Okay, I'm home early, and I'm really happy for it! Again, thanks to Bert the Nomad, and Heathen Requiem, even though he hasn't replied yet, but he's still my friend so thanks! Here's the exciting part of Betrayal, or Losing Another in this story, and I hope that evryone enjoys it. Oh yes, and Crow's not as sad as she seems hinthintwinkwink
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Terrance got up early the next morning, eager to get the day over with as quickly as he could. But since it was only 8:30, he instead strolled around the tower until he reached the roof. Sighing as looking out onto the sunset, he levitated a large rock from the shore below and formed it into a perfect replication of Terra, or what he thought she would look like at 17. He imagined that her hair would be longer now, seeing as she always wanted really long hair, her hair clip in place. He imagined that she would still be wearing their twin outfit, their shirt colours inverted as it always was, and imagined that her thick brown gloves and hiking boots were still there. She was smiling her big, friendly smile. But as his statue finished, he saw that Terra wasn't smiling, she was frowning, like she was disappointed in him. Her stone eyes read that she was sad at what he was doing, and before he could control it, his powers remodeled the figure until a sinister-looking girl glared back at him. Her eyes were narrowed and her frown was now an evil smile. Her hair had fallen over her right eye and she was dressed in a suit of metal and wrapping. The wrapping covered her whole body, and was partially hidden by the metal breastplate that protected her chest and bore the sign of Slade. She had bits of protective armour over her shoulders, elbows, knees, the back of her hands, and on her shoes, with two metal hairclips above her left and right ears. Terrance gasped and stepped back, so surprised that he didn't realize that he was only a few steps away from the edge of the tower. The Terra statue stepped forward, almost begging for him to fall, and Terrance let out a small scream as he did. Unable to use his powers, Terrance clung to the edge with all his might, for if he let go a certain soon fate would meet him. he looked down then looked up to see Terra standing above him. His eyes wide with fear, he spoke.
'Terra you can't,' he begged softly, and her gray eyes turned yellow.
'Watch me,' the statue taunted in Terra's voice as if it were really her, and Terrance's eyes flashed over. He saw his sister destroying the Titans, the real Titans, taking them down one by one. Then he saw her and Beast Boy, he being in the same mess he was. He heard them say the same things, then he seen his sister destroy him. Crying out, Terrance came back to the present, Terra still standing over him, only now her smile was gone and her eyes were wide with fear, her body cracking with every second.
'Terra?' he asked the statue, and before they could do anything, Terra gave out a long scream like she was stressing out her powers. 'Terra!' he shouted as yellow shone through the cracks of the statue, and within seconds, it exploded into thousands of little pieces, the impact sending Terrance falling backwards and hurdling towards the rocks below. His hair flying wildly behind him as he turned over and looked towards the ground, rock shards racing him, he gained control and levitated a rock just in time. Clutching the rough surface, his bare hands stinging, Terrance tried to slow down his breathing as he reached the roof again. The remains of his 'sister' greeted him as he got off and sat back down, his heart racing, his knees burning as he hugged his legs. He glanced back at the shards to see that one of them was not broken in any way, although it should have been. Picking it up and holding it up to his watering eyes from the fall, he sighed once before throwing it over the edge, whispering, 'Terra', as he did so. The stone butterfly clip fell down until it smashed into a thousand tiny pieces on the shore. 'Terra,' he said again, and the roof door opened.
'Hey you, why are you up here so early. I would think that you would be watching cartoons before practice,' Sparky joked sleepily as she approached him. 'What's wrong?' she asked concernedly as she sat down next to him.
'It's nothing, and why do you care?' he asked, and she grinned smugly.
'I'm the leader. I have to care. So what's up?' Terrance grinned smally at her remark, then decided to open up. He owed it to her afterall. He would owe it to all of them afterall.
'I'm just concern about Terra. I mean, after she left, I haven't heard her from her. That was almost 8 years ago.'
'Terra left when she was only ten?'
'Yeah, she thought that she would be able to handle her powers better if she went on alone. It never worked though. I tried to follow her trail, and everywhere I went that she went I found that she had destroyed cities with her powers, accidentally of course. Since she went to Jump City, I haven't heard anything. no abnormal earthquake, large mudslides, anything. I'm just worried that she got herself hurt.' He thought about the exploding statue as he finished, and Sparky absorbed the information tenderly.
'Well, maybe she finally got control over her powers then. I mean, my little sister Firefly went off on her own to lead her own team in Dodge City, and I haven't heard from her, but I still know that she's doing well because I have faith in her. And that's what you have to do with Terra. I bet she's out there somewhere, using her powers to help people, no more problems. There, you see?' Terrance looked out at the horizon and the now fully risen sun, and blinked away his thoughts.
'Yeah. I bet you're right.' Sparky smiled joyfully at the very thought that someone actually liked her advice.
'Good. And now that that's taken care of, why don't we go down and have some breakfast. You know, maybe if we catch Craig before he leaves we could get him to do combat practice with us,' she added slyly, and Terrance cheered up. He had forgotten that his friend was still here.
They walked downstairs, their spirits lifted as they entered the main room to find that they rest of the team and Craig had woken up, minus Crow.
'Hey, have you seen Crow? Was she with you?' Beast Babe asked as the two sat down, and both shook their heads.
