My eyes snapped open, and I gasped deeply. I blinked several times as my brain tried to process where I was and what happened. My room. My house. Terra stabbed me. I made it out in time. I'm not dead. I'm not dead...

As I sat up, my stomach screamed with aching pain. I groaned and clutched it as I mustered up the strength to stand up. I hobbled over to my mirror and lifted up the fabric of my shirt slightly.

Stretching diagonally across my stomach, a red, hardened scar smiled crookedly at me. Dried blood surrounded the rim. My face paled as I stared at the wound. I didn't touch it for fear of opening it. Terra did this to me? Anger welled up inside me.

I headed into my bathroom and pulled out a roll of gauze and a damp cloth. I gently blotted the scar, cleansing it before I wrapped a sturdy layer of the fabric around my skin. I had to be careful as it passed over the tender area to prevent any pain. I pinned the gauze together and set the leftovers down on my bedside table. I dressed myself, gritting my teeth as I tugged on my t-shirt. The gauze felt bumpy and foreign underneath my clothing. It would probably take a few days, maybe even more than a week, before the scar healed to a permanent blemish, but several more years before I had any chance of it fading.

This was definitely the last straw. The other Titans didn't have to face anything as gruesome compared to this. Luckily, they've really now seen that Terra is far past salvation. No matter what, she had to be stopped. I brushed my fingers against my hip, imagining my energy pistols still there. I can't hesitate anymore; if I ever find that insane geokinetic girl at the end of my barrel again, I will shoot.


A steady thump echoed in the air. I cracked my eyes open and climbed to my feet, which was difficult from how much the ground rumbled. As I strained to discern the noise, I realized that they were footsteps- those of hundreds of robot commandos patrolling the streets of Jump City. Instead of waking up in Titans Tower, I was in an alleyway. The thumping grew louder. I hurried over to a dumpster and hid behind it, plugging my nose to repel the foul stenches. Rows of robot commandos marched down the street. The last of them passed, and I carefully crept to the opening of the alley. Gray clouds covered the skies, and the entire city took on the same color scheme. No bright colors could be seen, save the orange on the robot commandos.

There was another loud thump, this time from an explosion. Footsteps came my way, and I slunk back behind the dumpster again. I snuck a peek and saw Terra, doubled over and panting. Her long, blonde hair covered her face like a curtain.

"What do you think you're doing?" a faint voice said, which I recognized to be Slade speaking through Terra's earpiece.

"What did it look like I was doing?! Didn't you see me getting maimed?! I had to get out there!" Terra cried.

"The only thing I saw was a coward! I expected more from you, Terra. You will go back out there, and you will fight!"

I climbed to my feet and rushed towards Terra. Twisting my body slightly, I rammed my shoulder into her back. She cried out as she flew forward, somersaulting before she landed on her side. I emerged from the alley. Terra opened her eyes, and when they landed on me, they widened.

"No! How are you still alive?! I killed you! I watched you bleed to death!" Terra cried.

"Not quite." I said, watching her stagger to her feet with disgust. "I'm not the one who will be dying in this finale."

Terra growled, ripped a boulder from the ground, and hurled it at me. A starbolt cut through the air and pierced through the rock, shattering it to pieces. It continued until they smacked into Terra, and she stumbled back. The broken rocks were consumed with astral magic, and they pelted Terra, knocking her to the ground. A tan arm stretched out in front of me, a glowing green hand at the end.

"You will not harm my friend!" Starfire said.

Terra climbed to her feet. "I used to be your friend!"

"Please. Do you honestly expect us to believe you ever cared about us?" Raven said. "And I thought Beast Boy was the stupid one."

Terra stepped backwards, glancing behind her for a getaway path. A cannon ray cut through the air and hit her in the back. Terra flew forward and landed at our feet.

"End of the road for you, Goldilocks." Cyborg said across from me. Beast Boy, as a wolf, growled.

"Just give up while we're still ahead." Robin said.

"In your dreams." Terra hissed. She brought two fingers to her earpiece. "Slade, help me!"

The ground underneath her crumbled. Terra slammed her hand into the ground and broke off a boulder that carried her away. We backed away as the ground erupted, and Cinderblock, Overload, and Plasmus floated before us in a ball of light. They began to spin around, and as they did, they began to fuse together. A large column of light burst from the ground, and we covered our eyes. The light subsided, and Slade's newest minion, a combination of all three monsters named Ternion, roared. The main body of the beast was Plasmus with some of its limbs copied from Cinderblock and open patches of flowing blue electricity from Overload.

"Titans, go!"

Ternion threw a punch, its arm extending like Mr. Fantastic. We jumped out of the way. Robin threw a handful of explosives, nailing Ternion in the head. Ternion fell to its knees. Robin watched the monster cautiously. I reached for my energy pistols, but my fingers brushed against one. I imagined the other one being crushed by Terra during the last episode. Four gooey tendrils shot out from Plasmus's torso and slithered toward Robin. I raced to Robin and lunged, tackling him to the side and sending us both to the ground. The tendrils flew past us. I pulled out my single energy pistol and shot at the tendrils, reducing each one to a pile of crackling goo.

