Chapter 9: Vesuvius.

"Huh, I can't live my life on broke no mo'
And most of these fools ain't shit but cutthroats
They smile in a nigga face - and for what?"

Slade watched his protégé over his steepled fingers. He had suppressed the urge to smile at the news of the Titans' destruction, and curbed his enthusiasm. It paid to be sure.

"Patrol. We must be sure the city is secure."

As Terra floated away, Slade opened a file on his computer, specifically the manual override for the battalion that Terra was commanding. Once she was settled in her routine, secure in her triumph, 'her' soldiers would turn on her. Slade was taking no chances, as Terra was a dangerous fighter, and the element of surprise was crucial.

All this was forgotten, as the robots picked up four figures moving through the fog, and registered them as Titans. Scowling, Slade ordered his army to hang back, and allowed Terra to fight them. If they killed each other, well, that would be the ideal outcome.

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Slade boiled with rage, as Terra gave her stumbling report. She had been unceremoniously defeated, and fled with her tail between her legs. All to save her hide, which went against all his plans. Trembling with frustration as his carefully constructed plan shattered around him, Slade loomed over his cowering apprentice, and vented his anger.

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"It'll be the last thing you ever do."

Slade frowned at this. From what he had found out about the girl, Raven was from the dimension of Azerath, notorious pacifists. For her to threaten Terra with death was…uncharacteristic, to say the least.

Slade was lost in the implications of this comment, when he really should have been paying attention to his traitorous apprentice. This cost him, as he was unprepared when she launched her bolt of rock straight at him, and he barely got out of the way in time. Silently cursing, he leapt high into the rafters of his base. Followed by Terra, with a familiarly psychotic look in her eyes.

"You ungrateful little-" Slade leapt at Terra, only to find himself on a platform of rock, floating high into the shadows. Disoriented by this, there was little he could do to prevent Terra hurling rocks at him, driving him back into the lava below.

With surprising presence of mind, Slade gripped an outcrop of rock, and flipped back onto land, right in front of a horrified Terra. A powerful blow sent her spinning backwards.

It ends now, you duplicitous bitch, Slade thought, but remained silent. There were children in the vicinity, after all.

Gripping Terra by the throat, Slade's free hand reached for a hidden dagger, but stopped when Terra started to speak.

"You…can't…control me any more!" Her hair flowed in an ethereal wind, and her eyes flashed gold.

And Slade's world exploded.

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Well, that was little more than an episode rewrite.

Next time: Slade's mysterious employer unmasked!