Chapter 6
[Titans Tower Common Area – 6 AM]
The team had gathered in the common area in response to the doorbell. Robin had signed for the special delivery and entered the area.
"This is it, Titans," he said, opening the envelope and finding a mini-DVD.
"Hello Titans," Slade said after the mini-DVD was inserted.
"You are to bring Terra to me, hands bound where I can see them, to coordinates 34.1058 North by 116.653 West by 10: 00 AM today.
"When she is delivered, she is to be accompanied by Robin only. If there is any deception, I will detonate the devices.
"Oh, leave your communicators home. I don't want any surprises.
"After I am satisfied that I have Terra, I will tell Robin where the devices are hidden and you may remove them. I only require my apprentice back."
The tape ended and Cyborg punched the coordinates into the mapping system. After a moment, it showed nothing but desert with mountains to the west.
"Yo," Cyborg said, "This is in the middle of nowhere. It's about 130 miles east of here."
"It would take a couple of hours to get there by the T-car," Robin said.
"Problem is that Slade would most likely be looking for the T-car," Edward surmised, "I could teleport the team there or at least close enough to allow Robin to drive a few miles for appearances.
"But, I also have a feeling that there may be spies along the entire route. Maybe it's best if we played this one even."
Terra looked determined to do this. She knew that this was going to be her test: To see if she'd fall under Slade's spell again or truly redeem herself in the eyes of the Titans.
Cyborg handed her the rings and said, "You need to be careful with these. They will refract light around you, making you invisible. Tapping them together will activate them or deactivate them. Just tap your fists together and that will to the trick. There will only be an hour of power available, but, it should be enough. It's a beta unit, so, use with caution. I almost used it to disguise you as one of the other Titans."
"Can I use my powers?" she asked.
"Make sure that you're as close to Edward as you can and walk in his footsteps, literally. As long as you're not overdoing it, you should be OK.," Cyborg said.
"Then again," Robin said, "Binding Edward's hands might discourage Slade from asking Edward to prove that he's actually Terra."
"The only thing I'm concerned about is getting the detonator and the location of the bombs," Edward said, "Luckily, we can leave the communicators here."
"Yeah," Raven said dryly, "With you and I sharing spaces in each other minds, why use the Titan communicators?"
"Well," Robin said seriously, "Those devices are here in Jump City and if there's some kind of failsafe or Slade's trying to trap us, at least Slade doesn't know about that link you two have. That's OUR failsafe."
"We need to leave shortly," Edward noted, "I have a feeling that Slade's got someone watching the Tower to make sure that we're upholding our end of this deal. You got some flexi-cuffs?"
"Always have several in my utility belt," he said.
Edward nodded, "Good idea.
"My thought here is to shapeshape to Terra early, Terra can use her rings to hide until we're out of range of the tower, then, lay back and relax in the back seat and turn off the rings."
Robin nodded, "Sounds good to me. How about you, Terra?"
"Time to take Slade down," she said. Her initial fear had turned into a hard resolve and the fight yesterday only made her more determined.
[Stay sharp, my love,] Edward said via the link.
[Count on it,] Raven said, [I can be there in about the same time as you if needed.]
[I know,] he replied, [I'd need you to get the team to the locations of the devices and have the Bomb Squad ready.]
[Right,] Raven replied. Edward felt a mental smack through the link as Raven did a facepalm.
[Take care, Rae,] he said.
He pulled Raven into his arms and kissed her. She hugged back and returned the kiss. The other Titans picked up their jaws long enough for the other two couples to do the same thing.
Edward didn't want Cyborg left out and held his hand out.
"Nah," Cyborg said, "We be family and in my family, there's no shame in hugging." He pulled Edward into a hug, which was also returned.
Starfire grabbed Edward and said, "Be careful, friend Edward. Don't let boyfriend Robin and friend Terra get hurt."
Edward returned the hug and said, "They'll be fine, Star. I'll protect them…as long as you don't shatter my bones!"
Starfire released the hug and blushed, "Sorry."
Edward was rubbing out the bruising from a Starfire hug…again.
"Take care of Terra," Beast Boy said, giving Edward a hug as well.
"You know I will, Green Bean," Edward said with a laugh.
Edward, Terra and Robin went to the garage. En route, Terra activated her rings as Edward shapeshifted to being Terra.
"Not bad," Robin said, "Can you maintain that form indefinitely?"
Edward replied, "There were a few times when I had to maintain a female form for a long time. This does feel weird, though. I'm used to, well, being a male, if you get my meaning."
