NOTE: This chapter is written from Beast Boy's point of view.
I woke up and yawned. Had I actually fallen asleep? I thought I never would, thinking about yesterday. I loved Terra, and I would stop at nothing to make sure that she could get through this. I thought of only one person who could do this to her; Slade, the man who had put her on life support, both physically and emotionally. I'd curse that name for as long as I lived. I walked to the bathroom, sneaking a peek in Terra's room on the way there. She wasn't in her bed; in fact, her bed was made and unwrinked, as if no one had slept there. I shrugged it off. No big deal. She was probably already up. I mean, where else could she be, right? I cleaned up and got dressed, then I headed off to the living room, where the other titans were waiting. Except... no Terra.
"Where's Terra?" I asked, starting to get a little freaked out. The last time this happened, Terra resurfaced on the doorstep, battered and bruised.
"We thought she was with..." Starfire replied. There was a silence in the room. The sound of helicopter blades could be heard in the distance. Cyborg finally broke the silence with what we were all thinking.
"Shit." The sound of helicopter blades had gotten closer. There was a large crash as a window exploded inward. We all glaced towards the now gaping hole. There was a helicopter idling in the air. The hatch opened. Slade stepped out.
"Slade." Robin said, angrilly.
"Oh, don't mind me, titans." Slade grimly replied. "I'm just here to return a package." Slade disappeared for a moment. He reappeared holding Terra's limp, lifeless body by the neck. He threw her onto the floor of the tower.
"You bastard!" I yelled. I wanted to take his head off right then and there. "I fucking hate you!" Slade chuckled.
"Is that so? Well, titans, consider this only a warning." Slade laughed manically as the helicopter flew up into the air. Laying on the floor in front of me was not Terra; it was a mangled, bloody carcass of flesh and bone. I fell to my knees. The rest of the titans bent down over Terra.
"Hold the funeral, BB. She's alive." Cyborg said. "But what Slade did to her.... it's sick."
"Do I want to know?" I asked.
"Might as well get it out of the way." Cyborg replied. "This is not for the weak of heart. Terra's legs and arms have been broken... in several places. The temperature of the blood allows me to assume that this was pretty recent; maybe within the past three hours or so. I can't actually determine what happened." He turned to Raven. "That's more of your department, isn't it?"
"I'm going to try to find out what happened." Raven responded. "But, I don't think that Terra's going to be the same Terra anymore. Whatever happened to her probably provided extreme emotional trauma."
"And she was already traumatized enough." Starfire added. Raven signaled for silence. She closed her eyes. I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to hear this, but I knew that it would keep bugging me if I didn't. Raven's face twisted up into an expression of fear and horror.
"This is disturbing." Raven began. "Earlier this morning, someone suffocated Terra while she was making coffee. She woke up chained to a wall. Slade forced her to stay awake while he broke every bone in her arms and legs, one by one. He threatened to kill us all if she fell unconcious. This wasn't normal. This was torture." Raven stared at me, her eyes cold and full of hate. "If you thought Slade was a bastard before, you haven't seen anything yet." I felt like I was going to be sick.
"We'll all remember this," Robin said, "but will Terra remember anything else?"
Cyborg wanted to put Terra in stasis, hooked up to life support, so she wouldn't be hurt any more than she already had been. I agreed once he convinced me it was the best thing to do. I just wondered what would happen when she woke up in a dark room; feeling cold, useless, alone. If she woke up. Then, it dawned on me. Terra was depressed because she had no way of letting go of all of her emotion. She'd been relatively quiet for the past week, always just there. She'd been sad a lot, but she was only angry once. She couldn't get angry, though. If she got angry or excited, she would die. Unless.... unless that gash in her stomach was healed. It was unlikely, I knew, but if it was... Terra could go back to being Terra. She wouldn't have to feel depressed or useless anymore, and she could use her full power. I was thinking this several hours after Slade had flown away, sitting in the living room. The others were doing normal afternoon stuff, except for Raven. She was in her room, trying to concentrate her powers, so that she would be able to completely heal Terra one-hundred percent. Suddenly, the ground shook, and some rubble fell from the ceiling. The shaking subsided a few seconds later.
"Everyone alright?" Cyborg asked. We all nodded.
"Pretty weird time for an earthquake." Robin noted.
"She's awake..." I said, letting the thought trail. I ran off to the chamber where Terra's body had been stored. She was floating in a tank filled with a blue liquid. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful, yet I knew that the pain must have been driving her insane. More insane then she already was, at least... Almost if on cue, her eyes shot open. On her face, she had a panicked expression. She spotted me, and she still looked scared. The ground started to shake again. I steadied myself, and walked closer to the tank. I put my hand against the cold glass. I could see her more clearly now; tears were welling up in her eyes. I dare not pull her out; the pain would surely overwhelm her. I couldn't stand to see her like this, though. I went over to the control panel. I wanted to drain some of the liquid from the tank, only enough that her head was above it, and her limbs remained unharmed. Now, which button controlled the draining mechanism? Cyborg had taken the time to label all the buttons, probably to avoid confusion, so the drain button was easily found. I pressed it and held it down for about forty seconds. Terra's head surfaced. I let go and went over to the tank, where I opened an air vent.
"Terra!" I yelled, unsure of if she could hear me. "Are you alright?" The answer I got was not what I expected to get.
