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It was chaos in the Castle of Lions.
Shiro’s breath shook in his lungs. Thing were quiet – for now – but for the past hour it had all been a blur of running, shouting, and firing the gun that now lay still in his hands over and over.
At least he still had Pidge with him. They’d lost Hunk a few minutes ago; hopefully he would be able to track them down soon. Being separated was never good.
Pidge stood beside him, leaning against the wall as they tried to catch their breath. The gun they held, identical to his, looked too big for them, but there was nothing to be done for it. Both their and his bayards had been confiscated at the beginning of all this, the guns were all they had.
There. A flicker in the corner of his eye, a flash of movement.
“Pidge, go!” The Green Paladin had better aim, after all their practice with the grappling-hook part of their bayard, and they needed to take out the enemy as fast as possible.
At the shout and following explosion of movement as Pidge burst forward, Keith spun around, eyes wide with surprise. Shiro didn’t allow himself to look too closely at his brother’s face – Keith was an opponent, now. “Get him, Pidge! Now!”
The Green Paladin didn’t hesitate. Lance may have had the fastest Lion, but none of them could match Pidge for physical speed. Keith was agile – the only one capable of giving Pidge’s skills a challenge, really – but he’d been caught off-guard and he didn’t stand a chance. The strike hit him square in the chest, and the Red Paladin went down in a motionless heap.
Shiro grinned, almost feral. Victory was sweet. “Good job, Pidge.” The Green Paladin beamed at the praise. He turned, seeking their next target. “Now all we need to do is –”
Hunk and Lance came around the corner, both of their vests glowing a muted white. “Sorry, Shiro,” Hunk said with a little smile. “We both got each other at the same time.”
“We’re in sync!” Lance crowed, apparently unfazed by being “killed” by his friend.
“In sync at dying?” Keith grumbled, rolling over and sitting up. “Quiznak, Pidge, did you really have to be that vicious?”
Pidge’s smile would have made the Cheshire Cat proud. “Yes.”
Before they could really start arguing, Coran’s voice came over the speakers. “Good job, Paladins! Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk, you are the victors this round! Keith, Lance, Allura, better luck next time!”
Eyes wide, Pidge and Shiro turned to Hunk. Allura? Pidge mouthed in shock.
Hunk grinned, scratching the back of his head self-consciously. “I caught her by surprise is all. It was just luck.”
“It was quite good,” Allura added, finally coming in from the other side. Her vest was white too. “I never even heard him coming.” She seemed to hold no grudge against the Yellow Paladin. (Good thing, too. Allura’s grudges were legendary and terrifying.)
Coran came crackling over the air again. “Care to go again? We can switch up the teams this time, if you like.”
The Paladins looked to Shiro. He’d initially been concerned about a game pitting the team members against one another, but this was turning out to be a wonderful idea. It kept them from going stir-crazy while drifting through dead space and was honing their stealth skills, which all but Keith and Pidge were somewhat lacking.
Shiro glanced over his team. Lance, Keith, and Allura did not seem to be holding any grudges for losing, and Hunk and Pidge were bright and ready to go again. As for himself, Shiro hadn’t realized how much he had missed playing games, even if it was clearly very combat-inspired.
He smiled again. “Let’s go,” he said, and watched the faces of his team light up.