Teen Titans: Children of a Dynamic God

ch. 4

The café went silent in the space of a few seconds. Wide-eyed stares on every face. Mouths frozen open in the act of taking a bite of pizza.

A child started crying.

"Um, Star," Nike said, "Maybe we should head back to the tower."

"Nonsense friend!" Starfire beamed. "There are still so many places we have yet to visit! Like the mall, and the skate park, and the Cineplex, and the pet shop, and the…"

Starfire's voice degenerated into a series of squeals and giggles. She bounced up and down in her seat.

The Teen Titans were known to frequent the pizza bar (dozens of autographed photos of the team posing with customers and staff lined the walls downstairs). Many of the current patrons had even seen them eating there before. Usually, the Titans entered through the front door, like everyone else.

This time, Starfire had floated down from the sky, gracefully settling in her favorite seat at her favorite table. The few customers gasped in awe at the sight. It was like some strange, beautiful goddess descending from the blinding sun.

And then she sat Nike's head down in the middle of the table.

"Um… Ms. Starfire?" A pretty young waitress leaned over the table, her eyes flicking back and forth between Starfire and Nike's head.

"Oh hello Stacie!" Starfire beamed. "I would like a slice of pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and… miniature marshmallows!"

Starfire looked back and forth, as if she were expecting someone to scold her. Stacie shuffled uncomfortably and cleared her throat.

"Actually, Ms. Starfire… um." Stacie chewed her bottom lip. "The other customers… uh, you know, we could get you a cardboard box to put your, um…"

"I think she's talking about me Starfire." Nike sighed.

Stacie screamed. The customers screamed. Starfire screamed.

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Beast Boy had been washing dishes most of the morning. Of course, the Titans had a dishwasher the size of a small bed but that didn't seem to matter to him. Beast Boy was the only member of the team who washed them by hand, and then only when he had some thinking to do, although the correlation might have been lost on him. It wasn't lost on the other Titans however, who had given him plenty of space all morning.

Except for one.

"Hey." Raven muttered as she slunk in next to him. She picked up a dripping dish from the rack and wiped it with a towel.

"Hey." Beast Boy responded.

The two washed and dried the dishes in silence. A few minutes went by.

"I wish I hadn't said what I said to you last night." Beast Boy spoke quickly. Raven paused for a second then continued drying the dishes.

"There's some stuff I wish I hadn't said last night too." Raven said. "Robin was right."

"Did you guys talk already?"

"Yeah. I got a pretty well-deserved lecturing."

Beast Boy stopped washing and turned to look at her. His face was painted with anguish. Raven's breath caught in her throat.

"So you don't hate me, right?" He asked.

Raven smirked. "No more than usual."

The tension drained out of Beast Boy's face. He chuckled and smiled at her. "I can live with that."

They went back to washing the dishes.

"I got to talk with Nike last night." Raven said. Beast Boy's ears perked up. Raven wondered and not for the first time if he was aware of it when they did that.

"Oh yeah?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah," Raven said, still methodically drying the dishes. "She seems nice."

Beast Boy turned and grinned at her. Raven arched an eyebrow.

"What?" She asked. Beast Boy turned back to the dishes.

"Yeah, she is nice." Beast Boy said as he scrubbed. "I hope Cy can fix her quick."

"Me too."

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Far above Jump City flew Starfire. Cradled carefully in her arm was Nike's head.

"Where would you like to go next friend Nike?" Starfire asked excitedly. "You still have a lot of electricity in your battery, yes?"

"Yeah, my battery's fine Star." Nike said. "I'm just not sure if…"

"There are so many things we could do!" Starfire interrupted with a squeal. "We could fly by the office buildings and wave to the business people inside! Or we could go to the zoo and see the penguins! They gave me a free lifetime pass! Well, the people who work there gave it to me, not the penguins…"

"Actually, maybe it would be better if we just went back to the…"

"Or we could go to the gloomy bookstore and coffee shop! It is the only place Raven will go to with me, though no one there ever talks to me… Or we could visit the boardwalk! They have a ferris wheel!"

