The Monster in the Sky. Klance AU

Chapter 15: Rebellion

Lance didn't have a clue how but, by some miracle, Pidge had been able to convince him to come to the stupid ball that was being held on Alkafa. It was a celebration of Voltron as they had rebuilt the castle and the aliens on Alkafa respected their loyalty to the cause. The Alkafan prince was throwing the ball and all the paladins had been instructed to dress formally, much to most of their dismay. Coran had arranged suits for each of them (even Pidge after she had refused to wear a dress) and, by six o'clock Alkafan time, they were dressed to the nines.

Each of their suits matched the colours of their paladin armour. Lance's was a deep blue that almost matched the colours of his eyes. He had a black bow tie around his neck that he had adored the moment he had laid eyes upon it. Ever since that Doctor Who episode, he couldn't help but agree that bowties really were cool.

Keith was wearing dark red with a black tie, hands constantly hidden inside the pockets of his suit jacket and head turned to face the ground to avoid social interaction. He had been quiet- even more quiet than usual- since he had come clean about James's father. Someone, presumably Shiro, must have talked to him since because he had been convinced to wear a thin layer of black eyeliner around his eyes. He stood right beside Shiro, who was clad in a black suit and black tie- as if they were joint by the hip.

An army green suit adorned Pidge's small form, suiting her a surprise amount. Though Lance had never seen green as a 'suitable' colour, it seemed to look nice enough on the green paladin. Pidge's clothes seemed a bit oversized as she had had to roll up her sleeves and trouser legs, though it was definitely a look she was able to rock. Hunk was wearing mustard with a matching bow tie, a grin on his face as he attempted to raise the morale of the entire room on his own. Coran wore arguably the best suit, clad in a suit that matched his ginger hair and would make him easily identifiable inside the crowded party. It made him stand out like a neon highlighter in a pencil case of black biros. (You know what would be really cool?? If someone drew them all in their suits :))

-

It was a mere ten minutes into the ball when things began to go wrong. Lance was standing with Keith beside the table of snacks, picking out different foods and eating them even though they weren't sure what they were. There was a rainbow worth of different foods, ranging from red crisp-looking things to purple kebabs. Lance's stomach was doing backflips but he was trying his hardest to ignore it and just enjoy the foreign tastes. It didn't take long for him to decide that eating was a bad idea and the food wasn't settling well with him so he raced off to a nearby bathroom where he proceeded to vomit it all up into the toilet. Just as he was wiping his mouth with his hand and shakily pulling himself to his feet, he heard a gunshot, followed by a scream.

It was enough to make him stiffen and dive back into the bathroom stall. He locked it and pressed his back against the door, counting each of his breaths in and out, in and out, in and out... He could hear a lot of commotion in terms of frantic shouting and screaming from the main room as people panicked but he tried his best to remain calm. After a few more gunshots and yells, Lance decided that he needed to do something. His bayard was buried inside his suit pocket, waiting to be utilised. He cracked his knuckles and pulled it out, the weight of the weapon in his hand foreign yet somehow simultaneously familiar. It felt right. So much more right than being on Earth and doing nothing had ever felt.

His first instinct was to check the windows but the security bars had already come up, ensuring whoever was inside the building was trapped until the procedure was turned off in the main control room. The Alkafan rebels must have had someone on the inside who knew how to control the security which explained why they went for such a drastic attack all at once. Raising his gaze to the ceiling in search of a method of escaping, Lance noticed a vent. He had seen countless movies were people had had to crawl through vents but never had he thought he'd have to do it himself. Just looking at it made it easy for Lance to understand that, despite being rather tall, he was lanky and thin so could probably crawl through the tunnels. Still, he felt it was a job better suited for Pidge.