Some days, we cannot avoid a tragedy. There may be a villain who spits in the face of peace, and displays an ulcerous refutation of negotiation. There will inevitably come a day where someone has to die, and on some days, this will only be after far too many innocent people are cut down in mindless waste.

Then, there are other days. Those days where nobody has to die, and everybody gets to live. Those days are precious. If it weren't for those rare days, even I wouldn't have the iron stomach to handle it. Then again, my stomach has some sterner materials put into it. I also have kidneys of titanium.

You've probably guessed whose story this is. Cyborg, tin man of the Teen Titans. I would usually spend this kind of day hanging with Beast Boy, or any of the others. But my dad at S.T.A.R. got a tip that something wasn't right at one of their more secluded bases, and sent me to personally investigate. Some would think that only a psycho dad would send his own son in to handle something that could be incredibly dangerous. I've learned that he only requested me out of all others because he wouldn't trust anyone else to figure out a technological problem to save innocent lives.

I just really, really wished I had brought the others along. "Ain't no problem I can't handle alone," I told 'em! "I'll be back in time to smack down BB at another game," I declared! Yeah, then I realized we weren't just going South, we were going way way way way waaay South. "Oh man," I grumbled as we passed by Patagonia's furthest edge, "Dad, would it have killed you to mention the whole Antarctica thing?" At least I wouldn't be in danger of overheating. Stay positive, Cyborg, I told myself. Be brave.

We arrived without any issue, and to my relief, Dad had finished work on new cold weather attachments. This way, my biological parts wouldn't turn to ice. That was always a good thing to avoid. Attachments giving a low, comforting hum, I entered the icy base without issue. No guards? Well, this place seemed pretty hush-hush. Other than the penguins, I doubted they would need that much protection. Then, two hovering drones darted down to stop me, and scan me. They immediately recognized me, and disappeared above to allow me through. I looked up, and saw a horde of the buggers milling around the ceiling like a wasp nest.

Eager to get over the eerie similarity in the behavior ("Dammit Dad," I griped to no one in particular, "could we please institute a design policy against 'wanton creepiness?' Please!"), I headed deeper in. Very few people were around, and those who were seemed regretfully too busy maintaining consoles to say hello. When I at last got to the center, I found a petite little blonde staring up at me. She bobbed her head towards a ceiling-high canister of a chamber, and wordlessly led me in. "Hello to you too," I sighed, following.

Inside of the room was something I couldn't quite wrap my head around. It seemed to almost be made out of glowing organs, lit by a liquid golden-orange aura. Circling it was a six-ring array of shining platinum-hued metal. Monitors all over were carefully observing the energy readings, and it looked like something big was about to happen.

The blonde scientist opened her mouth to explain, but suddenly, we felt like the object was, well, taking a huge breath. Then, the screaming started: "I'M STILL ALIVE! LET ME OUT! I'M STILL ALIVE, DAMN YOU!" The creature started to bulge on one side, and its glow flickered, then faded. The rings quickly began to rust, and crash to the ground - with my sonic cannon, I shot one ring away before it could fall on top of some fleeing techs.

When the orange ball of guts finally lost all of its light, something broke its surface with a spray of blood. Good God I had never seen so much blood in all of my life. The blood frothed and spewed, and made my stomach churn violently. When the orb completely ruptured like a popped balloon, the blood rained down on the awed and silenced room. Yet while the organ ball seemed to be nothing but congealed blood, something definitely was not.

It was a woman. Well, basically. The narrow golden eyes, those freaky ears, and of course the muzzle and fur notwithstanding. She was stark naked, but too much blood covered her to make anything out. She seemed to be ready to speak, but then pitched forward. Swinging back, she fell on her back in a dead faint.

Scientists closed in to inspect her, while the blonde scientist - thinking quickly - snatched up a waste basket for me to vomit into.

So much for that legendary stomach of steel.