Chapter 13: Across the Universe

Outside, Jenny went inside the Blue Lion as she flew and exhaled once she was inside.

"Okay, what just happened?"

"Who cares? Wormhole!"

Then, the wormhole appeared in front of the Castle before Kaecilius snarled.

"You won't get away!"

With that, Kaecilius fired a red and light violet blast at the wormhole, changing its color to red and violet before it closed, much to Varek's disappointment.

"No. Looks like we won't find them again. Those rotten Alteans."

"Oh, well, no matter. We'll find them again, soon. And when we find them, we will deal with them and complete our utopia."

"And what of our other problem?"

"That... will require some patient thought. There's no sense in rushing when dealing with a light giver."

"Hmph. I suppose you're right."

Inside the wormhole, the group was getting stuck in a desperate situation.

"Coran, what's happening?"

"The integrity of the wormhole is compromised. It's breaking down!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means we have no control over where we're headed!"

"Then who does?!"

Before they could answer, the tremors in the Castle shook the Black, Red, and Violet Lions out of the Castle.

"Keith! Shiro! Lapis!"

"What just happened?"

"It's chaos in there!"

"I don't know, but we've got to stay together."

Suddenly, Jenny couldn't hold on and ended up thrusted out of the Blue Lion's mouth and flew away out of the wormhole as Lance and Hunk took their dive next as Pidge swirled out of the wormhole last, leaving Allura, Babak, Coran, and Zaltron within the wormhole as the princess feared the worst.

"They've vanished through the temporal rift! The lions are gone!"

At a distant planet, a portal opened up before the Red, Black, and Violet Lions went through it. As the Black Lion fell on one side, the Red and Violet Lions fell onto another. While it occurred, Keith and Lapis tried to maintain control.

"Come on, come on, come on!"

"Come on, Violet! Hang on!"

However, they were both unsuccessful as they had crashed into the planet. Not long after, Keith woke up from the crash, as did Ayame, Lapis, Azix, Zaltron, and Belle. Keith tried to pull the levers, but found they had no effect.

"You okay, Red?"

Keith tried again, but failed to stir the Red Lion.

"Okay. We'll fix you up. We had a tough battle."

Then, Keith heard Ayame in his helmet.

"Keith. Takashi. Can anyone read me?"

Fortunately, Keith's voice responded.

"Yeah, Ayame. I hear you."

"Thank goodness."

"Where are you?"

"Try looking in front of you."

Then, Keith looked through the eyes of his lion to see the Violet Lion as well as Ayame waving to him through its eyes. Then, the both of them climbed out of their lions to see a desolate world before Lapis and the others climbed up while Ayame noticed the conditions of the planet firsthand, through her own eyes.

"This looks so strange."

"Where are we? Where have we landed?"

Then, Keith realized who else was missing.

"Shiro."

Ayame thought of him, too, and gasped at how hurt he must've been.

"Takashi! We have to find him!"

Lapis, thinking the situation through, spoke of a certain situation that would be present should they all bolt.

"Well, we can't go with this time. If all of us leave, how would we find the way back to our lions?"

Azix and Belle couldn't agree more.

"The best discourse would be to remain here in case help arrives."

"Just make sure Shiro's okay."

Ayame nodded to her before responding.

Don't worry. I will."

Far away in outer space, a portal opened up, spewing the Green Lion out of it and towards rings of broken space junk.

"Whoa!"

She tried to keep her Lion in control before she crash landed onto the ring. She tried to get it working, but couldn't.

"Huh? What's the matter, girl?"

She didn't get a response from the Green Lion before she spoke to it again.

"Okay, rest a bit. I'll see what I can do."

Pidge analyzed the area around her before she made a hypothesis.

"Looks like there's no gravity here. It's like some trash nebula of some kind. Okay, Pidge, stay calm. You know what they say. 'When you get lost in space, the best thing to do is stay put and wait for people to find you.' This'll be nice. I'll have some 'me' time... No one to annoy me."

Meanwhile, Hunk, Sandra, and Lance were ejected to a frozen ocean and crashed into it before Lance spoke to them.

"Hunk, Sandra, you okay? Guys?"

As an answer, Hunk retched in his Yellow Lion before responding.

"I'm fine."

"You just threw up, didn't you?"

"Yeah. He did."

"You would too if you got sucked out of a wormhole at light speed, then crash-landed on an ice planet and ended up underwater."

Lance felt it was uncalled for.

"That is what happened to me!"

"Oh, right."

Lance checked on the Lion's systems and noticed they weren't in great condition.

"My main system is down. The crash must have screwed it up. Does yours work?"

"I'm on reserve power. My Lion's pretty much dead in the water."

Lance and Sandra frowned at Hunk's joke.

"Boo."

"This situation's bad enough, Hunk. Don't make it worse with puns."

"I'm just shocked we hit a planet. I thought Pidge said space was 90% empty."

"Well, apparently, Pidge's science is wrong."

Sandra felt the opposite about it.

"Or this could be the 10% that isn't empty."

"We need to contact the others and get back to group immediately. Hello, anyone? This is Hunk and Lance of the Yellow and Blue Lions."

"They know the color of our lions!"

"Okay, yeah. I always forget that. My bad."

