 
                           Zodiac Knights, 1
 
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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…
 
