Disclaimer: I don't own… blah blah blah…
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In the woods below False Vulcan
Speedy's eyes opened after what seemed like an eternity of forced sleep. It took a while before his vision lost its blur. When his eyes did regain their normally sharp vision, it wasn't much of a help to Speedy since he soon found out he didn't have the slightest idea where the hell he was.
Speedy tried to get up. He did so with moderate difficulty. There were several spot on his body that were aching and soar. He was familiar with pain, his job called for it. He may have been soar but he was thankful that he wasn't soar enough to indicate that anything was broken. He was okay, for the most part at least. In a few seconds, he was back on his feet.
When his neck muscles weren't so soar anymore, he gave his surroundings another once-over. It was the same as the first time he looked. Trees, trees, and even more trees. He wracked is brain for an explanation as to how he might have gotten here. His memory recalled the last moments of their battle against Brother Blood's troops
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Speedy has had enough by that point. His anger had already reached its limit. Speedy threw his head back knocking the back the mech-ranger that was holding and forced it to let go of him. Speedy quickly unleashed his bow and charged at Fallacy who was just noticing him.
Half-way from reaching her, the first mech-ranger crossed Speedy's path. Speedy couldn't react in time as the mech-soldier was already swinging his blade out towards Speedy. The archer couldn't do anything but raise his bow in front of him to block. The blade met Speedy's bow in a spine-tingling impact.
The impact was so hard that Speedy actually flew backwards. At the same time, Speedy also lost hold of his bow, which was shaken from his hand. Speedy slid and rolled all the way down the elevated clearing they were all standing on and fell right off the edge of the cliff and down into the forest below with a scream.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Speedy!" exclaimed all the Titans as they watched him go over the edge.
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Remembering that little blink of history actually caused his body to slightly ache once again. He shook it off and started trying to think of a plan as to how his gonna get out of his situation. First, he assessed what he had on hand. It wasn't much.
A quick survey reminded him that he lost his bow. That pretty much made his pack of arrows useless past a couple of feet in front of his face. That meant that he was also helpless in his current state. He had no practical means in rescuing his friends let alone taking down Blood and Chang's entire operation. Plus there was also the fact that he was slightly hurt.
He re-checked himself for injuries. Aside from a bruise here and there, there was nothing overly serious. No bones were broken and nothing inside seemed to be bleeding. But still he was hurt. He was in no condition to take on anyone, not without taking a couple of aspirins first. He needed to get back to the tower and get help.
As he started moving through the forest and back towards the city limits, Speedy's thought brought up a new issue. Who to call for help. After searching all his viable options, he found only one that was available: Terra. He knew immediately that she might be a problem.
Terra had certain issues she needed to work out and that didn't exactly make her primed for battle. She needed to find her resolve again first. But at that current situation she needed to do it fast. If she didn't, the Titans East are doomed.
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Back on the beach.
Terra and Chu-hui were simply sitting on their respective rocks staring out into the ocean. Chu-hui seemed to be enjoying the calm and cooling sea breeze. Terra on the other hand seemed deeply engrossed in thought. They have been like this for about a third of an hour or so. Chu-hui knew not to rush Terra in what ever she was thinking about.
Finally, Terra spoke up. "What's out there that's worth living for?"
"I am afraid that I cannot answer that question," said the True Master, "Only we can decide what things we have that is worth living for."
"How would you know if the ideal you have is like that?"
"We can never tell immediately if the things we hold are that of which we can dedicate ourselves completely to. There is always a chance that we can never find enough passion in those ideals so that we eventually loose sight of them. But then again, sometime the things we hold have hope for us in them. If we find something that we truly love, we dedicate ourselves to it, draw strength from it, and ultimately live through it."
"So you're saying I just have to keep on trying out stuff 'till I find something worth while? That sounds kinda tedious…"
"One does not reach anything worth while in life if one does not take risk. Besides, it has always been in your nature to always try out new things, my student."
"My nature? You mean Terra's nature."
"I suppose."
"Well, let me reiterate, I am not Terra, I'm something else."
