Chapter 33

It's What's Inside

That Counts

Terran splashed the ice cold sink water onto his face letting it drip down to his chin. He picked up the bar of soap and began to rub it between his hands until they were covered with soapy bubbles. He rubbed it across his face and then rinsed it off shortly afterward. He grabbed his towel off the rack and began to dry his face with it. It was odd, though Brain was monitoring his thoughts, Terran could think freely without Brain altering his thoughts. "Maybe he decided to be nice today" Terran chuckled to himself. Terran placed the towel down, grabbed his toothbrush and squirted green toothpaste onto it that would help his teeth remain strong. Even the tiniest things Terran used everyday had been altered in some way to enhance his physical and mental performances. Though the taste of the edible things was usually something to be desired, Terran had gotten used to it. "I vondem hom Tirru is doig" Terran said to himself with his mouth full of toothpaste. He had been thinking about his sister a lot lately; now that he was able to think clearly, he was now trying to decide wither or not he still hated Terra. It was true that he still held anger towards her but he couldn't help it, he had been feed lies all his life that everything that had gone wrong in his life was her fault, and he had believed every single one of them. Maybe he wanted to believe them because he didn't want to admit that he had done something wrong. Terran shoved the thought aside and spit out the toothpaste and began to rinse out his mouth. Terran saw the console next to his door blink red and displayed a message in blue letters: 'Report to the Briefing Room Immediately for Your Next Assignment'. Terran groaned and went over to shut it off. He was tired of going on missions for Brain and he was tired of hurting people who hadn't hurt him. "I've got to get out of here" said Terran "I can't take it anymore". There was a crash in the bathroom and set of glass cups shattered as they hit the bathroom floor. "Great" Terran groaned and put on his gloves and began to pick them up. He placed each piece into a slot in the wall that sent any garbage to the recycling center at the bottom of the fortress that would reproduce it into anything that was needed. A piece of scrap metal that had been dumped would be recycled into parts for a tank. There was even a food processor in the fortress. Needless to say the 'Brotherhoods' fortress was self sufficient. Terran dusted off his hands and began to leave. Just as he left the bathroom he thought he saw something moving in the mirror. He went back in and stared at the bathroom mirror. It was fogged from the hot shower Terran had taken a few minutes earlier but something was definitely moving beyond it. Terran began to wipe away the fog and saw his reflection doing the same. But his reflection had a scowl on its face. Terran stepped away from the mirror but the reflection reached out and grabbed his throat. Terran gagged as he tried to rip his reflections hand from his throat.

"You aren't going anywhere" the reflection sneered. The reflection pulled Terran through the mirror and Terran fell to a hard rocky floor. Terran quickly got to his feet and ran to the mirror looking into his room.

"LET ME IN!" Terran screamed as he pounded the mirror. The mirror showed no signs of cracking and the image of his room was beginning to grow smaller. Terran pounded harder and faster trying to get back in. Finally the mirror disappeared and Terran was left inside this dark room all alone. "NO!" Terran shouted and punched the earth beneath his feet "No…I don't want to be here".

"It's too late for that" came a voice from within the darkness. The darkness began collecting at a single spot and formed a clone of Terran wearing his exo-suit. "You chose this life…now you're going to have to live it…" His eyes narrowed "…wither you like it or not".

"I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Terran shouted back.

The other Terran smiled. His face became obscured and Brain's head piece appeared where the other Terran's head would have been then quickly changed back. "Well that's too bad". He charged at the real Terran and knocked him off his feet. Terran felt the ground beneath him crumble away and he fell into darkness. He saw the top of the cliff he had fallen from disappear from sight. He quickly straightened himself out in the air and grabbed the cliff. His hands were shredded as he tried to slow himself down. Once Terran had finally brought himself to a halt he tried to climb back up the cliff. He placed his bleeding hand inside a grove and tried to pull himself up. His hand stung and Terran found it would not hold a grip. He pulled his hand away and looked at its palm. The skin on his hand had been shredded and the bone was now exposed with bits of flesh hanging from. Terran shuttered and turned his hand back over so he wouldn't have to look at it anymore. He carefully used his arms to pull himself up the cliff and after some time the top was finally in sight.

"Almost…there" He groaned as he continued to push himself on the final leg of the journey. At last he hand reached the top and lifted his arms over the top. A shadow past over Terran looked up to see the other Terran standing over him with a cruel smile.

