Chapter 15: Into The Hidden Castle
Not long after abandoning Pollux, the Galran escape vessel was intercepted by a waiting cruiser, and Lotor had Mogor haul Romelle to the ship's brig, deciding he would have to deal with her later. In the meantime, Haggar gently shook Sakura awake, telling her they were switching ships for the rest of the trip back to Galra. The girl nodded, still half asleep, and scooped up the still slumbering Spinner, carrying him as they went onboard the cruiser and up to the command deck, where she plopped down in an open seat near the main command chair, and almost instantly fell back to sleep. Lotor paid it no mind, simply giving orders to return to Galra immediately. Haggar watched her pupil briefly, then turned her attention back to Lotor.
"So, my Prince," she said. "How do you intend to report all this to your father?"
"Carefully," Lotor stated. "The one thing in our favor is that he suspected that fool Heracles was planning to back-stab us from the start. Everything else, though. . ."
"Indeed, instead of a subjugated Pollux and the royal family now our puppets, they are still free, and by now have most probably signed a peace accord with Arus, just as the Voltron Force no doubt hoped to achieve by coming to Pollux in the first place," Haggar elucidated.
"Yes, the irony is not lost on me," Lotor frowned. "The hell with it, just get Father on the line, I'll get the yelling over with from here. Then he can use the rest of the time it takes for us to get back to calm down about it." The coms officer nodded, a slight nervousness in his eyes, then proceeded to attempt to make contact with Galra. After a few minutes, he turned back to the Prince.
"Uh, my Prince, your father's line seems to be. . .busy. . ." he reported.
"Busy?" Lotor arched an eyebrow, then his face went into full panic mode. "Oh, no. . ."
"Let us know the moment it becomes available again," Haggar instructed, and the officer nodded and returned his attention to his post. With no other ideas, Lotor went to the command chair and sat down, glancing briefly at the slumbering Sakura.
'A quick rest isn't a bad idea,' he thought, and let his own eyes droop shut for a little bit.
Sakura yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes to find herself back in her own room, lying in her own bed. It took her a minute to remember what had happened on Pollux, and that afterward all her energy had left her in a flash almost as soon as she'd flopped down into the escape vessel's command chair. She also thought she recalled moving to another ship, or had she just dreamed that part? She shook off her ponderings as she undressed and took a quick shower, then got into a clean set of clothes. Afterwards, she collected her staff, noted that Spinner was still fast asleep on his pillow that sat beside her bed, and left the room. Emerging into the shared lab, she noted that Haggar was not there, and glanced at the clock on the wall to see what the time was. The sight made her heart leap in panic.
It was almost noon! She'd way overslept!
She dashed into the hall and quickly aimed for the throne room, figuring Zarkon, Lotor, and Haggar would be there, probably engrossed in some huge affair of state, hence why she hadn't been sent for yet. Sakura reached the door to the throne room, and realized to her dismay that the room was uncharacteristically silent. Swallowing, she cautiously pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside, only to find the room empty.
"What?" she blinked, now thoroughly confused. Was she still dreaming, was this a nightmare?
"Witch Sakura?" a voice asked behind her, causing her to jump slightly. She turned to see a guard, who had jumped back, presumably because of her jump causing him to fear for his life.
"Yes?" Sakura replied, attempting to appear calm and undisturbed, while inside she was still jittery and trying to force herself to calm down a little.
"If you're looking for the King and your Master, they're in the temple chamber, ma'am," he told her, not even trying to hide his current nervousness.
"The temple? What are they doing there?" she pondered aloud, and immediately took off for it. The temple chamber, where worship of the all powerful dark gods of Galra took place, was on the floor above the throne room, and was the only room up there as only the gods took a higher place than the King. She'd only been there for official ceremonies and services, so pretty much only on the dark holidays of the empire. And she was pretty sure it wasn't a holiday today, and thus there shouldn't be any official service right now. . .or had she somehow forgotten one? 'Oh, please don't let me have forgotten one!' she thought as she racked her brains for the current date and every holiday she knew.
She arrived at the grand chamber doors, and was just about to open them when they opened from the other side and Lotor stepped out, the sounds of pained moaning following him. Moaning that sounded curiously like Zarkon. Lotor stopped short upon seeing her, clearly not expecting to.
"Sakura, good morning," he said. "This is good, I need your assistance at once." With that, he grabbed her shoulder and directed her back downstairs and to the spaceport while barking orders into a hand held com device for people to meet him there. Upon arrival a new command ship was being prepped, various soldiers zipping about.
"What's going on?" she finally asked. "Why were you in the temple?"
"It's Father, he's had a heart attack," Lotor said. "It came on all at once while he was chewing me out about the Pollux failure. Not undeservedly, but still..."
"Wait, he's dead?" Sakura stared, Lotor noting a small glint of hope in her eyes. Though even as she said it, she remembered the moaning from the temple.
"I'm afraid not, but in the attack's wake he's been left very ill," Lotor replied, noting as Sakura's face fell slightly.
"So just how upset was he about Pollux?" she asked.
"Well, considering Bandor called him while we were on route home to demand his sister's immediate return and then declared war on us, not well," Lotor said. "Bandor also had the balls to demand we hand over you under the belief that we're somehow forcing you to work for us."
"Wow, I do not know what to say to that," Sakura commented dryly. "Will he live?" she decided to switch back to the subject of Zarkon.
"Haggar performed some magic prayers and soothsaying, while I had one of our doctors do a few quick tests for back up," Lotor filled her in. "And supposedly the cure that could save him requires some berries we don't have. I'm getting ready to go collect some now."
"Berries?" Sakura asked archly.
"Yes. And guess where the nearest place to get them is?" Lotor smirked. Sakura thought for a moment, then glared.
"Please don't say Arus," she said.
"Sorry, can't help you on that one," Lotor grinned.
"We're cursed, aren't we?" Sakura stated. "We pissed off one of the evil gods somehow, and now we're all cursed!" Lotor gave a wry chuckle.
"Remains to be seen," he answered, then turned his attention to an approaching red-robed alien with long white hair. "Ah, Zondra, you're here. Do you have it?" Lotor asked him.
"Yes, Highness, more than enough to meet your current needs," Zondra replied. "I'm so happy you get to use it so soon."
"And that stuff is?" Sakura eyed the swirling, off-green colored fluid in the flask Lotor took from Zondra.
"Ah, prized pupil of Witch Haggar, such a pleasure to finally meet you," Zondra glanced at her and gave a quick, curt bow. "I am Zondra, a student and researcher of the black mystical arts of Arcane Science. This extract I have provided will allow his Highness the Prince to create guard monsters from the local plants of his destination. Much quicker and more efficient than regular robeasts." Sakura frowned at that.
'One of the braver ones, I see,' she thought. Within months of Sakura being officially revealed to the court of Galra, several would-be students of Haggar came to the planet in search of her tutelage and knowledge. Haggar, however, was more than satisfied with Sakura and was not interested in others, but Zarkon had decided she should keep the wanna-bes around, if only for fresh ideas. So Haggar laid down the law – they were each given a small lab in the Arcane Science tower where Haggar primarily created the robeasts, and left to their own devices. Those who produced something useful to the empire stayed in service. Those who produced nothing were dismissed and, if lucky, might get another chance at a later date if they so sought one – provided they were still alive, of course. A few, in their desperate attempts to create something, had accidentally killed themselves in lab accidents. And anyone who devised something too dangerous to control would be immediately removed by Haggar, permanently. Which was not to say she wouldn't still look at their notes and try to figure out what went wrong and if it could be fixed.
