Looming Evil.

(Hours later)

(The courtyard)

"Again!" Cracked calls, leveling her pistol. Shining dashes at her, knife poised. She starts shooting at Shining, him narrowly dodging the beams. He starts to circle her, running clockwise around her.

She continues shooting, getting dangerously close to hitting him but his reactions are astounding, him dodging the beams with deft movements. He suddenly makes a run at Cracked, still dodging and even deflecting her shots. He takes a swing at her, missing her midsection by millimetres as she jumps away from his slash.

He suddenly pivots in place, spinning around and driving his fist into her stomach, winding her and causing her to stumble. Moving swiftly, he pulls the energy pistol out of her grip before straightening his hold on it, his knife by her throat and pistol pointed at her face.

"I win." Shining breathes.

"Never assume." Cracked says as her pistol starts beeping rapidly. Thinking quickly, Shining throws the pistol into the air, ducking to the side as his mother tries to sucker punch him. Grabbing her shoulder as the airborne pistol sparks with purple electricity, Shining yanks her forward, positioning himself behind her with his knife again in front of her throat. The pistol harmlessly falls to the ground as Shining pants lightly.

"Now I win." Shining states.

"A Blargian snaggle hold. Any movement I attempt to make will cause your weapon to exsanguinate me. Well done." Cracked assesses. Shining lowers his knife as his mother moves to pick up her gun.

"I call that a death swipe hold." Shining replies. Cracked smiles as she looks at her son.

"Well? How do you feel? Any connection yet?" Cracked asks.

"I'm not sure. I think so? I feel like I'm using a completely different weapon now." Shining answers, looking at the knife in his hand.

"Some of us feel that way too when we learn to use our blades. Follow that feeling. Now, again!" Cracked calls shooting at her son again.

(Outpost Omega twenty four)

"Prepare for the arrival of the Vox armada! Repeat: the Vox armada will be arriving in less than a quintant, prepare for arrival!" The commander says through the intercom, many of the crewmen and sentries mobilising into action. "There. Now, I had better contact the Vox commander to schedule their time of arrival. Conclusion: I will head to the communications array. Sub-commander! Take control. Make sure the men stay in line." The commander orders.

"Yes, commander Zigo!" The sub-commander answers, stepping up to the overseeing platform. The commander walks to the communications array, making sure the crewmen are doing their work as he walks by. He arrives at the communications array, seeing a cadet working on the machine.

"Cadet, what are you doing?" Zigo asks.

"Checking the communications array, making sure everything is in working order for when the Vox armada arrives." The cadet responds, turning to look up at the tall commander.

"Conclusion?" Zigo asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Fully functional, commander Zigo." The cadet answers.

"Good work. Conclusion: I now promote you to private first class. See sub-commander Alleyhar for your new accommodations." Zigo says.

"Ah! Thank you sir! I'll report to him immediately." The private says. Zigo nods, pressing a button on his gauntlet to inform the sub-commander.

"Now then." Zigo turns on the communications array. "Come in, Vox armada. This is outpost Omega twenty four. Do you read me?" After a second, Atchor's face appears on screen.

"I read you, Omega twenty four." She says.

"General Atchor? Apologies, general. I was attempting to contact the Vox armada, it seems I have someone to demote." Zigo says, agitated.

"No need, commander Zigo. This is the Vox armada." General Atchor says.

"What? But I thought…"

"His Eminence, emperor Zarkon, has given me command of the Vox armada for this mission. A pest has reared its head in outer space and emperor Zarkon has asked me to exterminate it." Atchor says, a twisted grin on her face.

"Ah. So, conclusion: you are working with commander Vril to accomplish this mission." Zigo deduces.

"Correct. Now, are you ready for our arrival?" Atchor asks, eyes narrowed.

"My men are preparing for your arrival as we speak. Conclusion: I am contacting you to establish the time of your arrival."

"Oh. You'll be glad to know we will be arriving at 12:00 exactly. Do not make us wait." Atchor states explicitly.

"Understood, general. We will be ready for you." Zigo assures.

"You had better be." Atchor orders, closing the connection.

(Mystacor)

"Alright, are you ready?" Cracked asks me, holding- borrowing- Shining's knife. I stand across from her, Altean broadsword in hand.

~~Yeah. Ready when you are.~~ I reply.

"Alright. Just to be clear: Diego, you are only allowed to use that broadsword, no other weapons or powers. Mom, you are only allowed to use my knife, no pistol and this duel will be over if one of you stays on the ground for more than five seconds. Understood?" Shining declares, arm raised.

"Understood." Both of us say.

"Alright… begin!" Shining calls, swiping his arm down. I run forward, sword held to my side as I get closer to Cracked. She jumps high, aiming to plunge her dagger into my head. I parry with my sword, following the motion through with a slash to her side. She dodges around my slash, cutting my shoulder.

I take a step back and thrust forward, aiming for her armpit. She limbos under my thrust, hitting my wrist with her weapon. I almost let go of my sword but I manage to keep my grip. Unfortunately, Cracked uses my distraction to get behind me and drive her knife into my neck, pushing me off balance. I trip, causing me to fall onto my chest. Cracked jumps on top of me, pushing my head into the ground.

