Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans...........why are you still reading this? I have nothing else to say! Read the story! Stop wasting time!

I have returned! Sorry my updates are taking so long. Apologies to anyone who read the story and the words were a little bunched up. I'm not sure what the problem is. It's happened before (as most of you know) but this time I know that it wasn't because of something I did. While I ponder on this, enjoy the 6th chapter of my story. HOOAH!

Chapter 6: A Trip to the Museum

It was another early morning. The sun had just risen and the morning dew had gathered on the grass outside the tower. The sound of chirping birds greeting the arrival morning was the only thing that could be heard over the heavy pounding of the waves on the rocks.
Xander stood alone on one of the rocks by the water. He felt the spray of water on his face as another wave hit the rock. He was wearing black jogging pants and a white shirt that had the sleeves cut off. His black wings were in a folded rest position on his back and Akujin was holstered on his belt. One could tell from the sweaty shirt and the finely cut rocks behind Xander that he had been training for a long time. For a long time Xander did nothing but stare out into the water. Suddenly, he spoke.
"Can I help you?" he said. Raven stopped where she was, shocked and amazed.
"How did you-" she asked.
"I heard you coming", Xander replied.
"I'm floating", Raven replied in a for-your-information kind of way.
"Who says I heard foot steps", Xander said without looking back, "your heartbeat could wake the dead".
"Whatever..." she said monotone-ly. Xander smiled and snickered at her disbelief.
"So, Raven" Xander said, "what brings you out here so early".
"I just felt like going for a stroll", Raven said, "and...to properly thank you for saving me".
"I thought you already did?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, well, I just...felt like I needed to say it", she replied, "I didn't think you heard me last time".
"Like I said before, it's no problem", Xander said, "just another day on the job".
"Oh, it was just another job..." Raven said, somewhat sadly.
"Umm...yeah. Something wrong?" Xander asked.
"N-nothing. Just...it's nothing", Raven replied.
"Doesn't sound like nothing", Xander answered back.
"Really, it's nothing" Raven replied, "I gotta go. Breakfast will be ready in 10, Xan. Don't miss it". Raven began to float away, a strange sadness looming in her mind.
"Damn", Xander said, "I totally messed that up".
'You got that right, Leonardo De Caprio', Akujin said amusingly. Xander turned to the direction that Raven had walked off to. He sat down on his rock and dropped his head in his hands.
"Crap", Xander moaned, "crap, crap, crap."
'Well, what now?' Akujin asked. Xander let out a big sigh.
"Let's get breakfast".

