This is the part where gamers wonder, "Which Voltron planets will this game make levels out of?" Then they say, "So, THAT'S how we're exploring them all, that's such a cool idea!"
The operatives examined the display of a vertical, UFO-shaped fortress with a ring-shaped station around it, along with a spherical purple barrier. There were five light-purple spires around the barrier that would only fade out as they stretched into space. "This is a live visual from the Marmora's hidden satellite." Shiro explained. "Zarkon's body was brought to Beta Traz prison. It seems the Galra rebels are using it as a base."
"That barrier is kept in place by five generators." Lotor observed.
"Those things around the side?" Christina asked. "We can break those easy."
"No. Those are merely the auras of the generators' intersecting points. I believe this is a new model they were working on. Strong enough to even withstand Voltron. The generators will actually be across different planets."
"Different planets?!" Lance yelled in exasperation. "Do we really need Zarkon's body back that badly?"
"If they plan on surrendering it to Vilgax," Allura replied, "who knows what they could do? We have to find and destroy the shield generators."
"If I could examine those wavelengths," Pidge said, "I may be able to track their origins."
"Good idea." Keith replied. "Then we can take the Lions and destroy them all at once."
"Um, that's probably what they expect us to do." Hunk reasoned. "Don't you think they'll have traps?"
"That's what you have us for." Ralph shrugged modestly. "We'll divide in pairs and make sure you all stay out of trouble."
"Excuse me, we're the older ones here." Lance folded his arms in a scolding manner. "We should be saying that to you."
"Take it easy." Star consoled. "Both of you are highly capable sectors, you'll be fine working together. But while you're doing that, there's something I'd like to do."
"What's that?" Kid asked.
"I wanna try to look for a Nether Rift. I thought the radar was picking up a faint signal when we were entering the galaxy. With some slight amplification, we could narrow it down. Then I'll have more spacebending ready to go!"
"Okay, but I wanna be back in time when we storm the prison!"
"I thought you were about to be Jason's protégé?"
"Nuh-uh!" Kid glomped him. "I was your protégé first!"
"Well, there's always room if ya change your mind!" Jason grinned. "Let's get adventuring!"
The Riftdar was integrated with the Castle of Lions and quickly traced a Nether Rift. Star and Kid took the W.A.R.P.S.T.A.R. and flew to Thayserix, a bright-gray planet that seemed to be a spherical mass of clouds with thin, long stone spikes jutting out. There were flickers of lightning flashing around the mass. "Well, not the most pleasant place for a rift." Star said. "Maybe it's like Tornadus? I wonder if I'll get Space Lightning here?"
"Cool! It's like normal lightning, but in space!"
"Haha! But there's a chance another of those robots will be there… Let's call Samus." Star input her frequency.
"Hey, boys. Miss me already?"
"Hey, Samus. We're closing in on another Nether Rift. You have any more advice for those E.M.M.I. robots, in case we run into it?"
"Well, some of them were programmed with my suit's functions, like freezing or plasma beams. But if an E.M.M.I. catches you, there are two brief windows to stop it. When it makes that BEDEBEEP sound, you need to either slap its arm or kick it in the chest. It has a sort of glitch that'll stun it for a few seconds."
"Cool! Hopefully, we can pull that off. Thanks. Ending transmission."
"Care for some additional assistance?" a charming voice asked.
They looked in the rearview mirror and saw the Sincline. "Loter!" Kid bounced.
"Lotor. Thayserix is a mass of volatile gasses and electromagnetic storms. I've been here a few times, so I thought I'd assist you in navigating it."
"That'd be great! It does look pretty foggy in there."
BEEP! BEEP!
"Huh? It appears someone else has followed us." Lotor noticed.
A light-green, ovular ship drove to the left of the W.A.R.P.S.T.A.R.. Star read the label on its top tail fin, "Planet Express?"
A gray robot with a single antenna emerged from its top hatch. "Package for Star Winkiebottom!"
"Bender!" Star beamed. "You have a package for me?"
"Yep! Sector L sent it from Strandville. Here ya go!" Bender chucked the box at the windshield. Star extracted a claw from the trunk to bring it in. He opened the package and acquired-
Kids Next Door: Z.A.P.B.L.E.R.
Zaps Aplenty Per Bubble Losing Enemy Reinforcements
"Wow, a bubble gun!" Kid said in awe. It was a minigun with bubble wand barrels, with a slot for soap bottles. The bottles had pictures of bubbles with thunderbolts inside them. "What'd they send this for?"
"I dunno. It's like a reward for something we didn't do. Well, thanks, Bender! Wanna join our adventure?"
"Nah, I still get royalties for NECSUS. Laters!" Bender returned inside as his ship returned.
"Can I have it, Star? Bubbles are fun!"
"Sure! I guess since your P.O.G.O.S.H.O.C.K. only shocks ground enemies, now you have an electric weapon for aerial enemies!"
"I think we'll have more than our share of electricity in here." Lotor inferred. "Still, that is quite the unusual weapon. You have some very creative engineers among you."
"Another reason I love this job!" Star smiled as Kid studied the Z.A.P.B.L.E.R. at every angle.
Stage 5: Thayserix
Mission: Find the Nether Rift and acquire a new power.
The two ships landed on one of the planet's needles, putting on air helmets as they ventured into the storm. Visibility was just as bad as they feared, though against the flashes of lightning, the silhouettes of the spires could be seen. A spiked crater would bar them from going further up this spire, but they saw a floating rock that could be used as a grapple point to another spire. It was kept elevated by a wave of magnetism and would spark electricity every few seconds, so Star timed his swing wisely. Lotor had his own grappling hook as well. Flickers of electricity formed around smaller cloud masses; they were sentient Thayserpuffs, which would spit electric spheres at the foreigners. Lotor slashed them down with his sword while Kid's H.O.M.E.R. zipped around to disperse their clouds. The Puffs dropped bolts that were drawn in by their electricity.
