ALL MIXED UP | I

04 the blue lion 04

season one

episode one

part two

"... OK. I admit it. This is super freaky," Lance said as Sage tightened the straps on her guitar case. Keith had told her to leave the bulky thing at home, but Sage argued that they very well could be leaving for a long time if they did find this “Voltron.”

"I'm getting a reading," Hunk said, glancing at his device. The small group wandered into a cave. Sage glanced around the dim area, pointing her flashlight here and there. Blue carvings and depictions

"What are these?" Shiro asked.

"These are the lion carvings I was telling you about,” Keith replied. “They're everywhere around here."

“Hey, how come I was never told about these outings of yours?” Sage inquired, nudging Keith’s shoulder.

“You chose school,” Keith replied with a smirk. Lance ran his fingers along one of the carvings, fascinated. Suddenly, all the pictures lit up, bathing the cave in blue light.

"Whoa!" Lance exclaimed, clearly surprised.

“They've never done that before," Keith commented. Sage took a step back as she felt the ground tremble ever so slightly. Without warning, the ground beneath the rest of the team collapsed, sending the five deeper into the cavern via jagged, rocky waterslide. Sage, happy that she had not been subjected to this painful type of transportation, climbed carefully down so that she would not damage her precious gem of a guitar.

"Is this it? Is this the Voltron?" Pidge queried.

"It... must be," Shiro replied

"This is what's been causing all this crazy energy out here," Keith concluded, slowly approaching the blue robot. "Looks like there's a force field around it."

"Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?" Lance asked cautiously.

"No." Lance moved around, ducking his head in an attempt to escape the lion’s gaze.

"Yeah. The eyes are totally following me."

"I wonder how we get through this," Keith pondered, running a hand along the transparent surface.

"Maybe you just have to knock," Lance smirked, rapping his knuckles against the forcefield. Surprisingly, this did the trick. The shield came down, illuminating the area in blue once more. An image of an amazing robotic warrior filled Sage’s mind.

"Woah..." she breathed.

“Uh, did everyone just see that?" Lance asked.

"Voltron is a robot!” Hunk exclaimed excitedly. “Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!"

"And this thing is only one part of it!” Pidge added. “I wonder where the rest of them are."

"This is what they're looking for," Shiro confirmed.

"Incredible." The lion head lowered, opening its mouth to allow entrance. Pidge and Hunk drew back, terrified. Lance, though hesitant for a moment, ran inside, taking a seat in the cockpit.

"Here we go," he said. The seat then jolted forward, forcing a scream from his mouth as the controls activated. "Heheh! All right! Very nice!”

"OK guys, I-I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all, y'know, aware,” Hunk smiled. “We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now."

"Whoa, did you guys just hear that?" Lance asked.

"Hear what?" Keith asked back.

"I-I think it's talking to me," Lance said, pressing a couple of buttons. The lion jolted upward and released a loud roar. Hunk and Pidge screamed fearfully. "OK. Got it. Now let's try this."

A few more buttons later, the blue lion flew out of the cave, smashing the rock wall to bits on the way. Lance flew wildly, twisting, turning, and flipping in a way that made Sage’s stomach turn. Pidge and Hunk yelled again.

"YOU ARE THE WORST. PILOT. EVER!” Keith groaned, holding on for dear life.

"Isn't this awesome?!" Lance cheered as the lion ceased its flying and began running across the desert.

"Make it stop!” Hunk cried. “Make it stop!"

"I'm not making it do anything!” Lance retorted as the lion took off once more. “It's like it's on autopilot!"

"Where are you going?!" Sage screamed.

"I just said it's on autopilot! It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it."

"What did it say, exactly?!" Pidge panicked.

"Well,” Lance explained, “it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain. Kind of."

"Well, if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, like—I don't know, give it to them?” Hunk offered. “Maybe they'll leave us alone. Sorry, Lion, nothing personal."

"You don't understand,” Shiro cut in. “These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead." Everyone’s gaze fell on the Samoan.

"... Oh. Never mind then."

The lion continued upward, soon breaking the atmosphere.

“No going back now,” Sage muttered. Shiro sent her a reassuring smile.

"Uh…” Hunk began, “Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?!"

"They found me..." Shiro breathed, eyes wide. Sage gripped her brother’s hand tightly as if to say, They won’t separate us again. The ship began blasting at the lion and Pidge yelled, “We’ve gotta get out of here!”

"Hang on!" Lance warned, twisting wildly to dodge the flying lasers. "Ah! All right! OK, I think I know what to do!"

"Be careful, man!” Pidge warned. “This isn't a simulator!"

"Well, that's good. I always wreck the simulator."

“We’re doomed,” Sage groaned.

"Let's try this!" Lance said, clawing at the warship

"Nice job, Lance!" Shiro praised.

"OK, I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet." Lance shoved the controls forward, angling away from earth.

"Oh, no!" Hunk yelled when he saw the alien ship give chase.

"They're gaining on us!" Pidge added.

"It's weird,” Lance noted. “They're not trying to shoot us. Th-They're just chasing."

"OK, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good?” Hunk said. “I am not on board with this new direction, guys."

"Where are we?" Keith asked, changing the subject.

"Edge of the solar system,” Shiro answered.

“There's Kerberos," Sage said, pointing out of the window. “It takes months for ships to get out this far.”

“Sage is right,” Pidge agreed. “Yet we got out here in five seconds." A blue and violet swirling mass appeared before them.

"What is that?!" Hunk asked, ever cautious.

"Uh, this may seem crazy,” Lance said, “but I think the Lion wants us to go through there."

"Where does it go?" Pidge inquired.

"I-I don't know. Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?"

"Whatever's happening, the Lion knows more than we do,” Shiro said. “I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together." Everyone glanced around, soon coming to an unspoken agreement.

"... All right,” Lance finally said. “Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow." Sage shrugged.

“I’m down for that.”

And with that, the lion disappeared into the wormhole.