K A Y D E N
The entire team was on the bridge, completely startled by the large red alert on the screen and the blaring alarms.
"What's going on?" Keith asked.
"Yeah, these have never gone off before," Pidge added.
"Allura, what is it?" Lance asked.
I glanced back at Allura, her eyes wide and lips agape. The sight made me slightly worry, and glance towards Coran who had a similar expression.
"Looks like you guys just saw a ghost," Hunk commented.
"That's just the thing. It's an old Altean distress code. One used by King Alfor's ships," Coran revealed and I stared at the red alert with surprise.
"Could it be? Are we not the last Altean's alive?" Allura spoke aloud, with hope.
"Wait," my voice came out stern, the paladins and princess looking at me, "What is someones cloning the signal and trying to lure us?"
I looked down at Keith, since I was standing beside his new seat. The male pursed his lips, "It's a big possibility,"
"The signal is from an Altean ship, and we're going to find it!" Allura disregarded the two of us, her little pillar things rising up.
"Princess, it isn't hard to cloak a signal. Especially that of an extinct race..." I warned her.
Allura either didn't hear me or ignored me. Whatever the case, I grunted steadying myself with the back of Keith's chair as the ship launched into a wormhole jump. I looked at Coran, "Any chance the white paladin has a seat?"
Coran glanced back with an amused grin, "The white paladin never had a seat. As far as I recall, they would always stan beside one of the other paladins, or if wanting a seat, use an empty one of the paladins. For example, the seat for the blue paladin,"
I just blinked and sighed, sticking with standing. We exited the wormhole and the sight in front of us made me gasp. It was huge swirl of light, looking similar to a really bright black hole. The difference, other than the light, was that there was a front half of a ship sticking in it.
"That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle," Allura informed, "One of my father's deep space vessels,"
"According to the ships identification code, it's Commodore Trayling's ship," Coran said after getting a fixed read of the Altean shuttle, "But I don't see any records of it's destination or mission,"
"What happened to it?" Lance asked.
"Is it stuck in a wormhole?" Hunk added.
"That's unlike any wormhole I've ever seen," Coran responded.
The readings of the light hole showed on the screen. Scanning the readings, I explained to the others, "There's a massive amount of energy emanating from it centered right where the ship is stuck,"
"We have to see if anyone aboard. They may need our help," Allura declared and I couldn't help but scoff under my breath.
As much as I found the princess a close friend, I am not fond of her rudeness. I understand this was her home and her people, but I can't help but think if it were any other type of signal, she wouldn't be so pushy and have been conscious with the mindset this could be a trap.
"We could send a probe over," Pidge offered, "see if we can get some kind of idea what this thing is?"
"Do it," Keith nodded.
I watched as the probe was launched from the castle and flew over to the Altean ship. Pidge was looking at the readings sent back from the probe, and quickly informed, "The energy shows no signs of radioactive decay and it's not thermal,"
"It's not gravitational, our probe is steady on course, and the light is radiating out not in, like a black hole," Hunk also commented.
"But out from where?" I asked.
"That energy signature, I know it," Coran exclaimed, "It's radiating quintessence!"
The shock spread throughout all of us. I looked at the quintessence hole with shock, watching as the probe went closer and closer to the powerful energy. The second it came into contact, the probe crackled blue. Hunk spoke for all of us, "Ooh! That's weird!"
"Okay, well, let's not go anywhere near there," Lance chuckled nervously.
"We must," Allura disagreed.
"Hold on. Didn't you just see what happened?" Hunk asked the princess
"Voltron's compositional strength far exceeds anything else in this universe. We received an Altean distress call, which must mean that someone is alive on that ship," Allura aruged, "As paladins of Voltron it is our duty to help,"
"Princess, I still think there's a chance that this whole thing is a trap," Keith turned to look at her and I frowned, "Sorry, Allura. But I'm with Keith on this. It seems a bit too good to be true,"
"Even if its not a trap, its far too dangerous to go in there," Coran agreed with us
"Coran, are you positive that's quintessence?" I asked, Coran pulling up the energy signatures on the screen as he said, "Yup. I've seen the readings numerous times before,"
Allura gave us a challenging look and I sent one back and sighed, "Allura, that hole is radiating quintessence,"
"Quintessence is one of the most powerful and precious energies throughout the universe. It's literally the blood of the universe and everything in it. The castle, the lions, planets, us, Earth," I frowned with deep doubt, "From my time in the Galra prison, I've visited Haggar...many, many, times,"
There was a slight pause where the memories flickered through my eyes. I pushed them away and kept speaking, "The Galra are after quintessence. And lots of it. The Komar example was built to suck out quintessence from planets. And it's a miracle it didn't kill all of you when you were stuck with it! It's a powerful substance...and I don't think it's a coincidence we get this signal now. We want to help you find your people, but Allura there's to many risks and holes,"
Allura stared at me, before turning away, "I'll do it myself If I have too,"
Keith stood up as well and my eyes narrowed at the princess's back. Keith looked at me and then hardened his eyes, "She can't go in there alone,"
"Yeah, I know. Let's go," I sighed and walked to the shute that led to my lion, loudly saying so Allura could hear, "But if something goes wrong, I'm in charge for a week!!"
