Extending

Alley ran as the Warlock shouted in rage. The high quantity of projectiles that landed on him would sting, but since all were water balloons? None would do him much harm at all, even the particularly vile water that Alley had asked for. Bath water was never pretty. Bath water from several dozen kids? Yuck! Bolts of pure psychic force flew from his hands as he shouted. His rage was given form as he shot assailant after assailant out of the sky. That wasn't hard, considering each was a remote controlled model of a fairly obscure craft used in one movie in a popular franchise. But there had been over a dozen of them attacking him and his howls of rage covered Alley's quick exit from his throne room.

As the Viper slithered away from the evil alien at her full speed, Lizbeth squirmed in her grasp and Alley hissed at her.

"If you want to die, or worse, feel free to struggle." Alley kept her voice low as the Warlock's rage faded a little. "We have, at best, a minute before he recovers from that dousing and chases us down. You have a choice to make and you will do it now."

"What are you talking about?" Lizbeth snapped right back. She did stop struggling.

"This is in the ship." Alley said as she slithered down corridors that seemed endless. That stood to reason, since this was all in a mind. One mind in particular. "What you did to the kids was horrific in the extreme. What was done to you..." Alley shook her head slightly as she fled further. "I refuse to pity you. I should kill you for what you have done, but from what I understand, that won't stop you."

"What are you talking-?" Lizbeth broke off and hissed almost as loud as Alley had. "Who have you been talking to?"

"Nunya." Alley snickered at Lizbeth's expression.

"Who is 'Nunya'?" Lizbeth demanded, halfway to anger that was fanned as Alley laughed at her. "What?"

"Nunya. None your business." Alley snapped as Lizbeth stared at her. "You screwed up big-time even before you tormented Jenni. You better pray Jane doesn't find out about that." She actually shuddered. Then again, she knew exactly what Colonel Jane Kelly was capable of. The good, the bad and the messy. "She can do things to you that even the Warlock might balk at and that is saying something."

"i don't believe you!" Lizbeth snorted. "You don't know what he did to me."

"No." Alley allowed. "I don't. I know what was done to my nest and I know he was involved somehow, but there is no information available since Easer wiped all of her records. But in all honesty? I don't care." Lizbeth stared at her, confusing rising again and Alley sneered at her. "What? Still think you are smarter than me?"

"What choice?" Lizbeth asked in a very small voice, but Alley wasn't fooled. She was biding her time, saving her strength for an attempt to kill Alley and flee.

"A simple one." Alley said as they approached a door set in one wall. A very odd door. It was huge, that door and clearly made of metals not found on Earth since they were glistening purple and green. "Live or die."

"You are going to kill me?" Lizbeth sneered but then bit back a scream as the door vanished and the event horizon of a black hole beckoned just beyond it. Odd. A clear, bright rainbow was arrowing straight into said black hole. "NO!"

Lizbeth jerked out of Alley's grip for a moment, but only for a moment. Alley grabbed her and slid back from the door. The girl stared as Alley reared up and hissed in anger. At the black hole?

"You are really pissing me off." The Viper sneered. "That is not a good idea." The girl screamed again as Alley bit her arm. She instantly went limp and Alley held her as the paralytic took hold. "If you won't let me handle this, I am just going to kill her here and now. She has earned that and so much more."

"Alley… Please!" The black hole disappeared and Elizabeth appeared in a large room behind the door. She was wearing golden armor and a crown this time. She was not visibly armed. No, not a room! A hangar! Inside said hangar lay Lizbeth's Veritech. The golden armored woman stepped back as Alley bit Lizbeth again! "NO!"

"Binary neurotoxin. You have ten seconds! Get lost!" Alley commanded and Elizabeth wilted. Then she nodded and vanished. Alley neutralized the toxin before it did more than daze the woman in her grip and Lizbeth moaned as she regained partial consciousness. "Your choices are thinning, brat."

"What choice?" Lizbeth manged to moan. "Live or die? I died… I died so many times..." She moaned as Alley hefted her and slid into the hangar, wary of a trap, but nothing happened.

"I can make it so you will live forever." Alley said as she said towards the ship. "Forever. Alone. In agony. I can do that and I so want to after seeing what you did to those kids and Jenni."

"I didn't have a choice." Lizbeth moaned as Alley all but threw her up against the ship and held her there. "He had me! I… I came here and he took me and I… I tried!" She was sobbing but broke off as Alley slammed her up against cold metal. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" Lizbeth screamed as Alley hit the ship with her again!

"I want you to fix your mess." Alley was almost as warm as interstellar space. "I know what you can do and no, you don't find out how I know." She slammed Lizbeth up against the ship again as Lizbeth started to query. "Right now, you make your choice! Live or die! Choose! Now!"

"Death." Lizbeth said weakly as Alley held her off the ground, the Viper's rage goading her to heights of strength unheard of in her fairly fragile species.

"Done." Alley dropped the woman at the base of the ship and slid back. "Clan Lady, she is all yours."