"You just won't quit will you?" he said and pressed his foot down onto one of Terran's hands. Terran screamed but didn't have the strength to resist. "Now be a good boy…and do as you're told". He brought his foot down onto Terran's face and Terran once again fell into the darkness. The rock face disappeared and Terran began to fall farther and farther into the darkness. He looked down and could see Brain's awaiting jaws. He fell through and the last thing he heard was Brain's jaws snapping shut.

"AHH!" Terran screamed and bolted upright in his bed. He looked over his hands and patted himself down to make sure he was all there. "It was just a dream…it was just a dream" he said to himself as he lied back down on his bed. He placed his hand over his forehead and closed his eyes trying to calm his breathing. For a few weeks now he had been having nightmares like this, which always woke him up in the middle of the night. Terran looked over at the clock which read 5:30 am. "Heh" Terran said as he rolled over in his bed "I got an extra hour tonight". Terran tried to force himself out of his bed but his arms and legs were still exhausted. "Common ya lazy bum…" Terran said as he tilted himself near the edge of the bed "…time to get….up"! Terran fell over the side of the bed and landed hard on the floor. "Ow" Terran groaned as he massaged his arm that had taken the brunt of the fall. The console on the wall was blinking red and displayed a message: 'Report to the Briefing Room at noon for Your Next Assignment'. Terran was wide awake now and he began his morning routine: shower, brush teeth, put on new clothes, make bed, make sure room is clean and finally get breakfast. Terran went through the first five chores quickly then made his way to the kitchen which was located a few corridors away. "What do I want to eat today?" Terran hummed as he rummaged through the refrigerator. Even though there were items like apples, cheese, pears and other types of food, he wasn't allowed to eat them as they were; he had to prepare them in someway. He pulled out eggs, milk and wheat and placed a skillet down on the stove and began to butter the skillet. If Terran was to eat at all, he had to cook his own meals, it was only when Brain needed him to be deployed immediately that Terran ever got a free meal. 'You are not a helpless baby, you can cook for yourself' were Brain's words on the matter. Terran's thoughts returned to the time when he first learned to cook as a child:

"OW!" Terran squealed and sucked on his burnt finger. He felt like hitting the stove but knew if he did he would just get burned again. He sat down at the small wooden table and put his head between his arms and began to cry. This was the third day in a row he had gone without eating, he couldn't keep this up for long; he had to learn how to cook something if he was every going to eat.

Mallah happened to be passing by at that time and he heard Terran cry. "What is wrong little one?" he asked in his deep and heavy voice. Terran looked up and tears were streaming down his eyes.

"I can't cook anything…so I can't eat anything, I'm so hungry" Terran cried. He placed his head back down and began to cry again. Mallah wouldn't have any of this; he picked Terran out of his chair and set him on his feet next to the stove.

"Now…" Mallah said as he picked up the spatula that was much too small for him "watch carefully, I'll only show you once". Terran wiped away his tears and watched intently as Mallah began to show him how to make pancakes with the ingredients he had. Once he was done he handed the spatula to Terran and Terran began to repeat the process. At first Terran made some very bizarre looking pancakes; one that even looked like a strand of DNA which Mallah couldn't help but be impressed, but after a few hours Terran had finally memorized how to make pancakes. He would eat nothing but pancakes for the next month until he learned how to cook something else.

Terran cleaned his plate at began to wash them in the sink and then place them back where they belonged. Once he was done he wandered around the halls looking for something to do. He wasn't allowed to leave the fortress because of his last stunt and so he had to keep himself entertained for the period of his confinement. He past by the gymnasium and decided he would kill some time in there. The gym was two stories tall and roughly the size of two football fields side by side. The first floor had essentially the needs of a track team and gymnastics including the needed equipment, Terran was required to master each event at a very young age. The top floor was a dirt field with trees and boulders that Terran used for combat practices, which changed depending on the time of the year or the lesson. This gym was where Madame Rogue and General Immortus trained him in his youth:

"No no no!" General Immortus shouted from his floating platform. He hopped off and stepped over to Terran who was panting by the shot put ring. "That is not the correct form young man" Immortus said and slapped Terran upside the head with his metal rod. "It is supposed to rest underneath your ear not next to it that is why you are falling short of the red line".

"It's to hard…I can't…" Terran panted.

"You can and you will" Immortus countered "You have been at this for three years; you should have gotten it by now". Terran rested his hands on his knees continuing to pant as he tried to regain his breath. He had been doing field events for the past three hours none stop and had been whacked four times as many hours.

"I just need…to take a short break" Terran said and sat down and hung his head as sweat dripped from his face.

