#lance calling keith my black paladin………

[autisticlancemcclain]

The first time Lance defends him, he’s shocked.

He’s not actually sure it’s the first time, actually. Lance is so practiced. The words come so easily. He’s silver-tongued and ruthless, systematic in the way he shuts the man down, proud and prideful in the set of his shoulders.

“But he’s Galra,” the man hisses, snarl twisting his features, fists clenched around Lance’s right hand and the fabric of his jacket, locked in a dance. Neither of them have noticed Keith, at the edge of the ballroom, half-hidden in the balcony, gaping.

“The Galran Empire is a plague that has monopolized three quarters of the universe,” Lance replies, steely. “If you think the billions of children it has sired and abandoned are the enemy, then you are a fool.”

“Those children carry that violence in their blood.”

Lance does not flinch, even as spittle flies onto the corner of his mouth, dripping with the man’s vitriol. “Ten thousand years,” he reiterates, “of conquering without any value of the people they are colonising. You can trace the lineage of almost any person on any planet that has been under the Empire’s rule for longer than they can remember, and you will find Galran blood. How do you think the Empire rebuilds planets for workforces after they slaughter their armies? Do you think it’s left to natural restoration?”

For the first time the man does not speak, stunned. Both of them have stopped moving, much to the annoyance of other dancers in the gala. Lance delicately pulls himself out of the man’s hold but still stands in front of him, looking him in the eye, defiant set to his chin.

“The Empire is your enemy,” he says. “Not a race of people. I cannot count for you the amount of people who have gleefully joined the Empire in desperation of power, regardless of their race, the cost to their planet. Zarkon and his forces need to be stopped. If you stand stubbornly where you are, demanding blood tests of every ally to determine that they meet your puritan standards, you will have no allies left to stand with you.” He takes a step back and finally the blankness of his expression gives way to real fury, brown eyes flashing and jaw set with a rage Keith has never seen in him before. “I will not stand with you. Keith has earned my trust. I know my black paladin will lead this war to an end. If you stand in his way — in our way — I will cut you down before he has the chance to see your block in the road.”

[iloveboysinred]

Hiiii how are you ??

Hope your okay, would it be possible to have a lil smuty keith x afab reader fic, at the episode where they go to the pool that allura told them about (I don't remember wich episode it was), and like he gets all flustered from seing reader in her bikini, and a lil jealous cus lance tries flirting with reader.

Ofc take ur time, and I hope you rest well !!!!<3<3

Rendezvous | [Keith Kogane]

mdni 18+ content | Keith Kogane x afab! reader

cw; explicit sexual content, p in v sex, jealous Keith, rough sex, mean Keith, spanking, semi-public sex, orgasm denial, not really canon adjacent.

hi! I'm doing okay, it took a lot of will (and spliffs) to write this since writers block and lack of motivation has been whooping my ssssaa. Anywho, I hope you enjoy!

masterlist

Landing on a tropical planet for a temporary break was like a dream come true for you and the other paladins. The warm, humid climate almost made it feel like you were all back home on a regular sunny day. The whole crew had decided to spend their break time differently, fully taking advantage of the few hours of peace, savoring every second of paradise before you were up and running around space again.

Shiro had decided to take the productive route, opting to spend his time strengthening his bond with the black lion, deeming it absolutely necessary after the recent battle against Zarkon, where he almost took complete control of the vessel. Pidge and Hunk spent there's in the kitchen, no doubt creating new recipes with the food items collected on weekly supply hauls from local planets. Allura had been in her room all day, playing games like dress up and hide n' seek with her mice, the castle walls echoing her laughter while Coran made some maintenance repairs to the castle.

You, Keith and Lance had mutually agreed to share the pool, the rising temperature of the castle prompting you to finally wear your bikini. It was a simple but sexy red once piece, the panty accentuating the curve of your hips and the connecting top snuggly holding your breasts in place.

Keith shamelessly eyed you down as soon as he saw you, his face slightly flushing at the sight of your exposed skin. It was fun, seeing him so flustered-- especially knowing he had seen it all before. You played coy, bending over in front of him to pick up something you had "dropped" and adjusting your breasts in the bikini top over and over again, making sure he caught the way they settled back in to place, knowing exactly what was going through his mind, his hungry gaze making it all the more obvious.

You knew you took it too far, though, when you began to play around with Lance. The two of you splashed at each other, swimming around the pool competitively. Lance's natural affinity to water made it hard to keep up. He swam circles around you, calling out flirty little comments as he doused you in water whenever he got the chance. Keith remained in rigid silence, watching the both of you interact with a furrow in his brow. You could tell he was irked, his expression twisting into one you knew well the closer you got to Lance. He was Jealous. Brazenly so.

It was that same jealousy that had you where you were now-- bent over in the pool storage room, your hands gripping onto the wire shelf in front of you. The shelf rattled against the wall from the movement of your bodies, Keith rocking you back and fourth on his dick. The grip he had on your hips was bruising, his fingers digging into your skin as he fucked into you, his teeth grit tight, trying hard to keep his groans of pleasure concealed. You had less self control, your moans and whines for more echoing through the room, all shame and fear of getting caught out the window the second he entered you. He pressed his chest to your back, the bikini you had been wearing discarded and forgotten somewhere in the room, leaving your body completely open to his touch. He huffed and groaned into your ear, his hands leaving your hips to roam up and down your body, coming up to knead and fondle your breasts, squeezing them roughly while he thrust into you.

"Keith s-slow down" you gasped, the breath barley able to escape your lungs, your mouth hanging open in ecstasy when his fingers found your clit, rubbing tight circles over the bud and effectively putting a pause to your pleas. "Slow down, baby?" he grunted, his voice a deep rasp in your ear, sounding nothing like the gentle lover you knew so well. "I thought this was what you wanted" he pulled you closer to his body, grinding his hips into your ass, the tip of his dick pressing into you deep. The vicious pace of his hips combined with the euphoric stimulation on your clit was starting to make your vision blur. "Parading around that asshole in that tight, fucking bikini." he sunk his teeth into the flesh of your shoulder, making you cry out. "You think he could fuck you better than me? huh?" his hips snapped into you, hitting your sweet spot with abandon, the obscene squelching of your pussy made you flustered, the erotic noises made you cover your face from his view as your body fell apart beneath him.

He took in a breath, delivering a stinging swat to your ass when you didn't speak. "What, you don't hear me talking to you?" he sneered, smirking in satisfaction as you trembled beneath him, your quivering pussy gushing from your still building arousal. His hands came down to your ass, kneading the fat in his hands to soothe the sting. "C'mon baby, tell me what I wanna hear" he panted against your ear, his hips never ceasing their assault, the thick head of his dick abusing your sweet spot over and over and over. "A-ah, ah! no, k-keith no" you answered, your words fading from coherency to mindless broken words and babbles, your brain foggy from the pleasure buzzing up and down your veins. "mmmh, good girl" you felt him smile against the nape of your neck, grabbing your chin to swing your face around, leaving a bruising kiss against your swollen lips. You whined into his mouth feeling your body begin to tense, your swollen clit pulsing from the continuous stimulation from his fingers.

Right when you were on the brink of your high, your body contorting in pleasure from your impending orgasm--he pulled out of you quicker than you could blink. You whipped around to look at him in shock, eyes glossy with unshed tears. He acted oblivious, casually tucking his still hard dick away into his swim trunks. You watched him in silent outrage as he picked up the forgotten bikini, setting it down on the shelf in front of you.

"Keith, you can't be fucking serious" you gasped, your boyfriend giving you a sheepish shrug in response, "What, can't take what you dish out?" you scowled at him, frustration shooting up your spine at his snarky remark, your legs shakily holding you up as you struggled to slip the bikini back on. Keith chuckled, pressing one last needy kiss to your lips. "I think I'll head back to my room..I've had enough swimming for today" he whispered against your lips, his words holding a double meaning, an invitation. He pulled away from you, rendering you breathless as he walked out the door, leaving you no choice left but to follow, pouncing on him as soon as you reached his quarters.

[mscutino]

HIIII i heard ur requests were open so i was kinda hoping, since vld is doing a comeback that u would write abt it✊✊

soooo i was thinking about keith and a paladin!reader kinda hiding their relationship from the team and keith getting jealousss of someone in the team the reader is close to

Thank u for writing for vld!!!! i hope u understand my request!! im not rlly good at english;( BYE THANK UUUU💗💗💗💗

╰─ ✧*̥ 𝐌𝐂 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 爱

═════════════════════

╰─ ✧*̥ REQUEST • Jealousy | Keith Kogane

BACK OFF

i’ve been waiting for this !! thank you for requesting, and your english is beautiful !!

a/n: kinda rushed, not edited (will fix!)

═════════════════════

Things between you both had been official for a while now, however it was hard to really give yourselves the time you needed. With fighting for the universe and the burden that came with it, time for yourselves became sacred.

But despite it all, doubt never once planted itself in your mind. The worry of being left behind or pushed to the side never came.

However for Keith, things were a little different.

He loathed every moment spent away from you. His heart bounced across his chest just thinking of the next time he’d be able to just be beside you - even if it was in the middle of battle.

Though the other paladins would call him “distant” or “loner,” he secretly craved closeness - affection. Behind closed doors he was clingy, vulnerable under your gaze and your gaze only. Whenever he had the chance, he’d jump to you, holding you like it’d be the last time.

“Keith, I promise it’s okay,” you laughed, trying to wiggle your way out of his hold.

“I’m not letting you go until I have to.” His words left no room for negotiation. So you let him hold you, basking in the silence lost so often in the chaos of war.

Keith was officially back and leading the team as the pilot of the Black Lion. His time with the Blade - and more importantly with his mom - really helped him find himself. But he knew he wouldn’t be complete until he came back to you.

You completed him.

Small steps echoed outside the hangar, the size of the room amplifying the noise. There was no telling just how close the steps were so Keith hesitated to let you go. Both of you and strained to hear, preparing to move at any moment. By the time Pidge rounded the corner you both were separated by a 10ft pole, awkwardly pacing around the lion.

“Uhm, did I come at a bad time?”

You cleared your throat, trying to appear casual as Pidge raised an eyebrow, clearly picking up on the tension. "No, not at all," you hurried out. "We were just…checking on the lions. Routine maintenance, you know?”

Keith's jaw clenched as he avoided eye contact with Pidge, his arms crossed a little tighter than usual. It didn’t take a scientist to sense something was off, but she just shrugged.

"Well, if you’re done ‘checking out the lions,’" Pidge said with a smirk, "we’ve got a mission debrief in five minutes. Shiro wants everyone at the bridge ASAP. I think Lance mentioned something about you, specifically," she added, looking pointedly at you.

You nodded, trying to keep a straight face, but you could feel Keith's mood shift immediately at the mention of Lance. You glanced at him quickly, catching the glint in his eyes. Keith might have looked calm to anyone else, but you knew him well enough to pick up on the subtle signs of jealousy in his tightened posture and the way his gaze lingered just a bit longer than usual.

After Pidge left, you looked at him, chuckling softly. “Keith, it’s just Lance.”

Keith’s expression softened slightly, but he still had that guarded look in his eyes. “I know,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just… he’s always around you.”

You reached out, touching his hand gently. “You have nothing to worry about, I promise.”

He sighed, looking down as he took your hand, his fingers intertwining with yours briefly before letting go.

Something changed while Keith was gone, and whatever it was needed to end now. Lance’s pining towards you was taking the cake for most irritating thing in the Castle by far.

Just then, Lance’s voice echoed through the hangar over the intercom. “Hey, Y/N! If you don’t show up soon, I’m coming down there to drag you back myself!”

You shot Keith a look, suppressing a laugh. “See? No big deal.”

But as you walked away, you could feel his gaze on you, the weight of his unspoken worry residing in the back of your mind.

Keith watched you leave, his mind whirling with frustration he couldn’t put into words. Lance was harmless - he knew that. But every time he saw the two of you laughing or sharing a moment, that nagging feeling gnawed at him. What if one day, you started wanting someone else? Someone more open, less complicated than him?

“Keith?”

Your voice reeled him away from his thoughts. A pang of guilt hitting him suddenly. “Y-Yeah. Coming now. Just finishing up here,” he waved you off. “See you on the bridge.”

══════════════

The memory of your worried face had plagued him the entire way up to the bridge. Neither of you had anything to worry about when it came to your relationship, but he just couldn’t help himself.

“About time you showed up,” Lance dramatically sighed, slumping further back into his seat.

Keith ignored him, making his way towards the rest of the paladins. As he got closer, he managed to catch the tail end of the conversation between you and Shiro.

“Once that’s complete, Lance will accompany you back. Allura and I have things managed here.”

Shiros eyes looked past you, acknowledging Keith before he continued, “Keith, I’ll need you here. We need to compile all the info the Blade of Marmora was able to provide you. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

Keith nodded, though the frustration was building. He wanted to be the one going with you, ensuring your safety. Before he could ask Shiro why he had to stay back, Lance’s voice cut in, breaking his train of thought.

“No worries, Shiro. You can count on me!” Lance said with a confident grin, hopping up from his seat and giving you a playful nudge. “We’ll be in and out in no time.”

Keith’s jaw clenched, his gaze narrowing as he watched the interaction. Lance seemed oblivious, but you noticed the tension in Keith’s expression and shot him a reassuring glance.

“Let’s make it quick, though, okay?” You smiled politely, though your voice held a hint of awkwardness. “We’ve got a lot of things to do.”

But Lance, too preoccupied with his own jokes, just laughed. “Hey, it could be worse. You could’ve been stuck with Keith for this trip,” he teased, smirking as he lightly bumped your shoulder.

Without a second thought, Keith stepped forward, his voice sharp. “Back off, Lance,” he said, his tone carrying a searing edge.

The bridge fell silent. Allura and Hunk looked up, wide-eyed, while Shiro’s gaze shifted between Keith and Lance, his brow furrowed in confusion. Lance’s grin faded as he glanced over, raising an eyebrow.

“Whoa, what’s with the attitude, Keith?” Lance asked, trying to laugh it off, but Keith’s stare was intense, his fists clenched at his sides. His protective instincts had boiled over, leaving little room for rationality.

“If your just going to be an ass the whole trip there then I’ll go with Y/N,” Keith rolled his eyes, trying to lessen the earlier blow.

However Lance wasn’t putting up with it, giving Keith a pointed look. “Since when do you care so much? And so what, worried she’s not gonna like you anymore?”

“I said, back off.” Everyone’s eyes were on him now, the worry weighing on his heart even more obvious once his eyes met yours.

Shiro finally intervened, clearing his throat,“Alright, enough. We’re all on the same team here.”

Keith looked away, jaw clenched, but he took a step back, exhaling as he tried to reel in his emotions. His frustration still simmered, but Shiro’s words were enough to keep him from saying anything more.

Lance gave one last sideways glance at Keith before turning back to you with a shrug. “Guess we should get going before things get any more… intense.”

You shot him a warning look, hoping to keep things from spiraling any further, then looked back at Keith. “I’ll be back soon, okay?” you said softly, your voice filled with reassurance meant just for him. “Don’t lose your head, hot shot.”

Keith’s expression softened slightly as he looked at you, nodding. “Be careful,” he murmured, his voice losing its edge as his worry crept through.

As you two left the silence was thick, and it was clear to everyone on the bridge that there was something more behind his outburst. Questions brimmed on the tip of their tongues, but they held their breath - choosing otherwise.

══════════════

It had been hours before you finally returned from the mission. Giggling better yet, however it was ruined when Keith noticed you were giggling with Lance.

Walking down the hallway of the hangar, your voices bounced off the walls. Unbeknownst to you both, Keith sat idle by a work bench, fiddling with the computer. Pretending to be busy while also conveniently ease-dropping.

“Thanks Lance, really. Make sure to give these to Shiro,” you handed over the crate of items to him, pulling on the straps snuggly. “Now don’t drop it.”

“Hey, have some faith in me! You and Keith are always so mean to me,” he dramatically sighed, shifting the crate in his arms. “Oh, and speaking of Keith,” he paused for a second, watching for your reaction at the mention, “Can I ask something?”

You tilted your head, surprised by the sudden seriousness in his voice. "Ask about what?"

He hesitated, fiddling with the straps of the crate as he searched for the right words. It was clear he’d been thinking about this for a while, even if he was struggling to say it. He might act oblivious sometimes, but he’d noticed the small things - like the way Keith’s eyes only ever watch you, or how in a room full of people, Keith always finds you.

"I just…" he started, avoiding your gaze, "was wondering if there was something between you and—”

"Keith?" you finished for him, raising an eyebrow. You couldn’t help the small hint of a smile pushing past your lips.

Lance cringed backwards, caught red-handed in his curiosity. “Oh, come on. I’m not blind, you know!”

You tilted your head slightly, watching his expression shift between curiosity and awkwardness. "Why would you think that, Lance?" tone teetering along playful.

Lance shrugged, trying to play it off with his usual bravado. "Well, I dunno. He’s different when you’re around. Just seems like more than ‘team stuff.’" He paused, his tone softening a little as he added, “I mean, not that it’s weird or anything.”

A pang of guilt tugged at you for keeping it a secret, but you knew it was best for now. It’d have to stay this way until things calmed down. But a part of you hoped that sooner rather than later that change would come. The longer you went hiding it, the less you cared about keeping it a secret. Maybe later you’d take it up with Keith.

“Plus, it’s Keith of all people. It’s so weird,” a shiver ran through Lance, his almost comical fear of Keith pulling a few giggles out of you.

“Oh, relax. Keith isn’t so bad - ”

“He’s the meanest guy on the team!” Lance interjected, the crate shifting slightly in his hold. He continued his rant, too consumed by his exasperation to notice you pulling him away from the hangar.

"Seems like you’ve got bigger problems than I do, Lance," you teased, giving him a playful shove toward the door. "We’ll talk about this later. See you around, ‘ladies man.’"

The door shut before he could argue, muffled sulking on the other side of the door.

“‘Ladies man?’ Really?”

You jumped from your spot, eyes frantically searching the hangar before landing on a familiar head of hair.

“Keith! How long have you been standing there?!”

He shrugged, taking a few steps closer. "Long enough. Pretending to be useful," he teased, though his gaze lingered on you, an unmistakable warmth in his eyes. “Heard you were back, but saw that guy.”

“Keith? Jealous of Lance?” you laughed, copying his crossed arm stance. “Didn’t think I’d see the day.”

The wink you sent his way had nearly done him in, but his pride kept him standing.

He closed the space between you both, running his hand up your arm. “Whatever.”

[torveiglyart]

He has arrived. Like the prophecy foretold~

aka me living up to my last post.

As much as I love Black Paladin Lance, I think it only would have worked after the whole Lotor thing. Back in season 3, Lance respected Keith as their leader and vice versa, but, had the roles been reversed, I think there would have been a struggle on both sides. Keith would have a hard time respecting Lance as an authoritative figure, and Lance would struggle listening to Keith and not always lead with the team's needs in mind. Lance was kind of Keith's impulse control in the new set up, whereas a RP Keith and BP Lance would create a power imbalance. Keith respects Lance as an equal, and Lance respects Keith as authority. When Keith leaves, however, the dynamic shifts.

Lance respects Shiro as his hero and leader, but Shiro consistently does not acknowledge Lance as his right hand, and by extension, his equal. Lance is pushed aside again and again, but everyone else listens to Shiro so there's not much he can do. When Keith comes back, there's a new relationship between the two.

Lance appreciates Keith's insight and decisions more after the lack of acknowledgment from Shiro, and Keith is more accepting of authoritative figures telling him what to do thanks to the BoM. It's at this point where a BP Lance would work out. How it would get to a lion switch again, I have no clue, but I do think a changing of the guards part 2 would be a good way to show Lance's character development instead of *sighs* garfle warfle snik and allurance.

Honestly I think allurance should have happened sooner and then like a whole 'soul searching filler' episode where they break up on good terms. It's too often we find permanent or sad endings with media relationships. It would have been nice to see a "hey maybe this doesn't work. Friends?" from Lance and Allura.

Okay, another unrelated thing (sorry). Can someone please tell me the real reason Keith voted Lance in GWSnik? 'Cause "I don't want to spend an eternity with you" is sooooo not a legit answer. He should have voted himself if that were the reason. Is it because he felt bad for Lance? He didn't want him getting called dumb for an eternity? He didn't think anyone else would vote him? Does he actually think Lance was the best person to carry Voltron? Or is he just a sad gay in space?

I guess you can answer in the comments or a reblog but, yeah! Those are my thoughts on Black Paladin Lance! Thanks!