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* •̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Voltron was formed and all of us flew closer to the quintessence radiating thing. As we got closer, the white lion's energy scanner was off the charts, just furthering the conclusion that this was indeed quintessence.
"All right, let's take it slow," Keith warned, "Pidge, Kayden, any chance you can explain what I'm seeing right now?"
"The Euclidian Space around the ship is obviously some kind of anomaly," I began.
"But..the energy source doesn't originate from anything that registers with my understanding of how reality works,"
"I'll take that as a no," Keith summed up and I rolled my eyes amused.
"I'll scan the ship for biorythms," Hunk announced and a couple seconds later he informed, "That's strange. I'm not showing any signs of life on the ship,"
"Maybe not in this half, but there is more to this ship than we're seeing," Allura pushed, "We need to go through there,"
"The glowy-explode-y area?" Lance doubted.
"Kayden, keep an eye on Voltron's vitals," Keith ordered, "Everyone, be prepared to abort if things get hairy,"
"Roger that. Ready to abort immediately," Hunk quickly agreed.
I let go of my controls, focusing fully on the screens. They were shared with Pidge as a second confirmation, who was much better at analyzing data than I am. Voltron's began to slowly move, getting and closer and closer to the blinding white. As Voltron began to enter, the beeping in the White Lion sped up and I gulped, "Guys, my sensors are going crazy. Pidge?"
"I see it. Technically we should be torn apart the same way the probe was," Pidge agreed with me, "But somehow Voltron is completely unaffected by the stress of spatial distortion,"
The light encased all of us and my senors went haywire for a second, before lowering down as the light faded. I looked out the window, seeing open space and the rest of the ship. Glancing back at the glowy portal thing, it was now behind us, "We must have crossed through because that's the front of the ship,"
"Wait," Allura said and Voltron turned to look back and flew above the glowy circle thing, "The back half of the ship, its gone! Coran! Coran! We've lost sight of the castle!"
I typed away, trying to get a signal, "Coran, are you there?"
"Where'd he go?" Keith questioned.
"And where did that planet come from?" Lance observed the planet that was now in place of the castle.
I looked at my sensors and frowned in confusion, "According to my sensors, we're still in exactly the same place before. Pidge, what are you reading?"
"I've got the same,"
"Guys, this is going to sound strange, but now I'm picking up multiple biorythms aboard the ship," Hunk revealed.
"Alteans!" Allura gasped
"Well, it seems like we've only got one clue to help us figure out what's going on, and it's floating right over there," Lance spoke for all of us.
Voltron disassembled back into six lions. We all flew down to the ship, landing the lions on the top safetly. Quickly, we all grabbed activated our helmets and lowered out of the lions and onto the ship. Allura found the hatch, opening it up and leading all of us down into the Altean shuttle.
There was no gravity, so we were using our jetpacks on move. Not to mention the hallway was completely dark, other than the light from the open hatch. Allura looked down the hallway, activating a light on her gauntlet.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Her voice echoed.
When no answer was received the Altean female ventured further, the rest of us following. I glanced back at the lions warily, before hurrying after the younger ones. Call my clingy, but these kids have grown on me these past weeks. Sure, technically Allura is 10,000 years older, but she's still a teenager, at least Keith's age- maybe older.
Our breathing was heavy in the helmets and our sources of light were from Pidge and Allura's gauntlet. We flew through the hallways quietly, looking around the seemingly abandoned ship. A hiss of a door opening, made us all turn, Allura quick to shine light down the new hallways.
"Oh, man. This place is totally freaking me out," Hunk admitted, "does it feel like a haunted ghost ship to anybody else? it just me?"
I placed a firm hand on his shoulder, "No. There's definitely something strange going on,"
Allura flew down the hallway, all of us following after her. We twisted and turned, leading into a room this time. Allura flew in, looking around before shining her light on what looked like a control panel. Flying closer to it, Allura placed her hand on the black panel, lights activating in an instant.
The gravity also activated, all of us landing on our feet, while watching a clutter of old boxes and objects clatter to the ground. The entire room was empty other than old supplies and the panel. Keith asked aloud, "So, did the crew abandon ship?"
