Chapter 30: Hole in the Sky
In Lotor's cruiser, the new Paladins, Adea, Luzria, and Atchiam were being introduced to his generals as he apologized for the ordeals he laid out.
"I must apologize for the ordeal on Thayserix. Like Jennifer suspected, it was a training method to help you reform Voltron. As for Planet Puig, the planet has been spared since the departure of both factions."
Luzria only glared at Lotor suspiciously as he spoke onward.
"Anyway, you've already met most of my generals. This is Ezor."
"Hello."
Adea walked up to Ezor and shook her hand as she smiled.
"Hi."
"This is Zethrid."
Atchiam got her right fist out as she spoke.
"Want to bump it?"
"'Bump it?'"
"You'll see."
Then, once Zethrid 'bumped it', Atchiam made her hand open up as it rose to the sky as she made a sound effect.
"That was a fist bump just blown up."
Zethrid spoke to her again as she bumped her fist against Atchiam's metallic gauntlet again.
"I like it."
Then, Lotor pointed out Narti to Jenny.
"This is Narti. Her species from which she hails can manipulate others mentally with physical touch as well as speak telepathically."
"Really?"
Then, Jenny decided to test that theory.
"Testing. Testing. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I can, Jennifer."
That made Jenny gasp in shock before she put on a large smile.
"Cool!"
"Yes, quite. And this is Acxa."
Keith didn't need to be reminded.
"I know. We've met."
Acxa smiled at him, happy that he does remember her before Lotor moved on with the last two.
"And lastly, but not least, Syn and Kurziam. I do believe they've made your acquaintance on Planet Puig."
While Lapis looked at Syn with a smile, Luzria looked at Kurziam equally suspiciously.
"I'm not quite sure about you."
"Well, that makes two of us."
Just then, Lotor spoke up again.
"Anyway, I'm sure you have questions about my plans for universal peace."
Adea felt it was already obvious.
"Uh, yeah. That's the whole reason we're here."
"Well, then. Allow me to answer them. As you know, for 10,000 years, the Galra have plundered and robbed the universe of Quintessence. And under Omegus' charge no less."
Keith and Allura gathered as much from his time fighting.
"Yeah, no kidding."
"So? What's the plan for rehabilitating the Galra Empire?"
"I'll tell you once you help me with a favor."
Lapis grew concerned about what the favor could be.
"What favor?"
"See for yourself."
Then, Lotor brought up a beeping distress signal from far away, making Allura widen her eyes as Keith and Jenny looked to her.
"Allura, you okay?"
"Yeah. You look like you've seen a ghost."
Lotor explained the reason for it.
"That's the point. This distress signal was from an Altean spacecraft."
That gave Allura hope of seeing her kind again as she spoke.
"Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans alive?"
However, Keith wanted to be cautious.
"Wait. What if someone's closing the signal to try and lure us in?"
"The signal is coming from an Altean ship, and we're going to find it."
Lotor had to urge caution to Allura on the matter.
"Finding it is the easy part, Allura. But trying to enter it is the most difficult part."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean, Allura, is exactly that. And you can only find out the difficulty if you accept the favor."
That made Luzria all the more suspicious.
"I don't think that's the best idea. To start off, we have no idea what his plans are if he even has them. Second, he's just gonna ask us to do something for him with no strings attached? Doesn't this kind of thing seem too good to be true to anyone else? I don't think we should trust him."
Hunk could agree with her.
"Yes! Thank you, Luzria."
Taking that into account, Lapis spoke to Lotor directly.
"If you really want us to trust you, you have to tell us. Otherwise, how are we gonna trust you if we just do your mystery errands with no idea what they're for?"
Lotor kept his calm gaze at Lapis before he sighed.
"Very well. If it's the only way for you to cooperate. What I desire is to try to help any Altean survivors from that signal, if any. Along with that, I also require a trans-reality comet."
Allura widened her eyes at this.
"The trans-reality comet? But... that's how Voltron was created."
Jenny figured out the rest.
"I get it now. You're trying to create your own Voltron so that you can help protect the universe, too."
"More than that. I'm trying to preserve peace. With Kaecilius and his Druid Empire, that task is next to impossible."
"So, you're trying to get enough firepower to defeat him? Makes sense. But what about after?"
"After that, I'm planning to restore the universe to its former glory, to an age before my father became a puppet to Omegus."
Then, Jenny smiled at his intentions, knowing that Ayame was right about him.
"Okay. We'll go. Just on one condition."
"And what's that?"
"You... need to stay with your dad. At least until we get that comet."
This made Lotor's eyes widen in shock from Jenny's suggestion.
"Are you serious?"
"Yep. The guy's not possessed by Quintessence anymore, Dark or otherwise. In fact, you're the first person he asked about."
This made Lotor close his eyes as he pondered the situation. After a brief period of silence, Lotor answered back to Jenny.
"Fine. But only until you get that comet. Syn, you'll be acting Leader for the moment until I come back. When the time is right, you know what to do if things go south."
Syn smiled as Lotor walked with the Paladins.
Later, the Paladins were returning to the Castle with Lotor in tow as Alphus and Coran noticed them.
"The lions are returning, Alphus."
"Good."
Then, Alphus spoke to Jenny via radio.
"Jenny, what took you so long?"
"We had a bit of a training session of sorts."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"I'll explain when we land."
As the White Lion landed, Alphus stood outside angrily, frustrated at having to put up with Zarkon for almost half a quintant.
"You better have a good explanation for this, young lady."
Jenny, used to her recent anger issues, responded flatly and sarcastically.
"Sorry, Mom. Believe it or not, I actually have someone you should meet."
With that, Lotor stepped out of the cockpit, causing Alphus to widen her eyes in shock.
"You... you actually brought him here?"
"He's the one who was training us to form Voltron again. And we didn't even know until the end. After that, we had a sit-down. Turns out, he's trying to find a trans-reality comet."
Alphus could already make a deduction about the use for it.
"The only reason he'd want it is to..."
