Disclaimer: Voltron and all of its characters and settings are copyrighted by World Event Productions, Ltd. and Toei Animation Company. Original characters and plots are the brain-children of me, the author. I am in no way affiliated with the aforementioned companies. No monetary profit is being made from this work, and no copyright infringement is intended. Please do not do not repost or reuse this work without obtaining my permission first. Thank you.
Author’s Note: This is an old, old fanfic written back in the day when I was a wee fanbrat on a long-term caffeine high. Consequently it is rather long and convoluted and a little silly. There may be a couple OOC’s here and there, as while I like Princess Allura’s character, she was admittedly a wuss in the series. It was like, “Come on, girl, stand up for yourself!” And that’s when I caught myself yelling at my TV and decided to write this sprawling fanfic. At any rate, I hope that you enjoy it.
Opposites Attract,
Quietly
humming a small tune to herself, Princess Allura silently padded down one of the
vast hallways in the
All of a sudden, Allura found herself swiftly crashing to the floor.
"Ow!! Damn it!" Allura swore right after she landed flat on her face; in the background, she could hear what sounded like a rat skittering away.
She knew immediately that she had just tripped over one of the many space mice that ran rampant throughout the castle. After silently wishing a thousand deaths upon the mice, she slowly staggered up and continued down the hallway.
Allura's entire day had been like this - a bitch. Keith had demanded that they have their daily practice flights in the Lions extra, extra early - five in the morning, to be exact. All that Allura could say about the entire matter was that she wasn't the only person silently cursing Keith under her breath; Lance also accidentally let loose a couple of interesting words over his comm. And then there was the weekly inspection; she had had to clean Blue Lion out two times with a toothbrush before Keith finally left her alone about it. And of course, Lotor just had to choose this day, the day she was also PMSing, to attack Arus. The only way she even eluded him this time was by stomping on his foot as hard as she could with the heel of her shiny, new boot and then running like hell when he had cornered her outside of her Lion, just like he always managed to do.
...That jerk did kiss well, though... Damn it! I shouldn't be thinking like that!..., she thought in a rush as she neared her room.
Allura hated to admit it, but that had actually been the best part of her day; Lotor at least never told her how to dress or act. The rest of her day had been filled with nothing but Nanny grating on her very last nerves by dictating to her what she could and could not do, despite the fact that she was nineteen years old. She couldn't wear normal clothing; those disgusting pink dresses looked so much "prettier" on her, or so according to Nanny. She also couldn't hang out with the guys "too" much, even though they were her good friends, lest they "damage" her femininity even more, yet she was regularly encouraged to marry some stupid, narcissistic prince whom she hardly even knew. The list went on... Allura could swear that someday she'd smother under the mountain of rules and pink dresses that Nanny continuously shoved towards her. But she didn't want to think about that anymore. Right now, all that she wanted was a relaxing shower and to collapse in bed.
As the door to her room slid open, Allura immediately felt an intense wave of heat wash over her.
...Ugh... It's like walking into an oven!... I had no idea that it was this hot out!...
She practically ripped off her voluminous dress in a desperate attempt to escape the heat. After throwing the discarded dress on top of her bed, Allura opened one of her windows in hopes of possibly cooling her room. As she did so, she had to admit that, despite the unbearable temperature, it really was a beautiful night out; the light from the stars reflected piercingly off of the surface of the castle lake. Staring briefly out into the night for a moment, she gradually made a beeline for her bathroom - it was time for that shower.
Feeling miraculously refreshed, Allura stepped out of the shower and slowly and luxuriously dried herself off with a thick towel. Right now, absolutely nothing could faze her; the universe could just blow up for all she cared. She was simply too relaxed. Even the intense heat wasn't bothering her anymore. Humming to herself, she ran a brush through her now-dry hair, reveling in the thickness and texture of it. Finally, Allura reluctantly got up and wrapped a towel around herself, casually sauntering back into her room and towards her dresser.
Opening the top drawer, she flung aside a few obnoxious pink dresses (Nanny's dictatorship was awesomely widespread) to gradually reveal a bottom layer of lingerie that would've made Nanny blow an artery had she seen them. Never mind that that was the main reason why she even had the stuff in the first place, but it was the principle of the matter- Allura just wanted some things in life that nobody else but her would have a say in. Although it sounded a little childish, it was also one of the only forms of rebellion that she had against Nanny. Digging through a miniature sea of lace and satin, she finally surface with what she was looking for - a sheer, low-cut, midnight-black negligee.
...And besides, what Nanny doesn't know won't hurt her... or me..., Allura thought with half a smile.
Laying the negligee out on top of the dresser, Allura prepared to shimmy out of her towel. What she heard next, though, chilled her to the bone.
Opposites Attract,
"I really didn't think of you as the type of person who would wear those kinds of things... Allura. Not that I'm complaining...," an all but too-familiar voice said humorously.
Allura immediately spun around and nearly dropped her towel in the process. The sight that greeted her was none other than the Prince of Doom lounging on her bed... her bed!!
"Lotor!! How the hell did you get in here?!" she shrieked in surprise and panic, just barely hanging on to her only means of decency.
With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Lotor simply smirked and shrugged his shoulders.
"The window was unlocked; I took it as an invitation."
Allura's mind was racing... How did he get past the guards?!... Shit, this is my fault! Why did I have to open that damn window?!... Oh, God...
Noticing her obvious discomfort, Lotor's grin widened.
"I was bored, and I figured that you must've missed me by now. But don't let me interrupt you! Please, continue."
Allura, for a moment, forgot about her fear of Lotor and balled up the negligee with her fists, hurling it at him. "No, you ass!... and get out of my room!"
Laughing, he simply caught the lingerie before it hit him. This, of course, only served to piss her off even more.
Stomping over to where he lay, Allura waited until she was only mere inches away from his face before she yelled, "Didn't you hear me the first time? Get out of here!"
The only thing that she managed to do was to blow some of his hair into his face. Seemingly otherwise unaffected, Lotor only smirked slightly.
"You're beautiful when you're angry."
