A/N: Ok, here's Chapter Six. I know I said I'd have it Monday, but I had stuff to do. Well, anyways… I'm gong to apologize in advance to all the Raven fans for Terra's, uh, thoughts about Raven. Sorry.
Thanks to my reviewers! You guys make my day!
Scorpio Serpent: Thank you so much! It means a lot to me that you like it.
TK Fox: Okay, okay! Anything but Spongebob laughter! I'll update, I promise. Lol. I'm glad you liked the hug; I wasn't sure if it would work, but I guess it did. Thanks!
PsychoMindGames: Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I'm trying to spice things up a bit with the episode remakes; don't think it's working…. Oh well. Thanks again!
Angela: Thanks! Getting their characters down is pretty hard, so I'm glad I'm doing it right! I'm glad you like it!
Disclaimer: Believe it or not, I don't own any of them. They're just the victims of my fanfiction and will be returned to DC Comics and Cartoon Network when I'm through with them.
Chapter Six: Coming to Terms
We took off towards the area on the map, which was near the center of the city. It was now dark and unusually quiet. A few cars were driving by, and a couple of pedestrians, but other than that, nothing. I caught up with Robin, who was leading the group.
"Any idea what we might be up against?" I asked him. He had a determined look on his face as he glanced at me.
"Several, but most are unlikely. It might be a sort of machine." He looked at me. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Nope," I told him, with complete honesty. I really wasn't expecting to have to fight alongside the Titans this quickly; I was hoping to get to know them better first. It didn't matter, though. As long as I impress them, they'll have to let me in.
Suddenly, something tall and huge erupted from the street about fifty yards in front of us. It looked a lot like a worm, and on the thing's head there was what looked like a drill. People were screaming and running; I heard two cars crash to the side and their drivers ran out the vehicles, terrified. The mechanical worm replaced the drill with what looked like a mouth, and dived down toward a bus. Raven quickly used her powers to move the bus out of harm's way.
"You missed the bus," she said in her monotone voice. Behind her, Cyborg lifted up a taxi-cab.
"Guess you'll just have to take a cab!" he said, and threw the taxi and the worm's head. With Robin's signature "Titans, go!" the battle began. The Titans and I used our skills to fight the monster. But no matter what we did, it seemed to make no difference. Cyborg's sonic-cannon caused no damage, starbolts hag no effect, Robin's explosives discs did it no harm, and it disregarded whatever me and Raven chucked at it. The worm had some sort of a laser on its head that it shot at us, which was a right pain.
Struck by a sudden inspiration, I ripped a huge chunk of the pavement from the ground and prepared to hit the worm. To my surprise, the pavement was suddenly engulfed with Raven's power. She's trying to stop me! I glared at her.
"What are you doing?" I shouted angrily.
"It's too dangerous," she replied heatedly. "Someone could get hurt." Then, she pulled the pavement towards herself. That little…
"I know what I'm doing!" I shouted angrily. "Trust me!" I moved the mass back toward me. The pavements begin to crack from the pressure; we were both trying to gain total control of it.
"Look out!" yelled Robin's voice from somewhere, and suddenly, the worm shot its laser at the pavement, reducing it to gravel. Raven and I were both hurled backward from the blast. After a few seconds, we both got up and stormed towards each other. That was all her fault! That stupid Goth, she thinks she's better than everyone else. Stupid know-it-all.
"Way to go," we said at the same time. One look told me she was just as mad as I was. I wanted to shout at her, but Robin came over before I could get started.
"Come on," he shouted. "It's getting away!" I looked past him and saw that the worm was indeed almost back under the ground. By the time we got to it, it was gone, leaving a good sized tunnel in its wake. Suddenly, Robin's communicator beeped. He opened it and it showed Slade. Wait a second, what is he doing?
"Slade," Robin said with venom.
"Robin," Slade replied. So it was a sort of communication set-up. Wonder if he sees me here. "Good to see you again. I hope I haven't called at a bad time." Slade's voice gave away no hint of emotion. What is he up to?
"The worm! What are you planning?" Robin shouted. I gave him a look. Who said Slade had anything to do with the worm? Then again, what else could he possibly be calling about?
"Well now, Robin," Slade replied, "If you're so very curious, why don't you come down here and find out." The screen snapped to black. I stared at the communicator. So Slade is up to something. But what? Robin gave a nod, and we set off down the tunnel.
We walked for what felt like hours. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, going gradually downward. Cyborg's built in flashlight-thingy on his shoulder was providing light.
"That evil worm has left a very long trail," Starfire said, breaking the silence. No one had spoken at all since we had set off, except for Beast Boy's continually asking 'Are we there yet?' He has a point. We've been walking forever. "This tunnel continues for at least another two plinthorgs." Whatever that is. Cyborg glanced at his built-in computer.
"And we're more than three-hundred miles below the sea level," he stated heavily. "What's it doing down here?"
"Whatever Slade tells it to," Robin said as we rounded ournineth corner. I turned to Raven, who was beside me, and decided to try and patch things up with her. Hey, if I'm gonna be on this team, they all have to trust me, right?
