Chapter 51: Fear and Faith
As Keith's eyes were closed, he could hear Shiro's voice speaking to him as he seemed to be in limbo.
"Keith. Keith."
Once he heard his voice, he opened his eyes to find himself in a dark purple realm where Shiro fought Zarkon originally as he heard his voice again.
"Keith. Keith."
"Where are you, Shiro? Show yourself!"
"I know this must be confusing for you."
As Keith got his bayard out, he tried to recall what happened before he blacked out.
"What is this place? Where are we? You— you were trying to kill me. Ayame. And even Belle, too. The others! You— you said you..."
At that moment, he felt a presence appear behind him before Keith saw Shiro as himself before widening his eyes as Shiro spoke.
"I'm not here to harm you. Everyone is fine. Just let me explain. The thing that attacked you wasn't me."
When he heard this, Keith remembered the other clones he saw, as well as Kaecilius before he growled.
"So it was Kaecilius after all..."
"No. Although the evidence pointed to him, it wasn't him. He just made fabrications of the other clone. But I... I can't know who sent that clone your way."
"Well, can you tell me what you do know? Like where you've been all this time?"
"Since my fight with Zarkon, I've been here."
"When you disappeared?"
"Yes. I didn't know where I was or how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed in another realm. I died, Keith."
When Keith heard this, his eyes immediately widened in shock before Shiro spoke onward.
"But the Black Lion somehow retained my essence."
"That's why Alphus sensed your Quintessence back then, isn't it? Wait... is that where we are? In the Black Lion's consciousness?"
"Yes. I tried to warn the others about the imposter on Olkarion, but our connection wasn't strong enough..."
Before he could finish, Shiro began to fade away, making Keith worried as he shouted for him.
"Shiro? Shiro!"
When Keith woke up, he saw Ayame and Belle looking at him with worry before the first spoke up.
"Oh, Keith! Thank goodness!"
"I was starting to worry that we'd lose you."
As Keith stood up, he grew curious as he turned to Ayame.
"Where are we?"
"In the Black Lion. It found us drifting in space and got to us before we could run out of oxygen."
This made Keith widen his eyes as he spoke to the Black Lion in relief.
"You saved us."
Then, they heard groaning from far away before seeing Kuron unconscious and with his synthetic arm nodding before Keith turned to the girls.
"Why is Shiro's arm cut off?"
Belle gave her answer as she extended her blue aura blade for a moment.
"I had to cut it out. It was synced into his brain. That's why whoever controlled Shiro did it so easily. I'm just preparing for next time so it doesn't happen again."
As Belle drew her blade back, Keith knew that they had to know the truth.
"About that... when I was unconscious, Shiro, the real Shiro, told me everything."
This made the girls confused as Belle spoke before Ayame.
"The real Shiro?"
"What are you saying?"
"That thing that attacked us and disintegrated Kaecilius wasn't the real Shiro. It was his clone."
This made Belle worried about the answer to her next question as she showed hesitation.
"So... where was the real one, then?"
"He was dead. All along. But the Black Lion retained his essence, which is why Kuron piloted the Black Lion the way he did back then. Maybe... he had Shiro's essence, too."
Having been delivered the sad news, Ayame bore a look of pure grief as she looked to Kuron and spoke solemnly to Keith.
"So... he was gone all this time?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry."
After a moment of silence, Ayame began to sob at this as she hugged Belle and continued this as Belle shed her own tears while closing her eyes.
Out in space, Jenny was still flying by herself in the Galra fighter she escaped in as she quickly grew bored of seeing nameless stars all around her with no sign of other life.
"Ugh... how long is this gonna take?! At this rate, I'll never be able to get to my friends."
At that moment, however, Jenny took notice of the Black Lion flying by and grew hopeful, knowing she could be able to get a signal out of Shiro before she attempted to do so.
"Shiro! Hello, it's Jenny! Are you there?!"
At the Black Lion, Ayame, Belle, and Keith heard her voice and went for the cockpit to respond as she continued to call out.
"Shiro! Shiro?"
Just as Jenny was beginning to get worried, Keith spoke up to the transponder as she grew a big smile.
"Don't worry, Jenny. We'll bring you up."
"Wait, Keith?! Thank goodness, you came back to the Black Lion! I was worried I'd never find you!"
As Jenny sounded off her relief, Belle wipes her tears away before she smiled as Keith spoke up.
"Where are you?"
