"My earliest memory is shouting; at what, and for what reason, I don't know. Probably a tantrum- or I may have been rehearsing, I was always an early starter."
-Ian Kilmister
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OCs in this story.
Terra was hard. If anyone took it nearly as hard as Beast Boy though, it was Ace. I remember him saying that they were kindred spirits. I don't know, honestly.
"I'm just saying, it doesn't matter who's the better singer; the seventies fucking sucked compared to the eighties."
"'It doesn't matter'- boy, I will beat you!"
"Your fruity ass disco can't beat shit."
Robin sighed, rubbing his cast with a wince. "Guys, can we stop?"
Cyborg and Ace turned to him in unison. "No."
They looked back to each other. "Well..." Cy began hesitantly. "At least it's better than BB's music."
"Oh? And what's that?"
"Drake, MGK, 'the Weeknd', whatever that is..."
The masked hero groaned. "Oh for fuck's sake."
"Right?"
Ace sighed. "I mean... Bowie and AC/DC aren't bad."
"And you do have Prince." Cyborg admitted.
"Your music still fucking sucks."
"And yours isn't even music."
Ace nodded. "Good. That's settled."
Starfire blinked. "Why are they discussing the merits of years?"
"Honestly, Star, I don't know. Music, I guess."
Ace sat down at the kitchen counter while Cy walked to the sofa. The masked hero pinched his nose and clenched his eyes shut, drowning out Starfire's incessant questions as a headache began behind his eyes.
Ace snapped his head up at the commotion, shaking himself out of his reverie.
Robin was screaming. An enormous pimple-protrusion thing sprouted on the leader's forehead and grew to the size of a bulldog before popping off- revealing a short, chubby Robin lookalike.
Ace slowly climbed off of his stool, headache forgotten. "...What the fuck is that?"
"I'm Nosyarg Kcid!" the short Robin mini-me called out.
The masked anti-hero's eyes narrowed in confusion and he slowly edged towards the hallway.
"So Nosy…" Beast Boy began. "Nawsey… we'll just call you Larry."
The mini-me's, now dubbed Larry, eyes lit up. "Larry!" He said to Beast Boy with a grin. "Le Larry" He said, moving towards the couch, speaking with a fake French accent while kissing Starfire's hand. "Larry!" he said over and over as he appeared in Raven's cloak, inside of Cyborg's robot parts, and then in Ace's hair, parting the black locks apart to stare at the Titans.
Ace shuddered and patted at his hair as Larry appeared next to Robin again. He backed up to the hallway. "Ah ha ha, no." He turned and left, walking towards his room.
"Oh! That must be the infamous Ace of Spades! Or, actually, these timelines are very confusing, it might be-" Larry asked.
The alert went off. Cyborg checked his arm. "Looks like... Rancid? On Front Street, downtown."
"Titans, go take care of it." Robin said quietly, staring at his broken arm.
-Jump City-
"Fuck!" Ace yelled out in frustration as Robin and Larry fell from the sky. "Dammit Robin! What the hell?"
"Calm down, Ace." Beast Boy said in Raven's voice.
"And what the fuck is wrong with your voice?" Ace growled out, turning to the other Titans
"He didn't have a mouth so he took mine." Raven said in Cyborg's voice.
"I hate all of you," Ace said quietly with a scowl. "So, what the literal fuck did you and Larry do?" He asked, staring at the city.
Jump quickly morphed, sky being replaced with blue scribbles, the buildings and street being replaced with cardboard cut-outs, any features replaced with sloppily done drawings done in multiple colors.
"Yeah, this looks like something that should be on my Grandma's fridge." Cyborg agreed.
"Ooh, me and Robin broke reality!" Larry answered giddily.
Ace's mouth dropped open as he shared disbelieving looks with Raven. "You. Broke reality? Like, Lord of Chaos level broke?" he asked.
"Yep, me and Robin did!" Larry answered, oblivious of the pure malice being sent his way.
"I'm going to go insane." Robin scowled.
"Ditto." Raven deadpanned as her hair changed into a replica of Marge's from the Simpsons.
