Status Quo
Chapter Twenty-Four: Voltron vs. the Hydra
by Kyence
Disclaimer: All Voltron characters are property of World Events Productions.
‘’ denote character thoughts.
"Activate Interlocks, Dynatherms connected, Infracells up, Megathrusters are GO!"
"Let's go, Voltron Force!"
Indeed, the reunion of Hunk with the rest of the team meant that it was now finally possible to form Voltron. Keith checked the systems needed for the process by rote, as did the reciprocating others. They had a since fallen into that familiar positioning. An electrical field surrounded the five lions at this time, protecting them during this merging process that was also their most vulnerable state, since they could not attack nor abort the formation once it began. 'I always wonder if Alfor was aware of that and added the electrical field, or was it always there?' Keith thought as the Black Lion assumed the semblance of Voltron's torso as its compartments straightened and the legs folded into compartments, hidden from view.
"Form feet and legs!" The heads of Blue Lion and Yellow Lion pivoted, creating a facsimile of feet and ankles; the perpendicular bodies now served as legs, as their own folded away to prevent obstruction. Even Yellow Lion's damaged leg followed the procedure. Hunk sighed with relief that the upper half of that leg was still controllable.
"Form arms and body!" Red Lion and Green Lion were now ready to make contact with Black Lion's arm sockets, making the connection in a simultaneous move with the Yellow and Blue Lion engulfing Black Lion's feet.
"And I'll form the head!" Keith exclaimed in the same pitch he always used for this line, one enthusiastic to deliver justice and punish the evil that they always bested. Black Lion's jaws parted, and the noble robotic face of Voltron was visible to all. Surges of electrical power pulsed around the formed marvel as the pilots tested each of the joined Lion's roaring capabilities, a good indicator that the transformation was successful. No matter how many times it was done or seen, it was awe-inspiring.
"I don't get it," Jepaya grumbled in her native tongue as she watched from the Dhm throne room's screen. "Why the degraded Felinis motif?" She turned to Shai. "Great Meteriarch, these creatures have made a comical abomination of your father's race, am I correct?"
"It would appear so," Shai confirmed, her brows bent in angry angles. "Although I think it was more of a primitive form of invocation that humans are prone to using."
Reyk nodded. "Yes, their ancestors had thought that by drawing or assuming forms like the animals they witnessed in their world, they could obtain some of it for themselves."
Shai frowned at the word 'animal'. Reyk quickly replied, "It sounds harsh, but anything not human and able to move on Earth was dubbed an animal."
Zarkon smirked as he replied, "Supremacy of one race…now where have I heard that one before? Well, at least Earth is still habitable; the Drules cannot even say that about their own dust ball of a planet. So, is the Hydra going to fight Voltron, or am I just going to watch it rust? Oh, wait…there comes the infamous Blazing Sword…" he groaned as the familiar blade that has cost his treasury billions generated, ready for implementation.
"What's wrong, little male, nervous about the big battle?" Jepaya teased him.
"Little?" Zarkon shot back as they quarreled in Sapientydan. "I am as big as you. Or did you forget that when Lotor kicked you in the head?" Jepaya grit her teeth and clenched her fist. Seeing that his quip worked, he added, "That's what eye-level generally means. You better write that down, so you don't forget. Here, since I'm a bonafide Translator, I'll even write it for you phonetically."
'I want to punch him. I want to punch him!' She thought over and over. She turned away, knowing that in another second she would be making a fool of herself. 'However, if I manage to beat him into a bloody pulp, it may well be worth the embarrassment.'
Shai put a mollifying hand on Jepaya. "It is best to remain calm now. The battle just got interesting," she announced as she gestured to the screen. Zarkon looked, and felt his second heart drop into the pit of his first stomach. The Hydra had been decapitated, and the head was flying away.
"Interesting, Shai? Is that your euphemism for losing?!"
"Relax, Zarkon, "Reyk crooned. "Because of all of the busy work you've been doing, we kept you out of the loop on some of this robeast's specifications. It was designed to nullify Blazing Sword's attack."
Zarkon looked dully at him. "A flying brain case is nullifying Blazing Sword?"
"That simply initiates the specialty."
Zarkon rubbed his right temple as he surveyed the so-called specialty.
"Yay! We did it!" Pidge shouted.
"I think that's an all-time record for us," Lance boasted.
