"Has the process been completed?" King asked as he approached Isaka.

"Yes, King," Isaka nodded. "He's now our most loyal pawn, a puppet to our every whim."

"Perfect. Prepare him for his first mission in the name of the Royals."

"As you wish, King."

Raven could not concentrate on her meditation. She felt something was not right. She just wasn't sure what it was nor was she able to push it into the back of her mind. She looked worried. Something had happened and she knew it was bad, she just didn't know what it was.

Episode 19: Puppet

It was Sunday morning. This meant that all loyal Christians would go to the church for the morning service. This also meant that a certain dark empath of the Teen Titans would be able to see a certain Knight of Genbu since this was also one of his many frequent haunts aside from the flower shop, café and bookstore.

Raven waited outside the church, thinking she had no right to enter during the service. For one, she wasn't a Christian and secondly she was half demon and in the contents of the Bible, demons were considered evil. She was good, yes, but it took many years of meditation for her to suppress her dark side. So, she chose to wait while she read a book.

When the service was over, the churchgoers all exited it. Raven thought she would see Desmond among the people but she saw no hide or hair of him. I mean, how hard was it to find one guy who went to the church wearing all black, aside from the priest of course.

When everyone had gone, Raven entered the holy building. She scanned the room, thinking he was still inside helping out. However, besides the priest, there was no sign of a certain Knight of Genbu anywhere.

She approached the priest, startling him quite a bit, "Excuse me, Father," she began, "Have you seen Desmond?"

"Mr. Amakusa?" the priest replied. "No, I haven't seen him today. I usually see him almost everyday in church. He's one of our most loyal frequenters. There isn't a day which he isn't here to pray or confess."

"So, he's not here?" Raven asked again. The priest shook his head.

"I didn't see him at the homeless shelter either last night. The young boy is a gift from God. Not only does he donate money to the orphanage and shelter, he also volunteers. He told us he was coming to help feed the homeless at the shelter but he never turned up." The priest looked worried. "I hope he is alright."

Now Raven became worried. This was not like Desmond's usual behavior at all. From all the times they had talked, despite his dark and pessimistic view on life some of the time, he would always use his free time in prayer in the church or volunteering. "Thank you, Father," she said to the priest.

"May God bless you, child," the priest said to her.

Jinx was riding behind Leo on his bike. She was dressed in a blank tank top and blue jeans with her signature combat boots. Her hair had been pulled into a ponytail. She also wore a helmet on her head.

Their first stop was a movie. Leo hadn't bought the tickets yet, thinking they would just have a picnic in the park. However, Jinx had suggested they could catch a movie first.

Leo, being a gentleman, paid for the tickets and snacks. He quoted, "Okaasan always says that a man must treat a lady with respect and grace." Jinx blinked.

'He sure quotes his mom a lot.'

Of course, when they went to get snacks, the one who was at the refreshment stand was none other than…

"Takada-san?" Leo blinked.

"Hey, kid," Takada grinned.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked.

"I work here," Takada answered.

"Okay."

"Leo, do you know him?" Jinx asked.

"Oh, yes," Leo nodded. "Takada-san, this is my friend…"

"Jennifer Wilcox," Jinx said, extending a hand to shake.

"I'm Yoshiyuki Takada," Takada shook her hand. He grinned. "So, you two on a date?" They blushed and he chuckled a bit. "So, what would you like?"

They both sat inside the theatre. Leo was holding both the sodas and a large bucket of popcorn. He gave Jinx her soda and held the popcorn for her.

The movie was a romance movie, Jinx's suggestion. She thought that she could set the atmosphere a bit if they both saw something romantic. She didn't tell Leo this, however. She wanted to take this slow.

Jinx wondered back to the last time she felt this way. There was Cyborg, but he was only pretending to be a student at the HIVE. She had a crush on him but he also broke her heart when the truth came out. Then there was Kid Flash who convinced her to take her own path. She chose goodness from evil. They became good friends and dated a few times, but it never really worked out with them. They chose to remain good friends though Kid Flash did seem a bit reluctant at first.

