*WILL BE EDITED LATER*

A/n: I had way too much fun typing up this chapter. I'm pretty proud of it and that's something I don't say very often. There are some big changes in this chapter, but it still follows the episode. I hope you all enjoy! Love you all!!!
~✨Celestial✨~
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Explosions rippled throughout the void of space as Voltron soared around to avoid the last beams of the three ships piloted by Ezor, Acxa, and Zethrid. The mighty defender swooped under and over asteroids, diving left and right in an attempt to confuse the three galra generals. Voltron headed straight for the pod to try and stop Shiro, but the three sincline ships prevented from reaching it. Swarming together, the three ships combined their lasers and formed a powerful blast directed towards the paladins.

The two wings of Voltron detached from its back and interconnected to create a shield just in time to block the laser. The force from the blast connecting with the shield pushed Voltron back. The mech was forcefully pinned against one of the asteroids floating aimlessly in the vicinity and was unable to move.

A frightened Coran, who was watching the fight from the castleship with Romelle and Krolia, saw Voltron was struggling and contacted the paladins. "I'm headed your way."

Keith promptly responded, knowing it was a bad idea. "Coran, no! The Castle of Lions barely survived the first time we fought one of those ships. You'll only—" He cries out in pain as the laser grows with intensity.

"Keith is right, Coran, the ship's defenses will never hold!" Allura bellowed, gripping the controls of the blue lion tightly.

Pidge analyzed the life signs of Voltron, seeing they couldn't remain pinned to the asteroid for long without suffering some heavy damage. "We can't take this much longer!"

"Do you guys have any ideas?" Lance asked his teammates.

At that moment, Keith was only able to think of one thing to do and contacted the castleship. "Coran, fire just below our position!"

"What?" Coran surprisingly gasped, believing the idea to be crazy.

"Destroy the rock we're pinned against. Now!" Keith commanded.

Coran aimed the castle's ion cannon at the asteroid Voltron was pinned against. Calibrating it, he slammed his fist against a button on the console and fired. The ion cannon blew the asteroid to smithereens, allowing the mighty defender to be pushed back into the void of space and easily maneuver out of the way.

As the shield morphed and returned to the back of Voltron, Keith gave the next order. "Lance! Pidge! I need you to get us some cover."

"Right!" Lance replied.

"On it," Pidge said.

The blue and green lions' mouth lasers were activated as Voltron soared through an asteroid field. The lasers blew up smaller asteroids, creating an array of explosions in hopes the sincline ships would fall victim to them. Zethrid, Acxa, and Ezor were excellent pilots and avoided the explosions with ease, promptly catching up to the mighty defender.

Keith, not realizing how close the three ships were, searched for the altean pod. "Who's got eyes on Shiro?"

The sincline ships each shot out a line, tethering themselves to Voltron and stopping it from moving. They dragged the mech back towards an asteroid, releasing the tethers and flying to safety as it slammed into the giant rock. Chunks of the asteroid floated off into space around the collapsed Voltron.

The paladins recovered from the attack, each one sweating from exhaustion. They all were in pain, but there were no injuries. Pidge lifted her head, confused. "What just happened?" Far from their position, they noticed a bright flash of purple and gasped. "Is that...?" The green paladin's voice trailed off.

"A wormhole?" Lance finishes her inquiry. A large purple wormhole was open with the altean pod heading directly for it.

Keith saw the pod encroaching on the wormhole. "They're trying to escape."

"Haggar," Allura growled, glaring at the wormhole. "It has to be Haggar. She must have gained the ability. But how?"

"Arcadia mentioned Master Zenio was working with Haggar. Do you think he was able to help her?" Pidge asked.

Keith wasn't sure what the green paladin was talking about and pushed it aside. All that mattered was stopping the pod and saving Shiro and Arcadia before they disappeared into the wormhole. "We can't worry about that. We have to make sure we get Shiro and Arcadia back."

"But Shiro's not Shiro anymore," Hunk remarked. "And who knows what he's done to space dragon!"