"Nevertheless, you've made it quite clear that you two share the same nature."
"You mean we share the same weakness. Terra always kept trying out new things but at the same time she also made plenty of lousy mistakes through it. I'm told that the real Terra, back in Jump City, lost her memory and her powers. And you know what, I think she wanted it that way. I think she asked for her powers and her memory to be erased. She didn't want to hurt anymore people or make any more mistakes. And you know what else, I'd probably do the same thing if I had the chance."
"You say she has made mistakes, and you're probably right. But that is not all that she earned."
"What do you mean, Master?"
"She has earned friends that care for her as much as she cares about them. Do you think she is no longer welcomed in the company of her old friends? I wouldn't think so. In the midst of her errors she has earned things that are infinitely better. You have the same potential, my dear student."
"You mean the same potential to make mistakes…"
"No. you have the potential to earn just as much if not even more. You may make a few mistakes every once in a while but those are unavoidable. The best we can do is learning from those mistakes."
"…did Terra learn from her mistakes?"
"I suppose so if we follow your theory. You say Terra willingly gave up her powers because she felt so guilty of all the damaged she may have done. She may have also chosen to give up her feelings for her friends in order to distance herself from them. So that her friends may never again experience the pain of her betrayal."
"I doubt loosing my powers and my memory are an option at the moment."
"Why? You have not done anything to merit such self-punishment."
"No, but I might. You say I have the same potential as the real Terra. Well that also means I can make the same mistakes, hurt the people I care about. What will stop me from simply repeating history?"
"Was it not you yourself who said that you were not the real thing? That you were someone else?"
"…"
"In the essential terms you are the Terra you say you're not."
"How do you figure that?"
"A rock is formed from the earth. When the rock is dug up and separated from the earth it is still the earth in nature."
"Then how am I someone else if I'm her by nature, Master?"
"You and the real Terra are living two separate lives. That should be very clear to you by now. Your destinies are completely different. Her future is not your future. You now have the choice to pave your own path in life. You need not follow a path that has already been laid."
"…Is that really my fate?"
"I know your fears, young lady. You are uncertain, unsure of your future. Afraid of the mistakes you might make. But ask yourself: is it better to simply stay as you are rather than not try out the possibilities? You've always been one to try out new things."
Terra was silent. She was now back in deep thought. Among the things she was thinking about, she looked at her current situation. She looked at the few days she spent with the Titans East. Those were the only genuine days she was sure of, the times she spent with her friends.
Friends. For the last several hours, that word didn't seem to exist in her mind. Only now did she start to think about them. The way they treated her like she was genuinely one of them. The way they offered her to be part of the team. The way they tried to rescue her when she was kidnapped. The way Speedy and the others tried to help her even when she herself lost all hope.
They found something in her worth living for. Something she was blind to at the time. She thought about actually trying to see for herself what they saw in her that was so worth while. If there ever was anything to find, maybe it would be enough to give her resolve.
As she was thinking, a cold breeze blew against them. Terra then realized how late it must've been already. Chu-hui was the first to voice it out.
"The hour is later than I anticipated…" said the True Master.
Terra spoke up. "Wanna come by the tower?"
Chu-hui looked at her student inquisitively.
Terra continued. "I'm sure it'll be a lot warmer there. We also have a garden on the ninth floor. I could make you some tea if you want. And I'm sure the other guys might like to talk to you. Don't worry about them, they're a pretty interesting bunch albeit a little noisy, but--"
"Why thank you, my dear," said the True Master, "I'd love to visit…"
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Inside the GeoHammer facility under False Vulcan.
Bumble Bee, Aqualad, Más and Menos were held in some kind of holding cell. The walls of their rather spacious cell were bare and covered with yellow metallic panels. Typical HIVE fashion in interior design. They were all seated on the floor with nothing to do. They couldn't do anything even if they wanted to anyway. A closer inspection of the Titans would show that they had special, high-tech looking handcuffs on their wrist.
