chapter 8: Stop! Hammer Time

Romelle scrambled over to the princess. "Allura! Are you alright?" she asked, offering a hand of assistance.

Allura winced and sucked air through her teeth. "Yes, I'll be fine." To Romelle's dismay, she did not accept her help. The princess pressed her weight onto her arms and quickly put her right foot on the ground. Using only her right leg, she stood, not putting any weight on the injured foot.

"Can you walk?" Romelle asked, laying a hand on her back.

Allura winced as she slowly tried to rotate her ankle. "Yes, I just need a tick."

Romelle hesitantly dropped her hand as Allura tested her ankle, easing her weight onto it slowly. She looked at Romelle and nodded. "I'll be able to walk."

Romelle grimaced at her but did not protest. Considering the fact that her armor would keep the ankle stable, walking might not pose much of a problem, but running or fighting would definitely be another story.

"Is anyone else hurt?" Allura asked, still not putting any weight on her foot.

"Nothing more than some sore muscles and a couple of bruises," said Hunk, massaging his neck.

"We need to get back to the Lions, and fast. Blidgor are great swimmers, and have been known to swim upstream even in the strongest of currents," Coran explained.

Romelle heaved a heavy sigh as a deep, irritated frown creased the sides of her mouth. "Of course they are."

Hunk cringed as a chill visibly shot up his spine. "Well, let's get out of here before that thing comes back."

The team gave a collective nod and started following Coran back into the jungle on the other side of the river. Allura, who was closest to the water, tried to take a step toward them but winced and faltered.

"Allura?" Romelle asked, turning to face the princess.

A faint gurgling sound came from behind the two Alteans just as she was about to answer. A huge, black, scaled hand shot out of the water and clutched onto the river bank. Allura spun around and readied her bayard. Another hand shot up and the reptilian monster dragged itself out of the river. It looked haggard and worn out, but the fire of death still burned in its cold, black eyes as it stared directly at Allura.

The blidgor roared and swiped its massive arm at Allura. She crouched and jumped to her left, narrowly dodging as she rolled onto the ground and propped herself up on her right knee. She then swung her whip at the monster's foot and the blue, glowing whip wrapped around the thick ankle. She pulled hard and the blidgor toppled over with a loud, rumbling thump.

"Go! I'll keep it distracted!" Allura shouted, keeping the whip taught.

"We're not leaving you!" Hunk and Romelle yelled at the same time.

"I'll catch up, I promise!"

"Allura!"

In an instant, the blidgor wrapped its long tail around her whip and yanked her down to the ground, smashing her face into the ground. It then grabbed her leg in its huge, clawed hand, which wrapped around her shin and calf. Romelle gasped, and tears streamed violently out of her eyes in horror as the monster swung Allura back and forth in a large arc, bashing her into the ground four times so hard that small craters were left in the roots before it chucked her into the jungle. She flew passed Romelle, her body sailing like a rag doll through the air and crashed through one, two, three, small trees before colliding into a wall of a tree that was much larger, easily twice as thick as Allura was tall. She slammed into the huge trunk and slid down, motionless.

Romelle screamed the princesses name so hard, her throat crackled just like Allura's bones.

Hunk needed nothing more. He immediately pulled out his blaster and aimed at the beast. Coran ran up behind him and pushed his blaster up, causing the shots he just fired to go off into the canopy.

Romelle stared horrified at Allura's body. Her limbs felt numb. Her heart had stopped. No. Her own heart was beating. But was Allura's? The two men exchanged heated words but everything sounded like it was underneath thick, muddy water. She felt trapped in that single tick for minutes? Hours? Days? Then Romelle blinked and when she opened her eyes again, a giant, black fist was hurtling towards her.

She jumped and rolled to the side. Suddenly her mind cleared. Panic and dread melted into burning fury and intense focus on this deadly beast. She was here. This was now. It didn't matter if the beast killed Allura or not. Romelle would fight with all her might to avenge her fallen Princess.

