AN: The Terra chapter, but a bit different.

Outta This World: Observer's Cut

Arc Three: Teen Tyrants

Chapter Nineteen: The Geography of Recruitment

The void between worlds. Arella.

Arella waited. Waited in the void between worlds, eyes fixated on the great blue nothingness that encompassed her.

Something was happening. This she knew. She also knew that whatever was happening would alter the course of many things, including the prophecy concerning her daughter.

She did not know if this was a good thing.

First piece of evidence of this great change: The mixing of the timelines. Sometime before the birth of Sean Wilson Kirk, someone had altered the proper flow of time, merging two universes that were never supposed to meet. This caught the attention of Team Canon, but at the time, they had bigger problems to worry about. It only concerned them when thousands of teenagers and young adults were pulled across various worlds to this new Earth…and landing Deathstroke the Terminator on Earth Prime. This was the event that gave birth to Sean Wilson Kirk…and was the beginning of so many problems

Second piece of evidence: The enemies of the Titans were becoming more numerous, more ruthless…and more powerful.

Case one: Luminous. A vicious serial killer who targeted criminals on a regular basis, apparently motivated by some antiquated moral code revolving around 'justice'. Said serial killer had somehow located and killed Arthur Light, taking the man's suit and technology for his own. Arthur Light had been enough of a danger himself even after being lobotomized by Zatanna's faction of the Justice League. This new villain was—from what the mother of Raven had seen—still quite new to using Doctor Light's weaponry, and he was still at the same level that Arthur Light once was. Once he had fully mastered the suit, or even more frightening, found a way to improve it…Arella shuddered at the thought.

Case two: Jacob Winters. While Sean—and by extension, the Teen Titans—had yet to come face to face with the young Church Hunter, it was clear to the resident of Azarath that if—and perhaps when—the encounter occurred, only one party would be walking away. Before the Hunters got their hands on him, Jacob was merely a young man perpetually stuck in the anger stage of grief, who was a danger to both himself and the world around him, not a psychopath who was a danger to the world itself.

Whatever had happened to him during his time amongst the Hunters had changed Jacob Winters—and not for the better. Aside from their mysterious 'Old Blood' giving him unnatural strength and a healing factor greater than that of the world's greatest regenerator, he also seemed to have gained some form of…insight. Arella swore that while she had watched him and the other two agents of Canon, Jacob had stared straight at her, as if she were there in person, and not trapped in the void between worlds. A clear testament to the eldritch might of the Church Hunters.

Case three: Death Hand. This was the one she knew the least about. From Samur Mayker's own information, he was a terrorist from a place outside of her section of the Multiverse, fighting to bring down a corrupt society built on the worship and deification of the costumed hero. From what she saw of the man, Arella wondered if he was only fighting to make himself a dictator, for he clearly did not have the hallmarks of the average heroic revolutionary. He lied to and manipulated his teammates—the Teen Tyrants—with relative ease, almost as if it were like breathing to him. He betrayed his allies at the drop of a hat—so long as it served his purposes, as shown with Slade and Zero.

His was a dangerous mind, but he was not limited to just that. No, his body had clearly been enhanced in some way, not to mention that anything—everything—that he touched would turn to ashes if he wished it. And then there was the fact that he had interrupted a telepathic conversation between Light and Sean, clear signs of some form of telepathy. The true extent of his power, or maybe powers, were unknown, and aside from Trigon, he was shaping up to be one of the deadliest enemies that the Titans would ever face.

Case four: Deathstroke. Even before the alterations of his home timeline, Slade had become obsessed with the concept of having a legacy, thus fathering five children: Joseph Wilson, Grant Wilson, Rose Wilson, Samantha Wilson, and Sean Wilson Kirk. He abandoned one child and lost the other to a mysterious golden-armored man ten years afterwards. Karma for his action, Arella thought.

From there, Slade trained his children, teaching them to become the ultimate assassins, younger versions of himself. But in time, he would go a step further than that. For before he had left his last son behind, Slade had a nanochip created. One that could be planted in the human brain with little to no damage caused. One that would make him truly immortal.