At this point, of the several who had come, only a handful remained. It had also reached Sakura's ears that they all envied Sakura's position heavily. She couldn't help herself from pitying them for that.
Lotor just stared at the fluid a moment longer, then turned to his personal ship, signaling Sakura to come along, which she did. The flight was uneventful, and they settled down in a forested area where the scans said the berries were plentiful. While the two ships sat and waited, Lotor sprayed three trees with the formula, which transformed the previously inanimate plants into horrific monstrosities. He set them to guard duty under his constant guidance while his men, under Sakura's watchful supervision, collected the required berries. About thirty minutes in a snag appeared when Allura, Gertrude, and four maids wandered into a nearby grove to pick fruit of their own. And, to no surprise of Sakura's, Lotor immediately went off mission and tried to grab the Arusian Princess. To even less surprise, the rest of the Voltron Force were nearby and saved both her and her entourage, fought off the plant beasts, and, when Lotor had the three of them fuse together into one, the lions, which were parked in the clearing just outside the woods, formed Voltron immediately, and a short battle later Plant-Beast Treeder, as Lotor had randomly named it, was destroyed.
By then Sakura had ushered everyone else back into the main command ship with their primary objective in tow, and with Lotor leading the way in his personal craft, they hastily retreated to Galra, the enemy none the wiser of their true intentions. Well, everyone else's true intentions, anyway.
Back on Galra, the berries were quickly handed to Haggar, who took them to her lab with Sakura joining her, the elderly witch wanting her pupil to learn how to make this particular magic brew just in case more had to be made in future and Haggar was otherwise engaged. Or gone. She followed her master's instructions explicitly, and after a small time the potion was ready. They brought it to the waiting Lotor, who took it, staring at it thoughtfully for a moment. Then he led the way back to the temple where Zarkon waited. Haggar and Sakura stepped in first, Sakura glancing over her shoulder in time to notice Lotor pulling out a second vial with a look of contemplation.
Within, Sakura finally saw Zarkon for the first time since before leaving for Pollux, lying on a ceremonial bed moaning and writhing in pain. Lotor stepped forward and handed him the flask of medicine, which Zarkon gulped down quickly. For a moment he seemed to wince, as though actually becoming worse, then sprang up with a laugh, his health apparently fully restored. The King cackled merrily, proclaiming that Lotor wasn't getting the tough job just yet, and that Zarkon would be on the throne for a long time to come. As soon as he calmed down, Lotor summoned some physicians to do a follow up check, not that he had any doubts of the outcome, and Sakura was allowed to step out. As she started to head downstairs, Spinner came flying up to her, having apparently finally woken up and come looking for her.
"So, uh, what did I miss?" he asked. Sakura just stared in annoyance for a moment.
About an hour later, Sakura was in her and Haggar's shared lab, studying and considering ideas for the future when Haggar returned, looking very pleased with herself.
"Ah, my dark dearie, how are you feeling? Well, I hope," she said as she closed the door behind her and stepped in.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura replied. "So. . .he made a full recovery?"
"Of course," Haggar smiled. "You expected otherwise?"
"Maybe," Sakura admitted. She then glanced back at the book she was perusing. "Hey, did you know about the other castle on Arus in the same area as the Castle of Lions?" she asked.
"Other castle?" Haggar blinked in surprise.
"Yeah," Sakura said, picking up the book and looking in it again. "According to this old book, about three centuries ago a King lived there who was super eccentric. A couple decades after helping end the Fifth Robot Wars, when he was on his death bed, he decided to take his whole castle and treasure with him by making the castle his tomb, and ordered that the whole shebang be buried upon his death. Apparently his heir actually agreed to do it, and a bunch of VTOLs were used to, well, turn the castle into a mountain."
"Interesting," Haggar took a seat. "And you ask about this, because. . .?" Sakura looked up from the old pages.
"Well, I was doing some math, and I think I know where it might be," she answered. "Maybe we could make use of it somehow? Like a permanent forward base on that annoying world while we try to get rid of Voltron?" Haggar smiled at her apprentice's line of thought.
"We could, but it would likely require massive repairs, and it would garner way too much attention to try, the enemy vermin would chase us away rather quickly," she commented.
"Oh," Sakura blinked. "Right."
"On the other hand," Haggar continued to smile, "It could be used for a trap." Sakura's eyes lit up, a smile returning to her lips.
"What kind of trap, mama Haggar?" Sakura asked.
Over the next couple of days Haggar and Sakura prepared for their next assault, Haggar preparing a special robeast for the mission, and Sakura narrowing down the location of the lost castle, which she ultimately determined was most likely only three to four kilometers away from the Castle of Lions. In the meantime, Sakura also began preparations for a couple of other fallback ideas, ideas that would require time to properly bring to fruition. Haggar spoke briefly with Zarkon and Lotor about the new plan, and Zarkon gave it a quick stamp of approval, leaving it entirely in Haggar's hands.
Lotor also gave his blessing, as he was looking into a few alternative strategies of his own, and was more than happy to use various tactics if it kept the Voltron Force jumping. He was also spending time making preparations for a possible assault by Pollux, though there currently wasn't a lot of worry on that front, as reaching Galra from the Altea system through the Dark Nebula's magnetic fields was not easy without Galra space tech, Voltron's one-time known stubbornness not withstanding.
When all was ready, Haggar and Sakura once again left for planet Arus, their monster this time doubling as their ship, with a wing of Star Cutters aboard on standby. Using sensor scramblers, they hid their approach and landed right next to the "mountain" that covered the buried castle. The two witches stepped out, their familiars at their sides.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Spinner asked.
"With magic, of course," Haggar said, raising her arms and reaching out with her magic to determine how deep the castle was buried. Once she located it, she then began shaking the ground lightly, wanting to avoid any unnecessary damage. After a few moments, though, she felt a greater surge of magic, and glanced over to notice Sakura mimicking her master, but with far less restraint. In moments the whole area shook as though in an earthquake, and then the entire mountain collapsed away, covering the beast ship in the process. Which, Haggar had to admit, made for a convenient way to hide until they were ready to depart. However. . .
"Sakura, that was careless!" Haggar snapped at the girl, to Sakura's surprise. It was truly rare for Haggar to scold her for anything. "You could have damaged the place and hindered our plans for it!"
"Sorry, mama Haggar," Sakura apologized. "I was just trying to help."
"No matter, the harm's done," Haggar turned back to the castle. "Come, we need to move quickly, it won't be long before one or more of the Voltron Force comes to have a look." With that Haggar teleported them inside, a spell she had yet to teach Sakura, and which Sakura noted seemed to drain a considerable amount of magic energy from her master; though Haggar didn't act any more tired from the exertion. They used their magic to quickly prepare a few traps for any who dared to come and look. Then they headed to the parapets to wait, Cova hopping up on the wall. As it happened, they didn't wait long, as only about twenty minutes later they saw four forms approaching, all about the same size. At first blush it was uncertain who was approaching, but as they drew closer it became clear the four were were not very tall. As they got really close to the castle, it was clear who it was. Well, kind of.
