Chapter 28: All for One, One for All

News of Zarkon's demise spread like wildfire throughout the Empire. It was time for a new Emperor to rise and take the throne, with them the dawn of a new age. Currently, the Paladins were recuperating on Olkarion from the aftermath. Allura and Lotor were both on the castle bridge, waiting for the others to come.

"They should be here any minute now." Allura said standing, Lotor was sitting on the bridge steps, looking much better now that his strange sickness has passed.

"Good. There is much to discuss." He replied. Allura turns to look at him.

"Are you feeling better?" She asks. Despite his fever gone, he was still a little pale.

"I'm alright now. I thank your Blue Paladin for taking care of me." He replied.

"I myself can't thank you enough for what you did, especially in your previous state. It proved your intention for peace." She said and Lotor seemed to smile at her gratefully. The two hear the door open and Lotor stands as the others come in, Narti with them.

"Lotor? What are you doing up on the bridge? I thought you were resting." Lance said surprised.

"I'm feeling better now, I cannot thank you enough for looking after me." The purple prince replied and bowed a little. Narti then signs something to him. "And for teaching Narti a more efficient way to speak." He added.

"No probe, though let me take a look." Lance says and checks over Lotor. "Fever's broken, and you're getting your natural color back, but you should still take it easy. You're not fully healed yet." He replies.

"Well, guess this is happening." Pidge said a little stunned as she and the others watch the spectacle. Shiro then steps forward.

"So, what's going on lately?" The paladin leader.

"The death of my father has created a power vacuum within the Galra Empire. The most formidable Galra leaders will be gathering for what is called the "Kral Zera" sometime in the next two quintants to decide who will take the throne. We must be there." He replies and explains.

"Wait, you want to fly into the middles of a meeting with all of the most powerful Galra leaders in the whole Empire?" Lance asked.

"Lotor, we appreciate all that you have done and sacrificed, but this sounds far too dangerous." Allura said.

"But, don't we need to get Lotor on the throne? Wasn't that what this whole thing was about?" Keith said.

"Keith has a point. Besides, we've been in more dangerous situations before with much less to gain less. I understand the risks, but if someone besides Lotor, especially a high up general who was loyal to the last ruler, is put on the throne, then it's going to be Zarkon all over again." Shiro added and reasoned.

"He's got a point, doesn't he?" Kuro said in agreement.

"Yeah, but we'd be flying into a war zone." Pidge said.

"Haven't we, like, done that before though?" Hunk said next.

"We can't plan an operation this important so quickly." Allura states.

"I know Princess, but we have little choice in the matter." Shiro states back.

We'd be seriously outnumbered and out-gunned. But at the same time, Lotor needs to take the throne to set things right. Though, I'm not sure he's ready for that yet. Narti signs.

"Uh, Lance mind translating?" Keith asked the Blue Paladin.

"Well, basically she's saying it's a risk, but at the same time Lotor does need to be the one on the throne." Lance roughly translated. "But still, we need time to think this over, and besides, you haven't fully recovered yet." He said the last part to the Galra prince.

"I'm fine now." Lotor protested and turns, only to groan, touching his forehead.

"See." Lance said and went to his side. "I admit you're better, but you still need to rest, or it might come back. We already made the mistake of letting you fight your Dad like this, and it nearly got you killed." He reasoned. "We fly in there, it's not just Galra, but the highest up Galra who were close to Zarkon, and are not going to happy to see us. Mostly likely to the point of violence." He added.

"While you make a good point, Lotor needs to get on that throne." Kuro says.

"I don't like it, but the coalition wouldn't be where it is today without him, and he knows about this stuff better than all of us combined. We're gonna have to listen to him." Shiro states.

"I'm with Allura. We can't just go in there unprepared." Pidge said next.

"Then we're to have to plan with the time we have." Keith says.

"Even then, we don't have much time, and it seems this discussion is in the princess's favor." Coran said next.

"This isn't a vote. Shiro's the leader, the decision maker. We need to do this." Kuro states, getting a little steamed.

"Kuro and Shiro are right." Keith says.

"So Shiro's making the decisions around here. Like when you gave Lotor your bayard without telling the rest of us?" Allura stated.

"Yes. It was precaution for Zarkon, and he's dead now because of it." Shiro says back.

