A/N: Hello, everyone. This is a new chapter that gets to be a little bit darker, so it's not for the faint of heart. BTW, Moktal, a new character to be displayed in this chapter will be portrayed by J.B. Blanc. You have been warned.

Chapter 15: The Dark Flame

At the Castle, Ayame was curled up in a ball as she was having a nightmare with her hearing a feminine voice blended in with Zarkon, Kaecilius, and Haggar's voices as the witch and warlock spoke in unison.

"I plead guilty."

"I have no more use for her."

"May the Goddess of the Universe have mercy on your soul."

As purple lightning struck, the feminine voice screamed before Ayame was startled awake with tears coming down her eyes as she spoke.

"M-Mom?"

As she remembered the painful memory, Ayame held her head down before she gave a quiet cry just before a knock on the door came before Ayame spoke.

"C-Come in."

When the door opened, Jenny saw that Ayame was already awake and was crying tears, evident by the liquid on her cheeks before she felt sorry for Ayame.

"Hey. Are you doing okay?"

Ayame swiftly wiped her tears away before fixing her voice as she spoke.

"Yes. I'm fine."

Jenny, however, thought she was missing her friends as she spoke.

"You can be honest with me, Ayame. You know that, right?"

Hearing this, Ayame tensed at the thought of what would most likely occur if she knew the truth about her heritage.

"That doesn't mean I want to be. I have secrets for a reason, just like everyone else."

"Maybe. But is it really worth it if they're eating you alive?"

"Just leave me alone, okay? I'm not in the mood."

This made Jenny remember someone else having a hard time as she spoke.

"I get it. My sis isn't exactly taking her situation well, either."

This got Ayame concerned as she spoke.

"You mean Belle?"

"Yep. Ever since she's been saved from the Galra, she... well... she's trying to adjust to her new arm and all. And with everything they did to everyone else... it's only getting worse."

"Worse how?"

At the training room, Belle, who wore a silver top and black jeans, was fighting against an Altean drone in hand-to-hand combat as she gave grunts of frustration with every punch she threw. When the drone managed to throw its mechanical fist and cut her cheek, she grew angry as her eyes turned yellow with purple irises and used her robot arm to grab its face and crush it like a soda can, only for her eyes to change back as she realized that she failed to rein in her power before she tossed the robot in frustration and punched a wall as she sat down, unaware that Jenny and Ayame were watching from the control hub of the training room before the latter spoke.

"What's happening to her?"

Jenny explained Belle's story as she motioned to the pile of drones that were destroyed by her.

"See, the Galra didn't just take away her arm. They took her freedom, her limits, and maybe... a part of herself. Since then, she's been training really hard just to work out her issues. And, well, you can see how well that went."

Seeing this, Ayame grew even more fearful than she ever was about her identity before she spoke to Jenny.

"Does she know that not all Galra are bad?"

"You'd think so, right? We did meet Lapis, Azix, and Zaltron after all. But I guess her scar didn't go away. I don't think it ever will at this rate."

Ayame sighed sadly at this before Jenny spoke up.

"Wait. If you won't talk to me about your problems... maybe you can talk with my sis!"

Hearing the words that came out of her mouth, Ayame grew extremely afraid as she spoke and walked out the door.

"What?! No! No way! I—"

"Come on, Ayame. My sis isn't that scary."

"I'm not taking any chances!"

"What's the matter with you?! It's not like you're Galra!"

As Jenny said those words, Ayame stopped in her tracks before she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks. I really hope it'll help you two."

"Yeah. You and me both."

A short while after, Belle finished off another drone with a slice in the middle with her energy blade from the synthetic gauntlet before Ayame stepped in and tried to speak, nervously as to how Belle would react.

"Uh... hey, Belle. Are you okay?"

When she turned around to see her, Belle gave a small, sad smile as she spoke.

"Hey, Ayame. Can it wait? I'm trying to... calm myself down."

Ayame then gave her the reality of the situation.

"Not likely. If I leave, Jenny would just drag me back here."

This made Belle realize the reason Ayame was here.

"Oh. Jenny put you up to this, didn't she?"

With that, the two looked up before Jenny gave two thumbs-up in an attempt to let them know it'll work out as Ayame spoke.

"Look, do you want to... talk about anything?"

"Honestly, no chance in Wozblay. But even if I say that, Jenny's still gonna try to fix it. So, might as well..."