But she wasn't going to be stupid. Romelle knew she would need to avoid getting smashed or grabbed by the creature's huge hands if she was to find its weak point. What it had in brute strength, it lacked only slightly in speed. It was good Allura had started her on dodging, she was much more comfortable tumbling out of the way and maneuvering her body so that the giant fists narrowly missed her. She jumped and rolled a fifth time when the ground suddenly exploded on the other side of the creature. It whipped its head around to stare at Hunk, who had just shot.

"If I can't shoot it directly, I might as well distract it while you find an opening!"

Romelle nodded as Hunk continued his barrage at the ground around the monster. It thrashed its large, crocodilic head around and covered its face with its arms, shielding itself from the raining debris. After just a tick, it let out an irritated growl and lowered its hands. It was ready to charge at Hunk. Romelle took the opening. She dashed towards the beast and wound up the strongest uppercut she could muster, smashing square into the bottom jaw of the blidgor.

It staggered backwards, knocked into a bit of a daze from the punch.

"Whoa! Nice shot, Romelle!" Hunk almost laughed.

She glanced back at him and flashed a quick smile in thanks, then over at Allura, who still was not moving. Thankfully, Coran was there, keeping an eye on her, as was her fluffy friend, who was nuzzling the ochre-skinned Altean. The blidgor shook its head and retrained its vision back on Romelle.

She adjusted her fighting stance and locked on to the creature. Come and get me, vile beast! Romelle's blonde eyebrows laced together on her forehead and she wiped the thickening layer of condensation from her helmet. "Hunk!"

She didn't have to say anymore before he restarted his barrage. The monster didn't seem nearly as phased by it this time though and stood in place with its hands up by its face. A single sliver of red in the middle of its black eyes appeared. The red pupils danced, quivering with rage as it glared at Romelle. Its hands were raised, guarding its face as it stood there. It knew Hunk wasn't going to hit it. Queznik!

Romelle's eyes darted around looking for anything that might help. There had to be some way she could stop it. Before she had any more time to think, it charged at her, fists raised, ready to strike. It was faster, too fast, she couldn't dodge it. Without knowing whether or not she'd be smashed into oblivion, she lifted her arms and crossed them in front of her just as the massive fist collided into her guard.

Her knees bent under the pressure, but she didn't stumble. The blidgor pushed hard against her, but she would not budge. Ha! I don't think so! Romelle stepped to the side and swept her arms down and to the right, causing the animal to lose its balance for a second before she hooked the side of its jaw with her fist. Take that you overgrown lizard!

While Romelle and the blidgor exchanged powerful blows, Hunk gritted his teeth, frustrated because he felt like he couldn't do anything useful. "Coran! Any tips?" He called back to the man.

"So long as the skin doesn't break, the blidgor won't transform! If you had some sort of blunt force weapon, that would do the trick!"

Hunk glanced at his blaster. "Blunt force, huh?" It was definitely large enough. He might not be as strong as Romelle, but he had to try.

After blocking another punch, Romelle danced around the animal, jumping to the side and then sliding under it. He could see she was getting tired as her movements were just slightly slower than before. Or was the monster getting faster? Either way, that thing focused all its attention and energy on her; if Hunk came from the rear, he could take it by surprise and hopefully get a good hit in.

Hunk positioned himself behind the blidgor. Romelle had been going in a pattern and if he timed it just right…

Immediately after she slid underneath the animal again, it spun around and Hunk was right there, swinging his huge gun like a battering ram. Just as the bayard was about to collide into the blidgor's face, a blinding white light flashed from the weapon. The animal got blown backwards and landed hard on its back with a massive thud.

When the light diminished, a large, white hammer with yellow lining on its edges was left in Hunk's hands. The head was easily twice the size of Hunk's and was flat on both sides with a slender middle.

"Ohhh, yeah! Now we're talkin'!" Hunk smirked and readied his new weapon, firmly gripping the long handle.

