Chapter 1: Blast from the Past!

"Keith, Pidge keep that guy in place!"

Voltron's Blazing Sword locked with the equally enormous sword of the Robeast floating in front of them. The Green Lion's head shot forward and clamped down on its metal knuckles. That was one problem taken care of.

Who'd have thought they'd be in bigger trouble together than apart?

A quick kick from the other Robeast sent Voltron careening to the side. Part of the sword Robeast was torn off from the Green Lion's grip.

One Robeast was difficult enough. Two might be insurmountable.

"Damage report!"

"Our armor's thinning out, Shiro!" Hunk shouted back. The face on the viewscreen keeping his panic in check for now. "But the Castle's taking a bigger beating than we are!"

Shiro spared a glance over at the Castle Ship floating dead in space. The engines hadn't been repaired from the surprise attack and the Galran fleet were shooting the shields to their limit.

"We need to take out those ships," Shiro commanded. The Robeasts had drawn Voltron's attention and let the fleet sneak in. Time to rectify that. "Separate Voltron; Keith, Lance take those ships out. The rest of us will fly interference for the Robeasts." There weren't any good options in this scenario.

"Those things have been tossing Voltron around like a ragdoll, the Lions can't cut it!" Lance screamed at him.

"It'll be just like Balmera, Lance," Shiro tried to reassure him. "We got out of that we'll get out of this."

"But—!"

"The longer you complain the worse it gets," Keith cut Lance off.

Lance gave a frustrated, "Right."

"Voltron, disengage!"

The Legendary Defender undid its bonds and the five lions flew free. Red and Blue streaked towards the half-dozen Galran cruisers laying siege while Black, Green and Yellow stayed to hold off the Robeasts.

"Pidge, Hunk, you two deal with the insect Robeast, the knight-type is mine."

"The Yellow Lion can take those hits better Shiro," Hunk offered.

"We're not here to get hit, just make sure you're in one piece when Keith and Lance get back."

"Roger!" both said.

Shiro pushed Black Lion's accelerator to its limit and charged at the knight Robeast. Its sword swung at the lion but Shiro dodged around the swing.

He glanced back to see Yellow and Green harassing the insect. In the distance, explosions flared up at the Galran fleet. It was working.

"Princess, how are repairs coming?"

"We'll have weapons back in a few ticks, but the engines won't be finished anytime soon. We need the lions to effect outer hull repairs."

Galra knew their positions. Reinforcements and more Robeasts would be on their way. "Roger, we'll wrap this up and get the Castle back flying in no time."

The knight Robeast was getting faster with its swings but Shiro kept the black lion narrowly dodging. He fired a few shots at the Robeast to no effect. Lions just weren't cut out for fighting giant robots.

Shiro flipped around the Robeast's back. The whole view of the battle laid out before him.

That was when he realized his mistake.

"Guys form Voltron now!" he fought away the panic at the situation.

Too late.

The massive thrusters on the knight-type's back flared up and he rocketed forward with a speed that would blow past the red lion. Its sword contorted, became a lance. It'd ride its "horse" and skewer the Castle's walls.

To make it even worse, the insect-type grabbed Hunk in yellow lion and rocketed off in the opposite direction.

Galra's plans were getting better!

Shiro dulled Hunk's cries of terror. He gave platitude, reassured him as his mind raced towards a new plan.

"Keith, get back to the Castle and stop that Robeast; Lance deal with the fleet and then get back to helping Keith. Pidge…" he weighed the resources at his disposal, "Pidge, get to the Castle, I'm going after Hunk." Shiro turned the black lion around and chased after the fleeing Robeast.

Pidge gave an uncharacteristically grim acknowledgement. But Allura wasn't taking this. "Both of you go after Yellow Lion, the Castle can handle one Robeast. Voltron's more important."

"We're all important."

"Shiro!" Pidge yelled out. "I'm reading a dimensional tear!"

Galran reinforcements or was the Robeast jumping away with Hunk? "Where!?"

"Right next to the Robeast."

The latter. He made the right call.

Black quickly gained on the Robeast. Its mass and Yellow's struggles were impacting its egress.

The black backdrop of the battlespace was tore asunder by a wretch of teals and lightning akin to a wormhole. A new type of Galran wormhole?

The insect-type stalled and Shiro took advantage. He jetted in and tore off one of the arms keeping Yellow tied down. The two lions flew backwards, with Shiro keeping a wary eye on whatever was coming through that portal. He gave the others the good news and their return path. (With Hunk giving his heartfelt thanks all the while.)

The Robeast raised its dozen thin arms.

"Evasive maneuvers," Shiro called out. A few lasers, even from a Robeast wouldn't stop them now.

