Defenders of the Universe - SU/VLD (Adopted by jorge.Fuentes18)

Chapter 35: Prisoners of War

Steven groaned as his eyes slowly opened, and the ringing in his ears finally stopped. He forced himself to sit up and look around; he was on a bed in a room he did not recognize. "Where am I?" Steven asked himself as he rubbed the side of his head and noticed his neck felt a little stiff. He gazed down to see he had a mechanical collar around his neck. "What the... what is..." The memories of what happened on Galaluna were starting to rush back to him. How the Lions were restrained, how Stevonnie fought Sendak, and how he and Connie were... "CONNIE!" The Half-Gem looked around in a panic and spotted his girlfriend lying on another bed. "Connie!"

Connie's eyes slowly opened and slowly sat up. She tried to stretch her arms but discovered that her hands were cuffed. "What the..."

"Connie!" Steven shouted as he ran and hugged his girlfriend. She tried to hug him back, but couldn't; so, she just rested her chin on his shoulder in an affectionate manner. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Steven. I was going to ask the same of you." Connie said as they broke from the hug. "I'd hug you back, but..."

"Don't worry; I got this," Steven said as he grabbed her handcuffs and tried to pull them apart; but couldn't. "Come on! These should be easy to break." The Half-Gem stepped back. "Let's see if my shield can break them." Steven tried to summon his shield the same way he always does but found that it wouldn't appear. "What?"

"Hold on, let me see if I can summon our Bayard," Connie suggested as she stuck her hands out, but the weapon did not appear.

"It's no use trying to do that." A third voice spoke in a more upbeat tone. "That collar on your neck inhibits your Gem abilities. And your Blue Bayard is locked away."

"Who's there?" Connie asked as she and Steven stood ready for a fight.

In the corner of the room, a woman with an athletic body and crimson scales uncamouflaged herself. "Hello." She greeted with a forthcoming smile and wave.

"Um... hi..." Steven replied.

"I hope everything here is to your liking." The alien woman said as she pointed at the beds. "Apologies for the restraints; just a precaution for when my Emperor wants to talk to you."

"You're a Galra?" Connie asked.

"Half-Galra." The woman answered. "The name's Ezor."

"Where are we?" Steven asked.

"Well, I thought that it was pretty obvious that you're in a cell," Ezor replied. "But you got one of the fancier ones. All the others don't have beds."

"Where's General Modula?" Connie asked. "We know that you have him."

"Oh, that grump is with the witch; doing who knows what to him," Ezor stated. "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes."

"You know you're not going to keep us here forever," Steven told her. "Our friends should be on their way right now, and they're going to..."

"You know, you are kind of cute when you try to act all tough and threatening." Ezor teased. "I can't believe that someone as adorable as you, is actually a Paladin of Voltron. You, and your pinchable cheeks."

"My cheeks are not pinchable," Steven grumbled with a look of embarrassment. "Well, they were, but not anymore."

The door behind them suddenly slid open as several others entered the cell; one of them Steven and Connie recognized as Lapis. "Enough with the teasing, Ezor." Their leader ordered. "You're embarrassing the young man."

"Sorry, Lotor, just having a little fun," Ezor stated as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Who are you?" Connie asked.