Ace gingerly touched at his face and looked to his fingers; white powdery paint covered the tips. He turned away from the Titans.
Starfire giggled as her head grew wings and flew off her body.
Ace looked over to see a huge streak of light coming out of Titan's tower; the only building still intact.
"Well, that should be relatively easy to get to." Robin stated.
Cy sighed. "You had to, didn't ya?"
Raven rolled her eyes.
On cue, a giant cartoon Godzilla came towards them, seemingly from nowhere.
"Of course." Ace spat.
"Run!" Robin yelled.
The Titans booked it, not noticing Beast Boy disappear in their haste.
Huddling down in an alcove, Robin motioned to the Titans to stay quiet. Until the idiot Beast Boy came running by, chasing a pole that had a mouth.
"Titans… we… should go." Ace whispered.
Then the Godzilla ripped the top of their hiding place off.
"RUN!" Cyborg repeated Robin's command, coaxing the Titans to run from the sloppily done beast.
-Titan Island-
The Titans took an insanely idiotic moment to goggle at the beacon of light shooting from the rooftop of the Tower into the cartoony sky hanging above them.
"I could look at that all day." Beast Boy said dreamily.
"Now all we need to do is turn it off. Larry-" Robin said.
"No you won't," Rancid said standing on an air conditioner. The biker was tall and muscular, white skin offset by black hair and an equally black jacket, matching a white shirt, jeans, and black boots. "That thing controls all this, and I'm going to get it." He gestured to himself with a black glove-clad hand before leaping into the beam of light.
The column of light exploded outwards, illuminating everything in a flash of white.
As the Titans' eyes adjusted to the light, they stared at a new city; the skyscrapers reached impossibly high into the sky, tilting dangerously. Every edge of the buildings elongated into sharp corners and spikes, the buildings and sky themselves taking on a black hue, as if clouds blocked out the sky.
Ace's eyes drooped in irritated disbelief. "Gotham, really?"
"Cool," Raven said. She turned to the others, and blushed slightly under their curious looks. "Uh, I mean... oops."
"Bird Boy! Ready for me to clip your other wing?" Rancid yelled, punching his own fist. "Your city is mine. Your reality is mine!" He let out a cackle, lightning and thunder booming behind him.
He pulled two gun-like weapons out and shot at Robin. Two blasts of red exploded on the spot Robin had stood, Cyborg blasting his leader with his cannon, sending him out of the way. The weapons created a large explosion. Rancid raised his hands, red lightning sparking out of them. The sparks collected into the shape of a black and white Harley
"C'mon, Bird Boy, let's see if you can fly!" Rancid called back as he jumped on his bike. He revved the engine and gripped the throttle, the bike flying out into the night, fire sitting suspended behind the bike.
"Titans Go!" Cyborg oddly said this time.
Pointing his hand at the bike, it shot off with a coil behind it. Grabbing onto the bike's back wheel, he was pulled out to sea, disappearing into the night.
Ace and the two Robins watched as the other three Titans followed Cyborg and Rancid.
"Agh, this is infuriating! Ace, you need to go." Robin growled out.
Ace had narrowed his eyes, staring out at the skirmish above the sky. "Hey, so tell me this, guys. Can I take that bike? You know what, I'm taking that bike."
"Titans go! Titans go! Robin has to beat the bad guy!" Larry interrupted excitedly, cutting off any further explanation on Ace's part.
"...I can't." Robin muttered quietly.
Larry cocked his head. "But why can't you? You're Robin!"
"Don't you get it?" Robin exploded. "Look at me! I'll just mess it up again!"
"So?" Larry countered with a raised brow. "I mess up all the time! But I still try. That's how come you're my hero, Robin. Because no matter what, you always try."
Robin smiled as Larry conjured the R-Bike with two extra seats.
"You coming?" Larry asked the well dressed anti-hero.
"Nah. You guys go. Your day to save. Next time you see me, it'll be with a sick-ass bike."
The two Robins shrugged and took off after the others.
-An Hour Later-
Ace silently picked through the rubble, eyes searching for a glint of metal.
