A quick author's note directed at ICTOAN: The story, actually, is totally complete. I'm just spacing the chapters to my liking (and to most potential reviewer material- tehe). I'm still fooling around with the ending, but basically it's all typed and there. So chapter sizes are not getting any bigger but you can count on one every day (but only if Soccer Conditioning does not completely kill my muscles- heh) Without futher ado, on with the show!

A Cat's Tale

By: Catty Engles Reporter for the Daily Gazette

Edition Fourth: Deeper Doodoo

Finally, Raven collapses.

Beastboy and Starfire have watched with just as much intensity as I have. Robin seems fine, only panting. Raven is completely out. At that moment, I didn't think; I just acted. I was down on my knees beside the girl, propping the reassembled cushion under her back to promote airflow, checked her vitals and then gave the thumbs up to Beastboy and Starfire. They both look extremely relieved. They were reluctant to abandon their tasks for fear of Cyborg's well being. It seems they had forgotten me, but I didn't blame them.

I didn't notice, but Robin had begun "surgery" on Cyborg. With the intensity borne of extreme concentration, he had pried bundles of wire aside, revealing a tiny keyboard with a tinier screen. He takes a deep gulp of air as his hands glow a faint black and begin to move of their own accord. Carefully plucking individual wires out of the way, his deft hands guided by Raven's magic reach a green one near the back of Cyborg's chest cavity. The glowing hands give the wire a tiny twist.

Cyborg's head jerks in Beastboy's hands as he struggles for purchase on the floor behind him. Starfire gives up trying to keep the metal man warm and clamps onto his shoulders exerting pressure while in flight, trying with all her might to keep him on the floor. The tiny monitor Robin had uncovered flickers on. A single word is on the display screen.

Password? Followed by a blinking cursor. Robin stops, looking confused. Cyborg suddenly goes ominously still- he's off-line. Starfire and Beastboy exchange worried glances, still anxious about leaving their posts. Suddenly Robin explodes.

"Password? What password! I just want you to live!" He screams.

And then everything made sense. I shove Robin aside, taking his place at the controls and quickly type "Cyborg is Gamestation Master" and press enter.

For one agonizing moment Cyborg lays still, all the breathing in the room stops until abruptly one starts. Cyborg takes his first gasp of air and rolls over to victorious cheers from all the Titans including Raven, er, kind of including Raven. Well, revived, she smiles from her position on the floor at least.

Before Cyborg knows it, he is on the floor with Starfire and Beastboy jumping all over him. Robin helps him back up, pounding his back enthusiastically. Raven smiles awkwardly at him, and extends her hand for a congratulatory handshake. Cyborg, instead, sweeps her up into a huge embrace and whirls her around. When she is set down, her stony temperance is back in place and with a vengeance though her cheeks are filled with a happy blush and her hair is uncommonly ruffled.

"Cyborg! We thought we lost you!" Beastboy is still bouncing. He just doesn't seem to be able to sit still, like some kind of perverted Jell- O.

"Oh, how wonderful that you are unharmed!" Starfire, as well, is zipping around the room.

Cyborg walks towards me purposefully and places a heavy but gentle hand on my shoulder, "Thank you, Catty Engles."

"You're welcome, Gamestation Master." He smiles appreciatively and leans back, removing his hand.

"Uh, dude, what...?" Beastboy settles down enough to ask.

"My shut-down sequence was encrypted. You aren't supposed to be able to log me off without my consent and the password was just the way to do it. I was able to get the message to Catty, here, as I was realizing I was going haywire." He was right. Mouthing the words to me was ingenious, just in case this "surgery" was necessary. He deserves more credit than I initially gave him.

"But I was able to shut you down without the password." Robin cocks an eyebrow, er, mask, er something, but he has a puzzled expression on his face.

"With my help." Raven interceded.

Cyborg nodded, "Well there's your answer. Raven's powers are too good for any type of computer to withstand. My systems must have jump- started when you tried to reboot me and asked for the password then. I'm glad you didn't try Raven's powers again- that could leave serious damage." They all nod, fully aware of the "damage" Cyborg would have undergone without Raven's powers.

"Yeah, what was all that about- with the powers and the holding Robin's shoulders and the little string things and ... and all...?" Beastboy finishes pathetically.

Robin half-grins at Raven, "It was something we had been working on. I wanted Raven to push her powers to the limit and she needed some kind of vessel to do that. We had never actually tried it before- but we had talked it all out. I knew it was relatively safe" He flashes a debonair grin that was directed at an anxiously hovering Starfire. She returns it immediately, satisfied that her friends were not in any real danger.

Just then, the lights flicker and die. Almost immediately a flashlight unfolds from Cyborg's shoulder and we are bathed in a thin stream of light. "What the?" Cyborg bounds over to a circuit board mounted on the wall. He presses buttons, turns knobs, and throws levers all of which amounts to nothing.

"Cyborg, what's happening?" Robin commands.

"Nothing's responding- it's like... no." He shakes his head like trying to clear fog from his vision.

"Like what?"

"Like the system has been hacked. Like everything is suddenly not controlled by the T-Tower but someone else is holding the dice. Nothing is responding."

Please review, even if it's just to tell me that you are reading. Nothing is too stupid to say. You liked a joke? Tell me. You thought there should be a giant gopher introduced? Tell me! My people will get with your people and we'll work it out. Happy reviewing!