Chapter 11: Uncharacteristic

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans


In the two weeks that Kyd Wykkyd had been able to use his powers again, his methods of communication had not changed much at all. It seemed that he rarely used his telepathic abilities to speak, and Raven irritably wondered why he had missed them so much in the first place.

They sat in a clearing around a fire as the sun went down, and the sorceress stared absently at the stars above her, wondering if her friends missed her half as much as she missed them. Suddenly a smooth mental voice invaded the silence, 'You seem upset'.

She faced Elliot, surprised that he had spoken, "I have a lot on my mind." He gazed at her with interest, 'Would you like to talk about it?'

Her initial reaction was to decline, but she realized that this was a rare opportunity to get Elliot talking, and decided to take it. "I miss home. I miss my friends, and...I wonder if they're looking for me," she trailed off at the end. Kyd Wykkyd frowned, 'I'm sure they are. The Titans seem very loyal.'

Raven nodded and stared off into the distance, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Wykkyd's mind strayed to memories of his dysfunctional team. He would be lying if he said they were more pleasant to be around than Raven and Scarlet. He didn't miss the food fights and TV hogging. In fact, he didn't miss television at all.

She furrowed her brow, "Do you mind if I ask what your team had to do with Psimon?" He shrugged, 'He had this crazy plan to take over the world by controlling the minds of metahumans. Psimon double-crossed Gizmo, so he showed us the list of people the telepath wanted to brainwash. We tried to steal the parts to his amplifier to keep him from controlling us.'

Raven rubbed her temples slowly, "So we were actually on the same side. Interesting." Kyd Wykkyd nodded, a bright smile in place, 'We told ourselves that we were being selfish, but I think deep down we knew we were playing hero.'

Raven gazed at him innocently, "What's wrong with playing hero?" His smile transformed into a grim smirk, 'It's not who we are.' She pursed her lips, "It's not who the HIVE 5 are, or it's not who you are?" He shrugged, 'Does the distinction matter?'

Raven nodded affirmatively, and he mulled it over silently, 'I'm not a hero.' She pursued the question further, "Why not?" Elliot's jaw tightened, 'I can't be.'

After a slight pause, his expression became smug, 'Why don't you ask me what you really want to know?' The sorceress grew quiet before she continued. "Were you born unable to speak?", Raven asked cautiously, keeping her eyes on the campfire.

Wykkyd shook his head.

"I thought so." After a slight pause, she continued, "What happened to you?"

Kyd smirked grimly, 'I talked too much'.

Raven tilted her head to the side questioningly, and Elliot followed up by explaining, 'My father always hated me. My best guess is that it was because of some prejudice against my mother. He used to beat me in his drunken stupors... I was nine years old. One night, I asked one too many questions about my absent mother, and he slit my throat with his favorite pocket knife.'

Elliot absentmindedly traced the path of the scar on his throat, and the corners of his lips twitched upward in a grim smile, 'Shortly after waking up in the hospital, I was removed from my father's custody, and began to train for my imminent revenge. I used that very same pocket knife to cut out his tongue about five years ago, after which, I adopted the name Kyd Wykkyd.'

Scarlet gazed at him quizzically, and he explained quickly, 'Wicked was last thing he ever called me.' He shrugged nonchalantly, 'It seemed fitting'.

Raven's eyes were wide with shock, "Very..."

Elliot's smirk faltered when he noticed the girl's expression, and he spoke nervously, 'I probably should have kept that last part to myself.'

Scarlet snorted her amusement, 'Nonsense, it was brilliant!'

Raven raised an eyebrow at them, "You two are quite a pair."

They sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying the sounds of nature around them, mutant or otherwise. 'Any more questions?', the pale boy inquired. Raven glanced skyward for a few seconds as she thought about it very seriously, and then she turned her gaze to him once more, "Why did you become a villain?"

Kyd Wykkyd shot her a smile that was equal parts vulnerable and dark, 'It's hard to fight your demons sometimes.' The sorceress froze in response, unable to move a muscle. She sat staring at him, not bothering to formulate words. His brow furrowed as he noticed her slight discomfort at his words, and studied the girl silently.

After a few seconds, Raven forced out a few words, "What did you say...about demons?" Wykkyd frowned in confusion, 'It's hard to fight them.' Raven remained stiff as a board for a few more minutes, before she slowly relaxed and let out a soft chuckle, "I thought you were about to tell me you were related to one."

