Chapter 12: An Apology Interrupted.

"Dude. Dude. Duude, can you hear me?" No answer. Time for desperate measures.

"Cy, Cy! Slade's attacking!"

Nada.

"Dude, Silkie threw up on the T-Car!"

Zip.

"Err…Robin's proposed to Star!"

Still nothing. Although, in retrospect, that one was hardly a surprise, unless you counted the shock of the Boy Wonder getting over himself.

"Okay, Cy, if you're just gonna sit there, you've left me no choice." Beast Boy cleared his throat, and then said in a sing-song voice:

"Cyborg? Ohh Cyyybooorg? Do you mind if I use your computer? Only I've got this brand-new copy of Mighty-Mega-Mendacious-Monkeys 3.0 that I want to try. Oh, don't worry, Cyborg, it's perfectly safe. At least, that's what the homeless guy I bought it off said." Grinning outwardly, but annoyed that it had come to this, Beast Boy pressed the button on the wall that revealed Cyborg's computer. As he reached towards the "Power" button, he found himself restrained by a large metal hand. Around his throat.

"Knew that'd get you up."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You feeling better now, Star?" Raven felt her voice was as full of as much concern as she could safely manage.

Starfire nodded. "Yes, although I am surprised that Beast Boy forgave so easily."

Raven nodded. "Well, he's like that."

"Indeed. He is a wonderful friend and for that reason I am hopeful that this conflict can be resolved without delay. I do not like this argument which has engulfed us."

"Mmm. Well, with all the stress we've been under lately, I guess emotions are just finding any escape they can."

Starfire nodded, and then looked over to Robin. Noticing that he had left his coffee on the kitchen table, she was about to take it over when suddenly the room was bathed in red light, and a siren blared.

"Titans, trouble!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cyborg sighed, and looked at his feet. At least, he tried to look at his feet, but Beast Boy had cunningly stepped directly in his line of sight.

"…B…"

"Dude, relax. I'm not gonna eat you." Beast Boy was actually grinning. What the hell?

Cyborg snorted.

"Dude, I'm not saying what you did was particularly cool, but, you know, I see what you were trying to do."

Cyborg perked up at this. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I can't stay mad at you. Who would I play video games with? And it's not like Raven would join me in playing pranks, and I can't really argue about meat with Star. I mean, half the stuff she eats is still alive." Cyborg chuckled at this. He had to. Beast Boy, however, wasn't done.

"So, I guess what I'm saying is, we're cool. Just as long as you do something for me."

Cyborg frowned. "What?" He was prepared to go a long way to repair his friendship, but there were limits.

Beast Boy's face bore a grin that Trigon himself would be proud of. "You'll see." At this moment, the alarm sent its claxon call echoing through the Tower, and Robin's face materialised on Cyborg's arm.

"We've got trouble downtown."

"Need me to tag along?"

Robin thought about it for a moment. "No. We should be alright. If we need help, we'll call, okay?"

"Alright dude." As Cyborg turned to go, he heard the changeling calling him. "Yeah B?"

"Give whoever it is a kick for me, would ya?"

Cyborg grinned. "Alright little man."

"Thanks, I-Hey! I am not little!"

Cyborg's laughter could be heard all the way down to the garage.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Cyborg? I presume from your demeanour that your conversation with Beast Boy as a success?"

"Yup." Cyborg panicked as he realised that he now was effectively in the changeling's debt, but kept his eyes on the road. He cursed as he tried to see through the adverse conditions. Typical. His eye could see in X-Ray, infra-red, night vision, but it couldn't see through a little rain. Not that this was a little rain.

Robin went over his gear in silence. In fact, since Cyborg's brief conversation, the entire trip had been in silence. It was unnerving, to say the least. The attacker had been an unknown, which worried Robin. An unknown meant that a new bad guy was in town, one they would be facing under-strength, never good news.

Raven sat staring out of the window at the raindrops. She couldn't fly in this weather- she could barely see, and her cloak would gain ten pounds. Suddenly, Cyborg braked hard, knocking her head into his seat.

"What was that for?" She hissed. In response, Cyborg simply pointed directly in front of him. "Oh."

In the street, a huge mechanical construct, easily twenty feet tall, was causing havoc. It stood on three long, thin legs, positioned in a triangle. They seemed to be made of some kind of cable, and were as thick as a man. The body itself looked like a kidney bean, or something, but spiky and metallic. From that body sprouted two arms, both made of that same cable material, but both ending in clawed hands. As the Titans piled out of the car, the monstrosity turned to look at them, and hurled a previously parked car towards them. Raven wasted no time in volleying it right back. Starfire flew straight at the head of the machine, and was swatted from the air for her trouble.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am Bored. Bored bored bored. Wheeee…nope, still bored.

Beast Boy was trying to persuade his brain to entertain himself. Not something that came naturally to him.

"Six hundred bottles of beer on the wall, six hundred bottles of beer; take one down, pass it around, five hundred and ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall. Five hundred and ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, five hundred and ninety-nine bottles of beer…"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cyborg loosed another sonic blast at the foe, to no discernable effect. Raven and Starfire were having no luck either. Things were not going well for the Titans.

Robin was determined to change that.

"Starfire! Get me on top of that thing!" Starfire nodded, and grabbed Robin's outstretched hand. She span around and flung Robin, with Raven correcting the angle with her powers. Soon Robin was on top of the robot, looking desperately for some weak point. No dice.

Until one of the flailing arms lunged at Robin. With superhuman agility, the Boy Wonder avoided the strike, and the construct ended up impaling its own brain. Swaying like a drunken thing, its three legs buckled and crashed to the ground, Robin being picked up halfway to the ground by a relieved Starfire.

However, when the two landed, they were scared and confused by what they saw. Their two friends were lying on the ground, unmoving. With a strangled cry, they ran towards their teammates, but before they had taken two steps they dropped to the ground, felled by a thin bolt of light that had emanated from the roof of a building behind them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the roof, a blue-coated figure nodded grimly, and, lifting his right arm, made a complicated series of hand gestures that sent his minions scurrying to do his bidding.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Contest: Tell me what you'd like to happen to Cyborg for his penance, and I might just use the best one.