Running Through the Raindrops

Chapter 14: The black Lion

*Mei POV*
So, after Lance and I slept... or vomited, our drunkenness away, we couldn't stop thinking about what I had said while drunk. If I had the power to sense people's emotions, then why couldn't I feel anything from Shiro?

"A few months ago, we were on the planet Olkarion and Shiro told me some really weird things... though it was sort of, in an astral plane." Lance said, rubbing his arm against the back of his neck.

"Not the first time I've dealt with that place. Telling you right now, anything you hear there, 80% of the time it's true." I said, rubbing my temples. While I was trying to get sober Allura and Lotor had left to go into the Quintessence Field so the ship was quiet.

"Paladins, a ship is approaching." Coran said through the intercom system. Lance and I looked at each other and decided to continue the conversation later.

We left the room and headed to the bridge with everyone else. On the main screen was an Altean pod. We ran to join everyone near the screen, Lance moved to be next to Hunk while I moved to be closer with Cody. Shiro stepped up, "Altean pod. Identify yourself."

"Shiro, it's Keith!" The popped up to show a man with longer black hair and purple eyes. Everyone looked shocked but I was like 'Oh, so this is Lance's crush.' "Where's Lotor?"

"He's in the quintessence field with Allura."

"Well, that's not good. We need to speak with him, preferably at gunpoint." A voice said from offscreen. Cody and I both looked at each other.

"Zoé!" I called into the screen.

"Mei? Cody?" She came into the view of the camera. "Hey, it's good to see you two."

"Same here... but, what's going on with Lotor?" Cody asked.

"Let's land and then talk."

---

After hearing about what Lotor did, I'll be honest. I wanted to kill him, and I think everyone felt that same way. So, when the control panel beeped signalling that Allura and Lotor had exited the Quintessence Field, I immediately prepared my rifle.

We stood there in a small circle waiting for Allura and Lotor to enter the bridge. Once the doors opened everyone in the room tensed. Allura and Lotor started talking with everyone and soon the truth was found after Romelle told Allura the situation in the colony.

I heard a small voice from behind me and looked down the hallway. It sounded familiar though I couldn't place. I looked over to Zoé and Cody, I gave them a signal that I was leaving to investigate and I left down the hall.

The voice took me to the hangar where the Black Lion was almost waiting for me. Okay... weird. I got inside the giant lion and the voice was almost deafening. "Where are you?"

As soon as I said something the voice went quiet and was replaced with Allura over the intercom, "Shiro's gone mad! He's escaping with Lotor!"

Shit. I hid in one of the many side compartment-like rooms inside of the Black Lion and waited to see if Shiro would come inside and take his lion. Though, Keith was the one who walked inside.

Keith took off and I was stuck inside of the Black Lion as it flew off to Truth knows where.

---
I hadn't realized I had dozed off until I opened my eyes again and saw that I was in some kind of astral plane. Was I back in the circle? No, the ground was like water, not stone.

"Zoé? Cody?"

"Hello."

I turned quickly, my hand on my gun as I saw Shiro. "What the hell? You're supposed to be insane or something."

"The other version of me is a clone." I made a very smart 'ohhhh' sound and nodded.

"That would explain the no emotions thing." I said. "But why am I here?"

"I need you to save Keith from my clone."

Next thing I know I'm in Black's cockpit and purple particles are streaming from my hands. I place them on the controls and the lion starts to lift off of the planet's surface. I saw a red light coming from the other side of the planet, I sped to the area and saw that it was a galran base of some kind.

I also saw Keith falling from the planet's surface with clone Shiro. I took the lion down to his level and grabbed him in Black's mouth.

"I got ya, Buddy... Shiro. What do I do now?"