Chapter eleven: Freedom!
The bug creatures surrounded the Granipede, taking the shape of some other giant creature. It had large wings that seemed to stretch for miles inside this cave, and it's short short neck and it's long, dragon-like face split into a roar.
"Everyone get to the lions." Keith commanded after seeing this. And they tore headlong back toward the lions, but Shiro still remained. Still overcome by the witch's control, he continued to fight her.
"Wait, what about Shiro?" Lance asked, reaching the Red lion.
"We can't leave him here." Allura agreed.
"We're not," Keith assured them. "We have to take down the witch to free Shiro from her control."
"Are you nuts!?" Pidge cried in pure shock. "We can't go up against her!! She's much too powerful, even for Voltron. Remember she was the one that used the Komarr to suck the energy right out of Voltron."
"Then what can we do?" Lance wondered aloud.
"I can hack into Shiro's arm and disconnect the crystals' conduits." The Green Paladin began flipping through screens on her dash.
"And what will that do?" Keith was confused.
"The Altean crystal allows that witch the control Shiro's arm's circuitry, and the Galra crystal powers his arm. The two combined together via the conduit shaft that drills the tips of them together creates the means for Haggar to control Shiro, probably the same way she was able to control the clone."
"So that's how she did it!!" Allura gasped in anger and frustration. "And the secrets of Oriande helped her gain more alchemic knowledge to hone those skills."
"Ok great," Hunk chimed in sarcastically. "But I think we have other more important things to be worrying about. Like, oh I don't know, THOSE GIANT CREEPY SNARLING CREATURES THAT WANT TO KILL US!!" The giant manifestation charged toward them and the lions scattered to avoid it.
"Lance, Hunk, Allura, we need to keep that thing busy, I'll cover Pidge." Keith commanded, pulling Black backwards toward the Green lion. The Red, Blue and Yellow Paladins thrust their lions forward to fight the creatures.
"I'm in, but I won't be able to shut it down."
"So how can you stop it?" Keith afraid to hear the answer.
"I can't. Not without destroying the arm at least." Keith stared at the ground his eyebrows tensed.
"Do it." He pulled Black over and thrust him toward Shiro. Pidge tapped at the screen preparing the sequence.
"Ok I've sent his arm to overload in ten seconds." She told him.
"Copy that I'm on it." Keith responded, leaving the cockpit of the Black lion.
Shiro was still fighting Haggar's control, when suddenly he froze. Something felt different, something... changed, but he wasn't sure what. His thoughts were interrupted by the Black Lion's mouth opening and Keith lunging out. SLICE!! Shiro's robotic arm was severed from his body once again, and suddenly he felt relief. Keith immediately grabbed Shiro and ran for Black.
"Noooo!!" Haggar wailed in her defeat.
"Ok team!! Let's get out of here!" Keith called, taking his place back in the cockpit of the lion. The lions gathered together in a circle and blasted the ceiling of the cave.
The surface of Kerberos was silent until a CRASH and a BANG shattered the silence. And out flew the lions, the creature's followed and Haggar appeared on the surface. A Galra cruiser hovered just inside the atmosphere above them.
"Great we're trapped in every direction." Lance groaned in frustration.
"Not if there were less of us." Keith said, hinting at something. The team seemed to read his mind, as they flew in formation. "Form Voltron!!" He cried pulling Black up. Coming back down as the Mighty robot they looked for the Galra ship.
"I have a visual on the Galra cruiser." Pidge reported, zooming in on it from her lion. They heard a screeching roar and turned just as the creatures took them by surprise. Becoming a ball of white they began to glow blue and were zapped away. Haggar's face tensed in the frustration of defeat.
The bug creatures scattered dropping Voltron on the surface of the planet they had left only a few days earlier. They left the Granipede, taking off but suddenly in the distance fell to the ground.
"What's happening?" Keith was puzzled.
"I think it's the atmosphere!" Pidge realized. "It's like a poison for these creatures, because of the unique components in the air."
"Then why isn't it affecting the that thing?!" Hunk cried, as the Granipede plunged toward them. The team evaded the creature's attack.
"I guess it's immunity is high enough to be able to breathe the air just fine." Pidge guessed.
"So how do we beat it?" Keith wondered aloud.
In the Black Lion's cargo hold, Coran laid Shiro down in the pod they had used for the clone, but he didn't activate it. Shiro then tried to get up.
"I need to help them." He gasped, trying to push Coran aside.
"No way!" Krolia laid him back down, with a hand on his chest. "You need time to recover." The Black Paladin reluctantly relaxed, knowing he wasn't going anywhere.
The Granipede roared at Voltron.
"What isn't it tunneling through the ground?" Lance wondered, unsure why he creature wasn't behaving the same as it had before.
"This new environment may be why it's acting different." Pidge guessed.
"But now that gives us the edge we've been looking for." Keith reasoned. "Form sword!!"
Lance drew is bayard and the sword blazed from the Red and Green lions' jaws.
"Alright." Keith said finally. "Let's finish this!" The Paladins pushed Voltron headlong toward the creature readying the sword. Pointing the blade forward, they charged through the air, like a jouster towards his opponent. The Granipede lunged toward them, Voltron swung around and sliced right through the creature. The power of the sword made it glow gold and explode behind Voltron, just as it had with the robeast back on Arus. When the dust had cleared Voltron stood up from its warrior stance, and looked back to where the creature once stood.
"We did!!" Pidge cried excitedly. The team cheered, surprised and relieved after all that had happened. But that joy soon turned to concern, when the lions disbanded and landed roughly on the ground.
"The lions are very low on power." Allura sighed. Keith heard a groan from behind him. Recognizing it, he jumped from his seat immediately rushing to the back.
"Shiro!" The Black Paladin looked pale and sweaty. He was relaxed but only because he was too weak to move, and he looked sick. His expression was still and miserable, as though he'd been suffering for a while. Keith felt dread creep into his body.
"His consciousness hasn't fully merged with the clone body." Allura told the team, when they joined Keith, Krolia and Coran in the Black Lion's cargo hold. "That's part of the reason why he's been.. out of sorts lately. But a few days in here should clear that up. I hope." Allura typed at the panel on the pod ready to activate it, when Shiro grabbed Keith forearm.
"Keith," he breathed, quietly. "Ever thought you'd become like me." He gave a weak smile. Keith returned one softly.
"I knew I'd have help." He smiled. Shiro chuckled weakly, then let his hand drop to his side inside the pod. The pod's blue shield crystallized over Shiro and he slowly fell asleep.
"The lions are very low on power." Allura remarked. "So we'll have to stay here until we can figure out what to do next."
"At least we're still together." Keith said softly, his gaze not leaving Shiro. "We'll figure this out, eventually. Then we'll head back to earth, to finish what we started. At home." The team stood there silently watching Shiro for a moment, before heading out to their own lions, to get ready to go to sleep.
~Renewal~
Well fanfic fans, that's it, the final chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it, and be sure to keep an eye out, cause more fanfics are on their way! And thank you sooo much for reading my work! Thx!