Hi Everyone!

I am slowly reformatting and proofing this story for errors and inconsistencies. It turned out quite a bit better than I thought it would, but it slipped out of the original format after the first few chapters. The people who have read this before will recognize this section as the former chapter two. Once I have finished the technical stuff, Act 1 is officially done, and I'm not sure when Act 2 will come out.

This story is a Drama with some supernatural content due to a crossover. It is also at times a Romance, and I warn you that there are two sets of love triangles: Starfire/Robin/Raven and Raven/Beastboy/Terra. These play a part in the story, but are not the whole point of it.

This is rated PG-13 to be on the safe side. There is some language and some adult situations. Nothing serious in Act 1

As always, I do not own the Teen Titans or anything in their universe. I also don't own Yu-Yu Hakusho or anything in their universe. My characters and plot twists are mine, but you can use them if you share the profits with me : )

A Twist of Fate

By

Mystic Dragon

It's been a week since Terra left Titan's Tower, certain that she had been betrayed by Beastboy. Slade had played off of her fears and uncertainties masterfully, leading her away from the people who were most likely to be able to help her.

She also left behind a boy who loved her, a boy who would have done anything he could to make her world right.

Slade now watches her, and waits for the moment when she will give in to the damage he has dealt her. He knows that she is very close to losing hope, and when she loses hope in everything but his offer to train her, he will claim her.

It will be his moment of triumph over the Titans. His own intelligence, resources and monsters combined with Terra's incredible ability to control and shape the earth will be an unstoppable force.

Or so he thinks.

Slade doesn't know it yet, but someone else has joined the game…someone else who doesn't like to lose…

Prologue: Forces in Conflict

Terra was running. Running from the demons in her mind. Running from Slade. Running from the person who promised to keep her secret.

She was running from the pain.

"Why did he betray me?!" She whispered to herself for the thousandth time. The wind howled around her, mocking her question. The answer was obvious, as usual. Beastboy had never cared about her- his first and only loyalty was to the other Titans. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I just needed more time! I can master my powers!" she whispered to herself. The deep fear started again. It knotted her stomach, and filled her with a chill deeper than the cold of the desert night. I can't do it, she thought to herself. I cause trouble wherever I go. Mudslides, earthquakes, electromagnetic pulses. I'm a walking natural catastrophe. I can't even tell if I'm doing it. I just know that the more I use my powers, the more things like that happen. And if I lose my temper…

She stumbled into a cave. I guess this is my home for tonight. She made a face. No bath for the last 6 days, and I've only found a few roots and a rabbit in all of that time. I should be used to this, though. She paused momentarily, and sniffed the air. The dusty air of the cave had a peculiar odor. Water, she thought with relief. She looked at the ceiling of the cavern nervously, and debated the risks. What's life without a few risks? She thought to herself flippantly, and then felt the pain flood back when she remembered that seeking out the Titans had been such a risk. She felt a surge of anger flood through her. Forget the risks. I want a bath! She almost snarled the thought to herself.

Her hands glowed yellow, and she felt the stone and dust beneath her. She pulled some of the stones and earth up, and damp earth awaited her underneath. In a few minutes, I should have enough seep water to clean off with, she thought in satisfaction. She reached into her knapsack and pulled out an obsidian knife she had managed to create, a lighter she had filched from Titan's tower and some deadwood she'd found during her daily scavenging. As she started the fire, she glanced around at the cave and saw a few newly fractured rocks and dust piles, but other than that, it looked like her powers didn't cause too much extra damage. She sighed in relief.

This is so much easier with the lighter, she thought to herself as she lit the deadwod she had carefully arranged in a circle of stones. It usually takes me twenty minutes to start the fire with stones. She held her hands out the small flames, feeling some of the chill flow out of her icy fingers.

I'd better eat first, she thought to herself, frowning at how little she found. She beamed when she looked at the rabbit she had snared. It used to bother her about killing and cleaning the creatures she snared, but the desert was an unforgiving place. She learned early that an empty stomach was a poor trade for bloodless hands.

