I had to do three first drafts for this chapter--THREE!! Each time, it didn't save right, so I lost everything that I had done. Hope it's good.
I push the quilt off my body as I sit up on my bed, clutching my nose as a thick liquid oozes down it and into my mouth. I quickly get changed and rush into the bathroom, spitting into the sink and washing it out before racing into the main quarters.
The second the doors open, I race through to the tissue box and pull out half a dozen of them, stuffing both my nostrils and opening my mouth so I can still breathe.
"Ember?" a voice asks from behind me, and I freeze up before slowly turning around to face Starfire, who stands in the entrance cautiously. "You are bleeding."
I give a light chuckle in hopes of making a joke of the situation. "I am," I state, pulling all but one tissue out of my bleeding nostril and closing my mouth. "Just a blood nose. Nothing to worry about."
Starfire flies into the kitchen and pulls out a bowl, a wooden spoon, and several Tamaranean ingredients. "I shall make you some Gloork. It should make the nasty feelings go away."
I open my mouth to object, but the door soon opens and Robin strides through, humming a happy tune. I pull the last tissues out of my nose and pray that it's gone, flying the tissues into the bin before turning to greet the masked leader with a smile.
"Hey, guys," he says, turning to Starfire. "What are you making?"
The alien Princess looks up. "Some Glorrk for Ember. She is not feeling the well."
Robin's gaze shifts to me and as our eyes lock, I say, "I'm fine. Really, Starfire. I don't need the Glorrk."
Robin opens his mouth, most likely to ask another question, but he is interrupted as Beast Boy flies past us, almost knocking the three of us over.
"What was that about?" I ask.
"No clue," the Boy Wonder replies.
Beast Boy sets himself up on the couch, controller in hand, as he loads up the GameStation. "Look out, monkeys, here I--" The CD that he had inserted into the GameStation pops out, and Beast Boy's figure deflates at the sight of it.
"GameStation must not have enough horsepower..." he says to himself, "... but I bet the Titan mainframe does." As quickly as he entered, he left, passing an unamused Raven in the hallway.
"Any idea where Beast Boy's headed off to?" she asks us, apparently not caring for the answer.
"To play his new game, I assume," I state. "He must've been trying to load it up on the GameStation." I suddenly remember where Beast Boy said that he was headed, and my eyes widen.
"BEAST BOY!!" I shout, running after him. I misjudge when the door opens and my shoulder collides with it on the way out, but I ignore it momentarily as I fly into the room with the Titan mainframe.
I hear a shriek coming from Cyborg's room, followed by his own laughter. Metal on the floor sounds and I walk in the direction of Cyborg, meeting Beast Boy on the way.
"Cyborg, come back!" he shouts.
"What is going on?" Robin demands, standing up and glaring at Beast Boy.
"Oh, I'll tell you what's going on," Cyborg says from the couch, startling me. "This is the best peanut brittle I've ever tasted!" He stoops down to its height and begins to lick the object.
Whilst the others watch Cyborg in concern, I turn to the green shapeshifter. "What did you do, Beast Boy?"
"Nothing!" Beast Boy squawks, itching his neck anxiously. "He's, uh... just excited. I got an advanced copy of Mega-Monkeys Four."
Cyborg dashes over to Starfire, grabbing the girl by her shoulders. "Ooh! Star! 'Member that purple, wiggly, Tamaranean pie thingie you made that was full of bugs?" I grimace as he spits on her face as he talks.
"My stewed grunthmek which made you physically sick?" she confirms, causing me to remember the time we stood around the bathroom for hours as Cyborg struggled to stop vomiting the dish out of his system.
"Yeah!" he replies. "You gotta cook up some of that!"
Robin and I turn to Beast Boy simultaneously, both giving him a death glare that makes him shrink in his space. "Um, long story short," he tells us, "I tried to play Mega-Monkeys on Cyborg's system recharger, and now, he's got some kind of computer virus. Or, you know, it could be just gas."
"A virus?" Robin echoes. "Beast Boy, this is serious."
"Seriously weird," Raven corrects, pointing to where Cyborg is leant over, chewing on the dining table opposite to the kitchen.
"Mmmm! Ah! Who ordered this pizza? It's cheese-tastic! Ooh... thirsty now." He races past us to the kitchen, pulling the tap out of the plumbing and holding the running water over his mouth.
"Cyborg, there's something wrong with you," Robin says. "Please let us help."
"You bet there's something wrong," Cyborg says, for once taking a normal tone. The moment is ruined as he gazes at Robin longingly. "We need gravy! And plenty of it!" Cyborg charges at Robin, but Starfire and Raven hold him back as I lift myself and Robin into the air and suspend us there.