Streaks of green fired out from the Robeast and the two lions dodged them all. But it also nagged at Shiro that a substantial number of them just weren't aimed at them. It was too far away to influence the Castle defense.

Maybe he was being paranoid, but he wouldn't underestimate Galra again.

"Spread out Hunk." The two lions put some more space between each other.

Just in time, as two white canisters launched from the Robeast's chest. It was slower than the lasers but still gained against their momentum. They wouldn't hit. The lions were clear out of range after just a few seconds.

No, that was before. "More distance Hunk." No underestimating Galra.

The two lions put enough space to fit the Castle between them. The two canisters just flew down that middle.

And exploded.

White gunk dominated the view to Shiro's left and enveloped any view of Hunk. "You okay over there Hunk?"

"Yeah, it all missed—wait, it's expanding!"

Shiro jammed on his side-burners but the shockwave of the white struck the black lion. He checked his sensors. It, it didn't do anything?

"Report Hunk."

"System's are all good over here Shiro."

Was this just a delay tactic? "Let's get back to the Castle." He angled his momentum forward again. And flew off to the side. "What's going on?"

"That gunk's all in our engines," said Hunk. "I think this is some sort of spider web."

Insect-spider. He'd been off Earth too long. It made sense.

"Shiro where are you!?" Keith's voice came in over comms.

"We've been stuck-up by the Robeast," he answered. "We'll be there soon, hold out."

"We can't!" Lance screamed over another line. The Galran cruisers must have been destroyed. "This thing's cutting through us."

"Shiro, we can shoot this stuff off each other," Hunk advised.

"Do it!"

A sudden thunk pushed Black Lion towards the Castle. But the sight grew more distant. "What happened!?"

"The Robeast's got us!"

They were lions in a spider's web.

"Hunk, clear this thread off me now!"

"We have to reconfigure the lions' power output so we don't damage each other."

They didn't have time for this. "Cut me free now, I'll cut off the Robeast's thread and carry Yellow Lion until we're clear to change Black Lion's weapon output."

"No," Hunk shook his head, "shoot me free instead. Yellow Lion's armor is thicker and Black's still damaged from that kick."

No time to argue. "Firing solutions locked. Hold on Hunk."

"I am."

Shiro took aim at the Yellow Lion. Even if they were pressed for time, he was aiming at a friend. He wasn't going to rush this. He took a deep breath to steady his hands—the Black Lion lurched forward. "What happened?"

"We're free?" Hunk was as bewildered as Shiro was.

"This is Voltron Force Commander Keith," Keith? "calling other Voltron's Robot Lions."

The channels were flooded with everyone wondering just what that was and Lance making digs at Keith for calling himself commander.

Shiro kept his focus. He had Robeasts to defeat. He twisted around Black Lion to look at the insect Robeast once more.

He lost his focus and all the pressures of time fell away.

Flying behind the Robeast was another Voltron. It had some superficial differences (blocky, the green lion lacked a shield) but it was, without mistake, Voltron.

"This is Voltron Force Commander Keith to other Voltron pilots, we'll take care of this Robeast, can you handle the other?"

The insect-type was already moving to confront the other Voltron.

"This is Voltron Paladin Lead Shirogane. The black and yellow lions have been ensnared by the Robeast's web, it'll take us a minute to clear out."

"Roger," other Keith responded, "we'll give you a hand. Are your lions ice resistant?"

Black Lion's information flowed into his mind. "Roger that."

"Shiro!" Princess Allura's voice came in. "You can't trust them, this might be another one of Zarkon's tricks."

Maybe. But this wasn't a situation Zarkon needed tricks.

Another woman's voice came over the coms, "We've dealt with fake Voltrons before, but I assure you that we've come in peace."

"We don't have much choice Princess."

"Me?" the other woman said.

Two princesses, huh?

The other Voltron gripped the insect-Robeast with its hands and angled the blue and yellow lions towards Shiro and Hunk. From their mouths erupted a blue energy beam that washed over both Paladin Lions. The temperature in his cockpit chilled, even through the heaters and suit temperature regulator.

When the beams stopped Shiro moved his controls. The ice broke free, temperature rose and the Black Lion moved once more. "Thanks, uh, Commander Keith," said Shiro, with Hunk following suit right after.

"You're welcome," Commander Keith said back, "now go give that other Robeast a thrashing it won't forget."

"We were planning on it."

"Yeesh, you could be a little more thankful guy," a new voice rang over the comms.

"Knock it off Lance," Commander Keith called the new voice out.

They have a Lance too? But he couldn't be bothered by such thoughts anymore. "Hunk, max speed back to the Castle."

"Roger Shiro."

The two Lions rocketed back towards their besieged base, Black quickly overtaking the other Lion.

