Poll has been closed. Terra's fate has been decided. Read on to find out just what her fate wil be.
Chapter 23: Aftershock pt. II
THIS! WAS! BORING!
That was the only adequate way Raven could describe her current situation, riding down the road on her motorcycle through the mist covered city. Ever since the Titans were crushed and Slade took over, there had been absolutely nothing for her to do.
As she rounded yet another corner at breakneck speeds, Raven could not contain a groan of frustration from coming out. Where was the fun in breaking laws when there was no one around to challenge her?
"God, I miss bird boy. At least he could provide me with some entertainment," she complained to herself, sounding like a spoiled brat whining over the loss of her favorite toy. Which, in a sense, she was.
More than once, the thought had struck her to move on, to seek her fortune elsewhere. After all, there was an entire world out there waiting for her. All its riches, all its challenges, all its prizes. All there for the taking.
But she stayed, she remained a hired gun for Slade. Some might think it was the paycheck that kept her here, but those who knew her should know that money alone was not enough to keep her in place. No, there was another reason that kept her here. And that reason was pretty easy to deduce;
Terra.
Raven was worried for her, as any friend should be. As anyone with even half a brain could tell, Slade could not be trusted any further than he could be thrown. Now with the Teen Titans out of the way, something that Slade had aspired to accomplish for months now, there was no telling what he would do next.
So she stayed. She stayed to make sure that someone had the blonde geomancer's back. But Raven was not planning on becoming a babysitter by any stretch to the imagination. She would stick around long enough to make sure Terra would be fine, and then she was gone.
Speaking of Terra, Raven was supposed to check in with her right about now. Something about keeping an eye out for trouble or some other bullshit. Slade had explained more in-depth about this. But to be honest, Raven had been listening to her MP3 player back then.
"Yo, blondie, got anything? Or did Mr. Cyclops send us on a useless errand?" she asked with a bored tone while swerving to avoid a Sladebot that had wandered straight out on the road. 'Stupid tin cans,' Raven thought to herself.
"Nothing so far. Seems like we've cleaned up all the resistance," Terra answered, sounding far more professional than Raven, who could not help but snort at Terra's choice of words.
"Please, as if those motley bands of cops and street punks could even be called 'resistance'. I had more of a challenge crawling out of bed this morning than beating them up," she commented snidely, receiving a faint chuckle from her friend over the comm.
"You never change, do you?" Terra questioned with mirth in her voice.
"Why change perfection?" Raven countered snobbishly, right before the two of them devolved into fits of laughter.
"Focus, you two. There's still parts of the city that needs patrolling," Slade's cold and analytical voice cut into their laughter, promptly shutting the two girls up.
"Yeah, yeah, we're on it," Raven answered with a bored tone. That one-eyed madman could be such a control obsessed slave driver when he wanted to be.
"Good. And I would suggest less time spent on useless banter in the future," those were Slade's parting words before he disconnected, something that Raven was all too happy about.
"Killjoy," she grumbled to herself, drawing a light snicker from Terra.
"Hey, it's Slade. What did you expect?" she asked humorously. Raven could only shrug her shoulders.
"Good point," she conceded. A period of silence then followed, as they both focused on their assigned tasks, even though Raven was sorely tempted to skip patrolling and kidnap Terra for a night of clubbing. 'Oh wait, can't do that. Slade's called in martial law. All shops and clubs are closed indefinitely,'
For his sake, he better open up at least a few drinking bars soon enough, or Raven was going to go all Rambo on him. That was when a sudden explosion echoed through the otherwise quiet city. Caught by surprise, Raven hit the brakes as her eyes frantically searched for where it came from.
"What the hell was that?" she asked in suspicion. Certainly had not been anywhere near her planned route. As a matter of fact, if her hearing had been correct it sounded like it came from…
"Terra, do you read me?" Raven called frantically, but all she received were sounds of fighting on the other end. That was never a good sign.
"What the hell's going on over there? Terra, talk to me here!" she shouted into her comm. That finally managed to draw an answer from the other end.
"It's them! It's the Titans! They came out of nowhere and AAAGGHHHH!" an explosion made the rest of her sentence vanish with a scream of pain. In the time it took to blink, Raven was in "Search and Destroy" mode. Nobody messed with her friends like that.
"Hang in there Terra! I'm coming!" she shouted before she revved up her motorcycle and was off like a missile out of hell.
"Slade! We're gonna need back-up on this one!" she shouted to be heard over the roar of the engine and the wind whipping her face.
"I know. I've already dispatched reinforcements. Hold the line until they get there," Slade ordered, and for once, Raven felt no desire to snap at her boss.
"Roger that," she simply said before turning her attention to where the hell she was driving. Up ahead, she could hear the telltale sounds of battle, a battle she was drawing ever closer to. Adrenaline pumped through her vein, firing her up with anticipation.
She suddenly took a sharp left turn, straight into an alley. Its end was blocked off, but a piece of plywood was laid out like a ramp over it. Perfect for what Raven had in mind as she accelerated.
