FOOL'S ERRAND
"I'm fine."
"No you aren't. Just eat it, Shiro." Keith argued for the last time. If the stubborn Black Paladin didn't take a bite soon, Keith was going to tackle him and force the goo down his throat. Luckily for Shiro, he took the bowl and a few small spoonfuls as the last of their crew filed in, Pidge glared angrily above their laptop while they stalked onto the bridge, still typing away. "What's this about?" They grumbled.
Resuming his rigid stance, Shiro stood tall beside Coran. "Everyone, eyes front, we've got a plan to get Allura. We're going to jump to the heart of the enemy, unseen and undetected." Oh Quiznak! If he had known the only two adults on this ship would come up with the worst plan imaginable, he would have insisted on joining them for their discussion.
"I thought we needed Allura to open up a wormhole?" Pidge questioned, and this time it was Coran who responded.
"It's true that Allura powers the Castle's ability to travel through wormholes. However, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump."
Keith huffed out a short breath and rolled his eyes. "So basically, we can pop up at Central but we have no way of escaping unless we manage to get Allura back? Super." He clarified, garnering a scowl from Coran and a nervous groan from Hunk.
The Altean turned back to the controls, pulling up a map of Central Command's configuration. "We can hide the Castle here, -" a planet off to the left side of the map was highlighted, "- inside one of these giant gas planets in Zarkon's Command System. The gas is so dense we'll be hidden."
"From there, we'll use the Castle to scan for Allura on Zarkon's ship and attack before Zarkon knows what hit him." Shiro elaborated.
"There's only one hiccup. As Keith mentioned, we have enough energy to wormhole in, but without Allura, we won't have enough energy to wormhole out." Coran's face fell as he thought about the prospect of not succeeding, of entering straight into the Emperor's Command fleet and failing, handing over Voltron into the waiting hands of a tyrant. Keith swallowed the heavy lump in his throat; this was exactly why he had been against a rescue mission in the first place.
"It doesn't matter. We're not leaving without her." Shiro's words were meant to be a comfort but all they did was make Keith more nervous. They really did plan on risking everything for her. "Paladin's you have one hour before we create the wormhole. Get something to eat, go to the bathroom if you must, and put on your armor. We're getting our Princess back!"
Keith sat in the Red Paladin chair as the wormhole opened up. He knew the moment they exited by the gasps around him. Glancing up, he saw the Emperor's Central Command for the first time; it was breath taking. In the centre was the Command flagship, surrounded by a deactivated barrier ring, surrounded by another deactivated barrier ring, which was surrounded by yet another deactivated barrier ring, all housed within a deactivated barrier ring. Coran was right, without a wormhole there was no way they were escaping. There was also no way they should have arrived. The Emperor had to know they were coming, and since they were being met with absolutely zero resistance, this was clearly a trap. His gut sang its agreement and Keith knew this was going to be a fight unlike any they had ever attempted.
"We're here." Shiro observed and Coran immediately got to work on his station, searching for the Princess. Each of the Paladins unbuckled from their seats and made their way to the front of the bridge, staring at the images on the screens. Keith watched Coran work, reading the Altean words as the man typed on his console until at last, a match was found.
"I'm detecting Allura's energy signature. From this distance, the signal's pretty weak, but she's somewhere inside Zarkon's main ship." The Altean explained to the others.
"Gives us a starting point." Keith commented as he took note of the 'suggested location' of the Princess according to the Altean scanners. 'Somewhere inside' looked a whole lot more like 'right in the middle' and he groaned.
"Once we get closer, we'll be able to narrow down the location where the Princess is being held."
"Okay guys, this is it." Shiro pulled the groups attention, their Black Paladin preparing them all for the battle they were about to face, his best 'leader' voice on full display. "Voltron is going to come in fast and without warning. We'll smash our way into Zarkon's ship and grab the Princess. Before they know what hit them, we'll have the Princess and be on our way."
