Some events in this chapter takes place before Draco and Renia follow Terra and Mortuary to spy on their meeting.

Part 68: News, News and More News.

Several months ago...

Libra appeared in front of the home of one of the oldest and most powerful sorcerers on Earth. Though the place looked dilapidated and ready to fall apart without a moment's notice the God-Level Zodiac Knight was not fooled. It was merely an illusion to trick people who passed by that it was a condemned building. What Libra saw could be comparable to a palace, if not a very large mansion.

He carefully knocked on the door. It wasn't a simple knock but several carefully measured taps before the celestial being vanished.

"It is good to see you, Lord Libra," Libra heard as he arrived in a room with stone walls and bookshelves lined with ancient text books. They had mystical properties and not to mention powerful. Also, they were rare and one of a kind.

The man in front of him had an aged look but his body was still in peak physical shape with rippling muscles on his arms and torso. He was dressed in a purple vest, black armbands, black pants and matching boots. He also had an eye-patch covering his left eye but Libra knew that this was to limit his power rather than as a way to cover a horrible scar. His silvery hair was in a ponytail.

"As it is good to see you too, Master Sorcerer Cyclops," Libra greeted, bowing his head slightly at the immortal in front of him. Despite being a high ranking celestial, Libra was fairly new compared to the others. He had only joined them for 15 Earth years to become the new Libra, leaving his family and loved ones behind whom though him dead. Only a small number of people knew who he truly was under his mask.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Cyclops asked.

"The Legend Cards," Libra said, cutting to the chase, "Are they ready?"

Cyclops nodded and pointed towards an orb of magical energy which housed four cards within it, seemingly blank, for now. "They are nearly ready. However, I still need more time."

"Then, make haste, Master Sorcerer," Libra spoke, worry in his voice.

"You have seen the future," Cyclops said, more of a statement rather than a question. "You've glimpsed into the Book of Destiny."

"It took a lot of time for me to finally convince the Guardian to allow me to peer into the pages. Darkness will soon overwhelm, not just this world but many others beyond the dimensional walls."

"The End of all Existence," Cyclops spoke. "It is coming, isn't it?"

"And my children are in the middle of it," Libra continued, "And thus the Legend Cards must be prepared before eternal darkness ends all that lives."

Cyclops glanced at the four cards. They were blank but had colors: black, blue, red and white. "You already have candidates. You know that only Zodiac Knights can use these cards and once they are used there is no turning back."

"I know, and I have selected the 4 who will save all of existence," Libra stated.

"Are your children among them?" Cyclops asked. Libra did not answer but his silence spoke volume. "I see…"

"I shall give the cards to them, and tell them everything."

"The truth?"

"They deserve it."

"I see."

Libra looked at his friend, "You don't sound so surprised."

"You're a father, as am I," Cyclops stated, "I worry for Ekelo even if he is not my flesh and blood, I raised him as my own."

"And yet I chose to abandon my own flesh and blood."

"You feel regretful."

"Ay I do."

"Then, tell me, why you decided to make the choice, Lord Libra?"

Libra could not answer. In fact, he couldn't find a real answer.

"And what has Clockwork said about the upcoming darkness?" asked Cyclops.

"He sees nothing," Libra spoke.

"And Setsuna?"

"Also she sees a bleak darkness approaching."

"So the true end is indeed near."

"And the fate of all existence rests in the hands of 4."

Present Day.

"Tamaran?" Pluto asked. He had recovered greatly from his fight with Draco, which had taken earlier that afternoon. Though Blackfire had been angry and treated him quite coldly, she eventually calmed down and now both of them were in his lab, talking.

"Yes, my home planet," Blackfire nodded.

Pluto quirked an eyebrow in confusion. Blackfire had just told him something she referred to as 'great news', but he also needed to clarify one thing, "But…weren't you banished? You said it yourself. You did try to takeover the planet and get Starfire married off to a sentient pile of green slime, which sounds awfully like Jabba the Hut."