"So," I said, turning to face her, "sorry about our little tug-a-war back there." She didn't respond, so I pressed on. "You know I wouldn't have let anyone get hurt."
"Whatever," she said in her deadpan voice. I glared at her and stopped walking, and she stopped as well.
"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but get over it," I said coldly, as she glared at me as well. "If I'm gonna be a part of this team, we have to get along." We continued to glare at each other.
"You're not part of this team," she said fiercely. "Not yet. And if you ever endanger my friends again, you never will be. The next time I tell you something's too dangerous," she took a deep breath, "TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!" With that, she stormed off. I stared incredulously after her. Who does that Goth think she is? I was only trying to help! Beast Boy walked over to me with a comforting smile.
"Why does she hate me?" I asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
"Ahh," he began confidently, "she kinda hates everybody. It'll be fine. Raven just needs some time to get used to you. I think she's still getting used to me." I smiled at him as we set off again in silence. After about twenty minutes, we came to what seemed to be a large circular chamber of some sort. The tunnel ended here.
"Dead end," Raven commented. Nice work, Sherlock. Robin pulled out his communicator, flipped it open, and pressed a few buttons. It began beeping. Robin walked towards the wall ahead.
"Not necessarily," Robin said, his voice full of concentration. As he neared the wall, the communicator beeped more enthusiastically. Cyborg walked over next to him, adjusting what he called his eye-implant. "I'm picking up a signal from deep inside the rock," Robin noted.
"Way deep," Cyborg said. "Electronics… and a heartbeat." Robin's fists clinched.
"Slade," he said, his voice full of venom. Somebody has some serious issues with letting go. Get over it already! I glanced over at the others before preparing my powers for use.
"How 'bout we dig down there and find out what's up?" I asked the team. Before they could respond, the ground trembled again. When it passed after a few seconds, Raven shot me a filthy glare. "Are you gonna look at me like that everytime there's an earthquake?" I asked her viciously. She merely continued to glare. Then, without warning, the worm's drill shot out of the ground, three feet in front of me. "Whoa!" I quickly backed away. Two more worms shot out from the ground, and the three of them aiming their heads down at us.
"Titans!" Robin shouted as we gathered together in a tight group. "Ready!"
But before we could attack, the worms dived over us and disappeared through the wall behind us. I noted to myself that this was not the section of wall Slade was supposedly behind. Beast Boy stared after the worms and waved his arms in exasperation.
"Hel-lo!" he shouted after the retreating worms. "The good guys are over here!" He turned and faced the rest of us, looking a bit put-out. "Dude, we got snubbed!"
"Because we're not their target," Starfire stated confidently. Robin nodded.
"Three of those worms together could wreck anything in the city." Cyborg added, looking slightly worried.
"We have to stop 'em!" I yelled a bit lamely. Oh well. I'm new at this.
"We have to stop Slade," Raven put in. I looked at her questioningly. Stop Slade? Impossible.
"Split up," Robin ordered. "Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy—go after the worms." He looked over and Raven and me. "Terra and Raven, we're going after Slade." Again, he said the name as though it was a nasty swear-word that he didn't want to say aloud. The others left without complaint, but I wasn't about to work with her without a fight. I turned to the leader.
"I can make a tunnel on my own," I said to him defiantly. "Don't you think she should—?"
"No," Robin cut me off. "Raven's almost as good as moving rocks as you. We're digging through solid rock, Terra. I'll need you both." I gave a look of defeat and looked away from him.
"Nice try," Raven said quietly from next to me. Robin was checking his communicator.
"I've got a fix on the signal. Four degrees south, six hundred meters deep." He continued to look at the screen.
"No problem," Raven and I said at the same time, shooting our powers at the wall and getting to work. Within seconds, we had dug nearly five feet. "Is that as fast as you can go" I taunted her.
"Not even close," she replied darkly. With that, we dug on, each of us determined to outshine the other. Robin followed right behind us, shocked and bewildered at our behavior. After a half hour or so, we finally broke through the rock. We all stared in shock at the gigantic room. The stone walls had all sorts of metal beams and walkways. In the center of the room, across a steel walkway, was a huge circular computer counsel. A ring of green light that shot up from the base had a hologram of some building. The entire thing was about fifteen feet high. I kept looking around, taking in all the steel catwalks, ladders, and a few service elevators. This place just screams 'Slade.'
Robin motioned for us to cross the walkway over to the counsel. As we walked, I glanced up to see how high up the ceiling was.
"Robin!" I shouted, pointing upward. Nearly two-hundred feet above us, near the ceiling, were three of the worm-things. They had connected together in a ring, and were spinning in a circle. Now what are they doing? Robin rushed towards the counsel, me and Raven at his heels. Up close, the building proved to be the Tower and its island. I looked back up at the worms, then back at the screen again. What could they be doing up there? They're just spin—the lasers! I glanced at the screen again, finally understanding.