Even the Justice League had proven to be unreliable, as Zatanna and the other League members who had lobotomized Doctor Light would do the same to any villain they felt would go too far. This included any hero that they felt was 'straying from the proper course'.

And then, there was case six: Team Canon. Samur knew more about the secretive multiversal than she did, and it was clear to her that the angel-like being was withholding information. Led by the mysterious 'Lord' Insight and his twenty-four council members, this organization—this cult—was created with the purpose of preventing alterations to the timelines of every universe within their grasp, by any means necessary. These means included assassination, sabotage, and many other immoral actions.

While Insight's true past and powers were as known to her as Death Hand's, it was clear that he had an obsession with the concept of order and despised any acts of deviation from what he thought was the right way.

With the way things were going, Arella knew that the Titans would come into conflict with them eventually.

A portal opened in the nothingness, and Arella was drawn from her thoughts as one of her five new compatriots stepped through.

"Fate wants to hold a meeting." John Constantine spoke, a grim look on his face. "Bring your Samur friend."

A few miles outside of Jump City. The Teen Titans.

In the early morning—far to early for Beast Boy's liking—the Tower's long-term sensors detected minor tremors headed in the direction of the city. Worried that it may be some form of attack from Slade, or another previously unknown villain, the young heroes sought out the source of these disturbances in the earth.

What they found was a scorpion twice the size of a school bus chasing down a teenage girl dressed for travel…

Above the canyon. Robin.

Robin frowned as his eyes tracked both the monstrous scorpion and the girl, his brain attempting to work out what was going on. While the scorpion was certainly larger than the average arachnid, it in no way could have caused the tremors that the sensors had picked up only fifteen minutes before.

"So, what could have—?"

"Well?" Blitzkrieg's voice cut through the tense silence as he and their newest member—Mikumo Raki—stepped forward. "What are we waiting for?"

Robin knew he was right. There was someone in trouble, and as heroes, it was their job to intervene, and do that whole day-saving thing.

Which they would have done…had things not gotten interesting.

Robin did have a plan. Wait for the girl and the massive arachnid to run under one of the rock outcroppings—a natural, stone bridge—and once the creature was close to passing under the bridge, collapse it on the disgusting thing.

The girl apparently had similar thoughts.

The Titans watched, thoroughly amazed as—with the wave of a hand encased by yellow light—the girl brought down the earthen bridge upon her pursuer.

Robin was the first to reacted, taking a few steps towards the blonde, blue-eyed girl and extending a hand. "I'm Robin. We're the—!"

"Teen Titans! Rock on!" The blonde cried out in a manner similar to a fan meeting their favorite celebrity. "It's so cool to meet you guys! I'm Terra, and you guys are Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, Blitzkrieg, and…" Terra trailed of as her eyes landed on one of the green-haired members of the team.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I've heard of you…"

Mikumo shrugged. "It's fine, I'm new and haven't come up with a name yet."

"Well, it's good to meet you anyway!" Terra spoke with a smile on her face, then turning to the last member. "And you…"

"Are Bass Boot!" Beast Boy proclaimed.

Crickets chirped in the silence that followed.

"I mean Boy Beast!" The shapeshifter cried out as Terra began to laugh, his face a beet red color. This only caused the obvious geo-kinetic to laugh more.

The laughter stopped as soon as she brushed her hair back.

"My barrette!" She cried. "I must have lost it during the chase!"

"It's fine." Blitzkrieg assures. "We'll find it."

"Or we could just get her another one." Raven proposes, voice tense with…something.

The Titans do search for a time, to no avail. Eventually, the group returns home with a new member, but even as they laugh and share stories, Robin wonders…what had caused the tremors?

A few miles outside of Jump City. Seald, Ravager, and Luminous.

Ravager watched the group of teenage heroes return to their precious tower, turning the butterfly-shaped barrette between her fingertips. Her own father had never gotten her such things during her childhood, no matter what she did to please him. What had the girl done to receive such things, she wondered.

"So, he was right." Luminous scoffed. "As he always seems to be."

"Silence." Rumbled the giant who had joined them. "It is time for the beginning of the second phase. A new face amongst the heroes will matter very little once the full plan is completed."

"And what exactly is the full plan?" Luminous questioned. "I know that it involves this 'Doom Slayer' and I heard something about 'saving the world'—but what does that entail?"

