𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘; arc one
I. 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚
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THE MISSION was supposed to be simple— a quick infiltration to gather some intel and search for the Holts, maybe free a few prisoners if they had the chance. Albeit simple, the mission was still risky and Allura had decided (with much forethought) that pairing Keith and Lance together would be their course of action. A terrible choice that could have been avoided with little to no hindsight had Allura not been insistent that the paladins had to get along. That insistence, of course, was what had gotten them into that mess.
"We have to take a left! No... a right! Wait, yeah, left!" Lance vacillated through grit teeth as he and Keith looked through the corridors that surrounded them. "Well which is it?!" spat Keith while trying to pull up the map, to no avail, "we aren't getting anywhere closer to the main deck! Dammit! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you with the map!" Lance scoffed as he slapped his arm, making the map that hovered over it visible for a few seconds before fizzing out into nothingness.
"You can't even get the map out!" Lance pointed out, smacking his arm again to get a mere blip of the screen which disappeared yet again afterward, "Quiznak!" Keith let out a short, dry laugh while pressing himself against the wall of one of the corridors. "How was I supposed to know that the signal would get jammed?" Keith sighed as static and Shiro's broken speech crackled through his helmet. "At this rate, we'll get caught." Keith missed the look of fear that crossed Lance's face as Keith fiddled with the screen on his arm.
"Yeah? Well, it'll be your fault, Mullet," scowled Lance, bristling under his armor as his hands clenched into fists, shaking. Keith grit his teeth, spinning around to face Lance with newfound vexation. "Oh, my fault? That's funny coming from you," Keith hissed as Pidge's voice sputtered around his helmet in short, quick-tempered bursts. With another sigh, Keith fidgeted with the screen on his arm, ignoring Lance's piercing gaze at the side of his head. "Fuck you." Keith didn't even bother looking up, paying little heed to Lance's footsteps which grew softer with each passing second.
If Shiro had been with them, Keith was sure Lance wouldn't have been as annoying as he had been. Maybe even tolerable. But Shiro was with Pidge and Hunk, all three of which were on the side of a nearby rock formation with the camouflaged Green Lion. And had he not been with Lance, Keith knew he would have been able to navigate through the Galra base without walking into an area where all their communications were jammed. Keith grumbled curses under his breath as he tried to get the map to clear up on the screen above his arm until he heard a set of frantic footsteps.
"Keith! Keith- there's a shit ton of noise coming from over there," Lance said, stumbling against the wall with blown eyes. Keith shot Lance a look of derision— was Lance not aware of the type of mission they were on? "Great, so we know not to go that way," Keith huffed as Lance raised his hands to his head in disbelief, and had he not worn his helmet, Lance would have pinched the skin between his brows. "No, no, it's cheering, Keith," Lance clarified, expecting Keith to come to the same conclusion. "Uh, okay? Nice," Keith replied with a deadpan, "anyways, let's head away from the noise, yeah?"
Lance groaned loudly and grabbed Keith by the back of his armor, dragging him in the direction of the cheers. It wasn't until Keith had heard them that he realized the implications. "A...fighting arena..?" Keith managed to say as Lance shook his head frantically. "Keith, look, I know you're all," Lance paused to gesture at Keith, "you. But we should keep this to ourselves. If Pidge found out her family was here... who knows what she'd do." As reluctant as Keith was to agree with Lance, Lance was right. Plus, Shiro wouldn't take it well in the slightest.
"Fine," Keith replied after breaking away from Lance's grip, slapping the gauntlet on his arm to try and pull up the map for the hundredth time. "Let's go back to-" Keith stopped short at the sound of heavy footsteps heading from two of the three corridors they were at the crossroads of. "Shit." Lance shot Keith a glance before looking at the empty corridor beside them. "This way," Lance whispered, just loud enough for Keith to hear, and rushed down the corridor with echoing footsteps that blended in with the others. Just as they reached the end, however, the looming shadows of Galran druids appeared.
Lance took a sharp breath, looking back and forth until he spotted a door a few feet away. "Go, go," he screeched as softly as he could, tugging on Keith's arm frantically. Keith quickly slapped his hand on the scanner and he and Lance slipped in before shutting the door immediately. "Lock it," Lance cried as Keith twisted his palm, sighing in relief when a lock symbol appeared over the scanner. "That was way too close," grumbled Keith as he tested his comms, receiving nothing but static, "but, of course, you thought going towards the noise was a smart idea." Lance grimaced and spun around to shove a finger against Keith's chest plate.
