"Stop that ship!" Lotor yelled. "Fire! FIRE!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll end up killing her."
Lotor spun around at the voice. Spying Keith, his eyes narrowed. "What does it take to kill you Voltron Force?" He growled pulling out his laser sword.
"A lot more than you think Lotor." Keith warily circled the Prince, his gun held at the ready. He nodded towards the robots. "Get rid of them. This is between you and me." He smiled a nasty smile at Lotor. "Or are you afraid?"
Lotor bared his teeth, then slashed at the two robots next to him, deftly cutting them in half. "Afraid? Of you?" He laughed evilly and lunged toward Keith. Keith leapt out of the way. Lotor grabbed a sword off one of the robots and threw it to Keith. "Here, defend yourself while you can!"
Keith caught the sword with his good hand, and barely countered Lotor's attack. He quickly back peddled to get out of the way. Sensing nothing but wall behind him, Keith let Lotor get close. As the evil prince slashed, Keith dropped to the ground and rolled away, coming to his feet behind Lotor. Before Lotor could react, Keith attacked with a parry of his own, managing to slice Lotor's arm. Lotor yelled in fury, advancing on Keith. The battle was on.
Outside, Lance was having trouble avoiding the robot attack ships. He tried desperately to figure out the alien controls. "Come on dammit! These things are flown by machines!" He grunted as the ship was hit by another blast.
"L-Lance…?"
Lance whirled around. The Princess was waking up. She held a hand to the cut on her head, and her blue eyes looked confused. "Princess! Are you all ri—?" He was cut short by another blast.
Allura's eyes focused. She looked around. "Where are we? Where's Keith!"
"He's fine! If you're able, I could use some help up here!" Lance gestured to the co-pilot's seat. "Grab the weapon controls and fire at anything that comes near us."
She sat down and looked out the view screen. "How did we get out here?" She asked as she fired volleys at the approaching enemy ships.
Lance brought the ship into a dive. "I grabbed you after you were knocked out by the explosion. This was the closest ship. It'll get us home if we mange to live through this!" He told her.
"But? Where is Keith?" Allura's heart pounded. "Lance, answer me."
Lance sighed. "He stayed back there to cover our escape. He'll be right behind us soon, I'm sure."
"You're a terrible liar Lance, where is he?"
Lance took a deep breath. He glanced at Allura. Her blue eyes were large and scared looking. "He stayed behind to get Lotor."
"He WHAT!"
"I know, I tired to stop him, but they opened fire on us, and next thing I knew he was running away from the ship. I had to take off or we'd all be dead!"
"I know that! Don't you think its killing me!" Lance shouted back. "Now help me finish these guys off so we can go back and get him!" Allura and Lance stared at each other for a moment. A blast hit the ship, knocking it sideways. Allura snapped into motion. She fired at the enemy ships, blowing three up. "Thatta girl. We will go back for him. He'll be fine." Lance told her.
Allura smiled a nasty smile. "Only until I get a hold of him."
Lance grinned. His best friend was going to get it.
Keith and Lotor circled each other. Both room and combatants were showing signs of strain. The walls and computer consoles were scored with slash marks. Lotor had many nicks and cuts, and a particularly nasty gash along his arm. Keith was no better. His left arm hung limply by his side, and he too was covered in cuts. He gulped down oxygen, and shook away the blackness threatening to cover his vision. "You're weak Keith. I can kill you whenever I want to." Lotor taunted.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Keith hissed back.
Lotor lunged, almost skewering Keith. "Not yet Captain. I need to keep you alive until I get the Princess back in my clutches." He jumped back as Keith got too close.
"Bastard! Leave her alone!"
Lotor laughed. "But how much fun will it be when I capture her again, and show her you, her dearest love, being tortured. She'll do anything I say to spare you."
Something inside Keith snapped. With a roar, he lunged himself at Lotor. Lotor tried to get his sword up in time, but he was too late. Keith drove his sword through Lotor's chest until the point came out the other side. For a moment they stood staring at each other, then Lotor's eyes rolled up in his head and he went limp. Keith stood there, panting to catch his breath. What have I done? He knelt to see if Lotor was still alive. There was a pulse. Weak, but steady. Keith sighed and got to his feet. Before he could move, a blast hit him from behind. He screamed in pain and smashed against the wall.
"You'll pay for killing my Prince, Voltron Captain." Haggar cackled. She fired another bolt from her staff, this time catching Keith in the leg. He fell to the floor, and lay there, trying to stay conscious. Haggar loomed over him. "Good-bye Captain." Before she could act, Keith managed to reach the knife strapped to his ankle. He flung it at the witch. She screamed and Keith closed his eyes as the room grew bright. When he opened them again, Hagar was gone, dissipated into energy.
Keith took a few deep breaths, then tried to get to his feet. He made it on the third try. Panting, he looked around for another ambush. The room was quiet. Keith glanced over at his opponent. Lotor's eyes flickered.
Keith limped over, his gun held out in front of him. "Lotor." Lotor looked up at him, hatred clearly showing in his eyes. "This is your last warning. Touch the Princess or her people again, and you deal with me. Not Voltron, not the Alliance, me, Keith Alexander Montgomery, do you understand?" Lotor nodded, just slightly. Without another word, Keith turned and headed out the door.
Lotor smiled evilly. He forced himself to his feet, blood covering him. He staggered over to the control panel and punched in the self destruct codes. Then he collapsed in a heap on the floor.
"Lance! There are too many of them!" Allura cried.
"We haven't got this far to give up now Princess!" He told her. A ship came careening towards them. It blew into a million pieces just before it would have hit them. "Good shooting Princess."
"Lance! That wasn't me!" She said, puzzled.