"I love your optimism, but if you think it's going to be that easy you're kidding yourself." Keith interjected, arms crossed over his chest and facing the responding glares head on. "Look, I don't mean to crush everyone's spirit but come on, do you really think it's going to be as easy as that? This is Central quiznaking Command we're talking about. Why haven't we met any resistance? Why haven't we been hailed? Why aren't any of the solar barriers activated? This is a trap! How can you not see that?!" he was practically yelling by the end of his rant, arms flown wide in exasperation.
"Keith, we're going. Trap or not." Shiro commanded and he rolled his eyes.
"I know. I already agreed to help, and I'm not going back on that, it's just – I want to make sure we cover all of our bases. We aren't going into some random ship; this is Central. It won't be easy and we don't have the element of surprise like you think we do!"
"Then what do you suggest?"
"We need to split up. We shouldn't go in as Voltron. We go in our separate Lions and we work collectively to keep the Black Lion as far away from the Emperor as possible! Shiro, I'm dead serious about this – DO NOT go anywhere near Emperor Zarkon. You need to keep Black away! Let the rest of us handle him."
"Keith is right." Coran backed him up. "The Black lion is the head of Voltron; Zarkon cannot be allowed to acquire it!" Keith stared at him, baffled. They were about to face the Emperor head-on and he still wouldn't tell them all that he was the original Black Paladin? Keith shook his head.
In the end, they didn't listen to him. They never did. The team formed Voltron with a reluctant Red Paladin and prepared to go in guns blazing. As predicted, the solar barrier activated the moment they left the protection of the gas planet's atmosphere.
"What is that?" Hunk panicked over their coms as the barrier sealed around them, effectively trapping them all inside the perimeter of Central Command.
"I don't know, but I hope once we get the Princess, we can find a way out of here." Pidge contributed and Keith rolled his eyes. An entire fleet of cruisers appeared before them, each ship likely housing its own fleet of fighter pods inside. They were hopelessly out numbered. "They're going to fire!" Pidge called out just in time for the armada to open fire.
Ion cannon after ion cannon blasted around them and Voltron pulled on the speed and agility of Red to dodge their blasts. On Shiro's command Keith formed their sword with his bayard and Voltron cut through several cruisers like butter.
"More trouble, straight ahead!" Lance called and a fresh wave of ships opened fire.
Shiro gave another command and Yellow's shoulder cannon formed, a powerful blast obliterating their opponents. Keith formed their sword once again and Voltron tucked, rolled, and swerved around the debris. Sword drawn, they charged for the Emperor's flagship and Keith had a swell of hope that they could actually pull this off. After all, they were a far cry from the teens that came screaming through a wormhole to arrive on Arus. Though it didn't take long before his gut was twisting in warning and the image of the Emperor flashed in his mind as their sword disappeared.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Hunk cried, fear and worry lacing every syllable.
"We lost the sword!" He replied, equally panicked. "Something's malfunctioning!"
A worried "What's happening?" sounded in their coms as Coran watched them from the Castle's bridge.
"Somebody do something! Voltron's frozen up!" Lance commanded. But Keith knew what the problem was. It was the Emperor. Zarkon was trying to take back the Black Lion.
"Shiro!" he called over the coms to the only person who could stop this.
Shiro's voice sounded shaky and strained as he fought against the quintessence fuelled former paladin. "I can't hold it!" came from his line followed by a series of grunts and the sickening presence of the corrupted Emperor. Keith didn't know if the others could feel him or not, he was the Red Paladin; Voltron's right hand, and that gave him a special connection to Black that the others didn't possess. He was also quintessence sensitive.
The presence became overwhelming and he felt himself being literally torn away from the others as a malevolent force pried them all apart. Keith knew the moment Voltron had disbanded, he felt the bond to his fellow paladins snapping as they were separated into their lions and the sickening darkness of the Emperor's twisted quintessence blocked his limited connection to Black.
Instantly, the fleet they had faced before showed its true size as cruiser after cruiser appeared around them and the barriers released tens of thousands of fighters into the mix. The lions jumped into battle, taking out the ships and pods with relative ease. After several dobashes the Castle opened fire, joining the frenzy of the attack and backing up the scattered paladins. It wasn't until Keith heard a particularly pained groan through the coms that he realized one of the lions was missing in action.