"I told you the map said to go that way before it went, poof!" Lance spat, shoving his finger harder against Keith's armor, and pushing him back against the wall. "The soldiers and the druids being there wasn't my fault." Keith scoffed, swatting away Lance's hand with a furrowed brow. "What? Are you saying it's my fault now?" Lance cradled his chin between his thumb and his forefinger, tilting it with a sarcastic hum before nodding. "Yeah. You were the one who was rushing me earlier! If we weren't practically running to our deaths, I could have been able to memorize the route!"
"Fuck off, Lance," Keith seethed with grit teeth, shoving Lance back, making the blue paladin stumble back harshly. "Come mierda, cabrón!" Keith had no time to react when Lance shoved him back against the wall, his hand slamming against a small control panel. A sharp, almost ear-piercing, beep stopped them in their tracks, Lance paling as the wall adjacent to them slowly started to rise. Without a second to waste, Keith and Lance pulled out their bayards, transforming them and holding them tight as they awaited what would come next with anxious stares.
"What the..." "...Quiznak."
The cheers they had at some point blocked out had now hit them at full force as they scanned the arena the room had overlooked. It was filled to the brim with Galra, their fucked-up excitement piercing the air. In the middle of the arena were two aliens, one drastically larger than the other. It was heartbreakingly obvious who was going to win. The smaller of the two aliens swung their weapon feverishly, heaving as they tried to hit the larger alien. It wasn't even moments later that the alien was nothing more than a corpse. Lance felt sick to his stomach.
"Keith?! Lance?! Come in!"
Lance was dead silent as Keith gritted his teeth, fists tightening until he could feel a sharp stinging in his palms. "This is Keith...we..." Keith faltered in remembering Lance's previous warnings about telling Pidge the truth. It was all futile when the crowd erupted into cheers so deafening, that the comms had heard them loud and clear. "Is there a... a fighting ring?" Pidge's weary voice made Keith shudder and it was Lance's turn to respond. "There's no way Mr. Holt and Matt are here," Lance began while crossing his arms, "they're too smart to be put in a fighting ring of all places." Pidge let out a soft 'yeah' that made Lance and Keith frown.
The cheers of the arena were still echoing through the comms and Keith fidgeted while waiting for Shiro to break the radio silence. "I... I didn't think this place was a...a fighting ring," Shiro finally managed to say, pain audibly visible in his voice. Lance could faintly hear Hunk comforting Pidge who was tapping away at her screen and when he glanced over at the glass, another alien had been pushed out into the arena— he turned back around before he could see much more. Allura was next to speak, clearing her throat awkwardly. "Paladins...maybe we should call off this mission."
"No! We can't! The information we got said a human was being held here!" cried Pidge through a voice crack, "what if it's Matt...or- or Dad? I can't leave them here. Even if it's not them, we're the defenders of the universe aren't we?" Allura sighed as the comms went silent again, "you're right, Pidge. Paladins, continue the mission. Keith, Lance, if you find Pidge's family, bring them to the castleship immediately." Lance half-smiled yet before he could say a witty comment or flirt with Allura, the echoing voice of a Galran announcer interrupted him. The language was translated through their helmets, making both Keith and Lance grimace.
"What a fight! Seems like our reigning champion lives another day," the announcer said as laughter bled through the glass of the windows, "but now, it's time for your favorite part of the evening!" If the cheers hadn't been deafening before, they certainly were now. Keith and Lance approached the glass as the cheering died down, and the announcer chuckled. "A glorious intermission led by the only one of her kind—" Pidge let out a 'huh?', "— the charming enchantress you all know and love..." There were wolf whistles and screams of delight as some fog rolled out into the arena, blocking their sight.
"Que mierda-What the hell is happening?!"
"The marchioness..."
"How the fuck would I know?!"
"...of the Galran Empire..."
"Both of you shut up!"
"...Lady Andromeda!"
The arena went dark, a single purple spotlight falling in the middle of it. There, in the dreadful beam of light, you laid. "Guys, you might want to see this," muttered Lance, pressing a button on the side of his helmet to show the others what he was seeing. He and Keith watched as around twelve other aliens surrounded you, trembling as you raised your head from your crossed arms. The silence that had just loomed over the arena ceased when an eerie rendition of Clair De Lune resounded through it, sending chills down Lance's spine. You were on your feet now, arms raised above your head before you lowered them down gracefully to the beat of the music.
