The last thing Shiro remembered before it all went wrong was a blinding light.

He knew they'd managed to hit Zarkon - he remembered all of the Paladins, shouting together as one, a defiant and overwhelmingly triumphant battle cry, but then -

Light.

A vicious, awful radiance that ripped and tore and battered against the Lions until -

Until it tore Voltron asunder, and Shiro tried, he tried to keep them all together, but -

It had just been too much.

Now it was just him and Black, falling back and down into the scattered debris of the battle, slowly, relentlessly pulled away and down, away from the others, away from all he held dear.

Shiro knew he should feel worried, alarmed at the way his body wouldn't respond to his mind telling it what to do, but he just felt so tired, and dizzy, and all he really wanted to do was sleep.

He felt himself begin to drift off into the darkness, knew that if he just closed his eyes, he could finally, finally rest.

But something in him - a part of him that still clung stubbornly to life - made him try and raise his head.

Black…? he asked, and he sighed in relief as he heard his Lion answer him with a comforting growl.

Good. He was still connected with -

There was a hiss behind him, and Shiro felt his hazy mind go cold with remembered terror. He turned his head and saw -

Haggar standing right behind his pilot's chair, her claws out, reaching, grasping for his neck.

No.

This can't be happening. She can't - be here - I'm just - hallucinating -

Claws clenched tight around his neck, and he realized too late that this was no apparition. This was Haggar. Her form flickered and danced with black lightening, but it was her all the same.

Had she teleported in here? She must have -

He tried to pull his bayard free, but her other hand shot out and gripped tight, tight hold of his Galra arm, and she just held it there, locked into position. Shiro heard gears and metal whine and start to bend, to break, to shatter under the strength of her clawed fingers.

He tried to scream, to call out to the other Paladins, to warn them that Haggar was near, but her claws dug into his throat and he couldn't even manage a gurgle.

She was avoiding his windpipe - she'd done that before - but why was she doing it now -

She glared right into his eyes, and he felt dark memories scrabble and claw at the corners of his mind.

She was angry - she was furious - she was going to -

"This is your fault," she hissed, and she pulled Shiro closer to her so that their faces were almost touching. Shiro felt her trembling with rage, and hate, and something harder to describe.

Could it be fear?

"You did this to him," she snarled, and her claws dug deeper into his neck. Shiro would have screamed if he could have managed it, but all he could do was try to loosen her grip with his left hand.

It was useless, of course. Haggar was unnaturally strong - and Shiro knew he couldn't fight her and win - not in this tight space, close and trapped like this - but he tried to anyway.

She just snarled into his face with a terrifying, almost maniac half-grin as the purple and black light began to flicker along his own body.

He realized what she was going to do an instant before she completed the spell.

He couldn't break free.

He couldn't call for help.

But he damn well could make sure she didn't get the bayard.

He'd only just gotten it away from Zarkon, after all.

He released his grip on it in the same instant the spell took effect. Haggar didn't seem to notice. As the teleportation spell caused them both to vanish from the inside of the Black Lion, Shiro thought he heard his Lion scream in furious terror, but it was as if it came from a very long distance.

In the end, Black couldn't keep the witch from taking her Paladin away a second time.

They reappeared inside of Zarkon's devastated ship almost immediately, and Haggar threw Shiro into a wall with such force, his neck would have snapped if he hadn't been wearing his armor. As it was, his helmet completely shattered from the impact, and when he hit the ground, Shiro felt his right shoulder come free from its socket.

He cried out in pain, but it was a wheezing, horrible, faint sound. He could barely hear it, let alone anyone else.

There was no way the comms in the shattered helmet would work now.

He had no way to contact his team.

Oh, God.

"YOU DID THIS TO HIM!" Haggar shrieked, and before Shiro could move, she was on him again, hands out, eyes wild. Her next blow broke several bones in his left arm, and he found he still had breath to scream.

Not that it would do him any good.

With his helmet destroyed, there was no way anyone could hear him.

"I will make you pay for it," she snarled, and then she backhanded him across the face. Shiro felt sure his jaw would have broken if he hadn't turned his head in time to take away some of the force of the blow.

It still hurt like hell, though.