A new being slipped into view from behind the ship. The pale skinned, dark haired human girl didn't look much older than Lizbeth, but her eyes were far older. Far harder than anything human could manage. She wore an unusual garment that was half tunic, half dress and all beautiful but at the same time, it was clearly armor of some kind. Lizbeth stared at the girl and froze like a deer caught in headlights as the girl who wasn't one any more than Lizbeth was shook her head.

"I did wonder why the wardens all recused themselves from judging this. I can see why now. A searcher between realities lost and tortured until she went mad. Matriarch, what a mess." The newcomer said in a very quiet voice. "This is… Alley." She shook her head. "Killing her won't help."

"Depends on how we do it." Alley retorted and the other went totally still. "And yes, I can do that."

"At what cost to you, Alley?" The other inquired, her tone odd. Gentle, but firm. "I cannot let you kill yourself now. You are needed for Jian to exist."

"Possible futures do not concern me right now." Alley replied, still cold. "Jian chose her path just as I did when I let Lizbeth take me."

"Yes. Jian did and she will say to let you make your choice." Now the girl was just sad. "All of them will. You did good, Alley. You know that, right?" Her tone was gentle now as Lizbeth stared from Alley to the other and back.

"Halbratina? Clan Lady of Stratos? Here? How?" Lizbeth stammered and both of the others shook their heads.

"Nunya." Alley and the other shared a slightly strained grin.

"But..." Lizbeth jerked as Alley spit at her feet and the pool of venom started to hiss. She gasped and recoiled, but suddenly fell to lie next to the pool. She tried to speak, but all that came out was a moan.

"Alley, no." The other, Halbratina, tried again. "Elizabeth is already angry. She has cause. I cannot simply judge a person who has endured what Lizbeth has. She is a hurting child, Alley. Just like I was. Just like you."

"Do not go there, Clan Lady." Alley warned. "You will not like what happens."

"I get that you are angry, Alley and you too have cause." The other strove to reassure her but Alley was not mollified. "We can help her."

"At what cost?" Alley demanded. "She will come back and when she does, he will come back! He is part of her! You know it!" Lizbeth stilled in her feeble struggles, staring at Alley who snarled at her. "And you thought I was just a dumb X-ray."

"Alley..." The standing girl sighed. "We can fix this. Please let us?"

"No."

Alley spit at Lizbeth and this time, her venom was much more potent. The girl dissolved with a moaned scream. The standing being recoiled as the supine girl was suddenly replaced by a cloud of glowing green energy. Energy Alley grabbed and held even as red energy flared from the standing girl and purple energy flared inside of Lizbeth's.

"ALLEY!"

Now, Easer. Alley said in her mind and she was suddenly far, far away from the room where red energy was sweeping towards where she had just been. She was flying in space? No, some kind of formless void. She held Lizbeth and snarled as the purple energy stabbed at her again. Oh no, you don't! Maya! I need you now. All of you.

"Roger that." Maya's voice came from nowhere as a huge red and white thing hurtled out of the nowhere that Alley was suspended in to crouch over her protectively. It had four legs, a tail and a face that said 'cat' but huge and made of metal. No, not a cat. Not with that huge metal mane. A lion! It roared. The sheer force of the roar rumbled the very heavens and the evil purple energy was thrown away from Alley as she cradled the energy she held. The enemy flew off but Alley knew it would be back and soon. Not alone.

What are you doing? Lizbeth managed to project her thoughts as Alley focused herself.

You wanted death? You got it. Alley finished centering herself and then stabbed her will deep into Lizbeth's energy. It was like trying to herd a tide as Lizbeth fought back, but the girl was dazed, still confused and the ties that had bound her to her master had just been shattered. Alley's controls were as well and Lizbeth was reeling. So, her energy was easy to manipulate. Just like the Warlock had wanted. You will not reform here again. X-Com or no, breaching the barrier is forbidden for a reason. If you ever return, we will destroy you. If need be, I will make myself immortal to await your return and I will destroy you if you show yourself again.

You cannot stop me! Lizbeth sneered and then screamed as Alley twisted with her mind. "What are you doing?" She gasped aloud as she reformed inside a cockpit with Alley sitting right beside her. The décor was black metal and the trim was white.

"Stopping the enemy." Alley said with pride as she looked around. "It has been a long time, but I think I got it right. We will see."

"You cannot fight him!" Lizbeth all but screamed as bands of metal bound her to the seat. "He is a thought form!"

"Figured." Alley was still looking around and then she reached for the two side by side yoke like controls. "There is really only one way to do that. Fighting a thought with a thought. Evil must be faced with good and I know just the way to do it. From days of long ago… From uncharted regions of the universe… Comes a legend." She touched a control and Mina's face appeared on a screen nearby. The girl wore a green flightsuit and a round green helmet with a visor that covered her face down to her mouth. Alley looked at herself and smiled as a black flightsuit made for her kind appeared around her and a helmet crowned her head. She didn't need to look to know it too was black. "Are we ready?"

