KathDMD -I was on a roll that week, and had alot of fun writing that chapter. And i wanted to show more of Cinda's recovery. She's not done with Voltron. (And not done with Hunk either!) The creepy factor of the arc will escalate at the end of this chapter. It was a hurried chapter, since I smashed my hand with a hammer, and lost interest in writing this week. But hey, here it is. Enjoy
selena devargo - I know you're waiting for more Lysette. It's coming ;)
Author's Note -I started this chapter on fire with a plan. I ended it with a smashed hand, a heavy heart, and a rushed feeling. Regardless, i hope you like it.
Theme Music : "Final Masquerade" by Linkin Park
Disclaimer - Voltron and all associated characters are the property of WEP. Space Marshall Lenora Hawkins and associated characters are the property of KathDMD. Lieutenant Lysette Fabrere and associated characters are the property of selena devargo.
Episode 73 : "Forever Twyla"
"I can't believe what a gorgeous night it is!" Lisa said as she and the others walked down the sidewalk. She twirled around. "Maybe it's the fact that up until now we've been running ourselves ragged, but I don't seem to remember such great weather and such a calm night!"
"I have to admit, babe," Aidan replied, "it is a nice change of pace. I'm surprised Miss Workaholic over here is letting us do this!"
"Hey!" Kelly huffed. "We all need a break sometimes, right? And I am NOT a workaholic. I'm just passionate about my work."
"Passionate about forcing us to work our butts off!" Aidan said laughing.
"Alright, enough you two," Taye said. "Let's just enjoy this little break. We sure earned it."
"So where are we going?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah, Dalloway," David asked, "where the bloody hell you taking us?'
"Lis and I found this nice little bar downtown," he replied. "How this place survives all these robeast attacks is a mystery, but hey, good place to drown your troubles afterwards, eh?"
"The food there is actually pretty good," Lisa said.
"And the booze ain't bad either!" Aidan laughed. "They even got that nasty stuff the Viking gave us that one time."
"This should be interesting," Taye said.
"Hey Benton," David asked, "you ever get that motorbike of yours running?" Taye laughed.
"It's gone from being a side project to a near obsession!" he laughed. "I actually decided to modify the damn thing." The six walked into the bar, still chatting it up like old friends.
"So what kind of plan do you have cooking up this time?" General Dari said as she walked into the conference room. Twyla was carefully moving objects around a model map on the conference table. She waved for Dari to be silent as she focused intently, which only infuriated her. "Our troops are losing confidence in your ability to deliver results. I'm starting to doubt you as well to be honest." Twyla stopped and turned her head, shooting one of the nastiest glares at her.
"I understand the Derinja don't teach their children the meaning of the word SILENCE!" Twyla said, screaming the final word before slamming her fist on the table. She composed herself before she continued. "I have come up with a strategy that may even impress the great Lord Kanji!" Dari blinked.
"I highly doubt it," Dari replied angrily. Twyla grabbed one of the stones on the table and held it up in front of Dari.
"Do you see this?" she asked. Dari looked at it carefully.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's a replica of the leftover debris of your homeworld….Grand Deram," Twyla replied. "The remnants of your great and mighty leader."
"And what is the point of it?" Dari asked. Twyla placed it back on the table and began moving things around.
"The debris is in a constant state of flux," Twyla replied. "Held together by its own highly magnetic forces. With a little help, I plan to relocate one of these pieces to a location near Terra. The magnetic forces will throw off the rotation of the entire planet! Tides will change, cities will be swallowed up by oceans, earthquakes will rock the lands, and the planet will undergo perpetual twilight!' She began to laugh maniacally. "And with those forces under our control, not even Voltron will be able to stop us!"
"What about us?' Dari asked. "Won't it affect us as well if we get near it?"
"That's the beauty of my plan, General," she replied. "our new robeast is immune to the gravitational effects, which will allow it to easily destroy Terra!"
Professor Mizuki stood in the hangar, looking at the mechas. They stood there silent as he carefully ran scans and tests on the systems. He let out a sigh.
"I've been doing this for so long," he said to himself. "I never expected the threat to continue this long, or the attacks to escalate the way they have." He leaned over the console. "I'm glad the team is getting some much needed rest, but…" He let out a sigh. "I just don't have the energy I used to." He thought for a moment, then walked over to an adjoining console and picked up a phone receiver. After keying something into the console, the line began to ring.
"Hey," he said. He listened to the person on the other line intently. "I want to talk to you…but in person. I have a favor to ask…and I hope you'll say yes." He continued to listen, nodding in agreement. "Alright, I'll talk to you soon. You already know how to get here." He let out a small chuckle. "I've missed you too. It's good talking to you again." He hung up the phone and looked up once again at the three robots before him. As he walked over to the console to continue testing, the room began to shake.
