Chapter 12: Terra
Ah, the desert. Such a dry and lifeless speck of land. No sign of civilization for miles, with the only residents being the local wildlife. It was truly a calm and peaceful place. Well, apart from the blonde haired girl who was running as fast as her thin legs could carry her. Now why would she run as if her life depended on it?
Simple, it did! She had a scorpion the size of a frigging bus chasing after her! On and on she ran, and just ahead he could see the outline of a T shaped tower. Neither knowing nor caring as to what it was, she doubled her efforts. All in vain, since the scorpion was still gaining ground. The chase led them both into a narrow ravine, but neither seemed to care.
Its massive stinger came down towards the girl, shattering the ground but missing its target who had leaped clear in the last minute. Though she was still sent flying from the shockwave. She bounced along the ground a few times before she finally came to a stop.
While disoriented from the blow, the girl still had enough awareness to notice that her butterfly-shaped hairpin (at least that is what I think it is called) had fallen out of her hair. She found it lying just a few feet from her. She tried reaching for it, but the stinger came down between her and the hairpin. She was forced to leave it behind and hightail it out of there.
Onward she ran, the scorpion always a few steps behind. But eventually she reached a dead end with a natural stone bridge going above. With fearful eyes, the girl turned back towards the scorpion, which was towering above her. She closed her eyes and turned away from the beast that was no doubt planning on turning her into a meal.
It was this scene that Robin and the Teen Titans came upon as they arrived at the top of the ravine, looking down upon the spectacle below. Of course, none of them were going to sit idly by and let a weak and defenseless girl get torn up.
"Titans, go!" that would have normally been the cue for the Titans to attack, but they became otherwise preoccupied with maintaining their balance when a sudden earthquake struck.
Down below, the girl was no longer covering in fright from the scorpion, but grinning while her eyes were suddenly glowing yellow. The stone bridge was suddenly broken loose from its foundation and lifted into the air, to the Titans great shock and wonder. The girl below had also raised her glowed hands, an indication that she was responsible.
With and almighty crash, she brought the stone bridge down upon the scorpion, crushing it. Its tail twitched for a bit in the air, before it finally figured out its body was dead. At which point it fell uselessly to the ground. Above, the Titans were now staring at the blonde haired girl in awe.
"She was not in trouble." Starfire observed in surprise.
"She was leading it into a trap." Cyborg added, equally surprised by the display.
"Question is…" Robin, ever the paranoid one, remarked, right before Beast Boy finished his question.
"Who is she?"
But they were not the only ones to have taken an interest in the girl, nor were they alone in catching her display. High above them all, in a cliff face, a dark shape stood in the comforting shadows of a cave, until he stepped into the light to expose the two-toned mask he always wore.
"Don't get too attached, my young friend. I saw her first." Slade stated with that cold voice of his that always sent chills up your spin. His eye never left the blonde girl in the canyon, even as a blue cloaked figure stepped up next to him.
"Another apprentice candidate?" Raven asked skeptically. Sure, she had seen the power the girl possessed, but that was not all to a person. Raven was sure beyond any doubt that her own power could swat this girl's away like a bug, not that she ever planned to test that theory. Her powers were staying buried, plain and simple.
"You disagree?" Slade asked calmly without even turning to look at her, seemingly not paying her any attention. Some might find it offensive, but Raven was used to that from Slade. In fact, she had learned to actually be on higher guard when he actually did pay attention to her.
"I know she has some really awesome powers, but come on! The girl is practically a walking stick! If the wind gets any stronger, it might snap her in two." Raven pointed out while gesturing towards the girl, who by now had turned the very ground she was standing upon into a personal elevator to reach the top of the canyon.
Once at the Titans level, she gracefully leaped off to land right in front of the still awestruck team.
"What? Haven't you guys seen a superhero before?" she asked in amused sarcasm. The Titans were still looking at her as if they were unsure they had really seen what they had seen. Above them, Raven let out a small snort of amusement.
"I like her already." She commented. Down below, it seemed like Robin was the first one to snap out of whatever stupor that had the Titans in its grip as he approached the girl with his arm outstretched.
"I'm Robin. We're the…"
"Teen Titans! Rock on, that's cool to meet you guys!" the girl interrupted before pointing at herself. "I'm Terra." Her finger then moved to each Titan in turn. "And you're Cyborg, Argent, Starfire and…"
"Boy Beast!" Beast Boy interrupted enthusiastically before he realized his error and tried to correct it. "I mean Bath Booth! No!"
While obviously amused by his antics, if that mischievous smile was anything to go by, Terra decided to spare the changeling from further humiliation at the hand of his own mouth.
"Beast Boy?" she offered helpfully. For some reason, that simple question caused Beast Boy to shriek like he had just spotted his ex-girlfriend before morphing into a turtle and seek cover within its shell. Terra could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
"Dude! He's hilarious!" she managed to get out between laughs. Above, Raven raised a surprised eyebrow.
"I guess that if you looked at it statistically, someone had to find that buffoon funny."
And back down below, it seemed that Beast Boy was just as surprised as Raven.
"Hilarious? Me? Really?"
The answer he received was a wink from Terra, at which point he morphed back into human form with heart shaped eyes. Seeing as he was prone to fall over at any second now, Cyborg stepped forward to catch his friend. But when he finally did fall over, Cyborg stepped aside and let him fall. Mentally, he was only thinking one thought. 'Ole!'
Suddenly, Starfire came flying right up to Terra's face with a barrage of questions.
