Terra had thought that the darkness she saw wouldn't vanish – that the changeling's words had been a lie and he had killed her. But her eyes did open and slowly, the light returned to her and she once again found herself in the room she had previously woken up in.
Could it be that she had…dreamt the moments before…and she had just been kidnapped by someone or better, been brought here by one of her friends after she collapsed on the streets?
Her eyes wandered around, not having the energy to move very fast and the same feeling of tiredness was making her last thought seem…strange.
Nonsense! He wasn't real!
Surprise filled her eyes as she saw cookies on a plate and a glass of milk next to it.
Who left this for her?
Feeling indeed hungry, she began eating the cookies slowly and drank her milk and hoped it wasn't poisoned. If it was, then she'd find out the hard way but her weakness was making her really hungry and even now, she still felt hungry.
Taking a few breaths, she got up and shut her eyes to stop the room from spinning. What was wrong with her? Once the room steadied, she slowly walked to the door, briefly leaning against the door before opening it. The same set of stairs was in her view and they still made creaking noises when she stepped down and the wooden railing was slightly dusty and cracked in some places as she descended down.
Her steps were heavy but she forced herself to move and passed the large mirrors and something told her to look at herself and she turned – and her skin still had that pale look to it but what made her freeze was the dark stain on her throat. The holes were not very visible since the dark red stain was covering it but she guessed what they were – bite marks. A hand went up but she saw that the stain was dried and her gaze went up to the glass ceiling above her. It was still dark…so maybe it was early the next morning?
And what had happened yesterday was real.
A chill went through her at that thought but she tried to focus on getting out so she continued her walk until she came up at the door. The handle was cold and she pushed it down before she heard footsteps.
It was him!
She pulled but saw that it didn't move – just like last time and she felt worry spread in her. No, this time he wouldn't win!
"I hope this time, you won't try to leave hungry," came the familiar voice and Terra slowly turned to face him.
"What do you mean?" she asked with an angry expression.
"I hope you liked the flavor of those cookies."
"That was you? Why…would you leave me something to eat…when you almost killed me before?" she asked in disbelief.
"All you did was sleep. I didn't do anything," he retorted even though 'anything' was a bit of a stretch. "Besides, you kinda look like a ghost so I thought you'd appreciate what I did for you more."
Terra shut her eyes, feeling still weak in the knees but she tried to concentrate her powers to knock him out in a single blow. Her hands gained a weak glow but it was very straining to keep her powers up and she stumbled before leaning back against the door, sucking in a deep breath.
"Don't do that! You'll end up getting knocked out," the changeling said and her eyes went up to him, brows furrowed in anger.
But her surprise vanished when she realized something. Didn't Beast Boy say…that he had fought a clone or some…evil version of himself?
Terra straightened up, ignoring her spinning head. "I know who you are. You're that…evil clone of Beast Boy. He said you were beaten. How…are you here?" she asked, keeping her angry stare.
"Didn't he tell you exactly what I am?" he asked back and her expression turned to confusion.
He had just quickly gone on what they had done and that basically… Trigon somehow pulled him out of the changeling.
"I'm basically everything that makes Beast Boy a not-so-nice guy. All the bad vibes and moods he gets are basically me."
"But…Cyborg beat you. Why are you…still here?" she asked, still not understanding what he meant.
"I never left. I've always been part of him so all Cyborg did was put me back where I came from…and every time something bad happened or Beast Boy felt down or like punching something…only did me good," he explained and saw surprise crossing her face.
"Raven beat Trigon so…he couldn't have brought you back."
"She beat him too late. Cyborg put me back but until Robin found her, Trigon made sure I'd come back some other time. And that was after he found you."
Her eyes widened slightly. Did he mean, it was her fault he was back?
"What about the others?" she asked, wanting to know if the others were perhaps after the Titans.
"The same thing happened with them and they didn't want to stick around in Jump City since they got bored after getting rid of their copies."
"What? They did what?" she asked in shock. They…killed them?
"Oh, did I forget to mention that we got rid of the Titans? Or that I got rid of Beast Boy? Sorry about that," he mocked and Terra's shock was gradually replaced by anger.
"I…don't believe you! You're lying! Raven killed Trigon so you couldn't have done that. She probably is looking for you right now."
"Nobody's looking for me because we got rid of the Titans – all of them," he said with triumph and Terra felt her anger rising.
"No! I know you're lying!" she shouted, anger getting the better of her before the ground cracked a little under her. And in her increasing anger, a piece of the ground shot up right into his face, knocking him down before she spun around. Sucking a deep breath, Terra pulled on the door with all her might…before it opened and she staggered outside, just wanting to get away.