"What is happening?" he said to himself. He ran into the control room and began doing a scan of the area. "This cannot be! Fault lines changing….the tectonic plates moving in an irregular manner….I hate to do this, but this has to be checked out." He went to the com.
The team sat together in a large booth, enjoying their food and talking.
"You're right, Dalloway," Taye said after swallowing a bite of his food. "The food is great."
"Have I ever steered you wrong?" Aidan asked. Kelly began to open her mouth. "Don't answer that." Lisa raised her glass.
"Let's toast," she said. "To good friends, great food, and to a well deserved night out." They clinked their glasses, but before they could drink, the room began to shake.
"Seven hells!" David shouted. They got up from the booth and looked around.
"Earthquake," Lisa said. "Is this normal?"
"Not here, love," David replied. Morgan nodded.
"There are no faults near or around the city," Morgan said. "We have to get back to the base."
"Agreed," Kelly replied. Aidan motioned to one of the bartenders.
"Hey!" he shouted, "Throw this on my tab!" Without missing a beat, the team ran out the door and into the street. They watched people panicking and running through the streets.
"It'll take forever to get there on foot!" Kelly shouted. Morgan spotted a motorcycle and grabbed David's hand, dragging him with her. She pushed the owner out of the way and started it up.
"Get on!" she shouted, and David got on the back. The bike sped off towards the base.
"She's one crazy blit," Aidan muttered. He turned to the others. "Come on! If we can make it back to your house, Benton, we can use Jet Gamma to fly to the base." They all took off running.
David and Morgan came running into the control room.
"We got here as quick as we could," she said. "What's going on, Professor?"
"There's unusual seismic activity," he said. "It's stopped for now, but I can't understand what's causing it. The epicenter is here." He pointed to a holographic map. "I need someone to investigate to see if there is any man-made disturbance around there that could be causing these tremors."
"We're on it, Professor," she replied. "Let's go." She motioned for David to follow her, and they both ran into the hangar and took off with Jet Beta.
"You see anything?" David asked.
"Nothing on the long range scans," she replied. "Can't really penetrate the surface though. It might be a good idea to go on foot." David landed Jet Beta near the entrance to a cave. They both climbed out and walked up to the entrance. "This is where the professor said the epicenter was."
"Let's see if we can find anything," he replied. They both went into the cave. Both pulled out flashlights and turned them on, looking carefully around the interior as they went. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary."
"Me either," Morgan said. "We should get abck to the professor." Suddenly, the ground shook again. "Another quake!" They took off running, but were stopped dead in their tracks when the entrance caved in. "We're trapped!" David activated his communicator.
"I can't get a signal," he said. "The rock can't be that bloody thick." They looked around. "Maybe there's another way out." They turned around and headed deeper through the cave.
Aidan and the others came running into the control room.
"Professor," Kelly asked, "What's going on?"
"Odd seismic activity," he replied. "I sent Morgan and David out to see where it came from. I thought maybe there was some explanation for the tremors from beneath the surface. But after that last quake, I was able to pinpoint something else." He gestured to the monitor, which displayed the nighttime sky. "Notice anything?"
"Looks like just after sunset," Lisa commented. "Why?"
"Check your watch," the professor said. She checked it.
"It's after midnight," she replied. It should be a lot darker."
"The rotation of the planet has stopped," he said. "The tides are becoming rough, and may destroy the city if we don't stop the cause of this. And there is the other part of this mystery." He zoomed in on something not in the sky, but just outside the planet's atmosphere, hovering in orbit.
"Is that some kind of asteroid?" Aidan asked.
"It's much worse," the professor replied. "If the scan is correct….it's a piece of Gran Deram."
"What?" Kelly asked. "But Gran Deram was destroyed by Voltron!"
"It was," he replied. "Somehow, a piece of it ended up in orbit, and the magnetic field has stopped Terra from rotating. We have to destroy it."
"Where is Morgan and David?" Kelly asked.
"They haven't reported in," he replied. "They're not responding to communication."
"We need to find them!" Kelly said. Aidan turned and looked her dead in the eye.
"We have to stop Deram first," he said. I'm as worried as you are, but if we don't stop that thing, it could tear the flacking planet up." Kelly breathed a sigh.
"Launch," she said. "I'll keep trying to reach out to them via the com."
"Let's go, guys," Aidan said, motioning for Taye and Lisa to follow. The three ran for the hangar.
"Rah frickin rah," Taye said mockingly as they left. Within minutes, Alpha and Gamma launched from the hangar and took off into the sky.
"So what's the plan, oh fearless leader?" Taye asked.
"Find the rock and do what we do best," he replied. "Punch the shit outta it."
"Sound plan," Taye replied. Suddenly, Gamma was hit by something.
