Chapter Ten: A New Beginning?

Disclaimer 1: I do not own teen titans or the teen titan's characters – though I do wish I did.

Disclaimer 2: I do though own Max Steeler. She is a character of my original thought and design. Steal and die.

Computer screens flashed on and off, mimicking the twitching of a human eye. Sounds of rusted gears meshing and turning with one another droned in the background, interrupted only by a constant dripping. Kind of like music. A twisted sort.

Everything was going according to plan. The pieces, one by one, were falling perfectly into place. A faint chuckle brushed his lips. He faced the screens. His strategy was similar to that of a chess match; staying three moves ahead of your opponent. He was doing just that. He was the one in control. The girl had really no idea what she was up against. A smile formed beneath his mask.

He would have her crawling to him before this was through. Like a dog returning to its own vomit she would come, and she would pay. She would learn. He was the master, and she belonged to him. She was his property.

Raven stared at Max, contemplating her next move. "Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why'd you do it? Why'd you work for Slade for six years if it was such a nightmare?"

"I guess it wasn't so bad. I mean you get used to it anyway. Wait…I thought…didn't we cover this?"

"No. You're what…fifteen?"

"Sixteen."

"Okay sixteen. You worked for Slade six years."

Max didn't follow.

"That means you were ten when he found you. At ten you have knowledge of right and wrong. Why did you work for him?"

"By the time I figured it out, it was too late!"

"And when did you figure it out? Eleven? That's not too late!"

"Fourteen."

"That's not possible. Ethics. Right and wrong."

"Not me! Okay? Not me!"

She paused, the hurt swelling within her. "You know where I was before Slade? A research lab for 'gifted' children. Those weren't my parents who were killed. They were scientists. I never had a mom, or a dad. I was never loved or held. No friends. Nobody. So why did I do it? Slade was all I had..have. And maybe I should have never left."

Raven simply looked at Max, unbelieving. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Like you said before, what more do I have to lose?"

"More than you know. That's what you said."

"Can't a person change their mind?"

"A person, yes, you on the other hand, I'm not so sure."

Max felt as if a dagger had been plunged deep within her side. She should have come to expect this type of treatment. Her past denied her trustworthiness, her dependability. So she buried this hurt inside her.

"What's so important about seeing her?"

"I'm not even completely sure why," Max reflected. "I suppose it has something to do with forgiveness. More for me though, I can be honest about that, I need to see her again."

Raven looked Max over once more, she still wasn't completely convinced, "Stick out your hands."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you want to see Terra or what? Stick out your hands."

Max complied. Raven revealed metallic cuffs from beneath her cape. A spark of hope ignited within her. The idiots. Raven fastened the cuffs around her wrists.

"They're not made of metal."

Max looked up at Raven.

"They only appear to be formed from metal. They're made of a substance that possesses the strength of steel, but contains no metal alloys. They also nullify the powers of the person wearing them," she then added. "I'm on to you."

Raven led Max to the infirmary. Regret washed over her at the sight of Terra. She had done this to her. It was all her fault. Max faltered slightly causing the epitaph to raise a brow. Avoiding suspicion, she swallowed her weakness and entered the room.

Tubes and wires entombed her body. The steadfast beeping of the heart monitor pounded throughout her own head, throbbing with every broken heart beat. Her own heart rate increased as she edged toward the bed.

She stood beside the bed, trembling like a wet dog on a cold rainy day. Her trepidation heightened, and she stretched forth her hand, placing it on Terra's shoulder. She felt life drain from her body as numbness enveloped her, and she became void of thought and feeling. Her knees weakened. She fell forward. Her arms rested beneath her head as she breathed heavy sobs.

That's when it happened Max felt a hand resting on her head. A touch of life, of hope. Max looked up, meeting Terra's bright blue eyes with her own pale grey ones.

"I'm sorry," Max whispered.

"For what?" Terra asked.

"For everything. It was all my fault. If I had just…"

"No," terra interrupted. "There's nothing you could have done."

"I could have warned you!"

"You did," Terra smiled. "Besides, you were the only one who understood. You never gave up on me."

"But I did. When you struck me, like Slade had so many times, my mind slipped into a stupor. I couldn't believe what you'd done, so I went into denial. Pretended like it never happened."

"I'm the one that's sorry and should be."

"For what?"

"I almost destroyed the city remember."

"But you saved it."

"It's not really saving if you practically destroy it to begin with."

A smile flickered across her face, "You were always a kidder."

"I'm not joking Max!"

The brunette hesitantly changed the subject, "You need to pull through this and recover faster. They don't trust me here."

"Max."

"It's okay, the feeling's mutual," Max joked.

Terra laughed until her sides screamed in pain. She drew in a few quick breaths. "They don't trust me either."

"It must be in our blood. Some pair we are. I work for a criminal mastermind practically my whole life, wishing I could be his apprentice. Then you're his apprentice for three months and you end up like this."

Terra chuckled.

"I need you," Max stated in a low tone. "You're what's kept me going. You're the one that never gave up on me."

She stood to her feet. "Now look at me. I escaped from him and am practically on my way to freedom." Sarcasm coated her words like sugar on a powdered doughnut.

"Time's up," Raven muttered.

