Happy New Years Everyone!

Chapter 10

Truth Be Told

Office Building

Garage…

Robin landed in a crouch and unsheathed his Bo-staff. He scanned the darkened garage, but there was no sign of Terran. He motioned with his hand for Cyborg to follow. Cyborg leapt down, causing a small echo to sound throughout the room, and deployed his flashlight from his shoulder. It was the only light source in the whole garage beside the gaping hole above them, so it was difficult to see more than a dozen yards ahead of them. The fact that there were so many cars park below didn't make their search any easier.

The boy wonder stepped over to a place where the concrete had been cracked, and a small body impression lay imbedded into it. This is where Terran had impacted, but where was he. That fall, along with the force of the sonic blast, should have incapacitated for some time. Something wasn't right Terran couldn't have had the energy to walk away. There was no way he could have regained the strength to move in the short amount of time it took he and Cyborg to rappel down here.

"Robin!"

The boy wonder quickly pulled a one-eighty and looked to where Cyborg's light was shining. It illuminated a black sports car and its shadow was cast against the car right next to it. But it was not only the car's shadow painted upon the other car, but also two small abnormalities in the shape. It was obvious Terran was hidden behind it.

Cyborg looked to Robin, and winked. Robin got the message and retracted his Bo-staff. Cyborg in turn shut off his light. He and Cyborg then moved to opposite sides of the car and prepared to strike. Cyborg held up five fingers, and slowly brought them down into his palm. Soon only his mechanical index finger was left, and he pointed to the car.

"Now!"

Cyborg grabbed the trunk of the car and tossed the entire car off to the side. Robin lifted his Bo-staff above his head, extending it to its full length, and was about to bring it down on Terran when he stopped short.

"What that," Cyborg said, stating what Robin was thinking at that very moment.

Cyborg turned his light back on to give them better visibility to see if Terran was hiding in the shadows. But he wasn't, there was nothing behind the car except empty space…and a gray glove. Robin cocked his head as he examined the glove. It was defiantly one of Terran's, which meant…

"Cyborg, MOVE," Robin ordered.

Suddenly there was a loud bang behind them and Robin quickly jumped back. A white Chevy came flying out of nowhere and impacted where Robin had been seconds earlier. Sadly Robin's luck did not extend to his cybernetic friend. The Chevy hit Cyborg full force and sent him slamming into a nearby concrete wall.

"Okay," came Cyborg's muffled voice, "I'm gonna feel that in the morning."

Robin was about to run to his aid when he heard nearby laughter. Robin quickly spun around to see his foe standing atop a car across the garage. Terran laughed maniacally, his hands at his hips. He ended with a final chuckle before waving his ungloved hand mockingly at Robin. He was totally unharmed.

"To bad about your friend, I guess even robots can become road kill," Terran laughed. He spread out his arms and moved into a low crouch. "But I'm still able to play."

Robin twirled his Bo-staff in his hands as he charged at Terran full sprint. He then leapt into the air and brought his Bo-staff down on Terran. The geomancer leapt out of the way, letting the staff imbed itself into the car roof. Robin struggled to pull the staff out, but it had punctured the roof and had lodged itself between two pieces of twisted metal. Terran jumped back onto the car and swung at Robin with his leg. Robin jumped out of the way and landed on the floor a few feet away.

"How did you do it," Robin demanded.

"Do what," Terran sneered.

"Why aren't you hurt? You shouldn't be able to walk after an attack by that."

Terran smiled, his chest vibrating from a silent chuckle. "Wouldn't you like to know." Robin's attention was caught by Terran's ungloved hand. It was impossible to tell from the lack of sufficient light, but his hand looked almost…boney.

"Yeah," Robin agreed, silently pulling an explosive disc and a batarang from his belt. "I would."