"Lisa!" Aidan screamed as he turned Alpha around and headed for whatever hit them. Both crashed with a thud, skidding across a field just outside the city. When the dust settled, the thing got to its feet. As Aidan landed, he caught sight of it….a shiny new humanoid-like robeast.
"We're ok," Lisa shouted over the com. "Systems are jammed though. Trying to get it restarted."
"Alright you piece of space crap," Aidan shouted, "let's see what you're made of." The beast ran at Alpha, and the two locked up.
"We gotta help Aidan," Taye said. "How much longer before we're back online?"
"Thirty-six seconds," she replied.
"Thirty-Six seconds?" he asked. "That's enough time to slap a group of lions together!"
"Not funny, Benton!" Aidan shouted. The beast overpowered Alpha and sent him flying backwards. A ship hovered far above, out of range of the anomaly.
"Bend the graviton filed," Twyla commanded. "Send those little brats on a little joyride!" As Alpha got up, Aidan suddenly lost all control. It hovered in the air, then was sent flying backwards into the side of a cliff.
"What the flack?" he shouted.
"It's the rock!" Lisa shouted. "The Derinja are using that thing to magnetize us!"
"Do we have power?" Taye asked.
"We're back online," Lisa replied, "but it won't do us any good."
"Well we have to do something!" Taye shouted.
"Seems like the tunnel goes on forever," David said. "How the bloody hell do we even find out where we are?" Morgan suddenly took his communicator and pulled a pin out of her hair and began tinkering with it. "What're you doing?"
"Should have been paying attention in Geophysics 102, oh husband of mine," she replied. "I'm rewiring your communicator so that it sends a signal to penetrate the rock. It won't be useful to communicate to anyone, but I can tell how deep we're buried." Several sparks flew from it, then she pointed it at the ceiling and punched the send button. Several beeps came from it.
"What's it saying?" he asked.
"It's saying aim your blaster right there," she replied. He paused a moment, but never being one to ever doubt her, he pulled his blaster and fired with pinpoint accuracy. The rock exploded, revealing scorched wood.
"It's a floor!" he shouted.
"Lift me up," she said. "If I can punch a hole in it, we can climb out." He lifted her on his shoulders, and she hammered away at the wood, busting through it. She climbed through.
"What do you see?" he asked.
"It's the basement of an old church," she replied. "I see a rope. Here." She threw down the end of the rope, and tied the other end to a support beam. David climbed out of the cave, then looked around.
"This place sure stood the test of time," he commented.
"No time to lament," she replied. We have to get out of here and back to the base!" They ran out of the church and headed back towards the cave entrance where they left Jet Beta.
"If you have a plan," Lisa said, "I'm all ears."
"We need to catch that thing off guard before they can use that magnetic thing on us," Taye replied. "Why isn't the robeast affected? That things got tons of flacking metal?"
"We have full power," she said. "If you're gonna take it by surprise, now's the time." Taye hit the controls, and formed the gamma Sword. Gamma quickly got up as the beast was closing in on Alpha, and stabbed it from behind through its right shoulder.
"We got it!" Taye shouted. But their joy was short, and the blade slid back out, and Gamma was sucked high into the sky.
"Leave her alone!" Aidan shouted, forcing Alpha against the magnetic field to tackle the beast again. Gamma was then sent plummeting to earth again at high speed. Taye and Lisa screamed. The out of nowhere, they were caught by something that slowed their fall.
"Rackens!" Taye shouted. "Nice catch!"
"It's not over yet," David replied.
"The professor was able to come up with a device to stall the magnetic field," Morgan said. "But we need more power to maintain it."
"Then let's give it some power!" Aidan shouted. "Get ready to form Voltron!" He forced Alpha to its feet, and the three mechas flew into the air, splitting up. "Form feet and legs! Form arms and torso! And I'll form the head!" In Denjin Dimension, Voltron's eyes lit up with power as the field around them exploded.
"Direct the full power of the field at Voltron!" Twyla ordered, crazily running her fingers to her now frazzled white hair. "Smash it to pieces!"
"Get that thing running, Rackens!" Aidan shouted as the robeast ran at them and tackled them backwards.
"I'm trying!" Morgan replied. "One of the circuits is fused! I have to sever it!"
"Do it quick!" Aidan shouted. "I don't know how much we can hold off." Voltron let loose a right hand, punching the robeast off them. Voltron went to jump into the air, but the field was directed at them, and slammed them into the earth. The beast got up and headed their way. "Any time Rackens…."
"Almost got it…." Morgan said.
"Rackens…" Aidan said.
"Just another few seconds," she replied.
"Rackens!" Aidan shouted.
"Got it!" she shouted back.
"Form Blazing Sword!" Aidan shouted. The symbols for Alpha, Beta and Gamma appeared, the energy forming the sword in an instant. The beast was caught off guard, and Voltron impaled it as they got up. "Now let's finish it!" They sliced upwards as they took off, coming down for one final strike, slicing through it twice in quick succession. The remains of the robeast fell apart and dismantled.
