Chapter 26: Annihilation

At the quantum abyss, the Chaos Comet was hurtling to the solar eclipse as the three Voltrons neared the Cruiser and Zarkon's ship. Shiro then spoke to the team.

"Okay, I know things look bad right now, but we've gotta act fast. The power will only be down for 20 minutes. The Blade of Marmora's schematics showed four targets we need to hit. The weapons systems, the engines, the bridge, and the shield generators."

Then, Zaltron spoke to the Paladins next.

"You'll take care of the engines, weapon systems, and shield generators. I intend to go to the bridge and bring Zarkon to his senses."

Ayame and Lapis, having overheard this, spoke up in support.

"I'll go, too. Besides, I know for a fact that the Galra won't just sit by and let this happen."

"Count me in, Ayame."

Then, Lapis turned to her team, Adea cradling the burned Thace before speaking onward.

"My team has been through enough already. I can't let it go on anymore."

Evidently, her team had enough as Adea set Thace down gently stood up and turned to Lapis.

"We're going in there, Lapis. You have to help them. Thace did all of that effort for us. We won't let it be for nothing, Omegus or not!"

Lapis smiled at Adea's determination before nodding.

"On second thought, my team is all in."

Shiro then formulated a plan to best finish the battle.

"Okay. Jenny, Lapis, you'll drop Ayame and your team off while they rendezvous with Zaltron at the bridge while we deal with the command center."

Then, Jenny spoke up about another matter.

"But what about Omegus?"

"I don't know. But we'll try the best we can. Now, let's put an end to this once and for all."

"Yeah!"

"Form sword!"

Then, as Voltron created a sword, the Violet and White Voltrons darted over to the command center's bay before Jenny dropped off Ayame while Lapis dropped off her team and they all headed for the bridge where unbeknownst to them, Zarkon was ordering his soldiers around.

"I want weapons systems activated immediately! Restart the entire crystal core manually if you have to!"

At the bridge, Zarkon suddenly felt a surge of Omegus overwhelming him before groaning in agony just as the outline of the solar eclipse turned red. As this happened, Omegus spoke to him.

"Destroy Voltron! I command you!"

"N-Never! You will not use me again!"

"I told you when we last spoke that you possess nothing. Because you are nothing!"

Zarkon tried his best to fight back, but against this overwhelming surge and his constant strain from searching for the Black Lion, it eventually proved futile as he gave one more shout, his purple eyes becoming dark red with black on the inside. At the same moment, Voltron cut through the shield generators of the command center before Haggar spoke to him.

"Our ship may be without power, but we are not. I can use the komar to draw the Quintessence directly from Voltron, rendering him lifeless."

Then, Zarkon spoke back to Haggar in Omegus' voice.

"I do not wish for you to drain it. I wish to destroy him myself."

Haggar, surprised as she was by his sudden change in voice, tried to convince Zarkon otherwise.

"No, lord! It is certain death! Your obsession with Voltron is clouding your judgment! You must not go out there!"

Then, "Zarkon" snapped at Haggar with a booming voice.

"SILENCE!"

The voice stunted Haggar, knocking her off of her feet and revealing her face as her hood was torn apart by the sudden force before he spoke onward.

"Your husband is now under my control. The Galra Empire was, is, and always will be under the supremacy of Omegus."

That made Haggar widen her eyes with fear as she came to realize that she'd not been supporting her husband for 10,000 years, but the Lord of Darkness himself.

"No..."

Then, Omegus walked out of the bridge as Haggar looked mortified before she spoke to the Druids.

"Hurry! We need to free our emperor!"

In the command center, Zaltron entered via manual pod before he spoke to the others.

"I've entered Zarkon's ship. I'm proceeding to the bridge."

Out in space, Voltron had turned his sword into a sickle while the White Voltron wielded a dual naginata and the Violet Voltron a scythe before he spoke to Jenny and Lapis.

"Hit the engine systems!"

"Right!"

"You got it!"

While Jenny chucked the dual naginata at the left section and Lapis sliced the right one, Voltron slammed the sickle down on the middle as Allura, Coran, Krolia, Kolivan, Vrathrea, and the rest of the council watched.

"We've done it. This is the end of Zarkon's reign."

"Yes, Princess. But what about Omegus?"

As Voltron continued to hack at the command center, Zaltron noticed a room where the Galra scientists were analyzing the armor before he walked in, catching them by surprise. He then looked to the armor before looking back to the scientists.

"Allow me to wear the armor, gentlemen."

