So I really like how this survey thing is going, so it's still open! In case you don't know about it yet, if you fill out the writing survey on my profile page and send it in via review or PM, I'll write a request for you! Promise!
On this chapter: I've always thought that Cyborg is such a fun, diverse, under-appreciated character, but for whatever reason, I have the biggest writer's block when it comes to him. So…I decided to cure it with these drabbles. This is my first time writing like this, so feel free to list your favorites or least favorites!
6-18-16
Cyborg in 50 Moments
1. Acceptance
His best friend from the time they packed their toy trucks with mud never returned his messages, his girlfriend said he was a monster, and his dad had stopped referring to him as "son" and started calling him "subject"…and yet when he lowered his hood and yelled like the monster people thought he was, one of the first words out of the kid's mouth was: "COOL!"
2. Book
Raven left hers locked in a chest, while Robin let his scrapbook of faded posters, pamphlets, and tickets gather dust; Beast Boy could gaze at his photo album from Africa for hours, and Cyborg, with all of his strength, couldn't tear away from his storybook, the sole proof besides his armor that the woman he first loved had existed at all.
3. Chores
"Man, I don't even wear clothes," Cyborg grumbled, a clothespin pinching his nostrils as he sorted through Beast Boy's delicates. "Points for anyone who can survive Grass Stain's st— oh." Light bulb.
4. Safe Word
"…then stuff it with Starfire's food—" "Clorbag." "Ooh, what about slathering Robin's underwear with hair gel and—" "Clorbag." "I'm really starting to hate that word… what about sneaking into Raven's r—" "Suicidal."
5. Favors
Raven accompanies him without complaint whenever he needs an extra hand (or a black claw of energy) to help him sift through the junkyard. In return, Cyborg is to never tell Beast Boy that she owns the complete series of Twilight.
6. Fashion
After the H.I.V.E. Academy, Cyborg wondered what had happened to his robot double. He wished he hadn't asked when he finds it in Starfire's room being used as a fashion model. Green eye shadow is not in his color wheel.
7. Retribution
Cyborg learned fast to never get on the bad side of demonic and/or flying girls. So when he is trapped by a pair of stingers and a glowing pink hand, he wonders just how in the hell he screwed up so badly.
8. Zoo
About an hour into Beast Boy's rant about how the lions' cages were not feline friendly, Cyborg snapped, "If you don't quit complaining, you'll figure out just how unfriendly those cages are." Instantly, he wished he could shove those words back up his tin can when Beast Boy murmured, "I already know."
9. Toys
When Robin gave him the tour of his array of weapons, listing off the name, statistics, build, and techniques for each one as enthusiastically as if they were Pokémon cards, Cyborg could almost picture their stoic leader as the child he never was.
10. Gift
The green girl's eyes filled with wonder as the miniature animals revolved around the carousel that Cyborg had made especially for her. Changeling nudged him. "Nice job, dude! So, where's mine?"
11. Accusation
"Whoever dyed my masks pink will get five hours of extra training!" Simultaneously, Cyborg's and Beast Boy's fingers flew up and pointed at each other.
12. Misunderstanding
"Alright, 'Fess up! Who took my rotary cylinder-radius end rasp?" Beast Boy blinked. "You mean…you don't use that circle-thingie to clean in between your toes?
13. Beliefs
The only time that Cyboug doubted his faith was after the accident. When he joined the Titans, he never doubted it again.
14. Pride
Mama's last words were that she was proud of the man he had become. He was only half-man now, but he had no doubt that she would feel the same way as she had before.
15. Evidence
Ever since their first kiss (ahem, language transference via tongue), Cyborg filmed every single moment he could between Robin and Starfire that could possibly be construed as romantic. At first his plans were to use the videos for blackmail—but he found a better use for them when the Worst Detective in the History of Detecting needed convincing that his affections were reciprocated. It only took 169 recordings.
16. Catch
The first words that Beast Boy said to him once he learned that Cyborg had pieced his body back together with blue energy was: "So…you can catch me the next time Raven throws me out the window, right?"
17. Fault
Beast Boy stomped up to him dripping wet. "You just couldn't use Plexiglas, could you?"