"Shiro, are you ok?" he called out and was met with even more grunts and groans from their struggling leader.
"Something is overriding the controls! My lion is not responding!" Shiro's words were cut off with a pained scream.
"Shiro's in trouble! I'm going in!" without a second thought, he rushed his lion towards the Emperor's flagship; towards Shiro. He knew in his gut that he needed to get the Black Lion as far away from the Emperor as possible, no matter what. En route he watched as Shiro was ejected from the mouth of Black, a bright magenta glow surrounding the lion and growing stronger as the Emperor assumed control.
Keith heard the others talking, he heard Hunk freak out and Shiro make commands, but he wasn't listening, not really. He flew with determination, the single-minded drive the Galra were known for pushing him to his destination and propelling him to his limits. Keith dodged attacks, blasts, and fighters, he flew circles around the pods that tried to catch him, and he blasted anything that popped up in his way. Nothing could stop him from achieving his goal, nothing.
Keith trusted in his gut to guide him, letting his instincts fully take over. He commanded the others to proceed without him and rammed head first into the Black Lion at full speed, knocking it out of the Emperor's control. He watched as Black crashed against the side of the Central Command flagship. Without his Paladin, the lion took a hard fall. Red spun around in an instant, Keith guiding her to carefully retrieve her brother with the intention of returning Black to the Castle before heading back out to assist the others. He didn't make it that far; an imposing form landed in front of the crumpled lion and squared off against an advancing Red.
"IT'S ZARKON!" Coran's voice called over the coms. "Keith, get out of there, now! Zarkon's too powerful!"
"This is my chance to put an end to his Empire! I have to take it!"
"KEITH! DON'T!" Coran pleaded, but Keith wasn't listening anymore. He flew towards the Emperor, firing Red's mouth cannon at the monster before him and when the smoke cleared, nothing had changed.
Emperor Zarkon stood tall amongst the debris, a powerful shield protecting him from the Lion's blast. "You may have a lion, but its power is weak in your fledgling hands." His rumbly voice sounded through the coms and Keith realized with a shudder that he was using the Paladin lines. His shield morphed into an energy sword and the force of its blow sent Red tumbling.
Alarms blared around him but Keith tuned them out, his focus was on the battle before him and nothing would pull him away; he was going to beat the Emperor once and for all or he was going to die trying.
"You cannot stop me. The Black Lion will finally be returned to its original Paladin."
"You're no Paladin!" He sneered back in his native Galran, tightening his grip on the controls and letting out another powerful blast from Red's mouth cannon. One the Emperor easily blocked yet again, his sword swiftly reforming the shield. It was as if he had a single weapon that could take multiple forms depending on what its wielder required. The Black Bayard! Realization hit like a ton of bricks and Keith felt his stomach drop. The former Black Paladin had ten thousand deca-phoebs to perfect his usage of the bayard. It didn't matter how powerful he was, Keith had Red. And nothing, nothing, was more powerful than a Voltron Lion, even if he was still just a newly minted paladin.
He landed hard on the surface of the ship and took off at a run, Red proving to be just as fast on her feet as she was in flight. He charged, throwing shot after shot at the Emperor, dodging blasts that were too powerful for Red's armour, and countering with increasingly more powerful blasts until Red's mouth cannon was at its maximum output. They took a hard hit that sent Red tumbling across the surface of the ship. His sharp reflexes allowed him to right the lion and blast away tics before another attack landed where they had just been, Red responding to his commands without question.
"Keith, get out of there!" Coran's worried voice echoed over his coms amidst the cacophony of alarms ringing around him in Red's cockpit. He jumped sharply to the right just in time to avoid a devastating blow and felt the Command ship shudder under the impact. "Keith, do you copy? You don't know what you're dealing with! He – he's too powerful! Listen to me, it's imperative that you don't engage the -" Keith cut the com. He'd had enough, it was time to focus, he gave everything he had to the moment, letting the distractions fall away as he activated Red's jaw blade and made a mad dash for the Emperor once again.
