I'M NOT SORRY

Chapter 2: Trapped

Pidge stared at the blank button. She knew she'd seen the words "log out" there earlier, during the tutorial. So why, all of a sudden, were they gone?

She took a deep breath. "There's…gotta be a logical explanation for this. A glitch? The game was released today, so there are potential bugs, but…something like this should have come up in the testing phase. Somebody would have noticed it long before the game was released."

"Think somebody might have hacked the server?" Keith asked, trying to stay calm.

"It's possible. Especially with the nature of the Olkarion, no pun intended. The people have a physical connection to the technology here. Using one of these headsets to hack the game and cause it to prevent people from logging out is a possibility. But why? What could somebody possibly hope to gain by trapping thousands of people in a video game?"

Pidge wished she hadn't asked.

Maybe then, she wouldn't have gotten an answer.

"All players, please report to the main hub." The disembodied voice made Pidge jump with surprise, knocking Keith over and causing both of them to tumble to the ground. Keith scrambled to his feet, helping Pidge up hurriedly.

"I think we ought to listen to that voice," Keith said. Pidge followed his line of sight and watched as a glowing barrier formed on the horizon. On closer inspection, it appeared to be getting closer. "I don't think we have much of a choice."

Pidge nodded, and the two took off toward the hub. Pidge was the one who noticed that there was a map in their menus, which helped with navigation, especially once she figured out how to make a minimap that hovered on their wrists, guiding them to their destination.

They arrived in a large, open courtyard, much larger than the one they started in. They were amazed at the giant mass of people already crowded into the area, with more constantly flowing in from streets and alleys. A few looked like they were being warped in, likely due to touching the strange barrier.

"Man," Keith joked, "we should have just waited until that thing caught us. We wouldn't have had to run here."

"Keith, we don't get physically tired here."

"Then why are you out of breath?"

"Probably a mental reaction. My brain thinks I should be tired after a run, so I feel tired."

Keith looked skeptical. Pidge looked up at him curiously, then yelped as Keith slugged her arm.

"Ow, Keith, what the heck? What was that for?" Her eyes widened in realization as she rubbed her arm. "That…that hurt…"

"Exactly," Keith said, lowering his fist. "It didn't hurt earlier. I think this is more than just a brain trick."

Pidge blanched. "It's definitely more than that. Your hair's getting shorter!"

"So is yours!"

The two looked around, watching as the players around them began changing physically. Pidge felt like she was on an elevator, as her eye level gradually lowered. "Aw, man, I won't have boobs anymore," she mumbled.

Keith rolled his eyes. He looked down. The two of them seemed to have stopped shifting, the only thing that stayed the same being their outfits and weapons.

Pidge's heart sank as she felt the weight of her weapons at her hip. She wouldn't be able to use them now. She wasn't sure how well she could even lift the short sword.

She tentatively drew her blade. Keith had already drawn his, ready to fight in case this was a huge trap. Pidge's sword was heavy. Too heavy. There was no way she'd be able to fight well with it, not in her current state.

Keith looked down at her, noting her concerned expression and the way she held the sword. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll help you learn how to use it. For now, just stick with your dagger. We can practice with the sword later."

Pidge was about to thank him, but a voice cut through the air. "Attention, users, we're sorry for the…ce,..but…ver's down…fix it…" The voice dropped and was replaced by a different, much clearer one.

It was a woman's voice, old and raspy. Pidge thought she recognized it, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Keith, however, knew exactly who it was.

"Haggar," he breathed, his face contorting in anger.

"Greetings, players of Fantasy Quest. I'm sure many of you have noticed that you can't leave the game. Let's just say it's a part of my new game. A game of life or death.

"All of you are wearing virtual reality headgear. The headsets are normally harmless. However, with a bit of persuasion, the systems can be altered. And I have the power to do so. Whenever a player dies, I will trigger a mechanism in the headgear to instantly fry the brain of the user in question. In other words, if you die in the game, you'll die for real."

Pidge's heart dropped, her face pale. Keith growled in anger. Leave it to that witch to take a game and turn it into a death trap.

"I've taken the liberty of tracking each player. If somebody from the outside world attempts to take the headgear off of you manually, the same rule applies: instant death."

This was when Pidge began to panic. She was a paladin of Voltron. Somebody was bound to try to remove the headset. She was a defender of the universe, after all.

"Those of you here now need not fret over this. There have already been hundreds of cases of people trying to take off the headgear, and by this time, the public is well aware of the consequences of manually removing it."

Not that that helped. Pidge's hands shook. She'd been close to death before, of course, as a paladin, but this was different. In the past, there was always something she could use, some way to play to her own strengths. Now, she was stuck in a world that relied primarily on brute strength, something she severely lacked.

She felt a reassuring arm on her shoulders and looked up to see Keith looking down at her with a worried expression. "Don't worry," he whispered, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back. "We'll get out of here. We'll find a way."