18. Pet
When Silkie slept on his shoulder at night, he could almost imagine the little warm body was his old dog, T-Bone. Except with T-Bone, he never woke up with half of his fingers missing.
19. Opposites
The magazines claim that Starfire and Beast Boy were made for each other, just like Robin and Raven were destined to be together. While it was true that each set of friends shared an understanding that the other pair would never have, only Cyborg knew that the sole person who could lure the demoness out of her solitude was Beast Boy, and only Starfire's wide-eyed innocence could make Robin laugh and forget about his work.
20. Obvious
"How come you can make Raven smile when I can't, and I've been trying for years!" "Have you ever tried, oh, I don't know, respecting her space?" Beast Boy opened his mouth, paused, and closed it again.
21. Remodeling
One of the adjustments Starfire had to make while living on earth was realizing that Earthling constructions weren't as durable as those on Tamaran. Five destroyed doors and one exasperated Cyborg later, and every door in the tower was replaced with a sliding one.
22. Sensors
"I can see you, you know." Control Freak froze mid tiptoe, unaware that concealment cloaks did not conceal his body temperature. Control Freak straightened and waved his hand in front of him. "This is not the villain you're looking for." "I'm not an android, idiot." BAM! "I'm a cyborg."
23. Bravery
A news reporter asked him that beside himself, who his favorite hero was. His teammates placed bets and teased each other, but were pleasantly surprised when he named a super-powerless boy who had ran into a burning house when he heard a baby crying inside.
24. Magnets
The entire day was agony while he waited for Beast Boy to unleash his pranks for April Fool's Day…and none came. He thought perhaps he was lucky enough that the boy had forgotten about the day. Then he went to charge his systems. As soon as he got within touching distance to his charging bed, an invisible force slammed him into it, and wouldn't release no matter how hard he pulled away. "BEAST BOY!"
25. Size (1)
(Version 1)
When it comes to clothing a six-foot man/robot, beggars cannot be choosers. That's how Cyborg ended up with a XXXXXL tuxedo in periwinkle.
(Version 2)
"Um, yeah, I'm calling to order a tux for a dance." "What size, sir?" "Do you have one in XXXXXL?" Beep…
26. Idiom
"Isn't it bad enough that Raven throws me out of windows already? I don't need to get beaten up by two girls!" "I am truly sorry, Friend Beast Boy, but Cyborg swore that Robin would only go dancing again at the flying of pigs."
27. Comfort
Cyborg had forgotten how good a real, soft bed felt instead of a metal table. Far better was the feel of a warm body snuggled against his.
28. Sailor
Starfire dodged the turret shooting at her—and flew straight into a boulder. "X'Hal ghordinsnoxt!" "Starfire! You kiss Boy Wonder with that mouth?!"
29. Program
Out of all his body parts, cybernetic or not, he never thought he'd have to make adjustments to his tongue. Then came Starfire's cooking. He hurriedly set to work on reprogramming his taste buds.
30. Safety
Over three hundred miles per hour in a second flat? Child's play. Traversable over water and rough terrain? Been there, done that. Bullet, fire, and water proof? Done. A proton cannon and sonic blasters? One step ahead of ya. Every upgrade, every second, every painstaking detail and tune-up he spent on his baby was all for one goal: so that his teammates would never suffer like he and his mama had.
31. Crafting
"Hey, Cy, can you teach me how to build something?" "Sure BB, whatcha wanna make?" "A box." "A box. And what will this box hold, exactly?" "My heart."
32. Confident
When Beast Boy asked to be taught how to build a box and hairclip, Cyborg was tentative, but agreed (after all, how often did Beast Boy make something himself rather than beg Cyborg to do it for him?). When Changeling asked to be taught how to craft a ring, Cyborg agreed without hesitation.
33. Remains
Fixit's stony face never flinched when the cloak ripped away, revealing not flesh and blood, but gnarls of glowing green organs that filled Cyborg's mouth with screams. For the first time, he was grateful that his dad had operated on him: at least he had left some parts of him that were still human.
34. Competition
"Man, if I can outeat Gnarrk, I can outeat anyone." "Maybe…but can you outeat Silkie?"