Up and high into the air she went, soaring like a projectile straight into the melee below her. Right before impact, she made a backflip off her motorcycle, which was on a collision course with a dumbstruck Cyborg.
Halfway through her flip, she drew her Desert Eagles, and from an upside down perspective took aim on her own motorcycle. 'Sorry, sweetheart, but victory demands sacrifices,' she thought mentally before she opened fire, turning her former mode of transportation into a mobile bomb.
The explosion sent Cyborg flying back, and left the rest of the team in a short moment of shock. Raven was more than happy to capitalize on that as she opened fire. It forced the team to scatter, but they regrouped quickly again, ready for another round.
"Take care of Terra. Raven's mine," Robin snarled out in anger, receiving a taunting smirk from Raven.
"Oh, so territorial, bird boy," she remarked mockingly before they charged at each other, Raven firing wildly with her guns and Robin drawing his Bo staff. With a savage war cry, Robin struck first with an overhead blow that Raven blocked with her guns.
A kick aimed at his manly parts forced him back, but he came back with a sweeping strike at her legs, forcing her to jump over it and firing her guns in mid jump. Robin rolled clear and threw an exploding disc that Raven shot out of the air, engulfing them both in smoke from the explosion.
Raven tried to use that chance to put some distance between them, but a grapple hook nearly hit her in the head had she not sidestepped. Temporarily distracted by looking where the hook went, Raven turned back to its source of origin just as Robin came right at her like a missile, nailing her straight in the head with a punch as he soared past.
It hurt, but Raven had felt worse, and so was back on her feet before Robin had even had time to turn and face her again. A barrage of bullets forced him into cover behind an overturned car, up until Raven ran out of bullets.
Grunting in irritation. Raven threw a grenade to distract him while she reloaded. Robin saw the grenade flying over his cover with eyes wide as dinner plates, right before he dived out of cover. Right in the nick of time too, because his former cover then went up in flames.
With his Bo staff back in hand, he charged at Raven, just as she finished reloading and aiming. He took one bullet to the shoulder, making him stumble in his charge and nearly made him scream in pain. He just ground his teeth together and held it in, forcing Raven back with a flurry of blows.
But as he came with another blow from the right side, Raven reversed the grip on her guns and utilized their ends as clubs. She easily blocked his strike with one hand while the other came with an unexpected uppercut with her gun, nailing him in the chin and sending him flying back.
His Bo staff clattered to the ground, and Robin barely rolled clear of a barrage of bullets aimed at him. But the next shot would have ended him had Starfire not interfered with her own barrage of starbolts.
Raven barely managed to see them in her peripheral vision, but weaved through the barrage without taking a single hit. She backflipped to avoid a sonic blast from Cyborg, dodged a crimson fist trying to grab her, ducked under a leaping ram, but was caught by surprise when Robin came out of nowhere with a spinning kick and sending her crashing into a car.
Letting out a groan, in pain for the beating she was taking and irritation over getting swamped by the Teen Titans. Battle instincts made her flip over the car she had crashed into, right before another barrage of starbolts impacted.
Then, out of the mist, Cyborg came at her with an uppercut. She just flipped right over his shoulders, firing wildly at his armored form the whole time. Seeing that she was outnumbered, and no sign of Terra, Raven popped a smoke bomb, blinding her opponents long enough for her to get up on a rooftop with a grapple hook.
"Slade, I have every single Titan after my ass out here, where's my reinforcements? And where the hell did Terra go?" she called through her communicator in anger. That bastard had better not left her to hang here.
"Don't worry, reinforcements are on their way. And Terra is to the east of your position, fleeing like a coward," Slade announced with distain. It took about five seconds for Raven to register just what he had said. Then…
"WHAT?! I came all this way to back her up, and she runs away with her tail between her legs?!" naturally, Raven was not overly pleased. Though she was given other priorities when the Titans located her again.
Starfire was the first one to engage her, coming right at her like a bull seeing red. Raven just dived out of the way while throwing a flash bang right in her face. Raven had to admit, it felt extremely satisfying seeing the redhead careen straight into another building like an out of control aircraft.
But she noticed, with great amounts of irritation, that the rest of the team were coming after her, so she popped another smoke bomb to cover her retreat. It only took her a few minutes to catch up with Terra, huddling in an alley.
It made Raven's blood boil with rage at seeing her cowering like a pathetic little school girl. Had she not been trained to be better than that? She landed right next to the blonde girl with a loud thud, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Thought Terra did calm down when she saw just who it was.
"Raven? oh thank God, I was worried that..." whatever else she was going to say was put on hold when Raven grabbed hold of the front of her uniform and slammed her up against the wall. Terra was so shocked by the move that she never even thought about fighting back.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she snarled in anger, receiving a wide-eyed and fearful look from Terra.
