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"We have to form Voltron!" Lance called over the comms. All of the Paladins were getting hit hard and at full force throughout the fight. The Galra weren't sparing any expense during this fight. The Galra were fighting with everything they had the past few weeks, they haven't been easy on Voltron or any Lotor sympathizers since he officially won over the throne.
"Not yet," Shiro called into the comms, Lance let out a frustrated groan and continued fighting, deciding that right now was not the time to challenge Shiro or his leadership, “It’s not the right time, Lance, we have to get these things right. Otherwise, we might end up in a fight where we are at the disadvantage.”
"How about now, Shiro?" Lance could hear the shakiness in Pidge's coms as they spoke, he whipped Red around and aided Pidge in their fight.
"Form Voltron!" Shiro yelled into the comms and the paladins lined their lions next to Shiro, forming Voltron. "Lance, can you form the sword, I have a feeling that we are going to need it," the leader called over the coms again.
Lance wasn't forgetful 99% of the time, of course now in the middle of a battle would fall into that 1% category. Lance looked around the cockpit quickly, trying to see just a little bit of his Bayard. While he was searching around his mind tuned out the screaming of the other Paladins as a bright purple light hit Voltron and consumed their vision.
It didn't take long for Lance to wake up. Red's presence in his mind was missing, but he could tell by how he was laying on his back that Voltron had been forced apart. The blast must have forced them apart, much like how Zarkon was able to force them apart a couple months ago.
Lance walked out of the cockpit to see Allura and Shiro looking around confused. Soon after he reached them, Pidge and Hunk came crawling out of their lions and joined the others.
"What is this place?" Lance asked, his voice filled with wonder. He turned towards Allura, she had lived with the knowledge of space for countless deca-phoebs, so she had to know what was going on.
Allura shrugged and looked around them. They were all floating on this white, fluffy-looking substance. Whenever any of the Paladins tried to touch the substance it moved away from them, like it was repulsed by the fact that people were trying to touch it.
"I have no idea where we are..." Allura trailed off as a noise that sounded almost like a whale surrounded them. They all looked up towards what they thought would be the sky and stared in awe at the ocean-like setting that was above them. Animals that looked like whales were swirling around the top, talking to each other with calls out into space.
Lance looked at Allura who had visibly gotten paler and started shaking, "Do you know where we are now..?" he questioned, going closer to his friend.
"This place…I, how can this be? We somehow managed to enter the rift, but to do so it would mean it would have to be open! My people spent deca-phoebs searching and hunting for this place and no one ever found it." Allura's voice got quieter and her body shook more.
“Allura, what does this mean?” Shiro asked her. He got closer to her as well, just close enough that if Allura's legs were going to give out he could help catch her.
"We are in grave danger, the universe is in grave danger. " Allura said walking back over to Blue.
"Allura, the lions will be down for a while. I... don't understand though... what exactly are we doing, where exactly are we? What do you mean by the rift?" Pidge looked towards Allura, confusion and curiosity written all over their face.
Allura sighed in defeat and sat down near her lion, motioning her hands to tell the other paladins to do the same. They all followed and sat down near her.
"For our people, the rift was a myth, a story told by the elders. It was an all-powerful force of nature that helped keep peace and balance in the world. It is because it was so powerful that it was highly sought after. People believed that this place held the key to immortality. It was just a bedtime story... I never..." Allura choked on her words, tears spilling from her eyes.
"You don't have to continue if you don't want to." Hunk spoke kindly, putting a hand on her shoulder and rubbing it comfortingly.
Allura shook her head and took a deep breath before continuing, "Only the strongest Altean alchemists tried to find this place. In all of its beauty comes great sacrifice and terror." she whispered, hanging her head. She shook her head and looked back up, " Though immortality is said to be found here, whenever the rift opens these creatures pour out of it, they drain all of the quintessence from anything nearby. Planets crumble, entire species cease to exist and all life within them lost... the only solace that I have is that this is all ancient information that may not even be true. I had truly hoped it was all a myth," she stood back up and smiled fakely.
"We won't really know until the Lions get back online, we’re disconnected to the outside world until then," Pidge said, fiddling with their helmet and trying to get it to work.
"If what you heard was to be true, how would we reverse the effects?" Shiro questioned Allura, reaching out to try and touch the white fluffy substance around them.
"We would need part of the rift. If we bring a piece back into the real world then the balance and peace shall be restored. The only problem seems to be that we can't touch the substance." she smiled a little and took a breath, "If we can't touch it that means that the terror that it reportedly brings cannot be true," she laughed and lay back against the hull of Blue. The paladins looked at Allura with confused faces, “The universe brings balance. If we cannot touch the thing that will supposedly balance it, then there must be no danger that it needs to balance.”
