Lance's ears were ringing. Time had stopped. The large beam of blue had shot at the lions, and engulfed them. Lance wasn't sure if they were alive. He couldn't see, everything was fuzzy. He couldn't hear, nothing but explosions. But none of it mattered. Lance felt tears slip along his cheeks as he cradled Lotor's head in his arms. "Please... please..." Lance whispered over and over, his voice cracking as he doubled over, hugging Lotor's chest close to his body.
Tears streamed down his face as he screamed, he was angry, scared, lost, and confused. Lance begged over and over for Lotor to open his eyes, but he never did. Lance pressed a kiss to his head, a small smile on his lips, as he hoped and prayed that this was just a dream. "Come on... Lotor... my prince.. please... w-wake up... please..." His smile turned as his eyes flooded with more tears.
Suddenly a tight grip grabbed his suit and yanked him off Lotor. Lotor's body slumped back onto the ground and Lance's eyes widened as he came face to face with Zarkon. Zarkon chuckled darkly, holding the smaller boy in his grasp. "Pathetic." He spoke gruffly.
The ringing had subsided, and Lance could hear the roars of his lion, Blue. her roar piercing Lance's ears. She too, felt his grief. "No..." Lance's voice was nearly inaudible. Zarkon grunted. "To think my son fell in love with such a weakling. In that case, you were perfect for each other." He sneered.
Lance's hands slid up to Zarkon's fist holding his body up, struggling weakly to get away. "How... how could you..." Lance gasped, gritting his teeth. Zarkon laughed. "Why wouldn't I? He threatened my position on the throne for too long, consider it a gift for you and your young ones."
Lance's eyes flew open, staring straight into Zarkon's own eyes. He knew. He knew Lance was pregnant. He took away Lance's love, his being, his everything. Lance felt something inside him stir, something powerful, something terrifying. He let it consume him.
Meanwhile, high above Lance, the blue laser beam had died down, and swarms of galran soldiers flew around the smoke left behind, to see if the paladins were dead. Suddenly beams shot out from inside the smoke, destroying the many soldiers. As the smoke lifted, the lions all floated unharmed, with the castle in between them. Allura and Coran had warped quickly to them and turned on the barriers just in time. The beam was so large that simply moving out of the way would not have been enough. The aftermath of the beam had killed countless galran soldiers as well.
"Allura! You are amazing!" Pidge yelled in her mic. Hunk cheered and Allura smiled. "We have to do our part in this war. Paladins! Go save Lance!" She yelled. The paladins all yelled in agreement before charging down towards the floating arena their teammates were on. As they got closer, Pidge yelped in surprise. "What is it?" Shiro asked.
"It's... it's Lance.. at least I think it is. Look at that thing down there!" As they all got closer, each paladin become shocked at the scene before them.
Zarkon was fighting Lance, but it wasn't the Lance they knew. His body had changed, had grown larger, more muscular. Lance's body had turned a light shade of purple, he had grown three times his size, even bigger than Zarkon. His eyes were pure yellow, sclera and all. His hair had grown long and flowed along his back, a mixture of dark brown and white. He had grown too big for his clothes, and appeared in nothing but ripped remains of his pants. Lance's helmet had been tossed to the side.
"What happened to him?" Hunk gasped.
"Since he has galran and altean blood in him, being able to alter his form and color doesn't come as a surprise, but to change this much is unheard of! He has lost control!" Allura spoke, watching the situation through one of the lions.
"Is he going to be ok out there?" Shiro asked, at the same time Pidge went "He looks sooooo badass!"
"He should be fine. I am not sure what kind of toll this is taking on his body, but galrans can usually breathe just fine in this environment. Please get to him quickly and help him!" Allura spoke.
As the team got closer, they saw Lotor's generals coming from the opposite direction. They landed a lot quicker than the lions, and the three generals that could see were fighting the druids, while Narti moved to Lotor's body.
While Lance was fighting, his eyes had zeroed in on Zarkon. All he saw was red. He was angry, confused, scared. All of the above. He felt as if he had no control over his limbs, his body was moving on its own. He lashed out at Zarkon with claws he didn't know he had. Zarkon, fully armored, was beginning to tire against Lance's ruthless attacks. However, Lance's attacks were sloppy, as his mind was in complete and utter turmoil. 'Lotor... Lotor is dead... Lotor... my Lotor...' The words played over and over in Lance's mind as he became more and more upset. He hadn't even noticed the change in his body, his altean marks glowing brightly, the long hair whipping around as he attacked wildly.
The paladin's all got out of their lions, screaming Lance's name, but all Lance could hear was his own heavy breathing. "We can't get to him!" Pidge yelled. "Focus on taking out the druids with the generals! If you try to get in the middle of Lance's and Zarkon's fight, you will be killed. Lance isn't thinking straight." Allura's voice pierced each paladin's ears as she spoke her orders. They all agreed, pulling out their bayards as they rushed in to help fight. The druids were fighting mostly with magic, though a few had swords of their own. Metal clang against metal as each paladin and general seemed to team up to take out the spell casters.
