Disclaimer: I own the Titans East…yeah right, and the prince of Denmark is a turkey! Gubble gubble! (no offense to the people of Denmark)
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Somewhere underground.
Terra groggily opened her eyes. She was almost immediately blinded by a number of high-intensity light bulbs just above her. It took a while before her eyes was used to the light. Her vision was still blurry though for the most part. It eventually dawned on her that she was seated in some kind of chair. She also noticed that only her spot was pretty much lit up while the rest of the immediate area was barely lit at all.
She tried to move, but soon found out she couldn't. as she tried to move her hands, she could feel that they were restricted by something cold and metallic. They were probably shackles of some kind, she thought. She tried to move her feet and found out that they were also bound by shackles. She noticed there was also a shackled holding down her waist. She was completely immobile.
Her head was the only thing she could move unrestricted. She tried to look around the room but her vision was still pretty hazy at best. Even with limited vision, she could make out that she was in some kind of computer room. There were computer terminals everywhere she looked on the walls.
Unusual as all that was, the one thing that caught her attention the most was the round pedestal a few feet in front of her. Terra particularly eyed the amber crystal that rested on top of the pedestal, clamped in place by a four pronged claw.
"Awake already?"
Terra quickly swung her head in the direction of the voice. From out of the shadows, Professor Chang walked towards Terra. Being a former member of the Teen Titans, Terra fully recognized the aged and wrinkled villain. As such, she greeted him with a look of despise.
"Professor Chang," she said, "what are you doing here, you washed-up old fart?"
"I'll try to ignore that comment," Chang shot back, "What you say means little to me, anyway."
"Whatever you're planning, let me tell you now that it's never gonna work."
"Oh? What makes you say that, my dear?"
"The Titans East will find you and shut down this little operation you've got going. It would be better if you just turn yourself in right now and maybe we might go easy on you!"
"We?" Chang seemed to receive some minor humor in that last remark. Terra looked up to him curiously. Chang had a sinister grin on his face from.
"You say 'we'" continued Chang, "Does this mean you consider yourself to be one of them?"
"They are my friends, and if I could, I would stand with them against you."
"They are not your friends, my dear, no-one is."
"How the hell would you know you demented, old bastard!"
"I know plenty, my dear. But nothing you need to know. It wouldn't matter to you after we are able to use your powers, then you would be of no use to us. Or for anyone else for that matter."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh my, you have no idea, do you?"
"What?"
"Simply put, my dear…you're not real…"
Chang turned around and started to walk towards what would be the exit. Terra was bug-eyed, not really sure what to think about the last thing Chang said to her.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" she asked.
"I will return shortly," said Chang, not really answering her, "At that time, we will begin the extraction procedure, the one purpose you've been created to do. I suggest you simply wait patiently."
"Hey! I said wait!"
Chang ignored her and left the room. Terra was left alone once again. Terra looked bewildered. Not Real? She wondered what that statement actually meant. She knew that Chang was famous for his over-the-top unusual use of science which made her very nervous. If Chang knew something she didn't, it was anything but good.
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Back at Titans Tower: East.
"We have to get her back!" exclaimed Speedy.
After the events of late last night, Aqualad roused the rest of the team from sleep and assembled them. Though they initially complained about the impromptu wake-up call, as soon as Aqualad told them the graveness of the situation, everyone went into high-gear almost immediately. They were all gathered in the main room discussing what actions they should take. Aqualad was currently missing since he went out to get something.
"¡Tiene razón!" concurred the twins, "¡Debemos salvar a nuestro amigo¡Ser ninguno contar el lo que esos maniáticos harán a ella!"
"Chill out guys," said Bumble Bee, "I know we need to do something but we need to find a place to start. We need to know where they could've taken her, first."
"Do we have any clues as to where that might be?" inquired Speedy.
"As soon as Aqualad comes back, we might have something."
"How's that?"
"If I can scan those broken-up androids that Aqualad managed to take out, I could trace back a transmission signal to its source. The source might very well be Chang or Blood's hideout."
"What do you think they'll do to her?"