I'm going to have to have to catch something bigger now, she thought grimly to herself. She hated cleaning something as big as a deer, but that much meat would last her until summer. This was also the last part of the winter, and the weather was warm today. If something didn't kill some of the deer, starvation would. There was only so much to go around. I should have prepared for this. Joining the Titans had never been a sure thing. Now I'm going to have to forage on the edge of the desert, where it's all been picked over already. She made a face.

Stop worrying about it. She told herself firmly I have food, and I can get more. I can have a bath tonight, and I have a fire. That's ten times better than yesterday. She reached out to the warmth of the fire. Her knuckles were still stiff with the cold. She looked over at the hole she had made. There was about 3 inches of water at the bottom. She frowned again. It isn't deep enough, she thought to herself in disgust, and shivered in fear again. If she wanted her bath, she was going to have to dig out some more of the rocks. No. I can't risk it. I'll have to wash with the water that's there. The last thought was a glum one. She was really cold, and that bath would have helped.

Terra took out a dented two-quart saucepan, and dipped it into the seep. She put the pot on the fire, and started to skin the rabbit. As she pulled the skin off, she tossed some herbs into the water and some unknown roots she had pulled up at the edge of the desert. She hoped they would be some kind of starch, and taste better than tree roots. She gutted the rabbit, and decided not to bother de-boning it. She tossed it whole into her pot.

40 minutes of stewing, she thought to herself. She found herself laughing bitterly I've spent all day stewing, so I guess it won't seem like long. She couldn't help it. She started laughing uncontrollably. The bad pun mixed with too much stress was too much. I'm losing it, she thought in fear. She knew that going to the Titans was a desperation measure. She couldn't handle it out here, by herself, so she had gone to them. And it hadn't worked. They let her in, but they hadn't accepted her, really. They had Beastboy spying on her the whole time. It made her so mad just thinking about how smug Robin had looked when he had found out her weakness. And then Beastboy had insulted her intelligence by saying he hadn't given away her secret. As if.

Terra stared at the seep she had created, idly splashing the water around. The Titans hadn't been honest to her. Maybe Slade's offer was worth considering. No. I'm not a criminal! I'm not! I'm not a bad person! She knew he was watching her. You didn't survive in the desert without razor sharp instincts, even with powers such as hers. She felt him watching her. Sometimes it was the glint of light off of a camera lens, other times, she felt people where there shouldn't be any. Beastboy was the least honest of all of them. He was the one who said Slade was bad news. What if Slade isn't evil? Even in her muddled state, she knew all Slade was interested in was her powers. She washed the blood and fur off her hands in the seep water, and took a larger pot out of her pack. She dipped out more water, and put it on her cook fire.

As she put the pot on the coals, she tested the rabbit soup/stew. Still awhile away, she thought and made a face at the horrid taste of the not quite cooked meat. She cringed at her next thought, but there was no way around it. She tapped into her powers, and pulled some more of the rock out of the seep, and put it near the door to block the view into the cave. I'm not putting on a peepshow for Slade, She thought defiantly. Her power shifted, and the cave walls started to make cracking and slithering sounds. Oh, no! she thought to herself, I'm losing control again! She tried to concentrate on minimizing her powers, but the damage was done already. Several large rocks came loose from the ceiling, and one of them was going to fall right on her cookfire. "NO!"

The rock stopped inches about the pot, surrounded by a yellow aura. "Whew. Too close." She dropped the rock off to the side, and then looked at the entrance to the cave.

Blocked. Completely blocked.

"Well, this is just great." She muttered to herself. At least air can still get through, or I'd be out of a fire. "Am I going to have to sell my soul for things to start going right?!" She shouted this is pure frustration, but the words had a chilly ring of prophecy to them. Would she have to sell her soul for a piece of bread and a place to sleep?

