Voltron: Dark Universe

Chapter 22:

"Final Duel – Part 3"

Lance lay unconscious again. He got his armor removed, his wounds cleaned, and he was now carefully placed in a healing pod in the Castle. They were all around him, and once he was inside and the capsule closed, they finally felt relief.

"Well," said Shiro, "now it's your turn."

Keith was still holding his side. "Heh, really," He felt pain again. "I'll be fine."

"Are you kidding? You look terrible!" He told him.

"Thank you."

Allura touched his shoulder. "Keith, you need to rest, too. Do it for us."

Keith wanted to argue, but the pain made him change his mind. "Okay... I will, but only a couple hours." He walked to the capsule.

"My boy," said Coran, "your armor."

Keith was already getting in. "Ugh, okay." He came out of the pod, suddenly the Castle shook and the lights blinked. "What was that?"

"Did we lose energy again?" Allura asked, looking at Coran.

"I'll find out." Coran headed toward a panel behind them. "Hmm, it wasn't something inside, it must have been something we hit. There are still asteroids floating near us. It shouldn't-" The Castle shook. "…happen again."

"It's not a coincidence," said Keith, "we have to go to the bridge to see."

"Keith," said Shiro, "you have to rest."

"Shiro, I-" Keith stopped. He had a feeling and a strange sensation ran through his body. A shiver. His hand tickled and started glowing again.

"Keith?"

"...It's still alive ..." he whispered.

"What did you say?"

Lance started moaning and wince.

"It's still alive!"

Keith turned around and ran to the bridge. His friends called him, but they had to go after him.

The cave trembled. The ground and the walls cracked and the crystals of Dark Quintessence flickered. The cave, as well as the rest of Orion Prime lit up again, but instead of launching a blast wave, it started to collapse. The Dark Beast opened its eyes and released a powerful roar. The ground broke and gave way to a huge claw, which began to transform into a wing.

Upon reaching the bridge they ran into Orion Prime. A light emanated from within and was getting destroyed faster and faster. And suddenly a huge claw emerged from its center and transformed into a wing.

"What the hell!" Hunk shouted. "How did he do that?"

Keith remembered a single phrase; it was something Lance had said to him. "There is not much time left, he is preparing to emerge…"

"Emerge," he said aloud, "Emerge... He was preparing to emerge!" He looked at the planet, and a second wing appeared. "Damn it! He fooled us! That was not a refuge, nor was he trying to rebuild the planet!"

Pidge got the idea. "It was a cocoon… it altered the physical properties of the planet and made it Its own incubator."

One last flash, and Orion Prime made explosion, and a winged dragon-like creature appeared in the center, glowing in purple light. It roared, and Keith knew it was the Dark Beast, now in a physical form of its own.

"It's not over yet!" He turned.

"And where do you think you are going?" Shiro asked.

"I'm going to face him!"

"Of course not! Do you want to be killed?"

"If we don't stop him now, we won't be able to later! And I have the Quintessence!" He stopped. "Now, are you with me?" He turned to the others.

Everyone nodded, and Keith looked at Shiro again. "Always" he said.

The Dark Beast flapped its new limbs, seemed to be trying to adjust to its wings. And when it was finally able to shake them, he turned to the Castle. He caught four flashes of light, roared and flew in their direction. It stopped when the four Lions appeared in front of him. The Beast was even bigger than the Black Lion.

"Do you think he recognizes us?" Hunk asked.

The Beast distinguished the Black Lion. "Keith" he said. Then he opened its mouth and shot a bolt of energy in his direction.

"Of course, he does!" Keith replied.

The Beast roared at him once more and launched towards them. The Lions split and the Beast pursued the Black Lion. He shot him again and failed again. Then the Beast began to glow and its speed increased. It managed to reach the Black Lion and clamped his neck with his jaws, releasing a discharge of Dark Quintessence within him. Keith screamed.

