Chapter 7: The Uninvited.
Me: What's different about Terra in my story is that she's both a combination of Terra from the comics and Terra from the TV series. In the comics, the original Terra was never really a hero since she willingly helped Deathstroke capture the Titans and they both had a very disturbing sexual affair (the girl was freaking 15 for crying out loud) even though I should have seen this coming in the TV series. Yikes...Anyways, the original comic book Terra was very psychotic and very unstable, and she never liked Beast Boy at all. Her clone did though so for all the Beast Boy and Terra shipper fans out there, be lucky the clone likes him. As for Terra from the TV series, she is completely different. She was depicted as more insecure than the comic book counterpart and was manipulated the entire time by Slade unlike the comic book counterpart. In this particular story, I don't know if this might happen in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract movie, but here, Terra actually kind of likes Beast Boy but is working for Deathstroke and his new partner by force when Brion is being threatened. If none of you know who Brion is, I suggest you look for his name Brion Markov. Terra is somewhat similar to the Terra in the comics but very different from the Terra in the TV series. She is very different from both of her counterparts and it's going to be very fun on how I write her down.
Raven senses anger from a distance of her bedroom. Anger and frustration. It's familiar. She cannot concentrate on her meditation with those emotions overwhelming her. She gets up from her bed and dresses up in black shorts and a dark purple hoodie. She looks at the garbage can where her costume lies burned. What a waste. It took her weeks to make that suit. Now it's going to take forever to take forever to make a new one, one that does not catch on fire.
She limps out of her bedroom — her leg still healing itself — and follows the sense of emotions to the training room where she hears grunting and yelling. She recognizes the voice almost immediately. Damian. Once in the training room, she sees him fighting the hologram ninjas with his sword. He is swinging around the sword like a whip, slicing and dicing the holograms in half. He doesn't miss any of them as more are coming his way. Raven simply stands there, watching, with her back reclined against the wall and her arms crossed over her chest. She watches Damian grunting, yelling and panting as he strikes each hologram with his sword. She can sense that he's becoming exhausted but is relentless to stop.
"Are you okay?" Raven asks out loud, her voice echoing throughout the training room.
"I'm fine," he growls as he slices another hologram.
"You don't look fine," she says meekly with a hint of anxiety in her voice. "I'm guessing things didn't go well between you and Batman."
"I said I'm fine, Raven!" he snaps and continues killing the holograms.
No, you're not, Raven can sense something wrong in Damian. His heart is pounding too fast. She can hear it. He can pass out from exhaustion. Raven calmly walks over to the control panels and immediately turns off the holographic simulator and instantly earns a glare from Damian when his holographic opponents disappear.
"What was that for!?" he snaps at her, his teeth gritting viciously. Raven jumps back from the control panel with a startle. She didn't expect him to be so angry with her for simply shutting off the control panel. Luckily, the only thing keeping between her and Damian's wrath is the exact control panel.
"I'm sorry. I had to. You're not yourself, Damian. You're too angry," Raven stammers nervously, "You need to calm down."
Damian walks around the control panel and snatches her arm in his hand in a tight grip. "I said I'm fine!" he snaps louder.
Raven gasps at his sudden action. Is he really going to hurt me? She stares at Damian fearfully, waiting for his next moment. His fingers are digging into her arm and it hurt. And he's awfully close more than her comfort zone can allow her. "…D-Damian?"
She remains looking at his eyes that glare through her. After a moment or so, his angry expression softens and he notices his tight grip on Raven's arm, his eyes widen in shock and quickly lets go before he can do any more damage.
"You bruise easily," he whispers to himself before backing away from her. He is aware that Raven's skin is very sensitive and very easy to bruise even if the grip isn't tight enough. Holding her arm in a slightly firm grip and she'll purple blotches in less than a minute. Damian knows it and knows better than to grab Raven like that. "I'm hurting you. What is the matter with me?"
He goes over to the other side of the training room to sit down on the bench, away from Raven.
Of course, Raven follows without care and sits down next to him. She watches him slouch and pinch the bridge of his nose. Raven unzips her hoodie to pull out her arm from the sleeve. She has a black top under the hoodie. She's not dumb enough to walk around the Tower with a hoodie and no shirt or a bra. She shows Damian her arm with the purple blotches decorated her pale skin. Damian looks at the bruises and his face turns red in shame.