Allura exploded, or she at least felt like she could.
Forcing her anger down, she sighed, and, halfway afraid of what his answer would be, asked, "Look, Lotor... I know that you didn't come all of this way just to watch me undress... What are you doing here? What do you want?"
At first, it appeared as if he was going to say another smart-ass comment, but then Lotor locked eyes with her and said, in a more serious tone, "You and I both know why I'm here."
"No. I've already heard what you've had to say. I'm not listening... No," she immediately refused, standing her ground.
Allura had hoped that this would be enough to make Lotor see reason, but as usual, and to her dismay, he only stood up and began striding towards her, that same damn predatory smirk still plastered to his face. It was then that she remembered her current state of undress, and it also appeared as if Lotor remembered this, too.
"I was hoping that you had reconsidered my offer," Lotor replied smoothly, still going towards her, "but if I have to convince you otherwise, then... so be it."
A familiar, yet delicious, panic rising within her, Allura began to back away.
Keeping her voice from wavering, she said nervously, "My answer has not changed, and neither will it, Lotor. Please leave..."
Ignoring her pitiful request, Lotor came closer still.
...He's not going to listen... no matter what I say!...
Allura immediately broke into a desperate run, heading towards her bedroom door. It was better to be caught running around the castle with nothing but a towel on than to be captured and taken to Doom!
Opposites Attract,
Before she could reach the door, however, Lotor, with the fluid grace of a cat, caught her arm in a steel grip.
"Ah, ah, ah, you should know better than to try that, Allura... I know you too well."
Allura tried hopelessly to free herself, but to no avail; his grip was too strong.
"Look, don't you have anybody else to stalk?" she gasped, "I heard that Romelle is free tonight..."
Ignoring her remark, he brought his free hand up and lightly brushed her cheek.
"Now, my love, you will listen to me..."
Finally, Allura's fiery temper surfaced for a breath of air.
"No, you will listen!" she yelled, "I have already heard your 'offer' time and time again, and like your 'offer', my answer will never change, and I'll stick to it like the stubborn bastard you are! My answer will always remain 'no', and nothing you can do will ever change that - get that through your thick skull! Now let me go, you... you... monster!"
And with that, Allura, in all of her fury, quickly brought up her free hand and slapped Lotor hard in the face, catching him off guard. He didn't even utter a sound; his saffron eyes, widened in surprise, were staring into space, and the left side of his face appeared to be throbbing, Allura's angry, red handprint contrasting oddly with his azure skin. With a quick, inhaled breath of realization of what she had just done, Allura felt like slapping herself. She would have normally laughed out loud at the ridiculous expression on Lotor's face, but now was not the time; Lotor's unpredictable temper was legendary. Allura held her breath and waited for his belated, and undoubtedly, furious reaction.
After a few tense moments, Lotor's eyes refocused and he began to shake his head like he had just woken up from a coma. During all of this, Allura mentally cursed herself for her stupidity in not taking that opportunity to dive for the alarm button, which activated the castle's warning system, situated on the wall a few feet away from her. Now it was too late, and the chance that an opportunity like this would rise again was slim, at best. And her walls being soundproof certainly didn't help her situation any.
When he finally finished snapping out of his daze, Allura solicitously asked, with feigned concern laced throughout her voice, "Oh... I'm sorry! Are you alright?"
"I think that that's the first time you've ever tried to slap me and actually succeeded," Lotor groaned, rubbing his cheek ruefully, "Ow!! Damn it, that hurts!..."
"Good!" shouted Allura, beginning to pound on his chest with her remaining free hand, "You deserved that! Now let me go, you narcissistic asshole!"
Lotor frowned. Things were definitely not going as he had planned; not that they ever did, anyway. Ignoring her beating fist, he quickly captured her other hand and pressed her body against the wall. Struggling in vain, Allura opened her mouth to scream for help, even though nobody would probably hear her, but Lotor's mouth came down on her own, his hard kiss stifling her yells of indignation. Her fear of being taken to Doom made her fight him even more, but he simply pushed her up against the wall even farther. When her writhing finally died down, he raised his head up from her and looked into her storm-filled, sapphire eyes.
"Will you shut up?!" Lotor whispered furiously, "It is because of my consideration of you that I haven't simply thrown you over my back and carried you off! So it would be nice if you would show me a little gratitude by listening to me for once!"
And then he smugly added, "And although I would much prefer to have you come with me willingly, carrying you off kicking and screaming would be almost as fun in the end, anyway, so it's really your choice."
"You just wait until I get my hands on you...," Allura spat out.
With another one of his obnoxious, trademark smirks gracing his disgustingly flawless face yet again, Lotor replied evenly, "Please, Allura... business before pleasure! There will be plenty of time for the latter, I assure you. I am offering you a chance to not only save your world, but countless others. Unlike my father, I could give... as you Terrans so charmingly put it... a rat's ass about what happens to Arus; it's you that I want. Since I've already gone through the 'Surrender-yourself-to-me-or-else-I'll-destroy-your-planet' spiel many, many times before, I will not bother to do so again. So let's cut to the chase, shall we? Will you marry me?"
"Why would I want to marry someone who I hate?" Allura hissed with as much venom in her voice as possible.
"I'm not stupid, Allura; I've seen how you've reacted to me. You may not feel the same way that I feel for you yet, but you don't hate me," he stated matter-of-factly.
Inwardly, Allura seethed at this. This was what she hated most about Lotor - he was always so arrogant, so sure of himself. She wanted to believe so badly that his words were as seemingly evil as he was, but he, at least for now, was right, and he knew it. She didn't hate him, exactly; it was more of an almost frightening blend of both fascination and fear. Whenever he was near her, though, it infuriated her that he should be able affect her this way, almost as if he knew her better than she did herself... did he?
Lotor's eyes were still intent upon her, and it was obvious that he was expecting a reply.
Opposites Attract,
Mustering up as much of her willpower as she could, Allura hoped that she didn't appear as weak as she really felt.
"What part of the word 'no' is so difficult for you to comprehend, Lotor? You already know what my answer is. Please, if you leave Arus right now, I won't report this to anyone..."
