Chapter 12: The Return Of The Prince
Haggar and Sakura had barely returned to their quarters on planet Galra when a guard arrived to summon them to the throne room, much to Sakura's chagrin. The familiars immediately made themselves scarce, giving the young apprentice a twinge of envy. When they got there, they found Zarkon surprisingly calm, though his face denoted annoyance.
"And where, pray tell, did you two go?" he asked.
"To Arus, to make another attempt at turning the tide, sire," Haggar admitted first. "Though unfortunately it didn't go as I had hoped. Wretched little mice."
"Mice?" Zarkon batted an eye. "What mice?"
"A family of four living in their castle, my King," Sakura explained. "We managed to catch relatives of the Princess to disguise ourselves as and successfully infiltrated. At least for a couple of brief hours, anyway."
"And these 'mice' screwed things up for you?" Zarkon's eye had yet to lower. Haggar began to sweat a little, realizing she had allowed an arguably minor pet peeve to derail an otherwise near foolproof strategy.
"Actually, it was our familiars that gave us away. . .wait, why were they in the castle? I thought we left them with the captives?" Sakura suddenly blinked as she remembered her earlier quandary.
"I summoned mine to dispose of the wretched cheese guzzlers after they startled me in the middle of an attempt on Allura's life," Haggar explained. "I have no idea why yours was there, too."
"Knowing Spinner, giving in to his curiosity," Sakura admitted. "Still, if they'd stayed away we might have managed to do more." Haggar simply grimaced at the thought, not wanting to admit her heir had been more level-headed than she.
"And what, do tell, did your familiars do that 'gave you away'?" Zarkon asked, an alarmingly amused smile creeping onto the King's face.
"They were spotted while inside the castle, and then caught, sire," Sakura admitted. "I apologize, and they, or at least mine, will be punished accordingly later. Promise."
"I do hope there's at least one decent, loud scream involved, little witch," Zarkon said. "Now, did you manage any damage, or at least learn anything new?"
"I'm afraid not, sire," Haggar slumped slightly. "My deepest apologies."
"Well, nothing we didn't already know about the lions," Sakura stated. "I tried to learn where Green, Yellow, and Red were hidden, but apparently that's classified even from visiting royalty. Other than a somewhat decent idea of the castle's floor plans, all I can really add is that the main control center of the place is on the top floor. Sorry I couldn't get more." Zarkon thought quietly for a bit, then waved his hand dismissively.
"It's fine, little witch, if I were them I'd have done the same," Zarkon said. "I imagine you used your best wiles to get what you could without coming off as suspicious or setting off their mental alarms too soon. Your general inexperience in such feats can account for the rest. At least one of you tried to learn something new."
"Thank you, my King!" Sakura bowed, feeling surprisingly proud of herself.
"Now, then, Yurak is putting together another assault force to rain hell on Arus, and you two will be staying here," Zarkon declared.
"Sire?" the two witches asked in unison.
"The bi-annual meeting of the Governor Generals is in the next few days, I require both your attendance," Zarkon explained before they could ask further, and they nodded in acceptance.
Yurak's plan was along simpler lines this time, taking a fast attack force to Arus to run a quick recognizance of enemy movements, and then make a quick sweeping barrage, hopefully catching the opponent off guard. Though he hoped to finally smash the Castle of Lions from existence, truthfully he'd be happy just to successfully render significant damage to it. And if he could also manage to destroy or at least massively to utterly disable one or more of the lions, that'd be good too.
As he entered the Arusian atmosphere on approach, he noted that luck seemed to be in his favor for once, as the area which they moved through to reach the Castle was stormy, the weather severe enough to assist in masking their arrival. Unfortunately, it also masked something else. Sadly for Yurak, the Castle's sensors successfully detected his fleet's approach pattern long before it even dropped out of orbit, quickly determined which direction Yurak was coming in from, and the Voltron Force quickly flew out in their lions, picked a spot, and awaited their enemies arrival patiently.
The battle that ensued was fairly short, fierce, and brutal. At the end, several Star Cutters were destroyed and a large chunk of Yurak's command ship was blown off, the latter by a hitherto unknown yet very powerful laser weapon in the crest on Black Lion's chest. And the final insult to Yurak's pride?
Despite them taking a few minor to mild hits, the Lions never formed Voltron to fight him.
Upon arriving back on planet Galra, Yurak was told of the Governors' meeting, and was instructed to report there immediately. To him, this did not bode well; but rather than dodge the inevitable, he bravely strode to the open roof meeting hall, and presented himself to the eight Governor Generals of the Galra Empire. They each sat in a separate chair atop two raised platforms, four to each side. At the end of the platforms was a small set of stairs leading to a dais raised about a foot above the two platforms, where a throne and two chairs, one average sized and one small, waited empty.
"Governor Generals of Galra, I, Yurak, Fleet Commander of the Galra Military Forces, have returned to report on the latest engagement with Arus and the Voltron Force. I regret to report that it was no better than before, and beg forgiveness," he declared as he bowed to his knees at the front of the platforms, opposite the stairs to the dais.
"You call yourself a Commander, Yurak?!" one governor chided. "You're sloppy! You always lose to Voltron!" 'It's only been eleven battles,' Yurak thought to himself. 'And I won the first one, if only because of the robeast's timely arrival, and the then lack of Black Lion. That's hardly always.' As he watched further, the eight alien governors all seemed to be staring at him chidingly.
Just then the trumpets sounded, and Yurak could hear Haggar's cackling as she, Zarkon, and Sakura entered on the high dais of the meeting room, Zarkon taking a seat in the throne while Haggar sat in the average seat and Sakura quietly sat herself in the small one. Cova strolled in and hopped up upon his mistress's lap, while Spinner glided in to land upon his mistress's shoulder. Yurak glanced once at the young apprentice, and saw a tremble of fear in her eyes that she otherwise masked quite well. The knowledge that she was afraid did nothing for his nerves. Zarkon stared at Yurak for but a moment, before taking the floor.