Robin suddenly swung his arm, sending both projectiles at Terran at once. The batarang collided with the disc before Terran could have time to react to either. There was a loud explosion as the disc detonated, and it knocked Terran from his perch. Robin now had the chance to strike Terran while he was fazed by the attack. He swung around the car, seeing a dim silhouette outlined within the smoke. Robin then thrust his fist into the silhouette; only to have Terran snatched it out of the air. He twisted it, causing Robin to let out of a grunt of pain. But something felt wrong about Terran's hand; it wasn't firm like normal human skin. It almost felt like bones. The smoke began to dissipate, leaving them both in full view.

Robin cringed under the pain, and for a moment got a glimpse of Terran's face. His face was greatly distorted, in part from the lack of light, but it almost looked like his face was discolored in small places.

Suddenly Cyborg came flying out of nowhere and slammed his fist into Terran's face, causing him to release his hold on Robin and crashing into a parked car. Cyborg landed in a crouch and announced: "NO ONE THROWS ANYTHING AT ME, YOU GOT THAT, ESPECIALLY A CAR!"

Cyborg deployed his light, giving him and Robin greater visibility. The quickly found the car Terran had been punched into, and the light fell upon Terran. He was sitting slumped over in what used to be the passenger door. His head was down, and his hair seemed to have splotches of bright and dark yellow in random places. The Titans were about to move in to secure him, when Terran slowly lifted his head.

It was a timely process. His head kept halting at random intervals, twitching as it did. And as his head moved, the coloring of his hair seemed to shift at random. Finally Terran got his head to an upright position and glared at them menacingly. But the problem was his glare was scattered all across his faces. His eyes continued to appear and disappear at random all across his face with the rest of his face doing the same. His head jerked to the side, a small spark emitting from his neck, and his face went dark. The geomancer turned his gaze back to the Titans, letting them stare into his steely, metallic face.

Titans Tower East

13th Floor: Holding Cell…

"But how?"

Beast Boy tossed the roof fragment off to the side and stared down at Terran's unearthed body. This couldn't be possible; they had just seen Terran fly out of the Tower. How could he be here? Well whatever the case was, it wouldn't do him any good to let Terran die. Beast Boy wrapped Terran's arm around his shoulder and carried him off to a part of the room where the flames were not present.

"Now stay here," Beast Boy said, even though Terran obviously couldn't hear him. "One down, one to go."

Office Building

Thirty-Seventh Floor

Manager's Office…

"So, he's a fake."

"Exactly."

Terra stood in shock. Every time she had encountered Terran until her arrival at the Tower in Steel City it had been a fake. A replica created by Slade. The female geomancer's heart sank, unable to bear that she had believed in the fake Terran rather than her own brother. She felt horrible. Her knees began to grow week and she sank to a kneel, her eyes falling to the floor. Slade merely stood over her, his only eye gazing down at her in a rather mocking way.

"Don't feel to bad, it was actually quite clever how I pulled it off," Slade said. "I simply programmed the head on the drone to emit a holographic image of your brother onto itself. It took sometime gather the images of every angle of his face, but in the end it worked marvelously. There were times when even I began to believe he really was Terran." Somehow his attempt at understanding her fault seemed misplaced. That or he was just being sarcastic.

"But why," Terra said, "why did you create a drone to look like him?"

"To tell you the truth, I didn't build him," Slade confessed. Terra glanced up at him, her eyes full of confusion. "Yes, all the credit for the drone's creation belongs to your old friend, Brain."

It took a moment but Terra suddenly understood. Though Terra lacked the personal experience, she could complete the puzzle. The door Terran had forbid her to enter, the one even he wasn't allowed to enter, must have housed the drone. Once Fortress Prime crashed from the lack of Terran's support, Slade must have gone to the crash sight and found them both.

"Terr-I mean the drone, it couldn't move the earth like Terran and I. Could it?"

Slade nodded his head in response. He turned toward the window out looking the rest of the office, examining the battle that had taken place. "No it could not. The powers that both you and your brother possess are yours alone, encoded into your very being. Not really something that can be easily replicated."

He looked back to Terra, his gaze more menacing than ever. "So I had to rely on your friends' stupidity to cover that." He closed his eye, trying to appear as if he was laughing. "I honestly expected more from the Titans, especial Robin. But I suppose your hatred for Terran was too great."