The aroma of freshly cooked eggs and bacon filled the tower. The Titans had gathered around the table for their breakfast. A buffet of breakfast was laid out on the table. 5-inch strips of bacon, towers of syrup covered pancakes, and three different kinds of sausages among other things covered the table. Of course, Beast Boy had his own tofu meals set aside for him. As always, Robin and Starfire sat together. Beast Boy was rocking impatiently in his chair as he waited.
"Can we eat now?" Beast Boy asked.
"We gotta wait 'til everyone gets here", Robin said. Just then Cyborg walked into the room.
"See! Everyone's here! Can we eat now?" Beast Boy whined, rocking harder. Robin began to get annoyed.
"Not yet, we have to wait for"
"Raven!" Starfire yelled out as Raven walked in, "A pleasant morning to you!"
"You too, Star" Raven said as she sat next to Starfire.
"Can I eat NOW?" Beast Boy whined again.
"NOT YET!" Robin yelled, "Xander isn't here yet!"
"Can't we start without him?" Beast Boy, "It's not like he's part of the team or anything!"
"That may be true, but he's a guest", Robin said, "and who knows. He might just end up being part of the team". Just then Xander walked in. He was still wearing his jogging pants but had changed his shirt. Akujin was safely sheathed on his side, as always.
"Whassup Xan!" Cyborg yelled.
"Whazzup Cy!" Xander yelled back and gave Cyborg a high five.
"NOW?" Beast Boy asked. Robin gave him a simple nod and Beast Boy immediately began stuffing his face full of food.
"Bet I can eat more than you!" Cyborg said to Beast Boy.
"You're on!" Beast Boy replied. Cyborg began stuffing his face full of food. Xander laughed and sat next to Robin. For the rest of the meal, it was just a lot of talking, mostly about Xander's powers. "My powers are elemental", Xander said. "What do you mean?" Starfire asked. "It means that my powers are drawn from the elements", he replied. "How did you get the ability to do such things?", Starfire asked as she leaned forward on the table to listen more closely to Xander, causing Robin to feel slightly jealous. "Well, it isn't really something that I obtained. Everything with a soul has energy. It's just a matter of unlocking it", Xander answered. Robin's eyes went wide when he heard this. "REALLY? CAN YOU SHOW ME HOW TO DO WHAT YOU DO?" he yelled. "Umm...well...I'm...can we talk about something else?" Xander said as he scratched his head. Despite Robin's constant whining, Xander refused to talk about his abilities anymore and quickly changed the subject to life in the city. Throughout the whole conversation Raven remained silent. She couldn't stop thinking about what Xander said.
'Just another job, huh?' she thought. '...Why should I care? Why am I even thinking about him? Why should I care about what he thinks of me? Just because he was in my dream doesn't mean anything special! And just because I've been having that dream repeatedly surely doesn't mean-.'
"Something bothering you, Rae?" Xander asked her politely, "I can call you Rae, right?"
"Uh, yeah. I mean, no. I mean", she stuttered as she tried to recover from having her thoughts interrupted, "nothings bothering me, and don't call me Rae"
"Why not?" he asked.
"Just don't," she said in a threatening tone.
"Okay, I won't" Xander answered. "So...you gonna tell me what's on you're mind?"
"I told you, Xander, nothings on my mind", she replied in an annoyed tone.
"Was it because of what I said outside?" Xander asked.
"No. Now leave me to my thoughts", she said in a threatening tone. Xander backed away, a look of confusion and apology on his face.
"Sorry." Xander said as he got up and left for his room.
'Who is he to think he knows me?' Raven thought. As the other Titans watched all this, all they could do was look confusedly at each other. Beast Boy gave a little smirk.
'Looks like I don't have as much competition as I thought' he thought.

Xander walked into his room and picked up his towel out of his bag. He exited the room and began to walk to the bathroom.
'That was pathetic' Akujin said.
"What do you know? You're a sword!" Xander angrily replied to his sword.
'Hey! I resent that! I'm a spirit IN a sword, jackass! Get it right!' Akujin yelled back. 'And even if I am a just a spirit, I can recognize a pathetic apology much as the next guy, and THAT was a pathetic attempt! Hell, anyone could see how pathetic it was from a mile away! In fact..."
"AKUJIN!" Xander cut him off, "I get it! It was pathetic! You made your point! Shut the hell up already!" Xander then pulled the spirit sword off of his belt and threw him in the hallway by the bathroom door. Xander walked in and locked the door. The sound of the shower was soon heard.
'He must really like her if just talking to her loose focus like that' Akujin said amusingly as he lay in the hall.

