I closed the front door and kicked off my shoes underneath the coat rack.

"I'm home!" I called, making my way to the dining table and setting my backpack in one of the seats. I unzipped my backpack and spread out today's homework. When Mom didn't respond, I peeked into the kitchen. She stood up from peeking inside the fridge and closed the door. "Hi, Mom."

"Hello." Mom said, clipping a can of soup to the can opener and turning it on. The drone of the machine and the grinding of its blades against the aluminum filled the awkward silence.

Mom was, oddly, very quiet. She didn't speak much this morning on the car ride to school either. I watched her pour the soup into a bowl and place it in the microwave.

"Is something wrong?" I said, my words speaking in time to the beeps of buttons being pressed. Mom pressed the start button, and the microwave lit up and began to hum.

Mom rested her hands on the counter, her back turned to me. She paused, as if she was trying to find the right words to say.

"Ciela-" she said. She exhaled through her nostrils. I stepped toward her. Mom turned to me and examined my face. "You know... If there's anything you need to talk about, I'm always here for you."

"Of course I know that." I said. I knit my eyebrows. "Did something happen?"

Mom's face drooped. Did I say the wrong thing?

"...Mom?"

Mom's face lit up with a smile and places her hands on my arms. "No worries. I trust your words and I trust you know what's right."

The microwave's shrill beeping ceased the conversation. I watched Mom pull out the soup, stir it, and head to the living room. A few moments later, I heard the TV buzz to life.

...What was that all about?


My eyes snapped open when I heard Cyborg's screams pierce through the walls of my room. I grumbled and threw off my covers. I took a step out into the hall, only to immediately leap back as Cyborg sprinted past me, his legs spinning like the Road Runner from Looney Tunes.

"Cyborg!" Beast Boy turned the corner and ran my way. "Wait up-!"

When Beast Boy saw me, he skidded to a stop.

"Uh... Hey. How's it going?"

"You're lucky Cyborg's virus-infested attitude is hilarious." I said.

Beast Boy chuckled nervously and grabbed my arm, dragging me down the hallway and to the main room. The door opened, and Robin stood with his arms folded and a stern scowl. Beast Boy yelped and plastered on a big grin.

"Hey, Robin! Lovely day today, huh?" Beast Boy said.

"What... did you... do?" Robin said, enunciating slowly to keep his cool.

Beast Boy blushed. "Whaddya mean?"

Robin stepped out of the way, revealing Cyborg's legs poking out from underneath the sink.

"Oh, boy!" Cyborg yanked out the pipe connecting to the sink's nozzle and chugged down the water pouring out, drenching his body. He wiped his mouth and burped. He turned to us and held out the pipe. "Want some?!"

We jumped away from the flying water. It hit the ground and left a giant soaked spot on the carpet. Cyborg shrugged and kept drinking.

"Um... Cyborg..." Robin said. "How about we calm down and try and find a solution to this problem?"

"I'll tell you what the problem is!" Cyborg said, throwing the pipe into the sink. "We don't have enough gravy for this giant steak!"

Cyborg lunged at Robin, mouth salivating. Beast Boy and I pulled Robin away while Starfire and Raven leaped in front of us and grabbed Cyborg.

"Beast Boy..." Robin grumbled.

"Don't worry! I can totally fix this!" Beast Boy backed away. "And I've got a great plan to do it!"

"What makes you believe we'll let you help out?" Raven grunted while she and Starfire struggled to hold Cyborg still. "You'll just mess him up even more."

Beast Boy's ears drooped. "But I..."

"I have an idea of who to ask for help." Robin said. He approached Raven and whispered something in her ear. She raised an eyebrow before she reluctantly complied. She stepped away from Cyborg, throwing off the resistance, and he tumbled to the ground, taking Starfire with him. When Cyborg hit the ground, he fell fast asleep. Raven disappeared in a cloak of darkness. "Let's hold him up in his room."

Starfire stood and hoisted Cyborg over her shoulder. I approached Beast Boy while Starfire and Robin got a head start.

"I didn't mean for this to happen..." Beast Boy sighed. "I just wanted to play Mega Monkeys 4..."

I laid a hand on his shoulder and guided him to the hallway. "Things will be fine. Tell me about your plan."

Beast Boy side-glanced at me. "Well... I thought I could shrink down to something really small, like an amoeba, then go into Cyborg's head and get rid of the virus."

I nodded. "That's good. The person we're getting help from can help you carry out that plan."

We followed the high-pitched flurry of insults coming from Cyborg's room. Gizmo stood in front of Cyborg, who was chained to his bed, with his arms folded and his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

"Why the heck do you Titans want my help?" Gizmo said.

"You're the only person we know that has any idea how to fix Cyborg's condition." Robin said.

Gizmo scoffed. "Fine! But you booger-heads owe me big time!"

"Really? The pipsqueak genius?" Beast Boy said.

"It won't be that bad..." I said. "Of course, I don't have to deal with him."

Cyborg's eyes bulged open. "GUYS! We should totally replace the shower nozzles in the bathroom so they pour nacho cheese instead of water! Isn't that a grate idea?!"

Cyborg burst into laughter for a few moments before he fell back asleep, his snoring louder than his giggles.

"Man, that was a really cheesy pun." I said. "Oh, wait- dang it!"

Robin facepalmed. "Please fix him. Quickly."

Gizmo snorted in amusement and pressed a button on his remote control. A shower curtain wrapped around him for a moment. When he pushed it aside, he was covered in a special shrink suit.

"Okay, Teen Teeter-Totters," Gizmo said, taking out a syringe styled like a blaster, "it's really quite simple; don't make me repeat myself. After I've shrunk down, use this syringe to inject me into the robo-bum's brain. Understand?" We nodded. "Good."

