SEREN
Seren's breathing hitched—short, sharp, panicked. The bond pulsed like a second heartbeat under her ribs, an intrusive rhythm she couldn't sync with and couldn't ignore.
Three presences pressed at the back of her mind, not words but impressions:
—Concern sharpened into calculation (Lotor).
—Rage, cold and efficient (Sendak).
—Stillness hiding a blade's edge (Kolivan).
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
Shiro shook her lightly. "Hey. Focus on me."
Right. Shiro. Here. Real. Not animated. Not on a screen.
Deep breaths. In. Out.
The System chimed sweetly in her skull:
[User destabilizing. Initiating Grounding Protocol.]
"Don't you—" Seren started—
Light exploded under her feet.
The desert warbled. Sound collapsed. The world froze.
The Paladins didn't move, didn't blink, didn't breathe—caught like insects in amber.
"System!" she snapped, panic cutting into anger. "This is not helping—"
[BEGIN TUTORIAL?]
[Y/N]
"Are you serious? I'm having a breakdown!"
[BEGIN TUTORIAL.]
[Consent overridden for safety.]
"You little—"
The world shattered like glass, then rebuilt itself into a floating blue interface. Panels spiraled around her, flickering with pixel constellations and tiny icons she recognized from… every fandom she'd ever loved.
"…Okay. This is either going to be incredibly cool or deeply stupid."
Probably both.
A holographic cursor blinked.
[WELCOME TO THE SURVIVAL SYSTEM]
[User: Seren Vale]
[Dimension: Voltron Legendary Defender]
[Status: Isekai'd by Truck-kun]
Seren covered her face with both hands. "I knew it. That bastard."
[MAIN FEATURES UNLOCKED]
The panels rearranged:
-Inventory
-Store
-Skills
-Quests
-Soulbond Management
-Canon Integrity Meter (BETA)
-Danger Sense
-Fandom Access Protocol
Her gaze snagged on the one that made her stomach twist:
Soulbond Management.
"Nope," she whispered. "No thank you. Hard pass."
[Mandatory.]
"Of course it is."
The System opened it anyway.
Three orbs rotated in a slow circle:
One gold. One violet. One red.
Beneath each:
PRINCE LOTOR
STATUS: Aware. Confused. Investigating anomaly.
SENDAK
STATUS: Enraged. Attempting to locate source. WARNING: High threat
KOLIVAN
STATUS: Silent. Tracking you. High probability of arrival within 72 hours.
Seren's soul left her body.
"…I don't suppose I can uninstall you?"
[No.]
"Fan-freaking-tastic."
She forced herself to look at the next section.
[EFFECTS OF SOULBOND]
• Shared vitality
• Shared death
• Emotional spillover
• Psychic bleedthrough
• Fate tethering
• Spatial sympathy (range increasing)
Spatial sympathy?
[Explanation: Soulbound individuals may be drawn together by proximity, emotion, or cosmic narrative pressure.]
Narrative pressure.
Narrative. Pressure.
"Oh, fanfiction is eating itself," Seren whispered. "And I'm the snack."
The tutorial flicked to one last screen:
[Your arrival point has altered canon trajectory.]
[Blue Lion's awakening is now entangled with your presence.]
[Expect cascading divergence.]
"But I just got here!"
[Yes.]
"Why?"
[You fell dramatically.]
"…What does that have to do with anything?"
[Narrative pressure.]
Seren threw her hands up. "I hate it here."
The System dimmed as if disappointed.
[TUTORIAL COMPLETE. Returning to timestream in 3… 2…]
"No, wait—!"
The world slammed back.
Air rushed in. Sound crashed down. The Paladins moved again.
Shiro's hands were still on her shoulders.
Keith's blade still glinted dangerously near her arm.
Pidge's visor whirred as she scanned for data.
Lance still looked convinced she was about to explode.
Hunk hovered anxiously.
"Hey..." Shiro asked again, voice softer. "Can you stand?"
She could.
She did.
Barely.
Her legs trembled like jelly, but she forced a smile that was mostly panic in disguise. "Yes. Sorry. I… blacked out for a second. I'm Seren by the way."
Keith's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "That wasn't a blackout."
Pidge pushed her visor up. "Her energy levels just spiked off the charts. That was more like—like she got hit by a digital EMP."
"Or," Lance suggested, "she's an alien internet modem."
Seren inhaled deeply. "I promise I'm not a threat."
Internally, she added: '…just soulbound to three of your worst enemies. But let's not stress you out.'
Shiro offered his hand. She took it.
The touch grounded her—warm, steady, normal.
"Let's get you somewhere safe," he said. "We're heading toward a… uh…"
"The cave with the giant ancient lion mech," Seren supplied.
All five Paladins froze.
Shiro's brows lifted slightly. "You know about that?"
Damn it.
"Let's call it… a guess?" she offered weakly.
Lance squinted. "A really specific, suspiciously correct guess."
Keith took a half-step closer, blade angled. "Start talking."
Pidge's eyes sharpened behind her glasses. "Because people don't know about things buried for ten thousand years."
Hunk swallowed nervously. "You sure you're okay? Because your aura is still doing a… thing."
What a sweetheart...
Seren lifted her hands.
"Look," she said, "I will explain everything, I swear. Just—can we please get inside the cave before the Blue Lion stops playing nice?"
Their collective silence was answer enough.
Keith looked like he wanted to argue, but Shiro beat him to it.
"She's right," he decided. "We need to move."
He turned. The others followed—warily, curiously, nervously.
Seren exhaled.
Then froze.
Because the bond pulsed again.
Hard.
Three reactions surged through her:
—Lotor's curiosity sharpening into intent.
—Sendak's fury focusing like a weapon.
—Kolivan's calm, ancient attention settling fully on her location.
Seren's knees went weak.
"Oh no," she whispered.
Shiro glanced back. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she lied. "Everything. Well ...Mostly."
She stumbled after them toward the cave.
Behind her ribs, three villains tugged on the soulchain like predators scenting prey across a galaxy.
And the System chimed quietly:
[Incoming canonical divergence: 97% likelihood]
[Brace yourself.]
Seren braced.
It wouldn't help.