Chapter 21: Blazing Skies
Before long, the Voltron lions and Clow spacecraft Sun Tzu entered the Altea system, planet Arus now only roughly an hour's flight away. At that point, Allura called up the Castle of Lions, deciding it was time to let Coran know of their newest long-term "guests." As luck would have it, Gertrude was in the control room with Coran, looking like she was about to faint from anxiety.
"Ah, Princess Allura, thank goodness you've called!" Gertrude smiled happily upon seeing her Princess on the view screen. "We've been so worried! Why did you take so long to call us?!"
"Easy, Gertrude, it's fine," Allura replied, doing her best to soothe the woman. "Things went a little sideways on us, but we'll be back soon. I just called to let you know we need to have two more guest rooms made up."
"Guest rooms, Princess?" Coran asked. "Are you bringing back survivors from that ship?"
"No, they were all dead, as far as we know," Allura stated, giving a brief thought of regret for the bodies they'd stripped and tossed in to the nearest garbage chute in order to disguise themselves. "Allow me to introduce our newest friends," she continued, and threw a switch to bring Syaroan and Meilin into the conversation, who were waiting anxiously, Kero sitting on the back of Syaoran's chair looking more annoyed than anything else. "This is Prince Syaoran of planet Clow, and his cousin, Princess Meilin. He's a sorcerer in training, and the Spinner look-a-like is his familiar, Keroberos. Syaoran's mother, Queen Yelan, has officially assigned them as her liaisons to Arus."
"Hello," Syaoran, Meilin, and Kero said with a small hand wave.
"Sorcerer?" Gertrude stared in surprise, then clapped her hands in joy. "Oh, how wonderful, we finally have our own magic user to help us! I'll prepare rooms for them right away!" She started to turn to go, then stopped and flipped back around. "Wait, why would Queen Yelan want to assign her own son and niece to us? Wouldn't she need them on their own world?"
"Not unless something happens to his older sisters, she won't," Meilin commented.
"Well," Allura said, thinking about how to say this properly, "Remember how I said things went a little. . .sideways?"
After arriving on Galra, Lotor, Haggar, and Sakura departed their craft – they had once again signaled for a pick up by a full starship once they were well away from Walbrane and no sign of pursuit by Voltron was evident – and trudged toward the main castle, Spinner floating after them, still visibly steaming. In all fairness, only Haggar and Cova seemed unperturbed, though the other three each had different reasons for their agitated states.
Between his ruined birthday celebration, failure to dispatch Keith, Lance, Hunk and the two Clow brats when he'd had the chance in favor of tormenting them, and the reveal of just how truly powerful his closest friend and confidant actually was, as well as the Spinner look-a-like's assertion about his parentage, Lotor's mind was heavily a twirl. Spinner, more simply, was still fuming over his fight with his "doppelganger", Kero, and how his counterpart had effortlessly owned him in only moments!
And Sakura, of course, was whirling through most of the same things Lotor was, but was also including the fact that she still hadn't come up with any new ideas for attacking Arus. As they approached the main castle gate, a small voice drew her attention away from her current reverie.
"Wow, is that him?" the voice asked.
"Yeah, it is," a second voice replied to the first. "The Prince." Sakura glanced over to see two Galran children, a girl of about five or six and a boy of about eight or nine watching them go by with a wide eyed look of curiosity and amazement on their faces. In her hands, the little girl held a Galran Lauquix Frog, which was wiggling in an effort to gain its liberty. The rather hideous creature was a dark gray, had three eyes, and sharp, carnivorous teeth. Sakura had never really cared for the things, as they were known to be venomous and in the wild particularly vicious, especially in larger groups. This one was alone, though, and clearly semi-domesticated.
"Leave now, small ones," Haggar advised the children. "The Prince is in no mood for entreaties from the public." The boy looked at Haggar for only a moment as the old witch continued into the castle, then grabbed the girl's wrist. As it happened, Lotor had barely even glanced at the two, and had already gone inside the gate, Spinner right behind him.
"Yes, ma'am," the boy said, and started to pull his friend away, only for her to lose her grip on the frog, which dropped to the ground.
"Oh, no!" she cried, and the frog leapt away from her and toward the returning villains. Sakura, even less in the mood for this, caught it with her magic and started to swing it away in disgust as it started hissing at her, when she stopped, and instead floated it over to herself to look at it more closely. The slimy creature was wriggling, again trying to free itself, and snapping its jaw at her, clearly trying to bite the young witch. While the little Galran girl was waiting anxiously for her to make a decision, Sakura watched the amphibian for a few moments, and then smiled wickedly.
"Hello, Project: Ribbit," Sakura said, beginning to chuckle merrily to herself before finally tossing the frog aside as she entered the castle gate, while the little girl chased after it, the boy on her heels.
Inside the castle, Lotor journeyed to a strategy room, calling several ranking officers to him, including Mogor. Once gathered around the table in the room's center, Lotor stood up, laying his hands palms down upon the table's surface.
"Alright, gentleman, I have at least two plans cooked up for Arus, and a list of things I need to prepare them for action," Lotor declared, no nonsense in his voice. "First up, I need an up to date inventory of our current available robeasts..."
As the lions returned to their hiding places, the Sun Tzu landed quietly upon the ground on the opposite side of the bridge that crossed the lake to the Castle of Lions. Syaoran and Meilin disembarked, Kero floating after them. As they reached the bridge, a groups of guards arrived to meet them.
"Greetings, sir, ma'am," the one in the lead saluted them. "You are the new royal liaisons from planet Clow, yes?"
"Yes, soldier, we are," Syaoran replied, and introduced the three of them to the guard.
"Princess Allura sent word for us to come out to meet you, and that there was cargo on your ship that requires immediate transport to the castle vaults, your Highnesses," the guard stated.
"Yes, there is," Meilin said, and then gave them quick instructions on where in the Sun Tzu the two chests were currently stored. "Do you perhaps have a cart?" she asked.
"One is on the way, your Highness," the guards stated.
"Good, we'll trust you and your men to handle it on your own, then," Syaoran nodded, and he and Meilin started across the bridge, only for Syaoran to glance over his shoulder. "Don't touch anything else, understood?!" he barked.
"Understood, your Majesty," the guard called back. Syaoran nodded, and he and Meilin proceeded to the castle, Kero floating behind them. While the two child royals were feeling more than a little grumpy about their "punishment" from Queen Yelan, Kero actually stared at the castle before them that would be their new home until further notice with awe and respect.
Upon reaching the main doors, they opened to reveal the Voltron Force waiting for them, along with Coran and Gertrude.
"Prince Syaoran, Princess Meilin, Keroberos, I welcome you to my world and to my home," Allura announced formally. "I know that these aren't the most ideal circumstances, but I hope you will be able to enjoy your stay with us." The other Voltron Force members and Coran all gave a bow while Allura and Gertrude gave a quick curtsy. Syaoran and Kero both bowed in response, and Meilin gave a curtsy of her own.
"Thank you, Princess Allura," Syaoran replied, also formally. "I , too, hope my and my cousin's, and Kero's, stay upon your world and within your home is a pleasant one." They then all stood up and took a breath. "Are we done with all the formal protocol stuff? Or is there something else we need to do?" he asked.
"Nope, we're done," Allura said, then turned to Gertrude. "So, where did you set them up, Gertrude?"
"I've prepared two rooms for them just down the hall from Pidge," Gertrude said. "And as requested, we're getting an extra pillow bed for Prince Syaoran's familiar. Though I am curious about the size you said you needed."
"I prefer to sleep in my true, glorious form, thank you very much," Kero stated. Coran arched an eyebrow at that, Gertrude merely crooking her head ever so slightly to one side.
