"You're the one who didn't want to commandeer a vehicle," Hikaru pointed out.
"I didn't think this what you meant by flying!"
They closed the distance in minutes, the T-Car coming into view ahead. The two car thieves noticed their aerial pursuit, the passenger pointing frantically at the sky.
The roof of the T-Car slid open. A proton cannon extended upward, locking into position with mechanical precision.
Cyborg's eye went wide. A single tear rolled down his cheek. "Boo-yah. Check out my baby's proton cannon."
Raven and Hikaru both gave him an odd look.
He sobered immediately as sweat beaded on his temple. "Uh... I mean... oh no."
The cannon fired.
"SCATTER!"
Hikaru banked hard left while Raven dove right, he maintained his grip on Cyborg as energy blasts tore through the space they'd just occupied. The car thieves were terrible shots, firing wildly—but the sheer volume of fire made dodging a challenge.
The T-Car raced ahead, putting distance between them while they evaded.
"We need to—" Hikaru started.
A horn blared ahead. Loud. Close.
A prison transport van careened around the corner, directly in the T-Car's path. Guards jumped clear as the now driverless vehicle bore down on them.
"Oh shit!" Hikaru and Cyborg said in unison.
The two car thieves had just enough time to scream before impact. Ejector seats activated—one of Cyborg's custom modifications—launching both teenagers into the air.
Raven caught them mid-flight with her soul-self, dark energy wrapping around their flailing forms and lowering them safely to the ground.
The T-Car wasn't so lucky.
The collision was catastrophic. Metal shrieked against metal as the prison van toppled onto its side. The T-Car crumpled against the undercarriage, its distinctive shape warped beyond recognition.
Hikaru and Raven landed beside the car thieves.
Hikaru turned to Raven. "Doesn't that van look familiar?"
The question made Raven study the vehicle closer "No way, right?"
Cyborg running past them toward the wreckage. "Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay..."
Sparks crackled over the van's side—forming into a lightning bolt that poured itself into the destroyed T-Car.
Overload.
"Car is better than okay," the villain's voice echoed from inside the wreck. The T-Car's frame shifted, parts realigning. "Car is mine!"
The vehicle turned to face Cyborg. He recoiled with a small gasp.
Overload laughed—a horrible, crackling sound. He pulled out the circuit board from the dash and threw it aside, feeding his electrical form directly into the slot.
All the interior lights flared red.
The crack in the windshield repaired itself. The crumpled bodywork smoothed out, restored to mint condition—but changed. The white paint turned angry gray, blue accents shifted to red, windows tinted black. The headlights narrowed into fierce slits, blazing to life as the engine revved.
Cyborg let out a low growl. The Overload/T-Car growled back.
"Only way to stop Overload is to destroy your precious car!"
The possessed vehicle surged forward, tires screaming against asphalt.
Cyborg didn't move. He brought out his sonic cannon, aiming it straight ahead. His hand was steady.
"It's not my car anymore," he said his voice coming out soft.
Then he fired.
The blast hit dead center. The entire body of the T-Car blew apart—tires, doors, hood, everything—reduced to twisted metal. The chassis skidded to a halt, stripped down to bare axles and undercarriage.
Overload's circuit board face lay among the debris. The rest of his electrical body dissipated, unable to sustain itself without a power source.
"Overload..." the villain groaned weakly. "...overloaded."
His single eye closed.
The second prison transport arrived twenty minutes later. Hikaru had called it in while Raven kept the two car thieves restrained with her powers.
Guards cuffed the teenagers and hauled them into the van. Overload's circuit board core was tossed in after them, and the doors slammed shut.
Hikaru, Cyborg, and Raven stood among the T-Car's remains. Twisted metal littered the street. Nothing looked salvageable.
"She's gone," Cyborg said quietly. "Gone forever."
"Maybe." Hikaru crouched down, sifting through the debris. "Maybe not. These are just parts."
"The thing you loved about that car," Raven added, "the thing that made her special—that came from inside you."
She pointed at something lying among the wreckage. The original circuit board—the one Overload had thrown aside—lay intact, its pathways unmarred.
Cyborg gasped. He picked it up, cradling it like something precious. As a smile spread across his face.
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, you're right."
The garage at Titans Tower had excellent acoustics. Music played from Cyborg's workshop speakers—something with a good beat that made the work go faster.
Hikaru held a panel steady while Cyborg welded it into place. Raven used her powers to position the new chassis, lowering it with perfect precision onto the reinforced frame.
"A little to the left," Cyborg called out.
The chassis shifted.
"Perfect. Now hold it right there."
Sparks flew as metal fused together. The new T-Car was taking shape—sleeker than before, incorporating lessons learned from the original design. Cyborg had already installed improved shielding, better armor plating, and redundant security systems.
"Hand me that torque wrench?" Cyborg asked.
Hikaru passed it over, then went back to organizing the smaller components. Raven levitated a wheel assembly over, fitting it onto the rear axle with telekinetic precision.
They worked in comfortable silence, broken only by the music and occasional requests for tools. Nobody felt the need to fill the quiet with conversation.
Hours passed. The T-Car grew more complete with each one—body panels attached, electrical systems wired, the original circuit board installed in a place of honor on the dashboard.
Finally, as midnight approached, Cyborg stepped back. "That's it. She's done."
The new T-Car gleamed under the garage lights. Different from the original, but unmistakably still Cyborg's creation. Still his baby.
"Want to take her for a spin?" Hikaru asked.
Cyborg grinned. "Tomorrow. Tonight..." He looked at Hikaru and Raven. "Tonight I just want to say thanks. For everything."
"That's what teammates do," Raven said simply.
"Yeah." Hikaru stretched, wings manifesting briefly before he retracted them. "Plus, Donna would've killed us if we let you mope around the drive-in all night."
That got a laugh from Cyborg.
They headed back upstairs together, leaving the new T-Car waiting in the garage. The Tower's glowed warm against the morning sunrise as they climbed the stairs, already arguing over who deserved the most credit for the rebuild.