A/N: I know this is a long chapter. Also, you will not get any updates next week since I have four back to back exams all week. Hope you all have a great week! Please Comment and Review! Love ya!
Season 2 Episode 4: Greening the Cube
Linna sits on the middle circle as everyone stands around her, silently. She looks up towards Allura and Coran. She is waiting for someone to speak or something.
"So..." Lance speaks for a moment. "You're Altean."
"Yes." Linna answers him with a weird voice to her. "We have already figured that out."
"Well, yeah. But we have only met Allura and Coran. Not another Altean."
"Your the Blue Lion Paladin, aren't you?" Linna states with a sigh in her voice.
"How did you know?" Lance raises his voice to her as he stares at her.
"Your personality." Linna answers him as she looks over towards Allura. "What is it?"
Allura looks towards her as she sighs before speaking, "How are you here? I thought you died with everyone else. Coran and I thought we were the only Altean's left."
"It's been 10,000 years Linna. What happened with you and King Alfor after I went to sleep?" Coran states to Linna after Allura stops talking.
"What?" Allura stares at Coran after he states that before turning back to Linna. "You were with Father?"
"Yes," Linna answers Allura with a shrug to her. "I had to make sure the Lions were sent out. I also had to make sure that the Black lion was protected before the castle was sent away."
"But you couldn't have been alive for the last 10,000 years, can you?" Pidge wonders to Linna as she points out the years that have pasted.
"I went to the sleeping pods after we landed on another planet. I just woke up four Earth years ago." Linna explains to them. "So now I think I am older than Allura or something like that. I am not really sure at this point."
"Wait!" Pidge butts in before anyone else can talk. "You know we are from Earth?"
"Well of course. I was on Earth about a year or two ago. Why?" Linna tilts her head towards them with a confused look on her face.
"How is it?" Lance yells in excitement towards her.
"Fine..." Linna tells him with a stutter in response. "It is just like it was the last time I went there."
"You were there before?" Keith wonders to her now.
"Yeah." Linna says to him in reply. "I was there to check on the Blue lion. Alfor gave me the map to the lions since he wanted me to wake up a little earlier than Coran and Allura. He wanted me to make sure they were okay. I also needed to gather more information on the Galra."
"When did he do all of this?" Coran states in shock and panic. "I don't remember this being the plan. Well, there really wasn't a plan now that I think about it."
"Of course there wasn't a plan, Coran. He just wanted to make sure that you both were alright." Linna giggles a little at Coran's reaction.
"So why didn't you go back to the Castle after checking on the lions?" Allura wonders to Linna now. "We were there for a while before leaving. Why did you never come back until now?"
Linna stops for a moment and places her hand over her heart. She lowers her eyes to the floor for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking at Allura.
"The Castle was somewhere else before you woke up. It moved after I left with a pod to go to Earth. I couldn't sense the lions or the castle until I think you guys got stuck in a worm loop or something? The lions got scattered again, and I was able to sense the Green lion for a moment to figure out the general area of where you were." Linna informs them as she glances over towards Pidge. "That was really smart of you to use the Green lions energy to make a signal by the way."
"Thanks." Pidge says in return with a smile on her face.
"That's amazing. You were able to sense that even though you are not the Green lions paladin." Shiro states back to Linna as he looks at her with shock.
"The lions are amazing creatures with a great connection with their paladins. They share a similar bond with me because I helped a little with their creation." Linna replies to him with a smile. "You all will be able to do that soon once you connect deeper with your lions."
"Wait! You created the lions, but I thought King Alfor made them?" Hunk wonders to the group of what Linna said.
"Linna is the actual creator of the lions. King Alfor did help her, but she is the main creator." Coran answers Hunk as he massages his mustache while speaking.
"Don't give me all the credit." Linna chuckles a little. "I just thought it was beautiful to watch and see." Linna stops for a moment as she remembers the first time she met King Alfor but that is for another day. "Anyway," Linna slowly gets up from her sit as she stretches her arms in the air. "You need to go fix the castle after that battle we had. I know the shield needs to be checked out."
