Part 35: Behemoth

"Because I am human," Draco responded to Occutus' question without hesitation. "And there's no way I'll ever join you!"

Occultus sneered with disgust. The boy had the nerve to call himself human? Occultus was not going to give up however, not by a long shot. He continued his speech, "Human?" he said this with some humor in his voice, "No, my dear boy, you are not human. You are MORE than human. Forget your humanity and join the proud few of the GREAT Orphenoch race! Why continue to delude yourself?"

Draco answered, "Being what I am doesn't make me any less or any more human. It's the heart that matters and as long as my heart is human, I am human. And, as for joining you…" he reached down to his gun, "Here's my answer!" Draco drew out his DRA-Blaster and shot at Occultus. Occultus created a blue shield of energy that deflected the shot.

"It seems you have made your decision, Ryuki my boy," Occultus frowned. "However, I will not give up so easily. You will join me, one way or another!" Draco shot at him again, but the madman just disappeared via teleportation. Draco narrowed his eyes at the spot Occultus was a few minutes ago and frowned before holstering his DRA-Blaster and going over to Mortuary. The Knight of Aries lay against the wall, his armor gone, and was wounded badly. Draco helped him up.

"I better get you back to the Tower," Draco said.

I'll be okay," Mortuary said as he began to cough out a mix of blood and necroplasm. Draco looked at him skeptically, even if his expression was hidden behind his faceplate. Mortuary could tell how he was looking at him. "I'm fine," Mortuary insisted.

"You will be," Shadowcobra said, fully clad in armor, as he appeared from the shadows. Draco and Mortuary stared at him.

"How much did you see? Mortuary asked.

"And how long were you there?" Draco asked.

"I've seen enough and I've been here long enough to know what's going on," Shadowcobra said as he walked over to them. "Occultus is it? Hm…Mortuary, some information on this Occultus would be most appreciated since you seem to know him. But for now, you both are needed."

"But I'm…" Mortuary began before Shadowcobra's hand glowed and so did Mortuary's body. "Hurt?"

"I, like Raven, have healing abilities," Shadowcobra explained. "Now, transform so we may join the battle." He then disappeared in a mass of shadows.

"No matter how many times I see him to THAT, it still gives me the creeps," Draco said with a shudder. Mortuary nodded in agreement. "You sure you can still fight?"

Mortuary took out his Aries Deck and smirked, "Watch me."

Pluto, Copycat, ARMS, Aqua, Scizzors, Plasmus, Overload, Atlas and Cinderblock were still fighting off the Orphenoch army. If Draco had seen this, he wouldn't have approved. As much as it pained Pluto, he had a choice to either fight protecting this city or let it crumble to ashes…

He chose the former, even if it did mean destroying a few Orphenochs that were once human not too long ago…

Key word: Were.

Pluto was about to be attacked from behind when a purple energy bolt smashed into the Orphenoch and reduced it to ashes. Pluto turned and smiled…

The girls were there, but something was different about them.

Jinx wore what looked like a hi-tech belt, Blackfire now sported a bracelet around her left wrist and Terra had on a forearm guard on her right arm. These new adornments had the familiar black and silver symbol of Smart Brain emblazoned on them.

"Miss us?" Jinx grinned as her eyes glowed pink. Cars nearby a few unfortunate Orphenochs blew up after they sparked with pink energy.

"Not really," Pluto said before stabbing two Orphenochs through. "Just wondering when you'd be coming. I thought you girls were powdering your noses," he quipped.

"Yeah, yeah," Terra said before she summoned a boulder and smashed it upon an Orphenoch. "We were busy. Shadow was giving us something."

"And that is?"

"This!" the girls shouted in unison as Blackfire and Jinx raised up their right hands as Terra held her left hand open.

Suddenly, two strange objects flew through the air and into Blackfire and Jinx's hands. The third object crawled on the ground quickly and jumped into Terra's left hand. The object in Jinx's hand looked like a robotic Scarab Beetle. It was black and purple. The object in Blackfire's hand looked like a robotic firefly and it was red and silver. The third object, in Terra's hand, looked like a green robotic leafcutter ant.

