It was a day after the standoff at the jail. As the sun beat down over the Tower lazily, its remaining residents sluggishly went along their day- or at least they tried to.
Starfire stood at the counter, mixing some strange concoction (Tamaranean food, Lewa assumed) in a pot. Raven looked at a wall of screens nearby. Windflyer sat crosslegged by the window, floating and reading a book. Robin looked out of them dully from another spot. The Titans, merely teenagers, could not seem to shake off the stress of last night- Beast Boy paced frantically behind Raven, phone in his hand. He was the only exception.
The Tower's main phone rang, but no one bothered to pick it up. It instead went to the answering machine with a loud click.
"Hey, this is Cyborg. I'm either in the gym, playing GameStation, or out kicking bad guy butt. Leave a message."
BEEEEP.
"Hello? Cy? Pick up!" Beast Boy paused, breathing growing more frantic. "I know you're there. The phone's built into your arm!"
Raven sighed and pressed a key on the screen. Beast Boy kept the phone on for a bit longer before he hung up exasperatedly. Finishing mixing the dish she was making, Starfire took out a glop and held it up to him.
"Taste," she commanded.
The boy glowered at her, remembering the incident with the glorg, before she shoved it in his mouth. His eyes widened as he took in the taste, jerking dramatically and falling to his knees. The convulsions threatened to continue, but he finally spat it out, breathed deeply, and pawed his tongue to get every last bit out of his system.
"What is that?" he said disbelievingly. "Cream of toenails?"
"Pudding of Sadness," Starfire said, taking a bite herself. "It is what the people of my planet eat when bad things happen."
It seemed she was not being too truthful, as soon an eye twitched and she struggled to keep the thing down. Her eyes watered, cheeks puffing, but with a swallow and a bit of effort the pudding was digested (although she continued to dry heave for a little while afterwards.) As Raven looked over some data on the screens, Starfire brought her the bowl of pudding.
She smiled. "Try. The… displeasing taste will ease your troubled mind."
Raven turned to her and frowned. "My mind is never troubled," she intoned. "People come. People go. It's pointless to be upset about Cyborg."
This was not truthful as well- her hair suddenly swirled wildly, covering her face, and all the screens exploded violently in tandem. Raven kept her emotions in check quite nicely, but this time it was clear as day that she was upset.
She herself did not seem to notice, however, even when seeing Starfire's troubled expression. "What?"
Windflyer finished the next chapter of his book and rolled his eyes. It was an interesting story, sure, but the events seemed so relevant- at the end of the last chapter, the hero had yelled at his friends, believing that they had lied to him (when in truth they were withholding knowledge to protect his life,) and trudged off in anger. He knew it was immature to make such a connection, and in fact sympathized with the hero's concerns, but nonetheless-
It had struck a tone with him. Windflyer didn't really want to admit it, being a bit shy among the others, but he felt he'd caused Cyborg to break off. The Toa wanted badly to look for him and help, but Robin had been so sad, and he wasn't exactly going to leave a friend in need- maybe when he knocked off a few more chapters-
"Windflyer? Do you wish to consume the Pudding of Sadness?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Pudding of Sadness? Seriously? Starfire, I'm not-"
"But you seem the unwell," Starfire returned, floating up to him. "I would not want you to continue damaging yourself like this…"
"Ugh. Look, it's not that-" Windflyer marked his page by folding the corner, put the book away on its front, and continued, sighing. "I'm not actually sad, Starfire. I'm just-" He froze, hand on his mask. "Concerned."
"Over what?"
"I… messed up. In the heat of the moment even. I should've kept my mouth shut, let them fight things out, but… I let them leave. Needed to do something."
Starfire smiled reassuringly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Friend, it would not have helped. Robin and Cyborg were not in the very good mood. You did what you could."
Windflyer sighed again. "I know, but- Look." He turned to the others. "Have I ever told you guys why I left?"
Beast Boy thought this over. "Because you hated everyone?"
"Because you wanted to?"
"Yeah… We had a fight. Tahu-brother and me. Over things we should've worked out beforehand. At the time it wasn't an issue- I figured I might have been better off on my own, but then everybody was against me- so I just up and flew away. Okay, I thought, this won't be an issue either; I can just go talk to Kiina and Gresh. Bad move too- we were fine at first, but then Kiina-friend wanted to fight me- playfully, of course- and-"
"Then you met me," Starfire said. "Is that not the good thing?"
"Then you got kidnapped." He held his head in his hands. "I could've prevented that easily, but I just stood my ground. That got me in a very bad place- thanks, by the way. Point is, Cyborg-brother has angry-left as well, and I couldn't help but notice it happened in much the same way I did- mask-cracked brother-friends, fight with a dark-villain, stomping off in mad-jealousy. If he find someplace he can stay-hang, I'm worried he might-"
"Get into trouble," Robin finished. "I can't blame you."