Then, both lions landed underwater on the ground.

I've gotta check for damage and get these lions running."

"Copy that."

Then, to Lance's surprise, it came back on.

"Oh, good. The Blue Lion's coming back online now. Welcome back, beautiful."

Then, as it looked around, it saw a flash of a mermaid before it scurried away behind a rock, surprising Lance.

"Uh... guys, did... did you just see something swim by?"

Having not seen a glimpse of anything, Hunk and Sandra quickly answered.

"What? No."

"Why do you ask?"

Then, Lance looked around before seeing her again.

"No way! This is going to sound crazy, but I think I just saw a mermaid."

Hunk and Sandra began to think he's hallucinating from a concussion at this.

"Oh, boy. Okay, how hard did you bang your head when we hit the planet?"

"More importantly, how many times?"

"Guys, I'm serious!"

Then, he saw the mermaid going around him, causing Lance to keep the Blue Lion's eyes fixated on her.

"Look! There it is again! Hey, come here! Where you going? Hey, slow down!"

Hunk grew annoyed with Lance's antics.

"Lance, knock it off. We have to stay focused and get to the others, and..."

Then, he saw Lance leaving his Lion.

"You're outside of your lion. Great."

"I know we have to find the others. I'm just saying maybe this thing can help. Also, it's a mermaid. A mermaid! Come on, let's find it."

This made Sandra frown before giving Lance a most likely reality should Jenny find out.

"You know, if Jenny was here, she'd tear your heart out and rip it apart."

"No. No way. Nope. Not going out there."

"Okay, you stay here, by yourself, in the dark, all alone in a Lion that's out of commission."

In no time at all, Hunk swam over to Lance in a flash.

"Don't leave me!"

Sandra groaned as she got out, too.

On a faraway planet, Jenny was hurtled out of the portal and onto a planet with lush grass as she yelled until she'd crashed. After that, Jenny looked up with grass bud in her mouth and spat it out before noticing a rainforest in a plain white sky.

"Huh? Where the heck am I?"

She began walking towards it as her curiosity grew boundlessly. Once she walked in the rainforest, she took a look at all the exotic plants and noticed them changing color rapidly like chameleons and looked ahead of her to see them doing waves that change to various colors of a rainbow pointing to a cave.

"Huh. That's weird."

Then, she stepped forward into the cave and found a torch. There wasn't oil to work with, so she used her hand to produce an orb and light the torch before she stepped into it. Then, as Jenny walked in the cave, she'd noticed an inscription on it and read it aloud.

"'Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner, I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms that gather in the darkness and surround the world with the power of their lives while from the dim-lit halls of other places, forms that never could be writhe for the impatience of the few who have never seen or been seen.' Strangling fruit? Seeds of the dead? What's that supposed to—?"

Then, Jenny heard voices in another area of the cave before she looked toward it and found countless bright and round orbs that were planted in the ground. Seeing as they so happened to show Jenny's short fit of despair upon losing Belle, an idea came to her about a friend that they've lost in the Garrison.

"Hold on. I didn't lose my sis. Although... maybe I did, in a way. But, if that's true, does that mean...?"

Then, she found another orb and saw what she hoped she'd never see: an unmoving corpse of Kumiko after going through overdose. She fought the urge to cry, but was barely successful before she wiped her tears away and remembered how James Griffin bullied her up to this point and how Ayame cut herself off from everyone afterward. Although she didn't meet Kumiko, herself, she still had felt as though she knew her as she spoke to the orb.

"I wish you could be with us, Kumiko. Then you'd know about everything we've been through since you've been gone. But... I can't take you away from where you are, no matter how much I want to. Not this time. It'd be so unfair to you. I'm not that kind of person."

Then, Jenny began to let her tears out as she smiled.

"I just hope that your pain is gone, Kumiko, for Ayame's sake. For her to know you're alright... that's enough for me."

From there, she found an arrow pointing to the next location. Before she left, she turned to the seed showing Kumiko.

"As weird as it sounds, we do miss you, Kumiko. Both of us do."

Then, Jenny walked forward to the arrow as she sported a look of determination.

Meanwhile, in the wormhole, Allura, Babak, Zaltron, and Coran were having difficulty bracing the turbulence as Coran gave an order to the bodyguard.

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us."

"Right."

Then, as Zaltron and Allura looked at it, they noticed that something was at the end with the Princess speaking to them.

"Coran, look! There appears to be something on the other end. We're heading right toward it!"

Babak knew otherwise as he responded back.

"Scanners show that there's no exit. It's just nothingness. Find an exit before we run straight into the void!"

"I can't. I've lost control of the Castle."

Coran then gave a warning as they came extremely close.

"Brace yourself! We're about to hit it!"

Then, the Castle ran into the void before Coran spoke.

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us."

"Right."

Allura and Zaltron looked around the castle and saw Coran with his hair in front of his left eye while Babak has no mustache.

"Coran, we're okay."

Babak, having seemingly no recollection of a moment ago, felt a different call was in order.

"How can you say that, Princess?! We've lost all the lions!"

"We've just smashed into a black void. Don't you remember?"

At that moment, Zaltron answered Allura's query.

"I do. Unfortunately, they don't."