"Yurak!" he stated aloud.
"Sire," Yurak bowed his head.
"This is not your first defeat at the hands of Voltron!" Zarkon declared. "You've lost many of our forces to date, nearly a thousand all told, and many of our war machines, and now you yet again dare to return to us alive?!"
"My deepest apologies, Majesty," Yurak dipped his head again. This did not sound good.
"Do you understand the King's words, Yurak?" Haggar asked. "You're a loser, and it makes his highness violently ill to lose! Therefor you must take responsibility for your disgrace and suffer the proper punishment!"
"And that punishment would be?" Yurak looked up, but suspected the answer.
"You really don't know?" Haggar grinned maliciously. "He means death!"
"No, you can't!" Yurak felt the panic begin to overtake him. "I'm a Galran Fleet Commander! I've served faithfully and loyally!"
"And you have now been relieved of that command!" Haggar exclaimed.
"What?! Sire, is this true?!" Yurak turned to his King, fear now all but overwhelming him.
"You have lost to Voltron without exception, Yurak, brought shame to me and the Empire, and you honestly believe you deserve to go on living in disgrace?!" Zarkon snapped at him. "There is no place for fools like you on Galra!"
"If I may, my King," Sakura spoke up, surprising even herself. "Would it not be a worse punishment for Yurak to simply be demoted several ranks? Or exiled from the Empire entirely, never to be allowed to return?" Zarkon glared at her.
"You dare to speak for him, little witch?!" he growled, and she shrank back immediately. "But then I suppose even abject failures can have even one supporter left to their pathetic names! Perhaps you would like to join him down there?!"
"N-no, sire," Sakura replied. "My apologies." She glanced at Yurak, a look of 'I'm sorry' in her eyes. Yurak held her no grudge. If anything, he rather appreciated the gesture on his behalf, halfhearted as it was.
"Sire, please, have mercy," he spoke up, drawing Zarkon's attention away from Sakura and back to him once more. "Allow me just one last chance, I've already considered some new options..."
"No! No mercy!" Zarkon roared, and an orange skinned alien woman behind Yurak snapped a whip at the former Commander, yanking him back sharply by the neck to land on his ass as the whip released him.
"Please, sire, forgive me..." Yurak pleaded once more, though he expected nothing from Zarkon now. Indeed, Zarkon sprang to his feet and tossed his scepter towards Yurak, who instinctively dodged right, the scepter impaling his cape and pinning it to the floor. Yurak could only look on in fear as Zarkon was handed another scepter by Haggar, taken from a hidden alcove in the throne, and the King rose it up to make another throw.
"Now, take responsibility for your failures, and die!" Zarkon cried, and started to pull back his arm for the killing throw, when the sound of approaching engines reached his, and everyone else's, ears. "What is that?" Zarkon turned to look over his shoulder in the direction of the noise. Everyone else looked in that direction as well, Yurak taking the moment to pull the scepter from his cape and toss it quietly aside as he got to his feet, already considering ways in which he could slip out, or maybe somehow grab one last reprieve. Some of the governors began muttering, forgetting Yurak and his punishment for the moment.
"Space cruiser coming in," one said as a dark blue craft became visible, a sleek single person ship with bat-like wings for atmospheric maneuvering. Seconds after it became visible over a dozen more became so, similarly colored and of varying designs.
"Were we expecting any arrivals today?" Sakura asked calmly, quietly overjoyed at the distraction from what was happening to Yurak. Haggar gazed carefully, and blinked in surprise.
"My King, your son, Prince Lotor, has returned from his conquests!" she declared.
"Lotor?!" Sakura beamed. It had been several months since Lotor had left with a personal army to conquer eight new worlds for the Empire whose systems lay beyond the neighboring Goering Nebula, and she'd been missing her comrade and Prince quite a bit. Not that this was the first time he'd left to lead such things on his own, but it had taken longer than most, the time, she realized, made more palpable by the ongoing conflict with Arus.
"Oh, joy," Spinner quipped dryly.
"Excellent!" Zarkon stated, "He's returned ahead of expectations, as can only be expected of true leadership!" Yurak now knew there was no 'slipping away' for him, as all attention was now towards the main entrance. That, and Zarkon and Haggar had moved down from the dais to stand waiting at the front of the platforms where he was, so there was simply no way now that Zarkon wouldn't notice him trying to leave. The ships quickly landed and, after several minutes of waiting, the door rose up to reveal the returned Prince. Lotor, now almost twenty-six, had filled out considerably since he had first met Haggar's young apprentice, maturity having been kind to him. His outfit was not too different from what he wore the day he and Sakura had met, save now being full sleeved with a black collar and red tassels, and white gloves. His pants were blue with dark blue boots and a dark blue kilt around his waist. He also wore a dark blue pointed helmet with silver wing like blades to either side upon his head, which he removed as he strode forward to his sire. Lotor stopped short of the King, and kneeled on one knee before him.
"Father," Lotor said, cool and collect, then rose back to his feet.
"Welcome, my beloved son," Zarkon opened his arms, and the two embraced.
"Behold what I have brought you, Father," Lotor said upon breaking the embrace, sweeping one hand to indicate the entrance, where four guards had entered carrying a large platter upon which lay eight severed heads. "The heads of the Kings of the planets I have conquered in your name. My ships are filled with the spoils of war, riches and strong new slaves."
"Well done, Lotor, I'm proud of you," Zarkon nodded happily. "The whole Empire is proud of what you have accomplished." Lotor turned back to his sire, face beaming with pride.
"Thank you, father, I. . .wait. . ." he started, then held up a hand as his face went cautious, as though realizing something belatedly. "Something's missing. Where. . ." his eyes started darting around, looking for something, then caught a rustling to his left, and so he took quick step to his right. "Ha! Got you this. . .gah!" he started to say, then jerked in pain as a small foot landed on his right foot, Sakura appearing from out of a magic shroud, face beaming in triumph.