Romelle sprang to her feet and stared, mouth agape at Hunk. There was no more time to marvel at his newfound strength, however. The monster got up and let out a roar so loud that Romelle could feel the ground beneath her feet quake, along with all of the organs inside her body. The muscles on the blidgor bulged as its scales seemed to shine brighter. Five-inch spikes sprang up from its head and continued all the way down its back and long tail.

"Uh oh. That can't be good," Hunk uttered.

Romelle stared wide-eyed at the beast and wiped her helmet again. "Nope! But that double team worked pretty well, didn't it?" she replied.

"You go right, I go left?"

Romelle nodded and brought her hands close to her face, tightening her guard. She heard Allura's voice in her head. "Stay calm, allow your body to move freely. The freer your movements, the faster, stronger, and more precise your strikes." Inhaling deeply through her nose, she released the muscles in her neck, allowing strength to flow through her body. It started at her head and went all the way down to her feet, grounding her solidly. This is for you, Allura.

The blidgor bounded towards them, swinging its massive arms at the two smaller beings. Romelle did a back handspring as the arm zoomed past her once before it immediately wound back for another strike. This time, she jumped high into the air, landed on the creature's large fist, then landed a solid upper kick to its chin. She noticed a small, bright purple stream of liquid running down its upper lip where the hammer collided into its face. Was that the reason it changed? Earlier, she had heard Coran saying something about transforming, although she had been rather distracted going fist to fist against the frighteningly powerful monster.

Hunk ducked under the blow and swung his huge hammer hard into the beast's muscled stomach. It roared in pain, but immediately recovered from both attacks, spinning around and knocking both of them off their feet with its barbed tail.

The two quickly reconvened and continued their tag-team assault on the animal, Hunk on one side and Romelle on the other. They had landed a few solid hits on it, but it didn't seem to affect the blidgor in the slightest. If anything, it was faster and more calculating with its counterstrikes after each blow it received. Romelle could now hardly keep up with the thing and Hunk was clearly getting tired.

Her lungs burned as she breathed heavily. She put everything she had into every punch, every kick, every doge as her muscles cried out in agony. Sweat dripped into her eyes, stinging as condensation formed on the outside of her helmet. She had to keep going though. Power through the pain. Allura was counting on her. That, and if she slipped up even the slightest, she was sure that monster would crush her where she fell.

The blidgor's fist came down hard on Romelle's arms. She tried to keep herself up, but her knees buckled and she collapsed onto her back. Before she knew it, it grabbed her leg and threw her at Hunk. She crashed into him, sending both of them into the large tree trunk.

Romelle's eyes were bleary with sweat. Water droplets warped her vision and made the huge, blackish green creature look even more menacing as it stomped towards them. No matter how hard she tried, her limbs wouldn't move. She was stuck, not by some vine or root, but her muscles were so tired she could hardly bring herself to move. She wasn't going to be able to defend herself any more.

No. This couldn't be how she died. Well, she supposed it could. It made a lot of sense. On a planet like this it was more of a miracle that she stayed alive this long. She searched the last of her energy reserves, unwilling to give up. Just get up! She begged her limbs to come to her aid, but they would not. Hunk must have been feeling something similar as he gasped for breath, unable to budge beneath her.

The blidgor got closer to them, baring its razor sharp teeth. No. Not yet. Please. Someone, help.

Just then, as if the universe had heard her silent plea, a huge green glob of liquid shot through the air and landed with a searing sizzle on the ground between them and the huge monster. The blidgor flinched backward and stopped growling. It turned its attention up, away from the paladin and apprentice, supposedly at whatever just shot that strange liquid.

A booming sound, loud as a rocket-engine thundered through the air and the trees shook violently. The blidogr's spikes immediately receded into its back and it scampered off, whimpering like a yupper pup.

Now that death was no longer imminent, Romelle felt the feeling returning to her limbs. After a brief moment of rest and silence, Romelle sat up gingerly, giving Hunk room to move as well. "What was that?" she asked.

Hunk put a hand on his head and cast his eyes up at the trees. "Whatever it was, I hope it's not coming aft

er us, next."

Chapter 8.2: So, a Kraken?