Shiro focused back on the deteriorating condition of the Castle. A few attacks had breached the shields, parts of the hull were cratered and smoking. But Keith, Pidge and Lance had done an admirable job taking out the ships and tying up the Robeast. The other Lions were still in fighting condition, though Blue had a few scorch marks and one of Red's limbs wasn't moving. Green was in the best shape of the three.

The Castle's few remaining cannons joined with the Lions to pepper the Robeast with shots but the thick armor of the machine bore it all effortlessly.

"Castle give us some covering fire," Shiro ordered off to Allura. "Guys, form up for Voltron!"

"Roger Shiro!" they barked back.

On que the Castle's full arsenal opened up and engulfed the Robeast entirely. The other Lions flew back, and into formation. When the Castle guns cleared, the Robeast emerged without damage, but the Lions were already primed. The forceshield protecting the combination process came up and the Robeast stabbed futilely trying to interrupt.

The tide of power flowed into the Black Lion and back into Shiro. The feet and legs formed: Blue and Yellow. The arms and body formed: Red and Green. And the head formed: Black.

The Legendary Defender was back in action!

"Any ideas guys?" Shiro was open to suggestions.

"My Lion managed to bite off some of its plating on the knuckles," Pidge reminded him. "The joints and extremities should be weaker." Green Lion latched unto the right elbow of the Robeast.

"It still took the Castle cannons without a scratch," Hunk interrupted. "It'd take us days to claw off any more armor." Yellow Lion attempted a punch towards the Robeast's face, but it dodged.

"You got a better idea Hunk?" asked Lance. Robeast's thrusters went hot and it tore free from Green Lion's grip.

The Robeast arced around. "Yeah, but it'd require you and Keith working in tandem."

"I'm putting my vote in the 'slowly clawing it apart' plan," Lance shot back. The Robeast lunged with its lance.

Voltron's red arm battered away the Robeast's attack. "Let's just stab it in the face," said Keith.

"Knock it off," Shiro shouted at them. "Hunk: details." Green arm swung and clubbed the Robeast's head to no effect.

"We can use the Blue Lion's freeze blaster and the Red Lion's heat blaster to rapidly heat and cool the Robeast's armor. This will make it malleable enough for the Blazing Sword to cut through." The Robeast flipped backwards and heel-kicked into Voltron's chin.

"Sounds like a good idea," Shiro said. "Any idea how long that would take?" Red and Green gripped together and slammed down on the top of the Robeast's head.

"I'm not exactly a blacksmith or expert on freaky Galra metals here." The Robeast brought its free arm up and blocked the double-fist attack.

Good point. "Pidge?" Blue Lion kicked forward and scored a hit into the Robeast's face.

"Target the neck," said Pidge.

"Gotcha pal!" The already prepped Blue Lion fired its freeze blaster and iced over the whole upper body. "Ha, see if you can match that Keith!"

The ice was already cracking as Voltron shifted to give Red Lion a better angle. "Maybe next time you don't stick out into my targeting zone," Keith replied before firing the heat blaster.

The ice melted, and came right back from the Blue Lion. "I do my best work when I stick out of a crowd."

Heat shot. "Voltron's about teamwork!"

Ice shot. "And there's no Keith in 'team'."

Heat. "That doesn't even make sense."

Ice. "I've outwitted you again Keith, I've outwitted you again."

The Robeast was as sick of their combined shots as the rest of the Paladins were of their bickering. It used the lance to block the ice (fitting) and backed away. Shiro moved Voltron to pursue, keith firing the heat blasters after the target. The constant harassment had done some damage, however slight, and the Robeast's movements had dulled. It was wind compared to the lightning of earlier.

"Pidge," said Shiro, "you've got control of the Blazing Sword. We need Keith's Red Lion for the plan."

"R-roger Shiro," Pidge answered back, a twinge of nervousness voiced.

Keith was better with the sword in and out of the Lions but…

The Blazing Sword was formed in the left hand and shined like a star in the light.

The Robeast saw its chance and came back fully eager to a sword duel. The metal to its neck had warped, Pidge's idea was working.

Par for the course.

Shiro shifted the balance for the Blazing Sword to receive the blow. He had to fill in for Pidge's inexperience with the Blazing Sword. Maybe have everyone train up with the sword after this.

The two colossal weapons struck and locked together. Pidge screamed over the comms. "Does it always shake this much when the Sword hits Keith?"

"Pretty much," he replied.

"I think it'd be better if I just lock the Green Lion's jaw on its fist."

The Robeast pressed in. "Any time Lance!" Keith shouted.

"Hey don't worry, I got this." The Blue Lion kicked back up and the Robeast's forward momentum curved Voltron's upper body back.

Good thing they were in space; Voltron wouldn't be able to maintain balance like this under gravity.