"Great! Now, let's get back to Arus, guys," Hunk added anxiously. Keith nodded. Once Hunk had rejoined, he had frantically told the whole sad story about Ana's fight with Hagar, courtesy of Saoche's bending of the truth. And Saoche was exonerated once Allura mentioned that she was responsible for her escape as well.
"Look, let's crush these bastards while they're still weak, Keith!" Lance shouted. "If we go back to Arus, we'll have do deal with the Dhm fiasco all over again. All those people we helped free some slavery, all of the lives sacrificed, all of the planets destroyed, will have been for nothing!" The veins in his forehead were bulging, pulsing against the lined interior of his helmet.
"Sorry, Lance, but Voltron ain't a panacea this time," Saoche gloomily informed. "The reason why there aren't that many ships around here to fight is because they have all but secured Zarkon's former lands. Plus, they have Reyk, even if the Hydra is defeated, when it is defeated…"
Lance pounded the console. "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"
Allura sighed, sadness claiming her voice. "So we have to fight again…" She then noticed something cryptic about Saoche's words. "What did you mean by 'if' it is defeated?"
Keith answered with dark insight, "I think that is what she means. The Hydra is not destroyed. Look, team."
The headless body of the Hydra generated an identical head from the enzymatic compounds in the neck. Reformed, the Hydra grabbed its swooned detached appendage. Using its coils, it positioned it so that its base touched the neck. Trillions of bonds were created. The Hydra had two heads, and was now twice as dangerous.
"Holy…crap…" Lance whimpered dumbfounded.
"Holy…crap…" Zarkon whispered. A broad smile showed that his cynicism was utterly defeated by the prospect of true victory.
"That's my gramps, always eloquent," Arjuna joked. He gave Yudishthira a playful headlock. "I never had doubt in you, Yudy. Your ideas ALWAYS work."
"So, this was your doing, too?" Zarkon asked his eldest grandson. Yudishthira nodded. "I figured it was the only way to prevent Voltron from using its most powerful weapon. And if it does, it will make its defeat all the sooner. Of course, without the technological and magical expertise of your allies, this never would have been more than a thought." She bowed. "I will always do what is within my power to serve my people and my family."
"Here that, Lotor?" Zarkon mentioned to his son, who was eagerly observing the frantic and futile swinging of Voltron as more and more heads emerged on the Hydra. Zarkon noted the bloodlust on his face. He shook his head. "Never mind. It doesn't surprise me that you didn't," he muttered.
"The Hydra is up to ten heads! Think they figured out by now the Blazing Sword is useless against the Hydra?" Karna laughed as he pointed to the writhing mass of heads. "I bet if Voltron could cry, it would be blubbering like a human babe by now," Arjuna quipped.
"Okay, Lance, you can stop swinging now," Pidge scolded his partner.
"Most people would have stopped after two or three heads popped up," Saoche sneered. "But, that would have made it too easy, huh?"
"I was just making sure that the Blazing Sword couldn't destroy it!"
Voltron dodged 16 out of 20 laser eye beams. The other four caught Voltron right on the torso. The shock coursed through all five lions. Everyone, save for Sandestorme and Saoche, cried out in a horrifying chord of screams.
"In the words of a long bygone era…DUH!" Saoche shouted. "Now, there is a weakness to this stupid thing. Did anybody ever read Ancient Greek mythology here?"
"Why would want to read stories written by Geeks?" Lance posed, honestly misinterpreting the name of the ancient human civilization.
"Forget it. You'll hurt yourself," Saoche dismissed her question. "Well, the Hydra in Greek myth always grew two heads for every one head that was chopped off. It was defeated when a certain Greek hero-whose name I will leave out so as not to confuse anyone - had his nephew cauterize the necks. This prevented any more heads from spurting out. That's the essence of the tale. PLEASE tell me you can see the parallels in this one."
"When I escaped the Hydra after Lance shot his fire attack, it was weakened for the moment," Allura recalled. "But, Lance doesn't have enough energy in the Red Lion to do that again…"
"Red Lion doesn't…but Voltron does," Keith smiled. "Team, I have an idea, but it's risky. Everyone, get your oxygen masks on and turn the cooling systems on your suits to full blast." Everybody was too desperate to outwardly complain, even Lance, save for Saoche who snarled, "Oh no, don't ask if the bleeding snake or I need anything, we're fine."
"There's an extra suit in a compartment back there in the lower left," Hunk provided.
