DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.
SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to "The Life and Times of Red X", which is in my profile. Read that before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.
O-O-O
It had been a perfect plan... go right to the statue after the handoff. The Titans would suspect that Ruell and his men would've waited... and the signal jammer planted into the ground would confirm those suspicions for the Titans if they decided to scan the area for signs of life.
As sparks began lifting from the crystal, Dr. Ruell slowly walked over to a keyboard placed near the mainframe box and began furiously typing instructions into the quantum computer. A few seconds later, golden lightning began to arch from the crystal to Terra's statue, which continued to glow brighter and brighter with every moment.
"The natural processes that fused her body with the earth are rapidly reversing... she'll be revived in just moments now..." said Dr. Ruell, excitement mounting in his voice as he turned toward the brightly glowing statue. Small pebbles on the ground nearby began to vibrate, and occasionally the ground would issue forth a violent jolt. "It's happening!"
Red X knew he had to act quickly... there were only a dozen guards, certainly enough to give him a challenge, but not enough to stop him if he worked quickly. He had to find a way to stop Ruell from reviving Terra... even if it meant his own life.
The thief leapt down from the stone walkway, landing about ten feet away from where the first of the guards were standing. Everyone in the area, including Dr. Ruell, turned immediately to where Red X had landed.
"You were foolish to come here," said Dr. Ruell, continuing to work at the computer console as more electricity began sparking from Terra to the statue. "Kill him!"
The guards broke from their formation around the statue, facing Red X and beginning to fire. He leapt up to avoid the first volley of bullets, shooting several shuriken Xs in an attempt to disarm some of the guards. Rapidly dashing toward the men, X rolled to the side to avoid another burst of gunfire, then launched a chain-like apparatus from both of his palms, swinging the chains like whips against the guards' chests and knocking them off their feet.
He quickly leapt into the air again, attempting to fire an exploding X at the statue, only to have it prematurely detonated by an arc of electricity slamming into it and triggering it to explode a few feet away from its target. The doctor issued a loud laugh as some of the guards stood up, their weapons still in hand.
"Don't you see?" shouted Ruell, as the guards began firing at Red X again. "You're too late!"
X barely paid attention to the doctor. Instead, he lifted up his arms and formed a metallic shield in front of his body, causing the bullets to be blocked up against it. As soon as the guards stopped firing, the shield charged toward them like a battering ram, knocking them down again and causing them to drop their weapons. When the X had disappeared, all twelve guards were on the ground, either stunned or unconscious... and the thief was now standing just six feet away from Terra's statue.
All that stood between him and the Crisis Crystal was Dr. Ruell, now standing in front of the computer mainframe, the crystal held in his hands. It had stopped glowing, and the electrodes had been detached from both it and the statue.
"You're gonna put that crystal down, old man... or I'll show you why I'm the most feared thief in Jump City."
Dr. Ruell simply grinned, his stained teeth clearly showing against the glow of the dim light shining down on himself and the statue.
"I'll do nothing of the sort... and I'm about to show you why I'm known as the most brilliant scientist in the world. In fact... I think I'll show you right now."
A violent tremor shook the ground, bringing Red X to one knee and forcing his attention toward Terra's statue... which was now beginning to crack from the base up. As the cracks formed, a bright, red light shone outward from them... the same red light now glowing from the Crisis Crystal, which had once been yellow in hue. The eyes of the statue began to glow a brilliant, blood red... and Red X could only watch in horror.
"Oh my god... it's happening..."
The rock fell away from the statue, and now, hovering in the air, her arms still extended outward, her gazed focused on the heavens, was Terra herself, now fully reborn. Scraps of white fabric, part of the outfit Slade had placed on her body to control her, flowed outward from her body as if blown by a faint wind. The bronze nameplate that once read 'Terra: A Teen Titan, a true friend' now lay on the ground, the only remnant of the fact that the girl had once been stone.
Slowly, the blonde girl's head lowered... until her gaze was focused on Red X, who brought himself back up to a standing position. Terra's once beautiful blue eyes were now glowing a solid red... the same color as the crystal. Her teeth were clenched tightly.
"I told you that you were foolish to come here... and now, I'll demonstrate why. Terra, annihilate him!"
And like a soulless puppet, Terra obeyed, her hands immediately drawn inward toward the center of her body. As she moved her hands, the ground again began to shake, and a large fissure appeared in the ground, right beneath Red X's feet. The violent shaking knocked him to the ground again, and he landed in a sitting position, just as the ground below him began to split in two.
Quickly, X placed his hands on the edges of the fissure, forming a large metallic X that gave him a platform to sit on and kept the gap in the rock beneath him from growing any wider. He leapt away from the platform and fired an X at Terra's arms, hoping to bind them to her sides. She swung her arms forward, lifting a rock from the ground that destroyed the X that the thief had fired, then lifted up another rock and flung it right into Red X's chest. With a cry of pain, X was thrown violently backwards, skidding on the ground before landing on his back some distance away.
"I have to find a way to stop her..." thought Red X, fighting for his life as Terra threw more stones at him, rocks the size of baseballs and basketballs. He managed to dodge a few of them, but took several hits, including hits to his right arm, his stomach, and the side of his face. He nearly fell again, and Terra charged him, swinging her foot into his knee and causing X to let out another painful scream.
Unlike when Terra was serving under Slade, her body controlled by the neural impulses transmitted to her by the suit she was wearing, while her mind remained her own, under the control of the Crisis Crystal, Terra was completely transfixed, both her body and mind controlled by the glowing relic, its power over her thoughts and actions absolute.
She was a soulless killing machine, and at the moment, her target was Red X. He stumbled back toward a rock wall, his body continually battered by the stones that Terra flung his way. Every time he would lift his hand to fire out an X, he would find himself smashed by another rock, and his concentration broken. It would only be a matter of time before the thief would succumb to Terra's assault... and he would pass out, where death would surely follow.
Red X wasn't about to let that happen. Terra had him backed up against the wall, and suddenly, X could feel the wall itself come alive, a set of stony hands reaching outward and wrapping around his arms and chest, pinning him in place. More hands burst out from the wall and encircled his legs, keeping the thief completely pinned and helpless.
"Unnnngggh... aaaaaaagh... dammit..." X's struggles were violent, but ultimately futile. He grimaced and groaned as Terra slowly walked toward him, forming a stony sword out of a long, cylinder-shaped rock and holding the sword in her right hand, its stone blade dimly glistening. "Fight him off! Don't let that old guy control you!"