Wow, she was pissed.

Well, it wasn't like he was going to go out quietly.

He didn't know how she'd been able to get into Black, but since she had, he knew that he had to keep her attention, keep her ire fixed firmly on him, to let the others have a chance to get away.

Haggar had nothing left to lose, and this was the most terrifying he'd ever seen her.

Ever.

Oh - God -

For a moment, his courage almost failed him, and he thought about trying to just skip over what was coming next, to just let her kill him already, but he'd been fighting too long to just give up now.

At least now he could finally tell her what he'd always wanted to.

"…it won't…matter…" he said. His voice came out as a shaky wheeze, almost a whisper. He grimaced and tried to catch his breath, but it was hard. Maybe he'd punctured a lung when he'd been thrown against the wall. He couldn't see the others from where he lay on the ground, but he desperately hoped they were all right, that the witch's ire would stay focused on him, and him alone.

"What?!" she snarled, bringing her face down close to his, her yellow eyes blazing, her white hair swinging wildly around her shoulders.

"…since I'm…the…Black…Paladin…" he said, and despite the fear, despite the terror, he felt a certain satisfaction at how enraged her eyes became as he continued, the words short and harsh, rattling in his chest.

Oh yeah…he definitely had a punctured lung.

"…not…Zarkon…you…failed…"

Haggar threw her head back in rage and screamed then, the sound so high, and loud, and piercing, Shiro thought his ears would begin to bleed.

Hell, maybe they were and he just hadn't noticed yet.

She brought both hands in front of her, her palms crackling with black energy, and Shiro felt the temperature emanating in front of his face go up by several dozen degrees.

She was going to cast the fireball spell.

I'm going to die, he thought, and he wished, desperately, that there was some way out of this one.

But if there was a way to escape death by immolation, he couldn't see it.

So he just kept his glare locked on the witch and thought that at least they'd defeated Zarkon, that the Galra Emperor wouldn't hurt any more people.

But then, mid-spell, Haggar froze in place, her eyes wide and staring as if she could hear something beyond the range of Shiro's hearing. The fires and energy died away in the palm of her hand as suddenly as they had emerged, and she looked down at Shiro with rage and disgust and hate, but also a sudden, vicious satisfaction.

Shiro remembered that look. She'd worn it the same day she had taken him from the arena, to her ship.

No.

"It seems," she spat, viciously, evidently savoring the look in his eyes, "that you'll be of use to us one final time, after all."

No, please, no, no no no -

"Emperor Zarkon lives. Your little friends are gone. And you, Champion, have what we need to heal our great leader."

- nononononono -

Haggar raised her palm again, and Shiro felt the black energy pulse around him, raising him from the ground to hang in the air before Haggar like some sort of broken puppet.

"A Black Paladin's quintessence."

Shiro tried to shake his head to clear it, to fight, but everything was spinning and going black around the edges. All he could manage was to raise his head and see other Galra come out of the shadows, all of them looking angry, scared, malicious.

Then everything faded away.

He called to Black in the darkness, but he didn't know if she responded.

Maybe Zarkon's final attack had drained her of even more quintessence than he'd thought.

Shiro felt more alone than he ever had before.

Surely the others realized something was wrong by now.

Surely they would come and find him.

But would they find him in time?

Shiro didn't know.

He fell into the darkness again, and it was only when he felt pain that he knew he had to open his eyes once again.

He almost wished he could keep his eyes closed for whatever was to happen, but it was his nature to see, to learn, to fight.

He was the Black Paladin of Voltron, and he wasn't going to die for nothing.

Maybe he could use his last thoughts to let Black know that Zarkon had survived, that he still needed killing.

While you're at it, Shiro thought, maybe you can get Haggar too…

But then the pain intensified, and Shiro knew he had to open his eyes, now, to see, to learn, to know.

He woke up secured to the same table where they had taken his arm. He knew because Haggar's smile as she looked down at him was nothing short of cruel, and satisfied, and evil.

He felt dizzy just opening his eyes, but he needed to see what was going on if he was going to learn how Emperor Zarkon had survived a direct hit from Voltron.

