Pinky, Voltron & the Brain

A Crossover Literary Work of Shameless Fandom

By KittyLynne and The Bandit

A mere two hours after Lotor had been blown away, the Braintron Force found themselves filing out on the ceremonial balcony along with their human counterparts to greet the throngs that had gathered below the Castle of Lion's walls. Word of the Voltron Force's victory had spread quickly throughout the realm, and any citizens who lived less than two hours away from the Castle had come forth to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, and the fact that another day had passed by without them becoming RoBeast foot fodder.

After a mercifully short speech from Coran, the Voltron Force was introduced by a radiant Princess Allura, and the cheering intensified as each stepped forward to receive his accolades from the Arusian people. The Brain felt his eyes prickling with tears as he watched the crowd below pay joyful homage to their heroes, and leaned over to whisper to his cohort.

"Take note, Pinky, of how the members of Voltron Force accept the peasants' simpering admiration as their due while still remaining gracious and noble in their bearings! We shall acquit ourselves as favorably once we take over the Planet Earth."

"Of course we shall." Pinky replied, his eyes never leaving the stately form of the Princess who now was waving and smiling at her people. "But when will that be, Brain?"

The Brain blinked in surprise; Pinky speaking normally was still taking some getting used to. "Very soon, my friend! With the New and Improved Braintron Big Suit and technologically advanced weapons at our disposal, Mecha geeks everywhere will be eager to serve and worship us!" He gloated. "The time is coming in which an entire population will cheer just for us!"

At the very moment the Brain finished his declaration, the Princess of Arus raised a hand to hush the crowd. In clear, ringing tones, she proceeded to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of her bewhiskered backup team, with an extra special mention of the heroic feats of Captain John Brain and the courageous Antonio Banderas. As thunderous applause filled the air, Allura beckoned the rodent crew to step forward so that her people could thank them directly.

For a moment the mice, both foreign and domestic, were like tiny statues, their features frozen in a tableau of star struck, incredulous expressions at the realization that the Princess had bestowed such high honor upon creatures most humans regarded as vermin.

Pinky was the first to come to life.

"My goodness, Brain, your prediction has already come true! Why didn't you tell me you were a psychotic?"

Cheddar sent the Braintron Captain a curious look.

The Brain, still captivated by the cheering crowd, answered vaguely, "'Psychic', Pinky. The word you meant is 'psychic."

Pinky clapped a hand to the side of his head. "Astounding, Brain! So it is! And you can read my mind, too!"

The Brain sighed. "Pinky, reading your mind is the equivalent of watching endless reruns of 'Teletubbies' after drinking ten pots of coffee."

"I simply love the Teletubbies!" Pinky gushed. "Tinky Winky rhymes with my name!" He said to Cheddar, who simply smiled and shrugged.

The Brain covered his eyes with a paw, then simply sighed and turned to the rest of his crew. "Let's go Team! The Princess and our adoring public await us!"

And so it came to pass that Cheddar, Cheesy and the rest of the Space Mice, along with Antonio 'Pinky' Banderas and Captain John Brain, proudly strode forth on their hindquarters to stand at attention at the feet of Braintron.

The sun shone warmly upon their multicolored visages and cast a fabulous golden aura around the tricked out Big Suit, which had been placed upon a raised pedestal for the occasion. It would have presented quite an impressive picture if anyone on the ground had actually been able to see it. As it was, the throng below took their young Monarch's word that the tiny rodents and their flying Mouse-headed Spacesuit were standing somewhere on the pedestal, and therefore cheered wildly.

One by one the mice bowed deeply to the crowd, their tiny helmets tucked under their arms as they did so. When each had acknowledged the applause, they turned and saluted the pilots of the Voltron Force by placing their right fore paws across their chests.

The Brain couldn't help raising his paw gleefully into the air as he watched the Lion pilots return the salute, then start to enthusiastically applaud their support team. "There's nothing better than hearing the sounds of extremely raucous public adulation!" He exulted, then said in a quieter tone, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?"

Pinky nodded, looking serious. "I think so Brain, but there's no need to worry about the Princess being compromised- she didn't really see anything because Keith was wearing a towel." He paused. "Although why Keith would wear a towel to take a shower is a mystery, don't you think?"

The Brain looked bemused. "That wasn't what I was pondering! I was thinking as the future Ruler of Earth, perhaps I should have a balcony just like this- a place where the grateful rabble can come and worship me daily as I wave and smile."

"Oh my, that does sound grand, Brain."

"Then please remind me to add that to our What-To-Get -When-We-Take-Over-the-World list, Pinky."