"Curiosity abounds. Please, where do you come from? How did you get here? What is your favorite color? Do you wish to be my friend?" with each question asked, Starfire got even closer to Terra, who was forced to lean back, being slightly unnerved by the alien's behavior. But hey, who wouldn't be?
"Uhhm… Earth, walked, red and sure." Terra answered hesitantly. My guess, she instantly regretted her last answer when Starfire scooped her up in one of her infamous hugs. If those bone crushing enveloping techniques of hers could even be labeled as hugs.
"Hello, new friend!" Starfire squealed happily as she squeezed the living daylight, along with everything else inside of her, out of her.
"How's it going?" Terra managed to choke out, silently wondering if this was a new form of execution method. Well, she could sure as hell testify to its effectiveness. If she survived it, that is. Thankfully, Starfire let go of her, allowing her to get some much needed oxygen back into her lungs.
Who knew friendship could be so deadly?
"Sooo, what brings such a cool little chick to our big groovy city, huh?" Beast Boy asked with a small tint of red to his cheeks.
"I go where the wind take me, you know? I get to see new places, meet new people, stop a few bad guys here and there." Terra answered casually with a laid-back attitude.
"Cool." Was about all that Beast Boy could say in response. Behind the two, the rest of the team expressed their thoughts as well.
"Fascinating."
"Well alright."
Those were the answers from Starfire and Cyborg. However, both Robin and Argent did not share a positive verbal answer. Instead they gave each other silent looks of skepticism. They had both found something slightly off with both this girl and her reasons for coming.
"You mean, you don't have a home?" Robin asked suspiciously, whether it was his concern or his paranoia talking was up for debate. Terra seemed to be completely untroubled by the question.
"The Earth is my home. I've been crashing in a cave on the other side of the hill." She answered while pointing a thumb behind her. That, however, was not an answer that Starfire could tolerate as she was, once again, up in the girl's face.
"Unacceptable! I cannot permit my new friend to slumber in a lonely cave of darkness." She insisted. Terra merely looked at her in confusion.
"I have a flashlight." She stated, but was ignored and promptly grabbed by Starfire and dragged towards Titans Tower, even as she tried to stop the alien princess. She might as well have been trying to stop an elephant.
"You will stay with us." Starfire firmly stated, leaving no room to argument. That did not stop Terra from at least trying.
"Really, I'm…" her attempts were once again ignored, and Cyborg even joined in by pushing her along.
"Come on, we got plenty of room." He said.
"Yeah, and I can make you laugh some more." Beast Boy offered before he adorned a mask consisting of a pair of glasses, an oversized nose, grey bushy eyebrows and equally bushy moustache (Where the hell did he get all that from?). "I'm hilarious, remember?" Terra gave a nervous chuckle at that.
"Well, I guess I could stay one night." She finally relented, causing all three Titans to cry out in joy before continuing to drag her towards the Tower. Seemingly forgotten, both Robin and Argent were left behind at the scene. Not that they minded that much. Robin was kneeling where the stone bridge used to stand, analyzing the ground critically.
"Everything alright?" Argent asked.
"Not sure." Robin answered. Above them, Slade retreated back into the shadow of the cave, silently beckoning Raven to follow.
"Something just doesn't feel right." Robin confessed before he rose up and walked back to the tower with Argent. When they had left, the piece of land they had previously occupied crumbled away like dust.
Staying with the Titans had been harder than Terra had expected. It had been so long since she had enjoyed the comforts of civilization, having spent so much time on the road and in the wilderness. But she could have easily adapted to those things, she always does. But the bomb had really been dropped on her when she overheard that they wanted her to train with them.
Training meant testing, testing meant using her powers, using her powers meant a great risk of losing control and losing control meant bye bye Titans Tower. If they were lucky and the whole city did not get dragged along as well. That was not something Terra felt she could risk, so it was better to run while she still could.
That was how we find her now, sitting on the shores of the little island with her belongings packed in the dead of night. But a small amount of uncertainty regarding her decision kept her rooted where she was, chucking stones out into the bay with her powers to watch them bounce along the surface.
"So, I'm guessing the couch was too lumpy?" the unmistakable voice of Beast Boy asked jokingly as he came to sit next to Terra. As she launched another stone, Beast Boy tried to imitate her success with a stone of his own. It hit the water and sunk like a… well, like a stone.
The poor guy looked completely deflated by his failure, and it did not help that Terra began giggling at his misfortune. She at least had the decency to cover her mouth in a vain attempt to stop the giggling.
She gave him another stone ad Beast Boy tried again, this time with greater success. His ego restored, Beast Boy tried to flex his muscles with a cocky smirk. Terra just let out an unimpressed sigh. Beast Boy proceeded with sticking his tongue out at her.
That started a weird contest between them on who could make the ugliest face at the other. This prompted a fit of laughter from both of them. Of course, all good things had to come to an end sooner or later.
"I can't stay." Terra admitted sadly.
"Why not?" Beast Boy asked in confusion. Terra hesitated at that. Could she tell him the truth? Could she tell him about the heavy burden she carried?
"Places to go, people to see." The answer; hell no. so she lied instead. Of course, a sharp mind would have easily registered her hasty way of replying, as if she was covering something up. Thankfully for her, Beast Boy was anything but sharp.
"Come on, you know you wanna stay. We've got free cable, indoor plumbing and all the tofu you can eat." Beast Boy pleaded with her, counting down the benefits on his fingers. Terra could not stop herself from giggling at the last part.
