Since I can't respond to guest reviews, I'll begin to on the beginning of the chapter. If you don't want me to, guests, place a review and I'll remove this section.
Titanlionqqq: Oh, I'll DEFINITELY continue. Don't you worry.
Guest: You asked three questions in rapid succession, which I will answer likewise. Because I can, you'll see, and, again, you'll see! Thank you! Yeah, my two closest in age brothers and I were super disappointed. There didn't have to be blood or anything, but it woulda been cool to see Pidge burned and bruised. Even seeing her recovering from the torture instead of actually witnessing the torture would be better then what we got. Admittedly, it was one of the only things I didn't like in Season 7.
Alright, let me just explain one quick thing. This chapter is a spinoff of 'The Feud', but only presents part of the episode. The first half, and the ending. Please enjoy!
"Now, let's greet the latest intergalactic goofballs who'll be playing with us today." A strange voice introduced, and the Paladins blinked in the sudden light, very confused.
"Where are we?" Lance mumbled, glancing around.
"The last thing I remember-" Pidge began, but Hunk cut her off.
"OM goodness!" Hunk giggled, reaching over and picking her up, spinning around. "You're awake! You're okay!"
"-urkkk-" Pidge groaned, trying to get out of his death grip. "-yep…yeah…H-hunk…breathe-!"
"Oh, right, sorry." He set her back on her feet, before looking her up and down. "You look great!"
Keith placed a hand on her shoulder, offering her a small smile before turning back, confused.
A weird alien on a hover chair drove up to Keith, thrusting a microphone into his face. "Hello; what's your name, and where are you from?"
Keith purposely avoided the question. "Um. Where are we?"
"Wuh-oh." The strange alien grinned. "Looks like somebody wasn't listening to Norlox."
A very snotty alien 'humphed' in arrogance.
"What is this, everyone?"
Am invisible audience called out in unison. "Garfle Warfle Snick!"
Keith also chose to ignore the fact they had only 'spawned' at the end of the announcement. "Right…but how did we get here?"
"I'll tell you how Norlox got here." The alien grinned. "His Uncle runs the studio."
'Norlox' glared at the alien is betrayal as the audience laughed.
"My name's Bob." The alien grinned, facing them happily. "Now, son, introduce you and your friends."
Keith had to sharply remind himself that this…thing was not actually his father. Some cultures just called the younger generation 'son'. "Um…I'm Keith. This is Allura…Hunk…Lance…an-and Pidge." He settled a hand on her shoulder again, weakly grinning down at her. "Nice to see your legs are…healed. Now, I'm gonna be real clear on this, Bob." Keith slammed his hands onto the game show stand in front of him, fear for the youngest Paladin hammering in his chest. If anything happened to her, so help him… "We're going to get out of this place, and you can't stop us."
"Oh." Bob grinned sneakily. "I don't think so." Snapping his fingers, a glowy structure surrounded their legs, freezing them to the platform underneath their feet, and they all let out a gasp of horror.
"Nngh-!"
Allura gapped with awe.
"It's so tight! I can't move my legs!" Lance protested.
Pidge rolled her eyes at this. "Oh-no, what a nightmare!"
"Sorry." Lance mumbled, then glanced up at Bob, confused. "Wait, Mr. Floaty Guy-"
"-Bob-" Bob corrected.
"-how did WE get here?"
"I hope not the same way I got here." Bob said, then went into a short story that backed up his words, finishing with, "I still smell like moog."
"Ew!" The audience laughed.
"Now, Keith, I'm sure you know how to play. All you have to do is accumulate qwaz-asbullion credits, and your team gets to go free. If you don't, you'll hear this noise;" a sad musical note played. "And that means you'll be trapped in this studio forever. Now, let's play!"
"Hey, this isn't right!" Hunk squeezed.
"Listen here. This is MY studio," Bob snarled, voice darkening considerably, "and you will play here for as long as I want you to." Suddenly, his voice lifted, and a bright smile blossomed upon his face. "Understand?"
Everyone frowned, unsure. But, regardless of their feelings, all of them nodded vigorously, save Keith, who managed only to give one, curt nod.
"Great! Norlox, what's the first Warfler?"
"The first Warfler is…" Norlox, reading off of a card, paused for dramatic effect before lashing out a hand and announcing what the first Warfler was. "…Pictation!"
Bob nodded, summoning a large screen behind him, and the game began.
Here came the big choice. The biggest part of the game. They needed to choose the person who would go free.
Keith reached his decision first, not even wheeling through his options. Lance had to go. He half-hated the kid, and wouldn't be able to stand it if he was stuck with his jibes for all of eternity.
Pidge decided next, mulling through her options in three seconds. Lance was smart, despite what Bob said, but he still was a goofball. He might not be able to handle being the soul Defender of the Universe. For a short time, maybe, but the fuse would shortly be quenched. Keith was a…problem child. He probably would be unable to be separated from the other four, not in the real world, at least. Not for long, anyway. Allura, despite being one of the most diplomatic people on the group and the best person able to continue her father's work, was outshone by Hunk, and Hunk alone. Also, Hunk was too kind to be trapped here.
Allura chose carefully. While she loved Lance, perhaps more then a friend, and believed that he needed a chance to be reunited with his family, she wouldn't be able to cope without him. Selfish, really, but she didn't stop to think about it. While Hunk was a better diplomat, he also tended to get distracted with food, and he wasn't nearly as smart as Pidge… Pidge, with all her insight into the technological word, and with her close alliance with the Olkari, would be the best bet to rebuild the Voltron coalition.
