So, chapter six. I'm amazed I actually wrote this far. It's certainly my largest work ever. Thanks to Glacier for your excellent review, even if I can't reply.

Normal text is narrator.

"This is speech."

This is thought.

This is written words.

This is a transition.

This is author's notes.

Disclaimer; If I owned Teen Titans, it would have its own time slot instead of 1 minute shorts between Young Justice and the like. Now, on with the story!

ZYX woke up bright and early the morning of his eighth day so he could beat everyone in the race to the shower. Raven had gotten there first, of course, but he managed to slip in right in front of Beast Boy, who let out an indignant, "Hey!" As he showered, he went over the day's schedule.

Let's see, he thought, Robin will keep me training all morning, then there's lunch, then about 5 hours of classes. Hmmph. I won't be able to do the spell until just before dinner, at the earliest. That's annoying.

He toweled off and stepped out of the bathroom, then dodged around the booby trap Beast Boy had set up outside (It involved him slipping on some oil and falling face first into a tub of Pudding of Sadness). Before he went to breakfast, he carefully disabled it, since he didn't want it to catch anyone else.

When he walked into the common room, he remembered it was Wednesday, and Wednesday was Waffle Day. Raven was sitting at her usual spot with a tower of waffles, and was devouring them with a level of enthusiasm that was nothing like her usual, stone-faced self.

ZYX: "Hi Raven, how's it going?"

She shot him a glare that said, Don't interrupt me.

ZYX: "Right, sorry."

She shot him another glare for good measure and turned back to her waffles. He moseyed into the kitchen and poured some batter into the waffle iron. Cyborg's new instant waffle maker would be finished in few days, along with a bunch of other upgrades. But for now, he had to do it the normal, low-tech way. Once he was done making his waffles he went over to his usual spot and started eating. He had to admit, Cyborg made the best waffles he'd ever eaten. If Cyborg ever got tired of beating up bad guys (which was unlikely) he could set up his own restaurant.

Just before he finished, Robin marched in, grabbed the paper, a cup of coffee, and a waffle, then proceeded to drag ZYX to the training room just as he finished the last bite. After a short detour to ZYX's room to pick up Light and Dark (a quick scan with singcacco showed he had picked up enough charge for 200 lightning bolts), he ran ZYX through his exercises (pushups, sit-ups, etc.). When that was finished, they stepped onto the mat.

While ZYX had been improving, he still didn't have anywhere near Robin's skill, so they went through the usual routine of Robin beating him up for most of the morning. About an hour before lunch, Robin led ZYX out to the obstacle course.

Robin: "So, ZYX, I saw the little test you did last night. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about?"

ZYX: "Yes, actually. I can see through Cyborg holo-rings."

He thought, I'm also from another universe, but he didn't say it out loud.

Robin: "And you didn't tell me this why?"

ZYX: "I dunno. I guess I forgot to. Sorry."

Robin: "While, next time something like this happens, I want you to tell me immediately. Got it?"

ZYX: "Got it."

Robin: "And so it will stick, I want you to clean up Starfire next cooking mess, when it happens."

ZYX: "Yes, sir."

Robin: "Don't call me sir!"

ZYX: "Okay, Robin."

Robin: "That's better. Now, let's see how well your new toys work."

ZYX: "Sounds fun."

Despite appearances, Robin did not run him through the course (he was too much of a safety freak for that). Instead he put ZYX in the middle of the gun section and told him to shoot the turrets as they popped up, kind of like whack-a-mole, then, after checking that Light wouldn't backfire, he hid behind the control consol. ZYX did pretty well at first, but holding up Light parallel to the ground took some effort, and it was awkward to swing around. As time went by and the turrets started appearing faster and faster, ZYX went from hitting 9/10 to 3/10. Robin let him take a break when ran out of bolts.

After lunch, which consisted of bacon or tofu bacon sandwiches and an another argument (these guys fight all the time, even they're NOT fighting), Robin told Beast Boy to teach ZYX a double length class to make up for missing it yesterday. They went over the depth charts of the bay and butted heads over the fastest way to navigate it in the T-ship.

ZYX: "If you take this route, you can shave 5 minutes off the travel time."

Beast Boy: "Dude, you can't go through there! That water is acid and will eat at the ship."

