SEASON SEVEN OH MY GOODNESS
For those of you who haven't seen it yet, don't worry, I won't be spoiling anything. This fanfic officially takes place after season five and before season six, mainly because Keith and Pidge are in the Castle of Lions. I can't very well move them, now can I? That's too much work. So for now, the only threat is Haggar and everything else is FINE. IT'S FINE.
That said, I have made the decision to omit Lotor (for the most part. I will mention him once.) He's just…dumb. I'm sure many of us can agree that he has no place here. So, he just won't be here. He's off taking care of his empire.
That also means that this fic operates under the assumption that there is no clone Shiro. The one that many have labeled as "Kuro" is the Shiro of this fic, and as far as I'm concerned, that's enough. So I won't be worrying about any of that either.
Chapter 5: Raid Boss
Olkarion was in mourning.
Thousands of innocent Olkari were trapped in Fantasy Quest. Of those, hundreds had been killed in the weeks since the game's launch. The death rates had been steadily decreasing, but the damage had been done. A majority of the population had been personally affected by the tragedy.
A ceremony was organized to honor those who had fallen thus far. Lance wondered how many more would occur before either Haggar won or somebody found a way to beat the game. He knew that there wouldn't be an end to the deaths until then. Yes, this ceremony was important to a lot of folks on Olkarion, but Lance figured it wouldn't be the only ceremony of its kind.
Ryner gave a brief, powerful speech, right up until the end, when she was choked up, fighting back tears. Her own grandson had been killed in this massacre, and it was clear that all of this was taking its toll on the queen.
Lance felt someone grab his hand. He looked over to see Allura, a look of comfort on her face. He hadn't noticed that he himself had been crying.
Lance had yet to see Allura cry over the whole affair, and he thought he'd figured out why. She was still blaming herself for everything. She was so full of self-loathing that it was blocking out any opportunity for her to grieve.
It was also possible that she had faith that Keith and Pidge would save everyone, that they would make it out of the hell they were trapped in and free all those under Haggar's control.
Those who had helped design the game, oblivious at the time to Haggar's plan, had explained that it could possibly take months or possibly over a year for those participating to reach the end. The game wasn't meant to have an end at all, as it was filled with various branching paths and areas to be explored and could be constantly updated with new content to keep people interested. As it stood, the players had a set base game to complete, but since the Olkari wanted to release as much of the game as possible with the initial release, there was still a lot of ground to cover to reach the end. Added to that, players had to be strong enough to defeat the bosses, taking even more time to get stronger.
In short, Lance knew that there was a lot of waiting to do.
As Ryner concluded her speech and the crowd dispersed, Lance pulled Allura off to the side.
"Hey Princess, I didn't want to bring this up with everyone else around, but…what are we going to do about Voltron? We need Pidge to fly the Green Lion, and I think it's pretty likely that Haggar or Sendak or somebody will try to pull something while we're all distracted."
"Lotor's doing his best with his allies to keep everything in line within the Galra empire. However, I do believe you have a point. Voltron could be needed at any time. However, finding a new paladin isn't going to be easy."
"What about Matt? He is Pidge's brother, after all."
"That may be true, but if the Lions cared about bloodline, I'd have been able to fly Red like my father. Besides, he's not handling his grief well at all. I don't want his emotions to get in the way of the team."
"Maybe…there's other members of the coalition?" Lance said thoughtfully. "Or maybe somebody here on Olkarion?"
"How would we even go about checking the worthiness of that many people?"
"What if…what if we let people into Green's hangar? See how they react to her, test if they can connect to her. Whoever can get the barrier down and enter the lion can be the new paladin?"
"I don't know…I'm not sure how comfortable I am letting so many people into the castle at once."
"How many people would honestly want to put their lives on the line for the universe? Voltron isn't indestructible. We've proven before that it's dangerous to be a paladin. That alone narrows it down to the most noble people."
"And what if it doesn't work? What if we can't find the right person?"
"Then maybe Green can find her own paladin…"
"By finding somebody who matches her quintessence! That's it!"
Allura ran off, Lance running after her. They had a lot to do.
Keith hadn't expected a lot of people to show up to challenge the boss.
However, he'd hoped there'd be more than the ten that they had.
"Paladins," a young man named Shyrik said. "I don't know how comfortable I am with you being a part of this fight. The universe needs you. Let us handle this."
"We're the defenders of the universe," Pidge said simply, "and that includes everyone trapped in this nightmare. We're fighting for our lives just like anybody else.
Shyrik sighed. "Okay, okay. Truth be told, I'm glad you're here, I just…I don't want your blood on my hands."
"This is our own choice," Keith said. "If we die here, the only one to blame is The Witch."
Since very few players actually knew Haggar's name, folks had begun calling her "The Witch," and the nickname stuck.
Shyrik nodded. "Right, then. I suppose we should fight."
Keith rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay to be scared, man. Just because you're the leader doesn't mean you have to be brave all the time. I had to learn that the hard way. You shouldn't have to."
"Thank you, Keith. I appreciate it."
The small group stopped at a large set of double doors. A large tag labeled the door as BOSS ROOM. "This is it," Shyrik announced. "This is where the battle will take place. Behind these doors, the boss awaits."
Keith gripped Pidge's hand tightly. The group was formed of four different parties made of two or three members each. Keith and Pidge had been partied since the start of the game and had remained that way for the raid group. Pidge's name rested just underneath Keith's at the edge of his vision. The magic bar, now fully recharged, sat as a thin line below Pidge's health bar.
