"So, what makes you three think you're good enough to team up with us?" the tall, skinny girl asked. It was obvious in her tone she wasn't impressed with us.

"Well, uh, they're really good at stealing stuff?" See-More suggested. I fought against the urge to bury my face in my hands.

"Really good? More like picture perfect! Ain't that right, Billy?" Billy Numerous asked one of his clones.

"That's sure shootin' there Billy. Right, Billy?" the clone asked another clone.

"You ain't whistlin' Dixie, Billy! Right, Billy?"

"Shut-it!" Jinx snapped, flames of anger sprouting in her eyes. The multiple Billy's quickly fell silent and the hex flinging girl then turned her bright pink eyes to me. "Well, don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

I stared straight back into her eyes. For the first time in a long time, I wished I could speak. Ever since the fall of Brother Blood's base all of the HIVE students were either in jail or trying to get by on their own. Jinx and her boys were the only ones who somehow had it good. They even had their own base! This was our last chance to get out off the streets, and there was nothing I could do to redeem what my short-term 'comrades' just ruined.

"Uh, Kyd Wykkyd here can't talk. He's kind of...mute," See-More spoke up, awkwardly rubbing his hand behind his head.

"Are you crumming kidding me?" the short bald kid muttered under his breath.

"See-More, I gave you a very simple task of finding us worthy recruits. After Private HIVE, I assumed that you had learned your lesson," Jinx hissed, glowing pink eyes leering.

"These guys are good, I swear! Just give them a chance!" See-More pleaded.

"What's the point?" the big lug that stood beside Jinx countered, folding his massive arms. "We can steal any bank just fine with just us."

"Yeah, but only as long as those crud-filled Titans don't get in the way!" the short one pointed out.

"And they always do," Jinx mused before her pink eyes went from Billy Numerous to me. Something then seemed to click in her head. "Let's make this interesting."

"Uh, interestin'?" one of the Billy's asked as the clones and I exchanged a nervous look.

"Let's just call it a trial run," Jinx said, a sinister smile spreading across her slender face.

...

The palace was larger than I thought. Much larger. And everywhere I turned there seemed to be more and more guards that were patrolling the hallways. I had to resolve to teleporting into the rooms. Nearly every one of them were empty anyways and, as long as I was quiet, the ones with sleeping Tameranians didn't notice a thing.

Did all of them have the super strength and flight abilities that Starfire had? I wasn't too keen on testing it out. Did I even have a chance of outfighting one if they did? Again, not too keen on the finding out of that. I would just have to stick to the element I knew best. Surprise.

A voice called out to me. A voice that sounded very angry, and very alien. 

 I was in a bedroom. A very lavish and expensive looking one. Though, this one was different from the others. For one, its lights were on, and two, there were two guards that were making their way towards me, spears of some sort pointing in my direction.

I immediately held my hands up, and waited. The two guards were dressed in purplish armor and robes and, despite their large lances, weren't all that intimidating looking. I felt a surge of adrenaline as soon as the tips of their spears were just an inch away.

I spun around in a flourish of motion, rolling alongside one of their spears and sending a kick into it's owner's chest. Amazingly, it not only nailed him, but sent him stumbling back, surprise clearly on his face. The other guard however was quick to react and made to slice me down the middle. I grabbed onto my cape and vanished into the blackness before he could.

...

Billy Numerous couldn't seem to get the big, goofy smile off his face as he strode out of H.I.V.E Five's base. His clones followed suit close behind, chests poked out and great confidence in their step.

"So, what did they say?" See-More asked when the Billy's approached us, as if he really needed to. I was already trying to get over the initial shock.

"It's just like I done told ya'll!" the Billy that lead them announced, hands on his hips. "I was quicker than a jack rabbit with a flamin' cotton tail!"

"I out-smarted them Titan's like it ain't nobodies business!" another Billy declared.

"Except mine!" one pointed out.

"And mine!" said another.

"Wait, wait, wait, you took on the Titans by yourself--er, selves?" See-More asked, jaw slacked. I too was still finding it hard to believe. Clones or not, no HIVE member ever took on the Titans alone and escaped.