"What do you mean? I…"
"You left me behind to fight all of the Titans by myself! I nearly got my ass handed to me before I managed to run away!" Raven interrupted her with a vicious shout. That made Terra freeze up in shock. Had she really left her friend behind?
"I… I'm sorry, I didn't realize that…" though she tried to explain, Raven silenced her with a raised hand.
"That doesn't matter now. What's done is done. But those pesky Titans will be right on top of us any second now, and I can't afford to have you chicken out in the middle of the fight. So in other words, get your head back in the game," Raven ordered her harshly before she let go of her.
Leaning against the wall, Terra took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her raging heartbeat. Finally, she straightened up and gave a confident grin to Raven.
"Let's do this, Rae," she said, earning a mischievous smile from her friend.
"About damn time, blondie," she answered, choosing to ignore that horrid nickname. For now, at least. Drawing her Desert Eagles again, Raven stepped out into the open. She was greeted by a charging Cyborg.
She easily sidestepped him, spraying his body with bullets. Before the cybernetic teen could turn and face her again, a rock smashed straight into his chest and sent him flying. No time for celebration though, for Starfire came in like a dive bomber with a barrage of starbolts.
Terra formed an earth wall to shield her and Raven, before the latter lobbed a grenade over their cover. And explosion and a shriek signified success. But their wall was shattered by a three ton green elephant going rampant, forcing the duo to separate.
Terra uprooted the ground beneath Beast Boy, trying to create an opening to rejoin with Raven. Sadly, Argent came swooping in, crimson energy crackling around her, and Terra was forced to turn her attention to the annoying goth chick.
Meanwhile, Raven found herself attacked by Robin, as he came at her with an overhead strike with a Bo staff. She leaped back and countered with a quick spray of bullets that Robin dodged. However, it left him vulnerable to a spinning kick from Raven that knocked him on his back.
But Raven was never given a chance to take advantage of that as Cyborg came back, eager for payback. A barrage of missiles came at Raven, who emptied the las rounds in her guns to shoot them out of the air. Robin took the chance to flip back on his feet and attack with an uppercut that Raven barely dodged.
She then leaped back to avoid a kick, blocked a follow up punch, countered with a sweeping kick that was caught, ended up thrown over Robin and straight at Cyborg, grinning like a maniac while cracking his knuckles.
Raven lashed out with a kick at Robin, forcing him to let go as she soared at the awaiting teen. She fired her grapple gun and managed to swing clear of him, coming to a graceful landing behind him where she took a grenade and threw it at him.
It brought some sense of satisfaction to Raven in seeing Cyborg get blasted away. Again. But her lapse in concentration left her exposed to Robin, who came right out of the mist again and nailed her in the head with his Bo staff.
She staggered back from the blow, and received a punch to the gut from Robin that knocked the air out of her. But she was not down for the count just yet, as she threw aside her spent guns and grabbed hold of his arm.
Robin only had time to widen his eyes in alarm before Raven dragged him forward and rammed a knee in-between his legs. Robin would for the rest of his life deny the accusation that he squealed like a girl at that point.
He was finished off with a judo throw over Raven's shoulder and a boot to the guts once he had landed on his back.
"Game over, bird boy," Raven announced mockingly as she finally drew her sword, twirling it expertly in her hands before poising it over his chest. Starfire's angry return to the battlefield stopped Raven and forced her to leap back as the out of control Tamaranian came at her like a bull seeing red.
Eyes wide as saucers, Raven barely managed to leap clear as Starfire smashed straight into the ground like an artillery shell, having aimed for the gun toting mercenary. The explosion caused by her reckless dive threw Raven back and left a crater in the ground, but Starfire was all but unharmed as she took to the air again, coming after Raven a second time.
"My female intuition tells me…" Raven began before she did a limbo move to avoid a flying tackle, "… that you may have a bit of a grudge against me," Starfire did not answer, instead chose to bombard her with starbolts, forcing Raven into cover behind a truck.
"Slade, we're getting our asses handed to us out here. Where the hell are those reinforcements?" Raven growled angrily into her communicator.
"Don't worry, help has arrived," Slade announced, right before the ground began shaking. Raven's first thought was that Terra had decided to go all out on the Titans, but that was proven false when something burst out of the street in a shower of rock and dust.
That something turned out to be Overload, Cinderblock and Plasmus, surrounded by a crackling blue orb. Then the weirdest and most disgusting thing Raven had seen since walking in on Mammoth in just his underwear happened; they combined.
Raven had half a mind to play the Transformers Energon intro when the trio merged together into one single being, more powerful than either one of them alone and definitively even more ugly.
"Eww," was Raven's dry response at the sight of her back-up, "Then again, it's better than nothing, so I guess it's back to chopping asses up," with that, she hefted her broadsword and charged back into the fray.
Terra hated having to run away, she really did. It hurt her knowing that she may have left her friend to fend for herself. But those Titans had overpowered her, and forced her to retreat. Worse yet, in the thick mist and the commotion, she had lost sight of Raven.
