"Did you call her, or did she call you?" Keith was in surprise, how did Lance get the number?
"I called her. I got the number from online, because apparently you can do that. I did it when Hunk, Pidge, and you put on that fake ass show for Lotor." Lance was profound now.
"What did she say?" Keith asked, sitting down.
"She said that she was part of the generals, with: Ezor, somebody named Zethrid, and another girl named Narti. Then the leader..his name's Lotor. Coincidentally, they bullied a boy named Keith Kogane. His cousin, Takashi scared them away though." Lance spoke.
"What a nice fairytale." Keith laughed.
Pidge and Hunk walked out.
"Guys, we have confirmation that Lotor was in the generals. Lance called Acxa." Keith hesitated.
"Oh, great! So we'll spilt up. I want to get to know Keith better, so Lance and Hunk, you guys go look for Acxa. We'll find Ezor." Pidge smiled.
~ Later ~
"Okay, guys be careful." Hunk said.
"Yeah, you too." Pidge and Keith walked to the train station.
"So, I just realized, we've never really talked before." Keith said.
Pidge nodded.
"Yeah. I have a question..what are your intentions with Lance?" Pidge looked up at the boy.
"I hope..I hope I spend the rest of my life with him." Pidge gasped.
"Really! That's really cute!" Pidge was in awe.
"You're acting like Matt." They both laughed.
There was a short pause. But Keith wanted to tell Pidge what he was feeling earlier.
"Is it weird, I've known you for like what..2 days, and I feel the need to protect you." Keith hesitated.
"No, it isn't weird. It's called being a good person." Pidge insisted.
Keith and Pidge hopped on a train to Daibzaal.
"You nervous?" Pidge asked.
"Well, Yeah. I've haven't been here since my dad died." Keith sighed.
"Oh..what about your mom?" Pidge was getting to know Keith little by little.
"After the crash, she vanished. Like just disappeared. I have no idea where she went. She left Shiro and I to fend for ourselves." Keith looked at Pidge. She looked...sad.
"Oh.." Pidge looked down.
"What about your parents?" Keith asked.
"They left Matt and I a few years ago. Well, at least my dad did..my mom..she committed suicide after Matt, My dad, and I went on a trip and came back later than we were supposed to.." Pidge looked like she was about to cry.
"You, know, that's what happened to Shiro's parents. They killed themselves after Shiro moved to Daibzaal with my parents and I. That's why he's so serious all the time." Keith confessed.
"It's funny if you think about it. Your brother is dating my cousin and I'm dating your best friend, and we barely know each other." Keith said.
"Yeah."
~ 5 minutes later ~
The train arrived to Daibzaal.
They stepped out the train station, which was basically an old wooden structure with rails on the other side.
"So, this is where you grew up. Not bad." Pidge looked around at the advanced buildings.
"They've improved their generation since I left. This isn't the Daibzaal I remember. My Daibzaal wasn't blissful and gorgeous. It was run down, abandoned. With the generals running around, barely anybody was on the streets." Keith looked amazed at the new developments of his hometown.
People walked the streets prideful and possessed with joy.
"You know, Olkarion wasn't the best either." Pidge looked down.
"You grew up in Olkarion? Don't they have like, cool weapons and advanced technology there?" Keith was surprised.
"Yeah, I did. How do you think I'm the smartest of the bunch?" Pidge boasted.
"Please. I'm second smartest. Hunk's too pure to know anything, Lotor can't get his head out of his own ass, Lance is to playful and moody to actually have time to be observant. Matt is...well Matt's actually okay. Shiro is really serious all of the freaking time. Allura is obsessed with boys, and Coran is just too crazy to actually be smart." Keith described.
"Well played. Matt is..Matt though. So I think he would be third smartest. And since when is Lotor-the-sexy-man a part of the group?" Pidge wondered.
"Since yesterday. He literally fits right in." Keith came to a stop. He blinked.
