***EDITED***

A/n: I am completely nervous in uploading this! I'm screaming internally and fear what the reactions will be. Hopefully, they'll be positive! Also, I will try to keep an episode in a single chapter. I'm not sure how far I'll go with this story, but I hope it's far. Love you all!!!
~✨Celestial✨~
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~3rd Person POV~

"They seem like a promising bunch," a young girl smiled as she watched a group of boys enter a small hut in the middle of the desert. "Although, do they have the wits, knowledge, and stamina to become paladins? I guess I'll have to wait and see." Her white hair whipped in the wind as she nimbly jumped from her perch and landed on a smaller boulder a few feet below the plateau. She kept her golden gaze glued to the hut as she watched from a distance.

A few minutes passed and two boys left the hut. One had a tuff of white hair and the other wore a red jacket. Unable to hear them from how far she was, the girl clicked her tongue and waited for them to make their move. "I've given you the clues. Now, just follow them."

Ten minutes flew by and both boys returned inside. The girl rolled her eyes and bit her bottom lip. "I hope I made the right choice or Allura will truly be angry at my decision." The girl bit her nails as she sat down and crossed her legs.

Eventually, the boys left the hut and she jolted to her feet. "Finally!" Running ahead, she found the cave that she had given the boy with a mullet clues to and waited in silence.

<—————<<<<<<

"Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky," Lance comments as they wander through the desert.

The device in Hunk's hand picked up a signal, the invention now beeping loudly. "I'm getting a reading." He looks up and spots a cave entrance. When he caught a glimpse of something entering the cave, he froze in his steps. "Uh, did you see that?"

"See what?" Pidge asked, eyeing the cave entrance.

"Something or someone just entered the cave. Y'know, we should just turn around and forget any of this happened." Hunk turned on his heels, but the boy was stopped by Keith.

"What did they look like?" He questioned.

"I-I don't know! I didn't get a good look! All I saw was white!"

"What's going on, Keith?" Shiro inquired.

"Someone's been watching and giving me information to the strange things that have been happening out here. Whenever I try to get a better look, they always disappear."

"Do you think they're friendly?" The older boy wondered.

Keith nodded. "If they weren't, I'm sure they wouldn't be giving me information and would've attacked me by now."

Lance rolled his eyes and ignored them. He entered the cave with a reluctant Hunk and an excited Pidge. Shiro and Keith noticed and followed after them. Inside the dark and damp cave, the group admired the numerous of carvings on the wall. "What are these?" Shiro gazed at a single carving.

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

Lance approaches a carving and touches it, causing all of them to radiate with a bright blue glow. Lance gasped at the sight and shouted. "Whoa... Whoa!"

"Hey, they've never done that before," Keith remarks as he and the others admired the sight.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them collapses and the five slide down a slippery slope. Pidge clutched tightly onto Hunk's hair as the two screamed at the top of their lungs. They fall into a shallow pool of water, drenching themselves from head to toe. Lance recovers and spots the mechanical beast only a few feet away.

Pidge gaped at the sight. "Is this it? Is this the Voltron?"

"It... must be," Shiro said.

"This is what's been causing all this crazy energy out here. Whoever's been watching knew this was here the whole time," Keith stated. "Looks like there's a force field around it."

The Cuban boy felt a strange sensation as he got closer to the lion. "Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?"

"Hmm... No," Shiro replied.

Lance paced back and forth in front of the lion. "Yeah. The eyes are totally following me."

Keith approached the mechanical lion and placed his hands on the force field that protected it. "I wonder how we get through this."

"Maybe you just have to knock," Lance shrugged, knocking a couple of times on the force field. The barrier dissipated and ignited the area around them in a blue glow. The team sees a vivid image of Voltron forming from five robotic lions in their minds. They all gasped when the vision faded. "Whoa..."

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

Hunk nodded. "Voltron is a robot! Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!"

The smaller one of the group was shocked to the core at the imagery. "And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are."

Shiro eyed the machine and muttered to himself. "This is what they're looking for."

"Incredible," Keith said in awe.

The blue lion suddenly lowers its head and opens its mouth to allow them inside, terrifying Hunk and Pidge. Lance hesitates, but gleefully enters and takes a seat in the cockpit. "Here we go." The seat jolts forward, making Lance scream, and the command console activates. "Heheh! All right! Very nice!"

The others enter the lion and stand behind Lance. Hunk glances at his companions with a small drop of sweat running down his forehead. "Okay, guys. I-I feel the need to point out, just so that we're all, y'know, aware: we are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now."

Lance senses the blue lion communicating with him as he heard a dee purring. "Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?"

"Hear what?" Keith questioned.

"I-I think it's talking to me. Hmm... Um..." The blue lion roars loudly, causing Pidge and Hunk to scream. "Okay. Got it. Now, let's try this." Lance tightens his grip on the controls and bursts through the cave wall with the lion. Pidge and Hunk continue to scream their heads off as the lion maneuvers through the air doing multiple flips.