"You put the operation in jeopardy." The princess says.

"Zarkon was going to double cross us, we all knew that! Yes we had a backup, but we needed an extra edge just in case!" Kuro defended.

"Yeah, and thanks to that, Zarkon's gone! We need to finish the job!" Keith joins.

"Guys, we're all on the same side here. I agree this is necessary, but also risky, for everyone." Lance cuts in.

"Stay of this!" Kuro yells and everyone freezes at what happens next. The clone used his robotic arm, and hit Lance. Causing the Blue Paladin to fall to the floor.

"Blue Paladin!" Lotor yelled and dropped to Lance's side, along with Narti.

Are you alright? The general signed worriedly.

"Ow! What the hell man?!" Lance yells as he sits up, hiss as he touches the place Kuro hit him. The clone seemed to snap out of, whatever, and looked horrified.

"Uh… I…" He stuttered, unable to find the words to speak.

"Enough!" Lotor said as he stood up. "We need to get to Kral Zera, but if it causes the Paladins to fight like this, then we don't have to. We're just going to have to fight the new ruler then." He says, looking guilty.

"I… I'm sorry. I'm, sorry!" Kuro said and runs out of the room.

"Kuro!" Shiro says and runs after the man, with everyone starring all thinking the same thing. What the quiznack just happened?

Later down in the medical bay, Lance with Hunk and Pidge, was fixing his injury.

"I still can't believe Kuro hit me. Ah." He said and hissed as he touched his forming bruise. "Especially with his metal arm. What the hell?" He asked.

"I have no idea man." Hunk said as he was looking over Lance's wound. "You sure you don't want to get in a pod?" He asked.

"No, this is small, I can handle it. I'm more concerned about Kuro." Lance replied.

"He has seemed a bit, antsy, lately." Pidge said while pushing up her glasses. Just then, Narti came into the room carrying a container full of water, and walks over to the trio.

"Thanks, Narti." Lance said as he brought some water out of the container and formed a ball in his hand. He concentrated, causing the water to both cool and begin to glow, then gently pressed it against his bruise to ease it.

You're welcome. Narti signed, putting the container down.

"I still can't believe you taught her sign-language." Pidge said impressed.

"Yeah, where'd you learn sign-language anyway Lance?" Hunk asked.

"I have a pretty big family, with a few deaf relatives, so I was taught at a young age. It's the one of the other language I know besides English and Spanish. Though, I do know a little French, but I'm a bit rusty in that department." Lance explained as he finished healing his injury. "I need to walk this off." He said as he got up and pulled on his jacket. Then left the room to walk around the castle.

Meanwhile, up on the bridge, Shiro walked into the room where only Coran was.

"Ah, Number 1. How is Kuro?" The orange mustache man asked.

"Not too good. He's shut himself in his room. He feels awful about what he did." The black paladin replied.

"What was that anyway? I've never seen him like that." Coran said.

"I'm not sure. I'm worried, lately Kuro's been a bit irritated. I guess it could be because of everything that's happened lately, but I don't know." Shiro admits.

"I see." Coran says. Suddenly, the whole Castle shook, and a call came in.

"Ryner, hailing Castle of Lions." Said the olkari leader on the holoscreen.

"Ryner, what was that?" Coran asked her about the sudden earthquake.

"A meteor-like object struck the forest outside the city." The olkari replied. "We're also detecting high levels of an unknown toxin emanating from the impact site." She added and shows an image of the area that has an ominous purple glow.

"I'll take a look." Shiro said and goes down to board Black to do just that.

Meanwhile, on the castle training deck, Keith was there training. Like he always did when he needed to blow off steam. He was facing off against a group of gladiators and was doing okay. When one got the jump on him and knocked his bayard out of his hand. Keith quickly conjured his flames and attacked, blasting the robots to pieces with major scorch marks.

"Nice one, Mullet." Lance said, coming into the room as the simulation ends.

"Oh, hey Lance. How's your injury? Kuro hit you pretty hard." The Red Paladin greeted and asked, as he wiped sweat from his forehead and picked up his bayard from the floor.

"I'm okay, with a little water and healing. No bruise." Lance replied. "What do you think got into Kuro all of a sudden?" He then asked.