One of the scientists, though he knew he was the enemy, tried to warn him.

"But it has never been successfully tested. To do—"

Then, Zaltron clutched him by the neck before speaking.

"Your emperor is going to be responsible for the universe's extinction! If you want to prevent this, let me wear it."

Zaltron then dropped him to the floor before the scientist finally complied.

"O-Of course."

Inside the armor, Zaltron spoke to the Paladins.

"The plan has been altered. I am taking Zarkon's experimental armor to combat Omegus himself."

Ayame, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria were running to the bridge as they received the transmission.

"Experimental armor?"

Area pondered about what good it could do against him.

"How is that gonna stop Omegus?"

Ayame turned to Adea before she answered.

"I have a feeling we're gonna see."

At the bridge, Haggar was at the center of it while surrounded by four more Druids. Knowing full well what the Komar Experiment was meant for, she felt it fitting to use it in order to pay Omegus back.

"Begin the ritual!"

As the druids shot four purple beams at her, creating a circle, Voltron shot at the command center while the Violet Voltron sliced it up with the scythe before they came up on the bridge as Shiro spoke to them.

"Stay focused. We've neutralized the engines. Let's target the bridge."

Just then, they noticed Zarkon's body headed toward the solar eclipse before the black moon suddenly turned red and shone its light on him before it began producing red and purple creatures from it and swarmed around Zarkon as Kaecilius and Varek smirked at this. Jenny saw this and considered it freaky.

"Uh, what's going on, guys? Is he getting eaten by those things?"

Shiro knew what was going on, however, as he began expanding in size as he roared. However, as the creatures themselves were a part of him, they only created a giant red and light pink silhouette of Zarkon, his dark red eyes showing before he then grew dark red and black wings on his back as Lance grew worried.

"What the heck is that? Is he—"

Jenny knew the answer as she finished the question for him.

"Omegus."

However, Shiro received a presence of Zarkon as he felt it fading slowly before he groaned and spoke.

"And Zarkon. He's being controlled."

At the bridge, Haggar was preparing the Komar Experiment to launch.

"Ready..."

Just then, Ayame, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria ran in to notice Haggar using the Komar Experiment. While Ayame was confused, Adea and her group knew what was happening.

"What is that?"

"Oh, no. Ayame, you have to stop her!"

"Why? What's going on?"

"Zarkon's been working on something that steals the life from other planets! This is it!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because he used it on my home!"

Hearing this, Ayame's widened before she glared at Haggar for stealing the Quintessence from innocent planets that took no part in their war to begin with before she shouted.

"Attack!"

Suddenly, a purple and black lightning bolt shot out seemingly toward Voltron before Allura shouted.

"No!"

However, it just zipped past the three Voltrons before going to Omegus. But when it got to him, it had no effect before he spoke a word.

"Reflect."

Then, the lightning bolt shot back out and collided with Voltron, draining it and its Paladins of their Quintessence as they screamed. At the bridge, Haggar was feeling overwhelmed by the light of the Pure Quintessence as her yellow blank eyes suddenly shifted back to white sclerae with yellow irises and pink pupils.

"It's Pure Quintessence!"

Ayame didn't want to lose her friends so soon as she ran toward her with a shout and halted the Komar Experiment as she then lunged on her, binding her with Haggar as she was in the circle before it disappeared and the Quintessence floated in the air, seeing its beauty all around them before a red light detonated from the solar eclipse, spreading to other neighboring planets and headed toward them. Krolia knew what it was as she shielded Allura and Coran.

"Hang on!"

As the dark red light overcame them, Ayame found herself in a dark red landscape before she heard her own voice speaking to her.

"How long do you think you can keep me here?"

Ayame then turned to see none other than Xaira speaking to her.

"Without me, your friends will be gone. Are you willing to just sit by and let this happen?"

"Of course not! But I'm not going to lose myself to you either."

"You can't choose both, human. Come to think of it, I'm not so sure you even have a choice."

Then, the background suddenly glowed brightly and the scenery changed back to the bridge as she saw Haggar panting for breath as her eye and skin color were now those of a true Altean, confirming what she saw the last time she fought her.

"I knew it. You are an Altean."

Just then, Varek, Kaecilius, and Vantiv teleported to the bridge and spoke to them.

"Now we know the truth."

"How an Altean could be seen with the Galra Empire and not be executed is beyond us."

"But we'll fix that problem soon enough."

Out in space, Allura and Coran were wondering where that light came from.

"What was that?"

