Zodiac Knights, 1 + Zodiac Knights By The Cyberdruid In The Beginning Long before the pyramids were young, there existed a band of warriors called the Zodi-Kan in the long forgotten land of Isradel. They were loyal followers of Queen Zodiac, ruler of Isradel, mother of Princess Kismet, and keeper of the Quasar Scepter. The Zodi-Kan having sworn a blood oath to protect the queen and her kingdom with their lives and powers were her loyalist subjects. Trained since birth in the ancient art of star channeling, each of the Zodi-Kan drew their powers from the constellation of the star sign that they were born under. They were the guardians of virtue, keepers of a peace that lasted three millennia. Then one day a vicious force erupted from the dark recesses of the cosmos. Pure evil taken tangible form known only as *The Void*.* * To protect Queen Zodiac's only daughter they used their powers to open a time hole and sent her into the future. They reclaimed the staff of there late queen from the grasp of The Void and as one they attacked the beast with everything they had; in a vain attempt to quell their pangs of guilt at failing in their sacred task as the queens guard. However the best they could manage was to weaken it enough to bind it by forsaking their powers. They were successful *"The Void." * Zodiac Knights: Ep.1: Aries' awakening Part 1 _ Act 1 _ A woman is walking along a dark road rushing to catch her train. "Shit! I'm going to miss my train I'll be late for work,” she mumbles to herself. As she walks past an alleyway she hears someone call to her. "Oi! Lady," a voice shouts from the shadows. The young woman turns in the direction of the voice to see three men step out of the shadows, the one in the lead bearing a switchblade. "I got some work for ya" the man proclaimed with a slight cockney accent. "Wha...what do you want?" "We jus wunna have a little fun," Replied one of his friends. Realization dawned on her face at what they meant by fun and she quickly turned to run. Before she had taken two steps they were on her like a pack of sex hungry wolves and dragging her into the darker end of the alley. She managed a single scream of "HELP!" before they gagged her with her panties, which they had just removed. "STOP!" a voice bellowed from the open end of the ally. The thugs turned towards the opening of the ally to see a man wearing metallic red body armor and what appeared to be a helmet shaped like a ram. "What the fuck," the three thugs exclaim in unison. "I said stop, you tiny dicked pieces of shit," the warrior bellowed. "Kill’em," the lead thug barked to the other two. Both thugs pulled small guns from their belt holsters and brought them to bear on the man in red. Before either of them could get a single shot off, the armored man tossed a pair of darts at the barrels of the guns which exploded on impact. Both punks begin screaming and grasping the bloody stumps that were a moment ago their arms. "Want to play some more," the man asked in a voice so cold it would have given a yeti the chills. Neither of the punks made a move. "You want to take a turn with me scum," he asked the remaining thug. The would-be rapist was terror-stricken. He didn't know what to do. Out of fear and desperation he rushed the man brandishing the switchblade he had used earlier. When the blade connected with the red chest plate it became white hot and melted like warm butter. "Iron-strong-hold," the warrior shouted as he motioned to give himself a bear hug, a green ribbon of energy shot from his body and wound around the three thugs trapping them. "Who? Who are you?" the lead thug asked terror stricken. "I Amaries," the warrior boomed. "Knight of the Zodiac. I am the first of the twelve. Beware Densien of Darkness for The Void, the unholy devourer of souls has returned to feast on the world anew. It would be wise to change you ways unless you wish to become a meal for the fiends that are his minions. For unlike their master the Devourer Evil, you have been warned!” With that he vanished. _ Act 2 _ "Whoa," Erin woke with a start. It was the dream again, always different but always about the man in red armor. This was the third time in a week it had happened and it was starting to affect his sleep. *‘Whenever I have those dreams I wake up more tired than when I went to sleep,’* he thought. Erin Raines was an orphan, had been for as long as he could remember. His parents had been killed in a car crash when he was three. Social services being unable to find any living relatives, Erin became a ward of the state and had remained so for thirteen years. Hopping from house to house, the only thing Erin managed to keep through all these years was a medal with his star sign on it, a gift from his mother and father. They were ex-hippies but still followed all of the, as one social worker put it, "Astrology Crap." Erin wasn't sure if he believed in astrology but it being the only thing of his parents he had he had fought many a street brawl to insure the silver pendant stayed on his neck. Erin sort of thought of it as a good luck charm for when ever he took it off he'd have bad