Ideas from Phantom Of The Opera Boardway Show were used. And the inspiration
for this fic.
Phantom Of Her Heart
By Canyon 315
The Voltron Force found themselves fighting Lotor and Hagar yet
again. Little did anyone know what big a part Fate would play. As usual Hagar
sent out her 'strongest robeast' after Voltron. They were fighting near the
planet Altea for the citizens had mined some large amounts of Moonstone and
Pure Quartz. Lotor tried to make an alliance but they wouldn't accept. Lotor
had no choice but to capture the planet and force the people to mine
everything. Job done, they'd be shipped to Doom as slaves. Lotor thought it
would make a nice presentation for Zarkon; a whole planet's worth of slaves
and large quantities of Moonstone and Pure Quartz. The attempt to please him
was useless and Lotor knew it. Two things would make him happy: Lotor dead,
or Voltron delivered on a silver platter. Lotor couldn't fulfill either of
his wishes.
The robeast proved to be one of the more smarter ones. He could
think and it showed. Rarely did a robeast plan Voltron's shot's and avoid
them with skill. It attacked when he knew they weren't expecting it. After
several direct shots toward Black, Keith grew very angry. He was taught at
the Academy not to lose his head during battle, but all of that was gone. All
he knew was to destroy this thing with a vengeance.
"Keith, I think it's time to form Voltron!" Pidge shouted over the comm.
Keith didn't answer at all. His shoulder ached from the hit he took that
threw him hard at his chair. He grunted in frustration.
"Keith? You're commlink's on. Why aren't you answering?! We need Voltron!"
Pidge angrily repeated.
Keith ignored him again. Instead, he dove at the robeast full speed. He got a
nice clamp on his arm and refused to let go. The robeast swung and tried to
hit him but failed. The rest joined him in grabbing an arm or leg. They
thought it was some sorta plan he had, instead of whatever came to his mind.
The Robeast dove toward the surface at its fastest speed. All but Black ran
off as he neared the ground. Altea's surface was mostly rock, the robeast
would smash itself as he crash-landed.
"Where's Keith? Didn't he jump off with the rest of us?" Hunk asked. Then it
dawned on him. "Uh oh."
The rest figured it out as well. Keith didn't let go at the right time and
crashed along with the robeast.
"KEITH!!!" Blue dove toward the surface. She was met with firepower from
Altea's fleets of ships. They fired at anyone who came close to the planet's
surface. It was until their shots stopped being warning shots but actual
shots intended for damage.
"HEY! Don't they know we just saved their planet from Lotor? Don't they
care?" Lance aimed for the main ship's weapons array.
"Lance, don't! They may have gotten other ideas when they saw the robeast and
Black Lion. They're secluded from the rest of the universe. They don't know
Voltron or Lotor's forces all that well yet." Allura shouted.
"Well what are we supposed to do? Let Keith die down there because these
idiots want him to!" Lance was ready to fly but held back, waiting for
Allura's orders.
"I know Keith's down there, but we have to hide out close to here but far
from their gaze. We'll go in for Keith later, when they think we're gone."
Lance reluctantly headed his lion away from the planet. The rest followed.
* * * * *
Keith miraculously survived the crash, but not for long. Holding his
right arm he stumbled into a drunk Lotor. Altea had the best brewers in the
universe and it shipped beer for their income. Lotor's drink was Captica, the
drink with the highest alcohol percentage inside of it. He had been drinking
it since Hagar released the robeast, dreading the upcoming defeat. Lotor took
in his pathetic state.
"You need something more to increase your 'good' looks." He pulled out a
bottle labeled: Vitriol. Avoid Contact With Face. Keith tried to run but
Lotor knocked him down and forced him face up on the ground. He opened up the
bottle.
"Open wide, Keith." He poured the entire bottle down his face. Keith screamed
like a girl, the pain was so horrible. Lotor passed out after the bottle was
empty.
Hands covering his aching face, he ran to a doctor.
* * * * *
The Voltron Force returned to the planet a few days later. The
people seemed to have forgotten all about them and their so-called threat.
Lotor's ships retreated to Doom about the same time. They found Black but
couldn't find Keith. Allura sank to knees and sobbed, wishing with all her
heart Keith was alive.
"Let's go home, Princess. Lotor's all ready on his way back to Doom and he
might attack Arus if Voltron's not there."
Lance put a hand on her shoulder. "Until we find Keith you're in command.
Black Lion has his key. We're bringing him home via tractor beam and we just
called Sven to be Blue's pilot. You're Black's pilot until we find Keith."
"I'm not leaving without him. He's alive Lance, I can feel it."
"We're going back to Arus without him. THERE'S NO TIME! We havta get back
before Lotor does!" He all but shouted at her. Allura rose and went to Blue
Lion. Lance went to Red, and everyone took off, hoping Keith would contact
them soon.
* * * * *
A year passed and Keith was pronounced dead. Searches were made
night and day to find him, all in vain. Coran and Nanny weren't comfortable
with the change in leadership but they eventually agreed with it. Sven took
over Blue and Allura was Leader of the Voltron Force. She adjusted to the
role quickly and Black accepted her presence after some incidents when it
locked up in the beginning, almost as if Black knew Keith was still alive and
would accept no other pilot as replacement. Allura accepted the fact Keith
was dead after some rough times, but she kept on having this feeling that he
was alive and majorly disturbed. In dreams he came to her, but ran off when
she got close. Half of his face was covered by darkness. She never saw the
other half. In his eyes was a sense of fear and hatred. She knew he was alive
and she was going to find him.
