Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Note: Sorry if this chapter seems short and the update took too long. Have a case of writers block.

Stone Hearted 4

Wild Rose

"I'm going to kill you!" Black Rose shouted at Terra.

"No, please!" Terra cried as she crawled backward on the street.

"You've ruined my life!" Black Rose advanced on Terra, swinging her staff.

Terra turned over on her stomach grabbing onto a fire hydrant to get her up on her feet. She willed her legs to start running. Black Rose laughed.

"What's the matter, Terra?" she demanded. "Afraid to fight me? You weren't so afraid last time. You beat me once, remember?"

Terra panted. Her heart was beating hard in her chest. She barely remembered Black Rose. All she knew was that she fought her in some kind of tournament. Terra's head felt like it was going to explode. What happened when she was gone? How come she only remembered bits and pieces of her past? Why was Black Rose after Terra? Was she furious with her for beating her at the tournament? Terra came to a dead end. To her left was the fire escape of an apartment building. No way to go but up, Terra began to climb the fire escape.

"Come back and fight me, Terra!" Black Rose shouted.

"Go away!" Terra hissed, climbing as fast as she possibly could. Her whole body hurt but she had to keep moving. She couldn't let Black Rose catch her. She truly believed hat Black Rose was going to kill her once she caught her. Black Rose wasn't bluffing. Terra could tell it in her voice. Terra finally reached the top and looked for a place to hide. Where could she go?" There was nothing. Terra started crying. She was going to die. Black Rose was going to tear her apart. Terra ran to the far end of the roof. There was no way down from there. She was trapped. She wished she hadn't climbed up this building. Terra could hear a chink, chink, chink noise. Black Rose was climbing the fire escape. The thorns on Black Rose's suit and the thorns on her staff were hitting the metal steps. They were getting closer and louder.

Chink. Chink. Chink. Chink. CHINK! CHINK! CHINK!

"I'm…I'm dead," Terra sobbed. "She's going to kill me."

CHINK! CHINK! CHINK!

"I have you now," Black Rose reached the top. Terra remained still and didn't turn around. She was too afraid.

"Just go away," Terra stammered. "Please…"

"I won't just go away," Black Rose said coldly. "I told you we have a score to settle and I'm not leaving until I do. Turn around, you coward. Fight me if you want to live. Maybe I might just change my mind about killing you."

"Look, I'm sorry for whatever I did to you," Terra said over her shoulder, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I didn't expect you to be so mad after I beat you at the tournament of heroines. I didn't think you'd kill me over it."

"You think this is because you beat me?" Black Rose demanded. She ran over to Terra and slashed her with her staff. Terra screamed and fallen to the edge. Black Rose grabbed her by the front of her suit and punched her in the stomach—her thorns ripping through the wrapping around Terra's stomach and into her stomach. Terra winced. "You just got lucky. Black Rose tossed her down and kicked her.

"You took everything away from me," Black Rose kicked her again. "I hate you!"

Black Rose beat the living daylights out of Terra. Terra tried to fight back but Black Rose was just too fast. Terra was too far above ground to move the earth. She couldn't concentrate. Her fighting style had changed. Black Rose was fighting in a frenzy. Black Rose's techniques used to be graceful and smooth and now she was fighting like a drunk.

"You thought you could serve him better?" Black Rose grabbed Terra and pushed her to the edge of the building. "You think you're better than me?"

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Terra said.

"You are not worthy to wear this!" Black Rose shouted and she used the thorn on her wrist to pry off the red "S" on Terra's suit. "Time for you to DIE!" Black Rose lifted Terra up in the air.

Please…no…don't!" Terra begged. "I don't want to die!"

"Back off, Rose!" shouted a familiar girl's voice. "Leave Terra alone!"

Black Rose looked at the direction of the voice. It was Bumblebee. She was floating up above them with her stingers at the ready.

"Buzz off, Bumblebee," Black Rose muttered. "This is between me and Terra."

"Well Terra's a titan," said Bumblebee, keeping her stingers fixed on Black Rose, "and so am I. You mess one titan, you mess with all of us. Trust me, you don't' want that."

"She was no titan," Black Rose said, "She was Slade's apprentice. This is his craftsmanship right here." Black Rose held up the "S".

"Maybe so," Bumblebee said, "but unless you want to know what it's like to be stung by a thousand bees at once I suggest you back away right now."

Black Rose looked from Bumblebee to Terra.

