#The Knightmare Responds

[knightmareaceblue]

HOLY SHI- Omg I'm freaking out. Okay, so, I just randomly saw your Ava art and went "A very familiar artstyle, huh." But I couldn't really tell cuz yknow, they're sticks. But then I saw your username and almost DIED!!! I REMEMBER READING VALIANT SOULS AND FREAKING SOBBING OMG- Haaa, I used to be obsessed with it lmao. I haven't seen your stuff in a while cuz I'm not in the thsc fandom anymore and I didn't have a Tumblr acc back then. But I was a big fan back and I'm so glad I found you! Would love to see your wonderful content once again and hopefully stick around this time <333

This comment is literally so sweet. Haha, I'm glad Valiant Souls is still remembered fondly, even though you're not in the fandom anymore. In the meanwhile, I hope you like this instead of VS stuff.

Here's to sticking around! (Clink)

[kirbybecomesastarwarrior]

Kirby becomes a Star Warrior: The Knightmare's End / Prologue:

Many years ago… before the arrival of Kirby. 

It was a warm summer evening... the sun had just dimmed her light: as the moon overshadowed it with its stars. Nighttime was setting over Dreamland all was quiet. But the canyon winds would not silence their howls. Kabu knew all too well, these were “the winds of change.” Something was coming, or rather someone… 

Suddenly, out in the distance, a shadowy figure appeared. Kabu watched as the newcomer made his way toward him. He could not read his appearance or intentions... As he came closer, his appearance and story became clearer. 

Battered and bruised in all orifices… The stranger’s rusted old gray armor clanked as he moved ever closer. The midnight cape he adorned was tattered at the seams with the color fading. And a cracked (practically about to break) mask that covered his entire face; making it impossible to read. But it was obvious… this man was broken.

The soldier kneeled and humbled himself before Kabu, “Oh great sage Kabu, I have come seeking answers…”, 

He took a long look at the unknown visitor and knew that he was a Star Warrior. He had not seen one in decades. Not since Sir Uther deemed this planet unworthy of protection. He and the Ancients abandoned its inhabitants and left them at the mercy of a Nightmare…

This left the old sage skeptical of his visitor  “You have traveled far...state your purpose!”, commanded Kabu.

“I am Sir Meta Knight of the GSA, “the knight proclaimed. “The leader of the-,” 

-Whoosh 

The night air had silenced him as frigid winds of the canyon cut through his armor. Making him recall the aches and pains he felt in his body, forcing him to look backward. Giving him a painful recollection…The friends he made mistakenly accounted for, had all disappeared…he was alone.

His voice began to waver as he continued, “-the last member of my squadron… the lone surviving guardian” 

“ Not so~”  The old sage responded. “Somewhere in the galaxy, there’s a lone starship that-,”

“Kirby…,” the knight exclaimed. With a voice sounding so much brighter.  “My Kirby…he-he survived!?” He immediately raised his head and propped himself up to stand. 

“Where will he land, when will he land, will I be able to meet him before I- ?” 

“I can not reveal all, but what I can say is this,” Kabu interrupted. But not out of impoliteness: in fact, the old sage continued in a tone so gentle as if he were comforting a child. “ Your search is over...you will meet him again...” 

Finally, Kabu was able to meet his gaze and saw his eyes for the first time. They immediately flashed and shone a brilliant gold, until they illuminated into a vivid blue. 

Opposed to his appearance, eyes told a different story. There was a vibrancy in them that clashed with his outward demeanor. There was a spark, a glimmer of hope... inside, there was still a will to live.

Then a great wave of embarrassment washed over the stoic warrior. Realizing how unprofessional he appeared just now: he spoke out of turn, twice even!

Such behavior was unbecoming of a Star Warrior!

“Apologies, I didn’t realize I interrupted you-.” flustered at his lack of decorum. "These years of war have affected my manners..." 

Kabu reassured him, “There is no need for this, I understand… after all, you are his guardian”.  

“What, I can’t be, how!?” he questioned. “How I erased his memory- I can’t be!?” The glimmer of his eyes disappeared and now were filled with utter fear.

This reaction baffled the old sage. “Are you not happy; this is what you sought for me…correct?” This man was ecstatic at the news of his child being safe just moments ago. 

Something was wrong.

“No, I can’t be his guardian… be-, because of-,” he stammered. He wistfully grabbed his cape and yanked it off, revealing his darkest secret. Two shadows began to wrap around his back, and two bat wings unfurled from his spine. Which towered over his body. “This…”

The wise orale understood now; he had been touched by Nightmare. Looking at him woefully, “I see, you do not have long…” he said.

“If I were to be his guardian…” he explained. “Nightmare will surely-”  Meta Knight lowered his head in shame. His whole being began to tremble, “Pitiful… to be saddled with a mentor like me.”

Meta Knight’s eyes turn dull to a melancholic gray… remaining silent. "Please, there must be a way to stop this... I CAN NOT FAIL THIS CHILD!" Kabu truly felt sorry for the lone star warrior. He understood why the warp star chose him… for Kirby. But knew of the consequences should he stay that child's keeper.

“There is a way... but first you must find a worthy candidate to replace you,” Kabu answered. “You still have the knowledge of his power; you will always be the real keeper of his warp star, his true guardian that is until you...” 

“Well, then-.” Meta Knight responded.  His eyes turned green, now brimming with determination. “I will do what I must.”

Then tucked away at his side, he unsheathed his sword. It started to glow ominously: as strands of light emanated from the blade: almost like a rope. They began to warp around both of his wings. A dark aura began to protrude from his back! Almost as if they were “rejecting this act” and then-

-CRACK!

“GAAAH-!”  the knight cried in pain. The strands of light tightly bound his wings together, painfully squeezing them. He bit his lower lip to muffle his cries as they wrapped ever tighter. The binding of them burned the membrane of his wings.  And slowly shrinking, retracting into his back and disappearing completely. Then he collapsed onto the ground.

*COUGH *COUGH

“You have bought yourself some time...but you are delaying the inevitable.”  Kabu reacted in dismay. It was a wonder how he could even stand after that. “I'm afraid your fate: is written in the stars." 

This ordeal left Meta Knight completely drained; he could hardly breathe. He began to hyperventilate, gasping for air. His lungs filled in and out with air at an unstable rate. He tried to make up for lost breaths. Slowly but surely, he started to breathe normally again.

He managed to pull himself up as if it was nothing and responded nonchalantly, “I already knew that... Fate was never on my side." The weary warrior slowly began to turn away from Kabu and looked at the crescent moon. “Pardon me... Kabu, but I must ask, where I may find a worthy candidate who can eclipse me?” 

“You will find them in Castle Dedede,” the old sage answered. “She is a resident there.”

His eyes turned green once more; he was pleased by the news. “Yes, this will do nicely… all the pieces are lining up perfectly.” He looked back towards Kabu and bowed. “Thank you for your wisdom...” 

As Meta Knight was walking away, Kabu called out, “He will come sooner than you think." The old star warrior stopped in his tracks as he continued. "Perhaps there is a chance for you to be saved."

“Saved...I appreciate the optimism, but," he scoffed."It's nothing more than a sweet lie in the end." He looked back for a moment "And I know my fate, please do not fill me with false hope..." and continued to walk away.

~ Besides all those who have tried, couldn't even save themselves... and ended up with a fate worse than mine.

"Mety Knight!" another knight was calling to him. And another accompanied him. "So is this the place or... are we gonna have to pack up?

"This is the place... we're staying." Meta Knight nodded. And with his hands, he gestured them to follow towards Castle Dedede.

"Yes sir!" his two subordinates gleefully answered. Ecstatic at the news... their leader made his way in front. Both of them tailing behind him.

"Um, excuse me, Sir Meta Knight?" one of them asked.

"Yes, Blade?"

"When is this warrior of yours going to bloody show up," He threw his arms over his shoulders. "What are we gonna do then?"

"Eventually... eventually he will, so until that day... "

~

Eventually, the day will come when you will have to stand without me. Eventually, the darkness will come to take me. Eventually, I will disappear. Eventually, I will become a distant dream. Eventually, I will be nothing but a memory.

But until then

Until then I will do everything I can to say by your side. Until then I will watch over you. Until I will guide you the best I can. Until the time has come.

~

Present time:

The time has come...

Meta Knight had managed to sneak away from the celebration. While everyone was busy making merrier at their success. Nightmare was gone... which means he was running out of time.

Luckily his room was still intact after the Nightmares invasion. Underneath there was a secret compartment that hid away carefully preserved four letters. Along with that four badges... But now that he was gone...

The time has come.

To say goodbye.

Notes:

Ladies and gentlemen at long last... the first chapter is finally out.

And with illustrations. I wanted to make it very storybook-like so all the lines have a crayon sketched look.

I wrote the prologue in such a way that it could stand alone as its own chapter. Or you could read it as the continuation of where I last left off in the story.

The story first arc of the story is based on the theory (a personal theory that I have always had). I DON'T THINK FUMU/TIFF was the real guardian of the warp star!

Here me out... Meta Knight's explanation: "It can only be guarded by one who truly loves and care for him." , But here's the thing.

Fumu was able to do this since the first day she met Kirby! How can you claim that it makes no sense... She'd have to know Kirby for a long time for that to be true.

The only one who fits this is Meta Knight... The man knows everything about Kirby. That's why I always theorized that it was actually Meta Knight... but transferred guardianship to Fumu.

I also used this as the reason why Meta Knight knows all of Kirby's abilities. The warp star was the source of Kirby's power so it would have the knowledge of his power. Since Meta Knight was the true guardian of Kirby he was endowed with this information.

-Sorry guess I was gonna post Saturday but then I forgot I also signed up for the Kirby OC tournament and it was delayed two days.

I will post this on the archive of our own as soon as I figure out the website. And the main pin page for the blog will always have links to all the chapters. Anyways hope you guys enjoy the first chapter.

[pluralfuture]

Fanfic inspider by @thisbelongsto-nohbodys 's future owlphibia au. Please excuse the fact that I have no idea how Ao3 works, so it's all posted here.

CW: Somewhat-more-than-canon-level violence, blood, minor swearing, and blatant shipping.

Armoured Knightmare

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

When Azura Noceda had met up with her frenemy, Lily Boonchuy, she hadn't expected their day to end up here. It was just supposed to be a normal hang out. But Lily had seemed especially down that day, so Azura figured a short adventure on the Isles would help cheer the blonde girl up.

It hadn't been long into their journey that Azura had noticed a structure she hadn't seen before. It looked old. Really old in fact. It was some sort of stone structure, looking almost like the entrance to an ancient tomb. Azura, of course, wanted to leave well enough alone. Who knew what sorts of traps were down there to kill potential grave robbers? But Lily marched towards it all the same.

“Lily, you're being stupid.” Azura said plainly as she jogged to catch up to her friend. “We have no idea what's down there.” Cotton, her tiny white bat palisman, squeaked in agreement from on top of Azura's head. Lily just gave Azura a look over her shoulder before continuing on.

“Listen, we came out here to adventure, right? What better adventure than an ancient, unopened tomb in a magical world?” Lily drew her sword and jammed the blade in between the two stone doors, and began to push on the sword, using it as an impromptu pry bar.

“The stuff above ground is dangerous enough.” Azura stated. Now that they were closer, she could make out faint carvings on the door. It was hard to make out what they were trying to say, but she could make out some sort of orb with tendrils stretching out, an armoured figure, and a group of witches and demons tearing the armoured figure apart. While she tried to figure out the carvings that were faded more than the others, she was startled by a loud scraping sound.

Lily smiled as she managed to open one of the doors enough to get a hold with her hand. Grabbing hold with both hands, she pulled, grunting in effort as she moved the large stone door. “Listen,” she said once it was open enough for her to slip inside, “I'm going down there. You can follow me, or you can stay up here. Doesn't matter to me either way.”

Before Azura could respond, she saw Lily slip inside the crack. Sighing, she started following after the blonde. “Why are you acting like this?” She muttered, more to herself than to Lily. If the other girl heard her, she didn't respond. All Azura knew was that Lily and her younger brother, Percy, got into some sort of argument, and Percy had said something about how Lily would never be like her moms. From what Azura knew of the younger kid, he had to have been pretty pissed off to say something that mean to his sister. And Azura partially understood why Lily felt the way she did. Her mom saved the Isles from Belos when she was younger than Azura was now, and Lily's moms had done the same for that other world, Amphibia. Both of them were daughters of legends, who had a lot to live up to. But sometimes, it seemed to Azura that Lily was either going to be a hero or die trying.

As the pair trudged deeper and deeper into the tomb, Azura drew a small circle in the air, casting a basic light spell and holding the floating orb in the air above her open palm. All around were mossy stone tiles and carvings covered in various vegetation. The carvings were practically gone, destroyed by the ravages of time. Whatever story - or warning - these carvings told was unable to be gleamed. However, Azura frowned at something else she noticed.

“There's no bodies or coffins.” The witchling noted aloud. Lily simply shrugged.

“So?” The human girl asked.

“A tomb of this size should have at least a few. Or even offerings to the dead or something. But it's just the stonework so far.”

“Well, maybe it's all just further in.”

“Bodies, maybe. But offerings are left near the entrance, so that visitors don't disturb the dead.” Azura pointed out. “And we've gotten far enough in anyways that there really should be bodies.”

Lily sighed. “Well, maybe it's not a tomb then. So, there's just something else to discover down here.”

“That's what worries me.” The witchling sighed and pet Cotton, who was letting out small, nervous squeaks.

The two continued deeper and deeper, the carvings soon giving way to smooth walls. And then, the hallway opened up to a massive stone room, easily a cube 50 feet in all directions. Azura jumped and Lily raised her sword as, when they passed the threshold from the hall to the room, light spells activated all around the room, illuminating it. The entire room was empty, save for some sort of stone throne with a rusted suit of armour slumped in the seat.

Lily sighed and looked around. “All this, for one suit of armour? Seems overkill.” Lily took a step forward, but Azura grabbed her arm tightly. In the witchlings hand, she held a miniature harp, one of her signature instruments for her bard magic.

“Lily, we should go. We can find something else to do. Maybe we can hike up the knee, fight a Slitherbeast or two. But we should leave this alone and tell someone else about it.” Azura's voice was filled with nervousness.

Lily grit her teeth and pulled her arm out of Azura's grip. “What, think I can't handle a dumb suit of armour?”

“Lily, that's not what I-”

“And even if it is magical and animates, it's not like I don't know how to fight!”

“I know that! I'm just saying-”

“What, that you think I don't have what it takes?!” Lily got right up to Azura, gripping her sword tight, knuckles turning white.

“I'm saying I don't want you to get hurt because you're too angry to think straight, you idiot!” Azura snapped. She panted heavily as she and Lily stared each other down. Lily glared hard at Azura.

“Screw. You.” Lily said, and marched towards the armour.

“Lily, wait!” Azura followed after her.

“If you're not going to help, just leave!” Lily yelled back at Azura without looking back.

Azura felt a growing sense of dread as they approached the armour. Something was very wrong, but she couldn't tell what.

Lily got right in front of the armour, staring down at it.

“Happy? It's just a normal set of abandoned armour. Now, please, can we just-” Azura yelled in surprise as Lily swung her sword with a scream, knocking the helmet clean off and sending it clattering to the floor. Azura watched Lily for a moment, the human girl panting heavily. It was only after a moment that Azura realized Lily wasn't panting, but starting to cry. Wordlessly, Azura pulled Lily into a hug. After about a minute, Lily finally spoke.

“I'm sorry.” Lily quietly said. “You're right. This was stupid. I just… What Percy said.”

“I know. I understand. Believe me. I really do. But if you need to blow off steam, there are much better places than old, creepy tombs.”

Lily chuckled dryly. “Yeah. Yeah, you're right.” Lily sighed and stepped out of the hug, Azura letting her. She wiped away the last of her tears and sighed. “How about lunch instead?”

“Sure. But you're paying.” Azura said with a playful smirk, earning an equally playful chuckle and punch to the arm from her friend.

“I don't have any snails, dumbass.” Lily let a small smile creep onto her face.

The two of them began to walk out of the room, but the bright mood was quickly broken, both girls freezing in place as the sound of metal scraping along stone behind them. Slowly, and wide-eyed, they turned around. Behind them, the armour was slowly getting up from it's throne, it's joints creaking with untold years of built up rust. From where it had landed on the floor, the helmet was floating up and over to the body. With a dull, hollow clank, it landed back where Lily had knocked it from. The armour rolled it's non-existent neck, pulling a sword from behind the throne and staring down the two young adventurers with empty, hateful eyes.

“Lily?”

“Run?”

“Run!”

The two spun around and started sprinting towards the hallway they had come from. Behind them, they heard the animated armour rapidly approaching. Azura spun around and strummed her harp, creating a magic shockwave that she hoped would cause the armour to stumble. When nothing happened, Azura whistled for Cotton, who transformed into its staff form, Azura hopping on.

“Hop on!” Azura yelled at Lily, holding her hand out to Lily. Lily reached out and grabbed hold.

And then the sword came down on her back.

And Azura saw a spray of red come from the wound.