A wall blocked part of the spire, covering the diameter of it. "Watch out!" Lotor gasped. "Lightning!"
A bolt targeted their foothold. Lotor faced it directly and raised his index and middle fingers to catch it. The lightning coursed through him as he used the fingers on the opposite hand to strike it at the wall, blowing a path open. "Hey, you learned Redirection, too!"
"Quite. During my exile, I visited the Avatar Realms to improve my firebending."
"Exile?" Kid didn't know that word.
"That was three years ago." They proceeded past the broken wall. "When I first began to work as a commander for the empire, my father tasked me with conquering a country on Altea who hadn't submitted." Star noticed a Grav-Path on a higher spire, so he floated them toward it. "Of course, that meant full subjugation and enslavement. A method I never saw validation. So, I chose to negotiate and come to a peaceful understanding with the people. But Father wouldn't accept such a method. He decimated the country and had me banished."
"Wow…" Star looked away in both horror and sympathy.
"Perhaps that is misleading. Eventually, I realized that was not my father in there. It was a husk… controlled by Daibazaal's darkness. There was no heart or rationality. Only a desire for power and destruction. That's why… I had to slay him."
The boys were silent. Star had heard plenty of stories about such families. Even his disconnection with his own father seemed a lot more pleasant in comparison. Star noticed Kid was looking down solemnly. He'd never actually asked where his parents were… or if they were still around. They looked up when the radar beeped erratically. The Nether Rift was before them. "That's it, I presume?" Lotor asked.
"Yeah. Before we go in, we should let you know about the E.M.M.I.." Star explained what Samus told them.
"I wonder if Voltron would fare against them? Provided we had a rift large enough for it. Let's be on our guard then."
They cautiously entered the Nether Rift and navigated a zigzaggy corridor. It felt more uncomfortable to have to pass through a mass of fog. "Seems some of Thayserix's gas got in here."
"Bebebebebebebebeep! Bebebebebe!"
"Crud, it's already here!" Star whispered, hearing its movement from a ceiling tunnel.
"W-We gotta hide!" Kid said. "Quick, back in the fog!"
"Is this gonna work?!"
As they quick-stepped back into the fog, they could make out the E.M.M.I.'s glowing iris outside. It seemed to survey the fog up and down for a moment. Then it just turned to proceed up the cavern. "Huh…so, this fog disrupts their vision." Star observed. "Let's hope there's more of it around." When they heard its sound fade, they carefully advanced. They found a long, tall, and rounding chamber with Gravity Zones on either wall, with patches of gas around them, along with small crystals. There also seemed to be floating, faded lights along the center of the room. "Space Block lights? Even if I had that power, we don't need it if we can just Gravity Shift."
"It's here." Lotor alerted them to the beeping. "We must act quickly."
Star floated them onto the left wall as they hurried toward a fog mass. The E.M.M.I. was crawling along the right wall, and though they made it into the fog, it still traced their footsteps. Samus never said it could jump far, so it should take a while to reach them… but to their shock, it formed a Space Block over one of the lights and used it as a prop to easily cross over. "What?!" Star gasped.
"Oh, I know!" Kid peeped out to see the small crystals and shot a lower one with the H.O.M.E.R.. The E.M.M.I. diverted its attention to that sound and crawled down. Star shifted them to the opposite wall, the three hurrying to the next cloud as the E.M.M.I. heard their steps. It would use a Block to cross over again, and they hid in the cloud just before its iris could detect them. It suspiciously crawled around the cloud for the source of the noise, and only when it momentarily turned away did Kid shoot at another far crystal. It went after the noise, giving them leeway to the next fog.
"Don't tell me it absorbed the Space Chi?!" Star whispered. "I won't be able to get it unless we destroy it. We need to find its Omega Core… whatever that is."
They repeated the process twice more, but the second cloud was just too far out of reach. They acted too soon, so the E.M.M.I. saw them. "Crud! Run, run, run!" They bolted toward the exit passage and turned right-side-up.
"We won't make it!" Lotor said, facing the android. "I wait for the sound, right?"
"Lotor!"
The E.M.M.I. grabbed his right arm, then reached for the left-, "BEDEBEEP!" Lotor swat its arm at that moment, bending it up. The robot froze as Lotor felt its grip lighten. The emperor immediately rejoined his comrades and escaped through the exit rift.
"Phew! I can't believe that actually worked!" Star sighed. "There might be a rift into a different part of that zone. If we find that, we could find its Omega… Core?"
Only then did Star process where they were: an asteroid above a toxic planet, its brown and light-green surface swirling into each other. "We're on Taujeer!" Lotor exclaimed. "And… that device!" There was a mechanical structure on a larger asteroid. "That's one of the barrier generators!"
"No foolin'?!" Kid exclaimed.
"This is Lotor to the Castle of Lions. I've found one of the generators on Taujeer!"
"Taujeer?!" Coran repeated. "I thought you were going to Thayserix?"
"The Nether Rift brought us here! It seems bizarre, but it's true!"
"Alright. We'll send Hunk!"
"Be sure to send Laruta and Mali, too." Star said. "They're poisonbenders. In the meantime, let's look for another portal!" (Play "Melty Molten Galaxy" from Mario!)
Stage 5 Update: Quintessa Galaxy
Additional Mission: Locate the five Beta Traz generators!