She went to Altea in Blue Lion, claiming to have 'royal business'
there. Her real purpose was to find Keith.
After wandering around the marketplace, a covered stranger regarded her
highly from a distance. Her dark eyes scanned her and recognized her.
"We meet again, Allura. Wait till you see what I've become!"
When some beer-happy locals started a riot demanding for more free
beer, the stranger pulled her out of the danger and led her to his domain
through tunnels. They stopped about halfway, close to an opening leading to
the surface.
"Thank you for saving me." Allura tried to see her rescuer, but he was hiding
in the dark.
"Anything for you, Princess."
She gasped. That voice, it sounded a lot like Keith's but wiser, craftier,
cocky, and scared. But, he was the only one who ever used that phrase. It had
to be him.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
He stepped into the light. A figure dressed in a black cloak, a half-mask
covering the left side of his face, scraggly, unruly, long black hair
surrounded his face. Dark eyes, seemed to see right inside of her, as if they
could tell him her thoughts. She knew those dark eyes from somewhere. But
those that she knew were filled with life, love, and happiness. These, filled
with distrust for everything and one, hatred, and fear. These regarded her in
sense of fear, as if she knew his most darkest secret.
"They call me the Phantom." He answered gruffly and headed toward his home. A
shot rang out through the tunnels. It hit Allura in the arm. The Phantom did
nothing but watch her scream and fall to the floor.
"It's him! The Phantom! He has her!" Someone yelled not to far from where
they were standing. An angry mob ran down the tunnel. "After him!"
With a look of terror he grabbed her and took her to where he lived
and lowered the wall behind them. Allura had passed out from the loss of so
much blood. He attended to her wounds and laid her down to rest. He wandered
around his domain trying to stay away from Allura and yet be close at the
same time. His feelings from the past continued to torment him as he cried
out in pain. Remembering what had happened to him and how everyone treated
him afterward convinced him that she would despise him if she knew the truth.
"She'd be like the rest. Unforgiving, unforgeting, and terrified of this
horrible face." He convinced himself. Once more he shouted out in pain. "Why,
why must it be this way between us?" He approached her as she slept and bent
down, putting his face near hers. "Please help me Allura. Help me accept what
I've become." He said softly, hoping she would hear his cries for help.
Soon enough, he fell asleep near her on a different surface. She
woke up from her sleep and crept over toward him.
"Keith?" She whispered. "Is it you?" She yanked off the mask, waking Keith up
immediately. She shrank back in fear.
"Now you know WHO THE HELL I AM!" He shouted at her.
Allura shrank back s'more. She didn't know what he would do.
Instead of going after her he ran off, trying to get away from her and the
past. Allura kept up with him though. She lost him once, she wasn't gonna
lose him again. She found him, out of breath and hiding in a corner.
"Stay back. Leave me alone!" He tried to hide his face. The mask was back
where he lived. Allura then reached for him and pulled away his hand, getting
a full view of his disfigured face. Keith wished she would stop and not put
him through more torture.
"I no longer fear your face. Despite what you've become, you're still Keith.
Nothing will ever change that. I'm here to help." With her free hand she ran
over his face. "It's OK now, I'm here."
He stared at her, thinking it was a trick, but something told him it wasn't.
It was all true. For the first time since that day back when he smiled.
"Come back to Arus with me."
His smile quickly turned back into a frown. "But they may believe me to be a
monster. Could they ever forgive me?"
"They already have Keith. We all forgive you, including Black. It wasn't your
fault."
"How's he been handling without me?"
"He refused to operate at first, except in battle, but he's been OK. He still
misses you."
He sighed. "I'll go back with you. Please, let me keep my mask. Others may
not be so forgiving as you."
"Of course." They went back together and he put it back on. Allura protested
but Keith reassured her.
"You may call it a security blanket after all this time. Besides, the people
of Altea may not wish to see it."
They emerged from the underground and went to the surface. Keith hid
himself underneath his cloak. People stared but no one realized he was the
Phantom. They ran to Blue Lion and took off towards Arus.
* * * * *
"Nice to see you home after a short time up there. What was you business?"
Lance asked as she exited the Lion.
"Proving Fate all wrong and saving a lost soul." Allura answered as Keith
stepped out of the ship.
"Keith?" He couldn't believe it. "Is that you?"
"Yes." He wasn't all that excited to see him because of his face.
"Tell everyone to meet us in the off-duty lounge. He'll tell his story then."
She commanded. Lance ran off, eager to hear what had happened.
* * * * *
Everyone was there in about ten minutes. Keith told his story but
waited till the end to show the biggest part.
Under Allura's urgings he slowly took off the mask and faced them. Natural
surprise and gasps were seen and heard. Keith wanted to run off and hide but
Allura made sure he stayed. Instead of the hatred he received a year ago, he
was greeted with acceptance.
"Who knows? Maybe we could it to scare off Lotor." Lance joked.
Keith was inclined to sock him one right there but he knew it was a joke.
Keith still wore his mask so as not to scare some people. Black
readjusted to him quickly and Sven went back to Pollux to an ecstatic
Romelle. He never forgot his days back on Altea but he had forgiven himself
for the mistake he made. (
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