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

Azura pulled Lily up quickly, holding the now limp girl close. She sped off on Cotton, the armour chasing after them, though with the speed boost from riding her palisman, Azura quickly outpaced it. She blasted through the open door, skidding to a halt and placing Lily down gently on the ground before running over and pushing as hard as she could to close it, Cotton even flapping over to help her. She could still hear the armour rushing towards them, which only spurred Azura on more. Just as she thought she was going to be trampled by the running armour, she slammed the stone door shut, the armour slamming into it from the other side, but seemingly unable to push it open from its side. Deciding that would have to do for now, Azura picked Lily up and rushed her to the only place she could think of.

Lily was breathing shallow, and looked up at Azura. “Z-Zura. I… I need to tell you something…”

“You can tell me later, okay?” Azura said, wishing now more than ever she didn't inherent her mama's weak nerd arms.

“No. No, please. Let me tell you. Please.” Lily's voice was weak, each word a struggle.

Azura had tears in her eyes, her attempts to speak failing and just slowly nodding.

“I… I like you ‘Zura. I know… I know I denied it, but… I… I like you.” Lily admitted, her eyes slowly closing.

“Hey. Hey, you keep your eyes open, okay? Lily? Lily?!” Azura shook the girl as she passed out in Azura's arms. Seeing where she was heading, she burst through the door, nearly out of breath. “AUNT VINEY! I NEED HELP!”

What happened next was a blur. She breathlessly explained vaguely what happened to Viney, who took Lily away. Emira contacted Amity and Luz, who in turn contacted Anne, Sasha and Marcy. When everyone arrived, Amity and Luz checked on Azura, while Anne, Sasha and Marcy waited with Percy and Maddy, Lily's younger sister and the youngest sibling, waited for Viney to finish up with Lily. All Azura could pick up was when her Aunt Viney said Lily's wound healed without a scar. After what felt like an eternity, Anne walked up to Azura, getting down to eye level.

Azura looked at Anne with teary eyes. “I-I'm so sorry. I… I… I'm sorry.”

Anne softly smiled and put a comforting hand over Azura's. “Hey. Don't be. Lily told us what happened. You saved her, Azura. Thank you. So much.” Anne softly pulled Azura into a short hug. “Now, Lily says she wants to talk to you about something.”

Azura nodded, getting up and walking past the rest of Lily's family. Sasha looked over at Azura as the witchling passed by and mouthed a silent “Thank you,” before going back to keeping their youngest daughter occupied.

Azura entered the room where Lily was lying in a bed. Already, the human girl looked much better. Azura took a seat beside Lily.

“So… um… your mom said you wanted to talk to me?” Azura shifted awkwardly in her seat, unsure if Lily remembered what she had said on the way here. Lily nodded.

“First off, thanks. And… And you were right. We definitely shouldn't have gone down there.”

Azura sighed softly. “While you're right, I probably should have done something more to stop you. But what's important is that you're okay now.” She smiled softly.

Lily nodded. A small blush formed on her cheeks. “And… um… I meant what I said. On our way here.”

It was Azura's turn to blush, her face going as red as a tomato. “O-Oh. Um. O-Of course. I… I just wasn't sure if you remembered.” Azura shifted awkwardly again. “Um…” Azura sighed, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked Lily in the eyes. “I… I think I like you too, Lily.”

Lily's blush grew even brighter. “So… what does that mean for us?”

Azura took a deep breath. “I… I think this means… We take it slow. One date at a time. And see where we go from there.” Azura took Lily's hand with a smile. Lily smiled back.

“I think I can deal with that.”

From the doorway, Percy laughed. “Called it!” He received a pillow to the face from his sister for his troubles.

~Fin~

[ask-prismaknight]

Hi!

Welcome to the askblog! This is where you can ask questions directly to Prisma and her friends. My main is @startistdoodles (where likes/follows come from). I have posts regarding all my headcanons tagged there under #kirby worldbuilding.

A few notes upfront:

Depending on the amount of asks I receive, I may not be able to respond to every one of them. Please understand.

On a similar note, please refrain from repeatedly asking the same/similar question multiple times.

Please keep asks PG-13 at most.

The characters are not omnipotent, so lore-related questions about the world or things they may not know will be moved over to @startistdoodles .

My AU follows both anime and game lore, so characters from either can be asked about. Generally anyone who is not dead is free to talk.

Side modes such as Knightmare and Dededetour are not canon to my AU. However, Soul Bosses and Magolor Epilogue are canon.

That's about it! I'll update this post with anything else if needed.

Under the cut is information on some of the characters of interest.

Prisma Knight

Prisma Knight (she/her) is a Star Warrior turned queen after she got into an accident involving Dark Matter that resulted in her losing her wings. Ashamed, she fled her troop and went into hiding on Planet Permafrost. There she was crowned queen after saving the inhabitants from a terrifying threat.

Many years later, she reunited with her old friend Meta Knight and was brought to Popstar, where she currently lives with her servants and new friends.

Kirby

Kirby (he/him or they/them) is a young Star Warrior that arrived on Planet Popstar a couple years ago. Ever since then, his incredible power has been put to the test as he stands up against terrifying threats. But he is never fazed and goes right back to naptime after every battle.

Kirby is still a child (about 3-5 in human years) and his speech isn't the best. He resorts to communicating with drawings or gestures alongside his babbling. His friends can often help suggest what he might be trying to say.

Meta Knight

Meta Knight (he/him) is a mostly retired Star Warrior who resides on Planet Popstar and serves as a watchful knight who aims to protect the planet alongside his crew, the Meta-Knights, aboard his Battleship Halberd. He serves as a mentor to Kirby, as well as a sort of parental figure (despite him disagreeing with the latter).

Many years ago, he and Prisma Knight along with Sir Falspar, Sir Nonsurat and Sir Dragato were in the same troop in the GSA (Galaxy Soldier Army). He presumed Prisma dead when she went missing, but was reunited with her many years later.

King Dedede

King Dedede (he/him) is the self-proclaimed king of Dreamland. Once a greedy and stubborn king, he has since chilled out quite a bit and now acts as a proud ruler (now with 10% less stubbornness!) that many respect. While he can still be loud and hotheaded at times, he cares deeply for his friends and especially his Waddle Dee family.

He and Kirby are friendly rivals, and he will defend his little buddy with everything he's got.

Bandana Waddle Dee

Bandana Waddle Dee (he/him - Bandee for short) is the king's right-hand Waddle Dee. A soldier in training, he assists in the defense of Castle Dedede and even hangs out in town looking for ways he can help others.

He is also one of Kirby's best friends, and the two are almost always seen hanging out together.

Dark Matter Blade

Dark Matter Blade (he/him or it/its - usually shortened to 'Dark Matter', 'Dark Blade' or simply 'Dark') is the former right-hand of Lord Zero, the incarnation of pure dark energy. While once highly respected among his kind, after failing his first big mission of killing a Star Warrior and then again failing to defeat Kirby in his invasion of Popstar many years later, he was forced to flee the Dark Matter tribe under threat of being killed by his master. So, he returned to Popstar where he was reunited with Gooey.

Nowadays he spends his time with his new friends, though is still distrusted by some. He wishes to lead a life of peace and comfort and as such shys away from conflict and confrontation. His relationship with Prisma is very tense — they don’t speak much.

Mochi

Mochi (he/him or they/them) is a new baby that recently landed on Popstar. There is something strange and somewhat dark about him...but he seems sweet enough so Prisma is raising him.

Sidia Knight

Sidia Knight (he/him) is Prisma Knight's old mentor and father figure. After going MIA during the great war that demolished the GSA, he was stranded on Galacta Star for nearly a century. Eventually, he reunites with Quiver Knight and they settle down and live happily together as a married couple.

[age-of-portal-masters]

18 - Memory

(a/n: lol lmao, this took a while teehee. remember to reread tags in the master post if u need to scan for content warnings)

"I still can't wrap my head around it," Snap Shot gripped the railing of the bleacher, talking to Sensei King Pen. "What are the odds of finding missing Imaginators on that outing? Not to say anything of the sheer luck of the other two just showing up here on their own!"

King Pen pondered quietly before responding. "Given the last two years, perhaps luck was bound to bloom in our favor." 

They watched over the Imaginators' training for quite some time, as King Pen replayed the last two days' events in his head. First, Snap Shot and Wildfire returned with the Magic Sorcerer Fae and Fire Sentinel Santana, then but a few moments later Knightmare ran in with the Tech Quickshot Tanya. Second, the Water Swashbuckler Octavia and the Earth Brawler Dimitri arrived on campus asking for Master Eon out of nowhere. Third, the lot of them were assessed by the relevant Senseis, impressed by how skilled they already were. And finally, today, where Snap Shot and King Pen himself could reflect on the situation, and deliver their opinions to Master Eon, once he arrived. Of course, Eon being Eon wanted to talk to the Imaginators first, so they waited patiently for him to finish his conversations.

Master Eon was on the field of the training grounds, putting names to faces. A bittersweet gnawing ate at his heart, knowing that these Imaginators were, at least in some part, the only surviving bits of Caitlyn's cognition. These new people were not just her quirks, but those of her friends too, especially those that Caitlyn had only just moved in with. When Tanya calculated her bullets' precision, he saw the analytical Gearshift, and when she encouraged her teammates with light teasing, he saw the friendly Tuff Luck. When Santana moved to protect his friends, Eon remembered the loyal Wildfire and the faithful Knight Light. In Fae's sheer magical presence, he thought of the powerful Blastermind, and in her more physical beatdowns, he could see the unorthodox Enigma. Whenever Octavia belted out a tune, he could hear Head Rush's commanding voice. And in Dimitri's warm smile, Eon could see Kaboom and Wallop's friendship.

To say it was a lot for the old master was an understatement. But there was something very important he had to know before he could leave.

"One last thing before I leave for the day," Master Eon cleared his throat. "Do any of you remember coming to life?"

"Are... we supposed to?" Fae giggled. "Do you remember being born?" 

Master Eon chuckled lightly, "No, no, it's much different for humans. But as Imaginators, the day an Imaginator comes into being is the most emotional memory they may ever have. It's okay if you don't remember, but I am curious, to say the least."

The Imaginators stood in silence for a bit, looking at each other nervously. 

Santana spoke first, "Dimitri and Oktavia are the oldest. They remember 6 months ago."

"Yeah, barely," Oktavia scoffed. "No matter how hard I try, I just... can't. It's like... I'm walking into an empty room over and over."

"Mm." Dimitri said, "Recollection is more akin to picking up pieces of a jigsaw for me, but when you look to the center of the puzzle, there's just a huge hole."

Fae crossed her arms, "I only remember things in Skylands from about 4 or so months ago? But I very clearly remember our Master's face."

Eon's heart skipped. "As in Caitlyn's, you mean?"

"Yeah, though I think we should all remember that one right? It was still in her subconscious," Fae twirled her braids. "One day I was nothing, then I became something. Something not finished, sure, but I was something. She seemed so happy to meet us, even as incomplete as we were. Then the next day..."

As if the same electric shock pierced all 5 of the Imaginators, they recoiled in pain. Yes, yes, how could they forget it? The desperate message sent from their master, a plea for help of all things. But no one said a word of this shared pain to Master Eon.

Fae squeaked out, "The next day... never came." It was a bad lie, but it would have to do. She composed herself quickly. "We've been at this training for too long, I want a nap." The other Imaginators agreed, and said their goodbyes to Master Eon, who made his way to the Trap Master Chief and Lead Sensei.  

Late that night, the Imaginators snuck out of their quarters in the Academy, and congregated on the dock, where Dimitri and Octavia explained the directions given to them by Bacchus, whose name they learned by encountering a wanted poster on campus property. 

"I dunno man, that sounds really sketchy," Fae sighed. "He's accused of killing our Master, you know this right?"

"Why in Skylands would he have given us gold to go to his enemies then?" Octavia retorted. 

"Forget about the money," Santana interrupted. "We all had the same vision, right?"

Dimitri railroaded the conversation. "You cannot have felt that vision and still doubt whether or not we should pursue more information. We all will go to this Bacchus and hear him out. If by the end of that meeting you feel uneasy, you may return here. But, we should at least give him an audience."

Tanya agreed. "That does seem like the best course of action."

And so, the five Imaginators stole an Academy airship, and quickly made their way back to the alley they left Bacchus at. 

"Ancients, you couldn't have just paid for passage back here? You had to steal an Academy airship?!" Bacchus said, winded from the sprint. Fae was the fastest out of them, so she bolted as quick as possible to find Bacchus and drag him back to the airship before any of the dock workers caught onto their ongoing crime. "I gave you enough for passage back!" 

"Yeah, enough for two tickets," Octavia grinned. "We weren't gonna leave anyone behind!" She piloted the ship out of the harbor and into the open sky away from civilization.

"Fine, fine, whatever," Bacchus conceded. 

"There's no time for this," Dimitri said. "We have returned, like you asked. Tell us what you know."

Bacchus collected himself, and prepared his speech. "Seth has opened the Neon Lightlands. He has Caitlyn's body there."

"That's... the message she left us with..." Santana said, his face sullen.

"I can't do this alone, even if I wanted to," Bacchus confessed. "The Skylanders will certainly find out about the Neon Lightlands' location soon, now that Seth is baiting them to attack, and they will absolutely bite. But..." He took a breath. "But I want my fight with Seth. I ran away that day two years ago, but I won't do it again."

The Imaginators agreed in unison. 

"Tactically speaking, a small group like us is better suited to sneak in and out with her body, while you draw Seth's attention," Tanya chimed in. 

Bacchus nodded. "I know you all have little actual combat experience, but you've been brought into this world to save Caitlyn. I don't entirely understand how that was even possible, but it's too late to ask those questions."

"Let us chart a course for the Neon Lightlands, then?" Octavia said, her hands on her sides.

"I'll weave a cloaking charm for us, so we don't tip them off when we dock," Fae said.

Bacchus breathed a sigh of relief. Very soon, his battle with Seth would finally play out like it should have at their first meeting. But for now, he sharpened his blade, replaying Mysticat's lessons in his head. This was never about him, it was about repaying her kindness that Bacchus never did while she was alive. An apology made at a grave is better than none at all.  

He prayed that one day they'd meet again, in another life. Maybe then he could properly show Caitlyn how much he had grown. 

Spyro had one last round to make on his work day before heading home for a well deserved rest, although it was really much more of a chore than anything else. He knew that the cadets of that station were fresh to the area and its responsibilities, but did he really need to troubleshoot every little thing for them? They could all read just fine! Was cross referencing errors that much of an ask? He tried not to ruminate on it as the area was not exactly an easy territory to exist in, with its rough winds and remote location, but they were full fledged Skylanders capable of the task!

So, Spyro was already pretty annoyed by the time he landed at the outpost, and ignored the chatter of the cadets and he got to work pressing a total of three buttons to correct the radar's error. But, the same problem occurred. Over and over. According to this scan, there was an inconceivably large mass further north of this area, which Spyro knew to be impossible, as there had never been anything other than open sky for several hundred miles since, well, forever. He sighed, and radioed to another outpost, washing his hands of the issue. It had to just be a technical malfunction. Nothing more, nothing less.

[genesic-archives]

Nunnally's Halloween Ch 1-5: The Reason For Invitation

This is a translation of the fifth section of Nunnally's Halloween. This section shows the gang cooperating with the ghosts after a fight to assist their horrifying Halloween party.

Previous Section - Next Section - All Story Sections

The story section opens up on the gang fighting off the ghosts in the party venue, swatting off one of their pumpkin hats in the process.

Al: There are so many! One after another...! 

Hong Yu: Tsk! If you keep going like this, it’s going to be a little tough. I’ll wipe it out with the power of `Entei Toju’!

(AN: 'Entei Toju' is the name of the weapon he has that of which is called a 'Knightmare Treasure' which are a weapon type used in his story each of which is imbued with different types of magic, his being fire [see this article for more details.]. The closest thing I can think to of a translation of this is 'The Flame Emperor's Fallen Lifespans', but that's a mouthful [and a bit too literal] so I'll just write it out in Romanji.)

Lelouch: Hong Yu, wait! If you use the Knightmare Treasure, the entire venue will be set on fire!

Hong Yu: What the hell are you on about!? 

Nunnally: Remember, we were formally invited! 

Lelouch: That’s right. Since they went so far as to create a venue like this and invite us, there must be some reason. Something for sure!

Al: Lelouch… 

Hong Yu: Well, I see. Then I'll believe you.

The head Jack-O'-Lantern and a few ghosts approach the anxious group.

Liu Ki: Looks like we’re surrounded. 

Lelouch (internal thoughts): (There must be something. Some reason...)

Gigi: Alright, enough already! 

Everyone stopped and stood in shock.

Gigi: Parties like this aren't fun at all! A party is supposed to be about eating hot food and laughing together with everyone, right?

Lelouch (internal thoughts): (………! Have the ghosts stopped moving?) 

Gigi: This isn't a party!

After a moment of reflection, all the ghosts them started to fade away.

Nunnally: Surely, that must’ve been correct. 

Al: What do ya know, I guess the ghosts got too depressed. 