"Victory is mine again, my Prince," she smiled joyfully, a quick chuckle following her words. The Governor Generals stared in abject shock at this.
"One of these days I'm gonna win our little contest, Witch Sakura," Lotor declared with a grin.
"And I look forward to your many future attempts, Prince Lotor," Sakura replied. The two then chuckled, Lotor briefly wrapping his free arm around her shoulders in greeting.
"Must you two do this every time Lotor returns from a conquest trip?" Zarkon arched an eye in annoyance, yet did, to the governors surprise, nothing else.
"Just until I finally win the game, Father," Lotor said back.
"So, yes, always," Sakura smiled in turn, feeling a little braver now that Lotor was here. Zarkon simply sighed in disgust.
"I must say, your technique has improved since last time," Lotor complimented her. "I actually thought you were coming from the other side."
"Yes, and your shroud was nearly perfect, my evil dear," Haggar added.
"Why, thank you. I've been practicing," Sakura gave a little bow. Lotor grinned, then turned serious, returning his attention to his parent.
"Father, I must also tell you that during my journey, distressing negative rumors have spread through space, and reached my ears," Lotor said.
"Rumors?" Zarkon's eyes widened, certain of what was coming next.
"Of the Arus Revolution, and your multiple defeats by Voltron," Lotor stated.
"Voltron!" Zarkon growled.
"Heard about that, did you?" Sakura asked nervously. She had hoped to talk about this with Lotor later, preferably away from Zarkon. Then again, she realized, if the news of Voltron's return and besting of Galra's forces had reached the desert planet Jarre, there really wasn't any good reason it wouldn't have reached Lotor's ears by his return to the home world.
"I'm afraid so, Witch Sakura," Lotor confirmed. "The rumor is spreading all across the galaxy, and is beginning to harm the Empire's reputation. The tales of these human 'space explorers' triumphs over you with but a mere robot have brought you great shame, and given our enemies hope. I am surprised that we would ever have such inefficiency against. . ."
"Enough, Lotor, say no more!" Zarkon cut him off. "Yes, our forces have been defeated, but Yurak was just about to accept responsibility for those losses with his death!"
"Yurak?" Lotor turned to look at the former Fleet Commander.
"Indeed!" Zarkon's anger began to stir once more, and Sakura shuddered, knowing what was coming next. "Yurak, my son has conquered eight whole systems, while you allowed yourself to be bested time and again! Now die!" The King rose his scepter once again to strike, but Lotor's hand suddenly shot out and caught it.
"No, Father, stay your hand," he said. "Yurak can still be of use to us."
"What?" Yurak blinked at the unexpected reprieve. Lotor wasn't known for his mercy any more than Zarkon was.
"Really?!" Sakura's eyes widened in relief and joy.
"Yes, rather than die this way, we'll have him defeat the mighty Voltron, once and for all!" Lotor declared. "I shall assist."
"My Prince?" Yurak blinked.
"You have issues with my assistance?" Lotor asked. "Remember, this is your last chance to redeem yourself."
"No, my Prince," Yurak bowed, dropping back to the floor on his hands and knees. "I will do anything, anything to prove myself worthy of Zarkon's trust! I will never forget this favor!" Zarkon and Lotor turned their attentions back to the Governor Generals.
"Governor Generals of Galra, hear me, all of you!" Zarkon declared loudly to the room. "My son, Prince Lotor, is now in direct command of all military forces in this war. His words are my orders, and he will lead us to ultimate victory against Arus and the Voltron Force!" The Governor Generals cheered this loudly. He then turned back to Lotor. "What is your plan, my son? And how does Yurak fit into it?"
"Haggar will turn him into a robeast, Father, and he shall battle the robot one-on-one, to the death!" Lotor declared.
"A robeast?!" Yurak and Sakura stared at Lotor wide eyed.
"Uh, no offense, Prince Lotor, but the current record is Voltron 12, robeasts zip!" Sakura informed her Prince. Her heart also gave a small lurch at the thought of Yurak changed into a mindless beast and thrown on Voltron's blade. "And two of them were thrown at Voltron at the same time!"
"Then Haggar will just have to put a little extra magic in it, won't she?" Lotor responded, seemingly unconcerned. "And clearly I have some interesting reports to read later."
"No," Zarkon suddenly piped up, causing everyone to look back to the King.
"What?" Lotor blinked.
"Haggar will not transform Yurak," Zarkon grinned, sending shivers down Yurak and Sakura's spines, and leaving Lotor, Haggar, and the Governor Generals momentarily confused, until Zarkon's next words left his twisted smile. "Witch Sakura shall do it, in Haggar's stead!"
"What?" they all blinked in surprise.
"But I've never. . ." Sakura started, but Zarkon cut her off.
"Haggar has taught you the mechanics of the process, has she not?" he asked, still grinning.
"Well, yes, but. . ." Sakura replied, and again Zarkon cut her off.
"Then you shall perform the transformation," Zarkon told her. "Consider it the next part of your training, as well as your punishment for daring to speak for the miserable failure!"
"She spoke for him?" Lotor batted an eye, then rubbed his chin. "Heh, of course she did, he's practically the only friend she has outside of me and Haggar."
"Worry not, my evil apprentice," Haggar said calmly. "I will watch and guide you as you transform him. As you saw before, it's not that difficult really, just a matter of dark finesse." Sakura turned to glance at Yurak, who looked up, and, to her surprise, smiled.
"Relax, Witch Sakura, I'm sure you'll do excellent work upon me," he said to her. "I submit completely to your care." Sakura trembled once more, then took a quick breath, straightening up slightly.
"Okay, it shall be done," Sakura declared, her voice having more confidence than she actually felt.
"And when you finish, you can join us for the mission to Arus," Lotor stated. "I'm sure you'll want to see the fruits of your efforts firsthand."
