Just as Robin had hoped, Beast Boy survived the night. However, he remained in a deep coma. Terra finally ascertained that he must have sustained some brain damage of some sort. One could jab a needle into his arm and he would not even flinch. He simply lay there day after day, silent and unmoving.
Meanwhile, things were finally going back to normal in the outside world. Shipments of oil came in once more and apart from the solar panels on the roofs of many homes and buildings, everything looked the same as they used to be.
Every day, Robin and Starfire worked on trying to repair the damage that Slade had wrecked on Cyborg.. Because of what Brother Blood had done, Cyborg had memorized copies of his blueprints and destroyed them after that. Though he did not want any villains exploiting his technology, it also meant that Robin and Starfire had no access to it. Frustrated beyond reason, the three titans could only watch helplessly as their two friends lay in silence.
A month after the battle with Slade, the titans were getting increasingly desperate. They brought Beast Boy to many neurologists only to be sent home with no solutions or treatments. It was obvious that trauma to his brain must have caused the part of the brain responsible for cognition to shut down temporarily, but there was no cure for it and medical experts could only offer them some tips on Beast Boy's care and nothing more. All they could do was to watch and wait.
But Robin was sick of waiting. He was sick of standing around doing nothing. He began to try to track down Cyborg's father, hoping that the man who had created him once could do so once again. However, no matter how many times he went through city records, he could not find a single person in the city related to Cyborg. Before long, Robin came up with a plan to find Cyborg's father.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Terra stated as she glared at Robin. "You want to compare Cyborg's DNA with that of every single African American man above thirty-five in the city? Do you have any idea how long that'll take?"
"We could strike it lucky!" Robin insisted. "It's our only option!"
"But Robin, how do we get every of Africa's American men in the city to do the test?" asked Starfire.
"Yeah, how?" asked Terra, raising an eyebrow. "What if he's dead? That could explain why he disappeared."
"No. I've got the feeling that he changed his name to escape from villains," replied Robin. "Cyborg's bionics are amazing. The more I try to repair him, the more awed I am by what keeps him alive. Whoever his father is, he was a real genius and such genius would obviously be exploited by villains."
"Okay. But that doesn't explain why Cyborg doesn't contact his Dad or why he doesn't have a single picture of his own father anywhere in his room." Interjected Terra, who had now taken Raven's place as the skeptic of the team.
"Besides, everyone in the city still hates us, yes?" asked Starfire. "Would not Cyborg's father not want to be his father now that everyone in the city hates him and will conceivably hate his father too? If Cyborg's father does not wish to be hated for being his father, then he will try not to be Cyborg's father so that no one knows who is Cyborg's father and no one can hate Cyborg's father!" she said in one breath. She wore a big smile, proud of having figured it all out. Robin and Terra blinked at her repeatedly. They stared at Starfire for a whole minute, until Robin finally figured out what Starfire was trying to say.
"She means that since everyone in the city hates us titans, Cyborg's father might not want to be recognized as Cyborg's official parent lest he be hated as well." He said turning to Terra to see if she understood.
"Ohhhhh… I see." Nodded Terra.
"Wait a minute!" cried Robin. "Even if the whole city hates us, we are still famous. People still want to know what we're up to even though they hate us!"
"Well?" asked Terra, her interest aroused by Robin's excited tone.
"We could release an official titans' report on the current state of our team! The media will happily broadcast it to show the whole world what's happened to the mighty titans and we'll be on the front pages of all the newspapers! They'll have so much fun making fun of us that they'll give us a lot of publicity! Practically everybody will be talking about us!"
"And?" asked Terra again, slightly bored with Robin's wordy delivery.
"If we say that Cyborg is in disrepair, his father might just hear about it on the radio, or on the TV, or read about it in the newspapers or maybe his friends might talk to him about the teen titans!"
"So?" cried Terra, her patience spent.
"Well, Cyborg's father might come looking for us if he truly cares about the well-being of his son! Maybe then he could fix Cyborg who could in turn help Beast Boy!"
"That's not a bad plan." Said Terra wonderingly as she pondered about it.
"I know!" cried Robin as he brushed past Starfire and ran to the computer. He began typing at breakneck speed, making frightening amounts of grammatical errors along the way. This could be their only chance to get Cyborg fixed.
That evening, the remaining titans gathered in the main room to watch the evening news. They were exceedingly glad to see a large picture of them next to the newscaster. Well, all except Terra. The picture used was an old one of Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven. Unhappy to be excluded, she silently sulked as the newscaster began with his nightly report.