Hong Yu: Well, no joke, they’ve stopped moving. What's gonna happen now? 

The screen fades to black as the Jack-O'-Lantern mutters to himself, Nunnally seemingly still the only one who can hear them.

Jack O’ Lantern (???):  -I don’t understand. 

It them cuts back to Nunnally, now with the ghosts and head Jack-O'-Lantern; Nunnally tries to listen in and understand them.

Nunnally: You don't understand? What do you mean you don't understand?

Al: Maybe...it's your first time hosting a party, and you're wondering how to do it?

Lelouch: That’s it! Great job, Al. that must be it. It's true that the decorations are awkward, and the food isn't warm. We can't attract people to participate, or even ghosts.

Jack O’ Lantern (???):  -Please help us. 

Nunnally: Did you say you wanted me to tell you? 

Liu Ki: It seems to respond to Nunnally’s voice. 

We then cut to the outside of the haunted Ashford Academy as Hong Yu and Al discuss the plans they made with the ghosts.

Hong Yu: Ah...in other words, maybe it’s like this…

Al: So that means we were called to help with the party? 

[roadkillreverie]

Knots and knightmares

I hate having these knots in my stomach. It’s because I texted Liamdanny 2 days ago and he hasn’t texted me back. Ugh. A simple reply is all I need. I hate when he leaves me on delivered.

In other news, he’s finally becoming more intimate with Ashley. When he wrote, “I wish I could hold you in my arms,” I responded “Ew,” as Ashley in my mind. Why am I like this? Firstly because he doesn’t even know her and he already wants to hold her, ew. Ya they’ve been talking for a few weeks, but it’s mostly morning and goodnight. Nothing deep. I know I’m jealous because he texts her everyday. And he’s just trying to fuck her. Still, I wish he would text me. I feel like he thinks because I mentioned Utah he thinks I’m a stalker. But he told me he used to live there. I feel like he blocked me because my iMessage doesn’t say delivered. I feel embarrassed texting again so soon. Let me give it a couple of days. I’m gonna punish him and not reply for a few days. I feel awkward for her and him. He doesn’t seem like the type to write that shit. I mean ya he has before with me, but after meeting him, it is a bit weird to hear him say stuff like that.

Part of me wants to wait and have him text me first. But the longest he hasn’t texted me is like 5 or 7 days and that felt like forever. Ugh. I hate being infatuated. Esp with someone who doesn’t want a relationship. When will I ever find someone who wants me as much as I want them?

I had a really bad nightmare. 2 of them in fact. In the first one, I was driving and as I was drifting to sleep in real life, I fell asleep on the road in my dream. I try to wake up in the dream but it’s hard. My face is tightly closed and it’s hard to open my eyes, much like coming out of anesthesia after surgery. When I manage to open my eyes, I notice I’ve been in a car accident and I struggle to reach for the keys to turn off the car. Michelle is in the passenger side moaning and she manages to unbuckle herself and rolls out of the car. I realize the car is upside down. I manage to get out somehow but I’m crawling on my stomach. I hear Michelle moaning and drowning in a puddle on the street. She cries for help. I make my way to her and hold her in my arms. She is gasping for air. She feels so light and broken. I call 911 and I’m crying telling them to hurry up and help my sister. She’s dying.

The next thing that happens is the scariest thing I’ve ever felt in my life. I felt someone crawling on me like a snake and hanging onto me and hugging me letting me know things are going to be okay. I wanted it to be my mom or my sister. But the hug didn’t feel comforting. It felt sinister and slimy. Like an alien or demon. I quickly called out to God and asked him to protect me from all evil. I tried speaking but I couldn’t. I tried moving to shake the hugging off, but it wasn’t working. I was paralyzed. I heard myself crying to God and trying to open my eyes and move but I couldn’t. I felt like I was tied up. After what seemed like about the longest 2 minutes of my life, I finally started waking up and moving in real life as if waking up from anesthesia. I started crying because of how scared I was.

I googled this shit. It’s fucking sleep paralysis! Fuck! As if I don’t have enough problems. Why does it have to be a fucken demon? Why can’t it be cute kittens or angels rocking u to sleep? That is the last time I’m eating late again. I’m gonna try exercising everyday, sleep at a reasonable hour and use my cpap. Man, fuck those demons! That shit was scary asf!

Yesterday, I also experienced a bit of sleep paralysis. I was drowning and I couldn’t wake up, but eventually I did. It felt so real. It sucks because the week after I met Liamdanny I was on a high. And I was waking up early and sleeping early for at least 2 weeks until I reverted back to my sleeping cycle.

I’ve been off my meds for almost 2 months now and I’m starting to feel the real sadness creep in again. I think I’m going to go back on them. I just feel like crying all the time. :(

[esperata]

Writer’s Tag

Thank you @fandom-star for the tag. I haven't done one of these in ages.

How many works do you have on AO3?

331

100 - DC 185 - Star Trek 30 - Marvel 5 - Pacific Rim 6 - Super Mario 1 - Resident Evil Village 1 - IT (Stephen King) 1 - Sherlock Holmes 2 - diary style entries

What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,191,365

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

"That's Amore" (MCU) : 898

"Plans And Propositions" (MCU) : 587

"Wait... Was That A Date?!" (MCU) : 484

"Vita Bella" (MCU) : 407

"Five Times + 1" (Star Trek) : 406

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes. I like to acknowledge people who have taken the time to react to my writing. Not only that but talking about the fandoms can be really inspiring, giving me ideas for new stories. Not to mention forging new friendships with people along the way.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

"From Bad to Worse" (Star Trek)

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending

I have written a lot of fluffy fics so this is hard to choose but let’s pick “For Better Or Worse” (Gotham) 

Do you write crossovers? If so, What is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

I don't usually do crossovers but one I felt compelled to make was "Olduvai", a Star Trek/Doom crossover.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I once had a troll comment on a drabble series on ff.net with a mixture of bizarrely stupid and juvenile insults. I ignored them until they tried the same thing on my friend’s fics and then I let them have it.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I’m not a huge writer of smut, generally using it to further a plot but occasionally indulging for fun. I’m really not sure what kind it is except consensual and honest.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Several times 😊 One reader translated a selection of my drabbles into Spanish and “Olduvai”  and “My Beloved Monster” (Batman movies 1989-1997) were translated into Russian.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

There are a few co-authored works on my AO3 page. They range in contribution level from me writing just a paragraph to the bulk of the fic. The most cooperative project was a series where my friend and I took turns adding stories.

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I have to say riddlebird. There’s just so much versatility with the various versions and a core foundation their relationship is built upon.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I feel like my paranormal hattercrow / riddlebird fic has been languishing, doomed to remain incomplete forever. I like the concept, and I have a few plot points, but ultimately I don’t know where the story is going.

What are your writing strengths?

Character driven plots. I think that the arcs my characters go on are believable for their personality traits.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Scene setting. I am reliant on my audience already having visuals in mind for locations and appearances.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Generally should be kept to a minimum and only used as necessary. It is awkward scrolling to find translations in notes and worse if there’s no translation provided at all. Do not rely on google translate but have an actual human confirm the translation is accurate. 

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

That would have been a kid's TV programme from the 80s, 90s, called Knightmare. For a first work it was quite long, 26k+

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Another difficult one to answer so I’m going to pick three.

“Pax Penguina” (Gotham)

“Innocent Until Proven Guilty” (Gotham)

“Word Don’t Come Easy” (Gotham)

I’m going to tag just a couple of people in case they’d like to do this, @thedreammweaver @mordredllewelynjones @connerluthorkent @chierei and @thesoullessfuck

[creepie-cookie]

Cozy

Just a short drabble inspired by this post from @sleepyvirgilprompts !

Summary:  Virgil refuses to sleep, so Roman comes up with a...creative solution. Logan is just Done with everyone (but also not at all surprised anymore).

Content Warnings: intentional sleep deprivation (for unstated reasons)

Word Count: 280

Ao3

~~~^~~~

“…sleep is just a construct.” Virgil grumbled, curling – somehow – further into himself on the couch as he flicked through Tumblr posts on his phone.

Roman sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the stubborn man in front of him. Before he could respond, Virgil spoke up again without looking up, “Don’t give me that look, Princey. You’re just as awake as I am.”

“That may be the case, but I simply ventured down for a glass of water – after having already slept through part of the night. You, on the other hand, are in the same spot you were five hours ago, and I am willing to bet you haven’t rested for a single minute of it.” Roman pointed an accusing finger towards Virgil. “You need to go to bed, my sleepless knightmare.”

“One, you have no evidence. Two, I am not moving.”

Roman stood in silence for a moment before a wicked grin crept slowly across his face. There was more than one way to solve this problem - he was creativity, after all. And Virgil wouldn’t even have to move a muscle.

~~~^~~~

One hour later, Logan made his way downstairs to obtain his first coffee of the day but paused upon seeing Virgil laying horizontally across the couch – or rather, he paused upon seeing the mountain of blankets and smidge of eyeshadow under brown eyes peeking back out at him.

“You look rather cozy there, Virgil.”

“I can’t mo-” Virgil’s response was cut short by a yawn, and Logan simply raised his eyebrow. Virgil tried again, “I can’t move.”

Another pause.

“…but yes, it’s cozy, and I’m about five seconds away from conking out.”

[heartsywritesthethings]

Birthday Knightmare

“What sort of knight sees over an empty castle?”

“You’re not really a knight, dumbass,”

“I don’t see how his parents let him out like that,”

“Grow up, Arthur.”

Knight King Arthur Boyle shot up in his bed, his blanket tangled around his legs from all of his tossing and turning through the night. A feeling of absolute loneliness crashed over him like a suffocating wave. He felt as if he were drowning in it. 

No. He was a knight king…he shouldn’t feel this way. He was brave and honorable and the protector of station 8 and the world!

And yet the sensation remained. A deep hole in his chest that threatened to suck everything in and leave nothing behind. Arthur pulled himself out of bed, absently pulling his hair up in his trademark ponytail. He perched up on his toes and decided now would be a perfect time to pester his annoying roommate. Yeah, that would definitely help him feel better.

“Hey, Devil–” Arthur began. Empty bed. It was like a slap to the face and he felt panic begin to swirl around his chest. 

Was it happening again?

No. No, that couldn’t happen. That stupid devil was probably around here somewhere along with the others. Other people. He would be fine. Sure, a knight could fight battles on his own, but he also needs  his fellow companions for support. His fans, to cheer him on.

Arthur pulled on his slippers, silver ones with bright yellow crowns on the toes, and he went out into the hallway. The vast emptiness felt suffocating. There were no sounds of laughter, chatting, praying, cooking…nothing. He felt sick as a knot formed in his stomach.

Well, guess it was time to make breakfast like he used to. While he had been in charge of his home kingdom, he had gotten accustomed to making his own meals. Well, he was probably the only one who could call them meals. Since his mother had…well, left, there was no one to help him really when it came to cooking. He could vaguely remember watching her cook and the sickly sweet smell the cooked fish that the three of them would have to share. It had been Ogun who had taught him to cook rice properly without the threat of burning down the whole place. Shinra had of course poked fun at him, but Ogun was quick to stop him. 

That was something that he had really appreciated about that guy. He was just as honorable as a knight, defending those in need and standing up for what was right. While such a manly knight as Arthur didn’t really need the aide, it was nice nonetheless.

Thoughts of the academy days did nothing to soothe his boiling panic. If anything, it made him feel more alone here. Arthur reached the kitchen and pulled out the rice from the pantry. He waited for a moment, anticipating Lt. Hinawa to burst through and get onto him for not having a healthy breakfast. Maybe Tamaki would trip in and magically lose her shirt. Or perhaps Vulcan would shuffle in and with a new and improved silver steed for him.

Nothing. 

The sound of rice pitter pattering in an empty pan was almost deafening. He poured in some water and then…waited.

“That kinda sounds like your parents abandoned you,”

“Where are your parents, kid?”

“Your dad didn’t teach you this?”

Tears began to form in Arthur’s eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. Knights don’t cry. They were too manly. Besides what if someone walked in and

You’re alone, Arthur. Again.

Arthur flinched. He hadn’t heard that voice in what seemed like ages. It was his own, of course, but he had thought he had imprisoned such a mind monster. 

You drove them away.

The tears were really coming down now as he just stared at the pot of rice on the stove.

What did he do this time? Was it something he did? 

“I don’t know, man. They just said to go get you then head to the roof.” Shinra’s voice said from the hallway. Without thinking, Arthur bolted from the kitchen towards where he heard the voice. Sure, it could be his mind monster playing cruel tricks on him again, but he needed to know for sure.

“Station 8 has some weird rules and junk.” Ogun’s voice responded. They were both here. 

He wasn’t alone.

He wasn’t alone.

He wasn’t alone.

“Oh, now I see,” Shinra laughed. 

Arthur Boyle burst through the roof hall doors where Shinra and Ogun were standing. Shinra was holding the door open to the roof where the rest of the company was. Tamaki, Iris, Captain Obi, Lt. Hinawa, Vulcan, Maki, Victor, and even the three fire force mascots. They were all standing around a table with a crudely made banner reading “happy birthday Sir King Arthur!!!”. They were all smiling when they saw him.

“Surprise!” The gang said in unison. Well, everyone except for Ogun and Shinra. The two of them immediately rushed to their friend (he’s your friend too Shinra, just admit it).

Arthur fell to his knees, quickly wiping his tears with his sleeves, but they wouldn’t stop. Ogun dropped in front of him, immediately pulling him into one of those bear hugs that were oh so sweet. Shinra was next to him, a steady hand on his back. 

“Did we scare him that bad?” Maki asked, poking her head in to see what was going on.

“You shouldn’t leave him like that!” Shinra barked back at her. “Why didn’t you tell me this was the plan?”

“You can’t keep a secret to save your life, perv.” Tamaki joined in.

“Alright, you two. Stop with the teasing and go get the couch blanketed down. Iris, make sure they keep to Nightmare Protocol 1.” Captain Obi commanded. He pushed through the doors and walked over to where the three boys were. It was obvious that this hit some kind of trauma that the blonde kid had. “Maki and Victor, help Vulcan move the festivities to the main hall. Lt., get him some water,”

“Right!”

It didn’t take long for Arthur to be ushered to the hall in a whirlwind of motion. Ogun and Shinra never left his side though, each having at the very least a hand on him so that he knew that they were still there. Finally, he was resting against Ogun’s side, curled up on the couch with a mountain of blankets and pillows around him like a fortress. Shinra was still piling on more.

“Do you want it to be your turn right now? Is that okay?” Ogun asked, so softly that even Arthur barely heard it. Slowly, he shook his head. “What would help right now?”

Arthur pointed a feeble finger at Shinra.

“His turn,” He said quietly. Ogun chuckled.

“Hey, hero, Sir birthday king has declared that it is your turn today.” Ogun said, this time louder. Shinra immediately froze and turned bright red. He opened his mouth in protest then stopped. Shinra grumbled something about them needing to wait. He left for just a moment and then dragged Vulcan back, holding a present in his hand. Vulcan had a wide grin on his face. A devilish smile that almost rivaled Shinra’s. In fact, Shinra was smiling his tense smile once again.

“Show him,” Shinra grumbled and gestured towards Arthur. Vulcan handed him the present and then cleared his throat.

“Sir king Arthur, I present to you the gift of my new invention! I call them, Giggleflies.” Vulcan announced before bowing deeply. Arthur pulled apart the wrapping paper to see several metal moth-like machines. Each was about as big as his palm and had half a dozen nubby legs. Also in the box was a little remote with several buttons and switches along with a small keypad.

“Press one for…me,” Shinra grumbled, not even looking at him now. The devil shifted awkwardly from side to side. He did. The giggleflies powered up, hovering for a moment around the opened box before darting straight for their target. Instead of running, Shinra stood, his eyes squeezed shut as he braced himself for ticklish impact.

The bugs were fast, several darting under his shirt and clamping onto different ticklish areas. One under each arm, one on his ribs, one flat on his stomach, and another on his hip. One even crawled around to clamp onto his shoulder blades and another onto one of his knees. Two others hovered by his feet, but didn’t do much of anything since he was standing.

“You have to like, sit or something for these to work.” Vulcan said, gesturing for Shinra to move.

“I don’t like this present anymore for him,” Shinra said, but then moved so he could sit. The two leftover giggleflies clamped onto each bare foot.

“Pick a number.” Vulcan said to Arthur now. Arthur looked down at the keypad. Numbers 0-9. He pressed one.

Almost immediately, Shinra began thrashing with laughter. The two under his arms were poking and prodding at one of his most ticklish spots. They were random with some digging and making him howl and squeal, with others lightly scratching with made his giggles kick up and his feet kick out.

Arthur pressed 2. The gigglefly on Shinra’s ribs began to squeeze like ticklish claws, the timing random so every now and again Shinra would squeak and jerk around like a fish. A smile formed on Arthur’s face. This was just about the best gift ever.

He pressed three. For some reason, the first two stopped as this one began. That was fine with Arthur. He thought that Shinra could use a breather anyways. 

A feather like device was swirling devilishly around Shinra’s navel, circling it like a shark circles prey. Shinra twisted, cute giggles filling the air as it got closer and closer.