~~~
"Whoo! You know what'd be fun?" Cyborg says, loudly and quickly, to the five of us who stand before him. "Let's all go out for waffles! Raven, you like waffles, don't you?"
"More than life itself," Raven responds, voice dry and deadpanned.
Cyborg continues to talk as we turn to each other. "We must help him," Starfire states.
"No problem," Beast Boy says. "I'll shrink down to the size of an amoeba, get inside of him, and then--"
"And then what? Mess him up even worse?" the cloaked girl interjects.
"Beast Boy, leave this to us," I say, glancing at him.
"We need an expert," Robin says, and we turn to look at Cyborg. Three metal restraints hold him back in a vertical medical chair specifically designed for him. He continues to chatter by himself, still somehow rambling on about waffles.
"But who?" Starfire asks. "The only person qualified to repair Cyborg... is Cyborg."
"I hate to admit it, but there is one other person," Robin replies, glancing at me, and I nod.
"I'm on it."
~~~
A small hand inside a green glove reaches out to flick the 'ON' switch in the dark room. The H.I.V.E. Academy member presses three buttons, turning them all blue, and plugs in the last cord before turning to the pile of arcade consoles in the middle of the room.
"Look out, you shoe-licking gunk stains!" the baby voice calls. "Gizmo's bootleg copy of Mega-Monkeys Four is about to go live!"
As the consoles light up, I pull a small rock into my hand, cutting the wires in one of the cords and filling it with water, causing every electronic in the entire room to fizz.
"Hey! What the—?"
I clamp my hand over his mouth, holding him above the ground in a headlock. "Hey, Gizmo," I say. "I have a favour to ask."
~~~
"No... stinking... way," Gizmo says, turning around to face us. "I'm not fixing that overgrown bucket of robe-scrunge... and there's nothing you grot-slippers could ever do or say to make me say it—"
As Gizmo begins to talk, Robin glances at Raven, who nods before appearing in front of Gizmo, who lets out a gasp as she blocks his exit. Her eyes glow white and as she takes off her hood, a monster from another dimension appears in her place, tentacles flaying around Gizmo, toying with him.
Starfire, Beast Boy and Robin all look away, mortified, but I continue to look as tears are brought to the H.I.V.E member's eyes. The giant baby shrieks and says fearfully, "I'll help."
~~~
Gizmo stands over an unconscious Cyborg, examining the Titan's conditions. "Ewww!" he eventually shouts. "Your friend is thrashed. What kind of sludge-sniffing idiot gets himself infected with the Endzone virus?"
At this, we all turn to glare at Beast Boy, who shrinks in place. "He had some help," the shapeshifter says quietly.
"So can you fix him or not?" I ask.
"Of course I can fix him," Gizmo replies, turning to face me. "But I gotta shrink down to microscopic size, go in, and hit the virus where it lives."
"Yeah," Beast Boy says. "Good idea."
As Gizmo gets to work, I fall back towards the drawers and pull out a bandage, using it to wrap around my now weeping wound. Without looking up, I pull a box of safety pins from the closest room, and it clumsily collides with my shoulder on the way in.
Wincing, I tighten the bandage and push the safety pin in, closing it as I look back up. Gizmo presses a button on his controller and a curtain surrounds him, soon revealing him to be in a suit that looks as though it was made for outer space.
"What? You nose hairs never seen a shrink-suit before?" he asks, noticing our shocked expressions.
"Maybe I should go," Robin states matter-of-factly, walking up to Gizmo. "You can direct me from outside."
"Forget it, scuzz-ball," Gizmo shoots back, venom in his voice. "This tech only works on me, and I work alone."
"But maybe I can—" Beast Boy begins, stopping when Raven, Robin and Starfire shoot him dirty looks. "Never mind."
"Hey! Did y'all know there are four hundred and fifty-six varieties of yams?" Cyborg suddenly shouts, eyes wide open to signal that he's awake. "I like yams!"
"Please. Why does he speak of subterranean vegetables?" Starfire asks as Cyborg continues to talk.
"He must really like yams," I state sarcastically.
"You don't know crud," Gizmo replies cruelly. "The virus is messing with his central processor... you know, his brain? And that's where you're gonna put me." He tosses a needle at Robin, but I catch it midair and pull it towards myself.
"I've done this before," I tell him as I walk up to Cyborg, who's fallen asleep once more.
Gizmo presses a button on his jumpsuit and disappears into the liquid. "Okay, barf-brains," he says, and I bite my tongue at the name. "I'm in position."