The black bayard formed a chain like sword and the Emperor whipped it out at him. Keith dodged it, swiftly evading to the right, then again to the left as it changed direction. Each time the chain was thrust at him he flew away in the nick of time; quick reflexes and a deep trust in his instincts guiding his actions. It was as if they were dancing, every blow the Emperor threw, Keith had a counter for. Dodging and weaving and evading the weapon with surprising grace and agility. He praised Red and she gushed that it was all him, his skills as a pilot, his natural talents. Alas, he could only evade for so long before the chain wrapped around Red's left hind leg and slammed them into the side of the ship. More alarms blared around him.
His screen flickered, but the Emperor was advancing once again. "Noo." He groaned and focused his energy on Red; he needed to do something, anything! He felt her deep in his soul, their connection solidifying into a bond unlike anything he had ever felt. They were connected on a level none of the others had managed and he felt Red not only in his mind, but all around him. Her rail gun formed and sent a powerful blast, one that channeled all of Keith's rage and drive and frustration directly into the heart of the charging monster before him. With a loud grunt he knocked the other off his feet, the deflected blast tearing a hole in the surrounding structures.
"Whoa!" Keith breathed, taking in the damage the single shot had managed. Rising into the air, he let out another powerful blast of the rail gun, following the Emperor across the surface of the ship as he flew away from the attack. But Keith didn't let up; he doubled down and let the beam carve a path of carnage through the haul.
"You fight like a Galra soldier." The deep voice praised. "But not for long!" A terrifying new form emerged from the bayard and it slammed Red down against the ship. This time she wasn't getting up.
He fought with the controls, pleading with Red to come back, but it was all in vain, her reserves were completely drained and the last hit had been enough to take her out of the fight. There was nothing left to do but watch as the glowing sword grew closer and closer.
A blinding blue light took out his opponent, shooting the unsuspecting Emperor into the metal surface and the smoke cleared to reveal a reawakened Black. "I got you, buddy!" came over his coms and Shiro's smooth voice sent a flood of relief through him as they flew towards the Castle.
Now that he was no longer engaged in battle, Keith took a cursory look around the cockpit, there was nothing happening. All of the Lion's power was gone and not even the screens would activate. Red was in bad shape, but at least they were heading out of there. Any minute now Allura would be creating the wormhole to safety.
"Hello? What's going on? I don't see a wormhole." Hunk panicked.
"The Galra's barrier is jamming our ability to create one!" Coran replied. "They have us completely surrounded." And, as if by magic, the solar barrier deactivated with his words.
"What just happened?"
"Who Cares? WORMHOLE!" Pidge and Hunk commented as the Princess facilitated their exit to safety. A quiet beep sounded at his hip and Keith pulled out his Blade communicator.
{ Stay safe, nephew } the Galran words displayed on the tiny screen made his breath catch and he felt a pang in his chest. It was no miracle that saved them, it was his Uncle Thace. The Emperor would investigate this, he would send his witch to find who had lowered the barriers and she would catch him, then she would make the man suffer greatly. Keith felt the tears threatening to well up in his eyes but he blinked them back. His Uncle needed an extraction, one much more subtle than this botched attempt.
{ Operative 1894 potentially compromised. Operative 2675 requesting their immediate extraction } He sent the message off to Kolivan, praying to the Ancients that the Blade of Marmora intervened quickly enough.
As he watched the message send, a sickening feeling washed over him. He felt the nausea that typically accompanied an encounter with a Druid as it clenched in his gut, only this time it was significantly stronger. So strong that there was no way it was a single Druid, not even the witch herself could feel this powerful. He couldn't see anything on his screens, but he could feel it screaming closer. Closing his eyes, Keith focused his energy on the poison gaining on them and felt it envelop the Castle as they entered the wormhole.
He could hear its intentions, to split them up, to trap them apart from one another, and to destroy those who remained in the tunnel of warped space-time. Keith panicked, he needed to do something before they were separated and he needed to do it quickly. He felt his hand instinctively reach for the shard of the Balmeran crystal he kept with him and tighten painfully around it. Using the quintessence of the crystal, he focused his own abilities on redirecting the invading power, pulling its toxic energy into himself and directing it to the confines of the shard. It took every ounce of energy he had, every fibre of his being, but he managed. Trapping the corrupted quintessence inside the shattered remains of the Castle's former crystal before his entire world went dark.
