A/N: A mid-day update? What is this blasphemy? This is to make up for not updating last night. I literally fell asleep while writing. Oops. So here's the update shat should've been up last night with a suitably pun-ishing title. XD Enjoy. The next chapter should be up tonight as usual.

Chapter summary: In which Pidge is master of mazes, rover is stronger than it looks, and Lance enjoys testing his captor's self-control.

25: A-maze-ing Temerity

He could hear the steady thrum of power through the tunnel walls. Even with his armor on, the embedded crystals glowing the soft turquoise he'd come to find soothing, he could feel the subtle vibrations as the Castle's power increased. Something was happening. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

But was it worth the risk of asking for help? What if it got worse? What if 'worse' was actually too late? What if 'worse' wasn't too late and he ended up giving away his position in the Castle? Right now, he had the element of surprise on his side. If he asked for help, he would very likely lose that secret weapon.

So again, was it worth the risk?

Shit. Yeah, it was.

"Shiro," he said softly into his communicator. "Keith. Can you hear me? A-"

"Pidge!" came Keith's startled reply. "Jurt! Is that you?"

"Pidge," Shiro said. "Where are you?"

"I'm inside the Castle," Pidge said. "Where are you guys? You were supposed to be with Lance."

There was a faint keening sound over the communicator that Pidge vaguely recognized as Keith. That's right. Keith and Lance were mates. Pidge would bet money Keith wasn't handling the situation very well.

"We're outside," Shiro said. "The Galra attacked the Arusian village."

"It was a trap wasn't it?" Pidge grumbled.

"Yeah," Shiro said, sounding vaguely put out. "We can't get back in. The Galra have infiltrated the Castle. They raised the particle barrier."

"They did more than that," Pidge said, glancing at Rover hovering loyally by his shoulder. "They got Lance." Keith's keening came through Pidge's speaker again and he winced. "I take it Keith's not taking this too well."

"None of us are," came Allura's voice morosely.

"Al-" Nope. Can't use her name. If the Galra could hear this transmission, then it was best to use a cover name. Shit. Oh well. Hopefully Shiro would catch on. "Katie!" Pidge said. "Are you with Shiro and Keith?"

"Katie?" the princess repeated in confusion.

"Yes she is!" Shiro said over Allura. Pidge let out a huge breath in relief. "We're all here. Looks like you're the only one inside."

"R-right," Allura said. "We're hiding out right now. From the sound of it, the Galra are trying to launch the Castle."

"Is that what they're doing?" Pidge asked. "I wasn't sure."

"Listen, Pidge," Allura said. "If they are planning to take off, then we have to stop them before they finish powering up the primary turbine. I need you to get down to the main engine room and disconnect the primary the turbine from the crystal chamber. If you do that, then it'll force the Galra to reset to system by hand. That should buy us some time to figure out a way back in and fix this situation."

"Gotcha. I'm in an air vent right now," Pidge said, glancing at his surroundings. "I'm not 100% familiar with the vent tunnels."

"That's fine," Allura said. "Lance and I used to play in them. I know them better than he does. I can guide you. How did you get to where you are right now?"

"I got in from the vent in the hallway between the lounge and the emergency stairs by the lift to the pod hanger bay," Pidge said.

"Was the vent closer to the lift or closer to the lounge?"

"The lift," Pidge said.

"Alright. Did you take any turns after you got in?"

Pidge shook his head, belatedly remembering the princess couldn't see him. "No," he said aloud. "I climbed straight down the tunnel to the first junction."

"Good," Allura said. "Is there a ladder along the side of the tunnel going down from the junction?"

Pidge leaned over the side of the tunnel he sat in and answered. "Yeah. You want me to go down?"

"Yes. Go down," Allura commanded. "Go straight through the first three major junctions then take one of the vents going left."

"Got it," Pidge said. "I'll call you when I get there."

Pidge maneuvered himself carefully over the edge of the vent he sat in and put his booted foot on one of the rungs of the ladder in the vent going down. He would have to be careful to keep a firm grip on the rungs. The only light he had were the turquoise from the crystals in his armor and the green from the crevasses in Rover's metal casing. Rover beeped and flew down so it hovered under Pidge's feet, lighting the way.

"Thanks Rover," Pidge said, smiling at his little friend.

Rover beeped back cheerfully and continued to light Pidge's way. It took a few minutes for Pidge to finish climbing down to the third major junction. He would have to turn left from here. Thing is, there were several vents heading left. Also, which direction was the 'left' Allura meant.

