Chapter 2: Some Assembly Required

The next day, Belle was just told about everything that had happened to Jenny up until Kaecilius's defeat. Honestly, she couldn't sleep a wink after what had happened; adrenaline was basically caffeine for her. So, she spent the night in her uniform telling her older sister the whole story as a long sleepover. If Belle wasn't a night person, she'd be really exhausted.

"So, you're a Paladin of Voltron, now?"

"Yep."

"And Lance is your boyfriend? Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, he can be pretty flirty, but he's also a really nice guy. He even helped me get the confidence I needed to find you. Plus, I share a room with him."

"Wow, you're right. I have really missed a lot."

As Jenny giggled, Belle started laughing a bit herself.

"Okay. Now it's your turn to tell me everything you've been through."

"Seriously?"

"Uh, yeah. You told me you'd tell me after I did."

"Geez, I didn't think you'd remember that. Well, I... I don't really remember much; it's just bits and pieces."

"Just tell me what you do know, then. It'll be easier."

"Well, if you say so."

Just then, Allura's voice went on speaker all around the castle.

"Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking!"

Jenny knew from experience that it was a drill, considering Allura never said it wasn't.

"Welp! Duty calls!"

With that, Jenny darted out of the room grabbing her bayard. As she ran to the main hangar, she tried to picture for herself how Zarkon would look like.

"So, the head honcho's on his way, huh? Is he gonna have long fluffy ears, or is he gonna be rock hard? Yeah. Definitely the second one."

As she pondered it, Allura continued to speak out.

"The Castle's about to be destroyed! Go, go, go! We need Voltron now!"

However, when Jenny got there, she noticed, Allura, Babak, and Coran in the main hangar.

"Hurry! We can't survive much longer!"

Jenny just stood confused as Coran and Allura carried on.

"Uh..."

"You've got to sell it a little bit more."

Babak knew what he meant by theatrics and wanted no part of it.

"Please don't. Your theatrics are too melodramatic for my taste."

"Too late! Oh, no! Allura is dead! Aw, 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?"

Then, Jenny tried to make herself known before his theatrics went on any further.

"Ahem."

Only Babak and Allura were the ones to notice her as she tried to speak to him first.

"Coran."

"Oh, yes, Princess, I'm listening."

Babak only groaned before he spoke.

"It's over."

As the Castle shut its alarm off, Jenny noticed the other Paladins while Coran milked his theatrics a bit more.

"Oh, I know! If only Voltron had been formed."

Babak felt a quip was needed.

"No, Coran. Just your acting career."

Then, Coran noticed the Paladins had arrived.

"Oh! Time!"

Shiro could make a guess as to what it was.

"I guess this isn't an actual attack."

Jenny lent her two cents into what it was next.

"Nah, just a drill. I'm always ready for a drill, be it Earth or Arus."

However, that didn't make Allura any happier.

"And it's a good thing it was, because it took you... Babak?"

Babak consulted his timer and labeled each.

"Jenny got here at about 10 ticks since the drill started. Shiro: 11, Sandra, Lapis, and Keith: tied for 12, Pidge: 17, Hunk: 24, and Lance is 35 ticks and counting, putting him... dead last."

"Exactly. For all of you to get here, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Jenny, Shiro, and Lapis are in uniform. Keith, Sandra, Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards?"

Then, upon his name being spoken, Jenny realized someone else was missing.

"Never mind that. Where's Lance?"

Just then, Lance arrived in blue lion slippers and a blue robe. He yawned a bit before he spoke.

"Good morning, everybody. How's it going?"

"Coran, Babak, 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."

Jenny was furious at Lance for being dead last. And yet, as much as she wanted to be mad, she just couldn't.

"Doh! You're lucky you're so darn handsome, or I'd give you such a whopping."

Babak wanted to whop Lance since he got here, so he didn't want the opportunity to go to waste.

"How about I take charge for you?"

Lance looked at Babak, confused.

"You, my friend, have just earned yourself two... hundred pushups."

"What?! You're stark-raving mad!"

"Talk back to me again and I'll make it 2,000!"

Panicking, Lance immediately dropped to the floor and began doing push-ups.

"One, two, three, four..."

As he did pushups, Jenny was amazed while Hunk grew exhausted.

