Chapter Ten:
North pulled the shields up at the last second, protecting the castle from being blown to bits by the Nightmares. The ship rocked from the impact, and Tooth was almost thrown off of her platform.
"Defense formations!" The princess yelled. "Now North!"
North quickly moved the castle into the defensive positions, putting up extra layers as the fighter ships started to attack themselves.
"No!" Tooth screamed, grabbing her communicator as she hit the ground. "Paladins! We need Voltron!"
"Tooth!" Bunny answered. "What's going on up there?!"
"Nightmare ships have surrounded us!" Tooth griped, pulling herself back upright. "I repeat - do not engage without Voltron!"
Back on the surface of the Balmera, Bunny was torn. Save his team or fly back up and protect Toothiana? Even back when he'd flown with the original paladins, Bunny had never had to face abandoning his team. As much as he hated to admit it, he was in the same boat as the other new paladins.
Completely unsure of his actions.
"We're locked in!" Merida cried once the rocks had stopped falling. "We cannae get to our lions!"
"What's the plan?" Hiccup said to Jack as the rest of the paladins joined the hunt for an exit. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to die in a hole while the rest of our friends get murdered by Nightmares outside!"
"There is a way," A low voice from the Balmerans said.
"What?" Jack asked.
"There is a way," An elder repeated. "Pippa…"
The younger Balmeran girl took a breath and stepped forwards.
"I-I can't do it," She whispered. "But you can,"
"Me?" Jack asked. Pippa shook her head.
"No… you,"
She pointed at Rapunzel. The blonde turned, eyes wide and unsure.
"W-what?" She whispered.
"You're Coronian," Pippa explained. "Which means you can tap into the Balmera's quintessence,"
"Okay," Rapunzel said, straightening up. "Show me,"
Jamie and Pippa took Rapunzel to a cave wall, and all three placed their hands on the stone and closed their eyes. As Rapunzel's mind calmed, she could suddenly feel the influence of the Balmera in her body. It was a warm feeling, like a hug from an elderly family member. Through it, Rapunzel could feel every cave, tunnel and occupant of the planet.
"Help us…" She whispered. The tunnel shuddered again, and a new tunnel - right where she'd had her hand - fell open.
"Woah," Hiccup breathed. "That was pretty cool,"
"Let's go!" Jack yelped, jumping into the newly formed tunnel. "Thanks Balmera!"
"Yeah," Rapunzel smiled. "Thank you,"
They made it to the surface just as Tooth reported on the Nightmare ship. It had opened its hangar doors and some large pod had been deployed down to the Balmera. Just as she finished relaying the information, it had landed in front of them.
It was huge, and instead of Nightmare gray - was a deep muted red color. The paladins had only just gotten back to their lions when it seemed to… unfold.
"What's going on!?" Rapunzel asked nervously. "Guys, are you seeing this?!"
"Quiznack…" Hiccup breathed. "That's an android!"
"How do we stop it!?" Merida yelled just as the robot's eyes suddenly lit up. "WOAH!"
The red lion swerved into a roll, barely missing the beam of energy the robot had fired.
"Paladins!" Tooth interrupted, appearing on all five of their screens. "This is the bigger problem! North and I will be fine!"
"We need Voltron!" Jack yelled, also rolling to avoid the lasers. "Bunny - where are you?!"
"Here!" The Black Paladin yelled, bursting through the clouds into view. "Formation!"
The others rushed towards Bunny, falling into the Voltron formation as quickly as possible. With the familiar lifting feeling and flash of light, the five lions had combined into the enormous robot - but the mysterious Nightmare android was still larger.
"We can't attack this thing head on," Hiccup relayed into his comms. "It's going to react too quickly,"
"We need ta trick it then," Merida said. "An' catch it off guard,"
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Jack chimed in. "Lets go!"
Voltron sprung forwards, sword swinging to attack the giant robot. The swing missed, sending the paladins reeling as they were caught in the back by a laser blast.
"Quiznack!" Rapunzel cursed. "How do we stop this!"
"I don't know!" Bunny replied, and they kept running from the giant robot's attacks. It seemed whatever they did, the larger robot avoided or didn't seem harmed by. With a few more good blows from the android itself, Voltron could be crucially damaged.
"We can't stop it!" Jack yelled as they avoided another blast by only a few feet. "It's too powerful!"
"Wait!" Hiccup interrupted. "Look!"
The robot had fired another blast from its mouth, and the blue light was slowly dying away. Within seconds, it had started to glow again, getting brighter and brighter before another shot fired.
"There's a load up time!" Hiccup yelled. "We hit it, the combined firepower could blow up the inside!"
"But how!?" Jack demanded. "Bunny! You're the senior officer here, any old tips?!"
"We never fought anything this big!" Bunny protested. "So no, I don't!"
"WAIT!" Merida shrieked. "My lion - it's telling me something!"
"What?" Jack yelled.