ZYX: "Why would it be acid? There's nothing different over there."

Beast Boy: "I don't know. All I know is I burned my fins when I went over there."

ZYX: "Why-"

Beast Boy: "Don't ask."

ZYX: "Okay. Which way, then?"

Beat Boy: "This way."

ZYX: "But what about this way..."

2 hours later, ZYX stormed out of the common room. That idiot! he thought, there's absolutely no reason why you can't take that route. All he said was, "You have to go this way!" Moron.

He fumed the entire way to Robin's class. He composed himself before he went in, thinking, I don't want to make Robin mad. He's crazy enough as it is, what with Slade being back. When he stepped into the crime room, Robin was waiting for him.

Robin: "Today we're going to have a quiz."

ZYX: "(sigh) All right."

An hour later he'd gotten a 38/40 and Robin let him go so he could pan over the Slade footage again. ZYX made a beeline for the garage. When he walked in, Cyborg was buffing the T-car.

ZYX: "Hey, Cyborg, I've got a problem."

Cyborg: "What's that?"

ZYX held Light and Dark out. "I need sheaths for these that they can't cut through. Any suggestions?"

Cyborg: "Maybe a few..."

An hour later they had thrown together a solution: a pair of sheaths that went over his back from his right shoulder to the left of his midsection lined with Kevlar scavenged from a couple of discarded bulletproof vests (Robin's suit wasn't just for show). Light went in the one on top, which was painted white, and Dark went in the one on the bottom, which was painted black (of course). The belt was black on the lower side, white on the upper, and was adjusted by a similarly painted bulletproof buckle over his heart.

Cyborg: "Here, your swords can't cut this."

ZYX: "Thanks, man."

Cyborg: "Anytime. By the way, have you talked to Raven about getting me some diamond blades?"

ZYX: "Not yet, I'll bring it up in class.

ZYX knocked quietly on Starfire's door.

ZYX: "Starfire? Are you in there? It's time for class."

He heard an eep! from inside the room. Starfire opened the door a crack and stuck her head out.

Starfire: "Um, class is canceled for today. I am sorry, but my bumgorf has 'thrown out.'

ZYX: "You mean thrown up?"

Starfire: "Yes, I am, um, the 'busy.' Tomorrow, perhaps."

ZYX: "All right."

He took off down the corridor. If this was anything like the last time Silkie had thrown up, he wanted to get as far away as possible.

He knocked tentatively on Raven's door. It slid open after the first touch and he found himself tapping his knuckles on her forehead. She glared up at him, not amused.

ZYX: "Gah! Sorry Raven."

Raven: "(sigh) It's all right, ZYX, just come in."

As he stepped through door he saw Raven had already drawn a magic circle on the floor.

Raven: "Today we're going to do binding spells, since it's one of the few areas left that you haven't tried. Let's see." She floated over to one of her shelves and started panning through the books. "It should be right around- ah, here." She pulled it out, and the hole behind it blew up in her face, covering her in soot.

ZYX: "Raven! Are you all right?"

Raven turned to him, eyes glowing red.

Raven (barely contained rage): "DID YOU DO THAT?"

ZYX:"No way! If I set that I would be laughing so hard I wouldn't be able to answer you, instead of almost wetting my pants."

Raven: "Well, who did, then?"

ZYX: "Beast Boy or Cyborg, most likely."

Raven dropped the book on her dresser and flew to the door. "I'm going to go find out, and make him pay. Don't get in any trouble."

ZYX: "Yes, ma'am." She shut the door.

ZYX went over the book and leafed through it.

ZYX: "Hmm. . . Soul to object, Soul to other person, soul to dead body, (ugh) ah, here we go, object to person." he glanced at page, and immediately got lost in the countless arcane symbols and complex instructions. "Good God, I'm nowhere near good enough for this! My natural talent was enough to get me through Light's spell, but this one will take lots of practice. I'll have to put it on hold for now. Or ask Raven. Hmph."

When Raven got back 5 minutes later, she had cleaned herself up and was smirking ever so slightly.

ZYX: "How'd it go?"

Raven: "Found Beast Boy and Cyborg, got a confession out of both, then threw the little snot bag out the window and popped all the tires on Cyborg's car."

ZYX: "Both of them?"

Raven: "Both of them. Now, before I start the class, I want you to tell me about Batman."