The Blue Lion unleashed another blast from its freeze cannon but the Robeast had grown wise to it now. Its free hand intercepted the blast and shielded its face. The ice froze the hand to the body.

"Pidge sword!" Keith yelled.

"Right!" Green Lion loosed its grip and Voltron was pushed back. Keith's red lion darted forward and took control of the blazing sword. Two lions beat one arm and they forced the Robeast back now!

The ice shattered but the blue lion snapped its jaw right on the Robeast's hand trapping it outright again. Green Lion dropped its grip on the blazing sword to lock back to the Robeast's sword hand. The two lions pulled apart the Robeast's defenses. Yellow Lion bite into the Robeast's side and Voltron stepped up on their enemy. The Blazing Sword aimed downward to the Robeast's helmet.

No witty one-liners or remarks. Keith drove the sword straight through the Robeast's neck. It plunged in like the metal had simply become water. The Robeast's struggles ceased as Keith drove the blade until the guard hit its head.

Welcome sighs of relief came in over the comms. A far cry from the cheers of victory over their first Robeast wins.

The Blazing Sword pulled free and Voltron kicked away the Robeast. Its explosion was larger than the Castle of the Lions and blew apart what derelicts of Galra still floated about with it.

"Paladins," Princess Allura said, "reposition yourselves near the Castle."

The other Robeast; the other Voltron.

Shiro set the flight path back and angled Voltron to see the situation of the other fight.

They'd already won.

Long-range sensors only picked up the debris of the insect Robeast and the blocky Voltron was already halfway to the Castle. Closer than the Paladins were.

"This is Commander Keith, Voltron Force. We saw your fight, good show."

"Not as good as us though," a squeaky male voice followed.

"It's good to see Voltron's the defender no matter what dimension," the other woman's voice followed.

"Whoever you are stop right there," Princess Allura commanded. To her no doubt relief, the blocky Voltron did stop. "Identify yourselves now or we'll open fire."

"Jee, that's some welcoming mat you people rolled out," another man's voice sarcastically chimed in. "Maybe you'd prefer the Robeast."

"Knock it off Lance," a man said with an accent Shiro couldn't quite place.

But any thoughts about the accent was blown away by the return of that name. Keith, Lance… and a Princess?

"Trust us, we're no friends of King Zarkon," Commander Keith announced.

"We've no reason to believe your words," said Allura.

She was being overly defensive, but considering the circumstances… "Thanks for your help, other Voltron." That was so awkward to say. "But we request you stay at a distance."

"Hey come on," Lance interjected, "they just helped save our butts and you don't wanna give'em an invite?"

"This could be one of Galra's tricks," Keith replied.

"Why'd they help us then?" said Hunk.

"Hunk's right," said Lance.

The other Lance's voice came in after. "At least some of them have their heads screwed on right."

"Are you really so eager to be handcuffed to another alien tree Lance?" joked Pidge.

"Hey!"

"Oh yeah," said Hunk. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

Sounded like it was five to one against.

"Man, you pilots sure know how to make a guy feel welcome," the accented man said.

"I understand your worry," said Commander Keith, "but we're on your side. We have plenty of experience with King Zarkon's evil tricks trying to get spies into our midst."

"Thanks for your understanding," said Shiro. It was real mature of them. Just made the rejection a more bitter pill to swallow.

"Please," the other Princess said, "hear us out. We know it can be difficult to trust given the circumstances. It would just be like King Zarkon to sacrifice his robot soldiers and Robeasts to sneak someone into your side. But you can't live in fear of what can happen, or you'll never move ahead. If we hadn't trusted the other planets of our dimension we wouldn't have been able to defeat King Zarkon."

They defeated Zarkon!?

Shiro was numb to the storm of questions and accusations that followed.

They defeated Zarkon.

Another Voltron. Another dimension. Another Zarkon.

They defeated Zarkon.

Yeah, it was worth taking this risk. "Princess, I suggest we hear them out," he said.

His words silenced the whole argument".

"Shiro, are you certain?" she asked. He breathed a sigh of relief at her trusting him on this.

No. "We've still got the advantage should they try anything." Five paladins, the Princess and Coran. Even if the other Voltron was filled with an army of robot drones they could handle it.

The seconds to her reply were agonizing silence. "Understood. Other Voltron, disengage and follow our Lions into the hanger. If you try anything suspicious I will not hesitate to open fire."

"Roger that Castle Control," said Commander Keith. "Do you want us to follow in the same-color Lions?"

"Yes."

"Understood. Voltron Force: deactivate interlock and disengage."

"Voltron Paladins: disband."

The two Voltrons separated into their components. And the Legendary Defender led the blocky lions towards the Castle…

Shiro hoped he hadn't made the wrong call.