Chapter 21: The Belly of the Weblum
At the Castle, Hunk had been sleeping in his chair before he snored and was a bit startled. After which, he grew drowsy again before waking up with a start once his head fell out of place. "What? What'd I miss?" Lance brought Hunk up to date on what went down in the time he's slept. "Oh, nothing important. We just figured out a way to defeat Zarkon and Kaecilius." "Really? I dozed for ten minutes, and you guys figured out how to defeat the forces of evil?" Sandra knew he wasn't quite correct. "You've been asleep for three hours." "Oh. That makes sense." As Hunk looked to the team, Shiro, Lapis, Kolivan, Caxas, Ulaz, Zaltron, Azix, Antok, and Jareth were overviewing the hologram of Zarkon's ship. Shiro felt like the plan could work. "I think we've got something here. It's dangerous and there are a lot of moving parts, but if we can coordinate everything just right, then..." Kolivan spoke up the result for him. "Zarkon's corrupt reign will be at an end, and the savagery that's poisoned our universe can finally be cleansed. You've done it, Shiro." "We did it together." Shiro and Kolivan proceeded to do a handshake (minus the shaking part) as Babak spoke up. "As long as we all stick to the plan, it should work." "It will work. And perhaps, then, you'll learn that not all Galra are as bad as Zarkon." Babak turned to Keith, Sandra, Krolia, and Ayame in disbelief. "I hope not." Antok stated his faith to Ulaz, considering how far they've gotten. "Ulaz, you were right to trust them all." "You should be thanking Ayame. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be in this position." Then, Hunk spoke up, wondering what they would do to take out Zarkon. "So, what's the plan?" Lance answered by way of presentation. "The plan is amazing! First, we infect Zarkon's ship with a virus. Then, we make an extra-large wormhole and lure the big baddies inside of it, zapping them a bajillion light years away. Then, when they pop out the other side, all like, 'Oh, why doesn't my ship work?' Voltron kicks their butts! Pew, pew, pew! Womp, womp, womp! Huh! Hi-yah! 'I'll firm the head!' That's what you say, Shiro. Yeah, yeah. Yeah! We won for all time!" Hunk was astounded about how far they've come, considering how they started out. "Wow. So this is it." Pidge knew there's only one thing left. "I guess the only question is, when do we strike?" Coran spoke to the others. "As soon as we build a teludav big enough to wormhole Zarkon's ship and Kaecilius' cruiser." Hunk wasn't quite pleased with that. "Oh, man. The teludav again? Does that mean we need more Scaultrite?" Allura knee there's more to it than that. "That's just one of the many things we need." Azix pointed out the rest. "Once we get the Scaultrite, we must get our top engineer, Slav. After that, we require a crystal from Balmera. But we don't need just any crystal; we require the largest one we have. Then, the teludav must be expanded to accommodate its size. Only then will..." Before he could finish, Azix noticed Ayame's dismal look before Keith, Sandra, and Krolia did. "What's wrong Ayame?" "Yeah. We're so close to ending this." "I'm fine, you guys. It's just... I don't understand how everyone could be so calm." Keith thought about her heritage and thought she knew what it was. "Are you still thinking about Zarkon?" "Zarkon, the Galra, Kaecilius, all of it! Something big is going on and no one seems to be doing anything about it." Lance begged to differ. "Uh, hello? Didn't you see the plan? Between all those errands, I'm sure we'll be able to take care of it." "Well, I'm not! You don't know Kaecilius like I do." Babak knew she wasn't quite correct. "I beg to differ. Although, you might be onto something. If Kaecilius found us first before Zarkon, he must have a spy that tipped him off somehow." "Exactly." Then, Hunk spoke what was on his mind. "Okay, look. Between saving the Balmera, freeing the Olkarions, and saving the Taujeerians, I'm sure you guys all think you're ready to take them out." Pidge grew confused about that. "Uh... who?" "But, again, I have to be the voice of reason. We're just a bunch of untrained pilots. We're not cut out for this type of situation. We're just not ready." "And we may never be ready! Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for us to trap them. They're still out there, planning their next move, and no one knows what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not." Coran agreed with Ayame. "I'm afraid I'll have to concur. It does seem too good to be true for victory to come this close. For this plan to succeed, we're gonna need to split up. We all have a task to do. Keith, Ayame, Hunk, Sandra, you'll be in charge of getting the Scaultrite. If any one of us fails, the whole plan fails."