Windflyer gaped. "But you CAN! I had no reason to speak-talk, and you were both angry-mad at me, which is fine, but now Cyborg-brother is in an unknown-place, and he's gonna get himself hurt-injured, and you'll all dark-hate me, and it's all my fault-"
"Eat!"
Starfire pushed a spoonful of the pudding into his mouth. The Toa kept it in for only a second before he spit it out, retching violently. He paled. "Okay, maybe I am a little bit sad."
As the sunlight glinted Robin's hair, the hero looked over Jump City morosely. Windflyer was wrong. He should have kept his mouth shut-
Starfire floated over to him, both silhouetted in the sun, and held out her bowl. "Here, Robin. You must need this most of all, since… well…"
"I'm fine."
He turned away. "Who knows? Maybe we're better off without him."
She held the bowl for a bit longer before nodding, lowering it, and looking at him in concern.
Cyborg looked at the decimation and decided that no, he was not better off without Robin.
It was filthy. Globs of goo lay prone all over the floor, giving off a rancid stench, and debris had been filtered beside it. Worried that his old friend might have been taken away, Cyborg's mechanical heart caught in his throat-
Wait, that was stupid. Peyton was resourceful. This guy seemed dangerous, but the guy could probably hold him off long enough to sneak out the window or something.
With that, he looked out the window. Jump was quiet, it being a Wednesday, and the roads seemed bare with few cars. Children played in a nearby park, screaming in joy. A cruise ship rolled into the harbor, small plane flying over the Tower-
The Tower.
Would they-
He had to go after this goop monster, but for some reason, he wanted to see Robin, even though he knew he shouldn't. The Boy Wonder himself was very nice, but Batman had brought him up, and the guy was obviously one to hold a grudge. Hopefully he hadn't tainted him too much…
Tainted! That settled it. This guy wasn't gonna be free much longer.
Cyborg moved to the window, intending to jump out-but soon recoiled. It was too high, and he wasn't sure his gadgets would hold out. Besides, being a pile of bolts and flesh wasn't a fate he wanted to have. He ran to the door, rounded the corner, and dashed for the rickety but faithful elevator.
It had been damaged quite a bit, but miraculously enough, the thing stil seemed to work. That was Old Bertha for you. She always held up when you needed it.
Paul, the old and crotchety concierge, sat behind a counter. He was obviously very annoyed by the ruckus, but a pile of papers had been laid out in front of him and he peered them over. Like Old Bertha, Paul was one man you could count on to stay put.
He stamped a paper that would allow a couple to go out to a prestigious French restaurant, but saw Cyborg running down the aisle and frowned. "No running in the lobby!"
"I'm not running, Paul!" Cyborg breathed. "I'm tryin' to catch this slimy guy!"
"Slimy… guy? Y'mean that banker?"
"NO! Well, yes, that guy's really sleazy, but… someone else! He must've come by here- I can see the damage- did he-"
Paul glowered at Cyborg. "If he had done anything, I would've seen it."
"Okay. Do you at least know where someone like him might've gone?"
"The commercial district, the building offices." Paul shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm just a cranky wrinkled concierge, having to arrange some lousy date at La Chambre Oxygène-"
Cyborg's eyes widened. The Oxygen Room- a room where they make… oxygen! Which was a chemical! The factory! Of course!
He ran off, thanking Paul as he went (the man merely growled, let off a small "You're welcome, Victor" and went back to his paperwork,) and checked his arm. The factory wasn't too far away. He'd be able to take on this guy and Cinderblock and woo Robin no sweat.
The gym was modern and air conditioned, containing all sorts of exercise implements. All the Titans went here- some more than others- but it was Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin who worked out the most. Normally Cyborg would have been alongside him, punching the various bags with much vigour, but things were now silent, save for Windflyer's quiet stretching and the boy's frequent hits. He breathed deeply, steeling himself for a powerful blow then leaned down and roundhouse kicked his bag. Now fully tired, he slumped down and recovered. Cyborg usually took to the weight benches, making snide comments at Robin while he lifted his huge barbells, and now…
He didn't have the motivation.
In the kitchen, Beast Boy took a stack of plates from the group's lunch and lifted them onto the pile. He wasn't going to scrub these- it wasn't his turn! Beast Boy adjusted the pile, wincing as it shook a bit, then-
Windflyer came in, looking depressed. He sighed and took a plate.
Beast Boy frowned. "You okay, dude?"
