Author's Note: (5/1/07) Happy May Day! Is it strange to feel weird about updating very soon after posting the previous chapter (posted 4/29/07)? I had this done yesterday, but I didn't post it. I feel I should warn you... I was extremely hyper when writing toward the end. You'll be able to tell. Sorry.

A Matter of Pride: Chapter fourteen; Apathetic

Slade, while not happy with her choice, accepted it. He had done the same thing many times. "But," he warned coldly, "if you fail the consequences shall be dire."

Terra bowed her head. "I understand. I will not fail, master."

Later that night, Terra set out to follow through on her threat. The Titans wouldn't know what was happening until it was much too late. First order of business? Devise a distraction. Slade refused to be a part of this; it was her assignment and she would prove herself capable of carrying it out. Her idea? Employ villains that the Titans were familiar with; set them up with pendants like the ones she had; and then send those villains to the most remote buildings she could find. There were three monsters. One of the Titans would have to fight alone: that was the one that she would follow and attack first.

The pipes of each building were filled with a special mixture, about 75 percent dust from the many quarries nearby and slightly less than 25 percent water. She knew that, even with the water mixed in, the stone particles would respond to her and she would be able to make them into any shape she wished. No matter which Titan was caught alone, no matter where, she would be able to eliminate them.

Slade, when informed of her plan, approved and gave her the locations of the three monsters she wanted. He supplied her with enough of the Slade emblems to control all of them. Then Terra set out to destroy the Titans.

Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Overload were only too easy to break out of the high-security prison that had previously confined them. Each recieved one of Slade's emblems on their chest and, as per her orders, they set off to their respective locations to cause havoc and wait for the Titans.

"Well done, my dear apprentice," Slade said in her ear. "The neural sensors are online. Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Overload are in my command."

Terra flew to Titans' Tower where she waited, hovering high above, seeing but unseen. The Titans emerged soon enough. Raven was the one without a partner. Terra followed, high above and well behind. No one ever thought of looking up. No one saw her.

Terra realized where Raven was going moments after the Titan set off. She was dealing with Overload, eh? Overload was securely in an almost impenetrable room, the only possible way in or out being the door. It was at this door that Terra listened. Creaking sounds filtered past the solid steel door and then the gushing of water. Terra grinned. Raven had busted the pipes! She tapped into her powers and held back the stone particles, ensuring that only water gushed forth. When the sounds of Overload's high pitched roars faded, she allowed the stone to mix with the water again.

"Why are you here?" Raven demanded, too preoccupied to notice the sludge. "What's your - uh!" Too preoccupied until, of course, a jet of the stuff hit her in the face when Terra broke the rest of the pipes. She entered, then, solidifying the stone in the muck so that she could step daintily through the muck and not get any on her. The neural controller thingy on Overload's main chip kicked in again, calling the villain back to their master.

"Hel-lo!" Terra taunted. "Does the word decoy mean anything to you? We had to find some way to lure you cowards out of hiding." Raven, thoroughly coated in mucky stone dust, scowled dangerously at her.

"Terra," the Titan spat.

"Raven," Slade's apprentice replied calmly.

"Traitor!"

"Witch."

Raven's hands glowed black and Terra's eyes shone bright yellow. They attacked simultaneously, Raven levitating and Terra calling a wave of rock sludge to escort her. With Slade's help, she had discovered her ability to not only manipulate large rocks, but all the way down to a molecular level. With her training, she knew how to trap enough particles of water between her stone so that the stuff stayed semi-liquid. More tricks that Raven didn't know about.

Hand-to-hand was not her strong point and, without Slade's direct help, Raven easily got the better of her. Terra found herself submerged in mud. She quickly made her way to the surface and tackled Raven. The Titan pulled a computer away from the wall and hurled it at her. Terra dodged, now purposely submerging herself in the muck.

The stone parted for her, again trapping enough of the water to create an air hole for her. She waited until Raven let her guard down a little bit, which took about one minute - honestly, these Titans, how had they ever foiled Slade so many times? - before attacking again. A giant stone mallet slammed Raven down into the mud.

