Chapter Text
Five lions race across the night sky, leaving tracks of stars behind.
The black one approaches, reverently bowing its head. It growls a word- Voltron- before breaking down into dust and blowing away.
The leader- as strong as a tornado, but at the same time, gentle as a breeze.
The red one is not far behind, stepping up and taking the place of the black lion. It bares its teeth, swiping at the air.
This one is like a fire, passionate, bold, and impulsive.
The blue lion roars behind it, and the red reluctantly bows its head. The blue joins it, bowing also. The red goes up in flames, and the blue transforms into a wave before washing away.
The blue was like water- empathetic and adaptable, but very sensitive.
The yellow lion bounds over, offering a friendly yip and a bow of its head. It hardened into stone before crumbling away.
The lion was patient and reliable, but resistant to change, much like the rocks in the ground.
The final lion cautiously made its way over. This one was the smallest, and was green in color. It bowed its head, and then twisted into a plant, which immediately withered away.
This one was intuitive and persisting, ever-changing like a plant.
The stars still twinkled in the night sky.
A black shooting star fell, followed by a red, blue, yellow, and green. They swirled together, creating a supernova.
“Voltron,” Allura whispered, gasping awake.
As if in a trance, she tiptoed out of her room and made her way to the basement of her home.
She entered her father’s office, typing in the code- her birthday, of course. When Allura saw what was inside, she clapped a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t make a sound.
So this was what her father had been working on before he disappeared.
The black lion from her dream was there, sleeping in a cage.
And five… superhero suits were displayed on the wall.
What was Voltron?
Could it save her father and her city?
xxx
Lance let out a long sigh, tapping his foot anxiously.
“Come on, come on, come on,” he muttered under his breath.
The hand on the clock ticked forward the slightest bit.
Lance took in a deep breath. “Just two more minutes. I can do that.”
After an excruciating 120 seconds, the bell rang, and he sprinted out of his classroom.
Who had time for school when Altea was falling into the hands of the mysterious Galra?
Who had the patience to sit and work on math equations when the only math that mattered was the decreasing amount of money in the McClain’s bank account?
The… excitement of the past few weeks certainly simulated his ADHD, but the stress did nothing to help his anxiety.
Lance speed-walked home, almost breaking into a run in his eagerness. Veronica was at her internship all day, and Rachel had debate club right after school.
Marco lived with his girlfriend a few cities over, and Luis had his own family to take care of now.
Lance used to do swim, and was one of the best on the team. But… his parents needed his help, so he didn’t have time for that anymore.
The bell jingled when he walked in his family’s café- a Cuban-inspired bakery and coffee shop. “Mamí, Papí, your favorite son is here to help!” he singsonged.
“Ah, Alejandro, can you take over at the register?” his dad asked.
“Sure thing,” Lance said cheekily. He put on his apron and name tag, and then made his way to the front.
He took orders for a couple of hours, and Rachel eventually joined him, helping make the coffee.
“Hey,” she said tiredly, taking over at the espresso machine.
“Hey, back. Thanks for helping.” He shot her a smile.
“Of course. Lance, customer,” she warned.
Oh.
“Welcome to Varadero Café. How can I help-“ Lance looked up to find the most gorgeous pair of eyes he’d ever seen staring back at him. “…you?”
“Just a black coffee. With three shots of espresso,” the guy said gruffly.
Okayyy, so yet another customer who is completely foreign to the word “please.” Beautiful faces aside.
“Name?” Lance asked, but the guy had already moved to the next part of the line. “Okay, then.”
Mr. Tall-ish-not-really, Dark, and Handsome was sporting a raven haired mullet. Lance simply had to comment on his… questionable hairstyle choices, so he put down “Mister Mullet” for the name.
Hold up.
That mullet… Lance would recognize that mullet anywhere!
That guy is Keith.
“One Black coffee with three shots of espresso for Mister… Mullet?” Rachel called. “Lance, what the fuck?” she hissed.
“He didn’t tell me his name!” Lance whisper-yelled back. “But I recognize him. It’s Keith.”
“Keith? Your junior high rival?”
“Ye- Rachel. He has the same jacket as Acxa.”
“What?”
