Okay, this is a brand new chapter I wrote just the other week to be slotted in here – partly because the whole future thing is a little over-done and frankly gets boring. It really starts to pick up next chapter, but for now, I thought I'd give you this – a special Terra-centric chapter. No, don't groan if you don't like her. This doesn't really show her in a good light; nor is it Terra-bashing. Works either way, to be honest. I just really wanted to write this and so here it is – could even work as a stand-alone one-shot in a lot of ways.

We return to the present day Jump City, which is, by now, in ruins. And we return to the present day version of the one who created it. This is NOT a flashback to the past of the thirty-one year old Terra – this is actual present day Terra, back in the time that Robin should be in but isn't.

Thankyou to: Coolteenzz (I'm afraid this isn't slash, my dear. And aww, you think I'm smart? Okay, well, I got an E in Psychology last year, but we'll keep that to ourselves. And that's okay about the video, take as long as you need); Quinn and His Quill (oh, you can bet on something veeeeeeeery interesting, Quinn! And stop reading so much into things – some of the little things you point out are actually just errors or discontinuities I've admittedly made… O.o); YamiTai (yay, I am soooo glad you approve of Roy! I had a lot of fun writing him all that time ago… I am glad you're enjoying this story as much as ever because it gets better! I know that sounds arrogant but I am so proud with how I ended this fic… I think you will like it too, all of you…); TheLon3Wolf8986 (what will Robin do when he gets back to his own time? He's got to sort this time first, dude!); Guardian of Azarath (um, disturbing? Please tell me that's a good thing… O.o); TheFallenAngel67 (hey, come on, this isn't an English class. If you write something wrong in a review I'm not gonna make you rewrite it a thousand times. On the other hand… that would really rack up my review count… Glad you liked it, anyway!); Me (hey, quit licking my screen! RoyxTerra? Maybe, maybe not… XD); Kami-Elf (I don't know if I would ever call Robin "ignorant" as such, at least not most of the time, but he definitely is arrogant when it suits him… As for Roy – yeah, a lot of people pointed out he's a little different. He is, but he's had a hard fifteen years back there… Give the guy a break! O.o Just kidding – thanks for the review); LoopyLouise123 (aw, yeah, well, he's a Teen Titan, after all. You ain't Batman yet, kid! Robin would completely get his ass kicked and handed to him in a drinking contest – as depicted here… You're the ONLY one who mentioned Lex Luthor in your review, BTW!); Simmie (Robin should be careful passing out anywhere, dude! Pass out and you're gonna get molested by fangirls/Slade/both. But that's Robin for you…); Narroch (wow, uber-long scary review… Let's be honest – Kitten just SCREAMS pole-dancer. And yeah, I just didn't want to be repeating everything I already did with Terra and Robin – boring for you to read and boring for me to write. And maybe he's OOC but… This is Roy. He was on drugs. Let's just use that excuse… And you're on a boozing team? Tee hee. Anyway… let's not forget you're micro-chipped now, so if you DON'T go back in the cage…); and CrazyInsomniac (with your cheap-ass two-for-one review on Nevarmore. I'm just kidding, I'm glad you enjoyed both!).

Other peoples who may show at some point: Athena's Wings, Raven Victoria Grayson, Poison's Ivy, and maybe some day older reviewers like Daybreak25, Rocky-White Wolf of Curses, Seductive Angel…

Rawr, what did I do? O.o

And so, to Terra; who, as we all know, is…

Out of Control

Jump City, the present –

Terra wasn't so sure about it all anymore.

She had never been one hundred percent sure – about going with Slade, as it were.

It had cost her a lot; pained her a lot to throw away the life she might have had.

The night she had run from them – from Titans Tower – she had run from acceptance and friendship. They had offered to take her in, offered her a place on the team.

Terra had never been offered anything like that before.

Slade, he offered her all that too. Belonging. Purpose. Not for same reasons, of course; Slade had only been interested using her incredible power for his own gains.

But he had offered her a place at his side – one that she had been grateful for.

Each of them had offered a different fringe benefit, however.

The Titans – and one Titan in particular – had offered her love.

Slade had offered her control.

She had taken control over love.

At first she had not regretted it; not while Slade had trained her. Control was something that Terra had always craved and never had; like a child at a toy shop window at Christmas.

