Made of Stone, COMPLETE!

by Doggett

The titans find a way to bring back Terra, but will they be willing to forgive her for what she's done? Chapter 3 and on: BBxTerra.

7. Earthquake, Part One

TERRA
"I've got the rest of the robots! You guys take care of the goons!" I yelled. The other titans started to mount an offensive on Plasmus. I would have helped, but I was a little preoccupied dodging attacks and crushing steel with my hands. The pleasure I had taken before in watching my foes crumble to the ground returned, stronger than ever. The adrenaline was already starting to wear off; my skin stung, my limbs sore. Just a few more to go. Something hit my shoulder hard. I winced in pain. Something pulled my legs out from under me, and I fell to the ground. So much pain, so much vulnerability. All I could feel were their fists, cold and metallic against my skin. I tried to yell for help, but I was paralyzed. I was afraid. I felt stronger suddenly, as if someone had flicked a switch and turned my body back on. Emotion was giving me power. I thought about what they had tried to do, and I grew angry. Yellow flames engulfed me, and the next thing I knew all of my foes were dead. Cinderblock and Plasmus were retreating. I had won. Beast Boy ran over to me and helped me up. "Way to go, Terra!" He congratulated me. I couldn't feel my body, like it was detached; numb. "What's wrong? You don't look too hot." The world went black.

"Terra." My head throbbed. At least some feeling had returned. I moaned, just to let Beast Boy know I was awake. I felt hot. "It's a good thing you're up. You sort of zoned out for a minute or two, and then collapsed. Don't be afraid; what happened to you was perfectly normal, at least from what Cy said. You used up all your energy, simple as that. You also had a broken rib. The weirdest thing, though, your wrists and shins began to swell for some reason. They're on ice, so the pain should be a little more bearable, if not nonexistant. Don't try to move; you're still pretty weak, and you have a fever." Yes, I could feel more now. I was dripping with sweat. I tried to breathe, but I felt no air in my lungs. I had to wonder, though. How could all that happen to me merely from using all my energy? I didn't understand, and at the moment I couldn't begin to. All I could do was recover. I heard a door open and close. Voices outside my room. "How is she?" Robin asked.
"She should be alright. I'm concerned for her, though. Her body's going through a lot, and it's hard for her to be at top strength." Beast Boy replied. "I'm just glad that she woke up."
"This has been going on for too long. We need to find Slade and put him away for good."
"I agree, but could we wait until Terra's better? I think it'll give her some closure if she strikes with the killing blow."
"We're running short on time. If she's going to get better, it had better be within the next twenty-four hours." Sound was drifting in and out now; soon, I would be asleep. That was the one thing I had enough of. I needed to get better; to stop living this risk-filled lifestyle. That task could never be completed as long as he was still out there. Slade. The man who ruined my life, who toyed with me at every instance. It's all my fault, though. If all that stuff had never happened, he never would have met me. How confused I was. How confused I still am. It was time to stop feeling sorry for myself, though. Regret, fear, hatred, they all controlled my life. Not anymore. The ground began to shake beneath me. I bared my teeth. I wasn't even using my powers; they were using me. I opened my eyes, the world violently shaking into focus. I staggered to my feet. The door flew open, Beast Boy and Robin staring at me. Shock; awe; I didn't know. The shaking died down, and I stumbled into Beast Boy's arms.
"Terra... stop pushing yourself." He whispered to me. He helped me over to where I was lying moments before. He looked at his feet. "I don't want you to kill yourself."
"Don't feel sorry for me. I don't even deserve to be alive. You should have left me in that cave to rot."
"Why do you have to be like this? I know, I know it's how you really feel, and I know you're messed up beyond anything the rest of us could ever fathom, but why do you have to be so gloomy all the time? That's what Raven's job is," Beast Boy exclaimed, "and besides, this new Terra, the one with all the problems and the issues, she's not the girl I fell in love with."
"Why can't you just drop it?" I growled back, angrilly. "Do I really need a reason to feel the way I feel? Why can't you get it through your head? I betrayed you. I betrayed him. I betrayed everyone here. I betrayed everyone else in the city," the fury left my voice, "I betrayed Slade. But most importantly, I betrayed myself, and that is something that I'll never be able to forgive myself for."
"Terra, you're being too hard on yourself-"
"So what if I am? Does it really matter? I screwed everyone over, yet I was just a puppet myself. A god damn puppet!" I shut my eyes, bared my teeth, and dropped my head into my hands. "That's all I was.... A puppet."
"Terra..." I felt Beast Boy wrap his arm around me. A sudden pain struck me; it was familiar, yet distant. I started coughing up blood. My vision became foggy. What was going on? "I feel... kinda weird. Get Raven or Cy or... anyone. Just get me some... medicine or something." Beast Boy's arm fell limp. I slumped forward onto the floor, hearing Robin dash away. Whatever was going wrong, it wasn't just affecting me. I had already crossed my pain threshold, and the only thing left to do was fall unconcious. Hopefully, it would relieve me of some of the pain. My leg twitched; I shuddered and gave up the fight. I was in their hands again; this time, they could kill me if they wanted. I wouldn't mind.