With that, the two of them sat down before she spoke.

"Well, I just remembered a few more things last night. And none of it sat well with me."

"How so?"

"Well, the first thing I remembered was after we defeated Myzax."

At the gladiator arena, Myzax was knocked to the ground by Belle next in her Galra slave outfit amidst the cheering crowd with Zarkon and Kaecilius watching from the seats before she spoke prior to the announcer.

"Apparently, our performance caught their attention. They wanted to see how far our strength will go. So, they got the biggest of big guys to fight after Myzax."

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, making his return after 50 decaphoebes in defense for his title of the mightiest, Moktal the Marauder!"

With that, Moktal emerged from the shadows of the entry gates and bore red face paint in a jagged style over his eyes and in a dark grey tunic over his combat pants before he raised his sword to Zarkon and spoke.

"I fight in the name of Galra, or I die by my own blade!"

As the crowd cheered louder at his declaration, the announcer spoke up.

"Now, as per his custom, he gets a choice between two fighters who made it this far to face him. And like any other battle, it is victory or death for the challenger."

With the crowd cheering at this and chanting his name, the announcer presented the choice as Shiro and Belle were forced out to the arena before they looked to each other.

"Shiro?"

"Belle?"

"What are you doing here?"

Before either one could answer, the announcer spoke again.

"Which opponent will you fight, Moktal? Takashi Shirogane? Or Belle Shaybon?"

As the choices were presented, Moktal saw no foreseeable threat to them. Only entertainment. For him, it was easy as he smiled and gave the answer.

"I choose both."

Hearing this, the crowd grew shocked while Zarkon and Kaecilius raised their eyebrows in intrigue before the announcer got confused.

"Uh, come again, Moktal?"

"How can any one shrimp be a decent challenger for me? With both of them, I get one fighter. The fact that they defeated Myzax was mere luck. And I intend to prove it."

With that, Myzax walked to the back of the arena before he turned around and cracked his knuckles as he spoke to the challengers.

"You have one minute. Start the countdown."

With that, the overhead monitor displayed a time limit of 60 ticks in Galra before the announcer widely stepped out of the ring as they turned to each other.

"Well, do you have any bright ideas, Captain?"

"Let me think here, Belle."

With that, Shiro looked closely at Moktal and noticed his dark purple cutlasses in his hands before he spoke.

"Okay, so this guy has two cutlasses. Don't worry. Anyway, when I give the signal, we move. Got it?"

"Yeah."

With that, the alarm went off before Moktal charged in with a shout before Shiro spoke.

"Move!"

As they dodged, Shiro and Belle quickly dodged the cutlasses before Moktal used the momentum of his swing to go upward in the air as he planted one cutlass to the ground before powering up another cutlass with purple light before attempting a slice, creating a purple light slash, proving its potency as it sliced one pillar apart and caused it to collapse as the crowd cheered. Having barely avoided the slash, Shiro and Belle took their breaths as they hid in the dust. While they did so, Moktal smiled.

"What's the matter? Did you lose your spines already? Too bad. I would've wanted so badly to rip them out myself."

As he stomped around the arena for them, Shiro got out his sword from his fight with Myzax while Belle noticed him and thought she needed to distract him as she stepped up and spoke.

"Hey!"

Hearing her voice, Moktal turned to see Belle glaring at him before he spoke.

"Ah, wonderful! Someone with guts. However... it won't be that way for long."

With that, Moktal prepped his cutlass to slash a purple light at her only for her to dodge it, making it impact the ground as she ran around, causing him to make a smokescreen of sand before Belle leaped onto a pillar and climbed up on it just as Moktal got his sight back with the dust faded before she surveyed the situation with Shiro moving in to attack him with his sword, clashing his sword with Moktal's cutlass. As Shiro pushed as hard as he could, Moktal wasn't amused as he showed little effort in pushing his sword. As he pushed him back, Shiro was having trouble with it, much to Belle's horror before Moktal prepped his cutlass for an energy slash. As Shiro took notice, he dodged it as it went through the pillar that Belle was on top of before she climbed down halfway and used her legs to push upon the pillar while Moktal walked toward Shiro with a smirk before realizing his partner wasn't around.

"Where is your partner?"

Belle responded to him as she yelled out with her push.

"Right here!"