Something beyond the glass.

When Slade had taken it out from behind the window and presented it to her in his palm, she had not hesitated to take it; and she had not regretted it.

Even her part of the bargain. Destroy the Titans. Trick and betray them.

"I will."

That was what she had said.

Without hesitation.

But now…

Now she was faced with the realisation of what her part of the bargain had wrought.

And it frightened her.

Now, Terra did not feel corrupted hatred towards those who had once been her friends. She did not feel anger at the world. She did not feel proud to be at Slade's side.

She looked out over what, a mere day ago, had been a prosperous, vibrant city.

And she felt regret.

Oh, Terra had found her place in the world.

Amidst the ruins.

Yesterday, the Teen Titans had died. Overload had electrocuted them to death.

Robin…

He had survived it.

Somehow.

Terra had seen him. Hell, he had knocked her out. She had felt him.

When she had awoken, he was long gone.

Since then, she, Cinderblock, Overload, Plasmus and unit upon unit of Slade's commandos had been set the task of tearing the city apart to find him.

So far, there wasn't a trace of him.

Slade didn't care. He didn't care how much he destroyed. He didn't care if he tore the entire city to the ground.

They had to find Robin.

Dead.

Alive.

Slade didn't care.

The only thing he cared about was his prophecy. Fulfilling it. Getting that power.

And to get it, Robin had to die.

That was all Slade cared about.

Terra was exhausted. She hadn't slept in well over twenty four hours, because Slade had not allowed her to rest.

Get out there and find him, and do not stop until you do. Those had been her orders.

Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload; they were not human. They didn't need the things Terra needed. Food. Sleep.

They weren't collapsed in a back alley, asking themselves why.

She had triggered a few minor earthquakes. Buildings had cracked, slanted. A few of the smaller ones had collapsed.

Then she had triggered a bigger one.

And the city had snapped in half.

It was in ruins.

She did not stop to wonder about the death toll. It hurt too much.

All over Jump City, innocent citizens – homeless, hurt, despairing – crept among the ruins, either mourning or still searching for loved ones. Flooded streets, courtesy of cracked water pipes, and broken electrical wires combined to make just walking down one of the demolished streets a dangerous endeavour. Closing fissures, gas leaks, fires…

If the earthquake hadn't killed them…

Terra had always known she was weak. Weak in control, weak in self-discipline and weak in will.

Perhaps she had believed that Slade – as strong as he was; because yes, there was no denying that Slade was strong – would strengthen her too. Perhaps she had hoped to feed off him, take his strength as her own.

And for a little while – as he taught her to control her powers – it had seemed to her that this was so. Surely Slade, as evil and twisted and selfish as he was, could only help her? Save her? Surely someone as strong as he could never fail her?

In his promise to teach her control, Slade most certainly did not fail.

In her promise to save her, he most certainly did.

Control, which she had taken over love, had its price.

And Terra paid it in full.

Her tears were that price, streaming down her face as she almost threw herself up against the wall of the back alley, her hands in her dirty tangled hair.

There was blood on her hands now – perhaps, under technical diminished responsibility, she had not the blood of the Titans on her hands. No, that had been Overload's doing.

Not the blood of her friends.

The blood of a city.

Terra slammed her fist against the wall and screamed in despair.

As if on cue, Slade's voice made itself present in her ear.

"Pick yourself up, young lady," he hissed, more savage than the geomancer had ever heard him before. "There is still work to be done, and the night is young. You find that wretched boy and you kill him and you bring his body to me, do you understand?"

"Y-yes," Terra whispered, more tears breaking free through her lashes.

"Good." There was a click and Slade was gone.

Terra was tired and hungry and sore and bleeding and emotionally wrecked, but she did not dare lie down.

She did not dare disobey the man who had forced her to destroy; and who in turn had destroyed her.

So she got up; and dragged herself through the broken city.

Just as she had done for all those hours before.

TT

The outskirts of the city had not been quite so badly affected by the earthquake, which she had triggered while standing in the middle of Main Street.

Lights had blown, buildings had cracked and shifted, some collapsed, but it was not in complete ruin like the inner city.

People were shifting to and fro from buildings, scuttling like the frightened rats that scurried along the ground in swarms.

Rats have more sense than people.