X's plea caused Dr. Ruell to let out a loud, hearty laugh, the crystal still cradled in his right hand.
"It's not me controlling her... it's the crystal... the crystal is what I control. She can't fight it... it owns her life! She's a slave to its awesome power... and you're about to be cut open," said Dr. Ruell as Terra leveled her sword at Red X's neck, the blade aimed directly at his throat.
"I don't think so..." thought Red X, clenching his fists as Terra thrust the sword forward. At the last moment, the stony hands holding the thief burst open, showering Terra with rocks and a thick layer of gooey xynothium. X's hands were glowing brightly, red electricity sparking up and down his arms. He lifted his hands, and his wrists blades quickly materialized. "Now it's my turn."
With an inhuman war cry, Terra lunged forward, her stone sword coming down right at X's head. X parried with his wrist blades, and the hard metal made two large cracks in Terra's sword as it impacted them. X swung his blades forward again, and as soon as the blades made contact with Terra's stone sword, the stone crumbled to dust. Terra stepped back and lifted her arms, extending her palms and lifting herself up on a tall, rocky platform that carried her nearly thirty feet into the air.
"That's hardly fair, you know," said Red X, his blades disappearing. He slammed both of his hands into the base of the pillar, and in less than a second, an explosion ripped through the structure, causing a violent jolt that knocked Terra right off the top and sent her plummeting to the cold, stone ground. At the last moment, she managed to coalesce some of the debris of the pillar around her, forming a platform under her body that softened her landing. X leapt onto this much shorter platform, firing several exploding Xs downward toward the geomancer and engulfing her in a ball of fire. Her body was blasted backward, her head smacking hard into the large wall of stone behind her. She let out a quiet moan, and her eyes began to close. "You were saying, doctor?"
Dr. Ruell simply smiled... with Terra completely under the crystal's power, she would feel no pain... and no fear. Her eyes opened again, as solid red as ever. She stood up and ran toward Red X, who immediately lifted his right hand and blasted Terra backward with another X. This X caused Terra to slam into the wall again, her arms tightly pinned by the metallic bars that it formed as it embedded itself in the rock.
Terra's teeth clenched as Red X began walking toward her. She thrashed for a second, before the ground began to shake once more, and a large section of the cliff face above broke loose, sending a huge, van-sized boulder plummeting downward at the thief. With a cry of surprise, X leapt out of the way, managing to avoid the boulder as it impacted the ground and showered the area with dust and debris.
"Should've known she'd pull a move like that..." thought Red X, coughing as the thick dust swirled around him, blocking out his vision. When he could see again, he looked at the spot on the cliff face where he'd pinned Terra... only to see a large, cracked hole punched in the rock where she had once been. "Dammit..."
A huge rock slammed into X's back, knocking him face-first onto the ground. He gasped, before feeling two knees press tightly down into the small of his back, keeping him pinned down. When he brought his head around to look up, he could see Terra staring right at him, kneeling on top of him and holding a rock in her hands, raising it above X's head.
Thinking quickly, X struck out his fist, catching Terra in the nose and knocking her off of him. She quickly stood up, a small trickle of blood dripping down from her left nostril. With another loud war cry, she rushed forward, just as X stood up and slammed his foot right into her face. She stumbled back, and the thief went on the offensive, battering Terra with a series of blows that sent her reeling.
"If you're not gonna come around on your own, I'll just have to knock the sense back into you!" shouted X, striking Terra with an uppercut to the jaw. She let out a moan, then fell to the ground, on her back. Her eyes were still glowing bright red, and she bore an expression of rage on her face. It seemed that X's beating wasn't doing the job. "What's it gonna take to bring her back to her senses?"
"It's useless to try and fight the crystal!" shouted Dr. Ruell, drawing Red X's attention away from the blonde girl lying at his feet. "She's completely under its control... and soon, you'll be completely in the ground. It's just a matter of time now!"
"The crystal..." thought Red X, his eyes gazing at the bright, glowing red rock held in the doctor's hand. The brief diversion had focused X's attention away from Terra... which would turn out to be a huge mistake. Suddenly, he could feel a rock smash hard against the side of his head, and he was immediately sent to the ground, landing in the same prone position that Terra had been in just a few seconds earlier. She was now standing over Red X, and above her head was another large, van-sized boulder. Her gaze was fixed on him, and she was completely focused... in just a second, Red X would be crushed. "Oh, shit."
"TERRA!"
The cry diverted Terra's attention to the outcropping above, where she saw someone who hadn't seen her alive in nearly ten months... someone who loved her dearly, and wasn't about to let her become a slave to evil again.
It was Beast Boy... and he was repeatedly calling Terra's name.
"Terra, don't do it! Don't-"
And she didn't. Instead, she sent the rock at Beast Boy, aiming for him but managing to hit the section of the cliff immediately under him instead. The rock smashed against the cliff, crumbling it and tossing Beast Boy forward... he was now plummeting nearly a hundred feet to the ground. He quickly morphed into a hawk, floating to the ground and landing just a couple of yards away from Terra, detransforming and looking right into her emotionless, soulless red eyes.
Beast Boy's mouth was wide in shock. He'd been too late... and now Terra was a far cry from the Terra he'd once loved... the Terra who'd been his best friend. Her face was twisted with apparent rage, the features of her eyes erased by the red glow now illuminating them.
She was a helpless slave to the crystal... and now she had a new opponent to face.
"Beast Boy, look out!"
Red X's warning came too late, for as soon as he'd spoke, Terra's hands slammed into Beast Boy's chest, shoving him down to the ground. Dr. Ruell watched with glee, overjoyed that he was getting a front-row seat to the first test of his new city-destroying weapon.
"Terra, c'mon... this isn't you, I know this isn't you!" shouted Beast Boy, using his hands to scoot himself backward along the ground as Terra slowly walked toward him, several small rocks levitating around her glowing body. Beast Boy was pleading with Terra, pleading with her to somehow snap out of what was currently controlling her mind... but there would be no 'snapping out'.
"I already tried that, Beast Boy!" shouted Red X, standing up and extending his wrist blades. "We're not gonna just snap her out of it, we have to fight her!"