"Hey Katie," Pidge said into his communicator.

"I'm here Pidge," Allura said after a moment. She must've forgotten Pidge was using a different name for her. "Are you at the third junction?"

"Yeah," the green paladin said. "Um, which direction is 'left'?"

"Are you facing the ladder you just climbed down?" the princess asked. She sounded strained, probably trying to visualize what Pidge was seeing.

"Yeah," Pidge said. "There are three vents to my left, they're all different sizes and I'm not sure which one to take."

"Alright. The one to the far left should be the largest of the three."

"It is."

"Good. Take that one," the princess commanded. "The larger vents lead to the main engine room. It's how the Castle heats the rooms and keeps the engine cool. The air circulation system is mechanical. It doesn't need power to work. The force of the air keeps it working."

"So follow the larger tunnels and hot air," Pidge muttered. "Right. Makes sense."

"Was he awake?" Keith asked suddenly.

"What?" Pidge asked, halting his movements in surprise. "Was who awake?"

"L-lance," Keith said. "When they took him. Was he awake?"

"No, he wasn't," Pidge said softly, pulling himself up into the large tunnel heading left. "He was still unconscious."

"I shouldn't have left him," Keith moaned.

"We'll get him back, Keith," Shiro said gently. Pidge pictured the black paladin patting the Galra halfbreed on the back comfortingly. "Don't worry."

"Who took him?" Keith demanded viciously, startling Pidge.

"Uh, they were sentries I think," Pidge said. "Robots. There was a real Galra over the intercom though."

"Did you hear any names?" Keith pressed. "Any at all? Did you hear 'Sendak' or 'Haxus' by any chance?"

"No," Pidge replied, hardening his eyes as he crawled through the tunnel. It was slightly slanted down, but not enough to make it difficult to keep his balance. "I'll keep an ear open for names, though. If I hear any, I'll let you know."

"Good," the red paladin growled. "I need to know whose throat to rip out."

"If you get to him first," Allura said darkly.

"I will," Keith promised.

"In this case," Shiro said, cutting off the argument before it had a chance to begin, "I think we should get back inside before killing anyone. That said, I'll hold him down so you two can take this Galra out."

Keith made a purring sound and Allura snickered. "I can go with that," the princess said.

"You guys are insane," Pidge said smirking. "I like it." Rover beeped and Pidge noticed he was at another junction. The largest tunnel was to the left but angled downward at a sharper slope than the one Pidge currently sat in. Thankfully there was a ladder along the lower side for ease of access. "Keep taking the larger tunnels, right Katie?" he asked as he turned himself around before stretching out a foot for the closest rung.

"Yes," Allura replied.

Pidge grunted as he pushed himself over the gaping tunnel heading directly down in the middle of the junction. His foot slipped and he gave a startled cry. Then his ankle hit something hard and angular. Pidge ducked his head and stared down at his foot between his body and the tunnel floor. Rover beeped at him, holding Pidge's foot balanced on its angular top.

"Thanks Rover," Pidge said.

Lance glared at the Galra looming over him. "I didn't think you were so eager to get spit at again," he said.

Sendak bared his teeth.

"Careful Sendak," Lance warned. "Your grand master saw you punch me once." He grinned. "You'll have to save that punch for when you're really angry."

"Assuming the emperor still wants you," Sendak said, turning on his heel to study the control panels in the crystal chamber.

"I'm alive," Lance said, shifting so his back didn't hurt as bad. "You would have killed me already if your emperor didn't still want me alive."

"You have a high opinion of yourself," the Galra commander said mildly. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wanted you for my own purposes?"

Lance flinched. It had, but he'd disregarded it. Unless Sendak reported him dead, there was no reason for the emperor to not want him. Zarkon suspected the Lions were tied to Lance. If Zarkon wanted the Lions functioning properly, then he would need Lance to stay alive.

"You're lying," Lance said.

"Perhaps," the Galra said. "But do you know for sure if I am or not?"

No.

Sendak chuckled. "You have a lot of bark, little prince," he said in amusement. "But I have yet to see your bite."

"I spit in your face last time we saw each other," the prince ventured.

"Yes," Sendak said. "I remember." His voice sounded only mildly annoyed. Was Lance missing something? "I've been meaning to pay you back for that by the way," the commander continued. "Imagine my surprise when you escaped my ship with that filthy halfbreed and the Red Lion. Since we were at slipstream at the time, I believed you lost." He turned back to the prince with a proud grin. "But now I find you again. Not only that, I now have your Castle and all of the Lions of Voltron. Congratulations, your highness. You've made me and Emperor Zarkon most pleased."