At the Yellow Lion's hangar, Ayame watched as Keith and Shiro did their man hug as Pidge shook hands with Hunk, the two of them shedding tears. All the while, Sandra looked back to Babak before he turned away without hesitation and crossing his arms, earning her sad look as she hung her head down. Then, the first group fled via Yellow Lion before a wormhole opened and they entered it.
In the Blue Lion's Hangar, Pidge, Lance, Shiro, Belle, and Jenny were in charge of rescuing Slav. Pidge was petting the mice before Lance turned to Jenny before she turned away and crossed her arms. "Come on, Jenny. A kiss would make you feel better." Then, Lance closed his eyes and puckered up before Jenny drew an exasperated sigh and grabbed a mouse on Allura's shoulder and gently placing its face I front of Lance's. He caught on too late and found the mouse smooching him as he muffled his yelp. Then, the second group took off before another wormhole opened up and they went in it.
In the Violet Lion's Hangar, Lapis was to go with Kolivan, Ulaz, Antok, Azix, Caxas, and Jareth to the Blade of Marmora headquarters in an attempt to find out who the potential spy is. Lapis was now saying goodbye to her father. "I hope you can be safe, Father." "As I wish the same for you as well." Then, Lapis and her father hugged each other before they had to leave. Zaltron was to leave via pod with Coran to assist in preparing a giant teludav in Olkarion. Coran assures Allura that they'd meet again. "Don't worry, we'll see each other again." "Take care, Coran." "Stay safe, princess." Then, Zaltron and Coran took off as Allura stayed in the Castle and headed to the Balmera.
At Zarkon's command center, he was doing the ritual to seek out the Black Lion, but to no avail as he heard Omegus' infernal voice echoing to him. "Zarkon... Zarkon... Zarkon!" That caused one of the Druids to fall to the floor in surprise and exhaustion from how much Quintessence he was using before Zarkon fell next. Haggar tried to check up on him. "Did you find the lion?" Zarkon groaned as he met another misfortune. "Nothing." "It is wise that you rest." "I will find that lion. Begin the process again." Then, Haggar and the Druids continued their ritual, minus the Druid that fell.
At Kaecilius' cruiser, Omegus related his condition to his pupil. "Zarkon. Each time he seeks it out, he grows weaker." "He can try all he wants until he quits breathing. Since Shiro has renewed his bond, it's basically futile to seek him out unless it is active again. In the meantime, I suspect the Paladins will try to pull a trick over us." "And how would you prepare for that?" "Simple. I've sent Varek to central command for reconnaissance on a certain spy here. He'll find out with whom he's working for and send an agent of our own there. Once they're removed, their plan, however unknown, will fall to pieces."
In space, Hunk was utterly ungrateful for the missions he had to go through. "Why does Allura get to take a leisurely visit to the Balmera while we have to fly into the belly of a giant space worm to get Scaultrite?" Keith reminded him of what is most important. "You heard Coran. Building a huge teludav isn't easy. Everyone has a job to do, and this is ours." "But I always get the worst jobs. Go to a Galra occupied planet to get my lion. Go to a Galra occupied Balmera to get a crystal. Go into a belly of the beast with Galra alien team members." Sandra heard that and wasn't really happy with that. "Shut up, Hunk! I've had to put up with your complaints day in and day out, but now you're complaining about me helping you?! Because if that's how you feel, I just won't help you at all!" At this point, Hunk realized that he should've remembered that Sandra being half Galra was a touchy subject for her. "No, Sandy. I-I didn't mean it like that." "No! No, I want to know what you really think about me! Do you even want me to be here or not?!" Ayame clutched her hand on Sandra's shoulder and tried to snap her out of it. "Sandy. He didn't mean it. Not that way. So calm down." "And here I thought you had a problem with everyone being calm." Ayame would've snapped at this, but she knew better and just let it go. "Touché." Keith took his turn to step up and remind everyone. "Let's just concentrate on the job here." "Yeah." But as much as he tried, Hunk couldn't help but think about her Galran heritage and asked about it. "I, uh, don't mean to bother you, but was-was your mom the alien? Your grandpa? How Galra are you?" Sandra, annoyed as she already was, just tried to brush it off. "Why do you want to know so much?" "I'm not trying to make you feel unwanted, Sandy. This is a judgement-free zone. Whatever you have to say, you can tell me." "Doesn't mean I want to." "Wow. You're real