"How do you do that?"

"Well, I'm a soldier. Comes with the territory."

"Hey!"

Hunk yawned before he continued his complaint.

"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 Kaecilius, eaten goo in some weird castle. That's a lot to process in, uh... I don't know. What day is today?"

Coran was kind enough to answer, although it was hard to decipher at the moment.

"It's the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!"

Jenny was familiar with that.

"Oh, yeah. Back on Earth, Hump day was the middle of the week. Only we called it 'Wednesday.'"

"Fascinating trivia."

"Anyway, it's a lot to process."

As Allura explained, she pulled up a star map, revealing that Zarkon's faction has conquered most of it. She then scrolled over to the blue quadrant: Earth.

"You must understand the stakes of our mission. 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. Earth is here. An attack on your planet is inevitable."

Hunk and Jenny feared the worst in an instant.

"Oh, no."

"That means... if we don't stop Kaecilius or Zarkon..."

"Exactly. Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran, Babak, 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."

Shiro could agree with her.

"The Princess is right. Let's get to our lions and start training."

However, Babak spoke up.

"Zip, bup, bup, bup, bup! Not so fast. The females, including Jenny, are going to be exempt from training."

Lance heard this and grew shocked.

"What? Why?!"

Babak turned to Lance.

"Yip, yip, yip. What did I say about talking back?"

Lance only groaned in frustration before Babak spoke.

"They're not the Paladins of Voltron; you are. Thus, it wouldn't exactly be training when you're trying to form the Defender of the Universe."

Sandra had an idea on what it meant.

"So, what you're saying is that we have a day off?"

"Simply put, yes. A mandatory day off."

Usually, Jenny's excited about day offs, but since they're in an alien world, she had to be sure they're on the same topic.

"And, uh, what do we do on day offs, as far as Altea?"

"Pretty much just that. Time off from working and reveling in any activity you see fit."

Jenny had had an idea on what to do.

"Well, I could study the Altean language."

Lapis and Sandra had another suggestion.

"I could do some training on the deck."

"Same here."

Hearing their input, Babak grew pleases as he spoke.

"Then it's settled."

Then, Hunk grew surprised about the training deck's existence in the Castle.

"There's a training deck?"

Later, Lapis and Sandra were sparring against each other with their bayards, doubling as swords. After pushing herself away from Lapis, Sandra rushed at her and attempted an overhead slash at her, only for Lapis to block it with her swords. Taking advantage of the lapse, Lapis rolled backwards with her swords dragging Sandra's away until they disconnected and launched Sandra to a far distance. However, Sandra was able to recover from this with her own roll and landed on her feet. She then looked back toward Lapis and smiled.

"Not bad. You'd give Zarkon a run for his money."

"Thanks. I usually prefer close combat to long range, so I can stare my enemy on the eye."

"Not bad. Just as long as you don't discount..."

Suddenly, Sandra tossed her blade at Lapis, who caught it in between her hands.

"Hmm. The element of surprise. I like that."

"Yeah, that's my go-to tactic."

Then, Lapis took a look at the blade that was chucked at her and noticed her blade on the belt as well.

"Wait, you have that blade, too?"

"Well, I should. Keith and I are family, after all."

"You are?"

Hearing this, Lapis began to blush, catching Sandra's attention.

"Why are you blushing?"

"Huh? Oh! Sorry. I assumed you and Keith would be, well, you know..."

Sandra was visibly getting annoyed about that.

"Why does everyone think we're going out?"

Sandra took a deep breath before coming to an understanding.

"I get that we're intense, but why should that mean we're going out?"

"Look, it's not your fault. It just runs in the family."

Sandra looked to Lapis and smiled.

"Yeah. I guess it does. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Well, I assumed you were going out and... I just wanted to..."

"Hold up. You have a crush on my brother?"

Lapis grew shocked that she was that obvious, but shortly after, admitted it.

"Well, yes. I wasn't trying to make it awkward or anything."

"You kidding? It's not awkward at all."

"How can you be so sure?"

"For one thing, at least people would stop thinking that me and Keith are a couple. Besides, if you are a couple with my brother, that means I'd get to spar with you all day. That sounds like a done deal to me."

"Yeah, there's that, isn't there? But... what if he doesn't feel the same?"

