Author’s Notes: Sorry for this very long delay!! As I previously noted, battles are not my forte, and I needed to research a few battle styles in order to figure out how to put into words the movie that plays in my head. Writing time also has dwindled to sparse 30-minute intervals during my lunch break at work. But, I will continue to do my best! For those interested in the baby update, my son’s first tooth came in around October 1, and he has just reached the 8-month mark.

As always…

I hope I continue to do justice to the characters and the series of Voltron, and I ask for no flames, please. However, I will accept constructive criticism in order to develop further as a writer.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I make no money. I only write about what I enjoy.

Chapter 10 – Warrior’s Duel

“Activate interlocks,” Keith ordered, issuing the first command of the preparation sequence that would bring Voltron into formation.

Lance watched the other Lions as they began to move into position. All the Lions began the shift into their normal places. Not a single Lion lagged. No one was too far in advance. He knew as well as they did that they all had only this one opportunity to get Voltron formed. His eyes passed over the Black Lion, and he couldn’t imagine how Keith was maintaining his self-control. Lance couldn’t stand being on the losing end of a battle, and he continued to suppress his immediate reaction to just run headlong into the robeast with all his weapons blazing.

“Dynotherms connected.”

Hunk wished he could take back his earlier words about wanting a good fight. This battle was not their usual cat-and-mouse tease with a follow through on the Blazing Sword. They had been knocked down in the past, but they usually recovered quickly. Normally, they could still uphold a sense of humor at some point. Now, Hunk just wanted the battle over. This time, it wasn’t fun.

“Infracells up.”

Pidge analyzed his board with a much deeper intensity than he ever had before. He hoped that nothing would show up on his screens with an incomplete connection. He couldn’t bear the thought now if the tiniest bolt loosened. They couldn’t take any chances. If a hair fell into one of the mechanisms, he feared it could be the end of them. His eyes watched with an inability to blink as his mind anticipated each movement his Lion would make so that it would become the left arm of Voltron.

“Megathrusters are go.”

Allura took a breath and prayed they would find this robeast’s weakness soon. If they failed, her people would be destroyed or captured, only to be destroyed later in Doom’s battle arena. The robeast proved its inability for compassion as it destroyed Sanguine Valley’s buildings without any discretion. She had seen Lotor’s fighter out in the distance, watching and assessing the battle. She knew he was laughing at their failure, taking pleasure in every successful attack the robeast landed against one of their Lions. She felt her anger build into an inferno of hatred for him. He had no right to harm her people and continue to destroy her planet.

In the moment when the Voltron Force usually verbalized their collective chorus of motivation, they instead took a shared breath. Each of them had prepared all they could. Now it was up to Keith to issue the command that would give them the control they needed to make their Lions become the respective parts of Voltron’s body.

I am ready, Commander.

Keith pulled the control lever into a hard, vertical climb. He felt the pull of Arus’ gravity force him backwards into the command chair. Through the viewport, the familiar lightning danced over the protective glass. They were all safe for the moment as the energy shield of Voltron’s interlocking sequence protected them from being attacked.

“Form feet and legs,” Keith instructed.

In Keith’s mind, an image began to develop. It had never happened before during the formation of Voltron. He could only assume it was one of the experiences Voltron forewarned him about prior to the battle.

The spirit around him extended from his Black Lion into a growth that was invisible to the naked eye, but visible to the inner mind. Keith saw the magical energy that was Voltron grab onto the Yellow and Blue Lions. The two Lions became a pair of armored boots, tailored only for Voltron’s spirit.

“Form arms and body.”

In his consciousness, Keith felt arms extend outward, reaching for the Red and Green Lions. There was a sensation of the arms locking into the Lions. The two Lions became a pair of gloved gauntlets, with Voltron’s magic extending out to the very fingertips.

“And, I’ll form the head.”

Warmth flooded up from Keith’s chest into his skull. The warmth became a helmet of protection, but also a sense of clarity. He could see all around him. He was suddenly more attentive to the clouds above, the distant trees, and the town in the distance that they tried to save. He felt like a giant. He was aware of Voltron’s feet landing firmly onto the ground. His perspective was overwhelming and dizzying.

