The craziest show in the galaxy, yup.

[balancingedge]

Who: Takashi Shirogane, Keith, Lance, Katie “Pidge” Holt, and whoever else gets dragged into this madness.
When: November 10th (with possible additions later for Curti Center run ins)
Where: the Dream Width, and see above
What: When all save the former Black Paladin get pulled into the Dream Width within the span of a morning, it becomes an Adventure retrieving them.
Warnings/Notes: Spoilers up to the end of Season 7 of Voltron: Legendary Defender. Also game shows. I’ll add more if anything shows up.

It’s shortly after midnight when all three signals are caught by the Curti Center’s radar. Prior to that, however, there is another sign: the barriers of both Red and Green go down as both mechanical lions stir, a low rumble of a growl echoing among the two of them. Black looks up and roars. They’re back, but in trouble. Yet like with the two disappearances among their team before, there is no sign whatsoever of what lies ahead.

Just a signal, and three lions that desperately want to get off the ground and fly to their paladins.

Comments

[thegoofball]

While Lance is easy to distract, he doesn't so much as twitch at the sound of a voice that shouldn't be there. There's still a game to play, and he's looking at Bob intently as the alien continues on.

"Let's give Lance a round of applause," and the audience complies, "He is a great sport. Norlox, tell Lance what the next warfler is."

"The next warfler is Faces From The Past!" There's a dramatic drumroll, and after prodding at Lance and calling him a beautiful dumdum, he begins explaining the rules. The game is simple enough - Lance will be shown pictures of people he's met, and he needs to name them. Every name he gets right gets him a goolian credits.

And then the isolation shield comes down. It's a tube that drops from the ceiling faster than Lance can react - mostly transparent, except for the top, where it looks like it's connected to some sort of mouth. "Perfect! Now, let's see our first face from the past," Bob says, as the screen begins to cycle through portraits of several different aliens before it finally stops.

"We've been spotted!" The vehicle swerves at it gets shot from behind, the driver - a woman dressed in uniform, similar but not as sleek as the armor Lance wears - tries to avoid the blasts from the ships chasing them. "Watch out, okay. Be careful!"

"I know!" the woman shouts. A voice pipes up through their comms - Shiro. "Lance, where are you? Can you hear me?"

"Whoa - Veronica, look out!" Lance yells but it's not enough, it's too late, and their wheel gets hit. The ATV goes rolling through the sand and everything goes dark.

"This is easy," Lance says, though he sounds unsure. "That's Koli- wait. What?"

"Lance? Lance, come in!" The words are faint and tinny and there's a ringing as Lance pushes himself up from the sand. The ATV is a wreck, and he was sent far from it. He hurts, but the important thing is- is- "Veronica?"

The woman lies nearer the remains of the ATV, and she's not moving.

"Veronica!" He runs across the sand and rock towards her, and Lance reaches out for her. She shifts, looking up at him, and relief is obvious in his voice as he sighs out that she's okay. Which is, of course, when the sentries show up and open fire.

"Uh." Lance looks to Keith, a little desperately. "Blade...y?"

[thegoofball]

It's called skill.

[He stretches out his legs, as if to elaborate on his point, before he seems to deflate on himself.]

You saw it with your mom?

[What does that mean, Keith? Also, Lance is not as great of an actor as he wants to be, because he can't...keep the concern out of his voice.]

When you were on your mission together?

[balancingedge]

[Keith shrugs, too tired to argue the point. He stares out the window on the other side of the lounge, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.]

Yeah. In the quantum abyss. Space-time is unstable in that part of the universe. Not only because it works differently with so many large celestial objects and the dark star at the center. At irregular intervals, we'd catch glimpses into one another's past or the future regardless of if we were idle or training.

[There's more to it than that, but that's the basics.]

I was asleep when she found out about my dad.

[spaceforged]

[Bob drifts over and notes that the other team could steal. A hissing sound issues forth as four figures rise into view. Only one of them is real at first. Shiro has his arms crossed over his white armored chest. His eyebrow keeps twitching as Bob goes on and the storm in his eyes goes dark and dangerous when Zarkon speaks up.

