Of all of the memories that Allura kept close to her heart one of her most precious was sitting with her father in his throne room. She was not always allowed to be present, but every now and then, her father, against the wishes of her mother and nanny, of course, would allow her to sit just behind him as he addressed the concerns of his people. His argument was that if she was to learn to rule Arus, she must learn to feel empathy for them above all else. He did not disappoint. Allura watched her father be as fair and just as possible, even if his decisions confused her every now and then. He had been a true and good king for Arus.

Now, standing in the Great Hall, she felt her stomach turn sour as she gazed up at the current occupant of her father's chair. Lotor sat arrogantly, grinning down his nose at her. His mere presence tarnished the very ideals that her father had fought so hard to instill in her. She fought to control the shaking anger that was creeping through her body. She refused to let Lotor see how he affected her. It was almost too much to bear.

Instead, she focused on her current situation. Glancing around, saw two guards by the door, two at the bottom of the grand staircase where she stood, and two more guards on either side of Lotor. The odds were definitely not in her favor. She squared her shoulders. She would figure out a way to get rid of Lotor. She had to.

"Welcome home, Princess." Lotor's grin widened even more as he spoke.

She cringed again, but stood tall. "This is no longer my home, Lotor. Not as long as you sit on my father's throne."

"But it is my throne now, Allura. I am the King of Arus!" He paused to wrangle the excitement that was edging into his voice. "And you shall rule as my Queen."

"That will never be your throne!" she bit out. "That throne is reserved for a greater man than you."

Lotor narrowed his eyes at her. "You mean a man such as your illustrious commander?"

Allura lifted an eyebrow and smirked. "Keith has always been ten times the man that you will ever be."

"ENOUGH!" he bellowed then took a breath and lowered his voice. "Bring her to me."

From behind, she felt Deirdre nudge her.

"Not you." he glared at Deirdre. "Guards." He motioned for two of the soldiers to bring the princess forward.

Allura breathed evenly as she walked up the staircase towards him. The trek up the stairs had never seemed so long. As she got closer, with the soldiers still flanking her. Lotor began speaking to Deirdre.

"You are still alive." he said. "How did you manage that?"

Deirdre stood at attention. "I went after the pilot of the Red Lion, as you ordered, My King. I was overpowered, and he escaped with me in my own ship. We crashed on Arus as the Inferno blew up."

"And the pilot? What happened to him?"

Deirdre looked from Lotor to Allura, who now stood next to him, and back again. Then she allowed a small smile to escape her lips. "I killed him, My Liege."

Allura held her breath, silently praying that Lotor would believe Deirdre's blatant lie. The low hum of his internal laughter told her that Deirdre had succeeded.

"Good," Lotor said. "Well done. You have proven yourself quite useful. And I have a feeling that you will continue to do so."

Deirdre's jaw ticked and Allura could tell that she was on the verge of spitting in the monster's face. She swallowed hard. "My loyalties lie only with you, Excellence."

"Yes," he hissed. Then he turned back to Allura. "You see, Allura? Even your own friends have turned against you. Now, will you concede to my power?"

Allura dropped her eyes. "You have taken everything from me. The Voltron Force is gone. My family and friends are gone." She lifted her eyes to meet his. "I would rather die than to rule by your side."

Lotor got to his feet and faced her. "You wound me, Princess. But there is something that you have forgotten. Your own people." He leaned in close so that she could feel his hot breath on her face. "Are you willing to forsake all of your people for your antiquated ideals?"

"Hey, hey," Lance cooed as they arrived on the scene. "We didn't miss the party, did we?"

"Dummy up, Lance." Keith commanded as he quickly assessed the situation. The news from The Explorer had not been misleading. It was total chaos, and Keith was having trouble distinguishing who was fighting with who. The first thing he saw as they arrived to help was the robeast. The massive horned creature was not only going after the Vehicle Voltron team, but also seemed to be swatting down any Drule fighter that got in its way. At that particular moment, the Earthlings and the Drules were forced to work together against their common enemy. Then he saw the Drule flag ship.

As if reading his thoughts, Jeff chirped in his ear. "Zeppo. That's Zeppo's ship."

"Humph..." Rocky snorted. "Why am I not surprised that he's in the middle of this sorry mess?"

"He's probably working with Lotor to take over Arus." Keith commented. "They both know that Arus is the perfect stronghold for this part of the galaxy. Take Arus, and the rest of the planets will easily fall in line."

