Doppelganger

I don't own the Titans

Chapter 9 – Time to Reflect

Dorinda slept late into the morning, and she would have slept longer, but a loud noise woke her. It sounded like a semi truck had just drove through the tower. Still a little groggy she squinted through her little slit in the wall to look into the main meeting room. No one was there. Doppelganger started to remove the panel to get out and look around, but just as she opened the panel Cyborg walked in. He looked annoyed. He stomped over to the big screen TV and turned on the gamestation and started to play. Lucky for Doppelganger, he was too annoyed to have noticed the panel was open when he walked by. She silently sighed, relived and had just enough time to pull the panel back into place as the other Titans walked into the room. They seemed a little freaked out, all of them were keeping their distance.

"Whoa. And I thought Raven looked grumpy." Beast Boy commented, not taking his eyes from Cyborg's back. Raven threw him an annoyed look that he didn't see.

Our friend is more dismal than the swamp moons of Mulwark. Measures must be taken." Starfire said as she made her way over to the couch. Silently Dorinda gave this girl props. 'The girl's got moxy.' She thought. Starfire stopped next to Cyborg's shoulder and said, "To replenish your heart with warmness and cheer, I offer a traditional Tamaranean folk song." Suddenly she started "singing", though to everyone else it sounded a lot more like a dying cow trying to pass a kidney stone. Cyborg turned around, his facial expression more angry than ever, "STARFIRE, CUT IT OUT!" he screamed at her. As he turns back to the screen he realizes taking the time to yell at her cost him that round of the game. His disposition sunk lower.

Beast Boy stepped in front of the TV with a cookie…apparently it was his turn to try to cheer Cyborg up. "Okay, dude. Keep your eye on the cookie." He popped the treat into his mouth and changed into several different animals, using each animal's form to pop the cookie out into a different place. At the end of his act he changed back into his human form and opened his mouth to reveal the cookie was there once more. Dorinda couldn't help but smile. His abilities were advanced…and yet he preferred to use them to play tricks. For some reason, this little act just made him just the more endearing to her. Doppelganger glanced at Raven, her expression was one of slight disgust. Dorinda smiled, 'You'll never be good enough for him.' She whispered inside her head. Raven turned to look at the panel dead on as if she'd heard what Dorinda had said within her mind. Raven quickly shifted her diverted focus as it seemed it was her turn to try and cheer Cyborg up. "Let me try." She said. "Uh…" She didn't get another word out of her mouth. As soon as she opened her mouth to say something, Cyborg interrupted her, "I don't want to talk about it." Raven recognized defeat and stepped back. "I tried." She informed the other titans weakly.

The other titans continue to try and cheer Cyborg up, but all meet with failure. It wasn't until Cyborg won one of the rounds of the video game that his disposition began to improve. "Atlas, I just kicked your virtual butt!" he yelled at the TV. "No one defeats Atlas! I demand a rematch." The virtual player typed.

Cyborg typed back, "Anytime, anywhere."

"How about here and now?" the words appeared on the TV. Suddenly the entire television melted away. When the dust cleared a large yellow robot stood where the TV once was. "Atlas is ready," he said as he grabbed Cyborg around the waist and pulled him out of the tower. "Let the rematch begin!" Dorinda's line of vision was cut off after that, but she could see the other titans rush to the window. "Cyborg?" Robin said, more than a little confused.

"Looks like he went out for some air." Beast Boy said

The titans jumped out of the hole in the Tower's wall and Dorinda jumped from her hiding place. Careful not to be seen she made her way to the opening. In the bay the Titans were frantically fighting the large robot. Dorinda admired their fight…that is until Beast Boy, Starfire, Robin, and Raven were all captured. Dorinda almost screamed out as she saw the yellow orb incase her love.

"Let 'em go!" Cyborg screamed out. Atlas' only response was a disabling shot to Cyborg's sonic cannon.

"Hold!" Atlas said unexpectedly, "Atlas will defeat you—but later, in a fair fight. No weapons, no friends."

