Part 86: Titans to Knights

The Knights drew their cards out of their decks and arranged them on the stump of a tree. On closer inspection, the cards drawn were their extra monster cards. Leo had drawn out Razorclaw, Wildcat, Hardhead, Overbite and Brainstorm. Ichijyo had drawn out Metalceros and Stingdiver. And finally, Takada had drawn out Darkwing.

They then proceeded to transform into their armor.

"ZODIAC FORCE!"

"DRAGON! Zodiac Knight Draco!"

"SNAKE! Zodiac Knight Shadowcobra!"

"DOG! Zodiac Knight Pluto!"

They removed their buckles and then stood in a circle. The Titans, and Blackfire, watched the scene with both anticipation and awe. Each had different thoughts in their heads.

With the same power the Knights have, I might be able to beat Slade, Robin thought.

Wonder what my armor would look like. I like silver, Cyborg thought.

This is glorious and magnificent! Starfire thought happily.

I'll be able to feel what Leo feels in that armor! Jinx thought.

I hope I don't look too dorky in that armor. I need to look extra cool for the ladies. Beastboy thought, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking.

Relax Terra. They're just going to fit you with armor…and make you a Zodiac Knight! Cool! Hope I can control the power! Terra thought.

Let's see what this Zodiac Knight stuff is all about. Blackfire thought.

The Knights chanted as they held their buckles in front of them. The crystals imbedded in the center glowed brightly/ Red, purple and blue beams of light shot out and met in the center before shooting outwards again and creating a circle.

The energy from the circle shot into the cards, changing them, making them thicker…like a deck!

The Knights stopped chanting and replaced the buckles to their belts. They moved away to reveal on the stump not cards, but 8 Zodiac Decks encased in their cases, each baring the symbol of the animal used to create them.

"Now, the decks shall choose their masters," Shadowcobra said. The decks floated off the stump and flew into the hands of the awaiting Titans. The Titans caught them quickly and then looked at their decks.

Beast Boy had received a brown deck box with the symbol of a buffalo. This was Hardhead's deck.

Starfire received a black box with a lion decorating the front. This was Razorclaw's deck.

Robin's deck box was blue and held the symbol of a condor. This was Brainstorm's deck.

Jinx received a black deck box with the symbol of a tiger on it. This was Wildcat's deck.

Terra received a red deck box with the symbol of a shark on it. This was Overbite's deck.

Cyborg received a black deck box with the symbol of a rhino on it. This was Metalceros' deck

Blackfire held in her hand a pink box with the symbol of a stingray on it. This wasStingdiver's deck.

And finally, Raven had received Darkwing's deck. The box was black and held the symbol of a bat, which looked strangely like Batman's

"Now guys, stand up and hold your deck in front of you like this," Draco demonstrated by removing the deck from his belt and holding it forwards. The Titans and Blackfire did as followed. "Now say Zodiac Force and call out the animal that is on the deck."

The Titans and Blackfire looked at each other uncertainly and followed Draco's instructions.

"ZODIAC FORCE!"

"CONDOR!"-Robin

"LION!"-Starfire

" BUFFALO!"-Beast Boy.

"TIGER!"-Jinx

"SHARK!"-Terra

"RHINO!"-Cyborg

"STINGRAY!"-Blackfire

"BAT!"-Raven.

Energy rose up around them. The Knights smiled as they beheld the transformation, which was to occur in front of them.

The Gamemasters' Fortress.

"This cannot be!" Toros yelled, slamming his fists to the console. "How is it that those three can give the powers of the Zodiac Knights to those…Titans!" he said, disgust emanating from his mouth. The other Gamemasters didn't answer, except, Astra.

"Calm down, brother dear," assured Astra, placing her hand on Toros' shoulder. "They may have the power, but that doesn't mean they can use them."

"But," Vermin added, "The dragon, snake and dog can still teach them."

"They won't." Toros said.

"What do you mean," Dagger inquired.

"Because we'll kill them before they have the chance." Toros pressed a button on the console to reveal a beast that looked as fearsome as it was known. A creature of ultimate power.

"Now that's a big lizard, Knighties," Mad Mod said with admiration.

"I know, Moddie, and it'll have the Titans for dinner!" Toros laughed.

The Titans looked at themselves with a sense of awe and wonder. Several exclamations of "Wow!" "Man!" and "Magnificent!" escaped their mouths.

"How does it feel, Titans…I mean, Knights?" Shadowcobra said, obviously pleased with himself.

Robin was clad in blue armor worn over a black bodysuit. The chestplate, gauntlets and boots held a golden trim. The helmet had a beaked headpiece. Attached to his back was a blue cape. The card reader was a sword that was worn in a holster on the left side of his belt. "Pretty nice." He did a few practice punches and found out that his punches were much faster than before. "I take that back. This is awesome!"

Starfire looked herself over. She was clad in black and purple body armor. The armor fitted her perfectly as well as the clawed gauntlets and boots. Her card reader was in the form of a double-edged battle-axe. "I feel strange yet this armor fits me just fine." She said with a smile. The helmet was in the form of a lion's head with a fiery red mane.

Jinx looked at herself in a hand mirror. Her body armor made her look exactly like Copycat, except it was yellow and with black tiger stripes on her gauntlets, boots, torso armor and helmet. Her card reader was a whip tied securely around her waist. She especially liked the clawed fingertips. "I am woman, hear me roar,' she said huskily. Draco looked her over and instantly had hearts in his eyes.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were giving each other high fives. Cyborg's rhino armor was silver and worn over a jet-black bodysuit. His gauntlets and boots were also silver. He had blocky shoulder guards. The left one had a red spike attached to it as well as a small panel that was meant to be his card reader. The helmet was designed after a rhino, complete with a horn. "Booyah!"

Beast Boy's armor was a deep brown color worn over a black bodysuit. His helmet held horns on each side oh his head. He flexed his muscles to see if he looked tough. Strangely, he did. "Dudes! I'm the man!" His card reader was the hammer he was carrying.

Terra's body armor was blood red with fins on her shoulders, gauntlets and boots. Her helmet also held a fin on top. Her card reader was the sword slung over her back. "It's nice, I guess."

Raven looked into the mirror and found that she was wearing a female version of Pluto's armor. Actually, she could easily pass off as batgirl, except that the body armor was black and held a silver bat symbol on the chest. Her gauntlets and boots were silver. Her visor had 4 horizontal slits, two over each eye, and reminded her of her father. She also had a cape. A sword was kept snugly in a holster attached to her belt. The sword was her card reader. "Interesting."

Blackfire's body armor was a deep shade of pink as well as black. A stingray tail trailed from the back of the helmet to her waist. A stingray shaped shield rested on her left arm. The shield was her card reader. "Nice…Very nice…"

Note that none of their helmets had faceplates.

"Alright guys, let's start training," Pluto said. Suddenly, there was a loud roar. Actually, it sounded like three roars occurring at once. The Knights looked up to see something big…huge…gigantic heading their way! When the thing got closer, their jaws dropped.

"That's a…" Draco stammered.

All the monster's three heads roared as it touched down.

To be continued…