🦁🦁🦁~~~~🦁🦁🦁
Shiro, Pidge and Novae stared at the monster in front of them, danger running down their spines. Novae felt her metal fist clench tightly, and she could her heart pounding in her ears, thumping away inside her chest.
'This is him...' she growled in her mind, 'This is the one who almost killed us. And they seem to have fixed his eyes. But I won't let him hurt anyone else.'
The Galran monster activated, its eyes glowing as it looked down at the three Paladins and locked onto them.
"Get to your Lions!" Shiro ordered.
As Shiro and Pidge ran to their Lions, Novae turned towards her Lion.
"Gold, transport now!" She shouted.
"As you wish, Young Star."
Novae closed her eyes as her body was engulfed with a flash of golden light. The next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes inside of the Gold Lion cockpit.
The Galran monster lifted its right arm into the arm, the weapon connected to his hand glowing with dark electricity. The weapon formed into an orb and the monster threw it towards the three Lions. Thankfully, the Lions were able to dodge the attack before they could be hit.
However, the monster had more tricks to play. Using the base of the weapon, the monster was able to direct the orb in different directions.
It swung the orb towards the Green Lion, who fired a laser in order to counter the attack. But the laser wasn't strong enough. It only clouded the orb with a thick layer of smoke before the Green Liom was thrown back by it.
Pidge groaned as he landed harshly on the hard Arus surface. As Pidge tried to grab his barrings, the monster began to run towards the Green Lion.
Novae saw this and pushed her Lion towards the Green one, landing in front of it so that she may protect her comrade.
"You will not hurt anymore of my comrades!" Novae shouted, firing a powerful laser at the monster. As soon as the laser touched the monster, it pushed him back, but only a few yards.
The laser stopped firing only a few moments later. The Black Lion advantage of the moment of weakness and jumped onto the monster's back, latching onto its neck in order to get a good hold on it.
The Galran monster grabbed the Lion and threw it over the Gold and Green Lions. Just before the monster could strike again, a barrage of lasers fired from the sky. The monster looked up and saw the Blue and Red Lions firing at him.
"Lay down some covering fire so they can get out of there!" Keith shouted, the Red Lion firing another laser.
"I'm on it." Lance said, firing with the Blue Lion's tail.
"Check this out! Battle-lion head-butt!" Hunk shouted, his running on the ground and head-butting the monster from the back. The monster stumbled forward and fell to its hands and knees.
"You guys okay down there?" Keith asked.
"Still alive for now." Shiro answered, making everyone sigh in relief. The Black, Green and Gold Lions flew up and hovered in the sky with the other Lions.
The Monster quickly stood back up and looked up at the Paladins with its terrifying gaze. Novae could feel her heart about to rip out of her chest, but she couldn't be afraid. She had fought this monster before and survive, if not barely.
She could do it again to save her new comrades.
"Are the Galra behind this?" Hunk asked.
"I think so, but I've never seen anything like it." Shiro answered.
"So, what's the plan? Shoot at it with everything we've got? Take out its weapon? Call it names?" Lance asked not knowing what to do.
"If we want to take this monster down, there's only one way to do it." Shiro stated, everyone knowing exactly what needed to be done.
The Lions roared loudly into the sky, their power radiating from them in forms of light.
"Form Voltron!"
The Lions flew into the air and changed their shapes to form the Legendary Defender, Voltron.
However, as the others sat in their cockpits, Novae closed her eyes. What everyone could not see is that her mind was connecting to her Lion. Becoming one and the same. It is powerful..... but......
When she opened her eyes, it as if she was more powerful than before.
"You do not need to do this, Young Star. It could-"
"Gold, please. What good of a Paladin am I if I am not willing to do this? My family would be most disappointed if I were to not give all of my strength to a battle." Novae mentally replied. The Gold Lion spoke no more.
Voltron landed on its feet on the ground, standing tall and proud in front of the monster as the Paladins prepared to battle.
"Remember, we are one unit, fighting with one goal." Shiro reminded the team.
The monster held up its right hand, the strange clawed spires at the base on the weapon spinning rapidly and powering the orb in the center. The monster saw his chance and threw the orb straight at Voltron.
Voltron ran forward, flying through the air and dodging the orb as they got closer and closer. Keith shouted when he pushed the Red Lion to strike forward, attempting to hit monster, but it was no use. The monster held out its right hand and blocked the Red Lion's attack before it could do any damage at all.
However, the Green Lion struck from below, hitting the monster under the chin and making it release the Red Lion.