"That," Saeld began, turning towards the depths of the cave they were in. "Is not something you need to know."

Titans Tower. The Teen Titans.

After being introduced to the accommodations of the Tower—and the ensuing of multiple hijinks—Terra decided to take up a temporary residence in one of the spare rooms that the Tower played host to.

After a rather gracious feast—courtesy of Blitzkrieg—the Titans headed for bed, resting up for whatever may come tomorrow.

All except for three.

Terra was awake, dread filling her mind as her thoughts turned to the Titans, fearing their reactions to her secret.

The young geo-kinetic took a breath. "I need some air."

With that, she opened her window and lifted a rock platform from the island below, using it to descend to the beach. Maybe just listening to the dull sound of the waves crashing against the ocean would help her reach a decision…

"Couldn't sleep?"

Terra spun on her heels; right hand clenched into a fist which caused a sharpened rock the size of a scooter to be aimed at—

—Beast Boy?!

Said changeling raised his hands in surrender, eyes wide.

Terra took a breath, lowering her hand and letting the projectile crumble into dirt. "Jeez BB, give a girl a little warning next time." She said, once again brushing blonde hair away from her face. "I almost took your head off."

"It's fine." He replied, letting out a peal of nervous laughter. "Was your bed too lumpy?"

Both of them sat down on two separate boulders as Terra responded to his question.

"No." She answered with a sigh. "Just thinking about where I stand." Her eyes flashed yellow, and a stone went sailing out into the sea.

"Where you stand?" Beast Boy asked, picking up a stone and throwing it, not getting nearly as far as Terra did.

"It…it isn't important." She said, letting out another sigh as she sent another stone flying. "I'm probably gonna leave in the morning. I can't stay?"

"Why not?" Beast Boy asked, chucking another rock. "I saw how well you took to the place. We all did. I mean, we've got free cable, indoor plumbing, all the tofu you can eat, what's not to like."

The blonde let a wry smile cross her face. "Tofu? You certainly know how to charm a girl."

As she spoke, her eyes once again blazed yellow, and her hair began to rise and wave, even though there was no wind. Seconds later, the boulder that Beast Boy was sitting on rose into the air. The changeling was promptly dropped on his back as the large rock was sent sailing into a watery abyss.

Terra's eyes went wide as she scrambled towards the shapeshifter. "OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry! I'm so—I'm so STUPID!" She spoke, clearly panicked by the incident.

Beast Boy got back up, looking at the geo-kinetic with wide, surprised eyes. "Terra?"

Terra's shoulders slumped as she looked downwards. "Don't tell. Please don't tell…"

"Hey, it's okay…" Beast Boy began, holding up his gloved hands in a placating manner. "You can't totally control your powers. So what?"

"Just…don't tell anyone about this!" The young geo-kinetic demanded.

"Sure." The changeling replied with a shrug.

"Swear it!"

"Okay, okay! I swear it! But really, it's no big deal. If the other Titans knew, they'd still like you."

"…Promise?"

"I promise."

Blitz watched the interaction from atop the Tower rooftop, a pensive look on his face.

The Next Morning…

Cyborg smirked as his mechanical feet once again touched solid ground. "BOOYAH! New course record!"

What Cyborg was speaking of was the new training course that had recently been constructed outside of the Tower, with the purpose of testing the skills of the team of teenage heroes. Cyborg was the first to embark on the course, earning a record time of two minutes and seventeen seconds.

"But you're the first one to ever do the course." Mikumo pointed out, causing Cyborg to stew a bit while Raven turned to Terra.

"Ready to show us what you can do?" She asked, a quizzical expression on her face.

"A-are you sure?" She asked, a bit of a stutter in her voice. "What about R-Robin?"

"In a meeting of the secrets with the Man of Bats." Starfire revealed, walking towards them.

"So, he won't be joining us then?" Blitzkrieg asked, an eyebrow raised under his mask.

"His loss!" Beast Boy announced. "Now come on, Terra! I know you can do it!"

"I-I don't know…"

Inside of the Tower. With Robin.