Figuring out his plan, Alphus looked to Lotor and put on a sad smile.
"I'm sorry, Lotor. For what it's worth, I don't believe things should have to come to this."
Lotor spoke back in the same meaningful tone as her.
"You have no need to apologize. These events are not of your doing."
Just then, they noticed Zarkon, Sneren, Vrathrea, Sandra, Belle, Babak, Coran, and Zaltron outside the hangar.
"My father, on the other hand..."
The father walked up to Lotor before he spoke.
"Son. You and I are going to have a talk. And trust me when I say this is extremely important."
"As if I should take heed from a tyrant."
Seeing father and son glare at each other, Jenny grew embarrassed, rethinking her proposal.
"Oh, boy. Does anyone else feel awkward?"
Then, Alphus spoke to her as she put her hand on his shoulder.
"It would probably be best to leave them be and let them sort it out."
With that, Alphus walked Jenny out of the hangar as she looked back at father and son.
At the main hangar, Allura was guiding the Castle to Lotor's coordinates that led to the distress signal. Once they arrived, Allura recognized the vessel.
"That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle. One of my father's deep space vessels."
As of that weren't enough, Coran found out something else.
"According to the ship's identification code, it's Commodore Trayling's ship."
Jenny grew confused at the name.
"Commodore who?"
Babak turned to Jenny as he answered her.
"Trayling. An old acquaintance of me and Kaecilius when we were allies. But when he disappeared, we never knew his mission."
Coran didn't fare any better.
"No luck from me, either. I don't see any records of its destination or mission."
Lance pondered as to what had occurred for a long time as Hunk and Sandra gave their two cents.
"What happened to it?"
"Is it stuck in a wormhole?"
"And If that's the case, where could it possibly lead to?"
Coran and Babak answered their queries.
"That's unlike any wormhole I've ever seen."
"I agree. This is beyond any caliber of the teludav."
Pidge took a look at the energy readings of the wormhole and revealed its origin.
"There's a massive amount of energy coming from it, centered right where the ship is stuck."
Alphus, having traveled on the comet to Daibazaal before, knew exactly what it was.
"It's a gateway. Like Lotor said it'd be."
Allura, however, was still stuck on her race's salvation.
"We have to see if anyone is aboard. They may need our help."
Pidge had an idea about how to approach it.
"We could send a probe over to it, see if we can get some kind of idea what this thing is?"
Keith was all in for that plan.
"Do it."
As a probe was launched from the ship, Pidge and Hunk scanned the wormhole further.
"The energy shows no signs of radioactive decay and it's not thermal."
"It's not gravitational. Our probe is still on course and the light is radiating out, not in, like it would in a black hole."
Needless to say, Adea was confused by their science talk.
"I have no idea what you guys are saying."
Luzria, however, knew the answer.
"It means this wormhole is leaking something out. But what?"
Babak had an idea as he witnessed it before in his line of work.
"That energy signature, I know it. It's radiating Quintessence!"
As they figured that out, the probe went in and vanished from sight, cutting off the castle's link to it, and frightening Adea, Hunk, and Lance.
"Where did it go?!"
"Ooh! That's weird."
"Okay, well, let's not go anywhere near there."
Allura was still determined to help them.
"We must."
Adea found herself in a panic as she spoke to Allura.
"Uh, did you not see what just happened?! It disintegrated!"
Then, she began hyperventilating, catching Atchiam's notice.
"Oh, no...! I can't breathe...!"
With that, Atchiam slapped Adea in the face.
"Calm down, Adea. You won't disintegrate."
"Ow... you didn't have to do it so hard."
"Voltron's compositional strength far exceeds anything else in this universe. We received an Altean distress call, which must mean that someone is alive on the ship. As Paladins of Voltron, it is our duty to help."
Keith didn't think it wise as he spoke to her.
"Princess, I still think there's a chance that this whole thing is a trap and that Lotor might be using us."
Babak focused on another issue.
"Even if it's not a trap, it's far too dangerous to go in there."
Jenny then took the opportunity and spoke up before Allura.
"I'm not saying I trust Lotor, but if there's a chance that the Galra Empire would be on our side for once, then we just have to take it."
"Beyond that, there could be survivors in there. I'll do it myself if I have to."
As Allura walked away, Keith looked at her as did Alphus and Jenny.
Later, they begrudgingly agreed to enter the wormhole with their individual Voltrons as Keith spoke.
"All right, lets take it slow. Pidge, any chance you can explain what I'm seeing right now?"
"The Euclidean space around the ship is obviously some kind of anomaly. But the energy source doesn't originate from anything that registers with my understanding of how reality works."
"I'll take that as a 'no.'"
Then, Hunk took over as he spoke.
"I'll scan the ship for biorhythms."
As he scanned it, he wasn't having any luck.
"That's strange. I'm not showing any signs of life on the ship."
Allura had a theory about the reason.
"Maybe not on this half, but there is more to this ship than we are seeing. We need to go through there."
Adea spoke up panicked at the idea of it.
"Are you kidding me?! You want us to disintegrate?!"
Then, Lapis spoke up before Keith.
"We're not going to disintegrate, Adea. Our Voltrons won't let it happen."
"Pidge, keep an eye on Voltron's vitals. Everyone, be prepared to abort if things get hairy."
Adea responded as she tried to leave the Violet Voltron in a space suit.
"Already ahead of you!"
Suddenly, the energy readings spiked up dramatically.
"Guys, my sensors are going crazy. Technically, we should be torn apart the same way the probe was. But somehow Voltron is completely unaffected by the stress of the spacial distortion."
At the Castle, Babak and Coran were having communication problems.
"Hello? What are you seeing?"
"We're losing visual. Hello?"
Suddenly, the link went off as the three Voltrons disappeared.
"No!"
Babak began to fear the worst.
"They've... they've been vaporized."
Then, he tended his fist as he knew who was responsible for it.
"Lotor..."
As he stormed off to the halls, Alphus followed him to try and calm him.
"Babak, wait."