The Titans were all in the main room. Cyborg was playing Need For Speed: Underground and Robin was listening to some music on his CD player. Starfire was on the couch watching Cyborg play and Beast Boy was looking through his collection of CDs for something to listen to. Raven was quietly reading a book on the far side of the couch, away from Cyborg's cursing.
"Damn Skyline! Get out of the way!" Cyborg yelled as he was trying to overtake the skyline on the screen, but failing miserably.
"Could you keep it down? Some of us are trying to do something productive", Raven said calmly.
"It ain't my fault! It's that damn skyline! Agghh! No!" Cyborg's car had crashed into the wall on one of the turns and was left behind by the other cars. Cyborg growled angrily as he watched the skyline and the other two cars left him in last place. "That's it! I'm returning this stupid game!" Cyborg yelled as he threw down the controller.
"Dude! Don't take it out on the controller! It's gonna break if you keep throwing it around like that!" Beast Boy yelled from the CD shelves. Raven began to get irritated and began clutching her book tighter and tighter. Just as she was about to explode, the alarm sounded and the overhead map of the city appeared on the giant screen.
"What the hell is that!?" he screamed confusedly. He had just gotten out of the shower and changed into some new clothes. He wore blue jeans and a red t-shirt with a cross symbol on the back. He had brown steel-toe shoes on and wore open finger gloves on his hands. His short black hair was still slightly wet and wasn't spiked up as it normally was. The strands were drooping and water dripped from his hair to the floor.
"Relax, drippy. It's just the alarm," Raven said as she put her book down and walked up to the big screen. Xander stood up straight and goofily scratched his head.
"Oh. Heheh. What's the big problem?" he asked. Robin pushed the button on the screen and the faces of three familiar teens appeared on the screen.
"The Hive." Robin said. Xander jumped over the couch and walked over to the screen.
"The who?" he asked. "The HIVE. They're from some academy that trains and sometimes even genetically alters kids to become weapons of destruction", Cyborg answered.
"We have fought them before", said Starfire, "there are a very strong group and are very difficult to beat".
"How dumb are these guys?" Beast Boy asked, "How many times do we have to beat them into the ground before they stay down?"
"Hey, one more wouldn't hurt" Cyborg said as he pounded his fists. "Where they at this time?"
"It looks like they're at the museum," Robin said. He faced Xander.
"You think you're up for another fight? We could really use your help" Robin said.
"Sure thing. I'm always up for a good throw down" he replied. "Just tell me where I gotta go."
"Here, take this", Robin said as he handed Xander a small device, "it's a digital map of the city. The GPS (global positioning system, for those who don't know) will tell you where you are. Just go to the spot on the map". Xander examined the device for a few seconds, put it in his pants pocket and gave a nod that sent drops of water flying onto Robin's face, causing everyone to giggle.
"But go get dry first. Meet us in the garage" he said. "Titans, move out!" The others began to run out the door to the elevator. Just before she left the room, her head suddenly pulsated and pounded as she had a quick flashback of the dream she had with Xander in it. She fell to the ground clutching her head in her arms. Before she hit the ground Xander caught her.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Yeah", Raven said as she shook her head. She looked up to see Xander's face. She looked into his eyes and saw a deep compassion that seemed to be just for her. She quickly looked away with a blush. Xander merely smiled.
"I can't have any of my rescued fainting here and there now can I?" Xander said. Raven's blush grew as he helped her stand up. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine", she replied, "...We have to get going".
"Yes, ma'am" Xander said jokingly. Raven headed for the elevator to meet the others and Xander headed for his room. "Wait. Raven!" he yelled. Raven looked back. "The wound on your shoulder hasn't completely healed yet, so try not to push yourself to hard in battle." Raven gave a nod before turning around and heading into the elevator. Xander walked into his room and picked up his leather, Matrix-style coat from on top of his bed and put it on. He then began to do an energy power up (DBZ style). A glow of hot energy surrounded him and began to pulse, instantly drying his hair and forcing it to spike up at the same time. "Energy charging. The ultimate hair dryer." He walked over to the table by his bed and picked up his motorcycle keys. He then picked up and Akujin placed it on his belt.
'Where are we goin'?' Akujin asked.
"Where else? To kick ass of course!" Xander replied with a smile as he ran out the door to the elevator.