Three of them were young children, about eight to ten years old each, consisting of two boys and one girl, all three looking decidedly apprehensive, but continuing forward to the unearthed castle anyway. The girl had short blonde hair and wore an orange dress and headband, the first boy had red-brown hair and wore a green tunic, and the third boy, who was a little burly, had black hair and wore a blue tunic. Their fourth member, apparently leading the group, was Pidge.
"Well, well, our web has already caught some little moths," Haggar cackled. "Let's have some fun with them. Magic, magic, sight and sound, give them a hand from beneath the ground!" With that she pointed her staff, the top glowing, and down below the little girl fell, shrieking, something snaring her leg. Pidge reacted quickly, kicking it away and helping the girl to her feet. A few moments later they moved onward to the castle doors, pushed them open, and entered. Sakura smiled, and left the parapet, Spinner in tow. Cova quickly followed, but Haggar remained where she was to keep an eye out for the rest of the Voltron Force.
Within, Pidge and the three children searched around the main floor for about ten minutes before finding the King's vault, which had three large chests waiting inside. The children tossed the lids open to find them filled with gold, jewels, and other valuables. Pidge initially wondered about the chests not being locked, but such thoughts left his head upon seeing the treasure the chests held. The three children began stuffing their pockets, the little girl claiming some jeweled necklaces that she placed around her neck while the boys each claimed a long bladed dagger with jewel encrusted gold hilts. Pidge gave in, walked over to the girl and her chest, and began shoving some of the chest's contents into his own pockets.
"I think I'll grab the guys some souvenirs," he commented, then stiffened when he heard a familiar meowing behind him. He snapped around and quickly scanned the room, but didn't see anything. The fifth member of the party, the mouse Platt who was sitting on Pidge's shoulder, started squeaking and pointing up, until Pidge finally looked up at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling at the center of the room. A flash of red was the only warning before Cova moved forward enough to be seen in the very dim light. "Haggar's cat!" Pidge cried, pulled his laser pistol, and fired a shot. Cova dodged away and back into the shadows as the chandelier rope snapped from the blast and plummeted to the ground, shattering on impact. For Pidge, it was enough. He grabbed the little girl, and ran for the door.
"It's a trap! The old witch set us up! Run for it!" he cried loudly, and the boys quickly dashed after him, the four of them racing for the castle's front door. But just as they got near, the doors suddenly swung shut of their own accord, trapping the juveniles within. Pidge fired on the door multiple times, to no avail.
"Quick, find another exit!" he shouted, and the four kids turned and ran another way. But as they passed over a circle shape embedded in the stone floor, skeletal hands emerged from the ground and grabbed each of them by the legs, sending all of them to the ground. "Use your blades!" Pidge snapped at the boys, who instantly went to obey, only for said weapons to suddenly turn into vicious looking snakes, the girl's new necklaces following suit. Pidge stared in shock, and pulled some his own claim from his pocket, only to find it changed into an ugly frog. A second later the whole room seemed to turn itself upside down, the four finding themselves hanging from what was formerly the ground.
"Platt, run for it, get the others, hurry!" Pidge order the little mouse, the only one still free. The mouse nodded, quickly scampered up Pidge back to the "floor", and hurried away, speedily finding a window, climbing up to it, and dashing outside and back down to the ground before making straight for the Castle of Lions. On the parapets, Haggar spotted Platt making his escape, Cova having rejoined his mistress. The cat started to move forward, but Haggar stopped him.
"Let the little thing go, Cova," she instructed. "It will lead the others here into our clutches, and then we'll have every single member of the Voltron Force in our hands. Then we'll take them back to Zarkon!"
Meanwhile, back inside, a beam of energy engulfed Pidge and the children as the skeletal hands released them. The next second, they found themselves floated "down" into a bell tower, flipping around in the process, and into the bell itself. Upon landing in the ancient instrument, metal cuffs snapped out and once again restrained them by their legs. Pidge went to examine them when the world suddenly decided to right its orientation once more, now leaving them hanging upside down inside the bell, with no safe way out. The only thing Pidge saw currently in their favor was that the bell had no clapper, so at least that threat was gone.
"Pidge, what are we going to do?!" the little girl asked, her voice filled with panic.
"The only thing we can do, Laran," Pidge said as calmly as he could. "Wait for the rest of my team to come and get us."
"What if they ring the bell?!" the red-brown haired boy asked.
"They can't, Poe, there's no clapper," Pidge explained. "So just try to calm down, okay?"
"Or panic with all you've got," a feminine voice chimed in from below them. "Either/or."
"Oh, no. . ." Pidge moaned in annoyance just before Sakura floated up into view of them, a smile on her face, lying casually atop the back of the same butterfly-winged black panther that had been used to fake Sakura's "capture" on the day Sven had died, a creature Pidge had hoped to never lay eyes on again. Its wings were flapping lazily as it hovered in the air before them. Sakura had her staff sitting in her right hand at rest while she used her left to rest her chin on. "So, you brought it out of hiding, huh?" he asked, trying to figure out a way to turn this development to his advantage.
"Hiding?" Sakura blinked, looking honestly surprised, then giggled lightly. The panther-beast arched an eyebrow at Pidge's comment, then smirked as though it found the situation as amusing the girl riding atop it did.
"Do you know her, Pidge?" Laran asked, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Yeah, unfortunately," Pidge replied, causing Laran to stare in confusion.
"Uh, miss, could you and your flying kitty creature get us down, and out of here?" the black haired boy asked. "And hurry, Pidge thinks there's an evil old witch somewhere nearby who's trying to catch us!"
"Joe, no. . ." Pidge hissed at the boy.
"Of course there is, I'm her student," Sakura stated.
"WHAT?!" the three kids shrieked, only to wince when the vibrations started bouncing off the inside of the bell, which was cut off a second later by Sakura's magic. Even the panther-beast winced at the sudden sound barrage.
"Ow," Sakura rubbed her ear before refocusing on her goal. "Now, as for getting you down, that's up to Pidgey."
"Pidgey?" the three kids blinked in surprise, now keeping their voices down as much as possible, but Sakura just stared right at her prize.
"What do you say, Pidgey?" she asked. "I'm gonna get you this time, anyway, but say the magic words, and I'll send these three outside to the forest, to get home or be eaten by wild animals, whichever comes first. I don't really care."
"And if I don't?" Pidge asked, trying to stall until he could think of something.
"They come back with us and wind up in the slave mines," Sakura said matter-of-factly, the three in question whimpering in fear. "If they're lucky."
"What do you want him to say?" Joe asked, his voice tinged with fear. Sakura's smile just grew wider, the girl continuing to stare at Pidge, waiting for his answer. Pidge could only sweat, not wanting to answer the others, and unsure as to what to do, aside of play for time. An easy subject change suddenly popped in his head.
"I don't suppose Princess Romelle is okay, is she?" he asked, and Sakura blinked, looking honestly surprised by the query.
"Romelle?" she said. "Huh, now that you mention it, I don't think I've seen her since the Pollux plan blew up in our faces. Your fault of course, for being so early."
"Oh, do excuse us for wanting to cut that feud off at the pass," Pidge glared at her. "Wasn't exactly a fun night for me, either, but at least one of us came out with a new friend."
"Huh?" Sakura gaped.
"Bandor," Pidge clarified. "We're buds now, in case you didn't know."
"Oh, wow," Sakura replied. "I guess he didn't tell you, then."
"Tell me what?" Pidge asked.
"Oh, he declared war on Galra, demanded we return his sister to him, and apparently he thinks I'm being forced to work for Lotor and the others. Can you believe that?" she explained with a smile. Pidge just stared for a moment.
