Alice: New chapter!

Emily: Like I said, this episode focuses mainly on Cyborg, so I can't put much RobRae in it.

Alice: I know I promised there would be more RobRae in this fic than in my previous two, and that's true. You just have to wait for a certain episode for that to happen.

Emily: After that certain episode, it's really intense RobRae all around. I'm sure that you guys can guess the episode since the summary gives it away.

Alice: Until then, there's a lot of fighting and tension between them. Sorry about that.

Emily: In the meantime, here's the next chapter!

Alice: In Teen Titans, it was revealed that Cyborg became that way due to a car accident, so I'm going to go with that as his backstory instead of the comic backstory.

Deception

Part 2

Cyborg was immensely popular at his high school. How could he not be? He was only a sophomore at the time, but he proved himself to be one of the best football players on the team, and he was dating one of the hottest cheerleaders. Girls wanted to date him, and boys wanted to be him. In this school, however, he was not well liked. He could tell when people refused to offer him a seat at their lunch table and glared at him. He scowled and tried to remain positive. After all, why would he want to be well liked among a school of villains?

Sighing, he ended up sitting at one of the empty lunch tables. Before he could even look at his lunch, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and froze. Mammoth stood above him, glaring at him. Did he recognize Cyborg? Gulping, Cyborg was about to speak, but Mammoth beat him to it. "You're in my seat." He growled.

Thank goodness for dumb villains. Cyborg was about to defend himself when Gizmo appeared out of nowhere, snickering. "You look so lame! Do you even have any powers?"

Cyborg once again opened his mouth to speak and was silenced once again when a feminine voice spoke up. "You look familiar."

He could feel his body tense. Turning his head to his right, Cyborg's eyes landed on Jinx, whose arms were crossed as she looked at him with a calculating expression. Unlike her two partners, she appeared to be analyzing him. This was dangerous. She was dangerous. "My name is Stone," he offered, hoping his voice didn't trigger any memories for her.

She narrowed her eyes. "Stone." She slowly said his name.

"Get out of our seat!" Gizmo cried, ignoring the moment between his team leader and the stranger. Pressing a button, Gizmo burst out laughing when "Stone" went flying out of his chair with a scream. When Cyborg hit the floor, he could instantly hear the laughter of his peers. No! He needed to pass this mission. He needed to prove himself. Standing up, he smashed his fists together triggering the holograms to provide a new image around him. He must have looked like a stone man to the rest of them with blue eyes.

Raising his fist, he smashed the table to the point where it fell apart. Glaring at the HIVE members, he stated, "It looks like you need a new table."

The room fell silent, and Mammoth beamed at him. "Not bad!"

Gizmo smiled nervously. "You seem like a cool guy."

All around Cyborg could hear the impressed whispers of the students. No one stood up to the three of them. Cyborg smirked only to frown when he saw Jinx's expression. Instead of complimenting him, she just stared suspiciously at him. She definitely wasn't dumb, and Cyborg knew he would have to be careful around her. "Let's see how you do in training," she stated, walking past him without a second glance.

Gizmo sheepishly grinned. "She gets like that. Just ignore her."

"That's what we do." Mammoth nodded in agreement. Cyborg faked a smile and the three of them sat at a different lunch table together. I'm in, Cyborg thought to himself as Gizmo and Mammoth laughed at a joke he told. I'm in.

"Oh come on man!" Victor burst out laughing at his friend. "You can't drive! Let me!"

"No no no no!" Marcy giggled. "You're too drunk!"

After the big game, Victor decided to go to a party with his friends. He figured it would distract him from his father's attitude towards his win. The problem was he couldn't stop thinking about it, and it caused him to be a stick in the mud at the party. Marcy decided he needed to loosen up and grabbed him a few drinks. Normally Victor didn't drink (his father always complained that it killed important brain cells and would be extremely disappointed if he discovered his son was drinking), but tonight was an exception.

By the time the party was over, he could barely walk without stumbling. He came to the party with his friends, and they were arguing over who was sober enough to drive. "I could just call my parents," another one of his friends slurred.

"No!" Victor shook his head, laughing. "Your dad works with my dad, and he'd tell. My dad would kill me if he found out I was drinking!"

"I know!" Marcy beamed. "Let's have Mike drive! He only had, like, two drinks, right? He's fiiine."

