Phantom Titans

The Worst Has Yet to Come

Lyle's POV: "Well this is just fucking fantastic. How am I supposed to get back to normal? I don't even know how or why this happened. You have any ideas, guys? Guys?" I asked, looking towards the Titans and a dumbstruck Sam, who clicked a picture with her phone. "My Instagram followers will have a field day with this! Score! And so will the school paper. Hey!" she exclaimed, having her phone swiped by Robin. "You're not taking advantage of his current state to get likes! And delete. Gone forever. Here you go!" he said. giving Sam her phone back. "Nice try, but I can always, wait, what's wrong with this thing? What did you do?!" Sam exclaimed. "A trick I learned from Cyborg called "encryption". Now your camera is disabled and can only be unlocked by--AACK!" Robin choked as Sam grabbed him by the collar. "Okay Boy Blunder, fix it now! Raven's not the only one who gets pissed off by stupid shenanigans!" she exclaimed. "Hey, break it up, you two. Sam, let him go. Robin decryption of Sam's camera, now." I've mentioned this before and I'll say it again: I love Erin. Speaking of whom, she walked up to me and stroked my claw. "It's okay. We've done this before, we'll figure it out." she said. Hearing those words, it made me feel a whole lot better. "Done. Decryption takes a bit longer, but it's done." Robin said. 

"My scans show no point of origin for Lyle's transformation. But I still think there's something there." Cyborg said. I'd forgotten that he was there for a moment. "But I am seeing high levels of stress. Something's wrong, isn't there?" he asked me. I nodded. "I'm used to it by now but--" I was interrupted by a ripping sound followed by a thud. A tail. I just grew a tail. The transformation continued as wings sprouted from my back, demolishing a good chunk of the wall behind them. "Oh, come on! Excuse me for a moment." I said as I tucked in my wings, revealing an awestruck Danny behind them, paused in the front door, or rather what was left of it. "I don't need to know, I know. Erin texted me. I'm just as curious as all of you why this happened."

"I don't know, okay?! It just--AACHOO! Excuse me." I said, the others frozen in shock, except for Beast Boy, who was ecstatic. "Did you see that fireball? WOO!" he exclaimed. My transformation had finished right as he said this, so I was able to flick him away. "I'm sorry." I said sarcastically as he went flying. "OW! Oh cool, dairy-free yogurt." he said. I still had no idea what I was going to do. But then I heard a very familiar voice. "Hello there, whelp." Skulker, of course. Fuck, fuck and double fuck. "My sensors indicated--"

"That I'd transformed again and you're here to 'collect' me? Yeah you really need to rethink your monologues. They get repetitive real fast." I said. "I was NOT going to, okay I was but you know, AAGH!" Skulker grunted as a blast of light seemingly from nowhere knocked him off his feet. "STAY AWAY from my son, you metal maniac! Hi sweetie! You've transformed again I see."

"Mom! But how?"

"A mother's intuition is never wrong. Also I got a tip from your friend here." she said as Terra walked into the room. "I thought that, well, since you're in such a pickle--" I stopped her. "You did good, that's all that matters. Now, Mom, explain." I said in reference to the blaster she was holding. "Just a little reverse engineering from some plans I found at the former GIW HQ. Turns out that stainless steel can survive fires, too." she said, holding up a canister in her free hand.

"What do I do now?" I asked, tilting my head. "Now? You guys come with me. I think I have just the thing.

Later, at the Paisley residence...

"Hold still, sweetie!" she exclaimed.

"No! No more tables, surgeries, needles, nothing! You know what I went through! You were there!" I exclaimed, bursting out of the cuffs my mom had placed me in securing me to the long metal slab. "Damn it, Lyle! Please don't be stubborn. We only want to help!" Erin exclaimed, trying to pull me back. I turned to her and narrowed my eyes. "When did this become a 'we' situation?" I asked. "I was speaking in the plural. All of us. Danny, me, the Titans. Everyone just wants you back to n--." Erin immediately stopped herself. "Were you about to say normal? I'll NEVER be normal! Or does my current appearance not count?!" I exclaimed, smoke billowing from my nostrils. "You know what I mean. Back to the you I fell in love with. The you that saved me from Dash the first time we met. I mean, sure your appearance now counts. You could be a million different things, but it all comes back to the you I love. I want us to be happy, and if that means one last strapping to a table, isn't it worth it? Lyle? Lyle!"

"Huh? Oh, fine. But make this quick, Mom. OW!" I exclaimed. "Oh stop being a baby! I'm done anyways." she said, withdrawing what had to be at least a foot long needle from my underbelly. 

"Is this a sedative? Why do I feel so--" I yawned and fell asleep.

Danny's POV: "Now what?" I asked. "Now we tiptoe very quietly and wait about an hour. It's a slow-acting serum." Celia said, gesturing for me and the others to leave, with her right behind us. I hope this is it, but I doubt it.