35. Shoot
Terra was lost, insecure, and an easy target to manipulate. He can understand that. Hell, he can even forgive that. But he can't forgive that she's the reason for the animalistic crying behind the door that now stays shut more than Raven's—and he wishes he had taken the shot.
36. Translation (2)
"Ooh, what does this button do?" "Hey! Cut that o— ¡Bajate! Yameru! Paenitet tibi hoc!"
37. Learning
Note to self, Cyborg thought as he stared up at the green boy suspended from the ceiling by his toes with black energy, if you don't want to end up like Grass Brain, never call Raven "Roth the Goth."
38. Immortal
"Been nice knowing ya, Rae." She didn't need to return the sentiment, or say how grateful she was that their friendship has transcended lifetimes; he already knew. So with her final nod, the bubble of dark energy around them burst, and the seawater rushed in.
39. Shattered
The leader at last… Should've been careful for what I wished for, Cyborg thought as he watched the feeds of Beast Boy scouring the newspapers for employment, Raven in the corner of her room muttering to no one, the dusty and deserted evidence room, and the shattered pearls on the floor that was taboo for anyone but her to touch.
40. Numbers
Four. That was how many weak spots of his thirty-five that had nothing to do with his physicality and everything to do with his camaraderie.
41. Song
"I'm only gonna say this once so listen up: there is not eight days in a week!"
42. Intrusion
Cyborg had felt it before: when his body was dissected against his will, when Overload pervaded his baby, when the Puppetmaster possessed him, and even when he lost control for the handful of minutes when Gizmo hacked his system. But never had he felt so violated than when he faced an army of himself, dehumanized to toy soldiers, all humanity wiped from their blank faces as they awaited the order of Brother Blood.
43. Uncle
"Now say it with me: con-fig-ur-a-tion disc." "Peet-sa! Gimme, gimme!" Cyborg sighs. "Like father, like son…."
44. Favorites
They would deny all claims, destroy all evidence, and take a bath in a tub full of Robin's hair gel before admitting to Raven that they made a list ranking her emoticlones. Surprisingly, at the top of the list was Rude. Boy, could that clone belch.
45. Bar (3)
One of the first things that Batman had taught him was to be ready for anything. But there was no way to be ready for…this: Cyborg with his head tilted back, a hanger balancing on his forehead, and Beast Boy with an expression of extreme pain as he sticks a straw up his nostril. Raven doesn't look up from her book. "Don't. Ask."
46. Introductions
"So you're Cyborg." Kid Flash beamed. "I thought you'd look different." "The magazines drawing me with a blue light in my chest, again?" "Nope, but I got the impression from Jinx that you'd have little hearts floating above your head. That was before she drew you with a knife in your back."
47. Outdated
Cyborg had long accepted it—even before run-down treads scuttled across the dirty floor like cockroaches, while unblinking red eyes stared at him from the shadows, his only company—in the end, he was just like Fixit.
48. Magic
"And now…I will saw this man in half—with no boxes." BZZZZ! The crowd screamed; at least three women fainted. After the curtains closed, an African American man and a skinny, blonde boy were still guffawing as they slid off their hologram rings and reattached the former's legs back to his abdomen.
49. Competition
It wasn't his cocky grin, or his genius intellect, or even that he's dating the sorceress he had had a huge crush on. It was the fact that he can memorize and execute the hardest combos in every fighting game known to man—in a split second—that made him detest Kid Flash.
50. Request
His robotic wings folded back as Cyborg skidded to a stop. He had barely enough time to cheer "Booyah!" before Beast Boy whined, "Now can you build me a moped?"
Notes:
(1) You get two versions, because I'm indecisive.
(2) According to Google, 'bajate' is 'get off' in Spanish; 'you'll regret this' is 'paenitet tibi hoc' in Latin; and 'stop' is 'yameru' in Japanese.
(3) Inspired by "Stage 56 Bar Tricks" on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
NEXT:
Cyborg tried to peer through the cloud but could only make out grainy shadows. He coughed, the gritty particles he had inhaled grinding inside his esophagus.
"Stop playing, man," he croaked, his throat searing. "Where the hell are you?"