Author's notes:

Hello, everyone! I apologize for my lack of activity here. Inspiration was striking me more in the visual art world, and whatever writing inspirations I got were jumbled together in such a mess that it formed a block. I can't promise that I'll be more active, but I can promise that I'll post something if I whip that something up. I still plan to write a Batman Beyond/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover fic, but I'm still trying to figure out how to go about that.

Any-who, this one-shot takes place between "Remember" and "Eyewitness of the Past," when Coba's in a cast and out of commission for over a month. I'd recently rewatched "Terry's Friend Dates a Robot" and I finally got clearer inspiration for a fic: this fic.

(Heads up, I apologize for the episode details I got wrong. I didn't have as good access to the episode on my computer without having to go online, unlike my more recent fanfics, not to mention my memory isn't the best, so some details were either left out or changed to keep the writing going.)

Enjoy! :D

Oh, I also have a poll on my profile asking readers what their favorite BOTF story is. If you could fill it out sometime, I'd be thankful!

Coba Brooklyn sat in her room in Wayne Manor, working on upgrading a piece of machinery. The surface corners and sides of her desk were littered with screws, screwdrivers, springs, wires, and wire cutters, but the middle where her project lay was mainly clean. Disturbed's sixth studio album, Immortalized, was blared on her "new" antique boombox she had just gotten from Bruce as she worked. She hummed along with "The Vengeful One," belted out "Open Your Eyes," "What Are You Waiting For," and "Save Our Last Goodbye" (the former and middle to let out the adrenaline she felt, the latter to keep herself from sobbing), and paused during "The Sound of Silence" to allow her back, neck and shoulder muscles—which were tensed from leaning over her desk—to relax. When the last two tracks, "Legion of Monsters" and "The Brave and the Bold" came along, her hands moved swiftly yet—surprisingly—gracefully as she sang along with the lyrics.

At the end of "The Brave and the Bold," Coba had finished her project. She attached the device to the bottom of the seat of a wheelchair. Careful not to fall and reinjure her casted left foot, she moved from her seat into the wheelchair. She turned the chair so it faced a wall she had placed numerous cushions by. Test 1, she thought, positioning her hand to a switch.

"Hey, Coba!"

The exclamation startled the girl into pressing the switch, causing the wheelchair's seat to launch her at the wall. To avoid hitting her head, she manuveured herself so she landed in the cushions. Though the landing jarred her injured foot a bit, she raised a fist victoriously. "Yes! First try!"

A sigh was heard as the person who accidentally alarmed Coba entered the room. "What are you trying to do, sis?" he scolded, though he helped her sit on a stationary chair. "Are you trying to make it so you're in that cast even longer?"

"No, Ter," Coba said, shaking her head. "I was working on a spring-action seat launcher for the wheelchair."

Terry McGinnis raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Brooklyn looked at him as though he was stupid. "Sometimes there are accidents involving wheelchairs."

"Obviously."

"Let me finish," she chided with a slight glare. When he stayed silent, she continued. "This device is meant to help with problems involving vehicles, namely cars. If the wheelchair is unable to get out of the way of the car in time, the person can push the switch and be thrown out of harm's way."

"Yeah, but what if they hit their head on a wall?" Terry inquired. "Won't they die anyway?"

Coba frowned. "Or get injured. But, you make a good point."

"Not to mention they might not be as agile as we are," the young man continued, "as far as—"

"—manuveurability goes," his half-sister finished. She sighed. "I suppose I worked a whole hour on a useless device."

Terry noticed her crestfallen expression. He knelt down and lightly pat her shoulder. "It's not useless, Coba. You'll find a use for it."

"But what for?"

He managed to keep from flinching at her sad tone. "I don't know," Terry admitted. "But I do know you. Your heart's in the right place, and that insanely advanced brain of yours will figure out how to use it to your advantage."

The small teen looked at him, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. "You think so?"

McGinnis smiled reassuringly. "I know so. It hasn't gone wrong yet, so why should it start now?"

She returned the smile. "Thanks, bro."

"Sure thing, sis." He stood up again after a few heartbeats, then remembered something. "Are you still going to Howard's party?"

Coba frowned. "I wasn't really planning to. Practically the whole school will be there, now. Not to mention Cynthia creeps me out."

"Have you tried reading her mind?"

"Yeah, but I can't get a thing from it. It's like she's... not human..." She noticed her half-brother's expression change. "You think she's—"

"—a synthoid? I have my suspicions."

"Did you just—"

"—finish your sentence for once? Yes, I did."