"I…don't know. And I don't think I wanna know."
"I just can't imagine what they might do to Terra. She's been a part of their little scheme from the start without her knowing it."
"Sí, pensamos que está en el un camión digno el peligro" said the twins.
"Let's not loose faith just yet, guys," said Bumble Bee, "Terra is strong. I'm sure she'll be able to take on whatever Blood and Chang could dish out long enough for us to find her and save her."
"Yeah, you're right, Bee" said Speedy.
Just then, the doors opened up to reveal Aqualad carrying a rag doll body of a disabled mech-ranger on his shoulders. The sword was still stuck to its chest and sparks were flying out of it's now gaping wound.
"Yo, Bumble Bee," called out Aqualad, "where do you want 'im"
Bumble Bee pointed to a spot on the floor near the team. Aqualad walked towards the spot and set down the mech-ranger's motionless body on its back on the floor where Bumble Bee specified. Aqualad soon rejoined the team as Bumble Bee moved forward and started looking over the mech-ranger's body.
"Can you really trace this thing back to its source?" inquired Aqualad.
"Maybe," said Bumble Bee, "This thing has to have a transmitter somewhere in its head for it to receive orders. If I could hack into it, I could trace back it's last signal and find out where it came from."
"¿Podremos encontrar Terra después de eso?" asked the twins.
"Yeah, we might just find Terra with it. Now if I can only get into this thing's head…"
"Allow me," Speedy said as he stepped forward.
Speedy walked up to the android and gave a good look. Then he bent down, grabbed hold of the sword's handle, and furiously yanked the blade out of the body. Bumble Bee took a step back. Speedy held the sword at ready. Speedy held the broadsword high over his head and brought it down with a great amount of force right at the mech-ranger's neck.
The broadsword cut right through the neck of the mech-ranger. The head detached and rolled towards the other's feet and came to rest. Speedy tossed the broadsword aside and looked back at the team. They were all staring at him while nervously sweatdropping.
"Whaaaaat?" said Speedy, "We're in a hurry here, aren't we? Let's get to work, already."
"Okay," said Bumble Bee. She picked up the decapitated android's head. It still bared the same emotionless facial expression as before. Bumble Bee knew that the thing was an artificial soldier, but still, that kinda creeped her out.
Bumble Bee move to the main computer where she took some wires form the terminal and began connecting it to exposed wires in the open neck of the androids head. Meanwhile, Speedy approached Aqualad.
"By the way," started Speedy, "You said that there was this girl with silver hair and golden cat eyes. I wanna know more about her."
"Well…" said Aqualad, "I don't know much myself, but I'm pretty sure she was the one responsible for bringing Terra outside and nabbing her there. She has these weird psychic powers too."
"Wait a minute," interjected Bumble Bee, "You said this girl had long silver hair, golden cat eyes and mental powers?"
"Yeah."
"Hold on…"
Bumble Bee set down the head of the mech-ranger. She goes over to another keyboard and typed in a few commands. Soon enough, a profile image appeared on the screen. The picture on the side showed a full body picture of the girl with silver hair and golden cat eyes who Aqualad encountered some time ago.
"Yup, that's her," said Aqualad.
"Do you know her, Bee?" asked Speedy.
"Yeah, she's an old schoolmate from the Hive Academy," said Bumble Bee, "She calls herself 'Fallacy'. Her name is mostly based on her powers."
"Is that what she did to me and Terra?" asked Aqualad."
"Probably."
"So you're saying she can control people's minds, or something?"
"Kinda, but not in the sense where she completely takes over your free will. She feeds illusions into a person's mind, an alternate, false reality. When she has a hold of you with her powers, you see and feel an alternate reality while your body still interacts with the real world."
"Kinda like a virtual reality game, huh?" said Speedy.
"That's one way of seeing it. What you see isn't real, but you yourself and the world around you remains real."
"Kinda like when I thought I was in a void but I was still standing on solid ground," said Aqualad, "She probably did the same to Terra, giving her an illusion in her sleep that made her wanna go outside, as well as try and beat the crap out of me. She probably saw me as someone else. I think she called me 'Slade'…"
"Fallacy is even nastier when she attacks you in your sleep," said Bumble Bee, "By then, you have almost no chance of returning to reality, until she permits you to. She's very dangerous that way."