"Yes, my Prince," Sakura gave a small bow. She just hoped she would get it right.
Meanwhile, in the Castle of Lions, Pidge was relaxing by teaching the space mice to do tricks, mostly walking on their front legs only and doing flips. It had been a few days since Haggar and Sakura had infiltrated the castle, and the visiting royals had returned to their home just hours prior to Yurak's last attack. Thankfully, Pidge felt, the real Elena showed little interest in him outside of someone her own age to play a few games with when she wasn't spending time with Allura getting to know each other. He would count her as a friend, but little else. Not that he was currently interested in anything else, at least not yet. And now he wasn't sure if he ever would be. He finished running the mice through a triple back flip when Hunk came around the corner.
"Nice, neat trick," he complimented Pidge.
"Yeah, when it's finally peaceful again I'm gonna be their agent and get them shows all around the galaxy," Pidge said.
"You realize that might not be for awhile yet, right?" Lance came up behind Hunk. "And what kind of shows, testing mouse traps?" Platt and Chuchule scooped up their children and dashed to a nearby mouse hole at that.
"Hey, wait, he was just kidding," Pidge said to them, but the mice just turned and stuck their tongues out at the two adults before disappearing into the hole. Hunk and Lance stared after them, uncertain what had just happened. Pidge, meanwhile, humphed, and turned from them. "Was there something you two wanted?" he asked.
"Just seeing what you were doing, little buddy," Hunk replied. "You okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Pidge asked back. "The evil witch's evil apprentice just wants to kidnap me, tie me up, and do who knows what to me because, apparently, she thinks I'm cute, and somehow I suspect that some of the things she's planning aren't exactly going to include my clothes, and, oh yes, my 'best' friends have known for a few weeks and never told me!"
"I told you before, it wasn't on purpose," Lance rose his hands. "We were all recovering from Sven's loss, and you seemed to be taking it harder than the rest of us, so I thought it best to wait for awhile 'til we were all thinking a little clearer, and with all the battles since then it just. . .sort of. . .slipped through the cracks. . ."
"Yeah, we really did mean to tell you sooner," added Hunk. "Honest." Before Pidge could retort, though, the alarms went off, and they dashed off to join the rest of their team. They met up with them in the main control room, where they watched the monitor.
"Hey, Keith, what's happening?" Hunk asked their leader.
"An attack!" Keith replied, pointing to the monitor. Upon it a single small craft was swooping in, aiming towards the castle.
"It's only one ship," Coran commented in surprise, then turned to the others. "Regardless, everyone stay on guard." Everyone nodded in assent.
Lotor's personal ship flew gracefully up to the Castle of Lions, which he had to admit looked surprisingly well made considering the level of available tech he'd seen elsewhere while on approach. Once he was within a hundred feet of the castle, he put his ship into a hover just in front of the place, before the main spire in the center where an open balcony was.
"Inhabitants of the Castle of Lions, hear me! I am Crown Prince Lotor of Galra, son and heir to King Zarkon, and I have come to tell you your planet has only one chance to escape destruction!" he announced through his loudspeaker. Sakura, standing just behind him with Spinner on her shoulder, staff in hand, rolled her eyes a little.
"Want to ham it up more?" she asked drolly.
"Shut up, it's staging," Lotor hissed at her. A second later the Voltron Force came out onto the balcony to see them firsthand. They stood from right to left in the order of Hunk, Lance, Keith, and Pidge, and Allura came out a few seconds after, walking up to stand between Keith and Pidge. While Sakura beamed in joy, Lotor reeled back in surprise at seeing Allura.
"Hi, Pidgey!" Sakura called out to her target, moving so as to stand more to Lotor's side. "I'm back! Ready to surrender to me yet?"
"How about I get Green and shoot you and your new friend out of the sky instead?!" Pidge snapped back at her. Sakura wasn't even phased.
"I'm going to have so much fun breaking you," she grinned. Pidge just growled a little.
"Seriously, you dragged me here for this?" Spinner asked, then blinked. "Is he okay?"
"Hm?" Sakura glanced at her familiar, then back to her Prince, who was still frozen. "Lotor? Lotor? Oh, Lotor?" she said to him, then lightly bopped him on the helmet with her staff, finally causing him to snap out of it.
"Gah, what?!" Lotor blinked.
"You back with us, now?" Sakura asked with a smirk.
"Yes, absolutely fine!" Lotor snapped, then cleared his throat to regain his composure. "Tell me, who is the pretty lady?" he asked the Voltron Force. Allura bravely took a step forward.
"I am Princess Allura, heir to the Arusian throne, and I command you to leave planet Arus at once!" she declared for herself, the boys nodding in approval.
"Allura. . .she's the most beautiful woman I've seen on any planet," Lotor said to himself. "And she dares to give me orders? Beautiful or not, no one tells me what to do."
"Really?" Sakura stared at him. "Don't you have a whole room full of half naked blondes back on Galra?"
"Shut up!" Lotor hissed back at her, his eyes turning in her direction.
"If you got something to say to us, hurry up and spit it out already!" Hunk snapped at them, turning their attention back to the task at hand.
"Right, yes," Lotor cleared his voice again. "I've come with an offer to end all fighting. Is there one among you who is brave enough to fight me man-to-man?"
"Man-to-man?" Sakura arched an eye. "Are you serious?"
"I know what I'm doing," Lotor lightly growled at her.
"Oh, do you?" Spinner smirked. "Couldn't tell."
"You want to walk back to Galra?" Lotor shot an eye at the familiar. While this was playing out, the Voltron Force was having a quick private conversation of their own, though they all kept one eye on the enemies before them.
"Is he serious?" Lance whispered to his comrades.
"It's gotta be a joke," Hunk commented quietly.
"Like we're ever gonna believe him," Pidge agreed, then shouted aloud to the Prince, "Why don't you come down here, and we'll see who's toughest?!"