Allura looked toward Zaltron and the mice, which had now become squirrels before she grew surprised.

"What happened to the mice? They've transformed."

"As did Babak and Coran, from the appearance of this situation."

Coran felt he was being stared at as he spoke to the Princess.

"Why are you looking at us like that? Do I have a boogie stick in my mustache again?"

"No. You look younger."

Then, the Castle shook as Omegus spoke before Babak repeated himself.

"Your time will soon end, Alteans."

"Scanners show that there's no exit. It's just nothingness!"

"You said that already!"

"Find an exit before we run straight into the void!"

"I'm entering the coordinates to get us out of here."

Then, Allura hit another road block in doing so as it was unable to do the job.

"The Castle won't accept an end point."

"Just enter any coordinates!"

"I tried, but the system is locked. I can't get a signal out or receive any signal in."

"Allura!"

Then, the castle crashed into the void again before Coran and Babak now took on a younger appearance.

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us."

Then, Babak spoke next as he now bore a captain's uniform with a badge and a hat.

"Good thinking, Soldier."

Then, Coran danced around the befuddled Allura and Zaltron.

"What's the matter? You look confused. Don't worry, Princess. I'll get us out of here."

As Coran flashed his eyes at her, Zaltron had a theory.

"It appears we're stuck in a sort of time loop that affects everyone but us."

Then, Allura tripped behind the mice now turned hippos.

"I was going to say that."

With that, Babak spoke up as Allura predicted it easily.

"Unfortunately, the scanners show no exit. It's just—"

"Nothingness. I know. And we can't find another exit point."

"Did I say you could talk back to your captain?!"

Coran then spoke up in determination.

"Don't just stand there. We've got to find a way. I'll never give into nothingness!"

Then, contrary to Coran's word, the castle ran into the void again.

Meanwhile on the desolate world, Keith and Ayame were looking for Shiro while Lapis and the others remained in the Violet Lion. As they did so, Shiro tried reaching them.

"Keith. Ayame, are you there? Guys?"

Unfortunately, Shiro didn't have any luck getting their attention.

"I've got to get to higher ground."

As he proceeded to do so, Keith and Ayame were jumping on the surface.

"Shiro, can you hear me? Shiro?"

"Takashi, are you there? Answer me!"

Fortunately, Shiro finally found an area where he could hear them.

"Guys. I'm here, guys. I'm okay."

Hearing his voice gave Ayame and Keith relief from the situation.

"Thank goodness."

"Shiro, you made it."

"It takes more than a glowing alien wound, a fall from the upper atmosphere, and crashing into a hard pan surface, at what I'm guessing is about 25 meters per second squared to get rid of me. How are you?"

"Not good. Our Lion's busted."

Ayame caught onto every word Shiro said and grew worried.

"Wait, what wound?"

"It's nothing."

However, Shiro had a flashback of when he'd received that wound from Haggar before he began tensing in pain.

"Hang on, I'm coming."

Then, Shiro looked behind him to see a few creatures on the Black Lion and looking up at him. Then, a figure wrapped in a dark purple cloak stepped on the lion as the creatures huddled to him and bowed before he looked up to Shiro and flared his purple eyes at him.

"On second thought, you better hurry."

Meanwhile, Pidge looked around in the trash nebula and saw two blue lights within a cave.

"Who's there?"

Then, countless blue lights turned on in sets followed by two yellow eyes, causing Pidge to panic and hold her bayard toward the lights before the blue and yellow lights stepped forth from the darkness and revealed themselves to be a puffy pink alien cloud with a blue symbol below its eyes with another of it in green.

"Whoa. Who are these little guys?"

The alien clouds then emerged one by one as Pidge asked them a question.

"Are you the only ones living here? I'm waiting for my own friends to find me. We were separated during a wormhole jump."

Then, the creatures squished themselves together as Pidge confirmed what she believed to be their symbol for friends.

"Yeah! I sure hope they find me soon."

Meanwhile, Lance, Sandra, & Hunk turned on their lights and found the mermaid Lance saw. When she took off, Lance wanted to follow her.

"Come on!"

Then, the three Paladins took off for her, getting closer to her location.

"Wow, Lance. I've seen a lot of things out in space. But not once did I think I'd see a mermaid."

"I can't believe this! We're really chasing a mermaid."

Then, the mermaid began to go faster.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait! We're friendly!"

Then, when she swam out of view, she revealed an underwater city with a garden in front of it.

"Whoa!"

Then, the mermaid spoke behind them.

"Hello."

They got surprised a moment before she spoke further.

"Welcome to my village. Here, all are safe and warm."

Then, they noticed walrus creatures behind them as the boys panicked while Sandra got ready to defend herself.

"Please, do not startle our guests. I am Florona. The almighty Queen Luxia, keeper of our land, would like to meet with you."

Then, they followed the walrus creatures to the city as Sandra asked her.

"How did your queen know we were here?"

"Queen Luxia knows all."

Then, Sandra drew a suspicious look as they rode on the sea lions to the palace.

"Lance, I know this mermaid thing is your dream and all, but something about this place just doesn't sit well with me. Besides, we should go find our friends."

"We will, Sandy, we will, but let's meet this queen first. Maybe she can help us."