On the verge of collapsing from thirst and hunger and fatigue, Terra located the doorway to an underground bar which had survived the earthquake due to its location. She stumbled down the metal steps and staggered through the door.

It was filled with people, clutching at each other and various belongings. The stench of sweat and fear was oppressive, hanging in the air. It suddenly made her feel very sick—

Clutching at a table for support, Terra vomited onto the floor.

Almost at once, several people surged forwards towards her.

"Poor child…"

"Sit down, dear…"

She was hauled upright and pushed into a chair as she panted and gasped for breath. Terra desperately tried to shake them off, but was too weak, and her protests were lost.

"Water… please…" she managed to gasp out.

A few seconds later a sloppily poured glass of water was pushed into her hand. Terra managed to drink most of it down as a woman of around fifty supported her back. The glass was taken from her when she had drained it and she gasped, shaking her head.

"Is that better, hon?" Another woman asked; she was African American, somewhere in her forties, with a little boy clinging to her hand.

Terra nodded shakily, sitting up properly and looking around the bar. Mothers were comforting crying children, holding back tears of their own, while others were desperately punching numbers into their cell phones, trying to get through to loved ones through downed lines. There were several little kids, Terra noticed, on their own; and another little boy was bawling loudly, clutching the half-mangled corpse of a dead cat. There were a few living dogs and cats in here too – their fur dusty, their eyes wild. A young man in what had once been a sharply-tailored business suit sat in a chair not too far from Terra, holding a wad of tissue to a rapidly-bleeding wound on his forehead; his glasses were broken and half hanging off his face.

Terra looked around at them all in horror, physically feeling the disgust at what she had done beginning to boil and bubble inside her. She felt like she might vomit again but there was nothing to bring up.

She lowered her face into her hands; but her eyes burned, dry and traitorous.

Just like her.

Silence fell but for the tears of children. It was the silence of fear, of horror, of shock.

The silence of death.

Then a tugging came at her sleeve.

Terra looked up through her curtain of tangled, filthy hair at the little black boy who had pulled away from his mother. He was around nine years old, she guessed, dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt that were now torn and dusty. His big brown eyes were filled with fear and confusion; but also a certain conviction.

"Say, lady…" He looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers. "Weren't you one of the Teen Titans? I swear I saw you on TV with 'em…"

Terra looked away, a lump the size of an apple forming itself in her throat.

"That was… a while ago…" She managed to choke it out.

"But where are they?" The little boy wanted to know. "Where are the Titans? They're heroes, they're supposed to save us an' stuff… Why didn't they save us?"

Tears welled in the little boy's eyes.

"Why didn't they… save my daddy?" He choked out, his face crinkling as he started to cry.

"Kyle… Kyle…" His mother pulled him away as Terra looked him, her eyes wide, her breath barely coming to her.

The woman picked her son up in her arms and rocked him as he sobbed. There were traces of tears in her own eyes.

Aghast, Terra's face went back into her hands. The feeling inside her was indescribable – a pain, the existence of which she could never have comprehended before now. A pain that twisted into deeper and deeper into her, searing and scraping beneath her skin and making it prickle with an icy chill she had never felt before, even on the very coldest of nights. A corkscrew of sheer inner turmoil and torment that gouged deep into her gut.

She did not deny even for a moment that she deserved it; and indeed, she was even partly glad she could feel the agony that she felt as she looked around at the consequences of her terrible, terrible actions.

It meant that she was human.

Slade, who sat in his chair in his lair pounding and clenching his fists, felt nothing at all.

He was no man.

He was a monster.

Unfortunately, it was too late for her to be anything but a monster now too.

This was what she had done. This was what she had created.

Where were the Titans? Where were the saviours? Oh, she knew – six feet under, like half of the city's population. The heroes wouldn't be saving anyone today.

Or indeed ever again.

And yes, she had been one of them, hadn't she? Once at their side, once reflected in the glory of them. The sixth Titan – the third female to balance it all up.

It had all been so perfect, right?

But of course Terra had fucked that all up too, the way she did everything else.

She could have had so much, and instead she threw it all away for…

…well, control.

But control?

Yes, she was controlling her powers now. But Slade was controlling her. She had craved control to stop herself from hurting people – to stop all the pain of causing accidental mudslides and earthquakes and killing innocent people.

