Chapter Two

Raven sighed happily, flipping the pan and flopping the pancakes onto the plate just as the rest of the team walked in. Everyone except for Robin did a double take upon seeing Raven actually smiling and cooking breakfast… Moreover, she was cooking pancakes.

"Aww, yeah! Pancakes!" Cyborg cheered.

"Don't bother getting so excited. She was probably just hungry after kicking our asses like that last night…" Beast Boy snarled, still angry at Raven for hurting them all like she had.

"No… I made enough for everyone… I think… Oh! The eggs and sausage are done…"

This declaration even shocked Robin, who actually laughed.

"What's so funny, Robin…? Do I have something on my face?"

"No! We are just happy that you are actually smiling, Raven! You are doing the whistling and the sighing… Have you gotten 'the boyfriend'? Oh, I am so happy for you!" Starfire exclaimed, hugging Raven tightly, causing the grayish woman to stiffen, half in embarrassment at how surprisingly accurate Starfire actually was.

She usually didn't have that kind of intuition. She typically had her head in the clouds, which would have been for the best.

"Don't be ridiculous… Who would ever find me attractive?" Raven asked, still not sure if she should believe that Robin found her pretty.

"No, no! You are beautiful, Raven! You are the gorges…"

"Um… Star… I think you mean 'gorgeous'. And I don't eat eggs… Or sausage." Beast Boy said, seeming slightly mollified nonetheless by the gesture.

"No problem. You can eat the pancakes, and I made tofu eggs and fruit salad."

"No way… How early did you have to get up to make this!?" Beast Boy demanded, still not completely buying her nice routine.

"About an hour ago. I figured I should at least try to apologize…"

"Alright… What happened to the real Raven? And you smell different than usual… Are you wearing perfume? No… Not perfume… What did you do with the real Raven, you copycat!"

"I believe that's your shtick, Beast Boy… I on the other hand simply feel like it's going to be a good day… The villain alarm just rang, didn't it?" Raven asked, her happy face falling. She never really cooked, so she was slightly eager to have her friends try her breakfast cooking.

"Titans! Go! Cyborg, are you repaired!?" Robin asked. Cyborg did a self-diagnostic scan, and nodded.

"Yeah… It was a bit like an electromagnetic pulse. I just needed a reset."

The Titans leapt into action, sighing as they saw Mad Mod. He looked as young as ever he had. They knew that he was an elderly man in reality. He must have been using some bizarre technology to make himself young again, or at least appear young. He was wearing the same tacky mod suit that he always wore. Maybe he had discovered a way to become young permanently.

"Oy, me duckies! Ya ain't got a prayer of bestin' me!" Mod shouted, laughing wildly, slinging a huge bag of money over his shoulder with one arm. He was pretty strong. Something powerful had to be at work for this particular invention. Even when Mod was in his young man form, he wasn't a fighter. He preferred to let his inventions and trippy technology do his work. Raven grimaced.

"Ugh… I wish he would ditch that accent. It drives my synesthesia wild…"

"I don't think he can get rid of an accent… Also, what's Syneses… Synes… Synapsis…"

"I'll explain later, Beast Boy. Let's get Mod while we're still young."

"Titans go!" Robin shouted, taking out his metal bo staff, and launching himself into the air, flying high, and arcing, twisting and moving to kick Mod, who smirked, and breathed deeply, breathing a huge cloud of some strange, technicolour powder in Robin's face.

Suddenly, Robin's eyes dilated, and he collapsed to the ground, twitching, and seeming to be hallucinating. With Robin out of commission, Raven rose into the air.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos…" She called, pulling a street sign out of the sidewalk and sending it at Mad Mod, wrapping it around him. Mod smirked, though, and the sign disintegrated, and he sent a blast of powerful telekinesis at Raven, sending her flying into the arms of a person whose face she couldn't see.

"Hey, Raven… Thought you could use my help…" The helpful stranger said in a very familiar voice.

"T-Terra?" Raven gasped, feeling as though several of her ribs had been broken.

"The one and only."

"I… I thought…"

"Yeah, well… I got tired of lying low… You can interrogate me later, if ya want!" Terra said, lifting up into the air on a huge boulder, and firing several small rocks at Mod, who seemed able to disintegrate all attacks aimed at him. Suddenly, he laughed insanely, and huge jet black tentacles flew out of his chest, and began to absorb Robin, dragging him kicking and screaming into them.

Just as quickly, though, they spat him back out, and left him dazed and confused. Mad Mod then teleported away in a blast of acrid smoke.

"Well… That wasn't weird at all…" Raven rasped as they ran to see if Robin was alright. For the moment, at least, he wasn't dead.