As she pushed the pillar down, Belle went down with it as Moktal took notice before slashing at the pillar, destroying it before it could hit the challenger, while also hitting her right arm and earning her pained scream. However, it was in vain before a piece of it landed on him and struck him down, earning a gasp from the crowd before the dust settled. As it did, Shiro saw Belle unconscious and went toward her in panic.

"Belle! Are you okay?!"

As Shiro lifted her up from the pillar, she groaned before he noticed that her arm wasn't... attached anymore. Moktal's attack must have taken her arm in the process. With that, he lifted her up before Shiro took off his garb around him and wrapped it on her severed arm before Belle winced and groaned as she woke up to see him.

"S-Shiro? What...?"

When she noticed her arm went missing, Belle began to panic as she placed her head on Shiro's shoulder.

"What happened to my arm?!"

"Calm down, Belle. You'll be fine."

However, their moment wouldn't last long as Moktal slowly got up from his crater where he was smushed before he angrily drew out his cutlasses as Zarkon turned to his acolyte.

"They're very strong for such a weak stature. They'll make fine soldiers."

Kaecilius could only agree with him on one person.

"I hardly see why the male should be kept alive. He desired blood."

"Did he? It certainly doesn't appear that way."

As Kaecilius looked again, he took notice of Shiro cradling Belle as Moktal drew closer before he found himself convinced.

"Hmm. As you wish."

"You will not rob me of my title! I refuse to be beaten by little insects!"

Before Moktal could strike, however, Kaecilius spoke up.

"That's enough!"

With that, Moktal ceased his attack out of confusion before he spoke out to the people.

"Those 'insects' have more than proven their worth! Such is the might and benevolence of the Galra Empire! When we found them, they were clueless animals, scared and afraid of the unknown! But now... they stand before us as victors over even the legendary Moktal the Marauder!"

As the crowd cheered at this, Belle spoke to him.

"Alright! We won! Now let us go!"

Kaecilius only chuckled before he spoke.

"Alas, my dear... I'm afraid that is impossible. We cannot let such fine soldiers go to waste. Especially not with your current imperfections. First, that weakness must be cleansed. Take them to Komar."

Hearing his words, Belle tensed her only hand before she shouted at him.

"You promised... you lied to me! You lied!"

With that, Belle got out of Shiro's arms and began attacking the Galra soldiers before she was incapacitated while Shiro tried to join in, only to be subdued himself before they were carried off to their maker as Kaecilius spoke again.

"Do not despair, fellow Galra! The next time you see them, they'll be fine examples of your empire, and fine examples of Zarkon's noble judgment!"

With that, the crowd cheered in praise as they chanted his name.

"Zarkon! Zarkon! Zarkon! Zarkon!"

Later, Belle was taken to an operating table as she tried to break herself free, only for Zarkon's advisor to walk toward her and Komar as he spoke to the warlock.

"Fascinating. Belle is quite the fighter. Just like on Earth."

Then, Belle spoke to Kaecilius with Venom in her voice.

"You... you promised you'd let us go if I won!"

"By technicality, you haven't won anything. Not yet."

This made Belle widen her eyes as she realized what he meant.

"I don't get it. What else do I have to fight?"

"You'll see... Komar, if you would."

With that, Komar presented a robotic, silver and dark purple arm as Belle looked at it and spoke to her captor.

"What is it?"

"Your true test. If by a slim chance you can withstand the Quintessence it has to offer you, you are free to go. Although, I highly doubt you would."

With that, the arm attached its wiring onto her stump and forced its connection, earning her pained yell that quickly ceased as Belle felt the Dark Quintessence invading her body and making her cringe as she felt it before Kaecilius spoke.

"Didn't think so."

As he walked away, Belle's sounds of struggle faded as she welcomed the power that now flowed through her and fell prey to slumber as she spoke.

"I am... so... tired..."

At the Castle, Belle was finishing her story.

"The next time I woke up, I wasn't the same. The Quintessence that arm gave me, it... corrupted me. Made me a killing machine. And I'm having a hard time trying to overcome that, as you can see."

As Belle solemnly stared at her arm, Ayame felt bad for her as she spoke.

"I'm sorry for what happened."

"Yeah, well, sorry can't fix everything. In fact, the only way I could move on is if the Galra are..."

She hesitated to speak of this toward their race as Lapis, Azix, and Zaltron were of the good variety, like Upaz was. As she gave pause, Ayame could tell what she meant as Belle spoke.

"Well, let's just say, I'll feel better when they answer for what they did to me."

