"A full body synthetic skin suit?" questioned Cyborg. "Are you serious?"
"That's right," Pluto nodded. "That is my gift to you, my friend."
Both Titans were in Pluto's lab. The former Dog Knight was explaining a new discovery he'd come upon. Actually, he'd gotten the idea from the Men in Black movies.
"With this suit, you'll feel like you actually have real skin," Pluto explained. "So, how about it?"
"But…" Cyborg hesitated.
"What's wrong?" Pluto asked.
"Will it work?" Cyborg asked.
"Don't you have any faith in me?" Pluto frowned.
What could Cyborg say? Pluto's track record wasn't exactly an excellent. He'd had more failures than successes since he started out as an inventor and Cyborg had witnessed these inventions exploding in a blaze of 'glory'. So, Cyborg was allowed to have his doubts.
"Listen, Cyborg," Pluto sighed. "Vic, I went to Fixit for help with this. We'll use the TR-Chambers for this. The material is a synthetic goop that would mould onto your body. It has nanobots which will connect to your central processor so that you can actually feel through the skin like it's really there." He added, "Don't you miss it? When you hold Sarah's hand, don't you want to actually feel her soft skin against yours?"
Cyborg was wary. In truth he'd gotten used to being this half-man, half-machine 'monster'. Now, he was being given a second chance at life. A hologram that made him look normal wasn't the same as feeling normal but he'd coped with it.
"When can we start?" asked Cyborg.
"When Fixit arrives, we'll start," said Pluto.
"Are you ready, Cyborg?" asked Fixit. He'd arrived at Pluto's request to assist in the procedure.
"As ready as I'll ever be," said Cyborg. He was in the chamber and had on his serious face.
"OK, Cy," Pluto said from his place on the console. "We'll have to shut you down."
"Shut me down?" Cyborg asked, shocked. "Why?"
"Because, there are risks with this procedure," Pluto explained as he hooked his visor to the computer console and used his technopathic abilities to control it. "You may go into neural shock so we have to take it slow."
Cyborg trusted Pluto and Fixit, but he was still doubtful about this whole thing. Shut himself down? That would leave him vulnerable. But…he reminded himself of Sarah and nodded, "OK. I'm shutting myself down. Be sure to turn me back on."
Pluto gave his friend a thumb's up. "Will do." Cyborg closed his human eye as the red bionic eye dimmed. "Fixit, I want you to monitor Cy's status for me, OK?"
"I promise," Fixit nodded as he watched the chamber doors close.
Pluto's visor showed him the data as he commanded, "Begin procedure…"
Cyborg opened his eyes to see both Fixit and Pluto looking down on him. "Huh?" Cyborg asked. "Is it done?" He raised a hand to rub his tired eyes but then realised that instead of metal, it was skin! "Huh?"
Pluto grinned as he showed Cyborg a mirror. "Welcome back, Victor Stone." On the reflection, instead of mixture of skin, metal and circuitry, was the handsome face of an African American male in his early twenties. He was still bald, though and Cyborg actually had two human eyes.
Cyborg…Victor sat up from the cot he was on and touched his face. It felt…it felt real! His lips curled into a smile as he showed his teeth, looking at himself at all angles. "This…this is…" Victor managed to stutter.
"You, the old you," Pluto smiled and was suddenly swept in a hug.
"Thank you, dawg! Thank you! Thank you!" Victor shouted.
"Vic, I know you're happy," said Pluto, "And you know I'm invulnerable, but I can still feel pain!" Victor let go of his friend.
"Man, sorry," Victor chuckled. "I can't wait to show the others."
"You might wanna put some clothes on," Pluto pointed and Victor could see that he was covered by a blanket from the waist down. He lifted it up and blushed before putting it down.
"You even…" Victor began.
"The full body skin suit covers ALL the parts, Victor," said Pluto. Fixit wheeled over a tray with clothes, the same ones Victor's alias, Stone, had worn. "Now, get dressed. I'm going to call the others and surprise them."
"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother coming to these 'unveilings'," Shadow sighed as he was with the other Titans in the living room. "I mean I should've learnt by now that anything Pluto wants to show us will end in disaster."
"Well, his inventions haven't totally sucked," said Raven reasonably. "The TR-Chamber for one is great and well he did help fix up and upgrade the Tower mainframe and equipment."
"I know, but he has done a lot of unintentional damage with his inventions so my faith in him is severely lacking."
Pluto came through the door and grinned.
"What is this about, mutt?" asked Shadow.
"Oh, just wanting to show you something." He cleared his throat, "Presenting, the new and improved...VICTOR STONE!" The door to the living room opened and Victor walked in. All jaws dropped and eyes widened.
"Hi guys," Victor grinned. "I'm me again."