"Tofu? You sure know how to charm a girl." She said teasingly as she tucked her knees under her chin while smiling at him. "I guess I could hang out for one more day."
That caused Beast Boy to leap into the air with a victorious shout of "Awesome!".
"We're gonna have so much fun!" he burst out the moment he made contact with the ground again, causing Terra to smile fondly at him. "And I can't wait to see what your powers do when you really cut them loose."
And just like that, her smile was gone and before she could stop herself, her eyes glowed yellow and the stone Beast Boy was sitting on got launched into the air. It quickly crashed into the water, splashing water all around it and drenching Beast Boy.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so stupid! Don't tell, please don't tell!" Terra seemed to be close to a panic attack if her ranting was anything to go by. Beast Boy tried to calm her down.
"Terra, it's okay. You can't totally control your powers, so what?" Beast Boy inquired. But Terra still looked as panic-stricken as before.
"Promise you won't tell anybody. Ever!" she persisted relentlessly.
"Sure." Beast Boy said a little uncertainly. Terra was now outright glaring at him.
"Swear it!" she nearly snarled at him.
"Okay! Okay! I promise. But really, it's no big deal. If my friends knew they'd still like you." Beast Boy assured the blonde geomancer. Unfortunately, she looked anything but reassured. Old buried memories were resurfacing, and she did not like them.
"You just don't understand."
A gunshot echoed across the otherwise quiet lair. The sound was promptly followed by a sladebot falling over with a hole in its head. 'Right between the eyes.' Raven thought proudly to herself as she holstered her spent Desert Eagle and observed the droves of other sladebots still left to deal with.
They had her surrounded on all sides, but she was not worried in the last. Already the floor was littered with the remnants of dozens of other bots that she had already dealt with. With a cocky smirk, she withdrew her broadsword from the chest of a bot before making the universal sign of "bring it on".
The sladebots all sprang into motion, attacking from all sides. Raven leaped over the first one while decapitating it, driving her steel tipped boots into the chest of the one behind it. The moment she made contact with the floor, she ducked under a punch before rolling clear of a sweeping kick.
Three sladebots came at her at the same time, but Raven made three lightning fast slashes at them before moving on. The bots stood still for a few seconds before they realized Raven had cut them in two diagonally, at which point they collapsed to the ground.
Raven skewered another bot before using it as an anchor to steady herself with as she did a double booted kick that took the head off a second bot that had tried to sneak up on her. Six others tried to surround her again, but Raven ducked low and spun around in a circle, slicing off their legs.
As they collapsed to the ground and tried to crawl after her, Raven leaped clear of them, dropping a primed grenade among them as a goodbye gift. Several others attacked with kicks and punches, but Raven effortlessly sliced off all limbs that came close to her until she was surrounded by dozens of still functioning sladebots, all lacking limbs to use.
Four other bots suddenly jumped down from above her, forcing Raven to backpedal to avoid getting crushed under them. Her retreat was quickly over and she charged at them, attacking faster than they could react. She cut the first one in half, decapitated the second one, crushed the third one's head with her pommel and skewered the fourth one.
But there were still three others left, and these three were armed with energy blasters. They were quick to open fire on Raven, who utilized the sladebot still skewered on her sword as a makeshift shield. But the unrelenting barrage began to tear her cover apart. So she attached a grenade to it before kicking it away from her, towards the other sladebots.
The explosion forced them back, but caused no casualties. That had never been its purpose as before they could recover, a shuriken came flying at them. It embedded itself in the throat of the left one. The two others stared in temporary surprise at their comrade as it collapsed to the floor. That was all the time Raven needed.
Before they knew what hit them, Raven had leaped at them and cut them both to ribbons with a flurry of sword strikes. As the last two bots literally fell to pieces, Raven calmly sheathed her sword. Clapping suddenly echoed across the room as Slade stepped into the light.
"Excellent work, Raven. You're undoubtedly getting better." He complimented. Whether he meant it or not was hard to discern. Raven just scoffed at him.
"This is hardly what I would call a challenge. You seriously need to upgrade these tin cans of yours, they're barely enough for a warm-up." She commented as she walked over to a nearby bench where a water bottle lay. She took a greedy swig rom it while Slade folded his hands behind his back.
"I will take your advice under consideration. In the meantime, I have a task for you." was all Slade said before he turned around and stalked out of the training hall. Raven shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as she followed him into to the control room. And as Raven had suspected the whole day, the screens all depicted Terra.
"Let me guess; this task of mine concerns Terra, right?" Raven asked, mostly for clarification. It did not take a genius to figure out who today's target was. Silent as a ghost, Slade stepped out of the shadows to stand in front of the screens with his eye locked on them.
"Correct. She has made contact with the Teen Titans, and if I want to recruit her to my side I need to act before she develops too strong ties with them." Clearly, he had learned his lesson from his failed attempt at recruiting Robin. "But if I'm going to convince her, I need to talk to her alone, with no interruptions from the other Titans."
At this point, he turned his face away from the screen and gazed at Raven. "And that's where you come in, Raven. You will provide a bait to draw them out in the open, and then serve as a distraction to keep them occupied while I talk with Terra."
Raven slowly nodded her head in thought as she analyzed the mission from every angle. It sounded quite doable to her, and very easy. If the plan was a sound one, that was.
"Mission parameters?" she finally asked.
"I leave the planning to you on this one. As long as the Titans are kept occupied, I don't mind what you do." Slade answered bluntly. That answer must have really pleased Raven as she was quickly smiling that kind of smile that would make anyone decide to take a sudden three month vacation to somewhere far away from her.