The moment he reached the hangar, Lotor and Zarkon turned to see the furious Babak stomping toward the former as he spoke.
"I take it they went through the wormhole?"
"Oh, they did alright. And they got vaporized for it!"
With that, Babak grabbed Lotor and chucked him as far as he could with an angry shout before he got out his sword and tried to stab him with it before Alphus shouted.
"Babak! Stand down!"
"This murderer and deceiver must pay for what he did to the princess!"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Babak! They're still alive! They just can't communicate with us, because they're on the different end of the wormhole!"
Then, Babak glared at Lotor before he put down his sword.
"Give me one more reason to think you're up to doing your father's work, and you won't live long enough to regret it."
As he walked away, Lotor looked at him with a glare before he turned to Zarkon.
"It appears as though I'm not welcome. I'll have to—"
"No. You're not going anywhere, Lotor. You're not welcome here, but you will remain here where I can keep an eye on you to be sure you don't have any ulterior motives in mind. Are we clear?"
Lotor's glare worsened as he spoke.
"Crystal."
Meanwhile, in the other reality, all three Voltrons had crossed over the wormhole with Adea still screaming before she opened her eyes and saw that nothing had happened.
"Oh! We made it! I told you we'd make it."
Lapis just rolled her eyes playfully.
"Yeah. Sure you did."
Then, Pidge spoke up to the team.
"We must have crossed through because that's the front of the ship."
Then, Allura had a thought cross her mind as neither Babak nor Coran have spoken to them.
"Wait."
As she turned Voltron around, she found nothing on the other side.
"The back half of this ship, it's gone! Babak! Coran! We've lost sight of the Castle. Coran, are you there?"
Keith was wondering where they could've gone in the meantime.
"Where did they go?"
Then, Lance spoke up next about a planet in front of them.
"And where did that moon come from?"
As Pidge took a look, it produced the same location they were on.
"According to my sensors, were still on Exactly the same place we were before."
Hunk found something else bizarre about it.
"Guys, this is gonna sound strange, but now I'm detecting multiple biorhythms aboard the ship."
Allura had a feeling about what it meant as Jenny felt the ship to be a mystery.
"Alteans."
"Don't know about that. Either way, it looks like we've only got one clue to figure out where the heck we are and where that comet is, and it's floating right over there."
Later, they dismounted from their lions and went in the ship, only to find nothing there. Allura turned her flashlight function of the gauntlet on as she spoke.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
As they looked around, Jenny got the heebie-jeebies as Lance did heavy breathing.
"Uh, guys? Anyone else feel like a big scary monster's gonna attack us at any moment? Because I do."
That made Hunk and Adea tremble at the thought.
"Oh, man. This place is totally freaking me out."
"Me, too."
"Does it feel like a haunted ghost ship to anybody else? Is it just us?"
Just then, they heard snarling from far away as well as a quick scurrying, catching Adea's attention as she darted her head behind her.
"Did you hear something?!"
Atchiam thought she was being paranoid.
"Calm down, Adea. There's no monster in here."
However, another snarling proved otherwise, causing her to tremble even worse.
"Uh, something's giving me the creeps. I need to get out of here!"
Before Adea can take off, Lapis grabbed her by the collar and dragged her with them, causing her to shriek before she put a finger over her helmet blocking her mouth.
"Quiet, Adea! We don't want to scare them away, whoever they are."
"Well, they're scaring me."
"I don't care. Just calm down, okay?"
With that, Allura and Jenny found a black pad before the latter placed her hand on it and turned it on. In doing so, they restored gravity and fell to the floor before Keith spoke.
"So, did the crew abandon ship?"
Lance then noticed a spacesuit set by the wall.
"I don't know, but they couldn't have gotten far without their spacesu—"
As Lance removed the helmet, he was met with a skeleton wearing a monocle, scaring him and Adea as they shrieked.
"Eek!"
"Those aren't empty!"
That made Allura worried.
"What happened to him?"
Jenny had an idea the worst has happened as she went to the pad and placed her hand on it.
"I don't think we'll like it."
As she did, a video file played, showing Commodore Trayling.
"We locates the second comet based on King Alfor's information. We managed to get it aboard, but it seems to be causing massive disturbances. We're heading back to Altea, but I don't know if we'll be able to make it that far. At this rate—"
Suddenly, a flashing light as well as a roar could be seen and heard as Trayling screamed before the video shut off. Having seen this, Jenny knew she was right.
"I knew it was like a horror movie!"
Hunk was more worried about the actual situation as he asked.
"What happened here?"
Lance had a dark theory behind the death of Trayling.
"Something deadly."
As Hunk looked at the biorhythms, he got confused.
"This still doesn't explain the biorhythms I picked up in this area."
Suddenly, a red and purple creature with two yellow, jagged eyes emerged from the air vent and roared, catching them by surprise and horror as its roar echoed throughout the ship. Before Adea could scream, Lapis covered her mouth, muffling it before she spoke.
"What is that thing?!"
Hunk was the first to answer as it looked left to right.
"I don't know! It attacked us when we were trying to get the Scaultrite from the Weblum."
In its vision, the Paladins and Blades of Marmora were having a blue and purple Quintessence around them, depending on the race. As for Jenny, she caught its interest with her light blue Quintessence before it darted at her. Lance noticed this and charged at it.
"Look out!"
Once in front of her, Lance shot at the beast, only for the lasers to go through it with no effect before it swiped its claws at him, knocking him to the wall urging Jenny to run away from it. As it took off for her and tried to grab her, Keith sliced its arm with his bayard and punched it farther away, but caused his hand to either in the process before it recovered, much to Lapis' worry.
"Keith! Are you okay?"
"I don't know. But whatever you do, don't touch it."
That proved difficult as the creature came close to that with it swiping its claws at the Paladins. Seeing the opportunity, Jenny shot her chain blade at it and trapped the creature.
"Gotcha!"