tight-lipped, aren't you? Just like the Blade of Marmora. I get that your society is secret, but is everything a secret?" Now Keith was the one getting annoyed. "Okay, look, it's bad enough that Babak hates us now. Can you just lay off?" "Babak doesn't hate you. You just need to give him time to accept the fact that you're Galra, a race hat enslaved his planet and all of his people." Then, Hunk rethought his own words. "Yeah, he might hate you a little bit." That didn't make Sandra feel any better. "In that case, I might want to kill you a little bit." Hunk laughed nervously before Keith motioned her to let it go while he brought everyone back on task. "Let's just watch the video Coran uploaded and stat on task. We need to figure out how to collect this stuff." Then, a feed came up and showed Coran with a spiky upright haircut and a short-sleeved blue shirt. "Hello, brave Altean!" The group was surprised by his outfit and Hunk found it funny. "No way. Is that Coran?" "So, you're about to go into the belly of a weblum to harvest Scaultrite. Good for you! Scaultrite is an important substance, with thousands of commercial and industrial uses, including fabrication foam, insect night vision goggles, teludav—" Then, the video went glitchy with the group looking nervous at how much information they could miss. "Uh..." "—anti-fungal Klanmüirl lotion and other such lubricants." Keith wondered why it glitched before Hunk gave the answer. "What's wrong with the video?" "It's ten thousand years old. It's probably corroded." Then, the video went back to normal from static. "I could go on for days, But you've got a weblum to enter and some Scaultrite to collect. Oh, look! There's a weblum now. Hello, big fella!" Then, a cartoon version of the weblum appeared beside Coran. "Hey, Coran! I'm off to eat some planets. There's one now! Nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum!" "We'll see you soon! As you probably remember from school, the weblum is an enormous creature and an integral part of keeping our universe functioning. It survives off of the—left over from the dead planets. It then reconverts the Quintessence remnants by—becoming the building blocks of new solar systems. Incredible, isn't it?" That made Sandra think about how Earth and its solar system existed. "Oh, no. Are you kidding me right now?" "Of course, these are no gentle giants. They're actually giants that are quite deadly, which leads to rule number one. It's an important one, so listen closely. Stay away from its—" Before Coran could finish, the static skipped the last crucial part. "You got that?" Hunk didn't hesitate to answer. "No. No, I didn't." Sandra had to remind him he isn't actually talking with them. "Hunk, he isn't actually talking with us." "It's like a rhyme. Say it with me. Stay away from its—" However, the rhyme was skipped as well. "Oh, come on!" As Hunk complained, Sandra tried to figure out what rhymed with 'stay' and 'way'. "Like a rhyme, huh?" "Other things to remember include avoiding the poisonous—eye sockets—could lead to certain death!" Ayame ultimately decided it wasn't helpful and paused it. "Obviously, this is getting us nowhere. I'll see if there's anything on how to get in." As Ayame looked over the video, the group looked at the area around them. Hunk and Sandra got Ayame's attention before she turned to see a debris field of giant planet-sized asteroids floating around. "Whoa. You seeing this, Ayame?" "Yeah, Hunk. And I'm starting to wish I never had." "What do you think those are?" Keith had an easy answer for that, morbid as it was. "They look like... dead planets." Hunk took a look at the charts and found energy remaining, despite the surroundings proving otherwise. "That's strange. The charts I'm looking at show those planets should still be thriving. Wow. What do you think happened to them? Asteroid strike?" Sandra grew doubtful of that. "No, Hunk. No asteroid can be that big to do this." Keith backed up her theory. "Something tells me they died an unnatural death." Just then, they heard demonic shrieking and the group turned to see a red and light Violet colored creature with glowing yellow eyes and glowing red snarled teeth. Ayame had a guess about the creature. "Do you think that thing is responsible?" The creature then took off toward the Paladins before shooting at it with its eyes. Sandra didn't want to be anywhere near it anymore than Hunk. "I don't know, but I don't want to find out!" "I'm with you, Sister!" Then,Hunk steered the Yellow Lion away and flew in full speed as the creature gave chase, unaware that a giant worm appeared. But, thankfully, the Paladins, starting with Hunk, did notice. "Look!" Keith found it a relief that they'd found one. "Guess that ancient Altean weblum tracker put us