Voltron: Universal Defender

Fanfiction by: Spirit Reader and Serpentdragon

Voltron created by: Toei Animation, World Events Production, and DreamWorks Animation

Chapter 4: Lion Hunting

For Princess Erina of Altea, life has never been easy. As the crown princess of the noble Altean race, Erina has been groomed for nearly her entire life to one day take over the throne and lead her people into the future. It was a heavy responsibility and an even heavier burden, but it was one she welcomed. Erina wanted to be just like her father and one day rule over Altea with the strength and compassion that he always displayed. To that end, she worked hard in preparation for that day. Unfortunately for Erina, fate had other plans for her and the rest of her people.

With the backing of his Galra Empire, Emperor Zarkon attacked Altea in his attempt to claim Voltron. To protect the lions that formed the great warrior, as well as the rest of the universe, King Alfor made the calculated decision to send the lions into the farthest corners of the universe. Erina objected to his plan, believing that it would better for them fight than to run. However, Alfor denied her request and promptly put her into cryo-sleep in order to protect her from Zarkon. Then, along with her father's trusted vizier Dardarian, Erina fled Altea inside the massive Castle of Lions.

Now, after over 10,000 years of slumber, Erina was awakened by a group of 5 strange humans from a far off planet called Earth. With them was the Blue Lion of Voltron and the princess tragically learned the fate of her world. Altea was destroyed and King Alfor and the rest were slain. She and Dardarian were the only known survivors. Everyone one else was gone.

It was a lot to take in, especially for someone who's only around 18 years old like her. Although she tried her best to persevere and keep strong, Erina was clearly devastated by what she discovered. In what seemed like an instant to her, the young princess lost everything that she ever cared about. All that was left was her memories, and her intense hatred for the one responsible for this misery; Zarkon.

In order to take her mind off on what she was feeling, Erina was busy typing on the control console that was placed in the cryo chamber. She needed to learn more about what has happened during the 10,000 years that she was asleep. As the Earthlings silently watched her work, Dardarian reentered the room, carrying a plate of mysterious food. He then presented it to her, but the princess silently ignored him.

"Please eat something Princess," Dardarian requested. "It's been over 10,000 years."

"…I'm not hungry," Erina replied.

Although thankful for Dardarian's offer, Erina could not accept it. She wanted to drown herself in her work, believing that if she stopped to relax then she would be overwhelmed by the grief that she was feeling. This prompted her to gently knocked the plate from out of the vizier's hands. Thankfully, due to highly advance technology, the plate managed to stay afloat, much to the amazement of the others.

Kevin was the first to make his way over to the floating green food. A bit apprehensive at first, the young man gently grabbed a piece of it and tasted it. It was acquired taste, but Kevin actually found it to be pretty tasty. He took a much bigger piece and ate that too.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm already starving," He commented.

"Yeah…But you already threw up about 5 times since we got here," Felecia pointed out.

"Hmm…Point taken."

While Kevin continued to eat the strange goo, which he playfully dubbed Food-Goo, Tony was busy coming to terms with this whole situation. Never in his wildest dreams that he ever believed that something like this would ever happen to him. Not only do aliens actually exist, but they've been around for the last 10,000 years. It was absolutely incredible and the young cadet couldn't tell if he should be impressed for frightened by it all.

"10,000 years…" He said to himself. "That's like 1,000 plus 10."

"…That's times 10, dumbass!" Sasuke corrected.

"Whatever, dropout!"

Tony angrily confronted Sasuke, who simply responded with a fierce glare. Ever since the two of them first met, it was obvious that they were not on the same page. Whether it was Tony's supposedly jealousy, Sasuke's clear indifference, or a combination of the two was anyone's guess. The only thing that was obvious is that the two of them clearly did not like each other and it looked like they were about to come to blows any moment now.

Meanwhile, as all of this was going on, Marcus was taking a moment to truly examine the inside of the castle. While at the Galaxy Garrison, Marcus initially believed that Earth was the home of the greatest technology that the universe has ever seen. However, in the span of just one year, that entire mindset was thrown completely out the window. Not only were the Galra Empire using tech that vastly outclassed anything Earth had to offer, but so did the people of Altea too. Even more impressive is that they've been doing this for more than 10,000 years, which is even longer than anything in recorded human history. Incredible was the only way to describe it.

"I can't believe your people created such incredible technology over 10,000 years old," He said. "It must've been an amazing place."

"…It was," Dardarian replied as he slowly placed his head down. "But now it's gone…and we're the last Alteans alive."

