Allura closed one eye, leaving the other completely focused on her target. Her pink lips parted slightly as she inhaled. Her right arm raised and poised to throw. She made one last adjustment to her stance before letting loose.

Lance laughed uproariously, Hunk snorted, Pidge snickered, and even Keith chuckled as the dart she threw completely missed the bull's eye and the dartboard altogether as it veered upward to implant itself on the rec room's ceiling. The Princess made a face and swore under breath at the draft she was sure caused her bad throw. Keith jumped up to retrieve the dart and handed it back to her with amusement sparkling in his dark eyes. She smiled ruefully.

"Just give me a laser rifle," she said. "I'll make mince meat out of that bull's eye."

"What gave you the idea that you can hit it even with that?" Lance challenged.

"It has long-rage sighting," Pidge replied for her.

"Not to mention auto-targeting," Keith muttered.

"Shut up, all of you. I have four darts in my hand that I'm not afraid to use."

"Were you not looking when you threw that last shot?" Lance goaded.

Allura went to stand menacingly over him as he sat on the couch. He only grinned arrogantly and crossed his arms. She seemed to be debating what to do with him. A more cautious man would have taken the opportunity to run, but not Lance. In face, he eagerly awaited what she had in store. It would serve as artillery for future jabs, he was certain.

Without much further ado, Allura reached out and grabbed his long nose between her thumb and index finger in a tight grip. He cried out in as much pain as surprise. The others made no move to help him. They were too busy laughing at him to do anything. He tried to force her hands away, but she twisted her grip and didn't relax until he lowered his hands.

"What do I have to do to make you listen to me and stop getting on my nerves?" she inquired conversationally.

"Keep your mouth shut?" he ventured.

She glowered and pinched harder. "Wrong answer."

"Glue his mouth shut," Hunk suggested. "That'll help."

"Weld it to be absolutely sure," Pidge added.

"Thanks a lot, Guys," Lance remarked, his voice nasal. "Could you let up a bit there, Princess? You're gonna give me a nosebleed."

She loosed her grip briefly only to pinch harder. When he tried to free himself again, she grabbed his hair with her free hand, her expression slightly triumphant as he let out a yell. Keith winced in sympathy.

"Just say you're sorry, Lance," he said.

"I'm sorry," Lance echoed.

She let go and he stood nose-to-nose with her. He grinned cockily. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Sorry you're gullible enough to believe I'm sorry!"

He took off out the door. Allura looked at Keith who shrugged.

"The only thing you can do is adapt," he said with a small smile. "Because the day he changes is the day..." He paused. "It'll never happen."

Suddenly, the castle's alarm klaxons went off. They ran out into the corridor to Castle Control. Lance was already there when they arrived. He stood at Coran's side, his expression as grim as it could get.

"A Ro-Beast has entered the atmosphere," Coran told them.

"It's descending over New Marinia," Lance said.

"We just started building there," Allura said angrily.

"To the Lions!" Keith cried.

Keith raised his helmet's visor and got a better look at his scanners. The Ro-Beast was not enormous, in fact it was small compared to the others they'd fought. The only problem was, it was octopus-like and its tentacles curled out to grab at the Lions. He held his breath as the Blue narrowly escaped capture. Dangerous spines stuck out from the ends of the tentacles, crackles of red energy sparking out from them.

"Surround it and fire at will," he ordered. "Protect Marinia as best you can. Minimize the damage. Allura, put out those fires."

Allura's lips thinned as she looked at the damage already caused by the Ro-Beast. She flew Blue Lion as near to the surface as she dared and poured water and ice down on the blazes. She could see her people running for their lives on the narrow streets, between skeletons of buildings. She gritted her teeth.

Above, the Green fired its lasers at the Ro-Beast. The octopus let out a loud roar and shot a spine towards Green Lion. Pidge dodged it neatly, but his heart was hammering in his chest. Red Lion used its lion torches and managed to burn two of the twelve tentacles off. The Black flew circles around the Ro-Beast, its guns blazing, to keep its attention from focusing on any one particular Lion. Yellow Lion flew in the opposite direction for the same purpose. The frustrated Ro-Beast screamed, its noise vibrating through the Lions. It seemed paralyzed by the pain. It was the opening they needed.

"Voltron time," Lance muttered.

"Get back up here, Princess."

They began their ascent. Through a burst of light, Voltron emerged, yellow eyes aglow. The Ro-Beast's tentacles lashed out at him, but he managed to get away from its grasp.

"Eye beams," Keith called out.

Two powerful rays of light burst out and hit the Ro-Beast's body, making it's grayish skin redden.

"Form blazing sword!"

The silver sword appeared between Voltron's makeshift hands and he gave it a swing before lunging towards the Ro-Beast. Guessing his move, the Ro-Beast grabbed the sword in its tentacles and yanked it away. The sword flew through the air and landed point first into the hard soil. Keith mumbled curses and regrouped.

"Allura, Ice darts," he ordered. "Hunk, laser canon. Shoot while I try to get the sword back. Pidge, Lance, get ready to make a grab for it."

Voltron shot around towards the sword. He did not turn his back on the Ro-Beast, instead firing to keep him back. Allura gritted her teeth and concentrated hard as to not allow her aim to waver. Hunk diverted the Yellow's power to the cannons and succeeding in shooting off three tentacles. The Red and Green clutched the sword and Keith let out a victorious whoop. Voltron flew up faster than the Ro-Beast could run away and sliced it in half. The two parts fell towards Arus, but detonated before they reached the surface. Voltron split into his five parts.

"Good job, Team," Keith congratulated. "Now let's put out these fires and clean up the debris."

They went towards Marinia. The Blue and Green swept over the ravaged town with wind and water to put out the fires. Keith stayed in the Black to guide the people to a safe area while Lance and Hunk went out of their Lions to search for any injured.

Half an hour later, Coran's face appeared on the Lions' viewscreens as well as Lance's and Hunk's communicators. His expression conveyed confusion as well as worry.

"We have just received a message from Doom," he said.

Keith's blood ran cold. "Who sent it?"

"A young woman named Romelle. She says Sven is alive."

"What?!?" Allura and Pidge said in unison.

Keith couldn't say anything. His mouth dried up and his throat tightened. He closed his eyes as his head began to ache. He saw stars.

"Breathe, Keith," Allura said. "Breathe. We're on our way back, Coran."

"Are you alright?" Hunk asked their captain.

"Never been better," Keith managed to say. "Let's wrap it up. The men the castle sent can take it from here."

Lance sat down and leaned against a wall. He took his helmet off and welcomed the cool breeze on his face. It kept him from passing out.

"Keith," he said over a private channel in his comm link. "Do you think it's true? Do you think he's alive?"

"I don't even want to think about it," Keith replied. "Because if he is alive, he's not the same Sven we used to know. The injuries he sustained from that land mine are most likely to be irreversible. If he is alive, he's a vegetable."

Lance put a hand over his eyes. "Great. Just great."