"No! We finish this now!" he yelled in return. Doppelganger was almost ready to jump out the window to help. She had no idea what she could possibly do, but she couldn't stand by when someone was threatening to keep the object of her affection as a trophy!

"As you wish." Atlas replied. Doppelganger was looking for a way down from the hole.

"Cyborg!" Robin's voice called from his yellow cell. "We'll be all right! Get your strength back, then get Atlas!" Dorinda had to agree, she knew that there was no way she could possibly win against this machine…even with Cyborg's help. He was too tired, and her powers weren't the best for fighting.

"The old stadium. Sunset." Atlas said, his arrogance filling the spaces between his words, "Come, if you dare—and I will let you have your friends back." Suddenly the robot was gone—and he took Beast Boy and the other "trophies". Dorinda gasp…he was gone—and she couldn't do anything.

Cyborg spent the rest of the day recuperating. Dorinda was so afraid for Beast Boy's safety that a few times she actually considered revealing herself and attempting to help Cyborg win the fight. Every time she stopped herself. Her instincts continued to hold her back. Being discovered was the worst thing that could happen to a Doppelganger…actually revealing one's self was a crime of the utmost shame. 'Besides,' she thought, 'What could I do anyway?'

Sundown finally came and Cyborg went to the old stadium. Doppelganger followed at a safe distance. Cyborg walked into the arena, but she was forced to hang back. She would be able to hide in the shadows outside, but if she were to try to go into the arena she would be discovered immediately. There were too many lights inside, there wouldn't be anywhere she could conceal herself. Doppelganger listened to the fight within closely. There are several disturbing thuds, but Doppelganger's attitude brightens when she clearly hears Beast Boy's voice yell out, "All right, Cy!" There are more thuds, and suddenly Cyborg is thrown through the wall of the stadium. Doppelganger gasps, and jumps into a shadow before anyone has time to see her. 'I can't believe he's losing.' She thought. She was terrified, not just that Cyborg might lose…but that she might lose Beast Boy forever if he didn't win. Cyborg jumped up from the place where he was thrown. It seemed he wasn't ready to give up yet.

Doppelganger stands at the edge of the hole and hears Cyborg admit defeat to the larger robot. The half man asks that his friends be let go and everyone in the arena gasps when Atlas says, "No. Your friends will remain as my trophies—and there is nothing you can do about it."

Doppelganger covers her mouth in dismay. From inside the arena she hears the other titans plead with Cyborg to keep fighting. Cyborg's response breaks Dorinda's heart, "I can't."

Atlas continues to gloat over his victory, "Fool! Did you actually believe you could defeat Atlas? I am all robot…and you are only human."

Doppelganger followed Cyborg silently, desperately racking her brain for a way to free Beast Boy…or at the very least get Cyborg to go back for his friends. An idea hits her when she sees Cyborg's reflection in several windows as he walks by a shop. He starts to slow, and Doppelganger takes this chance to slip into the shop he's standing next to. Once inside, she shape shifts into a perfect copy of Cyborg. "How could I?" she heard him ask himself out loud as she walked up the window and stood in front of him, staring at him from the other side of the glass. "They were counting on me and…I just couldn't do it. Atlas was right." He said as he looked up at his 'reflection'. "I am a loser."

Doppelganger set her plan into motion. "So that's it, man? You're just gonna give up?"

"What else can I do?" he said back to her…assuming it was his reflection. Her plan was working perfectly. "I gave everything I had. A hundred percent."

"Give more. Your friends are in trouble. You have to go back. You have to win!" she urged him.

"I can't win. Atlas is stronger. Atlas is faster. He's just a better robot."

"But you aren't all robot. Half of you is human, and that's the half that can beat him!" she was surprised at what good advice it was. 'Maybe I should be a teen counselor' she mused as she watched Cyborg smile and walk of into the direction of the old stadium.

I hope you enjoyed how I explained why he was talking to his reflection...I always thought that was weird when I saw it. ;)