But Beast Boy wasn't about to hurt Terra, especially if she couldn't even control her own actions. He soon found several rocks raining down on him, pelting and bruising his body as he tried to stand. One rock hit him right in the forehead, and its effects were evident right away, as blood began trickling down Beast Boy's face from the open wound that the rock created.
Red X, deciding he'd seen enough, ran up behind Terra and attempted to stab her in the back with his wrist blade. She detected him, quickly spinning around and knocking Red X off his feet by lifting the ground beneath him and rapidly lowering it, jettisoning him in the air as if he'd been hit by a giant spring. Terra floated up on a rock to meet him in the air, her hand reaching out and clenching tightly around his neck.
"Terra, STOP!" Beast Boy shouted, transforming into a fly and landing on Terra's shoulder, only to be casually swatted away as one would smack a real fly. Red X thrust out his legs, hitting Terra in the stomach and causing both of them to fall backward, off the small rock that Terra had been standing on. The two hit the ground at the same time, landing hard on their backs as Beast Boy detransformed inbetween them, his entire body aching from being smacked away by Terra. "Oh no, she's hurt!"
Instead of checking on Red X, who had hit the stony ground hard and was stunned for several seconds, Beast Boy ran over to Terra, who stood up to face him, her eyes narrowing as he tried to reason with her.
"Please, Terra..." Beast Boy's voice was failing, and tears began to pool in his eyes. His fists clenched, and he briefly reached up to his face. "C'mon... you always had a choice, Terra... don't-"
The ground beneath Beast Boy began to liquefy, as Terra used her powers to turn the solid stone under his feet into a fine quicksand. When his legs began to sink, he let out a scream, still looking up at Terra with a pleading expression on his face.
Red X ran to Beast Boy's aid, forming a long, metallic chain, which he extended to Beast Boy like a rope, hoping that the Titan would grab it. Beast Boy simply continued staring at Terra, ignoring the chain that dangled tantalizingly in front of him as his stomach and then his chest sunk beneath the liquefied rock.
"Dammit, I have to do this myself..." thought Red X, blasting Terra with multiple exploding Xs that knocked her away from Beast Boy, causing her control over the ground to stop and Beast Boy to immediately stop sinking as the liquefied ground hardened around him. Now, only his head and his hands could be seen, the rest of his body encased in rock.
"Good going, X!" shouted Beast Boy angrily, unable to even turn his head. "Now I'm completely helpless!"
"Maybe I should've let her cover up your mouth first," replied Red X, kneeling on the ground next to the trapped Beast Boy and pasting down several small Xs on the ground next to him. "I'm gonna blast you out, but-"
Another rock slammed into the back of Red X's head, knocking him away. He turned to see Terra facing him, standing on a stone platform that had been raised about eight feet in the air, making her impervious to a direct ground attack.
"Enough fooling around, let's finish this right now!" shouted Dr. Ruell. Terra extended her arms, and the ground again began to shake. A fissure opened up beneath Beast Boy, dislodging him from the ground with a scream as he fell under, disappearing into blackness. The fissure continued, shooting toward Red X at an amazing speed. Knowing that running would be useless, he focused his attention on Terra and tried to knock her off the platform by shooting her with several exploding Xs. She stopped them by simply levitating rocks from the ground to intercept the projectiles before they could even get close to her.
Then, with a loud scream, Red X fell as well, disappearing beneath the fissure and plummeting into the depths of the Earth. Terra descended from her platform and looked toward Dr. Ruell, who was now signaling for Terra to conclude the battle.
"End it," he said, and Terra nodded, slowly bringing her hands together and causing the fissure to close. Right before the rift in the ground snapped shut, a green falcon, with Red X grasped in its talons, burst from the fissure and set the thief gently down on the ground before detransforming and standing up next to him. "Damn it, you weren't quick enough!"
"Do you... see... now... why we need to fight her...?" gasped Red X, his hand clutched to his chest. Clearly, the experience of nearly falling into the earth had shaken him, and he was grateful just to be alive. Beast Boy looked at Red X sternly, then returned his gaze to Terra, his eyes sadly wincing.
"I... I can't bring myself to... to hurt her... not after I said I'd never hurt her in the first place..."
But Terra's eyes were still bright red, and it was clear that she wasn't about to come to her senses anytime soon. The number one priority wasn't to save Terra... it was to stop her from hurting anyone else... including Red X and Beast Boy, who were fighting just to survive.
As much as it pained Beast Boy to admit it... Red X was right. The two would have to fight Terra to have any hope of survival.
"Try not to kill her," said Beast Boy, transforming into a bear and charging toward Terra. Red X gave him a nod, watching as the green bear tackled Terra hard to the ground, its powerful paws pinning the girl's arms beneath them.
"I'll do my best," thought Red X. Beast Boy roared in Terra's face, his claw lifting up to strike her. With a loud cry, Terra jolted the ground beneath both of them, throwing Beast Boy off of her and into the air. He detransformed, landing on one knee and preparing to charge at Terra again.
Terra raised her arms, causing four huge pillars to burst out of the ground, surrounding Beast Boy. The pillars rushed toward him, but before they could crush him, he turned into a gorilla and punched through two of them, letting the other two smash harmlessly against his body. He rushed at Terra, striking her in the face with his powerful fist and knocking her several steps back. Showing a great deal of agility, Terra came right back at Beast Boy, leaping over him and landing beside him, forming another pillar of rock that she shoved into gorilla Beast Boy's back, causing him to be smashed against the pillar and the nearby cliff face. She turned around and found herself looking straight into the eyes of Red X, standing less than a foot away.
"Boo," said the thief, launching into another series of punches and kicks that again sent Terra stumbling backwards. Before she could recover, she found herself on the receiving end of a powerful charge from Beast Boy, who had transformed into a rhinoceros and had hit Terra with the broad side of his horn. She flew forward a great distance before landing on her face and skidding along the ground for several seconds, throwing up more small rocks and a large cloud of dust in her wake.
Beast Boy detransformed, feeling a great deal of regret for having just attacked Terra... but he knew that it was for the greater good... and perhaps Terra's own. Maybe Red X was right in thinking that enough of a beating might jolt the girl loose from the crystal's control... maybe it was just a matter of time before she regained her free will again.
She stood up rapidly and turned around, her eyes still glowing. Crying out, she thrust her hands forward and caused the ground immediately in front of her to buckle and form a large wave of earth that rapidly moved across the ground, slamming into Red X and Beast Boy and knocking them off their feet.