"I'm useless." Terra said, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm useless!" She repeated, screaming this time. An earthquake then ripped through the tower, knocking stuff off the walls and knocking me off my feet. Rubble began to fall from the ceiling; pieces that could qualify as rather large rocks. I rolled to the door, rocks buring where I was just moments before. The others joined me.
"What's going on in there?" Cyborg asked.
"It's Terra." I replied. "She's had a breakdown."
"Why didn't you try and stop her?" Robin inquired. I sighed.
"Do you really want me to try and stop that?" I answered, motioning in towards the room. We had a clear view of Terra from the doorway; tears running down her cheeks from bloodshot eyes, the look of fear on her face, the destruction she was causing.
"I underestimated her anguish." Raven interjected. "She seemed far less pained then than she is now." Robin's communicator beeped. He moved a few feet away, then answered it.
"Yeah. Alright, we're on it." He said. He turned to us. "Slade's attacking downtown with earthquakes."
"Isn't that ironic?" Raven replied, listlessly.
"We're going to need to leave Terra here alone..." I mentioned. The earthquake had died down a lot, but it was still present. All we could hear from the room was the sound of Terra sobbing.
"If we're going after Slade, she'll be fine." Robin replied. "Titans, go!"
"I thought I warned you, titans." Slade said. He had been waiting for us downtown. "I warned that if you came after me, for revenge after what I did to the girl, there would be serious ramifications."
"What the hell are you talking about, ramifications?" Cyborg asked. "The only ramification you're involved with is the ramification of you getting your ass handed to you for screwing around with both Terra's body and mind!"
"Mind? I didn't touch the girl's mind. She was already unstable enough as she was, so I thought I shouldn't tamper with something so fragile, and so worthless to me, anyway."
"Terra's mind isn't worthless! She has feelings, and that is something that someone like you will never know!" Starfire replied.
"Arn't those "feelings", as you call them, what lead her to betray you in the first place? And to think, you all played so perfectly into my hand. I have a little game to play, that I'm sure you'll all enjoy. I have a certain trigger. This trigger will activate a small chip implanted in the back of the girl's head. The chip will send electrical impulses to the brain, which will flood the girl's mind with horrible, repressed memories. She'll be driven completely insane within five minutes. Then, I will be able to use her again. I'll be able to use her to destroy you and all of Jump City. Most importantly, I'll be able to use her to destroy her own free will. To make things interesting, I'm going to give you a ten minute head start. Good luck." Slade then jumped away into the shadows.
"That fucking son of a bitch! Let me at him! I'll kill him with my own two hands!" I screamed in blind rage. Raven tapped me on the shoulder. She only said one word, and with that one word, I knew that we needed to get back to the tower fast.
"Terra."
The ground started to shake two miles away from the tower. When we arrived and stepped out of the car, we all almost were knocked off our feet. We ran up the stairs carefully, dodging debris. We got into the room we had left Terra in. She had fallen silent now; she looked to be in immense pain. The earthquake was growing more powerful quickly; we needed to find a way to get that chip out of Terra's head. Cyborg ran over to the control panel, and thumbed the draining mechanism furiously.
"How much time do we have left?" Cyborg asked, now charging over to Terra's stasis tube to remove her broken body from it.
"Three minutes." Raven responded, calmly.
"Raven, hack into her mind. Try to reassure her that everything will be fine." Starfire said urgently.
"I'm going, I'm going." Raven replied, unenthusiastically. Cyborg grabbed Terra's body and carried it over to us. I didn't know what to think. The woman I loved could kill any one of us at any minute.
"How much time?" Cyborg inquired again.
"A minute and thirty seconds." Robin replied. "Hurry it up, Cyborg."
"Damn." Cyborg muttered. Raven closed her eyes. Cyborg flipped Terra over onto her stomach. "Slade said the chip was in the back of her head, right?"
"Yeah." I replied. "Come on, Cy, sixty seconds."
"I'm digging, but all I can see is blonde." Cyborg replied frantically. He brushed Terra's hair aside, letting it fall on the floor. "I can't find..... got it!" Cyborg pointed at a small, black chip embedded in Terra's scalp. On it was a single bulb. Just as Cyborg was moving in to remove it, the light turned on and the chip beeped. "What the hell does that mean?" I answered.
"Cy, get Raven out of there. She'll be killed. Slade hit the trigger. Terra's memories are being released. It's started..." Terra screamed, tears running down her cheeks. She began to whimper. "Cy, get Raven out of there now!" I yelled.
"Just wait a minute!" Cyborg yelled back. He pulled the chip out of Terra's scalp, drawing blood and staining her hair red. The ground thundered beneath our feet.
"I can slow it down, but I can't stop its effect on her!" Raven screamed, the sound of the earthquake almost drowning her out. "Knock her out!" Terra was thrashing about wildly now. I dropped to my knees beside her.
"Terra, I'm sorry I have to do this." I apologized. I covered her nose and mouth with my hand. It was hard to keep on top of her, but eventually she stopped fighting and fell unconcious. She looked so peaceful now. My heart felt heavy for what I just had to do. After everything that had happened, I had to be the one. I hoped that I didn't hurt her. Her face was looking a little pale, so maybe.... no, I pushed the thought from my mind. Simple paranoia was all that was. All I had to do was wait for a little while to see if she was alright. A big part of all the things that happened recently was waiting. I chuckled to myself. I could do nothing right now; I felt so useless. Probably only a shade of what Terra felt, though. I followed Robin and Starfire out of the room. A wave of depression washed over me. I didn't want to end up being like Terra, but all this was pushing me over the edge. There was one thing I could do about it, though, that she couldn't; I could become angry without dying a little more. I went to the gym, wanting to get some rage out. Rage against the bastard who had screwed us all over. Next time he came, I wanted to make sure I was ready for him. Ready so I could send him straight to hell, where he belonged.
