Episode Twenty-Nine
My Daughter is a Robeast
She held her son close as she said her goodbyes. His tiny head warmed the side of her neck as she carried him around the room. Whispering into his ear, Allura took a moment alone with her son then walked back over to her concerned subjects.
"Allura, please, don't go," Nanny said, gentle tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Nanny, I have to." He passed the baby off to Nanny. "If Zarkon wins today, you have to promise me that you'll take Lathan to a safer planet and protect him. He will be the only heir left to planet Arus."
"We will do everything in our power to protect the Prince from harm," Coran said, putting his arm around Nanny's shoulders.
"I will look after him with my life, my Lady," Nanny nodded.
"Thank you," Allura looked to the launch station.
Surrounding planet Doom on every side, the Galaxy Garrison with all the other allied planets of the Denubian Galaxy lined up for battle. Thousands upon thousands of battleships lined up within in their respective planet's military. Lance looked out over the vast darkness of space to see the other fleets coming to join them. His jaw dropped at the sheer number of battleships ready to fight. He flipped on his communicator. "Are you ready, your Majesty?"
"I've been ready," She said firmly, grasping onto the controls of the Black Lion.
Lance took a hold of his own Lion. He shook his head in amazement. With two days, Allura had called the Galaxy Garrison to war against Doom, and now, they were here ready to fight. Allura commanded the Voltron Force like a true leader.
They waited quietly in the vast emptiness of outer space, but soon, a stream of small fighters appeared out of the atmosphere of the dark planet. Allura gripped her controls tightly then charged forward with the Black Lion. "FORWARD!"
"GO VOLTRON FORCE!" The team yelled while thrusting their Lions forward towards the space fighters of planet Doom. Ferociously, the Black Lion tore through the first few ships then leapt onto the next. The others followed behind, destroying the leftovers. The Black Lion leapt directly into one ship then threw the lion blade into another. Next, the Black Lion rolled, scrapping its claws against two other ships.
"Allura, are you going to save any for us?" Lance asked.
"We've got to hurry and get down to the surface!" Allura said. "We don't know what kind of danger Gabriel or Serenity are in."
"Right!" Pidge exclaimed. "I'm getting a signal from Gabriel's communicator belt. It's coming from Hagar's laboratory."
"Has he contacted us yet?" Hunk asked.
"No, I've tried, and I've gotten nothing. He must be passed out or too weak to answer the call," Pidge said. "We've got to get down there as soon as possible!"
Allura flipped on her communicator. "Commander Nebulis!"
"Yes, your Majesty?" The commander of the Arusian forces answered.
"I'm going down with the Voltron Force to Planet Doom. Take control of the fleet while I'm gone."
"Yes, your Majesty." He answered. "Good luck!"
"Thanks!" Allura fired her proton missiles at an approaching ship.
"Let's get down there!" Rick said.
"Right!" The Voltron Force yelled.
While entering the atmosphere of the dark and dismal planet, the Voltron Force brought the five Lions together and created the mighty Voltron. The tall and powerful Robot landed on the dark rocky surface just before the evil and twisted laboratory of the witch, Hagar.
Standing outside of the dark building, Hagar looked up at the mighty Voltron while holding her precious blue cat in her arms. "So you have come to my domain, Voltron."
"I, Allura, Queen of Arus, demand the swift return of King Gabriel of Arus and Princess Serenity Isabella of Arus, immediately, or we will be forced to attack!" Allura stated over the speakers on Voltron.
The old witch laughed. "Why would I surrender when I am winning?" She turned around to run, but as she did, the ground started shaking violently. Blocking Voltron from capturing her, a mighty Robeast rose from the ground. It was a snake-like creature covered in a white turban. The creature spit on the ground, and the sand started to bubble.
"Eww! Acid spit!" Pidge said.
"That stuff could melt straight through the armor!" Rick said.
"Then we'll just have to be careful!" Hunk said.
"Right!" Lance exclaimed. "And just how are we going to keep a Robeast from spitting on us!"
"By taking him out quickly!" Allura exclaimed. Soon, Voltron started to rise in the air, high above the Robeast.
"Allura, what are you doing?" Lance asked, trying to use his controls.
Rick tried to use his controls, but they were locked. "Allura, unlock the controls! This is too dangerous!"
"I can do this!" Allura said. "We've got to get this Robeast before it gets us!"
"You don't know what you're doing! You'll crash!" Lance said.
"I know exactly what I'm doing," Allura said. Once they were up high enough, she called upon the Blazing Sword. After the sword was formed, she dropped Voltron into a fast descent.