"You want her?" Black Rose said, "Go catch her!"

Black Rose dropped Terra over the side of the apartment building. Terra screamed.

"No!" Bumblebee cried, zipping down to catch Terra. She wet as quickly as she could and she caught Terra by the hand before she crashed into the ground. Bumblebee looked back up only to find that Black Rose had gone.

"Why was she after you?" Bumblebee inquired.

"I don't know," Terra mumbled.

"You look bad," Bumblebee put Terra's arm over her shoulders. "I'm taking you to the Titans."

"No, you can't!" Terra exclaimed, pulling her arm off Bumblebee and stumbling away. "I can't go there. I betrayed them."

"You need to be looked at," Bumblebee said.

"I can take care of myself!" Terra yelled and she winced as she put her hand to her head.

"Sure you can," Bumblebee folded her arms. "Look, you were stuck in stone for over a year. You need rest—not to mention you need to have those wounds checked out."

"Stone?" Terra asked. "I turned to stone?"

"Yeah," Bumblebee said, "after the fight with Slade. You created a volcano and somehow you became a statue after stopping it from destroying the city."

"All this time," Terra whispered, "I've been turned to stone. How did I…how did I get free?"

"No idea," Bumblebee said, "I thought that maybe you've done something."

"I guess I was in some sort of coma when I was in stone," Terra said. "I can't remember anything."

"Listen, you're in really bad shape," said Bumblebee, "the titans can help you."

"I told you I'm not going there," Terra hissed, "I can't face them after the horrible things I've done."

"You made mistakes," Bumblebee told her.

"I betrayed them," said Terra.

"I'm sure they'll forgive you," Bumblebee said.

"Yeah right," Terra muttered, "I wrecked Cyborg's car."

Bumblebee laughed. "It's not the first time Sparky's car was wrecked and it won't be the last."

"I broke Beast Boy's heart," Terra said, "that's unforgivable."

"All right, look," said Bumblebee, "you need help. I'm not leaving here by yourself so I'll take you to Steel City."

"Steel City?" Terra mumbled.

"Yeah, other side of the country," Bumblebee said, "so it's pretty far from Jump City. Robin and the others won't know where you are until you're ready, okay?"

"Is there any point in saying no?" Terra said.

"Not really," Bumblebee said with a grin.

"Well, okay," Terra groaned, "better than staying here. Lead the way."

Terra attempted to make a rock to ride on but it seemed harder than it used to. She was able to break the ground and lift herself up but she couldn't hold it up more than five seconds.

"Dang it!" she grunted.

"Come on," Bumblebee put her arm around Terra and she took off in the rain.

A couple of hours later, Bumblebee arrived in Steel City with Terra. Before arriving to the tower, she called Aqualad and told him to get the medical lab ready.

"I'm bringing in an injured person," she said when Aqualad pulled a concerned face. "I'm fine."

"Right," said Aqualad and his face disappeared from the communicator.

"We're almost there," Bumblebee told Terra, "first we'll get you out of that suit and…"

"I can't take it off," Terra mumbled, "it's connected to my nervous system. Slade used it to control my body."

"He has no control over you now," Bumblebee said, "I can use my stingers to break the circuts and I'm sure Speedy has something that will work on it."

Terra looked at Titan's East tower as they approached it. "Hey, it looks just like the old tower."

"Yeah, just about," said Bumblebee, "but wait until you get inside."

Bumblebee pushed in the code and flew inside to be greeted by Mas and Menos. "Hola Bumblebee!"

"Everything ready?" Bumblebee asked.

"Si," the twins replied. Mas pointed at Terra. "¿Quién es ella?" (Who is she?)

"My name's Terra," Terra murmured and Bumblebee glanced at her, looking impressed and shocked at the same time.

"You speak Spanish?" she asked.

"I was in Mexico for a while," Terra said, "long story."

Bumblebee walked Terra to the medical lab where Aqualad was waiting. He walked up to the other side of Terra and helped walk her to a bed.

"You all right?" he asked Terra.

"I've had better days," Terra replied.

Terra lay down a bed and Bumblebee looked to Aqualad. "Get Speedy in here."

"Right," he said, "anything else?"

"I guess you can run Terra a bath in a bit," Bumblebee said. "I don't' know how long this will take.

"I tend to leave a mess," Terra said nervously.

Aqualad smiled as he turned to leave the medical lab. "You can't be any worse than Speedy."