Star used Gravity Shift to lift them onto an "upside-down" asteroid with an acid pool. Rock platforms sunk in and out of the pool, so the trio memorized their positions and timing as they jumped across. They were ambushed by a trio of Galra Rebels with jetpacks and rifles, flying about as they fired. Kid tested out his new Z.A.P.B.L.E.R. and electrocuted them with rounds of sparkling bubbles! Lotor leapt and ended them with his blade. Star would have to shift gravity between a series of small platforms, floating "conveniently" above acid craters that would combust every few seconds. With careful and quick timing, they bypassed the craters; however, from the last platform, Star saw a Gold Bolt on a Grav-Space hidden on the other side of the prior crater, so he flew back to grab it!
Star twirled the bolt on his fingertip before passing it to Lotor, who balanced it on his sword. He then flipped it to Kid, who twirled it on his finger, but it simply got stuck on his goo. He laughed and stashed it away.
They landed on the surface of Taujeer's moon, in time to witness a skirmish. The Taujeerians; hefty, light-green, four-armed aliens that looked like tardigrades, were shooting at large, green, winged insectoids, who shot slime from their four face squirters. "I think this planet has a bug problem!" Kid cringed.
"Those are Lepidopterrans from the Vil Galaxy!" Star exclaimed.
"Man, I'm never gonna remember that name. I'll call them Stinkflies!"
"What happened to wanting to give everything alien names?"
"Come now, we must assist them!" Lotor charged forth and grappled a Stinkfly's tail, reeling himself up and slicing its wings. Another Stinkfly squirted slime that Lotor was swift to evade, and when the insect dove at him tail-first, he redirected it with a kick and dealt a stab. Star and Kid tried to overwhelm them with the S.P.O.R.E. and Z.A.P.B.L.E.R., but one of the Stinkflies managed to glue Star to the ground with its slime and it took several good shakes to break free. "I'm glad you're not that sticky." he said to Kid.
"Um…thanks?"
"Emperor Lotor!" exclaimed Baujal, Taujeerian leader. "You saved us! Thanks a ton!"
"No thanks are necessary. A member of Team Voltron will be here soon to take care of any enemy reinforcements. You can rest easy."
"So, are those things suits or your bodies?" Kid wondered.
"You always know the right things to ask, don't you?" Star remarked.
The Taujeerians took down a barrier blocking a rift, not wanting the Stinkflies to escape through it. The portal led onto the frozen outer rim of Mer World. This small planet was a massive orb of water surrounded by a valley of ice in the middle of space. "Can't… stand… cold…" Kid shivered, his goo hardening.
"I shall try to keep us warm as much as possible." Lotor held a flame down by him.
"Ahh…thanks, Inhuman Torch. …SPACE MOTHS!"
A trio of humanoid blue moths soared toward them, blowing clouds of frosty breath. "Necrofriggians!" Star said. "They're from the Kylmyys region on Glacia. The Vilgaxians took over the region last year."
"I'll call them BigChills!" The BigChills were weak to Lotor's fire and the Bomb Spores, but they could turn intangible and phase through their attacks. They would become visible when they closed in to attack the boys, so they thought fast and countered. It took a couple minutes to K.O. the slippery moths, after which they proceeded to a cannon-like device.
"'ey, young explorers!" Numbuh 20x40 called from his stand. "Goin' for a swim? You're gonna want a S.C.H.O.O.L.! Only 5,000 bolts!"
"That's awfully expensive for a weapon that only works underwater."
"That makes it extra valuable! But if ya upgrade it with a Gold Bolt, let's just say the fish can be 'persuaded' to walk on dry land."
"Sounds fair to me!" Star purchased it.
Galactic Kids Next Door: S.C.H.O.O.L.
Shoots Clustered Hungry Organized Omnivorous Leachers
With that, they activated the cannon device; it shot huge waterballs up into the spherical sea. "Cooooool!" Kid cheered. They climbed up into the cannon to be enveloped in a ball. "CANNON…BAAAAAAALL!" They soared above the planet and splashed into the sea! Five more BigChills saw them. "Hah! They can't get us in here!"
The BigChills dove into the sea and Torpedo Spun toward the ops, taking Kid by surprise as one froze him in its grasp. "But…bugs can't… swim!" he managed to squeeze out from his frozen teeth.
Lotor slashed the BigChill and spread fire around at the moths; his flames would dissipate into steaming bubbles and still hurt them. Kid was melted free as he stunned them with electric bubbles, while Star tested the S.C.H.O.O.L., sending schools of piranhas to nibble away at them.
A BigChill was stabbed in the back by a crab claw. They faced their new opponents. "The Mer!" Lotor exclaimed. They were merman-like aliens with spiked shoulder armor.
"Emperor Lotor!" a walrus-headed Mer addressed. "There were Galra ships flying to the bottom of the planet five quintants ago! We believe they were constructing something down there!"
"I may know what it is." Lotor raised his communicator. "Paladins, I believe there's a generator on the bottom of Planet Mer."
"This is Allura, I'm on my way!"
They KO'ed the BigChills with the Mer's help and swam down to their village. A portal seemed to be in the Baku Garden south of the village, but they explored the Mer village for a bit. There was a dense kelp forest that Lotor tried to cut through. A Spoof was trapped in the kelp, but it would grow back before Lotor could cut it all. The S.C.H.O.O.L. was needed to quickly shred the kelp up and set the Spoof free, rewarding them a Gold Bolt!
Since they were in the area, they decided to buy some of the Mer's food to eat later. Afterwards, they swam to the Baku Garden and down the portal. "WHOOOOAAAA!" It became a waterfall pouring directly onto the "ocean" of an apple core-shaped planet! The core itself was the cylindrical sea, while the tops and bottoms were two continents.
"It's Planet Puig!" Lotor exclaimed. "And we're quite a distance from shore!"