"The four-hundred pound leader of the teen titans, Robin, has just released a statement to the press about the current situation of the teen titans." Robin's face turned red as Terra began to laugh. "The statement has been released for reasons unknown, but it has been speculated that the titans are trying to get their old jobs back as the city's official heroes, despite having proved to be completely incompetent."
This time, all three of them began to sulk. The media seemed to take pride in insulting them in the worst possible way.
"Only two titans are currently fit and ready for duty, namely Starfire and Terra. Robin claims to be fit, but his bulging stomach says otherwise. The statement also states that Beast Boy has been injured in the line of duty - even though the titans are not on duty – and is currently in a coma. Cyborg has also apparently sustained grave injuries in the line of nonexistent duty and is currently in complete disrepair. Robin states that the team is doing their best to restore him to his original state but it could take years and an engineering degree. Finally, the last original member of the titans, Raven, is currently on leave for unknown reasons. Robin only goes as far as to say that she will eventually return to rejoin the titans, though I highly doubt it, being a demon and all." The newscaster just had to add his two cents worth. The newscaster's statement made the angered the three, especially Starfire.
"Raven is not a demon!" cried Starfire as Robin grabbed her and turned her face away from the TV. With Cyborg gone, he could not afford to have her destroy it with her eye beams.
"We know." Said Robin comfortingly as he put his arms around her. He trusted that Raven would return in a matter of time.
The very next morning, the titans were going about their usual morning routine when they heard someone anxiously knocking on the door. Robin made his way to the door and cautiously looked at the small screen mounted onto the wall. After the incident with Beast Boy, Cyborg had installed the screen along with a camera on the front porch so that they could see who was at the door. He saw a very flustered African American man in his mid-forties outside in a pair of dirty blue overalls. He had in his hand a large toolbox and had parked his van on the driveway.
"Peterson's Plumbing." Robin said as he read the letters on the van. "Terra? We didn't ask for a plumber, did we?"
"No." She said looking up from her magazine. "Why?"
"There's a plumber at the door." Robin said as he hesitated for a moment. Finally, he opened it.
"Mornin'! I'm from Peterson's Plumbing and we received a call last night from this address." The plumber said with a wink. Robin stared at him for a second, before quickly realizing who he was.
"Please, come in." He said motioning to the living room. "It's the bathroom on the second floor." He added before closing the door behind him. Terra and Starfire stood and watched quizzically, slightly amused by the plumber that they had not called for.
"Thanks!" The plumber said gratefully as he put his toolbox down. Now Terra and Starfire were truly perplexed. "Perhaps some introduction is in order." Said the plumber with a smile. "My name is Silas Stone and I am Cyborg's father. Where's Cyborg?"
"I'll show you to the room of Cyborg." Offered Starfire thoughtfully after the initial shock had worn off. She knew that it would be hard for Robin to show him up the stairs.
"Thanks!" He said again and practically sprinted up the stairs after her.
"This is the room of-" began Starfire but she never was allowed to finish.
"Victor!" Cried his father running to his charging table. Robin was right. Cyborg was in complete and utter disrepair and it seemed apparent that Robin's efforts to repair Cyborg had only made things worse. "Don't worry son, I'll fix you." His father said brokenly as he began to search through his toolbox. Sensing their need to be alone, Starfire retreated out of the room.
Robin paced around the kitchen, deep in thought. Two hours had passed since Cyborg's father had arrived at the house. Terra was cooking dinner since it was her turn and Starfire was watching her, eagerly offering her input.
"This food will be simply glorious if you would just add some Panagflorg tentacles!" She cried as she jumped up and down.
"For the last time Starfire, I'm cooking normal, human food!" Roared Terra as she mashed some potatoes.
"But if you were to add just a sprinkle of Vlogart skin..."
"I'm not gonna!" Yelled Terra.
"But every time I cook my dish of specialty Robin eats it! If Robin can do the feasting on Tamaranean food, surely you can too!" Cried Starfire.
"Really, Robin?" Demanded Terra as she turned to face him. "Really? Robin? Hello?" She asked as she waved the entire bowl of mashed potatoes in front of him.
"Robin!" Cried Starfire as she flew over to him. "Is he dead?" She screamed as she tried to search for a pulse by putting her entire hand over his heart.
"I'm not dead." Robin said bluntly as he pushed Starfire off him. "I'm just trying to figure out what to do with Cyborg's dad."
"Aha. So you're worried that those reporters out there will notice that this plumber has been in the house for two hours." Said Terra as she turned back to her cooking.
"Exactly. Before long they'll figure out that he's probably here for another reason." Sighed Robin.
"Cannot the father of Cyborg just let everyone know he is the father of Cyborg?" Asked Starfire innocently.