"You're kidding me," he finally commented. "He's still stuck on you, after all that?"
"Seems like," Sakura said, rolling her eyes to the side. "So naïve." Then she added, quietly, almost wistfully, "Silly guy." She then thought for a moment before idly commenting, "I really should ask Lotor what he did with her when we get back home, cause now I'm actually kinda curious. Though, knowing him, he probably just put her in his harem, like he's probably gonna do to Allura when he finally gets his hands on her."
"And you really don't care about that at all, do you?" Pidge found himself glaring again.
"Should I?" she asked, her face deadpan. "It's not like it's any of my concern, after all."
"Have you no feelings for your own kind left?" Pidge countered. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she dropped her left hand to push herself up and forward ever so slightly.
"And what good would that do me, exactly?" she asked him, leaving Pidge honestly stumped for an answer.
"Then why all the effort over me?" he finally asked back. She reached up with her hand to lightly take hold of the top of his head in her palm.
"Because I want to," she answered simply.
It took Platt a fair amount of time to jog back to the Castle of Lions, even a full-grown human couldn't run three and a half kilometers quickly, but with adrenaline and the urgent need to find help for his friend the little mouse managed to make it back regardless. After a few minutes to catch his tiny breath, he dashed up to the control room, and up Allura's side, squeaking his message to her quickly. She relayed it to the others, and the four remaining lion pilots quickly boarded said lions and flew back out to the unearthed castle, parking next to Green. Platt now rode his Princess's shoulder as they ran up to the castle's main gate.
However, Haggar spotted the four lions flying in, just as expected.
"Like moths to the flame, my kitty," she crowed to Cova. "Let's give them a proper welcome." With that she moved away from the parapets, quickly departing the castle and moving around to the front, hidden by the foliage. She arrived just in time to spy the four adult pilots standing outside, each brandishing a laser pistol in one hand, Yellow's pilot closest to the door and ready to charge in, their leader, Keith, advising caution.
"We don't know what kinds of traps have been set for us, Hunk," he said to the largest member of the team. "We could be walking into a lot of trouble."
"But Keith, Pidge and those kids could be in trouble now!" Hunk snapped back.
"Oh, there's plenty of trouble for you," Haggar cackled to herself, and raised her staff, the tip glowing once more. "Emerge, emerge. . ." A moment later a dozen spears shot out of the ground, the Force just barely dodging aside. The spears were then followed by their holders, a squadron of skeletons with cybernetic units built into their left shoulders and metal cuffs still on their wrists, who began jabbing their spears toward the four before them. The team dodged, firing their weapons at the apparent foes, the skeletons shattering and falling on impact. But the sheer number drove them toward the door.
"Run, get inside and find Pidge!" Keith snapped, the other three headed straight for the door.
"Keith, hurry!" Lance called.
"Go! I'll cover you!" Keith replied, still firing. Hunk shoved the double-door entrance open, and he, Allura, and Lance dashed inside. Keith landed another shot, the skeleton shattering, and then it reassembled itself in seconds, moving to attack again.
"Now, that's getting yourself together," Keith remarked, more for himself than anything else. By this point he had noted two things about these enemies. They had small thorn-like spikes jutting out of their shoulders, and the skulls, while having arguably human-like facial structure, were elongated in the back, demoting a clearly alien origin. Keith's mind briefly flashed back to the story Coran had told them about the mystery castle's origins and the edifice's previous owner. 'The remains of that war's ancient enemies?' he thought, and then found himself pressed back towards the castle further as the undead enemy moved forward, some of them throwing their spears in Keith's direction, Keith once again barely managing to dodge.
"What are you doing?" Haggar hissed from her hiding place. "Follow the others inside already! That's where the real fun is."
Inside the group dashed forward, eyes constantly scanning for additional danger. Allura ordered little Platt to guide them to Pidge and the kids, and the mouse hopped to the ground dashed ahead, only stopping upon reaching the place where the first four had been caught and pointing up toward the bell high above. They looked and could see their comrade and his three followers hanging upside down within it, and the underside of the butterfly-winged panther-beast hovering near them, Sakura's feet visible just behind the creature's rear.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Hunk shouted, and aimed at the beast. Unfortunately, the sound of their footsteps coming into the room had already alerted it, its head tilting down to see them wearing a look of curiosity on its face that turned to one of panic just as Hunk cried out. Hunk fired at it, and it immediately dropped and swerved away, Sakura letting out a brief yelp of surprise as it did. The creature did a fast barrel role as it dropped, revealing the slightly panicked Sakura on its back, now wrapping her arms around her steed's neck to avoid falling off, before it quickly, far quicker than they thought would be possible considering its size and current load, much faster than Lance recalled it moving the last time he saw it, flew down a hall and away from the three heroes. Hunk's shot, thankfully, missed Pidge and the kids, smacking into the inside of the bell semi-harmlessly.
"What the hell was she riding on?" Allura asked, her mind still trying to figure out what she just saw.
"The same thing she used to fool us when she and Haggar killed Sven - wait, that thing isn't indigenous to Arus?" Lance started to answer, then blinked at the Princess in surprise.
"You really think I wouldn't mention my planet being home to large, insect-winged felines?!" she snapped at him.
"We can talk about it later," Hunk snapped at both of them, then turned to the four above them. "Don't worry, we'll be right up to get you!" he called. The three Voltron Force members stepped forward to get a better look at the area before them and work out how to reach the bell.
As they spoke, off in the shadowed hall, Sakura was recovering from the sudden maneuvering, and feeling a little hostile as she lifted herself to a full sitting position atop her ride. They had halted only a few meters out of sight of the enemy before turning around to face their location again, the creature's face briefly filling with a mix of anger and annoyance.
"What was that for. . .ohhh, they're here," she started to snap, then finally noticed the three adult Voltron members in the area they had just dived away from. She had clearly been so absorbed in what she was doing she'd stopped paying attention to her surroundings. "How long were Pidge and I talking? Oh, well, doesn't matter." The panther-beast moved them forward again, the three adults turning when they heard the flapping of its wings as it drew close.
"Nice of you to join us," Sakura smiled, her staff glowing, and then the skeletal hands returned and grabbed the three adults by the ankles like they had the children. The three Voltron pilots gasped in surprise and Lance fired a shot at the hands holding him, to no effect. Then the room inverted itself a second time, the same energy beam then drawing the others into the bell to trap them alongside the children before the world again righted its orientation. As this was happening, Hunk noticed that the panther-beast looked like it was smiling the whole way through.
"Pidge, are you okay?" Allura asked once they stopped moving.
"More or less," Pidge said. "We got a plan to get out of this?"
"How about no plan," Sakura's voice said from just below the bell, the girl and her steed having flown back up to that point, a smile upon both her lips and the beast's. She reached out with her magic and the adults guns were yanked from their hands before they could react. "And though there might be no clapper in that thing, that doesn't mean it can't be used to punish you for earlier." And with that, energy burst from her staff to surround the whole bell. It began swinging back and forth, the seven within helpless to do anything but try and endure the ride, Sakura giving out a small, cruel laugh at their predicament.
Meanwhile, Keith had finally fallen back into the castle, and then moved to the parapets, still fighting the undying skeletal warriors while Haggar watched all from her hiding place.