Hunk sneered. "Yeah, well, by the way that robeast is kicking the shit out of those Drule fighters, looks like Lotor does not plan on sharing his piece of the pie."

"Glad you guys could make it." Cliff commented as he took another shot at the robeast's head, but nearly getting sliced in two by one of the giant claws.

"Can we get this show on the road?" Lisa chimed in.

"Right." Keith said. "Jeff, take your team and go after those Drule fighters and Zeppo. We'll take the robeast."

"You sure, Keith? It might be easier to take it on together."

"Naw," Lance cut in. "Hagar's robeasts are our specialty."

Keith nodded. "Lance is right. We've got Wade, Zeppo, and Lotor all in one place. If we split up, we have a better chance of ending this."

"You got it." Jeff replied. "Come on, team."

Once Jeff and company were on their way, Keith turned his attention back to the robeast. "Alright, guys, let's make this quick. We still have a castle to take back."

"And a princess to save." Lance added.

Keith gritted his teeth. The one thing that had not left his thoughts since this whole thing began was Allura. She had gone after Lotor alone, and her fate was unknown. So many scenarios ran through his head, and none of them ended well. "Ready to form Voltron!"

From the bridge of his ship, Zeppo watched the five lions transform into the mighty robot, Voltron, and he began to feel his hold waning. He had been expecting to find The Explorer when he entered Arusian space, and he had prepared accordingly. His fighters had actually been doing quite well against the Vehicle Voltron team, especially with the Air Team gone. What he had not counted on was the damned robeast. Now he had the lions to deal with. Obviously, Lotor had lied about being in control of the lions, and now he had been double-crossed by the Prince of Doom as well. He would make sure that Lotor paid dearly for his deceit.

"Emperor Zeppo," called one of his soldiers. "The Vehicle Voltron team is moving into position to intercept us."

Zeppo closed his eyes for a brief moment as he contemplated his next actions. Two Voltrons and a robeast. He sighed. Sometimes, even a Drule emperor had to know when to cut his losses. "Get us out of here," he ordered.

"Okay," Keith said as Voltron rocketed toward the waiting robeast. "Let's see what this guy's got. Hunk...Sven...give it a go. Sting ray missiles."

The mouths of Yellow and Blue Lions yawned opened, firing missiles. The missiles made a direct hit and bounced off of the robeasts thick skin. In retaliation, the robeast swung his hands around releasing ten claws that flew at them like razor sharp daggers. Keith yanked on the controls pulling Voltron upward, effectively evading all but one. The claw pierced the side of Yellow Lion. Hunk cried out as an energy burst pulsed through the cockpit, then faded as quickly as it began.

"Hunk?" Sven called.

Hunk grimaced. "Yeah, I'm alright. If not a little crispy."

"Alright," Keith said. "Time for something different. Eye beams!"

Two beams of concentrated energy shot from Voltron's eyes, focused on the robeast. Before the beams could reach it, it countered with its own. The two horns on its head glowed red then bridged the energy together in a single ray, flinging it toward Voltron. The two beams met each struggling to overpower the other. The robeast's beam slowly pushed Voltron's back until it finally it struck the head, forcing Voltron backward.

"Damn," Lance said. "That thing's strong."

Realizing that Voltron could not stop the horn rays, the robeast gathered it's energy again and focused it at Voltron once more. Keith barely had time to dodge.

"Keith!" Sven called. "We have to do something about that horn!"

"Right!" Keith agreed. "Lion head attack!"

The heads of all four limbs detached and flew towards the robeast.

"Alright guys," Lance said, "this is going to take some coordination. Sven and Hunk, go in first to get his attention. Pidge, you and I go for the head."

"You got it!" Pidge said.

Sven and Hunk took off full speed at the robeast. As they neared, Hunk went left at its feet, while Sven veered towards its right shoulder. The robeast went for Sven swatting at him as he flew past. Then it saw Hunk and decided that Yellow was not going to get away. As Hunk passed it, the creature spun around to attack, leaving its back vulnerable.

"NOW!" Lance ordered.

Green and Red bolted for the head, Pidge to the left horn, Lance to the right. Before the robeast even knew what was happening, both lion heads snapped the horns in two. The creature bellowed, and Lance couldn't be sure if it was in pain or just really pissed off. He decided the latter when a huge claw came down on him, sending him into another spiral.

