Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire.

Author's Notes: This was a tough chapter to write. It is a key moment in the story for many characters, especially Allura. I rewrote this chapter no less than 6 times, reworking the setup, the emotional confrontation, deciding what actions I wanted the characters to take and then scrapping those for a different set of actions. I finally got the chapter to a point where I feel it sets the stage for the upcoming conclusion of the story and I hope you all enjoy it.

Popstar Princess:

The Lunch Special

The heat radiated off the parking lot, which caused Allura to feel as though she was traveling across the desert. She struggled to keep up with Nanny, as each step made her head throb. If she had any food in her stomach, she would be throwing it up.

"Hurry up, Allura. Lotor will be paying his bill by the time we get inside."

"I'm moving as fast as I can," Allura grumbled.

After what felt like forever, Allura garnered some relief when she stepped inside the air-conditioned restaurant.

"Good afternoon and welcome" the hostess said as she greeted them with a smile. "I'll be with you in just one moment." The hostess picked up two menus then guided an older couple, that had been waiting patiently, to their table.

"It's so nice in here," commented Nanny as she gawked at the décor.

Allura mumbled an agreement and started to wander around the lobby. She peaked around the corner of the wall to look out at the dining area. She had hoped to spot Lotor but instead saw someone that made her blood boil.

Just before Allura and Nanny had entered the restaurant, Merla had finished up her phone call and was making her way through the dining room to rejoin Lotor. She was oblivious to the young popstar who was staring daggers into her back.

The hostess returned and Nanny greeted her with a smile.

The young lady was almost twenty-three, her brunette hair was pulled up and her soft, light skin contrasted against the burgundy shirt of her uniform. Her voice had the slightest hint of a southern draw and all the sweetness of a Georgia peach. "How many are in your party, today?" she asked with a bright smile.

"Two," replied Nanny. "We're here to dine with Mr. Lotor."

The hostess took a moment to check her guest registry. "It seems that Mr. Lotor only has one guest listed here for lunch. Is he expecting you?"

"No, the mother of his child wanted to surprise him," Nanny boasted.

"Oh, well congratulations," the young lady with a grin.

Nanny paused for a moment. "Oh no, not me." Nanny then pointed over at Allura. "That young lady is carrying his child."

"Oh, of course. My apologies. Mr. Lotor is currently seated on our back patio," the hostess remarked as she picked up two menus. "Right this way."

Nanny turned her head just in time to see Allura disappear around the wall. "Allura?"

Allura had felt a swell of anger take over her. Every hurtful remark Merla had ever said on her television show flowed through Allura's mind. For a moment her hangover was gone, replaced by rage and her body felt energized. Without hesitation, Allura stalked after Merla.

Merla was unaware of the danger lurking behind her as she stepped out of the dining room and into the midday heat. She gracefully slipped back into her seat and smiled at Lotor.

"Given the look on your face, I'm going to venture a guess that your boss agreed."

"Yes. It took a bit of convincing, but starting tomorrow my assignment is conduct an expose on Allura's alleged abusive from the entertainment industry," Merla said as she reached for her glass. "Here is to us working together once again."

Merla raised her glass as did Lotor. Just as their drinks clinked, there came a shrill scream filled with anger and betrayal.

"What the hell is going on here!"

Lotor and Merla both looked over to see Allura storming towards their table.

"Allura, what are you doing here?" Lotor asked as he stood up.

"What am I doing here? What is SHE doing here?" Allura yelled as she stomped up to Lotor.

"We're having a business meeting," Merla responded calmly.

"A business meeting? Looks more like a date to me."

"Then maybe you need to get your eyes checked," Merla remarked.

Before anyone knew what had happened, Allura reached down and grabbed Merla's drink and poured onto her lap.

Merla stood straight up, knocking her chair backwards. Her lap was soaking wet. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Allura, this is completely inappropriate." Lotor moved to stand between the women.

"You want to talk to me about inappropriate? You can't be bothered to go with me to the doctor to see the ultrasound of our baby but yet you can make time to have a lunch date with this…this…blueberry pop tart."