'It is not normal for Crow to be doing the sleep for this many of hours,' Moonfire observed as Craig got comfortable beside her, a cup of coffee and a plate filled with breakfast with him.
'Yeah. She should be up by now drinking her tea stuff,' Gypsie agreed, and using her powers without waiting for an invitation, she was soon, like she did with Terrance and Slade, was searching for her missing friend. 'I'll check in her room first. That's where I bet she is.' The power floated down hall after hall until it reached the metal door that read 'Crow', and it floated on through only to find a most shocking sight. 'Oh, my, fucking, God,' she whispered slowly, and ended the spell. 'You guys have got to get your asses upstairs now!' Without explaining, Gypsie grabbed her friends and pulled them upstairs as fast as she could, not caring how badly they were stumbling. Finally they stopped outside of Crow's door. 'Okay, you guys are not going to believe this,' she giggled silently, and opened the door, the sliding noise the only sound in the hall besides the definite sound of gentle breathing from more than one person. 'Check it out.' They all tiptoed into the room to find none other than Crow – of course – and Dean, laying under the dark sheets of her bed. Both of them were wearing nothing, and the very sight brought happy tears to Craig's eyes.
'Holy shit!' he whispered in a high and excited voice. 'Dudes, someone has got to give me a camera!' Gypsie formed a camera out of thin air and handed it to Craig as Beast Babe leaned into Terrance to keep from laughing. Terrance felt his skin crawl as the hot green girl kept giggling repeatedly into his shoulder, her breath warming his body. He closed his eyes and savoured the moment as Craig took several pictures of the two. 'Okay, now, can you remove that blanket? This is the ultimate blackmail!' he directed to Gypsie, and her face went red for two reasons. 1) There was a naked guy under there with her naked friend 2) there was an extremely hot and built naked guy under there with her naked friend.
'Sure,' she moaned, and her powers worked carefully as to not wake them. But just as Dean felt the warmth leave his chest – Crow's was hidden by his arm – his eyes shot open and he cursed and pulled the blanket back before it went too far over them. Crow was now awake as well, and both of them were not pleased.
'Aw, why'd you two have to wake up? You looked so peaceful,' Craig laughed, and Dean muttered a curse as his hair and eyes turned black. He disappeared from Crow's side – who was now holding the blanket over her bare breasts – and reappeared, fully clothed, behind Craig. Without warning, he raised his fist and aimed a punch at the back of his friend's head, but Craig was too fast. As quick as lightening, Craig whipped around and flashed a picture right in Dean's eyes, temporarily blinding him. His arms in front of his face, Dean stumbled back, but Craig didn't stop there. He grabbed Dean's arm and flipped him onto her back, where he pinned him down, his eyes locked tight on his friend. 'And I thought that you had said that you would get over Crow?' he mocked, and Dean cursed and struggled under his grip.
'Yeah, and I thought that you said that your emotions were too unstable? Was love feeling a little confident, or was it lust?' Gypsie teased, and Crow glared at her.
'Fuck you. I got over it,' Crow growled, and Dean warped from under Craig to Crow's side. 'I said that my emotions were unstable, but he helped me, didn't you?' Dean smirked at the dumbfounded look on Terrance's face, and he ran his fingers through his hair.
'You could say that,' he said, and then noticed the camera in Craig's hand. 'Hey, what the fuck is that?' Using his powers, he focussed his energy on the devise and crushed it with his mind, destroying every picture.
'Hey you bastard!' Craig yelled as the remains slipped through his fingers. 'How can I blackmail you now!'
'Exactly,' Dean answered, and Sparky broke the tension.
'Well, now that we know where Crow is, let's say we finish getting ready and do combat practice. You two wanna join us?' she asked Craig and Dean as they glared at each other, and both replied, 'Sure'.
'Glorious! Now we can all show each other what our powers can do!' Moonfire cheered happily, and Crow shooed everyone out of her room so that she could get dressed. The rest of them all traveled down the hall, no one talking and hoping that someone would break the silence to distract them from the glares of the two boys.
'You know, I had pictures in that camera,' Sparky muttered to Craig, who looked down at the last piece of the device that he had not dropped in his hand. On it was Sparky's symbol, and on the little bit of film that hung from it, he barely seen a picture of her and the original Titans, all of them in some form of pose for the picture.
'Oh. Well Gypsie gave it to me!' he confessed, and Gypsie raised her hands at him.
'Huh? How was I supposed to know that Dean was gunna trash it?' she asked, and Dean snorted.
'Maybe I would not have had to trash it if there wasn't porn on it!' he shouted at Craig, who began to laugh again. 'Shut up asshole. Man, why must you always do this to me? Ever since I went dark and started getting' girls and actin' cooler than you you've been ruining every single relationship so that you could have her instead!' Moonfire raised an eyebrow at him at this, and he tried to avoid her gaze. 'What, do you want to take Crow from me too?'
'No! I just like to see you miserable,' he answered calmly, getting a nod from Moonfire, and Terrance finally spoke.
'No shit Sherlock,' he said, quoting one of his favourite movies, and Dean shot a look at him too.
'All right enough! I am so sick of this fighting! Face it Dean, you got punk'd, and Craig tried to catch it on camera! End of story!' Beast Babe cried in exasperation, and Terrance adored her confidence in shutting the two up.