She had absolutely no idea where the girl was. For all Terra knew, Raven could have already retreated back to HQ. They needed Slade's help for this, they needed to get in touch and organize a counterattack. That was the only way to turn the tides.
Still did not help against the sting of guilt and shame that bled her soul. If she truly had left Raven behind a second time, and the girl got hurt, then Terra would never be able to forgive herself again. She had lost all her friends before, she was not losing another one.
"Slade!" she shouted once she came into his underground base, finding the evil mastermind standing with his back turned to her, "Slade, we need help out there! The Titans, they almost beat me and Raven,"
She had expected many things to happen after her announcement, all of them involved beating the Titans. None of them however involved Slade spinning around and hitting her with enough force to send her flying into a wall.
With swift and powerful steps, Slade crossed the distance between them, towering menacingly above Terra as she lied on the floor in pain. When she looked up at his masked face, saw that single eye of his seemingly burning through her very soul, Terra felt something she had not felt since Slade took her in, something she had thought she would never feel when looking upon her master.
Fear.
"That was nothing, compared to what I'm going to do to you," Slade stated coldly as he leaned closer towards her.
And here she had been complaining about boredom just under an hour ago, now she had apparently ended up biting off more than she could chew. Though Raven had to admit, as she dodged yet another combo attack from Robin and Starfire, she had not seen the Titan fight with this level of ferociousness since… well, never.
As it stood right about now, she was unsure whether it was a refreshing change of pace or a plain annoyance. As she nearly broke her own back dodging a sonic blast from Cyborg, Raven found herself leaning more towards the latter.
"Eat this, tin can!" she shouted as she threw her last grenade at him. As he was sent flying away for a fourth time, Raven could have sworn she heard him shout "Not again!".
Oh well, no rest for the wicked, as Beast Boy and Argent were coming at her now. Beast Boy however received other troubles to worry about when the OCP combo monster sent him flying into a building with a fist.
"Beast Boy!" Argent shouted in alarm, distracted by her friend's predicament. It gave Raven enough time to send a flash bang straight into Argent's face, with excellent results. The Goth girl went down screaming, clutching her eyes the whole way.
That was something that Robin apparently did not appreciate in the slightest as he came at Raven with a spinning kick. She backed off as it missed, but was given no chance to retaliate as Robin pushed on with attack after attack.
"The alien girl is trying to tackle you from behind again," daemon Raven observed with a nonchalant tone from the sword. Raven only smiled smugly at Robin, confusing the hell out of him. 'So predictable,' she thought with amusement as she sidestepped the supposed surprise attack from behind.
Unfortunately for Robin, Starfire was moving way too fast to slow down in time and ended up crashing into him like a battering ram. The way they ended up tangled up together on the ground was just freaking hilarious to Raven.
"Olé!" she announced mockingly before slicing a crimson fist coming her way in half with her sword. Thankfully, that was the only attack Argent was able to throw her way before she was forced to turn her attention back to the rampaging monster coming at her.
"Well, his intelligence has hardly improved, but at least he's doing a good job of distracting some of the Titans," Raven remarked, taking the opportunity to retreat into an alley to catch her breath and plan her next move. And besides, she needed to make a phone call anyway.
"Yo, Terra. Where the hell are you? I'm busting my ass out here, so you'd better not have gone for a sauna break," she called, annoyance the prime emotion behind her words. All she received in turn was static.
That was the first sign that set off alarm bells in her head. What could prevent Terra from answering her calls? It was an awfully short list, but one she would prefer not to think about. With her friend missing, Raven came to a quick decision. 'Screw Slade and the Titans, and especially this fight, I'm finding my friend,' she thought to herself.
Luckily for her, they both carried GPS trackers, for emergencies such as these. Finding Terra's location was easy enough, it was back at Slade's base. That in itself made Raven confused. Why the hell would she not answer if she was safely back at HQ?
Well, Raven guessed she would get an answer to that soon enough, as there was no way in hell she was sticking around out here. She needed to resupply on weapons and ammo anyway.
So with that in mind, she fired her grapple gun up at the roof, planning on taking a more elevated route back home.
Another punch sent Terra slamming into the floor with a painful cry. Slade looked completely untroubled by his apprentice's pain. In fact, the way his eye gleamed, it almost looked like he was enjoying it.
"You failed, apprentice," he began in that icy voice of his as he walked around the whimpering girl lying on the floor, "I ordered you to eliminate the Titans, you did not. I commanded you to fight, and you ran,"
He continued to circle Terra, like a carrion bird sensing a meal to come, before he came to stop with his back turned to her.
"Honestly, why did I even bother with you? Raven was always the better candidate. Even now, she's doing what you could not do; fighting the Teen Titans," he remarked condescendingly.
By that point, Terra had at least gathered enough strength to stand back up again. And by then, her fear was mostly gone, now it was only anger left.
"You can't treat me like this," stated furiously. She was not the sad little girl she once was, she had learned to stand up for herself. And no one, not even Slade, was going to just walk all over her again. Sadly, someone forgot to tell that to Slade.