"For everyone's sake, I hope you're right."

Then, they've finally reached the palace where Queen Luxia was waiting.

"Space travelers. I am Queen Luxia. I welcome you to our village as welcomed guests."

Sandra bowed in respect before she spoke.

"My name's Sandra. I'm a Voltron Paladin."

Luxia's eyes widened at this.

"A Voltron Paladin?"

"Yeah. We were just in the midst of fighting Zarkon."

Lance tried to introduce himself next, but ended up going upside down and caught by Hunk.

"I'm La-a-a-ance."

"Uh, Mrs. Queen, your honor, your excellence. I'm Hunk, and me and my buddies here , we crash-landed on your lovely planet, but we really need to get back in touch with our friends who are in space. Would you possibly have any way of doing that?"

"Hunk, Lance, Sandra, I can solve all of your problems. Here, we are all safe and warm."

"Hmm. Florona said the same thing."

"You use magic, don't you? I bet this castle's a ship. This castle is a ship, right? Just don't say anything if I'm right."

Sandra felt it was uncalled for, seeing as they knew nothing about the mermaids.

"They're not Alteans, Hunk."

"Here, I've brought you these. The bubble coral will provide you with the air you need."

Sandra took a look at her oxygen reserves and found them low before she agreed.

"Alright, then."

Then, she, Lance, and Hunk used it to make bubbles around their heads before they thanked her.

"Thank you, Fish Queen."

"It's Queen Luxia, Hunk. She has a name."

"And rest assured, your space vessels will be well protected."

Then, they noticed the Blue and Yellow Lions being carried away above the castle.

"Now, please, follow me."

Then, they took a look at the garden beneath the lions.

"What is that?"

"That is the giver of life to our people, the Baku Garden. When the waters froze over, we were forced to live down here. The garden provides us the warmth and food we need to survive. Because of it, we all are taken care of."

This made Sandra figure out how they could survive the cold climate.

"Now I get what you're saying. It's to protect you against this harsh climate on the surface, right?"

"Like I said, here, all are safe and warm."

Then, they entered the palace with Sandra maintaining suspicion.

Meanwhile, Jenny walked deeper into the cave where the arrow pointed until she stumbled upon the cave area where the water was black and where there was a crack up on the ceiling before she found another inscription and read it aloud.

"In the black water with the sun shining at midnight, those fruit shall come ripe, and in the darkness, that which is golden shall split open to reveal the revelation of the fatal softness in the earth."

Then, as if on cue, the bright light shone on the black water, causing it to split apart and create a pathway for Jenny to walk across, where at the very end was an orb-shaped hole. Then, Jenny looked to see the orb growing at the center suddenly rewinding to before Kumiko's passing just when she prepared to drug herself. Jenny began to realize that it could be a new start for her. On one hand, she could help her out and give her a better future. But on the other, she doesn't know if it'll make drastic changes to their time. Nonetheless, she looked to the hole and ran toward it before speaking softly through it.

"Please, Kumiko. Don't let everyone else suffer your pain. Only you can bear it, and you alone."

Then, as if she heard her voice, Kumiko spoke up.

"What? Who's there?!"

Then, Jenny picked up the orb gently as she spoke again.

"It's okay. I'm nowhere near you. I'm just speaking to you telepathically, I guess?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's, uh, complicated. But, listen, this is the voice of Jenny Shaybon, a friend of Ayame's in the future."

"The future?"

"I know it sounds far-fetched, but trust me when I say you shouldn't do this to yourself. By doing this, you'd only end up making her miserable. For Ayame's sake, no matter what you think about yourself, don't just throw your life away. Please..."

Kumiko placed her hand on her chin, reconsidering her decision before thinking about the impact it could have and made a decision.

"Okay. I get it. You don't want me to go away. You want me to stay. But even if I wanted to stay, how am I supposed to put up with this?"

"You can ask for our help. You've kinda been putting it off for too long. Oh, and one more thing. Just be yourself. If they got a problem with that, who cares? They don't know you like Ayame does."

Kumiko then began to lightly sob as her tears dropped onto her bed.

"I get it, now. Thank you, Jenny. So much."

Jenny began to sob as well before wiping her tears away and speaking in an attempt to hold back her sobs.

"No, Kumi. Thank you."

Then, the orb's glow faded and turned into a passion fruit before the blue light began glowing underneath it and spread across the black water, immediately disabling it and turning the black water into land as it began to crack and crumble to dust. In the process, Jenny fell down the dark hole until she landed on her rump.

"Ow!"

Having survived the fall, Jenny picked up the torch and found another arrow pointing the way, growing more confused.

"Where exactly is it leading me?"

At the Castle, Coran had now turned into a teenager with his hair mostly shaved and Babak now in his thirties.

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us. Ahh, this is so boring."

"I don't need this kind of attitude from you, son! Especially not now!"

"You don't understand me at all! You don't know what I'm going through! I'll be in my control area! Hmmph!"

As Coran stormed off, Zaltron turned to Allura.

"If we don't figure a way out of this conundrum soon, Babak and Coran would disappear instantaneously."

"Don't you think I know that?"

Then, Allura took a deep breath before she spoke again.