"If we encounter her again, what should we do to beat her?" inquired Speedy.
"Her powers do have their limits," said Bumble Bee, "She can only influence the mind of one person at a time. That means she is vulnerable if she is outnumbered. It would be best if we never take her on our own but always with a teammate."
"Got it."
Speedy turned his attention to decapitated android head at one end of the terminal, wires and cabled attached to its open neck.
"Are you trying to trace a signal with that thing already," asked Speedy, pointing to the mech-ranger's head.
"Yeah," replied Bumble Bee, "I found the transmitter and am trying to resend a false reply signal. When that happens, we'll find out the source of the signal, as well as Terra's location."
"How long will this take,"
"Give it a few minutes, guys."
Speedy couldn't say anything else after that, and neither could anyone else. Bumble Bee may have said that the trace would take a few minutes to complete but everyone in the room was wishing for that thing to hurry the hell up. Until then, nothing else could be done.
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Back at the underground hideout of Professor Chang.
Terra was still locked in the chair with no way to move. She tried using her powers every once in a while, but she couldn't. The most likely reason is that she couldn't find a close enough source of earth, or something in the room it self was blocking her powers.
Trapped and with nothing to do, she waited nervously for the return of Professor Chang. Above that, she waited for the coming of her comrades, The Titans East. She had faith in them that they would come and save her. Then maybe, they would beat down on Professor Chang together. All she could do was hope for the best.
Some minutes later, the one single door in the room opened. Terra immediately looked in that direction, half-expecting that a fellow Titan would enter. She was immediately disappointed when a white-suited henchman entered. The henchman was soon followed by four more henchmen in the same attire. Lastly, Professor Chang himself entered.
"Are you ready my dear?" asked the professor.
Terra didn't answer him. She wished that she had just enough snot to spit him in the face with but that turned out to be a disappointment as well.
Chang simply smiled sinisterly at her. "You should be glad. This is the fulfillment of your purpose, the only reason for you to exist."
"What the hell are you talking about you sinister old bastard?" Terra shot back.
"Now is not the best time for you to know." said Chang, turning away from her and moving to another computer terminal.
Around her Terra could see the henchmen taking up positions in different computer terminals across the room. Chang himself sat in a pretty high-tech looking terminal that looked more advanced than the others, with it's much bigger screen and bigger processors. As soon as he sat down, Chang inputted a myriad of commands unknown to Terra.
Terra's heart jumped when her chair started to suddenly move. The whole chair began to change its shape, all the while Terra was still shackled to it. The chair began to straighten, lags, armrests, and the body all folding down to create a completely flat surface. Soon Terra found herself lying down.
After that, the chair then started to rotate. It slowly tilted up, along with Terra still shackled the whole time. It only took a few seconds until the chair and Terra were in an upright position. Terra found herself looking at the round pedestal with the amber crystal on it directly.
"Now we begin," said Professor Chang.
Terra was barely aware of a tingling sensation she got from chair to her bare skin. It was increasing by the second until her entire body could feel it. Then suddenly and without any warning, Terra felt like a thousand volts of electricity were shooting right up her body.
"Aaaaaaaaagggghhhhhh!" she screamed in agony.
Sparks of amber electricity jumped out of Terra's body as she struggled against the shackles at her arms, legs, and waist. Her struggles were unfortunately in vain. She tried her best to tolerate the pain and keep conscious. All the while, Chang simply sat back and watched uncaringly.
On the round pedestal, the amber crystal began to glow brighter.
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Back at the tower.
"It's done!" Bumble Bee suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone in the room immediately turned their attention to Bumble Bee who was hunched over the computer terminal.
"What is?" asked Aqualad.
"The trace just brought back some results."
"¡Sobre el tiempo!" exclaimed the twins.
"So we know where Terra is?" asked Speedy
"That might be the case," said Bumble Bee, "I've pin-pointed the location on GPS. We leave immediately!"