"Can't I?" he challenged, right before he sent Terra flying into another wall. If there was one thing Slade disliked more than insubordination, it was when someone had the audacity to tell him what to do.
"Who else would have you, my dear?" he inquired monotonously, "You've done horrible things, unforgivable things. Where else would you possibly go?" that was a valid question, now that Terra really thought about it.
She had burned nearly every single ridge in her life, all just to please Slade and kill her former friends. A momentary feeling of dread came over her as she realized that she may stand alone now. Sure, Raven was her friend, but Raven was also working for Slade. Would she really risk her reputation just to help someone like Terra?
But even so, Terra would not bend over this time. No, she was through getting pushed around. If standing alone would be the price for that, so be it.
"Anywhere but here! I'm sick of fighting, and I'm sick of you!" she loudly proclaimed before she tried to tear her armor off, not caring in the least that she might expose herself to a grown man.
Problem was, it would not come off. No matter how much she tugged and pulled, it stayed glued to her body.
"You'll find that quite impossible. The suit's neuro interface has integrated into your nervous system, into your skin. It's part of you, and so am I, Terra," Slade announced. He would never say it out loud, but he did find some perverse sense of amusement in seeing Terra's horrified look at those news.
"No," Terra denied in a panic, backing away from the man who with one sentence turned into Terra's own Boogeyman.
"You chose this life, apprentice. It's too late to change your mind now, far too late," Slade stated with finality. But in that moment, the terror that had seized Terra drained away, and she was now more than ever determined to leave this madman.
"But it's not too late for me to walk out the door," she countered venomously before she turned her back to Slade and walked away. A big mistake, in hindsight.
"I'm afraid it is, my dear. You see, you no longer have any control in the matter," he said coldly, right before he pressed a button on his wrist mounted control panel. The effect was instantaneous.
Terra whole body froze up in mid-step. Panic gripped her as she realized she could no longer control her own body, no matter how much she struggled. And as if she was a puppet on strings, her body turned back to face Slade and walked over to him at his beckon.
She struggled and struggled, trying to stop her own body. But to her heart wrenching dismay, nothing worked. Slade was now in full control.
"You promised to fight at my side forever," he stated as he held her chin in his hand, "And that's a promise I intend to make you keep," he suddenly let go of her and strode away, letting her body collapse to its knees.
"And besides, you can still be of great usage to me in securing a better apprentice. Raven has so far proved uninterested in accepting my generous offer. But I'm sure, with your life on the line, she would be willing to reconsider," Slade added.
That broke Terra's spirit. To be forcibly controlled like a puppet by that psychopath was a horrible punishment alone, but to be used like that was too much for her. Raven was her only friend, and now she would be forced to take Terra's place.
For the first time in months, Terra openly wept. 'Raven, I'm so sorry,'
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop often helped clear Raven's head. This time, it only made her more nervous. She had already seen Beast Boy rush past on the street level, heading straight for Terra. Raven had cursed profusely then, because he had been too fast for her to intercept him.
Worse yet, from what she heard back at the fight, the Titans were mopping up Slade's little toys and his Frankenfreak. She needed to pick up speed if she wanted to make it in time. After what felt like an eternity to Raven, she finally reached HQ.
And she could hear fighting going on inside.
Without hesitation, she drew her sword and rushed in. No one was going to hurt her friend and get away with their life, not as long as Raven was around. Though as it turned out, her help was not really that much needed.
As a matter of fact, Terra was just brutally decimating Beast Boy, forcing him back step by step. Raven had to admit, she was impressed by Terra. But then she noticed some odd traits concerning her friend.
Terra's moves were far too mechanical in nature to be conscious moves, and there was none of that ferocious nature he had seen in her style of fighting before. In fact, those moves looked eerily similar to…
"Raven, glad you could join us. We were just dealing with a pest problem," the ever hauntingly calm voice of Slade announced as he watched the fight with a seemingly dispassionate eye. Raven was definitively sensing something fishy about this.
"What have you done to Terra?" Raven questioned, trying to keep her anger out of her voice. No need to blow a fuse just yet.
"What makes you so sure I did anything?" Slade inquired innocently, or at least as innocently as that man could make it sound. Raven just raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, a silent way to say "do you really think you're fooling me?".
"I merely gave dear Terra that which she desired, control. My control, to be precise," Slade revealed, his single eye never leaving the fight taking place between Beast Boy and Terra. Raven was struck speechless.
"You're controlling her?" she asked, struggling with all her might not to show just how much those news affected her. If Slade noticed it, he gave no indication about it.
"Yes. My apprentice began to have second thoughts about her loyalties, and felt it would be prudent to relieve her of the burden of control in the matter," he answered without an ounce of remorse.
By that point, Raven had frozen up in utter shock. She had always known that Slade was the less than savory type, but she never imagined he would go to such extreme lengths. It was not right, it was not fair. Terra should not be forced to be a puppet for this madman's twisted amusement.
