Chapter 9

Cyborg stood just a few feet from the dog. The giant was facing Starfire and Robin, so it's butt was towards him. Cyborg prepared the shot while Raven prepared to get him away, so that once he fired his first shot, the dog wouldn't be able to attack him right away. The charge was almost ready. Cyborg aimed for a leg and fired.

A howl told Cyborg he'd done some damage. Just as the ghost was starting to turn around, Raven moved him to a dark alley, where the angry creature couldn't see him. The dog was even more angry now and it even looked like it had gotten bigger with anger. If this thing gets anymore bigger, it won't matter how many times I miss thought Cyborg. An idea popped into his mind. If he hit the dog twice, quickly, one after the other, he might daze it enough to knock it out . The only problem with that plan is if he needed to use a third shot, he'd have to wait a bit longer for it to recharge. He pressed a few buttons on his arm and started to aim. The ghost had been spending the last minute looking for who had shot at it, but was getting distracted by Starfire again. Raven looked at Cyborg before saying,

"I'm going to help Star and Robin." Cyborg nodded and watched her fly over. The alley should protect him from the dog's angry eyes. Cyborg aimed for the ghost's back and then-

"NO!"

Just as he fired, a figure jumped out of the shadows and pushed him into the alley wall. The first shot missed the dog by a few feet and the second one hit the alley wall. Cyborg quickly got up from where he had been knocked down to turn on the figure that had run into him. He was surprised to see a short girl wearing a black and gray ninja suit and matching black goggles over her eyes. The outfit looked a little bit tacky, as if she couldn't decided between traditional ninja or steam punk. She was smaller then Beastboy, though not by much. Despite the covering of her eyes, Cyborg could tell she was angry. By this point, Cyborg had gotten over the shock and was feeling his own anger.

"What the heck? I almost had him! Why would you do that?"

"You were hurting him!"

Cyborg stared at the girl. Who did she think she was?

"That ghost is destroying the city. So excuse me if I'm trying to make Jump a little safer," Cyborg countered.

Cyborg could feel her glare though her dark goggles.

"Since when did the Teen Titans protect the city by shooting at dogs? So excuse me if I try to save the city without hurting anyone," the girl replied coolly. She ran past him, and out of the alley. Cyborg started after her, suddenly remembering his friends were still fighting Clifford the big green dog.

The girl ran up closer to the dog, now a few hundred feet away. She lifted something into the air, and then she started to do something crazy. She started yelling at it.

"CUJO! COME HERE BOY! I'VE GOT YOUR TOY! COME HERE! COME HERE!"

Cujo? This thing has a name? Cyborg thought.

The dog-Cujo- turned from the other Titans, who had also stopped fighting and were now staring at the girl. The ghost's once menacing expression, turned to one that could be considered joy. He gave an almost playful woof and started running at the girl. Cyborg would have been concerned of the dog trampling the girl if the dog hadn't started to shrink with every step. By the time it had made it to the girl, it was the size of a small puppy and was able to jump right into her arms. The girl gave Cujo the toy and was now talking to it. Cyborg could just barely hear her words.

"Did they hurt you? Those mean guys shoot at you? Don't worry, I'll take you back home and we can get you fixed up. You're going to be fine."

She continued to murmur to it as the rest of the team came over and stood around the girl. They stared at her and the dog who was looking up at her with eyes of adoration while he chewed on his chew toy. Raven finally decided to step up and talk to the crazy girl.

"How did you do that?"

She looked up and glared at Raven before snapping, "By not shooting at him."

The Teen Titans stared at the girl. The goggle girl looked at the team and gave a loud sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry I snapped. In fairness, you did shot at Cujo but I suppose at the same time, you didn't know how else to react." She took her gaze from the super heroes in front of her and looked at the green dog. "But now it's all good. I'll keep him out of trouble. I just need to-"

"Wait," Robin interrupted. The Titans had gotten over their shock and were starting to process what the girl was saying. "You're keeping him?"

"Well, of course. Seeing how well you handed him, I doubt you would want to take him to your house. Besides if I can't keep him under control, then I'll just take him home. Probably have to do that any way, because, I don't know how I'm going to explain-"

"Home? As in the Ghost Zone?" This time it was Raven who interrupted.

Goggle girl gave her a look. "Yeah. Anyway, I should get going, it's getting dark, my dinner's getting cold. I'll see you guys later, I guess."

Just as she was turning to leave, Robin said, "We can't let you take that ghost."

The girl turned in surprise. Cujo growled at Robin. "Excuse me?"