"No. Of course I'm not okay. Everything I see reminds me of Cyborg."
"Like these plates."
Windflyer looked at the plate he had begun washing curiously. "I don't… know, brother. Should they? Does he wash them regularly?"
"Not a clue. Yo! Whose turn to do dishes?"
"Cyborg," Robin called, coming in and taking a plate himself.
Beast Boy gazed at Windflyer concernedly then cried out at the realization. The Toa only muttered obscenities to himself.
The ops centre after dinner- Robin sat on the couch, playing Duteous Landings on the GameStation. The TV was bright, so Windflyer, who was reading by the window, sighed and covered his mask with the book. Robin ignored him and continued to play.
He had just reached the final level- in the story, the two enemy commanders, who had been at odds for a while, had reunited to take on the enemy leader. Now they flew through the skies, working in tandem to blast him out of them. The level was hard, all things considered, but Cyborg had been savvy enough to beat it; so, for bragging purposes, Robin tried to himself.
The leader's health bar was beginning to drop, his craft being damaged by Robin's shots. He licked his lips in anticipation. "Come on, come on…"
Now the leader gnashed his jaws at this interference and brought out some rockets, upgrading his plane. Robin narrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not scared to take…"
"Ouch! I've been hit!"
No!
"Don't worry, man! I've got the sonic if you've got the boom!"
The other plane, equally as dented, barrel rolled towards his and supported him with his wing. "Yeah!" Now back in the game, Robin pressed a button, sending a servo of bullets towards the leader's plane. His health bar continued to lower; he would be dead soon. "Got it! Just one more and…"
The two ships locked together, pilots in perfect sync, and sent forth a giant rocket. The leader scoffed at this, uncaring of their efforts, but they soon rolled around and shot it…
His eyes widened as things grew hot. Bad idea letting them both live.
"Yes!"
The plane exploded, enemy leader going down with it. The pilots high-fived each other as the score was tallied. A final cutscene played, but Robin ignored it, wanting to find out his total. The movie went on for a while, even with Robin fast-forwarding, and the credits seemed to drag too…
The screen flashed red and blue and the score sheet popped up. Cyborg's was at the top- 1,000,000 points in all-
"New high score!"
"'SMASH!' Congratulations!"
"Nice work, brother."
Robin- 5,000,000! Wow! He'd… actually… done… it…
Cyborg had been right; he was a jerk. He couldn't let this go on.
He stood outside Cyborg's door and sighed. Cyborg had not made any intention to leave the Tower, but he'd left the Titans, and Robin had the right to search the team's rooms at any time…
No more clowning around.
The door slid open with a satisfying hiss. Inside, things were simple. A small wooden bookcase stood against a wall, various genres of books in its shelves and picture frames and an autographed baseball on its top. Nearby, a surprisingly simple computer lay on a desk, football by the monitor. A trophy case with quite a few awards was set in a corner, one even given by the president. A few self-repair/diagnostics terminals were at the other. The walls were a calm blue and the floor was tiled, giving way to a large tilted table with a footrest-
His bed.
The bed that Cyborg would no longer be sleeping in.
Robin took a picture from the dresser and looked at it fondly. It had been taken soon after the Gordanian invasion, when the group was elated in general. Windflyer had excitedly taken a reporter's camera and offered to take pictures of everyone; after the general team shot, he wanted images of individuals then anyone who wanted to. Robin had shied away from this, but Cyborg had noticed and pulled him back in. Starfire had giggled at this, and Robin distinctly recalled her saying "This is… nice, yes?" Cyborg had laughed, then Beast Boy, then Windflyer, then Raven… then Robin. The picture hadn't been taken right because the Toa was shaking in ecstasy too much; when he finally did, the pose was so well done that he'd offered to let Cyborg have it instead. And here it stood, a testament to better times.
The Boy Wonder sighed. "I'm sorry."
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Oh. Trouble. That was good news… he hoped.
He ran into the ops centre, checking the TV for any important information. Starfire, Beast Boy, Windflyer, and Raven were looking at it too, eyes moving around in surprise.
Robin frowned. A map of Jump was displayed, a large red flashing dot moving down a black road. "Cinderblock strikes again?"
Beast Boy scoffed. "You wish."
It was now nighttime. At Nocenti ChemiMill, workers slaved away to make compounds for retail and businesses- or at least they would, if Plasmus hadn't had anything to say about it.
Spurts of chemical sorbets sprayed out of ceiling-hung nozzles anyway, flowing through a pipeline on the factory floor and emerging in a mixture into a barrel at its end. Plasmus stood near it, at the end of the conveyor; as it droned along, he swiped it and many others and swigged them down heartily. Each time he did so he grew a few feet; the first gave two, the second three, and the third would have given him four- a glowing sphere hit it, rupturing the metal and releasing the contents inside. Plasmus growled and peered through the jagged hole, surprised at what he found.