"Blueberry pop tart?" Merla asked as she dabbled her wet clothes with napkins. "That's pretty funny coming from a bottle blonde."

Allura's eyes flashed with fire and she tried to grab Lotor's glass from the table but he managed to grab her arm and stop her.

"Allura, perhaps it would be best if we stepped out into the parking lot and talked about this." Lotor's voice was calm and soothing. Lotor was aware of the attention being drawn from the other patrons but he kept his focus on Allura. He needed to get her out of the restaurant as quickly as possible.

For just a moment, Allura seemed to forget Merla as she looked into his eyes.

"Oh my, what is happening here?" came Nanny's voice. The portly woman and the hostess finally arrived at Lotor's table.

Allura snapped back into her rage. "I caught Lotor cheating on me with this harlot!"

"Lotor! You should be ashamed of yourself" cried Nanny.

"I wasn't cheating. I was having a very important and productive lunch meeting until Allura attacked Merla," Lotor told Nanny.

"Oh, so this is my fault?" Allura yelled.

"You dumped my drink on me," Merla countered. She leaned her head over Lotor's shoulder. "So yes, it is your fault!"

In a flash Allura's fist flew past Lotor's face and connected with Merla's eye.

"You punched me, you dumb bitch!" cried Merla as she stumbled back.

"There's more where that came from you slut!" Allura yelled back.

"Allura!" Lotor scolded her. He then turned his attention to Merla to make sure she was ok.

Several patrons at nearby tables had shifted their attention to the raucous Allura was causing. The hostess, unsure of how to handle the situation, ran off to get the manager.

Nanny noticed the number of phones pointed towards their group. Allura.

"It serves her right," Nanny chimed in. "And you should know better, Lotor." Nanny moved between Lotor and Allura. "Allura needed you today and all you cared about what sneaking off with another woman."

"We weren't sneaking off together," Merla responded, her hand held over her eye.

"No, you were fooling around in public for all to see," Allura yelled back.

"We weren't fooling around," Lotor shot back. He turned to face Allura once more. "Allura, you don't know what's going on here. I'd be happy to explain it to you but not here. Let's go back out to the car and…"

"Don't you gaslight her!" yelled Nanny.

Lotor looked down at Nanny with disdain. "I've had about enough of your meddling. You're the cause for a lot of Allura's problems."

"Don't you yell at her!" shouted Allura. "Nanny was there for me when no one else was. You certainly haven't been there for me or our unborn baby!"

"You're not pregnant!" Lotor yelled. His patience was finally gone and for a brief moment, he had lost his composure. Upon seeing the hurt look on Allura's face, he quickly gathered himself. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…"

The tense moment was interrupted by the oblivious waiter, "I hope everyone is hungry because…"

Before the waiter could finish his sentence, Allura grabbed one of the plates and hurled it towards Lotor.

Instinctively, Lotor ducked out of the way of the plate, only to realize too late that Merla was still directly behind him.

"Are you kidding me!" she yelled as the food splattered against her chest.

"Serves you right, you hussy!" Nanny yelled at her.

Merla took a glance around, grabbed a plate off of the table next to her and threw it at the obnoxious caretaker.

Moving quicker than anyone would have given her credit for, Nanny ducked behind Allura, who was then hit with the plate of food.

Allura screamed in anger and lunged for Merla. In return, Merla charged at Allura. Lotor did his best to break up the fight while Nanny only cared to make sure everyone with a camera phone got a shot of the action.

By the time Lance arrived at the restaurant, the parking lot was full of police cars, reporters and an ambulance. He haphazardly parked his car and ran up to Nanny, who was busy talking to a reporter. "What happened here?"

Nanny turned to look at Lance, but made sure she stayed where the reporter and the camera operator could record the conversation. "Oh Lance, it was wonderful. Allura and I came to have lunch with Lotor and we found him having an affair with Merla; you know, the slut from the tv show that's always talking bad about Allura. Well, Allura confronted them. She stood her ground and put them both in their place. They won't think twice about hurting my baby ever again."

