These 3 Arcs will take place at the same timeframe with the following characters.
The Orphenoch King Arc: Draco, Jinx, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Terra, Mortuary, Renia, Wyvern, Snow Blood, Bruiser and Falconer.
The Tamaran Arc: Starfire, Blackfire, Robin and Pluto.
The Azarath Arc: Raven and Shadowcobra.
The first arc will be the Orphenoch King arc, which will have the Titans and Red Wolves headed towards Zandia to stop Occultus once and for all. After this, I will do the Tamaran Arc and finally the Azarath Arc.
Part 69: Destination Zandia!
The remaining Titans and Red Wolves all exited the Tower to meet with Ant. Brimstone, Draco's pet demon dog also followed his master outside. When asked by his teammates further about who this Ant fellow was, all Mortuary did was smile mysteriously at his friends. They didn't like it when he kept secrets from them. That was one of the reasons that caused their team to disband, including Mortuary's obsession with Occultus.
Draco reached down and disconnected the DRA-Phone from his DRA-Cam. He sent a message to Ant and smiled. "Alright, everyone," he said to the collective teen heroes, "For those who are new to this, I hope you do not panic."
Bruiser crossed his arms, "Heh, like anything can scare us." He didn't seem too scared.
"Billy, trust me," said Mortuary. "You might wanna step back a bit."
Suddenly, they all heard a strange tune playing out of thin air. Draco smiled knowingly. He knew this tune well. Then, a multicolored portal began to form in the distance. At first the Red Wolves didn't know what to expect but then they saw railway tracks generating themselves out of the portal. The tracks stretched towards the island and in front of the teenagers.
"What is this?" questioned Snow Blood.
"I hope you can handle a little motion sickness," grinned Jinx.
"Huh?"
The tune grew louder and then something came out of the portal. It was long and made of metal. The Red Wolves gawked as it ran along the tracks at full speed.
"A train!?" Wyvern exclaimed.
The bullet train then sped towards the island before slowing down. The brakes activated and the mysterious train stopped right in front of the collective heroes. The Titans had seen the ChronoLiner before and even boarded it but for the Red Wolves, this was a first. Then again, trains that came out of glowing portals were a first to them and they had seen a lot of strange stuff over the years.
One of the car doors opened and out jumped a man Antonitis Fenton McCrown. He had long brown hair coiled into a braid with two bangs sticking out of his hairline. He had blue eyes. His clothing consisted of a red novelty t-shirt with a black blazer thrown over it, blue jeans and black leather shoes. He also had on a conductor's cap. Draco remembered him back when he and Ryan had come to his rescue when the Hyper Inzecter had sent him to another dimension before they banded together to save the Multiverse. Add Mortuary to the mix and they were an effective team. Antonitis, or Ant as he was known by his friends, had many strange and powerful abilities but most of the time they were limited in usage due to the amount of energy required. His most prominent abilities were the ability to change into any kind of warrior he wanted and the other ability allowed him to summon heroes from other dimensions. They came handy back then. He also owned the ChronoLiner, a special bullet train that could travel through time and space. It could take anyone anywhere and any-when in the Multiverse but you'd need a special ticket for that. However, this was an emergency so Ant was allowed to bend the rules a little.
Ant stood up straight and saluted, wearing a silly grin, "Antonitis Fenton McCrown and the ChronoLiner reporting for duty!" He relaxed his stance and smiled at Draco, "Hey, there's my favorite Rider. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, Ant-san," Draco nodded. "We were hoping to ask you to take us somewhere."
"Hey, you can count on me," Ant replied and then he asked, "So, where's Desmond?" He was referring to Shadowcobra. Desmond was the Snake Knight's middle name.
"Oh, he had something to take care of," said Mortuary.
"Oh, well, I wish him the best," said Ant. "So, where are you all headed?"
Mortuary and Draco answered in unison, "Zandia."
Now Ant's smile faded and was replaced by a frown. "I see. So, you want to go there to finish things." It was more of a statement then a question. Both Knights nodded and Ant sighed. "Well, this is probably for the greater good so all aboard!"
"Wait, we don't have tickets," said Wyvern. Terra placed a hand to the girl's shoulder.
"You won't need one to board this train," said Terra, remembering the tales Mortuary had told her.