"You're right." Coran says with excitement. "That's what the paladins can do for us."
"What?" They all say except for Pidge.
"Cool..." Pidge says instead with excitement.
"You must love our tech?" Linna answer to her reply to Coran.
"It is amazing! I can't believe a civilization from 10,000 years ago had this advanced technology!" Pidge informs Linna of her excitement of Altean technology.
"You sound like me when I was younger." Linna whispers with a sigh as she looks towards the crystal above them.
Coran begins telling the Paladins of what they need to do while Allura walks over towards Linna. They both look at the crystal for a moment as Allura placing her arm on Linna's shoulder.
"It's a different crystal." Allura states to her as she walks on her platform.
"I noticed." Linna replies as she steps on as well. "Do you remember when we did a wormhole without Alfor's permission?"
"You were sent to the hospital for a week while I was ordered never to do that again." Allura giggles at Linna at the thought of that memory.
"I remember. We combined both of our Altean genes into the teludav. It worked really well except that it took all of my energy and none of yours." Linna stares into the crystal again. "It was a great time."
"It was..." Allura states with a sigh. "I really missed you, Linna."
"I missed you too." Linna says in return as they hold onto each other with a hug before Coran pretend coughs to get their attention.
"Yes?" Allura asks as they both release their hug. "What is it?"
"The paladins were wondering if Linna would like to go out with them to fix the repairs?" Coran answers with a question in return.
"Um..." Linna looks over each of the paladins before answering. "Sure, but I am not helping. I will just watch."
"Cool!" Pidge answers as she grabs Linna by the arm and they run out the door to put on their suits.
"Well, I think Pidge found a new friend." Shiro states with a chuckle as the rest of the team heads that way.
Outside the Castle of Lions:
"Let's hurry up with these repairs. Zarkon could be here at any moment." Shiro tells the team as they lift the panel up.
"Okay, panel's off. Now, what?" Hunk says into their mics.
"Very simple. Just loosen the blaxums on the somoflange." Coran states through the mic like the paladins know what he is talking about.
Everyone stares at the panel very blankly before glancing over to Linna, standing there with her arms crossed. She holds her breath, trying not to laugh at their expressions.
"I am just watching, remember." She states back to them with a smirk.
Hunk looks at the rest of the team before speaking again, "Could you be more specific?"
"Sorry, Hunk, he means the poklones on the agroclams." Allura answers back as Linna begins laughing like crazy now.
"No, that doesn't help." Hunk replies to them.
"Easy, Hunk. I got this." Lance moves Hunk to the side as he looks at the panel.
Linna stops laughing because she knows that this is not going to end well. She stares at Lance as he begins to press everything, but what Allura and Coran just told them. Suddenly, the panel begins to turn a glowing red light with a loud blaring alarm. Linna watches as the whole castle lights with the red color.
"Uh-oh. That can't be good." Lance says with panic in his voice.
"You think!" Linna says in return to him.
"No, not the smalters, the poklones!" Allura yells at him through the alarm noise.
"No, no! It's the blazums!" Coran says in return with panic in his voice. "Linna fix it!"
"Nope."
"Why not?" Coran says to her in panic.
"What are you talking about?" Keith yells pass them through his mic.
Linna watches as Pidge floats closer to the panel. She stares at it with determination in her eyes. Linna smirks at her before Pidge presses the correct sequence for the panel. Linna chuckles a little before shaking her head in amazement.
"There. Fixed."
"Well done, Pidge!" Allura says to her in excitement.
"The tech on this ship never ceases to amaze me. It's so mathematically elegant. Its fit is a 100 times more friction-less than any exoskeleton we have on Earth. It's... beautiful." Pidge says with stars shining in her eyes of amazement.
"It's not a sunset, Pidge." Lance answers in return with disappointment.
