"What is that thing?" Pidge demanded, faced with the Sincline monster. The three Lion had to dance, preform feats they'd never thought possible, just to fight off the Sincline ships.

Now?

"He's made his own Voltron." Allura gasped, the hopelessness of her town audible. "That is why he was using me..." She breathed, eyes wide in horror. "I helped him build it."

"Well..." Hunk began. "Good news is it's now three on one."

They stood, silent, as they waited for Lotor to speak. The tension could be cut with one of the Lion's jawblades, as Lotor snarled.

"This. Ends. Now."

The beast's eyes gleamed, dropping slightly, and lunging forward at an unbelievable speed.

"Look out!" Allura shouted as she was thrown back with a strike of Lotor's tail, the others scattering. Hunk was yanked back by his tail, shouting as the Sincline monster whipped him away.

Pidge shot her tail cannon in dozens of spurts. "It's way faster than us!" She shouted, grunting as it's feet slammed down on her back, shoving her away.

They were no match. Not by any stretch of the imagination, as they dodged and dove between each other in a deadly maze, fighting for their lives.

As they were thrown aside, the Castleship came to their aid with a strike intense enough to blow away nearly anything.

Streaks of energy lanced off the Sincline monster, bearing through it, before abruptly, a violet sphere began forming between the ship and the shot, then, it blasted the cannon shot away.

And hit the Castleship.

"Impossible!" Pidge shouted. "Lotor's weapon completely repelled the Castle's attack!"

The purple beam showed no signs of slowing in power or speed, as Allura shot forward again, determined to save them.

Lance groaned, feeling his limbs come back online. Everything seemed like he had crashed on Rinnal again, achy and heavy.

"R'd..." He hissed, hands closing over the sticks again. "Red, c'mon girl..."

His eyes opened slightly, vision coming back in bits and pieces. Everything had an echo of something else around it, hazy, and his ears were ringing.

Red also seemed pained, but she too was coming back.

"Fuck, ok... ow..." He whispered, helping Red adjust upright. "R-Red, babe, when you've got a tick... run a quick system check." He murmured, putting a hand to his head.

Nothing was broken. He was one hundred percent whole. So was Red.

She huffed, lights coming back as she woke up. She felt achy and heavy too, but Lance noticed that the more he woke up, the less he could feel that.

"'s just post-warp sickness girl, c'mon." Lance whispered, urging her to get to her senses, even as he righted his own head.

After unclipping the belt around his chest, Lance got to his feet. The cockpit tilted, but he made it to the fridge, and sucked back two waters. "Ascua, c'mon, you've gotta be ok, right?" He asked softly as he got out her box.

Ascua was also dizzy, but alive. She stayed in her box as Lance dumped another water pack over his face, gasping. With a growl, Red seemed to be almost ready to go.

"Give me a tick, those of us with biological stomachs are trying not to throw up." Lance muttered, sitting back down and swiping his wet hair to something neat. "Alright." He huffed. "Where the fuck are we?"

Which was when a purple laser shot streaked just past their shoulder, and Lance snapped to attention as they dropped into a crouch, hiding effortlessly behind a meteor. What the fuck was that? He glanced around, searching for their assailant. Silently, Red pulled up a scanner, revealing five signatures.

They were really far back though. To the side of the combat, in the debris of Daibazaal, and at least several doboshes from reaching them. The scanners had no tags on what was what yet.

"...We're not going in guns-blazing." Lance muttered. "Not anymore. Red, let's move."

Silently, they began their slow, steady hop motion forward, between meteors.

Blue, Green, Yellow.

Limp, sparking, bodies damaged and heavy, as they limply floated in space.

"It didn't have to end like this." Lotor said. "But you've made your choice."

The beast opened up it's huge chest cannon, taking aim at the Paladins, helpless in it's aim... Before something gleamed in the distance.

And Black swooped out of nowhere.

Wings spread, he threw back the Sincline beast before swooping around, falling in front of the others. "What the- Keith? Where did you come from?" Pidge demanded.

"...I had some help getting here faster." The Black Paladin explained vaguely. "Everyone, get your Lions up. I'll hold off Lotor." He snarled, staring down the beast before him.

"Keith, that's suicide!" Pidge shouted.

"No. Get up fast." Keith ordered, then lunged forward into battle again, dipping and diving around Lotor as the monster clawed for him.

Keith had several good hits, right before Lotor snagged him.