Mammoth sat on the pile of over turned cars, bored out of his mind. He had his elbow leaning on his knee and his head on his hand.
"How long does it take to steal a freakin' artifact! This is pissing the hell out of me!" He pounded his free hand into the door of the car that he sat on. Just then a green star bolt hit him in the chest sending him flying off the pile. He looked up to be greeted by a charging sonic cannon.
"How you been, Mammoth?" said Cyborg. "Long time no see."
"Aren't museums a little too smart for you big guy?" Beast Boy said. Mammoth growled and began to get up when the cannon in front of him glowed.
"Don't move big guy", said Cyborg.
"I can handle that," Beast Boy said as he morphed into an elephant and sat on Mammoth. Mammoth let out a grunt as he was crushed by the tremendous weight. Just then, Robin, Raven, and Xander ran in through the hole in the wall of the museum. They stopped behind the wall. Robin peered into the next room, which was the ancient artifact exhibit. There, he saw two familiar faces. Gizmo was hacking into a soda machine and Jinx was wrapping something up in a cloth. What it was, he couldn't tell. Just then, Jinx stood up with the cloth under her arm.
"Let's go. We got what we came for", she said.
"Just a minute! I've almost...YEAH!" Gizmo cheered as a soda popped out of the machine. Gizmo triumphantly picked up the drink and began to guzzle it down. As he and Jinx began to walk out of the museum through the hole, the broken pieces of the wall rose up from the ground and fixed themselves back in place. They looked behind them and saw the Titans and some new kid standing by the entrance they had just come out of.
"Sorry. But you aren't going anywhere" Raven said.
"If you wanted to learn about ancient history so badly, you should've stuck with the tour. It's a lot less painful" Robin said while cracking his knuckles. Xander stood behind him wearing his long black coat with the hood up.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Teen Butt-munchers. Who's your new friend? The Hooded loser?" Gizmo teased as his robotic legs activated, popping out of his backpack.
"'Butt-munchers'?" said Xander, "That was the crappiest insult that I've ever heard. In fact, it was so pathetic; it doesn't even deserve to be called an insult! That sucked ASS!!"
"Shut up!" Gizmo yelled angrily. Jinx carefully put the covered artifact down.
"Get as many new friends as you want, Titans," Jinx said, "you're still no match for us."
"Don't be an idiot Jinx. We've taken you down before. Today you're outnumbered and Mammoth isn't coming. Give up and we promise to only leave small bruises." Robin replied.
"Is that what you think?" Jinx said before letting out a laugh. Suddenly, 10 muscular specters materialized out of the shadows behind her. Right after that, Cyborg flew in through the newly re-built wall and crashed into one of the fossil exhibits. Soon after he flew in, Beast Boy was also thrown in, followed by Starfire. Robin and Raven ran to the others to help while Xander took a ready position with his sword. Mammoth came charging in, making the whole in the wall even bigger. Behind him were 30 more muscular specters.
"Say hello to our little friends. They're called, 'Dreadnaughts' (pronounced dred-nots)", Jinx said with a smile "Still think we're outnumbered?". The others were now back on their feet and staring down the bulky shadows. The creatures each stood at about 6 feet and had bodies that looked similar to Cinderblock's. Like the soldiers specters, they were completely black and had glowing yellow eyes. Their heads were similar to the soldiers heads (heartless-style heads from kingdom hearts 2), only larger and without any antenna.
"Robin" Xander said, breaking the silence, "I'll handle the shadows. You guys deal with the three stooges".
"No way. You could get hurt. We'll take them on together." Robin answered.
"These aren't the same ones from the bridge. They're as strong much stronger and take a little longer to beat . If they aren't gotten rid of, they'll be too big of a nuisance. I'll draw their attention away from you guys so you can take down the HIVE" Xander replied. After a few seconds of hesitation, Robin agreed and turned to the other Titans.
"You think you can stop them, Loser?" Gizmo yelled at Xander. "They'll crush you in seconds! Go ahead and try, mucus-brain!"
"Don't you worry your pathetic, bad-insult making mouth Wee Man" Xander replied while he charged up and put his hood down, revealing his short black hair and glowing blue eyes, "I'll do more than that."
"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled. The Titans and Xander immediately charged at the HIVE.
"Crush 'em" Jinx said calmly. The dreadnaughts all charged at the Titans in a single line. But before the two sides could meet, Xander swung Akujin horizontally, sending a black blade of energy that hit the line of specters and sent all 40 of them flying out of the museum. Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth's eyes went wide in shock. What the hell just happened? Who was this guy? They looked back at the charging Titans just as Xander flew past them and out of the museum.
"Let's go you genetic freaks!" Cyborg yelled as he began to charge up his cannon.
"Attack Pattern Theta!" Jinx yelled out. Gizmo launched a barrage of smoke bombs at the Titans, shrouding the whole room in smoke and stopping the Titans in their tracks. They covered their mouths as they struggled to see through the smoke.
"Beast Boy!" Robin yelled out.
"Way ahead of you!" BB replied as he morphed into a pterodactyl and beat the smoke away with his wings. As the smoke cleared, the Titans saw that their three nemeses had disappeared.
"Where have they gone?" asked Starfire. Just then, they heard a strange beeping sound beneath them. They looked down to see a small blinking device. It didn't take long to figure out what it was.
"Damn! A bomb! Everyone MOVE!" Robin ordered. But just as they were running away, they heard Jinx voice.
"Leaving so soon? We just got started!" The Titans looked up and there was Jinx, hanging on the ceiling by a wire connected on her belt holding the clothed artifact under her right arm. She fired off some Hex energy, causing the ground under the Titans to become weak and fragile. Immediately after that, Mammoth and Gizmo appeared behind them. Gizmo fired a volley of missiles at the floor and Mammoth pounded the ground. The floor caved in and a deep hole formed in the museum. The Titans fell in the hole, together with the bomb and the rubble. Beast Boy attempted to fly out, as did Raven and Starfire while carrying Robin and Cyborg. But before they could get anywhere, Gizmo fired a heavy metal web that caught the Titans and dragged them back to the bottom of the hole. Jinx got down from the ceiling and Gizmo fired a volley of missiles, causing the roof to come falling into the hole. The three teenage villains stood in front of the hole, smiling at their achievement.
"Now all we got to do is wait for the boom and bring that stupid...whatever it is...back to that big dark guy", Gizmo said. They waited. 20 seconds passed and there was still no boom.
"You did set it to, right?" Mammoth asked Gizmo.
"I'm pretty sure I did" Gizmo said as he scratched his head. Suddenly, a large black telekinetic ball rose out of the rubble. The ball slowly came down in front of the HIVE and opened, releasing the Titans. Robin stepped forward with the bomb in his right hand, held it up to them and crushed it.
"But how! No one can deactivate my bombs!" Gizmo said.
"First time for everything" Robin said amusingly "Now are you three gonna give up?"
"Or do we have to beat the crap out of you guys AGAIN?" BB asked.
"Don't worry" Jinx said as she again carefully put the artifact back down "we won't waste anymore of your time. Attack Pattern Phi!" The three of them charged the Titans in a line.
"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled, and the Titans split up as they prepared to attack the HIVE.