"It didn't do anything."

Krolia had an idea why.

"It's the dark flare. Normally, the abyss' flares would show visions of both past and future. But this... it only enhances those with Dark Quintessence inside them. Or worse... it brings them back from the dead."

Coran was worried about another factor.

"Wait. What about the... Paladins! Can you hear me?"

There was no movement before Babak spoke.

"I thought the virus shut down all of Zarkon's power! What happened?!"

Allura and Kolivan knew the answer.

"That blast was not from the ship's weapons. It was magic."

"It must have been the komar. Zarkon has been trying to develop a device to extract the Quintessence from planets. Adea's home was robbed of Quintessence by this very experiment. We've taken her and her friends under our care ever since."

Coral was still focused on the Paladins' safety at the moment.

"If it destroys planets, what did it do to the Paladins?"

At that moment, the Paladins woke up, barely alive from the extraction process before Jenny spoke to them.

"Whoa, guys. Did anyone get a number on that bus?"

Coran was relieved to know they were alive.

"Oh, thank the ancients!"

Then, Allura spoke to the Paladins about Voltron.

"Is Voltron operational?"

When Jenny tried to pull on it, it didn't budge.

"Nope. It won't budge."

Keith was having the same problem as well.

"I can't move my lion."

Coran related to the Paladins what it was that Omegus reflected back at them.

"You've been hit with some kind of witchcraft that draws the Quintessence out of you. You need to get out of there! Another blast like that and you may not survive!"

Then, Lance noticed a couple of pink lights within the red eclipse.

"Wait. What's that?"

To further prove Krolia's theory, the dark glare produced certain soldiers felled by the Paladins, such as Vaxel and Zarix, whose eyes are now dark red and black. Then, they spoke to the Paladins before Omegus finished their words.

"The past shall consume the future."

"The dead shall consume the living."

"And Chaos shall reign supreme!"

Then, Zaltron spoke against him.

"Not today, Omegus!"

Suddenly, a giant armor the size of Voltron resembling Zarkon emerged from the command center before the Paladins grew surprised as Jenny and Lapis reacted.

"No way."

"Dad, is that you?!"

Then, Allura spoke to the paladins in and out of the command center.

"You must get moving. Remember your training. Remember all the battles you've been through."

Shiro was still having difficulty getting Voltron to move, however.

"Voltron's still not operational."

Jenny, however, was willing to try one more time to bond with her lion.

"Listen, White. We're not gonna go out like that, okay? We're not. We need to stand up and fight. I know I've asked a lot from you, but this is for real. This is what matters!"

Just then, the White Voltron's blue eyes flared back to life as Jenny grew relieved as she smiled.

"Sorry to wake you."

Meanwhile, Zaltron stood guard against Omegus as more red and light pink creatures emerged from the eclipse before he spoke.

"Demon hordes, take flight!"

Then, as Vaxel and Zarix made for the bridge, a cascade of the creatures darted toward Zaltron and Jenny, forcing them to swat the things away as Omegus neared Voltron.

At the Castle, Allura tried to think of a way to help.

"We must buy them more time. Get us in closer. Divert all power to our weapons system."

Coran though it was extremely risky.

"What? Princess, we'll be defenseless!"

"It's the only way."

As Zaltron and Jenny were trying to hold back the swarm of creatures, Omegus moved in toward the Violet and original Voltron while the Castle moved in.

"Listen to me. You are true Paladins now. Connect with your lions, reach out to each other! Fight! This cannot end now!"

As the Castle charged up, Omegus closed in for the kill before she shouted.

"Fire!"

As it shot the cannon at Omegus, he noticed this before blocking it with his ethereal wing, catching Jenny's notice as she knew what was going to happen and activated her own particle barrier. She then dashed to the Castle and got in between the blast firing from the Castle and the blast headed towards it before she braced for impact. However, the barrier couldn't withstand the force of a blast coming from behind and in point blank simultaneously as it broke down and pierced through the White Voltron as Jenny shouted in overwhelming pain and agony before it got caught in an explosion, catching the Paladins' worry and fear, Lance's most of all.

"Jenny!"

When the dust settled, the White Voltron remained, but inactive. Within the cockpit, Jenny had sustained a hole through her side, blue quintessence leaking down from the laceration as she slowly closed her eyes while she spoke.

"I'm... I'm sorry, guys. I tried. Lance... I-I want you to know I... I love you..."

The Paladins could hear Jenny's final moans before the silence came back, making Lance shed tears for her.