Blackfire had seen the Star Wars Trilogy with Pluto, and the 3 prequels, so she knew what he was referring to. She had to admit that there was a resemblance between the two. Well, except that Jabba had an actual face. She sighed, "Am I ever going to not be reminded of the worst mistake I ever made?"

"Sorry, babe," Pluto apologized. "But, do you really wanna go there? From what I've been heard, your planet is a Warrior World, and every person there knows how to seriously kick butt."

"Well, we are a warrior race," Blackfire proclaimed proudly.

"Makes me wanna see you in a Xena costume," Pluto muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He then asked, "So, why are we going to Tamaran?"

Blackfire smiled, "My sis called Galfore and convinced him to let me return so I can get my banishment dissolved. I can go home!"

Pluto smiled brightly and grabbed his extra-terrestrial girlfriend in a hug that would put Starfire's to shame. "That's great, Komi!"

Blackfire had to smile at her good fortune. Though it had taken her close to a year to rake up the courage to apologize to her sister for all her wrongdoings; it felt good to actually get that off her chest. Also, she finally found a man worthy of her. Pluto may not be a Boy Wonder, but he was sure a wonder in bed. After all the other guys she dated out in the universe, she felt extremely lucky to have been loved by someone like Takada.

When Pluto had told her that his Zodiac Powers were only active if he had his deck on him, it scared her that she may break him if they were ever rough in bed. However, he had revealed to her that his invulnerability was really a separate ability from his Immortality Zodiac Power. It would explain how he'd survived the collision which had taken his father's life and put his mother in a coma. His sister had survived since he had been holding her protectively in his arms and shielding her with his body. He had also admitted towards inventing several dangerous machines before gaining his Zodiac Deck and escape from the disasters totally unscathed. The Immortality thing just added an entire new level to his abilities. When Blackfire had asked why he kept that secret, Takada just shrugged and answered that he never said it was part of his Zodiac Powers. Everyone had just assumed it was.

"So, when do we leave?" Pluto asked as he let go, "And what should I take?"

"Well, we won't be there too long. Maybe 3 days, tops," Blackfire said. "There is a ceremony or two to go through, but those don't take too long."

"That means I have to pack light," Pluto mused. "So, what's your planet like?"

"A wasteland, though Starfire still says it looks beautiful," Blackfire sighed. She admired her sister's ability to see beauty in everything, but sometimes she wondered if her sister was a little naïve.

"A…wasteland?" Pluto blinked. "OK, I'll just make a really good guess, but it wasn't always like that, right?" Blackfire nodded. "What happened?"

"It used to be a tropical paradise. There were trees and many form of plant life flourishing in Tamaran. Back when we were kids, Star and I would play tag but then…"

"But then…?" Pluto pressed on.

"The Gordanians attacked. Though we fought hard and drove them away, nearly all the plant life was eradicated. Sure, we still have a few plants but there were no more forests and jungles. Starfire cried for a very long time since she was going to miss all those beautiful flowers."

Pluto frowned. Hearing about the misfortune of others was one of the things that would guarantee his help in assisting others. Blackfire had just gotten the young genius to make her world one of his priorities. The only problem was that he didn't now what to do. There had to be a way for Tamaran to gain its original beauty. He then remembered something that he'd been developing. It was a plant growth accelerator. He then flinched as he remembered the last time he'd tested it out. He'd never seen Shadow's face go so red before. Still, he could work the bugs out before he tried it on Tamaran.

"So, who else is coming along?" Pluto asked.

"Well, Robin wants to keep an eye on my sister while they are processing the stuff to get my banishment dissolved," Blackfire told her Knight.

"And we'll be staying in the palace, right?" Pluto asked.

"Yes, but I think my room will have guards making sure I don't do anything funny," Blackfire frowned. She then smirked seductively, "And I do wanna do something funny in my room with my pet." She reached over and scratched the back of his ear. He began to shake his foot and his tongue hung out at the sensation. He was so much like a dog that it was quite humorous.

"But," Pluto began when Blackfire stopped scratching. "Wouldn't there be a lot of people who hate you because…"

"I'm under my sis' protection," Blackfire waved the warning off. "I mean, what's the worse that can happen?"