"Allura, this is too fast!" Pidge exclaimed.
"I can do this! Gabriel taught me! I've just got to focus!" Allura said, feeling her body fly up in the seat from zero gravity.
Soon, they dropped out of the clouds at incredible speed. Before hitting the ground, she slammed on the air brakes while simultaneously slicing downward with the Blazing Sword. They landed safely with the blade slicing through the Robeast. Within seconds, the Robeast blew apart.
They all took a moment to catch their breaths, but when they did, they all started to laugh and cheer for Allura.
"That was amazing!" Pidge exclaimed.
"I'll have to get Gabriel to teach me that," Hunk said, stretching his arms in relief.
Lance shook his head. "I can't believe we're alive."
"Well, we are," Allura said.
"Let's get that witch!" Rick said.
"Right!" Allura said.
Sitting her chair, Hagar intently read through her magazine, Cosmo Witch, while drinking a bluish-yellow liquid out of a laboratory breaker. After turning the page, she reached down and patted her blue cat on the head.
Suddenly, the foot of Voltron, the blue Lion came crashing into the laboratory. Immediately, Hagar leapt up from her chair, disturbing her cat and dropping her breaker of juice. She took off towards the escape pod, but quickly ran back to get her magazine. She then headed back to the escape pod and left the laboratory for the Castle.
Soon after Hagar's escape, the five members of the Voltron Force emerged from the mighty robot. They glanced around the room, looking for the witch, but she was no where to be found.
Rick glanced up at the high ceilings as he looked around. He sighed while kicking an empty can out of the way. "She isn't here."
"Never mind that old hag!" Pidge said. "We've got to find King Gabriel."
Lance pointed to the wall. "The dungeons are over that way."
Allura immediately rushed over to the wall. Lined in a row, the heavy iron doors of the cells were hidden in the shadows of darkness. She stepped up on her tip-toes and peered inside the peep-hole. "I see something!" She grabbed for the heavy lock and tried to pull it back. The other members of the Voltron Force ran up behind her and tried to pull the iron bar back. Finally, as Hunk joined them, they were able to remove the bar that locked the door.
The heavy metal door screeched open, letting in a beam of light into the dark prison. Allura stepped into the cold air and looked around. "Gabriel!" She exclaimed, seeing him lifeless on the ground. She ran over to him and picked up his head. "Gabriel!" She stroked his head and put it in her lap. "Gabriel, are you alright?"
Slowly, his eyes opened. He glanced around for a moment, looking dazed and confused. "Allura," He uttered, extremely weak. "Is it you?"
"Yes, it's me." She smiled through her forming tears.
"You came for me?"
"Of course I would!" She exclaimed. "I love you!" She said, just before leaning down to kiss him. The other members of the Voltron Force circled around their commander as Allura propped him up against her.
"Serenity? Where's Serenity?" He breathed heavily.
"We don't know. We have to get her back," Allura said.
"Can you walk, Commander?" Lance asked.
Gabriel slowly started to move up. "I'll try." Hunk and Rick quickly helped him up from the ground. He glanced around for a moment. "Who flew the Black Lion?"
The Voltron Force glanced around at one another.
"Allura did," Pidge finally answered.
"Did you?" He looked over at Allura.
"Yes," She answered sheepishly.
He smirked. "That's my girl."
The Voltron Force headed back to the Lions. They carried Gabriel into the Black Lion then separated to head to their own Lions.
"You organized all this?" Gabriel asked, sitting on the floor of the cockpit of the Black Lion.
Allura buckled into the seat of the Black Lion. "I had to." She turned around and looked at him.
He nodded, holding his side in pain. "You saved my life."
"I couldn't let you die." She turned toward. "And I can let' Serenity die either."
"Sire! Sire!" Hagar came running into the courtroom tossing her arms in the air. "The Voltron Force has destroyed my laboratory!"
"What?" Zarkon stood up off his throne. "I ordered a ground attack unit to destroy that Robot before it even reached the surface!"
"What are we going to do?" Lotor said.
"They're mad because of that stupid girl!" Daisen pointed to Serenity. "This is your fault, Lotor!"
Lotor stepped in front of Serenity to protect her. "You all know war would have come sooner or later!"
"And I would have rather had it later!" Zarkon boomed.
"Zarkon, there's no time! We have to do something! They'll be heading for the Castle next!" King Charon said. "Even if I called my forces to retreat back to the Castle, they'd never reach us in time."
