Hello! "Zee" here with another exciting Teen Titans story! This one's a bit of an AU development, but it does initially take place within ordinary continuity. The idea hit me the other morning after class, and I've been working diligently ever since. I'll do my best to update as frequently as I can.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
And now... enjoy!
"Cyborg In a Strange Land"
Chapter One: Brave New World
The metal restraints creaked and groaned as the metal teen struggled for freedom. Despite his massive strength, the compact nature of the bonds ensured that he was forever trapped. Realizing his plight, he sighed.
"Now, now, Cyborg. No need to resist. This will all be over soon," came a familiar voice from behind him.
Cyborg strained his neck, but the metal headrest meant that he was unable to view his captor. He stared straight ahead, fuming with anger.
"You think you're so clever, don't you? The other Titans will be here at any moment. Just watch." Cy hissed.
A man in long white robes stepped forward into the cybernetic hybrid's field of vision, hands behind his back and a cocky grin on his face. He walked up to his hostage's face, leaning in as close as he could.
"No matter. What I need to do will only take a few seconds." He stepped back and walks over to a nearby computer. He began to type. "You see, Cyborg, I simply cannot get past how you have humiliated me. You've cost many numerous lairs and bases. You foiled by plans to create new human-robot hybrids. I've tried time and time again to see what makes you tick, and again and again I have failed. I need to be rid of you. And I think I've finally found the perfect solution."
Cyborg looked defiant. "You're gonna kill me? Do your worst! You don't have the guts, you're nothing but talk!" He felt a cable jack insert itself into his lower back, causing him to grunt. "What's going on? What're you doing?"
Brother Blood turned around slowly, grinning broadly. "Oh, you'll see. You'll get just what you want, and I'll get what I want. Don't worry about it, Cyborg. You'll thank me later. Well, you'll want to thank me later, anyway."
Blue fields of light began to swirl before Cy's vision, and he felt himself grow heavy and weary. His thinking became more erratic, and he struggled to focus on what was happening. Whole sections of his sight would suddenly disappear in blocky chunks, only to reappear seconds later. He began to mumble to himself.
Blood continued to speak, ignoring Cyborg's reactions. "A former student of mine gave me this particular virus. When he found out who I'd be testing it on, he was more than happy to help. Seems you don't make friends easily."
Cyborg drew all of his concentration on the voice. He narrowed his eye and glared at the robed figure before him. "You... won't break... me!"
Blood shook his head. "Just give in, Cyborg. The sooner the virus does it's job, the better off you'll be. Dreams will become reality."
"Never. You don't bring dreams... you bring nightmares!"
"Well I--" began the cybernetic villain, but was interrupted by an explosion. He swiveled around on his heels. "No... oh, no!"
Raven and Starfire flew into the room, followed closely by Robin and a large green lynx.
"Cyborg!" cried Robin. He turned his eyes into a death glare at Blood. "What did you do to him?"
"A simple computer virus. That's all." replied the robed man, shrugging, slowly bringing himself into a defensive stance. He made a futile attempt to attack the Titans, but a hail of bolts from Starfire knocked him out cold, and Raven proceeded to keep him pinned to the ground with a dome of dark energy.
Cyborg witnessed all of this as if it was an out-of-body experience, or a scene from a movie. His focus was so far gone he wasn't aware he was physically present for any of this. He began blacking out more and more frequently, and he almost felt as if he his entire system was shutting down. His mind, both organic and computer, was fighting with all of its will to resist Blood's virus. Barriers began to break down. One moment he was in the room, the next he felt as if he was sitting on the coach watching TV back at the Tower. Old moments resurfaced in his mind and it was as if he was living them anew--he remembered teaming with Bee to defeat Blood, and he remembered slow dancing with Jinx at the HIVE Academy. His eyes flickered occasionally to his friends as they surrounded him, but he was never sure if any of this was truly happening.
"Friend Cyborg! Are you in good condition?" shouted Starfire in his ear, but her friend did not respond.
He saw things clearly one last time. He felt the cold restraints, the wisps of breath from Starfire's mouth, the hands on his shoulders. He knew exactly where he was for one brief moment. At that point, his mind gave out. He weakly raised his head one last time before it slumped down to his chest. Voices filtered in and out as black whirlpool began to consume his psyche.
"Cyborg? CYBORG!" screamed Robin, examining his fellow Titan carefully. Biting his lip, the Boy Wonder sprang into action. "Take him back to the Tower. It's not too late. We've got to save him!"
Beast Boy walked up to Cyborg's limp body as the other Titans went to work removing the restraints. "Hang in there, Cy! You'll see us again soon. I promise!"
With those words, the last of Cyborg's consciousness faded away. A dark void was all that was left.