We all scanned the room, my eyes pausing on a space suit slumbed against a wall near Lance. The red paladin noticed it, turning around and approaching it, "I don't know, but they couldn't have gone far without their spacesu--"
Lance screamed in fear, dropping the helmet of the spcaesuit and running backward, "Those aren't empty!"
I gasped, horrified with the skull sitting there, a broken monocle placed on where the eyes should be. I walked over to the decayed body, crouching down beside it. I scanned over it, my knowledge of death from both Earth and the Galdiator ring aiding me. A sorrowful sigh passing my lips, "They've been dead for a while. This body-- at least, from the skull, is completely decayed of skin and muscles,"
I stood up and walking away from the dead Altean. I paused seeing Allura's sad face, before she turned to the panel and typed away. A transmission showed up of an Altean man with gray hair and beard, blue altean markings, and the same gold monocole the skeleton had on. I was quick to piece together who it was.
"We located the second comet based on King Alfor's information. We managed to get it on board but it seems to be causing massive disturbances. We're heading back to Altea, but I don't know if we'll be able to make it that far. At this rate--"
A bright white light came in from the right most side of the video, the Altean man screaming in horror as the light grew brighter and encased the entire transmission, the screen shutting off. Hunk spoke for all of us, "What happened here?"
"Something deadly," Lance looked at the dead commanded body, then to Hunk.
Hunk pulled up his screen on his wrist gauntlet, "This still doesn't explain the biorythms I picked up in this area,"
I turned to him and then rushed forward, pushing him behind me as a vent from the ceiling was broken down, two people rushing in. They wore black helmets and dark green, gray space suits. One of them, the shorter, had a bunch of arms and a longer torso. The other...seemed more human, a gun clasped tightly in his hands.
I glared at them, activating my bayard in an instant, fingers curling around the white staff, the silver grip supporting for easier control. Lance activated his bayard and ran forward, "Look out!"
He fired at the shorter one, who turned to charge at Lance. Hunk ran past me and tackled the shorter. I charged at the taller, who ducked under my staff and swiped my feet from beneath me. I grunted, glancing up to see them aim their gun towards Lance. Before they could fire, Keith charged forward with his sword, cutting the front of the gun and leaving It useless. Then without a second miss, he gave a strong punch on the black helmet.
I got to my feet as Keith was kicked back by the attacker, Lance shooting at them. The attacker threw something towards Lance, which hit the paladin on the helmet. The force caused Lance to be knocked back. Growling, I charged again, seeing them activate a sword. The person quickly avaded me, pulling a roundhouse kick and sending me to the back wall. I grunted, staff slipping from my fingers and glanced up to see the person running straight at Lance. They jumped, ready to swing at the red paladin.
I grabbed my staff, pushing myself up, but paused as Pidge fired with her bayard, hitting the person on the helmet. The attacker flew back near where I was, using their sword to stabilize themselves.
I stood up standing in front of him but froze as I saw his face. Pidge had broken his helmet. The staff clattered from my hand and I was completely frozen as the rest of his helmet fell away, confirming my thoughts. I heard the astonished gasps of the others. I looked at the male who resembled Shiro, noticing something.
This shiro had darker skin and longer black hair. No white tuff. Not scar bridging over his nose. I grunted, grabbing my staff and glanced towards Hunk who grunted as the shorter person hit him away and back towards the others. The shorter attacker jumped back to his partner, the black screen of his helmet giving view to his face, which resembled Slav. The Shiro counterpart stood up, picking up his gun and sword fading away. He held up the gun, pointing at the others.
"No way, Shiro!" Hunk announced.
"How..." Keith's trailed off.
"Stay back!" Shiro's counterpart said with a thick accent.
I narrowed my eyes, standing in front of the others before charging at him.
"Kayden, what are you--" Pidge was cut short by the Shiro reassemble.
He smirked, meeting me in the center and throwing the other his gun. I yelled out my emotions, this wasn't Shiro. I swung at him, the black-haired male catching my staff and the two of us pushing the staff against one another. I glared at him through my helmet, not amused with his smirk, "I like the staff, not like my sword though,"
The accent made that comment even more annoying. I grunted, hailing my strength and pulling one hand back and summoning the staff back into a bayard, startling the other male. Activating the staff again on the other hand to distract him, which it worked. With my legs, I turned around, giving him a kick towards his neck. My breathing hitched as he caught my ankle, pushing it down and trying to make me fall.