A loud banging echoed through his lion and Keith groaned at the offending sound. He rose to his feet with a grunt and a slight waver, steadying himself against the pilot's chair and realizing he'd been unconscious. The pounding in his head pulled him quickly back to reality and, as if reading his mind, Red dimmed the lighting in both the cockpit and her hangar.
"Woah guys, did it just get darker in here?" He heard Hunk worry from outside the lion, imagining the big guy nervously darting his head around the hangar. Keith let out a light chuckled and steadied himself on the controls this time.
"Keith, come out of the Lion this instant." Ughhh, Allura was back. Wonderful. He groaned even louder this time and brushed off Red's scolding.
"Yeah yeah, I'll play nice" he assured her and the Lion purred in response. "But I'm not doing a damn thing until she apologizes." To his great surprise, Red agreed. And so, Keith walked out into the hangar.
"KEITH!" Came Lance's concerned shout from directly beside the ramp and Keith winced, his hand flying to his temples to press against the throbbing sensation that was growing steadily stronger. "How are you? Is everything ok? Talk to us, buddy! What happened in there?" the assault of questions made the young Blade glare with a level of hate he reserved strictly for the Emperor himself.
"Man, your Lion was glowing, glowing! They're not supposed to do that right? Right?" Hunk asked nervously and the princess assured him that no, the Lions weren't supposed to glow. "So then, like, how were you glowing? It was a weird purple / pink colour but also, like, black at the same time. Then, then it went like, bright red and then everything stopped glowing and you weren't responding to us and your lion wasn't responding to us and we couldn't get a visual on you and we couldn't tell if you were ok and we didn't know what was going on and we were so worried and you didn't say anything and then like, Shiro dropped off Red and she just kinda sat there and then we called for you but still nothing and we tried to get in the lion but she wouldn't let us and we tried to call you again but you didn't respond and then finally you did!" Keith blinked as the Yellow Paladin took a few gasping breaths.
"Ok, that was a lot to process." He looked around the hangar, Shiro and Lance had come to either side and were helping him down the last few steps of the ramp, Hunk was standing in front of him a few feet away, Pidge was beside Hunk with an uncharacteristically worried expression, and Coran was standing protectively close to Allura. Allura – right, the Princess was back. He looked at her and their eyes locked, hers narrowing slightly before looking away. Keith rolled his own. "I'm fine, I just need to sleep. I'm going to my room." He sloughed off the help and made his way towards the hangar door on shaky legs.
"Don't be ridiculous, you are clearly in need of a pod. Lance, assist Keith to the medbay and Coran, prepare a pod." A joint 'yes princess' sounded and suddenly warm tan hands were grabbing at his shoulders. Keith shook them off, further insisting that he was fine before promptly proving himself wrong and passing out.
"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?" He faintly heard Pidge say.
"I'm positive. I've spent a lot of time in the Castle's meditation room and I've seen this same thing in my dreams over and over. Keith even confirmed it. Check again Pidge, please." The pod hissed open as Shiro finished talking and Keith took a stumbling step forward in time to hear Allura speak, her voice laced with anger.
"And you're sure they were Galra? You know you cannot trust them." She said with the level of distinction only a child can boast while claiming to have seen a monster under their bed.
"Your father must have trusted them once" Shiro responded with the hint of frustration tickling his words. "Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?"
"That was a long time ago."
"Wait, what?" Lance cut in, utterly baffled by the incredibly important information the Princess had chosen to withhold.
"Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion right out from Shiro?" Keith said, finally speaking up as he leaned against the side of the pod for support. "Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? Shiro's bayard! You know, the back one!" The room turned in surprise to him, not having noticed the pod opening.
"Ahh Number 4, you're looking better!" He nodded at Coran's words but his focus remained on the pair in front of him, still locked in a heavy staring contest. Shiro matched Allura's gaze with the same intensity and eventually she backed down, lowering her eyes to glare at her feet instead.