Fortunately, just before they hit the sea, they landed on the back of a black and bluish, high-speed alien with wheels on its feet. "(HEY! No hitchhikers!)"
"It's a Kineceleran!" Star yelled.
"An XLR8!" Kid followed.
"What does that stand for?!"
"I dunno! WAH!" The XLR8 crashed into a white pillar in trying to shake them off. It had thankfully brought them to the shore of a town. The Puigians—brown humanoids with small horns and face markings of different colors—were struggling to shoot or rope the swift XLR8's.
"Kid, I think you know what this calls for."
"You bet." Kid shared Star's smirk and leapt on his shoulder. The Winkiebottom began to zoom from the town to the outer landscape and back around, thanks to the power of Shinespark! The XLR8's became visible as Kid could target and shoot them with H.O.M.E.R.. It took a few minutes to catch and K.O. the three XLR8's, but victory came in time.
"Thank you, children!" the Puig Chieftain said. "We were at our wit's end with those things! Perhaps you can do something about that machine on the northern continent?"
"Rest assured the Paladins will eradicate it posthaste." Lotor sent the call.
"Puig, huh? I'm on it!" Lance responded. "Think I'll swing by my fanclub while I'm there."
"Hey, my Riftdar's going off again!" Star said. "It's pointing across the ocean. …And I think we may be able to speed across." There was a pillar conveniently leaning in that direction. "But carrying Lotor will be tricky…"
"He can just hold onto me!" Kid goo-wrapped his legs around star's waist and gestured Lotor to hold his hands.
"Let's see if this works." It took a bit longer to build up speed with his weight, but eventually, Star went zooming!
"WAH!" Lotor was flailing in Kid's grasp. Star leapt off the sloped pillar, flying far over the sea, and landing on a small, ramped island to launch off again! They would land on a small islet 50 meters beneath the rift; Star immediately squatted to do the Shinespark jump, rocketing his friends back to the Netherverse! (Play "E.M.M.I. Chase" from Metroid Dread!)
"Beep! Bebebebebe!"
"Yeah, figured it would hear that." Star said. "Book it, just book it, book it!" The E.M.M.I. was climbing a narrow tunnel on their left, so they could only hurry through the available passage. They had to swing a series of grapple points that shifted left and right; by the time they hooked the first one, the E.M.M.I. saw them. They had to wait for the grapple points to be close enough to swing to, all the while the E.M.M.I. could make Space Blocks to follow them across the air. They also happened to be above the first zigzaggy passage when they first entered this zone. They managed to stay out of the robot's reach long enough to land on the edge of a new cavern, and as they rushed into it, the E.M.M.I. stopped chasing.
"Eyeball robot!" Kid pointed. A black, spherical drone hovered by the ceiling, gazing with a single eye. Surrounding turrets shot lasers and energy rings.
"Maybe that's the core! Shoot it, guys!" The three divided and assaulted the Omega Core with their weapons and firebending. Dodging its counter-fire was simple until its shell was destroyed, exposing a bright-blue brain-like mass inside.
"HAH!" Lotor leapt and impaled the eye with his sword. The core fell to the ground with him. "Will this shut down the E.M.M.I.?"
"I don't see it outside now." Star said.
"Wait…" Lotor's blade began to glow with the light-blue energy. "Curious."
The group worriedly exited the room—and immediately heard and saw the E.M.M.I. climb up the ledge. "IT'S STILL ALIVE!"
Lotor looked to his blade. "Perhaps this substance is meant to pierce it!" The emperor charged forth, and as the E.M.M.I. reached its left arm, Lotor slashed the hand off with the sword. "BEEEEP! BEEEEP!" The E.M.M.I. retreated down the ledge.
"It worked!" Star beamed. "Come on, we need to kill it for good!" They dropped down into the zigzaggy passage and listened for the E.M.M.I.'s movement. It crawled out of a tunnel—but retreated when Lotor tried to cut. They waited a bit longer until it ambushed from another tunnel, grabbing Lotor's sword arm. "BEDEBEEP!" He dealt a kick to cause it to glitch, regaining his arm to slash its other arm. The E.M.M.I. retreated up the hall with only its legs. It was just on the other side of the cloud of Thayserix fog, but when Lotor tried to slice it, a Space Block shielded the droid.
"I have an idea!" Kid said. "Lotor, get back in here! I'll let it catch me!" The emperor did so, concerned for Kid's plan. The youth planted his face to the Block and stuck his tongue out. "NAH, NAH—AAAH!" The robot dropped the shield and pinned him under its feet.
"BEDEBEEP!" The E.M.M.I. shot out its eye needle, but Kid split his own head. Lotor leapt from the fog and pierced the very back of its head, through the needle itself. (End song.)
Lotor withdrew his blade, the three watching the E.M.M.I. carefully. It stretched upright, jittered, and spun its head. "Beep! Boop, beep, bo, bow, bebebebebebebebe…p." It fell. The last spark in its system faded.
A ball of pink light rose from the robot. Star absorbed it into his body.
Star learned Space Block! He can conjure platforms over floating lights! It can also serve as a temporary shield!
"Sigh…Mom made this sound a lot easier. At least we found their weakness! And with that sword, we can-"
"Oh dear." The light faded from Lotor's blade. "I believe the energy has dissipated."
"Ah. 'Guess we'll have to find the others' cores after all." (Play "Battlerock Galaxy" from Mario!)
The three followed the route back to Taujeer. From the battlefield on the moon, they noticed a stairway of lights that Star could form Blocks over. The Blocks led to a new portal, dropping them into a large tree amidst a forest. "Olkarion…" Lotor observed. A high-tech city of pyramid-like buildings neighbored the forest; their color reflected the sunset and they had green light lines within them. There were vast, slanted mountains in the distance.