I spun on my other foot for balance, using my staff to try and hit him again, but it failed as he knocked it away, twisting me back and holding me in a harsh chokehold. I yelled in protest, trying to get free by elbowing his gut but the man grabbed my other arm and laughed, "You're a good fighter,"
He let go of me, kicking me towards the others, Keith stabilizing me and stopping me from charging again. The man grabbed my staff, twirling it around with amusement. I noticed the directed smirk.
"Drop it," I spit and the male's just chuckled, "So, he does speak,"
I narrowed my eyes, "I was going easy on you, you little shit!"
The man stopped twirling the staff and I could hear Keith curse me in Korean for being an idiot. I ignored my brother and the team, focusing on the black-haired male, who threw the white and silver staff in the air.
I pushed away Keith, jumping up and grabbing it by the black marked center. Landing on my feet, I ignored Lance's call and rushed at the Shiro lookalike, again. I didn't know why I was so set on fighting him, just that it had something to do with my frustration and the emotions the mans face brought up. The man smirked, unmoving and waited for me to swing at him. I noticed and smirked.
I swung at him with my fist, deactivating the staff. He moved to duck, but I was faster, dropping down and swiping his feet. He grunted in surprise, falling down. I summoned the staff again, pinning him the floor and pressing the staff just below his chin. The male caught the staff, holding it away from his neck while I tried to push it down. Though my soon victory was short lived and I yelped as I was rolled over, this time the Shiro counterpart pinning me down with the staff, roles now reversed and the same dumb smirk plastered on his face, "Ah, you were close,"
"Oh, just you watch you--"
"Are you done messing around? We don't have time for this!" Another accented voice said and both the male and I glanced to the Slav look-alike.
The male on top of me made a small 'heh' mumbling, "I was enjoying myself," and got off me. I growled, staring at him as I sat up but this time, returned a bit closer to the others. The Shiro look-alike, took back his gun, pointing it at us, "If you've come for the comet, you'll never get it,"
"I'll die before I let it fall into Altean hands," The second person said.
I heard a bayard deactivate and saw Keith lower his guard and raise his hands, "Shiro, please--"
"That is not Shiro," I cut him off as the black-haired male said, "My name is not Shiro,"
"What the heck is happening right now?" Hunk demanded, "did everyone get amnesia and wake up with weird accents?"
"You know us?" The Slav look-alike questioned.
"Of course, we do!" Lance claimed, "You're Shiro, our leader. Paladin of the Black Lion?"
"That is not Shiro!!" I practically snarled, "He could never be,"
"Would you like to lose to me again staff wielder?" The male smirked and I had to control my feet from moving.
"You're Slav. I rescued you, along with Kayden, from a space prison!" Lance kept going and I had to resist the urge to break Lance's helmet to shut him up.
" I don't know a 'Kayden'" Slav's look alike said.
"I'm Kayden," I informed sarcastically, "The guy who's going to beat your buddy's ass once I get the chance,"
Shiro's look alike scoffed amused and I glared at him, eyes hardening as the black haired male casually spoke, "This one's my favorite,"
Lance added, ""You're also slightly crazy, Slav,"
"I may be crazy, but you've never rescued me from anything before," Slav's look alike claimed, "Unless..."
"you're from an alternate reality!" Slav's lookalike gasped the same as Pidge said, "This is an alternate realty,"
"Uh, what's that now?" Hunk asked.
"I think, when we passed through that glowy, explode-y area, we entered an alternate reality," Pidge theorized.
"You mean, like, what Slav was always talking about?" Lance clarified, lowering his gun a bit and, "Well not you, yeah, but a different you. One that talks about alternate realities a lot,"
"Oh, that's him," Shiro's look alike said with a bored groan.
I chuckled at his annoyance, but stopped when he turned to me again.
"Why did you attack the captain and his crew?" Allura spoke up.
Shiro's look alike glared at her, "Stay back, Altean!"
"We found the ship this way," Slav's lookalike told her, "But I can't say I'm sorry they're gone,"
There was a faint beeping from Slav lookalike's suit. He pulled up something on his wrist gauntlet and gasped, "Oh, no! More Alteans!"
"Wait! More Alteans?" Allura repeated and I got a bad feeling.
"Their scanners must've picked up on your arrival," He said and closed his gauntlet backing up to under the vent, "Sven, let's go--"
"Go where?" I suddenly announced, surprising everyone, including myself.
"Why, Want to lose again?" Sven smirked and I glared at him, "No, we don't need the extra toubles Sven,"
"It doesn't matter where, If I were you'd I run, " Slav's lookalike said. Sven and I connected eyecontact and I felt my wall crack a bit as he sent a small smile, before Slav's lookalike hoisted him back into vent, Slav's lookalike quickly following after.
I gritted my teeth looking down fiercely at the floor, reminding myself mentally, "that's not Shiro"