by Roll NEO
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Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, and for those who've already guessed, I don't own Zero. However, his origin in this story is of my creation, so don't send me any comments about that! Just want to get that point out.
Chapter 2: The New Titan on the Block
Zero awoke to a bright and sunny day as he rose out of his bed and let out a long yawn. He had been sleeping in one of the guest rooms in Titans Tower last night, just a simple barebones room with the bare necessities. He had been used to wearing his armor for so long, that he had even slept the whole night with it on. He rubbed his eyes as he got out of bed and straightened the bedsheets.
"I actually slept well that night," he said to himself. "I wonder if the others are awake?" He opened the door and headed down the hall. When he got to the living room, the Titans were all sitting at the table, ready to eat breakfast.
"Good morning, friend Zero!" Starfire greeted him. "Did you sleep well?"
"Well, yeah, I did, actually," Zero said. "Thanks for asking."
"You were just about to miss breakfast!" Beast Boy said.
"Maybe you should have," Cyborg said. "BB cooked this morning." He then looked down at his plate. "Tofu eggs and bacon... guess we should've told you he's a vegetarian."
"Come on, Z, I made a plate for you too!" Zero sat down at the table and looked at his plate. Sitting on it were lumps of tofu, cleverly shaped into two eggs and a couple strips of bacon.
"Oh boy," Zero said, "soy products..." He took his fork and cut a piece off one of the eggs and took a bite. His face scrunched up a little, but he did his best to hide it. "Mmm... nutritious..." he said sarcastically.
After they had all eaten, Robin and the others got up from the table.
"We're heading down to the obstacle course to do some training," Robin said to Zero. "Would you like to join us, Zero?"
"Sure, sounds exciting. You go on ahead, I'll join you in a minute." The five Titans headed out of the room, while their guest headed back to his room. Zero grabbed his overcoat and slipped it on over his armor and headed back for the door. Just before he opened the door, he could hear barely audible voices on the other side.
"Is there something wrong, Raven?" It was Robin's voice. "You've been acting a little strange since Zero came here."
"That's the problem," Raven said. "Aren't you and the others being a little too open with him? We met him only yesterday. I think we should keep an eye on him, make sure he's not pulling anything."
"Raven, you're still not upset about..." Zero couldn't hear anything else as the two headed down the hallway.
'What were they talking about?' Zero thought to himself. He shrugged it off and opened the door.
When Zero got down to the obstacle course, he saw Robin and Raven standing behind a large console, with Beast Boy and Starfire standing just to the side of them cheering on Cyborg, who was busy outrunning several target drones that were shooting lasers at him. Cyborg turned around and started shooting them with his sonic cannon. One by one the drones were destroyed, and as the last one fell to the ground, Cyborg looked at the display on his right arm to see his course time.
"Woo! 1:57.64! Best time this month!" he shouted as he did a little victory dance. "Go, Cyborg! Go Cy! Uh-huh! Oh yeah!"
"That was a most wondrous display!" Starfire said jumping up and down excitedly.
"Look who decided to join us!" Beast Boy said, turning to see Zero.
"How about it, Zero?" Robin asked him. "Want to give the obstacle course a spin?" Zero looked at the obstacle course as it was resetting itself. He saw giant metal fists that protruded into the ground, fixed turrets, and giant sliding walls sinking back into the ground.
"Uh, you know, I think I'm having seconds thoughts about this, I don't think---" He stopped when he bumped into Cyborg while backing up.
"Come on, Z!" he said. "It's just a few hundred deathtraps! How bad could it be?"
"Yeah, dude, go for it!" Beast Boy added.
"Uhh..." Zero saw the others cheering him on. "Okay then! Let's do it." He then headed up to the starting line. The large timer on the console that controls the obstacles began to count down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... 0! Zero began racing across the track as fast as his feet could carry him. Suddenly, the metal fists began shooting out of the ground, trying to pulverize him. Zero sidestepped them, having several close calls. When he thought he got past them, one final one shot out from directly under him, sending him flying into the air.
"Oh, I cannot watch!" Starfire covered her eyes. Zero was a little disoriented from the sudden jolt, but he quickly recovered, performing some somersaults and aerial flips before gracefully landing on his feet. He then gave a bow to the Titans as if he was performing Olympic gymnastics. Behind him, several laser turrets popped out of rocky formations and began to fire.