I awoke to darkness, as per usual. I sat up and looked over at the clock. It was ten minutes to five. I felt sick; my head was spinning. My whole body ached. I wasn't in my room; I could make out another figure across from me, still asleep. Beast Boy. I had gotten him sick. It was all my fault. What had I gotten him sick with, though? A cold or a fever, or something much more dangerous? "Influenza." I carefully spun around towards the voice; Raven sat on the floor in the corner. She looked up, her gaze meeting mine. "You both have it." The world was becoming clearer; a slight breeze rustled some papers on a nearby table. "You sort of mumble in your sleep."
"I can't move my arms."
"I know. It's the drugs. Terra, you can let down your guard. I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you."
"Oh, sure, you seemed real helpful when we fought before."
"That was then, and this is now. Why can't you accept that?"
"I don't know"
"Then let me help. There are people who care about you, regardless of whatever you've done."
"If people care so much about me, then why does it hurt so much inside? Why do I feel this way?"
"Why can't you snap out of it? Terra, we've forgiven you." Raven's words seem to echo through the halls.
"I don't know, alright? If I knew, I'm sure I'd be far more melencholy."
"Terra, calm down. You don't have full control over your powers back yet." I got chills down my spine. She was right, and I knew it. But control over my powers... it only reminded me of Slade.
"How do you know you can trust me?"
"I don't, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. For someone who gets almost twice the sleep as the rest of us combined, you sure are restless."
"I'm not restless. I'm scared."
"Are you sorry?"
"You already know the answer to that."
"Are you sorry?" Raven repeated.
"Yes. Yes, I am." Lightning flashed in the distance; rain hit the windows repetitively. It could drive a person mad, that sound. I saw something out of the corner of my eye; a sillohette, there one second and gone the next. "I need to get away from all this, once it blows over."
"Why wait?"
"Because you all need my help. There's a war coming. There will be causalties. There will be broken hearts and broken bodies. Good and evil will clash for what may appear to be the final battle, but it won't be. No, the final battle will come much, much later. There will only be one person involved in that battle."
"For someone scared, you sure are freakishly insightful."
"I don't know where I get it from. I guess Slade..."
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. That's the point of all this, Terra. We're trying to help you accept that you have control of your own life. You don't have to run anymore."
"Running is all I know."
"Not anymore. Everything is going to be alright, Terra."
"I hope so, Rae. I hope so."
"I'll leave you to get some sleep."
"Night." I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I awoke to the sound of rain beating against the window. I was able to get out of my bed. I went out the door and ran into the other Titans. I didn't know why they were there, but the accusing looks they had on their faces said it all. I sighed. "Alright, what did I do?" I asked sleepily.
"Open your eyes, Terra." Robin demanded. I did. The hallway lie in ruins. There were holes in the walls, the celing, even the floor. Something didn't feel right in my head. I stumbled backwards, my back hit the door, and I slid to the ground. I couldn't see clearly. I felt something tugging at my mind.
"Rae, I don't know exactly what I did, but do you think you could... stop doing that?" I said through gasps for breath. My eyes were growing heavy.
"Stop doing what?" Raven asked. The anger, if there was any, was gone. Now there was only concern. My body was numb; I couldn't think. I knew what was happening.
"I'm... dying." The door I was up against slid open, and Beast Boy almost tripped over me. I sprawled backwards, my head hitting the floor of the infermery.
"What the...?" Beast Boy asked. He crouched down beside me and looked into my eyes. "It's posion. Snake venom, actually. Maybe a mixture. Raven, get over here."
"How do you know?" Cyborg asked, sounding intrigued. The pain in my head grew with every passing second. Beast Boy just looked at him.
"Dude, you gotta be kidding me. I can turn into animals, remember? It would be pretty useless if I knew nothing about them."
"I can't take this anymore." Robin interrupted. "This, what's going on, is completely unlike Slade. These... attacks, if we want to call them that, are completely random and there's no real reason behind them."
"Robin, what if Slade is not the one behind this?" Starfire asked. "This 'poisoning' sounds more like something the Zookeeper would do"
"Slade's behind it, Star. The needle in her neck has his insignia on it." My head was throbbing by now; I closed my eyes, trying to decrease the pain. As suddenly as the pain started, it stopped. I was imobilized; couldn't move, couldn't think, could barely breathe. My eyes were closed, but I wasn't unconcious; it just might be a while before I could open them. I was haunted by disturbing thoughts and memories; I wouldn't go so far as to say I was dreaming. No, I was very much awake. These things I saw hurt me inside, probably more than I would like to say. I got up in a few hours, as soon as I was sure that I could move. When I next saw them, the Titans were huddled over a monitor.
"What's going on?" I asked, innocently enough.
"Terra, come here. You have to see this." Beast Boy motioned with his hand for me to come, never making eye contact. I sighed and walked over. They were huddled over a security tape, of the events earlier today. I gasped, clearly in shock. The person who destroyed Titans Tower... was me. I thought that was impossible; I had been asleep... hadn't I? I was reminded of the time that Supergirl had those dreams of hers, and I felt cold immediately. I shivered. I looked closer; I was wearing my old armor... but Beast Boy told me that Robin had destroyed it. I felt weak and scared. Mind games or not, I think Slade got the one thing he wanted. He finally got my attention.