With a shout, Black was thrown back, the Sincline monster's tail whipping behind him. It's axe-blade had caught the head of Voltron, tossing him to the side.

They considered their angles for a moment, before shooting back at Lotor with a roar, determined not to be put down.

Red finally landed on a meteor with a good view of the fight. "Alright, what do we-"

His team. His Paladins. His friends.

His heart was in his throat at the limp way Blue, Yellow and Green were floating, even the Castleship silent and stunningly dull, as Black and-

"...Jesucristo."

The thing that Black was fighting, and losing against, was as big as Voltron. It was grey, with blue and orange markings, and purple emissives. It reminded him of the Sincline ships, of Lotor and the Galra...The way it was fighting, with it's tail and it's hands, guns and power...

It's fighting physically. Lance blinked in realization.

"...Red..." He whispered as they took a small step closer, both of them wincing as Black took another blow. The Lion was nearly finished, barely able to turn and fight again. "...Red, scan that thing." His eyes narrowed.

Interdimensional ore. With Lotor at the helm. That fucking whore. He manipulated us. I'll kill him. Lance thought, and Red growled in agreement.

"...Think you can go through it's shell?" He murmured. It was going to be like fighting the Raptors, but bigger. She snarled as Lance crouched them down again, out of sight. "...surprise is our biggest threat."

Black took another hit, and this time, flew to the side. He sparked, struggling to face it again, right before he received another punishing blow. The huge monster flew closer, within range of Red now, and Lance pushed them so Red's chest was flat on the ground.

Lotor's monster raised an arm, levelling a ball of growing light straight at Black's head.

"...Get ready."

Keith couldn't get Black to respond. He was physically exhausted, no longer able to turn and face the Sincline monster, jets worn and overheated. His team wasn't on their feet, wasn't able to stand.

"...I'm sorry." Keith said softly, as Lotor raised an arm, ball of energy glowing, at Black. I failed, Shiro.

"Paladins, there's another signature!" Coran shouted in panic. "It's right next to Loto-"

Something shot off the meteor beside the Sincline ship, suddenly biting into it's arm. The charged shot went wild, missing them completely as the thing's thrusters fired, looping around the monster's arm and cutting deep through it's armour.

Then it jumped, planting it's thrusters on the Sincline beast's chest, and firing them. Lotor was shot back, and the thing pursued him aggressively, roaring with a sort of screechy undertone.

"What the hell was that?!" Pidge shrieked, just as Green started crawling to her feet.

"I don't know!" Coran said. "I just noticed it!"

"Whatever it is, it's friendly." Keith growled as Black struggled to reactivate, not quite working. "It had time to take us out. It went for Lotor."

"Yeah, but what is it?" Hunk asked, Yellow's thrusters finally reactivating, getting up. "It's faster than us!"

Blue edged a little forward. "...It's very dark."

"Everyone get ready." Keith ordered, suddenly feeling like they had a chance. "That thing can't hold Lotor off forever."

It wasn't Red fighting Lotor.

It wasn't Lance fighting Lotor.

They were one.

Their hands tightened on the sticks, driving forward as they ducked another clumsy strike from Lotor, unused to and not expecting their driving ferocity. Their claws gouged small lines into the corner of Lotor's chest-cannon, and they adjusted the thrusters to make their movements faster, ducking below a shot of the chest cannon.

"COME ON THEN, BITCH!" Lance roared, Red roaring with him as they shoved him back, ducking the tail and returning strike with a hard hit to the cockpit, courtesy of a thruster that was rotated at the last second, impact ringing.

Each motion they made was decided, like fighting the Raptors but faster, bigger, stronger.

Lotor wasn't ready for physical fighting. They had trained in it. He was fast, but so were they. He was bigger, but size didn't matter unless he could use it.

Dropping height, they spun to his rear, swinging so their back end was leading as front claws drove through the plates on Lotor's spine, yanking him off balance as their feet drove against his chest, and thrusters fired.

He missed the tail at the last second.

They spun to the side, firing thrusters and stabilizing instantly. "Got it then." Lance snarled, putting themselves straight and firing forward, back into the fray.

The dark, aggressive thing that never gave ground, never turned it's back, and never stopped coming was keeping Lotor on his toes, forcing him to back away from the recovering Lions.

Even when it took it's first hit of the fight, a glancing stroke from the axe tail, it didn't stop. It had flipped almost immediately, already lunging forward before Lotor could celebrate his hit.

"I can't get a read on it!" Coran shouted. "The Castle's scanners are a bit damaged!"