Mike nodded eagerly, and the group agreed to that. They forgot Mike couldn't handle his drinks and would be just as drunk as the rest of them. Still, they all piled in the car with Victor in the passenger's seat. The car was stuffed with people, and it could barely fit all six of them. Still they managed to squeeze in, and Mike began driving.

"This is so much fun!" Marcy screamed loudly. "We're the champions guys!"

"Yeah!" Victor shouted. "Mike, open the sunroof!"

"Oh my God!" Marcy laughed as the other boys cheered him on. Unbuckling his seatbelt, Victor stood up and poked his upper body out of the sunroof, smiling at the street.

"WE WON!" Victor screamed, raising both his hands up. "WE'RE THE WINNERS! NOTHING CAN STOP US NO—"

Just as he shouted that, Victor's eyes widened when Mike accidentally drove into the wrong lane. A car was speeding down the highway, and Victor could see the driver's stunned face right before it slammed into the car.

That was the last thing Victor remembered before everything went black.

Cyborg frowned at the strange training course. It was brightly colored, and it looked simple. Was this really what these villains in training were practicing on? Maybe that's why they were so easily defeated. He glanced to his right where Jinx stood, her eyes sweeping over the course in suspicion. Unlike their leader, Gizmo and Mammoth were just making silly faces at each other as though this was a giant joke.

When Cyborg heard the loud beep, the training course suddenly came to life. The walls opened and robots walked out. Parts of the tiles flipped over to reveal guns firing lasers. "Maneuver three!" Jinx suddenly shouted and sprung into action.

Cyborg blinked. "Wait I don't know that one!"

The three ignored him and dashed into the course. Grumbling, Cyborg quickly followed and hoped he could follow what they were doing. Just before he could catch up to them, all of the robots focused on him, and he groaned. Great, just what he needed. Bracing himself, he was prepared to take on these lousy robots until…

Terra stood above him, glaring at all the titans as Slade's robot army surrounded her.

Cyborg gasped and the robot's fist slammed into him. That's right, he thought as he fell to the ground. The last time he faced robots was the same day Terra died. Shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to rid himself of the image of the blonde girl. That gave the robots an advantage as they grabbed him and held him back.

"Guys!" Jinx's voice called out. "That's not maneuver three! What are you—dammit!"

Cyborg frowned and glanced behind the robot. Wires grabbed Gizmo and Mammoth, hoisting them up for the entire class to see their failure. Jinx glared at the machines and attempted to fight them on her own. She appeared to be winning, but she was struggling. Cyborg clenched his fists and jumped up, forcing his body back against the robot so he could kick the one in front of him. The robot loosened his grip on him, and he whirled around, punching it and hurling it at the other robot. Once they had fallen, Cyborg rushed to Jinx's side.

"You try to free them," he shouted at her. "I'll back you up."

Instead of arguing, Jinx nodded and quickly shifted her focus to the origin of the wires. Cyborg stayed behind her and fought anything that came in her path. When it was clear the machines would not break down, Jinx turned to him. "Change of plan," she shouted. "You're strong. Rip the tiles from the ground and throw them. I'll defend you!"

Nodding, Cyborg and Jinx quickly shifted their positions. Jinx now stood in front of him and used her powers to ensure they were not caught. Cyborg leaned down and grabbed two of the yellow, hexagon tiles. Ripping them from the ground, he hurled them at the wires, successfully breaking them. Gizmo and Mammoth fell, free from their constraints. Jinx whirled around and beamed at him. "You did it!"

"We did it!" Cyborg panted, grinning back. He was actually happy which was a strange feeling. What he and Jinx just did felt like teamwork. They bounced ideas off each other, and they decided which one would be best. There was no fighting and no hesitation. In his team, they just followed Robin's ideas and that was it. This was the first time in a long time he felt like an equal.

"You want to be the team leader, but you know you can't be. Because Robin's a better leader."

"You're a weak, powerless freak who takes orders from someone younger than you. Even if you win, even if you somehow manage to beat me and Slade, you'll always be second best to Robin, and that will never change."

Cyborg grit his teeth together, trying to ignore the words that flooded through his head. Terra never meant those things. Slade was manipulating her. They weren't true. "Hey," Jinx nudged him. "It's the headmaster!"

Frowning, Cyborg turned to see an older man hover down onto the field. He was using one of the tiles for the flight, and when he landed, he slowly walked up to them. His facial expression gave away none of his thoughts. "You," the headmaster looked at him dead in the eye. "I don't recall admitting you. You snuck in. You destroyed my course. You made my best students look like fools. You think you're so clever, don't you?"