"I'm getting deja vu," she commented, thinking back to the white lion fiasco. "Screw it, we'll just take them back to Galra now, castle and all! And if the leader freezes to death in space during the trip, so be it!" With that she teleported away, releasing her magic hold on the long dead fighters, who finally fell apart in front of Keith and stayed that way. Before he could breathe, though, the robeast ship, which resembled a giant cyclopean turtle, burst from the ground where it had been covered by the removed earth that once sat upon the hidden castle. The monstrosity blasted into the air and then launched eight titanium-steel alloy cables into the castle, dragging the whole castle right out of the ground and into the air. He also noted an energy field around the castle, 'skin tight', that he suspected was meant to maintain an air bubble and heat within. He knew instantly it wasn't because the old witch wanted them all alive, just Pidge for her apprentice, and possibly Allura for Lotor. The enemy was nothing if not surprisingly respectful of each other's explicit desires.
"Too late to jump," Keith commented as he looked at the ground disappearing below. "That leaves only one option." He holstered his weapon, jumped to the closest cable stretching up to the robeast-ship above, and began scaling upwards.
Back inside, Sakura and the panther-beast both jerked in surprise as the castle seemed to move around them, Sakura releasing her hold on the bell in the process, though it continued to swing due to the built up momentum. Within moments the panther-beast had no choice but to stop flying as they found themselves back on the floor below, at which point they could feel that they were moving at a rapid acceleration.
"What the. . .?!" she commented, then glanced out the window to notice the sky moving by rapidly, and the energy shield sealing the castle from the outside. "Wait, is mama Haggar taking the whole castle back to Galra?!" She thought about that for a moment before further commenting, "I know Zarkon would probably like a summer house, but this thing is a massive fixer-upper." The panther-beast tilted its head to look at her with a stare that read, "Seriously?"
"Oh, like you weren't thinking it, too!" she huffed.
Outside, Keith continued his perilous climb upwards. Above him, a wing of Star Cutters launched from the robeast-ship's mouth and then swung around to face the human pilot. They opened fire on Keith, causing him to fall backwards as he avoided the blasts, and ending up hanging upside down by his legs.
"Damn, is this the end of the line?!" Keith asked aloud, then shook off his panic. "No, no way! First, get upright, second, get up to and hijack that robeast!" So saying, he flipped himself up, only for another volley to cause him to lose his grip on the cable altogether and plummet downwards, landing only seconds later on the top of a Star Cutter that was passing right underneath him.
After taking a moment to catch his breath and do a mental assessment of himself wherein he determined nothing was broken, Keith flipped around, pulled his weapon, and moved to reach the cockpit window. The pilot had all of eight seconds to realize what was coming before Keith fired three rounds rapid through the glass with his laser pistol set to the highest setting, the last shot taking the pilot out in the process. Keith immediately jumped into the ship through the hole he had just made, grabbed the steering, and, albeit ungracefully, managed to land the craft without killing himself. And to his relief, and possibly in a moment proving that god did actually exist and was on his side, he'd managed to land right at the feet of his lion! He boarded quickly, fired up it up, formed the lion's jaw-held double bladed javelin sword, and launched into the air.
Aboard the robeast-ship, Haggar had made contact with Galra to make her report, and quickly had Zarkon appear on the screen.
"It's all gone splendidly, my liege," she said. "Four of the Voltron Force are now our prisoners, along with three fresh slaves we can put to work however we want. As to their leader, he'll either be ours or dead soon enough."
"Ah, Haggar, you always know how to brighten my day," Zarkon leered, then arched an eyebrow. "Where's Witch Sakura? Didn't she go with you?"
"Sakura?" Haggar blinked, suddenly realizing her apprentice wasn't in fact currently with her, then just as quickly realizing where she most likely was. "She's probably in the old castle, playing with her prize. I got so caught up in getting them all in the trap, I completely forgot she'd slipped off after the Green Lion pilot arrived." Before Zarkon could respond, though, an alarm started to blare, the screen switching to a view of the approaching Black Lion. Haggar's face instantly blanched.
"Oh, no. . ."
Black Lion made short work of the remaining Star Cutters, then went for the castle and severed the eight cables, the castle plummeting back to the ground. Within, Sakura noticed the sudden switch as the floor suddenly fell away from her and the panther-beast, and her steed, without need of prompting, sped out of the window, the two hovering down to just above the treeline. The castle landed with a bone-jarring thud that sent fresh dirt flying everywhere.Sakura glanced around, trying to figure out what had happened, when she saw the robeast-ship swinging back down to take a swipe at Black, which was now dodging and otherwise trying to keep its opponent distracted.
"Are you kidding me? Keith managed to get away from us?! Again?!" she shrieked into the air. A moment later she heard the sound of running feet, and glanced back at the castle to see the other Voltron members along with the three children, all of whom who had somehow survived the castle's 'landing' and gotten free of the bell, dashing off, no doubt to the other lions.
"Oh, no, you don't!" she cried. "Quick, cut them off!" At that, the panther-beast opened its maw and let out a fiery blast, landing it near the escaping prisoners and igniting several dry branches and leaves into a small blaze. Sadly, it slowed them only momentarily before they dodged around and made it to their lions, Allura taking the children into Blue with her. Once launched, they quickly formed up with Black and once again formed Voltron as the robeast-ship came down to the ground.
"Maybe we really are cursed," Sakura commented, mostly to herself, her steed flying them over to the robeast, and diving inside the jaw and into the 'safety' of the craft's inner corridors. Voltron returned to the ground and fired a cross shaped beam from his chest symbol, the robeast-ship's 'head' withdrawing into it like the turtle it resembled, the beam glancing harmlessly off. The robeast then began firing a multitude of spearhead like plates at Voltron, who responded by forming a nun-chuck like weapon to bat them all away. The robeast them fired a large blast of flame from its eye, which still peaked from where the head had withdrawn. The blast was actually powerful enough to knock Voltron backwards and onto the ground.
But the turn in the robeast's favor was only temporary, however, as Voltron leaped back to his feet, and fired a blast of flame from Red Lion's mouth combined with a blast of high winds from Green's. The robeast was trapped in a flame tornado that lifted it up onto its hind legs, leaving the mechanical monstrosity's belly exposed. Voltron then finally formed his Blazing sword and quickly thrust it into the robeast's vulnerable underside, then pulled out and sliced the machine as he performed a forward slash. The robeast-ship then went up in smoke, blowing apart. As it did, a small pink escape craft blasted away out into space.
Within, Haggar, with Cova in her arms, and Sakura, with Spinner on her shoulder, were steaming.
"I don't believe it! Does that human flying Black have stolen luck from the King of Hell himself?!" Haggar roared.
"I don't know, do heroes normally steal from demonic personages?" Spinner mused.
"Gah! I almost had him this time! Damn you, Keith!" Sakura roared in tandem with Haggar. "Why can't you just die?!" The craft sped back to Galra while the lions separated and returned to their normal hiding places, Allura seeing to the three children's safe return to their families.
Upon their return, the witches were met by Lotor, who quickly noted the lack of the robeast-ship and the old castle.
"So, I take it your plan. . .?" Lotor smirked, only for Sakura to lasso him with her magic.
"Don't. . .even. . .ask," Sakura growled.
"Went that well, huh?" the Prince kept smirking, and then Sakura flung him into a wall via her magic with a growl of frustration in her throat. "Yep," Lotor said after letting out a groan. "It went that well." Haggar tapped Sakura on the shoulder, the girl turning to her master as she released her magical grip on Lotor.