I sat down, gasping for air. I thought that was a good workout. I looked at a nearby clock. Only fourty minutes had passed since I started. I thought I should get in the shower when my communicator beeped. I pulled it out of my pocket and opened it up. Cyborg was on the other end. "Yeah?" I asked.
"BB, you busy?" He asked.
"No, just finished up." I replied.
"Good. We have a little suprise for you down here. Check it out when you have time." Cyborg chuckled. "I think you're really gonna like it."
"Alright, I'll be there in a few." I answered. I dropped it back in my pocket. I already knew what the suprise was, but it confounded me. I could hear her breathing. How was she alive? Why wasn't she crying or going insane? I knew that Cy and Raven were good from a medical and psychological standpoint, respectively, but were they really good enough to fix Terra's broken body and cure her of her demons? It seemed to be the case, but lately, a lot of things didn't appear to be what they seemed. I mulled this over a bit. All this violence and psychological lockdown made my head hurt. I tried not to read into these events too deeply, but there were thoughts that lingered in the back of my mind; thoughts that I might once have known the answers to. I shrugged it off, thinking that it was too simple to be so complex. I wiped some sweat off my temple, sighed, got up, and went to see what Cy had done.
I walked in the room to a sight I thought I would never see: Terra, not only happy, but actually laughing. Cyborg looked up from the paper to acknowlege me. "You like what we did?" He asked.
"What did you do with the real Terra?" I asked, dumbstruck. Cyborg laughed.
"That is the real Terra. Raven healed her up, and we were able to get those nasty depressing thoughts out of her head. I know it's a bit of a change from the brooding, sad Terra, but this is the real her. Remember what she was like when we first met her?" I nodded. "Anyway, she's waiting for you. Go talk to her; she really wants to see you." I mustered up the courage to go over and talk to her.
"Um... Terra?" She turned around, smiling. I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes, but I didn't care. She stood up. The smile was gone, now; there were tears in her eyes, too. We hugged. Her skin was cold against mine. Nothing could have ruined this moment for me. For the first time in months, Terra was free. This emotion was overwhelming, but since everything was fine, I relaxed a bit and let it take me over. Here was this woman who I loved through good and bad; though we had our share of roadblocks to overcome, my feelings for her right now were stronger than ever before. Raven came to the door. She saw us and smiled.
"I don't mean to break up this happy moment, but Robin wants us all. Now." Cyborg put down the paper, and we all followed Raven back to Robin. Slade was on the video screen. I became angry, but Terra put my hand on my shoulder, reassuring me.
"It's nice to see that the girl has recovered nicely." Slade said somberly. "A minor setback, I assure you. My dear Terra, do you remember when you betrayed the titans?" I had tried to cover Terra's ears with my hands, but I was too late. Terra fell to her knees, whimpering and quivering. "That's a good girl. You're the only one that can see that I have all the moves in this game of chess, and all of them begin with your destruction." I dropped next to Terra.
"We've forgiven you, Terra. You've redeemed yourself from the bad you've done. Don't let that bastard play mind games with you." I shouted.
"You've made your point, Slade. Terra is extremely emotionally unstable. However, that doesn't mean the rest of us are." Raven replied, facing the monitor.
"That's true, but I need only the strongest member of the team to wipe the rest out. If memory serves, Terra beat you all before, correct?" Slade asked.
"You were controlling her!" Starfire screamed. Slade chuckled.
"Perhaps. However, the girl is now uncontrollable. You should find out what I mean if you want her to live past today. Meanwhile, I also left a little present for you outside. Good day." The monitor flickered off, making a buzzing sound. Starfire ran to a nearby window.
"I think we might have a little problem." She said, her voice wavering in fear. I got to my feet and went over to where she was. What was out there was not very appropriate for a time like this. Cinderblock. Plasmus. Roughly a thousand of Slade's robots. I looked over at Terra; her knees were pulled up to her chin, and she clutched her head with her hands, eyes closed tightly; breathing speed increasing. We needed her to stop them, but not if she was like this. I wondered what Slade meant, uncontrollable. The one problem that Terra had that she couldn't control was... her heart.
"Guys, I think I figured out what Slade meant." I shouted, gaining attention from everyone. "He's done something to her heart. Now's not the time to figure out what; she's going to have a heart attack, if shock doesn't kill her first. We need to calm her down!"
"I can stop her heart," Raven replied somberly,"but it might kill her." I slammed my fist against the wall.
"Dammit, we have no other option!" I yelled.
"Yes, we do. There's still some morphine in the bathroom." Cyborg responded. "At the very least, it'll help her relax."
"Well, what are you wating for?" I replied. "Go!"
"Oh, right." Cyborg ran off. I went over to Terra. She shivered when I touched her cheek. I laid her down on her back.
"Terra, can you hear me?" I asked desperately. She looked at me, eyes wide and afraid.
"Beast Boy..." She struggled. "I'm losing focus. Vision getting... blurry. I think... I'm dying."