"No breaks young man…unless you want to compensate with a few extra laps around the track" Immortus sneered. Terran instantly got to his feet and ran to get the shot. Running around a track may sound easy, but he had General Immortus for a coach. The track was laden with booby traps and Terran risked the threat of Immortus flying low on his platform and taking his head off. After a half hour Terran was switched to other events until Immortus had decided he had had enough. "Alright young man" he said in as stern as an old man could sound "you are to report to the second floor for combat training in ten minutes". Terran groaned at having five minutes shaved off from yesterday.

Terran made sure he had shut off the booby traps and began to run around the track for awhile. Though he was skinny for his age he was exceptionally strong but he doubted he could match Starfire or Cyborg in brute strength, maybe Robin. Terra on the other hand would be a complete pushover, he was sure of it. In his mind, Terra had the strength width of a toothpick. After about five laps Terran stopped jogging and wiped away the only drop of sweat that had formed on his brow. Terran walked over to a large elevator that would take him to the second floor. He stepped out onto the forest scenery that was his training grounds. It was here he learned how to hone his powers in ways he had never imagined: identical duplicates of himself down the last hair as well as other individuals he had to mentally memorized, fragmentation projectiles, imitations of animals or anything else that Terran could think up of, disappearing into the earth though he hadn't mastered becoming earth which Brain said was theoretically possible, as well as others Terran couldn't think of at the moment. It was here Rogue had taught him how to fight with martial arts combined with his powers and where Immortus made Terran play war games where he had to make it across a bullet ridden battlefield with air strikes and mortar fire raining down on him, many times without aid of his powers. Most of the time fake ammo was used during the exercises but there were occasions when Immortus decided to switch to live ammo at the beginning or during an exercise, usually without warning. Terran shuddered at the memory of when a mortar round impacted a few feet away from him and sent shrapnel into his leg rendering it unusable for a few days. Terran had to admit there was one upside to living here, the medical treatment was superb and with a few treatments Terran's leg was completely healed leaving no trace of the wound. Terran practiced using his powers to try and mold diamond but after a few hours he left unsuccessful.

"How did he do that" Terran hummed as he left the gym "even without help from Slade, Terrane was able to make diamond from scratch and yet I can't". Terran passed by his classroom where he spent his time studying when he wasn't training. By no means was Terran stupid, he was just cocky, arrogant at times short tempered when he didn't keep it in check. This was where Mallah taught him how to read and write, speak different languages which Terran had become fluent in Russian, German, Italian, Latin, French, Arabic and Spanish, perform chemistry and trigonometry. By the time Terran was twelve years old he had the education of a college student with a master's degree. It was also here that Immortus taught him tactics and how to anticipate the enemy's next move:

"Now what was the error in the Battle of the Bulge?" Immortus asked as he paced around the room. Terran went through his notes he had taken while he had watched a computer simulation of the long battle that began in the snowy mountains of Germany and eventually at the cross road town of Bastoing.

"Uhhhhhh" Terran began as he flipped through his notes "The Germans never attacked from all sides with there forces divided among each attack axis and instead only probed defenses costing them men and equipment"?

"And…"

"Ummm" Terran looked over his notes "OH…they never attempted to intercept the armored column that was coming to relief the American airborne troops".

"And…"

"Well umm…" Terran tapped his desk trying to decide how to word his next sentence "…the Germans never received the air support needed to halt the supply drops".

"And…" Immortus asked now becoming impatient.

"And the German reserve forces were taken away so when they were finally able to push into the town they had no extra troops to support the attack" Terran finished quite pleased with himself.

"Correct" said Immortus and ran his hand along the cool metal of the digital display that showed the aftermath of the battle. He sighed "If only Adolf had agreed to place me in command…" He waved Terran away and finished "that will be all for today, you may return to your quarters".

Terran silently walked down the long corridor that opened up to the main control room. It was a large cathedral like room with walls that were several stories high. As usual, the hundreds of plasma screen monitors where displaying the latest information on events taking place around the world and possible targets in the future. There were armed guards in gray trench coats holding energy rifles standing guard at the end of the corridor. They snapped to attention and moved out of the way to allow Terran to pass. They were just about the only people in the 'Brotherhood' that respected him, or feared him. Terran could never tell if they were human or machine behind those large gasmasks they wore, the red lenses blocked any view of what was beyond the mask. If they were human, Terran wondered what had compelled them to join the 'Brotherhood'. Were they volunteers, recruits or slaves like he was? Terran spun on his heels and headed towards the guard to his left.