"Yup! We kicked some Titan behind and made off with some valuable behind as well!"

See-More and I looked at the still smiling Billy that just said that, a literal question mark in See-More's eye, a figurative one in my face. 

Another Billy nudged that one. "Er, Billy, I think you went and messed that up," the Billy whispered to the other Billy.

"Messed what up?" the Billy that was nudged asked, quickly losing his smile.

"That behind behind thing you done just said!" the other Billy exclaimed.

"Wha-?" Billy began before thinking to himself for a second. He then sent a kick through the dirt. "Confound it! I meant that darn valuable booty we done went and made off with!"

"We didn't make off with no valuables, Billy!" a Billy clone from the back informed. "Those cotton-picking Titans went and made off with it all, 'member?"

"Yeah I 'member ya durn fool!" Billy shouted back, motioning towards See-More and I. "I was lyin' to these two, ya doofus! Now you went and made me look like the doofus, doofus!"

"Ah, shoot, Billy, I didn't mean no harm!"

"Ah, to heck with it, Billy, it's all tumbleweed through the town now!"

As we watched this spectacle between Billy's, I noticed See-More lean close to me out of the corner of my eye. "If you can't fight the Titan's single handedly after this guy, you might not want to show your face in this city for a good while," he helpfully whispered.

I could only nod back.

...

As soon as See-More was awake, he instantly wished he wasn't. His head felt like it was being squeezed between two clamps and he couldn't help but moan as he sat up. Another groan quickly escaped his lips as he opened his eye and was greeted with very large cracks obscuring his vision.

"Aw, man, don't tell me my eye is broken again," See-More grumbled as he began to cycle through his eyes, hoping that at least one setting would make the cracks more subtle. 

Sadly, nothing did.

 "Damnit!"

"See-More, I would advise that you keep your voice down," a stoic voice spoke up.

"Fixit!" the young thief exclaimed, standing up and looking over to where he thought he had heard the mechanic's voice. Through his cracked and blurred vision, he could make out a black and blue blur lying on the ground a few meters away from him, a strange blue light surrounding it. "Is that you?"

"Yes. Now, keep still and speak softer," Fixit commanded.

 See-More took a few steps towards where he thought he saw Fixit, only to come in contact with the blue light that surrounded him. Placing a hand against it revealed it to be a very solid screen of light.

"Where are we?"

"A Tamaranian prison, I believe. Somewhere beneath the palace."

"So, we got in after all!" See-More pointed out with an attempt at a smile, thought it quickly faded. "Were we the only ones captured?"

"Think again, kid," Red-X answered. "I don't seem to have much luck when I'm hanging around you two."

"Yeah, sorry about that," See-More said sheepishly as he tried to look over at the red and black blur that sat across the room. "But, wait, if they captured you...does that mean Kyd Wykkyd is here too?"

"Nah. And you can have that psycho bitch to thank for that one. Little known fact: Raven likes to play with her food. I was nowhere near the cave when the Tamaranian cleanup crew came to get us and, let me tell you, they are tough. They had a little struggle with the Titan but after giving her a punch that could make little children cry just by seeing you can bet your ass I kneeled down and surrendered right there."

"Oh, man," See-More mumbled rubbing his head as it throbbed. "I just don't get it. I don't get any of this."

"Yeah, this all seems a bit anti-climactic. I thought there'd be at least a few more explosions before we got thrown into jail."

"Well, our ship exploded."

"Touché."

"Both of you, be quiet," Fixit commanded in a hushed tone. "Someone approaches."

Sure enough, as See-More tried to examine the blurred blackness that surrounded them, three purplish blurs stepped in the light that was illuminated off of their cells. One blur had a very bright reddish color that stood out from its counterparts who stood on either side.

"Greetings, thieves, villains, and general disturbances of the peace!" a feministic male voice greeted. "Allow me to be the first to welcome you to our beautiful planet of Tamaran!"

"Yeah, really great planet you've got here. I really like what you've done with the soul crushing blackness," Red-X retorted.

"You remind me of a certain individual that I spoke with just a few minutes ago. Would you like to know what I did to him?"