"Maybe that's how he always was, and he was just pretending to be nice." Keith said accusingly.

"What?! No! That can't be! We've all been stressed out lately. Including you." Lance rebuffed and reasoned.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't hit you!" Keith said back.

"You sure about that?" Lance said, the Red Paladin shot him a glare. "Seriously though, what is your problem with Kuro? You've been cold to him since he got here. We've already established that's he not a spy." He questions the ravenette.

"How do we know that? Maybe he was repurposed. He was made by the Galra after all. No good can come from them." Keith argues back.

"Says you, Mr. Half-Galra!" Lance jabbed. "Is this thing against Kuro really because he was made by the Galra, or that Shiro has been spending time with him instead of you?" The Blue Paladin asked and Keith flinched. Nailed it. "That's it, isn't it. This isn't about Kuro being a clone made by Haggar, it's that your just jealous of him." He confirmed, but Keith was silent.

"Keith, seriously? Shiro has a life outside of you, and he's not your only friend. We all are, and that includes Kuro. He's not a bad person, he's probably just stressed with everything, we all are." Lance says sternly.

"You just don't understand!" Keith yelled and ran out of the training room, right past Allura as she entered.

"What was that about?" She asked as she approached Lance.

"Turns out his dislike for Kuro wasn't because he thought he was a galra spy, he's just jealous that someone other than him is the center of Shiro's attention." The Blue Paladin replied.

"Speaking of Kuro, how is your injury?" Allura asked.

"A little cool healing water and I'm good as new." Lance replied, rubbing the spit where he was hit. "I honestly still can't believe he hit me though." He added.

"Indeed, he seems very agitated lately. It is very worrying." Allura admits.

"I'm also worried about Lotor. I think he believes the fight was cause of him." Lance voiced. "I honestly think we should go to this "Kral Zera". If Lotor is put on the throne he can remake the empire, can't he?" He adds.

"I agree with you. Part of taking down Zarkon was so Lotor could take the throne and lead the Empire to peace. If another Galra takes the throne, no doubt they will continue Zarkon's way of rule instead." Allura agreed.

"Yeah, exactly, and we'll be back where we started. Not exactly at the beginning, but you get what I mean." Lance said.

"Indeed. However, we don't have enough time to come up with a full proof plan. Not under these circumstances, unfortunately." The princess says next, then turns to look at the Blue Paladin. "Thank you, Lance. Speaking with you has, actually made me feel better." She said.

"What do you mean, "actually"?" Lance asked, then they both burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, down in the Green Lion's hanger, the Holt siblings were there with their dad.

"Amazing." Sam said in awe of the Green Lion itself.

"I also developed a cloaking device by reverse-engineering the technology from the invisible maze on the Castle training deck and integrating to the lion's shield system." Pidge proclaimed proudly.

"It's simply incredible. All this technology… it used to exist only in my dreams." The man said impressed then turns to his children. "I can't wait to tell your mother about all this. Wait till she sees you both. So grown up." He said proud, but the two siblings' smiles drop and look at each other, then back at their dad.

"Well, the thing is, between the rebels and Voltron, Matt and I have a lot of work to do before we can go back home." Pidge explains.

"Right. We need to stay, until the Galra are defeated and we can be rest assured that Earth is safe." Matt says next.

"What?" Sam asks his children.

"We can't go home with you, Dad." Pidge replies and silence fell in the hanger.

Meanwhile, Shiro flew the Black lion over to the forest to check where the disturbance was coming from. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good. The earie purple they saw on the scanners was spreading throughout the forest, plus there was something on his scanner.

"I'm detecting movement up ahead. Coran, I'm going in for a closer look." He alerted the Altean advisor and flew towards the source. "Coran, we might have a big problem here." He said when he got to the source.

"How big?" Coran asked nervously. There before Shiro, looked like a giant cannon made from forest material. The cannon lit up and shot a sphere of photon energy at Shiro, who quickly dodges out of the way and more attacks.

"Coran! Send out the team!" Shiro ordered.

Back in the city, strange vines and roots with purple markings, were weaving their way into the city. Attacking the Olkari and wrapping their way around all the tech in the city. Coran was monitoring the situation on the Castle Bridge, as Matt, Sam, Allura, Lotor, Narti with Kova, even Kuro, all rush in.