"I won't let you!" I screamed, tears welling up in my eyes. I put my hand on her chest. Her heart was beating normally. "Wait a minute... this isn't right." There was the sound of glass shattering. Footsteps quickly approaching where we were. Slade jumped into the door and kicked me away from Terra. Robin lunged at him, but Slade dodged, sending him crashing to the floor. Starfire flew at Slade, but he caught her and threw her at Raven. Slade quickly scooped Terra up in his arms. He came over to me and stepped on my throat.
"You fool!" He chuckled. "Your feelings for my apprentice clouded your judgment! I was bluffing! Now, the next time you see her, she will be under my control! That's only if you live to see her, because everyone outside really wanted to get in. So I let them. Have fun!"
"Oh, I will." A voice said. Cyborg was standing behind Slade, energy cannon against his head. "Put her down or I'll kill you. A blast from this close range will surely destroy any hope you have of ever manipulating anyone ever again."
"Have it your way." Slade replied. He dropped Terra to the floor, turned around and kicked Cyborg to the ground. He laughed. "See this, Terra? When I'm finished with you, you're going to be this strong. Strong enough to take out all the titans without breaking a sweat."
"You'll never get started." Terra replied, making her way to her feet, clutching her shoulder. "We're through, Slade, finished. We have been for a long time. Fuck your delusions of power, and fuck making me your puppet. I'm not going to let you manipulate me anymore." Terra's bright, piercing blue eyes stared coldly at Slade. "I'm not going to be afraid anymore, Slade. I'm not going to let you take me and toy with my emotions. You've screwed with my mind so damn much, I thought I could never shake the depression, the numbness. I have, Slade, and if there's one more thing that I can do to gain redemption for all the wrong you caused me to do, all the regrets you caused me to have, it will be ending your miserable, pathetic existance. I'm going to kill you, Slade, for all the anger, all the violence, all the bad feelings, all the hurt that you inflicted upon me and everyone else. I'm going to kill you, Slade, and there's not a fucking thing you can do about it."
"Is that so?" Slade asked. "Let me remind you, Terra, you made all the desicions of your own regard. You wanted to destroy the titans. You had regrets at first, but you went through with it all. Don't try to paint yourself as the victim here. You made your own choices. If there's anyone who should die for what they've done, it's you. I believe Beast Boy said it best, right? You have no friends."
"Yes, she does." Raven replied, getting up. "Terra may have made bad decisions, but who hasn't? It's what makes her human, and that's something a monster like you will never be."
"Raven's right." Cyborg added, slowly rising to a standing position. "Since coming back to life, Terra's earned our forgiveness, and our respect, through her actions. On the other hand, you will never be forgiven, and you will never be respected."
"All you are is evil." Starfire contributed, hovering in the air. I staggered to my feet.
"And as evil, you are the reason why we're all here. We're here to destroy you. Good may not be able to exist without evil, but evil can't exist without good, either." I stated. Robin got up.
"Why can't you just accept it, Slade? Terra's not yours. Terra's not ours. Terra's her own person, and there's nothing that anyone can do to change that. You may not be able to accept it, but I'm sure that maybe we can beat some sense into you. Is everyone alright?" Robin looked around. Everyone nodded. I knew what was coming. I turned my hands into fists. "Slade, we're about to teach you a lesson in friendship and compassion that you will never forget for as long as you live. We're the Teen Titans, and as hard as you try, no matter what kind of warped plan your mind can come up with, there'll be nothing you can do to change that. We all have our problems, but it takes a real son of a bitch to capitalize on that, and no matter what, we'll be there to help each other through the hard times. You know our names, Slade, and as long as you're still breathing, you should come to rue them. Robin. Raven. Cyborg. Starfire. Beast Boy. Terra. The people who will bring you your defeat."
"How touching," Slade replied, "but how weak and useless. Emotion only exists so people can show their weaknesses and vulerabilities. Those are the things to capitalize on. I've enjoyed this chat, but I must be going. I'm sure that Cinderblock and Plasmus would love to continue the discussion of friendship with you." Slade jumped at the window, breaking the glass. The near wall exploded inward, almost hitting Terra with debris. Cinderblock and Plasmus loomed over us, hundreds of robots surrounding them, all designed to bring us our defeat. I walked over to Terra, and we kissed.
"You two are an item once more! How wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed.
"Uh, Star, do you think you could be happy for them later?" Raven asked. The robots stalled outside the room.
"Cyborg, turn on the probes!" Terra shouted, a yellow aura beginning to surround her hands, which were open-palmed in front of her.
"Are you sure?" Cyborg asked, powering up his energy cannon.
"Just do it!" Terra replied. Cyborg thumbed the switch. Terra's body crackled with electricity, but she showed no signs of being in pain. "Thanks!"
"Everyone ready?" Robin asked. Everybody nodded in approval. "All right. Terra, how does it feel to be in your first fight as a Teen Titan?"
"The adrenaline is already flowing through my veins." Terra responded. "No more being afraid. No more bad feelings. All that matters is this, right here, right now! No more having to deal with everything I regret!"
"That's the spirit!" I replied happily. "Now, who's ready to kick some villain ass?"
"I think we all are!" Robin responded. "Wait for it. Wait for it." The robots started to flood into the room in droves. "Alright, everyone, now! Titans, go!" We all dashed forward, Starfire and Raven flying. In between transformation, I glanced over at Terra. Her body was covered in electricity, but all she was doing was beating up robots. I smiled. In her supercharged state, she was taking out one hundred, two hundred, three hundred robots with extreme ease. Cinderblock and Plasmus lerched forward, ready to try to beat us. I wouldn't hold it against them. After all, they could try.
