Chapter 2: Shock
How could you betray your friends to the man who raped me?
Those words cut through Terra like than a knife. Her mind ground to a heart-wrenching stop, as did everything else. The monsters the Titans were fighting dissolved into the ground. The rock immediately stopped moving.
Terra landed on her knees, emotions flitting through her eyes, flashes of pain, shock, anger, disbelief, grief. Oh God, please tell me I did not just hear what I thought I heard.
"WHAT?"
Terra managed to squeak out. She looked at her shaking hands, no longer encased in golden light, then back at Starfire, who had managed to reach a sitting position. Starfire grimaced slightly, bracing herself for the tale to come.
"Huh?" Robin stopped, catching his breath. His eyes suddenly grew large as he saw the…thing he'd been fighting dissolve into the ground. The other Titans looked at him, disbelief eminent on their features.
Suddenly, he realized Star wasn't among them. He looked up just in time to see Terra fall onto her knees, shaking, shock plain on her features as well. He started to run to where the rock was hovering, but soon felt a hand grab his arm. He turned, expecting to see Raven or Cyborg. Instead, he saw Beast Boy.
"Don't Robin."
His voice held a commanding tone that Robin had never known Beast Boy was capable of. He was soon backed up by Raven.
"Listen to him for once Robin." Raven paused and began again. "Based on Terra's reaction, I… I think Star just told her." Raven voice broke noticeably at the final part of her sentence. Robin turned to her, anxiety replacing his stubborn expression of the previous moment.
"You mean…" Robin stuttered, looking at Raven.
"Yeah, dude. So give 'em both a chance, K? I mean, it'll probably be a major shock to Terra and I know Star is not going to enjoy telling the story again…so give 'em a chance to talk it out." A new voice, Cyborg, spoke up.
Robin slowly nodded. He turned back to watch Terra and Star, hoping against hope that his friends were right.
Starfire took a deep breath, her story told. Terra looked at her, mouth agape. She sat down and looked at her, then at the other Titans, than at the Slade insignia on her uniform. She slowly reached up and tore it off, throwing it into the steaming wreckage of a nearby building. She vaguely heard a cheer but it didn't really register. She looked at Starfire again.
"Listen Star…I…I'm so sorry! I didn't…I mean… I can't believe I was that…that monster's apprentice! I'm so sorry!" Terra burst into tears. Starfire moved closer and placed her arms around her shoulders, comforting her.
"It is the OK Terra. You did not know. You could not have known. All is well." Starfire rocked with Terra, murmuring to her. After a moment, Terra's sobs faded and she looked up, a small smile tugging the end of her lips up.
"Yeah…ok. Well, we best get down. We don't want to keep the others waiting." Terra stood up, hands once again encased in a golden light. The slab of cement slowly began its descent back to the ground, causing the other Titans to sigh in relief. That sigh however turned into a gasp as, not a second later, a shriek of pain erupted from on top of the rock.