Pidge began shaking from sobs. For the first time in a long time, she was afraid. Not just for herself, but for the entire universe. Without her, Voltron couldn't be formed. Haggar's trap might have unknowingly caused the end of Voltron.

Or…was it? Pidge thought back to the shop. They got the game for free because they were heroes. She should have read into it more, thought about why something so valuable would just be given away. Now she knew.

Haggar had planned to lure them into the game.

"She knows we're here," she mumbled into Keith's chest. "We fell for her trap."

"Calm down, Pidge. We're heroes, remember? We can do this. We'll find a way to get home."

"Many of you may be wondering," Haggar continued after her pause, "how to actually get out of the game. There is only one way: defeat the final boss.

"This challenge may seem simple to some of you, but I assure you, it's worse than you think. All of your bodies have been changed to match their original state. While it is possible to get physically stronger, you will be limited by the same limitations your bodies had in the real world. You can only grow so much. And the game will progressively get more and more difficult. I don't expect many of you to survive the next few days."

"Beat…the boss?" Pidge asked, pulling away from Keith. "But…games like this are designed to never be completed, to go on forever so people keep playing them. How…"

"We're going to make it," Keith said, his voice filled with determination. "We have people who need us. We're going to make it. If there's an ending to this nightmare, we'll find it. And you wanna know how I know that?"

Pidge looked at Keith skeptically. "How?"

"Because we have something worth fighting for: friends and family."

Matt scrambled out of his ship, running towards the castle frantically. If Shiro weren't so muscular, Matt might have knocked him to the ground. Instead, it was like running into a wall.

"Matt, calm down. Freaking out won't make this any better."

"How am I supposed to calm down? My little sister is trapped inside a video game! I have to find a way to stop it!"

"Matt, hold on! We just heard-" Matt pushed out of Shiro's arms and ran into the castle. He knew the way to Pidge's room by heart.

It was a good thing Shiro was a faster runner than Matt. He tackled Matt to the ground outside of Pidge's open door. "Matt, you have to listen to me! If we take off the headgear, they'll be killed!"

Matt stopped struggling, his arms falling limp as he stared up at Shiro. Finally, tears spilled from his eyes. "I just…I have to help her. She needs me…"

"Matt, she's stronger than you give her credit for. She can take care of herself. Besides, Keith is with her."

"Keith? As in, Keith 'Maybe Not Our Weapons' Kogane? That's not helpful at all!"

Shiro sighed. He'd forgotten about Matt's initial impressions of Keith from the Naxella incident. "Look, it may not be ideal, but she's not alone. She'll find a way."

"How did they even know about this game? Pidge hardly ever leaves her hangar, much less the castle."

"Allura heard about a new game and thought Pidge might be interested," Coran said, emerging from the room. "She had no idea that the witch had set up a trap."

Matt stood up and looked at Allura. She was sitting on Pidge's bed, holding the younger girl's hand. Matt marched into the room and grabbed Allura by the collar.

"So this is your fault then?"

"Matt, I-"

"You led my little sister into a trap! You might have just walked her to her own death!"

"Matt!" Shiro pulled on Matt's shoulder but was taken aback by the look of rage on his friend's face. But the most shocking part was the tears mixed with the rage.

Allura couldn't bring herself to fight back. She was certainly capable of throwing Matt across the room for talking to her that way, but she couldn't. Because she blamed herself. "Shiro…he's right. I made a mistake."

"No, Allura, you didn't know your information was a trap. None of us did. And any one of us," Shiro pulled Matt away from Allura. "including you, could have easily made the same mistake. So don't you dare take this out on Allura. If you have anger to vent, there's a training deck upstairs. I suggest you make use of it."

Shiro let Matt go and walked out of the room and instead headed over to Keith's. Hunk and Coran were in the process of hooking Keith up to medical equipment in order to keep Keith physically alive since he was more or less in a coma. They were finishing up, Hunk getting ready to head over to Pidge's room to do the same for her.

They'd stripped Keith down to his boxers in order to hook him up. Hunk looked at Shiro with a sad expression. "We're about to head over to Pidge's room. Sounds like Matt's here. Think he'd be willing to help us? Because, I'll be honest," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not comfortable doing this to her, even if she is in a coma."

Shiro nodded. "It might take a bit of persuasion, but he should be willing to help her in any way he can. You don't have to worry."

Hunk sighed in relief as he gathered up everything he needed. "Thank goodness. Let's head over there, Coran."

Shiro looked at Keith's unmoving body, a pang of sadness stabbing at his heart. Coran placed a hand on his shoulder. "He'll be okay, Shiro. I'm sure he and number five will find a way to break the curse."

Shiro nodded and Coran walked out the door. Taking Keith's hand, Shiro sat on the bed. Keith had been like a younger brother to him. It hurt to see him like this.

So, I've decided that this takes place after season 5. Which means, yes, Lotor will be in it at some point, just not yet. Also, I've been considering pushing for some Shallura. Let me know what you think of that.

I don't plan on doing irl scenes in every chapter, but this won't be the only time we check in on the rest of team Voltron.