We're Going Home

23

"What?" Keith's voice cracked slightly.

"Keith? Such a human name. Still, it's been ages. I've missed you. What brings you here?" Lotor asks, tilting his head.

"Wait... no no no. Hold up. Since when am I your brother?" Keith narrows his eyes at Lotor, helmet resting under his arm.

"Since you were born. Do you not remember the days in the castle playing together?" Lotor asked. "Back before you were sent to earth."

"No." Keith's mind was racing a mile a minute. He was related to whoever this was? How? "Who are you?"

"Prince Lotor," Lotor responded. "You really don't remember, do you?"

Keith shook his head slowly, still on high alert. If his brother was a prince, that meant... "Are we blood brothers? Who's your father?"

"Our father is Emperor Zarkon." Lotor looked over Keith.

Keith shook his head, his eyes going wide. "You've got the wrong guy." He couldn't, wouldn't believe that he was Zarkon's son. He broke into a run across the ship, completely forgetting about his mission.

Shiro sat in his lion, hearing everything. He knit his brows. It couldn't be. "Keith."

"Shiro?" Keith had finally stopped running and was now leaning against a wall, tears streaking down his face. "It's not true, it can't be."

"It doesn't make any sense, for one. You knew your father on earth. And why would Zarkon give you a blade of Marmora? It would've had to be your mother. Think about this rationally." Shiro tried his best to calm him. "Have you ever heard of Moses?"

Keith nodded. "Yeah, I watched the movie."

"Alright, and remember how the king claimed to be his father and he was treated as royalty but he was really just found?" Shiro continued in a calming tone.

Keith nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"That's probably what happened to you. They found you, and since you were Galra, they raised you. Lotor still views you as a brother." He explained. "Now, use this vantage as a chance to get the cure, alright? That's all that matters now."

Keith stood up slowly and waved at Lotor, who was walking slowly in his direction. "I see you've come to your senses."

"I remember. I remember everything." He lied through his teeth. If it took cuddling up to the prince of evil to save Lance, well, it was worth it.

"I'm glad. Let me take you to the throne room. Father will be so glad you're here." Lotor hooked arms with Keith and led him.

Keith seemed hesitant. "Are you sure? We're not really on good terms right now. I'm actually much more interested in your super soldier program."

Lotor turned to Keith, a gleam in his eye. "Ah yes, I'll take you there then."

He led him to an elevator with clear walls and hit a button. As the elevator glided down several floors of imprisonments could be seen. "Many of our tests were unsuccessful. A few, however, were exactly what we'd wanted. For example, the Black Paladin, of Voltron. He has no idea that-" Keith immediately shut off his comm. He knew that Shiro would be coming onto the ship no but he didn't care. Whatever Lotor was about to say, Shiro didn't need to know. "We programmed him so that father could take control of him at will. He's the most powerful of the paladins but doesn't even have control over his own mind. It's rather funny really. Very soon we're going to activate him and he'll take out all of Voltron. Then it'll be ours for the taking."

Keith turned his comm back on once he was sure Lotor was done. He shivered at the thought of Shiro being taken over, but he had other matters to address. "What about the Blue Paladin? Was he successful?"

"Oh yes! But in a different way. You see, we had originally planned to make him like the Black Paladin, but after he refused to eat, the serum started consuming him in order to have the power it needed to transform him. After quite a while of not eating, the serum turned into a sort of disease. It's consuming him from the inside out. And once the black paladin attacks, the team will be too torn apart about Lance virtually dying to even be able to band together to stop him. And, the team won't have their sharpshooter. It's all rather beautiful, really." Lotor laughed, he seemed very excited about the plan.

Why was he revealing the entire thing to Keith? Didn't he know he was the Red Paladin? But he was Galra now. When he was human he must not have looked like his brother.

"Is there a cure?" Keith asked, more desperate now, but trying not to show it in his voice.

"Oh! Of course! But once you progress past a certain point, there's no healing in the universe that could save you. Except for that of a royal Altaen, and there's only two in existence. One will be too dead to do it, and I don't want to."

Keith acknowledged this. He'd have to save Lance before he got to that point. He needed the serum, and soon. "Could you show me it?"

"Yes, just right after I show you some of our more successful subjects." He led him down a corridor where several shrivelled aliens laid in cells. Just a little further and there was a very large alien with several enhancements. He seemed to be asleep, but this did nothing to soften his imposing figure. He was at least 8'0", rippling with muscle and had two metal arms. "Twice the power of one." Lotor commented.

Many of the other subject he showed him looked the same. Like war machines.

"And then there's the cloning program, much less successful, but we're working on it." He said and led him somewhere else. "We managed to capture the Red and Blue Paladin, as well as the brother of the Green Paladin and put them in a simulation where we could easily retrieve their DNA with little resistance. The only problem is that we can't get our subjects to stay looking like the person they're cloned from. Except for one. But you wanted to know about the serum. This way." Lotor tugged Keith along. He sure did like talking.

"Who was the clone who you got to-" Keith was cut off by another one of Lotor's long spiels. He sighed and tried his best to pay attention but that was proving harder as they went. He was getting the serum. He could do this, he could save Lance.

"Ah, the cure. Pretty isn't it?" He held up a small vial filled with pink liquid. "Can change the strongest soldiers into normal men. I bet it could even stop the Black Paladin." He tossed the vial to Keith. "We have quite a surplus. Just in case they go rogue, you know?"

Keith inspected the vial then tossed it back, so as to not seem suspicious. "Huh. Do you think it could cure the Blue Paladin?"

"Oh, he'd have to get it within the next few Vargas, otherwise, he's done for. At this point, no one could save him." Lotor said, a disgusting amusement plastered on his face.

"Huh." He murmured. "Why would it work for Black, who's had it much longer, but not work for Blue?"

"Because Blue is dying. Soon enough he'll be too torn apart for there to be anything to cure." Lotor rolled his eyes. "Why do you care so much anyway?"

"No reason, I'd like to see the pesky thing die as much as you do." Lying, it seemed, was very hard when someone's life depended on it. He pocketed two vials and followed Lotor out of the room.

Keith walked over to him and hugged him. "It was good to see you brother, but I have work to do. I think I have found the rebellious group of Galra and must take them down. I enjoyed our visit."

Lotor turned, a gleam in his eyes as a screen blinked to life behind him. "Oh but you must stay. I'm thinking a warm beverage with your little friend who followed you here."

The screen showed Shiro struggling and being bound to a chair. "Keith, go! Save Lance! I'll only hurt the team!" He called, his eyes looking lost and scared. Shiro wasn't supposed to look like that. He was their leader, Lances hero. He was supposed to be fearless.

Lotor flipped the screen off, as Keith felt cuffs form around his wrist. "And then maybe we can talk about the vials you tried to steal."