[foolinafable]

i. slipping through my fingers

SYNOPSIS: He doesn’t know how to love. You know this and yet you would still give everything just to be with him- even for just a moment. Or the story of how you and Keith finally get together. PAIRING: Keith Kogane x Altean reader WORD COUNT: 3.1K TAGS: Slowburn, Angst, extreme cannon compliance SERIES LINK: a love as cold as ours

NEXT →

NOTE: Barely edited

Keith was always cold, you knew he didn’t mean to be- it was just who he was but it didn’t make this any easier.

You knew you felt something for him a long time ago much like Lance with Allura. You wouldn’t call it love or more like you couldn’t allow yourself to because how can you love someone that isn’t yours. Sometimes you even doubt that you are friends with him as his standoffish nature sometimes catches you off guard. So why in Altea would you even imagine having anything with him. Every time you see him it’s like a knife is being stabbed in your chest because you know that he could never love you the way you try to do him. 

He explained it best himself- how he prefers his own company and would regularly choose to be alone rather than with other people. You suppose it has to do with his childhood, where he told you for the most part he was all alone with no parents or family to stay and show him unconditional love.

Even knowing all of this doesn’t make it any easier- it doesn’t make you want to be with him any less, rather it just fuels your inner turmoil. It was hard enough being one of the only alteans left alive, your friends, family, nation and your king dead.

Honestly, you're only making it harder on yourself by falling for one of the only people in the universe that as he put it “Can’t love, and doesn’t want to.” 

You suppose this is why it was easy to say goodbye, well easier than you thought it would be.

He had been distancing himself from all the team, spending more time with the blade of Marmora, constantly failing to show up for the team. You were overjoyed for Shiro when he was able to reconnect with the black lion, the whole team was more than fed up with Keith's new non-committal attitude towards them and was happy to have a leader again.

So when Keith did show up, late as usual for a mission, you simply sat back and watched as the other paladins ripped him a new one about how important your work is even if he doesn't see it that way, as he claimed that the work he was doing with the blades was “more important” an audible scoff could be heard coming from you at that comment. Not even bothering to look at him when his gaze turned to you, knowing that if you looked at him he would see the sadness clouding over you, because you knew that now the black lion had accepted Shiro again, Keith wasn't needed anymore.

You zoned out as he told the team of his departure, joining in the group hug to say goodbye to him, but leaving it at that. Knowing that if you had a private conversation it would only end in your tears and his guilt because while you would give anything to be with him, you realised a long time ago that there is nothing that you could give to make that happen. You can’t make him want you.

Him leaving made it easier. Not seeing him every day like you used to and, honestly, having to work with him as you did only made your longing worse and without him here, well there was no room for those emotions anymore. The coalitions planning for the takeover of Naxzela had taken up everyone's time, it was the only thing you could think of, allowing you to put your feelings for him far back into your mind. Blocking it out if you will because there is no time for you to be moping around.

The day of the planned invasion came quickly, it was almost as if the time whipped past you, barely able to recall what happened during the time prior to this day, except for Keith's departure- that you believe will always be engraved into your memories. Nerves couldn’t help but rack you as you walked suited up towards your lion, it all just seemed too easy, a sentiment Pidge shared with you not even the night prior, her words echoing in your mind throughout the battle, you tried to rationalise it as this mission wasn't just Voltron they also had the rebels and the blade, so a lot more manpower. But, in your opinion, it almost seemed like the galra were not fighting for Naxzela but rather fighting to escape.

Voltron was leading the ground effort now, the blades and rebels working as artillery support via the Ziaforge cannons, all seemed to be going fine until Matt and Keith's cannons were remotely turned off by an incoming galra cruiser. However, Shiro was confident

“Naxzela is almost secure, the cruiser is going to be too late!”

Voltron battled with more ships on the ground, and like he said you only needed to take out the last of the heavy artillery then it was over. Lance and Pidge quickly created a shield on the left as per Shiro's instruction, blocking another heavy blast from the galrans, you all grunting at the impact of the large beam trying to keep the robot together and steady on the ground. Lance and Pidge were able to use the shield to push the beam back and you watched with a bated breath as the beam shot back towards the ship, destroying it completely. Voltron flew into the air, Hunk using his cannon to destroy the rest of the artillery support on the ground.

You all sat in your lions and watched Naxzela being blown up- a third of the galran empire gone in one swoop. Voltron landed on the ground again, somewhat unsteady. 

“Woah, did we cause that earthquake?” you heard Lance exclaim over comms as you braced yourself against your control panel.

 “I dont think so!” Pidge quickly replied as you all cast your gases towards the floor

“Something wrong” you mumbled slightly to yourself, eyes going wide when Allura agreed with you. Then the rumbling seemed to increase and alarms started blaring when Hunk halted

“Guys look over there” and the robot turned to see the ground rising behind you, large galran pillars with purple markings now towering over Voltron.

“Uh, guys, what are those?” Lance asked, trying to seem calm, but looking over at his video you could see the furrowing of his brows in worry as he looked up at these new landforms.

“We’ve never seen anything like this from the galra before” Pidge continued, eyes wide. 

“Are they weapons?” Hunk questioned while Pidge tried to guess 

“They look like some sort of generators'' 

You felt a heavy weight on you as you asked “Allura, can you feel it?” and she simply nodded, also confused as to what these were and why they were making her feel heavy and uneasy. 

“Stay alert” Shiro commented, feeling the nerves of his team as Lance interjected 

“I think we should get out of here! Pidge plot a course for our escape” but Shiro didn’t agree with the second in command 

“Hold off, we should try to find out what these things are'' You took a sharp breath as the pillars lit up with quintessence, the top of the towers sprouting out with some sort of electricity, and then the purple light spread across the atmosphere of Naxzela, creating a purple shield. 

“This can’t be safe” Hunk declared as the purple shield covered the top of the Voltron blocking the view of space. 

“Do you feel that '' Allura copied your earlier words adding “That wave of darkness” and you could, it settled deep into your body making you shiver when Allura started grunting out in pain.

Then a pressure came down upon the robot as everyone started panicking, you were no longer able to move your lion. Voltron quickly fell onto its hands and knees from the pressure as Pidge screamed 

“This energy field is holding us down! Gravity levels are spiking!” Shiro grunted before he commanded 

“We need to get out of here, if we stay here we will be crushed. So we need to focus” At his words you tried to dispel as much of your worry as possible knowing he was right- you wouldn't get anywhere being afraid

“Give it everything you’ve got and maybe, we can make it through this energy field”  he continued.

Then with all the paladins' might they were able to lift off the ground but soon after the metal of the lion creaked and they were brought right back down the ground, like a magnet. You could hear the screaming of the other paladins as you fell backwards mixing in with your own, and then Voltron crashed down onto the ground of Naxzela. 

“Is anyone able to move around?” Hunk questioned as Pidge quickly answered 

“Barely, but the gravitational pull is worse on Voltron” she grunted from overexertion then spoke again “Maybe if we can get down to the surface Hunk and I can figure out a way to interrupt the energy field!” you hummed in thought as Lance spoke 

“That sounds good, except for the zillion robot dudes still kicking around down there!” you all looked towards Shiro for some sort of guidance as he says 

“We are going to have to watch out for each other out there, tight formations, now let's move” Then he left the black lion. You all joined him in leaving your lions grunting heavily as you used your jet packs to get to the surface, parkouring off Voltron. You all jumped towards one of the pillars barely missing the lasers being shot at you, all quickly turning on your shields as you landed on the pillar bodies turned towards the shooters.

Pidge and Hunk quickly took refuge behind you four, trying to find out what was causing this energy, but they couldn't find anything so as Allura said you needed to follow the pillars down to the core in hopes of figuring it out Hunk was able to open the door to the pillar.

“It's open let's go!”  Pidge exclaimed and you all piled in, jumping down towards the core of the planet. “Woah” the green paladin spoke in awe you had made it to the bottom of the planet, a door opening up revealing a large purple orb, and you agreed it was certainly amazing to look at- whatever it was.

 “What is that?” Lance spoke your thoughts aloud

 “This is Zarkons witches doing” Allura commented walking closer to the large orb in the centre of the room 

“So this is the source of that dark energy?” you questioned as Allura nodded as Shiro looked up at the room 

“Allura, this facility, it looks altean”

“This is a decommissioned altean teafroming plant, somehow the witch has been able to reactive it remotely,” she confirmed his suspicion, you all walked closer to the orb, now in touching distance you couldn’t believe you had never seen this before on altea 

“Can you shut it down” the black paladin asked 

“I can try.” Allura put her hand towards the orb, a light of quintessence shining from her palm touched the orb when she screamed out in pain, the orb seemingly wrapped itself onto her arm in a vine-like structure. You all quickly called out her name as you grabbed onto her, trying to pull her away from the orb, all grunting due to its sheer power, luckily you were able to slowly drag her away, causing you all to fall backwards onto the floor when the orb let go of her. 

Lance quickly helped her up as she spoke “It’s too powerful” 

You all turned towards Hunk as he grunted, trying to get up, looking towards his hand “This soil- is weird, it's so white and powdery, like ground-up rocks or earth” You could see his helmet examining the soil, probably giving him a breakdown of the material when he gasped

“It’s Heximite!”

 Then lasers started shooting at you again, the soldiers from earlier had finally caught up to you, and you all quickly activated your shields with Hunk and Lance activating their shooters, shooting back at the galrans. Pidge quickly used her lasso to electrocute and bring down another soldier 

“What's hexamite? Some of us may have slept through chemistry!” Lance asked

Smiling at his antics you replied “It’s a highly explosive material” your own words making you stop in thought the words only now registering in your brain but Pidge luckily continued as you figured out what this meant

 “The whole planet is a bomb! One big enough to wipe out several solar systems!” Hunk then interjected,

“It’s under increasing pressure, and when it reaches the point of no return, the whole planet will explode!” 

Shiro tried to seem calm as he asked the next question “How long do we have?” 

Hunk while shielding himself thought  “Maybe twenty minutes'' 

While Lance continued to blast at the soldiers “We need to get off this planet and warn everyone!” As you took down the soldiers, more seemed to appear through the doors

 “Anyone within 10 solar systems of ours is going to get blown to pieces!” Hunk exclaimed. 

“They could take out Voltron, the rebels and the blade in one fell swoop!” Allura concluded as you gasped

 “It was all a trap for us and we fell right into it!” then you activated your jet packs as you tried to escape the soldiers as time was really running out.

 From within Voltron Shiro was trying to reach anyone through the comms, but nobody was responding. 

Shiro sighed “We’ve lost communications, Pidge, can you boost our signal?” 

 You could hear Pidge clicking buttons before she replied worriedly “No! There is too much electrostatic repulsion!” 

Worry was wracking your body causing your hands to fidget like mad as Hunk not so helpfully spoke “17 minutes'' 

Allura then spoke, “We have to get off this planet- immediately!” moving her controls as she was able to get the blue lion off the ground resulting in Voltron being able to stand straight, however, the weight of Voltron against the already pressurised ground make the rocks crack and fall beneath them, causing Voltron to fall further into the depths of Naxzela. 

“Oh no, we have fallen even further down!” Lance comentated as Voltron luckily landed on its feet seemingly in a deep cave.

 “15 minutes'' Hunk exclaimed to which you retorted

 “Really not very helpful Hunk!” your voice is shaking.

 “No, no! We can't die just yet!” Pidge willed. 

“Listen'' Shiro started “We have gone through a lot as Voltron, we just have to think.” 

Then it hit Lance as he turned his comms towards you and Allura

“You both felt the darkness at the start, and you both have a connection to the magic, you both must be able to get us out of this'' 

to which Allura stressed “We haven't been trained”

She was correct back on Altea you were both novices. You had only started your lessons when Zarkon attacked and Allura had been told by Alfor that lesson wouldn't be necessary for her as she would be too busy learning to be the future leader of the nation.

But maybe together you could figure something out you simply looked to Allura and Lance and nodded as you closed your eyes and focused on your energy and Alluras as the both of you connected to each other it was like your quintessence merged together and your powers began to seep out of the two of you and into Voltron, lighting up the entire robot, turning it back on and giving it more power, the whole lion became outlined by the quintessence the two of you exuded allowing voltron to fight against the pressure and lift off at an incredible speed, the power was able to break through the forcefield on top of Naxzela allowing your escape from the planet.

 You smiled at your success, “Thanks Lance '' but he shook his head 

“That was all you and Allura'' and you took a deep breath knowing that he was right. You and Allura are a lot stronger than you give yourselves credit for. Voltron made its way into space as Hunk shouted

 “We still need to diffuse that bomb” you all nodded in agreement as Shiro reached out to someone in the comms

 “Keith, can you hear me?” 

You somewhat gritted my teeth at the mention of him, not sure if you were ready to see him again as up to now you had been able to miss out on talks with the blade usually too busy campaigning on another planet with the rebels and sometimes other paladins for support on the takeover of Naxzella. Since he left you had barely even heard his voice and for the most part, turned off being able to hear Shiro's comms so you didn't need to hear his voice today, everything was so meticulously planned that you didn't even need to speak to know what Voltron needed to do anyway. 

“Shiro! Where are you? Is everything okay?” you heard his voice speak out 

“Not for long if we don’t stop Zarkons witch, she must be aboard that cruiser”

 To which Keith mused “I’m way ahead of you” You could almost hear the smirk on his face “and I brought some backup” You then heard Olia from the rebels speak out letting you all of their presence.

Shiro connected to Coran telling him to get as far away from Naxzela as possible he seemed confused until you and Allura interjected 

“Naxela is a bomb” she started 

“and it’s only a few minutes away from going off” you concluded

 “but what about you?” Coran worried as he looked at the pair of alteans

“We are going to try to stop it” you said gravely

 “we need you to do this'' Allura urged the older man to which he simply replied

 “yes, princess” but you could see the fear etched on his face that he would be the last altean standing after this. 

“Thrusters are at max power” Lance stated as Voltron flew as fast as it could 

“I sure hope we make it in time” Hunk worried, as Voltron got further away the time was ticking, sweat was rolling down Lance's forehead

 “We aren't going to make it in time!” when all of a sudden the purple aura encasing Naxzela faded away and Coran overjoyed commented

 “Naxzela is returning to normal! You did it” A breath you didn't know you were holding was let out in relief when Shiro congratulated Keith and the rebels on their work when he said something puzzling

 “It wasn't me, it was Lotor'' you and the other paladins looked at each other through the comms confused

 “The cannon on his ship was the only thing powerful enough to break through the shield.” After those words were uttered the galran cruiser transported itself away to another galaxy. 

Then you heard his voice

“Attention, paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters, I know we have had our differences in the past, but.. I think it is time we had a discussion.”

[callum-23]

just discovered ur acc, who's ur fav character? (and yeah, this is me asking for u to rant abt ur fav)

L A N C E !!!

Lance is my favourite!! For many reasons, but mostly because I relate to him on a lot of levels, mainly with

- self recognition issues, aka what happened when Lance doubted his skills as a paladin, and was thinking about stepping down.

I struggle with this, mostly as an artist, as I've seen my friends, and other people I know in life, have better skills, and most of the times doubting myself about my artist skills 😔 But I've gotten better at just focusing on my own art and in turn I felt like it helped me get better!!

- value in relationships, platonic, family, romantic even. I love how he values his relationships with the other paladins, about how he's always willing to take steps for others, comforting his friends, and always willing to step up as a person, even though he's cocky and can be full of himself (mostly in the earlier seasons) he's got a heart of gold underneath all that!!

Lance tends to put up this persona of himself being a "ladies man," the cocky flirt even. But there's so much more to his character than just that, he's not just the love interest, he tends to be the emotional support of others, a hard worker, he's also a pretty good well rounded character, he has his own flaws and insecurites, which help him become a better paladin throughout the show. Honestly, though, later, seasons mainly treat him as the "love interest," and I don't think that's really a way to describe him, as he's just SO much more than that!!

I love his dynamic with other characters, SO SO MUCH!

There's Hunk and Lance. They're basically best friends!! Best friends since the garrison, I love their moments together, even though it's not much, and mostly joking and small banter, but in the end they're really close friends who've always got eachothers backs, and knowing how close they are, makes them a really good team. They show their best values and bring out the best in each other!!

There's Pidge and Lance, who are more like a brother/sister duo, with Lance being like a second brother to Pidge. A moment that really stood out to me was Pidge dragging Lance along to help her find enough GAC to purchase a video game from the space mall, I love how Lance just simply went along with it, spending time with her as if she was his own sister, and in return, Pidge traded away a video game so that Allura could get a dress for her date with Lance, as Pidge knew how much this meant to him, even though she was reluctant at first!

Coran and Lance, having a father-son bond, similar to Shiro, being the guide for the paladins, acting as a father figure (space dad)

And then there's Keith and Lance, Keith and Lance, the "rivals" who compete for Np reason, who grow to accept eachother. A good example of acceptance shown between their bond is when the Black Lion had chosen Keith as the paladin, while at first, Lance was jealous, he learned to realise and proceeded to comfort Keith about his new position, showing that yes its going to he difficult, but he says to Keith that he is the one for the job, and gives him a fond look, stating that even though no one can replace Shiro, Keith can lead the team, and that he'll always be there with Keith. (Kinda cute as Lance sorta becomes his right hand man!) And the fact that Lance trusts Keith enough to get some words before his date with Allura, Lance going to Keith of all people when he was unsure about his place as a paladin, Lance even comforting Keith, and helping him during missions, being by his side, the jokes, the playful name calling. Everything, I love their dynamic!!

I love Lance as a character, sure, I'm still SUPER upset on how his life is after the events of the series, but in short, Lance, Lance McClain is my favourite vld character.

Literally the best sharpshooter ever !! ⬆️

[klance-headcanons-official]

GALRA GENERAL KEITH AU!!

So Keith is ‘infiltrating’ voltron. Kinda. He’s still the red paladin blah blah blah. He was on earth to get the blue one, then all the crap went down like it does in canon. Find blue, lance drives her into space, meets allura and coran. Bada bing bada boom. Yk, the works

So Keith gets a call from lotor. “Keith. How is it going with voltron? Do you see them being an issue?” “No.. not really. They aren’t, well. They aren’t good at fighting. Shiro, the black lions paladin, may be an issue. As he was the champion.” “I see.. what about the blue paladin?” “*///* He’s cute.” “No.” “No? What do you mean no, my prince?” “NO. You did this on the last mission I gave you! You are NOT dating him,” “WHAT! I never-“ “you would, you have.” “WHAT.” Then Keith gets annoyed and hangs up

He’s pouty for the rest of the day. And he can’t tell anyone cause that would blow his cover. So he takes his frustration out on the bots

Allura sees this and goes “hm. Keith and shiro are the only two good at fighting.” So she asks them, shiro tells her of his unfortunate time as the champion and Keith is internally freaking. ‘Oh my stars she’s gonna find out.’

“Oh, I just got in fights a lot back on earth.” He tells her. And she believed it! So he’s okay.. for now

- Vee 💜

pfff-

no cuz i can totally see the other generals picking on him for crushing on Lance

[ssasides205]

Fic Project 3

alright, I know ppl engage with abo even less than they do normal content, but I promise you I'm very ace abt it. anyways...

The adoption au:

-abo bc I need the scent thing to be a thing for plot reasons

-aged up characters (late 20s)

-Leo gets kidnapped, and adopts two kids

-Shiro is like 6? Maybe less, Keith is like 3 or 4.

-Leo and Keith click instantly, bc Leo’s quintessence is similar to that of the Red Lion (this will come up later)

-Shiro takes a bit longer to warm up to him, but he does trust Leo from the moment they get out

-Leo and Nico have a weird sort of situationship, in that Leo was basically abandoned by his previous partner, and Nico understands and is willing to wait but wants to court him and sometimes that slips into their interactions.

-Nico’s incredible with the kids, Piper lives to tease Leo about it

-nobody questions Takashi being adopted, Keith however gets mistaken for Nico’s actual son so often that he believes it to be true for a while

-Nico totally teaches the kids Italian, Leo has mixed feelings about Spanish so he only passes down some words and translated expressions. He does, however, teach the boys Morse code.

-It’s actually Annabeth that figures out their roots, and helps Leo find out about their respective families. She also finds people to teach them Japanese/Korean, as well as Ancient Greek.