A swell of heat came over Terra and she jumped to her feet. "I DO NOT HATE HIM!"

This time, Slade actually let out a small chuckle. "I beg to differ." He pulled a device from his belt, and pressed it. It took a moment, and soon a faded voice began to resonate from it. The voice sounded like a little girl. "Do you recognize it," Slade sneered.

Terra wanted to cover her ears so badly, but she refused. She did recognize the voice, and that was because it was her own voice. The memories flooded back to her, how angry she had become at her own brother to say those words. Slade smiled beneath his mask and pressed the button again. The voice suddenly became older, matching Terra's current voice.

"This was only recorded a few months ago," Slade told her. He turned off the device and placed it back into his belt. "You cannot honestly believe that thoughts so hateful, thoughts turning into words and then actions, could be healed in that short amount of time."

Terra looked away from him, fearing that if she looked him in the eye he could see ever part of her soul. Slade stepped closer to her, causing her to flinch. "There is still part of you that hates him, and you know it." Terra mumbled something in reply, but even though Slade's acute hearing heard ever word of it, he was going to force it out of her. "I'm sorry my dear, what was that?"

"I said," Terra replied, her voice growing louder. "'At least I'm trying to change that!'" A sudden boldness grew within her and she continued. "But I can see now what you're trying to do now."

"Oh, and what would that be," mocked Slade.

"You were trying to make us believe Terran was a criminal so that we would be distracted with the wrong bad guy. And once we realize what we've been doing, it'd be too late and whatever plan you've been plotting would succeed." Terra concluded, smiling triumphantly.

Slade raised an eyebrow, and rested his chin on his palm. "An interesting thought," Slade admitted. "But there is just one thing wrong with your theory."

Terra looked up at Slade; a sense of loss was in her eyes.

"If that is the case, then why am I telling you all this?"

Slade placed his arm back at his side and sneered at Terra's shocked expression. She truly didn't understand what the purpose of the drone was. Either way it didn't matter, he had no more need for it. He circled back around the desk and stared off into in the night sky.

"You see Terra…'trust' is vital for a team to operate successfully. If there is no trust, there is no team. Only a group of people fighting for the same cause…and it is doomed to fail." He looked back to Terra, narrowing his gaze. "If the Titans do not trust Terran, then he will begin to resent them more and more, and soon he shall leave the Titans for good, nor will the Titans trust him to be on their team."

He came back around the desk and hovered over Terra menacingly. "It does not matter if you or the Titans know that what you have been fighting is been a fake. They have seen him far too many times on the other side and have come to expect trouble ever time they see him." He bent down so he was eye-level with Terra. He was almost impressed that she didn't recoil. "It won't matter if I told you or not. Terran will see that hostility in you and the Titans words and actions, even if it is not intentional. He will grow to resent being a part of your team, and that will only cause problems…making it easier to break you all. And…" He raised his hand, and extended his index finger. "…it will only bring Terran closer to me."

Slade prodded his finger into Terra's forehead once, and pushed her back slightly. Terra instinctively put her hand to her forehead and rubbed it. She had felt that. She looked at Slade in bewilderment and said: "But you're a hologram."

Slade smiled beneath his mask, and slowly began to fade. "Don't worry. We'll meet again soon". His image flickered for but a moment, and then disappeared. "…very soon."

And with that he was gone, leaving Terra alone in the office to contend with her thoughts. She could hardly decide what to do next. The hologram had touched her which meant that it was possible that it wasn't a hologram at all, but Slade had really been in the room with her. Or was that a trick to distract her from going to help her friends. Suddenly there was an explosion from below and it shook the building slightly.

Terra opened the door and sprinted to the hole and dived in. She outstretched her arm and a stone platform came crashing into the building and caught her halfway down. She'd worry about Slade later; right now her friends needed her.

Office Building

Garage…

"He's getting away!"

Robin jumped from car to car, throwing explosive discs at the fleeing Terran. Terran dodged left and right, barely missing each explosion. Robin tossed another and Terran pulled a 360 in midair, grabbing it as it came at him. He flung back at Robin, but put a slight curve to it and it detonated against Cyborg who was holding up the rear. Cyborg went barreling backwards and fell out of sight.

