Chapter six: Sendak and Adam's Revenge

It was a cold, bright, and windy day. Dead leaves were being carried along by the gale and crickets chirped as they hid in the tall grass. However, that was not the only sound that accompanied them, for if one was to listen carefully enough...they could hear a gurgled groan.

"Ugh...help...someone...please...!"

It was Shiro and he was surrounded by his friends who knock out in the middle of a fight Some of them had broken limbs and even on their heads black eyes and nasty bruises...and in the midst of it all stood the culprit: Adam.

Yes, he had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Shiro, his own boyfriend at the galra station, a few days ago...Feeling betrayed, he was out for blood.

Adam approached the injured Shiro, who gasped in horror as he struggled to crawl away...but then, Adam raised his left arm, which was holding his own sword.

"No...no, please! Adam" Shiro cried, trying to get him to stop.

But Adam wouldn't listen, Instead, his cold eyes do the talking as they flashing viciously before he swung his arm down. "Victory or death!" he said as his victim let out a bloodcurdling scream as he was mercilessly torn apart.

At that moment, Sendak soon emerged from the tall grass and said. "End simulation!"

The scene flashes as transform into a large room with black walls, floor, and ceiling, gridded with widely spaced bright purple lines.

"Masterfully done, Adam!" he praised. "That was nothing less than what I had expected of you!"

"Thanks, But did you have to make them weaklings!" Adam asked him.

"Indubitably!" Sendak answered. "The simulation is designed for total accuracy, Is the one you call Takashi, not like that?"

"No, you probably got it right on the weaklings!" He said. "But they're not that easy to take down, So we need to start again!"

"Of course, Adam," Sendak said as he restarts the simulation.

"Curses that detestable Shiro! Adam Had been training so hard so much in fact that he doesn't know the difference between the two, I tried my best to keep the stimulation optimal For him But is not enough!"

"Having trouble, are we, gentlemen?"

"Hmm?" Adam hummed as he turned around...only to see a woman come skulking out of the tall grass, wearing a purple robe. Adam recognize it anywhere

"Oh, it's just you," he said when he saw Haggar standing in front of him. "What do you want? Now, I already told you everything!"

"Oh I'm not here for that," said Haggar as she dropped down to her knees. " I am here to deliver something, am I correct?"

"Delivered what!" Sendak inquired.

"I just a someone who despises the Samurai as much as you do," said Hagger as she held up...another robotic arm. "Here...take this arm, It's even more powerful than your first one."

"But Zarkon!" Sendak barked. "He said that-"

"I know what he said but he's willing to give you a second chance!" Haggar replied. "This arm has been imbued with the power of a shard of the quintessence crystal."

The...the quintessence Crystal?" Adam repeated in disbelief. "But Shiro destroy the crystal?"

"True, He did destroy the crystal!" Hagger continued. "But is scattered to a million pieces!"

Sendak's eyes widened, slightly.

"The Crystal Has enough power to give a person the energy to destroy," Hagger elaborated. "Thus, its mystic power will be the power you will never know!"

"...Hmph," Adam scoffed with a small smirk. "Such cowardice...you speak of despising the Samurai as much as I, and yet you are afraid to face him on your own strength. Instead, you wish to use me and Sendak as a means to an end, don't you?"

"Precisely," Haggar confirmed. "Do you want to prove yourself to Lord Zarkon!"

"I see...Interesting," Sendak said. "I shall take that arm."

"There is one more thing," Haggar said before she handed a strange pinecone-shaped object. "Take this hive...I believe it will come in handy."

Adam said before he smirked. "I shall use it well."

The following evening, as the sun slowly sets beyond the horizon, our Gang of heroes had stopped at a portside town during their search for the quintessence crystals shards. Shiro suggested that the others stay here for the night, and Lance agreed...and somehow, he managed to get the group lodgings in a very high-class manor.

"Ahh~!" Hunk sighed, eating a bowl of simmered beans. "This is the life, huh, you guys? It's so nice to actually sleep in a warm bed and not have to worry about bugs and snakes in your sleeping bag, am I right?"

"Not to mention the yummy food," said Shiro as he lied against Keith's side while the half-daemon was lying sprawled out on the floor, both of them with slightly distended stomachs. "Right, Keith?"

"Gah!" Keith responded by giving off a noisy belch, which made Shiro giggle.

"And it's all thanks to Lance," Hunk said. "If it wasn't for his exorcisms, we wouldn't have found decent shelter!"

"...Oh, please..." Keith muttered while rolling his eyes.