"That stuff can't be good for you."
Plasmus didn't care. He flung the barrel away lazily and burped as it hit the ground.
"Nice one!" the fanged one said.
Wait. Fangs. Slade had told him the person who had that would be an enemy. And if they had broken his drink like that…
He roared, concentrated a bit, and finally launched some gobs of slime from his body.
The Titans were smart. They knew how to scatter. Robin was the fastest, jumping around like an acrobat, and Plasmus focused his attention on him; eventually he landed near a mixing tank on a box, staring straight at him with beady eyes.
"Star! Fly! Let him have it!"
Who was he talking about? Starfire? Where was she hiding-
FWIP!
Something had hit him in the arm. Plasmus looked around for the perpetrator, who smiled and twirled a smoking katana. "Well, that was eas- huh?"
Plasmus roared again, pulled his injured arm back, and charged for him. Wasn't going to be hard to suffocate him in goo-
FWIP!
A green flash, then lightness.
A gasp. "Did I let him have too much?"
No. She hadn't. Taking a deep breath, he willed the writhing mass that was his body to fill in the gap; it was a tad difficult, but eventually the thing was as good as new.
Beast Boy was the only one to pick up on this; "I'm thinking… not enough!"
Plasmus then balled his fists and extended his arms out again; one flew towards Windflyer, who shielded himself and knocked it back; the other moved for Starfire, standing rigid before screeching as Raven knocked her away.
Robin narrowed his eyes and took a small blue disk out from his utility belt. "Maybe he just needs to chill."
He aimed for a moment, hoping to make his mark, then slung it forcefully at Plasmus; it hung in the air for a heart-stopping second but connected and froze the monster's Starfire-bound arm solid. Plasmus looked at the damage in curiosity before casually throwing it against a pipe and smashing it like a chandelier. Noticing this Robin jumped out of the way while Beast Boy morphed pterodactyl and flew off. In the air, Starfire launched more starbolts at Plasmus while Windflyer slashed at him with his katana and Beast Boy took a few punching strikes with his talon. The goop monster blocked the attacks easily then launched a counterstrike of his own, lashing out at the group with tentacles sent from his missing arm. Starfire, Windflyer and Beast Boy deftly dodged, Starfire throwing starbolts around as the Toa and the male evaded them. This continued for a while before Raven rose as well.
"Azarath metrion ZINTHOS!"
She slung several barrels at Plasmus, none of which hit- all barely breached the surface of his slimy chest before sliding in a bit and sticking on to it. His arm now regrown, Plasmus muscled up some strength and threw them back at her; she thankfully managed to dodge. Now Robin tried to take the monster down; he leaped in with a powerful flying kick…
Only to find himself stuck, limb making squishy sounds as it struggled. When he tried using his other leg and a hand, they were engorged too. He growled. "Come on! Let me go, you giant zit!"
Plasmus acknowledged the request, snarling and roaring then calling forth a huge jet of slime that sent the Boy Wonder screaming away while also managing to down Beast Boy and Windflyer, whose eyes widened before being knocked back.
The boys got up a few meters away and groaned, dripping with goop.
"Robin!" Starfire yelled, rushing over to him.
He smiled weakly. "I'm okay…" he retched before hacking out a few globs, "sort of."
"Karzahni," Windflyer said, sniffing an arm. "This is disgusting."
Beast Boy had only made it to his knees, eyes watering in pain. "And I thought Star's pudding tasted bad!"
Suddenly Plasmus howled in the distance, bringing the Titans' attention back to him. He began to howl again, but the rest of his tirade was muffled by a ton of static…
Emanating from a large monitor placed near a set of controls. Behind it, a large armoured man and a shorter tuxedoed one watched intently.
The larger turned it off and tutted. "Disappointing."
"How so, sir?"
Now a larger stony being began watching as well. "With one Titan missing," the larger continued, "this is almost too easy."
"But-"
"I was expecting more of a challenge. Cinderblock."
"Sir!"
"Not now, Wintergreen! Begin Phase Three."
Cinderblock, who was currently holding a large stock of equipment, nodded in acceptance and stomped away.
Wintergreen sighed. "Sir, I don't think…"
"Well, you should. They may be strong, but they are only kids." The larger smiled. "And only human. I can still win." He drummed on the control box. "Just watch and learn."
"That's the thing, sir, they're only kids!"
"Kids or not," the larger snarled, "they are the enemy. I must take them down."