"Look, I can't manually enter the coordinates. But the Castle will automatically lock on to the lions' whereabouts if we can locate them."

Then, she pulled the monitors back and expanded the universal map, only to find no luck there either.

"It's not working! I'm

unable to hone in on their location."

Then, Coran danced around, listening to loud opera, much to Babak's anger.

"Coran, turn that racket back down! Our lives are at stake!"

"I can only express myself through music!"

Coran, if you don't turn down that music, I swear I'll have Allura turn this castle around and—"

"And what? We're just gonna fun into the void that's coming up here. I hate everybody!"

Then, the Castle ran into the void again before it repeated with Coran now the age of a young man and Babak the age of a teenager.

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us, whatever that means."

The younger Babak looked to Allura.

"Did you come up with anything, Allura?"

"We've tried everything and nothing's worked. A few more trips down this wormhole and you'll both disappear. We must find a way out."

"And how are we supposed to do that, huh?"

Coran offered a suggestion as he rode in the newly transformed mice.

"Just blast your way out! Duh!"

"I suppose it's worth a try. The Castle defenses might have enough firepower to destroy the tunnel."

"Yeah! And it'll go ker-plooey!"

"I don't really think taking ideas from a kid is a good idea."

Zaltron couldn't agree or disagree with that.

"Perhaps not, but it is our only option currently in play."

Then, the Castle shot at the wormhole, only for it to fire the laser back at them.

"It's not working! It's like we're shooting at ourselves!"

"I knew this was a bad idea!"

Then, Coran made a raspberry sound before he spoke.

"Where's Voltron?"

Leaving his question unanswered, the Castle ran into the void again.

Meanwhile, on the desolate world, Shiro kept his distance from the creatures and whoever was controlling them. Then, the figure spoke to Shiro from afar.

"Kuron..."

Shiro recognized that voice and grew shocked.

"Vaxel?"

"I've spent my fair share of being stranded and deserted, but I never forget a face, least of all, yours."

Then, he motioned the creatures to attack Shiro before he was forced to retreat.

As it went on, Keith and Ayame were jumping through the geyser fields as the former spoke.

"Shiro, what happened?"

"There's several creatures. Vaxel's commanding them, too."

As they evaded the geyser, Keith grew worried.

"Vaxel? I thought he was dead."

"So did I. Looks like we're both wrong."

Then, Vaxel laughed behind Shiro.

"And how swiftly things change..."

Then, Keith and Ayame ended up caught in a geyser ambush as the latter got worried.

"Oh, no."

Then, they took off away from the geysers as they inadvertently created more of them with the unstable ground. They kept at it until one of the geysers knocked them off of a cliff.

Meanwhile, Shiro found a cave and ran toward it before Vaxel could hit him.

"After him!"

Then, the creatures ran toward Shiro before he jumped into it as they collided, causing a cave-in, much to Vaxel's dismay.

"Keith, Ayame, are you okay? What happened?"

As Keith responded, he and Ayame were hanging by his sword.

"Minor delay, but we're on our way."

"What about you, Takashi?"

"I'm all right, but I'm trapped in a cave, and Vaxel and his creatures have me cornered."

Ayame tried to reassure her older brother.

"Just hang in there. We're on our way. We just..."

Then, they noticed a great distance from their cliff to another.

"...have to figure this out."

Out in space, Pidge was going imitations of a certain Paladin.

"My name is Keith. I am so emo. Shiro, you're our leader. What should we do?"

She then switched to a custom statue of Shiro, Lance, Jenny, Ayame, Hunk, Allura, and Coran before she spoke.

"We'll get through this if we work together. We're a team."

"Look at me! I'm Lance. Hey, is that a cute girl over there?"

"How am I an Altean? Heh! I'm just a teenager."

"Listen, everyone. We need to stick together."

"I don't feel good. The smell of this place makes me want to barf."

Paladins, please. We must defeat Zarkon."

"Blah, blah, blah! Crazy words. Mustache."

Then, after a moment of boredom that followed Pidge noticed the creatures huddled by the Green Lion.

"Huh? What is it?"

Then, the Green Lion flared awake as it roared.

"Hey, you're working again! Welcome back!"

Then, Pidge tripped through the trash nebula and uncovered a satellite in the process.

"It's a good thing this satellite broke my fall."

Then, she realized what it could do as far as getting their attention.

"Hey! Maybe I can find my friends before they find me."

Meanwhile, Lance, Sandra, & Pidge were eating from the plant inside the castle. As they did, Lance felt he was getting crowded by sllthe mermaids, remembering Jenny was his girlfriend.

"Easy, ladies. Give me some space."

"Your Royalness, if I may, this food is amazing. It's even better than the Balmeran cave bugs."

"I'm glad you enjoy it. It was picked fresh from the Baku Garden."

Having heard this, Sandra spat it out before she spoke.

"What? From the giver of life? How do we know it's okay with this?"

"It is merely how we are provided food."

"Well, in that case, I'm good."

"Well, I hope you enjoy the entertainment."

Then, they saw a curtain and saw a silhouette of a mermaid dancer.

"Whoa."

However, when the curtain opened, it revealed a squid on another bigger one, earning Lance's disgust and Sandra's laughter.

