboolian credits and you win. Of course if you don't, you'll hear this sound-" a sound not unlike a losing trombone tune played "-and that means you're trapped here in our studio for the rest of eternity."

"Wait, what?" Hunk asked from beside Lance who looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Did you say we'd be trapped here for the rest of eternity!?" Pidge cried in astonishment. The other Paladins recovered from being shocked and took on fearful and worried expressions as Bob turned to address the crowd again.

"Uh-oh… is there an echo in here, echo in here?"

"This guy is so obnoxious," Robin muttered. "He reminds me of Mad Mod…"

All of the Titans shivered.

"Who's Mad Mod?" Shiro asked.

"A lunatic," Robin responded, getting a headache from just thinking about him.

"Oh, we've dealt with plenty of those," Shiro said sympathetically. Adam frowned at the thought of said lunatics around Shiro and leaned in close to Shiro, putting his head on his shoulder.

"I don't know who you are, or what's going on, but we're getting out of here!" Keith said with a glare.

Bob chuckled happily and snapped his fingers, yellow wisps of energy leaving his fingertips. "Oh, I don't think so!"

A yellow light engulfed everyone from their ankles down, expanding into a small circular platform at their feet, startling them all. They proceeded to attempt to pry them off. Shiro tried to pull his feet up with no success. Lance grabbed at his feet and tried to rip them free. Pidge craned her body upwards with strained sounds, while Hunk and Keith stared down at their feet in shock.

"My feet are stuck!" Lance said, ceasing his futile tugs.

"Mine too," Pidge chimed in.

"Dude, you don't tell the bad guy you're going to leave!" Beast Boy complained. "That's like common sense!"

"That's rich coming from you," Raven scoffed.

Bob's expression darkened as he watched, a rather sinister smile taking up his features. "See, all of you are guests on my show," his voice suddenly shifted to sound echoey and demonic, a shadow falling over his face, "and you will play my game as long as I want you to!" His face suddenly brightened along with his smile, his voice returning to normal. "Understand?"

Everyone was frozen, staring at him with a more fearful and silent look, Lance's hands still wrapped around his feet. They all nodded rapidly in sync, too afraid to do anything else.

"Great! Let's start with our first Warfle. Tell us what it is, Norlox."

"The first Warfler is…" the strange alien looked down at the card in his grey claws for a moment before gesturing dramatically with his other hand. "Pictation!"

The crowd went wild, cheering and clapping as a translucent green screen lowered from the ceiling, bright lights flickering happily from around its frame. Much to his surprise, the platform holding Keith's legs whisked out, carrying the paladin over to a new stand by the screen in a twirl that left him disorientated and gripping the table to steady his swimming vision.

"Come on over here, Keith. Pictation: the drawing game. Keith, the answers will pop up on your screen where your team can't see them and it's up to you to draw the people and places you've seen during your adventures as a Paladin of Voltron while your team tries to guess the answers." Keith took the pen that magically poofed before him uneasily before the camera moved to show the others standing dumbfounded from their original spots. It moved back to a very anxious Red Paladin as Bob addressed him again. "Are you a good artist, Keith?"

"I….uh…"

"Well, I hope you're a better drawer than a talker, eh?" He lifted his hand, a few rings of yellow magic sliding off before exploding in a puff of smoke around Keith. He was very startled to find his mullet tied up in a ponytail at the top of his scalp and a pacifier stuck in his mouth, giving him the look of an oversized baby. The crowd chuckled. "Let's put Blazle Hooches on the board!" The camera moved again to a different screen that suddenly lit up with alien letters from behind the paladins. "Aaaaand, go!"

Keith frantically began drawing a crude rectangle as a monotone lady's voice said for only him to hear, "The answer is Arusian."

"So the answer is said out loud by the bot?" Lotor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That sounds stupid," Adam remarked, putting his head on Shiro's shoulder. "Why would they say the answer out loud?"

"It's alien technology," Matt muttered, sighing. "It's never that simple."

"No, only Keith could hear it," Pidge explained, stretching her legs out to rest on Keith's lap.

"It's a knock-off version of Pictionary," Cyborg pointed out.

"It's the alien version," Lance said, picking up a hair tie to section off the half of the hair he wasn't currently holding.

He was in the middle of drawing strange warped triangles as ears when the others began to launch off guesses.

"It's a rock!" Hunk said, leaning forward. "Balmera!"

Keith had finished drawing the stripes on the ears and had begun the eyes as Pidge called out, "An Olkari Cube!"

"It's a chicken!" Lance yelled confidently. He gasped as Pidge stared at him in disbelief.

"When did we see a chicken in outer space!?"

"I don't know, it's not my fault Keith can't draw!"

"A chicken of all things," Keith muttered. "A chicken."

"Shut up, Keith! You need to draw better!"

"What part of that looked like a chicken?!"

"What part of that looked like a cube?!"

"Hey, don't bring me into this," Pidge objected.

Keith began on the body, drawing thin arms and legs, each with small spikes as toes and fingers. Lance continued to spew out random answers.

"Rooster! A chicken hawk! A chicken with a beard!"

"Why are you so intent on a bird?" Raven asked dryly.

"It looked like a chicken!" Lance said defensively.

"It really doesn't," Matt said, shaking his head.

Shiro stared hard at the picture before his eyes widened and he lunged forward as far as he could. "It's an Arusian!"

"Good job, Takashi," Adam praised, squeezing Shiro's hand gently.

Starfire tilted her head. "I suppose… friend Keith is not an artist."

"No, he is not," Lance agreed.

"Correct!" Bob praised, colorful writing appearing over the picture with a bright sound effect to accompany.

"The answer is Blade of Marmora," the same voice said to Keith. Keith pondered for a moment before starting to draw the beginnings of his Marmoran blade rather decently.

"What is that?" Lance asked, stuttering as he thought of his next answer. "Chopsticks?"

"Lance… we don't even use chopsticks when we eat food goo! What makes you think there are chopsticks in outer space?!" Pidge yelled, taking out all of the stress she remembered from that moment on him.

Matt snorted. "Pidge, don't take out your stress on him."

"Well, you never know!"

"It's something from space, Lance," Hunk said tiredly, noticing how Keith had stopped to grip his pen in frustration.

"Uh, space chopsticks?" The pen snapped in two.

"... Your lack of brain cells is really astounding," Raven remarked.

"Why does everyone pick on me and my intelligence?" Lance pouted. He finished up the braided crown and left Lotor as he was, opting to focus on the show.

Lotor reached up and touched the crown and sighed as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

"You mean your lack of," Pidge replied, dodging a swat from the hair brush.

"It's a knife…" Pidge started, smiling as her brain began to kick in. "Sword...Oh! Oh! Blade of Marmora!" She pointed forward energetically as Bob flew by with a "right again!"

"Yes!" Matt said, giving Pidge a fist bump. "Good job, little sis!"

Keith stared at the pen that poofed back in one piece in his hand in a mix of shock and awe as the voice returned with, "The answer is Red Lion."

"Why do you look so amazed?" Lance asked. "It's alien technology."

"The pen reformed after your stupidity broke it," Keith said flatly. "I thought it was going to be ruined forever by your idiocy."

Keith quickly recovered and scribbled down a series of shaky circles with different sized triangles as eyes and weirdly deformed ovals as jaws before continuing on to a very box like body and skinny legs.