"What the hell?" Lance looked around franticly.
"Need a hand son?" The Admiral's voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Dad! What are you doing out here! Hell yes! We could use all the help you have!" Lance grinned at Allura.
A few more ships blew up in front of them. "Though I don't know why I should. Since you're on you're way to Earth and all." The Admiral said.
"Earth?" Allura questioned.
"Long story…." Lance muttered. "Dad! Wait! Don't hit the command ship! Keith's still on that thing!"
"What? What's he doing? Do you have the Princess?"
"Yes Sir! He's on some hair-brained scheme to stop Lotor once and for all! Keep the Fleet away from that ship!" Lance ordered.
"All right, let's get you two up here. Stand by for tractor beam." Suddenly their ship was caught in a blue-green light. The controls went dead, and the ship was dragged into the main destroyer. The Admiral was waiting when they emerged.
Lance limped down the ramp, clutching his side. "Dad!"
His father rushed over and hugged him. "Thought I lost you son." The Admiral said gruffly, ruffling Lance's hair.
"No such luck Dad. I'm a Harrison." Lance grinned.
Allura came down the ramp. "Admiral Harrison! We have to go back there and get Keith!" She was desperate.
The Admiral put his arm around her. "We will Highness, we will. First let's get the two of you to sick bay.
"Lotor will kill him!" She cried. A med-tech took her by the arm, and led her to sick bay.
Harrison looked askance at his son. "Shadow?" he questioned quietly.
Lance rolled his eyes. "Did EVERYONE know but me? Yes, he's got one hell of an attitude, and all decked out with weird guns and ammo." Lance muttered.
The Admiral sighed in relief. "He'll be all right then. He's trained to never leave an enemy behind in a position to do more damage."
Lance shook his head. "He was hurt pretty bad Dad. The explosion broke his shoulder. He said he was fine, but you could see it in his eyes." Lance was worried. "I shouldn't have left him." He started to follow after Allura, but his bad leg finally gave out under him.
The Admiral grabbed him before he could fall. "Easy Lance, we'll find him."
Keith made his way to the hanger bay. It was empty. All the ships had been launched. Damn! He paused trying to catch his breath. Pain was streaking down his shoulder and back. His legs kept wobbling and were threatening to give out on him. He remembered the ship he and Lance came in on. It should still be in the cargo bay. Without hesitation, he headed down the hallway. Darkness was crowding his vision. Keith fell once, hitting his shoulder again, as he crashed to the ground. Almost there… He staggered to his feet and kept heading towards the cargo bay. Twice he had to shoot robots out of his way. He got to the cargo bay, and spied the ship. Robot guards surrounded it. Keith's aimed his laser. He crept closer, trying to get a better shot with his shaking hands.
"The self-destruct sequence has been activated. Less than five minutes remain before critical mass." A robot said.
"The Human will never get out alive." Its counterpart replied.
Shit! Self-destruct. Damn Lotor! Keith fired and destroyed the two robots and rushed towards his ship. He strapped himself in and fired the engines. Nothing happened. "Come on!" Keith pushed the buttons again. Still nothing. "Dammit!" He tried once more, pounding on the console. This time the engines caught. Keith set the thrusters on full, and turned towards the door.
"Sir! We are picking up a huge energy flux coming from the command ship!" A soldier called out to Admiral Harrison.
"What kind of flux?" Harrison asked.
"Unknown sir."
"Keep an eye on it." He turned to Lance. "You should be in sick-bay."
Lance shook his head, "Not until I know Keith is out of there."
The Admiral scowled. "Together you two are a real pain in the ass."
Lance grinned. "But you love us anyway."
"Sir!" The soldier called out again. "Picking up a communication."
Lance and the Admiral spoke at once. "On speaker!"
The soldier pushed a few buttons. Keith's voice rang out across the bridge. "Lance? Lance can you hear me?"
"Keith!" Lance grabbed the microphone, "Loud and clear Captain. The Fleet came to play, so get the hell outa there and join us."
There was a pause. "The Fleet? Get them out of here! Lotor set the self-destruct! Get out now!" Keith yelled.
"You heard him! Turn us around!" The Admiral ordered.
"Keith, where are you?" Lance asked.
Keith franticly tried to get the doors open to the cargo bay. He'd already checked the hole they came in by, but steel supports had fallen and blocked it. There wasn't enough space for him to blow through the walls, so the doors were his only hope. "I'm still inside. Doors are stuck. I'm going to try blasting them open." He fired off a missile volley. The doors bent, but didn't open.
"Keith? Did it work?" Asked Lance.
"Nope, still trying." A huge explosion rocked the ship. I'm not going to make it!
He fired again, this time, the missile burst through the heavy steel.
"We're picking up explosions sir!" The soldier reported.
They all stood watching out the view screen. Allura walked in. "What's going on?" She asked.
"Keith! Get out of there! It's going to blow!" Lance yelled over the mic.
"Tell me something I don't know!" Keith muttered. He headed towards the door opening. "Lance! Tell Allura I—" His words were cut off as the ship exploded and fire erupted all around him. The heat was intense, but only for a moment, then all went black.
On the command ship, all watched as Lotor's ship exploded in a fiery mass.
"KEITH!" Lance yelled.
"No!" Allura screamed. She fell into the arms of the Admiral, sobbing.
The bridge was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard came from Allura's weeping. Lance stood, unbelieving, watching the ship burn it's self out. Finally, he collapsed to the control panel, his head on his arms, his body shaking.
The Admiral stood holding the Princess, tears streaming down his cheeks. Good-bye my son. He sighed. "All right people, there's nothing else we can do here. Let's head back to Arus."