34. Stone Golem part 6
"Honestly…what do you need them for? They have nothing that you need. There's no point in keeping them here."
"Believe me when I tell you this, Stone. These youngsters are more trouble to me in one piece. As soon as I can have them where I want, I have the upper hand. I have….security."
"It's not too late to reconsider. It's not too late to relocate them and avoid any possible confron—"
"You're a peaceful man, Stone. Quite betraying of your use to me. If you had been where I have, you would understand my lack of mercy. Prison is not a friendly environment for anyone…much less a man of such old age and frailty at myself."
"You've only done it to yourself, sir."
"Watch what you say. I can change that, you know."
"…."
"Where is your nephew?"
"Your thugs should be carting them in shortly."
"Slug and Reload have been most useful. I should reward them."
"Deactivation?"
"I was thinking of a system upgrade, but that would do."
"Believe me, sir…even cybernetic people need a chance to rest."
"All life thinks it needs rest. So much so, that death is becoming a less and less arguable alternative to heartbeat and breathing. All my life, I knew I was built for immortality. I only needed to find out what matter to build with. That's where you come in."
"That's where I'm forced in."
"Testy testy, Stone. You'll reap the benefits yourself in due time. I swear it."
"…."
"What is it?"
"One of the Titans. He's waking."
"Who?"
"The leader."
Robin stirred away and opened his eyes from under his mask. He winced, twisted his neck, and blinked over at a pair of shadows in an immensely white aura.
"Wha……?"
"Don't be so surprised, Robin," Simon Stone said. He walked over and performed a few tests on Robin's vital signs with a deadpan expression. "Your heart rate has been lowered chemically at the present moment. As has the motor functions of the other Titans here with you. My serum's keeping you from acting aggressively. It must hold your temper at bay…I know how tragic that must be for the Boy Wonder."
Nevertheless, Robin managed to grit his teeth frowned. "Somehow….this was coming. Raven saw it. And I bet Cyborg saw it too. But I believed in you too much to believe it, Stone. You betrayed us….you betrayed us because I let you."
"He acquired his own nephew for me because I told him to," said Mr. Anderson, walking forward. The white lights of the mysterious place shined off his bald head and enhanced the wrinkles of his face and arms. "Don't feel so deceived. Mainly, just defeated."
Robin tried moving his limbs. Everything felt sluggish. He was afraid he'd faint if he so much as wiggled his toes. He managed to look down, however, and found his entire body standing vertically in a metal stretcher built into the wall.
But where???
"Anderson…," he mumbled. "How does an old man like you manage to get his hands so dirty?" He looked back up. "Was teaming up with Killer Moth and threatening the lives of hundreds inside an opera house a mere joke to you?"
"Oh no, Titan," Anderson breathed with a wrinkled smile. "It was well worth the education of the experience. My days in Westhaven were bound to come to one close or another. I just didn't expect it to blow up in my face the way it is. But even in my seventies, I suppose life is still bent on torturing me with surprises." He paced over towards the center of the room as everything became clearer to Robin. A laboratory. No windows. Metal everywhere. "But long before Westhaven's plot began…," the old villain continued, "…I focused all my energies here. I wanted to find the ultimate answer to immortality. Be it something solved by science, alchemy, or paranormal essence. I just had to have the answer. Life is too short a play with too heavy of a curtain over our heads," he said as he glanced at the Titan from afar. "Enjoy your young life of hopping from building to building and pummeling purse snatchers, Titan. When you're my age, you may become evil yet. Life forces you—at some point or another—to become evil."
"Biggest definition I ever heard for a coward," Robin managed to spit.
Anderson frowned. He then smiled, "Evolutionists have it wrong, Titan. It's not survival of the fittest. It's survival of the richest. I was blessed at teenagehood by inheriting my parents' fortune. I invested in many things—the Westhaven Opera House being one. But I've also had shares in Wayne Enterprises, LexCorp, Powers, and STAR Labs."
"…..," Robin stared. He looked over at Simon Stone.
Cyborg's uncle looked to the floor.
"I first met Simon Stone seven years ago…," Anderson said. "He was in quite a pinch then. His brother had just lost his wife to a mishap in the laboratory. A mishap that also left his brother's son in a critical condition that required experimental cybernetics to save his life. Silas and Simon Stone worked hard around the clock…and the son, Victor Stone, was saved. He became Cyborg; the ultimate creation of mankind's ingenuity, science, and funding. But in the case of the latter, the Stones were desperate. Silas was a shy man; not one to beg for money—even if it meant the preservation of his offspring's life. But Simon….dear Simon….now that's a man of desperation. He knew he and his brother needed money. And he knew he needed it fast."
"So he went to you….," Robin muttered tiredly.
"So I went to him." Simon confirmed with a touch of bitterness.
Anderson ignored him. "Simon searched far and wide across Metropolis for a bidder. He ended up in a high paying job for Lex Luthor. Now, official records have little to say on this…but…Luthor is hardly an honest man."
Robin glared. "Tell me something I don't know."
Anderson smiled wrinkly. "Good to see we're on the same page, Titan." He cleared his throat and continued: "Luthor was working on a secret project then. An operation involving electrosurgery and a former henchman named John Corbin."
Robin breathed: "Metallo…"
"Metallo was gifted with the most advanced technology, durable alloys, and rare kryptonite the planet could offer," Anderson said. "But what it needed was geniuses to put all the puzzle pieces together. Simon was one such key. He and the other experts worked on the project. And as a result, Luthor paid them….generously. You see, Titan, Cyborg was built on blood money. Life comes full circle when it comes to evil. There is a bit of infamy in each and every one of us. Including you 'heroes'."