"You're right. A billion sunsets just happen every day." Pidge states to Lance with sarcasm in her voice as she continues talking, "Some genius engineer actually built this."
"Kinda looks like a big, delicious curly fry." Hunk says with some drool hanging down his mouth.
"You must enjoy food." Linna answers to him in return to his remark of the description to the panel.
"I don't enjoy it. I love it!" Hunk replies to her with a smile.
A few seconds past and Linna watches a blue glowing ball hit Hunk in the face. She looks over in the direction it came from to see Lance getting ready to throw another one.
"What the..." Hunk says after the impact.
Shiro looks around as more approach them. No one has noticed that Lance is the one that hit Hunk not the random ones approaching them. Linna shakes her head at the paladins as they stare at the objects with wonder. She glances at them before realizing what they are. She slowly grabs one and stares at it both Shiro begins to speak.
"All right, we're prepared for this." Shiro says as he reveals his shield on his arm. "Remember your rogue projectile cluster training from the Garrison."
Keith pulls his shield up as Lance takes a hold of one of the balls. Linna glances at Lance while shaking her head at him. She turns back to Shiro as he continues to talk.
"First, we need a temporary shelter." Shiro states before Lance throws the ball right into the back of Shiro's head. "What?"
Linna laughs so hard while Lance just smiles at his leader. Shiro turns around to Lance with disappointment in his voice before Lance starts laughing while speaking to him.
"Oh sorry, Shiro. I was trying to hit Keith."
Linna watches as Keith throws a ball right at Lance's face and it hits perfectly. Lance growls at Keith as he stares at him with an angry look in his face expression. Keith and Shiro smirk at his anger.
Keith chuckles before saying in return, "Like that?"
Hunk giggles with excitement as he grabs two of them in his hands and jumps in the middle of the group. He yells with a huge grin on his face, "Yes! Squishy asteroid fight!"
Linna laughs at the paladins as four out of the five charge at each other with the spores. She watches Lance hide behind Hunk as he targets Keith. Linna just shakes her head at them before looking over at Pidge who has not joined in the battle.
"All right, guys." Shiro starts before getting fired upon by six spores at once. "Oh, oh! Okay, not, its on!"
Pidge takes a hold of one of the spores as she examines it. Linna notices the knowledge and intelligence that Pidge has in her. She smiles at the brains within that small little girl.
"I don't think these are asteroids." Pidge says to the group. "Coran, I'm going to need a containment unit."
"Just a tick." Coran says over the mics.
"They appear to be some sort of hyper-resilient spore." Allura states to the group.
"This bio-luminescent pulsing doesn't seem natural. It appears programmed. I think it's a code." Pidge states to the group as she places the spore into the containment unit.
"A code? From Who?" Hunk wonders as he takes his eyes off the battle, giving Keith a chance to hit him in the face.
"I don't know." Pidge says as she stares at the spore. "I mean it makes no sense. You can't program a spore." Pidge looks over to Linna now. "Can you?"
"I know a planet that can. But I am going to let you figure it out yourself." Linna replies to her with a smile.
"If anyone can figure it out, it's you, Pidge." Shiro states before getting slammed in the face by Lance's throw.
"You guys are so funny." Linna states to them as she giggles with excitement. "This is great!"
"Before that, everyone needs to come in for decontamination." Allura states to the group as Linna stops laughing.
"But I hate decontamination!" Linna whines into the mic.
"I don't care! It is going to happen!" Allura answers to her in return.
"If I get flown out of the ship again, you are the one that is coming to get me." Linna says in reply that leaves all the paladins looking at her with wonder.
"What do you mean by that?" Lance asks her as they enter the decontamination chamber.
"You'll see." Linna says as she stands with her arms crossed just like Keith.
The decontamination begins and all you hear is Hunk giggling and laughing through the whole thing. Linna hides behind Shiro after they were floating in water. Pidge looks at Linna for a moment before the winds speed quickly pass their faces. Linna and Pidge try to hold on, but after a moment they end up slamming into the wall together.