However, the creature was prepared for that as it easily slipped through the chain and leaped onto her as it seemingly swallowed her whole before Jenny could be seen writhing in agony as her skin aged and her sky blue eyes turned bright purple, much to Lance's worry.
"Jenny!"
As it feasted on her Quintessence, a purple orb hit it dead center, where Jenny was and knocked her out of it before she fell to the floor and moaned as her skin got younger again and her eyes changed back to normal. The creature turned to notice a masked figure with a green V over her helmet before she fired another orb at it and swerved it back and forth until the creature was no more. When the battle was over, two more figures showed up. One of the figures had multiple arms on the sides and a tail while the other was like the first before the second figure spoke up tough-like.
"Hah! Scavengers. I hate those things."
Lance then developed mixed feelings about the situation.
"Wow. Thanks for helping us. But who are you?"
The second figure grew distrustful.
"Why should we reveal ourselves to you?"
Then, the first figure spoke up.
"Enough, Slav. We owe them that much."
With that, the first figure removed her helmet and revealed herself to have short purple hair with light purple skin and purple eyes within yellow sclerae. That made Jenny's heart skip a beat while Keith looked on in surprise.
"No way... Ayame? Is that you?"
"How...?"
"It's not Ayame. My name is Xaira. And if you're with the Altean Empire, you'd better stay back."
"If you've come for the comet, you'll never get it. I'll die before I let it fall into Altean hands."
Then, the third figure removed his helmet to reveal a Raven-haired youth who looked similar to... Keith had to know for sure.
"Shiro? You're here, too?"
The youth responded to him in a Nordic accent.
"My name is not Shiro."
Then, Hunk got confused with the situation as he spoke.
"What the heck is happening here? Did everyone get amnesia and wake up with weird accents?"
Xaira got confused as well.
"You know us?"
Jenny responded confidently.
"Of course we do! You're Ayame's dark side. Your best friend was Kumiko in the Garrison. And we met a long time ago, too. Shiro, you're the Paladin of the Black Lion, and Slav, my sis rescued you from Beta Traz! Also, you're slightly crazy about other realities."
As Pidge put the pieces together, Xaira didn't seem to believe her.
"Look, I agree that Slav is crazy, but he's never been rescued by anyone, I'm not Ayame's dark side, I never had a best friend named Kumiko, Sven was never the pilot of whatever you just called it, and you're not my friend. Unless..."
Then, Xaira and Pidge spoke at the same time.
"...you're from an alternate reality."
"This is an alternate reality."
Hunk grew confused at their words.
"Uh, what's that now?"
"I think when we passed through that glowy, explode-y area, we entered an alternate reality."
"You mean like what Slav was always talking about? Well, not him. Well, him, yeah, but a different him. One that talks about alternate realities a lot."
Sven knew he was right.
"Oh, that's him."
Then, Xaira spoke up next, much to Jenny's chagrin of her words.
"That would make sense. Even the Alteans wouldn't let themselves get swallowed up by a scavenger."
"Hey!"
Allura then spoke to Xaira I'm flustered anger, remembering how her other counterpart tortured Ayame and Jenny.
"Why did you attack the captain and his crew?"
As Xaira answered, Slav expressed his indifference.
"We didn't attack them. We just found them like this."
"But I can't say I'm sorry they're gone."
Just then, Slav's wrist beeped as he picked up Altean biorhythms.
"Oh, no! More Alteans!"
That made Allura and Jenny surprised as they spoke at the same time.
"Wait! More Alteans?"
Xaira spoke angrily toward them.
"Their scanners must have picked up your arrival. I hope you're happy. Everyone, let's go!"
Then, Slav spoke to the others as they took off into the vent.
"If I were you, I'd run."
Once they got up, Lance grew confused.
"What the heck just happened?"
Jenny was more concerned about what she said.
"Did she say we're being boarded by Alteans?"
Suddenly, the door opened to reveal six Altean drones as well as a tall being, an Altean doctor with short, silver hair, a general with pink hair, and a girl with brown hair bearing blonde trails at the end of it with blue marks under her eyes and pointy ears. When Jenny saw the girl, she slowly gasped in reverence before the general spoke to them.
"Put down your weapons!"
As Allura gasped in exclamation she realized who they were, as Jenny noticed a familiar face that Ayame missed very much.
"Alteans!"
"Kumi?"
As the girl grew confused, the General grew surprised.
"It can't be."
With that, they took a knee as they bowed with the General and the girl speaking.
"Empress!"
The drones, the doctor, and the tall being took their turn to bow next as Adea blinked her eyes.
"Uh, what's going on here?"
Ignoring the Galra presence, Hira spoke to Allura.
"Are you Empress Allura?"
"I am Princess Allura. Please stand."
As they did, the General spoke.
"I am Commander Hira, Empress. And this is Iyera, my adopted child. How can you be here? You put down the corrupt Galra Uprising and established the Altean Empire 10,000 years ago."
Then, Jenny spoke up to her.
"Where we're from, all the Alteans were wiped out by Omegus when he possessed Zarkon and enslaved your planet."
As Hira and Iyera widened their eyes and glared at the Blades of Marmora, Jenny explained their presence.
"But not these guys. They're on our side."
Then, the doctor spoke to them.
"Where did you come from?"
"We came from a different reality."
As Jenny looked at Iyera, she noticed that she was looking with longing at her.
"What's up?"
"Who are you?"
"My name is Jennifer Shaybon. But my friends call me Jenny."
This made Iyera chuckle a bit.
"That's a weird name for an Altean. But... I like it."
Back in the normal reality, Lotor's generals waited for results while Acxa spoke to Syn.
"Amazing. Lotor's theory about Voltron was finally proven correct."
"Was there any reason to doubt?"
Zethrid stated her discontent with it.
"I was personally hoping to see some fireworks when it hit that energy swirl."
"And what makes you say that, Zethrid?"
"Dunno. I guess all of the previous attempts to get it out were just more enjoyable to watch. For me, not for his pilots."
"The only reason Voltron and the knockoffs made it through was because they're made of the same material as that comet that Alfor tried to hide from Omegus. Now, all that's left to do is sit back and watch as they bring the comet over to us."