The battle was over. Rancid had lost, the city had been saved, the Titans were home safe, blah blah blah.
The dark-clad Titan was only focused on one thing.
As his hand pushed aside a piece of cement, it brushed against something rubber. His eyes lit up and he pushed away more and more debris; revealing Rancid's motorcycle; dented, the handlebars and the front wheel broken altogether- but nevertheless there.
He pushed it up onto its wheels and forced it forwards down the street. He could've called Cyborg to tow it, true; but he'd rather walk with it.
Gave him time to think.
-Titan Tower-
Cyborg grinned and wiped his hands off on a rag. "And... that's about it. You'll have to take it out for a drive so I can run some diagnostics on it, but... I mean... we did it."
Ace leaned back in his chair and let out a puff of breath. "Didn't know that mechanic shit would be this hard."
"Really? No one ever taught you this stuff?" Cyborg asked curiously. "Huh. 'Magine that."
The other hero shrugged. "Never really had parents or anyone to teach me. Kinda just... figured everything out on my own."
"So, you want to give it a ride first? Or do you want to show it off?"
Ace leaned against the doorframe, grinning into the garage at his creation as the other four Titans joined him and Cy.
"Now, this is a lot of hardwork and thought, okay? Take it easy on his baby," Cyborg began. "Let me introduce to you, the newest addition to the Titan Garage!"
The eldest teen ripped off the blanket covering the bike, the new black and white paint job gleaming in the light.
"Is that... Rancid's bike?" Robin asked.
"Why yes, yes it is," Ace answered. "Cy and I suped it up. Told you I could get it."
"We really upgraded everything," Cyborg added, arms crossed proudly. "Don't know how Rancid got around on it without it falling apart. Of course, we had to redo the color scheme."
"I call her Lemmy." Ace said, grinning.
"So, does how does it... run?" Beast Boy asked hesitantly.
"Uh... we… don't know." Cyborg said honestly.
"But it's never too late to try," Ace hopped onto the bike and started it, filing the garage with a loud roar. He turned to Cy. "Muffler! We need a muffler!"
Cyborg nodded and tapped at the monitor on his arm, making a note of it.
JJ revved the motorcycle a few times before moving the kickstand up, piloting the vehicle out of the garage and towards Jump.
-Several Weeks Later-
The Titans cruised down the street, sun setting behind Jump City's skyscrapers, bathing the city in a warm orange glow.
"Ok… so why do ducks make such good comedians?" Beast Boy began, already snickering. "Because they always quack out a good joke! Hahaha."
The others in the T-Car- Rob, Star, Rae, and Cy- didn't laugh. Ace grinned from his spot behind the car, hands gripping the clutch and throttle of 'Lemmy' comfortably.
"Pull over, I'm going to be sick." Raven said.
"Oh I see, it is funny because ducks do not have the brain capacity to make jokes, hehehe." Starfire giggled.
"Actually Star... it's just not funny." Robin said softly.
"Because, Beast Boy doesn't have the brain capacity to make jokes." Raven droned.
"Come on Rae, you know I'm hilarious. And I won't give up till I make you smile," BB was silent for a moment in thought. "Alright, why did the aardvark cross the road?"
"To beat up the idiot telling jokes about him?" Raven deadpanned.
Ace, Robin, and Cyborg shared a laugh at that.
"Ahaha, idiot telling jokes about him…" Cyborg said, still laughing.
"Now that's funny." Robin agreed.
Ace hummed in agreement as well. He let out a quiet sigh and turned his communicator off, allowing himself to lose himself in thought. He pulled up to the right of the T-Car and gestured with his thumb to the right, planning to turn. Cyborg saluted him and the two vehicles pulled into the intersection- one headed forwards, the other turning away.
There was a whoosh of air and an enormous boulder slammed into the T-Car, sending it slamming to the right. The car slammed into Ace and his bike, sending the lone rider flying away. Instincts kicked in and he scrabbled to the side, avoiding his motorcycle sliding quickly past him.