As Dardarian continued to look towards the ground, Marcus immediately started to feel bad about what he just said. Here he was gushing over the greatness of the Alteans work, only to remember that the Altean people were now basically extinct. To make matters worse, he did this just after both Dardarian and Erina learned about the tragic fate of their people. He was about to apologize, but Dardarian simply shook his head at him. The vizier wasn't upset by the young man's comment. He was simply trying to cope with what happened.

Soon, as he turned to face Erina, Dardarian saw that the princess was still engrossed with her work. However, he could also tell that Erina was trying her absolute best to fight off her tears. Upon remembering King Alfor's final request for him, Dardarian knew that he couldn't allow the princess to continue holding in her feelings like this. Because of this, walked up to Erina and gently touched her shoulders.

Although she was bit taken aback by this gesture, Erina's quickly began to overcome her upon seeing the comforting look on Dardarian's face. Eventually, she couldn't hold in anymore and tearfully started to cry as she held the old man. Marcus and the others looked on, all them feeling bad about their situation and tried their best to comfort them as well. Erina was thankful to all of them, but the wound in her heart was still substantial.

Fortunately, as she continued to embrace Dardarian, Erina suddenly picked up something thanks to her highly advanced hearing. Moving over to one of the cryo-pods, where she first heard the noise, the princess looked down and saw 4 different colored mice. As they all stared happily at her, Erina let out a small smile as she gently allowed them to sit in the palm of her hands. She then presented the mice to Dardarian and the others.

"Looks like we're not the last one's after all," She stated.

As Erina continued to present the mice, a loud alarm suddenly went off throughout the entire castle, startling everyone inside. Dardarian immediately rushed over towards the console in order to see what was going on. When he did, the vizier was horrified to see an oncoming Galra ship flying through the deepest reaches of space.

"A Galra battle cruiser has set its tracker on us!" He revealed. "It's heading straight for us!"

Shocked by this revelation, Erina quickly made her way towards the console and looked at the video feed. Just as Dardarian said, a Galra ship was indeed heading towards them and it wouldn't be too long until it reached the planet. This frightened the young princess greatly, but it also caused a particular question to pop into her head.

"How did they find us?!"

"…Who knows," Tony said. "But it was probably Sasuke's fault."

"Say whatever you want if it makes you feel better," Sasuke angrily replied. "After getting us stuck on the other side of a f**king wormhole!"

"I'll put you in a f**king wormhole!"

Just as the two boys were about to finally come to blows, Marcus immediately stepped in and broke the two of them up. Although Sasuke attempted to get past him, Marcus managed to put the young man in his place. This caused Tony to snicker a bit, but he was quickly silenced as well when Marcus glared at him. Now wasn't the time for pointless arguing.

"Stop it you two! This is no time to place blame on one another. If we want to make it out of this then we have to work as a team!"

After getting the two cadets to calm down, Marcus made his way over to the console. As he examined the oncoming Galra craft, the young man tried to come up with a plan to get everyone out of this situation. Unfortunately, nothing was coming to mind. Marcus knew that they needed more information, so he turned to Dardarian and Erina in order to see if they had any answers.

"How long before they arrive?"

Upon hearing Marcus's question, Dardarian quickly took a moment to calculate the distance of the Galra ship and the estimated time it would take for it to arrive here on Planet Arus. After a few seconds, Dardarian came up with an answer.

"At their current rate of speed…They'll be here in about a couple of days."

"…Good," Erina angrily followed. "Let those monsters come. By the time they get here, you 5 will have reformed Voltron and together, we will put an end to Zarkon and his empire!"

Marcus and the others were all shocked by Erina's declaration. This was especially true for Kevin, who nearly vomited at the prospect of dealing with more evil aliens. Thankfully, Felecia quickly stopped him from doing so and had him swallow his vomit. She then turned to face the princess as Marcus asked her another question.

"Princess Erina…there are 5 of these Voltron Lions and we only have 1. Where are we going to find the rest?"

Erina paused for a moment as she thought about the question that she was just asked. She then looked at the 5 Earthlings, taking the time to examine them all very closely. In many ways, they all seemed very qualified to fulfill this incredible task and Erina personally wished that she had a better group of people by her side. Unfortunately, that simply wasn't the case. Like it or not, Erina was stuck with them and she had to make the most of it.