Pluto knew these objects well. He had read the reports and seen the plans…

They were the NEW Smart Brain Inzecters.

And the girls had been chosen to be their wielders.

"Henshin," Terra said before attaching the Cutter Inzecter on the Cutter Glove. The eyes of the ant-like Inzecter flashed as it exclaimed, "HENSHIN!" The armor, starting from the Inzecter, began to cover up her body. First to appear was the bodysuit and then the armor plating. The helmet covered her blonde haired head to finish the transformation. The armor itself was silver and green and worn over the black bodysuit. The armor plating on the arms was thick. There was a pair of Vulcan cannons on her shoulders as well as a pair of mandible-like blades on her back. Her helmet had a pair of large blue eyepieces with small antennae. The armored boots were green. Around her waist was a metal belt with Smart Brain's symbol as the belt buckle.

"Henshin," Blackfire said before attaching the Fire Inzecter onto the Fire Bracelet on her left wrist. The eyes of the firefly-like Inzecter flashed before it exclaimed, "HENSHIN!" The armor, like Terra's, started from the bracelet and began to cover her whole body. The black bodysuit appeared, followed by the silver and red armor with heavy armor plating on the arms and broad shoulder guards. The helmet had a pair of long antennae and a black visor/faceplate to cover her face. The armored boots were red. The SB belt was around her waist.

"Henshin," Jinx said before sliding the Scarab Inzecter into the centre of the Scarab Belt around her waist. The eyes of the Scarab Beetle-like Inzecter flashed before announcing, "HENSHIN!" Like Terra and Blackfire before, the armor materialized from her belt and began to cover her body. The black bodysuit first covered her body before the black and purple armor covered her body. The helmet covered her pink haired head to finish the transformation. The armor itself was bulky in appearance and the armored boots were purple. The helmet had a purple visor to cover her eyes.

A new breed of Smartrooper had been born and was ready to combat the Orphenochs. The Knights of Tartarus watched this in shock, but Copycat was smirking.

"Well, this is new," she muttered.

Jinx, Blackfire and Terra went into the battle.

Blackfire flew through the Orphenochs and dealt flaming punches and blackbolts that instantly killed them. The armor, despite its heavy appearance, was surprisingly light. It increased the power of her blackbolts and she now could shoot them in the form of fireballs that engulfed her targets and reduced them to ashes. Her strength had been increased 3 fold that even one of her punches could deal a lot of damage. She even destroyed several Orphenochs at once with a single blow.

Jinx's hexes were fired like beams rather than waves and smashed into a few Orphenochs and reduced them to dust. This pained her since this was what she had to look forward to when her Ryuki died. She shook her head and continued to fight using her agility and acrobatics. Ryuki may not have wanted to see Orphenochs killed, but he knew and understood that their duty was to protect the city and that sacrifices needed to be made. However, did it have to be so hard and painful?

Terra was using both her geokinetic powers and her Vulcan cannons to do a lot of damage as the armor piercing shells shot right through the Orphenochs' armored hides. She was never really fond of guns. However, it was either them or her and she was not ready to go 6 feet under and pushing up daisies, even if she could dig herself out just as easy.

The remaining Orphenochs were going down as the Zodiac Knights in the area used their Final Vents.

"FINAL VENT!"

"DEADLY IMMORTAL'S DRILL!"

"DARK NOVA CRASH!"

"END OF THE WORLD!"

"SCISSOR CLAW ATTACK!"

"TORRENTIAL TERROR!"

The remaining Orphenochs were destroyed and reduced to piles of ashes. However, all celebrations were cut short when Draco, Shadowcobra and Mortuary, in armor, appeared at the scene (FINALLY!).

Draco looked horrified at the numerous piles of ashes that were once living, breathing Orphenochs. He fell to his knees and began to cry. He knew the others had no choice but to fight and kill to protect the city. But…but did it even have to come to this? Wasn't there any other way. "Kami…" He reached into a pile of ashes and watched as they spilled out of his gauntleted hand. He gripped his fist.