However, he was burning up with fever. Raven estimated that his temperature was likely around 40oC (104oF), a lethal temperature if left unchecked. Raven knelt down, and breathed deeply, closing her eyes, and using empathic healing to lessen Robin's suffering at least. He seemed to be in a great deal of pain. In fact, he was beginning to bleed from no identifiable point of origin. All his pores seemed to be leaking blood. It was more than a little bit disturbing.

"Terra?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. Terra laughed sheepishly, answering the question that Beast Boy had asked at least five times since he saw her.

"Yes. Is… Is it a problem that I'm here?"

"Well… Not so much a problem as it is a surprise… Didn't you lose your memories after the whole end of the world thing?" Cyborg asked. Terra sighed.

"No. I pretended that I didn't remember you. I didn't want to have to face all the pain that I had experienced. I had been enslaved by Slade, more or less… I had rebelled, and turned to stone to protect you, the only people who ever truly cared about me. The world ended, and suddenly, I woke up, and realized that I didn't remember what had happened to me.

"For a while, I started going to school. But then, I started having dreams about you guys, about the Titans, and worst of all, about Slade, and his abusive training. I wondered if I was going mad… But then, I saw you, and I realized that it all really happened. I was terrified. What if that monster that kept invading my dreams, the man called Slade came to collect me again? What if I was forced again to do horrible things in his name.

"But he never did, so I began to relax. But you seemed adamant on reminding me of my past, Beast Boy. I'm sorry that I hurt you, that I hurt all of you. I never wanted to. I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me again. Maybe you can't just accept me back with open arms. But… I'll do whatever it takes to earn your trust again… Really, I…" Terra started, but was cut off when Beast Boy hugged her tightly, not letting go, even when she gasped for breath.

"I'm so glad you're back, Terra. Robin is sick right now, but when he gets better, you can ask him yourself." Beast Boy said.

"I understand. I'll go, now…" Terra said, heading for the door. Raven stopped her, though.

"We can't just let you leave. You've seen the inside of our base. You can stay for a little while. If Robin approves you, we'll see." She said, actually smiling.

"I think I'm happy to see you again. I can't sense any ulterior motives on you." Raven finished.

"Oh, and Beast Boy, Synesthesia… It's a neurological condition in which two or more senses are confused. So for instance, a person may be able to smell colours, or see accents as colours, or taste music." Terra said, surprising Raven with how erudite she was being." And I'm happy to see you as well… I missed you, even if I didn't realize it." Terra finished, hugging Beast Boy in return.

"Slade taught me about all of your abilities so that I could defeat you. That's how I know what Synesthesia is." Terra said. Raven's eyes narrowed.

"So… You know instinctively how to defeat all of us? You're giving us fewer and fewer reasons to trust you, Terra."

"Not instinctively. I know academically how to defeat all of you. Unfortunately, for me at least, it would be difficult to compete with your well controlled telekinesis, and the fact that you could likely sense any malice before I even acted on it. Plus, of course, my knowledge is probably outdated. Cyborg is far stronger than I am, and Robin could easily best me in a strict martial arts fight. Starfire has a better grasp of flying than I do, and Beast Boy, well, his ability to change into any animal is hard to compete with.

"The main reason that I defeated you those few times was because I had the element of surprise. But especially when you work effectively as a team, you can defeat most opponents. Slade's ability to analyze opponents' strengths and weaknesses makes him superior to you at the time. But you could overcome that if you trained hard enough. I can sleep on the couch tonight if you don't have a room ready."

"Terra, we have rooms for days." Beast Boy said excitedly. Terra raised an eyebrow at his strange choice of words. She had never heard that expression before.

"R-rooms for days?" She asked.

"Rooms for days." Beast Boy repeated. "We've got more than enough rooms. Do you remember where your old room was?"

"Not really. I'm still missing a fair amount of my memory." Terra said uncertainly. Beast Boy seemed happy about this, but he hid it as well as he could.

"I'll show you to your room, then." He said, taking Terra's arm, and leading her through the myriad hallways of Titan Tower, and finally made it to her room.

"You'll figure it out pretty soon. It looks like a lot of hallways, but it's not as hard as it seems." Beast Boy said sheepishly. Terra hugged Beast Boy tightly, kissing him.

"Thanks, Beast Boy. I don't know many people who would give me a second chance like this."

"Well… I just… We missed you. You sacrificed yourself to save us, and we never got to thank you."

"And you'll never need to. Because I wasn't doing you a favour. I was trying to make amends for the wrong that I had done you… You trusted me, and I betrayed you. I-I know I can never atone for that, but…"

"Terra… You don't need to apologize to me. No, listen… I…"

"Would you like to come in? Maybe we can do some catching up. I'm not sure if things can be like they were before. Even if you forgive me, I'm not sure if the rest of the Titans can. Please, come in. I'd like to have someone I can talk to that understands me." Terra said, taking Beast Boy's hand, and pulling him into her room.

"So tell me, Beast Boy… What kind of adventures have you been up to?"