"…Come with me,"

Once she said that, Erina quickly made her way into another section of the castle. The others followed her closely and, after about 10 minutes of walking, they now made it to the central hub of the Castle of Lions, otherwise known as its bridge. As soon as they arrived, Erina gently placed her new rodent friends on the ground before making her way towards the center of the room. She then stood on a small platform as a light began to shine down upon her.

After taking a moment to concentrate her energy, Erina summoned forth a large holographic map of space. As the others looked in amazement, Felecia took notice of all the different planets that were in the area. Being a science whiz, the sight of all this impressed the young woman a great deal.

"This is incredible…" She stated. "But why is the princess doing this?"

"Before he sent us away, King Alfor connected the energies of each of the Voltron Lions to Erina's life force," Dardarian explained. "She alone is the key to each of their whereabouts."

Moving her hands around, Erina caused the stars and planets to move around in concert with her. One of those planets was Arus, the same planet that they were on right now. As Felecia examined the planet, the young woman saw the Blue Lion standing next to it. In addition, she saw that another lion was next to the planet as well. Recalling the vision she had when she first found the Blue Lion, Felecia recognized this second lion as the Black Lion. This caused another question to pop into her head.

"Why is the Black Lion in the same location as the Blue Lion? Is it already here?"

"That is correct," Erina answered with a nod. "The Black Lion is the strongest of all the Voltron Lions. To keep it out of Zarkon's hands, my father locked it here in the castle. It can only be freed if they other 4 lions are present."

Waving her hands around again, Erina caused the holographic image of the Black Lion to started moving around the entire room. As it did so, the lion soon made its way towards her and landed in the palm of her hand.

"As I'm sure you all guessed when you found the Blue Lion, the Voltron Lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond that cannot be forced. The Quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in their lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain."

As she let the holographic Black Lion go, Erina waved her hand one more time and watched as it began flying towards Marcus. The young man looked on in amazement as the Lion began circling around him.

"The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. Only a pilot who is a born leader and is in full control of his actions will have any hope of bonding with it, someone whose men will follow without any hesitation. Marcus, I believe you possess these qualities…and that is why you will pilot the Black Lion and become the leader of Voltron."

Upon hearing Erina say that, Marcus watched as the Black Lion continued to fly around him. He then placed his hand out like she did and observed that the lion gently touched down upon it. It was at that moment that he realized what he needed to do and promptly nodded his head as a result.

Following that, Erina moved the map again. This time, the Green Voltron Lion appeared and began circling around her for an instant before heading towards the others. The lion soon started circling around Felecia, much to the young woman's amazement.

"The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and will require a pilot of intellect and daring," The princess continued. "One who is always striving to expand their understanding of the universe, regardless of the risks. Felecia, by just looking at you, I can tell that you're like this. As a result…you will pilot the Green Lion."

As the lion stopped to face her, Felecia stared at it intently as she placed her hands out. When she saw it land, she was immediately impressed by the beast and, much to the shock of the others, gave it a small smile.

Erina then moved the map back to the system where Arus was located. When she finished, the Blue Lion reappeared and it soon began flying around Tony. The young man became extremely ecstatic as he held out his hand and watched as the lion landed on it.

"The Blue Lion-"

"Hold up, princess!" Tony rudely interrupted. "I already know what you're about to say. The Blue Lion requires the most skillful/badass/handsome pilot of the bunch, right?"

As she watched him give her a flamboyant smile, Erina simply stared at Tony with a deadpan expression on her face. The princess didn't know what to make of him, but she was getting dangerously close to calling him an idiot. Thankfully, she managed to control herself and soon found herself moving the map again.

"Tony…you will pilot the Blue Lion," She coldly continued.

After a few more seconds of searching, Erina soon came across the Yellow Lion. Like the others, the beast started flying around her for a moment before eventually making its way towards Kevin. When he noticed that, the young man nervously watched as the lion started flying around him. Somewhat apprehensive, Kevin tried knocking it away, but the Yellow Lion soon found itself landing on the young man's head.

"The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others before his own. His strength is only surpassed by his heart. Kevin…you will pilot the Yellow Lion and as the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."

With 4 lions down, Erina finally turned her attention towards Sasuke. With just one look at him, the princess could tell right away that the final lion was a perfect match for him. Because of that, she moved the map around until the Red Lion appeared. She then immediately directed it towards Sasuke, who caught it in his hand.

"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master," She explained. "It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot must be one who relies on instincts than skill alone. Sasuke…you will pilot the Red Lion and, by extension, be the right hand of Voltron."