"Don't worry, Cyborg," Robin says as the three Titans gather around me. "This won't hurt a bit."
I ready the needle and am about to pull the trigger when Cyborg leaps up, sending us all back. "PIE!!" he shouts.
I stand up once more and ready the needle as Starfire, Raven and Robin contain the mechanic teen. I pull him up with the air and hold him in place, using a funnel of water to guide the liquid in the needle into Cyborg's brain.
The three Titans let go of Cyborg and he breaks through the wall in a sprint. "The injection was successful?" Starfire asks as we look out at the city from the Cyborg-shaped hole.
I wait for someone else to answer, but when it becomes evident that they're waiting for me to do so, I clear my throat. "Yeah. It worked."
Robin glances at Cyborg's retreating figure before pulling out his communicator. "Gizmo, report. Are you inside Cyborg?"
"Oh, I'm inside him, all right," Gizmo states."But I'm not in his brain." He looks at his surroundings."It should be a bit of a trek, so thanks a lot.
"Not my problem," I huff.
~~~
I stand beside Robin, and Starfire and Raven both float down from opposing directions. "I've got his signal," Robin says. "Titans! Move!"
He doesn't even make the first step before Gizmo appears on the communicator. "Nice shooting, spork-brains!" he spits, causing Robin to wince. "You cludge-heads have any idea how long it's gonna take me to get from this tin can's shoulder up to his brain?!"
I'm at a loss for words and don't say anything, but luckily, Robin puts the villain in his place. "Then I suggest you stop complaining and start moving." He quickly turns the communicator off and turns to the girls. "We need to find Cyborg and bring him home, before he hurts himself or somebody else."
"Or an innocent street sign," Raven counters, pointing in another direction. I turn to find Cyborg wrestling a stop sign out of the ground and devouring it as if it were a lollipop.
We walk up to Cyborg as the metal grinds against his teeth. "Take it easy, Cyborg," the leader says. "It's us."
"We're here to take you home," Raven says.
"You remember who we are, yes?" Starfire questions cautiously.
To my utter surprise, Cyborg looks at us and begins to tear up. "You're the nasty egg people who stole all my waffles!" he wails, throwing the remains of the sign like a javelin.
"Look out!" Robin shouts, but makes no attempt to flee from the sharp metal stick. I stop it mid-air and plant it back in the ground, lifting Robin up with a pillar of water.
"You okay?" I ask Robin, completely forgetting about Cyborg.
"Um... where's Beast Boy?" Raven interrupts, and I pull out my communicator to see Cyborg and Beast Boy--together.
"Hey, birdbrain. You hearing this crud?" Gizmo suddenly says, bringing my attention back to the current situation.
"Yes, and it's a good idea," Robin replies. "You've got a partner now, Gizmo. Deal with it." He pauses, and I watch his head rotate slightly. "But, Beast Boy, for Cyborg's sake... please don't touch anything."
Robin turns off the communicator as I flip mine open. "Cyborg," I say as I call him, his system automatically answering. I feel the others' curious gazes on me but ignore them.
At the mention of his name, Cyborg looks down to where I'm showcased and lets out a shriek. "The egg people!"
"I have your waffles," I tease. "Why don't you tell me where you are so I can give them to you?"
~~~
I spot Cyborg across the market and wave the frisbee at him. "Hey, Cy," I say. "Here's your waffle. Do you want it?"
"Ooh..." Cyborg says, drooling. "Yes please!" He takes the frisbee from my hand and throws it into his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing the object whole.
"Wait here, and I'll get more waffles for you. Okay?" Cyborg nods eagerly, and as I turn to walk away, I nod at Raven, who grabs Cyborg by the feet and pulls him up.
"YOU BROUGHT THE EGG PEOPLE!!" I hear, and turn around as Robin throws a freezing device, causing Cyborg to run away, still screaming. Frowning, I follow after, catching up to the other Titans as they stand over what used to be a pay phone in mere confusion.
"You let him go?" I question, floating down slowly.
"We didn't let him go. He got away," Robin says, and I feel the muscles on my face retreat to a frown as previous feelings begin to emerge.
~~~
After chasing Cyborg around the city all day, I finally let myself collapse when he stops moving, rocking an ATM machine around. "You can keep your sprinkles, I need raspberry filling!" he roars, fists and spit both flying around him.
He punches a gaping hole in the glass of the machine, causing me to bolt up. Money flies into his mouth and after a few seconds to process, he whines, "No, not macaroni!"
He continues to shake it and Raven, Starfire and Robin creep towards them, but I pull them all back. "Trust me," I mouth.