"Ah!" Linna and Pidge scream before hitting the wall.
The light finally changes to green when Pidge and Linna fall towards the floor. They look at the rest of the group before looking at each other with anger.
"That is why I hate the decontamination room." Linna states to them as she gets up and walks out of the room with Pidge close behind her.
A Few hours later:
"Linna, what are you doing?" Allura asks as she walks over to Linna sitting in Shiro's chair.
"Watching Coran roam the halls." Linna states to her as she points to the screen where Coran is about to open Keith's door.
"Keith, did you happen to see a mouse come through here?" Coran states over the screen as he searches through the room. "He has something of mine."
"Uh... no." Keith's voice comes through the screens.
Allura looks down in Linna's lap to see the thing that Coran is looking for. She crosses her arms before shaking her head with a smile on her face.
"You did it again."
"I couldn't help myself." Linna replies as they watch Keith and Coran stop in front of Lance's room.
"Oh, I think you'd know if the Galra were there." Coran turns around to answer Keith's question.
"The Blue lion was there. Did a Galra pilot the Blue lion, too?" Keith wonders to Coran before the doors open to Lance and his full face mask.
"What is he wearing!" Linna cracks up laughing at Lance's outfit and face cream mask.
"I really don't know!" Allura states to her as they die laughing their heads off.
Linna watches as they both talk to each other. She notices something in the two of them. She wonders if she is just pretending it is between them. She listens as Lance speaks again to Keith.
"The Blue lion's with me and we're very happy together! Very happy!" Lance tells him as the door shuts in front of him.
Suddenly, Pidge's voice comes through on the intercoms, "Guys! Check this out!"
Linna and Allura dart towards the Green lion's hangar. They walk into the room where Lance is back to being his normal clothes. Linna looks over towards Allura before they begin laughing again. Lance, Keith, and Coran just look at the two of them, wondering what they are laughing about.
"Nice outfit Lance." Linna just says before Hunk begins talking to the group as he stares at the spore with Lance by his side.
"Oh, oh! I've seen this experiment. But, question: Why do we need to get electricity from a potato?"
"What? No, no. I was able to crack the "sporse code." Pidge answers him with a chuckle at the end of his sentence. "I ran the bio-luminescent pattern through a variety of code-breaking sequences, including this homemade virtual Turing machine. Of course, I had to make a few tweaks to the original design, because, obviously, there have been several advancements since he designed it. Although, you have to admit, Turing was a shining light in the world of science in an age when far too many were still..."
"Pidge." Keith states with a little annoyance in his voice. "What does it say?"
"Oh, yeah." Pidge says as she gets back to the spore. "Under attack. Galra. Help." Pidge turns back to the paladins again. "And then, there are coordinates."
"It's a distress signal. Good work, Pidge." Shiro states to her as he turns to the rest of the team. "Get those coordinates into the castle-ship's navigation system."
"Alright." Coran states as he heads up the stairs with everyone else coming behind him.
A few moments later: Castle is heading to the planet
"The signal came from Olkarion, home of the Olkari, a proud class of engineers, builders of vast cities that could change shape at the whim of their creators." Coran begins to tell the Paladins.
"They had a seemingly magical ability to manipulate solid metal. With just the wave of their hands, they could build a computer inside a block of steel." Allura says with amazement.
"Whoa!" Pidge states almost in shock.
"I remember Olkarion. I was just there a couple decafeebs." Linna states to them as she sits in Shiro's chair and her legs crossed on the dash board.
"You were! So you knew the spores were from Olkarion!" Pidge restates to Linna as she grins at them.
"You are going to love their abilities." Linna lowers her head to the floor for a moment like she is hiding something. "I must have just missed the Galra attack."
"You got lucky then." Shiro tells her but she keeps her head lowered.
"You could say that..." Linna whispers as Coran tries to lighten the mood.
"An Olkari once gave me this!" Coran states to them as he shows them a small green cube, floating in his hand.