"Ah, yes, you mentioned that during your recitation of what happened on Walbrane," Coran commented. "I don't suppose Gertrude and I could...have a look?" In truth, he was finding the idea that this small creature, along with Sakura's Spinner Sun, could actually transform themselves in such a way a little hard to believe, his Princess's and the Voltron Force's confirmation of the eyewitnessing of said transformations notwithstanding.
"Oh, you want to see me at my most fabulous?" Kero grinned, one tiny forepaw tapped to his chest. "Well, if I must..." Just then they could hear something, or rather someone, dashing in their direction.
"PIDGE!" the feminine voice cried out.
"Uh, oh," Pidge winced, then turned to their new allies. "So, there's one other long term guest of the castle we need to tell you about..." Before he could finish his sentence, though, Anga, still wearing her sundress, barreled into view, tossing her arms around Pidge in a bear hug. The boy let out a brief cry of surprise at the sudden embrace.
"Thank the great sky spirits, you come back safe," she said, clearly overjoyed and coming down from heavy anxiety.
"Yes, I'm okay, never better," Pidge said, one eye shut to avoid her hair getting into it. "Can you maybe let go now?"
"What...the heck...is...?" Meilin stared, pointing one finger at Anga.
"You...have a pet...monster?" Syaoran asked, trying to comprehend what was before his eyes. Their inquiries got Anga's attention, causing her to look up and see the two new children for the first time.
"Ah?" she blinked.
"A Gorgon?" Kero's eye's widened in his own surprise. "How'd that get here all the way from Medusa?"
"What?!" everyone but Anga stared at Kero in surprise.
"You know what Anga is?" Allura asked. "And where she's from?"
"Sure," Kero replied. "Back in the day, Master Clow liked to spend time exploring the more 'backwater' areas of the galaxy. And of course he'd take yours truly along, couldn't leave someone as awesome as me behind. And among other places we visited was planet Medusa, where her people live. I see they've adopted clothes since then."
"Well, we've been encouraging her to use them, but it's still touch and go," Allura admitted.
"Huh?" Kero blinked in confusion.
"Not particularly advanced are they?" Syaoran asked.
"Apparently, they never got past the hunter/gatherer stage, actually," Hunk stated.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Kero asked. "And you didn't answer my first question, either. How did it get here?"
"Anga's a she, not an it, Kero," Lance corrected the familiar. "And as to how she came to Arus, the short version is, Lotor. As to what Hunk said, well..." Lance's eyes noticeably darted to one side as he hesitated to continue.
"My people are gone," Anga said, a tear in her eye, and then proceeded to tell Kero and the two new children of the "sickness" that had wiped her people out, including her child, before Lotor and Sakura had captured her for their use. By the time she finished, she was weeping openly, having released her hold on Pidge to stand up straight and wipe her eyes, and Allura, Gertrude, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were all trying to comfort her. Coran, meanwhile, gave the three newcomers the cliff's notes version of how Anga came to be in their company, and freed from Lotor's control, such as it was. At the end, Meilin chose to bravely step forward and reach out a hand to rest it on Anga's side.
"I'm so sorry that happened, Ms. Anga," she said sincerely. Anga, having now managed to calm down considerably, looked down at her.
"Thank you," Anga said. She then looked at Kero, curiosity in her eyes. "You truly knew my people, tiny one?"
"Only briefly, long ago," Kero stated. "Master Clow and I didn't stay around for too long. I do remember one thing of note, though." With that, Kero fluttered back a little, then snapped out his wings and flapped them around himself, and a moment later the wings retracted to reveal Kero in his true form, who calmly set down on the ground. Coran and Gertrude stared in astonishment at the transformation, both because they had now seen it and because of how amazingly fast he'd done it. Meanwhile Anga simply blinked in surprise.
"I am Keroberos, and I stand before you fully revealed as I truly am, nothing hidden," Kero stated very formally. Anga gave a small gasp of surprise and smiled.
"The tribe-to-tribe greeting," she said, then shifted into her own alternate form, minus becoming a super giant. "I am Anga, and I stand before you fully revealed as I truly am, nothing hidden," she formally said to Kero back. They smiled at each other, then reverted to their regular forms, Kero once more floating in the air. Meilin and Syaoran blinked lightly, trying to comprehend what they'd just seen.
"What did she just do?" Syaoran asked.
"What you just saw is the Gorgon's, well, battle form I guess," Kero explained. "At least, we only ever saw them break it out when two or more of them got into a hissy fit of some kind, so we presumed it was primarily for fighting."
"It true," Anga nodded. "The inside self only brought outside to hunt or fight battles with other tribes."
"And in that form she can shoot an energy beam of sorts out of her eyes that turns anything it hits into stone," Pidge added.
"So I would recommend not doing anything to make her mad at you, if you know what's good for you," Gertrude put in. Allura had to cover her mouth with her hand quickly to hide her brief chuckle of amusement.
"No worries," Anga said, stepping forward and scooping the two kids into a hug before reaching back and bringing Pidge into it as well. "I'll make sure they all stay on best behavior, so there is no need to use my Stone Eye on them." Meilin and Syaoran widened their eyes at that comment.
"Oh, yeah," Pidge said. "Probably shoulda mentioned, she's a helicopter mommy."
"Oh, joy," Meilin said with a touch of sarcasm in her voice, while Syaoran's eye just widened further. From where he was floating, Kero openly broke into laughter.
In her and Haggar's shared rooms, Sakura once again sat at her table, but now she was feverishly working out a new fiendish plan, a pen in her hand zipping back and forth across multiple sheets of formerly blank paper. She had been designing and redesigning and counter-designing for a couple of hours now, working out exactly what she wanted to do with her new project, and felt close to reaching an acceptable "first draft". When a guard stepped in looking for her, she didn't even really notice him until he cleared his throat to get her attention.
"WHAT?! She snapped at him.
"His great Majesty, King Zarkon, wishes to see you in the throne room immediately, Witch Sakura," the guard stated.
"TELL HIM I'M BUSY!" she yelled, magical energy starting to crackle around her. The guard shuddered slightly, but stood his ground.
"King Zarkon insists, and I don't believe I need to remind you of what happens to those who disobey his orders," the guard stated. Sakura stared a him for a moment, then tossed down her pen, hopped off her stool, and summoned her staff from where she'd left it against the wall as she headed toward the door.
"Fine, but it better be quick," she grumbled. She exited the lab and headed quickly to the throne room, where Zarkon was waiting, surprisingly calmly, on the throne. Haggar was also just arriving via the opposite door, and Lotor arrived behind Sakura a moment later. They came to the bottom of the steps and kneeled.
"You summoned us, father?" Lotor asked.
"Yes," Zarkon said. "I'd have called you in sooner, but after the rather...interesting video conversation I had with Queen Yelan of Clow, I suspected a couple of you needed a few moments to cool down. Also, I had to make arrangements to pacify the mess on Walbrane. Apparently in the wake of your departure a few riots broke out." They all blinked, wondering where this was going. "I'd have asked for Spinner's presence as well," Zarkon continued, "but apparently he's in the arena making the guards teach him hand to hand battle strategy, and breaking a few of their bones while he's at it."
"Wow, he really didn't like getting owned by that Kero familiar," Lotor commented. Sakura just batted her eyes to the side briefly.
"So that's where he went off to," she commented, then looked up at her King. "So, did she declare war on us, too?"
"Yelan? For setting up her fifth born and niece to be exploded? Surprisingly, no, she's continuing to keep Clow neutral," Zarkon stated. "And while I might be tempted to send an attack, for the time being I shan't."
"Really, sire?!" Haggar gawped.
"Don't worry, she said any Clow citizens in or significantly near our space are on their own," Zarkon said, a smile coming to his face. "And then made the rather pointed note of letting me know she's assigned said fifth born and niece to Arus as liaisons." The three at the bottom of the stairs stared at this comment, and then Lotor chuckled.