Lance's gut wrenched when you raised your leg— the metal one that consisted of just a small coil that mirrored the shape of ballet shoe ribbons and the metal 'foot' built to resemble a ballet slipper. You were a ballerina and you were dancing in the middle of a fighting arena. Lance could already see his younger cousins performing their recitals in the living room with cheap tutus, pink stockings, and no ballet slippers in sight. He could feel the smile tugging at his cheeks when his cousins would try to imitate the ballerina on the tv behind them while looking back far too often. He could hear their laughter and their stupid little jokes as they tried to be as elegant as the prima ballerina.
Yet, there you were, the pinnacle of perfection.
Lance nor Keith could take their eyes off of you, even with the frantic conversation of their teammates in their helmets discussing their next moves to save you. You didn't seem fazed by the aliens rigidly dancing around you as you twirled softly onto your toes Keith couldn't help but wonder, for a moment, what it was like to dance with a prosthetic while Lance stared at the black fabric of your tutu which glittered like the stars that shone over Varadero. While Lance started thinking of his cousins again, Keith could feel anger bubbling in the bottom of his stomach as you danced without a care in the world— you reminded him too much of Shiro.
Shiro, who pretended that he wasn't affected by the constant fights or the need to survive as 'The Champion' in the middle of space. Shiro, who came back to Earth screaming and thrashing about the Galra only to get sedated and quarantined. Shiro, whose disappearance was covered up as a failure on his and his team's behalf. Shiro...who was completely silent. "Shiro?" asked Keith, the realization of Shiro's silence settling in, "what's wrong?" Shirt let out a choked noise and Keith's breath caught in his throat, "Shiro?!" Lance turned to Keith with a furrowed brow which Keith mirrored as Shiro took deep breaths over the comms.
"I... I know her. Lady Andromeda, I- she and Zarkon watched me fight once but I didn't know she was... human."
Keith turned from the glass, walking to the corner of the room to open a private comm between him and Shiro. Before he could, however, Lance shouted. It wasn't one of contempt like it usually was between him and Keith, but a guttural one that made Keith rush back over towards the glass. "Lance, what-" Lance had clamped a hand over his mouth so tightly that Keith was concerned that Lance might inadvertently suffocate himself. But when Lance pointed shakily at the arena, Keith (sadly) immediately understood why. At your feet was an alien, its head nowhere to be found.
"What the fuck."
Lance curled in on himself, breathing heavily as Keith's eyes stayed glued to the arena, watching as you moved toward the alien behind you, its arms shakily lifting you into the air. Not even moments later, its head was gone, tumbling down into the fog. It wasn't like Keith wasn't used to such violence (war was war after all), but you looked so unfazed that it made him sick. Any pity he held for you was gone as he grit his teeth, fists clenching as he stood and watched you send more innocent aliens to their deaths. Keith tore his eyes away from the glass before his anger got the best of him, pulling Lance along with him.
"We aren't going to save her," grumbled Keith as cries of confusion rang through the comms but he stayed firm in his judgment. "She's a lost cause. She could try and save those innocent aliens but she isn't! She's probably been brainwashed by Zarkon," Keith insisted as Lance stood, flabbergasted. "B-But Keith...she's still," Lance hesitated— it wasn't like Keith was wrong but there was something about the way you were dancing. Lance's gaze floated over to the arena where you leaned into an alien's arms, mouth moving just clearly enough to make out one word: sorry. You weren't doing this willingly, you couldn't have been.
And Lance wasn't going to leave you behind.
Lance grabbed Keith's arm just as he was unlocking the door of the room they had locked themselves into, a knot in his brow. "What Lance," asked Keith exasperatedly while Lance gnawed on the inside of his lip. With a deep breath, Lance pulled Keith over to the glass, forcing him to watch as you stood amidst a ring of aliens, not a spot of blood on your dress. But your ballet slippers were soaked in blood, a sickening hue of black. You slowly sunk in on yourself, wrapping your arms around your midsection as you gracefully sat in a circle of corpses. While the Galrans cheered and whistled, you looked up in the direction of the balcony they stood in, a strained smile on your face.
"WE HAVE TO SAVE HER."
