Galran Paladin

Betrayal

As Lotor and Keith ran from the now Galra infested room, the young Galran remained worried about Lance and the paladins.
"If you're worried, don't be!" Yelled Lotor as he read Keith's expression, "They have four huge, magic lions! They are fine."
Lotor's words sounded genuine, but Keith knew they were just spoken so he wouldn't hold Lotor back. Keith kept going nonetheless, following Lotor all the way out of the arena. Keith saw that the whole structure was nearly collapsed, the whole area around it was also destroyed. Lotor took a breath, crouching down in exhaustion while Keith looked upwards at the sky, seeing the four lions. It was so tempting to call out for help, just to go with them and be with them ... to be with Lance... Yet, Keith couldn't leave. He had to stay not only to protect his mom but the paladins as well. They already have Galra after them, it would be way worse if they had a Galra fugitive on board. Keith soon exited the destroyed arena, seeing the outside was also demolished. Platforms that once stood where gone, the front of the building had holes and blast marks all around it. Keith knew that the damage was bad, but this was terrible. Suddenly, Keith saw Lotor shot backward seemingly by one of the troops that started to flood into the room. Keith barely managed to dodge the next blast and landed on the ground from the quick movement. The young Galran quickly realized that he and Lotor were surrounded, soldiers aiming their guns at them.
"I see that they don't intend for us to leave...." Said Lotor as he held his wounded arm.
Keith was defenseless so fighting was out of the question ... but he couldn't just stand here and get captured after all he went through to escape. Yet the Galrans weren't prepared for the huge ship that was beginning to appear out of the clouds, many smaller sentry ships following behind. Keith recognized the bigger ship right away, knowing it belonged to Zarkon. Zarkon's ship stopped before it reached the surface, letting the sentry ships form a circle around it. Zarkon himself came out of the ship, his body covered in full armor that seemed perfect all over. The armored Galran landed with a loud metallic thud, his feet leaving footprints into the ground as he walked. Zarkon glanced at Keith for a moment before turning around to Lotor.
"And now you steal soldiers from me? You really are a stain on the throne, and you shall be removed by me!" Shouted the Galran as he ran forward and launched a punch at Lotor which he barely rolled away from. Lotor managed to get up from the ground, knowing he had to fight and there was no way to avoid it. Keith watched as conflicting emotions went through his head. He wanted to help Lotor because it would just be the right thing to do ... yet both he and Zarkon are evil. Even if Keith wanted to carry out a plan to help him, how was it going to be possible with no weapons?
. . .
As the Lions flew out of the destroyed arena, the team was distraught and conflicted, not knowing what was right. Lance knew that Keith wanted the team to be safe but Lance also wanted the Galran safe as well. The Cuban boy knew that he cared for Keith, a little too much, but not even taking his feelings into consideration, the fact remains that leaving behind an innocent person is wrong. Lance turned his Lion around and was ready to go for Keith before Shiro yelled, "Lance! We have to go! The castle is up ahead and we have to go before they get attacked by any Galra!"
Lance sighed and looked ahead at Keith, his eyes lighting up just at the sight.
"Shiro ... I can't leave him." Said Lance solemnly, his mind made up. Yet all the Lions were blasted backward by the force of a ship, one that was huge and built like a flying tank. Shiro's eyes widened as he remembered the ship from his time as a prisoner ... Zarkon's ship.
"Guys, that is Zarkon's ship! We have to leave, we aren't ready to face him yet!" Yelled the worried leader. Pidge then spoke up as she noticed that Zarkon was exiting the ship, "He's going to ... he's going after Lotor! Whatever is going on, Keith may be caught in the crossfire!"
Lance bit his lip as he gripped the controls of his lion, his heart doing nervous flips. The paladin knew that Keith was in danger, and he was going to make sure he was safe. Soon, fighting erupted between Lotor and Zarkon, signaling Lance's chance to get Keith out of here.
