A great behemoth stood in the hole adorning their wall, his domed head brushing against the ceiling some ten feet off of the ground. A strange black mark indicated where a face would be found, but apart from that and two glowing red eyes, the body was entirely white... featureless... artificial. Neither Tara nor Slade had any trouble recognizing it... Tara had seen it up close during the Titan's fight at the mall construction complex, and Slade had seen the news reports.

It was the elemental monster.

With little warning the monster threw itself forward, arms extended to attack. Tara screamed and threw up her arms to protect herself (as if such skinny arms could provide such a defense) when a glass bottle shattered against the creature's brow, knocking it off course so it smashed into the ground beside her.

"Move, child!"

Tara scrambled on all fours as fast as she could away from the construct, as Slade grabbed up the nearest available weapon, a second bottle lying beside the first (his estate had an indoor mini-bar, though he and Wintergreen normally saw it was tightly locked up before Tara visited) and swung it, smashing it against the monster's temple. To his irritation, it barely phased the gigantic beast.

"Get out of here!"

"I can't just leave you!" she said, hiding partly behind a nearby desk where Slade kept some of his legitimate documents stored.

"Do as I say!" he commanded, in a voice that naturally drew respect. Reluctantly, Tara obeyed, and slipped through the side-door and into the recreation room.

Slade had no further time to consider his ward's safety, as the monster was metamorphing. An ability Slade had heard eyewitnesses describe, but was his first time seeing it up close. As he watched, the broken glass on the creatures shoulder fell away, but the skin of the creature shifted, metamorphed, and transformed into sparkling, transparent glass. No completely see-through, the creature was like a moving ice-sculpture.

Slade just stood there, unimpressed.

"Please."

With a vicious roundhouse kick, Slade lashed out, and shattered the construct into half a billion pieces.

Fortunately, Slade had not lived for so very many years by being stupid. As he watched, the shards of glass fell and morphed, shifting like water and flowing back into one singular shape, that of the construct's original form. Having fully anticipated this, his hand slipped down underneath the desk where Tara had previously been hiding, locating the sidearm he'd hidden there before. Whipping it out he quickly took aim and squeezed off seven full shots, all aimed directly at the creature's head and eyes. If nothing else, maybe he could blind it.

"Wintergreen!" he shouted over the din of gunfire.

His weapon empty, Slade reflexively tossed it aside and took a half-step back to see what sort of damage he'd done.

Close to nothing. There were some dents in the form but they were quickly swallowed up as the bullets fell to the ground. Worse, the constructs form had shifted again, taking on the strength and appearance of solid metal. No way he could shatter that with a roundhouse kick.

The construct advanced on Slade, arm outstretched to crush him, when something hard and wooden slammed into it's back, shattering on impact. Someone had just thrown a chair at the construct's back. And he didn't have to look far to see who.

"I thought I said to get out of here?" he shouted, his voice remarkably calm.

"I won't leave you!" replied Tara, clutching the end of her chair in her hands. Angrily she threw it away, looking for something else to use... some other weapon. Alas, none were within reach.

Angrily, the creature lashed out, backhanding Tara with such force that the skinny young girl went flying through the air, to slam hard against the far wall. Her outstretched arms knocked over a priceless painting and slammed down atop of a bust of William the Conquerer that had been set beside it, nearly knocking that over as well. She did not notice, but the head tipped forward slightly upon impact, shifting.

Slade gave a war cry and launched himself forward, issuing blow after bone-shattering blow against the creatures back, none of which had the slightest effect.

"Sir, get down!"

Slade threw himself out of the way just in time, as Wintergreen appeared in the doorway, armed with a shotgun. Slade's estate was never as innocent as it may have seemed. They had enough firepower hidden in it's nooks and crannies to outfit a small commando squad, if it came to that. With little hesitation the elderly Wintergreen opened fire, though the recoil nearly knocked him off his feet. He wasn't as young as his old friend.

A second shot followed the first. Neither did much damage, but they knocked the construct backwards into the rec room. Slade followed up the attack with a vicious sweep of his leg, knocking the creatures's legs out from underneath it and onto his back, though it quickly recovered and rolled further away, seemingly on the retreat. They continued to press the attack, working as a team to drive back their enemy.

Just like the old days.

>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

>

Tara, meanwhile, was having a very, very bad day.

First she'd run into Beastboy, who'd hounded her most of the morning. Then she'd failed her geometry test. Then she'd gotten attacked and knocked around by a gigantic shapeshifting elemental monster. But the worst part was only just coming to her now.

When she'd fallen, she'd accidentally activated one of the secret compartments Slade had hidden in his estate. As she sat up, rubbing her head, she turned to see the wall previously behind her was gone, behind it was a veritable arsenal of weapons and armor, a mixture of modern and ancient. Retractable bo staves, explosives, swords, and guns all sharing the same space. But worst of all, in the very center...