"What does Lexcorp have anything to do with Simon being your lackey?"
Stone glared at Robin.
Anderson spoke: "I was a shareholder in the project. When Corbin—Metallo bombed out and went to Intergang, I secretly sued Luthor for selling me false securities in the endeavor. It took a lot of red tape, but my lawyers are priceless. The multi-billionaire of Metropolis actually owed me something. But he had nothing to pay me with…except…lives."
"They threatened me," Simon said with a touch of exhaustion and melancholy. "Everyone I knew and everyone I worked with were the pawns of Luthor and Anderson. If I had any idea the project I was working on would build an incarnation such as Metallo to begin with, then such would be an evil to keep me from the experiment. But I didn't know. It was too late…"
"And to save yourself, you're willing to give up your own nephew?!" Robin frowned. Yelling made him dizzy. "For what purpose?!"
"It's not as simple as that!" Simon spat. "Nothing's ever simple anymore!"
"Simon Stone belongs to me," Anderson said with a nod of the head. "His talents and his genius is mine to command."
Robin took one look at the dark-skinned scientist before glaring back at Anderson. "We are never *owned*, Anderson. We are merely coerced by large headed oafs who crap in their pants at the first sign of danger and hide behind those who are smarter, stronger, and more honorable than themselves."
A moment of silence ensued. Not even Stone dared to speak and interrupt Anderson's fuming response of quietness.
The old man eventually said: "I had no choice to fall back onto this plan," he glared. "You Titans ruined everything. All I needed was a little more money. More Money! Then survival would be in my hands. Nobody at the opera house would have been hurt. The authorities would have responded to my threat monetarily, and I would be safely out of your country and out of your hair to pursue my experiments with Immortality. But no, you had to intervene. All of my projects were lost because of you. All of my chances for success. All of which were without risk and without endangerment to every other humanoid who walks this planet ignorant of the falling sky in all its fickle wonder. All except for this last card I had in the deck. All along, I knew it would work. But in applying it…I would have to dig my nose deep into the very hearts of the Titans. A dirty task that I didn't look forward to. But when I saw my imprisonment imminent, I realized I had no other alternative. So I sent a command to Simon. I summoned Reload and Slug. I set all the clockwork into motion for the hacking of the Tower's mainframe and the capture of Cyborg. And if things worked out all right—and they did—my release from prison would be the final factor. The measures have all been met. All the pieces are in play. It's just a matter of time before this grandest of experiments is complete, and I'm one step closer to shedding the legacy of this disgusting, crumbling body of mine."
"What do you plan on doing to Cyborg?" Robin growled.
"You should be more concerned as to what we'll be doing to the rest of you," Anderson paced over to Robin's unconscious teammates in their restraints. "With Simon working for me, there's no telling what I can make out of you superheroes. Incredibly gifted cybernetic individuals, you will each become. Each just as useful to me as the two thugs that did you in. Even more useful." He stopped in front of Beast Boy's unconscious form and scratched his chin. "I think we'll start with this one. He was—after all—the most obnoxious foil of my efforts at Westhaven to get my money. I think I'd turn him into a robot tiger….or a titanium deer to go hunting down over and over again in the woods."
Robin glared, frowning.
Anderson smiled over at him. He walked over to Starfire's body. "Or the legendary alien girl. My, she's almost too pretty to enhance with prosthetics! But I'm sure there are plenty of clients out there who could make use out of a metallically durable version of her. Very happy clients indeed…"
"Shut your damn mouth!!" Robin shook, even startling Stone. "You're not going to get away with this! You've used and abused one too many people! I won't let you do this!!" The more he shouted…the more dizzy he became. The serum ate into him.
"Oh, I do believe I made him mad," Anderson chuckled.
"Do you hear me?!" Robin spat. The laboratory blurred before him. "You won't get away with this! You won't get away with this. You won't….g-get away…."
The world spun. Everything turned dark.
Anderson laughed and Simon sighed.
Robin's head fell. He knew he was passing out and he knew there was nothing he could do about it.
But one thought flew through his mind. A thought of desperation.
Their wildcard…..
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"……"
Slowly, I sat up.
I shook my head and took a deep breath---realizing my lungs were empty.
I keeled over and gasped, hacked, and eventually panted for breath over and over again.
I looked up weakly at the computer console of the Main Room.
It stood above me, spark one or two more times before going dead with a touch of smoke and burnt air.
I heaved and fell back, staring at the ceiling and regaining my exhausted breath.
It took one of the seven seconds of the self-destruct countdown for my brain to resonate the danger at hand.
It took two of the seven seconds to input a course of action into my body.
At three of the seven seconds, I was concentrating murk and smoke energy throughout my limbs.
At four of the seven, I had teleported in smoke form directly into the computer mainframe through the crevices outside the hardware.
Five of the seven, I meandered rapidly in and around wires.
Six of the seven, I located the computer chip responsible for the self destruct sequence.
At seven seconds, I managed to sever it completely with an intense teleportation of my powers.
One second later, I exploded out of the cracks of the computer and switched back into human form.
I had used my teleportation powers to their absolute limit. It wore me out beyond imagination. I must have been unconscious for a good twenty minutes before I could consciously observe my actions.
The Tower had been saved. It no longer mattered to me how in the heck Simon was smart enough to hack into the system and initiate the command to freakin' explode, but I had silenced the matter. Robin and crew could thank me later….then beat me over the head afterwards for discovering I had royally screwed up the computer's motherboard in the act.
