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phantoms-lair · 7 years

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Voltron AUs part 2

Here’s my second AU. This one is way more serious. It also contains some spoilers for Season 3, So I’m gonna put it under a cut.

This is based on a theory I had about ‘Shiro’ in Season 3 that was thankfully debunked in episode seven. Like everyone and their cousin, Peter and I didn’t believe Shiro was really Shiro (both of us think Shiro’s been Yui Ikari’d, though I’m beginning to think he’s in a different reality). But, as Black reacted to him, at the same time Peter and I had a terrible thought.

What if Shiro was Zarkon?

Like, the most important thing to the Galra Empire was to take down Voltron, So while Haggar’s tending to his wounds, they hatch this scheme to use her magic to make him look like Shiro down to the arm. Then she creates a copy of Shiro’s mind (using the same method as in the clone theory) and makes Zarkon’s mind and personalty dormant so ‘Shiro’ will be more realistic. Then at the perfect time, she’ll break the Spell, and Emperor Zarkon will be in the perfect position to destroy the Paladins.

Seeing Zarkon in episode seven proved this wasn’t the case, but this AU goes with ‘But what if it was’. The infiltration was a success and at the crucial moment, Haggar releases the spell and Zarkon’s mind is free.

The only problem? It’s actually free. For the first time in ten thousand years his mind if free from the effects of the Ooze’s corrupted quintessence. And he’s aware of what he’s done. What’s he’s turned his people into, what he’s done to his closest friends.

Zarkon is horrified.

And to make matters worse, the ones he’s meant to betray to their deaths are children. Of the Earthlings, only the one he replaced was fully grown and Kaity’s just barely into adolescence. This is wrong. Beyond wrong. Not to mention Shiro’s mind is still there, he still feels what Shiro felt towards them. And he makes his decision.

Emperor Zarkon is dead. He’s not worthy of the Black Lion, and now he understands why. But of Being Shiro is what they need, he’ll be Shiro. He’ll fight against the corrupted mass his empire has become and remove it’s cancer from the galaxy.

Meanwhile Haggar doesn’t know what went wrong. Why did her spell fail? Why is her Emperor still that pathetic Earthling? She needs to get him back and fix what went wrong.

To which Zarkon doesn’t have enough Nopes. He avoids Haggar and the druids at all costs, something none of the other castle residents think twice about, since he’s been their prisoner twice.

There is one other person/entity aware of the deception. The combined consciousness of real Shiro/Black Lion. Though broken there are still scraps of the bond to Zarkon. He could sense him which was why he wasn’t allowed to pilot.But through the bond he could sense the genuine remorse and regret. Since he is doing his best to help, he’s giving him a chance, but if he reverts he’s going to be so much space dust. Until then, this is hilarious.

He’s going to get revealed at one point as not the real Shiro. Either eh’s forced to give himself away, or the guilt overcomes him. He doesn’t tell the whole truth of who he is, but that he was sent to infiltrate and turned sides.

He tells them everything he knows about the Galra Empire's working (verbally if forced to give himself away and if overcome by guilt he write several reports to give to them) and how the Galra with the most power are puppets of the Quintessence Ooze. He doesn’t give his real name, but asks to be called Kuro instead. He also tells them Zarkon is dead or good as. “Haggar’s the one who exiled Lotor in the first place. She doesn’t like or trust him. She never would have recalled him if there was any chance of Zarkon recovering.”

Absolutely no one trusts him, but the fact that he would willingly die if that was their decision helps (his only stipulation is the Earthlings not watch. he still has the face of one of their friends and they don’t need to see that.). One of the Blades tests that by going into an executioner's stance and attacking. It's a test, but one that draw blood, basically leaving a shallow cut on his throat rather than taking his head off. But Kuro didn’t run or even try to fight back. He would calmly face his death if that’s what was wanted.