'Fine, jeez we'll stop,' Craig said, and she smiled brightly, making the others fell very proud of their friend. 'So, what is this combat practice thing anyways?'
'It is where we go outside and go the courses of obstacles and try to beat each other's time and –' Moonfire started.
'And try as hard as we can to not break the course,' Sparky finished, and the girls looked at Terrance with big smiles.
'T, did you break the course?' Craig asked, and Terrance forced a cough and looked away. 'You are such a dumbass,' he laughed, and Beast Babe secretly glared at him for insulting him.
'Yeah, the first time he practiced on it he practically trashed the whole thing. It took me about a month to build a new one,' Gypsie groaned, and even Dean laughed. He had begun to lighten up after the subject was changed. 'And believe me, you do not know how hard it was to build a new one. '
'I think I do,' Dean said, and everyone, including Craig, glanced over. 'What? In my free time I build choppers.' Gypsie suddenly became very interested in what he had to say. 'Most of them are black, but I sometimes do suggestions for people.'
'Wait, hold up. You can make bikes? Since when?' Craig demanded, and Dean shrugged as he thought. By now they had finally reached the main room.
'I dunno, since 5 years ago or so. Haven't you ever wondered why I have my own garage filled with motorcycles?'
'No, not really. I just thought you were a collector of some sort. I did wonder, however, why there was a small pink one with unicorns and colourful stars on it in there.' The girls snickered and giggled at this as Terrance stopped to look at his questionably pink-liking friend.
'It was for my little sister Janice,' he answered quickly, and all of a sudden Crow floated through a white portal in the floor.
'What did I miss?' she asked, and the alarm went off. Sparky raced to the computer in front of the ginormous screen and typed in a few codes until a list of unfamiliar villains appeared on it. There was too many to count, but the girls noticed that one of them was riding on a black motorbike, with glowing red marks on it.
'Nice wheels,' Dean observed as Robin's face appeared on the screen as well in the form of an informational video.
'Titans North, this is a list of every villain we've ever fought. Sparky told me that Slade was now taking over your territory so I've sent you this in case any others decide to visit as well. If you click on their picture, as much information about them as possible will appear. The team says hi. Good luck.' Robin's face faded away as Sparky closed off the screen, a large and silly grin on her face.
'So, I'm guessing that was Robin,' Terrance whispered to Beast Babe, in account that he had never seen him before.
'Yeah, but don't get the wrong idea about Spark. She knows that Robin has a girlfriend – even though he won't admit it – and she honours it by never liking Robin any more than a super fan would.'
'Ok, then what about you and Beast Boy then? You a big fan too?' Terrance asked, and Beast Babe made a face at him.
'No! Yes,' she added softly, and he nodded.
'Uh huh, that's what I thought,' he said proudly, and the alarm began again. 'Oh come on! More villains to add to the list?' Terrance groaned, and a security camera video showed up with a marked location. On it were a few security guards taking a beating from Slade's commando robots, and Craig swore at how badly they sucked at defending themselves, the guards that is.
'No way. Who's kickass robots are those?' Dean asked in amazement, and Sparky's muscles tensed up, her shoulders rising angrily.
'They're Slade's,' she snarled, and everyone backed away. Suddenly they heard bits of static rush from the camera, and the group looked up just as the robots began to collect a rather large and dangerous object. Gasping, Beast Babe clung to Terrance, a small understanding of what Slade was planning running through her mind.
'So that's what Slade's been planning!' she exclaimed, and Terrance shook his head smally. She had no idea…
'Titans North, GO!' Sparky shouted, and the girl took to the air while Terrance and Beast Babe ran after them, leaving Craig and Dean to feel a little left out and a little annoyed at being left behind. But Sparky hadn't left yet. 'Hey, you guys wanna come too? This fight could be like combat practice you never had.' Craig smiled and flew off after Moonfire as Dean turned black and formed a platform that he could travel on, on it, he followed Terrance and Beast Babe who were standing together on a rock that Terrance was levitating.
'So, since they're robots, does that mean that I can smash their heads off?' Craig asked as Sparky plotted out the coordinates of their destination with Gypsie. Moonfire rolled her eyes at him as he shrugged. Terrance snickered at him while Beast Babe shook her head at his immaturity. 'What? It's fun isn't it? Yeah, you guys know you like blastin' robots while I'm at home watching movies. Oh Terrance don't laugh you know that you like hurting the poor little robots too.' Terrance looked away, his smile fading, his hair hiding his emotions. It was true, he did like destroying those robots, blasting their heads off, piercing their torsos with rocks, hearing their mechanical limbs crack and break under the pressure of his powers. He enjoyed destroying them, but he couldn't let them know. It was just too… evil, and that wasn't who he wanted to be… not yet… 'Terrance, yoo hoo! Come back to Earth now dumbass we need you!' Craig shouted, and set a tiny spark to his cheek, causing him to lose control for a sec and waver in the air, Beast Babe clinging to his shirt for dear life.