"As ready as we can be, Matron. They showed us, but we have never practiced." Mina sounded unsure, but then nodded. "Ready, Ma'am."

"Good." Alley looked at Lizbeth who had stilled, her face turning into a rictus of fear. "I think he is coming. I also think we should show him a proper welcome for his kind. A loud one."

"Yes, Ma'am." Mina replied and then the screen split into four. A girl who looked just like Mina sat in one, her own flightsuit and helmet red. She smiled and nodded but remained silent. A boy that Alley had met in passing smiled at her from his own screen, his suit and helmet yellow. Chris had been selected from his peers both for his skill and his empathy. He knew when not to fight, a rare trait.

"I feel absolutely silly in this attire." Jane Kelly appeared in another screen, her suit and helmet blue.

"It was the only lion left, Jane." Alley replied. "But I am glad you are here. I am not a sword fighter and we will need your expertise, I think."

"You owe me a hell of an explanation, but first I was told some of what to do. And yes, we fight together." Jane was clearly psyching herself up and Alley nodded.

"I do owe you that explanation, but we need to kick this guy's ass first. Just roll with it, Jane." Alley reassured her partner. "Parts will be instinctive. Leave the psychic stuff to me and defenses to the others. Your job is to get the sword on target."

"What sword?" Jane demanded. "None of these cats have swords." A roar of clear disapproval came from all around Alley and the Viper sighed as Jane jumped. "Um... sorry? Uh… lions."

"No, they don't." Alley agreed as a familiar bat winged ship appeared in the distance, its fuselage shrouded with purple energy. The warlock's weapon, come to kill them if it could. "So… It is time. Ready to form."

"Dynatherms connected!" Came from Mina.

"Infracells up!" Came from Maya.

"Megathrusters are go!" The next bit sounded from the boy and all five of them spoke the final words in unison.

"Let's go Voltron Force!"

Not every close at all

"Holy moley."

Many people were watching as the five huge metal lions each changed, arching, rotating, transforming into pieces that then latched onto each other. It seemed to take forever, but in seconds, what had been five huge metal lions was one even larger robot with lion heads for hands and feet. The small saucer shaped craft craft that hovered in the inter-reality space was well designed for stealth. It had to be, to go where it had to on many occasions. Wardens went where they were needed, but sometimes? Even their prodigious power wasn't enough. So, they had allies, one of whom stood at the command console. Halbratina was not happy. She was hardly the only person upset.

"I have seen wonders and horrors, but this? If I didn't see it for myself, I wouldn't believe it." Elizabeth said weakly as the ship that had started all of this swept closer to the new enemy, its weapons alive and tracking. The mighty robot simply waited, its arms at its sides, but a glow was building in both lion headed hands. That boded. "That snake is seriously sneaky."

"No joke." The Lady hovered nearby, her hovering yellow alien presence the only thing keeping Elizabeth calm as half a dozen wardens of reality stood ready to fight, to kill Lizbeth if needed. None of them had spoken, the Lady had commanded them not to before she had summoned Elizabeth to this place to see the end game. Elizabeth was stressed but she had not violated the reality as the Lady had decreed. Close, but not quite. "But it is an inspired choice. Good to battle evil." She turned to where another Ethereal hung in mid-air, slightly apart from the rest. "Well, Asaru? Are you going to object?"

"If they stay..." The blue Ethereal said very quietly. "They won't be able to remember this."

"No." The Lady said sadly. "Alley and Jane Kelly may or may not remain bonded, but the rest? No. It is not safe for them. I… I want to help them and I know I cannot."

"His weapons are intended to kill our kind. He wants us both dead, Lady." The blue Ethereal said to the yellow one. "The Elders erred badly in making him. If X-Com hadn't beaten him, he would have hunted them and us."

"He was meant to hunt you, you mean." The Lady all but sneered that. "You are the whole reason they came here." She paused as an armored form stepped forward. Jain was blank faced but her stance was calm. "Jian?"

"What will be, will be, Lady. Let the past remain in the past." The warrior from the future said mildly and everyone relaxed a little as the Lady sighed. "This is the Matron's battle, not ours. All we can do is observe Alley and pray she chooses a different path than vengeance."

"'Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord'." The Lady quoted the Christian Bible a bit absently as the ship and robot closed with one another. "We will likely want to back off a bit, Clan Lady."

"We need to see it happen." Halbratina did not seem to move, but the view altered a little, seeming to distance itself. "We need corroboration that the breach is sealed." She glared at the blue Ethereal. "And if you ever do such a stupid thing again, I will personally toss your ass into a black hole."

No, she wasn't human. That threat came in a very deep voice that no human had a chance of producing.

"Provided of course Alley leaves anything left of him." Elizabeth sighed as the robot started to move, arching towards the ship that was glowing bright purple now.

The massive winged robot was glowing just as bright and far cleaner as Voltron, the legendary defender of the universe, charged its enemy.