Shiro finally spoke, his voice an accusation. "Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?"
"I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins so that you would have a chance to bond with your lions on your own. You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon."
"Yeah, well, the Black Lion may have a different take on the matter." Shiro responded, a distant hurt hiding in his voice. Keith made his way over to the group and placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder, giving a slight squeeze in the way that Humans seemed to like. The other looked up at him with a soft smile.
"Wait a minute, I think I see it now, some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it." Pidge spoke, typing on their laptop with a pleased grin. Keith looked over their shoulder, edging past Shiro to get a better look.
With a gasp, he realized what he was looking at. "They're coordinates. They lead to one of our bases; the one in the Thaldycon system to be exact."
"Wait wait, why does that name ring a bell?" Hunk asked, his hand moving to cup his jaw as he struggled to pull up a memory. Keith quirked a brow, how could a space station light years away from Earth possibly sound familiar? "OH – OH! Keith, isn't that where you're from?" He stared at the larger boy in absolute shock. All eyes, all of them, settled on Keith and he stood frozen, unable to respond. "Yeah, I remember now, we had to do this totally cool project about aliens for Professor Harrison's class. You came in this badass suit and mask, spoke a weird language, claimed you were Keith of the Marmora, and said that you came from the Thalcon system!" Hunk was beaming, clearly proud of himself for remembering and Keith was mentally hearing his father shout 'I told you so' at him.
"Thaldycon." Was somehow the only thing he managed to say.
"Then that's where we're headed." Shiro said with finality and Keith internally groaned.
Based on the expressions around him, he assumed the groan had been less internal and more external – he groaned again for good measure. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, torn between wanting to go back to a familiar location while simultaneously being terrified to face the wrath of Ms Proxa for not handing in his last 3 assignments.
"It's worth the risk. If we can locate allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones from his own side, we might just find a way to take him down."
"We aren't on his side." Keith deadpanned.
"I meant allies who are Galra."
"But you said 'on his own side' – which we are not."
"You're right, Keith. I'm sorry." He gave Shiro a curt nod and grunt combo, acknowledging the other's correction and moving on from the blunder. This was the end of it; he was not going to tolerate the way they talked any longer. If that meant being a little harsh at times, then so be it.
"We can check the location, but I do not like this." Allura interjected.
"Of course you don't." He muttered under his breath with an eye roll, fully aware the Alteans would be able to hear him.
Keith sliced his way through the gladiator, frustration rippling off him in waves.
{ Training Level 21: Completed }
{ Error Count: Three }
"Restart training level 21" He called out and a fresh droid dropped from the ceiling for him to destroy.
Coran, Shiro, and Allura were all on the bridge setting their course and deciding how to proceed. The princess had declared Keith to have a conflict of interest and therefore he was not permitted to participate in the discussion. Pidge had objected, stating that he was the only one who knew anything about the area and that his insight and knowledge would be useful. Allura had shot them down and, instead of including Keith, she decided to exclude the other teens.
They must be close, he thought. The strange sensation of traveling via wormhole had worn off a few dobashes ago and based on the speed of the Castle he figured they should be arriving at the xanthorium clusters soon enough. Channeling one last spurt of rage, he sliced down the new gladiator.
{ Training Level 21: Completed }
{ Error Count: Zero }
Satisfied, he commanded the Castle to "Start training level 22" and immediately a new droid dropped, poised and ready to strike. He got a few good blows in before the droid suddenly deactivated and an alarm blared through the Castle, bright red lights flashing painfully all around him.