"Uh, right below you in a Galra fighter jet. It's a long story."
At the Castle, Coran was doing repairs while being hung on a rope as he swung about the Castle's main engine where Zarix perished previously as Babak hung onto it while voicing his concerns.
"Uh, don't you think this operation is dangerous?"
"I don't have time for safety. I need to get the Castle of Lions back up and running. Diverting power to the main turbine might be the only way!"
"And if you do get it started, then what? What if bolts of electricity fly everywhere once we get it started?"
"That's what we want to happen. That means the ship will be working."
With that, Babak gazed at the blue orb in the center as he began to get nervous as he spoke.
"Now I know how Hunk feels."
Meanwhile, Pidge, Hunk, Lapis, and Luzria were working on their computers as Coran spoke.
"How's it going, everyone?"
As Pidge sounded off first, Lapis and Luzria spoke up next to give Coran the update.
"It's going well so far."
"We were able to divert to as much power from the teludav to the main turbine as we could."
"If anything else comes up, we'll let you know."
"Nice work!"
At the Castle's main hub, Coran's monitor appeared as he spoke to Allura.
"Okay, it looks like we have the power we need to attempt a system restart. Allura, begin the reboot sequence."
As Allura only stood with a frown on her face, Coran became worried that she couldn't hear him.
"Allura, can you hear me? Is this thing on mute? There's a lot of blood rushing to my head, so I keep hitting the wrong buttons."
As Alphus tried to find out what her mind was on, she walked up to her and placed her hand on her shoulder before she spoke.
"Allura?"
At that moment, Allura snapped out of her dismal trance and looked back to Coran as she spoke.
"Oh, right. What is it you need?"
"The reboot sequence. Can you run it again?"
As Allura ran the sequence with the summon of the holo-controls, Alphus and Lance could see the hurt and worry on Allura's face as they looked to each other before looking back at her.
At the main turbine room, Babak managed to lift Coran up with a grunt as he spoke.
"Allura has begun the sequence. So, power should be flowing any tick."
"Then let's back up where it won't evaporate us, just to be safe."
As they did so, Coran noticed that the alarm was still present, indicating there wasn't enough power to start with.
"Ugh! What? We're in worse shape than I thought."
"Maybe it's because you kept hitting the wrong buttons?"
Despite Babak's comment, Coran focused on the main issue as he spoke to Allura.
"Looks like we hit another snag. Hold tight!"
At the hub, Krolia spoke up as Romelle, Xarnas, Cilia, and Sapphire went with her, leaving Lance, Alphus, and Allura alone in the room before Alphus spoke up what she had in mind from before.
"Allura, are you alright? You've been getting distracted lately."
"Sorry, Alphus. I'm just so angry with myself for allowing this to happen. I played right into Lotor's hands, and I fear my actions have placed us in this dire situation."
Lance took his turn to speak up next in an attempt to comfort Allura.
"You didn't put us in this situation. It was whoever made Shiro go rogue and released the virus on the Castle."
"No, this is my fault. I trusted Lotor. I helped him build and empower ships, granting him unlimited access to the Quintessence field. I was fooled by him, and it out the entire universe in jeopardy. How can the coalition ever be expected to trust me when I'm not sure I can trust myself?"
Seeing her disheartened, Lance tried his best to make her feel better as he spoke.
"Allura, it wasn't just you who trusted Lotor. We all did. I had more reason than anyone not to trust him, but he did everything right. He didn't just fool you. He fooled us all. Let me tell you, as someone who's made a million mistakes, all you can do is get up and try to make it right. You can't doubt yourself now. We need you. The universe needs you."
Hearing his words of comfort, Allura sighed before she spoke.
"Thank you, Lance. It's no wonder Jenny fancies you."
As Lance smiled at this, the group was visited upon by a communications message from Keith, Ayame, Belle, and Jenny as the Black Paladin spoke up.
"Hailing the Castle of Lions. This is Keith."
"And Ayame."
"Belle, too."
"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?"
Seeing them again, including Jenny, Lance grew relieved as he and Allura spoke elatedly.
"Guys, you're okay!"
"Wherever you been? Did you guys get Shiro?"
This made everyone give dismal looks apart from Jenny, who got confused before Belle spoke up.
"We got him, alright, but it's not the Shiro we know. The Shiro that took Lotor and Jenny was actually Kuron."
This made Lance confused as he spoke up.
"Well, then where's the real one?"