"Coran, what is happening?" Allura asks her royal advisor.

"The forest appears to have come alive and is attacking the city." He replied.

"Where are the lions?" Sam asks.

"I've already sent them out to Shiro's location." The orange-haired man replies.

"What's causing this?" Matt asks.

"I'm afraid we don't know. We know it's coming from something in the forest, but not what's behind it." Coran replies. Lotor looked like he was deep thought, when something occurs to him.

"Coran, can you scan the area?" He asks.

"Already did, but I couldn't detect anything else besides this weird energy from the forest." The mustache man replies.

"How about scanning the planet's outer atmosphere?" He suggests. Coran looks skeptical, but quickly does that.

"Something's entering Olkarion's atmosphere." The Altean reports.

"Put it on screen." Allura says and Coran does. The image comes up, showing a Galra cruiser coming their way.

"It's the Galra. They're behind this." Lotor said in realization. He feels a tug and looks down to see Narti sign something. "I don't know." He replied.

"You can understand her?" Kuro asked surprised.

"The Blue Paladin taught me how to. So I could understand Narti." Lotor replies. Kuro suddenly looks guilty and turns his gaze away. Lotor also turns away. Allura decided to break the tense atmosphere.

"What do we do?" She asks.

"I don't know, Princess. I just don't know." Coran replied.

With Shiro, he was having trouble dodging the attacks sent at him by the mysterious, wood, cannon. Shiro shot a laser at the thing and several more, but it didn't seem to have an effect. The thing snarled, revealing it was somehow alive, just as the other Paladins fly in.

"Ryner, what are we looking at here?" Pidge asks the Olkari leader over the coms.

"I don't understand. That monster resembles our tree-mechs. It's as if the forest is being corrupted." Ryner replies.

"Is that even possible?" Keith asks as he stares at the strange creature.

"It must have something to do with whatever is emanating from the impact site!" Shiro says.

"It looks like some sort of invasive plasma." Pidge says.

"Paladins! Can you hear me?!" Allura's voice rang over the coms.

"Loud and clear, Princess. What is it?" Shiro replies then asks.

"It's the Galra! They're the ones behind this! A cruiser is approaching!" She says.

"What?!" The Paladins all say.

"This is bad." Lance says.

"Coran, have my dad and brother analyze the data I'm sending you! So we might find out what we're dealing with!" Pidge said next.

"On it!" Coran replied. The monster began attacking again and the lions scattered, dodging out of the way.

"Look alive, team. We need to form Voltron!" Shiro says. With that the lions flew into the air and combined into the mighty defender, then charges at the creature.

"Shield up!" Shiro says, and Pidge activates the shield to deflect the monster's attacks. The robot charges at the monster, the shield deflecting the photon blast, pushing the two giants away from one another. "Let's finish it!" Shiro says.

"Wait! Something's wrong! I can't move my leg, I mean, my Voltron leg!" Hunk shouts.

"I can't either! These vines are attacking, trapping us!" Lance grunts.

"Pidge, Keith, can either of you move?" Shiro asks the two arms.

"Negative. They're everywhere." Pidge said as she struggled to get free.

"My lion is caught too! I can't move!" Keith said.

At the Castle, the occupants all watch in horror at the scene unfolding.

"No…" Allura whispers softly.

"Shiro! Guys!" Kuro shouts, scared for the Paladins.

Back with the Paladins, they all struggle to break from the vines that were covering every inch of them.

"We need to separate back into lions!" Keith says.

"We can't! We're all tied up! Trapped!" Shiro said as the vines completely consume them, then harden into a solid sphere, like a chrysalis pod.

"Wait. What's that sound?" Hunk asks when he hears a noise outside the pod.

"It sounds like it's heading the other way, and I think I know where." Shiro says. "Ryner, is that ion cannon operational?" He asks the Olkari woman.

"No, it's still not finished. At best it could only manage one shot." Ryner replies.

"Well make it count, because that thing's heading for you." Shiro says.

In the city, Ryner activates the ion cannon and begins charging it up as the creature approaches.

"Targeting. Cannon charge at 30%. Power at 70%. Target acquired!" She says as she aims at the creature, ready to blast it. "Power at 95%, prepare to fire!" She says, only for the cannon to suddenly start shutting down.

