Lance, too, would have been quite shocked to find out he'd been asleep for ten thousand years, but he also had a certain amount of respect for these aliens because, well, that was an impressive amount of time to sleep for.

He didn't voice this because of the shocked horror on their faces. It obviously wasn't a very good thing. He supposed it wouldn't be. Unless Alteans had a really, really, really long life span, cryogenic freezing aside, most everyone the two knew were probably long gone.

"Planet Altea," breathed Allura in horror. "All of our solar system- they've been destroyed- Coran- Father-"

The man- Coran- put a hand on her shoulder and watched her sadly as her face contorted into rage.

"Zarkon," she snarled.

Lance was kind of sick of recognising these names and not knowing how, but at least this time he wasn't the only one.

"Zarkon?" repeated Shiro in mild horror. He had jerked into a rigid, almost terrified stance at the name. Lance wondered if maybe he had heard the name from his kidnappers.

"King of the Galra," said Allura softly. "A vile creature. He was enemy to all free people- he was-"

"-my captor," said Shiro. Allura stared at him in shock. Lance winced. That kinda sucked- it sounded a lot like the man responsible for Altea's destruction was still alive when everything Allura loved was, well, not. "I remember now."

"Impossible," she said in a horrified whisper. "It has been ten thousand years, he cannot be still alive!"

"I don't know how, but I do know that's the name I heard," said Shiro. "He's been looking for some super weapon called Voltron."

"Voltron," she murmured. "Voltron is the only thing that can defeat Zarkon, and so we must find it before he does."

"Well, the Blue Lion is out front," offered Lance. Coran stared at him again.

"And her pilot?" he asked rather hopefully.

Lance winced. "Ah, we didn't find any pilots. Just the lion. Sorry."

Coran sighed. "I expected as much."

"We must begin the search for Voltron," said Allura, starting forward. Coran grabbed her shoulder with a stern look.

"Princess, it's been ten thousand years," he said. "You must eat."

"I'm not hungry," she said, turning away from him and lowering her eyes.

"Woah," said Hunk. "Like, I haven't eaten since breakfast? And I'm starving!"

"Well, you've thrown up like five times," Pidge pointed out.

"Good point," conceded Hunk.

"I can't believe you created such incredibly technology ten thousand years ago," said Shiro. Lance sort of had to agree, because it looked like something out of a really cool sci-fi movie, but it also looked really normal. "It must have been an amazing place."

"Yeah," Lance couldn't help but agree wistfully.

"It was," Coran admitted, "but now it's gone, and Allura and I- we're the last Alteans left."

Lance couldn't imagine being the last human left, without his parents and siblings and nephews and nieces and everyone he loved. This Zarkon- it seemed it was a good thing they'd led that ship away from Earth. They could have easily destroyed his home, just like they had Allura and Coran's ten thousand years ago.

He just hoped these Galra would stay away.

A gasp from Allura tore him from his musings. His head snapped to her in alarm, but there wasn't any danger. She was smiling and allowing a few mice to crawl into her opened hands.

"It seems," she murmured, "we aren't the only ones."

Lance wasn't quite sure why she was so delighted by a few mice, of all things, but he supposed if Earth had been destroyed and, like, a couple of Earth-mice suddenly showed up, he'd be pretty pleased too.

Then, suddenly, the whole room lit up red and sharp, shrill alarms shot off. Lance sucked in a sharp breath. The alarms were too much like- exactly like- if he reached too far back in his memory- when everything was red and alarms. His parents had hesitantly assumed that perhaps he was remembering a fire-

"A Galra battleship has set its tracker on us!" Coran exclaimed in shock, drawing Lance out of the blurred past and back into the present.

"How did they find us?" asked Allura in distress. Her face twisted, and she turned on them the glare hotly. Lance instinctively shot his hands in the air; Hunk, after a moment's hesitation, followed his lead. "Did you lead them here?"

"What- no!" Lance protested. "Or, if we did, it's Keith's fault!"

"Whatever makes you feel better," Keith shot back. "You're the one who had the bright idea to get us stuck on the other side of a mysterious wormhole!"

"I'll stick you in a wormhole!" Lance bit out- probably one of his worst comebacks to date.

"Quiet, cadets!" Shiro snapped. "This is no time to place blame. We have to work as a team. Coran, how long before they arrive?"

"At their current speed?" Coran mused. "Hmm, well, carry the two… I'd say, ah, a couple of quintents."

"Quintents?" repeated Hunk worriedly. "That's like, days? I hope? Right?"

"Twenty vargas," Coran offered. Lance decided the sunny, cheerful man was way cooler than Keith. "Average time for planets holding sentient life to make a full rotation around their axes! If that's what your day is supposed to be-"

"Right, right," said Hunk. "A couple of days."

"Good," said Allura darkly. "Let them come. By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron. Together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire."

Lance wasn't sure how putting the hands of the universe in the hands of four teenagers and one whatever Shiro was could be a good idea, but Allura seemed pretty certain, and Lance wasn't about to argue with a space princess.

"Princess," said Shiro rather formally, "there are five of these lions, correct? How do we find the other fur?"

"Oh, that's easy!" chirped Coran brightly. "King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's quintessence! She can find out exactly where they are!"