Sasuke let out a confident smile after hearing Erina's description of the Red Lion. Like her, he could tell that the two were a perfect match for one another. However, while Sasuke may have felt that way, Tony surely didn't. He didn't like how Erina pointed out that only the most skillful pilot could possibly fly the Red Lion and how she believed Sasuke was that pilot. Not only that, but her description of him being Voltron's right hand is the same as saying that Sasuke is the second-in-command of the team, which annoyed him further. He was about to say something, but Erina cut him off.

"Unfortunately, I can't find the Red Lion's coordinates yet," She revealed. "I doubt it's anything serious though. The castle's probably a bit glitchy after being in stasis for so long."

"Don't worry, we'll have find that lion in no time," Dardarian followed. "If there's one thing I have absolute confidence in it's my skills as a mechanic…as well as a pilot."

Sasuke glance at Dardarian for a moment and noticed the vizier acting rather haughty. Just like how Erina was thinking that Tony was some kind of idiot, so did Sasuke feel the same way with Dardarian. However, he chose to keep those thoughts to himself and simply stared at him with a silent expression on his face.

Soon though, all 5 of the holographic lions roared in unison as they flew high into the air. When they came together, a massive light covered the entire area. When it faded, a massive imagine of Voltron appeared before everyone.

"Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known," Erina declared. "The Defender of the Universe!"

As the giant holographic image of Voltron continued to look down at everyone, Marcus and his team were all in awe at the mere sight of it. Soon though, as the image slowly began to fade away and the lights in the room cut back on, Marcus refocused himself. The time has come to finally get to work.

"Alright guys," He said as he faced them. "Let's get started. Felecia, you and I are going to go after the Green Lion. Tony, you take Kevin and go find the Yellow Lion. Sasuke, you stay here with the princess and Dardarian. Help them out in any way that you can, but if you find the Red Lion then go after it."

The 4 cadets, despite some of them having mixed feelings about all this, all nodded their heads in compliance to Marcus's orders. Regardless of what they ultimately felt, the fact remained that they needed to retrieve all the lions from their respective hiding places as soon as possible. With that in mind, they all prepared to get to work.

"Good…" Erina acknowledged. "In the meantime, I'll work on getting the castle ready. We'll need its power if we want any chance of holding off the Galra."

"I'll ready a pod," Dardarian followed. "And give you the coordinates so that you can locate the Green and Yellow Lions."

With their respective assignments now known, Marcus and Felecia left with Dardarian for the castle's hanger bay. At the same time, Tony and Kevin made their way outside and were quickly greeted by the Blue Lion. After getting inside the mechanical beast, Tony sat in his seat and watched as a set of coordinates appeared on one of the lion's touchpads. He then prepared to take off while Dardarian brought Marcus and Felecia to the pod that they would use to travel to the Green Lion.

While this was going on, Sasuke was busy helping Erina as she worked on the Castle of Lions. Once she was informed that everything was set, the princess made her way back towards the platform that she was standing on earlier. Sasuke then watched as she called forth two small pillars that rose up from the ground. Erina placed her hands on each of the pillars, causing another light to surround her body. This caused 2 wormholes to materialize just above the planet.

"Thanks to her studies in Altean magic, the princess can use the castle to open up wormholes to various places in the universe," Dardarian explained over an intercom. "You can use them to reach the planets that lead to the other lions. However, she can only hold it for about two of your Earth hours. So, unless you to spend the rest of lives on an unknown planet, I suggest you be quick about it."

When the 4 Earthlings heard Dardarian say that, all of them were stunned and attempted to protest against the vizier. However, the transmission was already cut by that point. The Blue Lion then suddenly flew high into the air and transported Tony and Kevin towards the location of the Yellow Lion. At the same time, the pod that Marcus and Felecia activated on its own and flew through the second wormhole that leads to the Green Lion.

After about 2 minutes of flying through a temporal portal of time and space, Marcus and Felecia made it out of the wormhole and soon found themselves at the edge of another planet. Unlike Arus, this planet was greener, indicating that it was filled with a lot more plant life than water. As the pod flew them towards it, Felecia pulled out a portable scanner that Dardarian gave to her before she left. It indicated that the Green Lion was indeed located here, revealing that they were indeed on the right track. She then braced herself as the pod started to break through the planet's atmosphere and make its way towards to the surface.