She took a sideways glance at Leo. When she had discovered that he was a Titan, an honorable one at least, she was surprised. She did like him and finding out that little fact made her afraid that their new budding relationship might meet the same fate as her previous ones. Jinx looked down to see his hand on the armrest. She slowly placed her hand on his. Leo felt this and looked at her. He smiled, thanking the darkness which was hiding his blush. He then gripped her hand and she smiled back.

When the movie was over, Leo threw away the empty popcorn bucket and soda cups. Still holding the picnic basket, he said, "So, want to go to the park now?"

She smiled at him. It was already lunch time, 12:05 to be exact. "Sure." Leo blushed when he saw that smile.

Kat paced about in her room. Her rare red parakeet watched her walk back and forth and back and forth. So did Leo's pet iguana. She was in deep thought. Her cell phone/Beast Spirit detector was on her bed.

'To call or not to call? To call or not to cal? To call or not to call?' she continued to repeat mentally, absentmindedly twirling the small scythe necklace between her fingers. Leo had closed the shop for today since he said they needed the day off to study. Kat couldn't study and decided to use her time to think. She was trying to think of the answer to give Craig about their possible romantic relationship.

'I do like him,' she thought. 'But do I like him like THAT?' She paced. 'Okay, he's a good friend, I'll give him that, but is he boyfriend material? Do I even want a boyfriend? Would I even have time for a boyfriend?' Her thoughts the turned to the most important question, 'Would he get hurt because of what I do?' She fell back on her bed, groaning. Turning to her side she looked at her phone. She needed advice, badly. She could've asked her brother but all he would say would be 'Follow your heart.' True…yes. Easy…heck no!

She picked up her phone. She didn't have many girlfriends so she didn't have much of a choice. Time to call Tara, Melissa an Stephanie…Se just hoped she wouldn't be drowned by the constant girlish squeals and giggling because of the 'girl-phone-time' she would have to endure for the next few minutes (or hours depending) she just thanked Kami that Smart Brain gave their phones unlimited minutes. She dialed the first numbed and said, "Hello?"

Leo and Jinx were already at the park. Leo laid out a red and white checkered blanket and laid out all the food he had made. There were some light sandwiches cut into triangles and also something a little more oriental: onigiri (rice balls) as well as some roasted sweet potatoes. He also brought along some bottled water for them to share.

"This is delicious!" Jinx said as she took a bite out a rice ball.

"Arigatou, Jinx-san," he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. Both of them were sitting under a tree for shade. "It was nothing, really."

"Are you kidding?" she said after taking a drink of water. "This is really tasty!" Leo blushed. He had heard compliments from their customers as well as from his sister. It was a little strange for him to be hearing a compliment from a girl…on a date.

He had to endure constant ribbing ad teasing from his sister and Takada. They knew he liked the pink haired girl but he wasn't sure how much. He did catch himself staring at her and then blushing. He had also called her 'Jinxy-chan' by accident when he thought she wasn't listening. The '-chan' suffix was exclusive to those you had certain affections for like close relatives, friends or even a g-g-g-girl-girlfriend…

Could Jinx be really considered…a girlfriend?

"Heads up!" someone yelled as a baseball came hurdling towards Leo's head. Jinx gasped but she gasped even louder when Leo caught it without even looking. He then threw the ball back.

"Wow…" Jinx said, astounded. "You caught that ball without even looking."

"The wind talks to me," he said. Jinx blinked. It sounded strange but given his powers it would make some sense.

The two of them heard some loud barking and turned their heads to that direction. They saw Takada holding onto several leashes while being dragged along by some very rambunctious canines. In fact, they were dragging him along the ground as he yelled for them to shop. Jinx asked, "Wasn't he working at the movie theatre?"