“Nohohohoho! Waihihihit!” Shinra giggled as the feather then dipped into his belly button. He jerked agin, his giggles jumping up again. The feather tickling stopped and for a moment…nothing happened.Then it felt like someone was giving him the biggest most ticklish raspberry of his life. Shinra curled in on himself and squealed. There was nothing he could do to stop it though, just laugh and laugh and laugh. 

While Arthur was definitely enjoying himself, he could tell that Shinra was starting to get tired.

“Which one does his feet?” Arthur asked, having to raise his voice a little over the laughter.

“Nine.” Vulcan responded. Arthur pressed it. The tickling on Shinra’s stomach stopped and Shinra greedily drank in the sweet air. He was still letting out residual giggles, but at least the kid was breathing.

Then, the tickling began. Smooth feathery things slid in between the poor devil’s toes, making him shriek. Something crawled up and down his arches, something else chewed at his heels.

Shinra was sent into hysterics. He thrashed and there were times when Arthur could see sparks flying through the makeshift metal boot. These things must be pretty fire resistant then. That was definitely a plus. 

When Shinra’s laughter fell silent, Arthur pressed the RETURN button and the giggle flies unclamped and flew back towards their box. Shinra panted on the floor, a pure smile across his face.

Arrthur spent the rest of his birthday cuddled up against Ogun and Shinra (who had crawled up against Arthur in a giggly daze). He tormented the rest of the team, sending these new Giggleflies over any new victim who hadn’t felt their ticklish wrath yet. Even Lt. Hinawa allowed himself to be attacked which was kind of surprising. The day was full of laughter and mirth and soon, the whole team had piled onto the couch and slept after a long day. 

With this team, Arthur would never have to feel that crushing loneliness again.

-GA!babe

[lukewarmchicken]

More Knightmare for @chingkittycat, because I have orb and wizard blanket brainrot.

—————

After years of trial and error, eNeMeE's perfect little terror was situated in his giant, boney palm.

The wizard gently prodded it with his finger, only to have it's indigo body fluff up as it peered around with bright lemon-yellow eyes in an effort to try to find where the poke came from.

eNeMeE poked again.

This time, the little monster shifted onto it's teeny little paws, put its disproportionally large wings up, screwed its eyes shut, and let out a fearsome, high pitched "pew!"

The wizard stared at this brave little terror in slight awe. Any creature he had previously made had never reacted that way. Then again, he usually makes mature monsters. This one was but a baby.

A moment of pause as before eNeMeE spoke up.

"Aw, you think you're scary." He cooed before gently poking it's wing with a fingertip... They felt like something short of velvet.

"Pew!" It responded as it tried to flap its violet wings in an effort to take off. It's efforts only produced a slight breeze.

"Don't try to fly, little terror. You're still a bit too young for that."

Another defiant little "pew" before it flapped even harder.

"Oh, what am I going to do with you?" The wizard chuckled in amusement and stared at the stubborn little puff in his hands who was still violently flapping away.

"Pew! Pew-pew!" It dramatically squeaked as it kept up it's vain efforts.

"Baby, little baby terror."

[knightmareaceblue]

/// Hiiii hello, hopping in just for a moment. How are you? Good I hope-

Heya, Mercy! I'm feeling okay right now, just enjoying drawing again. Here, I decided to make you something! I hope you like it.

[lovelivingmydreams]

This update was brought to you by this piece of amazing art

Roman accompanied Virgil as he made his round through the castle. He watched him check in with stafmembers, introduce himself to people he hadn't met yet and give instructions on security. They both laughed as the chef explained the guest menu to them, the names the staff had come up with were brilliant and it was clear that they'd had a lot of fun with them. Virgil was getting used to the staffs formalities. Letting them make their bows and greetings. Telling his knights to stand at ease without casting his eyes to the ceiling every time. Only the youngest knights, who were most eager to impress him made him look at Romam accusingly as if he meant to accuse him of making this happen on purpose.

Once formalities were taken care of, Virgil took over the conversation. And though he was taking especially the ones relating to security very serious, they were much more casual than Roman was used to hearing directly from the staff. Was he that intimidating without his friends?

That wasn't most important though. In between these conversations and their own bantering and reminiscing, Roman could see the freshly appointed captain seemed distracted. Sure, when it came to their downtime he usually had half his mind with making sure they were safe, that Thomas was safe. But Roman had let the day of the others catch up to them slowly since they left the forest. By now the others were probably ready to head into the imagination. But for them there were still hours to go. So Virgil could mentally check in with Thomas once every hour or so and not miss anything that happened outside.

But now it seemed his own thoughts were providing distraction. "Something on your mind Hot Topic?"

Virgil snapped out of his musings with something between an amused smirk anc a worried frown.

"Careful with that one around here. I doubt the maids get the reference. They might assume you just called me hot."

Roman chuckled, but didn't take the bait. "Come on knightmare, tell me what worries plague you. I may be of assistance in chasing them away," he insisted.

Virgil bit his lip as he thought about that. There was a list of things on his mind. He didn't know where to start.

"Not still daydreaming about your own crown are you? Because I told you just say the word and I can make you a little kingdom all your own," Roman teased.

Virgil shoved him. "Now you are just trying to get me yo stroke your ego again," he scoffed accusingly, though he did crack a small smile.

The day before

Before they each went into their own rooms to freshen up before the ceremony yesterday Roman had ushered them into his to show them something. He led them to what first looked like a golden door of some sort but as he opened it it was revealed to be a full length mirror.

"Have a look, though I'd advice against looking in the mirror on the right. It is very unflattering and quite rude," Roman stated. Remus put himself in front of the mirror and imediately turned his attention to the door he was told to ignore. Roman had come to stand next to Virgil and rolled his eyes as Remus stared at it for afew moments and then grinned, starting to add eyes and other dities to his appearance. Once he was done he turned to Mel who was relaxing with the other pets in front of Roman's fireplace.

"Look Mel! We match!" He grinned excitedly. As he walked away. Virgil approached the mirror. He could guess what the left door would show and decided to avoid it. He didn't need to be confronted with that unobtainable fantasy. Instead he tried uot something... fun. He focused and willed two markers into his hand. It worked. He imediately started scribling on the midle mirror. A small reminder to Roman that he was never going to be alone again. He then looked at the right door, and was not surprised to see his full spider form. Just extra creepy with fangs and his black eyeshdow running. Strangely it looked both powerful and weak, due to how skinny it was. That checked out he suposed. He shrugged it off and wrote 'kudo's for the creepyness. Just in case Roman found himself looking at al his insecurities when he was not physically around to tell his friend that it wasn't all bad.

It was no big deal to a former dark side, who was used seeing the worst parts of themselves on the regular. But he knew without a doubt that to a light, that side of the mirror was their worst nightmares come to life.

Roman once more shook his head. Not understanding why neither had even looked at the best side of the mirror. He walked over, firmly ignored the bad door, only glanced at his true reflection long enough to chuckle at the decorations Virgil had added and then turned to the one he adored looking at so much.

Virgil had sat himself in the window sill and stared out of the window to wait for Roman to be done with staring or for him to remember they were there and let them get on with their day. But then he felt a claw nudge at his leg. He looked down to Remus who was looking up at him, not grinning, like he expected, but worried. Virgil looked up, and saw the way Roman was smiling at his own reflection, the tension in his posture as he tried to get a good look at every angle.

He got up and approached, he glanced at Roman's bad reflection first. It felt kind of rude, but it was too late to turn back. The first thing he spotted were the horns. Evil. Then the way his hair was shagy and how the green face seemed almost formless. Ugly. He took note of the reflections figure which was very obviously femenine. Then there was the reflection's behavior. It was making rude gestures and clearly ridiculing Roman even though the prince wasn't paying him attention. His own reflection was giggling allong but that was not important. What was important was that Roman clearly still considered himself a bully. This was a lot to get into with him some other day.

Right now Roman let out an astonished gasp and pulled Virgil to the right mirror.

"Oh my gosh! Virgil look at you!" And despite his better judgement he did.

The man in front of him looked like him, but he was so different. All his make up was gone, save for his eyeshadow which was bright glittery purple. He was smiling and most of all....

"A crown! Virgil I didn't know you aspire to be a prince like me!" Roman grinned. "I can arange that you know? Just say the word and you'll have your own kingdom to rule over. I can even make you eleventh in line for the throne if you prefer that. Still a prince but not as many expectations."

Virgil shoved at Roman, his reflection did the same with Roman's. Speaking of which, as far as Virgil could tell it was not that different from the Prince. Maybe his skin looked a litle smoother, and maybe he looked a little stronger built, his hair might be a little fluffier, but other than that, just same old Roman. There was something bigger though. Something Virgil couldn't quite place.

"It's not like that. It's just... I'm going to regret saying this. But... you were always everything i could never be. Brave, confident, handsome, taletned... all that stuff. I guess the crown is meant to show that that version of me is all of that too."

Roman looked away, not sure how to respond. "You saw him," he mutters nodding to the mirror behind him. "I'm not that confident."

Virgil nodded. He wasn't going to tell Roman that he had nothing to be insecure about. All those doubts he had, no matter what Virgil thought of them, were very real to Roman. To dismiss them would help no one.

So Virgil turned them to the middle mirror.

"You know what? I think these guys look pretty cool too," he told Roman.

Roman took the image in and started smiling. Then Remus threw his arms over their shoulders and inserted himself in the moment. "We look like we're about to cause some serious trouble," he grinned. Roman and Virgil laughed and pushed him off turning away from the mirror. Missing how their reflections glowed and shifted for a moment.

Present

"Well if it wasn't that... What is it that is tormenting you so?" Roman asked gently.

Any guesses? Next

@moonlightshow00 @naturallyunstablegamer @alias290 @meowthefluffy

[dramaphan]

honestly the best part of no bunk was dan responding to fans and talking about it like he had no idea what was going on. and then he posted that weird tweet that made no sense and correlated phil’s comment with asexuality. he could’ve just not responded to the drama at all. also how it was when they were filming that knightmare segment with emma blackery and ashens and emma said she told them about the trend and what it meant because she felt like it was her duty to do so and then she said they acted weird with her when she told them

Literally every fucking thing that happened before 2013 feels like a fever dream what was any of that about

[naruwitch]

Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 37: Battle for Home

The entire perimeter of the Tokyo Settlement had crumbled. All power shorted out throughout the entire city, including the areas that haven't been destroyed yet. Any Galran-Brittainian forces on the ground had been crushed or scattered. Even the Galra vessels in the sky had been thrown off-guard, especially after the Castleship's massive attack, flying around frantically like drunken bees.

It was a window of confusion that the Voltron Coalition didn't let go to waste.

"ATTACK!"

Lelouch's booming cry from the head of Voltron was all the fleet needed to surge forward. Like shooting stars, the Seishins, Lancelot, Gawain, and any other upgraded Knightmares they had at their disposal launched into the settlement. From the sky, the Castleship's particle barrier rose once more, but it didn't retreat up into the clouds. Practically making up an army on its own, lasers and blasts from the barrier raining down on the Galra ships, providing much needed cover for the Black Knights in combat.

There were also ground Knightmares and additional troops on the ground, with Ohgi in the lead to take down any remaining straggling Britannian troops.

"Third Squad, take the media sector!" Tohdoh ordered as the map of the areas to secure appeared on his Knightmare's screen, "Sixth Squad, the harbor! Special Forces, suppress the lower levels! The rest of you, push in from the front! Leave the Galra forces to the Aerial troops! Focus on gathering intelligence on any remaining enemy ground forces! Quickly!"

"My soldiers! Hear me!" Cornelia shouted from within the Gawain, the Lancelot flanking her, "Push them back to the Britannian Government Bureau!"

"Yes, Princess!" her squadron answered as one, Guilford, Darlton, and Nonette's voices among them.

"Form sword!" Lelouch ordered. With a growl, Suzaku slammed his Bayard into the port and the weapon manifested. With a burst from its rockets, Voltron sped towards the closest Galra cruiser, the sword slicing through it like a hot knife through butter.

"Alright!" Rivalz exclaimed before pausing, Polaris's purr suddenly increasing, "What…?" the Blue Paladin suddenly gasped as the Bayard port slowly rose from the dashboard, "You sure?"

"What is it, Rivalz?" Lelouch questioned.

"Um, not sure, but Polaris wants to try something!"

"Let's do it then!" Milly exclaimed eagerly, similar feelings bouncing off the other Paladins as well.

"Here goes nothing then!" Rivalz shouted as he slammed his Bayard into the port.

Outside, the sword in Voltron's hand vanished, only for a blue outline to form on the robot's right shoulder. Grasping the cannon with both arms, a bright glow enveloped the muzzle before a flash exploded out, huge sonic waves escaping and racing towards another Galran vessel. The ship froze in mid-flight, the lights inside flickering dangerously before everything went dark, and the cruiser descended into the sea, humongous waves blasting away from the impact.

"Whoa! Nice!" Tamaki cheered from his Seishin as he and a few other Knightmares paused in flight to witness the display.

"That's a new one," Darlton muttered in awe, vaguely remembering the similar cannon that would appear on the Blue Lion's back from time to time. The knight would admit that while he hated having to fight the Paladins as enemies, as allies, they were incredible.

Nunnally barely noticed how her arms began to ache from squeezing them too hard as she stared down at her legs. She could vaguely hear the sounds of cannons and lasers flying outside as her brother, his friends, and other allies were fighting for the very fate of their home. And now, even after regaining her legs and sight, she still felt useless. She knew her brother had told her otherwise, but she couldn't stop the feeling of helplessness crawling through her body.

Why was it that every time she tried to help, to accomplish something good, it crumbled in her hands? At the zone, when her own father had raised guns at her and her family,  Lelouch had been the one to shield her, and she had just froze. Exactly like she had when-

"Nunnally, take a deep breath for me…" C.C.'s calm voice ordered softly, shaking her from what she now realized was a minor panic attack.

Still, she did her best to obey and took a shuddering breath in and out, slowly returning to herself.

"There, feeling better?" the immortal asked, her blunt voice laced with concern.

Nunnally swallowed but nodded slightly. Dragging her eyes from her legs, they landed on Euphemia, still unconscious in the pod behind her, but at least alive.

"...This is too much," Nunnally whispered, "Why did it come down to this? He… he tried to kill  Euphie. He tried to…"

Kill me… remained unsaid.

C.C. sighed, not in frustration but out of pure resignation and exhaustion. "There are simply people in this world who… aren't good, Nunnally. They won't accept anything unless it's for their benefit. I've met more than my fair share of those people in my long life."

Nunnally grit her teeth, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "Yes, I know that… And I know big brother told me this isn't true, but I still feel useless! Brother and the others are all fighting, risking their lives, and I still can't do anything even with my sight and legs back!"

C.C. took a moment to gather her thoughts. This wasn't Lelouch, who she could be straightforward and factual with in her nearly emotionless tone. This was a scared, desperate young girl who had been thrown time and again into situations she shouldn't have to deal with.

"...Nunnally, just because you aren't out there fighting doesn't mean you're useless. Everyone has a role to play in war. Some find their roles right away like the Paladins did. Others discover their roles later, waiting and watching for the time to come. That act alone can be excruciating. And there are even those who don't realize until the conflict ends that they  did  play a role when they look back and realize that their smaller, seemingly unseen actions, helped bring victory."

C.C. paused as the young princess looked up.

"And sometimes, there are simply places that we need to be that aren't the battlefield. And right now, your sister needs someone to be here when she wakes up, and…" she paused, then placed a hand on Nunnally's shoulder, "You're not alone here, Nunnally. I promised your brother I'd be there for him, and I'll be here for you as well."

Nunnally felt her emotions boil over and couldn't stop herself from lunging at C.C. She felt like she had cried so much the last several days, both from sorrow and happiness, but these were most certainly tears of gratitude.

"Thank you…" she hiccuped, "Thank you for helping Lelouch. And Suzaku, and everyone! Thank you… thank you…"

C.C. froze for a moment in surprise at the sudden action, but slowly, her arms wrapped around the young girl as well.

"I will," she whispered back, "I'll be there for all of you…"

  'And you won't lay so much as a finger on them, Charles. Or you… Marianne.'

A beeping sound soon attracted the pair's attention, and in a burst of steam, the frame on Euphemia's pod dissolved. Her eyes shot open with a gasp as she slumped forward, C.C. catching her before she could hit the ground.

Chigusa shielded her eyes as a bright laser from the Castle's shields struck an oncoming Galra fighter, where it burst into flames and impacted the barrier itself. While the hexagonal pieces made it difficult to view the fight from a window, she caught glimpses of battle on the ground and air. People were fighting for their lives outside, fighting a seemingly impossible battle in hopes that they may be able to win and save their home.

She let out a shuddering breath, daring to wonder just how many had died now. The massacre that happened just hours prior had been devastating enough, and while she lent her assistance in treating the injured that were brought on board, so many more still succumbed to their injuries. And that nightmare wasn't over yet.

A jolt of pain suddenly pierced her skull. Chigusa groaned and clutched her head, any surrounding sounds and noise being drowned out from the buzzing in her skull.