Meanwhile, in another room, Shadowcobra's to be more precise, someone else was receiving very surprising news.

"Your mother contacted you?" Shadow blinked. "I thought you told me she was dead."

"I told you she was in another dimension," Raven clarified.

Shadow blinked and then realized, "Oh, I guess I can see how I could make such a mistake. But, Azarath was destroyed. We were both there. That demon, Trigon, was using it as his new kingdom."

Raven shuddered at the mention of her father. "Well, most of the inhabitants of Azarath moved to a new realm, and rebuilt their entire civilization. It's called New Azarath."

"How creative," Shadow mumbled sarcastically. "So, why now?"

"Not many of my people believe that Trigon was defeated. They didn't think I could do it. They…" She trailed off, looking down to the ground sadly. Shadow knew that look. Her status as Trigon's daughter made many people scorn her, even if her destiny wasn't bad enough. If anyone was told he'd bring forth the end of the world, he'd experience the same sort of scorn, which he had until he was enrolled in the Deathtron Academy. Those had been the toughest years of his life.

Raven continued, "Well, anyway, they finally got the news and my mother wishes to see and talk to me."

"And you want me to come along as well?" Shadow inquired. Raven took hold of his gloved hands.

"I want her to meet my fiancé. Remember, you did propose to me."

Shadow remembered. It had been Raven's 19th birthday and being secretly a romantic, Shadow believed that a proposal on her birthday would be both special and romantic. Raven had worn the ring, even if she would hide it with a glamour spell. She had never taken it off once, and treasured it. It was a symbol of Shadow's love for her and a brand new future for her, one without the threat of an evil prophecy hanging over her head.

Of course, meeting your girlfriend's mother was going to be something Shadow needed to prepare for. He knew next to nothing to Azarathean culture, despite what Raven had told her. He needed to make a good impression. Also, he had to hide all traces of his demonic background. From the way Raven spoke of his her people treated demons, having them know that his family was entirely demonic would not be a good thing. He kept getting flashes of a lynch mob chasing after him with torched and pitch forks, or whatever Azarathen used as sharp and pointy weapons.

"I'm not sure if she's going to like me very much," Shadow said, feeling hesitant about this. "I mean, I'm not exactly human."

"Neither am I."

"You're half human." Shadow added, "I have very little human DNA."

"So, you need to hide it, really well," Raven said. "Relax, nothing bad is going to happen. I promise."

Shadow still didn't look too sure about this.

Later that day, the Titans all gathered outside the Tower to see Pluto, Blackfire, Starfire and Robin off on their trip to Tamaran. They weren't going to take the Gaijoan Shuttle, but instead use the T-Ship to travel to the princesses' home world.

"Dude, I better warn you to make sure you know what is a toilet and isn't," Beast Boy cautioned his friend. Pluto blinked.

"O…kay…" Pluto responded. Frankly, he couldn't understand how anyone could mistake something as a toilet. Then again, this was Beast Boy.

"I do hope you remember to pack the bare essentials," Shadow said.

"It's all in the bag!" Pluto grinned. The suitcase he had look ready to burst, which it did, spilling out its contents. "Oops!"

"A portable DVD player, surround sound speakers and strobe lights?" Robin asked. "What are you going to do with those?"

"Hey, it's gonna be a long trip and I didn't want my brain to die of boredom!" Pluto defended as he packed his things back. "OK? I get easily bored during long flights!"

"He does, and ends up flirting with the stewardesses," Shadow pointed out, receiving a glare from the Dog Knight.

"Friends, we will be back before you even realize we are gone!" Starfire waved. She then hugged each and everyone of them, lingering on both Raven and Shadow the longest.

"You know, if we get a move on, we might be able to miss the asteroid field," Blackfire said.

"Right, let's go," Robin before climbing into the cockpit. "Oh, and Cyborg, you're in charge since Shadow won't be here either."

"You aren't?" Pluto asked the Snake Knight who shrugged. "Where are you going?"

Shadow glanced at Raven and quoted the title of a film, "Meet the Parents."