The bruises on her arm then slowly fade away till her arm looks like untainted porcelain again. "They heal, Damian," she tells him, "I've been in worse situations before, like the beam crushing my leg. So it's no surprise I get bruised."
"Still, why did I just do that?" he asks himself and plants his face into his hands. Raven sighs before shoving her arm back in the sleeve and zipping up the hoodie again. She gently places her small hand on his shoulder.
"You were angry."
Damian immediately swats her hand away and glares at her straight in the eyes. "It shouldn't have been enough to hurt you."
"Damian, you didn't —."
"Yes, I did!" he snaps. "I hurt you, Raven! You saw the bruises."
"Yes, I did. But I —."
"But you what, Raven!? What!? Are you going to tell me that it's your fault too!?" Damian snaps. "You know that everything I did these days is my fault so stop being stupid about it and stop blaming it on yourself!"
Raven is now beginning to see a bit more clearly of what his anger is all about. Batman had come here to the Tower to talk to Damian. Batman had been trying very hard not to make Raven responsible for Damian's actions but everything he said to Damian made it sound like it was Raven's fault, not to mention that he also threatened Damian to take him back to Gotham which fueled his anger even more.
"You do things for me, even defend me from your father," she says.
"You've read my mind again, did you?"
"Expressing your emotions makes it harder not to read your mind," she explains. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be —." Damian let out a deep sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose and dropping on his knees.
"Damian? Damian, are you okay?"
"Just a headache."
"You've been under a lot of stress lately. Let me help."
Raven sits down next to him and gently places her hands on his temple. She asks him to take a few deep breaths which he does. Within minutes, Damian feels completely relaxed and the headache fades away. He sighs of relief and smiles at her. "Thanks," he says.
"No problem," she smiles back.
Damian's smile slowly disappears and gently brushes Raven's hair from her face. Damian isn't used to being around women. The only woman he has ever interacted was with his mother and he once felt uncomfortable when Dr. Langstrom's daughter embraced him. He felt it unnecessary. So it's normal for him to feel his guts twists and his pulse race. Still, he takes his chances and leans forward towards Raven.
"Hey guys!" Both Raven and Damian jump back at the sound of Garfield's voice. The green boy is already in the training room with a grin on his face. "Kori wants us in the Common Room in a minute. We're going to the park to stretch our legs. Um, was I interrupting something?"
"You're so dead," Damian said before jumping on his feet. Garfield makes a run for it and Damian chases his down, leaving Raven laughing in the training room.
Her laughter comes up short when she feels a pain in her chest. What was that? She presses her hand to her chest and takes deep breaths. In a few moments, the chest pain is gone. What was that?
The Teen Titans head over to the park for some fresh air. They've been cooped up in the Tower all week long. Of course, Raven and Damian are not allowed to leave the park under any circumstances. They are still grounded, as Starfire said. Damian is still a bit ticked off with Starfire for telling Dick and Batman about he and Raven getting arrested. He barely talks to Starfire since it happened. Raven believes he's being unreasonable with his attitude. "She was worried. That's all," she said.
At the park, Jaime and Garfield are playing Frisbee. Jaime would throw the Frisbee and Garfield would change into a dog and chase after it. Victor brought a barbecue grill to make hamburgers and hot dogs. Damian is not really a big fan of junk food so he rejects the hamburgers and hot dogs. He'll regret that since he's already hungry but he can hold a little while longer. Kori is sitting under a tree, reading a fashion magazine. Damian doesn't understand why someone would be interested in reading articles about anorexic women that simply pose in pictures for publicity. It makes no sense to him. Some are possibly photoshopped which can be clearly noticed.
He and Raven are playing chess. So far, Damian is winning. Raven is usually the one who wins at chess so it's a bit frustrating for her that Damian is winning. But she lets it slide. It's just a game after all. As expected, Damian wins and Raven lies down on the grass, groaning in frustration. "What's the matter?" Damian chuckles teasingly, "Angry that you lost?"
"Nah, we just played four times in a row," Raven sighs but then chuckles, "I'll get you next time."