Edward felt a playful smack from Terra, "Watch it, wise-guy. I know two other gals who would love taking that 'male ego' down a peg or two."
"Can't get anything passed you, can I?" Edward asked.
"Nope," she answered with a chuckle.
Edward shook his head with a laugh of his own.
They reached the T-car and they got in. Robin would have to handle the driving for the others, it would have been odd to see 'Terra' driving the car. So, as they started driving across the bridge to get into the downtown area, they hit the roadblock and Robin had to explain to the police that they needed to get through. The team members were allowed to proceed after checking with the command center.
Within 20 minutes, they were leaving the city behind and Terra had deactivated her rings to save power. She had, indeed, stretched out in the back seat and was snoring softly.
Edward was also relaxing and meditating a bit to pass the time.
[Edward, dear,] Raven called, [Cyborg says that Robin needs to set the T-Car scanners for Slade's bots.]
[All right,] he replied.
"Robin," Edward said, "Raven passed on a message. Tune the T-Car to scan for Slade-bots, please."
Robin hit a few buttons on the scanner system and there were several blips along the route.
"Damn!" Robin muttered. "If they can see into the passenger compartment, they'll record three passengers instead of two."
[Rae,] Edward relayed, [The scanners are detecting several hits along the route. Terra's sleeping in the back seat and if the bots can see into the car, they'll relay three passengers, not two.]
[Hold on, I'll ask Cyborg,] she said.
A few moments later, she replied, [Cyborg's sending a remote command to the T-Car. It should darken the windows in a few moments.]
Sure enough, the windows, save for the windshield darkened to a point that it was hard to see in.
[Can Cyborg also mask infrared and possible ultraviolet?] Edward asked.
[Cyborg was one step ahead of you, dear,] Raven said, [The windows do that anyway.]
"No need to worry about IR and UV," Edward reported, "We should be good to go."
Edward sighed, [Thanks, Rae!]
[You're welcome,] she said, [See you soon.]
They drove on in relative silence, not wanting to wake Terra until they had to or she woke up on her own.
As they drove through the mountains and saw the desert floor ahead of them, they knew they were getting closer to their destination.
Seeing as they were early by several hours, Robin decided to pull over and get some breakfast. As Edward had agreed to help fund Titan operations (Being an immortal Dragon meant Edward had a LOT of resources at his disposal), Robin wasn't worried about finances.
He stopped at a Burger World and got three of their large breakfasts to go. By then, Terra had woke up and said, "Why are the windows dark?"
"Slade's got us under watch," Edward said, "I had Raven ask Cyborg to make sure you weren't seen."
"Wish Beast Boy and I had that link," she groused.
"You have to be willing to give up a piece of yourself, though, Terra," Edward said, "I accept that Raven's a constant presence in the back of my mind, as I mentioned before. She's got my constant presence as well."
"How do you see Raven?" she asked.
"She's a soft purple glow most of the time. When she's more agitated emotionally, that glow increases in response. Like when she's feeling more affectionate, it's brighter and more inviting. When she's annoyed, it's goes more towards blue. When she's downright angry, it enlarges but grows darker, almost black. If she's frightened, which is rare, it quivers," Edward explained.
"How does she see you?" she asked.
"I never asked," he said.
[I see you as a soft red glow most of the time,] Raven piped up, [At times, your emotional state also bleeds through. When angry, it's almost blood red. Happy and it's a warm, inviting red-pink. I haven't seen you frightened, yet, to see what that it is.]
Edward relayed to Terra what Raven told him.
"Wow," Terra said, "Totally awesome. Does she always speak up?"
"No," Edward said, "She keeps to herself a lot of times, mainly outside of missions. Raven's really a private person all around. She's only saying things now cause she's actively monitoring the link. I'm sensing that she's concerned with what could happen.
"I do the same thing when she's out on a solo mission. We both stay on stand-by, ready to provide backup if needed. Raven knows I'm a capable fighter regardless of form. I know she's capable of handling herself in a fight as well. But, it only takes a second to call for backup.
"But, it's hard for me at times regardless. That's my protective nature, though. I want to protect the entire team from harm. I can absorb far more punishment than almost everyone else. I have to remember that we are a team and everyone has their roles.
"You have a role, for example. Usually, it's either throwing boulders at the enemy, or giving Robin an assist to get into a larger enemy's face."
Terra smiled, "Thank you."