"I'd rather not tell you guys. Not like this."
As Belle began to shed tears at this, Jenny could assume the worst before Keith and Ayame spoke to them next.
"I'll explain everything later, but right now, you need to focus on Lotor."
"Along with Jenny's warning about him when she escaped, we've picked up the Sincline ships on the Black Lion's scanners. It looks like Lotor's headed back to your position. Right where you are."
This made Alphus worried as Allura spoke.
"He needs to get back into the Quintessence field."
"We're on our way to you now, but without a wormhole, it's gonna take us a while. You'll have to hold off Lotor without us."
Lance then spoke up to Keith next in determination as he spoke up.
"We'll do what we can."
As the communications ended, Keith closed his eyes and tried to call upon help.
"Shiro, if you're here, I could use your help. I need to get to the team before Lotor."
With that, the Black Lion began to boost again as it traveled closer to the team.
At the Castle, the Paladins got in their Lions with Pidge, Lance, Hunk, Alphus, Lapis and Rogue Thrust, and Allura who spoke to them as Lapis and her team noticed Xanthia stirring from her sleep and waking up to see the group looking at her before she noticed Adea looking worriedly at her.
"Accessing the Quintessence field has been Lotor's singular drive for millennia. He wants to harness the power for himself, but we cannot let him."
"Adea?"
As Adea smiled and hugged her, Xanthia hugged her back before it showed Allura in the Blue Lion.
"Thankfully, there's only one way into the Quintessence field. Through the inter-reality gate. So we must destroy it."
As the lions were shown to be outside the ruined Daibazaal, Coran spoke to them while they prepared to complete their task.
"Babak and I'll continue working on the Castle to get it up and running before Lotor arrives. It'll be slow going without the Paladins, but we'll get it done."
"Good luck, Coran. We'll need all the help we can get in the fight against Lotor."
Meanwhile, Lotor spoke to Ezor, Zethrid, and Kurziam as they neared their destination.
"Zethrid, Ezor, my deepest apologies for lying to you both, but in order to gain the princess' trust and make the Paladins of Voltron believe we were truly at odds, it had to be done."
Ezor voiced her opinion on this, as did Zethrid and Kurziam.
"I'm just glad we're on your side again."
"As long as I get to blow something up, I'm good."
"At least you owned up to it."
"Excellent. Today, we will gain access to unlimited Quintessence, and together, we usher in a new era of power."
At this moment, however, the Paladins weren't going to let it happen as Alphus spoke to Allura out of concern.
"Are you sure about this?"
"We must. It's the only way."
"Are you so sure about that?"
When she heard this, Allura began to her suspicious as she spoke.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not saying I'm on his side, but what if the Quintessence field could've helped those Alteans that were drained? It could help them."
When Allura heard this, she widened her eyes before she began to shed tears at the thought of it before she reiterated her decision adamantly.
"I know... but I can't risk the rest of the Alteans suffering the same fate. Lotor has to be stopped, and this is the only way."
Before Alphus could respond, she found it best not to question her on the matter before she replied solemnly.
"I understand."
With that, all six of the lions used their lasers to destroy the trans-reality gate, thus cutting off Lotor from the Quintessence field before Pidge spoke of another factor in their plan.
"Lotor will be here any second. What's the plan?"
For Allura, the plan was simple. To make Lotor pay. However, there were other factors to consider.
"Well, the Castle of Lions is broken down, so there's no help there. The Black Lion isn't with us so we can't form Voltron. And the Violet Lion's too damaged from the fighting and their trip to the Quantum Abyss, so it can't transform. What about you, Alphus?"
"No luck from me, either. It's run out of enough energy to transform from helping you against the ships."
"Right. We're just going to have to do what we can."
Pidge agreed to it while Hunk felt it was a suicide mission, remembering how easily they were beaten last time.
"Right. Attempt to survive."
"Last time we fought Lotor, we had seven ships and he still kicked our butts. This time, he's gonna have three ships, and we're only gonna have six. Does— does anyone else see where I'm going with this?"
Lance didn't find it helpful as he spoke.
"Zip it, Hunk. No ones interested in your math equations right now. Especially ones that add to us taking a beating."
At that moment, Allura spoke with Coran to see if they're ready yet.
"Coran, how are the repairs coming?"
In the Castle, Coran was crawling in an air vent with Sapphire, Cilia, and Babak as he groaned before he spoke.