"I wasn't aware of any three minute rule," Max snapped. Terra whispered something harsh and inaudible at Max. Max's features changed instantaneously. "But you learn something new everyday!" She recovered.

Max was restored to the room she had grown to both love and hate. Alone in her thoughts. Subject to her own morbid nightmares. Sweet heaven.

A week passed and Terra gradually grew better. Soon the geomancer was flying though the obstacle course with acrobatic expedition. Her visits to the metal-bender were frequent. She practically lived in there with her.

Everyday their conversation consisted of the same basic elements and the endings were predictable.

"You need to tell them Max," Terra would persist.

"They wouldn't believe me."

"That's why you need to tell them."

Max would then shrug, "Ah well, maybe tomorrow."

"You say that everyday."

Then Terra would leave.

Then a day came where all predictability was shattered beyond recognition. Max finally cracked. She felt the walls closing in on her, squeezing the life out of her.

"Shoot Terra!" Max yelled. "Will you just shut up already!" Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Max, what's wrong?"

"I can't take it anymore. I've lost all track of time. At least Slade kept me busy!" She kicked the wall. "I'll tell them. I'll tell them everything! Just get me out of here! Please."

Every word spoken tormented Max as she told her story for the third time. This time, though, she left nothing out, describing every dreadful detail. She could read their expressions. Robin's was by far the worst. Max couldn't really blame him. She had activated the particles that drove him mad, causing him to envision Slade and beat himself to a pulp. She had practically almost killed him.

"And we're just suddenly supposed to believe you now?" Robin asked infuriated.

"I didn't say you were supposed to believe me. I knew the chances of that were slim. Still, the truth is there, whether you choose to believe it or not."

"So you have a power right? What is it?"

"I control metal. Move it, melt it, conform it at will, things like that."

The alarm erupted through the tower. The titans all leapt to their feet. Robin hastened over to the main computer, bringing up several windows.

"There's been an attack," Robin informed them. "Near the abandoned mine."

"What do we do with her?" Beastboy asked, pointing to Max.

"Let her come with us," Terra replied.

Raven looked uneasy. Robin hesitated.

Max pulled Terra aside, "Are you crazy? I can't go along!"

"Would you rather be alone in the tower? Locked in a room, unable to use your powers, and haunted by him?"

"And what do you expect me to do? Fight crime like you guys? Become a titan?"

Terra smiled.

"No Terra," Max shook her head and waved her hands. "I can't do that! I'm not a hero, not a villain; I don't know what I am! I don know that I can't fight crime. What would I be fighting for? Justice? That's a laugh."

"Someone once told me that you always have a choice."

"Terra I…"

Terra held up her hands to stop her, "You have a choice. Right here. Right now. Forget your past and prove to them that you're the trustworthy person I know you are."

"If I'm trustworthy I shouldn't have to prove it."

"Welcome to Real World 101," Terra slapped Max on the back. Both turned toward the group.

"Dude, I don't think that's such a good idea…" Beastboy commented.

"Since when did you think," Raven stated coldly.

You have once chance," Robin stated bitterly, grinding his teeth and going against his better judgment. "That's it."

Max nodded as her cuffs were removed.

"That's all I need."

They raced outside, taking their various modes of flight. Max leapt on Terra's boulder and they took off to the abandoned mine.

It was overflowing with droids. Hundreds. Thousands. Max swallowed.

"I don't think I can do this," she whispered in Terra's ear.

"Sure you can. Just crush them. Like you're crushing your past."

"I'll try."

"TITANS GO!" Robin yelled, and all went into combat.

Taking the form of a squirrel, Beastboy flipped through the air toward the droids. He shifted into a Tyrannosaurus Rex before impact, crushing the robots beneath him. Then, as a rhinoceros, he ran through the swarm.

"Azerath Metrione Zinthois"

A black aura surrounded a nearby pile of rods. Raven lifted her hands, sending the objects soaring into the horde of androids. Transforming his arm into his blaster, Cyborg sent a myriad of the machines flying. Starfire blasted just a s many with her star bolts, and Robin advanced in hand to hand combat.

"Like this," Terra whispered back. She raised her hands into the air. Two chunks of earth raised from the ground below. She then clapped her hands together, watching as the two hunks slammed together, entrapping a plethora of the menaces between them.

"Robot sandwich," Terra chuckled.

Max smiled. Her eyes glowed blue, and she lifted her hand. A metal mine car flew into the mass of robots.

"Nice one," Terra smiled. "But you might want to get your own transportation."

Max again lifted her hand. A wheel broke free from a different mine car and floated over to her. She leapt on top of it and turned to see Terra head for the swarm of androids, max followed in suit.

Soon she became enthralled in the heart of battle. Parts were flying everywhere, and dismembered robot parts scattered the ground. This was the reason she failed to see the machined sneak up behind her. The droids stomach opened and a rod protruded from it, the end of it cackling with blue electricity. The machine thrust the wire into Max's back.

Electricity surged through the metal-bender's body, and she fell to the ground in a heap. Metal rods shot from the robot and wrapped around Max, slipping unnoticed into the night.

Sorry for the long wait dudes. No excuse really. Except, for the AP US History test I just took. Read and Review as always. There might be typos. I apologize ahead of time.