"You mean in this cabinet, behind all the junk food?" Saoche snickered, before she pulled it out.
"No…heat…me…best…" Sandestorme muttered out in labored English.
Saoche looked genuinely concerned. "Are you sure? I dunno…"
"Heat…affinity…me…high…help…live…"
"Okay, okay, but I'm still using the suit," Saoche agreed as she wrapped the leggings around herself like a shawl. "Okay, let's do this!!"
Keith began the commands to send all of the resources to generating heat in Voltron's body. "Now, let the Hydra grab hold of us."
"I sure hope you know what you are doing…" Lance said to Keith.
"What are they doing, committing suicide?!" Arjuna blurted out. "They just let the Hydra grab them!"
"Something is wrong," Zarkon surmised. "They have a strategy. I have seen this happen before, and it has never ended well."
"The Hydra…it's…MELTING!!!!" Lotor shouted as he pointed at the screen.
"Voltron must have somehow generated immense heat in itself…but how can it do so without also melting?" Yudishthira wondered.
Shai's face glowered with rage at being defeated, though her poise and demeanor remained unchanged. "The Veneer."
"What, the one you and Hagar supposedly killed?" Zarkon mentioned.
Hagar nodded. "The Veneer must be on Voltron, and her affinity for Magma, Fire and Earth, has been registered by Voltron's occult components and exponentiated its threshold for heat tremendously," Shai explained to the group.
'All the more reason for me to claim that damn robot someday,' Zarkon thought to himself. As the Hydra's remains bubbled away, raining to Dhm's surface in blobs, he mused further. 'My instincts about Voltron have been accurate. That IS the key to breaking Grndm's seal on me.' He grinned. 'To the outsider, this would seem a defeat, but the Hydra has served its purpose in a manner far more rewarding to me.'
"Reyk, would you do the honors, please?" Zarkon asked. He turned, and saw that Reyk had already left.
"Now is it time to cheer?" Lance asked.
"Yup!" Keith uncharacteristically cheered as he reset the thresholds to normal. "I think it's time to…"
A huge energy blast knocked Voltron several hundred kilometers further into the atmosphere. "Whoa! Whoa! Reverse thrusters!" Keith ordered. Voltron's progression slowed. Keith saw a massive golden dragon straight out his childhood fairy tales heading straight for them all.
Reyk head butt the robot as he cast a time-speed spell to send it hurling away even faster than physics would normally allow.
"You have GOT to be kidding me," Lance moaned. A tail whip hit Voltron almost completely out of Dhm's atmosphere.
Reyk's eyes glowed ultraviolet, so to the Voltron Force, they looked unchanged. Saoche gulped. 'Dude, remember I'm IN here,' he thought to him.
Reyk's breath came out not bearing fire, but a blue-purple energy crackling with lightning and electricity. It engulfed Voltron completely. "Polarity Reverse!" Reyk commanded, using his time-warping abilities to temporarily alter the planet's magnetic poles. He had shot out similar charges to Voltron, but at the time, it had been a weaker opposite of Dhm's. Now, the planet shared the exact same charge, and the repellant force pushed Voltron miles away from the planet's orbit. The cockpits went into a chaotic display of lights, blackouts, and sounds, which then abruptly resumed their normal function.
Keith opened his eyes. He was greeted with outer space, and the dark orb of the Cosmos, Dhm, floating perilously ahead. He turned Voltron around. "Let's go back," he said somberly. "Ana needs care, and Voltron has only enough energy left to get us home."
"Does this mean we…lost?" Pidge asked incredulously.
"I think destroying the Hydra bought you some time. That 'dragon' bought Zarkon some time. It's a stalemate if anything," Saoche offered as conciliation.
"No, Saoche, it isn't," Allura fought back tears. "Zarkon's forces are stronger than ever, and these past few months have been erased." She remembered the nameless warrior who had perished back on Dhm and steeled herself. "But, I will fight. I will not give them leave to hurt any more people. I have been called on to protect again by Fate, and so I shall…"
"We will fight with you, Allura," Hunk replied. "We will not be leaving Arus after this. I'm sure the Galaxy Garrison will need Voltron now more than ever."
"Arus is my home now because of you, Allura," Pidge added. "I would never abandon you or it. We all fight together."
"They can't get away with this," Lance spat. "You know I'm always ready to fight the good fight."
"Yes, Princess, we are here for you," Keith replied with absolute fealty in his heart.
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