Tired of being the only one of the Titans without a little buddy sidekick, Cyborg adopts Brother Blood's henchman, Pain Bot, and sneaks him into the tower. Now Cyborg just has to keep the other Pain Bot from harming the other Titans
Plot[]
The Teen Titans confront Brother Blood in the streets of Jump City at night. They manage to bombard him easily with attacks until the villain presses a button on his remote that summons Pain Bot, which intimidates the Titans. Robin volunteers to combat the robot as the others cower in fear watching their leader get pummeled. They weakly decide to help but are all captured and tortured by Pain Bot. Starfire successfully shoots Pain Bot with her eye blasts, crippling him. Robin orders Beast Boy to distract Pain Bot by using his face as bait and throws a birdarang at Brother Blood, seemingly killing him and destroying the remote. Beast Boy asks if his face looks OK. However, he lifts his head to reveal it has disfigured. Pain Bot slowly comes up to the Titans to scare them except for Robin, who unveiled that the robot is harmless without the remote. Cyborg approaches the robot, who weakly claims all it knows is pain. Saddened, as a result, Cyborg sneaks Pain Bot into his room for repairs despite the others telling him not to.
In his room, Cyborg screws in Pain Bot's control panel and replaces its bulb. He decided to adopt the robot as his little buddy. Outside, he throws a baseball which Pain Bot catches and throws back. Unfortunately, Pain Bot breaks half of Cyborg's face off. He sneaks Pain Bot past Raven in the living room and drags it away as the robot attempts to maim her. Exiting the kitchen, Pain Bot spots Beast Boy playing video games and fires lasers which misses, but is dragged away by Cyborg. While walking down the hallway, Cyborg hides Pain Bot behind his back as the robot activates its weaponry. Robin walks by but quickly flees in terror after seeing the violent gadgets. Later, on the couch, Raven asks the Titans if they had seen Beast Boy. Starfire replies that his screams and metal pounding were emitting from the kitchen. Cyborg realizes Pain Bot must be attacking Beast Boy and attempts to stop the Titans from investigating. Robin orders the Titans to follow the blood and meat chunks into the kitchen and spot Beast Boy crying in pain as Pain Bot had put pepperoni in his pizza despite him being a vegetarian.
Robin orders Cyborg to explain about Pain Bot's being in the Tower. Cyborg angrily yells that he hates not having a little buddy like Silkie to Starfire, but Robin replies no one has a little buddy until Birdarang reveals itself. The Titans claim that their buddies aren't dangerous, only for Cyborg to remind them that Beast Boy adopted a wolf named Dave, who proceeds to eat meat out of the refrigerator, while Raven has a carnivorous, evil Demon for a buddy. Cyborg pleads for a chance to show them Pain Bot's good side. The Titans awe over the robot until it grabs Robin and beats him in the living room prompting Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven to tell Cyborg to get rid of Pain Bot. At a bus stop, Cyborg sadly watches as Pain Bot boards a bus and the two sing about their pain. The robotic Titan resolves to get the robot back and returns to the Tower.
The two reunited buddies eat Bat-O's as the Titans confront Cyborg for bringing Pain Bot back. Cyborg replies he doesn't care and will only do so if the others get rid of their little buddies. Starfire retorts that she will not give up Silkie as Dave drags Robin into the living room to maul him. As such, Cyborg decides to have a Little Buddy Showdown, where the victor remains the only little buddy residing in the Tower. At a rink, Pain Bot faces Dave and frightens the wolf with its weaponry. Its next opponent, Foul Demon, punches the robot, but the robot squashes the demon underneath a strong punching glove. Robin tells Birdarang and Beat Box to execute their practiced maneuver, but the two begin to dance and are destroyed by Pain Bot. Multiple rounds pass with the Universe Tree has burned and Super Robin killed by a laser. Cyborg deems Pain Bot the winner, but Starfire reminds him of Silkie. The robotic Titan laughs at Silkie, claiming to Starfire that he has no chance, even Pain Bot thinks it's too easy. However, the larva roars and swallows Pain Bot in one gulp. The other Titans cower in fear as Cyborg vouches to get rid of Silkie due to being too dangerous.
Although Beat Box and Birdarang were partly created from Cyborg's possessions, Robin inherits both as his Little Buddies.
Each Titan apparently has their own "Little Buddy", but Robin has the most, having four little buddies.
Cyborg "bleeds" green machine oil after shaking hands/swords with Pain Bot, since both his hands are mechanical.
Continuity[]
Brother Blood and the "Pain Bot" that he created in "Waffles" both return.
The sad music when Cyborg farewells Pain Bot was previously heard in "Matched" and "Breakfast Cheese".
The Universe Tree staff that Robin got in "Staff Meeting" makes another appearance, even repeating the phrase "Staff Meeting" while hitting others.
Birdarang and Beat Box that Robin and Cyborg created in "Power Moves" both appear, with Birdarang even saying "that's ridoncolous" while the same music plays when they dance.
The Demon, which first appeared in "Driver's Ed", appears again, now as Raven's little buddy.
The training music from "The Left Leg" plays during the Little Buddy Showdown.
References[]
Cyborg says to Raven, "Miss, I get by with a little help from my demons." This is most likely a reference to the Beatles song, I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends.
When Cyborg explains the ground rules to Pain Bot, the music playing sounds similar to the Overworld theme from Super Mario World.
Errors[]
Cyborg doesn't short out while singing in the rain during Pain.
Despite Robin saying that Pain Bot is harmless without the remote, he still doesn't trust Pain Bot, and even bans Cyborg from keeping him. This may, however, just be him being prejudiced against Pain Bot.
Beast Boy's disfigured face is suddenly healed when the Titans scream.
Running Gags[]
Cyborg getting hurt by Pain Bot.
Robin getting dragged away and getting hurt by Dave.
Transcript[]
The transcript for "Little Buddies" can be found here.
Gallery[]
The image gallery for Little Buddies may be viewed here.
