Chapter 9
Events in motion...
"So this T-sub, ship thing?" Beast Boy questioned, "What is it supposed to do?"
"It'll allow us to operate as a team underwater." Cyborg answered, "I have been working hours on end to get it ready."
"Friends!" Starfire called as she entered the main room where the two were "Have either of you seen our friends Polybius or Robin?"
"Robin is in the same place he always is." Beast Boy stated, "As for Polybius…"
"He's in his room." Cyborg said.
"Oh, I was afraid you would say the latter!" Starfire commented.
"Why?" Beast Boy asked.
"Because ever since Robin hollered at him, and Montezuma whooped him again, he seems to be turning more into a hermit." Raven said as she entered the room.
"Oh, I fear that our friend has lied to us about him not being hurt by Robin's meanness!" Starfire cried.
"Polybius is fine." Beast Boy said "Dude never takes things to heart."
"That's not the point." Raven sharply stated, "The point is, we should be worried about him."
"He's fine." Cyborg assured them "BB's right. The guy is just probably a little upset that he has been getting his butt kicked so much lately. Why with the puppet king and Montezuma really giving him a hard time, he's probably trying to figure out ways to improve himself."
"How can our friend do that by hiding away in his room all day?" Starfire asked.
"Raven does it." Beast Boy stated, getting a harsh glare from the girls.
"Look, I think you guys are just a bit too worried about Polybius." Cyborg said, "Don't worry, his good looks aren't going anywhere anytime soon."
"Hey!" Both girls scolded the older Titan, as the other two just laughed.
"Oh come on girls!" Cyborg said, "Every girl in Jump City wants him, and we know you both do too!"
"Aw man, I wish I had his looks." Beast Boy commented, "I'd be drowning in hot girls right now!"
"And with twelve STDs." Cyborg tacked on, causing both to laugh.
"You right, you right." Beast Boy didn't even deny it.
"Gosh darn it you two, this is serious!" Raven shouted, her anger rising.
"Yeah, seriously not fair." Beast Boy stated "Yo, Rae, you gotta spell to swap looks? We all know Polybius doesn't want his, and I do. Can you do that?"
"Ugh!" Both females grunted in anger as they walked out, leaving the two laughing at their own jokes.
"I swear, they can be so immature sometimes." Raven stated, "Especially Beast Boy."
"I agree." Starfire stated, "We should go and check up on our friend."
"No." Raven said.
"What!?" Starfire asked confused "But you just advocated for-"
"I know, I know." Raven said, "However, I think we should leave Polybius alone for right now."
"Why?" Starfire asked.
"Because it may not be what we think is bothering him, is actually bothering him." Raven said "It may be more personal, like the case with him not joining us for meals. It may be this is just a bad time in his life."
As Raven said this, in the mute Titan's room, Polybius was standing and looking at his bulletin board which was covered in every clue he could get of Montezuma.
And he wasn't alone.
"Robin's right!" The dark Polybius, who Polybius had given the name Darkbius, stated "He is sacrificing people! Why else would he steal a freaking sacrificial dagger!?"
The mute Titan shook his head in shame.
"You can't do anything right!" Darkbius scolded the mute "As you sit here and wallow in misery, people are dying. But it's a good thing that you do sit here because you'd probably just end up getting more people hurt, or more likely killed. After all, you can't even fight him!"
The mute Titan looked down at the ground, knowing full well Darkbius was right. While Polybius sat here unable to figure out the location of the man's hideout, people were dying. Most likely, the Aztec was doing something right now.
And that Aztec was doing something, but not what Polybius was thinking. He, dressed in civilians, cleaning his house as requested by the Sun God.
A few days later the Titans had been informed by mysterious disappearances of shipping ships shipping nuclear waste. This led them to take the new six-seater submarine Cyborg had just finished building the week prior, out to explore and discover what was going on.
And after a long series of events, the team found themselves meeting a young, Alanteean hero named Aqualad who was on this 'Trident' case.
After Beast Boy and Aqualad took off to go find the mysterious villain. Cyborg, Tramp, and Polybius worked on the ship, Robin, Starfire, and Raven meanwhile took a moment to relax.
"Dang it!" Cyborg said as he did something wrong, causing the tool he was using to go flying out of the ship and land off somewhere.
"Yo, Polybius, could you go get that for me?" The teen asked.
