Part 75: RPG

"Ugh…My head," I said as I rubbed my now sore head. I then realized that I was no longer dressed in my dragon armor. I looked around and saw the rest of the Titans, unconscious. I quickly ran towards Jinx. I cradled her in my arms and slapped her gently on the face. "Jinx…Jinx, wake up!" Jinx's eyes slowly fluttered open as she stared up at me with her beautiful pink eyes. I hugged her tight. "Thank goodness that you're alright."

"Draco?" she stared up at me, almost questionably. "What happened?" I shook my head.

"Dunno. The last thing I remember was the game shop, some robed figures and falling down a big hole." All the Titans started to wake up, most of them showing mild discomfort in the tone of their voices.

"When I get my hands on those freaks I'm gonna…" Beast Boy began.

"That is if we even get out of here, Beast Boy," Shadowcobra interrupted as he looked around. His armor was also gone. "It seems that we're in a forest of some kind," Shadowcobra stated the obvious.

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out," Terra stated, the sarcasm evident in her voice. She too rubbed her head.

Raven got up and suddenly started looking for something, frantically. My pendant! Where is it? Starfire had noticed this and picked up something that was lying on the ground next to her.

"Is this what you have been looking for Raven?" Starfire asked as she showed Raven the pendant. Raven quickly took it and wore it around her neck.

"Thanks, Star." Raven smiled. Starfire beamed.

The gift that friend Shadowcobra had given Raven must be most precious to her. I wish that Robin would give me a gift just as beautiful The Tamaranian girl sighed. However, Robin has given me the most perfect gift, his love. She then glided next to Robin. "Robin, how did we get here?"

The Titans' leader shrugged. "I don't know Star. The last thing I remember was being dropped in a huge hole."

"Um, guys," Cyborg said, "I think you might want to know something."

"What?" everyone asked in unison.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Cyborg stated.

"Kansas?" Starfire spoke up, obviously confused, "But I thought we were in Jump City?" Shadowcobra rolled eyes.

"Starfire, Cyborg is only quoting from an old movie, 'The Wizard of Oz'. He means that we aren't in Jump City anymore."

"Oh." Shadowcobra turned to the mechanical Titan.

"What do you mean, Cyborg?"

"Check this out." Cyborg showed his readings to the rest of the Titans. "This tells us that we're in a virtual world of some sort."

"VR," I finished. "That explains why we're here. Those other Knights must've knocked us out before they hooked us up to some VR simulator or something."

"Like the VR training system back at the HIVE," Jinx said.

"Dudes! You mean that we're in some sort of VR game?" Beast Boy jumped up. "Sweet!"

"No BB, this is bad," Pluto told him. He too had just woken up.

"Why?"

"Because, Beast Boy," Shadowcobra paused, "This is not a game." Shadowcobra finished his explanation, "I think this is the duel."

"YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, SNAKE!" a booming voice sounded from above, causing the Titans to tense up. "DO NOT BE ALARMED TITANS, WE ONLY WANT TO PLAY!"

"Would playing involve pulling off a false alarm and kidnapping," Raven hissed, her eyes glowing white, "I don't think so!" Shadowcobra placed his hand on her shoulder, calming her. Raven looked up to her boyfriend.

"Raven, stay calm." He smiled at her before he glared at the direction of the voice. "Just tell us who you are so that we can get on with the duel!" The voice chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"OH, SHADOWCOBRA. DON'T YOU REMEMBER US? DOESN'T EVEN DRACO OR PLUTO REMEMBER ANY OF US?"

"I dunno. Should we?" I said mockingly.

"WE ARE THE GAMEMASTERS!" the voice announced.

Most of the Titans had questioning looks on their faces while their Zodiac Knight companions rolled their eyes.

"Oh, you guys," I said, sounding bored.

Pluto cracked his knuckles, "I see that you want some more punishment like the last time."

Shadowcobra crossed his arms. "Do you all want to waste our time with your stupid games again, Gamemasters? Wasn't it enough that we defeated you last time?" he laughed.

The voice grew angry. "HOW DARE YOU MOCK THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GAMEMASTERS!" The voice bellowed, "LAST TIME WAS A FLUKE! THIS TIME WE'LL COMPLETELY OBLITERATE YOU!"

Shadowcobra yawned. "I'm so frightened," he remarked sarcastically. At that, Raven giggled.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT GIRL?" the voice yelled at Raven before a bolt of lightning was fired at her, only to be deflected by Shadowcobra's arm. Shadowcobra's eyes glowed red as he glared at the voice.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Shadowcobra hissed. I smiled. He really does take after his father.

"Shadow!" Raven panicked, "Your arm!" Shadowcobra's arm was smoking where the lightning had hit.

"I am alright Raven," he assured her. However, he flinched when he moved his arm.

"Okay, Gamemasters. You know you aren't allowed to attack any of us during the extent of this duel." I corrected myself, "I mean…Game."

"I APOLOGIZE FOR MY OUTBURST DRACO. ANYWAY, ARE ANY OF YOU READY TO PLAY THE GAME?" Starfire squealed in delight.

"Friends. This is most marvelous. We will be playing a game together!" Starfire beamed. Shadowcobra smacked himself in the head because of the Tamaranians obliviousness.

"Miss Starfire," he said politely, "This duel is not all fun and games." Shadowcobra continued, "If I…We know the Gamemasters, they play for keeps, and that is never good."

"For keeps?" Starfire asked, confused.

He explained to her, "If we die here…" His face held a grim expression, "We really die in the real world," he told the rest of the Titans grimly.

"WHAT?" They exclaimed.

"Draco! Is that true?" Jinx asked me worriedly. I nodded.

"Where the mind goes, the body eventually follows," Shadowcobra summarized.

"VERY GOOD DRACO AND SHADOWCOBRA," The voice complimented, "IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE LEARNT PLENTY FROM OUR LAST ENCOUNTER."

"Just tell us the name of the game so that we can begin already," Shadowcobra said impatiently.

"THE GAME IS AN RPG CALLED "DUEL MONSTER WORLD". I BID THEE ALL GOOD LUCK!" the voice suddenly went silent.

"Hey! Wait up!" Robin called.

"Don't bother," Shadowcobra told him, "All we can do is to play their game so that we can go home." Robin stood in front of him.

"First, tell us who these Gamemasters are. You seem to know a lot about them," Robin inquired. Shadowcobra sighed.

"Sit down, and Draco, Pluto and I will tell you everything we know about these Gamemasters." The Titans all sat down in a circle and listened to what the Knights have to say.

"The Gamemasters," Shadowcobra began, "Are a group of Zodiac Knights."

"Their M.O. is usually to play games with their opponents whether than just fight them," Pluto added.

"To them, this whole Zodiac Knights thing is a game," I finished, "The four of them…"

"Wait up!" Terra interrupted. Shadowcobra growled.

"What is it Terra?" Shadowcobra asked, annoyed at Terra's interruption.

"You said there were four of them, right Draco?" I nodded. "But we saw FIVE robed figures in that shop, remember guys?"

"Terra's right." Beast Boy said. "I saw five dudes in robes too!"

Shadowcobra took a moment to think. "You're right. There were five of them."

"So who was the fifth one?" Raven asked.

No one knew the answer to that.

"I think that we're not just dealing with these Gamemasters, team," Robin said worriedly.

Suddenly they heard an explosion.

To be continued…