"Keith, what part of that looked like a Lion to you?" Shiro asked in concern. "I think we might have to check your prescription."

"I can kind of tell," Adam said, tilting his head slightly, raising it a touch off of Shiro's shoulder.

"I know I suck at drawing, don't rub it in," Keith snapped, crossing his arms and his ears turning red in embarrassment.

"Dog! It's a dog!" Lance called out.

"Dogs do not exist in space," Lotor pointed out. "They cannot breathe."

"I mean, neither can chickens," Matt said dryly.

"Shut up, Galra Prince." Lance crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks in a perfect imitation of a sulking toddler.

"It's a Lion!" Hunk said exasperatedly. This prompted Keith's head to snap up as he nodded vigorously, abandoning the drawing.

He made a sweeping motion with his hand as if asking for elaboration as Hunk began listing out guesses, Keith's hand moving faster the more he guessed. "Uh...Black Lion, Blue Lion, Yellow Lion, Red Lion-"

"Red Lion is right!" Bob announced, the Paladins gathering to celebrate by holding each others hands while Keith seemed to pose smugly thanks to his wondrous drawing abilities.

"The answer is Haggar."

Keith turned back to his screen with a determined look, hurrying to scribble down the next drawing.

"Pepperoni!" Lance began as Keith drew a dome as a hood. "An alligator! A cave! A windy cave! Oh no, no, no!" Keith had at this point drawn scraggly hair and draping spikes as a cloak that framed the triangle of a face. "What is that thing called? It's uh...uh...a thermos!"

"A windy cave?" Lotor asked incredulously. "What does that even look like?"

"Yeah, how do you see wind?" Robin asked.

"Sh-shut up! I was stressed!"

"So were we and you didn't see us sprouting out stupid answers like 'pepperoni,'" Pidge snarked.

"That's enough of belittling Lance's intelligence today," Shiro said sternly. "Besides, he made it in the end."

Shiro rubbed his temples, unable to think as the timer continued to count down. "Lance, stop talking," he said stressfully. Hunk looked utterly lost and Lance glanced away with a grimace.

"You know it's bad when Shiro tells you to be quiet," Robin said, already understanding the other leader on a more personal, leader-to-leader level.

"Takashi has very high stress tolerance," Adam muttered, running his fingers over the back of Shiro's hand absentmindedly.

They were alerted when a buzzer went off, signaling the end of the timer. "Oh~ Time's up."

"What!? No way that was Blazle Hooches!" Lance said angrily, gripping the sides of his stand with gloved hands. Keith slid tiredly back to his spot, looking very much exhausted and without his baby accessories.

"Looks like our other team is going to have the opportunity to steal!" Bob said, gesturing to the other side of the stage.

"What...other team?" Hunk asked, scared at what the answer would be as the mark of the Galra appeared over the five other stands across the stage, four cardboard figures being wheeled up from the floor and poofing into actual figures one by one.

"Zarkon!?" Lance cried, leaning forward as Keith took on a more defensive position, Pidge taken aback, Shiro crossing his arms, and Hunk scrubbing at his eyes. "No way!"

"This can't be happening," The yellow paladin muttered while being unable to look away from the four Galrans. No doubt he remembered how Zarkon had been killed a few months back, Lotor not too long afterwards. Their eyes clearly did not deceive them though, as they stared at none other than Zarkon, Lotor, Haggar, and Morvak.

"They were there?" Matt asked in alarm, eyes widening. "Wow, that's the entire Galra royal family!"

"Oh. It's me." Lotor stared in wonder at his 'team.' "And my father and mother…"

"Has it been a long time since you've seen them?" Allura asked curiously.

"Yes… I last saw them when I was no more than a mere infant."

"Wait, so that's your Lotor?" Beast Boy asked, recalling how the Lotor here was apparently not the same.

"An altered version of, yes," Pidge said. She shook her head. "Just wait."

Bob flew over to them, ignoring the paladins and their astonishment in favor of greeting his new guests. "Hello, there."

"Hello, Bob," Zarkon said with a rather emotionless tone and face.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to the audience and tell us who these wonderful people are with you!"

"Wonderful people," Matt repeated sarcastically. "Sure, wonderful, my a-"

"Matt," Shiro said, stopping him from finishing his sentence.

"I'm Zarkon," he gestured to himself before turning to place a hand on Haggar's shoulder with a smile. "This is my lovely wife, Haggar."

"That's Zarkon?" Cyborg asked, recalling when they had first met the Paladins. "That's who you're fighting up there?"

"He doesn't normally act like this but yeah, that's him," Hunk replied.

"It is...a very strange sight to see," Allura chimed in, having only heard of the Paladin's encounter with Bob and the strange Galrans.

"Lovely?" Beast Boy asked in horror. "This guy needs to get his eyes checked!" Then, he remembered that their son was right next to them and he gave Lotor a sheepish look. "Uh, no offense, dude."

"None taken."

"Hello," she croaked as Bob leaned closer with a charming look.

"Hubah, hubah!"

"Oh ew, he did not just flirt with that!" Beast Boy cried out, hugging himself as shivers ran up his spine.

"My son, Lotor," he continued, the camera following. Lotor had his cheeks puffed and his arms crossed as he looked pointedly away with a hmph. "And one of my insignificant underlings, Morvak."

"Why am I acting so… odd?" Lotor asked, puzzled. "Do I usually act like this in your universe?"

"... No…" Lance said slowly. "Actually… why are you acting like that?"

"You ask as if I would know," Lotor said dryly.

"Well, you're both… you!" Lance said very intelligently.

"How observant," Lotor said dryly, even more so than before.

"I am such a big fan of the show," he said, clasping his hands together with an excited grin. "I can't believe we're here!"

"Well! Welcome, welcome, it's good to have you all on with us," Bob said, leaning forward again. "Especially this lovely…" He raised his eyebrows suggestively a few times, humming to himself.

Zarkon gave both a warning and amused chuckle, a smile on his face. "Watch it now~"

"Alright, Zarkon, have you been watching backstage?"

"Yes, I have," the emperor replied almost eagerly.

"The Paladins of Voltron have scored three correct answers but now you and your team have the opportunity to steal all of their points if you can correctly identify what good old Keith was doodling on there." The camera moved to show the Paladins still in a state of shock, although Hunk was sweating while Keith looked like he was about to lunge at any moment, before moving to the crude drawing of the witch.

"Well, I'd rather steal their Lions than their points!" Zarkon said jokingly. He smiled happily as Bob chimed in to the crowd.

"Ugh, that sneaky-"

"Lance," Allura said warningly, shooting a glance at Lotor.

"It's fine, Allura. I understand." Lotor smiled sadly.

"It is not technically you anyway," Starfire said, placing a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I bet he would!"

"Uh...why are they acting like that?" Hunk asked, breaking the tense silence and prompting both Shiro and Keith to harden their gaze.

"It doesn't matter," Shiro muttered, "we're not going to lose to the Galra!"

Zarkon chuckled before turning to Bob. "But seriously, I think I can guess this! You might not like the answer."

He placed a hand on Haggar's back, addressing the last part to her.

"Was my drawing that bad?" Keith complained.

"Well, I mean, they're both equally ugly, Keith, so you did something right," Pidge said comfortingly, patting Keith's back.