"And it just so happens that I have the perfect idea. But I'll need as many of your sladebots as you can spare." Raven stated before she walked over to a nearby table. Something lied on the table, but it was covered by a piece of cloth.
"And this mission is also a perfect time for me to finally get to use this little toy of mine." She commented as she pullet the cloth off. Slade just shook his head in resignation, but said nothing. Raven noticed and raised an eyebrow at him.
"What? It's not just boys who find toys amusing." She said teasingly. Slade never even dignified that comment with an answer, and instead walked away.
"Killjoy." Raven muttered under her breath. At moments like these, she missed her comrades back in H.I.V.E. Academy. At least with them she could trade banter with. Well, it was no point in complaining, just get the job done now.
A beautiful morning arrived the next day, with a clear blue sky and a warm breeze. Perfect for a training run. This was exactly what Cyborg was doing at that very moment, with the help of the Titans' obstacle course. Metallic fists sprung up from the ground, but he sidestepped them and pushed on.
With the first obstacle gone, he came up against a grid of laser firing turrets, forcing him to dodge and roll to avoid getting hit. This he did with remarkable skill and flexibility, given his bulky steel form. Next up were several steel gates that he had to run under before they closed down.
The first two he narrowly slipped past, but the third came down right on top of him. His mechanical muscles strained to keep the infernal thing from crushing him while trying to push it back up. With one last mighty heave, he pushed it far enough up for him to step past and move on.
Ahead, several rocks opened up, revealing concealed disc launchers within. These promptly let loose with a hail of discs at Cyborg, who for his part got some good target practice in by blasting half of them out of the air with his sonic cannon before leaping over the remainder.
With the last obstacle cleared, Cyborg crossed the finish line, to the cheers of the Titans. Well, most of them anyways. But Cyborg was more interested in the time displayed on his arm, showing the time it took for him to finish. It read 02:17.
"Booyah! New course record!" Cyborg burst out boastfully while laughing in victory.
"Considering you're the first one to run this course, any time would have been a record." Argent deadpanned, bursting Cyborg's bubble. He silently thanked her with a sour glare.
"Okay, Terra. Ready to show us what you can do?" Robin called from the control station he occupied along with Argent. Terra said nothing, instead she walked up to the starting line in preparation.
"I just hope you're ready to see it." She murmured quietly to herself. Beast Boy was quick to rush up to her and place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"You can do it." He assured her with a smile. "Besides, it's just practice. It doesn't matter if you mess up. Not that you're gonna mess up, but I'm just saying that even if you blow it, you…"
He should have probably stopped talking after his assurance, because Terra was looking anything but reassured as she put on her goggles in preparation for her run. Beast Boy finally took notice of the look Terra was giving him and uttered a meek "Shutting up now."
"Countdown initiated! Good luck, Terra." Robin called out. While the Titans were cheering her on enthusiastically, Terra herself wondered if all her enthusiasm had been transferred to them during the night, given her current lack of said emotion.
"Don't lose control. Don't lose control. Don't." she repeated like a mantra to herself, as if that was going to do any good. At that moment, the countdown reached zero. First obstacles were camouflaged laser guns that sprung up from rocks and opened fire. Terra escaped these by rising into the air on a stone pillar.
The pillar itself was promptly turned to dust from the concentrated fire, but Terra utilized a section of it as a flying platform, which she clung onto for dear life while the remains of her pillar crushed the guns. Terra flew onward on her rock, but gave a terrified shout as metal fists burst out of the ground all around her.
She barely avoided most of these, while still holding on to her little rock, but the last one caught her by surprise and shattered her rock. Terra herself was sent flying into the air screaming like a… well, like a girl. In desperation, she summoned another rock to her aid, but as she breathed out a sigh of relief, she discovered that she was close to crashing into the ground.
With a supreme will of effort, she swerved left to avoid a collision, but still scraped against a rock in her path. Back at the finish line, the Titans were still cheering her on.
"Yeah, you're the man, Terra! Uh… I mean you're the… way to go!" or, in Beast Boy's case, trying to cheer her on.
Terra meanwhile was spinning around on her rock, having trouble keeping it steady. Up ahead, the same steel gates Cyborg came up against before were standing ready to receive Terra. Though her way of getting past was by forming another pillar of rock and used it like a battering ram to reduce the three gates to piles of bent and warped steel.
"Dammit, and we just finished constructing the damn obstacle course." Argent grumbled as Robin pressed as series of buttons on the control panel. In response, the ground that Terra was mere seconds from crashing into opened up, like it was making ready to swallow her up.
She called another rock to her aid, but she slipped off of it twice before she summoned a pair of rocks the size of her hand, which she clung onto for dear life as they raised her out of the pit. Quickly, she launched herself aboard another rock and continued on. And up ahead, she faced the disc launchers.
Thinking fast, she used the rock she was flying on as a shield against the discs before launching a barrage of rocks at the launchers, pulverizing them. Finally, she came to an unsteady landing on the finish line. The Titans were staring at her like she had just beaten Superman himself. To finish it all off, Terra gave a graceful bow to her audience. The Titans instantly burst out into cheering yet again.
"You rock!" Beast Boy burst out as he ran up to her.
"Magnificent success!" Starfire congratulated her as she flew up to the pair. Cyborg meanwhile was checking the timer to determine how long it took for her to complete the course.
It read 01:56.