"So basically, this place is mythical, has some terror animals that were released by the rift opening. These animals will suck the life out of everything they touch and leave the universe in ruins. The only way to correct the damage done is to bring a piece of the rift back into the universe. Is all of that right?" Lance asked, listing everything off and counting on his fingers.
Allura thought over everything he said before nodding her head, "That's correct, Lance." she said slowly.
"Nope. Not possible, I've seen Moana and this is not it." Lance shook his head and stood up, making an 'X' with his arms.
"What is a Moana?" Allura questioned, earning a laugh from Hunk.
"It's Lance's favorite Disney Princess movie. It's about a young woman who is the successor of her tribe, there was a demigod who stole something from the god of life and, well, it basically follows the plot of what we are going through right now." Hunk laughed more, causing Pidge, Allura, and Shiro to laugh as well. Lance glared at Hunk and huffed.
"You guys are so rude!" he groaned and sat on the ground, frowning deeply, "Plus, even if this was Moana, who would be who?" he asked the group.
"You would definitely be Moana, Lance." Pidge laughed out. Lance rolled his eyes and got up, walking over to Red and leaning against her, closing his eyes and listening to her recharging.
"Lance! Wake up! Green is back up and we're getting a call from the Castle of the Lions!" Hunk practically yelled in his ear, shaking him awake. Lance rubbed his eyes and sleepily followed Hunk into the Green lion.
"Hello, Paladins!" Coran said as his face appears on the screen of Green Lion. He wore a nervous smile on his face and was twiddling his thumbs a little, "I'm glad to see that you lot are alright!" he cheered, taking a quick count of the Paladins and nodding.
"Where exactly are we, Coran?" Allura asked, Lance looked at the Princess confused. Didn't she just tell them all that they were in the rift?
"I don't exactly know, Princess. Voltron practically fell off the map, there's no way for me to know where exactly you are. I tried searching for you and the rest of the Paladins, but all of my searches ended up empty-handed. I've called all of the other Lions as well, but Green was the first one where my call went all the way through." Coran smiled a little.
"Is that why you called, because if it is, then I have some questions as you are older than me." the Princess smiled sweetly at Coran and he shook his head.
"Distress signals and calls have been pouring in since Voltron went missing. Whole planets are ending up without any quintessence, there are reports of these monsters that attack the planets and as soon as they do the planets entire ecosystem falls apart and decays. Do you have any idea of what this could be, Princess?" the Royal Advisor questioned. Allura wore a nervous smile.
"Moana. That's what is happening. This is Moana in real life." Lance spoke, shivering slightly, but if this was truly like Moana he could expect that things would turn out in their favor. However, this was real life and not some Disney movie that was scripted to end in the hero's favor. From experience, Lance knew that things might not end in the Paladin's favor.
"Moana?" Coran asked, looking quizzically at Lance.
"It's a movie from Earth that Lance likes," Allura half smiled and laughed a little before a serious look washed across her face once again, "Coran, what do you know about the rift?"
"The rift?" Coran's head tilted to the side. "Old Altean mythology rift?" he asked, eyes lighting up in wonder.
Allura nodded and smiled softly. Coran's face lit up and he jumped a bit.
"I thought that place was a myth! It's supposed to be breathtaking, is it? Have you seen the animals yet?" Coran asked in a rushed tone, his eyes shining brightly.
"It's very beautiful, Coran, and so are the animals. But we have more pressing matters at hand right now. What can you tell us about the life force that supposedly helps us restore balance and peace to the universe?" Allura spoke in a calm, hushed tone.
"All that was really told is that you need to catch it. I have no real idea how though, Princess. I'm sorry to disappoint. Perhaps you can try catching it in your hands?" he offered, to which Allura half nodded.
"That helps, thank you, Coran," the princess waved and bid her goodbyes before hanging up.
"I believe that it's time that we should start trying to harvest this life force. The fate of the universe does depend on it." Shiro offered as he left the Green Lion.
Lance followed Shiro out and smiled softly. The life force around them felt warm and inviting, almost like it was calling Lance and he would willingly go towards it. Being around the life force was the safest he'd ever felt in space. Things hadn't been going too well for the Paladins of Voltron, besides the Galra giving everything they got and never seeming to run out of ships or ammo, the other Paladins were often busy and left Lance in the dust with most of their plans. He didn't really blame them, plus with the lack of actual contact, he had started training a lot more and was getting better in hand to hand combat.
Lance was shaken out of his thoughts when Hunk full-on body slammed into him.