As Ayame held her head down at this, she spoke solemnly.

"I understand. But... what if they tried to help you?"

Belle scoffed at this as she spoke.

"If this was their way of helping me, then I don't want any help from any of them. They're just monsters who don't care who they hurt or how they do it. And when I find the Galra that did this to me, I'm gonna kill..."

Before she spoke further, her synthetic arm sprouted out an energy blade like a knife.

"...every last one of them."

This made Ayame uncomfortable as she spoke.

"Okay... I think I'll just... go."

With that, Ayame slowly walked out of the training room as Belle sighed.

At the hall, Ayame leaned against the wall and shed tears for what Belle said to her as they played back in her mind, making her more and more upset. Why did she have to be born as his daughter? Why did she have to be born at all? As she wallowed in this, Keith noticed her brooding before he spoke.

"Ayame?"

"Yeah?"

"What's up?"

Ayame didn't even move from where she was and responded just as emotionlessly as her last response.

"Nothing."

Hearing the blandness in her voice, Keith grew concerned and spoke to her again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Keith. I'm fine. Can you please give me some space?"

However, Keith spoke contrary to her wishes.

"I can't do that. I was gonna tell you that Shiro needs us. Said something about getting intel."

This made Ayame raise her head before she spoke.

"Oh. Okay."

Later, everyone, including Belle, Babak, Azix, Lapis, and Zaltron were at the bridge before Shiro spoke.

"Okay. We don't know how they found us, but so far, our best guess is Xaira. According to Allura, Xaira was Zarkon's daughter. She was thought to have died a long time ago. But given what we've seen, and witnessed, I'd say she's alive and kicking."

This made Jenny a bit tense as she spoke.

"I don't get it. How can Xaira possibly know where we are? Lapis, did she make contact with anyone before?"

"I don't know. I haven't even heard of her until now."

Shiro then proceeded to speak on the mission.

"Well, either way, the best bet to find out Xaira's location is where Jenny was captured: Komar's cruiser. Fortunately, it's just around the corner, but it's not gonna stay that way for long. So we need to find whatever intel it has and get it before it takes off."

As the Castle showed the Galra cruiser, Jenny cringed at the thought of what happened to her.

"Yikes. I do not want to go through that mess with him again. He made me look so old..."

"Well, if we're going to learn more about Xaira, I'm afraid we'll have to face Komar head on."

With that, Belle's voice spoke up behind them, causing them to turn as she continued to speak.

"Did you say Komar?That guy owes me payback for what he did to me."

Shiro saw that look on her face before and did not approve.

"Absolutely not. With the way you are now, it's too risky to send you—"

Before he could finish, Jenny interrupted him.

"It'll be fine, Shiro. As long as I'm around, I promise my sis will be on her best behavior."

She then turned to Belle and gave a glare with a forced smile, unnerving her sister before she agreed.

"Right?"

"Yeah. Don't worry."

"Right. But... you do know that you'll have to confront him again, don't you? I just don't know how well you can handle it."

"You don't have to worry. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Unable to convince her to let it go, Shiro only sighed as he spoke.

"Well, here's the plan."

Later, it showed the Green Lion going to Komar's cruiser invisibly as Jenny, Ayame, and Belle were riding with Pidge dropping them off in a hangar bay before it opened its mouth and the girls got out before the Green Lion took off while Jenny turned her skin and hair color dark purple before growing a bit tall to match the Galran color and height as Shiro spoke.

"Once Pidge drops you off at the hangar, Jenny, you'll go incognito and try to blend in with the other Galra as you take Belle to see Komar."

As she noticed a Galran soldier walking by to notice the Paladins and the Green Lion, Jenny used her chain blade to snatch him before he could even begin to run to the alarm and trigger it before she knocked him unconscious and took his armory before she gave her a thumbs up with a smile. After which, Jenny noticed a Galran monitor on the armory before she got confused.

"Geez, how do you work this thing?"

Belle then let her synthetic arm do the work as she typed in the code and she smiled.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

At that moment, Komar spoke up.

"What is it now, soldier?"

"I've got a prisoner for you, Komar."

"That's Warlock Komar to you."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Warlock Komar, sir. Anyway, I think you know the prisoner very well."

As Komar noticed Belle, he widened his eyes in surprise before he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Ahem. Impressive work. Take her to my lab."

"Vrepit Sa."

With that, the monitor feed turned off before Jenny turned to Belle.