As Aqualad went to fetch Speedy, Bumblebee took the white wrappings from Terra's neck, stomach and limbs. Bumblebee checked the security of Terra's breastplate then hooked her up to a machine.

"You think you can get it off?" Terra asked softly.

"Yeah, it would be hard," Bumblebee said, "but it looks like the circuits inside the steel have been weakened since you were in stone."

"What's up?" Speedy inquired who just entered.

"We've got to get this armor off of Terra," Bumblebee explained, "but it's connected to her nervous system. I think with your arrows and my stingers we ought to be able to get it off."

"Terra," Speedy said, walking up to Bumblebee. "Isn't she one Robin told us about? She was Slade's apprentice, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, look," Terra said, sitting up, "if you have a problem of me being here, I can go. I'm used to people shunning me all the time."

"He didn't mean anything like that, Terra," Bumblebee said, giving Speedy a hard look. "Just lie back."

"Hurry and get it over with," Terra said, "I'm sick of wearing this thing."

"All right, this might sting a little," said Bumblebee, reaching for her stingers.

Little was an understatement. It hurt like hell. It was like being attacked by a hundred jellyfish and struck by lightning all at once. Aqualad and the speed twins were sitting in the living room with nothing to do but listen to Terra screaming. Speedy and Bumblebee had to use their weapons on every little piece of Terra's suit to knock it out of commission. Then finally, about an hour later, her breastplate loosened. Speedy went to take it off and Bumblebee slapped his hand.

"You pervert!" she cried.

"I was only…!" Speedy said.

"I'll take it from here, thanks," she said, "go tell Aqualad he can run that bath now."

Speedy groaned and walked out of the medical lab. "Okay, Mom."

"I hate it when he calls me that," Bumblebee said, moving the breastplate and the rest of the suit from Terra's body. She picked up a blanket and put it around Terra. "There hun, I bet you're glad to have that off, huh?"

"Yeah."

Bumblebee walked Terra to the bathroom just as Aqualad was finished filling the tub.

"Your bath is ready," said Aqualad. "The water should make you feel better."

"Thanks," said Terra.

Aqualad brushed passed Terra and Bumblebee to give Terra privacy.

"Here's a towel and a robe," Bumblebee said, indicating the towel hanging up on the wall and a towel on the counter.

"Thank you," Terra said again, "really."

"No problem," said Bumblebee, "take your time and I'll take care of your wounds."

Bumblebee shut the door. Terra sighed and dropped the blanket to the floor. She gasped when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She looked worse than she did earlier. Black Rose really did a number on her. Terra now had a fat lip, a black eye and many scratches and cuts. At least Terra was free from that suit. Terra stepped into the bath and the warm water tingled up her body. Just as always when she took a bath, the dirt from her body entered the water. However, it happened much faster than ever and Terra had only put one leg in. Terra frowned and put the other leg in. She sat in the tub and laid back. Terra knew that water had always been her weakness. It was difficult controlling mud because water was mixed in it. It was hard at first learning to control her powers let alone trying to control it when it was part of another element. It was strange now. Somehow Terra's weakness to water seemed more than it used to be. She couldn't do anything to the earth. Now as she took a bath the water was taking away all the dirt from her. It never did it so quickly. Perhaps it was because Terra was stuck as a statue for such a long time. It didn't really matter. Terra wasn't in the mood to use her powers for quite some time. Ever since she learned her power over earth all she did was mess things up. Terra lifted up the bar of soap and began to lather up. Although water was her weakness, the water felt so good against her skin. It was washing all the dirtiness away from her. Terra was going to wash herself and water herself down until she really felt clean. When she had washed all the mud out, Terra drained the bath tub as much as she could then towel dried body off. Terra emerged out of the bathroom wearing a white bathrobe and a towel turban style around her head.

"Oh, all done?" Bumblebee said. "Good, let me…whoa!"

"Told you I leave a mess," Terra mumbled as Bumblebee and the rest of the titans east goggled at the mud all over the bathroom.

"Dang, and I thought I was bad," Speedy said and he was hit once again by Bumblebee. "Ouch!"

"I'll clean it up," Aqualad volunteered, stepping into the bathroom. He pointed at the tap and water spilled from it, cleaning all the piles of mud.

"Wow," said Terra, "he's really handy."

"Come on," Bumblebee said, "you really need to get those cuts taken care of."

