WEP owns everything except the voices in my head. I just use their toys for my own purposes...
Sunshineleo - the nightmare has a couple of different interpretations, both figurative and literal, just depends on how you want to analyze the story...
Paulina Ann - ask for the battle, and you shall receive ;-)
Smithy - Will the prince get what he wants?
Forever4Blue - I hate when shows go to commercials as they get exciting. So glad you're enjoying the story so far...
Guest - I had some homework earlier in the week, hopefully the wait wasn't too long for you...
cubbieBlueMako - Ah... the moment of realization will come...
"Here come the lions. Launch the robeast, but remember - I want the princess alive!" snarls the white haired Prince of Doom. "The Blue Lion must be captured, not destroyed. I want the princess unharmed! The other infernal beasts, on the other hand, should be blown to bits!" Lotor paces in front of the forward display, watching as his soldiers rush to follow his orders.
Before he can complete another full circuit, the monster is released from the coffin ship and energized with a powerful ray. Bellowing in rage, the creature turns to face the lions that approach from below. As they close the distance, the scorpion shaped robot shoots a bright purple beam from the end of its tail. The lions scatter, barely avoiding the effects of the ray. Choosing to target the Red Lion, the monster opens its mouth and fires a volley of missiles at the charging cat. Lance pulls up on his control handle, narrowly escaping the impact.
Lance regains control and turns to face the creature again, while Pidge fires his own powerful beam weapon from the Green Lion's tail. He scores a hit on the scorpion's claw, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on the beast. The monster then turns and grabs for the Green Lion, managing to capture a hind leg in its large pinchers. Raising the claw in the air, the large arachnid swings the helpless cat around in circles. Inside his cockpit, Pidge screams as he holds on to his controls tightly in an effort to keep from being tossed about the command center.
Lance advances on the scorpion again in an attempt to free his teammate. Bringing his lion knife to bear, he attempts to sever the limb holding the Green Lion. Underestimating the speed of his opponent, Lance instead finds himself in a similar predicament to Pidge as he is captured and twirled through the air, his lion knife tumbling off into the distance.
Hunk launches his rotor missiles and manages to sever the creature's 'stinger' from the end of its tail. The distracted monster releases the two captive lions which fall limply to the ground.
"Nice shooting, Hunk!" Allura yells out as she sends forth a flood of water at the creature's damaged area, hoping to cause a short circuit before attempting to check on her downed teammates. "Lance, Pidge are you alright?"
"I'm a bit dizzy, but otherwise OK, Princess," comes the determined reply from the Green Lion.
"Yeah, me too, Princess. But remind me to ask Haggar for a refund of my ticket price. Doom's got to have the worst carnival rides anywhere!" Lance quips as he raises Red Lion into the air and rejoins the fight.
Before anyone can fire another volley at the enraged monster, it lunges again, this time aiming for the princess's Blue Lion. Catching her by the tail, it begins racing back to the command ship, dragging its prize along with it.
"Quick, free the princess!" Lance shouts as he chases the scorpion. "Lion Torch!" At his command, a blaze of fire spews forth from his lion's mouth towards the fleeing creature. The flames seem to have no effect on the armored beast.
"Rocket Grenades!" A series of spiked projectiles streak toward the creature, exploding on impact. As before, the monster doesn't even acknowledge the attack.
"Alright, let me try." Hunk's deep voice echoes through the communications link to the other lions. "Rip Claw!" The Yellow Lion extends its front left paw and takes aim at its target. Suddenly, its claws shoot forth from the rest of the paw creating a series of detonations as they hit the damaged tail of the creature. Finding herself suddenly free of the creature's hold, Allura turns the Blue Lion to face her recent captor before firing her eye beams in the monster's face. Pivoting quickly, she races back to rejoin her teammates.
"We're getting nowhere fast! We sure could use Voltron right about now…" Pidge frowns as he studies his control panel trying to find a weapon that can damage the robeast.
"Well, what are we waiting for then?"
Four gasps echo over the communication system in response to Keith's quietly groaned question.
"Skipper! You're back!" Pidge's voice is jubilant with excitement.