This is what you warned me about.

Yes, Commander.

Keith knew they couldn’t waste any more time. He had to push past the disorientation.

“Sonic wave attack coming off the robeast’s shield!” Pidge warned.

We can stand strong for one hit.

“Prepare for impact,” Keith advised. He needed just one more moment to decide their actions.

The wave off the robeast’s shield struck with the force of a tornado gust. Voltron wavered from the invisible push. Hunk and Allura secured the mighty robot by adjusting their stabilizers. Lance and Pidge scurried their hands over their control boards to get Voltron’s arms steadied and prevent him from losing balance.

The robeast charged forward with its sword in hand, realizing its attack had done little to no damage. Keith’s moment was over. The robeast was within a few hundred yards of them. He knew there was only one solution to the conflict. It was the way all their battles ended.

“Form…” Keith suddenly grunted as Voltron was slammed. He heard the others around him, fighting to maintain control. He felt his own hands pulling desperately on one of the levers, laboring to keep the enormous robot vertical.

The robeast has deceived us. It raised its sword but swung the shield.

“We need to get clear of that shield’s range,” Keith explained as he adjusted the compensators.

“At least a two-mile gap would get us the room we need,” Pidge confirmed.

“Hunk, Princess, give us a leap of faith,” Keith ordered.

“Working on it now,” Hunk replied.

“We’re adjusting the thrusters,” Allura answered.

“No time!” Pidge shouted. “Incoming blade.”

Hunk and Allura pulled the thrust lever in their Lions. Voltron vaulted back only a few hundred yards, but it was enough to miss the lethal strike of the sword.

“We have to do something!” Lance complained. He was tired of being beaten. “Give me something to attack with.”

Your Lieutenant is right.

“Lance, Pidge, fire Lion Torches,” Keith ordered. “Hunk, Princess, fire Sting Ray missiles. Then, launch us free and give us room.”

“Finally,” Lance sighed. He worked the control board without thought and sent a stream of flames toward the robeast. Pidge’s Lion fired a whirlwind of air, igniting the Red Lion’s fire into an inferno.

Hunk and Allura’s Lions fired the missiles. Then, they immediately went back to the task of getting Voltron the safe distance they needed to form the Blazing Sword.

--- --- --- --- ---

Haggar continued to watch the battle in her mind’s eye. She filtered out the explosions and the varying weaponry being utilized between the two enemies. She ignored the surprise and pride of the Drule soldiers around her. The witch’s darkened spirit was one with the personal battle that was taking place in the dead lands of Arus.

She felt the whisper of a presence every so often. When it came, she had tried to pull all her concentration into it. She had to fight against the flustered emotions of the Voltron Force. Then, the presence became more pronounced and stronger. What she felt was not common of the human emotional range. It was strangely calm, experienced. The murmur was strong, a guidance in its own right. She delved deeper to try and listen to the words in the whisper. She listened attentively to the sounds. They were intricate, laced with ancient wisdom and…magic.

Magic!

Haggar felt her breath catch in her throat, and she struggled at the sudden revelation. She couldn’t lose her concentration. She knew now what she felt. There was an ancient spirit assisting in the battle. She thought when she severed Voltron the first time that the spirit ruling within him had been dissolved.

Haggar realized that the spirit had managed to keep itself alive after all these years. She could only assess that it must have hibernated while the Lions slept for the years prior to being discovered. Now, the Voltron Force had unmasked a form of magic that could potentially change the tide of the war. Apparently, that spirit had been concealing its presence for a long time.

Haggar sighed in quiet regret. Her probing had given her confirmation that the robeast fighting Voltron would never win. The flaw she worried about so greatly had been revealed. The robeast didn’t have what was needed to kill a magical spirit. However, on the other hand, her robeast’s sacrifice had done just what she hoped it would. She knew exactly how to program her cloned robeast to finally take Voltron down.

--- --- --- --- ---

Commander, the robeast charges again.

Keith looked up. “Launch Electro-Force Cross!”