Then the Yellow Lion collided with the Dark Beast. He released the Black Lion, and then the Green and Blue Lions shot him. The Dark Beast roared in pain, then covered itself with its wings. It glowed again, it spread its wings its body emitted a blast wave. The Lions turned and flew in the opposite direction, but the wave reached them and caused them pain. Keith especially felt very exhausted, each attack only intensified the pain on his side. He thought he was still bleeding, but he wasn't going to give up. The Dark Beast collided with the Lion. It held it with his claws and opened his jaw, then he was hit. The Castle's weapons attacked him, and Shiro fired the huge cannon.

The Dark Beast roared and lunged straight for the Castle, but it collided with its barrier. Then, his limbs gleamed and it slowly began to cross the barrier. Keith took advantage of the distraction and launched himself at the Beast. He lunged at it, and fired. The Black Lion grabbed the Beast by its tail, dragged it, and finally threw it at one of the asteroids.

The Beast crashed and stopped moving. The Paladins moved closer, only to notice that its body was shining again. The Beast roared and the light covered it more and more. Then its wings and arms spread. Its hind legs became humanoid legs. Not just that, once the Beast finished transforming, it was also bigger. He managed to hold onto both legs and smiled at the Lions.

"I will say it again!" He shouted. "Is that all you got?"

The Beast spread its wings and went straight to the Lions, once again they had to split up, but the new size of the Beast, as well as its limbs, allowed it to reach them. It clawed his hands, and kept shooting from his mouth. Finally, he shot and directly impacted the Black Lion. Keith screamed...

...The Red Lion activated. The barrier disappeared... and Lance woke up.

The healing pod opened and he fell to the ground. His whole body ached and he felt weak. But he heard the call. His head ached terribly, he could still hear the Dark Beast, he knew what was going on outside and he had to do something right away. He forced himself to get up. Once standing, he started walking, though he limped on his right leg, and staggered as the Castle shook. The lights flickered, and Lance knew there wasn't much time left. He hurried. The Castle shook once more and he had to hold onto the wall to keep from falling. After walking through the halls that seemed endless, Lance finally found his armor. He put it on as fast as he could, even though it was still damaged, and once he was ready, he made his way to the Red Lion's hangar. Once there, he looked up and ran into the Lion. She was standing, waiting for him. Lance walked over and smiled. "I'm glad to see you." Lance heard a response from the Lion, it was a "Me too." The Castle shook again, this time harder, and Lance looked at Red. "It's time."

The Dark Beast didn't stop growing, it was placed on the Castle and dealt a blow.

"Princess!" Coran called. "Shields aren't going to hold up much longer!"

The Dark Beast was about to strike again, when it received an impact in the back. He turned and the Blue Lion hit him. Before recovering, the Yellow Lion did the same, and the Beast flew away from the Castle. The Beast recovered and shot towards the Lions. It stopped and moved its tail hitting the Green Lion, despite being invisible. The Black Lion came from above and both collided.

The Beast roared once more, and opened its jaws. The Black Lion backed away just as it fired again, but the Beast followed and struck again. Keith felt terrible pain, not only on his side, but all over his body. He felt more and more exhausted, his hands trembled and he was sweating. The Beast was about to attack him, but once again the other Lions stopped him again. The Beast gathered energy again, lit up, and released a blast wave that temporarily disabled the Lions.

The Beast held the Black Lion's head and made him stare at it.

"It's over," he said with a smile. "It was fun, Paladin! But now, you're going to die…" Keith sensed that it was true.

He didn't even bother looking for the Quintessence weapon. He knew it was not going to appear. He heard his friends speak on the communicator, but he didn't understand what they were saying. The Beast opened its jaw to fire once more, and then Keith saw a red light behind it. An object approaching at high speed. The Beast was shot and then hit by the object, which got it away from Keith. He regained control of the Lion and turned to see his savior. It was the Red Lion.

"Keith! Are you okay?"

"Lance?! What the-!"

"Yeah, Yeah. What do I do here? Would you mind scolding me later?"

"Lance!" The others called him, coming closer. "You should be in the pod!"

"Oh, yeah?! And what about you? I should let you die out here? Well, I don't think so! Come on, we have to get rid of the garbage!"

The Dark Beast recovered and roared again. "Well, Well! I was starting to miss you!"

"Don't listen to him!" Keith said, flying again. The Castle shot him again, and the Beast shot him once more.

"They caught its attention!" Allura said. "How do we proceed?"

