Part 18: Raptors

Being a Sabretron herself, Blackbird obviously recognized the symbol of the Deathtrons for her race/organization had been long time enemies with the latter. It was also obvious that Deathtrons had attacked Fixit.

They knew why the Deathtrons had attacked Fixit. The question to ask now was who were the Deathtrons that attacked Fixit? The figures were hidden in the shadows and blurred out. Blackbird looked over at the Dog Knight, Pluto, who had found her and saw the expression on his face.

Blackfire also knew of the Deathtrons. Back on Tamaran, she studied the history archives when she was bored. She found texts regarding the Deathtrons and how they invaded her home those many centuries ago and the atrocities they committed. She hated Deathtrons too, but not all of them. Shadow was one of the good ones for he was a member of the Deathtron Secret Police. Scratch that, he was the Commander of the Deathtron Secret Police and not a simple member. He was a high ranked officer and the one responsible for getting rid of the price on her head. Thanks to Shadowcobra she was a free alien, even if she was under his custody. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she did respect the guy, even if they did rub each other the wrong way at first. Back in Tokyo, she saw a different side of him and got to know him a little better. He was slightly bitter at her for what she had done to Starfire, but who wouldn't? Her sister and he had been best friends and well, he cared about her. Right now, Blackfire was focusing on the Deathtron symbol on the screen, but most of all the look in her boyfriend's eyes (his visor was pulled up).

Pluto was mad…And I mean really mad. He was shaking, his eyes were narrowed and his eyebrows were slanted as he glared upon the Deathtron symbol. Sparks literally flew off his body, electrical sparks, as he gazed upon the symbol with absolute rage. These Deathtrons had hurt Fixit, a close friend and one of the most brilliant (even if he was a bit crazy, but so was Pluto) minds that Pluto had the honor to meet. They didn't just attack Fixit, they beat up a harmless and defenseless old man and Pluto hated it when people beat on the elder. It just wasn't right. The Titans backed away from Pluto, even Cyborg. Beast Boy spoke up.

"Dude, you okay?' BB asked. Pluto took in a deep breath, turned away from the monitor screen…and fired an electrical bolt at the ceiling, creating a scorch mark. His teeth were gritted. Man, was he pissed. Beast Boy gulped, eyes wide and hid behind Terra, squeaking, "I'll take (gulp) as a yes."

"I'll be in my room," Pluto said coldly. "Call me if there's anything new." He stalked out of the living room. No one else dared to follow. Even Blackfire was frightened of him. Most of the time, he was a goofy mad scientist who would often have his experiments backfire on him. However, right now, all she saw was an extremely angry young man who was capable of almost anything.

Correction: An extremely angry ANIMAL.

Cyborg scratched his head, "Man, never seen Plutes that mad before!"

Draco then spoke up, "I have."

"You have?" Jinx asked. Everyone's eyes turned to Draco, silently asking him to elaborate.

"Yeah," Draco sighed. "That's the same look in the eyes that Pluto used to get back when I first met him. Did he ever tell you about why he became a Zodiac Knight in the first place?" Everyone, except for Blackfire, shook their heads. "Blackfire?"

"He told me," she admitted. "Back in Tokyo, we visited his mother. She's in a coma because of a traffic accident that killed his dad." Beast Boy and Pluto gasped.

"He never told us!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"But I though he was our bud!" Beast Boy added.

"It was his secret, Beast Boy," Draco said. "He has a right to keep it. His reason for becoming a Zodiac Knight was to save his mother. His mother's in a coma and slowly getting worse, her condition is deteriorating. Ichijyo is funding money to keep her alive, but even he can do so much. The only chance Takada has in waking his mother back up is winning the Tournament."

"What Tournament?" Mortuary asked. He had only been here for a couple of weeks and had a lot to learn about Draco and the Zodiac Knights.