The Gawain's hadron cannons unleashed a devastating attack against a group of nearly three dozen Galra fighters, melting the metal and exploding moments later.

"Die you alien scum!" Cornelia roared as she fired the Knightmare's slash harkens into two more she had missed.

A crash from behind her made her jump, and looking at her monitor, she spotted Guilford's Seishin lowering his maser sword and a fighter, cut cleanly in two, descending to the ground.

"Tch," she scoffed, "Coward, attacking from behind!"

"Are you alright, Princess?" Guilford asked.

"Yes, don't worry about me, Guilford. What's the status of the rest of the squad?"

"Our casualties are substantial, but the Glaston Knights and Darlton are holding a position just ahead of here, pushing towards the Bureau as you ordered. Nonette is providing back up where she can."

"Excellent! Continue at this pace. Our comrades' deaths won't be in vain! Lelouch, did you catch that?"

"Every word, Cornelia," Lelouch acknowledged as Voltron's sonic cannon disabled another cruiser, "Ohgi, status on ground troops?"

"Raiko cannons are at the ready!" Kaname responded, "Ground troops mostly consist of those sentry robots and Britannian infantry units!"

"Concentrate the Raikos on the Britannian forces. Use your own Knightmare weapons on the sentries. Aim for the heads and arms to disable them!"

"Understood!"

"Suzaku! We need the sword again," Lelouch exclaimed as the sonic cannon vanished.

To his surprise, though, the Purple Paladin didn't respond.

"Suzaku?!" Rai exclaimed.

From inside Yoru, Suzaku was frozen. Not in fear or shock, but it seemed like someone had pressed the pause button on a television. His eyes were wide and staring straight ahead, the left glowing bright with the Geass sigil. It wasn't until several seconds later that the Purple Paladin blinked and shook his head.

"What the…?" What had just happened? He saw a large object approaching Earth rapidly. What was-

"SUZAKU!" the rest of the team shouted in unison.

"Uh-sorry!" he scrambled to realign and sync his mind with the group once more.

"Keep your head in the game, Kururugui!" Kallen barked.

"Right… sorry!" he apologized, shaking his head, but couldn't shake the image of a familiar dark transport crashing onto the battlefield from his mind.

Focusing once more, he reinserted his Bayard, the sword manifesting once more.

"Lady Haggar,"  a head druid addressed on the ship's main bridge, "The latest weapons are now complete. Lord Zarkon has ordered their launch and will reach your destination within five dobashes."

"Good," Haggar acknowledged, "These humans are more resilient than we originally thought. But even with the assistance of the Altean princess, this world will fall by day's end."

"Haggar, if I may, I have an idea I'd like to propose," V.V. approached slowly as the call ended.

"Hm?" she turned to the immortal, eyes narrowing.

V.V. scowled at first before his features schooled themselves again, "Right now, the Paladins and Black Knights are focused on the battlefield, they likely have only left the bare minimum necessary on the Castle of Lions, in order to guard their families and the rescued civilians."

"I advise you get to the point," Haggar frowned deeply, eyes seeming to drill into V.V.

"I simply request you transport me on board the castle," V.V. explained, "I would do it myself with the help of the Thought Elevator, but unfortunately, that pesky Black Lion destroyed it on the island, making my range more limited, hence why I'm asking for assistance."

"And why would I assist with this?" she asked scathingly.

V.V. resisted the urge to growl at being talked down to so belligerently but continued, "It's simple. I will capture Princess Nunnally and C.C. as well. They are both on board and likely not being guarded too closely. This could be a prime opportunity to deal a more… personal blow to Zero."

Haggar wasn't the only one to glare suspiciously at the immortal at this proposal, as Charles eyed his brother cautiously as well. He could see where his brother's line of thinking was going. Above all else, Lelouch's first priority was, and always would be, Nunnally. If he heard she was in danger, he would likely drop everything, even abandon the battlefield to help her.

"It could work," Charles finally spoke, "So long as she remains safe, everything else comes second to Zero. If V.V. succeeds, we'll have a firm hold on Voltron, and the rest of Earth will have little to no resistance without a leader. And if that's not enough, my Geass can rewrite her memories. I could make her despise Zero, which would deal a further emotional blow to Zero and the Paladins as well."

"While that is true," Haggar admitted, "Why capture this C.C.? Your power will have no effect on her. She will be of little use as a pawn."

"Perhaps," V.V. agreed, "but it's best to keep someone like her, who holds to the ability as me to grant Geass, away from our enemies. You are more than welcome to do anything you want with her. With your forces on our side, she's outlived her usefulness."

Haggar continued to stare suspiciously at the two and didn't miss the way Charles's eyes flickered at the mention of this 'C.C.' It was clear they, or at least he was planning something with the girl. But, should she be in their hands, Haggar could have more control over her whereabouts and keep a closer eye on these two. Plus, if the smaller one's plan succeeded, it sounded like they would severely cripple Voltron, which would make it that much easier for her Lord to obtain the Lions.

"Very well," Haggar finally conceded, "I will go along with your plan… Under the condition that both of them are brought first to me. Should you do so otherwise, there will be… painful consequences. Am I clear?"

Both V.V. and Charles hesitated for a moment before they both nodded.

Before V.V. turned to leave, though, Haggar held out her hand, and to the bewilderment of the two, a small ball of energy formed in her palm before shrinking to about the size of a marble.

"Take this," she instructed, holding her hand out to V.V. The 'boy' hesitated before plucking the marble from her palm, "If you truly wish to succeed in this mission, have that make contact with the woman. It will render her powerless."

V.V. looked at the marble skeptically once more before smirking and stashing it in his pocket.

"You have my thanks…"

"Ha!" Kallen exclaimed as Voltron slammed its surger claw into the bow of another Galra cruiser. It lit up like a nightlight before the insides imploded, sending debris flying everywhere. "Alright! Who's next?!"

"Paladins!"  Coran suddenly exclaimed through the comms.

"Go on, Coran," Lelouch requested.

  "We believe we've identified the Galra's flagship. If it's destroyed, it will destabilize the Galras' communication! From there, it should be easy to push back any remaining Galra troops!"

At hearing this, Lelouch couldn't help but grin widely. The other Paladins shared similar sentiment through the link.

"Very good, then we-"

"Paladins, wait!" Allura's panicked voice suddenly interrupted.

"What's wrong, Allura?" Milly asked, immediately noticing her tone.

  "Something large is approaching Earth's atmosphere, and it's not another warship!"

"Something large…?" Rivalz asked.

Suzaku felt his blood grow cold. His mind flashed back to the… vision (?) he had just over fifteen dobashes prior. He had seen something large crash land on the battlefield. Could have…?

"All Black Knights, projectile incoming!" Lelouch warned as he spotted the object Allura mentioned rapidly approaching.

Several Seishins, both ground and air, scrambled to get out of the way as with a deafening crash, the object landed in front of Voltron.

An object with a certain coffin-like shape to it.

"Oh no…" Shirley whispered in horror, "Is that… what I think it is…?"

"Yeah," Kallen nodded, "Looks like we got another Ro-Beast!"

"Zero, what is that?!" Chiba demanded as most other forces, both with and against Voltron, stopped to stare at the newest threat.

"Bad news…" was all Lelouch could say before, with a resounding click, the device opened, clouds of steam emanating from inside. The front and sides of the structure tumbled to the ground, revealing the grotesque monster within.

The creature this time was colored almost completely white with only a few hints of red and purple, with a pointed head, long limbs, and even a hunched back. Much like the Drazil Ro-Beast, the creature's mouth was aligned with sharp, overlapping teeth.

"Black Knights! Evacuate the area! We'll deal with this!" Lelouch ordered.

"You're facing that thing on your own?!" Nonette's voice exclaimed.

"Nonette, we'll be fine. This isn't the first Ro-Beast we've fought!" Rai barked, "Just focus on your own fight!"

The beast's head then suddenly jerked up, and malicious red eyes flashed to life. A sound similar to a rumbling growl could be heard as it gazed around before finally landing on Voltron. Its eyes widened upon seeing them before it threw its head back and screamed.

On the ground and in the air, several Knightmares faltered as their pilots were forced to cover their ears. Even Cornelia, Nonette, and Guilford did, and they were the ones most used to being around bomb explosions and Knightmare engines.

The only ones unaffected were the Paladins themselves. And a good thing too, as seconds later, long, sharp claws shot out from the beast, aiming to pierce Voltron's chest.

"Rai, shield!" Lelouch shouted almost frantically.

The Green Lion's shield blocked the metallic claws in the knick of time, scraping across like nails on a chalkboard.

This action only seemed to enrage the Ro-Beast, as it shrieked again and charged at them, purple flaming jetpacks blazing behind it.

On instinct, Shirley and Rivalz fired Voltron's thrusters as well, and Voltron shot into the sky. To their shock, the Ro-Beast followed after them with barely any delay, almost like it knew they were going to dodge upward. It pulled a clawed hand back again.

"Okay, two can play at that game, bud!" Kallen exclaimed, plunging her Bayard into her port.

The wave surger claw manifested, and Kallen swung with a roar towards the Ro-Beast's head… only for the beast to catch the arm right under Aka's neck, effectively stopping the surger without injuring its hand or head.

"What?!" Kallen gasped.

"It stopped us?!" Milly added, just as shocked as the others.

The Ro-Beast didn't waste the opportunity as it head-butted Voltron and threw him downwards, impacting the ground hard.

Lelouch grunted in pain, Zen's cockpit still vibrating from the impact. "Okay…" he gritted out.

"Alright, this guy is asking for it!" Rivalz snarled, reinserting his own Bayard. The sonic cannon reappeared on Voltron's shoulder, blasting a bout of sonic waves at the Ro-Beast. Twisting like a fighter jet in a show, the Ro-Beast easily dodged every blast sent its way.

"Suzaku! Sword!" Lelouch shouted.

Suzaku's Bayard released the sword in the knick of time as the weapon blocked the beast's claws, scraping loudly, metal on metal, before managing to push it off of them and rocket into the sky again, kicking up a large cloud of dust in the process. The beast screeched as the cloud engulfed the area.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Lelouch narrowed his eyes, "Shirley! Arrows now!"

Seconds later, Voltron's bow appeared in his hands, and with his eyes to the back of the Ro-Beast, they let the arrow lose…

...Only for the Ro-Beast to duck like it was casually dodging a ball in a park.

"What?!" Kallen exclaimed.

"Tha-Does it have eyes on the back of its head or something?!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Tch… what the hell's going on?!" Lelouch cursed before Voltron flew into the sky again, and this time the Ro-Beast followed with a roar after them.

"Lelouch!" Cornelia gasped, watching in horror as the enemy robot gave close chase to Voltron.

"Nelly!" Nonette exclaimed, the Lancelot spinning through the air to Cornelia's side. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, as both women attempted to follow, hoping to assist somehow.

Keyword 'attempted.'

A loud popping sound drew everyone's eyes to the coffin-like structure again, and this time, another machine, this one much smaller than the first, burst out, spinning vigorously and charging right towards the Gawain and the Lancelot.

Cornelia cursed as she barely maneuvered the Knightmare away from what she realized were spinning blades from the new weapon. While it was still much smaller than the Ro-Beast, it was at least three times bigger than even the Gawain.

"What is-"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" a voice Cornelia hadn't heard for months echoed from within the object. It appeared to be a black sphere with five large red spikes along its side, two on its upper sides, two on its lower sides, and one at the very bottom. There also, much to the women's horror, a human, or at least, it looked human, hooked into it as his face was shown from the open cockpit.

"What is this? Black Knights?! Dissenters?!" the cyborg asked eagerly, madness saturated in his tone, "Oh what luck, what fate! What fortune for me!"

"Who the hell is…?" Nonette questioned before Guilford and Darlton finally caught up to the two.

"It can't be…!" Guilford gasped, dread curling in his gut.

"Jeremiah Gottwald! Is that you in there?!" Darlton cried out.

"Gottwald?" David questioned, he and other Glaston Knights flying next to them, "You mean the one involved with the Orange thing?"

That word, the O-word, seemed to trigger something in the man's head as he gasped and began to shake in rage before finally clasping his hands together, "I beseech you…! I'm begging you, please die! Die at the hands of the Siegfried!"

The spikes on the machine suddenly began to spin rapidly as Jeremiah was lowered back inside, reminiscing a top, before it charged towards Cornelia and her guard.

"Scatter!" she ordered as the Siegfried machine cut through them, hitting Edgar's Knightmare in the process.

"No! Father-!" he cried out as the Seishin cut in two.

"Edgar!" Darlton shouted, staring in horror as the Knightmare's remains dropped to the Earth.

"Darlton, focus or we'll all die as well!" Nonette focused, the Lancelot's blade shrieking against the Seigfried's spinning spikes.

"DIE!" Jeremiah howled, driving the Lancelot back further, the Gawain and remainder of the Glaston knights racing after them.

"Dammit!" Kallen cursed as the Ro-Beast dodged yet another blast from Aka. Barely any of Voltron's attacks were landing, and when they did, it barely seemed to make a dent. And it was likely only due to the Voltron Lions' superior armor and unique alloy that they hadn't been torn apart as scrap metal already.

Lelouch grunted as they blocked yet another assault from the monster's claws. He couldn't understand why it was so hard to defeat this  Ro-Beast. This wasn't like with Myzak, where it was their first time fighting one of these creations, so how come none of their attacks were working?!

'We don't have time for this…' Lelouch thought. They had to take out that flagship. The sooner they did, the more time they could buy before possible Galran reinforcements arrived. But if Voltron couldn't get there, he could only think of one other squad that could do it.

"Tohdoh! Tohdoh, do you read me?" Lelouch exclaimed, hoping he didn't sound too desperate on his end.

"I read you, Zero. What is it?" came the reply.

Mentally sighing, Lelouch continued, "My team is still preoccupied with this monster! Your group will have to go after the flagship! Destroy it, and the battle will turn in our favor once more!"

  "Understood. Squad enroute now!"

Down on the battlefield, Lelouch could barely see six large Seishins making a beeline towards the Galra's flagship, no doubt Tohdoh, Sayoko in the Guren, and the rest of the Holy Swords.

"Thank you, Tohdoh…" he muttered under his breath, "Good luck…"

"Commander! We have six confirmed enemies, making a direct course towards us."

"Blow them out of the sky," Corza ordered calmly before scoffing, "Did they really think a direct attack wouldn't go unnoticed by us?"

"Sir! These machines are different! Whoever's piloting them are maneuvering them much more expertly!"

Corza raised an intrigued eyebrow. It took skill for any enemies to get close to a flagship like this. Normally, they would be shot down before they could get within ten yards of the vessel.

"Pull an image up," she requested with narrowed eyes.

In front of her, a camera of the carnage outside blinked into focus. Her eyebrows rose more at these machines' unique designs. The captain below wasn't wrong that they were being piloted differently, not to mention they looked different, especially the sleek red one with the silver claw.

"Hmm, a challenge it seems?" she queried before grinning, "Excellent! Concentrate fire on those ships. Blast them away!"

"Yes, commander!" the captain saluted as he and the droids typed into their stations.

Several more compartments opened up on the surface of the flagship, revealing cannons and other torrents, all aimed at the incoming enemies. To their surprise, though, in a coordinated counterattack, involving several fancy, advanced looking spins and maneuvers, slicing through several cannons with their swords and the red one's class blowing up many more with its silver claw.

Corza felt an emotion she hadn't in a while. Frustration. Sure, she got annoyed with stubborn enemies at times, but frustration was an emotion she had only last experienced back in her barricade days, apprenticing under Warlord Ranvag himself. But, she had learned to squash that weakness and push forward. Now she was one of his most trusted comrades and commanders of the empire, one whom he personally recommended to lead this attack. And she would not fail him. Not now!

"Sir!" the captain addressed again, "The large black one appears to be leading the group."

Finally, some intel she could work with! "Concentrate fire on that vessel! The others will be easy pickings with their cornerstone dead!"

"Vrepit sa!" the captain exclaimed, slamming a fist into the control pad.

"Target the engines next!" Tohdoh ordered, "Get this ship to the ground!"

"Yes, sir!" the five other Knightmares all replied in near unison. Then Chiba's voice cried out a split second later.

  "Colonel, look out!"

Almost like a combined attack, three cannons they had yet to destroy all fired at Tohdoh's Seishin at once. He managed to dodge two shots, but the third managed to hit one of his Knightmare's jets.

  "Colonel Tohdoh!"

  "Sir!"

"I'm alright!" Tohdoh barked as he struggled to regain control, "Focus on the engines!"

"And you, Colonel? " Senba queried hesitantly.

Tohdoh glared at the windows that he assumed likely led to the bridge of the ship, "I'm cutting off the head."

Without another word, Tohdoh zeroed in on the windows and made a beeline for them, slamming the Knightmare's rockets as hard as possible.

With a ripping crash, the Seishin barrelled through the bridge's window. The droids and the captain at the front didn't have time to take cover as the machine slammed into them, crushing them dead against the opposite wall. Anything that remained of the bridge's controls was nothing but sparking wires and scattered infinitesimal crystals.