Zarkon managed to grip one of Lance's arms when he swung at him, tossing him over his shoulder and many feet away. Lance landed on his back with a grunt, moving to his hands and knees, his hair sliding down his cheeks and spreading along the rough surface of rock. Lance's mind cleared up in an instant as he noticed this, the blue of his iris' appearing again. He blinked. 'My... hair? Why is it long?' He thought, before a swift kick in his stomach sent him flying again.
Zarkon roared, walking slowly towards Lance as he struggled to get up again. "To think my disgusting piece of shit of a son gave you his blood. You are just as tainted as he is."
"Wrong..." Lance gasped out, getting to his feet. He wiped at his mouth, blood slipping along his lips. He glanced at his hands, which were much larger, purple, and had sharp claw-like nails. He turned his eyes back on Zarkon. "Wrong! Wrong, wrong wrong!" He shouted. "Lotor was better than you could ever dream! He wanted a peaceful universe, you only want power! You... you killed him! I will never forgive you!" Lance growled, throwing himself at Zarkon. Zarkon braced himself but Lance used as much force as he could muster, slamming Zarkon into the ground.
Lance straddled Zarkon's hips, easy to do since he had grown so much larger, and he starting slamming his fists into Zarkon's helmet over and over until it crack and fell apart. Zarkon had a scowl on his face as he twisted his palm up and towards Lance. A circle on his glove glowed, and a large beam shot out of it, knocking Lance off him.
Lance scrambled up, seeking revenge as the two clashed. Lance slashed his claws at Zarkon's face, earning a yell in pain as he managed to run one of his claws down Zarkon's left eye. Zarkon continued to shoot beams of painful lasers at Lance, each one hitting some part of Lance, but he gritted through, determined to kill Zarkon, and avenge his lover.
As the two fought, the paladins and generals all managed to kill the druids, and rushed over to Narti holding Lotor's body. Keith and Pidge seemed antsy to jump in and aid Lance, but they were against stopped by the voice of Allura.
"This is... this is horrible.." Ezor spoke, tears streaming down her face as she bent down and touched her fingers to Lotor's forehead.
"We will need to have a proper burial for the Prince after all this." Zethrid spoke curtly. Ezor whipped her head around, eye's piercing into Zethrid's. "How can you speak like that? Our prince, our commander, is DEAD!"
"You don't think this hurts me? I am in more pain than you can imagine!" Zethrid growled. The two faced off, grief fueling their anger, but then Narti's voice spoke in all their heads at once.
'Lotor is alive.'
Everyone's eyes seem to widen and turned to face Narti, still holding Lotor in her arms. "W-what?" Pidge gasped. 'He isn't breathing, his heart isn't pounding, but I can sense his consciousness somewhere...'
"Can you... can you bring him back?" Shiro asked. Narti tilted her head slowly. 'I cannot, but perhaps the altean aboard your castle can...'
"Allura!" Shiro yelled in the mic. Without waiting for her response, he continued. "I'm sending the general's and Pidge up to you with Lotor, you may be able to save him."
"He is alive?" Allura gasped. "We believe his consciousness is."
"Of course! If you can sense his presents, his soul must still be nearby. Hurry! Bring him up!"
Shiro turned to Pidge. "Take your lion with generals and Lotor, it will be safer than their small ships. Get to the castle as fast as you can."
Pidge nodded, turning to run to her lion as the generals all followed, with Zethrid carrying Lotor in her arms. As the green lion shot off towards the castle, the remaining paladins all turned towards Zarkon and Lance.
"Lance is getting tired..." Hunk commented, noticing how stiff Lance was and how slow his motions were becoming. "We will need to help him now. Be careful you don't get caught between them, though both appear to be fading. Stand your ground and try to make clean shots at Zarkon's legs and arms."
"You don't want us to try to kill him?" Keith asked, raising his bayard. "No. I feel as if Lance will want to deal the killing blow, for the sake of himself and Lotor."
"...Understood." Keith replied. The three paladins all got ready, before rushing towards the giant duo clashing fists.
Lance started to lose focus, his eyes blinking rapidly as he grew tired. Zarkon was equally as tired, but determined to take Lance down. Suddenly, a flurry of smaller bodies came rushing in, Lance blinked in surprise, stumbling back as Keith zipped past him, slashing at Zarkon's legs. Hunk jumped onto Zarkon's back and slashed a deep bash in his armor, piercing his skin. Shiro rushed in and ran a long cut in his left hip. Zarkon roared, turning to attack the three paladins. Lance took this chance.
Lance leaped into the air, landing on Zarkon's body as he sunk his claws into Zarkon's neck. Zarkon released a blood curdling scream as Lance continued to dig in deeper. Blood spurt and slide along his claws as he gritted his teeth and pushed. The paladins all stood back as they watched. Zarkon's eyes flared as he stared at Lance. "You... you d-dare..." He tried to speak but coughed up some blood.