They were about to cross the bridge that his parents crashed on. He hasn't been on it since.
At that moment, Keith felt nothing but distortion in his mind.
"Keith!" Pidge slapped him so hard it made a red imprint on his face.
"Ow! What the hell!" Keith rubbed his face.
"You were acting all weird." Pidge looked at him.
"This was the bridge the accident happened on." Keith gazed at the bridge, almost like he was he was there when it happened.
Pidge took his hand.
"Keep in mind. This is platonic." Pidge said.
Keith nodded.
They walked along the bridge.
"Thanks Pidge." Keith slightly laughed.
"Heh, I'm about to say something, and you'll never know what it means. Sei così gay che non è nemmeno divertente." Pidge laughed.
"What? What language was that?" Keith asked.
"It's Italian." Pidge chuckled.
"Ah, ask Hunk when we get home."
"Pidge!"
~ Hunk and Lance in Altea 5:42 p.m ~
"So where can we find Acxa?" Lance stumbled around, having a hangover from the vodka.
"She's supposed to be on the..5th floor?" Hunk looked at his little sheet of paper
"Ok. Elevator, right?" Lance was going towards the elevator, when Hunk pulled him back.
"That's only for Lotor, Lance." Hunk dragged him to the stairs.
"Damn Lotor and his high class business shit." Lance groaned.
"It won't be that long, if you would hurry up, Lan-" A gunshot.
Hunk's heart stopped. Lance grabbed on to him for protection. It was Thursday, how did people not hear this?
"Did you hear that?" Hunk mouthed to Lance.
Lance only nodded.
Another gunshot. Closer to them.
"Give me the money! This wasn't the deal, Lotor!" A female voice shouted.
"Holy Shit! Go, Hunk!" Lance loudly whispered. His voice still echoed through the empty room.
The two ran out, sweating dripping down from the hot weather, and from anxiety.
They sat on a bench across from the building.
They waited.
"Should we call the police?" Hunk said, staring at the glass doors.
"I don't know. It was Lotor." Lance gulped.
"That doesn't matter, Lance. Lotor is still a person. He has a heart, even if we like to deny it. Altea isn't the safest place in the world. Lotor isn't a threat." Hunk scolded.
"Are you sure about that?" Lance saw Lotor walking down the stairs. Wasn't he supposed to use the elevator?
"Hide! He's coming." Lance whispered. They snuck behind a bench. Lotor was getting into a black B&W, tinted windows. The driver was facing away from them, unfortunately they couldn't see who it was.
"Where's the girl?" Hunk said.
"I have a feeling that she isn't going to come out of that building, Hunk. At least not alive." Lance viewed the door.
"Should we check?" Lance asked.
"No! If that turns into a crime scene, I'm not having my DNA somewhere there." Hunk uttered.
"Okay." Lance mumbled.
They got into Hunk's van, and drove home.
"Are we going to tell Pidge and Keith?" Hunk asked.
"We have too."Lance blinked.
~ Keith and Pidge ~
"This is it. This is Ezor's house." The town teens eyed the old rusty house up and down.
"Ok." Pidge pressed the doorbell.
She was shaking.
So was Keith.
A girl with different assortments of color in her hair answered.
"May I help you?" The Girl was clearly confused.
"Hi. I'm Pidge, and this is my friend Keith. We would like to ask you a few questions." Pidge smiled, trying to make a decent first impression.
"Yes, come in." She looked oddly at Keith.
"Ezor. Are you aware of the whereabouts of a man named Lotor?" Pidge asked.
Ezor gulped.
"How do you know my name?" Ezor looked worried.
"Police Files." Pidge smiled, pulling out a badge.
Keith was wide eyed.
"So you're the police of Altea? Ok. No, I haven't seen or heard from Lotor since I was 13." Ezor said truthfully.
"How old are you now, Ezor?" Keith swooped in.
"I'm 19 years old, turning 20 in May." Ezor said.
"Do you remember Keith? From, past times." Pidge smirked.
