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The Champion was tied to the wall of the Altean Ship.
Fury filled him, like a volcano exploding.
Like a dying star.
How could he, the Galra strongest warrior, be captured like that?
The four Voltron paladins were all inferior and pathetic. The Alteans were ridiculous and weak.
The Champion tried to get rid of the handcuffs again, but somehow they had deactivated his arm. His yellow eyes looked around in rage, trying to find another way out.
Why the fuck they didn’t have just killed him already?
Champion suspected that he knew the answer to his question, but he needed to make sure before using it to try to escape.
Make sure what the answer was, so he could explore that weakness.
The door of the prison hall opened.
Champion watched through the cell bars the whole Voltron team walk towards him.
Leading the group there was the Red Paladin, Krirak, bastard son of Zarkon and ex-Prince of the Galra Empire.
The leader of the planet Juleus rebellion.
The one commanding the rebel scums against his own father.
The one that stole the Red lion from the Galra and had joined the Voltron Alliance.
Krirak, the renegade.
His head (dead or alive) was worth millions of credits.
The Champion smirked.
Oh, so that was why they haven’t killed him yet.
He was aware that the Prince had a little crush on him. A foolish crush of a foolish boy and that he could use to break free.
- Prince Krirak! Did you came to beg for forgiveness for your sins against your father and the Empire?
The others stared at Krirak in disbelief.
Oh, so apparently he had left that part out of his interactions with the others.
Interesting…
Krirak didn’t reacted to the title or the provocation.
- My name is Keith now.
- Keith? Sounds so ridiculous.
- And since when having a title as a name is better, Champion? – he said the Champion’s title with disgust.
- It is an honour to have this name. An honour Zarkon himself gave to me.
- That is not your real name. – Krirak said staring down to him with something that looked a lot with sympathy.
The Champion opened a cruel smile, blinking his yellow eyes innocently.
- So you want to give me a new name? You are so much like your father.
Krirak shrugged.
- It can’t be a new name if it is already yours, Shiro.
When the Red paladin said that name, the anger boiled inside the Champion again. He didn’t know why, but that name moved something inside him.
He hold himself, trying not to give away his emotions, but something must had shown up on his face.
The paladin opened a small smile.
- You recognise the name, don’t you? You recognize your real name, your Earth name. Don’t you, Shiro?
The Champion frowned.
- I don’t know what you are talking about, Prince Krirak.
Krirak rolled his eyes.
- It is Keith.
- A ridiculous name. Did you picked it yourself?
The paladin smiled with sadness.
- Actually, no. You did.
The Galra Champion blinked once.
Then twice.
- What?
Krirak got closer to the prison bars.
- You don’t remember, do you? This is all part of Haggar’s bad juju. I know that you remember me. I know that you are still there, Shiro.
The Champion stared at Krirak in disbelief for a moment before breaking into cruel laugh.
- You must be crazier than what we thought! Are you hallucinating now, Keith? I would never go against Zarkon’s orders.
Something made Krirak stare at him in disbelief. Then he opened a grin.
- You said my name.
The Champion felt a part of his mind quiver.
“SHUT UP!” he screamed to himself.
That made the quiver disappear, but the damage was already done, even if he didn’t know what exactly it was.
He glared at the group.
Specially at Krirak.
- Fuck you, rebel scum! Fuck you and the Altean whores, the Balmeran cry-baby and the Bird aberration!
They all looked indignant.
Except for Krirak.
He still grinned.
The Altean Blue paladin put a hand on Krirak shoulder.
- Forget it, Keith. It is no use.
A possessive feeling took the Champion by surprise.
How dared that dirty Altean touch his prince?
Champion growled like an animal, staring at the duo. The Blue paladin removed his hand with a surprised expression. The Red paladin’s smile got bigger.
- You are wrong, Lance. He is still there.
He turned and walked away. The others stared between them, but followed Krirak after a while.
Leaving the Champion alone with his confused thoughts and hot anger.
Once the paladins left the holding cell area, they all turned to look at Keith.
- You never told us you are Zarkon’s son! – Pidge acused with her feathers all bristled in anger.
Keith rolled his eyes.
- Does it even matter?
- Well, yeah? – Lance answered, as if it was obvious.
- What my brother means, - Allura added diplomatically – is that we might be worried by a… conflict of interests.
The Red paladin stared at them unimpressed.
- Don’t worry, there isn’t. You two love your father. I don’t love mine. If anything, I really want his Empire, his whole legacy, to burn to the ground.
He sighed tiredly.
- Besides, I’m the one that brought you all together, the one that can feel all the lions and the paladins. If I was working for my sorry excuse for a father, don’t you think that I would have just picked all the lions and gave them to him?
They all stared in silence at him for a moment.
- That is a very good point. – Hunk said at last.
Keith chuckled.
- Yeah. I’m on your side with all I that I have.
- Ok. We believe in you. – Lance said before frowning – But why keep that guy in custody? I mean, he will not give you any information!
- Yeah, he seemed pretty loyal to the Galra. – Pidge added.
Keith looked at them with soft eyes.
- Before I found all of you, I found him. Don’t let that druid magic fool you: the person beneath the “Champion” name is Takashi Shirogane, but he likes to be called Shiro. And Shiro is a great person and the best match to pilot the Black lion.
Lance grimaced.
- So you do have a crush on the Champion.
The Red paladin rolled his eyes.
- On the Champion? Fuck no. He is a monster.
- But you seems very fond of this Shiro fella. – Coran noted.
Keith blushed lightly.
- Maybe. But that is beside the point.
- Beside the point!? That is what this is all about, isn’t Keith? – Pidge accused again.
He sighed tiredly again. That night had been exhausting.
- No, it isn’t, Pidge. The point is that I’m not the real leader of the Voltron Resistance. – he smiled – He is. If it wasn’t for Shiro, I would have given all the lions to Zarkon in exchange for a moment of his time without a second thought.
For the second time that night, they stared at him in silence.
Keith continued
- It might take some time, but after we get hid of whatever druid shit that Haggar might have done to him, he will be the great leader we all need.
He chuckled.
- I basically started a revolution for him, so yeah, you might say that I have a “crush” – he made quotation marks signs with his hands – on Shiro.
They all blinked.
Finally, Lance opened his mouth to answer.
- He must have a magical cock to make you do all this for him.
Keith laughed, remembering all the gentle kisses and soft words that made him fall in love with Takashi Shirogane, the person from planet Earth. All the promises that he KNEW that Shiro would fulfil once he was himself again. All the support he gave to Keith (who had never had anyone like that before). All the real LOVE he had so selflessly given to Keith, even if he was Galra, the same race that had captured Shiro and his friends.
How could Keith not love that man?
- You have no idea, Lance.