"The Zodiac Tournament. It's the final stage of the Zodiac Knights. All the surviving Zodiac Knights will fight one another until only one Knight remains. Basically, it's survival of the fittest and the one Knight that's left standing shall win the ultimate prize: a wish to change reality to his own whim. It's like giving a person the power of God and that is an absolutely tempting prize." The others fell silent upon Draco's explanation. They never really knew how much was truly at stake. It just never occurred to them. Draco added, "In the End there can be only One."

Blackfire had run off, possibly to go look for Pluto. Cyborg and Beast Boy followed after.

Pluto was in his room/lab/workshop. Littered on the ground were his plans, blueprints and schematics. He was hunched over his desk, sitting in his chair, his face resting in his arms. His computer screen was blank.

"Why? Why did it have to happen to Fixit?" Pluto asked himself. Seeing Fixit like that reminded him of the day of the accident. It had been almost three years ago when it had happened. His father was driving and his mother was sitting shotgun. Pluto/Takada and Venus/Eri were in the back. It was just one of those family outings. It was a beautiful day…

Then it happened.

Something flew out in front of them, surprising Takada's father. He lost control of the car and crashed into a truck.

The ambulance came and they examined all of them. Takada's dad had died immediately in the crash and his mom had serious injuries and needed to be taken to the hospital. Himself and his sister were unharmed (for obvious reasons now since they were chosen to wield the Zodiac Powers of the Dog and Virgo) and uninjured. Of course, now they suffered from survivor's guilt.

Pluto, as well as going to school, had to take on a job to support himself and his sister. He and his sister would often help out at their aunt's little restaurant. They didn't have any other close relatives, except for their aunt whom they lived with, although several distant ones gave them financial support, easing their troubles a bit.

Of course, that wasn't enough. The medical insurance paying for their mom's life support was running out and it would be a matter of time before they, the doctors, had to pull the plug.

That is, until he got a visit…from Fuji himself.

Fuji offered him a way. He handed Takada the Zodiac Deck of the Dog and told him that if he wanted his wish to come true he would have to fight. Not seeing any other option, he accepted. He told Eri and since then he became Zodiac Knight Pluto, Knight of Immortality and Invincibility. As long as there was a way to revive their mother, he would do what it took to make sure it happened. No matter the cost.

A knock on the door caused his trail of though to derail. Wiping a tear out of his eye, he lifted his head up and looked at the door. "Yes?" he asked.

"Yoshi?" Blackfire's voice asked from the other side. "Can we come in?"

'We?' he thought. He pulled his visor over his eyes and pulled on his coat. "Okay." The door slid open and sending on the other side of the threshold were his girlfriend and good friends, Blackfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Hey guys."

"Listen dawg, we know all about it," Cyborg began.

"About what?" Pluto asked, feigning ignorance. He could sense from the looks on their faces of what they were talking about.

"Dude, we know why you decided to be a Zodiac Knight," Beast Boy clarified. Pluto's eyes widened and he looked at Blackfire.

"Sorry, but I had to tell them. I mean, they…we are your friends, aren't we?" she smiled and Beast Boy and Cyborg put on large grins.

"You know huh? Well, I really appreciate it guys, but I'm fine now," he put on a fake smile and lied. "Really, I'm okay." One of his inventions, a lie detector, began beeping. "Stupid machine," he grumbled, regretting ever making the damn thing, as he turned to look at his friends who caught him in his lie. He muttered to himself, "Maybe I shouldn't have made that lie detector voice activated."

"You got to remember…" Cyborg started as he entered.

"…That all of us…" Beast Boy added, following after Cyborg.

"…Are here for you," Cyborg and Beast Boy finished together, sticking out their arms and putting their hands over one another. Pluto looked at their hands, remembering when the three of them had become friends. That was the day the duo became a trio. With a smile, and a tear in the corner of his eye, Pluto put his hand on theirs.

"Thanks guys." Blackfire wrapped her arms behind around Pluto's chest from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Remember, you got me and friends now. There's no need to be alone," Blackfire said to him, kissing his neck and scratching his ear. He growled pleasantly at the attention.

"And Fixit's gonna be alright," Cyborg added to comfort Pluto. Beast Boy nodded in agreement.

