Chapter Ten – Subterra Incognita
Silkie slobbered on Cyborg's face at five in the morning.
"What the fuck," he grunted, blinking. The small pink larvae gurgled at his face, clearly hungry.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Cyborg," Bumblebee muttered from beside him, "feed the damn worm."
Cyborg moaned and Silkie continued to bubble, sucking genially on Cyborg's ear. He picked up the little worm and walked sleepily into the kitchen. Still half-asleep, he went to the fridge and pulled out the giant tub of pink gorkaberries. Too tired to scoop any out into a bowl, he just dropped Silkie into the tub, and immediately came the contented sound of munching. Cyborg leaned up against the gleaming granite countertop.
Out of all the Titans, how the hell had he ended up with Silkie?
Years ago, back when it was first becoming clear that the Titans were no more, Starfire had obviously said she'd take her pet. But when The Great Whatever had happened between her and Robin – nine years later and Cyborg had no idea what the fight had actually been about – Starfire shot off into the sky and he never saw her again. Robin was gone pretty quickly afterwards, enrolling in the police academy as Dick Grayson. Raven and Beast Boy had held out longer, and at first they moved in together and took Silkie with them. Cyborg and Bee stayed in the Tower, keeping things together, but after a year, Beast Boy showed up on the doorstep of the tower with the most heartbroken eyes in the world and Silkie in his arms. In the shortest conversation of Cyborg's life, Beast Boy told him Raven was gone and he needed to take Silkie. Without fully understanding what had happened, Cyborg took Silkie and watched Beast Boy turn into a hawk and fly into the sky.
That was the last he'd seen of any of the Titans.
He sighed and reached down to pet Silkie. The little worm looked up and gurgled. Maybe that was why he'd never tried harder to get rid of the worm. Silkie was his last living link to the Titans.
Thank God Starfire had planted an entire garden of gorkaberries out back, so feeding Silkie had never been a problem. Cyborg peered into the bucket, saw that Silkie had devoured at least half of it, and gently pried the worm out. Time to make some more gorkaberry mash. Something was beeping in the background. Cyborg wiped off Silkie's bottom and let him slime his way around the kitchen to go take a nap.
But the beeping continued. Cyborg went to investigate.
Things beeped all the time in his and Bee's house. So it was normal for him to wander around for five minutes attempting to find the beeping in the dark. After a while, he found it was coming from his special computer in the corner. A small red 'T' was blinking on the screen.
He leaned over and frowned.
"Hey, Bee?"
She grunted.
"Bee, babe, can you come take a look at this?"
After a few minutes of angry shuffling, Bee walked out of the room, her weave off, wearing a long black bathrobe. "What is it?"
"Something's underneath the Tower."
Her eyes snapped to attention. "Titans Tower?"
He nodded and sat down. In the darkness, the two of them peered at the computer as Cyborg pulled up the files. His eyes shifted through the data on the screen.
"There's seismic activity…I can't quite tell what this means…"
"It can't be Terra…?"
"No, she's gone…if it was her, the sensors I placed on her grave would have gone off by now…this is something different."
Different numbers popped up on the screen, and Cyborg's brain worked to process. Heat sensors…tide activities…economic factors?
"It's oil," he finally realized. "It's a reservoir of oil, beneath the sea. Right below the Tower. And it's moving."
"Natural movements?"
"No, somebody is moving it. And I can't tell where. It's moving beneath the city. Like someone is gathering oil."
They stayed in silence for a moment. The clock in the corner ticked away. Cyborg, for the first time in his life, struggled to process something. Bumblebee's hand stayed on his shoulder.
"I don't get it," he said. "Who in the world has the power to control oil?"
Hey fabulous people! So I'm so sorry, I know this seems like a filler chapter, but I promise it has a point! To make amends, I'm gonna post Ch. 11 tomorrow, and I promise it's more exciting. You guys are the best, I'm so lucky to have such a great fanbase! Please keep the love coming! THANK YOU - PVB