"We can't get a read either, Coran." Pidge adjusted Green, slowly coming into formation with Keith.

All the Lions fell in as their mysterious helper took another hit, but shook this one off as well, going for a little more usage of the environment. Bouncing off a meteor, it came at Lotor's side, biting his shoulder before neatly jumping off, claw and retreat.

"Is everyone up?" Keith demanded, concern shining through his urgent voice, as Blue and Yellow came up too.

"Y-yes." Allura answered first, still sounding slightly shaken. "I'm alright."

"Yeah, I'm up." Hunk answered, the bubbly chef abruptly serious.

Then their comms crackled, a channel that hadn't been opened in nearly a week coming back to life, drawing all their attention, as the thing shot Lotor through a meteor, then withdrew, shooting closer toward them.

It just dodged a shot, violet practically skimming it's side, as Lance popped up on the comm screens, jaw locked in a vicious, deadly expression, glaring straight forward at his opponent, now recovered, and returning to face him.

"Lance?!" Allura gasped, hand going over her mouth.

Hunk coughed at his appearance. "Lance!?"

"What the fuck-"

Keith couldn't even think. Lance was there, fighting for them.

Red, it had to be Red, shoved Lotor back with another thruster blast, but then rotated around and streaked back startlingly fast toward them.

The thrusters burned until Red spun around overtop of them, falling neatly into formation. "Talk later, act now!" Lance told them in a slightly deeper than normal bark. "Shiro, Keith, whoever's in Black, go time!"

Keith blinked out of his stupor of disbelief as everyone else seemed to fall into one. "R-right! On me, form Voltron!"

Lance had to take a moment. To focus. To breathe. To concentrate.

Chaos brings order.

He focused on forming Voltron. Not on any memories, on becoming one. He focused on being with his team, not the shitshow that had been his life for two years.

And Red, dark burgundy paint glowing, fell into line with the other Lions, and Red, fell into the right arm of Voltron.

Voltron stared down the Sincline monster, both still as the team felt a missing piece fall into place. The sense of family it gave them, to feel Lance as part of Voltron again, compared to nothing.

Keith though, noticed that the piece just slid in, but didn't connect. To him, Lance felt like a part, but a part covered in smoke. There were no emotions coming through Lance's connection, just the connection itself.

Something was wrong.

"Coran, you've got incoming." Keith shouted to the Castle, sending Shiro to the relative safety of the larger ship.

The Sincline ship charged a beam like the one that had almost killed Keith, and shot it for them.

"Shield!" Keith demanded, Pidge's arm coming up to block the blast as it hit them, shoving Voltron back. With a groan of pain, feeling the tension that hit them, Keith shouted, "Hunk, form cannon!"

"You got it," The yellow Paladin replied, massive shoulder cannon forming to fire a heavy blast, tracking just behind the Sincline monster, Voltron adjusting.

"He's too fast!" Pidge shouted.

"Then we'll just have to get in close." Keith huffed, determination in his tone. "Form sword!"

Lance immediately responded, almost too quick, as the sword grew to fall into his hand, the right hand of Voltron.

Something was different this time. Much different.

Maybe it was the way the sword felt like... Keith couldn't control it.

The Sincline ship's dual scimitars were terrifying, to realize that he might not be able to fight them off...

Red moved before Keith told her to.

Lance blocked Lotor's strikes, and then held fast as they were shoved back. "Now we will see how Alfor's legacy stands against the new Altean defender!" Lotor shouted.

Red was, once again, doing something that Keith wasn't telling her to.

When Lotor broke the blade lock, Lance and Red parried both strikes with their own, then neatly blocked Lotor's leg coming in to kick them as Keith shot Voltron backward.

When Lotor charged, Keith shouted, "Move!"

They dropped, and when Lotor next came at them, Red was far faster than Keith had ever felt her. She moved like a snake, all sharp and brilliant.

"Shield up!"

Then, abruptly Keith could feel Red's irritation at being held back.

"Attack!"

Pidge broke them this time as Red and Lance proceeded to go for one hell of a fight back. The sword was suddenly too skilled in Red's hands, almost like Lance was expecting, anticipating each movement.

Like a swordfighter.

When they were slammed by the tail, he really felt Red's irritation. Lance was still oddly silent.

After they managed lead Lotor in, and block the attacks done on the rock, Keith planted his feet and waited.

"...Wait for him. Wait for him to build up speed..." He murmured softly. "NOW!"