As things proceeded to the natural course outside, Robin stared at a small, blue screen displaying the face of his foster father and mentor. "I really hope this is about the whole League situation…"

"It is." The Batman informed him. "I'm working on something with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Those two, despite their…antics, are trustworthy at least."

"And what exactly are you three working on, Bruce?" Robin inquired; eyes slightly narrowed behind his mask.

The screen switched to a new image, displaying a satellite that looked like a singular, massive eye. "We're calling it 'Brother Eye'. It's a satellite that will keep track of the members of the League, along with other heroes and villains—!"

"Alongside any potential threats, I assume." Robin interrupted. "Isn't that kind of…immoral, Bats?"

"It's a necessary evil at this point, Dick." Batman replied. "Remember: When tyranny becomes law—!"

"Rebellion becomes duty." Robin finished, eyes directed at the floor even as the screen winked out, leaving his office in darkness.

"I know."

Outside of the Tower. The rest of the Titans.

Mikumo let out a low whistle as he stared at the now wreaked obstacle course. "One minute and thirty seconds. Great job, Terra!"

"…Must've softened it up for her." Cyborg muttered, trying to keep his smile on his face.

"WAY TO GO, TERRA! YOU DA MAN! I-I mean…Way to go!" Beast Boy cheered.

"Most Glorious!" Starfire cheered, a grin on her face.

"Impressive. Most impressive." Blitzkrieg spoke, doing his best Darth Vader impression, causing Cyborg to snicker.

"She's a little rough around the edges…but she has potential." Raven admitted. "With a little more training, she could—!"

Before she could finish, the brooch on her cloak began to flare red, along with the brooch on Starfire's neck, Cyborg's forearm panel, and Beast Boy's and Blitzkrieg's belt.

"Okay…" Terra began. "Why is everyone blinking?"

"Slade." Robin spoke as he walked up behind them, his voice an angry growl. "He's back."

Several miles outside of Jump City. Blitzkrieg.

"What do we have, Robin?" I asked as both Raven and I flew above the T-Car and the R-Cycle.

"Slade's robots are raiding an old diamond quarry. Might be to fund some new scheme, might be for something else entirely." Robin's voice answered me over the communicator.

"Well then, let's head down and ask—!" A small flicker of light caught my eye. A light that was headed towards—!

I moved quickly, angling the flight disk to intercept the blast of energy aimed at Raven. Had I had time to properly prepare myself for such an attack, I might have avoided the repercussions of such a risky maneuver.

Unfortunately—or perhaps somewhat fortunately—I was knocked out of the sky and into Raven's waiting arms.

"Land us! Now!" I cried out as another blast almost hit us, mere centimeters away from Raven's cloak.

"On it!" Raven said through grit teeth, floating downwards towards a grass clearing. Our feet touched solid ground, and we both stood back-to-back, surrounded by trees and shadows. For a moment, there was nothing but the wind blowing through the air.

And then a familiar voice began to speak.

"You know, it is usually the brave hero that saves the fair maiden." It spoke from the shadows.

"Blitz! What the hell is going on!" Robin called out from the communicator.

"Luminous!" Raven hissed. "I remember him from when he attacked that building last month!"

"Go deal with Slade, Robin. I'll handle this." I spoke as the murderous vigilante emerged from the darkness. I turned towards Raven, who also turned towards me. "Go help the others. I can handle him."

"Handle me?" The light-wielding killer laughed. "You barely beat me last time, and for that to happen, your witch friend had to go berserk." His helmeted gaze turned towards Raven.

"I've yet to pay you back for that, I think."

My nostrils flared as I felt a familiar rage course through me, one I hadn't felt since—!

"FOCUS!"

I took a calming breath and extended the quarterstaff. Behind me, I heard Raven begin one of her chants.

"Not one hair on her head." I told Luminous. "Not. One."

Even though his helmet covered his face, I could tell that the murderer was smirking. "We'll see, lightning boy. We'll see."

The quarry. The other Teen Titans.

The moment that they had arrived at the quarry, it had all gone to hell.

The Titans—including Mikumo, who now had a costume but not a name—had entered the quarry expecting Slade to be ready for them, expecting some kind of fight.

Half of their expectations were fulfilled…but Slade himself was not there.