"What is it?" Lance wonders to him as he leans in a little closer to check it out.
"Uh, hello? It's a floating cube!" Coran says with confidence as he crosses his arms in front of him and giggles to himself. "Oh, this guy. And Watch!" Coran acts a little serious as he says this line, "My name is Coran and I'm a gorgeous man."
The cube beeps quickly before repeating what Coran just said in his same voice. Pidge stares at it with amazement and fascination. Lance just stares at it while Hunk is just thinking about food in his mind.
Keith has his arms crossed and looks a little confused before speaking to Coran, "Why would a society full of literal tech wizards use spores to send a distress signal?"
"Who cares? When do we get to see that city?" Pidge states to Keith, still fascinated with the cube.
"If the Galra have attacked, Olkari's have fled to the forest. We probably are going to not even go near the city right now." Linna states to the group as she gets up from her seat. "They probably found a way to connect with the nature of the world like they do with technology and that is why we found spores as a distress signal and not an actual one."
"How would you know all of this?" Keith eyes Linna with suspicion in his eyes.
"Because I was there right before the Galra attack." Linna states to them again because she did tell them that she was there just a few decafeebs. "I am heading to the lions for a bit."
Linna looks up to Allura for a moment before walking out of the room. Everyone stares at the empty doorway as Allura lowers her head for a moment. She remembers Linna being great friends with Olkarion's people. She would travel there many times a year when they were younger.
"Well," Hunk says to break the awkward tension in the room. "When will we be there?"
"Well," Allura turns back to the coordinates. "Linna was right. The distress signal isn't coming from the city. It is coming from the forest."
"Oh..." Pidge lowers her head in disappointment now.
"Should we bring Linna with us on this mission?" Shiro glances over towards Allura for a reply.
"I would ask her yourself. She has a special bond with the people there, but that was a very long time ago." Allura states to Shiro.
"Alright. Suit up, team!" Shiro states to them as he walks towards the lion's hangar to speak with Linna.
In the Lion's:
"Why doesn't anyone ever send a distress signal from a cool place? I hate the outdoor. Nothing but sunburn and poison oak." Pidge whines to the group.
"I like it out here. It's quiet." Keith replies back to Pidge.
Suddenly arrows attack the lions. Linna watches the arrows fly pass them as they hit each one of the lions. She senses the connection that the Olkari are placing on the lions for a quick moment.
"What was that?" Hunk wonders to the others.
"Uh, are we being attacked?" Keith states to Shiro.
"I don't know, but something's dragging my lion down to the surface." Shiro tells the others. "Linna, do you anything?"
"It is the Olkari. Do not fight it." Linna tells them.
"How are they pulling us down?" Lance asks her.
As they reach the end of the tree line, Linna stares at the window with tears in her eyes. She sees them. Shiro watches as Linna places her hand on the window of the lion to smile at the people below.
"They are alive..." Linna whispers as she walks out of the area to wait to get out.
"Are those wooden mech suits?" Hunk wonders to the group.
"Are you kidding me? We got taken down by a bunch of tree people!" Lance yells into the mics in disappointment in his voice.
"We come in peace!" Shiro states over a speaker.
"Could it be? Voltron?" Ryner states in shock.
"We found your distress signal!" Pidge yells when she pops out of her lion.
"Praise Lubos!" Everyone yells in happiness.
Ryner watches as everyone gets out of their lions before spotting one person that she remembers. She looks over with her head tilted to the side as Linna smiles at her with happiness.
"Ryner!" Linna yells as she runs out of the group and hugs her. "I am so happy to see you!"
"I am glad to see that you escaped." Ryner says with tears in her eyes.
"I told you that they couldn't hole me. I learned from the best." Linna smiles at Ryner as the paladins watch them.
"So you know each other?" Keith states to the two of them with suspicion again in his voice.
"Linna came here a few decafeebs ago. She was here about right when the Galra attacked. She saw they were coming and informed us immediately so a lot of us escaped."