BEAST BOY Terra just stood there, staring at the monitor in wide-eyed horror. I didn't know what I could do to console her; I thought that maybe it would be better if she could come to terms with this herself. "Terra, you couldn't have done this. It's not like you." I consoled her. "It is." Terra responded. "I know that I probably should have put this out before, but I didn't. That was the wrong choice to make, and I know something about making the wrong choices. This isn't easy for me to admit, but here it goes..." Everyone, including me, was now listening intently to what Terra was about to say. "I like fighting. I enjoy it. Maybe a little too much. I like destroying things with both my powers and my bare hands. I know, I'm sick and I probably shouldn't feel this way, but... I just didn't want you guys to think I'm a freak. My entire life I've been rejected, and after what happened before... I got a second chance, and I didn't want to ruin it... I feel dead on the inside. Maybe I was right; maybe the world is better off without me..." She coughed hard. In all this, I had forgotten that we both still had influenza.
"Terra, maybe we should get back in bed." I said. "We're not well."
"No. I heard you and Robin talking last night. We're supposed to be going after Slade in four hours. I'm going to be there." She flatly denied my request.
"That was before ever- Terra!" She fell forward, shivering. I dove forward and caught her. She was cold to the touch; so cold, it burned my skin. Her eyes has that glassy look in them; I thought she had escaped that. She was silent. I didn't think she was breathing. Then, as quickly has the whole thing began, it stopped. Her gaze became soft; her skin grew warmer. "Terra, what happened?" I asked, concerned. "Are you alright?"
"Slade can take my body," she said softly, "but he can't take my soul." I hugged her. The others has been talking. Cy came over to us.
"Um... if you guys don't mind, Rae and I would like to do some tests. We'll start by taking the probes out; with all that's happened, we have reason to believe that Slade's hijacked them somehow."
"That sounds like Slade, all right." Terra replied. Cy motioned for us to follow him. I thought I saw Terra freeze for a second, but then she was fine. We went to the infirmary. Terra sat on a bed; her eyes had closed. "I am so tired."
"Terra, I need you to lie on your stomach. There's no need to cause unnecessary irritation while I disconnect the probes from your spinal cord." Cy requested, flicking switches and looking at a monitor. Terra complied.
"Are there going to be any chemicals involved?" Terra asked, calmly. I could tell that she wasn't scared, but she'd rather do things organically instead of synthetically.
"None at all." Cy replied, reassuringly. "Not even anesthesia. Don't need it. I just need you to relax. Now, is your back stiff or sore in any way?
"A little."
"Muscle pain or nerve damage?"
"Probably."
"That's fine. Just take some deep breaths, I'll give you five minutes, and then we'll start." Cy left the room, leaving only Terra and me amid the buzzing of warming-up machinery.
"I'm scared, Beast Boy." Terra sighed.
"You've been through worse." I replied.
"That's just it. I can't take much more of this constant pain and need to restore my body. I've been attacked more here than I've been in my life. I'm on edge. I'm depressed, I'm stressed out. I'm scared. This is nothing like what I was before I met you guys."
"If you could go back, and have none of this ever happen, and never meet us, would you?" I asked. "We can make that happen. You have powers, Terra. Sometimes, it's easy just being yourself and living your life normally, but it isn't easy being a hero. You have a gift, and although you could do things that no other person could achieve, it's still your life. It's your choice to make."