...Why do I even try?...
Just as she had expected, he hadn't even blinked. Not that that would've made a difference; she was still held fast against her bedroom wall by Lotor's massive body.
"You are in no position to give orders here," a cool smile slid across his face as his eyes traveled down her towel-clad self, "And it appears as if you're at a disadvantage."
...No, really?!..., Allura thought with exasperation and a surge of rising panic.
Before she even knew what hit her, Lotor had gone in for the kill. He kissed her gently, but stirringly enough that seemingly hundreds of foreign emotions she desperately wanted to go away flooded her brain.
...Damn it!! Why does he have to be so good at this?!...
Almost against her will, she found herself kissing him back. Lotor, encouraged by this, relaxed his grip and allowed her to regain the circulation back into her wrists, but still didn't release her altogether.
"Allura... I know that you are enjoying this," Lotor murmured into her ear, his arms wrapping around her waist, "Just say what I need to hear... I would give you everything..."
Acutely aware his now-straying hands, Allura began to squirm.
"Hey! Hands off the merchandise, bu--!!" Allura exclaimed indignantly, but before she could finish, Lotor silenced her the best way that he knew how.
He kissed her more aggressively this time, and Allura almost reveled in this newfound sense of helplessness. As her arms wound around his neck, she tried to clear her head while at the same time trying to keep Lotor's encroaching hands at bay.
...Augh! How the hell am I going to get away now?! If Lotor has his way, I'll probably be chained to his bed in a bikini for the rest of my natural life! I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do, but whatever it is, I'm going to have to do it, and soon!..., she thought wildly.
Out of desperation, Allura's eyes frantically darted around for something, anything in her room that might be able to help her. Sure, Lotor was good and all, but still... everything does have its limits. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something that was tantalizingly close, something that she had forgotten about until now.
...The alarm button!!...
Allura, for the first time, felt that there was some hope that she might be able to escape. After quickly devising a makeshift plan, she returned her attention back to Lotor, who, to her relief, remained blissfully ignorant of what had just occurred.
Opposites Attract,
Lotor became immediately aware of the new change in Allura. She was now kissing him urgently, her hands buried into his long mane and her body pressing into his desperately.
...Now that's what I'm talkin' about!... It's about damn time that she changed her mind!!..., he thought with amazement.
Much to Allura's consternation, he responded even more enthusiastically towards her new change in attitude; he was all over her. She did have to admit that she was enjoying herself, though. For some obscure reason, a fleeting image of Nanny walking into her room right at that moment and fainting raced through her mind. Allura would have laughed at it, had she been able to.
...Okay, Ally... You can do this... Pay attention... Don't let things get too far... Gotta time this just right...
While she was passionately kissing him, one of her hands quietly migrated down from his neck and to the wall, where she began to discreetly feel around for the alarm button. Luckily, she received no interference on Lotor's part; he was too absorbed into what he was doing to notice anything.
...Almost got it... Almost there... GOT IT!!...
Wasting no time, Allura slammed her fist down on the button. When the first sound of the klaxons filled the castle, Lotor's eyes snapped open and his grip on her tightened instantly.
"I can't believe that you just did that!" he snarled at her, his eyes narrowing.
Trying like mad to wrench herself out of his grip, Allura managed to sputter out, "What did you expect me to do? Invite you to take a shower with me?!"
Glaring at her, he only ground out, "You're coming with me."
Allura's struggles against him renewed.
"No! No way, Lotor! Let me go!!"
She tried to slap him again, but he simply grabbed her hand before she could try anything. For a moment, an infuriating smirk rested on his face.
"Caught you that time! Nice try, though."
With that, he threw her over his shoulder (kicking and screaming, of course) and quickly proceeded towards her window. Right before he could get there, though, the unmistakable voice of Keith wafted through her bedroom door.
"Princess, are you alright?! What's going on in there?!" he yelled while pounding on her door.
"Va'ashta!!" Lotor immediately swore in Drule, "Not him again!!"
"Keith!! In here! Hurry, it's Lotor!" Allura screamed as loud as she could, "He's trying to kidnap me... again!!"
Not wanting to leave her behind again, Lotor hurriedly put his free hand on the window frame and prepared to step out, but right at that moment, the bedroom door slid open, revealing the rest of the Voltron Force armed with laser rifles aimed right at him.
"Put her down, Lotor!" Keith yelled warningly, cocking his rifle, "We know that you came here without any reinforcements, so if you even remotely value what's left of your worthless life, I strongly suggest that you do as we say!"
After swearing a few more colorful words under his breath, Lotor put his hand close to the hilt of his sword.
"Come any closer and (Ow!) you will be (Ow!) short one pilot for (Oww!!) Voltron (Will you stop that?!)!" Lotor growled menacingly while trying to endure the renewed efforts of Allura pounding on his back with her fists.
"Ha! And maybe Pidge will grow three more feet by next week!" Lance laughed somewhere from behind Keith, "That has got to be one of the lamest bluffs you've ever come up with, Lotor!"
A whiney "Hey!" from Pidge drifted up from behind everyone else.
"Shut up, Lance!" Keith muttered peevishly before he refocused his attentions back on Lotor, "We're not falling for it! Either let her go and leave, or die; it's that simple!"
Lotor's face contorted with fury and annoyance; Allura was still pounding away at his back like no tomorrow, and every time that he came even remotely close to grabbing her, those... idiots always had to come barging in at the last moment to stop him! It wasn't fair!
And why didn't he just grab her when she first walked out of her bathroom? He always made the same mistake of staying too long! And now, the fact that he was outnumbered and that they had long-range weapons while he only had a stupid lazon sword diminished the odds that he would walk out of here with Allura greatly.
...I can't believe that I'm actually going to do this!...
With a feral snarl, he put Allura down and pushed her towards them.
"Fine! Take her!
...There's always next time, I guess...
As Allura stumbled towards Keith, she heard Lotor go into his infamous Speech that he always made before attempting a dramatic exit.