"So she's just going to leave those two at our mercy? How nice," Lotor smiled.
"Hm, that, or I'm thinking she's teaching them a little lesson," Zarkon said. "So, then, any new ideas for Arus yet? Lotor?"
"I'm devising a couple of long range plans now, and am waiting for an inventory of remaining robeasts to be provided so as to choose something appropriate for each plan," Lotor declared.
"Very good," Zarkon nodded. "Little witch?"
"I'm working on a new plan as we speak, your majesty," Sakura replied. "I just need time to finish working it out, put it together, and then implement it."
"Very well, as long as you're actually working on something," Zarkon said. "Haggar? Your projects?"
"The research project still remains a long way from bearing fruit at this time, but the new robeast concept is nearly ready for prototype, I need only a little more time," Haggar declared.
"So be it," Zarkon decided. "That will be all for now. You may go." He waved at them dismissively, and they rose to leave. Sakura paused.
"Sire, did you know?" she asked.
"Know what?" he arched his eyebrow.
"How truly powerful I am compared to ma...master Haggar?" she asked, and Zarkon's eyes widened in surprise before turning on Haggar, who had stopped to see what her apprentice was asking about, while Lotor had stopped to hear Zarkon's answer.
"She's only now realized this?!" Zarkon snapped.
"No, sire, Prince Syaoran's familiar, Keroberos, revealed it," Haggar replied. "You should also know that, in terms of raw power, the boy and my apprentice are equals."
"HE'S WHAT?!" Zarkon actually looked panicked. "Please tell me he's been restrained the same way you did your student!" Sakura's own eyes widened in shock.
"Oh, yes, Yelan thought the same as I on that subject, thankfully," Haggar stated.
"YOU KNEW ABOUT THAT, TOO?!" Sakura yelled, forgetting herself for a moment.
"Of course I did! Haggar hides nothing from me, especially something of such importance!" Zarkon answered. "At the time I questioned why it was even necessary, but Haggar stated it was first and foremost because of your immaturity. And given what you did to the Raikotsu Valley just recently, I am now forced to agree with Haggar's call on this." Sakura felt only slightly mollified, but a burning question rolled around in her head, one that could only be answered one way.
"Master Haggar," she said slowly. "I want the restraining spell removed."
"No," Haggar replied, a rarely heard firmness in her voice, one that denoted she would not bend on this no matter what. Sakura glowered at her mother figure, fury starting to rise once more.
"Can the spell be removed?" Lotor asked, now curious himself.
"Of course it can," Haggar answered in a huff. "There are three ways to do so..."
"And here we have the castle's central control room, from which we can monitor pretty much everything, and it's also from here that we launch to the Voltron lions when we need to, which is sadly more regularly than I care to think," Allura declared as she lead everyone into said control room. It had been decided that, as they would be here for an indeterminate amount of time, giving Syaoran, Meilin, and Kero a full tour, and therefor a proper working knowledge, of the Castle of Lions was a must. Everyone was present – the Voltron Force, Coran and Gertrude, the visiting royals and familiar(obviously), and even Anga had tagged along, to keep an eye on her three youthful "charges".
"Gotta say, this is one impressive place you got here," Kero admitted.
"Thank you, good familiar," Coran said. "It is much appreciated."
"Please, just call me Kero," Kero replied.
"It occurs to me, though," Gertrude spoke up. "Princess Allura, you said that Prince Syaoran's magic is under a restraint, preventing him from using his full powers, right?" Allura nodded. "Well, then," Gertrude continued, "wouldn't it make sense, and be of more help to us, if he were to remove this restraint?"
"Possibly, but he can't," Kero answered her before anyone else could speak up.
"I bet he could figure it out if he tried," Meilin countered.
"You don't get it, brat, that's not how this kind of restraining spell works," Kero stated. "It's specially designed, and from what I can tell, hasn't been altered pretty much at all from Master Clow's day. There are only three ways that spell is coming off, and none of them are currently available. Well, one, but that one requires a lot of patience on everyone's part."
"And these three ways are?" Allura asked, now truly curious.
"The first," Haggar stated, "is that I remove the spell myself, as only the one who cast it originally can deliberately remove it prematurely, which I am not inclined to do for I think pretty obvious reasons! Need I remind you again of Raikotsu Valley?"
"The second, obviously," Kero declared, "is the preferred way, namely Syaoran comes of age, at which point it will simply fall away of its own accord, as intended. This will technically most likely occur over the course of two to four days in a careful, gradual release of the hindered magic."
"And the third," Haggar/Kero said in all seriousness, "is that the original caster of the spell abruptly dies before its intended expiration date, in which case the spell will immediately fail, releasing all the withheld magic at once."
"I would also point out that if the third happened, the results of all of Syaoran's magic coming out at once would most likely be...explosive," Kero added.
"Define 'explosive'," Keith inquired. Kero thought about it for a moment, lightly humming to himself.
"Well, if it happened right here and now, probably," Kero said, "bye-bye top half of the castle, and everyone but him is dead." The group stared for a moment. Anga then laid a hand on Syaoran's shoulder, getting his attention.
"You no even think about getting spell off by yourself, understand!" she pointed a finger at him and said in a stern, commanding mother voice.
"Yeah, sure, no problem," Syaoran readily agreed.
"I want to feel it, all of it!" Sakura stated. "Now!" Lotor and Zarkon watched the building match of wills, intrigued and heavily curious of its outcome.
"You can wait until you're a woman," Haggar said firmly.
"It's my power! Not yours!" Sakura snapped, her magic crackling around her. Haggar flared her own magic, the black aura cloaking around her several times bigger than her actual body and shaking the room, causing Lotor and Sakura to take a step back, and on the throne even Zarkon found himself flinching nervously at the display. It was rare that even the King of Galra would see a hint of how much power Haggar truly had at her disposal.
"And if you want to still have access to what you do have and not have all of it sealed away, you will remember your lessons in PATIENCE!" Haggar roared. She then pulled her aura in, and composed herself. "Now, if you don't mind, I have things to attend to," she said, and then turned and left the room.
"Impressive," Lotor muttered. "Definitely a master."
"Don't you two have things to do yourselves?" Zarkon asked. The two nodded, and Lotor quickly and smartly departed, followed by Sakura, who was obeying, but inside feeling more than a little upset. It had been a long time since she had last been yelled at for anything.
The next two days was a whirlwind of activity for all. On Galra, Sakura finished working out the plan for her new scheme and then began working on implementing it. Lotor began the set-ups for his plans, but hit a small hitch as none of the remaining robeasts were particularly appropriate to the two jobs in question, and the last monster hunt hadn't really provided decent dividends in the end, unfortunately. Spinner continued his combat training, determined to be able to beat Kero the next time they met, bolstered by Sakura when she told him of his counterpart's most likely current location for the foreseeable future. And Haggar remained cagey, not letting anyone in on her full plans. She did, however, begin instructing Sakura on how to suppress her magic so as to avoid being detected by Syaoran in the future. Any and all plans for Arus going forward would be for nothing, Haggar had declared, if the boy mage could warn the Voltron Force they were coming the moment they reached high orbit.
On Arus, meanwhile, the Voltron Force did some additional training, and spent some time getting to know Syaoran, Meilin, and Kero. The attendant Yelan said would be coming, Wei, arrived early in the morning the day after the two child royals' and Kero's arrival on Arus with the promised additional wardrobe, study material, and training equipment.