Jinx flushed at the last comment. Cyborg clenched his fists, about to argue that perhaps he made some sort of mistake, but the headmaster merely smiled. "You're not clever. You're brilliant. What is your name?"

"Stone." Cyborg stated. "And you're…?"

"Brother Blood," he answered, holding out his hand. Since Cyborg was in his "stone" form, he shook his head without any problems. Since his hand was technical and not made from flesh, Brother Blood would not think it was strange for the stone to feel hard. If he was in his "human" form though… he had to be careful who touched him.

"Nice to meet you." Cyborg replied stiffly. Brother Blood nodded, staring at him with newfound interest.

Turning to the three students, Brother Blood's expression shifted to one of anger. "As for you three, how dare you make yourselves look like fools? Again?" Brother Blood growled, his eyes turning red. "You can't seem to stop yourselves from being an embarrassment?"

He continued to shout at the three of them in front of the whole class. Cyborg watched their expressions closely. Gizmo appeared terrified, and Mammoth hung his head in shame. Jinx was the only one who looked him directly in the eye. She looked determined, and Cyborg was unsure of why. Soon Brother Blood turned his attention to the rest of the students and began talking about a class project that would make their enemies tremble. Their enemies? Did that mean the Teen Titans?

Cyborg knew he would have to stay until the class project was announced. He glanced at the three students and frowned. "You guys okay?" he whispered.

Jinx nodded and took a step closer to him, whispering so her teammates wouldn't hear, "Fine. You?"

"Fine."

Robin sat on the couch, patiently waiting for Cyborg to call the team. It had been a whole day, and they received no from of communication. The rest of the team also sat in the lounge. He could tell they were worried, and he didn't know how to reassure them that Cyborg was probably fine. "Guys," Beast boy whispered, "what if they caught him? What if…"

"I don't think so," Robin shook his head. "He's probably just overwhelmed by everything and hasn't had the time to call. He's fine."

Beast boy clearly didn't believe him. Robin didn't blame him. Before Terra, the possibility of any of them dying seemed foreign. Sure, they've had a few close calls that made them panic, but they always ended up being fine. This was the first time someone truly died in combat, and the possibility became a reality. "He's calling!" Starfire suddenly jumped up. On the screen, Cyborg's face appeared. He was still wearing his disguise, and it felt strange to see him as human looking.

"Hey guys," Cyborg smiled. "Sorry I couldn't call. It took forever before I could move into the dorms!"

"It's fine." Robin stood up. "What do you have?"

"Not much," he admitted. "I met the headmaster, Brother Blood, and he's planning some sort of class project that will make their enemies fall. I'm guessing he means us. He hasn't announced anything about that yet, so I'll have to stay here until he does."

"Are you sure?" Beast boy frowned. "Isn't that dangerous?"

Cyborg smiled reassuringly. "I'll be fine, BB."

"Just check in with us once a day," Robin spoke up. "Just so we know you're okay."

"You got it," Cyborg smiled only to frown. His voice lowered to a whisper. "Someone knocked on my door. I have to go. Bye."

He abruptly hung up.

"See?" Robin turned to Beast boy. "He's fine."

Beast boy nodded, and Starfire flew to him, wrapping her arms around the smaller boy. Robin smiled softly and turned his gaze to Rave, who didn't tear her eyes away from the book she was reading. She most likely felt his stare, but she did nothing about it. Robin frowned and glanced back at his other two teammates. What had he done to make Raven ignore him like that? What was going on in her head? He needed to find out, or he might lose his friend.

Cyborg opened the door to his dorm and blinked when he sat Jinx standing there, smirking at him. "Hey," she said. "Mind if I come in?"

"Isn't there a policy against having girls in the boys dorms after a certain time?" he asked.

"You go to a school dedicated to teaching students how to break rules," she snorted. "Trust me, they won't care."

He nodded and stepped to the side, allowing the pink haired girl to walk in. Instead of being dressed in her usual dark dress and heels, she wore gym shorts and a tank top. Her hair was still up, but it looked messy. It was as though she decided to come here at the last minute. Strutting into the room, Jinx briefly glanced around before seating herself at one of the desk chairs. Cyborg moved to sit on his bed. "What's up?"