Instead, there were two others, an armored giant wielding a massive great-sword and a one-eyed masked woman with a costume similar to Slade's own.

"You." Robin had spoken, directing all attention to the two intruders. "Who are you?! More apprentices of Slade?!"

"Slade?" The larger being spoke, his voice echoing in the cave around them. "Deathstroke is dead, boy. All hail Death Hand."

Any sense of calm—if there even had been a sense of calm before—was destroyed with those four words, as Starfire let out a furious shriek of rage and leapt at the giant, hands shooting for his throat. The Sladebots charged forward, and before he even had time to process what had just been said, Robin was fighting bo-staff to katana against the one-eyed woman.

The forest outside of the quarry. Blitzkrieg and Raven.

I backflipped as Luminous let loose another barrage of light orbs while Raven retaliated with a blast of her own magic, which in turn was blocked by a circular field of light.

"This is getting nowhere." Raven hissed out as she landed next to me. "We can't breach his shield and he hasn't hit either of us yet. Either he's holding back or we're on his level."

I grimaced as I let out a blast of lightning, which also bounced off of his shield. "Think I should get in close?"

"He'll have something prepared, just like last time." Raven replied, raising up her hands as Luminous prepared to blind us with another flash-bang blast. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

The spell created a dome around the two of us, shielding us from the effects of the blast. The dome of darkness vanished about a second afterwards.

"What if we tried launching a physical object at him?" I inquired, leaping out of the way of yet another light blast.

"What, like a tree or a rock?" The goth mage asked in turn.

"Either of those might work." I replied, deflecting another blast with my quarterstaff.

"I'm not deaf, you know!" The light-wielding maniac screamed; his hand once again encased in yellow light.

"WE KNOW!" I shouted back as Raven turned to a tree that had been knocked over during the fight.

"Azarath Metrion—!"

"WE JUST DON'T CARE!"

"ZINTHOS!"

The tree flew at Luminous, crashing against his force-field and splintering into thousands of pieces, creating a massive cloud of sawdust. I was lucky to be wearing my mask. Raven had to make do by covering her face with her cloak.

"Is it over?" I heard her ask.

The dust cloud cleared, and we had our answer. Luminous stood tall, his suit damaged, helmet cracked open and revealing a single, amber-colored eye and a tuft of brown hair, said eye blazing with self-righteous fury.

"Motherfucker." He breathed out; his voice tainted with absolute hate. "I will end you."

The quarry. Terra.

She had been separated from the rest of the Titans. Or rather, she had separated herself from the rest of the Titans, chasing down who she suspected was the leader of this operation…this 'Death Hand' character.

And she had just collapsed the tunnel in front of the trench-coat wearing psychopath.

"Looks like I've got you." She taunted him, a confident smirk on her face.

Death Hand only slightly turned towards her, allowing Terra to see only the very upturned corner of his lips. Then, he leapt into the air, backflipping behind her, and allowing his right hand to gently brush the ceiling of the tunnel behind them…

And the ceiling collapsed, trapping the two of them together.

"No, Terra." He spoke, a cruel form of amusement shining in his red eyes. "It seems that I have you."

This was a trap. The rational part of her brain realized.

But I can still take him. The rest of her mind said.

She chose to listen to the rest of her.

Ignoring his supervillain speech, Terra lashed out with her powers, throwing the loosest rocks that she could at him.

Death Hand merely stepped to the side, deftly dodging the launched debris. "I see we have much to talk about." He spoke, voice bland.

"Mind if I talk with my hands!?" Terra retorted, her eyes glowing once again as two snake-like pillars of earth emerged from the wall and shot at the rival superhuman.

Said rival extended his arms in a T-pose formation, catching both pillars in his palms. The young geo-kinetic watch in both shock and a small bit of horror as the pillars turned to dust.

'No wonder he's called Death Hand.' Terra thought as the villain began to dust himself off. 'If he so much as lands a glancing blow, I'm screwed!'

Death Hand stood straight, tilting his head slightly, his sickening amusement still present in his eyes. "Please do. I'm quite fluid in hands."