"That's Takada-san for you," Leo said. "Back in Tokyo he always had a different part-time job every time my onee-chan and I see him. We never see him with the same job twice."

Jinx said, "Part-time JOBS? As in more than one?"

"Hai," Leo nodded.

"Stop! Stop!" Takada yelled as he was being dragged all over the park by the dogs. "Heel! Sit! Rollover! Play dead!" he screamed. "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"

The Royals watched this all unfold through a viewing portal. One of them pulled off his hood to reveal an effeminate male with long black hair.

"Let me go," he said. "I'll defeat the Knight of Seiryu like I did the Knight of Genbu."

Another one of the robed figures, female, snickered, "Hopefully he doesn't laugh at you once he finds out your Category, Yazawa."

Yazawa snorted, "I'll beat him before he can even blink. When he faces me, he won't be able to hear a thing." Yazawa was the Royal that had fought Shadow.

King said, "Well then, take some Dark Roaches and the Category 7 of Spades with you to help. I think that the Knight of Seiryu will be more than a match for you."

Yazawa scoffed proudly, "Please, I don't need a lesser Beast Spirit's help. I was able to defeat the Knight of Genbu easily if you might've forgotten."

"Only after you tired him out with some Dark Roaches," said the previous female Royal who had removed her hood. She had short black hair and brown eyes. She added, "Besides, you know the condition the Knight of Genbu was suffering from anyway. I doubt you'll be able to beat the Knight of Seiryu on your own."

"Don't make me laugh, Hikaru," Yazawa folded his arms. "However, I'll bring that Beast Spirit to witness my triumph anyway," he said before he disappeared.

Hikaru scowled. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Leo was taking Jinx out on a boat ride in the lake. He was doing the rowing while she was enjoying the ride.

"This is so peaceful," Leo commented.

"It's nice," Jinx agreed. She looked at him and smiled. A slight breeze blew through their hair. She gave him a look. "Are you…?"

"No, I'm not doing this, but it feels nice, nonetheless."

Jinx said, "You're an odd one, you know?" she asked.

"Nani? What do you mean?" he inquired.

"Well, you don't seem to be really interested in being a Titan. Titans are usually out stopping bank robberies, muggers or super villains and stuff like that. Why aren't you?" she asked.

"Okaasan always said to avoid trouble when you can and don't go looking for it. However, she also said to always do the right thing," he quoted. He then said, "I'm not a crime fighter, Jinx-san. I'm just a warrior who fights monsters."

"I see…" Jinx nodded in understanding. "Makes sense. I mean, if you were a full time crime fighter like the Titans you'd be going off all around and not have time for something like this."

"It's a good thing there are 4 of us," he said, nodding.

"4?" Jinx asked.

"Oh, you don't know, do you?" he asked. He then explained, "There are four Advent Knights here in the city. Aside from me there is my onee-chan, Takada-san and Amakusa-san."

"Fighting monsters must be easy with their help, huh?"

"Hai, it is." He smiled.

Both of them looked at one another and smiled to one another. The moment would soon be cruelly interrupted, unfortunately.

"Thanks, Melissa," Kat said, "Bye." She groaned and fell back on her bed. She had tried calling both Melissa and Stephanie for advice and the only advice they gave her could only be summarized as, "Go for it, girl!"

She looked at her cell phone and dialed another number. She only knew one other person who had the experience for this kind of situation. She dialed and waited. "Come on…come on…" she urged. She got an answer.

"Hello, who's this?" spoke Tara from the other end.

"Hey, Tara," said Kat. "Kat here. I need some advice."

"What kind of advice?" Tara asked.

"Relationship advice," Kat said in resignation. She then explained her situation.

Leo rowed the boat back to the edge of the lake and helped Jinx up. He paid the rental fare and they walked back under their tree.

"That was great," Jinx said as she lay on the blanket. "I had the best time!"

"You're welcome," he said as he leaned back balanced himself on his hands. "I did too." He was watching some children play with their parents. He sighed

Jinx ran her hand through her hair. "Um…Leo?"