"No! We're losing power! What's happening?" The Olkari woman says as she looks at the readings, when the vines suddenly cover the place. "The ion cannon! All of our systems, they've been compromised." She says.

On the Castle, Matt and Sam finished analyzing the data Pidge sent them.

"The vines, they're like a computer virus. Infecting the system. From the data sent, it appears the plasma substance is self-replicating organic wetware. Which creates a single expanding system, giving it the ability to interface with nature the way the Olkari do." Matt says.

"It's like a computer, plus a virus, rolled into one." Pidge says over the coms.

So we know what it is and how it works. Do we know how to stop it? Narti signs.

"Pidge, can you pull apart the vines?" Allura suggests.

"I tried, but can't. The virus must somehow be able to blo-" her audio suddenly cuts out and an alarm beeps.

"Pidge? Pidge! Coran, What's happening?" Allura asks.

"Quiznack! We've lost contact! Voltron is offline!" Coran replies.

"If these vines are like a virus, and Voltron is covered with them, then they must be blocking communications." Lotor theorized.

"What do we do?" Kuro asks.

"Wait a minute, if the plasma mass has the properties of a computer, there must be some way to hack into it and shut it down." Sam suggests.

"Conceivably. If we could somehow figure out a way to interface with it, maybe we can." Matt said.

"The Olkari, then can help us." Allura said in realization.

"Narti, Kuro, Coran, stay here and keep an eye on things. The rest of us are going to Ryner to cure this virus." Lotor spoke. While hesitate, everyone listens to him and gets to their assigned task.

Meanwhile, Voltron was still trapped in the wooden pod, unable to get out.

"What do we do?! I-I can't move!" Hunk said panicky.

"I don't know! I can't bend the vines! This virus must somehow be able to block my powers!" Pidge replied, just as panicked.

"Wait a minute. Argh! I know I'm regret suggesting this, but what if we did what we did on Naxzela." Keith suggested.

"Would that work in this situation?" Lance asked.

"Maybe, but this virus infects on a sub-molecular level. If we want to drive it out we need to tap into the quantum energy that ties us together with Voltron and our Lions." Pidge says next.

"The bayards! Allura told me the bayards connect us to our lions, and each other." Shiro suggests.

"Worth a shot at this point. Ahh!" Lance says then grunts as they feel Voltron being pulled up.

At the Castle, Coran, Kuro and Narti watch as the Galra cruiser was pulling the pod with Voltron and the Paladins in it, using their tracker beam.

"Lotor was right, the Galra were behind the whole thing." Coran said. Kuro just stared in fear, worried for the Paladins, especially Shiro.

Meanwhile, Allura, Lotor, Matt and Sam, all made it to the main olkari bridge, where they found Ryner. They all run up to her and she turns to them.

"Ryner, what's going on?" Allura asks the female olkari.

"I'm trying to interface with the vines to stop their growth, but I can't connect with the nano-cellulose." She replies and explains.

"We don't have to stop it. We just have to reroute it." Matt said.

"Grab a headpiece and show me." The female olkari says. With that, Matt and Sam both put on the head gear that allows them to connect with the plants like the olkari.

"Alright. Follow my lead." Matt says and places his hand on the vines, Sam and Ryner do the same thing. Allura and Lotor go to do that as well, but when they touched the vines, both felt a shock and pull back.

"What the-?" Allura asked confused and looks at Lotor, who gives a confused look of his own.

Back with Voltron, all the Paladins grunt as they feel the pull of the galra cruiser tracker beam. They all take out their bayards, and simultaneously thrust them into the bayard panels. Suddenly, they feel a presence and everything goes white. When they open their eyes, they all find themselves in a strange space, each standing on a circle of light of their color.

"What the cheese?" Lance said looking around. His voice echoing.

"What is this?" Keith asked.

"I think we're all in some sort of joined sub-space in Voltron." Pidge theorized. Suddenly, a bright golden light shined form the center of them all. They shield their eyes, until the light dies down and they all look to see a cloaked figure surrounded by a golden-white sparkly light.

"Zarc? Is that you?" Shiro asked the figure, who remains quiet. At that moment, they all hear a roar and look behind themselves to see their lions in spirit form.