"I needed that," Pluto said to them. Suddenly, the alarms blared, the lights flashing red. "There's trouble!" Pluto exclaimed, nearly mimicking Robin. He ran past them and down the hallway to the living room. He looked lively again and his friends and girlfriend sighed with relief. They then rushed after him.

"What's going on?" Pluto asked as he stormed into the room, Blackfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg running close behind him.

T.I.T.A.N. reported, showing a map of the city, "They are reports of random and destructive attacks committed by what witnesses believe to be robotic hawks." This got Blackbird's attention as several spots on the map were marked.

"T.I.T.A.N., connect all attack points from first to last," Pluto commanded.

"Affirmative." And T.I.T.A.N. did just that.

"Who could've done this?" Draco questioned.

"I dunno. Billy maybe?" Jinx suggested, referring to the duplicating Billy Numerous. However, it didn't seem like Billy's style. He wasn't into random destruction, just thievery and burglary.

"But what about the robotic birds?" Terra asked. "I mean, Billy doesn't know anything about mechanical stuff. Gizmo does, but he hasn't been on the crime radar since Smart Brain Corporation recruited him." The Titans had been told of both Mammoth and Gizmo's status as Smart Brain's staff so that scratched them off the list of possible suspects.

"So who could it be? Who could hit so many places at once and so fast that we only got the alert now?" Beast Boy questioned.

"We're about to find out," Pluto said as he keyed in some new commands.

T.I.T.A.N. reported, "All points have been connected. Bringing up visual now." The map was brought back up with all the points connected via straight lines. It was like a game of connect the dots and when the game was done, a picture would turn up.

The picture, of course, was not exactly what anyone was expecting.

It was the silhouette of the symbol of the Deathtrons.

"Okay, that really narrows it down," Cyborg commented.

Pluto had his fists gripped tightly, almost drawing blood if it wasn't for his soul fiber gloves. Sparks were flying off his hair. The one who had hurt Fixit…they had done this. It had to be. He calmed down and asked T.I.T.A.N. again, "Damage report?"

T.I.T.A.N. reported, "Nearly 45 to 60 percent of property damage in those areas. There are no cases of fatalities, fortunately. However, there are cases of injured victims both minor and major. The count of injured: 357 civilians so far." The Titans were horrified and relieved; relieved that no one had died, but horrified that so many had been injured right under their noses. Also all that destruction and in such short of time.

Pluto asked again, "The final attack point, where was it?"

T.I.T.A.N marked the last point with a large 'X'. "Here. This is the last point where the attacks were reported and stopped."

"They were leaving a message," Pluto understood. He continued, "Time between the attacks?"

"10 seconds apart. 2 attacks at the same time." That would mean that there were two perps…or more. 10 seconds? That would mean they were really fast.

And if so, the Titans needed speed and a lot of it. They had to work fast.

Pluto turned to the Titans (Mortuary had been made a Titans a while back) and Blackbird. He looked serious, really serious. Cyborg saw this and nodded, understanding Pluto's silent command.

"Let's move," Pluto said in a commanding voice, showing a hint of leadership.

"Good," said a new voice. The Titans turned around, not noticing that anyone had entered into the Common Room. They had been too engrossed at the monitor all this time. The person was clad in a black jumpsuit with mismatched red and purple elbow pads, knee pads, shoulder pads, gloves and boots. He wore a mask with red (left) and purple (right) lenses. His hair was blue and he wore a pair of gold bracelets around his wrists.

The Titans recognized who it was.

"DT!"

DT smiled, the Sabretronian Titan said to them, "Miss me?"

To Be Continued…

Well a little bit of Pluto's past was told in this chap. Sad huh? Maybe he constantly invents stuff to get his mind off what happened to his family. Really makes you see the Dog Knight in a different light, don't it? Well, DT's back. Why? Who knows? To help? Of course. Why wouldn't he? He is a Titans after all.

Well, it took me a while to write this chap. I had writer's block and I had a lot of research to do. Hope to hear from you all, reviews I mean.