"Uh-oh! Don't wanna stir up any trouble with the missus!"

"She doesn't look like that drawing, but I'm pretty sure the answer he was going for was…"

"Actually, Haggar looks pretty similar to the drawing," Hunk said. "The Haggar drawing is just kind of squiggly…"

"Ha!" Keith blurted triumphantly. "I'm not that terrible at drawing after all!"

"But your Red Lion-"

"Quiet, Pidge."

"Fingers crossed!" Bob crossed his fingers on all four hands, glancing at the crowd.

"Is it...Haggar?" Zarkon asked hopefully.

"That is correct! The answer is Haggar!"

Lotor and Morvak began celebrating, pumping their fists and chanting a mantra of "yes" while Zarkon glanced at his wife, sweating dropping, and quickly averting his eyes, rubbing the back of his head and acting as if he couldn't see Haggar's lack of a reaction.

"Do I act like that?" Lotor asked, befuddled at his actions on screen.

"Thankfully, no," Shiro said with a sigh. Adam tightened his grip on Shiro's hand, thinking of the horrors the other Lotor had subjected his fiancée to.

Shiro stood facepalming, Hunk looked resigned but still confused. Lance stood with his jaw dropped and Pidge gripped at her hair from beside Keith who had collapsed on his stand, head in his hands.

"This is really bizarre," Hunk said as he watched the Galrans celebrate.

Keith lifted his head from his hands, his words almost a hiss from his lips. "Windy...cave?"

"Hey! I'm not a mind reader!" Lance shot back.

"You don't have to be," Allura groaned. "That drawing, crude as it was, did look like Haggar somewhat."

"It looked like a windy cave to me!" Lance cried again.

"And when have we ever seen a windy cave in our time in space?" Keith spat, feeling secondhand frustration just by watching the show again.

"So, Zarkon, you have Garfled the first Warfler. That puts you in control of the board, do you want to play or pass?"

"Play!" Lotor shouted, grabbing his stand and staring forward with a determined gleam in his eyes. "I've spent centuries perfecting my exquisite life-like renderings! Not that you cared," he finished, glaring at Haggar before leaning away and turning his head away from the short witch.

"I treasure your art!" Haggar said, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

Lotor yanked his hand away as if burned, cradling it to him with his other hand as he glared harder down at his mother. "Don't touch me, you filthy, filthy, hag!"

Lotor gasped, unable to believe he would ever speak so rudely to anyone, even his evil family members.

Pidge awkwardly gave him a comforting shoulder squeeze.

"Our Lotor does feel that way about Haggar, I can safely say," Allura said, noticing Lotor's shocked look. "He refused to acknowledge the fact that Honerva had turned into Haggar, despite the evidence."

"Don't speak to her that way, you insolent whelp!" Zarkon thundered, holding his wife firmly by the shoulder as his son gasped up at him with a hurt expression. He grit his teeth and turned away, only then noticing Morvak who had been innocently watching the interaction.

It took him only a second of pondering before wacking the poor alien across the face, turning away with a huff.

"AHOW! I didn't do nothing!" he cried out, gingerly cradling his cheek as the crowd erupted in laughter.

"... What version of me is this?" Lotor asked, his mind racing. "Am I truly this evil?"

The Paladins exchanged pitying looks. This Lotor was so much better than the one in their universe and he didn't deserve to be going through this.

"This version of you isn't evil," Allura said, smiling tentatively at the horrified Galra Prince.

"Family, am I right?" Bob chuckled.

"They are quite a handful."

"So what's it gonna be, Z?"

"Well, I've always said that the best offense is a good defense," Zarkon began as Bob leaned back pensively.

"Sounds like you're going to pass."

"I am. And I think...I'd also like to play..." he pulled out a card with the same colorful alien writing as before, "with this." Bright lights engulfed the stage as the audience oohed, the card appearing on a center screen for all to see.

"Uh-oh! Solo card! That means one of these Paladins is going to have to take the next Warfler alone!" He turned back to the emperor who had a hand on his chin in thought. "Question is, Zarkon, which one is it gonna be?"

"WHERE DID HE EVEN GET THAT?! WE DIDN'T GET THAT! I CALL UNFAIRNESS!" Lance raged, throwing a pillow at the TV.

"Calm down, Lance," Shiro said. "The TV didn't do anything to you."

"Yeah, but the show did!" Lance grumbled.

"Well, I think there's really no choice here. I'm going with… the dumb one!" He announced loudly, pointing forward as the camera flipped around and zoomed in on a very dumbfounded Lance.

"Who's he talking about?" he asked obliviously.

"Dude, I feel you," Beast Boy said, clapping his friend on the back.

"You both are idiots," Raven said monotonously.

"It's time for a word from our sponsor," Bob said to the camera. "But when we get back, Lance will be starting the next Warfler all by his lonesome! So stick around!"

"Wait… I'm the dumb one?" Lance asked as the camera panned away from the stage, a hint of hurt making his voice waver the smallest bit.

"You're not dumb, Lance," Shiro said comfortingly.

"Yeah, your intelligence is still above that of an average human," Pidge said, pushing her glasses up.

"And if Pidge is saying that, it means a lot," Matt added.

Lance smiled weakly. "Thanks, guys."

Norlox's voice came back on, announcing the advertisement break. "Garfle Warfle Snick is sponsored by…"

The show cut away to a stereotypical green alien with beady purple eyes, sporting an Area 51 hat and a white shirt with checkered pants. He enthusiastically began describing his store, "It's Earth", with its multitude of human appliances, although he got all of them wrong. Such as proclaiming a CD was a throwing disk with a case, and a toilet as a luxury seat that doubled as a water fountain. After a series of different butchered products and their prices were announced, the screen cut back to the stage.

"Ugh… did he really just use that toilet… as a water… fountain…?" Beast Boy asked, feeling nauseous.

"Aliens, man," Lance said in amazement. "But I did get Kaltenecker from him for free!"

"Kaltenecker?" Robin asked with a furrowed brow.

"Lance's cow," Pidge replied quickly.

"We had a cow too in the rebel hideout," Matt said nostalgically, a faraway look on his face.

"You have a cow!?" Cyborg asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, he makes our milksh-" Lance began.

"Please don't remind me of that terrifying substance!" Allura groaned, looking nauseated.

"What?" Beast Boy asked in confusion. "Milkshakes are great!"

"She saw me milking the cow," Lance explained.

"So?" Robin questioned, raising a dark brow. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"I don't know," Lance shrugged, "maybe it's against Altean morals or something."

"It should be against everyone's morals! You violated the poor creature!" Allura gasped, slamming her hand down on the ground in outrage.

"Don't question it," Shiro muttered, seeing the disbelieving look on the Titans' faces.

"And welcome back to Garfle Warfle Snick!" Norlox greeted as the camera zoomed back in to show Bob hovering at the center of the stage with Lance already there with crossed arms.

"Right before the break, Zarkon's team decided to make one of the Paladins of Voltron play solo the next round! And the Paladin he chose was the dumb one, Lance! Hey, Lance, how's it going?"

Lance, who had previously been sporting a hurt expression, changed to irritation. "Well, you know what, I'm not too happy about being referred to as the dumb one eighteen times!"

"Ohhh, it was only about four times, you big dumb dumb!"

"What? Lance… eighteen?" Shiro questioned.