Red X was the first to stand, groaning in pain and rubbing the small of his back. He knew that by now, his entire body had probably sustained some degree of bruising... he didn't know how much longer he could fight Terra, who seemed to bounce back from everything he and Beast Boy could possibly throw at her.
"Get up," said Red X, looking down at Beast Boy, who stood up and transformed into an ostrich, gesturing for X to climb on his back. "The hell?"
Beast Boy looked as if he had a plan... while Dr. Ruell was looking more and more annoyed with every passing second. He wanted Terra to finish this fight quickly, before anyone, namely the other Teen Titans, showed up and further complicated matters.
Reluctantly, Red X climbed onto Beast Boy's back, just as a large rock came flying their way. With his powerful ostrich legs, Beast Boy easily leapt around the rock, and began running in a circular pattern around Terra. Every second, Red X would fire an X at her, while Terra would raise up another rock to block the weapon from reaching her and potentially immobilizing her body.
Beast Boy made several circuits, avoiding Terra's attacks while she in turn avoided the many weapons that Red X tried to fire at her. The three had reached a stalemate, and it was starting to make Red X extremely impatient.
Suddenly, Beast Boy detransformed, shouting 'NOW!' loudly. Red X took the signal, propelling himself off of Beast Boy's shoulders and leaping right at Terra, his arms extended. Before she could attack, he'd already leapt over her... and had bound her arms behind her back with tight X-bands wrapped around her chest and wrists. She lost her balance, falling forward with her legs high in the air... which Beast Boy, transformed once more into a gorilla, reached out and grabbed. He began spinning Terra around, her immobilized arms making it extremely hard for her to channel an attack.
"If this doesn't jolt her out of the crystal's control, nothing will," thought Red X, watching Beast Boy as he spun Terra around over and over again, before finally releasing her, sending her flying outward with a huge amount of force. She hurtled into the nearby cliff face, but somehow managed to spin herself around so that her feet hit the cliff first. Her legs buckled, but she leapt outward, her arms bursting from their bonds. She lifted her arms up, causing a section of ground beneath Red X to rise and swing to the right, tossing him away as if he'd been shot out of a catapult. She then landed where he had once stood, staring down the still detransformed Beast Boy before pelting him in the chest with a boulder. He skidded backward, the wind having been knocked out of him. With a weak roar, he detransformed and fell to one knee, as Red X landed some distance away, his body crumpled up next to the mainframe of Ruell's quantum computer.
Beast Boy weakly looked up at Terra, horrified as the angry, soulless look remained on her face. Her arms lifted up, and a large, spiked rock began to materialize above her head, looking strangely similar to the one she'd formed ten months ago in Slade's lair. Beast Boy's leg had been pinned under a rock, and Terra, against her will, had been forced to form another large, spiked rock, which Slade was going to use, through Terra, to crush Beast Boy's head.
Now the situation was the same... except Terra had no free will to speak of, and no hesitation about killing him. Beast Boy's leg wasn't trapped, but in his weak, painful condition, it might as well have been.
"Now extinguish his life," said Dr. Ruell, holding the crystal high up in his hand. Its bright glow drew Red X's attention, and the crystal's close proximity caused the glow from it to nearly blind the thief's eyes.
"Wait a minute..." thought Red X, staring straight up at the crystal. "Of course... how could I have been so stupid?"
Without a word, Terra sent the rock plummeting downward, aimed right at Beast Boy's skull. His eyes closed, and his head shifted to the side in preparation for what was to come.
The sight of Beast Boy's imminent execution transfixed Dr. Ruell. He grinned gleefully as the rock careened toward Beast Boy's head... not seeing the shuriken headed toward his wrist until it was too late. It sliced across his hand, causing him to let out a cry of pain and causing his grip on the crystal to cease. The crystal tumbled to the ground, shattering on impact. Its red glow disappeared immediately, the shattered pieces reverting to their familiar pale yellow. The glow in Terra's eyes disappeared, and the rock headed for Beast Boy's head crumbled into pieces around him.
"No... NO!" screamed Dr. Ruell, clutching his wounded hand while looking down at the remnants of the shattered Crisis Crystal... and of his shattered dream. He looked up at Red X, who stood arrogantly, his arms across his chest. "You... you ruined EVERYTHING!"
"I know," X replied, looking over at Beast Boy and Terra. The blonde girl who'd once been a complete slave to the crystal had had a sudden rush of awareness... she hovered in the air above Beast Boy, staring down at her hands. Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was agape in shock.
"What... where... where am I?" muttered Terra softly, floating down to the ground. Her knees buckled, and she nearly fell... she would have fallen had it not been for Beast Boy, his hand tightly gripping around her wrist. Her attention was drawn to him, and their eyes met. "Beast Boy?"
"Terra..." he said softly, the only word his lips could form. Finally, Terra was alive... she'd returned to him... after ten months of stony silence, she had truly been reborn. Memories came flooding back to the girl... and she then collapsed to her knees, looking down at the ground, her entire body trembling.
"I remember... Slade... a volcano, and then... then darkness... and nothing... and..."
The young blonde girl looked almost ready to go into shock. A single tear made its way down the side of her face, almost immediately brushed away by Beast Boy's warm hand. She looked into his eyes again, which were reflecting a look of concern and understanding.
"It's all right now, Terra... you're safe... you're with me... I'll protect you..."
Terra couldn't look away from Beast Boy... his words were reassuring, and slowly, a smile formed on her face. Her body still trembled, but her arms managed to make their way forward, wrapping gently around the back of his neck and pulling her friend close to her body.
Dr. Ruell watched the spectacle in complete shock, fury rapidly forming within his body. Just a few minutes ago, he'd watched as Red X and Beast Boy plummeted together into a hole... and had presumed them dead. Now, they were both very much alive... and his Crisis Crystal was the only dead thing now. The crystal, and the dreams of all the men who had planned Project Shattered Earth, had been completely shattered in an instant.
Slowly, Beast Boy helped Terra to her feet. She continued smiling at him, though she'd expected him to show up with the others. Her mind quickly came to a conclusion... and she looked into Beast Boy's eyes, her smile intensifying.
"You... you found a way to bring me back..."
"No," replied Red X, and for the first time, Terra gained a glimpse of the costumed thief whom she'd heard about only once, during a story Beast Boy had regaled to her about the time Robin had gone undercover to track down Slade.