"Well, would you look at that? New course record." Argent commented smugly to Cyborg, who for his part looked more shocked than before.
"I must have softened it up for her." Cyborg sheepishly stated in a vain attempt to protect his battered pride. Though everyone could tell that it was a half-heartened attempt.
"You were in incredible!" Beast Boy said as he raised his hand in preparation for a high five. But what he instead received from the blonde haired girl was a hug.
"I did it. You said I could do it, and you were right." Terra stated happily. Beast Boy for his part had hearts bubbling out of him while he looked as if he had just taken a huge draft of cannabis. The moment Terra let go, he began wobbling around before collapsing to the ground in total bliss.
If that was how he reacts to a mere hug, Lord knows how he will react to a full-blown kiss.
"A little rough around the edges, but you've got some real talent there." Robin commented from behind Terra (How the hell did he get there in the first place?! Wait, ninja training, nevermind). Terra looked absolutely ecstatic at that.
"You think?" she asked hopefully. Never before had anyone said that to her, and it was raising her spirits higher than ever before.
"With a little more training, you could…" whatever else Robin was about to say was interrupted by a beeping from his communicator. He quickly brought it out to check what had come up. Terra meanwhile was staring at him with a raised eyebrow when suddenly different parts of the other Titans' costumes began blinking. Terra looked more than weirded out now.
"Okay, why is everybody blinking?" she asked suspiciously while narrowing her eyes at the group.
If there was one picture in existence that could make even the most stoic of Titan boil with rage, it was a picture of…
"Slade. He's back." Robin practically snarled out in contempt as the team surveyed a digital map of Jump City, depicting the apparent site of Slade's recent attack. While the Teen Titans looked furious and battle-ready, Terra just looked confused.
"Slade?" she asked Beast Boy, hoping for clarification.
"Bad guy. Way bad." Was all Beast Boy said, all traces of humor gone at the mere mention of their nemesis.
"Got a fix on his location. Titans, move out!" was all Robin said before he rushed out of the living room, with his team a few steps behind. That only left Terra standing awkwardly by herself, unsure whether they wanted her along or not. Beast Boy noticed her reluctance and solved it for her.
"Hey! You coming or what?" he asked while pointing at the door. Terra smiled gratefully at him as he ran up to him. The two of them then exited the room, arms linked together.
The site of today's mayhem and chaos was a nearby diamond mine, which had come under attack by a horde of sladebots. They blasted away at every worker they could find while several of them where working on loading up several rail carts with diamonds. All of this was coordinated and overseen by Raven herself.
"Come on! Hustle, hustle, hustle! We ain't got all day!" She shouted to the bots, who of course showed no reaction to her words. Not that Raven had expected one in the first place. As a pair of sladebots rolled past her on cart filled with diamonds, Raven leisurely plucked one of the diamonds from the pile and examined it proudly.
"They say diamonds are a woman's best friend. While mine are guns and ammo, I think diamonds come in on a close second place for me." She commented as she threw it into another passing cart. Several nearby workers were in the midst of attempting a feeble counter-attack against Raven's forces.
"Protect the diamonds!" one of them shouted while opening fire with his sidearm. While he scored a few hits on one of the sladebots, they were poorly aimed and did little to no damage.
"Idiot." Raven mumbled to herself as she lazily withdrew one of her own guns and with a single shot, disarmed him. The worker looked fearfully between his empty hands and the gun held in Raven's hand, which was now aimed right at his head.
"End of the line for you." she stated. Though before she could pull the trigger, a birdarang came swooping in and knocked the gun right out of her hand. But instead of looking shocked or angered by it, Raven looked more amused.
"And I almost thought they wouldn't show up today." She mumbled quietly to herself as she turned to face the Teen Titans.
"Tell your boss we'd like a word with him, Raven." Robin stated venomously. Once again, that infuriating smile of hers was back in place.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Slade is a very busy man these days after the recent departure of his newly hired assistance." She countered, making a playful jab at Robin with that sentence. He gritted his teeth in anger, but restrained himself.
"However, I'm sure I can schedule a meeting somewhere…" with lighting speed, she drew her remaining gun and aimed it at Robin. "… In the afterlife!"
As the bullets came soaring at him, Robin rolled out of the way before he and his team charged. But Raven retreated and allowed the sladebots to step forward and engage the Titans.
"Titans, go!" Robin shouted as they engaged the sladebots. Terra once again took to the air on a piece of rock.
"You boys ready to rock?" she asked cockily. I guess she received her answer when two sladebots jumped onto her rock. Robin meanwhile had spotted her plight just as he kicked a sladebot away from himself. He quickly leaped up and kicked them both off the rock.
"Thanks." Terra said in relief. For a few moments there she thought that she had been toast.
"No problem." Robin simply said as he scanned the area suspiciously. "By the way, did you happen to see where Raven went off to?"
Terra gave a confused look at that. "Who?"
A loud whistle suddenly drew their attention to a nearby pile of crates. Turning in that direction, they found Raven standing on top of it, smiling smugly at them. But both of them turned an unhealthy shade of white when they saw her. Or rather, what she was aiming at them.
An M134 Minigun.
"Say hello to my little friend!" she shouted gleefully before she pulled the trigger and a storm of bullets began spewing out of the weapon. Caught by surprise, the barrage shredded the rock they were occupying and sent them both crashing to the ground. But luckily Terra had enough sense to form a shield of rock in front of them, right before Raven resumed firing at them.