"What?" she growled.
"Save your anger for the one responsible for this defeat," Haggar coached her. "There's no point venting it on Lotor."
"To be fair, I did make an easy target of myself," Lotor commented while righting himself and fixing his clothes, followed by pulling out a comb and quickly giving it a run through his hair. "Did we get any dividends at all from this little run?"
"I'm afraid not, my Prince," Haggar said. Sakura 'humphed' in frustration and turned aside, close to sulking. Then her eyes went from annoyed/angry slits to normal as she recalled Pidge's time stalling query, turning back to Lotor.
"Oh, yeah, before I forget, what did you do with Romelle?" she asked. "Cause I seem to recall you hauling her back with us after Pollux."
"Romelle?" Lotor blinked, then went stiff as a board. He quickly pulled out a com device, punching in a code. A moment later Mogor's voice came from it, drawing a light glare and growl from Sakura that Lotor opted to ignore.
"Yes, Prince Lotor?" Mogor's voice inquired.
"Commander, where is Princess Romelle currently?" Lotor asked.
"Well, after we returned from Galra, and you went to try and calm your father, I knew we couldn't leave her in the ship's brig, so I had her moved to the castle dungeon pending further instructions, sire," Mogor's voice replied, Lotor visibly relaxing. "Would you like her moved elsewhere?"
"I'll see to it myself later, Commander," Lotor stated. "Thank you." And with that he turned the com off and returned it to its holder.
"You forgot all about her, didn't you?" Sakura asked.
"Between Father's heart attack, retrieving the needed medicine, and a half-dozen affairs of state and strategy sessions that came in the wake of the Pollux mess?" Lotor answered, then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, completely."
"It has been a busy week," Haggar admitted.
"Uh, My Prince? Witches?" a soldier came up, smartly saluting Lotor. "His highness, mighty King Zarkon, commands your presence at your earliest convenience."
"Of course. Make my day complete," Sakura grumbled aloud. On her shoulder, Spinner just cringed, and in Haggar's arm Cova drooped his head.
"Very well, we'll be along shortly," Lotor responded to the soldier, who then turned his attention to Sakura.
"Also, Witch Sakura, I have been instructed to inform you that Project Blossom has been launched as per your instructions this morning," the soldier stated, Sakura actually brightening a little at the news.
"Ah, finally, something actually went right today," she commented. "Thank you." The soldier nodded, then quickly turned and went on his way.
"Project Blossom?" Lotor arched an eyebrow in curiosity at Sakura, Haggar just staring in surprise.
"Just a silly little idea I had," Sakura explained with a wry smile. "Mind you, we'll have to wait about a week, week and a half before we find out the final results."
"I see," Lotor replied, still curious, then remembered the soldier's first message. "Let's go, we shouldn't keep my father waiting." The witches nodded in agreement, and the three left the landing bay and headed to the throne room, only to have a guard direct them to Zarkon's personal office, a place Sakura could remember going to on only two occasions before in her life. Once there, they found Zarkon at his desk wearing a stern look on his face, going over some paperwork with a few bureaucrats standing around to either take certain documents away once Zarkon was done with them, or hand him another one to work on. He glanced up at their arrival briefly, then turned his attention back to his current work.
"So, old witch, your report on the ancient castle scheme?" Zarkon asked, almost unconcerned.
"Well. . ." Haggar said, trying to think of a way to explain without enraging Zarkon yet again.
"Another failure, my King," Sakura said, deciding not to stall, and Spinner quietly dropping below her shoulder behind her to keep out of Zarkon's sight.
"Oh?" Zarkon commented as he finished writing something on the sheet before him and passing it to one of the men nearby. "Elucidate." Sakura gave him an immediate cliffs notes version of what happened, leaving out only the details of her conversation with Pidge. Haggar eventually had to fill in what happened with Keith while Sakura was having said conversation, she herself having learned some of the details after checking a surveillance camera feed from right before it all went to hell. To their surprise, Zarkon never became incensed once, just nodded in acknowledgment.
"Keith is quite the resourceful and pernicious opponent," Lotor commented. "As a fellow commander, I can't help but respect him. As my enemy, I can't wait to gut him!" At the last, Lotor clenched his fist.
"Yes, I imagine," Zarkon said, then finally looked up. "No matter, I suspected things had gone wrong when your call cut out prematurely, Haggar. Fortunately, I've received some good news. The Interstellar Space Cannon being constructed on Planet Mura is finally nearing completion."
"Oh, is it?" Lotor responded, his attention now focused on his father.
"Indeed," Zarkon said. "Which is why you will be going to Mura in three weeks to oversee the final stages and the inaugural firing of the weapon. You will also take Haggar and Sakura with you to assist."
"Of course, Father," Lotor nodded, Sakura and Haggar doing the same.
"Oh, and take the galactic train," Zarkon added. "We don't want to draw unwanted attention to planet Mura."
"Right," Lotor and Sakura chimed together.
"In the meantime, I believe you have a couple of other plans to try out against Voltron, do you not, my evil son?" Zarkon finally cracked a smile.
"Ones I'm eager to get back to, Father," Lotor answered. Zarkon gave a wave, and they departed the room.
The next few days saw Lotor working with a couple of different robeasts on different fight plans for future engagements with Arus, while Sakura observed the progress of her secretive "Project Blossom," as well as her other secret fallback idea, which she had decided to name "Operation: Pest Control." During all this, Haggar examined other possible areas of approach, and was briefly called away to a long term project when another occult scientist reported something had actually changed on that particular front. Sakura felt a little annoyed that Haggar wouldn't tell her what the project was, but then she was keeping secrets, too. Though in Sakura's case, she was only doing so out of not wanting to get anyone's hopes up in case the plans failed to get off the ground, both metaphorically and literally.
Then, Zarkon summoned the three of them back to the throne room, where the view screen was showing a planet in obvious massive geothermal turmoil. The passing meteors smacking into it clearly weren't helping matters. Haggar took her usual seat with Cova in her lap while Sakura, Spinner on her shoulder, and Lotor stood.
"One of our scout ships sent this back about forty minutes ago," Zarkon began explaining. "This planet was nearly cleansed of life by a local nuclear war just a few months ago. At the time it was believed that none survived, but a while ago I sent a couple ships to do a recognizance run to double check and confirm the prognosis. They actually located nearly sixteen hundred survivors who are now our slaves. Other information of possible resource acquirement also came to light at that time, but because of the nuclear damage, it was determined to be less than advisable to attempt anything more than wait while additional data was obtained due to severe geologic upheaval."
"I take it something's changed, then?" Lotor asked.
"Indeed, my son," Zarkon replied. "The scouts' recent data has revealed that the nuclear devastation had an unexpected, though not unprecedented, aftereffect. A chain reaction is occurring, and the planet is expected to be completely destroyed within the next day or so. An unfortunate loss of potential resources."
"And why is this significant enough to call us here away from our other works, Father?" Lotor inquired, now more curious.
"Because this planet is planet Balto, on the borderline between Imperial Galran and Galaxy Alliance space," Zarkon stated, and Sakura blinked.
"Balto?" she said. "Why do I feel like I know that name?"
"Because that's where that failure, Yurak, originally captured the five human space explorers that escaped from us to Arus and became the Voltron Force," Zarkon said, and Sakura's mind shot back to that first day she laid eyes on them, mostly Pidge, and the message from Yurak's ship that had preceded their arrival.