Keith knew exactly what they needed to do. "We have to end this once and for all… Come on everyone! Form Voltron!"

The Beast launched itself straight into the Castle and hit it with both fists. Finally, the barrier disappeared. The Beast chose to look at the Castle before hitting it one last time. And suddenly, a sword cut his back. The Beast roared, as the wound glittered on its body. He turned and came face to face with Voltron, the Legendary Defender.

Despite the pain caused, the Beast smiled "Well, well ... At last ... The power of the five Lions ..." He turned his face and smiled even more "Let's see how strong they really are."

The Beast fired again.

"Shield!" Keith said, and it formed. The impact knocked them back, but did not hurt them. Upon recovering, the Beast was already going against them and hit.

He roared again, but Voltron managed to hit him in the face. Then he attacked him again with the sword, but The Beast managed to resist the blade. The Beast threw them down, but Voltron recovered before falling and launched himself at the Beast, impacting in the same way. The Beast began to shine again.

"Oh, no!" Pidge said. "You won't!" The Green Lion's arm gripped its head, then shot him.

The Beast roared, stopped glowing, and then the Red Lion's arm also struck him. Voltron then activated the yellow cannon, and fired at the Beast, launching it directly at another asteroid.

Keith was breathing hard, fighting the pain in his body.

"Are you okay?".

"Affirmative. Yes", they said.

"Do you think it worked?" Hunk asked.

Lance, who was also exhausted, suddenly felt an intense pain in his head and screamed.

"Lance!" Keith called out. "What's going on?"

"Aaaaagh!... It's still coming!"

Purple light emerged on the asteroid, and a blast wave destroyed it. The Beast glowed, and had clearly increased in size.

"It cannot be!" Allura said. "Nothing stops it!"

In his hand, the white light reappeared, and when Keith raised it, the Luminous Crystal reappeared, and it turned into a Bayard, just to place it on the Black Lion.

"Yes, there is a way! Luminous Quintessence!"

"But it's not enough!" Lance said, still in pain. "We need more Crystals, and there aren't any!"

"Yes! there are!" Pidge said. "We have!"

"But they are not of Luminous Quintessence!" Hunk said. "Are they?"

"We must use them!" Keith said.

"But how do you manage to do it?!"

"I don't know!"

The Beast roared again and flew towards them. It shot at them again, and Voltron used the shield. The Beast caught up with them and they started fighting again.

"Coran! Shiro!" He called them. "Can you hear us? Are you there?"

"Here we are!" Shiro replied. "But the last impact left us immobilized. We're trying to solve this."

"All right! Listen! We need the Crystals of Quintessence we have! Aah! They are the key to defeating the Beast!"

"Keith!" Pidge called, "We still don't know how to do that!"

"We'll figure it out!"

The Beast fired again, this time hitting Voltron directly. The Paladins cried out, and then the Beast held them tight and lit up again. It released a shock wave, which ended up bouncing directly off Voltron causing it to short circuit and reduce power. Then the Beast lifted them up into space and crashed them into another asteroid.

"Uugh! What was that?" Hunk asked. "It was like-"

And Keith opened his eyes, now knowing what to do "Like if we absorbed his power..."

"Exactly!"

"Shiro! Do you have the Crystals already?"

"I'm on it!"

"I need you to place those Crystals in the Castle canyon when you have them!"

"What did you say? Wait, what?" They asked.

"You heard me!"

"Keith," said Allura, "what are you planning to do? Shoot the Beast?"

"In our current conditions it is impossible to move!" Said Coran. "We'd only have one shot!"

"You won't shoot the Beast!" He caught his breath. "You will shoot us."

"What?!" They exclaimed.

Keith growled, "Listen to me! The Beast is made of Quintessence, and only that can hurt it. We will load the cannon, the shot will go directly to us, and we will absorb that energy, so we'll have the power to defeat it!"

"He's right," Lance said. "We must absorb that power, if we want to counter his."

"Do you have any idea what that means!?" Coran asked. "Such an attack could overload Voltron! You could harm yourselves! We don't even know if Voltron is going to absorb it! How about we end up hurting you?"

