"Perfect. They have accepted him. All is going according to plan. All I have to do is watch and wait."

TT

Abel and Robin faced each other on the mat. Robin had changed into a white gi and Abel into a black one. They bowed as a sign of respect and took on their fighting stances. Cyborg stepped between them, hand out in front of him.

"Three minutes. Full speed. Medium contact," he stated in an official tone. Abel gave him a 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' look, "Alright, full contact, anything goes," he dropped his hand, "Go!"

Robin and Abel launched themselves at each other. Robin threw a right roundhouse to Abel's head, but he blocked it and countered with a left spinning back kick. Robin twisted his torso to the right, deflecting the kick, and throwing a right back-fist to Abel's temple. Abel ducked and from his position, kicked his leg out in a sweep, but Robin did a quick cartwheel to get out of the way. Abel stood and smirked at Robin, who smirked back.

"Is that all you've got?" Abel asked

"Just warming up," the older boy retorted, unfazed.

Once again they launched themselves at each other. Abel jumped and flipped in mid-air; he landed behind Robin and swept at his feet again. This time Abel connected. As Robin fell he caught himself and used his momentum to flip himself back up. Abel threw a punch at Robin's face he stood up. Robin parried the punch and grabbed Abel's wrist, he twisted and launched him over his shoulder. Abel was caught by surprise and almost landed on his face, but tucked himself into a ball as he hit the ground. He stood and killed the rest of his momentum with an aerial. Abel looked behind him and saw a rack with four six-foot staves. Using his powers, he pulled two toward himself and threw one of them to Robin. Robin expertly twirled his staff. Abel copied it smoothly. They ran at each other and furiously swung their staves. They clashed and stared each other in face. Robin smirked, and put on an extra burst of energy, forcing Abel to back down a little. Then Abel gave Robin a wink and shot his foot out under both staves and connected with Robins gut. Robin staggered a little but balanced himself. He was about to strike, but Cyborg interrupted.

"Time," but neither of them had had enough and launched themselves at each other again. They sparred with blinding speed, matching each other blow for blow and sending splinters of wood flying everywhere. The sound of wood connecting to wood and wood to flesh filled the room.

At the side lines, Starfire covered her eyes, and Beast Boy watched mouth agape. Raven watched silently. She was impressed by her brother's fighting skill. Yes, she accepted him as family. He had already proven himself a friend. She let her attention drift to Robin, who was panting slightly; she took in how his muscles tensed with every movement and rippled with exertion. She watched as Robin jumped into the air with his staff over his head, he brought it down to meet Abel's raised staff. Abel's staff broke in the middle and he staggered a bit, he didn't seem bothered by the fact that he now had two three-foot clubs instead of one six-foot staff, In fact he pressed on and the battle continued on for another three minutes. Robin finally disarmed Abel and held his chipped staff at his throat.

"Give up… yet?" Robin panted

"No," Abel responded, breathless and quickly pulled the staff out of Robin's hands, spun and swept Robin's feet from underneath him. Robin landed on his back and Abel held the staff at his throat, "How… 'bout you?"

"Alright, alright, I think that's about enough!" Cyborg hastily stepped between the two of them, "If ya'll keep this up we'll need to rebuild the gym!" he indicated the carnage the two boys had unwittingly caused. Abel helped Robin up and they looked around. Cyborg was right. Most of the equipment had been smashed, and one half of Abel's staff was imbedded in the wall. When Abel pointed this out, Cyborg tapped him on the shoulder and pointed toward the ceiling. Everyone looked up and saw the other half stuck in the ceiling, some of the dry wall fell and land at Starfire's feet. She cringed at the sound, her hands still over her eyes.

"It's over Star, you can open your eyes," Raven said with a little annoyance. Starfire opened her eyes and gasped at the destruction. She looked at the two combatants, covered in minor cuts and bruises, panting on the mat. Her eyes grew wide.

"You are unharmed!" she said as she engulfed Abel in another would-be bone-crushing hug, she released him and ran to Robin, "It is good to see you are well!"

"Does she usually get this excited?" Abel asked Raven.

"She's actually pretty calm," his sister replied. Starfire released Robin, and he stepped forward. He held out his hand to Abel.

"Impressive," he said as Abel shook his hand.

"Not too bad yourself," he replied, "What are going to do about this?" he gestured at the broken equipment.

"We could start with this," Robin said as he tried to pull the stick from the wall. It moved a few inches and got stuck, "Or not," he turned around and shrugged. He started to pick up splinters as Abel yanked the staff pieces from the wall and ceiling with his powers.

"I think I can fix these," he said holding the staff halves up to his face. He put the ends that connected the staff together. They still fit together, "Yeah I can fix this"

"Dude, how?" Beast Boy asked.

"Got any Duct Tape?" he said. Everybody laughed, "I'm serious"