The mute gave the half-human a thumbs up as he went off to go get it.
Once there, Polybius picked up the tool but heard the hushed voices of Starfire and Raven talking just on the other side of the rock.
"Could you imagine Polybius wearing Aqualad's uniform." Starfire whispered.
"If Polybius is as ripped as him, he'd be to die for." Raven added.
"That would be quite, the sexy, yes?" Starfire said.
"Totally." Raven finished.
Polybius blinked a few times as he heard the words he wasn't supposed to hear. The two girls began to giggle to themselves.
"So who do you think is the hotter?" Starfire asked.
"Polybius." Raven stated "Polybius by a long shot. Aqualad may be good looking, but he is far outshined by Polybius."
"Agreed." Starfire giggled.
Feeling a sense of anger rise up in him, Polybius quickly turned and stormed away. He handed the tool to Cyborg, who noticed how tightly Polybius was holding it.
"Yo, everything okay?" Cyborg asked.
Polybius gave a fake nod without making eye contact.
"You sure?" Cyborg asked again.
Polybius gave another nod without making eye contact.
"Alright." Cyborg stated.
Ultimately, the team would pull through in defeating Trident. Once home, Polybius headed up to his room and locked himself away again.
"You knew I was right." Darkibus said as Polybius slammed his fist into the wall "Oh, now don't act surprised. No need to throw a childish temper tantrum."
Polybius shook his head and looked at the ground, hunched over, fist against the wall.
"I tried to tell you, Polybius." The dark Polybius stated "They aren't your friends. Those two girls are keeping you around for eye candy."
Polybius didn't respond.
"You know, I honestly don't know why you are still here." Darkbius stated "Oh wait, that's right. Because you've got only one other place you could go! And you can try to run away. From me, but I am apart of you. I always have been and I always will be."
Polybius pushed himself off the wall and landed into his bed. Rolling around so he was on his back, he looked up at his ceiling.
"You should have stayed, Polybius." Darkbius stated, "You should have never left."
Meanwhile, deeper in the tower, the other Titans were sitting on the couch lounging around. Raven was deep into a book. Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing a game. Robin was reading up on a potential lead on Slade. And Starfire was looking out the window thinking.
"Hey, Star." Cyborg said "Whatcha thinkin about?"
"Oh, nothing." Starfire tried to lie.
"What's bothering you Star?" Robin looked up.
"Oh…" Starfire started "I am just worried about our friend."
"Polybius?" Beast Boy asked, "He's probably fine."
"Yeah." Cyborg agreed "Probably sleeping. He was working hard to fix the T-sub."
"But what if our friend is not fine?" Starfire asked.
"Well, what do you think is wrong with him?" Raven asked.
"Ever since Robin yelled at him, he seems to become more of the withdrawn." Starfire started "I am afraid that he is not alright."
There was a moment of silence before Robin spoke up.
"You are right." Robin said "He has been more withdrawn since I yelled at him. But it's not like him to hold onto things."
"Yeah." Cyborg said "Guy lets go of things pretty quickly. If there is something wrong with him, I doubt it's that."
Starfire shook her head. She clearly didn't believe her friends.
"You know what." Robin said "How about we all go out to the park tomorrow. Take Polybius with and have a good time with him. That'll make him feel better if anything is wrong with him."
"That is a wonderful idea!" Starfire said with glee "I shall go inform Polybius of our plans for tomorrow!"
With that, Starfire flew out of the room and towards the mute Titan's room.
"You think she likes him?" Beast Boy proposed, causing Robin to tense up.
"Nah." Cyborg said "The girl's a worrier. She's just worried about him. If it were any of us were doing the same thing, she'd worry about us too."
"But is he alright?" Robin asked, "Starfire did propose a good question."
"I'm sure he is." Cyborg said "Polybius is a tough guy. I doubt there is much that can drag him down."
"Yeah, you're right." Robin agreed "We just got to get that idea into Star's head."
"Agreed." Beast Boy said.
Back in the mute Titan's room, Polybius laid in his bed and looked up at the ceiling and listening to Darkbius.
"You know, it's kind of sad really." Darkbius said "How you are so easily fooled into believing things. How you are so quick to accept people's friendship and the illusion of trust."
A knock on the door stopped his rant.
"Polybius!" Starfire called on the other side.
