You Can Never Forget
Chapter 3: On the Run
"Impressive, Miss Markov," said Tara's art Teacher, disrupting the sound of rain pelting the windows. "Nice choice of colors; it really adds to the mood and gives it a bit of a surreal feeling to it."
Tara blushed. She was working on a desert scene at night with oil pastels. She hadn't realized what she was done until she was past the sketching phase, at which point, she couldn't bring herself to throw it away. Plus, it felt familiar to her, and the thought had made her feel… at home, although she couldn't explain why.
She looked at the clock. There were only a couple minutes left and it was the last period, so she placed the drawing inside a couple sheets of newspaper and into her folder, then got up to put her materials away.
As she closed the cupboard, she heard a loud noise, like an explosion, and several screams.
"Remain calm!" shouted their teacher. "Sit down!" But then a second explosion came, this time it was in the doorway of the classroom.
In what had once been the exit stood five figures. The tallest was a rather hairy guy wearing black with an animal-like face and fangs. Next to him was another guy, but in a red bodysuit with a division sign on the chest. Neither of these two looked too intelligent. Next was what looked like a cheap rip-off of the legendary Batman with extremely pale skin. The shortest was a little bald kid in green with several high-tech gadgets attached to him. Next to him was a guy with one eye and a sort of helmet with a lens in the center of his head. He had a white bodysuit with an eye on the torso.
"Which one of you 's Terra?" demanded Mammoth. Tara shrank back in fear at the mention of that variation of her name. It sounded so similar, that the rest of the class stared at her.
Damn it! Why do they have to stare like that! Don't they understand how NOT to give someone away? Tara backed away as they advanced towards her, glancing around for something to use as a weapon. On the table, bright orange, was a box cutter. Without a second thought, she grabbed it and extended the blade.
"I can't believe Slade would want us to catch a numbskull like her," laughed Gizmo. Mammoth continued walking towards her, punching his hand in a threatening manner.
He grabbed her wrist so tightly, she dropped the knife and closed her eyes against the pain. She felt a surge of energy flow through her, heard a crash, like glass being broken, and felt him let go.
Opening her eyes, he saw him, lying on the ground with a boulder. He picked it up and threw it at her, but she moved to the side, but it stopped before it hit the wall and split into two. She made a movement with her hand in the direction of Kid Wykked, sending one half in his direction, and the other at Gizmo.
Kid Wykked placed a hand on it, and it turned black, going through him. Spider-like legs extended from Gizmo, lifting him above the rock.
She concentrated on the ground, which began to shake, and then pieces of cement emerged from the floor beneath the Hive Five, uprooting them.
Before they could stand back up, Terra looked from the debris lying everywhere, to her frightened classmates, to the door, and then to her hands. There was only one thing she could do: run.
She ran out the door, pushing past anyone that got in her way. Rain soaked her as she ran through the mud, blending in with her tears. Why can't I just be normal!
She could never return home now. She was a danger to herself and anyone around her, and they were after her.
Robin threw a smoke bomb at Slade, drowning him in a thick cloud of smoke. The five used that chance to escape so they could stop whatever he was planning.
Robin mounted his R-cycle and Cyborg, Raven, Beastboy and Starfire got into the T-car. Robin's voice sounded on the radio, "I've traced an other distress call from Murakami High School."
"I'm on it," said Cyborg.
"That's where Terra goes!" Beast Boy pointed out, worried. "Can't this thing go any faster?"
"Faster it can go, and faster it shall." Cy stepped on the acceleration, driving towards their target. "No one messes with the Titans, or an ex-Titan and gets away with it."
"You just ran over a squirrel…" Raven stated, but even Beast Boy ignored it.
The car skidded to a halt outside the gate and Beast Boy was first out of the car, in form of a cheetah, to join Robin who was already investigating.
Robin disappeared around the corner, then his footsteps increased in speed. Beast Boy followed after him, curious as to what he had seen. There was a door, blown off its hinges, just like the one at the entrance. Inside were rocks, fragment of concrete and tables thrown about the place.
On the floor was a folder labeled in the bottom right-hand corner, "Tara Markov." Curious, Beast Boy opened it, and a piece of paper fell out. It was just the kind of thing Terra would have drawn- the old Terra they all knew. It was a desert at night, and in the sky, flying past the full-moon was a green hawk.
He heard more footsteps, obviously the rest of the team, but he ignored them. Then came in an other voice, that of an old woman who he assumed was the principal.
"There's a student missing," she informed them. "Tara Markov."
Beast Boy dropped the picture he was looking at. They took Terra. He was going to hunt down Slade and tear him limb from limb for this.