So nobody knew? I thought it was obvious…aw, well. I'm not saying anyone is stupid or anything, just surprised. Then again, I'm the one writing this, so…GAH! Sidetrackness! OK, someone told me in their review that I should cut the crap at the beginning, so I will make an honest effort. Even though it was a rather rude way of doing so.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: I am no longer allowed to answer reviews. It is a new rule. So I have to edit all previous chapters and stop responding if I don't want my story removed. But for all of you with email addresses, I will send you the petition against it. Also, I will be unable to access my computer for the rest of the month and possibly part of September. I will therefore try to make this chapter long. Thanx for understanding!
With a bright blaze of sunshine, the entrance doors swung open. Beast Boy shielded his eyes against the sudden change of light. When he opened them again, he still could not believe who he knew was standing right there in front of him.
"Hey, BB! Didja miss me?"
"…Terra…" (A/N: KILLLLLL…sorry.)
The blonde grinned and entered the tower. She looked at Beast Boy's shocked expression and her face fell. "Beast Boy, it's me. Don't you remember?"
"I…"
The changeling was still too stunned to speak. The two of them stood there, Beast Boy still contemplating her presence. Suddenly, Terra stepped forward and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"I missed you, BB."
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" shouted an angry voice behind them. Terra released Beast Boy and looked around at the cloaked blue figure just in time to see her hurl a black energy ball. It hit Terra squarely in the stomach and sent her flying into the now closed doors.
"You traitor," Raven hissed, looking down at the pitifully scrawny Terra. The volcano incident had left her weak and malnourished. "You think you can just waltz in here like nothing happened when you betrayed us?"
"Look, Rae, I—"
"SHUT UP!"
Terra was hurled in another direction. This time Beast Boy ran in front of her when Raven approached her menacingly.
"Stop it, Raven! Leave her alone!" he cried. Raven looked startled, and almost hurt.
"What's going on here?"
The remaining titans had entered the room. Upon seeing Terra, Robin (now in a clean suit) and Cyborg assumed a fighting stance while Starfire's eyes and hands glowed ominously.
"What is this traitor doing in our home?" Starfire asked.
"Yeah! I thought she'd learned her lesson!" Cyborg agreed, preparing his sonic cannon.
"Beast Boy, get away from her! She's not on our side," Robin ordered.
"You're wrong!" Beast Boy yelled. Everyone was quiet. "She turned against Slade and saved us when she was being forced to do all those crimes against her own will! She saved our whole city from that volcanic eruption! She died to save all of us!" he finished.
The titans' expressions softened. Each one lowered their defenses and looked at Beast Boy in a silent yet reluctant agreement. One, however, did not.
"I know she saved us, and our city, but I'll never forgive her for the crimes she committed. She had a choice, and she chose power over friendship," Raven said. Then, she turned her back on the stunned teens and added, "No matter how hard you try to apologize and fix everything you've done, you'll never be one of us."
"What would you know about friendship?" Beast Boy muttered quietly.
Raven did not even look at him.
"Raven, please—"
But before Starfire could finish her sentence, the empath was gone.
"Great. She still hates me," Terra remarked with forced humor, but her face was sad.
"Terra, it's OK. We can talk to her," Beast Boy reassured her. Terra gave him a grateful smile.
"I'm still not really sure how you escaped that rock prison, but welcome back," Robin said, extending his hand. Terra stood up and shook it. When she pulled her hand away, a communicator rested in it.
"Thanks, guys. All of you."
…
"Raven? Raven, I seek your companionship," Starfire said, knocking on the Goth's door.
"Not now, Starfire, I'm meditating," came the response. Starfire thought her voice sounded even more emotionless than usual.
"Oh…all right, then."
The Tameranian walked down the hallway, back the way she had come. With her head low in thought, she walked through the automatic doors into the living room.
"Any luck, Star?" Robin asked.
She shook her head. "Raven still does not wish to do the talking," she answered.
"I think we had better stop trying," Cyborg replied. "If she won't talk to you, her best friend on the team, then what chance does a titan like me have?"
Starfire managed a small smile at Cyborg's comment, but it soon disappeared and was replaced with a frown.
"I still do not know if what we did was…the right thing," Starfire said hesitantly. She only had the courage to say this because Terra and Beast Boy had gone to get the spare room ready.