Starfire held Nike out at arm's length and smiled at the android girl as wide as she could. Nike suppressed a sigh and relaxed her eyebrows, which was the closest she could come to a smile in her present condition.

"Maybe we could go to the museum?" She said

"Oh that sounds wonderful! I have never been there! Raven always told me I shouldn't even bother!"

"Okay, I don't know what that meaaaaaannnnnNNNNNNNSSSSSSSS!"

Nike never got to finish her sentence as Starfire took them both into a steep dive.

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The door to Cyborg's workshop slid open. Robin stepped through into one of the biggest messes he had ever seen. Crate after crate of expensive-looking electronics and engineering equipment lay strewn across the floor. In the center of the room, lying on his back and looking up at the ceiling was Cyborg, his face smeared with grease. His mechanical components were dingy and mussed.

Robin picked his way across the floor. "Uhhhh, hey." The Boy Wonder said. "Everything cool?"

"…Yeah… everything's juuuuuust fine." Cyborg said, his voice distant. Robin shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

"All the parts get here?" He asked.

"Yeah, more or less." Cyborg said. "They've been bringing in stuff all day. All… day…"

Robin cleared his throat and looked around the room. The towering LCD screens overflowed with the Nike's schematics. On the table where she had been reactivated were the beginnings of her body. Almost.

Cyborg had built part of a mechanical thumb.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I guess I'll be…"

"I'm not going to be able to work on your bike… for a while." Cyborg said.

"No, that's okay. I unders…"

"And the security update? I'm not gonna be able to get around to that for a while."

Robin was inching back towards the door. "That's cool. I completely understand…"

"And tell Raven that I'm not gonna be able to fix her tub for a while."

"Okay, I'll make sure to tell her…" Robin slowly disappeared out the door.

"The solar panels up on the roof?.. Yeah, not for a while…"

The door slid shut. Cyborg curled up in the fetal position and started rocking back and forth.

----------

The girls sat on the steps of the museum, the afternoon sun painting everything a golden red.

"That was amazing!" Nike beamed. "The way the light shone off the sculptures! The texture, the air they displace! I mean, I've always had the images on my hard drive of everything we saw today, but to view them in person! I had no idea that humans could so precisely contour a surface! Even the flaws were breathtaking!"

Starfire nodded her head slightly then returned her attention to the Big Gulp resting between her knees. Her eyes darted back and forth as she took a long sip.

"Star, is everything okay?" Nike asked. "I hope it wasn't too boring for you."

Starfire bolted upright. "No!.. I mean, quite the opposite."

Starfire leaned in close to Nike. "It's just that," she whispered, her eyes still darting back and forth, "So many of those statues and paintings were, well… naked … Are you sure it was alright to look at them?"

"Yeah Star, it's okay, I promise." Nike's laughed. "It's art. Art's supposed to be looked at. Even the naked stuff."

"Oh…", Starfire's brow was screwed up in confusion, "And the channel that Beast Boy watches late at night while everyone is asleep… the one none of the other Titans know about… that is also art, yes?"

"Uh, no…" Nike said, a blush spreading on her face. "That's probably different."

"I knew it…" Starfire scowled. "He lied to me."

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GreyGhost99: I need you in Gotham next weekend. Is that going to be a problem?

Birdboy23: No, that should be okay. Arkham business or mob business?

GreyGhost99: Mob business, thank god. The Arkham crowd's been pretty quiet lately, which has got me worrying.

Birdboy23: It's only a matter of time I guess. So, who are we busting up this weekend? Maldonado? Schulz?

GreyGhost99: Maldonado. Ol' Banana nose ignored my "friendly advice" and started trafficking in Indonesian refugees again. We're going to make an example of him.

Birdboy23: Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Well, if that's all I'll take off. I'm surprising the team with some early morning drills.

GreyGhost99: Good, keep them on their toes. One more thing and then I'll let you go.

Birdboy23: Shoot.

GreyGhost99: Planning on letting me in on why your Waynetech expense account is in the red this month?