"Cool. Looks like we're in."

With that, Belle and Jenny walked while Ayame stealthily crept across the walls to get to the control room and saw a Galran soldier before she snuck behind the soldier and grabbed him while holding her hand over his mouth as he shouted in vain before he fell unconscious and she got out a flash drive from Pidge that contained Belle's Galran interface of her arm as it showed Pidge's monkey face on it as she smiled after Shiro spoke.

"Now, while Belle and Jenny distract Komar, Ayame will sneak over to the database and try to find any information on who Xaira is. Once you have that info synced to the Castle, bolt immediately."

"Good thing for your technology, Pidge."

As Ayame looked over the files, she noticed several of them with videos of her and Komar before she continued scrolling through the files before she noticed her own experimentation with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Jenny and Belle were just outside the lab door as the former began tingling while the latter made an angry growl before Jenny spoke.

"Uh, sis... I'm scared..."

"It'll be okay, Jenny. Because that's just one more thing he's going to pay for. Now do your thing."

"Uh, okay."

With that, Jenny knocked on the lab door before she spoke.

"Uh, Warlock Komar, sir? I've brought the prisoner."

With that, the doorway opened to see Komar as he walked out before speaking.

"Hmm. Well, I'm impressed that you weren't late."

As Jenny smiled nervously, Komar eyed Belle and spoke.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Kren. Bring her in."

"Vrepit Sa."

With that, the sisters walked in before he closed the lab doors and spoke.

"I do hope you've had your fun."

Belle then glared at Komar as she spoke.

"Trust me, I'll feel a lot better when you're out of the picture."

"I expected as much since our last encounter. And I also expected this charade... Jennifer."

As Jenny grew surprised, Komar fired his siphon at Jenny, knocking her back and making her unconscious before Belle got worried.

"Jenny!"

In retaliation, Belle attempted to attack him before Komar stopped her.

"Stop! Not one more step."

"And why the quiznak not?"

"If you don't listen, you'll never know who Xaira really is."

This made Belle widen her eyes in intrigue as she laid down her gauntlet.

"Alright. Explain. But leave Jenny out of this. She's been through enough already."

"So be it, then. Listen carefully."

In the information room, Ayame looked at the file of her creation as she saw herself on an operating table before she spoke.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Yes. If we are to gain their trust, we must perform this experiment."

"But with Dark Quintessence?"

"The Galra use this type as their base to be identified as such. And for whatever reason, I traced these amounts in your own body by a mild amount. If we bring it out, they won't tell the difference."

"Isn't there a better way?"

"Think of it this way. If you had to succumb to the dark to save your friends, wouldn't you?"

For a while, there was a moment of silence before she took a deep breath and replied.

"Only if I have no choice."

"Alright, so do I have your consent?"

"Yes."

With that, Komar didn't hesitate to make the injection of Dark Quintessence inside her before she groaned in pain before her skin turned dark purple as did her raven hair and she took a deep breath as her skin then changed back to normal before she looked to Komar.

"Did it work?"

"Welcome to the Galra Empire... Xaira."

As the video finished, Ayame widened her eyes before she spoke.

"Komar didn't just come up with that name. He got it from Zarkon all along... he knew who I was already. Just another in a long list of lies he told me."

Suddenly, Shiro's voice spoke up on her gauntlet.

"Ayame, did you find the files yet?"

This made Ayame nervous before she scrolled through to find information on Zarkon as well.

"Yeah. But Xaira's not the only one with files."

"What do you mean?"

"It has Zarkon's information, too. His weaknesses, his vulnerabilities, everything. We have to get those files."

"No, Ayame. It's not the plan. We need to know everything we can about Xaira."

In her moment of panic, Ayame snapped at him.

"None of it will matter when Zarkon's dead!"

With that, Ayame shut off the link with her gauntlet before she downloaded the files of Zarkon while shredding any and all files that pertained to Xaira, only to hear Belle's voice.

"How could you?"

Hearing her voice, Ayame turned to see Belle alone before she spoke.

"Belle? What happened? Where's Jenny?"

"Why would you care... Xaira?"

Hearing this, Ayame widened her eyes before she spoke.

"Belle, listen. I can explain."

"Don't even try to poison my ears! How many lives have you ruined before you even gave it a second thought?!"

"What? Why would you think that? Wait. How did you even know who I—"

With that, Komar stepped forward out of the shadows with a smirk before he spoke.