They followed a floating bridge to another tree, jumping gaps along it as they saw another skirmish between the Olkari and vine monsters. The Olkari were pale-yellow and brownish, insect-like humanoids with lighter skin around their eyes. They bent the wood from the tree they were mounted on to create arrows, piercing the monsters' eyes, but the monsters could bend vines from the tree in turn to strangle the Olkari. "Those are Floraunas." Star said. "They're from the Flors Verdance caves on Flora."
"Wildvines!" Kid chirped.
Star fired Bomb Spores at the Wildvines; this would quickly prove a mistake as the monsters caught the spores in their own bending. Lotor shot fire at the Wildvines before they could try anything. The Olkari had the chance to grab the spores with their bending and amplify them with greater explosions, destroying the Wildvines. To show their gratitude, the Olkari willed a Cannon Bud to rise from the surface. The boys jumped in and were fired directly to the city.
It was under attack by Charm Golems, dark-brown stone creatures with purple energy veins. The Olkari bent the metal that composed their city to form defense turrets. Star noticed the space lights around the city: when the golems dodged into them, he formed Blocks to trap them, allowing the Olkari to bend the metal inside to smash them. He also shot Bomb Spores out for the Olkari to use to their advantage once more. "Since Vilgax's minions are here, there must be another generator." Lotor surmised.
"We heard the Galra were building something on the underside of the mountains." An Olkari replied.
"Excellent. Paladins, do you copy?"
"Pidge here! Copy!"
The next portal seemed to be directly inside a circular shape at the top of twin pillars. They explored town a bit, finding three green switches with ?'s hidden in crevices in some pyramids. This opened the top of a gold pyramid, revealing a Gold Bolt! Star could run up and grab it with Shinespark. Afterwards, they simply reached the portal with a Block staircase. They jumped from the twilit glow of Olkarion to a the dark, rainy, and desolate landscape landscape.
"Marchanda." Lotor said. They were at the edge of a vast crater, directly under the remains of a moon; which, from space, looked like a ripped piece of paper falling apart in the breeze. Before them was a monument depicting numerous alien races, stacked and holding up two sides of a wall. A small pillar with an inscription stood before the wall. Beyond them, a vast graveyard. "This is the gravesite for over 127,000 warriors who died fighting the empire."
"127 thousand?" Kid replied in awe.
"Yes. 127,098 to be precise."
"Darn, just two shy of 127,100." Star joked. Still, it was a hollow spectacle. Zarkon's actions had taken this many lives. It wasn't really as steep as the Star Wars, Star thought… but he hoped these souls could rest in peace with Zarkon's tyranny ended. With how open the graveyard was, it should be easy to find the next portal, let alone a generator… but once they were well into the sea of graves, the ground pushed up beneath some of them.
"Oh, crud! Every graveyard level's gotta have zombies!" Kid panicked.
Bodies of white wrapping with Egyptian-like crowns and garments emerged. Some were kid-sized and the feminine ones were catlike. "Not zombies, mummies!" Star said. "They're Thep Khufans from Secco's Khufos Caves!"
"Snare-ohs!"
"That just makes them sound like a cereal!"
"But fire should be effective just the same!" Lotor demonstrated by burning the mummies. Star's S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R. was also effective. "How dare you desecrate this cemetery!"
"Actually, they're kind of like undead versions of the Wildvines." Kid remarked by how one Snare-oh tried to snare him in its wrapping, the youth gooing out of it. As they explored the graveyard, hordes of the mummies ambushed them. Star noticed a noteworthy "?" gravestone. Lotor translated it:
Here lies The Riddler: buried at the coordinates of X-1,006. They brought up a map of the gravesite, using the vertical rows as letters, and counting 1,006 downward from the X column. Buried under that grave was a Gold Bolt! "Yeah, I figured he was the one hiding these bolts." Star said.
"Hold on… I think I see the generator back there!" Lotor faced back the direction they came, seeing the device and its beacon of light beyond it. "I must say, these rifts were very contributive to our cause. Paladins, the last one is on Marchanda."
"This is Keith. Going to destroy it now."
The trio kept searching for any other portals. A pink light shone from beneath one of the graves. They unearthed it with a Bomb Spore and dropped in, landing on the roof of Beta Traz's outer ring. "Contributive indeed." Lotor smiled. (End song.)
Keith's flight to Marchanda was made irritating with Christina and Silica in the backseat. Silica really stunk up the cockpit while Christina had her feet propped on the top of his chair. "These Lions ain't half bad though. Think I could have a turn at the wheel?"
"You wouldn't be able to."
"What, I can learn. Ralph lets me drive his planes sometimes."
"You take them without permission." Silica said.
"The Lions aren't ordinary mechs. They each contain guardian spirits that only resonate with the proper drivers."
"Uh yeah, like those Xenoblades."
"The Black Lion, for instance, only follows a true leader. In fact, it used to be Shiro. I wasn't sure that I was worthy to take his place, but-"
"You know, this thing would look cool with some hotrod flames, can we paint some after this?"
"Sigh…" Why did he need to take them on such a simple mission?
…
"The Olkari practice plant and earthbending." Pidge explained to Ralph and Shimmy. "But they incorporate their eco-friendly technology into them to do all kinds of things! They have spores that can send messages into space, and buildings that can take whatever shape they want!"
"LIKE TRAINS?!" Shimmy screamed.
"Well, yeah!"
"Ralph, it's time to go see if I'm an earthbender!"
"We don't have time to train you like that now!"
"Haha! The Green Lion is actually a plantbender herself. The Olkari even gave us giant seeds to trap enemies with."