"Why wouldn't he? He ran to look for you when you took off the other day. That means he cares about you."

"So did Jenny. Who knows what it could mean?"

"Well, I do know something. A woman can't marry another woman. Well, you can, but that's just plain weird in my opinion. Although, I don't know how it'll work with the Galra. In which case, I'm yours."

With that, Sandra and Lapis began to blush upon realizing the words that came out of her mouth as Sandra tried to explain before Lapis thought it best to move on.

"Uh, not that I'm asking to date you or anything. It's just that—"

"Okay, alright. Enough boy talk. What else do we do for fun around here?"

"Maybe this time, we'll try working together. We could even be their coaches for the day."

Lapis heard this and liked the idea.

"Okay, I'm in."

At Zarkon's command center, Kaecilius had teleported to Zarkon's palace, much to his intrigue.

"You've returned early. Did you complete your mission?"

"It is far from complete, my Emperor. It is still ongoing. I merely came to deliver my most recent report, up close and personal."

"Go on."

"It is as you thought. The lions had formed into Voltron and destroyed the ship. As if that weren't bad enough, the Violet Lion has become active as well."

That caused Zarkon a great deal of surprise.

"What?"

"Yes. And it is currently in the hands of that young prisoner, Lapis. I left Sendak and Haxxus on Arus. After all, weakness is an infection. Better to cut it out than to let it spread."

Zarkon grew a bit cautious around him.

"It seems I've taught you well, Kaecilius. Perhaps... too well."

"However, Sendak was confident enough to demand me to give him your permission to proceed. I merely denied him that privilege as he already had his chance."

"He may proceed."

That caught Kaecilius' attention.

"Emperor Zarkon, I..."

"I trained him and he has his mission. He fights in the name of Galra. Only success or death will stop him."

Kaecilius felt angry at this, but knew better than to question his Emperor.

"As you wish. Vrepit Sa."

With that, Kaecilius vanished from the palace as Zarkon turned to the Witch.

"I sense something amiss in Kaecilius."

"Indeed. He's so rooted in his ambitions, he may very well be our rival yet."

"What have you and your Druids come up with to capture Voltron?"

"I have been working on perfecting something. Something that will strike fear into the hearts of any that stand against it. The Voltrons may have surprised Kaecilius, but they will not be able to overcome my creation."

At the Castle, Jenny was getting a book to read about the Altean language when she noticed the Paladins on the couch.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

Lance felt it was painstakingly obvious.

"What do you think?"

"I dunno. That's why I was askin'."

Just then, Allura, Babak, and Coran came from behind her.

"Are we at full power on condenser number five yet?"

Babak answered Allura's query.

"Regrettably, it's a constant 84 percent."

Just then, she noticed the Paladins on the couch, assuming it meant one thing.

"You did it! You formed Voltron!"

Jenny heard that and grew proud of them before she spoke.

"Really? You guys did it already?"

However, Keith put her worrying to rest.

"No. The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in."

While Allura grew angry, Jenny grew confused.

"What?"

"You just walked in? Didn't you have to form it first?"

Babak pointed out to Jenny about the identity of who made this possible.

"You can thank Coran for that. I told him it wasn't necessary to test the fire suppressors, but he insisted anyway."

"Oh, right. Sorry, princess."

Just then, Shiro walked in, stuck on the same problem as Allura.

"What are you guys doing in here? We're not taking a break."

"Shiro's right. You should be training."

Jenny pointed out the fact that seemed to go unnoticed while Hunk found it taxing.

"Uh, what about me? I mean, someone's gotta be ready for when we get the White Lion. Besides, all the text in here makes no sense."

"We've been training. When are we going back to Earth?"

Pidge, however, wanted to set his goal straight.

"I'm not going back until I find my family. If Jenny could find hers, so would I."

Jenny agreed with him.

"You keep doing you, my man."

Then, as she and Pidge did a fist bump, Shiro made his point clear.

"Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Kaecilius, let alone Zarkon."

Lance only saw the one drawback to it.

"How are we going to fight? We can't even figure out how to form Voltron."

Babak knew that would explain it.

"That's to be expected. You know, the original Paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side by side, as one. Yet, you only fought one battle and you're already bickering."

"Wow. Yeah, that's definitely not us."