He pulled on the controls, feeling the others do the same. Every time they had managed to get some distance, the robeast would launch a sonic attack with its shield. They did all they could to keep Voltron from landing flat on his back. If they allowed that to happen, they would be as good as dead.

The robeast raised its shield. The cross harmlessly landed against the metal. Then it simply slid off.

“What the Hell?” Lance shouted. “That thing keeps blocking our attack.”

“Move backwards!” Keith ordered.

Hunk and Princess Allura simultaneously shifted through a series of movements on their control panels. Voltron vaulted backwards trying to increase his position from the robeast. The robeast growled, bringing the sword across the robot’s torso.

Keith gritted his teeth as he heard Voltron’s shout of pain. He could picture the gash across the metal. His one hand instinctively touched upon his own stomach.

Close your mind to me, Commander.

No, I’m okay.

Voltron moved to straighten. The robeast smacked the shield across the robot’s head.

Keith fought off the haze of the strike to Voltron. He took the controls with a sense of determination. They couldn’t let the robot fall to the ground.

Hunk dared to try something while the robeast was still in close proximity to them. He moved Voltron’s leg so that it twisted behind and caught the robeast’s calf. It helped to stabilize Voltron from falling and offered another tactic.

Our Yellow Pilot has presented an opportunity.

“Firing Eye Beams,” Keith acknowledged as his hand moved to the series of controls.

The robeast tried to step back and protect its face from the weapons. As it raised its shield, it tumbled backwards, tripped by Voltron’s leg. The entire maneuver, including the robeast’s plummet onto the ground took no longer than a couple seconds.

“Fire Stingray Missiles!” Keith shouted. The robeast brought its shield around to block the missiles. However, it was enough of a hesitation that it gave the Voltron Force a chance to adjust their controls. Voltron suddenly leaped high into the air and flew backwards the equivalent of a few hundred yards. It wasn’t the two-mile distance that Pidge originally calculated they would need, but with the robeast currently taking a moment to recover, Keith knew it was now or never.

“Form Blazing Sword!” he screamed. Time was of the essence, and they couldn’t dwell any longer. It was only a matter of seconds before the robeast used the sonic attack again.

Keith felt Voltron’s hands come together. Magical energy flowed between the Red and Green Lions, creating a tangible hilt. He felt the Red Lion take hold of the hilt, the feeling of it a perfect fit in Voltron’s right hand. The Green Lion moved away from Red Lion, the magic between them stretching and strengthening. In bare moments, the elaborate blade had been created. It was something beautiful yet lethal.

Voltron brought the sword before him and raised it behind him, stretching. In a strange way it was like the mecha-robot had been reunited with a long lost friend. The bond between sword and warrior was complete. The blade was now an extension of Voltron’s might.

Keith opened his eyes, suddenly realizing they had closed during the activation of the sword. His mind was overwhelmed with the feelings and images of an ancient battle art. He had his experiences with swords in his martial arts training, but it was nothing this intense. What he felt from Voltron was ancient chivalry, a form of combat that was long forgotten. Caught up in the technology of modern weaponry, the spirit of the warrior had been lost. Now, Keith felt that warrior’s spirit. Voltron was the gallant knight from the stories he read as a child. No one was beneath Voltron’s protection, and the mighty robot would damn anyone to hell who dared to oppose what was right.

“Keith! You’d better be breathing,” Lance barked.

“Come on, Keith. Now’s not the time to be playing,” Hunk added.

Suddenly, pulling out of his strange reverie, Keith found himself hearing the voices of the others trying to get his attention again.

“I’m fine,” he offered. “Sorry.”

“The robeast is coming!” Allura shouted.

The robeast charged at Voltron. It swung its broadsword in a vicious arc. Lance ran through a series of commands on the Red Lion’s control panel. Voltron responded immediately with a defensive block.

Voltron caught the robeast’s weapon with the Blazing Sword. Sparks flew over the Riverland Wastes. As quickly as the two enemies engaged, their swords pulled back. It was merely two warriors striking for a test of strength and agility.

The robeast bared its teeth, fangs dripping with thick saliva. Voltron remained ready in a stance of patience and defense.

“Watch the shield,” Keith instructed gently, strangely afraid that if he raised his voice too loudly the robeast would strike at them with that instead of the sword.