-the others all get involved in the rearing of the broganes, it really does take a village

-galra Keith exists fully, as in he can shapeshift and has been holding it unknowingly, but one of the apollo campers figures it out and poof, tinny fluffy purple baby

-Shiro is a demigod, actually, but I have not decided whom sired him just yet

-Leo totally makes Keith a galra-proof hippo stuffy, and then a demi-safe cat stuffy for Shiro

-the broganes are partly responsible for getting Leo out of his own head, and getting Valdangelo together

-Shiro and Keith both get offered to choose their legal names, even offered the option of having two. Keith opts for having two, so he’s Akira Kogane, but also Keith Di Angelo-Valdez

-mostly, this is just Keith and Shiro both getting to have a huge family that could kick your ass

-I love the Leo ends up working for NASA thing, so he becomes a very well-known aerospace engineer, when Keith meets the rest of the Voltron crew Pidge and Hunk know of Leo so they immediately note his surname

-Keith, to Red: you know, you feel kinda like my pops | Red, who’s been inside Keith’s head: *purrs loudly*

-Lance, at some point: How come Shiro didn’t get a second name? | Keith: he’s butthurt that everyone knows he’s adopted | Shiro: we can’t all look like our adoptive fathers Akira!

-Keith slips into Italian when he’s sleepy/drunk, Korean when he’s annoyed and wants to curse without getting in trouble, and Ancient Greek when he’s legitimately angry.

-Shiro uses Japanese the most when tired, Italian when angry, and exclusively speaks in Ancient Greek when he’s drunk.

-Hunk, someone who studied modern Greek: what dialect is that? | Keith, Leo’s son: Underworld drawl

-Pidge, a Leo fan: hey Keith did you get any language from your cooler dad | Keith:  .--- ..- ... - / - .... .. ... / --- -. . | Pidge: wicked

-there’s a real scary moment after they fight big baddie 1 (can’t remember) where Keith realizes the enemy looks just like him, this would lead to much angst as he decides to hide this from the team, - Shiro (he already knew)

-when the truth finally comes out Shiro is ready to throw hands, Lance calls Allura’s bullshit so fast he gives everyone else whiplash, and Pidge and Hunk prepare a list of questions. Coran tries to play mediator as best as he can, the poor man.

-yes abyss whale, no second time-skip, yes road trip back to earth, yes armor changes, maybe black paladin lance, definitely Klance

-Keith, to Krolia: are you sure you didn’t have other children | Krolia, who watched Keith’s childhood through whale shenanigans: I admit it’s a very striking resemblance.

-Shiro: it’s a little funny how similar Lance is to Leo | Keith: you shut your mouth

-when they get to earth there’s an awkward moment where Leo has to call the Alteans aside and explain the mist to them so they don’t look crazy for saying what they’ll see

-Pidge, after meeting the brogane’s parents: I’m seeing double | Keith: yeah, dad and I are pretty close looking | Pidge: and you have the exact same taste in men | Keith, turning purple: they’re not the same!

-Lance: honestly, I don’t see it, Mr Di Angelo is a refined goth, meanwhile Keith’s out here with a mullet | Keith: my hair just grows like this! | Leo, appearing: Can confirm, we tried giving him a haircut once and it just returned, pretty sure it’s the alien in him

-Allura, to Leo: remarkable, your quintessence is near identical to that of the red lion | Leo, after checking there’s no mortals around: probably the fire thing |Allura, intrigued: the fire thing? | Leo, after doublechecking: *lights hand on fire* | Allura: ✪ᗨ✪

-Krolia, who’s seen what Leo’s capable of and is understandably intimidated: Thank you for taking care of my son when I couldn’t | Leo, who’s now not all convinced his husband isn’t an alien: we’re talking about Keith, right?

[kismetconstellations]

I loved your post on Shiro and there's so much I agree on with it. Now I'm interested in seeing your take on Keith for the character game plz!!! ❤❤❤

Aww, bless your heart. Thank you! I'm glad you found something to enjoy in all of my heavily biased, opinionated, and probably unhinged rambling. ^///^'

I'll give it a go, but, just a small warning/disclaimer in advance:

I have not watched Seasons Three through Six in their entirety. I am vaguely aware of certain developments from these seasons, thanks to my interaction with fanworks incorporating them, but I cannot offer any sort of detailed analyses based on events exclusive to them. For example, I can't comment on Keith's relationships with the Blades in any meaningful way, as I'm only familiar with his interactions with them in Seasons Two, Seven, and Eight.

My answers for Keith are not going to be anywhere near as in-depth as they were for Shiro, since I watched this show for Shiro. But, I will respond to every question to the best of my ability.

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I like Keith because of the hidden depths to his character. Superficially, he's the hot-headed loner stereotype. He's a "discipline case". He stole the car of a renowned ace pilot sent to recruit students for the local military academy. He spent a number of years in the foster care system after being orphaned at a relatively young age, carries a knife on his person at all times, and doesn't take well to being challenged or having his abilities called into question. He's prone to rash decision-making and acting on impulse, and will lash out and say callous, hurtful things that he doesn't truly mean in the heat of the moment. ("Are we even friends?")

But, he craves love and acceptance from the people around him, even when his instinct is to push them away for self-preservation's sake. He scarfs down his food like he's never going to get another chance to eat, again. He can be a bit slow to pick up on the meanings of certain concepts or ideas, and some aspects of socialization are completely lost on him (not comprehending Lance's "Voltron" cheer). He likes cute things in a reserved, understated sort of way. He likes hugs.

Though he'd never admit it.

He's rash and quick-tempered, but it comes from a place of passion; from a strong sense of justice, and desire to protect the ones he cares about at any cost.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That he's very much a semi-feral cat in human form. Shiro is his Person, the one who earned his trust and unwavering devotion, and he's slowly learned to open himself up to trusting others, but he'll still bite someone's finger off if they're not Shiro and have the misfortune of making him angry.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

He seems to have lost some of his internal fire in an effort on the part of the writers to turn him into Discount Shiro.

Shiro is "retired" from his position as Black Paladin and head of Voltron, and sidelined completely through no choice of his own because Keith has taken over his role on the team.

Keith gets to kill Shiro's personal tormentor after Shiro couldn't so much as best Sendak in combat.

Season Eight has Keith retreading ground that Shiro already tread, laying into Zarkon about his being unworthy of piloting the Black Lion and Paladinship. Even though that exact confrontation between current and former Black Paladin had already been handled in a much more impactful manner back in Season Two, when it was Shiro engaging Zarkon in a hand-to-hand fight inside of the Black Lion's inner quintessence while the Black Lion, herself, spectated and had the final say in who was the victor.

Not only did Shiro and Zarkon's conflict have higher stakes, both narratively and for the characters, as Zarkon was actually still alive and an active threat to the universe, rather than existing inside of Haggar/Honerva's head, Shiro and Zarkon had history. Shiro was imprisoned and held captive, forced to fight in the gladiatorial arena, on Zarkon's ship. Zarkon was able to wrest control of the Black Lion out from under Shiro mid-battle on multiple occasions, and used his persisting connection to the Black Lion to track Voltron down across multiple galaxies.

These two finally getting to face one another on the battlefield was a longtime coming. It had proper build-up, felt completely earned, and provided all parties involved (Shiro, Zarkon, the Black Lion, and the viewer) ample reason to be invested in the outcome.

It was also a visual treat, with dynamic, impressively animated choreography and physics highly reminiscent of Saiyan battles in Dragonball Z, against a gorgeous backdrop.

Contrast that with Keith yelling at a Mega Zarkon inside of Haggar/Honerva's head, because the showrunners had to artificially up the ante somehow, while standing stock still against a backdrop that isn't nearly as stunning.

And, the Black Lion immediately coming to his aid when Mega Zarkon decides to strike,

instead of watching as her Paladin is slowly strangled until he says the right thing that convinces her that he is worthy.

Keith had Shiro's essence teach him how to "see through the Lion's eyes" in order to unlock the Black Lion's wings,

something Shiro, himself, had to fight to figure out with no one other than the Black Lion guiding him.

Despite Shiro's bond with the Black Lion being the strongest bond between human Paladin and Lion, indisputably and unquestionably, Post-Resurrection Shiro has no connection to her at all. He's a silent passenger in her cockpit, or the cockpit of whichever other Paladin-Lion pair chose to carry him. He might as well not be present at all for all of the acknowledgement and deference he's given by both his found family, and the show, itself.

None of this is Keith's fault. But, it's difficult not to feel some measure of anger, watching him usurp Shiro's role entirely, while Shiro is sequestered off on his own ship to be nerfed and disrespected for a full thirteen episode season. Especially when Keith is younger and able-bodied and easily achieves or has handed to him things that Shiro fought with all of his might only to either fall short of (defeating Sendak), or barely scrape by on the skin of his teeth (cementing his bond with the Black Lion to unlock her ultimate power). Keith's success at Shiro's expense only serves to further fuel the noxious ageism and disgusting ableism perpetuated by this show and its fanbase.

And, Keith's own personality seemed to suffer for it. Perhaps it's meant to be character growth, but he seems so flat, void of the traits that made him distinctly Keith, throughout Seasons Seven and Eight, following Season Seven's opener. I'm positive there are passionate fans who could and have elaborated on this with the detail and insight necessary to fully illustrate the dearth of Keithness. But, I think it says something that even someone like me, who watched this show for Shiro and skipped over nearly four entire seasons due to the absence of him, picked up on the less-than-satisfactory change.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

A shonen anime series, either Sci-Fi or Isekai, where he can be the hero who reluctantly heeds the call of Destiny and pull off risky, reckless maneuvers on a futuristic vehicle, and/or masterfully take down foes with a great big sword, to his hearts' content.

5. What’s the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

"Hold On", by Chord Overstreet; only because of this Keith/Shiro video.

6. What’s something you have in common with this character?

I, too, love dogs and would die for Takashi Shirogane.

7. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Treating him like the competent adult he actually is. The one who lived on his own in a shack in the middle of the desert for a year, and set off bombs to distract Garrison security personnel while he snuck inside of the quarantine zone to figure out what they were up to. Before even realizing they had a miraculously alive Shiro sedated and strapped to a table.

8. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Feminizing and infantilizing him, always in service of a ship. Keith has moments of emotional vulnerability, because he's meant to be a multi-faceted human/alien hybrid. That does not make him a weepy blushing "uwu" uke who sobs, wails, and cries while being choked and split open on Lance or Shiro's intimate parts and calling them "daddy".

He's a semi-feral cat in human form. He'd more than likely use his teeth, inflicting serious damage on those very sensitive parts, should someone try to make him choke on them, and I can't see him ever wanting to be sexually dominated by anyone. Putting aside that Shiro is a bottom and would never, Keith would sock Lance or any other man square on the jaw, or drive his knee or foot into an even more vulnerable area, for so much as trying to pin him down and make him "take it".

And, I know this is a popular headcanon and the show, itself, tried to lend credence to it by having Krolia thank "Kuron" for looking after Keith for her, but Shiro did not "raise" Keith. Shiro was an ambitious ace pilot in his very early twenties, contemplating the prospect of engagement and marriage to his long-term partner while their relationship began to unravel, battling a terminal degenerative illness, and planning to pilot a voyage into deep space. When was he meant to have found the time amidst all of this to have adopted or parented a preteen/early adolescent?

He and Keith were close, as a mentor/protege and friends typically would be, but Keith certainly didn't look to Shiro to be a stand-in or surrogate for his father. Nor did Shiro view Keith as his son. Keith confronting Shiro over Shiro's attempt to conceal his illness from him plays out exactly the way a confrontation between two peers who view each other as equals would.

Keith marches up to Shiro without so much as a greeting, very abrupt, direct, and upfront, unafraid of castigation or reprisal. The opposite of what one would expect from a cadet approaching his senior officer, or any kid confronting an adult authority figure about a perceived deception.

Likewise, Shiro steps down to put himself on the same level as Keith.

While maintaining a respectful physical distance, Keith leans forward into Shiro's space, resolutely standing his ground and refusing to let Shiro hide or deflect.

And, Shiro ultimately gives in and chooses to be honest with him, rather than pulling rank and brushing Keith off, telling him that everything's fine, or it's none of Keith's business, and treating him like a child.

Their relationship can't be so simply and neatly classified. Though Keith does refer to Shiro as his "brother", there's enough ambiguity there to be threatening (see Keith tenderly touching Shiro's face

and pausing over Shiro as if he intended to kiss him

), and I think that's why very specific shippers dilute Shiro into Keith's parental figure, even going as far as interpreting Shiro and Keith as, or outright making them biologically related. It's a transparent attempt to rule out any possibility of a romance between them while pretending to pay perfunctory tribute to their bond.

As if these shippers actually care about it or Shiro in any way, shape, or form.

And, it's sincerely grating to have to scroll past.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

I see no reason why I couldn't be. Though, I don't think my cat would get along with Kosmo very well.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

Once again, I would be too nervous to approach him.

11. Would you date this character?

No. He's way too young for me.

12. What’s a headcanon you have for this character?

I have to go with the fairly popular(?) fanon reading that Keith falls somewhere on the Autism spectrum. Canon seems to back this by some degree, with the aforementioned "I say 'Vol', you say--" "Vol-tron?", and showing Keith covering his ears and closing his eyes on the carnival ride he and Hunk get stuck on, as if suffering from overstimulation.

13. What’s an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Probably cliche and expected, but... Biker Aesthetic. Leather jacket in black or red, fingerless gloves on his hands, of course, tight jeans, perhaps with a tear or two in the legs, and heeled boots.

He'd also definitely wear hoodies and hooded jackets with drawstrings, so he can pull the hood over his head and secure it tightly when he's feeling overstimulated and wants to shut out the world.

15. What’s your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn’t matter if it’s canon or not.)

Keith/Shiro. Their love for each other is legitimately, canonically death-defying.

"Keith, I was dreaming. Keith... you saved me." "We saved each other."

I get emotional every time.

16. What’s your least favorite ship for this character?

The portmanteau starts with a 'K', and rhymes with pants.

17. What’s a ship for this character you don’t hate but it’s not your favorite that you’re fine with?

I think Keith/Acxa is interesting and has potential, and I kind of wish the show would have done more with Keith/Allura than the brief ship tease we got in The Ark of Taujeer.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

I think Keith and Hunk's friendship is very sweet, Keith and Kosmo are adorable, and in a purely platonic sense, Keith and Lance do have their moments (that I don't reflexively tune out because the fandom has caused me to dread any interaction between them.)

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don’t like?

Nothing comes to mind.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn’t matter?

I think Keith has some pretty solid friendships as is.

21. If you’re a fic writer and have written for this character, what’s your favorite thing to do when you’re writing for this character? What’s something you don’t like?

I like how concise, direct, and to the point Keith is. He doesn't meander, or waffle, or embellish, or put on airs. He says exactly what he means to say the first time, and doesn't put up a facade for anyone.

I've yet to find something I dislike about writing for him.

22. If you’re a fic reader, what’s something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don’t like?

I like when he's actually written faithfully to his canon characterization, scrappy and slightly rough around the edges, but fiercely loving and possessing a strong- if sometimes somewhat misguided- sense of justice.

I hate when he's infantilized and portrayed as a soft, weepy, fragile child in fics that are meant to take place during the show's main timeline. It comes across as borderline fetishistic, and kind of creeps me out. Especially when he's being paired with Shiro and the author continues to emphasize how "delicate" and "small" he is in contrast to Shiro's strength and size.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Just as Shiro reminds me very much of the 2003 iteration of Leonardo, Keith invokes 2003 TMNT's Raphael. Short-tempered, always ready and raring to deliver a well-deserved beatdown, prone to acting rashly, strong sense of justice, intense, unbreakable bond with his team leader.

The major difference is, aside from Keith and Shiro not butting heads like Raph and Leo frequently do (and obviously not being siblings), Raphael never lost his internal fire over the course of the series, no matter what trauma he endured.

The same cannot be said for Keith.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I can't recall my first impression of him, truth be told. Now... Admittedly, I'm not quite as taken with his character as I sort of hoped I would be, given how he's portrayed in well-written fanfiction. I like him just fine, but...

Maybe it's the product of me being overexposed to him by a fandom that is utterly obsessed with shoving the milquetoast pairing of him and his "rival" down everyone's throats. Or the fact that he's made to usurp Shiro's role, to the point that some of his fans openly wish that Shiro would have remained dead in service of Keith's character arc.

Regardless of the reason, Keith kind of doesn't do much for me. Strange for someone who happily ships him with their favorite to say, but that's the reality of it.

----

Thank you so much for the submission! I hope my answers were somewhat satisfactory, and not completely incendiary. (I'm not really equipped to handle torches and pitchforks.)

[incorrect-kidge-quotes]

YouTube Music Wrapped Writing Challenge

Song #23 – Too Late For You, by TheManBeHisLa (ft. Mcgwire)

So, I initially was going for angst, but the story ended up dictating itself to be more tragedy. I unfortunately had no control over this and had to abide by the stories wishes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voltron flew to the ship from the surface of Naxzela as fast as it’s thrusters allowed.

“Thrusters are at max power!” Lance called out.

“I sure hope we make it in time…” responded Hunk.

Come on, Katie… think! There has to be something you can do, if we don’t hurry there’s no way to stop the planet from exploding, and there is no way Keith or the Coalition will be able to hold Haggar off for long! Pidge thought, internally screaming at herself to come up with a solution.

“Follow my lead, we have to break through that shield!” she heard Keith shout over the intercoms before groaning in pain.

“We’re not gonna make it!” Lance shouted, panicking. There has to be something I can do… I can overclock the thrusters I- I can…

“We’ll never penetrate those shields!” Matt said over the comms.

“… Not with our weapons…” she heard Keith say, barely more than a whisper.

“Wait, Keith, what are you doing?!” Matt asked.

‘Not with our weapons’? What’s that supposed to mean. No- “Keith you can’t!”

“Sorry Katie… You guys, stop the Galra. End this war. I’ve missed you all, I’ll- I’ll keep missing you.” Keith told them before shutting off his communications and putting his thrusters into full power.

Pidge watched as Voltron neared just close enough to see the remnants of the explosion dissipate as the shield shut down. “Keith!!” Everyone, including her brother could be heard before a purple laser burst through Haggar’s superweapon, completely destroying it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m sorry for the loss of your comrade, truly. I tried to make it in time… I was merely- too late to be of any help for you.” Lotor old them all as the group, Matt, and he sat in the Castle hangar.

“Like quiznack! You probably just wanted to make sure another opponent was off the board before coming in at the last second for your own plans!” Lance shouted, getting in Lotor’s face.

No one noticed her, the girl normally so curious and talkative was completely silent. Unable to get out a word. No one, except her brother and Shiro.

“Pidge… Katie?” Matt said, turning to his sister, this finally drew the attention of the other paladins and Lotor.

“I should have done something… the thought crossed my mind- bypass the engines to overclock the thrusters, deal with the burnout and repair them later- I could’ve done something. I could’ve done anything, I- I-” she couldn’t help it anymore, she dropped to the ground. Hyperventilating. Unable to breathe.

“Sh-shiro, you came back! You were gone, we thought you died! How’d you come back?!”

“I don’t know, Pidge. I was in the Black Lion, but I don’t remember, like I said.” Shiro mumbled out.

“No, no, no, no… he was supposed to come back to us. He was supposed to be with the Blades, get his answers and come back to us. He was going to share everything he found out with me!” She screamed before burying her head into Matt’s chest.

Matt looked up at Shiro, asking his old friend only one question, “Were they-?”

“They were close, but- but I never knew it was like this.”

“You bastard… you were supposed to come back to me.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@flannelfangirl Like I said, I initially meant to meet your angst with my own, however, the keyboard had it own ideas

A/N: This song itself is fairly more upbeat in tone, I however simply the title as inspiration for this snippet

[autisticlancemcclain]

The loud creaking noise coming from the walls is worrying, but the wince and muttered “oh, no” by the planet’s official is even worse.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asks warily.

“Oh, nothing to worry about, paladins!” the official says, plastering a smile on her face. “Please, carry on.”

Lance sighs heavily, trying at the last minute to keep the exasperation out of his tone. “Ma’am, there’s no need to shield us. We’re well equipped for an emergency, and happy to help.”

“Oh, you’re guests, I could never —”

Just then the walls creak again, much louder this time, before a gigantic crack appears, spreading across several meters. The official slumps forward. “We’ve been having some problems with our drainage systems,” she explains apologetically. “We were hopeful that there would be no flooding or catastrophes today, but that does not seem to be the case.”

The second the words are out of her mouth, the crack expands further, and water starts rushing out. The gathered people at the gala all make noises of minor alarm, but they’re all clearly used to the struggle, as no one seems too panicked. Lance takes the moment of confusion to step up onto a recently vacated chair.