With a snap, Tohdoh's own cockpit hatch popped open, and miraculously, minus a small cut above his left eye, he was unhurt, his armor and suit having protected him from most of the impact.

He glanced around and surveyed the damage, eyes narrowing on the Galra captain's corpse against the far wall, purple blood splattered from the impact, golden eyes wide and staring.

It was only the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end that warned him to draw his katana, just in time to catch the edge of another blade that had been aiming for his head. He grunted from the force of the blow, and his eyes narrowed at the surviving Galra towering above him.

"Gutsy move, pest," the Galran, female from her voice, commented, teeth bared and Tohdoh honestly couldn't tell if she was grinning or sneering, "I've seen very few in the universe brave enough to charge headfirst into the Snarflax den! Even fewer to survive it!"

Tohdoh said nothing, simply shoving back against his opponent's blade enough for him to roll out of the way and create some distance between them.

He held his katana steadily at the ready.

The Galra's lips curled, eyes shining with excitement. She had heard about the Champion's feats in the rings of Nilog. She had never been able to witness a match herself, but from what she'd seen on recorded footage, though inexperienced, the boy had spirit. Had they kept him longer, he would have made a formidable warrior.

But this human in front of her. This one was already a warrior. She could tell from the way he stood, the way his eyes took everything in, all while keeping an eye on her at the same time, the steady grip of the skinny blade in his hands. There was barely any tremble in the handle.

This was a human that was ready to fight her until one or the other remained standing.

Well, she licked her lips, this would be fun.

Voltron swerved to the right as they barely avoided the Ro-Beast's claws once more. Due to how few attacks were landing, they focused on taking the fight more into Earth's atmosphere, away from the main battle. The fewer people who got in the way, the better.

"What the heck is going on?!" Milly shouted, "It's like it knows what moves we'll make before  we  do!"

"Maybe it can see the future or something?" Rai suggested.

"Maybe its main function is learning? Like that one robot from that cartoon? The one with the family of superheroes?" Rivalz queried as they ducked under another clawed frontal assault.

"This isn't a movie, Rivalz!" Kallen exclaimed.

"What, it's a suggestion!" he yelped back.

Shirley remained mostly silent through, a feeling of dread climbing up her gut and to her throat. She struggled not to vomit from the sheer stress of the situation alone. Every instinct in her being told her that she  knew  who this Ro-Beast was, or at least who it was based on.

"Mao…" Shirley whispered abruptly.

"What-Shirley, what did you say?!" Suzaku exclaimed, horror in his voice.

"I…  Guys, I think that's Mao!" Shirley finally blurts out, fearful tears in her eyes.

"What?!" Rai exclaimed, voicing everyone's thoughts, and Voltron faltered, their left side being side-swiped by the claws.

"Hold on, that can't be possible! Mao's dead… right?" Milly asked though she sounded unsure as well.

Narrowing her eyes, Kallen's eye flashed with Geass, and she glared at the Ro-Beast still trying to slice Voltron to ribbons.

She nearly choked from shocked terror at the dreadfully familiar energy she picked up from in the Ro-Beast.

"I don't believe it... she's right! That  IS  Mao!" Kallen confirmed, barely keeping the tremor out of her voice.

This time, the shock of the team distracted them enough for Mao's Ro-Beast to charge and grab them by the shoulders, flipping them over and throwing them hard through the sky, flipping around multiple times as they went.

Shirley and Rivalz eventually managed to regain control of the leg rockets, stopping their loopty loops, only for Rai to have to block another swipe as Mao had followed close behind.

"Okay, how many times do we have to kill this bastard?!" Kallen screamed, slamming Aka's controls, trying to shoot Mao out. Once again, though, he blocked the attack.

"I don't get it!" Rivalz shouted, "How is this even possible?! Shirley got him! We saw her shoot him!"

Had it been under normal circumstances, Rivalz would have received a hard head bonk from Milly for his insensitivity, but it was only because everyone was thinking the exact same thing that silenced any reprimand.

"Haggar must have done something! Remember, she turned Myzak into that first Ro-Beast we fought!" Rai said, "The other two must have been similar. She's somehow creating monsters from living things!"

"There's something else too," Suzaku said, "Remember when Mao broke into the Castleship that one time? His Geass was different, and he kept saying that someone had given him a gift or something, but he wouldn't tell us who. My guess is that Haggar's the one that gave Mao that Black Geass we saw, enhanced it and twisted it somehow. I mean, we all suspected that she gave Zarkon his, right?"

"And if she could enhance his Geass before, she's likely done so again with this monster as well," Lelouch deduced with narrowed eyes.

"So, what does that mean then?" Milly asked as Voltron spun out of the way in the nick of time to avoid a collision, but it didn't stop one of Mao's claws from scraping against Voltron's armored chest.

"Best guess? Mao's original Geass allowed him to read the minds and even subconsciousness of people if he concentrated on a particular target," Lelouch explained, "If Haggar managed to improve upon that, then it's likely he's not just reading minds now. Instead, since Voltron is all of our subconscious thoughts as one, he can likely read not only our minds but that subconscious as well. It's how he's been able to avoid most of our attacks up until now! He can analyze, predict and counter every move we throw at him!"

"Okay, but he can only read our minds if we're in close enough range, right?" Rivalz reminded, "So if we move out of it and shoot him from far away, we should get him, right?"

"Even if that's the case, Rivalz, you think Mao's going to even give us the chance to try that anyway?!" Kallen snapped in frustration.

"Still, he's right. The range is likely larger and stronger, but it may be our only chance!" Suzaku argued.

The question was, how?

Allura felt her blood run cold as she and Coran listened in terrified silence to the reveal of this latest Ro-Beast's identity. When she heard Mao's name, a haunting feeling of terror ran through the princess's body. Mao was likely the only other person in the universe that genuinely scared her, so to hear that he was alive, and as that monster, it made her, she was ashamed to admit, selfishly glad that she wasn't one of the ones fighting him in Voltron.

The shrill sound of alarms blaring on the bridge shook Allura from her stupor. She heard Coran gasp in confusion as the tone of the alarms indicated that there was an intruder in the castle. But that shouldn't be possible. All of the castle's shields were still up, despite suffering severe damage from the surrounding Galra forces. So how on Earth had someone…?

"Princess! Here!" Coran exclaimed, pulling up a screen, "He's heading for the cryo-bay!"

Allura narrowed her eyes at the unfamiliar figure. It didn't look like a Galra or one of Haggar's druid servants, so who was that?

But then hear thoughts screeched to a halt when she finally processed what Coran said.

The intruder was heading for the cryo-bay. Where Nunnally was!

"Coran, take charge of the bridge!" she ordered as she spun around and raced from the room, "I'll handle this myself!"

Euphemia stared blankly down at the small bowl of broth that had been placed in her lap. She felt completely, utterly lost, her mind still racing through the events that happened just over twenty-four Earth hours prior. The terror of hearing her Father's announcement, then feeling absolute agony in her chest before everything just snapped to black. She vaguely remembered Suzaku's cry of anguish and her sister screaming her name. Then when she next became coherent, she felt cold, then the feeling of falling before warm, if slightly scratchy blankets encompassed her naked body.

Those same blankets were still draped around her shoulders, with only a thin nightgown Nunnally had given her to cover her modesty. Her dress apparently had disintegrated while she had been asleep in that strange pod, but she honestly couldn't care less about that right now.

"Euphie…?" Nunnally asked hesitantly. Almost on instinct, Euphemia's eyes glanced up, meeting the soft lavender of her younger sister's. "You know what happened down there… it wasn't your fault, okay? You know that, right?"

Logically, Euphemia knew Nunnally was right, but she couldn't help the crushing guilt that still stirred in her.

"I can hear your thoughts from here," C.C. said from the other end of the room, "But last I checked, Princess, you weren't the one that gave the order to slaughter the Japanese attending the zone. I highly doubt even they will blame you for this. But you won't find out if you're too weak even to stand."

Euphie cringed a little, still a little put off by C.C.'s blunt tone, but she could sense the concern in it as well. Turning back to the bowl, she finally took a tentative sip. She didn't know what it was, but the taste was alright.

"Well… this is a surprise to see you alive, Euphemia."

She heard Nunnally gasp and practically the blur that was C.C. as she moved to stand between them and whoever had entered the room. Whoever it was, they sounded young, but… something felt off about his tone that made the hairs on Euphemia's neck stand on end.

"What…?! How are you standing, Nunnally?!" the person (boy?) demanded furiously, "The sight I can understand a little. Charles was always too soft using his Geass on anyone related to that  woman, but your legs should have had no hope of recovery!"

"V.V., how did you get here?!" C.C. demanded, and Nunnally gasped, staring at the small boy at the door.

V.V.?  That was her uncle? The one Lelouch had told her about?

"Oh, what's this?" V.V. raised an amused eyebrow, glancing between the two princesses and C.C., a hand in his pocket, "C.C., are you actually caring about someone for once? I must say, this is a first even for you."

"I won't let you touch them, Victor!" C.C. exclaimed, reaching behind her back for her gun.

"Too slow," V.V. smirked as he pulled a tiny object from his pocket and flicked it across the room.

C.C. grunted as the small marble-like object struck her in the forehead, then gasped before collapsing to the floor, eyes wide and body twitching like she was having a fit before going completely still.

"C.C.!" Nunnally cried in horror, Euphemia gasping as well, her hands flying to her mouth. The younger princess then glared up at her uncle, "What did you do?!"

"I don't have to tell you," V.V. sneered, then pulling out a gun of his own and pointing it at the two girls. "It's not like you'll live long enough to find out anyway. True, Charles wanted you alive, Nunnally, but I think ending you would be more effective. Your brother has thrown enough wrenches into our plans already, destroying years of work that we have to practically start all over again. But if his reason for fighting at all is long gone, well that should solve the problem itself."

Before V.V. could continue his gloating, the gun was suddenly smacked from his hand from behind, and the next thing he knew, V.V. found himself slammed against a wall, an arm pressed tightly to his throat.

"Who are you? How did you get in my castle?!" Allura demanded, her battle staff clutched tightly in her hands while pinning V.V. against the wall with the other, applying far more force than necessary with her Altean strength.

"Allura!" Nunnally gasped from behind, still kneeling by C.C.'s prone form.

"Nunnally, are you alright? Euphemia, I'm pleased to see you are recovered," Allura addressed the two with a sigh of relief.

"What's this…?" V.V. choked out a laugh, "More 'friends' come to save you, Nunnally, like always?"

"You be silent!" Allura growled, pushing her arm in further and the immortal choked. "Nunnally, do you know him?"

"Well… sort of? I heard brother and C.C. talk about him. He's our uncle, V.V." Nunnally answered shakily.

"What… uncle?" Euphemia gasped, staring at the small 'boy' in horrified confusion.

Allura, on the other hand, felt her temper flare as she turned back with a growl to the man, "The same V.V. of that vile man who started this attack?"

V.V. gagged out a laugh, "You call Charles vile? I'm not the filthy alien trying to destroy all our hard work! If you just stayed up in space and out of our way, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I'm not the one that sold his own people to a universal tyrant!" Allura spat back, "And to think, Voltron was willing to offer a truce even when you clearly didn't deserve one!"

"Oh, go back to your planet and cry your eyes out there!" V.V. barked through clenched teeth before smiling sadistically, "Oh wait, that's right. You don't have a planet anymore, do you? Zarkon blew it up with the rest of your people."

Allura's eyes went wide before becoming slits, "Don't you  dare  talk about Altea that way!"

V.V.'s hand suddenly seized Allura's wrist as he grinned madly. Much like C.C., Allura stiffened before screaming, losing her grip on V.V. and clutching her head. All around her, flames consumed Altea's surface. Galra crafts rained from the sky. Queen Melanor's head stood mounted on a pike as the royal palace was bathed in blood.

V.V. was too entranced with glee at Allura's pain that he didn't notice Nunnally lunge at him before he was already on the ground.

Allura gasped once more before her eyes rolled back to her head, and she fell back, Euphemia only able to just catch her before she could hit the ground.

Now V.V. was staring into a pair of eyes he had only seen in one other, and his blood boiled as Nunnally desperately attempted to pin him down.

"Damn you, Marianne! Damn you and your bitch of a spawn!" he screamed, rage driving his arms as they threw Nunnally off, "They don't deserve what Charles has planned for them! None of them do! They… they don't even deserve to live!"

Eyes mad with hatred, V.V. reached for the gun he dropped, aiming it Nunnally. He'd kill her first, then deal with the other three…

  *BANG*

Nunnally flinched, covering her face at the sound, but then slowly lowered them, eyes widening in horror at the bullet hole in the middle of V.V.'s head.

With a gurgle, the immortal collapsed, revealing his assailant at the door behind him, their own gun still smoking in their hands.

"Chigusa?!" Nunnally gasped in shock as Euphemia helped a shaky Allura to her feet, still clutching her head with one hand as she eyed the woman warily.

"Not quite," she responded in a clipped tone, "My name is Villetta Nu, and I'm a knight of Britannia."

At this declaration, Allura scrambled to regain her footing to defend Nunnally and Euphemia once more, as well as C.C., who still laid unconscious on the floor. But to their surprise, Villetta holstered her gun and dropped to one knee, head bowed.

"I'm on your side."

Meanwhile, the sky lit up red as Cornelia fired the Gawain's hydron cannons at the Siegfried, Nonette doing the same with the Lancelot's VARIS rifle. However, thanks to Haggar's constant experiments and modifications, Jeremiah's cyborg body could control the machine with ease while directly connected to the systems. The speed the Siegfried spun seemed to make almost a barrier, the spikes able to repel or block any Knightmare attack easily. Not to mention that he wasn't letting up on his own charge. With the demise of Edgar, the remaining Glaston Knights made avoiding the Seigfried's blades their top priority, but that also prevented them from attacking back as well.

"If I had doubts about this being alien tech before, I don't know!" David stated.

"I highly doubt even his Majesty's top scientists could have made something destructive without third-party assistance," Darlton commented as well.

"How can we bring down something like this?! It could completely wipe out the rest of our troops!" Guilford gasped.

Cornelia grit her teeth as he was right. This machine had a formidable offense, its spikes, and a nearly perfect defense. But she knew that all weapons had some weak point somewhere. The problem was whether or not they could hold it off long enough to figure it out.

The answer came when Lloyd, Cecile, and Rakshata contacted the Lancelot.

"Lady Enneagram, do you read us?"  Cecile exclaimed anxiously.

"I hear you. What is it?" Nonette said, tone demanding as she flipped over the Seigfried once more.

  "We've analyzed the structure of that machine on the castle's computers. And… I think we may know how you can defeat it."

Nonette nearly stopped midair in shock, "Well, what is it?"

"It's actually a rather simple flaw. So simple and obvious that many would overlook it at first glance,"  Lloyd explained cryptically.

"I don't have time for your riddles, Asplund!" Nonette growled, "Just tell me already!"

"What Pudding Boy is meaning to say,"  Rakshata interrupted before Lloyd could continue (this resulted in an exaggerated pout onboard the ship), "Is that the Seigfried's spikes can be stopped and held in place, that will easily disable its pesky defense… There is one small problem, though…"

"One of us, likely in a suicidal maneuver, will have to fly head-on into the machine and hold the spikes down manually," Nonette realized.

"Precisely, hence my previous statement, before  someone  interrupted me, about it being so obvious, yet one that most won't so much as consider," Lloyd added.

"Nelly, did you get all of that?" Nonette asked through her comm.

"I heard everything, Nonette," Cornelia responded, "I'll do it. This Knightmare is large enough to likely survive the impact-"

"Princess, no!" Guilford shouted almost instinctively, "I-Your people still need you! They need you to lead them!"

"And do you simply expect me to pointlessly sacrifice my own men, Guilford?!" Cornelia fired back, "Chawla and Asplund said so themselves; anyone else who tries would be suicidal!"

"...Not everyone," Nonette muttered before slamming down on the Lancelot's controls, barrelling towards the Siegfried.

"Nonette!" Cornelia screamed.

"Lady Enneagram!" Claude shouted.

The remainder of the squad could only watch in horror as the Lancelot slammed head-on into the middle of the Siegfried, its arms and legs spread eagle against the spikes, the Lancelot's shields fizzling at the strain of taking most of the damage.

Nonette grunted in pain as small electric sparks erupted from the systems, warning lights flashing wildly on the screens in front.

"What?!" Jeremiah exclaimed, also frozen in brief surprise at such a move.

"Nelly! Do it now!" Nonette screamed, using the last of the Lancelot's energy filter to twist around so the Seigfried faced the Gawain.

"Nonette…!" Cornelia gasped, horrified that her friend was about to commit this act.

"Just do it! I'll be fine!" Nonette shouted again, "But you have to do it now! You won't get another chance!"

Feeling tears in her eyes, Cornelia screamed as she slammed down on the hadron cannon's controls.

"What?! You little-"

Jeremiah never finished his sentence as the hadron cannons hit the Seigfried head on. The Seigrfried groaned and its outer shell cracked before it finally exploded, detaching from the Lancelot as it spiraled to the ground, crashing into the debris below.