“Why is it just standing there?” Hunk asked.

Warrior’s Standoff, Keith realized. Then, for a moment he wondered how he knew that.

You can sense my thoughts as well, Commander. A Warrior’s Standoff is an old tactic.

“It’s an intimidation tactic,” Keith explained, the knowledge easily a part of him as much as it was Voltron. “One of us will move. When we do, it must be swift and assured.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure I want this thing dead,” Lance grumbled. His fingers fidgeted above the controls, just waiting for an excuse.

Without warning, but as expected, the robeast rushed forward. Its sword came from the side attempting to slice into the Green Lion.

Lance shut down everything around him and put every ounce of concentration into controlling the Red Lion. Voltron’s right arm moved smoothly in front of the robeast’s blade and blocked the strike with the Blazing Sword.

Then, the duel began. The robeast arced left and right, up and down. The broadsword slashed in a disciplined and experienced manner. The Voltron Force maneuvered Voltron as best they could. They never really had the opportunity to duel a robeast. Their usual experiences consisted of firing the missiles and other weaponry, using the Blazing Sword for just the final strike.

Moving Voltron required their collective concentration. They had to think defense and offense at the same time. They had to watch the robeast’s moves and prepare to block the strikes. They had to plan ahead to find an opening in the robeast’s attack so that they could launch an offensive of their own.

The clatter of the swords echoed throughout the Riverland Wastes like metallic thunder. Occasionally, the weapons would strike with an exceptionally powerful hit causing glittering debris to fly off the sharp blades.

Keith felt an exhilarating freedom in Voltron that he had not expected the robot could experience. Voltron had developed an ability to not only move with the commands he was given from the pilots within him, but his magic allowed him a grace that seemed uncharacteristic from a mere robot.

Voltron slid under the robeast’s sword and brought up the Blazing Sword, connecting and defending the attack. He spun on the strength of the robeast’s attack, softening the blow. Keith could picture the duel clearly in his mind as though Voltron’s eyes were his own. It was a beautiful and deadly dance, one he had never seen before. They fought with a style that was entirely unlike any of his martial arts experiences. It resembled a strange combination of two giant Samurai warriors fighting with the colossal strength of Vikings.

Time seemed to stop while they were engaged in combat. Neither the robeast nor Voltron dared to back down and neither one had the opportunity to get the upper hand. The battle grew fiercer and stronger. The speed at which the blades struck grew blinding and dizzying. Not a sound was expelled from any of the Voltron Force. They had fallen into some kind of concentrating trance, refusing to think of anything but moving their hands over their control panels, keeping Voltron alive and fighting.

Then, in Keith’s mind, he saw the image they needed. Somewhere amidst the duel, the robeast’s armor had developed a split in one of the buckles along its ribcage. The buckle hung about, no longer secured tightly. It was their only chance.

The robeast’s sword slammed hard into the Blazing Sword. Voltron held steady, digging his feet into the ground trying to maintain purchase.

With unseen strength, the robeast pushed hard, forcing Voltron into a slide.

“Ion Darts,” Keith said as his hands moved to the control and activated the weapon.

The robeast instinctively brought the shield up to cover its face.

Voltron sensed the opportunity the commander presented. Working as one, the Voltron Force and Voltron brought the Blazing Sword around to the section of the armor with the broken buckle. The Blazing Sword stabbed hard into the open armor. The robeast’s head flew back in an agonized roar.

Then, the robeast slid to its knees. The robeast’s weapons slipped from a numbed grasp as its arms fell to its sides. Voltron pulled the Blazing Sword from the robeast’s damaged ribcage and stepped backwards.

The robeast oozed an extensive amount of fluid from its wound. Then, as expected, an explosion erupted from within its body. Voltron turned from the violent blast as mechanics and flesh scattered over the Riverland Wastes. It was yet another robeast that would become part of the graveyard that the land had become.

--- --- --- --- ---

Haggar fell out of her meditation. Her body slumped in the cushioned chair, exhaustion eating away at her very being. Her head fell against the high-backed chair, and her breathing came in heavy gasps. As her eyes stared up at the gray, metal ceiling, she wished to be able to cackle with utter glee. However, she needed her strength elsewhere in order to keep from falling forward onto the deck.