While Babak grew furious at Lance's complacency, Coran spoke up.

"During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team, but that will only get you so far. 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."

Keith heard this and felt it was a bit unnecessary and spoke to Babak.

"Hold on. Weren't Sandra and Lapis using it?"

"Of course. But that doesn't mean they won't be your coaches."

Hearing this, the Paladins were surprised.

"What?!"

At the command center, Haggar walked toward a cell, guarded by the other Druids and walked into it. As she stopped in place, the figure in the shadows spoke to her.

"Why are you here?"

"I think I have the opportunity you've been waiting for. How would you like to get your revenge against the Champion?"

Then, the figure walked toward her, its yellow eyes and gnarled his sharp teeth showing as it smiled.

"I've dreamed of nothing else for a year..."

At the Castle, as Lapis, Keith, Lance, Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk were on the deck, Sandra spoke through the microphone.

"Alright, guys, listen up. The Paladin Code demands that you put your team members' safety above your own. For example, say a swarm of drones is about to attack. It's up to each one of you to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team."

Suddenly, a swarm of drones swarmed around them as their shields were activated.

"Wait, wait, wait. What's going on?"

When Hunk got his shield, he was surprised.

"Whoa. Did you guys get one of these?"

Shiro made sure everyone was prepared.

"Get ready."

Then, Sandra gave her cue.

"And... now!"

Instantly, the drones began firing away. When Hunk saw this, he ducked down, only for it to hit Pidge on the back, causing a hole to open up under him and made him fall into it.

"You have to protect your teammates or no one will be there to protect you! I'm looking at you, Hunk!"

"Oh, come on!"

Then, Hunk got blasted, causing him to fly up into the air before diving into the hole, leaving Lance, Shiro, Keith, and Lapis left. They got their backs together as they blocked the blasts.

"Time to increase intensity. Prepare yourselves."

Then, the drones began rapidly firing on them, though they were able to repel their fire. As this went on, Lance turned to Keith.

"You keeping up over there, Keith?"

"Just concentrate on keeping me safe."

Lance let the rivalry get the best of him and began getting cocky.

"Me? I own this drill. You're the one who needs to concentrate."

Sandra wasn't in the mood for it.

"Both of you better concentrate and soon! Because your lives will depend on it!"

Suddenly, the drones began to fire under their legs. Lapis saw one pointing at Keith and used herself as a human shield and took the hit, causing Lapis to fall into the hole. Then, Keith, Lance, and Shiro eventually ended up falling into the holes as Sandra placed her hand on her face.

"Okay, let's take five on this for now."

Upon hearing this, Babak and Coran became confused before she explained.

"You know? Take 5? Like a five-minute break?"

Babak was convinced he knew what she meant before realizing he had no idea what a minute was.

"What exactly is a minute? Is it longer than a tick?"

"Ugh. Never mind."

Later on, Lapis took her turn for training as Lance was in a maze with Keith relaying instructions.

"Okay. From what I can tell, to form Voltron, you must trust in each other. This maze will teach you that trust."

Suddenly, the maze turned invisible.

"Your teammate can see the walls, but you can't. So, pay attention. If you hit a wall, you'll get a slight shock. And it won't be pretty."

Then, Lance put his helmet on and wondered who'd be guiding him.

"Wait. Who's guiding me through?"

"Take two steps forward."

Upon hearing his of all voices, Lance became very suspicious.

"Oh, no. Not Keith. Why can't Jenny be the one on the mic?"

"She's... otherwise engaged."

Hearing this from Lapis, Lance grew worried.

"Engaged?! She's going out with someone else?!"

"No! That's not what I meant! She's reading the Altean language, remember?"

Lance grew relieved to hear that.

"Phew! You know, you could've just said that."

"Noted."

Then, Keith got back to his task.

"Like I said, take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps that direction."

When Lance turned right, he ended up bumping into a wall, shocking him with a scream.

"You did that on purpose!"

"You're not listening."

"You said, 'turn right.'"

"But, before that, I said, 'take two steps forward.'"

Then, Lance growled before continuing on.

"Two steps—"

However, he only hit another wall, screaming again as he was shocked before he turned to Keith and Lapis.

"We're switching places right now!"