Upon landing, Marcus and Felecia jumped out of the pod and the two found themselves in the middle of the jungle. Being a bit of a tech junkie, Felecia wasn't exactly thrilled that she was here as she found the outdoors to be filled with nothing but bugs and poison oak. Marcus on the other hand was far more accepting of his current surroundings. Being held captive by the Galra for so long gave the young man a better appreciation for natural aspects of life. Not only that, but Marcus also noticed that this planet seemed very peaceful, which he enjoyed very much.

Soon though, after about 20 minutes of walking, the two of them found themselves at a riverbed. After looking at the scanner, Felecia was able to determine that the path to the Green Lion continued through the river. The only problem is that current was too strong for them to swim through it and they didn't have a boat to ride through it either. Things didn't seem to be looking too good for the both of them, but that's when something unexpected occurred.

From out of nowhere, a giant sloth-like creature suddenly appeared right in front of them. When they made eye contact, Marcus and Felecia simply stared at it for a second before immediately becoming startled. The sloth however simply kept its cool and continued to stare at the two of them. It then took notice of Felecia as she nervously hid behind Marcus.

"Who…Who the hell are you?!"

The sloth didn't answer her question. Instead it just continued to stare at her. In particular, it stared at the tracker that she was holding in her hand. The sloth noticed a v-shaped symbol on the back of it. Just looking at it gave the animal all the information that it needed. Because of that, it nodded its head at the two Earthlings before making its way towards a nearby bush. It then pulled out a large canoe that had a large lion figurehead on its bow.

After putting the canoe in the water, the sloth looked back Marcus and Felecia and gave them a warm smile. It then started waving at them, indicating that it wanted them to follow it. Although slightly apprehensive at first, Marcus nodded his head in return and began walking towards it, much to Felecia's shock.

"Wait…You're actually going with it?!" She questioned.

"Yeah…" Marcus calmly answered. "The big guy seems to know more than we do. Besides, it beats having to walk around the river."

"But we have no idea where it will lead us. For all we know it could lead us to some kind of trap."

"That's true. But I've been held captive by aliens for over a year. Compared to that, this is nothing."

With that said, Marcus got onto the canoe. Felecia continued to be apprehensive about trusting the sloth and nearly considered taking the long way around. However, the young woman quickly changed her mind when she noticed that sloth was leaving with Marcus. Not wanting to be left behind, Felecia rushed towards them and quickly jumped onboard the craft, much to Marcus's amusement.

The two of them then rode with the sloth as it took them down the riverbed. As they rode along, the Earthlings took noticed of all the various animals that were present in the forest. Some of them looked similar to those animals that were found on Earth, while others looked vastly different. The two also noticed several lion carvings throughout their travels. They looked similar to the ones they saw when they found the Blue Lion, which meant that they were on the right track.

Soon though, as they continued down the river, Marcus noticed that Felecia was busy muttering something to herself. He also saw that she was tapping her fingers on the edges of the canoe rather excessively. Although he wasn't too deeply concerned, the young man still wanted to know what was on her mind.

"Is everything okay?" He questioned.

"Huh…?" Felecia said, shocked by for an instant. "I'm fine. It's just…I know the princess said this lion is supposed to be mine…but what if she's wrong. I mean, she can't be wrong because she's a princess, but I'm not a pilot. Even though, I always wanted to be a pilot. I mean, I memorized all the fighter manuals at the Garrison, but I was never allowed to ride the simulator. But hey, I can't be as bad as Tony as he crashes all the time. But, what if I get in there and the lion doesn't respond?! What if I get in there and my feet don't even touch the pedals?! What if there's no pedals?!"

Felecia continued to ramble for the next several minutes, causing the sloth to look back at Marcus and silently question if everything is okay with her. Giving it an awkward smile, Marcus moved his hands to the side, telling the sloth that he was just as perplexed by this as it was. He then looked back at Felecia, who continued talking excessively.

"Stop rambling…" He interrupted. "Everything will be fine."

"But how can you be so sure?!" Felecia questioned.

Pausing for a moment, Marcus took the time to recall his time preparing for the Kerberos mission. As he trained for the long journey, he encountered a young cadet that reminded him a lot of Felecia. He then went on to tell the young woman about this cadet.

"Listen…During the Kerberos mission, I had a Science Officer named Amrita Punjabi. Like you, she was a bit eccentric, but she had a tremendous drive to expand her horizons. When I talked to her about that drive, she told me something that she would always tell to a girl that she was dating. She said, if you get too worried about what could go wrong then you'll miss out on being able to do something great."