"I'm not really sure either, to tell you the truth," Robin agreed. Cyborg nodded.
"Raven was right about a few things, but then again, so was BB," he said.
"Yes, but I do not know who to believe," Starfire sighed. "They are both our friends…"
"Yeah…"
They remained silent for a while longer, each pondering the others' comments. They were so deep in thought that, when the double doors opened again, they all jumped.
"The room's ready now, so now we can just chill," Terra said, making her way over to the couch. She collapsed on it and stretched out her skinny limbs. Robin and Cyborg ooched oh-so-slightly away from her. "Rae still not ready to join us?" she asked.
Starfire flinched at Terra's casual use of the name. "No, she is not."
"Oh well. She's being moody, as always," Beast Boy mumbled, sitting down next to Terra. Starfire saw as she passed her that his expression looked quite blank.
Robin and Cyborg moved away even more. So much, in fact, that…
"Augh!" Robin cried as he fell off the couch.
"Sorry Robin!" Cyborg apologized, at the same time Starfire gasped, "Robin!" Forgetting what she had just seen, she rushed to his side.
"I'm OK, Star, don't worry," Robin reassured her.
"You are certain?"
"Positive."
"A-hem!"
"Sorry," Robin said, realizing that he and Starfire had been a little too close together. Then he cleared his own throat and asked, "Could you excuse us for a sec? I need to tell Star something."
"Sure man," Cyborg answered. Then he winked at Robin as soon as Star's back was turned. Robin shot him a death glare in exchange.
Beast Boy merely shrugged and reached to put his arm around the back of the sofa and thus Terra, but she pretended to yawn and stretch so he could not. Starfire had turned around suddenly to watch this before the doors blocked her view.
"Robin, what do you wish to discuss with me?" she asked, remembering why they had left.
"Wait…let's go to my room," he answered, taking her hand and leading her down the hallway. After a few more twists and turns, Robin pulled her inside and shut the door behind them. "I noticed something kind of weird back there," he told her.
"What did you notice?"
Robin decided to stall for a few more minutes by sitting on his bed and patting the spot next to him. Starfire sat next to him, patiently waiting for an answer.
"I think there's something wrong with Terra and Beast Boy," he said.
Starfire was confused. "What do you mean, Robin? Surely they have not become ill with some sort of Earth sickness?"
Robin smiled at Starfire's innocence and proceeded to explain. "No, no. They're not sick, Star. But their personalities seem…off."
"Off? They have some sort of switch?"
Robin chuckled. "No, but sometimes I wish Beast Boy did! What I'm trying to say is that they don't seem like themselves."
This time Starfire understood. "They are most…unusual."
"Yeah. My first clue was Terra being all casual about Raven. She knows better than that! The two were almost good friends before she…" Robin caught himself, but Starfire nodded.
"Yes. I am uncomfortable with Terra treating her that way. And what of Beast Boy?"
"He…just disregarded Raven's feelings. He never does that!"
"Yes, I agree. He cares more for her feelings than that. Is that all?"
Robin fidgeted nervously. It wasn't easy for him to talk about the next issue. "Let's just say that he's warming up to Terra a little too quickly. I mean, I know that they…well…kind of dated before she was encased in stone, but still…"
Starfire nodded again. "Before I left with you, I saw him trying to put his arm around her, but she moved in such a way that it stopped him from doing so."
"I saw it, too. Along with—" He thought of Cy's wink and groaned inwardly as he recognized his meaning. "Anyway, there is definitely something strange going on here."
The two sat in thought, looking around the room aimlessly. Robin was staring at his clock, and lost himself in the glowing red digits, which read 1:47 PM.
"…She gives off a very strange feeling."
Robin started. "What did you say, Star?"
"I said that Terra gives me a strange feeling," Starfire repeated. "She almost feels…empty…"
Robin watched her carefully as she spoke. He was vaguely aware that her eyes were starting to glaze over. Suddenly, she collapsed forward.
"Star? Starfire!"
Robin half-dove off of his bed in order to catch the Tameranian before she fell face-first onto the hard floor. Her eyes were now closed and her body was rigid.
"Starfire! Wake up!"
When he received no response, he laid her on his bed and made sure she was still breathing. Listening to his own sharp intakes of air, he paced his room, hoping that she would be the same Starfire when she woke up.