With an effort of will, Shiro turned his head to one side and saw that the Emperor himself lay on a table only a few feet away. He didn't look good - there were tubes and liquids and instruments all around Zarkon, and it seemed that he was only alive because machines were doing most of the work for him.

Despite everything - his surroundings, his own likely imminent death, and the pain that was beginning to eat away at his awareness, Shiro felt himself smirk.

Yeah…take that, Zarkon. We messed you up good.

"What was that, Champion?" Haggar asked, coming to stand by him. Shiro realized she was taunting him when he tried to spit back an answer and found he couldn't.

One of those half-masks he hated so damn much was secured over his face - probably just because Haggar didn't want Shiro to mouth off again. It was also a measure for intimidation, to make Shiro feel like his voice didn't matter, couldn't be heard, and wouldn't be missed for a moment.

Hell with it.

Shiro wasn't going to give her the pleasure of seeing him seethe at these stupid mind games.

So he just rolled his eyes and closed them again, settling his head back on the table like this mask was no big deal, and Haggar was just annoying him by her attempts to goad him.

He'd seen the extent of Zarkon's injuries, and he focused his mind on relaying that information to Black.

He heard Haggar growl in fury at his apparent indifference and knew that when she spoke again, it would most likely be a spell that would burn, that would cause pain, that would -

"You hurt him," she said, and Shiro almost opened his eyes simply out of shock at the change in her voice. It sounded -

It sounded like Haggar cared about Zarkon. Not the 'crazy rabid follower of mad Emperor' kind of 'care', but more like…like she actually cared for him.

Someone else might have wondered then if Zarkon and Haggar were really all that different from others in the universe. Someone else might have felt dismay or distress at realizing that two horrible people could still have feelings.

Shiro just felt pissed.

Okay, so Haggar cared for Zarkon.

Wasn't that nice.

They could murder worlds, eliminate entire races from the face of the universe, but Haggar was angry at Shiro because Zarkon had been injured, and that had to make her sympathetic, right?

Fuck that shit, he could almost hear Pidge say, and he could imagine Hunk nodding vehemently beside her and joining in, his usually pleasant face set into a fierce scowl.

Caring for someone is all well and good, but it's what you do with it that matters. It doesn't automatically give you a pass to destroy worlds and play God out of hubris and completely disregard other people's existences.

Shiro wanted to say all of that, because he was sick of listening to this bullshit, but instead, he just settled for opening his eyes and glaring back up at Haggar.

He'd sent the mental message to Black as best he could, and now, he was just sick of all this.

He just wanted to be done with it.

She looked back at him, and she went on.

"He is the only one capable of such leadership. There is no choice when it comes to bringing order to the universe, Champion. Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made."

Shiro thought about what Lance might say in response to Haggar, and he felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth.

Is she trying to get you on her side now? Because…honestly… wow. That is lame, Haggar, that is just solame. You talk about sacrifice but you're the one who takes and never gives.

Even though it hurt, Shiro felt himself huff out a laugh, even through the mask. He could practically see Lance's expression, the way the Blue Paladin would wave his arms around for emphasis and almost fall off his seat.

What a crazy bitch. Seriously, I think you've gotta have some screws loose, honey. Let me go get you a pretty sleeveless jacket and have the nice men put you in a room with no corners. Don't give this woman anything sharper than a crayon, because she's absolutely batty.

Laughing again hurt, but it seemed that Haggar thought that Shiro was having some kind of fit. Her mouth curled into a satisfied smile as she continued.

"You should never have taken on the role of Black Paladin. You are far too weak."

Once, that statement would have hit Shiro like a physical blow, but that was not the case now, because he could hear Keith's ready retort almost as if the Red Paladin were in the room with him at this very moment.

Tell me againhow strength works, Haggar. You're something of a self-acclaimed expert.

Shiro smirked then, and he almost laughed again at the thought that if Haggar knew what he was thinking right now, she'd see just how badly she was misjudging the situation.

After all this time, he thought, after thousands and thousands of years, when it comes down to it, you miss what's right in front of you.

Maybe that's why they called it hubris.

Shiro felt some measure of strength come back to him at the thought of the other Paladins, and with it, a renewed determination to fight, to stay alive as long as he could.