Lance narrowed his eyes at the galran man. "I hope you burn in hell." He growled, before slashing his claws to the side, creating an open gash in Zarkon's neck. Zarkon's eyes rolled into his head, and his body slumped to the ground. Zarkon was dead.
Lance slowly got up, stumbling a bit, before turning to his teammates. "Lance... are you OK?" Shiro asked. Lance started to speak, before he suddenly whipped around, his eyes wild. "Where is Lotor? Where is Lotor? Where is he?" He panicked. Hunk moved forward and gripped Lance's arm. "Calm down Lance! We took him to the Castle. Allura might be able to save him."
Lance's turned to look down at Hunk, his eyes wide. "I have to see him..."
"Of course. Everyone, to your lions!" Shiro ordered, as the group made their way to their lions. Lance hadn't realize just how large he had grown, and despite trying to focus on shifting back, he had no idea how. He climbed into Blue, realizing he was too big to even fit in the driver's seat, so he curled up behind it and reached around to maneuver Blue.
Lance didn't have to do much, Blue was just as eager to get to the Castle as he was. She tore off into space and towards the castle faster than any of the other lion's.
After Zarkon's death, the remaining fleets of galran soldiers all retreated, giving the paladins a safe trip back to the castle. Once they landed inside the hangars, Lance booked it right to the medical room, with Shiro, Keith, and Hunk on his tail. Lance was still incredibly large and bulky, but the moment he saw Lotor's face, eyes closed as if he was sleeping, Lance lost it.
"Lotor!" He yelled, shoving inside the room and past the generals and his old teammates to get closer. His eyes teared up as he pressed his claw-like hands against the glass that encased Lotor's body. "Quiznak Lance! Is that you?" Coran was shocked, he had helped protect the castle against the galran fleets, but had been unaware of Lance's change.
Lance ignored him, pressing his face against the glass as tears slipped along the edges, his long hair sliding along his face as he fell to his knees. "Lotor! I am so sorry... soo sorry..." He moaned. Allura had her hands hovering over the case, her eyes closed and her markings and hands glowing.
"Can you save him!" Lance cried, turning his head towards her. She didn't open her eyes as she responded. "Narti told me that she felt his presence nearby, and if that were the case, I could remove that presence from where it sat and transfer it back to his body, however when he was brought up here, his consciousness was lost."
"No...no! No!" Lance cried, pounding his fists on the metal floor, shaking the castle slightly. "Very strong." Zethrid commented to herself.
"But!" Allura spoke loudly, stopping Lance's movements. "When you came on board, I sensed his presence. And you Narti?" She asked. Narti's soft voice entered everyone's mind. 'It was lost when we moved from Lance, but now that he is nearby, I can sense Lotor's consciousness yet again.'
"What... what do you mean?" Lance asked, his voice shaking. "What they mean is, Part of Lotor is in you." Pidge spoke up. Lance turned and stared at her in shock, so she continued. "It must have been when Lotor saved you by giving you his blood. He not only gave you his blood, but gave you a part of him as well, that part of him is still inside you. If we can extract that part of him from you, we can put it back into his body and possibly bring him back!"
"Do it! Do it now!" Lance screeched, and Shiro gripped his shoulder. "Hold on." Shiro barked, looking at Pidge. "Any side effects?"
"Well, if we focus on just taking the presence of Lotor out, his soul, there might not be any problems, but that's only if it goes well. Lance's body could go into convulsions and the possibility of it effecting the triplets in a negative way is in a rather high percentage..."
Lance's eyes were wild. The chance at getting back his lover, but losing his children... which was the better choice? Lose his lover, or lose his children? Or lose both? Or lose neither?
Lance's mind was reeling, he didn't know what to do. "What... what do you suggest?" He asked after a minute of silence. Pidge turned and look at Allura, still focusing on healing Lotor's body to the best of her ability. "It is possible to bring Lotor back and not affect your galran/altean body or the children, but it is a high risk. Are you willing to risk that? Not only could the triplets be killed, but your body may suffer horribly."
Lance wiped the tears in his eyes away roughly, and stood up, towering over all of his teammates, paladins and generals alike. He could not live in a world without Lotor, even at the risk of his own body and children. As much as it hurt him to put their lives at risk, he could almost feel their own presence urging him to do this. They wanted their father back, just as much as he wanted his fiance back.
He turned and looked at Pidge, determination in his eyes.
"Do it."
Well, this chapter took forever. I kept changing my mind, rewriting it, and editing. Probably missed some stuff, but oh well! Thank you guys for sticking around so long, I am happy this is doing so well and without you guys I would not have gotten this far. Nor did I expect this story to take this kind of turn. So I am basically as surprised as you guys lol. To sum up my feelings in one word, it would be: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
comment my lovelies!