Summary: (Overlaps with the beginning of Aftershock: Part 2) Slade sends Terra to loot Titan's Tower, and she finds something there beyond value…
I'm hoping this story seems unbiased on the "Terra is Evil/Terra is Good" thing.
Terra flew on her rock towards the island just off Jump City, where Titan's Tower was.
It was barely standing. Terra let her rock fall into the ocean as she walked onto the land.
A memory hit her:
She was standing in front of an obstacle course. Beast Boy was telling her, "Come on, you'll be fine. And it doesn't matter if you mess up. Not that you're going to mess up, but-"
Terra shot a rather annoyed glance at Beast Boy. Embarrassed, he backed off, saying, "Shutting up."
She walked up to the obstacle course, saying, "Don't loose control, don't loose control." Her powers were all that was on her mind. All she wanted to do was keep control. But, deep down inside, she wanted to impress the other Titans, but mostly Beast Boy. Beast Boy knew her secret. Beast Boy had been nice to her ever since she arrived. Beast Boy…treated her differently. And there was something about him…
Terra shook her head. 'Those feelings don't matter anymore.' She thought. 'He turned his back on me, and I'm Slade's apprentice.'
Somehow, that didn't make her feel any better.
She entered the Tower. "What am I looking for?" Terra asked Slade.
"Anything we might be able to use." Was the reply.
Terra nodded, even though he couldn't see her, and moved on.
She searched each Titan's room. Other then a few gadgets of Robin's, nothing was valuable.
Terra left Robin's gadgets, since Slade had enough of them.
She nearly left, then remembered something: 'I left some of my stuff here last time.'
"Terra, where are you going?" Slade asked, rather sharply.
"I…forgot to check a room." Terra said.
She found soon herself in the room she hadn't seen since the night she had deactivated the security at Titan's Tower.
Terra looked in one direction, then the other. She sighed, picked up her laptop, then went directly to the Tower's systems. As she typed in passwords, she wondered, 'Why am I doing this? Why am I selling my friends to Slade?'
Then, she thought, 'Well, duh, Slade gave me more then they have. Did they help me with my powers? No. Did they train me? No. Did they…'
She stopped. 'But…they gave me a home, they treated me like…their friend.'
Despite her thoughts, she continued to prepare for Slade's attack, when…
Terra nearly tripped over a box. She caught herself, and silently hoped Slade didn't notice. Whether he did or not, he said nothing.
She looked in the direction she had nearly fallen. On her bed was the little heart-shaped box Beast Boy had made for her.
For the first time since the night of the attack, Terra felt…well, soft. She remembered when she had gotten it.
Despite her thoughts, she continued to prepare for Slade's attack, when she heard knocking on her door. With a gasp, she shut her computer.
She opened the door. Beast Boy stood in the doorway, beaming, but not saying a word, with his hands behind his back.
Confused, embarrassed, and "needing" to finish what she started, she said, "Um, bye?" And nearly shut the door.
Beast Boy, suddenly realizing what was happening, gasped and then pulled out a little heart-shaped box.
Terra, surprised, opened it. The lid was a mirror. "Beast Boy…" She breathed.
"Do you like it?" Beast Boy said. "I made it myself."
"You…made it?" Terra said, suppressing tears.
"Yeah. I went a little crazy with the glue gun…" Beast Boy said, revealing a hand covered in glue and stuck to the glue gun.
"Beast Boy…I don't know what to say." Terra said, meaning it with all of her heart.
"You can say 'yes', because I'm about to ask you out on a date."
Shocked, Terra stared at Beast Boy. "How about…tomorrow night?" Beast Boy suggested.
"I'm sorry Beast Boy, I can't." Terra said, a little sorry to hurt his feelings after he poured out his heart to her. "I just can't."
She knew she wouldn't be there tomorrow. She couldn't face him. Not after dashing his hopes.
She took the box and went back to her computer, letting the door shut behind her.
She went to her computer and finished the job with a heavy heart.
'I'll…go out with Beast Boy tonight.' She decided. 'If he'll let me.'
'Why did I at all?' The new Terra thought coldly as she held the gift from long ago. But, she knew, deep down, that she didn't mean it.
Holding onto the box, she jumped out her window, landing on a rock she had pulled up from the ground.
Slade contacted Terra. "Terra, if you're done, survey the city."
"Of course." Terra said, but only half-heartedly.
As she flew to follow her master's bidding, she looked at the box.
'Why did I betray my friends?' Terra wondered as she opened the lid once again. She saw her new face.
She wasn't the same girl that had received the gift. She was evil. She had a new master. She wasn't Terra at all.
A new thought pulsed through her: 'It's not my fault. I didn't betray my friends, because I never had any. Even if I did, they betrayed me first!'
That wasn't true, and she knew it, but she didn't let the part of her that felt regret take over.
She threw the box. As it fell towards the ground below, Terra thought, 'My name is Terra and I have done horrible things. I have sworn to serve a dark master. I have obeyed his every command and committed crimes in his name. I have betrayed and attacked everyone who used to be my friend. One-by-one I have destroyed the Teen Titans. And with no one left to stop me I have brought an entire city to its knees. My name is Terra. I have done horrible things... and I have absolutely no regrets.'
As Terra's plastic-and-glass heart fell and broke, Terra's real turned black.
But it wouldn't stay that way forever.
Okay, I'm sorry if that was really lame and if I got the quotations wrong (I wanted to double-check them, but the TV was in use). So…yeah, please review! And please don't hurt me! (Ducks)