Then turns to shock as he stares at Bob when he flirts with Haggar.

He slowly turns his head to look to Futaba and Ann in the audience then back to Keith.]

...Baby, please wake up. I don't want to be here.

[thegoofball]

[Oh.

Of course Krolia didn't know what happened to Keith's father - how could she have? She had to have left when Keith was impossibly young. Too young to remember her.

Which means that after his dad died, Keith was alone. He had no family at all, and Lance...]

So she knew it was just you. That you didn't have a family.

[Lance can't fathom a life without one. It explains a lot, though, about Keith. Nobody had ever been there for him the way Lance's family was there when he needed them.]

I rolled a 20 - apparently the power of gay compels him. (1/2)

[balancingedge]

[Time ran out. Just as he started to wake. That isn't how this went before; he had two more things that he was supposed to draw. Yet he still sadly floats back to the head of team Voltron. And by "sadly," we mean "irritated even though still hunched over."

"I have an illness, and it's getting worse." It echoes in his mind as the others look at the other platform, dumbfounded. It isn't long before it's seconded by another, "If I don't make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron—"]

[balancingedge]

[Keith wakes up. He finds himself in a sea of red and green sparks for just a brief moment and pressure around his elbows keeping him from surging forward—

"My father had something he always said in dire situations." Allura...
He can't help himself, anymore. "'Give up'?"
"Sorry?"
"It just doesn't seem like he was a real fighter when the chips were down."
"Keith, come on." Hunk...
"You have a lot of nerve questioning someone's leadership, seeing how you left us!"

His hands grasp the side of the podium to steady himself. Were his feet not trapped within the confines of those shackles, he'd likely have fallen over at which memory surfaced as he reentered the shared one. His breathing is heavy as he realizes why that memory came up in the first place.

He looks across the stage from the group, noticing Shiro among the others—standing where Lotor should be if his memory of this shared dream between the five Paladins was correct.]

Shiro— [He shakes it off and pushes it aside to deal with later. Right now, there was something more important to deal with.] Baby, our arms are locked together at the elbow. I woke up briefly and was immediately pulled back in here. We need to wake up Lance and Pidge before the memory loops. [He looks out the the audience, finally able to see Ann and Futaba.] We have three mini-games after they steal points and a final round.

[balancingedge]

[He got to saw a brief glimpse of that memory; he was just an infant at the time.

Keith sighs as his head touches the back of the couch. He doesn't like thinking about the home he was forced to go to not long after they came to him with the news. It had become a habit after the funeral to visit the cemetery after school to tell him about what happened. At some point, he'd stopped. Probably a few months before he was recruited into the Garrison.

He didn't want to tell him he'd become a discipline case because it was the only way he wasn't ignored.]

Only until we left Earth. [That faint hint of a smirk grows just that little wider. He'd mentioned before they had no idea how much the thought that they would be there if he ever needed anything meant to him. Now, Lance and Pidge have that context.] Never answered me though. Holding up okay?

[thegoofball]

[Lance looks away, trying to hide the frown on his face. Keith can probably see it anyways, and hiding it is probably stupid for a lot of reasons, but he just...

He hates that he didn't know. He had no right to know, probably, as rocky as his and Keith's relationship started out, and it's not his place to be upset over it. What can he be upset over, anyways? That he was a jerk to Keith? He doesn't know if knowing would have meant he'd have acted any differently - not to mention he doesn't think Keith would take kindly to pity - but it's just.

It's not fair. Life isn't fair, any he hates me.]

You don't have to worry about me, Keith. [But his heart's not really in that.] I'll be just fine. Always am!

[Liar.]

[balancingedge]

[Yeah, he sure can see it. The smirk fades as he turns his head to look at him. Really look at him.

It takes a few seconds for him to recall the incident at the diner and he mentally kicks himself.] Lance, I might get irritated sometimes, but I meant what I said out there. Messed up series of coincidences or not, we're friends.

[He'll always be concerned for the rest of the team, in his own way.] Besides, who else would I give a hard time for making fun of me?

[Aaand not immediately punch them into next Tuesday? Talk to him, man.]