Leading her by the hand, Bumblebee took Terra back to the medical lab to bandage her cuts. Bumblebee didn't ask her anything about her life with the titans, which Terra was thankful for. She didn't feel much like talking. The trip was long and she just wanted to go to sleep.

"You should have something to eat," Bumblebee said, "you can stay and rest here until we get you your own room."

"Yeah, okay," Terra murmured.

Bumblebee left the medical lab and five seconds later Mas and Menos rushed into the medical lab. Mas was on Menos' shoulders holding a tray of food. How the food did not fall off the tray was beyond Terra.

"Gracias," Terra murmured and the speed twins rushed back out as quickly as they came. Terra looked down at her tray to find a plate of chicken enchiladas and mango juice. Terra ate what she could, which was less than half and she put the tray on her table. Perhaps she would have more of an appetite in the morning. She was just too tired to stay awake. Terra laid back into the pillows and sighed, thinking about her pathetic life.

Terra always wondered what her life would've been like if she hadn't agreed to work with Slade. She would've been a Teen Titan now. She would've helped the other titans bring down Slade. She and Beast Boy probably would've been an item. Terra closed her eyes and soon fell asleep. A familiar dream entered her mind. As Slade's apprentice, she had dreams about her life as a titan. Now she was dreaming the same dream again. She went on regular dates with Beast Boy. She helped Starfire wither Tamarian recipes. She and Raven were even getting along. Then suddenly, her daydream shifted to a nightmare. It was still about Jump City but it was not how she remembered it. Every building was demolished. There was nothing but rubble. Terra was still in her apprentice suit. She looked around the streets, calling for people but no one came.

"The tower," Terra said immediately and made a rock lift to carry her over through Jump City to the tower. She gasped as she came close to it. There was hardly anything of it left. The west and east wings had fallen off and there was a split up the middle of the "T". She flew to the other side of the tower and got the shock of her lives. All five titans were in stone.

"What happened?" Terra wondered out loud. "What happened here?"

"You should know," said a voice behind Terra. "You did it."

Terra turned right around to find no one other but herself. Terra gasped and backed up. "No."

"Yes," said the other Terra. She too was wearing an apprentice suit but the cloth wrappings were black instead of white, her skin was gray and one red eye was visible. The right side of her face was covered by black hair.

"You did it, Terra," said the evil red eyed Terra. "Beautiful isn't it? They should suffer the way you did. Stuck in stone, unable to move around, even breathe."

"I wouldn't," Terra gasped, "I'd never put them in stone! That's not how it happened. I didn't' destroy jump city—I saved it!"

"Oh yeah, that's right," red eyed Terra said, cupping her chin. "Everyone cleared Jump City before you got to do some real damage. You backed out on the last minute, fool. This is what could have happened if you just followed through!"

The red eyed Terra pointed back to the city.

"You could've ruled the whole city, but you just had to play hero again, didn't you?"

"Shut up!" Terra said. "I wasn't trying to play hero, I was just trying to fix a mistake!"

"I was just trying to fix a mistake!" the red eyed Terra taunted. "Your mistake, Terra, was that you actually belied the Titans could ever be your friends!"

"I—no!" Terra hissed.

"But it's true, Terra," said red eyed Terra, "look at them…they hate everything about you!"

There was a crack by the titan statues. Terra looked over at them and to her surprise they began to move, their eyes shining as red as rubies. Terra backed up.

"Robin! Beast Boy—no!"

Beast Boy took the shape of a wolf, growling as he advanced to her. Robin was swinging his staff. Cyborg pushed Terra to the ground. There was nothing Terra could do to fight back.

"Stop!" Terra cried. "Please! Stop!"

The stony titans cornered Terra, grabbing her arms. She could her evil side laughing at her.

"You never had what it took to become a titan," said the evil black haired Terra. "You're nothing."

"Stop it!"

Terra felt like she was suffocating. She fought to breathe. A silent scream in her throat, Terra sat straight up in bed, gasping for air.

She looked at her surroundings. It took her a moment to remember where she was. The Titans East Tower. Bumblebee saved her from Black Rose. Terra's head was pounding. The titans hated her, Black Rose hated her and it was only a matter of time until the Titans East began hating her too. Terra was going to have to leave the tower before she caused problems for the Titans East as well. Terra was just too tired to do anything. The moment she had her strength back, she was going to leave.

To Be Continued