Rise of Voltron Pt. III

Before Keith knew it, another week had flown by quickly.

Between rehearsing together for the Battle of the Bands and working on the assignment from Iverson, Keith realized that he was starting to enjoy and get used to the trio's company. He's even found that Pidge was a genius on musical software (or any software for that matter), while Hunk was her counterpart only on hardware. The two made a nasty duo, and even Shiro was excited to see how much more these monsters will evolve.

Then there's Lance.

Honestly, Keith saw nothing wrong with the male, however, they just couldn't see eye to eye most of the time. Shiro had to play the stern dad for the two, but if it's one thing Keith noticed, it's that when he and Lance worked together, they made a pretty good team.

Now, they were at The Castle, taking a break from their work. Lance sat on a beanbag chair scrolling through his phone while Hunk, Pidge and Keith discussed some adjustments to their assignment. It had been almost two weeks since the trio requested Keith's help, and within a week, the young man finished writing the song. So, now, Keith chose to help them with the music production process. And while they were all Music Production majors, Keith was in a different stream from the other three and did a few different courses.

For their assignment from Iverson, the trio came to an agreement that since Keith wrote the song, and they wanted to produce it, they'd use him on the vocals instead of Lance. Usually, either he or Pidge would've done the vocals (or someone else from their class or vocal major), but Hunk suggested that since they'd be spending more time with Keith here, it would be wise to use him instead.

The fiery male never rejected, and when they had started the process, Lance was stunned into silence. For someone who had a raspy voice, his singing was surprisingly smooth and lacked the edginess he had whenever he spoke. On the other hand, Lance's own voice was smooth and silky whenever he spoke, but when he sang, it was a different matter.

"¡Oh, Dios mío! Guys! Look at this!" Lance screamed out, hands trembling as he held his phone.

"What? What's the matter, Lance?!" Hunk looked and sounded like he was about to panic any minute.

"Thace from the Blades of Marmora is gonna guest judge BotB!" He shrieked. "And there will be a special performance by them too! Oh, man! I gotta get Krolia's autograph!"

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance's behaviour. It was no secret that the Cuban male was a fan of the Blades, but his adoration for Krolia was something else. Keith figured that if he ever found out that she was his mother, he'd hound him for more than just an autograph.

"Oh really!?" Hunk joined in the screaming. He scooted over to the slender teen, Lance thrusting the phone into Hunk's face. "Oh shit, it's true!"

"And that means we got to up our game! What if we get scouted by Galra!?" Lance shrieked. "That'll be awesome!"

Pidge looked across to Keith to see a softened expression on his face. That sounded like Lance was hinting at something. And while they never had a talk with Shiro and Keith, she felt as though maybe there could be a chance with them.

"I know right!?" Hunk's voice was only an octave lower than Lance's in shrieking level.

A chuckle escaped Keith's lips at their fangirlish behaviour. Slowly rising from his chair, he said, "Alright, guys, let us finish up your assignment before Shiro comes. How's that?"

"Then can he listen to it and see what needs fixing?" Hunk looked like he was begging.

Keith twitched, trying to stifle down his laughter. "You know, the deal was for me to write the song, not have a professional record producer check it over for you." He couldn't hold it in any longer. Keith erupted with laughter, looking at Hunk's pleading face. "In my eyes, you're getting away with murder!"

"What Iverson doesn't know," Pidge started with a smirk.

"Won't be able to fail us." Lance finished.

Keith shook his head in amusement. "Alright, let's go!"

…

…

It wasn't until minutes to six o'clock that Shiro arrived.

When he entered the lounge, he saw only Keith and Pidge while Lance and Hunk were nowhere to be found. At first, he thought they were upstairs, playing around with the recording equipment, but it was unlike them. If they were doing that, Pidge would've joined them. But here she was, hovering over Keith and explaining something as the male typed at his keyboard and occasionally swiped his mouse. Curiosity got the best of Shiro and he walked towards them.

"Hey." He greeted.

The two were startled that a yelp escaped their lips.

"Shiro! You're late!" Pidge said, folding her arms. She tapped her foot impatiently as though waiting for an explanation, however, Shiro never picked up on that. With a grunt, she went back to hovering over Keith, pointing out areas on a program.

"Is that…" Shiro asked as he leaned down closer to inspect the screen. The program had looked oddly familiar, and he wanted to be certain. "…cubase?"

"Yes…" Keith drawled, hardly giving Shiro the time of day. Keith's eyes were still focussed on his screen as he made a few adjustments. Then, he picked up his headphones, connected and handed them to Pidge. "…tell me how this sounds."

Swiftly, she placed them on her head and Keith allowed the music to play. Closing her eyes, she listened to the track and at a certain point, she held his shoulder, making him stop.

"Right here." She said, "The pitch needs to blend more here."

"Got it."

Shiro smiled and let them be. It wasn't the first time he's seen them work together on something like this. The moment Keith found out Pidge was versed in almost all musical software, he's been receiving her aid whenever he starts a new project, be it for school or not.

It was a nice way to build a friendship, and even though Keith and Lance seemed to can't stand each other, they were still able to create some good tracks.

Just then, the lounge door opened and in sauntered Lance and Hunk, with bags filled with goods.

"Where have you guys been!?" Keith asked, springing from his seat and snatching a bag from Lance's hand, ignoring the Spanish curse that escaped the male's lips. He rummaged through the contents and pulled out a beverage and some cookies, handing them to Pidge. She sat on the beanbag chair near the table, Keith followed.

"A 'thank you' would be nice." Lance grumbled in Spanish as he sat beside Keith.