Occultus…this was all HIS fault. These Orphenochs had been working for him and paid with their lives. They were just ignorant pawns who didn't know any better. It just seemed so unfair.

Jinx took off her helmet and walked over to her boyfriend. Kneeling down to console him, he surprised her by sweeping her into a hug. Jinx ran her hand over his back soothingly, cooing. "It's okay," she murmured softly and soothingly. "Just let it all out."

"They didn't have to die," he continued to cry.

"I'm sorry," Jinx said, apologizing for killing some of these Orphenochs.

"Not your fault, you were just doing your job; protecting the city."

"But still…"

"Just…just hold me, Jinxy-chan."

It shocked a lot of people how Draco could still cry for these…these monsters. However, it wasn't a conundrum. Draco was himself an Orphenoch too and he saw that these Orphenochs were merely innocent pawns manipulated by an evil psychopath.

Draco now had the same feeling of loathing towards Occultus as did Mortuary. Draco swore in his mind, 'He will pay…HE WILL PAY!'

Shadow sensed Draco's thoughts. There was so much pain, sorrow, anger and hatred.

Pain and sorrow for the fallen Orphenochs.

Anger and hatred for Occultus.

It was enough to trigger another Orphenoch transformation, but Ryuki was still in his armored form. Maybe his time at Xavier's had changed him quite a bit.

Copycat wanted to say something, but heard something in her earpiece. She turned to her team, "Let's go." She used her teleportation powers to warp them all back to base.

The Titans stood in the middle of the street, surrounded by destruction and fire. Terra and Blackfire had their helmets tucked in the crook of their arms. Was this all worth it?

Suddenly, the ground rumbled, surprising the Titans. The girls quickly put their helmets back on. Something appeared…

"Oh Kami…" Draco said, his eyes wide,

"You can say that again, baby," Jinx said, her visor flashing.

It was a giant beast of an Orphenoch, a Behemoth.

In the large, not to mention dark, surveillance room stood Slade as his one good eye gazed over the various monitors. Next to the masked man was his adopted granddaughter, Cathy. The little girl now looked no older than 7. She also sported green hair and a furry green tail. Aside from her powers and her growth spurt, the little mutant's hair color would also change with each growth. Slade found the little girl adorable.

Being so short, Cathy struggled to get a closer look of the monitors but failed as the console was too fight. Sighing, Slade lifted her up. He was quite strong for his age thanks to genetic manipulation, which was why he could stand toe to toe and survive every fight he had with the Titans.

Copycat walked in, followed by the rest of Tartarus. Their helmets were off. "Slade-sama," Kat said.

"Mama!" Cathy shouted gleefully as Slade put her down and the little mutant cat-girl leapt into her mother's arms.

"Cathy-chan, you are getting heavy!" Copycat said as she held her darling adopted daughter. She put her down and ruffled her hair. "Excuse me, honey, but I need to talk to your grandfather."

"Papa Slade is fun!" This made ARMS snicker. Papa Slade? Fun?

Copycat smirked a bit and went over to her master and father figure. She asked, "Slade-sama, why didn't you want me to stay and fight?"

"Because I asked you to," he answered simply. There was no room for argument or discussion. Kat's blue eyes looked at the monitors.

'Ryuki, just stay alive…'

It was quite unclear, as well as questionable, if the Behemoth even HAD a human form to begin with. It had the familiar white and grey armored hide that identified it as an Orphenoch, but there were several inconsistencies. For one: it stood on all fours, and second: it was over 50 feet tall! It looked like the combination of a rhino, an elephant, a hippo and a bull. Its tusks were sharp and covered with spikes and it had a horn upon its head. Spikes adorned the rest of it's trunk as its mouth opened wide to reveal two pairs of sharp tusk-like teeth, two on the upper jaw and two on the lower jaw. It had a pair of lonf bullish horns as well. As it walked, it created impact tremors whenever its feet touched the ground and since it had four feet…well, you know what I mean.

For something so large, it was surprisingly fast as it charged at the Titans. Shadow ordered, "Scatter!" and they did, all, except one.

