Hello everyone, I hope you like this chapter. Don't know when I'll be able to update this again as I've used my vacation to focus more on this story after seeing season 7. This chapter was originally supposed to be finished yesterday but I saw "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" and it was good.
Chapter 5
THE VERY NEXT DAY AFTER THE DEFEAT OF SENDAK'S FLEET
Currently laying in bed within his room was Naruto who was just staring at his katana's blade, still wondering just how it got in his hands while he drowned, yet as he continued to stare at the blade he noticed something in the reflection that he hadn't noticed a moment ago, slowly he leaned a little closer.
"Am I seeing—" He was cut off after hearing the sudden alarms that had begun to blare as he quickly sheathes the sword and rolls out of bed quickly while placing his sheathed weapon on a lock that was added to his pants to hold it in place. It was also shown as he was getting up, he wore his civilian clothes minus the jacket and runs out just as Keith slams into him, knocking the two into the floor yet Keith immediately gets up yet instead up running towards the bridge he turns towards Naruto with anger.
"Will you watch where your going!" He shouted before turning away to hurry while Naruto just sat there before looking down sadly yet, in the end, got back up and hurried towards the bridge. During the entire time they heard a voice.
[Allura-Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking! The Castle's about to be destroyed! Go, go, go! We need Voltron now!]
Hearing her voice, the two knew she was on the bridge.
[Allura-Hurry! We can't survive much longer!]
[Coran-Oh, no! Allura is dead! Aaaah! it's horrible! Her head fell off! Wait! What? Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it, Allura's head? What are your final words?]
As he spoke, Naruto, Keith, Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge has entered the room to find a crying Coran on the floor.
"Coran..." She said to the tearful man who was gently holding the communicator which weirded a couple of them out.
"Oh, yes, Princess, I'm listening." He said, not realizing everyone was just staring at him...as his awkward acting.
"It's over." She told the Altean who immediately threw his arms up in the air just as the alarms stopped.
"Oh, I know! Uaaaagh! If only Voltron had been formed..." He said with great sadness that caused Naruto to start sweat dropping as he spoke.
"I can say this, he isn't Leonardo DiCaprio that's for sure." Naruto muttered at the Altean's horrible acting.
"I guess this isn't an actual attack." Shiro said, a little relieved it wasn't while Naruto glances over at Pidge to see she appeared to be the only one among them that didn't get enough sleep.
"And it's a good thing it wasn't because it took you... Coran?" She asked the fellow Altean who spoke after taking out some device.
"Seventy-five degrees. Oh, sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer." When he said that, Naruto went wide-eyed due to the fact he didn't even understand how they knew what a "meat thermometer" was, adding to the list of many questions that he will most likely never ask.
"However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Shiro is in uniform. Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your Bayards? And where is Lance?" She asked, skipping over Naruto as he had his sword but he did not have his uniform. It was than that Lance enters the Bridge, yawning and looking well-rested while wearing...blue lion slippers...
"Good morning, everybody. What's going on?" Lance asked, not giving a crap if they were under attack or not.
"Coran and I have been up for hours getting the Castle back in order. We had to run a test on the alarms, and we decided to test you as well. Guess which one failed." Her words signaled Hunk to speak up.
"Hey! (Yawns) You got to sleep for 10,000 years, man. Monday night, I was on Earth. Now, I've flown through space, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, eaten goo in some weird Castle. That's a lot to process in, uh... I don't know. What day is today?" Hunk asked anyone for an answer which Coran spoke up immediately.
"It's the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!" He told them all with a smile on his face.
"—It's a lot to process." Hunk said, not bothering to reply to all of that.
"You must understand the stakes of our mission." She told them all before bringing up a map of the universe from the Castleship's computer and displays the amount of distress beacons. Seeing this, Naruto eyes widen in disbelief as he looks around. For some reason, unlike everyone else Naruto felt more affected by seeing such a scene.
"Over the last 10,000 years, the Castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations. So, we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe." While she said that, the Princess moves the map to the Milky Way where it appears barely out of Zarkon's reach.