"You, solider" Terran called. The guard turned around in surprise. "Yes you…come here". The guard slowly strode over to Terran and stood at attention. "What's your name?" Terran asked. The guard remained silent. "Did you hear me?" Terran asked with a hint of annoyance. The guard nodded but continued to remain silent. "Fine…how did you get here?" Terran asked this time making the question a little less personal. The guard remained silent but was notable tense. Terran lost his temper, which he had a bad habit of doing and shouted at the guard "SOLIDER I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, NOW ANSWER ME"! Terran felt an itch on the back of his neck soon felt an electrical current course through him.

"That is enough Terran" Brain commanded "Guard, you may return to your post". The guard acknowledged and returned to his position at the entrance to the room. The electrocutions stopped and Terran got to his feet weakly. He could tell in the way that the guard walked and held himself that he was taking enjoyment seeing Terran punished. The guard looked back at Terran who returned a hateful glare. The guard nearly jumped in his spot and swung his head back around. Terran had a habit of letting his anger run wild, which would ultimately control his actions in the end; this was often the case when he fought his sister Terra.

"Yes" Terran grumbled as he made his way over to Brain who was standing on a raised platform gazing upon the monitors.

"Yes what?" Brain asked in his synthetic voice without looking back.

"Yes…master" Terran said half heartedly.

"That's better; now then, I'm temporarily suspending your confinement to the fortress for tomorrow…"

Titans Tower

That Night…

Terra waved goodbye to Beast Boy who was putting the twins to bed and closed the door to her room. She shut off the lights and walked to her bed on the far side of the room. She pulled the covers down for her to crawl into and rested her head on her fluffy pillow. She was about to fall asleep when she heard someone's voice in her room.

"Packing it in a little early aren't we"?

Terra bolted upright in her bed and looked scanned her room. She saw no one and laid back down believing that she had imagined it.

"You know it's very rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you".

This time Terra knew she hadn't imagined it and jumped out of her bed and patrolled her room searching for the voice. She looked in her closet only to find her many matching outfits but not the owner of the voice.

"Turn around…apprentice".

Terra froze, she know recognized the voice but she didn't dare look behind her for fear of seeing…him. Against her better judgment she slowly turned her head so that she could just barely see behind her. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw no one and stepped towards the window and rested her forehead on it and closed her eyes. "I guess all the stress was just getting to me" Terra said trying to calm herself. She opened her eyes again and was staring at a black torso. She gasped and leapt back from the window. There in her window was a reflection of her former master…Slade. He looked as though he hadn't aged a day and was still wearing his black skin tight suit and grayish armored plates. A single hazel blue eye bore into Terra from his black and bronze mask.

"Hello Terra" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"But you….your" Terra stuttered.

"Dead" Slade finished "I'm afraid you're mistaken…apprentice".

Terra wiped around and scanned her room only to find it empty. She turned back to the window to see Slade's image still being projecting against her window. "But how are you here"?

"Remember when I said that I am a part of you, well…that still applies, to point…this is probably the last time I'll be able to contact you like this" He leaned forward and tilted his head to the side while his eye narrowed till it was practically closed "But don't go anywhere…I have something special in mind for you". Slade's image faded as the rain began to beat against the window until there was no trace of him. Terra stood silent in her room trying to decide what to do next. Then she dashed out of her room and woke up the other Titans and told them of her encounter with Slade.

The T-Car

The Next Day…

"Are you sure that Slade isn't still connected to me?" Terra asked as Cyborg drove the T-car to the latest distress call in Jump City.

"Positive Terra, whatever that bug put in you was still in effect the next night, that's the reason you were able to see Slade, whether or not that was him talking to you right then and there or if it was just a recording I'm still unsure of, but don't worry we made sure we cleaned your system of it, he won't be coming back" Cyborg replied as he made a right turn past the pizza stand.

Terra sighed in relief as Beast Boy placed his hand on hers "Its okay Terra, if Slade ever does show up, we'll take him". Terra smiled and held his hand. She was still worried about leaving the twins at the tower alone but they couldn't risk them being hurt in a fight. Suddenly the T-car screeched to a halt and all the Titans were nearly thrown out of their seats.

"Why am I not surprised?" Cyborg snarled and stepped out of the car. The other Titans stepped out and saw Terran in his signature exo-suit at the far end of the street with his arms folded across his chest. Terra let go of Beast Boy's hand and stepped to the front of the pack.

"Hi guys" Terran said with a smile and unfolded his arms. "I thought I'd drop by for a visit, I've missed you guys…especially you Raven". This caused Raven to blush slightly and Terra looked at her in confusion.

