Chapter Forty-Four - Cyborg the Barbarian

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    Another short chapter here since it hones in on one Titan's individual journey, and there's not a whole lot I can do there.

    The sound of sizzling wires fills my ears as Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and myself step into the main room of the Tower. Cyborg sits on the couch, his back to us, and I catch the slight jolt of excitement in his shoulders that tells me he knows we're here before he jumps off the couch and faces us, beaming.

    "Megaphonic sound..." he begins, hopping around the room. He showcases three gigantic speakers that visibly boom, though no audio escapes them yet.

    "Ultra-plasma display..." The screen flickers on and a pre-recorded version of Cyborg smirks at all of us smugly. I bring my forearm up over my eyes to shield them from the blinding brightness of the screen.

    "Phase-shielded amp..." I look over to see Cyborg already standing next to a white amplifier, blue energy crackling from it.

    "And to top it off, a brand-new, hot-off-the-shelf, impossible-to-find-anywhere GameStation XL!" the teen finishes, pulling a metallic, grey box marked with the letters 'GSXL' in red on the side and holding it over his head.

    "It's... beautiful," Beast Boy says dreamily, tears of happiness welling in his eyes.

    "I'm glad you're upgrading Ops, Cyborg," Robin begins, his cape held up to prevent him from going blind. "... but is any of this actually going to help us fight crime?"

    "Uh... sure?" Cyborg answers hopefully.

    Starfire sneaks to the kitchen, and I can just make out her head as she gazes curiously at a white box on the bench. "And for what purpose is this crime-fighting device?" she asks, pressing a button on the side of it.

    A cannon shoots out the top with the same design as Cyborg's mechanic parts, firing waffles repeatedly. They all land on a plate that the box holds out next to a full glass of juice, and once all the waffles have landed, a slab of butter and a fork are stuck into the waffle at the top.

    Cyborg shares a proud look, and Raven grabs the cleanest waffle from the pile, waving it around. "Evil beware," she says cooly. "We have waffles."

    I hum and glance at Cyborg, who wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at the breakfast food. "So, how does this help with our crime-fighting, Cy?"

    "Well--it--uh..." Cyborg begins, eyes widening as he finally comes up with an answer. "It gives us energy to kick bad-guy-butt?"

    Robin sighs. "I like this stuff as much as the next guy, but don't you think it's a little..." He glances out the window at the gigantic wires hanging off the roof's edge, before turning back to the robotic male. "... big?"

    Cyborg deflates before sighing and looking back at us, exasperated. "Come on, guys, this is the future," he argues. "If we don't keep up, it'll just leave us behind. Besides, don't you want to hear the new equaliser?"

    I glance tiredly at the massive excess behind Cyborg and before anyone can answer, Cyborg reaches up and pushes one of the eleven red panels. Instantly, a yellow beam shoots out and vaporises him, and when I look back he is gone.

    "Some future this is," I mutter.

    "Okay," Beast Boy squeaks. "Before anybody says anything, that was totally not my fault."

    "That's not very convincing," I mutter, shooting the other three Titans an incredulous look which they return. I feel a light slap from Beast Boy and shoot him an apologetic look, the shapeshifter's grin telling me that it's water under the bridge.

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