"Jenny? No. No! Get back up! Do you hear me?! Don't you dare do this to me!"

At the bridge, Ayame heard Lance's panic and began to fear the worst.

"Jenny... no."

As Vaxel and Zarix arrived at the bridge, Varek could take a guess as to what Ayame heard while he smirked.

"It's over. Omegus has you and your paladins set up to fail. Which leaves only one more problem left."

Kaecilius spoke next as he and Vantiv descended to a platform of their own.

"When we're done cleansing this universe of you Paladins, we will eliminate the rest of the mortals as well."

As he smirked, Ayame tensed her hand in anger before Shiro spoke up.

"Everybody, listen. We have to fight. We have to channel all our energy. Visualize five becoming one. We have to focus everything we have into moving Voltron."

As Keith took a deep breath out in space, Ayame took a deep breath as she clutched her bayard in the bridge while Zaltron prepared an energy blade on top of the armor's wrist before Shiro spoke on.

"We are the last thing standing in the way of Zarkon's total universal domination. I'm not giving up that fight! Are you, Hunk?"

"No."

As he answered, the Yellow Lion's eyes flared back to life as did every other Paladin that gave their answer.

"Pidge?"

"Never!"

"Lance?"

"Let's go down swingin'."

"Keith? Sandra?"

"Not a chance."

"We're all in."

"Lapis?"

"Victory or death!"

"Ayame?"

"I'll never give in."

Then, as Ayame's bayard changed to a dual naginata, the chest came online and glowed blue as Omegus forged a sword from his own beastly armor.

"Then let's get Voltron back in this battle."

With that, Voltron came back online before forging his own sword as Omegus spoke.

"Insolent mortals! Prepare to perish!"

He moved in to slash at Voltron, only for him to counter Omegus before he was kicked by the Violet Voltron and was now fighting Zaltron as he performed swift strikes with his wrist blade while Omegus was on the ropes as Lapis charged an ion cannon on the shoulder. When he stuck his blade with Omegus' sword, Zaltron held him in place as the armor nodded to her before Lapis got her bayards ready to be plugged in as she shouted.

"This is for Jenny!"

She then yelled at the top of her lungs as the ion cannon was fired in an extremely glowing purple light which hit him in the back, earning his pained roar before it fully dissipated and allowed Zaltron to toss him away.

In the bridge, Ayame darted to Vantiv, who lurched her hand at her before she dodged it and severed it, causing the hand to retreat back to normal length before Adea kicked her in the back and made her fall, only to clutch onto a platform and hoist herself up. Then, Adea turned to Haggar and ran over to her.

Meanwhile, Allura, Babak, and the Blades, having witnessed Jenny's sacrifice, were still reeling from it.

"Our power levels are decimated. Communicators aren't working. We can't reach Jenny. I'm afraid she can't fight anymore."

"We cannot give up."

Just then, a purple energy blade pierced through the door and created a hole to reveal an angry Belle and the determined Slav.

"Allura's right! My sister just died trying to save us! I don't know about any of you, but I'm not going to let my sister be remembered as a little girl who never had a chance!"

"As if there's any reality where that is acceptable!"

Allura then turned to Coran.

"Coran, you and Krul do what you can to get the Castle functioning again. Kolivan, Vrathrea, Krolia, can you get us to the komar?"

"It will be dangerous, but we know the way."

"After what we went through, running away is the last thing that we want to do."

"We won't let her sacrifice be in vain."

"You, Antok, Caxas, and Jareth come with me."

Then they all went to the door as Allura spoke onward.

"We're going to have to attack the witch directly if we hope to stop that thing. Coran, the bridge is yours."

"No! You've been weakened by operating the teludav. You can't face Haggar directly, let alone Vantiv!"

"We don't have a choice."

Meanwhile, Jenny opened her eyes to find herself back on Planet X and found Alphus standing in front of her.

"Huh? W-What happened? The last thing I remember was..."

She then gasped in horror at what happened.

"I died!"

"No. Not yet. But you're gravely injured enough for it to happen over the next five minutes."

"I've gotta let them know I'm okay! I have to get back in there!"

"Not yet. If you go back in now, the result will be the same."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Just stay here?!"

"I never recommended that. If you really want to help them, you have to let your natural power flow."

"My natural power?"

Then, she recalled the time she rendered a dozen ships to dust with the wave of her hands and a snap of her finger during the last attack at Zarkon's ship.

"Oh! That natural power! How did I do that, though?"

"You tell me."