Nonette exhaled in relief, a small stream of blood dripping from her nose. The Lancelot's energy filter lasted just long enough to block most of the Gawain's hadron cannon attack.

Unfortunately, with the energy depleted, the Lancelot could no longer remain airborne either and the white Knightmare soon followed the Seigfried to the ground, landing roughly by a demolished building.

"Nonette!" Cornelia screamed desperately, "Nonette, answer me, dammit!"

"...I'm okay, Nelly," she panted through the comm, "Sorry, I won't be much help anymore…"

Cornelia breathed a sigh of relief that at least her childhood friend was alive. She hadn't killed her.

"Just stay there for now, Nonette," Cornelia ordered, "We'll send someone to retrieve you soon!"

Tohdoh grunted as he was kicked back down the hall, catching himself as he backflipped to his feet, catching the edges of her double blades with his katana. So far, any Galra or sentries that they encountered were ordered away by Corza, always barking that he was her opponent, and if they held any respect for her, they would leave them be. He could see why she was so confident. She held the clear advantage in strength, so Tohdoh knew he had to be smart about where he landed his blows.

Throughout most of their duel, she had never lost the bloodthirsty, predatory grin on her face. The only time she lost it was when a lower-ranked Galra attempted to assist, trying to shoot Tohdoh down one of the halls. She had immediately beheaded him, calling him a disgrace. From that expression alone, Tohdoh saw the type of creature she was. She was one that took joy in beating down her opponents, took pleasure in hearing their screams of agony.

As a samurai, bound by the honor of his people and ancestors, nothing disgusted Tohdoh more. And if he had to die to put this monster down, so be it.

With a roar, he pushed the blades away, swinging the katana viciously at her midsection, but she expertly blocked it, making a swing of her own at his head, which he ducked under before using his left foot to kick one sword out of her hand, and it clattered down the hall.

Corza just laughed before whipping out a dagger she kept hidden in her armor. Tohdoh barely managed to jump back but still felt a sting across his cheek where the blade barely sliced his face. The Galran commander took advantage of his surprise to send a series of jabs towards Tohdoh, all of which he managed to dodge or block.

After taking one of the hits against his wrist, the armor of his suit absorbing the blow, he launched himself into the air, spinning midair before slicing downward. Corza grunted as the blow propelled her forward, but Tohdoh's eyes widened as her other sword managed to block the blow as well.

Tohdoh quickly used this moment to gain a little distance between the two, katana once more poised at the ready.

Corza slowly turned to face him again.

"Well, well, I'll admit you've got spirit, human," she smirked, "I may even spare you. You'd draw quite the crowd in the rings. Just surrender now, and I'll be sure you're taken good care of."

"Sorry, not interested," he replied in a clipped tone.

"Hmph, pity," she sighed in faux-sorrow before the grin returned, "But I wasn't exactly asking. I do enjoy my prey more when I have to draw the squealing out."

With that, their duel continued. Corza continued to push Tohdoh down the hall until they came to a cargo bay, several Galra fighters still stationary but ready to launch.

At one point, Corza managed to sweep Tohdoh's feet out from under him, pinning him down, foot firmly on his sternum.

"Concede, or die," she hissed, pressing down hard. The colonel felt his ribs cracking from the force, and he cried out in pain.

But the pain soon ceased when the ship suddenly shuddered and Corza's foot shifted off his chest. Despite the pain from what he knew were cracked and possibly broken ribs, he couldn't help the smirk that spread across his own face.

Outside the ship, the Guren shot away as the Radiant Surger's energy destroyed the last of the rear engines. The flagship was officially without any mobility and almost immediately began to lose altitude.

"The colonel's still inside!" Asahina exclaimed, "We need to help him!"

"I'm on it!" Chiba shouted, making a beeline for the open cargo bay, praying the colonel managed to make it there.

Tohdoh didn't waste the precious moment the distraction bought him. Without hesitation, he leaped back to his feet and plunged his katana into Corza's chest, the Galra still off-balanced from the attack outside, losing grip of her weapons. The commander only gasped as her eyes widened in disbelief but then shrieked in fury, her hand striking out. Tohdoh gasped in pain as Corza's sharp claws swiped across his left eye. Clutching it with one hand, Tohdoh stumbled backward, his katana still firmly in his other grip.

With barely a gurgle, Corza collapsed to her knees and sunk forward, falling forward, her face hitting the floor, dead. Only then did Tohdoh finally sag, catching himself on his katana, following to one knee in exhaustion.

"Colonel!" Chiba cried out, her Knightmare skidding to a stop in the bay, the ship still vibrating as it fell apart in its descent.

"Chiba…" Tohdoh whispered as she hauled one of his arms over her shoulder.

"Come on, this battle's not over yet!" she said, pulling him to his feet.

"Right…" he sighed but gratefully climbed into the Seishin with his subordinate. The Knightmare streaked out of the flagship only ticks before it crashed to the Earth.

No one missed the spectacle of the flagship's destruction. First, the engines went up in flames, and the fires quickly spread to the rest of the vessel. As Tohdoh's team flew away, their job done, the flagship began to nosedive before practically imploding as it hit the ground below.

Roars of victory could be heard from all units of the Black Knight's alliance. The Britannian-Galra alliance faltered as the rebels began to swarm in.

"Push them back!" Ohgi shouted from the ground, "Victory is nearly ours!"

"Yeah! Let's squash these guys!" Tamaki howled, firing a missile from his Knightmare at a group of scattered Britannian troops, "This is our planet! Not yours, you slimeballs!"

While the ground forces were experiencing the first taste of victory, Voltron's struggle was another story. The information of knowing it was Mao did little to help their situation. No matter what kind of attacks they threw at the Ro-Beast, he was able to either counter, block, or dodge every single one. Even when they attempted long-range attacks, they either weren't far enough, or the attacks were large enough that Mao could see them coming even without reading their thoughts. They had even briefly disbanded Voltron, thinking they could confuse Mao with separate thoughts instead of one, but Mao just started attacking them one by one. Suzaku, in particular, took some heavy hits when Yoru suddenly froze mid-flight again. The Paladins were barely able to rejoin once more after that disaster.

"This isn't working…" Lelouch hissed,  '...and I don't know what else to try!'  went unsaid.

"We can't just give up!" Rivalz shouted, "There's-there's got to be  something!"

Shirley suddenly gasped, Zinnia's purr breaking through the haze of the battle.

"What…?" she whispered.

"Shirley?!" Lelouch exclaimed, grunting as Voltron ducked another attack once more.

"Lelouch… we need to get away from Mao! As far away as we possibly can!"

"But haven't we been trying that already?" Kallen asked.

"Just trust me! I have a plan, or Zinnia does anyway!" the Orange Paladin insisted.

"...Alright, I'll trust you," Lelouch relented, "Rivalz, help her!"

"Um, right!" the Blue Paladin stuttered before slamming down on the rockets with Shirley.

Voltron suddenly shot off, leaving the battle at high speed, one that Mao couldn't keep up with.

"Paladins! Where are you going?!" Coran gasped, alarmed by the sudden change in direction.

"Honestly, Coran, we're not sure ourselves!" Milly admitted, "But Shirley said she had an idea to take out Mao! You're just going to have to trust us, here!"

"...Very well,"  Coran conceded,  "Good luck, Paladins, be careful!"

By the time Voltron stopped, they had made it fairly far out to sea, still high above Earth's surface.

"Okay, I think we're far enough!" Shirley said.

"It's certainly farther than any other distance we've tried," Rai reported, "According to C.C., Mao's original range was about five hundred meters. We're well over a thousand kilometers away now. We should be well out of range."

"Okay… okay," Shirley gasped before swallowing, "...I've got this…"

Though her heart was still hammering in her chest, Shirley took several deep breaths and, following Zinnia's directions, plugged her Bayard into its port. In the process of the bow appearing once more, Shirley's Geass appeared in her eye.

The others felt it just moments after Shirley did. Whatever was happening, whatever this new connection was that the Orange Lion and its Paladin were forging, they could feel it pulsing within the entire bond, with the two of them at the epicenter.

"Target… locked on," Shirley said calmly as Voltron drew the arrow back. Though it was not visible by the naked eye, Voltron's systems zeroed in on a far-off figure whose head was spinning frantically in every direction, having lost their target somewhere out in the sea.

'Before, I was just a normal girl, who was ignorant of everything that's been happening to this world…' Shirley thought as the arrow was pulled taut at its longest length, '...All the suffering... All the pain that so many people feel. And not just this world... but others as well. But I'm not going to cry anymore. I swear that I will protect all of you, even my friends. I know who I am... My name is Shirley Fenette, Paladin of the Orange Lion of Voltron! My aim is true! This time, I won't hesitate!'

Voltron set the arrow free.

Like a shooting star, the arrow soared across the ocean, too fast and too powerful that Mao didn't realize what was coming until it had struck deep into his chest. The Galran crystal helping to power the machine nearly shattered inside, and the Ro-Beast shrieked as its circuits shorted out and started to go haywire, limbs creaking and twisting into impossible angles.

"Go! Finish him off while he's down!" Shirley shouted.

"Suzaku, sword!" Lelouch ordered.

"Right!" the Purple Paladin exclaimed, his Bayard meeting the port once again.

With a unanimous battle cry, the Voltron Paladins raced back towards the Ro-Beast, sword poised to stab it head on.

Mao barely had time to look up, robotic eyes widening in shock before the sword met its target, piercing the same spot as the arrow and pushing back further, returning to the settlement.

Then, once on land again, with a twist of the blade, Voltron cut upward, severing the Ro-Beast's shoulder from the rest of the body. But that wasn't enough. Raising the sword over his head again, Voltron swung downward, slicing Mao cleanly in two.

The Ro-Beast's power flickered one final time before exploding, lighting up the evening sky and the battlefield.

"Yes!" Milly screamed.

"You're history!" Rai exclaimed with a triumphant grin.

"And this time, stay dead, asshole!" Kallen shouted.

"Shirley! That was awesome!" Rivalz cried, grinning madly from Polaris.

"That was definitely nuts, but it worked," Suzaku commented.

"Shirley… thank you…" Lelouch said, sagging in his seat from relief and fatigue.

Shirley just smiled, not really answering anyone, but the soothing purr Zinnia sent her way spoke all the volumes she needed. Yes, she did good. This was where she belonged, after all.

"...Coran, Cornelia, Ohgi, Tohdoh, battle report!" Lelouch finally ordered after a moment of silence.

One by one, each battle commander appeared on the screen. They all looked exhausted from the fight, a fight that they had very nearly one.

"The flagship and the fleet's commander are neutralized, Zero,"  Tohdoh reported first, Chiba next to him,  "The remaining Galra troops are scrambling to regroup. We can likely wipe out or capture the remaining ones with ease."

"That second monster that came out of that vessel is also destroyed,"  Cornelia stated,  "Nonette and the Lancelot are down, but she's alive."

"Most of Britannia's ground forces are retreating too. Without air cover from their Galra buddies, they're losing ground fast,"  Ohgi reported with a confident smile.

"Yes, according to the castle's scans, most of the remaining Galra fighters are retreating!"  Coran exclaimed,  "It seems… it seems we've won Paladins!"

The very second Coran finished speaking, Voltron suddenly shuddered, freezing in midair. A sinister purple aura washed over the juggernaut, and a malevolent presence suddenly flooded the bond, nearly choking the Paladins with fear and panic.

Lelouch especially felt the crushing weight, gasping as he hunched over like something heavy had suddenly been thrust upon his back.

"Paladins!" they heard Coran gasp.

"Lelouch!"  Cornelia cried,  "Lelouch, what's wrong?!"

"What's going on with you guys?!" Ohgi exclaimed, eyes wide.

Several more voices joined the others, Nonette, Tohdoh, Guilford, and many others calling out, confused at what was happening to Voltron and afraid for the Paladins' sake.

"What…?" Rivalz gasped out.

"Something's… tearing us apart!" Rai realized.

"It's like what happened at…!" Shirley gasped, eyes widening.

"At the Galra base…" Kallen finished with a whisper, her mind drawing the same conclusion, and terror coursed down her spine.

"Then that means…" Suzaku bit out, eyes trailing to the sky, "Lelouch!"

Lelouch's eyes also were drawn to the sky, his blood running cold and body petrified as the familiarity of this presence finally became clear. Zen's own cries of terror only confirmed it further as a large, colossus shape practically materialized above the battlefield.

"Zarkon…!"

As the Galra's HQ exited its jump to hover above the surface of the planet, Zarkon reached out towards the ancient bond that he knew was there and would always be there no matter how his enemies tried to separate them. The druids' magic coursed through his being as his black Geass drilled black holes into his eyes.

The Black Lion would not get away this time.

"...What?!" Ohgi whispered from the ground as the massive alien ship, over a hundred times  bigger than the flagship they had originally destroyed, slowly descended through the clouds. Everything and everyone on the battlefield froze, Black Knights and Britannian defectors alike.

"...This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this is  not happening…" Tamaki chanted, nearly hysterical as he felt tears form in his eyes from the terror in his chest.

Then, much to their further horror, with screams of agony, the Voltron burst apart, the Lions all blasting away from one another, the Black Lion falling limp and landing with a heavy crash to the ground.

"LELOUCH!" both Kallen and Cornelia shouted in unison.

No response came as Lelouch lay unconscious in Zen's cockpit, the sheer force of Zarkon's twisted Geass too much for him to bear.

Then, like an angry cloud of hornets, hundreds of thousands of Galra fighters swarmed out of the Galra ship, descending on the weakened Voltron forces below.

"Damn!" Kallen screamed, regaining control of Aka and righting herself in the air again. "All Black Knights! Retreat! Get back to the castle  now!"

  "What?! But Kallen-"

"Now, Ohgi!" Kallen barked desperately, "Zarkon is  here! We can't fight him, he'll wipe us out!"

"Kallen, what about Lelouch?!" Rivalz exclaimed in utter panic.

The red streak of the Guren passing by, followed by the Gawain's black form, answered that question.

"He'll be fine. His sis and Sayoko have got him!" Kallen said, "Quick, we need to lay down covering fire!"

"Sh-she's right! Come on!" Shirley shouted, already turning Zinnia towards a group of defectors struggling to get through a Galran brigade.

Zarkon's face remained impassive as he stepped off his fortress's platform, descending towards the Earth, determined to end this once and for all.

The Black Lion would be his once again.

Landing on the planet's surface, it wasn't hard to find the Black Lion. It had landed in a clear area of the battlefield, lying on its side, eyes dark and unresponsive. It was very likely that her new 'Paladin' was still inside. He highly doubted the boy had fled, even if it would have spared him.

He had barely taken a step, though, when a surge of red energy ran across his path.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked up only to see the large black bi-pedal machine, along with the red one with the silver arm and several other smaller gray ones surrounding him.

"Not one step further!" a feminine voice ordered from the large black one, two large cannons aimed at him from its back. Similar weapons are also leveled at him from the others.

Zarkon nearly scoffed. Nothing more than another pesky obstacle.

"Stand aside."

The red machine's arm tensed back, "Never…" another woman's voice practically spat.

The two parties stood still for several moments.

Zarkon then drew his Bayard, a large violet blade materialized.

"Then die."

In the blink of an eye, Zarkon suddenly flickered from being in front of them to standing crouched behind Darlton's Seishin.

"Wha-" the knight couldn't even finish the word before the Knightmare split in two and exploded.

"Sir Darlton!" Guilford shouted before Zarkon turned around almost casually, Bayard poised to strike once again.

Unlike before, with only a single flagship and the original invading fleet to fight, the massive flood of reinforcements that rained down on the city began picking off the Black Knight forces little by little. Even with the remaining Paladins providing cover, many valiant men and women fell, shot down by the relentless Galra surge.

With Milly on her trail, Kallen headed immediately to Ohgi's location, knowing most of his troops consisted of ground fighters. Milly quickly shot a series of flash bombs at the Galra fighters above them, giving the girls barely enough time for Ohgi and his surviving squads to load onto the two Lions, leaving any other weapons behind.

Rivalz and Shirley found themselves in similar situations, the sky lighting up with explosions of fire as the two pushed the fighters away from their allies in the sky and on the ground.

Rai made a beeline for Nonette's downed Lancelot, the knight only having the strength to crawl from the wreckage and lay next to it, barely remaining conscious. Dried blood still stained her nose, and her left arm was bent at an awkward angle, but she was alive.

Suzaku felt his blood run cold as he saw a massive squadron heading straight for Tohdoh's team, and he propelled Yoru quickly to intercept.

"Out of the way!" he roared, blasting into the swarm, destroying twenty of them alone with a single blast. Yoru then leaped back, her jaw opening wide, her blackhole suction pulling against several more.

"Sensei! Go!" he shouted, straining from the effort of the attack.

Despite most of the fighters getting caught in the suction, several more still fought their way around or out of it, making a head charge towards the group.

"There's still too many!" Asahina gasped, his Seishin getting battered by a volley of lasers as he sliced through two with his sword.

"Stay focused!" Tohdoh ordered with Chiba firing her gun at several fighters.

Suzaku growled, quickly summoning the Lion's jawblade, and while the fighters were disoriented, sliced through several more.