"Hai, Jinx-san?"

"Thanks for going out with me."

"No problem. It's the least I could do since our lunch together last time was interrupted. I just wanted to make it up to you."

"I think you did more than enough, Leo," she said smiling to him cutely. He blushed and looked away and pulled at his scarf.

"Is it getting warm here or something?" he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his scarf.

"I think you're hot…" she said.

"Nani?"

Suddenly, the moment was interrupted by screaming and panic. Both of them turned to see a monster attacking the civilians. It was a light grey in color and humanoid with a segmented body. It had a sharp tail extending out of its head. On it right forearm was a shield that looked like a trilobite. Seeing the belt around its waist, Leo knew what it was.

"Beast Spirit!" Leo shouted as he identified it. But he looked at his phone, "But why wasn't it detected?"

"Come on!" Jinx shouted as she rushed to battle.

"Jinx-san, wait!" he called out to her.

"Take this!" she shouted as she fired a hex wave. The Trilobite Beast Spirit saw this and lifted up its shield and deflected the attack. Jinx gasped.

"No way!" The Beast Spirit came at her.

"Henshin!"

"CHANGE SEIRYU!"

Leo, now clad in his Knight of Seiryu armor, drew out his sword and stabbed at the Beast Spirit. It was sent flying back.

"Jinx-san!" Draco shouted.

Jinx was looking at her hands. "That never happened before…" her hexes usually did something bad to her target. They were never deflected like that before. She gritted her teeth and snarled, looking absolutely vicious with her glowing pink eyes. The look on her face scared Draco. She sent another hex blast. The Trilobite Beast Spirit saw this and lifted up its shield again. The hex bounced off and crashed into Draco. Sparks flew as the hex slammed into his armor and caused sparks to fly off him. Jinx's eyes widened.

"LEO!"

Draco was on his knees. The hex had affected his armor quite a bit as pink sparks flew off his body. Something was happening to him. The Trilobite Beast Spirit walked over to him and kicked him in the face, forcing him to fall on his back. It then continued to stomp on his chest. Draco grunted in pain.

Jinx took out her communicator and was ready to call for backup when a crescent shaped blade whizzed through the air and knocked it out of her hand. She also held her hand as she had gotten a rather nasty looking cut. She scanned the area and saw the crescent blade flying back into a robed figure's hand like a boomerang.

"Now, now, now," the robed figure said as he pulled off his hood to reveal Yazawa. "We wouldn't want to interfere now, would we?"

Jinx snarled, eyes glowing pink, and fired a hex at him. He then grinned and opened his mouth. He released a powerful sonic screech that disrupted her hex and forced her to close her ears in pain. She passed out. Yazawa stopped and grinned.

Draco saw this and shouted, "JINX-SAN!" He blew the Beast Spirit away and went to her but was stopped as a spinning crescent blade came flying right at him. He leaned back to dodge it but then got slashed in the back as the blade returned to its master.

"I think you have other things to worry about, Knight of Seiryu," Yazawa said as the Trilobite Beast Spirit made a dash for Draco but was then knocked back as it was shot in the chest several times.

"WHO DARES?" Yazawa shouted angrily.

"I dare!" The Knight of Byakko, Pluto, answered back. He shouted to Draco, "Kid, get the guy in the robe! I'll take care of the Beast Spirit!"

"Hai!" Draco nodded. He zapped the Beast Spirit away and charged towards Yazawa. Yazawa snapped his fingers and summoned 5 Dark Roaches.

"Attack!" he shouted at his minions and they charged at the Dragon Knight.

Draco rushed forward and did a tornado spin, slashing at all the Dark Roaches at once. They were all reduced to dust by the time he was done. He looked at Jinx's unconscious form and gripped his sword. "You're next," he growled.