Merida looked down at her controls, closing her eyes as the red lion's thoughts started to appear in her head. Suddenly, she was in a completely different battle, with another - an older - set of Paladins. During the vision, she watched as her bayard was shoved into an open port, and a new weapon materialized on Voltron's scans.
Her eyes flashed open. Merida grabbed her bayard and shoved it into the port, with a woosh and yells from her other paladins, Merida watched as a larger version of her bow appeared.
"Blimey…" She whispered.
"It's charging up!" Rapunzel yelled as Voltron turned back towards the giant robot. As she wanted them, the bowstring pulled back and a large laser arrow - similar to Merida's - materialized. They calmly aimed towards the robot's mouth, and their minds simultaneously cleared - like when they'd first combined into Voltron.
"Fire!" Hiccup yelled, and the arrow released, firing right into the robot's mouth. There was a moment of fear and anticipation, but both shots combined and the robot exploded, slumping down on the surface of the Balmera.
The paladins erupted into cheers. Voltron dismantled and the five pilots steered their lions back to the surface where the other Balmerans were waiting. For many, it was their first time above ground, and the children were already running and playing in the new landscape.
"You have saved us all," The elder said, thanking the paladins. "But… the battle was long for the Balmera,"
"We're sorry," Rapunzel apologized. The others noticed how the land seemed duller and older, like it was sick.
"It was not your fault," The elder said, kneeling and drawing her hand across the Balmera's surface. The path brightened a little, tiny crystals peeking through the dirt, but it dulled quickly. "It had been decades of hardships from the Nightmares, with no thanks for the Balmera's work,"
"So it's going ta' die?!" Merida protested. "No! We cannae give up!"
The elder shook her head, and the rest of the Balmerans seemed resigned as well.
"You can save it," The elder finally whispered. "Like how you opened the tunnels, the Balmera will let you save it,"
"How?" Rapunzel whispered. The elder gestured for the blonde to come closer, and Rapunzel knelt, putting her hands flat against the ground and closing her eyes.
And then, she wasn't on the Balmera with her friends. She was younger, only a few years old with a young couple that held her closely. The woman looked just like her, only with dark chestnut hair, and the man smiled lovingly at the pair.
It was her parents. Her mother smiled at her again, brushing a loose strand of her daughter's hair back and started to sing.
"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine," Rapunzel whisper-sung. "Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine…"
The other Balmeran's knelt to join the Coronian, and the paladins watched in awe as the Balmera seemed to heal. Jack only had eyes for Rapunzel, and his mouth dropped open as her hair began to… glow.
"Another weird Coronian thing," He whispered. The blonde had been a wild card from the start, but it seemed that she could keep on impressing.
"Heal what has been hurt, change the fate's design," Rapunzel continued, singing from memory. "Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine…"
She opened her eyes, surprised to see new crystals popping out of the dirt, the ground changing to a healthier color, and the Balmeran's on their hands and knees as they poured their gratitude into the Balmera's surface.
"What once was mine," She finished.
"You have given us a new life," The elder thanked, smiling at the paladins. "We shall be proud to call Voltron our allies,"
"Thank you," Bunny said, bowing his head.
"Did you know that your hair glowed?" Jack whispered, grabbing Rapunzel's hand as she stepped back to join him and the others. "Because it does,"
The blonde smiled and pulled a strand out to look, but it had dulled back to her normal color. She shook her head at the blue paladin, still smirking.
"Paladins!" Tooth's voice was still staticky on the comms, but she sounded more stable. "We're getting readings of another ship,"
"Is it Nightmare?" Bunny asked.
"Not only that," North said. "It's identified as a main command ship. It's Pitch himself,"
"Our alliance holds now," The elder said. "The Balmera and its people will help defend out home,"
As she spoke, Balmerans had started to run towards the abandoned cannons, and sharper crystals had begun to poke out of the soil. Bunny turned to tell the paladins to get back to their lions, but they were already on the way.
He smiled and ran back into the Black Lion himself. For a bunch of anklebiters, they'd learned fast.
"The castle's defenses are holding strong!" Tooth chimed in. "Paladins?"
"Are we ready?" Bunny yelled. Across his screen, four more screens showing the others popped up. Everyone seemed to share the same determined look.
"FORM VOLTRON!"
Authors Note: Its the last chapter y'all...
I hope you enjoyed this little Voltron au. Despite it being based off of something more than an idea, it was actually kind of hard to write at some points. The show's paladins all have their own personalities and relationships, but these guys have different ones that I didn't want to destroy by putting them in a lion. I also considered putting them in something other than a lion at the beginning - but I couldn't decide if it should be bears or dragons.
Either way: Next week will start my longest story yet, The Omega Project! It's a huge crossover (futuristic four, big four, plus more), once again takes place in San Fransokyo, and its a super hero au. Kind of a mix between the Avengers and Young Justice. I'm very excited to share that with you all.
Now I also had a reader who basically commented on every chapter (thanks, I loved that!), so maybe in the future you will get your wish and I'll write a short one-shot featuring Black Paladin Hiccup and his mother? I have to iron out the idea first.