"Someone has a fire in them, today," Lotor observed quietly, then louder declared, "My offer is genuine. I don't think like my father does. If one of you bests me, one-on-one, Arus will be left in peace forever! I swear on the Princess's beauty that I speak the truth!"
"Oh, evil lords," Sakura moaned, covering her eyes with her free hand.
"Really laying it on thick, ain't he?" Spinner continued to smirk.
"What a snob," Lance snorted, then to Lotor loudly challenged, "Go home!"
"So, what, are the Voltron Force all cowards?" Lotor asked. "Is there none among you who is brave enough to fight me fairly?" Finally, Keith stepped forward, having had enough of this conversation.
"I'll fight him," he decided.
"What?" Lance's eyes' widened in shock, but Keith would not be deterred.
"You hear me, I accept your offer!" Keith called up to the Prince. "We'll see who's the coward!"
"And what is your name?" Lotor inquired. "I like to know who I'm besting in battle."
"Keith Kogane!" Keith announced his name bravely.
"Figures their leader would take the bait," Sakura commented, a smile returning to her lips.
"Very well," Lotor said. "Meet me in the area you call Devil's Canyon in an hour, and come alone." With that, he piloted his ship away from the castle, and flew off to the chosen battle ground. They arrived in ten minutes, and Lotor, after finding a big enough flat open spot next to the canyon's edge, landed his craft. He opened the canopy of his ship and hopped out, Sakura climbing out just enough to sit on the nose of the ship.
"So, are you ever gonna tell me, or do I have to guess?" she asked calmly.
"Tell you what?" Lotor turned, his hand resting lightly on his sword hilt.
"The real reason you decided to have me come," Sakura said. "Come on, I think we both know I don't really need to see how well my work on Yurak does against the lions first hand, your after-battle report would be telling enough. So why did you really tell me to come?"
"Honestly?" Lotor arched an eyebrow. "You looked like you could really use an escape from Father for a while, so I decided to give you one. With luck, by the time we return to Galra, Father will have completely forgotten how you tried to speak for your now sadly disgraced friend."
"You think so?" Sakura asked. "Do you think I...did a good enough job on him to beat Voltron?"
"Actually, and don't take this the wrong way, but I doubt it," Lotor admitted. "After all, you said yourself the robot's already taken apart twelve robeasts to date, and they were all no doubt expertly crafted by Haggar. I'd be honestly surprised that a rank novice at the art like you could produce something that could actually succeed where a master of it has so far failed."
"Then why go through with the plan?" she narrowed her eyes at him.
"In truth, I'm not really looking for a success this time, failure is in fact completely acceptable," Lotor admitted, to Sakura and Spinner's shock.
"What?" they stared at him.
"This is first and foremost a recognizance mission," Lotor explained. "Having been out of the loop on all this thus far, I feel it necessary to actually observe the enemy's weapon in action firsthand, to get a better idea of what it's capable of in reality rather than what is claimed in legend."
"But. . .Yurak. . ." Sakura felt a lump in her throat.
"Will be able to die with his head held high, fighting his nemesis to the last," Lotor stated. "You would prefer father slaughter him before the court, his dignity and integrity as a soldier of the Empire stripped away?"
"Well, no, but. . ." Sakura responded.
"You were hoping to save him, weren't you?" Lotor asked. "I don't blame you. To be fair, I think this a sad loss to our forces either way, and that Father is simply giving in to his impatience and using poor Yurak as a scapegoat for his anger. Consider yourself lucky he isn't using you as well." Sakura just glowered a little, not happy about this at all, but accepting her Prince's reasoning.
"Then why bother with the one-on-one challenge if you just want to see the combined robot in action?" Spinner inquired.
"Because I don't want them to know what I'm actually up to," Lotor replied. "And I want to get a sense of the pilots' mettle as well. After all, the machine's greatest weakness is the ones operating it."
"Yeah, we actually already tried that approach, and they just replaced the guy with your new would-be harem girl," Spinner informed him.
"Excuse me?" Lotor blinked.
"Yeah, there was a fifth guy originally, but mama Haggar and I kind of. . .well, the robeast we brought actually did most of it, we mainly just distracted him while Galcia got behind him and. . .you know," Sakura explained.
"Killed him," Lotor finished for her. "Why do you avoid the phrase?"
"I. . .I don't know," Sakura admitted. Lotor thought for a moment, rubbing his chin.
"He was your first, wasn't he?" Lotor asked. "The first kill you were ever personally involved in?" Sakura stiffened a little, then found herself sagging.
"Yes," she admitted. "And for some reason it keeps bugging me, and I don't know why."
"It was your first," Lotor said matter of factly. "Even if you yourself didn't land the death blow, you might as well have, and the first always makes an everlasting impression."
"It does?" Sakura stared at him.
"Oh, yes, because it changes you, irrevocably," Lotor told her. "Sometimes my first comes to visit me in my dreams, calling me all kinds of unflattering things."
"Really?" Sakura straightened up. "How do you handle it?"
"I push it to the back of my mind, mostly," Lotor explained. "It helps not to give it any more weight than it is worth, and to remind yourself that it was but the first of many righteous kills you have made and will make for the glory and longevity of the Galra Empire." He noted her face remained a little uncertain, so he quickly added, "Occasional dream suppressants can help you get through the early days as well, I can guarantee that one. Just don't overdo it, I've heard more than a few unpleasant stories." Just then they heard a horse whinnying and turned to see the Voltron Force's leader riding up from the other side of the gorge. Fortunately, the place where they landed was at a narrow part of the canyon, narrow enough that Keith was able to easily jump it on his horse without incident. Lotor turned himself to face his opponent directly as the human dismounted his steed.
"So, you've come," Lotor stated to him.
"Has it been an hour already?" Sakura blinked, honestly curious.
"I decided to be fashionably early," Keith said. "Now, how are we doing this?"