ZYX: "Just tell me you're not going to torment Robin with this."

Raven: "I'm not."

ZYX: "Good. Now, let's see. About 25 years ago, in Gotham city. . . "

It was a normal day in the Hive Five Headquarters, or as normal as it can get for 5 delinquents. Private Hive was getting his butt kicked by Gizmo in Mega Monkeys 3, Mammoth was lifting weights, and See-more was on the couch ogling Jinx when she came in for a soda. Gizmo elbowed him.

Gizmo: "Quit lookin' at her, scuzbrain, or she'll think you're a snotspitting moron."

See-More: "I can't help it, she's so. . ." He trailed off, unable to describe his feelings.

Gizmo: "Just ask her out! It's not that hard."

See-More: "You're just a kid, Gizmo, why are you giving me dating advice?"

Gizmo: "'Cause you're a scuzpicking idiot."

See-More: "Fine. Wish me luck."

Gizmo: "Sure, snothead, you're gonna need it."

See-More got up and started toward Jinx, but just as he was about to speak, the underground bases' newly installed alarm system went off. Everyone ran to the command ops.

Jinx: "Where's the intruder, Gizmo?"

Gizmo: "I'm workin' on it, snotbrain, don't rush me!"

A screen popped up, showing a couple of pressure sensors that had gone off in hall 7, sublevel 10.

Gizmo: "What the hairball? How'd he get so far down without setting anything off?"

Jinx: "Let's go find out. Hive Five, pattern Epsilon!"

Private Hive: "Yes, Ma'am!"

They split into two groups and surrounded the hall, with Mammoth and Gizmo on the left, and Jinx, See-More, and Private Hive on the right. At a hand signal sent through their communicators, they charged into the hall simultaneously, surrounding the intruder.

Jinx: "Freeze!"

Intruder: "Aahhh!"

With one look at See-More's enormous eyeball, the trespassers' eyes rolled back into her head, and she slumped to the ground in a dead faint. The Hive Five approached cautiously. When it became apparent she wasn't faking, they relaxed a little. Up close, they could see the intruder was female, about 5'7", with shoulder length brown hair and cute features. Her age couldn't be determined because she had hit the "timeless beauty" stage of her life, and could be anywhere from 12 to 25.

Private Hive: "Should I take her to interrogation, Ma'am?"

Jinx opened her mouth and started to say, "Go ahead," but something made her pause. Her brain buzzed a little.

Jinx: "I don't know. She acted like she'd never seen a superperson before. Take her to the living room couch, she might tell us more if we don't treat her badly. See-More, it might be better if you watch from the command center. She seemed to be especially terrified of you.

See-More and Private Hive: "Yes, Ma'am."

Private Hive grumbled as he slung her over his shoulder. They didn't get many visitors, and he was always looking for a chance to improve his technique. After Private Hive unceremoniously dumped the girl on the couch and earned a glare from Jinx for it, everyone filed out of the room except for her. She drew up a chair next to the couch, made herself comfortable, and practiced looking as concerned and friendly as possible.

Meanwhile, See-More stomped into the command center and powered up the lie detectors and scanners. He was just about to ask out Jinx, and then this girl interfered. It was so frustrating! After letting out a minor curse, he checked the girls' readings. She didn't have any injuries (good), superpowers, or technology apart from a watch and cell phone. Those last two together were extra weird, since she didn't have any way of getting past Gizmo's security. Why, he thought, could she possibly have wanted to get all the way into our base, then trip the alarm and let herself get captured? And what was up with her fainting when she looked at me? Does she have a phobia for giant eyeballs? Well, I'm going to find out soon enough; she's starting to come 'round.

ZYX: "And that's why Bruce Wayne became the Batman."

Raven: "Wow."

ZYX: "Yeah. Is that enough for a lesson?"

Raven: "Yes, it's plenty. We'll be doing a binding spell on your swords, so they'll return to their sheaths when you drop one."

ZYX: "I left them in my room. Be right back!"

Outside Raven's room, Robin dashed around the corner and out of sight, heading for the crime room. He'd finally managed to get close enough to them to listen in, and what he'd heard was shocking and terrifying, to say the least. This total stranger knew everything about Batman's secret identity, and had traded it to Raven for a magic lesson!