"It will work!" Keith stopped. "But I won't keep going, unless everyone agrees. If you are afraid, if you think it's not going to work... please... I want to know now."

There was a momentary silence, until Lance spoke. "I accept the risk."

Hunk said the same thing. "I accept it."

"And me," said Pidge.

"...You can count on me," Allura said. "Coran?"

After a few seconds he replied, "We will."

"Okay," Keith said, and suddenly the Beast fell on them and started hitting them. "Hurry! We don't have much left!"

The Beast was going to launch another blow, but Voltron fired from his arms. Then he pushed himself up and lashed out at the Beast. Once again, they intertwined and threw punches and shots.

Coran was already in the canyon compartment, Shiro arrived with the Crystals. "Here they are! Now what?"

Coran pressed a panel and a compartment opened, revealing an entire system glowing blue. "The Crystals have to be inserted here."

Carefully, Coran took one of the Crystals and brought it closer. He wasn't sure what to do, and he was afraid that if he misplaced them, only the fragments would be thrown into space. However, the Crystal he was holding began to glow and turned into flashes, which went straight into the weapon and its brightness changed to white. "Okay, hand me another one."

The Beast grabbed Voltron's red arm and tugged on it trying to pull it apart. Voltron regained strength and yanked on the arm, bringing the Beast within reach of the yellow leg, which struck him hard. The yellow cannon reappeared and fired. The Beast was thrown away, but it didn't stop, nor did it seem to weaken. It fired again, and Voltron did the same. Both lasers collided, creating an intense light and explosion that knocked the fighters away.

"Paladins!" Shiro said, hesitating before continuing. "We're ready!"

Keith opened his eyes. He was still holding the Quintessence Bayard, and he knew it was time to use it.

Voltron rose again, and hastily flew in the direction of the Castle. Then he stopped.

"Guys..." Keith said. "I... If this doesn't work... If we can't make it... please forgive me."

"It will work, Keith!" Lance said. "We trust you."

Keith laughed. And then the Beast roared at them again. From where it was, it fired again and Voltron got covered with his shield.

"It's now or never!" Allura yelled.

"Now!"

Fearful. Shiro aimed at Voltron, and fired.

The cannon lit up and a white laser came out of it. Voltron let go of the shield, turned, and received the impact in his chest. The force of the impact, and the power of the Quintessence made them all scream. And then Voltron began to light up. The Beast did not understand what was happening, neither wanted to find out. He prepared himself and launched directly at them.

Despite the pain, Keith opened his eyes and looked at the compartment. He held the Quintessence Bayard and activated it with a scream. Voltron's eyes turned white. The Beast was about to impact, and suddenly a sword cut him in the chest. It gave a cry of pain and then looked at Voltron again. He was all shining in white light, in Luminous Quintessence. Voltron cut it again with the white Sword it carried and the Beast suffered pain again. He tried to pull away, but Voltron managed to injure him in the back again and cut off one of its wings. Finally, and to finish it all, Voltron gripped the sword with both hands, propelled himself backwards, and finally plunged the sword into the Beast's chest. Both beings began to light up, and Voltron finally slashed the Beast upward, just as Keith did in what was Orion Prime...

...Then an explosion of light...

The Dark Beast flapped its wings, but wasn't able to move. It only roared as it started to vanish "I will not disappear again! I will not leave! ... I am already inside!" The Beast laughed, but as it disintegrated it roared again "We will see each other again ... Keith..." And with that said, the Dark Beast vanished…

La Bestia Oscura agitaba sus alas, pero no podía moverse a ningún sitio. Sólo rugía mientras se desvanecía —¡No volveré a desaparecer!... ¡No me iré!... ¡ya estoy dentro!… —La Bestia rio, pero conforme se desintegraba volvió a rugir —Nos volveremos a ver… …Keith… —y dicho esto, la Bestia se desvaneció…

Keith was barely able to open his eyes. His head was spinning and his whole body ached. He managed to see the Dark Beast before finally disappearing, and the white flash also disappeared. Although he still felt the Luminous energy inside him.

He realized then that he was drifting. He could see the other Lions floating just like him. Then the Black Lion activated. Keith moved with difficulty.