Gosh, he hoped she survived the fight.
He'd already tried to talk her out of it numerous times on their way here. But every time, she argued that she needed to fight just as much as he did, that she was just as much responsible for the safety of everyone here as him.
But it was her final argument that finally convinced him to let her go:
"If you're going to protect everyone else, then who's going to protect you?"
Deep down, he knew he would need her help. He was aware of his recklessness. He needed somebody to have his back.
As everyone filed into the large, seemingly empty room, the doors slammed shut behind them. There was no way out now.
The room was gradually lit by torches, igniting two at a time around the circular space. On the opposite end of the room, a staircase led up to another large set of doors.
A loud roar caused the room to shake. A few people lost their balance and fell to their knees while everyone else stumbled a bit in an effort to remain standing.
Pidge looked up in horror to see a large, wolf-like creature drop from the ceiling. Wolf was a loose description, as the creature had six legs, two tails, and had a second mouth on its forehead. Bones stuck out of the beast's back. The label "BOSS" appeared over its head as both mouths roared, flinging slobber everywhere. One guy yelped in surprise before screaming in pain as he was hit by saliva. Evidently, the spit was acidic.
"Don't let the drool hit you!" Pidge yelled, diving to avoid getting hit herself.
Having taken in the beast in front of them, Shyrik nodded. "Don't let its size scare you! Stay in your parties and attack from all angles! Try to flank it and hit it from behind, and whatever you do, don't get hit by the drool!"
The group yelled in triumph. After consuming a healing item, the guy who got hit was back on his feet and weaving between the wolf's legs.
"Keith! Help me draw its attention so everyone else can attack!"
Keith hesitated for a moment, but nodded, running forward and slashing at the beast's forelegs, expertly dodging any attempts to be stepped on or clawed.
"Fire!" Pidge yelled, shooting flames in short bursts towards the monster's face.
The large health bar steadily decreased as more and more damage was done. For a moment, it seemed like they'd all make it through without much trouble.
All it took was a little stumble, a little tangle of his feet, and Keith fell. Pidge gasped as he was hit square in the back with the beast's front paw and thrown into the wall.
"Keith!" Pidge ran over and slid to her knees at his side. His health had taken a huge hit, falling below a quarter and into "the red zone." He breathed heavily, gripping at his ribs.
"Leave…leave me here! I'll be fine, just—" he started coughing. "Watch out!"
Pidge turned around too late as the beast snapped at her with its lower mouth. It caught her by the arm, causing her to scream as she was lifted off her feet. The bite cut a huge chunk of her health and hurt like the dickens. She felt the teeth sink into her arm and fought the urge to cry as she was tossed around like a chew toy.
Risking more damage, Pidge yelled "Fire!" and began blasting flames into the wolf's mouth. It cried out in pain, dropping her and reeling back. Soldiers quickly moved out of the way to avoid the reeling creature. It fell back onto its rear, leaving it wide open to attack.
"Everyone attack!" Shyrik's yell was answered by the battle cries of the brave crew as they charged the beast.
Pidge gasped for air, holding her arm. She'd finished off her magic, and her health was even lower than Keith's. Her left arm looked like swiss cheese, riddled with holes. There wasn't blood in this world, but Pidge's mind filled in the gaps. She looked away, trying not to gag.
Trusting that the others could handle themselves, Shyrik ran over to check on Keith. He'd gotten to his feet, but was a little wobbly. "You should sit out the rest of the fight. You've done more than enough for us."
"He's open. I can take this chance to fight him, even if I can't do a lot on my own."
"If you insist, you're welcome to—" The wolf howled, jumping back to its feet. It charged at the first person it set its eyes on: Pidge.
"No!" Keith stepped towards her but was thrown back by Shyrik, who, admittedly, ran much faster than he would have.
Pidge looked up at the wolf, drawing her sword as it approached where she sat. If she was going down, she was going down fighting.
She didn't expect Shyrik to jump in front of her at the last second, driving his sword into the wolf's head. The critical hit sent the wolf reeling, landing on its side and whimpering. Shyrik reached his hand out to Pidge. "Come, Pidge. Now is no time to sit."
With Shyrik's help, Pidge made her way over to the stunned boss and assisted with the onslaught of attacks that ultimately ended the beast's life.
A pre-recorded voice rang out with a simple message: "Congratulations, brave heroes. You have defeated the boss for this level, and now have access to the next! Good luck completing your Fantasy Quest!"
Pidge snorted. "Obligatory title drop. Video games are the same no matter what planet they're on."
The health of anyone who'd gotten hurt automatically refilled and all injuries were healed. Pidge watched as the holes in her arm patched themselves up. She felt her strength return. Even her magic was restored.
They'd defeated the boss and were one step closer to being free.
Sorry it took so long! For a while I just lacked the drive to write, but there was also one other major road block: another writing project. I won't go into the details, but it ended up being really long and out of control, so I decided to stop writing it and turn my attention to this and a few other things.
There's also the matter of the Pokemon fic that I wrote. Long story short, I was watching the anime and really wanted to write a fanfic about it because I'm a nerd like that.
Anyway, I have a job now, but I doubt that it will interfere with my irregular writing schedule seeing as, well, it's irregular anyway.
Also, I've started up a Discord! Anyone can join. Essentially, this is where y'all can kick me in the butt to get me writing when I'm being lazy or whatever.
/BBt9GB8