Robin wanted to stop and help him, but if he did there was the possibility that Terran would get away. He continued to throw discs at him, flinging them slightly ahead of Terran, until one finally detonated against a car. The explosion sent Robin flying backwards while Terran was caught in the blast. The boy wonder went crashing into a car roof, giving it a three-foot indentation.

Robin held onto his back with one hand, trying to ease the pain. He eased himself up into a sitting position, cringing every time his back popped. Ahead of him was the car he had hit, now fuming with smoke. Its engine had caught on fire and had detonated the gasoline inside. Braking fluid now spilled out from underneath it, giving the floor a slight sheen. Robin's eye caught a slight motion and looked to the right of the car.

There, Terran was trying to get back on his feet. His arms, legs, and back were ablaze and the fire had seeped into his eyes, giving a demonic glow. He finally got back onto his feet and slowly limped his way towards Robin, a burning hatred within his eyes, quite literally.

"I-I-I," he stuttered, his voice changing pitch with every syllable, "I'll k-kill you!"

He suddenly lunged at Robin with incredible speed, leaving Robin with no time to react. Robin held up his free arm to defend himself, and shut his eyes, waiting for the coming blow. But it never came, only a loud bang and a distorted cry of pain. Robin blinked once before bringing his arm back down. A blond girl stepped up onto the car and extended her gloved hand to him.

"Thought you could use a hand," she said with a smile.

Robin returned the smile and took her hand, grunting as he was pulled to his feet. "Thanks Terra," he gasped, grabbing his back to steady himself. Robin pushed against his back, causing it to pop several times. "What happened to Terran?"

The geomancer gave him a smile and pointed towards the far wall where a boulder had imbedded itself into the wall. A lone hand stuck out from beneath the boulder, twitching every-so-often.

"Oh."

Robin attempted to walk, but stumbled as he did so. Terra caught him before he fell to the floor, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Come on," she said, moving towards where Cyborg had been blown to, "let's go home."

Three Days Later…

Rest now, you have gone through much these past days…

Your self-sacrifice took much out of you; it almost took your life…

But I'm not ready for you to die yet…

I have far too much planned for that to happen…

So awaken, I have something special in mind for you.

AWAKEN!

Terran's eyes snapped open and he almost jumped off the bed. His heart was throbbing and every part of his body was shaking uncontrollably. Terran clutched his heart, fearing that if it continued to beat at this pace it would explode.

He had awoken to that voice, the voice he had heard when he had died. Though its owner was still elusive, the message it bore was loud and clear. Someone didn't want him to die, and what was going on now was no where near a coincidence. Terran took a few more deep breathes to steady his breathing, and removed his hand from his heart. Terran shook his head clear and was about to lie back when…

"Hey he's awake."

Terran stopped and sat back up again. Sitting in a chair next to his bed was his sister, Terra. She smiled at him when they made eye contact, and he returned it in kind. Just then the door to the room slide open and the rest of the Titans filed in. Terran instinctively tried to get to his feet, but a piercing pain in his side kept him from moving. He gripped his side and groaned, falling back into his bed. Terra got up from her seat and stood by her brother's side. She grabbed the wet rag resting in a bole at Terran's bedside and damped his forehead.

"Its alright Terran, we're not going to hurt you," she told him reassuringly.

Terran gritted his teeth, trying to quell the pain. "Isn't that what you guys said when you first came?"

"This time we mean it," Robin said, backing up Terra's claim.

Terran lifted his head slightly so that he wasn't staring at the Titans from the bottom corners of his eyes. "Well, seeing that I can't really argue. What is it you guys have to say?"

And so, the Titans explained to Terran all the past events of that night. They started from when the Tower had experienced an explosion, to Terra's encounter with Slade and the discovery of the Terran-drone. When they finished, Terran remained silent. He scratched with one finger at the blanket that covered his body; slowly increasing in pace the longer the story went on.