"You may have won this time, but I will have the final victory!" he declared arrogantly before sending a quick smirk towards her, "And as for you, Allura, you can be sure that I'll be back for you."
Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "Yes, I know, Lotor. You always say that..."
Lotor then quickly launched himself out of her window. For a brief moment, it looked like he was going to kill himself, but then Allura saw otherwise.
...So that's how that asshole got into my room!!...
His one-man fighter had been on autopilot, and it was hovering just below her window. How it managed to stay there that long, she had no idea, but she could guess that there was probably some sort of cloaking device on it. As his ship began to swiftly rise out of Arusian atmosphere, Allura felt relieved with a twinge of disappointment mixed in.
"Uh... Why did we let him get away, Keith?" Hunk asked slowly.
"I don't know, Hunk...," Keith trailed off mysteriously, "I just don't know..."
Fairly soon, there was a flurry of activity within Allura's room. Guards were searching every inch of her room for what, she had no idea, while Coran paced around nervously. Nanny, meanwhile, was sobbing like crazy over how her "beby" had nearly been violated. The guys were leaning against the wall and taking turns inhaling chips from a bag. Allura tired of it all very quickly.
"I'm really tired right now, so can everyone please, um, get out of my room?"
Standing straight up, an anonymous guard bowed politely and quickly said, "I'm afraid that we can't do that, Your Highness. It is still unsafe in here; Prince Lotor might try and return."
Allura looked down on her watch and read 2:45 AM.
...He can't be serious!...
Rolling her eyes again, she mumbled, "Fine, whatever. Do what you want. I'm getting some sleep."
After grabbing a nightgown, a blanket, and a pillow and ignoring Nanny's wailing, she exited her room and slowly made her way towards Castle Control to find a couch to sleep on.
...There's absolutely no end to it all!!..., she thought incredulously as she kicked about five space mice out of the way on her way down.
Opposites Attract, Ch. 6
As Lotor left the atmosphere of Planet Arus, he felt like banging his head over and over against his ship's control panel. He had acted like a complete and utter fool! Not only did he fall for Allura's little trick, he also failed to return back to Doom with her, again. And this was what, his 748th attempt to capture her? How many more times would he have to try before he finally had her? A thousand?!
"And 'You may have won this time, but I will have the final victory'?! What the hell was I thinking?!" Lotor exclaimed in disgust.
Shaking his head in disbelief, his thoughts temporarily shifted to the ever-stoic commander of the Voltron Force.
...The next time that I see that bastard, I'm going to wring his neck like a rag..., Lotor thought with uncontained malice while he slammed his fist into the control panel.
He immediately wished that he hadn't. Pain ebbed throughout his hand as he bit his lip to keep from swearing. After several agonizing minutes, the pain slowly started to fade away. While nursing his hurt fist, Lotor tried to contemplate a possible solution to his dilemma.
Fortunately, his father would not hear about this. The last thing Lotor wanted to endure right now was a verbal beating on his pride while in a groveling position at the foot of his father's throne. He had come here on his own, and it wasn't until he saw Allura waltz out of her bathroom, looking absolutely delectable, as usual (but more so tonight), that he actually decided to try and take her. But, as usual, an obnoxious plot hole in the form of the rest of the Voltron Force thwarted his plans.
Sighing in frustration, Lotor tried to recount the myriad ways he had tried to obtain Allura. Maybe there was one he hadn't attempted yet... So far, he had tried everything from seducing her, persuading her, trapping her, tempting her with either himself and/or peace offers, using her people and planet as a leverage to insure her cooperation with him to even faking her own death. Now that he thought about it, he often used a combination of all of the above-mentioned methods whenever he managed to corner her. Well, minus the "faking-her-death" part, at least. He only did that once. Absolutely nothing seemed to work!
His determination and stubbornness often got the better of him, though. Whenever he hassled Allura to marry him, however much that she denied it, he could feel a small part of her give into him every time. If this continued to be a growing trend, she would inevitably give herself up to him. At least he hoped.
...Maybe Haggar could do something... She screws up a lot, but she might have something good this time...
The matter momentarily settled, Lotor put his ship on autopilot and tried to fall asleep; it was going to be a while before he landed on Doom.
Yes, Haggar would definitely be hearing from him when he got back...
Allura slept fitfully that night. She could still hear everyone tramping around in her room, and thoughts of Lotor's late-night visit constantly persisted in her mind. His ominous last words echoed around in her brain.
...I'll be back for you...
Although Lotor said that every time he got beaten or caught, for some reason tonight, it stuck. Allura didn't doubt for a moment that he would be back (his perseverance was one of his endearing, if only obnoxious, qualities), but he sounded like he already had a plan, which just might stand a chance of working, for the next time he decided to pay her a quick visit. The only trouble was, she had no idea what he might do. But then again, he might not have something planned... It might just be her paranoia acting up.
With a sleepy yawn, Allura turned over onto her stomach in an attempt to get comfortable. Lotor... where to begin with him... It was amazing to think how someone like him could have ever been spawned by somebody like Zarkon. Although she would never admit it to anyone, she actually thought that Lotor would be a half-way decent catch, if it wasn't for his penchant for torching planets and interpreting "No" as "Ask me again", "Not in a million years!" as "Yes", and "Put me down!" as "Take me, I'm yours!".
And the fact that he knew she was attracted to him didn't help things much, either. It only succeeded in refueling his determination to marry her, and his already-enormous ego was probably inflated to the size of a large galaxy. It actually was flattering, in a sense, and he was nice enough, in a psychotic sort of way, but knowing that Zarkon would be her father-in-law if she married Lotor was just a tad creepy.
Eventually, the noises in her room went away; everyone was probably going back to bed. Raising her head up to look at a clock, Allura groaned and collapsed in a heap when she saw that it was five in the morning.
...Ugh, Nanny will probably be up in a couple of hours to clean...
Burying her head under her pillow, Allura screwed her eyes shut and tried to go to sleep one more time.
Well, she would have to take extra care in her watch out for Lotor. If he could get into her room, he could probably get in anywhere!