With that, the villain charged, swiping his hands at her and launching many spin-kicks in an attempt to throw her off-balance. She countered this tactic by keeping her distance, dodging the swipes and blocking the kicks only when she had to.

Thank God for self-defense classes.

But this state of affairs would not last. A stray blow—or perhaps it had been a purposeful one—caught Terra by surprise, sending her careening towards one of the tunnel walls. When she recovered, Death Hand was practically looming over her.

Terra snarled. "Back off! I'm with the Titans now! They'll—!"

"Ah, my geo-kinetic friend…" The blue-haired young man interrupted her. "You don't belong with the Titans."

She flinched at that. "You're wrong! You don't know anything about me!"

The hand-mask wearing villain let loose a chilling laugh, one that made the blonde's blood run cold. "Ah, Terra, I know much about you. More than you may know about yourself."

"…What?"

"Both Slade and I have been watching you for some time…about three years for him, and seven months for me." Death Hand revealed. "And even then, I have been able to learn a lot about you."

She could see a little more of his face now. Scars marred the area around his eyes and mouth, and his blue hair was stained with flecks of white. "Most importantly, I know why you are always running away." Her butterfly barrette emerged from the sleeve of his left arm, resting in the palm of his hand. "I know your secret, dear Terra."

"NO!" She screamed, charging at him and throwing a wild, sloppy punch. The taller man caught her wrist and tossed her aside, and then he continued to speak.

"Earthquakes. Avalanches. Mudslides. Everywhere you go, you try so hard to help people. And yet everywhere you go, disaster follows you. So those you try to help toss you aside, cast you out, exile you."

He knelt down to the curled-up form of Terra, placing the barrette on her head. "You lack control, but that is not your darkest secret."

Terra's eyes went wide, her face grew pale, and the pace of her breath began to quicken.

"You murdered your own parents, Tara Markov. Just. Like. I did."

Tara screamed.

The forest outside of the quarry. Blitzkrieg and Raven.

I felt the earthquake before I heard it. Seconds afterward, both Raven and I were thrown off of our feet as the earth around us began to crack and split open.

And as soon as it had begun, it had ended. Luminous had vanished once again, and neither of us could tell if he had been swallowed by the earth, or if he had escaped in the ensuing chaos.

I lifted my communicator to my face and called Robin. "Boy Wonder? Was that Terra? What the hell happened?"

There was silence for a second. And then Robin spoke.

"You and Raven are gonna want to sit down for this…"

Titan's Tower. Much later.

"…at around six or seven, her powers manifested, and her parents were killed by a sinkhole she had created by accident. She's been on the run ever since." Robin finished, his gaze directed at Terra, Beast Boy, and Starfire, the latter two comforting the former.

"Damn." I whispered. "Is there any way we can—I mean, can we—?"

"She can still stay. Become a hero, if that is what she wants." Robin interrupted. "She's not a murderous psychopath, just a lost person."

"I can help teach her." Raven spoke up. "To control her powers, I mean. And maybe some meditation to help clear her mind. If that doesn't work, therapy hardly ever fails."

"Yeah." I spoke again. "I get the feeling that we're all gonna have to pull our weight on this one."

Even later. A memory.

There was desolation all around him. Shattered glass. Shattered buildings. Shattered lives.

He had played a part in it, sure. They all had, even if those parts were small. But the ones who had the biggest part in this disaster—in this Collapse, this Meta Liberation War, were at the center of this field of death and destruction.

Their quirks were exhausted, so both young men—one a vengeful son, and the other a violent revolutionary—were tearing into each other with scraps and metal and words.

If they were not stopped, one would kill the other. If they were not stopped, things would get worse.

So, he would have to stop them.

Even if he could no longer rely on his quirk.

Even if his body and mind were screaming at him.

He would have to be a hero once again.

He would have to save the day.

Mikumo took a sharp breath as he awoke, eyes wide and alert, searching for any danger.

There was nothing.

Sitting up in his bed, the teen looked out the window and thought: 'What the hell was that?'

AN: This is the second longest chapter I have ever written.

*DEEP BREATH* So, I would enjoy in if you all would leave a review of the chapter, with some genuine, constructive criticism if you have it. Reviews give me life, as you all probably know by now.

Next time: Boogeyman!