Chapter 7: A Heart Full of Terra.
"I'm in a murderous mindsate
With a heart full of terror
I
see the devil in the mirror"
The choice of a mine had been an obvious one for Slade to implement his plan. If the geomancer was as unstable as he hoped, then any slip up of her control would be exacerbated by the surroundings. With that in mind, he'd sent several of his commandoes to cause havoc, and he'd accompanied them. He watched his target, noting her nervousness, and almost neurotic need for approval. Excellent. Inspiration struck, and he allowed her to see her, before running down a side tunnel.
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Safe in his lair, Slade watched Terra from a hidden camera drone, flying somewhere above her, no larger than a wasp. He smiled as he noticed her withdrawn state. A few more conversations with her, and she'd believe everything he told her…
What happened next surpassed his wildest expectations. She ran away of her own accord.
Oh, Robin. Too clever for your own good, are we?
Slade grabbed his bag, and walked out of the door. It was time to hit the road.
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Slade peered from the shadows, his eye fixed on the girl huddled in the cave, her knees level with her eyes. She peered out into the blackness, in abject terror of something. Normally, Slade would have appeared behind her, with a swift and silent advance, but that would not do here. No, he had to appear non-threatening.
Not something he was very good at, he admitted, but he would try his best.
As he made his way up the hill, making no effort to disguise his movements, and indeed exaggerating them, the girl screamed, and hurled rocks at him. He effortlessly blocked them, and began his recruitment drive.
"I told you."
No answer but a hail of rocks.
"Robin would never accept you."
The rocks were smaller now, more like pebbles.
"Who was it that told? Beast Boy?"
The hail had been reduced to a smattering of dirt, and ceased completely as she broke down in sobs.
"I can give you control, Terra. Trust me, and you will find your strength grows exponentially. All I ask in return is one favour."
The girl was so distraught that she didn't even ask what she would be required to do, and simply nodded.
"Come then," Slade said in the kindest tone he could manage "let's get you somewhere warm."
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It had been six weeks, and Terra was proving the ideal student. Under Slade's tuition, she was now able to almost fully control her powers, and her health had improved. She was still thin, it was true, but at least she didn't look half dead. However, he was faced with a problem. With the return of her health, her faculties had returned as well, and she was beginning to question what exactly he wanted from her.
Although he had begun to turn her against the Titans, she wasn't ready to hear that their destruction was his ultimate goal. Quite apart from anything else, her more…psychotic…mood swings would never accept such a modest goal. And so, Slade had claimed a far more believable one: World Domination.
It was ingenious, as excuses went. He would claim that the Titans were an obstacle, and would need to be removed. Once that was complete, they would take over the city, and from there the world.
Slade did not need to point out the idiocy of the plan. Even supposing he accomplished such a grandiose goal, what then? Running a planet would be an organisational nightmare. Oh well, it wasn't like he was actually going to implement the plan. After the Titans were killed, Terra herself would simply have a tragic "accident." It would require a lot more robots, but what of it? It wasn't like he was paying for them.
Slade activated the intercom, projecting his honeyed tones around his lair.
"Apprentice. It is time."
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Seriously, what is it with supervillains and world domination? What kind of fun would that be? You'd have to work nearly 24/7, and if-when, more like- anything went wrong, it'd be your ass on the line. And what of underground resistance? How would the Brain, for example, deal with a revolutionary group led by the Justice League? Oh well, they're all insane anyway. So that explains everything.