"RYUKI!" Jinx yelled out at he boyfriend, who was trying to fight the Behemoth Orphenoch on his own. He jumped up to attack, but the Behemoth Orphenoch swung its trunk into him and smashed him into a building with a loud crash. Jinx gasped as she saw her boyfriend fall to the ground. She went to help, but was held back by Mortuary, "Let me go! Let me go!"

"I can't!" Mortuary protested. "He asked me to look after you!" the Knight of Aries reminded her. Jinx watched fearfully as Draco fought.

Draco groaned and looked up as the Behemoth Orphenoch attempted to crush him with its huge foot. However, that would not happen as Draco called forth the Power of the Ox and raised up his hands, pushing up at the appendage that was pushing down on him. The road under him began to form cracks as he was pushed in further, creating and imprint and then a crater. Draco then, with all his might, called forth the Power of Capricorn, and summoned up a pillar of stone that slammed into the Behemoth's chin. The Behemoth staggered back. Draco got up, and dodged a vicious trunk swing with the help of his Power of Pisces. He would not be caught off guard.

Or so he thought.

His armor suddenly disappeared, shattering away like glass. "I'm out of power!" he exclaimed. He then saw the monster charge at him. He moaned, "This is gonna hurt!" he said before the thing swung its head and pinned Draco to another building with its tusk. Draco struggled to get himself free.

"RYUKI!" Jinx screamed in fear. The other Titans stood in horror as the thing began to kill their friend. Blackfire and Terra, respectively, began firing blackbolts and rock boulders at the Behemoth's head, but none had any effect at all on the creature's powerful hide. Shadow, Pluto and Mortuary's attacks had little or no effect on the thing as well.

Draco, was doomed…

Or was he?

"SURVIVE!"

Shadowcobra and Pluto had upgraded themselves into their Survivor Modes and had their respected weapons out. Pluto charged up his sword but it couldn't penetrate the tough hide of the creature. Shadowcobra's shadow spikes had no effect still, even in Survivor Mode.

However, Terra, on a boulder, flew up and shot the Behemoth Orphenoch in the eye with her dual Vulcan cannons. The monster bellowed and swung its trunk out at her, letting Ryuki fall. Mortuary jumped up and caught him as Blackfire grabbed the offending appendage of the Behemoth and then flipped the giant monster over her shoulder with all her Tamaranean strength. The force of the Behemoth Orphenoch's impact caused a powerful tremor and shockwave that shook the city.

Mortuary and Jinx had carried the wounded Dragon Knight to safety. As they had seen from Xander and several other Orphenochs before, parts of Ryuki's body were engulfed in blue flames.

"Ugh…" Draco groaned.

"Baby, are you okay?" Jinx asked.

"I think so," he replied before admiring Jinx's Scarab Beetle armor. "Nice suit."

Jinx blushed with appreciation from his compliment. "Thanks."

Draco tried to stand up, the flames now dissipated, but was stopped by Mortuary.

"I'm fine," Draco insisted.

"I tell you that too, but you never really listen either," Mortuary countered.

"Good point, but I heal faster…well, faster."

"You're still in no condition to fight."

Draco drew a card from his belt, his Evolution Card, and said, "You think so, Craig?"

"Ryuki…"Jinx said worriedly.

Ryuki slid the card into his Dragauntlet, still strapped to his left forearm even after the armor vanished.

"EVOLUTION!"

This was the first time Mortuary had seen Draco in Emperor Mode and was impressed by the gold and red armored warrior.

Much to their shock, a pair of sail-like and golden draconic wings spread out from his back. Draco roared and took flight, straight at the gigantic Orphenoch. Jinx watched. What had happened?

Draco rammed into the Behemoth and everyone stood in shock as he managed to topple the beast onto its side. The Behemoth roared and struck out with its truck, swinging it around to his Draco. Draco, however, dodged effortlessly as the trunk lashes came right at him. The last swing was so close that Draco grabbed onto the bothersome appendage and, with strength unknown even to him, tore the trunk RIGHT OFF the thing's face.