Eventually, I regained energy. I put my shades back on, limply stood up, and stared at the screen. I sighed, big time. My feet shuffled me over to the windows and I stared out at the expansive Bay and City before me.
I don't get it…
I thought to myself.
That was……too predictable.
I glanced over at the burned out computer station.
Simon entered the self-destruct sequence. But……
I glanced at the monitor and looked back through my short term memory.
He left me a note. He said he was sorry.
I stared out the window again.
He must have known someone would come here.
A beat.
He must also have known that someone could stop the self destruct sequence.
The discovery of the self-destruct sequence in effect was surprising. But I was merely thrown off guard for a short time. It was not a matter of questioning if I could have halted it like I did with my powers. But a question of when or with how much time. Simon must have known….he must have known that I'd be there at the Tower in time to do it. And the fact that he called off the car chase for Cyborg with the photon cannon….
He was telling me that my time's up!
I scratched my head and paced around the room.
But…if he was the bad guy…why was he working in my favor?
I stopped and scratched my chin.
Unless……of course…there was more at stake than just Cyborg.
I whipped out my communicator. I stared at it for a few seconds before again trying to contact Robin.
No response.
I can't contact the other Titans…
I stared at the communicator.
All Simon wanted was Cyborg.
I stared out the window again.
If the other Titans got involved, he'd fight it. He might even tell me.
I glanced back over at the smoking computer console.
And……I think I've been told.
The other Titans were in trouble. I didn't know how. But they were. The Tower doesn't nearly blow up on just any day, of course.
There was suddenly a soft ringing sound. It came from the speakers of the laptop.
I looked over at the compartment in the wall. I walked over, opened it, and removed the laptop. As soon as I had it open, the screen flashed: 'You've Got Mail!'
Good thing the Internet was still working after all I fried.
I sat down with the laptop and keystroked till I opened the e-mail and maximized the window.
What I saw made me freeze.
In eerie clarity, a message read:
'Dear Noir,'
'Trying to figure out Mr. Stone's motives? Don't bother. That man's more upside down than a drunken kangaroo. I'm going to give you all the hints you need. What do you get when you cross one tin can and four sardine cans? A serious fix for the Titans…but it's not without their very own can opener. That's you, my friend. Start at the prison, Noir. But from there on, I can't help you anymore, so you'll have to ask for directions.'
'Sincerely,'
'-the Messenger'
'P.S.: No, I am not the Riddler. :P'
I blinked. I had to read the text a few more times before I came to one conclusion:
What the hell is all this?!?!?!
Nevertheless, I dumbly printed the e-mail out and stared at it a few more minutes. With a sigh, I went to the web browser and check out the local news.
The hell I'm going to find out…
On the homepage's top headlines was that of the battle at the prison. Being out of touch with reality due to my last few hours of car chasing and bomb defusing, I scanned the article…and gasped at the news of the Titans' ambiguous fate. There was no sign of their release. And my heart dropped at the name of the one prisoner supposedly released by Slug and Reload.
I glanced down at the printed out e-mail.
"…….."
I got up, gathered my things, and blurred out the Tower.
I headed for the prison…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Rise and Shine, Victor. We may as well have one last talk before everything is all said and done."
Cyborg groaned and tried sitting up, but he was strapped down to a metal laboratory bed. He sighed as he looked up at the brightly lit ceiling of the mysterious establishment. He didn't even have to glance over to sense Simon huddled about him, performing scans and diagnostics on his half-android body.
"The electromagnetic signature…," Cyborg muttered. "You didn't adjust it so that I could face off against Reload and Slug safely…."
"No, Victor, I didn't."
"….you adjusted it to a key level so you could shock me to sleep at any time while Noir and I were in the T-Car."
"Sounds about right," Simon said monotonously.
"…….why?"
Simon was silent.
"Pffft," Cyborg frowned. "Figured as much."
"I wish I could explain, Victor—"
"Don't bother."
Silence.
Simon continued—slowly—to shuffle around the restrained, bed-ridden Cyborg with his instruments.
"Where're my friends?" Cyborg asked.
"They're here as well. Most of them."
"Going to screw around with their bodies too?"
"I have no intention of doing so," Simon said. "Mr. Anderson disagrees, however."
"Anderson?" Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "As in…Westhaven Anderson?"
"The very same."
"So that's who you're working for…I knew it had to be somebody."
"Does it matter who I'm working for?"
"I suppose not."
Silence.
Simon sighed, "He was freed from prison just recently…soon after you shorted out."
"Also shanks to you, no doubt."
Simon sighed and glanced lethargically down at his nephew. "Are you going to admonish me all day?"
"Well, what do you expect, old man?!?!" Cyborg barked. "You betrayed us! You betrayed each and every one of us! And after I let you get so close. Because you were family. Because I knew you and you knew me!"
"If I had my choice," Simon said. "I wouldn't be doing this. You wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here. None of this would be happening."
"A clear case of reality-denial if I ever heard one," Cyborg frowned.
Just then, a set of footsteps entered the room.
Simon glanced over.
Cyborg craned his neck to see.
Slug and Reload entered in dual cadence. Like a pair of fraternal twins.
"Back so soon?" Simon asked.
"Anderson says we can rest," Slug smirked. "I think it's about time we complied….through you."
"But of course," Simon gestured to two vertical gurneys along the metallic wall of the laboratory. "After you."
"Gracias," Reload giggled and walked over to her standing place.
Slug went to his.
Simon walked over to a computer console and typed away at a series of buttons.