Xander was successful in getting rid of 20 of the dreadnaughts, but it had been even tougher than he thought. They were stronger than he remembered and had managed to hit him more than he'd expected. He had taken his coat off and was now staring down the other 20 dreadnaughts that had surrounded him. He held Akujin in his right hand and his black wings were slowly beating on his back. Blood slowly trickled down his forehead and into his mouth. The metallic taste was one that he hadn't tasted in a long time.
"Almost forgot how my blood tasted", Xander said to himself. The dreadnaughts slowly began to close in on him. He looked around him, carefully watching each of the shadow creatures' movements. Suddenly, the muscular creatures began to run towards him, arms outspread and ready to grab the wing knight and tear him limb from limb. Xander looked directly at the dreadnaught he was currently facing.
"Here goes nothing", he said. He let out a yell and ran at the dreadnaught he was facing. Just before he was about to hit the creature, he slid under the shadow and did a sweeping kick, tripping it. Xander plunged his sword into the creature's chest, killing it. He quickly pulled the sword out and absorbed the dreadnaught's body. He then flew up to avoid the other charging dreadnaughts and began charging up energy in his left hand. he then did a dive bomb back and punched the ground with his left hand, creating a shockwave that caused the dreadnaughts to trip and fall. Xander flew back up and faced his palm at them. A black energy ball appeared in the center and 10 dark disks flew out. Xander pointed down and the disks flew down to the fallen creatures. Each disk stopped over one dreadnaught and began firing energy beams at that one target. Each dreadnaught that was shot was destroyed. The disks then disappeared, leaving only the floating darkness that was once the dreadnaught's bodies. Akujin absorbed the darkness as Xander slowly flew back down. The remaining dreadnaughts got back up and stared angrily at Xander. He spread his wings and took a battle stance as he prepared to face off with the last of the creatures.
'Down to nine', Akujin said.
"Lucky us", replied Xander sourly.

That is the end of chapter 6. again, sorry it took so long. A million apologies. Please be patient for chapter 7. until then, my friends, I bid you farewell. (gets up, steps away from computer, and disappears). - Angrydude