"Exaggerations, most likely," Pidge said with a shrug.

"My point was that he said it a lot," Lance grumbled.

"But by saying eighteen times, you made yourself sound stupider," Adam pointed out.

Lance flinched, arms still crossed, and then glared as a sad trombone sequence played and the audience burst into laughter. Lance switched his gaze over to Bob, still looking rather angry as Bob continued talking.

"Well, now you've got a chance to change all that and show everyone how smart you really are! Are you ready for that?"

Lance looked at him with fire in his eyes and his fists clenched. "Absolutely!"

"Okay, let's give Lance a big round of applause, he is a great sport. Norlox, tell Lance what the next Warfler is."

"The next Warfler is," he began, another card in hand, "Faces From the Past!"

"Oooh, little walk down memory lane. Lance, you know how this game goes, am I right?"

"Um, y-yeah! Totally!" Lance stuttered out, failing to look confident in his response. He leaned back nervously as Bob peered closely at his face, an anxious sound coming unbidden from his mouth.

"Lance, you are horrible with names of anyone who isn't a beautiful lady," Pidge said dryly.

"Well, why bother remembering anyone else?" Lance retorted.

"I agree," Matt said wholeheartedly, high-fiving Lance.

"What do you think, audience, do we believe this beautiful dumb dumb?" Bob asked the crowd, much to Lance's resigned unpleasure. A loud chorus of "no"s came from behind the camera. Lance slumped with a sulky expression as Bob moved away. "I know you're telling the truth, Lance, but just for the folks at home, let's run through the rules real quick. Now you're gonna see pictures of some of the folks you've met on your adventures around the galaxy. All you have to do is tell us their names. I'll give you a Gulian credits for each one you name correctly, adding to the points you'll need to earn your freedom. How does that sound?"

"Gulian credit?" Cyborg asked, not quite understanding what that was.

"Don't ask," Keith sighed, "we don't know either."

Lance grinned, giving the host a challenging and confident look. "Sounds like we're going to be getting back to Voltron pretty soon."

"Ahem, you were heading to the tank full of acid pretty soon," Pidge said, rolling her eyes.

"We've met a lot of people! Give me a break!"

"That's the spirit! But, just to make sure you don't get any help from your friends-" his expression faltered, showing some of the panic he was feeling "-let's lower the isolation shield!" A startled yelp came from Lance as a wobbly, plastic-like tube fell over the Blue Paladin from the ceiling, muffling his voice and cutting him off from the outside. "Perfect! Now let's see our first mystery face from the past!"

A new screen showed up, rapidly flicking through various pictures of aliens, slowing down and hovering over a picture of Kolivan.

"Easy," Lance began, missing the fact that the picture had changed to another Blade member, "That's Koli-WHAT!? Who's that!?"

"Woah, who's that? He looks cool!" Beast Boy said, staring at the member in awe.

"He's part of the Blade of Marmora," Keith explained. "A group of rebel Galrans fighters."

"Keith left to join them for a while," Shiro explained as the Titans turned back to the picture in awe before remembering Lance had to guess.

"So that's why he left?" Robin questioned.

"No, it's because he wanted his emo time."

Adam snorted, knowing that "emo time" was a thing Keith actually did enjoy to some extent.

"Lance!" Keith growled.

The camera moved to the Paladins, Shiro staring at Lance while chewing his bottom lip. Hunk was beside him, a look of dread on his face while Pidge stared blankly at her trapped friend, head resting on her folded arms. Keith seemed to be biting his tongue, having pulled out his Marmora blade and pointing unsubtly at it, almost glaring at the Cuban boy.

"He's an important figure," Bob prompted, "someone who helped you in your fight against Zarkon?"

"Hmm, Keith keeps pointing at his blade…so..." Lance said aloud, looking back to the picture after finishing his scan of his team.

"Ooooh! That's a pretty big clue! Have you got a guess?"

"I bet he's going to say some stupid name that sounds like 'blade,'" Raven said scornfully. Lance laughed sheepishly.

Lance stared nervously at Bob for a moment then turned his attention to the screen, narrowing his eyes as if to better gauge who it was. He closed his eyes and turned to Bob, his expression serious as he said in a deep tone, "Blade-" He quirked a brow, his face shifting to normal. "-y? Bladey?" he said with a small and hopeful smile.

The loud buzzer made him jump, his face panicked.

"Lance," Pidge moaned in disbelief, "when did we ever meet anyone named Bladey?"

"I don't know! Maybe we did and I just couldn't remember because of my dumbness!" Lance said bitterly.

Shiro covered his face with his hand, keeping his expression surprisingly calm as Hunk fainted next to him from disbelief. Pidge looked like she had expected it, her head still on her crossed hands with a strange face. Keith made no effort to hide his irritation, gripping his knife extra tight and his other hand clenched in a fist.

"Ooh! The answer is Antok!" Bob said. Meanwhile, Zarkon made a victory fist pump while Lotor and Morvak gave each other a smug high five.

"Oh, yeah, that guy," Lance said sheepishly, turning back to the screen.

"Yeah, that guy," Pidge mocked, whacking Lance's leg.

"What was that for?!" He protested, rubbing the wounded area.

"Your past stupidity."

"Kolivan's right hand man who fought valiantly for the good of the universe," Bob explained to the camera. The screen began to change again as Bob continued. "This next one is a little more personal, I think you'll remember this gal!"

The pictures slowed to reveal one of the three mermaid rebels Lance had met, her face still masked by a jellyfish. "Oh, her? Yeah! That's Plax-uuhhhhhh." He cut himself off as the picture changed one last time, changing which mermaid was on screen. "Her? Uh...she was the serious one?"

"Actually, honestly, I don't even remember who that is," Hunk confessed, rubbing the back of his head.

"See?! Hunk gets me!"

"That's right!" Bob encouraged, hovering closer to the transparent wall. "What was her name?"

"Uh- OH! Hold on, okay!" He threw his hands up, wracking his brain with a severely concentrated face. "I know this. She was the one who…" the camera moved back to show the hopeful faces of his team "...measured my head for the jellyfish hat!" Pidge clasped her hands above her head in desperate prayer and Keith leaned forward with a hopeful smile. "She rode on a giant mantaray!"

"Pidge, what were you doing?" Shiro asked with a small chuckle. "You look like you're in a diving position."

"It's something she does every time she watches a competition like this that she's not actively participating in," Matt explained, grinning at his sister.

"I was sending a non-religious prayer. Lance needed all the help he could get. He was hopeless," she said simply.

"Hey! I tried!"

"You didn't try hard enough," Pidge retorted. "You still ended up in the tank of acid."

"Since when was a tank of acid involved?" Cyborg asked with a loud sigh. "You keep mentioning it!"

"You'll see~" Pidge sang with a smirk.

"We need an answer!" Bob cut in, voice filled with anticipation.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! Wait, was it Jelly? No! No! Shelly!" The buzzer sounded again, Lance's jaw dropping at the familiar noise.

"Her name was Swern."

"Swern? Huh… haha... never would have come up with that."

"Oh yeah… Swern…" Lance furrowed his brows. "That name still doesn't sound familiar to me."

"... Me too," Hunk confessed, scratching his head. "Honestly, that whole incident was kind of a blur."

"What kind of name is Swern?" Beast Boy gawked.