"There, that should suffice," Lance said as he placed a sutra on the support beam. "With the last seal in place, the ill-omened cloud hovering over this house shall be dispersed."

"I am forever in your debt, good monk". said the house's caretaker. "Goodness me, when you appeared on my doorstep claiming that an evil cloud hung overhead, why, I almost jumped out of my skin in fear. But now, thanks to your exorcism, I can sleep east".

"It is all in a day's work for a simple monk". Lance replied.

"Ahh, I can't eat another bite". Pidge asked. "Do you really think that Lance is actually exorcising any wild daemons here?"

"That was the best meal I've had in ages," Shiro replied to her. "And Of course, he is! He just wants to make sure we're all safe from any wild daemons that might be hiding around in here."

"So glad you think so, Shiro," Lance spoke as he walked into the room. "It's nice to know that someone appreciates my skills."

"Oh, really?" Keith asked as he sat up, causing Stats to tumble away from him. "Because I wanna know, Lance. There's something I haven't been able to figure out about your power".

"Yes?" Lance asked.

"Whenever we need to shack up somewhere for the night, you always have to pick the finest house in the place?!" Keith said.

"Didn't you know?" Miroku asked him. "That was just something I like to call 'telling a fib'."

"...You...fibbed?" Keith repeated.

"Wait, what?!" Hunk questioned. "You were telling a lie, the whole time?!"

"Oh, boy,"

Shiro muttered. "Somehow, I knew something was up...why don't I ever trust my instincts?"

"Jeez! You're shiftier than I thought" Keith barked. "And you call yourself a holy monk!"

"Oh yes!" Lance said as holds up a plate of food, causing Keith to gasps, "He gave me a gift of dumplings, too".

"Stats!" Stats said as he grabs the plate and jumps in the air in excitement!"

"And yet," Lance began, "was it not you and Stats who made pigs of themselves, every time we stay in a place such as this?"

"Hey!" Keith spat. "That's different, okay?! I was really hungry and I hadn't eaten anything all day long and-"

Suddenly, Shiro shot straight up to his feet with a gasp, catching everyone's attention.

"What is it, Shiro?" Keith asked. "Is everything okay?"

"...I sense a shard of the quintessence Crystal," said Shiro, "and it's coming in, fast!"

"What?!" Keith questioned as he stood up, his stomach shrinking back to normal size while Miroku stood up, as well.

"And that's not all," Shiro added. "I sense a strong magical aura!"

The house suddenly started trembling as the sound of heavy footfalls filled the air. Stats yelped as he quickly scurried behind Shiro while Keith, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge glanced toward the outside. Without a word, Keith quickly headed out while the others soon followed...and soon, they saw the source of the trembling: a giant medal robot had appeared from over the mountainside!

"STATSSS!" Stats screamed.

"You said, boy!" Shiro said.

"Whether we gonna do!" Ridge said.

Keith scoffed as he branches off his Dagger. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Keith! Wait!" Shiro called. "Look there! On the Robot's shoulder!"

"Huh?" Keith muttered before he looked to where Shiro was pointing, only to gasp upon seeing none other two certain characters than, sitting on the monster bot's shoulder. "Sendak! Adam!"

"Ah, Samurai," Sendak said, casually. "We meet again, boy."

"So you're still around, huh?" Shiro asked, glaring as his hand hovered over his sword's hilt.

"That's right," Sendak replied, "and this time, I'm not leaving until I take what's mine, and I'm going to get it, even if I have to lift it off of your lifeless, bloody, disemboweled carcass."

"Oh, man not those two again!" Hunk said. "They probably here to gather more people with daemons!"

"I don't think so, I think they're here for more than that!" Shiro asked him.

"Hardly," Pidge answered. warily. "But, What do they want?"

"He wants revenge against us," said Shiro. "But he's not the only one!"

Keith growled as he glared up at the two enemies, who stared at him before he leaped off the Robot's shoulder...and appeared right in front of Keith and Shiro before they could even blink, causing them to gasp before jumped away from them.

"Well, well," Adam said. "Still as slow as ever, eh, Takashi?"

"What do you think you're doing here, Adam?!" Shiro questioned.

"You know very well why," said Adam. "Draw it, Takashi...your sword. I will at least allow some token hostility." Branching out his own sword at Shiro.

"That's enough talking!" Shiro scoffed before he drew his blade. "This time, you're gonna lose more than just your head!" He roared as he swung the blade of his sword at Adam, who easily dodged the attack and stood behind his Ex-boyfriend.