"I don't know. I just..."

Then, she realized what she meant.

"Oh, you're saying I did that because I was so determined to stop them from hurting my friends, I didn't even think about myself. But... why didn't it work this time?"

"Because you didn't expect it to."

"Huh? Now how does that make any sense?

"Nothing ever does these days. Just listen to what I have to tell you. It's very important that you know it."

Jenny sighed in defeat as she was in a rush before she spoke.

"Okay. What do I need to know?"

"To secure the future, you must look into the past."

With that, Alphus placed her hand on her forehead before her eyes glowed white as she gasped.

At the bridge, Allura, Belle, Caxas, Jareth, Kolivan, Krolia, Vrathrea, and Anton arrived before they jumped off of their manual pods and crashed them into a platform that Karcilius stood upon before he landed on the main one in the center. As this happened, Adea spoke to Haggar.

"You never knew, did you? That Zarkon was controlled by Omegus?"

"I... I thought it was the Quintessence giving him power, but no. It was him this whole time..."

Adea could tell that the fact that Zarkon was Omegus' puppet for 10,000 years rattled her but wanted to get her to come to her senses.

"Snap out of it, Haggar! We need your help!"

Haggar would normally rebuff the request of an enemy, but given the situation, she was left with no choice but to consider. However, since the use of the komar was interrupted, it took a great toll on her.

"It's no use. My powers were weakened after the komar was stopped. How could I help?"

As Adea looked around, she noticed the platforms up above and the center platform where he stood before turning to Haggar.

"We need you to teach us the komar. I can spread the message to my team and we'll use it on Omegus."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because... we can't do this without you."

Haggar looked at Adea's desperate yet determined face before she put on a face of surprise and reluctance before she finally agreed.

"Fine. But listen carefully."

Out in space, Omegus clashed with Voltron and Zaltron, creating bright light throughout the abyss, shattering tons of asteroids into dust in the process before that dust ended up swallowed into nothingness, stretching far until they disappeared before Omegus spoke.

"You cannot defeat me, disciples of Alphus. I have transcended physical being. By my will alone, all upon this universe shall fall into chaos."

As this happened, Shiro grunted as he felt Zarkon slipping away.

"He's forcing Zarkon off of the edge. I can feel it in my mind."

Keith tried to get him focused enough to stop him.

"Fight it, Shiro!"

As Voltron moved to avoid Omegus' swings, Zaltron countered him while slicing upward on his arm, separating the creatures from one another before they ended up sucked up into nothingness, leaving Omegus to create a new arm, at the expense of the quantity of creatures. At that moment, Pidge figured out its weakness.

"That's it! If we can cut through him in two, the creatures supporting him will scatter into the nothingness!"

Shiro spoke next, making sure the plan would work.

"I hope you're right, Pidge. Let's try it."

With that, Voltron turned to Zaltron and Lapis before Shiro spoke to them.

"Zaltron, Lapis, we need to distract him long enough to finish him. Can you manage that?"

Lapis responded to Shiro before Zaltron did.

"We'll hold him as long as we can, Shiro."

"But time is of the essence. Look!"

With that, a dark flare activated as Omegus then became enlarged as his eyes glowed brighter. Hunk thought it was bad news.

"Okay, this is definitely bad."

To make matters worse, it then forged a chain blade before wrapping it around Voltron and electrocuting it, causing the Paladins great harm before they came apart.

"You fools with such limited lives should've known your place from the beginning. None who have ever faced me has ever lived to tell the tale. You are no exception."

Seeing their situation, Keith turned to the Black Lion and tried to reach him.

"Shiro! Shiro!"

There was only a grunt from Shiro before Keith turned to Omegus.

"Something's wrong with Shiro. Guys, we can't let Omegus destroy the Black Lion."

In the bridge, as Allura and the Blades fought Vaxel and Zarix, the Druids were fighting Kaecilius and Vantiv while Ayame fought Varek, who clashed his energy blade against her naginata repeatedly until they came to a standstill before she spoke.

"I'm going to send you flying off this bridge!"

"Silence, blasphemer!"

Then, he kicked her in the gut before knocking her off the platform and onto the next one before Adea shouted to her.

"Ayame! Make sure everyone is in place!"

"Why? What's the plan?"

"Just trust me!"

Ayame nodded to her before Varek came down to her and she jumped away, barely missing his blade before Atchiam used her machete to clash against Zarix's scythe before she swerved under it and him while she used the momentum to slice below his belly and kicked both halves off of the platform as she looked up to see Antok fighting Vaxel before he ended up shot by Vantiv with a dark red and black blast with a smirk before Varek appeared behind him and impaled him, to the groups' horror as Kolivan shouted.