And then they moved, letting Lotor bury himself in the stone.

This time, when Red and Green shot Lotor, he was pinned down, nowhere to go...

And then he was gone.

In and out, with a strike that felt like hell.

"Is everyone ok?" Keith inquired.

"How is he moving so fast?!" Pidge snarled

"We've gotta get up and attack!" Keith shouted, shoving them forward.

"How can he just disappear like that?!" Hunk demanded.

"He's..." Allura's eyes went wide. "Entering the quintessence field at will."

"Didn't we blow up the gate?"

"How is he entering without it?!"

Allura went silent. "...Because I gave his ships the ability."

"You'll all need to focus your energy."

Hunk's solid rock. Keith's wind and sky. Pidge's breath of life. Allura's wave of water. Lance's...

Lance's fire was low-burning. A blue flame softly flickering with untold heat, untold power.

And just like that...

"Form sword."

The sword blazed. Not with orange fire, no, but blue and orange, calm and rage, the fine line between chaos, and order.

And suddenly, in a burst of flame that surrounded them, swallowed them...

They were bathed in white.

"I underestimated you, princess." Lotor hissed.

Like an unspoken purr, they went through the fight, Red and Lance now moving seamlessly with the others, but faster than before, a beam of lightning burning silently off his blade, into Lotor.

"We have to get out of here!" Allura shouted over their cries of rage. "We're out of control! This is exactly what happened to Zarkon! Exposure to the quintessence has turned him into a monster!"

"We're out of control!" Hunk called.

"All our systems are overloaded." Pidge informed.

"Here comes Lotor!" Keith warned, voice hard.

They shot away, not fighting anymore.

"How do we stop this!?" Hunk demanded.

Allura paused. "We give Lotor all the power he wants."

The blast subsided, abruptly, leaving almost a vacuum in it's wake.

"Let's grab Lotor and get out of here!" Keith cried.

"No, we can't!" Pidge shouted. "We have to leave now!"

"We must try!"

"Pidge is right. We stay in here much longer and Voltron is done for!"

The portals left behind were gleaming, glowing swirls left in the cuts and rips of space.

Lance was panting, glancing behind him to Ascua.

Her eyes gleamed, but other than that, she was healthy.

I'm glad you're ok, girl. He thought as she walked over, easily sitting on his lap.

"Oh, you're back!" Coran shouted.

"Lotor is no longer a threat." Keith said.

"Right." Coran sighed softly. "We've got a bigger problem now. Lotor's jumping in and out of the quintessence field has created multiple growing rifts in the fabric of time and space."

"What does that mean?" Allura hissed.

"It means that unless we do something fast, those tears will continue to expand until all of existence as we know it has been destroyed." Pidge explained.

"There has to be something we can do." Keith whispered.

"Scanning the rift for any strand of refabrication possibilities." Pidge informed.

Lance lay his head on Ascua's. ...We're still fighting a goddamn war. I'm so sorry. He shut his eyes.

"I'm running a few different models now to see if it can close on it's own." Hunk said.

"Nothing." Pidge whispered.

"Nope. Me neither." Hunk murmured.

"How long do we have?" Keith asked, voice low and grim.

"Well, based on the way those rifts are expanding, about 15 doboshes."

Lance didn't even remove his helmet as he sprinted through the Castle. He had the sense to zip his jacket over his armour though.

Avoid questions for now. There'll be time later. He thought, giving Pidge and Coran a hand on the Teludav before running to his room, keeping his head low. He couldn't look anyone in the eye, until he shoved open the door.

For a moment, he could only stare.

It seemed... alien, to him now.

Like the first day he had spent in it.

Lance carefully walked through it, staring at the nothing, and the everything there. Sitting on the bed, he took a moment just to look around.

His friends hadn't touched his stuff.

Carefully, he shuffled through his things and took his clothes, the few he had left. "...Ok." He murmured to himself, quick to shove it into a bag and turn away.

Then he caught sight of the Earth clock on his dresser. The same one in Red.

Picking it up, he read it's time, date...

Nearly two years in the past for him.

Lance put it down and headed out of the door.

For a moment, he thought of his products in the bathroom.

He went downstairs, and led Kalternecker up instead, into Red's cockpit.

When they were ready for launch, they waited for Coran before shooting off, otherwise silent. Nobody said a word, not as the explosion came, and left them floating in space.

"...It worked!" Hunk cried as they turned around, grinning, to each other.

"...You did it, Coran." Allura whispered.