Cyborg watched as the gurneys' restraints clasped around the two half-androids. Then a series of wires fed into the metallic parts of their necks and skulls. They smiled the whole time—perfect as a picture.
Then Simon performed the final keystroke.
Like magic, the life from the two thugs' cybernetic prostheses left them. Their smiles faded away like boiling water as the juice to their electrical components were shut off.
No sooner had such happened, Slug spoke out in a desperate voice never heard from him before: "P-Please…T-Titan! Y-You must help us!!"
Reload was suddenly sobbing. Tears came from the fleshly half of her being.
"W-We can't get l-loose," Slug panted, sweating all over. "Th-They keep using us. We j-just wanted our limbs back!"
Reload was muttering something in Spanish as the tears flowed from her eyes.
"P-Please…help us…end us…..e-end us….," Slug's eyes went thin as his fleshly half suffered the effect of its little energy and went unconscious.
Unplugged.
Cyborg inhaled and looked at Simon. "What have you done to them?"
"Truckers," Simon said. "Both of them. They were transporting fuel back to the Metropolis Airport when something caused their cargo to explode. They barely made it out in half a piece, much less one. I took them in to give them new arms, legs, and bodily components. But that was shortly before Anderson became 'in need' of my services. He forced me to reprogram them…to use them towards his own villainy." A sigh, then: "Rachel Mendez and Jean-Luc Blair are now husks…stone golems…automatons who follow Anderson's every command. Technically, it's not too late for their minds to be salvaged. As much as we're concerned, they're still there…under all that circuitry and prostheses. However, the metal reigns supreme over the man. The machine controls their consciousness. All the time their outsides have been fighting you and the other Titans…they've been crying inside. The artificial hormones and nanomachine technology in their bloodstream keeps them under the delusion that they're determined, homicidal criminals…when actually their personalities are quite the opposite."
Cyborg gritted his teeth as he stared at the unconscious two. "Simon…."
"Yes, Vic?"
"When did you become such a heartless bastard?"
"………perhaps it was when I lost my heart."
The Titan looked at him funny.
Simon was staring off into space. "There's something…..I never told you, Victor."
"What's that?"
"I was there."
"……?"
Simon looked at him. "I was there when your mother died."
------
FLASH!!!!
Mrs. Stone screamed.
The monster emerged from the portal and bore down at her.
Silas ran over from the computer console at STAR Labs and tried to push her out of the way.
The monster formed a hole in the ground, forcing a metal beam to sail up through the floor and knock Silas back against a wall and unconscious.
"Mommy!!!!" Victor screamed.
The woman turned to face the little boy. "Run away, honey! GO!"
And that's when she was ripped to shreds.
------
"I saw it all…," Simon spoke. "I was in the atrium to the lab. The quarantine locks to the door had gone off. I had a sheet of glass between us…distorting what I saw of your hell, Victor. I felt so…so helpless…"
------
A younger Simon stone pounded on the glass.
"NO!!! Get down!! Get down!!"
He and the other scientists watched in horror as the woman's body was hidden in a spray of warm red.
He looked to the side, grabbed a chair, and slammed it hard into the glass window with a shout.
CRACK!!!
He swung again.
SMASH!!!
An alarm went off.
The laboratory flashed red and gray amidst the screams and noise.
The monster was approaching a sobbing Victor Stone.
"Mommm!!!"
Simon jumped through the window desperately. He picked up a metal bar lying from the debris that the portal had formed.
He charged the monster's back, growling.
Victor looked up. He saw his Uncle Simon coming to the rescue. For the rest of his life, he would never remember those scant ten seconds…for that's when all the other senses in his body became aware of his torso being eaten alive.
"NOOOOOO!!!" Simon shouted and swung down on the monster.
The trans-dimensional creature was already turning to face him…
------
"I fought it…no matter how much it devoured me as well…," Simon said. "It was too late for your mother. But it wasn't too late for you. Somehow…we drove the worthless creature back through the portal. But the damage had been done."
Cyborg took a good, long look at his uncle. "How did you survive it??" he asked.
Simon looked at him, then turned around. "What difference does it make?" He paced off from the bed. "I survived only to become the despicable creature that I am today. And it is costing you dearly….both of us." He turned around. "When I told you, Victor, that I value your existence. I meant it. As long as you and I are around…the Stones—despite all of their tragedy—still survive. The only thing keeping me from destroying myself for all the evils I've assisted Anderson in is the fact that—at the end of all this, you and I will still be around. In one piece or another…we will survive. We will exist. We will be….immortal."
Cyborg squinted his human eye. "What exactly are you going to do to me?"
Simon swallowed. He softly said, "Please forgive me, dear Victor. But I cannot tell you until you see it all for yourself."
"See what all?"
"Please forgive me…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The door to the back of an FBI Van opened up.
A gentleman helped a young woman in high heels and a plain business dress step up and inside the vehicle. Escorted by officers, Ms. Cartwright of the Westhaven Opera House walked down the thin path between computers and monitoring equipment to where two detectives stood besides an electric lamp and a spread of folders and photographs.
One detective looked up and shook her hand. "Ah, Ms. Cartwright. Thank your for coming all this long way. We're trying to sort through all the traces of the two cyborgs and the Titans' whereabouts. Your help is most appreciated."
"Glad to be of service," she said softly with a nod. "What do you need me to do?"
"Just this one thing, ma'am," the other detective said. He picked up manila envelope and handed it to her. "Inside that folder is a photograph of a person. We want you to identify that person if at all possible."