The small front yard was hidden by thick trees, their crowns blocking out the sky and she shoved the gate of the yard open before finally getting onto the sidewalk. But she kept running for a little more before almost tripping over her own feet. Her steps slowed before she stopped, shutting her eyes to force the dizziness back.
Letting out a sigh, she glanced back…but no sign of the changeling look-alike. She continued walking, her steps still feeling heavy as she wondered what to do. What time was it? Would it be a good idea to go to school now? Or should she check up on the Titans?
Part of her feared that they'd want her back…but she was more worried about what the grey changeling said.
She couldn't imagine them being…gone – and because of her.
Dread made itself apparent inside of her and she was reaching for her phone to call Amber or Dionne when she realized that her bag wasn't there.
Did he take it? Probably.
She wouldn't have gone attending classes in her current condition anyways but she still had something to do in her school and eventually, she reached the yard of said school and after several minutes of glancing around, she spotted her friends by the entrance of her school. "Amber!" she called out somewhat weakly and the girls' expression turned to surprise before they walked over to her.
"Hey, what's wrong? Why're you so out of breath?" Amber asked and Terra realized that she had been indeed trying to catch her breath.
"I'm fine. But…someone attacked me on the way here," she said and Dionne placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Who was it? Maybe we should call the police if he's still around," she said and concern crossed her face, seeing the girl's pale face. "You ok? You look not so well."
"I-I'm fine. But it was…Beast Boy," she said reluctantly.
"The green brat?" Amber asked in surprise before her tone got serious. "Did he leave threats for you or something? How about I tell the principal so he stays off the school for good!"
"It wasn't just threats. I got hurt on my way. He's…been following me," she lied because otherwise, they might not believe her.
"What did he do exactly?" Dionne asked before Terra slowly lifted her head, showing them her throat and for a moment, there was no reaction from both of them. "W-what's wrong?" she asked.
"So he…bit you or something?" Dionne asked with slight confusion.
Well, he did more than that but…they wouldn't believe her if she told them.
"Yeah."
Amber stepped a little closer, inspecting the dark stain. "It looks a bit like, you know…a hickey."
Terra's eyes widened, feeling a slight bit of heat rush to her face. "There's blood on it. He…really attacked me."
"I really thought he'd only stalk you and not…hurt you like this. Maybe, the next time you see him, call the cops. He might be a Titan but it doesn't hurt to call the authorities on him," Dionne suggested before the sound of the bell echoed through the surrounding. "And you better get home and get some rest," she said with a small smile before both went to class, leaving her in the yard.
She wasn't sure if they really believed her but she'd take Dionne's advice to heart.
Terra went under the shade of a tree and her gaze went to the sky as the darkness was starting to vanish.
So if he was really a vampire than she should be fine until sunset.
Her thoughts went back to the Titans. Beast Boy said that Cyborg had beat him before so maybe he could beat him again…but she needed to confront them. Well, so be it!
She walked out of the school's yard before walking in the direction of the tower. It was a little far but she had nothing on her since her money was in her bag. It took some effort (and a few breaks) until she made it to the shore. But now came the hard part and she once again, tried to concentrate her powers and the dizziness intensified but ultimately, she made a small platform on which she slowly placed herself. The ride over the water was wobbly and close to the end, she couldn't keep her powers up and dropped into the water before slowly swimming the remaining way.
What she saw made her feel apprehensive.
Several windows of the Tower were broken, the shards scattered on the ground of the island.
She walked around until she found the entrance…and to her surprise, it was open and she carefully entered. The elevator seemed to be broken so she dragged herself up the staircase. But what she saw wasn't pretty – the hallways had large scratch marks and the common room looked like a tornado had passed through there with broken walls, shattered tables and a sizzling TV.
The worry spread. There had been a fight?
She stumbled through the hallways before coming up at the first room – Starfire's room. The room was looking similar to the common room with the shattered bed and a hole in the wall.
Terra stepped closer but Starfire wasn't to be found – the only thing that was to be found was a piece of stained, purple fabric. "Starfire?" she asked, wondering if she was somewhere around…but nobody answered her. She went out and searched the other rooms as well, seeing them in similar shape but the other titans weren't found. What was going on?
One room that caught her attention was unscathed and she stepped closer before the doors swished open. And as her eyes laid upon the walls of the room, she realized in whose room she was – it was her own.
It seemed completely untouched, the fight apparently not having gotten here…until her eyes lowered and she found 5 bloodied, lifeless bodies as they 'sat' across from her on the ground and neatly in a row.
She wanted to call out to them but no words came out as she saw their lifeless eyes stared back at them and nausea made itself to her stomach. But she had to have hope! They're fine.
