Titans: Elemental
Chapter 62: Aftershock, Part 4
We see all of the Titans save Starfire, still frozen in place by the shock of the metamorphosis they have just observed. Their teammate backs into view above them. One of Ternion's huge, slimy, energized arms stretches toward the group; they dive in all directions to avoid the punch, and Dick hurls a handful of grenades into his face. They explode with great force, dropping him to his knees as Dick comes down in front of him. After a moment of rest, Ternion lashes several tentacles out from his shoulders. Their ends spark as they tangle him up; he is lifted high into the air, shocked with a few thousand volts, and thrown down near Raven.
Raven, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Her spell lifts a nearby parked car and slings it at the three-in-one menace. It crashes into his face with a terrific explosion, after which she lands by Dick and starts to help him up. Both stare at the blast aftermath; from which Ternion emerges, undamaged and roaring mad, after a moment.
Bryan starts shooting lasers at Tenrion, littering them with holes that slowly seal up!
Jack shoots a beam of ice at their arm, actually managing to freeze it solid and break it off before another one took it's place.
Here comes Starfire and Blackfire, screaming and swooping past the others with flames shooting from their eyes. Starfire homes in on the gut and punches a hole clear through it, then Blackfire puts an eye blast into the back of the head. The monstrosity turns to face them and stretches its arm out for a grab; he misses them, but bashes a hole in a building. Jack once again freezes the arms as Rose jumps up and shatters them to pieces before scattering as they regrow!
The movement leaves his back wide open for the cannon shot that flashes up. Vic and Bryan, firing at will, are quickly seized by two gooey appendages and hauled up. Back to Ternion; this is his tongue, split in two, and he swallows the bionic Titans only to spit them to the end of the block right away. Vic and Bryan sit up from the crater their impact has just put in the front of a building down there, but they have no time to get back into the fight. A new shadow falls over them; one of Slade's secondary robots is standing here.
Back to the main battle. Dick, Rose and Raven move in different directions to avoid Ternion's strikes. Raven circles around and hits him with a shot. She dodges a punch, then counters with a blast that pushes him up against a building; he gets up with a fresh roar and stomps up to face the three Titans again. Before he can attack, though, yells from the Starfire, Jack and Blackfire are heard and he tumbles onto his back. The sisters and Jack are standing just in front of his position, their raised arms showing the monster heave-ho they have just given him.
Laser blasts zip past the Titans, who look down the street and find a very large crew of commando robots moving in with guns blazing. Several jump down near the fallen beast; the sisters and Jack take a frightened step back toward the other three. Down the street, the robot that menaced Vic and Bryan is thrown against a building, then gets a fist driven into its chest. What the four-hundred-pound fighter yanks out is a piece of machinery that looks something like a human heart; its removal causes the robot to short out once and for good.
Bryan is atop another robot, his robotic fist lodged in their brain and forcing them to shoot at their fellow robots.
More laser shots flash by; down the street, Slade's troops are massing for a charge. Vic looks up the ripped-out device, which has started to beep, and a wicked grin steals over his face. As if throwing a long pass, he hurls it toward the enemies and is rewarded with a huge explosion that wipes them all out. The glare clears to show him ducking and covering; he then stands up and wipes his hands happily, but a secondary robot charges out of the fog at him. Pinned to the wall, he struggles fiercely to break loose, but a laser in the single eye warms up to blast him out of existence. Instead of getting blown away, however, he is saved when Beast Boy leans into view as a tyrannosaurus rex and clamps his jaws onto the android. It is shaken back and forth until it falls apart.
Vic is staring in complete disbelief at this display of undiluted ferocity, then to the dust cloud in front of him. Beast Boy emerges in human form and stomps over; he is probably angrier than he has ever been in his life. Bryan has jumped off of his robot as it falls over and goes over to the other two.
BB, "where's Terra?"
Vic, "what's the matter? A robot army and a giant Franken-thingie not enough for you?"
BB, "I don't care about them. I want Terra."
A commando leaps at him from behind; he wheels with a ferocious scream, becomes a giant gorilla, and smashes it apart with one punch. The subsequent roar makes Vic and Beyan stare wide-eyed again, and the green primate lopes off down the street in search of his quarry.
Bryan mutters, "she broke his heart…. And now we see the beast unleashed…."
….
Back to Slade's lair. He stands at a distance as Terra tumbles across the floor; she has taken another pounding. After a second, he steps toward her.
Slade, "you failed me, apprentice. I ordered you to eliminate the Titans. You did not. I commanded you to fight, and you ran."
She stands up, cloth under-wrappings in tatters.
