Status Quo
Chapter Five: Son, Meet Shai
by Kyence

Disclaimer: All Voltron characters are property of World Events Productions.

‘’ denote character thoughts.
 

Lotor took a swig of his drink, glaring at the bartender.

"This is horrible stuff," he snarled derisively.

Accustomed to belligerent customers who had tasted his wares one too many drinks past their threshold, the harbinger of liquor merely shrugged. His was not in the least intimidated by this man, not any more. When the man had first entered his pub, the grim face could have scared Vajel under the table. The blue skin hinted at his mixed heritage, showing that this vagabond was either suffering from a terminal case of hubris, or just stupid. This pub was in the middle of Drule territory, and this creature stood out in the violet crowd of drunken soldiers and workers. Their vision was blurry, but they still saw skin colors the same: a bad mixture in such an establishment.

"Y' wanna pay your tab, then?"

Lotor growled, his brows clenching together. He narrowed his eyes, which glowed a yellow haze. Instinctively, the bartender gulped.

'He's gonna be trouble.'

Seeing his intimidating actions were visibly effective, Lotor sneered as he cocked his head to the side. He pushed the empty glass to the barkeep.

"I can handle one more."

Keeping one eye on the customer, he prepared the heavy concoction of alcohols and esters.

'Haveta admit, this kid's got some tolerance. His brain shoulda been havin' seizures after ten o' these, an' he's pushin' twenty!'

His better judgment was cursing his avarice, but nonetheless, that wad of credit chips the blue kid had flashed before his eyes was incentive enough to risk a drunken halfbreed's warbling rant. He slid the drink into his customer's awaiting hand, who gulped the sizzling drink without a single wince.

"It takes a helluva circumstance to numb a guy like that, y'know," the bartender offered.

Lotor surveyed the bottom of his empty glass.

"Y'ave no idea." His words were slurring together, and his vision had been dull for a while, but he really did not care.

"You're a brave soul, drinkin' in here, y'know that, doncha?"

Lotor averted his scrutiny as he looked the questioner in the eyes.

"I'm a brave soul, sir. Regardless of where an' when I drink."

The bartender nodded. 'Like I haven't heard that one before.' He noted the violent tone of the reply.

'This kid's a hydrogen atom short of a fusion bomb!'

He tapped the counter. "'Kay, bud. Pay up. I'll give ya more if ya pay up now."

Lotor was focusing on the glass again, perched delicately in his dexterous, sinister hand. With his right hand, he tossed the bartender an indiscriminate amount of credit chips without a second glance.

"Wit' a tip. Dunn ever say I wasn't generous."

'Shit. I'll mix 'em a baby blood cocktail with this kinda money.'

The former prince rotated his prize in his long, adept fingers, his pupils jutting at each slight turn, following the trail of a lonesome drop at the bottom. It swayed to and fro, always seeming like it was about to defy gravity and maintain its position on the glass. However, one tiny twist more, and the drop swirled to the bottom, exhausted from its ordeal.

'Hmmph. I sliced the robot guards I had taken with me into shreds. I sold them for scrap and smuggled myself out of the Denubian. I come here to the Drule Empire, and for what? To sit like a drunken lech whose good days are past? I'm just exhausted...that's all. Gotta get my bearings, find my angle of attack, and don't stop until I have everything. Until I have Allura. My sweet Allura, your face is my only motivation to succeed.'

While the inner workings of Lotor's mind stated this in such a manner, the social toxin he imbibed wrangled it into a slurred blurted revelation: "I'm jus' like this drop."

"Wha?" the bartender queried, dumbfounded.

'Now, THAT'S a new one.'

Lotor held the glass upright.

"I'm like the drop in this glass. Always pushed int' a direction by masshinasshun's of others' dezzign." He lowered it, and cradled it into his hands, his eyes watering while the effects of the drinks began.

"I am always so close to susseedin', So close to completin' their stupid sheems, and catshin dem in m'own....then sumin' comes out o' nowhere and reduces me back to where I starded. Know what that means?"

The flaxen hair of the azure Duonulan settled around his smooth face as it inched closer to the bartender.

"Enlighten me," the bartender challenged as he folded his arms. His eyes made a sideways glance to some Drules sitting at a table behind the blue menace. They saw the glance and nodded in comprehension. He returned his visual contact with Lotor.

Lotor chuckled softly. He placed the glass onto the counter, with an inaudible click of it meeting the slick countertop.

"It means, all I have done, amounts to..."

He thrust his arm on top of the glass, his palm smashing it into fractal pieces. The bartender reflexed as he recoiled, his eyelids clenching against the shattering shards.

"NOTHING! NOTHING AT ALL!"

The bartender addressed the men he had seen moments before.

"Get him out o' here. He's had enough for one night."