'Why the hell did you do that!' he screamed, and Dean pointed at the building that they were supposed to go to. One of the sides had been blown away, and no less than 50 robots were exiting from the newest exit. Sparky frowned angrily and lowered to the ground, her hand searching through her pocket. As Gypsie lowered down next to her on her right, still in the air, with Beast Babe – who had jumped down from Terrance's rock as soon as he got low enough – on her left, she pulled out one of the hundreds of birdarangs that Robin had given to her on her first day of being a titan. Her electric powers soon surrounded it, giving it a little more power, and with all her might she threw it as hard as she could at the closest robot. It made contact with its head, taking a bit of it with it as it zoomed back into Sparky's hand, and as soon as she felt the device touch her fingers and palm, she narrowed her eyes and spoke.
'Tell my little repeater that his little copycat's team has a message for him,' she snarled, and Terrance levitated about 3 boulders. Without giving anyone a chance to finish her sentence, he smirked, and raised a boulder higher.
'Eat rocks assholes!' he yelled, and threw the boulder at the first few robots, crushing all of them. he grinned, that feeling in his chest rising again, and Craig flew forward, flames surrounding his fists.
'Let kick some robot ass,' he sneered, and Dean actually smiled.
'Titans North go!' Sparky shouted, and everyone charged, Terrance on his rock, the two remaining boulders following, Dean and Crow levitating close together, shooting curses and energy here and there, Craig flying along, swearing and destroying robots like crazy, Moonfire following suit, Gypsie taking robots apart with her powers, Beast Babe, as a leopard, tearing the bots to pieces, and Sparky, not even bothering to fly, running forward, zapping anything that came within 2 feet of her. Terrance took one look at the running leader and jumped off his rock, landing gracefully on his feet on another one behind him about the same size. With the now abandoned rock he lowered it down to Sparky until she jumped onto it and glided along on it, dodging the laser beams that shot at her head as she did so. She finally jumped off and took to the sky just as the rock approached the first few robots, and without no one to control it, it flew on, smashing the bots as it did so until it finally came to a stop. Sparky carried on from the air after that.
Craig suddenly lowered with Dean by his side, and they worked as their own little team, Dean confusing the bots by warping from in front of them to behind them then disintegrating them with his curse, while Craig flew quickly back and forth, powerful jets of fire burning and melting the parts of the bots that he hadn't yet been able to punch off. Moonfire followed Craig's movement from the air, shooting any robots that came close to harming him, and finally let out a strong beam of eyeblasts when a row of bots charged at him. within a second of coming in contact with the ground the area exploded, destroying the robots from the impact. Up higher, Terrance was stabbing robots, his smile not really hidden. Crow flew up behind him, and he went to look when a large boulder surrounded by a white aura caught his eye. It raised into the air and behind Crow, who lifted it up and called to him.
'Hey bastard, catch!' Terrance raised his arms, his powers beginning to control the rock even before Crow had let go. He gained complete control over it just as it came within a few feet of his hands, and he spun around on his rock, dragging the boulder with him. letting out a stressed cry, Terrance let go of it and allowed it to crash into the ground, destroying about ten more bots.
'Thanks for the help bitch,' he said thankfully, and then snorted. 'So, was I'm practically thanking you a ton huh?'
Crow shook her head. 'It was a little closer to two tons I believe,' she guessed, then quickly tried to set up a shield in front of her face as one of the robots with rocket boots – which Dean found very fascinating – shot at her head. The beam, being too powerful, forced her out of the sky, leaving Terrance alone in the area. He was about to throw a fairly sized rock at the bots when it curved behind him and blasted the rock he was standing on. He staggered in the air for a moment before the beam caused the rock to explode, sending him falling face-first towards the ground. It was then Terrance noticed that the sky had turned almost a dark purple, probably fitting for the mood they were in.
He hit the ground with such a force that it caused him to bounce a few times before coming to a rest flat on his face. Rubbing his head, Terrance slowly rose to his hands and knees when he found that he was surrounded by about 4 to 5 bots. Panicking, he didn't even realize that Beast Babe was behind him until she morphed into a large gorilla and started bashing at the bots, protecting her friend. She smacked 2 away, snatching the third by its ankles and swatting at the forth with it before the fifth jumped forward and clung to the back of her neck. Grabbing it roughly, she pounded it against the ground then disposed of it, making sure to roar for good measure. She then picked up her friend and morphed back, a smile covering her face, her cheeks flushed.
'Beast Babe, you saved me from those robots,' he said in a surprised tone, causing her cheeks to turn a deeper red.
'Yeah uh, I saw you fall so I wanted to help. I was kinda cool,' she stuttered, and Terrance looked down. He felt a little foolish at being held up by a girl, but he didn't mind. She was pretty strong for a girl anyways. But they had to get back to work.
'Uh, dumbass, I can still walk. You can put me down,' he laughed, and Beast Babe bit her tongue.
'Oh, well, yeah, I was just… I just wanted to…' she began, but before she could finish a broken robots from Gypsie flew by their heads and she grinned stupidly and ran off. Terrance stood and stared at her for a moment before activating the camera on the building, his mind filled with endless thoughts. Somewhere, off in a secret place, someone was watching them, someone was watching as Sparky backwards kick-flipped a robot in the face before sticking it with an electric bostaff. Someone was watching as Crow curled herself up into a ball before sending a large amount of energy free, then shooting it at her attackers. Someone was watching as Gypsie shot another armful of powers at her next robots, taking it apart, and Moonfire bombarded a few more, emerging from the smoke with more starbolts. They were watching as Beast Babe head-butted another robot in the chest after turning into a sheep, and as Craig and Dean cleared the rest of them with their abilities. And it was because of him.