Voltron jumped into the air, clutched its hands together and prepared to slam the monster into the ground. Voltron slammed down on the monster, its hands blocking the attack we gave as its body was pushed into the hard earth.
Suddenly, its right hand stretched out behind pulled it back towards itself. Voltron turned around when the team heard a strange noise from behind.
The orb came in quickly, slamming Voltron into the ground, athe team shouting in pain from the sudden attack from behind.
Novae, being connected to the wings on the back of Voltron, felt the pain from the attack, but masked her screams of pain with the others. When they opened their eyes and saw the orb coming back down for another attack, Voltron quickly rolled over to the left and dodged it.
"I thought Voltron was the most powerful weapon in the universe!" Keith exclaimed.
"Yeah, so how is this monster kicking our butts?" Hunk asked in fear as they backed away from the orb that chased them.
The orb flew past Voltron, but as it took Voltron's attention, they did not notice the heavy footsteps running towards them.
Just as Voltron turned around to face their enemy, the monster slammed into the warrior, hitting mostly the chest, where the Black and main part of the Gold Lion. Novae screamed in even more pain as did Shiro. It was painful for the Paladins, but for Novae, it was if she was feeling the strength of the punch personally.
Although, it wasn't the first time she was struck like that from this monster.
Voltron was thrown back over the mountains, the dust covering their line of sight, but as they looked up and over the mountain and saw the Arusian village just a few miles away from where they had landed.
"Oh, no! The village! We have to protect those people!" Shiro said urgently.
They stood back up and turned to face the enemy just as the orb was about to hit us. Voltron blocked the orb with both of their arms and the force of the blast threw them back towards the village.
Voltron activated its boosters from the two legs and flew back into the air before any damage could have inflicted upon the village.
"That was close!" Shiro sighed in relief.
"Do not sigh in relief just yet, Takashi. This thing is still operational." Novae said, grinding her teeth together not just in pain but in pure fury.
They flew past the monster, drawing its attention away from the village in order to keep the Arusians safe from harm.
"We got him away from the Arusians, but we can't take him down!" Pidge said.
"I got it! I'm going to power kick that orb thing!" Lance declared.
"No! The last time you did a kick, we fell!"
"Keith is correct, Lance. Do not rush into this." Novae agreed.
"Stop living in the past!" Lance said, denying the helpful advice.
Voltron turned around and flew as fast as it could towards the monster just as it released the orb.
Just like Lance said he would, he positioned his Lion to be in a kicking form, ready to hit the orb with all strength Voltron could muster.
Unfortunately, the orb missed the leg and came straight towards the head.
"Oh, no!" Lance grunted as the orb made contact on the head and chest. Voltron landed hard on the ground, but got back up on its feet quickly just as the monster ran towards them again.
"Pidge, fire lasers now!" Shiro ordered.
"Got it! Fire!" Pidge shouted. The Green Lion prepared to fire, but suddenly the red set wings on the back detached and formed some sort of shield connected to the Green Lion.
"Oops!" Pidge panicked.
"No! Lasers! Lasers!" Shiro repeated.
"No, Takashi, this is a good thing! Hold for a tick!" Novae said, pressing a few keys on her dashboard to make her commands. Within a second, the gold wings on the back of Voltron detached as well, connecting to the shield.
The gold wings created a second shield that sat upon the first one, forming a four pointed star shape and glowing a bright goldish-white color.
The monster hit Voltron, throwing the back and just as they got back up again, the orb took a shot and hit the team from the side of the head.
The orb returned to the weapon on the monster's right arm and stopped there for a moment while Voltron composed itself.
"Every time we focus on that orb, we're blindsided by the monster, and every time we focus on the monster, the orb hits us!" Hunk shouted in a panicked tone.
"Then what do we do?" Lance asked.
"Orb!" They focused on the monster and were once again hit by the orb, slamming them into the mountain behind us.
"Shiro, we gotta move!" Keith shouted to my brother, but there was no reply.
"Shiro, are you there? Shiro!"
"Takashi, are you all right?" Novae asked, but didn't get a reply.
What the team couldn't see was that Shiro was having a flashback to his times in the prisons. Dark times....
~~~~
A monster held a club high above his head, a glowing purple orb sitting at its base. He was powerful. He was strong. He was ruthless...
He was Myzax, a beast with no heart and no sense of mercy. And the champion of the Galra arenas.
Shiro, armed with a sword stood behind one of the pillars in the arena in order to protect himself. Novae stood close beside him, armed with dual blades, one in each hand.
