AN* see first chapter for disclaimer.

Alright as much as i love reviews the only one i recieved actually took me ten minutes to read and understand. I will not spoil anything for the plot but I will say this. Your suggestion was noted and I have always considered adding in the villains from Gotham at one point or another, though porbably much later. So now please read and enjoy the latest chapter.

The Apprentice

It was only a week until he was sent back to Jump City, this time he wasn't employed by anyone so he felt more relaxed than he felt he should have.

'I am nothing more than a tool for the Wheel.' He yelled in his mind. After leaping from building to building did he see the Titan Starfire flying over the city, searching for something.

"Something must be wrong." He thought as he watched. Soon she took off towards some building that was being broken into. After a short inner debate he decided to follow and see what was going on. From atop a nearby building he saw that there were only four Titans attacking the burglar. The man ran until he was heading towards the building that he was sitting on top of using a bridge Stopping halfway across he fired the stolen laser weapon and destroyed the bridge trapping the four on that side. When the smoke cleared they all got a clear look at the thief, and it was Robin.

He turned to leave when Shinku acted on his instincts, and against his better judgment. He leapt in front of him and swung the magus sword down trying to stop him from escaping. Robin dodged and tried to flee but Shinku was not going to let him get away that easily. Leaping onto a wall and using it to propel him in front of the turned Boy Wonder he swung again, missing by millimeters. Robin seemed worried until he took something from his utility belt and threw it to the ground which blinded him with a flash of light and smoke, ensuring that he would escape. Once his vision returned he saw that the smoke was being cleared by Raven's magic.

"Where is Robin?" Starfire asked pleadingly.

"He got away. He was determined to avoid a fight." He sighed.

"What are you doing here?" Raven asked coldly.

"Don't trust me do you?"

"No. We know that whatever you are trying to do is for the greater good," Cyborg said.

"So you figured out that I serve the Wheel of Fate? I am happy that you figured it out even with all of the hints that I left. As for why I am here, I was simply told to come back to Jump City. I assume that I am supposed to work with you until we can stop, or save Robin."

"That was not Robin." Starfire said determinedly.

"Unfortunately it was. His movement, his reactions to my presence and even his planning. That was Robin. I don't know how but Slade has him under his thumb, so until we find out what is going on then we have no hope in saving him." He explained. With that he returned with them to their home, Titans Tower.

'Now this is tacky.' He thought to himself as he stared at the giant T 'But then again I live in a world of pure darkness so what does that say about me?' They then entered the building and he was led to the living room where Raven sat down in front of the computer and proceeded to search for clues as to Robin's next move. Cyborg sat and seemed worried that his friend had become evil, Beast Boy tried to crack a few jokes but after several withering glares from everyone he sat down and shut up. Starfire floated back and forth, worried about Robin enough to where every minute she would ask if Raven had found anything. Shinku sat and began to meditate, gathering his powers so he could try to see what the wheel saw. He sat for several minutes until he finally pierced through the dimensional barrier and found the wheel. The images came at a sickening rate but he understood the general idea. Let the Titans Find him again on their own and then tell them how to find Robin.

When he opened his eyes he saw Raven floating next to him, meditating as well. Rising quietly he looked at the clock and saw that he had been there for several hours.

'No wonder it was so quiet.' Shinku then started to leave when he heard Raven say "You don't have to leave."

"Since I finished meditating I thought I would let you be."

"It's ok. I want to talk to you though." She said as she made her floating body turn to face him. Now Shinku had never had much experience with woman and as he looked at Raven his mind began having dirty thoughts that he knew he should not be having.

'NO! Stop, she is a co-worker only. Bad thoughts! BAD!' He mentally raged.

"What do you want to ask?" He asked, trying to keep his mind on other things.

"I want to know about the Wheel of Fate. You made a comment about us being at the center of it. What did you mean?" Shinku sighed she was too smart for her own good.