They walked for miles, Keith focused on little else but the smell burning his nostrils. He was vaguely aware of two pairs of feet behind him, scrambling to keep up with his brisk pace.

After what seemed like hours, a tug on Keith's shoulder pulled him out of his tunnel vision. He blinked, expanding his focus from the singular smell to everything else. The first thing he noticed were the beads of sweat running running in a continuous stream from his hair to his neck, followed by his hair, which was now drenched. Looking around, he noticed that they were in a part of the jungle that was dense with leaves, enormous ones that were twice his size.

Krolia spun him around, and he blinked, taking her in. It was so weird - in his tunnel vision mode, it was almost like she'd ceased to exist...he'd forgotten she was even there...and they were with someone else, weren't they…?

"Keith, you did an incredible job. We're only a couple miles away from the nest. I can take over now, okay?"

"I...what?"

"Smell something else to get your mind off the hunt. Something...oh! We can just take care of this now."

She turned over her shoulder. "Lance! Get over here."

Hasty footsteps, and…

There he was.

Lance. Lance.

"Hey, master tracker! You doing okay?" Lance asked, grinning and looking at him with...was that pride?

"Lance?...I...what…"

Krolia cut into Keith's rambling, which Keith was grateful for. He still wasn't entirely sure where he was or what he was doing there.

"He's a little disoriented, Lance. Nothing to worry about, it happens frequently when a Galra is interrupted from their hunt. He just needs to scent something else, to get his brain out of the hunt. I was thinking...Lance, in battle, Keith knows my scent like the back of his hand. He can smell if I'm panicked, if I'm in trouble...and when his Galra genes are activated, that multiplies tenfold. It's why we fight so well together. We can sense each other, smell each other. He'd be able to track me if I was lost on this planet without him."

Lance's eyes widened in understanding as Krolia continued. "This might seem strange, but I think you should let Keith scent you. It'll snap him out of his hunter mindset, giving him a little more clarity, and it will also undoubtedly help in your coming battles. Especially in this one, which I'm sure will be," she grimaced, "difficult, to say the least. It's, what do you humans say? Throwing a stone and killing a bird...no, two birds-"

"Killing two birds with one stone," Lance interrupted, eyes unfocused and staring at a spot behind Keith's right shoulder.

Krolia snapped her fingers. "Of course! Yes...look, Lance," she muttered, noticing his strange expression, "I understand it might be an uncomfortable proposition, so there's really no pressure to-"

"I'll do it."

Those beautiful blue eyes snapped to Keith's, and for some unknown reason, Keith felt himself smiling.

Lance returned the smile. "Get over here, man," he muttered, waving Keith over. The Black Paladin timidly left Krolia's side, taking the Cuban's extended arm.

Finally feeling coherent enough to form a sentence, he spoke. "Lance, are you sure?"

Blue eyes met his again, filled with certainty and trust. "Keith, you just led us seven miles across a jungle tracking a scent that even your mother couldn't smell. I couldn't be more proud of you." Keith's heart fluttered. "So yeah," Lance continued. "Be my guest. Dios knows I'll feel safer in battle now."

Keith nodded, and without further ado, bent to sniff at Lance's arm. The other boy was perfectly motionless above him, almost holding his breath until his work was finished. Keith inhaled, carefully, breathing him in, breathing past the sweat, down to the center of Lance's scent, to his very identity.

As he breathed, he noticed that his head felt more clear than it had the entire afternoon. He wasn't sure if he was pushing his luck, but he would say he felt...normal.

Well, as normal as he could feel whilst sniffing at his crush's arm.

"Okay Keith. You know what to do. That scent is not for the hunt. Commit the scent to memory. You'll need it later. When you're done, the first two scents you'll be able to smell in the jungle, when you even walk into any room, will be myself and Lance."

Keith straightened up, committing the scent to memory, and nodding.

"Yeah. I got it."

"Cooooooool," Lance's voice made him jump, and he knew that once again, his cheeks were probably tinged pink. "So," Lance crooned, "What do I smell like?"