Wei was an older man of about sixty to seventy with light grey hair and eyes, standing at about 6'2", and dressed as a butler complete with overcoat and vest and wearing pince nez glasses that sat on his nose attached to his coat by a single chain on the left side. He was very calm about the whole affair, and quickly worked with Gertrude to set up a study lounge for the young royals. He also quickly and efficiently worked with the Arusian guards and the three Clowan guards who came with him to see to the previously stolen Clow treasures being immediately transported back to their place of origin. He himself would stay around as Syaoran and Meilin's effective "guardian", and was given a room across the hall from Anga. Fortunately, his introduction to Anga was made with grace, Wei only very briefly arching his eyebrows in surprise at her presence, and then quickly accepting her as a fellow guest of Arus and protector of his charges, the latter much to said charges' chagrin.
And then, on the third day after the Walbrane Engagement, Haggar called Zarkon and Lotor to see her latest robeast modification experiment, Sakura at her side.
They stood in front of a viewing screen in Haggar's main work area in the Arcane Science Tower. On the screen they could see the testing fields, and the new robeast standing there, waiting. The creature looked more like a machine than a living thing, its body seemingly fully robotic. Its arms and shoulders, top of its hips, and upper legs and feet were light to medium gray while its upper torso, rest of its hips, and lower legs were bright red, and its lower torso, which was surprisingly narrow all things considered, was green. It had pincers instead of hands, and its feet resembled a pair of pistons. Its head was the only part that seemed to be actually organic, and was green with a single yellow eye sporting a solid black pupil. In lieu of a mouth and nose, it had three vertical holes side-by-side, the middle one having three dots inside it in a vertical line. And on its chest were six rectangular, gray, open barrels with rounded corners in two blocks of three, one block on the right and the other on the left.
"This is my latest creation, sires," Haggar stated. "I call it Devilburn." She pressed the open mic switch, allowing her voice to be broadcast to the monster. "Devilburn, commence final test!" she declared. A few moments later a group of Star Cutters flew into view, and Devilburn stared at them unconcerned before firing a blast of white-hot heated gas at them from its chest barrels. A moment later the sky was red with fire and heat, and the Star Cutters seemed to just boil away. Zarkon, Lotor, and Sakura stared, impressed.
"As you can see, its compressed gas weapons allow it to create the most intense heat imaginable, up to 6,000 degrees, and sustain it for several hours," Haggar cackled delightedly at the successful test.
"Ah, yes, true evil genius," Zarkon gleamed, then turned to Lotor. "Lotor, take this creature and attack Arus again at once."
"Of course, Father!" Lotor beamed. "With this latest creation of Haggar's, I won't just conquer Arus, I'll barbecue it!"
"So this is your 'overhaul' concept? Making the robeasts more 'ro' than 'beast'?" Sakura asked.
"Every other robeast we've tried has been primarily organic, and limited by the common weaknesses of the flesh. The only real exceptions were the tortoise ship and the Centipede Express, but the latter was never intended as a weapon of war," Haggar explained. "So I thought, why not remove the weak flesh and instead replace it with metal, making them as strong as Voltron!"
"Yes, I see, Haggar," Zarkon said, watching the screen again. "But enough talk, put it into motion at once!" He turned, only to notice Lotor had already left.
On Arus, the Voltron Force, Wei, Syaoran, and Meilin were down by the lake with everyone but Wei dressed in workout gis. Wei was dressed as normal, minus the overcoat. Syaoran and Meilin were squared off, practicing a form of Kung Fu while Wei monitored them and critiqued their form and technique. They were currently focusing on punches and blocks, and Meilin's skill and finesse were clearly greater than her cousin's. Meanwhile, Allura and Pidge were paired off with Lance and Hunk respectively, the four in the process of training in Judo, Allura and Pidge currently holding their partners with the intent to turn and flip them upon command. Keith stood aside, observing them as Wei did his charges.
Off to the side Anga sat on her legs atop a blanket watching curiously, while Kero, in his full form, lay on his back enjoying the feel of the sun on his chest and belly, lightly swaying his paws in the air. A group of sweat towels lay on the blanket next to Anga.
"Ready!" Keith called out. "Full point shoulder throw, go!" Allura snapped around, using her full weight to bring Lance to her shoulder, then bent down and flipped him over her onto the ground, pulling off the technique perfectly. Pidge, on the other hand...
"Problem, Pidge?" Keith asked as he watched Pidge attempting to flip Hunk over him, who stayed on the ground like a rock. "Try to get him off balance!"
"Yeah, Pidge! Heave-Ho!" Allura turned and cheered him encouragingly.
"You can do it Pidge!" Lance added as he stood back up.
"What gives, little buddy?" Hunk asked. "I'm waiting." Just then Pidge moved his foot to try and get a better perch, and accidentally knocked Hunk's foot off of the ground. The result: Hunk suddenly fell forward to the ground, taking Pidge with him and landing on top of the unfortunate young man. Hunk immediately pushed himself up to avoid crushing his partner. "Oops," he smirked. By this point Syaoran and Meilin had glanced over, and everyone save Wei, Kero, and Anga began chuckling and laughing at the sight of the two on the ground.
"Pidge?!" Anga cried, slightly alarmed.
"I'm fine!" Pidge called out, waving a hand.
"Maybe you should switch over to training in Kung Fu with us, Pidge," Syaoran suggested.
"Yeah, then at least you'll be on a more even tier with the ones kicking your butt," Meilin added. This resulted in more chuckling all around, and then Kero's nose twitched, as if smelling something.
"Heads up! Nags incoming!" he called out, and sure enough a moment later Gertrude and Coran came jogging up to the group.
"Princess, finally, there you are," Gertrude huffed. Coran panted heavily at her side.
"Gertrude, Coran, is something wrong?" Allura asked, giving them her undivided attention.
"Of course there is," Coran said, having caught his breath. "You're supposed to be working on your studies right now! Do you have any idea what time it is?!" Allura blinked, and felt herself flush a little.
"Uh...," she faltered. Wei, meanwhile, blinked at the comment and reached into his pocket to pull out a pocket watch, then flipped it open.
"My word, they are quite right," he said. "Master Syaoran, Lady Meilin, we should have returned to the castle to commence your book studies almost half an hour ago." Allura stepped over and glanced at his watch for herself.
"Wait, really?!" Meilin stared.
"Wow, we did lose track of time, didn't we?" Allura said, then turned back to Gertrude and Coran. "Lemme just grab a towel and wipe off, ok?"
"You two as well," Wei instructed as he stowed his watch. Allura and Syaoran smartly went over to the blanket and each grabbed a towel, wiping the sweat off as much as possible, while Meilin slowly drudged over to get one.
"These studies, they important?" Anga asked.
"Oh, yes," Allura assured her. "In our kind of society there's a multitude of things a leader needs to learn in order to be able to properly make decisions for their kingdom and the people living there. It's not as simple as, 'Where do we send the hunters or gatherers to get food?' I'm afraid."
"Yeah, but it's boring as heck," Meilin grumbled as she toweled off. "I'd rather focus on my Kung Fu."
"Easy for you to say," Allura smiled. "You're not next in line for your kingdom's throne."
"No," Syaoran commented. "That's Fuutie's problem."
"Exactly!" Meilin chimed, looking serious and clenching a fist. "It's gonna take a disaster of near cosmic proportions for Syaoran or me to even reach the head of the line! So why should we have to study our brains out any more than regular kids our age! I don't see anyone insisting on Pidge cracking the books!"
"That's because I'm a prodigy and already had two college degrees to my name before I decided to sign up with Garrison," Pidge, who along with Hunk had stood up again, said. "Of course," his eyes darted to one side in clear annoyance, "My stupid twin brother Chip just had to one up me and get three degrees before joining up."
"And you know perfectly well that we're not regular kids, we're royals, and an improperly educated royal is neither abided nor respected in any court," Syaoran stated. Meilin huffed in annoyance.