The battle was soon over, and the dangerous-looking device was saved. The team cheered and high-fived each other and Moonfire and Craig celebrated with a kiss, and Crow and Dean celebrated with a smile. Sparky and Gypsie chatted over what the device could be and why Slade wanted it as Terrance quickly levitated another rock and hopped on, hoping that no one would notice his early departure, but of course, Beast Babe did.
'Hey Terrance, where are you going?' she called, and he just barely looked back as the rock lifted into the air.
'I have to go someplace, I'm late for an appointment, but don't worry, I'll be back in time it finish our party.' He winked at her before riding off, not stopping until his feet touched the ground outside of a hidden door. He knocked three times before it opened up and he walked inside, not even bothering to glance at the security cameras any more. He tapped in the access code and the main doors slid open to reveal a large panel filled with around twenty screens. On a few there was Sparky, caught in the middle of her hit. On other there was Crow, forcing her aura forwards. The rest had either Gypsie, holding her arms out as her powers shot off it, Moonfire shooting starbolts as she exited the cloud of dust, Beast Babe hitting the robot's stomach, and even Craig and Dean letting off some power. Each one had special charts and lines, showing their power points and so on. In front of the screens stood a tall, muscular, and masked man, his body suit covered with armour. There was a table placed next to him, certain items like his Titans communicator taken apart, maps, plans, certain weapons from Sparky, all plotted out or taken apart. The man then spoke calmly and deeply, his voice chilling Terrance even after all this time.
'Wonderful. You have done extremely well, even better than your sister has. Everything is going according to plan. At last, all the work you've done, all the lying, it's about to pay off. We strike the tower tonight, and, by the time the sun rises tomorrow, the Titans North will be destroyed, and this time, don't make any mistake like Terra.' Terrance nodded, his eyes narrowed, his hair falling slightly over his eyes. This was it.
'Yes, Slade,' he murmured, and the screens went dark.
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Beast Babe watched the door as her friends continued to party. Craig had already eaten all of their pizza, leaving Sparky to order more while fishing out the last of her cash. Moonfire laughed uncontrollably as Craig told embarrassing storied about Terrance and Dean, and Beast Babe tried to enjoy herself, but Terrance still was not home. Gypsie walked up to her, a cup of pop in her hand, and she slung her arm around her neck.
'C'mon BB, he'll be home soon, and don't worry, there'll still be time for you and him to sneak off for the remainder of the party,' she giggled, and Beast Babe grabbed the cup from her hand. Sure enough, there were traces of alcohol, and she glared at Craig and Dean, who were laughing their asses off.
'Guys!' she growled, and Craig wiped a tear from his eye.
'Sorry, but I couldn't help it. We wanted to give it to someone, but Crow wouldn't drink anything and Moonfire doesn't need any and Sparky would kill us if we did!' He broke into another fit of laughter, and Beast Babe began to check the rest of the drinks when she heard the door click. Her pointy ears perked up as Terrance walked into the room, obviously trying not to be seen, but that wouldn't work for her.
'Terrance!' she squealed, and he jumped. His hair was messed and his clothes were slightly ruffled, and apart from his heavy breathing and red face, he was all right. 'Where have you been! I've been so worried!' she demanded happily as she threw her arms around his neck, and he began to stutter.
'I – I –' he began shakily, and Craig walked over, a cup of 'improved' pop and handed it to him.
'Dude you look wasted,' he laughed, and Terrance raised an eyebrow.
'Speak for yourself,' he muttered, and before he could get away Craig pulled him over and away from the door as Sparky walked downstairs to get their pizza. 'Did you spike that? Get that away from me!' he shouted, and Craig frowned.
'Dude, being at a party sober is completely dumb,' Craig said in a wavering voice, and Crow helped Terrance get away before the drunken boy had spilt anymore liquid on his shirt. 'Hey, give 'im back! He hasn't had anything to drink yet!' Craig yelled stupidly, and spilt the drink on the floor. He and Dean stared at it for a moment before bursting out in hysterical laughter, making the crowded Beast Babe feel rather uncomfortable.
'Hey, I'm coming with you two,' she called to Crow and Terrance, who really wanted to get away.
'Guys, hey guys! Calm down!' Sparky yelled suddenly from the door, two boxes of pizza in her arms. 'I said, calm the fuck down!' she screamed, and Craig and Dean stopped laughing. Crow and Terrance stopped walking away, and Moonfire sank to the ground. Beast Babe froze in midstep and Sparky set the pizza on the table, which was littered with several abandoned cups. 'Now, here's the pizza, and I just spent my last 20 bucks, and if you guys don't stop drinking them I'm gunna kick your asses all the way back to where you came from,' she warned, and Terrance began to feel very uncomfortable. It was their last night, and everything was screwing up, but most of all, his friends were here, not knowing what awaited them, and Beast Babe looked so upset. He had to make it up to them; he owed them that much, especially Beast Babe.
'Hey Spark calm down I'll clean up this mess while Moonfire gets rid of the drinks. We can pop in a few scary movies and finish this party properly okay?' he suggested as he plastered a forced smile on his face, and Beast Babe cheered up, giving him a frozen love inside.