Gizmo tossed the syringe at Robin, who fumbled with it before securely catching it.

"I think you should do this." Robin said, passing the syringe over to me. "You're better at shooting people."

I scowl mildly and snatched up the syringe. Gizmo pressed a button on the white flotation device clinging to his waist. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

"Okay. I'm inside." Gizmo hollered from the other end of Robin's communicator. "Now let's do this so I can go home."

I took a deep breath and positioned the syringe in my hands. I aimed the nozzle at Cyborg's ear. I paused a moment.

"What are you waiting for?" Raven said.

"I just wanted to make sure he wouldn't spring awake agai-" I said.

Cyborg's eyes opened. A big smile spread across his face.

"HI!" Cyborg shot up, snapping the metal cuffs holding him to the table like frail twigs. I stumbled back from the flying metal chunks, holding the syringe close to my body.

"Shoot, Ciela!" Robin cried.

I planted my feet and aimed the nozzle at Cyborg. Raven jumped away and Starfire let go of Cyborg, allowing his head to plunge into the floor. I pulled the trigger. A beam of yellow energy blasted from the syringe and hit Cyborg. Cyborg stood up straight, vibrating from the energy.

"Oh, yeeeaaaahhh!" Cyborg ran toward the wall and bulldozed through, leaving a crude outline of himself that allowed the outside air to leak through.

"Did you get him?" Raven said, wiping off some of Cyborg's spittle from her sleeve.

"Yeah, but I don't know if I got his head." I said.

Robin turned on his communicator. "Did you get inside safely, Gizmo?"

"I'm inside, all right, but so much for your sharpshooting. I'm in this stupidhead's armpit!" Gizmo cried.

"It could be worse." I said. "I could've put you into his butt."

"I suggest you stop complaining and start moving. Cyborg's heading for the city, and we need to stop this virus before he hurts someone." Robin said. He closed his communicator, sighed, and turned to us. "Let's go."

Raven, Starfire, and Robin hurried out of the room. I glanced around, noticing Beast Boy was gone. No doubt he followed Gizmo into Cyborg's body. With the crazy virus on the loose, they definitely need each other to defeat it.


The screams of pedestrians led us to Cyborg. He sat in the middle of a four-way intersection. The cars around him honked repeatedly, but Cyborg paid no attention to it. He nibbled on the hood of the car nearest to him, abandoned by its owners.

"Cyborg..." Robin said as my friends slowly approached him. "You know who we are, right?"

Cyborg climbed to his feet. "Oh, I know who you are..." he said. He grabbed his chew toy of a car and raised it over his head. "You're the nasty egg-people who stole my waffles!"

Cyborg threw the car at the others. I leaped onto the sidewalk as the car tumbled across the street, landing upside-down and billowing with smoke. Seeing he had missed, Cyborg whimpered and took off down the road. Citizens nearby threw themselves against the buildings to avoid getting trampled by him.

"Titans, grab him!"

We chased after Cyborg, cornering him at a flea market. He hunched over a booth and stuffed his face with knickknacks and toys.

"Here's what we'll do..." Robin said. "Raven, you distract him, then I'll sneak up behind and-"

"Pestering him, especially in his condition, isn't going to keep him in one spot." I said. I scanned the area. "Starfire, can you break off that stop sign for me?"

Starfire followed my eyes to the stop sign and hesitantly yanked it from the ground. She handed the metal rod to me. Hefting it in both hands, I approached Cyborg.

"Hey, Cyborg!" I said. Cyborg turned to me, his cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk's. I held out the stop sign. "I got this for you!"

Drool trickled from the side of Cyborg's mouth. He turned on his heel and sprinted toward me like a charging bull. I yelped and shut my eyes. Cyborg came to a sudden stop in front of me and snatched the stop sign from me. Opening his mouth wide, he chomped down the red hexagon. I heard the thuds of the chunks of metal landing in his stomach, and Cyborg burped. He dropped the pole, nearly on my toes.

"All hail the Lollipop Queen!" Cyborg wrapped his arms around me and lifted me in the air, crushing me against his body. I sucked in a painful breath.

My friends inched toward us. Cyborg noticed them and placed me back on the ground, shielding me from the others.

"I won't let you egg-people get near Her Royal Highness!" Cyborg cried. He summoned his cannon arm and shot at my friends. They scattered. "Don't worry, I protect you!"

"How sweet..." Slowly, I crouched down and picked up the pole at my feet. While my friends kept Cyborg occupied, I reared back the pole and swung it as hard as I can. The pole cracked against Cyborg's head with a clang. Cyborg went stiff before he crumpled to the ground. My friends joined my side.

"Gizmo, how are things?" Robin said. There was no response. "Gizmo?"

Cyborg's nostrils twitched. He opened his eyes again, and we jumped back and braced ourselves. Cyborg turned his head and sneezed violently, spewing snot- and most likely Beast Boy amoeba- into a giant puddle.

"Ugh..." Cyborg groaned and held his head in his hand. "What happened?" Cyborg looked up at us. "What are we doing here?"

"Maybe the 'Lollipop Queen' can fill you in while we head back." Raven said.

I chuckled. "I rather we not speak about this again."


I awoke the following morning. I climbed out of bed and approached my mirror. I lifted my shirt and examined my bandages. I made a mental note to change them before the next episode.

I headed downstairs. Mom sat at the dining table and sipped orange juice from a mug while she read something on her phone.

"Good morning, Mom." I said.

"Morning." Mom mumbled from her mug.

I glanced at her while I opened the fridge door. She didn't look up.

Did I do something? Why this silence?