Why
"She really is alive… of my god."
A blue light illuminated Torrents face as Cyborg ran a scanner over his arm, the armor that platted his right arm had been replaced with bandages and the bleeding had stopped and consciousness was slowly rising to the surface. Ann sat at his side, holding his left hand in hers while Raven probed her for answers.
"Are you sure it was her or it was a clone."
"Look lady, I had no idea you had a history with our Terra, I don't care if she's a clone or not, she's the only Terra we've ever known. The last time we saw her she was fling of into the sunset to try and save this Beast Boy. Now I've told you all that I know and I think it's about time that you answered some of my questions." Raven sighed obviously not content with the information that Ann was able to provide but began a reluctant explanation of the events that had been transpiring in the world beyond the mountain where Ann had lived the majority of her life.
"The world began to devour its self not long after you and your friends vanished into the deep shadows of the mountains along with the newly surfaced Terra and Beast Boy. The general who acted as conductor of this twisted symphony is named Hunter; he gained power through the fear that festers at the center of all men. The fear of our kind gave Hunter enough political force to grant himself rights above the laws of morality. Almost every civilian group sided with his cause simply because they where scarred as well, Hunter would broadcast examples of gifted as violent and destructive in a daily show of propaganda across the airwaves. This friend of yours ripping his face up didn't help the situation, no matter how much the bastard deserved in.
"We were his first target, a surgical covert operation was sent out to take out Titans Tower. Beast Boy and I had just… well… let it be said that we where not available at the time. He left to find Terra, and my powers where currently undergoing a drastic state of change. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg where called away from the tower by Hunter himself to attack you three, for the sake of national security. While the inhabitants of the Tower where away, Hunter's strike team moved in and corrupted the towers security and defense systems. After the futile quarrel between yours and mine the Titans limped home to their safe haven. Robin was put in the infirmary and Cyborg went directly to his repair center. My poor friends did not in the least bit suspect that the world they had spent their young lives to protect was waiting at their door step calculating their annihilation.
"That very night, while Star slept and the others healed, the strike team struck. They where planning and killing Starfire and Cyborg in their sleep but they underestimated the spirit of my two friends. However the tower was demolished in a fiery explosion and Robin was taken captive. The already damaged Cyborg was nearly killed and Starfire was forced to flee with what remained on him rather then attempt to save our leader. Star found me here, I was, and still am attempting to once again quite my mind. We waited and watched for Robin to return to us while the city decayed into an autocracy of oppression and suffering almost overnight. Task forces where assembled to round up gifted and put them into camps, where they underwent inhuman experiments and horrid treatment. Several rescue attempts where put into action but they all ended in crippling failure. In a final act of defiance I gathered as many other free gifted as I could to wage war upon the cruelty besetting our kind. Then Robin came. He wore the sign of Hunter and bore his fag at the head of an army of mechanical beast engineered for the sole purpose of extinguishing our spark from the surface of this world."
Ann looked down at the boy in the black mask lying next to her with an even higher since of dread then when he had first attacked them, but when she looked into the green eyes of the young alien girl kneeling beside the fallen Robin she saw not dread reflecting in the tears running down her face but sorrow.
"The gifted resistance was crushed in a matter of minutes, by shear volume of opponents. Like a sea of blades they crashed into our lines, merciless and deadly. Their linked minds and advanced artificial learning drives based off of information gathered off of Torrent's ability rendered most of our powers a mute point; and when the dust cleared it was obvious that we had lost our chance at revolution. Those of us that did not die where captured or forced to flee into exile. Starfire and I used some of the technology off of the hunter killers to reconstruct Cyborg, with his technological expertise guiding us. Sadly we are basically all that is left of the free gifted in our world, Hunter had become far too powerful for us to destroy on our own.
"Hunter, you see, is very much interest in control. Witch is why he uses the harnessed powers of the gifted ageist us. For instance, he found records of a powerful physic child whose powers had not yet taken a form, and he wanted to wield that power as an energy source for some sort of machine he has constructed. He tried to track you down with every asset he could, but when he found you, you where snatched away again by a familiar antagonist. Your friend Torrent here met with Hunter before that day in the park." Ann interrupted Raven,
"How do you know that, you may be more powerful then me I know Torrents mind better then he does and he has no memory of this tyrant." Raven slowly and gently reached out and turned Torrent on his side and exposed the back of his neck to Ann. Burnt in to his skin was the faintest scar in the shape of a gagged H.
Ann was too shocked to speak as she reached out and caressed the long sense healed wound. Raven smiled at the obvious sign of affection and concern, "Many people block horrible memories from their minds, especially if they are at a young age when the even occurs." Cyborg abruptly halted in his analysis of Torrent and looked up at the two girls, Sparks materialized on one of his broad shoulders and spoke as if for him,
"Cy says that he's done, and that your boyfriend will be fine. He'll be a little week for a while from lack of fresh blood in his veins and he should avoid using his injured arm." Ann glared up at the jester perched on Cyborg.
"Since when are you a physic?" Alice smiled and hopped down to the ground,
"I'm not, my master is. We're connected." Raven confirmed this,
"As I gained enough control over my newly manifested abilities I created a familiar of sorts to act as my eyes beyond this cave, the girl you know as Sparks became my spectral ward. She also technically does not physically exist so she makes an ideal agent to spy on the enemy, this is how I found out about you three and Hunters interest in you."
Sparks turned to the kneeling Starfire and said, "Your boy's up next for the probing." Starfire watched eagerly as the blue light flowed up and down Robins still form. Ann turned back to Raven,
"There's something your not telling me isn't there." Raven looked up when Ann spoke to her.
"You are truly a gifted young girl Ann… and yes, there is one more thing I have found of Hunters exploits. Terra had long sense occupied the main focus of the organization's attempts of controlling the gifted, and I've found out why."