"We fight with swords," Lotor declared, drawing his out. "May the best man win!" Keith pulled out a sword of his own from a sheath tied to his horse's saddle, then the two charged at each other, their swords clashing together when they met. Sakura and Spinner watched, the girl somewhat transfixed, as the fight unfolded. The blades clanged back and forth, then Keith leapt over Lotor's head to dodge a blow. Lotor quickly turned and swung, but Keith deftly blocked it. They continued to swing and block each other, the two circling and Lotor pushing Keith backwards until he found himself unluckily at the canyon's edge.
"He's gotten better," Sakura observed. "That fool's done for, for sure!"
"I don't know," Spinner commented. "The human's held his own surprisingly well so far."
"Please, Lotor's got this!" Sakura smiled in delight and triumph. Lotor was also confident that he had the human Captain right where he wanted him, and prepared his next strike, a smile on his lips.
"Now, down you go. Enjoy the trip," he quipped, and thrust his blade - only for Keith to deflect it and then swing upward hard enough to send the blade spinning right out of Lotor's hand! Keith then followed up by backhanding Lotor with the flat of the sword, sending the already off balance Prince to one knee, where Lotor quickly grabbed a rock.
"WHAA!" Sakura's eyes went wide in surprise at the unexpected turn in the fight. Spinner also stared in surprise.
"Did I say holding his own?" he said, a note of shock in his voice. "I think I meant, 'doing better than anticipated'." Lotor slowly rose to his feet, Keith holding his sword on him, but not striking.
"Well, it seems we're evenly matched," Lotor admitted.
"Oh, yeah?" Keith replied. "Don't suppose you could answer a burning question before you go?"
"And what's that?" Lotor eyed his opponent carefully.
"What did Haggar do to her?" Keith asked calmly, and Lotor arched on eye.
"Come again?" he said, not even trying to hide the surprise in his voice.
"To Sakura," Keith clarified. "She must have done something to her to turn her over to your side." Lotor couldn't help the smirk that filled his face. He knew his answer would get a priceless reaction from the human, and give him his opening.
"I believe it's called nurture," he told the simple truth, and Keith's eyes widened in shock, the man drawing back.
"What?!" he breathed, and then lost consciousness when the stone in Lotor's hand proceeded to impact into the side of his head, sending him backwards into the canyon. Fortunately, where they were it wasn't a deep drop, as they were over a nice slant along the ground leading downward, but unfortunately, at least for Keith, it was still a solid smack into the ground after a fifteen foot fall, followed by a forty foot unforgiving slide across stone and dirt to the bottom. Keith's horse, which was waiting the whole time nearby, albeit agitatedly, whinnied loudly, raising up on its hind legs, and then took off, galloping over to a nearby crop of trees.
"Ah, yes, we are evenly matched," Lotor called after him. "Except when it comes to brains! Thank you for falling into my trap, and leaving your team split apart! I'll make sure to give them your regards before I send them to join you in the afterlife!" He then turned and walked back to his young observer, retrieving his blade as he went.
"Um, well done, my Prince," Spinner dipped his head at Lotor's approach. Sakura just stared at the spot where Keith had stood a moment before, before finally looking up at Lotor.
"That...was not how I pictured that fight going," she admitted.
"Me neither, but it works," Lotor replied, sheathing his sword. "So, how long should we have to wait before the others come looking for him?"
"Knowing them. . .about ten, maybe fifteen minutes," Sakura estimated, and Lotor nodded. "Is he. . .dead?" Lotor stared for only a moment, then smirked.
"Maybe, but I doubt it," he admitted. "I wasn't able to land as hard a blow as I'd have liked, definitely not one I can say is beyond any doubt lethal. But that drop didn't do him any favors, and if he has survived and manages to get back to the castle, he may just be out of commission for a while, regardless." Sakura thought about this a moment, then nodded.
"Right, sucks to be him then," she said. "Can I ask a favor, Lotor?"
"Of course, what is it?" Lotor replied.
"When the others do come in their lions, could we maybe...not kill the pilot of the green one?" she asked, her cheeks unconsciously blushing.
"Oh?" Lotor's eye arched in amusement. "And why would you want that?"
"Because it's piloted by the little human you saw earlier, the one about her age," Spinner told him. "She likes him." At that, Sakura stiffened up in shock.
"Oh, my evil gods," Lotor slapped a hand over his chest. "Has Witch Sakura actually gotten interested in. . .boys?! I didn't think it was possible." Sakura began to growl, now feeling only embarrassment.
"Nah, just the one," Spinner stated. "For now, at least." Sakura finally exploded.
"ENOUGH!" she screamed. "Just stop talking, both of you!" Spinner glanced at his mistress with wide eyes, while Lotor started to chuckle merrily. "You know I can zap you into a bug, right?" she glared at him.
"And what would you be planning to tell my father afterwards?" Lotor asked her back, causing Sakura to momentarily reflexively flinch.
"I hate you," she hissed at Lotor.
"My heart bleeds," Lotor replied, then added, "Oh, wait, I forgot, I don't have one." A moment later a sound went off in the ship's cockpit, and Spinner lifted off of Sakura's shoulder and flitted over to glance at that ship's console.
"Whoops, guess they got impatient," he reported. "Four big robot lions arriving in about three minutes, everybody."
"Nobody likes to be punctual anymore," Sakura quipped as she jumped to her feet. Lotor leapt up onto the ship beside her and rose a fist to the sky.
"Yurak, now is the time to redeem yourself!" he cried out. "Emerge and become a giant, and show them your final power! Destroy the Voltron Force!" With that, the rear of the ship opened, a pod was ejected, and an infra energize beam irradiated it. A moment later, it tore open, and Yurak emerged, enlarging to the size of a colossus. Aside of his size, he seemed little altered from his normal self. He breathed in, glanced around, and then pointed the fingers on one hand towards the oncoming lions and fired lasers from them. The blast hit the ground, causing a small explosion, the lions barely dodging it in time. Meanwhile, Lotor, Sakura, and Spinner reentered their ship and launched back into the sky.