"We have to use Eviltron." Zarkon turned to Hagar. "Is it ready?"
Hagar nodded. "It is operational, but the transports to the Wolves were in the laboratory."
"Are you saying that we can't use the Wolves then?" Charon asked.
Hagar dug into her brown robes. She pulled out a small bag and started to untie the small robe around it. "We can still use the Wolves, but we'll have to find a way to get to them rather than using the transportation system I built in the laboratory." She pulled a black and grey oval shaped key out of her bag. The key was the exact shape and size as the Voltron keys; however, instead of the crest of Arus, these keys had the skull logo of Doom on them. She opened the key and held it up. "We'll each have to get our Wolves and form Eviltron."
"Voltron will capture use before we even get to them!" Daisen said.
Charon rubbed his chin. "We'll have to distract them, and that will be difficult considering the circumstances."
"Then send a Robeast!" Lotor said.
"We don't have a Robeast! Hagar said. "They were all in the laboratory!"
Daisen lunged forward, firmly grabbing a hold of Serenity's arm. He yanked her forward then threw her to the ground before their feet. "Turn her into a Robeast!"
"NEVER!" Lotor drew his sword. "If you touch her…"
"We need to distract Voltron!" Daisen hollered, standing up to Lotor. "If you weren't such an incompetent idiot, you'd understand that!"
"Get away from her!" Lotor yelled.
"Enough!" Zarkon boomed.
"Father, no! Please!" Lotor bowed before Zarkon.
Daisen furiously pointed at the girl. "They destroyed my body! We should return the favor and destroy her!"
"We have little time, Sire. A decision must be made." Hagar held the key to the Black Wolf up.
Zarkon looked down at Serenity. "Hagar…" He looked forward. "Turn her into a Robeast." He laughed while taking the key from Hagar's hand.
"FATHER!" Lotor screamed, lunging towards Serenity.
"Guards!" Zarkon hollered, motioning his hand forward.
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! SHE'S MINE! YOU PROMISED!" Lotor furious screamed as he fought with the guard. Harshly, one of the guards hit him with a nightstick and knocked the Prince to his knees. Before he knew it, Lotor was lying on the cold ground being handcuffed at his father's feet.
Daisen crossed his arms, one metal arm over the fleshly arm. "Pathetic."
"I swear that when I destroy Voltron, you'll be next Daisen!"
"What is happening? What is happening to my Lord?" Serenity asked.
"Come with me, deary…" Hagar laughed, grabbing a hold of Serenity's arm and digging her long nails into the young woman's flesh.
Serenity hissed in pain. "You're hurting me!"
"It'll hurt much more than this when I'm done with you." Hagar led her away.
"SERENITY!" Lotor yelled.
"It brings back a lot of memories that I don't want to remember," Rick said as he saw the Castle of Doom in the foggy distance.
"I know what you mean, and I was only here a couple of days," Pidge said. "How long were you here, Rick?"
"About eight months." He said solemnly.
"Well, when I'm done with Zarkon, all the slaves are going to be free and Zarkon's gonna get what's coming to him!" Hunk huffed.
"That's right! Nobody is going to be his slave anymore!" Lance said.
Allura flipped on her communicator. "Are you ready, boys?"
"Ready, Commander!" The rest of the Voltron Force answered back.
Gabriel, who felt a little stronger, stood behind Allura's seat in the Black Lion. "Commander, eh?"
Allura blushed. "I'm not trying to usurp…"
"No, it's where you should be. After all, you are the daughter of King Alfor." He looked forward towards the Castle. "Our destiny will be written today."
"And what do you think will be written about us?" She gripped the handles of the controls tightly.
Gabriel paused for a moment. "All I can hope is that peace will finally come."
Allura nodded. "But first, we must finish the journey." She pulled back on the controls, setting Voltron in a gentle walk towards the Castle. The mighty Robot approached the dark castle and stood before it. Over the large speakers, Allura called out to King Zarkon. "King Zarkon of Doom, this is Queen Allura of Arus, and I demand the swift and quick surrender of Princess Serenity of Arus and the disarmament of your planet."
High up upon the balcony of the Castle, a crowd of people headed out to face the mighty Robot. King Zarkon first approached the mighty Voltron while King Charon along with his eldest son, Prince Daisen followed quickly behind. Following them, Hagar, stilling holding onto Serenity, walked onto the balcony. Bound and captured, Lotor was dragged along by the Imperial Guards.
The King of Doom raised his arms high into the air, pointing his golden staff towards Voltron. "It is you who should be surrendering, Voltron! We demand the five Lions, their pilots, the royal family, and possession of planet Arus to be immediately surrendered to Planet Doom."