"Damn it!" he cried as he straightened out and avoided one more hit as he moved back towards Voltron. "I'm getting a little sick of being tossed around."

"Everyone reattach." Keith ordered. "Let's finish this." Once the heads were back in place, he wasted no time on his next order. "Form Blazing Sword!"

With the sword in hand, Voltron shot up into the air turned at an angle and moved at breakneck speed towards the robeast. With one feel swoop, the sword sliced the creature in two. All five pilots watched with satisfaction as the pieces fell to the earth below.

Keith sat back in his chair and let out a breath even as the adrenaline pumped through his veins. "Nice work, team."

" Nice?" Lance admonished. "That was wicked awesome!"

The rest of them cheered and whooped loudly. Even Keith could not hide the small smile that crept across his lips.

"Keith." Jeff's voice came over the comm.

"We're here, Jeff. How are things going on your end?"

There was a brief pause. "Zeppo got away. He turned and made a run for it as soon as he realized that the robeast was not on his side."

"Well, that's typical Drule behavior." Hunk commented.

While letting Zeppo get away was not Keith's first idea of success, having the Drule emperor and his fleet out of the way would simplify things greatly.

"Keith," Sven called to him. "I just received a message from Romelle. They are in position to take the castle from the ground."

The castle. Keith's thoughts went back to Allura. She was still in there with Lotor. "Okay, let's get down there and help. Jeff, can your team take out whatever fighters Lotor may have protecting the castle?"

"You got it, Keith."

Keith nodded and turned his attention back to his own team. "What do you say, boys? You ready to storm a castle?"

"Hell yes!" seemed to be the general consensus.

"Let's get going!"

Wade was enraged as he watched the battle from the bridge of The Explorer. How in the hell could things have taken such a turn? Once Lotor had the castle, everything should have fallen into place easily. Lotor had assured Wade that the pilots would be taken care of when he arrived. Then it was only a matter of using Vehicle Voltron to take out the Drule king. But the arrogant fool had overplayed his hand. The Lion Voltron force was obviously not dead. "Damn it!" he growled, banging his hands on the arm of the captain's chair.

Everything he had done up until that moment had been to keep the plan in place. He had ordered the hit on Graham, framed the Commander and his team for the murder, and even arranged for Lotor to escape. He had gone against every principle that he had at one time held in the highest regard, and made an unholy alliance with Zeppo and Lotor. For what? Zeppo, the damn coward, had fled, and Lotor was slowly losing all control he had over Arus.

Wade let out a slow breath and tried to put things into perspective. He was still in command at Garrison. That had to count for something. When this travesty was over, he would simply go back to Earth and regroup. Regardless of what happened to Lotor, Zeppo was still out there, which meant that the war could continue indefinitely. After all, that had been his whole plan all along. The last thing that he wanted was for the Drules to concede. The military budget would get cut, and Wade would simply fade into the background. He would not let that happen.

Wade templed his fingers and allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction as he watched Lion Voltron finish off the robeast. No matter what happened next, he would see to it that he came out on top. He might even receive special recognition by the Alliance for tracking down Lotor and saving Arus from certain doom. Yes, that's how he intended for it to play out.

"Go, go go!" Keith commanded the troops behind him. He stood aside as the armed men rushed passed him into the courtyard of the castle. The sounds of gun fire could be heard from within the walls.

They had met up with Romelle and her soldiers just outside the castle gates. He was not surprised that she had brought her best forces to help overthrow the Drules that had invaded Arus. What he had not expected was the number of Arusians that had left the safety of the caves to offer assistance. They were by no means trained soldiers, but Keith knew that they would lay down their lives for Arus and their princess.

Allura. Where in the castle could she be? She had told him long ago about the secret passages that ran throughout the castle. He also knew that nobody knew them better than she did. He hoped against hope that she had been able to keep herself off of Lotor's radar. He felt the familiar rage bubble up as he thought about the dark prince, as images from the Inferno clouded his mind. It had not been Allura in those images, but that didn't make the whole affair any less heinous. Deirdre had made the sacrifice, and Keith would be damned if he would let that sacrifice be in vain. He would find Lotor. He would be the one to finish the prince for good. There would be no chains this time. No second chances. No mercy. This time, Lotor would die.

"Hey," Lance grabbed his arm. "You still with us?"

Keith shook away the thoughts. "Yeah."