"Antok!"

As he fell to the floor, Varek smirked at them before Atchiam grew furious and darted toward him as she jumped at him while shouting.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

However, Varek saw this coming before he swiftly turned around and sliced her through. As a result, her arms came off as the rest of her fell to the platform where Adea was, worried about what happened to her.

"Atchiam..."

As Adea cried tears for her, Ayame felt bad for her before hearing Varek's chuckle.

"Finish your goodbye, Blade. They're a waste of time."

Ayame growled at him before he spoke again.

"After all, you're going to be joining her soon."

Suddenly, a dark red flash came over the bridge as Ayame's eyes flashed yellow with tears streaming down her angry face before she spoke with the highest potency of venom.

"What is wrong with you...? How can someone be so broken... to hurt so many innocent people who never asked for any of this... and act like it's something to be proud of...? AND ALL WITH THAT QUIZNAKING SMILE ON YOUR FACE!"

Varek grew weary of her temper before speaking again.

"Don't you see I'm helping you? Soon, you'll be with her and the other creatures you love."

Hearing him mention Jenny that way, let alone call her that proved to be the worst thing he could've done as her skin turned purple in an instant while she began to develop dark purple lightning around her, her teeth gritting as her nails dig into her palms, bleeding out the Dark Quintessence before roaring at the top of her lungs in anger as she caused dark streaks of purple lightning to strike the bridge as her team grew petrified. Varek and Kaecilius were taken aback as well.

"What?"

"This can't be... What is that power?"

"YOU'RE THE CREATURE! YOU TOOK THEM FROM US! YOU'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM EVERYONE! AND FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE, I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!"

With that, Ayane launched dark lightning blasts at the floor as a boost to get to Varek as Adela tried to reach her.

"Ayame, wait! The plan!"

She didn't listen to her pleas as Ayame got ready to strike Varek.

Out in space, Jenny's eyes suddenly opened as she gasped for air before feeling the pain from her hole and held onto it before she noticed them fighting against Omegus with little to no success before looking to see a dark flash from far away before she knew what to do.

"Hang on, Ayame, everyone. I'm coming."

With that, Jenny had to leave the White Voltron before using her jet pack to get to the bridge undetected while Ayame fired dark purple blasts of lightning at Varek before he teleported and punched her in the face before she used the momentum to retaliate with a backhand slap from her fist, surprising her opponent.

"I can't believe it!"

Then, she fired a blast at point blank range, knocking him to a platform before he felt his chest burning from the impact. Vantiv took notice of her next before Ayame slammed her fist at her face, particularly where the burn was before knocking her off and sending her to another platform adjacent to Kaecilius, who stood in shock of her power. However, Haggar was impressed with her strength.

"Perhaps I'll need to rethink my standing on Xaira..."

As Ayame appeared in front of Kaecilius, he grew stunned before she fired a blast at point blank range while yelling out as he struggled to hold it back. However, after a moment or so, he succeeded as he chuckled. Then, Kaecilius returned the blast tonite sender with a roar before Allura got in the way, blocking the blast from Kaecilius before generating a pink shield around her, surprising both friend and foe.

"Huh?"

"Allura?"

Kaecilius, however, was incredibly mad, both in anger and in insanity.

"Insolence!"

He fired another volley of his attack, to which this time Allura pushed against it, getting stronger than his blasts as Kaecilius grew weaker from the Quintessence he exerted before he fell to his knees. At that moment, Allura turned to Ayame.

"You must get back to the White Lion and help the Paladins! Jenny would want you to."

"She's right. But that doesn't mean I can't help you guys."

Hearing the familiar voice, they all turned to see Jenny flying into the bridge, her wound shown to have no lasting effect on her before their eyes widened in hope before Belle tried to confirm it and she spoke again.

"Jenny?"

"Miss me?"

"Yes! Of course, I did! I... I'm glad you're okay."

Then, she landed on a platform above Kaecilius before Adea spoke to her.

"Oh, right. Jenny! You have to—"

"Use the komar to extract Omegus' Quintessence. I know. But we'll need a conductor to reach him."

As she looked at Kaecilius' exhausted body, she had an idea.

"And I think I know who might be right for it."

Out in space, Shiro woke up hearing the voices of the Paladins overlapping voices.

"Keep Omegus away from the Black Lion!"