Lance sneered. "Yeah. Too bad I had to do all the work for you to get that praise," he said.

He immediately flinched in preparation for the inevitable strike. But it never came. Instead of fury, Sendak merely smiled.

"I see what you're doing, little prince," the Galra commander said. "Had we still been on my ship, you would have paid for that comment with your tongue. However," he said, turning back to the control panel before him, "seeing as I'm in a good mood right now and I currently have possession of your ship, I'll spare you that consequence. For now."

"We're ready to initiate the launch sequence, commander."

Lance bit back to pain and sat up so he could see the other speaker. It was unsurprisingly another Galra; the very same Galra who'd held Lance still when Sendak interrogated him.

"Well done, Haxus," Sendak said. "You may begin."

Launch? Lance stiffened, working his wrists against the unforgiving bonds that held them. If the Castle made it off the planet's surface, then there would be almost nothing to stop Sendak from bringing Voltron to the Galra Empire. The rebellion would be over before it even had a chance to begin. Not to mention the fact Lance was in no hurry to be in the same room with the traitor again so soon.

Quiznack. Why did he have to get stuck like this? He hated feeling useless. He was the Sentinel, not some damsel in distress. But there was nothing he could do in his current state. All he could do was wait and pray the Galran crystal, pulsing a sickening purple in the floor of the crystal chamber underneath where the Balmera crystal should have been, wasn't strong enough to handle to power output needed for launch.

The rest of the trek was uneventful, until he reached what had to be the main engine room. He carefully turned himself around so he faced the slatted vent which looked out over the engine room. It was then that Pidge noticed a rather significant problem.

"Hey, Katie?"

"I'm here Pidge," Allura replied. "Are you at the engine room yet?"

"Y-yeah. Um, I'm in the ceiling," Pidge said. "And it's a long way down."

It really was. The floor was practically nonexistent as far as Pidge was concerned. He knew it was there; it had to be. This was a castle after all. There had to be a bottom. But the light created by what was probably the primary turbine, although it didn't look like any turbine Pidge had ever seen before, hid the floor from view. Only a long, narrow catwalk connected the door in the wall far below with a control panel close to the turbine. The catwalk formed a ring around the space the turbine occupied to provide a view from all sides, probably in case something wasn't working correctly.

Well, if Pidge did this right, something certainly wouldn't be working right.

Allura sounded regretful. "Yes, it is," she said. "I'm sorry, but I know you can do it."

"That sounds suspiciously like you forgot the vents came out in the ceiling," Pidge said.

"I…may have," Allura admitted hesitantly.

Pidge groaned. "Okay. I got this," he muttered to himself. "I can do this. Think, Pidge, think."

He scanned the expanse of the main engine room, trying to gauge the distance between the vent and the catwalk with the control panel. There weren't any loops or anything on the walls of the chamber to grab onto and climb up or down on. But maybe he wouldn't need them.

Rover, nudged the green paladin and beeped drawing Pidge's attention to it. The hoverbot flashed and turned so its camera eye faced the inactive bayard hooked on Pidge's belt. That was certainly an option.

"Think you can handle the weight?" he asked his robot friend.

Rover beeped what Pidge hoped was an affirmative.

"Alright, buddy," he said.

He unhooked his bayard and activated it. The green blade glowed bright green and buzzed with energy. Pidge shook it and was pleased to see the blade detach from the bayard handle and clunk to the floor of the vent tunnel. He tied the buzzing blade around Rover's small mechanical body.

"You sure about this?" Pidge asked his robot friend one more time. "It won't hurt you, will it?"

Rover made its body turn side to side in a facsimile of a negative head shake. Pidge snickered at the action. "Alright," he said. "As long as you're sure."

He worked the vent cover free and pulled it into the tunnel. He crawled forward so his knees balanced on the edge of the tunnel, inches from topping over into oblivion. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Let me know when you're ready," he said.

Rover beeped and flew out into the engine room until it hovered over the vast expanse. Its camera eye turned back to Pidge and flashed, indicating it was ready.

"Alright," Pidge said. "Here goes nothing."

He held onto his bayard with both hands, extremely glad he couldn't sweat through his gloves. Without waiting to actually think the whole thing through, Pidge allowed himself to fall forward. He may have shrieked a little before his voice caught at the same time his body stopped falling and started swinging. He laced his fingers together over the bayard's handle and hoped it could take the strain.

