Growing Pains (A Voltron Legendary Defender Fan Fiction)

Chapter 6

"Alright everyone," they all looked to Shiro as they gathered in the training room. "Today, we are going to be working individually with the training bots. We will specifically be working on hand-to-hand combat. There is no telling when you may be put in a position without your weapon, so it is good to be prepared."

They all went over to separate corners of the room, while Allura and Coran kept an eye on the bots from the observation booth.

"The first exercise we will be running is self-defense," Coran spoke over the speaker. "The goal is to evade the bot's attacks while making minimal physical contact. We have set a timer for 10 doboshes. The goal is to make it that long without touching the bot or getting hit. As time progresses, the attacks will become faster. Good luck paladins."

A moment later, the bots started up and began throwing punches. The first set were easy to avoid. However, as they went along, it became harder and harder to keep up.

Hunk was the first one out. He quickly became winded and was no longer able to keep up with the robot's speed. After Hunk, Pidge wasn't too far behind. She was a lot smaller, which meant that she was faster, and didn't get tired as easily. However, she got too wrapped up in the rhythm of the fight, that she accidentally threw a punch at the bot, disqualifying herself.

It was a few more minutes before the next person dropped out. The attacks had sped up so much that lance was starting to get dizzy. He accidentally tripped over his own feet, giving the robot an opportunity to land a blow.

Shiro and Keith were the last two, and it was getting more and more difficult for the former to keep up. Shiro was an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant, but unfortunately, his size made him a larger target. Not to mention, it also made him slower. At the seven-minute mark, Shiro was tapped out. This left all of them to watch Keith as he finished the exercise.

They all stood in awe of the sheer speed that Keith possessed. "I've never seen him move that fast before," Pidge said in surprise.

Keith was dodging blows left and right. It almost seemed like he was able to move out of the bot's path before it even had time to calculate where it was going to throw its next punch. Nine minutes in, and he hadn't even seemed to break a sweat. To make things more interesting, for the last minute, Coran put the bot on the highest difficulty, but even that didn't stop Keith. He only realized it was over when the bot stopped moving and the timer went off.

He stopped his movement and walked over to join the others like nothing had happened.

"How... how did you do that?!" Lance said in shock.

"Do what?" Keith was confused.

"You... you were so fast!" Hunk was laughing. "That was amazing!"

"Oh..." Keith blushed, "Thanks..." he hadn't thought he was moving any faster than normal. They were probably just jealous.

"Uh... anyway..." Shiro cleared his throat. "Allura, what is our next exercise?"

"It is the same concept as the last, only this time you will be allowed to fight back." She replied. "Once again, you will be eliminated if the bot lands a blow. In order to win, you must either pin the bot down for 5 ticks or disable it. You will have 10 doboshes. Starting... now!"

Unlike the previous exercise, most of the paladins were able to hold their own for a while longer. Pidge was the first out when the bot struck her in the side. Hunk got out not long after that when he went in for a punch but missed, resulting in the bot having the opportunity to strike.

However, what happened next was what surprised everyone. Keith was fighting his bot with the same speed that he had possessed in the previous exercise. He finally saw an opportunity to land a punch, so he took it. And his hand went right through the bot's chest.

Everyone, including Keith, stared at the fallen bot in shock. "Wh... Keith, how did you do that...?" Shiro finally asked.

"I..." he had no idea how to respond. What was he supposed to say, he's part alien freak, who's going through changes that apparently include inhuman speed and strength?! "I don't... I..."

"This bot must have already sustained some structural damage from previous training exercises." Hunk supplied. God Keith loved that man.

"That is a possibility." Pidge nodded. "If the insides of the machine were already damaged, it is possible that Keith simply gave it the final blow."

"Way to go mullet! You really showed that bot!" Lance laughed.

Keith tried to smile but glanced over at Shiro who kept staring at him. he obviously did not believe a word of this explication. Keith was going to have to be a lot more careful around him from now on...

(A/N - Hey guys, thanks for reading! When I say Vol, you say...)