Part 85: Hostilities
The Titans let Draco down and he quickly powered down, allowing his armor to disappear.
"That was awesome, dude, how you beat that guy at his own game!" Beast Boy said.
"Awesome!?" Cyborg started. "You mean mantastic!"
"That was magnificent! I never knew that the game could be so fun!" added Starfire.
Draco looked sadly at his Duel Monsters deck and sighed. "I guess…"
Shadowcobra rolled his eyes. "You won fair and square but don't let your guard down."
"Huh?"
"The Gamemasters cheat, if you remember correctly. They probably have a loophole or modified the rules just in case something like this happened. They did create this game," Shadowcobra explained.
Draco thought about it and then rubbed the back of his head, smiling stupidly. "I forgot."
Blackfire looked at Draco and then at Shadowcobra. Could these two be the same as Pluto? Draco did change into a suit of armor, so maybe Shadowcobra can too, Blackfire thought.
"Yes I can," he answered, hearing her thoughts. "Don't be surprised. I can read people's minds."
Blackfire glared at the snake knight. "Who gave you permission to go in my head?"
Shadowcobra glared back. "What made you think you were even welcomed here?" he countered. "From what I feel from the Titans and hear from their thoughts, you weren't the nicest person to be around. So how come you want to apologize now after you caused them much grief, especially your own sister?"
Blackfire looked away, not wanting to look into his eyes. She knew he was right, she just didn't want to admit it.
Pluto tried to calm the situation by going in between the two. "Woah, settle down, Shadow," Pluto said, "You don't even know Blackfire and you're already being hostile towards her."
Shadowcobra sighed. "Fine. But don't think that I won't keep an eye on you, Miss Blackfire." Shadowcobra turned around and stormed off with a huff. The other Titans looked bewildered at Shadowcobra's strange behavior before giving their attention towards Blackfire.
"Sister, do not be alarmed by friend Shadowcobra. He has been in a bad mood since we were brought to this place," Starfire told her sister, trying to defend Shadowcobra.
"Yeah," Blackfire answered. "I guess anyone would be in a bad mood if they were flung into this crazy VR world."
Robin walked up to Blackfire and asked, "You said you saw our bodies, right?"
"Strapped to chairs with freaky helmets on your heads. Gizmo is trying to get you out without your minds being stuck in this place." Blackfire then looked to the Knights (except Shadowcobra), Jinx and Terra. "So what's your story? How'd you guys join the Titans?"
While Draco, Pluto, Terra and Jinx told their stories, Raven went to look for Shadowcobra. Walking through the forest, she found him sitting at the riverbank, throwing stones into the river with his telekinesis as it flowed. His legs were pressed against his chest and he had a sullen look on his face. Raven walked towards him and then sat down beside him.
"Care to share?" she asked.
"Pardon?" Shadowcobra asked back.
Raven sighed. "Care to tell me why you were mad at Blackfire just now? It's not like she did anything bad to you."
Shadowcobra gave Raven a level look. "She tried to get rid of Starfire, twice," Shadowcobra answered. "It's just not right. I've started to consider Starfire like a sister since she reminds me a lot of my mother. I've started caring for her like the rest of the team."
Raven ran her hand through her hair. "I know. You start to fall in love with Starfire after awhile. She's just too innocent and naïve that you just want to protect her."
"I agree. Although, that wasn't the only reason why."
Raven raised an eyebrow.
"I was…evil, before, when I first donned my armor. I tried to kill Draco and Pluto and take their powers. I guess I saw a bit of myself in Blackfire when I read her thoughts and the team's emotions. I didn't like the way I was then and I sure don't like it now."
Raven placed a hand on Shadowcobra's shoulder. "You should apologize."
Shadowcobra rolled his eyes. "It's not that simple, Raven. I have to say it to her face to face, in private, with no interruptions. And we're not going to split up anytime soon in this game."
Raven smiled, "Maybe, but you could at least try."
"I guess."
"Good." Raven got up. "Now come on, we have to tell Blackfire what's going on."
Shadowcobra got up and joined her as they walked back to camp.
"Okay, let me get this straight. You guys," Blackfire pointed at Draco and Pluto, "Got your powers from decks of cards?"
"That's right," Draco answered, smiling.
"And these guys that made this whole VR world are the same as you, Zodiac Knights?"
"Exactly," Pluto answered. "But they are nothing like us."
"That's a lot to take in."
"Try the fact that we've beaten these Knights before. They just don't know when to give up," Shadowcobra said, walking behind Raven as they arrived back in camp. Shadowcobra and Blackfire traded glares before he sat back down with the team.
"Calm now?" Robin asked.
Shadowcobra shrugged. "A bit. I think I needed to clear my head." He turned his attention towards Blackfire, "And I apologize, Blackfire for being so hostile towards you," he said, "Let us start over, alright?"
Blackfire nodded, "Alright."
"Now, how do we fight the Gamemasters?" Robin started.
Shadowcobra's eyes turned to Robin, "What do you mean we?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"I meant all of us," Robin explained.
Shadowcobra shook his finger. "I don't think so, Boy Wonder. This is our fight," he pointed to himself, Draco and Pluto.
"We can handle it!" Robin defended, eyes narrowing.
The tension shared by both Titans was thick enough to be cut by a butter knife. It was lucky that the others interjected.
"Woah, cool Shadow," Draco said.
"Calm down, man," Pluto added.
"Shadow," Raven started, "Don't even start…" she said warningly.
"Yo Rob, chill," Cyborg told his friend.
"Take deep breaths, Robin," Beast Boy said.
"Robin, there is no need to be hostile towards Shadowcobra," Starfire tried to calm down her boyfriend.
Shadowcobra sighed. "Fine…" he started again. "What I mean is, Robin, is that only Zodiac Knights are required to fight other Knights. You guys can't interfere since this is our fight."
"You're wrong, Shadow. This is our fight since we got sucked into this world too," Robin concluded.
"You know, Shadowcobra," Draco said, "He's right."
"I'm afraid so. Looks like there's no other way," Shadowcobra said.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"Yes friend Shadowcobra, what do you mean?" Starfire repeated Robin's question.
Shadowcobra took out his Zodiac Deck. "You all have to become Zodiac Knights like us."
"WHAT!?"-Draco and Pluto
"WHAT!?"-The Titans.
"You can do that?" Robin asked.
"We can do that?" Draco asked.
"Of course we can, Draco. We have plenty of monsters and by the power of our armors, we may be able to create decks and armors for all of them," Shadowcobra stated confidently. "At least in theory."
"Sounds like a long shot," Pluto took out his Zodiac Deck. "But I'm in."
Draco took out his deck as well. "We've done the impossible before. "How can this be any different?"
"How's about it Titans? Are you ready to transform to Zodiac Knights?"
The question was left hanging in the Titans' minds until they all answered…"Yes."
"Very well. Let the transformations begin," Shadowcobra said.
To be continued…