"Whatcha doing, buddy?" Lance questioned, rubbing his shoulder and laughing at his friend.
"I was trying to catch it, but it wouldn't come here." Hunk pouted and Lance laughed again.
Lance looked around at the other Paladins, finding them all trying to get the life force in their own way. Most of the time it resulted in them floating around the place or landing flat on their face. Shiro even tried to use his Galra hand to catch it, but yet it was to no avail.
Lance smiled at his friends enjoying themselves when suddenly a familiar presence entered his mind and called out to him.
"I gotta try to get this life force first, Red. The universe depends on it." Lance laughed a little, pushing her presence to the back of his mind.
A soft, 'I believe in you, Paladin.' came through his thoughts and Lance smiled a full, real smile. Red was always there for him and he appreciated it with every ounce of his body. Red almost reminded Lance of his mother, soft and sweet, but knew when to put her foot down and set the rules straight. Red was a lot like that, she helped him whenever he was feeling down, but never let him throw a pity party for too long.
Lance smiled to himself and dove into the white abyss, laughing when he tumbled and couldn't catch the substance. He tried a few more times, but the more he tried it the less amusing it was to not come even close to touching it. It was frustrating to try so hard to get this life force and not being able to come close to touching it.
After the 10th time of Lance trying, he gave up and stormed into Red. Her presence was in his mind, trying to keep him calm and telling him to calm down a little.
"I can't do it, Red," he huffed out, collapsing into his pilot seat.
'Of course, you can, Paladin. You just have to believe in yourself more. I believe in you, we believe in you. You are the only one who can get the life force, you deserve the accomplishment of getting it and returning the universe back to order, Paladin.' Red spoke softly to him.
In the way back of his mind he felt a feeling he hadn't felt in a while. It was Blue, it had to have been. Blue felt like the ocean on a nice summer’s day or the crisp cold air on a late fall morning. Blue was calming in degrees he didn't even think were possible, especially after this long.
Of course, Lance understood his duties to Voltron and the universe and the fact that the lion chooses the Paladin, not that the Paladin chooses the Lion. It sounded a little too Harry Potter-ish for Lance's liking, but he understood nevertheless.
Red was like a hot shower after being outside in the snow all day, that warm feeling you get when you drink coffee first thing in the morning, when you come onto the beach from being inside cold late-June water and feel the hot sand on your feet, warming you to the core and most of all, Red was like the hugs that his family gave him shortly before he left for Garrison. He missed his family more than anything, but his duty was to the universe right now and that came first.
"I don't know, Red. Shiro is a mighty hero who deserves it too, so is anyone else stuck in here with me. I'm just a boy from Cuba, why would I deserve the glory of saving the universe from a mess I probably created in the first pl-" Lance was cut off of his tangent by Red's growl.
'You are much more than just a boy from Cuba, Paladin. You have worked extremely hard to get here and you deserve the glory of this mission. You have so much compassion and light in your heart. Your heart is pure and that is exactly what the spark is looking for in a carrier. You, Paladin, are perfect for this mission. You mean much more than you give yourself credit for.' Red resorted back to her sweet, calming voice. Lance nodded and smiled a little, running through what Red said one more time.
"Thank you, Red," he whispered, exiting the Lion and going around to her front, placing a little kiss on her muzzle before smiling and straightening out his figure, feeling more confident of himself.
Lance started walking away when Red came back into the front of his mind. She seemed to want Lance to go back inside of the cockpit, he shrugged and listened, going back into the cockpit to see a call from Coran coming in, he picked it up quickly.
"Coran, the handsome man, what is up?" Lance smiled halfheartedly and looked at his screen.
"You'll want to gather the other Paladins." Coran looked defeated. Lance nodded and went back out of the cockpit.
"Hey, guys! Coran is on the phone again and you might want to come here!" Lance called out. The other Paladins looked toward him and then Shiro nodded and they all followed him into Red.
"Coran, how is everything out there?" Shiro asked, Lance looked over at him and noticed that he was shifting on his feet almost like a nervous tick.
"It's getting worse if I am being honest. At first, there were just a few calls for Voltron and help because of the planets decaying, but now there are thousands. It's getting so much worse, Paladins. Some of the coalition is asking where Voltron in and as I can't answer them, stress and tension is building on every side. I've even gotten reports that the monsters will consume a planet and then will later go back to it. These planets crumble completely and they lose all life. Some species are sending themselves into space that way they can continue living, but not every planet has the resources nor the will to do that," Coran hung his head down and shook it.