"You weren't the first person, I talked to, if you remember."

This made Ayame shocked as she spoke.

"Komar? What did you do to her?!"

"I didn't do anything. I simply told her the truth. Ultimately, it's up to her to decide what to do with you."

As Belle walked toward her with an angry glare, Ayame's worst fear has been realized as she tried to reason with her again.

"Belle, please. You don't have to do this."

"You lied to us. To Jenny. To Shiro. And to Allura. I don't know why you didn't kill them yet, but I'm not going to give you that chance."

"Be cautious, Kren. Xaira is extremely powerful. We better not take any chances."

With that, Komar got out his siphon before he pushed a button on the bottom of the handle before Belle's arm began glowing purple as she moaned in pain as Ayame grew concerned.

"Belle!"

As it glowed however, the arm evolved itself as it grew sharp claws and a purple glow in its cracks before the cracks repaired themselves. After which, Belle's eyes then flared yellow before she lunged at Ayame with an energy blade, forcing her to evacuate as she took the flash drive and ran out of the room before she opened her gauntlet to speak to Shiro.

"Takashi, I need help!"

"Calm down, Ayame. What's going on?"

"Komar did something to Belle! She's lost control and she's trying to—"

Before she could finish, Belle burst through the wall with a shout, making her scream as she felt the impact, catching Shiro and Keith's worry as the former spoke.

"Ayame?! Ayame!"

With that, Shiro growled before he turned to Keith.

"Keith, the mission is off. Get in that cruiser and help her!"

Meanwhile, Jenny struggled to wake up before she gasped for air and looked around as she painted for breath.

"Sis? Where are you?"

As an answer, she heard Belle's raging voice and Ayame's screams of panic before she ran out of the lab as she spoke.

"Well, so much for the element of surprise."

As she ran, she thought about what's happened since she got knocked unconscious.

"What's happening right now? First, we were in the lab. Then, I got unconscious. Oh, I hope he didn't do anything to my sis."

Unfortunately, that was a reality as she saw Belle attacking Ayame with an energy blade as she got her naginata out and tried to block her blade, only for it to be knocked away before she set her foot down on Ayame, much to Jenny's worry.

"I'm going to make you regret the day you were born, Xaira!"

This would've made Jenny confused if she wasn't concerned about Ayame and her sister before she got her chain blade out and wrapped her before shocking her, this time to no avail as she just growled before Jenny spoke to Ayame.

"Get out of here, Ayame! Go save yourself and get the file to the Castle!"

"But—"

"No buts! Just go!"

This made Ayame look at the flash drive before she ran away as Belle gripped the electric whip and used it to slam her repeatedly on the walls before she got free and gripped her by the head with her claw.

"Why did you let her get away?! She's the enemy! She's Zarkon's daughter!"

In her frenzied state, her thinking has also made her more susceptible to dark thoughts as she spoke.

"And you knew, didn't you?!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"LIAR!"

Suddenly, Belle tossed her farther away in the hall as Ayame began to breath erratically, not sure what to do in the situation she's presented with. The fact that Belle knew the truth about her didn't help the situation at all as she tried to will herself to relax.

"Okay, calm down, Ayame. Calm down."

As she took a deep breath, Ayame then heard Jenny's voice as she helped in pain before she gasped and looked behind her to see Jenny bruised and battered before Belle gripped her by the neck and choked her while she spoke with venom in her voice.

"You chose the wrong side, Jenny! There are no good Galra or bad Galra! It's us or them!"

Then, she slammed Jenny to the ground before she got her energy blade out before she spoke.

"And you chose them."

With that, Belle attempted to stab Jenny before she was stopped by Ayame charging at her and knocking her to the ground as she shouted at her.

"ENOUGH! Leave her out of this! I'm the one you want!"

"No. Not just you... every single one of you."

With that, Belle pointed her claw at Ayame and charged it with an ion-cannon-like blast before Ayame and Jenny got out of its path as she saw Komar behind her and panicked as she saw him walking toward her as he spoke.

"I don't know how long you've been awake, but savor the light. Things are about to get dark."

As he got closer, Jenny noticed the siphon in his hand before she jumped at him in a swift move and took the siphon from him only for Komar to fight her for it.

"You are nothing! You are unworthy! It's power will kill you, torture you! Send you straight to Wozblay!"

"I'm not gonna use it! And... neither... will... you!"