Keith had a death grip on Lance's chair as he watched his surroundings spin. "You are. The worst. Pilot. Ever!"

Lance ignored Keith as he was too absorbed in flying inside the mechanical beast. "Isn't this awesome?"

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Hunk begged, his stomach doing somersaults.

"I'm not making it do anything. It's like it's on autopilot," Lance explains.

Keith eyes the boy in the seat with a small glare. "Where are you going?"

"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 wondered.

"Well it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of," Lance said, glancing at Pidge before quickly turning his eyes back to the controls.

"Well if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone. Sorry, lion. Nothing personal," Hunk said, trying to reason with the others.

Shiro shook his head. "You don't understand. 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."

Hunk regretted his words the moment he absorbed Shiro's words. "Oh. Never mind then."

The blue lion roars and the group hears a different roar from close by. The companions looked to their right and saw another beast flying beside them. Their eyes widened in horror as they recognized the large creature from plenty of movies, books, and video games. Pidge couldn't believe the sight before her. "I-Is that a dragon?!"

"It's a space dragon!" Hunk cries out. The boy was soon distracted from the creature as they saw a large ship. "Uh... Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?"

Shiro's eyes widened in fear. "They found me."

"We've got to get out of here!" Pidge shouted.

"Hang on!" Lance yelled, maneuvering the lion through space. Everyone was screaming as the alien ship got closer. "All right. Okay, I think I know what to do."

Pidge held onto Lance's seat. "Be careful, man. This isn't a simulator."

"Well, that's good. I always wreck the simulator. Let's try this." Lance dodged the lasers and spots the dragon from earlier flying toward the ship. "What's it doing?!"

Shiro watched the dragon as it knocked out a few cannons with just its tail. "It's helping us. Nice job on dodging, Lance."

Lance was more than happy at the compliment. "Okay, I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet. Maybe that dragon will help us."

The group watched as the creature destroyed another set of cannons that were aimed at the blue lion.

"Oh, no!" Hunk gasped as the ship began stalking them.

"They're gaining on us," Pidge states as the ship closed in on their position.

"It's weird. They're not trying to shoot us. They're just chasing."

"That might be because that dragon out their destroyed all their cannons," Keith retorts. "Or, it's because they want this thing."

"Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this new direction, guys," Hunk voiced up.

"Where are we?" Keith peered into the vastness of space.

"Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos." Shiro nodded toward the moon.

"It takes months for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds." Pidge states, passing Pluto's fourth moon. Suddenly, their view was obscured when the dragon made another appearance. "Is that thing following us, too?"

"It's not attacking and protected us so I guess it's on our side," Shiro said, admiring the beast's white scales.

As they traveled through space, a wormhole opens before them. Hunk stared at the large rift. "What is that?"

"Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there!" Lance yelled.

Pidge gazed into the darkness of the wormhole. "Where does it go?"

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

"Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together," Shiro answered.

Just then, the dragon roars loudly and directs its golden gaze at them. It then flies through the wormhole and disappears. Lance grinned as he knew the answer. "All right. Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow." The blue lion follows the dragon through the wormhole and it seals behind them.

On the other side of the wormhole, they all gasped. "Whoa. That was..." Lance trails off.

Hunk turns away from the others and vomits on the cockpit's floor. "So sorry."

Pidge eyed Hunk with a faint frown as she watched the boy spew up his breakfast. "I'm just surprised it took this long."

"I don't recognize any of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from Earth," Shiro said, gazing at the stars all around them.

Lance spots a strange planet that was close by. "The lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think... I think it's going home. Guys, personal space. Hunk, your breath is killing me," the boy complains, glaring at said boy.

Hunk ignored Lance and remained where he was. "Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion and following a space dragon, anyway?"

"Both got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but we're in an alien warship," Keith responded, unamused at their current predicament.

"Oh, are you scared?" Lance retorts with a grin.

"With you at the helm? Terrified."

"All right, knock it off. No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together." Shiro's gaze bounced between the group with a small sigh.

"So, what do we do?" The bespectacled girl asked.

"First, we find out where we're headed." Shiro glanced at the boy in the seat. "Lance?"

"I... don't know. I'm sorry. The lion's not talking to me anymore. Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shh! Listen. I think I hear something," Lance smirks as he grabs everyone's attention.

Keith hones his hearing and listens closely. "I'm hearing it, too."

Hunk could hear the strange noise, as well. "It's, uh—It's kind of a—a high-pitched squeal?"

When the others realized Lance had passed gas, they all groaned and plugged their noses. "Come on, Lance!"

"But seriously, there's a castle up ahead," Lance stated as they flew into the planet's atmosphere and spotted an enormous castle.

"Wow," they gasped in unison.

Lance landed the lion safely in front of the castle's entrance. As they exited through the machine's mouth, Shiro warned the group. "Keep your guard up."

Pidge glances up at the older boy. "Something wrong?"

"My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again."

As they all stood outside the lion, the metal creature stood on its legs. Hunk shook his head in fear. "No, no! I knew it was going to eat us! No!"