Bumble Bee had already explained to the team what those specialized handcuffs were. They were another thing she remembered from her old HIVE Academy days. The cuffs were designed to suppress the wearers meta-human abilities; wear the cuffs and one looses their superpowers. In the old HIVE Academy these were essentially used as disciplinary tools when a couple of superpowered students became a bit unruly.
Because of these cuffs, the Titans found themselves helpless. All they were able to do was worry. Worry about what was going to happen to them now that they've been captured. But more particularly, worry about how Speedy ended up. They all saw him took a nasty fall. They worried if he'd survived and if he did how serious were his injuries.
It drove Aqualad nuts. "Dammit!"
Aqualad stood up and kicked the wall making a loud thump echo throughout the room.
"How did this happen to us?" he continued, "We're smarter that this!"
"Aparentemente no lo somos," said the twins.
Bumble Bee gave an exasperating sigh. "I'm more worried about Speedy right now."
"Esperamos que esté bien. Parece eso es la única esperanza que hemos conseguido."
"What's gonna happen now?" asked Aqualad to no-one in particular.
As if to answer the Atlantean's inquiry, a hidden door in the far wall slid open with a mechanical hiss. A single wasp soldier walked in. The Titans noticed him and immediately glared. The wasp soldier didn't seem bothered.
"Follow me," ordered the soldier, "the boss wants to see you…"
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Minute later.
The Titans were lead by an armed escort of wasp soldiers down the cavernous facility of the GeoHammer. It took them a while for them to reach their destination. The soldiers lead the Titans to a giant pair of doors. The soldiers simply told the Titans to step up to the door and wait. The soldiers simply stood back in the hallway making sure the teen can't escape.
A few short moments later, the doors opened up. It revealed a pretty elaborate control room. The Titans were ordered by the wasp soldiers to enter the control room. The Titans did so hesitantly. Once inside, the Titans got a good look at the workings of the control room.
It was a pretty wide space with a tall ceiling. The walls were plain yellow-painted metal panels. They stood on a slightly elevated floor that connected directly to the doorway and rose five feet off the lower floor. The elevated floor had a stairs throughout its perimeter (except for the wall with the doorway). On the three sides of the lower floor, other than the doorway, was an array of computer terminals. Where several men were typing away.
"Quite the set-up, wouldn't you say?"
The Titans turned their heads towards the source of the voice. The looked towards the door way. There stood Brother Blood clad in his red and black cybernetic armor. He was grinning the grin of a man who knew he had everything just the way he wanted it. It wasn't any comforting to the Titans any.
"¡Es ti!" exclaimed the twins.
"Brother Blood," said Bumble Bee, "We were wondering where you disappeared to some five weeks ago. We should've known you'd be up to somethin' like this."
"Yes, quite the achievement, even if I do say so myself," said Brother Blood, "It took nearly all of my remnant sources to finish construction of this facility in such a short time. Of course I did have the best of what technology had to offer and I had more than adamant help from my new partner, Professor Chang. But of course you can't expect not to have a few…mishaps every now and then."
Aqualad grinned, knowing what Blood was talking about. "Oh, we're happy to oblige."
"Yes, I'm sure you are"
Blood reached into his pocket and pulled a small remote control devise. He pushed a button on it. Instantly, out of the middle of the elevated floor, a high-tech looking chair rose out of a trap door. The chair had small computer terminals on its armrests for personal use and it was also on a revolving base. Brother Blood walked up to it, past the Titans, and took a seat.
He pushed a couple of buttons on the terminal that was attached to the armrest. Suddenly, the yell-painted metal panels that made up the three walls started to slide down. The panels started to reveal that there was a clear glass window behind them. Looking up, it was also noticeable that the panel that made up the ciling was also receding. After the panels have completely disappeared, all that was left was the glass windows that made three-quarters of the perimeter and the roof of the control room.
The Titans looked beyond the glass to see an awesome sight. He large control room they were in was completely over looking a gigantic man-made cavern. The cavern was huge. Below were several platforms where many wasp soldiers, drones, and even a stonecutter where feverishly working on the final construction details.