Jenny glared at him before she smacked him in the face with it, knocking him to the floor before she felt adrenaline rushing through her as she spoke.

"Wow. That wasn't so bad."

However, Komar wasn't down yet as he growled and tried to get up before Jenny reassessed the situation and looked at the siphon before remembering how her arm corrupted her sister as she spoke.

"I know what to do."

With that, she took off toward the two before they ended up at the hangar bay where Belle and Ayame clashed their blades from their arm and naginata before Belle suddenly tripped her and hit her blade near her neck as she spoke.

"You don't help people, Ayame. You use them."

With that, Belle was about to stab Ayame when a Dark Quintessential blast struck her synthetic arm and began to drain the Dark Quintessence as she screamed in agony as Jenny held Right in the siphon before the purple glows on her arm faded into black and Belle fell unconscious before Jenny saw Komar headed toward her before she reacted and fired a blast at him, knocking him back with the amount of Dark Quintessence through various halls before she gripped the siphon and panted as she still felt the adrenaline coursing through her.

"WHOO! That felt great!"

Then, Jenny heard Belle's moans before she went over to them and saw Ayame sobbing on the floor over what happened before she spoke to the little sister.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Seeing her need of comfort, Jenny knelt down and held her close and hushed her as she spoke.

"It's okay, Ayame. None of this was your fault. It's all over."

With that, the Red Lion appeared in the hangar bay as Ayame cried in her arms.

Later, at the Castle, Belle slowly woke up with a moan as she saw Shiro standing over her.

"Hey, Belle. You doing alright?"

With that, Belle sat up and placed her hand over her head, only to notice blue coloring inside her arm, making her confused.

"What? How did—?"

Shiro spoke up to her as he sat down.

"Jenny used Komar's siphon to extract the Dark Quintessence out of you. After that, you were in critical condition. So, Jenny gave up some of her Quintessence for you."

This made Belle turn to her left before seeing Jenny sleeping on a hospital bed as Belle began to remember what she did at the cruiser.

"Oh, no... Jenny."

"She'll be okay. She's a real trooper. She always has been."

However, that did nothing to stop Belle from crying as she remembered what she almost did to her.

"I... I almost killed her..."

As Belle wept over Jenny, Shiro placed his hand over her shoulder, trying to find some way to comfort her as he spoke.

"She'll be fine. That wasn't you. It was Komar. Somehow, he knew we were going to try to pull that off. But how?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. I just want Jenny to be okay."

As she slept, Jenny turned her head before she turned to see Ayame feeling ashamed before taking off, making her remember who Ayame really was before she spoke.

"Shiro. Can I go talk with Ayame? She's... had it hard, too."

"Sure."

Meanwhile, Ayame was walking back to her bedroom just as she heard Keith's voice.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Ayame, already having had enough of what's happened to her, spoke coldly to Keith.

"None of your business. Leave me alone."

"Well, fat chance! You almost got everyone killed today! You had your chance to follow Shiro's orders, but you didn't! And now, Jenny's on the hospital bed after what you put her through!"

"Excuse me?!"

"If you had just obeyed his orders, this whole mess could've been avoided!"

"I just wanted this whole thing to be over."

"What good is that if you get your own team killed in the process?! With what you went through, how can you possibly think that's okay to just write off Shiro's orders like that?!"

Ayame tensed her fist at his words before she began to flip.

"How would you feel if you knew your biological father was some intergalactic tyrant!? Huh!? I was an accident! I never asked to be made! The universe had no intention of bringing me to life! And maybe the mission would've been a success if I was never born! Heck! Maybe if I never existed in the first place, my mom, my dad, Kumiko... they would still be alive. I-I'm just like Zarkon, taking lives from others. I am a cold hearted monster... just like my father."

As tears streamed down Ayame's face as she finished, her eyes widened and realized that she spilled her secret to the red Paladin. Hot-headed as he was, he was nonetheless loyal to his team. She knew that he's more likely to tell them. Despite that, Keith began to feel a huge weight of guilt over him as he tried to comfort her.

"Ayame—"

Before Keith could make his attempt to soothe her, Ayame rushed to her room, and locked herself in there as Keith sighed sadly before Belle spoke.

"So... I guess you beat me to it."

Keith then turned around to see Belle before he spoke.

"Beat you to what?"

"I was gonna ask Ayame why she kept it a secret. And... we both just found out why. She was... scared."