"Just as I thought," he said. "You haven't been able to get me!"

"What did you say?!" Shiro questioned before he rushed at Adam. "You want me to fight you!"

"well, duh! Let say I have personal reasons for reasons to fight you!" Adam explain.

"Shiro!" Keith said in the distance, just then Sendak launches out with his right arm at him, calling him to move away.

"Don't look away, You weakling, you owe me an arm!" Sendak sneered

"Yeah, I do, but this time, I'll make sure you joined Adam in the afterlife!" Keith shouted as he swung his dagger, left and right at him.

"This is my chance to put an end to him! I have to take it!" Keith thought as constantly attacks him by leaps in the air.

He swings his dagger downwards at Sendak, who merely steps aside. He swings it again but Sendak leaps aside.

Then Sendak reached out with his right arm to grabbed Keith's right wrist with his claws. the one that was holding the dagger! "Such pitiful swordsmanship... You can't handle your weapon!" He said sa his claws digging into his flesh, causing Keith to scream in pain as his bones begin to crack.

"What happened?!" Lance questioned.

"Sendak is breaking his bones!" Shiro cried.

"L...let...go of me...!" Keith grunted as he struggled to pull his wrist away from Sendak.

"Your swings are too wide and obvious," Sendak said. "It's like you're waving a flag."

By now, Keith's arm began to turn Black and red from being crushed by Sendak and his massive strength.

"Keith!" Shiro cried.

"Hey, your fights with me, not him!" Adam said as kept on striking his sword at Shiro.

"He gets out of there!" Lance yelled. "or worse, he might get killed!"

"Stats!" Stats added as he hid behind Pidge's shoulder.

"If I were you," Sendak began, "I'd let go, or else you might just lose your arm...but then again, you do owe me that much, since you cut off mine."

"Rrrrgh...!" Keith growled...before he put both hands on the hilt of the dagger. "So what...if I do?!" He then began to push Sendak backward. "I'll leave you in two before that happens!"

"He's forcing him back!" Lance exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Hunk cheered. "Go get him, Keith!"

"...Hmph," Adam snorted. "That kid is such annoying vermin." He then swung his sword at Shiro and smacked it out of Shiro's hand, causing the sword to land in the ground.

"Wow. You know, the sword actually gets stupider the more I look at it". He laughs.

"Dammit!" Shiro cursed as he ran to grab his sword back...but Adam pushes it into the side with the foot.

"Did you think it would be that easy to escape the Galra? I mean, I always knew you were kinda dumb, but... come on" Adam said, laughing.

"What's your plan, insult me until I decide to join the Galra Empire?" Shiro questioned.

"I don't think Lord Zarkon is planning to give you much of a choice. But, yeah, something like that" Adam said as he extends his fists and swipes at Shiro who was dodging the attacks but still fight back against him.

In the meantime, Keith was still struggling with Sendak, gruff with effort and frustration. "Whoa!" Keith cried as he narrowly avoided getting hit by Sendak's own hits.

"You fight like a Galra soldier. But not for long!" Sendak began "Allow me to show you, the true power of the Galra".

"Your true power?!" Keith asked in disbelief. "But how?!"

"Adam," Sendak called.

"Yes, Sendak!" Adam answered. "You want us to flush out the wild daemons of this mountain! Well ok". He grabs a remote from his compartment and pushes a button to activate it. "Get moving! You bot!"

The bot activate before it turned toward the trees growing on the mountainside, then it raised up its hand and slammed it down...and soon, a massive horde of wild daemons appeared. At least a hundred of them at best!

"Whoa! That's a lot of wild daemons!" Hunk cried.

"What's he planning to do with them?!" Lance asked. "Is he going to sic them on us?!"

"Wait! Look!" Pidge shouted as the wild daemons suddenly charged at Sendak. "They're going for him!"

"What are you up to, Sendak?!" Keith questioned.

"You see, boy," Sendak began as he held up his massive arm, "one swing from my power can fell 100 daemons!"

He swung his massive arm, and with just that stroke alone...the daemons were completely obliterated! And not just that, but the mountainside crumbled from the mere pressure of the swing!

"Whoa!" Pidge cried. "H-He destroyed the demons!"

"Forget the daemons," Lance said in shock. "He destroyed the mountainside!"

"...Keith...!" Shiro whispered, worriedly, while Keith growled at Sendak, who smirked at him.

"You see, Brat?" he asked. "It is I who am superior. Only I can wield my full potential while you, a mere half-breed, could never use it as I could." He narrowed his eyes. " You are a fool to master me" He then pointed the blade at Keith.