"You okay?" I said to Robin.

"I'm better knowing I didn't get electrocuted." he said.

"Incoming!" Cyborg called as he ripped a streetlamp from the ground. It swung over our heads and knocked into a group of robot commandos. We hopped back up and looked around at the giant cluster of enemies approaching us. The five of us stood with our backs facing each other. Robin reached behind him and plucked someone out from underneath his cape.

"Raven, now!" Robin chucked a flash bomb into the air. Raven encased us in her astral magic, blanketing over us like a dome. There was a blinding light, and the robot commandos were engulfed in the light.

The light began to subside, and Raven dispelled her magic. A pair of claws clamped down around my waist and yanked me off my feet. I gasped as the distance between me and the ground quickly widened. The green claws dug into the gauze around my waist. I looked up at Beast Boy, who was as a pterodactyl. I glanced behind me, seeing the Titans and Ternion were long gone. Beast Boy carried us both to the ground. I planted my feet back onto the concrete and turned to Beast Boy as he transformed back to his human self and straightened.

"Take me to Terra." he said.

"I don't think that's a good idea. If I get close to her again, I'll shatter her smirk with a bullet."

"Ciela," Beast Boy said impatiently. His face was hardened, but his eyes trembled, "take me to Terra."

I glanced back down the path the Titans were. I looked back at Beast Boy and nodded.

"I'll do my best." I said.


The ground loomed closer as I descended. I hopped down the rock ledges and onto steady ground. Beast Boy, as a wolf, and I walked through the darkness. We came to a stop and looked up at the ceiling-tall, metal door blocking our path. Beast Boy transformed into a woolly mammoth and rammed all 12,000 pounds of himself into the door. Knocked off its hinges, the double doors flew into the room and crashed somewhere in the darkness. A security camera whirred above us. I pulled out a pistol and cut a hole through its body. The wires snapped, and it fell to the ground in a heap of scraps. We continued through the tunnel.

Sniffles bounced off the walls, followed by faint weeping. Beast Boy picked up the pace, and I jogged to keep up. We entered a large, dim room. The only sources of light were the thin, tall windows that displayed flowing lava. Terra knelt in the center of the room, doubled over and clutching her head.

"Terra?" Beast Boy said. He tried to approach her, but I grabbed his arm and kept him at my side.

Terra looked up at us, tears streaming down her face. Her deep blue eyes were bloodshot from more than just crying. Strips of cloth dangled from her body, exposing parts of her skin, legs, and stomach.

"Kill me... please." she whispered.

"...What?" Beast Boy said.

"Go on, just do it! That's why you came here, right?!"

Electricity crackled through Terra's body, and she trembled as she climbed to her feet. Her arm mechanically rose, and she shot a beam of yellow energy at us. I shoved Beast Boy to the side and jumped the other way. The energy hit the wall, and a boulder broke off and landed on the ground in a mound of pebbles.

"Forgive my apprentice. It seems that no matter what I do, Terra cannot seem to grasp her powers." Slade emerged from the shadows. "So, from now on, I will be controlling her every move."

Slade pressed a button on his arm, and Terra staggered towards us. Tears splattered against her armor as she tried her best to resist. Her eyes glowed yellow, and she thrust her hands toward us. Rocks broke off from the ground and flew toward us. Beast Boy transformed into a crow and flew one way. I pulled out my energy pistol and ran the other, shooting down as many rocks as I could and dodging the rest.

"Let Terra go!" Beast Boy cried.

"And why should I? I think I do better at managing her powers than she does." Slade said. He lifted his arm. Terra mirrored him, and rocks rose around Beast Boy. They smashed together, but he transformed into a rat and scurried away. He turned into a gorilla and lunged towards Terra. He pinned her to the ground.

"Snap out of it, Terra! Stop letting Slade control you!" he said.

"You think I have a choice?!" Terra said.

"Yes, you do! You always have had a choice!"

Terra's eyes glowed, and she summoned a pillar of dirt that smacked into Beast Boy's stomach and carried him away. He climbed back to his feet.

"Slade may be the one controlling you, but you were the one who let him! You chose to work for him! You chose to stab us in the back! It's always been your choice! Slade isn't doing this, you are!"

"Shut up!" Terra cried. She thrust her arms to the side. The ground around her crumbled, save a small circle underneath her. Beast Boy plummeted down into the hole, but he emerged as a crow. He landed on the ground, but Terra uprooted the earth and knocked him off his feet.

I pulled out my lone energy pistol and shot twice. A laser cut through each of Terra's hands. Terra cried out and fell to her knees.

"You have one more choice, Terra. One more!" I said, my pistol aimed at Terra's chest. "Are you going to be the indecisive little brat I said you were and switch back to the good side, or are you going to stay with Slade and continue with this tyranny?!"