I woke up and yawned. Had I actually fallen asleep? I thought I never would, thinking about yesterday. I loved Terra, and I would stop at nothing to make sure that she could get through this. I thought of only one person who could do this to her; Slade, the man who had put her on life support, both physically and emotionally. I'd curse that name for as long as I lived. I walked to the bathroom, sneaking a peek in Terra's room on the way there. She wasn't in her bed; in fact, her bed was made and unwrinked, as if no one had slept there. I shrugged it off. No big deal. She was probably already up. I mean, where else could she be, right? I cleaned up and got dressed, then I headed off to the living room, where the other titans were waiting. Except... no Terra.
"Where's Terra?" I asked, starting to get a little freaked out. The last time this happened, Terra resurfaced on the doorstep, battered and bruised.
"We thought she was with..." Starfire replied. There was a silence in the room. The sound of helicopter blades could be heard in the distance. Cyborg finally broke the silence with what we were all thinking.
"Shit." The sound of helicopter blades had gotten closer. There was a large crash as a window exploded inward. We all glaced towards the now gaping hole. There was a helicopter idling in the air. The hatch opened. Slade stepped out.
"Slade." Robin said, angrilly.
"Oh, don't mind me, titans." Slade grimly replied. "I'm just here to return a package." Slade disappeared for a moment. He reappeared holding Terra's limp, lifeless body by the neck. He threw her onto the floor of the tower.
"You bastard!" I yelled. I wanted to take his head off right then and there. "I fucking hate you!" Slade chuckled.
"Is that so? Well, titans, consider this only a warning." Slade laughed manically as the helicopter flew up into the air. Laying on the floor in front of me was not Terra; it was a mangled, bloody carcass of flesh and bone. I fell to my knees. The rest of the titans bent down over Terra.
"Hold the funeral, BB. She's alive." Cyborg said. "But what Slade did to her.... it's sick."
"Do I want to know?" I asked.
"Might as well get it out of the way." Cyborg replied. "This is not for the weak of heart. Terra's legs and arms have been broken... in several places. The temperature of the blood allows me to assume that this was pretty recent; maybe within the past three hours or so. I can't actually determine what happened." He turned to Raven. "That's more of your department, isn't it?"
"I'm going to try to find out what happened." Raven responded. "But, I don't think that Terra's going to be the same Terra anymore. Whatever happened to her probably provided extreme emotional trauma."
"And she was already traumatized enough." Starfire added. Raven signaled for silence. She closed her eyes. I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to hear this, but I knew that it would keep bugging me if I didn't. Raven's face twisted up into an expression of fear and horror.
"This is disturbing." Raven began. "Earlier this morning, someone suffocated Terra while she was making coffee. She woke up chained to a wall. Slade forced her to stay awake while he broke every bone in her arms and legs, one by one. He threatened to kill us all if she fell unconcious. This wasn't normal. This was torture." Raven stared at me, her eyes cold and full of hate. "If you thought Slade was a bastard before, you haven't seen anything yet." I felt like I was going to be sick.
"We'll all remember this," Robin said, "but will Terra remember anything else?"
Cyborg wanted to put Terra in stasis, hooked up to life support, so she wouldn't be hurt any more than she already had been. I agreed once he convinced me it was the best thing to do. I just wondered what would happen when she woke up in a dark room; feeling cold, useless, alone. If she woke up. Then, it dawned on me. Terra was depressed because she had no way of letting go of all of her emotion. She'd been relatively quiet for the past week, always just there. She'd been sad a lot, but she was only angry once. She couldn't get angry, though. If she got angry or excited, she would die. Unless.... unless that gash in her stomach was healed. It was unlikely, I knew, but if it was... Terra could go back to being Terra. She wouldn't have to feel depressed or useless anymore, and she could use her full power. I was thinking this several hours after Slade had flown away, sitting in the living room. The others were doing normal afternoon stuff, except for Raven. She was in her room, trying to concentrate her powers, so that she would be able to completely heal Terra one-hundred percent. Suddenly, the ground shook, and some rubble fell from the ceiling. The shaking subsided a few seconds later.
"Everyone alright?" Cyborg asked. We all nodded.
"Pretty weird time for an earthquake." Robin noted.
"She's awake..." I said, letting the thought trail. I ran off to the chamber where Terra's body had been stored. She was floating in a tank filled with a blue liquid. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful, yet I knew that the pain must have been driving her insane. More insane then she already was, at least... Almost if on cue, her eyes shot open. On her face, she had a panicked expression. She spotted me, and she still looked scared. The ground started to shake again. I steadied myself, and walked closer to the tank. I put my hand against the cold glass. I could see her more clearly now; tears were welling up in her eyes. I dare not pull her out; the pain would surely overwhelm her. I couldn't stand to see her like this, though. I went over to the control panel. I wanted to drain some of the liquid from the tank, only enough that her head was above it, and her limbs remained unharmed. Now, which button controlled the draining mechanism? Cyborg had taken the time to label all the buttons, probably to avoid confusion, so the drain button was easily found. I pressed it and held it down for about forty seconds. Terra's head surfaced. I let go and went over to the tank, where I opened an air vent.
"Terra!" I yelled, unsure of if she could hear me. "Are you alright?" The answer I got was not what I expected to get.