...Thanks to that jerk, I probably won't even know the meaning of privacy soon!...
Whatever it was that Lotor had planned, she would try and be prepared for it. With that in mind, Allura finally began to slowly drift to sleep.
Opposites Attract, Ch. 7
Haggar was in the middle of creating yet another robeast deep within the bowels of her laboratory when Lotor stomped in unannounced.
"Haggar!!" he thundered loudly, "Where are you, witch?!"
Startled, she accidentally dropped and shattered a vial she had been working with, its cloudy contents now pooling at her feet. Steadying herself up with her staff, she glared at Lotor's offending presence in fury.
"Do you have any idea how many hours of work you have just destroyed?! I didn't even have a chance to write that formula down yet!" Haggar yelled in annoyance.
Acting as if he hadn't even heard her, Lotor only said, a bit more calmly this time, "Oh, there you are..."
Sighing in disgust, Haggar retrieved a broom from somewhere and began to clean up the broken glass.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" she muttered, still sweeping.
"Do you know how many times I've tried to get at Allura?" Lotor asked rhetorically while he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed.
With a snort of laughter, Haggar paused in mid-sweep.
"Please! That's just the same as trying to guess how many years your father has been alive. Anyway, I don't know what you see in that girl."
Shrugging his shoulders helplessly, he simply replied, "Well, it's hard to explain... there's a little bit of the 'thrill-of-the-chase' thing in there, and then there's the whole 'forbidden-fruit' angle, too. There has not been a single person I have come across who has been able to resist me as long as she has... I would normally never ask you this, but haven't you ever been in love before?"
Haggar paused for a moment, a daydream of Zarkon seductively stretched out like a cat in a bed of rose petals (ala "American Beauty") flitting through her mind. After shaking her head to temporarily clear it of that blessed fantasy, she found Lotor staring at her strangely.
"Well?..."
"Nope. Never in my life. I have no idea what you're talking about," she stated quickly while putting the broom away, "What does this have to do with you being here, anyway?"
"I'm getting there, witch!" he snarled impatiently, beginning to pace, "I have tried every conceivable way to capture Allura, but nothing works! Every time that I manage to get her alone, those damn pilots always show up!"
"Don't come whining to me, Lotor, over a mistake that you have made," Haggar informed him shrewdly, "You could have returned with her this time, if, for once, you actually thought with your head, instead of your-"
"Watch it!" Lotor said sharply, "I am fully aware of the fact that I stay too long most of the time! That's only because I don't wish to harm her, and I want her here willingly."
"Or maybe you're just stupid..."
Ignoring her comment, and with that insidious smirk that always made her uneasy, he added, "And that's where you come in, Haggar. I am finally going to have her, and you are going to help me."
Snorting again, she scoffed, "I have helped you on numerous occasions, and you have failed miserably almost every time. What makes you think that I'd help you again?"
"My marriage to Allura would benefit the Empire greatly; like you said before, four Lions do not make Voltron possible," Lotor continued smoothly, "And if I succeed, Voltron will fall. If my father hears that it was your doing, I imagine that you will be greatly redeemed in his eyes; I heard that he was thinking of replacing you with Merla. You do know that he regards you about as highly as he does me, right?"
"Fine!" she spat, shooting him a poisoned look, "Anything to get rid of you! What do you want?!"
Smiling again, he stopped pacing and replied, "I'm so glad that you decided to cooperate, witch! I would've hated to resort to blackmail."
...Stupid, little brat!!...
"As long as it stops your bitching, I'm willing to try it," Haggar sighed with irritation, "Now answer my question! What do you want?!"
"Anything," Lotor answered shortly, "Anything that will take away her fear and make her mine."
"Well, you do know that you could do that yourself," she offered somewhat helpfully, "If you were half-way civil to her and not always trying to get down in her dress, she'd probably be more likely to give you the time of day."
"If I wanted your opinion, witch, I would've asked for it!" he snapped, crossing his arms again, "Now, do you have something that could help me, or not?!"
"Fine, fine... Hold on a second," she muttered, patting the sides of her robe down to see if anything was inside.
After a few moments of rummaging through the pockets of her robe, Haggar finally emerged with what looked like a small, red box.
"What the hell is that?" Lotor asked curiously, bending over slightly to inspect it.
"It holds a substance that I've been working on for a while," Haggar explained, popping open the lid to the box to reveal a white powder, as fine as sand, "It's intent is to bring up the dominant emotion of whoever breathes it in and then invoke that emotion's opposite. What's neat about the powder is that it's selective in which emotion it invokes; it only seeks out what the recipient feels about whoever induces it into their system. In your case, since Allura's fear overrides her attraction to you, it would banish that fear. That's basically all that you need to know about it."
"Okay...," he said carefully, "So if what you're saying is right, I have a one hundred percent chance of getting Allura when I use this?"
"Yes," she answered casually before closing the box and tossing it to Lotor, "I originally intended this for your fath- I mean, it's only a prototype; I'm still working on the formula, but it should work."
Feeling a shudder travel down his spine from Haggar's suppressed comment, he caught the box reflexively.
"If you say so, witch... It better work."
"Oh, it will, don't worry," she replied nonchalantly as her cat jumped up into her arms.
Lotor quickly pocketed the box and then began to stride towards the lab's doorway. Watching him leave, Haggar was still stroking her familiar's head when she all of a sudden remembered the really important thing about the powder that she forgot to tell him about.
"Lotor! I forgot to tell you something about that stuff!" she yelled after him, "It hasn't been tested very much, so-"
Waving her words away as if they were unimportant, he yelled back, "I'll manage, witch! I'll manage."
...Don't say that I didn't warn you, boy...
When his form finally disappeared entirely from her laboratory, she cackled to herself and released the cat onto the floor.
...I can't wait for that idiot to come back here... just to see what goes wrong!...
Opposites Attract, Ch. 8
"Preencess."
Allura barely stirred.
"Oh, Preencess..."
This time, Nanny gently tapped her on the shoulder. The only results that she managed to get out of Allura was a loud, princessly snore. Nanny then latched onto her shoulders and violently shook her awake.