"Best not to risk becoming collateral damage, I think," Lotor commented as he pulled them slightly back from the commencing battle. The lions quickly regrouped and paused at the sight of the newly transformed Yurak.
"Whoa, is that Yurak?!" Hunk asked in surprise.
"He's been turned into a robeast, and an ugly one at that," Lance stated.
"He always was ugly," Pidge added.
"I'll take your word for it," Allura stated. "Either way, he's gonna be big trouble for us."
A panel slid open in Yurak's chest, and a bomb was ejected that he caught with one hand and threw at the lions as hard and fast as he could, the explosive hitting the ground in the middle of the lions and exploding before any of them could dodge. The four went flying in separate directions, and while the others managed to land more or less gracefully, Blue bounced on the ground and then wound up with its head briefly buried. It pulled itself out quickly and turned to the group.
"I'm gonna go find Keith, if he's still alive," Allura decided. "Think you guys can handle things here until I get back?"
"No problem, Princess," Lance said. "We got this, but hurry!"
"Good luck!" Hunk called after her.
Blue broke from the group and dashed for the canyon as the other three engaged with Yurak. Unfortunately, from their vantage point, Lotor and Sakura noticed where the blue lion was headed, and held no doubt as to why.
"I think it's time we made sure that Keith isn't coming out of there alive," Lotor commented. "Before that lion reaches him."
"Right," Sakura nodded. Lotor flew his ship over to the canyon quickly, and quickly spotted the splotch of red sticking out of the expanse of brown. And to their surprise and shock, Keith actually started moving, stiffly to his feet.
"Resilient, isn't he?" Spinner noted, and Sakura merely nodded her head in agreement.
"Not for long," Lotor said, and fired a laser built into the nose of his ship. But as luck would have it, Keith stumbled to the side just as it fired, and the shot missed by a narrow margin. Lotor paid it no mind and quickly lined up another shot. Luck could only save someone so many times, after all. But before he could fire, a pair of missiles sailed right by his ship, just missing them and slamming, relatively harmlessly, into the canyon wall beyond.
"What?!" the two turned, and to their chagrin, saw blue lion below at the canyon's edge, a large, boxy missile launcher attached to it's left shoulder.
"Uh, oh, she's here," Sakura quipped, catching Lotor's attention.
"She? You mean the Princess pilots that lion?" He asked in honest surprise. Before Sakura could answer, though, the lion fired another salvo, and Lotor was forced to pull his ship back to avoid getting hit, Sakura raising her staff and using her magic to slightly push the missiles away from them as well. "Crap, crap, crap," Lotor utter through his teeth.
While they were steadying themselves, blue turned to Keith, Allura's voice coming from a loudspeaker.
"Keith, are you okay?" she called.
"Yeah, mostly...ish," Keith replied.
"Then hurry back to the castle and get the black lion! We need you, ASAP!" Allura instructed, then turned back to Lotor's ship, which was circling around for another pass. She fired another round at him, forcing him to swerve off again, and Keith gave a sharp whistle, his horse dashing out of its hiding place and quickly trotting down into the canyon to its rider. Keith quickly hopped on and started riding hard to get out of the canyon and back to the castle, while Allura fired yet another round to again swerve off Lotor's approaching ship.
"Determined, isn't she?" Lotor commented, a hint of respect in his voice.
"I was thinking stubborn," Sakura replied. "If she'd stop shooting every time we got close I could ensnare the lion in my magic, and take it out of commission for the fight." A moment later, the lion turned and dashed back to its three fellows, rejoining the battle with the robeast Yurak in earnest, firing another round of missiles at Yurak as it went. For a second, Lotor thought he'd gained an opening to fire upon the Voltron Force's leader freely, only to then notice that Keith had already ridden into the cover of the nearby forest trees, giving no line of sight on his would-be target.
"Damn," Lotor swore, then turned his attention back to the battle at hand.
"Maybe Yurak will take out one of the lions before he gets back?" Spinner suggested.
"Maybe," Sakura replied, a small note of hope entering her voice.
"Only one way to find out," Lotor commented. Yurak attempted to stomp his foot down, hard, on red lion, but it just barely dodged out of the way and it and the other lions all fell back a step.
"That's right, Voltron Force! You've reached the end, and now the Great Yurak will finally destroy you!" Yurak declared loudly. Blue's loudspeakers kicked on again, and Allura's voice could be heard once more.
"You'll have to defeat each one of us before this over, Yurak!" she declared back at him. "We'll stop your rampage, no matter what it takes!"
"Oh, really?" Yurak sneered, then fired his finger lasers again, forcing the lions to jump away to avoid them. Then Yurak thrust out both arms, panels opening on both to reveal missile launchers that he fired. Again, the lions barely dodged out of the way, and in that moment, Yurak's belt buckle opened and a series of chains fired out and snared the four lions, blue by the neck, red and yellow by the middle, and green by the foreleg. Yurak quickly detached the chains from his belt, and swung them in his hands, forcing the lions to lift into the air and be twirled like a lasso.
"Now I'll show you just how you humiliated me, and avenge all of my defeats at your hands!" Yurak roared. "I'll crush you by my own power, and send you to the depths of hell! And then I will regain my command, and become a glorious hero of Galra!" He released the lions, allowing them to smash back into the ground, red and blue falling into the nearby canyon crevasse.
"Did you give him enough weapons, Sakura?" Lotor asked, a wry smile on his lips.
"I may have gone a little overboard," Sakura admitted, a little blush on her cheeks.
"A little?" Spinner arched an eye. Before she could reply to that, though, Yurak called out again as he stood over the felled lions.