The blue lion roars, causing the castle's entrance to glow. The door slowly opened, revealing a passageway. Hunk sighed in relief. "Oh, the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you." Then, the dragon from earlier landed beside the lion and roared. "Never mind! We're gonna get eaten by the space dragon!"

Everyone stepped back besides Keith. He took a step toward the creature and Shiro tried to stop him. When he refused to listen to the older boy, Keith eyed the dragon. Its body was enveloped in a bright light, blinding everyone for a few seconds. When the light vanished, a girl stood in the dragon's place. She clapped her hands together as Keith's eyes widened. "Welcome!" The boy was baffled as he saw her hair was white and her eyes were golden. Deep down, he felt as if this girl was familiar, but he pushed the feeling aside. Looking closer, he saw two small horns about the size of his palm on top of her head. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you all!"

Lance stormed over to the girl and immediately grabbed one of her hands in his. "Hello, beautiful~"

The girl ignored the compliment and just smiled. "You're Lance, the playboy of the group."

"Wait, how do you know my name?" The boy titled his head in confusion, still holding the girl's hand gently.

"I know everyone's name here. There's Shiro, the leader. Hunk, the sweet one. Pidge, the smart one. And Keith, the hothead." She pointed to everyone as she matched names to faces with ease. Keith frowned as she called him a hothead. He kept his lips shut as he crossed his arms.

Lance spotted the horns on her head and was amazed. He grabbed each one and tugged on them. "Are these real?"

The girl smacked his hands. "Of course they're real, you moron! Didn't you just see me turn into a human?" Lance fell silent at her insult and realized how dumb his question truly was. He pouted and pulled away from the mysterious girl. Seeing as he was finally silent, she clapped her hands together once again. "Now, how about we go inside?"

"Do you really think we trust you?" Keith retorts harshly.

"Keith," Shiro scolds the boy.

The girl sent Shiro a small smile. "It's fine." She then turned her golden gaze to Keith. "No, I don't expect you to trust me. Though, I hope to earn your trust in the future." The boy was surprised by her reply, but he was also happy at it.

Lance smirked and grabbed her hand again, pressing a gentle kiss on top. "Well, you already have my trust, cutie."

She pulled her hand away and stepped in front of the others. "Let's go inside. There are others I need to introduce you to."

The five followed the girl inside the castle and saw a stairwell. "From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger," Pidge comments.

The girl stepped onto a platform just below the stairwell and an electronic voice rings out, causing the five to gasp. "Hold for identity scan."

Pidge looked around the room to find the source of the voice. "What?"

A ring of light scans the girl as the computer verifies her. After a few moments, the scan is complete. "Welcome, Arcadia Crios." The lights flicker on, revealing a passageway that led further into the castle.

"I guess we're going that way," Pidge said as the lights guided them.

Keith had been listening to the computerized voice and gazed at the girl. "Guess that's your name."

"Yep! The name's Arcadia Crios. Now, follow me."

As they walked down the hallway, Hunk's voice resounded through the corridor. "Hello?"

Through the maze-like castle, the five followed Arcadia through large, open rooms and narrow hallways. Hunk kept repeating "hello" and the snowy-haired girl rolled her eyes, knowing the sweet boy wouldn't receive an answer.

Lance caught up with Arcadia and walked beside her, his curiosity boiling over as they entered a large room. "Where are we?"

"The control room. Hold on a moment while I wake our hosts." Arcadia walked over to the console, Pidge following close behind as she was curious about the castle's technology.

As Arcadia typed away, two pods emerged from the floor. Hunk nearly screamed when he saw the two people inside. "Are these guys... dead?"

"No, they're just asleep." She pressed a button and one pod opens. A smile graced her features as she saw her old friend awaken.

"Father!" The girl gasps as she falls from the cryo pod.

Lance was the closest and caught her before she hit the floor. When the boy got a better look, his cheeks turned red and he tuned into his playboy habits. "Hello~"

Arcadia bit her knuckle, desperately holding in her laughter. She already knew where this encounter was going. Her friend glanced around the room and didn't notice Arcadia. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Lance. And you're right here in my arms," he coos, trying to swoon the girl.

Lance's ears caught her attention. "Your ears."

"Yeah?"

She scowled at the sight. "They're hideous. What's wrong with them?"

Lance began to pout like a child. "Nothing's wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!"

Then, the situation escalated. The girl grabbed Lance's arm and pinned it behind his back, sending the boy to his knee. "Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?"

Lance winced and whimpered at the pain. "A giant blue lion brought us here! That's all we know! Arcadia, help me!"

The girl released Lance at the sound of the familiar name. "Arcadia?" She immediately glanced up and saw said girl waving at her. She darted over and hugged her tightly. "You're alive!"

Arcadia's smile grew as she returned the hug. "It's been a long time, Allura."

"Oh, thank the ancients you're safe!"

"I hope you're not mad, but... I brought you your new paladins," Arcadia whispered.

Allura peered around the room, eyeing each individual for a few seconds. "Can they be trusted? Are they worthy of Voltron?"