Keith snorted and rolled his eyes. "That's not how it works. You don't smell like anything, you just...smell like you. It's your own unique smell. And nothing else smells like it."

Now it was Lance's turn to blush.

"Oh! That's cool! Super cool! Cool, coolcoolcoolcool. Cool beans!" he squeaked, nodding continually.

Keith shook his head. "Lance, out of all the creepy and weird stuff I've done this afternoon...please don't let that be what unravels you. Please?"

Lance shook his head with a laugh, placing a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith stiffened as Lance's scent abruptly invaded his nostrils, nearly making him sneeze.

"Unravel? Me? Please, Kogane, I'm not scared of you, remember?" Lance asked, reassuringly.

Keith nodded, taking care to keep eye contact with the other paladin as he spoke the words that still fell entirely short of everything he wanted to express.

"Thank you, Lance."

Krolia interrupted their moment as she loudly cleared her throat, moving beside them. "So, we're going to continue to the nest, and when we get there, we hide and scope out the nest and come up with a plan. No need to keep all that quiet over there - the spakerlin tend to shriek as they swarm around the Queen, so, it'll be a bit of a ruckus."

Lance and Keith both nodded in understanding. Krolia fixed both boys with a calculating look, before continuing in a much softer voice. "Are you two ready?"

Lance grinned, throwing an arm around Keith's shoulders. "We were born ready, Mama Kogane! Let's do this!"

Krolia nodded, relief flooding her face. "It's good that you have so much enthusiasm. You'll need it. Let's not waste another moment...we've got a long fight ahead of us."

They were off again, Keith happy to have Lance back by his side. Thanks to Lance, he didn't have to do much talking, listening to Lance make hushed conversation as he joked about himself and Keith becoming superheroes back on Earth. Keith was grateful that Lance seemed to understand how mentally and emotionally taxed he was, the Red Paladin taking the reins of the conversation into his own hands. The Black Paladin was overwhelmed by how comfortable Lance made him feel: like he could just be himself without hiding. Keith didn't have to think, didn't even have to reflect on all the nonsense from earlier. All he had to do was stay quiet and listen to the ravings of the boy next to him. And considering how much Keith loved listening to that voice, it wasn't hard.

Before he knew it, Krolia was holding out an arm to stop them, and Keith's time with Lance had come to an end.

They'd stopped before a large hill, Krolia gesturing for them to proceed in silence before they climbed. The farther up they climbed, the more Keith could tell they wouldn't have to be so quiet upon reaching the top. A noise, distant at first, rose into a cacophony as they reached the summit of the hill, and were finally able to look over.

Keith's jaw dropped.

Below them was a crater, swarmed by hundreds of spakerlin flying overhead in a confusing jumble of wings and noise, all vying for the attention of their Queen. The spakerlin flew nowhere in particular, setting down on the ground for a matter of seconds before screeching and propelling themselves skywards once more. Several spakerlin tangled themselves in the air as fights broke out, sending them spiralling downwards to the jungle floor with loud thuds. Many of the creatures seemed to be having territory disputes, snapping and clawing at each other as they vied for space, the crater not big enough for all of them.

In the center of the pit lay a gargantuan beast, body submerged in the soil save for the tentacles that writhed above ground, As Keith watched, the tentacles parted to reveal a mouth as the spakerlin dropped food for their Queen. Keith gaped at the things mouth. It was a large, circular hole, jagged teeth spiralling down into the belly of the creature. As more food was dropped, Keith noticed the beasts mouth constrict, undoubtedly shredding the food that entered. The thing seemed content to just be buried and fed - it didn't even flinch as a group of feuding spakerlin plummeted right into its mouth, eaten immediately.

Keith shuddered. It was like a giant garbage disposal.

A glint on the other side of the crater caught Keith's eye, and he squinted through the flock of spakerlin to make it out. He knew it had been metal of some sort that had caught the light-

There was a brief break in spakerlin traffic, and Keith saw what he could only describe as a garbage dump. Mounds of discarded junk lay in a heap, and Keith knew that somewhere in that mess was his helmet.