“I’m so sorry,” says the official again, looking positively mortified. “This is going to have to cut the celebrations short.”

Keith quirks up one half of his mouth, trying his best to smile reassuringly. He looks awkward but determined. Lance looks away, hiding a fond smile.

“It’s fine,” Keith assures. “Do you need our help escorting everyone out?”

The official shakes her head. “No, everyone’s well-used to this at this point. They’ll file out on their own. I would just worry about getting yourselves out and back to your ship, paladins. It may take a while.”

Lance grimaces, glancing at the massive crowd all trying to file through the minimal exits. “Noted.”

The official hurries away, striding to help some of her elderly people make it through the doors first as the water level starts to rise. Nothing alarming, but enough to be frustrating and even a hazard for anyone who struggles to walk.

“Shame this had to end early,” Keith says, looking like it’s quite the opposite.

Lance snorts. “Real shame, I’m sure. Is that why you look like you could sing a tune?”

Keith’s small smile morphs into a full grin, and he shrugs. “No clue what you’re talking about.”

“Mhm. Sure. Let’s get out of here, you hater.”

Keith starts sloshing forward, wading through the now knee-high water. Lance steps from the chair he was standing on to the table and follows.

“You’re going to fall,” Keith says mildly.

Lance ignores him, concentrating on not tripping over plates and cutlery (proving Keith right would be just as bad as falling entirely into the water).

“Am not. Excuse me for not wanting to wade through dirty pipe water.”

“Priss,” Keith teases.

Lance scowls at him. “I’m wearing my nice shoes! And socks are already the worst things in the world, but wet socks? No. I’d rather surgically remove my feet.”

“Well, get your scalpel ready, ‘cause you’re running out of table.”

Lance stops, realising that he is, in fact, running out of table. He’s got maybe three or so meters left before his path gives way to what was once a massive dance floor and is now a pond, and is also the only way to reach the exit.

“Shit.” He shifts his feet, turning to look at Keith. “Maybe I should just wait here. You know, to make sure everyone else gets out safe. And for the water to get drained.”

Keith scoffs. “Fat chance of that. You’ll be here for days, and we have training tomorrow morning.”

Lance huffs, kicking an abandoned platter of appetizers to the side and sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the white tablecloth. “I don’t want to ruin my fancy clothes,” he says petulantly. “Or get wet socks. Why do horrible things happen to beautiful people? I don’t deserve this.”

Keith laughs. A small one, but one where his smile gets wide, showing his crooked incisors and the lines around his eyes. The look of it makes Lance grin back on reflex. Keith shakes his head, teasing, and then opens his arms. “C’mere, then.”

It takes Lance a moment to clock what Keith’s suggesting, but then he scoffs.

“Absolutely not, Mullet.”

The twinkle in Keith’s eyes is something like mischief. “I dunno what your issue is. If I carry you, you don’t ruin your shoes and your feet stay dry. What have you got to lose?”

“My dignity, I would say. You think I’m cool with you carrying me around like some —” Lance flushes at the mere thought — “some damsel, in front of the entire planet that thinks I’m a cool space hero? No way!”

“Well it’s either your dignity or dry feet, princess,” Keith teases. “You can’t have both.”

Lance narrows his eyes at the bastard. “Do you know how irritating it is when you’re both right and being generous, and thus have the moral high ground?”

Keith laughs again, brighter than before, making Lance’s stomach flutter. He opens his arms, wiggling his fingers enticingly. “You made your choice?”

Lance huffs again. “I guess if you’re offer’s still on the table,” he mutters, staring down at his shoes. “I really like these shoes.”

Without another word, Keith shuffles forward, sliding one arm behind Lance’s back and one under his knees. He lifts Lance easily, not even bracing himself or anything.

“Do I weigh anything to you?” Lance demands, fighting off the redness that threatens to overwhelm his face.

Keith smirks. “Nope. Felt like I was lifting a beanstalk.”

“You’re the worst.”

“Mhm. Keep talking shit and I’ll drop you.”

Lance snaps his mouth shut, because Keith absolutely will. As gentlemanly as he’s being right now, his favourite hobby is driving Lance batty, and Lance knows that for a fact. As soon as he decides that it will be funnier to dunk Lance than to carry him, he will.

“You know, this reminds me of something,” Keith muses as they’re halfway across the flooded dance floor.

Lance hums. “Yeah? What’s that?”

“I’m trying to put my finger on it. Early castle days, some sort of disaster, you cradled in my arms?”

“Oh — fuck off!” Lance exclaims, smacking Keith on the chest. “You drama queen!”

Keith sniggers. “I remember it now.” He smooths his face into an exaggerated smoulder. “‘We make a great team,’” he mocks, digging his fingers into Lance’s side.

“I did not say that,” Lance insists, even though he knows it’s futile. They have this exact argument at least once a week and it goes absolutely nowhere.

“You’re right, you didn’t just ‘say that’. You batted your eyelashes at me and made your eyes all big and brown and said it with the sappiest smile on your face —”

“You are delusional—”

“—and then fainted in my arms after holding my hand and gazing into my eyes. And then you got embarrassed and pretended it didn’t happen.”

“It didn’t! You wanted me to flirt with you so bad you dreamed it up!”

“Sure,” Keith says, shifting Lance in his arms. He pays Lance’s thigh condescendingly. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

“You are infuriating.”

“And you are the most frustrating person to ever come from planet Earth.”

They continue to bicker back and forth as Keith walks them through the pond, neither of them stopping to even take a breath. They’re the last ones to clear out, so they take their time. (Well, Keith takes his time, walking as slow as he can to increase Lance’s humiliation, and pretending to drop him every few minutes to hear Lance shriek and clutch his shoulders tightly. Because he is the worst.)

“Finally,” Lance grumbles, as they finally approach the doors. “Anyone tell you that you’re the worst taxi ever?”

“I’m going to dunk you,” Keith says pleasantly.

“Yeah, right. You’ve been saying that for twenty minutes.”

“Twenty-one might be the kicker.”

“Sure, and I bet —”

But Lance never gets to say what he bets, because as soon as they cross the threshold out of the ballroom, where everyone else has filed out, he’s interrupted by cheering. He looks up, confused, to find Hunk and Pidge pointing at him and teasingly whooping and hollering. The rest of the gathered crowd is quickly following suit.

Lance, it seems, is the only one being carried over the water like royalty. Even Allura is walking on her own just fine.

“Got a real gentleman, there, Lance,” Shiro calls, impish grin spreading across his face.

“Fuck off,” Lance snaps, face redder than Keith’s stupid jacket. He hides his face in Keith’s chest, which is shaking with the force of his chuckles.

“Shall I let you down?” he whispers.

“Don’t you dare,” Lance whispers back.

“You’re liking this, then.”

The truth is…yeah. As humiliating as it is being cradled in Keith’s arms (again), something primal and petty in Lance is positively preening at the attention, at the knowledge that he and he alone is special enough to be carried around by Keith Kogane. No one else got the special offer to be spared from the filth of the pipe water. No one else gets to feel Keith’s arms around them. No one else gets to feel the heat of his body so close, hear the beat of his heart. Just Lance.

“You’re annoying and I hate you,” Lance says instead of voicing any of that. “You have a thing for embarrassing me, I swear.”

Keith shrugs. The movement makes Lance’s belly swoop. “A little, actually. It’s hilarious when you get all riled up.”

“Yeah, well, you look better when you’re all mad at me! Take that!” As soon as he says it Lance wishes he could reach back in time and smack the shit out of himself. “Fuck — I didn’t mean — that’s not —”

But the damage is already done — Keith’s already grinning widely, smug and horrible and so, so sexy. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time you piss me off on purpose, Bluebell. Maybe I’ll just shut you up with a kiss.”

Lance is too choked up to say a single thing for the rest of the walk to the castle. When he finally gets to his room — free of Keith’s stupid horrible strong arms, might he add — he shoves his face into his pillow and screams himself hoarse.

Keith is the worst, and Lance wants him more than anyone he’s ever known.

———

based on this video

[raddestrose]

OH NOOO

I read the little blurb and they said the paladins are going to argue

Is this when Shiro starts being mean to Lance?

I hated when he was mean

HAAAAAA TAKE THAT

HAHA ZARKONS DEAD

Leave the Olkarion out of this

Shut your trap Lotor i dont want a word out of you

Hes got that eel in him

I like everyone’s beef with Lotor

especially Lance’s

SHIRO DONT START WITH ME I WILL HIT YOU

this isn’t nt a good look for you shiro

get your act together

Uhhhhhhhhhhhgggggg

SO THIS IS THE GALRA BATTLE ROYALE EPISODE

i totally forgot they flew him down there

SHORO GAVE HIM HIS WHATTT

CAN IT SHIRO

INWILL GET in their and beat you up myself

eek haggar eek

i forget if those girls die or not

Oh dear

Lance please take a breath please

calm down

YESSS HE HAS A SWORD

they have to stay in space dude

im sorry man

not the sad music i can’t

oh no this is supwr bad

EVIL PLANTA EVILE PLANTS

Ih no everything is going suuuuuper wrong

IOHHHH YEAH

they doo magic mind stuff

and isn’t Shiro like glitchy after that?

daaang bro screamed so hard he timed into a black and white sketch

ohh my gosh rhat dude

hes bwwn gone for SEASONS

hes been gone so long k forgot his name

IS THIS THE KEITH EPISODE???

oh this is the battle royale episode

bro thats your mom stop calling her a witch

yeah what IS up with Shiro? 🤨🤨🤨

its like John Wick with all those stairs

SHIRO DUDE THE HELL??

So not cool

Shiro I must say I am very disappointed in you right now

Don’t just flaunt that you killed your dad

oh they’re just leaving Keith high and dry

I just know the paladins are seething on the inside

CAUSE I AM

Oh wow

[emo-ostrich]

1: why doesn’t anyone talk about how heartbreaking this scene is

2: why doesn’t anyone talk about this episode?!?!

it’s actually very well written and serves as a set up for the much darker twist the show is taking

in this episode we learn:

-pidge would sacrifice a good amount of the universe to save her father. they’re the most logical and analytical on the team, yet all that goes out the window when her family gets involved. there’s an argument in the beginning of the episode that is very reminiscent of when pidge was going to leave voltron in season 1 and keith yells at them.

-honerva remembers that lotor is her son. this is a HUGE set up for season 8. she begins the phase 4 of the kuron project which leads to keith returning and becoming the black paladin. but she does all of this because she knows zarkon will kill lotor. she’s ok with lotor killing zarkon bc zarkon is merely a husk of the man he used to be. that realization definitely leads her down the path of “how can i restore my family” (cut to end of season 8).

-on the topic of project kuron, we see the effects of it with shiro lashing out and not being… very shiro like… but he gives lotor HIS BAYARD in the hostage exchange without telling the rest of the team. honerva calls for the beginning of phase 4, and we can see that phase 3 was the shiro that been with the team since he returned in season 3. he’s been living this jekyll and hyde type life with half kuron controlled by honerva and half real shiro.

-we see lance step up and give orders to the team. lance is the red paladin at this point in the series making him the right hand of voltron and this is one of the first times we see him step into that leadership position. watching him grow into that leadership position and learn to feel valued makes the end of season 8 hurt even worse. plus when shiro realizes they need backup he says “lance we could use a little help.” he already acknowledges lance as his right hand man even if lance doesn’t realize it yet. that’s the shiro part talking. lance gives an order and the team says “copy that” which is how lance normally responds to orders. it’s a very clear role reversal that i think is lovely in lance’s character arc (if only dreamworks actually finished his arc smh)

-lotor killing zarkon is proof he really did want peace. he wants nothing to do with his father, doesn’t want zarkon to be his father, and has no hesitation in killing him. lotor and voltron are fighting for the same thing, but simply have different methods. when they fight lotor, he seems hesitant to fire until allura says he’s like zarkon. that’s what throws him over the edge.

lotor becoming emperor of the galra after zarkon’s death shows that having a galra ally on the throne could be the key to peace (hello keith after season 8) so think about the set back in the war efforts when voltron kills the emperor, a former ally, and then disappears. maybe this is why the galra attacked earth? in the beginning on the series, they’re looking at a star map showing that the galra’s progress in conquering worlds is getting closer to reaching earth but hasn’t quite gotten there yet. so either and conquering has sped up and an insane rate, or earth was specifically targeted by the galra while voltron was gone.

-when zarkon is about to kill lotor, the team saves him. the first lion we see fire is allura implying that j was allura that saved lotor a life. that’s kinda big in her development or maybe she was just firing at zarkon who knows

ok sorry that’s all thanks for coming to my ted talk :)

(this is all about season 5 episode 2: blood duel)

[spacecowboy-01]

p.6. /tw: panic/anxiety attack/tw: crying/tw: guilt/tw: stress

Once they arrived back in the main hull of the Castleship, Keith ran to the cryo pods with Lance in his arms and stood next to the closest pod he could see.

He waited for Coran to run up behind them and open the door to the pod so he could set Lance inside.

While he waited, he laid Lance on the ground and attempted to take off his armor before he went in.

Shiro kneeled down next to them and tried to help Keith in the process.

Meanwhile, the rest of the paladins, Pidge, Hunk, and Allura stood back behind them and watched anxiously as the preparations were set for Lance to heal again.

Once they got Lance’s armor off, Keith and Shiro gently lifted Lance up off the ground and leaned him into the cryo pod.

They then took a couple of steps back as Allura ran in and set it up to begin the healing process.

Pidge and Hunk walked up to where the rest of them stood, forming a semi-circle in front of the pod.

Shiro then put his robotic hand on Keith’s shoulder, and whispered gently: “He’ll be okay, Keith. You did well. You’re the reason we were able to get out of there so fast, and get Lance to safety. Try not to beat yourself up too much, okay?”

He didn’t respond. All he could think about was how he had failed Lance.

He scolded himself: ‘Gosh darn it Keith. Look what you’ve done now! You were supposed to keep him safe, and look at what happened. You just had to get stuck in that room, didn’t you? He got hurt because of your failure. This is all your fault. There goes any chance of getting closer to him.’

He kept staring at Lance, and grimaced as his inner thoughts sunk in.

He then was snapped back to reality when Shiro asked: “Do you want us to leave you two alone for a while? Knowing you, I figured you might want some alone time to think. Get your head together, you know what I mean.”

He took a couple minutes to reply, then he turned his head slightly towards Shiro, still looking at Lance, and replied quietly: “I would like that, but.. Would you mind staying? I just- I need to talk to you for a couple minutes. If you don’t mind.”

“Yes, of course.”

Shiro then glanced over to Allura and motioned to the door, signaling to her to give them some space.

She nodded, then turned and walked towards the back door, calling the others to go play a round of ‘Monsters And Mana’.

Keith went over to the small stairs in front of Lance’s pod and sat down, head resting in his hands.

Shiro then sat down next to him, waiting for him to begin.

He noticed that Keith’s breaths were heavy and his hands were trembling.

He turned to face his brother and gently rested his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

Keith drew a heavy breath, then said quickly while exhaling: “I don’t know what to do. I- I was supposed to stay with Lance and protect him, but I failed. I failed him, and now look at what I’ve done. He’s in that cryo pod; he’s badly hurt and it’s because of me. I, I-”

His heart began to pound in his chest; feeling like it would burst from his chest.

“I-” He stammered.

‘Keep it together, Keith..’ He pleaded to himself.

His arms and legs began to shake as tears creeped into his eyes.

‘No- Quiznak, Keith! You’re making yourself look childish and weak! I swear to Kaltenecker, Keith! Not in front of Shiro! No no no no, stop- stop it-!’

Then he shut down.

He began sobbing in his hands, cursing and threatening himself to stop.

After a couple seconds he had parts of his thick black hair covering his face held tight in his hands, almost as if he was attempting to rip it out.

“Keith…”

Shiro scooted closer, leaning towards him and put his arms around him, holding him tight against his chest.

“It’s not your fault, Keith,” He began gently. “There was nothing you could-"

"That’s my point!” He cried.

“You grouped me with him so I could protect him as your second in command! I’m the reason his very life would have nearly been stolen from him, I- I was supposed to not leave his side but I-”

His voice was breaking as he rapidly spoke, having failed to keep the floodgates from opening inside him.

Shiro held him tighter than before and whispered: “Shhhh…. Just breathe, Keith. Breathe.”

His left hand began to softly run through Keith’s dark hair.

“Hey. Look at me.”

After a few seconds, he hesitantly looked back up to Shiro and released his hair from his hands, letting them fall limp on his lap.

Shiro realized Keith’s sclera was yellow; a Galran trait he inherited from his mother that tends to mainly appear due to stress.

His expression then changed to an even softer and empathetic tone as he slid his left hand from the back of Keith’s head to his left shoulder.

Keith glanced back and forth from one of Shiro’s kind, warm eyes to the other.

Shiro smiled softly as he noticed the yellow in Keith’s eyes fade away and turn back to normal.

Shiro said calmly through a soft smile: “There you are.”

Keith then nervously stammered: “I- I’m sorry, Shiro I- I didn’t mean to lose it like that, that- that won’t happen again-”

“Keith! Do you hear yourself? Just because you’re my second in command and the next leader of Voltron doesn’t mean you have to build up your walls and never let them down. You know it’s not possible to be a wall for others to lean on when there’s nothing for you to do the same with. I had to learn that too, you know. Being a leader is not as easy as people may make it seem. Especially when something like this happens. It’s stressful, believe me. But I know you. I chose you, Keith, to be my successor of Voltron because I know how strong you are; on the inside and out. You would do anything for your team. You may have some flaws, but that’s what makes you.. You. You are so important to me, Keith. And to Lance. When you were gone on that planet with your mother for some time, he wouldn’t stop thinking about you. And knowing him, I’m sure he would feel the same way you do if you two switched places.”

Keith began to calm down little by little as Shiro spoke and as his hand brushed through his hair.

“I just- I still feel so terrible, so.. guilty about letting this happen to him. I.. I have to tell you something. I’ve been having nightmares.. nightmares that seem and feel so real; almost like a vision or something. They’ve been about Lance.. in each one, he’s either been fatally wounded, or he went into a coma for years, or he-”

Keith looked away and released a shaky breath.

“He died. In every scenario, I’ve been the one who wasn’t able to help him. I’ve been the reason he got hurt. And in some of them, I had went on some sort of a Galran ‘rampage’; I was ballistic. I ended up killing him or hurting him so badly he nearly died every time. It’s the same nightmares every time. I’ve been wondering if this is some sort of sign; a warning that I need to leave before it’s too late. I can’t help but think I was too late this time. Just like the nightmares, I wasn’t able to help him, and now- now he’s unconscious in that cryo pod.”

Keith looked over to Lance, streaks of pain dancing through his violet eyes.

“Keith…” Shiro began.

“I hate to say this, but I’m not quite sure what to tell you about these nightmares, but I know one thing. I highly doubt that these nightmares are visions. I think it’s just your imagination getting the best of you, but I don’t know for sure. Lance is going to be okay. It’s a minor injury compared to the Altean’s healing technology. I promise.”

Keith glanced down, contemplating what Shiro said.

After a few seconds, he accepted softly: “T-Thanks, Shiro.”

He smiled and replied: “Of course, Keith. Anytime.”

They stayed silent for a minute or two, then he asked: “Do you want me to tell the others they’re free to come back now?”

“Uh- S-sure.” Keith replied.

He nodded, then they stood up.

Shiro turned to leave, then Keith asked: “Shiro- uh..”

He turned around and responded: “What’s up, Keith?”

“N-nevermind, I’ll just- I’ll just tell you later. It- it’s nothing.”

Keith stammered.

Shiro simply smiled back at him, then chuckled and shook his head softly as he left the room.

Keith sighed and thought to himself ‘Keith, you’re going to have to tell him at some point… he is the one to talk to about it…’

He shook the thought away then went to join the others.

[ririchanva]

╰※╮▫◕‖ Current ‖ ∴❃∴ ‖ AO3 ‖ ∴❃∴ ‖ Next ‖ ◕▫╰※╮

Summary: Shiro, in the last moments of dying, was sent back to the past to rewrite events that will change for the better. Once he started to change one thing, a lot of other things also went into a butterfly effect. Will he be able to prevent a disastrous future this time around?

A/n: Okay, so welcome to this second crossover story on this account~! This time, we're tackling not just Voltron: Legendary Defender, but we get a lot of Ben 10, Marvel and DC stuff as well. This was one of the other projects I've been working on besides Quirks and Miracles, and hope this one receives the amount of love as much as my other story does. I did try to write this story before, but had to scrap and re-do it for some major changes plot wise. Anyways, here is chapter one, and hope you all enjoy~

Chapter Warning: Mentions of war, violence, blood and major character death(s), but only for this chapter. It is also a Fix-It sort of fic about also an AU crossover that's different from canon events.