"Earth is here. An attack on your planet is inevitable." The moment she said that, a flash of himself sitting on his mother's lap as she played the piano popped into his mind and showed a serious expression with Hunk being the only one to speak.
"Oh no." His words gained agreement from the Princess.
"Exactly. Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the Castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so we can begin fighting Zarkon." She told the group who understood the situation.
"The Princess is right. Let's get to our Lions and start training." Shiro told the Paladins which gained disagreement from Pidge.
"Wait. But I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship." Her resistance was stopped by Naruto placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Relax, their not going anywhere." He told the girl who looks down just as Coran spoke while rubbing his mustache.
"He's right Number six. I have you ranked by height, tho still thinking since Voltron is basically a five-member team so...um...anyways, the prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow." He told her just as Allura spoke up.
"That's right. Now, get to your Lions." With that said, they all quickly moved to each of their designated elevators...yet took a total of 15 minutes for them to fully arrive outside after Hunk had trouble getting to his lion.
[Lance-... Should someone go in after him?]
His question was silenced as Hunk arrived from the castle in a hurry.
[Hunk-Hey, sorry, everybody. Seriously, though, can't they park these things, like, a little closer to the Bridge?]
[Shiro-All right, guys. Let's just fly in tight formation until we're totally in sync.]
Once said, a screen could be shown to Reveal Allura, Coran, and Naruto on the screen.
"Feel the bond with your Lions and your fellow pilots until five become one unit and you form Voltron!" She told the five before the screen cuts while the Lions take off, flying in sync once again. Repeating the word "yeah" ten times before it becomes obvious it wasn't gonna happen. Heck they than started doing building blocks too help form Voltron buuuuuuuuut...the yellow lion was on top.
[Shiro-Hunk, what are you doing?]
[Hunk-What do you mean?]
[Shiro-You're supposed to be the leg, over there.]
[Hunk-What? No. No, no, no. I'm pretty sure that when we did it last time, I was the head. Right?]
[Lance-You yelled, 'I'm a leg!']
[Hunk-Yeah, I was yelling a lot of things.]
[Keith-Shiro's the head.]
[Hunk-All the time?]
[Shiro-Let's just try it my way for now.]
[Hunk-Okay, but next time I call head.]
As they heard this conversation, both Naruto, and Allura face-palm while muttering simultaneously "we're doomed" before in a minute the Lions got back into formation with Shiro on top all the while Naruto was getting bored which a certain button caught his attention.
[Shiro-Okay. Arms and legs... and I'll form the head. Feel the bonds with your Lions. Now, channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus... Focus...]
His words fell silent as nothing happened.
[Shiro-Is everyone bonding and focusing?]
[Lance-Why was this so much easier before?]
[Shiro-Let's take a—]
He couldn't finish as a single laser blast came crashing down onto the ground they stood on, sending all their lions crashing into the ground and sending them all in a panic.
[Lance-WHAT JUST HAPPENED, ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?!]
[Pidge-I don't know, my scanners aren't picking up any hostiles?]
[Hunk-Guys I'm scared, that came out of nowhere!]
As they heard this, back inside the castle Allura showed a shocked expression and immediately shows a very annoyed expression while turning to Naruto who immediately pulls his hand away while whistling yet sweating at the fact he basically just shot at the Lions without even realizing it.
"(Sigh)—wait a second, now I see! Good thinking Naruto." Allura said, confusing the blond who turns to see her pressing the buttons on her screen with a smile just as she appeared on screen for the panicking Paladins.
"Sorry about that, but thanks to Naruto I got an idea how you guys can form Voltron." The moment she said that Naruto looked very guilty which told them everything and instead of wanting to know how the paladins spoke in very annoying voices.
[Lance-Seriously Naruto, I thought we were under attack!]
[Hunk-A little warning next time, can you? I was starting to panic, I thought we were being attacked by an invincible enemy!]