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Cyborg opened his eyes slowly, blinking against a harsh light directly above him. He sat up very slowly, his sore body creaking and groaning in protest. He noticed the light was an artificial one; he was laying beneath a street light on the grass somewhere. He looked around slowly, trying to find his bearings. He realized he was at a park.
I don't recognize this place... How did I get here? What's going on? he thought to himself, crossing his legs and sitting in the dew-covered field. He put a hand to his chin and began to try to remember whatever he could to explain this. Piece by piece, his memory helped him rebuild the jigsaw that was now his mind.
Okay, let's go over this again... Blood uploads a computer virus into my system, I pass out moments later... And now I wake up in this park? This is beyond strange. He rubbed his face. He paused, realizing something was greatly amiss. Everything felt too... smooth. Too soft. Too real.
He looked at his arms, and saw only his black skin.
"Holy shit..." he whispered. "Did Blood do all of this? This is... impossible." He examined himself carefully. He was completely human. Instead of the electronics and metal that had covered the majority of his body, it was now 100 percent flesh and blood. He sported an old black t-shirt and some torn jeans to cover himself, but he couldn't remember where he got them. He slowly got to his feet and looked around. He began to make his way onto a nearby paved path.
"Okay, buddy. Move along." came a hostile voice. Cyborg turned to see a large police officer standing by the lamp post. His uniform was alien to him, though. He didn't look like an ordinary Jump City cop. He was wearing a lot more armoured padding, he had a black helmet with a dark visor, and he was also brandishing a very large baton.
"Hey, sorry, Officer. I dunno what happened."
"Yeah, yeah. You were high as hell and passed out here. Move along. This is a park, not a crackhouse."
Cyborg narrowed his eyes. "Now hold on one second, man. I'm not on drugs."
"You aren't?" he sniffed derisively. "First time for everything. I'm not gonna say it again. Get out of here." He glared at the Titan and his ragged clothes, and the teen heard him whisper "Homeless trash..." under his breath.
The large Teen shook his head, trying to contain his outrage. "Look, man. I'll leave, but I'm gonna lodge a complain with the city over this. You're being rude and discriminatory!"
The cop laughed. "Yeah. Good luck with that one. Are you going to get out of here, or am I going to have to make you leave? Or would you rather come with me, eh? Spend a nice night in the drunk tank?"
Raising his hands, Cyborg started to walk away quickly. Don't let him get to you. It's not worth it. Just get out of his sight.
"Hey, boy! I'm talking to you. Get back here!" shouted the cop, stepping swiftly towards the disturbed Titan.
Cyborg turned around, sighing in frustration.. "What do you want? First you tell me to get, then you--" he was cut off when the policeman swung his massive club at him. Instinctively, he brought his hands towards the weapon, grabbing it. Muscles rippled and flexed up his massive arm as the cop continued to to push upon the baton, but it stood still, preventing it from striking him.
The cop looked visibly surprised for several seconds. "Mighty brave of you, boy. You're resisting arrest. And I can write this up as assaulting a police officer, too..." the police officer hissed before driving his boot into Cyborg's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him crashing to the ground. "Friggin' homeless shit. I can't believe the nerve of you people. Boss told us what to do with you..." he mumbled. Cyborg saw him raising the baton once again through the slits of his eyes.
The next thing he witnessed was the very surprised look on the cop's face as he flew through the air, sailing over the Titan's prone body and crashing to the ground. A large green bighorned sheep lept over Cy and trotted over the groaning cop, bringing his hooves down roughly upon the cop's helmet several times until the police officer stopped moving.
Cyborg's eyes grew wide with terror, carefully looking for any signs of life on his enemy's body. The cop's chest lightly raised and lowered. He was alive. He was knocked into next Thursday, but he was alive. The green ram shifted back into a form very familiar to the teen, yet still quite different. He shot a hand out to Cyborg, gesturing for him to follow.
"Come on, dammit! We've got to get the fuck out of here!" he ordered, and Cyborg wasted no time in jumping to his feet. The green teenager ran further along the path, and Cyborg followed.
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They ran for what felt alike hours. Exiting the park, they quickly ducked down a side alley. Following the twists and turns of the urban jungle, they turned the corners of large, nameless buildings and ran across busy streets. Reacting solely on instinct, Cy played follow the leader, figuring his saviour knew exactly where he was going. Evidently his green friend was intimate with the city, knowing every nook, every niche, every place of hopelessness and despair where they could avoid being caught. The horrors of urban life unfolded before them in the process. They strode past large groups of homeless people, huddling around garbage can fires for warmth and sleeping in cardboard boxes or over subway grates. Junkies shivered in corners and prostitutes congregated on corners. At one point they barely avoided being hit by a bus. While the driver swore a blue streak in their direction, they had no time to stop and return the abuse. The determined look Cyborg glimpsed from the green teen's face told him he was all business.