Upon hearing that, Felecia's worries quickly faded away as a warm smile slowly appeared on her face. She then looked up as she noticed something up ahead. Marcus took notice of it too and saw a step pyramid that had several massive vines covering the stop. The sloth stopped the canoe near the edge at the river before directing the two of them towards pyramid. Realizing that this was their stop, Marcus and Felecia silently thanked the canoe before making their way towards the pyramid.

As they walked, Marcus noticed that as Felecia got closer to the pyramid, several the lion carvings started to light up with a bright green color. Felecia took notice of this too, causing her to stop for a moment. However, with a light pushed from his robotic arm, Marcus pressed her to keep moving forward. He then smiled at her.

"Go…Be great."

With a determined look on her face, Felecia nodded her head at Marcus before running towards the pyramid. As she climbed up the steps, it began to light up with the same green color as the carvings. Although she struggled a bit when it came to climbing up the vines, the young man kept on going until she finally reached the top. Once she did, she started looking for any sign of the Green Lion, only to be caught off guard by a bright light coming from below her.

Felecia!

A voice sudden spoke from within her mind. By just hearing it once, Felecia immediately knew what it was as a huge smile appeared on her face. This prompted her to jump down through the massive vines, causing a green light to consume the entire area for a moment.

While watching all this occur, Marcus heard an extremely loud roar echo throughout the entire forest. He then felt the ground shake beneath him as the vines on top of the pyramid began to break apart. In time, the Green Lion erupted from the vines and looked down at Marcus. When he saw that, all the young man could do was smile.

"She did it."

During the time Marcus and Felecia were busy searching for the Green Lion, Tony and Kevin finally arrived at the sight of the Yellow Lion. In contrast to the vast jungle planet that their teammates were on, the two of them found themselves on some kind of desert planet. There were canyons everywhere and no signs of life. The place was completely barren, but Tony hoped that would make finding the Yellow Lion that much easier. Sadly, that wasn't the case at all.

As soon as the Blue Lion made contact on the planet, both Tony and Kevin found themselves under attack by a barrage of Galra soldiers. Apparently, the Galra had prior business on this planet as they were using various mining equipment to dig through the earth. However, any plans they had immediately went out the door when the Blue Lion of Voltron suddenly appeared before them. Now, with their prize in arms reach, the soldiers put their entire attention on retrieving the lion for their emperor.

While Tony was doing everything he can to avoid getting blasted, Kevin was nervously looking through the coordinates that Dardarian gave to him. After a bit of time, he picked up a signal on the Yellow Lion's location. This prompted him to slowly walk over to the view screen and stare straight at a large mining facility that the Galra had set up.

"There…The coordinates say that the Yellow Lion is in there!"

"Good!" Tony replied as he narrowly dodged another attack. "Now go down there and get it!"

"What? Me? No way!"

Shaking his head in defiance, Kevin was absolutely against leaving the safety of the Blue Lion to go out and find the Yellow Lion. An overly cautious individual, he wasn't exactly thrilled by everything that's been happening in the last several hours and really just wanted to go back home. However, Tony wasn't having any of it right now as they really needed to get that lion.

"Yes! Now hurry up and go get it! I'll try and cover you as best as I can!"

Without even turning around, Tony pressed a button on his lion's control console. This caused the Blue Lion to fly down to the surface and start dashing towards the entrance of the mining facility. Kevin tried his best to dissuade his friend from doing this, but it was already too late by that time.

"But what if the Yellow Lion doesn't even work?! What if it refuses to accept me?! What if it-"

Before he could finishing his complaining, the Blue Lion immediately ejected Kevin from its head and the young man suddenly found himself rolling across the ground. When he finally stopped, Kevin found himself at the entrance, but also saw several Galra soldiers were about to shoot him while his back was turned. Thankfully, Tony had the Blue Lion step in between them and shield his friend from the assault. He then engaged the fighters, hoping to buy Kevin enough time as possible.

When Kevin saw this, he was amazed that Tony would go so far to help him retrieve the Yellow Lion. Although he was still scared, he knew that he couldn't live with himself if he ran away now while Tony was fighting. With that, he immediately rushed inside the mining facility as fast as he could.

Upon entering, the first thing that Kevin noticed was a large red platform. From the looks of things, it was used so that workers and either bring themselves or object into the lower levels. When he got on it, Kevin saw a nearby control box and attempted to use it to activate the platform. When his initial attempts failed however, the young man improvised and proceeded to open up the box and examine its wiring.

"Okay…" He said as he moved the wires around. "It's just like fixing the TV back home. You can do this, Kevin."