"Shiro, we have to get Keith. I won't just let him get hurt in the crossfire!" Lance then pushed his controls forward and charged his lion towards Keith. The Galran looked above and watched in awe as he saw the blue lion getting ready to touch down. Keith thought the paladins were gone, and now Lance was here, ready to save him ... but now they were in danger, just like Lotor said. Keith felt even more than before that all he is to the team is a risk. Before Keith could think about anything else, the blue lion was shot repeatedly by cruisers that caused the lion to become overwhelmed. Keith began to worry, knowing that Lance couldn't take them all on. Soon, the paladin heard Shiro through his helmet, "Lance, we are coming, hold on!" The rest of the lions gathered up to help Blue, the black lion slicing the cruiser with its jaw blade that caused it to cease firing for a moment. Zarkon stopped fighting Lotor for a moment to see the lions, the ones he yearned for.
"Capture those lions! Forget Lotor!" Yelled Zarkon in rage as the cruisers and soldiers below fired at the lions, causing all of them to scatter and attack. Keith watched in horror as his friends were being attacked, all of the lions becoming overwhelmed. Lotor stood up and attacked one of the soldiers, causing him to drop his weapon. The Galran then stole it and fired it at the soldier, killing him with a single hit before running into hiding. Keith knew there was no way Lotor was going to run, he had a plan. Zarkon and everyone else was so focused on the lions, there was no way they would see a sneak attack. Zarkon remained on the ground, closing his eyes as if he was focusing. Keith couldn't just stand there, he had to help Lance and the others. After all, they risked themselves to help him. The young Galran ran forward, past the soldiers and their blast, straight towards a sentry ship. A Galran soldier near the ship saw him, and Keith didn't plan on letting him ruin this plan. Keith instantly rushed forward, knocking into the Galran soldier with force, causing him to land harshly on the ground. The blunt force made the Galran faint, and Keith took the opportunity to climb aboard the ship. As Keith took off in the sentry ship and attacked other sentry ships, Zarkon was putting all of his energy into his own plan. Shiro felt the connection with his lion weaken, as he felt dark energy overtake the lion. Soon, Shiro couldn't control the lion anymore, it was being pulled forward, directly to Zarkon as he held his hand out, an evil aura surrounding him.
"I am the only Black Lion Paladin! The Black Lion and Voltron belong to me!" Zarkon yelled with a laugh following, knowing he had won. With Shiro being pushed into Zarkon's trap, the team overwhelmed, it seemed as though there was no way out.
"Come on ... please, help me." Shiro mumbled as he rubbed his lion's controls, "Ultimately, it's up to you buddy. I can't force you to do anything ... but if there is any way you would side with me, I promise you I won't let you down." The leader finished with a deep sigh, seeing that he was getting closer to Zarkon.
"I knew the lion would obey me! You are no paladin, only a weakling would try to talk to a weapon, that's all it is after all!" Said Zarkon with a chuckle, his pull becoming stronger.
Shiro growled in anger as he heard Zarkon's words, "The black lion isn't just a weapon! It's alive, and no one can force it to do anything!"
Suddenly, these words brought the black lion to roar with anger, but not towards Shiro, but Zarkon. The lion fired on Zarkon, causing him to blast backward. The evil ruler managed to hold his armored arm up to defend himself, but the blast was still pushing him back. Keith was still firing away at the cruisers and sentry ships, defending the paladins. The Galran quickly shot at a cruiser, temporarily stopping it was firing at Pidge. The paladin saw this and decided to tell the team that this sentry ship was likely Keith.
"Guys! There is a sentry ship helping us, I think it's Keith!" Yelled Pidge as she and Hunk worked together to take down the cruiser. Lance looked forward at the mention of Keith's name, seeing that there was a sentry ship defending them after all. Then, to Lance's surprise, Zarkon's ship unleashed a blast that aimed right towards him. Keith saw this happen and rushed to help but he was cornered by other sentry ships. The Galran would do anything to get to Lance, but at this point he was stuck.  Blue managed to dodge it but it seemed to linger and follow, still catching his lion and seemingly draining it. Lance was only saved by Hunk after he rammed into Zarkon's ship, causing it to lose focus on the blast. Once Hunk did this, Keith wasn't panicking as bad and finished off the rest of the sentry ships. Lance was dizzy from the attack, his lion barely functioning.