…
"DAMN!" Raven cursed for the millionth time. She paced the room angrily, spinning on her heel when she changed direction. Another object hurled itself across the room, unbeknownst to the empath. It landed in a humongous pile of junk at the base of the wall that had accumulated.
"Why did they let her come back? She doesn't deserve a second chance!" Raven grumbled. She sat down heavily on her bed, half-expecting it to crack right down the middle.
"OK, I have to calm down. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…Azarath, Metrion—"
BAM!
"—Zinthos. All right, this is obviously not working," she said, getting up and pacing again. She wanted to march into the living room and get rid of Terra. Just chuck her out the window. But then again…
She should just kill her. Then the world would be rid of this traitor her teammates so wrongly called a friend. Raven made way for the door, but then turned around again and sat down to think.
"Why is it that every time I think about doing the world a favor and getting rid of Terra, something always stops me?" she asked herself.
But she knew the answer, and it made her hate Terra that much more. Beast Boy would never forgive her for it. No one would, for that matter. She would be shunned, and then abandoned. Just like earlier on in her life…
And then another thought surfaced. Was she jealous of Terra? After all, she drew all the attention to herself without meaning to, got along with everyone…and she was free. It was more than Raven could say for herself. No one wanted the child of hell as a friend…
Raven shook her head to clear it of these thoughts and began to pace again. Just when she thought she couldn't stand it anymore, she felt a strange pulsing feeling and recognized it immediately.
"I'm picking up someone's aura…" Raven levitated suddenly and assumed her meditation position. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
The aura she was reading was now growing stronger. It was starting to give her a headache. Then, as sudden as it had come, it was gone completely.
"Huh…?"
Immediately after, Raven heard a muffled cry from down the hallway. Throwing her door open, all negative thoughts of Terra gone for the moment, she flew quickly down the corridors and stopped in front of Robin's room.
"Robin? What's going on in there?"
The door opened to reveal a serious-looking Robin.
"It's Starfire. She just collapsed, and…"
"Let me see her."
Robin opened the door wider to let Raven pass. She approached the unconscious alien cautiously. The aura from earlier was pulsing slightly, and she was well aware of it.
"Tell me exactly what happened," Raven ordered.
"We were talking about how the other titans were acting strangely when she just said something about Terra feeling empty. Then her eyes sort of glazed over and she passed out," Robin explained quickly.
Raven frowned at the sound of Terra's name. She looked at Robin meaningfully. "Just who was acting strangely?"
"Terra and Beast Boy."
"I knew it," she thought.
"…Raven, why did it happen?"
Raven hesitated slightly. "When I was in my room, I picked up Starfire's aura. She was overcome by someone else's aura, probably Terra's, but she managed to tell you what was happening to her. She has surprisingly strong mental power for someone that isn't from Azarath," she said, smiling in spite of herself at the strength of her friend.
"Well, that's good to hear," Robin sighed, moving to stand at the other side of the bed.
"She should wake up soon. These kind of mental shocks don't last long."
As soon as she finished speaking, Starfire shuddered and opened her eyes. She looked fearful and her eyes welled up with tears when she recognized her friends beside her.
"Oh, Robin! Raven! Is it over?"
"Yes, Star. It's over," Robin answered. Starfire smiled despite her tears and sat up to embrace Robin, her tears falling onto his shoulder.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to speak to Terra," Raven said, deciding to leave them alone. Once she had left the happy atmosphere of the room, her anger flooded her once more and steered her towards her victim.
…
"Terra? You OK?" Cyborg asked the shivering teen. She laughed nervously.
"I'm fine. Just a little weak from the volcano incident, I think."
"You should rest," Beast Boy told her. His voice sounded strange to Cyborg. Almost as if it was forced…
"Yeah, you're right," Terra replied, getting up off the sofa and following the changeling out of the room. Cyborg watched them go with a frown on his face.
"I swear, Terra was having a seizure or something just now…"
With a sudden explosion, the microwave blew itself apart. Cyborg turned around to see a livid Raven phase through the floor.
"WHERE IS THAT BLONDE BI—!"
"She just left to get some rest," Cyborg interrupted, not even flinching. Raven seemed to relax a bit.
"I'm sorry," she said, rubbing her temples. "I'm just smarting a bit from her arrival—"
"And that's all?"
Raven glared daggers at the half-robot. "Mind your own business."