He had the exact opposite reaction when Allura made a snide comment about ‘leaving him somewhere for Haggar to find’. It’s only lucky that the Paladins find him in the process of spacing himself, and he still has to spend time in the healing chamber for the damage done. But yeah, the mere thoguht of being reclaimed by the Galra is enough to send both Siro and Zarkon’s tactical minds into a panic

Hunk is the first to start trusting Kuro again, followed by Lance. Both because they didn’t have as strong a personal emotional bond as Pidge and Keith to Shiro and because they’ve both been controlled by the Bakku. They know what it’s like to not be in control of your actions and have far more sympathy towards him. If any of his intel helps find the Holts, that would be a good in route to Pidge.

Keith gets captured at some point and without him they can’t form Voltron to save him. Kuro thinks of a way to save him. Problem is, it’s a suicide mission. Keith would escape, but whoever went in would die. Kuro doesn’t mention this to anyone, just starts gearing up. The life of a paladin of Voltron vs ‘Evil Emperor Zarkon’ is no contest in his mind. And even if Keith hates him, he still cares for him. It’s as he leaves he’s feel a purring in the back of his mins that’s familiar to both Zarkon and Shiro and he almost cries. Black’s forgiven him, at least enough to let him pilot him to save Keith. (Which is what brings Keith and the Alteans to at least grudging respect)

I also want to do a bit where they get brought into the Lion’s mindscape and Kuro’s convinced the jig is up. They’ll see who he is in his mind, that he’s Zarkon. Only when he get there he’s still looking like Shiro. Black Liojn/Shiro greets them all and explains to his confusion “In here, you’re who you truly are. And no matter who you were, you’re Kuro now.” And maybe as an aside only Kuro can hear “You weren’t lying when you told the Emperor Zarkon was dead”

Also Kuro’s feelings on Allura are complicated. He remembers being her favorite Uncle and wants to spoil her rotten. But that has to contend with memories of killing her father and destroying her home, which leaves him wracked with guilt. If you combine that with Shiro possible having romantic feelings for her, that is a landmine of emotions that Kuro is terrified to touch.

Snippet bits:

"Even though I was controlled, I still did terrible things. If you must call me something, call me Kuro. In his language Shiro means white and it's fitting. He was the light of hope for the universe. I'm the opposite. A black mark on it. But I would rather die right this minute as Kuro then spend another second as who I was forced to be"

"Why is that witch obsessing over you?" Allura demanded. "She knows you've turned traitor by now. Why is she trying to recapture you instead of killing you?"

Kuro gulped. "It's difficult to talk about - I'm trying alright?!" he exclaimed at the looks Allura and Coran were giving him. He buried his face in his hands. "She is...she was.... She was my wife, okay?"

The silence around the table was deafening.

"In case you've forgotten, Alteans and Galra were allies. She was strong and smart and...kind. So very kind. We...we even had a son." He hated that he could feel his human eyes tearing up. He wished he was strong enough to hide his feelings, but he couldn't help but think about when Lotor was born and how different he'd have grown up to be if everything hadn't gone so horribly wrong.

"And now, I don't know how real any of our relationship was. Looking back with clear eyes, she was being manipulated by the Ooze long before the planet exploded. She was one of the Altean alchemists working on it and well, the ones that survived are the druids if that tells you anything."

Allura let out a little gasp.

"I made many bad decisions before things went wrong, and I thought I was doing them for her sake. But I was a tool long before I was being controlled. And now I don't know is that's some small part that's still my wife trying to get her husband back, or if the witch doesn't want to loose her favorite tool. But either way, if she gets her hands on me, she'll use the tainted quintessence at her disposal to turn me back into a monster. One worse than any of her robeasts."

"Anyone sitting here?" Coran inquired

Kuro shook his head. "You know there isn't." Kuro was well aware he was the single least liked person in the castle. He was a spy and an infiltrator after all. One who had gotten there by impersonating someone they loved dearly. And they didn’t know the half of it. "I miss it though. The closeness"

"From before you were outed?"