right on the money." Of course, they still had to deal with a certain tailgater as Hunk panicked. "We gotta get out of here! That thing's following us, and we haven't watched the whole video yet! We don't know what to do!" Keith knew it had to be done. "We're not leaving." Ayame had an idea that was already in play to begin with. "Keith and I'll skim through the video. Just keep your distance." Then, the video skipped all the way to a different segment than they wanted. "So, you've made it into the weblum's first stomach." Ayame decided to rewind that. "That one was too far." Then, Keith found a certain part they haven't noticed and let Ayame know. "Okay, there's good." "Got it." Ayame stopped the rewinding in time for Coran to speak about another topic. "So, you've identified a weblum. Great! Now, remember rule number one. Stay away from its face." Hunk grew worried about that. "Wait, that's rule number one?" Sandra just figured that out and didn't like their odds. "Yeah, and we just about broke it! Hurry up and get us out of the way!" Then, the weblum opened its mouth and prepared to fire just as the creature caught up to them. Before the creature could lay its ethereal claw on it, it got zapped by the weblum as the Yellow Lion evaded the blast. Ayame looked closer in the video. "Come on. How do we get in?" "The weblum's natural defense—venomous laser, deadly acid—total annihilation—death monster—to find its blind spot on the back of its neck, just below the gills." Then, the cartoon weblum appeared again. "That's your way inside! If I can't see ya, I can't kill ya!" Ayame blinked her eyes at this. "Yeah, that's not gonna stop sounding creepy anytime soon. Guys, we have to land on the back of its neck just below the gills!" Hunk got the message before he responded. "Copy that!" With that, Hunk steered the Yellow Lion toward the weblum before landing on its many precipices and leaping off of them. However, it was about to crash as the Yellow Lion rapidly beeped. "This isn't good! This isn't good!" Then, Hunk smashes it against a precipice before crash-landing. The group grunted as the Yellow Lion summoned its armor claws and allowed it to stop from falling. "We're attached to its back, in its blind spot." Keith felt it was a relief. "Good. We're going in." Then, Ayame brought up an issue. "But how are we supposed to get the Scaultrite?" Fortunately, the video Coran sent went to that part. "A quick recap of what to do when you're inside the beast. One, avoid things that want to kill you. Two, get to the third stomach and find the Scaultrite gland. Three, activate the weblum's defense mechanisms and collect the excess material from the gland. That's the Scaultrite!" Keith thought it explained what to do while Hunk felt it needed more before Sandra grew annoyed at that pretty quickly. "Seems simple enough." "Seems under-explained." "You get what you get and you don't get upset." Ayame was not willing to put up with their squabbles and wanted to get on with the mission. "Guys, stop fighting and come on." Hunk and Sandra sighed as Ayame and Keith took off. From there, they used their jet packs to fly to its gills. When the four stopped their movement, only Hunk had difficulty as Sandra facepalmed herself before he got his balance back. "Got it, got it." Then, the Paladins went inside the gills and traveled down in it.
At the command center, Thace walked in the room only to find a Druid using his magic on the drone's neck where the laceration was made. Needless to say, he was not pleased. "Why are you tampering with evidence?" "Commander Thace, I was ordered to assist you in your investigation into the possible traitors onboard." "Ordered by whom?" "Haggar. I've analyzed the sentry that was destroyed just before the shields went down." "The one that was killed by Prorok. I've already examined him." "So, you found traces of luxite on the wound?" That caught Thace by surprise. Could he have been that careless not to eliminate all traces of it? "It's a very rare metal, and Xaira was the only one authorized to handle it. If we find others on the ship in possession of luxite, we will have found our traitors." "Then what are you waiting for? Begin the search starting with the lower block." "I'll assign some sentries to that." As Thace began to walk out, he got the sense he was being followed. "Is there anything else?" "As chief investigator, your life could be in danger. I have been given orders to remain by your side until we clear all personnel or find the spy." However, the both of them were unaware that Varek was watching in the shadows. "Looks like I've found the traitor. I can practically smell the luxite on him. But I mustn't expose him just yet. First, I want to know who he's really working for..."