With his extensive knowledge of engineering, Kevin managed to easily connect the appropriate wires together in order to activate the platform. As it began making its way towards the lower levels of the facility, he looked on in awe as the walls were beginning to glow with yellow cave markings. It was just like when he found the Blue Lion, which meant he was on the right track. Once he made it to the ground, Kevin got off the platform and continued his journey.

Following the lights, Kevin soon found himself in a new section of the facility. It was entirely closed off and led to nowhere. However, the yellow lights glowed their brightest in this place so he had to be going the right way. This was only further indicated when he saw a giant yellow circle appear before him on one of the walls.

"Alright…So what now? How am I going to get through?"

While trying to come up with a solution, Kevin felt several tremors coming from outside. Tony's fight with the Galra was getting more intense and it wouldn't much longer until the facility collapse and buried him alive. He had to come up with something now, but nothing seemed to come to mind. Fortunately, as he continued to look around, he noticed a large drill machine.

"…That'll work."

Rushing towards the drill, Kevin got in and attempted to activate it. Thankfully, it still had plenty of power and the young man watched as the drill started spinning around at a blinding speed. He then drove the machine towards the circle and began digging through it. After about 2 minutes, the drill finally managed to pierce through to the other side. It was at that moment that Kevin came face to face with the Yellow Lion, who was protected from inside a particle barrier.

I've been waiting for you, Kevin.

Meanwhile, during the moments in which Kevin was searching for the Yellow Lion, Tony was continuing his battle with the Galra that were attacking him. Although he was managing to hold his own against him, his overall inexperience with piloting was leaving him at a major disadvantage. Not only that, but with every ship that he happened to take out, 3 more ships would appear to take their place. It was a never ending battle, but Tony pushed himself to keep going. There was simply too much on the line for him to fail.

As the battle in the sky progressed, several Galra scouts decided to use this opportunity to go after Kevin while he was still inside the mining facility. Through the Blue Lion's scanners, Tony noticed this and attempted race over to help his friend. However, the Galra that he was already fighting wasn't making it easy for him to break through. Thankfully, thanks to the lasers that the Blue Lion had in both is mouth and on the tip of its tail, Tony was eventually able to destroy the ships and race towards the mines.

"C'mon…Please make it in time!"

Pushing down on the thrusters, Tony increased the Blue Lion's speed and see reached the mines. He then watched as the Galra ships were about to fire upon the facility. Reacting quickly, Tony fired several lasers at his enemies. He missed his first few shots, but soon managed to connect and damaged the ships. Unfortunately, while the first ship was instantly destroyed, the second one managed to hold on for a bit before it exploded. This gave the individual inside to fire a missile and direct it straight for the entrance of the mines.

"Kevin!"

Despite Tony's pleas, the missile made contact with the mines and exploded. This resulted in a cave in that caused the entire facility to collapse. When he saw this, Tony immediately feared the worst and began to grit his teeth in frustration. He then angrily turned to face the remaining Galra ships, intent on avenging Kevin. However, much to his surprised, the Blue Lion was suddenly attacked from behind. The Galra had sent reinforcements and were now attacking Tony from all sides.

Although he tried his best to outmaneuver them, there were simply too many for Tony to avoid and he soon found himself bombarded by laser fire. As the Blue Lion started falling towards the ground, the young man frantically started shaking its controls.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He cursed. "C'mon, you have to work with me!"

Once the Blue Lion hit the ground, it started rolling along the surface for a few moments before finally straightening out. Unfortunately, it wasn't in good shape and it could no longer take any more punishment. The Galra noticed this and attempted to finish the battle with a barrage of missiles and laser fire. When Tony saw this, all he could do was close his eyes and brace himself for the worst.

Thankfully, just before the attack managed to reach its intended target, the Yellow Lion suddenly emerged from the ground and used its massive body to shield the Blue Lion. Then, before the Galra could even respond, the lion rushed over and squashed them all like pancakes. It then picked itself back up before facing the Blue Lion again.

"Are you okay, Tony?"

Recognizing the voice that just spoke to him, Tony opened up his eyes and stared at the Yellow Lion with a shocked expression on his face. The voiced belonged to none other than Kevin. Not only did he survive, but he found the Yellow Lion and saved him.

"Kevin, you're alive!" He said with a mixture of excitement and relief. "I thought you were dead! You jumped in front of all those shots to save me!"