"I'm useless." Terra said, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm useless!" She repeated, screaming this time. An earthquake then ripped through the tower, knocking stuff off the walls and knocking me off my feet. Rubble began to fall from the ceiling; pieces that could qualify as rather large rocks. I rolled to the door, rocks buring where I was just moments before. The others joined me.
"What's going on in there?" Cyborg asked.
"It's Terra." I replied. "She's had a breakdown."
"Why didn't you try and stop her?" Robin inquired. I sighed.
"Do you really want me to try and stop that?" I answered, motioning in towards the room. We had a clear view of Terra from the doorway; tears running down her cheeks from bloodshot eyes, the look of fear on her face, the destruction she was causing.
"I underestimated her anguish." Raven interjected. "She seemed far less pained then than she is now." Robin's communicator beeped. He moved a few feet away, then answered it.
"Yeah. Alright, we're on it." He said. He turned to us. "Slade's attacking downtown with earthquakes."
"Isn't that ironic?" Raven replied, listlessly.
"We're going to need to leave Terra here alone..." I mentioned. The earthquake had died down a lot, but it was still present. All we could hear from the room was the sound of Terra sobbing.
"If we're going after Slade, she'll be fine." Robin replied. "Titans, go!"
"I thought I warned you, titans." Slade said. He had been waiting for us downtown. "I warned that if you came after me, for revenge after what I did to the girl, there would be serious ramifications."
"What the hell are you talking about, ramifications?" Cyborg asked. "The only ramification you're involved with is the ramification of you getting your ass handed to you for screwing around with both Terra's body and mind!"
"Mind? I didn't touch the girl's mind. She was already unstable enough as she was, so I thought I shouldn't tamper with something so fragile, and so worthless to me, anyway."
"Terra's mind isn't worthless! She has feelings, and that is something that someone like you will never know!" Starfire replied.
"Arn't those "feelings", as you call them, what lead her to betray you in the first place? And to think, you all played so perfectly into my hand. I have a little game to play, that I'm sure you'll all enjoy. I have a certain trigger. This trigger will activate a small chip implanted in the back of the girl's head. The chip will send electrical impulses to the brain, which will flood the girl's mind with horrible, repressed memories. She'll be driven completely insane within five minutes. Then, I will be able to use her again. I'll be able to use her to destroy you and all of Jump City. Most importantly, I'll be able to use her to destroy her own free will. To make things interesting, I'm going to give you a ten minute head start. Good luck." Slade then jumped away into the shadows.
"That fucking son of a bitch! Let me at him! I'll kill him with my own two hands!" I screamed in blind rage. Raven tapped me on the shoulder. She only said one word, and with that one word, I knew that we needed to get back to the tower fast.
"Terra."
The ground started to shake two miles away from the tower. When we arrived and stepped out of the car, we all almost were knocked off our feet. We ran up the stairs carefully, dodging debris. We got into the room we had left Terra in. She had fallen silent now; she looked to be in immense pain. The earthquake was growing more powerful quickly; we needed to find a way to get that chip out of Terra's head. Cyborg ran over to the control panel, and thumbed the draining mechanism furiously.
"How much time do we have left?" Cyborg asked, now charging over to Terra's stasis tube to remove her broken body from it.
"Three minutes." Raven responded, calmly.
"Raven, hack into her mind. Try to reassure her that everything will be fine." Starfire said urgently.
"I'm going, I'm going." Raven replied, unenthusiastically. Cyborg grabbed Terra's body and carried it over to us. I didn't know what to think. The woman I loved could kill any one of us at any minute.
"How much time?" Cyborg inquired again.
"A minute and thirty seconds." Robin replied. "Hurry it up, Cyborg."
"Damn." Cyborg muttered. Raven closed her eyes. Cyborg flipped Terra over onto her stomach. "Slade said the chip was in the back of her head, right?"
"Yeah." I replied. "Come on, Cy, sixty seconds."
"I'm digging, but all I can see is blonde." Cyborg replied frantically. He brushed Terra's hair aside, letting it fall on the floor. "I can't find..... got it!" Cyborg pointed at a small, black chip embedded in Terra's scalp. On it was a single bulb. Just as Cyborg was moving in to remove it, the light turned on and the chip beeped. "What the hell does that mean?" I answered.
"Cy, get Raven out of there. She'll be killed. Slade hit the trigger. Terra's memories are being released. It's started..." Terra screamed, tears running down her cheeks. She began to whimper. "Cy, get Raven out of there now!" I yelled.
"Just wait a minute!" Cyborg yelled back. He pulled the chip out of Terra's scalp, drawing blood and staining her hair red. The ground thundered beneath our feet.
"I can slow it down, but I can't stop its effect on her!" Raven screamed, the sound of the earthquake almost drowning her out. "Knock her out!" Terra was thrashing about wildly now. I dropped to my knees beside her.
"Terra, I'm sorry I have to do this." I apologized. I covered her nose and mouth with my hand. It was hard to keep on top of her, but eventually she stopped fighting and fell unconcious. She looked so peaceful now. My heart felt heavy for what I just had to do. After everything that had happened, I had to be the one. I hoped that I didn't hurt her. Her face was looking a little pale, so maybe.... no, I pushed the thought from my mind. Simple paranoia was all that was. All I had to do was wait for a little while to see if she was alright. A big part of all the things that happened recently was waiting. I chuckled to myself. I could do nothing right now; I felt so useless. Probably only a shade of what Terra felt, though. I followed Robin and Starfire out of the room. A wave of depression washed over me. I didn't want to end up being like Terra, but all this was pushing me over the edge. There was one thing I could do about it, though, that she couldn't; I could become angry without dying a little more. I went to the gym, wanting to get some rage out. Rage against the bastard who had screwed us all over. Next time he came, I wanted to make sure I was ready for him. Ready so I could send him straight to hell, where he belonged.