The men stood up from their seats. They were inebriated, exhibiting some catharsis after a busy day in the Imperial factories, and they were not about to let some little scrub cause a ruckus in their favorite bar.

Lotor's senses were diminished, but not wholly. He turned his head at the sound of the approaching posse. His hand, cut and torn from the glass, flew to his scabbard. Within a millisecond, the Drules were taking steps back away from the lazon blade threatening to disembowel them. Lotor's crimson blood dripped down the hilt and onto the blade, sizzling and emitting colorful flames as his blood's iron liberated itself. His eyes were blazing yellow once again, his inborn low inhibitions completely incapacitated.

He pivoted so that his back was toward the exit. His body was unbalanced a little at the move, but his threatening demeanor was still not worth taking on. He kept his blade facing them, brandishing the sword with every intention of malice. As he continued to back out, he noticed a drink to his side on a table. He seized it with his left hand, and guzzled it down right before the owner's eyes. No one moved or breathed.

Once he was at the exit, he sneered.

"Okay, y' stoopid basstarrdds! Now, I will kill you all! Come if you dare!"

The men were willing to beat some sobriety into this inflated ego, so they slowly skulked towards their opponent.

Lotor swayed slightly, but even his binge drinking could not undermine his skills completely. He growled at them.

"You never learn, do you?"

Lotor's face swirled into an emotion of shock and bewilderment as he turned his head in the direction of the demeaning question. It was the voice that bothered him, not the query.

The men were inches away from the door. Upon seeing his attention was elsewhere, they lunged.

"What? YOU?! How...you...wh...how th' fu..."

A blow into his stomach silenced him. He fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. The Drules laughed as they clapped the shoulders of their comrade for such an effective hit. They looked towards where they had seen their would-be assailant's focus go to.

"I don't see a damn thing."

A shrieking sound traveled through the air, getting louder and louder with every passing moment. It was unfortunate for the trio, for when they heard it, the weapon had already cut through their bodies. Their screams were cut short as blood rushed into their throats before gravity pushed it down to where their stomachs once were. The weapon returned to its master's hand, a tracing a trailing circle of blood and entrails falling from the air like morbid rain droplets. The linear laser blades, each several meters long, retracted into the hilt between them. The owner jumped down from his position as his insectoid wings buzzed. He walked over to the unconscious Lotor, clicking his tongue as he regarded his son.

"You don't know how lucky you are that I didn't have this with me when I left to attack Arus. You would not have been a king past that usurping minute you threatened me with MY own army..."

Zarkon placed the hilt inside an inner fold of his outfit, and heaved his son over his shoulder.

"So lucky..." he grit through his teeth. He heard some rustling in the bar, and knew that the massacre would be discovered any time now.

He arched his back, unused to the translucent wings protruding from the muscles. Decades of neglect had made them weary, and even his exercises during the journey back to the Denubian were not enough. He knew this was a risk, but two Duonulans standing next to three Drules in six pieces was a bigger risk.

He took to the air, surprised at how the light cloth in this gravity was nearly weightless. Even Lotor's body did not slow him down much as he sped into one adjacent alley after another, his turns sharp and deliberate. He saw some bystanders, but he was going too fast for any of them to see his face, even if he was five feet off the ground.

'And besides, to the Universe, King Zarkon's earthbound. No one has the slightest clue. And it's gonna stay that way for a long time.'

A couple of miles away from the cloaked ship, Zarkon landed and retracted his wings within the folds of his body's muscles. He proceeded on foot, wiping the sweat off of his brow.

"One day,Lotor, one day I'll tell you...I'll make you understand why I imprisoned you, and why I pushed you...one day, if you prove your fealty to me, but until then, I'd rather have you assume me a walking eel than a flying one."

The first thing Lotor noticed upon waking up was the painful moan from his parched throat. Thereafter he noticed his torso was sore. With his eyes still shut, he lightly massaged the soreness, the sinews in his face twitching into a grimace. At first, his memory of the previous hours was nonexistent. A couple of minutes passed before pieces that managed to survive the binging trickled into his awoken mind. He recalled the Drules who, from what he could deduce, had accosted him.

'Hmmph, the nerve of such peans.'

Grumbling as he decided to sit up, he hissed as his right hand's nerves shrieked in pain at being forced to prop the muscular body. He squinted as he shifted his body to remain upright, staring at his bandaged right hand. How it had ended up wrapped was a mystery; how it was wounded was a greater enigma to him. He moved his wrist around, feeling the scabs in his palm stretching at each flex.

He snorted. 'So it is real.'

He started to rip the bandage off his hand, his curiosity demanding satiation. Then he heard a snarl.

"Argennista grrl'tendestrtran tod'udresn ixejun tod'ekken..." admonished a gigantic lizard in a tone that sounded gruff and derisive.