"Okay…," she reached into the envelope and pulled out a small sheet. She gracefully slipped on a pair of glasses and took a good long look at the fuzzy image of a man in what appeared to be a security camera snap. Despite the bad quality of the capture, she had no problem announcing: "Anderson."
"How're you sure?"
"I'm sure," she sighed. "I've worked with the man half my life. It has to be him."
"Did you see the news at all before coming here?"
"No sir, I haven't seen or watched or heard anything since one of your men drove me here from Westhaven."
The detective nodded. "As I had hoped," he took a deep breath. "Ms. Cartwright, we have a few questions to ask you. Don't worry, we're not suspecting you of anything, we just want to know if you have any intuition from having known the suspect that could help us in locating him. For, in doing so, we might find out what he did with the Titans."
"I'll be glad to help in any way possible," she said politely.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
An hour later, Ms. Cartwright walked off towards the edge of the FBI stationed formed temporarily on the edge of the prison parking lot. In the distance—against the backdrop of an early morning sun—workers began the task of patching up the damage done to the prison and its sewage system from the intense battle the previous evening.
"You think with all the villains in this city…," Cartwright muttered to herself between sips of coffee from a Styrofoam cup, "…they'd be proficient at that now."
She paced about slowly, hugging herself and enjoying the steaming cup. She looked off at the early morning sky. She sighed and turned around—almost running into me.
"!!!!!!" she spit out the coffee in her mouth, coughed, and dropped the cup. She gasped for breath and glanced at me bug-eyed from behind her glasses. "Saint Nicholas!!--you scared me!" she exclaimed, a hand over her chest. "Are all the Titans so…sneaky about their introductions?"
I shrugged with a simper.
She looked at me…and slowly raised a finger. "The Titans are missing….wh-what are you still doing here?"
I crossed two fingers.
"Lucky, huh? Well, lucky you….you get to search for them, don't you?"
I nodded. I pointed at the FBI vans.
Cartwright turned and looked. She sighed. "And you want my help…..shouuuuld have guessed." She cleared her throat, brushed a few bangs of hair from her forehead, and looked at me. "Look…I kinda sorta signed a confidentiality treatment with them. I could get in big trouble if I told you anything…as much as I'd love to. And as I'm now in the middle of reconstructing much of the opera house from Anderson's last charade with a costumed freak…well…I'm in no position to be risky."
I slowly nodded. But I kept looking at her. I was indeed the sneaky type. Cartwright—if any person—should have known that.
And she did. And she smiled. "But….I can tell you one thing," she placed a hand on her hip and gestured with the other. "Anderson—for being such a somber old fart—was very fond of fishing."
I blinked from behind my shades.
"And I do mean….very fond of fishing," and she glanced subtly at the Bay of the City.
I mouthed a silent 'oh' and gave her a thumb's up.
"That's all I can help you with," Cartwright said. "Small price….considering what you and the other Titans did to save me and my clients. Cyborg and Bus Boy?"
I made a lizard with my hand.
"Beast Boy. My bad."
I smiled. I bowed and made to leave.
"You know…," she said with a smile. "I have a message for you."
"????" I looked at her wyrd.
"It's from Sandy," she said. "You know, the volunteer girl? She told me 'I bet you'll find Noir when you're there. Tell him it's all about friendship'. She said you'd know what that means."
I chuckled silently and nodded.
"Fancy how much that girl seems to know," Cartwright said. She looked over at the FBI vans. "It's almost scary. But, I can't deny that she has a gift. A lucrative one too. I just might ask her to be my associa—" she glanced back over and stopped mid-sentence.
I was gone.
I had to find my friends…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
'Fishing'……
Back in the Tower, I sat at the working computer consoles in the main room. I ran over a couple schematics of lakes in the WestHaven area.
I scratched my chin and rolled over in my computer seat to another monitor where I had information brought up on the Web about Mr. Anderson's known exploits.
After an hour and a half of solid studying and hypothesizing, I decided to search three lakes in a rural county to the north of the opera house. For it was in that region that Anderson once owned a summer retreat in the wilderness. Complete with a log cabin by the lake and a dock.
And where there's a dock…
I got up and gathered my things.
I paused.
I looked at the e-mail printout.
"….."
I crumpled it up and tossed it into a wastebasket.
I made for the elevators and rode it down.
But not to the first floor…
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The doors to the Titan laboratory opened slowly with a whur.
I walked into the center of the dark room. I hesitated…but then continued to the wall on the other side. I entered a keystroke into a computer console like I had seen Cyborg do the other day.
With a hiss, the familiar circle in the metal floor opened and up emerged the glass-encased cylinder.
I opened it and stared at the Destabilizer. The t-shaped taser rested mutely…innocently. Black and spotless.
I took a deep breath, scooped it up in my hand, and left the room.
Not looking back.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Many hours passed before all the captured Titans managed to wake at the same time. Robin again beat the others to a punch. Beast Boy was second…but passed out two more times already for overexerting himself in a vain attempt to escape. Raven was third…and Starfire fourth. Now that they were all conscious, they murmured amongst themselves and to Cyborg the most. The android Titan lay on a metal lab bed—too restrained and sapped of energy to do anything to help his comrades.
"Dude…m-maybe if we all…like…think of the restraints snapping off at the same time, then they'll break!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Power of will! You know what I'm saying?"
"I'm the only one with telekinesis," Raven grumbled. "Stop pretending you can do the same."
"Then why don't you do something to get us out of here with that dark, gothic head of yours!?" Beast Boy spat. "You don't need your body to use your powers!"