Falconer was admiring the train in astonishment, "Amazing. A machine that can travel through time and space." He made that conclusion from the train's name, the ChronoLiner. "Tell me, how fast can this thing go?" he asked Ant.
"Well, when you travel through time, speed isn't a matter," said Ant honestly, "But I can confidently say that it matches the Flash and Superman in the speed department."
"Fascinating."
"OK, if we're done gawking, let's go!" said Bruiser as he was about to hop into the train.
"Wait!" shouted Cyborg.
"What's wrong?" asked Draco.
"Are you all sure you wanna storm into Zandia? I mean Occultus must have his Orphenochs posted around the place," said Cyborg.
"Cy, this is the only way," said Beast Boy. "And if you're not coming, you can stay here. I'm not leaving Terra alone."
"Gar…" said Terra, smiling.
"You can stay here and hold the fort, big guy," said Renia comfortingly. "You don't have to come. I mean, we're practically an army."
Cyborg's lips were in a solid frown and he said firmly, "No, Robin left me in charge and the Titans, currently, are my responsibility. I'm coming along, whether you like it or not."
"Sweet!" Beast Boy grinned, happy that his best friend was coming along.
"But I warn you to prepare for anything," said Snow Blood.
"Oh, we are," said Mortuary, grinning. Snow Blood stared blankly at her ex's cocky attitude. If there was one thing she couldn't stand was that he was over-confident. "Ash, we can do this."
"You're not in command, Craig," said Snow Blood. "Not anymore, so don't presume you are." She then went to board the ChronoLiner along with Bruiser.
"Must've been a bad breakup," whispered Jinx to Draco. Draco nodded.
Soon all the Titans and Red Wolves boarded the train. One by one they took their seats in the passenger car. There were two rows of seats with a lane in between.
"Dibs on the window seat!" called Beast Boy before jumping into one of the seats. Terra took a seat next to him. All the teens took their seats. Bruiser sat next to Wyvern, Snow Blood sat next to Falconer, Beast Boy sat next to Terra, Jinx sat next to Draco and Renia sat next to Cyborg. This left Mortuary to sit alone in the back.
"I can't believe you brought your dog along," said Jinx as she watched Brimstone come onboard.
"I couldn't just leave Brimstone," said Draco, petting his demonic pooch on the head. "Besides, Starfire took Silkie if you remember." Brimstone barked.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jinx nodded in agreement.
"Everyone, this is going to be a bumpy ride at first so you better buckle up," advised Draco, remembering fully well how the launch would be.
"Actually," said Ant to Draco, "You'll be at the controls."
Everyone stared and Draco pointed to himself, "Me?"
"Why not? You did it before. Or did you forget?"
Draco did remember. Traveling through dimensions, sometimes Draco would be at the controls when Ant could not. This was just like those times. Smiling, Draco stood up from his seat. "Well, take me to the cockpit."
"Follow me," said Ant before leading the Knight towards the door which slid open for them to enter and then closed behind them.
"Now this is comfy," said Wyvern as she leaned into her seat. "So nice and soft."
"Not to mention roomy," added Bruiser who was sitting next to her.
"If you guys think this is great, wait till you check out the other cars," said Mortuary.
The door in the back of the car slid open and a pretty girl with short silver hair and green eyes girl in a tight white stewardess outfit came in rolling a tray with food. She then smiled brightly and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Andie! Welcome to the ChronoLiner. I hope you enjoy your ride."
"I'm enjoying it already," Bruiser said as he eyed Andie up and down.
"She's a robot," Mortuary informed, causing Bruiser to blanch.
"What!?"
"Actually, she's an android," said Falconer as he scanned Andie using his PDA. "Amazing design. She seems almost lifelike."
"Thank you," Andie beamed at hearing the compliment. "Now, who wants refreshments?"
In the cockpit there was a single chair with the control console in front. However, for Draco, he was going to give the boy controls he was more used to. He went to the console and pressed a few buttons. The chair vanished into the floor and was soon replaced by a motorbike that was attached to a treadmill and held steady by clamps so that it wouldn't run off when activated. This bike was known as the Chrono-Speeder.
"Sugoi," said Draco as he mounted the bike once more. He gripped the handlebars. "This sure brings me back."
"Good," Ant nodded. "So, you still remember how to work it?"