Cyborg continues to rattle the machine and pulls it out of the ground, money now coming out from more than one exit. I lift Cyborg up into the air and several pillars of rock shoot from the ground, wrapping around the sick Titan.
"Hey! Let go of me! I don't want your eggs! I DON'T!" he shouts.
"All right," Raven says. "Let's go."
Suddenly, the ATM machine explodes, and purple bolts of electricity run through. "Cyborg's virus has made sick the machine of money," Starfire declares.
"And if this is what it does to an ATM machine..." Raven begins.
"... There's no telling what it can do to everything else," Robin concludes.
"We need to fix him, and quick," I note. "Come on!"
~~~
The second we get back to the Tower and up to the top floor, Robin turns on the television and links to Gizmo's line. "Gizmo! Beast Boy! Report!"
The screen flickers on to reveal an exasperated Gizmo."Eh, blow it out your cake-hole."
Robin growls at the man-child through gritted teeth, and a vein appears in his forehead, throbbing immensely. I hear Beast Boy yelp from the other line as Gizmo refuses to back down.
"Watch it!" I snarl, my eyes glowing red in raw anger. I feel it envelope my fists but continue. "The second you're out of there, you're heading to prison!"
I feel Raven's impressed gaze settle on me, and Gizmo lets out a similar shriek to that of when he saw Raven, letting out a small whimper. Luckily for him, Beast Boy comes to the rescue. "Ahem... I think he means we're almost there."
"Almost isn't good enough," Robin retorts, his anger predominantly directed at Gizmo.
"Don't rush me, scuzz-breath," the H.I.V.E. member says. "The rate this virus is spreading, I don't even know if I can fix him anymore."
"You have to," Robin tells them. "If the virus isn't stopped, Cyborg could wreck the entire city!"
"And I'm the idiot who wrecked Cyborg," I hear Beast Boy say, right before we sign off. Looking around, I notice that both Raven and Starfire are gone, most likely in the medical centre with Cyborg.
"Thanks for that," Robin says, turning to face me.
In that moment, I ponder what to say. Reminders of what occurred on Tamaran flood my thoughts, but also those of when Slade was around and Terra betrayed us. In the end, I muster, "It's alright. You did the same for me, right?"
Robin nods. "I guess I did," he says slowly, as if unsure. I give him a curt nod and turn on my heels, not wanting to talk to him alone any longer.
~~~
I enter the medical centre to find no one in there--Cyborg, Starfire and Raven are all absent from the room. The metal cords once restraining Cyborg are all broken down the middle and there's another Cyborg-shaped hole in the wall.
Now growling myself, I pull out my communicator. "Cyborg escaped. Starfire, Raven, where are you?"
"I was in my room, but I shall come and assist," Starfire says.
"Ditto," Raven adds.
"Cyborg escaped?" the black haired Titan asks. "How?"
"As the virus spreads throughout his system, it must make him stronger." I fly through the hole, fitting seamlessly. "I'm tracking him now. He's--"
"--endangering the city," Robin finishes, arriving behind me. "Can I get a lift?"
"Yeah," I say, and then to the others, "Can you guys meet us there if I send you the signal?"
"Yeah," they say in unison, before checking out.
I pull a large rock from the island floor and seat myself and the Boy Wonder on it. He looks at me cautiously, but I don't look back, aiming to ride in a comfortable silence. I don't trust my emotions to not betray me.
Unfortunately, the teen beside me has a different idea. "Are you mad at me?" he asks suddenly, after a few minutes of the new silence between us.
"No."
"Are you upset at me?"
"No."
"Have I done something wrong?"
"No."
"Then what's wrong?"
Finally, after moments of silence, I whip around. "Robin, I'm not anything at you, okay? Just... leave me alone." The rock splits in two as my eyes glow brown, and they both fly closer to Cyborg.
The whole time, my mind clouds with conflicting emotions. It's the first time I've properly thought about what happened on Tamaran. I want to talk to Starfire about it, but I don't know when the best time would be. I don't want to talk to Starfire, in case she likes Robin back.
"You passed Cyborg," Robin says coldly. He doesn't turn to look at me; in fact, his body barely shifts at all.
"I know," I lie, lowering our altitude and flying towards the familiar blue glow of the mechanic teen on the ground.
"Oooooh! That is one big cherry!" he shouts, tongue open and drooling like a dog. He licks not just his lips, but his entire face, and strides through the gate, but Robin jumps down, off the rock. I Lowe my own, still sitting on the edge, my feet rocking back and forth merrily.
At the sight of us Cyborg froths, gritting his teeth and raking his left foot back. I make a red flag out of fire and wave it in the gap between Robin and myself, and Cyborg runs at it.