"No." Replied Robin as he adjusted his mask. "We have to help him keep his identity a secret. Someone like Slade could easily exploit his skills. I'm pretty sure that's why he came to the house as a plumber."
"So… What are we going to do?" Demanded Terra as she turned to the stove.
"We need a distraction to make the photographers leave." Said Robin eyeing the girls.
"I'm not dressing up in a bunny suit with Starfire to sing songs to sick children in hospitals." Stated Terra as she cracked several eggs.
"Since when did you turn into Raven?" Groaned Robin. "Can't you just do something with Star? It's for Cyborg's dad."
"I didn't turn into Raven. She and I are two different people. She probably won't wear the bunny suit because she finds it childish and stupid. I don't want to wear it because it makes me look fat." Terra said derisively. "No offense." She said glancing Robin. "Why don't you take the fall this time? How about going to a gym in the city?" She smirked.
"Yes, Robin. The last time you wanted to make the paparazzi leave Terra and I had to go shopping and do the fighting of the cats."
"It's called a catfight." Terra corrected her.
"Fine. But what if some of the paps stay behind?" Asked Robin. "It's rare for us to allow anyone who's not part of the team in the house. Surely they'd want to get that down."
"It's just a plumber!" Exclaimed Terra in a highly frustrated tone. "You know what, if you'll do the all cooking and cleaning in this house for the next month, I'll take care of the paps." There was really nothing Terra hated more than housework.
Robin considered her offer for a second. Would he rather go to the gym and have everyone laugh at him or would he rather stay at home and do housework? Finally, he gave in.
"If you can get the paps to leave, I'll do all the housework for a month."
"That includes Starfire's share!" Added Terra firmly.
"Why would you get her out of doing housework as well?" Demanded Robin.
"I need someone to go shopping with me." Replied Terra.
"No, you are not shopping!" Yelled Robin. "None of us work anymore, we need to save as much money as we can!"
"Relax, grandpa! I'm going shopping for a boyfriend." Said Terra with a wink.
"Then why do you want Starfire to go with you?" Screeched Robin. "She already has a boy - I mean, man!"
"I need a second opinion." Said Terra rolling her eyes.
"What about Beast Boy?" Demanded Robin. "I thought you two had a thing?"
"Well, at first I wanted him back, but then he told me that he's already in love with someone else." Terra sighed. "So I decided to just be his friend though I secretly still liked him. Then he started talking about his hopes and dreams for the future and how he wants to have eight kids, one for each letter of his name." Terra shuddered. "I have to be honest though, I don't really feel the spark between us. I did some soul searching and realized that I really don't have any feelings for him anymore. He's probably going to treat me like a baby-making machine if I'm dumb enough to let him, which I'm not. So I'm looking for a boyfriend!" She smiled brightly. Robin's jaw dropped.
"Are you sure you're completely over him and not just looking for a boyfriend to replace him?" Asked Robin suspiciously.
"I loved him last time not because I truly like liked him, but because I felt sorry for him and also grateful to him for accepting me and being so nice to me and such. You know, not many people can love a girl who can cause the earth to swallow them up. So I confused those feelings with love and that was a mistake on my part." Terra admitted. "To be honest, Beast Boy and I are not really right for each other."
Robin nodded slowly. He now understood why Terra no longer spent all her time pandering to Beast Boy's every request. He now understood why Terra no longer jumped with delight at the sound of Beast Boy's name. Things were beginning to make sense now.
"In what way are you and Beast Boy not right for each other?" Asked Robin.
"Before I lost my memories, he was really cute, immature and adorable. When I regained my memories, came back and met him, he was so different. He became so mature. He became so much more like Raven. Or like a professor. Whoever it is, I just can't stand it! He's became such a drag! I blame it on puberty." Said Terra as she took the T-Car's keys off the rack. "You coming?" She asked raising an eyebrow at Starfire.
Starfire nodded happily and ordinarily, Robin would have protested but he was too deep in thought to pay attention to them.
While Robin stared into space, Terra easily enticed all the paps to follow her by driving the T-Car out of the garage with the song Girls Just Want To Have Fun blasting at top volume. This was too good to miss, so they followed them eagerly.
About ten minutes later, Robin went upstairs to talk to Cyborg's father, who was feverishly doing some rewiring. Together, they came up with a plan. Cyborg's father would leave the house as a plumber, go home to craft the required parts and meet Robin at a designated location the next day, after which Robin would smuggle him into the house.
It seemed like a foolproof plan and having said goodbye to the "plumber", Robin sat down to think once more. He was thinking about what Terra had said about Beast Boy.
Elsewhere in the city, the real Slade watched.