"Preencess! VAKE AHP!!"
"Wha-a-a-a-a-t?" Allura sputtered out tiredly as her eyes finally flew open.
Once she saw that she was awake, Nanny apologetically released her out of her vise-like grip.
"Oh, guut! Hyuu are avake! Vaht hyuu are doink sleepink down een here ees beyohnd me, baht hyuu mahst get dressed right avay," Nanny replied briskly as she began to gather up some random, dirty sheets, "Zere veel be a veeseetor here to zee hyuu shortly."
Mumbling incoherently to herself while at the same time rubbing her internally bruised shoulders, Allura attempted to kick off her blanket, but instead gracefully rolled off of the couch and squashed her face on the ground in the process. Spending a moment growling into the floor, she finally somehow got to her feet and began to stumble towards her bedroom, her blanket dragging behind her.
"Before hyuu goh, Preencess," Nanny casually mentioned while in the middle of her laundry-gathering, "Vould hyuu like to tell me vhy zese vere found in hyoor room last night?"
And with that, she brandished and waved in the air accusingly a handful of skimpy bras that she had withdrawn from the ample folds of her apron. Allura's eyes snapped open and grew as wide as saucers at this.
...Oh, crap!! She found my stash!...
Backing slowly away from the behemoth that was her governess, all that she managed to stutter out was, "I-I have no... idea, N-Nanny... They must be... Keit-no... Romelle's, yeah! There, uh, Romelle's! She must have, um, left them here, heh-heh... heh..."
"Zat dahs eet!" Nanny exclaimed, dropping her handful of sheets and advancing on her, "Noh beby ov mine vears zese kind ov... ov... tasteleess feelth! Hyuu cahm here unt explain hyoorself zese eenstant!"
For the first time in her life (well, that she could remember, at least), Allura gathered up the flowing folds of her billowing nightgown and darted away from Nanny and down the hallway, leaving her far behind in her wake.
"Preencess!! Zese ees noh vay to behaffe! Ztop, right now!" Nanny's calls echoed uselessly from behind Allura.
Pretending like she didn't hear her, Allura continued running until she went around a corner, where she accidentally collided into Lance.
"Oof!" he wheezed as he fell down to the floor, dragging her down with him.
"Oops, sorry, Lance! Are you okay?" Allura contritely asked, immediately getting up off of him.
Rubbing the back of his head as he shakily stood up, Lance winced and moaned, "I will be, no thanks to you... No offense, Princess, but you need to carry a warning sign around with you, or something. Why are you in such a hurry?"
Quickly explaining Nanny's discovery of her stashed lingerie collection, Allura became slightly annoyed afterwards when a smirk resembling Lotor's a little too much for her liking twitched across Lance's lips.
"Ah, I believe I know what you are speaking of... You know, I never would've figured you as the type of person who would wear those kinds of things, Princess. Now I think I know why Lotor busted into your room... Well, that and the towel... thing...," Lance grinned wolfishly, but after noticing her glowering scowl, he sobered his tone down a bit, "But, never fear! Believe it or not, I went through the same exact thing you're going through right now when Nanny found my... ah, magazines under my bed... So, I know a hiding place where she'll never find you!"
"Well, hurry up and take me there!" Allura shouted hysterically; in the background, Nanny's footsteps were coming closer towards them.
Shrugging his shoulders, he yanked her arm and dragged her towards his room, and none too soon; right when his bedroom door slid shut, Nanny had just thundered around the corner where they had been.
"You call this a hiding place?!" Allura exclaimed incredulously from underneath his bed, "I'm practically swimming in dust!"
Lying on top of his bed with a book, Lance replied in a laidback manner, "Relax, it worked for me! It was the last place that Nanny would expect for me to hide, so it should do the same for you."
"If you say so," she muttered.
All of a sudden, there was a knock at Lance's door.
"Helloh? Ees anyvone een here?" Nanny called from the other side.
"Shut up now!" he quickly hissed at Allura, "She's right here! Just be quiet, and she'll go away soon!"
Right at that moment, his door slid open, admitting Nanny in.
"I zought I hyeard zomevone else een here...," she trailed off suspiciously.
"Nope, it's just me," Lance said smoothly while turning over his book to see what the title was, "Just me and a good, old copy of... 'Chicken Soup For The Soul'?!"
Standing there for a moment, Nanny finally said, "Oh, okay... Vell, sorry."
"Not a problem, Nanny... Just, be quiet on your way out," he dismissed her with an errant wave of his hand, pretending to be absorbed into what he was 'reading'.
Just as she was about to exit the room, a small sneeze leaked out from underneath Lance's bed. This, of course, did not escape her keen hearing.
"Ah, ha! I knew eet!" Nanny crowed triumphantly, "Zaht preencess can't get avay frahm me!"
"Oops..." Lance muttered while he smacked himself in the face with his book.
"Damn straight!" came Allura's muffled yell.
Wasting no time, Nanny practically bowled over Lance in her attempt to force the princess out from under the bed.
"Sorry, Princess...," Lance said apologetically.
As Nanny dragged her out of the room by her feet with her nails scratching across the floor, Allura glared up at him and ground out, "Thanks for nothing, Lance!"
Shrugging his shoulders helplessly and sticking his hands into his pockets, he almost smiled as he replied, "Well, what do you want me to do about it?"
Opposites Attract, Ch. 9
About 15 minutes later, Allura was soon deposited back inside of her room. After being berated for acting in such an unladylike manner, her lingerie collection was unceremoniously cremated (she did manage to salvage her lucky bra, though) within a bonfire on her balcony. Now thumbing through her closet, Nanny was apparently looking for something.
"Zuch nonsense," she clucked in a motherly fashion, "Hyuu almohst vould have been late for hyoor veeseetor! Now put zese on."
She then threw a gown of some sorts towards Allura. It appeared to be the more ornate version of her usual (blegh) pink staple.
Holding the dress distastefully up against her body, Allura wrinkled her nose and asked, somewhat curiously, "What's the occasion?"