"Like the one you used on my ship?"
"Yeah… sorry about that." Pidge blushed.
…
"Oi, check out that ginormous apple!" Jason pointed. "Somethin' 'ad to have been real big to eat that!"
"That's actually Puig." Lance replied.
"THAT'S the planet?!" Isabelle exclaimed.
"This galaxy doesn't have your conventional planets."
"It just looks even cooler!" Jason shouted. "Oi wanna jump from one of those cliffs and swim down the whole apple!"
"And I'm gonna run all the way across it!" Isabelle cheered.
"I'd like to see that!"
…
"You can speak to monkey spirits? That sounds quite delightful!" Allura said to Trella.
Talking to mice sounds fun, too! I bet they sound really squeaky! Can you talk to other animals?
"Not necessarily… though I did speak to the living planet, Balmera. Alright, I think I see the generator." They were closing in on Mer. "This should only be a jiffy."
…
"Alright, girls, watch a Yellow Lion at work!" Hunk announced as energy amassed in the lion's jaw. A straight, clean shot turned the machine into a great fireball, fading out of existence.
"YAAAAAY!" Mali cheered, piloting her purple dinosaur ship.
"That was pretty easy!" Laruta said, commanding her dumbbell ship. "Let's head back!"
Star, Kid, and Lotor watched as Beta Traz's barrier disappeared. "YEAH!" Star and Kid high-fived.
"The Paladins had no trouble, it seems." Lotor smiled. "Now, to recover Father's body!"
The central station's entrance was lined up with one of the ring's points, perfectly aligned for a Shinespark! Kid and Lotor held onto Star as they charged right in. Swarms of Galra Rebels greeted them with gunfire; just as they seemed outnumbered, dark, hooded figures leapt out of hiding to strike the Galra down with small blades of similar alloy. Their masks had bright-purple eyeholes and markings. "Whoa! Space ninjas?!" Kid gasped.
"They are the Blade of Marmora." Lotor explained. "Seems they were waiting for the barrier to fall. They were a shadow organization who preserved the empire's peace in secret for centuries. When the war broke out, they learned the true nature of Zarkon's corruption and became rebels."
"But now they're on the empire's side and fighting the new rebels." Star surmised ironically.
Room by room, they fought waves of enemies making use of all their weapons. One room had Galra ridiing on Yuppers, bipedal canines with muscular arms, small horns, and yellow eyes. They leapt to deal slamdunk attacks onto the intruders, squishing Kid into a puddle of goop and getting their fists stuck. One Yupper gnashed Lotor, but he wrestled his hands against his jaw, kicked it in the stomach, and flip-slammed it against the ground. There was a Gold Bolt behind a barrier wall, but they had no way of reaching it, yet.
The penultimate chamber had Druids, purple-cloaked mages with beak-like masks and four slit, yellow holes. The Druids warped around casting spells, the trio relying on Star's Space Block to shield from most of them. Kid's H.O.M.E.R. was able to quickly track and stun-lock them, leaving them subject to the Z.A.P.B.L.E.R., S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R., or Lotor's flaming slashes.
Nothing was left to impede their entry into the central room. "VILGAX!" Star yelped.
A robed witch seemed to be focusing magic over Zarkon's hulking corpse. Emperor Vilgax, his claw dug into Zarkon's chest, arose with a purple stone. "Gah…so, Tetrax failed to finish you. Or did you run away like a coward?"
"Prince Lotor…" The witch faced them, long strands of white hair flowing eerily from her purple hood. Her robe had bright-orange rim and a crest on its head. The hood shrouded her eyes and left only her cold blue jaw bare, two red streaks running down it from her eyes.
Lotor's eyes seemed to tense at the witch. The emperor dashed, sword raised, but a flying mechanical arm punched him to the side. He scowled at the culprit: "Sendak… lay down your arm at once."
A one-armed Galra smirked. In place of his left arm was a huge black, magnetically-attached gauntlet brimming light-purple energy. He wore red and black armor, had a left yellow eye, and a right covered by a red mechanical eye. "You don't give me orders, Lotor. I'm a general of the Vil Galaxy now."
"We're too late!" Star pointed in shock. "He's taken the Heart of Daibazaal!"
"That's right, boy!" Vilgax hissed. "With this, I am the new ruler of the Galra Empire!"
"The Galra will NOT kneel to you!" Lotor vowed. "Nor will they to a Heart that has cursed us so! And you, Haggar… even you would accept him as your master?" he asked the witch.
"With Vilgax's power… we will harness the Quintessence of all Hearts in the universe." Haggar spoke in a dark, withered voice. "He cannot be stopped. Not even by Voltron. Though I imagine, now, the Paladins have fallen for my traps." The revelation left them horrorstruck.
…
"Um, Mr. Hunk?" Mali pointed at a forming mass of poison where the generator was. "Is that supposed to happen, too?"
"Hm?" Before their eyes, a giant mech formed into being, parts of it brimming with Taujeer's acids, along with purple magic veins in its armor. "OOOOHHH, THAT'S NOT GOOD."
Allura was horrified to see a similar ice mech appear on Mer's rim. Trella could sense its tremendous motion. "It can't be… Is that Haggar's magic?!"
Keith, Christina, and Silica watched—well, the latter didn't really watch—as a ghostly mech rose above the graveyard. "AWESOOOOOOME!" Christina screamed.
Lance, Jason, and Isabelle gaped as a water titan appeared on Puig. "Crikey! Even giant beasties here, too?! Let's fight it, Lance!"
An Earth Titan arose on Olkarion. "I should've known!" Pidge said. "Guys, get ready for battle!"
…
"With this…" Vilgax opened a chest and stashed Daibazaal's Heart among other colored stones. "I nearly have all of Quintessa's Hearts!"