"I chose them out myself. I awoke five years ago and headed to Earth in order to find people who would make the perfect paladins. Now, they're a little rough around the edges, but I know they will succeed."

Allura's eyes widened a small fraction. "That means..."

"Zarkon is still alive."

"How long have we been asleep?"

"I'm not sure."

"Um, hello?" Lance called out to the two girls.

Allura and Arcadia faced the five and the princess introduced herself. "I am Princess Allura of planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep."

She went to the console and placed both her hands on it. Then, the other cryo pod opened and a man with a mustache jumps out and gasped. "Enemy combatants!" He spots Lance and delivers a kick, but the boy easily dodges. "Quiznak! You're lucky I have a case of the old "sleep chamber knees." Otherwise, I'd grab your head like this, wrap you up like so—and one, two, three—sleepy time!"

"Well, before you did that, I'd—" Lance performs a multitude of moves with sound effects to demonstrate his skills to the man. "Like that."

"Really? How could you do that when I've already come at you with this?" The man shows off more of his moves. "Ha, ha, ha, hey!"

Hunk admired the two. "Man, these guys are good."

Suddenly, Allura gasps in shock. "It can't be..."

"What is it?" The man asked.

"We've been asleep for ten thousand years!"

"That means I've been asleep for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-five years," Arcadia stated.

Allura analyzed the image of her home galaxy closer. "Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization..." The princess erupted into rage. "Zarkon!"

"Zarkon...?" Shiro mutters as he recalls the monster's face.

Allura nodded. "He is the king of the galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people."

"I remember now... I was his prisoner. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron."

"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does."

Coran disappeared for a few minutes before returning with a plate full of green goo. "Princess, you must eat. It's been ten thousand years!"

Allura shook her head, a frown present on her face. "I'm not hungry."

"Man, ten thousand years? That's like one thousand plus ten," Lance said.

Keith scowled at the Cuban boy and corrects him. "That's times ten."

"Whatever, dropout," Lance scoffs.

Hunk placed a hand over his stomach. "I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starving."

"Yeah, but you've thrown up, like, five times," Pidge stated.

"Hmm... Good point." Hunk began eating the food goo that floated only a few inches away from him. When he tasted it, he shuttered in disgust but kept eating.

"I can't believe your civilization created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago. It must have been an incredible place," Shiro complimented as he admired the altean technology surrounding him.

"Yes, it was... but now it is gone and we're the last alteans alive. Although, the draconians were more advanced than us." Coran glanced at Arcadia, who was standing beside Keith. She saw the man's eyes on her and looked away at the mention of her own people. Allura pulls Arcadia into a comforting hug and Coran comforts both girls by patting them on the back. Then, they heard a squeak from Allura's sleep pod and is happy to find four altean mice.

Allura smiles at the sight of the small creatures. "Looks like we're not the last, after all."

The castle's alarms blare, causing everyone to stiffen. An image popped up on-screen as they recognized the warship. "A galra battleship has set its tracker to us!" Coran yells.

"How did they find us?!" Allura gapes at the image in pure surprise.

Lance glowered at the back-haired boy beside him. "I'm not sure, but I bet it's Keith's fault."

Keith was unamused and not surprised by Lance's comment. "Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better... after getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!"

The Cuban boy edged closer to Keith as he got in the boy's face. "I'll stick you in a wormhole!"

Seeing the feud between the two boys, Shiro steps in and intervenes. "Stow it, cadets! This is no time to place blame, it's time to work as a team." He then glanced at Coran. "How long before they arrive?"

"At their speed? Oh, well, uh, carry the two... I'd say probably a couple of days?" Coran shrugs lightly.

"Good. Let them come. By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire!" Allura declares with pure anger.

Arcadia placed a hand on the princess' shoulder. "Allura, calm—" She was cut off when Hunk belched loudly from all the food goo he ate. Arcadia's eyes widened at the sudden interruption as she looked at the culprit.

Hunk met her gaze and promptly apologized, wiping a few pieces of goo he had around his mouth. "Sorry! Food goo."

Shiro met Allura's heated gaze and ignored Hunk's rudeness. "Princess, there are five of these lions. How are we going to find the rest?"

In the castleship's bridge with a crystal looming above, Allura stands in the center with Arcadia by her side. Coran stood beside the humans as he spoke. "King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force. She alone is the key to the lions' whereabouts." Allura activates the computer, opening up a map of the entire universe.

"Whoa!" The humans stared in awe.

Pidge watched as she spotted an image of two lions that were located close by. "These are... coordinates. The black lion looks like it's in the same location as the blue lion."

"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage!" Coran smiled as he leaned in closer toward Pidge.

Allura smiles at the small girl. "Very observant. That's because the black lion is in the castle."

"To keep the black lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present."

Allura nodded in agreement with Coran. "As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. That's why Arcadia chose the five of you. She believes you can form strong bonds with the lions and truly become paladins. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain." Allura sends the black lion hologram towards Shiro. "The black lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the black lion."

