The Gold Paladin

Thank you... For Everything

Novae stared at Lotor's ship with determination to finally bring him down. Though, in the back of her mind, she wished it could all have been different. She couldn't blame him for his father's actions, but what if she was there when Lotor was still a child?

What if she had taken Lotor with her to fight alongside her through all these years? Perhaps, they could've been friends, family even. And yet, it seems that Honerva was corrupted while she was still pregnant with him. That corruption sunk deep down into Lotor. There was no saving him anymore.

"Coran, you've got incoming." Keith said before launching Shiro's clone to the Castle in a pod.

The new dark Voltron stood tall, not making a single move. Novae couldn't help but shake as another sharp pain rushed through her body. The virus was still going strong and it was taking more of her strength by the minutes.

"Young Star, you should rest for a time. The virus is becoming more fatal by the minute." The Gold Lion said.

"I cannot just rest while the others fight. This is my fight just as much as theirs. It is my family blood we're fighting after all." Novae said.

Just then, Lotor made the first move. He swung his arm back and created an orb of pure energy before throwing it at Voltron in a blast of light.

"Shield!" Keith shouted, and the shield was created, blocking the attack. The blast was powerful, pushing them back and causing everyone to groan in pain from the shock of the blast.

"Hunk, form cannon!" Keith shouted.

"You got it!" Hunk inserted his bayard into its slot and formed the cannon on Voltron's shoulder. The cannon charged and fired a powerful blast at Lotor, almost hitting him. At the last second, Lotor flew away to dodge the powerful attack. With it cannon still firing, the Paladins followed Lotor's moves, but he dodged every attack.

Lotor activated his thrusters and flew even faster through space, Voltron's attacks still not making even a scratch on his ship.

"He's too fast!" Lance shouted.

"Then we'll have to get in close. Form sword!" Keith shouted, as the sword was formed.

Lotor's machine placed its hand on its sides and created a flash of light. He raised the arms above the head and two swords formed from the light, glowing a deadly purple color.

He forced the machine forward and went in for the attack. Voltron pulled out its own sword and blocked the deadly blades, the blades' contact creating a loud boom of the conflicting energies. Lotor pushed them back and Novae poured more of her power into Voltron's sword, giving it a slight golden glow.

"Now we will see how Alfor's legacy stands against the new Altean defender." Lotor shouted, his voice low, dark and full of corruption.

"How dare you speak ill of Alfor's name?!" Novae shouted.

Lotor smirked and pushed hard swinging his blades harshly at the Paladins, to which they blocked and tried to strike back. Lotor swung again and kicked Voltron to the side. They spun around in space before finally stabilizing again. Novae felt her body feel as if it was floating and dizziness overtook her as another shock from the virus ran through her body.

Voltron dodged and Lotor sliced the asteroid behind them. The asteroid shone intensely and broke into pieces, leaving barely any remains of the asteroid. Everyone held their breaths as they saw the devastation a single blow from Lotor's swords caused. It had been them, then the universe would truly lose the only hope they had for freedom in an instant.

Lotor quickly jumped back into the fight. The Paladins turned and faced him, but when they did turn around, he had disappeared. Novae frantically looked around and felt her heart jump violently in her chest. She turned looked at her screens and saw an energy signal appear behind Voltron.