"Go help the others! I'll deal with her!" Robin suddenly shouted at Terra over the noise of battle. She in turn looked at him skeptically, for obvious reasons as their makeshift cover was already crumbling away under Raven's constant barrage.
"You sure you can handle her on your own?" she shouted back just as their cover crumbled away, obscuring them both in a thick layer of dust.
"Just go!" she heard him shout from somewhere before the noise of the minigun started up again, though this time no bullets came her way. Not wanting to argue further, or risk getting in that crazy girl's line of fire again, Terra slipped away to assist the other Titans.
Robin meanwhile was running a bloody gauntlet as he tried to stay ahead of Raven's aim while bullets constantly shredded the ground behind him. Thankfully, with the heavy minigun held at waist-level, all Raven could do was point the damn weapon in the general direction and hold down the trigger. Then again, at 4000 rounds per minute, accuracy was not much of an issue.
In an attempt to get closer to her, Robin threw a smoke bomb to cover himself. It did not work as Raven began to wildly spray bullets all over the place, cackling maniacally the whole time.
"Now this is what I call firepower!" she shouted over the roar of her gun. Robin was forced to take cover behind a crane, its metal framework providing better protection against the bullets.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Raven sing-songed as she continued to pour out lead. Behind his cover, Robin cursed profoundly. The damn girl was not giving him any chance whatsoever to get closer. Suddenly, the noise of the minigun came to an end. In her carelessness, Raven had spent all the ammunition she had brought along. Something she was extremely aggravated about.
"Dammit, not again! I always get too carried away with these kinds of weapons!" she complained as she dropped the minigun and picked up a Milkor MGL.
Taking notice of the sudden lack of bullets coming his way, Robin peered around his cover. Just in time to watch Raven take aim at him with the grenade launcher. He quickly leaped over the crane, just seconds before two fired grenades made it go up in flames. Raven was quick to take aim on Robin again, but he was faster and threw a trio of exploding discs at her.
She was forced to leap off her higher ground as the discs shredded it. While she landed harmlessly on the ground, she never got a chance to fire her grenade launcher again as Robin came in with a battle roar and a spinning kick that knocked the gun right out of her hands.
A fist to her chest followed up that knocked her back. That gave her room to draw her Desert Eagle but Robin was upon her again just as she fired a bullet that grazed his shoulder. He grabbed hold of her hand and twisted it until she was forced to let go of her gun before he performed a judo throw on her.
"Ouch." Raven grumbled from where she lay on her back, but still had enough sense to roll clear of a descending boot. Not long after, she was back on her feet, just in time to meet Robin coming at her with his bo staff. She ducked under the first swing, sidestepped a jab, nearly got knocked over from a blow to her side and finally managed to draw a dagger which she used to block another swing.
Before he could react, Raven had pushed his staff aside and smashed her fist into his guts. He took a few involuntary steps back, but gritted his teeth and pressed onward again. Raven was forced on the defensive as he came at her with a flurry of strikes with his bo staff. Several times she would try to reach for her sword, but Robin gave her no space to draw it.
He spun, she swung, he thrust, he swept, he aimed high, he aimed low, he tried knocking her legs off from under her, he aimed for the head, he swung again, he feinted right before striking left.
More and more strikes landed on Raven, and she was gradually forced back. Finally, she managed to block a strike with her dagger again and struck out with her right foot. But Robin sidestepped and grabbed hold of the limb before dragging her off balance. Yet as she fell to the ground with Robin pressing on, she suddenly dropped a primed smoke grenade that engulfed their area in white smoke.
To Robin's dismay, he found that he had lost sight of Raven in the smoke. Not good, not good at all. Bo staff held high and ready, Robin began to cautiously move around in an attempt to locate her. Soon however, the smoke began to clear away, revealing a cloaked figure standing right behind Robin with a drawn sword.
Battle instincts and reflexes were the only thing that saved Robin as he spun around while leaping back to avoid a sword strike that would have cleaved him in half. Instead his bo staff got cleaved. Taking a quick glance at the two halves of his bo staff, Robin threw them away and brought out his custom made sword.
"I see you're still working for Slade." Robin remarked coldly. Raven for her part raised an amused eyebrow.
"You make it sound like it came as a shock to you, bird boy." she countered humorlessly. Robin never once changed his cold poker face.
"To be honest, I had hoped that you would have at least left his services by now." He admitted. Now Raven looked to be stuck somewhere between confused and amused.
"And why would I do that?" she asked in curiosity.
"He's a bad man, Raven. Someone you should never even socialize with, let alone work for."
At that, Raven could not help but laugh. "In case you haven't noticed, bird boy, I'm quite a bad girl myself."
But Robin merely shook his head. "You're no way near his level of depravity."
If he was going to say anything else, he never got the chance since Raven leaped at him with an overhead strike. He barely blocked it in time, but was forced to his knees from the strain. Raven took the chance to lean in closer to him.
"Shall we put that to the test?" she questioned before she lashed out with a kick that forced him back. She attacked again with a thrust. He sidestepped and struck back with a swing that was blocked before it was knocked aside. He nearly lost his head from the counterattack had he not ducked in time.
A flurry of thrusts and slashes followed with unrelenting fury that forced Robin to slowly retreat. He suddenly leaped right over her and tried a kick to her back. She spun around and nearly cut his foot off before she stepped in close and drove her pommel into his chest. He was promptly knocked off his feet and was nearly skewered on Raven's sword had he not rolled clear.