"Ohhh," Sakura breathed. "I actually forgot about that."
"I don't blame you," Zarkon told her, to Sakura's surprise, before continuing. "It's such a trivial piece of data that, until now, I never gave it much weight, either."
"No offense, Father," Lotor chimed in, "But I'm still failing to see the relevance." In response, Zarkon signaled a nearby technician at his station near the far right wall of the room, who quickly operated said station to flip the screen to another view. A view of the Voltron lions, minus Blue, speeding through space.
"This was picked up less than twenty minutes after the planetary footage was sent," Zarkon stated. "And their current trajectory is Balto. Which means they've somehow received the same data we have. Either they're hoping to somehow save the planet from its imminent destruction, or they're making a final run for any remaining survivors, though my people tell me they were thorough in their previous collection run."
"I see," Lotor smiled, now getting the gist.
"And with four lions away, Arus won't have Voltron," Haggar smiled, already formulating ideas on how to capitalize on all this while stroking Cova's fur.
"Indeed, old witch," Zarkon smiled as well. "Which is why you'll be preparing the invasion and providing a means to neutralize the Castle of Lions' and the blue lion's offensive power while Lotor and your apprentice give chase to those four to make sure they stay on Balto for the upcoming. . . festivities."
"We'll depart at once," Lotor agreed, and Sakura nodded. Zarkon nodded, dismissing them, and they went straight to the spaceport. Lotor ordered his current command ship to be ready for launch immediately, along with a support fleet, and also having a robeast loaded for the trip. They launched ten minutes after arriving at the port, and were off to planet Balto.
Upon arrival at Balto, they found that the lions had landed, and the four humans had foolishly stepped out onto the dying planet's surface. Sakura, however, found herself transfixed at what she saw upon the planet below them on the monitors. Whole cities in blasted and broken ruins. Vast swathes of land now sunken below molten lava that flowed around as though it were a crimson, fiery sea. Acres of what was once a forest of trees, now burnt and petrified. And through it all, save for the four Voltron pilots present, not a single sign of a living thing to found. And much to her surprise, she felt her heart swelling in pain over it, wishing dearly she had the power to undo it all.
But even her magic had its limits, and this was most certainly one of them.
"A pity," Lotor said. He sat in the command chair as was his place, Sakura standing at his side. "I imagine this planet was once nice to look at, and might even have served our interests, whether for resources or as a forward base against the Alliance. And now, wrecked by its own inhabitants. And they say we're evil."
"Haven't the Galra done this to other worlds in the past?" Sakura asked, trying her best not to let how she felt at the sight below resonate through her voice.
"We've occasionally allowed for collateral damage to the planets we've conquered, yes," Lotor answered. "But never to this scale. Planets are useless to everyone if they die. Even my father would at least hesitate before condoning the utter destruction of what could be a useful world." Sakura thought about that one for a moment.
"Zarkon doesn't really seem to me like he'd ever actually give a damn about something like that," she said at length, drawing a small chuckle.
"I said he'd hesitate, not that he wouldn't actually do it," Lotor commented, then focused his attention toward his people. "Begin the assault! All Star Cutters attack ships, open fire upon the Voltron lions and disable them!" With that, the fleet opened up with seemingly everything they had, all pointed at the four stationary lions. Within moments of the bombardment's start, the four pilots raced back out of the building they'd gone into, and managed to avoid getting hit long enough to reenter the lions and launch a counterattack. Proving what durable material they were made of, the lions had only minimal damage after the initial ambush attack. Each lion brought out its personal shoulder cannon and fired back, smashing most of the Star Cutters and some of the full attack ships quickly. The lions launched into the air to press their assault. Lotor merely chuckled at this.
"I almost feel a twinge of pity for them," he said. "But enough of this, there's nothing to be gained by prolonging this battle. Release the mighty robeast Batolda to end this!" With that the command ship released the beast, blasting it instantly with an Infra-Energize Beam to enlarge it to giant size as it landed on the surface.
Batolda, as his name suggested, was a brown bipedal creature with a bat-like snout and ears and huge bat-like wings coming from his back. He had white, pupil-less eyes, and his hands ended in five razor sharp talons; a vertical stripe of green plates ran down his mid-lower torso and across his crotch, with similar pink plates around his wrists and torso, the latter just above the green stripe, and his feet had only four digits with one coming from his heel, all of them tipped with talons making them resemble a bird's feet. As soon as he finished enlarging, he roared in challenge at his lion opponents.
The lions turned toward the new opponent as the remaining Galra forces pulled back slightly, and Batolda fired a pair of missiles from ports in his shoulders. While the lions dodged the midair explosions, Batolda launched into the air himself, and released a tornado blast with a flap of his wings, smacking the lions to the ground before commencing a merciless bombardment of missiles, eventually opting to return to the ground himself. Lotor and Sakura watched all on the command ship's view screen, delighted at the sight, smiles on their lips.
"The end is at hand," Lotor declared. "Finish them off, Batolda!"
"Tractor beam officer, as soon as the lions' disablement is confirmed, ensnare and bring aboard the green lion!" Sakura commanded, pointing to her prey on the screen with her staff. The officer in question saluted smartly, and kept his eyes peeled for the moment to obey the order.
"This is going much better than that silly ancient castle," Spinner commented from her shoulder. And then the proximity alarm sounded, grabbing their attention. "Oh, no," Spinner drooped his eyes.
"Prince Lotor, Witch Sakura," the monitor officer indicated the screen as it switched over to the source of the tripped alarm – the rapidly approaching blue lion.
"Princess Allura!" Lotor leaned forward in delight. "She's come to see her friends final moments. How delightful an addition!" He then leaned back into his chair, calm and relaxed. "It'll save me the time of going to Arus for her afterward."
"You do realize they could form the robot now, don't you?" Spinner glanced at Lotor, a slight hint of dread in his eyes.
"Only if she gets to them," Sakura commented, her smile still unwavering.
"Agreed," Lotor said. "All ships, keep the blue lion away from the others until it's over, but at all costs keep it and its pilot intact!" A formation of Star Cutters swung around to intercept the late lion as it entered Balto's atmosphere, but just as they were closing, Blue suddenly back flipped through the air to get behind them, formed its missile launcher upon its back, and opened fire, smashing the Star Cutter's quickly and cleanly, one plummeting in flames to the ground below. Blue then continued to descend towards the surface and the battle with Batolda, the command ship following it and closing into range.
"Ah, so brave and fiery when angry, my Allura," Lotor commented as he watched her attack. "It's almost a shame to. . .end it now!" With that, an electric shock beam fired from the nose of the command ship and ensnared Blue. Within, Allura gave a sudden shriek at the unexpected pain, then gritted her teeth and tried to wriggle Blue out of the beam and to freedom.
Whilst all this was happening, Batolda continued his onslaught of the other four lions, the four falling back into a crevasse near a volcano on the verge of eruption, Red taking the advantage to burn a hole into the volcano's side. Not to escape, but to create a much needed diversion. Once Red penetrated the caldera, it formed its double barreled missile canon on its back and fired both barrels into the magma below, triggering the eruption. The volcano blew so violently that lava and magma breached the surface not just from the main cone but from various places around the fiery mountain as well, enough to force Batolda to halt his attacks. The robeast fell backwards, allowing the four lions to finally manage to escape and regroup in a semi safe place. And as an added side benefit, some of the eruption from the main cauldron reached high enough to smack the command ship, damaging it and almost sending it into a spin, forcing the beam to disengage and release Blue.