[Pidge-You just pressed a random button, didn't you?]
Hearing that, Naruto starts to sweat more as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly while on screen he could see the annoyed expressions on their faces.
"Anyways as I was saying, Naruto gave me an idea. Yesterday, you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle." When she said that, immediately all five all began to sweatdrop as they understood where she was going with this due to getting a small taste of what she meant.
"I need to run a diagnostic test on all of the Castle's defenses as well as inspire you! I believe in you, Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!" Allura shouted, just before the feed cuts he could clearly see they were all glaring at him except for Shiro who found this as a way to help before the Castle of Lions began unleashing a barrage of fire blasts from its particle barrier, directly for the lions.
[All except Shiro-Oh Quiznak.]
Was all they said before being hit by a bombardment of laser blasts, resulting in the Lions fleeing and the Paladins screaming. Watching this entire scene was a horrified Naruto who knew their gonna have his head after this and just watched the scene disappear while the princess presses a button on the Castle ships computer screen and walks away towards Naruto as they heard.
[Auto-lock-on engaged.]
"Now let's scan your weapon." Allura told Naruto and in a matter of minutes he had his unsheathed katana floating in some kind of containment pod in the control room with Coran typing on the computer console to see what is up with his katana just like Allura while Naruto watches from behind the Princess, just a few moments later he saw Coran show clear shock.
"I don't believe it." When Naruto heard that, he turns to Coran.
"What? Did you find something out about this sword?" Naruto asked the man just as Allura spoke up with equal shock.
"The blade...it's...it's made of the same material Voltron was forged from." When Naruto heard that, his eyes widen all the way as he looks out the window where he saw the Voltron lions flying through the air to avoid laser blasts before turning back to see Coran speak.
"Yet, these readings..." As she said it, Naruto could clearly see a diagram of the sword showing the blade yet the crimson color, when it was given a closer look it displayed something entirely different Voltron yet could not explain what exactly.
"I've never seen anything like it before, the Quintessence from within the blade is not like anything else, due to the energy it's giving off I'm unable to get an exact reading on what it is compared to Voltron's Quintessence." Hearing that, Naruto just turns back to the blade.
"So right now, you guys can't tell if it's dangerous or not?" He asked, gaining a shake of the head by Coran.
"As of right now I think it would be best to keep the weapon safely kept in here until we can understand what it is." Hearing that, Naruto just shakes his head in disagreement.
"When I was drowning...that blade somehow got into my hands, it saved my life while revealing him Half-Altean. Not only that but during the red lion retrieval, Keith was about to fly into space and the weapon responded to my will, it took an entirely different shape to bring Keith back into the ship. As far as I've seen it's been helping me as well as responding to my will, it could very well end up being a big help against Zarkon and the Galra Empire so for now can I hold onto the sword, until we learn more about what it is and what it can do?" Hearing that, the two turn to look at each other with a look that read that "they weren't sure" but when she looked back at Naruto, she saw the same look she once had...one that wanted to do something when you could do nothing.
"Ok, for now you can hold onto the sword but the moment it's shown as a threat we need to immediately lock it away and further try to analyze it." Hearing that, he nods in understanding just as Allura goes to unlock it, the moment it opens up the blonde reaches for it, grabbing it by the hilt and proceeds to sheathed the blade.
30 MINUTES MATER, OUTSIDE THE CASTLES LOUNGE
"Are we at full power on condenser number five yet?" Allura asked Coran while walking with him and Naruto.
"No, still just 84 percent." He told her just as they enter the lounge which immediately Allura smiles with happiness at seeing the Paladins laying in exhaustion on the couches with Shiro not there.
"You did it! You formed Voltron!" The Princess said yet her happiness was short lived.
"No. The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in." That only caused her to show great annoyance.
"What?" As she said it, Coran finally spoke up after realizing something.
"Oh, right. Uh, sorry, Princess. I had to turn off the Castle defenses to test the fire suppressors." She told her while Naruto was avoiding the irritating glares from the four paladins since he got them into that situation but that ends the moment Shiro enters the room.