Next, the princess moves the green lion's hologram toward Pidge. "The green lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the green lion. The blue lion—"

Lance interrupted Allura as he smirked at the two girls. "—Whope, hold up, let me guess: Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?"

"More like the most arrogant and idiotic pilot," Arcadia murmurs, but everyone heard her. Keith, Pidge, and Hunk snickered while Shiro couldn't help but smile at the snarky comeback. Lance's jaw fell open in disbelief at the hurtful comment and dropped his head.

Allura wears an annoyed expression and then continues. "The yellow lion is caring and kind."
She sends the hologram of the yellow lion toward Hunk. "Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."

Finally, Allura sent the hologram of the red lion toward Keith. "The red lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the red lion."

Lance pointed at Keith, who was grinning at the hologram of the red lion, with a scoff. "What? This guy?" The inky-haired boy glared daggers at the brunette as he decided to remain silent.

Like earlier, Allura ignores Lance's rudeness. "Unfortunately, I cannot locate the red lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years, it... might need some work."

"I think the castle needs more than a little work, Allura," Arcadia comments.

"Don't worry, we'll find it soon. They don't call me "The Coranic" for nothing. It's because it sounds like "mechanic." So... Coranic, mechanic. It's not—It doesn't sound... exactly like it. It's similar," Coran said, confusing himself in the process.

The hologram lions roar and charge together, forming Voltron. "Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe," the princess exclaimed.

"Awesome!" Hunk chants.

"Oh..." Pidge sighs.

"Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?" Hunk glanced between the three aliens.

Shiro looks around at his team. "You know we don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the green lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Keith, you stay here. If you locate the red lion, go get it."

"In the meantime, I'll get this castle's defenses ready. They'll be sorely needed," Allura comments.

"I'll ready a pod and load in the coordinates so that you can reach the green lion." Coran heads to the console and begins preparations.

The two teams take off, Lance with Hunk in the blue lion, and Shiro and Pidge in a flight pod. Allura readies herself to open a couple of wormholes with the castle's power.

"We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Enjoy the trip!" Coran explains nonchalantly.

"Wait—" Pidge calls out.

"Wait! What? No! Okay—!" Lance screams.

"I did not receive the memo on this," Hunk said just before he, Lance, Pidge, and Shiro disappeared into the wormholes.

Allura and Arcadia sighed in relief once the bridge became quiet. The princess glances at her best friend with a small smile. "You've chosen quite a strange bunch."

"They're not that strange. I chose them for a reason and I know they'll defeat Zarkon," Arcadia proclaims. "I'm gonna go explore since it's been nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-five years."

As Arcadia left the room, Keith followed after her. Something was buzzing in his mind ever since he met the strange dragon shifter and decided to put it to rest. He followed her to the entrance and to where they had first met her. She walked outside and stopped, causing Keith to halt his advances. She turned and smiled at the boy. "Y'know, if you have something bothering you, I'm here to listen if you need to get it off your chest."

"Um, yeah, I do," Keith replies, exiting the castle.

"Go ahead. I'm all ears." Arcadia sat on a collapsed column and she waited to hear Keith's complaint.

"It was you, wasn't it?" He asked, standing in front of her.

Arcadia was lost at his question. "What do you mean?"

"You were the one giving me the clues that led to us finding the blue lion. You're the person I kept seeing in the desert."

Arcadia smiled and pointed to her own nose. "Bingo~!"

"Why not just show yourself and explain?"

The girl raised a brow as she crossed her arms. "So, if I had said there was a giant, robotic lion residing in the desert, you would've believed me?"

"... Good point..."

Arcadia giggles, uncrossing her arms and kicking her legs back and forth. "Thought so. That's why I left clues at your doorstep and hoped you would follow them eventually. Though, I never expected the five of you to actually come together. That was coincidental. I thought I'd have to force you five to see one another and team up. Glad it all worked out in the end."

Keith leaned against the column, arms crossed as he sighed in relief with closed eyes. The buzzing in his head had ceased and he was now able to make sense of everything. Suddenly, he felt fingers in his hair and his eyes shot open. "What're you doing?"

"Touching your hair. It looked soft and I'm not disappointed," Arcadia smiled widely, combing her fingers through Keith's hair. She pulled her fingers out of his black locks and pulled her long, white hair over her shoulders. "You can touch mine in return."

Keith huffed in laughter. "You're one weird girl."

<——————<<<<<<

After a lengthy chat between Arcadia and Keith, the two headed back into the castle and to the bridge. Allura and Coran were tinkering with the castle's controls, desperately trying to figure out all the issues. The door to the bridge opened and Pidge, Shiro, Hunk, and Lance entered. The princess smiled at their safe return. "You made it."

"Yeah, just barely. That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!" Lance whined.

"Think how I felt. I am Hunk!" Hunk cried out.

"Yeah. We had a tough time, too," Pidge said, sending a smile to Shiro who also sent his own to the small girl. Arcadia knew she was lying, but she knew exactly why she did and decided to remain silent.