"Come on! We can't give up!"

"I'm running out of strength, man!"

"Look out!"

Then, Omegus slashed at Lance, knocking him away before Pidge fires a beam at his wing, blocking the vegetation growth. As this went on, Shiro groaned trying to stand up before a bayard switch came up beside him. With that, Keith screamed as he was waylaid by his chain blade before Hunk got swiped by the wing, making Pidge worry.

"Hunk!"

Then, Shiro heard Zarkon's voice before he gasped.

"Shiro... you are its true Paladin now. Tell my daughter... I am sorry."

Then, Shiro remembered every experience he went through with the Black Lion before their bond is renewed and it grew tall angel wings on its back before charging at the creature and phased through it, taking the bayard that was meant to be his. After which, Lance asked Shiro what went down.

"Whoa... what did you do?"

Then, Shiro looked at Zarkon's bay are before it went back to a normal bayard.

"I've got Zarkon's bayard."

Keith spoke next on technicality.

"You mean you've got your bayard."

Then, Shiro knew what needed to be done.

"We've only got a few minutes left before power returns to Zarkon's ship. Form Voltron!"

Then, the five Paladins formed together to create Voltron before Omegus turned to see it as he snarled.

At the bridge, Allura, Ayame, Adea, Jenny, and Luzria got in position as Kaecilius tried to stand up and retaliate, but due to the amount he's used, he couldn't pull it off. He then noticed Allura and Jenny in front of him, glaring at him before the latter spoke with a blue aura around her similar to Allura's.

"Alphus has a message for you, Kaecilius. Never wound what you can't kill."

"Why you little...!"

"Now!"

With that, Adea, Ayame, and Luzria fired their beams at Jenny and Allura before firing them at Kaecilius who began to feel intense pain as he and his outfit have become distorted and was beginning to tear itself apart due to the sheer force of it before Allura spoke.

"You will never destroy another innocent world!"

Kaecilius glared at the Princess despite his position and tried to retaliate.

"A mortal world? Innocent?! Is that a joke?! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WORTHLESS BEINGS SPEAK DOWN TO A GOD!"

Then, Allura and Jenny thrusted harder as they shouted, causing Kaecilius great pain as his body began to wither. Vantiv got up after recovering from Ayame's attack and noticed this before she tried to stop them with her ethereal arm, only for Haggar to clutch her arms around her and teleported away before chucking her off of the bridge as a bright blue light emanated from afar. The warmth of that light allowed Vantiv enough time to activate her helmet and call up her manual pod before taking off for Kaecilius' Cruiser.

At the Castle, Coran, Babak, and Slav got their communications working before they cheered.

"We're back!"

"Thank the ancients!"

"Hello, Paladins!"

Having heard the transmission, Shiro and the others grew relieved.

"Yeah!"

"You're alive!"

"Is everyone okay?"

Then, Slav spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry, guys!"

Lance wasn't quite pleased with Slav.

"Oh, great. Slav made it."

Then, Jenny spoke on the communicator as well.

"Come on. What am I, chopped liver?"

Hearing this, Lance grew excited and relieved.

"Jenny! You're okay! I can't believe it!"

"Me neither. Look, I need you guys to manage something for us."

Shiro tried to find out what the next plan was in order to defeat Omegus as nothing else they tried worked.

"What is it?"

"Do you think you can keep Omegus busy? We're trying to extract his quintessence and then seal it up. That way, Zarkon won't be controlled anymore."

Suddenly, the command center's power went back on as well as the many fighters that remained after most of them were swallowed into nothingness before Coran spoke.

"The power of Zarkon's ship is returning! We need to get out of here! I'm going to get Allura!"

Allura, however, spoke to him.

"Not yet, Coran! We have to do this!"

"But, Princess, you're dangerously close to throwing your life away!"

"I don't care! This has to end now!"

Then, Voltron and Zaltron turned to Omegus as they got ready while the Violet Voltron went after the White one.

"I'm going to get the White Lion back to the Castle and give them a ride back!"

"Alright. This is our last chance! Let's finish this!"

With that, Voltron and Omegus charged at each other with their weapons before Voltron plunged the sword into Omegus' side. However, he retaliated by gripping its head before speaking.

"Your unrefined act of laying your hands upon a god is the worst kind of sin. For that, you will endure eternal suffering!"

