Chapter seven: Breaking The Chains
"You and your friends have succeeded in something that has not been done; even by those that came before you." The woman told Pidge. "Along my sisters I have no name... but you may call me; Nani."
"Zara." A woman introduced herself before Hunk.
"Shiko." Another said to Allura.
"Atali." The woman in red stated gesturing to herself.
"I am Angeli, Keith Kogane." The woman in black and magenta revealed to the Black Lion Pilot. "Each one of you are, as we speak, being separately encountered by one of my sisters." Angeli continued.
"None of your fellow Paladins can hear us at this moment." Zara was saying to Hunk.
"It is only you and I, here." Shiko assured Allura.
"Trust in me, as you have come to trust me in the heat of battle." Atali requested, her voice still remaining as calm and gentle as before.
"For we have been waiting for you..." Nani said. "For one of your own desires your aid, and needs it in order to live." Each of the woman extended their hands out; palms up and from their fingertips a ball of light emerged. This ball then swirled and an image appeared inside it.
"Shiro?!" Though the team was not together or able to hear each other, they had the same name on their lips; as they stared in shock at the image before them. The Black Paladin was in battle with a fuzzy being, which seemed to have no shape. It disappeared and reappeared randomly, attacking Shiro from all angles; landing blows most every time.
"Your friend needs you..." Angeli told Keith. "This is him now..." the image shifted to Shiro, laying unconscious.. as though leaned against a wall; propped up by it. Something clearly seemed odd about him, and Keith soon realized that something was wrapped around him. Coiled around him securing his arms at his sides; completely obstructing his ability to move.
"Shiro!!" Keith cried, taking a couple steps toward the image, as though it were a door to which he could enter to get to his friend.
"He needs you." Angeli said.
"He needs all of you." Atali told Lance.
"Just as you are connected in the physical realm..." Zara told Hunk.
"So must you, in the mindscapes of your inner being." Shiko finished, she and the other woman had delivered the same message; all of which commencing simultaneously, unbeknownst to them.
"Focus on your friend." They said. "Feel the bonds with us. Reach out to your fellow Paladins and their lions. Connect. Band together; so you that you might make it through... together. Remember that you are one unit... fighting with one goal." Each Paladin closed their eyes and focused as instructed, letting nothing, but the sound of the womens' voices guide them. Through the darkness of their closed eyes, they were suddenly able to feel their friends' presence; almost as thought they were thinking as one. All having the same mind... the same spirit... the same thoughts... Each Paladin summoned their bayards to their hands, their weapons slowly materializing in a very dramatic fashion. When they opened their eyes a burst of their respective colors ignited a bright light that drew them back toward the wall behind them. Each of them turned to face this wall, which now glowed with a portal-like energy. Each of them woman morphed down into lions, then leaped at their Paladins absorbing themselves into them. As this occurred the Paladins were then engulfed into it and they merged into spirit forms of the Voltron lions. Giving a mighty roar, the lions leapt into the white portal; which went dark as soon as they entered.
Keith somersaulted and landed into a his iconic one-legged kneel; standing up straight he, looked up. Pidge jumped through a wall opposite him to the right, landing in a composed kneel; her knees briefly touching to the ground with her hands. She, too, stood up right away, looking toward him. The rest of the Paladins soon joined; all exchanging glances and smiles with the others. Everyone then looked to where the circular wall opened up, and outside of it; a fair distance from them was a shocking sight.
"Shiro!!" Keith ran straight forward out the opening and into a vast meadow-like landscape, bathed in colors of many kinds and hues. Keith knelt by Shiro's side, and as soon as the Red Paladin placed a hand on his shoulder; Shiro looked up.
"Keith?" His eyes were hollow and clearly demonstrated how weak he was. The Black Paladin's head hung once more; becoming motionless once again, leaning limply against a misshapen structure behind him. A strange energy, wrapped in coils around his upper body tied him to this structure; much like ropes of some kind. Keith tried to grab the coils and pull them apart off of Shiro; but received a zap that sent shocks up his arm. The Paladins looked up and stood to face an all too familiar figure; all standing in a tense half-stance, glaring at the unwanted guest.
"Your leader is lost to you this day." Zarkon declared, his dark bayard sword drawn at his side.
"Not if we got anything to say about it, huah!" Keith lunged in a dead sprint toward the Galra Emporer, his own sword drawn. Covering the ground between them, he raised his blade and swung; letting loose a battle cry that could rattle the ground in which they stood. Their swords clanged together, igniting sparks between them.