"Ha-ha."

"So, about us getting in contact with our friends, how can you help us?"

"Please, let's discuss that after the dance."

Sandra reiterated the issue as she avoided the gaze.

"But this is serious. If we don't find our friends, the universe won't be safe from Zarkon. Then you won't be safe or warm from him."

Having heard this, Queen Luxia's eyes widened before she shook her head before repeating his name.

"Did you say... Zarkon?"

"Yes. And we really need your help."

Then, Luxia nodded to her before she spoke to the dancer.

"Please. You may stop."

Then, Hunk was relieved for her to get back to the task at hand.

"Finally."

Oh, man. I kinda wanted to see that."

Then, Luxia spoke to them.

"Follow me."

Then, she brought the three Paladins to a clam shell containing a device.

"It has been many years since we have activated the energy beacon. During that time... I was controlled."

This made the group confused about her.

"Controlled? By who?"

"Zarkon. His witch sent the Baku here to harvest us. We are its food source, and I..."

She then paused in horror as she realized what she'd done to her people.

"I fed them to it."

"Wait... so you were gonna mind control us too?"

"I wasn't myself back then. But, it is thanks to Sandra that I've come to my senses."

"Really? Just by talking to her?"

Sandra then smiled to herself as she spoke.

"I have a knack for breaking hypnosis. I know how to wake people up, metaphorically and literally."

Then, the ground began to shake violently before the Baku Garden revealed itself to be a giant underwater worm as it roared before Hunk spoke.

"Did you wake that thing up, Sandy?"

"The Baku. It's realized we're not controlled."

"We have to get to our lions and take it out."

Meanwhile, in the cave, Jenny stumbled upon a section of the cave that glowed in rainbow colors. At the center of it was an purple-indigo anthropomorphic being that walked toward her as Jenny somehow knew what it was called.

"The Shimmer. So, you're the one who guided me here?"

Then, the Shimmer spoke to her.

"The shadows of the abyss are like the petals of a monstrous flower that shall blossom within the skull and expand the mind beyond what any man can bear."

Then, the Shimmer tapped Jenny's forehead, causing her to witness events in the future ranging from Zarkon in his new armor combating Voltron to Kaecilius overflowing with Chaotic Quintessence as his eyes flared red with a deranged smile on an abandoned planet. Then, Jenny saw Ayame and Xaira confronting each other in a dark realm of space that seemed to be another realm before the flash was over as she stumbled back, hyperventilating from the rush. Then, she remembered to take a deep breath and exhaled slowly enough before noticing the Shimmer had vanished. In its place was the White Lion in a silver barrier.

"No way..."

In the wormhole, Coran was now a toddler and Babak a young man.

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this worm goes. I hungy."

"I know you're hungry, but we don't have anything to eat, okay?"

Then, Allura noticed Coran hopping on the control panel.

"Coran, no! That's not a toy. You're going to break the Castle and everything will stop!"

Then, she had another idea.

"Wait a second. Perhaps we can simply stop the Castle from moving."

However, the young Coran had other plans as he hopped on it more.

"No! Mine!"

Coran bit Allura's arm in the process before Babak caught him.

"Gotcha!"

Then, Allura shut down the Castle.

"I've shut down all the power."

However, the continuing travel from the Castle proved it didn't work before the young Coran threw a tantrum.

"My control panel!"

He then cried as they ran into the void, turning Coran into a baby and Babak into a toddler.

"I know, I know. Who wants to check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us? You do, that's who."

Zaltron then spoke to the Princess.

"We must find a solution before there's nothing left of our comrades."

Then, Coran spat out his pacifier before he spoke.

"Poopies."

Meanwhile, on the desolate world, Keith and Ayame looked at the geyser before looking to the cliff as he repeated what Shiro told him before.

"Patience yields focus."

"That really stayed with you, didn't it?"

"You've given me some good advice. If it wasn't for you, my life would have been a whole lot different."

"Yeah. You wouldn't have crashed a flying lion on an alien planet and be stuck with little hope of rescue. So, you're welcome."

Ayame sensed what he was trying to do and didn't approve of it.

"That wasn't funny, Takashi."

Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood."

"We'll talk about it when this is over."

Then, Keith and Ayame got in their positions before she spoke.

"You ready?"

"Ready when you are."

Then, Keith sliced the chunk of ground, causing a geyser to erupt from it, launching them to the other cliff before it came apart, forcing Ayame to hold onto Keith before he used his jet pack to boost them up higher before grabbing onto the edge.

"Keith! Ayame!"

"We're fine, Takashi!"

"We're on our way."

"Good, because these guys just started digging."

As he told them of this, the creatures dig through the cave-in with Vaxel laughing.

"Well, well. Looks like someone has finally hit rock bottom."

Then, Ayame rode on Keith's back as he flew with his jetpack while she spoke.

"See anything?"

"Not yet."

Then, he found the Black Lion in the ground before chuckling.

"Shiro, we have a visual on the Black Lion."