"Actually, I have a better idea. And I think she might be able to help you better, since she's more experienced on Earth's flight patterns."

This time, Belle was giving instructions on the transmission. Rattled as she was from her experience, she knew how to create team-building exercises.

"You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with his lion."

"No problem. Me and Blue are best buds for life, for real. Oh, and Jenny, too."

"Good. Then you won't have any problem with this exercise. Everyone, put your lions into a nose dive."

Then, the lions began diving to the ground.

"Now, this is an expert-level drill you really shouldn't attempt unless you've been flying for years. So... good luck."

Then, Belle swiped the panel up before pushing the button.

"Activating training helmets!"

Suddenly, the lenses of their helmet turned dark, surprising and scaring them, Lance, most of all.

"Belle, what's happening? I can't see!"

"That's the point! You have to see through your lions' eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you hit the ground. Pull up too early, you're out. Pull up too late, you're out. Just feel what your lion feels, however that works."

However, Hunk couldn't take the suspense.

"Mine feels scared!"

With that, Hunk began pulling away with Belle relaying the results.

"Yellow Lion is out."

Then, Lance and Keith were neck and neck with each other with Lance speaking to him first.

"You still going, Keith?"

"You know it. You?"

"Going? I'm speeding up!"

"Oh, yeah?"

Then, Lance and Keith began going faster towards the ground

"Must be getting close."

"Must be."

"You getting scared?"

"I'm not scared!"

Suddenly, they sped even faster, only to crash into the sandy dunes with the lions' business ends sticking out.

"Red and Blue Lions are out."

Pidge heard that and grew frightened. "What was that noise? Did they crash?"

Pidge couldn't take the suspense and went upwards as Shiro continued down.

"Green Lion is out."

Shiro didn't let that bother him as he closed his own eyes and felt the connection to the lion. Then, at the last moment when he was about to crash, he pulled up, flaring the jet engines in the lion's back to provide leverage. Then he went to look for a landing spot, letting the lion be it's guide as it swerved away from the rocks and craters. This gave Belle cause for celebration.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this."

"Way to go, Shiro! I knew you'd pull through! Everyone else... it's back to the drawing board."

Back at the Castle, Jenny showed up in the area where the Paladins were using their headsets as a sort of exercise.

"Hi, guys. Whatcha' doing?"

Babak spoke through the microphone to answer her.

"They're learning to meld their minds to form Voltron."

Hearing this, Jenny grew very interested.

"Oh, cool. Maybe I can join in."

With that, Jenny got her headset from the table and sat next to Lance with a smile before Babak spoke up.

"Alright. Now, the most important part of any Paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron. Everything else has to fade away, if only for this very moment."

As Babak explained, Keith pictured the shack he once went to since being booted. Then, Lance had a picture of his family while Jenny thought of herself and Lance sharing the same bed with a small girl in between them. Hunk imagined food while Pidge thought about him and his apparent girlfriend and Shiro thought about his crew.

"This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between Paladins. Come on, everyone, clear everything. Now, focus on forming your Lion."

Then, the images turned to the lions designated for each other, with the exception of Jenny, who had a White lion, much to the surprise of Babak, who managed to contain it in his voice as he went on.

"Yes. Now, bring your lions together and form Voltron."

As the lions drew closer, Pidge was still having the image flicker in his head.

"Good, now keep focusing. One more to go..."

However, Keith saw Pidge's struggle and grew annoyed with it.

"Pidge, stop thinking of your girlfriend!"

Pidge snapped like a twig easily.

"I wasn't! Hunk was rooting around in my head!"

"I thought that we were open. You can look in my head hole."

"I guess not even mind melding can keep us safe from you, Hunk."

As Jenny giggled at her statement, Hunk grew confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Of course they're safe! Everyone has the responsibility to respect their secrets, but there shouldn't be any! Clear your minds!"

Then, the lions went back together with Babak continuing on.

"Yes. Now form Voltron."

As the legs and arms went in place, the White Lion went on the chest of it and caused it to glow transcendently before it began to transform independently, separate from Voltron itself as a mirror image of itself only in white stood by its counterpart as Babak laughed with joy.

"Ha-ha, yes!"

However, that wasn't to last as Pidge's image popped up in place of the lion, causing Lance to snap.