"Righto, Brain! But do you think we can actually find a decent castle to live in?" Pinky asked, all the while watching how intensely Keith watched the Princess when Keith thought no one was watching.

"Well of course we will...although I doubt it will be as technologically advanced as this one. We're only into the twenty-first century." The Brain then frowned, hesitated- and then blurted, "all right, now you have me thinking! Why would Keith be wearing a towel in the shower?"

"Quite possibly because a good commander always covers his rear." Pinky replied, after a moment of consideration.

The Brain looked at his friend in surprise. "An excellent point, Pinky!"

Pinky grinned. "Why thank you, Brain! And I've just thought of something else-there's a ginormous castle I saw on TV in this kingdom in Florida, and I really don't think anyone is living in the place except a few princesses and Mikey the Mouse. He's jolly nice so even if he wouldn't part with the castle, I think he'd at least sell us a time-share..." The taller mouse's ears wiggled in delight. "Oh Brain, wouldn't it be fun to live next to a roller coaster and have silly-willy people in big headed animal suits dancing, and parading and singing cheerfully all day long and-"

"Well, Zippy Doo Da! I do believe the Princess is about to kiss Lance!" The Brain interrupted, wanting to nip his friend's rambling monologue in the bud.

"Oooh, marvelous! I shall see his funny little dance of rapture!" Pinky squeaked excitedly, but then sobered just as quickly after casting a glance at the Voltron Captain. "Although, it's very curious that Lance is getting a kiss this time. Poor, poor Captain Keith. He works hard and never gets a reward..."

The Brain glanced at the man in the red flight suit, taking in the tense posture and the pitifully wistful smile that was pasted to Keith's face as the Captain watched his best friend accept the kiss and do a spastic sort of jig.

"Why doesn't Keith ever speak up?" He asked Pinky suddenly. "He doesn't strike me as the shy type."

"Because he's a pilot and she's a Princess," Pinky replied with a sigh of regret. "Conventional wisdom forbids a pilot and the Princess to hook up. He thinks he's just not good enough, you see."

His friend snorted. "Keith may be thinking some silly things, but that's not one of them. The man's has a stellar career and he's an interplanetary hero. He's a leader, and I highly doubt that he would have lead the Voltron Force so effectively if he never went against conventional wisdom, or been able to give orders to Allura if he saw himself as inferior to her in any way!"

Pinky looked amazed. "Blimey, Brain! You're absolutely right!"

The Brain nodded sagely. "If you ask me, Captain Keith has used the 'a commoner can't hook up with royalty' trap as an excuse for inaction because he isn't sure how she feels about him, and wants to avoid the risk of personal rejection."

"Do you really think so Brain?" Pinky asked with trepidation. "I wonder..."

The two mice watched as Allura sent a smile and glance brimming with hope at Keith, who briefly returned the smile and then quickly looked away. As he did, Allura's cheerful expression quickly faded to one of intense frustration.

"You see? Look how unhappy the Princess looks." The Brain pointed out to Pinky. "And also observe, Pinky, that Captain Keith, for all his stellar leadership qualities, is singularly unobservant to the fact that what he desires most is his for the taking." He paused, then added, "Not that I intend to encourage any type of schmaltzy romantic drivel, mind you. But it's a pity he's letting a prime opportunity pass him by."

"The Princess and I were plotting ways to get him to give her a smoochie-woochie before the cat butted in," Pinky confided.

"Of course you were." The Brain said, with wry amusement. "And the result was?"

"She finally decided she was going to make the first move and ask him to kiss her."

"Inconceivable!" The Brain bellowed, startling the eavesdropping Cheddar family. "Why should she have to do that? Not only is the boy unobservant, he's daft! She's kind, courageous and beautiful, loves him to distraction, and she can, quite literally, give him the world...what more could a man ask for in a woman?"

The genius mouse paused to throw down his helmet, much to the astonishment of his crew. A speechless Pinky, staring with slack jawed surprise at his normally cynical friend, watched in stunned silence as The Brain looked to the heavens, shaking one tiny paw.

"HEY YOU! YES, YOU! WRITER PEOPLE!" He ranted, mostly in shouty caps to get attention. "There's a fine line between titillating romantic tension and the total inability to close the deal! If you can't resolve this, I will have to..." He paused, as if listening. "Fine, fine. You had a plan all along. Yes, yes. Then that is the way it will end."

The Space Mice backed quickly away and anxiously scanned the skies for falling foreign objects. Pinky remained frozen in place as The Brain jumped off the pedestal onto the balcony, following his grim-faced friend's every step and wiping away sweat and exhaling in relief as the big headed mouse marched over to Keith without incident.