"Oh, come on! Everyone saw your reaction to Beast Boy siding with Ter—"
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Raven shouted again. Cyborg thought he saw a trace of the second pair of eyes emerging. "All right, Raven, calm down…" she told herself.
"Sorry Raven. I couldn't help myself."
"It's all right, Cyborg. I suppose I was a little dramatic."
"…Actually, you have a right to be."
Raven looked up. "What?"
Cyborg gave her a serious look. "Robin, Starfire and I agree that letting Terra come back may have not been the best idea ever."
Raven's hopes rose. Then she chided herself for thinking such thoughts and tuned back into what Cyborg was saying.
"…was acting really strange just before you came in."
"What? Who was?" Raven asked.
Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you listening? Terra! It was like she was having a seizure or something."
"Exactly what time did this happen?"
"A few minutes ago—"
"No, Cyborg. I want to know the exact minute."
Cyborg frowned. "I wasn't watching the clock, Raven. I estimate it was probably—"
"Can't we check the security cameras?" Raven interrupted.
"I suppose…"
"Then let's waste no time! I'll explain on the way to there."
…In Cyborg's room…
Cyborg bit his lip as he activated the machinery. He wasn't sure that Raven would like what she saw on this footage…
"Are you finished yet?"
"Just about…"
Cyborg flipped a switch and a large screen was illuminated. A frozen image of Beast Boy, Terra, Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg was displayed.
"This is footage starting from just before Starfire and Robin left to go 'talk,' at approximately 1:38 PM."
"Perfect," Raven said. "Start it."
Cyborg pushed a button and the tape began rolling.
"The room's ready now, so now we can just chill," Terra said, making her way over to the couch. She collapsed on it and stretched out her skinny limbs. Robin and Cyborg ooched oh-so-slightly away from her. "Rae still not ready to join us?" she asked.
Starfire flinched. "No, she is not."
"Oh well. She's being moody, as always," Beast Boy mumbled, sitting down next to Terra. Robin and Cyborg moved away even more. Robin was pushed to the end and fell off the couch.
"Augh!" Robin cried.
"Sorry Robin!" Cyborg apologized, at the same time Starfire gasped, "Robin!"
"I'm OK, Star, don't worry," Robin reassured her.
"You are certain?"
"Positive."
"A-hem!"
"Sorry," Robin said, moving away from Starfire. Then he cleared his throat and asked, "Could you excuse us for a sec? I need to tell Star something."
"Sure man," Cyborg answered. Then he winked at Robin as soon as Star's back was turned. Robin shot him a death glare in exchange.
Beast Boy merely shrugged and reached to put his arm around the back of the sofa and thus Terra, but she pretended to yawn and stretch so he could not. Starfire turned around just before the doors closed, eyeing the two suspiciously. After the doors closed, Cyborg sighed.
"Maybe Robin'll actually get somewhere this time…"
"What are you talking about, Cy?" Terra asked.
"Ah, nothin'."
"I hope Raven's doing all right…" Beast Boy said. Terra whipped her head around at this comment, but then said (in an oddly strained voice), "Yes, I hope she's OK."
"You know, Terra, I'm really glad you came back," Beast Boy said suddenly, moving closer to her. Compared to what he had just said, he sounded odd. ("Maybe it's the speakers…" Raven thought.)
"Really? I'm glad to be back," she answered. Then she leaned closer to Beast Boy as if she just might…(Raven took this time to glance at the timer, which read 1:46:57)
"Whoa, Terra, are you all right? Answer me!" Beast Boy was screaming suddenly. Terra was twitching violently and her eyes looked glazed over.
"Terra! Come on, wake up!" Cyborg yelled.
Suddenly, the tape went blank.
"What happened?" Cyborg asked himself, fiddling with the knobs and dials. "That's never happened to a security tape before…"
"That…bitch…" Raven seethed. She turned on her heel and headed for the door, adding quickly, "Thank you for showing me the footage, Cyborg."
"Rae! Wait—!"
But the doors sliding shut behind the enraged empath cut off Cyborg. He shook his head, knowing there was nothing he could do about it now.
"I hope BB survives this…"
OK then. That's that. Hope you liked it. Once again, sorry for not updating the other story, but I'm really trying to make it worthwhile. And I also sent the review answer petition to you guys. SIGN IT PLEASE! Also review. Thanx!