Then, Zethrid spoke to Syn.
"But what about the Paladins?"
"What about them?"
"What if they are unable to escape the other dimension?"
Kurziam corrected her about the concept.
"It's another reality, Ezor."
Ezor sighed before she spoke again.
"What if they aren't able to escape the other reality?"
"If they made it through once, they can do it again. Besides, whether or not we get the comet, if Voltron and his group are wiped out, that's one less problem for us to deal with. It's practically a win-win situation."
In the alternate reality, Pidge went on the Green Lion to get a good look at the comet in the hold.
"This is the comet that Commodore Trayling must've been talking about in his transmission. It seems to be caught between two realities, just like the ship."
Then, the doctor spoke to Pidge as he and the tall being watched.
"Could you obtain a sample for us with your lion?"
"I can try."
Later, Pidge obtained a sample of the comet and placed it in a capsule before bringing it back to the lab. After which, Pidge analyzed it herself.
"Amazing. It's Voltron."
That caught Lance and the Blades by surprise as they exclaimed at the same time.
"What?"
"I mean, it's not Voltron, obviously. But the readings from this comet are the same ones Omegus was searching for. The same ones that led us to the Blue Lion."
This made sense to the doctor as to their entrance.
"That's how you were able to pass through to this reality. Your vehicles were made from the same trans-reality material."
This made Adea confused as she blinked her eyes.
"Vehicles?"
"I was referring to your lions, madame."
"Oh. Makes sense."
Hunk took his turn to speak next.
"So, that's why Voltron's so powerful."
The doctor was focused on another use for it.
"With this material, Altea can create their own trans-reality traveling ships. We can spread our peace and stability to all realities."
This made Luzria more suspicious of him than she ever was of Lotor as she watched the doctor speak to Hira.
"General Hira, I have just stumbled across something in this ship's hold that will ensure Altea's rule for millennia to come."
Luzria then muttered under her breath.
"Rule? Sounds like the new Galra Empire to me."
Meanwhile, Iyera was showing Jenny around to her room, which was similar to Jenny's room in her reality. However, there were notable differences that can be seen. For instance, the bedroom was bright blue rather than dark. And the picture showed Iyera in front of the Altean Empire with Empress Allura and General Hira. As Jenny looked at the picture, she noticed that Empress Allura had actually gotten quite old for her state of being.
"Wow. 10,000 years, huh?"
"Yep. She's still alive here, but barely. Her Divine Quintessence could only keep her with us for so long, though."
Thinking about the possibility of Allura dying in this reality made her feel sorry for Iyera.
"I'm sorry."
However, Iyera only smiled at her.
"Don't be. Whoever takes over the Altean Empire next would likely follow her goal of peace. Hira made sure of that."
As Iyera noticed Jenny's look of reminiscence, she grew confused as the latter shed tears.
"What's wrong?"
Then, Jenny wiped her tears away before she spoke.
"I'm sorry. It's just... you really remind me of someone. For a while, I thought I was talking with her."
Iyera knew what she meant and spoke.
"Maybe you are."
This got Jenny surprised as she widened her eyes.
"Huh? You mean...?"
"Yeah. Iyera was a name given to me by Hira when she took me in. But my real name is Kumiko."
As Jenny gasped, she shed tears and hugged her tightly as she lightly sobbed while Iyera wrapped her hands around her.
Meanwhile, Allura spoke with Hira as Keith and Lapis walked with them.
"So, the Alteans of this reality defeated the Galra?"
"Led by you, My Empress. Without your will to fight and avenge the loss of your father and aunt, Altea would not have been able to spread peace and stability throughout the universe."
Outside, Xaira, Sven, and Slav were installing detonators on the ship before Sven spoke to them.
"That's the last of them."
"Do you think this plan will work, Slav?"
"Don't worry, Xaira. I'm 60 percent sure this is one of the .15 percent of realities where this plan works 100 percent of the time."
Xaira, remembering that Jenny wasn't hostile to her, spoke to Slav.
"Speaking of realities, do you think the people from the other reality will join the Alteans?"
"If they're really our friends from another reality, there's a 72 percent chance they'll figure out what's right."
Meanwhile, Iyera spoke with Jenny in the bedroom to catch up.
"You must've missed me for a long time, haven't you?"
Then, Jenny explained herself about what actually went down in her reality as far as relationships.
"Actually, I never met you in person until now. In my reality, you committed suicide because you were bullied in the Garrison. After that, my other friend, Ayame, distanced herself from everyone and that just... made it worse when she thought she lost them too. Then, a lot of crazy stuff happened and... well, long story short, Ayame gave up her life in battle to save all of us. I've never forgotten that, and I never will."
Then, Iyera smiled as she spoke.
"This Ayame sounded just like Empress Allura. She did the same for our reality, too."
This made Jenny curious about her friend's backstory.
"Come to think of it, what happened to you? What happened in your reality?"
"Well... me and my family weren't exactly the richest people back on Earth. We always had to scrounge around scraps just to get food on the table. One day, my family decided it was no way for me to live, so I got sent to the Garrison. Like your Kumiko, I was bullied by the Garrison. Of all the bullies, though, James Griffin was the one who hurt me the most. I trusted him... and he used me."
As she enunciated that word, Iyera trembled in anger, catching Jenny's worry about what she went through.
"That sounds awful."
"It was worse than that. I decided I didn't want to live in that world anymore. Then, I heard a voice. Yours. You told me that if people don't accept me for who I am, then it's their problem. You gave me a reason to live."
"I did that?"
"Yes. It's actually thanks to you that I'm standing right here. If it wasn't for you, Hira wouldn't have seen my plight and taken me in."
Then, Jenny made a next guess about her.
"And I'm guessing she made you Altean, too?"
"Actually, it turned out I was an Altean all along. It was just dormant in my genes. The moment I set foot in the Castle, I became one myself."
"No way! Me, too! I just thought the Castle was broken or something for a while, though."