Allura typed out something on the panel-thing, and suddenly the room was filled with galaxies and stars and planets and coordinates- including colour-coded coordinates of each of the lions.

"Woah," Pidge breathed. "These are coordinates- is the Black Lion here too?"

"Aha!" said Coran. "Look at your primitive synapses firing away on their little brain cage!"

Pidge glared rather sinisterly at him, clearly not pleased to have his intelligence referred to as primitive.

"Very observant," Allura praised. "The Black Lion is, in fact, in the castle."

"In order to keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands," Coran said gravely, "King Alfor locked her in the castle. She may only be freed when all four other lions are present."

"Each of the lions choose their pilots," said Allura softly, "and luckily, it seems to me that we have five skilled pilots perfect for our lions."

"Um," said Hunk, "you know, I'm not-"

Lance elbowed him in the side, shaking his head. Pidge muttered something about driving a cyber space lion before ever driving a car.

Yeah, Lance really wasn't sure that Allura was making a smart decision in putting the universe in their hands.

"This is a mystical bond that cannot be forced," continued Allura. "The quintessence of the pilot is reflected in his or her lion. Together- together you will be greater than anything science could explain."

Pidge's lip jutted out and he looked ready to protest, but Shiro clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that made the smaller boy glare at the floor.

"The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron," said Allura, eyes focussed on Shiro- her first good decision so far, if you asked Lance, Shiro was practically born to lead. "She needs a born leader, someone in control at all times- someone whose men will follow him without any hesitation. I can see that in you, Shiro, and so you will pilot the Black Lion."

Shiro nodded solemnly.

"The Green Lion," Allura continued, "has an inquisitive personality and thus needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, I can already tell that you are brave and smart. You will pilot the Green Lion."

Pidge looked torn between bouncing up and down in excitement and bitterly informing the princess that he didn't even have a learner's permit, and instead nodded stiffly.

"The Blue Lion," said Allura softly, and Lance stood up straighter as her eyes focussed on him and his brow furrowed, "is the friendliest and most accepting of the lions. She and her pilot are confident and cheerful. Lance, the Blue Lion has already chosen you as her pilot."

"She knows the best when she sees it," he said cockily, shooting her one of his famous Sweep-Her-Off-Her-Feet grins. She raised an unimpressed eyebrow and pointedly turned away from him.

"The Yellow Lion is caring and kind," said Allura as Hunk stiffened awkwardly, looking torn between saluting her or just standing there. "His pilot is one who puts others first- whose heart is mighty. Hunk, you will pilot the Yellow Lion, and as a leg, you will lift the team up and hold them together."

Hunk swallowed and nodded fervently.

"The Red Lion is… temperamental, and the most difficult to master," Allura said, turning at last to Keith. "She is fast and agile, but also unstable. Her pilot relies on instincts, not just skill, and so, Keith, I believe, you will pilot the Red Lion."

Keith nods once, rather sharply.

"What?" scoffed Lance. "Keith?"

Keith was like, pure skill, as far as Lance knew, although temperamental was definitely a word he would use to describe Mullet-Head.

"I cannot find the Red Lion's coordinates," said Allura regretfully. "There must be something wrong with the castle- it has been ten thousand years."

"Don't worry, Allura, we'll find it soon," said Coran. "They don't call me the Coranic for nothing- it sounds like mechanic, you see, so Coranic, mechanic- not an exact match, but- it is similar."

Lance laughed despite himself and shot Coran a grin. The man blinked at him in surprise, then grinned back.

Yeah, they were gonna be friends.

The mini lion holograms Allura had place in front of each of them roared and ran to the centre. In a flurry of movement, they came together to form into the giant robot Lance had seen in the vision from Blue.

"Once united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior in any galaxy- the Defender of the Universe," Allura said rather grandly.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Hunk, before shaking his head. "Wait, okay, so like I get that we will be in the lions, but how do the lions become legs? And- and arms? And- and is this going to be a long, 'cause if it is, I should use the restroom, do you have restrooms? Toilets?"

"We don't have time," said Shiro, and Hunk groaned. "Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you and Hunk go for the yellow one. Keith, stay here, and the moment you locate the Red Lion, go and get it."

All of them nodded, and Lance nudged his old friend with a wide grin that promised nothing but mischief and adventure. Hunk gave him an unimpressed look that translated roughly to, "If you almost drown us again, I am friendship-disowning you."

"In the meantime," said Allura, "I will prepare the castle defences. They will be sorely needed."

"I'll ready a pod and load in the coordinates for the Green Lion!" said Coran brightly. "And then off you can go!"

"Come on, Hunk, let's get to Blue," Lance said excitedly. "I think you still need to clean up your mess."

"Ugh," Hunk moaned.

Lance grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room, waving to the others of the group. Coran was the only one that waved back, but he did so jovially and with a large grin.

Yeah. He was way cooler than Keith. They were definitely going to be friends.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! I've had, like, the worst summer ever, but I did find time to write this! Hopefully this chapter is worth the wait, and I'm sorry I made you guys wait so long again! I need to get better at this. XD

Also, how about season three, huh? What a ride!

Love you all and thanks for reading! 3