"Alright, that's enough of that," Wei said. "Let's get going, you two." Syaoran and the still unhappy Meilin trotted after their caretaker as he started heading back to the castle, with Allura, Coran, and Gertrude following suit, Allura giving one last quick aside to the boys.
"Sorry, guys, see you later!" she called.
"Frankly, it's not really as interesting without Allura here," Hunk commented as they went out of sight. Pidge took advantage of the opportunity, turned and grabbed Hunk, and, with the large man hopelessly off guard, turned and flipped Hunk over his shoulder. Hunk smacked the ground with an escape of air and a look of surprise on his face.
"Hehe, easy point!" Pidge crossed his arms over his chest. Hunk sat up and looked at Pidge in annoyance.
"That was just plain sneaky!" he said, pointing at Pidge, then smiled. "Remember that the next time you're up against a substantially larger opponent than yourself." Everyone chuckled a little at that. Anga turned, and noticed that Kero was still there, having not even moved from his lazy position on his back.
"Aren't you going?" she asked.
"Of course not," Kero replied, stretching comfortably. "There's still sun to enjoy."
The boys continued to train for a few more minutes, then grabbed their own towels, dampened them in the lake, and began to mop off. Just as they were starting to chat amiably, Pidge glanced up at the eastern sky and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Hey, what's happening to the sky over there?" he asked. The others all looked as well, and were filled with confusion.
"It's all bright red and orange, like a sunset," Hunk commented.
"But the sun doesn't set in the east," Lance said. Kero's nose twitched again, and he suddenly flipped into a standing position, at full alert, surprising Anga.
"Guys, I smell smoke, lots of it!" Kero said in a fully serious tone.
"Yeah, it looks like fire," Keith stated. "The sky is burning!"
"But why would the sky be burning?" Hunk asked.
"Is it just me, or is it getting hotter?" Pidge asked.
"Back to the castle, now!" Keith ordered, and they all turned and ran for their home, Pidge grabbing Anga by the hand as she rose to her feet to follow them, Kero taking to the sky. Within a couple minutes they reached the Castle of Lions and dashed inside, while up above the weapons turrets came out as the warning klaxons began to wail.
The boys stopped in their rooms to quickly change their clothes before heading straight to the control room, Anga following them, where Allura, Coran, Gertrude, Syaoran, Meilin, and Wei were already waiting, all eyes on the main view screen as it showed the expanding cloud of flames. Kero had come to the control room ahead of them, switching forms as he flew through the castle. Allura, Syaoran, and Meilin were all back in normal clothes as well.
"Okay, I know I wanted an excuse to not study, but getting cooked to death by wacko weather isn't what I had in mind!" Meilin said.
"Coran, do we know what's going on?" Allura asked.
"Not yet, but it's most likely an enemy attack," Coran replied.
"Yeah, feels like something Lotor would do," Keith said. "He's covering the Arus sky with fire."
"And the affected area is expanding exponentially," Coran reported. "It's already covering several square miles, and will fill the sky overhead of the castle in moments."
"Syaoran, can you counter this with your magic?" Lance inquired.
"If it were a small contained area, maybe," Syaoran said. "But this is quickly building to cover a good chunk of the planet! I wouldn't be able to do anything without the source being eliminated first."
"Then let's find the source," Allura decided. "Coran, run a deep scan of those flames, I want to know what's creating them, and I want it known yesterday!" Coran began operating the controls at the main console, following his Princess's command.
Above the canopy of flame and heat, Devilburn flew back and forth, exuding the heated gas from his weapons, ever increasing the amount and spread of his attack. Nearby, Lotor watched all from his private ship, cackling like a madman.
"Yes! Burn, Arus! Soon the canopy will cover the whole planet!" he declared. "And if you think that's bad, wait until all the water is gone! A world without water is finished!"
And it was true. Trees were self igniting into small wildfires, the people were rapidly approaching heatstroke, and several lakes and ponds, including the moat around the Castle of Lions, were evaporating away. Some people had desperately jumped, fully clothed, into the remains of one lake to splash themselves and attempt to stay cool, which was probably not the best idea as the remaining water was itself moving towards boiling. The situation was dire indeed.
Back at the castle, Coran finished his scans and upon the view screen a silhouette of Devilburn appeared within the aerial blaze.
"We have a semi-visual on the enemy," Coran announced.
"And by the shape, it must be another robeast!" Lance stated. "They really are trying to set the whole planet on fire!"
"Then I say we take a whack at it!" Pidge said.
"That's exactly what we're going to do," Coran declared, then hit the com system for the castle. "Turret Defense Gunners, fire missiles!" he commanded.
"Yeah, blow it out of the sky!" Meilin cheered.
Outside, two turrets rotated to aim at the monster above, and released a hail of artillery into the sky. The missiles soared toward their target, but then warbled, began to become misshapen, and then melted away. A few almost reached Devilburn before being reduced to metal vapor, and in his ship, Lotor smiled in joy.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to come up with something better than that!" Lotor said. He then paused, contemplating the silence. "I should have brought Sakura with me," he commented. "She'd have enjoyed this."
Back in the castle, the group stared aghast at the loss of the missiles.
"They...melted?!" Meilin asked, her mind still trying to process it.
"Yeah, they never even made it to the target," Lance said. "They just went out like candles!"
"How hot is it up there?" Pidge pondered.
"Way too hot, obviously," Kero stated.
"In that case I think it's our turn!" Hunk cracked his knuckles. "Let's go up and pay it a personal visit!"
"Okay team, let's launch!" Keith ordered.
"Can I come?" Syaoran asked in all seriousness. "I might be able to do something once the thing's in a clear line of sight."
"Thanks for the offer, but we haven't met a robeast yet that Voltron couldn't take care of," Keith replied, and Syaoran nodded.
"Good luck, team," Coran wished them, and the Voltron Force sped to their launch tubes to get to the lions. Anga watched Pidge go nervously, but this time did not try to stop him. Moments later the lions flew again; except for Blue, who remained on its resting station in the now decidedly empty moat, having apparently flopped down right after starting up.
"Hey, why didn't Allura launch her lion?" Pidge asked.
"Princess, what's wrong?" Keith inquired, curious himself.
"I don't know," Allura replied. "Blue lion won't respond. I'm trying to run a diagnostic no...what?! Power source negative?! How can it be negative?!"
"Because your lion's source of power has been taken from it, my daughter," an ethereal male voice answered her question, taking her by surprise.
"Father?!" Allura gasped.
"Yes, my, daughter, it is I," the late King Alfor's face appeared on her monitor.
"What's going on? Why isn't the blue lion in the air with the others?" Meilin asked, nervousness entering her voice.
"I'm not sure..." Coran started, when a new voice cut in through the coms.
"Listen well, all of you," Alfor's voice echoed in the room.
"King Alfor?!" Coran and Gertrude blinked in surprise.
"King Alfor? Isn't he, like, super dead?" Meilin asked.
"I thought the place felt a little haunt-y," Kero quipped.
"When I was young and still far from being King of Arus, I devoted several summers to studying the buried lions of Voltron, learning as much as I could," Alfor stated solemnly to all five lions and the castle control room. "To me, my greatest discovery was that each lion derived energy from the environment itself. Black Lion takes its power from the lightning and electricity that streaks the skies, reaching a maximum output of two million terrawatts. Red Lion, to achieve a maximum charge of eight hundred thousand terrawatts, derives its power from the most intense heat, like that found in the heart of a raging fire! The yellow lion claims power from the earth itself, absorbing it from the desert sands to boast a maximum of one point two million terrawatts. And for the green lion, its creator harnessed the winds of a cyclone to imbue it with a maximum of eight hundred thousand terrawatts.