"Had enough yet?" Raven asked tauntingly as Robin rolled back on his feet and rushed her again. He tried several sword strikes, but all were blocked by Raven.
"I'm just getting warmed up." Robin stated furiously before he tried an overhead swing with all his strength. This was easily sidestepped by Raven before she lashed out with a quick slash that left a red mark on his cheek. Would have been worse had he not twisted his body out of the way.
"Good, because I'm just getting started here." Raven said amusedly as she made ready to lunge at him again. But both combatants stopped when they felt a small rumble, followed by the panicked shout of "BEAST BOY!" that echoed across the battlefield.
"Sounds like your team is having a little trouble on their own." Raven remarked. Robin said nothing, but was debating whether to continue his fight with Raven or go help his friends. The choice was made for him when Raven attacked again, forcing him to block an incoming strike.
"Don't even think about it, bird boy. Your fight is with me." She stated, having guessed his thoughts. He merely gritted his teeth and pushed harder against her.
"Then I'll just have to beat you faster so I can go help my friends." he snarled out as the two continued their duel.
Terra was absolutely horrified at what had just happened. She had lost control of her powers, and Beast Boy had paid the price for it. She was stupid, so damn stupid! How could she have allowed herself to be persuaded into staying? She should have left while she still had the chance. At least then this would have never happened.
In panic, she fled deeper into the mining network. For how deep she ran, she could not tell, but when she finally did stop she was panting heavily and was forced to lean against the wall for support. What was she supposed to do now? Go back to the Teen Titans? After what she had done to repay their kindness?
"Why can't I do this?" she asked herself as she slipped down to the floor. The sound of footsteps echoing down the tunnel suddenly caught her attention. Peering down the tunnel, she caught sight of a figure running deeper into the mine. But she easily recognized who it was.
"Slade." she murmured before she took off after him. This could be her chance of redemption. If she could catch the villain, at least she would have done some good in this battle. As she closed in on him, she used her powers to cause the tunnel ahead to cave in, trapping the villain.
"Looks like I've got you." Terra stated smugly. But she was caught completely off guard when Slade leaped right over her. The moment he landed behind her, he swept her legs from under her before straightening up with a bomb in his hand.
"Actually, Terra…" he began calmly as he threw the bomb into the roof behind them. "… I've got you." the bomb then went off, trapping them both and plunging the whole tunnel into darkness. Until emergency light kicked in.
Slade began to calmly approach the girl, who for her part began whimpering in fear.
"Now, Terra. You walked right into a trap. Another mistake you of all people should know better." He admonished her as he brought out his bo staff. "But at least you and I are finally getting a chance to talk."
With that said, he thrust his staff like a spear at her, which she narrowly rolled clear of. Now, in the face of imminent danger and possible death, her earlier fear was twisted into anger. And that anger fuelled her strength and determination. She launched a fist sized rock right at him. But it was a laughable attempt as Slade barely even needed to dodge that attack.
"Hmmm… I see we have much to talk about." He stated with that same calm voice as before, though this time there was a small trace of mockery about it. Terra was not amused.
"Mind if I talk with my hands?" she asked angrily right before she launched two pillars at Slade, aiming to crush him between them. But he jumped right over them as if it was nothing and landed in front of her.
"Good, Terra. But not good enough." Was all the warning she received before a flurry of strikes descended upon her. She sent another rock at him, but he just jumped right over it. Though he lost his bo staff.
"Impressive. Unless of course, you were aiming for me." The battle continued in much the same manner, until Slade landed a solid blow that sent Terra flying into the wall. Quite painfully I might add. But she still managed to climb back to her feet.
"Back off! I'm with the Titans! They'll be coming to…"
"You don't belong with the Titans." Slade calmly interrupted her rant.
"You don't know anything about me!" Terra stated furiously. But Slade suddenly brought forth a certain item of hers. Her butterfly-shaped hairpin she had lost in her battle with the scorpion.
"On the contrary, Terra. I know everything about you. I've been watching you for some time. I know why you're always running away. I know your secret, little girl." He revealed calmly, but with a sense of smugness to it all. Terra was looking like she was close to a panic attack about now.
"No!" she shouted furiously as she rushed the villain. But Slade merely grabbed her arm and slammed her back into the wall. She would listen to what he had to say, whether she wanted to or not.
"Earthquakes, avalanches, mudslides." Slade counted down while Terra was staring fearfully at him. "Everywhere you go, you try to do good. And everywhere, you fail."
He finally let go of her arm, which she immediately cradled close to her body. "So everyone turns against you. You lack control, Terra. And when you lose control, you are more dangerous than anything I've ever seen."
As he spoke, he fastened Terra's hairpin back in her hair. Terra now was looking at him with a truly pitiful look. Internally, Slade began to wonder if maybe he should have heeded Raven's advice. In terms of power, the girl had few rivals. But that seemed to be nearly all to her. Nevertheless, he would still push on with his plan.
"But it doesn't have to be this way. I can help you, child." He offered as he turned around. Terra truly looked tempted at the suggestion, but was still cautious.
"You… can?" she asked. Slade suddenly picked up a piece of rock from the ground.
"Right now you are… rough, around the edges." He explained as he held up the rock for her to see. "You need more than obstacle courses to overcome your problem. You need a teacher, a mentor."
As he explained, he began to grind the stone to pieces in his hand.
"Come with me, Terra, and I can teach you to shine." He stated as he held his hand open again, showing the diamond that had been at the core of the rock. But Terra still looked uncertain about the offer.