"So, I was just being impersonated," he asked.

"That's right," Aqualad said.

"Brain's creations," Terran growled to himself. "Even when he's dead they still come back to haunt me. If Slade recovered that, then who knows what else he stole from him."

"Well that's what we're going to keep on eye on in Jump City," Robin said.

Terran looked to Robin, then to the rest of the Titans in surprise. "You're going back already?"

"Yeah," Robin answered, "this has shown that Slade defiantly isn't fooling around. We need to make sure our city is safe."

"-And finish constructing our Tower," Cyborg added. "I still haven't fixed all the bugs in the security system."

Terran then looked back to his sister and said: "I guess you're going back to."

Terra nodded smiling sadly as she did so. "I have to Terran. As much as I'd like to stay I have to go back. They're my team and it's my city to protect. I owe it to them after all I did. Just like you owe it to everyone to mend your actions."

"I guess so."

"Don't worry; I'll be sure to call you. It's not like you're going anywhere." Terra got up from her seat and made her way back to the Titans. They then said their goodbyes, Terra giving her twin brother one last hug, and headed back to the garage. Terran then laid his head back and tried to close his eyes when something caught his attention. He turned his head to his left and saw that the other beds in the infirmary were occupied by Bumblebee and Speedy.

Speedy and Bumblebee were quite equal in terms of medical attention. He was unconscious and covered in clothed bandages and had a cast covering his leg and arm. Bumblebee was unconscious, barely breathing. Her usual uniform had been removed and replaced with a light blue gown, though small traces of her uniform were still visible on her neck, burned into her dark skin forever.

Terran looked away, and said to Aqualad: "Will they be okay?"

"Speedy suffered a few shrapnel injuries, as well as 2nd and 3rd degree burns, slightly more severe than you," Aqualad started. He then paused, his gaze lingering on his leader's motionless body. "Bumblebee on the other hand is slightly more severe. She was caught in a lightning strike that killed every nerve from her arms to her shoulders. She's currently in a coma and…to be honest I don't know if she'll ever come out of it."

Aqualad went over to her bed side and adjusted the settings on several pieces of medical equipment. "So until we know for sure, I'll be in command of the Titans East."

"When will Speedy wake up," Terran asked.

"Most likely in a few days. It'll be some time before he's combat ready," Aqualad answered. "Now I'd love to answer more questions, but you need to get some sleep."

Terran agreed and closed his eyes, falling instantly into a deep sleep.

Slade's Lair…

A few cut wires, a couple short circuits, and crossing power lines and bingo. Mindcheat covered her eyes as sparks flew from the security panel, causing the door to slide open.

Yes, she thought to herself.

She had spent days learning how the base's electrical systems worked, and learning what each connections purposes were for. She then experimented with her own door, to make sure she had enough practice to recall the procedure by memory. When she was satisfied with her expertise in the field, she decided to head straight to her target: the room she was forbidden to enter. Even though Slade had forbidden her to go in there, it was in her nature to get into everything. The fruits of her labor resulted her with access to the room.

Mindcheat stepped inside, moving triumphantly to savor her victory. She reached for the light switch, flipping it on as soon as her slender finger grazed it. The light snapped on, but it was so dim that the light entering from the doorway was better. Still, she could see. She expected the room to contain some experimental weaponry, or Slade's own personal training grounds. But she never expected to find this.

There was nothing but shelves, each one holding a small box. There were other items farther down the room but they were hard to make out because the light from the door didn't reach that far. She felt around, making sure she didn't disturb anything, and reached for one of the boxes. She felt something made of plastic and pulled it out.

It was nothing more than a child's action figure, discolored from its age. She snorted and put it back in. Must be his, she snickered.

She went through several of the other boxes, finding much of the same. Old toys, dolls, a few bits of clothing, all just useless junk you'd find in an attic. Where was the good stuff? Where were the weapons, the fighting style manuals or something? Mindcheat was starting to believe that this had been a waste of time. Then again, maybe this called for more snooping. It would bug her forever trying to guess why he had all this stuff, and to whom it belonged to.