"Did we find the red lion yet?" Shiro inquired.

Coran nodded. "Allura just located it. There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the red lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's on board that galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus!"

"They're here already?"

"Yes. Guess my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting is—it's more of an art than a science." Crown held up his fingers, gesturing to the limbs.

They were interrupted as the screen lit up and a galra appeared. "Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, lord of the known universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to—"

Arcadia leaned over the console and disconnected the feed. "Nope. Not listening to that."

The older boy of the group faced his team. "All right, let's not panic."

"Not panic? Th-The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us. We only have four lions," Hunk said.

"Technically only three working lions," Pidge corrects him.

"That's right. Thank you, Pidge. Three working lions, a space dragon, and a castle that's, like, ten thousand years old."

"Actually, it's ten thousand and six hundred years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather—"

"Coran!" Arcadia shouts, silencing the altean advisor.

"Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!" Hunk shouts.

Then, Allura remembers something as her eyes lit up. "Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate."

"Do you know if it's functional?" Arcadia questioned.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough."

Lance smirked at the best friends. "Girls, you've already activated my par-"

"Lance!" Shiro scoldingly yells.

"The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever. The galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last," Coran stated.

"Panic now?" Hunk asked.

Shiro shook his head. "No. We've just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly."

"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day," Lance declares.

Hunk raised his hand. "I second that. Yes. I mean, we tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have three. We can't form Voltron. I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about."

Lance grabbed Arcadia's hand and pulled her closer. "Then, it's settled. Allura, Arcadia, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy."

Arcadia pulled her hand out of Lance's. "We are not abandoning this planet!"

"She's right. We can't just abandon Arus. The galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them," Pidge said.

"Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we get out of here," Hunk proclaims.

"Sendak could destroy the planet then come after us anyway. Staying is our only option," Keith said.

Lance narrowed his eyes at Keith. "Here's an option: shut your quiznak."

"I don't think you're using that word correctly," he scowled.

"What do you know, Mullet?"

"We're staying," Keith said.

"Leaving!" Lance shouted back.

"Staying!" Pidge joined in on the screaming.

"Snake!" Hunk yelled out of nowhere.

"Guys, stop! Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?" Shiro inquired.

"I... I don't know," Allura casts her gaze to the floor.

"Perhaps your father can help," Arcadia and Coran said in unison.

"My father?" She looked between the two.

"Coran, will you take Allura to go see King Alfor?" Arcadia asked the advisor. He nodded and guided the princess out of the bridge.

"So..." Lance mumbles. "How about we get to know each other before we die?" He asked, blue eyes trained on Arcadia.

"We're not gonna die," Arcadia and Keith harmonized, the two sharing glances after realizing what happened. She cleared her throat and leaned against the wall behind her. "Why do you want to know about me?"

"Well," Hunk spoke up. "You got these cool horns on top of your head, these cool-looking eyes, and you can turn into a dragon!"

"Coran said you're a draconian. Tell us something about them," Pidge calmly said with a smile, eager to know more about Arcadia's people.

Arcadia's melancholic gaze burned into the floor. She tugged on a strand of her snowy locks as she tried to think of something. When nothing came to mind, she met the small girl's gaze. "There's nothing to tell."

"There's gotta be at least one thing, right?" Lance pressed the girl for information.

Seeing as she didn't want to talk, Keith stepped in. "Hey, just drop it."

Lance glowered at Keith and crossed his arms. Arcadia was surprised by the boy's intervention, but she thanked him with a smile as he glanced at her. A fraction of a smile appeared on his face as he saw Arcadia's own smile.

Allura returned with Coran a few minutes later, determination written all over her face. "You five paladins were brought here by Arcadia. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. We are the universe's only hope."

"We're with you, Princess," Shiro said.

Allura leads them to another room where she presents them with their suits. "Your suits of armor."

"Cool!" Lance comments as he admired his armor along with the others.

Coran stood in between Allura and Arcadia. "Princess, Arcadia, are you sure about this? They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer."

"No, but they're all we've got. Arcadia believes in them and so do it," the princess replies.

"They won't let us down," Arcadia reassures the advisor.

"Boys, it's time to suit up!" Shiro declares and they changed into their paladin armor.

Once they were all changed, Allura revealed their bayards. "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin."

Hunk's and Lance's bayards turned into guns, Keith's transformed into a sword, and Pidge's turned into a katar. Lance notices how small it is and grins. "Aw, you got a cute little bayard."

Arcadia saw the look in Pidge's brown eyes and tried to stop her. "I wouldn't—!"

But it was too late. Pidge shocked the Cuban with her bayard, causing the boy to scream out in pain and collapse on the floor. A triumphant grin passed over the small girl's face. "Yeah, it is pretty cute."

Arcadia could see the smoke rising form Lance's body as he had a dazed expression on his face. She placed a hand over her mouth and eyed the boy on the floor. Keith came over and glared at Lance. "He deserved it."