"Pidge!"

However, Pidge was just as frustrated, if not more, as he slammed the headset to the floor in a fit.

"I'm done with this! Look, I don't want everyone grubbing around in my head!"

Seeing the stress Pidge was venting off, Jenny became concerned as she spoke.

"Whoa, Pidge. You okay?"

"I'm just... I'm just tired, okay?"

Jenny understood what he meant by that, considering his luck on finding his family and nodded.

"Okay. I get it."

Shiro felt a temporary break was in order.

"Let's take a break."

Later, Babak was providing refreshments to the Paladins.

"Perhaps you have been working harder than you should've been. Maybe it's time to get some well-earned rest."

However, when she walked in, Allura would strongly disagree.

"Really, Babak? You call yourself a soldier?"

"Yes. I do."

"Then what are they doing lying around? I can understand Jenny, considering her lion isn't present, but they're supposed to be training!"

"With all due respect, your highness, you can't push a cadet too hard."

"What do you mean, 'can't push too hard?'"

"Exactly that. If you push a cadet too far too fast, you'll end up breaking him rather than molding him."

"It doesn't matter! Not with Zarkon around! Get up, you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the gladiator!"

Keith smiled at this part at least as he knew Lapis was versed in coaching them.

"Something tells me Lapis has something to do with it."

At the training deck, Keith, Lapis, Shiro, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk go face to face with the gladiator as Babak coached them.

"In order to defeat the gladiator, all Paladins must learn to fight as one. Commence training sequence level one."

Then, the drone responded to Babak's suggestion and began running towards Hunk, who shot at him, only hitting Keith's shield in the process. Then, the gladiator tripped Hunk and electrocuted him before Pidge advanced towards it and clashed it with his bayard, only for it to counter and knock Pidge back with a shock. Then, Lance shot at the drone, only for it to knock his sharpshooter away and hit him on the head before swinging it to Keith, who blocked it before the drone hit Lance on the head again. After which, he hit Lance in the stomach and twirled him around until he tossed Lance at Keith, knocking them both down and leaving only Lapis and Shiro. As the drone charged at Shiro, his memory stopped him from thinking of any action to take, leaving him open to the drone's attack. However, at the last moment, Keith saved him and tried to snap him out of it.

"Shiro, are you okay?"

Suddenly, the drone began to trip Keith, only for Lapis to block it and knock his staff away before slicing upwards, causing the drone to disintegrate. Allura was bittersweet at this moment.

"Congratulations on what you should be able to do anyway. That combat simulator was set at a level for an Altean child! Half of you aren't even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!"

Lapis heard this fact and pondered on what it meant.

"So, Altean children do their own fights, too?"

"Well, yes, apparently."

Lapis smiled at her, knowing they have something fun to pass the time. Well, fun in her opinion, anyway.

"Cool."

At dinner time, Pidge, Keith, Lapis, Lance, Jenny, Sandra, Hunk and Shiro were at the table with Coran as their waiter.

"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!"

Jenny understood that and translated it.

"I take it that's Altean for 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Shiro was getting ready to eat as she translated.

"Smells great, Coran. Thanks."

As they all reached for their utensils, Coran immediately got out a remote and linked their wrist collars together like magnets, to the surprise of the Paladins as Lance and Jenny grew curious before Coran explained.

"Hold the phone!"

"Not that I mind being linked to Lance, but what's going on here?"

"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."

Lance shook his fist in anger, causing Jenny to move closer to him as she blushed madly at this. Hunk tried to move his left hand away from Shiro's right hand, only for it to be pulled back, immediately causing him to think he'd gone insane.

"Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing."

Sandra tried to move her hand away, but instead, got it pulled toward Jenny's.

"So, what's the point of this?"

"This one's a classic. You get to feed each other, like a pack of yalmors!"

Hearing this, Jenny beamed like a Cheshire Cat while everyone else glared at each other with the exception of Lance smiling at Jenny and Shiro, who had a look of exhaustion on his face.

Back at Zarkon's command center, Myzax was placed inside a metal coffin as it was placed in front of Haggar as Zarkon and Kaecilius watched. As Haggar thruster her hands at Myzax, he felt in overpowering essence as he yelled out and the Quintessence is placed in a giant robeast with one cat-slit eye and a right arm with no hand. After seeing this, Kaecilius questioned his Emperor.

