p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro squirmed and groaned as Keith snickered at Lance and resumed his actions. Lance squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger on his gun, sending a laser straight through Keith's skull. The red paladin glitched and disappeared, leaving Shiro free, at last. Shiro dropped to the floor, shocked, trying not to let tears into his eyes./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Lance…" he moaned. "Lance, how could you? How could you shoot him?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That wasn't Keith," Lance said, visibly shaken. "Did you see how he glitched and disappeared? If that were the real Keith, he'd be bleeding on the floor right now. That wasn't Keith and there was something majorly wrong with whatever it was."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro could hardly focus over the ringing in his ears. He felt Lance's hand on his shoulder. "Look, Shiro, I know you're scared. But believe me, I wouldn't have fired if I wasn't sure it wasn't Keith. Besides, Keith would never do that. Ever."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Lance…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I know about you two," Lance continued. "I overheard you… last night… I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just couldn't help myself." Lance took Shiro's forearm in his hand and tried to help him to his feet. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's get your pants back on and figure out where Keith is… and where that thing came from."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro was shaking, but he managed to stand and pull his pants back up. He looked at Lance and gave him a weak smile. "Thank you for stopping it, Lance," he said. "Now lets go find Keith. The real Keith."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Together, they moved through the castle, searching every room. Finally, Shiro started to panic. "He's not here. He's nowhere in the castle."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Lance looked perplexed. "This doesn't make any sense. I know that Keith in the kitchen wasn't real…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Let's see if any of the rest of the team has seen him," Shiro said. "And Lance?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah?" Lance said, looking at him class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Could you… not tell everyone what happened? I don't…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Don't worry," Lance said. "I won't tell them what that thing did. That's not something they need to know. We can just tell them that it attacked you."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Thank you, Lance," Shiro said. "And once again, thank you again for saving me."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No problem, Shiro. I'm just worried about Keith… what if something happened to him?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro looked at Lance for a moment, then turned his gaze forward. "I really hope not."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" They made their way to the bridge and found Allura and Coran helping Hunk with some of the altean tech. "Has anyone seen Keith?" Shiro asked./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" The team looked up at Shiro and Lance. "I haven't seen him since yesterday," Hunk said. "Why?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Lance and Shiro exchanged a glance. "Keith attacked Shiro in the kitchen a few minutes ago," Lance said. "But it wasn't Keith. I shot him with my bayard and he disappeared… almost like a hologram…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Everyone looked at Shiro. "Are you alright, Shiro? What happened?" Allura asked, being the first to find her voice./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I'm alright," Shiro said. "But we can't find the real Keith anywhere. I'm worried."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Coran stood up. "Let me scan the ship. He may just be somewhere you haven't looked yet. We should look into how the false Keith got into the castle as well."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Just as Coran pressed some buttons on the console, the main screen lit up and Zarkon was staring back at them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Paladins of Voltron," he class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That's never good," Lance grumbled. "What do you want, Fart-con?" He chuckled a little. "Heh. Fart-con. Nice."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Perhaps you have noticed," Zarkon continued, unfazed, "that the Red Paladin you brought home with you last quintet was not the Red Paladin you left with."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro paled, his blood running cold. "No," he managed. He stepped forward. "Where is Keith?! What have you done with him? Why?!"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Zarkon laughed. "Rest assured, Champion. Your red paladin is in good hands. We will take care of him until we see you again. Until then," Zarkon smiled, which was gross and creepy, and stepped aside to show Keith, bound hand and foot, hanging from the ceiling by a rope around his ankles. Blood was dripping steadily from his head, pooling on the floor. He was pale and thin. Shiro bit his lip. Keith looked like they'd had him for weeks. He was unmoving, and as his body slowly spun around, Shiro could see a gag around his mouth, and his eyes were closed. He was clearly unconscious. The video feed ended abruptly, just in time for Shiro to collapse to his knees, a sob ripping its way out of his throat./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Lance…" he moaned. "Lance, how could you? How could you shoot him?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That wasn't Keith," Lance said, visibly shaken. "Did you see how he glitched and disappeared? If that were the real Keith, he'd be bleeding on the floor right now. That wasn't Keith and there was something majorly wrong with whatever it was."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro could hardly focus over the ringing in his ears. He felt Lance's hand on his shoulder. "Look, Shiro, I know you're scared. But believe me, I wouldn't have fired if I wasn't sure it wasn't Keith. Besides, Keith would never do that. Ever."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Lance…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I know about you two," Lance continued. "I overheard you… last night… I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just couldn't help myself." Lance took Shiro's forearm in his hand and tried to help him to his feet. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's get your pants back on and figure out where Keith is… and where that thing came from."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro was shaking, but he managed to stand and pull his pants back up. He looked at Lance and gave him a weak smile. "Thank you for stopping it, Lance," he said. "Now lets go find Keith. The real Keith."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Together, they moved through the castle, searching every room. Finally, Shiro started to panic. "He's not here. He's nowhere in the castle."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Lance looked perplexed. "This doesn't make any sense. I know that Keith in the kitchen wasn't real…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Let's see if any of the rest of the team has seen him," Shiro said. "And Lance?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Yeah?" Lance said, looking at him class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Could you… not tell everyone what happened? I don't…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Don't worry," Lance said. "I won't tell them what that thing did. That's not something they need to know. We can just tell them that it attacked you."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Thank you, Lance," Shiro said. "And once again, thank you again for saving me."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "No problem, Shiro. I'm just worried about Keith… what if something happened to him?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro looked at Lance for a moment, then turned his gaze forward. "I really hope not."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" They made their way to the bridge and found Allura and Coran helping Hunk with some of the altean tech. "Has anyone seen Keith?" Shiro asked./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" The team looked up at Shiro and Lance. "I haven't seen him since yesterday," Hunk said. "Why?"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Lance and Shiro exchanged a glance. "Keith attacked Shiro in the kitchen a few minutes ago," Lance said. "But it wasn't Keith. I shot him with my bayard and he disappeared… almost like a hologram…"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Everyone looked at Shiro. "Are you alright, Shiro? What happened?" Allura asked, being the first to find her voice./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "I'm alright," Shiro said. "But we can't find the real Keith anywhere. I'm worried."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Coran stood up. "Let me scan the ship. He may just be somewhere you haven't looked yet. We should look into how the false Keith got into the castle as well."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Just as Coran pressed some buttons on the console, the main screen lit up and Zarkon was staring back at them./span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Paladins of Voltron," he class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "That's never good," Lance grumbled. "What do you want, Fart-con?" He chuckled a little. "Heh. Fart-con. Nice."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" "Perhaps you have noticed," Zarkon continued, unfazed, "that the Red Paladin you brought home with you last quintet was not the Red Paladin you left with."/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Shiro paled, his blood running cold. "No," he managed. He stepped forward. "Where is Keith?! What have you done with him? Why?!"/span/p
p class="p1"span class="s1" Zarkon laughed. "Rest assured, Champion. Your red paladin is in good hands. We will take care of him until we see you again. Until then," Zarkon smiled, which was gross and creepy, and stepped aside to show Keith, bound hand and foot, hanging from the ceiling by a rope around his ankles. Blood was dripping steadily from his head, pooling on the floor. He was pale and thin. Shiro bit his lip. Keith looked like they'd had him for weeks. He was unmoving, and as his body slowly spun around, Shiro could see a gag around his mouth, and his eyes were closed. He was clearly unconscious. The video feed ended abruptly, just in time for Shiro to collapse to his knees, a sob ripping its way out of his throat./span/p