The girl beside him couldn't help but let a small giggle escape her lips. She quickly cleared her throat to try and hide it, but Keith heard it all too well. She sighs in amusement. "Yeah, you're right. Too bad I wasn't the one doing the deed. Would've more enjoyable."

Pidge overhead their conversation and walked over. "I could give him another jolt for you if you want me to."

"Actually," Arcadia smiled. "I'll get my revenge at a later date."

"Make sure I'm there," Pidge said.

"Me, too," Keith smirked.

Allura frowned at Shiro gloomily. "Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin."

"I guess I'll just have to make do," he responds, glancing at his mechanical arm.

"You'll need to retrieve the red lion from Sendak's ship," the princess said.

Keith stared at the image of the warship. "That's a pretty big ship. How are we gonna know where the red lion is?"

Pidge glances at the red paladin. "Well, it's not a matter of "we." It's a matter of "you"."

"Pidge is right. Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and, like, track it down," Hunk explained.

Lance nodded. "Yeah. You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?"

Keith sent a hard glare at him. "Yeah. You made fun of me for that."

"And I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo."

Allura stepped forward. "Keith, remember, the red lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect."

"All right. Here's our plan of attack. The Galra Empire knows about the blue and yellow lions, but they don't know we have the green lion, too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up. While Sendak is distracted, Keith, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the green lion. Keith and I will find the red lion while Pidge guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, find some way to take down that ion cannon," Shiro explained thoroughly.

Allura butted in before the five could depart. "Take Arcadia with you."

"Princess, I don't think—" Shiro started but didn't finish.

"She's well-trained and can handle herself in tough situations. She will be your biggest asset on the inside."

"Allura, maybe I should sit this one out," Arcadia said.

"No! You can aid them in their search and knock a few heads in if necessary. Now, go get dressed!"

Knowing she couldn't change the princess' mind, Arcadia headed to her old room and changed into the only other outfit she had.

She returned to the bridge and all eyes were on her. Lance smirked as he took in her appearance. "And I thought you couldn't get anymore beautiful."

Keith and Shiro glared at the blue-eyed boy in disapproval. Arcadia adjusted the front of her attire, ignoring Lance's playboy attitude. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's go," Shiro answered.

Shiro, Pidge, Keith, and Arcadia entered the green lion while Hunk and Lance climbed into their respected mechanical beasts. They flew out of the Arusian atmosphere and headed to the galra warship. As planned, Lance and Hunk distracted the enemy while the others infiltrated the ship from underneath. "Pidge, what's your ETA?" Lance asked over the communication link.

"We're in," she replies.

Inside the warship, the group ran through the corridors in search of the red lion. Shiro suddenly stopped as a wave of pain hit him that accompanied his memories. "I've been here before. After I was taken by the galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here."

Pidge's eyes brimmed with hope. "So, that means your other crew members, they might be held captive here. We... We've got to rescue them."

"Pidge, we don't have time. We have to get the red lion and get back to Arus."

"But we can't just leave prisoners here!" Pidge yells.

"Look, no one understands that more than me, but, in war, we have to make hard choices. Now, let's get moving."

"No! Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos Mission with you."

Shiro was in shock at the revelation. "Commander Holt is your father?"

"Yes. I've been searching everywhere for him and my brother. And I'm not going to give up looking when I'm this close. I won't!"

Shiro saw how much this meant to Pidge and decided to free the prisoners. "I'm coming with you."

Keith was shocked at the sudden change of plans. "What?"

"I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, you go find the red lion with Arcadia. Just remember, patience yields focus." The door down the corridor opens and sentries emerge from the room. "So—run!"

Keith grabbed Arcadia's hand and took off in a random direction. "Great. You wouldn't happen to know your way around one of these things, would you?"

"Sorry, Keith. This is my first time on a galra warship."

"Guess we'll have to take a few risks."

Keith and Arcadia stopped to catch their breath as they reached a branching hallway. The red paladin took off without her and she waited for his return. When Keith found himself running in circles as he passed Arcadia for a second time, he groaned in frustration. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Arcadia placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Calm down and just breathe, Keith. You're going to wear yourself out much quicker at this rate."

Keith knew she was right and inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly with his eyes shut. "Patience yields focus." He cleared his mind and was finally able to sense his lion, eyes flying open with a smirk on his face. "Gotcha." He grabbed Arcadia's hand once again and ran in the direction they had split up with the others.

They entered a room and were greeted by the sight of the red lion. "Bingo." Keith ran over to his lion and placed his hand on the crimson barrier. "Let's get out of here. Open up. It's me. Keith. Your buddy." The lion's barrier didn't retract, angering the boy. "It's me! Keith, your—I am your paladin!"

The door to the room opened and Arcadia quickly took action. She nimbly dodged the lasers and attacked the sentries. She delivered kick after kick as she forced the enemies to back up and focus all their attention on her.

Keith saw Arcadia couldn't keep all the sentries busy by herself. He then started to yell at the red lion. "I'm bonding with you! Hey! Come on! We're connected!" A laser nearly hit his head as he turned around and formed a shield. "You're not getting this lion!"