"Well, on Tamaran-"

"No, no! Don't worry about it!" Beast Boy said hastily, waving his hands in a dismissive manner.

The Galra were having a party now, with Zarkon doing a mini dance.

"Go Galra! Go Galra! Go Galra!" Lotor and Morvak chanted, ducking left and right in front of each other in opposite directions.

"Oh my…" Lotor hid his face in his hands in embarrassment. "I can't believe I ever did that."

"It's okay, bud." Beast Boy pat his back.

Shiro, who had his hands hopefully clasped in anticipation, sat frozen, grimacing with a matching expression to Keith and Pidge, who still had her hands held above her. Hunk simply sat with a dropped jaw.

"Your team is starting to lose faith in you, Lance," Bob said with a chuckle.

Lance gave them a panicked look. "I'm just… not really good with names! I-I'll get the next one."

"Doubt it," Raven said as she rolled her eyes.

"No offense, dude, but you are really bad at this," Beast Boy said.

"It was difficult!" Lance retorted with a huff. "We've met planets of people! Aliens, actually!"

"I hope so," Bob said. "Let's see the next face from your past!" The pictures began shifting again.

"Finally, a name I know," Lance sighed as the picture began to settle on Nyma. "QUIZNAK! Can you guys stop changing it at the last second!?" The picture had moved again, switching instead to Rolo. "Hmm...this guy, this guy…"

"You remember," Bob said, gesturing to the picture.

"He faked a distress signal!" Lance said, pointing to the humanoid alien.

"He stole the Blue Lion?"

"That too," Lance said almost like an afterthought.

"So he is the one who stole the blue kitty?" Starfire asked.

"Yes. The one I never trusted," Hunk chimed in.

"We know," the others said tiredly, glad when the Yellow Paladin didn't launch into another tangent over how suspicious Rolo was.

"What's his name?" Bob asked, leaning forward.

Lance clenched his hands, not quite in fists but close as he growled, "Hooooooh, okay. It's on the tip of my tongue!"

"Traveled with Nyma and Beezer?"

Lance squeezed his eyes shut, holding his forehead in desperate thought. "Yeah, Pidge loved that robot." He took a deep breath, peeking one eye open to glance at his team in a cry for help. They caught on quick, spelling out the name with their arms.

"Aw, you remembered that?" Pidge cooed, grinning up at Lance.

"I mean… it's kind of hard to forget with the way you were always glued to it and like riding around on it."

"... Don't ruin the sentimental moment with your dumb remarks."

Shiro awkwardly craned his arms into an 'R', Hunk looped his into an 'O', Pidge cranked one arm uncomfortably into an 'L', and Keith arced his arms into another 'O.'

"Nope. I got nothing," Lance said with an exhalation of breath as the buzzer sounded. The Paladins gawked before letting out a frustrated growl and shifting to spell out 'kill' instead.

"Now that," Raven said with slightly upturned lips at the 'kill,' "is understandable."

"The name was right there! How did you not get that, man?" Cyborg asked, gesturing to the screen.

"I was stressed and confused and under a lot of pressure!" Lance cried out, crossing his arms.

"All you had to do was read, Lance," Keith sighed.

"Oh, hush, you. I don't want to be hearing this from a dropout."

Keith rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen with a frown. Adam placed an arm on Keith's shoulder comfortingly.

"Rolo!" Bob said just as Lance repeated it a beat later. "You are terrible at this."

"To be fair, we've met a lot of people!" Lance said, glaring at the crowd that kept chuckling and snickering at every wrong answer.

"Well, this is the last face, Lance. You finish without a single correct answer… you know what that means~"

Lance quirked a brow, frowning. "No, what?"

"SNICK! SNICK! SNICK! SNICK!" The audience chanted instead.

Morvak jumped up and down excitedly, Lotor grinned evilly with an eager fist, Haggar had a sinister smirk, and Zarkon looked very blood thirsty at that moment.

"I still cannot believe that is me," Lotor said, eyes locked on the grinning figure on screen.

"That's our Lotor," Pidge said with a sigh. "That's about as close to the real deal as it's going to get."

"I see…" Lotor said slowly. "I see why you dislike me so much."

The Paladins winced, looking guiltily at each other.

"Well, you're different, so we may act like we hate you but we really don't," Pidge said.

Lance, still bitter over what Lotor's stay at the castle had done to him, chose not to say anything. Pidge gave him a glance before sighing, already able to tell what he was thinking.

Lance stared questioningly and fearfully at the chanting crowd. "I can't hear what they're saying. Is-is it Snick?"

"That's right!" Bob said, turning to the equally eager audience. "Miss this next question and I will be forced to hit this button-" a glowing yellow button appeared on his chair "-which will shoot you out of the studio and into the lair of the Snick. Show us the Snick, Norlox."

The screen switched to a clip of a eyeless purple creature. Half its body seemed to be for its sharp toothed mouth, moving on four crab legs around its heavily armored body. It gave a loud and terrifying roar, slobber and spit flying from its jaws and teeth like a rabid wolf.

Lance screamed twice—once from shock and the other from pure terror—as he stumbled further away from the video, arms held close and his mouth remaining open even after his yell, a cold sweat sliding down his face.

The Titans nearly fell back from the sudden appearance, Beast Boy morphing into a startled cat and scampering off to hide under Raven's cloak. She frowned, having been the only only one aside from the Paladins to keep calm, moving him out from under her with her magic and depositing him back in his spot.

"Dude! That is messed up! What is that thing!?" the green boy asked in alarm.

"The Snick," Lance said dully, too tired to even react to the sight of the creature he was nearly fed to.

"Ooohoohoo, he looks hungry," Bob said casually.

"WHAT!?" Lance cried, pointing frantically at the creature. "NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE SNICK!"

"Well, it's in the title of the show. Garfle Warfle Snick!"

"I wasn't listening to that!" Lance yelled, not even bothering to hide his obvious distress and panic as he sweat profusely. "YOU KNOW I'M THE DUMB ONE!"

"... He admitted it," Raven said with a hint of genuine shock.

"You really panicked, didn't you?" Keith said with a smug look.

"Oh, you wipe that look off your face, Mullet!" Lance snapped, chucking a pillow at the Red Paladin who swatted it away with a small chuckle. "You try answering questions that you have failed up until now with your life on the line!"

"I'm not the dumb one," Keith retorted. "Can't relate."

"You…" Lance fumed.

"Well, here's your last face, dumb dumb," Bob said with a smile. "Look carefully."

The crowd began to cheer and some booed but Lance whirled around and glared. "Quiet! I need to concentrate!" The pictures started sifting again.

Lance was sweating bullets, mouth open and making terrified noises as the picture slowed to rest on the leader of the Olkari. However, it switched again to a very familiar noodle like alien.

"Oh! It's my old stage partner-" Coran didn't get to finish as Lance's frantic voice sounded on the show.

"It's Bii-Boh-Bii! Bii-Boh-Bii!" Lance practically screamed, pointing rapidly at the picture and pumping his fists with a giant grin as the buzzer didn't sound, replaced by an enthusiastic "that's right!" from Bob and a much lighter and happier sound effect.

"Is that actually his name? Isn't that his language?" Robin asked.

"Dude, he just sprouts out Biis and Bohs," Lance muttered, sighing. "It's so hard trying to decipher."

"It's probably harder with your life on the line," Pidge added.