I sat down, gasping for air. I thought that was a good workout. I looked at a nearby clock. Only fourty minutes had passed since I started. I thought I should get in the shower when my communicator beeped. I pulled it out of my pocket and opened it up. Cyborg was on the other end. "Yeah?" I asked.
"BB, you busy?" He asked.
"No, just finished up." I replied.
"Good. We have a little suprise for you down here. Check it out when you have time." Cyborg chuckled. "I think you're really gonna like it."
"Alright, I'll be there in a few." I answered. I dropped it back in my pocket. I already knew what the suprise was, but it confounded me. I could hear her breathing. How was she alive? Why wasn't she crying or going insane? I knew that Cy and Raven were good from a medical and psychological standpoint, respectively, but were they really good enough to fix Terra's broken body and cure her of her demons? It seemed to be the case, but lately, a lot of things didn't appear to be what they seemed. I mulled this over a bit. All this violence and psychological lockdown made my head hurt. I tried not to read into these events too deeply, but there were thoughts that lingered in the back of my mind; thoughts that I might once have known the answers to. I shrugged it off, thinking that it was too simple to be so complex. I wiped some sweat off my temple, sighed, got up, and went to see what Cy had done.
I walked in the room to a sight I thought I would never see: Terra, not only happy, but actually laughing. Cyborg looked up from the paper to acknowlege me. "You like what we did?" He asked.
"What did you do with the real Terra?" I asked, dumbstruck. Cyborg laughed.
"That is the real Terra. Raven healed her up, and we were able to get those nasty depressing thoughts out of her head. I know it's a bit of a change from the brooding, sad Terra, but this is the real her. Remember what she was like when we first met her?" I nodded. "Anyway, she's waiting for you. Go talk to her; she really wants to see you." I mustered up the courage to go over and talk to her.
"Um... Terra?" She turned around, smiling. I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes, but I didn't care. She stood up. The smile was gone, now; there were tears in her eyes, too. We hugged. Her skin was cold against mine. Nothing could have ruined this moment for me. For the first time in months, Terra was free. This emotion was overwhelming, but since everything was fine, I relaxed a bit and let it take me over. Here was this woman who I loved through good and bad; though we had our share of roadblocks to overcome, my feelings for her right now were stronger than ever before. Raven came to the door. She saw us and smiled.
"I don't mean to break up this happy moment, but Robin wants us all. Now." Cyborg put down the paper, and we all followed Raven back to Robin. Slade was on the video screen. I became angry, but Terra put my hand on my shoulder, reassuring me.
"It's nice to see that the girl has recovered nicely." Slade said somberly. "A minor setback, I assure you. My dear Terra, do you remember when you betrayed the titans?" I had tried to cover Terra's ears with my hands, but I was too late. Terra fell to her knees, whimpering and quivering. "That's a good girl. You're the only one that can see that I have all the moves in this game of chess, and all of them begin with your destruction." I dropped next to Terra.
"We've forgiven you, Terra. You've redeemed yourself from the bad you've done. Don't let that bastard play mind games with you." I shouted.
"You've made your point, Slade. Terra is extremely emotionally unstable. However, that doesn't mean the rest of us are." Raven replied, facing the monitor.
"That's true, but I need only the strongest member of the team to wipe the rest out. If memory serves, Terra beat you all before, correct?" Slade asked.
"You were controlling her!" Starfire screamed. Slade chuckled.
"Perhaps. However, the girl is now uncontrollable. You should find out what I mean if you want her to live past today. Meanwhile, I also left a little present for you outside. Good day." The monitor flickered off, making a buzzing sound. Starfire ran to a nearby window.
"I think we might have a little problem." She said, her voice wavering in fear. I got to my feet and went over to where she was. What was out there was not very appropriate for a time like this. Cinderblock. Plasmus. Roughly a thousand of Slade's robots. I looked over at Terra; her knees were pulled up to her chin, and she clutched her head with her hands, eyes closed tightly; breathing speed increasing. We needed her to stop them, but not if she was like this. I wondered what Slade meant, uncontrollable. The one problem that Terra had that she couldn't control was... her heart.
"Guys, I think I figured out what Slade meant." I shouted, gaining attention from everyone. "He's done something to her heart. Now's not the time to figure out what; she's going to have a heart attack, if shock doesn't kill her first. We need to calm her down!"
"I can stop her heart," Raven replied somberly,"but it might kill her." I slammed my fist against the wall.
"Dammit, we have no other option!" I yelled.
"Yes, we do. There's still some morphine in the bathroom." Cyborg responded. "At the very least, it'll help her relax."
"Well, what are you wating for?" I replied. "Go!"
"Oh, right." Cyborg ran off. I went over to Terra. She shivered when I touched her cheek. I laid her down on her back.
"Terra, can you hear me?" I asked desperately. She looked at me, eyes wide and afraid.
"Beast Boy..." She struggled. "I'm losing focus. Vision getting... blurry. I think... I'm dying."
