Heroes Are Made, Not Born

Visitors? Mindsurge still pondered why anyone would want to visit him. As far as he knew, he had no relations. And no friends to speak of, aside from the very recent association with the Titans. He now stood within the main elevator as it descended through the various levels of the tower. He was about half way down from the roof to the ground floor. Feeling a little anxious, he had hoped the elevator could move faster, but had been out of luck. So, he waited.

Finally, he felt the elevator braking and finally coming to a stop. There was a beep and then the doors parted with a pneumatic hiss. Beyond, the entry foyer. Robin stood to one side, arms crossed over his chest, gaze aimed expectantly at Mindsurge. To the other side of the foyer stood five people. A well dressed, elderly gentleman and four other people were there. Grim looking men dressed in black suits. They all held their hands clasped before them. Looking at them, Mindsurge received an uneasy feeling. He sensed they were armed, and they would shoot to kill. Hired bodyguards, no doubt.

Voices snapped Mindsurge out of his thoughts. Robin was speaking to the elderly gent. "There he is now."

Mindsurge stepped out of the elevator and approached the gathering. He stopped a respectful distance away and smiled, hoping his uneasiness wasn't too apparent. The elderly gentleman stepped forward with a huge, good natured grin on his face. "Ah, so good to see you in person, my boy! Let me introduce myself. My name is Reginald M. Pendragon."

"Um... call me, Mindsurge, sir." Mindsurge replied, instantly picking up the notion that this individual was definitely of high station.

"Mindsurge, is it? A very apt name, wouldn't you say, Robin?" Reginald said. Robin smiled slightly, "Indeed."

Reginald kept smiling, "Yes, a very apt name, I do say. Anyway, enough of that small talk. The reason I came out here to see you, my good boy, was to thank you. You saved my granddaughter from a nasty accident the other day, and I had to thank you in person. It's been a while since this crime-fighting organization has seen any new blood. I feel that you'll make an excellent addition to the team."

Mindsurge felt himself glowing with pride. "Thank you, sir. I was just doing what was right."

"But of course!" Reginald exclaimed, "But, a good turn deserves another, as the saying goes. I owe you a favor. The services and resources of Pendragon Biotechnologies Incorporated are at your disposal, if you should ever need them. And, before I forget, my granddaughter asked me to invite you for a visit. She wishes to extend her gratitude to you as well, and unfortunately could not come with me today."

"Oh, um... that's very nice of her, sir. However, I'm still new here, and I haven't yet learned of my responsibilities as part of the team. I don't know if I'll be free to come visit." Mindsurge replied.

"Don't worry about it, Mindsurge. We'll start training you today, and training sessions rarely last longer than a couple hours in the morning. I'm sure you could fit it in some afternoon this week." Robin said.

"Ah, well, then I will stop taking up anymore of your invaluable time, then." Reginald said, smiling. "We shall meet yet again, young sir. To you, Robin, I bid adieu!" Robin saw Mr. Pendragon out and then turned to Mindsurge. "Alright, I guess it's time to start. Let's go."

"Where're we going?" Mindsurge inquired, following him as he headed for the elevator. "The training room, of course. We need to get you shaped up."

"What? Why? I like the shape I'm in right now..." Mindsurge said. Robin shot him a glance, "While that may be, it's not the peak form I want you in. Every Titan recruit has conformed to my strict requirements. Your going to be no exception. Because, after all, you can't expect to triumph over the criminal or villainous threat on your powers alone, can you?"

Mindsurge sighed, "No, I suppose not. It's just, I've got this feeling that I've endured training in one form or another before and I didn't like it very much."

"Trust me, there's no way around this." Robin assured him. The elevator departed for the mid-levels of the tower. When it arrived and the doors opened, Mindsurge observed the place where he would toil and sweat for countless hours on countless days. The other Titans were already there, immersed in their own specialized exercises. Cyborg lifted impossibly heavy weights with his cybernetically enhanced strength, while Beast Boy ran on a series of reinforced treadmills in various animal forms. Starfire flew around, chased by a swarm of small, spherical machines that whined and attacked with miniature bolts of white taser energy. She would return fire with her starbolts and knock them down while attempting to dodge the incoming attacks. Raven sat cross-legged, the rest of her body assuming a graceful meditation pose as she levitated mere feet off the floor. Above her peaceful form, weighted objects float and hover to her mind's telekinetic call. Robin had Mindsurge follow him to the center of the room, where a large padded blue mat took up the floor.

"And this is where I usually train, the sparring area." he said by way of explanation. "Since I don't have what you'd call "powers", I refine the good old art of martial hand-to-hand combat. From what I've seen of your abilities, Mindsurge, you have an uncanny knack for anticipating and reacting to your opponents attacks. And, I've noticed your reaction times are a tad bit faster than your average human."

"Yeah..." Mindsurge replied, watching as the Boy Wonder suited himself up with training gear. It looked as if he was preparing for a match as he spoke. Mindsurge already had a bad feeling that he was going to be the opponent of the day. He was also getting the feeling that if he tried to face down Robin in hand-to-hand, he'd get schooled. He knew this, and he was pretty sure Robin knew this. He tossed Mindsurge the companion set of training gear to him anyway. "So, today, we start training that ability of yours and improving your close-in fighting prowess. Okay?"

"Yeah, you're the boss." Mindsurge said, putting on the headgear, the knuckle-guards, and the rest of the stuff. While he waited, Robin stretched, cracked joints, and settled into a fighting ready stance. Mindsurge could already feel the painful soreness that would be left after this match. But, Robin looked determined, so he resolved himself to at least give a good showing.