Shiro slumped over his stand, smiling and running his hand through his white fringe as Hunk had literal tears of joy streaming down his cheeks. Pidge had her hands in fists above her hand, a victory whoop on her face. Keith could only sigh in obvious relief.

"You are not going to get fed to the Snick!" Bob said with a grin as Lance struck a victory pose, soaking in the crowd's cheering this time. It quickly turned to boos that made Lance slump in defeat while Bob merely chuckled. "They are savages. Well, sorry, Zarkon, looks like you're going home!"

The Galrans all slumped over, looking severely disappointed, even as Morvak was the first to recover.

"It was just fun being on the show!" he said happily.

"Shut up," Haggar hissed, causing Lotor to have to dodge the woman as she nearly flung herself closer to Morvak just before the floor opened underneath them and they were gone in a series of startled yells.

"Woah, okay, lady, give him some space," Beast Boy said as if he could calm the witch even as he grinned in amusement from her outburst.

"Take that, Haggar," Lance said triumphantly.

"I applaud you, Lance," Lotor congratulated. A beeping came from a device clipped onto his belt. He looked at it and his expression became concerned. "Excuse me," he said politely as he walked out of the room hurriedly.

"And now, since he's the only person in the galaxy Lance can remember," Bob said, addressing the camera. "Let's bring him out. Ladies and gentlemen, star of the hit stick com Bii-Boh-Me, the one and only Bii-Boh-Bii!" The long noodle shaped alien moved onto stage, approaching Bob who was hovering next to a still isolated Lance. "Bii-Boh, welcome back to the show, seems like you've been pretty busy since we saw you last."

"Bi bie bo bie bii bo bii bii bii bii, bie bie bo bii bii!"

Bob leaned back in his chair with boasting laughter as the crowd joined in. Lance stood there and looked severely confused and lost. Seeing the tears of mirth in the host's eyes, Lance placed his hands on his hips and laughed confidently along with the crowd. "Okay, Bii, you're an old pro at this. So maybe you can help this dumb dumb out." Lance glanced over at Bob with a more exasperated look.

"Bii bo, bo bii."

"Norlox, what is our next Warfler?" Bob asked.

"It's the Garflater!"

"Alright, now as everyone knows the Garflater is worth Vezanthulian credits, so, Lance, this could get you and your friends way on your way to freedom."

"Let's do this!" Lance said with a lot more confidence than before.

"Of course, if you don't answer five questions correctly, you'll end up in the Garflater where you'll be slowly cooked alive!" The camera swept over the stage to a tank of boiling green, brown oil like liquid.

"Oh… there's the tank," Cyborg said faintly.

"Actually, it's not that bad," Lance said casually. "It feels like you're getting a nice exfoliation at the spa."

"That's because you were only in there for like five minutes, Lance," Pidge remarked, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"Wh-what!? Come on!"

"Let's put Blazle Hooches on the board!" The screen behind the paladins changed to a familiar screen. Lance glared at Bob as he moved on to address Bii-Boh-Bii. "Bii-Boh-Bii, you're giving the clues, and remember not to say the word."

"Bii-boh!"

"Start the Garflater!"

The dormant green mouth at the top of the tube suddenly unsheathed razor sharp teeth, clamping down and slowly shuffling its way down the tube and closer to Lance as the word appeared on the screen.

Bii-Boh-Bii scratched his chin for a moment before beginning. "Bii-" he gestured his hands forward as if jabbing at something "-Bii bo bii!" His hands went up to his cheeks, squishing them up before releasing and making a scooping motion with his arms and gesturing to Lance.

Lance stared up at the slowly inching mouth anxiously. "Um, I have no idea what's happening right now?"

"Bi!" the alien said, wiggling his body in a little dance and gesturing to Lance again. "Boh!" Lance grimaced, confusion plain on his face. "Bii!"

"Bii?" Lance asked, his previously clenched fist making an uncertain gesture as if to signal at something. He was surprised to hear the right answer buzzer go off and Bob's "correct"! But didn't have time to question it as a new word popped up.

"What?" Beast Boy wondered. "What is this?"

"Attempted translating."

"But it's just Biis and Bohs…"

"... Yup."

"He was actually surprisingly good at it," Shiro said with a proud look.

"I literally guessed the entire time, I have no clue how I did it," Lance said with a far off look.

"If he's not allowed to say the answer, just say what he's not saying," Matt said logically.

"Boh, boh-" Lance frowned, still very lost "-boh."

"Bii?"

"Biiii?" the alien grinned and gestured forward as if to elaborate.

"Bii boh?" Lance said, eyes wide and confused even as he spouted random syllables. The alien wildly pointed down. "Bii bii?" he said hopefully.

"That's two!" Bob said, the camera switching to the paladins again.

Keith and Pidge were leaning forward with matching grins while Shiro had actually somehow picked Hunk up slightly from the ground in a hug while he smiled widely. Hunk didn't even try to hold on, merely grinning and pumping his own fist.

"Bo?" Bii-Boh-Bii prompted.

"Bii!" Lance said quickly, smiling as the same affirmative buzzer sounded.

"Two more to go!"

"Bii...boh...bo-" The buzzer sounded and the alien slapped his head to his forehead, cursing in his at himself in his same language.

"Oh! You can't say the word."

"Bii? Boh?" the alien tried again.

"Boh, boh…" Lance began, looking off to the side and his voice uncertain. "Bii, boh boh...bii…" the last one he said with a shaking voice, not as sure if it was correct as with the others. He pondered for a moment with his shoulders up to his chin and his hands open as if waiting to gesture to something. "Boh." It turned into another fist pump as the correct buzzer sounded again.

"Final clue! Running out of time!"

Lance looked fearfully up at the gurgling mouth, much much too close for comfort as Bii-Boh-Bii started again.

"Boh boh boh!"

"Bii? Bo bii bii?"

"Boh boh boh! Boh boh boh boh boh!" He flailed his noodle arms around, expression panicked and making Lance panic more and worked to spout out answers.

"BII BII BII! BOH! BII BOH! BOH BOH BOH! BII BII!" he yelled frantically, stopped to scream as the buzzer sounded and mouth swallowed him up. A Lance-sized lump flew up the green covered tube, sounds of a muffled yell still audible.

"Oooh! So close!"

Shiro was still hugging Hunk, but with a disappointed face. Hunk looked betrayed, his fists frozen in midair. Pidge had to lean against the wall, a dark aura around her moping form that Keith shared, crestfallen and collapsed on his stand.

A muffled struggle could still be heard before the mouth spit Lance out into the fluid, making him sink with a thick splash and swim up to the top as Bob announced the answer to be "bii."

"I SAID THAT!"

"Give it up for Bii-Boh-Bii, everybody!" Bob said happily as the alien waved, ignoring Lance's indignant yell. Bii-Boh-Bii left with goodbyes and waves. "When we come back from the break, we'll see if Lance's fellow Paladins can get him out of the Warflater before he gets turned into hot pudding. Right after this!"

This time the commercial was for Vrepit Sal's, the Galran who ran the food court at the Space Mall. He was seen holding a plate of Hunk's own creation, having been the one to upgrade the alien's food, smiling a smile that looked way too uncomfortable. It ended with the motto of "Sustenance prepared right."

"Oh, hey, look!" Hunk exclaimed, pointing enthusiastically at the screen. "It's Sal!"