Yes, he was tired, and in pain, and it looked like he might die before anyone came to get him.

But he'd come this far. He'd bonded with the Black Lion, accomplished things he had never dreamed were possible.

He wasn't about to go out without a fight.

The witch was saying something else stupid about destiny and fate and glory of the Galra Empire and things Shiro had heard over a thousand times before, and he didn't bother to hold back a snort of disgust at those words. At the sound, he saw a few heads turn towards him.

He hadn't realized there were other Galra in the room besides Haggar and Zarkon.

Haggar's eyes narrowed, and Shiro knew she was probably going to hurt him again.

Well, fine. But before she did, he was going to tell her what he thought of her, what he thought of her and Zarkon and the entire, stupid, arrogant, self-righteous Galra Empire, and their fate and their destiny and their great and glorious legacy of pain and brutality and cruelty.

Hell with it.

He was sick of being silent.

"Bullshit," he growled out, wishing the fury behind his eyes could burn the witch like fire.

Of course, the word wasn't intelligible at all, but Shiro didn't really care about that. His intent was clear, and the witch's words obviously had not had the desired effect on him.

He'd defied her as surely as if he'd struck her across the face, and for a moment, she was stunned.

She leaned forward, took off the mask, and said, very quietly, looking directly into his eyes,

"What?"

Shiro knew she didn't really expect him to answer, but hell with it, he was probably going to die within the next few minutes anyway.

"I said," he repeated, not even trying to conceal the scorn, "-bullshit."

There was absolute silence in the room, and Shiro went on, deciding that if he was going to die, he was going to die defiant.

"It means your words are nothing, Haggar. Your words, your ideas, your actions have nothing to them - no heart, no spirit, no soul. You only destroy. You can't see anything other than your own pride, and in the end, for all your efforts, you have nothing."

Haggar went white, and her claws flashed once. Shiro felt new gashes open up across the right side of his face and his mouth and his chin, but her claws missed his tongue.

He felt the pain only distantly for now, so he continued, stubbornly.

"Think that's going to change my mind?"

Haggar snarled and Shiro saw how wild she was now, how very much out of control. The strain was getting too much for her.

Good.

It was about damn time she felt the pressure.

He went on, staring at her, knowing he must seem completely crazy to any Galra in the room.

This was Haggar. She could make you beg for death.

Well, Shiro was sick of letting her have things her way.

For once, he was going to say exactly what he was thinking, and damn the consequences.

It was harder to speak now, because the pain was getting worse, but that had never stopped Shiro in the past.

Pain and I are old friends.

"You had - over a year - to change my mind - and you couldn't. What makes you think I'd change now?"

He saw her look back at Zarkon, and he realized what she'd been attempting to accomplish.

Zarkon's quintessence no longer mirrored that of the Black Lion.

But Shiro's did.

She had been using her mind games to try and mess with Shiro, to make him think more like Zarkon, so that the quintessence transfer could have a better chance at success.

Well, screw that, Shiro thought.

No fucking way is that happening.

Shiro laughed in her face then. It still hurt him, to laugh, but damn, it was worth it to see her expression.

"Nice try," he said, staring up at her. "But that won't work on me."

It really hurt to breathe now, but sometimes, it was hard to remember when it hadn't hurt to breathe.

In that moment, Shiro saw the decision to kill him flash through her eyes, and he found he wasn't afraid.

For the first time in a long time, he wasn't afraid.

She raised a hand, summoning a glowing black ball of energy into her palm, and obviously making an effort, she placed a calm, cool smile on her face and looked down at Shiro for what would be the last time.

"You should know," she said, "that Prince Lotor will continue his father's work, even if Zarkon falls."

Shiro snarled back up at her, feeling only defiance, and a certainty beyond anything he could have imagined.

"And my team will be there to stop you," he said.

Shiro kept his eyes open as Haggar brought the lightening towards him, so he saw the moment the witch disappeared in a whirl of fire and ash.

It wasn't something Shiro had been expecting to see.

To be honest, he'd been expecting a rather painful demise.

Not that he minded being saved by the Blade of Marmora agents who got there just in time, but still.

It hadn't been what he'd expected.

But then, life rarely went exactly as you thought it would.