"Robin?" thought Terra, her eyes narrowing as she looked over at Red X, who was now gesturing toward the furious Dr. Ruell.
"Beast Boy didn't bring you back," said Red X, pointing at the doctor. "He did."
Dr. Ruell's hands shook in front of him, as he looked back and forth between Red X, Beast Boy, and Terra, his teeth gnashing in rage. Terra quickly realized that the person who'd brought her back probably didn't have the best intentions for her in mind.
"It's a long story," said Beast Boy... "I can tell you as soon as we get back to the-"
"You three... aren't going... ANYWHERE!" shouted Dr. Ruell, his voice breaking as he spoke, a screeching, shrieking quality to his voice that none of the Titans or Red X had heard before. "You might have buried my dreams... but now... now I'm going to bury all of you!"
The doctor reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small vial, containing a foaming, milky-white substance. Before anyone could stop him, he opened up the vial and drank its contents before throwing the small glass container down to the rocky ground, making a shattering noise as the glass broke into pieces.
"What the hell did he just do to himself?" thought Red X, instinctively taking a step backward as Dr. Ruell began cackling loudly. Suddenly, the white hair on the doctor's head completely disappeared, as if being pulled back into his scalp. His arms began to grow wider and larger, becoming large, horrific, muscular brown claws that extended nearly eight feet from his body. Two sets of similar clawed arms burst from his sides, shredding his lab coat in an instant. His legs mutated and grew larger and taller, until the doctor was now a hideous, brownish-red beast nearly eleven feet tall, with six enormous clawed arms, two legs with toes curled into hideous, sharp talons, and a foaming mouth filled to the brim with sharp, saber-teeth. The doctor's eyes had become bug-like in quality, smooth and light green, and his nose had vanished from his face. As the transformation took place, Beast Boy and Terra both watched in horror, their arms tightly clinging around the other's waist.
With a loud, beastly cry, the monster that had once been Dr. Ruell spewed forth a green, acidic substance from its mouth that had the consistency of vomit. The substance melted the rocks it touched, and would have melted Red X had he not leapt out of the way at the last moment.
Terra knew that the creature was dangerous, but the thought of fighting it made her tremble... not because she was afraid of the monster, but because she was afraid of herself and her powers. She'd nearly destroyed the city, and though she'd gotten much better control of her abilities because of what Slade had taught her, she didn't know if she was capable of using her powers for good again... not after she'd hurt the people she cared about.
"Terra, we have to beat this thing!" said Beast Boy, who grabbed Terra's wrist in an attempt to drag her toward the battle. She ripped her arm away, shaking her head, a sad look on her face.
"You take him!" replied Terra.
While Beast Boy was trying to convince Terra to fight, Red X had his hands full, having been knocked to the ground by one of the monster's powerful limbs. He shot an X at Monster Ruell, drenching its upper body in xynothium goo but doing nothing to stop its advance, as its acidic vomit dissolved the xynothium and came straight at X's legs.
"He's not going to last very long fighting that thing alone..." thought Beast Boy, who turned back from Red X to the indecisive Terra, her mind racing with all the things that might possibly go wrong should she jump into the fight. "I know you feel terrible about what you did before, but... the last thing you did with your powers was to sacrifice yourself and save the city! You defeated Slade! You saved my life! Don't you remember that?"
Terra did remember those things... she wiped a tear from her face and looked at Monster Ruell as it assaulted Red X with long, sharp needles that it was firing out of its forehead.
"I... I still don't know..." said Terra, quietly, meekly, her body still faintly trembling.
"Terra... it's your choice... it's always been your choice... I know you have the strength to take this guy... to help us... but it's up to you..."
Beast Boy spoke softly, not with anger, but with understanding... understanding and kindness, willing to accept whatever response Terra gave. She took another look at Monster Ruell... and her fists clenched. She narrowed her eyes, and a smile appeared on her face.
"All right, Beast Boy... let's go help Robin kick that thing's butt!"
As the two rushed over to assist Red X, Beast Boy briefly turned to Terra.
"Actually, that's not Robin... it's... it's... it's another long story, I'll tell you when we get back to the-"
And again, Monster Ruell interrupted Beast Boy, shooting green lasers from its eyes that slammed into Beast Boy's legs and knocked him to the ground. Immediately, Terra reacted, lifting a large rock from the ground and hitting the creature right in its monstrous face. Monster Ruell let out a cry of pain, stumbling backward with a loud screech.
"Nobody hurts my friends!" shouted Terra, causing a pillar of rock to materialize on either side of Monster Ruell. Before the monster could react, it found itself squeezed tightly between the two pillars, its body painfully compressed before the huge blocks of stone shattered and buried the monster in rubble.
"I am legitimately impressed, kid," said Red X, looking over at Terra before returning his attention to the pile of rubble and waiting for Monster Ruell to emerge. "Her powers are pretty cool... when she's not trying to kill me with them."
Monster Ruell burst out of the pile of rocks, emitting another loud roar before extending its arms and shooting out a sonic burst wave in all directions. The wave hit Red X, Terra, and Beast Boy at the same time, knocking all of them on their backs and filling their ears with an uncomfortable, piercing, high-pitched wail. Terra was the first to stand, covering her ears and letting out a scream as Monster Ruell reached out and grabbed her with one of its many claws, lifting her high into the air and digging its sharp nails into her sides.
"You may not be my slave anymore, little girl... but that just means that I won't have any problems with destroying you!" Monster Ruell said, in a voice that was neither male nor female, and certainly no longer human. Terra recoiled at the voice, wincing in pain and trying to use her hands to extricate her body from the monster's grip.
"Unnnggh... your breath is destructive enough..." groaned Terra, unable to free herself with just her hands, and now forced to resort to more serious measures. "You asked for it..."
Her eyes began glowing again, but instead of deep red, they shined a bright yellow, her irises disappearing behind the golden glow. Her straight hair began lifting up, gathering into clumps that nearly resembled spikes as it levitated above her head. By now, both Red X and Beast Boy were up, and watching as Terra's powers once again began to activate.
"She's not going to try and use the volcano again, is she?" thought Beast Boy, terror briefly entering his mind. "No... no, the volcano's extinct now... but then, what is she going to-"
Beast Boy got his answer when a large stream of mud and rocks burst out of the ground underneath Monster Ruell, causing the creature to drop Terra as he was lifted violently up into the air. The stream disappeared as soon as it had appeared, and Ruell was dropped to the ground a large distance away, landing hard on his back with a cry of pain. The glow in Terra's eyes disappeared, and her hair returned to its normal position.