"What are you guys doing in here? We're not taking a break." He told the members of Voltron which gained agreement from Allura.
"Shiro's right. You should be training." She said yet Hunk disagrees to hearing that after the torture training they went through as of it were WW3.
"We've been training. When are we going back to Earth?" Hunk said and asked yet Pidge disagrees.
"I'm not going back until I find my family." She told the rest before Shiro finally spoke up again.
"Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Zarkon." Shiro said, speaking the truth of their major threat that has yet to appear in person.
"How are we going to fight? We can't even figure out how to form Voltron." Lance admits, finding it pretty hopeless unless they can form it which Coran spoke up.
"Well, I'm not surprised. You know, the original Paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side-by-side. They were like a pack of Yalmors linked at the ears." Coran said which causing Lance to disagree.
"Wow. Yeah, that's definitely not us." When he heard that, Coran shook his head.
"Yet even so, they themselves didn't know how to form Voltron at first, well more so they didn't know they could." When Coran said that, they were very much surprised by that.
"What happened to allow them to form Voltron?" Shiro asked Coran who showed a bothered expression.
"It was during the heat of battle, they were facing a great threat that could have meant the end to both the Altea and Daibazaal, the original home to the Galra. Yet in the end, Voltron won. Anyways, during the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team, but that will only get you so far like it did for them. You'll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and then beating Zarkon next time. You should try working out on the Training Deck." When he said that, they were very much surprised at hearing that.
"There's a Training Deck?" Hunk asked, only hearing this now like the others as well.
10 MINUTES LATER WITHIN THE TRAINING DECK
[Coran-(clears throat) Two, two, one, two. Okay, listen up, guys. The Paladin code demands that you put your team members' safety above your own. A swarm of drones is about to attack. It's up to each of you to do everything you can to protect each other.]
While this was being said, they were all on the training circle. Only a couple of seconds pass when that was said and from the walls, open holes where Altean drones appear; both Keith and Pidge activate there own.
"Wait, wait, wait. What's going on—Whoa!" Hunk had to stop at seeing his own shields appear like Lance and Shiro.
"Get ready." Shiro said and the moment the Altean drones fire lasers, Hunk ducks which the blast hits Pidge's back, dropping her into a hole that opens up underfoot. Seeing this, Naruto facepalms where he stood next to Coran as he knew they lost.
[Coran-Protect your teammate or no one will be there to protect you!]
Yet after saying that, Hunk was strucked and drops into the floor. Resulting in Shiro, Keith, and Lance huddling together in a single spot.
[Coran-Time to increase intensity.]
Immediately after that was said, the drones fire becomes rapid.
"You keeping up over there, Keith?" Lance asked the red Paladin while stupidly looking away from the drones.
"Just concentrate on keeping me safe." Keith told the blue one who scoffs.
"Me? I own this drill. You're the one who needs to concentrate." When he said that, Shiro, and Keith dodge unlike Lance who lifts his foot to avoid being shot, resulting in a laser hitting Keith, causing him to disappear into the floor, leaving the three which Lance tries to defend the two but is struck himself, leaving only Shiro who ends up getting knocked out and into a hole. After that, they moved onto the next part, the invisible maze. where Lance stood inside.
"To form Voltron, you must trust in each other. This ancient Paladin maze will teach you that trust. Your teammate can see the walls, but you cannot. So, listen carefully. If you touch the walls, you'll get a slight shock." Crown said while the others were in the same control room as Coran and Keith.
[Lance-Wait. Who's guiding me through?]
"Take two steps forward." Keith told his teammate who was not in a good mood.
"Oh, no. Not Keith. Why does he get to be the man on the mic? Can't it be, Naruto or Hunk?" He asked, wanting one of them too do it.
"Now, just sit tight. You'll get your turn." Coran said to the Paladin just as Keith spoke.