Chapter One: The Return of Voltron (Part 1)

 It was supposed to be an easy mission.

Being called out of retirement, Shiro was invited to a peace treaty celebration between some planets that were joining the Galactic Coalition. And of course, it was not only the former Captain of the ATLAS that was told to come.

It was good seeing the team again. With Hunk dressed in his culinary uniform, Pidge maturing over the years, even Keith grew up and calmed down from his “lone wolf” phase…

….the biggest change was Lance.

Shiro softened at watching the once bright eyed sharp shooter ageing faster than Shiro himself, especially since the Cuban no longer smiled or showed any emotions. He almost looked like a shell of his former self, taking Keith’s role into being a wall flower and avoided talking to people. Particularly to his former teammates. Losing Allura took it’s toll on the former Blue turned Red Paladin, to the point that he had retired earlier than Shiro to live in his family’s farm.

It was a shame, but Shiro respected his friend’s decision. 

The reunion was cut short when the party was ambushed by rebel Galras that did not join the Blade of Marmora nor surrendered to the Voltron Alliance. Shiro, being rusty, had tried to fight off the best of his abilities…

….But it wasn’t enough.

And now, the previous Black Paladin was lying on the cold, hard ground…bleeding out and dying.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even think straight as he was listening to the blasting of guns, the cries of allies and enemies alike…he even had to close his eyes tight at the shouts of his teammates names. Keith yelling at Lance as a body hit the floor, the screams of both Hunk and Pidge and more thuds. 

Shiro had turned his head with a broken sob at seeing his fallen friends. Hunk being the farthest away, body unrecognisable. Pidge…she was curled up as if hugging herself and unmoving…

Then, there was Keith and Lance. Side by side. Lance on his back with dead eyes and Keith curled up on top of him, as if shielding him. But it looked poetic as Lance looked at peace while Keith looked pained…almost regretful..

Shiro too. He felt regret wash over him.

Tears welled in his eyes at the memories flashing in his mind. He regretted not talking to his friends, his found family, more even when they separated to their own lives after Voltron was no more. He wished he knew where the Lions went, find Black maybe. That he didn’t talk to Keith more about Lance, or even talking to Lance himself as the former Blue Paladin withered away.

Heck, he didn’t even want to admit it…but Shiro regretted marrying Curtis.

Thinking now, as he was dying, he never really loved him. Curtis was a sort of comfort that Shiro accepted. At the time, Shiro thought he had true feelings for the man that helped him in the ATLAS. He deluded himself thinking he was in love with the man, because he couldn’t process that Adam was gone. That Shiro…settled because he thought that was what he wanted, needed, at the time.

‘I am an idiot. I’ve basically strung Curtis along in a lie…and I can’t even tell him because I am here…about to die…’ Shiro thought to himself as the world quieted down around him, signalling that the battle was over. He didn’t even care if his side won or if the rebelled Galra did. 

More memories of his past flashed before his eyes, and he chuckled. Did he deserve to remember? Allura must be scolding me in the stars by now…

Allura.

What would she think about this?

He had to cough a laugh, thinking that Allura would be upset that they lost easily…or that she would be screaming at him to get up, keep fighting…

“I have no more in me to keep fighting…” Shiro admitted to himself while wheezing, staring at the sky about him as he sniffed, “I think…it’s time…”

“You gonna give up so easily?”

Shiro looked at the voice that spoke, seeing a familiar brown haired male sitting on top of him, staring down at him with those hauntingly green eyes. Hallucination or real, Shiro accepted the person with a bitter laugh, shaking his head.

“You of all people would show up as I breathe my last breath.” Shiro murmured weakly, as the person looked down at him sadly, tilting his head.

“You’re not a quitter, Shiro. You’re a fighter, and a stubborn one at that.”

Shiro softened, wanting to reach up and touch the other person’s face. Or even sit up and reach up to hug him, anything. But alas, he didn’t have the strength to do so and then sighed.

 “…You were right, Ben.”

Ben raised a brow at Shiro, who just chuckled then coughed hard, making the brunet concerned.

“Right…about what?”

“Everything. I should’ve listened to you when you said that I was in over my head before Kerberos. I should’ve listened to you when you said you were only looking out for me and not trying to talk down at me because of…of my disease. I know you’re not like Adam, and I just…” Shiro closed his eyes and sighed, his head lolling to the side, “…I should’ve talked to you. O-Or found you when I came back on Earth…hell, I should’ve tried to find you when I came back the first time before finding the Blue Lion…”

Ben stayed silent, and Shiro continued.

“There are many things I should’ve done and wanted to say. And…and I wish I didn’t…”

“…Didn’t what…?”

Shiro opened his eyes again, the light leaving his eyes as he saw nothing in front of him. Hallucination, then. 

Shiro sobbed as he felt alone, his vision slowly fading as he breathed out softly.

“I wish I didn’t go to the Kerberos Mission and followed after you that day…” 

“Is that what you wish for?”

Shiro looked up, expecting the illusion of Ben again, but was surprised seeing a young pale man with almost shaggy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes staring back at him blankly. While he did look on the youthful side, his eyes…it looked almost ancient and staring right into his soul.

“…Who are you?”

“Me? I’m…” The young man paused, tapping on his chin, bobbing his head side to side before speaking again, “You can call me Caspian. It’s the name I prefer actually.”

“Who…?” Shiro closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again as he breathed out tiredly, “What are you? Are you…like, Death?”

“Heh, that’s a good one. Dunno what I am right now, honestly…but I do know I am here to help you~” Caspian had a quirk of an amused smile for a moment before looking seriously at the man before him, “Takashi Shirogane, you are in need to save the universe.”

Save the universe?

Shiro couldn’t help but painfully laugh, which confused Caspian as Shiro shook his head.

“Of course I’d be dragged into once again saving the universe….” Shiro sighed in annoyance, then looked at Caspian, “Why me? Why do I have to do it?” And not someone else for a change?

“Because you wished to fix your mistakes? Is that not what you truly wished for?” Caspian raised a brow at Shiro before tilting his head, “That you wanted to change things and make it right?”

Shiro opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it, sighing. “…Why not ask another person? Someone…not me? Someone else that could maybe change things for the better than I could…”

Something in Caspian softened as a solemn smile appeared on his face, “…The Universe cherishes you, Shiro.”

Shiro snorted, “The Universe has a funny way of showing it.”

“Well, the Lions of Voltron had chosen you.”

“…The Lions are gone. They left when Princess Allura died.” Shiro said miserably, feeling the guilt in his heart.

“And they wish to have their Princess and Paladins back,” Caspian countered, “The Universe needs to be put into balance, and properly this time. So, the Universe thought that you alone should go back and fix everything…save your—what did you call them? Your Space Family.”

Shiro turned his head to where Caspian was looking, his heart clenched at seeing the dead bodies of his friends. Pursing his lips, he turned his head back to the other male, and softened.

“…So, are you taking me now?”

Caspian snorted at his acceptance, and nodded.

“Right where you wished to be…”

A hand reached out to touch over the former Black Paladin’s chest as Shiro felt himself passing out.

“Remember, Takashi Shirogane. Once you make ONE change, everything else will be different than what you remember…”

…

……

………

………… 

“…Shiro?” 

Opening his eyes with a gasp, the Asian male whipped his head around frantically, as if just remembering to breathe.

He…he wasn’t in that planet anymore? He wasn’t dying and lying in his own pool of blood?

Shiro had to pat himself up, down and around his body to see where his gaping wound on his side was, clearly seeing he wasn’t even wearing his ATLAS uniform.

It was a Galaxy Garrison Space Suit.

“Shiro? We’re about to be launch for Kerberos in twenty minutes, are you coming?”

Whipping his head to the source of the voice, he almost dropped his jaws when seeing a very much younger Matt Holt staring at him in concern, fixing his glasses.

“Kerberos…” 

Shiro was at a loss at first, before his mind remembered the day of him, Matt and Sam Holt flying off to space for the first time. He had to look around then saw a reflection of himself, and gasped. He was twenty one again, his face young, full of life and…his hair was all black and he still had his right arm.

He was back.

Soon, he turned around and started running, ignoring the calls of Matt as he was making his way into the Garrison. 

He had to find him. He just had to!

Flashes of a memory formed in Shiro’s head as he ran. Of a brown haired male talking desperately to the young Shiro to not fly to Kerberos and wanted to say something more, almost looking sad and defeated. Flashes of Shiro angrily yelling at him and storming away…and into the very ship that changed his life forever. 

Shiro pushed himself to run faster, hoping he wasn’t too late…

…And smiled in relief at seeing a slouched figure going through the exit of the Garrison gates.

“BEN!”

Back straightened at the sound of the voice, the young man was turning his head questionably, toxic green coloured eyes looked towards him in surprise, and almost slightly red as if he was holding back tears.

“…Shiro?”

Shiro felt his whole body warm at the surprised and breathless tone the other male had and was rushing towards him in top speed, not caring that he looked like a lunatic with arms waving above his head and crying big fat tears. It seemed Ben wasn’t prepared as he was soon feeling strong arms around him, almost falling over if it wasn’t for Shiro pulling him into his chest and sobbing on him.

“S-shiro? What—?”

“Thank god! Thank god, you’re here…” 

Ben Tennyson was never one to be surprised about anything anymore. Ever since he was ten years old, the boy now ageing into a fine young adult, the brunet had been through so many things and met so many walks of life that nothing should ever catch him off guard. So it came to a shock that the summer childhood friend he’s known since he was eleven was now burying his face onto his shoulder, leaving tears and snot trails on his hoodie.

“…Ah, S-shiro…?” Ben asked awkwardly, looking at the bigger male tightening his grip around him, and was relieved when he looked up to see Matt running over to them, “Matt! Thank fuck, do you know what’s got into Shiro?”

“That’s what I would like to know! It wasn’t a few minutes ago that Shiro couldn’t wait to leave this place and go up in space!” Matt huffed, hands on his knees as he was taking a breath from running all the way here, and then looked back up, very miffed, “You got a lot of explaining to do, Shirogane! Do you have any idea how this is going to look?! What will Sanda say when you have begged and pleaded for your case to go on this mission—?”

“Fuck Sanda.”

Ben and Matt both looked horrified at Shiro swearing with a low growl, with Ben having his jaws drop and Matt almost breaking his glasses comically.

“Shiro…?” Ben questioned before Matt screamed out loud.

“THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?! ARE YOU CRAZY!?”

Shiro looked back up at his best friend and narrowed his eyes, and Ben squeaked when he felt the arms tighten around him more. What was going on with him?

“Yes. Tell Sanda to shove it, I changed my mind. I’m not going to Kerberos…”

Calming down, Shiro softened.

“Please tell your dad I’m sorry and thank you for everything, but there’s something important that I’ve gotta do…”

This time, Shiro turned to Ben and breathed out.

“Ben, I’m going to need your help. There’s a lot I wanna say to you, but for now, I think there are much more important things to cover. Will you help me?”

“Yes, of course,” Ben said without hesitation, smiling.

This…this was something that Ben had been waiting a long while for. He wasn’t sure what changed in Shiro at this moment, but it was better than the cold shoulder and violent overacting anger towards him for the past few years. Helping Shiro, whatever it is, was something Ben will do and more.

Matt stared at them for a moment, taking a minute or two to process what was going on and sighed. Rubbing at his head, he turned around and spoke out loud.

“You do realise that this will be seen as an insubordination. The Garrison are not going to be happy you did this…”

“And they’re not gonna be happy on what I’m going to do next~” Shiro smiled, before grabbing Ben’s hand and rushing off, “C’mon, we’re going to find a few people and go somewhere else. Talking here in the Garrison is not safe…”

Matt balked at him while Ben was still reeling at the change of attitude from the Asian male, before Matt started stomping his feet and waving his arms up and down angrily.

“SHIRO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Shiro looked back and gave a happy grin, waving at him, “Fixing stuff. Please give my apologies to your dad and cover for me from Sanda and them! Thanks Matt, you’re the best~”

And with that, Shiro and Ben vanished back inside the Garrison, and Matt felt his heart stop. 

“…I need better friends.”

“Okay, are you going to explain what is going on now, or am I to wait until you stop dragging me to wherever we’re going?”

Shiro paused in his steps as he looked back at the confused look on Ben’s face, and his eyes softened. God…just looking at Ben made his heart flutter. He couldn’t believe he was living and breathing in front of him again. Shaking his head out of the thoughts, Shiro calmly spoke.

“Considering you’re a big hero, and know a lot about space, what I’m about to tell you might be shocking. But before that, I’m going to have to pull some cadets out that might help us out,” He explained, and soon started walking again.

Ben nodded slowly, trying to understand him, but he was sort of distracted as to why Shiro was still holding his hand as they walked together down the Garrison halls. Somehow the gesture sort of made Ben’s cheeks flush for a moment, head spinning. This is so out of character for Shiro…but why do I like it?

Ben was going through his internal monologue, Shiro meanwhile was looking through classrooms by their windows, peering in to look for two certain people. He paused for a second when he spotted Hunk for a moment and then looked unsure.

Should he pull Hunk out and drag him to Voltron again?

Shiro softened as he watched Hunk look out the window and into starry void that was space, the two standing at the central deck of the ATLAS in silence. The war was over, and yet…

“Sometimes…I wished that I didn’t get dragged by Pidge and Lance to space…” Hunk murmured quietly, but then looked to Shiro and looked sheepish, “D-don’t get me wrong! While I do love Yellow, and the team…it’s just…there’s a part of me that missed so much of my families lives, that I was gone for so long…I dunno…it feels complicated now that I’m thinking on it.”

Shiro watched as Hunk was fiddling with what seems to be a cup of Nunvil, staring down at the liquid with ageing eyes.

“If I had a choice to go back? I wished someone else would be the Yellow Paladin and I would stay on Earth…”

Shiro knew that Hunk, despite proving time and time again that he was stronger than he thinks, wasn’t cut out for being in a war. And, as much as he wanted to call out to his friend once more, he has been through hell already once in the past. Maybe someone else could take his place?

Deciding to move on, Shiro looked away from the window and started moving on, giving a mental parting farewell to his old friend. Maybe this time, Hunk can stay with his family and be safe.

Shiro was going through classroom to classroom once more, but then paused when he finally saw two familiar figures. He smiled when he saw Keith, who was very young with no scar on his cheek nor looking like he was haunted by war, and then turned his head to see—

“CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, MCCLAIN?!”

Shiro’s smile fell when he spotted Iverson yelling at Lance, who was looking down at the ground and hands fisted on his sides. Right, Shiro remembered that Lance had a hard time in his first years of the Garrison. And Iverson particularly relished scolding Lance and trying to compare him to Keith, who somehow was some sort of secret genius. 

“Yeesh, this guy’s an ass…” Ben murmured to Shiro, and Shiro soon released Ben’s hand from his own and started walking in the room, “Shiro?”

This alerted everyone in the class, including Iverson and Lance, as Shiro was marching over to them.

“Shirogane? I thought you were flying out for the Kerber—“

Before Iverson could say anything, Shiro pulled his arm back and WHAM!

Keith’s eyes widened in surprise while his classmates, including Lance, were gasping and crying out in surprise. Takashi Shirogane, polite and the Golden Boy of the Garrison, just punched a commanding officer! Needless to say, it surprised every cadet in the room. Ben almost had to laugh at the scene, Shiro looking like a raging bull as he stood over Iverson, who was on the ground and holding his bloody nose. 

Shiro was quick to pull the man up by the front of his uniform jacket, and sneered at him, “You think it’s fun talking down on people that are not on the same level as others? You get some sick twisted kicks onto bullying cadets that need more guidance and care? Well, let me tell you something, Iverson…you’re never going to be half the man that Lance McClain is!”

While during his time as Captain of the ATLAS, Shiro remembered how Iverson had been somewhat tolerable when joining the Voltron Coalition, even making apologies to Keith and Lance on how he treated them during their Garrison days. But right now, this Iverson wasn’t the comrade he knew in the ATLAS. Might as well start humbling him while he was still high on his ego trip.

“Shiro?”

Shiro turned to the soft voice, seeing Keith approaching him and touching his arm, violet eyes wide and looking concerned. This caused Shiro to calm down, dropping Iverson to the ground and turning fully to look at his young brother figure. By Quintessence, he looked much like a boy than he remembered. Still looking hopeful and bright…right before Shiro flew in space and captured by the Galra.

This caused Shiro to reach over Keith and hug him, surprising the shorter male with a squeak.

“S-shiro?! What’s got into you?” Keith wiggled out of his hold, looking weirded out, “Aren’t you suppose to be flying to space with the Holts? Why are you here? A-and why did you punch Iverson?”

Somehow despite looking appalled at the thought of his hero punching an officer, Shiro could see the envious glee that someone actually put Iverson in his place. 

“Let’s just say that…there’s something more important that I have to do,” Shiro soon turned to Lance and smiled softly, “Lance, right?”

“I should thank you all for getting me out…Lance, right?”

Shiro remembered the very first time meeting Lance, and almost felt the same as before. Especially with Lance reaching a hand out and hesitating, his eyes looking unsure. But he then smiled, looking up at Shiro with hero-worship and admiration in his eyes, taking his hand and shaking it.

“Yes, sir. Lance McClain, reporting.”

“Ah, just Shiro is fine.” It felt weird for Lance to call him sir out of all things. 

“So, what’s going on?” Keith came in between them, looking at the both of them with narrowed eyes.

“I’ll explain later. But right now I need you two to come with me.” Shiro stated, and noticed that a few cadets had gone out, probably to call another officer while a few others were checking up on Iverson, “We should get out of here. Now.”

Keith didn’t hesitate as he nodded, already grabbing for his backpack and heading to the door while Lance faltered, looking from Iverson and back to Shiro.

Shiro noticed this and softened, “If…if you don’t want to come with, that’s fine. I’m not forcing you to do anything you don’t want. And I most certainly don’t want you to get into trouble, if that’s what your’e thinking.”

While he had decided to let Hunk be this time around and not bring him along, he’s not gonna lie and say that he was going to do the same for Lance. In fact, he was hoping Lance would come with them, no questions asked. Unlike Hunk, Lance was made to be exploring and fighting in space. He had shown Shiro time and time again how much of a fighter he was, and how he was someone that could be on equal footing to not just Keith, but too Shiro as well. 

Someone who was destined for great things, just like Allura had predicted. 

However, he wasn’t going to push Lance into coming along, as much as it pained him.

Lance looked like he was thinking for a moment, and Shiro’s spirit almost died at the thought that Lance was going to decline him…but was relieved when Lance looked at him in determination and nodded.

“If you say I should come, then I shall follow your lead, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled, nodding his head as he soon turned to rush out the door, Lance right behind him. Ben was talking to Keith quietly when Shiro and Lance approached, the two then glancing up at them. Shiro did wonder why they stopped talking as soon as they approached and what they were talking about, but he suppose he can ask them later. The four of them soon were rushing out of the Garrison quickly, especially when they noticed some officers were now chasing after them. 

“Oh man, it feels like we’re criminals or something!” Lance yelped as he kept on running, Shiro looked sheepish.

Okay, maaaaybe he shouldn’t have decked Iverson like he did just now.

Either way, Ben was reaching towards the Rust Bucket and got in the driver seat, looking at the other guys, “GET IN!”

Keith slipped into the front passenger seat next him, Lance jumping in the back. Shiro was about to go in when he spotted Matt and Sam Holt watching them from afar. Sam looked worried for him, albeit, also puzzled as to why Shiro was leaving and Matt…well, he was glaring at Shiro as if he wanted an explanation to all this. Shiro just gave a small apologetic smile and salute, knowing he’ll explain to Matt what’s going on when things have calmed down. And so, he slipped into the RV and Ben drove off, a few Garrison vehicles coming after them.

Lance had to look back, seeing the Garrison in their wheels and gulped.

 “Man, they do not look happy.” He stated nervously, then he looked to Ben, “Can’t this thing go any faster?”

“Never a dull moment. This is a typical Wednesday for me.” Ben murmured, rolling his eyes as he pressed something onto his steering wheel, and soon picked up speed.

“We could toss some non-essential weight?” Keith suddenly said, and Shiro’s eyes widened for moment at those words.