With a knowing smirk, Robin inquired, "Ready?"

Mindsurge nodded, "Let's go." Robin nodded back, and then with a loud battlecry charged. Mindsurge was surprised at how fast his leader could move, as it only took the blink of an eye before the Boy Wonder was on him, swinging, kicking, chopping with all his speed and power. Mindsurge reacted instinctively. As if some deeply buried knowledge had taken over. He blocked a fast jab, parried a round-house punch, sidestepped a snap kick, turned another attack aside, and when he saw an opening time seemed to slow down. He had just ducked a punch, the blow barely avoiding his face by mere inches. He jerked himself to the side and threw a punch of his own, tagging the Boy Wonder square in the stomach. He took the blow and turned with it, made it into a glancing attack, lessening the impact. Time seemed to resume as the Boy Wonder smiled, and said, "Not bad, you've had some training in the past. Your pretty good, but not great. Not where I need you to be in terms of expertise."

As if to drive home his point, he unleashed a blindingly fast series of high and low attacks that drove Mindsurge backwards, reeling, barely defending himself from the expertly delivered blows. He jumped, and planted an impossibly strong kick right in Mindsurge's chest. The force from the kick blasted the air from his lungs and hurled him backwards to slam against a support pillar. He slumped to the floor, gasping in his attempt to breathe again. At this time, the other Titans had stopped their various activities to watch. All, save for Raven, winced.

"Yo Rob, don't you think that was a little harsh for day one?" Cyborg remarked. Robin shook his head, "No way, I'm holding back too much. He's going to thank me for this one day. Get up, Mindsurge, we've got at least another two hours and a half of this!"

Wheezing painfully, Mindsurge muttered to himself, "Oh, goody..." And then hauled himself upright. He staggered back into the ring, put up his fists, and proceeded to get summarily whipped. Sure, his ability to foresee Robin's movements and attacks before they occur helped some, but knowing an attack was coming and knowing how to interrupt or counter that attack were two different things. The best he could do was dodge as best he could, and attack whenever an opening made itself apparent. However, being the expert martial artist, any attack that landed, was received in such a way as to nullify it's affects, allowing Robin to effectively brush off any given attack. Frustration mounted, although he took some consolation by mentally reminding himself that this was his first official day as a Titan, his first training session. However, as the match wore on, that perpetual smirk on the Boy Wonder's face started to really annoy him. Just once, he'd like to wipe that smirk off his face. He tried, but it was nearly impossible, even with the budding command of his ability to foresee future events. A little over an hour into the sparring match, Robin showed no signs of tiring. Mindsurge, however, was nearly ready to pass out. He fell to his knees before Robin, breathing hard, sweating heavily.

Robin seemed to be a bit disappointed, but kept that well masked. However, Mindsurge was aware of his true feelings when he said, "Well, it looks like you've had enough. Not bad for a first time. However, I'd like to see you keep going in the future. An hour of extraneous combat is good, but you'll find there are no such time constraints out in the field. You really have to be ready to fight where, when, and for however long it takes. Understand?"

"Yeah, I get it..." Mindsurge muttered, trying to catch his breathe. Robin stood there for a moment, then turned and started for the door to the elevator. "When your up to it, go and hit the showers. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get a Crime Alert, and then you can get some field experience. I'll be in my room sorting some files, if anyone needs me."

Mindsurge watched him go, looked around, and then realized that he was alone. The other Titans had left already. He shrugged it off, stood, nearly fell, and staggered to the elevator. He stepped into the car and punched the controls for the habitation level. When the elevator stopped, he stepped out, and proceeded directly to his room. He found the door open and inside, heard things being moved around. He looked in and saw Cyborg adjusting the position of the bedframe, a stack of blankets, pillows, and sheets on the floor beside him. He turned and smiled when he saw Mindsurge in the doorway. "Hey, your still in one piece! Way to go! Listen, you probably want to get out of those clothes, so I'll just get my tin can outta here, alright?"

"Sure, no problem." Mindsurge replied, and then added, "Hey, Cyborg, is Robin always that... I don't know..."

"Intense?"

Mindsurge nodded, "Yeah, that's it. He nearly kicked my head clean off a few times when I was sparring with him. And, I couldn't even touch him!"

Cyborg chuckled, "Yeah, it wasn't very pretty from where I was standin'. I gotta say, that was the first time the Boy Wonder decided to spar someone without them gettin' broken in first, ya know? I didn't think it was very sporting, really. After all, according to what you've told us, you've only been up and around for a few days. Who knows how long you were kept in that big metal tube back at the lab, right? Coulda been months, years, decades even."

"Guess I didn't stand a chance, in other words." Mindsurge remarked, just coming to the realization of just how badly outclassed he had been. Cyborg nodded, "Yep. But, Robin would never be as negligent as to take a raw recruit and beat him to a pulp. Not his style. The only time he ever did something like that, was when he knew that you were capable of much more, and didn't know it. Sort of a trial by fire, to make you realize your potential. Oh well, I guess you've got room for improvement. Anyway, I'll leave you alone. Catch ya later!" And off he went.

Mindsurge gathered things for his trip to the bathroom. The soreness was beginning to set in, and the hot shower that he envisioned would help soothe the protesting muscles and aching joints. But, before he left, he glanced to the briefcase, and the book that lay underneath the bed. That would be his key to improvement. That, and more training. He realized he had a long way to go before he was going to be anything like a hero, anything that would be deemed worthy of the Titans namesake.

After all, he thought as he headed for the bathroom to shower, Heroes aren't born, their made.