Part 21: Camping

( Titans Tower)

It was morning and the Titans were getting up and ready to go about the day. They were all in the common room except for Mortuary. The young necromancer had been in his room, polishing his gun and reflecting on his time with the titans. Over the past few weeks Draco and Mortuary were starting to become really great friends, sometimes Mortuary would even forget that Draco was an Orphenoch. The other Titans had actually started to warm up to him as well. Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Pluto would provide him with a laugh from time to time, he always had Terra to talk to, he could always have an intelligent conversation with Shadowcobra and Raven, Robin was someone to train and talk leadership with, Starfire could put him in a cheery mood, Blackfire was someone cool to hang out with, and Jinx was now convinced that Draco wasn't in any danger so she befriended Mortuay as well.

A sudden knock at the door broke Mortuary's train of thought he opened the door to find Draco on the other side

"Hey Leo, did you need something?" Mortuary asked

Draco smiled, "Just wondering why you're not out here with the rest of us."

"Oh." Mortuary blinked. "I was just giving the Death Buster a good polish. I'll be out there soon though."

Draco noticed in the tone of Mortuary's voice that something was wrong. "Is everything ok?" he asked.

Mortuary nodded, "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

Draco just shrugged, "I dunno. See ya out there ok?"

Mortuary just nodded again and Draco walked back to the common room. When Mortuary was alone again, he began coughing. He covered his mouth and when he looked at his palm, he saw blood mix with necroplasm. He sighed sadly to himself before continuing on with his work

(Later…)

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Ichijyo groaned.

"What can I say?" Gar grinned, "We can be very persuasive."

"How long is this trip anyway?" Ichijyo asked Vic, who was driving.

"Just a half hour. Don't worry, Ichijyo, we'll be at the campsite before you know it."

Ichijyo said sarcastically, "I can't wait."

The 7 Titan boys were in their civilian disguises and riding inside the T-Car. This weekend they would not be Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Draco, Shadowcobra, Pluto and Mortuary; they would be Tim Drake, Vic Stone, Gar Logan, Ryuki Leonard Hasuma, Ichijyo Amakusa, Yoshiyuki Takada and Craig Smith. Gar was riding shotgun next to Vic, leaving the other 5 in the back. A very cramped ride, but they managed.

"This is so exciting," Ryuki said cheerfully.

"Maybe for you, Leo," Ichijyo said to his pyrokinetic friend, "But not me."

"Why can't you lighten up?" Takada asked.

"Maybe because I was forced on a camping trip I never wanted to go in the first place," Ichijyo hissed. Takada backed away.

"Forget I asked."

"Ichijyo…we're doing this to bond as a team, okay?" Tim said to his third in command, "So why not try and have some fun? Besides, you might enjoy yourself."

Ichijyo scoffed, "I seriously doubt it." The other boys groaned, except Craig. Behind the T-Car was a trailer that had Gar's moped, the Knight's Z-Riders and Tim's R-Cycle. The 3 Knights we're gonna ride around the forest, motorcross style.

"Hey Craig, would you mind shutting up? You're talking way too much," Takada said sarcastically trying to get Craig to talk.

"Sorry Takada, I'm just not in the camping mood. It really hasn't been my thing for a while. I kinda feel like heading back to the tower," Craig stated.

Ichijyo put his hand on Craig's shoulder. "Craig you're my hero now, sir"

Craig smirked, "Yup, I'm everyone's hero"

The team finally reached the campsite and their jaws dropped.

"What the…?" Vic blinked.

"Not exactly what I was expecting," Tim added.

The whole area was full and every available spot was already taken. Ichijyo took out a pair of binoculars and looked around with it.

"Well, looks like there isn't any available land." Ichijyo pocketed the binoculars. "Let's go home."

"Wait a minute, hold on!" Vic exclaimed, "We came here for a camping trip and we're getting a camping trip!"

"How genius?" Takada said to Vic, "There isn't a spot here. The whole place is packed. I hate to admit it, but the snake is right. Let's go home."

Ryuki had been looking forward to this camping trip. He wanted to spend time with his friends. Then, he had an idea. "Hey guys, I got an idea of a good camping spot."