As she went down the line of boxes, the contents in them began to change. Gone were the old children toys, but now more mature items. There were bottles of perfume, a black purse, old photo albums to which Mindcheat placed in a pile for future investigation. There was also an old leather wallet, a suit and vest, old dresses and even more perfume. Mindcheat was beginning to grow bored with these useless items.

One more box and then I look through those albums, she told herself.

She chose a rather long box for her last search and reached inside. She felt a folded piece of clothing, its material rough to the touch. She pulled it out, but heard the sound of metal-on-metal as soon as it came out. Curiosity took over and she reached back in, feeling around for the source of the sound. She felt something thin and slender and pulled it out.

Her eyes grew wide, recognizing the shape of the object. It was a sword, and not just any sword, but a katana. She unsheathed it, gazing in awe at its size. It was almost as tall as her. She had a great urge to start swinging it around, but her better judgment told her to put it back. So she did, and turned her attention back to the outfit. She delicately unfolded it and laid it flat across the floor so that it was lit by the light from the door. It had a texture like chain mail, and was tinted in a dark blue with an ammunition belt strung from the shoulder to the waist. It had a thick leather belt, and attached to it were several pockets and a combat knife. There was a pair of thick orange gauntlets with matching boots lying limp along their respected ligaments. And at the head was a mask.

She grabbed the mask and was surprised to find it was rather soft. Like Slade's faceplate, its color was divided between a very dark shade of blue and orange. But unlike the faceplate, the mask had two eye slits instead of one. All in all, the outfit looked like it belonged to a ninja.

This was a cool find, Mindcheat thought, folding the suit back up and placing it back into the box. Maybe I will look around more.

She dusted off her hands as soon as the outfit was placed back in its box and took a step to the right without looking where she was going. She bumped into something and she quickly grabbed it to steady it. The object she was holding steadied itself and finally came to a rest. She let go of it and looked it up and down. For a moment she thought it was a person from its shape, but after several seconds she realized it was a manikin. And it was wearing something.

She touched it again, feeling a soft piece of fabric. She ran her hand along the length of it, discovering it was a dress. She backed away from it, trying to give it more lamplight. The entire dress was white and at the head of the manikin was a veil. It was a wedding dress.

Next to the dress was a nightstand, and atop it was a single gold ring. She reached to pick up the ring, but instead her hand bumped into something else. It fell against the stand and she quickly picked it back up. She looked it over with extreme interest until she realized it was a picture frame. The light was to dark to see the picture inside from arm length, so Mindcheat brought it close to her face to see. She could barely make out four figures inside, and she could barely make out that two of them were holding the other two in their laps. Even so it was impossible to see any detail. She decided to hold it to her side so it caught the light, but as soon as she did the light faded.

Great, the light bulb died, Mindcheat grumbled to herself and turned around. As she did her eye caught a tall figure blotting out the light from the doorway, and she froze. Cold sweat began to drop from her brow, but she didn't dare wipe it away let alone move. The figure marched closer to her, both fists clenched tightly. I'm dead.

The figure halted a foot from Mindcheat, and grabbed her collar firmly. She lifted off her feet and she hung in the air by her shirt. Even from the lack of light, Mindcheat could see the burning fury in the figure's eye. It firmed its grip on her collar until the fabric began to tear.

"Get…Out…" Slade spat.

Mindcheat's lips began to quiver, fearing for her own life. She opened her mouth to speak, hoping to explain, but she never got the chance. Slade wheeled around and threw her through the doorway. Mindcheat ricocheted off the wall and fell to the floor in a heap.

"GET-OUT!"

Mindcheat quickly leap to her feet and ran. She ran and ran, not bothering to return to her room to grab her belongings, until she came to the entrance of the base. The only she wanted right now was to get out. She slammed the button for the elevator, and without giving it time to come to rest, hit the button again to ride it up. The large freight elevator's gears groaned as it forced itself to move in the opposite direction and took several minutes before it reached the top. Mindcheat sprinted full speed up the staircase and burst through the door, trampling over the ragged carpet and out into the desert.