Prologue:

Electricity coursed through the underbelly of Zarcon's ship as several Druids, continued their work in locating the Black Lion for their emperor. They knew him and his paladin needed to be apprehended soon, or the emperor would have their heads.

They stopped and the body of Zarcon crashed to the floor as the energy was completely sucked out of him for a few brief seconds.

"Even if we were to find the lion, how do you plan on severing the link between the lion and his paladin? The last time we tried that it didn't work," Zarcon question Haggar, the leader of the druids and a formidable opponent to Voltron.

"I have been perfecting a new technique that will weaken not only the lion, but also weaken the paladin the more we strike. I also happen to know exactly who the Black Paladin is and I think it will help in our fight against him."

"What is this new technique?" Zarcon moved to follow the Druid who was drifting into the halls of the headquarters.

"It would be easier to demonstrate on someone," Haggar stopped and opened a nearby door. It revealed a torture chamber. Inside sat a prisoner who seemed to be causing something to float with his mind. He was chained in a star patter to the wall with the only thing hanging was his head.

"As per my instructions, I ordered this prisoner to connect with the device. I have programmed it to respond only to him," Haggar raised her right hand and aimed it at the prisoner. A purple orb suddenly appeared in front of him, "He's been at this for days and the longer he goes the more powerful the bond between them."

Their attention was then diverted to the sound of the man yelling in pain. The purple orb in front of him grew ever so slightly bigger sending waves of electricity and something else towards him. This shocked him hard.

Haggar uttered a few words in a language only the druids knew and it became clear that the man before them was beginning to drift off into a blissful state of unawareness.

After a few seconds, sparkly orbs of light began floating out of the man and started floating towards the orb.

After a minute of this going on, the device which had been floating hit the ground and the man stumbled against the restraints. His head slumped against his chest and he went completely limp. Haggar watched as the Emperor seemed impressed with her latest development.

"Is he dead?" Zarcon approached the limp prisoner and investigated the body himself.

"No, only unconscious. I've managed to find a way to take just enough quintessence to render him weak enough to get inside his mind and put him to sleep. Now we have a way to capture both the Black Lion and the Black Paladin."

Zarcon smiled which was a rarity for him to even be doing that.

"And as for the identity of the paladin, I believe we are dealing with Takashi Shirogane, but his friends call him Shiro. He was a human who we capture from the planet Kerberos. He is also the man whom the prisoners call 'Champion'." Haggar recounted some of the battles that Shiro had fought in to the Emperor and explained how skilled of a fighter he truly was, "We won't be able to entice him anywhere near us though. He's too smart for that."

"We will force him here. Plant something in his mind that will force him to come to us," Zarcon raised a fist in a determined manner, "That Black Lion belongs to me and if we can figure out how this Shiro managed to form a strong bond so fast, maybe we can do the same thing. And soon Voltron will be ours!"

Zarcon let out a terrible laugh and guided Haggar out of the chamber. He glanced back one more time towards the unconscious prisoner and smiled. He knew that the Black Paladin was in for one big surprise.