He sat up, putting a hand to his bloody mask, head ringing in what he was sure was a concussion. Attempting to stand up, he immediately fell back down, blanking out of consciousness. After a few moments, his eyes drooped open again. Looking around he noticed the battered Titans standing across the street from Terra. The blonde girl was dressed in a form fitting silver suit, an orange crest with a black 'S' sitting in the middle. Cold eyes stared at her former teammates.
"Titans, retreat!" Robin yelled, dropping a smoke bomb and filling the street with smoke
Cyborg ran over and picked Ace up, slinging him over his shoulder.
The Titans ran.
-Titan Tower-
"Urgh... I should have blasted her when I had the chance." Cyborg said, picking rocks out of his systems.
"I should have hit her with everything I had." Raven added miserably.
"Why did I permit her to fool me again?" Starfire agreed.
"Why couldn't we take her down just like every other criminal?" Robin asked.
"Because she's not just another criminal. She's Terra. She was a Titan. She was... our friend." Beast Boy said, looking confused.
"Oh don't give us that shit," Ace said from his position away from the group. "She is a criminal. She's just as much of a criminal as Slade. She wasn't a Titan, and she wasn't your friend. So get over it."
"He's right," Raven agreed, "Terra was never our friend. She was a liar and a spy. Trained by Slade and sent to destroy us. She's evil. Always has been. Always will be."
"You don't know what you're talking about, okay, Raven! She's made some serious mistakes, but she's not-" Beast Boy said, voice rising in irritation.
"Hey, man, the girl wrecked my car. Seems pretty evil to me." Cyborg halfheartedly joked.
Beast Boy flipped a table in anger. "This isn't a joke! I knew her better than anyone! I know all the terrible things she's done and I know exactly how messed up she is. But she's not evil! We can't just give up on her!"
"Goddammit, you idiot! Yeah, it sucks, yeah it hurts, but goddammit, this isn't some fantasy world, horrible shit happens." Ace began, pushing off of the wall. "Not evil my ass. She tried to kill us, if you didn't notice. She's not coming back, and you need to step up and face it!"
BB pushed the taller Titan back. "Shut up, Ace! Sorry that your childhood was crappy or whatever, but some of us have feelings and some of us try to get to know people! We're not all cold douchebags like you!" he yelled.
"Beast Boy, she's working for Slade." Robin said softly.
"When you were working for Slade, did we give up on you?" Beast Boy growled out pointedly.
Robin went silent, head bowed.
" Dick." Ace said sternly.
"She gets one last chance! One!" Robin yelled, going against his better judgement. "We have to break Slade's grip on he. We have to try to get Terra back." he said.
"Are you kidding me?" Ace yelled. "She. Is not. Coming back! She is not in 'Slade's grip'. She's there on her own volition. Trust me, if she didn't want to be there she wouldn't, you and I know that for a fact, Dick!" Ace growled off. At the looks of pleading and exasperation from the others, he snarled. "Fucking idiots!" He yelled in infuriation as he stalked away.
The alarm went off.
Ace rode his bike down the dirt road, eyes trained forwards as the wind ripped around his helmet-less head. Raven flew beside him, purple cloak fluttering in the wind
"We've got three escaped criminals attacking three different places. Whatever Slade's doing, we have to split up and stop it." Robin said through the communicators.
"Robin and I shall take Cinderblock." Starfire said.
Raven looked to Ace. "Ace and I can take Overload."
"And Beast Boy and I can deal with Plasmus." Cyborg agreed.
"What about Terra?" BB asked sincerely.
"We'll have to deal with her when this is over." Robin said after a moment.
After a few moments of silent travelling, Ace and Raven arrived at an enormous building, walls lined with metal. No windows were visible on the building. The duo walked towards it. Ace's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
He looked to her. "...This place has gotta have pipes, right?"
Raven shrugged boredly. "I guess."
"...If you can get them out, then... maybe we can end this early..."
She nodded. If she felt the unease he did, she didn't show it.
The Azarathian muttered her spell and a black portal appeared in front of them. As they walked through it and into the midst of the building, they were greeted by an enormous blue humanoid, made entirely of blue electricity; a red and black computer chip sat suspended in the middle of its chest. Overload lumbered up towards them from a lowered platform.
