Chapter 7: Death of a Hero.
Night had fallen once again, and the Titans became ever worried as to how they would manage through it. Robin and Starfire had bought a bottle of Stay-Awake pills, to try to keep them from falling asleep. Raven meditated heavily, and Beast boy sat on the couch and played games while blasting music from his CD player into his ears through headphones. Cyborg, however, had to go to his room to recharge his power cells for a while.
Cy sat in his dark room, waiting for the hour to be over, and his charge to be done. He put his head in his hands and thought about the old days, when he didn't have to do this, and he could walk freely without fear of shutting down. Slowly, his eyes closed, and Cyborg drifted into a deep sleep.
Cy looked around. He could see halls full of kids and teenagers, talking, pulling books out of their lockers, and walking to classes. Cyborg suddenly looked down, and couldn't believe what he saw. He made a dash for the bathroom, grabbed a sink to stop himself from sliding into the wall, looked in the mirror. His eyes widened, and he let out a whimper of joy. He was human. No robotic parts, no arm cannon, just plain human.
"Hey Vic, something wrong?" a voice behind him said.
"Vic..." Cyborg said silently, "I haven't been called that in a long time."
Suddenly, the bathroom was plunged into darkness. Cyborg looked around, trying to find the lights. A brief cackle could be heard all around him.
"Whose there!" Cy called out.
Suddenly, the lights flashed on. Cy looked back into the mirror, but this time, he was himself again; old, half-human Cyborg. Then, his body began burning up. Cy fell to the floor, hoping the pain would stop soon. He opened his eyes for a second, and gasped. His flesh began to melt, and drip away from his body. His arms became metal rods, with cords drooping around them.
"No...This cannot be happening!" Cyborg yelled, "No, I was human. I don't care about being fully human, as long as I'm still me! Stop this! Whoever is doing this, stop it!"
Cyborg stood, and looked back in the mirror to see the evil face of Freddy Krueger.
"Oh, these new machines today; us older folks just can't figure out how to work them!" Freddy sneered, and flicked out his claws.
"No, not you!" Cyborg cried.
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! You my friend...are out dated," Freddy raised his claws, and came down across Cyborg's head.
-xxxx-
Starfire floated down the hall toward Cyborg's room, hoping to give him some company. Robin seemed fine, and she felt weird being around him sometimes. Her stomach would knot, and sometimes she just couldn't talk to him. She had never had such feelings around a person before.
Star opened the door and peered in.
"Cyborg?" she said softly, and opened the door a little further.
At that moment, Starfire let out a scream that made all the Titans run to her aide, and could maybe even be heard all the way in Gotham City.