'Perfect! Craig can become the sober as we watch!' Moonfire exclaimed happily as she began picking up cups, Crow ushering the two boys over to the couches where they sat, their bodies shaking slightly. Terrance got a washcloth and began wiping up the table and floor as Beast Babe followed him with her eyes, making him feel even guiltier. He knew that she liked him, and yet they still had never gone out on their little date. They weren't even going out, and that depressed him even more. What was worse though, he was kind of with someone else, someone who should never be seen. Ever…
'Hey Terrance careful! Your dripping all over the floor!' Sparky gasped from the couch, and hurried over as Terrance jumped and tried to mop the pop back up. 'What's wrong, you seem rather tense. Anything happen that you wanna talk about?'
'No,' Terrance stuttered, and dumped the cloth into the sink. 'It's nothing. I just ran into a thief on the way over and he shocked me a little. No big deal, so please stop asking.' He noticed that Sparky was staring at him weirdly after this. He also noticed that he was shaking like mad. Why did he have to do this every single time we visited for business? He coughed and cleared his throat, avoiding the gazes of his friend, eating pizza when he had too, even watching the movie and trying to look startled at the scary parts, but nothing worked, nothing distracted his mind from what had happened, what he did, what he was going to do. He didn't even notice when Beast Babe nervously scooted over beside him, grabbed at his shirt when she was scared, tried to gain eye contact with him at the romantic parts, but nothing worked then either. Finally the last movie ended and it was all done to the last slice of pizza. By then Terrance had lightened up a little.
'Okay, the very last, one and only slice of delicious cheese and pepperoni pizza goes too…' Gypsie started hungrily, and, using her powers, she spun it around like a top, letting the tip of the slice determine who it would go to. Craig and Dean had sobered down by then and were waiting anxiously for the slice. The rest of the team was just hungry, and Terrance didn't really care, sipping away at a soda. Then the slice stopped. 'Terrance!' Terrance's eyes grew wide and he almost choked on the soda as the sad-looking Craig tossed him the slice. Laughing, Gypsie began a small scene with her powers, everyone dressed up as football players, with Terrance holding a golden trophy with a slice of pizza on the top. He looked around as Gypsie, dressed as a reporter, began interviewing him. 'He's just a rookie folks, but here he is, holding the annual pepperoni trophy. Terrance, the world would like to know,' – she pointed to a Craig, who's head had expanded until it looked exactly like the world with a face, Dean beside him, posing as a jealous moon – 'How do you feel?' he wanted to tell them that he felt horrible and that he just wanted to die, but they wouldn't know why pizza made him feel like that.
Instead, he forced another smile and spoke into the aura-made microphone that was floating in front of Gypsie. 'Uh, I feel good, Gyp, and kinda greasy.' He meant that in two ways, one for the things he was about to do, and two for the fact that the pizza trophy was starting to drip onto his uniform. Gypsie laughed announcer-like as Craig the earth clapped happily, and suddenly he felt his feet leave the ground. Sparky and Moonfire had lifted him up onto their shoulders, and behind him Crow was holding up pompoms and was dressed in a cheerleader outfit. Sparky and Moonfire were also wearing football uniforms.
'Seriously, though, you kicked major ass tonight Terrance, good work,' Sparky said happily, and Moonfire looked up at him with hearts in her eyes.
'Yes, and I am I mean we are also are most grateful to claim you as our friend my girlfriendless friend,' she swooned, and Crow rolled her eyes.
'Yeah, whatever they said,' she muttered, and Beast Babe, as a little puppy, jumped onto Moonfire's head to cheerfully lick Terrance's cheek, her little green tail wagging quickly, messing up the annoyed girl's hair.
'Beast Babe,' Terrance laughed smally, and Gypsie ended the small scene. Everyone was now dressed as they normally did, and Craig and Dean were back to normal. Terrance set the pizza down, not really wanting it, and Craig greedily gulped it down, not caring whether Terrance wanted it or not. Beast Babe smiled at Terrance as he rubbed his shoulder and looked around at his friend, wanting to remember them as they were. 'You guys, I'm flattered, really, but I'm just kicking ass as a part of my job. It doesn't really matter.'
'Well of course it matters silly,' Beast Babe giggled. 'You're kicking bad guy ass, so that means that's good. It also matters cause good friends don't just show up at your door everyday ya know?' Terrance smiled smally, and Gypsie yawned.
'Okay, I'm now officially tired, so get your asses to bed,' she murmured sleepily, and placed her hand over the little lockdown pad, and the lights in the room turned off. 'Alright ya lazies, the towers locked up and this girl's ready to shut down.' Moonfire giggled as Craig walked up to her and grabbed her hand, his eyes rimmed with tiredness; the drink earlier must have affected him after a while.
'Yeah, sleep sounds really good right now, especially after all the hard work you all did today, even though we had to skip our combat practice. But don't worry, we'll get to it tomorrow morning, and after that figure out what the bastard is gunna do next. We need to find out why he wanted that device,' Sparky said, and then headed for the stairs as Crow and Dean said a quick goodbye and warped to Crow's bedroom. Moonfire placed a quick kiss on Terrance's cheek and whispered something from her home planet before lifting the already asleep Craig into her arms and flew him off.