Ace drew his baseball bat, holding it warily towards the creature. "Raven, now is a good time to-"
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Rae yelled, pipes exploding through the walls and spraying spouts of water at the villain. The blue humanoid shrank and shrank until all that was left was the computer chip, soaked with water. The flow of the water from the pipes subsided.
Kneeling down, Ace picked up the now useless chip. He clenched his eyes tightly, instincts buzzing urgently in warning. "Fuck."
A blast of mud came out of the pipes and shot towards the duo. One sprout slammed into Ace, knocking him back and against a wall.
Everything went dark.
Waking up moments later, he stared in slight shock at the sight of Terra on an enormous column of mud- Raven was adjacent of the traitor, an enormous effigy of glowing black, four red eyes staring at Terra from under the hood. More mud came out of the pipes, and the mud layering the floor rose into the air, covering the transformed Raven and pushing her to the ground. After a few moments, the telepath was lost under the mud, motionless.
Ace leapt to his feet and ran towards them. His steps slowed and slowed, the mud solidifying with each step he took, until they were trapped under dirt entirely. Mud quickly moved from the dirt and up his body, holding him in place like glue. It stopped at his shoulders.
"Aw, what's the matter Ace? Stuck?" She taunted. "Quite the predicament you're in. You know, I never really liked you," she said. "I mean, I know you had it out for me. Plus, Slade told me your secret. How can you even begin to try and be a 'Titan'? I betrayed them and I'm still a better person than you are. Silly me. Monologuing. Any last words?"
"Birch." Ace growled out.
"'Bitch' is a poor choice of last words."
"Bitch, you better kill me and bury me deep because I'm just as broken as you are."
Terra's face fell for a moment, stunned, before she raised her hands, the mud sliding up the hero's body to cover his head. Her face never morphed back to its scowl.
She stood there for a minute, thinking to herself quietly when the mud around Jay's arms exploded outwards, his hands clenched into fists. Panicking, she quickly recovered him in mud and solidified it into dirt. Sighing, she watched the statue for a moment in trepidation. Deciding that he wasn't going to get free, she sighed again and walked away.
Everything was black. Not the familiar, unconscious black he'd come to know, but a conscious, suffocating darkness. That, plus the lack of air, quickened his heart rate as he began to panic.
"Died in a dirt tomb," He wasn't sure if the voice was even his. "Fuck, this isn't how I wanted to go out- fuck."
His eyes narrowed in stubborn spite and he moved his index finger- pulling out the pin of the grenade in his hand.
There was a few seconds of silence, then a deafening explosion. The dirt exploded around him, shattering his statue prison, but also sending him flying to the side, slamming into the mud.
Ace lay there for a few moments, pain racking his body. He winced hard, weakly pulling his tattered jacket off. The ballistic vest fell alongside it, crushed inwards. He pulled himself into a sitting position. "I've... gotta stop doing that." He muttered, pulling up his hand to stare at it.
He hadn't even registered himself grabbing the grenade in his last ditch effort. His instincts had saved him again.
Ace stumbled to his feet, pushing the pain out of his mind as he trudged into the calf high mud. His hand caught Raven's cloak and he pulled her backwards, to an elevated platform. She was paler than she normally was, white skin covered in mud. Her chest didn't rise with breath.
She can't die, He thought to himself, eyes widening in panic. No no no, not this one, she can't die.
He slumped to his knees and let his head droop backwards, letting out an exasperated yell.
"Goddammit you do not get to die on me yet." He said quietly, moving down towards her. He blew into her mouth, then leaned back, compressing her chest in practiced precision.
Breathe. Push. Breathe. Push. Breathe-
Raven's eyes snapped open and she coughed out mud violently, taking in huge breaths of air. Her eyes were wide, staring at the ceiling. Ace fell from his knees to a sitting position, wiping the mud she spat out onto his hand, against the metal grated floor.
"Ace?" she said weakly, still gasping for air.
"Yes. Thank me later, Rae, we need to go." He rose to his feet and offered her a hand, helping the exhausted telepath to a standing base. Ace threw her arm over his shoulder and helped her towards the exit, fully intent on breaking down any security barriers in his way.