The Titans looked up. The most prominent thing in the entire scenery was a gigantic needle that was sticking out of the roof and pointed down. It was glowing gold in many areas but none more prominent than the tip of the needle that was so bright it gave the entire space a golden hue.
"Behold," said Brother Blood, turning his chair to face the Titans, "the GeoHammer…"
"Nifty little toy you've got," said Aqualad sarcastically.
"Go ahead and mock it if you want. You have no Idea of this weapons true power."
"What is it?" inquired Bumble Bee, "What does it do?"
"It the strictest way of saying it, it controls the earth," replied Brother Blood, "This device can transmit terrakinetic energy frequencies that will allow me to manipulate geological events as I see fit."
Upon hearing this, Aqualad's eye's widened with realization. "Wait a minute! This is what you guys used Terra for?"
Brother Blood looked back at him with a slight grin. "My, how perceptive of you, Aqualad. Yes, this was the intended purpose of the clone. I believe me colleague, Professor Chang, has already explained it to you to a certain degree."
"¡Ti bastardos!" exclaimed the twins.
"I don't particularly understand what you just said, but I'll take as a compliment nonetheless."
Aqualad was getting mad. "After doing that to Terra, how can you sit back just like that?"
"How do you expect me to react. The girl has served her purpose and I no longer have any use for her. Although I suppose she would have made quite a student once I get my new HIVE Academy up and running again."
Aqualad fumed, "I'm gonna rip your head off and shove it back up you're a--!"
"As much as I'd like to continue this chat, I'm afraid that there are more urgent business I have to attend to. I've already given you the privilege of living to see my moment of triumph. I suggest you simply stand there and be good little children."
"What's your game, Blood?" asked Bumble Bee, "This is just one of your 'take over the world' schemes again isn't it? Can't you be more original than that."
"Oh come now Bumble Bee, do you think I'm that simple? No, of course not. The applications of the GeoHammer go beyond just being a super weapon. I have designs for it to wipe the world as we know it. Every little unwanted speck on this planet will be wiped out."
"What!"
"I need a clean slate to start over from of course. And once GeoHammer has completed its initial task, I can always use it to hold power over whatever is left of this world. Then I can remold this earth into what ever I desire. You see Bumble Bee, I don't just want to take over the world. I want to remake it altogether."
"And you're gonna wipe out millions of lives just for that?" asked Aqualad.
"What? do you want me to actually care about those people?"
"¡Tú eres bastardo realmente!" exclaimed the twins.
"You're nothing but a heartless murdering bastard!" exclaimed Bumble Bee.
"You may call what you might. But this is simply the balance of nature. All that I am doing is restoring the lost balance in this world through the GeoHammer."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You should know the founding principles of the HIVE Academy, Bumble Bee, even if you were just a spy. There are only two categories of people in this world: Those who hold power and those who have none. In the eternal game of life and death, only the strong, the powerful, can survive. It's the most basic law: survival of the fittest. Those without power can only serve those who do. That is true balance. But this world has lost that vital balance. The weak and unworthy are the ones in control of society. I plan to change that, to restore balance to nature."
"Your insane!"
"You are the ones who are not doing the right thing by refusing to join forces with me. Like me, you all have true power. You are above those who you claim to protect. You only contribute to the imbalance of power in this world. Thus I am forced to remove you from the equation."
Blood spun his chair around so that he had his back to the Titans. He pressed a few more buttons on his personal terminal attached to the armrest. Soon, a gigantic screen slid down from the glass window facing Brother Blood. It flickered to life. It showed an image of a very familiar structure to the Titans East. They instantly became nervous when they saw the image on the giant computer screen.
"Now you'll see, "said Brother Blood, "the true power of the GeoHammer…"
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On the rocky crags outside Titans Tower: East.
Terra and Chu-hui were just arriving near the entrance of the tower. They took a few minutes to walk all the way from where they sat at the beach to get back at the tower, in Terra's case at least. Terra and the True Master were chatting the whole time.