"Like I said, take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps that direction." His words didn't go through well as the entire team watched Lance only turn right and hits a wall, before they watch him getting shocked, causing Pidge to punch the bridge of her nose.
[Lance-youdid that on purpose!]
"You're not listening." Keith said, not understanding how Lance screwed up a simple direction.
[Lance-You said, 'Turn right.']
"But, before that, I said, 'Take two steps forward.'" Keith explained again yet once again Lance ends up going in the wrong direction as he was once again shocked.
[Lance-We're switching places right now!]
BACK AT THE BRIGE
"You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with his Lion." Spoke Coran who was standing next to Naruto who was paying close attention .
[Lance-No problem. Me and Blue are best buds for life, for real.]
"Perfect! Then you won't have any issues with this exercise. Everyone, put your Lions into a nose dive!" Once that was said, they did just that with Naruto questionably looking at Coran.
"This is an expert-level drill that you really shouldn't attempt until you've been flying for years, but, uh, we're in a bit of a rush, so here we go." Once that was said, he presses a hologram screen.
"Activating training helmets!" Just after he said that, immediately Naruto began to hear panicking.
[Hunk-I THINK I'VE GONE BLIND!]
[Lance-Coran, what's happening?! I can't see!]
[Pidge-Coran, what are we doing exactly?!]
"You must learn to see through your Lions' eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the Lion feels!" Hearing that, Naruto just stares at Coran as if he's gone mad and technically he has if he thinks newbies can achieve this in an instant.
[Hunk-Mine feels scared!]
It was than that Hunk was the first to pull out of the dive right away.
[Lance-You still going, Keith?]
[Keith-You know it. You?]
[Lance-Going? I'm speeding up!]
"Oh Crap." Naruto muttered at seeing Lance speed up which causes Keith to do the same as he too speeds up, end result was the two idiots ended up crashing into the ground, having their lions upper half deep in the sand.
[Keith-Ow...]
[Lance-... I win.]
"Well, this isn't going well." Coran said with Naruto just staring at him with an expression that read "no shit" before he turns his attention too the others.
[Pidge-What was that noise? Did they crash?]
Just after asking that, she immediately panics and pulls out of the dive, but hits a cliff, unlike Shiro who remains in a dive, seeing this caused Naruto to swallow as he watched with a sigh as the Black pulling out of the dive last-second and flies through several rocky areas.
"I think I'm getting this." Shiro said which causes Coran to smile to at least see one success.
"Excellent, Shiro!" Coran told him before it moved onto another step, that being the training deck they were in again, the Paladins sitting in a circle in the Training Deck while they wore special headsets on with Coran speaking through the intercom.
"Now the most important part of Paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron. Everything else has to fade away. This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron." Coran said while Naruto wasn't too on board with this idea as personal things should stay personal all the whirl a screen depicting the thoughts of the Paladins appears before each one. Keith's was his desert home, Lance's was his family, Hunk was food, Shiro's was the Kerberos Mission launch, and Pidges was the photograph Hunk found on Earth of Pidge/Katie and her brother, but the image is obscured.
"So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between Paladins. Come on, everyone, clear everything. Now, focus on forming your Lion." Coran spoke calm and gently as the Paladins, except Pidge, form their images into their respective Lions and move them to form Voltron. Seeing this, Naruto's eyes just narrow too see she was having a problem.
"Bring your Lions together a-and form Voltron. Keep your minds open, work together. Good! Keep focusing! Only one to go!" Coran said yet Keith decides to speak up.
"Pidge, stop thinking of your girlfriend!" The moment he said that, her mental image disappears to show great annoyance.
"I wasn't! Hunk was rooting around in my head!" She blamed which immediately he defends himself.
"I-I thought we were open. You can look in my head hole." He told her before Coran stopped the argument about too start.
"Everyone has to be able to look in everyone's head holes! Clear your minds!" He shouted the last part before they all gave it another try which this time Pidge manifests the Green Lion, much t Naruto's thankfulness as he proceeded to watch the mental Lions move together.