"What's that?"

"That is a robeast. Made from our resources and filled by that being's Quintessence. Isn't it grand?"

Seeing the monstrosity, Kaecilius smirked as he had an idea forming around his head.

"You have no idea..."

Back at the castle, Hunk tried to eat his food, only for the spoon to hit him as Sandra accidentally knocked him.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Hunk."

When Hunk tried to eat his food, he instead bit Sandra's fingers, causing her to yelp as she also flipped the food away. As for Lance and Jenny, they were focusing on each other as they tried to feed each other food. As Jenny tried to place her food in his mouth, she ended up dragging Sandra to her while Lance dragged Lapis over to her as he tried to do the same for her. When he tried to get another scoop for her, he noticed Lapis' hand on his food as she apologized.

"Sorry."

Lance, however, saw that as bad luck.

"Oh, nice. You defiled my food goo."

Keith didn't hesitate to stand up for her as Jenny tried to change his mind.

"Uh, Lance. It's just an accident. It's not like—"

"It's your fault! This is ridiculous."

As they argued, Jenny and Lapis looked to each other and shrugged as they laughed nervously while Allura was fuming.

"Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?"

Shiro tried to reason with her again.

"Can't you just give us a break? Everyone's been working really hard today."

Keith let his impulse get the best of him and snapped.

"Yeah! We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like... like..."

Lapis had an idea on what he meant and blurted it out.

"Expendable soldiers?"

"Yes! Thank you, Lapis!"

"Uh, his words, not mine!"

Babak only retaliated with a shout as he glared at them, only to hear Pidge's insult.

"You do not yell at the Princess!"

"Oh, the princess of what?"

Hearing that remark was enough to know where it's going and Lapis tried to stop it.

"Pidge, shush."

"We're the only ones out here and she's no princess of ours!"

"And you've done it now."

Then, Allura flicked the goop at Pidge, hitting him in the face before Keith took charge.

"Go loose, Pidge!"

Then, to Lapis' horror, her body moved as Keith chucked the plate at Allura, only to be saved by Coran as he deflected it and chucked his ladle full of goo at all of the Paladins. Hunk shook his head to clear the goo off of him before he spoke.

"Oh, it's on now."

Hunk took his plate of goo and spat it out at them, covering them in goo. Jenny saw this as a bonding opportunity and took advantage of shouting out the following words.

"Food fight!"

Then, Keith got pelted in goo while being a shield for Lapis. Then, Allura and Coran took cover as the Paladins retaliated. Next, Keith and Lapis (who was willing to chuck her food for once) chucked it at Allura, only for Coran to get hit in the process. Next, Lance and Jenny got hit before Sandra fired her goo from her spork while Hunk spat it out. When the food fight was over, Allura sat down on the chair as she sighed. Then, Jenny spoke up and brought everyone up to date on what they've just done.

"Guys, do you know what we just did? We just worked together! For reals!"

"Hey, she's right."

"I actually don't hate you right now."

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If I say yes, can you not steal my secrets?"

"Hey!"

Sandra giggled before Shiro answered.

"Let's go form Voltron!"

"Yeah!"

"Actually, I was thinking dessert. But, yeah! Let's do it!"

Then, everyone tumbled back onto the floor as Jenny giggled next to Lance.

"Whoo!"

Later, the paladins went to their lions as their eyes flared on with Shiro checking on Pidge, Lance, Keith, and Hunk.

"Everyone ready to do this?"

"Roger that!"

"It's on!"

"Yes, sir!"

"I was born ready!"

"Then let's go!"

"Yeah!"

Then, as they flew outside the castle, where Allura, Babak, Belle, Coran, Jenny, Lapis, and Sandra watched, they combined their lions into Voltron.

"Whoa. That is amazing."

Allura smiled with pride as Voltron stood in front of them.

"I told you I could get them to do it. They just needed a common enemy."

"It's true. Like the old proverb says, 'a man can be driven to anything if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him.'"

Hearing this, Allura pouted before Jenny spoke up.

"Uh, quick question. While we were melding our minds, the White Lion I had transformed into another Voltron instead of just linking up. What does that mean?"