Raven took a deep breath, centered herself, and remained calm. "My powers are metaphysical. They require a perfect balance of both mind and body. I'm afraid the same serum keeping you from turning into a gorilla is keeping me from turning into a badass, thank you very much."
"It is also preventing me from utilizing my starbolts," Starfire said. She looked over at Robin, "Robin, do you not have your fancy tools of escapeness?"
"Slug took my utility belt," the Boy Wonder gritted his teeth. "Right now, I'm only human."
"Lucky us," Beast Boy griped.
"Cyborg! They didn't pump a serum into you!" Robin said. "Concentrate and maybe you can get out of your restraints and help us out of here!"
"No can do, man," Cyborg groaned. "Simon has me on reserve power only. I can barely blink my eye."
"Dude…your uncle is—like—totally crazy!"
"Shut up, BB," Cyborg sighed. "You don't know a thing."
Beast Boy looked hurt. He quieted down in contemplation.
Raven looked over at Robin. "I knew something was awry. I knew it from the very beginning."
"Were you not moved to intercede on behalf of the implications of such intuition?" Starfire inquired.
"It's not so bad, Star," Cyborg breathed. "I knew something was up too."
"Even with your uncle?" Robin asked.
"You all were so willing to accept him in open arms," Cyborg spoke. He glanced at Raven. "Well, most of you. But it's not so easy for me. When it comes to people in my family….I feel wronged."
"Does all of this come full circle to your father?" Robin asked.
"What doesn't?" Cyborg remarked. "Brother like brother. Simon is just a Stone at heart. He's just family. And being part of my family…he's not part of me at all."
Starfire looked sad. "I am….depressed for you, Cyborg."
"Heh….thanks a lot."
Silence.
"Simon Stone is not acting alone….," Raven muttered.
"I know," Cyborg spat. "It's that creep Anderson. He's behind all this."
"Man, I hate that guy!!" Beast Boy whimpered and looked at Raven. "After all Noir and I did to stop him and Killer Moth at the Opera House, the guy just ups and walks from prison! I thought that mission was a success!" Sniff…
"You have my sympathies….," Raven sarcastically droned.
"Where is Noir?" Starfire remarked. "I do not see him here."
"How should we know?" Robin remarked. "Wasn't he with you last, Cyborg?"
"He was…"
"I'm one for hoping he's trying to save our butts as we speak," Beast Boy sweatdropped.
"Yes," Starfire mourned. "Our derrieres are certainly in need of salvation…"
"Right now…we've got to figure out what we can do on our own. And the best we can do at the moment is think this out. Why would Simon be helping Anderson out so much?"
"He won't tell me," Cyborg said. "Considering that he's talked his mouth off about everything else. I can't help but think he's hiding stuff from me…and yet hinting me to some untold truth all the same."
"What has he told you?" Raven asked.
"He was indeed behind the hacking of the Tower's mainframe on the night of the storm," Cyborg said. "But that wasn't his first time. Beforehand, he tried unsuccessfully to tap into our computers from remote. He bailed out of the system just in time to cause minor damage with the command sequence to the A/C Unit…affecting the flood seals of the basement levels."
"When Noir got locked away…," Starfire remarked.
Cyborg nodded. "He attempted his second attempt to tap into the Tower while y'all were away beating up Overload…"
"And Blake Glover was making a scene here…," Raven added.
"And Anderson's part in all of this?" Robin asked.
"Commander in chief, I suppose," Cyborg said.
"Yeah, I got that feeling from when he talked to me last time I was awake. But why? What does he have over Simon? I can't just be that thing with Lexcorp."
"Lex Luthor is involved in this?!" Beast Boy muttered.
"The ghosts of Metallo's creators," Robin said. "Anderson's and Simon's connections go deep into both the criminal underworld of Metropolis."
Cyborg gestured his head over towards the unconscious forms of Slug and Reload. "Get a load of those two. Mere puppets of Anderson's through Simon. It's no coincidence that they were first encountered by law enforcement in Blue Boy's city. I bet Simon grafted them together in STAR Labs itself."
"Duuuuude," Beast Boy moaned. "This is soooooo big."
"Not really," Raven said. "Just annoying." She looked over at Cyborg. "Your Uncle…you said you think he was trying to give you hints?"
"He's not telling me everything," Cyborg said, "But he's showing me lots through his emotion. Through his voice. Little things like that. None of you would understand unless you were related to him like I am. I can't put a finger on it. It's just….odd…"
"Don't think too much now…," Robin said with a frown and motion of his head.
Everyone silenced and glanced over weakly as Anderson and Simon walked into the room.
Anderson's winkled face smiled as he stood over Cyborg and looked down. "I am ready."
Cyborg made a face. "Say what?"
"Immortality awaits me. I only need cherish the last few seconds of this fleshly existence of mine…," Anderson flexed an arm and then touched Cyborg's metallic shoulder. "I'm about to move onto better things."
Cyborg's human eye widened.
"Cyborg!" Starfire gasped. "It is your android body! He desires to inhabit it!"
"That can't happen!" Beast Boy cackled. A beat. "Can it?"
Robin looked for the first time at a lone panel in the wall at the far side of the laboratory. It was like the holding cell that the Titans, Reload, and Slug were in. Only, it was free of restraints. It had places for hands and feet to go…but the cavity was larger and less restricting. Whoever would step into its frame would be doing so out of will…free choice….deliberation.
"Cyborg! You must get out now!" Robin shook in his harness, almost passing himself out. "That instrument in the wall! It's wired to you for electrosurgery!"
Cyborg frowned at the old man above him. "So…want to go the same way as Corbin, do you?"