"Well, we defeated Raven's father, a Demon named Trigon… He destroyed the world, but we somehow survived… I think some weird magicky doodah on Raven's part saved us, and we managed somehow to beat one of the most powerful Demons in existence."

"Wow… That's quite an adventure. So, Raven really is half-Demon. I knew there was something unusual about her."

"Nah, Raven's alright. She may be a bit moody, but she's a good person. It was thanks to her that Trigon was defeated. We fought for days against Trigon, and didn't manage anything. But then Raven came in and managed to knock him into the lava pit he had created.

"Something about his existence being counterproductive to our reality. His power was too great, and he had to concentrate to stay in our reality. So the damage that the lava did distracted him, and his ass was banished to his prison dimension. I'm worried about Raven, though. She was really cheerful this morning, but last night… Well, she said something about Trigon trying to contact her again. He can influence her from across time and space."

"Hmm… Do you think she's alright? I can't really picture her being cheerful."
"Yeah, and she was making pancakes, and eggs… Even vegan eggs."
"Hmm… Well… We should catch up with the whole group when Robin is awake again. I don't know what Mad Mod did to him, but there's something weird going on. Oh, Raven… Is Robin doing alright?"

"Yeah… I'm sensing something I can't quite place in him. It's powerful, though, and feels like an alien presence inside him. I can't fully comprehend it. It's like a bottomless ocean."

"It's really that strange? You're really powerful, Raven. Are you sure there's nothing you can gather from his affliction?" Cyborg asked.

"It's a virus, but not like any virus I've encountered. And there's every chance that it will kill him. I can decrease his suffering. But without more information about the source of it, I can't end his affliction. Pardon me, Terra. I need to go check on Robin." Raven said in her rasping, gravelly voice.

Terra jumped up.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She asked, flipping her hair back out of her eyes and putting her goggles back on her head to keep it away from her face.

"I suppose not. Just try not to get sick. I've isolated Robin so that he doesn't infect the rest of the Titans. I've been wearing a face mask when I go in. Perhaps you should do the same." Raven said, handing Terra a face mask, and watching as she put it on.

"Good. Hurry up."

"Oy, guv!" Mad Mod called as he entered the dark and dreary lair to which he was slowly becoming accustomed. It was hard, he felt, to appreciate such a boring and dreadfully mechanical lair when he was so used to the bright, psychedelic colours. Slowly, his masked partner came out.

"Hello, Mod. Did you deliver our message to Robin?"

"Aye! 'E went down like 'e was elephant's trunk."

"Did you deliver our little… Gift to him?"

"Aye! 'E din't stand no sorta chance!" Mod gloated. Slade nodded.

"Indeed? Perhaps that would be more impressive if you weren't nearly seven times his age, and given near godlike powers." Slade said glibly, seeming distinctly unimpressed.

"What did ya call this ability again?" Mod asked. Slade's eyes narrowed.

"Biological Manipulation. Now, I do appreciate your willingness to send my little gift to Robin. However, you have worn out your welcome. I really must dissolve our relationship." Slade said calmly, betraying not a single emotion.

"You're firin' me?" Mod asked. "Why?" Slade crossed his arms.

"Not exactly. In dissolving our business relationship, I really must absorb you. Your knowledge of technology, drugs, biology, botany, and chemistry will come in very handy in the future. In addition, your accent grates on me terribly. If you had done nothing else with your ability, I wish you would have modified your Cockney accent. Surely, you sensed that it was unpleasant to listen to." Slade said calmly.

"Oy! Cap me if ya can, guv!" Mod shouted, waving his arm and making a cloud of black dust to obscure Slade's vision.

Slade nodded slightly, having expected about as much. He wasn't terribly worried. He observed the lair around him, occasionally seeing flashes of Mod moving through the cloud of dust.

Finally, Slade turned, and thrust his hand directly into Mod's chest, crushing his heart in his hand, and beginning to absorb the elderly man.

"You were, perhaps getting a bit long in the tooth for this career choice, Mod. Thank you for the knowledge, though. I will not forget your contribution. Hm… Terra is back…" Slade said idly, having believed that she was still an amnesiac.

He had known that she deliberately forgot, and that perhaps her amnesia was not as complete as she pretended it was. But she truly had forgotten how to use her powers, so at the time, she was useless to him, and thus, he didn't pursue her. Now, though… Perhaps it could be fun… He had seen how smitten Beast Boy was with her. It would certainly create discord amongst the Titans if he forced Terra back into her old life of being a criminal.

Certainly, she had betrayed him once. But now he had methods of forcing compliance beyond blackmail, coercion and such heavyhanded tactics that he had once used. He could easily plant a biomass seed in her brain, and make her unflinchingly loyal to him. He would try the gaslighting that he had once tried with her. Hopefully, he could make her doubt her loyalty to the Titans, or make the Titans doubt her loyalty to them. Tear them apart from within. What fun.