In the weblum, the Paladins just landed, although Hunk just landed on a gas bubble and got disgusted easily. "Uh, yuck! What am I standing on? A mucus pocket? I do not like mucus! And is that steaming stomach acid? Lookit, right over there." As he continued to panic, Sandra was getting more than cross with him as her ears started shaking and her head was practically boiling. "Oh, man, I really hope I don't see any blood." Finally, Sandra double-slapped Hunk Before throttling him enough for him to get a grip. "Just chill out, Hunk! You're just feeling yourself out." "No, standing inches away from a pus-bubble is freaking me out." Hunk stomped on the bubble in the process before getting freaked out again. Sandra was about to slap again when Keith stopped her. "Stop, Sandy. Obviously, it's not working. Look, Hunk, we're inside a disgusting worm. There's no way to sugarcoat it. We're gonna need that big brain of yours if we want to make it through. Will you be all right?" Hunk was still being grossed out before Keith spoke louder. "I said, will you be all right?" "Uh... Okay, okay." Then, he took a deep breath before he spoke again. "I'll be okay." Sandra opened her mouth and blinked her eyes in shock as Keith walked up to him. "Good. I gotta be able to count on you. Besides, no one knows an explosive digestive tract like you." Then, Ayame got surprised next. "Keith? Did you just make a joke?" "Maybe." That made her blink her eyes next as Hunk spoke onward. "Seriously, that was a joke, wasn't it? You're saying I throw up a lot. I get it. It's funny." Then, Hunk laughed at this while they flew from one area to another. "I do. Wow. Galra Keith is way funnier than regular Keith." Ayame and Sandra were still in shock over individual reasons. "I don't know what's more surprising. The fact that Keith gave Hunk advice that he actually listened to, or the fact he didn't explode on him." "Are you kidding, Sandra? What surprised me is that he made a joke. Keith didn't strike me as that kind of person." Then, Keith reminded everyone about their goal. "Okay, we need to find a way around the stomach acid." Then, Sandra and the others noticed small green round objects with tentacles coming out of the glowing green holes. "What are these things?" "I don't know. Maybe they're bacteria?" Ayame knew exactly what they were. "Don't go anywhere near them. They want to break us down like we're food." "What?!" Then, Hunk and the others got their bayards ready as Hunk realized what she was talking about. "I get it now. I think they're part o the creature's digestive system! They're trying to break down the food and we're the food!" "Ayame already explained that Hunk!" "Sorry, Sandy!" Then, Keith, Ayame, and Sandra slashed at the creatures while Hunk shot at them, getting one all over his faceplate in the process. "I can't see anything!" Then, Sandra noticed Hunk backing up into the wall and ran after him to catch his arm, only to end up being sucked into the wall along with him as Keith and Ayame noticed too late. "Hunk!" "Sandy!" In the bloodstream, Hunk and Sandra were being pushed by the current. "We're here, guys. Just surrounded by blood." "I hate blood!" "What should we do?" Keith explained to them as he and Ayame were backed to the edge. "You've got to find a way out of the circulatory system." When they were forced to the very edge where the acid was below, Keith and Ayame looked up to see the creatures preparing to swarm them as she sent a message. "Guys! We're outnumbered here! Meet us in the third stomach!" Then, the Paladins made a dive into the acid to be safe from the creatures. But it wasn't to last, however, as their helmets gave off a warning that it'll burn through. "Ugh... so hot..." "Gotta get out of this acid." Then, they swam down to the hole before popping out of it and falling down. As they fell, they saw a ship and used their jet packs to land there before they looked in the cockpit to see a being in blue, grey, and orange armor with a face of a dark blue-skinned woman. "What the—?" "Is that... a pilot?" "Impossible."