What had been the price of that control?

Kill your friends. Destroy the city.

Running in one big circle.

Terra was a fuck-up; and she knew it now more than ever.

She lurched up from her seat, tears blinding her as she started to stagger away back towards the staircase. She couldn't stay here. It was cowardly to run from the realisation – the example – of what she had done, she knew that.

But she couldn't stay.

"Wait a second, sweetheart." Someone grabbed her upper arm, preventing her escape. "What has happened? Where are the Teen Titans? Are you… the only one left?"

"Yes, yes!" Terra screeched, wrenching away from the man who had grasped her arm. "I can't stay here…!"

She pushed and squirmed hurriedly through the crowd of people, near frantic. Halfway up the staircase she was grabbed again by another man; he was tall, African-American, in a ripped and battered JCPD uniform.

"Don't go back out there," he said calmly. "Stay down here where you're safe. Calm down, now."

"NO!" Terra screamed, turning on him with eyes blazing fiery gold. He let her go and shrank back from her, horror-struck.

Her control slipping a little, a few chunks of rock, accompanied by dust, shook themselves loose from the ceiling. People screamed and clutched at each other.

Fresh tears streaming down her face, Terra turned and fled.

She was sure no-one had been killed down there (no-one else) but she ran and ran and ran from the place. It was most certainly a blessing she was much too tired and hungry and weak to employ her powers properly…

Pausing to get her breath, Terra collapsed to her knees on a dusty and deserted cracked sidewalk, her tears sluicing clear tracks through the dirt on her face.

Slade's voice became apparent in her ear again – a snake slithering in her ear.

"Terra, my patience with you begins to wear thin."

"He's not here," Terra replied despairingly. "There's four of us out here, Slade, and none of us have found him!"

"Then you're not looking hard enough!" Slade screamed at her in reply; the earpiece crackled and sparked in her ear, making her cry out.

"Unless…" His voice suddenly softened and calmed again as Terra whimpered and sobbed softly. "…He has gone to Gotham. Perhaps returned to the Bat. Yes…"

"I won't—"

"Terra!" Slade snapped, cutting her off; "I'm changing your co-ordinates. Take yourself to Gotham and trigger a .9 earthquake. When the city is as broken as this one, I will send Cinderblock, Overload and Plasmus to begin strip-searching the level."

Terra was silent for a moment or two; her shoulders shaking and her eyes burning.

"No," she said finally. "No, I won't."

"I beg your pardon, young lady?" Slade sounded both furious and even a little surprised. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"What do you think I said?" Terra hissed in reply, beginning to dislodge the earpiece.

"I think," Slade murmured dangerously, "that you just threatened to disobey a direct order."

"Then you were right."

Slade laughed a little on the other side of the line.

"I can have you destroyed, Terra, if you betray me. I'll have you hunted down and punished for your disobedience."

"Destroy me then," Terra whispered. "You've practically done it already…"

"You chose this life, Terra."

"And now I'm un-choosing it."

"Terra, don't you dare—"

"I won't destroy any more lives!" Terra screamed, wrenching the thing out of her ear completely. "Leave me alone!"

She stamped the earpiece into the ground.

And then she turned her back on her teacher.

Too bad that her teacher was the kind who would attack when his opponent's back was turned…

TT

Her footsteps echoed as she cautiously stepped into the main hallway of Titans Tower. The front doors had been ripped off, leaving a gaping hole that led into a dark dusty abyss.

Once, she had called this place "home".

She tread carefully through it, squinting against the darkness that had rested in the stead of light with the setting of the sun. The place was in utter ruin – her earthquakes had not affected it, but Slade's commando units had done their job well. Walls were shattered, rubble littered the floor, every screen and window she came across had been smashed in, curtains had been torn down, furniture wrecked, objects of every kind broken on the floor – books, cutlery, CDs, personal belongings…

The floor was also littered with the "carcasses" of almost the entire commando squad, some still sparking even now – the aftermath of Robin's "dealing with them".

Wordlessly, Terra drifted through the destroyed tower, ascending higher – the main stairwell was blocked off by a wall that had caved in, but the geomancer had no trouble shifting it, paving her own way through.