"Serenity," Gabriel uttered, seeing his daughter in the clutches of the old witch, Hagar. Even though he felt like collapsing at any moment from pain, he fought to stay standing. He gripped tightly onto Allura's chair while leaning forward.
Allura took a deep breath. "Zarkon, I am asking you, as an extreme act of mercy to release Princess Serenity back to the Arusian forces. She is completely innocent…"
"And there you are wrong, Queen Allura!" Zarkon interrupted. "Serenity is an heir to the Arusian throne, and I will destroy Arus!"
"ZARKON!" Allura yelled, losing her composure. "I am begging you to give me back my daughter!" Allura broke out into tears. "Please, take me instead! I beg of you, Zarkon! Spare her!"
"Hmmm…" The King pondered for a moment, relishing in the fact that Allura was upset. He reached out his blue hand and cupped Serenity's face. "So much like your mother," He smirked as she squirmed at the coldness of his touch. "But we can't have that, can we?" He gave her a hard shove, pushing her away from Hagar's grip, and sending her flying off the edge of the balcony. Laughing, Zarkon pointed to the falling girl and yelled, "Hagar, work your magic! Turn her into a Robeast!"
The old witch raised her staff, shooting out a beam of red light.
"SERENITY!" Gabriel and Allura screamed concurrently. Allura jerked the controls, trying to move Voltron fast enough to catch Serenity, but as the mighty hand of Voltron swept by, the red beam of magical energy had already hit Serenity. She started growing at a rapid rate. Her fair skin turned a pale purple. Her beautiful golden curls stretched out into dark green locks of swarming snakes. Before her body was dashed to pieces on the rocky ground, she had transformed into a Robeast.
"SERENITY!" Gabriel shouted, grabbing his side in pain. He collapsed to his knees, feeling every fiber in his body scream in emotional sickness.
"CHANGE HER BACK!" Hunk shouted.
Lance took in a sharp breath. "Oh, heaven…"
"What do we do?" Pidge whispered to himself.
"SERENITY! SERENITY!" Allura screamed. Torrents of tears streamed down her face as the newly formed Robeast stood before Voltron. The little baby girl that she had given birth to, the same baby girl she held in her very own arms, was now a Robeast. Waves of horror washed over her mind and heart. It had been done before—Hagar had turned multiple people into Robeasts. Avok, Princess Romelle and Prince Bandor's older brother was one example; however, there were no instances of turning anyone back into a human after Hagar had warped him or her with her evil magic.
While Voltron was distracted, Zarkon and his followers turned away and headed back into the Castle. Hagar looked back over her shoulder. "I hope you enjoy, Medusa," She cackled.
"Now, where are these Wolves?" Daisen asked, impatiently.
Hagar pulled out the remaining keys and passed them out to their respective pilots. "Sire," She turned to Zarkon. "The Death Black Wolf is located in front of the Castle Doom in your statue." She looked to King Charon. "Your Majesty, the Ogre Brown Wolf is resting in the Dark Mountains of Doom. You must get there and recover it." Charon nodded while Hagar turned to Daisen. "Prince Daisen, the Poison Green Wolf lies at the bottom of the East Swamp. You must use the underground caves to enter the hangar." She finally looked to Prince Lotor. "Are you ready to act like a Prince of Doom?"
Lotor jerked away from the guards. "Where is my Wolf, old witch?"
She handed him his key. "The Blood Red Wolf rests in the Pool of Blood south of the Castle. Again, there is an underground passage to the hangar in the nearby cliffs."
"Wait a minute? Aren't there five Wolves?" Zarkon asked. "Hagar, what of the fifth Wolf?"
Hagar held up a key. "And I will pilot the Fog Grey Wolf."
They all nodded then departed for their respective locations.
Meanwhile, before the Voltron Force could form a plan, Medusa was already lunging at Voltron with her long nails. She scratched across the front of Voltron, tearing into the metal. She then kicked Voltron to the ground and began to crush his chest with her foot. Waves of static electricity surged through Voltron's metal parts, shocking the pilots inside. Helplessly, they screamed as Medusa smashed her foot into Voltron's chest.
"What do we do?" Pidge gritted through his teeth.
"Rick, fire your proton missiles!" Lance hollered out.
"Are you crazy?" Rick retorted. "I'll hurt her!"
"Just do it!" Lance yelled.