Draco grabbed a nearby helmet and placed it on his head. "It's like riding a bike. You never forget." He pressed a few buttons that was in front of him on the bike, entering the coordinates to Zandia. A viewing screen lit up in front of him that showed him the outside. The word ZANDIA appeared. Draco then entered the time of arrival as well as the how long the ChronoLiner would be traveling. He wanted to make the trip worthwhile.
Ant looked at the screen an asked, "Really? You want it to take that long?"
"This is a time traveling train, right?" asked Draco. "No matter how much time we spend in the ChronoLiner while it's running in the Sands of Time, the time in the real world does not change."
Ant nodded. Draco at least remembered that. If one were to travel through the Sands of Time, no time would actually be spent or wasted. One could get to one's destination quickly and enjoy a train ride at the same time with no worries whatsoever.
"OK, it's time to move!" said Draco, flipping down his visor. Ant went to the passenger car to take a seat.
The train began to move along the tracks as the tracks themselves generated in front of the vehicle while the tracks trailing behind vanished. The exit portal also vanished as a new one appeared in front of the ChronoLiner.
"Ikuzo!" shouted Draco as he accelerated. The wheel spun on the treadmill, moving the train further forward and faster. It soon vanished into the portal which then vanished after the tracks and train disappeared.
"Wow!" Wyvern's eyes widened when she looked outside the window. "Check it out!" She could see a massive expanse of sand and a strangely colored sky.
"Where are we?" asked Snow Blood, curious as well. She could see an endless desert plain and the sky was multicolored. Other than that, there were a few mountains and rocky structures. What unnerved her was how barren the place looked.
"The Sands of Time," Mortuary explained. "It is how the ChronoLiner can travel through time. There are portals that can be opened that link to different eras and worlds."
"Amazing," said Falconer, his interest showing. "So we can go to any era and world we want?"
"Well, within reason," said Ant as he sat down next to Mortuary, "There are rules about time and space we need to uphold. The time stream needs to be protected so we can't change events for our benefit. There are laws about that. Plus, who knows what changes we make in the past can effect the present and future. Actions like that can have dire consequences if we're not careful."
"So, Ant," asked Cyborg. "How long till we reach Zandia?"
"A month," answered Ant nonchalantly. Everyone, except for Mortuary and Falconer, stood up from their seats.
"A MONTH!?" everyone shouted.
"We can't wait that long!" shouted Bruiser. "We need to get there faster!"
Everyone shouted protests, except for Jinx. She knew what Draco was doing, or at least she could guess what it was.
"Billy," said Falconer to his friend and teammate, "Sit down and be silent."
"How? This plan can't wait and we can't wait a month," said Bruiser.
"Billy's right," Snow Blood agreed. She ordered, "Craig, get your friend to move this train faster."
Draco walked into the passenger car, "Actually, I preset it to a month. I can't change it." This resulted in Bruiser grabbing Draco by the front of his shirt and raising him up.
"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!" Bruiser growled. Falconer had informed them that Draco was an Orphenoch and most Orphenochs were loyal to Occultus.
"Let him go," Jinx threatened, her eyes glowing pink. "Now!"
"Billy," said Mortuary, his hands glowing with necroplasm threateningly, "Put Draco down. He has a reason for doing this."
Cyborg has his cannon aimed and ordered, "Drop him, nice and slow."
Scowling, Bruiser put Draco down. Jinx was at his side almost immediately. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern. He nodded.
"Daijoubu, Jinxy-chan," he smiled. He then addressed the group, "I know you're all wondering why I made it so that we reach Zandia in a month. But, before you judge me and my decision, hear me out." Everyone sat down. Draco explained, "We are now traveling in the Sands of Time, which means that time in the outside world is no longer an issue or relevant here. No matter how much time pasts here, time in the real world remains unchanged."
"Is this true?" asked Snow Blood skeptically. "So, even if we spend a year, or ten years on this train, no time will pass at all in the outside world."
"Actually, we'll reach our destination at the same time we left," added Mortuary. "This is a time traveling train after all."
"That sounds logical, I guess," said Falconer, who'd suspected that was the case from the start.
Bruiser felt foolish and so, with some urging from Wyvern, he apologized, "Sorry, man."
Draco smiled, "Daijoubu."
"So, what are we supposed to do in a month?" asked Beast Boy.