They were so close to getting it back.

But so far.

Krolia was the first to speak, and Keith was grateful to tear his eyes away from the horrific view.

"They're loud enough that we can talk right here and the stupid creatures won't be able to hear us. They've got no idea that we're here. We just need to stay low and come up with a plan."

Keith nodded. "We just need to figure out what we're doing about all those spakerlin. And I assume we'll need to kill the Queen?"

Krolia nodded. "It won't let us anywhere near its treasure. Not while it's alive. I know we're all tired, but it needs to be killed if we want to get this helmet back."

Keith was about to speak in agreement, when Lance giggled. It was a strange sound that completely contrasted the mood of the moment. Keith found himself turning to the other paladin with a frown.

Oh no. We broke him.

Lance was looking over the hill, a strange look in his eyes as he drank in the scene below him.

Keith bit his lip and approached cautiously, laying a hand on the Red Paladin's shoulder.

"Hey, Lance? You listening?"

"Look at it, Keith."

Keith blinked. Yep. Lance had finally cracked.

"Uhhhh...I did look at it, Lance. What's up?"

Lance shook his head frantically, reaching a hand up to push Keith's face away so that his worried gaze was no longer on Lance, but back on the beast.

"No, Keith, really look. What does that thing look like to you?" he asked, voice buzzing with...was that excitement?

Keith blinked. What on Earth was Lance getting at?

The boy in question groaned in his ear.

"Oh come on, Keith! Davy Jones?! 'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum'? Are you SERIOUS? Do I really have to keep going?"

Why on EARTH is he going on about...PIRATES!

It hit him hard.

"Oh quiznak," he whispered, the same awe and excitement that colored Lance's tone now filling his own voice.

Lance grinned at him. "Keith. Keith. Holy quiznak, Keith...that's the Kraken. Do you realize what this means?" Lance grabbed him by the shoulders forcing Keith, now stunned with excitement, to meet his eyes.

"We're gonna kill the Kraken."

Keith blinked, smile spreading to match Lance's. "Holy quiznak. Lance. We're gonna kill the Kraken."

The moment was dampened by Krolia's gruff voice, slicing through their excitement like a knife.

"I don't know what this 'Kraken' is, but that is not what that," she pointed to the beast below them, "Is. That is a Taunting Spakern, the Queen of the Spakerlin. It lives under the jungle floor, using the dirt to cover itself, opening its tentacles during feeding time. It can devour anything. It's got a giant mouth in the center of all its tentacles, and inside that...rows and rows of jagged teeth that descend into its stomach. It is a formidable foe and it will be a great challenge to kill, so I suggest the two of you take this as seriously as possible."

Keith glanced at Lance, who was nodding, eyebrows scrunched in what appeared to be understanding. Then he spoke, and Keith did his best not to snort with laughter.

"So...it's the Kraken."

Krolia slapped a hand to her face, an action Keith had never seen from her before.

Keith couldn't stop himself from butting in. "Mom, the Kraken is this Earth beast from all these myths and to be fair...I don't know, the way you described it-"

"Fine, okay? Call it whatever you want!" she growled, throwing her hands up in the air.

Lance blinked at the outburst, face blank for a second, before finding Keith's eyes and coming back to life.

"Keith. Keith! Keith and Lance, fire and ice, the dynamic duo, back at it again...we're gonna kill the Kraken!" he yelped, bouncing slightly as he squeezed both of Keith's shoulders.

"HOLY QUIZNAK, WE'RE GONNA KILL THE KRAKEN!" Keith repeated, letting Lance pull him up and down so that they were bouncing around like children. No matter how many times either of them said it…

This is surreal!

A tired and pointed sigh escaped his mother as her fingers once again resumed their positions at the bridge of her nose. "You two are gonna be the death of me, you know that?"

Lance grinned at her, pulling Keith to his side and once more throwing an arm over his shoulder. "Nah, you love it!"

"I do not."