Then, the creatures succeeded in digging before pulling Shiro out and chucking him to the wall. Then, Vaxel moved in to attack before he slammed his fist to the ground while Shiro used his arm to counter, only for Vaxel to counter it with his sword as the pain from his wound escalated. Vaxel saw this and took the opportunity to body slam him off of the cliff and send him tumbling, causing him to lose his helmet in the process. Shiro struggles to get up and run as Vaxel motioned the creatures to go after him. All the while, Keith tried to reach Shiro.

"Shiro, what happened?"

When there was no response, Ayame grew worried.

"Oh, no. You don't think..."

"No, Ayame. It won't come to that."

Then, Keith sped up his speed as he took off with Ayame in tow. When they'd reached the Black Lion, they noticed Vaxel and the creatures swarming over to him.

"Takashi..."

Then, Ayame turned to Keith before she spoke.

"You need to get the Black Lion working. I'll help Shiro hold them off."

"Alright."

Then, Ayame slid on the edge of the cliff as Keith tried to connect with the Black Lion.

"I know I'm not Shiro, but he's in trouble. We need to help him."

Then, Ayame prepared two dark purple orbs in her hands before she fired them at the creatures, forcing them to run away, much to Vaxel's anger.

"Where are you going?! Attack! Attack!"

Then, Ayame landed by Shiro and looked to see if he was alright, but found he was unconscious.

"No..."

Then, Vaxel grew surprised to see Ayame.

"Well, isn't this a surprise. A visit from Zarkon's progeny. How quaint."

Ayame was about to retaliate before she saw her hands with dark purple orbs before she came to the realization and had to face the truth. At the same moment, she remembered her experiences, good and bad, on Earth and out.

"They're right. I am Zarkon's daughter... but that doesn't make me who I am. I'll make sure you pay for everything you've done to Takashi."

"You mean Kuron? He's been a failure since he was first captured. He was bound to be broken one day."

"Enough!"

Then, Ayame fired her blasts at Vaxel, forcing him to use his arm to defend himself as he got pushed back by a steady stream of her dark blast. He grunted as he tried to push it back. Then, he saw an opening before he slammed his sword to the ground, causing a stream of Dark Quintessence to head towards her and strike her to the ground before the blast ceased as Vaxel drew his breath.

"You may be powerful. But without proper control, you're just not worth the trouble."

Then, he heard a roar as the Black Lion came down on him and attacked Vaxel with a laser, this time, disintegrating his body as he echoed his yell. Then, the Black Lion turned to Ayame who held Shiro in her arms. Then, she noticed that Keith was in the Black Lion as she smiled and spoke.

"What kept you?"

"I was a bit anxious for a moment."

Ayame giggled at his answer before looking at her older brother.

"Don't worry, Takashi. You'll pull through. I know you will."

Meanwhile, in the trash nebula, Pidge creature's collected an array of trash and wiring from the nebula and made it so that the satellite was in place.

"That ought to do it. Now let's see if we can get a hold of the Castle."

Pidge activated the satellite, but just when it seemed like it'll work, it failed, much to Pidge's dismay.

"No, no! What's wrong? We need to get out of here! We need to find our friends! Come on!"

Then, the Green Lion cane on and roared, recharging the satellite and providing a signal. Pidge saw this and grew relieved.

"Thanks. Now, let's see if this thing works."

With that, Pidge landed inside the Green Lion as she turned the monitors on.

"I hope the signal's strong enough to reach the Castle."

Meanwhile, Jenny got inside the White Lion and analyzed its specs. There, she noticed two bayard-like keyholes and came to a conclusion.

"Wait a tick. It's just like the Violet Lion."

Then, the White Lion purred before it spoke in the voice of a wise woman.

"There shall be a fire that knows your name, and in the presence of the strangling fruit, its dark flame shall acquire every part of you."

"A dark flame that knows my name?"

Then, Jenny received a vision with Ayame and Xaira separate before they became one and produced a dark purple aura around her before she spoke.

"Jenny..."

Then, Jenny was shocked out of her vision before she shook her head.

"Was that...? It can't be, can it?"

Then, Jenny reserved it for later.

"Well, no time to worry about it, now. It's time to head on back."

Then, she thrusted the levers, but found they couldn't work. She had an idea to remedy that.

"Let me rephrase. Can we head to the Castle, please?"

Then, the White Lion flared its eyes with a bright blue color before it roared and showed two coordinates on its radar as Jenny grew surprised.

"You already know where they are? That's awesome!"

Then, the White Lion entered the wormhole before it disappeared.

Meanwhile, Allura was holding onto Coran while Zaltron held Babak's hand with his finger before she contemplated the situation.

"Coran, what are we going to do? If we hit the end of the tunnel again, you'll cease to exist."

Coran cooed as he was held by Allura who began to say her farewells.

"I'm sorry. You were like a second father to me."

However, Zaltron noticed a signal of hope.

"Allura. A signal has appeared from the outside."

"It's locked onto two coordinates!"

Then, Allura summoned her wormhole in place of the void.

"Come on. Come on!"

Then, they went in the blue wormhole before popping out of the dark tunnel and appearing in space.

"We made it!"

Then, Allura and Zaltron noticed Coran and Babak back to their old selves again.

"Mm? Mom?"

Allura dropped Coran from her hands before they noticed Pidge.

"You saved us, Pidge. We were stuck in a time loop."

"You got us out with this giant trash pile."