Slowly, she reached out and placed a hand on the changeling's cheek and a shocked gasp escaped, realizing that his face was cold.
"No…no…" she cried, feeling tears running down her cheeks before she held a hand to her mouth. This was horrible! He was right! He was right!
Terra stumbled back, wanting to get away from their lifeless stares and staggered out of the room, her eyes seeing double and she held onto the door handle of another room before letting out another wail of sadness. Was this her fault? What could she do now? Her only friends were gone and she had no way of getting rid of the clone that had done this.
Her agony was mixing with heated anger and she took several deep breaths before rushing out of the tower and eventually, getting to the other side of the coast.
She never really stopped crying but she couldn't care less if people saw her like this. All she focused on was getting close…to that strange house.
It took her about half an hour until she got to that same house and she found a telephone booth and went to dial the police – at least she didn't need to pay for calling the cops. Her explanation of someone holding her captive seemed to be convincing (since she kept crying through the whole conversation).
She sat on the ground behind a car, feeling exhausted and waited for the police officer to arrive. But somewhere while waiting, she must've fallen asleep since she was woken up by loud screaming and she got up on shaking legs before walking up to the house when seeing a police officer rushing towards her as he tried to reach for his walkie-talkie.
But before he could even turn it on, a panther suddenly jumped out of the entrance of the house, throwing him to the ground. The police officer scrambled to get on his feet.
"Run!" he shouted before a gorilla lifted him and threw him back inside.
She rushed after him, entering the strange house and she narrowed her eyes to get used to the dim lights. That's when she saw that the shape-shifter had the officer pinned to the ground by keeping his foot on the man's head. "Let him go!" she demanded and he turned to her with a frown on his face.
"Was this your idea?"
"I said…let him go!" she said louder now before taking a deep breath through her nose and his look turned amused.
"Anything you say," he said and Terra looked in surprise as he lifted the clearly larger man with one hand and flung him against the wall.
"H-hey! Leave him alone!" she growled and took a step closer but he ignored her as he grabbed the man again and Terra saw the large scratch mark on his stomach and the blood coming from the side of his head. "Do it now!" she shouted before another feeling of dizziness swept over her and she leaned against the wall.
"I know someone called him here and I know that it was either you or your annoying friends. I know this was your idea!" he said and moved the man's head back. "And that's why he needs to pay," he added before lowering his face to his throat.
Was he going to -?
"No!" she cried and rushed over to him, her fist flying towards him but he saw her coming and with a light shove of his foot, she was flying backwards before the wall stopped her motion. "No…let him go," she groaned, getting into a sitting position but what answered her was a pained groan and as her gaze went up to the man, she let out a gasp.
The same thing that had happened with her was happening with him!
"Let him…go," she cried, tears making way to her eyes but he was not listening to her. "Leave…him alone," she continued, slowly getting up on her legs before the room spun again and she let out a sigh. "Please…let him go," she repeated before shutting her eyes, not wanting to see a person being killed in front of her eyes.
The Titans were enough. They were enough.
"Beast Boy," she began but felt sick to say his name – the name of someone who had been killed and left in her room like a trophy on display. "Please…" she cried, not trying to stop herself from crying. "I do anything…just let him go."
But he remained deaf to her pleas and she held her hands to her ears, trying to block out the man's weak protests and sank back to the ground before she dragged her knees up to her face.
It was her fault another person was dying – first the Titans, and now him. She only killed people instead of saving them! And all she did was feel sorry.
"You're…helping…him," she heard the man groan and her eyes opened and the words 'traitor' flashed in front of her eyes.
"N-no," she choked out…but not being able to help was just as bad as helping him. But how could she beat him – a vampire?
Wait…
Her head turned. "Let him go…and take me instead," she muttered and she finally got a reaction out of him as he glanced at her before lifting his head.
"You're lying," he said before approaching her, dragging the man behind him. "You're really worried about this ugly guy?" he asked and Terra briefly turned her head away, not wanting to see what was left of him.
"I'm serious. Please let him go and I'll take his place," she cried, her hands turned to fists. "I…promise! I'll…be here for as long as you need me," she continued and waited for an answer as a short silence filled the air.
Until she heard a cracking sound and her eyes snapped open and she turned to look at him…when she gasped, seeing the man's head at a very unnatural angle.
"W-what…did you do?" she said, her voice barely audible and she swallowed, trying to force the nausea back.
"He wouldn't have made it anyways…but I know…" he smirked, dropping the man and focusing his gaze at her. "…you're different."
And as his shadow fell over her, she knew that for once, she could save people again – even if she couldn't save herself.
