ALL MIXED UP | I

08 let the training begin 08

Sage felt herself beginning to wake up. She couldn't remember much from the previous day, but before she could scour her mind, whatever forces holding her up decided that she didn't need their help anymore. This left her flat on the floor with not nearly enough energy or willpower to stand up. Suddenly, the alarms sounded.

"The Castle's about to be destroyed!" Allura yelled over the loudspeaker. Sage scrambled to her feet, pulling her armour on as fast as she could. Luckily for her, she had practice, as she often woke as the five minute bell rang at the Garrison. However, something told her that she didn't have five minutes at her disposal now.

"Go, go, go!" Allura urged. "We need Voltron now! Hurry! We can't survive much longer!" Sage scrambled to her feet, sprinting down the hallway. She heard Coran mutter something in the background.

"Oh, no! Allura is dead!" the Altean man screamed. Sage ran faster. "Oh, it's horrible! Her head fell off! Wait! What? Her severed head is trying to speak to me!" Sage skidded to a stop in the Command room where the two Alteans stood. "What is it, Allura's head?" Coran asked dramatically. "What are your final words?"

"Coran," Allura said, deadpanned.

"Oh, yes, Princess, I'm listening," Coran crooned.

"It's over."

"Oh, I know! If only Voltron had been formed." Coran noticed that the crew was gathered in front of him. "Oh! Time!"

"I guess this isn't an actual attack," Shiro said.

"And it's a good thing it wasn't because it took you..." Allura turned to her advisor. "Coran?

"Seventy-five degrees," Coran announced. "Oh, sorry. No, this is a meat thermometer."

"However long it was, it was too long," Allura scolded. "You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you! Only Shiro and Sage are in uniform, and Sage just came out of a healing pod! Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards? And where is Lance?"

Right on cue, Lance ambled into the room, looking refreshed.

"Good morning, everybody," he greeted. "What's going on?

"Coran and I have been up for hours getting the Castle back in order," said Allura angrily. "We had to run a test on the alarms, and we decided to test you as well. Guess which one failed."

"Hey! You got to sleep for 10,000 years, man," Hunk countered. "Monday night, I was on Earth. Now, I've flown through space, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, eaten goo in some weird castle. That's a lot to process in, uh... I-I don't know. What day is today?"

"It's the third quintant of the Spicolian movement," Coran grinned. "Hump day!"

"Um, Wednesday," Sage simplified, glancing at her watch.

"It's a lot to process," Hunk finished.

"You must understand the stakes of our mission. Over the last 10,000 years, the Castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations," Allura said as she pulled up a universal map. "So, we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe. Earth is here. An attack on your planet is inevitable."

"Oh, no," Hunk said fearfully.

"Exactly. Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the Castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so we can begin fighting Zarkon." At this point, Sage tuned out, knowing that the conversation didn't concern her.

Several Voltron drills later, Allura pulled Sage into the training room.

"Two, two, one, two," Coran said, testing the microphone as Sage walked in. "Okay, listen up, guys. The paladin code demands you put your team members' safety above your own. A swarm of drones is about to attack. It's up to each of you to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team."