“Oh right!” Lance looked around for a moment but then frowned, looking over at a cheeky looking Keith as Lance huffed, “Okay, that was an insult, I get it.“

This…never happened, at least not at this moment? Shiro thought with a frown, but then again, a lot of things happened that weren’t like in his past memory. Since when did Keith look playfully at Lance, who looked slightly annoyed. Okay, wait, that was normal of Lance in this timeline…right?

Keith suddenly straightened, looking at the front window and his eyes widened as he pointed out, “Guys! T-that…is that…?”

Shiro and Lance looked over, and their eyes widened at seeing the edge of a cliff. Ben almost smirked at them, giving a wink before accelerating the speed of the RV. The three boys screamed while Ben was laughing as the Rust Bucket took flight in the air, the Garrison trucks and cars stopping at the edge of the cliff. Rolling his eyes at the men screaming in his RV, Ben pressed something on his dashboard as the RV started floating in mid-air. Shiro managed to calm down, looking at Ben staring at him with a smile.

“You think you’re the only one that knows how to fly the skies, Shiro the Hero~?”

Shiro’s eyes softened, letting out a chuckle as he smiled fondly, “You’re amazing.”

This caught Ben off guard for a moment, his face flushed before turning around to face the front, “W-whatever, Shiro, you’re so weird…”

Shiro continued on staring at the mumbling Ben, ignoring how Keith was looking at him in suspicion. 

“Soooooo, where are we going?” Lance finally asked as they were still flying in the air, looking from Ben to Shiro, “I mean, I know I said I’ll follow you, but I would like to know exactly what I’m getting into?”

Shiro knew that he had to eventually tell them what’s going on, but he didn’t know where to start. And would they believe him? The first time around, it was hard to believe anything that happened and what was about to happen in the future. But…what stays the same and what changes? Shiro had already done a lot of things that he didn’t do in the past…how was that going to effect everything from this point forward?

“It’s gonna sound hard to believe…” Shiro started, glancing at the trio with an unsure look.

“Try us.” Keith said, already giving a look that said that he will believe anything he says. Well, that was typical of Keith, who had his whole trust and faith on Shiro ever since the day they met. 

Shiro pursed his lips as he then let out a breath.

“Okay…but first, Keith, do you think we can stop by your house?”

Reaching the Kogane home was something that Shiro didn’t think he’d be seeing again in this lifetime. From what he remembered, Keith had taken him and the Team into a shack. Shiro then remembered Keith saying that the shack was just an old place that his Dad had kept when being a part-time ranger around the dessert. Something about how there were stragglers around the area that wanted to sneak into places that are off limits like the Garrisons secret bases. Shiro believed that was the time when people were hearing rumours about aliens being in the area. Oh how right they were. 

“Keith, was there anything strange going around here that might seem…I dunno, extraterrestrial?” Shiro asked innocently as Ben parked his RV to the side, him and Lance talking while Keith welcomed Shiro inside his house.

Keith raised a brow up at him before fully turning to him with his hands on his hips, “Answer my question first, since when are you and Ben in talking terms again?”

This caught Shiro by surprise, “W-what do you mean?”

“From what I remember, last week you were telling Ben to ‘fuck off and never come into my life again!’ and always kept telling me how much you hated the guy?”

Shiro winced at the words coming from Keith’s mouth.

It was true. A long time ago, Shiro absolutely couldn’t stand Ben. He didn’t hate him, per se, it was more…Shiro was immaturely jealous of him.

Shiro knew Ben ever since they were young. One summer, when he was eleven years old, his grandfather and Max Tennyson introduced him and Ben with one another. Apparently, the two were pilot buddies and eventually ended up in the same Plumber business, becoming good allies and life-long friends. With that, their grandfathers thought that Shiro and Ben could be good friends too.

Young Shiro was hiding behind his grandfather’s leg as he peeked out for a moment at the smiling young Ben, who was giving the biggest grin and waving all friendly like. Their grandfathers looked amused at this interaction, knowing that they made the right decision. 

And it worked for a while…until the news of Ben being a hero came out. 

Fifteen year old Ben blinked when he and sixteen year old Shiro were coming out of Mr. Smoothies one day, and the two were surrounded by paparazzi. A lot of them asking about Ben being a hero and saving the day time and time again, to rumours about being an evil traitor to the human race and expect aliens to invade Earth. Either way, Ben looked annoyed as he grabbed Shiro’s arm and escaped the hounding tabloids.

Shiro looked over at his friend, “Wow, y-you’ve become so popular…”

“Yeah, but it’s getting irritating to the point I can’t even do my job,” Ben murmured as he sipped his smoothie, and Shiro looked away for a moment with a strange look.

Thinking on it now, Shiro always felt that Ben got everything in life too easily. He managed to fly by school despite being the worst student ever, he had friends despite that he never tried interacting with people…but what killed Shiro the most, was that Ben got to go to space. Shiro’s biggest dream…

“You…went to outer space?” A seventeen year old Shiro breathed out one day when he came out, a sixteen year old Ben waiting in his bedroom with a smile.

“Yeah! It was so awesome. Check it out, I got a souvenir for you!” Ben excitedly said as he was holding what looked like a shiny rock, and Shiro frowned.

“You…went to space.” Without me, Shiro would think bitterly. 

Ben looked at Shiro, confused, placing the space rock down and looked over his friend, “Yeah? I told you that already—“

“You knew exploring the stars and planets is my dream!” Shiro said hotly, looking away as he glanced around all the N.A.S.A. memorabilia and posters of planets and stars. 

Ben looked around as well, closing his eyes and sighing, “…It wasn’t like it was a field trip, Shiro. I was on a mission—“

“And yet you come running here to show off, is that it? Rub it in my face?”

Ben looked hurt at the accusation, which came out of nowhere to him, as he stared at Shiro incredulously, “I-I didn’t—”

“Get out.” Shiro pointed to the door with narrowed eyes, “I don’t want to talk to you today.”

Shiro had to mentally face-palm at his younger self, remembering how Ben looked incredibly and reasonably upset that he was shooed away. All because Shiro was jealous. Jealous of a chance that he wanted. And he did eventually get the chance, in the Galaxy Garrison…

…But even then, Ben was involved with that too.

Eighteen year old Shiro’s eyes widened as he looked down at the paper in hand, then looked to a grinning seventeen year old Ben, who was holding a cupcake and party blower.

“What…did you do???”

Ben laughed as he gave a sheepish look, “Surprise~? Thanks to my rep as hero of Earth and the universe, I managed to score you a way in to your dream come true. You said that you would do anything to get into the Galaxy Garrison to train and fly with the best~! And so, I placed a good word for you with them!”

Shiro crumpled the paper in hand and threw it to the ground, looking at Ben angrily, “Do you have any idea what you did?!”

“…Er, this is the part where you say ‘You’re welcome, Ben~ You’re the best, Ben~’ and all that?” Ben said slowly, wondering what had Shiro up in defence now.

Shiro shook his head as he then let out a huff of frustration, “Do you know how this is going to make me look? Thanks to you, they’ll think that I asked you to recommend me into the program, like I need to have you go up to them and beg me to be placed in! Like some desperate yuppy. They’re not going to take me seriously with my skills and knowledge alone. They’ll now think I’m The Great Ben Tennyson’s Charity Case.”

Ben didn’t think of that, and looked almost apologetic, “I didn’t—That’s not my—Shoot, ah, h-hang on! I can fix this—“

“THIS IS ISN’T SOMETHING YOU CAN FIX! AND STOP TRYING TO FIX ME!” Shiro slammed his fist onto a wall, almost scaring Ben for a second as Shiro breathed out heavy and in fury, “You’re sounding like my doctors. You’re sounding like my grandparents. Trying to control my life and tell me what to do with it!”

“I-I wasn’t trying to do that! I swear, Shiro, I just wanted to help you—“

“STOP TRYING TO HELP ME! I’M NOT SOME WEAK LOSER THAT YOU ARE FORCED TO TAKE CARE OF AND BE FRIENDS WITH! I WISH YOU WOULD JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND OUT OF MY LIFE!”

That was the last time he had ever spoke to Ben like that. There was another time, but it was supposed to be today…when Ben was trying to also stop Shiro from going to the Kerberos mission.

“Shiro?”

The man blinked as he heard Keith’s concerned voice, and was brought back to the present. 

“Ah, s-sorry, what were you saying?”

“You zoned out. Shiro, why did you not go to the Kerberos mission? Are you okay?” Keith asked quietly, looking Shiro over, “Is it the disease? Is it acting up again?”

Shiro felt his heart drop for a moment, and looked down at his wrist, the very one that had the monitor to remind him of his booster medicine for his muscles and maintenance for his weakening body. Right…he was still sick. By not going to space and be captured by the Galra, it would mean that he was still on a ticking time limit before his whole body would fail him…and die.

“…That’s not it. But thank you for reminding me,” Shiro will have to figure out a cure later…because he knew there was one, but not on Earth, “I will explain everything to you, Keith, I promise. But there are some other things that I’ll need before then.”

Keith looked like he wanted to question him more, but decided against it and nodded.

“Okay…so what else do you need?”

Shiro hummed before he looked outside to see Ben and Lance approaching to the front door, and his eyes softened.

“We’re gonna have to call in some people.”

“Call in…who, exactly?” Keith asked curiously, before Ben and Lance stepped into the house and hearing the conversation, “That’s also another thing, why did you want Lance to come with us?”

Shiro looked over at Lance and smiled, “Because he’s going to be important on this mission~”

Lance’s blue eyes widened for a moment, looking flustered at being under the spotlight, rubbing the side of his neck, “I-I’m important…?—Wait, wait, time out. What mission?”

Shiro turned serious, glancing at a curious looking Ben, then to the cadets.

“What I’m about to tell you stays in this house. The reason that I didn’t go onto the Kerberos mission is because there is word that Earth is going to be invaded.“

Lance and Keith gasped, and Ben looked suspiciously at Shiro.

“That’s a big statement, Shiro. What makes you say that?” The Omnitrix wielder inquired, and Shiro knew that Ben was on the know about any alien race coming to invade Earth or not. Which is good, this means he’ll take me seriously. 

“Have you heard about Voltron?”

Ben looked at him for a moment, before raising a brow, “…From what I heard from Grandpa Max, it was an old wives’ tale. A story about five lions turning into one giant man that saves universes. Something to tell kids before bed—Shiro, why do you know about Voltron? Earthlings don’t know about that…well, they do, but they think that’s all anime cartoon and fake for TV entertainment?”

“Because it’s real. And I can prove it—”

Shiro paused for a moment, before looking to Keith.

“…Keith, I know you have some weird shack somewhere around here and you might be drawn to search around the grand canyons that are nearby.”

 Keith looked confused, “…Are you talking about Dad’s shed he uses as a man cave? And all those deserts are just that, deserts. Why would I search around there?”

This caused Shiro to look confused for a moment, but had to mentally slap himself. Duh, that part won’t happen until he disappears during the Kerberos mission. Where Keith got himself expelled from the Garrison and was turned into a hermit searching for the Blue Lion…that all won’t happen until next year. 

“Ah, r-right…” Shiro sweat-dropped before looking over at Ben, “Okay, I have another way to prove it…”

“Oh yeah? How?”

At Ben’s question, Shiro then paused once more, giving himself a slap at his forehead for real this time and almost freaking out Ben, Lance and Keith.

Pidge…

At this time, she would be under the name Katie Holt. She wouldn’t be the same Pidge he remembers because right now she didn’t have a purpose of sneaking into the Garrison, changing her name and looks, going on a mission to find her missing brother and father…that were not missing anymore, thanks to Shiro bailing. 

‘Meaning she won’t have the machine that tracks Blue or hear the message about the Galra and Voltron.’ Shiro felt himself groan inwardly, and as much as he wanted to find Pidge and ask for her help…how can he?

There were two things that could happen. One, was that Pidge would look at him like a crazy person and pretty much would call the police on him…or worse, send Mama Holt to deal with him. Another would be that Pidge might be willing to help in the name of science…although this might alert Matt and get him riled up into thinking Shiro was dragging his baby sister into something dangerous.

‘With Matt and Sam on Earth now and the mission cancelled because of me, there is no reason for her to come to the Garrison at all…or any reason to be part of Voltron.’

With this thought in mind, it would mean Shiro might have to consider that Voltron won’t be complete this time around. If he had things his way, he wouldn’t want to bring Pidge into war again. Right now, she was fourteen going on fifteen. A child. And Shiro wasn’t about to send her into space and get hurt again.

Ben looked at Shiro’s thoughtful face and sighed, “Shiro, I know that you think you know things, but I have to say that there is no way there is an invasion happening—“

“Okay, okay! I know I sound like a lunatic, but I’m telling the truth!” Shiro desperately pleaded as Ben almost backed away when Shiro stepped forward, “Please, I know you have every right to not believe me…”

“No, no! Shiro, I believe you. Really, I do,” Ben breathed out softly, “But I cannot just go running to the Plumbers with just word of mouth alone. We need actually solid evidence that there is going to be some sort of attack that’s going to happen.”

Shiro tried to scratch his brain on ideas, until he landed on one.

“Ben, do you remember the Teen Titans?”

This sort of surprised Ben as he looked at him strangely but then spoke slowly, “Er, yes but…why would ask about them?”

Shiro was confused why Ben’s tone changed, but then it hit him. How could he forget how he reacted in front of people that understood Ben the most. And the very people Shiro felt insecure around the most. Which was also yet another reason why he and Ben drifted apart.

“Guys, this is the friend I was telling you about.”

Sixteen year old Shiro felt nervous as he felt himself dragged along by a fifteen year old Ben towards a group of teens in costumes, the people turning to them with different expressions on their faces. Some of them curious, some of them confused. Either way, Shiro didn’t feel all that comfortable. At least Matt was with them, along with Ben’s cousin, Lucy Mann. 

“This is Shiro. He’s going to be a future explorer to space of the Galaxy Garrison~” Ben boasted with a smile, while Shiro was rubbing the side of his neck sheepishly. 

“I’m Robin, leader of the Teen Titans. Nice to meet you, Ben has told us a lot about you,” A teen in a domino mask spoke with a calm smile, placing his hand out to Shiro, who shook his hand.

“I-I’ve heard of you. Um, big fan?” 

Robin chuckled, having an arm around a tan-skinned girl with red hair and glowing eyes, “And this is Starfire. My, ah, girlfriend…”

“A pleasure to meet you, Friend Shiro. Ben has told us fondly that you wish to see the stars and planets outside of Earth,” She spoke softly, as Shiro felt his cheeks flush. 

Whew, if he wasn’t attracted to men, he would’ve thought Starfire was beautifully gorgeous. Well, she is, but still— 

Ben smiled, watching Matt and Lucy mingle with the other Titans before Shiro leaned over to him once Robin and Starfire left.

“Ben, why did you invite me to this party anyways? Matt, I understand, since he’s Lucy’s plus one. But…?”

“Why wouldn’t I invite you?” Ben looked up at him and tilted his head, “You’re my friend, aaaaand well Julie couldn’t make it. That, and Gwen and Kevin have a date night so, I called you,”

Shiro quirked a brow before looking over at someone calling Ben over. Ben just told Shiro to relax and enjoy the party, before disappearing off. Shiro at first did try to stay away from crowds and just people watch, but eventually thanks to Matt and Lucy, he loosened up. He even got to talking to people like Starfire, to Cyborg, and then to other Honorary Titans. He was about to find Ben when he heard his voice along with two others.

“Guys, c’mon, lay off him! I mean, he’s my friend,” Ben’s voice sounded, and Shiro had to lean back from being seen as it seems Ben was talking to Speedy and Kid Flash, “So he ain’t a super or an alien from another planet with awesome powers, so what? So is Matt.”

“The thing is, at least Holt is a super genius and he’s all buddy-buddy with Princess Sludge over there,” The archer hummed a bit when nodding to Matt and Lucy, sipping his drink, “What? Did you think your friend would be good for the team once he upgrades from cargo pilot? We don’t need another space cadet, Tennyson.”

“No offence, but I don’t see anything special about that guy. He’s…too normal, ya know?” Kid Flash hummed in agreement, “He’s no Robin, who was trained as a kid by THE Batman. Or like Speedy with Green Arrow or—“

Ben sighed in frustration, “You’re judging him already without seeing what he can do…”

“Didn’t you say that he was sick?” Another voice sounded as it was revealed to be Raven, floating over to them and looking at Ben seriously, “It wouldn’t be wise to have an ally that’s already on death’s door. Not to mention cruel to be giving him false hope. Does he even know that you wanted to recruit him as a Titan?”

Shiro felt his heart squeeze for a moment as he closed his eyes. He knew it. 

He left that party that night without telling anyone. He didn’t even answer any calls from Ben, Matt or anybody. Shiro just felt disappointment once more, and he never wanted to be involved with parties with Ben ever again.

“Shiro? Are you okay? You’re spacing out again.”

Shiro snapped out of the memory as Ben said this, and then sighed, “I’m fine, Ben. Really. It’s just, we’re going to need them.” 

Staring at Shiro for a moment longer, Ben then sighed and was grabbing his cellphone from his jacket pocket, “…Fine, there’s someone that I can talk with. Just give me a sec, okay?”

Shiro looked relieved, but then had a thought before asking cautiously, “W-who is it?”

“Ahhh, Starfire actually…”

Shiro had a mental cheer in his head. This is the exact person I need!

“Great! Ahhhh, there’s also someone else we might have to check on first. Where is your cousin, Gwen?”

Ben looked up and blinked, “Err, she’s probably in her Alma Mater considering she’s going for her advance magic masters…we can totally go and visit her if you want?”

Shiro looked thoughtful and then shook his head, “Do you think it’s alright to maybe call her over?”

“I can try and contact her too,” Ben tilted his head, “But why did you want to have her come here?”

“Just…I need her to check on something.”

Shiro had a theory. One that could be possible, but he needed to confirm it with someone that was magical. Turning to Keith and Lance while Ben was talking on the phone, he looked to the two of them and sighed.

“Okay, the next bit…we’re going to have to explore down at the canyons close by.”

“Is there something that we’re supposed to be looking for?” Lance asked curiously, and Shiro smiled a little.

“Yup.”

While it may be a year or so earlier than expected, it was best that they find the Blue Lion now before the Galra does. Which is perfect since at this moment, one of Zarkon’s fleet that was stationed nearby Earth’s atmosphere was not close yet. If they could find Blue first and go to Arus to the Castle of Lions…maybe this time around they’ll have an advantage against them.

“But first, we’re going to need a machine…” Shiro hummed as he was resting a hand under his chin in thought, eyes narrowed, “One that could read Fraunhofer lines. It would give us the exact location…”

Keith folded his arms, looking sort of puzzled, “A frown…who?”

“It’s a number describing a spectrum of an element…” Shiro accidentally murmured, then blinked as he caught the weirded out looks from Lance and Keith, “Er, basically it’s gonna help us find what we’re looking for.”

“Shiro, you didn’t exactly tell us what we’re looking for,” Keith pointed out, now looking annoyed, “This whole being mysterious and not telling us exactly what’s going on is starting to bug me. Not to mention you’ve been acting weird and bailed on the very mission that you thought was your everything…punching Iverson—“

“Kinda had it coming,” Shiro interrupted with a frown, but then shook his head, “I will explain, once we find Blue—“

“Good news and bad news, guys,” Ben came between them with a finger up, glancing at the both of them before speaking cheerfully, “Good news, I managed to contact Starfire and she’s kinda flying her way here.”

“And the bad news?” Shiro raised a brow while Ben looked sheepish.

“Gwen is out world at the moment. Apparently Kevin has dragged her into one of his car shows in another planet and won’t be back for a while,” Ben explained but then tilted his head, “If you tell me what you need Gwen for, maybe it will be better so I can tell her properly why she needs to come back to Earth.”

Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, before closing his eyes, “I need her magical expertise to check on something.”

“…I might know someone else that might be able to do that for you,” Ben suggested, as he had his hands on his hips and raised a brow at him, “But again, you’re gonna have to tell me why you need magical help? Since if I recall, you never believed in that sort of stuff.”

“…It’s to check if there’s a cure for my disease.”

Keith and Ben’s eyes widened at that, while Lance gasped and placed a hand over his mouth.

“You’re sick?” Lance asked, clearly worried with sympathy in his eyes, which Shiro ignored as he looked at Ben.

Ben sighed, “…Shiro…”

“Please? I have a feeling that there might be something that could.” Shiro pleaded, stepping forward to place a hand on Ben’s shoulder.

“…I’ve tried to tell you this option before. But you had shut me out every time I tried mentioning it, saying that I should stop calling you and meddle in your life.” He took a deep breath, but nodded as Ben turned away and wiped his eyes, “…Okay. Okay, I definitely will call someone that can help. She’s almost the same level as Gwen and might be able to help.”