At the last second, however, he changes course, knocking Robin over. I pull pillars of earth in front of Cyborg but he narrowly avoids them all before turning and running at me.
I lift myself once, lowering myself once I'm safe, and the infected Titan charges again. Before he can get to me, Raven traps him with four brick walls and a roof to match, but he soon escapes, knocking Raven to the floor and removing her influence on the objects.
Cyborg continues to run but Starfire pounces on him from above as I ready myself for the second attack near the ladder. Cyborg hammer throws her away, swinging her around and around before releasing his grip on her and allowing her to land on Raven.
"Cyborg! Come on, listen to me!" I plead as he begins to ascend the ladder.
Cyborg stops at the sound of my voice and turns around. He quickly readies his sonic cannon and aims it at me before firing, but I'm quicker. I block and dodge all the attacks, predicting where he'll place the shots, but a glint in his eyes changes his course and he hits me, square in the chest, sending me tumbling back.
I land on top of something and groan before collapsing. When I open my eyes, Robin's on top of me, so close that I can feel his breath. He doesn't seem to register the situation, and therefore doesn't move an inch.
"Heh, Robin?" I ask, chuckling, and Robin shakes his head, removing himself from the daze.
"Right. Sorry," he says, standing up and holding his hand out to me. I raise my eyebrow at him and he narrows his. "You want to stop Cyborg or not?"
"Right," I echo. "Sorry. Of course." I grab his hand and lift us both up, and when we're within range, Robin throws a roped birdarang around Cyborg. We both land on the ground and pull at him, slowing him slightly.
Starfire lands in front of me and pulls, now completely halting him. Soon, Cyborg begins to move back and I look up to see Raven now assisting as well.
With a loud yell, Cyborg breaks free of the restraints, jumping over the last hurdle to get to the communication hub.
Without a word spoken, I lift the four of us up and the second he's in view, Robin jumps on the teen. Starfire does the same and Raven and I create a forcefield to hold them in, groaning as we do so.
Once again, Cyborg proves to be too strong, and before I can even blink, he's free of the four of us and about to infect the entire city.
Suddenly, he stops to sneeze, and he stops glowing and falls to the ground. I hold a weak hand out and a rock catches him, slowly rocking him to the ground as I stand up and once again regain my strength.
"This gig is enduring," I say quietly as I make my way over.
"Cyborg! Cyborg, answer me!" Robin begs as we stand over Cyborg. Snot lines his nostrils and all colour has been removed from his face.
"No!" Starfire calls in disbelief, smile brightening when Cyborg begins to glow blue again and he groans.
"What happened?" he mumbles, clutching his stomach. "Aw, my stomach! Feels like I ate a tire!"
We all smile at the fact that he's back to normal--even Raven wears a grin. "That's a distinct possibility," she says.
"So you're okay now, right?" I ask, extending my hand to help him up and wincing at the sheer weight of the Titan.
"I think so," he replies. "Something musta overloaded my systems and triggered an automatic reboot. After that, virus protection came back online. Whatever got into me, it's out." Cyborg wipes his nose, the snot now sitting on his forearm.
"Beast Boy!" Robin exclaims lightly. He might as well punch the air and sing loudly. "He did it!"
Cyborg looks down at the collection of boogers on his arm. "Aw, man, that better not be who I think it is," he whines, pointing at it.
~~~
I stand next to Starfire, one hand on Cyborg's shoulder, as Beast Boy recounts his version of the day's events. "And then, after we waded through all this black goop to get inside your brain, that's when we saw the viral core, which was this huge, jiggling--"
"Whoa!" Cyborg quickly shouts. "I appreciate what you did for me, but, dude, please." Starfire places the bowl of soup in his empty hand and I place a mug of hot cocoa in the other. "It's hard enough knowing you were running around inside me. I don't need to know what else was there."
"I have to hand it to you, Beast Boy," Robin congratulates, placing his hand on the green teen's shoulder, just as I did with Cyborg. "What you did was--"
"--Pretty clever," Raven interjects, "For you."
"I may not be smart enough to do everything, but I'm dumb enough to try anything," Beast Boy states.
"Uh, I realize he is a cruel diminutive criminal who speaks to mean words and is not our friend..." Starfire inquires. "... but still I wonder, what became of Gizmo?"
I chuckle. "Good question." I ponder pulling Starfire inside and asking her about Robin, and I'm about to do it when I open my mouth. "Good night," I hear myself say, cursing under my breath the second I leave the room.
I'm not particularly happy with this, especially the ending, so I hope it's alright. Also, I don't know why I called it hot cocoa. It's hot chocolate.