It was heartbreaking seeing Coran like this. Out of everyone on the Castle of the Lions, he was always the most optimistic and happy. Even when everyone else had given up hope, he still held onto it and motivated everyone else to have a better mindset regardless of the situation they were in. Now, however, Coran was just as hopeless as the Paladins, his face painted in defeat.
"Is there anything that either you can do from there or that we can do from over here?" Allura questioned. The question surprised Lance, but it was an excellent question to ask given the circumstances.
"I don't believe so, Princess... I don't think there is much anyone can do without that spark making it over to this side to restore balance. Princess, people are losing hope in Voltron, some of them don't know what to believe because they don't trust the fact that the great Voltron can just go missing. I urge you... the universe urges you to please find that spark and bring it back to our universe, we need Voltron and we need you." Coran smiled somberly and wiped his eyes. It hurt the team to see their dear friend so desperate, but they knew that they had to do something.
"Is there any way that we can track them? If we can track them then maybe we can warn planets before it gets to them!" Pidge smiled, offering a temporary solution to the problem at hand.
"They should be easy to track because they put off so much energy, but without an algorithm, you can't do anything," Coran sighed.
"Coran, can you send me any known information on these monsters, I need anything and everything," Pidge declared, smiling smugly to themselves.
"We can sort through all the data and pick out the constants! From there we can form algorithms to track them after we do that we can send it to Coran and he can use it to help the planets that haven't been hit yet! Pidge! You are a genius!" Hunk shouted excitedly.
"You read my mind, Hunk! There can't be too many constants and even if there are, Green has enough software to test hundreds of them at the same time. She'll help us find the right one and we can begin helping these people in no time!" Pidge laughed in victory before they high-fived Hunk.
Pidge and Hunk said their goodbyes quickly and left Red, heading towards Green that way they could get started on the algorithm.
Lance looked down nervously. The whole universe was at stake all because they fell into some ancient mythical rift. Could they really save the universe now? Was it already too late? He hoped not, the universe deserved better than that, than him. Red growled in his mind again and he shook himself away from his thoughts.
"Paladins, I have to call the Castle. It’s getting overrun with pleas for help. I will call you back and update you later with more news. Wish Pidge and Hunk luck on the algorithm!" Coran said before hanging up.
Lance sighed as Allura and Shiro left Red, talking amongst themselves about the problem at hand.
Pidge and Hunk raced towards Green, both feeling pretty good about themselves. They could do this, all they needed to do was find the energy signature that the rift monsters were outputting, run it through a couple tests and then they could hopefully slow down the destruction that was going on outside.
"Hunk, can you start forming an algorithm that I can put these numbers into once I sort out all of the constants in this data?" Pidge asked. Hunk nodded and smiled back towards his friend.
Sorting through the numbers and finding a constant in all of them didn't take very long, and luckily there weren't that many constants either, which really helped them a lot in terms of efficiency.
The two paladins tested each of the constants individually. They were looking for energy sources that moved quickly and took in large amounts of energy before it balanced out within itself. Their first couple of tests didn't work, as those algorithms looked more targeted towards black holes than anything, which moved slowly and took in some energy every once in a while.
On their fifth test, they found energy sources that moved quickly and had a very high energy intake level. Pidge laughed in relief and sent it to Coran to use.
Pidge and Hunk got a message shortly after saying that the algorithm worked at that he was in great debt to the both of them. The two friends high-fived again before another messaged broke through and ruined their good moment.
"They are heading towards Earth..." Hunk read out loud, his face going pale.
The Green and Yellow paladins scurried over towards Lance, Shiro, and Allura who were all sitting outside of Red.
"The monsters are going towards Earth!" Pidge yelled frantically.
Lance's heart stopped at those six words. They were going towards his home, these disastrous monsters were heading towards his home to destroy it.
"No... you must be mistaken, right, Pidge?" Shiro asked, staring down at Pidge. Lance had never seen Shiro look so distraught at anything.
"We made the algorithm and send it to Coran, he was tracking them... he," Pidge let out a soft sob, "he said they were going to Earth. We can't let them get there, Shiro, we need to get this life force and now." Pidge cried out, tears streaming down their face. Hunk hugged them and tried to comfort them.
Lance felt hurt seeing his friend this upset, they were all upset at this development.
'Your heart is pure and that is exactly what the spark is looking for in a carrier.' Red's words echoed through his head.
"I might be able to help... something Red said earlier, I think I can get the life spark," he spoke softly and slowly. This revelation got all of the Paladin's attention.
"Then do it, Lance, please," Shiro urged.
Lance closed his eyes and thought about the beach that he grew up on, his family, how happy he was to get accepted to Garrison, how ecstatic he was to meet his greatest hero Shiro and more importantly how happy he was to have his family in the stars with the rest of the Paladins. At that moment something changed. He felt something under his feet, something unlike the void where he was, something solid.