"Guys?" He said exhausted. "Can you hear me?" He waited. "Are you all right?" He didn't get an answer. "Guys?! Coran? Allura? Shiro... Pidge... Hunk... Lance?" He waited again, and every second did nothing but distress him. Until he heard Shiro and Coran.

"Paladins?! Are you all right?"

"Yes..." he said.

"Here I am," Hunk said.

Keith laughed with relief. "Hunk! Are you okay?"

"Yeah... upside down, but fine."

"Pidge?"

"Here I am friends… fully charged…"

"Allura?"

"Here I am Keith..." She laughed, "It worked."

"Yeah... it worked. It worked!"

"Yes... it worked."

"It worked?"

"It worked," Keith said, laughing despite feeling pain and weariness. "Lance?" He waited... but he got no reply. "Can you hear me?"

"Hey, Lance?" Hunk called, "Dude, answer us. It worked!"

"Lance?" Keith called, as so did the others. He managed to see the Red Lion floating without power. "No…"

The Black Lion moved and went for the Red Lion. He grabbed them and returned to the Castle as fast as he could.

He laid the Red Lion on the ground and landed. Keith got out as fast as he could and stumbled. Her legs trembled, but he didn't budge. He managed to enter the Red Lion.

"Lance! Answer me!" Keith walked to the pilot's seat. And found him there immobile.

"Oh, no!". His breathing quickened and he approached him. He removed his helmet and removed his. He put his ear close to his mouth and didn't perceive anything. He removed his glove, and felt his skin. It was still hot. "Lance! Lance! Wake up! Please!"

He took him in his arms to get him out of the Lion. Just as he reached the exit, Keith stumbled and they both fell to the ground. Keith heard footsteps and opened his eyes. He knew it was the others, but his vision blurred and he couldn't see them clearly. He only saw Lance at his side. Keith struggled to get up again and fell down beside him.

"Lance! Don't do this to us! Don't do it!" He started crying. "You can't give up!"

Someone was at his side. It was Shiro, but he ignored him. Keith put his hands over Lance's chest and started pressing, over and over again "Lance! Wake up!" Whether he did it right or not didn't matter. Keith no longer had the strength to continue, and Lance did not wake up. Keith looked up, and found his friends. All around him, all of them crying once more for Lance. Because once again he had failed to save him. Keith thought about many things at once: that he had failed, he felt hatred, he felt pain, sadness, he remembered the past, he thought about the future, he remembered Lance, he remembered everything before this nightmare. He remembered his mistakes; he remembered his failures. He knew it was his fault. It was. He had failed again. Not even with-

He opened his eyes. "The Quintessence..." he said quietly.

Keith didn't want to look. He just closed his eyes and heard the White Beast speak. "The sword has recognized you as its bearer, Keith Kogane… This weapon will not manifest itself to kill, but to save, and only when the time comes it will appear in your hand."

Keith believed. He trusted. Because that's what he was going to do. He was going to save him. Keith searched his side, and stumbled upon the white sword handle. He took it and looked at it. The sword was not its normal size, it actually looked like a dagger. He looked at Lance and aimed at his heart.

"What the hell are you trying to do?!" Pidge yelled at him, and he didn't even budge. He just looked at her.

"...Trust me..." and she did. Just like everyone else.

Keith held the object with both hands. He took a deep breath and believed. He began to lower it slowly, and when it reached Lance's chest it began to glow and pierce through. Keith kept going and the weapon sank lower and lower. Actually, and to everyone's surprise, it wasn't piercing or hurting him, the weapon, which was pure Quintessence, was becoming part of him and was absorbed by his heart. Keith continued, until his own hands were on his chest. Then he pushed them away and the Quintessence disappeared. Lance suddenly gleamed white briefly and breathed.

Once again, they burst into tears, not because of sadness, but because he was alive. He was alive. Now he was only asleep.

Keith leaned back. Even with his watery eyes he tried to smile, but his side ached with such intensity that he leaned down.

"Keith?" Shiro asked. "What's wrong?"

Keith withdrew his hand, now without a glove, and found it stained red. And finally, he fell to the ground. Everything moved slowly around him, his vision blurred completely ... and he passed out.

...