"It's complicated. Technically I should not even be talking to you about this." Shinku sighed as he motioned for her to take a seat on the couch as he took a seat. Sitting a small distance away he began "Every age has what those in my profession call the 'Turners'. They are those that will influence the wheel to turn, wither towards the light or towards the dark. My job is to ensure it is towards the light, and at the moment you five are the source of the wheel turning, but that could change. At one time Superman was the source but once his crisis past then it went on to someone else. You five from now until further notice are the cause of the wheel turning."

"So by our actions we cause the wheel to turn, either one way or the other?"

"Correct. That is why I am here; to make sure that it is for the good of the universe."

"So you worked with Superman?" she asked.

"No. That was my predecessor. I am actually the newest, and still the weakest. I have yet to master Kage To Hi Ryu." Shinku laughed.

"You haven't mastered it yet?" Raven asked shocked.

"No. I still don't have the mark yet. In order to master it one must face the dark dragon of the wheel and force it to yield using only Kage To Hi Ryu. Once you succeed then you are marked with the dark dragon somewhere on your body, it varies from person to person. My predecessor had his on his face starting at the point his jaw connected to his neck and it continued up to his left eye and had the dragon eating it." Shinku said as he pointed it on Raven Using the tip of his index finger to show the length. This sent shivers down Ravens spine as he lightly touched her.

'Control your emotions Raven.' She chastised.

"So any other questions?"

"Yes. Why did you attack us a few days ago?"

"To introduce myself and to try and get you guys to get stronger." Shinku sighed "Personally I would have liked to do things more civilly but the wheel said that would be best."

"So you didn't want to fight us?"

"No. I have a deep respect for you Titans. At such young ages you have chosen to oppose evil, I was drafted to serve the wheel."

"You were? You didn't choose?"

"No. The wheel chooses a person at the age of two. That person is then brought to the dark dimension and they begin the training to become one of the wheels warriors. They train for ten years and then they are sent on missions with any living members of the warriors. After two years of that then you are sent on solo missions."

This caused Raven to wonder about his age. He looked young but she couldn't be sure.

"So how old are you?" she asked, thankful that her hood was up to hide her blush for asking such a personal question.

"Fifteen. I have been doing solo missions for a year, but it has all been simple fighting missions, dealing with those that are truly evil, murderers, those who hurt the innocent. That sort of thing."

"Then why did you work for Slade?"

"He was a useful tool as the wheel put it. It was all I could do to not kill him on the spot." He sighed as he stood up, looking at the bay and the sunrise.

"It's early. We should get some rest before he strikes again tonight." Shinku yawned.

"I'll show you to a room." Raven said as she stood up. Walking down several hallways they arrived at a small plain room.

"It's not much but it's the only room that is ready for people at the moment." She explained.

"This is a palace compared to what I normally deal with." Shinku grinned. He then walked in and simply laid down on the bed, sleeping almost instantly.

'He is odd. One minute he is so serious, and the next he is a grinning fool. He is difficult to read.' She thought as she watched him for a minute 'he thinks that this is a palace compared to where he normally sleeps, I wonder what he would think of my room? NO! Bad thought! Bad thought!' Leaving quickly she headed for her own room before her mind dragged something up from the perverted depths.

That Night the five of them responded to the break in at Wayne Industries.

"The irony is so thick you could spread it with a knife." Shinku grumbled as he leapt from building to building. They arrived on the rooftop to see Robin making a break for it.

"You're not going anywhere!" Cyborg yelled. The five of them surrounded him but Shinku knew that he was going to have to take him out quickly, knowing that the other four would hold back because he was their friend. The battle commenced with Robin fighting Raven which for some reason got Shinku's blood boiling. Without a second thought he did a thrust with the sheathe still on and sent the sheathe flying into Robin catching him completely off guard. Moving quickly he attacked, trying to subdue him enough so that the others could capture him. Robin had been training since their last encounter since he dodged or used the metal on his new uniform to block the slashes. As he fought he saw Beast Boy and Raven moving in to back him up and Cyborg was preparing the Sonic cannon. Once the other two had arrived and were attacking Cyborg gave up and yelled for Starfire to come help them. After dodging most of the strikes that they threw at him he leapt to the top of the Wayne Industries logo and was making a break for it when Starfire moved up to shoot him with a starbolt at close range. Robin raised his arm as well and Shinku saw that it was the heat cannon that he had taken from the other lab.