He was simply too livid to care.
Ace stared at his communicator and the small grid showing on the screen. Two small white dots came into sight and he finally looked up; the small clearing looked like a battlefield; chunks of dirt and rocks ripped from the ground, small metal items littering the place.
The dark-clad hero let Raven drop slowly, setting her against a log. His first goal was to find Robin.
After a few moments of searching, he found a haphazardly thrown together pillar of rocks. Drawing his baseball bat, he gingerly pried it apart, expecting a trap.
Robin fell from the tomb as it gave way under his weight. Dropping his bat, Ace caught his leader. "Hey, hey, you alright?"
The Titans' leader didn't answer, barely breathing.
Ace sighed and dragged the hero over to Raven. He wiped his eyes tiredly, looking to the night sky and the bright moon overhead. "See what you can do for him. I'm gonna go find Star."
Standing there for a moment, Ace walked off, eyes glued to his communicator as he followed Starfire's signal. After a few moments, he stopped at a cliff and looked down its face to the beach below; Koriand'r's signature purple stood out like a beacon on the sand.
"Ah shit." He mumbled, looking around for something to aid in his rescue.
"I got it." A low, hurt voice said from behind him.
He didn't have a chance to look back before a green pterodactyl flew over the cliffside and to the water below, snatching Starfire up in its claws. It flew back up and over Ace's head, depositing the unconscious alien by Raven and Robin. Cyborg was kneeling on a knee, staring in concern at his leader when Beast Boy transformed back into his normal form, sitting dejectedly on the log.
The shapeshifter looked up as Ace approached. He bowed his head in pain and shame. "...I'm sorry." He said quietly.
Ace didn't sit, simply looking at the defeated Titans. "...So am I."
Cyborg shook his head, looking up to his friend. "We can't head back to the Tower; I checked the systems... or at least tried. Slade's got the place locked down."
BB slumped further. "Then what else can we do? Go to the police?"
Ace was silent for a few moments. "...I... think I know where we can go."
-Ace's Hideout, Several Hours Later-
Ace pushed open the heavy wooden door to the cave, struggling slightly- vines had covered the door, attaching it slightly to the walls.
The Titans limped in after him as he strolled about, turning on the generators and lighting the place up.
"Ace..." Beast Boy said quietly.
The black-clad hero grinned behind his mask, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it onto the makeshift table. "Yeah..."
Cyborg was staring at Ace. "How even..."
"It felt natural."
"Right under us... all this time..."
Robin moved from his spot at Starfire's side, letting the alien sit down quietly. "How did you even find this place?"
"Well, when I came to Jump I heard about you guys and I figured that it would be best to stick as close as possible. Long term goal was to join you guys anyway... figured that it'd make sense to be as close as possible. For safety's sake. Enough about that though. What are we going to do about Terra?" Ace asked quietly.
"She gets no more chances." Robin said.
"No more trust." Starfire added.
"And no more mercy." Raven said.
"She's just another criminal." Beast Boy said.
"And we are going to stop her, no matter what it takes." Robin ended, punching a gloved hand into his fist.
"When you guys fight Terra-" Ace began.
"You guys?" BB asked.
"I... I've got something I need to do. I need to head to the Tower badly. But if he's focused on you guys and Terra, then he won't be able to keep an eye on his bots. This is beyond important to me."
"Ace, you can't just take Slade's people on by yourself." Robin said quietly.
"No. I can't. That's why I've got a plan... 'sides. I'm not the one Terra stabbed in the back. Figure you guys are gonna need a bit more carthesis than I do. Trust me, okay?"
Robin nodded. "Alright. Titans, we should head out now- find Terra, and take her down. Ace, give us some time before you go. We'll give you a distraction."
Ace crept forward quietly, crouching around corners as his boots thudded dully against the tile floor.
The Tower was completely empty, an eerie silence filling the space. Jay shuddered at the oppressive feeling and picked up his pace to his bedroom door.