"Later" Raven said to Terra. Just then everyone's communicators began to blink and Robin was the first to pull his out. He frowned at the message.

"Brain's attacking another silo several miles from here" Robin said and put his communicator away. They couldn't deal with Terran now, Brain was the bigger threat right now, but they couldn't leave Terran here either.

Robin was about to volunteer to stay behind when Terra cut in "I'll stay". The Titans looked at her in surprise. She had her fists clenched and her lip was curled as she continued to stare down Terran.

Terran began to laugh loudly "Are you serious"? He continued to laugh until he noticed Terra's expression hadn't changed. "Oh…you are serious" he said "Fine".

"Terran your orders are to keep all the Titans at bay" Brain commanded.

"Shut it…I have a little score to settle with Terra" Terran snapped "Besides, the others shouldn't be that big of a problem".

There was silence on Brain's end until he finally answered "Very well…you may engage your sister, we shall deal with the others".

Terran smiled with satisfaction and began to walk closer to Terra. "So sis, you want to take on your big bro do you?" he said coldly. He stopped until he was near centimeters from Terra's face. Even though they had lived under different conditions, they were still the exact same size. "Are you ready"?

Terra stepped forward knocking Terran backwards slightly "Bring it on" she snarled and stood her ground. The ground beneath them cracked and the two rose high into the air on a stone platform, never moving a muscle.

"Alright team lets move!" Robin shouted and the Titans filed into the car and sped away toward Brain's last known location. Beast Boy looked out the window and prayed Terra would be alright.

Unknown Location

One Hour Later…

Terran and Terra continued to stare each other down as their platform carried them off to a battlefield of Terran's choosing. Their eyes remained locked and neither of them blinked throughout the trip. At last the platform began to descend and their vision was blurred as the surrounding area blew up dust from the barren landscape. The platform disappeared into the rocky floor and the two continued to stand face to face.

"Go ahead" Terran said after a long silence "take a look". Terra's eyes left Terran and she began to survey the area. She fell short of breath as she recognized the location. "I thought it would be fitting that we should fight here". This 'place' was there old backyard where their father had taken them to practice their powers when they were seven. It was located a little more than a mile from their childhood home, which was located in a small suburban neighborhood located in the southern area of New Mexico.

"This place sure does bring back memories" Terra said to herself.

"Indeed" Terran agreed "Now onto business" his faceplate formed around his face and the eye slits began to glow yellow. Terra spread her feet apart in readiness to fight her brother. "You know, this is probably good for the both of us".

"What do you mean?" Terra asked, confused at what he was trying to get at.

"I just want you to know before we fight… I don't hate you or at least not as much as before" Terran admitted. Terra lightened her stance and her glare disappeared. "But I still have all this anger bottled up towards you, if I'm ever to forgive you completely; I need to let it out, which means I need to take it out on you".

"Oh…" Terra said in disappointment that she and Terran weren't going to resolve their differences without fighting.

"And I know you still have a lot of anger bottled up towards me, correct"? Terra nodded sadly "Alright then, it's settled, no more delays; we're going to end this…no holding back". Terran's hand began to glow yellow as he prepared to fight and Terra resumed her fighting stance. "Just to warn you sis, I'm much stronger than you" said Terran hoping to put doubt in her mind of the coming fight.

"Really, if that's so then why are you wearing that suit of yours" Terra countered. She knew Terran had the advantage over her; she needed to even the odds slightly. "If you're sooo much stronger than me…then why are you wearing it"? Terran's hands ceased their glow and he stood up straight. "Could it be that you're…oh I don't know…SCARED"? Terra could tell Terran was glaring at her from behind his mask and he stepped back to give them room. His faceplate slid back to reveal the scowl on his face but it didn't stop there. It continued to fold into itself until it was just a small square strapped to Terran's back. He removed the compressed exo-suit that had hardened itself and tossed it to the ground. Then he did something that Terra did not expect. He raised his foot and brought it down over the suit causing it to break into tiny fragments. The suit's remaining parts crackled with electricity and quickly faded as they lost their charge. Terra was surprised to see that Terran was wearing an outfit that was similar to her own. It was a black T-shirt and gray pants, and he removed a pair of gray leather gloves from his pockets and placed them over his hands. This was the same outfit he had worn during his stay at Titans Tower and Terra guessed it was the only outfit he had.

"So, we're on an even playing field" he said with a smile. His body began to glow bright yellow and a pulsing yellow aura formed around him. "The table has been set Terra…SO LET US BEGIN"!