Finally, they ran down a hill and found themselves along the docks. They finally stopped, and the green lad doubled over, catching his breath. Cyborg coughed violently and slumped to his knees, realizing he was in the same position. Taking deep breaths in a constant cycle, Cyborg was experiencing another alien feeling. Being out of breath had never been a problem for him before. Now it felt as if his chest was on fire, and he tasted something funny in the back of his throat. He hoped it wasn't blood, and figured they hadn't been straining enough for it to be. His breaths came ragged and interspersed with coughs. He wondered worriedly when this feeling would finally go away.
Several minutes later, they finally turned and looked each other over. The young man across from the once-cybernetic teen looked very familiar, yet... different. He knew exactly who he was looking at, but there was a dark streak to him. He wasn't smiling (in fact, what he was doing could best be described as scowling), and he seemed much older than he must have really been. He surprised the Titan even further when he reached into a pocket in the jet black leather jacket that covered his back and pulled out a carton of cigarettes. Silently, he offered one to Cy.
"Uh, no thanks. Don't smoke."
Shrugging, the leather clad teen placed a cigarette to his own lips and lit it with a zippo. He took a couple of puffs before extending his hand. Cyborg took it and they shook.
"The name's..." Cyborg paused for a second, wondering if using his name wouldn't be too unusual or suspicious. He continued before his hesitation was too blatant. "Vic. Vic Stone. Thanks a lot man. You saved my ass back there!"
"No problem. These friggin' cops, y'know." declared his defender, spitting on the word 'cops.' "I'm Garfield, by the way. But you can call me..."
"Beast Boy," Cyborg blurted, wincing when he realized what he'd done.
Rather than be disturbed, his saviour looked very surprised, and smiled broadly. "I was gonna say Gar, but... damn! You know me? You're a fan! Damn!"
His reaction was pleasant to the Titan's eyes, but Cyborg knew he wasn't dealing with his old friend. He had to respond carefully. "Well, you can say I'm familiar with your work."
Beast Boy took another drag on his cigarette, shaking his head and beaming the whole time. "Wow... I'm glad to finally see some recognition for the Doom Patrol!"
Cy looked nervously to the side. "Doom Patrol?"
BB's cigarette dangled in his mouth as he gave the stranger a very curious look. "Uh, yeah. Who did you think I was with?"
Cyborg knew he had to be careful. He couldn't just tell a complete stranger an utterly bizarre story of an alternate reality. He had to keep playing it safe. "Well, er, I just thought. Well, you see, I heard somewhere you were with the... uh... the Teen Titans."
The green lad's cigarette fell to the ground as he erupted into loud peals of laughter. Doubling over and clutching his sides, Beast Boy howled with delight, tears slowly pouring down his face as his euphoria continued. Cyborg felt like he'd make a great stand-up comedian, but none of this answered his questions.
"I take it you aren't?" he added dryly.
"The Titans? Those crazed ex-boy scouts?" His tone gained a hard edge. "I talked to them once. When I was younger and naive and stupid. I wasn't good enough for them, though. They were strictly for..." his voice dropped. "Sidekicks. Back before everything changed. But I was pissed at the time. So I did something else instead."
He turned his back on Cyborg at that point, looking out over the harbour. He was staring directly at an island in the middle of the bay. With only the moon, it was hard to tell just what he was looking at. But Cy was certain he could make out ruins on the isle.
"Speedy... Kid Flash... Wonder Girl..." BB was reminiscing to himself now. "And Robin, with those short shorts." He chuckled to himself, and turned around to face Cy again. "Nobody's seen Robin for about five years now, man. And I heard Speedy's a drug addict. Serves him right... The things he said about me. Feh." He spat on the ground in disgust before pulling out another cigarette. He placed it to his lips but didn't light it. "I don't know where you're from, dude, but it must be damn far away or something. You're certainly not keeping up with current events."
Cyborg nodded, looking at the island Beast Boy had been watching moments ago. He knew for certain now that it was the very island where the Tower had once stood. He bit his lip, overwhelmed with emotion. He had no idea what to do now. He was snapped out of pondering his dilemma by his newfound friend's voice.
"So, what's your favourite song?"
"What? Ummm... I'm not sure. Quite the question to just drop on somebody."
"Hey, that's alright. With all of our genius, I'm not sure which one I like, either."
"You write songs?"
"Uh, yeah... we're the Doom Patrol! Geez, I thought you'd heard of us?"
"Er, I have... Just... where I come from... I heard you guys were... superheroes."