"Now for the rock," Aidan shouted. "Space Dimension!" Voltron reconfigured, and the rocket on its back ignited, sending them hurtling towards the orbiting menace.
"No…." Twyla said softly, watching Voltron get closer and closer. "No…..no…NO!" Voltron plowed right through it, smashing it to pieces.
"Aidan!" Taye shouted. "A Drule ship!" Voltron opened fire with stingray missiles. Two hit one of the engines.
"GET US OUT OF HERE!" Twyla shouted in a rage, and the ship jumped to hyperspeed and vanished. Voltron hovered for a moment.
"We destroyed it, but is the debris a threat?" Aidan asked.
"The gravitational field of these particles is nominal," Morgan replied. "I do think once we get back to the base, we should discuss with Kelly about possibly going back to the remains of Deram and breaking it up."
"Another brilliant plan of yours failed," Dari said, looking into Twyla's eyes. Twyla looked at her with the psychotic look of a madwoman.
"I managed to get a consolation," she said in a calm voice….though the sadistic grin on her face did not comfort Dari in the slightest.
"Another Tremor?" Kelly shouted as the base shook.
"The anomaly was destroyed," the professor said. "But a final beam of energy caused the plates below the base to shift! Secions A through F are collapsing!"
"That's where we are!" Kelly shouted. They went to run, but the ground caved in from under them….
The three mechas landed outside the base, and as they exited, were horrified to see part of it in ruins. They ran to the rubble, and Taye was horrified.
"Kelly!" he shouted. He began to dig through the rubble, and managed to uncover a pocket that was safe from the implosion. He managed to pull out an unconscious Kelly, followed by an injured professor.
"The Derinja," Aidan said through gritted teeth. As the dust continued to settle, a single vehicle approached the scene. When it stopped, the team turned to look as its driver stepped out. As the professor got to his feet, he looked up and breathed a sigh of relief.
Jon walked into Lenora's office, and she immediately got to her feet.
"Any luck?" she asked.
"Lotor was there," he replied.
"Lotor?" she asked. "I wish I could say I was surprised."
"He had some insight into something that may have to do with your father's death," he replied. "Lotor spoke of an artifact…containing something powerful….and dangerous." He looked her in the eye. "Zarkon sent spies to Earth, thinking that the artifact was here…some ancient power that even he didn't understand. Lotor seems to believe that its possible one of them found the location of the artifact…something that may or may not have been in your father's possession."
"My father had nothing of value but his family," she said. "I can't imagine what…" It was then she heard it. The ticking in her head. Or maybe it wasn't in her head. Am I going mad? she thought. She reached down and opened the desk drawer, and slowly pulled out the watch. She went to actually open it, but the ticking was so loud that she instead shoved it into her uniform pocket. "Did you hear it?" she asked.
"Hear what?" he asked.
"The watch was ticking!" she said.
"I didn't hear a thing, mon ange," he replied.
"I heard it," someone said, a cloaked figure walking into the office, Lieutenant Fabrere close behind. "I wouldn't open it if I were you, Space Marshall."
"Lotor," she said. She looked over at Lysette.
"When he explained it to me," Lysette said, "I had to come. If the power in that thing is as bad as he says it is, it could destroy the entire galaxy." She walked up to her. "Your husband is right. There were multiple spies sent by Zarkon to find the watch. Bhed was one of the last. But there is one more. He's hid so well…but I have my ways of tracking down people I wanna find." Lenora pulled her weapons cache from the cabinet and latched it to her forearm.
"Then let the hunt begin," Lenora replied. "And once we find the spy, I want to know everything about this watch….why they never found it, and why it cost my father his life." They all left the room. Jon was reluctant to follow, but he realized the danger, and decided to follow Len.
"Approach with caution," one of the soldiers said as they approached the fractal. "Shuttle Occupant, please disembark immediately, and prepare to show identification!" The doors slowly opened, and a tall man, human in appearance stood before them. They all had their blasters trained on him. "Please present your identification!"
"Sir!" one of the others shouted. "I did a scan….and you're not gonna believe this."
"What is it?" the first asked.
"That man is Alrek Holgersson," he replied. "According to records….he's dead!"
"As are you," the man said with a smirk on his face. He unfolded his arms and waved them in front of him, extending them to the sides. As he did so, an unseen force sliced through ever last soldier, cutting them in half. Blood began to pool all around him, and his eyes, which had been glowing, began to take on a more slate blue color.
"What have I done," he said. He lowered his head, but when it came up again, his eyes glowed red with a sadistic grin on his face.
"The Earth will see….and know the power….of Syn," he said. He began to laugh maniacally as the lights surrounding the fractal burst and went out, turning the entire area pitch black.