Knowing Lance was right, Rick closed his eyes while firing off the proton missiles. They hit Medusa directly in the leg and made her stumble back. Quickly, Voltron scrambled up and backed far away from the Robeast.
"She's too strong for us!" Hunk said. "We got to do something?"
"But what?" Rick said.
Allura painfully swallowed while gripping onto her control handles tightly. "We need to form the Blazing Sword."
"NO!" The other members simultaneously yelled.
"We'll kill her if we do that!" Lance said.
Tears streamed down Allura's face. "She's gone." She gasped, choking on her heavy emotion. "She'll destroy us and all of Arus if we don't."
"We have to stop her," Pidge said solemnly, removing his tear stained glasses.
"Gabriel?" Lance called out.
The King of Arus stood behind Allura's chair looking as white as a sheet. "We can't reverse Hagar's magic." Tears began to run down his face. "It is the cruelest…" His voice cracked.
"Allura, I can't…" Lance stopped, feelings tears come to his eyes.
"I know," Allura said through her heavy tears. "I'll do it."
"Allura," Pidge uttered, burying his face into his hands.
"Form Blazing Sword!" Allura called out. Voltron put his hands together to form the mighty sword that had gained them so many victories. Soon, Medusa was on the charge. Allura, controlling Voltron alone, raised the arms of the mighty robot and held the sword high above. Allura waited, as tears leaked from her eyes, for the Robeast to approach. Instead of lunging in for the full charge, Medusa stopped.
Suddenly, long flowing locks of dark green hair grew larger and larger. They twisted and wrapped around the mighty Voltron, wrapping him in hair. Amidst the green locks, were slithering serpents that struck at Voltron, biting into the metal structure of the robot. Trying with all her might, Allura tried to break free, but Medusa had Voltron trapped within her hair. Allura tried to use the Blazing Sword to cut through the hair, but Medusa whipped her head back, pulling Voltron forward and making the robot drop the sword.
"We're trapped!" Rick hollered out. "The proton missiles won't work!" He said, rapidly firing them off.
"Neither will the lion daggers!" Hunk said.
Pidge typed furiously on his control panel. "She's got too strong of a hold on us. We can't break free!"
"She's crushing us to death!" Lance hollered out, feeling the pain of being crushed by the green hair and snakes.
"Serenity," Allura whispered while closing her eyes. In the few moments of darkness, she heard her friends screaming in pain, but suddenly, it stopped. When she opened her eyes, bright light filled the cockpit of the Black Lion. She shaded her eyes from the brightness.
"My daughter." A voice called out.
"Father?" Allura put her hand down as the light dissipated.
"My son."
"King Alfor?" Gabriel uttered, resting his hand at his side.
Before the King and Queen of Arus, the late King Alfor appeared on the control screen of the Black Lion. Awed, Gabriel and Allura both stared hard into the face of the King. More tears came to Allura's eyes while Gabriel dropped to his knees on the floor of the cockpit.
"Father, help us!" Allura said. "Medusa will destroy us!"
"My children, the key to saving Serenity rests around your necks."
Instantly, Gabriel and Allura reached up to their necks. Both of them, ever since their coronation, wore small pendants with the crest of Arus around their necks. Allura pulled off the necklace. "This father?"
King Alfor nodded. "With the crest of the King and Queen, the true power of Voltron will be released."
"What do we do, King Alfor?" Gabriel asked, looking at his crest.
"My son, place your necklace along with your wife's in the proper place on the control panel." He began to disappear.
"Father!" Allura reached out.
"King Alfor!" Gabriel rose to his feet.
"I will be with you, my children." He disappeared completely.
"Father!" Allura yelled one last time.
Gabriel walked over to the control panel. On each side, he saw a small empty lock with no key. He looked at the shape of the crest on the necklace. He placed the pendant in the hole—a perfect fit. "Allura," He said, turning to look at her. "Place your pendant in that hole." She unbuckled from her seat and stood up. She placed her pendant in the hole.
Everything flashed with bright white light. It was as if time stopped for a few moments. The mighty Voltron, with every wire, part, and piece started to glow. Out of the crest resting on his chest, a beam of pure white light shot out and hit Medusa directly. As the bright flash of light started to clear, only a beam emerging from the crest remained. Quickly, Gabriel and Allura ran out of the Black Lion. As they stood in the mouth of the Black Lion, they watched as the light started to shrink the size of Medusa. Soon, the light dissipated. Floating towards them, the baby Serenity came into Allura's arms. With tears of happiness, the Queen took her baby girl into her arms while the King wrapped his arms around the both of them. Serenity was safe.