The lions walk into the center, around the figure and look at their paladins. The circles of light they were standing on glowed, and shafts emerged from the edges, encasing the paladins, in blue, red, violet, green and yellow shafts of light, with their elements added in. The lion spirits then all float upwards to something, disappearing with the Paladins following them until Shiro was left.

"Shiro…" The said paladin looked at the figure as they spoke. "In order to be strong, you must face your greatest fears and conquer them." The figure says as Shiro is sucked up with the other Paladins.

Back in the real world, the Paladins' eyes all snap open, revealing their whited out colored eyes, and their bodies glowing. Voltron also began glowing, violet, red, blue, green and yellow, all mix together as the lions growl. The vine pod begins to crack as light shines from inside it. Before long, Voltron bursts free from the pod and the cruiser tracker beam.

Back in the Olkari city, Matt, Sam and Ryner all try to reroute the vine energy, with Allura and Lotor watching as they could not interface with the vines.

"Argh! It's not working. Whatever this is, it's blocking out everything." Matt says.

Allura looks down worriedly, when she felt something. She looks out the window to see something in the ion cannon. She hears a gasp and looks behind to see Lotor also looking at what she was seeing.

"What is that?" Matt asks as he, his dad and Ryner see the thing in the cannon.

"It looks like a person." Sam says.

In the Castle, the occupants also notice the being in the ion cannon. Coran zooms in on the footage, showing a cloaked figure in the cannon loop.

"Is that…?" Kuro trails off.

Back in the olkari bridge, the five all stare at the person in the cannon machine

"Zarc…" Allura breathed out, recognizing the being.

"He was the one, during the battle with my father." Lotor said. Suddenly, both he and Allura lit up. Lotor a light lilac purple and Allura a bright sky blue.

"What the quiznack! Why are you two glowing?" Matt exclaimed. Allura looked at her hands then at Lotor in shock.

"You too?" She asked. Lotor was quiet, then looked like he got an idea. He walks over to the vines and places his hand on them, Allura does the same and they both close their eyes.

"Huh? What are you two doing?" Matt asked but received no response in return. Suddenly, the spots where they were touching the vines glowed bright blue and lilac purple, spreading throughout all of them and mixing together. The computer came on and Ryner goes over to look at it.

"We're back online!" She announced.

The blue and purple light spread through the vines until they reach the ion cannon. Zarc reaches out and touches the vines, starting to glow himself.

"Power at 90%. 100%!" Ryner announced. "Wait, over 100." She said and Matt and Sam look to see she was right. "Power over 150 and building." Ryner says.

Zarc turned to the approaching creature. He raise his scaled arm, aiming at it.

"200%!" Ryner says, and a blast shoots from the cannon at the creature.

The blast hits the monster, causing it to screech in pain. The vines begin shifting and moving, rearranging almost on a whim. While the creature also changes, it grows and shifts into a large tree, the vines all connecting to it, then digging into the planet. A wave of energy washes over Olkarion and everything glows in an ethereal light.

When the light dies down, the creature was now a large tree right outside the city. All the previously malicious vines were now out of the way and hang around connected to city. Allura and Lotor both stop glowing and collapse. Matt and Sam quickly at their sides. They all look up to see Zarc gone.

"What… just… happened?" Sam asked. He looks to his son who shrugged, then looks at Ryner, who stares at the magnificent tree. She looks over the readings and gasps.

"It's become a power source, of a new resourceful and clean energy. The virus has been completely purged. And the vines are now acting as a connection between the city and the tree." She says in astonishment. "How is this possible?" She asks.

Back with Voltron, the Paladins charged at the cruiser and the fleet it brought with it. Slicing all the ships down, destroying them. The lions separate and fly back to the city, and the castle.

"Holy microchips. Zarc did this?" Pidge gasped as she and her friends were shown the tree. Rover scans the giant plant and shows Pidge. "Ryner was right. This thing is now a giant generator and the vines are like power cables. I've never seen anything like it." She said shocked.

"Indeed, it is quite a spectacle." Coran agrees looking over the tree.

"It, wasn't just Zarc." Matt spoke. "Allura and Lotor both started glowing, then they seemed to have transferred their energy through the vines. It was wacky." He explains.

"How are they by the way?" Sam asked the Altean advisor.