"Now, which will I crush first?" he pondered. "Not you, green, I will spare your pilot, but only so that I may enjoy watching whatever torments Witch Sakura intends to inflict upon you as she explores her new budding desires!" Sakura blushed furiously while Lotor laughed aloud and Spinner snickered into his paw. Suddenly Yurak gave a yelp of surprise and fell forward to the ground as something rammed into him from behind. And not just any something.
Black Lion!
Black quickly dashed over to its compatriots, red and blue pulling themselves out of the canyon, and as Yurak pushed himself to his feet the lions launched into the air and combined, forming Voltron yet again. Lotor, upon actually seeing the robot for the first time, was honestly impressed.
"So that's what it looks like," he mused. "I have to say, it's pretty nice craftsmanship. You have to give whoever the creator was credit."
"Sakura, are you okay?" Spinner batted a worried eye at his mistress, causing Lotor to do the same. Sakura, however, could only look on in fearful dread.
"No, no, no, no," she muttered, her hand held shaking over her chin in a fist. Yurak, meanwhile, glanced to his opponent, felt a moment of fear, and then took a breath and glared fiercely at the robot.
"So be it," he said. "We finish this feud now, one way or the other." He marshaled his energy, and fired a laser blast from the tips of his ears towards Voltron's head, but Voltron merely rose an arm and blocked it.
"Huh, you really went all out, didn't you?" Lotor observed. But then Voltron formed his Spinning Laser Disc in his hand and tossed it, all but cleaving Yurak's ears right off. "Ouch!" Lotor's eyes widened at that, and Sakura felt her blood begin to chill in panic. Voltron then followed up with a laser blast from the green lion head, a flamethrower like blast from the red lion head, and then missile shots from both feet, all briefly forcing Yurak on the defensive. But Yurak wasn't done yet, and fired another volley from his fingers, momentarily pausing the giant robot. Voltron then came back, something leaping from his back and into his hands and then shifting into a twelve foot double bladed javelin that Voltron then tossed, the weapon going straight through Yurak's abdomen, taking the wind out of him. Voltron apparently decided then that he was done with this fight and brought out the blazing sword, slicing Yurak in half vertically before he had a chance to recover from the last blow. Yurak fell backwards to the ground, one hand grasping slightly before his life ceased and he exploded into nothing.
"NO!" Sakura yelled in dismay, tears reaching her eyes. Spinner was uncharacteristically quiet, not knowing what he could possibly say to his mistress that could help at this moment. Lotor, on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted to say, hitting his ship's speakers.
"Well done, Voltron Force, the robot truly lives up to his reputation," he stated calmly, almost cheerfully as Voltron turned to look in their direction. "I look forward to meeting the challenge of defeating it. Until our next engagement." And with that, he turned his ship and made for space, post haste, breaking through the atmosphere quickly and aiming back to Galra. Once they were clear and there was no sign of Voltron following, he turned to his young companion, who looked devastated at the battle's result, placing one hand on her shoulder.
"Remember, Sakura, he kept his dignity," Lotor reminded her. "He couldn't have asked for a better way to meet the end." Sakura just looked at him a moment, then nodded, her face taking on a look of determination.
Meanwhile, Voltron had separated and the lions returned to their hiding places, the pilots coming back to the castle, and Keith being taken straight to the infirmary to have his wounds checked.
"I don't suppose you actually gained anything useful from trying to play the bad guy's game, did you?" Lance asked his leader, an annoyed look on his face. He was leaning against the wall while Hunk stood nearby, Allura was perched on the edge of a nearby counter, and Pidge had decided to slump himself over the back of a chair.
"Yeah, two things," Keith replied while the doctors went over him. "One, Lotor cheats. I know, duh. And two, if he's to be believed, what the old witch did to get Sakura to be her apprentice."
"Oh, and what was it, candy and dollies?" Allura asked, half sarcastic.
"He said it was. . .nurture," Keith answered, and the rest just stared a moment.
"What?!" they all blinked.
"But if that's true, then. . .for how long?" Hunk asked.
"From the looks of things, more than long enough," Allura stated.
And so the fall of Yurak and the rise of Lotor ends. I'll be honest, I actually considered having Sakura pull some sort of "fast one" switch out and thus have Yurak survive but go into hiding, but I just couldn't figure out how to do it without it being a hopeless cop out that smashed credulity into pieces against the floor. It was also suggested that maybe Yurak and Sakura should talk about Sven's death and Sakura's hand in it, but by the time I got the suggestion I was already writing the Orla chapter, and for the life of me I couldn't think of a way to squeeze it into chapter 8 or 9 without messing up the pacing thereof, but here I saw a golden opening for such a conversation, and simply handed it off to Lotor instead as a means to develop his current relationship with her. I know it's not what you originally had in mind, Thomas, but I hope it works for you. Better late than never, right?
It was also suggested that Haggar allow Sakura to be the one to transform Yurak rather than Haggar doing it herself. I actually rather liked the idea, though obviously I gave it my own twist in the end.
About the only "continuity blip" this ep. had was Toei reusing the footage of Lotor's approach to Galra/Doom for his approach to Altea/Arus, and forgetting the scene had two other ships in frame behind him that effectively disappear afterward. As you saw above, rather than worry about it, I just skipped to his arrival at the Castle of Lions. Another thing that got me was Lotor/Sincline acting at the end like this wasn't his first loss to Voltron/Golion, even though this was literally his first try at it. So I tweaked his thoughts on everything a little along with his overall plan here and reaction to the ultimate results thereof.
And under the heading of "truly bizarre editing choices", WEP actually cut out Voltron pulling out the double bladed spear/javelin and tossing it through Yurak's stomach, instead jumping straight to forming the Blazing Sword. Made truly bizarre by the fact that they left the huge gaping hole through Yurak's gut that the weapon made in him in his final closeup shots! Weird.
Oh, well, enough rambling. Next the stalking begins...and I think I'll be zip-squealing through a couple of eps. at once again just to get to the next real story point faster, namely planet Pollux. Until then.
