"Swindle" by Ed Alger a.k.a. SecondLevelWriter

Author's Notes: All disclaimers still apply. What, you were expecting a laundry list?

Chapter 3
Examination

Swindle made a quick side-trip to his room in order to pick up his utility belt and daggers, making sure he was ready for this "exam". The thought of having to run another obstacle course made him shiver, especially when he recalled how the Titans' giant mech nearly squished him with those wrecking balls. Considering that, he could only wonder what the Hive puts its students through.

Once he was happy with his choices in equipment, the rogue made his way to the training room and found not only the new students gathered there, but also a familiar trio. Apparently, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx were a sort of benchmark against which all others were compared. Undaunted, the rogue took his place at the starting platform with a few of the other newcomers. As he stretched his arms to loosen up a bit, he heard the familiar growl of Mammoth just behind him.

"Think you can handle this, stringbean?"

Swindle merely drew his daggers and returned a wry smile back up at the brute, "I think I'll manage. In fact, ya might end up havin' to keep up with me."

Jinx furrowed her brow upon hearing those words, again wondering where on Earth she'd heard them before. It was starting to look like déja vu followed this guy like a second shadow. She made a mental note to find out why, someday.

Meanwhile, Gizmo scoffed at the rogue, "Yeah, right! We're gonna smoke you good, newbie!"

"Smoke? You'll be lucky if you singe me!"

Brother Blood's voice interrupted the argument, "All students, get ready."

Swindle leaned forward, ready to run. He glanced over to Jinx, and caught her looking at him for just a second before she quickly diverted her eyes back to the course.

"BEGIN!"

Before anyone had jumped off the platform, Swindle was already off and racing past the spray of energy bolts from several wall-mounted turrets. Jinx's hex-bolts took out the three on the right side, while a combination of the rogue's throwing knives and Gizmo's homing missiles blasted away the remainder. Four more ground-based turrets sprouted up right in front of the thief just when he thought he'd have a free run to the finish line.

More blaster fire peppered the ground around Swindle as he swiftly zigzagged in every possible direction to avoid being hit. He threw his adamantine daggers into the barrels of one turret, splitting it open and causing it to overheat. He leapt in to retrieve his weapons before it blew, drawing fire while Mammoth smashed his fists into another turret.

"Not bad for a beginner," the brute commented. "But this is where the fun really starts!"

"Lucky freakin' me!" Swindle shot back as he slashed through the third turret. Mammoth pulled the final turret right out of its socket and threw it aside, making way for the others to pass through.

Their final obstacle was a small squad of six combat mechas, which looked strangely familiar to the rogue. Didn't Slade have a few of these things back when he and Terra had almost taken over the city? There was only one way to find out...

Swindle lunged for the closest one and plunged his daggers into its chest unit. As he expected, he found the robot's power core just under the exterior plating and carved it out. He then hurled the rapidly destabilizing device into another droid, destroying it in the ensuing blast. Yanking his daggers out of the first robot, Swindle leapt onto his next target to continue the assault.

In the meantime, the remaining three robots directed their attention to the other students. Jinx backflipped into a handspring to avoid the blows of her opponent, while Gizmo and Mammoth teamed up to pummel the other two. Swindle finished off his mecha just in time to see Jinx gradually becoming cornered by the remaining droid, her hexes not seeming to affect the thing at all. Without a moment's hesitation, the thief gripped his daggers tightly and dashed for the final robot, driving both of his weapons deep into its back. The combat droid soon collapsed at the sorceress' feet with Swindle flashing her a toothy grin before he continued on his way to the finish line.

Brother Blood watched the entire thing with great interest from his platform on the upper floor of the gymnasium. The newcomer's superhuman speed was impressive to say the least, and his technique showed that whatever skills he had were self-taught. And those knives... Weren't those the Daggers of Hephaestus, legendary artifacts from the Middle Ages that were said to be stolen from one of the most secure museums in the nation? There was more to this boy then meets the eye, and Blood made a note to himself to keep Swindle under close observation.

Back down on the gym's floor, Swindle was getting a few rounds of applause from the other students for his performance, including Jinx and Mammoth. Gizmo refused to contribute to the clamor, even though his jaw dropped just as much as anyone else's at how swiftly Swindle had shredded those robots. The rogue stood proudly on the finishing platform before giving his audience a deep bow. Now he knew how Jinx must have felt the night she showed off her powers to him.

"I guess congratulations are in order," the sorceress remarked as she walked up to Swindle. "There aren't too many who have made it through The Gauntlet that quickly. Looks like we'll be schoolmates, after all."

The thief tried to act cool about it, "Yeah, y'know... It's all about skill." He rubbed his knuckles against the front of his shirt and continued, "Lookin' forward to seein' what this place can teach me. Maybe I'll learn a few more tricks, yah?"

Jinx actually giggled a bit, for reasons even she couldn't think of, "And he's modest, too... You've got a ways to go before you can become one of us, though. Let's not get too confident, okay?"

Gizmo eyed the two of them suspiciously and asked Mammoth, "All right, who is that guy and why is Jinx bein' so chummy with him alluvasudden?"

The brute only shrugged, "Maybe she knows him from the orphanage, I dunno. What, you jealous or somethin'?"

The pint-sized genius's temper flared as several blasters popped out of his backpack and aimed themselves at Mammoth's head, "I'M NOT JEALOUS, YOU SNOT-MUNCHIN' HAIRBAG!"

The outburst gained the attention of every single person present, causing Gizmo to shrink away and quickly find a hiding place. Jinx snickered a bit as Swindle merely coughed. After another minute, the moment was forgotten.

"Oh, I just remembered something," the hexer said. "Why don't you meet us at the front gates tonight, say a half hour after lockdown?"

The rogue tilted his head, "Huh? What for?"

"Oh, you'll see... Just don't keep us waiting, okay?" she grinned mischeviously before re-joining her friends.

Swindle eyed the trio suspiciously before an administrator called for him at the class sign-up table. His first classes consisted of martial arts training, mathematics, and a few beginning technology courses. They were probably subjects he knew a lot about already, but they didn't have to know that.

The remainder of the afternoon was uneventful, which allowed Swindle to get some much-needed rest after his workout. None of the Titans tried contacting him this time around, although he still decided to leave it in his room to avoid any untimely calls from Starfire. For the rest of the evening, the thief double-checked his equipment and planned a means to avoid detection during the late hours of the night. He had drawn up a few plans when the call for lockdown came, forcing the thief to hide his plans and quickly feign sleep to fool the monitors.

'Twenty-eight minutes to get outta here. Piece of cake.'

End of Chapter 3

In Chapter 4 - Swindle meets up with the trio, where he learns of his initiation. However, when there's trouble, you know who gets called...