"Where?" everyone, except Shadow, whirled their heads and asked him.

"I'm not sure, but maybe I can have Brainstorm scope out the area so that we can find at least one good camping spot," Ryuki said to them.

"Do it!" Gar jumped up and down impatiently.

Ryuki drew out his Brainstorm card and threw the card into the air. The card glowed for a second before morphing into the trusty blue condor known as Brainstorm. The large blue condor perched itself on a nearby branch.

"Maybe we can have Darkwing help too," Takada said as he drew a card and threw it into the air. The card expanded and morphed into the bat Darkwing.

Ryuki asked nicely, "Do you mind looking for a camping spot for us?"

The bat screeched while the condor squawked. They then flew into the air. Takada and Ryuki pulled out their SB-Cells.

"Now…we wait," Ryuki said as he looked at the screen on his DRA-Phone, seeing everything his Brainstorm was seeing. Takada did the same with his DOG-Phone. Ichijyo leaned against a tree and crossed his arms.

"This is a big waste of time. Let's just head back to the city," Ichijyo complained.

"Lighten up!" his 5 friends shouted in unison. Ichijyo rolled his eyes.

"Whatever…" he went to the trunk and popped it open, pulling out his guitar and decided to strum it for a bit. Craig pulled his harmonica out from his pocket and began playing some tunes with Ichijyo.

Tim whispered into Ryuki's ear, "He's always been this grouchy, hasn't he?"

Ryuki replied, whispering as well, "Ever since I met him." His phone beeped, "Hey, I think I got something."

Vic went into the T-Car first, followed by the others and Ichijyo reluctantly went in as well. "Follow that signal!" Vic voiced out loud.

They drove to a campsite that was pretty far away from the others, which was actually perfect.

"Alright guys," Tim started. "Let's set up"

With that the boys started pitching their tents and digging a pit for the fire. The rest of the day had gone by pretty fast and it was already starting to get dark. They needed to get some firewood for the night so Ryuki and Craig volunteered to get some.

"You know, it's kinda good to be out of the city," Ryuki said

"I guess so," Craig said with no emotion in his voice

Ryuki could feel that something was wrong with his new friend.

"Are you ok? You've been distant the whole day," Ryuki said

Craig shook his head. "It's nothing to worry about, just a little problem I need to get through. That's all."

Ryuki shrugged. "If you say so, but know that I'll help if you need it"

Craig gave a faint smile, "Thanks, Ryuki"

They had finally reached the forest and began collecting the wood they needed. Ryuki had noticed that something was physically wrong with Craig in the way that he walked. Something just wasn't right.

"Craig," Ryuki spoke up

"Yeah?" Craig asked

"Maybe I should take all of the wood back. You might want to take it easy."

"Take it easy? Nothing's wrong with me, I told you that already."

"The way you're walking and everything doesn't look right. If you're sick or something it's ok."

"I'm not sick!"

As if on cue Craig suddenly covered his mouth as he began coughing out a mix of blood and necroplasm. Craig suddenly lost strength in his legs and fell to his knees.

"Craig!" Ryuki called out in shock

"I'm ok, just give me a couple of minutes and it'll pass, it always does," Craig said while breathing heavily.

"What's wrong with you?" Ryuki asked worriedly.

"Dr. West called it Necrosickness. It's actually a type of cancer from Nekron. By the way it's spreading I've only got two years left if I'm not cured."

"Is there a cure?"

"There might be."

"I hope there is. I don't want anymore of my friends to die."

"You don't have to worry, Ryuki. I refuse death"

Ryuki smiled at that statement.

With all of the wood finally gathered, Ryuki and Craig headed back to campsite until they heard a scream. Ryuki and Craig arrived in time to see an Orphenoch attacking a family of campers. The Orphenoch looked like it was based on a bear and had sharp claws. They noticed a little boy walking towards them until he fell over and turned to ashes.

"You see why I hate these things?" Craig said

"This one doesn't even deserve life!" Ryuki said in an angry tone. Seeing this Orphenoch kill an innocent child enraged him. This time, he would show no mercy.