"Oh, I almohst forgaht to mention... Hyuu'll never gyess who ees cahmink to zee hyuu..."
...Not another one of her stupid princes..., Allura thought with exasperation, rolling her eyes.
"Eet's a PREENCE!" Nanny cried happily, her eyes taking on a starry, romantic glow, "Unt not jahst any preence, eizzer! He's ze preence ov... ov... planeet Mahkraia... I zink. He cahms frahm very far avay... He's frahm ze Andara Galaxy, I believe."
"The what Galaxy? I've never even heard of it," Allura pondered for a moment while looking at her quizzically.
"Vell, zat dahsn't matter. Vaht matters ees zat you put on zese gown," Nanny resumed, her voice taking on its usual brisk, business-like manner.
"Alright, alright. Just keep your apron on," Allura muttered sourly, preparing to step foot into the frothing mass of pinkness.
After a few moments of struggling and kicking, Allura finally had most of the dress on.
"So, what's this guy like, anywa--?!" Allura mentioned casually before Nanny took it upon herself to tighten the bodice of her dress a tad too much, leaving her lungs strangely deprived of oxygen.
"Oh, he's very charmink unt handsome," Nanny reassured her, "You veel like heem."
"You (Gasp!)... say that about all of (Gasp!)... them," Allura wheezed, her lungs heaving for air.
"Vell, eet's guut to haff a poseeteeve outlook on zese kind of zings," she said while she finished putting the final touches on Allura's dress and hair, "Zere! All dahn!"
Nanny then whirled her around, admiring her handiwork. While she was being spun around, Allura managed to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror and blanched. To her horror, she discovered that she looked like an old Barbie doll from planet Earth.
Skillfully concealing her disgust, she clenched her teeth and forced herself to smile, carefully selecting words that wouldn't set off Nanny's volatile temper.
"Thank you ever so much, Nanny..."
"Ah, no prohbleem," she held up her hand modestly, "Now, cahm viz me!"
Latching onto her arm, Nanny proceeded to drag Allura, now shorn of dignity, towards the direction of the awaiting prince.
When Allura finally got down to waiting room, the man whom she supposed was the prince looked up at her and stood up, smiling amiably. Quickly tempering her facial expression to match that of a cool aloofness, she warily surveyed him.
He appeared to be in his early twenties. He was also tall, although not as tall as Lotor was, but he was still fairly tall. His dark hair was almost as long as Lotor's own mane. He was slightly less muscular than Lotor was, but not by a whole lot. What she most noticed about him, though, were his laughing crimson, almost reptilian, eyes, but they weren't as near as intriguing as Lotor's eyes. Overall, he was fairly attractive, but not as much as Lotor was.
...Damn it! Why am I even comparing this prince to Lotor?!..., Allura cursed herself.
He seemed to be friendly enough, but still... she had had too much experience with princes who were unable to see anything past their own reflections to be sure. Allura's thoughts were soon interrupted by the prince looking at her expectantly.
"Hmmm? Oh, where was I?" Allura asked, sounding as if she was just lost in a fog, "Oh, please excuse me! Hello, my name is-"
"There's no need to tell me your name, Your Majesty," the prince chuckled lowly while in mid-bow, "I don't believe that there's a soul in the universe who doesn't know of you. But please let me introduce myself- my name is Damien Mandava, and I am the ruler of planet Makraia in the Andara Galaxy."
Dropping a hasty curtsy, she managed to smile and reply, "I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Prince... ah, Damien. I must admit that I am not familiar with the name or location of your home world, however."
"That's quite alright, Your Majesty. The number of people who know of the whereabouts of even the Andara Galaxy are few, I fear. My planet is quite... distant," the prince laughed ruefully, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
Finding herself loosening up, Allura began to laugh, despite herself.
Seeing that he was scoring some brownie points with her, Prince Damien continued on.
"Even though Makraia is far away, it resembles your planet quite a bit. But both my people and I have to regularly defend it from the forces of our enemies, and I'm afraid that we won't last much longer against them. The tales of how you have vanquished your enemies have traveled all the way to our galaxy, and when I heard of both them and you... well, I am willing to try anything for my people. I apologize for my abruptness, but I have traveled here to ask for your hand in marriage in order to establish an alliance between your planet and my own; my people are dying."
Allura's interest in the prince piqued. Although she obviously didn't know that much about him to make any sudden decisions, he was probably the first prince that she had ever encountered who was that down-to-earth and cared about his people, as well. Prince Damien's plight also bore an eerie resemblance to her own.
As he awaited her answer, the prince appeared apprehensive.
Carefully going over what she would say, she smiled once more before replying, "I am not going to make any decisions right away, but I will be glad to lend you any assistance that you might need in fighting this enemy of yours. In the meantime, please feel free to stay on planet Arus as long as you wish to rest."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Prince Damien flashed a brilliant smile towards her.
"Oh, thank you so much, Your Highness! My people and I are forever in your de- Wait a minute, did you say planet Arus?"
Looking puzzled, Allura nodded.
"Um... yes... What's wrong?"
"You mean that this isn't planet Ayus?!" the prince asked incredulously, his scarlet eyes widened in genuine confusion, "If this isn't Ayus, then your name probably isn't Princess Megalla, is it?"
Even more confused by now, Allura said, "No, my name is Princess Allura."
"What?! Did you just say 'Princess Allura'?!" inquired Prince Damien fearfully, his tone rising curiously in pitch, "Are you saying that you are the Princess Allura?!"
"Yes, but what's the problem?" Allura asked, her voice beginning to edge with annoyance at the prince's odd behavior.
Beginning to hyperventilate, he paced frantically back and forth.
"Oh, shit! I can't believe that I just asked Prince Lotor's fiancée to marry me! Never mind that I was under the impression that you were somebody else, but I am dead. I am so dead! I may come from a backwater planet, but we're not that backwater! Everybody has heard of him!!"
Now, although Allura had a fairly reasonable temper, she was soon seeing red. While Prince Damien was still pacing back and forth, her shaking hands were curled into fists and she was furiously grinding her teeth.