"Yes, these are the power sources. All supplied by nature, and then infused into the lions for a combined maximum outage of six million terrawatts of energy. When they are all combined into Voltron, it is these that give him his strength and endurance and has allowed him to cope with almost any foe."
"Whoa...," Meilin stared. "That's amazing."
"And you never used him yourself...why?" Syaoran asked.
"Prince Syaoran!" Gertrude snapped at him. "Such impertinence."
"My apologies for his rudeness, majesty," Wei said.
"Not at all, it is a fair question," Alfor surprised them. "And the answer is that I never had the chance or reason to, nor did I have four comrades to help me by flying the other four lions."
"But father, what about blue lion?" Allura cut in. "What's its power source? Wait, don't tell me. . ." The answer was suddenly painfully obvious, as she looked at the dry, cracking moat bed through her view port.
"Yes, the most ancient and valuable of all," Alfor replied. "Water. And until you find a way to replenish the dried moat, your lion will lie helpless like a beached whale. I'm sorry." And with that, Alfor faded away, and all was quiet again. Allura gritted her teeth at her current situation.
"Crap," she muttered.
In the castle control room, the small group still waiting there just stared for a moment. Finally, Meilin spoke up.
"We're thoroughly screwed, aren't we?" she asked.
"Kinda looks like it, don't it," Kero replied. Syaoran then turned and dashed toward the door, everyone turning to watch him.
"Where are you going, young man?" Gertrude asked.
"To see if I can conjure enough water to get the blue lion back in the air!" he replied. They blinked at this, and then Kero flew after him, transforming back to his full form as he caught up, Meilin quickly grabbing Anga's wrist to stop her chasing after as well.
"Hop on my back! You'll get there faster if you ride me," Kero instructed, and Syaoran immediately did so, grabbing Kero and jumping up while swinging his right leg over his familiar to allow him to ride atop the winged lion like a horse. The two then sped away.
Back in the air, the other lions continued to fly upward. Far above, Lotor noticed the absence of the blue lion, and found it curious.
"Interesting, it seems that the blue lion has been immobilized somehow," he mused. "And without it they can't combine. Which means Voltron will not fly today." He chuckled happily at this, and watched as the lions flew up into the hell-storm toward Devilburn. He waited until they were about halfway through before giving his next order.
"Now, Devilburn! Roast them to your heart's content!" he commanded. "But try not to overcook the green one, we want that one intact, if possible!" Devilburn turned, and unleashed its power right at the four approaching lions, the pilots within jerking from the sudden onslaught of intense heat. Lotor cackled again in delight. "Yes, suffer! Bake in your lions!" he crooned.
Back at the moat, Allura desperately tried to coax a reaction from Blue's engine, to no avail. While she did that, Syaoran, still riding atop Kero, came flying in over the crippled lion, summoned his magic sword, then pulled an ofuda paper out of his pocket. He flung the paper in the air and pressed the flat of his sword against it, his free hand held just behind the tip of the blade.
"Element...WATER!" he screamed as he did so, and then a torrent of fluid sprayed out from the paper and cascaded down onto the lion. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near enough, and far too much evaporated from the heat before making it to Blue like he wanted.
"Looks like this isn't going to work," Kero observed.
"Get us closer!" Syaoran said as he grabbed the ofuda out of the air, and Kero dropped downward, bringing them within a few feet of the mechanical lion. Syaoran immediately repeated the spell.
"Element...WATER!" he screamed again, creating another torrent, and while this time far more reached the lion than evaporated, it still seemed to do nothing.
"Nice try, Syaoran," Allura's voice came over the lion's speakers. "But my lion's gonna need a lot more than that, I'm afraid."
"Do we turn back?" Kero asked. Syaoran panted in the rising heat, then threw out the ofuda and cast the spell again.
"ELEMENT WATER!"
Back in the air, the other lions were being held back by the intensity and, more importantly, pressure of Devilburn's flames, unable to approach any closer. Lotor felt pleased, and decided to capitalize on the moment.
"Devilburn, focus your beam on the yellow lion, it should be the weakest to heat," he commanded, and Devilburn obeyed, the beams focusing on hitting Hunk's lion specifically. The beam struck Yellow right on the snozz, and inside Hunk immediately winced from the severe rise in temperature, just barely managing not to pass out, though the very real possibility of going into heatstroke was not absent from his mind.
"That's six thousand degrees pounding on you," Lotor smirked. "I wonder just how long you'll last. Well, while Haggar's new toy plays around with all of you, I'll just pop over to the blue lion. Allura must be lonely, and I'm always concerned about her." With that, Lotor piloted his personal craft, which was equipped with extra heat shields for this occasion, away. As he left, Devilburn extended its right arm out until it was able to grab Yellow by the snout, and began to drag Yellow up toward it.
Lotor's ship dipped down and around the flame storm toward the ground and the dried up moat, Lotor immediately noticing a speck of some kind near Blue that seemed to be launching spurt after spurt of water onto it. Arching an eyebrow in curiosity, he had the scanner magnify the image, and blinked in surprise at seeing the "speck" was in fact the Clow Prince, Syaoran, atop his familiar as though it were a steed.
"I see, he's trying to aid her with his magic," Lotor mused. "But why spray it with water? What good does that do...wait...don't tell me the blue lion actually needs water to run?!" At that he threw his head back in another peel of laughter. "What an amazing bonus for us! And we weren't even trying!" He then looked forward again, thoughtful. "The other lions are still running, so they clearly run on something else. What do you suppose that is?" He sat quietly for a moment, then blinked. "Oh, right, she's not here...I haven't gotten used to her being here with me, have I?"
In Blue, Allura was still trying to coax a reaction from the engines,when she noticed Lotor's craft coming into view on her monitor screen.
"Crap! Syaoran, castle, we have incoming! It's Lotor!" she snapped over the coms and lion's speakers. Outside the lion, Syaoran and Kero turned to see the approaching ship, and back in the castle control room the rest of the group saw the same on the main view screen. Coran reacted immediately.
"Enemy ship approaching the blue lion! Target the enemy vessel over the castle lake and open fire!" he ordered. Outside, the turrets turned and fired a barrage of missiles at Lotor's ship. At the same time Syaoran switched ofuda papers and repeated his incantation, but this time with a different cry.
"ELEMENT...LIGHTNING!" he screamed, and a bolt of lightning shot from his ofuda and through the air, straight at Lotor's ship. In his craft, Lotor again chuckled happily to himself.
"Oh, Allura, at last there's no escape for you," he smiled. "Though I must admit, your lion makes for an attractive target. Wait, what did the little Prince just..." Lotor had just noticed Syaoran's change of tactics, and then the missiles fired at him reached his airspace and began exploding around his ship, followed by Syaoran's lightning bolt smacking the underbelly of his craft. He growled as his systems went momentarily haywire, and fired two salvos of missiles from the turrets in his wings blindly, which landed and blew around the stand upon which Blue lay helpless, Allura letting out a reflexive scream as she rode it out. In that moment, Kero flew upward and out of range of the blast quickly.
"Kero!" Syaoran snapped at his familiar.
"Sorry, kid," Kero replied. "But I have an absolutely horrible allergy to being BLOWN UP! I'm pretty sure you share it." Syaoran glowered for a brief second, then looked back up at Lotor's ship. In Blue, Allura smacked her control panel.
"Blast it," she snapped. "If I could just move!"
Meanwhile, back in the firestorm, the rest of the lions weren't exactly faring much better. Checking his scanners, Keith noticed Lotor's change of location, and his current activity.
"Oh, great, not only has that thing grabbed Hunk, now Allura's under attack as well," he gritted his teeth. "If anyone's got any real good suggestions, I'd really like to hear them!"