"Let's go!" Mortuary shouted. Ryuki whipped out his Zodiac Deck. A metal belt with a space in the centre formed and wrapped itself around his waist.

"Empowerment of the Zodiac Dragon! Henshin!" He slid the Deck into the centre of his belt to form the buckle. A red energy field swept over his body, encasing him in his armor. The reformatting did not just change the belts and decks of the Knights. For some Knights, it also changed their armors as well.

Ryuki's Zodiac Knight Draco armor looked the same except that the torso armor was no longer red but black except for the chestplate, which retained its silver color. The silver parts of his gauntlets and boots turned black and his helmet was now black, bearing a silver dragon symbol on top. The faceplate held a silver visor that was grilled horizontally, obscuring the large round eyepieces underneath. The eyepieces were no longer the same emerald green as before but now crimson red.

As Ryuki was transforming, Craig did a little a transformation of his own as he placed both hands over his face. He cast a small spell to give his face the appearance that it had been painted on like a skull. Ryuki and Craig were now Draco and Mortuary.

Mortuary quickly shot two necrobolts that hit the Bear Orphenoch dead on and knocked it back. Draco then pounced on the Bear Orphenoch while it was on the ground and began to furiously punch it in the face until the Bear Orphenoch threw Draco off. As the Bear Orphenoch was getting up Mortuary rushed at it and started to throw every kick and punch he had, that is until a familiar type of cough was coming. The Necrosickness had brought Mortuary to his knees again. The Bear Orphenoch took advantage of its opponent's handicap and gave Mortuary a very heavy blow to the head, which sent Mortuary flying a good twelve feet. When Mortuary landed his eyes rolled back into his skull as he lost consciousness. Mortuary's vision went to total blackness.

"Craig!" Draco cried out. With a roar of fury, he charged at the Orphenoch and smashed his fist against the Orphenoch's chest.

While Draco was fighting the Bear Orphenoch, Mortuary was dreaming…Or was he?

Mortuary was in a graveyard of some sort. Standing before him were several headstones that were atop graves. It was dark so it was hard for Mortuary to make the names out, but when he did, he gasped in surprised. These were the graves of his old team, the Templars. Just why was he having this nightmare and what was he doing here? He then heard a male voice speak:

"You failed to save them." Mortuary whirled around and standing before him was a golden and crimson armored figure with a long billowing cape and a staff with ornaments in the shape of a dragon, a tiger, a phoenix and a turtle.

"Who…who are you?" Mortuary tensed up, drawing his Death Buster and encasing his free hand in necroplasm. "Did you bring me here?"

"My name is Libra," the Guardian replied, "And yes, I did bring you here."

"Why?' Mortuary asked.

"Because I want to show you that there are still lives you can save despite your failure to save your friends," Libra answered him. "You have great power, but I think you need a little more."

"What do you mean?" Mortuary asked, confused at this Knight's answer. Libra produced a black card case that had a slot in the side and a crystal imbedded in the centre. Libra walked over to Mortuary and calmly handed the Zodiac Deck over to Mortuary. Mortuary stared at it. On closer inspection, there was the symbol of Aries within the crystal. "This is…"

"It's yours. Now, I know that you're slowly dying, so I'll let you decide if you want to use that power to do the right thing or not." Suddenly appearing and standing before Mortuary now were four humanoid monsters that were based off gazelles with their large horns. There were the Gigazelle, Negazelle, Megazelle and Omegazelle. The Gigazelle was black and blue with a pair of long and thin sharp horns atop its head. The Megazelle was green and black with sharp horns as well, the Negazelle was green and brown with a pair of curled horns like that of a mountain goat, and finally the Omegazelle that was purple and silver with a pair of sharp bullhorns. They all had blades on heir forearms and armed with pole-arms that had prongs on the head designed much like their horns. Mortuary tensed up, thinking these beasts were going to attack him, but they then kneeled down and bowed their heads. Libra explained, "Calm down. These four monsters before you shall be your Zodiac Beasts and partners. They will aid you in the battles ahead. Now go and use your new power now to do what you must," Libra said before Mortuary covered his eyes from an intense flash of bright light.