Hearing this, Jenny and Iyera laughed before the former continued.
"So, what have you done since then?"
"Since then, I helped bring peace to the universe."
"How?"
Meanwhile, Hira spoke to Allura.
"Defeating Omegus was the first step, but we refuse to give up until all worlds know the true peace that Altea has achieved."
Allura smiled at her for that, knowing that peace could spread throughout the universe.
"That is so wonderful!"
Meanwhile, Luzria debated with the doctor in the prospect of it.
"No struggle, no wars. That just sounds too good to be true. That just can't be possible."
"Is it not? Look at Moxilous. For generations, his people have been in constant battle with the other planets in their system. It was a barbaric, futile existence. But look at him now."
As they did, Adea waved to him as Atchiam grew curious.
"Hello."
"So what changed?"
"The hoktril."
With a snap of his fingers, Moxilous turned around and revealed a device on the back of his head.
"Our civilization's most advanced technological achievement."
Lance grew curious about its function.
"What does that do?"
"It saps the fighting force from our enemies. Their will, you might say."
This made everyone in the room gasp.
Jenny, having learned of the hoktril from Iyera, was utterly shocked at the use for it.
"It does what?!"
"It eliminates any dangerous fighting impulse a being has. Though, they're only used when diplomacy is thrown out the window. You can guess how often that's happened."
"Well, can you blame them?! Nobody wants their brain washed!"
"I know. But... it's better than letting everyone else suffer like I did."
Meanwhile, Hira spoke with Allura.
"Advancements have been made. Citizens that might have been casualties of war in Empress Allura's day can now be rehabilitated. Entire races who warred for millennia can now know peace and help us to further our new world."
"So, they become part of the Altean peace movement?"
Hunk had a different take on the matter.
"You mean, slave labor?"
"Oh, no, no. They're not slaves because they don't have will. Slaves are always trying to escape or revolt. The non-cogs are content doing what they're told."
That made Luzria confused.
"Non-cogs?"
"Non cognitive beings, my dear. It means they're unable to think of any rebellious act that could threaten the peace we've tenaciously worked toward. Preservation of life is the Altean Empire's highest priority. And with this material, we can do even more than we thought possible."
However, Jenny was adamant on her position.
"Are you sure this is the right way? Doesn't that sound like something the Galra Empire would do?"
"What we had in mind is different. We're doing this for peace and to save lives, not to enslave people."
"Enslaving people is exactly what you're doing!"
As Jenny let the silence hang in the air for a moment, Iyera spoke to her.
"You just don't get it, do you? You don't know what I've seen, Jenny. I've seen people killing one another, and it was... it was murder. We're putting an end to all of that, so no one else will see it."
"Maybe you're not the one getting it. There's gonna be bad people in every reality. Any reality that doesn't is just... it's just beyond the realm of possibility. But bad people can change, too. The Galra that came with us, they're on our side, and we didn't need that hoktril or whatever you call it. They did it because they wanted the same thing. Peace."
Iyera grew surprised at this before reminding herself of her bad experience.
"I believed that, too, once. And I was humiliated for it. I won't let that happen to me ever again. For your own good, I suggest you do the same."
Keith took his turn to speak against Hira.
"But you're taking away their free will."
"The same will that would end your life with no remorse. Thanks to us, no innocent will lose its life to the free will of an evil being."
Lapis tried to open her mind up to Hira.
"But not all Galra are evil. We strive for the same goals as you."
"If that were true, your Altea wouldn't have been enslaved. What good is your word exactly, Galra?"
As Lapis growled, Hira spoke to her again.
"Empress Allura, let me show you something."
With that, Hira used her gauntlet to summon a holographic scale of their planet.
"This is our Altea. Come with me. Allow me to show you the magnificence it has achieved."
Far away, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Adea, Atchiam, and Luzria were speaking with each other.
"Is anyone else getting a strange vibe from these guys?"
"Yeah, there's definitely something off about these Alteans. I mean, is it me or did they pretty much scramble the big dude's brain?"
Adea shuddered at the thought.
"I don't want my brain scrambled!"
Just then, they heard footsteps and saw Jenny with her head down. Being the first to notice, Lance tried to speak to her.
"Jenny, there's something off about them. They just told us that—"
"I know. Iyera told me. And... she actually supports that. Why would she? This goes against everything she believes in..."
Suddenly, an air vent grating fell to the ground, catching their attention as they exclaimed before Xaira spoke.
"Over here."
Lance grew surprised to see them.
"Whoa! How'd you find us?"
Slav tried to explain before Lance interrupted.
"I figured there was a high probability that—"
"Wait, stop. Nope. Never mind."
Then, Pidge spoke to them next.
"We gotta get to Keith, Lapis, and Allura and figure out a way to stop the Alteans from getting that comet."
"Already on it. We just need to do one more thing and you guys can help."
Suddenly, the door opened to reveal a bunch of Altean drones as Atchiam and Slav spoke.
"Oh, quiznak."
"Perfect!"
"I had a feeling the Guns of Gamara were on this ship. But I didn't know Empress Allura's friends would be working with them."
Just then, Iyera walked in from the shadows as she spoke angrily.
"Neither did I."
Then, Jenny turned to see Iyera with an angry look on her face.
"Kumi..."
"So... you're just like James. You've been using me!"
"No, it's not like that!"
"Stop! I've had enough of your lies! I'll never forgive you!"
Struck by her words, Jenny only held her head down as tears escaped her eyes.
Meanwhile, Allura spoke to Hira as she deactivated the map.
"Returning to Altea... it seemed like such an impossible dream, I could never allow the thought."
Keith tried to convince Allura otherwise.
"Allura, this might not be the Altea you remember."
"You're right. This Altea is Home to a people who made sure that the Galra scourge was unable to spread across the universe, as it did in your reality. Empress, I assure you, we will do everything in our power to help. The comet in this ship's hold possesses the ability to travel between realities. If you will activate this ancient ship's power, we can fly forward and remove the comet from the tear. We can use it to travel to your universe and bring peace there, even to the Galra."