The Captain, who had retreated to lean against the wall in the background behind the assembled group- presumably to sulk and brood- seemed lost in his thoughts. Pinky hoped that when he found them again, he'd be receptive to whatever The Brain had decided to say.

"So far, so good. Is it too much to even hope that they will allow this...? Writers understand their characters better than anyone, but they're such terrible teases." Pinky wrung his paws as he whispered to himself and Cheddar sidled over to him and emitted a few wry, empathetic squeaks. "I'd like to think so, Cheddar. And everyone loves a love story, no matter how silly and screwed up it might have gotten, right?"

Grinning, Cheddar nodded. He let out some quiet squeaks, and tugged on his tail suggestively.

Pinky went scarlet, covered his mouth with a paw, and then started to giggle hysterically. "No, Cheddar! I didn't mean that sort of screw...oh my...hee hee hee..." He hiccuped. "Oh dear...POIT!"

Standing apart from the others, Keith crossed his arms and surveyed the scene before him with brooding resignation, thinking for the umpteenth time that Lance had to have had an in with the powers that be. Flattery? Ritual sacrifice? Bribes? How else would he get kisses from Allura simply for showing up?

A sharp tug at the leg of his flight suit broke into the Captain's sulk and made him look down. The large, scowling, fierce visage looking up at him would have taken him aback, if it hadn't looked so ludicrous perched on a tiny little mouse body. His lips twitched.

The Brain put his front paws on his hips and intensified his glare, sensing the Captain was not taking him seriously before he had even begun. "A word with you, Captain, if you please." He demanded sternly.

Keith held back a chuckle as he replied, "What's on your mind, John? Oh wait-here, first let's get eye to eye."

He knelt, extending his hand. The Brain stepped into it with as much dignity as he could muster, and Keith stood and brought his passenger to a level where the misshapen mouse was looking him in the eyes. "Let me guess. Is it troubling you that Lotor and Hagar got away from you after what they did to Antonio?"

"That is quite troublesome, but no, actually it's-"

"I know! It's because we didn't form Voltron! I know you wanted to see how we do it-Pidge told me."

"I did wish to experience that, but that's not it-"

The Black Lion pilot snapped his fingers. "It's because Lance got a kiss from the Princess and you didn't! You feel hurt and left out. That's it, isn't it?" The Captain ran a hand through his lustrous but unmanageable hair. "Well, no need to feel slighted- you probably noticed the rest of us didn't get one either." He said, adding in a mutter, "and some of us have never gotten one."

The Brain gave Keith his most withering stare. At this instant in time, this clueless human had certainly more than earned it. "Captain, the way your mind works is about as clear as the workings of the electoral college are to any American."

"I have no clue as to what you're talking about."

"Precisely! So permit me to tell you- without interruption- exactly what is bothering me-"

"Something's bothering you, John?" Allura had sidled over, unnoticed, and now stood close beside Keith, her shoulder and arm almost brushing against his. He edged away, looking around for her guardians, but lo and behold, the balcony was now deserted except for the Braintron Force, and even the din of the assembly below was starting to fade away as the happy Arusians headed home. "Hey, where did everyone go?"

Allura sighed. It was if the tender words with which he had drawn her close during the heat of battle had never been spoken. Keith was again pushing her away; back and forth, close and away, up and down, it happened over and over, leaving her deeply disappointed...and feeling rather like a human yo-yo. "Everyone else went in to have some celebratory tea and cheesecake. I said I'd round you two up. But first...please do tell me what's wrong, John!"

"What's wrong?" The Brain snorted and waved a paw at the Captain's flushed face. "He's what's wrong!"

Allura gawked at The Brain. "Keith? What has he done?"

"Nothing! He's done nothing! And therein lies the crux of the problem!" The Brain declared. "I'll be blunt, Your Eminence. Ever since Antonio and I were brought to your domicile, we've watched two supposedly levelheaded and mature individuals moon and spoon around each other like a couple of pie-eye adolescents. Furtive glances...jealous glares...longing stares...it simply has to stop!"

Keith frowned. "I don't like your tone!"

"And I don't care, be cause I am fed up with all the sappy, gee-whiz I can't have the Princess because she's a Princess pouts I see every time you're near her!" The Brain ranted. He then turned his glare on Allura. "And you! Explain the logic in rewarding Smirky McJacket all the time with a kiss when you know that you'd much rather be giving one to the Captain? Or having him give you one?"

Allura opened her mouth, but nothing emerged but a strangled chirp.

"Huh." Keith said, blinking rapidly. "Smirky McJacket. Mind if I use that?"