"Killed? Tortured? Maimed?"

"I kissed him."

"Ah. I'll stop talking now."

"Good!" the Tamaranian continued, the head pounding cheeriness still in his voice. "Now, let me begin by saying what an honor it is to have you three among us, truly. Without you, our future plans would be for not!"

"Future plans?" See-More couldn't help but ask as he still tried to see the blurry figure who was talking.

"All in good time. All in good time," he assured. "But while we all here are elated that you three could join us, I cannot help but feel that we are missing someone. Maybe you know who? Tall, dark, and handsome. Likes to keep to himself. Teleports."

The Tamaranian drifted off and the room grew very silent.

"What? No one knows? A shame."

See-More could barely make out the nodding motion the middle one gave to the two larger blurs. The two began walking away from him and towards See-More's and Red-X's prisons. See-More tried to back away. He reached a hand for his dial, but as soon as he did the purple blur reached through his prison and gripped his arm, easily swinging it above See-More's head. See-More threw a punch with his free hand to where he thought the blurs face was, but it didn't even budge. With another swift motion, the purple man had both of See-More's arms in the air, its one massive hand keeping a strong grip on both the criminal's wrists. Across the room, he could hear Red-X struggling with his own attacker.

"Boys. Hagnaket."

The large purple blur made its way back to the talking Tamaranian, seeming to carry See-More in one hand with relative ease. The other purple blur carried his black and red prize in what looked like a similar fashion.

"Blackfire tells me you are the more reasonable one in this little group, Fixit," the Tamaranian spoke. 

Fixit did not respond.

"Well, if that is the case, perhaps you will be more inclined to answer me. Where is Kyd Wykkyd?"

Fixit remained silent.

"Oh, what am I saying? I am incredibly sorry! Let me rephrase that." Another nod and suddenly See-More was on his knees, a foot pressing tightly against his back. Looking over, See-More could make out that Red-X was in the exact same predicament.

"Tell me where Kyd Wykkyd is, or I shall have your dear comrades go through the same ordeal you went through. And I can assure you that they will not be walking away quite as easily as you did."

Fixit still did not speak. The seconds seemed to stretch on like eons.

"Did you not hear me, tin man?" the Tamaranian hissed. "If you do not tell me where Kyd Wykkyd is I shall--"

"I heard you," Fixit interrupted. "But it seems Blackfire did not tell you everything about me. I hold no personal attachments to humans, comrades or no. So, do what you wish to them. It does not concern me."

See-More felt something cold sink down into his stomach. The silence stretched on even longer then, but was interrupted by the Tameranian's laugh. Loud, cold, and dangerous.

"You amuse me to no end!" the Tamaranian exclaimed. "Very well, if that is the way you want it. There are plenty more methods to get the information out of you, but first..."

A third nod and immediately See-More felt the tugging against his arms. The cold began to spread to the rest of his body as he  realized they were going to do it slowly.

"Hold on there, small, orange, and ugly!" Red-X called out. The tugging stopped.

"What did you call me?" yhe Tamaranian asked, malice decorating the words.

"Blackfire also neglected to tell you everything about me as well."

A pause, but it was quickly followed by an amused chuckle. "She told me everything I needed to know about you, Red-X. Just a little boy who is useless without his precious Zinothium."

See-More suddenly had a second realization of his own. Blackfire knew next to nothing about him. Well, except that all his powers were in his eye. That was something, but not everything.

"While that may be true, she did forget to tell you that I injected just a teensy-bit into this get-up. You know, just in case."

See-More got the picture. Taking the biggest chance in his life, he mentally spun the broken lens until it was positioned at the back of his head. There, he could see his captor's face much more clearly. It was big, orange, and currently not fixated on See-More.

With an unseen grin and great concentration, See-More mentally switched his vision to the desired broken lens--an old favorite. The red laser erupted from his damaged lens, hitting the guard full on in the face. His captor did not make a sound as he released his grip and fell backwards.

"Grebnack!" he heard the Tamaranian cry out.