Birdboy23: I was planning on it, yeah. But we're keeping it under our hats for a reason. If you really want to know I'll tell you but it was going to be a surprise.

GreyGhost99: That's alright, I've been doing some research on my own. I can't find anything on Olympus systems or an "Ambrosia" AI Engine.

Birdboy23: … You know, we really wanted some time to handle this on our own.

GreyGhost99: Too strange a situation. I decided to get involved. You have an issue with that?

Birdboy23: I don't have much choice do I? But please, keep this to yourself.

GreyGhost99: I've got some of my AI people working on it, but none of them has the complete picture. Not enough to put two and two together at least. I'd like to bring Ray Palmer in on this too.

Birdboy23: Again, do I have a choice?

GreyGhost99: On this, yes. I trust Ray and you should too, but if you say no I'll abide by it.

Birdboy23: Okay, but no more snooping around our systems.

GreyGhost99: Is it my fault if the Titans mainframe is so easy to infiltrate?

Birdboy23: I'll make sure to pass that on to Cyborg.

GreyGhost99: Please do, I enjoy a good challenge.

Birdboy23: lol. I'll make sure he gives you one then.

GreyGhost99: That "lol" stuff. Can't stand it. What does it mean again?

Birdboy23: "Laugh out loud". Come on you know you wanna try it.

GreyGhost99: Not a chance.

Birdboy23: Lol. Rofl. OMG!WTF!ROFLMAO!

GreyGhost99 has signed out.

Birdboy23: I was just joking.

GreyGhost99 appears to be offline and may not receive this message.

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Cyborg rubbed the bridge of his nose. After a solid day of work the daunting task of assembling Nike's body from scratch seemed slightly less daunting. No more difficult that assembling a particle accelerator from matchsticks and good intentions certainly. He sighed and looked up at the clock. Another hour of work maybe and then he'd have to hit the sack.

Cyborg, Nike's voice rang in his internal communicator. Are you still up?

Yeah Nike, Cyborg responded, Did you have fun with Star?

Oh yeah, Nike laughed, We had a blast. I don't think there's an inch of Jump City we didn't see today.

That's good, said Cyborg, I was a little worried she might wear you out.

Naw. In fact, I've been invited to a sleepover tonight.

Cyborg chuckled. Well, don't let her stay up too late. Robin had that sadistic gleam in his eye tonight that he only gets when he's planned a 3 AM emergency drill.

Ouch, that sounds like fun. Want me to short out his alarm clock?

Cyborg could hear the mischievousness in Nike's electronic voice. Heh, if only that would work. He does this freaky Ninja thing when he sleeps. Doesn't even use an alarm clock but he never wakes up late.

Wow, that's impressive. Okay, I'll let you go. Will my battery be alright tonight?

Yeah, you shouldn't have to charge it again until Sunday or so.

There was a moment of silence. Cyborg wondered if Nike had cut off their communication that abruptly.

Cyborg, thanks again for all you're doing for me. I know how much trouble it must be.

Cyborg couldn't help but grin sheepishly, It's no trouble at all. Things are coming along faster than I thought. I should have you up and running in no time.

That's great! I'll have Star bring me by tomorrow so I can see! Thanks again Cy. Night night.

Night night Nike.

Cyborg sighed deeply and groaned. So much for going to bed early.

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Short chapter this time. It's been sitting on my hard drive for months, half finished. It was a total mess until the idea of an instant messenger conversation between Batman and Robin hit me. After that I was able to finish it in twenty minutes. And for those of you who don't watch "Justice League", Ray Palmer is The Atom, genius scientist and reserve Leauger.

I don't have any idea where to take this story next. I mean, I have some idea but I don't know if that's the story I want to do anymore. Just like the description says, Nike's "brother" would also show up eventually, but I'm just not even sure about that anymore. I'm open to suggestions folks.

Oh yeah, and to you eclectic sci-fi readers, "Banana Nose Maldonado" and (Dutch)"Schulz" should ring a bell. Expect some of their friends to show up in my writing as the situation permits.