{ Intruder } The Castle's soothing female voice sounded overhead. { Intruder } Keith abandoned his training session and rushed for the door panel only to find the room locked, overridden by the bridge controls. { Intruder } A frustrated growl escaped him and he glared angrily up at the camera in the room. { Intruder } "ALLURA! Unlock the quiznaking door!" He practically snarled. { Intruder } Kicking the door several times didn't work. { Intruder } Sliding his bayard between the doors to pry them apart didn't work. { Intruder } Throwing the body of the deactivated droid at the door didn't work. { Intruder } Keith purposely let out a growl, not holding anything back as the distinctly Galran sound ripped from his throat. { Intruder } He hissed at the camera and swung his bayard at the door for good measure. { Intruder }
Finally the alarm stopped and Keith heard a faint set of footfalls run past the training deck door followed shortly by another, substantially heavier set. He banged on the door again, screaming in Galran at Allura to open it to no avail. After a dobash or so he heard shots fire, followed by Coran's voice coming over the speakers.
"Careful, he's faster than an angry klanmüirl!" There was the sound of more shots followed by another round of commentary. "But he can jump like a sprightly globinheffer! …. Somebody's as mad a wet chüper."
There was a beat of silence before "Coming your way, Number five! … He's dragging Pidge away!" Followed by more rapid succession blasts, clearly from Hunk's bayard this time. "Oh, Hunk failed the team, guys."
"It's up to Shiro this time, ooo this is exciting, he's activated his Galra hand! One young Paladin, one seemingly indestructible foe." The commotion grew louder, the group having doubled back the way they had originally come. Keith knew he could help; as a trained Blade of Marmora Operative he was uniquely qualified to take on Galra soldiers. Locking him up like this was basically sheathing their most valuable weapon. Another frustrated growl came out as he pounded his fist against the door.
Several dobashes went by before the door to the training deck finally opened to reveal an empty hallway. Fury bloomed in his chest and Keith sprinted from the training deck, heading straight for the lounge where the suit trackers said the others were located.
"-not have some quiznaking Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!" He heard Allura's hateful voice echoing out of the room.
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already." ULAZ! Keith rounded the corner, sprinting into the lounge.
"Are your Galra threats supposed to win my trust?" He vaguely heard Allura spit, but it didn't matter, this was Ulaz! He was here, he was safe, and he was here! Keith charged for him, not caring in the least that the Humans and Alteans were in the room as he ran up to the man sitting on the couch.
The older Blade startled briefly at the sudden proximity but he didn't address him; merely acknowledged Keith's presence with a nod before countering the princess' statement. "I'm not trying to win your trust. I'm trying to win a war. And, because of Voltron, we are closer than we've ever been." He turned to face Shiro before continuing. "Keith's gamble on you paid off better than we could have ever imagined." He straightened his back as he sat beside Ulaz on the couch, ignoring the questioning stares he was receiving in favour of staring down the princess.
"When you released me, you also mentioned that there were others working with you." Shiro pressed.
"Yes. We are called the Blade of Marmora and you have already met one of our Operatives." He turned to nod at Keith who returned the acknowledgement with a slight bow of his head. Ulaz smiled at him.
"Uh, others? Are they here?" Hunk nervously interjected, prompting Lance to scold him for acting scared in front of their chained-up prisoner. All Keith heard was 'chained-up' before he was jumping to his feet and screaming at Allura, his promise to Red forgotten in a sudden fury.
"Is this really necessary?!" He shouted at her, pointing behind his back to highlight the energy cuffs binding his former mentor.
"Yes." She replied, her tone indignant. "I am not taking any chances."
"Taking chances? I translated the coordinates for you! I guided the Castle here! I told you it was safe!"
"Yes, well, I was merely covering all my bases. I needed to be sure you weren't leading us into a trap."
"IS THAT WHY YOU LOCKED ME IN THE TRAINING DECK?"
"You did what?" Shiro jumped in and Keith was practically seething.
"We had a Galra intruder on the Castle." She justified, squaring her shoulders and standing straighter.
"And you locked me in the training deck so … what? I wouldn't be able to help them?" She glanced to the side and he knew he'd hit the nail on the head. That was it. Keith saw red.
In the blink of an eye he found himself standing inches away from her face, hissing violently at her, and screaming a slurry of profanities in a weird mesh of Galran and English. He was vaguely aware of the commotion around them, the paladins scrambling about as they tried to intervene and Ulaz' voice as he commanded them to stop. It wasn't until a strong hand pulled him back that he finally took a full breath.