"Well, this is an important mission for all of us, so we need to learn to work together so that we won't have conflicts once we're there," said Draco. "So, we'll be training."
"And how are we supposed to do that here?" asked Snow Blood. "I doubt there's space in any of these cars for a proper training facility."
"You'd be surprised," said Ant with an enigmatic smile. He stood up, "Let me show you around."
"This is impossible," said Snow Blood and Cyborg at the same time as they gawked at the training area. It took up the entire space of the car it was housed in but that wasn't what surprised them. It was the face that the area looked like it was about 4 times the size of the car it was in. They remembered seeing all the train cars being the same size and Cyborg hadn't ventured into this car before.
"Nothing is impossible with 4th Dimensional technology," said Ant smugly. The training area had a large sparring ring and a fully equipped gym. "I trust you can all enjoy yourselves here."
"Oh, I will," said Bruiser, cracking his knuckles, "I'm gonna be building some muscles here."
"Don't you have enough muscles already?" Blood Snow asked with a sarcastic smile.
"You can never have too many," Bruiser retorted.
"Is there a library?" asked Falconer. "Because a month is a long time and I need to keep myself occupied."
"Yup," Ant nodded, "We also have a recreational centre in this train too. The purpose of this train was for the passengers to enjoy themselves as they travel through time."
"Wow, like a hotel on wheels," said Beast Boy. "Hope there's an arcade."
"He did say there was a recreational centre," said Terra. "There is no way they can't have one."
"You'd be right about that," Ant nodded. "Anyone for Goo Zombies 3?"
"Sweet!" Beast Boy cheered as he made a mad dash for the recreation car. He ran into the teleporter and with lack of a better idea to work it, asked for the recreation car. He vanished in a flash of light. Terra followed him and did the same.
"As Beast Boy just established, you can use the teleporter to get to the car you wish," said Ant, pointing to a platform. "Just say where you want to go and it will instantly beam you up there."
"I have to say this is some set up you got," said Snow Blood appreciatively.
"Well, meeting Draco had its blessings," said Mortuary as he watched the Dragon Knight talking to Ant. "So, you really are leading our old team, huh?"
"Remember that you left," said Snow Blood. "I'm going to back to my seat." She went to the teleporter and commanded it to send her to the first passenger car, which it did. Mortuary sighed.
"So, that was your ex, huh?" asked Renia.
"Yep," Mortuary nodded.
"Well, it's her loss," Renia beamed at Mortuary, "Obsessions aside, you're a great guy."
"I sometimes wonder if that's even true anymore," said Mortuary. "People change."
He then walked out of the car. He needed to take a walk around the train to gather his thoughts.
Renia sighed. As much as she loved Mortuary, she could tell that the Knight of Aries still harbored feelings for his ex-girlfriend. She may not be empathic, but she could tell from his expression.
"Hey," said Wyvern as she walked over to Renia.
"Oh, hi," said Renia. "Cassandra, right?"
"Yeah, but everyone calls me Cassie," Wyvern shrugged. "So, about what happened at the warehouse…"
"It's fine," said Renia. "You know you're pretty good with magic."
"Thanks," smiled Wyvern. "You're not so bad yourself. I mean you did trap Billy and not a lot of people can do that."
"You're welcome," acknowledged Renia. "So, headed to the recreation centre?"
"Well, Terra did go there," said Wyvern. "And we have a lot of catching up to do."
"OK, let's go."
The two girls walked towards the teleporter. Bruiser and Cyborg decided to stay to do some working out. Andrew had gone to the library. This left Ant, Draco and Jinx with nothing to do.
"Well, I better go to the cockpit," said Ant. Renia and Wyvern had just beamed themselves towards the recreation centre. "You know to see if everything runs smoothly. Ciao."
Jinx and Draco exchanged glances. "So…are you hungry?" asked Jinx.
"Starving, actually," said Draco rubbing his belly. "I think we missed dinner."
Jinx giggled, "Come on, let's go to the dining car."
In the passenger car, Snow Blood had reclined her seat and laid down for a nap. In the back, Mortuary was looking out the window at the Sands of Time.
"Zandia, here we come, and Occultus, we're coming for you…" spoke Mortuary under his breath.
To Be Continued…
Well, looks like we see the two groups traveling together. Hope their ride is nice and smooth but with these two teams together, there's gonna be issues.