"I'm working on 'em, Princess. The problem is, we need power for the systems that start the main turbine. But if I use that power to engage the systems, I don't have power to run the main turbine. It's a conundrum."
"Coran, without the Castle of Lions backing us up, we might not make it."
"Right. No pressure. Come on, Coran, think! At least I've got Krillin to help me... and Romelle, and Cilia, and Sapphire. Such a cute little thing. Oh, and Babak, and the space mice, and Xarnas, and a cosmic wolf."
As Coran noticed a long way down, ahead of him, he blinked his eyes for a moment before he tumbled down in it and caught himself before he could hit the ground as he busted the vent graying open before he heard Sapphire's giggling above him as she fell down smoothly before she landed on his chest, making him puff out air with a wheeze before she got off and realized the incident.
"Sorry."
With that, Coran rolled away before he spoke to her.
"That's alright. A child like you should need something to cushion the blow."
As Cilia and Babak went down next, the group noticed the array of blue wires around them before Sapphire spoke up.
"There's a box over here."
As Sapphire pointed to it, Coran noticed and spoke up.
"Oh, good eye, Sapphire."
With that, Coran moved the vid out of its place before seeing the writing in it and recognized it.
"Hieronymous Wimbleton? My grandfather's tool kit!"
Hearing this, Babak grew surprised as h spoke.
"You mean that old relic actually made it up till now?"
"Come on, Babak. It can't be that old."
At that moment, however, when he opened it, Coran found himself with a large dust trap over his face before he wheeled again, making Sapphire giggle.
"I stand corrected..."
Despite this, Coran noticed a flask of a familiar substance as he sniffed it before he groaned and spoke.
"And a 10,000 year-old bottle of nunville. Yep, that's Pop-Pop Wimbleton."
This made Cilia curious as she spoke up.
"Excuse me, but who is this Hieronymous Wimbleton, exactly?"
"He's my grandfather. All I've ever wanted to do was live up to his great name. When I first saw his Castle of Lions take to the sky, I knew anything was possible. Now I'm not so sure."
Seeing Coran's spirits go down, Cilia places her hands on his shoulder as she spoke.
"We can't give up now, Coran. The Paladins need us. They need you. You can pull through for them. I know you can."
This made Coran give a warm smile to her as he spoke.
"Thanks, Cilia. You know, this is actually the first time we've spoken together like this."
"Yeah. I guess so."
Unknown to the two of them, Babak was growling and muttering before Sapphire took notice of it and grew confused as he spoke.
"For some reason, I feel the need to make an object explode."
Hearing this, Coran wiggled his ears and widened his eyes before he spoke.
"Wait a tick. Babak, I think you just gave me an idea."
Meanwhile, out in space, Lance and the others took notice of Lotor's Sincline ships as he spoke.
"We got incoming."
At that moment, they're nearing the Lions as Hunk and Alphus spoke.
"Guys, they're here."
"We know, Hunk. Just hold your positions and let Lotor make the first move."
As the Sincline ships parked just in front of the Lions, Acxa took notice of a greatly affective change in scenery as the one thing they needed was missing.
"Lotor, the gate. It's destroyed."
With it gone, Lotor tried to reason with them in an attempt to win them over again as he spoke.
"We need not fight today. We are all in the same side."
Alphus didn't think so as she replied.
"Are we? You drained those Alteans like they were personal batteries!"
"I know what you all must think of me now that you know my past. It doesn't have to change our future together. The truth is, I want to harness the power of the Quintessence field to better the universe just like I said. Nothing has changed."
Allura took her turn to speak next, still hurt from what Lotor had done. After all, the sad thing about betrayal was that it never comes from an enemy. She loved him dearly, and that led to a terrible price, one she will never pay again.
"You enslaved countless Alteans. Harnessed their life source for your own personal gain. How many innocent lives did you destroy?"
"Allura, I—"
"HOW MANY?!"
Lotor found himself in a moment of silence as he spoke again.
"It's true. Many Alteans perished in my quest to unlock the mysteries of Quintessence. But I protected thousands more, and I rescued their culture, our culture."
As Lotor continued his plea, Zethrid grew outraged as Ezor stated his indifference and Kurziam got a different take on this while Acxa looked on in compassion, knowing of the hate he must be enduring even now. It was the same hate they all had to deal with because of their half-breed lineage.
"Why is he pleading with the Paladins? Why are we not opening fire?"