Keith has a death grip on the black lion's controls. His fingers trained against the handles, remembering how frightened Arcadia was when she contacted him. All he could hear was her begging him to save her before the link was severed. Gritting his teeth, he raised his head and responds to Hunk. "I know, but something is wrong with him. The galra or Lotor have to be behind it. You all know he would never give up on us. We can't give up on him. If we do, we'll lose both him and Arcadia." He glanced down, seeing the crystal necklace Arcadia made for him hanging around his neck. "And there's no way I'm losing either of them."

With newly found determination, the paladins were able to get Voltron back onto its feet. It boosted off the rock and soared through an asteroid field towards the pod and sincline ships that were trying to reach the wormhole. Activating the thrusters, Keith wondered why one wasn't working and pulled up a damage report. "Guys, one of my thrusters is down. Can you compensate?"

"Those beams torched our power core. I've never seen anything like it," Pidge commented.

Hunk searched for an alternative and found one. "We've got maybe 30 seconds of over-clocked burn time."

"Hit it!" Keith hollered.

The yellow paladin did as he was commanded. Voltron surged forward, creating a sonic blast that blew away the asteroids. The distance between it and the wormhole was shrinking significantly.

"We're halfway through our burn," Hunk informed Keith and started counting down. "25%."

The altean pod reached the wormhole and traveled through it.

"15%."

The three sincline ships followed suit, traveling through the wormhole right behind the pod.

"8%!"

The wormhole began to shrink and their window of opportunity was closing. "We're not going to make it!" Lance shouted.

"We're too heavy!" Pidge yelled.

At that moment, Keith made a last second decision. "Disband."

"What?!" The other paladins gasped in shock at his command.

"Energy from disconnecting might create enough thrust to propel me through the wormhole."

"You'll be the only one on the other side," Allura stated, hoping Keith would change his mind.

However, he didn't. "Do it!"

Refusing to argue, the red, blue, yellow, and green lions split off from the black lion, disassembling Voltron and splitting off as the black lion surged forward towards the wormhole. Keith kept his lion steady, but his eyes widened in horror when realizing he wouldn't make it. "No!"

Suddenly, the crystal necklace radiated brightly. Keith noticed the sudden brightness, but what had his attention was the feeling of something warm over his hand. Looking to his right, his eyes widen at seeing a spectral image of Arcadia. Her body was made of pure light, but her features were distinctive. He felt a familiar warmth engulf him and the black lion, resulting in the mechanical beast to pick up speed. Hearing a powerful roar that was a sound he only heard when the girl was in her dragon form, he looked forward.

The black lion reached the wormhole, entering it just before it sealed. Reaching the other side safely, Keith was greeted by the sight of a large galra fleet. His eyes widened in shock at the sheer number of ships, but his worry vanished when he felt the ghostly image of Arcadia tighten her grip on his hand. The dragon roar he heard earlier was heard again. The light that had been enveloping the black lion shot forward and formed a spectral image of a dragon. It flew at the fleet and fired a beam of pure light from its mouth, destroying a single ship.

Keith smirked at the sight and flew the black lion directly into the galra fleet to catch up with the altean pod and the sincline ships. "At least I'm not alone," he muttered to himself. He dodged laser after laser, weaving between ships while the spectral dragon continued to destroy them.

The sincline ship piloted by Acxa turned around and pursued the black lion, firing laser after laser. She flew being the lion and chased it around a ship, only to be outflown by Keith. Pulling in the controls, he performed a backflip and landed on top of the ship. He fired the black lion's mouth laser, causing the sincline ship to short-circuit and float away.

With Acxa out of the battle for a while, Keith set his sights on the ship the pod had landed in. As he flew towards it, he felt Arcadia's warm vanish. Her spectral image and the dragon had faded from existence. He clung to the controls of the black lion with a determined expression. "I will save you."

Flying directly at the ship, the black lion latched onto the side and tore a hole in its metal hull with ease. Seeing inside the vessel, Keith scanned the hangar and located Shiro, Lotor, and Arcadia with Zethrid and Ezor. Lotor was handcuffed and Arcadia's unconscious form was slumped over Shiro's left shoulder.