[balancingedge]

"It's Antok." The Blade who went with Kolivan to them and fought alongside him and Allura against Haggar and the Druids. He fell in that conflict, and this Keith slowly recalling why he hates this sitting around and attempting to give Lance hints. So much. Also why he took the handbook and wrote down all their names beneath the Blades who were listed as fallen. Someone had to.

But he remembers that memory shown. He remembers trying to reach him when the communications suddenly went down. He frowns. So that's what happened on Lance's end. They should have accounted for Red being a drama king, just like their paladin. "Lance, don't try to answer immediately!" He shouts, hoping using a louder volume will get through. He remember him mentioning hearing the audience once. "Bob's toying with you to make you look like you're the dumb one he and Zarkon insist you are. He'll keep switching them from one you know to one you don't until you stop immediately begin answering when it slows!"

[balancingedge]

"She is." Keith, meanwhile, is trying very hard not to smirk at what is about to happen. He glances at Shiro for a split second and nods an affirmative. They'll be fine. He knows who he has to vote for to earn their freedom after she hits that glowing ball.

But, man, seeing this part again is almost worth the rest of it. Almost. Jerk of a host. "Pidge, we've been through this before. You already know the exact trajectory you need for this." There's an amused glint in his eye. He knows exactly what Pidge is about to go for and leans into the podium before him so he doesn't get hit in the back of the head in the process.

"Give him hell."

[thegoofball]

[Lance shakes his head, and he laughs weakly. He can't...think of anything better to say. Anything to get past the awkwardness he feels letting himself be vulnerable to Keith.

Time has changed things a lot. Changed them a lot.]

Pidge. She'd be happy to make fun of you.

[And it's true. Lance is, and always has been, replaceable.]

But I'm serious, too. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine.

[balancingedge]

[He raises an eyebrow. Well, can't say he expected the laugh or what he says after.]

Pretty sure it wouldn't be the same.

[He knows it wouldn't. Time changed them all so much, it's true, but... Keith sighs. It's one of those times he wishes he could talk to Hunk and figure out how to approach this, or Shiro. But he has to do this his way and try to connect like he would.]

Look, Lance. I'm a fighter with loner tendencies. Always will be. That's why of all the paladins, I admire how you're able to bring others together and ease tension with humor. I can't do that. Pidge and Shiro can't, either. [They can certainly try, but it's not the same. So, Keith forms his hand into a fist, lightly bumping it against Lance's upper arm. It's barely a tap, but still.] You're my second and the right hand of Voltron, but more importantly, you're like a brother to me. Not worrying isn't gonna happen.

[It's just even worse since he's pretty sure he's the only one without the capability to heal your sorry asses.]

[spaceforged]

[He raises an eyebrow at the list of names. He knows them all and their outdated records. Griffin. James Griffin.

He can recall the stickler for the rules in a way that reminds him of Adam reminding him to stay still out of the side of his mouth. The two of them talking under their breath and Adam’s constant calm. Until he wasn’t calm but those moments were rare.
Keith is a flame. Adam is the water that has a surprise under tow.]

We can have privacy later, when we get you cleaned up. [Shiro lays him down on the couch and sits down beside him. Pale light curls up inside his mind and he focuses on it turning it into a thin white line. He lets the power spill out down his arm as he rests his hand on Keith’s stomach.]

I imagine they both want to talk to you.

[balancingedge]

[Keith sighs; irritated, but not in a state to argue the point. So he shifts slightly, until the hand on his stomach stops him. Violet seeks out grey as he studies the other's face; a determined fire burning brighter in his gaze as Shiro's magic begins mending what Futaba's didn't. He needs to get back up on his feet soon and back to work on what this world needs. There's more than just their team, their family, to protect.]

Don't doubt it, with those memory leaks. [He is already bracing himself for the conversation with Lance in particular. Not because of what it'll bring up for him - he's more than accepted his past and been determined to not let it define him any longer - but he knows how important family is to him. And he'd never said a word about his save wanting to find his mother.

He rests a hand over Shiro's.] I'll be fine. So will Lance and Pidge. [Much as both he and Lance especially don't look it.] We were on the mend at the Garrison hospital last I remember.