"But-"
"I must!"
Wintergreen pouted. "Bloody hell, Slade! I don't know why I still trust you sometimes!"
"Because you love me and will be with me forever?"
"I… suppose…"
Slade patted another chair beside him invitingly. "Good. Then sit down here."
On the factory floor, a glob of Plasmus's goop splattered down. Starfire stood up in it, checked her hair. "I feel like the underside of a Zornian muck beetle," she groaned in disgust.
Raven, getting up beside her, nodded. "Tell me about it."
Besides them Plasmius pursued Beast Boy and Windflyer, the two managing to outrun him with the Kakama.
"Dude," Beast Boy said, looking over his shoulder, "I am not on the menu!"
"I don't know what we've done to cause this," Windflyer replied, "but you kind of… are."
"Am not!"
"Are-too!"
"Am not!"
"Are-too!"
"Am not!"
"Are- okay, why are we doing this?"
A small birdarang zoomed past him, tied to a long string that circled Plasmus's stumpy legs and bound him. Robin came over, grabbed the rest of the string, and did a few turns himself.
"Oh."
"Maybe the best way to take you down…" Robin snarled, pulling with all his might, "is to tie you up!"
Beast Boy looked at Windflyer smugly before transforming into a rhinoceros and taking advantage of the goop monster's immobility to score a direct hit; Plasmus may not have been completely solid, but the force was still enough to send him spiraling back into some support columns. Starfire toppled one to use as a cuff as Windflyer and Raven took the others- soon he was bound. The Titans watched him as he struggled.
Starfire squealed in elation. "We did it!"
"Nice work, team," Robin said curtly.
Windflyer panted. "That was pretty close, though…"
"Yeah. Didn't think we'd pull it off without-"
For a Wednesday night, Jump's downtown was quite lively.
Lights shined all over, bathing everything in a warm glow. Cars and buses still filled the streets; pedestrians chattered excitedly by them. A small festival rolled on at the park. In roadside nightclubs, things began to heat up.
Cyborg wasn't interested in any of that, though. He'd just wanted to find the factory. It was just…
Something had caught his attention.
The bright lights, the loud, thumping music. Not that he preferred to think of home, but… they kind of reminded him of it. The thought excited him.
He may have been on a mission, to find Cinderblock, but it wasn't official, so he'd supposed he might as well hang here for a while. Better to let the actual heroes do the job.
A snack stand had been set up on the corner of Cardy Road and King's Avenue, by City Hall, and Cyborg was currently buying a hot dog. The owner had been generous and slathered a lot of mustard, and the robotic man licked his lips in anticipation. He paid the man for his work and placed the hot dog in his mouth-
KRAK!
"Oh no, it's Cinderblock!"
Cinderblock? Here? Well, that was convenient.
The monster was rampaging through the streets, stopping at the tiled courtyard outside the hall. A large piece of machinery was held hostage in his stony hands- what was it for? Cyborg couldn't imagine why someone as dumb as Cinderblock would ever need it, but…
He'd made a promise to himself to take this guy down. It was now or never.
Shoving the snack in his maw, Cyborg roughly pushed the stand owner away and dashed for the courtyard. The attack had caused a huge traffic jam as people struggled to get away, but he deftly avoided it by jumping over. Landing close to Cinderblock, he stamped a foot down and pulled back his cannon.
"Yo, rockhead!"
Cinderblock heard him quite well. Five? It couldn't be. He was not with the others-
"I hope you know that trespassing isn't allowed."
Cinderblock was not trespassing. Slade had told him to come here. He roared in disapproval.
"Yeah, I thought so. What's with the hardware?" Five said, referring to the machine. He was not supposed to tell. Again he shared his disenchantment.
Five frowned. "Seriously? Not gonna tell me anything?" He began to charge his cannon. "Fine by me. I may not be workin' with the Titans anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't have the right to show it up your craw."
Cinderblock raised his arms up. He wasn't going to take this anymore.
Cyborg smiled. He knew he wouldn't pull this off without Robin, but he'd be damned if he didn't put in any effort. With that in mind, as the cannon glew its brightest, he held it at Cinderblock and whooped.
"Come and get me, you stupid stock of stone!"
Chapter Two!
1. Is the symbolism stacked on too deep? Is it too obvious? I'm not sure if Lewa would be that concerned...
2. Paul was not intended to be based off Moesby, but I IMMEDIATELY noticed the similarity once I had finished writing that section. (The Suite Life love runs in the family.)
3. I always wondered why they didn't show how Cyborg took down Cinderblock, and well... now you know. From my perspective, anyway.
Divide and Conquer concludes next chapter! Read and review!