"Actually, there is one way, and probably the only way out of this," Lance replied. "Red can take up to twenty thousand degrees of heat, so if this is as hot as these flames get, I might be able to do something! The problem is the sheer pressure of these blowing flames is keeping me from flying any further up! Pidge, do you think you can create a big enough blast of wind to create an opening for me?"
"Sure thing!" Pidge said. "One gale coming up!"
"Good thinking, team" Keith praised them, feeling some hope return. "I'll watch Pidge's six while Lance gets Hunk." With that said, Pidge redirected Green's power flow and fired a powerful blast of wind from Green's mouth that broke through the pressure cooker of flame and created a passage right up to the top and the robeast. Lance wasted no time, flying Red straight up the passage, and slammed into Devilburn, causing it to fly off balance. Unfortunately it maintained its grip on Yellow, so Red flew back around and slammed the abomination again! This time, Devilburn released its hold on Yellow, and the two lions flew back down the wind passage, tut suit!. They rendezvoused with Green just as Pidge was forced to turn the wind off to get the internal AC back online. The three lions quickly regrouped and headed back down out of the maelstrom, followed from not far behind by Black.
Lotor circled his craft around and fired another volley, this time hitting near the blue lion deliberately, mostly to keep Syaoran and Kero back and from trying to assist in getting the downed lion up again. For Syaoran's part, he continued to toss the occasional volley of lightning towards Lotor's ship, but Lotor, now wise to that ability and with his systems back to normal, made a point of constantly moving to avoid the shots. The castle was holding its fire, Lotor's constant movement making it near impossible to lock onto target.
"I do hope my last few volleys didn't shake you up too much, my dear," Lotor said, his coms open. "I wouldn't want my prized treasure damaged!" With that, he dodged another shot from Syaoran, this one accompanied by a fireball from Kero, and then circled and fired again into the dried lake. Inside Blue, Allura could do little more than ride out the shock waves from the explosions.
"Oh, my stubborn Princess, you must decide quickly!" Lotor chimed. "Would it not be simpler to just admit defeat and surrender?" Allura grunted in anger and annoyance.
"I wouldn't surrender to you even if my life depended on it!" she declared. "I'd rather die first than give you the satisfaction!"
"Ah, but I don't want you to die, my lovely Allura!" Lotor replied smugly. "I have great plans for us and our future! Just cooperate, and I'll call off Devilburn and spare the people of Arus! With our kingdoms united through us, in time we'll rule the whole galaxy! Think of the wealth and power that would await you!"
"Coward," Allura grunted. "Never!" Syaoran and Kero then launched another volley of their own, and Lotor swerved off, beginning to circle around again.
"I admire your fine spirit, my Princess," Lotor said, "But frankly, my patience is wearing thin. I'll give you one last chance to reconsider your answer, and then I'll have no choice!" And then a mechanical lion's roar sounded, grabbing Lotor's attention.
"She says no, asshole!" Keith's voice rang out over the com. Lotor stared in disbelief at the four rapidly approaching lions descending from Devilburn's hellfire towards him. From where they were, panting and sweating heavily from the heat, Syaoran and Kero smiled in triumph.
"About...time...," Syaoran said.
"Agreed," Kero stated, and began dropping them back toward Blue.
"Damn it, I was so close!" Lotor growled, and pulled off, ascending around the lions and back toward the sky above the fire clouds.
"Lotor's running off!" Lance exclaimed. "Should we get him?"
"Never mind him," Keith answered. "Our current priority is the Princess." With that they flew down and landed around Blue's stand, quickly confirming that Allura was okay, or as okay as she could be, considering. Kero had also landed, atop of Blue, and was panting heavily as his wings lay drooped at his sides. Syaoran, his adrenaline reserves tapping out, weakly tried the water spell one more time, to no avail.
"Blast, I think Syaoran and Kero are getting close to heatstroke," Hunk commented.
"Probably not the only one, Hunk," Keith admitted. "But we can't do anything without a source of water to launch the blue lion!" They all grimaced in annoyance, unsure of what to do.
Where?! Allura thought hard. Where can we find water?! There's no water left on the surface nearby or in the lake, and going further abreast will probably take too long, and most likely evaporate before it can get back to me! So what's that leave...
"That's it! Underground!" Allura snapped, finally gaining an epiphany.
"Huh?" Syaoran blinked.
"There might be some underground water we can use!" Allura continued. "We just have to dig it up and make it gush out!"
"Right, leave it to me then!" Hunk declared revving up his lion. "One well coming up!"
"Scanning deep underground for any nearby sources of water," Pidge stated. Atop Kero, Syaoran pulled out another talisman from his pocket then placed his hands together in front of him, his thumbs, forefingers, and mid-fingers flat against each other and pointed up while the rest were curled down. A moment later a small beam of energy sprang from the talisman and shot straight at the ground a few feet away from the blue lion's resting station.
"There! Dig for water there!" the boy cried. A moment later, Pidge's instruments chimed.
"Confirmed! A source of water directly below the surface in that location!" Pidge declared. Yellow launched into the air and then came right back down head first at the spot in question.
"Alright, time to pay my rescue from earlier forward," Hunk said. "Just hang tight, Princess!" And with that the yellow lion began digging through the dirt with a combination of its Sand Storm Blast and claws, blasting through the surface and disappearing underground. The others waited for several tense moments, hoping and quietly praying. And then Hunk's voice came over the coms in excitement.
"Yes! I found it, an underground waterway, almost an entire lake's worth of water! I'm coming back up now!" he cried. A few minutes later Yellow emerged from the side of the lake and was followed by a large gush of water that arced down and smacked Blue near head on. The water, pulled by Yellow creating a vacuum suction on the way up, was so great it was pouring far faster than it could evaporate from the intense heat. Red then threw a quick blast to seal the opening Yellow initially made to prevent the water from potentially draining right back out again, then it, Green, and Black jumped into the air.
"Yes! We got water!" Syaoran cried, clenching his fist. Allura opened Blue's top hatch, and her voice came over her loudspeaker.
"Syaoran, Kero, get in!" she commanded, and the boy happily dropped inside, Kero following suit, transforming back to his small form in the process. Allura closed the hatch behind them and then opened another to let the water enter the fuel tanks. In moments enough was taken in to restore Blue to functionality, and as Syaoran and Kero entered the cockpit, Allura launched her lion into the air at last. It quickly joined the waiting Yellow, and the two immediately flew after the others.
"Looks like you're good as new!" Hunk said.
"Better!" Allura smiled ear to ear. They soon caught up to the others as they approached the firestorm above them. "All systems generating at full power, guys! I'm ready!"
"Then what's the hold up?" Lance smirked.
"Let's get'em!" Pidge cried. And with that the five lions combined once more into the mighty Voltron.
In the castle control room, Coran, Gertrude, and Anga all gave a sigh of relief, while Meilin punched the air in excitement.
"Yeah! Get that thing!" she cried. Wei stared at the image upon the screen in awe and shocked reverence.
"He is real...," he breathed.
Voltron soared right through the raging fire like it wasn't there, emerging on the other side in mere seconds and in sight of Devilburn, who turned and stared impassively at his opponent. Nearby in his ship, Lotor cursed to himself, fairly confident what was coming next. Devilburn, unswayed, reached out and grabbed Voltron around his middle. In response, Voltron immediately brought out the Blazing Sword and with two quick swings, left Devilburn quite literally disarmed. As the severed limbs fell away into the maelstrom below them, Voltron then followed through and chopped Devilburn in half horizontally at the waist, then plunged his sword into Devilburn's chest and flew upward, sending the upper half of the robeast's remains into space where it promptly exploded.
As this occurred, Lotor turned his ship away from Arus and blasted back into space himself, returning once more for Galra. Moments after Devilburn's demise, Voltron came flying back down to the fire cloud, which still remained.