"If you are truly evil then do it. For I cannot." Starfire said as she lowered her arm.

"Starfire." Robin said as lowered the weapon which triggered something that he hadn't expected. The other four Titans started glowing orange with darker orange spots and fell to the ground with unexpected pain.

"What is going on?" He roared as he ran over to Raven catching her as she fell.

"Stop it! I'll do as you say!" Robin yelled. Shinku turned his attention back to Raven who was in such pain that he thought she would die. As suddenly as it started it had stopped. As they all looked at each other, Robin attacked using the heat cannon to separate them. He grabbed Cyborg and threw him into a mid transformation Beast Boy. Robin then grabbed Ravens hood and blinded her while kicking her away. Starfire fell next to the evil Boy Wonder while Shinku had abandoned his sword and released the Kage To Hi Ryu. Moving with unmatchable speed he began to destroy Robin, using every ounce of speed to get past his defenses and weapons, leaving Robin, bloody and wounded. As he raised the cannon to fire at him he saw that Robin had been playing with him and had positioned him so that if he dodged the unconscious others would be hit. As he prepared to fire the laser it was enveloped by Raven's magic and was destroyed. Without a second thought Robin threw another of the flashing smoke bombs and escaped.

"Ok. I know where he got the laser, but where did he learn that painful glowing trick?" BB asked as Shinku helped them up, having turned off the flames.

"I don't know." Shinku sighed as he began to piece together what the wheel had shown him during his meditation. After a quick check on each of them they returned to the tower where Cyborg used BB as a guinea pig to find out what was wrong with them. After searching for several minutes they found what the source of the problem was.

"Nanomachines. They are in each of us, and with a push of a button they attack us." Cyborg said.

"So that is how he has Robin. Then I guess it is time to take the battle to Slade." Shinku smirked. Taking out a map he pointed to a position on it "This is Slade's hideout."

"Why didn't you tell us that sooner?" Raven asked.

"Because I wanted to know if Robin had gone evil or was being controlled. If he had gone evil then I would have killed him, to save the lives of many more, but since he is being controlled then you can find a way to free him of that and defeat Slade." Shinku explained.

"Then you will accompany us?" Starfire asked hopefully.

"No. This is your battle, and I have complete and utter faith in you. If you should fail then I will do clean up, if you succeed then I will see you again." He smiled. The four then left heading for their friend and leader and he waited in the dark dimension and hoped they would succeed.

Hours later he returned to the tower to see the Titans had returned victorious.

"Congratulations." He said as he walked over.

"It is all thanks to you telling us where to go!" Starfire exclaimed as she hugged him tightly enough that he could feel his ribs bending.

"Please let me go." He gasped. After releasing him she flew over to Robin who stood by the window, deep in thought. Shinku grinned as he headed over to the kitchenette where Beast Boy and Cyborg had kidnapped Raven and were talking about a breakfast feast. Sitting next to her Shinku said "I really envy you guys."

"Whys that?"

"You all have the companionship of each other and were brave enough to risk your lives to save one who had been taken. That is truly a marvelous thing, something that I have never gotten to experience," he said with a sad tone to his voice.

"Well you have us." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder "If you ever go missing we would come looking for you."

"You hardly know me and you would do that for me?"

"Of course. You are our friend; you helped us when we needed that help so of course we would help you when you needed our help." Laughing he faced her and said "You five truly are fools. But I wouldn't want it any other way." He continued to laugh, while everyone stared at the fact that Raven had gotten someone to laugh.

"What did you do?" BB asked shocked.

"That is none of your business." Raven snipped as she looked at the chuckling Shinku, wishing he would laugh more often. The rest of the night went in a blur until Shinku finally had to leave.

"Well thank you for the great night. I will see you all soon." He smiled as he entered the dark portal returning to the desolate world that he was forced to call home.