"Stupid fishmonkey, undressing wounds barely closed," Jepaya lectured as she grabbed the male's hand and rewrapped it.

Lotor snatched his hand from his reptilian nurse, or guard, or pet, his eyes narrowing with greater focus on his company.

"Ek daz-chen!" it said harshly as its golden hand grabbed his retreating appendage and continued to wrap it.

"I'm not done!" she warned the rude offspring of Zarkon. Luckily for him, the message to stop resisting registered as she finished tying the dressing.

"Y'know, I can see how you two are related," she said in a cold, icy tone. "This is a duty I despise, tending to that wretch's kin, but I do it for my Great Meteriarch Shai. Even my hatred for your father will not dissuade my loyalty."

The creature had turned its face to him, a gleam of interest in its amber eyes. It spoke to him in a longer string of nonsensical jibberish this time, finishing with an odd curl of its scaly lips that suggested an anthropomorphic smile.

Lotor nudged his face to the side, eyeing the creature as he felt for his sword. He saw that the monster was unarmed, baring no metal or cloth objects of any kind. His empty hand also meant that he was unarmed, too.

"Damn!" he shouted.

Jepaya was in a state of disbelief. Her eyes widened at the insult.

'Surely he doesn't think I would keep him equipped?! Such gall!'

Lotor gave an uneasy smile as he looked around his prison. It was a clean, smooth area, with the low hum of transistors and electric current journeying beneath it all. He could discern no windows, but he noticed a door that he could reach if he subdued his jaundiced iguana.

'I will not remain imprisoned like this anymore!'

He lowered himself from the aluminum slab onto the floor, hearing his worn boots click dully with the ground. Sighing loudly, he heaved his left leg onto the slab, an audible rattle following the movement. He made his body shiver as though in pain.

The creature reached towards his leg to tend to it.

'Just like I thought it would.'

Lotor brought his right leg around in a roundhouse kick to the saurian's jaw. Boosting him off the target into a backwards flip, it flew facefirst into the metal slab as he sailed through the tense air with ease. His boots kissed the floor again. He was now an inch away from turning around and egressing out the door.

"Were I with weapon, you'd be dead," he admitted to his knocked out adversary.

A smug look on his face, he turned around and walked his throat into the opened hand. It squeezed upon catching its prey. The grip was not asphyxiating, but it was strong enough to suggest snapping the surrounded neck would be a simple task.

Lotor felt himself being lifted off the floor. He forced his eyes to look straight ahead. He saw what seemed like miles' worth of black shroud until he regarded the face of Death.

"Hello, Lotor."

"You're alive?!"

"And you're sober now. Good. I see that you have swept Jepaya off her feet with your unmistakable charm," Zarkon mocked as he witnessed her unconscious body. "Come, I have someone else you must meet."

Stunned, Lotor could neither struggle nor speak as his father's visage addressed him, cognizant as ever. He suddenly felt very tired as his mind reeled from the revelation.

'Out of everything I have lost, at least HE was dead. But nooooo, even I don't have THAT! What cruel God denies me my birthright, my place in Nature, my place in the Universe, to succeed my father?! How is this possible?!'

Zarkon escorted his son through the ship, his hand still clutching Lotor's neck so that he dangled. He could hear the sundry Sapientydan guards chuckling, snickering, and whispering under their breath about how he lugs his child about like one not to be trusted.

'What a poor parent he must be!' he thought them saying.

He did his best to ignore the commentary, keeping his mind blank. Facing forward, he took a sideways glance at his son. His boy looked disheveled and malnourished, but the pride was still overflowing. It annoyed him; he had hoped that harsh reality would have given Lotor a dose of humility.

'Very well. Then I shall do it.'

"I hope you see now," Zarkon began as Lotor met his gaze, "that without me, you are destined for a life of poverty, of obscurity. You could not successfully defend your crown for a single day without losing your Empire. To the humans, you are an adult. To the Drules, you are a teenager. To the Dhmk, you are an heir. But to me, you are a child. And an immature one at that.

"Now, tell me, how does it feel to hear it put quite like that? Do you rue your own incompetence yet? Hah, I know you revile me, your past actions are incontrovertible, but you must hate yourself even more, for you still need me to rescue you."

His son's eyes emitted a yellow blaze as his fanged teeth gnashed. A growl rumbled his lips.

'Monster!'

Anticipating his predictable son's temper, he released him before Lotor could sink his teeth into his father's hand. Lotor fell with a loud thud, surprising him as well as the nearby guards. They gave Zarkon a curious look.

"He's unused to the gravity is all," he replied in their tongue.

Lotor grumbled, "You speak their grating language?" as he sprang to his feet, rubbing his buttocks.

"Another piece to a puzzle you'll never bother to finish."