This place had been a symbol – this "T", standing proudly on its island. A sign of virtue and hope. Something which the citizens of Jump City could take comfort in when they woke up every morning and looked out of their windows across the bay; or as they drove home at night, seeing it silhouetted against the orange sky.

The reassurance that they had heroes who would save them.

And what now?

Terra had helped Slade to destroy all that. That symbol. Everything.

The Teen Titans were gone; and there was no city to protect now either.

Nothing but a shell of all that had been. A broken city and a broken tower to go with it.

And nothing but a shell of all that she had been too.

She forced back the panel to Robin's bedroom and stepped inside, looking around. She had not expected him to be in here – and true to her expectations, there was no sign of him whatsoever.

And truthfully, what would she have done if she had found him? Killed him? Warned him? Helped him?

Looking down at the floor – littered again with various broken belongings of his, courtesy of Slade's troops – she found one of his uniforms, a little torn, next to her foot. She picked it up, holding it by one sleeve.

This was it. Another symbol. What was Robin but a symbol? Always a symbol of righteousness, of justice, of good and hope and virtue. The hero image. First as Batman's sidekick and then as leader of the Teen Titans and then further still as this "Avenger" – one born to wear the mantle of a saviour.

("Street thief? Drug ring? Apocalypse? No problem – here's my card. 0775-800-Save-the-day…")

Terra threw the uniform aside as she left his trashed bedroom. Well, Hero-Boy was a fugitive now, and when Slade caught him…

Not that she was going to help Slade catch Hero-Boy. Screw Slade. She was done with him. She was done with it all.

She found herself in her own room. Standing amidst the ruin of it – part new, and part the way it had been left following her betrayal of them.

All ruin she had brought about herself.

Still, what's new there…? Terra thought bitterly.

She crossed the floor, her feet lifting dust, making for the torn couch in the middle of the room. Sinking heavily onto it, the geomancer reached across to the broken coffee table and caught up the slightly battered silver heart-shaped box Beast Boy had made for her.

She pulled off one of her torn gloves to run her bare fingers over the surface of it; as though straining to physically feel the love and care that had gone into the creation of it.

Her eyes beginning to sting, she flipped up the lid, finding herself manifested there upon the glass inside.

She grimaced. She had never seen herself looking so bad; even when she had been a homeless drifter, crashing in caves, as she had been when she first met the Teen Titans.

Her hair – dirty, tangled and all across her face – badly needed attention, her face was haggard and pale, with dark circles beneath her eyes, her lips were dry and cracked; she was covered in smudges of dirt and dust, her black crop top was worse for wear, hanging off one shoulder, her skin sported several nicks and scratches and bruises…

Not much of a look for the apprentice of the man who had as good as taken over the city; and soon the surrounding cities, the entire USA, and then, from there, no doubt the whole world…

Oh, as if it even mattered what she looked like, when she had just—

Terra angrily threw the box at the wall, where the mirror cracked and shattered upon impact. She rose abruptly and went to the window, whereupon she reached under the sill, searching for—

Yes, it was still there.

She slipped the tiny square photograph out from where she had concealed it in a crack beneath the sill, looking at it intently as more tears blossomed in her eyes and slid down her face.

On the back of it, scrawled on the white, in Beast Boy's untidy spidery hand, was;

You and me forever, BB XXX

Her heart aching, she turned it over, wiping the grime off it with her thumb.

The photograph was a little one, bigger than a passport shot but smaller than a regular one. It was of Terra herself and Beast Boy, obviously both as Teen Titans – the green changeling had one arm around Terra's waist, his other flung forward, shoving a "V for Victory" sign right at the camera. His eyes were squeezed shut in bliss and there was a huge grin plastered on his green face. Terra was in the same black crop top and tan shorts she wore now – the uniform of her time with the Titans – her long blonde hair straight and fine and clean and silky, not the mess it was now. She was smiling serenely at the camera, which was actually unusual because as a rule Terra and Beast Boy had had competitions to see who could pull the most hideous face for the photo. But the smile in this photo was calm and genuine, as though, at that exact moment, she was truly indisputably happy to be there with Beast Boy's arm around her.

And she had been.

She remembered.

Remembered the Titans; remembered her time and life as one of them.

And she cried.

Her tears blinded her from the shadow that fell forebodingly across her.