A mask of iron, black on the right half, dull orange on the left, with a single slot for the eye to show through.

Seeing that mask, that one image that was forever frozen in her mind, instantly unsealed the block on her memories. And like a single brick removed from a dam, it was enough to bring the whole thing down. All of her memories came rushing back to her in a terrible torment.

... the rock opened up, and she stumbled outward, coughing up great clouds of dust. Before her... was nothing. It was gone. All gone. The earth had protected her... but it had destroyed everything else. That's when she'd started to run...

... running from the gigantic, mutant scorpion. She stumbled, fell, and lost the butterfly hairpiece her mother had given her. She wanted to retrieve it, but the scorpion convinced her that her life was more important. The earth protected her again... it was always with her...

... they would find out, eventually, the Titans. They would know she couldn't control her powers. And they would drive her away, just like everyone else...

... "Right now you are... rough... around the edges... you need more than obstacle courses to overcome your problem... you need a teacher. A mentor. Come with me, Terra... and I can teach you to shine."

... he'd lied to her. Lied!...

... the witch was watching her... always watching her. She didn't trust her. None of them trusted her. None of them liked her. Well, maybe Beastboy... no! He was just the same as they were...!

..."Slade was right... you don't have any friends."

... the earth shook... it was angry. It was primal. The full fury of a volcano was about to be unleashed upon the city... and only she could stop it. This was her penance... her payment for her sins. It was a small price to pay. With one final cry, one last surge of her powers... it was over...!

Terra...

Tara...

Terra...

Tara...

"AUUUGGGHH!"

>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

>

"There it is!" shouted Beastboy, morphing back into his humanoid form to point. "The creature's in there!"

Robin dropped down lightly onto the ground, having previously been jumping from tree branch to tree branch to keep up with his faster, super-powered comrades. Starfire and Raven dropped down from the sky above to either side of him, waiting for Cyborg to catch up before they would proceed. They'd never everyone for this attack.

However, as they made their approach, and Robin was about to utter the Titan's war cry, Raven suddenly stiffened, dropping out of the air to fall to her knees. Instantly he was by her side.

"Raven? What's wrong?"

Two minds... two identities... two people... now one.

The ground started to shake in a most distinctive manner, as if the world too was shuddering at the thought. As one, the Titan's eyes were drawn to the Wilson estate. All eyes in the universe seemed to gaze down upon that one spot. It had become a focal point. A turning point. Something... monumental... was about to occur.

"... oh god..." murmured Raven, violet eyes wide.

>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

>

"AUUURRRRRGGGHH!"

The estate trembled, throwing Wintergreen and Slade onto their backs and forcing the construct to widen it's stance to ride the wave.

"Well that can't be good," remarked Wintergreen casually as he pushes himself to his feet.

Slade gracefully flipped himself onto his feet, straightening out his good shirt and fiddling with his sleeves to unbutton them and roll them up. He'd give this damn construct hell for spoiling everything. If he interpreted that scream right, at least.

And he was so very rarely wrong.

The construct, programmed to protect itself above all else, decided a tactical retreat was in order, and reached down to grab the pool table in the center of the recreation room and hoist it up, hurling at the nearby window/wall and shattering it. It hurled itself afterwards, landing on the ground in a crouch, fully prepared to run...

... and brought up short by a sonic blast, tearing a line in the ground in front of it.

Behind the construct, Slade and Wintergreen, armed with the weapons of death. Before it, the Teen Titans, with superpowers that could shake the world. The construct hesitated, boxed in with no immediate means of escape and no elements it could yet make use of in this particular situation.

Recognizing it's hesitation, Robin gave the cry.

"Titans, go!"

Exploding energy discs. Starbolts. Sonic blasts. Black energy beams. All this slammed full on into the creature, knocking it backwards, forcing it to bring up it's arms to protect it's face. A costly mistake, for the follow up attack... a green triceratops... slammed fully into it's unprotected gut, slamming it up against the side of the building and leaving another hole in the wall. The structure, already weak from the repeated attacks and unstable surface, started to buckle.

Slade bid a hasty retreat backwards into the house, grabbing a hold of Wintergreen to hoist him along, not bothering to be gentle. "We'll fall back," he said. "Regrou..."

He stopped dead in his tracks.

Tara... no... Terra... stood before him.

And judging from the incredibly hateful gaze her sky-blue eyes were giving, she had regained all of her memories. Her cheeks were stained with tears as well.

"I... remember..." she stated. Then her hate-filled gaze shifted to him, and he recoiled almost as if she'd landed a physical blow. "Slade," she hissed, infusing each and every syllable with as much venom as the human tongue permitted. "I know who you are."