"He already stole the other ones?!" Kid exclaimed.
"Kid, Lotor, we need to retreat! We have to check on the other-" A force-field barred their exit.
"Sendak, rid us of these pests." Haggar hissed. "Let us go, Lord Vilgax." She conjured a portal as she and Vilgax peaceably stepped through.
"Today's my lucky day." Sendak said. "Once I'm through with you, Lotor, I'll take my rightful place as emperor. Then it's just a matter of learning the secret to Vilgax's power. Maybe that Omnitrix thing holds some clues…"
"Omnitrix?" Star repeated.
"You will never be strong enough for the throne, Sendak. And I will prove it!" (Play "Hive Mecha Boss" from Metroid Prime!)
Boss fight: Sendak
Sendak kept his distance and thrusted his gauntlet with great force and speed. Star suffered two of the first round of thrusts, but managed to conjure a Block shield in time to trap the arm. Before the shield fell, Star shot and planted Bomb Spores on it, which would explode against Sendak upon returning to him. Lotor took advantage of this lapse to slash flames, burning Sendak twice before the general started evading. He fired a laser from his palm, burning it in a horizontal path as the trio ducked. Kid shot the H.O.M.E.R., but Sendak was quick in swatting the ricocheting ball away. Sendak fired the gauntlet at Lotor, the emperor grabbing it, but his former officer would use the energy tether to pull himself over.
Lotor parried Sendak's flying kick, followed by the roundabout punch of his gauntlet. Sendak would then punch with his normal arm, but Lotor seized, twisted, and brought him to the ground. His young allies blasted Sendak with the S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R. and Z.A.P.B.L.E.R. before he sprung up and threw Lotor into them. Sendak retreated to four elevated platforms near the room's ceiling, jumping between and sniping lasers at them. Conveniently, it seemed space lights had appeared, likely due to the spatial distortions, aligned in a spiral manner toward the ceiling. As Star formed the platforms, he dodged Sendak's lasers from whichever angle they came. Once level with the general, he was in range to make Blocks on the lights over Sendak's platforms. With this, he trapped Sendak in one and willed the box to burst. The general fell to the floor, allowing Lotor to land a clean cut.
Sendak cleared some distance between his opponents and surged with magic energy. He shot the gauntlet at Star, but it suddenly warped, punched Star from the side, then returned. Sendak punched in multiple directions as his gauntlet warped randomly for numerous blows against his enemies. Kid stuck himself to the fist as Sendak reeled him in, the youth quickly jumping his head. "Haha! I'm like a big booger you can't shake off!" Sendak furiously ripped Kid into sticky shreds, during which Lotor ran to kick him off his feet. Lotor slashed down, but Sendak deflected his sword with his gauntlet and kicked the emperor away with both legs. Star closed the distance and drew the S.C.H.O.O.L.: even without water, the piranhas would latch and chew the Galra.
Sendak spun the piranhas and the rest of Kid off before jumping across the room, a piece of the floor raising him up. The trio jumped to an opposite rising platform before the floor electrified. Sendak had a clear view to shoot lasers, Star timing Blocks against his shots. "Hey, maybe my P.O.G.O.S.H.O.C.K. can cross this floor!" Kid said.
"Be careful!" Star cautioned. Kid laughed and blew raspberries as he pogo'ed around the floor, evading Sendak's lasers, but Kid couldn't use any other weapons to attack him. Still, it served as a distraction for Star to search for an answer. "Say, there's an idea…" Star just remembered Zarkon's body lying in the middle of the room. "Lotor, do you mind?"
"By all means." The body was in range enough for Star to lift with Gravity Shift and "throw" it at Sendak. The weight of his old emperor threw off Sendak's balance as he fell into the electricity. He ordered the floor to deactivate, throwing off Zarkon's body just as Lotor charged him. He blocked Lotor's sword and swung his right leg at Lotor's left knee, but the emperor raised his ankle to block it. Sendak spun and swung his gauntlet, Lotor ducking; Sendak shot the gauntlet, and Lotor saw it warp to his left as he jumped it. Midjump, Lotor kicked Sendak against the wall, and when the arm warped back to him, he impaled his sword straight through.
"AAAAAHH!" The arm short-circuited as the energy spewed out of it. Sendak's resolve didn't falter as he leapt away from them. "Even if I perish… the Fire of Purification will burn on!"
"I'm sure it will, Sendak… but your flame can still burn brighter. For now, it seems some enhancements are needed."
"Begone, Haggar! I'm not finished with them, ye—AGH!" A portal dropped Sendak in without giving him the chance. (End song.)
Lotor dove in attempt to grab him, but his hand merely clutched floor. "Blast. Mark my words, I'll find you and that witch before long…" Lotor stood and faced his father's body.
"So… do you want to bring him back to his grave?" Star asked.
"It is the honorable thing to do. I'm certain there was a time my father was a great man. Perhaps without that curse in his remains… he can rest more peacefully. I'm not sure what use Vilgax has for the Heart of a dead planet…" Lotor raised the body by its shoulder. "But should you find him, I would not be remiss if you destroyed it."
"Even without a world, a people's will can still live on. I feel like that's what most of his underlings don't understand."
"It was a lesson that cursed Heart tried to teach for 23 years… but one day, I will rewrite that lesson."
"Yeah." Star nodded encouragingly. "In the meantime, we have Paladins to check on."
On Mer, Allura had quickly learned the ice titan was designed to absorb her Lion's frost beams. Allura, if Mer is a sea world, does it have sea monkeys? Trella asked.
"I heard that it used to, but they went extinct after the Baku landed."
Then their ghosties must still be around! Can you help me sing for them?