"Corbin is a flaw," Anderson smiled. "I'm about to become the master of perfection. And you, young sir, are imperfect." He gestured to Cyborg's biological parts. "A few replacements and key instruments will make you complete. That's when I jump in and control the golem I'll be for the next eon."
"If I hadn't heard words spoken to me like those before…," Cyborg spat, "I'd call you a one in a million crackpot."
"Then what am I really, Titan?"
"An asshole."
"After today…," the old man winked, "…you'll be the asshole."
A shadow crossed over Cyborg's face. His human eye followed it momentarily, but then shook itself off as he said, "So you want to inhabit my body. Then what? Once you're black, you never go back, old man."
"Well, I think I'll wait around and see what things are like on the digital side of Life's fence," Anderson said. He turned and faced the other Titans. "Then I'll pursue my business prospects in turning these do-gooders into robot slaves themselves. Once I'm in you, I'll have inherited your knack for cybernetic talent. I'm sure I'll be more than a match for your uncle's prowess."
"Hardly…," Cyborg said bitterly.
Simon stared constantly at the floor.
"But enough chatter," Anderson whipped out a remote and clicked it. The bed pivoted vertically and faced the wall compartment across the laboratory. "I'm not much for ritual. Just action. I will have your circuitry, young Titan. And I shall evolve it into something more fitting than vigilantism."
"The only thing evolving is your insurance bill," Cyborg frowned. His eye returned to the shadow. "Noir!! Now!!"
I materialized.
I dropped down from the ceiling, Myrkblade first.
SLASSHHH!!!
CRACK!!
Anderson gasped as his remote was ripped to shreds.
I swiftly spun and kicked him in the stomach.
The old man tumbled across the room and landed with his back against the wall. He winced in pain like he broke a hip or something.
"Yeah!!" Beast Boy smiled. "Go us!!"
I spun Myrkblade into a pose and faced the downed man.
"Oh yeah…," Anderson winced and stood up. "Forgot about you…"
"I knew Simon was going to set us up," Cyborg spoke to the aged villain. "If Noir went to the prison, he'd be in the same place as the other Titans right now. So I asked Robin to have Noir take the T-Car with me. When Simon's EMP pulse took me out, Noir managed to escape capture like I knew he would. He's the only Titan fast enough to catch up with the other five and get them out of the fix we're in now."
"Gee," Raven—the usual T-Car passenger smirked ever so slightly. "That's flattering…"
"He was not supposed to be so free…," Anderson gritted his teeth and frowned in Simon's direction. "You! You were supposed to finish him off!"
"Sorry. Not my bag, you old fart," Simon Stone smiled in such a way that made his relation to Cyborg unarguable. "It may have been subtle…it may have risked the lives of dozens of people on the streets of the City…but I foiled you. I foiled you, you merciless bastard."
"We both did," Cyborg smiled. "Stones who live together…--"
"--…work together," Simon finished.
"Glorious….," Starfire murmured with sparkles in her eyes.
I smirked from under my shades.
"Give up," Simon said, pointing a finger out. "You've been caught in your own trap, and you're too old and too blind to fight back, you creep."
"Are you so naïve, Stone??" Anderson laughed. "A blind man I may be, but a blind man still has his bluff. And this old fart's been controlling you for the last decade. And he still controls you now." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen-shaped device, clicking a button on it.
Suddenly, Simon Stone stumbled for some reason.
Cyborg looked his way. "Simon???"
Slowly, Simon turned and faced me.
"Um….," Beast Boy stammered. "What's going on?"
"Take him down!" Anderson shouted.
Simon marched at me.
Confused, I held a hand up to shoved Simon back---
WOOOSH!! The uncle charged me.
Cyborg gasped.
I would have gasped too….if I had breath in my lungs.
WHUMP!!!!
Simon smacked he hard in the gut.
WHAM!!!
Kicked me in the sides….
SMACK!!!
And uppercutted me so hard, my jaw nearly popped.
I flew back the length of the laboratory and landed painfully hard with my back to the wall.
SMASH!!
I slumped to the ground, sputtering. Coughing up blood.
Simon flung his limbs down, cracked his neck, and raised his fists, facing me from far off.
"Interesting…," Raven muttered.
I limped to my feet. I looked through one squinting black eye and shades at the once-weak man. He was a threat now…no matter how much he assisted in my getting here.
Or maybe it was all a trap to nab the last Titan. Or maybe Anderson pumped serum into him too. Or maybe……
Ugh…gawd, I'm so confused…
"Finish him…," Anderson hissed.
"Simon! Don't do it!!" Cyborg called out.
The uncle stomped at me again.
"Noir! Move!" Robin shouted.
I had no choice. I charged up Myrkblade.
Simon came running.
Smoke danced out from under my shades.
I blurred at him.
"NO!!" Cyborg cried.
SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPE!!!!!!
I slashed my blade hard across Simon's upper body. It made full contact with his head—which I didn't necessarily intend, but it did the job. I landed on the ground beyond while Simon stumbled directly into the wall on the other side. Dizzy and disoriented.
Starfire gasped suddenly for some reason.
I looked in her direction and found her eyes following something in the air and fluttered to the floor. I stared at it and winced.
It was Simon's face.
I blinked.
No blood.
I looked his way, gasping.
Everyone else did.
Simon slowly turned around from the wall. His eyes were motorized. His face was metal. His nose….missing like a skull's. Lights blinked in crevices of the metallic exoskeleton as he sighed and looked at the floor in his trademark way.