luck; failed tests, broken bones, moving to a new foster home, etc. But when he wore it the opposite was true. He would often lay awake at night wondering about this strange charm. One of his foster parents had been a jeweler and sworn that he had no clue what the pendent was made of or for that matter, how it was made. But what ever it was, it was hard; their had been a incident where a bully threw it into the path of a twelve ton steam roller. Yet miraculously it survived without so much as a scratch. Somehow he couldn't help but think that the small token that his parents had given him as a baby was more important than a mere necklace, but wasn't sure how or why. There were many questions in this young man's life but little was he to know that many of them would be answered soon. _ Act 3 _ "Morning Erin!" Shouted Kris into Erin's ear. "Ow! Damn-it! Kris what you do that for? It's Saturday for god's sake," shouted Erin. Kris was another orphan staying at the Fosters home but unlike Erin the only thing anyone knew about her before she became a ward of the state is that her name is Kristen Starsmore and the only reason they know that is because she was wearing a tag with the name on it when she was found in front of a church. "The Fosters wanted to speak to you, something about you being adopted." "What," shouted Erin. "Are you sure they said adoption and not another foster family?" "That's what it sounded like, they were talking about it when I came down for breakfast this morning," Replied Kris. You have never seen a fifteen-year-old boy move so fast when it didn't involve sex in your life. He was dressed and down the stairs in under a minute. "Is it true," Erin asked as he came into the kitchen, "is someone finally adopting me?" "Yes, it's true Erin, I'm sorry to say we will miss you, but you said you always said you wanted to see the east coast," said Mr. Foster "What? I thought the state always tried to place its wards in-state?" "Normally, yes, but they have found a distant relative of yours in California." "I thought all my family was dead!" "He is a distant cousin of your mothers," Replied Mrs. Foster. "No one knew he was alive till last week. Apparently he thought that you were dead till then, when he came across a newspaper clipping about the foster care system that the paper took your picture for a few months ago. He contacted the adoption agency yesterday about adopting you." "When do I leave," asked Erin rather unflinchingly, "it's not that I’m not grateful to you Mr. and Mrs. Foster it's just that I want the chance to be with family. If he knew my parents he could tell me about them I don't even have a picture of them." "We understand Erin," replied Mrs. Foster. "The car to take you to the airport will arrive tonight." _ Act 4. _ When Erin arrived at LAX the next day he was picked up by his Uncle, that's what he asked Erin to call him, Jasper's servant, a man who called himself Gi. When Erin was finally in view of his cousin’s home later that day his jaw dropped. It had to be the largest house he had ever seen in his life. "Th-this is where I'm living now," Erin stammered to Gi. "Yes Master Erin," replied Gi quite clearly unimpressed by the buildings size though trying not to show it. "Though most of the manor is now dedicated to the family museum." "The family museum, what's in it Gi," asked Erin. "Relics from your family's past, but I'm not supposed to tell you any more than that," replied Gi. "What! Why not?" "Your uncle wants to talk to you first," said Gi, "about your family heritage. I am to take you to meet him immediately Master Erin." "Ok," replied Erin part confused part weirded out. "This way Master Erin," said Gi as he guided Erin through a side door. As Erin was lead through the maze of halls to his uncle's study he couldn't help but wonder what was behind some of the doors he passed. Finally they stopped at a large oak door with a brass knob. "Here we are Master Erin," said Gi, "in you go." "Aren't you coming in," Erin asked. "Nae' Master Erin," replied Gi, “and this is for family only." With a bit of trepidation Erin slowly opened the oak door and stepped inside. The room itself is basically what you'd expect from the study of a large home; leather chairs, bookshelves to the ceiling, fireplace, the whole bit, the only thing that seemed out of place was the man in his late forties slightly graying at the temples in a t-shirt and jeans reading what appeared to be a comic book. "Excuse me," Erin said rather timidly, "are you my cousin Jasper." "I told you on the phone, Erin, please call me Uncle Jasper. Calling me your cousin doesn't feel right if I am to be your guardian." "Yea, I guess you've got a point, Uncle Jasper," replied Erin, insuring to emphasize the word Uncle, "but why did you want to speak with me?" "For two reasons, first I wanted to meet you face to face," replied Jasper. "And the second reason," Erin asked. "The second reason is I want to know about your dreams," replied Jasper "My dreams," replied Erin, slightly perplexed. "Yes, your dreams," said Jasper, "your dreams about the red warrior." To be continued…