"About time you showed up, Keith. I was starting to think you didn't want to share in the fun!" quips the Red Lion pilot.
"Lance, you know me, I could never let you have all the glory…" There rough rasp of weary strain contrasts sharply to the amusement in Keith's voice.
"Keith! But how… I thought… "
"It's me, Princess. Save the questions for later. Right now, let's take care of business!"
"Good to have you back, Chief!"
"Good to be back Hunk."
"Ready to form Voltron!" Keith's voice rings throughout the lion command centers, though lacking much of the strength it normally carries. At his command, the five lions soar into formation.
"Activate Interlocks!" Five sets of control handles click gently as they are locked into their upright positions.
"Dynotherms Connected" Five keys reconfigure in their slots, accommodating the new conformation of the lion ships.
"Infracells Up!" As Keith watches, the lights glow in sequence on the control panel indicating the readiness of each component of the mighty robot.
"Megathrusters are Go!" Five consoles realign in order to provide access to additional switches and buttons.
"Let's go Voltron Force!" Five voices thunder in unison through the cockpits.
"Form Feet and Legs!" Blue and Yellow Lions bend and twist into Voltron's lower extremities as they slip onto Black Lion's rear paws.
"Form Arms and Body!" Red and Green Lions transform into powerful limbs and attach to Black Lion's shoulders.
"And I'll form… the Head!" Black Lion's jaws open wide to reveal the face of the mighty robot.
Deafening roars are emitted from each lion's mouth in confirmation of their successful assembly into Voltron.
"Alright team, let's make this quick! Form Blazing Sword!"
The heads of the Red and Green Lions, now serving as Voltron's hands, meet in front of the robot's chest touching briefly before separating to reveal a glowing blade forming between them.
"Fire Electroforce Cross!" A glowing symbol shoots from the insignia on the Voltron's broad chest and stuns the large scorpion. Before it can regain control, Voltron cleaves it in two with a powerful stoke of his sword. Keith allows the momentum of the swing to carry them safely away from the exploding robeast, and then righting the robot to watch the destruction.
Turning Voltron's head, Keith opens a line to the Doom battlecruiser. "Lotor, go home or you'll suffer the same fate as your monster." The robot points his mighty sword in the direction of the command ship.
"Captain, shouldn't you be in bed hugging your teddy bear? Or did a bad dream wake you up?" Lotor's tone is mocking as he glares through the monitor.
Allura gasps as the implied meaning of the prince's words becomes clear to her.
"You'll wish I was still in bed when I get through with you!" Keith hisses angrily.
Lotor scowls as he breaks the connection and orders his ship to return to Doom.
"OK team, let's disengage and head for home." Fatigue begins to creep into Keith's tone once more.
Arriving back in Castle Control, the team gathers around their leader. "Keith, I thought the doctor said he gave you enough sedatives to keep you out for another couple of hours. How'd you manage to get up and out of bed?" Lance eyes his friend in confusion.
"When the alarms went off, Doctor Gorma started monitoring the battle. When he realized that things weren't going well, he knew he had to take the risk and give me a stimulant so that we'd have Voltron."
"How are you feeling now, Keith?" Allura asks, reaching for his arm and searching his face.
"Tired, like I could sleep for a week, but my head is pounding." Grimacing, he reaches up and rubs his face with both hands before pressing his palms against his temples.
"Maybe we'd better get you back to the doctor." She starts to gently lead her captain into the hallway.
"No, Princess." Keith starts to shake his head, before realizing how badly it will affect his headache. He abruptly stops, closes his eyes, and swallows hard, before continuing quietly. "That's not necessary, I'm fine. I'll just go back to my room, take some aspirin, and try to sleep." He reopens his eyes slowly and tries to smile at her reassuringly.
Knowing that arguing with him will only make matters worse, she reluctantly nods. "OK. I'll send Chitter to check on you in a little while." She gives his arm a gentle squeeze and offers a small halfhearted grin as she removes her hand.
Keith gingerly shakes his head as he slowly makes his way from the room muttering something about having a mouse for a babysitter.