"Let me guess, it's some abandoned observatory?"
"No. but something kinda like it…"
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Outside an abandoned planetarium.
On a nearby rooftop, Speedy stood perched on the edge overlooking the large dome-like structure. The place was decommissioned almost half-a-year ago after poor sales and not enough visits have made unsuccessful. Although rumor has it that it'll be bought out by Wayne Industries to create a new research center. But until then it was officially empty. Not anymore.
"I'm here at the site, Bee," said Speedy into his communicator.
"Any suspicious behavior?" asked Bumble Bee's digital image.
"None. You sure you have the right place?"
"C'mon, gimme a break here! I traced this location from a decapitated android in less than fifteen minutes."
"Still, I'm not seeing anything. I'm beginning to think that…wait!"
Speedy spotted something down below. Something that definitely qualified as suspicious. A white-suited henchman peeked outside a maintenance door apparently looking to see if anyone was around. Seemingly satisfied, he walked out carrying a plastic garbage can. The henchman walked to a nearby dumpster and dumped the can's contents into the dumpster. After he was done, the henchman walked back to the door, with the empty garbage can, entered the building, and promptly closed the door behind him.
"…I may just have something here," said Speedy.
Speedy pocketed away his communicator and shot a grappling arrow across the block and swung down to where the henchman dumped his load of garbage. He cautiously walked to the door. He tried the knob. Sure enough, it was locked. Not a problem considering her was Speedy.
Speedy took out his lock pick kit from his utility belt. He began work on the door. It only took him ten seconds to successfully pick the lock and break into the building. Before entering he took out his communicator once more to give Bumble Bee a message.
"Bee, do you read," he said into the communicator.
"What's up?" she inquired.
"This place is definitely suspicious. I know for sure now that there is a good chance that Chang is in here somewhere, and maybe Terra too. I've found a way in. It's in the west side of the building, employee's entrance."
"Got it. The team will be there in five. Wait for us."
"…no, I think I'll go on ahead of you guys."
"Huh? No, wait, Speedy! You don't know what's in there. It would be better if we stick together."
"Sorry, Bee. We've used up too much time as it is and I'm really worried about Terra right now. I'm going on ahead and scope the place out. Catch up when you can, alright. Later…"
Speedy turned off his communicator and pocketed it into his belt. He also took his bow from his shoulder and slung one of his arrows at ready. With a fair amount of caution in his step, Speedy entered into the building through the maintenance door.
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In the underground chamber.
"Aaaaaarrrrgggghhh!"
Terra kept screaming for what seemed like an agonizing eternity. The chair continued to deliver stream after stream of high voltages directly into her body. The pain only intensified as the minutes ticked by. All over the room, the henchmen were monitoring their respective computer terminals and paid little attention to Terra.
Professor Chang, stood by on the side watching the scene take place. His expression was emotionless, though he seemed like he was waiting for something. He turned to one of his henchman that was monitoring a set of numbers on his screen.
"What is the progress?" asked Chang.
"Just under ninety percent, sir," answered the henchman, "We should be done within the next few minutes."
"Excellent…"
Terra continued to scream in pain. "Nnnnnnnggggggaaaaaa!"
Professor Chang turned his attention to the amber crystal sitting on the round pedestal. It was glowing brighter than ever. Soon it would reach its optimum brightness which would indicate that it would be ready for use, and once that happens, they will be one step closer to world domination.
Chang smiled sinisterly at the thought. This would be his revenge to the world. The world laughed at him and called him a wash-out. Thanks to people like the Teen Titans he lost almost all his dignity and all his pride. But now he will show them all just what he could do. The GeoHammer was mostly his brainchild and once it's fully operational, the world will fear him for the genius that he was. It will be his creation that will bring the world to its knees.
"Sir, the process is complete!" called out the same henchman whom Chang talked to just a minute ago.
Chang looked towards the henchman then gave an order. "Shut it down!"
