The Black Lion's mouth yawned open to spit Keith out into empty space. The red accents on Keith's spacesuit reflected the light from the supernova, turning a glowing violet. He joined Hunk at ground zero—could it really be called ground zero if there was no ground?—as the Yellow Paladin cupped his hands around a small diamond.

"Look how cute it is," Hunk cooed, as if the diamond was a pet and could cuddle back. It looked sharp enough to cut.

Keith narrowed his eyes at it. "Is that… the castle?"

Pidge explained through the comms system in their helmets, "The explosion must have pressurized it into the small object you see now." When Hunk tried to pick it up, she added, "It'll weigh the same as it weighed before; it's just now packaged as a diamond."

Hunk couldn't budge the diamond. Keith tried, too, but even zero gravity couldn't make a hundred-thousand-ton structure light enough to move. Allura and Lance headed over, their thrusters propelling them toward Keith and Hunk.

In a sarcastic voice, Pidge remarked, "Oh yeah, get more people out there, 'cause it takes four paladins to move a diamond and a small group of people can totally lift a castle. Do you realize how silly you guys look?"

Keith looked at Allura. "Out of all of us, you have the strongest connection to the Castle." When Coran cleared his throat, Keith added, "Also, you have Altean magic. Can you use that to transport the Castle into the Blue Lion?"

Allura looked pained. "That would probably work, but does it have to be in the Blue Lion?"

Lance blinked. "Don't you want the Castle near you? It's like having home in your pocket."

Hunk was more considerate. "You can bring it into my Lion. Yours is already full with Coran and Romelle, while I don't have any passengers. And Yellow's bigger so there's also more space—"

Pidge interjected, "Hunk, it's a diamond. It'll fit anywhere."

Allura smiled kindly at Hunk. "I appreciate the offer, Hunk, but Keith is right. If the Castle's condition changes during our journey to Earth, I'm the only one who can stabilize it."

Lance added, "Yeah, you wouldn't want the diamond to blow up into a castle when it's in a Lion. That is not what I meant by having home in your pocket."

Keith looked at Allura. "Want Kosmo to help? He'll be able to teleport you to the Blue Lion instantly."

Allura shook her head. "The Castle might not respond well to a warp it doesn't initiate itself; the last time it happened, Coran and I were stuck in a loop."

Allura's eyes glowed like when she transferred Shiro's consciousness. Keith shivered; Altean magic had saved the man who was like a big brother to him, but it still freaked him out. He thought he heard a distinct click when Allura's fingers touched the diamond, like a jigsaw puzzle fitting together, which didn't make sense because this was magic—"Get down!" he shouted.

Connected to the diamond, Allura couldn't dodge. Keith darted between her and the bullet, which ricocheted off his shield.

Lance demanded, "What's going on? Who shot that?" As he spoke, three familiar silhouettes charged at them, their thrusters illuminating the edges of their space gear.

Pidge reported, "Oh yeah, three figures are heading your way. Lotor's generals."

"Thanks for telling us now."

"What can I say? The diamond was cooler." Keith heard a small squeaking sound from one of Pidge's dust buddies from the space dump. Pidge grunted like she was agreeing, and she continued, "They're armed but they don't have a ship. As long as you can make it back to your Lions, we'll be all right."

Keith nodded. "Okay, team, all we need to do is shield Allura while she transports the diamond, and then we'll make a clean getaway. Coran, Krolia, don't leave the Blue or Black Lions—you need to guard them in case these generals want to become stowaways." They also needed to stay with Romelle and Shiro in case the generals got on, but he didn't say that out loud. "Pidge, guard Yellow."

Lance cried out, "What about Red?"

"Lance, you have Kaltenecker. Red is safe."

"Kaltenecker and I are very insulted. Remind me not to make you a milkshake, Keith."

"Noted." Keith's bayard elongated into a sword in time to clash against Acxa's gun; she was too close now to shoot effectively, but her formidable close combat drove him back until he almost bumped into Allura, who was floating along way—too—slowly. "Allura, use your thrusters!"

When she didn't respond, Romelle exclaimed, "I don't think she can without risking the Castle! But you got this, paladins. Coran and I are cheering from the Blue Lion: go, team, go!"

Lance waved at her, and Ezor's tail whacked his helmet so hard, Keith wondered if the glass cracked. "Focus, Lance!"

"Stop telling everyone what to do!"

Pidge snapped, "Lance, we're in a crisis and Keith is our leader. Just listen to him—or listen to me. You guys are drifting. Keith, go closer to Allura so Acxa doesn't try to shoot her. Lance and Hunk, lure Ezor and Zethrid away from them."

Hunk called out, "Can't you help, too? I know you need to stay with Yellow, but what about some lasers? A bit of pew-pew from someone other than Acxa would be real sweet right now."

Lance grabbed Hunk. "Are you trying to kill us, too?"

Acxa pointed her gun at them. Keith barreled her away, and they tumbled toward Allura, who was halfway to the Blue Lion. Romelle cheered her on.

Ezor grinned and picked up Zethrid with one arm, supporting her stomach, and began to spin. Keith knew that Zethrid must have weighed a lot less in space, but it was still impressive. "Hunk, Lance—"

"On it." Lance grinned and picked up Hunk the same way, matching Ezor spin by spin.