"Yes, I do. He was one of our victims. His cousin, too. He was a hard shell to crack, though. Usually Lotor handled him because we couldn't get anything out of him. His cousin would usually come running up, saving the day." Ezor confessed.
"Why are you here anyways? Did something happen?" Ezor was pleading to know.
"We're sorry, m'am, that is confidential information." Keith grinned.
"Well, thanks for knowledge, Ezor." Pidge and Keith walked out of there like badasses.
"I can't believe we just pretended to be cops!" Keith was beaming with cheer.
"It's not the first time." Pidge quietly said.
She waited until they were a distance from the house.
"Keith. I planted a bug under the table." Pidge blurted.
"You what?" Keith was blown by Pidge's capabilities.
"So now, we can see if she was lying." They both grinned from ear to ear.
~ At Pidge's House ~
Hunk and Lance were fidgety and uneasy from what they heard.
Pidge and Keith laughed as they came into the house, shocking Hunk and Lance.
"Okay, table time!" Pidge said between chuckles.
"What..the hell...is table time, Pidge?" Keith was laughing his emo ass off.
Hunk and Lance tried to smile, but couldn't.
"Ok we'll go first." Hunk said.
"Um, so we were about to enter Acxa's building, and we heard a gunshot when we were walking up the stairs." Keith and Pidge's smiles dropped.
"We heard another one, then a female voice said something like 'This wasn't the deal,give me the money, Lotor' and then we ran out and sat on the bench across from the building. Lotor walked out with a leather brief case, but no girl walked out. He got into a black B&W." Lance gulped.
"So Lotor was definitely involved in this. That's no doubt. But who was the girl?" Pidge thought.
"Well, we went to Ezor's house. We impersonated cops. And she said that she hasn't been in contact with Lotor since she was 13. She remembers Keith and Shiro. She said Lotor handled Keith. But she said nothing about Shiro. So I planted a listening device under her dining room table. We can listen in at any time." Pidge explained.
"Nice job, guys!" Hunk tried to lighten the mood.
"All we did was hear a gunshot go off, which causes more unexplained things. All I do is cause problems. I was the one who called Acxa. She could be the one who was shot. Because of me." Lance sighed.
"No, you don't cause problems, Lance. You helped us today, now we know that Lotor's up to something." Pidge said.
"Yeah. Today was what I would call a success."
Keith said in the cheesiest way possible.
They all laughed.
"Oh, I found out 2 extra things to day, 3 actually. Keith's the second smartest in the group. Lotor is actually a part of the group, because he fits in with you other confused fucks, just kidding. But Lotor is a part of this group thing. Lastly, Keith is really gay. That is all." Pidge giggled.
"Oh please, I bet Lotor's gay, too. I can label you all right now. Some labels aren't true and you guys are just straight but...Hunk is pansexual, Pidge is transgender, Lance is already bisexual, I'm gay, Shiro's gay, Matt is bisexual, Lotor is an annoying shit head." Keith laughed.
"Pidge isn't trans, Keith." Hunk said.
"I know, that is what she gets for calling me her super gay friend." Keith huffed.
"Why are we talking about this, we should be focusing on the gunshot." Lance reasoned.
"True." Keith agreed.
"I think it's Acxa." Lance said.
"Me too." Pidge and Hunk spoke.
"It's... 6:46 right now. So if we go and sneak in, we'll see who it is!" Pidge said grabbing her bag.
They all jumped in Hunk's van.
Pidge and Hunk in the front, and Lance and Keith in the back. The sun was setting, an array of pinks, oranges, purples, and blues were spread across the sky.
When they were a block away, they saw sirens. Not just any sirens, police sirens.
.
Things are getting spicy. Lotor has something way bigger than you think up his sleeve. Don't worry, the generals will reunite soon! I'm going to try and incorporate Matt and Shiro more, I know some of you guys want them in here, so I will do.
- Rena T.
Word Count: 2136