"Grapknet this!" Red-X exclaimed in return, sending a kick into his captor's groin. The large purple clad alien did not budge, at least not until the small red x appeared where the thief's foot had been. He only had enough time to look down before it exploded, clouding the group in black smoke.

Red-X moved as soon as he felt the strong grip leave his wrists. He could see perfectly in this smoke, while his prey didn't seem to be as lucky.

"Where are you? Grebnack! Where are you!" the Tamaranian shouted, swinging some sort of fancy looking knife around him. Red-X couldn't help but grin as he approached the alien's back. He had always wanted to do this.

"Right behind you!" Red-X whispered before sending a chop into the area between the alien's neck and shoulder. Immediately, the Tamaranian dropped his knife and crumbled to the floor. The thief stood there, looking from his hand to the unconscious alien on the ground.

"Wow. I didn't even think that would work."

"Hey, man, did we win?" See-More called. Red-X looked over to see his comrade still on the ground, though the smashed up lens was now planted on the back of his head. Nearby, See-More's previous captor was on the ground, very much headless.

"Whoa, did you do that?"

"The guy? Yeah, man!" See-More tried to position his head so he could see the guard. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Sure, Red-X said as he walked over and helped See-More stand up. "I didn't know you could do that kind of freaky stuff with your eye."

"Oh, this?" See-More asked as he reached to the lens at the back of his head. "It's just something me and Gizmo were workin' on before all that Brotherhood stuff happened. We haven't finished yet, so I was kinda scared that there would be, uh, problems."

"Are there?"

"Well, I can't seem to move it back."

"Ah, that would be a problem. Can you move it back by force?"

"I wouldn't suggest that," Fixit suddenly spoke up, instantly reminding the two of their comrade who was still locked away.

"Oh, hey there, 'tin man'. We almost forgot about you for a second!" Red-X greeted. 

Fixit chose not to respond.

"You think movin' it is a bad idea?" See-More asked. 

Fixit nodded. "I was watching you. You moved your eye without the use of your hands. If I were to hypothesis, that action was stimulated by certain nerve endings in your brain. You would have had to have more nerve endings encoded to return it back to normal."

"Oh, yeah! Gizmo was saying somethin' like that. Guess that's why he's been tellin' me not to try it out yet."

"Sure, yeah, okay. That explains it, dandy." Red-X commented before turning back to Fixit. "So, tin man, do you have any suggestions on where we proceed from here?"

"I suggest we make our way into the palace. From there, we can attempt to locate Kyd Wykkyd, and from that point we can confront Blackfire."

"And then what? Watch as she laughs at No-Arms, Backwards Head, and the 'Useless Little Boy Without His Precious Zinothium' before beating us all to a pulp?"

Fixit shot him an un-amused look.

"He's got a point, man," See-More agreed. "Even if we weren't all messed up, I don't think any of us could take Blackfire."

"Perhaps," Fixit mused. "But Blackfire is planning something. There is a reason we were brought here and, from what data I collected, it only leads to negative results."

The three of them remained where they were, thinking. It didn't take long before a dark thought crept into Red-X's mind. "Okay, okay, maybe we can't take Blackfire on our own. But maybe we just need..."

Fixit followed the thief's eyes to the long red haired Tamaranian; an understanding instantly reached his brain.

"A little leverage," the mechanic finished. 

...

I landed in pitch blackness. Well, blackness at first, anyways. As my eyes adjusted to the sudden dark, I began to make out several pieces of the strange Tamaranian furniture. A spiky thing that looked like it had shelves like a dresser, another spiky thing with a mirror that resembled a vanity, and a bed, much larger than any of the others I had encountered. It was too dark to see if anyone was actually in it.

As quietly as possible, I made my way to the door. It was starting to get too risky to just teleport from room to room. I had already been noticed, I was lucky that I didn't teleport into another room with guards. I opened the door just a crack and peered outside. It led to a balcony of some kind, the open night sky was all I could see from my position. 

This room must be near the top of the palace. I could see another door that lay waiting across the small room that was connected to the balcony.I looked behind me, just to make sure I was alone before opening the door any further. 