"Whenever you like." The Brain said. "There are more where that came from-"

"Why would you think I wanted a kiss?" Allura half-shrieked the last word, making both Captains jump. "I hoped Antonio wouldn't-" She covered her eyes with a hand and let out a groan. "No. This is not how and where I wanted this to happen. I can't do this now- "

The Brain slapped his paw to his massive forehead. "Your Highness, allow me to assist you from the Fantasy to the Self-Help section in the Library of Your Life! First of all, Antonio has not betrayed your confidence, he has only tried to help!"

The Princess hung her head and looked abashed.

"Secondly, no one needs to say anything for the simple reason that everyone with eyes on this planet or others could see the two of you have 'a thing' for each other!"

Allura looked up with gasp. "Everyone?"

The Brain took a deep breath. "Yes, everyone. Well, okay...there are a couple of villains who may still be in denial, but be that as it may, will you please explain to me how two confident, risk taking people who go boldly into harm's way, who can face down Hagar's nastiest spells, go up against the vilest RoBeasts and think nothing of facing Lotor head on... still can't manage to do or say anything when it comes to telling that special someone that they care for them?"

Allura glanced at Keith, who was giving her an assessing look. She stared back, and he didn't look away.

"Voltron has admirers on the planet that I come from too...and if they can pick up on what's going on between you two, then it's obvious!" The Brain shook his cranium in disgust. "By the way, they can't understand what the holdup is either!"

At that, the Princess' hands flew to her cheeks to cover her perpetual blush. "B-but John, I don't understand...how would anyone on your planet know that I'm secretly in love with-" She stopped, flustered at how easily the revelation had almost escaped her. "With anyone," she amended weakly.

The Brain was startled; too late he realized his major slip up. ~Curses! I completely forgot that none of these people know that their lives are televised public record on Earth, or that many admirers have chronicled the adventures of the Voltron Force. How am I going to explain this one without ruining everything I have worked to achieve and without losing technology for the Big Suit?~

An overly large sweat drop formed at the back of his furred head, but mercifully, it seemed that Keith was more interested in what the Princess had to say. The Black Lion pilot had moved closer to her, his dark eyes intent upon her face as he spoke.

"With anyone? Sounds to me you do know who you secretly love."

"It's not a secret if everyone else knows." She retorted, pulling down one eyelid and sticking her tongue out at him. "It doesn't matter. What people think won't solve anything. I have it on good authority that this person won't tell me if he returned my love because of who I am, so..."

"And how does this authority know? Did they actually ask him?" Keith moved even closer, and the Brain was given a close and personal view of the Princess' throat and the motion of a nervous swallow.

"No." Allura's reply was very quiet, and a bit breathless as the Captain gently brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen over her face and tucked it behind her ear. "But I've tried to give hints, and he's made it clear through his actions that he's not interested."

Keith's hand cupped her cheek. Though the observing Brain was sure her heart had to be going double time, Allura held her ground, and even tilted her chin upward towards the Captain's.

It was then the Brain realized that he, a mere mouse, by virtue of the extreme close up and the size of his extraordinary noggin, was the sole impediment standing between two pairs of lips that an untold amount of people wanted to see locked together, and who would most certainly exact deadly retribution on his tiny rodent body if he blocked their view while it happened.

"Maybe he's just been an idiot?" The Captain said huskily, from behind The Brain's head. "How do you know unless you ask him yourself? You might be surprised at the answer."

The Brain knew he had to act. The falling anvil that had almost taken out Pidge would pale in comparison to the retribution of shippers being denied their fix. He was just getting ready to make a grab for another stray strand of the Princess' hair to swing to the safety of her shoulder, when Keith's hand dropped in elevation, and the mouse genius found himself staring into the valley between two pink and white covered hillocks.

The Brain froze in place and his mouth dropped open as he saw the hillocks swell, lower, and then start to rise and fall rapidly. So this was one of those K & A moments Pinky kept babbling about. Talk about getting an extreme close up! If things went the way it appeared they were going, even without the ire of the shippers as motivation, it was high time to bail out. The Royal cleavage, though assuredly and delightfully a soft and warm place, could still be a deadly place for a mouse if compressed too tightly.

He cleared his throat with a discreet cough. "Hello? A little help here?"

No answer, and the hillocks were getting closer. He resorted to jumping up and down and screaming bloody murder.

Keith gave a start, then looked down at his hand held passenger. "Oh jeez, John, forgot about you!"

"Obviously." The Brain stated dryly. "I've inserted the key, the rest is up to you. So if you'd be so kind to put me down now?"

Keith nodded. "Right!"