Hunk thought long and hard about the options spread out before him. While Pidge was quite smart, not to mention quick on her feet, she seemed to be…well, her legs were injured in the real world. Here, they appeared to be unscathed. She would be perfectly fine, well, not 'perfectly', for Bob was ruthless. But mostly fine. Mostly. Lance was a good friend, but he was…or, rather, could be, an idiot at times. Keith, despite being a leader and possibly the next emperor of the Galra, an idea that had been forming in Hunk's mind, could be short with people. It would take him forever to make new friends, so it was probably best that he stayed with them.
Lance was the final one to decide. He was pretty sure he wasn't aloud to chose himself, though, of course, he wouldn't if he could. So he did minee-mini-mo on the other four options, annoyed when his finger pressed down on Keith's button, almost unwillingly. He quickly thought up an excuse and reason why he would chose mullet-head.
"Alright, Hunk, who did you pick?" Bob inquired, scooting up to the largest Paladin.
"I picked Allura. She's a great diplomat, not to mention a princess. She has the biggest chance of joining together all of Voltron's forces."
"Aw, thank you, Hunk." Allura smiled, heart clenching at his words. Now she was embarrassed that she didn't pick him in response.
"Allura? How about you?"
"I picked Pidge. She, and her family, has the biggest chance of rekindling what my father started."
"Lance?" Bob pressed, grinning at the man in question.
Lance leaned against the stand, hoping into his hurriedly-thought excuse. It left several things to be desired, but who cared? "I chose Keith. He's the leader of Voltron, not to mention half-Galra. So I think he's like, the future."
"Keith, how about you?"
The picture appeared on Keith's dash, the oldest Paladin crossing his arms as he scowled at the alien angrily.
"Lance?" Bob stared incredulously, mouth gaping. "Why Lance?"
"I just don't want to be stuck here with Lance for all of eternity."
Lance also realized that Keith would make a good emperor. "Oh, wow, thanks man- wait, WHAT?!"
"Alright, Pidge. Everyone says you're the smartest, the wisest of all the Paladins-"
Lance coughed into his hands.
"-who did you pick?"
Hunk appeared on the view board, and Pidge slightly slouched, realizing that now they ALL would probably be stuck here for all of eternity.
"Hunk?!" Bob's eyes stretched as wide as satellites. Actually, they turned INTO satellites.
"Well, yeah." Pidge admitted, deciding that she might as well just give an explanation and get this whole thing over with. "Hunk gets along with everyone, and he's good at diplomacy."
"Thanks, Pidge." Hunk grinned, offering her his fist.
She grinned at it, fist-bumping him back. "Anytime."
"I can't believe it! Nobody voted for themselves!"
"We were aloud to?!" Lance mumbled out loud, mostly to himself, however. Hunk and Pidge both elbowed him, despite him voicing what was on everyone's mind.
"And everyone got a vote!" Bob crooned. "So you know what that means."
"What; we all get fed to the Snick or somethin'?" Lance sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.
"You all get…" Bob's voice deepened again, shadows appearing from nowhere and stretching across his face. "…to go free!" The cheerful, upbeat music went up again, confetti spawning in midair.
"Wait, what-" Keith began, but Bob snapped his fingers and each Paladin disappeared into the thin air, disappearing from the dream stance.
Shiro tore his gaze away from Pidge, opening his mouth to speak to Krolia, add another bit about how Pidge acted.
"Man, I just dozed off and had the craziest dream." Hunk suddenly sighed through the Green Lion's coms. Shiro's eyebrows crinkled together. How had he dozed off in, what, two minutes and had a DREAM on top of that. Plus, how was his voice still sneaking past the block Shiro had put in their coms.
"Garfle Warfle Snick?" A voice said from Pidge's cot, and Shiro just about jumped out of his skin.
Pidge was awake, her eyes contemplated on the ceiling.
Shiro opened his mouth to speak to her, but another voice interrupted. Actually, two voices interrupted.
Keith's was the first he properly registered. "You guys saw that, too?"
In the same instant, Krolia spoke. "Can you move your legs?"
Lance ignored the woman's question, as did everyone, still focused on an event that Shiro hadn't witnessed. "Wait, does that mean Bob was real?"
"Pidge, answer." Krolia huffed, not pleased with being brushed aside. Shiro didn't remember until later that she was not a woman to be trifled with. It was best not to ignore her.
"Wait, did you just meet Bob?" Coran asked, most likely taking a step closer to Allura.
"Coran!" The Princess' voice was horrified, yet confused. "You know him?"
"Well, not personally. But he's a great legend." The advisor continued about the lore of 'Bob', but Shiro mostly ignored him, moving closer to Pidge to take her hand, sidestepping a model that looked suspiciously like himself. He didn't dwell too long on the thought, however. Instead he cradled Pidge's hand carefully, smiling when she offered him a tired grin.
"Well, I bet he didn't meet anyone more worthy then us!" Lance was bragging when Shiro tuned in again.
Pidge rolled her eyes.
"The guy was kinda a jerk, though, right?" Keith asked, probably slouching as he spoke.
"Oh, absolutely!" Allura agreed.
"You got that right!" Hunk chimed.
"I'm not that dumb!" Lance claimed, everyone sighing collectively.
"Riiight." Pidge joked, once more rolling her eyes at the coms.
"'Bob'?" Shiro pondered, glancing at her. "Isn't that a human name?"
Pidge shrugged, wincing as a movement slightly as a drop of blood passed her lips.
Shiro felt his heart clench, wondering if Krolia could fix Pidge's injuries.
"Alright." As if on cue, the woman seemed to appear behind Shiro shoving the man out of the way, quite literally. "Leave us." She ordered briskly, bent over Pidge, who was stubbornly insisting that she was fine, her legs were fine, and that she should be allowed to pilot the lions.
Shiro, as he backed out of the room, made a mental note to pay better attention to his surroundings. After all, he was positive all the females were out to scare him.
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