"Pidge! See if you can free Shiro!" Keith cried tensely, gazing back at her, before Zarkon threw him back off his blade. Pidge knelt back down beside Shiro, and Hunk and Lance paced forward from where they were and drew their own weapons.
"We got you covered." Lance announced firing, as he continued walking forward toward Zarkon and Keith.
Pidge squatted next to the obstacle that Shiro was secured to, to inspect it. The rope-like strings glowed an off purplish hue, and had a pulsing glow about it.
"Since we can't pull it off of him; maybe we can cut it." Pidge hypothesized as Allura sank down across from her. Taking up her bayard, Pidge jacked it downwards at the roping; igniting a bright flash! All that remained was a small gash, and a bit of singeing smoke flowing up from it.
"It didn't even make a dent!" Allura cursed.
"Whatever this thing is, is seems to be sucking away Shiro's quintessence." Pidge realized. "But now I think I know how to stop it. But I'm gonna need some time."
"How much time?" The princess wondered. Pidge placed the edge of her weapon against the coils, singeing it more.
"A lot." The Green Paladin returned. Allura rose once again.
"I'll go and assist the other Paladins in the meantime. We'll do what we can." She said. Pidge looked up at her and nodded determinedly.
Keith locked blades with Zarkon once more, their fiery glares blazing into the other's; branding their opponent's eyes with the grit that they channeled from the depths of their hearts, through their attacks. Lance screamed in heated rage, letting loose another round of fire at the Galra leader. Hunk serenaded Lance with blaster fire of his own. Keith released their hold, and rolled back away from him as the shots ambushed him. Being a skilled warrior, Zarkon activated his shield and blocked the blasts. Retracting it, he repositioned his hands in such a way as to materialize his club which he dragged along the ground, stirring up a blast that sent all three of them back towards Shiro. Zarkon then held the bayard with one hand toward them and it shifted again into a blaster of his own. The beam of high volume energy erupted from it in a split-second shot; Keith saw it, but couldn't pull himself up in time to stop it. Luckily a particle shield blocked it, and Allura grunted at the sudden jolt it gave her.
"Thanks Allura." Keith breathed, rising once more; followed by Lance and Hunk.
"Almost there." Pidge said, her tone sounding half distracted.
"We've gotta take out Zarkon..." Keith decided, finally. "For good!" Lance sprinted around til, he and Hunk were exactly opposite each other; Zarkon directly between them. Taking up their bayards once more, the began to pace around the invisible circle as they fired. Zarkon was beginning to loose control of himself, and took a few shots. Shifting his bayard, he swung his whip around causing everyone to withdraw in avoidance. As the whip came around though, Allura activated her bayard and caught the whip with her own. The two intertwining together; holding fast. Keith instinctively ducked under them and sprinted in with his sword to finish him off. Zarkon spotted this and shifted his bayard to clash swords with Keith yet again. Allura recovered from the sudden release, whipping it around her once. Taking a leap of faith, she then brought the whip down in a slicing motion. Zarkon looked up, as Keith ducked off to his left, and the whip nailed Galra leader right down the middle. Zarkon let out painful cry, as he slowly glowed purple and exploded. The Black Bayard dropped to the ground, morphing into its non-corrupted form and decimating from view.
The coils finally gave out with a 'snap!', and Shiro dropped loosely on his side. Pidge began to recover him as the other Paladins came to join them. The Black Paladin's eyes every slowly opened; his eyes now seeming a bit more bright. His energy seeming to begin to trickle back, much to their relief.
"Thank you." He breathed. Suddenly the ground jolted and a hole appeared above them, sucking them in like a black hole. As Keith was lifted off the ground, he noticed Shiro still lying on the ground where he was.
"Shiro!" He cried, extending a hand out to him; as if hoping it was stop him from being sucked out away from him. The hole closed behind them, and everything was dark...
A capsule-like object floated down toward the surface of a lonely planet. It crashed through the trashy debris within its vicinity, knocking it only slightly off course. When it hit the ground, though, the shield protecting its occupant shattered and dematerialized. The person in which had resided within it for all this time, landed on the ground with a thump. A barely audible grunt, forced its way from him upon impact. A single breath sounded, as his eyes began to slowly blink open; with another soft groan.
Whasup everybody!! This story is really progressing! And again there is much more yet to come. And I can't wait to see what you all think! So glad you've enjoyed it so far! Also I want to specify the reason why the Black Bayard did not disappear right away with Zarkon, is because Shiro still physically possesses it. And since this was a mindscape, he could not steal it back from Shiro. Also just so you guys know, the mindscape where this battle takes place is, in fact, Shiro's mind(though I'm sure you guys could figure that out;)). Anyway, til next time Voltron fans! Thx!!