"And look!" Hunk said, shooting forward abruptly, going for something.

"What is it?" Keith asked.

"A... diamond." Hunk murmured, staring. "The pressure crushed the Castle of Lions into this little diamond."

"...What now?" Pidge whispered.

"We need to find some place to land." Keith said. "And see if there's some way we can help Shiro." And Lance. I haven't heard him since the fight.

They landed on a planet, a far enough distance away to not be haunted.

The Lions settled down, and everyone finally got a good look at Red.

She was darker. Her thrusters and other glass surfaces were now a hardy teal, not the neon blue the rest of them had.

The red sections of her body were a bloody burgundy, eyes a deep gold. Her claws were longer and sharper-looking, and her jaw was different. Keith didn't think she appeared like the same Lion he had piloted.

As the others all climbed from their Lions, the beasts then straightening up and sitting, they all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. The fight was won. The universe was saved.

They all removed their helmets, the atmosphere safe to breathe, and settled down into a small circle to relax.

Red hadn't let out Lance yet.

"Uh, Lance, buddy?" Hunk called into his helmet. "Lance, uh... you alright?"

"I'm ok." Lance said after a few seconds. "I'll... be right there."

Everyone glanced between each other, wary.

"You believe him?" Pidge questioned Hunk, sitting on the ground.

Hunk only shrugged. "I guess I kind of have to." He murmured. "He didn't sound hurt."

Finally, Red shifted out of sitting, and bent forward to let Lance out.

Everyone turned, grins on their faces as their red Paladin walked toward them, before their smiles all abruptly stopped, and died out.

Lance's helmet was under his arm, fingers gently gripping to it. His hair was styled differently, a little sloppy, but a definite short, vicious style. On his left shoulder, an alien... cat-fox thing with horns and wings rested, head high and aquamarine eyes glaring at them like the lasers that Voltron had shot. It wore a small leather collar-thing, with a gem slid into it.

His armour was almost normal as he walked up, but the blue was deeper, darker, like velvet, not so flashy.

But the most disturbing part, was the voided line, tracing from the centre of his chestpiece over to his left shoulder. It seemed to be an injury, maybe a burn, that had been sealed up with black material instead of white. It looked like it had been deadly.

"...Hey." Lance said softly.

Hunk was off and running first, hitting Lance into a tight, hard hug, nearly pulling the thinner Paladin off the ground.

The weird cat-thing on his shoulder jumped off, then glid neatly to the ground, licking a paw clean, then watching it's master.

Lance seemed frozen stiff for a moment, blinking in surprise. Then, slowly, his hands curled over Hunk's back, face falling into his shoulder, fingers gripping into Hunk's shoulders.

Hunk could feel his best friend, shaking slightly against his own chest, too-thin body tight with muscle that hadn't been there before. "God, Lance... God, I'm..."

Shaking his head a bit, Lance just pulled Hunk in a little closer.

Unable to stop herself any further, Pidge picked herself off the dirt and darted over, hitting Lance's arm lightly.

"Ow, h-hey." Lance said, grinning slightly through tears as he separated from Hunk, though the other Paladin kept a hand on his shoulder.

"Where the hell have you been!?" Pidge demanded, then melted, tears coming to her own eyes as she hit Lance in another hug. "You don't get to leave, asshole!"

"W-wasn't really my choice." Lance laughed softly. It sounded hoarse and unused.

Then, through tears, Pidge blinked at him. "Did you get taller!? Bitch!" She snapped, but kept hugging him.

Allura went over next, joining the hug. "...I'm so glad you're ok."

"Thanks, Allura." Lance murmured, leaning into her slightly too.

Then Keith's taller, muscular form came over, and drew Lance into a full-bodied hug. "...Like Pidge said. You're not allowed to leave."

Once again, Lance could only, silently, cry into his leader's shoulder. They were almost the exact same height now. "You can't either. You got bigger too." He chuckled tearfully, having noticed Keith's height change. "And you got this big-ass burn."

"That came... after, I left..." Keith laughed slightly. "...I'm not leaving again." He murmured, pressing his face into Lance's shoulder too. "...You idiots get in trouble when I leave."

"We get in trouble?" Lance said incredulously, then laughed. It sounded odd, a little rough, but normal. So stunningly normal.

A sound Keith had missed, in the two years on the space whale, was his team. Especially, he had missed Lance. Lance who had never given him an inch, who 'made a good team', who was their family.

All of theirs.