Before Keith could do anything, he was forced to pull away from the ship when Acxa rejoined the battle and started firing at him. He maneuvered the black lion around the ship to avoid the lasers while trying to devise a plan. "Think... Think. How are we gonna get in there?" While trying to think, he saw the familiar altean pod depart from the ship and quickly pursued it. Once close enough, he contacted the pod. "Shiro, come in. I know you're there!" He was granted access and was able to view Shiro inside the pod. In the passenger's seat, he saw Arcadia's unconscious form. He wasn't sure what Shiro did to her. All he did know was she was scared and screamed before he was disconnected from her comms. "I don't know what's wrong, but I know we can fix this. Let me help you."

Keith tried to stay calm. He prepared himself for another attack from Acxa, but she retreated. He looked around the cockpit of the black lion, watching the displays flash. "I know you're hurting," Keith began gently. "We just need to keep it together a little longer."

The paladin followed the altean pod to a floating mass hovering over the planet below. There, he located the pod and two sets of footprints leading away from it. Keith landed the black lion and followed the footprints into a nearby cave. There, he located a galra laboratory. He entered the structure and rode the main lift down to the lowest level. At the end of the walkway, he placed a hand on one of the tubes and accidentally activated it. The light activated, revealing what was inside. It was a clone of Shiro.

Gasping in horror, Keith took a few steps as his eyes widened. He turned his head the moment he heard another tube activate.

As the lift doors open to reveal the laboratory, he was shocked at the sheer size and strange machinery. Carefully, he walked down the pathway and to an area that was lined with cylindrical tubes. One by one, more tubes activated to reveal bumpers copies of Shiro.

"Hello, Keith," a voice called out to him.

"Huh?" Keith turned around, wide eyes focused on a menacing Shiro.

Shiro took a few steps forward before stopping. "There's someone who's been wanting to see you." Taking a single step to the side, he unveiled the person who'd been hiding behind him. Arcadia walked up, hands freed from the cuffs. She wore a stoic expression, eyes focused on Keith as she came to a stop beside Shiro.

"Arcadia," Keith chokes out her name. He gazed into her eyes, noticing they were a menacing crimson and not the gleaming gold he often found himself enchanted with.

She titled her head, eyes narrowed. "Two against one. It hardly seems fair, but it'll make the job quicker and the cleanup easier."

Keith took a step back at her words. This wasn't the girl he fell in love with and he knew something was wrong just by seeing her different eye color. He held his ground as the two walked towards him in unison. "Shiro, Arcadia. it's gonna be okay."

"Yes, we know," Shiro replied.

"We just have to get you both back to the Castle."

"You're not getting out of this so easily, Keith," Arcadia hissed.

"We are not going anywhere!" Shiro bellowed, charging at Keith. He activated his mechanical arm and swung it at the boy, but he was met with a shield. He easily disabled the shield with a single punch and pushed Keith back. Swinging his fist again, he aimed for his face but he sidestepped. Shiro's fist collided with the power box and shattered it, resulting in the tubes to deactivate.

Keith pulled out his luxite blade, activating it to fight against Shiro. While he was distracted by him, he failed to see Arcadia approaching. She kicked him in the side and over the edge of the platform. He screamed as his body plummeted down towards another platform. Using his jetpack, he broke his fall and looked up just in time to see Arcadia swoop down with a dagger made from ice in her grasp. She raised it above her head, ready to stab him. She swung it down as she closed in on him, but he jumped out of the way to safety.

Having landed in a crouch position, she pushed herself up and focused her crimson eyes on Keith. He reactivated his luxite blade, his hand slightly shaky. "I don't want to fight you, Arcadia!"

She held up her icy dagger and her empty hand. Forming a second dagger, she gripped them both tightly. "Then this'll make this much easier." Leaping at Keith, she duel-wielded her twin daggers and attacked him. He managed to block most of her attacks, but she was pushing him back. Raising his luxite blade, he blocked both of her daggers and pushed against her. His lilac eyes bore into her tainted crimson ones. "Please! I don't want to hurt you!"