Allura turned to Babak and nodded to him before he turned to Jenny.

"Listen, Jennifer. The White Lion is the antithesis to the Violet Lion, as well as its counterpart. So this process is to be expected."

"Whoa... so, where can we find it?"

"Regrettably, the answer itself is a mystery even to us. But, if I had a guess, it would be... in Oriande."

Then, Jenny remembered that word before she had a flashback.

As little kids, Jenny and Belle were sitting in their grandfather's lap as he regaled a tale to them while they watched the night sky.

"Take a good look at the sky, children. Somewhere out there in the far expanse of the universe lies the rest of the lions that shall form Voltron. But Voltron wasn't the only being forged. There were two more lions. One known as the Violet Lion, and the other, the White Lion. The Violet Lion is currently unknown to be found, but legend has it that during the time of evacuation, the White Lion was called back to Oriande, in which the source of its powers which helped create it exists, lying in wait for a Paladin with radiant light and a strong sense of balance known as Divine Justice."

Hearing this, Jenny became interested as she spoke while Belle looked to the two in longing as if she sensed the importance of his words of wisdom.

"What is Divine Justice, Grandpop?"

"Well, Jennifer, I'm glad you asked. To understand its importance, one must truly understand Justice in general. For it is not a sword eradicating evil, but a scale keeping good and evil in balance."

"How does that work?"

"One can succumb to evil but reject that darkness and rediscover the light with new understanding. Justice makes that journey possible. Evil informs good, and that is why even we must extend mercy towards our foes, for it is instrumental to Divine Justice."

After the flashback, Jenny was brought back to reality.

"Oriande... It feels so familiar to me. That, and... Divine Justice."

"Must be a case of Deja Vu. Beyond that, I can't understand how you feel familiar with it, or what Divine Justice has anything to do with it."

"I think I do. My Grandpop Smythe made sure of that..."

Back at the Castle, the Paladins were celebrating their success, the first being Lance.

"Man, that was cool! I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight."

Keith had a lot of work that made him feel otherwise.

"Not me. When my head hits the pillow, I'm going to be lights out."

"I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man."

Then, Hunk squeezed Lance and Keith in his hug.

"You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers all the way. I love you guys."

"G-forces mess with your head a little bit?"

"Yeah. I don't know. Maybe a little. It's been a tough few days."

Then, the others went to bed as Pidge remained on the couch, catching Shiro's notice.

"Going to bed, Pidge?"

"In a minute."

"Good work today. We're really coming together."

As they walked away, Pidge's smile faded as he got out a picture with the same image from earlier. Then, Sandra's voice got his attention.

"That's not your girlfriend, is it?"

Hearing that, Pidge got surprised and staggered back.

"How did you know that?!"

"For starters, your height. I knew you reminded me of someone when you went with Jenny and her crew."

Seeing that the jig is up, Pidge had no choice but to confess.

"Okay. I have something to tell you."

"Don't bother. I've already known since you set foot in the garrison again. And don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. Oh, and... if you need any help, just call."

With that, Sandra walked to her quarters with Pidge smiling at her.

"She's so cool."

At Zarkon's command center, Kaecilius, Zarkon, and Hagar watched as the robes at is sent to its coordinates.

"What is the point of sending the beast when we could've sent him as is?"

"This beast will allow us to destroy the paladins. And then, Voltron will be ours."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then you shall lead Sendak's mission on Arus."

Hearing this from his emperor, Kaecilius already began forming a dark idea in his head.

"Allow me a moment to consider this proposal. I must prepare myself."

Then, Kaecilius walked away from Zarkon.

As he did, he descended into the lower vaults of the command center, walking toward a normal Galra-shaped armor with two sharp eyes unglowing, indicating of its emptiness and shouted to his Druids.

"Gods of the new dawn, give unto me a servant with the same body and fighting power as the Lost Knight, Zaltron!"

Then, the Druids fired their quintessence at Kaecilius, who simultaneously fired his own at the armor until the druids were finished. With that, Kaecilius took deep breaths as he stood up before laughing.

"Now I'm ready. I have the offensive power of Zaltron to eliminate all mortals! At last, I have the means to carry out Divine Justice."

Then, the armor's eyes flared purple before speaking.

"I will fight anyone who stands in my way."