"Very well then. Prepare yourself!" Yazawa announced as he changed into his true Beast Spirit form. His skin was dark grey and covered in bony armor. From the waist down h wore what looked like white robes. His shoulders had curled spikes. He had a skull for a head with a pair of curled horns and he held two crescent blades in his hands. He shouted out, "I am the Capricorn Beast Spirit, the Category Queen of Spades!"

"Thank you, Tara," Kat said. "Bye." She thought about Tara's advice. It made sense. As a Knight she would always be in dangerous situations. However, even if not, Craig would be in danger as well. Beast Spirits never discriminated between who they attacked. To them humans were all fair game. So, Kat realized it would be silly for her to think that Craig might be put in danger because of her job. Besides, what was the worse that could happen?

She dialed Craig's number. She was going to tell him her answer.

Draco stood stunned. The Capricorn Beast Spirit thought this was out of awe. "Do you understand now the power that I have, Knight of Seiryu?"

Draco then asked, "Let me get this straight. You're a Category Queen, right?"

"That's right," Yazawa nodded.

"And you're male, right?"

"Yes, so what is it you're getting at?"

Draco began to snicker, and then chuckle, finally he broke out into uncontrollable and hysterical laughter. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

Yazawa shouted in anger, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?"

"You're a (laughs) you're (laughs) you're a girly-man!" he laughed out loud.

Yazawa began to make a connection. He remembered on how all the other Royals would laugh behind his back. They should've respected him because he was a Category…Queen? Wait a minute! "HOW DARE YOU!" he shouted lividly. "STOP LAUGHING AND DIE!" He threw his crescent blades and they flew towards Draco. He knocked them away with his sword. The blades got stuck to a tree.

"Time to get serious!" Draco said as his body crackled with electricity. He sent a bolt of lightning at Yazawa, shocking him.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Pluto had heard the commotion and laughed as well. He had to remember that story. The Trilobite Beast Spirit charged at him and he shot at it. Unfortunately, his bullets just kept bouncing off. He shot again and then heard something like metal. He shot again. There it was again. He then realized what was going on.

"So, that's it," Pluto said as h grinned under his helmet. He holstered his gun right as the Trilobite Beast Spirit came charging at him. Pluto ducked down and aimed a punch at its stomach. It got knocked back and Pluto had to flick his wrist. It came back at him again and Draco gave it a left then a right hook before giving it a side kick that sent it staggering back. It felt like he was hitting metal which confirmed his suspicion. "Well now," he said. "This is gonna be easy." The Trilobite Beast Spirit came at him again and this time Pluto's eyes glowed. The Trilobite Beast Spirit was stopped in its tracks.

Draco was slashing with his sword as Yazawa was parrying with his crescent blades. Draco then kicked him in the chest before blowing him away with a shout of, "Fuujin!" The Capricorn Beast Spirit tried his primary weapon, his screech. Draco dropped his sword and placed his hands over his ears to drown out the noise. If he didn't stop this soon he'd go deaf…or his brain could explode!

Suddenly, the Trilobite Beast Spirit crashed right into Yazawa and knocked him into the lake. Draco fell on his knees. His ears were ringing. Pluto jogged over to him.

"Are you okay?" Pluto asked.

"Nani?" Draco asked as he cupped his hand over where his ear was from under his helmet.

Pluto sweatdropped. "I'll take that as a no."

"Nani?"

Yazawa pushed the Trilobite Beast Spirit away. "Get off me, you fool!" he got back up and was readying his screech attack only for mud to enter his mouth. "Argh!" he screamed as he spat out the mud.

"Sorry, no encore for you!" Pluto said. Draco was holding his sword.

"Nani?" Draco shouted at him. Pluto sighed.

"Never mind."

"Nani?"

Yazawa and the Trilobite Beast Spirit charged at them only to get a charge out of Draco's lightning instead. Since they were still in the water I don't have to tell you what was happening since it was kinda obvious.