The henchman entered a command into his terminal. The electrical voltages that ran through Terra finally stopped. Terra slumped, gasping for breath. She thought for sure she was going to die just then. Strangely enough, in spite of the massive amounts of electricity that went through her body, she didn't feel burned.
Chang simply walked up to crystal on the pedestal. It had reached its peak brightness. It was no longer the color of amber but looked more like it was now the color of gold. It was brilliant in that it lit up the whole room in a golden haze.
"Yes, this is it…" said Chang
"What…did you…do to me?" Terra asked with what strength she had.
"Oh, you will know soon enough…"
He then turned to another henchman. "Bring in the sample…"
The henchman who took the order promptly left the room and came back a minute later bringing with him a cart. On top of the cart was a rock. It wasn't that big a rock, just about the size of a football. From a bystander's point of view it would look like just any ordinary old rock. That's because it was just and ordinary old rock.
"Let's test it out, shall we," said Chang.
Chang moved to his personal computer terminal. He entered a few commands into it. The crystal glowed even brighter as he did this. Terra tiredly looked his way curiously, trying to figure out what he was up to. Eventually her glance met the rock they had brought in and she got her surprising answer.
The rock started to glow slightly in gold. Slowly but surely, the rock lifted off the cart that it was brought in. After it reached a certain height it began to spin in around, then flipped a couple of times. Terra was amazed at the sight, not because it was spectacular, but of the fact that she wasn't the one doing it. Something was wrong to her, but to Chang, everything seemed just right.
"Yes…you see, it works!" Chang exclaimed, looking like Dr. Frankenstein watching his monster come alive. The process proved to be a complete success.
"What the hell is that thing?" asked Terra.
"Don't you see yet, my dear? The process you just went through copied your terrakinetic abilities into this artificial crystal we've made especially for you. Now that the crystal contains your wonderful powers it will become the final component to the GeoHammer."
"…you copied my powers? For a weapon?"
"What are you so surprised about? As I have said, you are not real. This is the only reason you exist. I went through quite some trouble to create you, my dear, for this one single purpose. But now that you've served this purpose, we have no need for you anymore."
"Sir, we have intruders," said one of the henchmen all of a sudden.
Chang knew that was coming sooner or later. It would seem that the Titans have found him. No matter. He was done with his work here and had no more reason to stay.
"I believe that is my cue to leave," he said, "Brief as your existence was, I hope you enjoyed it. Goodbye…"
With that, he started to walk out the door, soon every henchman in the room followed suite. Some of them took the time to carry the crystal away from the pedestal. Terra was being left alone once again.
"Hey! where are you going?" she yelled out, "Wait!"
But the all ignored her. Everyone has now left the room, with the crystal, and left Terra completely alone, still shackled to the chair. She got a sinking feeling that they will not be coming back.
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Somewhere else inside the planetarium.
Speedy wandered the hallways looking for anything suspicious. So far nothing had surfaced that would call for his attention. He has already searched the top floors for the most part and has found nothing. Therefore he concluded that if there is anything in this building, it would be somewhere below. He was now looking for a way down to the basement levels. Having no luck so far, he just kept wandering. He was pretty uncomfortable, considering how eerily quiet the place was.
He passed an old model of Jupiter, which he completely ignored. As soon as he was past the display, a white-suited henchman crept out from behind the display. Speedy had his back to the henchman and seemed to be oblivious. The henchman was armed with the usual taser rod which he aimed at Speedy's back.
But just as the henchman was about to shoot at Speedy, the red archer quickly spun around and unloaded a punching glove arrow right into the henchman's face. The henchman was caught totally off-guard and was promptly knocked out by the arrow. Speedy smiled triumphantly but it was a short-lived smile as a red bolt of electricity just missed him and caught him by surprise.
"Whoa!"
He quickly ducked behind a display to avoid being shocked by the blasts. He peeked out and saw half-a-dozen more men in white suits aiming taser rods his way. Some of them have already started blasting away at Speedy. Speedy was pinned.
"Well, isn't this convenient…" he said sarcastically.
"No, but this is!"