Meanwhile, Sandra and Hunk were traveling in the bloodstream still. "I don't like blood-slides!" During their travel, Sandra hit herself hard against the surface thanks to the strong current and ended up knocked out before Hunk noticed and went after her, using the current to speed up. "I got you, Sandy!" Then, he got stuck in a hole as he successfully caught Sandy by her leg. However, he was also stuck in it. "Oh, no. Well, at least I got you."
Meanwhile, Keith and Ayame were cutting the vines off of the ship before he spoke to the pilot. "Don't move. We're here to help." Then, they slammed their bayards into the cockpit, breaking the glass before lifting her up. "Well, thanks." As they did, though, they noticed a Galra symbol on her arm. "Huh?" Then, Keith reacted by pulling her arm and taking her gun. The stranger looked at him angrily. "What was that for?!" "You're Galra." Then, they noticed more creatures coming and forming a giant one. "Not those things again." "Don't worry. I'll just set the ship to initiate a countdown." Then, Ayame got the gist of what she was doing. "You're turning your ship into a time bomb?" "You got a better idea?" Then, the creatures swarmed at them, only for the trio to jump off away from them before it exploded, getting rid of them while also shoving them farther away with fiery debris and knocking them to the other side.
Meanwhile, Hunk was hanging on to the unconscious Sandra. "Sandy! Sandy, are you there? Sandy, answer me!" Then, he knew what to say to try to wake her up. And if that doesn't work, he'd at least have told her how he felt. "Listen, Sandy! I'm sorry for putting you all of that mean stuff! I wasn't trying to be mean; I was just trying to understand you! You shouldn't have to die alone for that! I'm not gonna let you, you hear me?!" Then, Sandra woke up with a start before Hunk boosted his jet pack. In the process, they flew out of the bloodstream.
Meanwhile, Keith and Ayame were looking up to see the stranger running for her weapon before she tried to take it from Keith before the two somersaulted. Then, the stranger shot three bullets, but they weren't meant for Keith nor Ayame. In fact, they were meant for the leftover creatures. Keith and Ayame turned to her in surprise. "I guess you can keep your weapon." "Who are you, anyway?" "My name's Auxia. And that's all you're getting out of me." "Fair enough. I'm Keith." "And I'm Ayame. But, according to Zarkon, I'm Xaira." That caught Auxia by surprise. "You're Xaira?!" "Yeah, but don't even get me started." Then, Auxia bowed to her unexpectedly. "Its a relief to know that you're still alive princess. I'll gladly help you with whatever you're dealing with. Vrepit Sa." Then, Ayame did the sign back in confusion. "Uh... Vrepit Sa?"
Meanwhile, Hunk and Sandra had been spat out of the circulatory system as he gagged before she spoke. "Did you really mean that? That you wouldn't let me die alone?" "Of course I did. Remember how we met?"
At the hallway, Hunk was walking in the hall before he heard crying and ran to the source. Then, he noticed Sandra lying on the floor crying. He figured Zach had something to do with that and made sure he still wasn't around. Once the coast was clear, he ran over to her and brushed her hair, earning a light gasp as she looked at him with a tear-marked face. "Hey, hey, hey. Shh. It's okay now. Zach's left the room. I know. I double-checked." "Are you sure?" "Uh, hello? I double-checked. So I'm positive he's not here." Then, Hunk helped Sandra up before she spoke. "Why would be hurt me like that? I didn't do anything wrong..." "No, that's not you. It's Zach. He always thinks he deserves respect around here. Anyone who doubts that just gets beaten up." "Has that ever happened to you before?" "Yeah. A lot. So I made a vow not to get anywhere near him until I graduate, or something." "Then why did you go after me? You could've been beaten up again." "Hey, it wasn't my first beat up. Probably not the last. Besides, what if he killed you?" That made Sandra gasp in fear. "He can do that?" "Technically, no. But there was this one girl, Kumiko, who got bullied so hard that she ended up kicking her own bucket. Worst of all, the guy can pull the wool over the eyes if Garrison security. Total immunity. Point being, I wasn't gonna let you go out like that. There's no way in this green earth I'd ever let that happen to you." Sandra wiped the tears off her glasses and hugged him. "Thank you..." Surprised as he was, Hunk hugged her back in reassurance.