He opened his eyes and looked down in shock. He was standing on the ground. He was standing on the ground in the rift, something that no one had been able to do thus far.
Lance felt so alive. He could feel the universe thriving and living, but he could also feel the part that those monsters were taking away from the universe.
Shiro picked up something up that looked like a mason jar and handed it to Lance in shock.
"Please get the spark, Lance" he pleaded. Lance nodded in compliance and sat down, closing his eyes again.
"Young human, you are seeking out something dangerous... what is your purpose for that?" a woman's voice asked him. Lance's eyes snapped open and he saw that he was surrounded purely by the life force- the other Paladins and their lions seemed to have melted away.
"Who's there?" Lance called out into the abyss.
"That's something I should be asking you, young one," she spoke again and Lance shuddered.
"I'm Lance... I am a Paladin of Voltron. Voltron entered the rift during a fight with the universe’s known enemy, the Galra. When we fell through the rift, some of its monsters escaped and now they are killing the universe as we know it. In order to prevent the universe from ending, we seek the life spark that is here so the universe can be restored," Lance summarized. The voice didn't speak for a while.
"What you are asking for comes at a great price and you will have to sacrifice a lot in order to get it, Paladin. However, I believe that you have the truest intentions, so I will grant you your wish. If you are discovered to be lying there will be repercussions and I will have no problem nor hesitation in bringing down the fury and wrath of myself on you and the universe," she spoke again. Lance shook slightly and gulped, nodding.
Lance blinked and he was back with the other Paladins, the jar in his hands was full of the life energy.
"I did it..." he whispered. The other Paladins all cheered and surrounded him, hugging him and thanking him for getting the spark for them and for the universe.
Things in his head felt different now, there was something that felt almost homey that wasn't there previously. Lance shook it off and hugged the Paladins.
"Now that we have the life spark, we need to work on getting out of here." Shiro said looking at Lance, "Do you know anyway that we could do that?" he asked.
Lance shook his head and looked down. They made it over one obstacle just to be struck by another. It was discouraging.
'Don't worry young one, when the time comes I shall tell you how to escape.' the woman's voice spoke in his head. It felt a lot like Red in some aspects, but this woman felt a lot softer in a way.
'Congratulations, my Paladin!' Red cheered in his head, 'I told you that you could do it! However, I do request that you take what she says seriously, do not misuse the power that she has given you, Paladin.' Red warned him. He nodded slowly and laughed nervously.
He stood up and put the life spark into Red then he walked back over to the other Paladins.
As soon as he reached them all of the lions came alive and roared towards the sky.
'You have to lead them out of the rift, young one, just fly upwards.' she spoke again and he nodded.
"Get in your lions and follow me, we're getting out of here," Lance smiled towards the other Paladins who smiled and eagerly got into their lions and he followed suit.
Lance flew towards the sky with the other Paladins and their lions behind him, all flying into the light and letting it surrounded them once more.
When Lance opened his eyes, he discovered that they were in Voltron formation again, but more importantly, they were back out in space. Excitement and happiness swelled inside Lance until he took a look around.
Pieces of planets littered as far as he could see, occasionally he could make out the shape of a body floating amongst the rubble. Everything looked dead and decayed.
"We have to break Voltron," Lance spoke into the coms. Shiro agreed and Voltron broke. Lance stationed Red and then opened the cockpit, getting out of it and stood in the space in front of his lion with the jar of light in his hands.
"Now is my Moana moment," He muttered and slowly unscrewed the jar, letting the light pour out freely out into the universe.
He smiled and felt the light warm him inside and out. At that moment, he felt so alive and content. He opened his eyes to see the planets had been reformed and the rift monsters returning back to the rift, when the light touched them they turned from decaying monsters to the beautiful and majestic whales that they had seen when they first were thrust into the rift.
When the last whale entered the rift it flooded with light for a split second before it disappeared. Lance laughed loudly and smiled. He could feel the universe's heart beating stronger than ever before, it felt so happy and healthy when compared to when he first started feeling it. The universe felt happy.
Months had passed and the universe still felt complete and whole. Lance had been happier and more outgoing ever since that day in the rift. Nothing seemed wrong with him, that was until they were having a face-to-face fight with Galra and he got shot in the chest.
He was losing blood quickly and spots danced across his vision. He pressed his hand to where the wound was and pressed down, hoping to at least slow the bleeding. Then he felt fine, he pulled his hand away and saw that there was no blood on it. He had completely healed without a pod.
‘We can’t have our savior dying, now can we?’ she whispered in his head.