"Good! Almost there. Now, form Voltron!" While he spoke, the mental Lions begin forming Voltron. The Green Lion attaches to the mental Voltron, gaining a happy "Yes" from Coran but sadly that happiness was cut short when the lion becomes the same static-filled image as before.
"Pidge!" Lance said loudly, causing her to snap in frustration and throws the headset off of her, onto the floor.
"I'm done with this! Look, I don't like everyone grubbing around in my head!" She said, not liking this at all.
"Oh, come on, Pidge, we're starting to get the hang of this." Shiro said, trying to convince her yet it didn't work.
"I'm just... I'm just tired, okay?" She told the leader who understands.
"Okay. Let's take a break." Once that was said, Naruto goes down to hand them all packs of fluid to drink as they sit and relax.
[Coran-You have been working hard. Maybe it's time to relax a little.]
Came the voice of Coran in the control room yet that relaxation was stopped by the Princess entering the room with the mice on her shoulders.
"What are you doing lying around? You're supposed to be training!" She told the five paladins.
[Coran-Just resting a bit. Y-You know, you can't push too hard.]
"What do you mean, 'can't push too hard'? Get up, you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the Gladiator!" Her words equal to confusion yet very unsure of what's about too happen.
"Can't they have a break? I don't know if you've noticed yet but your starting to act like a tyrannical Princess." The moment he said that everyone went wide-eyed just as Allura's eyes narrowed with a very annoyed expression on her face.
"What did you just call me?" She demanded Naruto who just realized he basically fucked up and looks to see the others agreeing as they were all staring at him.
"Just for that, your joining them in their training with the gladiator." She told the wide eyed Naruto who silently muttered "Quiznak". In the end, minutes later all the Paladins and Naruto stood in the Training Deck with their weapons drawn.
[Coran-In order to defeat the Gladiator, five paladins must fight as one. Plus with Naruto their you have six fighters!]
With those words, dropping from the ceiling was the Gladiator, a robot wielding a polearm staff. Not wasting a second it charges for the panicking Hunk who tried shooting at it but failed right before his legs were swept and a moment later a staff spans in his abdomen, electrocuting the poor guy.
Pidge took her chance to charge at the Gladiator, yet it quickly reacts by spinning it staff to block her strike before delivering a few strikes of its own, ending it with a forward end thrust that sent rolling at Hunk who she landed on and rolled over. Taking his chance, Lance starts to fire laser blasts yet it just blocks them with its staff as it approaches him.
"CAN SOMEONE HELP?!" Lance shouts while the other three gather around him yet Naruto and Shiro back away when it starts going back and forth between Keith and Lance, more so Lance as he didn't have his weapon which resulted in the robot using him as a flesh and blood punching bag that was then lifted by the staff and thrown into Keith, leaving Naruto and Shiro which the latter being the first to prepare to strike yet Shiro froze and did nothing, alerting Naruto.
"Shiro!" Naruto shouted yet before he could react, Keith ran past him to block the strike the Gladiator tried to deliver while their friend was not moving.
"Shiro, are you okay?" He asks the unresponsive Black Paladin just before the Gladiator sends Keith into Shiro by knocking him off the floor right before sending him into the man. After that, the Gladiator turns to face Naruto who held his sword and immediately it charged at him while Naruto took a few steps back as he starts blocking each strike quickly yet not quick enough as he had a single opening that the Gladiator took, and that was a staff to the place no man should be hurt at, the moment it happened, the blonde made a high screech sound as he fell to the side while holding the area his nuts were located, not only feeling as if they were bruised but also electrocuted. The other guys who saw this felt bad for Naruto and when looked away when it happened.
"That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child! You're not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!" Allura told them with anger, gaining their attention except for Naruto who was being helped up by Lance.
30 MINUTES LATER IN THE DINNING HALL
Currently sitting on one side were the paladins, starting with Shiro who sat closest to the end seat, then Hunk, then Lance, then Keith, then Pidge, and finally Naruto who had to get involved after what he said yet unlike the others had an ice pack between his legs. They were all staring at the food on the table which was the goo and other strange foods with Coran standing nearby.