A smell came to her, and it's aroma stole away her anger. The soup was done. Her stomach had long ago given up on telling her she was hungry, it told her eat the soup as fast as possible!

She stifled her stomach's angry twist, and dipped her finger into the second pot. "Ouch!" Her finger flinched back out of the hot water. She blew a long sigh. She was very tired, but sleep would have to wait. She looked back at the seep, and saw that there was more like 3 feet of water there, and it was eating the sides of her hole away. The hole should last long enough for me to wash up, She thought in satisfaction.

She stripped out of her dirty clothes, and stepped into the water. She shivered violently. This is only going to get worse, so stop thinking about it, She told herself firmly. She dug in her backpack for the soap she had "borrowed," and began to wash. After she got some soap in her hair, and she started to wash off all the dirt and sweat, she started feeling better. She got out of the water and walked over to the cookfire, and winced when she stepped on some of the sharp stones she had knocked lose. She took the pot of hot water off, and brought it over to where she was bathing. She dropped her clothes into the water and washed them as she waited for her rinse water to cool off. She was covered in goosebumps, and was shivering even more than before. After she got done washing and wringing her clothes out, she felt the pot. A little hot, but I probably need it right now. She carefully dumped the water out of the pot onto her head, and then on her arms and hands, and finally, her feet. She carefully dried her feet, and then wrapped the robe from her pack around her. Warm at last. And I still saved half of the water to drink…

She removed the pot with the rabbit soup from the cookfire, and was looking at it hungrily. Gotta wait. It's too hot now, but at least I know it's done since I let it sit there during my bath. She made a face. She wasn't the best cook in the world, and it was doubly hard since she never knew what she was bringing home to eat. Not that she had a home. She grimaced. Not the time to be thinking about that. Not at all. She tried to get her mind to be quiet, but that same whisper started again. Slade can help you…

That whisper was getting louder each day. On nights like tonight, she didn't even know why she resisted it. She had gone to sleep chewing Mormon tea yesterday. She hadn't been able to find anything better than honeysuckle and that hideous tasting green plant. At least it made her stop thinking about how hungry or thirsty she was. She tested the soup again. It was hot, but she needed some. She took careful sips from the pot, and then remembered that the bones were still in the soup. She frowned, and fished out the ribcage and the various other bones with her knife. She quickly finished the soup as it rapidly cooled.

The night air was still chilly, but a good effect of her almost cave-in was that the heat from the fire was starting to infuse the air of the cave. She picked the remaining pieces of meat off the bottom, and wished again for some bread or crackers. She settled for the water she had boiled for her bath. Again, she carefully sipped at it. She had almost made herself sick more than once by drinking too much water too fast before. She'd learned to be careful, and to boil every drop before drinking it.

When she was new to wandering, she'd taken a drink of river water. It seemed clean, but she had spent weeks in a hospital recovering from giardia. It was hell. When she was awake, they wanted to know who she was and how they could contact her parents. She had feinted limited amnesia, and escaped as soon as she was physically able to.

Terra tried to stay awake, but the unfamiliar heat and food in her belly had her nodding. The fire was down to low coals, so she allowed herself to fall asleep with her head resting on her forearm.

Two figures had watched the episode with Terra's powers from the top of a nearby boulder. A short figure with wavy pink hair shook her head in disgust. The other glanced down at his shorter companion with amusement. "Not quite what you were hoping for, Genkai?" The taller one asked.

The shorter figure glared at him. "I don't appreciate being dragged from my bed to look at a silly little girl." The voice was rusty with age.

The taller one blew a sigh. "I'm not here because she has legendary talent, Genkai. I'm here to save her from her fate."

Genkai snorted at him. "Your new powers must be going to your head. The girl has a formidable talent. I'm commenting on her stupidity. None of this would have been necessary if she had swallowed her pride and accepted help from these "Teen Titans."

The taller one raised an eyebrow at her. "Never done anything stupid in your life, Genkai? I'd say entering the Dark Tournament with Toguro in your early life counted. I flirted with the darkest kinds of power when I was young and stupid. I think Terra just needs another chance."