Then, he produced electricity, shocking Shiro and the other Paladins before he saw the bayard switch glowing as he used the last of his strength to plunge it in and slice him upwards before those at the bridge saw an opening before Allura and Jenny fired a blue beam through Kaecilius and right at Omegus, causing a bright light to emanate and draining the creatures away from Zarkon as he yelled in pain, the red eyes turning back to purple before the purple faded away into yellow sclerae with red irises while the creatures went toward Kaecilius, causing him to suffer a catastrophic toll.

"No! That's impossible! It can't end this way! I'm an invincible, everlasting god! NOOOOOOO!"

Then, as he shouted, his own Quintessence ended up being drained away in the process while the jar which held the drained Quintessence started filling up. Before long, the creatures around Zarkon were gone before the red coloring around the solar eclipse faded away as Zarkon drifted in space and the jar containing the Quintessence ended up breaking apart and exploding, knocking away Ayame and causing her to hit the wall before falling unconscious as the bridge of the command center began to crumble. In the chaos, Haggar noticed her and held her bridal style before she teleported. All the while, Adea, Allura, Luzria, and Jenny panted their breaths before Kolivan spoke to them with the Violet Lion arriving.

"Come on!"

Then, they took off before Jenny realized that Ayame wasn't on her platform and looked around.

"Ayame! Ayame!"

Adea then spoke to Jenny as she pulled on her arm.

"She's probably taken off already! Let's go!"

Jenny had no choice before she had to leave the crumbling bridge. At the same moment, Varek picked up Kaecilius as he spoke to him.

"There's no time. We must leave."

"No! Our plan... is in shambles..."

"We can always make others, but we can't start life all over again! We're leaving now!"

Then, Varek teleported away from the bridge with Kaecilius in tow.

Out in space, Voltron was separated into five lions, recovering from their final battle before Lance and Hunk asked the team.

"Did we do it?"

"Is it over?"

Then, Lapis spoke to the team.

"I picked up the Blades, Allura, and Jenny. But we couldn't find Ayame."

That brought up an issue for Keith before he looked back.

"I'm going back for her."

Then, he noticed that the Black Lion wasn't moving either and grew worried.

"Shiro!"

The other Paladins noticed this too before they huddled around him.

"We need to tow him back onto the ship!"

As they did, they brought him into the hangar bay while Zaltron held Zarkon close until he got there as well before Pidge spoke to Allura.

"Princess, we're all onboard."

Not long after, Keith and Jenny ran to the Black Lion and tried to see what happened to him.

"Shiro!"

"Shiro?"

To their surprise, they found that Shiro was nowhere to be found inside the Black Lion before Lance spoke.

"He's gone."

Then, Jenny realized who else was missing.

"And Ayame, too. I tried to find her, but... she was gone."

Jenny then hugged Lance tightly, sobbing on him at the thought of her friend being gone before he hugged her back in comfort.

"Well, at least we know she's alive. Maybe Shiro is, too. We're gonna find them, Jenny. I promise you."

Jenny didn't seem to listen as she continued sobbing on him.

At the command center, Ayame slowly opened her eyes to find herself strapped in a lab table and tried to break free before she noticed a silhouette of a certain witch of Zarkon.

"Haggar? What are you—?"

As an answer, she was injected with Quintessence in the arm before she spoke further.

"You were quite powerful enough to withstand Kaecilius' power, as well as his generals. The Galra Empire needs that strength, especially now more than ever now that Zarkon has... disappeared."

Ayame, feeling the surge of Quintessence swelling up inside her, wanted to fight it long enough to get answers.

"So, you're putting me in charge?"

"No. But... you'll be looking out for someone who will be. Take her to her chambers."

Then, the Druids who confided in her removed the restraints before they carried her away as she came out before speaking to the other Druids.

"Summon Prince Lotor."

At Kaecilius' cruiser, Kaecilius' face was now withered from the komar experiment as he laid on his bed with Vantiv and Varek on his bedside.

"It's almost sad to see what they've turned you into. Next time we meet, I'll see to it that the pay with their lives."

"How did you disgrace yourself against those mortals? We were barely separated. What went wrong?"

"It... it seems many of our assumptions about mortals were badly mistaken. They are much more than just insignificant worms. If we're not careful, our dream of utopia is going to be ruined before it's even begun."

Then, Varek grunted as he looked out at the window overlooking outer space before he spoke. Clearly, not even Omegus could stop them, so they'll have to pull their own weight rather than seek assistance.

"Very well. No more games or half measures. Because these insolent mortals continued to defy and profane us, we will reveal to them the ultimate power of the gods! And none of them will escape it!"