He did not reply. He simply stood there. His mind was racing, but his options were questionable. Attack? Even if her powers were restored one swift blow could render her unconscious. Run? Why... he was no coward. Admit he was sorry? Equally unusable... he wasn't.

"Tara..." he started, hoping the use of her regular name might calm her a little.

"Tara..." she interrupted, her gaze suddenly distant. "No. Tara's a lie. My entire life has been one lie after another."

"That's not true...!" Wintergreen started to say. She cut him off with a glare. And then her hate-filled eyes slid between the two men, past them, towards the creature, battling the Titans.

"... you..." she growled, taking slow, deliberate steps forward. Slade and Wintergreen stepped out of the way as Terra walked forward, jumping out of the broken window and landing lightly on the forested ground. The earth caught her, molding itself upwards to cushion the impact.

As one, the combatants turned to face her... a single blonde-haired girl in a dirty and disheveled school uniform. The construct was confused, its sensors registered metahuman when one had previously gone unnoticed. And the Titans were even -more- confused.

"Terra?" whispered Starfire.

Beastboy shook his head, unable to believe... unable to understand.

"YOU!" screamed Terra, thrusting out her finger accusingly at the construct. And at her whim, the earth responded. Great chunks of rock lifted themselves up and hurled themselves forward to slam into the creature's side, knocking it backwards. The Titans bid a hasty retreat, Starfire zipping down to catch and pull out the still stunned Beastboy, and then watched from a safe distance as Terra continued to use her powers to wail on the monster, shouting all the while.

"You did this!" A boulder slammed into the creature's back, shattering on impact. "You took my life!" Three large rocks sharp as daggers flew forward, slamming into the construct's side. "If you hadn't come here...!" A string of floating pebbles encircled her head like a ragged, rocky halo. "... I could've continued to live the lie without knowing it!" The pebbles shot forward like they were bullets from a machine gun. Tears streaked down Terra's cheeks as she continued on, seemingly unable to stop herself. "I was happy!"

With a final roar and a great surge of strength, Terra lifted her glowing golden hands upwards, and the earth opened wide a maw that swallowed the construct whole. In seconds, it was gone.

Her energy spent, Terra collapsed, falling to her knees, panting heavily for breath. Beyond her, the Titans could only watch in amazement, awe, and perhaps a little fear. It -was- Terra, they could see. Her face, her powers, her personality, her memories. All of it. She was restored.

But what did that mean for them?

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) they were spared the troubles involved in a reunion by the sudden return of the construct, who burst out of the ground in a body of rock. Red eyes locked on Terra, judging her to be the most terrible of threats, and it hurled itself forward to crush her.

She held up a single hand...

... and the construct froze in mid-attack... in mid-air no less... and just hovered there. Terra's eyes glowed golden as she stood, hand still upheld. Now that it was made of stone, the creature was just as vulnerable as stone to natural earth elements the geokinetic Terra controlled.

"The sleeper has awoken," she intoned.

And with that, she clenched her hand into a fist, crushing the construct, compressing it down into a large compressed sphere of rock no more than three feet in diameter. Even if the machine's programming could survive that, there was no way it could survive what was coming next. With a mighty cry, Terra hurled her fist upwards, and the sphere was hurled up into the air, so high and so fast there was little doubt in anyone's mind it had reached escape velocity and been hurled into the reaches of space. Possibly into the sun itself, although none of them could say that for sure.

Either way, it was over. And with that, Terra collapsed, unconscious.

>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

>

Author's Notes:

I often wondered on how to destroy that elemental monster, and hit upon a way employing Terra's powers. Thus, I worked it into the plot to spice things up. I toyed with the idea of connecting the monster and Terra, as if it was her responsibility somehow (kinda like Redstar), but realized it was a machine (based on its POV), and the angle was abandoned. Now it's time to bring the story to an end. One way or another.

Rocky-White Wolf of Curses: Because I delight in being devious. I want to keep you guessing as to whom is there. And I want to taste your agony when you find out you're wrong.

Egglette: Great minds think alike, it seems... which is a shame, now my story is just one of many.

Toddfan: Only if they sing 'Kungfu Fighting.'

Comet-hime: Whenever I review my own work I try to look at it from an objective viewpoint, and I was worried it might have been misconstrued. Glad you liked them, however.

Elie101: Yes, yes I do enjoy watching you suffer. Just be glad I'm not someone who puts you in suspense then never finishes the story. An end -is- coming, I assure you.

Guardian of Azerath: In a sense, yes.

Jimmy the Gothic Egg: Is it genius… or madness? Either way thank you very much.

Ray1: I think everyone got their fair share of trouble.

ViciousAssassin: Slade has indeed many enemies, five of which are very nearby at the moment. As for the rest, well, that's coming up shortly.