Cyborg stared….his human eye twitching. His mouth agape.
"You asked how I survived the incident in STAR Labs, Victor…," Simon said, looking at his hands. "The reason's pretty obvious now. Neither you or John Corbin was the first successful experiment in prosthesis. There was barely anything left of me after I saved you from the monster. It took electrosurgery to turn me…..into this."
"And Anderson has control over you…," Robin spoke to 'Simon Stone'. "That was Luthor's payment to him…"
"S-Simon….," Cyborg muttered.
"We are more related than you think, young nephew," Simon spoke. "Both blood…and circuitry…"
"I said…..FINISH HIM!!" Anderson shouted, breaking the moment. He jammed his finger over the pin again.
Simon's whole body twitched. His eyes closed, then opened thinly. He marched towards me again.
I readied Myrkblade. Gritting my teeth.
"Simon…..you're….," Cyborg rambled aimlessly.
Simon let out an electronic war cry and charged me.
I stepped back.
His right fist came at me.
I sidestepped it, twirled, and brought my blade down on his shoulder.
CLANK!!!
It bounced off.
Crap!!
Simon's other fist flew into my ribs.
I winced in pain, hobbled to the side, and jabbed with Myrkblade.
He grabbed the length of my wooden sword with invincible, robot palms.
I desperately charged up my weapon and exploded smoke energy into his chest.
He struggled through the Destruction with brute force and slammed a fist into my sternum.
I lost grip of the hilt and flew back hard into a computer panel. SMACK!!
Simon silently aimed the weapon and flung it at me.
SWOOOSH!!
I jerked aside at the last second.
SLIIINK!!!
The weapon sank into my jumpsuit, pinning me into the computer's mainframe.
Sparks shot into my back, electrocuting me and making the ends of my fingers burn.
I let out a silent scream and fell limp. I was still conscious…and that's what hurt most of all.
Simon stomped threateningly towards me like some sort of Terminator until Anderson stepped forward with a click of his pen and smiled. "I may have more use for you alive than dead," he smirked at me. "Just look how he turned out."
I stared through pained, black eyes. Helpless.
Anderson pressed a button and Simon relaxed. The uncle panted and looked at me with regret…but couldn't do a thing to help me. He was truly under Anderson's control in the end.
Cyborg took a deep breath and frowned at Anderson. "Are you happy now? Kicking a near-dead family when it's down? Do you get off from this sort of torture?!"
"It's been a good fifteen years before I could 'get off', young Titan," Anderson said, turning around and heading for the crevice in the wall. "I'll have my chance again, I assure you. And you'll be completely aware of it."
"How nice…," Cyborg gritted his teeth and struggled for once to get out of his restraints. "When I get free of this thing, my uncle and I are so going to kick your—"
"You won't get free," Anderson said bluntly. He then laughed, "And what makes you think he's your uncle any more? He stopped being a flesh and blood relative long before you could even handle a laser rifle!"
Cyborg looked at his melancholy, cybernetic relative, then back at Mr. Anderson. "I stopped being completely human years ago…but that doesn't stop me from having feelings…and friends."
The Titans were silent…too shocked.
"Oh, save me the mush," Anderson smiled and stepped into the crevice. "And give me your body."
He clicked on the pen.
Simon's eyes lowered. His entire body started glowing.
"Your uncle isn't just an accomplice," Anderson said, putting his hands and ankles into the correct sockets of the wall piece. "He's the final key. The one link I have to you through electrosurgery!"
Cyborg watched in horror as Simon's many limbs snapped off and hovered separately in mid air on tiny rockets. They expanded to comparable sizes to fit an entire body. Even Cyborg's….
"He is the shell, young Titan," Anderson smiled. "You are the core. And I…," wires came out of the wall and attached themselves to multiple parts of Anderson's aged body, "…I am the glue that will hold us three together as one. Cybernetics Ultimate!! A golem of three evolved elements of human essence! Refit!! Refit into Triad!!!"
"I am sorry, Victor," Simon's robot skull said before it expanded and flew over towards Cyborg along with the rest of the limbs. "I'm…..s-sorry…."
"Rrrrrrrgh!!" Cyborg struggled in his restraints. "I….won't…be…a….part…of this….!!"
"You already are….," Anderson laughed. "Heheheheheheheh!! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!"
"Cyborg!!" Starfire shouted.
"Fight it!" Robin jerked.
"Don't give in!!"
"RRRRGHH!! Can't…break….free!!"
"AH HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
I struggled to force Myrkblade out of the computer station. I couldn't make it or myself budge.
I watched with horror as the various parts of Simon's android body floated into place and coated themselves over Cyborg's writhing body like a cocoon of armor. Simultaneously, the wall panel Anderson was in lit up and wires transferred sparks of energy from his body and into the lab bed where Simon and Victor Stone merged into one. Anderson's age-old body twitched as every ounce of life was sucked out of him and into the new host. And then it lay still. And then the room turned still…and quiet.
"C-Cy??" Beast Boy muttered, wide-eyed.
Lying on the bed was a brand new being. Cyborg's proportions were increased by twenty percent. But the usual exterior was gone, replaced by a monstrous looking automaton with jagged features and dark red eyes. After a few seconds, the dark red glowed…and the beast easily snapped free of its bondages. It sat up on the lab bed, revealing its face to us. Its skull-grin-of-teeth. Its chiseled chin and ears. It flexed its arms, stood up, and laughed in Anderson's voice without the metal lips moving.
"After all my life….a brand new life is made…three souls poured into one and dominated by me! Anderson is gone…and Triad is born!"