Rover beeped and began descending through the air with its friend.

"Woah," Pidge said, watching the hoverbot glide down to the catwalk in a smooth ride. "Rover, did I ever tell you how awesome you are?"

Rover beeped in a higher pitch than usual and Pidge laughed.

"Well you are," he said.

He stretched out his toes when he got close to the catwalk and breathed a sigh of relief when he touched the solid surface. Rover did a little wobbling jig in the air and Pidge smiled at it fondly.

"Come one, buddy," he said. "Let's go take care of this turbine thing."

Together, the duo made their way to the control panel.

"Okay," Pidge said into his communicator. "I'm at the control panel. What do I do?"

"How did… Nevermind," Allura said quickly. "There should be an access hatch in the column. Open it."

Pidge crouched and pulled the metal covering off of the panel and stared at the inside of the control panel. "There're six different glowing tube thingies in here," Pidge said.

"Good. Find the main control center and enter this sequence," Allura said. She took a deep breath, ready to spout out the sequence.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Pidge said. "How do I know what the main control center is? All the symbols are in Altean."

The light from the turbine suddenly got brighter. Pidge sat back and stared at the glowing orb of energy in awe as it began to expand almost to the edges of the catwalk platform surround it.

"I think it's activating," Pidge said.

"You have to hurry," Allura said urgently.

"I don't know Altean," Pidge shouted in mild panic. "I only understand you guys at all because of those translator chip thingies you gave us."

Pidge tuned out the princess's voice when he noticed Rover fly down to the hatch and turn to face him beeping and flashing. The green bayard blade was still active and buzzing where it was tied to Rover's body.

"Worth a try," he said.

"Pidge," Allura said. "Pidge, wait. What are you doing? Pidge-"

"Katie?" Pidge called when the connection suddenly cut off. "Katie? Katie!"

The energy from the primary turbine glowing thing must be interfering with the signal. Pidge grit his teeth. After a second, he grabbed Rover so he could use his bayard blade.

"Whatever," he muttered, and slashed all of the tubes with the buzzing blade.

There was a brilliant burst of light that knocked Pidge off his feet, sending him sliding back across the catwalk platform. He pushed himself up and stared at the turbine. The light faded and the turbine shrank back to a much smaller size. Hopefully that was a good thing. He didn't want to stick around to find out.

"Let's get out of here," he said to Rover.

The hoverbot beeped and waited for Pidge to grip his bayard handle before flying back up over the expanse to the air vent.

The Castle shuddered and the control panel Haxus stood at suddenly sparked, forcing the Galra to retreat. "The main engine just shorted out," Haxus exclaimed.

"What?" Sendak demanded. "Show me."

A video feed of the main engine room appeared on the view screen. A red squared flashed over something in the upper left hand corner. Sendak enlarged the image and Lance's eyes widened. That green armor belonged to Pidge. Pidge could fly without the jet pack built into his suit? Wait. Did Pidge even know about the jet pack?

"It appears we have a saboteur," Sendak said. "Find him and kill him," he commanded his second in command.

"Vrepit sa, sir," Haxus said, saluting Sendak before racing out the door.

Lance grinned. "So," he said, "I do all the work, you get the Castle and me, but you can't hold onto it. Why the emperor tolerates you is beyond me."

Sendak growled. "You would be wise to keep that mouth shut, little prince," he warned.

"Why?" Lance asked, giving the Galra commander a daring grin. "Too close to the truth for comfort?"

Sendak clenched his fist angrily and raised his left arm to strike. Lance braced for impact. A tick before contact, Sendak stopped himself. Lance opened his eyes warily to see the Galra stand back and take a deep breath.

"Shrewd," Sendak said. "I'm impressed."

Lance glared Sendak. He flinched when Sendak extended his hand towards his face again, but his eyes widened when the Galra merely brushed a furred finger down his cheek. A sharp nail dug into the soft skin under his chin, lifting his face so he was forced to meet the Galra commander's biological and mechanical eyes.

"When I strike you, it will be on my terms," Sendak purred. "Not yours. Although I applaud your attempts to infuriate me, little prince; I'm afraid all it will do is worsen the end result when I finally do strike you." He grinned and pressed a finger against the scale at the corner of Lance's right eye eliciting a pained yelp. "The emperor may want you alive, but that a person can live just fine with one eye. I'm living proof of that."

Lance shuddered, fighting through the pain to glare hatefully at the Galra. He would not submit to the likes of him. He would not.