She noticed that Elliot still wore his former expression of confusion, and offered him a reassuring glance. The boy raised an eyebrow at her, 'I didn't say I wasn't.'

Her face twitched, as if fighting off any form of expression.

Elliot was not one to give in to feelings of awkwardness, and thus he did not feel uncomfortable very often. Sadly enough, in this particular situation, it seemed to be practically unavoidable.

Raven slowly got onto her hands and knees, and crawled toward him. The cowled teen remained still as she came closer, and sat down across from him, close enough that their knees were almost touching. She timidly extended her pale hand, and grasped the edge of his cowl with her forefingers before quickly jerking it off. Elliot narrowed his eyes at her, slightly annoyed at her odd behavior.

Raven roughly placed her hands on the sides of his head and began to rotate it up and around as she seemingly inspected his features. Elliot made a sour face and jerked his head away from her, which she didn't seem to take offense to.

She leaned backward, and thankfully out of his personal space, before she spoke, "So you're half demon too? I should have known; it's the eyes that give it away." The dark-haired boy lightly frowned at her, 'Not half. I believe my mother may have been half, but I can't be certain.'

Raven frowned at him incredulously, "So you're saying that's why you're a villain? Pretty weak reasoning, if you ask me." Elliot crossed his arms and looked away from the girl, reminding her of a child, 'Well, I didn't ask you. And why do you assume I was talking about literal demons?'

Raven harrumphed and mimicked his current childish position, "Then what's your real reason, Elliot?"

He leaned toward her, so that they were almost nose-to-nose,

'I do what I want.'

The sorceress rolled her eyes, unimpressed with his answer. The boy resumed his former upright position, and smirked at her impishly,

'It just so happens to be against the law a lot of the time.'

Everything seemed extremely hazy to Robin, who couldn't seem to snap out of his funk. The feeling was similar to waking up after a long nap, and being unsure of where one was, regardless of how familiar the environment was.

He rolled out of his bed, swaying a bit as he stood, and hobbled out to the hallway. He made a mental note to himself that he was indeed in the Tower, and tried to remember how to get to the place he knew he should go. What was the name of it again?

The Communal Area?

The Mutual Space?

The Boy Wonder roughly rubbed his hands over his face, and was startled to realize that he was not in his uniform. He was wearing bland cotton pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt. The most shocking thing about his attire was the fact that he was not wearing his mask or utility belt.

He knew that those things were important, but could not pinpoint why he was missing them. Robin retraced his steps and arrived back in his room, where he threw open his closet. He grunted in frustration, "Empty."

He looked into the mirror, and ran his fingertips over his bare face. It had been so long since he had taken off his mask, that he hadn't noticed how his features had changed. His face was framed by his un-gelled messy hair, and had only small traces of childish roundness.

His cheekbones had become more prominent, but what surprised him the most were his eyes. The sky blue coloring of his irises did nothing to soften the cold, steely, gaze that greeted him. Though he was surprised, his expression did not betray any emotion.

He couldn't help but to think that he looked just like...

"I'm going crazy," Robin muttered to himself, as he turned away from the mirror.

"I need to find the... place I can't remember the name of."

He then marched out of his spotless room with a determined look in his eyes.

Raven ducked as a red laser beam buzzed through the air where her head had been. Her pallid face remained impassive as her female adversary advanced, crimson energy dancing in the air around her.

The woman had deep black hair, pale blue skin, and sharp features that made her resemble a cat. As the morning breeze tousled her violet hair, the sorceress focused on the rocks beneath her feet, and they lifted up from the ground as if gravity had momentarily been turned off.

The obsidian coated earth shot toward the blue skinned woman at breakneck speed, but were knocked off course by a surge of laser energy.

Raven dodged another blast, and was forced to backpedal as the woman's partner rushed her. He was a huge male creature with thick muscled arms and horns protruding from the sides of his massive head.

The empath began to doubt her decision to engage the super criminals, but she couldn't very well leave them to plunder the small village she was passing through.

She scanned the area for more projectiles, but realized that the only things around were the bystanders and their houses. The sorceress couldn't very well use either of those things, and was forced to attack only with her dark energy.

White light emanated from her eyes as she slowly lifted her arms above her head and then slammed them down as if slapping a tabletop. Giant black energy hands copied her movements exactly, slamming down on the man, who used his brutish strength to fight back against them.