"And now...so you have two choices. Either take your friends and run away with your tail between your legs like the whimpering pup that you are...or be killed by my power."

Keith growled angrily, flexing his fingers as the joints popped. "You can take it over my dead body...!" he hissed.

"That can be arranged," Sendak grinned.

"I've got a very bad feeling about this," Shiro thought as he looked at Keith. "Sendak has the power of a Crystal shard, now...and if Keith's not careful, he could get himself killed!"

"I have to do something!" Shiro cried as he rushed out, Grabbing his sword and away from Adam.

"Wait! Takashi, no!" Adam called as he reached out after him. "your fight is with me, not him! Me!"

But Shiro didn't heed his cries as he stood in between the two.

"Stop right there, Sendak!" Shiro shouted.

"S-Shiro!" Keith exclaimed. "What are you doing?! Are you outta your mind?!"

"Ah...the samurai from before," said Sendak. "So, you wish to die alongside this boy? How sweet of you...and foolish."

"You wish!" Shiro spat, but then Keith stood up and gently pushed him aside.

"Stay out of this, Shiro!" he told him. "Sendak wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who stands in his way!"

"Not so fast, Keith," Lance said as he came and stood in front of the pair. "I can't just stand idly by while my friends are in danger!"

"Neither will I!" Hunk said.

"Lance, Hunk?!" Shiro questioned.

"A monk...?" thought Sendak.

"Who told you that you could butt in?!" Keith questioned as he got in Lance's face.

"You have no chance of defeating him, Keith," Lance answered.

"What?!" Keith asked. "Why you smug little...no one stands in front of me, got it?!"

"Guys!" Pidge called."Now's not the time to be arguing!"

Meanwhile, Adam, who was still at the same location, gasped silently as he spotted Lance, Hunk, and Pidge.

"Is that them?" he whispered. "The same people we encounter in the lab? They might be more troublesome than Shiro!" He then scoffed. "But how could such feeble humans with no daemons be such a threat? No matter we can insulate take them down".

He then looked down at his employer. " Hey, Sendak! Betting you make me think we should handle these groups of losers" Adam said, tauntingly.

"Losers, we're not exactly losers!" Shiro told him.

"A fair point you make, Adam," Sendak concurred. "And I will enjoy watching."

"Get them, you bot" Adam ordered the Robot as it attempted to grab the group.

"Stand back!" Lance said as he prepared to pull off his prayer beads. "I'll handle this demon!"

"Are you sure about that, you're still recovery!" Hunk said. "Let me handle it, This time!"

Lance scoffed. "Fine. You can have this one, then."

Under his command, Hunk tore up slabs of earth, Underneath the robot, causing it to tumble down, Even Sendak seemed stunned as he felt the power of Hunk's power, momentarily, but he quickly used his gauntlet to pierce the ground, holding him in place from the Earthquake. As for Adam, he shrieked in horror as the giant robot was stumbling down!

"All right!" Pidge cheered. "Way to go, Hunk!" She paused, briefly, before glancing at Keith and Shiro. "Not that you two weren't awesome, too!"

"Don't push it," Keith grumbled.

"Thanks, Pidge, I can tell it's from the heart!" Shiro said.

"Hey, that almost hit me!" Adam shouted.

"That boy, I thought to be harder than the monk" Sendak muttered before he reached inside his suit and pulled out the object that Haggar gave him, earlier. "I wonder...if this is what she meant."

"Well, there goes that prototype!" Adam cried as he was looking at the damage caused by Hunk. "What are we gonna do, Sendak!"

"Cease your halfwitted blubbering, Adam," Sendak said as he tossed the ball at the group...and suddenly, it burst open to reveal a dozen large wasps with red eyes!

"W-what in the-?!" Hunk questioned as the insects flew toward him.

"What's going on?!" Shiro asked. "They're heading right towards us!

Suddenly, Hunk tensed up, and he could feel his body growing incredibly frozen with fear without a word.

Keith gasped silently before he looked to the rest of the swarm of wasps, just as Hunk collapsed behind him

"Hunk" Lance cried as he and the others ran to his aid, while Keith growled and flexed his fingers, making the joints pop.

"Magical daemon art, Iron Reaver!" he yelled as he tore through the insects, killing them with one swipe of his dagger.

"Hunk, are you okay?!" Shiro asked. "Why did you froze!"

"Ugh..." Hunk groaned. "I can't believe they had them!"