Arcadia didn't reply and kicked him in the gut to end their stalemate. He stumbled backwards and turned around when hearing the familiar 'whir' of a mechanical arm. He dodged Shiro's attack, watching in shock as he formed a blade with his prosthetic arm. Their blades clashed multiple times.

Keith tried to punch Shiro, but he pinned it under his armpit and delivered an uppercut. Keith's helmet was knocked off his head as the punch delivered to the underside of his chin stunned him for a second. He promptly recovered, performing a duck and roll under Shiro's arm.

As Keith ran to put to some distance between him and Shiro, he felt two feet connect with his back and push him over the railing. Looking up, he saw Arcadia with her wings out heading straight for him. She flew at him and grabbed the collar of his paladin armor. Her wings retracted as she slammed his body against the ground, using her weight to add to the impact. Her face remained emotionless as she released the seal on her powers. Her horns and claws grew, fangs sprouting from her jaw. She raised her hand to plunge her claws through his armor and brought them down.

Keith braced himself for the world of pain he was going to be in, but he was taken aback when her claws stopped just before piercing his chest. He stared up into her eyes, noticing they were focused on the crystal hanging around his neck. Her pupils shook as she inhaled a shaky breath. With a hopeful glint in his eyes, Keith saw one of her eyes return to the golden color he fell in love with while the other remained crimson. "Arcadia..."

Her eyes widen at hearing him mutter her name gently. She released him, sealing her powers and stepping away from him. Her horns, fangs, and claws retracted as she raggedly began to breathe. She clutched at the sides of her head, a bloodcurdling scream erupting from her throat. She stumbled backwards, nails digging into her scalp.

Keith sat up and watched her suffer. He wanted to help her, but didn't want to be attacked. Standing up, he took a couple steps toward her. "What did Shiro do to you?"

She didn't answer and screamed again as she fought against the pain. He reached out a shaky hand towards her, but was stopped by Shiro. He leapt down to the current platform they were on and punched Keith in the gut, knocking him backwards. Grabbing his luxite blade, he got back on his feet and fought against Shiro.

Eventually, their fight carried them down to the lowest platform of the cloning facility. Keith had Shiro pinned against the railing, their blades pushing against each other. Shiro smirked seeing the malice in Keith's eyes. "That's the Keith I remember."

Keith was shocked and lost his focus. Shiro's disarmed him, his blade jammed into the floor a little ways away. He ducked under Shiro's sword and quickly reclaimed his luxite blade. Running, he continued to dodge but slammed into a metal structure when Shiro caught up. He ducked under his sword a second time, resulting in the metal structure to fall. It separated them from one another.

"Shiro, I know you're in there. You made a promise once. You told me you'd never give up on me," Keith said, trying to snap Shiro out of the trance he was in.

"And I should have abandoned you just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it, too," Shiro growled, glaring at the younger boy with menacing eyes.

"I'm not leaving here without you or Arcadia," Keith declared.

"Actually, no one is leaving," Shiro smirked.

The machinery above flickered from purple to red. Shiro's prosthetic arm started to glow and transform, causing him to cry out in pain. He fell to his hands and knees, teeth gritted in pain.

"Shiro!" Keith worriedly shouted.

The palm of Shiro's mechanical arm rested on the floor. Energy started to gather in his palm, resulting in a powerful laser to trigger and create a hole in the floor. As he stood up, the laser followed his movements. Keith dodges the laser as it sliced through the facility, causing a portion of the mass to break off. Hanging on to the railing, he watched the section of the facility crumble before focusing his horrified gaze on Shiro. The man was hunched over, smoking at him.

Raising his arm, Shiro prepared to fire another powerful laser directly at Keith. Before he could release the immense amount of concentrated energy, Arcadia swooped in and kicked him in the side. Her attack stunned him and she delivered a powerful shock to his body. Kicking his body away from her, she turned to Keith. Her wings sprouted from her back and she flew straight for him. Seeing she had saved him, Keith trusted her and grabbed both her outstretched hands as she flew above him.