Unfortunately, despite these efforts, more simply seemed to keep coming. Like a hydra when its head was severed, more simply replaced the ship that was downed.

And one soldier knew it was not time for his commanding officer to die just yet.

"Colonel…" Urabe said solemnly as he calmly typed a code into the Seishin's keypad, "It's been an honor to fight beside you. And Suzaku… be a good Paladin."

"What?" Suzaku's eyes widened, a vague image of a knightmare in this very position meeting its end, along with the pilot inside, "Urabe,  no!"

The Seishin charged forward, completely blowing a path through the fighters, before exploding in an inferno in the center of the swarm.

Suzaku looked on in horror, the reality of what he saw sinking in, the guilt of not being able to save someone again resurfacing.

"Suzaku!" Senba shouted, shaking him back to reality, "We got to go!"

"Urabe's sacrifice will be mourned, Suzaku," Tohdoh said, though only Chiba saw how stiff the Colonel's face became, "but it will mean nothing if we all die…"

"...Right," the Purple Paladin sighed before following after the three remaining Seishins, covering the rest of their retreat to the white castle in the sky.

David's scream of agony as his Knightmare was sliced apart filled the castle's launch bay, Rakshata, Lloyd, and Cecile watching in shocked horror as Zarkon picked off the Knightmares surrounding the Black Lion one after the other.

"He's not even in a Knightmare…" Cecile trembled, watching the footage through the Gawain's already battered systems, "And he's tearing them apart."

"At this point, it looks as though he's only toying with them," Rakshata pursed her lips, but her eyes were shaking, and she clutched her pipe tight enough her hands were turning white.

"What… What kind of monster are we even dealing with?!" Lloyd exclaimed, hands gripping his head, panicking for the first time in… he wasn't sure the last time he felt like this, and even with their own alien tech, there was likely little to nothing they could do to help in some way.

Slowly, Lelouch came back into focus as his eyes blinked open. Confused and body aching, he sat up looking around… only to stop cold at the scene he saw through his Lion's screen window.

Zarkon's Bayard, in its whip form, had grabbed a Seishin by its arm and swung it through the air before slamming it hard into a pile of debris several feet away, the Knightmare erupting into flames moments later.

"No…" he gasped, panic seizing his heart and hands shaking, "What... What are you...? Get away... You can't stop him... Just run…"

He only watched helplessly, though, as Zarkon drove his Bayard into the final Seishin's abdomen, the machine's form electrifying before the back end detached and flew away, just as this Knightmare also exploded. Zarkon then turned his attention to the larger Knightmares. The Guren's silver arm was gone, the Galra having ripped it off earlier in battle, but Zarkon shifted the Bayard to a cannon and fired at the red Knightmare, blasting it backward. Then with barely a shift in footing, changed it back into a spear and stabbed backward, catching the Gawain in the middle before swiping out, effectively cutting the Knightmare in two.

With the machines no longer threats, the Galran emperor turned his attention back to the Lion, approaching slowly like he was taking a stroll in a park.

Before Lelouch could move to try and rouse Zen again, another battle cry interrupted him. He gasped in horror as Sayoko herself charged Zarkon, leaping in front of him, kunai lashing.

Zarkon stepped back slightly but otherwise seemed unfazed. Bayard a sword again, he swung back, locking weapons with the kunoichi, but his strength easily one out, disarming her and kicking her in the air. Then the Bayard became a whip, wrapping around Sayoko's form before the ninja slammed with a shattering crash against the Earth.

"SAYOKO!" Lelouch screamed, tears in his eyes as his mother figure gasped against the ground, groaning as her hand flew to her stomach, blood quickly pooling from a slice across it.

Zarkon attempted to walk towards Zen again when a bullet suddenly bounced off the back of his armor. It didn't hurt him, but it annoyed him enough to turn to the culprit.

"Get the hell away from my brother!" Cornelia roared, her sword-rifle raised, and aimed to fire again.

Zarkon turned toward her, saying nothing as he just glared, almost daring her to challenge him.

Cornelia refused to back down and emptied the rest of her bullets against Zarkon's armor. Upon realizing she was out, she charged at him, sword held up to swing down.

She didn't see Bayard swing until her right armor was sent flying away.

Cornelia collapsed to the ground, shrieking in agony and clutching her stump as blood hemorrhaged from the severed appendage.

"NO!" Lelouch shouted, horror racing through his heart.

Cornelia grunted, shoulder still burning as Zarkon's foot smashed into her cheek.

"Pathetic…" he murmured, digging his heel against the princess's head.

Cornelia could do nothing but stare up at the monster… no, the demon that was bearing down on her, and there was nothing she could do about it. The last time she had felt so helpless was… Was when Empress Marianne had perished, and Lelouch and Nunnally were banished by their father's cruel decree.

'He tore apart our entire unit... with just a single weapon... even ripped apart Voltron... all on his own...! This... this... demon... he's not just powerful... he  IS  power...!' Cornelia thought as tears trickled down her face as a crushing sense of shame settled in her chest, 'Lelouch... is this really who you've been fighting? And I haven't done a damn thing to help you... You and your friends... have had to fight this monster all on your own... I'm so sorry…'

Lelouch, meanwhile, could only watch on, terrified and enraged all at once as he watched Zarkon torment his sister. Why? Why was he just watching? Was that all the good he could do? Why did everything seem to fall apart in his hands even when he came so close to setting things right? His body shook, unable to so much as stand, petrified of this villain and the terror he brought in his wake.

  No…

Lelouch gasped as a spark of warmth ignited in his chest, spreading outward, enveloping him like a blanket.

You are not helpless…  We  are not helpless. It is true we are no match when separate, but we are together. Let us stand, my Paladin, as one...

"What insect are you, to deny what is rightfully mine?" Zarkon intoned, pressing Cornelia's head further into the dirt, "Your nation of Britannia speaks of evolution, yet you can't even begin to understand such a concept. I have transcended the limits of space and even time, and I will do so as I shall bend this universe to my will. A bug like you can't stop me."

Zarkon however blinked in surprise as Cornelia's remaining hand grabbed hold of his ankle and tried, though in vain, to shove him off of her. Her eyes, though still red with tears, glared fiery daggers at Zarkon.

"Go... to hell... you damn monster...!" Cornelia growled, "That's my brother in there... For his sake... I'll keep fighting... I'll break myself if I have to...! Even if there's nothing left of me... I won't let you one inch further...! I'll destroy myself before I let you lay so much as a finger on him!"

Zarkon narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to reply, only to hear something approaching rapidly. Turning around, he saw Lelouch, a purple knife pointed forward, practically flying toward Zarkon.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Lelouch roared, his Geass shining in not one but both of his eyes. The blade in his hand suddenly fizzled, growing in length as red energy traveled down the hilt, extending it into a long, curved sword.

Zarkon's surprised stupor cost him, as the next thing he registered was a sharp jab of pain piercing his side. The conqueror roared in agony as the blade was wrenched out, and the boy ducked under him to grab hold of his sister, gathering her in his arms.

"I'm sorry…" Lelouch whispered, pulling Cornelia's remaining arm over his shoulder. Looking up, he barely spotted an injured but alive Guilford picking Sayoko up in his own arms and making brief eye-contact, headed straight for Zen's form, still lying in the dirt, but eyes bright and clearly conscious.

Zarkon snarled as he watched his enemy scurry back into the Black Lion. Once all four were safely inside, the Black Lion roared in defiance at him before leaping into the sky.

The former Paladin raised his Bayard to shoot the Lion down again, only to be pelted from all sides by the remaining Lions, none of them giving him room to make a clear shot at the Black Lion.

"Keep him pinned down!" Kallen ordered, "Don't give a chance to fight back!"

"Paladins!"  Coran exclaimed, face appearing on the screen,  "All the survivors are on board! Get out of there now!"

Without another word, the Lions all turned and zoomed back into the sky, retreating to the castle as it disappeared into the clouds once more.

Zarkon said nothing as he glared at the spot that the Lions vanished into. Once again, they had escaped, but unlike last time, his forces gained much more than what they lost this time.

"Sire…" Haggar murmured, approaching her recovering emperor from behind, as her ship landed, "I sense they are still close. You can easily track them, and our troops can wipe them out now."

"There's no need for that," Zarkon addressed.

"Sire?" Haggar queried in surprise.

"Voltron will return soon," Zarkon clarified, "We have their planet hostage now. We have nothing but time until they come for it again. And one way or another, Voltron will fall to us then…"

From aboard the craft, Charles glared daggers into the backs of the two aliens on the ground. These two thought they were foolish enough to think that? While it was true their presence would make things… difficult, their actions would be of little consequence once their plan was complete.

'Soon, Marianne…' Charles thought, 'Soon, our dream will come to fruition, and this madness will end. No force in the universe will be strong enough to stop it.'

[kitt-rider]

my emotional journey of the episode ‘knightmares’. i have A Lot To Say

so kitt and michael’s first interaction after michael loses his memory is this

kitt: michael? michael please, stop! it's me! kitt! *chase ensues, kitt leaps over something to get to michael* michael: *shoots at kitt in panic* alright out! hands away from your body! kitt: this is not quite the reunion i'd hoped for michael... michael: i said; get out of the car! kitt, sounding hurt: michael, have you really forgotten me? michael: has small flashbacks to kitt jumping kitt: are you alright? michael: no! no, i'm confused! nothing makes sense to me any more, this face, is not my face! my whole world has disappeared and now i'm talking to a car kitt: i think i can explain everything, michael michael: how do you know my name? kitt: we're partners you and i, we're a team. please, let me help you. get in michael: no thanks kitt: as you pointed out, i'm only a car. please. trust me 

and it. it’s a lot. there’s so much emotion in kitt’s voice here, like. something i’ve noticed is that they’ve grown so close that if they’re apart for too long, or don’t know what the other is doing or where they are or how they are, they freak out. if the watch breaks, or loses connection, they get really thrown off kilter, both of them. they’re so entwined that they feel lost without the other, as though they’ve become two halves of a whole. 

kitt sounds really hurt when he realises michael has forgotten him. this is the most human we’ve seen kitt so far, not that he hasn’t been before, but the emotional range in his vocals are just. they’re so raw and it’s so clear to anyone, even if this were to be the only episode they watched, that the two of them have something really special, that the two of them love each other. but then michael has little flashes of kitt jumping. it starts to come back to him. this is a big deal because it’s the first instance of him remembering something. kitt is so deeply embedded in him that his brain automatically responds quicker and easier to kitt, and kitt is a stronger trigger than anything else has been so far. 

kitt speaks very softly, coaxing michael with gentle words of love. the “trust me” absolutely killed me, idk why. maybe because michael DID end up trusting kitt and getting in, or maybe because it was just the gentleness of kitt’s words. i just. hnnnng.

so then michael gets in, freaks out, they go to the foundation, devon and april try to talk to him, they can’t, so he leaves. kitt follows. and the next interaction is this

*kitt is following michael who wants him to go, eventually they stop and michael opens the door* michael: i'd tell you to get this through your head but you're a machine, so run this through your data processor. get lost! kitt: i can't do that michael. i'm programmed to respond to your needs. despite your being unaware of it, you need me! michael: what if i don't want you? kitt: ...i suppose i'll be quite hurt  michael: ...alright. it is pretty hard to get around without a set of wheels. alright. i drive from here on kitt: absolutely. providing you'll promise me one thing michael: what? kitt: please do not refer to me as a car, or a set of wheels. it's most demeaning. i'm the knight industries two thousand. *wistfully* you always called me kitt...

OOF!!! mega oof! kitt can't stand michael calling him a machine because it's not right, his michael always treats him as a person, always calls him kitt, always refers to him as if he were a human bc kitt does have a soul, and he has personality like one. he's not used to michael being so standoffish and mean (although it's not really michael's fault since he's probably freaking out, and also it's like he's reverted to when he first met kitt when he didn't understand that kitt isn't just a machine) so he's. hurt. and his voice is all soft and wistful. it hurts for michael to refer to him as “machine” or even a “car”, because for so long michael has called him buddy, pal, or kitt, as kitt himself said. and it’s important to kitt that that continues, because he loves michael very much, and the thought that their relationship might not be as close as it once was is something he can’t bear. 

and then they drive and all that, we get michael literally calling kitt hot, and kitt smugly replying that he knows. and then on the way, more conversation and. 

michael: you know it's a terrible feeling, every time i pass a mirror or i see a reflection in the window... i see a stranger's face kitt: i wish i could help you regain your memory. especially your memory of ME. ...we have quite a history together

GOD. it's so much. it's all so much!!!!! kitt is desperate for michael to remember him, not just cause he's programmed for michael's sake, but bc he wants michael to remember him specifically, as he says. kitt is going all ways out of professional this episode, and his voice is just. especially when he says the history part, it's so, so soft and full of love and yearning. i can't get over them, honestly. the episodes where kitt is reprogrammed or removed from the car and where michael loses his memory are quickly becoming my favourites, mostly bc there's so much affection and love between them in it. like. their bond is so strong, and these episodes like to prove that that bond breaks through everything.

kitt wouldn’t say he wanted michael to specifically remember him over everything else if it were simply his programming/in a professional sense, which means he wants michael to remember him for HIM. because having a human he’s imprinted on so much feel indifferent to him is just awful, and insulting to the hell and high water they went through.

gahhhh and then! they get to the dam and michael gets in trouble, and goes “kitt! i need you!” and kitt excitedly goes “it’s about time!” AND I!!!! aside from the fact that “i need you” as a general phrase is A Lot to me, because i associate it with “i love you” and in fact, sometimes i need you is even more of a romantic gesture to say than i love you, it’s just so sweet how excited kitt is that things are falling back into place, that his michael is his michael again, and they’ll be a team once more.

then they head off, and kitt shows off his analyser and michael. “you.. .are a regular wonder on wheels, aren’t you?” and kitt “i like to think so”

AND THEN. AND THEN?!

michael: kitt? you said you knew me before the accident. what was michael knight like? kitt, softly and full of love: michael knight was bright, agile, often quite logical. he was also stubborn, impatient, readily distracted by pretty girls. and he listened to possibly the most appalling music to ever shatter my airwaves michael: sounds like my kinda guy kitt: yes that’s what i’m afraid of

and this interaction is so... affectionate? so loving. even though michael is still trying to remember, he smiles automatically, even jokes around a little. kitt analyses the material and then michael says he’s impressed. and then i get a damn BOMB dropped on me.

michael: kane’s? i’m impressed! i mean how does a chemical analyser identify a store? kitt: it didn’t! there’s a card inside michael, smiling: good work kitt kitt: oh one other thing about michael knight michael: what’s that? kitt: i was extremely fond of him

like. i have no words. it’s all right there. i can’t really say any more than what kitt did. and he says it as though it’s a fact. he says it as a way to describe michael, bc now, kitt is a part of michael, and everything that embodies him. kitt loves michael, and it’s a fact. it’s an identifier of who michael knight is. michael knight is someone kitt loves very much.

michael tries to get into a building that’s locked. kitt unlocks it

michael: should i say thanks? kitt: if you do i’ll say ‘you’re welcome’ michael: thanks! kitt; de nada (no problem, no need for thanks, you’re welcome)

god! can they BE any cuter? their interactions are so precious. 

once again we get an “i need you” from michael. i love that. it looks like from now on, that will be a regular thing, bc michael’s only just started saying it a couple of eps ago. something else i love is that the two of them fit back together quickly and easily. they’re already acting as a unit/as they did before not long after they’ve started working together again. they also bicker again, and it falls naturally into place.

michael: i got a hunch that door is not gonna stand in our way kitt: michael this is beginning to sound like old times! 

and then

that’s michael’s expression in response. a warm, wide smile. things are coming together again. he’s starting to remember kitt.

AND THEN

kitt: michael i pride myself on never pointing out the obvious, but i’m afraid we’re driving into a trap michael: i’m not worried kitt, i have an edge. a secret weapon kitt: really? what is it? michael: you

and then kitt blushes!!! for sure! there’s no other way to see it! he’s blushing not only from being a little flustered that michael’s praising him like he did before, but also because even a little while of michael not being affectionate and loving towards him was awful and he’s so happy that michael is becoming more and more like his old self again that his “cheeks” glow with happiness. ugghgngn!!! god. so much! they are so much, and so in love.

so the girl is saved and everything is well. he regains his memory, and we end on michael and kitt being all domestic and married-coupley.

kitt: welcome back michael. i thought as a little present i’d play you some of that appalling music you like so much michael: thanks buddy. come on. let’s shatter some airwaves! *music plays* michael: you know i was thinking. i could have april install an electronic board here and she could hook it up to your speakers kitt: michael? michael: yeah? kitt: don’t press your luck michael: whatever you say pal, whatever you say

AND!! THAT IS JUST SO. coupley! hhhhhhh. and ofc, michael will take kitt on vacation. i was wondering for a moment if he wouldn’t, but that was dumb. of course michael will take kitt with him! he can’t stand to be apart from him! they both can’t stand it!

god. i kind of want to write a little ficlet of the vacay, and i probably will, because i am SO full of fluff. golly. what an episode! michael and kitt are in love and as the show goes on that just becomes more and more apparent <3