The metal door slid open and he rushed forward, grabbing his laptop off of his bedside table. He let out a sigh of relief as it booted up, the Windows logo shining bright in the dark tower. He turned to the window and stared out silently at the city covered in smoke and fog, not a light on in the sprawling metropolis.
The Titans sprinted into the cave entrance after Beast Boy.
The Titans had defeated Terra, sending the terrified girl running. Then they defeated more of Slade's minions.
Beast Boy had ran from the fight after Terra.
As they entered the monastery, they skidded to stops- Beast Boy was standing idly, Terra across from him, a stalagmite raised above his head.
"STOP!" Robin yelled, the Titans collecting around the two, preparing to attack Terra.
"Strike, apprentice! Now!" Slade yelled from his spot on a platform above the battle.
"Terra, no!" Robin yelled.
"It'll be the last thing you'll ever do." Raven said, appearing behind Terra.
"I gave you an order! Do it!" Slade commanded.
"Please, Terra, no!" Starfire pleaded.
"Don't do it! Don't do it!" Cyborg warned.
"Listen to us, Terra!" Robin said desperately.
"You're not playing around here!"
"Fight it!"
"You're still our friend!"
"You don't have to do this!"
"We want to help!"
"It's your life, Terra. Your choice. It's never too late to change." Beast Boy said softly.
"I'm sorry, Beast Boy- for everything I've done," Terra said, face a mask of grief. Clenching her fist, she yelled and threw the rock at Slade.
Wilson dodged the attack, eyes wide. He turned back to her. "You ungrateful little..." he trailed off, running at her.
Raising an enormous column beneath both of them, she took the fight high towards the roof of the cave, and out of the Titan's view. After a few minutes, the top of the nearest column glowed, before Slade was pushed off. He fell- past the Titans, past the floor and into the pool of lava sitting below.
Slade disappeared.
"Terra's power must have started a volcano or something! Big enough to take out the whole city! And WAY too big to stop!" Cyborg called out, checking the sensors on his arm.
Raven blocked a wave of lava that came flying over the ledge towards them, the lava level rising quickly. "We have to get out of here!" she said.
Ace sprinted into the monastery, baseball bat in his hand. He skidded a stop and took in the scenery for a moment before the Titans began sprinting towards him and towards the exit.
Beast Boy and Terra hugged tightly for a few moments, saying quiet things to each other. Ace grabbed onto BB's arm and dragged him away, sending one last look back at Terra.
She smiled slightly at him, blue eyes shimmering with tears. JJ clenched his eyes tightly and continued to run.
The last thing they heard was Terra's yell as her power exploded behind them.
-The Next Day-
The Titans walked on the pathway the stone pathway, sending looks around the cave that had only a handful of hours ago been a monastery. At the end of the pathway stood Terra- made of pure stone, like a statue, her hands raised and mouth open in a final yell of defiance.
Starfire stepped up to the statue and placed a bouquet of flowers at the base of the statue. "I shall miss you, friend." She said quietly.
"We'll be searching for a way to reverse the effect." Raven added.
"We'll bring her back." Robin said.
"Someday." Cyborg added.
Beast Boy placed a plaque at the statue's feet that read 'Terra. A Teen Titan. A True Friend.' "I'll never forget you." He said, before walking away with the others.
Watching their retreating backs for a moment, Ace looked back at the statue. He sent a slight look around the cave, before turning his attention back to Terra's face.
"I'm sorry," He said. "I get it. You got it. The allure is absolutely irresistible. But..." He trailed off, a single tear streaming down his face and onto his half mask, soaking into the fabric. "Fuck, Terra. This isn't how it was supposed to be. No one was supposed to die, I was supposed to get my happy ending..." Ace turned away. He took in a steading breath and placed his fist onto the statue's shoulder. "...It's the same everywhere,"
"No one gets a happy ending."
A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the late update. Haven't really been in the mood to write lately, alongside my newfound love for the Soulsborne games and Mass Effect, I've been fairly well off without writing. But alas, I am here, you are here- we're here together, one big happy family. Heart.
Review! It gives me happiness and more motivation to write!
As always: R&R,
-Pimp Daddy Infernokota