"I stopped trying to figure out Lotor's master plan long ago. Too complicated."
"Maybe... he actually thought he was friends with them."
"Allura, you must understand I've given everything I have to limb the depths of King Alfor's knowledge to unlock the mysteries of Oriande. Please, Allura, we've come too far together. Surely, you can see the greatness we've already accomplished. There's still more to come. Join me. We're on the same side."
Given what Lotor had done, and how betrayed she felt, Allura wouldn't listen to him anymore.
"NO, WE'RE NOT!"
Immediately, Allura pushed the lever and fired the laser at them, making Alphus worried as she shouted to her before Lotor spoke to his generals.
"Allura! What did I just say?!"
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"
As they did, Lotor continued his plea, confirming Kurziam's theory as she spoke.
"I was right... he thought they understood him..."
"Allura, stop! You, Alphus, Jennifer, and I hold the ancient knowledge of our Altean culture. We were meant to be together. My feelings for you are true, and I know you have feelings for me as well."
While Allura took her feelings into account, her mind still lingered on his actions as she retorted venomously.
"You betrayed and used us. You're more like Zarkon than I could have ever imagined!"
Hearing those words from Allura, Lotor widened his eyes in utter shock as Alphus spoke to Allura before Lotor retorted back in a cold, calm voice, his reason for wanting her replaced with hate and rage.
"Allura!"
"What about your father? He may have been a master engineer, but Alfor was too weak to defend his home world. I'm the one who had to step up and save our entire race. Who are you to question my tactics in bringing peace and prosperity to the universe?"
As the long silence followed, Alphus found herself trembling in anger at his words towards Alfor before she calmed herself down and looked towards Lotor to prepare for his inevitable strike as he sounded it off.
"Destroy the Lions."
With that, the two ships moved in and fired at the Lions as they flew before Allura angrily thrusted her lever at him, propelling Blue towards them as Alphus spoke up.
"Allura, stay with the group!"
While the lions joined the group, the Yellow Lion was shot as the Blue Lion roared as did Allura who went immediately after Lotor, only for him to swiftly dodge her rage-filled attack before she fired a laser at him and tried to get him before it only missed, causing destruction to the surface of a ruined Daibazaal. As Alphus witnessed the firefight in her eyes, she saw a longer flash of herself with moss over her hands as she gasped before she Egan to hyperventilate as Lance spoke up.
"Alphus! What's going on?!"
Before he could get his answer, he was knocked back by one of the Sincline ships before Hunk spoke to Coran.
"Coran, we need your help here! Please tell me you got the Castle up and running!"
"We're working on it! Krolia, Xarnas, get ready!"
At the Castle, Coran, Cilia, Sapphire, and Babak we're running to the main turbine room as the bodyguard spoke.
"What is the plan?!"
"The combination of the fermented nunville with the energy core should jump-start the main turbine without using any of the Castle's power."
As Coran poured the nunville in a bomb, Cilia became concerned.
"Coran, are you sure setting off a bomb in the turbine is a good idea?"
"No, I'm not sure it's a good idea, but it's our only idea. That's why I need you and Sapphire to wait outside. Babak and I will handle it."
This made Babak concerned as he spoke vexedly.
"And how am I supposed to help?!"
"You said you wanted to make something explode, didn't you? This is it."
As the Paladins took heavy fire from Lotor's ships, Babak could hear their grunts on the communicator before he tensed his hand as he spoke.
"Oh, Quiznak, I must be out of my mind."
As he took the bomb, Babak backed up while Coran, Cilia, and Sapphire did the same thing.
"Here goes nothing. Or everything."
With that, Babak began running to the turbine before chucking it at it with a shout before running the other way as everything went in slow motion before Babak shouted to him in the similar manner.
"Puuuuusssshhhh iiiiiiiiittttttt!"
With that, Coran did so slowly before it triggered an explosion as Babak made it through just in time before the doors closed as he took his breath before everything came online in every room as Xarnas spoke up.
"Coran, whatever you did, it worked! We got an engine online!"
This made Coran excited as he spoke up.
"Woo-hoo! Thank you, Pop-Pop Wimbleton!"
As Coran and the others ran off, Babak gave a huff as he spoke.
"I helped out, too!"
With that, the Castle began propelling itself in the midst of he firefight as Coran spoke up to them.
"Don't worry, guys, I'm here!"