Ezor threw Zethrid at them like a harpoon—a muscular, purple harpoon that beamed like death. A fraction of a second later, Lance did the same with Hunk. Unlike Zethrid, Hunk… floated.

Lance exclaimed, "Thrusters, man!"

"Oh. Right."

Keith turned his bayard into a shield and let Acxa whack him away, the dull echo from her gun reaching his ears a few seconds after the impact. Lance nodded at him and aimed his bayard at Acxa, confident that he wouldn't hit Allura or the diamond by mistake.

Keith reached Hunk and kicked him at the same time as the Yellow Paladin deployed his thrusters, the momentum sending both of them flying in opposite directions. Keith returned to Acxa, who grabbed him in a headlock. He twisted and kicked her knee. Just as she let go, a bullet grazed past Keith's helmet—close enough that the wind skidded across his visor and left a mark that quickly faded—and struck the hard part of Acxa's helmet, knocking her away from Keith and Allura.

Meanwhile, Hunk was on a collision course toward Zethrid. Keith couldn't help but watch and then wince at the crash. Hunk rubbed his dented helmet.

Romelle shouted, "Allura's in the Blue Lion now! You boys can return to your Lions, too—hurry!"

Lance grabbed Hunk by his spacesuit's scruff, the Yellow Paladin still winded from playing chicken with Zethrid.

Keith hesitated. Something about the generals' stances now… he knew they wouldn't attack him.

He heard Krolia bark a warning at him through comms. Pidge, Coran, and Romelle began yelling at him to hurry up. Keith turned off the comms system in his helmet. "I know you guys don't have a ship," he said to the generals.

Ezor sniffed, annoyed. "Are you rubbing it in that you have five?"

"I'm not bragging. I'm offering you transportation." Acxa raised an eyebrow, and Keith continued, "We're in the middle of nowhere. The emergency rations in your gear will only last one, maybe two weeks. You'll run out of thruster fuel before then, too. All I'm offering is for the Lions to bring you to the nearest inhabited planet, and then we'll drop you off and be on our way. We won't have to see each other again, unless you go crawling back to what's left of the Galra Empire."

Zethrid's eyes narrowed. She and Ezor looked at Acxa, whose voice remained calm as she said, "We don't need your charity."

Before Keith could react, Acxa lifted her gun and brought it to his visor. There was no space for a shield, no way for Keith to retaliate with his sword before Acxa could shoot him and break the glass on his helmet—all his oxygen would leave him instantly, and he'd lose consciousness within seconds.

One of Lance's bullets grazed Keith's helmet, leaving another skid mark, this time at his periphery. Acxa hissed in pain and dropped her gun, which floated between her and Keith.

Keith wasted no time now. He kicked the gun away and used his thrusters to fly to the Black Lion. Krolia berated him as soon as he was inside. Shiro just looked at him, tired; with his white hair and concerned expression, he looked much older. Keith ignored both of them as he piloted the Black Lion away from the generals, a quick glance to see that his cosmic wolf was fast asleep at Krolia's feet.

Keith turned on the comms system and heard Lance's footsteps running across the Red Lion after monitoring Keith's attempted negotiation from the Lion's open mouth. Kaltenecker mooed when Lance slammed the rudders.

When they were far enough away, Hunk whistled nervously until Keith snapped at him, "What?"

"Oh… nothing. I mean… are we gonna return for them?"

Pidge answered first. "Hunk, they tried to shoot Keith. Acxa would've broken his helmet if it weren't for Lance. Quiznak. I hate to give Lance credit."

Lance said, "No, no, keep going. Call me Sharpshooter." His voice trembled slightly, though, and Keith's heart sank as it dawned on him just how close it had been.

"I owe you one, Lance."

"No, you don't owe me—you don't owe me one. I must have saved every paladin here at least half a dozen times! What would you guys do without me?"

Hunk added, "But if we leave them there… Allura, what do you think? You've been quiet this whole time."

"I agree with Pidge on this one. I'm certainly not letting Lotor's generals board my Lion. In the end, though, I think this is Keith's decision."

Lance asked in surprise, "Because he's the leader?"

"Because they can't board anyone else's Lion. Someone needs to watch over them, and since I've ruled out Blue, that just leaves Krolia and Shiro in the Black Lion."

"Kaltenecker can—"

"Keith?" Allura prompted.

Keith could feel Krolia and Shiro staring intensely at him, though they didn't say anything to influence his decision. He clenched his fists, remembering the end of Acxa's gun resting on his visor, directly in front of his eye.

"We're going back. We can't leave them there."

Pidge cursed again. Hunk sighed in relief. Allura and Lance remained silent, and Krolia marched away, but Shiro placed his hand on Keith's shoulder.

They never made it back. The Lion's sensors couldn't detect the three life forms anyway; instead, a pulsing neon-blue dot signaled a source of Altean magic.

Hunk exclaimed, "Quiznak! It's Haggar! We fell into their trap—guys, I'm so sorry—"

Haggar's eyes glowed from a distance. She raised her gnarled hands and created five wormholes whose gravities dragged the five Lions away from each other.

Shiro's hand was still on Keith's shoulder. Together, the two Black Paladins connected with their Lion, which teleported and collided with the nearest other Lion. The other three still remained separate, and there was no time to unite all of them. In the blink of an eye, they all disappeared.