Back in the real world, Mortuary's eyes snapped open. The battle was still going on as Draco was fighting the Bear Orphenoch with his bare hands. Mortuary shook his head to get the cobwebs out.

"Was that a dream?" He said to himself and then he saw in his hands a familiar looking card case with a glowing symbol of Aries on it. "It was not a dream." He heard Draco shout as he was smashed into a tree, breaking it in half and causing it to fall. The force of the impact knocked the Dragon Deck out of his belt and his armor shattered away. Mortuary went over to his friend. "You okay, Leo?" Ryuki groaned.

"I think so…" he picked up his Zodiac Deck and then saw the one in Mortuary's hand. "Can't be…" his eyes widened as he looked up at Mortuary. "You're a-" he was cut off by a loud bellowing roar as the Bear Orphenoch charged at them.

"MOVE!" Mortuary shouted as he roughly pulled Ryuki up and flung them over to safety. The Bear Orphenoch slashed its claws and made a few marks in the trees. Mortuary asked Ryuki, "Can you still transform?"

Ryuki groaned. His Orphenoch healing factor hadn't kicked in yet so he was still in pain. "I don't think I can do much even if I did. My ankle's been sprained." Mortuary looked at his own Zodiac Deck and knew what he had to do. He stood up and faced the Orphenoch who seemed ready to kill him like he did to the family of campers.

"You want me?" Mortuary challenged, bringing up the Deck, "Come and get me!" The metal belt formed around Mortuary's waist and for some reason, he knew the transformation command and shouted it out, "Empowerment of Aries! Henshin!" he slid the Aries Deck into the centre of his belt and the crystal flashed. The Orphenoch shielded his eyes as Ryuki's own eyes widened with shock and amazement. The golden energy swept over Mortuary's body, encasing him in the armor.

Ryuki knew one thing as the crystal of his own Zodiac Deck flashed.

A new Zodiac Knight had been born.

Draco:

It used to be pretty simple for me, Ryuki Leonard Hasuma a.k.a. Zodiac Knight Draco. Well, maybe not that simple. It was usually this: transform, enter the Mirror Dimension and kill evil monsters. Well, there were other monsters in the real world. There was Plasmus then there was Overload. I guess Cinderblock could be considered a monster. However, these monsters were considered criminals. I've also heard of this monster called Kardiak. Believe me, I've never encountered Kardiak, but when I read his file I couldn't believe it. A giant beating disembodied heart? Well, I think…I knew that I could take down Kardiak. It wasn't really human.

Okay, rewind a sec. Let me start from the beginning. A few years back, when I turned 15, I rummaged through my ottosan's stuff in the attic. That was where I found this rectangular metal case with a slot. It had cards inside. Well, most of the cards were blank. At the time, I sure as hell didn't know what I was getting myself into. I found out there was a world called the 'Mirror Dimension' (Or Mirror World. Whichever you want to call it) and that monsters inhabited it. I tried telling my friends, but they all called me crazy; one of them even suggested I write a book. Not a bad idea, if I was just imagining the whole thing, which I wasn't.

Fast forward, I became a Zodiac Knight. Well, I thought it was simple. Just go and fight monsters, protect people y'know. Then, I found out from Takada and Ichijyo that it wasn't really so simple after all. Those who became Zodiac Knights were destined to fight one another until there was only ONE remaining Zodiac Knight. Why? All I knew that the LAST Knight will receive a great power and a wish that could change all reality. Well, with a prize like that, which was tempting…very tempting, I guess it wasn't so surprising, huh? I mean, to wish for whatever you wanted with no strings attached. Of course, to do so, a Knight had to defeat all the other Knights, usually by killing. I've always been against killing, still am. I didn't like this rule. Then again, I didn't have anything to wish for…at least not in the beginning. I continued to fight the monsters and tried to stop the Knights from fighting one another. Well, I got Takada and Ichijyo to stop and join me, but I still feel that they REALLY wanted that wish. They had their own reasons for fighting and I think those reasons are what still drives them to this day. We met some bad Knights, but nothing we couldn't handle together. We met Tazuka, who was the Zodiac Knight of Pisces, Jawz. He and I became the best of friends. Sure he was weird and well, he was a fortune teller, but he was good company. He also didn't want the Knights to fight one another saying that it would be better to work together and fight to protect people. Well, Takada warmed up to him, Ichijyo was just being Ichijyo, but I think he was accepting Tazuka as part of the group.