"I just need some time away, you know? I was thinking about going to Gotham..." She trailed off. Gotham was far, far away. Too far. Too far to make sense of everything that had happened. Everything that had happened because she had this power, this unbelievable control over the earth beneath her feet.
"Terra... do you think you would be happier if you never had your powers?" I asked. "If they had never existed? If you were just like everyone else"
"I can't answer that."
"Exactly. Because you're Terra. You're the one who brought down this city's greatest defenders, and it's worst enemy. You're the one who sacrificed yourself to save this city, and you didn't care about the risk at all. Since you've come back, you've shown levels of humanity on a completely opposite scale than the vicious, hateful person that you had become. You're-."
"Stop it, please. I don't want to hear about it." She begged. She was upset. Tears streamed down her face.
"Terra, I'm sorry." I whispered, regretfully. I knew I shouldn't have brought that up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a green mist pour through the ventillation duct. Robin burst in the room.
"Beast Boy, get Terra out of here. The tower's been flooded with fear gas."
"So what, Scarecrow and Slade are working together now?"
"This isn't a joke. If it can make a normal person crazy, if it can seriously affect Batman, there's no telling what it could do to someone in a heightened emotional state."
"How did they-"
"There's no time for questions. Starfire, Cyborg and Raven are already outside. Come on." Robin dashed off. I helped Terra to her feet and followed. I didn't hear her behind me. I spun around. Not in the hallway. Fuck. A voice in the room.
"What's the matter, Terra? Afraid?" Slade. Son of a bitch. Terra stumbled; she had been pushed. I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her outside. She didn't try to resist.
"Don't be scared, Terra. It's not real." I assured her. I don't know what she saw - I don't want to know - but she had a look of pure horror on her face. I caught up to the others, Terra behind me. "Slade's in the tower." I gasped. "He dragged Terra back in. Back into the"
"Ohmygod. Oh, god. No! I won't believe you! You're lying! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Terra screamed. She had fallen to the ground, hands over her ears. She was crying in fear.
"What is wrong with Terra?" Starfire asked.
"Slade dragged her back into the gas." Robin replied.
"The gas harms her?"
"It can harm anyone. It can cause hallucinations - and, if untreated - fear-induced heart attacks."
"Terra couldn't take a heart attack. Her heart's bad enough already." Cy observed.
"Exactly. Slade's trying to take her down. He's been trying to take her down for the past week and four days. He just hasn't succeeded because we're here." Raven replied calmly.
"She can't take this anymore." I sighed. "Can someone put her out of her misery?" Terra was now writhing on the ground, muttering to herself.
"All of our medical equipment is inside. There's nothing we can do." Cy responded solomnly. "I'm sorry, man. Unless she can hold out for an hour or so, she's going to die, and just look how bad she's gotten after three minutes. Unless..."
"Unless what?" I shouted. "Unless what?!"
"Unless I blast her. If you really want her to live, someone's going to have to knock her out."
"It won't work." Robin interjected. "When someone's under the influence, they're impervious to pain."
"We can't just leave her like this." I replied. "Screw this, I'm going back in." I ran, despite the others attempts to get me to stop. I reached the inside; it was clean. No trace of anything. I dashed back outside. "Guys, it's clean. It's empty."

