Chapter 2: Crime and Punishment
Terra stepped forward cautiously – if she new Beast Boy – she knew where he was. She inhaled and exhaled, and then went straight to the fun house – where she betrayed Beast Boy. She heard a voice calling her there, and smiled – she did know Beast Boy.
Beast Boy ran into the pizza shop, "Hey Terra sorry I'm late – Terra?" Cyborg had said she would be here; did she walk out on him again?
Terra stepped into the House of Mirrors, "Beast Boy where are you?"
"Terra, over here."
She snapped her head over and saw Beast Boy walking off.
"Hold on!" She quickly grasped his shoulder, and turned him to her, but quickly took a step back, gasping at a metal face with red eyes. The robot fell over, "Terra, over here, over here Terra!"
Terra's eyes shifted from left to right. "Hello-" Suddenly she was slammed into one of the mirrors, causing it to break, after a failing attempt to shield herself from the falling glass, she looked up at a black and orange mask.
"Slade!"
"Hello Terra." Slade snapped a microchip on the back of her neck, causing her posture to straighten and eyes glow red.
"It's time for you and I to have some fun."
A few strands of hair fell in front of Terra's face, covering one eye.
"Yes, Master."
It had been three hours, she wasn't about to show up. Beast Boy tried to encourage himself – maybe she was held after school, maybe she had left when she saw he wasn't there ... but none of it worked. She had left him – again. He turned into a pigeon and flew to the Tower, he stepped inside and was quickly greeted by Cyborg.
"Was she there?"
"No," Beast Boy forced out, fighting back tears.
Cyborg sighed, "I'll talk to her again tom-"
"No ... don't bother."
Cyborg's eyes widened and he stepped back as Beast Boy headed to his room. Robin came in – forcing down whatever Starfire had just made him.
"What's up with him?"
"Terra."
The alarm suddenly blared ...
"Titan's trouble." Each Titan except Beast Boy came out.
"Come on Beast Boy!" Robin shouted down the hallway as the sad changeling did in fact reluctantly come out. Raven switched on the video and each Titan gasped at what they saw.
"Terra?"
Terra threw a large boulder at a crowd of people, grinning to herself as one was caught under the giant mass.
"Finish him," Slade called out to her from the earpiece.
"Terra stop!" With Beast Boy in front, each Titan ran on to the scene, stopping about ten feet from where the blonde was.
Terra again grinned, and forced the rock into the man, much the Titans shock, thus killing him.
"Titans go!"
Cyborg began firing blue electrical blast at the girl, but they were only stopped by a rock wall. Suddenly, with a flick of her wrist, the wall was sent flying at Cyborg and Raven, causing the two to smash into yet another wall, knocking both of them out.
Now Robin came swinging his fist which were easily blocked by Terra's own hands. He directed a punch at her face; to his shock, she caught it, and threw him to the earth. In a flash, she raised the two of them up off ground level, but then was hit with green starbolts from Starfire. She scowled, and then sent the Boy Wonder crashing into Starfire, again knocking them out. Now all that remained was Beast Boy, who was still watching in awe.
"Terra?"
Terra grinned, "Brat Boy."
She sent a boulder crashing at him, the impact sent smoke all over the scene. She grinned to herself and began to walk away, but was then tackled by a giant gorilla. The second she hit the ground two sounds were made. The first was an electric shock type noise, and the second was a clear crack. The first would be the microchip, the second would be Terra's arm. Terra's eyes turned blue and she screemed in pain, only to be thrown against a wall by the tail of a dinosaur.
"Beast Boy, please stop! I'm sorry I lied to you!"
"It's too late Terra."
Terra looked around her – what had just happened. Her thoughts were interrupted by a wolf who smashed her against the wall, holding her up by her arms and growling in her face.
"Beast Boy please – what happened? The wolf threw her down, and Terra quickly coiled up into a ball, sobbing into her knees.
"Please Beast Boy," she whispered. Suddenly, as the wolf was about to strike, Beast Boy turned into himself again.
"I'm not going to kill you Terra. I think a more appropriate punishment would be for me to watch as you rot in jail." He purposely grabbed her broken arm, causing Terra to squeak in pain, and dragged her to the now awakening Robin.
"Please Beast Boy what's going on!"
"Don't act like you don't know."
Terra just sobbed as Beast Boy continued to drag her.
"Is that how big a coward you are Terra, you fight until you start to lose, and then you coil up into a ball. And we once thought you were good enough to be a Titan."
Now Terra painfully broke free of his grip, bending over while yelling, "What are YOU TALKING ABOUT!"
Beast Boy again reached to grab her, but was cut off by Cyborg, who was surveying the scene.