Polybius rolled over so his back was facing the door.
"She knows you heard her and Raven talking about you earlier." Darkbius said "They wanted you to know that they see you as nothing more than eye candy. And now she's here to deny it, or better yet, pretend like she doesn't know you heard it!"
"Oh Polybius, please answer the door!" Starfire begged.
"Don't." Darkbius told him "Turn her away."
Polybius didn't move.
"Please." Starfire begged, "I have something important to tell you!"
Polybius rolled over so he was now facing the door, looking right at it, waiting for the words to come, as well did Darkbius.
"Tomorrow, I and the rest of your friends are going to go to the outdoor park for a day of the fun!" Starfire stated, "And we all wish for you to come with us!"
"Don't go." Darkbius said "Stay here with me. I'm the only one you can trust to tell you what is and isn't. The truth. And the truth is that this is another ploy. To rebuild your confidence and trust in them so they can tear it down again."
"Please answer the door." Starfire pleaded.
Pulling himself out of bed, Polybius stood up and walked over to his door.
"No!" Darkbius shouted, but was ignored.
Polybius opened the door to see the alien girl standing there, with her hands held together in front of herself.
"Polybius!" Starfire said a bit surprised "Are, you okay friend?"
Polybius looked back to his rocking chair where Darkbius had been to see nobody there. The mute then looked back at the alien and smiled and nodded.
"Oh, wonderful!" Starfire said "Come, friend, stop hiding in here and come and join us! We are going to potato the couch and watch some of the wonderfully horrible movies!"
Polybius smiled as the two made their way back to the main room and joined the other three.
After watching three bad movies with the Titans, the group all headed to bed. And the following day, the entire team headed out to the park bright and early.
The Titans made sure to go out of their way to involve Polybius in every activity they did. From Football to cards, to even just taking strolls around the park.
"Isn't it wonderful!" Starfire declared "Just the six of us having the bestest time!"
Polybius smiled warmly as the alien girl said that.
"Please Polybius, you are feeling the better?" Starfire asked him.
Polybius nodded.
"Wonderful!" Starfire said, "Come, let us throw around Cyborg's ball of the foot some more!"
"Yeah!" Cyborg agreed.
Tossing the football around with the other Titans, Polybius had a smile on his face. He began to think about what Darkbius had been telling him yesterday and decided that he was wrong. The Titans weren't lying to him. They genuinely cared about him. And for the first time in a while, Polybius felt happy.
And that lasted for a month, as Polybius wasn't visited by Darkbius again for a long while. However, that didn't mean he quit his intensified search for Montezuma. Yet no matter how hard he thought or looked, there was just nothing on the big man.
But as for Robin's search for Slade, that had news.
The week prior, the team encountered some of Slade's robotic commandos in the field for the first time. And while they were rather easily dispatched, it was clear that they came from Slade. And by picking one of them apart, the Titans had figured out where Slade was going to strike next.
And while the ambush did go well for the Titans, gaining a lot of clues as to Slade through his little chat with Robin, it also had several negative effects. That mainly being Robin completely secluded himself away from all of the Titans in his evidence room. He was desperately trying to find a new lead.
And while he went off and began searching for one, the crime alert went off. And with Robin being on the far side of tow, this left the Titans to themselves to deal with Red X.
The mute Titan watched as the masked criminal was able to quickly and easily dispatch all of the Titans. When Polybius went up to fight him, he didn't get far as the man shot three Xs at him. One that covered the barrel of his flare gun, one that pinned his arms against his chest and backpack to his back, and one that tied his legs together.
This caused Polybius to fall and hit the ground and be practically useless as the masked criminal ran away and then vanished.
When the team met up back at the tower, they discussed with Robin their findings on the strange criminal. And while Robin wished he could have been there, the team knew that Red X most likely had a gadget with his name on it too.
And a week later, the team ran into Red X again. They were right when they thought that the criminal had a gadget with Robin's name on it. With the leader trapped, he ordered the team to take off without him. They did as they were told and while their second fight with Red X was more successful than the first, he still got away.
And then the week after that, Red X and Slade had a meeting where it was revealed that Red X was Robin.
After returning to the tower from the mission, and with it being so late at night, Polybius went to his room.