"That... that felt... kind of good, actually," she said quietly, smiling at Beast Boy, who returned her smile with one of his own, as well as a thumbs-up.
"I'm gonna feel a lot better when I know that that crazy doctor is taken out," said Red X, looking over at where Monster Ruell had fallen. "I have a feeling he's still got some fight in him..."
Slowly, the creature began to stand, briefly shaking its head before running toward the trio at a rapid clip. The three took battle stances, and Beast Boy morphed into a t-rex, roaring at Monster Ruell as it got close. The creature leapt high into the air, and Red X discharged from his hands several exploding Xs that barely seemed to faze the beast as it unleashed a stream of vomit on its three opponents. Red X and Terra, who would be extremely vulnerable to the highly-dangerous acid, were saved at the last moment by Beast Boy, swinging his tail out in front of them and taking the brunt of the attack. He roared out in pain as the acid hit his tail, severely burning into his dinosaur flesh.
"Okay, you're gonna pay for that," said Red X, who leapt at Monster Ruell as soon as the creature landed, extending his wrist blades and swinging twice. X's aim was perfect, and the next thing he heard was an inhuman cry of pain as the creature's two lower arms fell completely off, spraying a large amount of green blood from both sides of its body. The angered creature responded by attempting to headbutt the thief, who slid between Ruell's legs and stuck a large, glowing X to the creature's back.
Meanwhile, Terra and Beast Boy commenced a full-frontal assault, Beast Boy using his sharp teeth to snap at Ruell's head, while Terra pelted the monstrous doctor's body with dozens of rocks, creating large bruises wherever they hit. Monster Ruell ducked, barely avoiding having his head bit off, but that put his cranium right in the path of the largest of Terra's rocks, which caused the monster to become dazed and dizzy, stumbling about for several seconds before hitting the ground hard on his back.
This triggered the X which had been pasted there to explode, engulfing Monster Ruell's body in bright flames and causing a thick cloud of smoke and dust to wash over Terra, Beast Boy, and Red X.
For several seconds, there was silence... which gave the three a chance to catch their breath and look around at one another. Red X's eyes gravitated to Terra, and for the first time, he got a decent look at the girl when she wasn't trying to kill him.
She was beautiful... among the prettiest girls X had ever seen, behind only Starfire and Cleo, of course. X could see immediately why Beast Boy took such a liking to her... and why Beast Boy didn't want anything bad to ever happen to her.
"I'm going to be honest, I came here to destroy her statue," said Red X, looking over at Beast Boy.
"I know," Beast Boy replied. "I'd be mad at you, but... I'm just happy that Terra's alive... and that she's safe."
He looked over at Terra, who smiled and gave him the slightest blush... though inside, she was still unsure... guilty about all she'd done to the Titans, guilty enough to feel unworthy of their friendship... even if they wanted her back, there was no guarantee that she would go.
When the smoke cleared, it revealed Monster Ruell lying face-down on the ground, its body heavily burned and bruised. Clearly, the assault of Red X, Terra, and Beast Boy had made short work of the mutated doctor... but their sense of security would be short-lived when the creature began slowly rising from the ground. Immediately, the three teens took battle stances... and the monster turned its attention to Red X first, its eyes starting straight into the thief's.
"What are you looking at?" said Red X, his hands pointed right at the monster's face.
"This," replied Monster Ruell, spraying an enormous amount of lethal, acidic vomit right onto Red X, taking him completely by surprised. He screamed in pain as the green liquid engulfed his body, collapsing to the ground with his hands to his face. Immediately, Terra opened up a fissure beneath Monster Ruell, causing him to fall into the ground, with only two outstretched hands saving him from plummeting to his doom.
The monster used its other left hand to grab Terra's leg, causing her to let out a cry of fear as she was dragged toward the open hole in the ground. She kicked at the monster's face repeatedly, but her boot did no damage, even when she struck it right in the eye. It continued to drag her toward the hole, while Beast Boy quickly transformed into an octopus and wrapped all eight of his tentacles around Terra's arms, trying to save her from being dragged by Monster Ruell to her doom.
Red X, still kneeling on the ground, had been saved by his suit. His arms had shielded him from most of the acid, but it had still burned several holes in his suit. Most of the material around his forearms was gone, and one of the eyes of the mask had been completely dissolved, exposing Sanza's left eye, his hazel iris now focusing on Terra and Beast Boy's precarious situation.
"Gotta do something about that," said Red X, pulling himself off of the ground and pointing his hands at Monster Ruell again. He shot out two grappling hooks from his hands, which embedded themselves in Ruell's large eyes. While Terra's kicks had done nothing to hurt them, X's sharp hooks impaled in them certainly did, and the monster howled in pain, its arm releasing Terra's leg long enough for Beast Boy to be able to pull her back, away from the creature and out of its reach. He detransformed, and instead of eight tentacles around her arms, Terra now had a set of arms and legs wrapped around them, possessed by a grinning Beast Boy.
"Um... I'm fine, you can let go of me now," said Terra, as Beast Boy quickly unwrapped his limbs from her own. Beast Boy continued to grin, rubbing the back of his head and giving an expression that Terra couldn't resist giggling at. "Oh, Beast Boy..."
X's grappling hooks remained in Ruell's eyes, and the doctor was now frantically clawing at the edge of the fissure, blindly attempting to pull himself back up.
"AAAAAGH! You bastard, I can't see! AAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Monster Ruell's loud, pained screams didn't get a response from Red X... who knew that if Ruell was allowed to climb back up, the monster might be able to strike again. He ripped the hooks from Ruell's eyes, and the sudden jolt caused the monster to jerk backward... and his grip on the edge of the fissure to loosen. With a loud scream, he fell into the darkness... and was never seen again.
Exhausted, Red X fell to his knees, quickly tracing the Sign of the Cross on his chest. For the second time in his life, he'd been directly responsible for a death... but then again, it was the death of someone who would likely never be human again... and who had already sold his soul.
Beast Boy and Terra walked over to him, helping him up from the ground. He looked at both of them, before turning to Terra and looking into her eyes once more.
"I suppose... I should tell you who I really am," said Red X, looking down briefly before returning his gaze to Terra's face. She shook her head slowly, her lips curved into a faint smile.