Terra, "you can't treat me like this."
Slade, "can't I?"
He punches her again. She slams into the wall again and collapses.
Slade, "who else would have you, my dear….", she pulls herself up, "you've done horrible things. Unforgivable things. Where else could you possibly go?"
She turns.
Terra, "anywhere but here! I'm sick of fighting, and I'm sick of you! The others were right! I never should have trusted you!"
She tries to pull her breastplate off, but it will not budge.
Slade, "you'll find that quite impossible. The suit's neural interface has integrated into your nervous system. into your skin. It's part of you….", she stares at it; back to him, "... and so am I, Terra."
She gasps and backs up.
Terra, "no!"
Slade, "you chose this life, apprentice. It's too late to change your mind now; far too late."
Terra, "but it's not too late for me to walk out the door."
She starts to do just that, giving him her back, but he steps partly into view after her.
Slade, "I'm afraid it is, my dear. You see….", he holds one finger over the other wrist, "... you no longer have any control in the matter."
He presses a hidden button. Terra stops in her tracks, then falls to her knees with an agonized groan as sparks spit from every part of her body. When Slade holds out one hand, palm up, she is pulled to her feet by the remote control he has just activated.
Slade, "I've learned from my past apprentices. I gave Bryan no free will. I gave Nightwing too much. With you, you have had just enough free will to do my bidding…. Except if you disobey me…."
Eyes bugging out, teeth grinding together, jittering uncontrollably, Terra takes one labored step after another and ends up face to face with her master.
Slade, "you promised to fight at my side forever."
On the end of this, the sparks stop and he touches her chin, lifting her face.
Slade, "and that's a promise I intend to make you keep."
….
All the Titans, save Beast Boy, are surrounded by commando robots. More of them move in; the Titans back toward each other. Here they come from all directions, and we see that they have moved in to very close quarters indeed. The slow, steady advance continues for another unbearable second or two before Dick speaks.
Dick, "Raven! Now!"
He produces a small globe, about the size of a baseball, and throws it straight up. It has six small protrusions, set at 90-degree angles like the faces of a cube. These extend outward on small tubes and glow very brightly before the whole thing goes up in a colossal flash, blowing robots and rubble in all directions. The view clears to show the Titans at ground zero, protected by a hemispherical shield Raven has put up. She lets it dissipate so they can look around. Ternion, the heart of the whole problem, is still on his feet and clumping toward them, but he is very woozy now after Dick's bomb blast. He looks up just as Raven throws a bus at him; it plows squarely into his mouth.
Behind her, Vic, Bryan, Jack, Blackfire and Starfire rush in. The bionic left fist is launched as a grappling hook and loops around the slimy/stony/electrical body. Pulling with every scrap of his strength, his circuits glowing brightly under the strain, he soon gets helping hands from Starfire and Blackfire. Jack forms arms of Earth to help, and Bryan shoots his own grappling hook. Ternion starts to topple forward, but gets himself straight with a mighty roar; the cable snaps, throwing all five Titans backward past Raven. They tumble against a pile of rubble and look skyward. Dick and Rose have made it to a rooftop and are watching the enemy very carefully; when the right moment presents itself, they both leap onto the glowing back with something in each hand.
These devices are shown to be discs, which they set in place. The press of two buttons at their centers extend clamps that dig into the sludge to hold the things fast, and they leap ahead to land in a pair of crouches. Just after they hit the ground, their discs emit high-intensity electric pulses that throw Ternion into a straight-backed, screaming seizure, and when it abates, he pitches forward smoking to the street. Only now do Rose and Dick stand up to inspect the fallen enemy; Raven moves up to follow suit.
Raven, "we're gonna need a bigger jail."
The others join them; Vic has reattached his hand.
Starfire, "where is Beast Boy?"
Blackfire, "he should be around here somewhere."
Dick pulls out his communicator and gives it a look.
Dick, "five kilometers east, and eight hundred meters below the surface."
Rose, "I think we all know where he's headed…."
….
We see Beast Boy, as a wolf, standing atop a high ledge in a cavern. He jumps down from one to the next, and reaches the floor for a run. We see a set of closed steel doors; he stops at this and wrinkles his nose angrily. Inside, the doors are smashed open by his charge as a wooly mammoth. A ceiling-mounted security camera swivels to point at him; he drops out of sight, and we then see him leap onto the housing as a rat and disconnect a wire to knock it out. Hopping down to the ground, he resumes human form and starts down the passage.
After several yards, the sound of Terra's distant sobbing makes itself heard and he finds himself at the entrance to Slade's lair. She is huddled on the floor; he runs to her, all his fierce zeal and bloodlust disappearing in a heartbeat.