Seeing Robin do this hit Polybius hard. Not in the feeling of betrayal, as when Robin explained himself, the mute was able to understand why he did what he did. And saw the reasoning as to why he didn't tell anybody.
What was hurting Polybius was seeing just how far the leader was willing to go. How it made Polybius's efforts to find and locate Montezuma look like child's play. How it made Polybius seem so lazy compared to Robin, and he hated it.
Going back to the idea of being seen as his own person, and not being seen as a less awesome Robin, this didn't help. Rather it made Polybius look exactly like that. A bigger but less awesome Robin.
The following two days, Polybius found himself pondering the same questions he was asking himself the night before. And while Darkbius hadn't made an appearance, it didn't help Polybius who was lost in his thoughts.
Despite this, the teen was granted a break when a villain by the name of Mad Mod attempted to incapacitate the Titans using sleep gas. Ane while he successfully incapacitated Robin, Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy, he didn't get Polybius. The reason being is that Polybius's lungs had filters built into them that were better than any gas mask could offer, effectively making him immune from many gas attacks, and saving the team that day.
However, he wouldn't be left alone in his room all day to ponder these things as a knock on his door got him out of his rocking chair.
It was Cyborg.
"Yo, what's up?" Cyborg asked the mute "How ya doing?"
Polybius gave a simple thumbs up and a small smile.
"Good to hear." Cyborg stated, before getting on with what he wanted to ask "So you wanna hang out today?"
This came as a bit of a surprise to the mute Titan, who had generally been left alone for a while, as per his request. And it was clear on his face too that he wasn't expecting that as an answer as Cyborg went on to explain.
"Okay, so hear me out." Cyborg said "There's a car show going on downtown. And I don't know if you know this, but I like cars, and I like going fast."
Polybius nodded his head.
"So at this show, they are offering the chance for anybody with a license to drive any car on the lot." Cyborg went on.
Polybius nodded again.
"However, the rules state that there needs to be at least two people in the car." Cyborg explained, "And as of lately, we haven't really hung out all that much, plus you're the only other person of driving age, so I was wondering if you would like to hit the road with me?"
Cyborg had a smile on his face while Polybius's was blank.
Inside his head, the mute Titan was having an internal debate with himself. Despite the fact that he was reeling at his humiliation by Robin, he did want to go. He really wanted to go as he and Cyborg never really hung out all that much as Polybius was busy with Montezuma and Cyborg had his projects he was working on. Their schedules just never lined up for them to hang out.
"Please." Cyborg begged.
Polybius thought about it for a moment longer before settling on a decision. He was going to go with Cyborg.
"Great!" Cyborg said "Come on, let's not waste any time gettin down there. The more time we waste, the crappier of a car we will get! And longer we'll have to wait for the good ones!"
With that, the two-headed downtown to the car showing. The mute Titan could tell his friend was ecstatic about seeing all of the vehicles there. And there was just about every type of car there. From really old cars that people would have been driving in the twenties, to some of the newest models of cars currently being produced.
The first car the two got into was a 1940 Ford Deluxe. Cyborg hopped in the driver's seat and Polybius sat in the passenger's.
"Oh, man!" Cyborg said, "You can just smell WWII in this car."
Polybius was confused as he didn't smell any radiation, brass, or death in the car. Rather he just smelled the Febreze vent clip they had put in the car to make it smell nice.
"Come on, buckle up Polybius!" Cyborg said, "We're going for a ride!"
The mute Titan did as he was told and buckled up. The two then pulled off the lot and went down the pre-designated path that had been assigned to that car.
As the two began driving around, Cyborg began speaking to Polybius.
"Yo, so I don't know if you know this, but you've got Starfire real worried about you." Cyborg said.
Polybius looked at the Titan as the two drove through the open road in the forest, where there was nobody around to hear them.
"Um, yeah." Cyborg said, "A couple of nights ago, Starfire said that you had been gettin more withdrawn ever since Robin had yelled at you."
Polybius nodded as that was true.
"Well, I think, for all of our sakes, you need to show Star that you're okay." Cyborg said, "Just come out a little bit more and spend some more time with us."
Polybius nodded.
"Good." Cyborg said, "Now don't lose sight of Montezuma, but at least make Star think you're okay so she'll stop whining about it."
Polybius nodded his head again.
"Anyway, there was something else I wanted to say to ya, what was it…" Cyborg trailed off as he began thinking about what he had wanted to say to the mute Titan.