Shiro’s eyes soften as he smiled, squeezing Ben’s shoulder, “Thank you…”

Lance and Keith looked awkward at the moment the two men shared, and Keith interrupted them with a cough.

“Er…okay, so, is it really that easy that someone could magically cure Shiro?” He asked.

Ben nodded, “Surprisingly there are things magic can spot that human technology and medicine can’t. Anyways, if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna have to find a big space.”

“Um…why?” Lance wondered out loud with an apprehensive look, growing even more nervous when Ben grinned.

The four young men stood outside of Keith’s home, the sandy winds blowing around them. Ben stepped forward, holding what seems to be a small notebook, and flipping it open. Reading it quietly, he raised a hand up, and spoke softly that the other three had to strain their hearing a bit to understand. 

“Esporow Via Esprolixas Capti Capters Few Sonmow Lenton Oway On Respicklas Lokis Lusses Via Astendus Ocultes Ienwua!”

And with a flash of lights, a very large double door appeared before them, almost looking like an entrance of a spooky castle. Shiro, Lance and Keith looked up in awe while Ben just smiled in satisfaction. While they were distracted, Ben walked over to the door and knocked on it, placing his hand over the door and then called out softly.

“Charmcaster. I know you’re there, and I definitely know the password to your door. So you better come out here unless you want me to barge in—“

“Tennyson, I swear to Legerdomain that you are a pain in my ass sometimes.”

Ben smiled as he looked over to the side to spot a young woman with silvery hair tied up in a high ponytail, light purple-bluish eyes and wearing what seems to be a magenta coat with purple at the ends, tight dark pants that matched with her aesthetic makeup she had on.

“Hey Charmy~” Ben greeted cheekily, before the woman snarled.

“I told you not to call me that,” She looked over at the three other males that were there, then looked back at Ben tiredly, “So, decided to ditch Gwendolyn and her guard dogs and replace them with hot men? What also happened to that handsome alien partner in blue that hung around you?”

“Har, har…and Rook has his own thing going on, so that’s that.” Ben rolled his eyes playfully before looking back at Charmcaster, “I need your help with something.”

“You always need my help with things~” Charmcaster purred as she stepped forward, running a finger down his chest, “Is it that time again—?”

“NOPE! Nope, n-not that,” Ben blushed as he took her hand and placed it down, coughing a bit before letting out a small chuckle, “No, ah, there’s someone I want you to check out.”

“Mmm, checking out people besides you~?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Tease~ As usual~”

Shiro narrowed his eyes at the two of them for a moment, but then blinked when Ben looked over at him, making Charmcaster look at him too.

“Charmy, this is Shiro. He wanted to have someone magical do a medical diagnosis on him.” Ben explained, and Charmcaster’s eyes sparkled with mischief for a moment, and Ben noticed, “Charmy, no—“

“Shiro~? Is it the very same one that you’ve talked about?” Charmcaster teased, already stepping up towards the taller male, observing him and hummed, “Fitter than Levin, and quite handsome than Rook. I can see why Tennyson is very interested in you~”

“You talk about me?” Shiro questioned, making Ben reach over and smack the witch with a frown.

“Now’s not the time to be playing, Charmcaster. Can you please check on him for me?”

Charmcaster huffed, but nodded as she then stepped back for a moment, raising her hands towards Shiro. Keith wanted to jump in, thinking she was going to attack but Lance stopped him and shook his head. The sorceress hummed as her eyes glowed, murmuring some sort of language as a light surrounded Shiro. To him, it felt warm, like he was being wrapped around blankets and coddled into comfort. After a minute or so, Charmcaster stopped, the light dying down from her hands and around Shiro.

“…Well?” Ben asked as Charmcaster looked over at him, raising a brow.

“…There’s nothing wrong with him?”

All the guys looked puzzled.

“What?” Keith asked suspiciously, before Ben shook his head.

“Um, no? From what I remember, Shiro has a degenerative muscle disease?”

“He’s right,” Shiro said with a serious look, “According to the doctors, with my muscular dystrophy, I only have a few years to go and I wouldn’t be able to pilot or go to space anymore.”

Charmcaster raised a brow at him, and chuckled, “Well, your silly doctors are wrong. There’s no disease in you…”

Shiro looked floored, “Are…are you sure?”

Charmcaster looked offended, “Are you saying my magic is wrong? Then you’re even dumber than I thought,”

“Hey!” Keith growled, before Shiro stopped him from trying to thwart her for that comment. 

“So, what? You’re saying…I’m healthy and have no signs of my disease in my body?”

Charmcaster nodded, “Yes. Maybe someone out there cured you already without you knowing~”

Shiro tried to wrack his brain for a moment, feeling like this didn’t make any sense. But then the memory of him almost dying, the strange man that had brought him back to this time—

“Caspian.”

Charmcaster froze at the name while Ben, Lance and Keith looked confused.

“Who?” Ben asked, as Shiro breathed out, looking towards Charmcaster.

“You know who he is, don’t you?”

“How do you know that name?”

Before Shiro could answer, a shadow casted over them and everyone looked up to see a flying red haired woman in purple landing before them, her glowing green eyes looking at them before smiling.

“Greetings!” She cheerfully said, but once she spotted Ben, she soon swooped in and brought him into a hug, “Friend Ben! How I have missed you!”

“A-ack! G-good to s-see you too S-starfire…” Ben choked out as he wriggled himself free from her, and breathed out softly with a friendly smile, “Ah, glad you found me. Er, sorry for dragging you out here but we need your help.”

“I shall offer my assistance to the best of my abilities~” She said in a voice of positivity, almost looking like an angel the way she smiled and the sun shining down on her figure.

Shiro was waiting for a moment for Lance to say something, but blinked when a minute passed by and heard nothing. He glanced over at the Cuban male for a moment, witnessing Lance looking to the side boredly next to Keith. Isn’t this the part where Lance slides in and flirts with a pretty girl? He would wonder, scratching his head.

Maybe he should say something?

Sliding next to Lance, he nudged him, “Don’t you think Starfire is pretty?”

Lance glanced over at the older male, then looked to Starfire, then back to him and shrugged, “She’s attractive, I guess?”

“You…guess?” Shiro asked in surprise, with Keith tilting his head and looking at him suspiciously.

“Why do you care what Lance thinks about some alien chick’s looks?” He asked slowly, and Shiro smiled sheepishly. 

‘How weird…maybe this is a good thing?’ Shiro thought to himself, glancing at Lance again, who was staring at Keith with a thoughtful gaze.

With Ben and Starfire still talking, the Tamaranian’s eyes then glanced over to Shiro and blinked, but then recognition shone in her eyes as she then softened, “Ah, you are—?”

“U-Um, it’s nice to see you again, Miss Starfire,” Shiro was quick to cut her off, not liking the sympathetic look she was giving him as he placed his hand out to her, “I asked Ben to call you here because I wished to ask you a few questions and help me find something hidden among this canyons.”

Starfire looked at the hand, then shook it kindly with a small smile, “Any friends of Friend Ben is a friend of mine. Tell me, what is it you wish to ask me?”

Shiro smiled a little, and took a deep breath. “Do you know about Voltron and the Galras?”

A gasp left Starfire as she released Shiro’s hand, looking at him appalled, “H-How do you know about—?”

“Let’s just say I have my sources. But it’s good that you might have knowledge about them and know why I’m asking?”

Starfire nodded slowly, “They are an advance alien species that are are known to work in terms of absolutes, with victory or death being a common motto and philosophy. Cruel and relentless, they are a race that you do not wish to go up against. They are even worse than the Gordanians…”

“Don’t…even know what those are?” Keith murmured, and Starfire didn’t look away from Shiro.

“Are you telling me you know the location of Voltron?”

“Yes. And the Galra are looking too. Luckily I might have an idea of where we can start looking before they do, but we’re in need of a machine to find it,” Shiro told her, and Lance raised his hand up, “Yes, Lance?”

“You said you need a machine…but since we have a witch with us—?”

“Hey!”

Lance ignored Charmcaster for now.

“Don’t you think it’s easier to have her track whatever it is you’re looking for?”

Shiro blinked as he stared at the Cuban for a moment longer, before he smiled, “That’s…actually a good idea, Lance. That was really smart of you!”

Lance felt his face flush as he then rubbed the side of his neck bashfully, and Shiro couldn’t help but smile in pride. It was good that he has Lance here, the potential is still there.

Ben tilted his head and looked to the silvery haired girl, “So? Can you?”

“I can use my magic to track a lot of things…but it would be easier if I had some sort of sample of what I’m looking for~” Charmcaster said, placing her hand out as she stared at Shiro for a moment.

Shiro froze as he looked stumped for a moment. Right, how was he going to give something for her to locate the Blue Lion? He would think nervously, glancing around for a moment until his eyes landed on Keith. If he remembered correctly, Keith said that something had lead him to the canyons. Drawings and symbols leading him to where the Blue Lion could be—

Shiro looked back to Charmcaster and smirked, “First, we have to go near the canyons. Then you’ll understand.”

Everyone looked at each other at this, confused and somewhat intrigued. 

“…Okay. I admit it…this is super freaky…” Lance murmured as everyone stood at the edge of a cliff, looking over at the large masses of rocks and mountains before them.

Charmcaster was floating for a moment, eyes glowing pink along with her hands as if being a human sonar. 

“Anything, Charmy?” Ben asked as he watched over her, and the woman breathed out finally after a minute.

“I have a lock on a strange signature. Follow me,” She murmured and floated downwards, and everyone soon followed.

Starfire stayed in the air to keep an eye on the sorceress, Ben also following by using a little power from his Omntrix. According to him, he had an upgrade on his watch, allowing him to borrow some of his aliens’ powers without transforming. It was both impressive and terrifying to Shiro how much Ben could use said powers. Keith and Lance also followed behind him, more cautious than anything, but somehow had faces on that looked like they felt something…familiar. 

Soon, everyone stopped when Charmcaster froze in place, looking down what seems to be an entrance to a cave.

“…We’re going in there?” Ben questioned, and Charmcaster started moving forward once more, and inside the cave, “…Yup, guess we are.”

A sigh escaped Shiro, knowing what was coming next and soon followed after the floating magic user, Ben and the rest behind him. As soon as they entered the cave, amazed sounds of gasping was heard from everyone…everyone except Charmcaster and Shiro.

Shiro, who knows what these were, wasn’t surprised in the least and had a fond smile on his face. Bingo, now all that’s left is for Lance to touch the walls of the Lion carvings…

He turned his head to see Lance already on it, curiously looking at a chipped drawing of a lion and running his hands over the markings. Shiro waited with baited breath for the walls to light up the familiar blue luminous light that would lead them to Blue…but his smile fell when nothing happened. He didn’t understand, wasn’t it Lance that triggered that awakening to Blue?

“Wow, these are…amazing…” Keith murmured, reaching out to brush some sand off one drawing, seeing the drawing of the lion.

It was then that a loud roar was heard, and Keith’s eyes widened when he saw that the drawing started to glow. Standing back, he looked around and saw all the drawings on the walls started lighting up, almost scaring everyone. Shiro had to double take looking at Keith, now even more confused.

‘Keith triggered Blue…?’

And suddenly, the ground shook under them and gave way, each one of them falling down like some sort of waterslide further into the cave. Starfire gasped, flying after them along with Charmcaster to grab them before they hurt themselves. She managed to catch Ben, while Charmcaster caught Shiro…although sadly Lance and Keith fell with a thud into some puddle of water, landing on each other. A groan escaped the two teens before they realised they were entangled with one another and quickly moved away from each other.

Keith slapped his reddening cheeks for a moment, but then his eyes caught sight of what seemed to be a gigantic force field that was holding an EVEN MORE GIANT ROBOT LION!

“Is this it?” Starfire asked, in awe and looking it over with a hint of excitement in her voice, “Is this the Voltron?”

“Part of it…” Shiro murmured, then saw Ben was staring at him and coughed, “T-there seems to be a force field around it. Lance, feel anything weird about it?”

“Huh?” Caught off guard being called out, Lance raised a brow, “Er, nooooo?”

Shiro blinked, looking back up at Blue then looking back at Lance, “You sure? You don’t feel like the eyes are, like, totally following you?”

Lance folded his arms, raising a brow, “No, I didn’t. Why are you asking me that?”

Keith stepped forward as he looked at the lion for a moment, then felt his heart race. For some reason, he felt like the lion was looking at him. The dark haired teen moved himself to the left, then sliding to the right, frowning a bit as he was very much feeling the eyes on him. Going closer to the force field, he hesitated. Then, he raised a fist, taking a deep breath.

“How are we going to get through the barrier?” Ben asked as he stood next to Keith, ignoring how Shiro and Lance were going back and forth behind them.

“M-Maybe we can knock?” Keith said awkwardly, hoping to come out as a joking manner, and even knocked on the force field for a second, “Heh, guess it didn’t work—“

His eyes widened when something shocked his hand, a light coming from the barrier as Keith stepped away. Before Ben could ask if he was alright, his eyes widened as he witnessed the force field melting away and the room light up with magical blue light. Both of them looked down when the ground shook, seeing how strange markings were appearing under them.

Shiro stopped and turned slowly to Keith and Ben, but mostly staring at Keith.

‘Blue…chose Keith? That can’t be right!’

But he then gasped when something was entering his mind, and knew then and there that Blue was communicating with them. 

‘Hello Black Paladin…it is good to see you once more.’

“What…?” Shiro said out loud, staring at the beast and then gulped, “You…recognise me?”

‘You may look young, but your soul is the very same one as before. Before you and the other Paladins sent us away when the Princess died.’

Shiro winced, but then looked confused, “Wait…do…are you from the time in my future?”

The purring is all the answer he needed. And he won’t question it right now. But this means that Yellow and Green are going to be pretty mad that their Paladins are not here this time around. Glancing at the others, he saw that they were slack-jawed and unmoving, almost as if time stopped for them. Blue must be giving the same vision that she did before, explaining who she is and what Voltron is.

Good, this gave him a bit of time.

“Why did you open for Keith and not Lance?” Shiro questioned, raising a brow at Blue, “He’s your paladin, isn’t he?”

‘While Lance is indeed my Chosen, because of you coming back to the past, things have changed. Thus, I have decided to bestow Keith as my new Chosen in this lifetime…’

Shiro didn’t understand, “But…why?”

That, Blue didn’t answer. And it frustrated Shiro so.

“Okay, don’t answer. So, are we going to head to Arus and meet Princess Allura and Coran in the Castle of Lions now?”

‘Yes. All seven of you will go.’

Confusion coloured Shiro’s face. Seven?

He had to count everyone in the room, and pursed his lips.

“Er, Blue? There’s six of us…?”

Suddenly, Blue roared once more and making everyone jump in surprise, including Shiro. It was then there was a sound of a girly shriek was heard somewhere around the cave, then a splash of water. Turning around, he soon found a blonde haired girl in all brown, orange and yellow sitting on the ground, wincing as she rubbed her back and butt with a pout.

‘Who is this?’ Shiro wondered, looking at the girl before a gasp left Keith.

“Terra?”

The girl looked up at the sound of the name, her eyes widened in fear and looked like she was about to run.

“Wait!” Shiro called before Starfire flew past her and tackled the blonde girl to the ground, “Starfire, what—“

“TERRA!” Starfire shouted to her face, but then started crying big fat tears as she wrapped her arms around the freaked out girl, curling around her into a big, tight hug, “OH MY FRIEND, I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE! A-AND FRIEND BEAST BOY SAID THAT YOU LOST YOUR MEMORIES AND, AND, AND—“

“S-star…y-your hugs are a-as suffocating a-as ever…” Terra choked out as she was trying to wriggle her way out of the Tamaranian girl’s arms, and sighed in relief when she was let go.

Keith took one step as his eyes narrowed, and Terra caught the look with a skittish look.

“Terra…is that you?”

“Keith…” The girl breathed out, standing up shakily as she had her hands onto her chest as if shielding herself, “I…I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again…”

“Why are you here?” He asked, looking like he was holding back some anger as he tried to keep calm.

Terra’s eyes saddened, but then looked up at the Lion before looking at everyone seriously, “I-I felt some weird energy level here. It called out to me and I followed it…although I wasn’t expecting to have some company here. Especially you, Keith…”

Shiro felt confused. Was this girl here before they found Blue?

Lance coughed, before speaking out loud, “Did…anyone else see that?” 

Charmcaster raised a brow as she looked at Lance weirdly, “See what?”

“Voltron is a robot!” Ben exclaimed, waving his hands in the air in excitement, “Voltron is a HUGE, HUGE, AWESOME ROBOT!”

"And this is only one part of it!” Terra said out loud, shocking Shiro for a moment as she continued with a hum, “I wonder where the rest of them are?”

‘Did…did Blue show her too?’ Maybe that was why Blue said that the seven of them are going. This just got more interesting, but complicated. 

Starfire frowned, looking somewhat lost, “I did not see anything?”

“Neither did I…?” Charmcaster also spoke up, which had Shiro thinking for a moment.

‘So Starfire and Charmcaster didn’t get shown anything by Blue. Only me, Ben, Lance, Keith…and probably this Terra girl that just showed up.’ He thought with a hum, tapping his chest while his arms are folded. But what did this mean for Voltron now? Were Ben and Terra possible Paladins now?

Shiro decided to leave those thoughts away for now. Right now, they had to leave.

The Blue Lion let out another purring sound, lowering her head in front of Keith. Surprise coloured the shaggy haired male’s face, watching how the robotic feline open her mouth to allow him inside. Keith stared, but then confidently walked in, the others following him inside. This included Terra, who stared at Keith’s back worriedly.

It made Shiro wonder what was her history with Keith?

Walking into the Lion, they noticed the inside looked a lot like a ship’s, and Keith was familiar with that scenery as he enters what seems to be the cockpit when another set of sliding doors opened up for him. He saw the single chair, smirked and took a seat. Suddenly, the seat slid forward, shocking Keith as he soon saw the dashboard light up before him, watching how a lot of holo-screens appeared before his eyes and how the command console activated.

“Wow…” Keith breathed out, seeing how the steering handles for a pilot just appeared before him, “This is so cool…”

“Ooookay, I dunno if I should state the obvious or not: but, is no one in here sort of freaked out that we are inside of a big ass cat’s head?” Terra asked everyone with a weirded out look.

Keith stared at her for a moment before he gasped, feeling warmth all over his head and down to his legs. It was as if he was feeling someone tapping at his mind and picture after picture was being presented before his mental cranium and…a voice talking to him.

“Er, d-did you guys hear that?” Keith asked, and Lance looked over at him strangely.

“Hear…what?” The cuban male asked.

“I-I think it’s talking to me?” Keith murmured, as he looked at the dashboard and then to his steering wheel.

“She. And yes, she is talking to you,” Shiro pointed out helpfully, making Ben stare at him weirdly.

“And how would you know that, exactly?” Ben questioned with narrowed eyes, as Shiro looked sheepish.

Keith didn’t hear them as he continued to stare at his console, then to the front window that was already showing the inside of the cave they are currently in. Humming for a moment, he curiously reached out to the bright keys in front of him, tapping onto it. It was then that Blue suddenly got up, stretching her limps and started making a move. Everyone inside held on with shouts of surprise, and Keith grinned once gripping both his controllers.

“Okay. Got it. Now let’s try this~” He chuckled, soon pushing his arms forward with eyes ablaze, forcing Blue to move as well. 

With a mighty roar, the mechanical lion soon broke free from it’s prison, smashing out of the cavern walls and off into the sky. Giving a small somersault, jet blasters from it’s paws activated, and the Lion soon was flying even higher up in to the sky.  Screams were heard inside of the cockpit, Keith’s eye twitch when both Lance and Terra were hugging around his head and gripping his hair, Starfire and Charmcaster pressed against the walls with their eyes closed and Shiro gripping his arms around Ben protectively while Ben’s eyes were wide and face flushed. 

“K-Keith! Slow down! Th-this isn’t the s-simulatoooOOOOOORRRRR—“ Lance was screaming as Keith kept making loop-de-loops with Blue and suddenly blasting off even faster.

Keith was smirking the whole time as everyone still was yelling for him to stop, in particular Terra expressing she was going to barf, and continued to fly. This was the most fun he’s had in a long time, no way he was going to stop now!

“Isn’t this awesome!?” Keith yelled out with a smile, and Lance had to move his head to the side as if finding a place to blow chunks or two.

“Make it stop! Please, make it the stop!” Starfire cried out with comical tears, as Keith laughed.

