Continued Reality: A Voltron Fanfiction

WORMHOLE

"Where is Princess Lyna?" Keith asks once he arrives in the teleduv room (soon to be the ship's bridge, when completed) and finds only Coran and Bellin there.

     "She'll only be a tick," Bellin replies. "She is preparing a few of her things."

     Keith sighs. He wants to get going as soon as possible. They have already delayed enough, and he still doesn't even want Lyna going on this trip in the first place. But he reminds himself that it's the only way for them to use the teleduv, and that he must be patient.

     Patience yields focus, he tells himself. After a couple of deep breaths, he turns to Coran, who is messing around with the castle's controls.

     "Hey Coran, can I ask you something?" Keith says.

     "You can ask me anything," Coran says, without looking up from the controls. "What do you need?"

     "Well, Shiro left me this confusing message before he died," Keith says. "There were a couple terms in it I don't understand, and I wondered if you might know them."

     "I'll give it a shot," Coran says, finally glancing up from the castle's controls. "Fire away!"

     "First off, do you know what kloflax is?"

     Coran tugs at his mustache as he ponders this. "Nope, doesn't ring any bells."

     Keith glances over at Bellin, who only shrugs.

     "Okay then," Keith says with a sigh. "What about Mrawls? Any idea what they are?"

     Coran gasps, loudly and dramatically. "That is something I haven't heard in a long, long time."

     Keith is just happy to see the recognition in Coran's eyes. Maybe he can shed some light on the subject that will help them on their mission. "So you do know what they are? Can you tell me about them?"

     "You're completely sure that Shiro mentioned Mrawls in his message?" Coran asks, grabbing Keith by his shoulders. "Absolutely positive?!"

     "Yes!" Keith says, growing impatient again. He shoves Coran away and asks, "Are you gonna tell me what they are, or not?"

     Coran hangs his head. "Mrawls are a terrible, deadly, bloodthirsty race," he says. "Thousands of years ago, they wiped out entire galaxies! Rumor has it, they were bent on destroying the entire universe."

     "Rumor? You mean, you never saw the Mrawls yourself?" Keith asks

     "Certainly not, and I thank my lucky stars I didn't!" Coran says. "Oh, but I've heard stories. Plenty of them. I've heard all about those long, vicious monsters with their hundreds of legs and huge bug eyes..."

     Keith suddenly has a mental image appear in his head, and it doesn't look good. "You said they were wiping out galaxies thousands of years ago. Where are they now?"

     "No one knows," Coran replies. "The creatures just disappeared one day, and haven't been seen since. But legends say that they will reappear again one day, though I always prayed it wasn't true."

     "Great..." Keith says under his breath.

     Coran seems to take notice of the worry on his face. "What exactly did Shiro say about the Mrawls?"

     Keith hesitates to respond, but he closes his eyes and says, "They're coming."

     "Okay, lets get this over with," Lyna says as she enters the room, carrying a glittery duffle bag. But when she notices the intense expression on Keith's face, and the fear on Coran and Bellin's faces, she stops short. "What's going on?"

     Keith does not want to repeat his and Coran's conversation to the princess. She might try to call the entire mission off, and just cause more trouble for him and his team. "Nothing, Princess. Just going over the plan again with Coran."

     Lyna is not a stupid person. Keith can tell she doesn't buy this for a single tick. But to his relief, she decides not to press the matter further. "Alright then, are we ready?"

     "The others should all be in their lions by now," Keith replies. "We should be ready."

     Lyna walks over to the teleduv, and places her hands on the controls. "Let's do this, then."

"How does this work? Is this thing on?" Romelle asks, attempting to communicate with the other Paladins. She is now wearing shiny, orange and white armor, and awaiting news in the red lion.

     "We can hear you loud and clear," Hunk says, appearing on the screen with a bright smile. "Nice armor, Romelle! You're officially one of us now."

     "Thanks," she says with a nervous chuckle. "Orange was my brother's favorite color. I wear it in honor of him."

     "That's really sweet," Pidge says, also appearing on the screen. "I'm sure he'd appreciate that."

     "Hey, anyone hear from Keith?" Lance asks once he appears on the screen. "I'm just wondering what's taking so long. It's time to get this show on the road!"

     Romelle isn't the least bit anxious to 'get this show on the road.' She still doesn't understand why the lion chose her to be its Paladin, because going on missions and adventures is not her kind of thing at all. She knows she is going to mess this up for everyone. She doesn't know how or when, but she knows it will happen.

     Suddenly, a large wormhole opens up directly in front of the Castle of Lions. It shimmers and swirls in an almost foreboding way, and Romelle is made extremely aware of the sickening dread in the pit of her stomach.

     "This is Keith," everyone hears his voice in their headsets a couple doboshes later. "I'm in my lion with Princess Lyna and Bellin. That wormhole won't be open for long, so let's move out!"

     "Woo-hoo!" Lance shouts excitedly as he grabs the blue lion's controls. "Team Voltron is outta here!"

     "Remember to be cautious, everyone," Keith announces. "We have no idea what we're going to find on the other side."

     Romelle watches as the black lion takes off into the wormhole with a roar. Right on its tail follow the blue, yellow, and green lions. After taking a deep breath, she punches the controls forward and follows the others through the wormhole, worrying all the while about what dangers may lie ahead of them.

"Good luck, Paladins," they hear Coran say. "You'll need it..."