There was a long pause before Cyborg thought of it.
"Oh yeah!" Cyborg said, "I also wanted to say thanks."
Polybius shot the teen a confused look.
"Now what you probably don't know is that lately, everybody has been gettin on my nerves." Cyborg said "Not you, of course, but still. Ever since I had that couple of days where I left the team, I think I had a real eye-opener."
Polybius continued to listen, interest now peeked.
"You see, I did a lot of thinking." Cyborg went on "I started thinking about Robin and how mad he had made me. But then I got to thinking about the others, Star, Rae and BB. I started to think about them and how upset they must have been seeing me leave, but then I got to thinking about you."
Polybius raised his eyebrows.
"You see, with you… I thought about how Robin had yelled at you, but you forgave him. And while I don't know what Robin said to you, he told us that it was quite harsh. He never said exactly what, but I couldn't help but keep thinking about how you forgive people." Cyborg went on "And how you forgave me for leaving the team, Beast Boy for all of his stupid pranks, for Starfire and her own incompetence at times, Raven for how rude she can be, Robin for how harsh he can be. And even when I snap at you."
Polybius was almost on the edge of his seat listening to the man speak.
"And I've come to realize that that's something I really like about you, Polybius." Cyborg said, "Despite the horrible things we have done to you, knowing full well you can't defend yourself from our verbal abuse, you still forgive us." Cyborg stated "And the thing is, I can't say that if I lost my voice, I would be able to do the same thing. Heck, I think I would probably leave the Titans if I was treated the way you get treated."
Polybius couldn't help but smile.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry for our behavior towards you." Cyborg went on "You put up with more abuse than anyone else on this team, and the fact that you are still here, says a lot about you."
Polybius's smile grew even bigger as he thought about what Cyborg said.
"So, I want to say thanks." Cyborg went on "Just know that at least we as a team are aware of how much abuse you put up with and despite our best attempts to curb this, there are times we can't help it. Why even Star declared that we couldn't be mean to you because you can't defend yourself. However, we all seem to forget about that which we've all also agreed to. It's just it only comes up after we've hurt you."
Polybius was surprised to hear that the team had come to that agreement. The mute Titan wasn't quite sure if the half-metal Titan was lying to him or not as Polybius hadn't really seen much change from when he joined the team to that moment in time.
"So thanks again." Cyborg said, "And I promise you, things will get better for you, just please give it some time and don't do anything stupid."
Polybius nodded.
The rest of the drive was silent as Polybius thought about what Cyborg had said. It really spoke to the mute that at least the team knew they weren't treating him right. But what would speak to the Titan more is what they planned on doing about it, as clearly their little agreement wasn't working.
As the day went on, Polybius followed Cyborg around as he drove different cars. By the end of the day, Polybius felt happy. And what the dark Polybius had been telling him were all lies and that Cyborg was right. Things were going to get better for him.
Meanwhile, on Paradise Island, a young sixteen-year-old girl sat on the steps of the grand temple and watched two of her sisters practice sparing.
However, she wasn't really paying attention to them. She couldn't help but think about how good her life was at that moment. She had everything she could possibly want. And while she did miss her older sister, it was only a minor thing in the grand scheme of things.
Growing bored of watching the two, she decided to head up to her room. Once there, she sat down in her bed and looked out her window and looked out at the setting sun. She couldn't help but smile at its beauty she loved so much. She loved the outdoors and her life in general.
Laying down in her bed, she looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. She felt safe, happy and protected as she drifted off into sleep.
However, unknown to her, or almost anybody on Earth for that matter, was that lightyears away in a solar system far, far away, events were being put in motion.
What was happening was an event that seemed to be quite natural. Two gigantic planets, far larger than Earth, Tamaran, Jupiter, or even the Sun, collided into each other at the speeds of countless billions of miles per hour.
The collision and subsequent explosion sent massive rocks flying in all directions, the largest of which, were on a path for their solar system. However, it would take time for those objects to traverse that great distance. More time than most creatures living on Earth had left.
However, to anyone who was watching the event, saw those very massive rocks begin to disappear and teleport to destinations unknown.
So there you have it! Chapter 9! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I promise the next two chapters are going to have a lot of action! A lot!
And as always, I hope you have a good rest of your day!