"Perhaps I can lend some of my power, too. Alright, Trella! Let's sing!" Allura clutched the Pumparian's green hand and focused chi.
"I wanna see where the sea monkeys are! I wanna see, wanna see them jumping! Up through those, whaddya call them? CORAL TREES!"
Allura focused attention to piloting the Lion to dodge the titan's icicle missiles, imbued with magic aura. A school of spirits streaked out of the ocean and orbited the planet, culminating into the Lion. "Down where they surf, down where they swim, where they STAY ALL DAY WHERE IT'S DIIIIIIM!" The Lion developed a chimp-like mouth and linked its hind legs together to form a thin tailfin. "Someday I'll be… Wish I could be… part of their WOOOORRRRRLD!" The Lion screeched like a monkey and "swam" about the space with ease, bashing the titan with its tail. It also spat giant ghostly bananas that flew like boomerangs, each striking the titan once and coming back for a second!
On Olkarion, the earth titan lost track of the Green Lion, but would soon find her speeding directly toward it. "I hope this WORKS!" Pidge exclaimed. Her Lion was outfitted with train wheels for high speed and a bulldozer on the front, scooping the titan off its feet. The Lion was trapped in a vine shield as the titan tried to penetrate it with stone spear hands.
"It's holding up!" Ralph said hopefully. "Now get us airborne and we'll drill it into the ground!"
They sped up the slanted mountains like a ramp. Upon flying off, the ramp reverted back into claws to clasp the mech. The Lion channeled Joaquin's wind to spin with the force of a typhoon. They covered a vast distance of the moon before diving into a safe area of land, grinding the titan into dust as they drilled ever deep.
On Marchanda, the ghostly titan had to become tangible to attack the Black Lion, whether swiping its claws or bellowing a stunning screech. The Lion would leap backward and swipe its claw; though the attack wouldn't seem to reach, Silica's shadowbending could stretch the Lion's claw for a long distant slash. This was coupled with Christina landing her own emerald-blazed gashes when it became visible, flying around the titan like an irritating firefly. "I'm surprised the Lion allows your bending to adapt to it." Keith smiled.
"Just don't expect me to join your Power Rangers team." Silica replied snarkily.
"We aren't Power Rangers."
"You're color-coded and drive giant animal mechs that fuse into a human mech, of course you are."
"Then you must be one of those anime shut-ins."
On Puig, the Blue Lion bellowed Song Beams with Isabelle's added musicbending, strumming her harp to make the beams curve and take the water titan by surprise. They pushed and lured the titan beneath the cliffs of the northern continent. The sun seemed to sparkle very strongly just over the tip of the cliff: Captain Jason was living his dream of diving from it. "This dive better go in the world records!" His hair and jacket were aflame from his Rising Sun Fury. His hands were folded at his back, forming a massive conjoined Light Fist. One thumb was stuck up, so the Light Fist was actually shaped like an apple with the stem on top. "Puig may've already been eaten, but you can still eat THIS! SUNNYYYYY APPLLLLEEE!"
The apple splattered above the half-liquid mech, thus splattering the water and armor apart from each other. "WOOHOOOOOO! CAPTAAAAIN!" Isabelle cheered.
"They don't teach bending like that in Avatar Realms!" Lance gazed in awe.
On Taujeer… Hunk felt a little uncomfortable. "Look, if we do this, you girls have to promise you won't tell the other Paladins."
"Pinky promise, Mr. Hunk!" Mali cheered.
"Drink up, Mali!" Laruta and her little sister chugged sodas down, the two stationed in the back compartment of the Yellow Lion.
With the poison titan closing in, the Lion faced its rear to it. "FIRRRRRE…rt." Hunk roared.
The Lion fired its tail cannon… complete with a gaseous force. Even the titan cringed from the stench, so much that its acidic body fell apart. "HOOOOOH!" Laruta cheered. "THAT finished 'er!"
"Yeah…great." Hunk drooped. This was exactly why he quit showbiz.
Castle of Lions
"A Sunny Apple?" Star laughed. "I guess you have a new favorite fruit now?"
"Unless we find a peeled orange planet!" Isabelle laughed.
"That was certainly a dicey situation." Coran said. "Our new friends really came through for us!"
"It still feels like a hollow victory." Keith sighed. "We couldn't stop them from taking Zarkon's Heart… or any of the others for that matter."
"At least they won't be able to use Beta Traz as a base, anymore." A tall, broad-shouldered man walked in. He had a white tuft on his dark hair and a black combat uniform with a mechanical right arm. "And we couldn't leave those machines active either. I think today was a job well done."
"Everyone, this is Takashi Shirogane!" Allura introduced. "He was once our Black Paladin."
"Call me Shiro. I just wanted to say 'Thank you' for your help, Kids Next Door."
"No problem, Shi." Christina said, kicked back on their couch. "When do we get our own lions?"
"When you find your own mystical guardian spirit and it deems you worthy!" Coran argued.
"What's next on your agenda?" Shiro asked. "We need to stop Vilgax, but we can't just leave Quintessa vulnerable to attack."
"Kid and I are trying to locate captured operatives… and more Nether Rifts." Star answered. "But we'll keep in touch in case we need each other!"
"You are welcome in Quintessa at any time." Lotor smiled. "If you need, I may don a new disguise and join you in the arena."
"Oi ain't done exploring this galaxy, yet!" Jason declared. "Which planet should we go next?!"
"Yeah, Star, where we goin' next?" Kid asked excitedly.
"Let's think about it after a quick stop at Mo's! We'll see you later!"
"Good luck, Star!" Allura cheered.
On his way back to the garage, Star frowned. He felt as though Shiro's name came up recently. "Shirogane…"