"Now, let's get rid of this cloud!" Keith said.
"Okay, I think I know a spell that can help," Syaoran said, holding his sword horizontally in front of him with his other hand held up to it, palm against the blade. "Not sure if it'll work on something this big, though," he admitted, then focused his magic and stretched it out, trying to ensnare the fiery clouds.
"You sure you want to try this?" Hunk asked. "No offense, but you looked pretty whipped from trying to jump-start Allura's lion." A moment later, Syaoran dropped his arms.
"Doesn't matter, it's too big," Syaoran stated. "I can't get it all."
"Not a problem, Syaoran," Keith said. "We got this." With that, Voltron stretched his arms out to the sides, and then both of his hands and feet blasted their special elemental attacks as the robot spun around as fast as it could, quickly sucking the dangerous clouds into an artificial tornado and shot it all into space, where it dissipated almost instantly.
"Have I mentioned how awesome Voltron is?" Syaoran grinned ear to ear, and Allura and Kero chuckled. With the clouds gone, Voltron flew back down to the ground. As he descended the rapidly lowering temperatures caused rain clouds to form, and then burst, all of the lost water returning to Arus. The rain doused most of the small forest fires that had started earlier, and the people quickly rejoiced as they cooled down and everything began to revert to normal. After making sure any remnant flames were extinguished, Voltron split back into the lions once again, and they returned to their resting stations.
A few moments later, the Voltron force along with Syaoran, who was being carried by Allura piggyback style, and Kero, who simply flew up on his own wings, emerged from the launch tubes back into the control room. As soon as they were out of the tubes Syaoran dropped off of Allura's back as the control station lowered back to its normal position, and the group that had been waiting in the control room came to congratulate them on the latest victory. Once the murmur had settled down, though, Wei approached Syaoran stoically.
"Master Syaoran, correct me if I'm wrong, but you shortcut the ofuda talisman element summoning spells again, didn't you?" he asked, looking slightly annoyed.
"I was in a rush!" Syaoran said. "I didn't have time for the full chant!"
"After Lotor started strafing you and the Princess that may be true, but before that when you were trying to jump start the blue lion you had ample time to recite the full incantation, did you not?" Wei was unmoved.
"Well, technically..." Syaoran replied.
"Wait, shortcut? Full incantation?" Allura blinked while the others, minus Meilin and Kero, just stared.
"Um, I can't believe I'm actually saying this," Kero interjected, "but I'm actually on the kid's side this time. In all the heat that that monster was creating, the faster he got the spells out, the better."
"Uh, if I might interrupt," Allura cut in, her hand raised, "What exactly is the difference between what Prince Syaoran was doing and the 'full incantation'?" Wei calmly pulled out an ofuda of his own and stepped over to face the open entrance of the room leading to the rest of the castle.
"Allow me to demonstrate," Wei said, then held up the ofuda and placed his forefinger and middle finger to it. "Force, heed my plight, release the light! Element, Water!" And with that a torrent of water easily three times as large as what Syaoran had produced erupted and splashed into the open hall. The Voltron Force, Anga, Coran, and Gertrude all stared in surprise, and then Allura quickly reclaimed her composure.
"Okay, while I admit that that was impressive," she said, "I would have to point out that I honestly don't think it would have helped my lion any more than what Syaoran produced himself, and I would also note that were Syaoran's powers not restrained, he might very well be able to produce that much even with his little shortcut, yes?"
"Could you do that thing just by thinking it?" Pidge asked Syaoran.
"Well, yeah, but thinking that whole thing quickly isn't easy, which is why I save that kind of casting for fast attack spells that don't use ofudas, like when I dueled Haggar's brat back on Walbrane," Syaoran explained.
"Don't some of you have some book studying you need to get back to?" Gertrude cut in, causing Meilin to stiffen while Allura and Syaoran slightly slumped.
"Right, going," Allura and Syaoran said, whilst Meilin moaned in annoyance.
"I'll make sure you all have plenty of ice water," Gertrude added as they left the room.
After arriving back on Galra, Lotor quickly strolled back into the castle, lost in thought as he mulled over the events of the day's battle, most significantly what had happened with the blue lion. Sure, it had been another defeat, but at the same time not a total write off as Devliburn had served quite well as, if nothing else, a good proof of concept in regards to Haggar's new way of thinking in regards to producing robeasts. And one could simply not understate the value of the, albeit accidentally, obtained intel on the lions' limitations. Lotor then turned a corner and saw Sakura checking something in a crate, two delivery people waiting by the cart it sat on. After she was apparently satisfied with the contents and closed the crate, she held out her hand for a tablet and quickly signed it.
"And just what are you up to, my friend?" he asked, walking up to her, Sakura turning to look at him upon hearing his voice.
"Supplies for my new evil plan for Arus," Sakura replied, then arched an eye at him. "They did it again, didn't they?" For a moment Lotor stared silently, then smirked.
"Yeah, they did. But it wasn't a complete loss in my view," Lotor admitted, and then told her about the blue lion being grounded and Syaoran's attempts to help it, and Lotor's conclusions thereof. Sakura listened intently, nodding at the end.
"Okay," she said. "And this helps us...how, exactly?"
"Well, it is an exploitable weakness, isn't it?" Lotor pointed out.
"Only if we can figure out another way to drain the lake before they can launch, or what the other lion's are fueled by," Sakura counterpointed.
"True," Lotor admitted. "But it also means we could potentially keep the lions going long enough to run out of fuel mid-battle. And then, we'll have them!"
"And do you know exactly how long that will take? Or what we would have to expend in order to make it happen?" Sakura inquired. Lotor slumped.
"Forget it. I'm going to report in to father, and then get some rest," he said. "We can further discuss how to make use of what we've managed to learn later."
"If we must," Sakura replied, and Lotor left while Sakura took her cart and headed toward the occult science tower. Whilst this was going on, though, Zarkon was implementing a plan of his own.
Behold the chapter that constantly resisted being written! When I started, I managed to get the bridge to episode 29 covered pretty quickly and easily, but then when I got into the episode itself, what should have been a hand wave job and me quickly moving on to episode 30 snowballed out of control, and was coupled with more writer's block stretches than I care to count. Falling into the Fallout:New Vegas rabbit hole probably didn't help either. But now, I am finally done with this and can go on to the sleeping beauty gambit. Hah-(beep)ing-zah!
As to the work itself, I'm actually pretty happy with it, even if it is "Sakura-lite". I think part of it was when I hit the judo practice scene, it occurred to me how I could fit our newbies in, start some actual characterization for Wei, and get in a little character development for Syaoran and Meilin, and from there, as stated, snowball. I think the only real changes per se from the Voltron/Golion original I made was Allura being willing to cut practice short to tend to her studies, as opposed to Coran and Nanny/Gertrude having to grab and lift her up and carry her back to the castle kicking and screaming, and having Lotor actually gleep to what was going on with blue lion, something he never did originally. And in the closing I think I've basically covered why they're not really going to try and make use of the intel, though that doesn't necessarily mean it won't come back up later in passing. And one last note, for those who are wondering, yeah, I technically used the Nelvana dub of Cardcaptor Sakura for the Ofuda chants. Hope that's okay.
And on a more solemn note, as of the time of this writing, late October 2021, I must sadly note that Jack Angel, the American actor who lent his pipes to Zarkon, Yurak, Mogor, and many others in the Voltron dub verse as well as many, many other works has passed away at the age of 90, mere days from his 91st birthday. Given his age though, I suppose it was pretty much inevitable at this point, huh? Still a bummer, though.
Welp, time to finally look at episode 30 and figure out what I'm going to do with it, and if my long held thought for it can actually be made to work!