"Do not let that blast hit you guys! It somehow drains Quintessence, don't let it charge it's blast back up!" Lance yelled as he saw the gigantic ship beginning to charge it's cannon, located at the rear of the ship, glow a faint purple. As the paladins rushed to try and intercept, multiple other ships defended it. It was an all or nothing attack, and the Galra were going for it. Lance tried his best to shoot the ships defending it, Pidge and Hunk were taking down surrounding ships as well. Though Keith didn't have much cannon power, he was able to take out other sentry ships and damage some of the cruisers that were left. But now, the main target was Zarkon's ship charging it's quintessence drainer. They had to get to it before it was too late, if not, the lions may be severely damaged. Keith pushed his ship forward with a yell, rushing forward to destroy more sentry ships that were blocking Zarkon's ship. However, the paladins' attacks were futile, barely scraping the sentry shield that was set up. Shiro saw that the team was struggling, but the lion was set on finishing Zarkon. The evil Galran had other plans though, finally managing to fire a blast out of the unoccupied hand, knocking the black lion backward. Zarkon's armor, however, was also damaged, not even protecting most of his body like before.
"His armor is more powerful than I thought ... I can't stay here though, the team are going to be destroyed if I don't help them!" Shiro started his lion back up and charged it towards the cruiser, which had a small access point due to the team's effort. Zarkon wasn't going to let the paladin succeed that easily, so he shot another blast out at Shiro's direction. The leader was barely able to dodge the blast, which ended up taking a few more sentry ships down. The other paladins kept fighting, but soon the lions and the team were getting completely worn out.
"My lion is running out of power! This is taking too long and we haven't even gotten to the cruiser!" Shouted Pidge as she fired another blast, but it was significantly weaker. The other paladins felt this drainage too and any minute the cannon would be charged. After all, the paladins took down multiple cruisers and sentries, the lions weren't going to last much longer. As Shiro kept dodging Zarkon's blast, the cannon was reading it's fire. Even if the lions were able to escape in time, other sentry ships would crowd in on them and plan to attack to distract the paladins and catch them off guard, causing them to get caught in the blast. Suddenly, a huge beam shot down from above, blasting a hole through Zarkon's ship easily, shutting down the Quintessence Drainer. The team was relieved to see it was the castle, and they were already preparing another blast. Zarkon, who was so focused on shooting down the black lion, Lotor was able to grab his blade from his side, preparing to take down Zarkon. The young Galran didn't give any hesitation as he ran up behind Zarkon, shoving the blade into his father's back. Zarkon howled in pain, shooting stray beams from his hands as his armor started to completely fail him. As Lotor twisted the blade, Zarkon fell down as he drew his last breath. Lotor sighed with sadness, not wanting it to end like this but the way it was going one of them would have died. Lotor watched as the Galran soldiers that were left scattered away, not wanting to mess with the guy that just finished Zarkon.
"I'm sorry, father. But this was for your own good." Lotor said with a conflicted and exhausted tone, soon looking up to see Keith still fighting. Once the remaining ships fled, and Zarkon's ship crashed into the structure below, the paladins finally started to catch their breaths. Keith landed his ship, hopping out and walking towards Lotor and the body of Zarkon. "I know you think I'm a danger to the Paladins. But I had to help." Lotor closed his eyes for a moment before responding to Keith. "No harm, no foul. But let's take our leave. We have spent too much time here." Lotor said before walking towards a ship, a bigger one that was left behind. It would definitely fit him and Lotor. Was Keith really prepared to leave with the mysterious prince? But Keith knew that if he would stay with Lance, it would mean his family and the paladins would be endangered. As the paladins returned to the castle, Lance was the only one who remained. He watched on as Keith left his field of vision, never knowing if he was going to see him again. This killed him inside, just as it killed Keith. As much as the two boys hurt without each other and the uncertainty their lives held, they had to part from one another nonetheless. Lance slowly turned his lion towards the castle that subsequently took off into the distance, just as Keith's ship took off in the opposite direction.