"I guess if you wanted me to know who you were, you wouldn't be wearing that mask," Terra replied. "Still... thank you... for helping me. For helping both of us."
Terra turned back to Beast Boy, and the smile disappeared from her face. Clearly, the guilt that she'd felt upon having betrayed the Titans was now returning... and she felt unworthy to be in Beast Boy's presence. The ten months that she'd spent trapped hadn't been spent entirely in unconsciousness... she'd had dreams, visions... glimpses into her own mind... glimpses that were often unpleasant.
Beast Boy's hand closed around hers... his warm fingers gently caressing Terra's skin. He smiled up at her... and she looked away, a frown still etched on her face.
"Beast Boy... I'm still... I'm not so sure if... if I'm ready to-"
The appearance of four figures on the cliff overhead diverted both Beast Boy and Terra's attention. Standing there, overlooking the reunion, were the other four Titans... Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg, all of them with smiles on their faces.
"Yo... I can't believe we missed all the fun!" Cyborg shouted, waving at Beast Boy and Terra. Beast Boy waved back, but Terra stepped away, releasing her grip on Beast Boy's hand and looking down at the ground, unable to gaze on any of the other Titans as they slowly descended down into the hole that had once been her resting place. "Hey, Terra..."
"Hey, Cyborg..." she said sadly, still not turning her head. By now, Red X had gone... he'd disappeared without Beast Boy or Terra knowing, and before any of the Titans had been able to see him leave. But right now, the focus wasn't on Red X... it was on Terra, whom Raven could tell was having a serious emotional crisis.
It was Raven who had mistrusted Terra from the start... and, besides Beast Boy, the one who'd been most hurt by her betrayal. She'd managed to get over her mistrust of Terra, and even to befriend the blonde girl... only to have her trust shattered just a week later, when Terra revealed her true intentions as Slade's apprentice.
Raven walked over to Terra and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, only to have it quickly shoved away.
"I... I don't deserve your trust... or your friendship..."
Beast Boy immediately walked over to Terra, wondering what could possibly be making her so sad again. Just a few minutes ago, she seemed to finally be enjoying using her powers for good again... but now that she'd seen the other Titans, she'd become reluctant again.
"Terra..." he said softly, lifting up her chin so that she could look into his eyes. "I... I know you've done terrible things before, but... but all these months, I never stopped thinking about you... never stopped wishing that you... that you'd come back again... that I could hear your voice again... that-"
Terra lifted her fingers to Beast Boy's lips, gently silencing him before lowering her hand again and turning to the others. Robin, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg were all facing her with expressions of concern on their faces.
"Beast Boy's right... we all wanted you to come back, Terra," said Robin.
"You saved the city... you saved all of us... you managed to fight off the control of Slade and perform the ultimate act of heroism... which is sacrifice," said Starfire, adding to what Robin had said. "I... I know that you are reluctant to come back... reluctant to be a hero again, but..."
Terra looked over to Raven, who had once been the most mistrusting of all. Now, she too echoed the sentiments of her friends in not wanting Terra to feel guilty for her actions.
"But you are a hero, Terra..." said Raven, bending over and picking up the small, bronze plate that had once laid at the feet of Terra's statue. "Read this... it was your epitaph."
Terra reached out with her trembling fingers, taking the small bronze plate and reading what had been etched onto it.
"Terra..." she read, her trembling voice almost a whisper, "a Teen Titan... a true... a true..."
Terra dropped the plate on the ground and collapsed to her knees, cupping her face in her hands and sobbing violently. More guilt filled her body... even after she'd betrayed them, attacked them, tried to kill all of them... the Titans still considered her to be one of them... to be a friend... it was completely overwhelming, and for nearly half a minute, Terra knelt on the ground, sobbing at the rush of emotion. Slowly, she could feel arms looping around her body... it was Beast Boy, kneeling down in front of her and attempting to hug her. She stopped sobbing, and then... then reached out and looped her own arms around his body, the two of them standing and embracing just as they had right before Terra sacrificed herself.
"Beast Boy..." she choked out weakly, her head resting on his shoulder. "I'm... I'm so sorry... I..."
"It's all right, Terra... I'm here now..." replied Beast Boy, his own eyes starting to well up with tears. His own guilt began rushing back, and his embrace around Terra tightened... he knew that he too had been responsible for her being turned into a statue. "It's me that should be sorry..."
After another half-minute of hugging, the two slowly released their grip on one another, turning to their fellow Titans.
"If you're feeling up to it... we'd like you to come back to the Tower with us, just for tonight," said Robin. "Any decision you make about your future will be up to you, but... know that we do consider you a part of this team."
"That's right, I engraved that plaque myself, so I would know," said Cyborg, a smile on his face. "Whatever you decide to do is completely your choice to make... not like there's any pressure or anything, but-"
"I... I think I will... go back with you guys," sniffled Terra, wiping a tear from her face. "Just for tonight, then... then tomorrow I'll... I'll figure something out..."
Terra wasn't even so sure that the Titans would let her become a permanent member of the team again... and she certainly didn't know if she would even want to rejoin the Titans, even if they would let her. For now, she figured, the best thing to do would be to go back with them... to sleep on it and to make her decision in the morning... a decision which, according to the Titans, was completely hers to make.
As Starfire flew off with Robin, and Raven flew off with Cyborg, Terra interlocked her fingers with Beast Boy's and created a small rock that lifted both of them off the ground and into the air. She turned to him and smiled... and he smiled back, reaching up to wipe a tear from her face.
"No matter what you decide to do, Terra... I'll always support you... I promise," said Beast Boy, his grip tightening on Terra's hand. Terra nodded, and then the rock that both of them were on sailed forward, in the direction of Titans Tower.
O-O-O
And while the Titans headed back to their home, Red X was already back at his. He folded up his torn suit and placed it in its familiar spot under his bed, knowing that he'd have a long day of patching up to do once he got home from school the next day. He put on a thin black tanktop to go with his black boxer shorts, then walked down to the living room, where his mother had been watching television for the past several hours.
On the screen was a news report about the ship that had exploded in Jump City Harbor... the local stations had cut in and had been talking about the ongoing story for several hours.
"Sanza... I haven't seen you all night," said Maria, a hint of concern in her voice as she glanced at the television. "Have you heard about this? I was worried you might have been somewhere nearby..."