Then, as if her attack wasn't enough, Belle also remembered what she talked about with Ayame, making her feel worse.

"Oh, no. I really did it this time. At the training room, I said I'd kill every last Galra and... oh, why did I even say that?"

Keith then spoke to her as she tried to sort herself out.

"It's okay. I'll tell her you didn't mean what you said."

"After what I put her through, she won't believe it unless it's from me. I'll let you calm her down first. I don't want Ayame to... well, have nightmares over what I did and said to her."

"I'll see what I can do."

With that, Keith slowly walked over to Ayame's quarters before he slowly opened the door and saw Ayame's tears down her face, giving away evidence that she was crying as Keith spoke gently with her.

"Hey. Listen... I'm sorry. For... blowing up at you. I'm just really worried about everyone. And about you."

Then, Ayame spoke up next as she sniffled, trying to stop her voice from breaking.

"It's okay. I get it. I'm sorry for stopping you guys. I just... If they all knew who I really am, would they even want me?"

As he answered, Keith sat down beside Ayame.

"I do. You can count on that. You're the only one who understands where I'm coming from and why I do the things I do. You... you relate to me. And the last thing I want is for you to be hurt. So... if it helps... I won't tell anyone about your being part Galra."

"You... you won't?"

"Not until you feel up to it."

This made Ayame happy as she hugged Keith, surprising him before he did the same.

"Thank you so much..."

"You're welcome."

Then, they heard Belle knocking on the door before Ayame noticed and looked away in shame before Belle sighed as she sat on the opposite bed adjacent to the two before she spoke.

"Okay. Look, I overheard you telling Keith why you kept the truth from us. And I have just one thing to say to you. I'm s- I'm sorry for forcing you to do that."

This earned Ayame's confused look before he spoke.

"What I said to you, back at the training room, I didn't... I never meant to hurt you with that. But I did anyway. I was so wrapped up about blaming the Galra for the monster they made me into, that I ended up acting like one. And I'm not talking about what Komar made me do at that cruiser. I guess... I just didn't want to accept what's happened to me and just wake up like this was all a nightmare. The point is... I'm the one who should be hiding from everybody right now. You're a perfect example of how people should be, Galra or not, always risking their lives for others, not hurting them. You're... you're nothing at all like your father. I see that now and... I'm sorry."

Hearing her say those words made Ayame smile as she wiped her tears away before she spoke.

"Okay. But, you know, I never blamed you for feeling that way. True, it hurt me more than any weapon ever could, but still, to know that you never meant it... that's what I needed. Thank you."

Belle then nodded to her as she walked out before stopping and looking back one more time.

"Oh. And don't worry. Your secret's safe with me, too."

As she walked away, Ayame smiled at her before Keith spoke.

"So... do you still want to be alone?"

"For now. I've had an exhausting day."

"Okay. Good to know."

With that, Keith walked out of the door with Ayame getting the sleep she needed.

Meanwhile, Allura was given a full report by Belle over what occurred on the cruiser, omitting Xaira's true identity before he spoke.

"So, that's how it happened? And you still never found out who Xaira was?"

"No. None of us got the chance. On the bright side, Jenny did manage to drain my arm of the Dark Quintessence that it gave me. I'm just sorry things had to go like this. That operation took a lot out of her. I'm just surprised she actually agreed to it."

Allura then spoke up.

"Actually, about that... She was frightened of operations, so Sandra offered a Baku plant to her to lull her to sleep."

This made Belle raise an eyebrow as she spoke.

"Huh? Oh. That makes more sense, actually. So, what now?"

"Since we don't know where Xaira is, or where she'll strike, we'll just have to be ready."

"And how are we gonna prepare for that?"

"I don't know. But we must be ready. Because if we're not careful, Zarkon will have Voltron and the universe in his grasp. We cannot allow it to happen."

"While I'm inclined to agree, Allura, I think we have bigger things to worry about than just Zarkon. I just... I can't help but feel someone worse will come along the way."

At Komar's cruiser, Kaecilius walked toward the bruised Komar before he spoke.

"Do you care to explain to me... what... has... happened?"

As Komar lifted himself up, he answered as best he could.

"The plan to reclaim Kren backfired. Jennifer used my siphon to drain her of the Dark Quintessence and used it all on me. Quite resourceful that girl."

"Annoyingly so. But it is no matter. We have much bigger plans than Kren. And when we're done, not even Voltron can stand against its might."