"Good luck," Damian scoffs as he lies down next to her on the grass.
They start looking at the clouds, finding different shapes. Damian finds one in the shape of an eagle. Raven finds one in the shape of a plane-. "Oh wait, that really is a plane," she giggles as the plane flies above them. Damian finds one in the shape of a bat. He frowns at it. Why does he have a feeling he's being watched by Batman again? Raven sighs when seeing the glaring look on Damian's face. She takes his hand in hers and his glare softens. "Let it go, Damian. Don't let it get to you. Let's try to enjoy the freedom we have right now, okay?" she says softly.
"I suppose you're right," he sighs. And they continue looking at the clouds.
Garfield chases after the Frisbee Jaime tossed once more. Jaime throws it with a bit more force this time and Garfield ends up chasing the Frisbee to the other side of the park. Nice going, Jaime. He sniffs around for the Frisbee but can't seem to find it anywhere. Darn.
Garfield morphs back into human form and looks around for the missing Frisbee. If only Jaime didn't throw it so far. He did it on purpose, he knew. He almost gets trampled by a group of jogging girls going down the patch he's standing in. He jumps back so he wouldn't be trampled. "Watch it, freak!" one of the girls shout at him angrily.
"Sorry!" Garfield calls back, waving at them, "Looking good, ladies!"
The girl that called him a freak sticks a middle finger at him without even turning around. Garfield winces at this but continues searching for the Frisbee all the same.
"Are you looking for this?"
Garfield immediately turns around to see the girl named Terra standing behind him. She is holding the red Frisbee Jaime tossed earlier. He smiles toothily at the blonde girl. "Hey, you found it," Garfield says and is about to grab the Frisbee from her hands but she draws it back from his reach and smirks at him.
"Are you following me?" Terra asks.
"Oh, no, I'm just here with my friends," Garfield says, "We're just here for fresh air, that's all."
Terra frowns and crosses her arms over her chest. "Fresh air? Really? That's the best you can do?"
"What? It's the truth. My friend is making hamburgers and hot dogs. I'm not going to eat them though. I'm a vegetarian," he says. "Do you want to join us? I can introduce you to the gang."
"The gang?" Terra arches her eyebrow at him. Garfield likes the girl. She's kind of cute. More than cute. Pretty. That's it. She's pretty. He huffs when Terra slams the Frisbee into his chest. Garfield takes the Frisbee back gratefully. He can see that the bruise on her face has cleared up. It hasn't cleared up much but it doesn't look as bad as before. "What are you? Some Scooby-Doo gang or something?"
"Yep," Garfield grins, "I'm basically the dog in the gang. Starfire would be Daphne. Raven is Velma. Cyborg is Freddie. And Jaime is Shaggy."
"What about the Robin kid?" Terra smirks.
"The ego-maniac Scrappy Doo," he says and they both burst into laughter. Garfield loves watching old cartoons, Scooby-Doo being one of them. He hates the new one though. The Be Cool, Scooby-Doo show. It sucks so far. What happened to the good shows these days? Their laughter cease and Garfield continues insisting. "But seriously, you should hang out with us. I mean, sure, Robin can be a bit of narcissist but he's a nice guy. In fact, everyone is."
"Thanks but I think I'll pass," she says.
"Oh, come on, please," Garfield nearly pleads. Terra doesn't respond. She crosses her arms again and taps her foot, frowning again. When she doesn't respond, Garfield morphs into a Pit-bull puppy and gives her the sad eyes while wagging his tail.
Terra then chuckles. "Fine. You win."
Garfield quickly morphs back into human form and shouts cheerfully "All right! Come on! You're going to love the guys!" He takes Terra by the hand and drags across the park liking a kid excited to open up presents on Christmas morning.
Little do the Titans know that they are being watched through the hacked satellite cameras. The two men watch the footage of the Mountain Lake Park in San Francisco, California. They both watch the blond girl being dragged across the park by the green boy.
"Are you sure this is the best way to have our spy approach the Titans?" one of the men ask.
"It is," said the other, "Remember, the Titans are still children and what better way of sending a spy to do our deed than her. Terra is a teenager, just like them. She'll fit right in and no one will suspect a thing, except for Robin."