Pluto nodded in understanding. "Well, don't screw up!" He then quickly leapt into the cockpit, avoiding a vicious shadow claw swipe. "Hah! You missed!"

Shadow glowered at his teammate's obnoxious behavior. Still, he knew that the Dog Knight was right. You only got one chance to make a good first impression. If you screwed that up then there would be hell trying to fix it.

The T-Ship then ascended upwards into the air before taking off, flying through the skies and then leaving the planet's atmosphere towards a new world.

Later, in the same day, in Raven's room, once goodbyes had been exchanged, Shadow and Raven stood in the centre of a magic circle Raven had made.

"Well, here we go," Raven said, smiling. She was dressed in her whitest uniform and Shadow was dressed in a purple turtleneck, with matching black pants and coat. His hair was combed over so that the bangs would cover his birthmark and he wore glasses. Changing his appearance, his hair was now the same shade of blue which he'd sported the first day he'd arrived to the Tower nearly two years ago.

"Yes," Shadow said, holding her hands. "Let's go."

Raven chanted the spell, a white aura forming around her as a violent wind spun around the room. Shadow closed his eyes, focusing his own energy into the spell. The magic circle began to glow brightly and in a flash, the light engulfed the two. When the light eventually faded away, both Titans had vanished.

Later that night…Mortuary had called all the Titans to the Common Room to meet with his old teammates.

"So, you're all Terra and Mortuary's old team?" Cyborg asked, feeling slightly skeptical. He'd been originally skeptical about the idea that before Terra joined them that she'd be on another team of super-powered misfits, but here they were, standing at attention in Titans Tower.

"That's right," Billy "Bruiser" Hughes said, proudly. "We came here to pick up our old friends for a new mission."

"What kind of mission?" Cyborg asked.

Billy was about to speak but then Andrew "Falconer" Dorian took his turn, "We're all headed towards Zandia, to take down Occultus once and for all."

"Occultus! As in the guy who is controlling Orphenochs? THAT Occultus?" Beast Boy asked. He received a nod from Terra. "And you're going to the centre of it? That's crazy!"

"As much as I hate to admit it, Beast Boy's right," Jinx agreed. "It's a suicide mission."

"Which is why we need your help," Mortuary said. "Since Robin, Starfire, Pluto, Shadow, Blackfire and Raven aren't here, since they'd all left the planet or this dimension." His friends looked at him. "Don't ask…." He continued, "We need all the help we can get."

"Well, Cyborg's been put in charge of the team while both Robin and Cyborg are away," Draco pointed out. "So, it's his decision."

"But, I still want to go," Renia said, fists gripped eagerly.

"You sure you want to go?" Billy asked. "This isn't exactly child's play."

"Remember that I did beat you, Bruiser," Renia reminded. "I can do the same things to those Orphenochs."

"So, what's your call, Cy?" Beast Boy asked. "No way am I letting Terra go off without me."

"But what about the city?" Jinx asked.

"We have people who can fill in, right?" Terra asked. "Titans East, the other Titans worldwide. We got a whole network!"

"A network, you say?" Andrew leaned in, interested, "How intriguing."

"Look, we're wasting time here," Ashley "Snow Blood" Bailey crossed her arms. "We already know that Occultus is already close at creating the Orphenoch King. With this King's power, who knows what he can do."

"He wishes to have the Orphenochs annihilate humanity, and dominating the world as their ruler," Draco stated.

"How…?" Cassandra "Wyvern" Lords asked.

"He tried to offer me a place, but I refused, but he did tell me all that."

"So, what's it gonna be, Cy?" Mortuary asked.

Cyborg sighed, "How are we gonna get there without the T-Ship?"

Draco smiled as he took out his DRA-Phone, "I got that covered. I sure Ant can lend a hand. He does owe me."

"Who's Ant?" Cassandra asked Mortuary.

Mortuary answered, "Someone you can depend on in these kinds of situations."

To Be Continued…

Well, looks like we have three different journeys for my three main Knights. Draco is headed towards Zandia, Pluto is headed towards Tamaran and Shadowcobra is headed towards Azarath. What adventures will await them in these new places? Only time will tell.