"Had them, what are they!" Shiro repeated.

"They're called the Saimyōshō, they're dangerous daemon bugs! That has a deadly poison" Hunk rationalized. "That's why I froze!, I'm sorry!"

"it's okay, Hunk!" Shiro said as he then stood up and headed back to the manor. "Wait there! let me handle this!"

"So that kid is afraid of bugs!" Adam sighed in relief, lying on the remains of the robot after it was knocked out. "I'll never swat another hornet, again..."

"Well, this has all been quite entertaining," Sendak began as he held up his weapon gauntlet arm, "but I'm afraid playtime is over...now die."

"You wish," Keith hissed as he grabbed at his burned arm. "Magical daemon art, Blades Of Blood!"

He swiped his bloodied dagger at Sendak, sending blades of magical energy at him, which caused him to grunt in annoyance as he stepped back in annoyance. While he was distracted, Keith grabbed Hunk while Lance, Pidge, Stats, and Kiaion hurried after him.

"Hunk, snap out of it, we need you!" Keith trailed off when he felt Hunk's body, it was petrified with fear.

"I'm sorry, I'm still afraid of the bugs!" Hunk said. "We need to be careful or else we're going to become poison!"

"Don't remind me! Lance!" Keith said as they hid behind the bot's remains. "Watch everyone for me, okay?!"

"What are you gonna do?!" Lance asked.

"I gotta stop Sendak," Keith answered. "He won't relent until he kills us all!"

"It is useless to hide!" Sendak yelled as he swung his arm, obliterating the bot's corpse. All that remained was lumps of Melting metal...and no sign of Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Kiaion, or Stats anywhere.

"Hmph," Sendak scoffed. "Killing that half-breed was worth one galra Droid."

Just then, Keith came bursting out of the bot's remains, lunging at Sendak with his dagger outstretched!

"I ain't that easy to kill, Sendak!" he yelled.

"Typical," Sendak said, nonchalantly. "At least, not until you come charging out like the wild beast that you are!" He swung his Giant arm, again, but this time, Keith was ready for him. He held up his dagger's sheath and blocked it, just in the nick of time!

"What's this?" thought Sendak. "He's using the sheath to parry my own personal weapon? How innovative...but also useless."

Meanwhile, Adam peeked his head out over the robot's Metalhead, sighing in relief.

"Sendak doesn't have any sentiment," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he did, I would have been good as dead by now!"

"You don't say?"

Before Adam could process what was happening, He turned to see Hunk, who was glowering at him despite the history of Terror while stood Lance, Pidge, Stats, and Kiaion next to him.

"I'm curious about something," Hunk said. "I think I remember you, you are there when my family was captured"

"So what if I did!" Adam scoffed. "What do you take me for, a fool?! I owe you no such explanation!"

"No, of course, you don't," Hunk grinned, before running to him to punched Adam across the face. But Adam evades it and then leaps around Hunk, hitting at him a few times while Hunk, Lance, and Pidge attempts to block him but Adam gets inside their guard and grabs Lance's arm, punching him in the stomach and making him kneel while he groans in pain

"This is what he left me for? Group of annoying teenagers and a light show?" Adam said in a humorless slight chuckle.

"You know precisely! how annoying can we be!" Lance said as launching himself to fight back against Adam.

"And he calls himself a holy monk!" Hunk said, nervously.

Pidge nodded in agreement

Meanwhile, Keith continued to struggle against Sendak who chuckled darkly as he continued to push him to the ground.

"Do you honestly believe that dagger and that scabbard will protect you against me?" he asked.

Keith scoffed. "This is no ordinary sheath, you know!" Suddenly, he sprang up, pushing Sendak back! "I can split your head with it, at least!"

"Then show me!" Sendak yelled as he swinging his gauntlet, who quickly jumped back, but stumbled a bit. "Or must I imagine it after you've died?!" He held up the gauntlet again, preparing to swing in a downward slash, making Keith gasp as he attempted to parry the blade with his sheath, again...but then...

"Eleventh from: Sagittarius!"

The suddenly thrumming of a bowstring was heard, followed by the sound of an arrow whistling through the air as said projectile flew between the two...and not long after, Sendak's Gauntlet had suddenly lost power.

"What?!" Sendak questioned.

"Where did that attack come from?!" Keith asked before he turned around...only to see Shiro, standing on the stairs, holding his sword like an archer "S-Shiro?!"

"Sendak!" he shouted as she aimed her weapon at the Giant Galra. "Drop it and back off, or else the next one is gonna hit you!"