From above, Bumble Bee swooped down and blasted the lot of villains with her stingers. She managed to nail two but she soon found herself ducking for cover after she was almost overwhelmed with return fire. She ducked behind a nearby exhibit of mars. The henchmen continued blasting away at them both.
At that moment, the henchmen were oblivious to the shaking and rattling sprinkler pipes above their heads. The sprinklers bust and torrents of water snaked their way to each individual henchman. The water slapped the henchmen right in the face forcing them out of there hiding places. With that, Speedy and Bumble Bee took immediate action. They too jumped out of their hiding spots started firing on the hapless henchmen who were too distracted to react.
All the henchmen that were there were instantly knocked out by Bumble Bee's stingers or Speedy's glove arrows. Things soon calmed down a bit. Speedy and Bumble Bee stood beside each other and were soon joined by Aqualad and the twins a few moments later.
"What took you guys so long?" asked Speedy.
"Doesn't matter," said Aqualad, "Got a fix on Terra yet?"
"She's nowhere in the top floors so I'm guessing she's somewhere in the basement levels of this place."
"Figures."
Their brief meting became even more briefer as another wave of bright red electric blast came from one side of the room. A dozen more henchmen armed with taser rods came gushing out of a nearby door. The Titans immediately split up and hid behind separate covers. Speedy, Bumble Bee, and Menos ducked behind an old display of the Apollo spacecraft while Aqualad and Más hid behind a giant model of Saturn.
"¿Qué hacemos ahora?" cried out Más.
"¿Por qué estás preguntándome tú¡No sé!" said Menos.
"We're wasting too much time here!" exclaimed Speedy, "We have to find a way past those guys!"
"I'm with Speedy on this one," concurred Aqualad, "we have to save Terra, and fast!"
Speedy peeked out of his cover just long enough to asses the area. He seemed to have found something. The henchmen seemed to be all coming from single door. That was their ticket to Terra. But they still needed to slip past the defenses.
"I think that door might lead to the lower levels," said Speedy, "Bee, if you shrink your body, you might be able to fly past these guys and go save Terra."
"Yeah, I think you're right," she Agreed, "Give me cover."
"Alright."
Speedy slung an arrow onto his bow and shot it blindly out over the model of the Apollo spacecraft. In mid-air the arrow burst into a brilliant bright flash of red. The flare arrow momentarily blinded the henchmen that were shooting at the Titans giving Bumble Bee the perfect opportunity.
"Go, Bee, now!" exclaimed Speedy.
Bumble Bee gave him a quick nod. She used her powers to shrink herself down to the size of a grain of rice. She flew from behind their cover and low to the floor. She slipped past the wincing henchmen successfully and entered into the door from which the henchmen came out of.
Bumble Bee found herself navigating through dimly lit hallways and down a flight of stairs. She found herself in another hallway at the bottom of the stairs. After a short ways through this last hallway, she started hearing voices in the distance. Moreover it was voices that were coming towards her. She took quick action and hid above some electrical wiring on the ceiling.
Below her, a few more henchmen came out of the hallway and were running in the direction from which Bumble Bee came from, probably to join the fight upstairs with the rest of the Titans East. Bumble Bee waited until all of them had passed her. She then noticed a straggler, one henchman who seemed to have trouble arming his weapon lagged behind. Bumble Bee saw an opportunity.
The henchman struggled to operate his taser rod which didn't seem to want to cooperate. He was partially oblivious to a black and yellow insect that buzzed right up to his face. He didn't know how, but the small black and yellow insect managed to smack him right in the kisser and knock him on his back. The henchman dropped his weapon in the process.
When the henchman tried to get up again, his face promptly met the business end of one of Bumble Bee's stingers. The henchman sweated nervously at the sight of Bumble Bee towering over him, pinning him down with one foot and a stinger. Bumble Bee looked the henchman straight in the eye and asked a question.
"Where is Terra?"
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Back in the underground chamber.
Terra was still desperately trying to break free of her bonds. She struggled to no avail, the shackles were just too strong for her to break out of. She pondered what could Chang have meant when he said 'you're not real'. It's been messing with her since he said that. Just as she was about to give up, the door opened. From the door walked in a white-suited henchman, whom Terra glared at, followed by Bumble Bee, whom Terra was elated to see.