"Who is Sal?" Starfire asked with a tilt to her head.

"Sal is "salt" in Spanish," Lance said with a snicker,

"He was this guy at the food court in the Space Mall-"

"Space Mall?" Robin murmured in confusion.

"-I thought he was handing out free samples so, I kind of…" Hunk trailed off, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, "...sort of… went all out? And then I was broke so… He chained me to his kitchen and made me clean his dishes." The Titans blinked. "But it turned out okay! I realized how bad of a cook he was… well he didn't cook, per say, but he did have a broken down robot that shut down. So I filled in and I may have… gone a little overboard with the upgrades."

"You mean you went all gourmet chef on the poor alien and managed to change the entire menu of the place," Lance deadpanned.

"You made that? You made alien food look like that?" Cyborg asked, mouth watering as he eyed the dish on screen.

"If only we had that at the hideout," Matt said, salivating at the images on screen.

"He's our universally famous cook," Shiro said with a smile and fond nudge of the Paladin's shoulder.

Hunk chuckled shyly but accepted the compliment. The Titans all held a new respect for the boy. They knew Hunk was an amazing cook but to be skilled enough to make something so disgusting look so appetizing is a superpower almost comparable to that of Beast Boy's shape shifting.

"And now, back to Garfle Warfle Snick!" Norlox said as they returned.

"Welcome back, everybody," Bob was quick to greet. "The Paladins of Voltron are trying to win their way off the show but they just lost one of their team to the Warflater! How's it going over there, Lance?"

The camera moved to show said Blue Paladin floating leisurely on the liquid, his arms behind his head and his eyes contently closed. "Actually, this feels great. The goo is nice and warm and it feels like its exfoliating me!"

"Aren't you just having a grand ol' time in the acid slowly corroding your skin," Keith drawled.

"Well, eventually, it'll eat through your skin." Lance no longer looked content and had a much more terrified expression. "But, let's see if one of your friends can help you out!"

"Well, hello," Bob greeted Shiro, leaning with a smirk on his chair.

"Is he flirting with you?" Keith growled, his protective younger brother trait kicking in.

Adam's eyes narrowed at the screen and he snaked an arm around Shiro's waist possessively. Shiro placed a calming hand on Adam's, smiling at him reassuringly.

"He better not be," Lance agreed, rolling up his sleeves threateningly.

"Paladins, please. You will never be able to defeat Bob." Allura smiled as if the thought that they would even think about such a thing was hilarious.

"Paladins, please. We must defeat Zarkon," Pidge mocked in a regal and accented tone—obviously imitating Allura—and earned a nudge from Shiro.

"Bob is a-"

"We know, Coran!" The Paladins chorused exasperatedly.

"He's a what?" Cyborg questioned bewilderedly. No one responded.

"What are we doing here, Bob?" Shiro asked, concern plain on his face after seeing what the other Paladins had to go through so far and dreading what could be next.

"We're playing the game!" Bob responded.

"Please let us go," Shiro tried to reason. "The universe needs Voltron."

"Well then the Paladins of Voltron are just going to have to get serious about winning this game," he said as he hovered over to Lance who was no longer lounging but floating solemnly. "Now, which one of you do you want to play to free Lance, huh? Who's the brainiest of the team?"

The response was immediate, all the Paladins pointing to Pidge as even said Green Paladin raised her own hand. "Pidge!" everyone but Pidge said in sync.

"Pidge is the brainiest in the galaxy," Matt said proudly, grinning at his sister.

"You guys really didn't hesitate, did you?" Beast Boy asked with a laugh.

"It's true," Shiro said with a brotherly ruffle of Pidge's hair.

"Pidge is a child genius," Lance said tiredly. "I'm sure her IQ is around 200."

"Alright, little fella-" Pidge's previously calm expression turned slightly sour, "-come on out here!" She was wheeled out by the platform stuck to her, her face very much done with the show and its antics. "Norlox, tell us what the next Warfler is."

"So you're sensitive about your height, huh?" Beast Boy waggled his eyebrows.

"Shut up, Greenie," Pidge snapped.

"Yes, she is the perfect size for scavenging through the vents," Lance said with a firm nod that turned into a yelp when he earned a kick to the side. "Oh, admit it, Pidge! You live in the vents!"

"You still do that in space?" Matt asked, not even surprised.

"I never denied it," she replied, giving him another kick.

"It's Bank Channel!"

"Hey! Miniature Golf!" Pidge said, noticing how despite the many water themed additions, the course in front of her was literally a miniature golf course.

"Minature what?"

"This game! It's - nevermind."

"Miniature Golf?" Lotor, having returned, asked, testing the word on his tongue. "I have never heard of such a thing."

"Oh! Oh! I have bared witness to the Tiny Golf!" Starfire waved her hand in the air, as if waiting to be called on. "It was most exciting! Although I still do not understand why I could not simply drop the ball into the hole…"

"Star, you cracked the golf course ground because you tried to throw the ball into the hole from the air," Cyborg said with a smirk.

"Was that not the goal? To get the ball into the hole?"

"That does seem rather intriguing," Lotor replied.

"That is the goal, but not...in that way," Robin said slowly, struggling to explain the concept of mini golf to the aliens.

"Alright, let me show you how to play here," Bob said, leaning down and picking up the golf club, a small yellow golf ball appearing at Pidge's feet. "All you have to do is hit the sphere through the bank channel-" he hit the ball, sending it ping ponging through the various wave shaped obstacles before landing into the hole "-into the tunnel. Easy." He handed the club to Pidge. "Think you can do that?"

"Do aliens not know what golf is?" Raven questioned with slight amusement.

"I mean, they thought the toilet was a water fountain," Lance said blankly, shrugging.

"They're really technologically advanced in the important areas and not so much in less important areas," Matt said, rolling eyes.

"I think I can handle it," she deadpanned. Another ball appeared and Bob backed up, very elevator esque music beginning to play in the background. She hummed to herself and crouched down, eyeing the hole. She proceeded to lay closer to the ground, lining the club up with the ball and hole.

"Oh, very serious," Bob commented as Pidge released the club and stared at the line up she made. She stayed kneeling on the ground but placed her hands on her hips, looking behind her to where the other Paladins stood. "The hole is over there."

"Pidge, why are you thinking so hard? You just have to hit the ball!" Beast Boy said, throwing his hands in the air.

"You'll see," Pidge hummed, smirking.

"Also, Pidge just overthinks everything," Matt said, laughing when Pidge elbowed him.

Pidge ignored him, picking up the club and getting to her feet. She lined up the ball and golf club, taking a few test swings and then really swung, hitting the ball of light hard. It flew and crashed into the camera, sending a spider webbing crack across the screen and startling the crowd and even the Paladins behind her. It ricocheted and hit Bob's chair, sending him spiraling with a surprised yelp and hitting the camera that promptly fell over.

From the skewed angle, it showed Pidge lunge forward and pin Bob down as he tried to right himself off the ground. "LET US GO, NOW!" she demanded angrily.

"Yeah!" Matt said, fist pumping, "That's my little sister!"

"You know, Pidge," Keith said mildly, "I really wanted to do that. Good job."

"Why, thank you." Pidge smiled, smugness radiating off of her person.