...I can't believe that that bastard actually had the audacity to call me his fiancée!!..., Allura thought with unmatched ferocity, ...He's spreading lies about me! I could just snap his neck and... AUGH!!...
Bringing her attentions back to the frantic prince, she tried to calm both herself and him down.
"Listen, I know that you thought I was somebody else, but this whole thing is just one really big misunderstanding," Allura explained, touching him on the arm.
Recoiling as if he had just been touched by a poisonous snake, Prince Damien sputtered out, "I'll say! Man, oh, man, I am so DEAD! Look, you never saw me, you never touched me, you've never even heard of me, okay?!"
Allura closed her eyes and resisted the urge to yell at him, but when she opened them up again, he was already gone.
"LOTOR!!" she screamed, her fury knowing no boundaries, "THIS IS THE LAST TIME THAT YOU SCREW ME OVER!!"
Opposites Attract, Ch. 10
Allura yawned sleepily as she surveyed the metallic interior of Blue Lion.
...It's too damn early for this...
As of late, Keith had been demanding that they have their usual practice flights in the Lions earlier and earlier than ever; by now, he had managed to work his way up to 4:30 in the morning. Why he insisted on having them fly their Lions at such ungodly hours, no one really knew... except for himself, of course. She would definitely be having a word with him about it later on, though...
The cold from the early morning and the Lion's interior permeated the thin material of Allura's uniform, causing her to shiver. Oh, the days where she was able to sleep in until noon... now seemed like a thing of the distant past... Gnashing her teeth in frustration, she strapped herself into her seat and flipped on her comm to check in with everyone else.
"Princess, are you in yet?" Keith's voice asked perkily.
"Yes, no thanks to you!" snarled Allura, taking a quick swig of some coffee.
"Well, someone's certainly not a morning person!" Keith sniffed huffily.
...No shit, Sherlock!..., she thought sourly.
"Well, anyway... Lance, you in yet?"
There was a silent pause for a moment, but then Allura covered her mouth to keep from laughing as a muttered stream of obscenities came floating through her comm.
"Damn it!! It's not fair! Why?! Why me? I could just kick his ass and... and - oh, fudge... Ummm, yeah, I'm here, Keith..."
"Great! Hunk, check in."
A loud, gargantuan snore immediately resonated through everyone's comm, rupturing a few eardrums in the process.
A bit discombobulated, Keith cleared out his ears before saying, "O-kay, Hunk's... here. What about you, Pidge?"
"Yes... I'm... (Yawn!)... here... Keith... (Must... put down... gun...)," sighed Pidge, trying not to sound too excited.
"Alrighty then!" Keith cried happily, almost on the verge of giggling, "Let's go, team!!"
With some more muted grumbling in the background, and after Hunk was finally prodded awake, everyone reluctantly complied with Keith's far too perky, sunshiney request.
Pausing to activate a few switches, Allura soon felt the familiar inner mecha of her Lion hum to life.
"Well, here goes nothing," she muttered, right before activating one last switch.
With a tremendous rush of speed, Blue Lion launched itself out of the depths, and, after acquiring significant momentum, shot out of the castle lake with a monumental spray of water. Allura quickly entered in the coordinates of the location of the Valley of Zohar onboard her system's computer as the Lion swiftly gained altitude. After some distance, she allowed herself to relax somewhat as she barely made out the silhouettes of the other Lions against the dimly-lit Arusian horizon.
She really did enjoy flying Blue Lion, for a multitude of reasons, actually, but this was just too much; the moon was still up, for crying out loud!
Sighing again, Allura slowed the Lion down to a stop, but kept it levitating, as she neared the Valley. The other Lions arrived there at about the same time as she did.
Keith's staticky voice soon broke the deafening silence.
"Okay, team!! Is everyone here?"
"Crimony, what do you think?! Oh, um... yes."
"Yup."
"Uh, huh."
"Yeah..."
"Great!" Keith exclaimed, savoring his power fix as his voice took on the tone of 'I am the supreme Commander! Hahahaha! Worship me!', "Everyone, in formation for flight pattern 'Alpha'!"
Smothering another yawn, Allura effortlessly piloted her Lion into formation, with Yellow Lion beside her, Red and Green Lion ahead of her, and, of course, Black Lion taking on the lead. Afterwards, Keith made them do nothing but "different" flight patterns for another hour, so Allura gradually tuned out his monotonous ranting as her thoughts began to wander again.
It had been about a week or so since her encounter with the cowardly Prince Damien; when Nanny had inquired about the whereabouts of him, all that Allura had said was that he hadn't been quite what she was looking for.
...And that's understating it...
What was surprising, though, was that she hadn't had another encounter with Lotor yet. She was still furious at him for calling her "his" fiancée, but his ominous-sounding last words had heightened her paranoia somewhat, even up to the point of her expecting him to pop up someplace really unexpected, like her fridge or closet. No doubt, though, that, buried someplace in Lotor's little black book, those very suggestions were probably written under something like "Fun, New Places to Stalk Allura".
...The next time he decides to run into me, I am so going to kick his butt..., Allura thought with righteous ire.
"Princess? He-llo, anyone home?" Keith asked, slightly miffed, through her comm, shattering her contemplations, "We're done practicing flight patterns."
"Oh, that's, um, great, Keith," Allura answered, trying to hide her blatantly obvious boredom, "What now?"
"You are to engage in mock combat with me," replied Keith, having a hard time concealing the superiority lacing his voice, as well, "You could use a little practice, you know..."
With a sadistic smile that would've done Lotor proud, she luxuriously purred, "With pleasure..."
...Prepare to have your ego punctured, little man...
After hitting a few random buttons, Allura watched with a crooked grin as a large, vicious-looking laser knife materialized out of thin air in her Lion's mouth. She liked Keith, she really did; not only was he her planet's protector, he was also her friend, but he needed to be taught a lesson.
...Nobody takes away my sleep and gets away with it!!...
As she predatorily leapt in the air towards Keith's awaiting Lion, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge gleefully followed to watch the "carnage" that would soon ensue.
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