"You are aware that Damian will suspect her," the first man says bitterly, "You are aware that he will not trust her. It's a risky move, Slade."
"Do not concern yourself," Slade says, "As you can tell, no one would believe. They may be heroes but they are still small-minded and naïve, all in exception of the dark girl."
"Raven," the man next to him says. He glares at the one screen where both Damian and Raven are lying on the grass next to each other, talking and holding hands. "That girl is a distraction to the boy. A nuisance to his true potential. He has softened too much to the point where even Talia al Ghul doubted he has any part of his assassin traits left. His emotions towards the girl make him look weaker."
"Which is why we need her alive," Slade says, "Raven is Damian's weakness and the best way to make the boy fall on his knees before us is exploiting that weakness."
"Do we kill her then to make the boy suffer?" the mask asks.
"Of course not. It will be too easy. And it will make it very boring. I'm hoping to make our plans a lot more interesting than what you had in mind."
"Tara Markov will betray us, Slade, and when she does it is you that will suffer the consequences of the betrayal," the man says as he continues watching the green boy dragging the blonde girl to the area where the Titans are.
"She will not betray, my friend," Slade says confidently, "Remember, we have her precious Brion on the line. His life depends on her and if she doesn't want him dead, she'll do as we tell her. Simple as that. The Titans for Brion. Do not worry. We'll have our revenge of the boy and you'll have the honours to kill him yourself. After all, it is personal, no?"
"...Very."
"Hey, guys, I'd like you to meet Terra," Garfield exclaims as he returns to the picnic, dragging blonde-haired girl with him. Everyone simply stare at him, including Damian and Raven. They sat up when they heard Garfield shout. "She's the girl that helped us in the fire."
The group gasp in surprise. Damian simply rolls his eyes as if it weren't obvious enough. The short blonde hair and the blue eyes plus the same facial shape and body type. Just because she wears a mask, doesn't mean she's good at disguised herself. Even he knows that Kate Kane (aka. Batwoman) uses better disguises than this blonde chick. Only a fool wouldn't recognize her. Of course, now he feels he's surrounded by fools for not noticing the obvious. Even the Terra girl feel uncomfortable being stared at.
Finally, Kori is the first one to approach the girl and introduce herself as Kori Anderson. Damian simply scoffs at the way she introduces herself. She sounds like a robot. "His, I'm Kori. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Damian rolls his eyes once more, only to be elbowed in the ribcage by Raven. "Ow. What?"
"Be nice," she hisses at him before getting up, brushing off grass from her behind and heading over to greet the girl. Seeing how nice Raven looks dressed in black shorts and hoodie almost makes Damian forget the bad feeling he's been having towards the Terra girl. Of course, that feeling returns as soon as Raven and Terra shake hands. The warm welcoming smile Raven had on her pale face instantly fades as away as soon as their hands made contact. Damian can tell that she saw something in Terra just by the look on her face. Something not right. Raven smiles again though and continues shaking hands with Terra. It's a fake smile. "Hi, I'm Raven."
"Hi, I'm Terra. Nice to meet you." As soon as they let go of hands, Raven returns to sit beside Damian. She doesn't say a word to him. She simply takes out an apple from the picnic basket and bites into it.
"Everything okay?" Damian asks.
Raven nods but then shakes her head sideways. "Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know."
"Yes, no, maybe and I don't know is not really an answer, Raven," Damian frowns at her.
"It's just a feeling," Raven continues chewing before taking another bite at the apple, "I can be wrong sometimes. A feeling is just a feeling sometimes."
"You want to talk about it?"
"Not at the moment," Raven says while her eyes remain locked on the Terra girl. The other Titans shake hands with her and introduce themselves. Victor even offers Terra a hamburger which she kindly accepts. Damian doesn't like the feeling he's having right now. That gut feeling that something is wrong. First, she appears completely out of nowhere to help Raven out of the fire and then she appears again. And this time, Raven has that same feeling he's feeling right now. But Raven doesn't look suspicious about it. On the contrary, she seems frightened. Something really is wrong.
Well, I hope you guys like this one. Don't worry, more of the Batfamily will appear in further chapters. Don't be afraid to follow or comment down below.