Red blaring lights flashed and Bob smiled, much to Pidge's confusion, as he glowed and suddenly a bright flash of light had all the Paladins, even Lance, standing at their respective spots with the camera fixed. "It looks like the Paladins have just made it into the final round!"

"Wait…" Beast Boy said, looking flabbergasted, "you attacked the host… and you… weren't disqualified?"

"Don't ask us," Shiro said with his hands raised as Beast Boy looked to him for answers.

Lance snickered, nudging Hunk beside him. "Even Beast Boy looked to Space Dad for answers…"

Hunk joined him in his snickering, the two of them schooling their expression to look "natural" when Shiro looked questioningly at them.

"What the…" Pidge trailed off as Lance began to check himself beside her, touching his chest then his face, feeling his features all over with a blankly confused expression.

"Okay, I know I've said this before, many times," Hunk began, "but this is the freakiest thing I've ever seen."

"One of you will now be allowed to leave the game," Bob said as he floated over. "The rest of you will be staying here with me forever." He flew away, brandishing two orange cards. "You have Blazle Hooches to write down who you want to leave on the screen in front of you. Go!"

Small walls appeared between each person, blocking their view of each other's choice. Too tired to question, they all hesitantly picked up their pens, Hunk inspecting his for a moment. They all sat and pondered over their answers, Bob announcing the last few seconds they had left to make a choice. Finally, with resigned faces, they all set their pens down and the walls disappeared.

"Hunk, let's start with you," Bob said. "Who'd you vote for?"

The screen on his stand lit up with a picture of a smiling Shiro. "Oh, well, Bob, I voted for Shiro. I figured he's such a natural leader, you know. The universe needs him more than it needs the rest of us, plain and simple," he said, looking over and giving the man a smile that he returned with a softer one.

"Aw, thank you, Hunk," Shiro said, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

"Shiro, who'd you vote for?"

A picture of Pidge appeared on his screen. "I selected Pidge. She and her family have the best chance of rebuilding what Altea started."

"Interesting," Bob said, leaning back in his chair. "Lance, who got your vote?"

A picture of Keith, smiling confidently and smugly appeared on his stand. "I voted for Keith, he's our right hand man, plus he's half Galra, so, I think he's like… the future," he finished with a smile.

"What do you mean 'he's like the future?'" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…"

"Yeah, what did you mean, Lance?" Pidge teased, elbowing the Cuban boy in the side.

"Well, maybe he could start like a revolution or something and he's like… Galra… And like, I'd follow him because he has… good instincts and… I don't know! I was trying to be sentimental!" Lance yelled in frustration.

"Jeez, thanks," Keith said flatly.

"Hey, I chose to save you!" Lance grumbled, waving a finger at him.

"Yeah, your self-proclaimed rival." Hunk snorted.

"Hunk!" Lance looked at Hunk, a look of betrayal plastered on his face.

"Keith, the right hand man, who do you think should make it out of here, huh?" Bob asked, the camera moving to Keith who stood with arms crossed and a scowl on his face. A picture of Lance appeared on his. "Lance? Why Lance?" Bob asked disbelievingly.

"I just don't want to be stuck here for eternity with Lance," he said curtly, glaring at the host.

"Aw, thanks, man," Lance said with a smile before Keith's words clicked. "Wait, what!?"

"AND HERE I WAS TRYING TO BE ALL NICE AND ALL BUT THEN YOU DECIDED TO-"

"Lance, quiet down. It's way too late for you to be screaming about this now," Pidge said with a sigh.

"I CALLED HIM OUR FUTURE! AND HE CALLED ME ANNOYING!"

"It's just the harsh truth." Keith rolled his eyes and dodged the kick Lance aimed at his shin.

"Wow, thanks," Lance deadpanned, drawing his leg back to him and turning back to the screen with a scowl. "Thanks for the self-esteem booster."

"We're down to our very last vote. Pidge, you're the Paladin that everyone says is the smartest, the most analytical, the most logical, let's see who you voted for." A picture of Hunk appeared getting a rather exaggerated 'aw' out of the crowd who had been 'awing' for every vote thus far.

"Hunk!?" Bob asked in astonishment, not expecting that answer. "Seriously?"

"What's wrong with picking Hunk?" Shiro huffed, getting bothered at Bob's astonishment. Adam made a noise of agreement. In the short time he had gotten to know the Yellow Paladin, he could tell his heart was big and in the right place.

"It's okay, Shiro-"

"No, it's not! There's nothing wrong with picking you and there was no need for such a reaction!"

Adam rubbed soothing circles on Shiro's thigh to stop Shiro's angry fit. Shiro buried his nose in Adam's neck and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes.

"Erm… Thanks, Shiro," Hunk said shyly, blushing as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah," Pidge said with the softest look any of the Paladins had ever seen on her face. "Hunk gets along with everybody. If anyone is going to go out into the universe and bring people together, it's Hunk." She turned to the Yellow Paladin who had his hands clasped, smiling at Pidge.

"Aw, thanks Pidge."

"Aw, you aren't a total cold-hearted gremlin," Lance ribbed, laughing at Pidge's scowl.

"Oh, so someone else calls you gremlin too?" Matt asked, snickering.

They fist bumped in front of Lance, who smiled proudly and fondly at the two of them.

"No one voted for themselves," Bob said thoughtfully as he hovered towards the camera. "Everyone wanted someone else to get to leave, and every single one of you got a vote!"

"Oh… was voting for ourselves an option?" Lance asked. "Because I totally wouldn't have saved Keith then," Lance grumbled, salty about the whole 'annoying' remark. "If I'd known he'd vote me just to get rid of me," he finished under his breath, even though they all heard it.

"And I would… still vote for you because my reason is still the same." Keith rolled his eyes at Lance's outraged shriek.

Lance leaned forward, glaring as the others did. "So I'm guessing we'll get fed to the Snick or something now, right?"

Bob turned around, the same evil expression from the beginning of the show displayed on his face. His voice turned demonic and his eyes gave off a eerie green glow. "You all get…." his voice changed back and he brandished a wide smile "One Zanbulian credits! You win!"

Confetti rained down onto the stage as the Paladins laughed and celebrated. Shiro looked on with a smile from besides Hunk who was practically squeezing the life out of Lance, although the Cuban didn't let it dampen his grin as he hugged back just as tightly. Pidge pumped her fists and whooped while Keith smiled softly and looked on with crossed arms, relief clear on his formerly tired face.

"That's our show, everybody! All of us here are Garfle Warfle Snick remind you to please have your Clanmurles spayed or neutered. Good night!" The screen promptly clicked off, turning the TV screen to black.

"Well that certainly was an interesting meeting you all had," Coran said. "I never met him myself, but I heard tales. Bob is an all powerful, all knowing, interdimensional being who judges the worthiness of great warriors!"

At the Titans' deadpan looks Lance nodded sympathetically. "Our reactions were exactly the same when we heard that for the first time."

---

"So do you understand?" the dark figure asked the five standing in front of him, staring at them intently. "I will not tolerate another failure."
"Yes," Jinx said, bowing her head submissively. "We understand, sir."

---

DUN DUN DUN! Mysterious figure has made another appearance!

If you guys couldn't tell, we had to replace Allura with Shiro (which included tweaking some lines and reactions) in the game show because well... the Lion Switch never happened. So, some canon divergence, but its fine.

Hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a review, it'll be greatly appreciated. See you next time!