Okay, so in this chapter, Raven steps in. that's all I'm willing to say right now—just read the freakin' thing!
raven13 - I've heard of that movie too, and now it's going to bug me! Thank you for the review, and I like to think I rock too... Just kidding!
addicted2danny - Here's the update!
"Hey, wanna go grab a hot chocolate or something?" Beast Boy asked Terra.
She grinned and was halfway through a nod when they both heard a dry voice, "That'll have to wait."
The two teens looked up and saw a cloaked figure standing on the roof of the building next to them. Two violet eyes stared at them from a hood.
Terra curled her lip. "Raven. How nice to see you."
Raven gave a curt nod. Then she looked at Beast Boy and said with a reinforced voice, "Robin wants you to return. It's getting late."
Terra snorted, "We can take care of ourselves, you know."
Raven glared at her. "You can, but can you take care of the whole city as well?" she retorted.
Terra looked away; she had no comeback.
Beast Boy wasn't giving in either. "Why does Robin want us back so soon? We've only been gone—"
"—an hour and a half," Raven finished for him. Then she turned her gaze to Terra. "We have a curfew, but you probably don't know that. You're homeless, aren't you?" Raven sneered, reaching an all-new low. She never insulted anyone about their upbringing, especially since hers wasn't anywhere near pleasant.
Terra's eyes shone with hurt. She balled up her fists and hung her head. Then she whipped it back up and yelled, "I don't know where you come off insulting me, Raven, especially since you're pretty much homeless as well!"
Raven remained steely as she said, "I have a home. It's called the Titan's Tower. You have to earn your way into that home; you just can't show up and buy it with friendship."
Terra looked puzzled. "Isn't that what you did?" she asked innocently.
Raven's face contorted in rage and she bellowed, "No, Terra, I didn't! I fought for the right to call it a home, and I now have it as one! I didn't befriend everyone there and push my way into it like you did!"
Raven panted and felt the last of her pride slip away. She had an outburst, and during it, she had blown up a few crates. Her eyes calmed and she pulled her hood up farther.
Rage subsided and Timid took over. "I…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to get mad like that… can we please just go home now?"
……………
Beast Boy could've sworn that Raven was begging.
But he also could've sworn that Raven had just yelled.
So he let it slide—for now.
But he wouldn't let Raven's remarks slide. Not a chance.
But silently he followed the two female Titans home, waiting for Terra to leave him and Raven alone.
But that opportunity never came.
Raven went immediately to her room, not even emerging for dinner. And Beast Boy wasn't going to visit her room any time soon. So he had to just watch and wait for a lost opportunity to be found.
……………
Over the next week, Robin noticed his team falling apart. Terra was quieter than ever, and Starfire inquired as to why, but no response ever came. Beast Boy was gone more, and Raven was nowhere to be seen. Cyborg eventually gave up on everyone and stayed in the garage, working on nonexistent upgrades for the T-Car.
Robin approached Terra first. She was out in the training area, throwing rock shards at a dummy, grunting with each toss.
He watched as she toiled, embedding the dummy with an endless supply of rock slivers. But after a few minutes, he had to stop her.
"Terra, slow down. You'll lose aim if you go too fast," he soothed, and lowered her hands to her side. "Are you okay?" he asked, and Terra nodded weakly.
Robin looked at her skeptically and said with a hint of defiance, "It's Raven, isn't it?" Terra looked at the ground and shook her head. Robin sighed.
"You can't protect Raven from me. She knows that in due time, she'll be punished," Robin said, but Terra looked up, a glint of fear in her eyes.
"I'm not protecting her, I'm protecting myself! If she finds out I ratted her out, it's the end for me!" Terra said in a subdued cry. Robin patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"Terra, she won't hurt you. Not physically, anyways. She hurt you emotionally, though, right?" Robin tried. Terra nodded sadly. Robin nodded and went off to find Raven.
Terra watched the stoplight's retreated back with a smirk. He had believed her, even when she sugar-coated her little emotional pain. She pumped her fist into the air. Now all she had to do was get Raven's trust, and that would be her hardest mission here.
Terra had a plan for all the other Titans, but Raven kept thwarting them. She was getting annoying, to a point where Terra was going to eventually have to keep her quiet, for better or for worse…
……………
Beast Boy waited outside Raven's door, holding a black book in his palm. He raised his fist to knock, but something was holding him back. It wasn't fear, anxiety, or distrust. It was something else…
But despite his discomfort, he rapped his knuckles against her door anyways. And within a few seconds, Raven opened the door, revealing only a bleary purple eye. "Yes?" she asked tiredly.
Beast Boy drew back a little. Raven never neglected her appearance, so something had to have her worked up.
"Are you okay?" he asked out of instinct, and Raven narrowed her purple eye.
"I'm fine. What do you want?" she asked, annoyed.
Beast Boy took a breath and shoved the black book into her face. He shut his eyes and waited for her response.
He felt the book leave his clutch and cracked an eye open.
She was looking at the book, he could tell. The eye was replaced by her whole face, and she was studying it. She flipped through the pages, entranced.
Beast Boy felt the weight in his chest lighten. He let out his nervous breath, and waited for her words.
"Thank you, Beast Boy. But, what is it?" she asked, perplexed. Beast Boy looked at the cover and read the title, Merriam-Webster's New Edition Dictionary and Thesaurus.
Beast Boy looked at the dictionary, his eyebrows raised. How could he have picked that up instead of the Robert Frost poems? He smacked his forehead with his gloved hand. Now she thought he was a doofus.
Beast Boy pried the dictionary out of Raven's hand and said sheepishly, "I…pickedthewrongbook. Berightback." Then with that he dashed down the hallway and into his room.
He ran over the mountains of dirty clothes to his bookcase and pulled out the Frost poems. He replaced it with the dictionary and ran back down to Raven's room, the beginnings of a blush to appear on his face.
He jammed the book into her hand and said, "Here ya go. Sorry for the mix-up."
Raven looked at him with a chuckle caught in her throat. He was getting better at this, whatever 'this' was.
She looked him straight in the eye and demanded, "Wanna tell me what this is about now?"
Beast Boy glared at her. "I wanted to give you a present as congrats at making Terra feel like dirt. Pardon the pun," he added.
Raven nearly smiled, but then she snapped back, "I don't need your gratitude. I could've done it without the promise of a present afterwards."
Beast Boy snorted, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Raven examined her nails casually as she stated, "Terra has a purpose here, and I don't think it's to fight crime. I think it's to cause it."
Beast Boy laughed at the ridicule Raven was spewing. How could Terra have the heart to make them all hurt? They were her friends, and this was her home. She couldn't turn something like that down!
Raven glowered at Beast Boy. "You just keep telling yourself that, Beast Boy. You will see that I'm right. And you will know it as soon as she leads you to think otherwise. And I will be the one to tell you all 'I told you so'."
And with that remark, she went back into the darkness of her room and didn't leave for another few days.
……………
Okay, that's the end of Chap. III. Like it? Loathe it? Should I just skip the whole betrayal thing entirely, because I'm pretty sure that everyone here has seen that episode, but I'm not trying to make anyone mad! Or should I twist it to fit my story? Hmm… I'll figure it out.
Oh, yes, and "terra" is another name for "rock" or "earth". And "Eldaterra" means Old Earth. Get it? I thought it was clever...
-MidnightPhoenix320-