The young male in red looked at Lance with confusion. Then he said, in Japanese, "Talk English, you fool."

Lance spluttered.

Shiro and Hunk died of laughter.

After thirty minutes, the group was ready and rearing to go, and like little ducklings following their mother, the four college students walked behind Shiro towards the practice room.

…

…

"Alright guys." Shiro said as he placed the mic back into the clip and faced them. A broad smile appeared on his face, and like a contagion, it spread to the other four. "We've been practicing tirelessly, and I must say, good job team." The others nodded. "The competition is roughly one week away, so all we got to do is fine-tune what needs to be."

"And prepare for any mishaps." Pidge added.

"Uh, can I ask a question?" Hunk said. "Shiro is pretty famous right?"

"At school? Yeah." Lance replied.

"Not only there. Remember, Shiro is also a record producer. He's worked with many people before and there are others who know his name and face." Keith said.

"Where are you going with this, Hunk?" Shiro asked, he couldn't see the sense of this conversation. What does his popularity have to do with anything?

"So, you see, to avoid any drama," Hunk emphasized the word a little too much, "And to avoid us being harassed at school or laughed at in case we epically fail, couldn't we, I don't know, hide our faces?"

Silence engulfed the room.

Hoping to quickly diffuse the air, Hunk continued, "I mean, what if we win? People are gonna say it's biased because Shiro is the vocalist. Or people will undermine our efforts or something."

Once more, silence.

But seeing their faces, Hunk knew it wasn't that they were ignoring him or shutting him out, they were considering what he said. And judging by the nodding he was receiving; he knew that they had realized and was agreeing with him.

"Still, there's a problem with that." Lance said. "What are we gonna do to cover our faces? And I don't want just random masks or make-up."

"I think we should work with a theme." Pidge piped up.

"A theme?"

"Yeah, for example, we're working with the theme of royalty. Whatever we use could be shaped like a crown or something regal, so we won't look like we're just hiding our faces."

Shiro nodded. "I understand, but what could the theme be?"

"I want something fierce, dangerous and intimidating." Keith suggested. "And red."

The looks he got made him shrink behind Hunk.

"Fierce is good, but dangerous and intimidating? No, Keith. Just, no." Shiro sighed.

The moment Pidge suggested the theme idea, Lance had started to search for some inspiration on his phone. He's seen numerous rock bands that wear fancy make-up, or covered their heads completely like androids, but he knew neither of those would fit them. Watching the group before him and remembering all the times they've spent together, it reminded him of a pack.

"A wolf pack is fierce but there's something about it that doesn't seem right for us…" He mumbled to himself. As he scrolled some more, an idea struck him. "We could be a pride of Lions." He murmured. It clicked. "Guys!" He shouted to get their attention.

"What's it, Lance? Found something?" Shiro asked.

"Yes! We could be a Pride of Lions!" He nearly shrieked. "Lions are fierce, dangerous and intimidating but also strong willed and courageous, right?!"

Keith smirked. "I call dibs on being the Red Lion."

Shiro sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes Keith, I'm sure everyone here knows by now how much you obsess over the colour red."

"I'm surprised he hasn't dyed his hair yet." Lance said.

"He plans on doing it soon. Don't worry." Shiro deadpanned.

Keith reddened with embarrassment.

"The Pride of Lions idea is not bad." Pidge nodded. "But then it leaves us with another dilemma."

"What's that?" Hunk asked.

"Our band's name. What's it gonna be?" Pidge shrugged.

"I don't want some cheesy name." Lance added. "Like Lionheart or Lion Pride."

"I had been thinking about a name." Shiro said. "But then…" he looked at Keith and it seemed as though it was a silent conversation.

"How about a name that takes into consideration what we are?" Lance suggested. "We're a group of individuals with strong talents, like Shiro had said before."

"So, Conglomerate?" Hunk asked. The looks he received shut him up instantly.

"You must be fucking mad." Keith hissed.

"How about Voltron?" Pidge said. Eyebrows rose. "It means a group of things that are more powerful when combined." She explained. "Isn't that us? We each have our own individual talents, but when we came together to make this band, we've become something even greater."

"Pidge…" Keith breathed out in shock. "...that's awesome."

Shiro had a look of approval, Hunk grinned and Lance nodded.

…

…

At home, Shiro fixed dinner for the two of them, but Keith's mind was elsewhere. Shiro noticed his silence and realized that there was something wrong.

"Keith," Shiro started, not taking his eyes off the pot before him.

"Hmm?"

"Talk to me, little brother. What's wrong?"

There was a pause. Shiro covered the pot and turned to face Keith. A chuckle escaped the younger male's lips as he saw Shiro in his pink apron which had a stylized font: Real men cook in a pink apron.

"Come on, Keith." Shiro pressed. "What's the matter?"

Keith sighed. "It's just that after what happened today, I…" He bit his tongue and fought to hold his emotions under control. "...the temporary band we made with Pidge, Hunk and Lance; I feel like going further with them. I want to be in a band with them, Shiro."

Shiro let out a sigh and placed the spoon he had been using to stir one pot on the counter. He walked to Keith and sat beside him on the sofa. "I know, Keith, I know." He threw a hand over his shoulder and said, "Why don't we ask them then? I mean, this conversation is long overdue."

"Yeah," Keith nodded. "Plus, I'd like to introduce them to Mom. She's coming back next week."

Shiro laughed. "You know Lance is gonna cuss you out."

"I can handle his angry Spanish ass." Keith rolled his eyes.

Thank you for reading!