"Keith!" Arcadia yelled as a few sentries got past her.

The boy looked at the control panel in front of him and got an idea. "Arcadia, hold on to something!"

The girl searched for something to hold on to, but it was too late. Keith hit the button and the floor below them opened, sucking the enemies and the girl out of the ship. Keith watched in horror as she screamed in fear. "Arcadia!" He let go on the control panel and used his jetpack to reach her.

She felt her eyes bouncing around in her head as her body stopped spinning. "I feel sick..."

Keith reached her and grabbed her arm, pulling her close so she wouldn't float away. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just... really dizzy."

"I forgot you can breathe in space."

"Well, that's one thing I can tell Lance."

"I think he already knows that."

"He never said it had to be new."

The red lion appeared and grabbed both teens in its mouth. Now inside the cockpit, Arcadia removes herself from Keith's lap and stood beside his chair. The boy took the handles and smiled. "Good kitty. Let's roll."

The two flew back to the castle and saw the others were already there. Keith landed the red lion in front of the black lion with the other Lions of Voltron. The lead lion's eyes radiated yellow as it stood up and roared loudly, earning roars from the other lions, as well.

Coran cheers at the sight, but his excitement was short-lived when the castle's alarms were triggered. "Oh, quiznak!"

"Sendak is entering the arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now!" Allura shouts. The five paladins enter their lions and depart from the castle.

The ion cannon fired, hitting the castle's particle barrier. Arcadia gripped tightly onto the console, gritting her teeth. "Guess we really should've deactivated that ion cannon before grabbing the red lion.

Coran glances at the princess with worry. "The barrier gets weaker with every blast. Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless."

Allura contacts the paladins. "I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now or we'll all be destroyed!"

"Jeez, no pressure," Hunk muttered.

"Hunk!" Arcadia scolds.

"Sorry!"

Arcadia recovered and stood next to Allura. The princess shouted into the comm links once again. "Quickly, paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!" Another blast from the ion cannon caused Arcadia to lose her balance, causing her to fall to the floor and hit her head. She winced, but she pushed through the pain and stood up. "I'm going to go and take out that ion cannon."

"Be careful, Arcadia. I cannot lose my best friend," Allura said.

She smiled in reassurance. "I will. I'll be back before you know it."

<—————<<<<<<

"What the cheese?" Lance stared up at the tractor beam he and his comrades were trapped in.

"Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!" Pidge shouts.

The warship fires the ion cannon, its target still the castle. The particle barrier dematerialized and Shiro gasped. "Oh, no!"

"I-I don't care what you say, Shiro. I'm panicking now!" Hunk said before screaming.

"It can't end here!" Pidge hollered.

"This is it!" Lance bellows.

"It's been an honor flying with you boys," Keith spoke up. Just then, they heard a familiar roar. Keith was the first to recognize it and glanced to his right. "Is that—?"

"Space dragon!" Hunk shouted jubilantly.

"It's Arcadia!" Pidge yelled, smiling at the sight of the dragon. The beast used her body as a wrecking ball and crashed into the ion cannon. From the damage, the paladins could tell it was irreversible.

Shiro felt hope as he saw Arcadia flying around. "We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can't give up. We are the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail! We won't fail! If we work together, we'll win together!"

The others yelled in harmony. "Yeah!"

Their lions roared in unison and combined to form Voltron. "I can't believe it!" Keith said.

"We formed Voltron!" Pidge excitedly announces.

"I'm a leg!" Hunk chants.

"How are we doing this?" Lance questioned.

"I don't know, but let's destroy this ship!" Shiro proclaims.

With help from all five individuals working as one, they were able to take down the ship. Arcadia flew beside Voltron as all five lions separated from one another and headed to the castle.

"Good work, paladins!" Allura cheers as the five paladins leave their lions.

"Thanks, pretty lady," Lance smirks at the princess.

Arcadia landed and transformed back into her human-like form. Hunk walked over to her and wrapped her up in his arms, squeezing the life out of her. "You're the best space dragon ever!"

He released Arcadia and she coughed. "Do you know any other space dragons?"

"Um, good point."

Shiro smiled. "We did it."

"Heck yeah, we did," Keith said, smiling.

"How did we do it?" The oldest boy questioned.

"I was just, like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it," Hunk answers honestly.

"We're not going to stop searching until we find your brother and father. Wherever they are, I know they'd be proud of you," Shiro said, earning a smile from Pidge.

"We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions," Allura stated.

"Good thing you paladins know what you're doing, because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again," Coran grinned.

"Totally. Wait, what?" Hunk asked with wide eyes.

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time," Lance groaned.

"And you only had to fight one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe," the altean advisor said.

Shiro beamed at Coran's words. "Defenders of the Universe, huh? That's got a nice ring to it."

"Don't worry. All the of us will help you in any way we can. None of you are alone in this endeavor," Arcadia said as she stood next to Pidge.

The small girl beside her smiled up at her. "Thanks, Arcadia."