No one truly deserved such a fate, to be nothing more than a slave. A tool to be used and then discarded. Raven's hands tightened into fists as her eyes trailed after her friend as the girl's body moved by the will of another.
The spectacle brought out one of Raven's most dangerous emotions; anger. It raced through every spore of her being like an out of control fire, setting her ablaze. And all of that anger was directed at a single being in existence.
"No one does that to a friend of mine, no one," she murmured quietly to herself, too quietly for anyone else to hear the words.
While that was going on, Beast Boy managed to tackle Terra to the ground, pinning her underneath his gorilla form.
"You have to stop me, Beast Boy. Please, I don't wanna fight anymore," she pleaded with him, her mouth being the only thing she still had any control over. Beast Boy took the moment to morph back to his human form.
"Then don't let Slade control you anymore," he told her furiously.
"I have no choice," she answered dejectedly. That only served to anger Beast Boy further.
"That's a lie, you've always had a choice!" he shouted in her face. Sadly, Slade had grown tired to watching their discussion, so he forced Terra to use her powers to throw Beast Boy off her. He slammed into a wall painfully, but was undeterred as he got back up on his feet.
"It's all been your choice. You chose to work for Slade, chose to betray us, and now you've chosen to give him control!" he ranted as he steadily walked towards her, "Slade isn't doing this, Terra, you are!"
That last bit however seemed to be the wrong thing to say, if Terra's violent reaction was anything to go by.
"No!" she shouted right before she caused the ground Beast Boy was standing on to collapse right under his feet. A quick morphing to an eagle saved him from getting squashed, not that it made much of a difference in the end.
For when he got back out of the hole again, he found himself buried beneath an avalanche of rocks. Once the dust settled, he was found pinned beneath multiple rocks, unable to escape.
"Very good, my dear," Slade purred in satisfaction, sending chills down everyone's spines, "Now, shall we finish him off?" most likely a rhetorical question, considering he never waited for an answer before forcing Terra to create a rock spear and poise it above the prone Beast Boy.
"Terra, no," Beast Boy pleaded with her, a far cry from the rage he displayed earlier.
"He's too powerful, I can't stop him," Terra protested, even as she struggled to make her own body stop. All she did was apparently prolong the inevitable.
"Yes you can. It's your power, not his. You can still control it, you can still do the right thing," Beast Boy insisted, bringing tears to Terra's eyes.
"It's too late," she answered sadly before she brought her arm back, ready to send the spear right through Beast Boy's chest.
"Stop!" the unmistakable voice of Robin shouted as he leaped down from the ceiling.
"Strike, apprentice, now!" Slade ordered as Robin came to a landing, facing Terra in a battle ready pose.
"Terra, no!" he ordered as the rest of the team entered as well, surrounding Beast Boy and Terra. They all had their attacks powered up and ready to be unleashed.
"I gave you an order, do it!" Slade shouted furiously, as if he was unaware of the peril Terra was in. most likely he did not care in the slightest. But Terra hesitated, struggled to keep her body from acting on that command.
"Please Terra, no!"
"Don't do it! Don't do it!"
"Listen to us, Terra,"
The threats and pleadings of the Titans began mixing together until Terra could no longer discern any words or meanings from hem. But it did not matter, all her focus was on Beast Boy, lying helplessly at her feet.
"It's your life, Terra, your choice. It's never too late to change," despite the cacophony of noise around her, Terra heard his words clearly above all else, and they ignited a spark she thought to have been long since extinguished.
"Sorry, Beast Boy, for everything I've done," she said before she, with a furious roar, aimed the rock spear at Slade instead and let it fly. Caught completely by surprise, Slade barely got out of the way.
But Terra was far from done with him, as she shot into the air on a flying rock, eager for some payback. The Titans just let her pass uncontested. The ground beneath Slade opened up to swallow him whole, so he leaped up on higher ground.
Higher ground that ended up being torn from the ground and hurled aside, sending Slade falling to the ground again. Getting back up on his feet, Slade turned his eye towards a viciously snarling Terra, rage overflowing in his single eye.
"You ungrateful little…" he began furiously, right before Terra struck again with a vengeance. The ground beneath Slade rose into the air, trapping him on a circular pedestal, at which point Terra used him for target practice with multiple rocks.
Again and again did she hit him, until finally he was sent flying off into the abyss. Terra, believing the fight to be over, lowered herself down on her created high ground, letting out a relieved sigh.
It proved premature, as Slade came leaping back up again like a daemon out of hell. Caught completely unprepared, Terra received a powerful blow to the head that sent her down on his back, Slade furiously shaking body towering above her.
Grabbing hold of the front of her armor, he hoisted her up into the air with one hand, while the other was rearing back for another blow.
"This is the price you pay for disobedience, Terra," he snarled out in anger as he made ready to beat her to death. His blow had never even a chance to land.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" someone shouted in rage, right before a boot impacted against Slade's face and sent him flying back, nearly off the side again. the mysterious attacker came to a landing in front of Terra, standing protectively against Slade.