'Night ya bastard,' Craig muttered in his sleep as they went through the door, and Beast Babe blushed at Terrance, her hand waving.
'Uh, goodnight Terrance,' she said with a nervous giggle, and Terrance frowned sadly.
'Yeah, I'll see at combat practice tomorrow,' he said, and slouched up the stairs and to his room. Typing in the codes to his door, he walked inside, looked around a few times to make sure that absolutely no one was with him, gave a big sigh, and sat down on his couch. He turned on his laptop and clicked on his chatline. Immediately the only person on his list logged on and asked for the codes. Breathing heavily, Terrance typed in the codes that he had gotten, and, after hesitating, clicked send. The person thanked briefly then logged off. As soon as he exited the site he heard someone knock on his door. Gasping, he shut his laptop and cautiously walked over. What if someone had found out, and was now here to haul him off to jail? He clicked the button to open the door to find Beast Babe, standing there stupidly.
'Hi,' she said as her face turned red, and Terrance stared at her, rather confused.
'Hi,' he answered, and Beast Babe began to smile. They stood there for a moment, both of them not saying anything, until Terrance checked the hall for anyone else and began to back away, another fake smile on his face. 'Okay, well, awkward much. Nice chat BB.'
'Oh no!' she exclaimed, and before Terrance could shut the door she pulled out a badly wrapped package and held it out to him. 'Terrance, I, uh, kinda bought you somethin'.' Terrance stuck his head back out into the hall and grabbed the parcel slowly, wondering what it was.
'Wow, you did. Did it cost much?' he asked as he began to unwrap it, and she shrugged.
'Yeah, well, let's just say that you're not getting any presents for a few years now.' Terrance actually laughed as he tore off the top of the box to find a brand new stereo, complete with several Linkin Park items, like CDs, posters, and a T-shirt.
'Holy shit Beast Babe, this is amazing. You know you didn't have to get me anything. I don't really deserve this,' he stuttered happily, and shut the top.
'Yeah you do, and there's a bonus. I know this is really for guys to do, but well, you haven't yet, so I'm gunna.' She paused to take a huge breath. 'Do you wanna go out on a date with me?' Terrance's eyes grew as he stared at the girl, and realized that she was braver than she looked. He let a large smile fill his face, and she took that for a yes. 'Great! Well, you wanna do something tomorrow after dinner? Like a movie?' Terrance's smile quickly faded as she said this, and he began to back into his room.
'Tomorrow's not good for me,' he said, and Beast Babe's ears began to fall.
'Oh. Well how about Saturday? Or Sunday? You could pick the day?' Terrance could tell that she was getting rather desperate, and it crushed him to see her so sad.
'I'm sorry Beast Babe, but I'm afraid I'll have to cancel.'
'But-'
'I just can't do it.' He backed into his room and shut the door as quickly as he could, and flinched as he heard her collide with the metal. He bit his lip as she muttered something to him, and when he didn't reply she walked off, her heart broken in two. 'Dammit, I owe her that much, I should've gone,' he scolded himself, and dropped the box on his table next to his laptop. 'Damn you Slade, why do we have to attack the night when she asks me out!' he shouted at the blank screen, and pulled at his hair in frustration. 'Oh God, I don't know what to do! I really want to go out with her, but how can I when I'm supposed to kill her tonight! Arg!' Punching his window until it cracked, he seen the shaded figures enter the tower, and knew that the attack would happen very soon. He didn't want to kill his friends, but he knew he couldn't save them all. But he at least wanted to save Beast Babe, even if he died, at least he would be with Beast Babe before he did. Closing his eyes, he held his breath and punched at his window, the cracks becoming so large that his window shattered. He clenched his bleeding fist and looked down on it, his glove torn in several places to reveal the broken skin, blood seeping through the cuts. He grabbed his bedsheet and tore off his glove to dispose of it on his table. He used the sheet to wipe away the blood, and pulled on a new one from his drawer. He looked at the glassless window and levitated a rock big enough for around four guys his size as he reached the edge. He stepped onto it and moved it over to outside Beast Babe's window, where she was yelling at her reflection like crazy. Her window was open so he was able to hear everything she was saying to herself, and it nearly killed him when he found that it was him she was yelling about.
'Oh, you're such a dumbass!' she was shouting, and he took it to himself to listen in. 'How in the hell could you mess such a simple thing up! All you had to do was knock on his door and ask him out!' She broke down onto her hand and knees where she began to cry softly. 'Oh, now he'll never go out with me. I'm just too pathetic.'
'No you're not,' he answered from her window, and Beast Babe let out a small scream and fell onto her bottom.
'Um, exactly how long have you been spying on me?' she asked, and he shrugged.
'You wanna go out with me?' he asked, and Beast Babe smiled the biggest smile he had ever seen.
'Ohmygod. Hell ya!' she said happily, but quickly collected herself. 'I mean, sure, that's cool. But, why didn't you just knock on my door like I did?' Terrance softly clenched his stinging fist, then leaned forward, the same hand extended for her to take.
'Beast Babe, do you trust me?' She smiled, just like he predicted she would.
'Of course Aladdin,' she answered, referring him to the movie that said the quote, and grabbed his hand. He pulled her onto the rock, his hand burning from the pressure, and she wrapped her arms tenderly around his arm for stability. 'So, I was thinkin', do you wanna see a late movie, or do you have other plans for us?' she asked, and Terrance looked back slightly just in time to see the tower glow brightly with Gypsie's power; it had began. He forced the rock to move faster.