"Don't worry about her." Lance said knowingly, slapping his shoulder. "She was trained by the best. Us."

Keith nodded and turned as Romelle and Sven approached. "Is the courtyard clear?"

"All clear." Sven answered. "The troops have moved in to clear out the rest of Lotor's forces. It shouldn't be too long now."

"Good. You three take Pidge and Hunk, spread out and eliminate any threats."

Romelle and Sven nodded and turned to leave.

"What about you?" Lance asked, although he was pretty sure that he knew the answer.

Keith narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to find Lotor." Without explanation, he walked with purpose toward the open gates. He could feel Lance on his heels.

"Do you know where he is?"

"If I know Lotor as well as I think I do, he'll be in the throne room."

"Yeah, well, you better hope that you get to him before I do." Lance said, falling into step with him.

Keith was going to order him down, but only had to take one look at his friend's expression to know that it would be fruitless. Lance wore the pain and hatred of everything that Lotor had done etched on his face. And while he knew that Lance would never openly admit it, his vendetta was the same as his own. For Allura, for Deidre, and for Arus. Then and there, they made a silent pact. One of them was going to be leaving the throne room with Lotor's blood on his hands.

Allura stood rigid as she faced off against Lotor. "You know nothing about my people." She turned away from him.

Lotor snickered. "I know that they are your ultimate weakness." He moved closer until he was directly behind. Brushing her hair away from her ear, he leaned in. "Especially now that your precious commander is dead."

Allura held her breath. She wanted nothing more than to laugh in his face and tell him how wrong he really was. Keith was alive, and he was going to save her planet from the Drules tyrannical rule. But she couldn't. Not yet. For now, she had to continue to play along. She lowered her voice. "How can you be so cruel, Lotor?"

He grinned maniacally. "Because that's how you get what you want in the real world, My Princess."

She thought that he was going to say more, but he was interrupted when the blaster fire from outside rang out through the Great Hall.

"Your Majesty!" a voice from Lotor's comm called.

"WHAT?" he growled.

"Um, we have a situation, Sire." The man on the other end paused.

"Well? Spit it out!"

"The Voltron Force is alive, Your Majesty. They have destroyed the witch's robeast, and now they are attacking the castle."

Lotor felt the air being sucked out the room. The Voltron Force? Alive? It was not possible. The commander had been incapacitated and in chains when the ship had gone down. How could he have possibly escaped? Had Allura known all along? He spun her around to face him only to stare into the sly grin that had found her lips. No! NO! They could not have formed Voltron! The pilot of the Red Lion...was dead. Realization washed over him when he looked down at the bottom of the stairs where Deirdre still stood.

"YOU!" he shouted. "YOU DARE TO BETRAY ME? GUARDS!"

Before the guards to even attempt to obey, Deirdre brandished her assault rifle and, with six well placed bullets, took out all of Lotor's soldiers.

Lotor went numb as his brain struggled to process the events. Then, he felt it. The sudden searing pain. He glanced down to see the hilt and half the blade of a dagger sticking out of his side. And the hands. The hands that he knew was well as he knew his own. The hands that he had envisioned over and over again. Touching him. Caressing him. He looked up into Allura's eyes. There was no smirk in her expression, no hint of jest. In her face, he saw only pure hatred.

"You will never have my father's throne, Lotor." Allura watched the shock and awe flood Lotor's face, and it almost made her giddy. The feeling of his burning blood spilling over her hands gave her an strange feeling of being cleansed. Baptism. Her heart pounded in her chest. He was hers now. But she was not ready for it to be over. Not yet. She still had many things to say to him.

She edged the blade in a little further and leaned in close. "That is for my father and my mother," she said quietly. Then she pushed again on the hilt. "That is for Keith and all of my friends. And this," She took no care as she jammed the blade to the hilt into his side. "This is for Arus."

Lotor's eyes widened and then he coughed violently, spewing blood down the front of Allura's tunic. He dropped to his knees, grabbing her for support. She could only look down on him, feeling nothing, as she stepped out of his grasp. The life slowly faded from his eyes as he finally laid down and died.

Well, damn! Quite a bit of stuff going on this time around. This chapter was a real struggle to write, and I hope that everything was manageable from a reader's perspective, because writing it certainly gave me a headache more than once. Please let me know your thoughts. They are very important to helping me improve. Thanks for reading :)