She glared at the monster, a sense of determination to defeat him in her eyes.
"Novae, we can't use that plan." Shiro said.
"We must, Takashi. It's the only way to defeat him. I will take the damage. You must-"
"No!" Shiro shouted, "You can't do that! You have the most combat experience out of the two of us. You should be the one to deliver the final blow. I'll be the distraction..."
Novae frowned, contemplating the pros and the cons of switching their roles. Ultimately, she believed it was better if she took the final blow.
She nodded and ran out of their hiding spot with Shiro following close behind.
~~~~
"That sound..." Shiro said, remembering that fight, "I recognize this monster from my time in Zarkon's prison. I know how to beat him."
Even through that memory, he was confused as to what he and Novae were planning during that battle. And he was confused as to why he felt so much guilt and pain from that memory.
Novae felt her left arm twitch upon hearing Shiro words. She was afraid of him remembering that day. Afraid that Shiro would revert to.... that...
The monster ran towards to strike, but the team acted quickly, making Voltron jump and dodge the incoming attack. The attack meant for Voltron stuck the mountain behind them, causing the monster to become stuck for a moment.
They landed behind the monster and watched it as it took its right hand out of the mountain.
"Listen, there's a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon, and every third time, that orb needs to charge up. That's this monster's weakest point. That's when we strike."
"Okay, so what do we do in the meantime?" Hunk asked.
"Defense! Pidge, we need that shield! Novae, can you bring up that golden shield as well?"
"Of course, Takashi." Novae said, her voice slightly sad.
Pidge lifted the shield, Novae providing the Goldem outer shield, and blocked the orb that came rushing towards us. All of the Paladins grunted at the sudden force pushed against Voltron.
"That's one. Two more to go!" Shiro counted down.
The orb swung around and hit the shield once again, throwing them back as the force pushed us back.
"We can't take much more!" Hunk said through his pain filled tone.
"Remain strong, Paladins! There is only one more attack!" Novae shouted, biting back her own pain as the rest of her comrades were.
"Last one! Everyone, brace for impact!" Shiro shouted.
The orb hit the shield. It was powerful enough for Voltron to be thrown back once again, but the shield was knocked out of Voltron's hand, landing in the hard ground behind them.
The orb returned to the base of the right hand, charging for the next set of three consecutive attacks.
"Now!" Shiro signalled.
Keith pulled back on the controls and fired a laser at the monster, knocking it back into the ground. A thick layer of smoke and dust covered the monster as it lay on the ground, hiding it from the Paladins' sight.
Everyone sighed in relief, but Novae's nerves were still on high alert. She could still feel the monster's life flowing through its metal shell.
"Remain alert, everyone!" She shouted to her teammates, "It is still alive!"
"What are you talking about? We just kicked that monster's butt!" Lance shouted in disbelief.
However, Novae's words proved to be true. From the thick layer of smoke, the monster rose again.
"Novae was right! It didn't work!" Pidge pointed out.
"So, now what?" Lance asked.
The monster ran towards Voltron again, hitting them in the chest.
Everyone groaned as the impact form the monster as Shiro remembered something from the past yet again.
~~~~
Shiro was tossed back by Myzax, his wounds causing him great pain, but he continued to press on with the battle. After all he needed to distract Myzax long enough for Novae to strike from behind.
That was the plan.
Shiro was the bait.
And Novae would be deemed the champion.
However, things did not go as planned. All Shiro could clearly remember, was a bright white light, pain, and a heart wrenching scream that echoed.
When Shiro opened his eyes again, he saw that the orb was thrown into the wall of the arena before it returned to its base.
Shiro followed the orb back to Myzax, but his eyes widened when he saw the horrifying display from the enemy.
Myzax's eyes were slashed horizontally from right to left, the blood from his now nonexistent eyes dripping down his face like rivers of crimson stained waters. But the true horrifying scene was below his eyes.
Novae was screaming in pure agony as she hung from Myzax, her right hand gripping her right dual blade, while the left lay abandoned on the ground surrounded by red blood.
From Myzax's mouth, the red blood gushed from his sharpened teeth as he bit even harder into the part of Novae he was holding.
From in between his teeth..... was Novae's left arm.
Shiro couldn't look away, his mind and body paralyzed with horror and fear as he watched flesh from Novae's left arm rip. Somehow, he was even able to hear the gut wrenching sound of flesh ripping from the bone.
Novae screamed again when Myzax swung his head left and right, causing the arm in his mouth to rip and tear even more. It only took a few shakes for Novae to finally be released.... her arm ripped and torn horribly off of her shoulder.