Two purple eyes were watching me from the darkness of the bed. I held in a silent gasp, but the chill didn't come until she spoke.

"Well, hello again, Number 36."

I tried to open the door, but it slammed shut. The lights came on, revealing a large, purple armored hand holding it shut. The guard that the hand was connected to  grabbed me, twisting my arms behind my back and slamming me into the ground. I gasped for breath as he held me against the ugly, brightly decorated rug.

"My, I never thought I would see you again." 

I tried to peer up at the woman whose orange bare feet walked closer to me, but a hand gripped my head and kept it to the rug. 

"Who knew the unimportant face in a crowd would grow up to be the illustrious Kyd Wykkyd. I must say, Number 36, I am proud."

Her voice was familiar, deadly familiar. Especially with the mechanical echo gone from it.

Blackfire...

But then, how did she know...?

God...

No she couldn't be...

God...no...

"Do you not remember me, Number 36?" Blackfire asked gently, but I could hear the playful smile in her voice, easily hear it. I clenched my fists. "I suppose my voice and hair have changed since then. Oh, those were splendid times, weren't they? Life was so simple back then."

I wanted to scream, but couldn't. I wanted to cry, but wouldn't. I wanted to kill her.

I trembled beneath the Tameranian's grip. Strong. Way too strong.

I suddenly felt a soft breathing at my ear. Breathing. Her breathing.

"Tell me," Blackfire whispered, her cold breath sending another horrible chill down my spine. "How has Number 72 been?"

...

See-More and the other guys were easily impressed by my teleporting, like See-More said they would be. Immediately, they were going back and forth about how easy it would be to break into things, to steal things. Jinx wasn't so impressed, like See-More said she wouldn't be. She wanted to test me, to see if I could be equal to or more of a challenge to the Titans than Billy was. I was afraid she would ask me to do this, but I also prepared for it.

Getting into the Titans Tower was easy. They weren't prepared for someone just teleporting inside, I guessed.

I spent the first few days growing accustomed to the Titan's layout. It was easy after I found the big metal teen's room and stole his spare blueprint of the Tower. I was sure he wouldn't miss it. I then began planting Gizmo's little spy cameras in almost every room (Gizmo and the other boys tried to pester me into putting them in the girl Titan's bedrooms, but Jinx quickly shot them down, but not after ordering me to put one in Cyborg's room).

I then began to have some fun.

Stealing food, hiding the remote, putting items from one Titan's room into another. Gizmo and Jinx wanted me to mess with their security, but since I didn't know much about that science and machine stuff I just occasionally pulled a wire here and there. It was amusing to see the lights in an entire sector explode, or the Gamestation the green Titan was playing suddenly erupt in sparks.

After about a week, Jinx was just as convinced of my abilities as the others were. I left without the Titans even knowing I was there. Jinx liked to call me her "ace in the hole", whatever that meant.

See-More slapped me on the back when I joined the group back at their base, grin splitting from ear to ear. Billy and the other guys cheered at my success, even Jinx flashed me an impressed smirk.

And I smiled to, but maybe not in a way that any of them could see. I felt whole. Complete. I finally belonged, finally found a group, and finally, finally, found purpose.

Not with stealing. Not with villainy. No, something more. Something closer.

I did more than sabotage and stole while in the Titan's Tower. I listened. I listened to them laugh. I listened to them bicker. But, most importantly, I listened to their past.

The metal Titan and the green Titan seemed to have a lot of fun with picking on their leader about something, about someone, a girl. The orange Titan always looked uncharacteristically sad when they mentioned her, but that wasn't important.

"Man, Robin, you were like putty in her hands!" one would say.

"Dude, you were like redder than your costume when she made you dance with her!" said another.

And their leader would always turn red with anger and shout at them to shut-up, and they would laugh in return and one of them would always say. "Looks like even the great detective can be blinded by hormones!"

"A villain behind pretty purple eyes!"

I had finally found you. Robin. The one who stole Number 26 away. The one who drove my only friend away. The one who killed 72.

I will find you alone, Robin. I will kill you alone, Robin.

You will die alone, Robin.