Her good mood is infectious.

Akira snorts, pokes her back.

And - he's in sync with the others, now, too.

"Let's do this."

And Voltron rises up, swatting away the little Galra fighters like flies and ploughing inexorably towards the warship. 

By the time the Red Lion slams their right fist into a gun turret, there's enough momentum behind it that a whole section of the ship just crumples. After that, it doesn't take long before the Galran vessel is falling towards the planet below, trailing black smoke. 

They've won. 

"Ah hah! Take that, evil alien dudes!"

"Well done, paladins. I knew you could do it!" Allura says from the castle. (In the distance, the warship hits the ground in a cloud of smoke and dust.)

"I'll meet you on the front steps for a debrief." 

"And after that, a well-earned rest!" Coran puts in. 

"Alright!"

Back to the castle with them all?

Back to the castle they go!

Shiro stumbles a little as he walks down the ramp from the Black Lion's mouth, but it could easily just be tiredness. They've had a long day. He recovers quickly, and joins the rest of them on the castle steps to meet Allura and Coran. 

Pidge is bouncy and excitable. 

"How did we even do that? It was so weird!" 

"It was really awesome!"

Akira squints, keeping an eye on Shiro - apparently Nuray's currently in maximum excitement mode, so she's unlikely to keep up with reading people...

Keith also seems to be keeping an eye on Shiro, hanging back a little from the group and glaring at the rest of the world in a way that suggests he has a headache, a grudge, or both. 

Allura clears her throat. 

"Congratulations once again, paladins," she says with a smile. "You've proven beyond all doubt that you are truly meant to pilot Voltron." Her expression turns serious. "We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these Lions."

 "It's a good thing you Paladins know what you're doing, because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again!"

"...Yeah."

"We'll do what it takes."

Shiro nods. "We won't let you down. Hopefully forming Voltron will get easier the more we practice at it." 

"Hopefully."

"You'd better hope so! That was only one ship," Coran says, far too cheerfully. "Imagine what it'll be like when you're fighting a whole fleet! It's not going to be easy being the defenders of the universe." 

"Defenders of the universe, huh?" Keith echoes. "I like the sound of that." 

"Sounds cool."

"It sounds—like being part of something bigger." Pidge turns to look up at the five massive Lions, which just a few minutes ago came together as Voltron. 

"I think I like it."