TERRA I woke up. Everything was hazy. What had happened? Last thing I remember, I was talking to Beast Boy, and then... a blank. "Good to see you're finally awake." Slade chuckled, stepping out from the shadows. "I was beginning to wonder when you would wake up." I tried to move, but I was stuck. I was strapped to the bed.
"What do you want from me?" I asked angrily. "I'm not your puppet anymore!"
"Oh, Terra, it's not what I want from you. It's what I want you for." Slade approached me. "For you see, the Titans think you never left."
"What are you talking about?"
"Back before your... untimely demise, when you were working for me, I made sure to keep a DNA sample, so should the need ever arise, I could reconstruct you. Your clone, the clone that I spent the last four months creating while the Titans were mourning your loss, is with them right now. When they brought you back, I knew I'd need to make a few modifications. That's why I've been testing you".
"Testing me? Get to the fucking point."
"You're getting angry. Good girl. You think these random attacks were plans in their own? Nothing of the sort. I wasn't testing your body; I have no use for that. I was testing your mind. You're a very special person, Terra, but your mind... well, let's just say that it has a few... undescribable problems. I've been studying it, always watching. Your clone has all of your strengths, Terra as well as increased strength, agility and brain capacity. I needed to test you to make sure it had none of your weaknesses."
"You're a fucking lunatic. The Titans will come for me."
"Don't be so sure about that. That's not the only reason I've been testing you. I'm going to use you, Terra, and I'm going to enjoy it very much."
"You've lost me."
"With all of the emotional stress you've been under, your powers will be easier to control and manipulate."
"You're not going to control me anymore! I won't let you!"
"You have no more choice in the matter. Be a good girl and get some sleep. I've got some calls to the government I have to make. IV feed, activate. Muscle relaxant, activate." I felt numb immediately. My body felt almost nonexistant.
"You're not going to get away with this."
"Oh, Terra, I already have. Sedative feed, activate."
The world went black.

BEAST BOY
I had been watching over Terra once we had brought her back inside. I was overjoyed when her eyes opened. "Terra, you're alright!" I exclaimed, happily. I closed my eyes and opened my arms, but something hard pushed me backwards against the wall. I opened my eyes and got to my feet. Terra was glowing with a yellow aura; her eyes were harsh and merciless. "Terra?"
"Did you miss me?" She replied. She took out a chunk of the wall.
"Guys, come here! Terra's not herself!" I yelled before being crushed against the wall again. Something warm trickled down the corner of my mouth; blood.
"Why, Terra?" I asked. She smirked.
"Time to stop living in a fantasy." She retorted. She lunged at me.