"That day, I made a promise, remember? I wouldn't let you die alone, Galra or otherwise." "But... you could've died, too." "If it meant you wouldn't be alone, I would do that for you. Though, I prefer not to." Then, Sandra giggled before they noticed a giant hole next to them. "The Scaultrite!" "Oh, my gosh, we found it!" Then, Hunk's stomach grumbled. "Oh, my gosh, don't throw up. Don't throw—" Hunk was able to retain his vomit, fortunately, before they noticed Keith, Auxia, and Ayame coming out of a different path. "Keith! Ayame, you guys made it! We both made it!" Then, he noticed Auxia with them. "Who is this?" Ayame explained it to Hunk as Auxia looked around, raising Sandra's suspicions. "Her name's Auxia. That's all we know about her so far. Oh, that and she's Galra." "What, do you guys all know each other?" Ayame and Keith weren't pleased with Hunk's joke before Sandra whispered to them. "Are you sure we should be rescuing a Galra soldier right now?" Keith then spoke to Sandra. "We're Paladins of Voltron. We can't just leave people to die, even if they are Galra. I mean, Hunk didn't leave you, did he?" Then, she blushed madly before she whispered to him. "That's not the point." "Now, come on. Let's get what we came for and get out." "Okay, well, that— that might be a problem, too." Ayame grew curious about what Hunk meant. "How so?" "The Scaultrite gland somehow secretes mucus, or saliva, or something gross, which becomes crystallized. The only problem is, I think we have to trigger the weblum's defense mechanism." However, Hunk had forgotten about another problem: the creatures trying to break them down as a swarm of them appeared, much to Keith's annoyance. "Not again." Then, they heard rumbling from inside the creature before a huge gust of air blasted from upward and into the creatures, separating them and spreading them out. Hunk wasn't quite happy with that. "They're everywhere! Oh, whoa." However, it also caught the Paladins in its force, causing them to clutch onto the fleshy mass beneath them to hang on while most of the creatures got blown away. Ayame was wondering how this was happening before Hunk answered her. "What's going on?!" "I think this thing is getting rid of the excess gas produced from its multiple stomachs." "What?" "It's farting!" Ayame got grossed out from that as Hunk laughed. Then, the air went away before the group fell onto the squishy floor and got back up. Keith turned to Hunk for a solution. "Hunk, what do we gotta do to get that Scaultrite gland to hoop?" Hunk tried to think of a solution as quick as he can. "Uh, oh. Uh... Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. 'Stay away from its face.' The blue laser. Ah! I know what to do!" "What?" "If we want that third stomach gland to secrete the ooze, I need to get farted out of the weblum's butt and attack the face, getting it to fire its laser puke." Ayame groaned from hearing this explanation as Hunk noticed the creatures forming into a giant one. "For the sake of the universe, I'll provoke the beast! You guys stay here and get that Scaultrite!" Then, the creature began to attack and formed four tentacles. "Hurry! I don't know how long we can hold these things off!" As they evaded the tentacles, Hunk darted toward the creature as a gust of air dissipated it and allowed Hunk to go where the air was.
Out in space, Hunk was ejected out of the business end of the weblum as he yelled. "I'm out! Heading to my lion now." Unbeknownst to Hunk, a red and Violet creature just watched Hunk as it chirped.
At Kaecilius' cruiser, he was seeing everything Hunk was doing through the creature's eyes. "So... a hunt for Scaultrite? The only possible use they could have for it is..." Then, he figured it out. They're trying to create a teludav big enough to zap them as far as the universe would allow. But that didn't bother him at all. In fact, he smiled at this. After all, he fixed the coordinates on a wormhole before. He'll certainly try it again. "This changes everything."
At Zarkon's Command Center, Thace was running to the computer room before attempting to send a message, only to be stopped by his Druid attendant. "Commander, there you are. The lower block has been scanned for luxite. I found nothing." "Then continue the search." The Druid just reminded him of his orders. "Sir, I must remain by your side. Haggar's orders." Then, he just left the room to search with him before Varek appeared and took a look at the computer and noticed the small chip Thace had. He analyzed who he was sending it to with surprise. "The Blade of Marmora..." Then, Varek snickered to himself. "How delicious..."