Zarkon saw the scowl, and fought every paternal urge he had to hug his child in a protective embrace.

"If I have been such a burden, why go through all this trouble to recover me?" Lotor cried as he gestured at his surroundings.

Zarkon closed his eyes as he sniffed, assuming a patronizing pose.

"To show you how a true ruler overcomes adversity, no matter the odds, no matter the requirements." As he finished his reply, they came to a doorway flanked by guards morphed into hulking beings with spikes protruding several inches in every direction, many in front of the door.

Without hesitation, the spikes retracted into the guards, a smooth silent process that had an intriguing beauty to it. Zarkon beheld the rare expression of wonder on his son's face, and mentally noted at least one thing they agreed on. The metal door parted into two slabs, sliding into tracks within the walls. Zarkon pushed Lotor in first, much to the latter's dismay who rolled his eyes at his father's sneer.

"I'm paranoid, not stupid, Lotor," Zarkon muttered. He continued to push his quarry forward as the door reformed behind them.

Lotor braced himself for any moves or gestures that would further humiliate him. His concentration was so intense that he did not notice the approaching figure. Zarkon snapped his fingers to jostle him.

"Show your manners! Now, let me introduce you. Great Meteriarch Shai, this is Lotor...my son."

Lotor could not believe it. She was almost as beautiful as Allura, he had to admit. She was definitely exotic, and looked very womanlike indeed. He wondered, though, his father seemed to have absolutely no libido; what was he doing with such a young thing? He couldn't help but crack a smile.

'Perhaps my old man is sensing his own mortality and hoping to somehow ignore it with the helpful distraction of her.'

"It's not like that at all, Lotor."

He blinked, and looked around.

"Psst. Up here."

He looked up, and saw Shai regarding him.

'Oh no, not a mind reader... I'm on to you, so don't even try it with me.'

'Relax, Lotor. I have better things to do with my time than weave through your brain...'

'Like weave though my father's? Good, I really don't care.'

'Such lack of loyalty...no, Zarkon's fully aware of himself. Perhaps I should make you walk over and give him a great big kiss then after all?'

Lotor's eyes narrowed, while Shai's demeanor turned puckish.

'Relax! I see it will take more time than I thought to get acquainted.'

"Shai and I have been allies for longer than you can imagine."

Lotor regained his voice. "Then how come I've never heard of her?"

Shai's indigo lips spread into a wide smile, her planar bicuspids gleaming menacingly. She stroked a wary Lotor's pale mane, twisting a loose batch around her finger.

"I never expected you to live long enough to meet her," Zarkon answered in a dead monotone.

Shai lifted her eyes to Zarkon's, a question asked through them. With the slightest nod, Shai knew she had been given permission to begin. She tightened the growing bundle of hair about her finger, glaring Lotor in the eyes, looking for the acknowledgement of pain. His semblance did waver, so she wrapped more of his hair about her finger amd judged its effect. Upon seeing none, she laughed gently.

"Is that supposed to be scary, lady?"

Zarkon leaned against the wall, his arms behind his head, a vicious slice for a smile cutting across his face.

Shai's left hand glowed a fiery blue hue as she grabbed Lotor's face while pulling the trapped strands with the other.

"No, this is," she smirked.

Lotor tried to move, but found himself unable to do so. He could not even shout.

"Get this over with," Zarkon complained.

"Patience is a virtue," Shai joked in a preaching lilt.

'I do concur that I should complete this before the boy shakes off my paralysis spell.'

She began the chant. In her people's dialect, she weaved an enchantment with a chorded voice:

The final verse spoken, Shai pulled the rolled hair from his scalp in a fierce tug, ripping them out from their roots. Lotor could not move, nor could he feel the injury; the paralysis spell was merciful in numbing any pain. Blood trickled down his face.

Shai removed her left hand.

"Are you all right?" she asked genuinely.

Lotor blinked a few times, disoriented, unaware of what transpired. He felt the cool blood on his scalp. He gingerly touched the spot. Seeing sanguine liquid on his fingertips, he held them up to Shai, and turned to his father.

Zarkon walked to his son, scrutinizing him with a lift of his eyebrow.

"Father, how shall we take back Dhm?" Lotor's visage lacked the familiar malevolence towards him. Shai hid the hair in her hand.

'I will put the hair within an amulet. As per your request, I will wear it for safekeeping. As long as the amulet exists, the spell will be effective. Now, I will leave you alone with your son, to catch up on things.'

Shai went to the doorway, which opened and closed as she departed.

Zarkon saw his son, loyal, without the subterfuge, the disgust. Lotor remembered being angry at his father, but could not understand why. His father was alive. They would reclaim everything the Voltron Force had taken away from them...and more. Allura would be by his side when they were through.

"Father," Lotor said with a smile.

Continued

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