Aboard the command ship, everyone was panicking at the sudden disruption. Lotor gripped his chair's armrests for stability, and Sakura grabbed the back of the chair just to keep from falling down completely, her staff dropped in her moment of panic.
"What the hell?" Lotor screamed.
"Volcanic eruption nearby us, my Prince!" a helmsman reported. "We're correcting for it now."
"A volcano?!" Sakura shrieked, and Lotor didn't blame her a bit.
"The planet must be more unstable than we anticipated," Lotor stated. "Helmsman, pull us back from the surface by an additional five hundred meters while you're at it!"
"Yes, sir!" the helmsman replied, only too happy put a little more distance between them and the raging inferno below.
"Uh, guys, he's back again," Spinner pointed to the view screen at the battle below, where the lions had already made use of the time to get together and combine into Voltron once again.
"Damn it!" Sakura snapped as her footing stabilized and she reclaimed her staff.
"No matter, we've got this," Lotor stated, then ordered, "Batolda, get your ass back up and hold Voltron here! Don't let him get away!"
Below on the planet, Batolda pulled himself up and roared at his new opponent, who pulled out his double-bladed javelin. Batolda took to the air and spat energy rings at Voltron, who deflected them with the javelin before tossing it at Batolda, who in turn deflected the javelin with a flap of his wings. He then opened his wings wide, releasing a blast of energy that ensnared Voltron, trapping the robot and allowing Batolda to swing him around and onto his back against the still rumbling volcano. A fatal mistake, it turned out, as another fiery blast of lava was spat out and burned Batolda a moment later, forcing him to release his hold on Voltron.
And Voltron, having clearly decided enough was enough, then formed the Blazing Sword, and used a whirlwind maneuver to slash Batolda in two, both vertically and horizontally. The monster's arms and lower wings fell off before he blew apart, the remaining chunks being swallowed by the raging magma below. Then things really got bad as the whole planet started to heave and shake.
"Oh, for crying out loud, can't we get just one win?!" Lotor groused as he saw Batolda's end.
"This is really starting to get. . .uh, should we maybe move further away?" Sakura started to grumble, too, then stopped as she saw the planet's sudden massive distress.
"Prince Lotor!" the science officer jumped to his feet, turning to his liege. "We must leave at once! If we stay any longer we'll be caught in the planet's explosion! Prince Lotor!"
"Wait, the whole planet is. . .?" Sakura felt a sudden horrid grip on her heart. Lotor, meanwhile, just stared a moment, trying to decide what to do next as on the screen Voltron split back into the lions, who turned towards his remaining fleet in obvious preparation to fight further.
"Fine, withdraw at once!" Lotor finally snapped as the volcanic upheaval below increased further. The fleet pulled back and quickly put some distance between them and Balto, the Voltron lions quickly taking the opening to scram as fast as they could as well. And only moments after they all reached a safe distance, the entire planet blasted apart into nothing.
"A waste," Lotor sighed. "Return us to Galra, best speed."
"Yes, sir," the helmsman replied, setting course. Sakura simply remained quiet, Spinner glancing at his mistress to notice a single tear drip down her face for the lost world they left behind.
And that's it for all that. Three for one sale this time, though I got to admit I wasn't expecting to spend so much time on episode 20 as I did, and sort of thought I'd get a little more out of 19 than I ultimately did. Oh, well, Que Sera...
Okay, first obvious note, after all the establishment of the Polluxians/Heracleans in episode 17, one would think they'd follow up on that immediately, but nope, three whole episodes without one freaking word! And if you think that's bad, after the next episode up, they don't get mentioned again until episode thirty-freaking-nine with the arrival of the Omega Comet! But I'll worry about that issue as I work through it...
As for these three, not much to say, really. 18 was pretty much completely dismissible, so I just skimmed it, borrowing one (hopefully) last leaf from LotornoMiko's "Songbird's Lament" by making Zarkon's heart attack part of the immediate fallout of the previous episode's events. As well as actually getting the berries, which, fun fact, was actually an alteration made by WEP, and one I actually agree with! You see, in Golion, Honerva actually sent Sincline to get a bunch of human women so they could feed Daibazaal their blood to cure the evil Emperor...even though they probably had a few scores or so in their slave pens...and the recently captured Princess Amue(Romelle)...yeah...
One thing I did invent whole hog was the explanation for where the hell Zondra came from, which even the show doesn't really supply in either version, and like an idjit I hadn't really thought to setup any kind of foreshadowing for. Not that it really matters since he's killed by Sincline in Golion, and either way I don't think we ever do see any other alternative witches around Zarkon's castle again, anyway.
And then there's episode 19, where I believe the greatest change I made was having Sakura float up to talk with Pidge, and then having her take Cova's place later when the others arrived to get caught, too. That, and taking the ball, a.k.a. the clapper, out of the bell, and thus removing the whole bell ringing with the V Force and three kids inside it. Seriously, when that thing started ringing in the show, they all shoulda been insta-dead from immediate brain mushification. I should also note I used the three kids Japanese names due to the boys never really getting any in Voltron, though I think the girl at one point was called "Morgan". I think...
Oh, and this episode also finally got me to do something I really should have been doing from the beginning, create and keep up a list of all weapons used by the lions and Voltron in each episode so I can keep myself from treating previously used weapons as though it was the first time they'd come up, necessitating a quick fix on chapters twelve and fourteen, as the Spinning Laser Blade had been used, and referred to by name, at least by me, prior to being used on either Yurak or Avok. So, yeah, yay me... yaaaaay...
And finally episode 20...dear lord, this episode. Aside of letting me make a quick call back to chapter 4, I actually found myself giddily happy not to have to worry too much about the good guys for once, because by hell Coran/Raible and Nanny/Hys are just the worst in this one! Now, some may recall this starts with the good guys discussing Allura/Farla eventually getting married and being crowned Queen, and then when the boys decide to head out Coran and Nanny trying to put them on "House Arrest"? Well, in Golion, it, I can't believe I'm saying this, actually goes a step further!
When Nanny's claiming the boys will be reduced to bodyguards? Hys actually dismisses them all as never being good enough to be a Prince for Farla! And the "military salute" Coran fires as they leave? Raible was actually trying to shoot the lions down so they couldn't leave! Oh, and let's not forget that while WEP had Coran referring to Allura's would-be groom as her future Prince Consort, in Golion Raible implies that Farla's husband would actually be ruling the kingdom at that point, not her! I'm sorry, but what...the...fuck?
So, yeah, glad I got to ignore all of that. As to the fact that I never actually refer to Balto as Pidge's home planet, well, I just couldn't come up with a decent excuse for why Zarkon, Lotor, Sakura, or Haggar would possibly know that, really. In Golion Honerva comments that the team will go back as they have a connection to Earth, which makes sense as they obviously know they're human and came from there, but for Voltron it's not Earth, and it's one pilot they're saying came from the planet in question, so I went with what I did.
Also, the fact that the bad guys actually didn't have anything to do with what happened to the planet comes from Golion, as there they make no claim whatsoever as to what's happening prior to Sincline taking off to try and kill the boys.
Okay, enough of this rambling. Episode 21 and the second round with Romelle and Bandor, on an ice planet this time, awaits! Catch you there.