The blue skinned woman used Raven's preoccupation to enter a nearby house and reemerge with a basket of bread, a distraught woman trailing behind her with a child in tow. The sorceress grunted her frustration, and redoubled her efforts.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she shouted as the black claws slapped him to the side, allowing her to focus her attention on the other thief. Raven sunk into the ground and reappeared in front of the woman, who skidded to a stop, the basket swinging on her arm. A sneer spread across her azure face as her narrowed eyes began to dance with scarlet energy.

The sorceress struck the woman with a powerful roundhouse, knocking her head to the side as the red laser fired. Raven realized too late that in the path of the blast stood a child holding a teddy bear.

She blinked, and registered nothing but scorch marks on the path. In an instant, Kyd Wykkyd had appeared before the crowd, dropping the child on her bottom next to a shocked mother.

He disappeared once again and materialized on the back of the horned creature who had been trying to sneak up on Raven.

Elliot flittered in and out of existence as he viciously assaulted the gigantic criminal, and within about ten minutes, the man was out cold.

The ebony haired boy rubbed his knuckles, which were rather busted up from his battle. Raven finished off her opponent and turned to Kyd Wykkyd, who was being thanked by a tearful mother.

He was clearly uncomfortable with the praise, and backed away nervously before teleporting away. The sorceress offered the stolen basket of bread to its rightful owner, who invited them to dinner as a show of gratitude.

"Thank you. My friend may not come, but I will definitely try to be there," the sorceress assured her before teleporting back to their camp.

She arrived to find Scarlet still asleep beside the remnants of their fire from the night before. Elliot sat on a boulder on the edge of their camp, massaging his battered knuckles as he stared out at the river.

Raven took a seat on a rock next to him, and gestured at his hands. He sighed as he spread his fingers carefully, 'It was like punching a wall.'

The grey skinned sorceress remained impassive and took his damaged hands in hers; a blue energy eased the burn and closed the open flesh.

"You saved her," she stated simply.

Kyd Wykkyd scrambled in silence, 'Well...I had to do something...' Raven nodded, "I'm glad you did." She released his hands and fell silent for a few minutes as they both gazed out at the river, watching the giant fish leap out over the water.

"A woman from the village invited us to dinner," the empath rasped. Elliot raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged, "She wants to say thank you."

Kyd Wykkyd grimaced and raised a finger to protest, but the girl interrupted him, "You should come."

The tone of her voice made it sound like more of an order than a suggestion. 'Why don't we vote on it? If Scarlet would rather hunt, then we stay behind,' he offered hopefully. The dragon stirred at the sound of her name, and yawned thunderously.

'Vote on what?', she inquired. "A woman in the village asked us to eat dinner with her as thanks for saving the town this morning. Elliot wants to vote on whether we should all go or not," Raven explained.

'I would very much enjoy meeting new people,' Scarlet replied, excitement evident in her mental voice. Elliot sighed and hung his head in defeat. Raven stood and placed her hands on her hips triumphantly,

"That settles it."

Cyborg wandered around the familiar room, feeling quite odd. He stubbed his toe on the corner of his work table, and held his breath as he hopped around on his uninjured foot.

His eyes remained squeezed shut as he uttered a very colorful word, and all of a sudden he froze in surprise. "That shouldn't hurt...", he murmured to himself, as he reluctantly opened his eyes.

He was greeted with a sight that would have knocked the wind out of him, had he not been so surprised already. He was staring at a bare human foot. His own foot.

He promptly stood up and pinched the soft skin on his left arm, before he bolted over to find a mirror. When he found said mirror, he gazed into it for what felt like an eternity.

One would assume that waking up fully human would overwhelm the teenager with joy, but at that moment, he was just overwhelmed. A steady trickle of doubts seemed to seep into his mind as he stared at his reflection, and soon enough, he felt like he was drowning in them.

Ever since his heart-to-heart with Starfire, he had become comfortable with his cybernetic body parts. He didn't miss being human anymore, and now that it seemed he was human again, he had mixed feelings about it.

He realized that being half machine had become part of who he was, and having that stripped away made him feel rather hollow. Cyborg had thought he was confident enough in himself to not let his appearance define him, and it frightened him to learn that this was not the case.

He had not grown as much as he thought he had, and it made him question everything about himself. His real name was not Cyborg.

Was it?


A/N: I was looking at the word count on my stories, and I realized that this one has already passed every other story I've written. Strange, because it didn't seem that much longer to me.

Based on the reviews, it seems that you guys are enjoying the story! I'm glad to be of service. :)

~Rose