"HOLY SHIT!" Pluto exclaimed.

"Dear X'Hal," Blackfire muttered.

"He just RIPPED the thing's trunk right OFF its face!" Terra yelled out. I just said that, didn't I?

Jinx was silent.

Draco let out an almighty roar of fury and victory as the Behemoth Orphenoch let out a roar of pain. The dismembered appendage crumbled to ashes upon its detachment and Draco flew down, claws extended. The thing opened its mouth

BIG MISTAKE!

Draco flew into the thing's mouth, holding his glowing Emperor Dragon Blade, to everyone's surprise and tore right THROUGH the creature's body out the other end, taking out the Orphenoch's heart with him with the tip of his sword. The creature stood still like a statue before blue flames erupted from its form. It, like its trunk before, crumbled down into nothing but ashes.

The heart Draco was holding also turned to dust. He then looked at the Titans, who were stunned.

His body then glowed with a golden energy before he reverted back to his human form, going into a dead faint as he fell down towards the asphalt road. Blackfire flew up just in time to grab him before he turned into a pavement pancake. She laid him down gently.

"You did good, Dragon-Boy," Blackfire said.

"Ryuki!" Jinx yelled as she ran towards him.

"Let's get him back to the Tower," Shadow commanded.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Pluto agreed as he took Draco onto his back and flew straight towards the Tower.

The Inzecters the girls were wearing detached themselves from the girls' armor and the girls reverted back to their normal forms. Jinx felt the Scarab Armor disintegrate from her body as did the other girls. Terra liked the Ant armor and Blackfire really felt good with the Firefly Armor.

Occultus was on top of a roof and growled, his eyes blazing with energy. He then fully composed himself.

"Next time…next time," he calmly said, "There's plenty of time and I can wait."

Back at the Tower, after putting Ryuki in bed to rest, Mortuary (on Shadow's insistence) told the other Titans all that he knew:

"Occultus is behind this."

Terra looked at him in shock. "No way…"

"You okay, Terra?" Jinx asked.

Mortuary explained, sparing Terra the trouble, "Occultus is the younger brother of Brother Blood." This new revelation made a few of them gasp and Jinx cringe in fear. If Brother Blood had been bad, who knows how much worse this Occultus was?

"So this was about revenge?" Pluto questioned.

"No. They were brothers, true. However, they weren't very close. Both of them were very much the same but they weren't too keen on working together. Occultus set up his own cult and collected various followers. I've fought him a lot with my old team, the Red Wolves."

"If you thought Blood was bad, Occultus is much worse. Trust me, I should know," Terra spoke from experience.

"And now he has an army of Orphenochs," Shadow said, rubbing his chin. "Or a new CULT of Orphenochs."

"An Orphenoch Cult?" Pluto questioned. "Is that even possible?"

"I think the number of Orphenochs we were fighting was a dead giveaway," Blackfire said a matter-a-factly.

"Nothing is impossible in this day and age, Pluto," Shadow said.

"I guess he's on a recruitment scheme now and trying to get Leo to join," Mortuary said grimly.

"But Ryuki would never…" Jinx protested.

"Occultus has ways to make people join him, Jinx," Terra said. "He's a lot like Slade, messing with your head and making you doubt yourself and think thoughts that aren't your own." There was a tone of guilt in her voice. This was a really touchy subject with her. "Just like Blood…" Jinx murmured.

Mortuary had been told straight from the horse's mouth (Terra) of how she was losing control of her powers and in her doubt joined Slade. He never thought that the girl he had grown to consider his sister would do such a thing. Then again, a lot of people did give in to their inner doubts and demons, him included.

Terra continued, running her hand over the Cutter Glove armguard, "And with powers like Brother Blood, he's like Slade and Blood combined. That's not a good thing, trust me on this."

"So, the Orphenoch King, Slade and Tartarus, and now this Occultus guy," Pluto counted off with his hands. "It seems we'll be getting a whole lot of trouble soon."

"And I thought the Titans had it hard," Blackfire said referring to the original 5's mission to take down the Brotherhood of Evil.