Robin continued, "That thing is dangerous. If it gets loose again, he'll just start destroying the city. We can't just let anyone take it. Just give it to us, and we will give to people who know how to handle things like that."

Cyborg had a feeling that if he could see her eyes she would have blinked. The girl appeared to be in shock. She looked at CUjo, who had gone back to distracting himself with his toy, before whispering, "You mean the GIW? You'd give him to them?"

Cyborg started to get a bad feeling him his stomach. Starfire looked at the Robin and then stepped closer to the girl. "Listen, friend with goggles, the friends in white can help your dog. They know all about ghosts."

Goggle girl looked up and said with raw emotion, "I know. They know a lot about ghosts. They know everything about how ghosts tick. They understand how ghost hearts seem to beat and why ghosts don't need to breathe. They know all about that. You would too, if you took a look into their labs. It's full of blood and skin, and there are jars filled with the insides of different ghosts. I've even heard they know the limits of a ghost, how far they can go before just turning into dust."

The girl's voice kept dangerously quiet throughout her whole speech and her head bent down over the dog in her arms. Starfire's eyes had started tearing as began to understand what the girl was talking about and Cyborg could feel his own heart wrench. He looked at Robin and Raven. Raven was breathing heavily, probably trying to focus on not blowing anything up. Robin, however, kept his face neutral and his eyes on the girl. She raised her head and turned to every Titan present.

"You would subject this innocent dog, to those monsters? You may not like ghosts but no one should ever want that for anyone, not even your worst enemies." She started stepping back, away from the Titans, until she was in the mouth of the alley where she had first appeared. "How could..."

The girl's voice started to crack. She quickly turned around and ran into the alley. Robin went in after her, but stopped when he realized she and her dog were gone and his team had stayed in the street.

Robin jogged back to his team mates before asking, "Cyborg, do you know if there are any cameras in the alley?"

Cyborg looked at his leader. "What the heck, man?"

He wasn't the only one surprised by Robins actions, as a second later, a street light exploded near them. Raven's breathing got even more deep. After a few seconds of only hearing her breathe she said, "I need to meditate." With that, in a black cloud she vanished. Starfire, with tears still in her eyes said, "I think I will go home as well."

It was just Cyborg and Robin, facing each other. And then it was just Robin.

"Where are you going?" Robin yelled after Cyborg. Without turning Cyborg replied, "To my car, so I can go home. Once I'm home, I'm going try to calm down for a few hours, and when my thoughts are organized, I'm think I might give the GIW a little call."

"Cyborg, you can't actually believe her?" Robin followed after Cyborg. "Couldn't you see she was delusional? She could have been brainwashed! I have already looked into the GIW, and I wouldn't have let them into my city if I thought they a danger to us. We need to find this girl, she may have a way into the Ghost Zone and if we just-"

"Just what Robin?" Cyborg had reached his car and turned to face Robin. "Whether or not she is delusional is not the problem. It's not even if she was telling the truth or not." Cyborg shook his head. "That dog was harmless. And we almost killed it. I hit and hurt that dog, ghost or not. The only thing I'm thinking about is what would have happened if that girl hadn't come. And is this the first time we have been shooting at an innocent person, ghost or not."

Without letting Robin reply, Cyborg stepped into his car, turned it on, and drove away.

Can I just say how hard this chapter was to write. I had 3 different versions of how this could happen and I couldn't decide. This was the best I could do by combing all my favorite parts without if looking like a confetti party. I've actually had it done for a while but I couldn't decide if I would want to change it last minute.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE POOL! ONLY FIVE PEOPLE HAVE VOTED! PLEASE VOTE! (it's on what DaniXBeastboy's ship name should be)

A guest has informed be Garfield Logan is a blonde. Oops. Two loopholes are that one Cyborg didn't know or two it got darker as he got older. Either way, I did not know so thanks to Guest.

Review responses-

Winter's Twilight- Your reviews make my day whenever I read them! About Danny seeing his ghost family, I'm not sure. If it fits into the story and I can write it without making my computer break down because of all the tears.

Mazamba- Yup. Still in business and hopefully will stay that way

batclanrookie- Yeah thats why I choose him. Also, he's adorable so...

PhantomPhinatic- In my eyes Garfield the cat and Garfield Logan atr basically the same thing. Besides for the whole vegan thing but still

Sorry for taking so long, this chapter was super difficult for me to decide the direction. I appreciate all your support amd wish you all a late Happy Easter for those who celebrated it.

Until next time

-Ren