"Resting. Whatever they did, it seems to have drained them. Not to dangerous levels, but they will be out for quite a while." Coran replied.

"That's reassuring." Lance admits. Sam seemed to be relived as well, then got a look on his face and turns to his two children

"Matt, Katie, we need to talk." He said and led them away from the group to talk in private.

"What is it, Dad?" Pidge asked when they stopped.

"It's about returning to Earth." Sam answered.

"Dad…" Matt began.

"No, listen." Sam interrupted. "I understand now, and I couldn't be prouder. The whole universe is discovering what I knew all along. That you two are something special." He tells his kids.

"Oh, Dad." Pidge said and walks up, hugging her father who hugs her back.

"And they need you. But, I'm needed back on Earth." Sam confessed and Pidge looks up at her dad. "The Galaxy Garrison has to know what's going on here. They to prepare. There's a war coming." He explains.

"So, this is goodbye?" Pidge asked.

"For now." Sam answers and pulls both his kids in for a hug.

Up near the Castle, Shiro was looking out at the tree, as Lance walks up to him.

"Hey, Shiro." The Blue Paladin greets.

"Hey, Lance. Need something?" The Black Paladin greets and asks. Lance seemed to think it over before speaking.

"Was that really Zarc in there?" He asked. "It felt like him, are we really that connected?" He added.

"I, think so." Shiro replied. "He said something to me. Odd and cryptic, like he usually does." He confessed.

"What did he say?" Lance asked.

"He told me "If you want to be strong, you need to face and conquer your greatest fears"." Shiro replied and repeated. Lance saw Keith off to the side, and walks over to him.

"Keith." He greets, the Red Paladin was quiet. "Look, man, clearly you have issues, but if you don't address them or talk about them, they'll just weigh you down." He spoke, but Keith just ignore him. "Don't ignore me, Mullet! You get over there and talk to Shiro, now!" Lance demanded raising his voice, startling Keith.

"Alright, fine!" Keith growled and turned to walk over to Shiro. The Blue Paladin noticed he was clutching his shoulder.

"Hey, wait a tick." He said, stopping Keith. "What's wrong with your arm?" he asks, and the other boy flinches.

"I just, banged it a little while training." The Red Paladin replied. Lance quirked an eyebrow, signifying he didn't believe him, and reaches out, grabbing Keith's arm and pulls, causing the boy to hiss.

"Looks more like it's dislocated to me." Lance said sternly. Keith was quiet. "And you went out like this? Are you serious?" He said, but the Red Paladin just silently ignores him. Lance sighs, looking down at his hands, then back up at his fellow paladin's injured shoulder. "Hold still. This is properly going to hurt." He told the ravenette and raised his arms, but there was no water this time.

"What are you…?-! Ahh!" Keith asked then screamed as he felt his arm move on its own, twisting up to his shoulder with a loud snap. "What the hell was that?!" The Red Paladin yelled when it was over, clutching his shoulder, then realizes something. "What? It's back in its socket." He said surprised.

"Guess there is a non-evil sue for blood-bending after all." Lance said and Keith looks at him.

"You mean you just used blood bending on me?" He asked, Lance nodded. "Blood bending? As in the thing you swore you'd never do?" The Red Paladin asks and the Blue Paladin just nods again. "So what made you change your mind?" He asks this time.

""If you want to be strong, you have to face and conquer your fears"." Lance simply replies. "Shiro said that's what Zarc himself said. I think I understand, if you let your fear rule you, it'll just hold you back." He said then looks at Keith again.

"Plus I figure there might be some good use of blood bending. What better way than to fix a dislocated shoulder." He reasoned, the ravenette agreed a little. "Now. Go on, talk to him." He encouraged and the Red Paladin walks over to the Black. Just then, Kuro comes over.

"Hey, Lance." He greeted. "I… I'm sorry. For hitting you. I don't know what came over me." He apologized.

"I know. I forgive you. I know you didn't mean it." Lance said and hugged the man. Kuro was stunned for a moment before returning the hug, feeling better.

AN: Hi guys, sorry I've been gone for so long. I've been busy with other projects, plus this quarantine is really starting to wear on me. Anyway, while I'm not a fan of blood bending, as said before, there can be some actual not evil uses for it. Like what Lance just did. Sure, it hurts but it does either way. Until next time.