Space Mall Read online

  Coran walked out of the shop victorious—and found the Paladins riding Kaltenecker. He jumped on.

  “You can’t pilot the Black Lion after everything you’ve done,” Shiro said to Zarkon. “You can never lead Voltron again. You’re no Paladin!”

  Re-energized by his own speech, Shiro hit Zarkon. He was back in the fight!

  “You have no idea how to command a weapon like this,” Zarkon sneered.

  But Shiro had learned something important.

  “No one commands the Black Lion,” he said.

  “You dare lecture me?” Zarkon threatened Shiro. Zarkon and Shiro fought each other fiercely. Zarkon was right. What happened to Shiro’s body in the mental realm happened in the physical, too—inside the Black Lion, Shiro was injured, and his life was in danger. On the mental battlefield, Zarkon picked up Shiro by the neck and held him in the air!

  “Do you think the Black Lion would allow such a feeble creature to pilot it?” Zarkon sneered. “Only the powerful can command it.”

  “It’s not about power. It’s about earning each other’s trust,” Shiro told Zarkon, straining to speak.

  “Trust has nothing to do with it. That lion is mine. Forever.”

  As Zarkon squeezed Shiro’s neck even more tightly, the Black Lion’s eyes began to glow. It had heard everything. It agreed with Shiro.

  The Black Lion opened its mouth and blasted Zarkon with an energy beam, pummeling him back to his own ship and back to reality.

  “My connection grows weaker,” Zarkon realized, back on his Galran ship.

  Meanwhile, Shiro woke up in the cockpit of the Black Lion.

  “Did you just save me?” he asked the Black Lion. But he already knew the answer—the Black Lion had. “Let’s go home.”

  The Black Lion didn’t move. Instead, its background started shifting and shifting. Shiro looked around and realized they were in the Black Lion’s hangar.

  “We never left,” Shiro said, amazed.

  Coran and the Paladins raced outside the mall, with Varkon close behind them. But Varkon stopped at the door. He couldn’t follow them outside.

  “Don’t let me catch you in my jurisdiction again, pirates!” Varkon yelled.

  The Paladins breathed a sigh of relief. They got the Teludav lenses—and outraced space mall cop Varkon!

  Back on the Castleship, everyone greeted Allura.

  “We got our lenses,” Coran announced.

  “Excellent,” Allura said. “Now we can get the Teludav up and running.”

  “Where’s Shiro?” Keith asked.

  The door opened, and Shiro came walking up, looking a bit dazed. He glanced to his right and saw Kaltenecker behind Lance.

  “Is that a cow?” he asked.

  Kaltenecker mooed.

  “So, did you find a way to bond with your lion?” Keith asked Shiro.

  “Yes, and we need to get moving,” Shiro said.

  Now that they had the lenses, there was no time to waste.

  While Coran plotted their next course—a mysterious base of alleged Galran rebels—Pidge and Lance went to set up their new video game console.

  Pidge pulled out the video game console and looked around, holding the old cables in her hand. She searched for an outlet. Then it dawned on her.

  “Where can we . . . How do we . . . No!”

  Pidge’s eye twitched.

  There was nowhere to plug it in!

  DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender © 2017 DreamWorks Animation LLC. TM World Events Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

  And now for a never-before-told story from The Space Mall!

  Greetings, pirates. Can I interest you in the latest Earth fashions?

  My name matters not, but I am the shopkeeper at It’s Earth, located in the space mall. Please do come in. Take a look around. I have the finest collection of Earth items in the whole universe.

  Over to the right you will notice a large metal object called a “car.” This is like a spaceship that doesn’t fly and doesn’t go into space. I’m not quite sure what it’s for, but rumor has it that earthlings use their cars as an outlet of expression with various bumper stickers. I’ve seen cars with bumper stickers of babies and honorary student awards. It’s a bit out there, but you know the humans!

  Toward the back of my shop you will find two rare palm trees. Humans grow these hideous plants in warm weather, like on the island of Cuba. I suppose someone from Cuba would be excited to see them—excited enough to stop in and take a look around the shop, anyway.

  My hat, in case you were wondering, has the number “51” on it. Area 51 is a place on Earth where I go to get the latest fashions. It is located in a place called Nevada, and I always make sure to stop by a nearby city called Las Vegas for a second or two. Nobody has noticed I’m an alien there yet.

  Aha! I see that you have your eyes set on Kaltenecker. Worry not! One free Kaltenecker comes with every purchase. He makes the best milkshakes in the universe, but don’t ask me how to milk him. Now, what can I assist you with today?

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  SIMON SPOTLIGHT

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This Simon Spotlight edition December 2017

  DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender © 2017 DreamWorks Animation LLC. TM World Events Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

  Designed by Jay Colvin

  Jacket illustrations by Patrick Spaziante.

  DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender © 2017 DreamWorks Animation LLC. TM World

  ISBN 978-1-5344-1022-0 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-5344-1021-3 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-5344-1023-7 (eBook)