"Then too, but I also have all of Shiro's memories of before that. And with the Holt's before even the Paladins. And on the other side of things, my team before the corruption happened. Three bands I was proud to call my brothers. Now one's dead, one's missing, and one hates me. All of which is my fault."

"They don't hate you. Well, Lance and Hunk don't hate you, and I think Pidge is coming around. Keith's a bit, well, Keith."

"And Allura hates anything connected to the Galra, and rightfully so."

"Not rightfully so." Coran shook his head. "The Galra did many terrible things, yes. But She was just as venomous at the ones who's who risked everything to save us. And how she treated Keith was beyond the pale." he sighed. "I wanted to say something, but didn't know how, not with what she's been through."

"What you've been through too." Kuro gently reminded him. "The Galra cost you so much. I cost you so much"

"You were controlled and manipulated," Corna reminded him.

"That shouldn't have mattered!" Kuro clenched his fists. "I should have been strong enough to resist it."

"I can't tell you how often Lance and Hunk think that about the Bakku. They've gotten past it, mostly. Still a few nightmares." More than a few honestly, especially on Hunk's part.

"In the end they still saved the day though. I destroyed everything."

"Someone helped them. No one helped you."

"Someone tried. And I killed him for it." Kuro said bitterly.

"Perhaps. But I think Alfor always knew it wasn't really you. He knew his best friend wouldn't start a war like that."

Kuro's head whipped up. "You know who I am?" he asked, fear in his voice.

"I know who you used to be." Coran corrected. "You told us yourself, didn't you. There was no way for Zarkon to still be alive."

Kuro...Zarkon flinched. "Are you going to tell Allura?"

"No, at least not until she can handle the reality that we were just as much to blame as the Galra."

"But-"

"It was an Altean Alchemist who convinced everyone to keep the rift open. It was the same Altean who manipulated the Emperor who loved her into ripping it wider. And it was the King of the Alteans who destroyed the Galran home world."

"Only because there was no other choice." Zarkon growled.

"Perhaps, but an interesting thing I realized. We never told the Earthlings, when we explained things in the beginning. If it was so forgivable why not mention it? Allura's put Altea up on a pedestal. And until she can accept our hands aren't completely clean," he sighed. "She still has some growing up to do."

"So what now?"

"Nothing changes, though would you mind indulging me in a curiosity."

"Certainly, I told you before, any knowledge I have is yours."

"Well this is a bit personal. 'Emperor Zarkon' would never have agreed to be permanently turned into another species. But if Haggar, or should I say Honneca-"

"Haggar, please." Zarkon pleaded. Foolish is might be, he wanted to keep the memory of his wife separate from what she became.

"Right, if Haggar could change you back, she would have long ago."

Zarkon grinned. It wasn’t friendly. "We decided that I should have sole control of turning back, once I regained my memories. That way we wouldn't have to worry about her changing me at the wrong time. The control was a glyph of tainted quintessence." He rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, past the prosthetic to reveal faded purple markings."

"Huh, Thought a glyph would be more glowy."

"Oh it would be," Zarkon's grin was downright ferocious. "Remember how different the Galra crystal was from the standard Balmeran one? It takes significant time to corrupt them to the point they won't actually purify our systems. Last time we visted the Balmora, before I was outted, I asked for a small bit of Crystal. Just a sliver broken off from the battle, not enough to power more than a toy, but enough to disrupt a glyph."

Coran could see a small scar through the center of the glyph, now that it was brought up. "But that would mean-"

"I can never revert to my old form. I will be in this human body till the day I die."

“Does that make you human then?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I am. I don’t now who I am.” He leaned back. Shiro’s mind isn’t gone from my own. And I know his thoughts and experiences influence me, but I have no clue to what degree. Am I truly a clone of Shiro with some Galra memories? Am I a traitorous Galra, trying to escape my own guilt by pretending I’m human? If I’m not Zarkon and I’m not Shiro, who am I?”

#Voltron #Kuro AU

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