"They're going to attack the tower!" I said in horror, pointing to the screen. Robin looked at the worms, and realized it too. He ran over to the counsel and punched a few buttons fiercely. Another hologram came up to show the Tower, this time showing the ring of worms underground, along with another above the tower. A red arrow was flashing below the Tower, pointing down. The three of us stared in disbelief. Suddenly, there was a loud crunching sound above us; we looked up and saw the worms were shooting their lasers upwards at the rock. Robin's communicator beeped, and he quickly opened it. Cyborg's frantic face appeared on the screen.
"Robin, it's the Tower!" Cyborg's face was replaced with a view of the Tower, which was currently being circled by three beams of light. "They're attacking Titans Tower!" Robin, Raven, and I stared gravely at the hologram.
"It's not just under attack," Robin said in a hollow voice. "It's about to be underground." Robin snapped his communicator shut and threw a birdarang at the worms, which just bounced off. Raven tried shooting bouts of her black energy at it, but it caused no damage. I pulled a few large chunks of rock from the wall and chucked them at it. "Not even a scratch!" Robin yelled, clearly annoyed. He turned back to the computer. "If we can't stop the drill," he began, typing furiously, "hacking this computer is our only shot at shutting it down!"
I heard him, but I wasn't really listening. Something was very fishy about this whole plan of Slade's. Why is he even doing this in the first place? What good could it possibly do him to sink the Tower? Sure, the Titans would be temporarily homeless, but how hard would it be for them to build a new one? Something was definitely not right here.
Then, without warning, Slade himself was rushing toward the counsel. Within seconds he reached Robin and kicked him right in the jaw, sending him flying. He landed on the walkway leading to the elevator. Slade pushed past me without any sign of recognition, or any sign at all, for that matter. What's his deal? He and Robin worked their way down the walkway toward the elevator, throwing punches. Raven and I took off after them.
"Robin!" I shouted as I ran. "Hang on!" Slade made no sign that he had heard me at all, but Robin shot me and Raven a look.
"Forget about me!" he yelled as he dodged and blocked Slade's ongoing attack. "Shut down the drill!" He and Slade had now worked their way into the elevator. Slade pushed a button, and the elevator rose quickly away from us. I turned to Raven, a look of resignation on my face. I-do-not-like-her-and-I-do-not-want-to-work-with-her!
"Guess it's just you and me," I said moodily. We hurried back to the computer.
"We have to hack in" Raven said, hurrying forward. I hesitated, then warmed up my powers and grabbed a huge rock.
"Why hack when you can smash?" I asked her with a smirk. She glared at me and shot her own powers at the rock, keeping it in place.
"No!" she said darkly. "We don't know how this thing works. Destroy the controls, and we might never be able to stop it." I sighed angrily. She's just about as paranoid as Robin. Why is she always so cautious? Does she ever take any chances?
"Or we could destroy it sooner and save our home!" I shouted desperately. I tried to move the rock again, but Raven held it steady. "Why can't you just trust me?" I shouted, extremely annoyed with the stupid Goth.
"Because you don't deserve it!" she shouted back, clearly as pissed off as I am. "I have to meditate everyday to keep my powers under control. And I'm supposed to believe you can suddenly control yours? Trust is something you have to earn!" I'm not here for a morality lesson! But here was my opportunity to find out how to get to Raven.
"How?" I shouted, forcing my voice to sound desperate. "How do I earn it?" She narrowed her eyes and looked at me in defiance.
"You can start by trusting me," she said firmly. I considered this. I seriously thought destroying the counsel would shut off these God-forsaken worms, but Raven didn't. And to gain her trust, I had to trust her. Fine. She'd better be right. I let the rock fall.
We both hurried forward to the counsel. Seconds later, a huge rock fell from the ceiling. We jumped out of harm's way right before the rock destroyed the counsel completely. I glanced up at the worms above us, expecting to see them faltering. Instead, the lasers grew to an even huger size. I looked at Raven, a bit embarrassed. There's gonna be no living with her now. I might never live this down.
"Okay," I said, grinning nervously, "Maybe smashing the computer was a bad idea." Now, there was nothing we could do but wait. And then, after several painstakingly long minutes, the lasers finally broke through, and the Tower, along with its island, began to sink.
"We have to go," Raven said from beside me. "There's nothing we can do now." I wasn't about to accept that. There must be a way.
"Yes, there is!" I said triumphantly, and with a huge effort, I shot my powers straight at the base of the island. For a few moments, the sinking stopped. But the pressure became too tough, and it slowly began sinking again. Raven came up beside me, uttered her magic words, and shot up her black energy. Working together, we slowly but surely returned the Tower to its original position. Raven held it steady as I reformed the rocks to hold it in place. It's over now. I turned and smiled at Raven. To my surprise, she returned it.
Robin came down from his place in the catwalks, and Raven rushed over to check that he was alright. I was about to follow, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of metal go behind a bit of steelwork. A second glance told me it was Slade. He narrowed his eye and nodded, which clearly stated that he was pleased with me. A second later, he was gone.
He and I are definitely going to have a talk about this.
A/N: Wow, this one was pretty long, huh? Sorry, no Slade POV again, but I promise there's some in the next chapter. Now, REVIEW!