"STOP!"
Beast Boy looked up at his metal team mate, who was currently walking towards Terra.
"Do you recognize this?"
Cyborg held out his hand, with the chip in it. Terra stared down at it, and suddenly, a flood of memories shot at her.
"Oh my god."
"What is it?" Robin questioned as he attempted to awaken Starfire.
"A microchip – someone was controlling her."
"What happened?" Terra again questioned, spotting a dead man on the ground. Oh my god – no!
"You killed a man Terra." Beast Boy's voice rang in her ears.
Terra hunched over, crying, as the Titan's now surrounded her.
"Let's get her back to the Tower, we'll decide her punishment there."
In the Tower
Terra laid on her former bed, crying, with Beast Boy the only other in the room.
"Why didn't you come to the pizza shop Terra." Terra winced at his words.
"I did! You weren't there! I figured that if Cyborg told you I remembered you would be in the amusement park, but then I saw Slade and ..." Terra ran out of breath, coughing.
"Why did you lie to me?"
Now Terra's anger grew and she sat up, "Beast Boy I just killed a guy in cold blood! I don't need this right now!" She again fell back on the bed, the tears resumed.
"And what do you expect Terra? This was your fault! If you had never lied – th – that man would still be alive!"
Terra cringed, now looking up at the source of the harsh words.
"Please Beast Boy – I'm so sorry."
"I don't really care whether your sorry or not." Beast Boy opened the door, causing Cyborg and Raven to fall over, and then get up quickly.
Raven began, both blushing, "Uh ... hey! We were just coming to get you but ..." Beast Boy just walked past them and the door shut, leaving a still hysterical Terra alone.
"She deserves to go to jail – this was her doing," Beast Boy said to Robin as he walked in the room.
"No Beast Boy – this was Slade's doing, but if you insist on punishment - I'm thinking house arrest."
"I do not want her around here!" Beast Boy quickly shouted.
"Why?" Robin countered.
"She lied to us. All she's done is lie to us. It's her turn to hurt."
"Why do you think she lied to us Beast Boy?" Raven joined the conversation. Beast Boy simply looked down, he had no response.
"One word – normalcy. When she came here in order to be normal she needed control of her powers, so she went to Slade. When she came back she probably thought we didn't want her – or better: we were better off without her, so she surrounded herself in a new environment, and in order to be normal there, she couldn't have powers."
Beast Boy again stared down, and Robin again spoke, "Let's vote on it."
The only options were house arrest in jail - although most the Titans wanted neither - but in respect for Beast Boy's wanting of a punishment, one had to be made.
Starfire refused to vote – she couldn't imagine putting Terra in house arrest OR jail.
Cyborg voted for house arrest – his logic was safety.
Raven also voted house arrest, she knew what it felt like to long for normalcy.
Beast Boy reluctantly agreed to house arrest, and thus it was unanimous.
Robin would be the one to break the news.
The Boy Wonder stepped into the blonde's room – she was still crying, so he placed a hand on her shoulder, attempting to comfort her.
"I deserve to go to jail!"
"You don't deserve to go to jail Terra, but we still have to be careful given our history."
"I want to go to jail!"
"It's not your fault Terra, ignore what Beast Boy told you. We ARE however putting you under house arrest, you cannot leave your room without someone accompanying you. I'm sorry Terra, but it has to be done. We're putting up bars outside your window so we know you won't escape." Robin pushed a button and the bars came up, blocking out most of the small amount of sunlight entering the room. He did, however, notice that Terra's arm was oddly shaped.
"Terra what happened to your arm."
"Nothing." Terra had decided that if the Titans wouldn't let her go to jail, she needed to be punished in other ways.
"Terra, don't lie to me, you know what that gets you into." The girl stared at him, refusing to respond.
"Then I'll have Cyborg look at you."
In the Titan Med-room
"This is a pretty bad break kid – did you play with your arm after it broke?"
Terra didn't respond.
"Did Beast Boy hurt your arm after it broke?" Now she just looked away. Cyborg finished the cast and let her go, but not before bear-hugging her.
"It'll get better kid – I've killed someone before too, so has Robin, so has Beast Boy, and so has Raven – only Starfire hasn't, and she couldn't hut a fly. So trust me, it'll get better."
Terra now returned the hug, and after a few seconds each let go.
"Thank you Cyborg," Terra practically whispered before walking out of the room.
Wow, I actually updated the same day, hmm. Well I know I said this would be the confrontation chap, but I changed my mind, however, I will say for certain the next chapter will begin with a timeframe of 4 months later (I'll update in 3 days or less).