"What's the matter, Rae? Tired?" Terra asked innocently, rising at the same time as Raven. "I'm just getting started. You know," she added as an afterthought, "I'm glad I get to take you down first. I never liked you."

"I never wanted to know you," Raven spat. Terra almost laughed. Petty insults only showed that Terra was getting to her. "The others may have liked you, they may have trusted you, but I never did! I always knew you were a liar!"

Terra examined her for a moment before turning her attention to the annoying brown muck, now dry, that coated her. Terra used her powers to clean it off, rolling the stone into a loose ball. "Is that why you let me live in your house? With all of you? Why you let me steal your secrets?"

"Shut up!" Raven snarled, forcing a tsunami of sludge at her. Terra parted the stone in it so that she only got hit with a little bit of water. After cleaning herself up just now, she really wasn't in the mood to get covered in the stuff again. Unlike Raven, it just didn't look good on her.

"Good. You know her weaknesses... Exploit them!" said Slade in her ear.

Terra sent three jets of muck Raven's way. The Titan tried to block them with a shield of her black aura. Terra laughed. Her jets swerved around the shield to hit Raven full on.

"Oops. Did I do that?"

Raven struggled to get up. Terra, along with cleaning herself, had been methodically pushing the water away from her so that Raven found hands and lower legs encased in solid stone.

"What's wrong, Rae? Getting angry? Beast Boy told me about your temper tantrums!" She molded the ball of stone into the likeness of Raven's head, scowling and furious.

"Anger is pointless."

Terra laughed. "Anger is pointless," she mocked. The Raven-head figure talked along with her, moving with exaggerated motions and then imploding into a formless ball of rock again. "And you're calling me a liar? No, you're angry. But are you angry at me... or yourself?

"What got to you the most, Rae?" Terra asked, truly curious. Stone flew up and she used them as stairs to approach the imprisoned girl. "That I tricked you? That I could always fight better than you? Or maybe it was that everyone liked me better than you? Oh, I know! It was that deep down inside, you really believed I was your friend. That was it, wasn't it?" Terra was now leaning within inches of her former comrade, smirking. Raven had been struggling against the rising encasement of rock, but now she looked up. Her face was the portrait of fury: four glowing red eyes and a scowl so murderous that Terra was surprised she hadn't already died. The Titan had grown to a terrifying height. Terra recalled the stories of Dr Light and his general terror of anything that involved Raven. She could understand.

"I trusted you!" Raven thundered. Terra retreated, avoiding the projectiles sent her way. It was a close thing, but she managed. "We trusted you! We took you in and you treat us like dirt!"

"Sure," Terra agreed cheerfully, all the while dodging various pointy objects aimed at the general vicinity of her rib cage and, more accurately, her vital organs. Like her heart. Terra was quite fond of her heart. She had no wish for pointy objects to puncture, poke, mangle, pierce, or otherwise interfere with it. "Most dirt is made of stone! I can control it. Like I controlled you."

Unfortunately, this only served to provoke Raven more. Terra felt her back press against the wall.

"Terra!" Slade reprimanded sharply.

Terra suppressed her fear - no, she told herself sternly, she wasn't afraid. Just a bit apprehensive, that was all. From the sludge that still oozed out of the pipes, she formed stony hands. These gripped Raven's cloak and pulled her back. Raven was determined, though, and continued to lunge forward, trying to escape her hold. She called forth more hands to restrain her. It was working. Six, eight, ten hands finally managed to get her under control.

"Finish her," Slade commanded. Terra drifted down to stand, completely apathetic, in front of her.

Raven shook her head suddenly, two of her eyes disappearing and the remaining pair returning to the normal violet. They held such fear that Terra almost felt a twinge of sympathy. Almost. She gasped for breath before a final burst of power dragged her under the surface. She vanished. Terra waited a moment. When Raven did not reappear, Terra smirked.

One Titan down. This was too easy.