BB, "Terra?"
Terra, "destroy me, quick!"
BB, "what?"
Terra, "come on! Isn't that what you came for? Do it! Now!"
A flash, and Slade has again exerted his control over her body. She groans with the unendurable effort as his programming drags her upright and extends a hand at Beast Boy. A blast of her powers hurls him across the dim chamber; he crashes against the wall and drops semiconscious onto his face. We see Slade from beneath the arm Beast Boy has tried to prop himself up with.
Slade, "forgive my apprentice. As usual, she can't seem to control herself."
Terra straightens up behind him. As Beast Boy looks up in complete shock, she staggers toward him, her visible eye filled with tears.
A tear spills down her cheek.
Slade, "so from now on. I will be controlling her every move."
The suit crackles as she plods toward the Titan. After a long internal struggle, contrite mind versus unalterable command; her eyes blaze up as she levitates many tumbled stones. They fly at Beast Boy, who jumps clear and swoops away as a falcon; she merely pivots to direct her rock barrage after him. Approaching Slade as a huge wolf, he is smashed aside by a huge boulder. The mastermind just looks incuriously down at him.
Beast Boy is back in human form and groaning among the debris. Raising his head, he looks around the chamber; Terra emerges inexorably from the thick dust, and his fury starts to surface again.
BB, "what have you done to her?"
Slade, "nothing she didn't want me to. Terra came to me seeking control, and that's precisely what I've given her. My control, her body."
Beast Boy glares at the two; Slade raises a hand, as does Terra.
Slade, "I think you'll find I make far better use of her powers."
The stones around him rise into the air and slam toward Beast Boy, but he turns into a rat and jumps out of the way. As he scampers toward Terra and Slade, who raise their arms together, a large chunk of the floor rises under his feet and bears him toward the ceiling. Again, a last-second jump gets him out of harm's way; he becomes a rhinoceros as he falls. Terra drops out of sight, then rises behind him on a cylindrical piece. Most of it flicks away to leave a deadly sharp point at the bottom end, which she aims at the green changeling. Just before it embeds itself in the ground, he becomes a python, loosely coiled so that Terra's missile stabs the open space inside.
Beast Boy slithers away only to be seized by a hand that emerges from the ground.
Slade, "that's my good, little girl. Doing what I tell her to. Much better than my own children."
The jilted Titan becomes a gorilla and breaks loose of the stony fist clamped around him. A growling lunge takes him across the space and brings Terra off her perch; she ends up with her shoulders pinned.
Terra, "you have to stop me, Beast Boy! Please! I don't want to fight anymore! I…. Sob…. I can't handle what I've done…."
He resumes human form.
BB, "then don't let Slade control you anymore!"
Terra, "I have no choice."
BB, "that's a lie! You've always had a choice! You chose to follow him! You chose to fight us! You chose to run away!"
She stares pleadingly up at him.
We see Slade, who backs up with a yell of pure rage.
Terra's eyes are glowing, same posture, an equally furious scream in her throat. Two thin columns shoot up and project her friend/enemy high across the lair; he tumbles down from the far wall. Beast Boy gets to his feet.
BB, "it's all been your choice", he crosses to Terra, "you chose to work for Slade, chose to betray us, and now you've chosen to give him control! Slade isn't doing this, Terra! You are!"
Terra, "no!"
She collapses the floor around her feet, leaving herself on a small perch and dropping him several yards, but he quickly becomes a falcon and flies back up. He lands in human form past the edge of the cave-in, but this area buckles and flings him back even farther; as he tumbles, he becomes a wolf and sets into a run. With a tortured yell, Terra brings down a fair part of the ceiling in an attempt to flatten the lupine Titan. A dense dust cloud hides him from view. Terra's eyes are squeezed shut in horror at what she may have done. A short bark makes her pop them open in surprise, and the haze clears to show him amid the rubble with one leg trapped.
Terra gasps sharply at the sight of him.
Slade, "very good, my dear", he raises his left arm, "now shall we finish him off?"
Driven against her will, she takes faltering steps toward Beast Boy, who resumes human form and strains to get himself free of the rock fall. She reaches the spot and directs an anguished glance down at her former teammate and friend before her left arm comes up.
BB, "Terra! No!"
Terra, "he's too powerful", her hand glows, "I can't stop him!"
BB, "yes, you can! It's your power, not his", as she reaches to him, "you can still control it! You can still do the right thing!"
Terra, "it's too late."
