you're gonna go far, kid | ON HOLD

chapter 13

In all the times that Keith had read fantasy books, had watched Sleeping Beauty and other movies where the prince slashed through vines ferociously to save the princess– or, in Keith's case, everyone– he had never realized just how impossible vines were to slice through. Magical sword or not, he found himself gritting his teeth and pouring nearly all his strength into swings.

"Thank you," a woman cried as he released her son's ankle.

Keith barely nodded before moving to help the next person, a young man bound to a parking meter by sharp vines creeping up his thigh. "Yeah, no problem. Stay safe."

It seemed that no matter how many people he freed, there were at least six more people who had gotten embroiled in the vines in the time he spent cutting one. Keith was hit with a new wave of exhaustion when he looked up to see the vines were beginning to spread further down the street. Undoubtedly, the prodigy had some serious control over their abilities.

But that was the point of attack this time, who was Phantom targeting?

The rest of the team was doing their best as well– Meticulous perched on top of a U-Haul truck and using his pistols to shoot at the stems' bases, causing the rest of the vine to wilt and release the people trapped in; Flare sending bursts of light that severed clusters of vines, and Pigeon weaving a pyramidal drone through gaps in the vines, cutting them as it went.

As Keith made his way through the crowd, he felt a trickle of emotion in the back of his head, a slew of strong feelings that weren't his. The anger and frustration, the pride and anxiety, it was not his, Keith knew, not all of it, but as disconcerting as it was he couldn't let it distract him. It was undoubtedly the rest of Voltron's emotions, some sort of weird bond that came from all being bound to the same magical artifacts. But if it was supposed to help him or be there for anything other than making him even more nervous, Keith wasn't sure.

He continued moving.

There was a jolt of fear then that made Keith's head snap up. It might not have been doing his anxiety any good, but this link was definitely letting him know how his teammates were holding up, something that was somewhat useful in a different way if he thought about it. Something was wrong, something bad was about to happen.

It took almost no time to see what; When Keith looked up from the thicket of branches he was slashing at, Scythe was a few feet in front of him, fighting the very prodigy manifesting the vines. From where he stood Keith was still able to see the eery golden glow of the prodigy's eyes. A shudder ran through him as he continued hacking, eyes still focused on the fight taking place before him.

Even as Scythe materialized everything that he could from what his teammates could offer, the vines continued to grow, to tighten, to creep further down the street. Keith had to get over there, to do something to help them. Simply chopping away vines was no longer enough. Exactly what Keith would be able to do, he was not sure, but he would worry about that when he got there.

He hacked with even more force at the vine, wincing as the parking meter crumpled. The man who had been stuck there glared, looking up from his phone. "Ah," he yelped, then narrowed his eyes. "Stop, I could've dropped my croissant."

Keith scowled, brushing a small thorn that had come off out of his jeans. God, people were so ungrateful. "Yeah, well, you could've been killed by a giant, hyper intelligent weed too, so."

Not waiting for a reply, he turned and started towards Scythe. The other three had this covered. And from the looks of it, Scythe was not the one winning this fight. Phantom had chosen an extra powerful prodigy this time, only concerning Keith more. A more powerful prodigy meant a more powerful distraction.