It was hot. Dogs panted, people sweated, and the hellishly annoying mosquitos weren't helping the matter. It had been two days since Robin had picked up a call from a supposed meta-human on the run. He didn't say from what, but it sounded urgent. Robin had told him to come to the Titan Tower, and he said he would. The situation had put the other Titans on edge, as they all knew it could very well be an ambush.
"Vehicle approaching Tower," the Titan's large computer screen informed them, displaying a GPS layout of the Tower's exterior grounds. It was a single vehicle, rather small by the looks of it, travelling at 67 MPH towards the Tower and stopping at the front. The layout switched to a camera postitioned at the front door. There stood a male figure, young, maybe 16, spiked red hair with a goatee to match, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, a leather jacket, and standing in front of a motorcycle.
"Permission to come aboard, cap'n," he joked, cracking a smile. The door slid open.
"Get in the elevator. It'll take you up to the main floor," Robin informed him. Clasping his hands together as a sign of thanks, he walked inside. A bell rung as he reached the Titan's living room and the door slid open. Robin met him and offered a hand shake.
"Name's Robin. This is Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Terra," Robin declared pointing them out.
"Jimmy Hawthorne. They call me Inferno," he said shaking Robin's hand.
"Why's that?" Robin said, asking the obvious. Flames appeared behind Jimmy's glasses.
"A few reasons," he said with a grin.
"So," Robin said, "what are you on the run from?"
"What say you brew us up some coffee and I'll tell you, yeah?"
Jimmy stirred his coffee, sipped it, gave an approving nod, and glanced around at his captive audience.
"About a year ago, I escaped from a program I was in," he began.
"What program?" Robin interrupted.
"I'm not sure," Jimmy said.
"Who organized it?" Cyborg chimed in.
"Couldn't tell ya," he said, baffled himself. "This is the only information I've got on it," he added, lifting up the right sleeve of his jacket and revealing a numerical code tattooed on his arm.
"What was the program for?" Robin asked.
"Training," he said distantly. "Assassination training. They taught me to hone my powers. They taught me focus. They taught me to kill"
"Who taught you?" Robin said in a mixture of curiosity and frustration.
"It was all done by audio and machines," he sighed. "No human contact. I was in the program for three years as far as I can remember."
"What about before that?" Raven asked this time.
"That's my point. I don't remember anything before that," Jimmy sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Could we maybe do this later?" he added. "I haven't slept in days.""Sure," Robin said. " Cyborg will show you your room."
A/N: A bit slow, yeah, but it'll get better. This is mainly just the extended intro.