The green lad's eyes narrowed in the Titan's direction, and he heard him inhale quickly out of shock. BB clapped a hand over Cy's mouth. "Christ, you tryin' to get us killed? We just knocked out a cop, dude! We're not supposed to draw attention to ourselves. Don't say that word... that or... etahuman-may." His voice was hoarse whisper. He looked around carefully to make sure nobody was around before releasing his grip on Cyborg's face. He sighed and lit his cigarette.
Cyborg nodded slowly, a disturbed look on his face. "Yeah, okay... I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"You didn't know? Were you living in a cave or something? Where the hell are you from, anyway? Corto Maltese?" growled Beast Boy, his cigarette ember's red glow bouncing in the darkness as he continued his tirade. "You didn't know... Jesus... Ignorance just means you don't know why someone's going to kill you. No wonder that cop was harassing you."
"Look, I said I was sorry! You could say I've lived a pretty sheltered life, alright? No reason to jump down my throat. Now I know better. Damn." Cyborg folded his arms across his chest, glaring at the man who'd saved his life.
Beast Boy exhaled grey smoke into the bright moonlit sky. His tone softened. "Geez, man... I didn't mean to come across so mad, but... Just be careful, y'know? If you know, well, take it to heart. You gotta be careful here." Cyborg nodded, his arms lowering down to his side. The green teen continued from where he left off. " But, yeah, we're the Doom Patrol. Jump City's number one band. Doom Patrol... go!" His mood radically altered, he thrust both fists in the air, smiling so big as to show his teeth.
Cyborg felt relief wash over himself at his defender's more pleasant mood. He didn't want to alienate himself from the only person he knew in a dangerous city he once called home. The realization that he was trapped began to creep into his mind, and he knew he had to stick with Beast Boy. He replied to BB's declaration with a smile. "That's pretty cool. What do you play?"
"Bass. I sing a little, too. But Mento's pretty uptight about who he shares the spotlight with. So mostly I just play."
Cy nodded, unsure of what to say to that. The two stood in silence for several seconds. "Um... So how did it all end up this way?" whispered Cyborg.
BB raised an eyebrow, shrugging. "I dunno, Mento's a cool guy, but he's just a bit of a control freak, y'know?"
The larger teen shook his head. "No, no, I mean... Well, the whole..." he lowered his voice drastically. "Lack of heroes... situation."
BB looked around nervously, flicking his dead cigarette over the pier and into the water. He sighed. "I'm not really sure, man. Y'know? I read things here and there when it was all going down... but you could tell most of the media was just printing what people wanted to see, or what people told them to print. That kinda junk. You can tell I'm a meta, yeah, but I wasn't gonna put my life on the line. I didn't wanna get involved. Couple of friends of mine wound up in jail, sent to prison. Wasn't worth the hassle. So I laid low, did what I could to ensure they wouldn't suspect me. Wore make-up to hide the green, changed my name a couple of times, lived with friends. It was hard."
He let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand down his face. "So now I just look out for myself. Anybody asks, the green is all part of my act. And it pretty much is by this point; I tell ya, dude... I hadn't shifted in a very long time until I ran into you tonight. I'm probably gonna be sore tomorrow. Speaking of which..." He checked his watch. "It's almost two in the morning. I gotta get to bed."
Their eyes nervously met before looking away. "Well, uh, I guess this is g'bye, dude. Good luck, and all..." Beast Boy turned around slowly, zipping up his jacket. He looked in the direction of the island once again.
Cyborg's arm shot out. "Look, I... I hate to impose. But..."
Beast Boy turned around slowly, half a grin plastered don his face. "You don't know anybody, and you need a place to stay?"
Cy nodded sheepishly.
"Hey, it's okay man. I'm used to taking in strays. Besides, I like you, man. I know I came off a little abrasive, but I do. You're clearly not from around here and you ask a lotta weird questions, and I don't even know you, but I really feel we... connect. C'mon, I got an apartment up on O'Neil Street. It's only a few blocks from here."
Cyborg sighed with relief. "Thanks. I mean it, thanks a lot. I'm a long way from home."
BB chortled. "I can tell. And, hey, in the morning, we can visit a friend of mine down at the university. I took a couple of classes from her, she's wicked smart. Knows a lot about history." He paused before continuing. "She can answer your questions."
Cyborg slapped his friend on the back. "Thanks, thanks a lot man! That'd really help me."
Beast Boy drew another cigarette and lit it, nodding slightly as he did so. "No problem. Don't mention it. You'll get a bill at the end of the week." He exhaled some more smoke, grinning broadly as he looked at the stranger. He pointed at Cyborg with his thumb suddenly as they crossed the street. "Hey, do you like video games? I got a Game Station if you wanna play."
It was Cy's turn to smile now as an evil grin spread slowly across his face. A hidden gleam appeared in his eye. "I think I could play a round or two..."
TO BE CONTINUED... in Chapter 2: "Head of the Class."