"Ahoy, young Paladins! I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this meal, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux!" Coran said yet Naruto was the only one showed actual disgust due to the fact he is not particularly fond of this food, basically a forceful diet off of Ramen tho he never actual gains weight by some godly miracle.
"Smells great, Coran. Thanks." Shiro said and just as they were about to dig in, be it forcefully the cook pulls out a remote and presses a button. Causing the six to have themselves handcuffed together on each arm while the ones at the end had their free arms locked to their chairs armrest.
"Hold the phone!" Lance said with great annoyance, having thought they were finally on break.
"I saw a lot of solid individual performances today, but you're still struggling to work as a team. So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day." His words were met with disagreement as Hunk tries to free himself from Lance, then tries to free himself from Shiro which ended in failure.
"Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing." Hunk warned him just as Naruto spoke up.
"Listen to Hunk, Coran. We've known Hunk for a long time and the last time he went hungry he ended up eating all he ramen I was saving." Hearing that, Hunk looks at Naruto with confusion.
"Wait, you said I could have some." Hunk said yet Naruto shows shock.
"I SAID ONE INSTANT RAMEN! You ate ten!" He shouted back, still not letting that go how he found almost all his instant ramen gone that was supposed to last him the entire month.
"Ok Guys thats enough, let's just work together and eat." Shiro said and with that, they started too "try" and eat with not much success while also at the table was Allura who was eating in annoyance yet it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Basically, the only ones having not really any trouble besides the pulling from the other paladins were Naruto and Pidge who were taking turns eating.
"Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?" She honestly asked, wanting if that comes with the whole package of saving the world because she was very much considering returning what she has.
"Can't you just give us a break? Everyone's been working really hard today." Shiro asked, seeing that the others have about reached their limit.
"Yeah! We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like... like..." Keith said while standing up yet couldn't finish the sentence so Lance took over.
"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" He said, causing Naruto too immediately think about the very old movie he saw when he was a kid, "Toy Story".
"Yes! Thank you, Lance!" Keith thanked just before Coran spoke up.
"—You do not yell at the Princess!" He told them all yet this was when Pidge spoke up that ended with Naruto trying hard to laugh.
"Oh, the Princess of what? We're the only ones out here and she's no Princess of ours!" The moment she finished saying that, she got a part of her head covered in the goo thanks to Allura flinging it at her with her spoon, showing great skill.
"Go loose, Pidge!" With that said, the red Paladin flings a bowl full of goo at Allura yet the skillful Coran blocks all of it with a cloth before he lets loose a huge scoop of goo all over the Paladins and Naruto.
"Oh, it's on now." Hunk said, having enough with this as he showed a dark smile slammed his face into the goo before lifting his goo filled mouth to them slam his hands onto his cheeks, sending it at the two Altean's she covering them in the food. With that, it turns into all out war between the two sides. In the end all the food was everywhere with them all having had fun and laugh.
"Enough! Do you see what you're doing?!" Allura said, stopping them all just as the princess looks up with a smile.
"You're finally working together as one!" She told the paladins who couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, she's right!" Keith's agreement was followed by Lance to agreeing, even stating he doesn't hate Keith...for now.
"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked the other which gained an arm raised from Shiro.
"Let's go form Voltron!" His words only gained a loud "yeah" before Hunk decided to say he meant dessert but decided to exclude that from what was now planned before they all found themselves on the floor after Naruto accidentally slipped on the goo, pulling Pidge down with him than Keith, acting like a domino effect. After that, they watched the Paladins outside the castle on their lions.
[Shiro-let's go!]
[Four other Paladins-Yeah!]
And with that, the three Altean's just watched as Voltron was formed before them, gaining only smiles.
"I told you I could get them to do it. They just needed a common enemy." When she said that, Coran decided to speak up.