Terra kept her feeling hidden as best she could. In truth she felt quite comfortable around the old woman. Technically speaking, they only met for the first time just a short time ago but Terra felt like she'd known the old woman for years. That would easily be explained by the fact that she actually shared all the memories of the original Terra.
Terra knew from those memories what kind of a person Chu-hui actually is. She was a teacher, above all else. Chu-hui took pleasure in teaching all important lessons in life which Terra had always been willing to take in. Though she could be a little senile at times, Terra knew that the True Master had a heart of gold.
A couple of minutes past and the two were already in sight of the door into the tower. Terra looked to check. She saw more than she would've asked for. Lying on the ground was a body of a young man, unconscious from the looks of it. Terra and Chu-hui looked worriedly at each other. Terra started walking a bit faster to get a better look at he young man. She recognized him.
"Speedy!" exclaimed Terra.
She then ran to his fallen form. She knelt close to the ground and examined Speedy's body. He was on his back so that Terra could see his face. It had some bad cuts and scratches on it. She looked at his costume and saw some patches of it were torn off and that it was a lot dirtier than usual. Terra could only imagine what had happened to him but she tried to ask anyway.
"Speedy, can you hear me?" asked the blonde girl, "What happened to you? Where are the others?"
She didn't get an answer. She looked a bit more closely to his face and found out that he was unconscious. Terra grabbed onto Speedy's shoulders and shock him a little to check his responsiveness. No response. Terra then took two fingers and planted them up against the vein on Speedy's neck to check for a pulse. At the same time, she put her cheek close to his nose to feel if he was breathing. He had a pulse and was breathing normally albeit a little weak.
Terra concluded that Speedy was just in knocked-out but from what, she can't really tell. Chu-hui walked up to the boy herself and gave a closer look. Terra looked up at her inquisitively.
"He's got a pulse and he's breathing is a little weak," said Terra, "I don't know what could've happened to him."
"I think he's just exhausted," said the True Master, "He has the looks of a man who just survived a great battle."
"Battle? Did the Titans go out without telling me?"
Sudden realization kicked into Terra. She remembered all that business with the GeoHammer, Blood and Chang's newly built superweapon. The Titans must've received a lead from that captured henchman and went to check it out. She was too preoccupied with her own issues to take notice. Terra mentally beat herself up for being such a jerk that she thought she was.
Suddenly, Speedy started mumbling. "Mmmm…uhhhgh… ahh…"
This immediately caught Terra's attention. "Speedy! Are you alright?"
"Ugh… the others… captured… gotta…help them… ughh…"
Speedy fell out of consciousness once again. Terra took careful note of the few words that Speedy mentioned. The other's have been captured. That brought on a mix of relief and worry to Terra. This meant that the rest of the team were still alive, but it also meant that only gods know what's in store for them and Terra didn't want to think about it.
"Poor boy has no strength left," said Chu-hui, "He needs time to recover, regain his strength before he can do much of anything."
"I'll take him to the medical ward," said Terra, "He can rest there and maybe I'll be able to patch up some of his woun--"
A sudden quake that rattled the island interrupted Terra's speech. The tow women were nearly knocked off there feet. They found their bearings fine enough and remained attending as the whole island continued to shake beneath them. Speedy continued to slumber.
"There is something very wrong…" said Chu-hui.
"I'll check it out!" declared Terra.
She soon summoned a rock from the ground to float in mid-air. She hopped onto the rock and held on tight. The rock shot up into the air. A few moments later, the rock with Terra on it rose above the tower itself. Terra then started to look over the landscape to see if she could find the source of the problem.
She looked as hard as she can but she never saw the source of the quakes but instead she got a full grasp of the problem. From the height she was on, she could see it all clearly. It filled her with dread.
"Oh, my god…" she said, " The island… it's sinking."
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Author's note: Cliffhanger! Woot!… okay, that was unnecessary. If this plot seems to resemble a particular episode from the show a bit, it's only because it's intentional. Check out my next updates to get the full story. Pls. Read and Review!