Both were confused by the attack, and both first thought it was one of the Titans. But then they realized it was someone else entirely, someone they had never expected to come to Terra's rescue.
"Raven?" Terra asked in astonishment as the cloaked mercenary stood with her sword drawn against Slade.
"You okay, Terra?" she asked over her shoulder, never taking her eyes off Slade, who for his part looked like he was caught between disbelief and outrage.
"Raven, what do you think you're doing?" he asked furiously. Raven for her part looked back at him with her own measure of anger.
"Saving my friend, asshole," she answered. This bastard had gone too far this time, when he did what he did to Terra. Reputation be damned on this one, he was going down.
"Have you forgotten that you work for me?" Slade inquired as he tightened his hands into fists. Raven was unmoved by his words.
"Consider this my resignation," she answered, right before she leaped at him with her sword held high. Slade barely got out of the way of the first strike, than sidestepped a sudden thrust, tried to counterattack but was forced back by a flurry of deadly slashes.
Steadily, Slade was forced to give ground. And every time he tried to strike back, that damnable sword of hers would be there to nearly chop off a limb. And Raven was relentless in her attacks, striking again and again, never giving Slade a chance to regroup.
Unfortunately, Slade was not so easy to beat, as when Raven lunged for him again, he ducked underneath it and came back up with a powerful uppercut into Raven's chin. The blow made her see stars and made her back off in disorientation, giving Slade enough time to knock her down to the ground with a spinning kick.
With Raven temporarily down, he made ready to crush her skull under his boot when a rock came right out of nowhere and knocked him back. Terra was instantly at her friend's side as she got back up on her feet.
They locked eyes with each other at that moment, neither saying a word. They did not need to, they both understood what the other was saying. They were taking down Slade; together.
Slade himself would forever deny it, but when the two girls looked back at him, both sporting their own diabolical smile, he felt a chill go up his spine. Then, they struck as one. If Slade had been hard-pressed before, it was nothing compared to what he faced now.
He tried going for Terra, Raven would get in his way. He tried focusing on Raven, Terra would sneak up and attack from behind. He tried to counter her attack, Raven would just redouble her own efforts.
Working in synch, the two girls beat him around like a piñata, never giving him a chance to recover as they covered each other. When one attacked, the other would support, and then they switched.
Then, in the midst of the fight, Raven retrieved something from within her cloak and slapped it on Slade's belt without him noticing. With that done, she leaped back, Terra soon joining her as they faced a battered Slade.
"It's over now," Raven declared as she sheathed her sword. Slade merely looked at her with what could be described as amusement.
"You think it's that easy, do you? Beat me up some and then send me off to jail?" he asked mockingly. But his confidence wavered when he saw the bloodthirsty grin Raven gave him.
"You seem to forget something, Slade. I never play by the rules," she answered cockily before she brought out a trigger. Only when he heard a beep from his belt did he realize what she meant. The girl had fastened C4 explosives on his belt!
"Fire in the hole!" she shouted, right before she pressed the button. Slade had enough time to widen his eyes in alarm before he was engulfed in flames. Terra barely got a wall of rock up in time to shield them from the blast.
Once everything settled down, Terra lowered their protection. Of Slade there was nothing left, save for his infernal mask. Even in death, that mask seemed to glare at the duo with the same calculative glare it had possessed in life.
"Next time, give me a heads up," Terra grumbled irritably while glaring at Raven, who for her part was rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
"Sorry, it was a spur of the moment thing," she defended lamely, prompting Terra to shake her head in resignation. The plateau they were standing on suddenly began cracking and falling apart, and so the duo leaped off it and landed on solid ground again.
"Terra!" Beast Boy suddenly shouted, standing on the other side of a ravine that Terra had unintentionally created with her powers. Even from that distance, they could see his eyes pleading with her to come back with them.
Terra almost began moving towards them, but she stopped. She hesitated. After everything she had done, could she really go back to them and pretend that nothing had happened? Especially when she had so few regrets?
Oh, she was sorry she had tried to kill the Titans in such a cruel way, but she was not really sorry about leaving them, not anymore. In the end, Slade had been right. She did not belong with the Titans. Heck, she was not even truly cut out to be a hero at all.
"Terra?" Raven asked in concern, seeing the inner struggle her friend was suffering from. She did not ask what troubled her, she knew well enough what it was.
"What am I supposed to do now?" she whispered, so quietly that Raven barely heard her. Raven laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Like the green bean said; it's your life, your choice. Whatever you choose, I'll support it," she answered. Comforting someone and giving advice were talents she seldom used, but she never tried to sugarcoat it to anyone.
A moment of silence followed, as not a word was spoken while Terra contemplated what to do. Finally, she turned to face Raven again, a single tear trailing down her cheek.
"I can't go back to them, not anymore," that was all she said, and that was all Raven needed to hear.