"One." She begins counting. I push off the ground, rolling over and forcing her to jump off me. Quickly getting up again, I assume my stance. "Your stance is powerful but lacks integrity. Your armour might be tough but it doesn't stop you from getting pushed around. You should lower your center of gravity and widen your stance." Cracked instructs.

~~Thanks. I'm still learning how to-~~

Engage.

Diego noticeably changes his stance, now standing with legs bent, leaning forward slightly with his broadsword poised to his side.

"Yes, exactly like that." Cracked comments, noticeably surprised.

"Oh no. Diego! That's against the rules!" Shining orders, standing in front of Diego.

"Jex? What is it?" Cracked asks.

"Diego isn't in control anymore. I think that voice in his head is." Shining says.

"What? You mean Voltron?" Cracked asks.

"It has a name? Let's talk about that later. Diego. This is a duel between you and my mom. Not whatever his name is." Shining orders.

"Response: Protocol Two in effect. Voltron will continue duel." Voltron says, to Shining's confusion.

"Protocol Two? What's that?" Shining asks.

"Engage Protocol Five. Answer: information classified." Voltron answers. "Query: continue duel?" Voltron asks.

"Continue duel? No. Listen. Diego doesn't need you taking control of him-" Shining is cut off by Voltron.

"Interruption: Protocol Two in effect. Voltron will continue duel." Voltron asserts.

"Jex, don't worry about it. Voltron is obviously an artificial intelligence. He won't listen to you if it means going against his protocols so let's just let him fight." Cracked concedes, making Shining grumble.

"Fine. But since Voltron is helping Diego, I'll help you." Shining says, standing next to his mother. "It's only fair." He says.

"Response: compromise acceptable. You require a weapon." Voltron says, pointing at Shining.

"Here." Cracked gives Shining his knife back, pulling out her hidden pistol. "I'll use this."

"Order: duel shall continue in three…" Shining and Cracked get into combat stances. "Two…" Diego enters his new stance, holding his weapon beside himself. "One." Diego rushes forward at the same time as Shining, Cracked leveling her pistol. Cracked begins shooting as Shining advances. Diego easily deflects the shots with the flat of his sword before blocking a cut from Shining.

Shining tries to sweep Diego's leg but he stands firm, only making Shining hurt his shin.

"Jex!" His mother calls out, instinctively making him duck. Cracked shoots Diego straight in the face, temporary blinding him. Shining, seizing the moment, stabs forward, hitting Diego straight in the Bayard port. Diego flinches back, knocking Shining's knife away as he does. Cracked notices his reaction, as does Shining.

"Go for his chest." They both say at the same time. Shining ducks to the side, towards his knife as Cracked opens fire, hitting Diego a few times before he starts blocking her shots, moving closer to her as he does. Shining moves in again, going for a strike to the shoulder. Diego dodges but realizes it was a feint, taking a shot to the chest from Cracked as he does.

Shining goes for a thrust but Diego parries, going for a slash of his own. Shining dodges, a shot following him as he does, hitting Diego.

Synchronization of Shining Armour and Cracked Sky exceeding predicted parameters. Increasing combat capacity limit to four. Voltron assesses. Diego starts moving quicker, swiftly jabbing the hilt of his sword into Shining's stomach and chest in quick succession before hitting him in the face with the flat of his broadsword.

"Agh!" Shining exclaims as he falls on his back, cradling his cheek. Diego dashes forward, pulling his arm back to slash at Cracked. Surprisingly, Cracked jumps forward, dodging under Diego's slash and quickly aiming her weapon at his sword.

She fires and then kicks his hand, breaking Diego's grip and making his broadsword skid away. Cracked, as well as the now upright Shining, both advance on Diego, Cracked's pistol pointed at his head and Shining's humming knife ready at his chest.

"Wait, what's that sound?" Shining asks. His mother looks down at his hand.

"Jex, the knife." Cracked points out, making Shining look down at his softly glowing weapon.

"Whoa." Shining says, awed. Unfortunately, the mother and son duo took their eyes off Diego. His broadsword on the ground starts to glow before disappearing. Cracked and Shining notice but don't see as the weapon appears in Diego's left hand.

Moving deftly, Diego trips Cracked, kicking her pistol to the other side of the arena as he subdues Shining, putting him in a death swipe hold.

"Duel: over. Winner: Diego." Voltron says, releasing Shining.

(Atchor's ship: The Starscream)

"So, Atchy. How are we going to deal with these pests?" Vril says over communications, his voice equally playful and sinister.

"Simple, commander Vril, we make our stop at outpost Omega twenty four, make sure we're running at 100% then we fly for this stupid planet. If we encounter resistance, we annihilate them. When we find the foolish planet that has attacked our other ships, we feed it to Galvanus. Simple. As. That." General Atchor replies, her voice focused and venomous.

"Oh, general. I love the way you think." Vril says, ending his transmission. Atchor smiles as she looks at the space in front of her.
Soon. Soon we shall show why no-one defies the will of LORD ZARKON. She thinks.

Author's Note

Well this was a doozy! What do you think, Plankton?