Jinx frowned and crossed her legs. "Well," she ran her hand through her hair. "I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

She nodded. "My team is a bunch of idiots. I try my best to lead them, but they never pay attention to anything I say. I'll give them commands, and they start doing their own thing. We've gotten better, but it's still a big problem. You… you paid attention to what I was saying, and I wanted to thank you for it."

"No problem," he shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, I kind of get it."

"You do?"

"Before I came here, I was on a team," he might as well tell the truth considering she'll never find out who he was. "We were all supposed to be equals, but there was this one kid who was just smarter than everyone. He'd come up with all these ideas and plans, but he'd never share them. After a while, he became our team leader. He's gotten better with the whole plan sharing thing, but he still never uses our ideas just his own. It gets frustrating after a while because I knew I could lead just as well as he could, and my plans were just as smart. It's why I came here. I wanted to prove it to myself."

Even though this was another one of Robin's plans…

Jinx smiled. "Screw that guy then. I think you're brilliant."

"Thanks," he smiled back. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"What made you join?" he asked.

Jinx sighed and leaned back in the chair. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be like Wonder Woman."

Cyborg blinked, surprised by that answer. He'd met Wonder Woman once, and she an amazing, powerful woman. But Jinx was a villain? Why would she grow up wanting to be a hero? He tilted his head to the side. "I'm confused. The hero? Wonder Woman? Part of the Justice League?"

Jinx snorted. "What other Wonder Woman is there?"

"Things must have changed from when you were a kid."

"Not really," Jinx shrugged. "I just… I don't know. I knew I had these powers, and I looked up to Wonder Woman. She was a part of the Justice League, and everyone respected her. I wanted to grow up and be a part of something like that."

Cyborg stared at her. Jinx wanted to be good? "I still don't follow."

She smiled sadly. "I'm bad luck. Literally. All my powers do is cause destruction and chaos. I never had the chance to be good, but I still wanted to be part of something. Something big. And I wanted to be respected in it too. It's why I came here."

"But you're not respected?"

"I'm not, but I'm trying to earn it," she said, her eyes full of hope. "I want Brother Blood to see I'm wasting my talents trying to lead Mammoth and Gizmo. I want him to see I can do so much better if I'm given an opportunity, and I'm trying really hard to make him see that. I think if we partnered up, we could do that."

"You, me, Gizmo, and Mammoth? Cyborg questioned.

She shook her head. "Just you and me. We've got potential, Stone. We have the determination. We can do it! Why should we bother sticking to a team that's holding us back?"

Cyborg gulped. While he would never join Jinx and turn evil, she did have a point. Why was he with the Teen Titans when he could be a leader? When he could prove himself to be more than what the team gave him credit for? Jinx was just like him. On the other side, maybe, but she understood. "Let's do it, Jinx."

She grinned and literally lunged into his arms, hugging him tightly. He froze momentarily. Could she feel the robotic parts of his body? How he didn't emit heat like normal flesh did? He shut his eyes tightly, waiting for Jinx to say something, but she didn't. "You feel like stone," she mumbled in his ear.

He snorted, not realizing he was wrapping his arms around her. "Yeah… I guess I do."

"What's going on?" Victor mumbled when he opened his eyes. He couldn't… feel anything. It was a strange sensation. "What…?"

"Victor?"

Victor glanced to the side. His father stood above him, his eyes filled with worry. His dad was worried about him? Why? His dad never cared. Suddenly a flash of memories hit him, and he remembered: the party, the drinking, the crash… Gasping, he tried to sit up, but his father quickly shoved him back down. It didn't take much because he was so weak. What he thought was odd was that he couldn't feel his fathers hands on his chest. "Dad? What happened?"

"You nearly died," his father whispered. "They couldn't save you… your body was just too… I had you transferred to my lab, and I had to work quickly. I've had a theory for a while, and I was researching it, but I never got to test it. You were going to die… I just… I had to try."

"Research?" Cyborg mumbled as his head fell onto his shoulder. He frowned at the cold, hard feeling of it. Shakily raising his hand, he gasped when he saw it was no longer flesh but metal. "Dad… dad what did you do to me?"

"I did what I had to…"

"What did you do to me!" He continued to scream. "My body… where's my body?!"

Alice: Thanks for reading!

Emily: Next chapter will be up by next Wednesday the 29th at the latest!

Alice: Let me know what you guys thought of the story!