“I’m not making it do anything~ It’s mostly on auto-pilot~” Keith teased, as Lance snapped his head up and glared at him.

“Keith, you son of a bi—“

“Oops, can’t hear you, Blue seems to want to fly up again~”

More screams were heard as Blue was soaring high in the sky once more, but then Keith frowned when he looked down at the controllers.

“K-Keith?” Shiro asked, as Blue finally slowed down, but it seems they were not in Earth’s atmosphere anymore, “Keith, what is it?”

“The Blue Lion is telling me something…” He responded, as Lance looked at him in disbelief. 

“The Lion is…talking to you? What exactly is she saying?”

Keith raised a brow at him for a moment and huffed.

“I-It’s not like she’s saying words per se…more like she’s feeding me ideas in my head…”

Shiro looked curious then asked Keith, “What is Blue saying?”

“Blue wants to go home…but where is her home?”

Shiro knew that this was going to happen. As soon as Blue was free, it was only a matter of time that she would want to reunite with the other lions and meet with the Princess and Coran in the Castle of Lions. Thing was, Arus was pretty much a wormhole away at the edge of the solar system, and way past Kerberos. Meaning once they leave, there was no way they could get back to Earth for a long while.

“…Guys, I have a confession to make…” 

Everyone looked to Shiro for a moment, their expressions mixed with curiosity and caution. 

“Where we’re about to go…it’s gonna be even farther than you’ve ever gone.” He was mostly speaking to Ben for this part, but Shiro looked to everyone and sighed, “Before we fly any further, I want you to know that you don’t have to be here. We can easily fly you back down and you can walk away from this. Forget about this all happening and go on with your own lives. Because from here on out…your lives will be at risk.”

Shiro hoped at least Lance and Keith will stay and come with him to Arus, but he wasn’t going to force them if somehow they didn’t want to go to space and leave Earth. Shiro knew in his heart of hearts how Lance valued family above all else, like Hunk. 

He even had to loosen his grip on Ben just to show that he wasn’t holding him back either.

Ben stared up at him for a moment before smiling, “You talk as if I haven’t been far out of the galaxy before. Wherever you’re going, I’m in.”

Relief washed over Shiro at that moment, smiling down at Ben fondly.

Keith gripped his wheels, as he then breathed out, “I’m already in even if you didn’t say all that. You’re my family, Shiro. There’s no point being on Earth if you’re not around. Besides, who else is going to keep me in line when I get into trouble?” He teased, grinning up at the man.

Shiro chuckled, then looked to everyone else, “W-well?”

Starfire clasped her hands together, looking starry eyed as she smiled, “I would be honoured to join this voyage with you all. Besides, it would be good to stop by Tamaran if I can.”

“What about the Titans?” Shiro asked, ignoring the way Terra tensed up, and Starfire looked awkward for a moment.

“The…Titans are disbanded temporarily.”

Shiro decided not to question any further than that. He looked to Lance this time, and he looked worried. Lance was awfully quiet, and he looked like he was contemplating on his choices. Shiro’s heart squeezed, knowing that Lance was thinking of his family in Cuba. Especially with Veronica being in the Garrison, probably looking for him right at this moment.

“Lance, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to…I won’t force you or think any less of you…”

The brown haired male glanced up at his hero, his eyes wide and something flicked in those blue rises of his. Pursing his lips and narrowing his eyes, he soon straightened, huffing a little.

“I’m a Cadet of the Galaxy Garrison. And we do not quit on a mission. As this is my mission and you are my captain, I will follow you without question. I trust you.”

Shiro felt like he heard these words before, and he felt his whole being break remembering those were Lance’s last words to him.

“I’m a Paladin of Voltron, Shiro. We do not give up! Even if you are part of ATLAS, you’re still my leader. I will follow you to even hell and back if I have to. I trust you.”

“S-shiro? A-are you okay?”

Shiro didn’t even realise that his eyes welled up, quickly reaching to wipe his eyes and smiled weakly at the worried Lance, “I-I’m okay. Just…touched that you trust me.”

“W-well yeah! You’re my hero, after all,” Lance then placed a hand over his mouth and flusters, looking embarrassed that he said that out loud.

Keith saw this and rolled his eyes, but kept the Blue Lion steady.

Shiro smiled, but then glanced over at the remaining people and softened, “And you two?”

Charmcaster was immediate.

“I’m gone.”

And with a magical poof, she actually vanished into thin air, leaving a dust of pink behind.

Ben looked amused, “She does this. But she’ll back…when she’s bored, at least.”

Shiro looked unsure, “What makes you say that?”

Ben grinned as he was then holding up what seems to be a small raggedy pouch of some kind, “Because there’s no way she’d leave me with her magical bag full of unwanted secrets with me~”

Terra almost looked impressed, “Snagged it from her while she wasn’t looking?”

Starfire gasped, “Is that not stealing?”

Ben whistled, twirling the bag around his finger with the strings, “Well, it’s not stealing. More like borrowing~”

Ignoring that for now, Shiro looked to Terra, and waited for her answer with a look, “And you?”

Keith snorted, “Don’t bother, Shiro. If she wants to leave, she can leave. It’s all she’s good at anyways.”

Terra looked at him with narrowed eyes, then placed her hands on her hips as she looked at Shiro coolly, “You know what? Not like I have any place to be, so count me in~”

Keith quirked a brow at her, glaring at her with annoyance while Terra turned to him and stuck her tongue out to annoy him further. Lance glanced at the two of them weirdly but looked over to Shiro, who was just watching them in confusion.

“Sooooo…I guess everyone, minus one that left, are all on board,” Lance noted as he looked at the other man, “Shiro, you’re our senior officer here. What’s our next move?”

Everyone looked towards the man as Shiro then took a deep breath, looking out the window. 

“The Blue Lion knows where to go. I say we trust it…but we're a team now. We should decide together.”

Ben smiled, “My vote never changed.”

“Mine either,” Keith agreed, and it seemed Starfire and Terra also agreed along with Lance, “We trust you.”

Shiro nodded, relaxing a little, “Okay…I guess we’re out of here.”

Once he said this, Keith soon pushed his controllers forward, the Lion soon zooming into the skies and out of Earth’s atmosphere. This surprised most of them except Ben and Shiro, the two already used to space (With Ben being a hero and Shiro…well, from the future and all).

“Amazing. It would take a long trip to travel this far off the galaxy,” Starfire pointed out as she saw the planet that was Kerberos passing by them, “But we are here in a tick…”

Shiro caught this and snapped at her, “You…know that word?”

“What is a tick?” Lance asked as Starfire tilted her head.

“I believe in your Earth terms, it is a measurement of time?”

Shiro didn’t like how his stomach turned at that, but focused on Keith’s piloting when he spotted it.  A glowing blue wormhole appeared in front of them, and Shiro knew that this was it. There was no going back after this.

“You ready?” Shiro asked Keith, who smirked.

“Look who you’re talking to~” Keith soon made Blue go forward, the Lion speeding towards the portal and disappeared through it.

After a few rumbles and tumbles from Blue, everyone was holding on tightly in the confined space they were in as they exited the portal. 

Keith breathed out slowly, blinking his eyes as he looked around, “W-wow…that…was…”

A groan and a hurling sound was heard at his left, Keith closing his eyes with a wince as Terra threw up at the side. Everyone else also looked away with a disgusted look, Terra then finishing with a small apology while holding her sides. 

“Surprised she took this long…” Keith murmured before looking out once more to the window and blinked, “Woah…”

“I don’t recognise any of these constellations…” Starfire murmured as she looked around, Ben also looking around and agreeing with her.

“Okay, maybe this is a part of the galaxy I haven’t been yet. Maybe it’s even farther than Revonnah…we must be a long, long way from Earth…”

“I think the Lion wants to go to that planet over there,” Keith pointed out to everyone as he spotted what seems to be a beautiful looking planet that almost looked like Earth, and Blue was speeding over, “I think…I think this is her home.”

Everyone braced themselves as the Blue Lion was hitting past the atmosphere, growing red hot as she never slowed down one bit, as if excited to be coming home to this unknown planet. But Shiro knew. He knew and was smiling brightly as they got closer. Passed the skies and down to look at the land below.

“Guys, personal space,” Keith murmured as everyone seemed squished against him as he piloted the Lion, then glared at Terra close to him, “Terra, your breath is killing me.”

"Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?” The blonde murmured and then narrowed her eyes at Keith, “Why are we listening to a robotic Lion anyway"?

“This Lion happened to take us to her home planet. So I suggest you shut up and stop complaining. You agreed to come with anyways,” Keith argued, and Lance sighed.

“Don’t be mean to her, Keith, she was just asking…case you haven’t noticed, not everyone is used to being inside a strange robot cat taking us to who knows where?”

Keith looked up at him and cocked a brow, “Ohh, you scared?”

“With you in the helm? Terrified.” Lance said coolly.

"All right, knock it off! We all agreed that we do this together and I know that it’s not a happy situation,“ Shiro interjected between them, trying to calm them down, “But we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it as a team. Okay?“ 

“Sooo, what do we do?” Ben asked curiously.

“First, we are letting Blue lead us to where she needs to go,” The Castle of Lions should be close by…He added in his mind then glanced over at Keith, “Keith? Is Blue saying anything to you?”

“No, she’s pretty quiet right now.” Keith said with a shrug, and Lance hummed a little, but then blinked when he looked up and leaned over Keith, who then blushed and looked up at the Cuban, “W-what are you—?”

“Guys! There’s a Castle up ahead!”

Everyone looked up and indeed, there was a beautiful view of what seemed to be a shining modernised Castle that was perched on top of some mountain that was nearby what seems to be a beautiful seaside. Shiro felt his eyes well up at seeing the view of the Castle of Lions, his heart yearning. We made it. We’re home, he would think to himself as Blue was zooming to land outside of the Castle, carefully placing their paws on the ground. Somehow, with a purr from Blue, the Castle suddenly lit up in bright blue lights, just like back in the cave.

“Wow!” Starfire and Terra were in awe, and Ben whistled.

“Neat trick,” He stated, but then turned serious with a pursed lips, “…Maybe we should keep our guard up?”

Lance looked over at him, “Something wrong?”

“Who knows what lies inside this Castle. Friend, or foe?”

Shiro sighed as he placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “I can assure you, they are friends. Let’s get going.”

Ben wanted to question Shiro, but one by one, everyone was getting out of the Blue Lion and staring right in front of some large doors with some sort of symbol on it. Suddenly, Blue straightened up and roared out loud, causing everyone but Shiro to tense up as if readying for a fight. But they soon turned around when the same doors were glowing brightly and soon opened wide for them.

“Ohhh…the door is open,” Terra breathed out before looking over at Blue, “Heh, s-sorry, thought you were going to eat us.”

Shiro soon rushed forward and started making a beeline to where he knew the Princess and Coran were, and Ben couldn’t help but follow after him. This also caused the rest of them to follow, wondering how in the world Shiro knew where to go? 

‘There’s a lot that Shiro isn’t telling us,’ Ben thought in his head, seeing how Shiro skidded to a halt.

It was then a beam of light appeared as the vestibule activates, Shiro remaining calm while the others sort of freaked out.

“Hold for identity scan.”

“W-what is going on?!” Keith exclaimed as he felt himself being scanned, looking around, “Who goes there?What do you want with us?!”

“Keith, calm down. The Castle is just trying to identify us.” Shiro murmured quietly, and then blinked when it finished scanning and started to light up another hallway for them.

“Welcome, Paladins of Voltron.”

Shiro smiled a little, before making his way down the halls, ignoring the look of suspicion from both Ben and Keith. Either way, yhe lights in the hallway started to glow warmly, the team then started to walk down the lit hallway and down a flight of steps. Soon, they ended up in what seems to be a chamber of some sort of strange looking pillars in them.

Shiro was immediate as he went to the centre of the room and looked over some console, while Ben looked around.

“Where are we? Some kind of control room?"

“Princess Allura…” Shiro murmured as he pressed a button on the console, watching two strange pods rise from the ground, “Hope you and Coran had a good sleep…”

“Alright, Shiro, I think I had enough. Tell us what the heck is going on,” Keith finally snapped and walked by Shiro, who looked over in confusion, “It’s like you know all of this. Like, you’ve been here before?”

Shiro softened and was about to say something until he heard a noise and snapped his head to see four more pods rise from the ground. This caused him to frown, as he remembered in the past these ones were empty. But apparently there seem to be people inside them as well. Alteans? Maybe…

“A-are these guys…dead?” Lance squeaked out in fright, but one of the pods started to open.

Shiro expected Allura’s pod to open, but it was one of the new ones as the glass melted away to reveal a blonde girl with a braid dressed in green. She looked…human.

She gasped, her eyes opening to reveal them to be of obsidian coloured, reaching her hand out and yelled, “Wally!”

Ben was quick to move as he opened his arms out and caught her, the young woman falling into his arms. Shiro was alerted for a moment, almost wanting to step forward but the other pods were opening. Soon, another pod opened to reveal a very young Asianboy in a hoodie, stumbling onto his knees and hands as he then was gasping for air. The next pod opened to reveal another blonde haired girl, this time her hair was down past her shoulders and held back by a black hairband, dressed what seems to be a Wonder Woman shirt and red jogging pants. The last pod opened to reveal some red haired rugged man with almost glowing ruby eyes, in a brown trench coat and even stranger clothes underneath.

Shiro…didn’t know any of these people.

“W-what…where am I?” The woman in Ben’s arms murmured, holding her head, “What the heck happened?”

“You’re…in a Castle. In another planet. Um, hi, I’m Ben.” The brunet introduced himself with a small smile, and the blonde looked up with a squint of her eyes.

“…You’re not Wally.”

“No, I am not. May I ask your name?”

“…”

Suddenly, Ben yelped when he found himself in a restraining hold, twisting her arm over his neck and looking at everyone else in the room.

“Stay back! Are you part of The Reach?!“

“The what?!” Lance yelped as he placed his hands up, almost wanting to step forward to stop her, “No! Let him go! W-we’re just passing through! We don’t know anything!”

“Gambit feels like a Sentinel has hit Gambit over the head one too many times,” The strange red haired man spoke in a deep Cajun accent, rubbing his head before looking around with confusion, “…This isn’t Genosha?”

“Artemis!?!” The other blonde girl there squeaked as she flew over and then placed her fists up to stand in front of the girl holding Ben, “Alright, you Reach scum! You’re not taking us or our home planet!”

Keith was already pulling what seems to be a knife from his jacket, and Shiro was also readying for a fight.

The young teenage boy in the hoodie just was rubbing his head before he looked around, before narrowing his eyes, “…I think everyone should calm down for a moment.”

“What’cha say, short stuff?!” The floating blonde girl looked over at him with a glare, while the boy looked up and gave her the stink eye, which made her flinch back with an unsure look.

“I mean, why are you guys going all aggro the moment waking up in…what I believe are Sleep Chambers,” The boy looked back to where he had come out from and then hummed, “Well, never thought I would be abducted by aliens at the age of fourteen. Sort of thought that would happen later on after I finished my brother’s nerd school—“

“Yo-you’re not abducted,” Shiro spoke up as he managed to calm down too, glancing at the one called Artemis holding Ben hostage, “W-what exactly do you remember before waking up…um—?”

“Hiro. Hiro Hamada,” The boy introduced himself as he looked to Shiro, “You seem to be the ring leader for this operation, correct?”

“Uh, I wouldn’t call myself a ring leader per se…” Shiro murmured before Hiro rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, the last thing I was remember was I was in a science fair with my brother and his friends along with my Aunt. I won and was going to go out to celebrate, but I hung back to double check on my invention one last time. I was the last to leave the building that held a lot of upcoming students’ projects but somehow the building was set on fire. Next thing I knew was I was knocked out and ended up here…”

“C-Can you please let me go now?” Ben tapped at the woman’s arm, before he yelped and was dropped to the ground and the blonde raised a brow.

“My name is Artemis. I’m a former protege of Green Arrow and I was supposed to be with the Justice League and The Team behind them to take down an alien race called the Reach…last thing I remember was watching my boyfriend get fried by some weird machine and I rushed in to push him out of the way and…nothing.”

“Wait, Green Arrow has another protege besides Arsenal?” Ben tilted his head, but then yelped when Artemis glared down at him.

“Arsenal? Do you mean Red Arrow or the real Speedy?”

“Who’s Red Arrow? And….real Speedy?”

Artemis shook her head before looking at the other blonde girl and softened, “Cassie, what are you even doing here? Do you remember what happened?”

Cassie looked sheepish for a moment before shaking her head, “I-I dunno. One minute I was with Robin taking down the Reach’s machines and army and then got a message about Kid Flash, Flash and Impulse being in trouble. I was going to fly to their location when I was zapped and…blacked out too…”

“You know of Robin?” Starfire asked curiously before Cassie looked over and nodded.

“He’s…my teammate,” She looked flushed for a second before coughing, then turned serious, “A-anyways, um, who are the rest of you guys? I only know Artemis since we work with the Justice League.”

“There’s no way you work with the Justice League,” Ben pointed out, “I’ve never met you two before.”

Artemis glared at him, “What? We do work with the Justice League. Who are you to say that?”

“I’ve worked with them plenty of times and I’ve never met you nor your Wonder Woman fangirl here,” Ben pointed to Cassie before looking at Artemis with a grin, “I’m Ben Tennyson. Or Ben 10, ya know, saved the universe a billion times~?”

“…Never heard of you.” Artemis huffed as she stared at him, arms folded. 

Suddenly, a whistle sounded and the strange man in the trench reached a hand up, signalling everyone’s attention.

“Ah, je suis tres desole for interrupting. But Gambit thinks that the other pods are opening,” He pointed to one that was already melting the glass away, and soon was making the move, “La tête haute~!”

He had shoved Lance out of the way when a strange mocha color-skinned woman with white hair and in a dress was reaching her hand out with a gasp, whispering out ‘Father!’ with a breathless tone, and Gambit soon caught her in his arms in time before she fell to the ground.

Shiro almost balked at this, knowing that it wasn’t Lance who caught Allura this time around, but a total stranger. Lance groaned as he was rubbing his butt since he fell when pushed away, Keith walking over and looking over at him, asking if he was okay.

"Who are you? Where am I?" The woman in his arms questioned, looking around for a moment before her eyes landed in front of the red head.

 “Remy LeBeau, chérie. But you can call me Gambit~”

The woman narrowed her eyes up at him, then tilted her head, almost confusing Gambit. She was quiet for a moment, but then blinked she looked into his eyes again, and felt her face flush.

“…Goodness, your eyes?”

Gambit chuckled, giving a charming smile, “Gambit knows. Eyes are attractive, non~?”

Suddenly, she soon brought him into a headlock, but somehow she squeaked when he turned it around on her before holding her in a princess carry.

“Ah, ah, ah, Princesse. There’s no need for violence~” Gambit smiled casually as the woman struggled.

"Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my Castle?" She interrogated with a yell, as she tried to break loose from Gambit’s grip.

“Princess Allura calm down!” Shiro approached this time, raising his hands up as he looked to her, “My name is Shiro. Blue brought us here, and we need to find the other lions and quickly before the Galra find out.”

“You know my name—Wait! You have the Blue Lion? What happened to it’s Paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless... How long has it been?" Allura gasped as she looked around then back at the strangers before her, and then felt her heart drop, “No…”

Shiro softened, as he breathed out, “It’s been ten thousand years, Allura. Sorry, but as much as it’s a lot to take in, I’m afraid we don’t have time to explain everything.”

“Oh, I think it’s the perfect time to speak about everything,” Ben spoke up as he looked up at Shiro, “You know more about this than you’re letting on…so start talking.”

Shiro sighed, knowing that Ben was right.

“Alright…I’ll come clean. Let’s…sit down so I can explain everything.”

//So what do you guys think? Do you think I should continue this story? Or should I just stick to writing Quirks and Miracles only? Let me know what you guys think~! Leave a comment below or feel free to message me on questions or anything else of this story. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of your day~!

-Riri-Mun

[lanceyblog]

Introductions!

Hey! I’m Lance McClain! You can call me Sharpshooter tho. It’s what my friends call me yk? Ex Paladin of the blue lion. Taken by the one and only Keith Kogane, red paladin and former black paladin. He’s a dream. We have a moon wolf named Kosmo! Kei’s trying to convince me to get another tho lol. (We got a new one! Her name’s Comet! She’s a puppy White Swiss Shepherd!)

Got some free time on my hands so I figured why don’t I start blogging! Just thoughts, fun times and adventures. Feel free to ask any questions!

-Lance