“I have to find out what it means.”
“No, Lance,” Rachel pleaded.
“Please cover for me thank you love you bye!” Lance yelled, tearing off his apron and running after Keith.
He could hear Rachel’s faint shout of ‘Lance!’ but he had other things to worry about.
And damn it, Keith walked fast. He was barely in Lance’s line of sight.
“Hey!” Lance yelled, but Keith just sped up.
“Wait!” he called in vain, because Keith switched to a full-on sprint, and Lance was struggling to follow him, even in all his long-legged glory.
“I just want to talk! Keith!”
Keith stopped when he heard his name. His head whipped around. “Who are you?” he demanded.
Well. Okay then. To be fair, Lance had a major glow up in high school, so maybe he just didn’t recognize him, but rude.
“Uh, the name’s Lance? We were rivals in junior high. You know, Lance and Keith, neck to neck- er, anyway, not the point. The point is, you have the same jacket as my sister’s girlfriend.” Lance’s eyes narrowed.
Keith just stared at him blankly. “What?”
“She’s suspicious. And so is that jacket. What’s up with that black-and-purple design, anyway? What the hell is a Marmora?” Lance interrogated.
“You’re suspicious of your sister’s girlfriend… because of her jacket?” Keith checked.
“Yes.” Lance crossed his arms.
“That just sounds homophobic.”
Lance balked, offended. He’s not homophobic! He can’t be homophobic! Unless… maybe he’s taking out his internalized homophobia out on Acxa. Oh no.
Wait.
No.
Lance has already gone through this thought process a million times. His instincts say there’s something fishy about Acxa, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she’s a girl.
“No, that’s not it,” Lance protested. “Also, you didn’t answer any of my questions.”
“Well, that sucks for you, I guess,” Keith shrugged. “See ya, Vance.”
Lance was left gaping after Keith as he walked away. “It’s Lance!” he yelled.
He watched as Keith ducked into the alleyway to his left.
Didn’t he know that Altea’s alleyways were never safe?
Ugh.
Lance had to go warn him. Or save him, or whatever. Damn his moral compass.
He followed Keith into the alleyway, but was surprised to see his former rival enter an abandoned shop.
There was a blue light coming from inside.
Well. Now Lance was just too curious, he couldn’t go back now.
The door creaked a little as he followed Keith into the building.
He walked toward the source of the glow, turning the corner to find… “What the fuck,” he whispered.
Keith was petting a whole-ass lion.
A glowing blue lion.
Which had now apparently spotted him, bounding over in excitement.
“What-“ Keith started. When he caught sight of Lance, his eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing! You were going down an alleyway! I had to make sure you didn’t get mugged! Istheliongoingtoeatme?!!” he shrieked.
“I wish it would,” Keith grumbled.
The lion stopped in front of Lance.
“Uhh.”
It bowed its head, and growled something Lance inherently knew to be “Voltron.”
“What is happening,” Lance whispered.
Keith stepped back. “I don’t know!”
“You don’t know?! It’s your lion!”
“No, it’s your lion.”
Lance’s head snapped up. “What?”
“It’s trying to bond with you,” Keith explained. “Pet it,” he coaxed.
“Yep! Just casually pet the glowing blue lion, Lance!” he laughs hysterically. “Anddd now I’m talking to myself. Okay. Fine, I’ll do it.” Lance stuck out his tongue at Keith before tentatively reaching out to pet the lion.
What the fuck. It was like petting water. Except his hand wasn’t wet when he pulled it away.
When he reached out to pet it again, the lion purred and nuzzled into Lance’s hand. “Why does it like me,” he whispered.
“No idea. Clearly, it has questionable judgement,” Keith snarked.
Lance gasped in outrage. “How dare you! Blue over here clearly has better judgment than you, considering you’re sporting a damn mullet straight out of the eighties.”
The aforementioned lion yipped.
“What is it, Blue?”
Blue’s ears snapped to attention. She ran out toward the exit, pausing in the doorway.
“Keith! She’s running away!” Lance yelled.
“Well, that’s your problem now.”
“What?! But you found her! Finders, keepers!” he protested.