Both Beast Spirits were smoking from the electrical attack. The two Knights then drew out three cards. Pluto slashed through his set first, "DROP! FIRE! GEMINI!" This was followed by Draco who slashed his set through too, "KICK! THUNDER! MACH!"

The combos were activated:

"BURNING DIVIDE!"

"LIGHTNING SONIC!"

Pluto's burning double drop kick smashed into the Trilobite Beast Spirit as Draco's super fast electrical flying kick rammed into Yazawa. Both Beast Spirits were sent into the water and it exploded from the energy discharge. The bodies of Yazawa, now in human form, and the Trilobite Beast Spirit floated on the surface. Both were heavily damaged and perfect for sealing.

Pluto said, "All yours." Draco nodded and threw two cards. The cards stuck to the fallen Beast Spirits and then sucked them in before flying back into Draco's hand.

The Category Queen of Spades: Absorb Capricorn and the Category 7 of Spades: Metal Trilobite were now Draco's. He then quoted, describing Yazawa, "A male should have a title befitting their status and not otherwise." He had gotten his hearing back.

"Got that right," Pluto agreed. "A male queen? Come on, anybody would find that funny!"

The two Knights ejected the cards out of their belt buckles and transformed out of their armors. Leo then remembered something, "Jinx-san!" he ran over to her unconscious body. He kneeled down and tried shaking her awake. "Jinx-san! Jinx-san! Wake up, onegai!" her eyes fluttered open. Draco was relieved but still concerned. "Daijoubu?"

"Ugh, I have a splitting headache and my ears are ringing," she answered as she rubbed her head. "Other than that I'm fine."

"Thank Kami…"

Takada smiled at this before he remembered something. "The dogs! Oh man! I'll see you two later!" he then rushed off to find his dogs.

Leo laughed as Jinx sat up. "What happened?" she asked. He held up the two cards.

"Gomenasai…" Leo said with much regret. He held his head down. "I was unable to protect you."

Jinx then flicked his nose to his surprise. She grinned, "Hey, we're heroes, right? We get hurt all the time and you should know that I'm not some sort of damsel in distress. Not my style." Her eyes glowed pink to put more emphasis to her next statement, "I'm more of a witch myself."

"Souka (I see)," he said before he laughed. He looked down and saw that Jinx was bleeding from the cut she had received earlier. He took off his scarf and wrapped it around the wound.

"Thanks," she said, blushing a bit.

Leo then noticed a familiar black clad individual. "Amakusa-san!" he said before he stood up. Jinx watched as Leo approached the guy in black. She remembered Leo telling her his name.

"Must be one of the other Knights," she mused.

"You're late!" Leo said. "I already got the Beast Spirits, see?" He held up the cards to show Desmond. Desmond didn't seem to be reacting. "Ano, Amakusa-san?" He was then surprised when Desmond suddenly punched him in the face, sending him to the ground. Jinx gasped.

"Itai…Amakusa-san, what was that for…?" Leo groaned as he rubbed where Desmond's fist met his face. He looked up to see Desmond with his Advent Buckle on.

"Henshin," Desmond said in monotone before he slid in his Category Ace card and the buckle split open.

"CHANGE GENBU!"

Leo watched as Shadow transformed and swung down his staff right at him.

He only noticed that the eyes on Shadow's helmet were blood red instead of aqua blue.

Raven was meditating in her room when she sensed something happening. Her eyes widened as she gasped, sweating.

"Shadow…No…"

A/N: I see another fight about to happen. Have the Royals turned Shadow over to the dark side for good? Is there any way to save him? What about Takada's dogs? Stay tune for the answers in the next chapter of Advent Knight of Legend.

Preview to the next chap: Shadow has gone evil and the buckles are destroyed. Kat's out for revenge. I sense the scent of battle in the air as the Royals watch this unfold in amusement. How many Knights will remain after this?

New cards sealed:

Category 7 of Spades: Metal Trilobite

Category Queen of Spades: Absorb Capricorn

Sealed by: Draco.