"Bumble Bee!" Terra exclaimed, "I'm so glad you guys found me already!"
"Diddo," said Bumble Bee.
Bumble Bee instructed the henchman, who Terra noticed was actually handcuffed behind the back, to wait on one corner of the room. Bumble Bee then proceeded to the chair, which was more like a bed that was standing up now, that Terra was bound to. She looked over it a bit and found some circuitry in the back side. She yanked a couple of wires and Terra was instantly released.
Terra rubbed her sore limbs. "I almost thought you guys wouldn't come…"
"We're the Titans," said Bumble Bee, "We never leave our own behind. C'mon, let's go, the other's are waiting for us."
"Wait."
Bumble Bee stopped in her tracks as she was walking out the door. She looked back at Terra who was staring down the handcuffed henchman. Terra moved towards him and suddenly grabbed him by the collar and shoved him angrily up against the wall.
"You have answers I need," said Terra, "What did Professor Chang mean?"
The henchman was sweating bullets under his suit. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you dare lie to me! I'll ask you again, what did Chang mean when he said what he said about me?"
"I don't know what he said about you."
"He told me I wasn't real!"
Bumble Bee went bug-eyed when she heard Terra say that. Her memory of the conversation she recently had with Robin over the computer suddenly came flooding back. Terra was in Jump City but at the same time stood there right in front of her. Now she was wondering if the Terra that was in front of her might have just stumbled onto a hidden truth in all this madness.
"Answer me!" Terra choked him more.
"Gahg!...ou're…a…lon…argh!
Terra loosened her grip. "What?"
"You're a clone!" exclaimed the henchman
Terra's eyes immediately widened to their biggest size. She was mentally floored by that statement. Bumble Bee was also in a similar predicament, her worst fear confirmed.
"Y—you're lying!" Terra exclaimed while choking him harder.
"No, it's true. The real Terra lost her powers in Jump City and we had to create you if we wanted to complete the master plan!"
"I don't believe you! You're lying! Tell me the truth, or I'll--"
"But it is true, my dear…"
The attention of all three people in the room immediately went to the large screen in Chang's personal computer terminal. Chang's image was shown in the large screen. Terra dropped the henchman she was interrogating and faced Chang directly.
"It is all true…" continued Professor Chang.
"What?…How am I?…It can't be! I have to be the real Terra! I remember everything, The Titans, Jump City, Slade, The desert, all those years of wandering! How can I remember them If I--?"
"Do you really want to know, my dear?" asked Chang, "If so then let me enlighten you…"
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"The GeoHammer project was something I've come up with a long time ago. As you would have figured it out by now, Terra's power's were a very important key ingredient. When I found out that Terra had been somehow resurrected and wandering about in the city, you couldn't imagine how exited I was…"
In a nice sunny day at Jump City, the world was at peace. Three girls in high-school uniforms, A redhead girl leading the group. Her two friend followed her as she entered a café. They sat sown at a nearby table while one of the girls, an African-American, went to the counter to place an order. Meanwhile, the redhead was chatting with her other friend.
The third friend was a skinny girl with long-flowing blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and the fairest of skin. Terra. She seemed to have a wonderful time as their black friend came in with their orders and they all chatted up a storm without a care in the world.
Outside on a nearby rooftop, a mech-ranger coldly watched the three girls, the blonde in particular.
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"I confirmed her identity when I took a genetic ample of her. I knew if I confirmed that it was Terra herself, then and only then can my project become underway. However, I received instead a very nasty surprise…"
Inside the girls' restroom, Terra was standing in front of a mirror brushing her long hair. As she did strands of her hair would fall into the sink. Her redhead friend came out of a nearby stool and called for her. Terra and her friend then soon left the room.
Once the girls were gone, a mech-ranger snuck into the girls' room via an open window. It looked down on the sink where Terra was brushing her hair. It picked up all the fallen strands of blonde hair it could. It then promptly left the girl's restroom the same way it came in.