She landed near Shiro, crying out in pain as she clutched her stump of an arm.
Shiro, without hesitation, ran to her side.
"Novae!" He screamed, almost dripping his sword, "Talk to me! Stay with me! Just stay with me!"
Novae couldn't speak, much less open her eyes to meet Shiro's worried gaze. Shiro placed his hand on her left side, but when he pulled his hand away, all he saw was his fingers and palms stained with blood.
With shaking eyes that threatened to fill with tears, he looked down to see what had happened to his friend.
There was no arm underneath Novae's fingers. Only blood gushing from stump created from the missing limb. Myzax had bitten so had that he ripped the arm from the shoulder violently, the bloody flesh falling off the now exposed bone. As the seconds passed, more and more blood flowed from the wound, staining her prison rags and her golden hair. The bits of muscles that were torn were so violently ripped apart, that you could only describe it as ground beef that was too raw to eat.
He tried to put pressure on the wound, but all he was succeeding in was pushing out more blood.
Novae's skin was becoming pale and sickly, her breathing becoming shallow. Shiro quickly picked her up and settled her against the wall, ripping a large piece of his shirt and tying off the wound.
"Stay here. I'll finish this for you." Shiro said, but before he could stand up again, he felt something grab his hand.
He turned back towards Novae and saw her eyes filled with so many tears. The tears washed away the blood on her cheeks, stinging the cut she had gotten previously in battle.
"Tak....ashi...." she said through her tears, broken voice and immense pain, "I'm.... sorry...."
Shiro's eyes widened. What was she sorry for? Why was she the one apologizing?
Shiro turned away from Novae, giving her hand a final squeeze before he glared up at Myzax, Novae's arm still in his mouth.
As if to taunt Shiro, Myzax spit the arm out at him, the dismembered arm landing right at Shiro's feet. Shiro stared at the lifeless arm at his feet, the pale fingers covered in blood as even more blood ran freely from the base of the arm.
Shiro's hand shook violently in his rage. He looked up at Myzax with new determination....
To defeat the monster who tried to kill his friend!
~~~~
Shiro quickly came out of his flashback, his forehead caked in sweat as his stomach turned at the memory of Novae's dismembered arm. He felt his anger rise again at the memory, but he could get revenge now. By defeating Myzax here and now, he could finally get his revenge for Novae.
"When I attacked him before, I had a sword!" He said.
"Orb! Orb!" Hunk shouted.
The orb struck Voltron, sending them deeper into a crater created underneath them.
"We can't take another shot like that!" Pidge shouted.
Just then, Keith felt something I the back of his mind. A soft noise sending instructions into his mind and guiding his actions towards his Lion.
"Wait a second, guys!" Keith suddenly said, "I think my lion's telling me what to do."
"Well, whatever it is, hurry up and do it! He's about to fire his third shot!" Lance urged.
The monster fired its third shot. Sending Voltrom flying back again. It jumped high into the air, ready to strike Voltron down.
Keith grabbed his bayard and stuck into a slot on the right side of his pilot chamber before twisting the handle hard. As soon as he did that, the Red Lion began to shine brightly, reaching to the left hip and pulling out a shining blade, as if pulling out a sword from its scabbard.
The newly created sword cut cleanly through the monster, slicing it in half and destroying it for good.
Voltron stood proudly as everyone cheered for their victory.
"How did you do that?" Hunk asked, just as amazed as the rest of the team.
"Whoa. Thanks, Red." Keith chuckled.
Novae breathed heavily as the team split into their individual Lions. She looked down at her hands and saw them shaking violently. She had used too much energy again.
Pair that with the fear of remembering that horrible day in the arena, Novae was almost sent into a painc attack.
"Young Star, please rest. You have done much already."
"You know I can not do that, Gold. I must remain strong for my comrades." Novae replied.
They returned in their Lions back to the Castle, and as they exited their Lions, Shiro was the first to collapse.
"Shiro!" Everyone shouted in worry, running up to their leader.
"What's wrong?" Keith asked, but was met by Shiro covering his mouth and running away from the group. He fell to his knees and threw up violently onto to ground.
"Shiro!" The team shouted as they watched their leader throw up everything in his stomach.
When he was done, Shiro stood up shakily, wiped his face and turned back to his team.
"Shiro, are you okay?" Pidge asked.
"I..." Shiro said, "I remember... that day in the arena...."
Everyone's eyes widened at their leader's words.
"Your memories came back?" Hunk asked, "What happened?"