His mother didn't know how right she was... but Sanza wasn't about to tell her that.
"I... I should've told you, my friends and I went out to get some pizza, we ended up staying and talking..."
With a long sigh, Maria leaned back in her chair and took Sanza's right hand in both of hers. Fortunately, most of Sanza's bruises and wounds he'd sustained in the fights with Terra and Ruell weren't visible... which meant that his mother wouldn't have something else to worry about.
"I didn't give you a curfew, so you're not in trouble... but you really, really, really need to tell me if you're going to be out this late! I... I guess-"
"You're a mom, don't worry about it," said Sanza, leaning in and giving his mother a brief kiss on the forehead. "And I'm tired, so-"
"That's right, it's one-thirty in the morning, and you have school about six hours from now," said Maria, looking into Sanza's eyes with a serious glare. "I want you in bed right now!"
"That's exactly where I was headed..." thought Sanza, turning away from his mother and walking toward the stairs.
The Crisis Crystal had been destroyed... the threat of a controlled Terra destroying the city was gone, but the threat of Slade still remained... and now, Sanza knew, his family was still vulnerable.
But then again, there was always another way... and as long as Red X kept his skills sharp, he might be able to find it. In fact, maybe even just the combat experience X got from going out stealing every night would help him become strong enough to protect his family from Slade.
"Not bloody likely," thought Sanza, entering his room and crawling into bed, pulling the covers to his neck and turning onto his side. He let out a long sigh, blinking once, and then twice... and then slowly allowing slumber to overtake him.
It had been a long night... and it was time for Sanza to finally achieve his peace.
O-O-O
The suit that Slade had placed on Terra, and that she was still wearing after having been returned to her normal, human form, was still attached to her skin via its various neural interface systems. It would take several hours working in the Titans Tower infirmary for the team to be able to remove all the components of the suit from Terra's body... the last two things to go were the metallic plates attached to her head and scalp by a needle-like object that penetrated into Terra's cranium.
Cyborg's expertise with technology helped him to remove the plates, and Terra now sat on a metallic operating table in just a white bra and panties, looking exactly as she had when the suit had first been put on her. It had been removed with no lasting damage to Terra's body, or her appearance.
"All done," said Cyborg as Terra slowly stood up from the table, looking herself over and shivering slightly as the cool air circulating through the room touched her bare skin. "Now, I could see about getting you something to wear, or-"
"It's fine," said Terra, turning to Cyborg and giving him a quick smile. "I'll... I'll put something on in the morning and you guys can take me clothes shopping then... if... if you want to-"
"Of course we do, Terra..." replied Robin, who had been standing near the doorway with Starfire and Beast Boy. Raven had retired to her room to sleep after she'd been told that she wouldn't be needed in the operation. "We're your friends... anything you need, we'll give you."
"That is correct," said Starfire, nodding her head and holding up an outfit identical to hers, dangling on a wire hanger that she held in her left hand. "I was not pleased with Blackfire when she decided to wear my outfit, but you may wear this whenever you like!"
Terra blushed, and shook her head, looking over at Beast Boy. The sight of Terra in her underwear caused the changeling to glow a bright, embarrassed red... and he put his hands over his eyes, hoping that Terra wouldn't think he was a pervert. She giggled and walked over to him, lowering his hands from his eyes and staring into his face, which was looking up right at hers.
"See, you're looking at my eyes, not... well, you're looking at my eyes, I appreciate that," said Terra, smiling and turning to Robin and Starfire. "I'll just... go out to the living room and sleep on the-"
"No way," said Beast Boy, taking Terra by the hand and leading her out of the room. "We kept your room exactly how you left it, you're sleeping there and I won't take no for an answer."
Cyborg followed the two outside, leaving Starfire and Robin alone in the infirmary. Starfire smiled at Robin, then bowed her head, embarrassed herself at something... and a little bit sad.
"Starfire, what-"
"It is just that... in all the chaos of today, in Terra being revived and... and everything, I... everyone... even you, forgot that today is your birthday..."
Robin looked down at his watch... it was five in the morning, nearly daybreak. In reality, the previous day had been his birthday.
"Um... my birthday was yesterday, Star."
"See?" she said, almost shrieking. "I... I completely forgot, and... and I am very sorry... I did not even obtain a gift for you..."
Robin shook his head, gently lifting his gloved hand to Starfire's cheek.
"Star, it's like you said... we all forgot it was my birthday, even ME. It... it doesn't matter, Star. Terra being back, and safe, is probably the greatest birthday gift I ever could've gotten."
Starfire sniffled, and nodded in agreement.
"It is... absolutely wonderful that Terra is back," said Starfire, a smile once again appearing on her face. Robin nodded, his hand remaining on Starfire's cheek while his other hand looped around, across her back. She slowly leaned in toward him, her eyes remaining fixed on his. "But... I just wanted to say... happy birthday, Robin."
"Thanks, Starfire..." he replied, his own face leaning toward hers, just before the two locked their lips together in a warm, tender kiss. Their lips remained on one another's for five seconds before the two slowly parted, still looking into each other's eyes. "That gift wasn't bad either."
With a brief giggle, Starfire turned from Robin and exited the room. Just before heading to her own room for some well-needed rest, she poked her head in and gave Robin three last words.
"Good night, Robin..." she said to him. He replied with simply, "good morning, Starfire."
O-O-O
Beast Boy had told the truth... the room was exactly as Terra had left it... a beautiful mural of the desert sky painted on her walls, her things exactly as they had left them... and in the closet, there were several of her favorite outfits, so there would be no need to go shopping the next day. Terra still decided to sleep in her underwear, and after Cyborg and Beast Boy had left the room, she curled up under her covers and took another long look around her room, wondering why her friends would possibly keep it completely intact for her.
"Because... because they're my friends," thought Terra, slowly closing her eyes. She couldn't believe that they still cared about her so much... but the thought of their friendship gave her comfort as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
She would decide whether to stay with them when she woke up... but for now, all Terra wanted to do was rest. After ten months of forced stone sleep, the beautiful blonde geomancer wanted to slumber on her own terms.
O-O-O
Terra has returned... and she's returned with a vengeance! But will she stay with the Teen Titans? Will they even accept her? And what of Project Shattered Earth... is it truly foiled, or do the four remaining powerbrokers have some other terrible ace up their sleeves? Hmm... wait and find out!