After he knelt and deposited The Brain safely on the ground, the Captain stood slowly and moved forward, leaving the smallest amount of space between himself and Allura that was possible without touching.

He gazed deeply into the azure depths of her eyes, saw the intense longing he knew was mirrored in his own and then took her hand.

Softly, reverently, he raised it to his mouth, and brushed his lips across her knuckles.

She shivered and blinked up at him, her expression dazed with happiness. "K-Keith?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"Um...I wanted to say that... in regards to... a-asking a certain someone if he ...uh...well-"

He laughed softly. "No need. I love you, Allura. I have from the moment I saw you."

"And I love you too...so much! Oh Keith!"

As the Princess threw her arms around her pilot's neck in a fierce hug which he returned, the Brain shuddered both at his narrow escape and at the excessive sappiness of the moment.

When Allura drew back, a brilliant smile had spread across her lovely features. "If there are no more secrets, prove it! Show me that you love me!"

Keith blinked, smiled indulgently. "But I just said the words... I love you, Allura! What more proof do you need?"

"Not for me!" She said, turning her head and winking out at the world behind him. "For them! They need more proof!"

Keith turned and looked out as well, a small smile playing around his lips. "All right... I suppose we do owe them a little more for keeping them in limbo for so long."

And so, right in front of a handful of mice, countless shippers who were breathless with anticipation and two omnipotent, smart ass writers, the Black Lion pilot took the Blue Lion pilot into his strong embrace and kissed her, softly and tenderly at first, and then with all of the bottled up passion that had been simmering inside him since he had first laid eyes on her.

As his mouth plundered the softness of hers, Allura moaned and matched his ardor, pressing herself against him in shameless abandon, while she ran her fingers through silky, sexy, raven-black hair. The Brain watched with a critical eye until Keith parted Allura's lips with a groan and a flick of his tongue, after which the mouse turned and scurried back to his team, a self-satisfied smirk pasted on his dour features.

Pinky and the rest of the Braintron crew greeted him with exuberant squeaks and a cheer. "Narf! Poit! ZORT! Brain, you did it!"

The Brain stared at his friend, and then shrugged. The vocal tic was back, but after facing a world without Pinky, it didn't seem nearly as annoying. "It was only a matter of time, my quixotic friend. I just jumped in and moved things along before the raging hormones kicked in, that's all." He replied modestly.

"Naaaarf. That's very nice of you Brain, but I really don't think that a bunch of moaning, destructive trollops would have helped them at all." Pinky informed him.

As the Brain sputtered, his sidekick glanced over at the entwined couple and gasped delightedly as he saw them sink to their knees. "Oh, they must have gotten tired of standing...and look, the Captain must be really getting warm because the Princess is helping him unzip his flight suit!"

The tall mouse yelled in protest when his Captain abruptly spun him around and herded him into the castle along with the equally indignant Space Mice.

"Why can't we stay and watch?" Pinky whined.

The Brain smirked as Cheddar and the other mice glared and gave him an emphatic 'thumbs down' gesture. "There are just some K & A moments that aren't for everyone," He told Pinky firmly. "That one is for ages eighteen and up."

Pinky pouted. "So unfair! Zort!"

"And besides, someone has to keep the rabble amused so Coran or Nanny won't wonder and send someone to look for Keith and Allura." The Brain added slyly.

"I will keep them entertained!'" Pinky vowed. "The Princess and Keith will have their big moment!"

The Brain glanced back at the entwined couple. The Princess' dress had slipped noticeably off her shoulders, and her hands looked as if they were engaged in some extra curricular activity beneath Keith's uniform. By all appearances, they were well on their way to having the ultimate big moment.

He turned back to Pinky. "Yes, that's the spirit! But for heaven's sake stay away from the honey nectar! I'm going to need a sober co-pilot for the trip back home!"

"Copy that Skipper! Over and out! That's a big 10-4-"

The Brain clapped his paws to his over-sized ears. "PINKY!"

His side-kick stopped in mid jig. "Yes Brain?"

"I'm the Captain, and you're my honorable number one. As such, it would please me if you conduct yourself with utmost decorum whilst we dine with our Arusian hosts."

"Quite right. So sorry." Pinky said, then drew himself to his full height and offered a dignified bow. "Shall we go to tea, O Captain my Captain?"

The Brain's scowl faded to a look of surprise that morphed into a reluctant but undeniable affection.

Reaching out, he firmly linked arms with his best friend, the one he loved, had almost lost and had been blessed to have been able to save.

"Yes, Mr. Antonio. We shall go to tea."

FIN

Next up: Pondering What I'm Pondering...aka the Epilogue