"It's true. Like the old proverb says, 'A man can be driven to do anything, if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him.'" When Coran said that, Allura showed an unamused expression.
"Exactly, if it weren't for Allura acting like a tyrannical—" He immediately shuts up and hides behind Coran while the Princess was looking at them with a very annoyed expression which caused Coran to show a weak smile with a fearful Naruto behind him. In the end, they were all in the Castle Lounge again.
"Man, that was cool! I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight." Keith said as they were all in their civilian clothing.
"Not me. When my head hits the pillow, I'm going to be lights out." Keith said in disagreement before Hunk spoke up while hugging the two.
"I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man. You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers all the way. I love you guys." Hearing that, Naruto was watching this scene with his smile turning sad.
"G-forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith asked the big man who honestly answers.
"Yeah, maybe a little. I-I don't know. It's been a tough few days." With that said, one by one they all start getting up to head for bed. Seeing Keith take his own way, Naruto quickly followed him out the door that shuts behind him.
"Hey Keith, can I—" As Naruto said that with a smile, he was cut off by Keith.
"What do you want?" When he heard that same tone of annoyance, Naruto stops with confusion appearing on his face.
"I-Is something wrong, weren't we getting a—" He was cut off by Keith speaking yet he didn't even look at him.
"No...this doesn't change anything at all between us. This training was only about me, Shiro, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge getting along and bonding to form Voltron, it was never about you, not even a little bit." Hearing that, Naruto showed disbelief as he could only look down while Keith starts walking away but as he did so he, spoke.
"We may have to be teammates, but we will never be friends." As he said that, he didn't even see the look on Keith's face as it showed he himself was showing difficulty as well as mixed emotions. In the end, he left the corridor which Naruto just stood their in disbelief.
(Hey Keith, I've been wondering is something going on? For awhile now you've been avoiding me or flat out ignoring me, is something wrong?)
(Leave me alone?)
(What?)
(I said leave me alone right now!)
(I don't understand, why are you suddenly saying this when we've known—)
(WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!)
(What...what did I do, I thought we were friends?)
As those thoughts traveled through Naruto's mind, Naruto has a disbelief look on his face that turns to sadness before he felt it, a pulse and with that, the sadness slowly shifted towards anger as his blue eyes turned red all the while he was gritting his teeth his anger. That was until he heard a voice.
"Hey Naruto, are you ok?" The moment he heard that, his eyes widen as they revert back to blue and quickly runs to find Pidge behind him.
"Oh, hey... Pidge." He said, forcing a weak and sad smile all the while he couldn't even recall what he just did or felt a second ago while Pidge was staring at him in confusion.
"You were just standing still, did something happen between you and Keith again?" Her words were only confirmed to see him looking away uncomfortably.
"Oh...sorry." Hearing that, he just shakes his head as the smile became more gentle.
"Don't apologize, it's not your fault. It's...between me and him, who knows...maybe in the coming weeks he might tell me what he acts like that towards me. Eheheheh." As he said it, she could clearly see he was forcing his expression, seeing the sadness in his eyes yet the smile itself was getting more real. Isn't he end he turns around towards the direction of where his room is.
"Anyways, talk to ya' tomorrow Katie." Just after saying that, his eyes went wide and turns fast to look at the surprised Pidge before he gives a weak laugh while scratching the back of his head.
"Sorry, I forgot I can't say your real name." Hearing that, she was surprised before she sighs.
"As always you forget the important stuff, just like back at the Garrison when it came to your homewor—" She stops due to immediately recalling that day where she walked in on Naruto...
"Are you ok?" Was the words that onto came out of his mouth to see Pidge's face turning redder and redder before she immediately turns away.
"A-Anyways, j-just make sure you d-don't say that around the others. B-Bye!" Was all she said as she quickly left Naruto by himself which he just tilts his head in confusion, not recalling what happened between them back on Earth unlike the green Paladin. During that entire thing, the four mice were just watching the entire scene and look at each other.
xxxxxCHAPTER ENDxxxxx