Okay, Thought Robin, don't panic. How do I deal with this? If he tried to confront them about it, Raven would stonewall him like she had before. He could probably get ZYX to talk, but he didn't any guarantee that the new story ZYX told him was any truer than the last. No, he had to get his information elsewhere. Those files I asked for from the Chief of Police should be here by now; I'll go pick them up.

He was so busy thinking that he almost ran into Starfire coming out of the common room.

Starfire: "Friend Robin, was it the matter?"

Robin: "I can't talk now, Starfire, I have business to do!"

He was gone before she could reply.

Starfire: "Uhh, okay?"

Robin made his way to the base of the tower, where a package was waiting for him, with a note.

Note: Here are the papers you requested. Don't forget, the combat lessons you promised to teach start tomorrow tonight at seven.

Robin groaned. He'd almost forgotten what he'd promised to do in exchange. He picked the box up with a grunt, and carried it back inside, idly wondering how in the world the mailman could get to an island in the middle of the bay. After a long trek up the stairs (he thought he needed the endurance training), he deposited the box on the desk in his office, which was tucked away in a corner of the evidence room, slit the top open, and began to sort through the contents. After two hours of careful searching he had finished all the birth certificates in the box and still hadn't any trace of ZYX. With a roar of frustration he threw the box into the wall, where it crumpled to the ground with a soft sigh. He sat back in swivel-chair, groaning.

Robin: Come on, Dick, think! There has to be something on him. People don't just appear out of thin air, do they? Wait- he remembered ZYX jokingly refer to one of his little sisters as freezo hands after Cyborg left one of his hands in the freezer overnight and dropped it down the back of ZYX's shirt. For some reason, the nickname sounded familiar. It's a slim chance, but I'm out of options.

He entered the term into his custom made search engine, and stretched, waiting. After about 10 seconds, it came back with a hit. In the super-villain database. He clicked on it.

A file came up with a picture of a young teenage girl with short spiky white hair wearing a pair of yellow ski glasses, a dark blue shirt with a snowflake on the front, baggy snow pants, and black fingerless gloves and boots blasting Mas y Menos with freeze rays.

Code Name: Freezo hands.

Real Name: protected under the secret identity clause in the 28th amendment.

Powers: Super cold hands, freeze and cold rays, hypothermic shock on contact with skin. icy wit. Martial arts training.

Weaknesses: Heat.

Threat Level: medium-low.

Known Accomplices: The Wisp, Ground Pounder.

Known Relations: The Wisp, Ground Pounder.

Current Whereabouts: Steel City Penitentiary, arrested by Titans East on 9/1/2012.

Now Robin where he'd heard that before: it was on the biannual report the Titans East had sent him. It said something about the Wisp as well, so he clicked on the link to that page.

Code Name: The Wisp.

Real name: protected under the secret identity clause in the 28th amendment.

Powers: phasing, invisibility, flight

Weaknesses: Pacifist.

Threat Level: low.

Known Accomplices: Freezo Hands, Ground Pounder.

Known Relations: Freezo Hands, Ground Pounder.

Current Whereabouts: Steel City Penitentiary, arrested by Titans East on 9/1/2012

At the bottom of the page was a picture of a short curvy girl with long, wispy light blond hair in a ponytail wearing a long-sleeved jinni outfit and a butterfly mask stepping out of a wall. Feeling a growing sense of dread, Robin clicked on Ground Pounders file.

Code Name: Grounder Pounder

Real name: protected under the secret identity clause in the 28th amendment.

Powers: advanced military and martial arts training. Has stolen armor that converts matter to energy and absorbs electromagnetic waves to charge large energy blaster and grenades. Immune to blunt and energy attacks.

Weaknesses: unknown.

Threat Level: low

Known Accomplices: Freezo Hands, The Wisp.

Known Relations: Freezo Hands, The Wisp.

Current Whereabouts: unknown. Escaped capture by Titans East on 9/1/2012.

Robin stared in utter shock at the picture of Ground Pounders suit. Or, to be more precise, who was wearing the suit. It. Was. ZYX! ! ! ! I think it's time he and I had a little chat.

So that's chapter 6. The plot's heating up now, and I'm hitting my stride. Remember, R&R!

One last thing: I'm not going to have a cliffhanger unless I plan on updating more quickly than usual.