Of course tragedy struck when Asakura, an extremely dangerous criminal who could give the Joker a run for his money, became a Zodiac Knight. He was utterly evil and unreasonable. He…he killed Tazuka (he killed another Knight called Striker before) and I defeated him, destroying his deck and sending him back to prison. I knew from the way he was staring at me that he was plotting his revenge. All I cared about at that time was mourning over Tazuka.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it. I found out my own sister was a Zodiac Knight, the evil Cat Knight who'd been trying to kill us this whole time. Well, after two years of endless and meaningless fighting, I snapped. We fought, I lost, I ran. I ran to Jump City, but I couldn't abandon my duty. I still wanted to protect people. I ran into the Titans and it all started again from there. New beginnings, right? But, as always, the past would always come to follow us. Soon, the Knights were fighting in Jump City, California, USA.

Remember when I said that I fight to protect people? I wasn't being completely honest there. I also fight to find out the truth about my father's death and his past. I found my Dragon Deck in a box of his old stuff and I wanted to know how and why. Did he really die when I was three, or…?

Wow, thinking too much. Oh, you want to know what's happening right now? A new Zodiac Knight was being born. How do I know? I'm watching it right now.

To Be Continued…

Zodiac Knight Mortuary

Real Name: Craig Smith

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Zodiac Power: He can create duplicates of himself.

Other powers/Abilities: A sharpshooter with his Death Buster gun and can generate and manipulate necroplasm.

Zodiac Beasts: Gigazelle, Megazelle, Negazelle, and Omegazelle. (All are humanoid gazelles/deer)

Card reader: Right kneepad.

Mortuary's Vent Cards:

Add Vent Gazelle (5,000 AP): Summons Gazelle herd

Strike Vent (3,000 AP) Gazelle Stabber. A double drilled weapon mounted on the right arm.

Final Vent (6,000 AP): Call of the Herd. All of Mortuary's Gazelle monsters attack the target and Mortuary lands a final fatal strike to finish it off.

Bio: Young Craig Smith was born never knowing who his real parents are. Craig is actually a clone of an ancient sorcerer named Joachim Xell; Craig was the only perfect clone in what was dubbed Project: Xell. Craig was raised to have no concept of right and wrong he was only trained to carry out orders for his superiors. Craig's superiors are the secret organization called Dark Cronos whose soul purpose is to create clones of warlords, mad men, and sorcerers. Dark Cronos has only succeeded in cloning Xell, but unaware to Dark Cronos was that Craig could not fully control his power. During a training session Craig had totally lost control which ended in the destruction of the Dark Cronos lab with Craig being the only known survivor. He was found wandering in the near by woods by Vincent Harker. Craig had totally lost all memory of the incident and has since become Vincent's ward. Craig had it made by living with Vince, but he just wasn't into the rich life style so he decided to leave and work as a lab assistant for Dr. Herbert West at Miskatonic University in Arkham Massachusetts. In Arkham he also met Terra and decided to leave Dr. West for a while and form a team with Terra called the Red Wolves. Due to internal conflicts the Red Wolves broke up, afterwards Craig was sought out by a man who only calls himself "One" to form a team of monster hunters called the Templars. The Templars were getting very successful in their job until a powerful Orphenoch killed the entire team and left Craig fatally wounded, after being treated by Dr. West, Craig sought revenge. Craig believes that Zodiac Knight Draco was the Orphenoch that killed his team and tracks him to Titans Tower. Mortuary breaks into the Tower and tries to kill Draco, but is stopped by the Titans and is talked out of it by Draco.

On a camping trip with the male members of the Titans, he is given the Aries Deck by Libra to fight the Orphenochs.