The rock sheets around him rise and form into a pointed missile, just like the one she tried to impale him with earlier. It hovers above his prone form as she keeps that left hand motionless in front of her; the battle is still raging in her mind and heart. The implement of death point plunges into view, but stops just short of his face. He utters a small gasp at having been spared; her attention is drawn by the next word.
Dick, "STOP!"
He swings down and flashes past Slade.
Slade, "strike, apprentice! Now!"
Dick lands, followed by Vic with his cannon ready, and Bryan pointing his laser gun at the ready.
Dick, "Terra! No!"
Blackfire and Starfire fly in; Raven's eyes glow from the shadows, and she steps forth with both hands set to blast.
Blackfire, "don't you dare do it!"
Raven, "it'll be the last thing you ever do!"
Jack's hand is ablaze as he lands with Rose by his side, her sword pointed forward.
Rose, "don't do it!"
The standoff is now well and truly joined; Terra holding Beast Boy at the point of her lethal stone barb, while she herself faces down checked starbolts, cannon, laser gun, fire, sword, telekinesis, and explosive discs.
Slade, "I gave you an order!"
Terra stares wide-eyed.
We see Starfire and Blackfire in midair, hands and eyes fully loaded.
Slade, "DO IT!"
Starfire, "please, Terra, no!"
Jack, "don't do it Terra!"
Vic, "don't do it! Don't do it!"
Dick, "listen to us, Terra."
His voice and those of the other armed Titans call out a jumble of arguments, trying to talk her down. As they fall silent, Beast Boy's voice is heard.
BB, "it's your life, Terra. Your choice. It's never too late to change."
Terra, "... I'm sorry, Beast Boy…. For everything I've done…."
He gives her one more doleful glance, and with a scream of supreme fury, she swings her hand across the lair. The projectile pivots to point in that direction, away from Beast Boy and all the other Titans, and rockets directly at Slade. He jumps away from his vantage point, but the shock wave throws him off balance and sends him much farther back. She starts after him before anyone else can, then opens up a fissure to swallow him up; he leaps clear and perches amid a jumble of steel girders at the ceiling.
This is only a temporary respite, though, as she floats up and breaks the beams' attachment points to send the mass of metal thundering down. Vic clears away the rocks pinning Beast Boy, with Jack using his powers to help do so. Slade gets to his feet and finds Terra descending behind him; her gritted teeth and pinpoint pupils show that she has had all of him she can stand.
Slade, "you ungrateful, little-"
A laser blast suddenly hits his chest, cracking his armor! He turns to see Bryan holding aloft his smoking laser gun with Rose right beside him. She threw a knife at Slade, grazing his mask!
Rose growled, "you and I have some unfinished business... Dad."
Slade growls before he hurls a grenade at Rose and Bryan's feet, forcing them to take cover.
Slade growls before, without finishing the thought, which surely would have ended with a very colorful obscenity, he charges at Terra.
She holds her ground and brings up an immense column as he approaches; it carries him upward a bit too fast for his own comfort, and the Titans look on from the far end of the lair. As loose rocks rain down everywhere, Slade is driven to his knees before Terra. She begins to pelt him with one chunk after another, pushing him to the edge of his perch and finally over it. As his scream fades away, she gasps for breath and lets her powers wind down.
She floats slowly down to the area Slade stood on. Smoke and dust stream up as she steps cautiously to its edge and looks in. With not a hint of warning, Slade leaps out of the depths to crash a killer punch into her face. The strike lays her out, but not for long; he steps up, clamps one steel-gloved hand onto her breastplate, and hoists her up. Her head is lolling bonelessly on her neck, but she soon comes to, hair blowing wildly and eyes blazing.
Terra, "you can't control me anymore!"
The light of her power burns around them. That terrible glow stands out as a brilliant sphere in the dim upper expanse. It intensifies greatly and starts to spread down the sides of the pillar, then blossoms into an infernal explosion that wipes out the area. When the view clears, we see the Titans looking on with complete shock. The dust before them clears to show Terra standing alone on a piece of floating rock, with Slade nowhere in sight. The column she raised has been obliterated.
She drops to her knees with a weary little groan. Now the entire underground complex begins to tremble as a jet of lava fountains up behind the Titans.
Dick, "Terra's power! It triggered a volcano!"
Another eruption; Vic checks his forearm panel.
Vic, "big enough to take out the whole city! And way too big to stop!"
Another one, which Raven blocks.
Raven, "we have to get out of here!"
Dick signals retreat, and all but Beast Boy, Rose and Bryan follow.
The reason the other two don't leave?
They see Slade trying to pull himself up on a ledge! One of his arms is broken!
Rose and Bryan step forward.