Shiro had him pinned against the wall, prosthetic arm pressed firmly across his chest. Lance, Hunk, and Coran were hovering over Allura, but Pidge had made their way to Keith's side and was standing next to Shiro. When her impromptu bodyguards stepped aside he was able to see the emotion in her eyes.
"WHAT was that?" She fumed and before he could speak, Ulaz cut him off.
"Kit, you're actions were inappropriate. Have you forgotten all of your training? Plak will be displeased with this." The disappointment in his voice hurt, but it did little to calm Keith down. It was time to end this once and for all, he was going to have it out with Allura and they were going to address what ever her quiznaking issues were while everyone was in one place. The fact that she would be forced to spew her racist bullshit in front of not only him, but Ulaz as well, was just gravy.
"I'm not a kit anymore." He responded in a cold voice, shrugging off the medic's hand.
"Then do not act like one. You will apologize to the Altean Princess for the way you have treated her."
"No." he deadpanned, looking Allura in the eyes and pulling all emotion from him face and voice.
She had the nerve to wear an offended expression. "Pardon me?"
"Did I stutter? I said 'NO'." He crossed his arms but held eye contact. Standing his ground and digging in his heels. "Why should I be the one to apologize? I'm sick of this, I'm sick of having to tip toe around the Castle for fear of offending you by my very existence. I'm sick of biting my tongue and modifying my behaviour to come off as 'human' as possible. I'm tired of listening to you spew your bullshit about my people and our culture. And I'm tired of trying to justify your shitty fucking attitude! Fuck you, Allura! Fuck you and your holy than thou attitude, your frankly racist mind-set, and your playing the innocent victim! Fuck you for making me feel like shit when I did NOTHING WRONG! I'm done with this and I'm NOT apologizing! When you're ready to grow the hell up and apologize to me you can come find me." With that he turned to Ulaz. "We can take Red to the base. I'll give Pidge and Coran instructions on how to access it with the Castle but we're leaving right now. I need off this ship." He finished his line and stormed out.
Keith headed for his room to grab an overnight bag and his Blade suit, opting to pack the Paladin armour in his bag instead of wearing it. Ulaz followed, shuffling along behind him and it took a few dobashes before the cuffs fell away, having been deactivated by Coran most likely. Ulaz said nothing to him, not that Keith would have been listening, his head was swirling with thoughts – none of which were pleasant. They made their way to the Red Lion's hangar and she opened up without prompting. He felt her brush against his mind with worry but he assured her that he was fine and the two Blades took off, Keith returning to base for the first time in well over 2 deca-phoebs.
She watched her father's lion leave the Castle and fly straight for the heart of a large xanthorium cluster before disappearing. Just as Keith had said, the base was clearly hidden amongst the crystals. Allura let out a shaky breath and felt the tension clenching around her heart ease as the lion flew further and further away. The Humans fussed about the Castle and dear Coran shot her nervous glances he likely thought she didn't notice. A smile graced her lips before falling once again.
She knew the Galra were volatile; they had a reputation for being aggressive, especially when backed into a corner. And that was exactly what had just happened. She had backed Keith into an emotional corner with her terrible treatment of him and he reacted violently. Except, this was much more intense that was expected. He was hot headed and aggressive, rash and instinct driven, but he was not unreasonable or heartless. Either she had pushed him to the point of no return, or something else was at play here.
He'd been right, she had been unfairly cruel to him and her intentions were to apologize when she returned. Sitting in the cell on Central Command had given Allura plenty of time to think, and rethink, and over think, about everything that had transpired between them. She had come to the conclusion that she needed to apologize for the way she'd treated him, and for not giving him a chance.
But all of her good intentions went flying out the airlock the moment Shiro placed the Red Lion in its hangar. Her gut told her it had something to do with why Red had been glowing a bright purple. Something unnatural had happened and what ever it was it had caused her anger to boil back to the surface, and caused Keith to react far more aggressively than normal. And now she was down her Red Paladin.
It was situations like this that made Allura wish her father's AI was still in the Castle. What she wouldn't give to be able to run this one by him. She just hoped it wasn't too late to salvage their relationship.