Meanwhile, Hunk was still in the process of getting to the next part of his plan while Keith, Ayame, Sandra, and Auxia were having difficulty. "Hunk, whatever you're gonna do, do it now!" "We can't hold out much longer!" "Pfft! Come on, I can handle these guys." Then, Sandra go snagged by a tentacle only for Auxia to shoot it off, letting Sandra go. "But, uh, you mind hurrying this up?"
"Copy that, Sandy. Provoking giant space worm now." Then, Hunk got in front of the giant weblum, but it just passed him by. "Come on!"
Inside, the creatures just continued to assault them before a swarm of them slammed into Keith's shield. "Hunk!"
"Let's see you ignore me now." Then, the Yellow Lion powered up, forming a giant armor on its back and dashed into the weblum before Hunk taunted it. "Yoo-hoo! Over here!" The weblum then turned its eyes toward him and opened its mouth, revealing a blue light coming from it. "Yes! Yes, it's gonna do it!" Then, Hunk realized the position he was in. "Oh, no, it's gonna do it!"
Inside the weblum, the creature pulled its tentacles back as multiple blue lights appeared behind them. Keith knew what it meant. "It's working! I think it's about to get hot in here." Ayame didn't think it wasn't obvious. "You think?!" Then, the group moved as far away as they could before the weblum shot out its laser, causing the blue Scaultrite that was produced to crystallize as they braced the light.
Outside, Hunk knew what it meant while also being aware of his position. "Oh, yes! Oh, no!" Then, he yelled and grunted as he darted the Yellow Lion out of the way and got in its blind spot. "Oh, yeah! He's out! Tell me you got the Scaultrite." Keith answered him as the group got to work. "Grabbing it now." With that, Keith pushed a button on a capsule before it popped open to reveal a bag.
Later, 16 bags of Scaultrite were collected with Keith, Ayame, and Sandra looking over them. "Okay, so that's 16 bags." "You really think that'll be enough?" "Who cares? As long as I don't have to stay in that weblum anymore." Then, they heard a weapon whirring behind them with Auxia holding the trigger. "Don't move." Keith was partly expecting that. "So, you're just like the rest of 'em." "Don't go that far just yet. I'm actually here to get some of my own." Ayame was curious about her mission's purpose. "What for?" "I have orders from Prince Lotor." Ayame grew shocked to hear that. "Wait. You're saying... Zarkon has a son?" "Not that I expect you to care, but yes." "Actually, I do. At least tell me this. Why would Lotor need that Scaultrite?" "To make the universe better. To make the Galra Empire better than what it is now." "Then we both want the same thing. We both want it to change." "I'll keep that in mind, Your Highness." Then, before Auxia took off, she turned back to Xaira. "And, by the way, thank you for saving me." Ayame nodded to her as she smiled. "Thank you for helping us. I hope you have good luck." Then, Auxia nodded back before she took off with a bag of Scaultrite. Then, Keith spoke to Hunk. "We're coming out." "On my way." Then, the Yellow Lion made a break to the gills for pick up.
Later, the Yellow Lion has taken off from the weblum with Keith, Ayame, and Sandra in tow. "Where's Auxia?" Keith and Ayame spoke to Hunk as she looked out forward. "She's long gone by now, and she got a bag of Scaultrite." "What? Should we go after her?" "No. Don't worry. She had her own mission to do. We just happened to be in the neighborhood." "And besides, whatever the Galra are planning wont matter after we defeat Zarkon and Kaecilius." "Copy that." Then, Keith spoke to Hunk about how he came through. "By the way, Hunk, you really came through in the clutch back there. Without you, the mission would have been a failure." "Aw, thanks, Galra Keith. You're all right. I think turning Galra has made you a better human." Then, Ayame pointed out the truth, as well as Keith's leadership skills. "Actually, he was born Galra to begin with, so he didn't just turn Galra. And if you ask me... I'd say owning who he is has made him a better leader. Takashi would be so proud of you." "Thanks, Ayame." Then, Hunk made another quip. "Wow. Looks like Ayame turned Galra, too. I'm not talking about Xaira by the way." Then, Ayame and Keith snapped at Hunk at the same time. "We didn't just turn Galra!" Sandra sighed as she smiled at this. "And you guys thought I have anger management issues." "Quiet, Sandy!"