'It's really nice out tonight,' Beast Babe said after a while, and he nodded. The silence was almost nerve-wracking. 'So, where are we going?'
'You'll see,' he answered, and the rock began to lower to the ground. He stepped off and waited for her to follow. They were now outside of Edge City and on a small island surrounded by the bay. Beast Babe looked around and seen that they were the only ones there, just standing and looking over to their city.
'Hey Terrance, when you asked me out, I didn't know that you meant that you'd be taken me out of town,' she said with a smile, and he nodded again.
'It kinda looks cool, doesn't it? All the colours and such, just blinking like stars?' Beast Babe swooned at his sense of beauty, and wondered if he felt the same way about how she looked. 'You know, I guess, sometime a guy's just gotta really leave a place to actually begin to appreciate it.' And appreciate it he did. This would be the last time he'd see Edge City like this: so peaceful and lovely, not knowing the fate that lay ahead of it, just like his friends. They stood in silence for a little longer, the wind playing with their hair. 'Hey, so are ya hungry?' Beast Babe smiled.
'I'm always hungry dude,' she smiled, and they jumped back onto the rock. This time they talked a little about their favourite movies until they reached a small trucker restaurant. Terrance lowered their ride and pretended to lock it, getting a laugh from Beast Babe. He smiled and led her into the diner, called Bob's. Beast Babe entered after Terrance, who was smiling. She gasped when she seen that it was filled with old people playing pool and drinking coffee. They looked up and stared at the customers for a moment before returning to their game. She uneasily smiled and looked for Terrance, who was sitting on a spinning chair in front of the counter. He smiled and gestured for her to join him, spinning away on his stool. Beast Babe smiled, feeling more comfortable knowing that Terrance was with her. As soon as she sat Terrance handed one of the menus that lay in front of him, and she opened it to find her worst nightmare: meat, lots of meat. Everything on the menu was meat, and she had to gulp to keep from screaming. She closed the menu and lowered it to the table, her eyes opened wide. Terrance laughed. 'Uh, I, uh, don't suppose, that you serve veggie burgers here huh?' The waitress that was standing next to Terrance just looked at her like she was speaking a different language.
'Me and my date'll just take the usual Sam,' he told the waitress, who nodded and walked off to the kitchen.
'So, no doubt you've been here before huh?' Terrance snickered and picked up his spoon, twirling it around in his fingers.
'Of course I've been here before. I've been everywhere before, from Gotham City to the end of Dodge City, and everywhere in-between. You knew that I was a traveler before I became one of you. And you know what? If you're extra especially nice to me, I might just give you a tour of more than the city.' Beast Babe looked away, her face starting to turn red, when and idea came to her mind.
'Okay, then tell me this: what is the absolutely most coolest place that you've ever been in your entire life?' Terrance thought for a moment before his thoughts trailed back to where his friends were now fighting.
'I dunno. If it were the coolest place ever, I'd have to be our tower.' He paused, then smiled and looked up at her. 'But only because I met you there.' Beast Babe was about to say something when Sam returned and placed two plates in front of them. On them was a piece of delicious-looking pie each, whipped cream topping it off. She gazed hungrily at it as Terrance placed something in her hand. 'Go on, dig in. I dare ya.' Beast Babe looked at the spoon in her hand, dipped it into the pie, and took a bite. Her hair seemed to stand on end as her eyes bugged out. Then she gazed directly into his eyes.
'This frickin' pie – is the greatest frickin' pie – in the history of friggin' great pie,' she said solemnly, then smiled and took another bite.
'That's what I said too. You know, there's this one place just outside of Gotham that makes the best damn cherry pie I've ever had, but if you're talking apple, then this is –' He suddenly cut himself off as he looked up and into the reflection on the window across from him. In it was the normal reflection you would find in a mirror, but with one major addition: Slade was standing right behind him, his eye narrowed. Terrance's eyes grew wide as he turned around, desperately looking for him, but there was no one there except for the pool players. He tried to calm himself down as he looked back into the Sladeless mirror and quickly fished out a five-dollar bill to pay for the pie, wanting to leave as soon as possible. He knew that Slade was watching him, but if didn't know to find him, then he would never get him, or hurt Beast Babe. He got up, looked around, then gently grabbed Beast Babe's arm. 'C'mon BB, the night's still young. Lots of stuff to check out ya know? So let's leave.' He headed for the door as Beast Babe looked from him to the pie.
'But Terrance, frickin' pie!' she whined, and he pulled her away from the table, the force of the sudden movement shoving her communicator out of her belt. It hit the floor with a soft thud, not catching the attention of anyone nearby, and as soon as the two left though the door and flew away on the rock, the device flickered to life, Sparky's angry voice coming in clearly from the other side.
'Beast Babe! Come in! Please! The tower's under attack and we might not make it without your help! Beast Babe!'
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Mwahaha! The first attack ending in another cliffhanger I suppose! See? Crow's a good actor, everyone is being betrayed at the moment, and Terrance and Beast Babe are going on theri date! And since I'm writing it'll be quite eventful. Reviews are warmly welcomed, and until next time, I'm out.
Tiff