"I... I don't know..." Terra said.

"Of course you don't know! Ever since we met you, all your decisions were based off of those three, stupid words! Earth is supposed to be sturdy and strong. It can be changed, but its foundation will always be the same! How can you control your powers when you can't even control yourself?"

Terra clutched the sides of her head. The ground began to rumble.

"What am I supposed to do?!" she said.

A fist smashed into my cheek. I choked back air as my vision went blurry and I toppled to the ground. The right side of my face throbbed painfully.

"I think it's obvious." Double consumed my vision, and I tried to grasp the correct version. Slade approached Terra while she still stood on her isolated pillar. "What makes you think you could handle doing anything without my guidance? You're unstable, Terra, and if you leave, you'll only repeat your mistakes until they eventually crush you. You should be grateful to have me as your master. Who else would accept you?"

"Be quiet! I didn't ask you!" Terra said.

"There's nowhere you can run where you'll escape the truth! You've run out of chances! Accept it, Terra! You're a cowardly little bug that should've been squished the moment I first set my eyes on you!"

"That's... not... true!" I cried. I winced and pushed myself up onto my rear. My head grew lightheaded and my eyes watered profusely. Nevertheless, I pushed through my nausea and planted my feet on the ground.

"What, are you the indecisive one now? After all, Terra was always your least favorite character." Slade said.

"That doesn't matter... She doesn't deserve to be treated like this! No one does!" I turned to Terra. "You can walk away, Terra. You can walk away from this abuse and torment. Slade is powerless without you! Don't be a subject to his bullying anymore!"

"Enough, you ungrateful little-!" Slade lunged at me, but a blue cannon ray hit him in the side and sent him flying into the wall. I followed the line of fire and saw the other Titans, but my weary vision saw ten instead of five.

A column of lava burst like a geyser a few feet away from me. I stumbled back to avoid getting hit by the flying specks of molten hot rock. My heel snagged on an uprooted rock, and I fell back. A pair of slender, yet strong arms caught me and kept me steady. More lava geysers erupted around us. Starfire took one of my arms and slung it around her shoulders. She wrapped the other one around my waist and carried me over to the other Titans.

"Terra's powers have triggered a volcano! It's big enough to take out the city and way too big to stop!" Cyborg said.

Raven shielded us from flying lava. "We need to get out of here."

Terra bowed her head. "All of you get going."

"You're coming with us." Beast Boy said.

"No." Terra glanced over her shoulder at a lava geyser. "I'm going to stop the volcano."

"What?! No!"

"This is my choice, Beast Boy!" Terra's voice echoed above the roaring lava churning beneath our feet. "It's always been my choice. And I'm not letting you die with me." Tears pricked her eyes, and she smiled. She broke the tip of her pillar off and floated over to Beast Boy. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You still have a chance. Go, Beast Boy... and live."

Beast Boy's lip trembled, and he hugged her as tightly as he could. Terra had to pry him off. She pulled the rock away and back to the center of the pit of lava. She looked to me.

"I'm sorry, Ciela... for everything I've done." she said. "Thank you."

"We must go." Starfire whispered. She lifted us both into the air and out of the cavern. The other Titans trailed closely behind. As we climbed, a small spot of light broke through the darkness, and it grew as we ascended. As the light of the outside world consumed my vision, all I could hear was Terra's final scream before the roar of the earth drowned it out.


I sat at my desk and watched the final scene. The Titans approached Terra's statue and placed flowers and a plaque at her feet.

"Terra. A true friend." it read. I paused the video on it.

Tears spilled down my cheeks and my lip quivered. My fingers skimmed against the smooth glass screen, remembering the feel of those stone letters on my skin. Terra's last words, once to Beast Boy, were now dedicated towards me.

"I'm sorry, Ciela... for everything. Thank you."

I gripped my necklace. I stood up and walked over to my reflection. I leaned in close and looked at my necklace. It, however, was still the same since season one's finale. Ever since I got it, it was always completely gold-colored. After season one's finale, the T changed from gold to red. I expected, because of the end of another season, new color would spring up again. It was still the same. But what was the meaning of the red?

Each season is centered on a certain character. Season one focused on Robin and season two focused on Terra. The thought dawned on me. The red must represent Robin. Terra, because she never became a Teen Titan, doesn't add to my necklace. Whenever a season is done, the color representing that character gets added to my necklace.

I slid back into my computer desk chair and pulled up a new window. Pulling up the Teen Titans Wikipedia, I scrolled through the list of episodes. Cyborg was the main focus for season three.

I closed out of the Wikipedia, bringing back the stilled image of Terra's plaque.

Season two is over. I sat back in my chair. A little smile grew on my face. And you know... Terra's kind of starting to grow on me...


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

And so ends another season. Just think: we're only a few chapters away from reaching the halfway point!

Season two's theme is "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson.

Thank you all for your continuous stream of love and support. There are still a whole bunch of things in store for Ciela and the Teen Titans.