"I don't think Slade is going to try anything, though," Terra said. "Then again, he's very unpredictable."

"Remember that we also have allies all over the world," Shadow reminded. "And if anytime we're in trouble, we know who to call."

The Titans nodded at Shadow's words.

Shadow added, "I'll send a call to alert all branches of Smart Brain and our operatives, official and honorary, to look out for any Occultus related activity. This might just mean we'll have to save the world." He paused. "Again."

"Again?" Mortuary spoke. "When was the last time?"

The others sighed.

Pluto said, running his hand through his hair, "That, Craig my friend, is a REALLY long story."

Back in his office, Occultus reviewed his plans. Recruiting Ryuki would be a daunting task, but he was not one to give up. Oh no, he wasn't.

He was going to use Mortuary and Ryuki's friendship against them and have them turn on each other. Once Ryuki saw the 'light' he would join Occultus' side and the cult leader would welcome the Dragon Knight with open arms into his 'family.'

Now, it was time for a speech. He went over to where the Orphenochs stood at attention and gave out his speech. They would listen and not question his words or teachings. They were the perfect pawns and as long as he played his cards right, Occultus could make them do anything…

Anything…

"My brothers and sisters of the Orphenoch race! On our latest excursion, most of your brethren had been slain!" Several murmurs and gasps were heard in the crowd as Occultus continued, "However, we must not give up! We must strive and persevere because…" he shouted out, "WE ARE THE FUTURE OF THIS WORLD!" This was met with various applause and cheers. "LET NOTHING STOP US!" More cheers and applause.

Occultus smirked. This was TOO easy.

It had only been a couple of hours after the Orphenoch attack. All of the other Titans had fallen asleep except for two, Shadow and Mortuary, who were on the roof. Shadow had called Mortuary to further question him about the Occultus ordeal.

"So," Shadow began pacing on the roof as he questioned his necroplasmic teammate, "What else can you tell me about this Occultus?"

Mortuary smirked and answered, "That he's the last practitioner of a mystic art called 'Psycho Power'."

"Psycho Power?" Shadow raised an eyebrow and responded, "I've heard of it but I thought that art was long dead. Why do you think I should know about this?" Shadow asked

"It's just so you know what you and the Titans will be going up against. I'll be sure to leave a report with enough info on Occultus that you'll need before I get going," Mort answered

"You're planning on leaving?" Shadow asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I am. I figured that's why Occultus came here. If he's here looking for me than there's no real reason for me to stick around. I'll lead him away from you guys and fight him myself." Mort sighed and continued, "I'll just toughen up and get strong enough to beat him."

Shadow smirked at Mort and said, "Not with that disease you have you won't."

Mort's eyes widened in shock and he asked, "How…How did you know about that?"

"Let's just say that I've caught you 'coughing' a couple of times." Shadow asked in a concerned voice, "Is this disease terminal?" The Snake Knight was concerned because he had actually considered Mortuary as a friend and he wasn't ready to lose anymore friends, not since what happened to Misha.

Mortuary nodded. "I've only got two years left if there's no cure. You're the only person besides Leo that knows about this and I'd like to keep it that way."

Shadow was about to retort until he heard a sobbing noise coming from Mortuary. "Mortuary?" Shadow asked, "Are you crying?"

Mort clenched his fists trying to fight the tears back. "Terra can't ever know about this, it'd be too much for her."

Shadow put a hand on Mort's shoulder. "Look, I won't tell her but I don't think it would be such a good idea for you to leave."

"Maybe you're right, but I do have to go back to Arkham sometime. Dr. West might have something to increase my power. I also think we could use some help in this matter."

Shadow raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who would you be suggesting?"

Mortuary just crossed his arms and smiled, "Some old friends."

To Be Continued…

Occultus is a villain created by Zombi 138, the guy who's helping me with this fic. Kudos to him for his help. Give him a hand guys. The next chapter will have a lot of angst so best be prepared.

Craig Smith/Mortuary is also his creation. Heck, the idea for this chap was Zombi's to begin with.