As the Castle got in between them, Ezor, Zethrid, and Kurziam grunted as the got knocked away before Lance spoke to him.
"Coran, what's going on with the Castle?"
"Well, we've only got one of the engines working, so I'm kind of learning to fly all over again."
Meanwhile, Lotor and Allura resumed their confrontation as the former shot at her and missed while Allura attempted to ram him but missed as Lotor engaged in a broken and darker perspective.
"Once I wipe out Voltron, I'm going to start a new Altea, an Altea that will never know of Princess Allura or King Alfor, nor will they know of the Lions of Voltron. All they'll know is me, their great leader!"
With that, Lotor our more power into his lasers, destroying the debris around Allura as she swiftly dodged the devastating effects of it before he laughed maliciously.
"I'm ready to wipe the universe clean of all my enemies: Voltron, Haggar, and the rest of the Galra!"
Hearing this, Ezor, Zethrid, Kurziam, and Acxa became paralyzed with fear before Acxa spoke up.
"I think it's time for us to sever our ties with Lotor for good. Disengage from the battle. Follow my lead."
With that, the two Sincline ships took off from the battle, confusing Adea as she tried to speak with Ezor about it while also trying to find out more about their issues as Lapis grew peeved.
"What are you doing?!"
"I know them, Lapis. They're not like Lotor."
"And how do you know that?
"For some reason, I can just tell."
This made Lapis widen her eyes before Xanthia stood by her and spoke up.
"Please trust her, Lapis. I do."
Seeing Xanthia as herself again, Lapis gave the two of them a nod.
"If you really believe that, I'll let you do this just once."
With that, Adea nodded back before she attempted a link with her and succeeded as she spoke to Ezor.
"Ezor, what's going on with you?"
"What do you think? We're trying to save our skin from Lotor."
"You don't have to run. You can fight him!"
Unfortunately, Adela's plea was overheard by the increasingly vicious Lotor.
"Even my generals betray me."
With that, Lotor went away from Allura before placing his palm upon a holo-control mat as Ezor spoke.
"With the same ship we have? How much of a chance do you really think we'd—?"
Before Ezor could finish her question, she felt a strong force pulling her, Kurziam, Acxa, and Zethrid in as Ezor and Zethrid were shot out of the ships they were in first, making Adea shout in worry.
"Ezor!"
With closer inspection, Lapis noticed them flying in their suits.
"Don't worry. They're wearing their helmets."
Then, as Kurziam was shot out next, Acxa tried to plea to Lotor.
"Lotor, don't do this!"
Immediately, he ignored her plea as he shot her out of the ship before the three Sincline ships combined with Lotor's craft as the head while the longer of the ships formed the arms and what's left over made the legs before the arms protruded and took form as did its head with purple eyes and a long tail behind it before Sincline revealed its true form. Upon seeing this, Alphus widened her eyes before seeing a flash of its silhouette in the Quintessence field making her realize the bitter truth.
"Oh, no... the visions. They were showing me the future!"
Pidge pointed out a very different matter to attend to as she spoke before Lance, Lapis, Allura, and Hunk replied.
"What is that thing?!"
"He's created his own Voltron."
"Or in this case, it'd be Sincline's true form. Just like White and Violet, but different."
"That is why he was using me. We helped him build it!"
"Well, the good news is, it's now six on one."
At that moment, Adea took notice of Ezor, Zethrid, Kurziam, and Acxa taking off as she grew worried, much to Lapis' notice before she reassured her.
"Don't worry, Adea. We'll see them again. Just as soon as we take down Lotor."
Inside Sincline, Lotor gave a glare to the six Lions as he spoke.
"This... ends... now."
With that, Sincline's purple eyes flared before he darted towards the Paladins swiftly, making Alphus speak in fear, the robot having caused her to snap out of her trance.
"Look out!"
Unfortunately, they couldn't react fast enough as Lotor used Sincline's tail to smack Alphus away before he reached and grabbed Hunk by his own tail before flinging him as he retreated while the Lions fired at him. Alas, due to his speed, it was in vain.
"It's way faster than us!"
Suddenly, he ambushed the Green Lion with an overhead kick. As the clash continued, Coran rapidly worked on the Castle's controls until he accessed the weapons as Babak saw a dismal outcome to this.
"Great. Another Voltron, and it's beating us to Wozblay's door. Now what?"
"I think I've finally got control! Ready the weapons systems!"
This made Xarnas give the bad news as he spoke.