They both had to laugh at that.

"I won't force you to go, Coba," Terry said. "If we are right about Cynthia, something is bound to go wrong. You're not in the best of shape for it if it does."

Brooklyn nodded sagely. "I know." She paused. "Strangely enough, the possibility of Cynthia being a synthoid has me wanting to go to the party now."

"Why's that?" As soon as he asked, McGinnis had the answer. "You're yearning for some excitement."

"Yeah..." The girl looked down, embarrassed. "I thought the Inque, Stalker and Willie fiascos after being hurt would make me feel afraid of more action, but... I'm finding myself longing for it."

He pat her shoulder, smirking. "I think the old man feels the same way sometimes."

She looked up and returned the smile. "Don't you mean all the time?" she asked with a small giggle.

Terry chuckled. "Yeah." He sobered. "If you do go, try to stay out of trouble."

"I promise I'll try," Coba nodded solemnly. "I'll stay by Dana and Max. Though, Max might get herself into trouble by trying to diffuse a situation by fighting. She's done that a lot ever since she found out that we're you-know-who and you-know-who-else."

The young man sighed. "I guess that'll have to do. But if everyone has to leave the building—"

"—I'll leave as well. Dana and or Max will help if need be, I know that."

"Exactly."

"I take it that you'll be going after the guy who sold Cynthia to Howard."

"Yeah. Which means—"

"—you could be miles away if something bad happens."

Terry nodded. "Be careful."

"You too, bro."

~!~

Two hours later.

In spite of her thirst for action, Coba was beginning to regret going to Howard's party. Not only was the party full of people who made it hard for her to wheel around or hop around with crutches, but the music was turned up even louder than her boombox was earlier and was sometimes combined with loud laughs and yells, disorienting her. She found herself having to cover her ears to take in her surroundings visually and to think straight. I hope I don't tick off Howard or Cynthia by covering my ears, she thought.

"Are you okay, Coba?" Howard Groote asked, though she was barely able to hear him. Cynthia walked beside him as he approached, eyeing Coba coldly.

Brooklyn uncovered her ears, though her muscles were tense. "I'm fine. Just not used to the loud volumes."

"What's wrong with the loud volumes?" Cynthia asked in a tone that dared Coba to say the wrong thing.

"Nothing," Coba said, barely managing to keep her voice calm instead of hostile. "My ears are overly sensitive."

"I can have it turned down if you'd like," Howard offered.

"No thanks, it wouldn't be fair to the others."

Dana Tan tapped the girl's shoulder before handing her two small foam objects. "I brought some ear plugs for you, Coba."

Coba accepted them, then put them in her ears. "Thanks, Dana."

Howard relaxed, glad that the issue was resolved.

Dana looked at Groote with a friendly smile. "Hey, maybe you and Cynthia can double date with me and Terry," she suggested.

Chelsea Cunningham came over, holding a drinking glass in one hand, and got right next to Howard. "I can single date you any time," she said seductively.

The fat teen smiled hopefully, but before he could reply Chelsea was knocked to the floor, causing her drink to spill. Cynthia stood over her, glaring. Maxine Gibson grabbed the red-haired girl's arm. "Hey, chill out!"

Cynthia shoved Max to the floor. Just as she raised her hand to strike again, Howard grabbed her arm. "That's enough! You and I are going to have a talk," he scolded as he led her away.

Coba watched while Howard took Cynthia to a door, where Bobbi "Blade" Sommer and her current date were sitting on the steps in front. The small teen deduced that Blade had made a sensual remark regarding the boy and the "girl" by the look on Blade's face and the nervous reaction from Howard as he and Cynthia disappeared behind the door. Coba turned and looked at Max, who was being helped up by Dana. "You okay?" she asked her friend concernedly.

"Pride's hurting, but I'm fine," came Max's wry answer. "Something's definitely wrong with Cynthia. She doesn't know when to chill!"

"Would you if someone touched you while you were upset?" Coba inquired, gaining a dirty look from Max. "Still, you're right about her."

Gibson raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"I know so. Practically everything she's done and said tonight—let alone all of today—has raised red flags. I doubt I need to explain."

"You don't," the pink-haired teen replied. "I can connect the dots."

"So can I," Dana said, suppressing a shiver.

Coba looked towards the doorway. "I fear Howard might do something to tick off Cynthia."

"Goes without saying," Max remarked. "Poor guy's not skilled with girls."

"Nor is he socially skilled," Tan added.

"If Cynthia busts, I'll handle her."