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Professor Chang sat in the darkness in front of a computer terminal. The screen in front of him showed a three-dimensional image of a double-helix DNA strand. After typing a few commands into the computer, some results flashed into the screen. Professor Chang's jaw dropped. He seemed very disappointed.
"It turned out that the girl was Terra, the former Teen Titan. But there was a grave problem. The genetic sample showed that Terra's genome structure was tainted. Someone had altered her genome ever so slightly but enough so that it would cancel out her powers…"
From the shadows behind Chang, an immense humanoid creature with a body of pure white and an indiscernible face walked out into the light of Chang's monitor. Chang turned to the monster with no emotion. The monster looked down on Chang as if waiting for something. Chang said something to the monster and it immediately left the room.
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"I sent one of my late creations to confirm my fears that the girl had truly lost her powers, sort of like a little test for her…"The white monster wreaks havoc in downtown Jump City. The Teen Titans are there as always to save the day. Beast Boy charged in as a veloceraptor but was soon deterred by one of the white monster's counterattacks. Beast Boy sprawled on the ground. As soon as he got back up, a familiar figure of a blonde girl graces his sight.
The girl stood watching the scene in horror. After establishing that there was immediate danger at hand, the blonde girl runs away along with several other bystanders. The girl knew that running away was not an action a superhero would take, but then she also knew that she was no superhero.
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"Not only have I confirmed that she was no longer the Terra that the Titans remember, but my continued monitoring of her have revealed that she herself no longer remembers her own past. Whoever tainted her genetic structure also removed her memory so that she was no longer who she was, and gave her a completely different memory…"
A mech-ranger perched on a nearby rooftop looked down with electronic eyes zooming in on two teenagers eating at a local pizza place. One teen was unusual in that he had green skin and wore a black and purple jumpsuit. Beast Boy of the Teen Titans. The other was a normal looking blond girl in a high-school uniform. Terra.
Beast Boy seemed to have said some thing offensive causing the girl to stand up and leave. Somehow, Beast Boy managed to convince her to stay with her a little longer. Having seen enough the mech-ranger left the two teens to their business, never to bother them ever again.
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"So…I resorted to an alternate plan…"
Chang stood in the middle of a dimly lit room. Computer terminals littered the room and men in white suits were working feverously on something. Chang looked at the far wall where a tall glass cylinder stood. It was the only thing that was actually illuminating the room.
The cylinder was filled with some kind of liquid illuminated by built in lights giving it an eerie glow. Inside the cylinder, floating in the liquid was the naked from of familiar girl with long flowing blonde hair. Chang looked upon the sight in front of him and smiled sinisterly.
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Back at the present.
Terra stood with a flabbergasted look on her face. Bumble Bee was somewhat similar although she on the other hand looked more like she was actually expecting something like this. She looked towards Terra with a lot of worry.
Chang continued on his explanation. "I used the genetic material I collected to create a pure clone, one that would have the original's powers intact. The result was you, my dear. You remember all those things from Terra's past because your genome is an exact replica of hers only pure and untainted. You believe that you have lived a lifetime but in truth you are barely under a month old."
"No…impossible!…" said Terra.
"You never actually suppose to wake up. We created you so that you could become part of our weapon and nothing more. It was unfortunate that you somehow ended up in the hands of the Titans East. If they hadn't found you, you might have not suffered like this."
"Stop! It's a lie!"
"No, my dear, it is the truth. And unfortunately for you, you will not live long enough past this hour to regret your mistake for ever thinking you were anything else but a tool…"
Professor Chang's image disappeared from the computer screen and was immediately replaced by something that caused the two Titans, and even the handcuffed henchman, a lot of distress. The screen read: 'SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED'. A timer below it started to countdown.
12:00…11:59…11:58…11:57…11:56…
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Author's note: I would like to extend an advanced apology to all who are reading this. I will be leaving town for the better part of the next five days on official school business. During that time, I will be nowhere near a computer or an Internet connection. So you can expect a slightly longer delay with regards to my next update. Again I am sorry. But I will guarantee plenty of action in the next update. In the meantime, please R&R!