Shiro didn't speak for a minute, but then, when he looked directly at his team, everyone could see the pain, sadness and guilt in his eyes.
"Novae...." he said, looking past his team at the golden haired woman standing behind them.
Everyone turned around and saw Novae standing tall, but her eyes were sad and filled with pain.
"I remember what happened to your arm." Shiro said. Novae instinctively grabbed her left arm, feeling the cold metal underneath her Paladin armor.
"Shiro, what are you talking about?" Lance asked.
Shiro walked past his team and up to Novae, who kept her head down as to not look into his eyes.
"You lost your protecting me. Myzax ripped your arm off, all because you saved me." Shiro announced, surprising everyone behind him.
Novae, no longer able to avoid the topic, nodded her head and looked back up at Shiro, a single tear falling down her cheek.
"Yes..." she answered, "What you say is true, Takashi."
"But how?" Keith asked.
Novae gripped her left arm even tighter, let out a deep sigh, and finally told the story.
"It was during our battle against Myzax." She began, "Takashi, you were paired with me to fight him. Though we were much weaker than him, we still continued to fight. However, we were outmatched and needed a plan to defeat him. I suggested that I become a distraction while you snuck behind Myzax to make the final strike."
"But I switched our roles." Shiro interrupted, "I thought that since you were more experienced in combat, that you could make the final blow easier than I could."
"I was afraid of this change in roles, but you seemed to be determined and your logic was reasonable. So, I agreed to the change." Novae said, "I ran out first, and you followed just behind me. As you diverted Myzax's attention, I used the smoke from the orb's hits to sneak behind him and climb onto his back. Just as I was about to deliver the final blow, I saw you fall. Myzax was going to kill you with the orb on his weapon. I couldn't let you die.... so I slashed his eyes and diverted his attack. However, as I was going to jump off of him, he caught my left arm in his teeth. The rest is self explanatory."
Everyone was silent, even Shiro was too shocked to say anything other....
"Why did you keep this secret?"
Novae let her arm go and put her hand on his shoulder.
"I thought it better to keep that day in the past, as it was best for your mind and sanity." She answered, confusing everyone, "After I lost my arm, you became enraged. True, your rage caused you to defeat Myzax, but it caused your mind to break terribly. You lost consciousness immediately after the battle and did not awaken for three days. During that time, I was given this arm to replace my missing left arm. When you had finally awakened, your senses were still on high alert. You continued to look for the enemy, and it took me a good while to calm you. As soon as you saw my prosthetic arm, you became quiet and begged for my forgiveness. 'It's all my fault,' you said. 'If I hadn't fell, you wouldn't have lost your arm.' It was heartbreaking to see you as you were, and no matter how I reassured you that you were not at fault, you continued to blame yourself for my loss."
"But... but it was my fault." Shiro said, "If I had just not fallen, you wouldn't have had to save me and you would still have your left arm."
"Takashi, it is not your fault that I lost my arm. I was slow in my reactions and because of me being slow, I lost my arm. Besides, if you were to die, then the Black Lion would not have awakened. Voltron would not have been formed and the universe would not have hope for the future."
Novae smiled at Shiro, who continued stare at her with shock.
"By sacrificing my arm, I saved the leader of Voltron. By my small sacrifice, I helped give the universe a fighting chance. And I'd gladly do it again if it meant saving the universe's only hope for freedom."
The Paladins were either crying, or completely shocked into silence. They didn't know what to say to her, and if they, how long would it be until they burst into sobs.
"Why did you apologize back then?" Shiro finally asked, "You said that you were sorry. Why?"
Novae frowned and pressed her hands to ths stone that sat over her heart.
"I was apologizing for the scene that you had to witness. It is because of my slow pace that my arm was caught and ripped off, and because of this, you had been mentally broken. For that, I had to apologize. Now that you remember, I shall apologize again for what you had witnessed and remembered."
Everyone was silent once again. Shiro felt the guilt and hatred towards himself. She lost an arm because of him. How could he ever forgive himself for that? And how could she smile so easily with all this trauma in her mind?
"I believe I shall retire for a time. You may wake me if I am needed." Novae said before heading back to her room, leaving the team to think about what she had just explained.
As soon as the door to her room closed, Novae collapsed onto her bed, breathing heavily and clutching her chest.
"It hurts so much..." she whispered through her pain, "For this much damage and exhaustion, I will have to rest until this evening."
Even though she was in pain, Novae changed into her sleepwear and fell fast asleep, her dreams reminding her of happy times before the pain.