Batgirl looked at Max with a raised eyebrow. "Sure that's a good idea?"

"No, but I can't let you two do it," she pointed out. "Otherwise the others'll know you're—you-know-who."

Max has said the last bit so quietly that it was impossible for Coba to hear over her earplugs, but her lip reading skills helped her figure out what her friend was saying. "True," Coba and Dana conceded reluctantly.

In a heartbeat, the music was stopped. The three friends turned to see Howard running amongst the crowd. "Party's over!" he declared frantically, starting to push some party-goers out of the main door.

Now that the music was off, Coba removed the earplugs to hear the situation more clearly. The sound of static and small gasps of alarm brought her attention to the doorway Howard had come from. Blade and her date were already fleeing from the area as Cynthia made her way to the center of the room. "How could you do this to me, Howard?" she demanded to know.

Groote tried to keep her away from his guests. "Cynthia, please," he pleaded.

The synthoid raised a hand to strike him, but was hit from behind by Max. "Come on, robo bim." She picked up a fireplace poke and swung it at Cynthia, but the red-haired robot caught it and yanked it out of Max's hands. She easily twisted it like a pretzel before dropping it at Max's feet. The pink-haired teen's eyes widened in fear before giving a nervous smile and chuckle. "Hope I wasn't out of line with that robo bim crack."

Cynthia grabbed Max by her shirt collar, then flung her at the couch near the large living room window. Max's back collided with the couch, flipping it on its back as she landed behind it. She sat up on the floor, rubbing her head dazedly, then froze in alarm at the sight of Cynthia lifting the couch over her head.

In spite of not being able to read the synthoid's mind, Coba quickly pieced together what Cynthia was about to do. She backed up in her chair, then managed to make her way through the crowd to get a good angle. "Stay back," she warned the crowd. As the teens backed off a bit, Coba sped her chair forward prior to pressing the dreaded launch button. "Zuka zama!" she yelled as she soared through the air.

Before Cynthia could crush Max with the couch, Coba collided with Cynthia's legs, knocking Cynthia backwards and causing her to drop the couch on her own head. Coba found herself rolling too far towards the window, but was unable to stop herself from breakng through the glass and falling out. Luckily, something flew by and caught her before landing in the living room once more. "Schway! It's Batman!" Blade's boyfriend was heard exclaiming.

"Are you okay?" Batman, Dana and Max asked Coba in unison.

Brooklyn nodded, though she was shaking in shock at nearly falling. "W-whacked my shoulder h-hard on Cynthia," she stammered, "b-but I'm okay..." She trailed off, her eyes growing wide as she looked around and down to find Cynthia's body laying on the floor below the couch.

"The couch's weight popped her head off," Dana said, trying not to shudder.

"How did that happen?" the Dark Knight asked.

Max helped Coba back to her wheelchair. "There's one thing I really want to know about what happened here," Gibson stated grimly.

Howard shrank back and swallowed hard.

Much to everyone's surprise, Max looked at Coba. "Seriously? 'Zuka zama?'"

"Hey, not my fault Disney Channel had a marathon of The Lion Guard these past week nights," Coba replied defensively, her fright momentarily forgotten.

"Your fault you've been watching, though."

"The dog wanted to! There's no way I want to get on his bad side. He's huge!"

And he has a temper, Terry thought. He looked at the crowd. "What happened here?"

"Cynthia got mad at Howard for some reason," Blade responded. "Max tried to fight her, but was almost wasted by her. Coba flew out of her chair and out the window while hitting Cynthia."

Batman blinked in surprise at his half-sister, then passed a secret wink. "Good work, but be more careful next time, okay?" Told you that device would be good for something.

Coba nodded with a gentle grin. "Okay, Batman." Thanks, bro, she thought.

McGinnis turned to Howard. "How did Cynthia get mad?" he asked.

"I told her I wanted to see other girls," Howard said nervously.

Batman raised a brow. "Really? What made you think that was the right thing to say?"

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.

Howard looked down. "Because I was going to tell her we could still be friends?"

Coba bit her lip to keep from laughing and yelling in disapproval all at once. Max and Dana exchanged glances while the party-goers either laughed or grunted in disgust. Batman facepalmed.

"Wrong thing to say?"

"Is it ever the right thing?" Terry retorted. As he turned to leave, he paused at the broken window. "By the way, I saw a car licensed to your father heading this way. Good luck explaining all this to your parents." Without further ado, he flew out of the house, allowing the teens to exit the house in a hurry before Howard's parents returned, broke because of their son's over spending with their credit card for Cynthia...