The witch smiled instead in silence. She had one of the missing pieces to the puzzles that surrounded her. In all her experimentation, she never once thought of the possibility that Voltron’s magical spirit was still living within the metal flesh. Destroying him would be much simpler now that she knew his secret.

“Witch! Answer me,” Lotor’s voice echoed throughout the ship’s bridge.

“Yes, Sire?” she asked weakly.

“I called the retreat. You better have what you needed.”

Haggar laughed softly. “My Prince, I have just discovered how to defeat Voltron for certain.”

Lotor snorted, “I’ve heard that one before.”

The witch smiled under her cowl. She was not going to argue with him. If Lotor wished to believe it was just another of her unsuccessful plans, then she had no problem with surprising him during their next battle.

--- --- --- --- ---

“Did we do it?” Hunk asked.

Pidge scanned over the monitors and then looked out over the land. “I think we did.”

“About damn time,” Lance grumbled. “We could do with a few less robeasts of that caliber.”

“Keith, are you okay?” Allura asked.

Voltron, you’re wounded, Keith thought silently.

I can be mended. It is superficial. My spirit continues to flow strongly.

“I’m fine, Princess,” Keith responded. With the battle having ended, he realized it was difficult to maintain separate thoughts.

Tend to them for now, Commander. We can talk when your Black Lion is upon its perch again.

Keith closed his mind to Voltron. He felt a quick wave of dizziness as the connection severed. Then, he felt oddly normal and insignificant without the sensation of heightened awareness and body armor.

“Launch deactivation sequence,” Keith instructed.

The Lions began to disengage. The Red and Green Lions separated first followed by the Yellow and Blue Lions. Then, the five Lions converted back into Lion form, becoming five separate parts again.

“Let’s head home,” Keith said, realizing for the first time since he struck it earlier that his head was in agonizing pain.

--- --- --- --- ---

Keith watched the others separately return to the Lions’ dens. Pushing past the annoyance of the headache, he landed the Black Lion upon its perch. He hesitated before taking the ride back to the Castle of Lions’ control room. He remembered that Voltron said they would talk again once he was alone.

“We can start repairs first thing in the morning,” Keith offered to the empty air.

The symphony of Voltron’s spirit filled the cockpit again. That will be sufficient. We all need rest tonight.

Keith sat for a moment studying the peaceful countryside through his viewport. He believed that connecting to Voltron helped them greatly today. Now, he needed to know to what extent Voltron knew about him.

“Our connection was more than just pilot to machine,” Keith said. “How much have you learned about me?”

Your emotional wounds are old, caused by circumstances you could not control. Your guilt about your family’s disappearance supersedes your logic.

Keith looked blankly down at the control board.

However, she heals you, Voltron noted. The royal sovereign of Arus is your cure. But, shadows and fear block your path to joy.

“Our love is considered forbidden. There are laws and protocols we hide from.”

You refer to the “Law of Royal Unity” created by the ancient Arusians in a long, forgotten time. It was very different then. Voltron paused as though taking a moment to remember his past. After a few seconds, his ethereal voice sounded sad. Arus is dying. Unity should no longer be just monarchies and governments.

“But, with the current laws, Allura would lose her title and her power as Arus’ ruler.”

I believe she knows that. She is aware that the Arus of old has died.

Keith sighed quietly. Voltron had absorbed everything about him in that battle.

Start a new life, Commander. Your past cannot be changed, but your future is unwritten.

“I can’t let Allura lose her position as princess.”

Your words betray your compassion for her. Your spirit is complete and cured of its agony while in her presence.

Keith looked up for a moment from his inner turmoil.

Before Keith could argue another point, Voltron concluded his discussion. Farewell for now, Commander. Rest well.

Silence fell throughout the Black Lion, and Keith knew then that the conversation was over. He touched a button on the console, and the command chair began its release. Keith’s ride back to the castle started, and he cleared his thoughts in preparation for the battle debriefing he would have with Coran.