Lapis, having learned of how they achieved it, spoke differently.
"You have a very skewed perception of peace, you know that?"
"Lapis is right. Maybe you should think about this, Allura. It wasn't that long ago we thought all Galra were bad. Maybe things aren't as black and white as she's making them out to be."
"Keith, Lapis, these are my people, and they may be the strongest allies we have in this war."
With that, Allura stood in the podium and held her hands out as two more panels rose up to touch them, turning the ship on and moving it forward.
Meanwhile, in the normal reality, Babak and Coran were trying to find a way to reach them as the mice squeaked.
"I tried every scan and test I can think of, Coran. There's no sign of either Voltron anywhere."
As a mouse squeaked at him, Babak spoke back to it.
"You're right. I should've forbidden it. I could've stopped it from happening."
"How could you have stopped him, Babak? You know how she is."
"I could've done anything! Can't you understand that?! She could be dead for all we know!"
However, to disprove this, the ship began moving forward and caused the rift to disappear altogether before Babak and Coran spoke at the same time.
"Not good."
In the other reality, Hira congratulated Allura.
"You've done it, Allura. Soon, we'll use the comet to spread peace throughout every reality."
Just then, the drones marched in along with the doctor, Iyera, and their captives, catching Allura's notice.
"What is going on?"
"Empress, the Guns of Gamara have infiltrated this ship. These people were working with them."
Atchiam and Adea spoke against it, though the latter was more panicked.
"I object! They had no witnesses! I was framed!"
"Uh... I-It's society's fault! I'm young and impressionable! Video games made me do it!"
That made Lance glare at her.
"Hey!"
"Sorry."
Then, Keith spoke to the doctor angrily.
"Let our friends go!"
Despite their situation, Xaira spoke to Allura.
"Look around you, Allura! By turning the universe into an army of slaves, you finally got peace, but at the expense of freedom! Is that what your father wanted?!"
"Slaves? Is this true?"
The doctor spoke out against her as he glared.
"Non-cogs are not Slaves! You're the ones who spread chaos and destruction! We're going to scan that brain of yours and get every last rebel location. Finally, our wars can end."
Iyera then glared at Jenny as she spoke.
"And it'll be a long time coming."
With that, Iyera got a sword out from her gauntlet before pointing it at Xaira's throat before she spoke.
"Tell me, Xaira. You seem to have hidden them very well, because we had no luck finding them. So, please tell me. Where are your people?"
But, of course, Xaira gave her straight answer to Iyera.
"I'll never hand them over to you monsters!"
Still trying to bring out the good in her, Jenny spoke again.
"Please, Iyera. Stop this..."
Still reeling from her betrayal, Iyera kicked her in the face.
"SHUT UP!"
Seeing this, Lance tried to get back at her.
"Hey, leave her alone!"
However, the drones stopped him from getting any closer.
"You betrayed your own kind, and you expect me to forgive you?!"
As Iyera received no answer, Jenny instead began to cry as she looked at her with a cut on her head that went over her right eye with blood pooling down as tears.
"All I ever wanted was to help you realize what you're doing. I don't understand. Am I not good enough for you?"
As Iyera looked down at the damage she had done, Keith and Lapis turned to Allura.
"Allura, we cannot let this happen."
"We have to do something."
"Hira, please. We both want the same thing. Peace."
"Do we? Your weakness has brought nothing but pain and suffering to your people at the hands of the Galra."
As she heard those words, Iyera widened her eyes, shocked at Hira calling her Empress weak before looking to Jenny, who was still broken by her words as tears came down like a waterfall.
"We have brought peace and order to ours. And, with this comet, we will bring our peace to every reality. You're no Empress of mine."
Then, Iyera decided she'd had enough. What she did to Jenny was the last thing she wanted to happen to anyone else. Yet, despite her beliefs, it happened anyway. The more she thought about it, the more Jenny seemed to take priority as her words echoed.
"There's gonna be bad people in every reality. Any reality that doesn't is just... it's just beyond the realm of possibility. But bad people can change, too."
Finally, Iyera spoke angrily to Hira.
"And you're no Altean."
Stunned by her words, Hira turned to Iyera.
"What?"
"How dare you call our Empress weak! How dare you enslave all of those people and rob them of their free will! And how dare you use me to torture these people just to prove a point!"
"Iyera..."
"No! I won't take orders from a tyrant! For all I know, you're no better than the Galra!"
That made Hira's eyes widen in shock while Jenny looked up to her in wonder, hoping her words had gotten through to her.
"Iyera?"
"No, Jenny. Call me Kumi."
Hearing this, Jenny smiled back at her before Hira growled while Allura, Keith, and Lapis got out their bayards while Slav laughed triumphantly, catching Adea's confusion.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Because this is the reality where everything works out fine."
Suddenly, the detonators went off, causing everyone to everyone to lose their balance for a moment before Slav spoke again.
"Just in time."
With that, Keith tossed his bayard at the drone, stabbing it before most of the captives ran to the other.
"Dogpile!"
Meanwhile, Jenny went onto her back and moved her arms above her legs before Iyera cut the handcuffs off with her gauntlet.
"I'm so sorry that I hurt you."
"I don't blame you one iota. You were just hurt. I know."
Then, Allura used her bayard to attack Hira, only for her to use the gauntlet to summon a sword and catch it before using her open arm to fire at Allura, forcing her to roll before slamming Hira onto the floor.
"Let's go."
With that, Iyera nodded to her.
"Yes, Empress."
That made her confused before Jenny spoke to her.
"She just really looks up to you."
"I see."
With that, all of the Paladins and Blades plus one Altean took off from the hangar and made a break for their lions. However, they were stopped by Altean drones before they were forced to take cover as Keith spoke to Pidge.
"Pidge, which way to the lions?"
"To the left!"
As Lance managed to shoot down the drones in front of them, he noticed more of them coming from the left and stood like an antelope in headlights as they shout at him. Jenny noticed this and didn't want to lose him.