“Losers, weepers. Guess you lose. I’m out.” Keith gave him a two-fingered salute, following the lion out the door. “The coffee was delicious,” he called.
“Of course it was! I made it!” Lance huffed.
Blue flicked her head, as if saying ‘follow me.’
Lance let out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine! Fine. I’ll follow you.”
Chasing after the lion through Altea’s alleyways, he grumbled, “I did not sign up for this.”
When the lion finally stopped, Lance kneed over and panted for a full minute.
Blue let out a yip.
He lifted his hands. “Okay, okay. I’ll… knock, I guess.”
Lance stepped up to the door, and pounded on the lion knocker.
The door was answered by an eccentric looking man, with orange hair and a mustache.
“Why, hello there, my boy. Why are you here today?” he asked.
“Uh…” Lance looked back at Blue. “I don’t know.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Oh. It seems the blue lion has found her paladin. I’m Coran, by the way. Please come in.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lance,” he offered, hesitantly stepping inside. Blue followed.
“Allura!” Coran called. “We have a guest. Or… two of them, rather.”
‘Allura’ rounded the corner, and whew, if Lance saw yet another person this gorgeous today, he might pass out.
She had ethereal white hair, and smooth brown skin. Her eyes were a shocking blue, and rivaled Keith’s in beauty.
“Well, hello. Are you an alien? Because your looks are out of this world.” Lance winked.
Allura squinted at him, unfazed. “Thank you. Follow me.”
“Well, usually people wait to take me out on a date first-“
“Lance, was it?” Allura interrupted.
“Er. Yes?”
“Please shut up.”
Lance’s mouth snapped shut, and he quietly followed Allura into the basement.
“What do you know about Voltron?” she asked.
“Um. Next to nothing,” Lance admitted. “Blue growled it at me.”
“Ah. As did the black lion, to me. Voltron is, from what I can assume, an assembly of heroes destined to save Altea from the Galra,” Allura told him reverently. She tapped in a code, and the door they were standing in front of clicked open.
Inside, there was a sleeping black lion tucked in the corner.
And what looked like five superhero suits were displayed on the walls.
“Woah,” Lance whispered.
“And you’re one of these Voltron heroes. What are your powers?” she questioned.
“Um. Woah. Hold up.” He took a step back. “I don’t remember signing up for this.”
“But you do have powers?” Allura checked.
Lance winced. “Well. Yeah. How’d you know that? I’ve only ever told one person.”
“The blue lion wouldn’t have bonded with you otherwise,” she stated. “What are your powers?”
“I can, uh, freeze things. Make ice. Like, ya know, Elsa IRL.”
Allura nodded, contemplating. “All right. You will be useful, if you can learn to keep that mouth of yours shut.” Her eyes brighten. “Maybe Altea City has hope, after all! We can find my father.”
“Your father?”
“Yes. Alfor Smythe. Are you ready to join Voltron? Use your powers for good?”
Lance winced. “I’m sorry, I can’t. As much as I want to help, I don’t- I really don’t have time.”
“I’ll pay you,” Allura offered.
Lance stopped, looking back at her. “How much?” If it was enough to help his family… well, then he would join, no questions asked.
“Enough. My dad was the governor before he disappeared,” she reminded him.
“Good to know where my taxes are going,” Lance quipped.
“So?” Allura crossed her arms.
“All right,” he ceded. “I’ll do it.”
He could save both his city and his family. How could he decline?
Allura let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
Lance winked. “Anything for you, Princess.”
She rolled her eyes at him in return. “You may leave now. I’ll be contacting you soon.”
“Oh, so do you want my number?” he grinned.
Allura shook her head. “No need.”
“Okey dokey then. Should I start thinking up some really cool superhero names? Get it? Cool?”
“Lance.”
He put his hands up. “Okay, okay, I’ll get out of your lovely hair.”
“Bye!” she called pointedly.
Lance tromped up the stairs, waving farewell to Coran before stepping out the door, the blue lion on his heels.
Blue bowed before turning around to go back inside.
“Bye, Blue,” Lance whispered. “I’ll see you soon.”
He stepped out onto the street, and cursed when he checked the time on his watch.
“Shit. Rachel’s gonna kill me.”