Flapping her webbed wings, she carried him safely over to another platform before Shiro could recover. Still weak, she crash landed and her body rolled beside Keith's. He was the first to recover and promptly crawled over to her. "Arcadia, a-are you...?"

Shakily, she pushed her body off the floor as her wings vanished. Her breathing was shallow and her heart was hammering inside her ribcage. One eye was still crimson while the other remained golden. "I-I don't know how long until I lose control again. Shiro injected me with a mind manipulation potion. I've managed to s-stave it off by freezing parts of my body to slow the blood flow."

That was when Keith noticed the various patches of ice across her body. "Is there any way I can help you?"

She shook her head. "No, there isn't. The concoction is weak, but if I don't purge it from my body soon, it will kill me..."

"What...?" He gasped, frightened.

Hearing the familiar 'whirring' of Shiro's mechanical arm, Arcadia looked up just in time to see him aiming his palm at them. She grabbed Keith just as he fired, dodging the laser as it sliced through the platform. They ran down the platform, but Shiro fires a second time and severed the platform from the asteroid.

Keith grabbed his blade in one hand and wrapped his other arm around Arcadia's waist as the platform tilted and began falling. She tried to use her wings, but they wouldn't spring from her back. Their bodies slid against the floor before slamming against a small portion of the platform that was once attached to the stone. Keith saw two tubes falling straight for them and jumped off with Arcadia. They set their sights on the central platform below and manage to grab the edge.

Weakly, the two of them pull themselves on top of the platform, both weak and out of breath. Keith rolled over into his back, panting heavily. Turning his head, he saw his luxite blade jammed into the metal. Arcadia watched him as he feebly crawled toward the weapon with grunts of pain. She pressed a hand against her crimson eye when she felt her mind was slipping. She managed to suppress it just in time to witness Shiro land in front of the weakened Keith.

Pushing herself off the floor, she helplessly watched Shiro try to bisect Keith. Luckily, he managed to grab his blade and block Shiro's sword. Slowly, Arcadia dragged her body towards the two boys. She created a sword from pure flames, listening to Keith as he pleaded with Shiro and kept his sword from piercing himself. "Shiro, please. You're my brother. I love you."

Shiro seemed to waver, but he used his weight to try and break Keith's defense. "Just let go, Keith. You don't have to fight anymore. By now, the team's already gone. I saw to it myself," he snarled. His energy sword got closer to Keith's face, leaving a permanent scar.

Sneaking up behind Shiro, Arcadia swung her flame sword and sliced through his mechanical arm. She severed it from his body, stumbling backwards at the feeling of her body beginning to shut down. Her sword vanished the same time Shiro screamed out and fell to his one remaining hand and knees. With labored breaths, she saw Keith get to his feet and stand in front of Shiro.

Feeling the serum taking over, Arcadia tried to fight against its effects. She took a few more steps back towards the edge of the platform. Glancing down, she saw the planet below. Tears formed in her eyes as she shakily inhaled. Lifting her head, she saw Keith staring at her with wide eyes. The moment he took a single step in her direction, her tears fell and she smiled sorrowfully. "I'm sorry." She stepped off the edge and felt her body begin to fall.

"No!" Keith bellowed, dashing towards her. He leapt forward, managing to grab her wrist before she fell out of reach. His body slammed against the platform, eliciting a painful grunt from him. His arm shook as he desperately tried to hold on to her. "I can't lose you!"

All of a sudden, the device above exploded. The wires supporting the central platform snapped one by one as a large piece of the device fell. It smashed into the platform and caused it to tilt. Shiro, who was unconscious, and Keith rolled off the platform. He didn't let go of Arcadia and immediately used his other hand to grab Shiro's wrist.

Memories of Shiro and Arcadia filled Keith's mind as they plummeted towards the planet below. He gripped them tightly, not letting the two most important people in his life slip away. He loved them too much to let go for even a second. Closing his eyes, he thought this would be the end. However, he opened his eyes as they filled with determination. He would save them all.