"But… my friends told me you're…"
"You don't really believe they're your friends? Do you, Terra?" Slade interrupted her yet again.
"They took me in. gave me a home." Terra tried to defend them against that accusation.
"And when they find out what's wrong with you, they'll reject you. Like everyone else." Slade easily countered. It seemed his words began to have an effect on the girl as her body began to tremble.
"Beast Boy…"
"Can't keep his mouth shut forever. He'll tell them."
"He promised!" by now, Terra was beginning to use her powers again as yellow energy gathered at her hands. Whether she was aware of this or not was up for debate.
"He lied." Slade smoothly countered. That was the last straw for Terra as she spun around with a furious expression on her face. Dirt and rocks began to swirl wildly around her.
"Shut up! Just shut up and leave! Me! Alone!" she shouted in complete anger. Until she realized her anger was causing her powers to go haywire. At which point she crouched down and grasped her head firmly.
"Don't lose control. Don't lose control." She desperately repeated to herself, hoping that would be enough.
"Now, Terra. How can you lose something… you never had?" Slade asked rhetorically. That finally cracked the poor girl as she gave an anguished scream while her powers where unleashed on the whole mine.
Back at the main battle, Robin and Raven were still locked in combat, with Raven slowly gaining ground. They were currently dueling it out on one of the higher levels when a sudden earthquake struck.
"What the…" Raven muttered to herself as she was caught unprepared and became unbalanced. Robin had more luck on that end and was quick to capitalize on his opponent's disadvantage. He rushed in and knocked Raven's blade right out of her hands before a roundhouse kick sent her flying into a stack of crates that came down on her.
With Raven temporarily dealt with, Robin used his grapple gun to swing down to his friends, who were in the midst of mopping up any remaining sladebots.
"We need to get out of here! Slade's trying to bring down the whole mine!" Cyborg shouted frantically. But Robin was looking quite skeptical to that.
"I'm not sure he's the one doing this." He said thoughtfully.
Back with Raven, she was just crawling out from under the pile of crates, muttering a string of words not appropriate to write on such an open site as this.
"Okay, what the hell is going on now?" she asked herself as she stood back up. Though she was quick to draw a logical conclusion on what had happened.
Unstable geomancer + Slade's interest in said geomancer + sudden earthquake = Slade has played his little mind game with her and she snapped.
All that boiled down to one answer to this whole mess for Raven; mission accomplished, now get the hell out of there.
"Now then, where did my sword go?" she asked herself as she looked around. But to her dismay, she saw no sign of her prized sword. 'Dammit all to hell! I don't have time to look for it! I need to get out of here!' was the furious thought circling through her mind. So with another muttered curse, she took off towards the exit.
Her sword meanwhile had landed in a crevice, hidden from sight. But as Raven made good on her escape, something happened with the sword. It began to vibrate before some kind of dark energy, eerily similar to Raven's own, covered all parts of it. Not long after, it levitated into the air and shot off like a bullet.
Raven was just about to slip out the exit when she heard the clatter of steel right behind her. Turning around with a knife drawn, she was surprised to find her sword lying on the ground just behind her. 'How the hell did it get here?'
But she was running out of time, so that mystery would have to go unsolved. So she quickly sheathed her sword and sprinted out of the mine.
With the threat neutralized, the Titans were gathered back in their tower to celebrate. But this time they were not celebrating an apparent victory over Slade, but saying goodbye to a friend.
"Well guys, it's been real. Seriously, thanks for everything, but I should…" Terra was in the midst of explaining and walking out the door with her backpack. Unfortunately, when the door opened, it was blocked by a grinning Cyborg.
"Don't even think about it." He stated humorlessly. Terra meanwhile was looking quite shocked that her escape had been cut off.
"Okay, what's going on?" she asked with resigned humor as she turned back towards Robin.
"We talked it over and…" Cyborg began.
"… We wish for you to stay here, with us!" Starfire finished joyfully.
"We think you'd make a great addition to our team." Robin added proudly. Terra was beyond shocked about now.
"Sooo, wanna be a Titan?" Beast Boy asked hopefully as Robin held out a communicator for her to take, which she did with disbelief written all over her face.
"Me? Really?" she asked in astonishment. Naturally, someone had to burst this happy bubble. That someone happened to be Robin.
"Of course, you'll need more training. I know you have trouble controlling your power, and we can help…" that was about when Terra's communicator hit the floor as she had dropped it in shock and anger.
"You told him?" Terra accused of Beast Boy.
"I didn't." Beast Boy defended himself, but Terra obviously did not believe him.
"You promised!" she stated furiously as she glared at him, hurt deeply by this apparent betrayal. "You lied to me! You lied!"
With that said, Terra stormed out of the tower. It would be a long time before the Titans ever saw her again.
From his underground lair, Slade was quietly watching a screen depicting Terra run away from the Titans. That went far easier than he had ever imagined.
"Run all you like. Because no matter where you go, every step brings you closer to me." He stated smugly, as if he expected her to hear him from miles away. From out of the shadows behind him, Raven suddenly stepped forward.
"So, mission successful, I take it?" she asked curiously.
"Indeed it was, ear child." Slade answered, never even turning around to face her. Raven just shrugged her shoulders, not really that bothered, and turned to walk away.
"If you need me, I'll be in the gym." She said over her shoulder as she walked away. But unseen by both of them, the red ruby on Raven's sword momentarily flared to life. And for the briefest of moments, it almost looked like an eye, glaring at the back of Raven's head.