"It's a make-shift communications link that sends out the Green Lion's energy. It's similar to the energy that guided the Blue Lion home."

"Pidge, you're a genius."

"I know. But it wasn't just me. They helped."

Pidge turned to the creatures before Allura and Coran got to the task at hand.

"Excellent! Let's go get the rest of the Paladins."

Meanwhile, Lance, Sandra, and Hunk were fighting the Baku attacking the castle as Hunk was having difficulty and Lance was improving rapidly.

"That thing's too quick for me. I can't hit it! My Lion's not very good in water."

"Really? My Lion's moving faster than ever. There's something about fighting underwater that's making me feel extra quick and powerful. And I think I know how to stop that thing."

"How?"

"We gotta stop shooting where the creature is and start shooting where the creature's gonna be."

Then, Lance targeted where the Baku would be and fired a white light near it before it hit its mark, hurting it and infuriating it, causing it to go for the Blue Lion, who took off for the trench, leading the Baku away from the castle and causing it to get stuck. Then, he fired another white light at the mountain, causing a chunk of it to fall on the Baku, defeating it. As a result, Hunk and Sandra were impressed with its capabilities.

"That was fast."

"Yeah. Like, way faster than normal. Nice work!"

Later, they got acquainted with the mermaids, including Queen Luxia who was told of her latest adventures.

"You've given so much for this universe. I give you the best of luck."

Sandra smiled as she replied.

"Thanks, your majesty. Although, a way back would be nice."

With that, Queen Luxia agreed to it with a smile.

"Of course."

Then, she looked over to the Baku on the ground before she spoke to her with a grin.

"Oh, and, uh... can you do one more thing for me?"

At the desolate world, Shiro, Keith, and Ayame sat by a fireplace as he spoke.

"Thanks for saving me, guys."

"You'd have done the same for me."

"How's your wound?"

"My wound's great. It's getting bigger all the time."

That only made Ayame and Keith worried again.

"Remember what I said, Takashi? Don't even joke like that. You're terrible at it."

"Hang in there. When Allura, Babak, and Coran find us, they'll fix you right up."

"Keith, if I don't make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron."

Both Keith and Ayame grew surprised at his request, but persisted in letting him rest nonetheless.

"Stop talking like that. You're gonna make it."

"Just get your rest. You more than earned this."

Then, Shiro complied as he let out a sigh and fell asleep. After which, Ayame turned to Keith and spoke to him.

"It's good that he's resting now. I honestly don't know if he'll pull through after what's happened."

"Me neither. But he's got to. He's your brother."

Then, to their surprise, they saw a White Lion hovering above them with Jenny

"Hi, guys! What's up?"

Keith and Ayame grew surprised before they smiled as the arrival of the Castle took place next following them as Babak spoke

"Let's get you guys out of here."

Later on, with all of the Paladins together, they were each caught up in all of the events they went through. Having been told of Jenny's experience, Lance grew surprised.

"Wow. Looks like we all missed a lot since then, huh?"

"Yep. But I still missed you, though."

This made Lance smile a bit before she spoke about what Sandra told her.

"Although... Sandy told me you guys saw a planet of mermaids."

This made Lance panic a bit as he spoke.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I didn't see any mermaids."

However, to ease him, Jenny only smiled at him before she spoke.

"It's okay. I just thought it would've been cool to see one for myself. That's all."

"Oh. Uh... okay."

Then, Jenny noticed Ayame looking at Shiro as he recuperated in the sleep chamber pod before she walked up and spoke to her.

"Hey, Ayame?"

"Yeah?"

"I've got something I need to tell you. And I have a feeling it's really important."

Meanwhile, at Zarkon's Command Center, Zarkon called in Kaecilius, Komar, Thace, and Prorok to him.

"Explain to me how you let Voltron escape."

"Perhaps it was a mechanical failure, sire. Haggar boosted the solar barrier's power beyond its normal limits."

Haggar knew differently, given the evidence found.

"This was no mechanical failure. The two sentries That were guarding the barrier control were found destroyed. This was clearly sabotage."

"Lord Zarkon, I will start an investigation immediately. I will not rest until the perpetrators are captured."

Then, Komar has a theory.

"Perhaps I can save months of investigation. If I may, Lord Zarkon?"

"Proceed."

"Who has been trying to chisel away Voltron from you this entire time? Who sent his fleet out without your orders to get Voltron? I'll give you one answer: Prorok!"

Prorok grew alarmed at such an accusation.

"Sire, no! I-I would never do that."

"Wouldn't you?"

Then, he used his siphon to play a recorded message from him.

"I'll capture Voltron on my own."

That shocked Prorok even more before Komar spoke to him.

"So, what'll it be? Innocent or guilty?"

Zarkon made a decision with his words.

"Get rid of him."

Then, the soldiers began carrying Prorok away.

"No! I'm innocent!"

As Prorok got dragged away, Kaecilius spoke with Haggar.

"So, what is to become of him?"

"Before we dispose of him, the Druids will find out all that he knows. Then, he will receive a punishment worse than death."

Then, Zarkon spoke to Thace.

"Lieutenant Thace. You are now placed under Kaecilius' charge. You will obey his orders without question."

"Vrepit Sa."