"There's an escape tunnel on this side. I'll lead the way," she stated before she turned around and began leading Terra out of Slade's old base.
"Terra!" Beast Boy shouted again, dismayed to see her leave with their enemy again. Terra stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at Beast Boy. Their eyes locked for the briefest moment, before Terra could stand no more and turned away.
"I'm sorry I have to do this to you again, Beast Boy," she whispered before she followed Raven out of the base, leaving the Titans behind for a second time.
Waiting outside the room, Raven leaned against the wall with her arms folded over her chest, an irritated expression on her face while her foot kept tapping the floor. Finally, the door opened up and a man stepped out.
Hardly striking the most intimidating appearance, the wrinkled old geezer wore what looked like an oversized white space suit with a tube going into his nose.
"Well, Professor Chang?" she asked expectantly. She may not have liked the cowardly little man much, but there were few people of his skill and caliber around that would be willing to take on criminal patients.
"The operation was a success, Miss Raven. The armor has been fully removed from her body. She's currently sleeping off the sedatives," he answered with pride. And he had reason to be. From what he had seen of the mechanics, few people on Earth would have been able to remove it with such ease as himself.
Not even bothering to hide her relief, Rave let out a breath she had not been aware she had even been holding.
"How is she recovering?" she asked.
"Quite well. I'd say three days in bed, and then she can be up and moving again, so long as she avoids dong anything strenuous," he replied. Raven only nodded her head as she picked up a briefcase from the floor and handed it to him.
"Thanks for the assist, and here's your payment," she said as Chang took the offered briefcase with a greedy gleam in his eyes.
"A pleasure doing business with you, Miss. Do call me again, if there's anything else you need," he replied before strolling away.
Deciding that Terra did not need anyone standing vigil over her now, Raven dragged herself towards her room. It had been one hell of an adventurous day, and now she just wanted crawl into her bed and sleep.
"Good to see you're awake," those were the first words that greeted Terra's return to the land of the conscious. When she finally had enough strength to open up her eyes again, she found Raven straddling a chair next to her bed.
"Where are we?" she asked weakly, mind still more than a bit foggy from all the drugs they pumped into her.
"At one of my safehouses, don't you remember?" Raven asked. Terra was about to say no, but then it started coming back, fleeing across Jump City, hiding in Raven's safehouse, contacting someone who could remove the armor. At that last bit, her eyes widened in realization.
"Is it…" she asked hopefully, too nervous to finish the sentence. Raven put her mind at ease with a smile.
"Yeah, it's gone now," she answered. Terra let her head fall back on her pillow with a relieved sigh.
"But the doctor says you need to stay in bed for three days at least," she added, bursting Terra's happy bubble.
"What!?" she burst out, nearly flying out of her bed. An action which only aggravated her wound and made her collapse back with a string of "Ow ow ow ow ow!", something that Raven found amusing if her light chuckle was anything to go by.
"Sorry, girl, doctor's orders. And I intend to follow them. If it means tying you down, then I'll do it," Raven answered teasingly, grinning at a pouting Terra.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you," she accused, bringing an even bigger grin to Raven's face, if such a thing was even possible.
"Every minute of it," she replied shamelessly. But then, the so far jovial air was dampened by Raven's next words.
"So what will you do next?" it was a fair question, what would she do now? Terra had not had much time to think about it, but she already had a plan for the first step.
"I don't really know yet, only that I can't stay in Jump City," she answered. Terra expected Raven to protest against it, to persuade her to stay. She did none of those things, she just nodded her head as if she had expected that answer all along.
"Figured as much," she revealed. An awkward silence descended over the duo then, neither knowing exactly how to break it.
"What about you, Rae?" Terra suddenly inquired. Ignoring that horrible nickname, Raven shrugged her shoulders.
"I'll probably stay. Have some unfinished business I need to take care of," she answered nonchalantly.
"So I guess we'll be parting ways soon," Terra deduced dejectedly.
"Seems like it," Raven answered monotonously, gazing out the window as the first rays of the sun began basking the city. With Slade's rule gone, life was returning to the city. Once again, silence fell over them, until Raven reached into her belt and retrieved a communicator that she handed to Terra.
"What's this for?" she asked in confusion.
"So we can keep in touch. If you ever need help, don't hesitate to call," Raven answered. Terra gave a smile of gratitude to Raven as she stood up from her chair and stretched her back.
"Well, I'm heading out to pick up food. Chinese takeaway today, my treat," she said nonchalantly as she began walking towards the door.
"Hey, Rae," Terra suddenly called after her, just as she was about to close the door behind her, "Thanks, for everything," Raven said nothing in return, but she did smile at her friend before closing the door.
Three days later, when Raven returned to her hideout after a day of shaking up the criminal underworld, she was not surprised in the slightest to find Terra's room empty.
She had not even said goodbye, but Raven did not mind. They were both horrible at such a gesture.
And that was season 2. Took way longer than I had first anticipated. that only leaves three more seasons to go.