"Do you have any comment on the situation?" the reporter asked Lance.

Lance was without words. He immediately stepped away in search of Allura.

"Did you get all of that," Nanny asked the reporter.

"We sure did, thank you very much."

"My pleasure," Nanny responded.

Lance worked his way through the crowd and found Lotor attending to Merla. "Lotor, what happened?"

Lotor took Lance by the arm and stepped over behind one of the police cars. "Allura showed up, unannounced, and saw me having lunch with Merla. She just…snapped and all hell broke loose."

"Why were you having lunch with Merla?" Lance asked.

"I met with her in order to convince her to back off on reporting about Allura."

"What made you think you could do that?"

"Because Merla and I have a…history and I asked if she could do it for me as a favor."

"Did it work?" Lance asked.

"I did, until Allura showed up and attacked us…well, mainly Merla."

"Where is Allura now?"

"She is in the ambulance. Lance, she needs help. I know a place where she can get the guidance she needs."

"Well…I guess we can spin it in a way to garner sympathy from her fans. Everyone loves a good 'comeback story' after a stint in rehab."

"No Lance, this isn't some celebrity rehab center or some publicity stunt. She needs real doctors to help her. If you care at all for her, you'll agree with me on this one."

Lance paused for a moment. He was having trouble processing what Lotor said and the genuine care that seemed to fill his words. "Let me check on Allura and I'll be right back."

As Lance stepped away to find Allura, Nanny approached Lotor. "Quite an exciting day, huh?" she said.

"Exciting is hardly the word I would choose," Lotor remarked.

"I don't know about you but I'm proud of Allura for standing up for herself."

"There was no reason for her to stand up for herself," Lotor stated. "There was nothing inappropriate about my lunch meeting with Merla. In fact, the only thing inappropriate is your use of Allura for your own dubious needs."

"How can you say such a thing," Nanny balked. "I only care about Allura's best interests."

"As long as those interests are beneficial to you. By the way, how did you know where I would be?"

"What do you mean?" Nanny asked.

"Well, the only people who knew where I was going to be was Merla, my driver, and my security team. And I know that the head of my security wouldn't let such a detail as my lunch location slip between his lips."

"I didn't know where you would be, if that is what you are inferring. It was Allura's choice to eat here," Nanny said nonchalantly.

Lotor eyed Nanny suspiciously. "We'll see about that."

"If there is nothing further, I'm going to go check on Allura."

"That won't be necessary," Lotor answered. "As of this moment, Allura is my sole responsibility. Your services are no longer required."

"What do you mean?" asked Nanny.

"What I mean is, 'you're fired."

Lance stood in the parking lot watching the ambulance drive off.

"How is she?" Lotor asked as he stepped up to Lance.

"She'll be alright. They are taking her to the hospital for observation for tonight. In the meantime, I need to talk to the police and see if I can prevent her arrest tomorrow."

"No need, I've already taken care of it," Lotor stated calmly.

"But how?" asked Lance.

"I spoke with the manager and I offered to pay for damages in exchange for dropping any possible charges that could be levied against Allura. Merla has also agreed not to pursue legal actions."

"Thank you. I owe you a lot, Lotor. I don't know how to repay you."

"You can repay me by leaving Allura alone."

"Excuse me?"

"Allura will be my responsibility now. She needs help and I will get her that help."

"But Allura is under contract, she can't just…"

Lotor held up his hand. "Contracts can be bought out. I'm sure after everything that has transpired over the last several month, Coran will be happy to accept money in exchange for no longer having to cover for Allura's bad publicity."

"I will need to go talk to Coran and see what we can do."

"Thank you. Now if you excuse me, I have some arrangements to make on Allura's behalf." Lotor walked off towards his awaiting car.

Lance knew Allura was a handful, but he never thought it would ever get this bad. As he looked around at the parking lot bathed in the flashing blue and red police lights, what little he had that passed as a conscience started to weigh on him. For the first time in his career as an agent, he started to question how much responsibility he shared for Allura's erratic and unhealthy behavior.