Terra felt his presence too late, whipping around to—

Slade smacked her straight in the face, knocking her against the wall. She hit it with a sharp cry, the photograph falling from her fingers. He stepped on it as he closed in on her, deliberately pressing his weight on it.

"You little bitch," he hissed, reaching down and taking a handful of her blonde hair. "You think you can just run away after you swore an oath you would fight at my side?"

She uttered another pained cry as he tossed her across the room to tumble to a halt against the back of the couch.

She had neither the strength nor the will to fight him. Nothing mattered to her anymore; she didn't even care if he killed her…

Slade crouched down to her level as she struggled to pull herself upright.

"I want him, Terra," he whispered. "Robin. The Avenger. I will not rest until I have him, and so neither will you. You will bring me his head or his heart or the whole of him, still alive even, so that I may have the pleasure of killing him myself, but I swear to you… I want him, and you are going to find him, if it is the last thing you ever do, do you hear me?"

"He's not out there!" Terra screamed despairingly. "I've looked, we've all looked… He's not there, Slade!"

"Oh yes, I do know…" He grasped his apprentice's throat in fury. "I gave you an order to destroy Gotham, which you disobeyed. You speak of nobility, Terra – you say that you will destroy no more lives. A fine deed, but far too late, my girl. There is nothing for you now. Nothing at all. You have the blood of a thousand innocents on your hands. Who else will take you? What else is left for you but this? This life you chose?"

"Anything!" Terra yelled, wrenching away from him. "I don't want this, I never wanted this! I never wanted these powers, I never wanted to be a hero or a villain or whatever the fuck else there is! I'm sick of it all. I don't care what you do to me. Kill me if you want…"

"There are worse fates than death, Terra."

"Yes." Terra held out her shaking hands, tears steadily streaming down her face. "And this is it."

"But you chose this, Terra. You chose this "fate worse than death". You chose me."

"Control over love…" Terra whispered brokenly.

Slade reached down to her.

"Come with me, Terra. Come with your master. We have much to do…"

Terra shrank from him, sobbing.

"I won't kill anyone else! I have seen it out there – I have seen the victims of the horror I have inflicted on this city! I won't do it again!"

"You have not left yourself much of a choice anymore, apprentice—"

With an enraged scream, Terra ploughed a slab of rubble from the bedroom floor into Slade, slamming him against the wall.

"I won't be your slave!" She cried furiously. "I won't do these horrible things for you anymore!"

Winded, Slade managed a soft laugh.

"Then what will you do, Terra?" He hissed. "Kill me…?"

Terra panted hard for a second or two, her eyes blazing gold.

And then, finally, her hold over the piece of concrete relinquished, and she dropped it heavily to the floor again, releasing Slade.

He dusted himself down nonchalantly as she turned away, clutching at herself tightly as her shoulders shook. When he was satisfied, he grabbed her shoulder, making her gasp and start.

He forced her to turn around, taking both of her shoulders firmly in his strong grip; seeing himself reflecting in her wide, frightened blue eyes.

For a long moment there was silence. Then;

"I have a new uniform for you. This…" He tugged at a strip of the black material hanging off her shoulder. "This simply won't do at all, not for my apprentice…"

Terra couldn't utter even a sound.

After a long, hard, silent moment, she simply bowed her head.

A few tears hit the dirty carpet; and that was her answer.

Slade touched her chin, lifting her dirty, pretty face.

"That's my good girl…"

So she went with him; and she put on her new uniform, and she fought at his side, and she destroyed.

Maybe she fulfilled the destiny that had been written for her.

Maybe not.

Terra was no longer out of control, that was for sure.

Because she was too far under his.

TT

Sorry, the lines aren't working…

Wow, well… You can probably tell it is more modern that the previous chapter/s. I like it. I really do.

It made me quite sad to write – about the city and its civilians, I mean. Because earthquakes and other natural disasters do actually do these things to people. Look at Hurricane Katrina, Rita, and the 2005 Asian Tsunami as examples.

The important thing to remember is that Terra is a very weak character. Always was, always will be. And so Slade, who preys on weakness, walks all over her time and time again.

Next chapter: Back to the future we go! And STUFF happens! Actual stuff!

Yay!

The boringness/filler shall soon be at an end!

- RobinRocks xXx