Slade looks up at them
He yells, "help me! You're heroes, aren't you!? You don't kill!"
Bryan, "we won't kill you…."
Rose, "... but we don't have to save you."
The two of them run off, leaving Slade to lose his grip and fall off the ledge!
BB, "Terra", she floats down to him amid the cataclysm, "come on! We gotta go!"
Terra, "I have to stay."
The lava is now rising quickly, and more rocks are coming down.
BB, "no!"
Terra, "I'm the only one who can stop it."
BB, "please, Terra, you can't! It's too late!"
She brushes the hair from her face, giving him a clear view of both eyes for the first time since she left him in the funhouse to join Slade.
Terra, "it's never too late."
His face softens as he realizes what this decision means; both for Jump City and for the flawed hero finally finding redemption, and Terra gives him one last hug. Terra's eyes are filled with tears.
Terra, "you were the best friend I ever had…. I…. I love you…."
While more streams of molten rock spew forth around them, he backs carefully away from her.
BB, "…. I love you too…."
BB comes forward and the two share a tear-filled kiss as the area around them shakes. Time stands still for but a fleeting moment.
They separate as their platform splits between them, and she sends his half away. He keeps his eyes fixed on her for as long as he possibly can; she stands on her perch, hands glowing at her sides and her body ramrod-straight. As soon as Beast Boy is within Jack and Vic's reach, he is pulled away and all nine Titans bug out.
We see Terra, her ruined clothing hanging in shreds from beneath the steel plates. Her expression shows that for her, at this moment, nothing exists in her world except for the task of keeping the volcano from blowing its top. Every part of her body begins to glow yellow as the sea of boiling rock rages all around her; with her head bowed and her eyes closed, that mane of blond hair rises of its own accord. A lava gusher breaks wider, and we see Slade's mask, lying abandoned and being engulfed by the red-hot torrent.
Terra stands in her motionless battle against the impending destruction; now a column of light shoots upward from her body. Finally, she brings her fists up from her sides and clenches her teeth soundlessly for the biggest effort of her life. She voices one final scream as the energy and lava surge everywhere and the view fades to white.
….
We see the remains of Slade's lair. It is now totally quiet and still, and the lava has receded. The light through the stained-glass windows has gone out, and in the distance a small figure can be seen on an outcropping.
It is Terra, arms still spread wide, legs braced, hair blowing, but she has been turned to stone.
...
BB, "her name was Terra…."
….
We see Jump city. It is nighttime. The fog has cleared, and neither Ternion nor any of Slade's robots are present.
BB, "she was gifted with tremendous power, and cursed with it as well."
A couple of fellows walk past the cars parked at the curb.
BB, "she was a dangerous enemy…. And a good friend."
….
We see the Titans walking through the remains of Slade's lair. Starfire carries a bouquet of roses, while Bryan carries a picture of the entire team, Terra included.
BB, "and she was one of the bravest people that I have ever known."
They reach the stone former Titan/villain, who has been moved to an easily accessible outcropping that serves as a natural pedestal. A rectangular recess has been carved into its front face. Starfire reaches into view and lays her flowers gently between them. Bryan then sets down the picture beside the flowers.
Starfire, "I shall miss you, friend."
Blackfire, "despite everything she did…. She made it right in the end."
Rose, "she stopped my father…."
Raven, "we'll be searching for a way to reverse the effect."
Bryan, "you were right Beast Boy…. She deserved a second chance."
Beast Boy now holds something flat.
Dick, "we'll bring her back."
Jack, "we promise Beast Boy."
Vic, "someday."
The one Titan who has yet to speak up here steps forward and sets his object at the edge of Terra's pedestal.
BB, "I-I'll never forget you, Terra."
He bows his head and closes his eyes for a moment, then heads out with the others.
There, below the roses and picture, we now see his offering; a plaque, set into the recess, bearing these words.
Terra.
A Titan.
A true friend.
….
Reviews:
Sethelephant: glad to hear that.
Canadude2029: yep. It's getting real!
Bailey Radcliff: glad you liked the chapter so much, and that I've inspired you.
raven 2012: happy to hear it.
pokemonking0924: it's okay. And yeah, I may have the episode where Terra returns happen sooner. Maybe before the Doom Patrol episodes. Glad you liked the chapter.
….
Damn.
One of the most intense finales to a season!
Like last time, I'm gonna take a break to finish writing season 3's episodes.
Note: the robbery forms the basis for the story in issue #12 of the Teen Titans Go! comic series "Magic & Misdirection."
And if you haven't already voted on my Green Lantern story poll, do so now. And make sure you vote for three options.