"Lance!"
She was about to take the bullet when Xaira intervened and blocked the bullet with her palm, sending it back to the drones before she turned to Lance.
"What are you doing standing around here? Just go!"
As Xaira fired her orbs at the drones, a bigger problem arrived: a scavenger. This peeved Adea off.
"Oh, come on! Can't we just have At least a day without scary monsters?!"
It noticed the drones and attacked them, tearing them apart while Slav noticed an airlock lever and had a plan.
"Everyone, hang on!"
As Slav bounced around the walls, the scavenger tried to consume him, only for him to avoid the creature before it shot yellow lasers at him. However, the lasers had missed him as well before Slav pulled on the lever, opening the gate and dragged the creature out to space as it roared. As they held on, Lance turned to Atchiam.
"Does he do this in every reality?!"
"Only the ones where he's cool!"
"Xaira, Sven, and I'll hold them back. You just get to your lions!"
With that, the Paladins, Blades, and Iyera activated their helmets as they got to their designated lions with the recent renegade joining Allura.
"This is all my fault. I activated the ship. They're going to dislodge the comet and have the power to terrorize every reality."
Just then, Xaira spoke to Allura.
"You can still make this right, Allura. You just need to get the comet away from them."
With that, Keith spoke to Pidge.
"Pidge, scan for the comet."
Once he did, he found the location of it.
"Yep. Already picked up on its elemental signature."
"Everyone, were going back in to get it. Form Voltron!"
With that, Voltron had been forged just as the White and Violet Voltron transformed to accompany it. Then, they tore into the hold and seized the comet, leaving Lance to ponder what to do next before Pidge answered him.
"Okay, now what?"
"We need to find the exact spot we came in or else we might not make it home."
On the ship, Hira spoke to the doctor.
"Take them down. Engage thrusters."
"Thrusters ready. Huh?"
Suddenly, the ship's engines powered down.
"What's happening?"
"We've lost thrusters! We're unable to pursue!"
As Slav disassembled the thrusters, he spoke with ecstasy.
"I love this reality!"
Hira then growled before she spoke.
"This is like Kaecilius all over again. But not this time. Take them out!"
Suddenly, they began blasting at the escaping groups just as Pidge found the spot to travel in.
"I've found it!"
As Voltron pushed it through, the rift opened up while the White Lion got behind it and activated its particle barrier to use as a shield. As the ship's blue-green ion cannon charged and fired, the White Lion braced it as the three machines entered the rift before it disappeared, much to Hira's chagrin.
"No!"
In the other reality, Babak and Coran noticed the rift opening up and noticed the three Voltrons and the comet as the two grew relieved.
"Ahaha! You're back!"
"Oh, thank the ancients! Paladins, can you hear me? Are you okay?"
Allura was able to patch through to him.
"Yes, Coran. We're fine."
However, the moment didn't last much longer as suddenly, Lotor's ship began firing at the Castle and the Voltrons, although the White Lion made it unscathed as it had its particle barrier up. That was enough for Babak to make a guess.
"Lotor! He's been using us!"
As he ran to the room, he noticed that Alphus and Zarkon are unconscious in shock before he ran to the former as the latter tried to stand up on his own.
"Alphus!"
As she groaned, Babak turned to Zarkon.
"Zarkon, what happened?!"
"Lotor. He had one of his generals, Syn, attack us and help him escape. It was all a trick, just like I feared."
Babak felt it was to be expected.
"What else is new?"
"He's part Druid. That's why you didn't hear us when he attacked."
"Good to know."
To prove this, Lotor spoke to the Paladins and the Castle.
"Thank you for answering my distress signal, Voltron."
As Lotor captured the comet, Jenny, still reeling from the hurt she endured as well as Lotor's recent betrayal, she spoke angrily at him.
"Well, now I really know how Kumi felt, because now I'm MAD!"
With that, Jenny thrusted her bayard into the lever and twisted it in order to summon a chain blade and used it to take the middle of the comet. As the two forces pulled against it, none of them knew that the comet was fracturing. It was only when Jenny shouted out in anger did the comet beak in two, leaving blue light to leak out from the split halves, much to Lotor's shock.
"No!"
While Jenny managed to get one half of it, Lotor ended up with the other. However, without the full set, it's take even longer to create his own Voltron as he growled at Jenny before he took off with that half as Jenny glared at them while Coran spoke again.
"Paladins, can you hear me? Are you okay?"
Allura then responded to him.
"Coran, we're here."
Just then, Luzria spoke up.
"Normally, I don't like to gloat, but I told you so!"
In the Blue Lion, Iyera spoke to Jenny.
"Jenny... I'm really sorry for what I did to you."
"I told you. I get it. I'm the one who should be sorry. For losing faith in you. When you hit me I... I thought I made a mistake. But I'm so glad you proved me wrong."
Later, Allura sat alone on the hangar as Jenny (who now has her right eye wrapped in bandages), Keith, and Iyera walked up to her.
"My Empress..."
"Please, Iyera, just call me Allura."
"Um... Allura, you did the right thing. You couldn't let Hira get that comet."
"But now, Lotor has it."
"So do we. It did split apart, after all."
"Jenny's right. Besides, you didn't know."
"That is the problem. We never know. And that is exactly why my father sent the lions away so many years ago. To avoid this reality. I finally understand."
Jenny then decided to help Allura be positive.
"Well, if there's a bright side to any of it, at least we have half and they do. I don't know if there's much to work with, so come on, what can they do with half?"
"More than you think. Lotor is always one step ahead of us. He has a plan for that ore, and if he succeeds, the Galra will finally have a weapon as powerful as Voltron."
Just then, Alphus came in, still recovering from Lotor's supposed assault, catching Jenny's attention.
"Alphus. What is it?"
"I have something to tell you."
"Well, what's up?"
"While I was unconscious after Lotor attacked me, I've found it. The rest of Shiro's Quintessence."
"What?! You've found Shiro?!"