"Unfortunately, we don't have much power to start with! The least it could manage is one shot!"
"Well, then let's make it count. Fire!"
With that, Coran slammed the button and caused the Castle to fire at Sincline as Allura spoke.
"Coran, nice shot!"
However, Lotor was able to counter it as he grunted with a blast from Sincline's chest before it hit the Castle, sending it back on the sidelines as it was in threat of shutting down again as Pidge spoke.
"Impossible! Lotor's weapon has completely repelled the Castle's attack!"
Meanwhile, in the Black Lion, Jenny, Belle, Ayame, and Keith received the play-by-play of their fight with Sincline as Lance spoke up to Coran as a prelude to the cacophony that incited fear into their hearts, giving way to despair and misery.
"Coran, shoot him with the cannon again!"
"I can't. That was our last shot."
"Pidge, get out of his line of sight!"
"He's locked onto me. I'm taking heavy fire!"
"Get out of there! I'm coming in! Form jaw-blade!"
"Lance!"
"We can't take this much longer!"
As their voices faded, Ayame began to shed tears of sadness before she spoke to the others.
"When is this going to end? First, Shiro's gone, and now our friends are going to die. And it's all my fault..."
As she said that, Jenny and Belle tried to comfort her.
"Ayame, it's not your fault."
"None of us knew what Lotor really wanted."
"Don't you get it?! I worked with Lotor in trying to bring the Galra Empire to peace so I could avoid this! Look how it's turned out. How many more friends do we have to lose before this is over?"
As Ayame began to sob at this, Jenny and Belle hugged her as the youngest spoke up.
"Hopefully none at all. But don't worry. Keith will help us get there. I know he can..."
Contrary to Jenny's thoughts, Keith found himself in dire straits with the situation as well as he continued speaking for Shiro to help.
"Shiro, I have to her to the Paladins. I need your help."
When he heard no voice to guide him, he began to tense his hand as Keith began to grow desperate.
"Shiro... Shiro...! SHIRO!"
At that instant, Keith was taken in the Black Lion's consciousness before he felt his arm on his shoulder again and noticed him as tears came out of his eyes at the thought of seeing Shiro again.
"Keith, you can get to them, but you must see them first."
"But how?"
"See through the Lion's eyes. Patience yields focus."
With that, Shiro and Keith look at an incoming sun rising in the realm as Keith's eyes glowed blue before the Black Lion growled as it's eyes flared up while the light made its way inside before it boosted, making Ayame, Belle, and Jenny brace the incoming speed alongside Keith before he saw for himself the battle taking place as if he's watching it happen.
"I see them."
Unaware of Ayame's gasps from hearing this, Keith began to push against the levers he held while they looked to each other before Ayame spoke.
"Belle, hold onto Jenny. I'll help Keith."
And she was right to do so as Keith began to develop difficulty pushing as as Ayame, who could barely stand up, got her hand on his right while he began to see Lance and Pidge before she pushed along with him while placing her left on his and pushed it as he began to see Allura and Hunk while his hands glowed purple before Ayame spoke.
"You won't be alone, Keith. Never again."
With that, the two began to push on the levers as they braced the pressure while Keith saw Lapis and Alphus before the two of them grunted and yelled out in determination before they successfully pushed against them, making the Black Lion gain an upgrade to its wings and went faster as the four of them braced the blinding light.
Meanwhile, the lions had all but been defeated as Lotor spoke the last word but out of regret for what could've been.
"It didn't have to end like this, but you've made your choice."
As Lotor prepared to fire a blast from Sincline's chest, Alphus positioned the lion in front of the others to shield them as she glared at Lotor with tears coming down her cheeks before Sincline received an alarm. Not long after, the Black Lion phases quickly through Lotor, disabling him for the moment before the upgrade went away as Lance and Lapis spoke.
"Keith!"
"How did you guys get here do fast?"
"We had some help. Now hurry. We don't have much time. On me! Form Voltron!"
With that, the five lions formed into Voltron before confronting Lotor as he gave a deadly glare their way before Alphus took a deep breath before noticing that the White Lion has recovered thanks to Keith's efforts as she spoke.
"Whatever the future holds, I won't run from my destiny. Or from you."
With that, Alphus slammed her bayard in its key before it transformed into its Voltron form and stood beside the main Voltron while the Violet Lion remained where it was as the three of them all faced Lotor, both sides desperate to end the conflict, one way or the other...