"Well…actually really trying to get out of the way," Kevin truthfully revealed as his face appeared on one of the Blue Lion's view screen. "Thankfully, what this big guy lacks in speed it more than makes up in defense. It can sure take a beating."

Tony didn't really care about how Kevin survived, he was just glad that he did. It was a huge relief for him. However, just as he was starting to feel better, another wave of Galra ships suddenly appeared and began bombarding the lions. It was at that moment that Princess Erina appeared on both Tony's and Kevin's view screens.

"Tony…Kevin!" She called out too. "Please hurry back to the castle! I can't keep the wormhole up much longer!"

"You got it!" Tony replied. "C'mon Kevin, let's get out of here!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Kevin followed.

When the transmission came to an end, Tony and Kevin flew their respective lions high into the air, making their way back towards the wormhole. The Galra ships gave chase, trying their best to stop them before it was too late. During this exchange, a few of the lasers hit the Yellow Lion and caused it to start spinning around. This led to Kevin feeling nauseous and nearly throwing up inside the lion. When Tony noticed this he simply shook his head as the Blue Lion entered the wormhole.

"Quit screwing around, Kevin. We need to go!"

"Ri…Right…" Kevin sickly replied.

The Yellow Lion slowly straighten itself out as it too also managed to enter the wormhole. Once it did so, the portal suddenly disappeared from sight, leaving the Galra ships confused by what just happened.

Back on Planet Arus, Erina and Dardarian were busy making sure that all the systems inside the Castle of Lions were properly functioning. Helping them was Sasuke who, while not very tech savvy, did what he could to assist. After nearly 2 hours, the three of them watched as the Green Voltron Lion suddenly appeared from a wormhole. Felecia was successfully in retrieving it, much to Erina's joy. Then, not long after that, the Blue Lion emerged from another wormhole with the Yellow Lion. Kevin was also successful in his venture. Upon reentering the castle, Erina cheerfully greeted the group.

"Thank goodness…" She said with a smile. "You've made it."

"Yeah…but barely," Tony pointed out as he stretched his back. "That was a nightmare. For a second I felt like Kevin."

"Think how I felt," Kevin said as he gently rubbed the top of his head. "I am Kevin."

As Felecia stared at the two boys, the young woman let out a small snicker. It was clear to her that they had a rather challenging time in retrieving the Yellow Lion. Thankfully, her and Marcus's quest to retrieve the Green Lion wasn't as difficult.

"Yeah…We had a tough time too."

When she glanced over a Marcus, Felecia gave him a small smile. This caused Marcus to let out one of his own. He could tell that she was being rather sarcastic with her comment, but also knew that she didn't mean any ill will by it. He then turned to face both Dardarian and Erina.

"So, did we find the Red Lion yet?" He inquired.

"The Princess just located it before you returned," Dardarian revealed. "The good news is that the Red Lion is nearby. The bad news is that it's located on that Galra ship that's now orbiting Arus. But wait a minute…We are Arus!"

Marcus, Felecia, Tony, and Kevin remained silent for a moment as they slowly processed the information that they were just given. When that moment passed, they immediately jumped up with panicked looks on their faces.

"They're already here?!" Marcus questioned. "But I thought we still had time."

"…So did I," Dardarian nervously stated. "But you see, I was actually calculating the time the Galra would get here back when I last saw their ships. Apparently they've made some noticeable upgrades during the last 10,000 years."

The vizier attempted to laugh off the problem, but it clear that no one was amused. What was a bad situation just turned into a horrible one. The Galra were literally breathing down their necks and they still haven't retrieved all the Voltron Lions yet. And, to really drive it home how bad things are, the Red Lion was on that very same Galra ship. Then, just when it looked like things couldn't get much worse, they suddenly did.

From out of nowhere, something began to hack into the communications network of the Castle of Lions. As everyone looked on at the view screen, they watched as Sendak suddenly appeared before them. The Galra commander gave each of them a stern look, but focused the majority of his attention on Erina.

"Princess Erina, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire," He revealed. "I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, lord of the known universe. I am here to confiscate the Voltron Lions. Turn them, as well as yourself, over to me…or I will destroy your planet!"

Chapter Preview

With Sendak and his fleet hovering above them, our heroes are literally cornered. Some of them want flee and live to fight another day while others want to fight and make a last stand. In the end, they turn to Erina, but even she isn't quite sure what to do. Regardless of her decision, they need to be quick about it. If not, then the war against the Galra Empire will end before it's even begins.

Next Time, Chapter 5: The Legend Reawakens – Part 1