"I won't let you!" I screamed, tears welling up in my eyes. I put my hand on her chest. Her heart was beating normally. "Wait a minute... this isn't right." There was the sound of glass shattering. Footsteps quickly approaching where we were. Slade jumped into the door and kicked me away from Terra. Robin lunged at him, but Slade dodged, sending him crashing to the floor. Starfire flew at Slade, but he caught her and threw her at Raven. Slade quickly scooped Terra up in his arms. He came over to me and stepped on my throat.
"You fool!" He chuckled. "Your feelings for my apprentice clouded your judgment! I was bluffing! Now, the next time you see her, she will be under my control! That's only if you live to see her, because everyone outside really wanted to get in. So I let them. Have fun!"
"Oh, I will." A voice said. Cyborg was standing behind Slade, energy cannon against his head. "Put her down or I'll kill you. A blast from this close range will surely destroy any hope you have of ever manipulating anyone ever again."
"Have it your way." Slade replied. He dropped Terra to the floor, turned around and kicked Cyborg to the ground. He laughed. "See this, Terra? When I'm finished with you, you're going to be this strong. Strong enough to take out all the titans without breaking a sweat."
"You'll never get started." Terra replied, making her way to her feet, clutching her shoulder. "We're through, Slade, finished. We have been for a long time. Fuck your delusions of power, and fuck making me your puppet. I'm not going to let you manipulate me anymore." Terra's bright, piercing blue eyes stared coldly at Slade. "I'm not going to be afraid anymore, Slade. I'm not going to let you take me and toy with my emotions. You've screwed with my mind so damn much, I thought I could never shake the depression, the numbness. I have, Slade, and if there's one more thing that I can do to gain redemption for all the wrong you caused me to do, all the regrets you caused me to have, it will be ending your miserable, pathetic existance. I'm going to kill you, Slade, for all the anger, all the violence, all the bad feelings, all the hurt that you inflicted upon me and everyone else. I'm going to kill you, Slade, and there's not a fucking thing you can do about it."
"Is that so?" Slade asked. "Let me remind you, Terra, you made all the desicions of your own regard. You wanted to destroy the titans. You had regrets at first, but you went through with it all. Don't try to paint yourself as the victim here. You made your own choices. If there's anyone who should die for what they've done, it's you. I believe Beast Boy said it best, right? You have no friends."
"Yes, she does." Raven replied, getting up. "Terra may have made bad decisions, but who hasn't? It's what makes her human, and that's something a monster like you will never be."
"Raven's right." Cyborg added, slowly rising to a standing position. "Since coming back to life, Terra's earned our forgiveness, and our respect, through her actions. On the other hand, you will never be forgiven, and you will never be respected."
"All you are is evil." Starfire contributed, hovering in the air. I staggered to my feet.
"And as evil, you are the reason why we're all here. We're here to destroy you. Good may not be able to exist without evil, but evil can't exist without good, either." I stated. Robin got up.
"Why can't you just accept it, Slade? Terra's not yours. Terra's not ours. Terra's her own person, and there's nothing that anyone can do to change that. You may not be able to accept it, but I'm sure that maybe we can beat some sense into you. Is everyone alright?" Robin looked around. Everyone nodded. I knew what was coming. I turned my hands into fists. "Slade, we're about to teach you a lesson in friendship and compassion that you will never forget for as long as you live. We're the Teen Titans, and as hard as you try, no matter what kind of warped plan your mind can come up with, there'll be nothing you can do to change that. We all have our problems, but it takes a real son of a bitch to capitalize on that, and no matter what, we'll be there to help each other through the hard times. You know our names, Slade, and as long as you're still breathing, you should come to rue them. Robin. Raven. Cyborg. Starfire. Beast Boy. Terra. The people who will bring you your defeat."
"How touching," Slade replied, "but how weak and useless. Emotion only exists so people can show their weaknesses and vulerabilities. Those are the things to capitalize on. I've enjoyed this chat, but I must be going. I'm sure that Cinderblock and Plasmus would love to continue the discussion of friendship with you." Slade jumped at the window, breaking the glass. The near wall exploded inward, almost hitting Terra with debris. Cinderblock and Plasmus loomed over us, hundreds of robots surrounding them, all designed to bring us our defeat. I walked over to Terra, and we kissed.
"You two are an item once more! How wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed.
"Uh, Star, do you think you could be happy for them later?" Raven asked. The robots stalled outside the room.
"Cyborg, turn on the probes!" Terra shouted, a yellow aura beginning to surround her hands, which were open-palmed in front of her.
"Are you sure?" Cyborg asked, powering up his energy cannon.
"Just do it!" Terra replied. Cyborg thumbed the switch. Terra's body crackled with electricity, but she showed no signs of being in pain. "Thanks!"
"Everyone ready?" Robin asked. Everybody nodded in approval. "All right. Terra, how does it feel to be in your first fight as a Teen Titan?"
"The adrenaline is already flowing through my veins." Terra responded. "No more being afraid. No more bad feelings. All that matters is this, right here, right now! No more having to deal with everything I regret!"
"That's the spirit!" I replied happily. "Now, who's ready to kick some villain ass?"
"I think we all are!" Robin responded. "Wait for it. Wait for it." The robots started to flood into the room in droves. "Alright, everyone, now! Titans, go!" We all dashed forward, Starfire and Raven flying. In between transformation, I glanced over at Terra. Her body was covered in electricity, but all she was doing was beating up robots. I smiled. In her supercharged state, she was taking out one hundred, two hundred, three hundred robots with extreme ease. Cinderblock and Plasmus lerched forward, ready to try to beat us. I wouldn't hold it against them. After all, they could try.