Genkai glared at him, and then relaxed. "You're right, of course. If we were being judgmental, probably more than half the children you bring to the school wouldn't be there. I just wish you weren't dumping her into my lap."

"You don't like her?" The taller one asked casually.

"I don't know yet. I don't get the feeling that she needs the kind of training I normally offer, though." She looked at him, puzzled. "Why did you bring me out here? I assumed you wanted me to train her."

"As always, the choice is entirely yours, Lady Genkai."

She looked at him shrewdly. "Why do you want me to do it? You usually train the rowdy little ones." She paused "You aren't in love with her already, are you?" She asked in disgust.

The taller one stiffened, and then relaxed. "Baiting me, Genkai?" He asked in dark amusement. "If you want to know the truth, I'd have loved training her. She's special."

"But…?" Genkai persisted.

"But she's a wild child. Although she has experiences to draw on, she's spent a long time away from society. Maybe a long time away from her parents. I can't tell. The result is that she needs a female teacher. She needs to learn how to protect herself, and regain her self-worth. I can't think of anyone better suited for this."

"This is not my area of expertise. I teach the strong ones self-discipline and sacrifice. You need to find someone else."

The taller one looked at her penetratingly. "I don't hire for skill. I hire for heart. I can't do this, because I don't know what problems she will face in the world. You are a superb tactician, and I know you can help her with her weaknesses. You can show her how to see through people and how to deal with her fear."

The taller one continued, "I don't need you to be the hard as nails trainer this time. I want you to try and crack that shell she has around her. Show her that she has the power to make her own fate, and not have it be dictated by people, events or even feelings."

Genkai looked at the collapsed cave mouth doubtfully. Despite the taller one's words, She felt Terra was on the path of self-destruction. Maybe no one could stop her. And then she remembered the cocky kid that had showed up at her shrine so many years ago. So full of himself, drifting through life with no reason to live. He had only come back from the dead because his Mother and two of his friends had been broken-hearted by his death.

Genkai stared at the stars. Yusuke had been a trial and a joy for her. While she was neutral when it came to matters of good and evil, Yusuke had a startling amount of good in him, and seemed to find his purpose in protecting people- especially children. She'd had to push him to his limits, as had Toguro, to scrape off all of the layers of bravado and outright lies he hid behind to conceal his pain. Was Terra really so different?

Genkai laughed sharply. If Yusuke, who's powers were demonic in origin, could find joy in saving people, Terra shouldn't be impossible either. She even found herself smiling in a slightly savage way. She loved challenges more than anything. Then, a thought occurred to her.

"You'll be training her, too, won't you?" Genkai asked suspiciously.

"Maybe. I haven't decided yet." The taller one stated breezily.

"Bullshit. You have this all planned out." She stated evenly

He looked over at her and smiled. "I don't know if my services will be necessary. I don't even know if this will work. But I'll tell you this: She won't be learning tactics from me. I leave her whole curriculum to you. Don't feel like I'll be teaching her behind your back."

"That's not what I'm asking."

"And I told you I don't know yet." He responded sharply. "How could I?" He paused. "So, will you teach her what she needs to know?"

"Yes." She looked at him "We aren't keeping her indefinitely, are we?"

"No. Three months."

"THREE MONTHS!" She shouted at him "It might take years to straighten her out!"

"We aren't taking her away from here for any longer than that. You teach her what you can, and she'll learn the rest with the Titans."

Genkai looked at him strangely. "This is going to cause massive problems, you know."

"I refuse to keep her at the school when she has people who care about her here. Our job is to help get them back on their feet, not hold them forever."

"I sometimes mistake you for an over-emotional sap, but every so often you scare me with how cold blooded you are, Guardian." Genkai looked distraught. "You're making my job harder."

"Don't look at it that way." The Guardian looked at her "Terra will have other chances. Give her the gift of life, Genkai. Her happiness may follow."