"Look out, man!" Cyborg yelled at Zero. Zero looked out of the corner of his eye to see the projectiles, and quickly pulled out his beam saber. Zhoom! Zhang! In two swipes, he deflected the lasers and sent them flying back at the turrets, destroying them.
"Whoa, didn't know he could do that..." Cyborg said.
'This is actually pretty fun!' Zero thought to himself. 'I'm really giving it everything!' He raced on as three large metal walls rose out of the ground. The walls then began sliding up and down along guard rails. Zero ran under the first wall before it came crashing down. The second one hit the ground before he could reach it, so he crouched down, and launched himself into the air, clearing it like a hurdle. The third wall was about to come down, but Zero kept running towards it.
"Dude, slow down!" Beast Boy called out to him. "You're not gonna make it!" Zero looked at him and smiled. He leapt across under the third wall as it came down. Suddenly, two small jets of flame shot out from the bottom of his boots, giving him the extra boost needed to clear the gap. He somersaulted across the ground and leapt to his feet.
"Time!" Robin called. Cyborg looked down on his display and his eyes widened.
"1.57.63? He beat my time!" Cyborg said in disbelief.
"That was really something, Zero. You passed the course with flying colors. But now there's one more test." Robin pressed a button on the console. A swarm of training drones flew out of a hole in the ground and began circling Zero. They completely surrounded him, from the front, back, sides, and even above. "Let's see how long you can last." The drones around Zero hovered in place as one in front of him fired a shot. Zero twisted his saber and defelected the shot right back at the one that fired it. Another drone from behind fired a shot as well. Zero swung his saber behind him and rebounded the shot. Suddenly, all of the droids began shooting him at the same time. Zero smiled as he twirling his saber, moving it all around his body. A flurry of lasers and explosions was the only thing the Titans could see. When the dust settled, Zero emerged, slowly placing his beam saber back into its slot on his armor's generator.
"That... was... AWESOME!" Cyborg and Beast Boy shouted, racing towards Zero. "We're here with the man of the hour, Zero, who has just set a new record on the Teen Titans' obstacle course, and put on a spectacular light show shortly afterwards. Zero, do you have any words you would like to share with the world?" Cyborg held a microphone up to Zero's mouth like it was a sports broadcast.
"Uhh..." Zero didn't know what to say.
"There you have it!" said Beast Boy. "Let's give another round of applause for Zero!" All the Titans then began cheering as they approached Zero.
"I have to say, I haven't seen anything like that in a long time!" Robin grinned.
"Yes, it was wonderfully entertaining!" Starfire added.
"Heh, you think?" Zero said, rubbing the back of his head, slightly embarassed.
"Well, I'll be heading to the garage now," Cyborg said. "I'm gonna have to modify the T-Car to hold one more passenger."
"What? Does this mean---?" Robin approached Zero and held out a small communicator.
"What do you say, Zero?" he asked him. "How would you like to join the Teen Titans?"
"Gee, this is a little sudden... I don't know what to say..." Zero took the communicator, looked at it for a while, and looked up at the others. "...You can count me in!"
"All right!" Beast Boy cheered.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Cyborg said.
"Wonderful!" said Starfire, hugging Zero. "Welcome to our team, Zero!"
"Urk! Can't... breathe..." Zero said between gasps, pulling out of Starfire's embrace.
"Good to have you on the team," Robin said, shaking hands with him. Zero looked around and saw that Raven was the only one who didn't congratulate him on his new membership, and he quickly approached her.
"Well, Raven," he said, "it'll be a pleasure working with you and the others, uh, don't you think?"
"Whatever," was her only reply as she headed back to the tower.
"What's her problem?" Zero asked the others.
"Raven has a little trouble adjusting to new things," Robin said. "Just give her some time, I'm sure she'll come around." 'I hope...' he thought to himself as they all headed back into the tower.
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A new member of the Teen Titans, and mixed feelings abound! Will our new hero be able to get along with the other Titans and fit in? And no signs of the Pantheon yet... what exactly are their plans? Only time will tell...