"Terra," Edward said, "I wish I could go back and alter history. Had I been with the team when you first came to the Titans, I think you would have found the acceptance you needed outside of Slade. But, if I could fix every single thing that I know would alter history in any way to suit myself or how I think this mixed up world should be, I'd be playing God and that's not cool."
"You could have taken over the world, you mean?" she asked.
"Yeah," Edward said, "Hundreds of years ago, I could have done so easily. Before guns were invented, definitely. Who could have legitimately challenged me? In Dragon form, swords, spears and other weapons would have broken on my scales. Range weapons were mainly wood based, so, flaming them would have been easy."
"Ever thought of taking over?" Robin asked.
"I've been tempted to," Edward said, "But I never wanted absolute power over mortals. It would have corrupted me past the point of no return. I know that humanity needs to grow and evolve. My taking over, Robin, would have denied humanity that opportunity. Had I become an absolute tyrant, especially in the pre-gunpowder era, no one would have been able to overthrow me. I'd need to be in dragon form all the time to prevent a lucky strike. Certain inventions might not even exist."
"So, you took a less aggressive approach?" Robin surmised as they drove the last 20 miles.
"I had to," Edward said, "I don't regret that decision at all. Humanity has developed so much as a whole without my interference."
"What about today?" Terra asked, "Why do you go out of your way to help people like me and the Titans."
"It falls in line with my life's work," Edward explained, "The Teen Titans were doing just fine without me. I was hoping to settle down for a few years and take a break. But, a bank robbery changed all that. Robin saw that I was on his side right away and made a choice to trust me."
"Terra, don't take this the wrong way," Robin said, "We didn't trust anyone after your defection to Slade. We couldn't risk it again. Edward showed up and the first one to trust him was Raven. She's the one that realized that Edward would be a good addition to the team. But, his help in stopping those robbers and then detecting that you were alive and helping restore you when Raven wasn't able to alone convinced me I made the right choice in adding him to the team. You were always a Teen Titan, Terra, despite what happened. Like I told you before, I promised Beast Boy I'd give you another opportunity. I haven't regretted it."
Terra reached out and gave Robin's shoulder a quick squeeze to let him know that she understood where Robin was coming. Robin smiled softly, but, everyone knew that the Boy Wonder wasn't going to risk Starfire's jealousy or Beast Boy's as well. It would take Raven's powers to keep them from hanging Robin.
The T-Car slowed to a stop.
"We're here," Robin said. The scanners detected many Slade-bots, but, no Slade yet.
Robin looked at the clock and said, "We're early by about 30 minutes. Even with the breakfast stop.
"What I'll do is let Edward out first with his hands bound, then, when possible, open the back door and let Terra out. She'll get in line with Edward's footprints as quickly as possible and I'll cover hers with my own. Once that happens, we need to wait for Slade to make the next move.
"When Slade has made the trade for Edward and handed over the detonator and the location of the devices, we wait a few minutes until Slade starts to march Edward away.
"After that, we wait for Edward's signal. That will be what, Edward?"
"When you see me reforming my regular self, Slade won't mistake the deception, so, I'd only have the element of surprise for a second. Then again, there might be a 'romantic moment' just before. I haven't decided, yet.
"If he asks me to prove I'm Terra, she's going to have to pay attention as either Slade will ask for one of these boulders to be moved. If that happens, Terra, your job is to do as he asks, short of taking out the T-car or one of us, even if he threatens me otherwise. He does that and I'm dropping my cover. I'm not letting you guys get hurt."
Edward, who had stayed in his Terra form the whole time took a deep breath and said, "Get your flexi-cuffs out, please. It's time."
Robin took a pair of flexi-cuffs and cuffed Edward's wrists together.
Edward and Robin stepped out of the vehicle and Edward stood as close to the back door as possible.
Terra activated her rings and as Robin opened the back door, he pretended to look for something. Terra carefully slid off the seat past Robin, who then stood up and looked for Terra's footprints. His mask made that easier. Then, stepping into Terra's tracks, used his boots to change the patterns.
Robin looked at the clock and saw that Slade was due any moment.
"Hello, Terra," Slade said, walking out from behind a pillar of rock…
Ooooo! Cliffhanger time! What will happen in the next chapter? I can tell you that the time for chit-chat will be over. Someone's going to get their keister kicked.
There's going to be plenty of action in the next chapter, that's for certain. Will the bombs go off? Do they even exist or is Slade bluffing like in "Apprentice (Pt 1)"? Time will tell!
That said, Thanks for reading and bearing with me on the delays.
Final thought...Happy New Year, everyone :)