"So you didn't tell us the truth." Keith says with a little anger in his voice.
"I am going to say this one more time." Linna looks at him with a fire burning in her eyes. "I am not here to tell you everything. I am here to inform you of things that I know would be to hard for you to comprehend. I am here for something that doesn't concern any of you." Linna states to him as she walks back into the Black lion to wait.
"I see that she is still doing her mission." Ryner says without realizing it.
"What mission?" Shiro asks Ryner with wonder.
"She will tell you when it is time. She came here to help us and when she did. The Galra took her for a few days, I would say. I had no way of helping her, but she got out and came to help us. She was so badly bruised and beaten that I thought she was going to die. She told me though that she couldn't die until her mission was complete. I really don't know what her mission is, but I know that is something that she is willy to die for." Ryner informs the group before turning around and leading them to the place where they have been leaving for many decafeebs. "Come."
"What kind of mission is she on?" Keith wonders as he looks at Shiro who is holding the same look in his eyes.
"We will have to keep an eye on her." Shiro whispers to Keith.
"Yes, sir." Keith replies as they walk with the group to the village.
Linna sits in the compartment area with her arms covering her chest. Pain echoes in her body as she senses something coming. She closes her eyes as the pain hits her in the head knocking her unconscious. Her body lays on the ground with a single Altean mark, laying on her wrist, but it's covered by her glove so no one will see it yet.
Skip pass the battle:
"I want to thank you all. You helped us get our home back. And, for that, we will never be able to repay you." Ryner tells the Paladins.
"Just promise me that when it's time to take the fight to Zarkon, we can count on the Olkari for help." Shiro replies to her with a smile on his face.
"Now and forever." Ryner shakes her hands with Shiro with a smile on her face. She slowly turns towards Pidge to tell her, "And you... The spirit of the Olkari resides in you. The bond between you and your lion has grown stronger than ever."
"Without you, I would never have been able to unlock my lion's hidden ability." Pidge tells her with a smile.
"I know you would have in time. Linna would have..." Ryner begins but stops for a moment when she realizes something. "Where is Linna?"
"I think she was taking a nap in the Black lion." Lance tells the group.
"She would be out here by now. She always says good-bye." Ryner says with concern in her voice.
"I will go check." Shiro replies as he runs to his lion. He opens the compartment area to see Linna unconscious still, on the floor. "Guys! We need to get her back to the ship now!"
"Why?" Everyone wonders as they run to the Black lion.
"What is wrong with her?" Ryner wonders as she stares at Linna in Shiro's lap with sweat pouring down her body. "She looks like she is sick."
"I don't know. But we must get her in a healing pod now." Shiro tells them as they all prepare for the lions departure.
"Shiro," Ryner places her hand on Shiro's shoulder as he lays Linna down on a bed. "Please give her this when she wakes up."
Ryner hands Shiro a small green cube like the one Coran has. Shiro nods his head to agree to her as she leaves the ship. Shiro and the other lions head off as they get Allura and Coran on the mics again.
"Allura. Coran. We need a healing pod quickly." Shiro states in the mics.
"What's wrong?" Allura wonders to the team.
"Something is happening to Linna." Shiro answers them as he sends the video of Linna laying in the compartment area with sweat beating down her face.
"I will get it ready!" Coran yells as he dashes out of view.
"Do you know what might be happening Allura?" Pidge wonders with pain in her voice.
"I don't know." Allura states to Pidge with tears forming in her eyes. "She hasn't done this before."
"She will be alright, Allura." Lance tries to comfort her. "She is strong."
"I know... I just don't understand what could be happening to her." Allura states as the video goes off and everyone sits in quiet until they get to the castle.
Shiro places Linna into the healing pod as Coran types something in. Everyone stares at Linna almost struggling in the pod as the sweat comes down faster. Allura places her hand on the glass as she lowers her head.
"Please be alright. Please."